Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: The Road to Sampo (3)
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***
The city's night was silent.
The dragons' dance that had painted the sky, the acrid smoke rising thickly, and the groans of the dead—all were gone.
The collapsed buildings and the corpses abandoned throughout the streets bore witness to the day's tragedy, but the night's darkness hid everything equally, without distinguishing between the living and the dead.
At the moment when a homeless child dreamed and the sleepless moonlight peeked into the city,
Someone's footsteps shattered the silence.
It was too faint a sound to wake the sleeping city, but enough to draw a dragon's gaze.
The moment the red dragon perched atop the ruins turned its head, a figure emerged from between the debris at dawn.
She wore light clothing, without even her black attire or her gun.
[You're late, Cheon Yeomyeong.]
“My apologies. I had some business to attend to.”
[No need for apologies. I can understand that much.]
“…Understand? What do you mean?”
[A male surrounded by many females is always short on time. The dwarf kings I knew were all the same.]
An answer beyond expectations. Yeomyeong swallowed his embarrassment rising to the back of his throat and quickly changed the subject.
“Nothing out of the ordinary while you waited?”
[There were fools after the bones. Quite a few of them.]
Orse Tabul said that as he turned his gaze downward to his feet.
There lay the fallen Kahal Magdu's bones.
The massive dragon skeleton retained the exact pose from the moment it had given its heart to Yeomyeong, but scattered traces of dug-up earth dotted the surroundings.
Crazy bastards after a quick fortune amid all that chaos?
Well, weren't there always a few lunatics willing to risk their lives for treasure? Especially if it was dragon bones.
Yeomyeong shook his head and approached Kahal Magdu's bones.
Just as he reached right in front of the dragon's skull, Orse Tabul spoke.
[Before sunset, I saw a massive missile flying from the city's outskirts. Cheon Yeomyeong, was that launched by you?]
He'd seen the nuclear missile launch? Well, if Pinel had spotted it, of course a dragon would too.
Yeomyeong replied in a calm voice.
“Not me. Some crazy red launched it.”
[…A red, you say.]
The dragon's eyes narrowed. It had a long history of bad blood with communists.
[In that case… did the Saintess's efforts fail?]
Orse Tabul asked cautiously. Not because people hadn't been saved, but because he seemed displeased at getting one-upped by a red.
“No, we stopped the missile. We missed the red, but… we saved countless people, so I wouldn't call it a failure.”
Yeomyeong offered no further explanation, and the dragon asked for none.
Instead, it lowered its neck long and low, matching eye level with Yeomyeong. In the giant reptile's pupils reflected Yeomyeong touching the dragon skull.
[How ironic.]
“…?”
[I, who sought to kill countless humans, now aiding in saving countless humans.]
Was that how it was? Yeomyeong felt a strange sensation.
He never could have imagined their connection, started in Manchuria, would lead here.
Evidently the dragon felt the same, as it blinked its massive eyes and scanned Yeomyeong.
The piercing gaze seemed to pierce straight through his heart, and in the next moment, the dragon spoke as if it truly had read his mind.
[Yet from you of all people, I sense no pride or joy in saving your own kind.]
“…”
[Though I am no human, I've seen countless dwarfs stake their lives for a greater cause. None were as impassive as you.]
The dragon was right on the mark. Yeomyeong felt no particular joy in having saved the capital's people.
To be precise, he placed no great significance on it.
It wasn't something to boast about, blocking a nuke—what reason was there to feel proud?
If anything, saving Seti and defeating Kahal Magdu had been a hundred times more satisfying and joyful…
As Yeomyeong thought that, the dragon huffed out a breath laced with fire.
An action akin to a human clearing their throat.
[To think the man with the Saintess is so far from being a hero. Truly fortunate.]
Was it fortunate not to be a hero? As Yeomyeong tilted his head in confusion, the dragon added,
[Heroes always seek to die for others. Sacrifice is noble, but the pain of those left behind is immeasurable.]
“…”
[I hope you live long. Very long.]
