Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Even at Dawn, the Cult Comes Knocking (7)
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The dim light of dawn settled in.
I returned to Moonlight Villa, opened the window, and slipped into the house.
"Ugh... I'm hungry..."
Thanks to moving my body around, my stomach was growling, so I rummaged through the fridge and pulled out the convenience store burger I'd stashed away.
"Lua, you're back...?"
"Yaaawn... Owner...?"
The moment I tore open the bag and took a bite of the burger, the Owner shuffled out of the bedroom, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Did you wrap things up okay and... huh?"
The Owner flicked on the living room light and suddenly gasped.
"Lua... what on earth did you get all over your body?"
"Munch...?"
Is there something on my face?
I paused mid-bite and wiped my face with my cute little hand, and sticky oil grime came off.
"?"
Wondering if it was just my face, I checked my whole body and realized oil stains were smeared everywhere.
Even the living room floor was covered in smudges tracing my path.
...Must've picked it up crawling through the ventilation ducts at the Subuti branch.
"You're eating a burger like that right now? Get over here!"
"Peep!"
The Owner laid into the dragon who'd come home, plastered the place with her mess, and gone straight for the burger. Then she dragged me straight to the bathroom.
The dragon getting washed...
After the shower, all fluffy and fresh, I was wiping up the traces on the floor with a rag.
"So, did you take care of that Arhat Nirvana Cult thing?"
"...Yes!"
As I cleaned the floor stains, I explained to the Owner everything that had happened at the Arhat Nirvana Cult's Subuti branch.
Infiltrating the building through the ventilation ducts, using the branch leader as a weapon, one-shotting the flesh lump anomaly, and uncovering their main base.
...No need to mention accidentally smashing the building, right?
"...You didn't get hurt fighting?"
"Hehe...! Lua is invincible!"
To show off my innocence, I planted my hands on my hips and stood tall. The Owner patted my head like a good girl.
"You really worked hard at the crack of dawn, Lua. Floor's all clean now—ready to hit the hay?"
"Can I just finish my burger first...?"
"No. You'll get fat."
"Peep..."
Unfortunately, it was dawn—time to sleep.
I could only watch helplessly as the burger slunk back into the fridge.
Ding dong, ding dong—.
"...Ugh."
An early morning thick with the fresh scent of rain.
Ding dong, ding dong—.
I groggily dragged myself out of bed at the sound of the doorbell echoing through the house.
"...What is it."
No way, the Arhat Nirvana Cult again?
I thought I'd completely wrecked the Yongsan District branch—they shouldn't be able to show up...
"Grrr..."
Narrowing my pupils to slits, I approached the living room intercom and checked who was ringing.
"Grandpa...?"
The one pressing the doorbell in broad daylight was none other than Grandpa.
Why was he coming to the house at this hour?
Rubbing my tired eyes, I waddled to the front door and opened it.
"Good morning, kiddo."
Grandpa, who'd shown up at the house early in the morning, greeted me. Still half-asleep, I sleepily wagged my tail in reply.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
Apparently finding my state adorable, Grandpa naturally reached out to pet my head.
"Nom...!"
"?"
I snapped my head forward and chomped his outstretched hand.
Not hard enough to really hurt, but Grandpa made a weird face before suddenly bellowing.
"You little punk!"
"Bleeeh...!"
Revenge for ruining my deep morning sleep...!
I dodged the incoming filial piety head-pat attack, stuck out my tongue cheekily, then scampered to the bedroom to wake the Owner.
"Owner, wake up... Grandpa's here...!"
"Hmm... Grandpa?"
I stroked the Owner's back with my tail to rouse her—beautiful even in sleep—and she blinked awake, stretching fuzzily.
"...Yaaaawn."
Shaking off the sleep in a flash, the Owner got up and went to greet Grandpa, who was seated in the living room.
"Good morning, Grandpa."
"...Yeah. Good morning, granddaughter."
"...What brings you here?"
"Came to explain what happened last night."
"...The Ara-something thing?"
"That's right."
Grandpa shrugged and cut straight to the chase.
"No beating around the bush—here's what the intel team got from interrogating the branch leader last night. Take a look."
Swish—. Grandpa pulled a notepad from his pocket and showed it to us. Inside were the details from last night's interrogation.
Skimming the info we already knew, the part about the ritual needing a living sacrifice caught my eye.
...It reminded me of the info I'd seen on that driver's phone after snatching it before.
The Leader was targeting the Owner.
As a living sacrifice for the ritual, no less.
These damn bastards...!
"Grrr...?"
Just as my instincts kicked in and I narrowed my pupils to growl, the Owner shrewdly placed a hand on my head and spoke up.
"Grandpa, this is about me, right?"
"Sharp as ever. Came to tell you to lay low until we wipe out the Arhat Nirvana Cult."
"Hiding's no big deal... but how long?"
"Two weeks tops."
"...Guess I can't run the shop that long."
The Owner propped her chin on her hand, lost in worry at the prospect of two weeks in hiding.
No running the shop for a whole fourteen days...
That was absolutely unacceptable.
"Grandpa, why not raid their base right now? Why wait two weeks?"
My own resolve crumbling, I demanded why we weren't storming their Myeongdong base immediately.
"Interrogation says the Leader's holed up in a secret hideout even the cadres don't know about. Probably staying hidden until the ritual."
