Side Story:
Quentin, Deceived by a Weak Baby Chick?
POPULARITY POLL: 7TH - QUENTIN AGUTTER
“MWAH HA HA HA HA! Incredible! I’ve given birth to the cutest child this world has ever seen!”
My tiny griffon chick gazed up at me with small, round eyes. That look brought out an overpowering protective instinct in me.
I’d been sitting in my office when something suddenly felt off. My vice-captain, as imperceptive and dull as ever, didn’t notice a thing and continued to drone his report at me.
“Captain Desmond of the Second Knight Brigade has requested we help strengthen castle security. I believe having knights with winged familiars join the… Captain Quentin? Are you listening?”
I set my hands on my stomach and gazed at my adorable familiar. How could I listen to him at a moment like this? “Be quiet, Gideon! …Ah, it’s time! My child is about to be born!”
The egg hadn’t moved under my clothes, nor had it grown warmer, and yet, instinctively, I knew it was time. Perhaps carrying the child so long had forged a bond between us, granting me a mother’s instincts.
(Disclaimer: Quentin is merely reading the aura of the chick within the egg.)
“Huh, it’s being born? As in, right now?!” Gideon ran around the room, documents still in hand.
I ordered him to be quiet, then gently pulled the egg out of my uniform. I took my uniform off and rested the egg on top of it, and in no time…
“Ah, it hatched! It really, really hatched! Incredible, it broke out of its thick shell all on its own! Look how strong it is!” I clenched my hands as I watched the chick peek its head out of the egg shell, its yellow wings wet and stuck to its body. It regarded me with small, round eyes, already adorable beyond words. I laughed. “Mwah ha ha ha ha! Incredible! I’ve given birth to the cutest child this world has ever seen!”
Gideon peeked cautiously around me and blurted, “Huh. This is a griffon chick? More normal than I imagined. It’s yellow too, so it must not be a mutated variant or anything special like that.”
“Why, you…! Do you not see how adorable and dignified it is?! It’s clearly a very special, one-of-a-kind griffon chick!” I yelled.
He recoiled but then followed up with yet more rudeness. “I’m sure it’s special in the sense that human hands birthed it, but it’s still nothing more than a chick abandoned by its mother as an egg. I can’t see it having any special traits or anything.”
“How could you say something so horrible right in front of my darling child?! Have you no heart?! And its mother isn’t Gizara but me! I’ll raise it well, no matter how weak it may be!”
“Well, I never said anything about it being weak. It may not be a mutated variant, but a griffon is a griffon. I was just saying… Huh?! U-uh, Captain, did you see that? Just now, the chick leered at me with this really nasty look on its face! Why’d a baby chick that’s not even a mutated variant and can’t possibly understand human speech scowl like it understood what I said?! Th-there’s something sinister about this chick, Captain Quentin!” Out of nowhere, Gideon shouted baseless accusations about my newborn.
“How could you say something so horrible about my darling little baby? It’s only just born! We don’t even know if it can hear yet! The only thoughts it’s capable of are ‘I’m hungry’ and ‘I’m sleepy.’ There’s no way it would leer at you! You must be seeing things.”
I wrapped the chick in my uniform and carefully swaddled it in my arms, then carried it out of the office so it wouldn’t have to hear any more of Gideon’s rude comments.
I took the chick straight to Gizara and triumphantly reported, “Look! The egg has finally hatched!”
She lifted her head and replied equally triumphantly. “I see. So has mine.”
She gestured down. A chick leaned against her body, several times larger than the one in my arms. I gawked.
“The egg you warmed grew quite a bit bigger than mine!” It left a sour taste in my mouth, like this was a competition I’d somehow lost. “And it’s a mutated variant like you!”
It was only a chick, but it was already the same scarlet color as Gizara. I knew it was wrong to compare the two, but my chick was several times smaller and the color of an ordinary griffon. Something inside me ached. My chick was so much weaker than Gizara’s. At the same time, that only hardened my determination to protect this tiny being.
“Indeed, mine is a mutated variant. But yours…”
My chick popped its head up from where it rested in my arms. Gizara stared at it, losing her train of thought for once.
“Oh, right! This chick came from your egg! And I hear powerful monsters name their own children, so I’d like you to give this child a name.”
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No. This child already recognizes you as their parent. It’d receive more power if you named it. …I’m sure it will live up to whatever name you give it, so go ahead and give it a glorious name it can take pride in.”
“Got it!” That was quite the tall order, but it was also an honor to name this chick. I left the stables in high spirits.
Despite my burning determination, the task proved harder than I expected. I just couldn’t come up with a name that felt right no matter how much I thought.
“A glorious name it can take pride in? When I think of someone glorious, I suppose Commander Saviz comes to mind. Should I use his name? Or maybe Miss Fia’s?”
Nearby, my chick was making puddles on the floor as it struggled to drink from a saucer.
“Are you all right?! Oh dear, you’re not the best at drinking, are you?”
I scooped it up, and it was sopping wet. Grabbing a towel, I wiped it off, taking care to be gentle.
“You’ll catch a cold. Come now, get in my clothes.”
As though it understood, it slipped past my collar into my clothes and curled up in a ball near my stomach.
“You’re still a baby, huh? You want your mother to dote on you.”
I pet it softly as it nestled against me.