Chapter 9: Is This Egg Edible?
Wakaba's mindset still seemed trapped in a human perspective; she completely forgot that she was now a monster. Instinctively, she lunged forward, trying to put out the fire.
"Hot, hot, hot!"
The moment her front leg touched the raging flames, she was instantly scorched. Wakaba scrambled back, but the fire didn't die down; instead, it intensified.
Shirazawa moved quickly, grabbing Wakaba and pulling her back to prevent her from being caught in the blaze. Simultaneously, he severed the silk threads connected to their little nest, preventing the tragedy of their home being burned down.
"Ah!"
Seeing the silk around him incinerated by the flames, the adventurer broke free from his restraints and tried to flee toward the labyrinth exit in a panic. In his desperate scramble, the dragon egg he was clutching tumbled to the ground.
"Hmph. I finally ran into an experience pack; you think I'm letting you slip away?"
Shirazawa let out a cold snort. He spat a large volume of white silk from his rear, quickly snaring the adventurer's ankles. The man struggled violently, but he couldn't break the silk. He could only watch in despair as a pair of massive spider fangs loomed closer.
Shirazawa showed no mercy. His venomous fangs bit straight through the man's neck.
*Squeltch!*
Crimson blood sprayed out. The scene was several degrees more brutal and bloody than killing a monster.
"AAAAAGH!!"
The adventurer let out a final scream, his body hitting the ground and twitching a few times before falling still.
[Total Experience has reached the required threshold. Individual: Small Lesser Taratect, has risen from Lv2 to Lv3.]
[Obtained Skill Proficiency Level-Up Bonus:
[Obtained Skill Points: 100.]
Wakaba: "..."
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Wakaba couldn't quite process it. Wait, did that count as murder?! Even if he was a human from another world, that was still a human life... While she knew spiders didn't get arrested for killing people, witnessing it firsthand was difficult to stomach.
"What's wrong?" Shirazawa asked, noticing her state.
Looking at the blood-stained, fierce-looking Shirazawa-san, Wakaba swallowed hard and asked hoarsely, "Did we... ki-kill a person?"
"Yeah. Humans and monsters are natural enemies. There's nothing to be conflicted about," Shirazawa answered indifferently. He had anticipated this outcome and had long since prepared himself mentally; he didn't feel any discomfort at all.
"B-but..." Wakaba still felt uneasy.
However, when she looked up and met Shirazawa's serious, steady gaze, she suddenly fell silent. After a long while, she sighed and said slowly, "Shirazawa-kun is right."
Since she was in the monster camp, why dwell on such things? Just as Shirazawa said—if they were enemies, they should use any means necessary to kill them, otherwise, they would only endanger themselves and their companions.
"Shirazawa, you're stronger than me." Wakaba smiled slightly, her tone revealing a sense of relief. "I've decided to learn that courage from you."
Shirazawa froze for a second, his cheeks turning slightly red. "Ahem, I'm not as amazing as you make me out to be. I'm just starting to adapt to the monster way of life."
"Hehe, Shirazawa-kun is too modest." Wakaba smiled and patted his back. The two shared a look and a smile.
Afterward, Wakaba pulled herself together and began to inspect the loot: a massive black egg of unknown species.
"How do we handle this? Do we eat it? Hehehe..."
Watching Wakaba drool with anticipation, Shirazawa felt a vein throb on his head. This dragon egg was their dear classmate, Shinohara Mirei. Killing humans was one thing, but eating them was another—even if the other party had reincarnated as an Earth Dragon, the soul was still human.
"You might not believe me, but this is..."
Shirazawa gave Wakaba a brief explanation, revealing the identity of the egg and adding: "Even if you wanted to eat it, the shell of a high-ranking species like an Earth Dragon isn't something we can crack open right now."
Dragon defense was too high. Unless they found magic to counter them, a reckless attempt would likely just shatter their teeth.
Hearing Shirazawa's explanation, Wakaba's expression became complicated, filled with disbelief. "This thing is actually Shinohara's reincarnation... Uh, that's way too sci-fi..."
Shirazawa knew this was all Evil God D's twisted sense of humor. Because Shinohara had bullied "Wakaba" in their past life, D wanted them to be reborn in the same place to see what kind of "sparks" would fly. However, by a twist of fate in the original story, the egg was stolen by human adventurers and taken to the Empire, eventually becoming one of the "idiot Hero's" harem members. Just thinking about it felt gross...
"So what do we do? Do we hatch Shinohara-san?" Wakaba blinked, asking for Shirazawa's opinion.
Surprisingly, Wakaba didn't feel much resentment toward the girl who bullied her. It was like a high-and-mighty god who didn't care enough about mortals to bother with grudges. Was it contempt? Maybe a little. But where did this feeling come from? Wakaba couldn't quite understand it.
Shirazawa thought for a moment. "No need. Just leave it. Whether it returns to its original path depends on fate."
"Huh? Just leave it like that?" Wakaba muttered under her breath, "Might as well have eaten it then..."
"..." Shirazawa stared. "Your thoughts are getting dangerous," he warned.
Wakaba pursed her lips. "Fine, fine~ Leave it then. It's not like we're losing anything."
"Sigh~"
With a long sigh, Shirazawa decided to explain further. "An Earth Dragon mother can find her child through a certain connection. As long as you have the strength to kill a high-ranking Dragon, you can eat it if you want. But if you don't... you understand."
"Oh, so that's why." Wakaba had an epiphany. She knew it—how could the food-loving Shirazawa-san pass up such a high-quality ingredient without a reason?
"Then forget about her." Wakaba waved a leg. "Let's evacuate! Risking our lives just to taste an egg isn't worth it!"
Shirazawa couldn't help but laugh. "Er... so if you *could* beat a Dragon, you really were planning on eating Shinohara-san?"
"Hmm..." Wakaba tilted her head in thought, then said solemnly, "If possible, I really would like to know what Shinohara-san tastes like."
Shirazawa: "..."
*You're the real ruthless one here! I definitely couldn't bring myself to do that.*
And so, the dragon egg was heartlessly abandoned by the two of them in a corner of the cavern. If Shinohara realized later that her egg had been dumped in the wilderness like trash, who knows what she'd think?
Actually, she should be grateful. Being abandoned is a stroke of luck compared to being eaten by these two powerhouses. Praise the Earth Dragon mother's protection!