“Luria-chan, if Loa is a dragon… I wonder if Mom would say it’s not okay to keep one after all?”
Sara says anxiously.
“…There is a possibility. We might have to pass it off as a winged lizard.”
“Do you think we can pass it off?”
“Not easy, that’s for sure.”
I, Sara, and Kuro are discussing how to get permission to keep Loa.
The problem is that my mom knows a lot about animals.
She reads “The Encyclopedia of Strong Creatures,” after all.
“Hmm? Should we hide Loa, just in case?”
“It’ll be found out immediately.”
“It’s pretty obvious.”
While we’re talking, Loa alternates between rubbing its body against us, acting all affectionate.
Sara and Kuro are petting Loa as we continue the discussion.
“…Not all at once, but… gradually?”
“Gradually?”
“Yeah. Gradually make Mom think it would be nice to keep a dragon.”
If we lay the groundwork and make Mom think it would be nice to have a dragon, permission might be granted.
“We’ll need to subtly appeal to her, huh?”
“Got it. I’ll do my best.”
Sara nods firmly. I feel reassured.
“It won’t go that smoothly, you know.”
Kuro says this with a tone of disbelief, but I ignore it. We won’t know until we try.
If we fail, we’ll just come up with a new plan then.
While being affectionate, Loa is now sucking on my finger.
“Is Loa hungry? But dragons don’t nurse because they hatch from eggs.”
“They don’t?”
“Yeah, creatures that hatch from eggs don’t usually nurse.”
“Wow…”
Sara is impressed by the depth of my knowledge. I feel a little embarrassed.
“Anyway, we need to make sure Loa gets its food, right?”
“Yeah. Food is important.”
“Very important. Loa-sama is still a baby.”
Sara nods firmly again.
“Waah waah?”
Hearing the word “food,” Daru wakes up.
Daru gets up, immediately huffing and puffing, and starts licking me.
“Wait, wait.”
“Woof?”
“Not yet, we haven’t prepared food.”
“Peep!”
Daru whines, “Why do you say such cruel things?” as it snuggles up to me.
But I’m not being mean.
After all, the food isn’t ready yet.
“I think breakfast should be ready when Jijo comes.”
“Peep.”
“Wait until then.”
I soothe Daru, patting its head.
“I can make Daru wait for food, but… the real problem is Loa’s food.”
“Yam?”
Loa, who had been sucking on my finger, tilts its head without releasing my finger.
“If we hide Loa from Mom… we won’t be able to take it to the dining room…”
“Should we secretly hide its food and bring it back?”
“I tried something like that earlier and it was found out.”
Sara’s suggestion is something I tried earlier and failed.
I hid snacks and brought them back to my room, but it was discovered right away.
“Kuro, what does Loa eat?”
“Well… probably anything.”
“Really? Sara, Loa will eat anything, apparently?”
It’s great that it will eat anything.
“Yeah… but Loa probably has likes and dislikes. I think?”
“Indeed… Sara-chan is right. It’s lizard-like, so maybe it likes insects?”
Lizards eat insects. Loa isn’t exactly a lizard, but it’s similar.
So, its food preferences might be like a lizard’s.
I pet Loa while thinking.
“But catching insects is hard.”
The larvae of rhinoceros beetles are underground. It’s probably in the pupal stage now. Digging for them or asking Daru for help would be tough.
“Catching insects is difficult, but babies need to eat a lot…”
“Really? Even though they’re so small?”
“Yes. Even though they’re small.”
I remember when I was a baby, I drank milk from Marion and Mom about eight to ten times a day.
I remember being so hungry I couldn’t stand it.
When I was hungry in the middle of the night, I just endured it.
I could endure it because I had memories of it.
A normal baby would have cried because they couldn’t bear it.
Plus, I had Daru.
If I was hungry, Daru would sense it and go to call Marion.
I would apologize to Marion in my heart while drinking my fill of milk, as she sleepily gave it to me.
“I wish I could produce milk too…”
“Babies don’t produce milk.”
“Exactly.”
There’s no use lamenting that we can’t produce milk.
We’ll have to think of another way.
