Chapter 72: Worship the Dragons (4)

'A wyvern, huh.'

I vaguely remember the training about wyverns from the Association.

Wyvern. A Pseudo-dragon. It has an appearance similar to a dragon.

'Only the appearance is similar. They said its abilities are much lower compared to a dragon.'

Was it said to be incomparable? But that's because dragons are unimaginably strong. From a human perspective, a wyvern is not an easy opponent.

-Grr...

"You're the first magical beast that doesn't run away at the sight of me."

This is my first battle with a magical beast. I absolutely can't lose to it. I can't show the kids me losing to a magical beast.

"Dad will never lose."

Clench-

I clenched my fist and charged towards the wyvern.

-Grr!

The wyvern, which had been lying on the ground, glared at me and stood up. Then, it swung its wings covered in bluish scales towards me.

-Grr!!

A sharp wind rushed towards me.

"Ow, that stings! This bastard is a flying type!"

I tried to block my face with my arm, but I still got a few scratches on my body.

"Just wait till I catch you. You're dead."

-Grr!

Pitter-patter-!

I increased my speed to approach the wyvern. Startled, the wyvern flapped its arms and took to the air.

"Hey, where are you going! Come here!"

It's so fast.

The wyvern flew up to a height I couldn't reach. Then, while floating in the air, it opened its mouth towards me. Seeing this, Hwaryeon, who was watching, shouted loudly.

"Dad, it's a breath attack! Dodge!"

A breath attack is quite dangerous. As Hwaryeon said, I rolled to the side before the breath attack arrived.

-Roar!

The wyvern shot a blue breath towards where I had been standing. The grass I had been standing on was hit by the breath and instantly rotted away.

'...Poison? It would be dangerous if I got hit.'

Choryeon must have noticed the rotted grass. She shouted angrily at the wyvern.

"How could you do this...! Attacking nature...! We absolutely can't forgive this, Father...! We need to bury the wyvern in the ground to make it apologize to nature...!"

Choryeon seemed to be overreacting to the rotted grass. I gestured that I understood and glared at the wyvern floating in the sky.

"...How do I catch that? It's attacking sneakily from above."

Just once. If I can just catch that wyvern, I can win. Even if I'm not good at fighting, my physical abilities are good.

'If I could just cling to it like a cicada, I could win.'

Is there a good way to reach that sky? I calmly thought while dodging the wyvern's aerial breath bombardment.

"Hmm, what would be a good method..."

"Father, hurry! You shouldn't get hurt, but please catch the wyvern quickly! Nature is being destroyed!"

"...Wait a bit, Choryeon. Let Dad think."

Although Choryeon kept urging me, after thinking as calmly and coolly as possible while dodging the breath attacks, I finally came up with one method.

'Ah, the score is complete.'

Choryeon might get angry, but this seems to be the only way. I dodged a breath attack and quickly approached Hwaryeon.

"Hwaryeon!"

"What, Dad!"

"You said you wanted to fight, right? I'll let you fight!"

"Really!? Really?! If you're lying, I'll fight you, Dad!"

"It's not a lie, so stay still!"

Lift-!

I put my hands under Hwaryeon's armpits and lifted her up. Then, I held Hwaryeon high and aimed her at the wyvern.

"Huh?"

"Hwaryeon, that breath you showed before! You shoot a breath attack too!"

If we can't reach it, we just need to bring it down.

At the words to shoot a breath attack, Hwaryeon grinned and confidently opened her mouth.

"Roar-!!"

Boom-!

Along with Hwaryeon's somewhat noisy melody, the breath attack shot straight towards the wyvern. The wyvern was surprised by the breath attack but barely managed to dodge it.

"Oh, you dodged?"

"How dare a mere wyvern dodge a dragon's attack!? Dad!!"

"Alright! I'll chase it!"

Pitter-patter-

I chased after the fleeing wyvern, continuously aiming Hwaryeon. Hwaryeon kept spitting out breath attacks to catch the sneaky wyvern.

"Roar-! Roar-! Roar-!"

Hwaryeon's fire breath shooting high into the sky. Sparks inevitably falling on trees. Choryeon fidgeted anxiously, stamping her feet.

"Wh-What if a fire starts... I wish someone who could spout water would put out the fire... Oh no..."

"..."

Choryeon used feminine speech without specifically mentioning the subject. Meanwhile, Hwaryeon and I continued chasing the wyvern to bring it down from the air.

As a result,

-Aargh!

"Yes, I did it!"

We finally managed to hit the wyvern's wing with a breath attack. The wyvern, hit by Hwaryeon's breath, staggered and descended to the ground.

"Well done, Hwaryeon!"

"Hmph, of course!"

