A Dragon on My Head

The next morning.

As dawn arrived, Kim Hwang-je’s eyes snapped open. There was far too much to do for him to stay asleep.

Time remaining: 30 hours. It seemed he had slept more than ten of them.

“Hehe. At least the food situation should’ve improved, right?”

Kim Hwang-je opened World Observation and examined the royal palace and castle walls.

Kim Hwang-je rubbed his eyes and read every line. Whether he liked it or not, if he wanted to survive he had to run this royal castle properly.

Yet the more he looked at it…

It really was like having a mobile kingdom-building game stuffed inside his stomach.

What is this, Civilization? Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

No matter how he looked at it, the state of affairs was miserable. A country on the absolute brink of collapse.

“Trade is our only hope!”

He had to open trade with Korea.

He tapped the score window hoping for a more detailed report, but nothing appeared except the brief summary. Perhaps once the skill leveled up further the ministers’ reports would become more refined. Or maybe the internal affairs score simply needed to rise.

Still, it was far better than when he had first arrived. They were mixing Dungeon Food with water and distributing something resembling porridge everywhere. The fact that smoke now rose from the royal castle was an enormous improvement.

“Hmm.”

The atmosphere had completely changed from yesterday. First, the king had deployed his knights to round up the thugs and haul them off to the mines. On top of that, he had begun distributing food.

The knights and holy knights, along with the nobles, were the ones eating the precious rice. After living on coarse, unrefined wheat every day, the sight of glossy, perfectly cooked rice made their eyes shine with a completely different light.

Perhaps this was what rising loyalty looked like.

Gurgle—

Watching the scene made Kim Hwang-je’s own stomach growl.

He wondered if he had any instant rice left. As he stood to fetch a packet, he swept his gaze across the mine.

Whoa, there really is a mine here.

A single mine sat on the mountain behind the royal castle. Using it for labor was far more useful than throwing people in prison. And that mine was producing…

“Jewels?”

Refined gemstones were coming out of it. He had wondered where a dying nation was getting its jewels from; it turned out they had a mine right behind the castle. Kobolds lived inside, of course.

Besides that, the royal castle contained an astonishing number of unidentified buildings. Kim Hwang-je poked around and found an abandoned alchemy workshop, an herb room, a weapon shop, and even an astronomy observatory that had been left to crumble into ruin.

So there really is an entire kingdom inside my stomach.

The realization finally hit him. This wasn’t a small town of a few people; it was a city filled with a tremendous population. If he summoned more citizens, trained them, and spawned them, those facilities would eventually be put to use again.

Kim Hwang-je examined the window with renewed seriousness.

If this royal castle fell, their world would fall with it. Billions of people and hundreds of millions of children would burn beneath rising flames. He could never abandon them.

He opened the window and pressed firmly on the king.

The king, who had been holding court, felt the touch and looked up at the sky.

The question was short, yet its weight was immense.

A scroll soon unfurled before the king. The king and the archmage put their heads together and pondered gravely. After long discussion they reached a decision.

Although it had begun as the archmage’s gamble, the only being currently pouring all his strength into helping them was the extraterrestrial “Emperor.” If so, it was time to use the royal palace’s final resort. That was their consensus.

Together they descended into the palace basement. Before a massive stele, they inserted their respective keys. The stele split open left and right.

At the end of a long corridor, resting on a beautiful cushion, lay a single egg. The egg sparkled with rainbow colors. It was like nothing they had ever seen.

All sorts of questions swirled in their minds, yet they immediately offered the egg to Kim Hwang-je as tribute.

A bright light flashed before his eyes and the egg appeared. The status window provided its information.

Before the explanation could finish, the egg split open gently.

“Kyaa—!”

The dragon was so impatient that a cheerful ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠babble leaked out even before the shell fully opened.

“Wanna go out! Gonna go out, out, out!”

With a humming little tune the egg finally cracked wide open, revealing a tiny fairy dragon.

The small dragon poked its head out, wings fluttering as it rose into the air. It had a round head with antennae, and — unbelievably — soft fur. To Kim Hwang-je, who had always pictured dragons as reptiles, the sight was a refreshing shock.

“A dragon that feels like a mammal… in this world?”

That couldn’t be right. Mammals didn’t lay eggs. Yet it felt strangely familiar, even to a human.

“Hmm? What’s a mammal~? Is that your greeting? Hehe. Are you a mammal too?”

“Are you a mammal?” was, of course, not a greeting.

But the baby dragon seemed to like the sound of it. It flew around flapping its wings, repeating “Are you a mammal?” over and over.

“Wait, wait. Calm down a little.”

“Kyahaha—! It’s Dave and Gemini! Hello~”

While Kim Hwang-je tried to soothe it, the baby fairy dragon spotted the World Observation window and clung to it.

He had thought this window was invisible to others. Could dragons see it?

More importantly, the fact that this dragon recognized the king and archmage inside the window was what mattered.

