Cuteness -100

Under the big loli's gaze, Chaos kept feeling that something was off. No matter how he looked at it, she had deliberately interrupted Hera.

He turned his head, shifting his gaze from the big loli to Hera.

"Really, Hera?"

Huh?

Chaos's question left Hera at a loss, too.

Was that what she had been about to say? She had clearly wanted to mate with Chaos...

As she thought, she glanced sidelong at Agatha, who had just interrupted her.

The muscles in those powerful dragon claws were twitching nonstop.

All right, she really had come to make friends with Chaos.

Hera looked earnestly at Chaos, who was watching her.

Why does she keep looking at Agatha while talking to me? Weird.

Sneak attack!

Chaos whipped his head around to look at the big loli.

The big loli was still the same big loli. Nothing had changed. Just sitting there on her haunches, she radiated a steady, dependable air.

There seemed to be nothing unusual.

He looked away from the big loli and back at Hera.

"That's right. I came to make friends with you," Hera continued. "Chaos, you have the ability to foresee the future. I also think staying with you through our vulnerable hatchling years would be a good choice."

Is that so...

The look in her crimson slit pupils seemed straightforward, yet he still felt something was a little strange.

His gaze fell on the magic core Hera held out.

A Poison Attribute Second-Ring Rank magical beast's core. Not bad.

No reason to turn down a free gift.

He reached out a claw and accepted the magic core from Hera.

"Thanks, then. I'll think about teaming up."

"Mm-hmm."

Hera nodded, glancing sidelong at Agatha.

Seeing that Agatha was putting meat into the Stone Pot instead of staring at her, she breathed an inward sigh of relief. As a fellow red dragon, she understood Agatha's strength better than the other hatchlings did.

Chaos had been watching where Hera looked all along.

Looking at the big loli again? His feeling that the big loli was hiding something grew stronger and stronger.

"I'll be going, then."

With that farewell, Hera turned and headed toward the stone wall, evidently going to carve out a stone pot with her teammates.

Weird. Really weird.

But the magic core in his claw was undeniably real.

Chaos hefted the heavy magic core in his claw.

Forget it. No point thinking about it. His gut told him the big loli probably wouldn't do anything to harm him. Besides, the Great Hourglass wasn't just there for decoration. If there really was danger, it would surely send him a revelatory dream.

He had already entered the dream once. In it, all the golden sand in the hourglass had run out, but it hadn't turned over. He guessed that was because nothing was going to happen, so there was no need to turn.

After glancing at the magic core in his claw, Chaos set it down beside him.

He would leave this magic core uneaten for now and save it for an emergency.

He looked down at White Chubby, who lay against his belly in his embrace. There was an obvious corrosion wound on her back. It must have covered a large area, judging by the thin, transparent scales that had regrown.

Sali had probably done that to her.

He cupped White Chubby's round head in both claws.

With her head lifted, White Chubby opened her eyes and gazed pleadingly at Chaos with sparkling white slit pupils.

"Hm-da~"

Her round head tried to burrow into Chaos's embrace again, but he held her back.

"Cut it out. Tell me, what exactly did you do to make that Sali hate you so much?"

Chaos glanced at Sali's corpse, which lay on the ground ignored by every dragon. With Bamokangla, a fourth-ring meal, available, the hatchlings had little interest in Sali's corpse.

Sali's charge earlier had clearly been aimed at White Chubby.

With so many dragons on the beach, it had gone straight for White Chubby. There had to be a reason.

"Hm-da, hm-da."

"I don't understand your white dragon hatchling speech. And you don't have to be scared anymore. Hera already killed the Sali that was chasing you."

Hearing that Sali had been killed, White Chubby raised her round head and glanced at its corpse on the ground.

Her sparkling white slit pupils instantly widened. Then she sprang up and stood upright.

A chubby claw pointed toward the Cavern.

"Hm-da, hm-da~!"

"Hm-da hm-da hm-da~!"

As she spoke, her chubby white claws gestured vividly.

But without exception, Chaos, Agatha, An, and Loya all watched the white hatchling's performance in utter confusion.

What is she even saying?

Seeing that Green Chubby couldn't understand her, White Chubby grew anxious.

She thrust a chubby claw into her Dragon Jaws.

"Urgh~"

With an unmistakable retching sound, White Chubby pulled a section of whitish, slime-covered grub out of her Dragon Jaws.

The larva was pure white and looked almost exactly like Sali, only much smaller. Parts of its body also appeared to have been digested already.

"Hm-da~"

Holding the grub, White Chubby offered it to Green Chubby in front of her.

Green Chubby always gave her food, so she was willing to share her food with him, too.

"Holy crap, White Chubby, don't bring that over here! I don't want it!"

Chaos scrambled backward, barely managing to avoid getting splashed with slime from the larva's corpse as White Chubby held it out.

Now he understood why that Sali had hated White Chubby so much. She had eaten its baby.

Seeing that Green Chubby didn't want it, White Chubby glanced at the meat in her claw. The next second, her Dragon Jaws opened, and she stuffed the slime-covered larva's corpse straight back inside.

Chaos: ...

White Chubby was really too much.

Filthy. Absolutely filthy.

Chaos suddenly didn't want to look at White Chubby anymore, but... his gaze landed on the tiny white granules clinging to her body.

He had been noticing them ever since earlier.

This stuff... the more I look at it, the more familiar it seems.

Could it be salt?

A little anticipation rose in him. If it really was salt, that would be wonderful. His hot pot would finally be perfect.

"White Chubby, come here a moment."

"Hm-da~"

Having swallowed the larva's corpse again, White Chubby waddled over.

He looked at White Chubby as she came up to him.

A round head, a plump dragon body, and a pair of utterly innocent, sparkling white slit pupils. She was adorable.

But the image of her pulling food out of her mouth had already lodged itself in his mind.

Cuteness -100.

"Hm-da?"

White Chubby looked in confusion at Green Chubby, who had called her over but wasn't saying anything.

Chaos: ...

Forget it. For the salt.

He reached out a claw and scraped a few of the remaining white granules off White Chubby's head.

He put his claw into his Dragon Jaws.

Salty, with an astringent tang.

Chaos's eyes lit up. He immediately cupped White Chubby's round head in both claws, meeting her eyes.

"White Chubby, quick, tell me where those white granules on your body came from."

With Green Chubby holding her head so she couldn't turn it, her sparkling white slit pupils blinked. She raised a chubby white claw and pointed toward the hole she had just escaped from.