Dragon's Nest, Experiments, Advancement, Enhancement (1)
Seeing Jung Hayan still sniffling behind Kim Hyunsung made my conscience prickle for no good reason.
She’d been crying even while we were riding the griffon back to Lindel, so it wasn’t exactly strange that guilt cast a shadow over one corner of my chest.
When I glanced back, she looked startled.
Still, I had no choice but to keep my expression heavy.
Sorry, Hayan.
I had to keep showing her that I was genuinely angry.
And honestly, if I hadn’t been lying, it really would have been a situation worth getting angry over.
Not only had she barged into Kasugano Yuno’s room without warning, she’d also harmed the members of the Yozora Guild.
She’d even used magic inside the royal castle. It hadn’t been especially destructive magic, but it had still been powerful enough to smash a fortress, so of course everyone had woken up and heard it.
From the surrounding nobles’ point of view, it was a fairly massive incident after the Ito Souta affair, and naturally all attention had locked onto it.
People on one side were already chattering about whether something had gone wrong with the blood alliance between Yozora and Blue, and while everyone tried to catch the latest rumor, even that was impossible.
Because it had happened inside the royal castle, there was no way to hide it.
It was the sort of incident that could have been covered up only because Yozora Guild and Blue were allied.
If Kasugano Yuno hadn’t completely taken control of Yozora, there would have been nothing to say if the relationship between Blue and Yozora had gone sour. That was how enormous this mess was.
Shit…
Of course, it had been a huge deal for me personally, too.
I had to somehow make Jung Hayan understand, but there was no way she could be persuaded.
There was simply too much evidence. Logically, it was beyond the point where I could explain anything away.
So in the end, I chose the opposite route: I got angry back.
I immediately denied that anything had happened at all, and then I snapped at her for daring to behave so rudely. Just like that, the matter was wrapped up in a neat little package.
There had been a few different options, but I’d been too stunned by the mere fact that Jung Hayan had come looking for me to think clearly.
I did spend the night under the same blanket with her, but there was absolutely nothing going on that Jung Hayan was imagining. That was my explanation—or rather, my non-explanation.
We had been in a state bordering on nakedness, but I told her it had been a ritual to dispel a curse.
It was as absurd as claiming I’d had a drink but hadn’t driven drunk. The logic didn’t hold together at all.
Even I got chills thinking about how I’d lied without even blinking back then. There was no need to say anything else.
I was a complete piece of trash.
For a brief moment, I had undoubtedly been worse than Lee Kiyoung of the Black World.
What came after the excuse was even more ridiculous.
I’d driven her into a corner before her brain even had time to object.
Starting with, “I’m disappointed.”
Then,
“You’re being rude.”
And also,
“You should reflect on your behavior.”
Using that as my excuse, I demanded that she apologize to the Yozora Guild members, and I immediately made a show of apologizing to Kasugano Yuno as well.
Kasugano Yuno was quick enough to catch on and played along with my rhythm, and before long Jung Hayan had become the villain of the piece.
And that was why I’d kept up my cold act ever since.
Sorry… Hayan.
They always said that in a relationship, the one who likes the other more is the weaker one.
This was another chance to confirm that saying was true.
Embarrassed, guilty, and convinced that I needed to correct Jung Hayan’s impulsive behavior, I’d shut myself in my room and not taken a single step outside. Naturally, I hadn’t seen Jung Hayan either.
Of course, I hadn’t contacted Kasugano Yuno at all.
After the investiture ceremony, I’d climbed onto the griffon without saying a word. That was why Jung Hayan, who’d clearly assumed she’d be sitting right behind me, was now riding with Kim Hyunsung instead.
The reason I’d pushed Jung Hayan this far was to prevent an incident like this from happening again.
To Kim Hyunsung, it probably just looked like the two of us had had a lovers’ spat, but from my point of view, a great deal of intent was hidden beneath the surface.
Because this can’t happen again next time.
At first, I’d wondered if this would calm her down, but in the end Jung Hayan’s brain had shifted away from suspecting me and toward the far more important goal of not being hated by me. While I’d been shut up in my room, she’d lingered outside my door, ground her teeth at Kasugano Yuno, and then gone to apologize to her alone.
The servant has become the master.
She was a textbook human piece of trash.
Not a single day went by without tears in Jung Hayan’s eyes.
When I looked back again from the White Pole, she was still wiping her face over and over with one hand.
Up until now I’d been holding out pretty well, but from here on out even I was reaching my limit.
“Let’s stop and rest for a bit.”
The wind muddied my voice, but Kim Hyunsung, with his keen senses, seemed to understand and turned the griffon’s course.
I naturally brought White Pole down onto a nearby cliff as well. The moment we dismounted, an awkward silence spread between us.
If anything, Kim Hyunsung was the one who looked more uncomfortable than I did.
This bastard.
I knew he was fairly oblivious in situations like this, but the way he kept stealing glances at Jung Hayan and me made him look painfully pitiful.
From his perspective, this strange silence probably felt like a bolt from the blue.
If it had just been a mistake between party members, he would have tried to mediate somehow, but since this was entangled with a personal issue between me and Jung Hayan, it seemed like he had no clue how to fix it.
I wasn’t expecting anything from him anyway…
The way he was subtly pretending not to see us was a sight to behold.
“Let’s eat something before we move on.”
“Yes… that would probably be best, Kiyoung.”
I caught him quietly putting distance between himself and us.
