Dayton was fiddling with his face that had been struck by Yerna.
“Ouch.”
Although the misunderstanding had been cleared up, no matter how much it was resolved, his face still bore clear marks from her hands.
In fact, he even had a tissue stuck in his nostrils to stop the bleeding, making him look quite ridiculous.
Dayton complained to Yerna.
“Are you just going to throw punches without understanding the situation? There’s no way I would hit Luke.”
“I-I’m sorry. I just did it thoughtlessly…”
“…I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. When I look like this, I can’t help but want to be spoiled by those close to me…”
“N-No! It’s not your fault; I was the one being rash!”
The moment he saw Luke’s tears, it felt like the thread of reason in Yerna’s mind snapped. Although Yerna was a woman with deep thoughts, unfortunately, her thinking became hasty when it concerned Luke.
She was simply an unavoidable fool.
Luke had rushed in first.
In truth, Yerna already knew that Luke had shown a similar reaction in the past. Today was the first time she realized that it was also a tendency in Dayton.
“By the way, Luke. How long is that state going to last?”
Dayton asked with concern.
It was certainly a joyous occasion to see Luke’s body growing, but such rapid growth was only puzzling for both sides.
This was too much.
For a ten-year-old, in many ways…
Luke was causing unnecessary misunderstandings due to his maturing appearance compared to his peers.
Hadn’t he done so just this morning?
Even as they went out, people were questioning, “Is this child really your daughter?” What would others think if he were seen with that Luke?
Yerna shared similar worries.
“Indeed, last time it took two days to return, right?”
Yerna had seen Luke’s grown form before. He had sat there groaning and struggling for two days before finally returning to his former self. Now she wondered how long this state would last.
“That’s right… But this time, I think as soon as I calm down, it will be quick.”
“That’s a relief.”
Dayton and Yerna sighed in relief, as the longer this state lasted, the more troublesome it would be for everyone.
‘At this rate, Yerna could pass for a younger sister…’
This was not just a matter of appearance.
Luke’s height after growing was notably tall for a girl.
Yerna, who had always been on the shorter side, now looked exceedingly small compared to Luke, who appeared to be at least 180cm tall.
Even standing next to her, Luke seemed to not feel at all intimidated.
Yet, for a ten-year-old to have this kind of body, it was truly unbelievable.
If Luke weren’t a chimera, this would have been completely unacceptable.
“If the kids were awake, this would have been a real mess…”
What would Diana say if she saw this?
…Just then, the thought crossed her mind.
“…Sister? Brother?”
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
Oh no, it seemed that the earlier commotion had woken her.
“““!!!”””
——-
Diana, who had been waiting for her sister and brother to return, had gotten up from the bed as soon as she heard the noise.
She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she appeared in the living room.
In Diana’s arms was Liv, who was upset with Luke and had cuddled into Diana. Her hair was tousled from sleep, sticking out in all directions.
Then Diana saw the awkward scene of Dayton and Yerna embracing each other.
“Oh, oh my. You’re awake?”
“Oh, what are you doing in the living room, Diana?”
The awkwardness was so severe that even Diana, just waking up, could sense it.
“Why are you standing by the dining table?”
That was a good question.
Usually, when there’s a table, one sits. Why should they be standing next to it?
It was clearly an inefficient and illogical action.
Surely, there should be a coherent reason for it.
However, in this scene, there was no good teacher to answer the student’s good question.
“Ah, that’s…”
“This is, well…”
In the end, the explanation for the question came from the student themselves.
“Oh, I get it. You’re saying goodnight and giving a kiss, right?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Goodnight, kiss?”
Did the adults not know that? Diana explained.
“Yeah. You know how before going to bed, you say goodnight and kiss the kids? That’s why you’re standing like that, right?”
At Diana’s words, Yerna and Dayton exchanged a glance before awkwardly continuing the conversation.
“…Ah, right. That’s it.”
“Haha, you caught us.”
Diana grinned and laughed back at them.
“What? Are you saying you can’t sleep without a kiss goodnight, like little kids?”
This was a kind of ritual that the teachers used to do with babies who couldn’t sleep in their old orphanage.
There had been a time when she too needed to receive a kiss to fall asleep, but she felt she had graduated from that phase long ago.
