Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Baby Dragon
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The group that had left the auction house spotted a group of unusual people dressed entirely in white beyond the tents.
Eselrid, who had arrived late to the auction house to help with the cleanup, also noticed them and stopped in her tracks.
"They're priests."
The strikingly white, long robes were the symbol of priests.
Among them, one priest who had pulled their robe deeply over their head bowed toward the group. Given their small stature, they seemed to be a female priest.
Theo, who had been watching, nodded back to the priest.
"That's the priest from earlier."
Theo explained loud enough for the astonished Eselrid to hear.
The priest that Theo had brought at Juliet's request just moments ago had been one of that group.
".......?"
For a moment, Juliet froze.
"Theo."
"Yeah?"
"Did you see that priest's face earlier?"
"No, why?"
Acting on some inexplicable intuition, Juliet turned to look where the priests had disappeared, but they had already left.
"But what are priests doing in a place like this?"
Juliet glanced at the tent they had come from and spoke.
"They're buying up haunted items."
"Pardon? Why would they buy things like that?"
"To exorcise them and sell them again."
Even the temple priests weren't so pure as to avoid the black market. On the contrary, they had an exceptional knack for making money.
Selling exorcised items was one of their moneymaking methods.
Eselrid's eyes sparkled with interest.
"How do you know about that?"
Theo, who had been quietly listening, asked suspiciously. But Juliet didn't bother explaining.
Exorcism had been one of Dahlia's specialties in her first life.
After she learned that Dahlia could exorcise haunted treasures with holy power, she remembered seeing her buy up haunted items while wandering auction houses.
"Let's go."
Juliet boarded the carriage first.
However, on the way back, Juliet was lost deep in thought without saying a word.
Priests showing up at the black market.
'Is this related to Dahlia?'
Judging by the timeline from her memories of her first life, the timing lined up roughly.
'But if so, there should be a huge fuss about the prophecy being fulfilled or the goddess manifesting.'
It was far too quiet compared to past events.
Other than the news of Duke Carlisle preparing for marriage, she hadn't heard anything indicating Dahlia's appearance. What was going on?
"By the way, we couldn't get an appraisal on the egg after all. What do we do?"
"It's fine."
She had grown fond of it, starting from the coincidental find and the wonder of seeing such an egg for the first time in her life, making her hesitate. But Juliet decided to think rationally.
"Just find a buyer for it."
She couldn't take responsibility for anything when she didn't even know what her own future held.
"Ah, in that case, getting it appraised first and then selling it would fetch a higher price."
"I don't care."
Crack.
At that moment, a crumbling sound rang out.
"?
"What was that? Didn't you hear something just now?"
"Lady?"
Eselrid and Theo asked alternately from the front seat.
But Juliet couldn't respond. She had frozen in place, still clutching the towel-wrapped egg to her chest.
Crack, plop. Plop, plop.
The surface of the egg's shell began to crumble from the inside bit by bit, and in an instant, something black inside poked its head out.
And then,
"Peep!"
Juliet's eyes met a pair of large, yellow ones.
*
"So....."
Lionel Levatan faced the creature on the table.
A sleek black body, a balanced long tail, and a pair of gem-like bright yellow eyes.
"You're saying this is a dragon?"
"Yes, my lord."
As if understanding they were talking about it, the ancient magical beast threateningly opened its mouth wide and flapped its wings, revealing fairly sharp teeth.
"Pip!"
But the cry that came out was still just 'pip.'
Juliet felt somehow embarrassed.
The baby dragon's appearance was endearingly cute, like any young hatchling.
She had thought dragons would be reptilian, but the newborn wyrm chirped like a chick and acted like a kitten.
"Here."
When Lionel plucked a grape and held it out, the baby dragon hesitated.
"Hiss....."
It eyed him warily before finally taking the grape, then stealthily backed up toward Juliet, munching on it with soft chomping sounds.
"That thing. What a temper."
Lionel clicked his tongue.
"Wasn't the last dragon discovered about 300 years ago?"
"That's right."
Lionel Levatan seemed to be pondering something.
