Run If It Hurts

"If it hurts, run faster." "Yes. So, like this..." Haring sidled up close to me, as if to demonstrate, and made a V-sign with her fingers. Then click. Click! "This saves a picture of me and Flame Dragon-nim 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 gave me a dubious look and started swiping 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 picture clearly showed me with a grumpy expression from a few days ago, next to Haring flashing a double peace sign.

"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, the photo comes 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 out her chest proudly, shrugging her shoulders. She seemed to be hiding something, but whatever.

Photos existed in this world, but they weren't common by any means.

Something only used in the Magic Kingdom on the Southern Continent? About a hundred years ago, some mages in the magic kingdom, where magitech was advanced, had taken my ideas and invented various tools, including photography. 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, maybe they could whip them out just like that now.

But.

"You have no mana."

Haring had no mana. Not even a trace of mana-infused magitech, or any sign of help from a fairy or anyone else. She was just a physically sturdy human mercenary. There was zero power source for producing a photo like this. No matter how I thought about it, it didn't add up logically.

"Or is this a dream?"

"Pardon?"

Pinch. I pinched my own cheek. As the soft flesh stretched out, Haring, lost in thought, jolted with wide eyes, trembling.

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

...My cheek hurt.

"Ow."

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

"Not a dream."

"Of course not! This is reality. Or, well, reality. Hmm. Whatever."

"?"

"Want the photo?"

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

Fiddlest fiddlest. The texture was exactly like a Polaroid from my past life. Well, it was such an old memory that I couldn't be totally sure, but.

"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 tell me whenever you need anything!"

Hee hee hee! Haring beamed innocently. She always whined about money, but I'd never actually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seen her strapped for cash. On the contrary, when it came to money, she acted like a clueless noble lady without a care.

At this point, it was clear she wasn't here for treasure.

She doesn't even care about the treasures rolling around the nest... If she just rummaged a bit behind the wall at my back, she'd hit the treasure vault.

"Hmm..."

Haring was something special. Not just her personality or behavior—she clearly had some special 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 just basics anyway... I could have her do them while I slept.

＊

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

She'd worried about how to keep buying those expensive cookies—five thousand won apiece—dozens at a time, but it had paid off.

"Hee hee hee, Dragon Knight is mine!"

Just as the gallery was narrowing down the nest's location to near-certainty, she'd been agonizing over whether to go public instead of getting caught with nothing to show.

"Jackpot."

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

Smooth sailing from here! Smooth sailing!

Her gaming life ahead was a wide-open highway, nothing but smooth zooming.

"Huff... huff..."

Or it should've been.

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

"Too slow."

Thwack.

What was this? A small stick plummeted onto Haring's head as she lapped the nest for the 60th time. A monstrous stick flying through the air.

Haring's eyes teared up from the pain, but she had to keep running to avoid more hits.

Crunch. Crunch.

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

This is... training?

This wasn't the training Haring had imagined. She'd pictured learning cool dragon techniques, awakening special powers like dragon magic or dragon tongue. Or at least sparring with the dragon...!

I didn't come here to run laps!!

"Too slow. Faster."

"Uwaaaaaah!!!"

She ran. She ran. Endlessly. Haring poured her soul into it, but the stick still bonked her head. No matter how geared she was for her level, stamina was finite.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!!

"It hurts! It huuurts!"

"If it hurts, run."

"I can't run anymoooore!!"

"Sass and you're done."

Thwack.

Thud! Haring collapsed.

＊

"Weak. Pathetically weak."

Had I misjudged her? Not even 100 round trips up a mountain, and she crumbled after just 100 laps around the nest. I'd thought she had decent endurance from all that mountain climbing, but this was deeply disappointing.

She seemed to want dragon techniques or a spar, but no way. Without basics, even the best techniques are useless.

"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. Or quit, and that'd be that.

"Might as well nap?"

Belly full, and it'd take time for her to wake up. A light doze wouldn't hurt, even if deep sleep was out. I released my polymorph and flopped right there in the nest. I'd shoved her far enough away not to crush her by accident, then closed my eyes...

"Oho! Found it."

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

"No way this was legit...?"

"?"

More humans had arrived.

＊

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

"Oh, yeah, matches the climbing gallery pic perfectly."

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

"Nah, probably still some left."

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

Just like with Haring at first, they brazenly rummaged the nest. No fear of dragons, not even a hint of tension. Ridiculous.

...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.

Way too cocky.

They picked up the passed-out Haring, dropped her, and kept digging through the nest. I considered handling them like with Haring, but I was full and sleepy, so I let it slide. They'd leave eventually... No matter how fearless, they wouldn't steal treasure right in front of the homeowner... right?

Scraaaape...!

"Whoa! Something here!"

"Holy shit, gold coins."

"Treasure vault! Yo, sweep it all!"

...Haa.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Playing nice wasn't working.

Ruuuumble...!