Chapter 24
Currently, we're living together in a cramped one-room apartment. Although we haven't been living together for long, I think I've become quite close with the dragon kids.
'I'm not the only one who thinks we've gotten close, right? Surely my daughters think so too.'
Anyway, regardless of living together, it's hard to say I know them well. To be honest, I still don't know much about dragons. For that reason...
"Today, I'm going to examine you all directly."
I plan to get to know them through various tests. At this shocking statement, two of them, except Choryeon, immediately objected.
"Who are you to examine me, Dad? I don't want to!"
"Just imagining it makes me feel bad."
Hwaryeon and Suryeon frowned. The reaction is already not good. But it doesn't matter even if those two refuse.
"Physical examinations are mandatory for everyone. Not a single person can skip it."
"No! I won't do it!"
"Quiet. Everyone stand with your back against the wall. I'm going to measure your height first."
Refusal is denied. They grumbled but stood with their backs against the wall. I took a pen and drew a line on the wall based on the top of their heads. Then, I wrote the date next to that line.
"All done. You're all around 120cm."
They peeled themselves off the wall to check the results. Their reactions varied.
"As expected, I'm first!"
"..."
"Wow, I'm the shortest!"
Hwaryeon was the tallest, and Choryeon was the shortest. It's an obvious result just by looking, but the result isn't what's important. This was to record how much they grow each day.
"Hmm."
Perhaps unhappy with the ranking, Suryeon quietly said while pointing at the line:
"Dad, that's not my height. My height should be taller."
"I thought you might say that. Want me to measure again?"
"Yes, do it again. This time, include the length of my horns."
"What?"
I looked at Suryeon in disbelief. Suryeon looked at me as if there was some problem.
'This kid seriously thinks her horns count as part of her height.'
Her eyes are dead serious.
"A dragon's height should include the horns. I can't accept this result."
"It won't make much difference even if we include them."
"I'm still going to include my horns."
The meticulous Suryeon wouldn't budge. I had no choice but to measure her height including her horns. She gained about 5cm and took first place.
"This is the correct result."
"Hey, that's not fair! I'll include my horns too! Dad, measure mine with horns too!"
Losing first place, Hwaryeon exploded in anger. If it was going to be like this, I should have included horns from the start. I had no choice but to measure Hwaryeon's height again. Only then did Hwaryeon's anger subside.
"Hmph, I'm definitely first! Now the world is right again!"
"Tch."
Hwaryeon shrugged her shoulders, and Suryeon clicked her tongue in disappointment. After finishing the height check, I decided to move on to the next test, weight. Since we don't have a scale at home, I decided to measure by lifting them myself. I'm quite confident in this area.
"Hwaryeon, come here!"
"L-let go! How dare you touch a dragon's body so carelessly! Get away!"
"Hmm, you don't have much fat compared to how much you eat. Lighter than I thought."
"I said let go!"
Although her struggling was fierce, I managed to complete the measurement safely. She's a little over 23kg. Next is Suryeon.
"Suryeon, come here... Where did she go?"
"Suryeon unnie ran to the bathroom!"
Smart kid. But Suryeon didn't know I had the key. I opened the bathroom door with the key and pulled out the hiding Suryeon.
"You're much lighter than Hwaryeon? Suryeon, you need to eat more."
"...I feel bad."
"Next is Choryeon!"
I lifted Choryeon to check her weight.
"Suryeon is the skinniest. I thought Choryeon would be the skinniest since she only eats vegetables. Is it like an elephant?"
"Elephant?! Dad, that's too much!"
Calling a young girl an elephant is a bit much. I apologized quietly and put Choryeon down. After that, I conducted simple tests like dental and vision checks. Now it's time to move on to the main examination.
"Kids."
"What is it, Dad?"
"I think it's been quite a while since we met. Don't you think so too?"
The kids looked at each other and nodded slightly.
"But I don't think we've had a proper conversation among ourselves."
In that sense...
"I was thinking of having an interview time. What do you think?"
The kids immediately answered:
"No! Why should I!"
"It's troublesome. Do we have to?"
"I'd like that!"
"...I was wrong to ask. Just interview everyone. It's noisy."
They're consistent. Refusal is denied. And so, I decided to have interviews with the dragons.
***
First interviewee:
Red Dragon.
Lee Hwaryeon.
She came up to the rooftop to meet with me alone. I handed Hwaryeon a small plastic chair.
"Here, sit down."
"I don't want to."
Hwaryeon said she didn't want to but sat down anyway. She's a kid whose words and actions are completely different. I made eye contact with this bundle of pride and asked:
"Hwaryeon, how do you like living here?"
