Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Dragon's Playground
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Among the dragons, Chorien had one being she could truly call a friend.
The forest spirits.
They were friends that ordinary humans could never see.
With Ha-joon away from home due to a summons,
Chorien had called them all together in one place.
"Everyone must have scattered tree seeds all over the outside world, right? Time for your reports today! Line up in a row!"
Short stature, short body.
Human shapes the size of a single finger.
The forest spirits, their bodies cloaked in green leaves, hurriedly formed a line.
Chorien nodded in satisfaction at the sight and asked for their reports.
"Total reporting personnel: 10! What happened outside today?"
"Beep-! Beep beep-! Beep beep beep-!"
Whisper whisper—
The spirit whispered right into the ear of the lounging Chorien.
Chorien nodded in satisfaction after hearing the report.
"It's great to hear the trees are starting to grow! Even when I go up to the rooftop sometimes, I can feel the air getting cleaner! Good job!"
Chorien smiled and stroked the spirit's head with her finger.
"Beep beep—"
The spirit beamed contentedly, savoring the reward.
After giving the reward for a suitable amount of time, Chorien called out sharply.
"Next!"
"Beep-!"
The next forest spirit stepped forward confidently.
And it, too, whispered its report into Chorien's ear just the same.
"Beep-! Beep beep beep-!"
"Mmm, I get what you're saying."
Chorien nodded, listening intently to the spirit.
It was meaningful information from Chorien's perspective.
"The air gets worse the farther you go from home toward the center."
"Beep-!"
"Most of the bad air might be coming from there. Let's all work hard together to purify the air, friends!"
"Beep-!"
The spirits cheered in response to Chorien.
Suryeon, who had been intently watching TV, seemed slightly bothered by the scene.
Suryeon spoke up to Chorien.
"Chorien."
"Yes?"
"Play quietly. You're being noisy."
"I'm not noisy at all, sis! Actually, big sis Hwaryeon over there playing around is way noisier!"
Chorien pointed at Hwaryeon with her finger.
"Shoo shoo—! This isn't wind! It's my fist!"
Hwaryeon was shouting something while swinging her fists at the air.
She was practicing martial arts on her own, mimicking moves from the TV.
"...You know she won't listen even if you tell her."
"You're right..."
"There's an important scene on right now, so play quietly. Got it?"
"Yes, sis..."
Chorien pouted but reluctantly lowered her voice.
"Anyway, shall we continue...?"
"Beep..."
The spirits lost their energy along with her.
Still, the status reports from the spirits continued.
"Beep, beeeep... beep..."
"Hmm, is that so. There's a kid our age at this place called the playground."
"Beeeep..."
"A playground where kids can play... That does sound intriguing... By any chance, is it an environment where trees can grow too?"
"Beeeep."
"No, it's not, huh. That's a shame."
Even so.
Chorien grew interested in this place called the playground.
A playground where young kids could have fun.
"Should I ask Daddy?"
With that thought, Chorien began waiting for Dad to come home.
To go see the playground herself rather than just hear about it.
***
The moment I got home.
Chorien rushed over to me and shouted.
"Daddy, welcome back! Can I go outside?"
"No."
"Hiiing."
Chorien's face fell the instant I refused.
Did I refuse too quickly?
"What's the reason, Chorien?"
"My friends told me! There's this place outside called a playground! I want to go there!"
"Your friends get around more than I thought."
"Right?"
Chorien perked up when I praised her friends.
But going outside was still off-limits.
There were valid reasons for that.
First reason.
"It's dangerous outside. Too many people have you girls as targets."
"Because we're dragons, you mean?"
"No, because you're still young and vulnerable. It'd be fine if you went with me."
Second reason.
"You're all too conspicuous. Especially—you need to hide those horns and tails."
"I see..."
"Otherwise, you'd have to shrink down to lizard form."
"That's too inconvenient..."
"Then hiding the horns and tails is the only way."
"Hmm..."
Chorien fell deep into thought after hearing me.
She must be curious about the outside too.
Especially wanting to go out in human form, not as a confined lizard.
"I'm curious about the outside my friends talked about... I want to see what they saw too..."
"No. At least not until you can hide your horns and tails."
Chorien looked dejected as she asked.
But I had to be serious about this.
It was a matter of the kids' safety.
Still, I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.
"Isn't there some way? You're dragons, after all. Smart Suryeon. Do you know anything?"
When I called out to her, Suryeon—who'd been pretending not to care—responded.
"I do. We can hide our horns and ears."
"You knew about it?"
"Yeah, but there's a risk of strong humans seeing through it. It's just perception-blocking magic, after all."
Suryeon explained the perception-blocking magic.
From what I gathered, the horns and tail still existed, but others couldn't see them.
Think of it as partial invisibility magic, and it was simple enough.
"Lasts 30 minutes. After that, other people can see."
"Pretty good magic aside from the short duration."
"If I master it fully, the time will extend. I was planning to show it off perfectly once I did. Too bad."
As expected of the brainiac.
Suryeon was even humble.
I asked Suryeon one thing I was curious about.
"But can you cast it on me too?"
"...Of course. But why would you need it, Dad?"
"Just the natural curiosity any human would have?"
"...That makes me uneasy. I'm not doing it for you, Dad."
