Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Worship the Dragon (4)
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‘A wyvern.’
A vague memory surfaced of the lessons on wyverns from the association.
Wyvern.
Pseudo-dragon.
It has a similar appearance to a dragon.
‘But it’s just similar in looks. Its power is said to be ridiculously low compared to a real dragon.’
They said it wasn’t even comparable.
But that was because dragons were overwhelmingly strong beyond imagination.
From a human perspective, a wyvern was no pushover.
-Grrrrng…
“You’re the first monster that doesn’t run away at the sight of me.”
This was my first battle with a monster, too.
I absolutely couldn’t lose to it.
I couldn’t let the kids see me defeated by a monster.
“Daddy’s not gonna lose.”
Squeeze—
I clenched my fist and charged at the wyvern.
-Grrrrng!
The wyvern, which had been lying on the ground, glared at me and rose to its feet.
Then, it swung its bluish, scale-covered wings toward me.
-Grrrrng!!
A sharp gust of wind rushed at me.
“Ow, that stings! This bastard’s a flying type!”
I blocked my face with my arms, but a few scratches appeared on my body.
“Just wait till I get my hands on you. You’re done.”
-Grrrrng!
Thud thud thud—!
I sped up to close in on the wyvern.
Startled, it flailed its arms and took to the air.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going! Get back here!”
Damn, it’s fast.
The wyvern flew up just out of my reach.
Then, hovering in the air, it opened its mouth toward me.
Hwa-ryeon, who was watching, raised her voice in warning.
“Daddy, it’s breath! Dodge!”
Breath was pretty dangerous.
Just as Hwa-ryeon said, I rolled to the side before it hit.
-Grraaack!
The wyvern unleashed its blue breath at where I’d been standing.
The grass I’d been on withered instantly upon contact.
‘…Poison. That’d be dangerous if it hit.’
Cho-ryeon must have noticed the withered grass.
She yelled furiously at the wyvern.
“How could you…! Attacking nature like that…! You can’t forgive it, Father…! Bury that wyvern and make it atone to nature…!”
Cho-ryeon had gotten way too immersed in the withered grass.
I gestured vaguely that I got it and glared up at the airborne wyvern.
“…How do I catch that thing. Sneak-attacking from above.”
Just once.
If I could just catch that wyvern, I’d win.
I wasn’t great at fighting, but my physical abilities were top-notch.
‘If I can just stick to it like a cicada, I’d win.’
Was there a good way to reach that height?
I dodged the wyvern’s aerial breath barrages and calmly pondered.
“Hmm, what’s a good way…”
“Father, hurry! You can’t get hurt, but please catch the wyvern quick! Nature’s being destroyed!”
“…Just wait a bit, Cho-ryeon. Let Daddy think.”
Cho-ryeon kept urging me on.
But after dodging breaths and staying as calm and composed as possible while brainstorming.
I finally came up with one idea.
‘Ah, the score’s complete.’
Cho-ryeon might get mad.
But this seemed like the only way.
I dodged another breath and quickly approached Hwa-ryeon.
“Hwa-ryeon!”
“What, Daddy!”
“You said you wanted to fight, right? Daddy’ll let you!”
“Really!? For real!? If you’re lying, I’ll fight you, Daddy!”
“No lie. Hold still!”
Whoosh—!
I slipped my hands under her armpits and hoisted Hwa-ryeon up.
Then, I held her high and aimed her at the wyvern.
“Huh?”
“Hwa-ryeon, that breath you showed me last time! You shoot breath, too!”
If I couldn’t reach it.
I’d just drop it down.
Hwa-ryeon grinned at the command to breathe and confidently opened her mouth.
“Raaawr—!!”
Boom—!
With Hwa-ryeon’s somewhat noisy melody, the fired breath shot straight at the wyvern.
The wyvern was startled by it but barely dodged by a hair.
“Oh, you dodged?”
“How dare a mere wyvern dodge a dragon’s attack!? Daddy!!”
“Got it! I’ll chase it!”
Thud thud thud—
I pursued the fleeing wyvern, keeping Hwa-ryeon aimed.
Hwa-ryeon relentlessly spat breaths to catch the sneaky wyvern.
“Raaawr—! Raaawr—! Raaawr—!”
Hwa-ryeon’s fire breaths shooting high into the sky.
Sparks inevitably falling onto the trees.
Cho-ryeon fidgeted anxiously, stomping her feet.
“Wh-what if a fire starts… Someone who can spray water should put it out… Ugh…”
“…”
Cho-ryeon had cleverly avoided naming anyone.
Meanwhile, Hwa-ryeon and I kept chasing to bring the wyvern down from the sky.
And finally.
-Grraaack!
“Yes! I did it!”
We hit the wyvern’s wing with a breath.
