Chapter 200

Coming In (3)

Any normal parent would naturally worry if something happened to their child.

It was an instinct inherent to all living creatures, whether human or animal.

But what if someone else had caused it?

What if that incident had separated them from their child?

The rage of a parent who had lost their child would be beyond imagination.

So what would a parent think after finding their missing child in a strange place, surrounded by bizarre creatures?

"Grrrrrr...."

"...."

I didn’t know what it was thinking, but I knew that I was completely screwed.

Staring at the ruby-red eye that filled more than half the cave entrance, I was left speechless.

For a moment, I wondered if there was something wrong with the world and rubbed my eyes several times, but nothing changed.

That eye looked ready to tear me apart at any moment.

It was terrifying enough to make me wet myself.

My body won’t move....

They said most animals froze when confronted with unimaginable fear.

Humans could overcome it through their superior capacity for reason, but only a small minority were capable of that.

Anyone confronted by an eye that filled an entire cave would feel primal terror.

It was cosmic horror in its purest form—absolute fear against which resistance was impossible.

Swish— Swish—

After staring directly at me for some time, the eye began carefully inspecting the cave’s interior.

Every time it moved, my body flinched involuntarily.

Eventually, the dragon’s gaze fixed on something.

I immediately realized what it was looking at.

F-Fast Sloth? When did he get here?

I hadn’t even noticed when Fast Sloth had woken up. He stood fearlessly before the dragon.

The dragon narrowed its eye as though wondering, What is this thing?

Scratch, scratch.

Fast Sloth leisurely scratched his back without a care in the world.

Wasn’t he afraid, even after seeing that?

The dragon engaged in a staring contest with Fast Sloth for quite some time before looking elsewhere.

Its gaze finally stopped precisely where the hatchling lay, and its vertical pupil narrowed even further.

It’s not going to hurt us, is it? I treated its baby and took good care of it.

The hatchling was fast asleep on Wonmo’s back, completely unaware that its parent had arrived.

Still, once the dragon confirmed that its baby was unharmed, its vertically slit pupil softened slightly.

"Huaaah!"

At the same time, the pressure restraining my body disappeared. Once freed from it, I let out a long breath.

That pressure was on an entirely different level from what I had felt from the saber-toothed tiger.

I felt as though I had forgotten how to breathe.

"Grrrk."

The dragon jerked its head slightly.

It seemed to be telling me to wake up the hatchling, who was sleeping without a care in the world.

I understood its intention immediately and obeyed.

"Hey! Hey, wake up! Your mom’s here!"

"Piiii...?!"

"Kyu...?"

"...?"

As I hurriedly woke the hatchling, Wonmo and Ludwig also gradually stirred awake.

They all looked half-asleep, but perhaps they sensed the strange atmosphere, because they turned toward the entrance.

"Kyuaaaaak!"

Wonmo was so startled that every strand of fur on his body stood on end.

"...."

Ludwig froze solid, just as I had.

Those were the normal reactions.

Then what about the hatchling?

"Pii? Piiiiii!"

Perhaps it recognized its mother at a glance, because it ran toward her with a delighted expression.

Judging by how excitedly it flapped its wings, it was truly happy to see her.

Swish—

When the hatchling went outside, the dragon’s eye disappeared as well.

With the ruby-red eye no longer blocking the entire entrance, I felt as though I could finally breathe again.

"Kyuuuuu...."

Even after the eye disappeared, Wonmo remained clinging to my leg and trembling uncontrollably.

There were even tears forming in his eyes. He must have been terrified.

Even I felt like crying, so how much worse must it have been for a baby like Wonmo?

I picked him up and patted his back to calm him.

Wonmo must have grown quite dependent on me, because he wrapped his tiny forelegs around me.

"...Kyu...."

"Let’s go outside for now."

I gestured toward the entrance with my head as I spoke to Ludwig.

Ludwig looked at me as though asking whether that was really safe.

But staying here wouldn’t change anything.

If the dragon intended to attack, we would die before we could do a thing.

There’s no reason to provoke it, so I should leave my weapons here.

A single breath attack could annihilate this entire area.

No amount of struggling on my part would make much difference.

I wanted to place what little hope I had in Fast Sloth, but avoiding a fight altogether would be best.

Tensing every muscle in my body, I stepped outside the cave. At some point, Fast Sloth had climbed onto my back.

"Pipi! Piiii!"

"Grrrr."

Oh my God.

The moment I stepped outside, I was stunned by the dragon looming before me.

I had known it was large from the moment its eye filled half the cave entrance, but this was beyond enormous.

It was tall enough that I had to crane my neck to see its head, while a single one of its feet covered the entire yard of the shelter.

Even the word gigantic felt inadequate.

Fighting it wouldn’t even be possible.

