WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 199: When Entering (2)
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What animal comes to mind when you think of wings?
Most people would probably think of birds.
Small creatures freely soaring through the sky on wings larger than their bodies.
Insects had wings too, but they were not what people immediately pictured.
Bats were the rare exception among mammals, while some birds had no wings at all.
This world was not much different. In fact, there were quite a few winged animals here.
Pegasi, dragons, harpies, and so on.
There were plenty of exceptions, but most people in this world still thought wings belonged to birds.
“Piiiiiing......”
And now, there was a winged animal right in front of me.
Its wings were small for its body, but they looked incredibly sturdy.
Its body was covered in deeply cracked skin, like a reptile's.
I could not tell whether I should call it skin or scales.
‘What is this thing?’
A winged reptile. Looking closer, I found more features.
Vertical pupils, just like a reptile's. Horns growing from its head.
Putting all those traits together, one thing immediately came to mind.
Still, I could have been mistaken, so I silently looked at Ludwig to see his reaction.
“......”
Ludwig seemed to be thinking the same thing.
His face had gone stiff, but he was tilting his head in confusion.
If our guess was right, this was a very serious problem. Even if it was not, it was definitely no ordinary animal.
“Mister. Does it look like a dragon hatchling to you too?”
“......@#$%”
“I saw it in the Gallery. Dragons care deeply about their young, right?”
What did that mean?
There was a good chance its mother was tearing through the entire Forest of Four Seasons looking for it.
I had no idea how this hatchling got all the way here, but it definitely was not good news.
‘If I screw this up, I'm seriously fucked.’
What were dragons? They were so powerful that calling them walking disasters would not be an exaggeration.
Was Kadir not revered as the Wizard King because Kadir had defeated a dragon alone?
There was a very high chance each one was far stronger than Fast Sloth or the Chief Gorilla.
“Piiing......”
The creature we suspected was a hatchling cried pitifully.
Whether it was a dragon hatchling or not, its whole body was covered in wounds. It was hard to watch.
It must have entered this cave just to survive somehow. I sighed to myself.
‘Ugh. I can't just pretend I didn't see it.’
It was not shameless like that raccoon dog from before. More than that, I was afraid of what might happen later.
I decided to treat the hatchling. I still had some of the Animal Elixir Starlight Princess had given me.
Ludwig gave me a look that asked whether this was really the right thing to do, but I could not exactly throw it out. This was the best I could do.
‘Its scales really sparkle.’
Up close, the scales looked tough.
The hatchling slowly raised its head. Its vertical pupils stared straight at me.
“Piiiiik......!”
The hatchling spread its wings and grew wary the moment it saw me.
The membranes of its wings were torn too, so it did not look very threatening.
Holding the Elixir bottle in one hand, I slowly approached.
The closer I got, the louder its cries became.
“Piyak!”
Chomp!
When I reached out, it tried to bite me with all its strength.
Its mouth was packed with sharp-looking teeth.
But it had no strength left, and it was injured.
I dodged its desperate attacks a few times and waited for it to let its guard down.
“......”
Maybe it was exhausted. Maybe it had lowered its guard. It slowly folded its fully spread wings.
When it lowered its raised head too, it looked like it had half given up.
This was my chance. I slowly poured the Elixir over the hatchling's head.
Drip-
“......Pi?”
The strange sensation made the hatchling slowly raise its head. It seemed to have noticed the changes in its body.
Not only were its small wounds healing, but the torn wing membranes were gradually recovering too.
It seemed Elixir worked on dragons as well. Maybe because it was still so small.
After its external wounds had fully healed, I grabbed a small bowl.
I mixed honey with a little Elixir and pushed it toward the hatchling.
“Eat that and leave, or stay here. Just don't call your mom.”
“......”
The hatchling looked between me and the bowl.
The bowl contained honey and Elixir, giving off a sweet scent.
Everyone knew not to accept food from strangers.
“Chomp chomp chomp chomp! Chomp chomp!”
That changed when you were starving to death.
It started eating the honey with its snout practically buried in the bowl.
Seeing it eat that desperately, I could tell it had gone hungry for quite a while.
‘Is it really a dragon?’
While it ate, I made a post on the Gallery.
I was pretty sure it was a hatchling, but I could still be wrong.
[Post title] Title) Is This a Dragon?
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of the injured hatchling)
[Post] (Photo of the wary hatchling)
[Post] (Photo of the hatchling stuffing its face with honey)
[Post] (Full video)
[Post] It came into my cave while I was resting because of the rain.
