Chapter 62

[62] Even I can’t do that.

As soon as he got home, Minjun, utterly exhausted, collapsed onto his bed.

He was covered in dirt and blood, and in no condition to lie down on the bed. But Minjun wasn’t in any state to care about that.

He had pretended to be fine in front of Sia and Rokan, but his condition was far from good.

All the strength had drained from his body. His head was spinning, and sharp, tingling pains throbbed throughout him.

Even after drinking an elixir—the most potent recovery potion available—he still felt awful. That gave him a fresh sense of just how close to death he had been.

“I hope Sia’s all right …”

Just as Sia had been worried about Minjun, he couldn’t help worrying about her.

He hadn’t heard all the details about her rampages, but he knew the pain she experienced while rampaging continued even after it stopped.

He considered calling her, but if she had fallen asleep, he would only interrupt her recovery.

So Minjun decided to wait.

Rokan probably knew more than anyone about Sia’s condition, so Minjun wouldn’t contact her unless Rokan reached out first.

And then there was this:

‘Once again, I managed to use Dragon Speech.’

The circumstances had been similar to the first time he spoke it, and he had escaped danger in much the same way.

Was it just a coincidence? Or was it inevitable, born from the “will” at the heart of Dragon Speech?

There was a lot to think about, but Minjun decided to sleep for now.

His body and mind were far too exhausted to think about anything else.

Three hours after Minjun fell asleep, he woke at the sound of someone nearby.

“…Lord Rokan?”

“That’s right. Are you feeling a little better?”

Rokan spoke to him.

If Rokan was here, that probably meant Sia was past the worst of it.

“I think I’ll be all right if I rest.”

“I’m sorry. I only stopped by to check on you, but I seem to have woken you for no reason.”

“It’s all right. Thank you for checking on me. By the way, how is Sia?”

Now that he was wide awake, Minjun switched on the light so he could talk with Rokan for a little while.

Rokan settled down on the floor and answered him slowly.

“She’s better than she was at first. The pain has eased, too. I think she’ll be fine if she rests for about a week.”

“…That’s a relief. When Sia first started rampaging—”

Minjun stopped mid-sentence and lowered his head, as if he didn’t want to revisit the memory.

“I’m sorry to bring up something unpleasant, but could you tell me what happened? If it’s too difficult, you can tell me later.”

Rokan spoke gently, trying not to put any pressure on him.

“It’s all right. I’ll tell you now.”

After drinking a glass of water, Minjun told Rokan what had happened.

Rokan had already guessed some of it, but hearing the details made it clear that Minjun’s survival under those circumstances had been nothing short of a miracle.

Minjun was an ordinary human who had only recently become a B-rank hunter.

Not only had he survived Sia’s rampage—a rampage even dragons struggled to stop—he had actually brought it to an end.

How had he pulled off such a miracle in a situation where his death would have been entirely unsurprising?

“I think Sia must have gritted her teeth and held on. She must have been doing everything she could to keep from hurting me.”

“Yes, that must have been part of it. Even so, your making it back alive was an unbelievable miracle. Thank you again—for coming back safely, and for easing Shasha’s suffering.”

Rokan, who rarely ever bowed his head, lowered it in gratitude to Minjun, a much younger man.

“Lord Rokan, you don’t have to—”

“No. When someone helps you, the proper thing to do is show your gratitude.”

Rokan’s bow made Minjun uncomfortable, but in the end, he accepted it.

Then Rokan asked, “By the way, Minjun, how exactly did you stop Shasha’s rampage?”

“Huh?”

Minjun tilted his head at the question.

Hadn’t he just explained that he stopped it with Dragon Speech?

“Can’t you just … stop it with Dragon Speech?”

Since Sia hadn’t explained the details of her rampages, Minjun had assumed that stopping one wasn’t completely impossible for dragons.

He had thought that if Rokan had been there, he could have brought it under control much earlier.

“No. Even I can’t stop Shasha’s rampage.”

“…What?”

Minjun’s voice rose in surprise before he could stop it.

“…Then how did you stop Sia’s rampages before?”

“We couldn’t stop them. We just had to hold out until they ended. All we could do was nullify the magic she cast beyond her control … or raise a barrier to keep her uncontrolled magic from escaping her territory.”

As he spoke, Rokan seemed to recall those times. He sighed, his expression bitter.

Minjun listened, stunned by what he was hearing.

So, all this time, whenever Sia rampaged, the other dragons hadn’t actually been stopping her.

She had been writhing in that terrible pain for a full twenty-four hours.

“Our Sia … How much must she have suffered?”

Minjun’s eyes reddened, and tears soon began to well up.

He had never experienced for himself the pain she endured as regularly as an annual event.

But she had been suffering that unbearable pain, which nothing could stop, for so long.