Juliet watched him quietly for a moment before deliberately shifting her position.
"Over there."
"Pip!"
But the baby dragon startled at Juliet's slightest movement, dropped its food in a hurry, and chased after her.
"I've been the one feeding it every meal and cleaning up after it since it hatched, you know."
Eselrid seemed a bit miffed about it.
The newborn baby dragon was smaller than a cat. Its long, sleek form made it look like an otter or a weasel at times.
".....It has wings."
"!"
While the baby dragon buried its nose in the plate to eat, Juliet squatted in front of it to observe.
Curious about what dragons ate, she had asked Eselrid, who said it would eat anything since it was a magical beast anyway.
Sure enough, it devoured whatever she gave it eagerly.
Thanks to that, it had grown noticeably in just three days.
If it kept growing at this rate, wouldn't it be the size of a calf in three months? That wouldn't do.
Juliet grew worried.
While it focused on eating, the tiny wings—barely worthy of the name—flapped incessantly.
"It doesn't seem to be a sea dragon."
As Eselrid said, she was the one caring for the baby dragon most diligently.
Even so, it constantly followed Juliet silently, often getting its tail stepped on.
"Pip!"
"You're an idiot."
If you're going to follow, at least make some noise.
Juliet sighed and picked up the baby dragon again.
"By the way, have you named it?"
"Is that important?"
"Dragon names are special. Kings' names fade, but the names of all dragons that ever existed remain in the history books."
Come to think of it, the mages of the Mage Tower were obsessed with dragons.
They recorded everything about them and would even stake their lives on researching dragons.
'Then will this one's name live on forever in the history books too?'
Juliet watched the young dragon rolling on the floor for a moment before saying,
"Peep."
".....Are you serious?"
"It goes 'peep.'"
"Gurgle?"
The baby dragon, who had been playfully gnawing on a soft cloth, lifted its head.
It seemed to know they were talking about it.
"Then Blackie?"
Black, playful, plump.
Juliet knew from the start she had no talent for naming. Still, it was amusing how Eselrid's face darkened with each suggestion.
Was it that bad?
Seeming desperate, Eselrid anxiously flipped through a book.
"How about Valak? In ancient tongue, it means great dragon....."
"No thanks."
Truth be told, it wasn't that she disliked the meaning; she just didn't want to name the baby dragon at all.
'It feels like if I name it, I'll really have to raise it.'
"Then will you sell it?"
"Sell what?"
"That."
Grr rumble, kiru ruk.
It made high-pitched sounds like strange bird calls and purred on her lap.
"Who would buy this thing?"
"You're surprisingly innocent, Lady. I didn't expect that from you."
Eselrid raised her glasses in surprise.
"The last record of a dragon is a whopping 300 years ago."
Dragons were the kings among magical beasts, said to be extinct.
"The price is whatever you ask for it," Eselrid explained.
"Dragon hide doesn't burn in any fire, and a single drop of dragon blood makes a powerful antidote."
This thing?
Juliet looked down at her lap skeptically.
"Pip?"
As if knowing, the dragon tilted its head.
This oversized pigeon?
"If you wish, I can connect you with a good buyer."
"A good buyer?"
"The Mage Tower mages would go mad for it especially. They'd be ecstatic over a single scale or drop of blood. So the price is whatever you name."
A scene automatically formed in Juliet's mind.
The innocent baby dragon sprawled limply on something like an operating table.
The mere imagination made her uncomfortable, so Juliet quickly shoved the dragon into a basket and covered it with cloth.
Unaware of the situation, the baby dragon purred happily inside the basket, but Juliet stated firmly,
"I'm not selling it."
"You'll regret it."
For someone spouting lines like a cheap third-rate villain, Eselrid surprisingly backed off easily.
"If you insist."
"Pip?"
The baby dragon poked its head out from the basket, handkerchief draped over it.
It looked around frantically since it couldn't see, so Juliet lifted the cloth.
"Flap!"
Their eyes met, and the baby dragon happily flapped its wings.
.....It might fetch a high price, but it didn't seem all that smart.