This Level of Reward Is Only Fair
Rune dipped his brush deep into the paint and began adding simple letters and a rough sketch on the parchment.
‘This test should be enough.’
The drawing he had hastily thrown together really looked like the work of a ten-year-old kid.
He didn’t need artistic talent anyway.
What mattered was how clearly the caster’s will and magic showed.
Rune lifted the parchment he had painted with jade-green paint, depicting clouds and wind.
*[Wind, come forth.]*
Whoosh!
The moment he spoke the incantation, a cool breeze gushed out from the parchment, ruffling his hair wildly and sending surrounding objects flying.
‘For something I just made, the performance is decent, huh?’
It was.
What Rune had created was a **magic scroll**.
An artifact that held powerful magic by inscribing magical patterns and words onto paper or leather, activated by speaking the trigger or tearing it.
Unlike ordinary methods, because he had used a pearl—the mana stone infused with life energy—the power was far stronger.
It was an experiment most people would never even dare attempt.
‘With this, I can make them usable by other kids too. There are tons of other ways to use it.’
He had been smart to quietly watch the old wizards back in his previous life.
‘Christina is probably worried about going into the **Cursed Dungeon**. If I show this to Christina and Perdikion, they’ll relax while I’m gone.’
He threw himself into scroll-making with renewed energy.
How much time had passed?
When he finally produced a satisfactory finished scroll, Rune rolled it up and tucked it under his arm.
*[I’ll be back in a minute.]*
After greeting Dullahan, he headed to the reception room.
“Rune? You said you weren’t eating today. What’s that paint on your cheek?”
Christina and the others were having their meal.
Tea and mini cakes sat on the table, so it was clearly dessert time.
*[I stopped by because I had something to give you. Here, take this.]*
He picked one of the scrolls from under his arm and handed it to Christina.
“What is this?”
*[Just open it and see.]*
Christina took the parchment Rune had drawn and spread it out. Her eyes widened.
A yellow dragon with a single black dot for an eye and a circular glow were clearly visible.
It was exactly the kind of drawing a first-grade elementary school student might make.
‘As long as it contains my life force, the effect should be reliable. Scrolls of this quality aren’t common.’
He was rather proud of it.
He even wondered if he had shown off a little too much power.
Yet Christina stared at the picture and Rune alternately, then quickly bit back a smile as her face twitched.
“I-I… h-hic…”
“?”
‘What’s wrong?’
She couldn’t finish her sentence. Her hands shook as she clutched the scroll so it wouldn’t wrinkle.
‘Strange. She never used to say anything like that when I made something impressive before.’
It wasn’t a mana-written word or a drawn pattern.
It was a magic scroll Rune had drawn showing Christina and Rai’s forms.
He had thought it was a decent piece, but her reaction wasn’t what he expected.
He studied her face, and when she sneaked a glance and read the shape of her lips as she muttered, confusion deepened.
‘Cute?’
No mistake.
She had definitely said, “How cute, Rune~” or something similar.
Rune had no idea what made a drawing “cute,” so he felt uneasy.
‘She said it twice. She can’t be misreading. Then… does a dragon consider this level of power cute?’
Feeling a little sorry, he thought it through.
At least according to the knowledge she had passed down, no hatchling had achieved this much.
He looked at the drawing again.
Because he had drawn the real body, it looked clumsy.
‘For an adult like Christina, it probably looks immature.’
He turned to Perdikion.
‘Just in case, let’s give one to Perdikion too.’
He walked over, tail swaying, and offered a sheet of parchment to Perdikion, who was sipping lemon iced tea.
*[Take it. This one’s yours, big brother.]*
“Wha—”
Perdikion nearly spat his drink.
Shocked, he stared at the scroll, face stiffening.
A small, round hatchling with a gaping mouth spewing fire was drawn in red and vermilion.
The effort to preserve the fire attribute was obvious.
The Fire Elder, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.
“R-Rune, your drawing skill is quite good. I’ll have Verdin make you a nice frame. I’ll keep this well.”
Even though he had expected a poor reaction, the response was surprisingly positive.
‘So he recognizes it as cute. Since it can’t stay in storage, I just need to teach proper use.’
*[No need to keep it. Tear it or say the trigger word.]*
“……Are you telling me to tear this right now?”
Perdikion sounded angry even though Rune had explained the correct method.
‘What is he thinking?’
Perdikion looked at Rune’s face, cleared his throat loudly, and changed the subject.
“A-Ah, no. I’m very happy to receive something from my little brother. Thank you very much, Rune.”
