Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: This is My Turf
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Dragons place great importance on their territory.
They feel extremely displeased when other creatures invade their domain.
In that sense, Hwa-ryeon took a strong dislike to the kids who had entered her territory, the playground.
“This is my turf! Get out right now!”
Hwa-ryeon swung her fist at the buzz-cut boy charging toward her.
“Dragon Punch!”
Thwack-!
The boy collapsed on the spot without even managing a scream.
Thud-
“Hmph, you're weak!”
Hwa-ryeon nudged the fallen boy with her foot.
Three kids remained.
Seeing Hwa-ryeon's intimidating aura, the children hesitated in their steps and huddled together, whispering.
Two boys and one girl.
“…What should we do? She's stronger than she looks. We can't beat her.”
“Are you saying we abandon our boss and run? Jun-i's down too. I say we fight back.”
“Let's just tell the teacher. Teacher Bong will give her a good scolding!”
Whisper, whisper-
The kids huddled their heads together and shared their opinions.
However, no one actually made a decision.
It was the disarray of a group that had lost its leader.
Hwa-ryeon watched them for a moment before finally losing her patience and shouting.
“Hey! Just come at me already! You're all talk for invading my turf!”
“Invading our turf… We can't let that slide.”
In response, one boy pushed up his glasses with a finger and stepped forward to argue back.
“You look new around here. This was our playground first.”
“So what!”
“This has always been our turf. That's what I'm saying.”
The invader isn't us—it's you.
The glasses-wearing boy delivered his line coolly and thought to himself.
‘Heh, I looked pretty smart just now, didn't I?’
The boy with glasses smirked smugly, striking a pose.
Even he thought he'd nailed a clever moment.
But Hwa-ryeon strode forward upon hearing him and yelled.
“So what! This is my turf!”
“What?”
“Dragon Punch!”
Thwack-!
The glasses boy crumpled from the punch.
Right next to the buzz-cut kid.
Fortunately, his glasses were unscathed.
Hwa-ryeon looked down at the three sprawled in the sand, snorted, and said.
“Hmph, what's with the order! You talk too much!”
“…”
At that brutal sight, the remaining two kids thought to themselves.
‘Reasoning won't work on her…’
She's a being who can't be reasoned with.
They erased dialogue from their options.
They realized they'd picked the wrong opponent.
‘Sorry, guys. Some of us have to survive.’
The remaining kids held back tears and had no choice but to drop to their knees in the sand.
Thud-
“Sorry… We won't come near this playground anymore…”
“P-please spare us.”
“Hmph, so now you get my power! That's right—when you're facing someone as strong as me, you kneel! Look up to me like that from now on!”
Hwa-ryeon puffed up with pride at the sight of the kneeling children.
She wanted to keep fighting, but decided to hold back on the Dragon Punch.
After all, forgiving the weak was the right of the strong.
“I'm the best!”
Uwahaha-
Hwa-ryeon was thrilled after defeating the civilians.
However, that happy moment was short-lived.
An angry shout reached Hwa-ryeon's ears.
“Lee Hwa-ryeon!! What the hell do you think you're doing!!”
The three collapsed kids.
The two kneeling kids.
Lee Ha-joon approached, frowning at the horrific scene.
Hwa-ryeon flinched instinctively.
“W-what! What did I do!”
“What do you think this is?”
“It's not my fault! They came into my turf first!”
Hwa-ryeon frantically defended herself.
Even as a dragon, getting scolded by her parents was terrifying.
It was an instinct etched into her very being.
“Not me!!”
***
Had I gotten too carried away playing on the slide with Cho-ryun?
In the blink of an eye, Hwa-ryeon had caused a massive incident.
She'd even committed the serious crime of assaulting civilians.
“You little brat! Apologize to them right now, Lee Hwa-ryeon!”
“W-why should I! They came into my turf first!”
Causing all this and refusing to apologize.
I showed Hwa-ryeon the devastation she'd wrought firsthand.
“Look—three kids with nosebleeds! The other two knelt down begging for mercy because they didn't want to get hit!”
“Hmph, it's only natural for the weak to kneel before the strong! They invaded my turf first!”
Hwa-ryeon pointed accusingly at the kids who were plugging their noses with tissue.
She'd turned strangers into that state and was acting all high and mighty?
As a parent, I couldn't just stand by.
“Playgrounds aren't your turf to begin with. It's a public space where everyone can play.”
“I say it's my turf, so it is! The playground is my turf too! If a dragon says so, it is!”
Hwa-ryeon threw a tantrum, claiming a public space as her own.
Why on earth was she acting like this?
It was a moment I couldn't comprehend.
