"So, what the is this?"

Laugen Türk stared gloomily at the huge gray lump in his companion's hand, and did not at all conceal his bad mood, his proud beard had been cut off by the thief in the scuffle, and even if they had just won a great victory under the favor of some unknown god, he had every reason to let everyone know that he was upset now.

"Obviously, good dwarf, this is an egg. Scott, the young human paladin, replied merrily, a giggle on his face that was mostly due to blood loss. He sat on the ground with his legs spread across his legs, leaning against the ice-covered rock, blood running from his forehead to his neck, and his armor tossed aside, but he was as happy as a bare-bottomed kid who had just pulled out a nest of birds' eggs.

"And, good dwarf," he added, even though he was smiling in a trance, "I've told you so many times, don't swear, we have children here." ”

The "child", the thief Niya, who was destined to be treated as a juvenile imp by his companions for the rest of his life, spat listlessly, his severed arm had just been rejoined, and he had no strength to protest more strongly as usual.

A little behind him, the emaciated half-elf priest Celebrian wrapped himself tightly in his white robes and silently moved a little further.

"If that's the egg I was thinking about, given that we just slaughtered it," the dwarf turned back to make sure that the ice thorn they had just killed was still there, "what are we going to do with it?

"No, Raogan, you can't eat it, Alan told me to hold it well, I'll have to hold it well. Scott looked serious and held his eggs a little tighter.

The dwarf scoffed, "Eren didn't let you hatch it?"

The paladin stared at the egg suspiciously, and let go of his hand slightly: "I don't hatch eggs." But...... Did it just move?"

Four pairs of eyes landed on the giant egg.

It was now lying on Scott's belly, dusty and inconspicuous, and its rough surface looked more like a rock, which made the dwarf tempt to make a joke that a child should never hear, but before he could speak, the egg moved again, and almost rolled off the young knight's belly.

Scott held the egg with his hand, his eyes widening in surprise. Nia didn't know if it was his own delusion—he felt Scott's face turn blue rapidly, as green as it had been when he had been swept away by the ice dragon's spit.

"Uh......" Scott shuddered, "I think...... A little cold?"

In an instant, a sharp pain exploded from the abdomen and swept through the body. The young paladin twitched, and the dragon egg made a slight crunch in his spasmodic hands.

"Throw it away, Scott!

He heard Nia screaming, someone snatching the egg from his hand with all his might, and the dwarf roaring as loudly as if he were slamming his head with a hammer. The priest's hand rested on his forehead, a familiar, reassuring fluctuation, but it did not alleviate the biting cold at all, but instead poured along with all the warmth in his body towards the dragon egg that seemed to grow on him.

"Alan, Lydia, where are you!, Scott is dying!" Nia's crying, shrill voice was so distant that it seemed to come from another world. The moment he fell into the darkness, Scott realized to his dismay, that he had been killed by an egg.

Scott Criesers, who died of eggs.

- He had no doubt that his friends would use it as his epitaph! .

Scott didn't die.

He woke up with the sun shining brightly, and his mind went blank. If it weren't for the dwarf's large, rough, gruffy face before him, he would probably have thought that he had been lucky enough to return to the temple of his goddess Nyo.

"Oh, Daddy is awake. Ragan snickered with schadenfreude, "Your kid is dying of tears." ”

A deafening cry echoed through the empty room, and Scott had never known Nia could cry like this—and then he realized that the dwarf probably didn't mean Nia when he said "child."

It was the cry of a real baby.

"Scott. ”

Lydia Bell walked up, and Nia Meyer followed closely behind her, her nose glowing with excitement.

"Maybe you'll have to give him a name. Lydia said, busily shoving the crying little thing into his arms, like throwing away some little monster that would bite someone. Nia jumped up and down and shouted, "I took one!", "Hear how about this!...... But as usual, no one took him seriously.

Scott lowered his head and stared blankly at the baby in his arms—a human baby, of course, wrinkled, red, and sadly ugly, with only a pair of transparent light blue eyes that looked like broken gold, looking at him without blinking.

He didn't cry anymore. In fact, the little thing opened its mouth, opened its red and swollen eyes, and gave Scott a big smile with tears, snot, and saliva—still ugly and sad, to be honest, but full of inexplicable, wholehearted trust, that made Scott feel a sharp pain in his heart, and suddenly he was so soft that he was vulnerable.

With such a smile, it can probably easily conquer the whole world.

