A Dragon Lives In That Scholar's Deep Spring - Chapter 5

– CHAPTER 5 –

It must be frightening to overcome such a crisis where you almost die. She decided to step back for now.

“Anyway, you can’t kill me with that. But…”

However, it was getting harder to bear the unpleasant smell to the point where it was giving Farang a headache. Her brow furrowed involuntarily.

“Get rid of those metal tools quickly. They’re disgusting.”

“…It’s pointless to hide them from you.”

As the man coughed and took a blade out of his sleeve, Farang, who had been quietly waiting, stepped back as if she was fed up.

“Fine. Even without those, I can feel them everywhere anyway.”

The gaze towards Farang, as if saying it didn’t matter even if she was ambushed anytime, made the man shiver.

“Did you come from a place without weapons like these?”

“At least not such crude weapons.”

He hid quite a lot. Farang, who roughly estimated the number of weapons felt from the various layers of clothing, expressed her discomfort without filtering it out.

“It’s an object made ‘to harm someone’, and I feel the life steeped in it. That’s what’s disgusting.”

Farang’s feeling of discomfort towards the man seemed more complex than just identifying it as life, but it didn’t seem necessary to delve deeper.

“…Do you feel life even from objects?”

The man’s black pupils flickered. The curious gaze seemed to want to dissect Farang at any moment. Despite clearly being overwhelmingly superior in strength, Farang felt somewhat burdened by that gaze.

“Why, don’t you feel it?”

Even as she asked, Farang already knew the answer. That she was a complete outsider in this dry world. Because if it were where her sea was, she wouldn’t feel this unfamiliar and dry feeling, even to her skin.

“…You…”

The man, who stared at Farang as if trying to force himself to accept an impossible fact, reluctantly concluded.

“You’re not human after all.”

Although he was much larger in build, his stamina and the breadth of abilities available were completely different. Just as Farang had long ago judged that the man wasn’t a dragon, the same seemed to apply to the opponent.

“Among those who came from distant lands, I’ve seen those with blue eyes, but none with hair dyed as if melted sapphire.”

As if enchanted, the man holding the candle approached again, his black eyes twinkling once more. Did he already forget that he almost died under her grip?

The emotions of fear or vigilance were as pure as water, without a drop of contamination. Farang, who would have found even the warmth of a small flame uncomfortable at other times, let him be for the moment, as he pleased.

Observing Farang closely, he answered his own question.

“Even the ice weapons you endlessly create. Ah, every time, in your hands….”

…Are humans, even the weakest ones, truly pure animals? As Farang began to wonder, she suddenly asked, cutting through the conversation.

“Is this a place only for weak people like you?”

“What?”

“There are quite a few footsteps nearby. Perhaps because you’re weak, you have to live in groups like fish.”

“F-fish! How dare you compare humans to such inferior creatures!”

She was simply stating the obvious, but the man, proud and difficult to convince, suddenly became heated again over a point that Farang found hard to understand.

“It’s not just about forming groups like fish to survive from predators. It’s just that, by blocking the cold wind and finding places near water, villages naturally formed, and people gathered in family units…”

“Or not. Why do you have to speak so long?”

Why does he suddenly flare up over trivial matters after being calm the whole time? Farang couldn’t understand the man at all.

“So when are you going to satisfy me?”

In the end, if she returns to her world, that’s it, whether a person has gills or not doesn’t concern her. Farang left the man, who misunderstood everything, alone and searched for water with an indifferent gaze.

Despite the mix of various smells making her head spin, luckily, water was nearby. Farang found a teapot on a tray and observed the unique item with interest, but spoke deliberately calmly.

“Once I return to where I belong, it’s over. I didn’t invade, I just woke up there after falling asleep in my water. I don’t even know where here is, so I don’t have any desires.”

The blue darkness was gradually receding, and dawn was approaching. If it wasn’t because they had delayed time with their struggle, then what? Impatient, Farang glanced at the man holding the teapot.

“I find unnecessary killing bothersome as well. So, your job is to put me back…”

“…You!”

