Chapter 119: The New Nest

Dragons are detestable.

They hide in the human world, causing chaos while fulfilling their own amusement through what they call 'entertainment'. Because of this, humans unknowingly become playthings of dragons and suffer.

He had seen countless humans lose their lives due to dragons' simple 'entertainment'.

"Trash, the lot of them."

In a shabby motel, the Dragon Slayer sat on the bed, expressing his hatred for dragons.

His blind eye stung for no reason.

"How much longer do they intend to disrupt the human world? Treating humans as mere toys."

The Dragon Slayer put a Marlboro Red in his mouth. He was somewhat satisfied with Earth's cigarettes.

Then, he turned his attention to the old TV leaking English.

-The Rothschild family has announced they will spare no support for Texas, which has been devastated by the effects of dimensional gates.

Rothschild.

A member of that family appeared on TV. The Dragon Slayer glared at the family member as if to kill them.

Having chased dragons for so long, he could tell immediately even through the TV.

"Rotten dragon bastards. Enjoying their amusement among the upper echelons of America, not Korea. Do they want to deceive humans for fun that badly?"

Those guys will surely cause chaos in the human world again for their own amusement, just like what happened to me and my family.

"I'll have to go to America and kill those bastards."

The Dragon Slayer thought this as he gripped his necklace tightly.

At that moment.

Bang bang-!

"An intruder? How polite of them to knock."

Swish-

At the sound of someone banging on the door, the Dragon Slayer picked up his huge sword and opened the door.

Creak-

When he opened the door, there stood the motel ajumma with permed hair and thick makeup. The motel ajumma narrowed her eyes and shouted shrilly.

"Mister! How long are you going to delay the lodging fee? And what's with that toy sword?! Are you still playing with toys at your age?"

"..."

"Instead of doing that, go work and pay your overdue fees! If you're an adult, you should work!"

"..."

"Sigh, I'm the fool for accepting a long-term guest. If you don't pay by next week, I'll kick you out right away! Got it?!"

Slam-!

The motel ajumma disappeared after throwing a fit. The Dragon Slayer felt like his ears were bleeding.

"...I guess I need to earn money before going to America. This world requires too much money."

Before hunting dragons, first, he needs to earn money.

The Dragon Slayer pulled down the cap he picked up from a clothing donation bin and went outside.

"Jo Hyun-gyu's Employment Agency, was it? That place was decent."

Even for a Dragon Slayer, surviving in the modern era was difficult.

***

District 04 is a zone specialized for residential living. There are many people with decent jobs and moderate income.

It's a zone with a lifestyle similar to before dimensional gates appeared.

In other words, it's a good place to live.

They say it's good for children to grow up safely and for establishing stable families, and I heard in passing that there are many single women in their 20s in this district.

'I can't resist dating again.'

After two years have passed, I've become a freelance hero not affiliated with any association, rather than an association-affiliated hero.

This means I have quite a lot of free time since I can work only when I want to.

'I have time to spare? It's the perfect time for dating.'

Hmm.

I nodded, dreaming of a rosy future in my mind. Then, Hwaryeon's head flew into my back.

"Dragon headbutt!"

"Ouch!"

I thought my back was going to break. Why the sudden headbutt?

"Lee Hwaryeon. What's this about? Are you some Pachycephalosaurus?"

"I'm not a Pachycephalo! I'm a Red Dragon!"

"Then why are you headbutting me?"

"Because Dad just had some weird thoughts!"

...She's quite perceptive about these things. 

Suryeon and Choryeon nodded in agreement with Hwaryeon's words.

"Dad, it shows on your face when you're having strange fantasies. Creepily."

"Who are you calling creepy, Suryeon?"

Adding to Suryeon's words, Choryeon chimed in.

"Father might not know! But we're always watching Father, so we can tell everything!"

"Really?"

It's not like I carry a mirror around. I don't know what my face looks like when I'm imagining dating.

Anyway.

We've stopped at a rest area and had a comfortable chat. We decided to head to our new home again.

"Everyone get in. We need to leave again."

"W-Wait a moment, Father! There's something I want to eat!"

"What is it?"

"I, I want to eat that!"

Ta-da-

Choryeon pointed at the food court in the rest area. It was a corner selling various snacks.

"I'm curious about that food called roasted potatoes! And sweet potato sticks too!"

The vegetarian Lee Choryeon is at it again. Choryeon strongly appealed that she wanted to eat sweet potato sticks and roasted potatoes.

"Alright, I'll give you the card, so can you go buy them, Choryeon?"

"Yes, Father! I'll leave Mangmung here! I'll go by myself!"

Exchanging the card for Mangmung, Choryeon trotted off to buy food.

We got in the car and waited for Choryeon to return. Meanwhile, Suryeon quietly said.

"Hmm, Dad."

"Yes?"

"Wouldn't it be funny if we left first and Choryeon spilled the potatoes while running after us?"

I imagined it based on Suryeon's words.

Choryeon running with a big smile, holding roasted potatoes and sweet potato sticks. Seeing us leave, she panics and runs, and then.

Splat-!

Roasted potatoes and sweet potato sticks scattered on the asphalt. If that happened, Choryeon would definitely cry.

"Suryeon."

"Yes."

"This isn't a dragon-like idea, but a devilish one, isn't it?"

"...It was a joke."

Suryeon says it was a joke when controversy arises.

I couldn't bring myself to make my daughter experience such a terrible thing.

Choryeon, who had arrived at some point, held roasted potatoes and sweet potato sticks in both hands and shouted at the window.

"Father! I bought roasted potatoes and sweet potato sticks!"

"Tch."

Suryeon opened the back door for her.