“That’s why I asked. You’re the only one who’s ever stopped Shasha’s rampage. Maybe we can find a clue. Perhaps there’s a way to stop it completely instead of merely bringing it to a temporary halt.”

“I wish I could help Sia, but … I really don’t know how I did it either.”

Just as he had the first time he used Dragon Speech, he had simply tried it with all his heart, and somehow it had worked.

That was all.

Rokan nodded, as if he had expected Minjun to say that.

“If you remember anything later, tell me.”

Rokan began preparing to leave.

Minjun didn’t seem to be in any serious danger, and Rokan had already learned everything he needed to know about what had happened.

“Lord Rokan.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure this never happens again.”

After going through this and hearing Rokan’s explanation, Minjun realized that his Dragon Speech was clearly different from that of other dragons.

He didn’t know exactly what made it different, but there had to be some distinction that let him stop Sia’s rampage, even if only temporarily, when the other dragons couldn’t.

He still had no idea how to make use of that difference or what path he should follow to grow stronger.

But one thing was certain.

Someday, when he could use Dragon Speech freely, he would be able to keep a tragedy like this from happening again.

“I’ll look into it, too. I’ll figure out how to help you reach your goal as quickly as possible.”

Deep in a remote mountain, in a dragon’s lair hidden from view—

“Even now, I can still vividly recall how I felt back then. It was more thrilling than any game I’ve ever played.”

“I agree. Now I understand why humans can’t quit those over-the-top dramas.”

The two dragons were chatting over a leisurely tea.

“Being human in a past life doesn’t justify wanting to make an eternal pact with a human.”

“A past life is a past life, and this life is this life. I’ve never understood being so attached to a connection from a previous life.”

“Or maybe she lied. Perhaps she thought public opinion would turn against us if she said she used to be human.”

“If so, she’s stupid enough to be a disgrace to dragonkind.”

They had been snickering as they gossiped about Sia, but soon their expressions grew serious.

“We can’t just stand by and watch one of our kind go astray. Don’t you agree, Yuria?”

“If there’s anything we can do to prevent such a disaster, we should roll up our sleeves and do it.”

“The question is how.”

The white-haired, handsome man sipping his tea was Evan, the White Dragon who had strongly condemned Sia’s choice at the gathering of dragons who had settled on Earth.

Across from him sat Yuria, the Black Dragon, a woman with dark skin, black hair, and amber eyes.

The two of them were fellow dragons who had come from the same dimension to modern-day Earth.

Now, they were discussing what had happened at the gathering a short while ago.

Yuria didn’t oppose Sia’s wish to make an eternal pact with a human as strongly as Evan did, but she was against it, too.

“I can’t just go kill that human, can I?”

If killing Minjun would solve the problem, they would have done it long ago.

From their perspective, killing a fledgling hunter who had only just become B-rank would be easy.

But they would have a hard time dealing with the consequences.

Not only would they make enemies of the dragons who had taken the opposite side, but they had no idea how Rokan and Sia might retaliate.

They wanted to avoid that.

“…Still, even if we don’t kill him, there’s no harm in giving that human a little nudge, is there?”

Yuria gave him a sly smile. Evan replied,

“What are you thinking of this time?”

“Just thinking about separating a poor, clueless human from a foolish dragon ruled by a strange obsession, and bringing justice to dragon society.”

“I’d like to do that, too, but it’s better to leave things alone for now.”

Evan thought it would be safer to slowly sway public opinion and drive a wedge between them.

Yuria, however, had a different idea.

“Can’t we just go stir things up a little without getting caught?”

“Yuria, what exactly are you thinking?”

“Hmm. Maybe I should try seducing that human boy?”

“I’ve thought this for a while, but you’re not exactly normal either.”

“Am I really worse than the Red Dragon who fell in love with a human?”

Evan let out a disbelieving laugh, while Yuria licked her lips like a predator eyeing its prey.

“Just to make sure—Yuria, you haven’t fallen in love with that human yourself, have you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve just found a more interesting toy than the ones I usually play with.”

By human standards, she had everything: beauty, ability, and wealth.

Most human men would probably give her both their hearts and bodies if she so much as tempted them.

Yuria’s plan was simple.

She would seduce Minjun until he fell for her, then lead him into cheating on Sia.

Once Minjun cheated, she would collect the evidence and slyly reveal the truth to Sia.

That way, she could have some fun and split apart the foolish human and dragon who dared to step into forbidden territory together.

“Be careful the old-timers don’t catch you.”

“Relax. Isn’t it the rule that no one interferes with another dragon’s ‘game’ unless it involves their clan?”

Without giving the other dragons grounds to criticize her, she would find a way to slip between Minjun and Sia.

What expression would that Red Dragon make when she saw her human lover fall for Yuria?

Picturing the scene however she pleased, Yuria, the Black Dragon, smiled slyly.