Dragons have a total of three growth phases.
After going through all three growth phases, an adult Dragon gets to be about 20 meters long. They are basically the size of buildings.
'Raon has only gone through his first growth phase so far.'
There are not any major external changes during the first growth phase.
It focuses on changing the inside of the body to make it sturdy for explosive growth during the second and third growth phases.
'They also get their attribute after the first growth phase.'
Each Dragon had a different attribute.
In Raon's case, his attribute was the present.
'But we haven't been able to find any clues about his attribute.'
Cale recalled when Raon first told him, and only him, about his attribute.
'My attribute is the present.'
'Right here and now is my attribute.'
Raon was able to recognize that his attribute was the present and could feel it to some degree, but… He was unable to find a clear answer about what exactly that meant.
However, Cale, Eruhaben, and the others did not put much attention on that issue.
'He's still young.'
He will be seven years old next year.
Based on when Cale was Kim Rok Soo, he was still in kindergarten.
Why should he work so hard to grow at that age?
'He just needs to grow.'
It would be one thing if Raon was anxious about growing more.
Cale's face slowly started to turn upset.
The reason was simple.
'What?'
Only Dragon that can cause a breakthrough?
The hope of all things?
She wants to place such a burden on a kid who will turn seven years old when we return to Roan and see that it is the new year?'
Cale was extremely upset as he turned his gaze.
It was to look at Raon.
The black Dragon's round eyes were open especially wide and he spoke with his jaw wide open.
"… Wow...."
'Aigoo.
Look at that.
She wants a seven year old responding like that to change the world that the Purple Bloods or whatever Dragons are ruling?
She wants him to be the hope?
What fucking bullshit.'
Cale truly didn't plan on listening to it at all.
He then made up his mind.
'We will head to Aipotu with our strongest force.'
The world he expected to head to next…
The place ruled by the Purple Bloods…
The land where Choi Jung Gun went missing…
Cale made up his mind.
'I'll drag them all with me.'
He would make a deal with the God of Death.
Fulfill this condition or I am not going.
The Henituse territory.
The black castle in the Forest of Darkness…
'Bring all of the Dragons there-'
Call any and all Dragons that he knows…
"The entire black castle will go.'
It had to go.
Cale said that he paid no attention to the Sichuan Castle Lord's words but he had a feeling that it would be difficult to avoid this situation.
He needed to go save Choi Jung Gun for Choi Jung Soo and Choi Han. He could go there without Raon, but would Raon want to do that?
Cale had taught him to run when he is in a disadvantageous situation, but he had not taught him to ignore things in front of him.
Even Cale could not do that.
'Honestly speaking, it is okay for kids to do that.'
As long as it was related to the child's health.
'Still, it will be that way no matter what.'
The black castle must go with them to that world.
The existence bound to the black castle…
'I need to take Sheritt-nim.'
Raon's mother and the last Dragon Lord.
Furthermore, the Dragon with the attribute of protection.
She had lost her physical body but her strength was still quite strong.
'Eruhaben-nim is an ancient Dragon who is over one thousand years old too.'
That was why he was so strong, but…
It was difficult to find an existence with as much weight as Sheritt in a Dragons world.
It was something beyond her strength of fighting prowess.
He heard Raon's voice at that moment.
Poke poke. Raon poked his arm as he asked.
"Human, do I need to save the world?"
Cale shook his head no without any hesitation after seeing Raon's wide open eyes.
He could see the emotions behind Raon's eyes despite his bright voice.
Raon is smart.
He is not smart because he has learned a lot and knows a lot. He is smart in terms of knowing the flow of things in the world or quickly recognizing logic behind things.
That was why Raon would have perfectly understood the Sichuan Castle Lord's comments.
He would be able to tell, better than anybody else, about the weight of those words as well.
He had seen how the adults around him had acted until now.
This was the reason Cale could resolutely answer without even the slightest of openings.
"That is impossible."
'You don't need to save the world. You don't need to worry about it.' Those kinds of answers would not work on Raon.
