A Sudden Demand
The middle-aged man narrowed his brows.
He couldn’t understand what the man in front of him was saying.
But he didn’t get angry.
“Black hair. Black eyes. So dark they’re almost black themselves.”
That was when the middle-aged man—Sybel—gave Jin Chen a truly interested look.
The carriage door slammed open. Gannon and Barrel, the trade guild’s exhausted leader, tumbled out in a hurry.
Gannon bolted straight for Jin Chen. Barrel rushed over to Sybel.
“Hey, from here on we’ll handle it ourselves.”
“You kept us under that blazing gaze—sell it properly this time.”
“Yes, I’ll remember.”
Jin Chen turned and walked away without a word. Gannon let out a sigh of pure relief.
If he had kept going and tried to leave?
Just the thought made him shiver.
Barrel’s voice cut through the air right then.
“B-Bargain, leader of the Wagner Guild, pays respects to the owner of Cologne, Sybel-nim. I beg your forgiveness for the little mistake that blocked your way.”
Even with the apology, Sybel’s eyes never left Jin Chen.
Just… shut up and leave. Don’t get any ideas about bargaining.
Gannon thought exactly that and tried to step forward.
But Jin Chen’s voice rang out again.
“Look at these idiots?”
He whipped his head around to see Jin Chen standing right behind the child, staring at the ostrich-like Kogirash birds with their long necks stretched out, crying pitifully.
“Don’t raise your heads or I’ll fry you crisp.”
The birds snapped their heads down instantly and buried their faces between their wings.
Kurrurrururur.
A mournful wail filled the air.
Everyone around them stared in shock.
“Did you see that? The guy said something and the Kogirash moved!”
“What a weird command! Is it some kind of spell?”
“Amazing… All black-haired people must have this power, right?”
“I-I can’t believe it’s actually tamed!”
“How the hell did he do it?!”
Sybel turned to Barrel.
“Are you here to buy something? Or to sell?”
“T-To sell, my lord!”
“Then I’ll buy.”
“Th-Thank you!”
Barrel bowed deeply. Gannon, however, frowned harder.
He didn’t even ask what it was—Barrel just bought on the spot?
“We’d better move to a better spot here.”
“We don’t mind.”
“Then follow me.”
Sybel gave a strange smile and climbed back into the carriage.
“Let’s go back.”
“Yes! Sybel-nim!”
The driver spun the carriage around. Barrel smiled brightly at Gannon.
“We should follow them quickly.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Why?”
“Something feels off.”
Barkan climbed down from the driver’s seat and added, “I feel the same.”
Gannon sighed and looked at Jin Chen.
Did Sybel notice? Jin Chen suddenly dashed over to the child, scooped him up, and pressed him tightly against his chest.
“Follow us?”
“Y-Yes! Yes!”
“Then let’s go. Why are you still standing there?”
“I-I mean…”
“Hurry up! We’re selling this stuff and we’ve got a ton of purchases to make!”
Jin Chen climbed into the carriage. Gannon and Barkan exchanged a quick look.
“Ugh, whatever.”
Both nodded and climbed aboard.
Barrel, still stunned, followed right behind them.
“Let’s go! You kids with that big head!”
Kuguguguk!
Before anyone could stop them, the Kogirash burst into a sprint.
They chased the brightly painted carriage at full speed.
***
The southern side of the city was flat, but the northern side grew steeper and steeper.
At the very end of the north sat one ridiculously grand mansion.
A flashy carriage came tearing toward it.
Dududududu.
Four guards rushed out and shouted, “Sybel-nim has returned!”
Dae-e-e-e-eeng! Dae-e-e-e-eeng!
The bell tolled so loudly the entire mansion seemed to shake. The carriage sped right through the gates.
The guards couldn’t close the doors in time.
The Kogirash-drawn carriage had already slammed through at terrifying speed.
“W-What the—?!”
“S-Stop it!”
The guards froze in panic and reached for their swords. The Kogirash were faster.
Kugugugugugug!
They brushed straight past the guards and the carriage in a single blur.
“S-Send word inside!”
“Damn it! Why are the Kogirash suddenly here?!”
Dang-dang-dang-dang!
The bells rang frantically. The mansion erupted into chaos.
“What’s going on?!”
“Sybel-nim just said he was coming back!”
“Yeah? Then what the hell is this?!”
A swarm of guards poured out toward the huge training ground in front of the mansion.
There had to be over a hundred of them.
The flashy carriage rolled to a stop right in front of them.
The guards couldn’t move.
“The Kogirash… is pulling a carriage?”
“Was I too drunk yesterday? Am I hallucinating?”
“I see it too!”
“I drank with you yesterday!”
“Yeah, but…”
The guards stared blankly for a second, then snapped back and drew their weapons.
“What the hell are those things?!”
They charged straight at the Kogirash.
The Kogirash reached the carriage, stopped, and buried its face between its wings again.
Kugugugugug.
Mournful wail.
The guards blinked, still stunned.
The carriage door opened and Sybel stepped out.
“Put your weapons away. These are guests I invited.”
“Y-Yes! Yes!”