"What the hell is this?...... Uh, who?" The young paladin subconsciously hugged the baby tightly, still staring blankly and stiff, and even with a faint fear at this time. The dwarf thought he knew what it was, he just didn't dare admit it, and the kind dwarf didn't mind helping him.

"This is the egg you hatched. Ragan replied solemnly, and then finally couldn't help laughing.

Amid the dwarf's rumbling laughter and the baby's cry again, Scott felt that he could die a little longer.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea this was going to happen. ”

Later that day, Alan Carver, the oldest human warrior among the adventurers, stood at Scott's bed and apologized to him. It was Alan who found the egg in the depths of the Ice Dragon's Cave, and he thought it was dead - there was never a chance that a dragon egg would ever hatch without its mother. It was only because the mage Lydia indicated that she might be able to use it that he gave the egg to the paladin, so that it would not be smashed open by a grumpy dwarf or a curious thief. If he knew it would have nearly killed Scott, he wouldn't hesitate to smash the egg in the first place.

He had no idea why it would be a human-like baby that broke out of the shell, instead of a Xiaoice dragon with sharp teeth and claws that could spew cold air when he opened his mouth. Even Ragun, a dwarf who lived for hundreds of years, had never heard of such a thing. Lydia and Celebrion took turns experimenting with various elimination spells, and the most successful one was to make the little thing giggle for a moment instead of crying.

"I've seen in the account of an ancient elf that adult dragons can change their form, though they disdain it. But I didn't know that newborn dragons could have this ability. ”

Lydia said, looking in high spirits, but Calebryne just shrunk back in her chair without a sound. After a while, he asked coldly, "So, what are you going to do with it?"

No one answered—though everyone understood why he asked.

The priest said to himself, "Anyway, it's an ice spinosaur, and we killed its mother, and there's no reason to keep it. ”

“...... You're saying we're going to kill a baby?" Lydia frowned in disbelief, "I can't believe you're a priest. ”

"And that's a dragon. Celebryan smiled sneeringly, "Have any of you ever heard of a good dragon, and who knows when he'll turn back into that huge, evil magical creature?"

The dwarf smacked hard.

"I don't kill babies. He said.

"If it's a dragon coming out of the eggshell, I bet you'll not hesitate to smash its head. Celebryan sneered.

Ragon snorted, but couldn't deny that it made him very unhappy again—he didn't remember being happy with this half-elf who was always cold-talking, half-dead. From which corner of the grave did Eren dig this guy up?

"Are you really talking about killing Scott's kids!" Nia, protesting loudly, "in front of Scott!"

Scott rolled his eyes unseemly in bed, not even bothering to bother to plead "That's not my child!"

Still tingling, he resigned himself to the little thing, which he still didn't know what to call it, for he could only be quiet in his arms, and his cries made everyone want to run away. Even though they are all experienced in battle, well-informed, and have special skills...... Under such an attack, there is only the share of throwing away the armor.

"It's something that has never happened before, so no one can say for sure what will happen to him, and we don't have the right to do that...... Right?" Nia turned to Kavo for support, knowing that eventually everyone would listen to him, as they did every time.

Alan Carvo was silent for a moment, then lowered his head and looked Scott's eyes seriously: "I hate to say that, but Scott Criess, I think only you have the right to decide. This little thing, which almost took your life to survive...... What do you want to do with him?"

Scott hung his head. The baby didn't know when he fell asleep in his arms, snoring slightly, with bubbles of saliva at the corners of his mouth, and a slightly wrinkled little blush, completely unaware of the malice the world had towards him.

What else could he do with him?

"I decided to ......"

The paladin looked up, and Lydia couldn't help but tighten her hands with a heavy expression.

"Friends, come and get to know Iscontia Alan Christus," the young and poor heir of the House of Christos grinned, his smile bright enough to dispel any shadows, "my ...... Uh, brother!"

Nya jumped up with joy, threw himself on the side of the bed and kissed the baby the cheek, and little Christus, who was awakened, announced his birth as a human with a loud cry.

"Iss, what...... it!, I'm going to call him Is!" the little thief announced.

"You can't swear in front of a baby!" Scott accused.

"Oh, forget it! he doesn't understand!"

"How do you know? He's a dragon......

The firelight danced in the fireplace, and the scene in front of me was so beautiful that it brought tears to our eyes. The half-elf priest simply pulled up his hood and retreated back into his shadow.

He glanced at Allen. There was a slight smile on the warrior's face, but worry was hidden in the wrinkles.

It's probably not going to end well - they all know it. But people are still more willing to rejoice in the false kindness than to ignore the real coldness.