Chapter 71
I wonder what kind of request he wants to make of us. We entered the chief's house to hear his story. We decided to sit at a round table, perfect for discussions, to listen.
'Wait, there's something I need to do before we hear the story.'
Ahem-
I cleared my throat and addressed the Elf Elder sitting across from me.
"Elder, bring me wine and women right now!!"
Gotta get what I can.
I ordered the Elder, hoping to advance my romantic prospects.
"Summon those lovely elf women we saw earlier!!"
"If it's the great dragon's order... I understand..."
Scrape-
The Elf Elder stood up with a determined expression. Choryeon quietly watched the Elf Elder and said lightly.
"Elf Elder, please sit down. And you don't need to bring any female elves."
"Choryeon! Are you trying to interfere with Dad's love life?!"
"Oh, and female elves are forbidden from approaching Father. Tell them the Green Dragon, lord of the forest, won't forgive them if they do."
"Ch-Choryeon..."
Why. Why are you interfering with Dad's romantic pursuits, and so thoroughly at that?
The Elf Elder, unfortunately, nodded at Choryeon's order.
"...Yes, I understand. Green Dragon Lee Choryeon, ruler of the elves. I will block all elves from approaching."
Damn it! Forbidden from approaching female elves. There were so many pretty ones.
I dreamed of a harem life with beautiful elves, but Choryeon mercilessly crushed my dream.
"Why on earth did you make this choice, Choryeon...!!"
"Father, female elves aren't necessary for helping the World Tree. Please don't indulge your selfish desires."
Chill-
Choryeon's sharp words crushed even my will to resist. I had no choice but to give up on my elf harem life.
"...Fine. Elf Elder, explain that request in detail. I'm in a bad mood, so make it quick."
"Yes, I understand."
Bow-
The Elf Elder bowed his head briefly and began to explain.
"As I mentioned earlier, the World Tree is in danger. A being that we primitive elves cannot handle is targeting the World Tree."
"Who is it?"
"It's... a dragon called Nidhogg..."
Nidhogg.
At that word, Hwaryeon burst out.
"Nidhogg! I know him!"
"...Really?"
"I'm telling you!"
Hmm.
Her credibility isn't very high, but it seems Hwaryeon knows about Nidhogg due to her inherited knowledge.
I decided to hear what Hwaryeon had to say.
"Hwaryeon, it's time to show off your limited knowledge."
"Hmph, limited knowledge? Dad, you'll see later! Anyway, Nidhogg is a wyvern pretending to be a dragon living near the World Tree!"
"Not a dragon but a wyvern?"
"Yeah, he's a dragon impersonator! He just looks similar to a dragon, but he's not one!"
A wyvern that looks similar to a dragon. I still don't quite understand.
Seeing me pondering, Suryeon briefly summarized the explanation about Nidhogg.
"Think of him as an impersonator and troublemaker, Dad."
"Thanks for the summary, Suryeon."
"Then let's quickly catch Nidhogg and go home. I don't like it here. There are too many female elves."
What does having many female elves have to do with not liking it here? I was a bit puzzled but decided to let it go for now.
"Well, now that we've heard about the situation, we can't just ignore it. Shall we check if we can catch Nidhogg?"
"Hunting! Time to hunt the fake! Yahoo!"
If we help, the elves will probably reward us.
With very materialistic thoughts, I decided to go out and investigate what kind of creature Nidhogg is.
Since raising kids requires a lot of money, I thought it was natural to think about the reward.
***
While wandering through the forest to find Nidhogg, we listened to information about Nidhogg from the Elder and the dragons.
Apparently, Nidhogg roams near the World Tree and targets the fruit of Yggdrasil growing on the World Tree.
"If a wyvern eats Yggdrasil's fruit, it gains tremendous power. Even dragons could be in danger if they're careless."
"Oh ho."
"The wyvern's ultimate goal is to become a dragon. They say wyverns make incredible efforts to become dragons."
"So it's not something to be taken lightly."
"Yes, that's what the knowledge I inherited says."
Perhaps because wyverns live long and train hard, it seems stronger than I thought. Thinking about this, I started to worry.
"...Surely we won't lose to a wyvern, right?"
"As if that could happen, Dad!"
Hwaryeon shouted, exuding confidence.
"It's just a wyvern! How could we lose! We're dragons! How could we possibly lose!"
"Uh, Hwaryeon. Stop talking. Any more flags are dangerous."
"Did I say anything wrong! How could the great dragons lose to a mere wyvern, Dad!!"
Damn it. I feel like we've lost before the fight even starts.
The smell of defeat is strong around Hwaryeon.
