Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Nostalgic Side Dishes
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Rain pours fiercely from a sky with no clouds in sight.
Suryeon carefully gathers the raindrops in her palm.
"The mana that extends from the heart possesses its own unique properties. In my case, I can convert mana into water. Solely with my own power."
"Oh, that's a more impressive ability than I thought."
"It's nothing special."
Despite her humble response.
Suryeon's face flushed red, as if embarrassed.
The eldest and second daughters were still not entirely honest.
'She probably has other abilities besides making it rain from the sky. Dragons seem to have something called Dragon Words too.'
That aside.
I should still be cautious with that ability.
It might look like a highly efficient sprinkler to my eyes, but to other countries facing climate crises, it would appear entirely different.
"Suryeon, no matter what, don't use that ability often."
"...I know now. I shouldn't draw human attention."
"Good that you know. That's all that matters."
She'd grown up.
I patted Suryeon's head.
In response, she coldly swatted my hand away.
"Don't touch me without permission."
"That's mean... Daddy's sad..."
"The emotion of sadness is useless in life. It's just a nuisance."
She must have been deeply embarrassed about bawling her eyes out last time.
As I looked at her with pitying eyes, Suryeon sprang up from her chair in a fit.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing. Just reminded me of the old days."
"...That's annoying. I'm leaving."
Had I teased her too much?
With her lips pursed, Suryeon grumbled as she tried to leave the rooftop.
Before she could disappear, I shouted loudly.
"Suryeon! Tell Choryeon to come up!"
"..."
Zap—
Suryeon glared at me before vanishing.
Her reaction wasn't huge, but teasing Suryeon had its subtle charms.
Though my clothes were slightly damp and uncomfortable from the light rain, I waited patiently, and soon Choryeon appeared on the rooftop.
"Nice weather, Father!"
Choryeon waved cheerfully at me with a bright smile.
She seemed to like the fresh, moist air after the rain.
Before sitting in the chair, Choryeon headed to the flower bed to check on the plants first.
"The cherry tomatoes are growing well... The lettuce leaves are sprouting again too...! Everyone's growing nicely! I'll make sure to eat you all deliciously later!"
She beamed.
Smiling at the plants.
After greeting them, Choryeon sat in the chair and faced me.
"Last one up. Green Dragon. Yi Choryeon."
"Yes!"
"How's life lately?"
"I like it! I'm satisfied!"
"That's a relief."
No major complaints, it seemed.
In that case.
"Is there anything you'd like to do? Something like, 'I wish we could do this'?"
"Hmm, yes, there is!"
"What is it?"
"I told you the air around here isn't great! So, what I was thinking—"
Was she planning to turn it into a botanical garden again like last time?
I'd nearly died explaining the suddenly overgrown plants to the old lady back then.
That couldn't happen again.
"No environmental protection campaigns. Rejected."
"No, Father! Listen to the end of what this dragon has to say! It's different from before!"
"Different?"
"Yes!"
She shot up from her seat.
And began explaining her plan.
Called the "Right to Breathe Campaign."
"The outside air is terrible! It's filthy air mixed with metal and unpleasant mana! To fix that, we need to plant trees!"
"Planting trees in this barren district..."
"Yes, exactly! Plant trees! But this time, I won't do it myself!"
Was she telling me to plant them?
As I pondered searching the internet for how to plant trees.
Choryeon held out her palm to me.
"These friends will plant the trees for me instead!"
There was nothing on Choryeon's outstretched palm.
"You don't have friends either, huh, Choryeon."
Neither do I.
But Choryeon hadn't meant it that way and shook her head to correct me.
"That's not what I meant! They might not be visible to your eyes, Father, but right now, forest spirits are on my hand!"
"Spirits?"
"Yes, spirits!"
I was well aware of the concept of spirits.
Creatures that hide in nature, invisible to the eye, and unleash tremendous power when gathered together.
One of the active S-Rank Heroes in Korea used spirit powers, so I knew what they were like.
"You can control them, Choryeon?"
"Yes!"
"How?"
"My spirit friends like me! I have lots of friends!"
Good thing she has more friends than her dad.
Though invisible to my eyes, Choryeon led her friends to the rooftop railing.
"I'm going to scatter my friends into the outside world! Then they'll plant the trees on their own!"
"Won't it be a problem if too many grow?"
"It's fine! My friends are weaker than me, so they can't plant too many!"
"Hmm, that might be okay...?"
Recalling the things dragons had done so far made me prejudiced toward filtering anything a dragon said.
