Welcome to the Museum, Part 2
“Kieeek. Whimper….”
“Dialuria….”
It was the kind of voice that seemed to ask how she could possibly do this to me.
I was just as taken aback.
I’d expected a heart-wrenching mother-and-daughter farewell, but what I actually saw was the mother’s crumpled face, betrayed by her own daughter.
“Kiiiing….”
Whether she understood her mother’s shock or not, Toltol-i was still busy burrowing her face into my chest and wagging her tail with all her might.
The instant I gently stroked her head, the whimpering turned into eager panting.
She even flipped herself over without a shred of dignity and shamelessly bared her belly.
My hand naturally drifted toward that plump little stomach.
I’d always thought she was dog-like, but today it seemed even worse than usual.
Maybe because we were about to part ways, she was putting on something that resembled affection, if not quite affection itself—but as I watched the whole scene, Dialugia’s expression darkened.
Her mouth had fallen open, and her pupils were shaking violently.
So she’s different from usual, then.
Back when she was literally dog-sized, I remembered her mother trotting after her all the time, tail whipping behind her.
Even then I’d gotten the impression that Toltol-i paid a little more attention to me, but now that she’d grown to the size of a teenager, there was no way for me to know what things had been like between her and Dialugia when they were alone.
Judging by the exhaustion that seemed etched into her face, I could tell she’d been giving her mother a hard time, but…
She never showed her this side of herself?
From Dialugia’s reaction, it was obvious Toltol-i had never once bared her belly like this before.
I was starting to understand, in a rough sort of way, what the “Mom’s annoyed too” hashtag in her innate quirk was supposed to mean.
So this is what it’s like to have a child change on you.
It occurred to me that I might have to run a program like that at least once.
Seeing how devoted the mother was, I started to wonder if Toltol-i had gotten too used to taking her for granted.
That wouldn’t be good….
The quirks were already a mess, but honestly, all I wanted was for that little one to grow up normal.
A hundred thoughts ran through my head, but there was nothing I could do about any of them right now, so I had no choice but to shove them into a corner for later.
The expedition members were standing at a distance, staring blankly in our direction.
Since it was about time to leave, I spoke to Toltol-i again, and she immediately answered.
“Toltol-i, I think Daddy has to go now….”
“Kiiing….”
Sure enough, she whimpered as if to say I couldn’t go.
As if she’d understood me, tears instantly welled in her eyes.
When she spread her arms, it was obvious she wanted me to hold her.
I lifted her into my arms, and she kept up that soft, panting sound.
“Ah….”
Dialugia stared at the sight with a look of utter disbelief.
Seeing that she looked half out of her mind, I had no choice but to speak up as well.
“Toltol-i, you should say goodbye to your mom too.”
At my words, Dialugia sent me a grateful look, and it was almost adorable.
Toltol-i looked reluctant, but before she could lose the chance, Dialugia rushed over, hugged her, and barely managed to wring out a tearful farewell.
“I’ll be back soon. If you behave yourself, I’ll play with you all day, all right?”
“Kiek!”
“Dialugia, it’s time to depart.”
“Understood. Dialuria, your mother will….”
“Kiek!”
Only after I handed Dialuria over to Hwang Jeongyeon and Kim Yeri, who weren’t joining the expedition, did the situation finally settle down.
Of course, the moment I turned and headed for the city gate without looking back, I heard a cry like a death wail behind me, but I already knew better than to turn around here.
“You must not look back.”
“B-but….”
“You have to be firm.”
“…….”
“If you keep turning back and responding to her, it only gets harder to separate. I’m not exactly an expert on dragon ecology, but Dialuria is fully capable of staying on her own for now. She’ll need help, of course, but the guild members will take good care of her.”
“…….”
I wanted to offer a lot of advice, but sadly, I wasn’t a professional.
I’d never raised a child, and I’d never even owned a dog.
It was probably better to keep my mouth shut than to blunder around pretending I knew something.
“Kieeeeeeek!”
Listening to that mournful cry echoing from far away, and seeing myself flinch over and over, made it obvious I would’ve run straight back to Dialuria if I’d been alone.
Her face, looking as though she was barely holding back tears, kept slipping into view for no reason.
“Sorry we’re a little late.”
“It’s all right, Kiyoung. In any case, we’re still leaving earlier than scheduled, so nothing’s changed. Honestly, I can understand the situation.”
As she said that, Park Yeonju turned to look at Dialugia.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dialugia. I’ve always seen you in the nest, so this is my first proper introduction. I’m Park Yeonju.”
“I am Dialugia.”
“Thank you for joining us like this.”
I caught the slight nod Dialugia gave in response.
She looked far too downcast.
She probably needed some time to sort out her grief over Toltol-i in her own way.
“For now, please board the carriage. We’ll probably need about two days.”
“Yes.”
“Go inside and rest a bit, Dialugia.”
“Yes.”
The carriage had five sections, and all of them were packed with supplies.
With provisions for thirty expedition members, emergency medical supplies for those quarantined near the Crack Museum, and small necessities like spare clothes, the whole expedition had become a rather extravagant affair.
These carriages are genuinely good….
After I had Dialugia go into the carriage that was already carrying Blue Guild members, I took a look around myself and had to admit that it was more than just spacious.
We should buy one too.
Since our expeditions had always been small-scale, I’d never really felt the need for a large carriage in the first place.