"The food is delicious!"
"...Is that all?"
"Yep!"
It's neither good nor bad, but she's enjoying the food. I guess that's how I should interpret it. I decided to move on to the next question.
"This might be a difficult question-"
"Nothing's difficult for me!"
"Alright. A question that's not difficult for Hwaryeon. What can you do?"
To that, Hwaryeon proudly exclaimed:
"Everything!"
Her confidence was certain. However, it wasn't the answer I wanted. I asked again, more specifically:
"The fire-breathing you show every day. That dragon language you showed before? Besides those, do you have any other abilities? Like flying in the sky or reading people's minds. Things like that."
"Hmm, I think I could do the things you just mentioned if I tried! But there's something else I can do right now!"
Stand up! Hwaryeon stood up and looked at the sky. Then she opened her mouth towards the sky.
'This feels unsettling.'
I stood up to try and stop Hwaryeon.
"Hey, Hwaryeon, I don't know what you're trying to do, but stop for now!"
Hwaryeon answered with something in her mouth:
"Huh? Once I start this, I can't stop?"
"Then swallow it back!"
"No way! I'm going to do it!"
Hwaryeon spewed a bright red fireball towards the sky.
Whoosh-
The fireball rose high into the sky. Then, the ball squirmed and suddenly exploded in the sky.
Boom-
Like fireworks. It instantly lit up the sky, spewing a huge flame. Seeing this, I slapped my forehead.
"Oh my god. These are fireworks."
Everyone must have seen it. We're doomed. Hwaryeon, not reading the atmosphere, shrugged her shoulders next to me.
"Hmph, how about that! This is a dragon! It's the fireworks I saw on TV! They said these are expensive! Dragons can use fireworks for free! I have lots of other cool and flashy things too! Want to see?"
"...No. More importantly, Hwaryeon."
"Yes?"
"You go back home."
I think I understand now. About Hwaryeon's abilities. She seems to prefer strong abilities, excluding practical ones. Abilities that use fire - flashy, attention-grabbing, good for incapacitating opponents. I thought it might be time to end the interview.
"Hwaryeon, go back home now. Tell Suryeon to come up."
"No! Why should I?! Hmph!"
Hwaryeon said this and immediately went back home. Contrary to Hwaryeon's words, Suryeon came up to the rooftop. It must be habitual opposition syndrome.
"Did you call me, Dad?"
And so, the second one. Blue Dragon. Lee Suryeon sat in the chair and made eye contact with me.
"Ahem, Suryeon. How do you like living here?"
"It's not bad."
"Then is there anything you want?"
"Hmm."
Do you have any requests? At that question, Suryeon thought for a moment and said:
"Dad, I saw on TV. They say there's internet in this world."
"There is internet."
"Right, I saw it directly before. I could get various information through that small smartphone. You saw those large human females too, didn't you?"
"...Do we really need to talk about that?"
I'd rather keep that hidden. Anyway, Suryeon continued speaking.
"In that sense, I want to get a lot of information. Through that internet. I want a smartphone that can access the internet."
"A smartphone... That's a bit expensive..."
That's a bit hard to manage. Suryeon added another spoonful:
"By the way, I think an iPhone looks good. It's expensive but the design is nice. It doesn't look bad."
"That's a bit..."
"If you say it's not possible now, I can't help it. But if you lend me your smartphone when you come home from work, I think I could be satisfied with that."
Anyway. She wants an item that can access the internet. That's what Suryeon wanted.
"I can do that much. Alright."
"Then I'm also thank...ful."
Since we communicated well, Suryeon gave me a shy thank you. And this time, like with Hwaryeon, I asked what she could do. To that, Suryeon showed me directly.
"First, since that Red Dragon probably didn't explain properly. Let me explain directly. Hwaryeon unnie's abilities are all likely related to combat."
"Oh ho."
"And unlike other dragons, I handle magic power well. I easily convert the magic power in my heart into water to use abilities. Like this."
Suryeon converted magic power into water and sent it high into the sky. Then, rain started falling from the clear sky.
Pitter-patter-
"Well, that's about it for me."
"Oh."
Suryeon didn't show it outwardly, but she seemed to be inwardly hoping for praise.
"That's amazing?"
"This much is natural, Dad."
Seeing this, I thought deeply to myself. Although I haven't interviewed Choryeon yet, this is...
'...I definitely need to start farming?'
I smell money. It feels like I've discovered a very good watering can. More than that, I felt alarmed by her ability to control the climate.
'Unlike Hwaryeon, Suryeon's ability must absolutely not be discovered.'
Especially by other countries. Suryeon's ability was enough to save or kill an entire country.