WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 200: When Entering (3)
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Normally, parents worry when something happens to their children.
It's a natural instinct for living creatures. Humans and animals are no different.
But what if someone else caused it?
What if the incident separated them from their child?
The rage of a parent who had lost their child would be beyond imagination.
And right now, what would a parent think upon finding their missing child with some strange creature in an unfamiliar place?
“Grrrrr......”
“......”
I didn't know what it was thinking, but I knew one thing.
I was completely fucked.
I stared speechlessly at the ruby-red eye filling more than half the cave.
For a moment, I wondered if something was wrong with the world and rubbed my eyes several times, but it was still there.
That eye looked ready to tear me apart at any second.
It was terrifying enough to make me piss myself.
‘M-my body won't move......’
They said most animals froze when faced with fear beyond comprehension.
Humans could overcome it through reason, but that only applied to a few people.
Anyone who faced an eye filling an entire cave would feel primal terror.
It was true cosmic horror, an absolute fear that couldn't be resisted.
Swish. Swish.
After staring at me for a while, the eye began scanning the cave.
Every time it moved, my body flinched on its own.
Then the dragon's gaze stopped somewhere.
I immediately realized where it was looking.
‘F-Fast Sloth? When did it get here?’
I had no idea when Fast Sloth had woken up. It stood boldly in front of the dragon.
The dragon narrowed its eyes as if asking, ‘What is this thing?’
Scratch. Scratch.
Fast Sloth calmly scratched its back without a care. Was it really not scared after seeing that?
After having a staring contest with Fast Sloth for some time, the dragon looked elsewhere.
Then its gaze stopped precisely where the hatchling was. Its vertical pupil narrowed further.
‘It won't hurt it, right? I treated it and took good care of it.’
The hatchling was sleeping soundly on Wonmo's back, completely unaware that its mother had arrived.
Maybe the dragon realized her child was unharmed, because her slit pupil relaxed slightly.
“Haa!”
At the same time, the pressure crushing my body disappeared. Freed from it, I let out a breath.
It was nothing like the pressure from the Saber-Toothed Tiger. I felt like I'd forgotten how to breathe.
“Grrk.”
The dragon tilted her head.
She seemed to be telling me to wake the hatchling, which was sprawled out sleeping peacefully.
I understood immediately and did as she wanted.
“Hey! Hey! Wake up! Your mom's here!”
“Piii......?!”
“Kyuu......?”
“......?”
As I urgently woke the hatchling, Wonmo and Ludwig slowly woke up too.
They all looked half-asleep, but they must have sensed the strange atmosphere and turned toward the entrance.
“Kyuyaaaak!!!”
Wonmo jolted so hard that every hair on his body stood on end.
“......”
Ludwig froze stiffly, just like I had.
Those were normal reactions. So what about the hatchling?
“Pii? Piiiiii!”
It must have recognized its mother at a glance, because it happily ran over.
Its wings were flapping too, so it was clearly happy.
Swish.
As the hatchling went outside, the dragon's eye vanished from the entrance.
With that ruby-red eye no longer filling the cave entrance, I finally felt like I could breathe.
“Kyuuuu...... Kyuu......”
Even after the eye disappeared, Wonmo clung to my leg and trembled.
Tears had gathered in his eyes too. He must have been scared out of his mind.
I wanted to cry myself, so how much worse must it have been for Wonmo, a baby?
I picked him up and patted his back to calm him down.
He must rely on me a lot, because he hugged me with his tiny front paws.
“......”
“...Let's go outside for now.”
I nodded toward the entrance as I spoke to Ludwig.
Ludwig looked at me as if asking whether that was really okay.
Nothing would change if we stayed here.
If the dragon wanted to attack, we'd die without being able to do anything.
‘No need to provoke her. I should leave my weapons behind.’
One blast of breath would erase this entire area.
No amount of struggling would make much difference.
I wanted to place my hopes on Fast Sloth, but avoiding a fight was best.
Tense as a wire, I stepped outside the cave. At some point, Fast Sloth had climbed onto my back.
“Pipi! Piii!”
“Grrr.”
Oh. My. God.
The moment I stepped outside and saw the dragon, I was stunned.
I'd known she was huge when her eye took up half the cave entrance, but this was ridiculous.
She was tall enough that I had to crane my neck, and a single foot could cover the entire shelter yard.
