Volume 4.6 - Extra 2.3

Volume 4.6 Extra 2.3

Editor: Weasalopes

Hiroshi and Haruna decided to resolve the problem by changing the way they referred to the milk. The only people eating it would be them and their acquaintances, so there wasn’t much of a point getting high strung about it, but at this level, Azuma Workshop had a habit, or perhaps custom of dealing with everything in an about manner. Them ending up like this might be the result of periodic problems with food product falsification in Japan, so in that sense, maybe putting up a fuss about silly things like this was for the best.

「So that’s what the pudding’s gonna be, but how’re we gonna hatch this egg？」

Hiroshi both hastened the resolution to the pudding and began figuring out how to solve the last problem, which was unbelievably troublesome compared to something like pudding.

「Elle, ya hear anything?」

「Unfortunately, Alfemina-sama has said nothing regarding this.」

「Welp, guess there’s jack diddly squat important information, as per usual.」

Aearis’s answer was, in a sense, to be expected. Hiroshi mixed in some exasperation when he said that. Other than her jurisdiction and the events in which she was directly involved in, without Dhaljan’s permission, she couldn’t speak about most things, so not receiving the most crucial information was something to be expected to some degree. However, this time was definitely Alfemina’s bad.

「Maybe try the usual thing and warm it up with your skin？」

「I mean sure, that’s a typical thing to do, but who will be doing this？」

「How about Lime, since she discovered it？」

Nora went ahead and interjected after Teres’s own idea, to which Teres responded by making a rather innocuous proposition, to which everyone else just grimaced at.

The current issue was that it was difficult for humans to replicate the amount of heat that eggs felt wrapped in bird wings. Making the youngest and least patient member of the group, Lime, handle this job was truly a sign that Teres, another impudent personality, had thoroughly been contaminated with Azuma Workshop’s leisurely way of life.

「Warm it up? Like thiiis～？」

Hearing Teres, Lime clung onto the egg. That very moment, a giant crack appeared in it.

「Eh？」

Lime tilted her head at the sudden crack, puzzled. She might have clung on, but certainly not tackled the egg, because even if she was trying to embrace it, she wasn’t putting her strength in. Then again, even before that, if Lime were to break the egg with pure power and no tools, it would have already broken before Alfemina got here.

「It’s about to hatch～、it’s about to hatch～」

「Just a little bit more～、little bit more～」

「Celebration～」

「Red rice～」

Seeing the crack widen, the octogals began clamoring atop Lime and Aearis’s heads. As if further pushed by their voices, the crack began to spread even further until it suddenly halted.

「It stopped？」

「I wonder what’s up, y’all？」

Looking at this egg that had stopped mid-transformation, Hiroshi and Haruna cocked their heads as they touched the egg for confirmation. While there was indeed a crack in it, the egg didn’t appear to be broken by any means and would not cave in with a simple prod.

「Oh？」

Hiroshi had further touched all around to search when he finally realized that the egg had a pulse. Getting a sneaking suspicion, Hiroshi attempted to pour in some magic from his palm. Once again, there was a pulse.

「Lime, try pourin’ in some magic.」

「Ka～y！」

Obeying Hiroshi, Lime poured magic from her entire body into the egg, which pulsated more rapidly.

「Heck, how bout we have everyone pump in magic one by one.」

Hiroshi was now in a good mood due to the egg’s reaction, calling out to everyone in the vicinity and stepping away. Fum, the first one to respond, pumped in a hefty amount of magic.

「Ah, it’s moving.」

「Fum, time to switch.」

「Okay.」

Nora said, and Fum obediently let her exchange. And just like that, after pouring in a certain amount every time, Nora switched to Teres, to Mio, to Aearis, and then Haruna, who was finishing up when the egg pulsated conspicuously.

「Haruna-san, Lime, just keep pourin’ it in till the egg hatches.」

「Kaaay」

「Okay」

Hiroshi asked them to do this, figuring the egg was nearly there. Listening to him earnestly, the two of them vigorously pumped in magic. The average person would have long exhausted their amount of mana, but Haruna (of course) and Lime were not members learning at Azuma Workshop for nothing. It wasn’t just physical prowess that set apart these girls from regular humans; if anything, it was their nurturing mana that set them apart the most from humans.

As a result, Lime imbued the egg with mana equalling more than an average magic caster’s capacity and possibly slightly more than Tatsuya’s capacity when he had first arrived here, to where at last, the shell was broken from the inside.

「Oh, somethin’s comin’ out mate.」

「I wonder what it’s gonna be？」

Hiroshi and Haruna watched excitedly over the hole that began to grow slowly wider and wider. Needless to say, everyone else present was just as excited as they were. Exposed to their gazes brimming with curiosity, the divine beast at last crawled out from the hole in the egg.

「S-So cute！！」

「A little homely, but it has charm.」

Haruna let out a shrill voice upon seeing the divine beast emerge. Mio also, when she saw its form, muttered a bit of spite but still admitted it had a cuteness to it.

The beast had a body style that could only be described as stout and plump, much like the kind of chick that you’d find in manga. Born with fluffy and clumpy down feathers, the creature was a little homely but had plenty of charm to make it cute.

Then again, even if you called such a creature cute, it size was not the kind of small chick size you would normally think of. The egg itself was bigger than Lime’s face, so of course the chick would also be bigger than her face.

Said chick attempted to crawl out of the egg, only to get stuck, and as it kicked and struggled it fell forward, toppling over onto its back. At this point, everyone in the woman circle (everyone other than Hiroshi, in other words) let out shrieks of joy that could not be put into words, ringing throughout the room.

「……The heck? This thing’s supposed to be cute, yet what is this unknown feelin’ of unease……？」

While a bit put-off at how excited the girls were, Hiroshi also felt a strange unease based off prior experience. He seemed to have no choice but to caution himself against any sort of small creature that appeared to be cute in this world that came into contact with them.

Unbeknownst to Hiroshi’s caution, the beast flailed about until it finally managed to stand up, tottering around and nuzzling everyone as it did until it stopped at the speed of a fly, floating up onto Lime’s head only to find an octogal there ahead of it, and it began to give up.

「Excha～nge」

「Co～me right up、co～me right up」

Sensing the beast’s intent to give up, the octogal on Lime’s head vacated the premises. Now that the spot was open, the beast slowly moved onto Lime’s head, making a soft landing.

「Y’know, I feel like the size in and of itself is a huge indicator that something’s a bit uncanny.」

「Lime, you ok? It’s not too heavy?」

「Suuーper fine, Sis.」

Just as Hiroshi had commented, the very sight of a gigantic chick enshrined atop Lime’s head was exceedingly strange. Fum was a bit worried given its size, while Lime triumphantly puffed out her chest and declared that nothing was wrong.

「Boss Man～、is it cool if I name it～？」