Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Worship the Dragon (6)
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A total of four elves had moved to Earth.
They would guard the dragons in my place whenever I was away.
And in their spare time, they would clean up the overflowing trash around the area.
"Move around while absolutely hiding your identities. Don't let anyone find out you're elves."
"Yes, understood."
"And as for where you'll stay while living on Earth..."
Our house was out of the question for now.
Was there a suitable spot anywhere?
As I pondered for a moment, the elves pointed toward a mountain in the distance, full of rotten, dead trees.
"We'd like to live there. The air here is bad, and there's no nature. That dead mountain is far better."
The elves pinched their noses as if they'd smelled something foul.
Well, cities weren't exactly nature-friendly places for elves to live.
I took them to the mountain as they wished.
"Take me too!"
"Me too."
"I wanna go too, Daddy!"
I also brought along the dragon kids, who chirped like chicks.
We arrived at the mountain ten minutes away on foot.
It was a small mountain with nothing but dried-up trees without a single leaf and parched soil.
"I think it became like this because of the toxic gas from a nearby factory."
"Bad humans. Torturing the trees with poison gas. I'll pay them back someday!"
Paying them back would be pretty weird.
Choryeon vowed revenge against humanity.
Leaving Choryeon to her scary delusions, I asked one of the elves who was looking around.
"Bears show up here sometimes, so even homeless people avoid it. All the trees are dead too. You sure it's okay?"
*Nod*
The elves nodded as if it was obvious.
"Yes, this place is perfect. It won't be easy, but we can revive the nature here. There's still hope left."
"Good to hear. Choryeon will love it if you restore the nature."
Hwaryeon and Suryeon might not care.
But Choryeon seemed to love what the elves said.
She hugged the watering can she'd brought and started sprinkling water on the ground.
"Grow big. Grow big. Grow tall so we can look each other in the face. We'll all work together to make Earth healthy again."
*Splash splash splash*
Choryeon diligently watered the dry ground.
According to the elves, the land here was barely clinging to life.
It was on the verge of death, with no vitality left in the soil, so even with their watering cans, it would take a long time for anything to sprout.
I grabbed some crumbly dirt in my hand and said,
"Then we can't plant the Yggdrasil fruit here, huh."
"Yes, if planted here, it would take about a thousand years for a sprout to appear. We recommend planting it somewhere else."
They said the Yggdrasil fruit was better planted than eaten.
I called out to Choryeon, who was running around sprinkling water.
"Choryeon, stop that and come to Daddy! It'll take all day!"
"Okay, Daddy..."
Choryeon looked reluctant, like she wanted to water more.
I told the elves to come find me anytime if they needed anything or had questions, then headed home with the kids.
Before that, though.
"Let's plant the fruit first before we go. Where should we plant it?"
At my question, the dragon kids each gave their opinions.
"Plant it at the playground! There's sand there!"
"Being close to home would be nice."
"I think the playground's best too, Daddy!"
The playground, huh.
It was close to home, so that was fine.
I nodded and went to the playground, digging into the sand with my hands.
The dragon kids helped dig beside me.
"Heave-ho! I'm digging the best!"
Hwaryeon dug into the sand like a dog.
She looked less like a red dragon and more like a red mole.
In contrast, Suryeon just watched Hwaryeon quietly, arms crossed.
"Hwaryeon sis is doing great. No need for me to do it."
Too lazy, she slacked off by just watching.
Choryeon muttered softly at Suryeon's attitude.
"Those who don't care for nature shouldn't receive nature's blessings."
"...You talking to me?"
"If it sounded that way, maybe you are, Suryeon sis."
*Grrr*
Suryeon and Choryeon started their little spat again.
I pulled the fruit from my pocket and stepped between them.
"Looks like we've dug enough. Shall we put the fruit in now? Who wants to do it?"
At that, they all raised their hands and shouted at once.
"Me!"
"Me!"
"I wanna do it, Daddy!"
Hmm.
Hard to pick just one.
'No choice.'
I decided on the wisest solution.
"Let's all plant it together. Everyone put your hand on the fruit."
I held the fruit out.
They placed their hands on it, and together we slowly lowered it into the hole.
We gently placed the Yggdrasil fruit in the hole and covered it with sand, successfully planting it.
"Now just water it and we're done. Choryeon?"