Then Su-ryeon approached from the side and quietly chimed in.
“Dragons place a lot of importance on territory. They have strong possessiveness over it. Once a dragon claims something, they never let it go.”
“So you're saying Hwa-ryeon has claimed the playground as her territory.”
“Yeah. Once they declare it as their own domain, dragons never back down.”
“She's gone and deployed her territory.”
Raising dragons sure is tough.
From Hwa-ryeon's perspective, she'd just removed some invaders.
That didn't justify the violence she'd committed, though.
I grabbed her shoulders from behind and stated firmly.
“Even so, the playground is a public space. It's a place for everyone to play together, Hwa-ryeon.”
“No such thing exists!”
“It does—right here.”
“Dad, you're so childish!!”
Hwa-ryeon vented her dissatisfaction.
But I pressed the momentum.
“Bow your head and apologize to them.”
“Why should I have to!”
“You're the one who hit them. You can't go around hitting people.”
“Why not!”
“Because it hurts. Look at them—nosebleeds and covered in sand.”
At my words, Hwa-ryeon glanced at the victims of her Dragon Punch.
They avoided her gaze, brushing the sand off their bodies.
Blood was still trickling from their battered noses.
“With the kids in that state, it's not your fault?”
“…”
“Apologize. Otherwise, it's three hours facing the wall.”
“F-fine! I'll do it if I have to!”
Hwa-ryeon stuck out her lip and stepped forward.
She turned her head sideways toward the cowering kids and mumbled.
“S-sor… sor…”
“Sor?”
“S-sorry… Not sorry!! You guys invaded my turf first!!”
This kid.
I pressed down hard on Hwa-ryeon's head.
“Apologize right now!”
“No way! I'm sorry for hitting you! But the turf isn't my fault!”
Grrr-
Hwa-ryeon dug in her heels, refusing to apologize no matter what.
Her stubbornness seemed unbreakable right now.
As Ha-joon and Hwa-ryeon engaged in their power struggle, Cho-ryun spoke up cautiously from the side.
“D-don't fight, everyone…! Fighting is bad…!”
She had a point.
No need for us to fight among ourselves.
With my hand still firmly pressing Hwa-ryeon's head, I spoke on her behalf to the kids who had been watching us.
Upon closer inspection, they were the same parentless kids we'd run into before.
“Kids, I'm sorry my daughter did this. She feels bad about hitting you. Can you forgive her?”
“L-let go of me! Why do I need their forgiveness! Let go!”
“And whatever she said about being a dragon or nonsense like that—just forget it.”
The kids whispered among themselves after hearing me.
Once they'd sorted out their thoughts,
The one who seemed like the representative stepped forward boldly and declared.
“You think we've only seen one or two idiots claiming to be dragons? We're not morons, you know?”
“Yeah, good on you for not believing it. Thanks.”
“And we're not accepting your apology. Just like the redhead said—no need for apologies today.”
And then.
“Next time, we win.”
The boy said that, turned on his heel, and shouted to his friends.
“Guys, let's go!”
They turned and left the playground without a backward glance, cool as can be.
‘Aren't they a bit too cool-headed?’
Maybe it's because they're from the same rough neighborhood as me.
They saw today's defeat as a humiliation and were clearly plotting a comeback.
Kids raised without parents tend to have fiercely strong pride.
I watched the backs of the defeated turf warriors fade away, thinking to myself.
‘…With an ending like this, maybe I didn't need to butt in after all?’
They'd handled everything themselves—drums, cymbals, the works.
I probably could've stayed out of it.
‘But I can't just let this slide without some discipline…’
I'd seen Hwa-ryeon beat up other humans.
Couldn't praise it, couldn't ignore it.
I felt like a total outsider plopped in the middle of kids' turf war.
‘Still, gotta do what a parent's gotta do.’
I scooped up the triumphant Hwa-ryeon as she gazed at the departing kids.
Up she went-
Hwa-ryeon flailed in surprise.
“Dad, what the—! I won! Where are we going!”
“To the house of truth.”
I carried Hwa-ryeon homeward.
No matter the outcome, a parent has to discipline a fighting child.
“Once we're home, face the wall for an hour of reflection.”
Can't let her pick up a habit of fighting.
Can't raise a little thug who leads with her fists.
From a parent's perspective, I had no choice but to scold her.
“Waaah! Let me gooo! I didn't do anything wrong!”
“Stop yelling like a perp in custody. Be quiet.”
Gotta be firm when firmness is called for.
Still, the relief lingering in my mind that my kid had come out unscathed and victorious…
That was just an unavoidable parental sentiment.