Run If It Hurts

"If it hurts, run faster. 'Yeah, so if you do it like this...'"

Haring sidled up close to me, as if to show off, and made a V-sign with her fingers. Then click. Click!

"This saves a picture of me and you, Flame Dragon, in the photo album. The photo album's like a box that collects pictures..."

"Show me."

"Huh... Can you even see this? Hold on."

Haring looked doubtful as she swiped at the air. It was a different motion from that weird gesture she'd done before.

What the heck is she doing?

After flailing around for a while, she clapped her hands and yanked something out of thin air with a pop! She held it out triumphantly. A rectangular photo a bit bigger than my hand. It looked just like a freshly printed Polaroid from my past life.

The photo clearly showed me from a few days ago, looking grumpy, next to Haring flashing double peace signs.

"Lucky I had it printed already! What do you think?"

"Are you a mage?"

"Not exactly, but I can use something similar. When you use the print function, it pulls the photo out of the album. It costs money, though..."

"How can you make stuff out of thin air if you're not a mage?"

"Well, it's like... um. It's possible! I'm special!"

Ahem! Haring puffed up her shoulders proudly. She seemed to be hiding something, but whatever.

This world did have photography, but it wasn't common at all.

Only usable in the Magic Kingdom of the Southern Continent? About a hundred years ago, some mages in that magic-advanced kingdom had taken my ideas and made various tools, including cameras. Of course, back then they couldn't print photos that easily. My last visit was forty years ago, though. If it'd advanced since then, whipping up a photo like that wasn't impossible.

But.

"You have no mana."

Haring had no mana. Not even a mana-infused magic tool, no traces of fairy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or anyone else's help. She was just a sturdy-looking human mercenary, physically tough maybe, but nothing more. There was zero power source for conjuring a photo like that. It made no logical sense, no matter how I thought about it.

"Or is this a dream?"

"Pardon?"

Pinch. I pinched my own cheek. The soft flesh stretched out, making Haring, lost in thought, jump and tremble with wide eyes.

I pinched until my cheek turned red, but I didn't wake up.

...My cheek hurts.

"Ow."

"Ugh...! I wanna try that toooo..."

"Not a dream."

"Of course not! This is reality. Or, well, reality. I dunno. Anyway!"

"?"

"Want the photo?"

Haring held out the rectangular photo. I stared at it blankly before taking it.

Fiddle. Fiddle. The texture was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exactly like a Polaroid from my past ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life. Well, it was such an old memory, I couldn't be a hundred percent sure.

"It's slippery."

"Feels nice, right?"

"Yeah."

"If you need more later, I'll print as many as you want. Cookies too, obviously."

"Oh?"

"Yep! Just say the word anytime!"

Hee hee hee! Haring beamed innocently. She whined about money all the time, but I'd never seen her actually strapped for cash. When it came to money, she acted like a clueless noble lady, not giving a damn. At this point, it was clear she wasn't here for treasure.

Doesn't even care about the loot rolling around the nest... A quick rummage in the wall behind me would reveal the treasure vault.

"Hmm..."

Haring was something special. Not just her personality or actions—she clearly had some unique power that set her apart from all the humans and demi-humans I'd seen so far. Talent... hard to say yet, but from what she'd shown, she wasn't lacking.

"Alright."

My sleepiness had worn off anyway, and I had nothing else to do...

"Want me to teach you?"

"Huh? Teach me what?"

"You wanted training. Say no if you don't."

"! R-Really?! Awesome! Uh, when do we start? Now? Or later?"

"Bring lots of cookies next time too."

"I'll bring a hundred!"

Yippee! Haring let out a joyful yell and hopped up like a rabbit. Seeing her like that made me tired again, but whatever.

It's not like... I could just make her do basics and nap.

＊

Haring was over the moon. After two straight weeks of offerings, the dragon had finally opened up to her.

She'd worried about the pricey cookies—five thousand won each—and buying dozens at a time, but it had paid off.

"Hee hee hee, Dragon Knight is mine!"

She'd been agonizing over her gallery post narrowing down the location to near-certainty. She'd even considered going public rather than getting caught with nothing.

"Jackpot."

The rewards were insane. Title and follow-up quest were great, but 25,000 EXP was practically a bug. For Haring at level 7, that would rocket her straight to 30. In Prologia, where newbies were still everywhere, level 30 was top 1% territory.

Smooth sailing from here! Smooth sailing!

Her gaming life ahead would be a wide-open highway.

"Huff... huff..."

Or so it should've been.

"Huuuh... huuuh... I'm dyiiing..."

"Too slow."

Thwack.

What was this? A small stick plunged down onto Haring's head as she lapped the nest for the 60th time.

A monstrous stick flying through the air. Haring's eyes welled with tears from the pain, but she had to run to avoid more.

Crack. Crack.

And the culprit behind it all, the stick's owner—the Flame Dragon—lounged comfortably in the nest, munching on the cookies Haring had brought. As if she had nothing to do with any of it.

This is... training?

This wasn't the training Haring had imagined. She'd pictured learning cool dragon techniques, dragon magic, or awakening special powers like Dragon Tongue.

At the very least, sparring with the dragon...!

I didn't come here to run laps!!

"Too slow. Faster."

"Uwaaaaaah!!!"

She ran. She ran. Endlessly.

Haring ran with everything she had, but the stick still smacked her head. No matter how geared she was for her level, stamina was finite.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!!

"It hurts! It huuuurts!"

"If it hurts, run."

"I can't run anymoooore!!"

"Too cocky, useless."

Thwack. Thud!

Haring collapsed.

＊

"Weak. Pathetically weak."

Did I misjudge her? Not even 100 round trips up the mountain—just 100 laps around the nest, and she crumbled.

I'd thought she had decent endurance from climbing the mountain so diligently, but this was disappointing.

She seemed to want dragon techniques or sparring, but no way. Without basics, even the best techniques are worthless.

"Yawwwn..."

I yawned and tossed the passed-out Haring toward the back of the nest. She'd get up and keep going on her own. If she quit, that was that.

"Nap time?"

Belly full, and it'd take her a while to wake—perfect for a snooze. Not deep sleep, but a light doze should be fine.

I released Polymorph and flopped right into the nest. I shoved her far away so she wouldn't get squished, closed my eyes, and...

"Ooh! Found it."

"Fucking hell! I said I'd find it!"

"No way this was legit...?"

"?"

More humans had arrived.

＊

"Hey, there's someone here. Is that her?"

"Oh, yeah, that's the climber from the gallery. Looks just like the pic."

"Was on a quest maybe. Got wiped already?"

"Nah, no way. Still something left probably."

Three new humans. An all-male party, geared similar to or a bit better than Haring. Armed like mercenaries, but...

Like with Haring at first, their blatant nest-rummaging was ridiculous. No fear of dragons, not even tension.

...Do they not know what dragons are anymore?

I'd thought Haring was just nuts, but apparently this was the new average. What the hell was going on down there?

I'd planned to stay hands-off, but I might need to pay a visit soon.

Getting way too cocky.

They picked up the passed-out Haring, dropped her, and kept searching. I considered intervening like with her, but I was full and sleepy, so I let it slide. They'd leave eventually... No matter how fearless, they wouldn't steal with the homeowner right there...

Scraaaape...!

"Oh! Something here!"

"Holy shit, gold coins!"

"Treasure vault! Yo, sweep it all!"

...Sigh.

Playing nice won't cut it.

Ruuuumble...!