Chapter 27: I Picked Up a Cockatrice's Egg (2)

Today, I picked up eggs from a cockatrice's nest. Two cockatrice eggs were cradled in my arms. Han Ji-soo, seeing me complete the mission without a scratch, spoke as if in disbelief.

"...Why did the cockatrice abandon its nest and run away? This shouldn't be possible."

"Maybe it didn't want to fight me."

"How could that be? Cockatrices are magical beasts that protect their territory. They don't run away just because another creature invaded their territory. They would fight to the death instead."

Perhaps because her common sense was denied, Han Ji-soo seemed to lose her cool and look confused. To that, I showed off the cockatrice eggs in my arms and said:

"Anyway, I succeeded in the mission. I can keep all of these, right?"

"...Yes, keep them. If you want, the association can help you sell them. They'll take a commission, though."

"Then I'll sell just one of these."

I handed one egg to Han Ji-soo. After receiving the egg from me, she looked at the remaining egg and asked:

"You're not selling that one?"

"No, it's a trophy from my first mission on my first day of work."

"Are you planning to keep it as your first trophy?"

"No, I'm thinking of cooking and eating it."

"..."

What's with this guy? Han Ji-soo was looking at me with that kind of eyes. Somehow, I felt like I'd become an abnormal person, which didn't feel good.

'I'm just trying to feed my daughter something delicious. Is there a problem with that?'

I should hurry home and cook something delicious. Hugging the egg tightly, I happily prepared to leave work.

***

These days, it seems I always bring something home. I put the egg down on the floor for a moment and turned the doorknob.

Creak-

"Dad's home."

The dragons were lying on the floor, watching TV. They turned their heads at the sound of the door opening and spotted the egg in my hand. Judging by their expressions, they seemed curious.

"What's that?!"

"...An egg?"

"Wow, it's an incredibly big egg...?"

Pitter-patter-

The kids ran to me to observe the cockatrice egg. Then, Hwaryeon raised her fist high and asked me:

"It's an egg! An egg! Dad, can I punch it once?!"

"No. This is precious. Put that fist down."

"Hmph, how precious can it be?"

Hwaryeon glared fiercely at the egg with a dissatisfied expression.

"I'm more precious than you! Don't act all precious, you're just an egg!!"

I was dumbfounded seeing Hwaryeon yell at an egg that hasn't even been born. Just how much does she hate losing? It's just a cockatrice’s egg.

"...Everyone just look at it quietly. I'm going to wash up."

I left the egg in the living room and went to the bathroom. Inside was water prepared by Suryeon. I used that water to wash my whole body thoroughly. Now I finally felt refreshed.

"Ah, that feels good."

The kids... They're still looking at the egg. I approached the kids surrounding the egg. Then, Suryeon grabbed my wrist tightly and asked:

"Dad."

"Yes, what is it, Suryeon?"

"Where did you get this?"

"To explain that... I need to tell you what happened to Dad today."

I explained to Suryeon about what happened today. Signing a contract with the Hero Association, entering the dimensional gate, encountering the cockatrice, the cockatrice running away in fear, and getting the egg. After hearing the whole story, Suryeon softly opened her mouth:

"The magical beast called cockatrice mistook Dad for a dragon. That's what happened."

The magic power generated in my heart might look similar to dragon magic power. And an indelible dragon scent emanates from around me. That's why Suryeon explained that the cockatrice could mistake me for a dragon.

"Fearing dragons is instinctive. It must have been terrified. Running away to the point of abandoning its nest is quite natural."

"Hmm, I see."

Problem solved! I learned why the cockatrice ran away. It's because dragon aura flows around me.

'...But if that's the case, other magical beasts will run away just by seeing me too.'

How do I explain that to other people? That part started to worry me a bit. Anyway. After hearing Suryeon's explanation about today's incident, just as I was about to start cooking...

"Dad."

"What is it, Choryeon?"

"I don’t like it."

Choryeon, who had always been positive towards me, suddenly said she was against me. It felt like fear to me. Unlike usual, Choryeon's mouth corners were turned down, not up.

'W-why is Choryeon suddenly acting like this?'

Just as cold sweat was about to form, Choryeon said to me with a very serious face.

"Dad, I like three. It's not good if it increases."

"W-what do you mean, Choryeon?"

Choryeon stretched out her slender finger and pointed precisely at the egg.

"That egg is a harmful egg. It would be better to break it as soon as possible."

Growl-

As if guarding against the cockatrice egg, Choryeon glared at it as if she didn't like it. Hwaryeon also strongly agreed with Choryeon's opinion.

"That's right! We should break that egg! Dad! Break it right now!"

"..."

Why do they hate the egg so much? I couldn't understand their reactions. By the way...

"...I was going to break it anyway, even if you didn't say so. This is our dinner tonight."

