Chapter 203

Returning the Favor (3)

While Tyranno was settling in well at Grylls’s shelter—

Boooom! Bang!

The dragon had been locked in a life-or-death struggle with the enormous white serpent all day long.

The giant white serpent was every bit as formidable as its size and imposing presence suggested.

Its maw was large enough to swallow even the dragon whole.

Its venom could melt solid stone.

Its scales and hide could effortlessly withstand most attacks.

And despite its enormous bulk, it was remarkably agile.

With all these traits combined, the battle between them was a true clash of equals.

It was a battle between the dragon, the strongest creature on land, and a white serpent that rivaled it.

Their life-or-death struggle showed no sign of ending anytime soon.

Booooom!!!

At last, the white serpent collapsed with more than half its neck torn apart, bringing the long battle to an end.

The fight had lasted for more than half a day.

And the serpent’s neck was far from its only grievous injury.

One of its eyes had been gouged out, and its massive mouth had been ripped apart, leaving its jaw hanging loosely.

Just as the white serpent had opened its maw wide to bite, the dragon had seized the opportunity and shattered its jaw.

"Grrrrr... Rrrr..."

But the dragon was hardly in good condition either.

As befitted a battle between evenly matched foes, its body was covered in wounds both large and small.

The most serious injury was to its foreleg.

Its right foreleg had been completely torn off, and blood poured from the stump.

Its wings were no better. They had been shredded so badly that flight was impossible.

But even more dangerous than its wounds was the venom.

The white serpent’s venom was lethal even to a dragon, leaving it in a state where simply enduring was difficult.

"Grrrr..."

After checking several times to make sure the white serpent was truly dead, the dragon turned its head.

It looked in the direction of its hatchling—the child for whom it would gladly sacrifice its own life.

But if it tried to travel there now, its strength would fail completely and it would die.

It wanted to rush there immediately, but the dragon suppressed the urge.

Its hatchling was safe.

’...Please.’

The dragon slowly closed its eyes, beginning its recovery in earnest.

No creature could survive in this savage wilderness without the help of its parents.

That was why it had temporarily entrusted its hatchling to Grylls. For reasons it did not understand, the human had protected its child.

If he harmed the hatchling... it would not be too late to take revenge afterward.

Possessing an intellect no less keen than a human’s, the dragon had chosen to gamble on the better odds.

Rustle—

The dragon’s eyes gradually closed.

Its severed foreleg and shredded wing membranes slowly began to regenerate.

It would take at least several days for it to fully recover.

Praying inwardly that its hatchling would remain safe until then, the dragon finally closed its eyes completely.

’Come to think of it, that human...’

Just before its consciousness sank into the depths, the dragon recalled him.

That strangely alien human.

It had no idea why such a human was in this forest.

’Once I wake up, I should speak... with him...’

With that final thought, the dragon’s consciousness faded completely.

And though the dragon had fallen into a deep sleep—

Crack! Craaack!

Its body continued to heal.

***

Day 33 of survival.

I had spent the entire day working, so the hours flew by before I knew it.

In the evening, I also received rice seeds from the Heavenly Demon. Other than that, nothing particularly noteworthy happened.

When I woke up the next morning, I wondered whether Tyranno’s mother had arrived, but no one was there.

Instead, we were greeted by weather that was slightly cooler than before.

"Kyuuu~ Kyuuu~"

"Piiiii! Pii!"

Even with the cooler weather, the little ones were too busy playing to care.

There was one thing different from yesterday.

A ball.

Wonmo and Tyranno were both having the time of their lives playing with something resembling a soccer ball.

’I tossed it to them just in case, and they’re having a blast.’

Naturally, I had asked Cheonggu Princess for the soccer ball.

She gave me one that looked fairly expensive.

And her condition was incredibly simple: upload a photo or video of the two playing with it.

I had already planned to film them playing anyway.

’But first, I should make them some goalposts.’

I roughly assembled the goalposts out of wood. There was no need to put too much care into making them.

Then I explained the rules to Wonmo and Tyranno.

They were very simple: whoever got the ball between the goalposts scored.

"Kyuuu!"

"Piiiik! Piiik!"

The two began playing excitedly. I photographed and filmed them just as they were.

