Gyeoul's Education

"Urrrrr…"

Noxshia covered her face with both hands and swayed playfully in front of Gyeoul.

"Hm~? Where oh where did our Gyeoul's daddy go~?"

"Pip…?"

The moment Gyeoul tilted her head in confusion, Noxshia flung both hands wide and popped her face out.

"Peekaboo! Daddy's right here~?"

"Piyat?! Piyat!!"

Her startle lasted only an instant—Gyeoul was quickly excited again, wagging her tail furiously as she bounced into Noxshia's arms.

Thump, thump.

"Agu~ Did our Gyeoul get startled~?"

"Piii…!"

Phew. She's happily playing with her, at least.

After yesterday's feeding ordeal, Noxshia had fortunately taken over dinner duty, feeding Gyeoul herself.

It wasn't as if I'd done it once and she was suddenly used to it, after all.

…Which meant the problem was today's lunch.

Between last night and again this morning, Gyeoul had apparently drained Noxshia's supply almost completely dry.

"…Mmm."

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So does that mean I have to feed her again today…?

…Oh, wait. How much longer until the baby bottle cooldown resets?

It had been exactly three days today, so the timing might actually line up. I quietly summoned my status window and started poking around the menu, checking one thing and another.

And then—

Daily rewards?

…Ah. Come to think of it, I think I glimpsed something in the quest list when I opened Gyeoul's status window yesterday.

I pulled up Gyeoul's status window and pressed the reward claim button on the completed daily parenting quest.

Ding—!

"Koo-koo cookie… grow-grow?"

Hmm… whoever came up with that name, I at least know this system thing should never, ever go into the children's snack business.

Still, I'm a little curious what it actually gives you. It is C-rank, after all.

I opened my pitifully empty inventory to check the item that had just arrived.

…Whoa?!

An item that would let me feed Gyeoul something other than milk….

I looked at the two cookies sitting in my inventory with newfound respect.

This is…

a snack of national-power-level proportions, isn't it?!

Okay, okay—no more worrying about Gyeoul's meals today!

Noxshia would get a break, I'd get to keep my dignity, and Gyeoul would get to try her very first cookie in her whole life.

One single item, three birds with one stone!

…It does feel a little too easy, though. One feeding, and they hand out a C-rank item?

As far as I knew, even plain C-rank items started at a base market price of around 500,000 won just for the grade alone.

Naturally, my eyes drifted down the list of other quests lined up beneath it.

I tapped the quest sitting at the very top first.

…The other quests were mostly along the same lines.

Even if we missed the window, learning later was still possible—but from that point on, apparently, how fast and how well Gyeoul grew would depend on how good a teacher her guardian was.

So basically, it was exactly like this:

Teaching a baby to walk, or showing her how to hold a spoon for the first time.

More than quests, these felt like… a set of parenting guidelines laying out what a dragon child should be learning at this stage, and how to teach it.

Hmm… does that mean I'm already a bit behind?

As of today, Gyeoul's remaining growth progress within the infant stage stood at 44%.

Which, put another way, meant I hadn't properly taught her a single thing before she'd crossed the halfway mark of infancy.

Hmm… what if Gyeoul can't learn all of this during this stage?

A sudden flicker of anxiety crept in.

Even after the growth phase passed, whether I could actually sit down and teach her each of these things one by one—and whether Gyeoul would be able to properly understand and absorb them at that point—was anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, Noxshia had been nuzzling faces with Gyeoul, who was snuggled tight in her arms, for a while now.

"Our little Gyeoul~"

"Piii…."

Gyeoul had enjoyed it at first, but she seemed to be getting bored now, turning her face away in exasperation at the relentless nuzzling.

I poked Noxshia's shoulder lightly with a finger.

"Um, Noxshia?"

"Hm? Darling!"

"Can I show you something?"

I slid the status window over and held it out in front of her.

"Ah…!"

Noxshia skimmed the quest contents, and her eyes quickly went round.

"Oh my, look at that. It's amazing how thoroughly they've written all of this out!"

Then she gave the Gyeoul in her arms another big squeeze.

"Piii…!!"

"I was just wondering when you'd get around to Gyeoul's education, darling~"

"Huh."

"So we're starting today?!"

"I suppose that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my job…?"

"Exactly! You're the leader of the nest, darling!"

"Mm. Leader."

Hmm. Honestly, I don't think I have much talent for that sort of thing, but still….

I looked back down at the quest list.

Better to knock out the most annoying-looking one first, right?

Fight with Style.

The question was just how far the "safe environment" bar went….

I glanced sideways at Noxshia.

"Hm? Darling. Is there something on my face?"

"No…."

Yeah. As long as Noxshia's next to me, anywhere's probably a safe zone.

So the real question was where to find a monster.

A gate is absolutely out of the question.

That was no place for someone like me—hardly even a proper registered hunter—to bring Gyeoul into in the first place.

Which left….

"The Tower, I guess…."

From what I'd skimmed on the gallery, the Tower was supposed to eject you on its own if things got too dangerous. I hadn't taken a single hit back in the tutorial, but actually committing to going in still scared me a little.

…And judging by Noxshia's reaction earlier, it did seem pretty clear that starting Gyeoul's education now was on the late side.

Well, the in-game event was ending today anyway.