“You know these people?”

“Yep! When I was in my egg, Mommy kept saying I mustn’t eat them! She said Daddy and that uncle were friends who fought together. But both Mommy and Daddy died… Hic…”

The baby dragon’s emotions changed like the weather. It suddenly began to sob, then burst out shouting.

“DAVE!!! GEMINI!!! I’M HERE!!”

“Whoa!”

Startled by the booming voice, Kim Hwang-je quickly covered the baby dragon’s mouth.

“Shh— speak quietly. They can’t hear anything from over there.”

“But they can. Look. Gemini’s waving at me.”

“…Huh?”

When Kim Hwang-je looked at the window, the blue-haired mage called Gemini was indeed waving and shouting something.

The baby dragon flapped its wings and shouted back energetically, “Okay!”

“Mister is the Emperor. Gemini says go there, take good care of Emperor Uncle, and live together. She says Dave is secretly crying in a corner.”

“You can hear their voices?”

“Yep. Can’t you, Mister? I can hear them! Hehe.”

So this was why they had sent the dragon.

Since verbal communication was impossible, this method wasn’t bad at all.

“Good, I’m glad you can hear them. Then can you relay what I say?”

“Yep. I can talk to Gemini. Not to Dave. He’s bad at magic.”

“I see… Tell them I will supply food, weapons, and medicine from now on. Of course, it won’t be free. It’s a trade. So make thorough preparations until the next wave arrives.”

Oh, right. There was also the quest in the status window.

“And we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠need to rebuild some buildings. Ask them which one is most urgently needed right now.”

“Okay~”

The dragon spoke toward the World Observation window. The sound was strange—half speech, half noise, like ultrasonic waves that were both audible and inaudible at the same time.

Of course it was. Even though it was still a baby, it was using Dragon Speech. That language could cross complex dimensions and convey meaning.

“Gemini says thank you. She asks me to tell you she looks forward to working with you. And the most necessary thing is the blacksmith. The smel… smelting… what was it again…”

The baby dragon rubbed its eyes and shouted. Sleepiness was thick in its voice.

“That’s it! She says you need a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smelting furnace. They need it to craft armor using magic. A bad guy came last time and smashed the old one.”

A smelting furnace? Couldn’t he just send iron plates?

But after thinking about it, the magical items and technology of that world seemed literally on another level compared to Earth. Even ordinary gold received special treatment there, and both magic and technology were far more advanced.

“Hmm. A smelting furnace.”

“Yep. In return, they say they’ll send tribute often. They’re asking whether you prefer gold or gems… Hng, I’m sleepy. If I do this, will you give me gold?”

“Do you need gold too?”

Why would a dragon need gold?

“Yep. When I’m hungry I eat gold. I eat gems too. Gold is soft and fluffy and tasty. Gems are crunchy and delicious.”

“…And your mom said that was okay?”

“Yep. She said it’s better than eating people!”

When he thought about it, the logic was sound. He couldn’t refute it.

Kim Hwang-je took out one of the gold coins he had received as tribute that morning and fed it to the baby dragon.

The baby dragon perched on his shoulder and nibbled away at the coin.

“Ask for both gold and gems as tribute. And tell them I’ll send the smelting furnace soon.”

He still didn’t know which was more valuable, but he demanded both. He might be acting like a thug for an emperor, but what could he do? This was probably more beneficial for them as well.

“Okay~”

The moment the dragon spoke, Gemini immediately sent a tribute.

It was a small leather pouch about the size of two fingers. Inside were various gems—black opal, diamond, ruby, sapphire, pearl, and more. Light poured from the tiny opening.

Once the trade was complete, the baby dragon quietly settled on top of his head.

“Hehe, I’m a little sleepy. I’ll sleep on your head, Emperor Uncle.”

“Sure. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠By the way, what’s your name?”

“Hmm… I liked ‘mammal’ earlier. Can you call me Mammal, Mister?”

No, that wouldn’t do on this side. And “Mammal” by itself sounded too much like a biology term…

“Let’s call you Poyu.”

“Kihi? I have a name now. Mommy will like it. Mommy, I’m going to sleep on this person’s head for a bit…”

“W-wait. I’ll have to go out soon. Can you make yourself invisible to others?”

“Hmmm. I’m usually hard to see anyway… Probably only Mister can see me…”

The baby dragon on his head closed its eyes and began to snore softly.

Whether because it was a baby or because it was a dragon, it seemed it needed both short bursts of activity and plenty of sleep. Yet true to its fairy nature, it weighed almost nothing.

Kim Hwang-je rose from his seat.

He had to dispose of the Scarab Champion’s corpse and the gems, then go buy the supplies the kingdom needed.

But where on earth was he supposed to find a smelting furnace?

Should he buy a smelting furnace company?

Kim Hwang-je believed that with enough money he could buy a furnace anywhere. He left the house immediately and headed for the Lost merchant guild.