The sight alone was enough to fill me with warmth.

Now I was even more curious about how the gallery would react.

Title: Wonmo and Tyranno Are Playing Soccer

Wild Grylls

(A photo of Wonmo enthusiastically kicking the ball)

(A photo of Tyranno enthusiastically kicking the ball)

(A video of Wonmo dribbling the ball and scoring a goal)

(A video of Tyranno slamming his forepaws against the ground in frustration)

Princess Cheonggu, thank you so much for being a princess.

The kids are having a great time thanks to you!

└ Heavenly Demon: Children must grow through play. What a heartwarming sight.

└ SwordMaster: I played a lot of soccer when I was in the army. It’s strange seeing it here.

└ Heavenly Demon: Why would one play soccer in the military? This one cannot understand.

└ SwordMaster: I don’t know either. We just did. Even if it wasn’t soccer, we’d play with anything as long as we had a ball.

└ SwordMaster is right. Knights and soldiers alike will happily play as long as you give them a ball, lmao.

└ Military fact: The older they are, the more insanely good they are at foot volleyball, lmao.

└ In the army, the guys who are good at soccer and foot volleyball are kings;;

└ Suspiciously): Don’t you guys play rugby or American football? We do.

└ They probably play rugby too. But that comes down to preference.

└ And you have to wear armor to play American football;;

└ Just assume they play every ball sport imaginable with vacation days on the line.

└ No one can resist the promise of leave, lmao.

└ Cheonggu Princess: They’re having so much fun! As expected of Chae-U’s future mascot!

└ Who decided he was your mascot?

└ Cheonggu Princess: (Photo of Wonmo wearing a uniform) Can you really say that after seeing this?

└ Lmaoooo, she had that saved.

└ Honestly, he is ridiculously cute, lmao.

└ Put a uniform on Tyranno too.

└ Absolutely not. Tyranno must remain untouched.

└ Aren’t there already teams that use dragons as their symbol?

└ Quite a few countries and territories use dragons as their emblems;;

└ You might get hit with a massive lawsuit if you’re not careful, lmaooo.

└ But can anyone even sue Grylls?

└ No. But Chae-U might get caught in the crossfire, lmaooo.

└ King Leor: Don’t put something filthy on a sacred dragon;; Put our uniform on him instead.

└ Cheonggu Princess: You want him to wear that smelly chicken-head uniform? How horrifying!

└ King Leor: It’s a hawk, not a chicken; are your eyes broken?

└ Cheonggu Princess: I think it’s Coach Leor whose eyes are broken!

└ King Leor: Ffs—

└ Lmaoooooooo.

...!

└ Cheonggu Princess has been roasting King Leor nonstop lately, lmaooo.

└ Understandable. Cheonggu has climbed all the way up to fifth place in the rankings, lmao.

└ PraiseTheSun: Why am I the only one without a dragon? Why am I the only one without a dragon? Why am I the only one without a dragon? Why am I the only one without a dragon?

└ Not having a dragon is normal;

└ He talks like everyone else has one, lmaooo.

└ If every Tom, Dick, and Harry raised a hatchling, the world would’ve ended by now, lmao.

└ I’d rather raise Wonmo than Tyranno.

└ Same. Honestly, I’d choose the gentle-looking Wonmo over the prickly-looking Tyranno, lmao.

└ "Gentle": Eats his owner when he gets hungry.

└ Buuurp, lol.

As expected, the response was explosive.

Just reading the comments filled me with satisfaction.

I looked away from the gallery and turned toward Wonmo and Tyranno.

"Kyuaaaaaak!!!"

"Piaaaaaaa!!"

In the brief moment I had looked away, the two had started fighting.

They were tangled together, rolling around like a ball.

The instant I saw them, I jumped in and barely managed to pull them apart.

.

"Why are you fighting?! Friends aren’t supposed to fight!"

"Kyu! Kyukyukyukyu! Kyukyu!"

"Pii! Pipipi! Piiiii!"

I couldn’t understand a single word.

Judging by how worked up they both were, they must have been furious.

In the end, I summoned Kkobong, our resident animal-language interpreter, and asked her to translate.

First, I heard Wonmo’s side of the story.

"It was his turn to score. But Tyranno stole the ball."

