A Man’s Dream
by Afuhfuihgs
Luna’s words about a winged child inside the statue made Estelle and I exchange bewildered glances. Even after examining the statue Luna was holding again, there was nothing that looked like wings.
,Is there a winged child inside this statue?
So saying, Estelle brought her masked face close to the statue and examined it for a while before scratching the back of her head.
,I don’t see anything at all?
,It just looks like a rock to me, too.
To me, it just looked like a round rock with an unusual pattern. Luna, seeing our reactions, gave a sheepish expression and smiled slightly.
,But that’s what I see? A child with wings is cutely curled up.
At Luna’s words, Estelle subtly approached me and whispered.
,…Is your girlfriend very sick, or is she seeing things? I know she’s not feeling well, but seeing hallucinations is a slightly different problem, you know.
,…No.
,Then how should I react to her saying she can see inside the stone?
,….
Well, I don’t know either.
I don’t think Luna was just saying nonsense. There was no reason for her to lie, and if it’s Luna that I know, she was likely just telling the truth.
If so, does that mean Luna can really see inside the stone that’s undergoing petrification….
Suddenly, a memory popped into my head. This wasn’t the first time I’d felt this strange feeling about Luna. A similar thing happened on the day of the special practice when I talked to Luna for the first time.
There was a time when I was separated from the group and heading to the final stage alone with Luna, and suddenly a raccoon thief used clone magic and turned into countless raccoons.
It was a stage where if you found the real raccoon with the key, the fake raccoons would explode, and even then, Luna found the real raccoon in one try among the countless raccoons.
I thought it was a coincidence back then… but maybe Luna has a special ability too? Unlike the other world, her being unwell might be due to causality to gain a special ability, just like me.
,Can you really see what’s inside?
Hiding my anticipation, I asked Luna again, and she nodded with a confident look.
,Yes, I really can see it. It looks like it’s curled up and sleeping.
Seeing Luna looking worried that she might seem like she’s lying, I gave her a smile full of faith, saying, ,I see.
If Luna says so, then so it is. Luna said, if a sparrow is a harmful bird, then it is a harmful bird.
I stroked my chin and pondered, then opened the space warehouse with a hopeful thought. I remembered the petrified thorn disease cure that I had put in together when Rosalyn-sunbaenim returned Rotten’s belongings before.
I thought that since it’s the same petrification phenomenon, it might have a similar effect. Taking out the bottle containing the cure from the space warehouse, I immediately pulled out the stopper and said.
,I’ll try using the petrified thorn disease cure once.
Luna and Estelle, who even knew the memories I had with Rotten, immediately understood what I meant.
,Are you going to sprinkle it on the statue… no, the egg?
Nodding to Estelle, who was shining her eyes with anticipation, I poured all the cure onto the egg without hesitation. The egg, having absorbed the petrified thorn disease cure, only became darker in color like a wet stone, with no other changes.
,…Is it not working with this?
,What! I was watching with so much anticipation! You stupid pig!
As I was scratching my cheek with an awkward face at Estelle’s scolding, Luna, who was watching the egg, turned to me and said.
,Instead of the improved cure that Rosalyn-sunbaenim made, how about using the raw materials of the cure that Rotten-seonsaengnim made…? I think it might have a different effect than when used on people.
At Luna’s unexpected words, I nodded and opened the space warehouse. She’s pretty and smart too, as expected of Luna.
I took out a bottle full of monster body fluids, which was the main ingredient of the cure in the research data left by Rotten, and sprinkled it on the egg again, watching for changes.
Soon after, the outer surface of the egg began to melt down as if the stone were melting at high temperatures.
Slightly pushing away Estelle, who was approaching the egg with eyes full of desire, I pulled Luna’s hand and placed her in front of me so she could see well.
,You nasty pig! Why don’t you get out of the way? I want to see too!
,You can see well enough from there. And why do you keep reaching out your hand while saying you’re watching? Do you have bad hands?
,Because I smell a lot of money from the egg! I’m just trying to touch it for a second! And assassins originally have to have bad hands to be pros!
While I was struggling, putting strength in my legs to not be pushed back by Estelle, Luna suddenly shouted.
,Sh, shell…!
At Luna’s words, Estelle and I stopped fighting and turned our heads towards the egg. The eggshell was breaking. And not due to external impact, but the shell, cracked due to the force trying to get out from the inside, was heaving little by little.
Could it be that the egg is about to hatch because the petrification phenomenon has been resolved? Perhaps the egg was not petrified due to the passage of time, but the egg was petrified by a monster just before hatching.
Finally, a large shell fell from the egg that was vibrating and heaving little by little, revealing what was inside.
Like Luna said, it had wings, a long tail, and blue eyes. And… a small dragon with black skin yawned as if yawning, then looked at Luna with sparkling eyes.