The carriage Blue had been using wasn’t bad, so I’d never bothered to replace it, but once I stepped inside this one, my mind changed immediately.
It was practically a camper van. The moment I saw that there were actual rooms inside a carriage, my jaw nearly hit the floor.
I knew Black Swan’s welfare was good, but….
Being a predominantly female guild, they apparently handled this sort of thing with much more care.
Park Deokgu and An Gimo, who had already gone in ahead of us, were looking around with equally amazed expressions.
“This is really something.”
“Hey, weren’t you with the Red Mercenaries, Gimo? Carriages like this….”
“Of course we have large carriages, but they’re not kept nearly this well. The seats, the fixtures, everything… Besides, the Mercenary Queen never liked expeditions that were too comfortable. She said that if we had money to spare, it was better spent on equipment. The fact that mages and priests are necessary is a problem too.”
“What do you mean?”
“A carriage of this size is a burden on the horses. No, that’s not quite right—it’s impossible for horses alone. The mages have to continuously send mana into them, and of course the priests have to provide holy power to keep the overload in check.”
“Ahhh….”
“Black Swan probably hires dedicated coachmen. Usually they’re mages who lacked talent or were discarded because they made no progress.”
“I see….”
“You don’t need to feel bitter about it, Deokgu. It’s a good thing for them too. The wages are probably better than you’d expect, and in a way, it creates jobs. For mages who’ve been left adrift because they lack talent, it’s probably perfect.”
“Ah. I guess you could look at it that way! Hyung, why don’t we get one of these too?”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea….”
“Then we should!”
The ones who looked even happier than Park Deokgu were the female members sitting inside the carriage: Jung Hayan, Sun Heeyoung, and Cho Hyejin.
They didn’t say it outright, but it seemed they had secretly envied the Black Swan guild members who got to use these kinds of amenities.
Just then, Kim Hyunsung, who had finished roughly organizing his baggage inside the room, opened the door and stepped out.
“I’d already been thinking about it. We’ve brought in new members, and we’re planning to form at least one more party in the future.”
With the guild master’s approval added to the mix, their faces lit up again, which was rather amusing.
Dialugia didn’t seem especially concerned, but in the first place, this sort of accommodation wasn’t for her.
Kim Hyunsung smiled faintly and continued.
The topic had changed from the earlier one, but since this was all about the upcoming dungeon expedition, everyone’s attention quickly focused on him.
“As for this expedition….”
“Yes.”
“There won’t be any separate briefing or training sessions from here on out. Of course, there may be short updates during expedition staff meetings and while eating, but for now, everything everyone needs to know has been documented. Please read through it.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
“Once we enter the dungeon, we’ll probably get busy very quickly. Think of this as the last chance to relax and enjoy yourselves.”
“Yes.”
He said that, but there was no way anyone could really relax with an expedition ahead of them.
Kim Hyunsung was no exception, and even Jung Hayan wasn’t entirely at ease.
There’s always danger when you’re clearing a dungeon.
Since none of us were novices, we all knew that very well.
After what might have been his own little declaration of resolve, the carriage set off at speed.
We spent some time together and some time apart.
As Kim Hyunsung had announced in advance, whenever we stopped to rest in the carriage we held short briefings based on changes and reports, and whenever we had time we organized supplies or handled maintenance.
Personally, it was a somewhat tedious stretch of time, but this kind of repetitive briefing and review was undeniably useful.
Every now and then I looked out the window and noticed that the carriage was moving at quite a pace, and although she acted as if nothing was wrong, I could tell Park Yeonju was getting increasingly restless.
Exactly two days later, when we reached the point where the carriage could go no farther, we unloaded our baggage and began the march on foot.
By the time we reached the dangerous zone where even the Blue Guild staff who had come with us could no longer enter, everyone had a large pack slung over their back, proof of just how much preparation had gone into this expedition.
The truth is a little different, though….
The dungeon clearance itself wouldn’t actually take that long.
The reason we’d forced those bags full was simply as a precaution against the possibility of getting trapped inside the dungeon ourselves. Of course, we hadn’t told the expedition members that, but the sharper ones had probably figured it out already.
There’s a chance we’ll fail.
The guild executives who planned this expedition were aware that failure was a possibility.
That chance definitely existed.
If a mythic-grade named monster appeared, then with our current forces, the best we could do would be to barely hold out with everything we had.
Or pay the price.
Still, the atmosphere of the expedition wasn’t bad.
Park Deokgu, the harem king, was in his prime, surrounded by the female guild members of Black Swan, and An Gimo, while not quite to the same extent, had also grown quite close with a few of them.
Jung Hayan, too, enjoyed the privilege of being able to cling to me whenever we had downtime, so that said it all.
Sun Heeyoung seemed to be having serious conversations with Black Swan’s priests, and Cho Hyejin, who secretly harbored an unrequited crush on Kim Hyunsung, was watching him and Park Yeonju interacting with a distinctly displeased expression.
The scenery kept changing as the expedition moved into a place so remote that no human hand could have touched it.
Beautiful….
A faint purple light leaked from the split in a vast cliff face whose end could not be seen.
The Crack Museum was probably inside that cliff.
Welcome to the Museum.
And then.
[The Museum has welcomed you.]
A tiny child made of magic appeared in my field of vision, offering us a greeting.
We had entered the rankless dungeon known as the Crack Museum.
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