Precedence System: I Take My Rewards In Advance

Zishan had no idea how long he’d spent crying inside the medical tent.

He remembered trying to recall the woman’s face one last time, only to end up staring at the Dragon Egg in his arms while another round of tears rolled down his cheeks. His body was already exhausted from fighting the Western Stampede, and whatever had happened inside that ridiculous vision had left his mind in an even worse condition.

Eventually, he fell asleep without even realizing it.

And when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that somebody had moved him to an entirely different bed.

”...Huh?”

Zishan stared at the ceiling for several seconds. Sunlight was entering through a small opening in the canvas above him, and the medical tent was considerably quieter than he remembered. Instead of the wounded soldiers who’d been receiving treatment beside him, there were several empty cots, a cabinet full of medical supplies, and a healer sitting near the entrance.

He tried sitting up.

”Fuck! My back!”

His abdomen still hurt from Larper’s kick, and the wound on his shoulder made sitting up painful. The Eternal Wellspring Bloodline Fragment had already begun healing his injuries, but it hadn’t completely restored his body. His muscles were still sore from yesterday’s fighting, and even moving his legs caused him considerable discomfort. His head wasn’t doing any better, either, especially after he’d spent his last conscious moments crying over a woman whose name he couldn’t remember.

”Shit...” he muttered as he remembered something important.

He lowered his gaze toward his chest.

The Dragon Egg was still there.

Zishan hugged it with both arms, feeling considerably relieved that nobody had stolen his precious reward while he was unconscious. There were already enough bastards trying to kill him in this world. He didn’t need some random soldier running away with his future dragon, too!

His shouting attracted the attention of the healer near the entrance.

”You’re awake?”

Zishan turned toward her with the egg still pressed against his chest. ”Of course I’m awake! Can’t you see me talking? Anyway, where am I? And what happened to the other patients?”

The healer looked at him strangely. ”You were transferred to a recovery tent during the night. We needed your previous bed for another wounded soldier.”

”Oh.”

The healer put down her paperwork and approached him, carrying a small wooden tray containing several bottles and a fresh roll of bandages. She checked the dressing around his shoulder before asking him to put the Dragon Egg aside so she could examine his chest and abdomen.

”Sure!” Zishan grabbed the egg with both hands and attempted to lift it.

”...”

”...”

He pulled a little harder.

”What the hell?”

The egg refused to move.

Zishan stared at it before trying again, this time using a considerable amount of strength. His arms strained, his injured shoulder started hurting, and the damned thing remained firmly attached to the front of his uniform.

’OI! DID SOMEBODY GLUE THIS THING TO ME?!’

The healer watched him struggle for a while before sighing. ”That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you.”

”HUH? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PRECIOUS EGG?!”

The healer shook her head. ”Nothing! We tried taking it away while you were sleeping because we needed to change your bandages. You wouldn’t let us touch it.”

”Of course I wouldn’t! It’s my fucking thing!”

”You were unconscious!”

”...”

Zishan considered that particular detail. ’WAIT! I CAN PROTECT MY PROPERTY EVEN WHEN I’M SLEEPING?! HAHAHA! AMAZING!’

He was beginning to feel rather pleased with himself when the healer continued explaining what had happened.

Three of them had attempted to separate the egg from his arms. Every time they loosened his grip, he would pull it back against his chest and refuse to release it. One of the healers had even tried reasoning with him after he began muttering something in his sleep, which turned out to be a complete waste of time.

”What was I saying?” Zishan asked.

The healer examined him for a moment. ”Something about cupcakes.”

”...”

”Then you told us not to take your egg.”

’HUH?! I WAS SLEEP-TALKING?!’

He cleared his throat and attempted to act as though there was nothing unusual about that information. ”Well, that’s understandable. If somebody tried taking your most valuable possession while you were sleeping, would you give it to them?”

”We weren’t stealing it. We were trying to treat your injuries.”

”Same thing! You should’ve asked for my permission first!”

”We did. You told us to fuck off.”

”...”

Zishan looked away.

The healer seemed to have expected that reaction because she continued with her explanation while preparing a fresh set of bandages. After failing to persuade him, they’d tried lifting the egg out of his arms once more, only to discover that the shell itself had become strangely attached to him.

”Attached? What do you mean, attached?”

”Exactly what I said. Your arms were already relaxed when we tried again, yet we still couldn’t separate it from your chest. It felt like somebody had covered the shell with glue.”

”Glue?!” Zishan looked down.

The Dragon Egg was resting against his chest like an extremely expensive decoration. Its dark shell and faint green markings looked exactly the same as before, although there was something rather suspicious about how firmly it was holding on to him.

He grabbed it again. ”Oi! Let go! Listen to your father!”

The healer raised an eyebrow. ”Your father?”

”Not you, Miss! I’m talking to my egg!”

He tried pulling it away for the third time.

Nothing happened.

’What the hell? What kind of Dragon Egg has separation anxiety?! You haven’t even hatched yet!’

The healer finally burst out laughing, looking at his frustrated face. Well, didn’t they experience the same thing? It turned out... even the owner himself wouldn’t be able to separate it from him.

Zishan glared at her before attempting to negotiate with the egg. He promised that nobody would steal it, that he’d find it a comfortable place to sleep, and that he would personally investigate whether dragons were allowed to eat cupcakes.

The egg gave a faint pulse.

”Huh?”

He stopped pulling.

For a moment, he remembered the woman from his vision. She’d promised to make his favorite cupcakes when they met again, and he’d spent so much time crying afterward that he could barely remember falling asleep.

Zishan ran his fingers along the shell. ’What the hell are you, anyway?’