A Debt of a Thousand Silver
With her gaze gently lowered, Christina took a sip of the warm black tea and then set the cup down softly onto its saucer.
“Now that you have fully claimed the **Seal of Darkness**, you are a rightful successor to the Dark Clan. Though still young, I would like to tell you a little about our ways.”
The transmission of knowledge and the completed seal had already revealed the major possibilities to Rune, and he nodded in understanding.
“You can speak with the other elders about the clan’s authority under my protection, and if there is a just cause, you may demand something or ask for cooperation. Or, you may display the power that comes from using the Dark abilities.”
“But demanding what is equal to what is protected under my care carries a clear difference. It is the presence or absence of responsibility.”
“…”
The words hung in the air like an unspoken warning. If he wielded the power he could access and forgot the weight of responsibility, the price would be paid in full.
It was only natural. And as a hatchling who had only just begun to understand the world, it was something he could not yet grasp fully.
Yet he listened without dismissal, nodding his head with solemn care.
“The power I have just absorbed will become far more natural to wield once you have slept and woken. With that strength, do you have any plans of what to accomplish?”
“…”
“I want to help Perdikion-ssi with his coming-of-age ceremony if he wishes it. And…”
Despite his plump, chubby-cheeked hatchling appearance, the words that left Rune’s mouth carried surprising weight.
“I also want to go see the lair where my own clan once lived.”
“That is…”
Christina’s expression turned displeased.
Rune understood her conflict. He recalled the name of the Black Dragon Clan’s old lair, also called the resting place of the Death Guides. The altar of judgment was said to stand there, where the souls of lions were guided and those who had endured pain and sorrow were comforted.
The land above that constellation had become a black wasteland. When night fell, faint sand on the vast dark plain sparkled like stars under the moonlight. For that reason, the night sky above the earth, or the land of beautiful guardians of death, was its name.
And now human mages had turned it into their research institute, or so the rumors went.
More than a thousand years had passed since the Black Dragons vanished. No other dragon had claimed the land in that time, and the human urge to explore an ancient, ownerless legend was more than enough to stir adventure.
Above all, the dungeon known as the **Book of Life and Death**—the one the Black Dragons had guarded for generations—remained there.
A dungeon named like a book. Who had written it, indeed.
It was not a dungeon meant to be conquered from the start. It lay near the holy ground of the Judgment Lands.
Christina herself did not know how a thousand-year-abandoned dungeon might have changed. It was an unknown place, yet it had also been the Black Dragons’ homeland.
She stared into her tea cup, lost in thought.
‘It is difficult. I cannot simply refuse a child who wishes to see his clan’s home.’
It was a place he would one day need to return to, but for a young hatchling the journey was too far and dangerous.
After a long moment, Christina lifted her gaze, deep and weary.
“In all honesty, I would like to stop you. But I understand the longing to see your clan’s home. You, as the lair’s owner, will need to reclaim it one day.”
“Once you have slept, I will investigate how it has changed. We shall speak of the details later.”
“…”
[Thank you, Christina.]
For now, this was the best they could offer each other.
When the conversation ended, Christina sent Rune away first.
Alone, she sank into thought. Even one who had lived a thousand years could not guess what lingered in her mind.
The next day, Rune packed a generous amount of items for Jed and stuffed them into his spatial pouch.
He would have liked to teach Heungmi a harsh lesson for her outrageous words, but with sleep already looming, he decided to deliver the promised gifts first.
‘Of course, he would not deliver them so easily.’
The price for teaching Heungmi the phrase “obsessive pervert” would be paid in full.
At that moment, a message arrived on his Mokoji Stone from Jed.
[Rune-nim, Rune-nim! I have finally heard that you have conquered the Water Lair! Woohoo~ Jed believed it from the start! My eye for seeing my master was truly unbeatable, wasn’t it?]
The original Jed would have gone on for five lines, but he was now speaking in short, careful phrases, clearly having already pieced together the situation through Heungmi and the Mokoji Stone.
“So, you used my invention, the **Mana-Preserving Sealing Jar**, quite effectively. I imagine you would be willing to provide research funds and material support.”
The speech style was utterly strange. His fingers moved as if dreaming of the reward they would receive.
‘He really talks like that. He has no idea what price he might pay for one single sentence.’
Rune narrowed his eyes. The text on the Mokoji Stone sped up noticeably.
“As you know, I do not ask for much. Just a modest amount of funds, materials, pearls, scales, a little dungeon reward, and a bit of a story about the fairies you mentioned.”
