The Tooth Fairy
Rune deftly dodged the flames while Jed scampered away with surprising agility.
Watching the two chase each other with ever-growing fury, Rune shook his head.
He separated Heungmi, Amelia, and Baekya from the area where the firestorm was raging.
Boom!
An explosion rocked the rear.
"Get out here right now!!"
"Aigoo, if I come out, you'll roast me whole!"
Seeing the devil summoned from the inferno like some demon, Jed clutched one of the Black Dragon relics and ducked behind it.
It was a desperate gambit, banking on the fact that Perdikion couldn't destroy an item from the Dark clan.
The problem was, Perdikion wasn't one to fall for such a cheeky trick.
Sure enough, flames sparked in the Fire Dragon boy's eyes.
"You little... you really wanna die!"
"Eek!"
Cornered, Jed's eyes darted toward Rune.
Using a Dark clan item as a shield and begging for help—what nerve.
Rune let out a sigh and spoke up.
"Jed, I recommend just taking one hit and calling it done."
"No, Master Rune! One hit and I'll be charred to a crisp!"
Jed fidgeted desperately and cried out, but Rune just shrugged.
"You're exaggerating. One hit won't kill you. I made that body practical, after all."
Dwarf-like in appearance, but packed with premium materials, Jed's body was plenty sturdy.
'Feels like wood—neither too rigid nor too soft—but the durability rivals most metals. Plus, it has basic elemental resistances.'
In short, even after his mischief, Jed could tank one solid hit.
Rune fixed Jed with a steady gaze.
"That body's built for casting magic. It can handle fire just fine."
"Magic!?"
Rune tilted his head at Jed's shocked reaction.
"Didn't I mention that?"
"You didn't, sir!"
A body that could wield magic—impossible for a dwarf!
Jed's eyes went wide as saucers.
Rune cocked his head slightly at the sight.
"You need to work a forge. No way I'd give you a body that burns easily from the start."
'Gotta handle all sorts of mana materials and mana flames to craft gear.'
As Rune spoke, Perdikion cornered him perfectly.
Perdikion, clad in his fire-chicken pajamas, smirked with one corner of his mouth raised.
"Gotcha."
Cold sweat beaded on Jed's brow.
Seeing his trembling eyes, Rune continued.
"Why not test it out now?"
"Eek—! Why does it have to be fire!?"
Whoosh!
In that instant, a blazing fist grazed past Jed's ear.
"Trust me and try it."
Rand the Brown Dragon had crafted it, but Rune had consulted on the base specs.
Sure, the dwarf look was comical, but this body was made with various elemental Seals.
It wasn't something that'd break easily.
"Gyaah! No way, I can't do it!"
But terrified by the scorching fist, Jed slipped away using his small frame to dodge nimbly.
Rune shook his head inwardly at the scene.
'If he'd just taken the hit earlier, it'd be over clean.'
Keep sassing back and wriggling like an eel, and Perdikion's fury only mounted, turning lethal.
Then again, volunteering for a hit from a bloodthirsty dragon wasn't easy.
'Gonna take time.'
Rune turned and called to Amelia and Heungmi.
"Alright, let those two sort it out. Everyone, come this way."
Unlike Rune's calm demeanor, Heungmi looked a bit worried.
"Will Uncle Jed be okay?"
"The World Tree wood's super tough and high-spec... Plus, my bro won't actually kill Jed."
Heungmi tilted her head but seemed to accept it.
Amelia, though, couldn't stop fidgeting.
"R-Rune... The killing intent's getting stronger... C-Can we really just leave them...?"
Rune nodded nonchalantly at her words.
"Of course. Jed was a dwarf who lived and breathed fire. Don't worry too much."
'From the fight, seems they've tacitly agreed not to touch my stuff.'
Boom!
No sooner had he said it than another explosion erupted behind them.
Looked like it would drag on a while.
As Rune moved to secure a spot, he suddenly sensed something off.
"Something's weird."
"Weird?"
It felt different from the usual.
At first, Rune thought it was Amelia, or maybe Jed, Dullahan, or Heungmi.
He scanned around and spotted Baekya atop Amelia's bunny-pajama-clad head.
"Pii-yak!"
A bird spreading its wings and chirping.
Rune eyed it steadily, then turned away.
"Not this guy either."
He immediately let his black darkness seep into the shadows.
Then.
-Quek!
"?"
A rough, raspy voice he'd never heard before.
Something snagged like a fish on a hook.
Even Perdikion, who had Jed's cheek pinched tight while chuckling mischievously, and Jed, drenched in cold sweat.
Heungmi, Amelia, even Baekya.
All turned toward the sound.
-Krek! Help!
Drag, drag.