He had to answer differently.
"It is impossible to save any world on your own."
Cale informed Raon who was staring at him.
He spoke slowly, as if wanting Raon to recall the things they had experienced until now.
"Why have I been gathering people here? Why did the White Star fail?"
There could be one great and mighty existence, a hero.
However, it was difficult to change even a single kingdom on their own.
It might sound cold, but that was the truth.
Even though Cale himself was called Young Master Silver Shield and people praised his name saying that he led many battles to victory…
There were lots of soldiers and many of Cale's friends on the battlefields as well.
Cale could not do it all on his own without them.
"Of course, there are times when someone saves the world on their own. But why should they?"
Raon's eyes clouded over at Cale's question.
Cale chuckled after seeing them focus and explained.
"It's much easier when multiple people do it together. Don't you think so?"
"That's right! I like one-sided fights!"
"That's right."
Raon shouted again after Cale calmly nodded his head.
"Also, the stronger our side the better it is!"
"Good, you know that."
"I also want our side to not get hurt as much as possible!"
"That's right."
"In order for that to happen, we need a lot of people on our side!"
"Correct."
'He learned well.'
"And if we are in a disadvantageous situation, we just run!"
"Right answer."
"After that, we can just smack them from behind!"
"…Mm. That is true."
Technically, he was correct.
"We can also prepare tons of things and launch the first attack!"
"…Yeah."
"It's even better if we loot all of the enemy's treasures!"
"…Mm."
"Oh, we can also scam and trick them!"
"...."
"Pffft."
Cale turned toward the direction of the noise. Choi Jung Soo saw the cold look on Cale's face and quickly lowered his head.
However, team leader Sui Khan continued to laugh openly as he commented.
"Wow, you learned everything so well."
Raon puffed up his chubby stomach.
"Of course! I am great and mighty so I learn everything well!"
'I should just stop talking.'
Cale shook his head from side to side. The team leader poked Raon's puffed up stomach as he spoke.
"Kids just have to think about playing."
"That tickles!"
Raon flew away and stuck to Choi Han's back. Choi Han moved his hands back to carry Raon. He thought about how Raon was getting heavier as he calmly commented.
"There's nothing to worry about."
Raon's chubby back paws were bobbing around as he answered.
"That's right! We just have to destroy everything!"
'Aigoo.'
Cale sighed and looked away from Raon. At least he was relieved.
'He seems to have understood what I was trying to say.'
Raon looked relaxed after the burden was lifted off his shoulders. That would explain why he was acting so childish to Choi Han.
The relieved Cale made eye contact with Chief Eunuch Wi.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
Chief Eunuch Wi was looking at Cale with a blank look on his face.
"What is it, sir?"
Chief Eunuch Wi flinched and shook his head.
"I, it's nothing, young master-nim."
He then groaned internally.
'As expected ,young master Kim-nim is not someone who is just good and gentle.'
He could fathom the road that young master Kim had traveled based on that conversation with the Dragon.
'He has been holding back this whole time.'
To make things easier to handle. In order to decrease any unnecessary fights.
Young master Kim had remained respectful until now.
'We need to act cautiously.'
They needed to be even more careful around such people.
Chief Eunuch Wi remained tense as he quietly observed what young master Kim was doing.
"Castle Lord-nim."
Cale approached the plopped down Castle Lord.
"Could you please explain in more detail?"
It would be best to listen more to what he had to say.
Cale, who had approached him, flinched.
'Hmm?'
At the center of the open cavity…
There was an extremely small hole.
– Sniff sniff! It's over here! The fabulous smell is coming from here!
The Sky Eating Water started reacting.
"…Can you feel something, sir?"
The Castle Lord looked at Cale and asked in a much calmer tone.
He seemed quite relaxed now.
"Is there something under this hole?"
The Castle Lord nodded his head.
"Based on what I have heard, the Dragon's Tear is beneath this place, young master-nim."
To paraphrase the Castle Lord's comments…
Underneath this slate board that Cale was standing on was a completely frozen lake.
