With the chick being more delicate than I imagined, I often kept it in my clothes after that.
“You’re so much smaller than the chick Gizara hatched, and so clumsy and timid too. You struggle to even drink water alone and can’t fully chew meat or eat right. I left you alone one time to find you stuck under a book. I really can’t take my eyes off you, can I?”
The poor thing would die if I so much as looked away, but keeping it in my clothes all day kept it from getting exercise and growing, so I started letting it roam my office while I worked.
Also, to acclimate it to other monsters, I let it spend about an hour a day at the familiar stables—supervised, of course.
The other knights in my brigade got used to my schedule and even helped look after the chick from time to time, but one day…
“C-Captain Quentin! Your griffon chick just beat up my familiar!”
Gideon came to me spouting utter nonsense. Just the other day, he’d claimed my chick was reading a book on familiars in the office. His delusions were getting out of hand.
“Gideon, get real! Your familiar is a flower-horned deer! How is my little baby supposed to beat up something like that? My child is much too timid. It’d never pick a fight with another monster.”
“You’re being deceived, Captain! Your chick is frighteningly strong and aggressive! Rose just so happened to step on that ribbon tied around your familiar’s neck as it was coming loose, and it flipped out!”
“That ribbon was a gift from me.” I smiled and lifted up my chick. “Ha ha, did you get angry because Gideon’s familiar stepped on it? Maybe you pecked her a little? Ha ha, no, you wouldn’t do that to a monster many times your size, now would you?”
My chick lovingly nuzzled against my chest. Something this small and adorable could never do what Gideon claimed. It wouldn’t last five seconds against a flower-horned deer.
“C-Captain Quentin, please don’t be deceived…” said Gideon, but I knew it was nonsense. There was no way a young chick could read human books or defeat a monster many times its size.
Ah… Perhaps this wasn’t about my chick at all but rather me neglecting my duties to dote on it. “Forgive me, Gideon. My work ethic has been lacking lately. Thank you for bringing that to light.”
He swung his arms desperately. “No, your work ethic has been fine! If anything, you were working too hard before! The amount of work you’re doing now is ideal! That’s not what I’m getting at! I’m saying maybe you should stop doting on that chick. It’s a hundred times stronger than you think; it’d be fine on its own if you let it loose.”
“You must be joking! This child isn’t ready for the world yet.” My chick pressed itself weakly against me.
“I can’t believe it. You’re fully under its control.”
What was he on about? I wasn’t under anyone’s control. However…
I regarded the chick in my arms. I was certainly looking after this griffon chick 24/7, but it was so frail and adorable. I couldn’t help but worry about it. It drew out my maternal side. I decided then and there that I would raise it until it reached adulthood, no matter what.
The arrival of a guard pulled me out of that memory, announcing I had visitors. To my delight, it was Fia together with the Black Dragon King, both hoping to see the chick.
I was doing paperwork at my desk when they arrived, and my chick was sprawled lazily on the floor, napping.
Fia glanced at the chick, then me. “I heard you’ve had your hands full looking after your griffon chick. You aren’t exhausted, are you? Is everything okay?”
Her kindness left me in awe. Many others had come to comment on my chick, but she was the first to show actual care for me! “You’re as kind as a goddess, Miss Fia! No, perhaps I should say you’re as benevolent as the Great Saint of old! Everybody only ever tells me to give up on this frail, helpless baby chick, but you’re the first to show some concern for me as well!”
She cocked her head. “Is that what they say?”
“Yes! It’s not as though I don’t understand where they’re coming from, given how small my poor baby looks. Oh, but Gideon even goes so far as to claim my chick is wicked and evil for some reason.”
As I explained, my clumsy chick somehow found itself buried under a few books. It cried “Pii! Pii!” weakly while scattering feathers on the desk.
“Oh, you silly little thing! Apologies, please give me a moment.”
I rescued the chick from the books. Fia and the Black Dragon King muttered to each other, but I was too caught up in saving my baby to hear what they had to say.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Quentin is completely under that griffon chick’s spell. I’ll bet it’s an even rarer mutated variant than their mother, or maybe something in a category of its own. Quentin hasn’t caught on to the fact that it’s several times stronger and keener than a normal griffon, or that everything that chick is doing is an act.”
“Yeah… That chick doesn’t look frail to me at all.”
“The aura its carrying within itself is abnormal. I’m sure it’ll develop a rare coloration. But it’s strange. I thought Quentin could use his almost animal-like instincts to sense the strength of others, yet he’s completely blind to his chick’s strength.”
“That’s probably because he’s stuck in Mommy Mode. He’d be able to tell if he wasn’t caught up with babying it all the time.”
“Come to think of it, Quentin hasn’t even named his chick yet, has he? That’s why it’s remained so small and hasn’t changed color. Of course, his chick is taking advantage of that to feign frailness. A being on its level should understand human speech at birth, but it’s chosen to act ignorant and clumsy.”
✦ ✦ ✦
I reclined on the sofa in my office with my chick cradled in my hands. Fia cocked her head and asked the Black Dragon King, “But why though?”
Exasperated, the Black Dragon King replied, “It just wants to be doted on, I’m sure. Quentin’s spoiled it rotten. At least we don’t have to worry about the worst-case scenario of the chick eating him. Not with how much it likes him.”
I had heard such concerns crop up during a past conversation. They’d warned me the chick might grow up to eat me if it was a more powerful mutated variety, but what hatched was only a normal griffon, so I didn’t need to worry.
I poured some tea and presented it to Fia. She thanked me stiffly, eyes narrowing in thought. When she spoke, she did so slowly, as though weighing each word. “Um, Captain Quentin… I think it might be a good idea for you to try a little harder to see others for what they really are. If you let a monster deceive you so easily, then people will run circles around you. Especially your future wife.”
“Deceived?” Was she suggesting this adorable little chick was tricking me somehow? Even if that was true (which it wasn’t), I couldn’t envision a future where I fell in love with a human woman, so I didn’t need to worry about that.
Confidently, I said, “There’s no need to worry on that point! I’m not being deceived, and even if I were, my heart already belongs to my child here! I have no time to waste on human women in this life!”
“Oh… I see…” Fia seemed a bit taken aback.
“This man has a real problem if he loves monsters more than humans.” The Black Dragon King sighed, but amusement snuck into his voice.
Believing he might sympathize with me, I spoke my mind. “I would be more than happy to raise my baby to be smart enough to deceive me!”
“Oh… Sure…” said Fia with a little scowl.
“I wonder how long it’ll be before he realizes he’s already succeeded in that,” the Black Dragon King said cryptically.
I finally named my chick after much agonizing—but the instant I did, it grew all at once and turned dark purple. That left me plenty shocked, but that’s a story for another time.