"Tch."
Too bad.
At any rate, I now knew there was magic to hide horns and tails.
I asked Chorien, who was desperate to go out.
"She says you can hide them. What do you think, Chorien?"
Chorien shot her hand up and yelled.
"Me, me! I wanna go!"
"Alright, let's go to the playground."
Then Hwaryeon and Suryeon started getting ready to go out too.
"Me too! I'm going!"
"...I'm curious about outside too. I'll go."
"Got it. Let's all go together."
Better to go as a group.
And so, I took the dragons—who had hidden their horns and tails—to the playground.
It was the dragons' playground debut.
***
Playgrounds have all sorts of play equipment for kids to enjoy based on their tastes.
Outgoing kids love powerful rides like slides or centrifuges.
Introverted ones prefer static ones like seesaws or swings.
'What did I play on? Probably swings, I think. Memories are fuzzy.'
I wondered what these kids would play on.
With that curiosity, I arrived at the playground with the dragons.
They looked at the equipment with wonder and said.
"Daddy! What's that! It's super high!"
"Intentionally designed for thrills. Speed is the essence? I need to try it."
"Wow, so this is the playground my friends talked about!"
They each reacted differently.
And the kids were thrilled at the sight of the playground.
They looked just like dogs eyeing a treat right in front of them.
I said to them.
"Everyone, play carefully, and don't go anywhere out of my sight."
"Whatever!"
"Got it."
"Yes!"
Clatter clatter—
The kids ran across the sandbox toward the equipment.
Hwaryeon climbed up to the tallest slide first.
"It's a bit high!"
Hwaryeon hesitated slightly in front of the spiral slide.
I shouted up to her from below.
"You're not supposed to stand on that—sit down!"
"Like this?"
"Yeah, then push with your hands to go down the slope."
"Hmph, I didn't need you to tell me! I knew that already!"
She says that after hearing me.
Hwaryeon followed my instructions and slid down for the first time.
"Waaaah—!!"
She seemed to find it pretty fun.
She came down laughing gleefully.
With an unstoppable grin, she said.
"This is fun! Humans are pretty good! They can even make stuff like this!"
She'd probably enjoy an amusement park the most.
Soaked in dopamine, Hwaryeon dashed back up the slide.
And kept going up and down, up and down.
"Having a blast. Wonder what Suryeon's up to."
No need to look—Suryeon was right there in plain sight.
Without me explaining, she seemed to know the principle of the swing.
She swung her legs forward and back repeatedly, riding it with a blank expression.
"Playing by herself just fine."
I approached her and asked.
"How's the playground, Suryeon?"
"Seems well-designed."
"Not that. How do you feel?"
"Good. Breezy. Cool wind. Especially this swing—well-made. More thrilling than expected."
Swoosh—
Suryeon closed her eyes on the swing.
Enjoying the wind as she picked up speed.
I placed a hand on Suryeon's back and asked.
"Want Daddy to push?"
"No, it's fine. This is enough for me."
She preferred a gentle breeze over thrills.
I told Suryeon to call me if she wanted to stop.
Then I started looking for Chorien.
"Chorien, where are you?"
"Daddy, I'm here!"
I turned toward the voice.
There was Chorien on a seesaw, waving at me.
Why was she trying to ride the seesaw alone?
I went to sit on the opposite side.
"No, Daddy! My friends are there!"
"Friends?"
I couldn't see anything.
As I looked puzzled, Chorien added.
"My spirit friends!"
"Oh, right."
Not imaginary friends—real ones.
"They wanted to play with me, but they were too light to balance with me."
"I see."
"Yeah!"
"Then want Daddy to play instead?"
"Sure!"
After Chorien's friends made way.
I sat on the opposite seesaw from Chorien.
To balance the weight, I sat not at the very end but just before, half-standing instead of fully sitting.
Weight adjustment was key for seesawing with a kid.
"This should balance it. Ready?"
"Yes!"
I lowered my hips, shifting weight to my side.
Thud—
"Kyaa—!"
Chorien shot up high.
I immediately eased up, shifting weight to her side.
Thud—
I watched Chorien, practically standing.
She had a face full of anticipation to go up again.
"You don't love airplanes for nothing, Chorien."
"Hehe."
"Up you go!"
Thud- thud- thud-
I kept going down-up, down-up.
Chorien's squeals grew louder with each one.
"Waaah, more! Daddy!"
Giggle—
Chorien thoroughly enjoyed the seesaw.
Was her voice too loud?
Hwaryeon and Suryeon approached the seesaw too.
I said to the sulky pair.
"You two wanna ride too? Go to the other side!"
"Hmph, that's not it!"
"...I was just curious. Don't get the wrong idea, Dad."
Even as they said that.
They sat on the opposite side from me.
Now the weight balanced perfectly without me standing.
"This is the best. Here we go!"
Thud- thud- thud-
No discomfort.
Me and the kids happily bobbed up and down on the seesaw.
I never thought I'd enjoy playground equipment even as an adult.
But with them, somehow I was having a childlike blast on the seesaw.
Not sure if hanging with the kids made me childish, or if the playground did.
"This time, big!"
"Waaah, even bigger!"
"..."
"I like it too!"
The playground, empty save for us, was filled with children's cheers.