Brace for Impact
A little time passed. Once I had put Ha-eun to sleep in my bed, I stepped outside.
Drawing in the still faintly cool night air, I pulled out my Hunter Watch.
Riiing—
I dialed the number I had received earlier.
"Who is this?"
"Goldy. Hey, Ha-eun came back a complete mess."
"Ah… I am sorry, child. She simply would not stop pestering me."
"Even so… haah… never mind. Fine. You're her real sister, so you know better than I do."
Ha-eun called me "Unnie" and followed me around well enough, but…
That was nothing like a blood sister.
"Do not take it so hard. It seems she relies on you far more than she does on me."
"Anyway. So the Wild Hunt is coming soon?"
"Indeed."
The Wild Hunt…
It was a kind of procession formed by monsters and those whose souls had been stolen by its ranks. The march that swallowed countless people stretched so far it was sometimes described as a single endless river.
"It crossed over from another world, right?"
"What the humans of this world call a 'procession' was originally nothing more than a raid caused by a Gate collapse. It was an entirely different concept from the Wild Hunt."
Before I could even ask "so what?", she continued.
"This is the first time a phenomenon called the Wild Hunt has crossed over from your world."
"…So proper preparations are going to be impossible."
"Indeed."
"Why bother telling me all this?"
"Is it not obvious? I am looking for people who will lend their strength."
Listen to her talk in circles again.
"Bullshit. You mean you want me to plug the hole myself."
"…If that is how it sounded, then I am sorry."
"What the hell is the Bright White Dragon even doing that you keep pulling this? Scared to show his face in front of me again?"
"That one is occupied with a matter of great importance."
"Ah~ so the precious one is busy, and I'm the free dragon who should just come out and work?"
Silence hung on the other end of the line for a moment.
"I find myself wondering… why you react so strongly."
"Have you only ever seen me streaming? If you're curious, go ask that Bright White bastard yourself."
"He did inform me that your relationship is far from amicable… yet that cannot be the only reason, can it? Is it because I am of the Park family?"
Park Ha-yeon's voice trembled, just slightly, on the words "Park family."
"Well, I can't say it has nothing to do with it. There's a lot I don't like."
"I see… Still, I hope you will understand that I, too, think of Ha-eun."
"Then show it. Today, too—what kind of person sends a girl home alone in that state?"
"…Child. You are endlessly human. Even compared to my mother, or to other races."
…Suddenly calling me human.
I used to be one, so maybe that was only natural.
"I'll take that as a compliment?"
"Of course."
"Haa… tsk. So. You want to ask me to handle the Wild Hunt."
"Indeed."
"Then I need something out of it too. First, treasure. Every single piece of treasure obtained along the way is mine. And the Bright White Dragon's treasures—hand those over as well."
Park Ha-yeon seemed to think for a moment.
"May I ask Mother directly?"
"Meaning you need time?"
"Indeed. After all, it is not something I can decide on my own."
"Seriously. Ah, and there's one more thing I'm curious about from you."
"What is it?"
If I was going to move, there had to be a proper price.
For example—
"Are you participating in the Park family duel?"
Something related to Ha-eun.
As I always say, I am a dragon of greed.
And right now, the thing I wanted most was still Ha-eun.
I was starting to feel genuine competitive fire over it.
It had been a long time since something was this difficult.
"Is that important?"
"Yeah. Extremely."
"I intend to participate. My standing within the family matters as well. However…"
She seemed to let out a sigh; the sound vanished for a beat before her voice returned.
"If I can carry out Mother's will… then I am more than willing to choose to forfeit."
"I don't like that. It's not for Ha-eun's sake, and it's not because you're watching my reaction either."
"…Please understand. I am bound by contract to Mother, am I not?"
"That's exactly why I like it even less. The idea of me asking a favor of that Bright White Dragon bastard…"
I clicked my tongue. Silence fell on the other end once more.
What kind of fate had bound them in contract?
What meaning it held—or whether it was mere affection.
Or perhaps a slave contract that meant nothing at all.
I had no way of knowing.
But to a dragon, a contract carried rather special significance.
Even if it was a soul-devouring Bright White Dragon, would it really form a contract so carelessly?
If it had contracted with Park Ha-yeon, there had to be a reason.
…Strange when you looked at it that way.
I still didn't fully understand why, but two people from the Park family were about to end up contracted to dragons.
Normally they would never even glance your way no matter how hard you begged, yet here I was the one asking Ha-eun for a contract.
And another named dragon's contractor had appeared from the same family.
Was there truly something about the Park family?
"…Very well. If you handle this matter for me, I will not enter the Park family duel. And I will help Ha-eun."
"Is that the Bright White Dragon's will?"
"No, child. That is clearly my own decision."
"Now, of all times?"
"I was simply thinking of Ha-eun. She is my one and only younger sister, is she not?"
A voice that was earnest, yet trembled just a little.
What kind of emotion was that, exactly?
Unfortunately I was not a dragon who dealt in feelings, so I could not know the details.
Even so, I could faintly sense that the voice speaking from within her was sincere.
Whether that was because I had once been human, or simply because I possessed treasures related to emotion, I did not know.
"Once. Me helping you like this. Me taking the treasure. And you helping Ha-eun—all of it is only once."
