Chapter 243: A Short Break (2)
“What are you talking about?”
Dialugia looked mixed parts perplexed and speechless, seeing me look so happy. In fact, I didn’t even try to hide how happy I felt.
‘If it’s 30,000 years, even mankind would have perished.’
In fact, it didn’t matter to me whether mankind would perish by then or not. I knew that this continent had its fair share of ancient stories.
‘No, it must be really old.’
Dialugia alone had lived for 4,000 years, and there was also someone they called the Dragon Lord. Considering that God had blessed this continent, then the history of mankind must’ve indeed been long.
Although the probability is low, the civilization here could be maintained even after 30,000 years.
‘If I think about it in a dragon’s standard, however, it would be a lot different…’
Considering that I shared one life with Dialugia, I thought I would live quite a long time, but not for another 30,000 years.
Dialugia spoke once more as I mulled this over.
“Is it true that you said this doesn’t need to be fixed?”
“It doesn’t… mean exactly that…”
“I can’t even speak of how absurd that is. Or did you not understand the seriousness of this situation? The Fragment of the Ancient God will slowly absorb all life on the continent. It will suck in the magic power spreading in the atmosphere and start to eat some of the lands we are stepping on. All lifeforms will die, and in the end, there will be nothing left.”
“Ah! Do the rooted tentacles play that role? That’s why the museum’s function is also stopped. It doesn’t seem to be affecting us either… Are we safe?”
“It doesn’t matter that right now. You really are…!”
“No, why are you so angry? You can speak slowly without being excited, Dialugia.”
“You’re not grasping the severity of our situation.”
“Why are you so angry with me? Honestly, who’s the one who played the biggest part in unlocking the seal?”
“T-That…”
“Does the dragon have a lifespan of more than 30,000 years? Is that why?”
from individual to individual. It’s around 10,000 years, but it is usually impossible to live longer than that. For reference, you, too, will follow my life span as a dragon spouse and live for about 6,000 more years if nothing happens during that.”
It felt a little too long, and though I had expected this, I felt restless when Dialugia spoke it out loud.
“It won’t collapse after 3,000 years, so there’s nothing wrong with it. Our Tol To-ri can live comfortably for about 10,000 more years… I also think my grandchildren can endure it without difficulty, but I don’t know why you’re saying this.”
“How come you don’t? Didn’t I just tell you?”
“It’s fine. All of our descendants will take care of it.”
“What on Earth are you talking about?”
“The future is created by our descendants.”
Even I knew my statement sounded trashy.
Dialugia looked disgusted.
“You can’t just say that. The continent will be destroyed. This will be confirmed if we don’t fix it now. It’s like destroying the world with our own hands. How should we see our a-ancestors at this rate?”
Certainly, with the standard of dragons, the feeling was a little different.
If someone is told me that the world would perish in 300 years, then the average person may feel a little upset. Even Kim Hyunsung would take on the responsibility.
I also knew Dialugia would be that kind of dragon.
“This is something that needs to be fixed. It must be fixed.”
“You mean risking our life?”
“No, but…”
“No, Dialugia. Let’s be a little more honest. What’s the most important thing?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The most important thing for us, isn’t it our Tol To-ri?”
“But…”
“So, didn’t you help unseal the Ancient God? Think about this carefully. If we shut our mouths and pretend we don’t know, we will be able to live happily with Tol To-ri. Honestly, we were lucky just now. We were really lucky. It would not be strange even if we all had died.”
I knew she would eventually agree with me. Just the fact that we had survived was a miracle in itself.
The Fragment of the Ancient God didn’t even recognize us as the enemy. He was just wriggling around, destroying everything it saw.
“I understand that you love the continent. I don’t know much about dragons, but hearing about balancing things or something, I think you feel responsible. But it’s okay to be moderately selfish. If we do something wrong, trying to fix this, we will all die.”
“I know that. But…”
“We are not alone, right? You have to think about Tol To-ri, who will be left alone.”
At this, Dialugia shut her mouth, a terrible expression of guilt crossing her face.
‘She’s really…’
She was a tree that gave generously as a unique characteristic, so if it weren’t for Tol To-ri, she might have jumped into the fire to protect the continent at the expense of her life.
