Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Back to Daily Life and Crescent Moon Head
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After passing through the underground corridor and reaching the elevator, Park the deputy manager had completely vanished, having fled somewhere.
There was no need for any special clearance to head outside, so I ignored it and pressed the rooftop button.
As the guide voice chimed and the elevator ascended, the cult leader showed zero signs of waking up.
His jaw was shattered, and he'd taken a direct hit from an attack powerful enough to demolish the underground. No wonder.
"—Rooftop."
The elevator doors opened onto the rooftop, and I dragged the cult leader by the collar straight to the helipad.
"...Huh?! C-Cult Leader!!!"
Just before grabbing his shoulder and taking to the sky, the crowd inspecting the executive director's corpse spotted me.
A dragon girl hauling off an unconscious cult leader with a pulverized jaw.
I looked exactly like an anomaly out on the prowl for prey, so they drew their guns and took aim.
"Halt!! Release the Cult Leader, or we open fire!"
They fired warning shots into the air, and I promptly shook the cult leader vigorously at them.
"Ugh! You sneaky bastard!"
They couldn't bring themselves to pull the trigger again and just spewed curses.
...As expected, they can't shoot for real.
"The cult leader isn't even human."
The cult leader, limp like a rag doll, spilled the shocking truth he'd tried to hide.
Wielding a stone staff to unleash shockwaves, emitting qi from his body like some wuxia master. No way something like that was human.
"...Don't lie!! Our Cult Leader is the most humane human there is!!"
They didn't buy it for a second, their eyes gleaming with the shine of utter fanatics.
...Talking to these people feels like a total waste of time. Rather than bicker, I hoisted the cult leader and shot into the sky.
Bang bang—!!
They finally fired after me, but their hesitant warning shots never came close.
Once I was high enough, even the bullets streaking after me vanished completely.
"...Ehehe. Convenience store burgers...."
Just imagining showing the cult leader to Grandpa and watching him freak out sent thrills down my spine.
Drooling over the massive reward of unlimited burgers, I wagged my tail happily.
And with that, I flew home, cult leader in tow.
Tap tap—. Back at Moonlight Villa, I knocked on the window with my tail to make some noise.
"...Huh? Grandpa? Didn't something just tap the window?"
"You misheard. Lua only left less than an hour ago. No way she's back already."
The curtain covered the window, so they couldn't quite tell it was me outside.
Tap tap—. I knocked again, cutting their conversation short as footsteps approached the window.
"Meow!"
The curtain and window slid open with a rattle, and I let out a cute sound while hoisting the fallen cult leader.
Hehe, got him...! In a whopping hour!
"...Y-You actually caught him?"
Grandpa's gaze shifted to the downed cult leader, his face twisting into a hilarious grimace.
He clearly hadn't expected me to pull it off, but I was the almighty dragon who always delivered.
"Muhuhu... This guy's the cult leader. He admitted it himself, so he's 100% genuine."
Like a museum docent, I shook him lightly for emphasis—
"Hold on. I'll be right down."
Grandpa hurriedly shrugged on his jacket and dashed outside.
"Not hurt, right?"
"Nope!"
As Grandpa headed out the front door, Mi-ra Owner approached to check on me.
I beamed brightly to show I was fine, but she squinted and pointed at my clothes.
"...Then what's that hole in your shirt?"
She'd spotted the bullet hole.
"Th-This is..."
How was I supposed to explain?
I bounced the bullet, but yeah, I did get shot?
No matter what, I was in for a scolding.
"I tr-tripped..."
I tried to bluff with a lame lie and play it off, but it was way too late for that.
"Does that look like a trip mark? I told you... not to get hurt...!"
"Eek...!"
"Stay put...! I'm gonna stretch those cheeks...!"
Mi-ra Owner, who knew me inside out, threw on her jacket with worried anger and headed out to chew me out in person.
"Lua. I'm down."
She sighed and stepped toward the door when Grandpa called out from outside.
I landed plumply on the ground with a plop plop, then sulkily handed the cult leader over to him.
"...Got scolded?"
"Yeees..."
"That's why I told you to be careful, kiddo."
"......Meow."
