A Brief Rest (2)
“What are you even talking about right now….”
Dialugia’s dumbfounded face drifted into view.
She must have been left speechless by my insistence that there was nothing to clean up, and by how absurdly pleased I looked.
I did think I was being a little too obvious, but I had no desire to hide something that felt this good.
Thirty thousand years? Huh. Human civilization would be long dead by then.
Truth be told, whether humanity collapsed or not had nothing to do with me.
The fact that those ancient-whatever-they-were kept turning up told me this continent had a long, long history, but….
No, it probably really is ancient.
Dialugia alone had lived for four thousand years, and there was definitely such a thing as a Dragon Lord, too.
When I thought about the fact that this continent had been blessed by a god, it made perfect sense to assume the people here had been around for a very long time.
The odds were low, but it was even possible that civilization here could still be intact three hundred centuries from now.
If you think about it from a dragon’s perspective, the whole vibe changes….
Considering that my life was now shared with Dialugia, I supposed I might live quite a long time myself, but there was no way I’d make it to thirty thousand years.
While I was drifting off into side thoughts, Dialugia spoke again.
“Did you truly mean that there is no need to clean this up?”
“Well… not exactly, but….”
“I am so taken aback I cannot even speak. Or do you simply fail to grasp the seriousness of this situation? The fragment of the ancient god will slowly absorb the life of this continent. It will drink in the mana dispersed through the air, and even the earth beneath our feet will begin to rot. Living things will die one by one upon it, and in the end, nothing will remain.”
“Ah! Then the rooted tentacles are what’s doing that, aren’t they? So that’s why the museum’s functions are frozen. It doesn’t seem like it’s affecting us, though… are we safe?”
“That is not the important issue right now. You truly…!”
“No, why are you getting so angry? Please don’t work yourself up; you can say it slowly, Dialugia.”
“This is not the time to calm down! Do you not understand how grave this is?”
“I mean, didn’t you just blast it with a breath attack? That feels like it happened five seconds ago, so why are you mad at me? Honestly, who was the one who did the most to break the seal in the first place….”
“T-That is….”
“Could it be that dragons live longer than thirty thousand years? Is that why you’re acting like this?”
“No. Our lifespans vary by individual, but we usually live for around ten thousand years, and living beyond that is impossible. For reference, as Dragon’s Spouse, you will follow my lifespan and thus live for roughly another six thousand years. If no problems arise in the meantime….”
That was a little long, but living long was a good thing.
I’d expected it, but hearing it straight from her mouth made me feel strangely restless.
“If it’s not going to collapse for another three thousand years, then what’s the problem? Our little Dumpling will get to enjoy a comfortable life for about ten thousand years, and… if Dumpling has children, then, well… it still won’t matter much, I suppose. We should be able to hold out until the grandchildren, at least, so I don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”
“Why? I just told you why.”
“It’s fine. The descendants will sort everything out.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“The future is something descendants make.”
Even I could tell how irresponsible and trashy that sounded once it left my mouth.
Though disgust was written plainly all over Dialugia’s face, I had no intention of throwing my life away and charging back into the fire.
The future belongs to the descendants!
What could we even do about it?
“That is not a phrase to use in this context. The continent will be destroyed. If this is not cleaned up now, it will become a certainty. It means we’ll have destroyed the world with our own hands. I—how am I supposed to face our ancestors, ahhh….”
Thinking about it from a dragon’s perspective did make it feel a little different.
If someone told a person the world would end in three hundred years, the average human would probably be shaken to some degree.
For a small fry like me, as long as my back was warm and my stomach was full, that was enough—but people like Kim Hyunsung might feel a crushing sense of responsibility.
Dialugia was probably the same sort of dragon.
“This is something we have to clean up. Absolutely have to.”
“Even if it costs our lives?”
“Not quite, but….”
“No, Dialugia. Let’s be a little more honest here. What matters most?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“What matters most to us is us and Dumpling, isn’t it?”
“No….”
“That’s why you helped unseal the ancient god in the first place, wasn’t it? Think about it. If we keep our mouths shut and pretend we don’t know anything, then we’ll be happy, and Dumpling will be happy too. To be honest, what happened just now was lucky. Really lucky. It was a situation where it wouldn’t have been strange if we all died.”
She would probably understand.
We had survived by chance. By luck.
In fact, the fragment of the ancient god didn’t even regard us as enemies. It merely wriggled, and even stopping it was a struggle.
“I understand the desire to love the continent, I really do. I don’t know much about dragons, but from the way you keep going on about balance and all that, it seems like you feel some responsibility, too. Still, it means it’s okay to be a little selfish. If you try to clean this up carelessly, we’ll all die.”
“I know that. But….”
“It isn’t just the two of us, you know. You should be thinking about Dumpling, who’ll be left all alone.”
She fell silent, as if she had no words left.
Of course she didn’t; guilt was carved so deeply into her face it was almost painful to look at.
Man, this girl really….
Even her innate quirk was a generous giveaway tree, so if Dumpling hadn’t existed, she might actually have thrown herself into the flames to sacrifice her own life and save the continent.