Fortunately, it had avoided stepping on the structures. Otherwise, the homes I had worked so hard to build for the animals would have been crushed.

I doubted I would ever become accustomed to seeing a gray mass the size of an apartment building right in front of me.

"Uoooooh...."

"Gwoooong...."

As I stood staring blankly at the dragon, familiar cries reached my ears.

I turned my head and saw Kkobong and Largo clinging to each other, trembling like leaves.

I didn’t know why they were outside when they should have been in their homes, but there was a high chance the dragon was responsible.

The overwhelming size of the creature inspired primal terror. No matter how brave an animal might be, there was nothing it could do about that.

...Let me take a photo first.

I raised my head and took a photograph of the dragon.

Thanks to Kkobong and Largo trembling nearby, it was easy to compare their sizes.

Of course, the dragon was so unrealistically enormous that the photograph almost seemed to have distorted the perspective.

In any case, its size could wait. First, I needed to see how the dragon would react.

"Pipi! Piiii!"

When the hatchling cried out as though telling it something, the dragon turned its head and looked at me.

The way it narrowed its eyes seemed to ask, Is that true?

I continued patting Wonmo’s back and met the dragon’s gaze without looking away.

At the very least, I would never harm a baby.

I was a man who loved peace.

They said dragons were as intelligent as humans, so that gesture should be enough to convey my intentions.

Snort—

Fortunately, my gesture seemed to work. The dragon merely snorted without causing us any harm.

Strictly speaking, its mere presence was harmful to us, but there was no need to point that out.

For now, I simply hoped it would take the hatchling and leave.

"Piiii~ Pipi~"

But why was the hatchling approaching me?

It came hopping toward me while flapping its tiny wings.

Naturally, the dragon’s gaze followed it.

Flap! Flap!

Before long, the hatchling flapped its wings and landed on top of my head.

That alone was enough to freeze my entire body, but the pain that followed forced me to thrash around.

"Aaaaargh! My—my head! It’s tearing my scalp off!"

"Piiik?!"

Perhaps because it was still a baby, its claws dug straight into my head.

Even as a baby, a dragon was still a dragon. It was essentially like having steel spikes embedded in its feet.

"Ugh...."

"...."

Wondering if I was bleeding, I felt around my head before looking up.

The hatchling seemed to realize it had done something wrong and was nervously watching my reaction.

Even its expression resembled that of a guilty puppy.

You know how dogs glance sideways when they know they’ve misbehaved? It looked exactly like that.

Surely its mother won’t get angry over this, right?

While the hatchling watched my reaction, I watched the dragon’s.

Fortunately, the dragon seemed to understand that the hatchling was at fault and showed no particular reaction.

More importantly, when were they going to leave? If they kept hanging around here, it would become a serious problem.

"Um... aren’t you leaving?"

"...Grrrk."

In response to my question, the dragon signaled to the hatchling.

It was telling the hatchling that it was time to go home.

The hatchling looked slightly conflicted, alternating its gaze between me and the dragon.

Staying here would only make its parent worry and cause trouble for me.

It would be much better if they both left.

"Piiii~"

Fortunately, the hatchling chose the dragon. It was still a baby, so naturally it preferred its mother’s embrace.

Feeling strangely bittersweet, I merely patted Wonmo’s back as he clung to me.

Wonmo also seemed to be calming down, as he could now manage to sneak glances at the dragon.

"Kyu. Kyu."

"...Wonmo?"

Why are you reaching for the hatchling? You shouldn’t do that.

Ignoring my bewilderment, Wonmo reached toward the hatchling as though asking it to stay a little longer.

The hatchling abruptly stopped.

It even stared intently at Wonmo.

This was so unexpected that even the dragon’s eye widened slightly.

"...Piiii!"

"Kyu?"

"Piii! Pii!"

"Kyuuu."

The two exchanged cries.

I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but it felt like they were promising to see each other again.

I’ll go home for now. Then I’ll decide whether to come back.

Don’t.

Please leave and never come back.

The baby was cute, but its parent was far too terrifying.

The one silver lining was that the mother wasn’t an unreasonable parent.

If she had been, I probably wouldn’t still be alive.

Flap! Flap!

Before long, the hatchling climbed onto the dragon’s head.

Once the hatchling had settled down, the dragon began flapping wings even larger than its own massive body.

The resulting force was beyond imagination.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

"Uoooooooh!"

A ferocious gust swept through the shelter. I was nearly blown away.

If even I had almost gone flying, what chance did the nearby tools have?

Every last one of them was sent flying.

"...Grr."

The dragon appeared awkward, as though it hadn’t anticipated this outcome either.

Right. So you do have at least a shred of conscience left.

What a relief.

The dragon soon disappeared into the distance at tremendous speed.