That meant she could sleep well without needing a kiss, indicating she had grown up.
But it seemed her sister and brother were still like little kids.
“Well, I guess so. Hahaha, how embarrassing.”
Yerna awkwardly laughed along with Diana, while Dayton responded somewhat firmly.
“Hey, people become like babies in front of those they love.”
“…Dayton?”
Hearing that here?
‘What does that even mean?’
Dayton took a moment to enjoy the various expressions on Yerna’s face as she looked up at him, before turning back to Diana.
“Enough about that, you need to hurry and go back to sleep. If you sleep early, you’ll grow taller.”
“Yawn. Got it. You two sleep well too.”
“Y-Yeah. Sleep well.”
With that, Diana turned and slowly walked back up the stairs toward her room.
“…”
“…”
As the two watched Diana disappear, they whispered toward the table the moment she completely vanished.
“Diana is gone. Now we can talk, Luke.”
Then Luke, who had been peeking out from underneath the table, poked his face out from under the tablecloth.
“Phew, that was a close one. I almost got caught and it would have been really complicated to explain.”
“Hahaha, right…? Good thing we used a long tablecloth.”
Luke agreed with Yerna’s statement.
In truth, they had tried to change the tablecloth several times, but decided to leave it since Diana and Pyris liked to hide here during their games of hide and seek. Little did they know it would benefit him as well.
If Diana saw him like this, he wouldn’t know how to explain.
Would she even believe that the sister she had just played with had become so huge?
“Ah…”
With relief, Luke let out a big sigh.
He was thankful that nothing serious had happened.
However, Dayton added one more thing to him.
“Hey, but earlier I saw your tail sticking out from under the tablecloth.”
“Wha—what? I thought I was hiding properly…!”
Luke panicked unusually and grabbed his own tail.
It was quite a cute sight, given his size.
At that, Dayton and Yerna burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! With your body size, it seems that didn’t fit at all?”
“Pffft, it’s too late now, Luke.”
“Ah, if only I had known, I would have done something about it sooner…!”
Dayton thought as he watched the scene.
‘The bigger he becomes, the more childish he seems.’
It was awkward when he pretended to be mature with a childlike body, but now that he had a grown-up body, it felt awkward in a different way.
It seemed Luke was destined to always be awkward.
By the way, today had truly been an exhausting day. He felt he could fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
——
Meanwhile, somewhere.
“The project was successful. The Dragon Heart appears to resonate properly.”
“Good.”
It was a satisfying result.
All the numerous experiments conducted until now were for this moment.
Although it was regrettable that he could not retrieve the lost sample, the truth was that the utility of the Dragon Heart had already been fulfilled at the point it could be implanted into a living being.
There had been no need to cling to the samples from the outset.
“However, the stability… It’s falling short of initial expectations. It tends to go berserk upon awakening…”
“Huh. Stability, is it?”
Unfortunately, the stability issue was unavoidable.
After all, the materials were different now compared to then.
Since it couldn’t be properly blended, it was expected to go awry.
As he listened to the report, he scattered folders on the table and pondered.
‘Even if I draw on fate as much as possible, is this all I can do?’
It was a frustrating situation that made him grit his teeth, but he soon regained his composure.
After all, wasn’t he well aware by now that fate wouldn’t favor him?
In that case, he could just adjust the plans.
As he had always done.
“However, there’s something I need to mention.”
“What is it?”
“Today, there was an intruder within the facility.”
“…What did you say?”
This could be a serious matter.
He thought he had been cautious this time, but was fate obstructing him again?
He might think that if this caused the plan to go awry, it would be much more efficient to cut off the heads of those involved and raise them as Undead.
“However, there was no damage to the project. There were just casualties.”
“Hm.”
With the continued report, anger slightly mixed with his voice subsided.
As long as the project was okay, the casualties didn’t matter.
“Well then, that’s fine. Is the dimensional sealing still on schedule?”
“That seems to be on track.”
In that case, there was no problem with the plan.
“Well then, it’s of no concern. I’ll just rearrange the steps of the plan.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
He picked up a folder from the table and muttered.
“It’s time to bring out the liquor that has been stored away and pour it into a new glass.”
Nidhogg.
A beast that gnaws at the roots of the World Tree.
That was the word written in his folder.
