Chapter 61 : Hey, Are You Crossing The Line? (1)

“Heh-heh.”

“Uwee… So wet.”

My cheeks are so damp.

But I just can’t bring myself to push Bell away as he licks them.

“Yongyong! I like you!”

“U-uh-huh.”

How many people in this world could push away a panting puppy clinging to them so affectionately?

I just felt sorry that this little pup had so many debuffs attached to him.

‘…Wait a minute, the effect of Salvation’s Touch…’

Wasn’t it a skill that heals from the soul itself?

While still hugging Bell—who was licking my cheeks—I called forth Salvation’s Touch.

[Salvation’s Touch.]

[By borrowing divine power, any abnormal condition can be removed.]

[A skill that heals even the soul, capable of curing congenital disabilities.]

[However, it cannot be used on the caster.]

As I thought, my memory wasn’t wrong.

The description clearly stated it could remove any abnormal condition.

Healing the target seemed like more of a side effect of the process.

I pulled up Bell’s status window once more, now in his perfectly healed state.

[Name: Bell.]

[Species: Wolf Beastman.]

[Lv.15]

[Strength: 11]

[Magic: 8]

[Intelligence: 5]

[Stamina: 25]

[Title: One Who Has Received Grace.]

His stats had returned to normal, and, as expected, all his previous abnormal conditions were gone.

One difference, however, was that he had gained a new title.

If you save someone’s life with a divine skill—

“Hehe, my head doesn’t hurt anymore, and my tummy doesn’t hurt either!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I love you, Yongyong!”

A sudden confession of love.

Too cute.

…I want to keep him at my place.

I’m well-off enough to take in an abandoned puppy, aren’t I?

“Bell, do you want to live here?”

“Yeah! I want to live with Yongyong!”

Bell giggled, rubbing his cheek against mine.

Maybe he thought his drool was a bit dirty, because he wiped my cheek with his own clothes before rubbing against me again.

“Yongyong, I wuv you.”

“Hihi~”

Such pure innocence.

Just what kind of place is the Empire, that they would do such awful things to such a pure and lovable child, turning him into a slave?

I looked at Bell with a bittersweet expression and asked,

“Bell, don’t you want to go back?”

“Bell! Doesn’t want to go back…”

“But you said you miss your family.”

“…Yeah, I wanna see my family…”

His tail drooped, and his expression instantly turned into one of distress.

He must miss them terribly.

“…I’ll get stronger and go rescue them…!”

“You’ll get stronger and rescue them?”

“…Yeah.”

Bell fidgeted, sneaking glances at me.

Bell tugged at my cloak, looking up at me with teary eyes.

“…Baby Yongyong, can you help me?”

“Huh?”

A puppy-like Bell pulled at my cloak, watching me anxiously.

So cute.

How could I possibly ignore this?

Maybe this is what a dragon’s honor is for.

Protecting something adorable is the duty of the strong.

“…Yongyong is amazing! If you help me, you’ll be blessed!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

Bell hugged me tightly, rubbing his cheek against me as if asking for a favor.

I hugged him back and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll help you, Bell!”

“Whoa! Now Bell is invincible!”

“You’re invincible now!”

At my response, Bell’s ears perked up again, and his tail started wagging rapidly.

“Hehe, I love you~”

“I love you too, Bell~”

Hearing my words, Bell let out a giggle and squirmed happily.

Then suddenly, his tail shot up like an exclamation mark.

His face became oddly serious as he asked me,

“…Baby Yongyong, what’s your name?”

It seemed he was curious about my name.

I smiled and told him.

“My name is Minho.”

“Ooooh~ So cool, Baby Yongyong!”

“Right?”

“Yeah!”

Bell giggled and snuggled into me again.

I patted his head affectionately.

“Such a good boy~”

“Hehe.”

By the way, how old is Bell?

Based on his stats, he seemed to be at least seven, maybe nine years old.

“How old are you, Bell?”

“…Ummm.”

Hearing my question, Bell leaned back slightly and started counting on his fingers.

He wiggled them for a while, then stopped.

“…Six?”

He looked at his fingers and answered.

Sure enough, he was holding up exactly six fingers.

“Six?”

“Yeah! Six years old!”

Bell grinned at me.

He’s younger than I thought.

That means, even with all those terrible status effects, his stats were still better than most kids his age.

That’s… insane.

A one- or two-point difference in stats at this age is huge.

The younger you are, the harder it is to raise your stats.

In that sense, dragons are practically a cheat race.

Even though I’m weakened now, past dragons started as hatchlings with nearly three-digit stats.

‘Wait… am I more overpowered than I thought?’

Checking my own stats, I realized they were on par with ancient dragon hatchlings.

My shoulders unconsciously squared up a bit.

Bell, I’ll protect you!

