Chapter 9
Chapter 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: A Dragon Lives in the Hamburger Shop
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Just before the coat hanger anomaly ignored Grandpa and stepped into the shop.
"Get the hell outta here?!"
I grabbed the thing near its hanger leg with my hand and yanked it far away.
"Shiiik—!!"
The creature slid across the floor, spewing steam.
As the people hanging from it like clothes in a boutique touched the steam, their wrinkles smoothed out bit by bit.
Their bodies straightened out like perfectly pressed suits.
"Lua! It's dangerous!!"
"Granddaughter! Don't!"
Mi-ra Owner, who had taken shelter inside the shop, spotted me facing off against the anomaly and rushed out in a panic.
She was quickly stopped by Grandpa and dragged back inside.
"...Hoo."
This was the perfect chance to show Mi-ra Owner what I could do.
I never planned on being treated like a freeloader who mooched burgers without lifting a finger.
"Mi-ra Owner's watching me...."
I took slow, deep breaths and glared coldly at the anomaly.
"Shiiik—! Shiiik—!"
It spewed out bright yellow steam in a threatening display.
...It looked like that steam was turning the people it touched into clothes.
"Lua!!"
Mi-ra Owner called my name plaintively from inside the shop.
On the surface, it might look like a young dragon girl was about to get taken down by a massive hanger anomaly.
"You think some cheap trick like that can take me on?"
"Shik—?"
"You.... made a big mistake."
My body wasn't as fragile as a human's.
"Go ahead. If you can."
"Shiiiik! Shik—!"
Tsssh—! The thing spread its two arms wide and blasted deadly steam at me like it had been waiting.
"Ah, no...!"
My figure vanished completely into the steam, and Mi-ra Owner collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide in shock.
Normally, any human caught in this would end up rolling on the floor as a piece of cloth.
But since I was an anomaly just like it, I wasn't about to turn into fabric—instead, I emerged coolly from the smoke.... Ugh, what the hell is that smell?
"Ack! Hack! It reeks...."
The steam it spewed had an indescribable stench.
I whipped my tail around to fan the steam away.
"Shik shik??"
The hanger anomaly couldn't comprehend why I hadn't turned into clothing and spewed even more steam.
"Enough! Tsssh!"
The ammonia-like smell kept assaulting me, making my hypersensitive nose scream in agony.
"Shikss! Shik—!"
"I said stop!!"
I closed in on the idiot who kept spewing useless steam all day and smashed my fist into it.
Crack—! With the sound of the iron bar shattering, the anomaly toppled over.
Its steam dispersed in an instant, and a coat hanger clattered to the ground.
"Grandpa! Catch!"
I called out to Grandpa, who had been calmly observing the battle, then hurled the people hanging from the hanger toward the shop.
Thud thud thud! Amid the chaos of Grandpa barely catching them, the anomaly was left with just its main body in seconds.
"Now it's just you, huh? Whoa?!"
The moment I reached for its main body to seize victory, the hanger's iron bars twisted together grotesquely.
Unlike before when it was just ordinary furniture, it began taking on a human shape—and soon enough....
"...Stickman?"
It fully transformed into a crude stick-figure human, the kind I'd doodle in my notebooks back in school.
"Shik shik!! Shi shi shik!!"
Now fully transformed, it spun its body acrobatically, showing off tricks.
"What...? Showing off?"
I was momentarily entranced by its passionate display of moves that could've come straight out of a wuxia novel.
"Shiss!!"
Then it spewed steam and swung a fist at me.
Swoosh! As the solid iron bar fist rushed in, I bent backward naturally to dodge.
"Ehen! You're so slow I can see everything... Why go there?!"
"Shi shik!"
Instead of counterattacking right away, the hanger anomaly suddenly dashed past me toward the hamburger shop.
Grandpa, our only fighter, was defenseless while tending to the people on the hanger.
"...Ha."
It was like pulling a gun in the middle of a sword fight—a total cheap shot that made my blood boil.
So that's how you wanna play?
"Shiiik!!"
"Grandfather!! No!!"
"Damn it!!"
The moment it reached for Grandpa and spewed steam.
Sizzle—! The shot steam evaporated in an instant.
"Shik?"
Right in front of the bewildered hanger anomaly, whose sure-kill steam attack had been nullified....
"Don't touch my shop."
A pinkish dragon was snarling with flames flickering at the corners of her mouth.
"Shiii!"
It belatedly noticed me and tried spewing steam, but it evaporated instantly against the invisible heat.
Realizing its attacks weren't working at all, it tried to flee nimbly.
"Where do you think you're going."
Whoosh! I conjured flames at my fingertips and fired them at it.
"?!!!!!"
The hanger anomaly made a last desperate stand, unleashing all its steam—but that was its fatal mistake.
My flames tore through the steam barrier effortlessly, accelerating into a ferocious blaze.
"Shaaaaaaa———!!"
Rooooar—!
Caught in the inferno at ground zero, the hanger anomaly was obliterated without a trace by the immense heat.
The clear blue sky was dyed pinkish, creating a spectacular sight.
"Th-this.... this is...."
Grandpa stared in awe, and silence fell.
The dragon girl who had wrought this destruction turned around casually, swishing her tail.
"Ehehe. V!"
She flashed a harmless smile and a peace sign.
Perfect victory!
I took care of the steam-spewing hanger anomaly!
"Lua...!"
Realizing the fight was over, Mi-ra Owner jumped up and pulled me into a hug.
