Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: The Giant Egg
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74
7
Choco balanced on top of the enormous egg on its two feet.
Watching it wobble all by itself, it looked precarious, but somehow it didn't fall off.
I sat on the edge of the dorm bed, staring intently at the sight.
For now, the fact that this massive sphere was some kind of egg... I understood that through dimensional magic.
Still, it was so huge that it didn't look like an egg at all.
Honestly, even if someone told me it was a bomb, a launch port, or even an artificial satellite, I'd believe it.
To begin with, no one knew what kind of egg it was.
"Haa... Why did I even bring it back..."
As soon as I found that egg, the mirror world collapsed.
According to my understanding via dimensional magic, the space itself hadn't vanished.
It was more like a forced ejection, so I could probably re-enter by playing rock-paper-scissors again.
The problem was that egg.
The mirror world's entrance, which should have stayed open, had clearly closed because of it.
What kind of egg it was, what abilities it had, why it was in the mirror world—everything was unknown.
"Why do I keep ending up with more mysteries to solve...?"
The secrets Theo had uncovered at Esterro Academy, the screams from Tartarus Hall, Deathwise's red runes...
I already had a pile of mysteries that would take time to unravel, and now a new puzzle had been added.
On top of that, this Easter egg I chased out of sheer curiosity before classes even started had spat out yet another secret.
There was a limit to how randomly riddles could pop up...
"Anyway, what am I supposed to do with this egg?"
For starters, Choco could ride on it and play.
I'd checked it out thoroughly while moving it.
Generally, the larger an object, the higher its strength and hardness.
Just compare a chicken egg to an ostrich egg—the shell's durability was on another level to maintain its shape.
At that size, it probably wouldn't crack even if I hammered it.
In the end, the issue boiled down to what kind of egg it was.
Reptile? Bird? In some cases, it could even be mammal.
The handling method would differ depending on what it was.
Well, ultimately, incubating it would be the same...
If I wrapped it warmly in a blanket or something, maybe something would hatch.
Setting aside whether leaving it to hatch was the right call.
Choco, with its legs spread wide, proudly puffed out its chest.
Then it lost its balance and toppled forward.
The egg rolling backward from the recoil was just icing on the cake.
"Choco, you okay?"
Nod, nod.
Looks like it wouldn't get hurt from something like that.
"You can play, but no messing around."
Choco rolled its eyes.
This guy, pretending not to understand.
After glaring at it for a while, it finally nodded hesitantly.
I should set the fallen egg back up.
I couldn't just let it roll around.
I approached the egg.
Only then did I notice something engraved on its bottom.
I crouched down and peered closely... The inscription under the egg looked like a rune.
However, it was a rune I'd never seen before, so interpretation was impossible.
So far, the only rune I couldn't decipher was the one on the demon sword.
Was there some connection between the demon sword and this egg?
I wanted to ask, but the demon sword had been asleep for a long time now.
It probably wouldn't answer until tonight at the earliest.
"Hmm... Should I try hatching it for now."
If it was related to the demon sword's rune, it would be best to try everything I could.
First, I pulled out a thick blanket and wrapped it snugly around the egg.
No idea what would come out.
For now, grow big and strong.
8
"The world sure is great. They even have an incubator this big."
I stuffed the incubator I'd bought from the five-district shopping area into my lightweight bag.
It was a massive incubator big enough to fit the entire giant egg.
Without a size-adjusting lightweight bag, even transporting it would have been tough.
For reference, the incubator was for large magical beasts.
It was used for the eggs of porura, large birds resembling ostriches that pulled carriages instead of horses.
No matter how I thought about it, the egg in my dorm didn't seem like a porura egg.
I couldn't even guess among large magical beasts of similar size.
Size-wise, even a dragon hatching wouldn't be surprising.
Dragon... huh, a dragon.
If a dragon popped out of nowhere, that would be insane.
Demon sword user, dimensional magic aptitude, and then dragon contractor on top.
"Too many tropes, way too many."
I chuckled at my own ridiculous thought.
Dragons weren't that common.
I'd met one while retrieving the holy sword before, making it seem easy, but ordinary people never saw one in their lifetime.
The odds that an egg hidden in an Easter egg, no less in the isolated mirror world, was a dragon egg?
Even if a real dragon hatched, it'd be a problem.
Dragons didn't have imprinting that made them see the first thing they saw as their mother.
If it didn't swing a front paw or breathe fire the moment our eyes met, I'd count myself lucky.
I did have a scale from the white dragon Dressia...
But whether it'd work properly on a newborn dragon was questionable.
Even if it did, having a dragon around would bring endless headaches.
Fine, as long as it's not a dragon.
Ideally, something that doesn't look impressive at first glance.
"Ah, hey! It's my friend!"
A sudden call made me look around.
Ethan approached briskly, carrying a load as big as his torso.
He wasn't in uniform but a plain white shirt with rolled-up sleeves revealing toned arms.
"Fancy meeting you here! Vacation's still got a ways to go—back already?"