With that resolve in mind, I hugged Bell tightly.

Bell giggled and patted my back.

“I gotta go tell Mom and Dad that Bell is here!”

“Yeah, we should go!”

Bell didn’t seem to fully understand what I meant, but he nodded enthusiastically anyway.

‘…Wait, isn’t this basically kidnapping?’

A sense of unease crept over me.

At the same time, I completely forgot that I was in the middle of playing hide-and-seek.

The King’s Office

“El, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Albi, you worry too much~”

Albinus cast a concerned glance at his wife, who was helping him with his work.

His wife simply smiled, brushing it off as nothing, but when it came to his wife and child, Albinus was a man who lost all rationality.

What if she was overexerting herself?

He couldn’t even focus on his work properly.

“…El, maybe you should take a break?”

“If our Majesty collapses from overwork, I’ll be sad.”

“No way~”

Erses, who was sorting through a mountain of paperwork, grinned mischievously.

“It’s been a while, huh? The last time we worked together was when we were president and vice president at the academy.”

“…Yeah, it was.”

Albinus let out a chuckle.

“I still remember how funny it was when you got all worked up after I took the student council president position from you.”

“…I already apologized for that.”

“I even gave you a hard time back then, didn’t I?”

The truth was, during their academy days, Albinus had played a few tricks on Erses.

As the crown prince, he had been jealous of Erses, who had taken the top academic rank and the student council presidency ahead of him.

Because of that, he had deliberately caused trouble, manipulated public opinion, and isolated Erses in various ways.

“…I’m really sorry.”

“…Ugh…”

“Tsk. I worked so hard to impress you because I fell for you at first sight.”

Erses grinned playfully, while Albinus shrank like a guilty man.

Erses stepped closer and casually sat on the desk in front of Albinus.

“But now, you like me, don’t you?”

“…Of course I do.”

“I love you, though. So I win, right?”

“…!”

Albinus froze in place, speechless, while Erses brushed back his hair and smiled mischievously.

“…Albi, I’m ready now.”

“We’re in the middle of work, El.”

Erses smirked slyly, while Albinus, though flustered, made no effort to push him away.

“…When all the sisters go to the academy, won’t our Minho feel lonely?”

“El…”

“Fufu…”

Just as El and Albi’s faces were getting dangerously close—

Knock, knock, knock.

“…!!!”

Someone knocked on the office door.

“…Ahem.”

The atmosphere between them instantly became awkward.

Erses stepped down from the desk, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the door.

“Who is it?”

The answer came in a cheerful voice.

“Mom! It’s me, Minho!”

“Minho?!”

It was his adorable daughter—so precious he wouldn’t trade her for the world.

A smile naturally formed on his lips as he opened the door.

“Mom! Hehe.”

“Hello.”

A small wolf-eared child stood next to Minho, bowing his head while holding her hand.

“A new friend?”

“Can we keep the puppy?!”

“Huh?”

She was asking if they could keep a beastman like a pet.

Erses wasn’t sure where to start explaining, but the sight of the two adorable children made him smile.

‘…Do I really need another baby?’

They were already so happy.

Did they really need more children?

‘Maybe when Minho gets a little older, I’ll think about it then.’

Erses patted the head of the young wolf beastman who had come in with Minho.

“Sweetie, friends aren’t something you ‘keep.’”

“…I-I was just joking.”

“Please keep me!”

Minho averted her gaze, mumbling that she was just saying it for fun.

But beside her, the little wolf child fidgeted anxiously.

Then, as if pleading, he rubbed his head against Erses’ hand.

“Kyaaah! F-Fine, we’ll keep you!”

“Hehe.”

“Ugh!”

For someone like Erses, who had a weakness for cute things, this was a lethal move.

Clutching his chest, he furrowed his brows—the face of someone who had just taken a direct hit to the heart.

“Hehe.”

“Ehehe.”

Bell and I snuggled into Mom’s embrace, giggling together.

“Where did you find your friend, sweetheart?”

“The food storage!”

“…The food storage?”

“Yep.”

I told Dad everything I knew—

How Bell had likely escaped from a place where slaves were gathered, how he had been seriously injured, and how he wanted to reunite with his family.

“Bell wants to see his family again.”

“…Yeah! I want to see my family…!”

Bell was nervous, but his eyes shone with determination.

Seeing that, Dad’s expression turned serious as he began to contemplate.

“The Empire’s enslavement of beastmen is illegal, but…”

“Albi, can we do something about it?”

At Mom’s question, Dad smirked.

“There’s nothing a dragon can’t do.”

Hearing that, I lit up with excitement.

Bell didn’t fully understand what was happening, but he grinned along with me.

“It’s about time we got rid of that thorn in our side.”

It seemed that the time had come for dragons to reclaim their former authority.