Dragon Leaving the Cradle (1)
Dragon Leaving the Cradle (1)
"Say hello to your granddaughter, Mom."
"Why are you cursing in front of the child?"
"Can you move some troops?"
Choi Ji-yeon, reeling from that triple-hit of shocking statements, couldn't pull herself together for a while.
She'd tried to cool her head with some tea and snacks with Hong Yeon-hwa, but her fire-attribute daughter, for all her filial piety, gave her an even fiercer headache instead.
"That... explanation is rather baffling."
Choi Ji-yeon took a sip of tea, her expression complicated.
The first thing she'd been told about was the shocking granddaughter comment.
Hiding her face behind her teacup, Choi Ji-yeon stole a glance at the other side.
"Seo-yul, this snack is super tasty. Want one?"
"I'll take it."
Hong Yeon-hwa offered a snack to Lee Seo-yul. Seo-yul, who had somehow shifted to the seat next to her, deftly plucked the approaching snack with her hand instead of her mouth.
Shockingly enough, Hong Yeon-hwa looked almost benevolent, and while Lee Seo-yul seemed a bit awkward, she didn't outright reject the touch either.
A scene that could easily be described as a mother trying her best to be kind to a child, and the child accepting it, albeit awkwardly.
To Choi Ji-yeon, it was simply an amazing sight.
Anyone who knew Hong Yeon-hwa's past, at the very least, would have had their jaws dropping.
Choi Ji-yeon, who was at least aware of Hong Yeon-hwa's recent personality improvements, merely thought it was surprising.
—Flutter...
"......"
But setting aside that touching sight, there was another element that drew her eye.
A color that stood out starkly in Choi Ji-yeon's office, which was mainly painted in dark brown and red.
It was the five-colored wings unfurled from Lee Seo-yul's back.
"A fairy, huh..."
Choi Ji-yeon covered her mouth with her teacup and murmured softly. She stared at the five-colored wings with a complicated look in her eyes.
"I don't know much about fairies, though..."
"Fairies aren't exactly common. Not knowing is normal."
Hong Yeon-hwa had roughly explained the situation regarding Lee Seo-yul.
It was a matter she'd already discussed with Lee Ha-yul.
They couldn't hide Lee Seo-yul forever. Moreover, Lee Ha-yul didn't want to hide Lee Seo-yul forever either.
Hiding her existence felt like denying Lee Seo-yul, as though she were a child not worth being proud of.
In the first place, hiding the secret of being a fairy while living in the Calamity Flame Family for a while was a bothersome and troublesome task.
At the very least, revealing it to Choi Ji-yeon was easier.
"...Well, if you two have thought this through seriously, I have nothing to say."
Choi Ji-yeon didn't view Lee Seo-yul's existence negatively.
Partly because she'd been steeped in the Calamity Flame Family's characteristically easygoing atmosphere ever since marrying in, and partly because Choi Ji-yeon herself wasn't particularly strict or conservative.
So what if her race is a fairy? Choi Ji-yeon had no right to deny Hong Yeon-hwa's feelings of thinking of her as her own child, cherishing her, and raising her.
Above all, what Choi Ji-yeon was concerned about was a completely different matter.
'I, I'm a grandmother...?'
A reality she absolutely couldn't believe. Choi Ji-yeon's expression went blank.
She hadn't lost her grip on reality.
She knew that being a superhuman made her appear very young on the surface, but by ordinary standards, she was aware she wasn't that young anymore.
'But... still... I'm not at the age to be called a grandmother already...!'
Her daughter might already be an adult, sure, but! She'd only just become an adult, hadn't she?
No matter what, being called 'Grandma' so soon was inevitably shocking...
"Choi Ji-yeon."
"Uh, huh?"
"Here..."
It was just when Choi Ji-yeon was inwardly agonizing like that.
She suddenly heard a voice and looked down. Before she knew it, Lee Seo-yul had approached her side and was looking up at her intently, holding something out.
In her tiny hand was a bite-sized snack that had been placed on the table.
"...Is this for me?"
"Yes."
Lee Seo-yul nodded her head.
She was born through the mana of her son-in-law... Lee Ha-yul, wasn't it? Perhaps because of that, she had a very sparkling appearance.
Now that she looked, her mannerisms were also quite cute...
"Don't call me so distantly. Just call me Grandma."
"Huh?"
Choi Ji-yeon took the snack with one hand and popped it into her mouth, then carefully stroked Lee Seo-yul's head with the other.
