On a certain day, a month after Eclipse came to the village.
The usual members gathered at Sheryl’s house to eat a hotcake.
「Wai, this hotcake thing is tasty. Amazing. I want more」
Eclipse emptied one plate in a blink of an eye and demanded more.
「Yes. I thought it would be like that so I left one more especially for Eclipse-chan」
「Yay! I like Sheryl! 」
Seeing the hotcake on the table receiving reinforcements, Eclipse praised Sheryl.
On a side note, Sheryl baked this hotcake.
That being said, flour, eggs, sugar, and b.u.t.ter were brought from the capital.
Although there was wheat planted in this village, the harvest would only begin in spring.
Despite the absence of snow, it was currently winter.
Most of the products still had to be imported.
Even still, the village was able to produce enough pork, beef, and milk for its own consumption. It could be considered an achievement for the village that was only around for half a year.
「Hey Sheryl. Don’t bait my little sister with food. Who do you think you are? 」
「I’m a Baroness though!」
Not minding Iris’ objection, Sheryl puffed her chest and raised her nose high.
Since that was the truth, she had no choice but repeatedly pierce the hotcake with her fork in frustration.
It was delicious. Which was even more frustrating.
「Punipuni」
「Childish」said Punigami as he digested the hotcake inside of his body. His body a.s.suming the color of the hotcake in the process.
「Wa, Punigami looks tasty!」
Eclipse stared at Punigami with sparkling eyes. In her hand, there was a shining fork.
「Punini!?」
Punigami escaped all the way to the corner of the room in fright.
「Ahaha, I’m kidding. I won’t eat a friend」
「Punii…….」
Letting out a voice of relief, Punigami returned to Iris’ side.
「Ufufu. I won’t get tired of watching you」
「Mother, why are you being so nonchalant? You were completely poisoned by humans……….we are dragons, you know!?」
「Even if you say that, you are still eagerly eating the hotcake」
「This is…….I fell into Sheryl’s sinister trap! Sheryl, even if you can tempt my body, my heart won’t be swayed! 」
「You look completely swayed, though」
Hearing her pointing this out, Marion wiggled on her seat.
「Uu…….If it goes like this…….need to defeat Iris fast……..dragon’s pride……」
「Ah, you still haven’t forgotten about your goal of defeating me」
「Of course, I haven’t! I’ll also bring mother back to the village of dragons! 」
Recently Marion completely a.s.similated in the village by collecting firewood for the winter and turning pigs into sausages or salting them.
She got along well with the villagers, to the extent that it was easy to forget that she was a dragon if not for the horns and tail.
「Hey, Sheryl. Hotcake, one more! 」
「Aah, did you finish yours already? If Eclipse-chan likes them, it was worth making them. But sorry, this is the last one. And it’s mine」
「Eh, eeh」
「Sulking Eclipse-chan is also cute……..! But you can’t! 」
「Muu…….can’t help it. Sheryl needs to eat too to stay energetic」
「Yes, Eclipse-chan is a good kid」
「Eeeh」
Being praised, Eclipse’s cheeks turned red as she smiled.
Her cuteness overflowing, she gathered the stares of not only Iris but also everyone else on her.
However, it seemed that Eclipse lacked awareness regarding herself and just tilted her head without losing her smile.
「Aah, so cute…….my little sister makes my heart well up with pride………I was the one who brought Eclipse up! 」
「Is that so?」
Sheryl too tilted her head.
「I don’t really understand but I like Big Sister Iris」
「What about me, Eclipse-chan!」
「I like Sheryl too」
「Ara, then how about me?」
「I shall ask what you think of me too, for formalities’ sake」
「I like Jessica and Marion too. I like everyone」
「Puni!」
「Of course, I like Punigami too」
「Punininii!」
This kid is an angel.
The treasure of Silverlight Barony.
Even if the demon were to come for her, I definitely won’t hand her over!
I’ll protect her with all my power.
The moment Iris established her determination.
