I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 108

CHAPTER 108

“No, that’s not it.”

Pendrade, with red hair reaching down to his waist, knelt on the ground as he returned to being a young lad with untied strands of hair.

Bumps or dents were popping out between the red strands of hair.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Well, it’s not like you did it on purpose.”

I chuckled as I lightly tapped the silver plate, which had a concave shape matching Pendrade’s head, with my hand.

Pendrade visibly flinched and started sweating profusely.

“You didn’t deliberately polymorph into Lady Kruin, did you? And you didn’t deliberately rob the top safe?”

“Well, I, um…”

“And it wasn’t ‘on purpose’ when you punched the nobleman in the face during that process?”

“…”

“Was it all just a coincidence?”

No, the incidents he caused weren’t just one or two.

The Lady Kruin incident was a cute little mess.

Didn’t he rob the top safe of Upper Crescent Moon Auction House to buy some strange item?

I just had to punch the guy who was pestering Lady Kruin.

His breath on my face was too unpleasant.

Thud.

Pendrade’s head gradually fell to the ground.

No, to be precise, he slammed it.

“Sorry!!”

Pendrade quickly apologized.

“No, that’s not it! It’s just too boring to stay still!!”

Pendrade jerked his head up.

The dignified young lad’s face was now drenched in tears.

“You said I shouldn’t do anything, so I tried to be quiet!”

“And you stayed quiet and caused an accident with someone else’s identity and someone else’s money?”

Ugh, I swept my hair back as I sat with my legs crossed on the chair.

“Pendrade.”

“Y-yes.”

Pendrade moaned again as he slammed his head once more.

I couldn’t fathom how much trouble he’d caused, so I just watched him like a puppy without wagging its tail.

“Well, at least you did well in the end.”

I don’t know who that nobleman was.

But the guy who was pestering got what he deserved.

“But the rest of it, you’re in for it, aren’t you?”

“But, it was just too boring…”

“Hey.”

I looked down at the red lizard that banged its head again with cold eyes.

“Did I tell you to stay still the whole time?”

No, I didn’t.

Initially, I naturally watched his back so he could move comfortably and do what he wanted.

“At first, you suddenly said you wanted to be a court musician, so I even went as far as to specially request it from the emperor to make it happen.”

And what did this guy do?

He subtly sabotaged it by not hitting the high notes.

Thanks to him, the nobles present were left with bleeding ears.

It wasn’t even a music spell.

Who handled the important aftermath?

I did.

“Then you said you wanted to be a magistrate, so I found a teacher for you and even provided a ceremonial robe. But what did you do?”

He got outsmarted by the sword and blatantly used magic.

Thanks to him, the teacher I brought with great difficulty flew away beyond the blue sky.

And the ceremonial robe was torn to pieces.

Thankfully, I had a superior wind spirit, Syliron, on standby just in case.

Or else, wouldn’t the teacher have almost become a star in the blue sky?

Who handled the rest of the aftermath?

Of course, I did.

“After that, you went around pestering someone else’s disciple and then came running to me after losing.”

“But that guy is crazy… Sorry.”

As soon as I gave him a stern look, Pendrade quickly changed the subject.

“Blowing up a building is just the basics, you know.”

Ugh…

As I recalled the incidents this guy caused, I narrowed my eyes as if to warn him.

It wasn’t over yet.

“I introduced you to this place because you wanted to be a target after that, and now you mess up again?”

“I’ll pay!”

As if he had been waiting, Pendrade quickly replied.

“Hey, even if I look like this, I’m a dragon! The strongest creature on land! The origin of magic!”

As if expecting to be hit again, he cautiously eyed the silver plate in my hand.

“Do you know how much money I have in my lair?! Can’t you see that? Enough to build one or two kingdoms!”

“But you can’t get in there.”

“…!”

Tears welled up in Pendrade’s golden eyes at my words.

That’s right.

He was currently in a state of being driven out of his lair.

Or rather, he couldn’t get in for fear of being caught.

“Just go in and get married and come out, can’t you?”

The problem lay precisely here.

Marriage.

Dragon offspring were so rare that they were truly, incredibly valuable.

There had been times when not a single hatchling had been born for over five thousand years, they say.

So, dragons always carried marriage and hatchlings on their minds.

This time, he had become the target.

It turned out that the reason I hadn’t seen Pendrade all this time was because he had been secretly preparing for his wedding.

Thanks to that, the guy who left saying, ‘I’ll go fetch something rare for a moment!’ returned crying, tangled in a net.

Of course, he couldn’t even bring out what I asked for.