“What if Dumpling is waiting for her mom and dad to come home as soon as possible? Do you think I want to ignore the continent’s fate? But what Dumpling needs isn’t the fate of the continent—it’s her parents. Let’s be blunt. Which matters more: Dumpling, or the people who’ll be left behind on this continent?”
“Dum… Dumpling….”
“Exactly. Dumpling matters most. So there’s no need to overcomplicate things.”
“Th-this isn’t right….”
“You don’t need to worry so much. Didn’t you hear it from Dialugia? Something like a backup program clearly activated, and the Crack Museum is probably doing its best to clean this up right now. If what they’re preparing fails, I’ll do my best to stop it too. Of course, that’s only as far as my own hands can reach.”
“Yes….”
When I patted her shoulder, she lowered her head for no reason I could see.
She probably found it hard to accept that she agreed with me at least a little, but what she thought about it didn’t matter much.
My life was the most precious thing to me; for her, Dumpling was the most precious thing.
Thank God.
Thank God Dumpling existed.
“Ah, and for the record, it would probably be better not to mention this continent collapsing or the world ending to the expedition members.”
“Huh?”
“Regular humans would probably think the same way I do, but… still, there might be someone who actually feels responsible. Let’s align our story a little.”
“I don’t quite understand what you want me to align.”
“The fragment of the ancient god, of course. Until now, you’ve been recovering, so no one’s been asking you anything, but once we get back, they’ll probably have a few questions. Among the expedition members, you’re the only one who knows about the fragment, and the only one who knows why that tentacle is embedded in the museum floor. Everyone will be curious. I’ll do most of the talking, so all you need to do is toss in a few bits of source material that make it sound credible.”
“Do we really need to go that far?”
“If you don’t want to, you can just keep your mouth shut and I won’t really mind… though it does feel a little awkward to be the only one doing the dirty work. Show me some love for Dumpling.”
I saw her bite down hard on her lip.
It was almost funny how she seemed to know she shouldn’t be nodding along, yet nodded anyway.
It felt a little like I was staining something pure, but for the moment, this was the best course of action.
I was in the middle of talking through how we should coordinate our story when—
Huh?
I noticed a strange object floating in the air.
What is that…?
Amusingly enough, it seemed Dialugia couldn’t see it either.
She did mutter that the mana around us had gone strange, as though she sensed something off, but there was no question she couldn’t actually see the thing itself.
Using Mind’s Eye to flick a glance at the transparent object was only natural.
Anemone's Eye
One of the unique magics delivered by the blood-colored jewel Anemone. You can look at the world through Anemone's Eye.
So it’s just Jung Hayan… whew.
For a moment I’d been on edge, wondering whether the fragment of the ancient god was up to something, but once I realized it was only Jung Hayan spying on me, I could relax a little.
Huh… looks like I’ve adapted to this.
Honestly, even calling it “relaxing” was ridiculous.
It was the sort of situation where I should have been thoroughly creeped out.
The fact that I could treat it as nothing special only meant I’d grown pretty used to Jung Hayan.
Of course, what really amazed me was that this Lee Kiyoung-style hidden camera called Anemone’s Eye could fool even Dialugia’s eyes….
Come to think of it, this might be dangerous….
I’d expected some kind of progress, but this was beyond what I’d imagined.
I hadn’t thought she’d be able to use the knowledge magic she’d inherited as a unique spell this quickly, either.
What a genius she really was.
No matter how much you understand a formula or a spell, bringing magic into reality immediately is no easy thing—I knew that better than anyone.
I’d let out a quiet exclamation of admiration, but the important thing right now wasn’t Jung Hayan’s growth.
I’d have plenty of time later to figure out exactly what she’d gained. What mattered now was smoothing things over with the expedition members.
Jung Hayan wouldn’t care much whether humanity or the continent collapsed anyway, and if she noticed that I wanted to lie to the expedition team, she’d definitely cooperate.
After I wrapped up the conversation, I started walking back toward the others.
Anemone’s Eye, created by Jung Hayan, kept following behind me, only to suddenly flick out a moment later.
She must have decided she no longer needed to see through the spell now that she could use her own eyes.
“O-Op—pa!”
We’d only been apart for a short while, but the way she came running at me like we’d just reunited after years apart was kind of cute.
When I patted Jung Hayan’s head once, she let out a low, rumbling sound like a little animal, but I couldn’t afford to focus on her alone.
As expected, Kim Hyunsung and Park Yeonju, having finished their meal, were heading this way. I spoke as casually as ever.
“For now, I think you can rest easy.”
“Ah. So you went to hear the explanation first.”
“Yes.”
“You say we can rest easy… would you mind explaining what you mean by that?”
Park Yeonju asked with obvious curiosity.
My unexpectedly optimistic expression seemed to have sparked a little hope in her.
The other expedition members were all looking at me, too. They were pretending to rest as if it was nothing, but they had clearly been uneasy all along.
“First, Dialugia will explain it to you.”
When I turned my head slightly toward her, I caught sight of the face of a completely innocent married woman opening her mouth with a blank expression.
“The fragment of the ancient god… seems to have entered a period of, uh, rest.”
Of course, beneath that blank face lay a vicious guilt no one else could see.