The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 17

“What should I do?”

I hesitated in front of the Phoenix egg.

Originally, my goal was to acquire a Cockatrice egg. I never expected to find an S-rank item casually placed deep in this forest…

The task requires obtaining three items of C-rank or higher, so technically this would count, but submitting it would be unthinkable.

Simply put, encountering an S-rank item even once in a lifetime is considered fortunate. It would be foolish to use it just to fulfill an assignment.

“Besides, there’s also the possibility that this could be a gift from the Goddess Muse, right?”

She initially bestowed power upon me, but hasn’t made contact since. If this is her support, then it makes sense.

If that’s the case, I must use my skills to “hatch” this egg.

“What about the Cockatrice egg… What should I do?”

Of course, I could continue exploring as planned, but leaving this S-rank item here randomly would not be wise.

Given that other adventurers are known to be in the forest, it would be better to refrain.

“It feels like… we’re being watched and manipulated from the sky…”

After some deliberation, I decided to take the Phoenix egg back with me.

“Now, I’m prepared. Let’s begin.”

The day after bringing the egg home, I rented a room in a newly built apartment.

It’s close to the school Celia attends and a bit far from the Adventurers Guild.

Since it’s mainly occupied by students, the security is good but the rent is high.

The reason for renting this apartment is that in an inn, employees come in for bed-making, and inevitably, the egg would be seen.

It would be fine if it were just seen, but if that information were leaked to other adventurers or if it were accidentally destroyed, it would be unimaginable.

I anticipate that hatching the Phoenix egg will take quite some time.

During that time, I have no intention of leaving the egg alone, so this arrangement is more convenient.

“I’ve secured water and food, and I’ve written a letter to Celia.”

I informed her of my move and asked her to bring food when she visits.

It felt awkward to rely on my studious sister, but it’s an emergency situation, so I’ll let myself rely on her.

“Now, shall we begin?”

I started channeling the hatching power into the egg.

“Ugh! It’s intense!”

The Magic Worm’s egg is ranked E, correlating with the monster rank of E as well.

The first time I hatched a Magic Worm egg, I felt intense fatigue, so I expected it would be even more challenging with an S-rank item.

“Ugh… It’s getting hot!”

While I struggled, the Phoenix egg began to heat up.

It was lukewarm earlier, but now it’s as hot as a heated stone.

I covered the egg with Direwolf fur and held it close.

“Hehehe, let’s see who gives in first.”

Knock, knock, knock –

“Brother?”

How much time has passed since then?

About two weeks have passed since Celia received my letter asking her to deliver food.

“Ah, Celia. Did you come…?”

As I opened the door, I saw Celia’s face after a long time.

“Brother, you look incredibly tired! Also, that room… It’s unbelievably hot! I can’t sense it—it’s not magical power, but it feels like some other overflowing power, and it smells like you.”

“Is it a magical smell?”

When I asked, Celia shook her head.

“No, it just smells sweaty.”

Pinching her nose, Celia made a disgusted face.

“Here’s the food and water you asked for, but what exactly are you up to?”

As she said this, Celia tried to peek into the apartment from my side.

“It’s a secret for now.”

I could tell her, but talking about Goddess Muse or the Phoenix would take too long. And during that time, I wanted to keep the egg warm.

“Ugh, you’re not being any fun and you’re being mean, brother.”

Celia pouted and glared at me. I thought about patting her head to cheer her up, but she just said I smelled sweaty, so I held back.

“Sorry, I’m busy preparing to qualify as a national adventurer, so I’ll make it up to you later.”

“Promise! When that time comes, you’ll spend a whole day with me!”

With that, Celia left.

Thinking about fulfilling my promise with her, I returned to the room to focus on hatching the egg.

“………… Huh? Huh?”

Feeling a sense of discomfort, I woke up. The heat I felt until recently was gone.

“Ah! My head… feels heavy.”

I almost stumbled and hurriedly regained my balance.

“What on earth…?”

Before I could fully grasp the situation, I realized,

“Ah! The egg is cracked!”

Fragments of the Phoenix egg were scattered on the floor.

“W-What about the contents!?”

Frantically looking around, I couldn’t find any sign of a living creature.

It’s a small apartment. There shouldn’t be any place to hide. Could it have escaped outside? But the door was locked, and there were no signs of broken windows or walls.

Where could it have gone?

As I was confused,

“Pii…”

A sound came from above.

Stretching my arms towards my head, I touched something warm.

I grabbed it and brought it in front of my eyes. There was a large chick with beautiful orange feathers.

“Pipipi…”

The chick wriggled in my hands, then slipped out and landed softly on the ground.

The chick walked towards me on its own legs, jumped, and nestled comfortably on my knee, burying its head in its own feathers and closing its eyes.

Its adorable actions made me instinctively pet it.

A definite warmth spread through my fingers, and I realized that the hatching was successful.

“Is this… the Phoenix?”

In response to my question, the chick briefly opened its eyes but didn’t answer.