Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Worship the Dragon (3)
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71. Worship the Dragon (3)
What kind of request could they possibly have for us?
To hear out the village chief, we entered his house.
And we decided to sit around a nice round table perfect for a meeting and listen to what he had to say.
'Hold on, there's something we need to do before we get into the talking.'
Ahem—
I cleared my throat with a fake cough and addressed the elf elder sitting across from me.
"Elder, bring out the booze and the women right now!!"
Gotta take what's coming to me.
I commanded the elder in order to advance my romance business.
"Summon those fine female elves I saw earlier!!"
"If it's the command of the great Dragon Lord… Understood…"
Scrape—
The elf elder stood up from his seat with a resolute expression.
Choryeon just watched the elf elder quietly and said lightly,
"Elder, please stay seated. And you don't need to bring any female elves."
"Choryeon! Are you trying to sabotage Dad's romance business right now?!"
"Oh, and no female elves are allowed to approach Father. Let them know that the Green Dragon, owner of the forest, won't forgive anyone who does."
"Ch-Choryeon…"
Why?
Why sabotage Dad's romance business like this?
And so thoroughly, too.
Regrettably, the elf elder nodded at Choryeon's command.
"…Yes, understood. King of the elves, Green Dragon Yi Choryeon. I'll block all access from the elves."
Damn it!
No access to female elves.
There were so many pretty ones.
I dreamed of a harem life with beautiful elves.
And Choryeon had crushed that dream mercilessly.
"Why on earth would you make a choice like that, Choryeon…!!"
"Father, we don't need female elves to help the World Tree. Please don't indulge your selfish desires."
Chilly—
Choryeon crushed even my will to resist with her sharp words.
I had no choice but to give up on the elf harem life.
"…Fine, whatever. Elf elder, explain that request in detail. I'm in a bad mood, so make it quick."
"Yes, understood."
Bow—
The elf elder bowed his head briefly and began his explanation.
"As I mentioned earlier, the World Tree is in danger. There's an existence we ignorant elves can't handle that's targeting it."
"Who is it?"
"It's… a dragon called Nidhogg…"
Nidhogg.
At that word, Hwaryeon threw a fit and shouted.
"Nidhogg! I know that guy!"
"…Really?"
"Yeah!"
Hmm.
Her reliability isn't that high.
But for now, Hwaryeon seemed to know about Nidhogg thanks to the knowledge she'd inherited.
I decided to hear her out.
"Hwaryeon, time to show off what little knowledge you have."
"Hmph, 'what little knowledge'? You'll see later, Dad! Anyway, Nidhogg is a wyvern pretending to be a dragon that lives near the World Tree!"
"Not a dragon, but a wyvern?"
"Yeah, he's a dragon impersonator! He just looks kinda like a dragon, but he's not one!"
A wyvern that looks like a dragon.
Still not sure I get it.
Seeing me deep in thought, Suryeon summed up Nidhogg lightly.
"He's basically a troll and shit-stirrer wannabe, Dad."
"Thanks for the summary, Suryeon."
"Then let's hurry up, catch Nidhogg, and go home. I don't like it here. Too many elf girls."
What does the number of elf girls have to do with not liking this place?
I felt a twinge of doubt, but decided to let it slide for now.
"Still, we've heard the situation, so we can't just ignore it. Should we check if we can even take down Nidhogg first?"
"Hunt! Time to hunt the fake! Yay!"
If we grant the request, the elves will reward us, right?
With some very materialistic thoughts, I decided to scout out what kind of guy this Nidhogg was.
Raising kids costs a fortune, so thinking about rewards is totally natural.
***
To find Nidhogg, we wandered the forest, listening to info about him from the elder and the dragons.
Apparently, Nidhogg roams near the World Tree, eyeing the Yggdrasil fruits growing on it.
"If a wyvern eats a Yggdrasil fruit, it gains tremendous power. Even a dragon could be in danger if they let their guard down."
"Oho."
"A wyvern's ultimate goal is to become a dragon. They say wyverns put in insane effort to evolve."
"Not something we can underestimate, then."
"Yeah, that's what the knowledge I inherited says."
Maybe because wyverns live long and train hard.
Seems stronger than I thought.
That realization suddenly made me worried.
"…We're not gonna lose to a wyvern, are we?"
"As if, Dad!"
Hwaryeon shouted with overflowing confidence.
"A mere wyvern? No way we'd lose! We're dragons! As if!"
"Yeah, yeah, Hwaryeon. Quiet down. Any more flags like that are dangerous."
"Did I say anything wrong? A great dragon losing to some puny wyvern? Dad!!"
