Ta-da

Ta-da

 

Ha-eun wanted to sleep in the lair since it was newly built, but.

She had to return to the hospital room because Han A-rin and Seo-rin absolutely refused to allow it.

‘Of course, this place isn’t bad either, but…’

She sat absentmindedly on the bed, thinking that she felt more attached to the lair because she had made it herself piece by piece.

Soon after, she regained her senses and rubbed her cheeks left and right.

‘I’m so full!’

If the association were to tell her to leave right now, she’d have to sleep on the cold street covered with newspapers.

Realizing that complaining about liking one place over another was crossing a line, she pinched her cheeks hard.

“Owie”

Although she stopped quickly because it hurt a little.

Thinking that there’s nothing better than this to come to her senses, she calmed herself down.

Then, she crouched on the bed and stretched out her palms.

‘I need to make my hands bigger.’

Currently, her hands were so small that it was difficult to even properly hold a pencil.

As she was spreading her hands as wide as possible to be able to hold a pencil skillfully.

Chae-a, who was next to her, looked at this curiously and asked a question.

“What are you doing?”

To this question, I answered honestly.

“Um, doing this makes hands bigger so can hold pencil.”

At the mention of hands getting bigger, Chae-a’s eyes lit up, and she continued to ask questions while looking up at me intently.

“Then… can I hold a drink with one hand…?”

Drink? Ah, she must be talking about a 355ml canned drink.

Chae-a and I have small hands, so we have to hold it with both hands to drink, but Seo-rin has big hands and can drink with one hand, which Chae-a was incredibly envious of once.

Thinking that this must be what she’s looking forward to, I nodded.

“Then Chae-a wants to do it too!”

Chae-a came to my side and started stretching her hands.

Seeing this, I giggled and decided to do strength training with a pillow after we finished stretching our hands.

*

The next morning.

When the counselor came in, Chae-a ran towards her.

With a very proud expression, she started spreading her palm wide.

Then, with eyes seeking praise, she looked up at the counselor.

The counselor blinked, looking back and forth between me and Chae-a.

“Huh? Do you want to high-five with me?”

Chae-a had spread her palm to show off how much bigger her hand had gotten.

It seems the counselor misunderstood her intention.

I was giggling at their misunderstanding, when Chae-a shook her head and said to the counselor.

“… Chae-a’s hands got bigger!”

“Oh, your hands got bigger? Let me see. You’re right! They seem to have grown a tiny bit.”

“Yes!”

Pleased with the counselor’s praise, Chae-a lifted her head with a smug expression.

Soon, she tilts her head while looking at the door.

“When will the others come!?”

It seemed she wanted to show off to others as well.

As I approached the door to fulfill Chae-a’s wish and peeked outside to look around,

“……”

I unintentionally made eye contact with Perseus walking from afar.

If it had been Han A-rin or Seo-rin, it would have been fine, but making eye contact with Perseus made me feel somewhat embarrassed.

As I felt my face burning up and quickly pulled back to compose myself, Chae-a suddenly jumped out instead of me and shouted loudly.

“Ta-da…!”

She shouted energetically as she went out.

 

But Chae-a realized that the person in front of her was someone (a dragon) she wasn’t that close with yet, so she froze,

Then she crumpled up and hid behind me.

“……”

She then covered her eyes with both hands and lay face down on the ground, seemingly embarrassed.

I understood how she felt, so I was patting her back when

Perseus knocked on the door and came inside.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Perseus, who always looked solemn and serious, closed his mouth for a moment upon seeing us sprawled on the floor.

He approached us with a very awkward expression and said,

“What are you doing right now?”

“We’re lying down.”

“…?”

As if it wasn’t the answer he wanted, Perseus made a somewhat puzzled expression.

Ha-eun sat down on the floor, perhaps to match our eye level, and continued speaking.

“The floor must be cold. Wouldn’t it be better to lie on the bed?”

Indeed, the bed would be better than the floor, as he said.

I didn’t want Chae-a to lie on the cold floor, so I tried to hug her and drag her along.

But Chae-a quickly broke away from me and wriggled under the bed.

“Ah.”

I never imagined she would go under the bed.

As I lay on the floor trying to see where Chae-a had gone,

Perseus chuckled and said to me,

“Don’t worry, there’s a way.”

A way? Wondering what it could be, I looked up.

Perseus took out three red bottle caps and placed them on the floor, then spoke to Chae-a in a gentle voice.

“Look, there are some ownerless bottle caps here. How curious.”

I was about to tell him how smart our Chae-a was, thinking she wouldn’t fall for something like this.

“Really!?”

