The Answer Was Only a Matter of Time!

"You really don't seem like a red dragon. Why are you doing all this?"

Agatha, who was walking ahead, stopped and turned her head, fixing her crimson slit pupils on Chaos.

A scorching breath washed over him, and his raised claw froze.

Was this big little girl getting fed up with his questions and about to beat him up?

Chaos felt that was a very real possibility.

"You'll find out the answer sooner or later. I can promise that, from now on, I won't do anything to harm you."

His emerald slit pupils narrowed sharply as Chaos noticed a crucial detail.

She said from now on. Did that mean she'd had some bad intentions before?

He quietly shifted his claw back a little.

"You mean from now on?"

"Don't be nervous. I did have another idea before, but things are different now."

"Your bloodline is far too noble. I won't interfere with you now."

"Then, if you don't mind my asking, what was your original idea?"

Agatha said nothing more, merely watching Chaos in silence.

Fine, fine. So whenever this big little girl didn't want to talk, she just played dead.

Yet, for some reason, he felt he could trust her. It wasn't merely a feeling, but a conclusion he'd reached through analysis.

From the moment they hatched until now, this big little girl, the strongest among them, hadn't let her red dragon nature drive her to run wild.

Quite the opposite: she had established a basic sense of order for the dragon group.

Whatever. Keep playing dead, then.

Once I've fully mastered the power of time, I'll use it to strip you bare and examine you inside and out.

At that thought, his jaws spread into a happy grin.

The answer was only a matter of time!

"Forget it. I won't ask anymore. Let's keep going."

"All right."

Agatha nodded and continued walking ahead.

Neither dragon spoke again along the way.

When Chaos emerged from the cave, he saw three more stone pots beside the river. Hatchlings crowded around them, constantly fishing things out with their claws.

Of course, the scene wasn't quite that harmonious.

"I put that piece of meat in."

"Did you?"

"You actually ate it! I challenge you!"

"Bring it on! You think I'm scared of you?"

That was more or less how it went. As they ate, two hatchlings would end up heading to the middle of the riverbank for a physical showdown over an unfair division of the food.

Naturally, no dragon would ever try to break up a fight.

With such great dinner entertainment, free of charge at that, why would any dragon intervene?

Chaos calmly glanced at the two hotheaded blue hatchlings heading to the middle of the riverbank for their duel.

He walked back to his own stone pot and sat down beside White Chubby.

"Hm-da~"

A plump, grease-covered claw held a piece of meat out to Chaos.

White Chubby gazed at Chaos expectantly.

Chaos glanced at White Chubby. No, he couldn't stomach it. He still hadn't quite gotten over the sight of White Chubby digging larvae out of that mouth.

"I'm not hungry. Eat it yourself, White Chubby."

"Hm-da~"

Sparkling white slit pupils blinked, and the plump claw holding the meat slowly moved into an open mouth.

Was it his imagination, or did White Chubby seem a little disappointed?

That couldn't be right...

He watched White Chubby lean over the rim of the stone pot to fish out more meat, that plump, cone-shaped tail swishing back and forth.

Sure enough, he'd imagined it. How could White Chubby possibly be unhappy with food around?

[Rustle~]

Agatha returned to her place as well, claiming an entire side of the pot for herself.

Once seated, Chaos looked around.

Feeny lay fast asleep on a smooth, flat pebble.

Her sleeping posture was rather awful. She slept on her stomach, and, like White Chubby, she liked to drool.

Then where was the other one?

He scanned the surroundings but saw no sign of Vinnie.

Had she gone back?

That couldn't be. He'd only just won her favor. She shouldn't have run off.

He looked at Green Dazed and Black Coal Ball, who were also leaning over the stone pot, competing with White Chubby for food.

His gaze passed over Green Dazed and Black Coal Ball before finally settling on Black Coal Ball.

"Black Coal Ball."

An's claw paused, and she raised her head to look at Chaos.

"Where's Vinnie? That little life element fairy."

"Over there."

A greasy, plump claw pointed toward a small fruit-bearing tree on the riverbank.

Following Black Coal Ball's claw, he spotted a little house woven from emerald vines in the tree she was pointing at.

The house was beautifully crafted, complete with a door and windows.

A faint, familiar aura of life wafted out from within.

It was Vinnie's aura.

Looking at the little vine-woven house in the tree, Chaos spread his jaws in a smug grin. Just as he'd thought: with a constitution as irresistible to little fairies as Tang Monk's flesh, how could she possibly run off?

She wasn't going anywhere. I'll be counting on you from now on too, Miss Vinnie. Get along with Feeny.

He withdrew his gaze.

Watching the three dragons leaning over the stone pot and fishing out meat, he realized he was getting a little hungry.

Then let's keep cooking.

He reached over to the salt ore the big little girl had carried back, scraped off a clawful, and sprinkled it into the stone pot.

"Hm-da?"

"This makes the hot pot even tastier."

Dragons of the giant dragon species all had good hearing, and Chaos hadn't made any effort to lower his voice.

Pretty much every hatchling on the riverbank heard him.

It could make hot pot tastier?

All the hatchlings turned their heads toward Chaos at once. Even the two blue hatchlings wrestling in the middle of the riverbank stopped. Their round heads turned toward each other, and a moment later, they tacitly stopped pushing and raised their heads to look at Chaos too.

Feeling the gazes coming at him from every direction, he took them in.

Chaos swept his eyes over the hatchlings.

At heart, these fellows really were all little foodies.

"If you want some, come and get it yourselves. But let me warn you first: adding the right amount makes the hot pot tastier. Add too much, and it'll taste awful."

Knowing full well the greedy nature of chromatic dragons, Chaos warned them in advance. He'd given them fair warning; what they did with it was their own business.

Hehehe.

Feeling that he would soon have something entertaining to watch, Chaos spread his jaws into a grin.

"Then how much do you think we should add, Chaos?"

It was Hera who asked.

Remembering that Hera had given him both magic cores and hearts, Chaos suddenly found her much more pleasing to look at. Rather cute, really.

"Well, this much is enough."

Chaos scraped off a small piece of rock salt and placed it in Hera's claw.

"I'll go try it right away."

Hera grinned and turned to head back to her hot pot allies.

With Chaos's demonstration, the remaining hot pot team also knew how much to add, though there were exceptions.

The group of four dragons-two blue, one black, and one green-exchanged glances.

"Do you think we can trust that guy?"

"I don't think so."

"He definitely said that on purpose. He doesn't want us eating too much of that white sand."

"I think so too."

"All right, then. I'll get a bit more."

With that, the blue dragon stood up and walked toward the rock salt.