Damn.
Feels like we've already lost before the fight even starts.
The stench of defeat is thick around Hwaryeon.
Suryeon put some distance between her and Hwaryeon, muttering,
"That defeat aura might be contagious. Don't come near me, Hwaryeon sis."
"Hmph, you cowards! Scared of a wyvern?"
Hwaryeon still hadn't come to her senses.
Worried I'd catch the defeat aura too, I put some distance between me and Hwaryeon.
As I walked behind the elder, keeping away from Hwaryeon—
"Nidhogg is over there, great Dragon Lords."
The elf elder pointed out Nidhogg's location.
We hid behind trees and peeked out carefully to look at Nidhogg.
"That's Nidhogg… the wyvern, huh…"
Dragons have separate arms and wings, but wyverns have arms fused with wings.
Yeah, easy to mistake for a dragon if you're not careful.
"Definitely looks kinda like a dragon."
Whoosh—
At my comment, all the dragons glared at me like they wanted to kill me and said,
"Dad, are you saying that lowly wyvern looks like us dragons right now?"
"…That's not something we can just let slide, Dad."
"Even if you're Father, you can't cross that line!"
Hmm, is it that bad?
The dragon kids showed extreme sensitivity to being compared to a wyvern.
Not sure it's worth reacting that strongly, though.
"They look similar to me."
"Hmm…"
Suryeon, thoroughly pissed at my words, spat out coldly,
"Dad, this is what I think. Trash humans and chimps don't seem that different."
"…Humans and chimps are different, though, Suryeon."
"Hmm, that so? To dragon eyes, they look the same."
Scary kid.
Casting mirror treatment on her own dad.
Being the adult, I took a step back.
"…Fine, sorry. I take back the comparison."
"Good call, Dad."
Suryeon stood on tiptoes and patted my lowered head.
Then she smiled, looking quite satisfied.
"Hee hee."
"…"
Choryeon watched the scene quietly, then pointed toward Nidhogg and said,
"Focus, Father. Didn't we come to catch Nidhogg and save the World Tree?"
"Yeah, true."
"Then focus on Nidhogg, Father."
"R-Right, Choryeon."
Felt like Choryeon was getting a bit vicious.
Just my imagination?
Feeling a bit awkward, I scratched my head and looked at Nidhogg.
The guy was still lying under the tree, sleeping.
"Hmm, wonder if we can take him down. Hwaryeon, gauge his battle power or something."
"Hmph, why should I listen to you, Dad!"
Hwaryeon refused my order at first.
But soon she opened her mouth.
"That wyvern's strong. Even you couldn't guarantee a win, Dad."
"Rough odds?"
"I'm bad with numbers!"
"…Who seems to have the edge?"
"Still, with me, the great Yi Hwaryeon here, you're favored, Dad!"
Fighting together gives us the advantage, huh.
I checked our party members hiding in the trees.
'One dumb warrior. One chuuni mage. One healthy healer.'
Guess the hero position falls to me.
I did some light stretches and said to the kids,
"You guys stay put and wait. I'll go catch that Nidhogg."
Having the kids around would just make me worry anyway.
At that, Hwaryeon flew into a rage and flopped onto the ground.
"No way! I wanna fight! I can fight too! Why only you, Dad? I wanna fight!!"
Whine—
Hwaryeon lay on the ground, whining that she wanted to fight.
"Me too! Let me join! Why leave me out? I can fight good too!"
"…Sigh."
No helping it, huh.
I picked up Hwaryeon, who was rolling around whining, and said,
"If you wait quietly, I'll buy you a toy on the way back."
Freeze—
Couldn't resist toys, huh.
Hwaryeon turned her head slyly, looked into my eyes, and asked,
"…What toy?"
"Game Ranger. I'll get you a belt."
"…You better keep your promise when we get back!"
Luckily.
Hwaryeon stopped her tantrum once promised a toy.
'Whew, those things are ridiculously expensive. Feels like my back's already bending.'
Still.
Catch that Nidhogg, get a reward from the elder.
Probably score a ton of cash leaving this dimension.
Thinking that, I wiped my mouth and slowly approached Nidhogg.
-Grrr?
As I got close, the wyvern opened his eyes and glared at me.
His eyes held both fear and fighting spirit.
I glared back at the wyvern confidently and said,
"Gotta look cool in front of the kids. Hey, wyvern."
Come take a beating from me.
With the resolve to be a cool dad in front of the kids.
"Nidhogg, come at me!"
-Grrr!
I clenched my fist and charged at the pseudo-dragon.
The wyvern.
To rescue the World Tree that Choryeon loves.