It felt as though a typhoon had just swept through the area.

"Oh God, my shelter...."

In fact, that was essentially what had happened.

A single flap of the dragon’s wings had turned the shelter I had worked so hard to arrange into a complete mess.

Fortunately, the brick houses and the farm were unharmed.

However, the cooking utensils and various tools had either been blown away or vanished entirely.

"#%"$#"

Hearing my dejected muttering, Ludwig patted me on the shoulder.

At least we had survived. Getting away with only this much damage was a blessing.

I agreed, but I had never dreamed that things would end like this.

"...Let’s just eat."

It was the perfect example of trouble striking out of nowhere.

After barely managing to calm the panicked Kkobong and Largo, I began preparing breakfast.

More than half the fish I had painstakingly gathered had disappeared in the gust from the dragon’s wings.

Fortunately, I had stored plenty, so it wasn’t a serious problem.

Title: The hatchling’s mom came

Wild Grylls

(A photo of the dragon’s eye filling the cave entrance)

(A photo of the enormous dragon)

(A photo of the dragon looking at the hatchling)

Fuck. I nearly pissed myself;;

You’re telling me this Kadir guy fought a monster like that and won? Is he insane?

└ Heavenly Demon: It truly resembles an enormous lizard. A winged lizard, then.

└ SwordMaster: Try saying that in front of a dragon. Something interesting might happen.

└ Heavenly Demon: Why is that?

└ SwordMaster: From what I’ve heard, dragons really hate being called lizards.

└ Dragons understand the concept of racial discrimination too?

└ Why would they? They aren’t even part of humanity in the first place.

└ Don’t dragons polymorph into humans?

└ That’s all nonsense. Maybe they did in the myths, but real dragons are just monsters.

└ Dragons existed during the Mythological Age too?

└ Yeah. Dragons were literally the race that fought against the gods;

└ Why did they fight?

└ Fuck, do I have to know everything?

└ Starlight Princess: You weren’t injured, were you?

└ Wild Grylls: No. Fortunately, it simply left. I suppose it knew how to repay a favor.

└ Starlight Princess: That’s a relief. I wouldn’t have been so startled by anything else, but it was a dragon....

└ I pissed myself just looking at the first picture.

└ Be honest, Grylls. You leaked a little, didn’t you?

└ Wild Grylls: If I’d needed to pee, I probably would have.

└ This really puts into perspective what a fucking lunatic Kadir is. He fought that thing and won?

└ All-Father: From what I heard, the dragon had been consumed by rage, making it easier to defeat. Its attack patterns were consequently rather predictable.

└ How do you know that? Are you friends with him?

└ NecromancyIsLove: He knows because he was personally involved.

└ Bullshit.

└ PraiseTheSun: So, did the hatchling leave?

└ Wild Grylls: Yes. It left with its mother.

└ PraiseTheSun: What a shame. It was pretty cute. Tell her to bring it over again sometime.

└ Wild Grylls: Are you insane?;;

└ What is this, a daycare center? Lmaooo.

└ Dragon: Please look after my child for a while.

└ Future hatchling: My dad is really mad.

└ Grylls is going to burst into tears, lmaooo.

PraiseTheSun said something utterly horrifying, but I casually ignored it.

It had only been one day.

Why would they return when there hadn’t been nearly enough time for any real trust to form?

The hatchling did seem to have become somewhat attached to Wonmo, but surely the dragon wouldn’t knowingly allow it to come here again.

I guess I’ll spend the entire morning cleaning up.

About two hours passed after I began tidying the shelter.

I was about to enter the cave, thinking I might spend the remaining time farming, when—

Flap! Flap!

The loud beating of wings reached my ears.

At the same time, the wind gradually began to intensify.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed the subtle change in the air. Everyone else and all the animals sensed it too.

I raised my head anxiously.

Whoooooosh!

The majestic dragon appeared above us in all its overwhelming glory.

It was so unimaginably huge that its body cast a shadow over the entire shelter.

Everyone and every animal froze in the middle of what they were doing.

"Piiiiii!"

The hatchling flapped its tiny wings and descended toward the ground.

Then, with the most innocent expression imaginable, it latched straight onto my face.

The impact snapped me out of my daze, and I barely managed to pull the hatchling away.

"Grrrr."

Flap!

While I was still trying to understand what was happening, the dragon turned around.

However, it didn’t forget to send me a meaningful look.

It was a silent message telling me that it had something to do and wanted me to look after the hatchling in the meantime.

I stared blankly at the dragon as it receded into the distance, then quietly muttered,

"Ma’am?"

Whether the child comes in is up to the child—

"Ma’am?!"

—but when it leaves is up to the parent.

"Ma’am!!"

This isn’t a daycare center!!

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