The guards sheathed their swords in a hurry. Barrel and Gannon climbed down next.
They hurried toward Sybel.
Barrel was happy about the sale. Gannon was worried Jin Chen would cause trouble again.
“S-Sybel-nim! I’ll show you the goods right away. We’ve managed to gather only rare items meant for nobles in Karis Kingdom. And on the way here we captured a huge number of monster corpses too. If you see them, I guarantee you won’t regret it.”
The normally clumsy Barrel was practically bouncing with excitement.
Sybel, however, didn’t look the least bit interested.
He had already turned toward the Kogirash.
“S-Sybel-nim?”
“Are you going to ask who tamed the Kogirash?”
“Th-That is…”
Barrel stammered. Gannon jumped in.
“They’re the ones who fought monsters and didn’t lose. Taming them? That’s ridiculous. We just patched up the ones that had been separated from their herd after taking wounds.”
“Yes. On the way here we encountered a huge pack of orcs. Those monsters had already defeated the other groups. The survivors were all wounded.”
Barrel added quickly. He was so used to lying for deals that the story flowed out naturally.
Sybel gave a cold smile.
“You want me to believe that now?”
“I-I’m telling the truth! Believe me!”
“Hmm… Why would we lie?”
Barrel looked flustered. Gannon swallowed a groan.
Just believe us. Stop asking questions.
And honestly, we can’t even tell you the truth.
How do you tame them? There’s no method.
The Kogirash do this because they want to live, not because they’ve been trained.
We beat them, sold them, tied them up and roasted them over a campfire, then stuffed an ogre’s head into their mouths and pulled it out again.
Is there any harsher method than this?
Just remembering what they went through made Gannon feel a little sorry for them.
He glanced sideways at Jin Chen, who was sitting next to Barkan.
It was a dragon, after all.
No matter how talented, it was impossible for a young person to reach Grand Sword Master level.
Not just because they were strong themselves, but because their subordinates were just as skilled.
And everyone had black hair.
The only beings in the world that could do this were dragons.
Descendants of demons?
Well, the subordinate’s story wasn’t entirely unbelievable.
But if they were demon descendants, some kind of dark aura should have shown up—something gloomy or evil like dark elves.
Yet neither Jin Chen nor the bandits showed any of it.
That ruthless, whatever-I-feel-like-doing-it personality was pure dragon.
Probably they had gathered the black-haired tribes that lived somewhere on the continent and taught them the sword techniques he knew.
No point asking why.
No mage in the world lived a thousand years and didn’t know that for dragons, playtime wasn’t just playtime.
So they had to keep pretending they didn’t know! And never let anyone else find out!
Gannons had heard that if a dragon’s fun was interrupted, it would erase every trace of itself and vanish.
Dragons were the rulers of magic!
If handled right, the last ten years of his 5-circle stagnation could be broken through dramatically.
We can do it. Let’s try!
Gannon clenched his fists, steeling his resolve.
Sybel smiled strangely.
“Then I guess I have no choice. I’ll buy the goods.”
“Th-Thank you!”
“I’ll pay the full price right now.”
“Y-Yes? I haven’t even seen the goods yet—”
Barrel snapped his mouth shut and caught something flying toward him.
One gold coin.
“W-What is this?!”
“That’s the price I quoted.”
“H-Haha. You must have misunderstood. Just the artworks and luxuries inside—”
“If you want to be paid what it’s worth, say it. Who… who tamed the Kogirash?”
Gannon’s face crumpled.
That stupid bastard! He’s seriously planning to kill me.
At that moment, Jin Chen, legs crossed on the driver’s seat, curled one corner of his mouth up.
“What did the bastard say?”
“Th-That is… there…”
Gannon carefully repeated what Sybel had said.
Trying to sound as nice as possible so he wouldn’t get angry.
Jin Chen gave a short laugh.
“The bastard wants to steal the bandits’ goods right in front of us.”
“Isn’t that what Chaeju did to the guild’s goods too?”
Gannon swallowed the words he wanted to say.
Jin Chen stood up.
“Ch-Chaeju! Calm down. I’ll explain.”
“I’ll teach you.”
“Teach me?”
“How to tame Kogirash. I’ll teach you.”
“H-How exactly do you plan to—”
“How else?”
Jin Chen pulled a double-headed axe from the pile of supplies behind the driver’s seat and swung it at Sybel without hesitation.
Flicker!
A blinding white light shot out like a new moon, racing straight toward Sybel.
Kwaa-a-a-a-aang!
A massive explosion bloomed with thick clouds of dust.
“Like this?”
“Hah… it’s over like this…”
Gannon’s face fell in despair.
Jin Chen kept talking.
“Don’t make that face. It’s not over yet.”
“What?”
“The thing that guy really wants… is me.”
“What do you mean—”
Gannon asked, confused, then shut his mouth.
He had seen Jin Chen’s gaze still locked on the front.
He spun around and looked back at Sybel.
Swaaaa.
Between the swirling dust, a yellowish light flashed.
Jin Chen flashed an even deeper smile and jumped down from the carriage.
“What do I do then? I was planning to ask you out anyway.”