The Black-Haired White Dragon (2)
Day three in another world.
Rian had been awake since the crack of dawn, and every inch of him ached. Lying face-down on the floor for so long had left both elbows numb and throbbing, so he had to keep working his arms loose. On top of that, a grass rash had set in, and hives had broken out all over both legs.
He'd been scratching at them mindlessly — and finally, he snapped.
"Ah, screw this, I can't take it anymore!"
He stripped naked on the spot and dove into the pond near the cabin. The water was so cold and clean that a yelp burst out of him the instant he went under. It was so clear he could see all the way to the bottom. He scooped it up and drank it down, ice-cold and delicious.
"Ahh, that's the stuff!"
The itch in his legs eased a little. He swam a few laps with a blissful look on his face, then, unable to contain the rush of it, bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"I AM FREEDOOOOOM!"
Three days of pent-up anxiety and thirst had swallowed his reason whole. After that, he ran stark naked through the vegetable fields, screaming the entire way.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
"THIS IS MY LAAAAAND! I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"
He was losing his mind.
Day four in another world.
Rian was growing bolder by the hour. He wandered the sun-drenched expanse of the vegetable fields, plucking handfuls of anything that looked remotely edible. The plump, well-fed fish living in the pond became food as well. He had no way to start a fire, so he ate them raw, sashimi-style. Parasites were a concern, but hunger came first. In a place overflowing with nameless vegetables and fruits, raw fish was the only meat he had.
"Buuurp. I'm stuffed."
From time to time, Rian even sunbathed in the nude. Not having to worry about anyone watching — having this scenic place all to himself while wandering around naked — that, at least, was a happiness found in solitude.
When night fell, he went inside the cabin and sprawled out on the bed. His guts had grown so bold they were hanging out of his belly. He no longer gave a damn about the cabin's owner, who might or might not come back someday. If the owner did show up, he'd just explain himself somehow. That was the extent of his optimism.
Day five in another world.
Rian was taking a leisurely swim in the pond when a thought suddenly struck him. What if he dug a trench somewhere out of the way?
Even in the midst of this carefree existence, a corner of his heart was always uneasy. An emergency could strike at any moment. He needed something to protect himself with, and the idea that came to him was a trench. If he dug one and covered it with branches and grass, it would make an excellent hideout in a pinch.
"Alright!"
Rian immediately grabbed a shovel from the shed, picked a suitable spot, and started digging. And so another day passed.
Day six in another world.
It was past noon by the time he finally finished the trench. It wasn't particularly deep or large — just big enough for his body to squeeze inside. He cut branches and carefully covered it over. Looking at the result, which now blended in somewhat with the surrounding terrain, Rian smiled with a sense of accomplishment.
"This should be hard to spot."
A little later, while washing himself in the pond, Rian started thinking about how to get down from the cliff. As scenic, peaceful, and abundant in produce as this place was, it couldn't satisfy all of his needs. He couldn't spend the rest of his life in a place this boring, no matter how well it suited a hermit sage. He wanted to see the kingdom. He wanted to see people. He wanted to properly experience this other world. So he threw everything he had into figuring out an escape.
"If only I had a rope over a thousand meters long."
There were ropes in the shed, but they were all too short — nowhere near enough to descend a bottomless cliff whose waist was wrapped in clouds. And with those worries, another day slipped by.
Exactly one week in another world.
A leisurely morning. Standing there in nothing but his underwear, Rian stared blankly up at the blue sky.
"If only I had wings..."
That evening, Rian was wrapping up the day as usual, washing himself in the clear pond, when a pure-white dragon appeared before his eyes out of nowhere.
"HUH?!"
There hadn't been the slightest sign of anything flying in through the night sky. It had appeared, quite literally, out of thin air. The dragon landed in front of the cabin, peered down at Rian in the pond, and tilted its head.
"...What are you?"
A low rumble rolled through the air. He could feel the anger in it.
"......"
Rian swallowed hard. He was terrified, but he told himself this was the moment to show the results of all the preparation he'd been doing — the speech he'd rehearsed countless times for the day the cabin's owner showed up unannounced.
Stark naked, Rian calmly walked out of the pond and stood facing the dragon with as much dignity as he could muster. Being naked made him look ridiculous, but this was no time to worry about appearances. He was just fighting for his life.
"I've been waiting for you!"
"For me?"
"Yes! You're the owner of this place, aren't you?"
He was laying on the enthusiasm thick. The dragon's response was ice-cold.
"What is this scheme? Drop the act and show your true colors. Were you ordered to harm me?"
"H-harm you?!"
The unexpected accusation left him flustered.
"Absolutely not! I'm just a simple traveler!"
"Do you take me for a fool?!"
The dragon's roar thundered through the air. It stung his eardrums so badly his face twisted on its own.
"Did you think I wouldn't know you're that bastard's underling?!"
"W-wait a second! Are you sure you don't have me confused with someone else?"
"To invade even my sanctuary! You demon scum!"
"Demon?!"
The enraged dragon stretched its long neck and roared.
Damn it, this is going to hell!
Rian hurriedly clapped both hands over his ears and screamed.
"Wait! Wait, please! I'm not a bad guy! I'm a decent human being! I swear I haven't done a single bad thing since I got here!"
He pleaded desperately, but the pure-white dragon's face only twisted into something even more vicious.
"Shameless wretch! Did you think I'd fall for a devil's cheap tricks? I know you're in league with that bastard!"
