The Baby Isn’t Yours

 

“Father, father!”

Two long-tailed birds swung over the king's head, drawing his attention.

A royal white eagle curled between two long-tailed birds.

Kalexia looked at his third daughter and eldest son following her.

“Is this true? Real war? Should I return to the forest and prepare for war?”

“Hoa, calm down.
Father didn't talk about 'war'.”

“But they use fairies as chimeras and even call them devil spawn! Oh! But who did it? Rojas? Do you mean Rojas?” Hoa exclaimed sarcastically, hurrying after the king's leisurely steps.

Hoa was not the lord of the forest, but she held the title of guardian of the forest.

Because they are chosen by long-tailed birds.

Long-tailed birds were important to the fairies.

A bird with a beautiful long tail, as if made of golden threads, and eyes shining like precious stones, was a semi-immortal bird.
When they disappeared, they were not seen for about 10 years and then they appeared again.
And when they chose their new owner, they showed that owner the past and future of the forest in fragments, giving him the power to protect the fairies.

Hoa is a newly elected guardian about 30 years ago.

This is war, right? May I return to my forest and prepare my children, father?

“Hoa.”

As if Ganini noticed Hoa, who was constantly trying to climb forward, he called out a warning in a low voice.

“What? If you have something to say, say it.
Do you hear!” Hoa replied.

Seeing her stick her tongue out at her older brother, Ganini shook his head.

“Please, can you not use such harsh words?”

“It's impossible not to use them…
Why can't I use that tone, brother?”

“…Haa.
Nothing pisses me off like you do.
You know?”

Hoa giggled and hung on her older brother's shoulder, while Ganini pulled Hoa's head.

The king moved slowly, listening to the voices of his two children.

He was heading towards the primeval tree where the queen of the forest slept under the protection of Furiosa.
The queen was resting in a tree so large that four grown men could not have surrounded it with outstretched arms.

Kalexia kissed the back of his wife's hand and stroked her cheek, and the two children also kissed their mother's forehead to say hello.

I haven't seen you for a long time, but you are still beautiful.

“If you've been sleeping for over 25 years, I think you can wake up slowly now, Mom.”

Her blond hair had faded to whiteness, the marks of years gone by were slowly showing, and their dying mother slept peacefully, not saying a word about her children's well-being.

What brings you all here?

Furiosa, with long black hair tied to one side, greeted his relatives with his usual warm and friendly smile.
The father, who was in the same forest, visited them every day, but it was not easy to see the children.

It was not easy to gather in one place because everyone had their own roles and responsibilities.
When the meeting of the elders was held once a year, it would be nice to be able to meet like this, at least two or three more times.

The brother and sister hugged him and expressed their joy, and Kalexia stroked his wife's cheek with dry hands.

“Leah.”

The hand of the father that caressed the mother was very soft today.

The children, surrounded by trees, fell silent, waiting for their impolite father to continue.

How long did the silence last?

“When Gaia disappeared, Leah used all her power to find her.
She tried to find her daughter by distributing her power to all the trees in the forest.”

This is a story that everyone knows.

Because they were there together.

Because everyone was busy looking for the younger sister.

When Leah said that she had finally found the trail after using her powers, she passed out.

Canon, a fairy tribe historian and sage, said that this was due to the overuse of energy.
And after the break, she wakes up again.

So 20 years have passed.

“At that time, what traces of Gaia was Leah trying to find?”

“Father.”

The king grinned for a moment and looked back at his children.

“I don't know what Leah found, but I may have found Gaia's soul.”

Did you find Gaia's soul? Is Gaia still alive, father?

Did you find something in Loa? Did the “child” from Loa say something?

The flustered Hoa unconsciously approached Kalexia.

Furiosa was also surprised and moved closer to him.

“Can it be…”

“…Gaia is not dead, father?”

But, perhaps, it was Ganini who showed the greatest excitement.