Unlike my dear friend—Yeomyeong felt as though he'd heard the unspoken words.
Unable to find words before the dragon's sorrow, Yeomyeong observed a moment of silence.
In that time, a silent night breeze passed between them, and only after it fully faded did Yeomyeong speak.
“Orse, I have a request.”
[Speak. My ears are open to you.]
“I plan to leave this city tomorrow with my companions. Kahal Magdu destroyed the railroads here, so… could you fly us to the nearest city?”
With that, Yeomyeong waited for the dragon's permission. But instead of approval, an awkward silence filled the space between them.
Had the request been too rude? Just as Yeomyeong began to feel a twinge of panic, the dragon asked in a similarly flustered tone.
[Is that… truly the entirety of your request?]
“…Yes, that's all.”
[I misunderstood you. I thought you'd make an excessive request like the Saintess.]
…What on earth had the Saintess asked for?
Before Yeomyeong could bring himself to ask, the dragon straightened its neck and back, rising up.
[Cheon Yeomyeong, for a request like that, I'd grant it hundreds of times over.]
“…Thank you.”
[It's nothing worthy of thanks. But… I must ask this. What do you plan to do with Kahal Magdu's bones?]
The dragon asked while gazing at the enormous skeleton before it.
Bones in such a colossal quantity, even another dragon couldn't easily move them.
“Ah, no need to worry about that.”
With his casual reply, he reached out his hand.
No need to worry? Orse Tabul tilted its head, and at the moment his inventory confirmed ownership of the bones.
Yeomyeong clenched his fist.
***
Returning to the palace lord's castle, Yeomyeong headed straight for his room.
It was the new room he'd been given after being chased out(? ) of the women's room—a far more luxurious space than the first one he'd been shown, with an opulent bed, sofa, and carpeted floors.
According to the servant who guided him, it was the former emperor's guest quarters or something like that.
Recalling the explanation that the South Palace Lord would never yield this room to anyone, Yeomyeong flinched and gripped the door handle tightly as he opened it.
He sensed familiar presences inside. Not one, but two.
“Not coming in?”
Already caught? As Yeomyeong debated fleeing, he let out a sigh and entered.
“Not like you went to the bathroom—what took you so damn long?”
The Saintess's question, as she sprawled on the bed, squishing the soft pillow.
“Probably recovering the dragon bones. Or maybe meeting Orse Tabul.”
Seti's reply, as she sat crookedly on the ornate embroidered luxury sofa.
Yeomyeong went neither to the bed nor the sofa, instead crossing his arms.
“No matter where you've been or what doing, why the hell are you two here?”
“Corvus was snoring way too loud.”
The Saintess offered that utterly unconvincing excuse as her answer.
Why would a raven snore through its beak?
Bullshit invites violence. Yeomyeong crafted an ice shard and hurled it at her forehead in response. While the startled Saintess blocked it with a pillow, Seti smiled faintly and said,
“Came to talk about what to do next, where to go.”
“…We can do that in the morning. Go back.”
“Hmm?”
“Please, both of you, get out of this room right now. If we're caught like this, Corvus will peck a hole in my head with his beak.”
As Yeomyeong spoke with a sullen expression, Seti rested her chin on her hand against the sofa.
A posture daring him to try kicking her out.
The Saintess went even further.
“What if we came for a secret talk only the three of us can have?”
Subtle tone, tilted face, mischievous smile.
Yeomyeong rubbed his temples.
“If that 'secret talk' is about the prophecy, I'm seriously going to get mad.”
That hit the mark; the Saintess flinched in surprise and averted her eyes from Yeomyeong.
Suppressing the urge to spank her on the spot, Yeomyeong sat on the sofa opposite Seti.
“Seti, enough joking. Take the Saintess and go back now…”
“I'm not here to joke.”
“…”
With that, Seti pulled a rolled-up map from under the sofa and spread it across the table.
A precise drawing on fine paper.
A military map, hard for civilians to obtain. Probably the palace lord's.
“We're really here to talk about what to do next. The Saintess… just tagged along.”