"Coming, Daddy! Watering can, assemble!"
* patter patter*
Choryeon carefully sprinkled water from her treasured watering can onto the sand.
The nearby trees were growing, and someday the Yggdrasil fruit would grow too.
Just like the massive world tree I'd seen in the elves' village.
"Can't wait to see it fully grown."
"Yeah, Daddy! I hope the air around here becomes as nice as the elves' village!"
Choryeon smiled, looking satisfied with the day.
'Good that she likes it.'
Since my daughter was happy, I was happy too.
***
I stopped by the association to report on the trap-type dimensional gate.
"They didn't tell me it was a trap-type dimensional gate, so we nearly had a disaster. A promising hero could have died."
"...What do you want, Hero Lee Ha-jun?"
"Take better care of us from now on."
"...Understood."
Score.
I still got hefty compensation for the trap-type dimensional gate.
This incident was mostly the association's fault, after all.
'Take what's mine. It's only right.'
I grinned at the deposited money.
Since they said nothing about resolving the gate, it seemed they hadn't found out I'd brought the elves out.
"Lucky there's no CCTV on that street."
Who knew bad security could help like this.
Thinking that, I tried to leave the association.
But then.
"Excuse me, Hero Lee Ha-jun."
The staff member who'd just heard my report grabbed me.
Had they found out?
I tensed slightly and replied.
"What's up?"
"I forgot to ask. Did you notice anything strange in that trap-type dimension?"
"Hmm, not really."
"I see. Alright then. Take care."
The association staff bowed to me.
'Hmm... Asking if there was anything strange...'
Suspicious.
Curious about the "anything strange" question, I asked.
"Was there supposed to be something strange?"
"No, not necessarily. I was just checking if a recent hypothesis holds up."
"Hypothesis?"
"Yes, one hypothesis from recent research on why dimensional gates open. It says dimensions open gates to return to normal."
What did that mean?
Gates opening to return to normal?
As I stared blankly, the staff explained further.
"That was vague, sorry. Simply put, the dimension we're in needs the gate, so it opens one."
"Earth is the one opening the dimensional gates?"
"Yes, that's the idea. Not sure on details, just hearsay."
"Still sounds complicated as hell."
It was just one of the floating hypotheses.
I hate complicated stuff, so I thanked the staff and left.
No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn't get it.
"Earth choosing to open dimensional gates... What, is Earth an environmental group like Choryeon?"
No clue.
Smarter people who study more will figure it out.
I don't care about the world's truths like that.
Right now, all I need to focus on is raising my kids well.
I opened the front door and said,
"Kids, Daddy's home."
"You're back, Daddy! I missed you!"
*Hug!*
Choryeon welcomed me with a hug.
Suryeon gave a simple wave from beside her.
Hwaryeon just casually waved while watching TV.
"Is it Game Ranger time now?"
"Yeah! Daddy, don't bother Hwaryeon sis during Game Ranger! She thinks she's the ranger and treats us like villains!"
"Ah."
I'd done that kind of role-play when I was a kid too.
I nearly got lost in memories but shook my head to snap out of it.
Then, I declared to the kids who'd been quietly watching TV while I was gone.
"Kids. Daddy has an important announcement."
It was this.
I steeled my resolve and said to the kids,
"Starting next week, you're all going to kindergarten."
Kindergarten.
It was about time they started going.
At my words, the dragons had completely opposite reactions.
"Kindergarten?! Why should I listen to weak humans inferior to me!"
"I agree. I don't wanna take classes from bad humans worse than me."
"I bet I'll make friends! Sounds great! Daddy's always right!"
Public opinion was worse than expected.
Still, to live in the human world, they needed a solid foundation in basic education.
They couldn't just stay home watching TV and waiting for me forever.
'They need to learn to socialize from childhood. Send them before they get too smart.'
Dragon socialization.
Now I even had elves to watch over them when I wasn't around.
There was no reason not to send them to kindergarten.
"No refusals. You're all going to kindergarten. That's final."
"Hmph, why do you decide everything, Daddy!"
"Because I'm Daddy. Daddies decide."
You have to go to kindergarten even if you don't want to.
This time, I wasn't backing down either.
"Kindergarten. Annoying. Hate outside."
Suryeon would probably be the hardest to convince.
Looking at her unhappy face, that's what I thought.