The Brown Dragon, Rand
She was kind, but her eyes flashed with fury when she realized he might not be able to return because of Jed.
‘Actually, it wasn’t Jed’s doing that great after all.’
One hundred years ago, Jed might have been forgotten by now, but even thinking back, the whole thing still struck Rune as absurd.
But thanks to that incident, he had obtained a __strong__Mana Key__strong__ that let him claim the Fairy’s Path.
Without that key, he couldn’t have known what would become of the Blue Dragon clan. It was almost a stroke of luck.
There was one other thing he couldn’t tell Christina.
The vendor of the __strong__Curse Tool Crafting Kit__strong__ had been a ‘Demon Race’ person.
‘Fortunately, in either case, Christina would never imagine such a situation.’
Rune breathed a sigh of relief and stated the conclusion he had wanted to voice.
“I talked to Jed this morning. He’s having trouble maintaining his original self while keeping his mind alone. That’s why.”
Rune chose the sauce bottle to drizzle over the finished salad.
“I want to make a doll that can move on its own will.”
Christina placed edible flowers on the salad of fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and sliced cheese, then asked.
“There must be a reason you said that. Do you need my help?”
“Yes. Christina, aren’t you close with the elves?”
Christina paused with her hand over the plate and looked down at Rune.
“How did you guess that?”
“Well, I just had a hunch. It’s true, isn’t it? Christina, the edible flowers and herbs you bring all grow in the lands where the elves live, so I assumed.”
Rune added a playful tone to his voice.
It was just a guess, but in reality he had spoken with certainty.
The transmitted knowledge included magical herbs, grasses, vegetables, and fruits that grew in the lands of the elves.
And information about the black tea leaves he usually enjoyed.
Black tea had been one of his preferred items long before Christina developed an interest in cooking.
Someone had provided consistent quality and taste while maintaining its fragrance.
“I thought maybe it was a human, but using mana-infused ingredients as tea leaves would require easy supply, wouldn’t it?”
It wasn’t a rare item someone drank only occasionally; it had to be something anyone could enjoy anytime.
Naturally, the elf who controlled the blessing of the forest came to mind.
“You’re clever. The ability to notice small details and use known knowledge to predict what comes next. It’s something even a young hatchling would have trouble mastering.”
‘Did I come across too obvious?’
A cold sweat ran down his back, but he answered with a harmless smile.
“You’re praising me? Thank you, Christina.”
Fortunately, Christina replied with a gentle smile.
“Sometimes you’re surprisingly mature and intelligent, but when I see you wandering into danger without knowing it, I realize you’re still just a young hatchling… yet sometimes I feel like I don’t know you at all.”
“Hehe…”
‘Should I like this?’
Christina accepted Rune’s awkward smile with hidden chuckles.
“I’ll have to contact that guy. He won’t be going alone, right? Who is he with?”
“Heungmi and Dullahan. I’ll have to ask Brother about it.”
“If it’s Pasiyas, he’ll definitely approve.”
Rune didn’t ask in detail, but he had guessed as much.
Of course Perdikion, who cherished those inside his own walls.
Pasiyas treated elves like dwarves—beneath him—but since Rune might have the elves recruited through Christina’s influence, he would send Perdikion.
‘The man treated as a pawn.’
Ding!
A sound came from the oven, so Christina opened the lid.
On the pan sat crisp, leaf-shaped golden cookies coated in sparkling sugar.
Sweet aroma spread through the room from the cookies baked side by side.
Rune and Christina gazed at each other across the white bowl of finished salad and the cookies.
“Call everyone. And contact Perdikion too.”
“Got it. I’ll send the message now.”
Rune sent a message to Heungmi via the Mokoji Stone, telling her to bring Baekya, and invited Perdikion to the meal as well.
***
“If you’re going to meet the elves, you mean you’re going to their kingdom ‘Ruelto Tura’?”
Thud!
Perdikion crushed a golden leaf cookie with a sharp sound.
But unlike the sweet and delicious cookie, his expression looked like he had bitten into grass—his brows drawn tight.
“The elves will probably hate the dragon race. Especially since one of the ancient Green Dragons… well, irresponsible, or rather, strange things.”
Perdikion had chosen his words carefully, but it was useless.
Heungmi, who had been feeding cookie pieces to Baekya, asked.
“Perdikion-nim, what exactly is that irresponsible thing?”
“It exists. It’s an act of colossal stupidity.”
Perdikion answered bluntly while Heungmi munched her cookie.
Heungmi tilted her head at Baekya.
“Perdikion-nim has become like a mental core again!”
“Peep…?”
Baekya, with cookie crumbs on its beak, tilted its head.
Rune had heard the soft conversation and shook his head internally.
‘What is a mental core?’
Christina tore the soft layers of the croissant and placed a small piece in her mouth.
“I’ll treat anyone I know, regardless of their race or situation.”
“First time hearing that. So there was such a person among the elves.”
