Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Dragon's Nest - [2]
Whoosh—.
Opening my eyes, I was back there again. The quiet cabin amid falling snow. The crackling sound of the fireplace.
It felt as familiar as my own home by now. Third time, right?
"You're too much, mister."
I turned my head, and Irsha was pouting.
She sat in the rocking chair, glaring at me with a sullen expression.
"When I asked you to go, you shot me down flat. But someone else asks, and you say yes right away. That's blatant discrimination!"
I sighed as I looked at Irsha, then sat in the chair across from her.
"I offered such great terms, but you still wouldn't budge... Honestly, it hurt a little. I even said I'd call you 'oppa'."
"Anyway."
I cut off Irsha's words and met her eyes.
"Aren't you the stalker, Saintess? Why do you treat someone else's dream like your personal hangout? Third time now. It's not exactly pleasant."
"…."
Irsha averted her gaze like she'd been caught, fiddling with her teacup.
"Sorry. I can't help it. My personality is just... like that."
"Your personality?"
"Yeah. A bit... clingy."
Irsha spoke softly, gazing at the crackling flames.
"Ever since I was little, if I had a toy I liked... I'd hide it away deep so no one else could touch it. In a jewelry box or buried underground, where no one could see."
Her eyes darkened slightly.
"But I never actually got to play with them properly. Hid them too deep—couldn't even pull them out myself."
"…."
"When I get interested in something... I want to tuck it away like treasure and keep it all to myself. Feels like if others find out, they'll steal it or wear it out... So yeah."
She glanced at me and added,
"...You're just fun, you know? Kinda funny-looking?"
"Anyway, let me summarize what the Saintess is saying."
I propped my chin on my hand and spoke seriously.
"You like toying with people. In a super creepy way."
"Is that... how it sounds?"
Irsha paused, then made a face like it just clicked.
"Oh. Yeah, hearing it back, that's right. I was creepy? Whoa. I just realized."
"You just now?"
Not a normal person. Well, no one with the title of Saintess would have a normal personality.
"So that's why you only meet in dreams, not reality? Because real meetings stick in memory and create bonds?"
"Could... be."
The Saintess in the real world was an existence far too lofty.
If she showed interest in someone—or if someone showed interest in her—that person drew the entire empire's attention.
I'd initially thought she only met in dreams to avoid that, but now it seemed otherwise.
Or maybe both?
I stood and pointed to one corner of the cabin. A piano sat there.
It had manifested from my imagination, since it was a dream.
"Got it."
I walked over to the piano.
"I get that the Saintess has a rotten personality... But from now on, no more sneaking peeks. If you have something to say, do it in reality. Face-to-face."
"…."
"Peeping is pervert behavior. You have a reputation to uphold."
Irsha glanced around sheepishly, then nodded like a sad puppy.
"Yeah... Got it. Sorry."
Her looks were a total cheat. With that unreal beauty pulling the puppy eyes, I couldn't even stay mad.
"A promise is a promise... So I'll give you the blessing."
Irsha mumbled hesitantly.
"Wasn't that for when I went to the Dragon's Nest?"
"Well, you're going anyway. Consider this an advance."
"What exactly does it do? Does it really boost luck and improve skin?"
"Hmm... It's not that big a deal."
Irsha counted on her fingers as she explained.
"Cures baldness if you've got it, balances your body's nutrients if they're off, brings your muscle mass to optimal levels, improves your eyesight... Oh, and when you can't uphold your pride as a man, it fixes that too... You know, stuff like that. Just makes you healthy overall. Nothing special, right?"
"…."
Insane. Way too OP. Baldness cure and erectile dysfunction fix? Wow... The power of fantasy.
"Irsha-nim."
I put on a serious face and swept my hair back once.
"On second thought, being watched might not be so bad. Should we just keep meeting in dreams like this? You're welcome every night. I'll play for you every single day."
"…."
Irsha shot me a cold look and put some distance between us.
"Mister, you're such a materialist."
"Everyone wants to be healthy."
"Hmph. Anyway, I've cast the blessing. You'll feel different when you wake up."