Maybe I'll take Gyeoul and Noxshia to the Tower today.

I was… well, a lot weaker than I'd like right now, but it would let me school Gyeoul, and I was curious what climbing the Tower might get us.

Best of all, I had Noxshia—an absurdly powerful travel companion—right beside me.

As long as we didn't hit a floor where three wyverns spawned at once, I doubted anything down there would be a real threat to us.

"Hmm… in that case, Noxshia."

"Yes, darling!"

"Want to come to the Tower with me and help teach Gyeoul how to fight?"

"Of course!"

"She'll watch you fight and learn, and one day our Gyeoul will gloriously defeat the lesser species all on her own… ehehehe."

"Um… I don't think I can fight at all, though."

"That's fine! I'll help from the side!"

"Sounds good, then."

I gave a small nod, opened my status window, and pressed [Enter Tower] without hesitation.

Shaaaa—

When the light faded, a spacious cabin came into view, rain streaming quietly down all around it.

…Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind just staying here.

Maybe it was the rain, but the place definitely had a certain charm to it.

Shaaaa—

Noxshia followed through the light right behind me, Gyeoul cradled in her arms.

"Piyat?"

Seeing the scenery for the first time, Gyeoul turned her head this way and that from the safety of Noxshia's arms.

"Hehe, Gyeoul, sweetheart. This is Mommy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Daddy's second nest. Nice, isn't it~?"

Noxshia set her gently down on the floor, and after a moment of glancing around, Gyeoul started toddling around the cabin, tail wagging as she explored every corner.

"Piyat… Pi!"

She seemed to rather like the unfamiliar place.

"Hmm…."

Watching her patter across the wooden floor made me oddly fixated on those squishy little paw pads.

She's not going to get a splinter or anything, right…?

"…Ahem."

Rustle.

"Wha—? Hwah?!"

Arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, and I flinched without meaning to.

"It's just me~ What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, it's just… w-why are you grabbing my waist all of a sudden…."

"Darling… I really do love how cozy it is here."

Noxshia rested her chin lightly on my shoulder as she spoke.

"…I suppose it is, isn't it?"

The rain, and a certain quiet emptiness to the place.

I'd felt it the first time I came here too—there was something about this spot that loosened the knots in your heart.

The rain drumming against the window was faintly noisy, yet strangely it never grated on me, and being inside the cabin gave me the feeling that no matter what happened out there, none of it would ever reach this far in.

…I couldn't quite say why.

"What do you think about living here from now on?"

"Huh… sorry, what?"

I turned my head at the sudden remark, but Noxshia still had her chin resting on my shoulder.

"I mean, I could… but there's nothing here, you know? Just a sofa, a bed, a table. And I don't exactly have money for furniture yet…."

No money to furnish it with….

"Does it matter what we have?"

"Sorry?"

Noxshia tightened her hold around my waist a little more.

"As long as I have you and our family, that's all we need, isn't it?"

"…."

…Strangely, the answer wouldn't come.

Family….

While I was quietly listening to the rain, the tip of my tail had somehow crept over and coiled loosely around Noxshia's leg.

Whether that was me doing it, or the tail simply acting on its own, I honestly couldn't tell.

Krrrumble—

BOOM!

"Piyat—?!"

"H-hyaa!"

Thunder cracked somewhere uncomfortably close.

…I thought it was just rain, but there's thunder too?

The instant my shoulders jolted, my tail—slack and drowsy where it had been wrapped around her—froze and shot up stiff as a scarecrow's hair.

"Oh my~ did the thunder frighten you, darling?"

"Wh-what? No!"

Noxshia gave a small laugh and gently stroked my rigid tail flat with one hand.

Swish, swish.

"…Ahem."

I cleared my throat for no good reason, as if nothing had happened.

"W-we should hurry. Gyeoul's… education!"

"Hm~… I suppose so?"

Noxshia smiled, looking faintly disappointed, and let her arms slide slowly away from my waist.

"Noxshia, when you touch me like that out of nowhere… it puts me in a difficult position…!"

"I'm sorry. I just can't help myself when it's you, darling~"

"…Mmm."

I couldn't think of a decent comeback, so I averted my eyes for no particular reason.

To shake off the mood, I clapped my hands lightly.

Clap clap—

"Gyeoul?"

"Piyat!"

Gyeoul, who had been exploring a corner of the cabin, whipped her head around at my voice and came toddling straight over, burying herself in my arms.

Noxshia, meanwhile, had already toddled off ahead of me to the terminal.

"I pull this lever, right? Let me do it for you!"

…She still remembers. The way I whimpered my way through it last time.

"…Yes. Just set it to floor 1 and pull it down."

Click.

Clunk—

The moment the lever dropped, the door beside the terminal swung open with a soft whoosh.

And beyond it—

"…A meadow?"

The moment we passed through the door together, the feel of the ground beneath my feet changed. Soft grass brushed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against my toes, and an open meadow spread wide in every direction, filling my vision to the horizon.

I held Gyeoul close and slowly took in our surroundings.

…I don't see any enemies for now.

"Kyaaak!! It's the females!"

"And they're dragonkin, kyaaak!"

"The white one is mine!!"

…That dialogue.

I feel like I've heard it somewhere before.

I glanced quietly over at Noxshia.

We do need at least one of them left over to use for Gyeoul's training… right?