Blinking, Lee Seo-yul quietly felt the touch on her head.
"......"
"What are you looking at?"
"No, nothing..."
Hong Yeon-hwa, observing this from across the table, wore a dumbfounded expression.
It made her remember all the time and effort it had taken for her to smoothly lay a hand on Lee Seo-yul's head...
"Ahem! Anyway, the story about Seo-yul is settled. What about the troops?"
"Oh, this... daughter of mine. Do you think mobilizing troops is that easy?"
"I know it's difficult. That's why I came to you first, Mom."
"Agh."
At the brazen reply, Choi Ji-yeon furrowed her brow and gently sat Lee Seo-yul down in the seat next to her. Putting a handful of snacks in the child's hands was a bonus.
"First, tell me the reason. You can't just barge in and say, 'I'm going to move troops!' and expect me to gladly go along with it. Especially in the current situation where we're already sending support to the Changhae Family."
Saying so, Choi Ji-yeon stared at Hong Yeon-hwa with serious eyes.
Even though Hong Yeon-hwa used to have a filthy temper like a mad dog, she had somewhat improved now, and even in the past, she was never one to joke about things like this.
"Uh... I don't really know either. We might need to move, but maybe not... and where to? I don't really know that yet either..."
"?"
A question mark floated above Choi Ji-yeon's head.
Hong Yeon-hwa scratched the back of her head.
.
.
.
[Contact: Lee Ji-yeon]
▶Me: Ji-yeon
▶Me: Got a sec?
▶Me: I have something to ask
▶Me: Do you have command authority over your family's troops?
* * *
There are many ways to classify regions, but most factions, including the Association, use the three-color division of white, black, and gray as a standard.
A White Zone is a peaceful area.
The Association's influence reaches strongly there, or a faction holds sway and maintains a relatively peaceful rule.
Public order is stable, and damage from dungeons and monsters is minimal. Those who yap about an era of peace are usually from the White Zones.
In contrast, a Black Zone is an inhuman land.
Even if it was once land that fostered civilization, it's now a place densely packed with monsters and dungeons where humanity has lost its ownership.
The zones called the Demon Realms are Black Zones. That's the fate of lands that failed to stop repeated dungeon outbreaks.
A Gray Zone is territory that lies between the White and the Black.
"Aw, fuck me, look at this sludge. Is this booze or pig slop, huh? Can't tell!"
"Like you can tell with that shitty tongue of yours? A bastard who'll scarf down anything equally, be it meat porridge or pig slop, why are you bitching now?"
"Anyone can see this with their eyes, you son of a bitch! This is fucking with the food!?"
'...So noisy.'
The shouts raining down around me were quite intense.
A shabby restaurant made of wood. A man equipped with an appropriate amount of weaponry was raising his voice, pointing at the soup that had just come out.
I was sitting in the corner on the first floor, leaning on my chin, and had laboriously expended some heart power to observe the soup on the table.
'Mm.'
It certainly had an appearance that invited comments about pig slop. A yellowish, sticky texture with tiny chopped bits of stuff floating around.
I lifted the bowl and took a mouthful.
Maybe because it looked so hideous, even the chewable bits felt oddly off.
'Still, it all tastes the same once it's in your mouth.'
I'd eaten plenty of bad food even before losing my sense of taste. After my fortunes improved, I never saw a reason to be picky about what I ate.
That became even more true after my sense of taste was gone—I just stuffed anything into my mouth as long as it had nutrients and calories.
'......'
Right now, though, taste or no taste, I honestly didn't want to touch it.
I had supplies stuffed in subspace and tried putting those in my mouth, too, but it wasn't satisfying.
Because I'd already tasted something truly delicious.
Not a distant memory. A sweet, savory flavor that had filled my mouth...
The enchanting taste that coiled around my tongue, and most of all, the sense of profound mental satisfaction that had fully filled me up was still vivid even now.
Having gorged myself on that all night, and now finding myself wolfing down this shitty pig slop—it really put me in a foul mood.
"Went out back and came back with his head full of hot air. Nothing's changed, you bastard. Don't you see the other customers quietly eating?"
"What? What the fuck. So there actually is a bastard eating this shit."
Just as I was grumbling but couldn't really complain, forcing the soup down my throat, the sparks suddenly flew my way.
"Hey, you. Is your tongue broken? Why are you paying money to eat this?"
The man who had been arguing with the owner stomped over to me without warning. He looked me over and then raised his eyebrows oddly.