Dooooooooooon, there was a giant bang from outside the house.
Of the members present, everyone except Sheryl could make such a sound.
However, everyone was present and eating the hotcake.
In other words, the perpetrator was someone else.
「Waaa! Something big and round fell onto the gra.s.sland! What on earth is this!?」
Sheryl looked out the window and raised a scream.
What is it, what is it? Iris and the rest gathered around the window.
Then, just as Sheryl said, they saw a strange object in the gra.s.sland.
If someone were to describe it with one word, this word would be big.
Much larger than Jessica in her dragon form.
The color was black.
As if refusing to reflect the light, it was bleak all over.
「What is this mysterious object doing in my territory?」
「I don’t know what it is…….but it’s clearly dangerous」
Iris calmly answered to the confused Sheryl.
「Why are you so calm, Iris-sama!?」
「Well…….there is me in this village. Eclipse is here. Marion and Jessica too. Everything should be fine」
「A…….aah, I see! It seems rather okay! 」
Sheryl clapped her hands with a convinced expression.
The contents of that egg-like object were unknown but this village had enough firepower to casually destroy the world.
Supposedly enough to repel any invasion.
Especially if they are after Eclipse, in that case, Iris will send them back with her Fist of Fury!
「Look here. There is a crack on that black egg」
As Eclipse pointed out, there was a crack running across the surface of the black egg.
And then it popped open.
The sh.e.l.l of the egg broke apart and fell on the gra.s.s.
Some of it fell on the villagers’ houses but Iris erected a defensive barrier in time and repelled it.
Of course, it wasn’t an attack.
Just an act of being『born』.
The egg disappeared and its contents stood on the gra.s.sland.
「GUOOOOOOOOOOOOON!」
I was an extremely eerie creature.
Three heads.
There was a lion, wolf, and crocodile head.
Four legs and wings.
Two front legs and wings were eagle’s. [1]
The long tail was a snake itself. There was a face attached to its end.
The color of its body, like that of the egg, was black. [2]
The largest building in this village was the church but even it couldn’t compare to it in size.
Or more like, it would be able to stomp on the church.
It’s strong because it’s gigantic.
Anyone could understand that just by looking, a simple matter.
However, that creature didn’t only have a giant body but also an overwhelming amount of magical power.
Yes.
Even from Iris’ standpoint, it was a lot.
It wasn’t very likely to win one-on-one.
For Iris of a few months ago that is —
「Ah, it should be fine. It would’ve been very lame if it were an unbeatable opponent after I bragged so much. I should be able to somehow deal with it by myself. Just wait here」
After all, Iris wasn’t even one year old.
Yet, by eating and sleeping all the time, she gradually became stronger.
Compared to the time she first came to the church, her magical power nearly doubled.
Thus, she didn’t feel like losing.
Full of confidence, Iris tried to go out through the window.
However, Eclipse pulled on the edge of her robe.
「Big Sister Iris, doing everything yourself is unfair!」
Eclipse puffed her cheeks as she complained.
「Unfair……then should we go together? 」
「Let’s go! Seems fun」
「Fufu, then I’ll join you」
「If Mother goes then I’ll go too」
「Then Punigami-sama and I will watch the house. Take care」
「Punini」
After being seen off by Sheryl, who was waving her hand, and Punigami, the rest flew out the window towards the black monster.
The villagers raised a commotion as they pointed at the monster.
However, it was the first time something of this magnitude happened.
It felt almost like a regular event, so there was no real panic.
「Oh, Iris-sama and the rest. We’ll leave the rest to you」
She ended up being addressed by some villagers.
Of course, since Iris was embarra.s.sed, she didn’t answer. She used flight magic to ascend and ran away.
Eclipse followed right behind her.
Marion and Jessica turned into dragons and walked producing tremors.
ReferencesNo lolis, gentlemen. ↩I referred to the new biological weapon as “she” in the previous chapter. I’ve been too hasty, it seems. “It” suits it much more. ↩