"...So even if we charge Myeongdong now, finding the Leader would be tough?"
"Yeah. Unfortunately."
Grandpa confirmed we couldn't nab the Leader just by barging into Myeongdong.
I drooped my tail in gloom at the idea of waiting around until the Leader showed.
"Lua, I'll make you burgers while we're in hiding, so don't worry too much."
"Owner...!"
Her comforting words about burgers made my tail start wagging again.
"Sorry to kill the mood, but while my granddaughter's in hiding, Lua, you can't stay with her."
"Shaa?! Why not!?"
My tail drooped straight down again at the news I couldn't be with the Owner during hiding.
"It's a Management Bureau safehouse—gotta follow protocol."
So... two weeks without seeing the Owner?
Thanks to these bastard Arhat Nirvana Cult creeps, the Owner couldn't run her shop, and I couldn't enjoy our cozy daily life.
My heart was shattering.
As fury boiled over at how utterly unacceptable this was, a brilliant idea flashed in my mind.
"...Grandpa. ...We're waiting two weeks just because of that one Leader, right?"
"Huh? Yeah?"
"...Then if I catch the Leader, no need to wait, right?"
If I could snag the hidden Leader, we'd have no reason to twiddle our thumbs for two weeks, would we?
"Lua, you don't mean...? No...! What if you get hurt!"
The Owner caught my drift immediately and tried to stop me in alarm.
"You know the Arhat Nirvana Cult's in bed with the Anomaly Association. The ones you'd face might not even be human."
Grandpa tried persuading me against reckless moves, but I couldn't care less.
Anomaly or human.
It made no difference—the effort to deal with them was about the same for me.
"Doesn't matter. I'll definitely catch the Leader before tonight."
I conveyed my resolve, my scarlet pupils gleaming.
Arhat Nirvana Cult scum... I'll make you learn the hard way what happens when you mess with a dragon's precious daily life.
"The Leader's hiding in a spot even we at the Management Bureau don't know! Don't be stupid—wait the two weeks quietly!"
Grandpa barked at me for my reckless plan.
"...Grandpa. Remember those claw marks from last night when I wrecked the building?"
Instead of arguing directly, I brought up last night out of the blue.
"......What're you on about all of a sudden."
"How strong did that attack seem?"
"...Full power... wasn't it?"
Grandpa thought the strike that collapsed the Subuti branch was my maximum output.
But normally, I held back to less than a tenth of my strength, worried about causing trouble.
"That wasn't my full power."
...In other words, the claw strike that demolished the building wasn't controlled, but still not full strength.
"W-wait. You serious...?"
"Yes, totally serious."
"........."
My eyes shone with pure, unblemished honesty. Grandpa was so shocked he lost his words.
"...I can snag a Leader-level scrub easy. I'm a klutz dragon, sure... but can you trust me just this once?"
If we waited for the Leader to show until caught, I'd endure two whole weeks of utter loneliness.
Days without that warmth? Unimaginable.
"I love Owner so much, love burgers, love the lively Grandpa... Can't go two weeks without this daily life—it's too unfair!"
Dropping my usual playfulness for a serious plea, Grandpa and the Owner fell silent, saying nothing more.
"Yeah... Lua's always protected me like this."
As a heavy silence hung, the Owner approached and gently draped her arms over my shoulders.
"I'll trust our Lua. But if you don't catch the Leader by end of day, you wait the two weeks nicely. Got it?"
The trusting Mi-ra Owner spoke up to convince Grandpa in my stead.
"Grandpa, remember who saved your life from that hanger anomaly last time?"
"......That was Lua."
"Lua handled an anomaly that was too much even for you, easy as pie."
"...Still no means no."
Grandpa sighed slowly, a flash of me toying with the hanger anomaly crossing his mind.
But he still voiced refusal, unable to shake his worry.
"Please trust Lua, Grandpa."
"...Please trust her. Okay?"
Sensing persuasion nearly complete, the granddaughter and dragon girl both shone our sparkling puppy eyes in unison.
"...Ugh."
Grandpa tried ignoring our stares, but they bored right through.
"No... no... ughhh."
He scrunched his face comically to steel himself.
"Meow!"
"Fine!! I give!! You win!"
My cute aegyo purr, aimed at the Owner, delivered the finishing blow—Grandpa couldn't hold out and surrendered.
"But on one condition! Before lunch today! Drag the Leader to the Management Bureau before lunch is over! Miss it, and you wait two weeks obediently!"
He slapped down an absurd condition: deliver before lunch.
...Five hours left till lunch.
Impossible for a normal human, but for a dragon like me? Child's play.
"...Yes!"
I nodded without hesitation, accepting Grandpa's terms.
"...Um, if I catch the Leader before lunch..."
Fishing cautiously for a success bonus.
"Bring him in before then, and unlimited convenience store burgers anytime you want!"
"Meow?! For real?"
"Yeah! I promise!"
Grandpa cheerfully promised me an all-you-can-eat convenience store burger pass.
Now I had zero room to fail.
...Not that failure was ever an option.
"...I'll be right back!"
No time to waste—I flung open the window and spread my wings.
"Yeah. Be careful."
"...Ahem. Don't get hurt."
Hearing Mi-ra Owner and Grandpa's send-off, I soared high into the sky toward Myeongdong.