Christina gave a mysterious smile at Perdikion’s question.
“Actually… he’s not an elf.”
“?”
This time, Rune looked at Christina with a puzzled expression.
He had been certain they were on good terms with elves, but now she was saying otherwise.
“His name is ‘Rand.’ To you, the name ‘Randel’ might be more familiar.”
“Ugh.”
“Wow! Perdikion-nim, are you okay? Oh ho. Oh ho!”
Perdikion, who had bitten into the cookie at the mention of ‘Randel’ and bitten his tongue, covered his mouth with one hand.
Heungmi, startled, bounced over on her feet, and Perdikion waved a hand at her as if to say it was fine, leaving the cookie behind.
Rune spoke.
“…That brown dragon who abandoned the Forest Seal and went into hiding?”
“That’s right.”
The infamous clumsy dragon, the war deserter, or the escapee—Randel.
Once a Green Dragon, he was now a brown dragon without the Forest Seal.
“Whoa, there are brown ones too?”
“There weren’t originally. He was the only one.”
Christina answered.
Heungmi’s ears perked up and her eyes sparkled at the interesting story.
“I didn’t know Christina-nim knew such a coward.”
Perdikion tried his hardest to speak politely, but he couldn’t hide the resentful glare.
A look of loathing for one who betrayed the duties of a dragon fell over the white table.
“He did something foolish.”
A faint sigh laced Christina’s words.
“But if Rune needs the elves’ treasure for his subordinates, he’ll need Rand’s cooperation.”
“……”
Perdikion’s expression was already dangerous, as if rough words might spill from his mouth at any moment.
‘What am I supposed to do? If he’s in a bad mood, it’ll explode.’
Perdikion probably wouldn’t make trouble for Rune.
Rune decided to ignore the matter for now.
“When can we go?”
“I just checked earlier. He said anytime is fine.”
Christina answered Rune’s question.
Perdikion, who had furrowed his brows, looked even more displeased, but he stood up and said,
“There’s still a little left to clean at the Fire Lair. A day should be enough—take your time after that.”
“I’ll go in three days, Brother. I’ll clean properly.”
Perdikion had said a day, but the trip was one without a fixed return date.
The dwarves would pass on urgent matters, and he would need time to finish.
‘Perdikion tends to rush when things aren’t moving fast enough.’
Even with skilled dwarves, it would be a shame if he tried to tidy everything in one day.
Perdikion stared at Rune for a moment, then nodded.
“Understood. I’ll come prepared for anything.”
The hatchling of the Fire Dragon clan left Christina’s lair with an unusually solemn expression.
“Heungmi? I have things to prepare too, don’t I?”
“Peep!”
Baekya flapped its wings and replied.
The eager eyes of both already turned to Rune.
“Heungmi, gather a lot of black mana stones from rose roots. The trip could take days. And keep Jed company for me.”
“Yes!”
“Baekya, you’re coming too.”
“Peep!”
‘With this, Dullahan can rest a bit.’
After Heungmi and Baekya cleared their plates and left, only Rune and Christina remained.
“Christina, can I ask just one thing?”
“Of course.”
A harmless gaze fixed on her for a moment.
“I want to know more about that dragon named Rand.”
Rune asked, staring at her quietly.
Christina gave a slight smile.
“What do you mean?”
“Not completely, but there’s something strange in the knowledge about Rand. Rand is an elf dragon, right?”
This time, Christina looked at Rune with surprise.
It was because the transmitted knowledge included details that only become apparent after more than five hundred years.
Rune continued.
“But it’s recorded that Rand lost his wife and children to war. Maybe it’s a difference in perspective, but usually in such cases it would say war victim, not war deserter—and that’s what’s strange.”
Christina couldn’t hide her shock at the repeated words.
‘I thought he might be a genius, but I never imagined the knowledge would be this vast.’
“Amazing. You already knew that far?”
The elves, who once lived in vast forests.
Rand, the Green Dragon at the time, extended a hand to those who died in war or lost their forests.
The elves received the guarantee of dragon protection and safety through Rand’s Word Magic, and bestowed the title of friend of the elves.
Rune had known this much already, and the part he mentioned was new knowledge that had only appeared after his sleep period.
“I didn’t know either. It seems like new knowledge that opened up during the sleep.”
“Wonderful.”
Christina smiled softly and nodded.
“The elf who fell in love with Rand was a princess of the elf kingdom. Actually, the elves tried not to give the elf princess as a plaything to the dragon Rand. But in the end, they held the wedding despite the king’s opposition.”
‘If it was a dragon in the middle of playtime, the opposition makes sense. If it’s a princess of the elf kingdom, she would be the most precious. How did it even come to marriage?’
Rune’s head tilted in confusion, which only made Christina laugh awkwardly.
“At that time, Rand promised the elf king with a ‘True Name Word Magic.’ He would protect the princess and her direct family for life.”