Chapter 17: Dragons and Dinosaurs are Relatives

Dragon Observation Journal:

All the dragons hatched from eggs have successfully polymorphed. However, there's a problem with calling them human.

'Red, blue, green. Let's say the hair and eye colors are fine. But what about the horns and tails?'

Two symmetrical horns centered on the crown. A long, scaly tail firmly placed between the waist and hips. Except for these, they look like special and pretty girls between 6 and 7 years old. I wondered if there was a way to resolve this, so I decided to ask.

"Hwaryeon."

"What!"

"The horns and tail. Can you hide them so they're not visible?"

"Homeowner, I told you! There's nothing a dragon can't do!"

As expected of a dragon. Hwaryeon immediately stretched out her hands and focused to hide her horns and tail.

"Hiyah!"

"..."

"Hiyaaah!"

"...?"

Nothing happened. I asked Hwaryeon, whose face had turned as red as her hair:

"I thought you said you could do it."

"I-I can do it! There's nothing in the world I can't do!"

"Then why aren't you hiding them?"

"That's... I-I just don't want to listen to you, homeowner! Got it?! I'm not hiding them because you told me to! Don't talk to me anymore!"

Pitter-patter-

Hwaryeon shouted and ran away on her short legs. She couldn't go far because the house is small. It seems the horns and tail can't be hidden after all.

"I guess that's not something I can do anything about."

It'll be difficult to take them outside. As I was pondering this, Suryeon approached and explained:

"It's natural that we can't hide our horns and tail. We haven't fully mastered polymorph yet."

"Is that so?"

"We've only taken human form by chance. We can't change our appearance at will yet. Polymorph itself is one of the higher-level dragon magics."

"Oh..."

I learned new information.

"Right now, we haven't changed our appearance freely. We've merely transformed our original dragon form into a human-like form."

Transformation, not shapeshifting. That's why they can't hide the horns and tail. Dragon instructor Suryeon explained it very well. I think I get the general idea.

"So you're saying your skills are still lacking."

"...That's true, but I don't like it."

Glare-

Suryeon glared at me with cold eyes. Anyway, it seems they can't hide their horns and tails. In that case...

"What about returning to dragon form?"

"That's possible."

As Suryeon answered, she emitted a blue light. The blue light briefly obscured my vision, and where Suryeon had been standing, there was now a training jacket. From underneath, Suryeon in dragon form crawled out.

"Hiss-"

It seems they can't speak in dragon form. I nodded, thinking this was good enough. Then, Suryeon emitted blue light again and returned to human form.

"It's like this. Do you understand, homeowner?"

"Yes, but Suryeon."

"Yes?"

"Let's talk after you put on some clothes first."

The transformation is fine, but the clothes fall off. Suryeon, with an annoyed face, put on the training jacket, her long blue hair swaying down to her waist.

"Why do humans wear clothes? It's not efficient at all."

Suryeon grumbled as she put on the shabby training clothes. From a dragon's perspective, where being naked is the norm, she doesn't seem to understand.

"Food, clothing, and shelter. These are the three essentials for human life. You have to wear them even if you complain."

"It's annoying."

"Wear them anyway."

"..."

Suryeon sat in front of the TV without saying anything. I didn't know what else to say either. So, I decided to watch TV with them.

"What kind of kids watch documentaries?"

A documentary was playing on TV. It was a program explaining the history of dinosaurs and what kinds of dinosaurs existed. Perhaps because there are similarities with dragons, they were watching intently, swaying their tails in comfortable positions.

"Dinosaurs, huh. Come to think of it, they're similar to dragons. Dinosaurs existed on Earth before dragons."

I used to memorize various types of dinosaurs in my childhood. And we would have deep discussions with friends about which dinosaur was stronger.

"Is Tyrannosaurus stronger, or Giganotosaurus?"

Triceratops or Stegosaurus? We used to hold dinosaur tournaments like this. And it seems dragons do the same. They were having an in-depth conversation:

"Tyrannosaurus clearly looks stronger!"

"Hmm, is that so? Isn't Giganotosaurus bigger?"

"What are you talking about! Tyrannosaurus is cooler! Bigger doesn't mean better!"