A bit different from the dragon I had imagined… it was a round, cute-looking dragon that women would raise as a pet in online games. It might just be cute because it’s still a hatchling.
,Dragon…?
When Luna and Estelle muttered the same words at the same time, I blankly looked at the hatchling and muttered with disappointment.
,Why, black…?
It was a chance to fulfill the dream of becoming the owner of a blue-eyed dragon, a dream that men of my age have had at least once… but the fact that it’s black, the name “Black Dragon with Blue Eyes” has a strangely strong feeling of being a Chinese knockoff, so I didn’t like it.
The two people who didn’t understand my disappointed look ignored me and tried to approach the dragon without fear. Seeing that, I hurriedly came to my senses and raised my hand to stop the two.
,Be careful. Even if it’s still a hatchling, a dragon is still a dragon. You can get sick if it bites you.
There’s even a saying that there’s no cure if you get bitten by a dog with rabies. There’s no harm in being careful with a suddenly appearing ancient creature.
,No, were there really dragons in the old days?! Dragons weren’t just legends that appear in fairy tales and novels?
Estelle, who was making a fuss about the dragon hatching from the egg, suddenly shone her eyes and secretly started calculating something while folding her fingers.
The hatchling, sensing something uneasy in Estelle’s appearance as she looked at it with a smile, spread its small wings and took a threatening stance, as if the calculation was over. But it was only the size of a fist, so it was just cute.
Yunis, Rahel-lan, and Lamine, hearing the commotion, stopped their discussion and came to see the hatched dragon.
,As expected… I thought I would see strange things often if I joined here. A dragon, I couldn’t even imagine it.
At Yunis’s words, Lamine nodded vigorously as if agreeing, fixing her gaze on the dragon. While everyone’s attention was focused on the dragon, Rahel-lan cut off the warm atmosphere as usual.
,…Is that really a dragon? Aren’t we mistaking it for something else? No one has actually seen a dragon. So how can we be sure that’s a dragon?
Even though a dragon hatched right in front of her, Rahel-lan, as if it wasn’t surprising, glared at the women with fierce eyes, raising objections in her usual blunt voice.
Stopping Estelle from saying that she has no social skills, I said that what hatched must be a dragon. Unlike the women who nodded, saying, ,That’s right, Rahel-lan asked with shining eyes.
,Was there a setting that dragons exist in this world?
At Rahel-lan’s sharp question, I scratched my head and nodded.
,D, dragons really exist?! Not just hatchlings like that?
Estelle pointed at the dragon with her finger, amazed. The pointed-at dragon tried hard to bite Estelle’s finger. But it all ended in failure.
Feeling like I was revealing a secret I was ashamed of as attention was focused on me, I subtly avoided eye contact and said.
,Dragons were popular as heroines back then. There were many animations with dragons as the subject… so I forcibly added it, but there wasn’t really a place to put it in the story, so it was a discarded setting.
,That means that dragons exist in this world where the discarded setting has been revived. Why didn’t you say that sooner?
,I thought that our fight and dragons wouldn’t be related, just like the reason it was discarded.
,Why? Dragons could become enemies, or they could become our allies through persuasion.
At Rahel-lan’s words, Yunis pouted and nodded greatly as if agreeing. I shrugged, wondering how to explain it.
,That’s not possible.
,Why!
I couldn’t help but flinch at the women’s fierce opposition. The hatchling was also surprised, and folded its slightly spread wings and leaned against Luna’s hand. I was worried that it might bite Luna, but seeing it staying still, it seems to be a male.
It seems like everyone has a big fantasy about dragons. But the dragon in the setting I discarded was not a monster with powerful magic and strength, but rather a mature charm different from the existing characters… it was closer to a heroine position.
I sighed and explained.
,Dragons are not interested in human affairs. They are not particularly obsessed with treasure either. It’s a setting where they are so tired and jaded from living too long that they would close their eyes comfortably even if the world were to perish. So I judged that they could not be made allies through persuasion.
Only then did everyone nod, saying, ,I see. But Estelle, as if she had a different opinion, stepped forward and said.
,Treasure?! Is there treasure piled up in the dragon’s lair?
I shook my head at Estelle’s question, who was swallowing hard and shining her eyes in a burdensome way.
,It’s not a lair… it would be more accurate to call it a city.
,City…?
,Because that’s where Elassium Academy is located.
At my answer, Yunis shouted as if screaming. There was no way Yunis, who had transferred from Elassium Academy, had already forgotten the name of the city she lived in.
,Eldorado!
Eldorado, known as the city ruled by the Golden King.
The true identity of the owner of that place and the ruler of the West, the Golden King,
Was none other than a Gold Dragon.
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