Chapter 16 : The Strongest Party, Someday! (1)

As we reached the entrance of the cave, a faint light revealed the figures of two children inside.

I didn’t know what they had talked about while I was away—or if they had simply waited anxiously for me—but the two children were crouched near the entrance.

When I stepped inside, two pairs of eyes turned toward me at the same time.

In Sori’s eyes, there was a hint of relief, while in Lisette’s, there was still deep fear along with suspicion, like, “What is that monster going to do now?”

I approached the two children and carefully placed the fork and plate down.

“Here you go…”

I meant to sound as gentle as possible, but my rough voice might still have come off as threatening.

Lisette’s eyes widened as she looked at the fork and plate placed on the ground.

Then, with a confused expression, she looked up at me.

Her face seemed to ask, “Why would you give us something like this?”

Sori, who was next to her, tilted her head curiously as well.

‘Hmm-hmm, are they satisfied now?’

I tried to ignore their puzzled reactions and felt a quiet satisfaction inside.

It was clear that if I brought dinner later and set the table with forks and plates, they’d be surprised I was taking such care of them.

Yes, now Lisette would be able to eat comfortably without worrying about not having utensils.

With that thought, I started wondering what to prepare for dinner tonight.

I also wanted to finally serve some tea brewed with antler extract.

If we had some tea time after dinner and talked a little, maybe Lisette would understand my intentions and become more cooperative.

Just as I was imagining that, it happened.

A wave of powerful weakness washed over me, as if all strength left my body.

My vision blurred for a moment, and even supporting my large frame felt difficult.

My mind felt clouded, like it was covered in thick fog, and an overwhelming drowsiness crashed over me like a tidal wave.

‘Wh… what is this?’

This feeling—

It definitely wasn’t unfamiliar.

It was similar to what I had felt long ago, when I first broke out of my egg.

An irresistible pull toward a deep, all-consuming sleep.

Why was this happening again all of a sudden?

Was it because I overexerted myself trying to use magic earlier and failed?

Or is this just part of a dragon’s biological rhythm—does a dragon naturally fall into deep sleep after a certain amount of time?

Sleep was rushing in so fast.

‘Damn it… I can’t fall asleep now…!

I still have to prepare dinner, help the kids get to bed… there’s so much to do.

But regardless of my will, my body seemed to have reached its limit.

My eyelids felt impossibly heavy, and my legs were shaking.

Staggering, I headed toward the wide, flat rock deep in the cave where I usually rested.

I could feel the two children watching me with surprised eyes, but I didn’t have the energy to care.

Right now, I had to lie down—immediately.

I finally reached the rock.

I collapsed almost completely, unable to even curl my massive body, and slumped down on the spot.

Then, my consciousness was drawn into a deep, dark abyss.

The last thing I saw was Sori and Lisette looking at me with a mixture of shock and worry in their eyes.

‘Dinner… training… I still need to teach them…’

With that final thought, I once again fell into a very deep sleep.

The next morning, the first thing I checked upon waking was the Dragon.

That massive body was still curled up on the rock inside the cave, completely motionless.

Only the rhythmic rise and fall of the chest showed that the Dragon was still alive.

I was so surprised last night, seeing him suddenly collapse into sleep right after returning from somewhere.

I worried—were they sick? Did he get hurt in a way I didn’t know? But his sleeping face strangely looked peaceful.

‘Were he just tired?’

Come to think of it, he hunted every day for me, cooked meals… and now that Lisette had joined, he had to prepare twice as much food, so of course he would be tired.

I quietly stood up so the Dragon could rest well.

Lisette was still fast asleep, breathing softly.

Every night, she clung to my arm so tightly it almost broke—she must have been really scared in this unfamiliar place.

I had felt the same way once.

But once she begins to trust the Dragon, she’ll realize there’s nothing to fear.

Just like I was scared of the Dragon at first, it made sense Lisette would be too.

I stretched lightly.

The morning sunlight was seeping in through the cave entrance, illuminating the floor.

Morning sunlight meant training time.

Even though the Dragon was asleep, he had emphasized training must happen every day.

That’s why I couldn’t skip it.

I moved naturally to the training area and got into position.

First, I lay on the ground, supported myself with both arms, stretched my legs back, and used my arms to lower and raise my body.

One, two, three… I kept my breathing steady and repeated the motion.

At first, it felt like my whole body was screaming, but I had gotten quite used to it now.

Of course, doing over 300 reps was still hard, but it no longer felt like I was about to pass out.

I could feel myself getting stronger.

As I kept repeating the push-up motion, I heard rustling behind me and a whiny voice—Lisette had woken up.

“Ugh… where did Sori go…?”

She mumbled as if searching for me, but after checking that the Dragon was still sleeping, she let out a sigh of relief and looked around.