The startled man froze in his place, unable to continue speaking. Farang, who had only seen him surprised, agitated, disheartened, and astonished all night, didn’t even expect a reaction.

“Why?”

Breathing seemed to be forgotten as he pointed at Farang’s hair with long fingers.

“The color, it changed.”

“Color? What do you mean changed…”

Staring down at her long hair as if it were inconsequential, Farang could only stiffen. Her blue hair had turned pitch black.

Even though she had suddenly fallen asleep and inexplicably found herself in a different world, she couldn’t fully accept this absurd situation.

“The color of your hair changed.”

“……”

“Even your eyes.”

It was fortunate that the man in front of her was so dense that he couldn’t feel the danger of the metal tools. Otherwise, he might have read Farang’s emotions, which were finally captured by confusion.

“Do you have the ability to freely change the color of your body?”

Facing the bewildered man once again, Farang couldn’t say anything.

Because she didn’t have that ability.

* * *

“No, what’s going on? I thought you would insist on doing a night job today as well.”

“I apologize. Whether it was due to exhaustion from carrying horns or not… All urgent matters have been dealt with, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Come to think of it…”

Song Hyeon-ik scrutinized Do-gyeom with a puzzled expression. Do-gyeom was anxious about being caught in a lie, but fortunately or unfortunately, his haggard face from narrowly escaping death multiple times overnight added credibility to his falsehood.

“Since I’ve seen you, your face looks so worn. I heard you fell into the icy water last night. Was there any particular reason?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm?”

Do-gyeom hurriedly corrected himself, almost revealing the truth.

“…No. It’s just that, I stumbled while trying to get some air.”

His mind was preoccupied with the mysterious woman he left behind at his home. He was worried that something had happened, and at times he even forgot to breathe.

Do-gyeom bit his tongue to regain composure.

“So, you’re not hurt anywhere?”

If he were to list the injuries, it would include a sore throat so painful he could hardly swallow, as well as torn arms and overall discomfort. But Do-gyeom didn’t show any signs of pain.

“I got out of the water quickly and didn’t get injured anywhere.”

“You seemed to have fallen quite roughly. Were you floating with your robe stripped off?”

As Do-gyeom was always modest and well-behaved, perhaps the court officials suddenly took an interest in last night’s events.

If they were just teasing Do-gyeom for being ridiculous, he could bear it, but he didn’t want to draw more attention to the incident.

“I was quite flustered and even forgot to properly dress myself. I apologize.”

“You’re human after all, aren’t you? You can fall into water too.”

Song Hyeon-ik chuckled, mixing in a joke, but Do-gyeom couldn’t bring himself to laugh.

Is it because a non-human is in his house?

“Youth is not always advantageous. The more capable you are, the more you need to take care of yourself.”

Although Song Hyeon-ik was known for being demanding with other court officials, he even advised Do-gyeom not to serve his duty for a while.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Not being able to serve his duty meant losing time for reading, which was quite unpleasant, but there was no time to delay even for a single day.

Unfortunately, Song Hyeon-ik, known for being talkative, happened to be in his place at this time, so it wasn’t an ordinary difficulty. With Song Hyeon-ik’s tendency to chatter, the early birds would all flee, leaving only the latecomers. Or perhaps it was because it was an afternoon when everyone wanted to slack off.

Grasping the person trying to leave and continuing to talk, Do-gyeom replied with a heavy heart.

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Isn’t it too big of a house to manage alone while working outside?”

“…Yes?”

Song Hyeon-ik, who seemed suspicious about something, finally brought up the main point.

“It’s been quite a while since you passed the examination, but you still haven’t married. Look, with such a large house and no mistress, who will take care of it when you’re not around?”

“I’m still managing.”

“Managing? How can that be? Although people say you’re like a son to me, the Crown Prince is planning his third marriage, yet you’re still single! Where are you heading? Is there something holding you back? Although it’s not just any ordinary family aiming to become in-laws…”

“With such a fierce man as a prospective son-in-law, which family would dare to give away their precious daughter as a wife?”