"Who the hell is 'that bastard'?! I don't know anything!"
"Talking to you only pisses me off. Die!"
The dragon seethed with fury and opened its jaws wide. In the center of that gaping maw, freezing air condensed into a swirling mass that swelled rapidly. Rian's face went pale. He swallowed a dry gulp.
Goddammit, if I'd known it would come to this, I should've thrown everything I had into climbing down that cliff!
Just as Rian squeezed his eyes shut, something astonishing happened.
"Kh! Dammit!"
The white dragon, about to unleash its breath, suddenly started choking as if something were stuck in its throat. At the same time, its massive body began to shrink, slowly transforming into a human form.
"Huh?"
A moment later, a naked woman with two horns on her head lay collapsed on the ground. Her skin was pale and extraordinarily beautiful. She looked to be in her late teens, maybe around twenty.
"Wh-what just happened...?"
Rian crept closer.
"U-um, are you okay?"
He steadied his trembling voice and tried again.
"Knock knock. Anyone home? Knock knock. Are you hurt anywhere?"
The woman lay there with her eyes closed, not a word in response. Was she unconscious? He waited a while, but there was no reply, and his thoughts grew more tangled by the second.
"I have no idea what's going on..."
Then her snow-white legs caught his eye. Below her left knee, her shin was badly wounded, blood streaming out.
"Is it torn open?"
It finally clicked. She must have gotten beaten up somewhere else and come back already hurt. The moment that thought hit him, Rian's eyes lit up.
If I'm going to take her out, now's my chance!
He scrambled off, grabbed a sickle, and rushed back.
"Hah! Hah...!"
Rian looked down at the naked woman lying there and swallowed.
If I stab her through the heart with this!
He swung the sickle through the air. Whoosh, whoosh. He practiced the stabbing motion a few times — and then a sudden wave of dread surged up. From the looks of it, the dragon had used Polymorph to take human form. But if she was a dragon, and her skin was as hard as iron... what if the sickle's blade shattered uselessly and she woke up?
"Th-then I'd be a dead man!"
His heart lurched. This was a matter of life and death. One mistake wouldn't be forgiven. His mouth went bone-dry.
"I can't do it!"
After agonizing over it, he abandoned the idea of stabbing her in the heart. He chose a different approach. He flung the sickle aside and scooped the woman up in his arms.
The first thing that caught his eye was her ample chest, swaying weakly — but no particular thoughts came with it.
She's lighter than I expected.
The sensation in both hands was unbelievably soft. He felt like his grip might slip and he'd drop her.
Must've gotten some high-end skincare. Wait — this is no time for jokes!
He pulled her into a tight princess carry and sprinted toward the cliff.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
If I drop her off the cliff, even a dragon shouldn't be able to survive that!
Part of him still wanted to talk to the dragon, but after what had just happened, she didn't seem like someone you could reason with. Remembering the creature that had been about to blast him with its breath, his footsteps didn't hesitate.
"Hah, hah!"
But when he finally reached the cliff, Rian froze in place, his original resolve crumbling.
Wh-what if I throw her and she survives? What if she flies back up?
Then he'd be a dead man all over again. Rian clicked his tongue. Dragons were so overwhelmingly powerful that, short of burning her to ash, he couldn't think of a surefire way to kill her. But every method currently available to him left a lingering unease — half-measures, all of them, born of the fear that the dragon might come back to life.
"I don't even know how to start a fire, for fuck's sake."
He stood there, unable to throw her off the cliff, cycling through the same worries — when a moan suddenly escaped the woman.
"Nngh..."
Her eyes half-opened. A chill ran down Rian's spine.
"You... what are you doing...?"
She asked in a faint voice. Rian hurriedly rearranged his expression and answered gently.
"Are you coming around? As a man who has walked the straight and narrow all his life, I simply couldn't stand by and watch a frail young lady in such a state. Please wait just a moment. I'll lay you down on the bed."
"Bed?"
"Yes. You'll feel better once you're lying down. I'll get us there in a flash!"
Rian immediately turned on his heel and ran for the cabin. The woman in his arms tilted her head.
"Who are you? What are you?"
"As I said earlier, I'm just a traveler!"
"You're not someone Vanderzhaar sent?"
"Vanderzhaar? I don't know who that is! I have nothing to do with him!"
"Is that so...?"
"Yes! I swear!"
Panting, Rian burst into the cabin and carefully laid her on the bed. The woman watched him in silence, her gaze half puzzled, half wary, eyes narrowed as if bracing for whatever this guy might do next.
"If you lie to me, I will kill you."
"Every word I say is the truth. Please, just hear me out."
Rian was ready to come clean about everything, but the woman lost consciousness again as if she'd never woken up at all. The tension drained out of him. Rian sank down beside the bed.
"Phew... Thank god she passed out. Now what...?"
His gaze drifted to the woman lying on the bed.
We only exchanged a few words, but the vibe seemed... okay?
Thank god the dragon spoke Korean.
He caught his breath, got up, and fetched a bucket of water. Then he twisted plant stems he'd gathered outside into a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding on her leg, soaked his T-shirt with water, and carefully wiped the blood from the wound. His own clothes were the only fabric in the house he could use.
This is the only way I survive!
If he nursed her diligently, she might find him admirable enough to spare his life. He resolved to devote himself to the dragon tonight. He wiped the cold sweat from her face, wrung out the wet T-shirt and laid it on her forehead, and stayed up all night tending to her.