Chapter 51: If a Favor Comes Twice?

Still, there was something I didn’t quite understand, so I asked.

“But shouldn’t you first seek help from friends or allies of your own kind?”

I asked innocently, but she probably came here because that wasn’t an option.

It’s like choosing a shady lender over a bank when borrowing money—not exactly the best analogy, but close enough.

There’s a reason she couldn’t go to the “first-tier bank,” so she came to me.

And since I’m like that shady lender, hearing why she couldn’t go to the top dogs might benefit me.

It puts me in the driver’s seat, so to speak.

“Those in the otherworld know our kind’s ways well, as I mentioned. But the dragons currently don’t want an all-out war with the demons. This is something I must handle alone.”

It seems they’re avoiding escalation into a full-blown conflict between groups.

Or maybe she just doesn’t have friends willing to step up.

But she seems to have a gender—where’s the kid’s dad?

If they’d helped humans earlier…

That’s probably their karma.

The grudges of the two ghosts echo faintly in my mind.

“Hm. In that case, maybe…”

This dragon lady—no, dragon madam…

Dragon divorcee?

That sounds weird.

Anyway, this dragon mom seems gripped by the fear that she might die.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t leave her egg in such an isolated place.

“It’s shameful, but I’ll have to evade and flee. But if my egg is with me, I’d have to go to a place where I’d likely die, and we’d probably perish together.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll take it. It might be risky for me too, but no choice.”

If something happens to me, I’ll tell CatMan to grab it and run.

CatMan doesn’t always listen, but I don’t love tyranny despite how kids used to play on my head during my teaching days.

As seen with Fetch and combat commands, I can force my will on my pet.

Just like the spirit became a rice cooker through the Sprout Fairy’s will crossing worlds, I’ll entrust the future to CatMan.

Raising a dragon like a cat might be a sight to see.

“If I die, I’ll ensure my heart comes here too. Please take care of it.”

“Let’s not talk like that and plan to meet again alive.”

“No, if it comes to that, you need to live long so my child can grow up safely.”

Live long? I’m not turning that down.

And so, the dragon single mom places the stamina-boosting dragon egg back in my arms.

The plastic kimchi container I used for old kimchi is empty now, so I’ll store it there.

It might smell a bit like kimchi.

But I can’t think of anything safer than the kimchi container.

Can’t exactly put it next to regular eggs.

“Live long, huh.”

“You must’ve wanted longevity. The Dragon Heart I gave you before is likely for combat.”

The Dragon Heart can either be eaten for a temporary boost to Magic and Stamina or used in a high-Magic state for a massive stat increase.

It’s a tough choice.

“Well, yeah.”

“But since you need to live long, I’ll give you these first. Things I’ve collected over thousands of years.”

From the dragon woman’s hand comes something you’d need a magnifying glass to see.

A small glass vial with blue liquid.

<Fountain of Life>

Water from an ancient, dried-up spring.

Legends say the tribes that drained it became immortal.

It’s said the World Tree used it as nourishment to birth elves.

Drastically increases lifespan.

…

What’s this… chicken feet, comb, and breast cubes?

There are actual bird-like feet, a comb-like piece, and chicken breast cubes at the dragon woman’s feet.

The feet and comb are a bit gross, but there’s a description.

<Phoenix’s Remaining Flesh>

Pieces of flesh from a phoenix killed by dismemberment.

The phoenix regenerates, but its severed flesh mimics its eternal life when used as material.

Restores the consumer to their healthiest, most vibrant state.

“Wow, rare treasures.”

I said calmly, but I was thinking it’d be nice to have three or four. Then I saw seven pieces.

Do these need refrigeration?

…

This phoenix… it’s like infinite meat that regenerates after being butchered.

“Consume one whenever your life wanes, and you can stay by my child until they mature.”

Raise a dragon like old man Go from Ssangmun-dong?

With treasures like these, I can’t help but nod.

“Alright. Even if something happens to me, the Sprout Fairy is growing here, so she might take over when she matures.”

“What?!”

Why’s she so shocked?

“Didn’t you notice? She was here last time too.”

“Where is she?”

The dragon madam seems pretty excited.

Just in case, I grabbed the kitchen knife behind me.

If there’s bad blood, I’ll either kill the dragon or hold the egg hostage.

The egg’s in my grasp.

“If you plan to harm her, you’ll have to kill me first. And if so, who knows what’ll happen to your egg.”

“No, there’s a misunderstanding. I’m not her enemy. Where is she? Tell me.”

A thousand won for the info.

Can’t say that, so I pointed out the window.

The dragon woman’s eyes widen, and she speaks, trembling.

“Ah, ah, no! Human, you planted it here!?”

…?

What’s with that tone?

She sounds like a village chief scolding a newbie farmer for planting tomatoes in winter.

“What’s wrong?”

“The World Tree in a pot!?”

That’s the World Tree?

It’s just a flower.

“Trees and flowers are different species.”

Guess this high-Intelligence being didn’t study plant taxonomy.

Might need to attend middle school with the kids.

“How did you raise such a finicky being to this extent? And as a mere human…”

Finicky?