Seti peeled her back from the sofa and slid the map toward Yeomyeong.
Seeing it, Yeomyeong debated simply forcing them out by strength.
But the debate didn't last. Seti had nearly died today.
She was too special to chase away so heartlessly.
In the end, Yeomyeong raised the white flag first.
“Fine, let's plan the future first. But…”
“But?”
“Once we decide the destination, you go back immediately.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
As Yeomyeong looked down at the map, the Saintess got up from the bed and glanced back and forth between them.
She pondered something in that pose for a moment, then slyly plopped her butt onto the armrest of Yeomyeong's sofa.
“…What are you doing?”
The intent was, *Why ignore the perfectly good sofa and sit here?*—but the Saintess spouted nonsense.
“Worried you'd get jealous if I kept sticking only to Seti. Practicing the golden mean.”
“…Ah, I see.”
Yeomyeong let the Saintess lean against his shoulder undisturbed as he meticulously scanned the map.
How much time passed like that?
Seti's smile deepened, and moonlight from the window pushed back the candlelight that much.
He pointed with his finger, poking the very bottom of the map.
“As you know, our original plan was to take a train from here in Dreytelial to the nearest dimensional gate city.”
As Seti and the Saintess's gazes converged, Yeomyeong moved his finger along the winding railroads drawn on the map.
Past the Fertilizer Road, the Tribute Road, and even crossing the Regaer River without stopping, straight up toward the continent's midpoint for a while.
Yeomyeong's finger stopped atop the city named 'Gemini Autonomous Region.'
“By rail, the fastest we can reach is the Gemini Autonomous Region with the California Dimensional Gate. Flying with the dragon's help, we could make it in at least ten days, but…”
Trailing off, Yeomyeong slid his finger westward and poked a large city.
“If we're flying anyway, this one's a bit closer.”
This time, his finger pointed to a city connected to the Kaesong Dimensional Gate.
A place better known by its fake name 'Syngman City' than its official title 'Harrison Special Peace Autonomous District.'
“Let's tweak the plan and head to Syngman City. Crossing the Kaesong Dimensional Gate there should save way more time than going to the Gemini Autonomous Region… What do you think? Sounds good?”
Seti didn't answer right away, instead pursing her lips as if pondering. The Saintess clutched his arm tightly and said,
“Um, Yeomyeong? How about… somewhere other than Gemini Autonomous Region or Syngman City?”
“Somewhere else?”
“G-Go all the way to Apollo City and… cross the Chicago Dimensional Gate?”
As she said that, the Saintess pointed far above the Syngman City Yeomyeong had indicated.
“It'd take over half a month on dragonback, but once we arrive, we can get help from Darulma.”
Over half a month on dragonback? An oddly precise figure. Yeomyeong suddenly recalled something and looked at the Saintess leaning on his shoulder.
“You don't mean… you crossed via the Chicago Dimensional Gate?”
Not the nearby Kaesong or California gates, but Chicago?
That could only mean one thing. With a hunch, Yeomyeong asked,
“…You didn't cross without permission, did you?”
He and Seti had crossed by accident, so to cross back, they needed to prove it and undergo new entry inspections.
He'd thought having the Saintess as a witness would make it easy, but…
Turned out the Saintess herself had crossed illegally?
“Uh… well…”
The Saintess stammered, caught dead to rights. Action more telling than a hundred words.
Well, he had no intention of getting angry or scolding her.
Crossing a dimensional gate without permission must have been a huge adventure for the Saintess too, yet she'd willingly taken the political risk to come help him and Seti.
“…It's fine. That happens. Thanks to you, we saved people and recovered the nuke, right?”
Yeomyeong comforted the cowed Saintess.
She seemed to want something more, but he deliberately played dumb. What was she planning in front of Seti?
Anyway, sensing the need for a full plan revision, Yeomyeong spread the map again. And just as he racked his brain for solutions.
Seti, who had stayed silent until then, whispered softly toward him.
“Yeomyeong, since things have come to this… how about we make one more fake identity while we're at it?”
***
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