Chapter 144: The Garden’s Guardian Dragon
Today, I’m here in the ‘Garden’ with Rosalinde.
Now that she’s entered the stable period of her pregnancy, she needs to get some exercise.
First, I plan to have her take a light walk around the ‘Garden’.
After that, maybe I’ll have her do some light exercises. You know, that yoga-like stuff.
Naturally, I’m not an expert in that field, so I can’t give detailed advice, but I at least know how to exercise.
I was rich in my past life, you see. As a refinement, I can still manage some social dancing, and I know a bit of Aikido for self-defense.
Besides, even something like radio calisthenics is quite effective. The people in this world have this Showa-era mentality where they think exercise is all about “guts”…
Just having skills akin to modern sports makes a huge difference in how you move your body compared to the people around here.
Seriously, I occasionally see Count Missgancia’s subordinate Knights-san training, and man… you often see training exercises that seriously look like they’ll wreck their joints!
I mean, they call it training, but they’re literally beating each other up with real swords that just have the edges dulled, you know? It’s seriously insane. Fractures and lacerations during training are commonplace, and apparently, people sometimes die during large-scale drills.
Well… yeah, because they experience that life-or-death tension even during training, there are definitely strong guys among them… but still, that kind of thing is just crazy.
So, even if I ordered someone to “have her exercise,” they don’t even have the concept of “calisthenics,” nor do they understand moderation, so they’d start saying things like, “You mean I should just make her run until she collapses?”
Looks like I have no choice but to watch over her myself.
We walked around the ‘Garden’ for about twenty minutes… then took a short break.
“Phew… The baby is heavy, so even walking is… difficult… isn’t it?”
“Yeah. But if you don’t exercise, you won’t have the stamina when it’s time to give birth, and it’ll be tough. You need to exercise enough so you don’t collapse, to prepare for childbirth.”
“Mm-hmm. What you say is… right, isn’t it.”
After that, we started the exercises in the Garden’s gazebo, a multipurpose space with a roof.
Well, it was about the level of radio calisthenics.
Slowly stretching and loosening up her body.
After having her do light exercises for another twenty minutes or so, I had her drink some water.
Once that was done, it was time for a nap…
“GUOOOOOOOH!!!!”
Hm…? Ah, it’s Maybach-kun.
While spending time in the ‘Garden,’ Maybach-kun must have absorbed my Magical Power; his scales have turned a platinum color.
The same color as my hair, silver-white.
A Platinum Dragon, basically.
Lately, his size has grown to about that of a wyvern… large enough to carry a single person while flying.
…Yeah, I know. I know, but I’m trying not to think about it.
“Child! Child! Father’s child!”
Oh? So Maybach-kun can tell, too.
That Rosalinde is pregnant.
Well, her belly is visibly large, but it’s not just that… he’s probably seeing her Magical Power.
The Magic Skill, ‘Demon Sight’…
So Dragons can use the Magic Skill to see Magical Power right from birth. Higher life forms are amazing!
However… he’s a talking pet, which normally should be annoying, but he’s so pure and innocent, such a good kid.
With dogs and cats, there’s that aspect where they’re cute because they don’t talk, right?
If cats could talk, I bet they wouldn’t be cute at all. They’d probably be saying stuff like, “Hey, feeding machine, hurry up and give me food, idiot.”
And yet, Maybach-kun behaves himself without ever angering me.
He’s such a good boy!
“…What is… this?”
“Hm? Oh, that’s Maybach-kun. He’s my pet that I’m raising in the ‘Garden’.”
“…A Dragon? A silver-white Dragon?”
“That’s right.”
“Um, dear. You… shouldn’t let this child outside… okay…?”
Even Rosalinde, who’s generally unfamiliar with such things, seems to sense that a Dragon is seriously bad news.
She was trembling slightly.
Ahh… As I thought, I’m hopeless.
I have power, yet I still don’t understand its weight.
Of course she’d be scared, seeing a Dragon.
From my perspective, a Dragon is “an opponent I can fight,” but from Rosalinde’s perspective—who, despite being a noble, is physically just an ordinary person—it’s “a monster with overwhelming power.”
And I let something like that get close to the pregnant Rosalinde.
Rosalinde is backing away, protectively holding her belly…
“Sorry, my bad. Rosalinde, Maybach won’t attack.”
“Mm-hmm… I know. I was just… a little surprised, that’s all.”
I put my arm around Rosalinde’s shoulder, shielding her behind me.
“Egg! Egg! Father, show me the egg!”
“Maybach, humans don’t lay eggs. Like the livestock you eat, they raise their young inside their wombs.”
“Beast! Same as… Beast?”
“That’s right, Maybach. Same as a Beast. They’re weak creatures that would be easily killed if you attacked them. So… don’t scare her, Maybach. She’s my wife.”
“…Yes, Father! Father’s mate, protect!”
Maybach laughs.
He really is a good kid.
Though he doesn’t yet understand the difference between Dragons and humans…