"Hyawt?"
"Seriously...! You!"
"Mi-ra Owner...?"
She fussed over my head, then roughly checked me over with her strong hands.
"What if you'd gotten hurt?! Huh?!"
"I'm an anomaly, so it's fine...."
"Even anomalies! You know kids shouldn't get involved in dangerous stuff like this!"
Once she confirmed I was unharmed, she held me to her soft chest and started crying.
"If something had happened to you, I.... Sob...."
"Um.... Mi-ra Owner.... I'm sorry...."
My plan to prove my usefulness had gone up in smoke.
...I must be really precious to Mi-ra Owner.
To shed tears for someone she'd known less than three days, she had a truly kind heart.
"...No burgers today! Confiscated!"
"Shaaak?! Why, whyyy!!"
"No more reckless stunts like that! Got it!?"
"Yes! But the burger...!"
"No means no! Confiscated!"
"Kyaang!!"
And so, the daytime hanger anomaly invasion ended with my burgers getting confiscated.
"Why would an anomaly that strong side with humans...."
Meanwhile, Tactical Filial Piety Grandpa still looked dazed, like he couldn't believe it.
"Hold on, Mi-ra Owner."
"Huh? Oh...."
I slipped out of her arms and offered my tail to Grandpa.
"...?"
"Here, Grandpa. Grab on and stand up."
I helped him up with my tail, then checked on the people who had been hanging from the hanger.
They were all perfectly smoothed out into clothes, eyes still closed.
"...Too late. Once you're caught by an anomaly like this, there's no saving you."
"......"
Just as Grandpa said, there seemed to be no way to reverse it.
Bowing my head, I silently mourned them.
"...Thanks for saving me."
Grandpa, who had nearly met the same fate, quietly thanked me as I mourned.
He hadn't believed me before, but throwing myself into danger to save him must've shown my sincerity.
"...If you're grateful, give me a burger."
"...Huh?"
After the mourning, I extended my cute little hand to Grandpa and boldly demanded a burger.
"Can't you get burgers from your granddaughter?"
"Mi-ra Owner won't give me any since I fought dangerously."
"...Hah. Fine, got it."
Grandpa made a reluctant face but nodded to his benefactor and hopped on his motorbike.
"I'll report to the Management Bureau and bring some back, so hide and wait."
Vrooom—. His cyberpunk motorbike roared, climbing the building wall and vanishing.
Still looks insanely cool no matter how many times I see it.
Wonder if he'll let me ride on the back later?
"I'll hide for a bit and come back."
"...Yeah. We'll handle the rest, so be careful."
My role was done, so I said goodbye to Mi-ra Owner—whose eyes were puffy from crying—and flew up into the sky.
Soon, a swarm of Management Bureau agents in black suits arrived and started cleaning up, asking questions.
"CASE-3O-365 neutralized, confirmed. But who took care of it?"
"My grandpa did."
"...Ah, him. Understood. We'll log it that way in the system."
When Mi-ra Owner said Grandpa handled it, the agents nodded, tossed a small cube that erased all traces of the battle, and left.
"...They bought that?"
Just what the heck is Grandpa?
Riding an over-tech motorbike and all....
"Is Grandpa in the Management Bureau too?"
The reasonable suspicion lasted only a moment before a cute rumble from my stomach made my pupils narrow vertically.
"Using all that power made me hungry...."
Did I overdo it fighting the hanger anomaly? I felt drained and craved food.
I want a greasy burger loaded with cheese.
With ketchup on top, it'd be amazing....
Drool dripped from my mouth as I perched on a utility pole, fiddling with my horns.
.
.
Five hours after the incident, as the sun dipped low.
"Grandpa!!"
His long-awaited motorbike finally pulled up to the hamburger shop.
"Why'd you take so long! And why do you have nothing in your hands?!"
"Tsk tsk.... Take a look at this."
The moment I prepared to launch a senior assault on Grandpa for forgetting the burgers, the motorbike's rear compartment opened, revealing a steaming burger.
"!!!"
This is...! The burger I couldn't have before!
"Took a while to dig out the one I hid."
I gave him a baffled look at wasting nearly five hours on one burger, and he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"Anyway, I brought it. Eat it before it cools."
The fluffy steam and that signature convenience store burger factory scent teased my nose.
"Thanks for the food! Ah hot?!"
I'd been starving since yesterday evening, so I gripped the burger with my cute hands—and yelped at the scorching heat.
"Tteet! Kyiing!"
Why is it this hot!?
Did they pull it straight from a furnace?
Is it an enhancement success burger?
"M-my.... my burger...."
"Why are you crying all of a sudden! What'd I do?!"
"My.... my buuurger...."
The sadness welled up at not being able to eat it right away because it was too hot. I plopped down, sniffling and sobbing.
"Why does Lua's crying sound so.... What the hell, Grandpa!? What did you do to our Lua!"
"I-I didn't do anything! This lizard just started crying on her own!"
Mi-ra Owner, resting in the shop, heard my wails and stormed out angrily.
Grandpa threw up his hands proclaiming innocence and pointed at the burger.
"A burger? You gave Lua a burger?"
"No...! Well! I gave her this burger, and then—hot!"
Grandpa grabbed the burger he'd meant for me, yelped at the heat, and flung it sky-high.
The thick double patty.
The soggy but sauce-soaked cabbage.
And the fluffy bun on top.
The layered burger came apart midair and splattered onto the ground.
Splat—
And just like that, it became a pitiful, cold mess.