She got ready to snap her fingers.
"See you in reality, mister. I'll hear the piano next time. In 'reality', like you said. You told me to meet there?"
Snap!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Mm…."
I opened my eyes to the jolting vibration. I was inside the carriage. Bright sunlight poured in through the window.
"Sleep well?"
Serika, sitting across from me, looked up from her book.
"Uh... yeah."
I rubbed my eyes and sat up. My body felt... strangely light.
It should've been aching all over from the carriage travel fatigue, but right now, I felt refreshed, like I'd just come out of a sauna.
And my eyes felt clearer too? My vision seemed sharper.
'The dream... I don't remember it.'
Felt like a good dream, but no details stuck.
Just a lingering good mood.
"Hm? Oppa?"
Serika closed her book and tilted her head. She peered right into my face.
"Uh, why? Something on my face?"
"No... You just seem different somehow?"
"Different how?"
"Dunno... Better complexion? Your skin's kinda glowing."
Serika scrutinized my face from every angle.
"Wait, what? Good sleep? Why do you look so handsome all of a sudden?"
"Wasn't I always handsome?"
"…."
"Okay. Scratch that."
Serika grimaced slightly and went back to her book.
But seriously, why did my body feel so light? No clue.
As I puzzled over it, the carriage came to a stop.
"We've arrived. Entrance to the Dragon's Nest tourist district."
Following the coachman's guidance, we got out. The entrance buzzed with tourists and merchants.
Souvenir shops hawked junk like 'Dragon Scales (actually lizard scales)' or 'Bottle of Dragon's Breath (just empty).'
As I stepped down from the carriage, people around us started murmuring.
-Huh? That guy….
-Isn't that... Baron Aiman?
-Yeah! The genius musician from the Imperial Concert!
Reminded me of the market.
Back then, people had been swarming up to me, but now they all kept their distance, just gawking.
Like I was someone they couldn't casually approach. The weight of a noble title, huh.
'I've really made it big.'
Gonna slap Hans when I see him—'Don't go eye-to-eye with nobility!'
"Oppa, you're popular."
Serika linked arms with me and grumbled.
"Kinda unfair, though. My social standing should be higher than yours right now? But no one recognizes me?"
"Your face isn't known. And mages are supposed to be mysterious anyway."
"True, but... it bruises the pride a little."
Serika pouted, but she seemed to secretly enjoy basking in my fame.
"Let's go. Before the crowds build up."
I led Serika deeper into the tourist area.
At the far end of the district, past the shops and inns, the scenery shifted dramatically.
The bustling crowds and noise vanished, revealing a massive cave mouth bored into the base of a sheer cliff.
Dragon's Nest Entrance "Here."
Serika stopped. Unlike the flashy tourist spots, the area around the entrance was eerily silent.
Not even a bird chirped. It felt like a space severed from the world, another dimension entirely.
"Oh…."
I looked up at the entrance. A colossal cave gaped like a black maw.
Pitch-black darkness billowed from within.
"Won't we get lost in there?"
"Nah, it's not that big. Maybe 100 meters? Walk that far and you're through—no worries about getting lost."
A cave that's only 100 meters? Kinda disappointing.
"Ah, Serika."
"Yeah?"
"You said it was for a research project? What are you even researching to come all this way?"
Serika launched into a lengthy explanation: from a quantum mechanical viewpoint, considering the superposition of micro and macro worlds, electrons in the electron cloud might exist or might not, so….
That's about how I took it. Yeah. Anyway, she came to research something insanely advanced.
And as I stared at the Dragon's Nest, something... made my heart pound hard.
'What is it? This feeling?'
A corner of my chest grew hot.
"Oppa? What's wrong?"
Serika asked with worried eyes. But I couldn't focus on that. Because…
👻 HALLUCINATED VOICE 👻 "You who do not belong to this world." Hallucinations had started. First things first—chuck a coin pouch at the source of the sound.
👻 HALLUCINATED VOICE 👻 "The reason you came here... Gah!" Hm. Good. Hallucinations stopped. Must've been fatigue.
I could feel Serika staring at me with wide eyes from the side.