I'm going to cook it myself. Why do they keep telling me to just break it? Hearing my words, Choryeon looked blank for a moment, then suddenly turned her mouth corners up again.

"...Dad, that egg is our dinner tonight?"

"Yes, I was going to cook it for you..."

"Hmm, I see! Then it's fine! No problem!"

Smile-

Choryeon smiled brightly as usual. The face she had shown until just now had completely disappeared.

'...'

I wonder what that Choryeon I just saw was. It feels like I saw a side of Choryeon I shouldn't have seen.

"Is there a problem, Dad?"

"Ah, no. It's nothing."

"Then, let's eat! I'm hungry! Hehe!"

Choryeon grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen. It looked like she wanted to deal with that egg right away to some invisible place.

'Is she guarding against other eggs...? Or is she jealous...?'

I don't know. I couldn't understand the exact reason.

***

First, let's start cooking. Although I've never properly cooked before. After eating homemade side dishes last time, I wanted to feed the kids food I cooked myself.

In that sense, I picked up a frying pan and put some pork fat in it. The fat will act as oil to prevent the egg from burning. First, I need to render the fat.

"Hwaryeon."

"Why are you calling me?!"

"Come here and breathe some fire."

"Hmph, how annoying."

Hwaryeon stopped watching TV and sat on the kitchen floor. Then, looking up at the frying pan from below, she breathed fire.

"Kraaaang-!!"

"Well done! Keep doing that!"

"Kraaang-!"

As always, it's great firepower whenever I see it. I rendered the fat while inwardly admiring it. After rendering enough, the next thing I need to do is crack that huge egg and put it in the frying pan.

"Hwaryeon, take a break for a moment."

I cradled the egg in my arms. Then, I tapped the huge egg on the edge of the table.

Crack-!

Once isn't enough.

Crack-!

"There we go."

The cockatrice egg split in two. I poured the contents of the cockatrice egg into a large bowl I had prepared.

Splash-

Then, I broke the yolk and mixed the white and yolk with chopsticks.

"This is the right way to do it, right?"

I checked a video on my smartphone in the middle. Up to this point, everything was correct except for the cooking utensils used. I felt like I might have some cooking talent.

"Hwaryeon. Dad seems to have cooking talent."

"Hmph, I could do that too!"

To be honest, that's true. We haven't even started making the rolled omelette yet. I slowly poured the mixed egg into the frying pan. Now it's really starting.

"Hwaryeon, fire!"

"Kraaaang-!"

Wait until the egg in the frying pan turns golden brown. And when it seems golden enough...

"Now's the time."

Slowly roll up the egg. Fill the newly created empty space with more egg. If you repeat this, you should end up with a beautiful rolled omelette like in the video.

"One layer!"

"Kraaang-!"

"Two layers!"

"Kraang-!"

"Three layers!"

"Krang-!"

"Four layers."

"Kr-!"

"Five layers."

"..."

And so, after Hwaryeon's firepower was all used up, and Hwaryeon was exhaling tired breaths, I put the frying pan on the table. Then, I showed the kids the giant cockatrice rolled omelette.

"It's finally done, kids! Cockatrice rolled omelette!"

Suryeon approached at the word 'done'. Suryeon evaluated by looking alternately at my smartphone screen and the rolled omelette. It felt like watching a Michelin inspector.

"Dad, this is all torn. The result is different from this video."

"..."

"It's not a rolled omelette. It's a torn omelette."

"..."

It's true. While trying to roll the egg, it kept tearing. As a result, it ended up looking just like a flat omelette.

Plop-

I sat down heavily on a dining chair.

"...Cooking is difficult."

"Hmm, is it? It looks easy to me."

Still, Suryeon picked up some of the failed rolled omelette with a fork and put it in her mouth.

"It's fine for me even if the shape is weird. The contents are the same, right?"

"Suryeon...!"

"...Don't call my name so emotionally. It's creepy."

Suryeon grimaced and put more egg in her mouth. Choryeon also sat down and started eating.

"Hmm, it's good? Even though it doesn't seem like a vegetable... This is delicious!"

Nom nom-

Choryeon also ate the rolled omelette deliciously, munching away. It seems she can eat eggs even if they're not vegetables. And Hwaryeon, who worked the hardest today, climbed onto a chair and sat down.

"Everyone move...! I'm going to eat...!"

Gulp-

Hwaryeon chewed and swallowed the rolled omelette roughly, then evaluated the taste.

"Ah, I almost died! The outside of this is completely weird! But it's edible!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, but the appearance is too ugly! Is this food supposed to look like this?"

It's not supposed to, but still, Hwaryeon and the kids ate all of the cockatrice rolled omelette with rice. All of them ate deliciously without exception. Seeing that, I thought to myself:

'I should cook for them myself again next time.'

The cooking failed, but watching them eat the food I made deliciously made it feel like today wasn't a failure but a success. It seems like success or failure isn't what's important.