[Post] It looks like a dragon hatchling, but is it really one?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: An imugi ascends to become a dragon, yet dragons give birth? This is something I have only just learned.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Then dragons do not have young?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: An imugi becomes a dragon. That is why it is a spiritual treasure, unlike those dragons.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Aren't dragons spiritual treasures too, if you think about it? They're as intelligent as people.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Spiritual treasures are ordinary beasts that evolve. They are different from creatures born that way. A monster is not a spiritual treasure, is it?
└ Since when did you start saying smart things?
└ She knows what she knows.
└ But is that really a hatchling? If it is, Wild Grylls is facing the biggest crisis of their life;;
└ [Starlight Princess]: Judging by its appearance alone, it does seem to be a hatchling. Considering it was injured as well, this does not seem like good news......
└ [Wild Grylls]: I want to send it back quickly too, but it's raining and it has no energy. I've heard dragons cherish their young. Is that right?
└ [Starlight Princess]: Yes. If its child is in danger, its mother will search high and low. The Iris Kingdom nearly fell because of that once.
└ If it had not been for Kadir, it really would have been destroyed.
└ Why did the dragon attack back then?
└ An illegal poacher caught and sold a hatchling. The hatchling was frail and ended up dying.
└ Tch. Those bastards were worse than animals.
└ Come to think of it, haven't all dragon slayers been human?
└ Yeah. Neither elves nor demonkind have ever killed a dragon. Humans just have an unusually high ceiling.
└ Dragons are almost immune to magic. Both elves and demonkind specialize in magic, so their advantage disappears completely.
└ Why are they immune? Because of their scales?
└ That too, but dragons can use magic themselves. They show up in myths all the time.
└ That's mythology.
└ Wait. They're immune to magic? Kadir's a wizard, so how did Kadir kill one?
└ Apparently, Kadir dropped a meteor on it? They're immune to magic, not physical force lol
└ Sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from physical force. Whoa.
└ Besides, Kadir won by outthinking the dragon. When it came to magic itself, Kadir was several moves ahead.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Wow. You're raising a hatchling now too? You're raising something even I haven't. I'm jealous.
└ Hey. Are you trying to get a country destroyed?
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Dragons are intelligent, so they will not harm their benefactor. And maybe it lost its mother?
└ With this being the Forest of Four Seasons, that sounds pretty believable lol
└ Are there creatures that can even beat up dragons?;
They were throwing around some very unsettling things.
The problem was that most of it might be true.
This was a place where even a sloth was monstrously strong, and now there was a dragon that had been powerful from the start?
And there was a creature that had put even that dragon in danger? The worst.
A dragon could roast me golden brown with one blast of breath, and there was something stronger than that?
‘If I kick it out carelessly, the baby dra... no, hatchling might hold a grudge.’
I looked at the hatchling. It had calmed down and was sleeping quietly.
Where was it sleeping, you ask?
“Piiing......”
“Kyuu?”
On Wonmo's fluffy back.
It was smaller than Wonmo, so it was curled up and sleeping soundly.
Maybe Wonmo was flustered, or maybe he knew it was harmless, but he stayed still.
“#%#”
“Yes?”
Once things had mostly settled down, Ludwig quietly called me.
He looked at the sleeping hatchling on Wonmo's back and spoke with a complicated expression.
“%%##”
“You're asking if it's dangerous? Yeah. It is.”
“#%%#?”
Then why were we sitting around? Shouldn't we figure out how to deal with it somehow?
That seemed to be what he was asking. Honestly, I felt the same way.
But...
“So what can we do?”
“......?”
“What can we do against that dragon too young to prosecute?”
Sadly, there was nothing we could do.
A hatchling was even more untouchable than a kid too young to prosecute.
The moment we messed with it, its mother would come and teach us a lesson.
Physically.
Even if the hatchling was the one at fault first.
“......”
Maybe Ludwig roughly understood what I meant.
Looking a little shell-shocked, he trudged over and sat against the wall.
Even a former Knight Commander of the Holy Knight Order seemed to be afraid of dragons.
“Hey, Fast Sloth. Aren't you afraid of dragons?”
What about Fast Sloth? Would dragons scare it?
“......”
Fast Sloth wore its usual relaxed expression.
Maybe it had never seen a dragon before. Or maybe it did not even know what one was.