Suryeon muttered, distancing herself from Hwaryeon.
"I feel like the losing aura might rub off on me. Don't stick close to me, Hwaryeon."
"Hmph, cowards! To be afraid of a mere wyvern!"
Hwaryeon still hasn't come to her senses.
I also distanced myself from Hwaryeon, fearing the losing aura might rub off on me.
As we walked apart from Hwaryeon, following the Elder,
"Nidhogg is over there, great dragons."
The Elf Elder pointed to Nidhogg's location. We hid behind trees and carefully peeked out to see Nidhogg.
"So that's Nidhogg... the wyvern..."
Dragons have separate arms and wings, but wyverns have their arms and wings combined. I thought it could be easy to confuse them with dragons if you're not careful.
"It does look quite similar to a dragon."
Glare-
At my comment, all the dragons looked at me as if they wanted to kill me and said.
"Dad, are you saying that lowly wyvern looks similar to us dragons?"
"...That's not a statement we can just ignore, Dad."
"Even if you're our father, I think you shouldn't cross that line!"
Hmm, is it that serious?
The dragon kids showed an extremely sensitive reaction to comparing them with wyverns. I wasn't sure if it warranted such a strong response.
"They look similar to me."
"Hmm..."
Suryeon, clearly irritated by my comment, spoke coldly.
"Dad, I have a thought. Trash humans and chimpanzees seem pretty much the same to me."
"...No matter what, humans and chimpanzees are different, Suryeon."
"Oh, is that so? To a dragon's eyes, they look exactly the same."
Scary kid. To use mirror therapy on her own dad.
I decided to take a step back like an adult.
"...Alright, I'm sorry. I take back the comparison."
"Good thinking, Dad."
Suryeon stood on her tiptoes and patted my bowed head. Then she smiled, looking quite satisfied.
"Hehe."
"..."
Choryeon watched this quietly, then pointed towards Nidhogg and said.
"Let's focus, Father. Aren't we here to catch Nidhogg and save the World Tree?"
"That's right, isn't it?"
"Then please focus on Nidhogg, Father."
"Y-Yes, Choryeon."
Choryeon seems to have become a bit fierce. Is it just my imagination?
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I scratched my head and looked at Nidhogg. He was still sleeping under a tree.
"Hmm, I wonder if we can catch him. Hwaryeon, measure his combat power."
"Hmph, why should I listen to you, Dad!"
Hwaryeon refused my order. However, shortly after, she opened her mouth and spoke.
"That wyvern is strong. Even you, Dad, can't guarantee victory."
"Roughly speaking, what are the odds?"
"I don't know numbers well!"
"...Which side seems to have the advantage?"
"Still, the side with me, Lee Hwaryeon, has the advantage!"
Is she saying we have the advantage if we fight together? I checked our party members hiding behind the tree.
'One foolish warrior. One chuunibyou mage. One healthy healer.'
I guess the hero position falls to me by default.
I did some light stretches and said to the children.
"Kids. You stay put and wait. I'll catch that Nidhogg and come back."
Having the kids around would probably just make me worry anyway. At those words, Hwaryeon lay down on the ground, indignant.
"No! I want to fight! I can fight too! Why is only Dad fighting! I'm going to fight too!!"
Whine-
Hwaryeon started whining on the ground, saying she wanted to fight.
"I want to fight too! Include me! Why are you fighting without me! I'm good at fighting too!"
"...Sigh."
I guess there's no helping it.
I lifted Hwaryeon, who was rolling on the ground whining, and said.
"If you wait quietly, I'll buy you a toy when we get back."
Stop-
Was the toy too tempting to resist? Hwaryeon turned her head slightly, looked into my eyes, and asked.
"...What kind of toy?"
"A Masked Ranger. I'll buy you a belt."
"...Keep your promise when we get back!"
Fortunately, Hwaryeon stopped throwing a tantrum in exchange for the toy.
'Sigh, that's so expensive. I can already feel my back bending.'
Still, if we catch Nidhogg and get a reward from the Elder, it should be fine. We might get a considerable amount of money when we leave this dimension.
Thinking this, I wiped my drool and slowly approached Nidhogg.
-Grr?
As I got close, the wyvern opened its eyes and glared at me. Its eyes were filled with both fear and a competitive spirit.
I glared back at the wyvern and said confidently.
"Since the kids are watching, I should show off a bit. Hey, wyvern."
Let me beat you up a bit.
With the intention of being a cool dad in front of the kids,
"Nidhogg, come here!"
-Grr!
I clenched my fists and charged towards the pseudo-dragon, the wyvern, to rescue the World Tree that Choryeon loves.