"You look like some rich kid at first glance. What'd you wander all the way out here for?"
At the man's words, my brows furrowed involuntarily.
[A rich kid? How can you tell that just by looking?]
"Your whole way of talking is fucking refined for starters. You even trying to hide it?"
'So what exactly do you use to figure that out?'
The robe I was wearing wasn't new. The material itself wasn't great either, a defective, worn-out thing full of tears.
I'd sought out and worn it on purpose.
Gray Zones were lands where monsters and dungeons were commonplace, so naturally, many areas had poor public order.
Neglected, unconquered dungeons were common, and runaway dungeons could be seen fairly easily.
Just a little ways out from the populated living centers, you could run into monsters without much effort.
Because of that state of order, you could also frequently run into low-quality humans.
Thanks to that, while traveling through the Gray Zone, an unusual number of flies had been buzzing around me.
What was it they said? That some classy or rich vibe wafted off me, and they'd probably find something if they shook me down?
I thought it was bullshit since I was using perception-obstruction magic, but wondering if it might be the effect of All-Rounder, I'd dressed even shabbier.
'But it seems pretty useless.'
Judging by the way this man was talking right now, and what I'd experienced in this village, it seemed to have no effect.
My voice? What was wrong with the voice I'd adjusted with the Confession Necklace?
"Do rich kids these days even serve shit like this on their tables? It's the end times, I tell ya, the end times. Or is your palate just that messed up? Huh?"
My face twisted at the jeering remarks from the man who had come right up to me.
When I subtly activated Observation, I sensed his flushed, ugly face.
At the same time, even without needing Observation, an utterly unpleasant, filthy, and disgusting vibe was transmitted.
A few bottles of alcohol were rolling around on the man's table.
[Don't pick a fight you don't need and just get lost.]
"A fight, they say. Might be 'cause you're an outsider, but around here, this is how neighbors get friendly, yeah? Or, y'know, there are other ways too."
The man, who had just taken a gulp from a bottle he was holding, chuckled and patted his own pocket.
"Why don't I get us a room? Getting physical is easier to get close than talking anyway."
'Crazy bastard.'
It seemed he'd mistaken my gender. My already unpleasant mood took a nosedive.
What if he hadn't mistaken it? That was just as disgusting.
[Piss off nicely before you get beaten, you scum.]
"Haha! Don't be so feisty. What's there to play hard to get when you've already rolled your way out here?"
Despite my generous warning, the drunken man didn't heed it at all and reached a hand toward my robe.
[Displeasure.]
The act of him guzzling booze, not listening to a word, arbitrarily, and trying to lay a hand on me.
Utterly disgusting.
—Slam!
The man's head, acted upon by psychokinesis, smashed into the floor. The accumulated dust on the ground billowed up, and the hand reaching for me went limp and trembled.
[Why don't you listen when someone uses their words? Is that head just for decoration?]
"Gurk, argh..."
[And your skills are worth jack shit, you bastard. I really can't understand what makes you so cocksure to strut around like that.]
The man, whose head was driven deeply into the floor, let out a rasping, dying breath.
He was actually bleeding steadily from his head, but since he was a superhuman in his own pathetic way, he wouldn't die.
At the point where I even had to consider whether to kill him or not in the first place, he should be grateful I let him live.
[I'm already in a piss-poor mood, and now this shit happens.]
Indeed, I was not in a good mood right now.
Lately, I'd been wandering everywhere and manifesting the Authority of Space very intensely.
Manifesting it in a detection form I wasn't suited for was draining my heart power enormously.
Monsters kept swarming me, and whenever I detected a dangerous-looking dungeon, I'd rush in and destroy the core.
And on top of that, these goddamn flies kept buzzing, and whenever I observed some shitty scene, I'd rush to fly over and break things and save people...
It was just tiring in many ways.
Of course, I definitely wasn't at a point where I wanted to collapse and give up on everything, but I couldn't help missing a warm body temperature.
'If only someone would hold me...'
Was what I wished.
But there was no one around to hold me right now. No body heat, no gentle touch.
I was soothing my loneliness by holding spirits in my arms, but that fundamental thirst isn't easily quenched.
I'm alone.
Fucking sucks.
[Ah, fuck it.]
—Thud!
I kicked the head that had been loitering nearby. The man's body, knocked unconscious with his head caved into the floor, slammed into a corner.
I observed the alcohol-induced flush draining from his sheet-white face.