Anyway, after roughly setting up a place to sit, I started taking out the food we’d packed from the royal castle.
Even while she prepared everything diligently, Jung Hayan kept shedding tears in little drops.
It felt as though my guilt grew heavier with every tear she dropped.
She looked like she had no appetite at all, but she was still nibbling away at her lunchbox.
Every so often she gave a little hiccuping sob, as if she was loading up another round of tears, but after seeing how bad my expression was, she clearly forced herself to hold back the wails trying to burst out.
Jung Hayan was watching my face, and Kim Hyunsung was watching Jung Hayan, and between the three of us this bizarre meal unfolded.
“T-the weather’s nice.”
“Ah… yes.”
It wasn’t a nice day at all.
Realizing how awkward that sounded even to himself, Kim Hyunsung went back to silence.
Jung Hayan kept forcing food into her mouth, bit by bit.
Since I was the one who’d created this atmosphere, it was my responsibility to clean it up. In the end, I had no choice but to reach out first and offer her an olive branch.
Honestly, it wasn’t even really an olive branch. I was the one who’d done everything wrong and then acted like I was the injured party.
When I wordlessly placed a piece of meat from my own ration onto Jung Hayan’s tray, she looked up at me in surprise.
Even then, tears the size of little bird droppings were still falling, drop by drop.
But apparently the fact that I was taking care of her made her incredibly happy.
“Hic… hic… sniff…”
“Eat more.”
“Y-yes… hic…”
“Slowly.”
“Y-yes. Hic… I-I'm s-sorry.”
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry… hic…”
“You’ll choke.”
It was extremely awkward.
This isn’t right…
I’d had the vague sense lately that I’d been up to some bad behavior, but for some reason this incident felt like it had reached the summit of all that, and I found myself falling silent too.
Jung Hayan and I were, officially, still maintaining the position of lovers.
Sure, there was a little dishonesty mixed into my feelings, but we had acknowledged each other’s hearts, and there were even times when the two of us would sneak in some private physical affection.
Sometimes we went on dates, and occasionally we whispered sweet nothings to each other.
No matter how I felt, we were, at least on the surface, a couple.
Jung Hayan knew that much as well, more or less.
If there were signs that your boyfriend had spent the night with another woman, then any normal girlfriend would naturally feel suspicious and act accordingly.
But this wasn’t Earth; this was a continent, and because of the special circumstances surrounding me and the fact that Jung Hayan herself wasn’t normal, I had no choice but to rationalize the situation by telling myself it was inevitable.
Yeah… there was no helping it.
I was justifying things in a way I hadn’t even done when I’d sent Ito Souta and that forgotten mad old man straight to hell.
The relationship between Jung Hayan and me was a lover’s relationship, yes, but it also required a taut game of tug-of-war.
The cursed altar incident made that even clearer.
It might sound like trash logic to some people, but in our relationship, my side had to hold the absolute upper hand.
This is right.
Her outward appearance—still sniffing and eating meat soaked in tears—was more than enough to soften my heart, but I had no choice but to remind myself again that I couldn’t let my guard down.
After the meal, we mounted the griffon once more.
Jung Hayan seemed to be wondering whether she should go back to Kim Hyunsung’s side or return to mine, but when I quietly held out my hand, she beamed and clung to my back.
“Heh… hehe.”
She seemed to be in a much better mood already.
Honestly, this was easier for me too.
“Hold on tight, Hayan.”
“Yes!”
Her voice came back with a little more energy than before. She seemed to think I’d forgiven her to some degree.
Anyway, I had research to do.
Before even deciding whether I could stand to keep an awkward relationship going with Jung Hayan, I had to think about the work waiting for me the moment we got back to Lindel. In that sense, it was better to compromise here.
Park Deokgu modification plan.
And then—
Advancement.
If things went well, I could kill two birds with one stone. The research would be a little difficult, sure, but success was already all but guaranteed.
Why?
Because Lindel was a trove of knowledge.
I hadn’t had time to study it in detail, but Dialugia herself was a living specimen.
An excellent specimen that could teach me everything there was to know about dragons.
Of course, I was a little worried about whether I could actually understand Dialugia with the knowledge I currently had, but I thought it would be fine.
The catalyst itself was at least Legendary grade.
The only way to evolve Park Deokgu into Captain Lindel.
Serum.
The most realistic enhancement plan for Park Deokgu was already taking shape in my head.
As time passed in the sky, the Free City of Lindel came into view.
I wanted to shake off my fatigue, but since I was about to get busy in more ways than one, I decided it would be best to start my research immediately and gave a small nod—when, for some reason, an unfamiliar building came into sight.
No, more precisely, it wasn’t really something I could call a building.
“Huh?”
It looked like a cave-shaped structure. The problem was the material it was made from.
Mithril?
It felt as though the entire structure had been wrapped in mithril. Stranger metals I’d never even heard of kept catching my eye too.
None of them were ordinary metals.
The massive structure, built entirely from materials of Heroic grade and above, was large enough to swallow Dialugia’s whole body and still have room left over.
What came to mind was the thing I’d said to her before leaving Lindel.
I was planning to build a nest, so spend as much as you like.
Holy shit. Holy shit.
You don’t need to worry about money.
This crazy woman.
You can do whatever you want.
“That insane wife of mine!!!”
It was the perfect example of what happens when you let someone with no sense of finances handle the bank account. I had to hurry back and check my vault immediately.