"Is that so?"
"If you fail to satisfy me even in this single chance… haah…"
I let out a long breath.
It had been ages, but tonight made me crave a cigarette.
I had never smoked once since becoming this body…
If I did, Ha-eun would definitely scold me tomorrow.
…I had no desire to get an earful from Ha-eun, so I would hold back.
Instead, I would make the warning crystal clear.
"The Bright White Dragon. That bastard—I'll kill him together with you."
"…"
"Back then I told him clearly. If he ever showed his face in front of me again, I would kill him without question. The only reason I left you, his contractor, alive is entirely because of Ha-eun."
The fact that I had nearly crushed her to death earlier… I decided to simply swallow that part.
Ha-eun's eyes had been shaking so badly at the time.
Nothing good would come of saying it now.
"If you're going to deal with me, tell him to answer quickly. Otherwise that Sand Emperor bastard will go looking for the Bright White one himself."
"Is that so…?"
"Be grateful that you're the one who asked and that I'm the other party. If some complete stranger had popped up in front of me, I'd already have killed them."
With that, I took a moment to steady my breathing.
Getting too angry would do no good.
For Ha-eun's sake at least, I needed to cool my rage a little.
"Tsk. Anyway, answer with whatever you know. Do you know anything about the one leading the Wild Hunt right now?"
"I do not."
"Then I'll assume it's the one I know."
As far as I knew, the master of the Wild Hunt was Arthur.
The dead king and knight who traveled with a mage named Merlin… an extremely troublesome pair.
For ordinary people, stopping them alone was impossible. They were monsters.
Of course, I had met them once myself.
Well, anyway…
"So what are you going to do from here?"
"I will put your name forward to the Association, child. After that, you need only act, no? Ah, and that boy Mikhail—"
"I'll say it again. Tell that Bright White Dragon bastard to prepare something that will actually please me. Otherwise I'll go kill him myself."
"I shall take it to heart. And may this procession pass for you like the briefest of moments—"
Click—
I hung up on those words.
There was nothing more to say, and nothing left of the deal.
The larger details would come from the Association anyway.
"…"
I looked up at the sky for a while.
The shining moon and stars floating above.
I closed my eyes against that scenery and thought.
The Bright White Dragon.
…As a dragon myself, I had never been a particularly beloved existence among living things either.
Even so, the Bright White Dragon had always felt far too vile to me.
I had thought that if the chance ever came, I would kill him without fail.
Because of him, countless causal threads had vanished, and bonds had burned to ash.
Among them, regrettably, had been Zehar's as well.
When I thought of those days, it was no wonder that guy had treated Ha-eun and Terra so kindly.
There was that much… regret for his past in him,
and it was not as if I truly hated him even now.
It had become something like a love-hate relationship.
But the Bright White Dragon—that one was a bastard I sincerely wanted dead.
Nothing more than a creature who had managed to stay alive by carefully avoiding my eyes.
The fact that he still refused to appear himself and kept sending his contractor to contact me meant he was terrified of me.
And terror that has been driven into a corner… can make even a rat bite a cat.
On top of that, he knew of Ha-eun's existence, which made him even more dangerous.
But of all people, the one he had contracted with was Ha-eun's family.
And Ha-eun herself seemed to trust her quite a bit.
…My head was starting to throb.
Thud—
I stopped by a nearby convenience store, bought a few more cans of beer, and drank them on the way home.
When I returned, Ha-eun was already fast asleep in the bed,
and Terra, still wearing his headset and completely unaware I had come back, was absorbed in his game.
"I said right! You absolute illiterate!"
Rustle—
"Terra."
"Hup! G-Goldy-nim?!"
"Keep your voice down. Don't stay up too late. Got it?"
"Y-Yes! Understood!"
Well, at that age, it was fine to game a little.
With that thought, I finished the last can of beer and sat on the edge of the bed.
Ha-eun sleeping so deeply.
The day of the Park family duel was truly not far off.
Probably right after this matter was settled.
It would be nice if I could gain some kind of opportunity before then.
"Nngh…"
While I was continuing that train of thought—
Squeeze—
"Hup?!"
"Pwah—"
Ha-eun suddenly wrapped her arms around the tail I had left flopped across the bed.
"Kuuul— hic, Unnie… Unnie is…"
"…"
Normally if a human did that I would have separated bone from flesh on the spot…
Squish—
"Hnn…"
W-well… it was Ha-eun, so what could go wrong?
If it had been some guy instead of this kid, I would have thrown him straight out the window.
Anyway… I carefully lay down beside her.
Yesterday and today had already been ridiculously busy…
Tomorrow would be busy again too.
Oh, and Ha-eun would pay properly for touching my tail without permission.
Just wait until after we form the contract.
I was going to milk this for the rest of my life and wring every last bit of selfish desire out of it.
"Kuuuul…"
Haa…
I should just go to sleep myself.
What was I even doing alone next to a sleeping girl?
But… it should be fine to share the same bed, right?
I looked like a girl now, after all?
It felt a little strange… but whatever. It would be fine.
And so, the next morning.
Contact from the Association arrived almost immediately.
Operation name: Brace for Impact.
And—
"The condition is… the Holy Grail of Time?"
Some rather interesting information about a certain object came along with it.