Even for dragons, it seems the match-up of the century is debatable. As they continued their deep discussion, Hwaryeon had a question:

"But if you look closely, don't those dinosaurs look a lot like dragons?!"

"You're right. I can sense a kindred spirit."

The dragons stared intently at the TV screen.

"Hmm!"

"Hmm."

Then Suryeon, as if she had figured something out, spoke with confidence:

"Those dinosaurs. They probably have dragon blood mixed in."

"What are you talking about? How could dinosaurs have dragon blood?"

"Maybe not the herbivores, but some of the carnivorous dinosaurs have dragon blood flowing in them. I can feel it."

It's a story from an incredibly long time ago, even by time standards. It seems like it's from over 100 million years ago. How could dinosaurs have mixed with dragon blood? As I wondered about this, Choryeon provided a clear answer:

"Dragons existed back then too! Probably, there were dragons that came to Earth in ancient times!"

"Really?"

"Yes, dragons travel through dimensional gates for fun! Even if it was 100 million years ago, dragons would have existed in a different time period! There might even be dragons enjoying themselves on Earth right now!"

Does this mean dragons could be hiding in human form? Choryeon's polite explanation was surprisingly convincing. But there was still one question unanswered.

"You said dinosaurs have dragon blood flowing in them."

"That's right!"

"Then, that means they're dragon descendants. So who did the dragons... with..."

"T-that..."

Choryeon seemed at a loss for words, hesitated for a moment, then laughed sheepishly.

"I don't know either!"

She probably didn't want to reveal any dragon shame. I fully understood Choryeon's feelings. Anyway...

"The idea that dragons might be enjoying themselves on Earth is quite interesting."

If there were dragons other than these ones, I could ask for information and raise them properly. I still don't know how to raise these ones. So, I'm just raising them like human children.

'I don't know if this is the right way or the wrong way...'

For now, I'll continue this way. I should raise them as humanly as possible. After all, I'm human, not a dragon.

"By the way, homeowner."

As I was thinking this, Suryeon spoke to me:

"It's better not to think all dragons are like us."

"How would you know if you've never met other dragons?"

"Dragons know everything. And we've received knowledge about other species. Purple dragons, especially black dragons, you need to be careful of them."

Not all dragons are friendly to humans.

"Those ones were banished even from the Dragon Society, the dimension where dragons gather."

Suryeon said this and then focused back on the TV screen. I think I understand what Suryeon was trying to tell me.

"Suryeon, are you worried about Dad?"

"When did I say I was worried-"

"If you're worried, just say so. Dad is touched."

"What nonsense-"

"It's okay. I know what you mean. Dad understands completely."

"..."

Suryeon, seemingly frustrated at being at a loss for words, slammed her tail down. That small tantrum looked very cute to me.

"Dragons hiding in the human world..."

I wonder what form they're hiding in. As someone raising dragons, I was very curious about this. The ones I'm raising aren't disguising themselves at all, they're completely showing their true selves.

***

In the late dawn, when everyone was asleep, Choryeon carefully got up.

"Everyone's sleeping well."

Hwaryeon was sleeping with her feet on Ha-jun's head, and Suryeon was sleeping on her side facing the wall. Ha-jun was sleeping comfortably in the middle.

"It looks nice!"

Hehe-

Choryeon chuckled and headed to the front door. There was something she had to do in the night when everyone was asleep.

"This is how you open the door, right...?"

Click-

Choryeon carefully opened the door and went outside, making sure not to be caught. She didn't forget to take the rooftop key from the dining table. Choryeon went up to the rooftop and breathed in the dawn air.

"Ahh- It's not good. The air is terrible!"

Unfortunately, there's no nature in this world. At this rate, the Earth will collapse first. We need to coexist with nature. Saying this, Choryeon approached the planters on the rooftop. Then, she started blowing green breath into the planters.

"Hoo- Hoo-"

The plants in the planters twitched at Choryeon's breath. Seeing this, Choryeon smiled freshly.

"Grow well. Grow well and turn this area into nature! You understand, right?"

Choryeon was attempting environmental protection in addition to vegetarianism. It was like an innate instinct of Green Dragons.