Even enormous didn't begin to describe it. A fight was impossible.
At least she had avoided the structures. Otherwise, the animal houses I'd worked so hard to build would have collapsed.
I didn't think I'd ever get used to an apartment building-sized gray mass standing in front of me.
“Uoooo......”
“Kwoooong......”
As I stared blankly at the dragon, familiar sounds reached my ears.
When I turned around, Kkobong and Largo were hugging each other and trembling.
They should have been in their homes, so I didn't know why they were outside, but it was probably because of the dragon.
Primal fear arose in the face of overwhelming size. Even brave animals couldn't help it.
‘...First, some pictures.’
I looked up and took photos of the dragon.
With Kkobong and Largo trembling right beside her, comparing her size was easy.
Of course, she was so unrealistically huge that it felt like the perspective had broken.
Still, size could wait. First, I needed to see how the dragon would react.
“Pipi! Piii!”
“......”
When the hatchling cried out, the dragon turned and looked at me.
Her narrowed eyes seemed to ask if that was true.
I patted Wonmo's back and didn't avoid her gaze.
At least I would never hurt her child. I'm a peaceful person.
They said dragons were as intelligent as humans, so that gesture should be enough.
Pffft.
Luckily, my gesture seemed to work. The dragon only snorted and did not harm us.
Honestly, her very existence was harmful to us, but there was no need to say that.
For now, I just wanted her to take the hatchling and leave.
“Piii~ Pipi~”
But why was this hatchling coming toward me?
It hopped over while flapping its tiny wings.
Naturally, the dragon's gaze followed it.
Flap! Flap!
Before long, the hatchling flapped onto my head.
That alone was enough to freeze my body, but the pain that followed forced me to writhe.
“Gyaaah! M-my head! It's ripping my head apart!!!”
“Piiik?!”
Maybe because it was still a baby, its claws dug into my scalp.
A dragon was still a dragon, even as a hatchling. It was like having steel embedded in its feet.
“Ugh......”
“......”
I touched my head, worried I might be bleeding, then looked up.
Did it know it had done something wrong? The hatchling was gauging my reaction.
Its expression even looked the same. You know that look dogs make after doing something wrong.
The way they glance sideways with only their eyes, carefully watching for a reaction.
It was exactly like that.
‘It won't get mad over this, right?’
If the hatchling was gauging my reaction, I had to gauge the dragon's.
Fortunately, the dragon seemed to realize the hatchling was at fault and showed no particular reaction.
More importantly, when was she going to leave? It would be a pain if she kept loitering here.
“Um... aren't you leaving?”
“...Grrk.”
At my question, the dragon signaled to the hatchling.
She was telling it to come home.
The hatchling looked conflicted as it alternated its gaze between me and the dragon.
Staying here would only worry its mother, and it was a nuisance to me.
It would be much better if they both left.
“Piii~”
Thankfully, the hatchling chose the dragon. It was still a baby, so its mother's embrace was probably better.
Feeling strangely sentimental, I patted Wonmo's back as he hugged me.
Wonmo had calmed down enough to glance at the dragon now.
“Kyuu. Kyu.”
“...Wonmo?”
Why are you reaching toward the hatchling? Don't do that.
Despite my surprise, Wonmo reached toward the hatchling as if asking it to play some more.
The hatchling suddenly stopped. Then it stared at Wonmo.
This was so unexpected that even the dragon opened her eyes slightly wider.
“...Piii!”
“Kyuu?”
“Piii! Pi!”
“Kyuuu.”
The two communicated with each other.
I had no idea what they were saying, but it felt like, ‘See you later.’
It would go home first, then decide whether to come back.
‘Come back, my ass. Damn it.’
Don't come back. Please leave forever.
The baby was cute, but its mother was way too scary.
The one lucky thing was that she wasn't a terrible parent.
If she'd caused a scene too, I wouldn't be standing here right now.
Flap! Flap!
Before long, the hatchling climbed onto the dragon's head.
Once the hatchling settled in place, the dragon flapped her wings, which were far larger than her own body.
And the aftermath was beyond imagination.
“Gaaaaah!”
“Uoooooh!”
A terrifying gale tore through the shelter. I nearly got blown away.
If I nearly got blown away, what chance did the nearby tools have? Every one of them flew off.
“...Grr.”
Maybe even the dragon hadn't expected this, because she looked embarrassed.
