Chapter 3
I blinked blankly. The status window floating before my eyes didn’t disappear.
First thing that caught my attention—
“…Myth-grade dimensional dragon?”
Monster ranks were generally divided into five tiers: Common, Advanced, Rare, Epic, and Legendary.
Even Rare monsters were seldom seen in ordinary gates, and Legendary ones were the kind you only read about in books.
But this one… a rank even higher than Legendary?
And this tiny, adorable-looking dragon was supposed to be that extraordinary?
“Now you finally recognize my greatness, pyaa!”
The dragon puffed out its chest and spoke in a proud tone.
No, that wasn’t the point right now.
‘This could be bad.’
A new kind of dragon—one that had never been discovered before—had just appeared.
If the world found out about it, chaos was inevitable.
“Asphelor… Is that your name?”
“Heyy!”
The dragon nodded energetically. Its innocent expression didn’t match the grand name written in the system window at all.
For now, I decided not to report it to the research institute.
That dragon didn’t look like it would harm anyone.
Besides, those research lunatics would do anything for data—anything.
Still, a “guardian” of a dragon? Me?
I frowned and stared at the window without pressing anything.
“Hurry up and press ‘Yes!’
Then the system reacted again.
[You’re not going to abandon the Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon ‘Ashuphellor’… right?
Yes / No]
“Hmm…”
“Just a little, a tiny press of ‘Yes’ is all it takes!”
“Hmmmmmm…”
[The Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon ‘Asphelor’ looks at you with pleading eyes.]
[Doing good deeds brings good fortune ♬
Help the poor dragon and become a kind guardian!][Will you become the kind guardian of the Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon ‘Asphelor’?
Yes / No]
I sighed. “What should I do…”
“…Ughhhhh.”
Okay, okay. I’d been planning to accept anyway.
Teasing it was just too funny, but it looked like it might actually cry.
Besides, I’d planned to live peacefully here.
One extra guest wouldn’t hurt.
And a dragon—a myth-grade one at that—had to be powerful, right?
Even if this one looked… a bit lacking.
I finally pressed “Yes.”
[Congratulations!
You have become the guardian of the Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon ‘Asphelor’.][Please assign a name for the Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon ‘Asphelor’.]
A name, huh?
Calling it “Ashuphellor” was too long and hard to say anyway.
What kind of name would suit a dragon that appeared out of nowhere?
“Yongyong?”
“byaaaa!”
The dragon shook its head wildly in horror, its entire body wobbling from the motion.
Alright, alright. Guess that one’s a no.
“Then… how about ‘Lor’? Short for ‘Asphelor.’”
“Good! Lor! That’s my name!”
The dragon—Lor—nodded happily, and another window popped up.
[New unique trait unlocked: Guardian of the Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon]
[You have received the Myth-grade Dragon’s Blessing: Lor’s Gourmet Codex]
[You can now view the status of your dragon ‘Asphellor’.]
[Name: Lor (Asphelor)
Species: Myth-grade Dimensional Dragon
Condition: Full
Bond Level: ♡ (Lv.0)
Current Location: Veranda]
“Bond level?” I muttered.
[Myth-grade dragons are born with knowledge and memory from within their eggs.
However, ‘Asphelor’ has most of its memories and powers sealed. (╥﹏╥)As your bond level increases, it will regain its memories and powers!]
[Bond Level rises as your relationship with ‘Asphelor’ deepens.
A higher bond grants the guardian corresponding rewards.Current Bond Level: 0]
My first thought after reading that was simple.
‘…This sounds like a hassle.’
Wasn’t I already doing enough by raising it?
Now I had to grind levels too?
“Ouchh…”
Lor’s big, bright eyes looked up at me.
Ugh. Too cute.
Too pitiful to ignore.
Fine. I already decided to raise the thing.
Might as well go along and level up the bond.
“So, what exactly do I have to do?”
Then another message appeared.
[※ Sudden Care Quest ※
‘Asphellor’ was deeply moved by your cooking.
If you feed the hungry dragon various dishes, your bond may grow stronger!]
“…”
“…What?”
I looked between the suspiciously worded quest and Lor.
‘So basically… it just wants more food, huh?’
And that’s how, on my first day in this new house,
I ended up with a new housemate.
Two days later
“Ahh! A mouse! Lor, don’t eat that!”
“Got it!”
“No, bad! Ew, not the centipede! Put it down!”
“…What?”
Huff… huff…
Raising a dragon was exhausting.
Second day of country life.
It had been fine when I decided to raise Lor.
But the dragon turned out to be way too curious.
Yesterday, it had quietly explored the house.
Today, it was digging up the yard.
The problem? Country yards were full of… things.
Spiders, rats, bugs—lots and lots of bugs.
“Heyy!”
“No, Jijiya! Jiji!”
So I was locked in a battle of willpower against a baby dragon who kept trying to eat everything that moved.
Not that I was afraid of bugs, of course.
I’d faced plenty of monsters back in my Hunter days.
A few insects weren’t going to scare me.
…Really.
Anyway, I didn’t want to see bug corpses crushed under dragon claws, or worse—watch Lor eat one.
“ugh! No!”
I quickly grabbed Lor by the waist and lifted him up, just as the centipede scuttled away.
“Phew… You can’t just eat random things.”
“Heyyy!”
Clearly, he wasn’t listening.
He hopped out of my arms and ran toward the vegetable garden.
An overgrown, 100-pyeong (about 330-square-meter) patch of weeds and dirt.
“Laurr, what are you doing?”
“Tch! Missed it!”
Lorraine stomped the ground in frustration and started digging.
A chill ran down my spine.
“…What did you miss?”
“Brown… small… with legs…”
“Stop! That’s enough!”
I shuddered. Lor ignored me and kept searching.
“Don’t worry! I’m helping!”
Nope. I wasn’t watching this.
I resorted to my ultimate weapon.
“Laure, want food?”
“What?”
“Let’s go eat. Rice.”
“Rice! Good!”
The moment I said “rice,” Lor’s eyes sparkled.
He raised his tiny claws as if asking to be picked up.
For the record, his wings still didn’t seem to work.
I sighed and lifted him into my arms.
‘Why does this dragon like rice so much?’
Maybe dragons were omnivores.
Anyway, rice was healthier than rodents.
I hadn’t gone to the supermarket yet, but the village had a small shop where I’d picked up a few ingredients.
So today’s menu was simple—
Rice balls.