“You say you don’t know that Tol To-ri might be waiting for her mom and dad to return as soon as possible. Do you think I want to pretend that I don’t know about the fate of the continent? However, it is not the fate of the continent that Tol To-ri needs. It’s his parents. Let’s talk openly. Is Tol To-ri important? Or the ones who will be left on the continent more important?”
“Tol… Tol To-ri…”
“Right. Tol To-ri is the most important. So, you don’t have to think about this too much.”
“I-It’s not this…”
“You don’t have to worry too much. Didn’t you hear it, too, Dialugia? A preliminary program has been triggered, and the Crack Museum is now working hard to fix it. If what they prepared fails, I will do my best to prevent it. Of course, if it’s within reach of my hand.”
“Yeah…”
When I patted her shoulder, I could see her bowing down. It seemed hard for her to accept this fact, but what she thought about this didn’t matter.
As my life was the most important thing to me, Tol To-ri was the most important to her.
‘Good thing.’
I was glad that Tol To-ri existed.
“Oh, for reference, about the collapse of the continent or the destruction of the world, it would be better not to tell any of these to the expedition members.”
“What?”
“It’s obvious that normal humans will think like me… Still, there may be someone who feels responsible. Let’s agree on what to say.”
“I don’t understand how.”
“Of course, it’s about the Fragment of the Ancient God. So far, you’ve been recovering yourself and didn’t ask anything, but you’ll probably get a few questions when you get back. You are the only member of the expedition who knows about the Fragment of the Ancient God, and you are the only one who knows why these tentacles are stuck on the floor of the museum. Everyone has a lot of questions. I’ll tell them a bit, so you just need to sprinkle it with enough affirmation for everyone to trust us.”
“Should we do it, even to that extent?”
“If you don’t want to do it, close your mouth, and it won’t matter, but… It’s a little uncomfortable as I’m the only one doing the bad things. Show me your love for Tol To-ri.”
Dialugia began to bite her lips. Eventually, she nodded.
Though it felt like I was destroying something pure, this was the only way we could do this.
As we talked about what to tell the rest of the members, a floating object caught my eye.
‘What is that?’
Funnily, it felt like it was invisible to Dialugia’s eyes.
She noted that the surrounding magic power had become weird, as if she felt something strange, but she certainly couldn’t see the object. At this, I activated my Mind’s Eye.
[Anemone’s Eye]
[It is one of the unique spells given by the Anemone’s blood-stained gem. You can see the world through the Anemone’s Eye.]
‘It’s just Jung Hayan… Phew…’
I was scared at the possibility of it being the work of the Ancient God’s Fragment, but I was relieved upon realizing that it was only Jung Hayan spying on me.
In fact, even saying that I felt relieved seemed funny. Though this was not unusual for me, it would certainly feel creepy for others.
However, I didn’t feel bothered, mostly because I had gotten used to Jung Hayan.
What intrigued me, however, was the fact that even Dialugia couldn’t see it.
‘Thinking about it, this might be dangerous…’
I hadn’t even expected Hayan to be able to employ the Magic of Knowledge spell right away.
She really was a genius. I knew better than anyone else how hard it was to practice magic.
However, I couldn’t dwell on Hayan’s growth right now. The important thing was to talk to our fellow members.
Jung Hayan would definitely cooperate if she found out that I wanted to lie to the expedition, and she wouldn’t care if the world would get destroyed, anyway.
After we finished talking, we started heading back to the group. Anemone’s Eye continued to follow us until it finally disappeared. As Hayan could now see us with her own eyes, she must’ve dismantled the spell.
“O… Oppa!”
Though we had only been apart for some time, her happiness upon seeing me was cute.
When I stroked Jung Hayan’s hair once, she made a grunting sound that sounded similar to Tol To-ri’s, but I couldn’t just pay attention to her.
This was because Kim Hyunsung and Park Yeon-joo approached us immediately.
“I think you can rest assured for now.”
“Oh. So, you already know the story?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask you to explain what that means?” Park Yeon-joo spoke, her curiosity evident.
My face, which looked more optimistic than they thought, seemed to be instilling hope within them. All other expedition members were also looking at me. Although they pretended to be casually listening in, the anxiety on their faces was palpable.
“First, Dialugia will explain.”
Beside me, Dialugia stepped forward with an expressionless face.
“The Fragments of the Ancient God… I-I think he has entered in the rest phase.”
Of course, only I could see the guilt she felt at having said such a lie.