Choryeon got in the back seat with a bright smile. We shared the roasted potatoes and sweet potato sticks as we headed to our new nest.

After a long time in the car like that,

"Kids. We've arrived."

"Yay! It's our new nest!"

"Hmm, is this my new home? Not bad for a dragon to live in."

"The, the buildings are so big! Is this whole building our home!?"

"W-Woof-! Woof-!"

The children showed their own reactions upon seeing the apartment.

Some of them mistook the entire apartment complex as our nest, but I approached Tubby and Weakling, who were waiting for us at the entrance of Complex 3.

"I'm here. Did you move all the belongings?"

"Yes, that's right, Big Bro! You can decide on the layout, we've moved everything in!"

"Good, thanks for your hard work. I'm always grateful."

Pat pat-

I patted Tubby and Weakling's shoulders. They bowed their heads and said.

"Not at all, Big Bro! We're always grateful. You always take good care of us."

"We'll work hard too and come out of District 09 to live in a place like this!"

Despite their rough exterior, they're good kids at heart.

"Remove your tattoos, work hard, and live honestly. Tell Gu Bong-gu I arrived safely."

"Yes, Big Bro!"

"See you again later."

"Yes, understood! Congratulations on your success, Big Bro!"

Tubby and Weakling bowed 90 degrees and left in their truck. The dragon kids waved at Tubby and Weakling.

"Bye-bye, Pig and Anchovy uncles!"

"..."

"Take care on your way home, uncles!"

After Tubby and Weakling left, we entered the apartment building.

And we even got on an elevator.

'How long has it been since I lived in a place with an elevator? Was it when my parents were still alive?'

The kids seemed fascinated by the elevator and observed its interior closely.

Thump-! Thump-!

"Will it fall if I do this!?"

"Hey, Lee Hwaryeon! Stay still in the elevator!"

Beep- Beep-

"It's like playing a game."

"Why are you pressing other floor buttons! Lee Suryeon! Cancel all except the top floor!"

Creak-

"It feels like the door might open, Father! We could do an emergency escape!"

"Hey, Lee Choryeon! Don't try to open the door with force! Mangmung, don't try to pee either! Mark your territory later!"

"Whine..."

These rascals.

Seeing something new, they're going crazy and doing things they shouldn't. Is it because they're at that mischievous age? They're full of curiosity and doing strange things.

Ding-

While stopping the troublemakers, we arrived at the 17th floor. I chased the kids out of the elevator before they could cause more trouble.

"Everyone get out quickly! And go into apartment 1704 where the door is open!"

"Wow, it's our new home!"

Rumble-

The kids started running towards our new nest. I already feel drained before even arranging the furniture.

"Phew, it's not easy from the start."

I was already feeling exhausted, but I put on work gloves from my pocket and entered our new home.

"Wow! It's so spacious! Now we can run around! Yay!"

"It seems about three times larger."

"Now Mangmung can run around too!"

"Woof-!"

The moving boxes were organized in the living room, and the dragons and Mangmung were jumping over them, running around.

"Master bedroom, two bathrooms, living room, kitchen, two rooms, storage, utility room. Even though it's old-fashioned, the layout is really good. And it's sturdy too."

I heard that most new apartments collapsed when dimensional gates started appearing.

Apparently, they easily collapsed due to lack of reinforcing bars. For that reason, there are more old-style apartments left than new ones.

"Well then, shall we start unpacking?"

Let's arrange the furniture. It's a bit much to do alone, so...

"Hwaryeon."

"What!"

"Help Dad out."

"Why should I!"

"If you help Dad, I'll give you your own room. Suryeon and Choryeon will share a room, and you'll have one to yourself."

Zoom-

Hwaryeon immediately stuck to my side.

"What do you want me to help with?!"

"Help me move the furniture. You're strong, right?"

"Hmph, I am pretty strong!"

Puff-

Hwaryeon showing off her sturdy muscles.

They didn't really look like muscles yet due to baby fat, but still soft. But she has the characteristic dragon strength, so it should help.

"Alright, put the sofa against that wall!"

"Heave-ho!"

"The drawer goes opposite the sofa!"

"Aye-aye!"

"Put the TV on top of the drawer!"

"Charge!"

Dragon cries are quite unique. Hwaryeon worked hard helping me move furniture.

"We'll help too!"

"Woof-!"

Heave-ho-

Choryeon and Mangmung tried to help too, but they were more of a moral support.

"Scissors go in the kitchen. This is mine. Dad's clothes go in the master bedroom... One of these is mine."

Of course, Suryeon was too lazy to use her strength, so she just placed small items in their locations.

After a long time like this,

"We're, we're mostly done!"

We managed to finish unpacking roughly.

The house still felt empty since not all the furniture had arrived, but it didn't matter much because my daughters and Mangmung were there.

"Today we can just all sleep together in the living room with blankets... We've finished unpacking..."

"On moving day, we eat jajangmyeon!"

"You know well, Hwaryeon."

You remember well.

We called the Chinese restaurant number that Tubby and Weakling thoughtfully left, And like before, we spread newspapers on the floor and ate jajangmyeon, jjamppong, sweet and sour pork, and fried dumplings.

"I'm going to eat both jajangmyeon and jjamppong! Roar!"

"Eat two fried dumplings each. No more than that."

"Hehe, it's delicious! Father! I like our new home!"

I'm glad the kids like it.

I wiped Choryeon's mouth, which was smeared with black bean sauce.

Although we're living in a new environment unlike before, I was certain that if we could have days like today, we could live harmoniously and happily like before.

"Do you all like the house?"

"Yeah! I wike it!"

"It's okay."

"Yes, it's the best! Father!"

"Woof-!"

It's a relief that they like it. I'm really glad.