Chapter : 44
“Invincible~ Fried Egg~”
Finally, just sprinkle some parsley and pepper on top of the fry, and it’s done!
“Hmm~ smells great!”
Lulu flapped her chubby little hands and sniffed, nodding in satisfaction.
Knock, knock, knock.
That was when someone knocked at the front door.
“Ah.”
Lulu quickly put down her fork and ran to open the door, and there stood Chase.
“Thanks for inviting me.”
After the formal greeting, the boy’s expression turned serious.
“Fried egg ready?”
“Yep. Lulu, you got this!”
To live, or to die a little later.
A tense atmosphere lingered in the eyes of the two children standing at that crossroads.
Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the Shadow Forest.
“Ukki… ukkikki!”
“Kkikki-ki!”
Angry ice monkeys were threatening a nearby horned rabbit.
“…Kyaaak!”
The horned rabbit fought back, but eventually surrendered to the gang-like habits of the monkeys swinging branches as weapons.
“Kkiiing.”
The rabbit hit the ground with a thud and ran away.
Ice monkeys were notoriously aggressive creatures, often called the “brutes” of the Shadow Forest.
Especially when they were hungry, their violent tendencies became most apparent.
“Ukkiri-!”
A pile of Oryx bananas lay in the field.
It was the food they had carefully collected over the past few days.
But…
“Ukki, ukkikki?”
“Kkikki…”
The ice monkeys anxiously checked the fruits and looked around.
Their leader hadn’t shown up today either!
Yes. Ice monkeys had a strict hierarchy, and when eating the fruits, the leader had to eat first.
But Chase, now their leader, had gone missing, leaving them starving for days without touching anything.
“U.kki.”
Finally, an ice monkey with triangular eyes shouted.
This won’t do. We have to find our leader and eat the fruits!
“Ukki-!”
“Ukkikki!”
Other ice monkeys, agreeing with this, picked up branches and roared.
Meanwhile, Lulu, unaware of all this, swallowed hard.
She wasn’t worried that Chase would find the fried egg sandwich bad.
She just… wanted to eat the fried egg sandwich herself!
‘I should’ve asked them to make one for me too!’
But the orange juice was already spilled!
“Here, try it. Five-layer fried egg sandwich.”
Lulu wiped her saliva off with the back of her hand and offered it.
Chase, sitting at the table, looked more serious than ever.
He eyed the food intensely, as if facing an ice monkey.
Then…
“Mmm.”
He took a big bite and swallowed it whole—
“…Delicious.”
His eyes widened.
Hooray! I saved my friend!
“But still, not as good as cookies.”
“Whaaat?!”
Her secret weapon defeated, only beaten by cookies.
“No, something must be wrong. Maybe the ketchup wasn’t spread evenly…?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Chase answered seriously.
“Cookies have sugar in them. That’s why they taste better.”
“…Huh?!”
Using sugar as a cheat!
Lulu’s mouth fell open at the shocking revelation.
Chase, telling the bitter truth, finished the fried egg without leaving a single bite.
Now, only Chase’s decision remained.
Lulu, staring at the empty plate in despair, muttered sulkily,
“Hmm… then maybe later I should try sprinkling sugar on fried eggs?”
She tried to subtly postpone her bucket list idea, but the other wasn’t so easy.
Chase shook his head.
“It’s already delicious enough.”
“Ah… I see.”
“…But fried eggs alone aren’t enough.”
“What?”
“The reason I have to live.”
…Whoa. Heavy stuff!
Lulu’s mouth tightened in confusion.
Then Chase suddenly looked straight at her and asked,
“Dragon. I want to know why you want to live. You hide your identity from people, and it must be uncomfortable. Why do you choose to keep living?”
Lulu had never been asked that before!
Her tiny brain spun furiously.
She recalled every storybook she’d ever read, but all the books talked about heroes and dragons, princesses and knights, and questions about who pooped on her head.
‘Why do I live?’
Her walnut-sized brain started trembling at the difficult question she had never pondered.
But Lulu wouldn’t give up!
Think of something she liked.
Fried eggs—her favorite!
Then…
“Because… life is like eggs?”
She swallowed hard.
Four-year-old Lulu, this was the best answer she could give!
“…Life is like eggs… why is life like eggs?”
The boy mulled over the baby dragon’s answer, his thick eyelashes lowering.
What could it possibly mean?
‘I don’t know, but it’s worth thinking about.’
It was the answer of a baby dragon who could smile innocently through the storms of life.
“I don’t know what it means yet… but I’ll think about it.”
But his words didn’t end there.
“And about the idea you mentioned… trying sugar on fried eggs.”
“Huh?”
Chase hesitated, embarrassed to speak.
“Can I try it next time? I got curious.”
His earlobes slightly reddened as he asked carefully.
Lulu, whose eyes had grown tired from thinking so hard, lit up.
“Of course! Let’s try it tomorrow!”
“Okay.”
Chase nodded!
Chase could survive another day!
“Hmm, hmmm~.”
Feeling happy, Lulu wiggled her chubby legs.
Chase’s gaze, resting on his chin, shifted downward.
“…Does that make you feel better?”
After hearing Lulu’s ‘life is eggs’ reflection, he seemed ready to mimic everything the baby dragon did.
“Yes! It’s like riding a swing!”
“A swing?”
“Whee, whee. Sway, sway!”
“…What’s fun about that?”
He sounded indifferent, but his legs were already copying Lulu.
Then—
“Kyah-!”
Suddenly, a woman’s scream echoed from outside the tower.
“What’s happening?!”
Angela rushed down the stairs and opened the front door, sensing danger.
“Let’s go check it out!”
“Do we have to?”
Chase didn’t seem curious about anything other than the boiled egg.
“Yes! We have to know what’s happening—that’s the hero’s way!”
Lulu leapt out of her chair and ran outside, and Chase reluctantly followed.
Outside was pure chaos!
“What are these guys? Won’t they leave?!”
“Ukki, ukkikki!”
“Let go! My hair!”
“Ah! That monkey stole my bread!”
-Oh no, the gates of hell have definitely opened!
Gem, who was watching, screamed.
Lulu’s mouth hung open in shock.
Knights and people were being attacked by a horde of monkeys.
Of course, the knights were fighting back, but…
‘There are too many monkeys!’
No matter how many they chased off, more kept appearing!
“Ice… ice monkeys disappear quickly if you defeat the leader. The problem is, we don’t know who the leader is!”
A knight shouted after flicking a monkey off his head. Lulu and Chase exchanged a glance.
“Chase is the leader.”
“We haven’t seen ice monkeys since then.”
Then—
-Oh, little hero, these lowly creatures say they are starving because their collected fruits were not received by their leader!
Gems interpreted what had been nothing but ukkikki noises.
“Huh? Really?”
Then if we give the fruits in the monkeys’ hands to Chase… success?
“Hero, Lulu, move out!”
Lulu darted between Angela’s legs.
“Lulu, don’t come back!!”
Despite the scary warning behind her, the baby dragon always acted faster than expected.
“Hitcha-!”
Flapping her wings, she snatched a fruit from a monkey and quickly returned to Chase.
“You have to eat this!”
She fed the fruit to Chase, who obediently opened his mouth—
“Kki?”
The ice monkeys froze.
They stared at Chase chewing the fruit, then, seemingly satisfied, scattered away like the tide.
“What… what?”
“I don’t know. They suddenly disappeared as if dead?”
“Ha, my head is a mess now.”
Finally, people sighed in relief.
Peace returned to the small village, and Chase, sensing something odd in his relationship with the monkeys, narrowed his eyes.
“…Could it be that the monkeys were angry because of me?”