Now I can finally fight the wyvern. I put Hwaryeon down and quickly approached the wyvern that had fallen from the sky.

-Grr!

Swish-!

As I tried to get close, the wyvern swung its other arm with sharp claws.

"Too slow."

I dodged the claw attack and instantly dove into the wyvern's embrace. Then, I moved behind it and wrapped my arms around its body.

"Finally caught you, you bastard."

-Gack! Gack!

Rear naked choke.

The wyvern, struggling to breathe, thrashed about trying to escape. But I clung on like a cicada, so I absolutely wouldn't let go.

'...This might look a bit uncool.'

Still, as a result of continuously choking the wyvern,

-Urk...

"Phew, I finally won."

I managed to knock out the wyvern and completely defeat it. I confidently said to the children to celebrate the victory.

"Kids, did you see? Dad won!!"

"Yay! We won!"

Hurray-!

Hwaryeon waved her hands excitedly, celebrating the victory. However, Suryeon and Choryeon's reactions were quite dry.

"Hmm, it seems like you won thanks to Hwaryeon. It's a stretch to say Dad won."

"Is Father also a bad human who destroys nature...? I think I need to teach you how great nature is when we get home..."

Was it because it wasn't... cool? The children's reactions were lukewarm.

Hurt by their reactions, I turned my head and shed tears of sorrow.

"Sob... That's disappointing..."

Still, seeing the fallen wyvern, my tears dried up instantly.

'How much is this worth?'

Grin-

I guess financial therapy is the best among psychological treatments.

***

Nidhogg. The wyvern that attacked the World Tree to obtain Yggdrasil's fruit.

We brought it to the center of the elf village with its wings tied.

-Grr! Grr!

"Now, now, be quiet. Want me to put you in a rear naked choke again?"

-G-Grr...

Only then did the wyvern stop howling in fear.

"Now you're behaving."

"It's strange for a mere wyvern to attack us in the first place. Lacking in ability yet fearlessly attacking. It must have been blinded by the dragon heart."

Suryeon said this while grabbing near her heart. From what I heard, if a wyvern consumes a dragon heart, it has a high chance of evolving into a dragon.

"Dragon slayers roaming dimensions, wyverns are beings even young dragons should be careful of."

"As expected of Dragon GPT Lee Suryeon. Your performance is good."

Puff-

Suryeon seemed pleased with my words and puffed up her shoulders. Then, a male elf near me said.

"From our perspective, dragons are scary, but wyverns are also frightening beings. Especially this wyvern called Nidhogg is a being of fear even among us elves. It destroys nature, and we can't catch it with arrows. It was no different from a natural enemy."

"Hmm, is that so?"

I wasn't particularly interested in what the man was saying. More importantly, it seems they really did issue a no-approach order.

All the elves who came out to see the wyvern are men.

'They say they love nature, but they've made it a sausage fest.'

What an unpleasant place this has become. I sighed.

I was filled with thoughts of wanting to leave this place quickly. But before that,

"I should get what I'm owed. Elf Elder."

"Yes, Dragon-nim."

"To be precise, I'm not a dragon but a dragon dad... Anyway, as you said, I fulfilled your request. No reward?"

At the mention of a reward, the Elder pondered for a moment. Then, looking at Choryeon beside me, he spoke with a decided face.

"In that case, I will give you one of the relics passed down by our elf ancestors..."

"That sounds quite good?"

I can already smell money. I followed the Elder who said he would give a gift.

Meanwhile, the children whispered to each other, anticipating the gift.

"What kind of gift will it be! I want a sword! A cool sword like the Masked Rangers!"

"I want a YuPad. I want that."

"I want to eat the fruit! It looked delicious!"

I think I can guess what gifts the children want. Winter will come soon, so I should keep this in mind for Christmas.

'I hope it's something that can be turned into money. I need to pay off debts quickly and move to a better place.'

Thinking this, I followed the Elder into the tent. The Elder entered the tent and showed me the relic displayed inside.

"Th-That's..."

Even I, no, everyone present couldn't have expected this object.

I approached the relic, carefully picked it up, and asked the Elder.

"Elder..."

"Yes."

"This... isn't this a watering can...?"

Just a watering can. A seemingly ordinary watering can.

The Elf Elder nodded, looking at the watering can.

"Yes, it is a watering can."

Oh, for crying out loud. I fulfill their request, and they give me a watering can.

'The reward is a bust.'

I had expectations.

I felt unnecessarily depressed. But,

"That's the best gift ever! Yes! Our vegetables and trees can grow healthily! Father, I love it!"

Choryeon seemed to really like that watering can.

'Now it's hard to refuse the gift.'

Well, if the kids like it, isn't that good enough?

Though it’s disappointing, that's what I thought.