His comforting pat on the head drew a whimper from me, and Grandpa pulled out his phone to make a call.
"It's me. Cult leader secured. Heading to intel now."
He wrapped up the business call fast and noticed the cult leader's wrecked jaw.
"...What'd he do to deserve that smashed jaw?"
"He made the burger I was about to eat disappear..."
I shared the tragedy of my uneaten goat burger, and Grandpa chuckled, hand to his forehead.
At this point, he was probably cracking up at how predictably simple I was.
"...That's you to a T. So where'd you nab him?"
"Myeongdong Casino."
"Casino? Thought there was nowhere to hide there."
I explained catching him at the casino that popped up after Myeongdong Cathedral vanished, and Grandpa looked baffled.
"Dunno the details, but the bishop mumbled something about Infinite Barrier before passing out. Maybe that?"
"Infinite Barrier...? Anyway, got it. We'll interrogate him for the rest."
"Oh yeah...! They were dealing drugs too, I think."
"Drugs...? Vicious bunch. Thanks for the heads-up."
"Meow."
As Grandpa petted my head and loaded the cult leader onto the bike, Mi-ra Owner came out from the villa and stretched my cheeks reeeach.
"Meeeeng...!"
"What'd you do to turn your clothes into rags?!"
As my squishy cheeks stretched long, Grandpa grabbed her hand and shook his head.
"Don't go too hard on her, granddaughter. She went and fought for your sake."
"......Grandpa."
"Better to tell her she did good. Look at Lua's eyes."
Mi-ra Owner spotted my sparkling eyes and finally let go of my cheeks.
"Sigh... Fine, good job, Lua."
"Garung! Owner!"
"The clothes... I'll get you a new set later."
"Myau?! Really?!"
I purred throatily in her arms.
"Didn't get hurt in the fight, did you?"
"...Nope! All good!"
Mi-ra Owner checked me over for injuries from the brawl.
"For real...?"
Confirming no scratches—just a hole in my clothes—she kneaded my cheeks.
"Didn't know my squishy Lua was this tough..."
"Mheheng... Pretty tough, right!"
"...C'mere!"
"Hyat?!"
She'd been quietly fiddling with my cheeks, then suddenly grinned mischievously, scooped me up, and lightly smooched one.
"Chwap..."
"Meeeng!!?"
The vacuum suck on my cheek made my face flush red as I flailed cutely.
'Everyone run! It's the kissing ghost!!'
'Ehehe... Kiss from Owner...'
'Gonna suck out my soul too...! Bisaang!!'
The mini Luas in my brain scampered around, squealing in delight.
"...Heading to the Management Bureau now. Rest up till then."
"Gr-Grandpa! Hel—p...!"
"Tsk tsk... You two sure get along."
"Myaaang!!"
Grandpa watched her kiss barrage on me with fond eyes, then fired up his cyberpunk motorcycle.
Grandpa smiling warmly, dragon girl letting out cute moans as the beauty owner slurped her cheek.
The bizarre yet harmonious vibe didn't last.
"Hey!!! Lee Kang-cheol!!"
A booming voice echoed from the sky as someone punched through the clouds and plummeted down.
Boom—!! Landing with a massive shockwave, he straightened his suit.
A small crescent moon floated where a human face should be.
A dreamy halo shining from behind demanded your gaze.
And for some reason, the instinctive sense of kinship it stirred bred pure revulsion.
"Kyaaak!!"
"Huh? Lua?"
I bolted from Mi-ra Owner's arms, crouched low, and snarled.
That guy's no ordinary human.
...Not an anomaly, not human—just an icky, hard-to-describe stench.
"...Bureau Chief?"
Spotting the mystery crescent moon man who'd dropped in out of nowhere, Grandpa called him Bureau Chief.
...Hold up.
That's the Bureau Chief?
"Aw, c'mon Kang-cheol, call me bro, not Bureau Chief."
The Bureau Chief's build rivaled Grandpa's towering 190cm frame as he approached, his crescent moon head gleaming.
"...How could I, as Combat Division Chief, use casual speech with the Bureau Chief?"
"We're past that, aren't we? Huh? Lee Kang-cheol? Kaaang-cheeool~?"