But even so, when my daughter came up with a good idea, shouldn't I trust her rather than reject it outright?
I placed my hand on Choryeon's shoulder.
"Give it a try, Choryeon."
"Yes!"
Choryeon tossed the friends she'd gathered in her palm far from the rooftop.
Like scattering pollen.
"...They won't grow weird, right?"
"Don't doubt them! My friends are smart like me!"
"..."
Now that made me worry a bit.
I was a little concerned, but I decided not to overthink it.
According to Suryeon, dragons don't make the same mistake twice.
I had to trust her for now.
We were family, even if our races differed.
"Grow tall and strong! Purify this rotten world!"
***
I successfully wrapped up the interviews with the dragon kids.
It was a useful time for understanding what abilities they had.
In conclusion...
'Dragons are specialized for farming, no matter how I think about it.'
It felt odd to use their incredible powers just for farming.
But I felt like I shouldn't let those talents rot away.
They could become excellent primary industry workers.
For that reason.
"Kids. Our future lies in farming. Let's farm."
I declared it at breakfast in front of them.
Let's work hard and make money through farming.
Suryeon yawned sleepily upon hearing that.
"Yawn... Dad. Why talk nonsense first thing in the morning..."
"Suryeon, we have to farm! Not using those abilities for farming would be a national loss!"
"Out of all those jobs, why farming... Farming's a hassle... I won't do it..."
She pushed her half-eaten bowl away and stood up.
She always used skipping breakfast as an excuse to leave food behind.
I couldn't just watch.
"You're growing—leaving breakfast? No way. I'll wrap some rice for you, just one bite."
"No. I'm not eating."
"Eat it quick! Dad has to go to work!"
"Annoying from the morning..."
Grumbling, Suryeon opened her mouth.
"Ahh—"
Nom—
I stuffed the wrapped rice deliciously into her mouth.
"Eating well but acting up. Dad's off to work."
"Tch."
"No causing trouble, all of you. Be good."
Today was my last day at the staffing agency.
With a strange feeling, I left the kids at home and headed out.
On my way to the workplace where I'd work one final time.
I spotted a small sprout poking up along the asphalt road.
"It's been ages since I saw something like this growing on the road."
Rare sight in this district.
Just one change, and it felt like stepping onto a new path.
***
"Good work."
After finishing my last day.
I changed clothes and approached Office Manager Jo Hyun-gyu, who was sitting in his chair.
To give my thanks.
"Thank you for everything, sir."
"Yeah, good work. Today's your last day, right?"
"Yes."
"Being a hero's definitely better than this job in every way."
Creak—
Jo Hyun-gyu rose from the old leather chair and headed to the shabby fridge.
He pulled out several Lock & Lock containers and set them on the table.
"You said you have kids, right?"
"Something like that."
"Not 'something'—you're raising kids. They're yours, whatever."
He slid a Lock & Lock container toward me.
"I asked my wife to make some side dishes. Take them home and eat together."
"No, I can't accept all this..."
"You're not feeding the kids properly. They're at that age to grow. Make sure they eat a variety. There's kimchi there too—take it. How can a Korean go without kimchi?"
Jo Hyun-gyu said that and beckoned me.
"What are you waiting for? Take it quick. Go home already? See your kids."
"...Yes, thank you."
"Get going. Do well at your new job."
I headed home with the side dish containers and kimchi Jo Hyun-gyu had packed.
My hands felt heavy.
"...You packed too much. Makes my heart feel unnecessarily warm."
Worried he'd get scammed by someone else like this.
He needed to live safely without incidents.
Walking down an empty street, I gripped the containers tightly.
Then, back home, I said.
"Dad's home. You didn't cause any trouble, right?"
"I didn't cause trouble!"
"...I won't cause trouble anymore either."
"Me too! Me too!"
The kids each greeted me happily.
Among them, Hwaryeon, curious, looked at the containers in my hands and asked.
"What's this, Dad?!"
"Got these."
"From who?!"
"...Someone grateful you'll never know."
It'd probably stick in his memory.
After changing clothes, I opened the containers and ate with the kids.
"..."
The side dishes were quite delicious.
Probably because they were homemade, something I hadn't had in ages.
"...Dad crying?"
"Why would I cry."
No way I'd cry over some side dishes after so long.
I wasn't crying.
...For real.
"Just eat your rice, Suryeon."
"Hmm..."
Maybe I should make homemade side dishes later too.
The thought came while eating.
Homemade side dishes always leave you nostalgic.