Chae-a fell right into the trap.

Chae-a peeked her face out from under the bed and approached the bottle caps with sparkling eyes.

“Wow… These are the prettiest bottle caps Chae-a has ever seen…”

Then, clutching them tightly in her hand and looking at them with satisfaction,

She whispered to me while putting two bottle caps in my pocket.

“And it’s pretty. I’ll give it to Ha-eun!”

It feels like my pocket is gradually turning into Chae-a’s treasure chest.

I’m smiling because I don’t particularly mind it.

Perseus continued speaking while looking at us.

“If possible, I’d like you to show me the lair.”

“… The lair?”

“Yes. There’s something I need to do.”

At those words, a subtle sense of unease crept in.

I was worried he might destroy it like the Spirit User Uncle did.

But since Perseus was also the one who gave me the crystal.

I decided to trust him once and agreed to guide him to the lair.

To comfort my nervous and tense tail, I hugged it, then spoke to Perseus with an anxious expression.

“Here it is. I have a request.”

“A request? What is it?”

“Please don’t destroy the lair…”

Thinking that simply asking might not be enough.

I held out both hands filled with all the money I had received so far.

Perseus was startled and said to me.

“Why on earth are you trying to give this to me?”

Like in fantasy novels where people offer tributes to dragons as a sign of goodwill, I tried to offer something similar to gain favor, but it seems I failed.

I reluctantly held out the money and snacks I had been saving, thinking the amount might be too small.

Perseus was startled and returned the money and snacks I had offered back to me.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding. You don’t need to give me anything.”

“…?”

Do the dragons of this world not like these things?

As I was seriously considering whether I should give him another massage like last time,

Perseus patted my head and said,

“I don’t need anything, so you can go now.”

At those words, I nodded and held Chae-a’s hand tightly.

*

“… It’s here.”

Feeling anxious about the lair being destroyed again, I calmed my nerves and guided him to the lair.

Perseus looked around and calmly raised his hand, snapping his fingers.

I’m not sure if this is the right way to describe it.

For a moment, the air stirred, and a blue barrier formed around the lair.

As I blinked in surprise at this, Perseus looked at me and explained what it was.

“Even just installing the crystal creates a barrier around the lair. However, it’s not fully grown yet, so its power is weak.”

So it had that function too.

As I stroked the crystal in my possession, newly impressed by how amazing it was,

Perseus looked at me with a small smile, then slowly moved to tap the barrier he had created and said,

“That’s why I’ve put up this temporary barrier to replace it. If there’s any danger or problem, come running here anytime.”

Maybe it’s because it’s Perseus saying it, but it feels incredibly reliable.

I bowed my head slightly as a gesture of gratitude.

He looked at me with a bitter smile, then lifted me up and gazed at me intently.

“… You’re still too thin. If we go on like this, the elders will have something to say to me, so it’d be better to put on some weight. Ah, Chae-a, the same goes for you.”

“Chae-a is this much bigger, so it’s okay!”

“No, it’s not okay.”

“Okay! I got it!”

While I was dangling there listening to their conversation.

Perseus tucked me and Chae-a under each arm and continued speaking.

“Then let’s go eat.”

Hearing this, I thought if I ate for free again, I’d become a person without conscience who only freeloads.

So I struggled and shook my head quickly, then said to Perseus.

“Ah, no!”

Perseus looked at me quizzically at my reaction.

I hurriedly explained to Perseus.

“I’ll make it for you…! I’m good at cooking!”

It’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but I’m quite good at cooking.

Of course, I’m not exceptionally good, but I can make things like steamed eggs, fried rice with eggs, and rolled omelettes.

This time, I wanted to cook to repay the kindness I had received before.

“Cooking is still dangerous for you.”

I deflated as I was flatly refused.

I was sulking while dangling in Perseus’s arms.

I encountered the Spirit User Uncle who came to water the flowers.

“Oh? Who’s this? Isn’t it Perseus?”

“I came to set up a barrier for a moment.”

“Well, it was dangerous to leave it as it was. But where are you taking the kids?”

“I’m going to feed them.”

The two seem to be very close friends, chatting about various things and joking with each other.

Watching this, I found it fascinating and stared blankly.

The Spirit User Uncle approached me and told me something.

“Come to think of it, Ha-eun, you have those flowers and pebbles you’re raising, right? They don’t seem to be ordinary flowers and pebbles?”

I tilted my head in confusion, not quite understanding.

The Spirit User Uncle smiled softly and told me.

“Come and check it out yourself later. You might be surprised?”

Wondering what could be there to make him say such things, I nodded my head in sync with my vigorously wagging tail.