When Gaia was born, Ganini was already an adult and became the guardian of the forest.
He did not like the existence of the youngest, which disturbed his mother, but as soon as the child was born, he became a brother with the greatest affection for the little one.

The cutest little one.

The most beloved.

A little girl who only knew the joys of the world.

“Gaia is not dead, father?”

His eldest son still did not believe in the death of Gaia and was waiting for his younger sister.

Kalexia shook his head sadly.

Ganini's bewildered expression quickly disappeared.

He closed his eyes with a pale and tired face.

“But how Gaia died, perhaps we can find out.”

Hearing the words of their father, all the brothers caught fire.

After kissing the back of his wife's hand for the last time, Kalexia quietly whispered something in her ear and stood up.

Yes, you should see it too.
Follow me.

All the brothers resolutely followed their father.

His eyes were full of energy, as if he had some kind of monster in front of him, filled with the blood or curse of an unknown God, and he was about to defeat it.

“Whoever touches our youngest daughter will die.”

“Youngest.
I'll get her back even if I have to rip him to death.
Even if the Demon Race King comes…”

 

“…Do you not let her go even when she is dying? How dare you, how dare you, our sister…!”

However, the place where he led the children with a terrifying will was Kalexia's personal vault.

It was also a warehouse where only precious treasures were brought.

“Why are we here?”

It was not an arsenal, but a treasury.

Kalexia nodded to the children, who even asked with their eyes why they had come here.

“Come on, sweep everything from here and there.”

From here to there?

The distance “from here to there” that he indicated was too great.
And the various treasures contained in this gap, in human terms, were “treasures that could not be counted in money.”

“F-father?”

The king shook his head and gave a curt order to the bewildered and questioning children.

“Do it.”

* * *

'Well?'

Hearing the shocking story about the cell phone, Simon immediately ran to his room.

He would have gone straight to his room if he hadn't gone through Derek's closed door on the way back.

'By the way, yesterday's voices came for the dragon egg…'

But when Derek and Simon showed up, they couldn't get him.

If so, then there was a possibility that they would come back for the dragon egg.
In addition, there was a part of the shadow with which he cut off the tail.

Simon poured mana all over the castle and carefully searched it, but did not catch the power of darkness.

But he couldn't help but be alert.

At least while he stayed here, he had to pay more attention to protecting the dragon egg and detecting suspicious auras in the castle.

On that note, Simon walked into Derek's room to warn him to pay attention.
But what was it?

'What, why are you there?”

Simon was a little surprised, but when he saw the dragon egg in front of Derek, he realized what had happened.

“Oh, the dragon has consumed all my magic power.”

Unlike Derek, who passed out with a pale face, as if he had lost 5 kg overnight, the egg in front of him was filled with magical power.
Derek was quite pleased with the fact that the hatchling inside the egg even seemed to have grown a little.

“Anyway, he's still very weak.”

Derek was originally focused on researching scrolls, so he didn't know much about mana accumulation.
He always told him to train, but he wasn't too demanding.

“Tsk.” With a click of his tongue, Simon lightly picked Derek up and placed him on the bed.

As hard as it was, he couldn't leave him to sleep on the cold floor.

'I'll have to call him when he wakes up and talk to him.'

Making sure he wasn't hurt, Simon's footsteps stopped as he was about to leave.
He looked intently at the egg resting on the soft cushion in the center of the table.

“…In a some way, thanks to you, we met again.”

In this world, the law of causality could not be ignored.

It doesn't matter how small or trivial it is.

Simon raised his hand and stroked the protruding top of the egg.

“Thanks.”

He lightly muttered and injected subtle magical energy as if filling a spirit.

Soon after, the egg trembled and reacted by shaking its floating legs.
Perhaps in a good mood, the little body in the egg trembled, as if dancing.

Simon smiled as he walked out of there and went straight to his room.

Because it's time to reassemble the cell phone.

And exactly two hours later.

Whoa whoa.

With a triumphant face, Simon came out with a never-before-seen mobile phone.

And at the same time, the two who had been sleeping as if in a swoon woke up.