Then, spotting me, she shouted in an annoyed tone.

“Sori! What are you doing? Are you training right now?”

I paused and turned to look at Lisette.

She scratched her head sleepily and grumbled.

Then she said something that didn’t quite make sense.

“I heard dragons sleep for like, a hundred years or something. If they’re not awake yet, that means we don’t have to train! It’s a day off!”

‘A hundred years?’

I blinked in surprise.

They sleep that long? Really? But the Dragon had been awake every day until yesterday… Lisette must have been mistaken.

I shook my head firmly.

“No, the Dragon Lord wakes up every day. He’s just sleeping more today because he’s especially tired. And the training… he said to do it every day too.”

Then I approached Lisette and held out my hand.

“You have to do it too, Lisette.”

Lisette recoiled in disgust and tried to swat my hand away.

“No way! Let go of me! A commoner like you dares to give me orders…? Hmph…”

There she went again with her commoner nonsense, but I didn’t really care about that anymore.

What mattered was the Dragon Lord’s command.

And since the Dragon Lord told Lisette to train too, I thought maybe—even if she used magic—this training might still be necessary for her.

Especially when I remembered how she froze up in front of the wolf.

I grabbed Lisette’s arm and dragged her to the training spot.

She flailed and complained the whole time, but she couldn’t match the strength I’d built up over the past month.

“Hmph! I’m only doing this because you’re so annoying! It’s not because of you, got it!”

Eventually, dragged along, Lisette pouted and grumbled as she started mimicking the up-and-down motion while lying on the ground.

Of course, her form was a mess, and she was already groaning after just a few reps, but she was definitely doing more than she did yesterday.

We kept training for a good while.

I silently repeated the set movements, and Lisette, still grumbling, tried her best to follow along.

With the Dragon Lord not around, there was less pressure for sure, but training was still training.

After we finished, both of us collapsed to the ground, trying to catch our breath.

That’s when both our stomachs growled at the same time.

Lisette blushed, but I just smiled, knowing it was natural to get hungry.

When she saw me smiling, Lisette puffed out her cheeks.

“You made a sound too!”

“It happens when you’re hungry.”

At my words, Lisette huffed and turned toward the Dragon Lord, then suddenly her face turned pale.

“W-Wait… what about our food?”

She had a point.

The Dragon Lord was still asleep.

How were we supposed to eat?

Should we wake him?

While I was pondering, Lisette spotted the fork and plate the Dragon Lord had brought yesterday and pointed at them.

“Look, Sori. Why do you think the Dragon Lord brought those?”

She spoke with a smug look like she had just uncovered a great secret.

“That’s a sign. He’s telling us to feed ourselves now. Who knows when he’ll wake up? We have to go find food ourselves. Otherwise, we’ll starve!”

I thought over her words carefully.

The fork and plate… I didn’t know why he brought them, but Lisette’s theory didn’t sound entirely wrong.

We couldn’t just stay hungry, not knowing when the Dragon Lord would wake up.

And I was starving.

After training, my hunger had only gotten worse.

“…You have a point.”

I nodded.

“So, hunting?”

The words just slipped out of my mouth.

I remembered knocking out that wolf last time.

I was in such a daze back then, I still don’t know how I did it.

But I did it.

And besides wolf meat, there was that other meat the Dragon Lord brought us.

It was delicious.

I wanted more.

Could we catch it ourselves?

At my words, Lisette’s face turned white.

“What? Hunting? You? Are you crazy? What if we run into another wolf!”

“I caught one easily last time.”

“That was just luck…!”

Lisette shook her head fiercely in protest.

But I had already made up my mind.

“Still… I’m hungry. The meat the Dragon Lord gave us yesterday… it was so good.”

Hearing that, Lisette seemed to remember the taste too, and her stomach growled again.

I stood up.

In a corner of the cave, the sharp, heavy rock I used last time was still there.

I picked it up.

Holding something in my hand gave me a strange sense of confidence.

“I’ll go. You stay here, Lisette.”

It might be dangerous, so I was planning to leave her in the cave.

But Lisette reacted differently than I expected.

“Hmph! Who said you could go alone?”

She blushed and jumped to her feet.

“I’m going too! If you get lost, I’ll be the one who suffers! And you never know! I might be able to help with magic!”

Her last words sounded less confident, but her resolve to come with me was clear.

I looked at Lisette for a moment.

Maybe going together would be better than going alone.

It could be dangerous, but we could support each other too.

I nodded without a word.

Then I took the first step toward the cave entrance.

Lisette, still muttering complaints, followed closely behind.

It was the beginning of our first adventure: the ‘Delicious Meat Hunt.’

So with excitement in my heart, I left the deeply sleeping Dragon Lord behind and stepped out of the cave.

I was a little scared, but along with my hunger, I felt a strange confidence that we could do this.