Ch.8383. Royal Ranch (2)

While Sophia was flustered by the sudden appearance of the druids…

“Now, now, fellow kinfolk, my companion seems a bit startled.”

“Oh, I see. Understood, fellow kin.”

“…I apologize for that. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a young friend.”

“We got too excited seeing a new face after always seeing familiar ones. Please calm down.”

While mediating between them and trying to calm Sophia, I gently gazed at the three official druids chuckling before us.

A druid with a white beard who looked elderly to anyone’s eyes. A druid with a Kaiser mustache exuding the aura of a refined gentleman. And there was also a motherly-looking female druid.

As I was guessing they might have been dispatched from the Association to manage the Imperial Pasture, the motherly-looking female druid, presumably their leader, addressed me.

“We’ve already heard from the Association Head. You’re here to adopt a griffin?”

“Yes. If the Association Head already informed you… do you know everything?”

“Indeed, young kinsman. You gave motivation to the apprentices of the Gathering?”

“Haha… it was nothing.”

This wasn’t mere humility. Recalling the con artists from my previous life who peddled success, I felt strangely uncomfortable when hearing words like “motivation.”

So, wearing a shell of modesty and laughing politely to avoid disrespecting the motherly druid, I carefully changed the subject to ask about the griffin I would be adopting.

“Then… could I perhaps know how the griffin adoption process works?”

“The process? Didn’t the Association Head already inform you?”

“Yes, but… I was wondering if what I know might differ from the actual field experience.”

“…If that’s the case, I’d be more than happy to explain!”

Druid Frieda Meyer, visibly pleased by my question, began leading our group somewhere.

According to her, she personally manages all griffins and related magical beasts. Frieda, who seemed knowledgeable about various griffin-type magical beasts, briefly explained their lineage to me.

The original griffin is inherently an upper-mid-tier magical beast, while the Royal Griffin, or sometimes called Griffin Lord, considered the royalty among griffins, reaches the high-tier realm.

Then there are the lower-mid-tier hippogriffs, and the quarter-griffins or half-hippogriffs with diluted bloodlines that are low-tier, and so on.

Though she explained it this way, Frieda actually used highly technical terms, and then began to methodically explain the adoption procedure to me.

“Purebred griffins are rare, even here at the Imperial Pasture. So, in most cases, they’re prohibited from being taken out.”

“…Indeed. Wild griffins are extremely rare.”

While hippogriffs, crossbreeds of horses and griffins, are relatively numerous, purebred griffins are a different story.

Being such a rare species, they’re almost impossible to find in the wild, and at most, a few individuals from the pasture might be ‘bestowed’ upon high-ranking officials.

Additionally, each griffin has a strong sense of pride, making them very difficult to tame.

If you can’t gain recognition from a griffin in some way, it will never allow you on its back.

“True. But for you… the Gathering Head already informed us you’d be taking a griffin egg, so there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

Fortunately, instead of taking a fully-grown griffin that could immediately serve as a combat force, I opted for an egg. By raising it from an egg, I could potentially bypass the recognition phase and have it follow me naturally.

However, I couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned.

“Um… but are griffin eggs easily obtainable? Won’t there be a mother?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Griffins aren’t a species that cares for all the eggs they lay.”

Frieda Meyer, who introduced herself as the griffin caretaker of the Imperial Pasture, explained that the griffin species has a unique and harsh parenting method.

When a female becomes pregnant, she lays about 3-5 eggs, but when it comes to raising them, she selects only one egg that’s sturdy and of high quality to hatch and raise.

Due to the magical energy required to hatch an egg and the vast amount of food consumed until the offspring reaches adulthood, this is unavoidable for wild griffins…

And this habit hasn’t changed even after they began living in the pasture.

However, this doesn’t mean that the discarded griffin eggs lack value or potential. At the Imperial Pasture, they hatch griffin eggs within manageable limits…

“So, is the egg I’ll be taking one of those?”

“That’s right. If nothing else, griffin eggs tend to remain in surplus. …Though not enough to waste.”

The egg I’m receiving as a reward for conducting a lecture at the Gathering is one of these discarded griffin eggs.

But… unfortunately, it seems I can’t receive the egg and leave right away.

“Actually, we have pregnant griffins but no eggs at the moment. So… could you wait at the pasture for a little while?”

“How long would I need to wait?”

“Hmm… probably about two weeks?”

“Two weeks…”

Two weeks—not too long, but not short either. For me, considering the value of a griffin egg, it’s certainly worth the wait, but what about Sophia?

“Sophia, could you stay here for about two weeks?”

“W-what? …Oh, yes. Two weeks…”

Perhaps startled by the sudden attention, Sophia was taken aback. After mulling over the timeframe, she calmly spoke.

“Two weeks… Yes. That should be fine to stay for a while.”

“That’s good. Then… where will you two be staying?”

“A nature hut should work, right? We have our own way of making one. Right, Sophia?”

“Yes, Gregory. We could stay outside the Imperial Pasture for a while and explore. Or research.”

Druid Frieda seemed to want us to stay, treating us like her young relatives, but from our perspective, we could use that time to train magic…

‘…Wait a minute.’

Just then, a flash of realization struck me.

Right now, this place, the Imperial Pasture, is not only home to all sorts of rare magical beasts but also to druids who are skilled in managing them.

And if a druid is dispatched to the Imperial Pasture, they must be a veteran with at least 100 years of experience, which means… isn’t this place essentially a boot camp?

Moreover, there’s a high chance that each of them belongs to the Wild School?

“Excuse me, I have a favor to ask…”

“…A favor? What kind of favor?”

“Well, thinking about it, I might not get many opportunities to seek help from senior kinfolk like this, so… if possible, could I work here for a while?”

So, I carefully maintained my demeanor as I spoke to Druid Frieda, and the response was, of course…

“Of course! You’re welcome to stay as long as you need.”

Affirmative, and overwhelmingly so.

Frieda addressed me with a voice and attitude so gentle and sweet that it was as if she was dealing with her own child.

In reality, considering the age difference, both Sophia and I must be like young children to Frieda.

And… Sophia calmly expressed her intention.

“Then, I’ll study in my room, Seer. …I’m not comfortable in settings like this.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I don’t think the Seer would get along well with animals. And I’m not very good with wild magic either.”

There’s no benefit in keeping Sophia, who, as a Celestial Gathering druid, has little interest in wild magic and isn’t particularly adept at social activities.

So, while Frieda acted a bit disappointed, she didn’t try to stop Sophia…

“Who…?”

“It’s a person, a person! A male person!”

“Hug me! Play with me!”

And so, I found myself learning how to care for artificially hatched baby griffins under Frieda’s guidance.

…Though the atmosphere feels more like a daycare.