He had gotten angry and instantly switched to praise; it was a bit awkward.
In any case, it was the dragon who freely sang songs made from the Word of Power.
The item itself was fine.
‘But to Christina it’s just cute power.’
He cleanly admitted he had overestimated his ability.
‘As expected… I still need to grow stronger.’
With a click of his tongue, he handed the prepared scroll to Heungmi.
No reason not to give them all.
“Wow. Wowww! It’s the black fox, right?”
*[Yes. The magic inside is ‘Mist Rain.’]*
He had carefully chosen the spell for the young black fox so he could play with it.
If her fire spirits ever caused a fire, the Mist Rain scroll would save her.
‘Mist Rain should be perfect.’
Christina, who loved tea time, would receive a scroll that purified the air.
Perdikion would get a one-use defensive scroll.
While the others examined the drawings, Rune grabbed a butter cookie from the plate and popped it into his mouth.
“Oh my. Now that I think about it…… you made this picture too, so I’m happy. But your scroll-making is surprisingly detailed.”
*[Mm. Thanks for the compliment.]*
‘Even though I’m only ten, I guess.’
Christina, who had read his thought, smiled gently.
“I’ll keep this picture safely. It was a wonderful gift.”
After stroking his head in thanks, Rune nodded in response.
Perdikion also tucked the scroll into his chest.
“I’m equally thrilled. I never imagined my little brother would make something like this.”
*[I’m glad you like it. I hope you use it usefully, big brother.]*
“Never! I—I won’t know how to use something like this.”
‘He accepts the performance but refuses to use it? What kind of logic is that?’
Rune pondered and came up with a plausible reason.
‘Probably because it’s a one-time shield scroll. Thinking about it, the guy likes aggressive fighting more than defense.’
Since he had given something opposite to the opponent’s specialty, it was understandable.
No matter how good the item, if it didn’t match the user’s preference, it would never be used.
Rune sighed inwardly.
‘My mistake. I made a shield scroll for a kid who never uses shields.’
Even now, Rune knew one-time use was useless, but back when he was an imugi, he would have said, “If you have a one-time invalidation talisman, it’d be great.”
As a dragon, his own power was enough. Why would he use a bothersome talisman?
‘Not something I can’t understand. If I’d received a one-time barrier back then, I wouldn’t have been impressed either.’
Meanwhile, Christina, who had been watching Rune, set the picture aside and asked with concern.
“Rune, are you really going into the **Cursed Dungeon** by yourselves?”
*[Yeah.]*
Christina had wanted to go with him, but that would have made things harder for Rune.
It was because of the dungeon’s characteristics the Water clan had mentioned.
In the old **Wave Dungeon**, the highest-contribution player received the final reward.
In a **Cursed Dungeon**, the reward after clearing would naturally relate to Rune’s attributes and relationships.
In other words, it was best for Rune to achieve the highest contribution himself.
If Christina came along, no matter how much Rune shone, the best reward would still go to someone else.
‘Since it’s officially a Blue Dragon request, I have to get that level of reward.’
Perdikion and Amelia had already agreed to support Rune as much as possible.
Heungmi and Dullahan were Rune’s familiars, so their performance would prove his dominance and raise contribution.
Even though no one else knew, Rune also possessed Word of Power, so as long as Christina wasn’t there, there was no problem receiving the reward.
Beginning the raid with Dark power and the Water Seal.
Receiving the final clear reward was a certainty.
‘In case of trouble, I can even use the scrolls.’
Unlike his confident self, Christina still sounded worried.
“I understand your resolve, but I’m truly sorry. I’m also worried.”
*[I have the power of the Dark clan too, so I won’t be in danger. I taught you everything for this, right? Don’t worry too much.]*
With a relaxed laugh, he countered, and Perdikion chimed in.
“Little brother, I’ll protect you while following. Besides.”
He paused, then added seriously.
“This is an official request accepted by Rune as the Dark clan’s provisional elder. It probably won’t just be stopped.”
Perdikion glanced at Rune.
“You’ll be able to do it. Won’t you, little brother?”
*[Of course.]*
Even with Rune’s confident answer, Christina’s expression didn’t relax.
The conclusion, however, was already set.
“Fine. Since the **Seal of Darkness** is involved, even if it’s immature, Rune’s choice should come first.”
The Dark clan’s power entrusted to the Water clan was stored in three locations within the domain.
Amelia and her parents, and the field and dungeon.
Most of the core power—the essence—was with Amelia.
The core of curse and poison was with her parents.
Finally, the power they couldn’t bear seeped into the field and dungeon itself.