Yeah. You had a shred of conscience left. What a relief.
The dragon soon vanished at high speed. It felt as if a typhoon had swept through.
“Oh no. My shelter......”
It really had.
One simple flap of her wings had turned the shelter I'd carefully decorated into a disaster zone.
Thankfully, the brick house and farm were fine.
But the cooking equipment and tools had either blown away or disappeared.
“#%^$#”
Ludwig patted my shoulder at my gloomy muttering.
He seemed to be saying that at least we'd survived, and that was all that mattered.
I agreed, but I never dreamed things would turn out like this.
“...Let's eat.”
“%$.”
A bolt from the blue was the perfect phrase for this situation.
After barely calming Kkobong and Largo, who were panicking, I started preparing a meal.
More than half the fish I'd painstakingly gathered had disappeared in the dragon's wing gusts.
Still, enough remained that we wouldn't go hungry.
[Post title] Title: Hatchling's Mom Came
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of the dragon's eye filling the entrance)
[Post] (Photo of the enormous dragon)
[Post] (Photo of the dragon looking at the hatchling)
[Post] Fuck. I almost pissed myself;;
[Post] Kadir fought and beat a monster like this? Is he insane?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: It really does look like a huge lizard. A winged lizard.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Try saying that in front of a dragon. Something fun might happen.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Why?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I've heard dragons really hate being called lizards.
└ Do dragons even have a concept of species discrimination?
└ Would they? They're not even part of humanity in the first place.
└ Don't dragons polymorph too?
└ That's all bullshit. Maybe in myths, but in reality they're just monsters.
└ Were there dragons in the Mythic Age too?
└ Yeah. Dragons were originally the race that fought the gods;;
└ Why did they fight?
└ Fuck, do I need to know that too?
└ LOL
└ LMAO
└ [Starlight Princess]: You weren't hurt anywhere, were you?
└ [Wild Grylls]: No. Luckily, it just left. I guess it knew how to repay a favor.
└ [Starlight Princess]: That's a relief. It was a dragon, of all things, so I was startled.
└ I pissed myself just looking at the first picture.
└ Grylls, be honest. You leaked a little, didn't you?
└ [Wild Grylls]: If I'd needed to pee, I probably would have.
└ It really makes you realize what kind of crazy f*cker Kadir is. He fought that thing and won?
└ [Allfather]: I heard that the dragon had been consumed by rage, making it easier to defeat. Its patterns were quite simple as a result.
└ How do you know that? Are you friends?
└ [NecromancyIsLove]: Because that's the person in question.
└ Bullshit lol
└ [AllHailTheSun]: So did the hatchling leave?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Yeah. It left with its mom.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: What a shame. It was pretty cute. Ask her to send it over later.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Are you insane?;;
└ This isn't a daycare center lmao
└ Dragon: Please take good care of our child.
└ Future: My dad is really angry......
└ Grylls is sobbing lmao
AllHailTheSun had said something horrifying, but I easily ignored it.
It had only been one day. Just one day. How much trust could it have built up that it would come back here?
It did seem to have become a little friendly with Wonmo, but the dragon wouldn't just stand by and watch.
‘Looks like I'll spend this morning cleaning up.’
About two hours passed after I started tidying up.
I was about to enter the cave, thinking I might farm with the time I had left.
Flap! Flap!
The sound of huge wings reached my ears.
At the same time, the wind gradually grew stronger.
It seemed I wasn't the only one to notice the strange atmosphere. The others and the animals did too.
Nervously, I raised my head.
Whoooosh!!!
The overwhelmingly imposing dragon appeared above us.
She was so enormous that she cast a shadow over the entire shelter.
Everyone and every animal stopped what they were doing.
“Piiii!”
The hatchling flapped its tiny wings and landed below.
Then it pressed its bright, cheerful face right against mine.
That snapped me out of it, and I barely managed to pull the hatchling away.
“Grrr.”
Flap!
As I stood there unable to understand what was happening, the dragon turned around.
She didn't forget to give me a look.
She had something else to do, so she was silently telling me to look after the hatchling until then.
I blankly watched the dragon grow distant, then quietly muttered.
“...Ma'am?”
When children come in, it's up to them.
“Ma'am?!”
When they leave, it's up to the parents.
“Ma'am!!”
This isn't a daycare center!!
Footnotes:
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