"...We're not that close. Don't use my name."
Incomprehensible: the guy who meteor'd from the sky was the Management Bureau Chief.
After teasing Grandpa, the Bureau Chief eyed the cult leader slung over the bike and stroked the crescent moon's surface like a chin, intrigued.
"Arhat Nirvana Cult Leader? When'd you catch him?"
"...Just took him alive."
"You?"
"...Yes."
"Doubt it."
He brushed past Grandpa and offered me his hand.
"You? The one who nabbed the cult leader?"
"Shaaak!!"
Crunch! I chomped his gloved hand with zero restraint.
"Oh my!? Lua! Don't bite the Bureau Chief!!"
"Kyaaak! Grrr! Yap yap!"
Mi-ra Owner stopped my attack quick, but I flailed my stubby limbs, threatening him.
Big lug was creepy enough, and his looks... well, glowing crescent moon aside, he just rubbed me wrong.
"Sorry... Lua's picky about people..."
The Bureau Chief shrugged playfully and reached to pet my head.
I lunged to bite that hand again.
"Ugh!"
"Whoa?"
But he teased me, dangling his hand closer over and over, poking my cheeks like rice cakes.
What the? Is he messing with me?
More importantly... why can't I bite him?
"Haven't we met before?"
"Grr! Shaa!"
He teased as he asked, but duh, no clue about his face or whatever.
"No answer...? Bureau Chief might get sa~d...?"
"Beat it! You Crescent Moon Head!! Kyaaak!"
Decided. Crescent Moon Head's your nickname now.
"Hmm..."
As I growled from Mi-ra Owner's arms, Crescent Moon Head turned to Grandpa, who'd stayed silent behind him.
"Kang-cheol. Care to explain what's going on?"
"..."
"Private anomaly ownership's a heavy offense, up to serious prison time. Feeding it? Instant death penalty. You know that, right?"
Dropping the playfulness, Crescent Moon Head pressed Grandpa with a frosty tone.
His sly voice, laced with barbs, had even unflappable Grandpa breaking a sweat and bowing his head.
"Hoo~. Lee Kang-cheol, sheltering an anomaly? That's a surprise."
He sauntered to the bike, yanked the cult leader up by the collar, and peered intently.
"Hero of the full-scale war, Lee Kang-cheol. The guy who cleaved anomalies without mercy... getting old?"
Strange energy flowed from his hand, compressing the cult leader into a square cube.
He pocketed the marble-sized cult leader and closed in on sweating Grandpa.
"No answer?"
"..."
"No answer, and poof goes him?"
"......Lua's a good kid..."
The air turned so frigid I held my breath.
"Puhahaha!! Kidding! Kidding!!"
Bang bang—! He exploded in laughter, collapsing and rolling on the ground, clutching his belly and kicking his feet.
"The mighty Lee Kang-cheol... Puhahaha!!"
I stared at him like he was a lunatic.
"Charging like a maniac at any anomaly...! Puha! Kehehehe!!"
Were Mi-ra Owner and Grandpa feeling the same? They glared down coldly too.
That's... the Bureau Chief?
"Saw something hilarious, so I'll let it slide...! C'mon, let's roll! Vroom vroom!"
He sprang up from rolling, hopped on Grandpa's bike backseat, and threw his arms up like a kid.
"Bureau bound~? Pew pew!"
"...Sigh. Some dignity, please..."
"What's the big deal? Not official! Go go! Wheee!"
Vroom—! Grandpa, pinching his brow from the stress, gave us a silent nod farewell and sped off to the Management Bureau with Crescent Moon Head.
Once the rowdy storm cleared, the area finally settled back into its quiet calm.
"Owner... What even was that Crescent Moon Head...?"
"Crescent Moon Head...? Don't call him that."
"...Meow? That uncle?"
"He has a perfectly normal face."
The guy strolling with a crescent moon for a head looked totally ordinary to Mi-ra Owner.
...Grandpa hadn't said a word either, so maybe it's just me seeing it that way.
"...Hmm."
Suspicious vibes mixed with that gross feeling had me rubbing my chin with my tail.