I could never tell what was going on in its head. Still, it would warn me immediately if there was danger.
‘The best outcome is for the hatchling to fully recover and leave......’
Could it survive alone in this terrifying forest? It was a miracle it had made it here at all.
More importantly, did it even know where its home was? That was what worried me most.
“Piiing.”
About an hour passed.
The hatchling that had been sleeping on Wonmo's back stretched and got up.
It looked much cleaner than before. It seemed to have fully recovered.
“Pi?”
“......”
It was cute. A different kind of cute from Wonmo.
Wonmo made people want to protect him with his fluffy fur and owl face.
The hatchling had the cuteness unique to babies, mixed with a dragon's charisma.
It was like the difference between dogs and cats. Both were cute.
“C'mere, c'mere. Come here.”
“Pi?”
I curled my fingers and beckoned it over.
Ludwig looked at me like I was insane, but I casually ignored him.
Since things had already come to this, there was no downside to getting friendly with it.
“Piii......”
Maybe it realized I meant it no harm after I had treated it.
It looked a little scared, but slowly approached.
Its wings were spread wide, as if it would run away at any moment.
Stroke-
“That's it. Good. Good little one.”
“Piiii~”
Still, none of that mattered once the petting began.
Once an animal let down its guard, almost none of them disliked being petted by people.
Its tail was swaying too, so it clearly felt good.
‘Its scales are soft and hard at the same time. That's fascinating.’
Scales where softness and toughness coexisted.
Its wings were similar. I thought they would be squishy because of the membranes, but they were surprisingly firm.
Was a dragon still a dragon even as a baby? At the same time, I became curious.
‘Why did it come all the way here?’
Maybe it had left home out of curiosity, like Wonmo. Or maybe something had happened to its parents.
I would find out soon enough. Until then, we needed to stay quiet.
“Kyuu! Kyuuuu!”
Maybe he was jealous that I was only petting the hatchling.
Wonmo came over and loudly protested.
He placed his tiny front paws on my thigh, as if ordering, ‘Pet me already!’
The anger all over his cute face made it obvious he was jealous.
“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
“Kyuoooo~”
With two babies around, things had gotten pretty lively.
“Mister, do you want to pet it too?”
“......”
“You don't get many chances to touch a dragon.”
“Ahem.”
After I tempted him a little, Ludwig reluctantly crept closer.
But maybe it was because it was Ludwig instead of me.
“Piyaaaak!”
The hatchling opened its mouth wide and roared the moment Ludwig approached.
Fwoosh!
A tiny breath even came out of its mouth.
The flame was as weak as a candle, but its message to stay away was clear.
“......”
Ludwig deflated at the firm rejection and shrank back again.
Maybe Wonmo felt sorry for him, because he quietly approached Ludwig.
Ludwig healed his emotional wounds by hugging Wonmo after that.
‘That person seemed like such a stern one originally.’
I did not know whether Ludwig had become more relaxed after casting everything aside, or whether it was because of Wonmo.
Either way, now that the hatchling had opened its heart to me, all that remained was waiting.
Either its mother would find it, or the hatchling would leave on its own.
‘Fish should be enough food for it, right?’
It was mostly carnivorous, so fish would be better than Fasting Pills.
I was curious how much it ate, and despite its small body, its appetite was on Wonmo's level.
Our supplies were gradually running low because of the recent rain, so that was worrying.
‘I should head upriver first thing tomorrow morning.’
Today was over.
The rain had started in the afternoon, so I had not accomplished much.
Still, I had a rare encounter, so it was not all bad.
[System] [Let's name the hatchling.]
[System] [How about Alexander II for the hatchling's name?]
[System] [Honestly, Draggy is the safest choice. Agreed.]
‘Why are these people already making a fuss over naming it?’
Their naming sense was terrible across the board too.
I closed the Gallery and went to sleep. I needed to wake up early tomorrow morning.
The next morning came.
“Uuugh~”
I stretched and checked the time through the Gallery. It was currently six in the morning.
I just needed to head upriver and set up the Fish Trap. With that, I slowly walked toward the cave entrance.
The entrance was blocked with cloth in case bugs got inside.
It had rained yesterday, so today should have been a clear morning...
“Grrrrr......”
“......”
Instead, a ruby-red eye greeted me.
It was so large that one eye took up half the cave entrance.
Its vertically slit pupil was glaring at me like it wanted to kill me.
“...Oh, mama.”
Looks like the guardian is here?
Footnotes:
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