"And Tyranno?"

"If something is taken, it belongs to whoever took it. That is only natural."

"Hmm."

So it was because I had explained the rules too vaguely.

After learning what had happened, I carefully admonished them both.

I told them it was my fault for not explaining the rules clearly.

And that if they had a disagreement in the future, they should come to me first.

"But! Pecking with your beak and biting with your teeth are unacceptable. Neither of you gets any snacks today."

"Kyuuu?!"

"Piiiik?!"

Wonmo and Tyranno both looked utterly horrified when they heard there would be no snacks.

But sometimes a little shock therapy was necessary.

If I spoiled them too much, they might grow up headed in the wrong direction.

"Keeeng!"

"Oh. You’re here?"

Wonmo and Tyranno were sitting side by side, dejected, when Father Raccoon came to visit me for the first time in a while.

As far as I knew, he had also been busy preparing for winter.

"What did you find this time?"

"Keee..."

Father Raccoon started to speak, only for his entire body to stiffen.

I had a pretty good idea what he had seen.

Tyranno.

Now that things had turned out this way, it might not be a bad idea to introduce Tyranno to the raccoon family.

"Oh, right. Let me introduce you. This is Tyranno. As you can see, he’s a baby dragon—a hatchling."

"K-Keeeng...?"

Father Raccoon looked up at me with an expression that clearly said, A-A dragon?

I gently stroked his head to calm him down.

"He won’t hurt you, so don’t worry. Didn’t you see the dragon that came here last time?"

"Keeeng..."

"So you did. That dragon left her baby with me. I don’t know why, though."

I finally managed to calm Father Raccoon.

He was still afraid, but his expression was considerably better than before.

Still, I would probably have to take things slowly before introducing Tyranno to his entire family. I still had plenty of other things to do.

At least Father Raccoon could give them a warning in advance.

’I hope the baby raccoons get along with the others.’

That was a matter for later.

For now, I checked what Father Raccoon had brought me.

It was an unusually large seed.

It looked like a coconut at first glance, but it was definitely a seed.

The thing was three times the size of my fist. I could probably grip it and use it as a blunt weapon.

"What is this? A seed?"

"Keeeng!"

Father Raccoon nodded with a bright smile.

I had no idea what kind of seed it was, but I figured I should plant it.

Father Raccoon had given it to me, so surely nothing strange would sprout from it.

I gave him a Fasting Pill as a reward and headed straight for the garden.

When I arrived, Ludwig was humming as he operated the threshing machine.

Kkobong was working beside him. I had bought her a farmer’s hat because I thought she might be bored, and it suited her surprisingly well.

"Mister, I’m going to plant this."

"#%%?"

"I don’t know what it is. Father Raccoon gave it to me."

The seed itself was much larger than my fist, so I would probably have to bury it deeper than usual.

I dug a hole with my shovel and placed the seed inside.

All I had to do was cover it with soil and pour water over it.

Now all that remained was to wait.

Ruuuumble—

"Huh?"

Not long after I planted the seed, faint tremors began running through the garden.

Ludwig and Kkobong stopped working and turned toward me.

Even the other animals looked this way.

"...$%##$?"

"I-I don’t know. I just planted it..."

Ludwig had asked what on earth I had planted, but I couldn’t give him an answer.

Then the garden slowly began to change.

A sprout emerged from the seed.

At first, it was tiny.

Whoooosh!

But the sprout gradually grew until its stalk became almost as thick as a tree trunk.

That alone was enough to tell me this was no ordinary plant.

The real problem, however, was its fruit.

A fruit slowly formed and continued swelling until it became as large as a house.

It was a vivid orange, with a slightly ridged and bumpy surface.

"A pumpkin?"

It was a pumpkin.

An absolutely gigantic pumpkin.

They said Cinderella rode to the castle in a pumpkin carriage.

If so, I imagined this was probably the pumpkin she had used.

But the Forest of Four Seasons was far removed from a "fairy tale."

What did I mean by that?

Creeeak—

The center of the pumpkin slowly split open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth like those of a shark.

Then eyes and a nose appeared as well, making it look even more threatening.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!!!"

This wasn’t a fairy tale.

It was Halloween.

’What the hell did he give me...?’

I would think about that after I caught it.