Struck by Hwa-ryeon’s breath, the wyvern wobbled and crashed to the ground.
“Good job, Hwa-ryeon!”
“Hmph, of course!”
Now I could finally fight the wyvern.
I set Hwa-ryeon down and rushed toward the fallen wyvern.
-Grrrrng!
Whoosh—!
As I approached, the wyvern swung its other arm, tipped with sharp claws.
“Too slow.”
I dodged the claw swipe and instantly burrowed into the wyvern’s guard.
Then, I slipped behind it and wrapped my arms around its body.
“Got you at last, you bastard.”
-Graaack! Graaack!
Rear choke.
The suffocating wyvern thrashed to escape.
But I clung on like a cicada, refusing to let go.
‘…Kinda uncool-looking, though.’
Still.
After continuously choking its neck.
-Kkrrgh…
“Phew, barely won.”
I knocked the wyvern out, securing a perfect victory.
I turned to the kids and declared confidently to celebrate.
“Kids, see? Daddy won!!”
“Yay! We won!”
Woo-hoo—!
Hwa-ryeon waved her arms excitedly in celebration.
But Su-ryeon and Cho-ryeon’s reactions were pretty dry.
“Hmm, seems like you won thanks to Hwa-ryeon. Hard to say Daddy won.”
“Is Father a bad human who destroys nature too… I’ll have to teach you back home how great nature is…”
Maybe it wasn’t cool enough.
The kids’ responses were lukewarm.
Hurt by their reactions, I turned away and shed tears of sorrow.
“Sniff sniff… That hurts my feelings…”
Still.
Looking at the downed wyvern chased the tears away.
‘How much is this worth?’
Jackpot—
Financial therapy really was the best during mental health treatment.
***
Nidhogg.
The wyvern that attacked the world tree to steal Yggdrasil’s fruit.
We bound its wings and dragged it to the center of the elves’ village.
-Grrrng! Grrrng!
“Hey, behave. Or I’ll rear-choke you again?”
-Gr… grrng…
Only then did the wyvern cower and stop growling.
“Now it’s listening.”
“Wyverns shouldn’t mess with us in the first place. Lacking the power yet charging in fearlessly. Probably blinded by the dragon heart.”
Su-ryeon said this while clutching her chest.
Word was, if a wyvern consumed a dragon heart, it had a high chance of evolving into a dragon.
“The dimension-wandering Dragon Slayer. Even young dragons have to watch out for wyverns, they say.”
“As expected of Dragon GPT Su-ryeon. Top performance.”
Shrug—
Su-ryeon shrugged happily at my words.
Then, a male elf nearby spoke to me.
“Dragons scare us, but wyverns are terrifying too. Especially this Nidhogg—it’s a feared existence among us elves. It destroys nature, and arrows can’t bring it down. It was practically our natural predator.”
“Hmm, yeah?”
Not very interested since it was a guy talking.
More importantly, they’d really issued an approach ban.
All the elves out to see the wyvern were men.
‘They love nature, huh. Turned it into a sausage fest.’
What a gross vibe.
I sighed.
I just wanted to get out of there fast.
But first.
“I should get what’s owed. Elf Elder.”
“Yes, Dragon-nim.”
“To be precise, I’m not a dragon but a dragon dad… Anyway, I did as you asked. No reward?”
At the mention of no reward, the elder pondered briefly.
Then, spotting Cho-ryeon beside me, he steeled himself and spoke.
“Then, we’ll give you one relic passed down from our ancestors…”
“That’s pretty great.”
I could already smell the money.
I followed the elder, who promised a gift.
Meanwhile, the kids whispered excitedly about the present.
“What’ll it be! I want a sword! A cool sword like Masked Ranger’s!”
“I want a Y-pad. That one.”
“I want fruit! Looked yummy!”
I could guess what the kids wanted.
Winter was coming soon, so good reference for Christmas.
‘I want something that turns into cash. Gotta pay off debt quick and move somewhere nice.’
Thinking that, I followed the elder into the barracks.
The elder entered and showed me a relic on display inside.
“Th-that’s…”
Even I.
No, everyone here was caught off guard by the relic.
I approached it, carefully picked it up, and asked the elder.
“Elder…”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t this… just a watering can…?”
Just a watering can.
A plain-looking watering can.
The elf elder nodded at it.
“Yes, it’s a watering can.”
What the hell.
After I did their favor.
A watering can.
‘Reward’s a bust.’
I’d been hopeful.
Felt pointlessly depressed.
But.
“That’s the best gift ever! Yes! Now our veggies and trees can grow healthy! Father, I love it!”
Cho-ryeon seemed really into the watering can.
‘Now I can’t refuse it again.’
Well, if the kids like it, that’s what matters.
Regrettable, but that’s how I felt.