Snagged by a ribbon of black darkness around its legs and dragged out was a creature in ragged clothes, with odd ears unlike any race they'd seen.
-Let go, let go!
A finger-sized being with a bushy white beard, lugging a tattered sack that looked ready to shed cloth scraps any second.
Rune spoke first.
"What are you?"
The strange lifeform, dragged right before the frowning Rune, looked up with its bead-black eyes.
-S-Such rough handling... This one is the 'Tooth Fairy'!
"?"
Perdikion approached, yanking Jed by the scruff, as Rune blinked in confusion.
Jed's cheek was red—clearly he'd taken a solid hit.
Seemed they'd settled it neatly; Perdikion dropped Jed off to the side.
Then he glanced down at the thing struggling to free its foot from the darkness ribbon.
"No way—you're that 'Tooth Fairy'?"
-Y-Yes. So release me, won't you?
But Perdikion ignored it and asked Rune.
"How'd you catch it? First time seeing one in the flesh."
Rune blinked innocently and replied flatly.
"If darkness can't catch it, nothing can. It works on phantoms too."
-Impossible! Mere darkness can't snare us! Especially not from a hatchling so young!
The fairy twitched its nose in panic at Rune's answer.
-Just over a century old, at best. How does a hatchling snag a phantom?
The Tooth Fairy grumbled, but Rune had no obligation to explain.
Instead, he brought up another point.
"Tooth Fairy, huh? I think I know. You show up when baby teeth fall out naturally and take them, right?"
Amelia nodded curiously as the Tooth Fairy pouted.
"Th-This... fairy takes my teeth... too?"
The blunt-nosed Tooth Fairy bristled indignantly.
-Not some common tooth spirit! I'm a Great Spirit who claims only valuable teeth!
'This guy's a Great Spirit?'
As if sensing Rune's doubt, the Tooth Fairy huffed loudly.
-The baby tooth of the world's last Black Dragon hatchling? Worth my personal collection. Indeed, indeed.
Rune eyed the fairy, now smugly crossing its arms.
He zeroed in on the worrisome part of its words.
"So, you're saying my tooth's about to fall out?"
-Exactly.
All eyes turned to Rune.
It was an embarrassing level of focus; Rune wiggled his teeth to check, then retorted.
"No loose ones."
The arm-crossed Tooth Fairy shot him a "you don't even know?" look.
-Came to stake my claim early. Before other pests eye it.
The nose-twitching Tooth Fairy suddenly scowled.
-The other day, that guy with the last Black Dragon baby tooth bragged nonstop about his irreplaceable prize—drove me mad trying to snag it!
"?"
Out popped a deeply personal grudge.
The Tooth Fairy smirked slyly and muttered.
-But once I nab yours, no more gloating from that fool!
"……."
"……."
Purely selfish motives.
And no sign of backing down easy.
But it was obvious the tooth wouldn't fall out anytime soon.
Rune asked with foreboding.
"Don't tell me you'll haunt us till it does?"
-Naturally.
The Tooth Fairy nodded solemnly.
Rune sighed.
'What a hassle.'
Couldn't rip out a healthy tooth, and it'd pop in and out casually for a while.
No telling how long.
He'd lived secretly as an Imugi—training, resting at that level.
If the Tooth Fairy leaked he was an Imugi from another world?
Rune shook his head inwardly.
'Just when Christina warned me to stay low.'
No more attention.
Time for countermeasures.
'Scare it off now?'
His darkness could strike effectively.
But chasing it off in a rage? Everyone seemed fascinated by this rare sight.
Heungmi's eyes sparkled as she knelt and chatted earnestly with the tooth spirit.
"Hey, hey, when do you visit Heungmi?"
-Ahem! You're rare too. But as a near-spirit, your teeth don't fall naturally! Be content with seeing me.
"Hiiing."
Rune enlightened the slightly disappointed Heungmi.
"Congrats. Means you'll have perfect teeth forever."
"Ah! That's what it means!"
Heungmi perked up her ears, delighted.
"Wh-What about me...?"
The Tooth Fairy eyed the excited Amelia like an appraiser.
-Not my charge! But your baby tooth did pass through Tooth Fairy hands. Auction last time... oops.
It clamped its mouth shut.
Rune glared.
Unable to backpedal, the Tooth Fairy rolled its eyes and laughed heartily.
-Kids these days, such fierce glares! Just kidding, kidding.
Its waving hands reeked of lies.
'Can't let a liar like this have my tooth.'
True enough.
A dragon clan's baby tooth, even if it falls naturally.
Perfect for crafting gear far superior to ordinary weapons.
And that's not all.
Great affinity with magic and spirits—ideal for a mage's staff material.
'No way.'
Rune narrowed his eyes at the Tooth Fairy.