As everyone knows, a “Giant Dragon” has scales, not feathers.
Ian looked at the “unknown creature” sleeping on Amivy’s face and pondered for one entire night.
It wasn’t because he had reached a conclusion, but rather because the sun had finally come up…
The first thing to break Ian’s philosophical contemplation was the sound of Amivy painfully gasping for air.
The Lord Hero, who had nearly died in her sleep, engaged in a frantic struggle before finally managing to pry the “long-haired white facehugger” off her mouth and nose.
“Your Highness, you’re awake…”
Amivy, just recovering from her brush with suffocation, panted and turned her head.
She immediately saw a “humanoid Demonic Creature” with bloodshot eyes and long, thin “eyeliner” leaning toward her with a “lecherous” expression.
Her oxygen-deprived brain hadn’t even processed the situation before her right hand swung out instinctively.
*Smack!*
A crisp slap echoed through the small shelter.
“What was that for! Ow!”
Having been slapped for no reason, Ian couldn’t help but let out a wail of pain.
“Kevin Caerslana?”
Hearing his voice, Amivy finally realized that the “humanoid Demonic Creature” from a moment ago was actually her teammate, Kevin Caerslana.
“Sorry, sorry, Kevin. I didn’t recognize you just now. By the way, why are your eyes so red?”
“If Your Highness could get up and help me guard the second half of the night, I don’t think my eyes would be so red…”
Only then did Amivy notice that it was already bright daylight outside the shelter.
“Ah! Is it morning already?! Ian, why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Technically, Your Highness, it’s noon. I did try to wake you, but I wasn’t successful…”
Ian deeply admired the quality of Amivy’s sleep.
Despite having her airways blocked, she had somehow managed to sleep straight through until midday.
At one point, Ian had even suspected that Amivy was actually a corpse that just happened to still be breathing.
“Oh? Is that so? Regardless of that, Kevin, what is this white puppy with wings?”
Having finally inhaled enough oxygen, Amivy was fully awake.
She realized her other hand was still dangling the culprit that had nearly caused her to suffocate to death.
The white puppy in her hand still had tiny bubbles popping at its pink nose, indicating it was still fast asleep.
They truly were two of a kind; even after all that, it hadn’t woken up.
“I don’t know. It appeared out of nowhere. After it finished off your breakfast, it flopped onto your face and fell asleep.”
Ian answered honestly.
He really didn’t know the origin of this white puppy, though he had a few guesses that he couldn’t yet confirm.
“What?! It ate my breakfast?!”
Upon hearing that her food had been stolen, Amivy—who had struggled to survive in the Slums since childhood—reacted violently.
She never wanted to experience those days of being so hungry she threw up stomach acid ever again.
Just as a furious Amivy was about to turn the “white puppy” into stew, the bubbles stopped coming from its nose.
*Yip~*
With a cry so high-pitched it could melt anyone’s heart, it opened its large, sleepy, golden vertical pupils.
One second, Amivy was angrily declaring she would execute the “food thief,” and the next, she was completely mesmerized by the thief’s “spiritual attack.”
*Yip!*
After opening its eyes and seeing it was Amivy holding it, the “white puppy” barked happily and wagged its slender tail.
“Sss… What should I do, Kevin! This ‘thief’ is so cute! I can’t bring myself to do it!”
Looking at the “white puppy” in her hands happily wagging its tail with its tongue out, Amivy’s rage vanished without a trace.
Her eyes were filled only with the instinctive tenderness and affection humans felt for “cute things.”
“Is that so? That’s great then. In that case, I’ll leave providing its meals to you, Your Highness.”
“Huh? What about you?”
“I don’t have as much energy as you, Your Highness. I need to rest now. Please do as you wish…”
Having said that, Ian walked over to the straw bedding and made himself into a “corpse.”
“Hmph! Fine, I’ll raise it myself… As expected, not a single man is any good…”
Amivy grumbled under her breath as she held the white puppy in her arms, shooting a side-eye at the “lying corpse” that was Ian.
“Did you say something, Your Highness?”
“Nothing! Go to sleep!”
After snapping at him, Amivy carried the puppy out of the shelter.
Once Amivy had left, Ian didn’t close his eyes to rest immediately. Instead, he whispered to himself.
‘…The Holy Sword… or Delina Nidhogg…’
Eventually, Ian could no longer resist the surging waves of drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep.
In his slumber, Ian found himself in the middle of a forest.
Soft light filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
‘Where is this?’
Feeling lost, Ian followed a path through the woods until he reached a massive tree.
He looked up, but its top was nowhere in sight.
Upon getting closer, Ian discovered a pitch-black, scaly egg sitting beneath the tree.
The egg was about as tall as a man and was tightly entwined by several roots growing out of the ground.
Moving even closer, Ian could even hear a *thump-thump* heartbeat coming from inside the egg.
For some reason, this scaly egg gave Ian a very familiar feeling.
It was like the sense of intimacy one felt when running into a classmate in a foreign country.
That feeling made Ian unable to resist reaching out to touch the giant egg.
The moment Ian’s hand touched the sharp, cold shell, a series of fragmented thoughts entered his mind.
‘…You… Dragon… God… I… also… fine…’
The voice in his head was extremely weak, as if it might stop at any moment.
It left only that nonsensical sentence, leaving Ian utterly confused.
“What Dragon God? What are you trying to say?”
Just as Ian spoke to ask, his vision suddenly blurred.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Amivy squatting in front of him with her right hand raised high, looking ready to strike.
As their eyes met, both of them froze for a moment.
“Highness, what are you trying to do?”
“Oh, I just felt my back was a bit sore, so I was stretching…”
Facing Ian’s suspicious gaze, a guilty Amivy followed through with a stretch.
“Was it necessary to squat right in front of me for that?”
“Well, wasn’t I just coming over to wake you up because the food is ready…”
“You’d better be…”
“Hmph, what do you mean by ‘better be.’
I saw you sleep for an entire day, so I kindly came to wake you. I didn’t expect you to actually suspect me!”
“Heh…”
Having woken up from his nap, Ian realized that it had indeed fallen into “night” once again.
Without arguing further with Amivy, Ian got up and noticed a corner of the shelter was piled high with many colorful, oddly shaped, unknown fruits.
“Where did all these come from?”
Ian asked Amivy, who was sitting by the pile and happily eating them one by one.
“Hehe, Xiao Bai and I found these. Pretty impressive, right?”
“Xiao Bai? You mean that dog?”
Ian pointed at the winged puppy sleeping soundly nearby.
“Yeah. I’m telling you, Xiao Bai is amazing. It led me to a bunch of delicious fruit in no time. I’m just not sure if it got too tired or something, because it fell asleep after only eating a few” (munch munch munch).