"As you can see. You?"
"Same here! Scouting the market early is basics of the basics!"
Very merchant-like words.
Even if Ethan himself had little to do with commerce.
His blue eyes blinked as he grinned cheerfully, so I let it slide.
"That all merchandise?"
"Yeah, heading out to deliver it now! See ya later!"
Ethan started walking with a friendly smile.
Impressive how he could carry that much.
Could most problems really be solved with core muscles?
"Whoa..."
In the meantime, Ethan wobbled.
The load swayed heavily.
Looks like even toned muscles couldn't handle that.
From a glance, it was mostly kids' stuff.
He was probably heading to the orphanage where he'd left Felt and Louie.
"...Sigh."
If I went back now, it'd bug me.
Better to eliminate the source of my worry.
Choco should be watching the egg fine.
"Hey, Ethan."
"Yeah? Still got business?"
"No business, just give me half that load."
"Huh? What?"
Ethan blinked and tilted his head.
His silver hair shimmered in the sunlight with the motion.
"You're going to the orphanage, right? I'll come with—hand it over."
"Ah, you're helping out! Thanks!"
Ethan beamed and handed over half his load.
I tried to lift it, but it didn't budge an inch.
How the hell had this guy been carrying it?
"Haha, heavy, right? I packed extra."
Grinning shamelessly, Ethan lightened my share a bit.
Only when it was down to about a third could I lift it.
Still heavy, but I didn't show it.
9
Sitting on the bench, my body ached all over.
Since I was there, I couldn't refuse the kind director's offer of tea.
That led to helping with the piled-up laundry, then dishes I couldn't ignore.
By the time cooking and serving lunch were done, noon had long passed.
I sat dazed on the bench, gazing up at the blue sky.
The orphanage, being in Esset city, had good facilities.
A yard for kids to play, clean bathrooms and bedrooms.
Everything was there except manpower.
But that was adults' concern.
The kids had finished lunch and were now romping in the yard.
"Take this, Demon King!"
A kid holding a stick like a sword shouted.
Next to him, one with a cloth draped like a cape was the mage, hands clasped was the priest, and the one holding a trash can lid upright was the warrior.
A proper four-man party.
The stick-wielder was probably the hero.
It was amusing to think someone from this orphanage might actually join a hero party one day.
"What's so funny?"
Speak of the devil.
Ethan plopped down beside me just then.
I took the mug he offered.
"Why am I the Demon King? I wanna be the hero too!"
"I'm taller, so I'm obviously the hero!"
"That's not how it works!"
In the meantime, the kids started bickering.
Ethan took a deep breath and yelled at them.
"No fighting—solve it with talk! Got it!?"
Yesss!
The kids chorused back, then huddled to discuss.
Solving it with actual talk without fighting—they must get along really well.
"Whew, the kids energetic, huh? Tough?"
"Kids that age are all like that growing up."
I tilted my cup.
It was cold, sweet iced chocolate.
My blood sugar was low, so it hit the spot.
"Haha, yeah. Annoying sometimes, but they're all good kids. Feels like little siblings now."
His voice dipped subtly as he said "little siblings."
Ethan started volunteering purely because he missed his dead brother.
Blaming himself, holing up in his room like an empty shell, he'd started recovering through orphanage work.
His surprisingly low grades were all from that hollow period.
So for Ethan, this orphanage wasn't just a place to give one-sidedly.
The kids healed him, and he healed the kids.
"By the way, Theo, don't you have a little brother too?"
"...Yeah."
My delayed reply was because I knew his story.
Just a slight hesitation, but Ethan smiled awkwardly.
"You know, huh? It was a famous incident. No need to tiptoe."
Unlike his awkward smile, he seemed unusually mature.
I'd thought he was oblivious, but not entirely.
I swallowed another sip of iced chocolate before speaking.
"Yeah. Turns five this year. Cute kid."
"Sounds like you're talking about someone else's brother."
"What're you saying."
There was still a subtle distance between us.
I swallowed the sweetness appropriately.
Ethan gulped his iced chocolate coolly and rubbed his chin.
"Does he look like a friend or something?"
"More like Mom than me. Why?"
"Good thing. If he took after you, he might turn fierce."
"What, man?"
I glared at Ethan without thinking.
He'd dropped the mature vibe and was grinning innocently.
"Ooh, getting fierce. Kidding, just kidding."
"You... don't sneak away standing up like that."
"Haha, who'd sit still after hearing that? Friend?"
Ethan jumped up quick.
Then yelled at the kids.
"That guy's the Demon King over there! Help!"
"Demon King?"
"For real!?"
They hadn't even finished role assignments, but the kids swarmed.
Wait, what about the kid who was just the Demon King?
No time to question as they charged me.
Of course, Ethan watched from afar, laughing heartily.
Coward.
Using little kids...
In the end, I unwillingly became the orphanage Demon King.
It took less than 30 minutes to collapse from the kids' endless stamina.