She eats rice grains, Whopper lettuce scraps, and ramen seasoning.

Just say “I love you,” and she’s good.

“She grows like crazy with love, so it’s embarrassing to hear that.”

“She really chose someone. And it’s you…”

What, like I pulled Excalibur or something?

She’s making a big deal out of raising a plant.

What’s the deal, lizard?

“Let me speak with her for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

After seeing her lose it over the fridge last time, I’m ready to flip out if she demands the pot too.

My level’s up over 100 since then.

Oh.

Come to think of it, I dumped all my points into Charm.

“My old friend, Princess of the Fairies. Why didn’t you greet me last time?”

The dragon woman squats by the fairy’s pot, and the Sprout Fairy snaps back.

“Scary! Monster!”

“Monster!?”

“You killed the nice cat! Bad monster!”

He’s perfectly alive.

He’s out on Fetch duty, so he’s not home.

“No, so you don’t know me?”

“Don’t know!”

“Why not!? Did you forget me? Oh, you’re still in your petals. I see.”

“What’s that! Monster! Don’t love you! Die, you jerk!”

Listen to that spicy curse.

“What!? Where did you learn such words!?”

The dragon woman, flustered, glares at me accusingly.

“Man, what’s for dinner tonight?”

…

I played dumb.

Wow, RiceCookerMan’s plastic parts are shiny today.

I wiped his lid with a wet wipe.

[Why the sudden cleaning?]

“You’re pretty.”

[Suspicious! Your eyes are looking elsewhere, like you’re avoiding something…]

“Shut up, RiceCookerMan.”

[I don’t have a mouth!]

While bantering with RiceCookerMan, the dragon woman turns back and scans me.

Don’t look at me like a parent blaming a teacher for their kid’s behavior…

Her mouth keeps gaping.

She doesn’t seem to mimic human women who hide their open mouths.

“The future queen of the fairies chose you. You’re to lead the revival of elves and spirits.”

If she stayed rooted there, demons would eat her.

She’s just latching onto the first guy she met here.

“Well, that’s how it turned out.”

“Then we can’t stop here. I was going to give you this anyway.”

Oh? More stuff.

If she dies, she wants me to live long and raise her dragon kid, right?

Then she should cover childcare costs beyond life and combat power.

Gold from over there is tiny, though… hm?

“What’s this?”

A strangely patterned, building-shaped gold lump appears in my room.

It’s gold, so my eyes can’t help but sparkle.

“Even as humans faced extinction, greedy ones brought gold to dragons, believing we’d save them. This is a great cathedral made from that gold.”

“Magnificent.”

She calls it a cathedral, but it’s a gold lump.

A handful, at that.

My eyes are spinning.

It’s like a house made of gold by tiny people.

I know a bit about selling gold—this could fetch tens of millions, maybe over a hundred million.

With craftsmanship, maybe more.

The dragon woman keeps summoning more stuff into my room.

“Sorry for the small size. But I had no choice. And this too.”

“Oh, yes.”

“And this.”

“Whoa, what’s this now?”

“This is from humans…”

Are you holding a warehouse clearance sale?

Why’s she summoning so much?

I’m not complaining about more items, but it’s hard to keep up with all this random stuff.

Swords, armor, whatever.

She seems sincere, but can I even use these to pick my teeth?

Weapons and shields too? Tiny, though.

They might trigger Swordmaster or Shield King, so I didn’t say anything.

“Uh… my place isn’t that big. Isn’t this too much?”

“Compared to this place, the items are so small, I can’t give enough. Oh, one thing to note, giant.”

“What?”

“Carrying these items made me realize. The gate makes us smaller. Our world isn’t small.”

“Huh?”

“The cold dungeon I took should’ve been a massive cavern in our world, but it wasn’t. It barely fit my child.”

So, the otherworld’s monsters have their original sizes but shrink when passing through the gate.

“From this, I think we lose power at the gate, shrinking as we come here.”

That’s one theory, but I’m skeptical.

“What if it’s the opposite? If we go through, we might shrink there.”

…

“If the fridge—er, incubation device—shrank there, humans might shrink to match too.”

“Hm, I hadn’t thought of that. Could be.”

Dragon madam’s Intelligence isn’t that high.

Her level’s in the tens of thousands, but her Intelligence isn’t a few thousand?

Come to think of it, Intelligence isn’t just brainpower.

The Succubus Queen, with a high level and Intelligence, still can’t outsmart me with crazy strategies.

My Intelligence is too low to know for sure.

“I understand what you’re saying, madam. I’m prepared, so I won’t be caught off guard.”

If they come at full size, it’d be the end of this world.

If so, having a dragon ally with tens of thousands of levels isn’t a bad thing.

If her world is dangerous enough to exile her egg, why isn’t she coming?

It’s like she’s auctioning off her house’s stuff.

“Excuse me, but…”

“Hm?”

“You’re exiling your child, but why not yourself? Didn’t you say you’re in danger?”

“Me, exile…”

“If you can take human form, you could live here.”

“That’s difficult.”

“Why?”

“Because I have another child there.”

Oh.

So the egg she sent is her second.

Two (二).