As I thought, a good beating was the right medicine for these types.
As I quietly sipped my soup afterwards, the owner sidled up to me.
"...Thank you. That guy's always causing trouble..."
[You deliberately threw him at me, didn't you? Shut up if you don't want to get thrown in a corner right alongside him.]
"Yes."
He'd purposely pushed this drunkard onto me. What if I'd been powerless? I would've been mixed up in some really shitty business.
The reason I didn't throw the owner in a corner right this instant was because I had my own business here.
[Spit out whatever info you have.]
I set my cleanly emptied bowl on the table and nodded my head.
Since old times, places like restaurants and bars were always where all sorts of information gathers.
Maybe not modern-day restaurants, but in these run-down Gray Zones, that function remained quite strong.
[The info fee covers the rudeness just now. Or should I replace it with the magic stones buried in your basement?]
"...How did you... No, it's nothing."
The owner, whose lips had been stammering, forcibly changed the subject. He must've realized prying further wouldn't do him any good.
"I don't know where you came from, but there isn't much special news."
[Don't drag it out and just tell me everything first.]
I shifted my posture and listened carefully, but I didn't expect much good info.
If I wanted good info, I would've looked for a place that dealt more directly in information rather than this corner diner.
Or I'd have pried open the owner's head to pull the information out.
The reason I didn't was because I hadn't expected much good info in the first place.
'What a headache...'
The Authority of Space was still manifesting in a detection form. Because of that, the Authority of Observation was only being activated sparsely due to efficiency issues.
'Still, it's definitely gotten closer.'
There had been considerable results. A few candidates had turned out to be duds, but I was slowly starting to feel something.
I still couldn't pinpoint the exact location, but I must be nearing the entrance.
I'd caught signs quicker than expected. If things went on like this, I might actually find the entrance before the break ended.
"Ah, there is that bit of news. The Tower Faith faction is running rampant these days."
[...Is that so?]
"Yes, they've been flooding the place with relief supplies. I hear they've even formed dedicated personnel to distribute them directly. I saw it myself, too."
[Mmm...]
My expression soured at the topic that suddenly came up from the owner's talk.
The Tower Faith. As the name suggests, it's a religious group, but the peculiar thing is that the god and saviour they worship is the 'Tower.'
'Not that I can't understand it...'
Given the functions of the Towers right away, they certainly can feel like a god's power.
But that didn't mean I wanted to worship the Towers as gods like them...
However, it wasn't nourishing info. I'd already heard loads of it while traveling back and forth, and I also knew about it from the original work.
[Hm?]
Just when I was thinking it was nothing worth seeing, I caught a presence at the edge of my slightly opened Observation.
A fierce momentum flowing as sharp and menacing as a sword. They possessed considerable mana, and a presence that was both familiar and unfamiliar clung to them.
[That's enough.]
Squeak... I got up from the wooden chair I had been leaning on. The owner's expression brightened for an instant.
[Naturally, there's no payment for the meal or repair costs. If you complain about this, or try any funny business later and bother me, I'll come find you personally.]
"Yes, ah, yes! Of course! I won't so much as breathe a word about you, honored patron."
Naturally, I didn't trust a single word from a merchant scumbag like that.
It's not like that piece of trash could blabber about me for much longer anyway.
I adjusted my robe and walked out of the shabby restaurant.
'Manifest, subspace.'
—Rumble, crack!
The shabby restaurant momentarily shook.
I cleanly swallowed up all the magic stones and valuables stuffed in the building's basement into my subspace.
Having swallowed the owner's entire fortune (estimated), I strolled away.
* * *
[｢Curse of Beauty's Misfortune｣ is consuming vitality... consuming...]
—Bzzt...
[The Tower of Harmonization suppresses ｢Curse of Beauty's Misfortune｣]
[Using Points]
...
[Player Correction System: Pioneering Progress]
[Quest ｢Human Rescue (High)｣ achieved]
...
[Quest ｢Solo Grade 4 Dungeon Assault｣ achieved]
[Quest ｢Solo Grade 3 Dungeon Assault｣ achieved]
...
[Quest ｢Multiple 8th-Rank Monster Subjugation｣ achieved]
[Quest ｢Multiple 7th-Rank Monster Subjugation｣ achieved]
[Quest ｢Multiple 6th-Rank Monster Subjugation｣ achieved]
...
[Quest ｢Righ?teous Thief｣ achieved]
[Points are accumulating]