His great-grandfather had placed this slate board on top of the lake that remained frozen regardless of temperature and season and only made a single small hole.
"He said that a black Dragon will finally show up one day to take the things in the lake beneath this slate board."
"What is down there?"
That was the important part.
– It should be delicious.
The glutton priestess could be heard licking her lips and repeating those words.
"Unfortunately, I do not know."
The instant that Cale slightly frowned at the Castle Lord's response…
"However, that esteemed Dragon left us a booklet."
The Castle Lord let out a sigh-like laugh.
"I tried to open that booklet many times but the booklet itself did not open. That item is supposed to only open when it meets its proper owner, so if that sir over there is the proper owner, he would be able to open it."
The Castle Lord faintly smiled toward Raon.
Cale calmly responded.
"I am his guardian so I will take a look first."
He needed to make sure there was nothing dangerous about it.
"Of course. That booklet is in the safe in my study so I can give it to you right away."
The Sichuan Castle Lord answered without any issues.
Cale nonchalantly asked as he followed the Castle Lord up the stairs.
"You're not a spy from the Blood Cult, right?"
"Haaaaaaaaa. I am not, young master-nim."
He had no problem climbing the stairs despite his upper body being bound. Cale secretly exchanged glances with Chief Eunuch Wi.
– I do not believe he is one either, young master-nim. It seems as if someone with an important position in the residence was working with the Blood Cult.
Cale nodded his head at Chief Eunuch Wi's sound transmission and continued to walk up the stairs.
The Castle Lord approached the desk and pointed to the floor.
"Please press that wooden board over there."
Choi Jung Soo quickly pushed it and the floor moved up to reveal a small safe.
"Three rounds to the left, two rounds to the right-"
The Castle Lord informed them the way to open the safe without any hesitation and Choi Jung Soo immediately followed the instructions.
Click.
The safe opened.
Once the door was opened, there were some jewels, documents… And a single booklet.
"Human, it's magic!"
Cale heard what Raon said about the booklet and picked it up without any hesitation.
The booklet that looked like a typical Central Plains style booklet did not have a title.
However, it was quite old as if it had survived for many years.
"The flow of mana is quite peculiar in this! It should work properly if you change the flow of mana right here!"
Raon was still on Choi Han's back as he used his short front nail to tap on a part of the booklet.
He then flinched.
So did Cale.
Chhhhhhh–!
The book suddenly flew up into the air and opened.
An extremely loud voice flowed out of the book.
"Finally, that child has found me!"
It was an old woman's voice.
"Kahahahahaha!"
They also heard laughter and Cale's face stiffened.
'Sounds a bit weird?'
The laugh sounded a bit crazed.
"I wasn't a crazy Dragon! I was the answer!"
Chhhhhh-
The pages of the book were still viciously flapping around.
"Oh Dragon with the power of the present! You are the only one who can stop that bastard who messes with time!"
'Time?'
The moment Cale's eyes clouded over…
The old woman's voice coming out of the book was slowly getting higher pitched.
"I, the future, was ruined, and I'm certain that that bastard, past, would have been ruined as well! The only one left is the present."
Raon blinked his eyes.
"I've seen how strong you and your lackey are!"
'Lackey?'
Cale slightly frowned.
She did not say Lackeys but just a singular lackey.
It sounded as if she was clearly talking about one person.
In that case-
'Is she talking about me?
I'm Raon's lackey?'
"I've arranged some things for you and your lackey, so take them all! Kahahahahah!"
The book now spun in circles in the air.
"In the end, the present will be victorious! Time cannot defeat the now! Kahahahahah!"
Plop.
The book suddenly fell to the ground.
Words started appearing on the cover that did not have anything written on it before.
< The joyful Dragon and his lackey will get stronger if they eat all of this. >
Raon Miru.
Joyful Dragon in Korean.
It seemed obvious that the Dragon's lackey was Cale.
The title was very clear.
Cale clenched his eyes shut.
The back of his neck felt oddly cold.
—
Translator's Comments
Haha his lackey.