The moment he said hello, a net flew at him.

“How could this happen!!”

Pendrade burst into tears again.

“I’m only 2,000 years old! But marriage, marriage!”

Two thousand years was still young for a dragon’s age.

In human terms, it’s more like two or three years past adulthood.

“But you can do it, though.”

I wasn’t asking him to lay an egg right away.

As I smirked and replied, Pendrade frowned.

“Hey, honestly, it’s just marriage for now. But once you’re married, they’ll nag you about ‘When are you having a child? You should have one early to avoid troubles~’ and keep pestering you.”

Ah, Pendrade sighed heavily.

“Just try having one. Then they’ll be like, ‘When’s the second one coming? The child must be lonely alone~’, ‘Eggh, the child’s alone, it’s pitiful. How will they survive in this harsh world…?’ and subtly pressure you for the second one.”

…Why does it feel like it’s his nth life, not mine?

“And while raising the child, they’ll nag you endlessly! ‘Feed them this, don’t feed them that, let them play here, don’t let them go there!!'”

Pendrade shouted in frustration.

“Have you ever raised a child?”

He sounded completely experienced.

“No, I read about it in books.”

…Right.

“So, I’ll repay you in about a thousand years! After a thousand years, wouldn’t even the Lord give up on me?” 

Pendrade chuckled.

“A thousand years is nothing.”

“Hey, I’ll be dead.”

“But you’ll be reborn anyway.”

I pointed to Ringo standing behind me.

“He dies, right? Can’t come back to life! Just a regular elf!”

He couldn’t even collect the money and ended up in the Three Rivers.

At my words, Ringo pressed his chest with a bitter expression.

“That’s strange… Even though I’m a long-lived species, why do I feel like I’m short-lived…”

Ignoring Ringo’s bitter expression, I swept back my hair again.

It’s annoying how long it’s gotten.

“Then, I’ll figure something out.”

“Okay. Just don’t cause any more trouble now.”

I raised the corner of my mouth.

“The time has finally come.”

At my words, the various emotions that had flickered on Pendrade’s face disappeared in an instant.

“Finally?”

“Yeah, finally.”

“How do you know?”

“Forgot? There’s a huge event at the main temple this year.”

Whenever a major event was held at the temple, the gods imbued themselves into relics. 

They blessed their followers and received wealth and reverence in return. 

Wealth and reverence translated to the power of the gods. 

So, it was essential for the gods to attend events held at their temples, even though wealth and reverence usually flowed in. 

“If you don’t come down, you won’t receive wealth or reverence, and you’ll hear stories that your power has weakened.”

“But the Lord doesn’t come down easily.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded lightly.

Among the arrogant gods, the most arrogant was the Lord. 

Sitting on the throne of the gods, he ruled not only the human realm but also the divine realm. 

He never attended events at his temple. 

Even though he didn’t attend, his daily spreading of fame attracted believers. 

Thanks to that, lower gods could collect reverence and wealth every day, even during events. 

It was a situation where power naturally increased even if you stayed still. 

So was there any need to come down?

“But this time, he has to come down, right?”

The Lord had overthrown his father and taken his place with his brothers. 

But the end wasn’t clean. 

Although his father was dealt with, there was still a group left alive. 

The Lord was always anxious about when they would rise again. 

So, on the day he killed his father and took the throne, the event commemorating that victory was indispensable. 

It was a reminder to the Titan clan still trapped in the darkness, a dark memory to haunt them.

“That was the opportunity.”

The perfect opportunity to strike the Lord from behind.

“When you break the relic where the god is imbued, the god’s main body falls into a long sleep.”

I wrapped my navy blue hair around my finger and continued speaking.

“After that, go up to the divine realm and hear the truth, and then…”

I closed my mouth and raised the corner of my mouth.

Pendrade squinted his eyes. 

“Okay, I’ll give you that. But how do you plan to ascend to the divine realm? You can’t get there without the help of a god.”

“There’s someone who will help with everything.”

It wasn’t the king of the underworld, Deron. 

He always stepped back and refused to get involved no matter what happened. 

Although he gave me his power, he would step back if something big happened.

Instead…

“I have the power to communicate with her.”

Hadn’t he given me that power?

“Her?”

“I can’t say. But she’s not an evil god.”

“…?”

“But you can swear if you want.”

I raised the corner of my mouth.

“There’s no one else who can match her in terms of challenging the Lord.”

So, for the past five years, I have been focusing on raising the tops to find her temple. 

And not long ago, I was able to find her abandoned temple.