Rune could almost see the greedy smile on the face of the one who was rubbing his hands in front of him.
He had no patience left. Rune answered immediately.
“The reward is good, but stop teaching Heungmi those strange words.”
“Eh?”
The Mokoji Stone fell silent, as if sensing that something was amiss.
“What do you mean, Rune-nim? What have I done to Heungmi-nim?”
“‘Obsessive pervert’.”
“That was wrong? I don’t think I said anything strange.”
Rune raised an eyebrow. Jed had told Heungmi to be careful of strange people, so he had missed the warning, but reading the message made Rune’s brow furrow.
He had never imagined the greed that would surface because of his dream of a reward, regardless of what he might say.
A single sentence could bring a thousand-silver debt—or receive one.
“You really are hopeless.”
“Eh?!?!”
Jed’s frantic reply was cut short when Rune slipped the Mokoji Stone back into his pouch.
In the presence of Amelia and Perdikion, even cold water had to be sipped carefully. Talking nonsense to those who listened carefully, like Rune or Perdikion, could be overlooked.
But to Heungmi, who listened and learned immediately, the words had to be guarded.
Rune sealed the entrance of the spatial pouch he had received from Christina.
The spatial pouch that would not corrode or spoil was the perfect place to store things without damage.
[Christina, I have a request.]
“Go ahead. Just take out two handfuls once a year to send, is that right?”
Two handfuls a year. It sounded pitiful enough to make Jed’s dreams collapse.
‘I would rather give nothing at all. Since I mentioned it, I will give it, but…’
He would not send inferior materials on purpose, and the pearl mana stones had already been delivered, so there was no need to worry about costs for the black market deal.
In this way, the agreement would be kept.
How many decades or even centuries would pass before he woke from sleep, he did not know, but he had no intention of wasting the time.
‘While I sleep, I will not neglect training any useful abilities.’
The thought that he might never know when he would wake made his heart flutter slightly.
He was the talent chosen to witness the power. He would produce results for every contribution.
Such types often saw their expectations for success decline if support was cut off for too long.
‘There is no way to discard the rotten parts of a tree and keep only the good.’
After a brief pause, Rune decided to give a small chance.
“Christina, if he keeps working hard and reflects while doing so, you may add a little more at your discretion.”
“Puhu. I understand.”
Christina seemed to see Rune’s pure concern for his vassals as the adorable hatchling that he was.
He did not correct her.
In truth, his heart had grown a little soft at the thought of how long he might sleep.
‘Sigh… How to stop that habit of speaking nonsense.’
At that moment, Jed felt an inexplicable chill and scanned his surroundings.
Even though the lab and forge were always hot, the feeling was cold.
He prayed to an unbelieved god for mercy, foreseeing utter misfortune.
***
Several days passed.
Rune stood in the Black Room with Dullahan, both in their hatchling forms.
Each day was a battle against fatigue and drowsiness.
“Yawn.”
‘Just one more and I’ll be done…’
Yawning, Rune rubbed his eyes and took the large jar containing the Kraken from Dullahan.
Thunk!
With a flap of his wings, Rune lifted the jar and opened the lid.
The Kraken, barely moving, occasionally twitched its legs inside the tank.
Thanks to being exposed to the **Resurrection** Word of Power just before death, it still looked fairly fresh after a few days.
‘Good.’
“…”
[Done. Let’s move.]
Closing the lid, Rune gave the order. Dullahan rose, carrying the jar on his back.
The Kraken that Rune had shown Christina as a gift was too large for the current kitchen and aquarium.
Christina had replied that she would remodel both areas and asked them to wait a few days.
‘How will she remodel it?’
The two moved to Christina’s kitchen using Rune’s teleportation magic.
Paaat!
With permission already granted to move the Kraken with Dullahan’s help, Christina called out to them upon arrival.
“Come this way.”
The destination was the path leading to the aquarium that housed the giant clam.
Except for the slightly larger size, the kitchen was unchanged, but the path to the aquarium felt noticeably wider.
‘Is it simple expansion? Of course, the jar was already large enough to touch the ceiling.’
Clank! Clunk!
Dullahan followed behind them, his armor making clanging sounds.
After a short distance, a cool breeze brushed their skin.
Rune sniffed. The familiar salty smell grew stronger.
‘It is growing cooler, and the seawater scent is richer.’
At the end of the path, the ceiling rose sharply higher.
In place of the glass of the aquarium, a small reservoir dug deep into the ground appeared.
It was no longer a large aquarium but, in effect, a large swimming pool.