“Haah, it must have run away after all.”
It seemed to have gone deeper into the cave. Naro looked uncertainly at the inside where darkness loomed as if it would swallow anything. Thinking it would be dangerous to go further, he decided to stop here and eventually gave up chasing the fox.
He turned around to go back outside, but his steps got tangled as he tripped on a protruding stone in front of him.
“Huh?”
Nearly falling, Naro instinctively put strength into his body while pressing against the cave wall.
“…Phew.”
Fortunately, he could prevent such a catastrophe as his face high-fiving the ground. It seemed that reflexively pressing against the wall had helped. But that’s when it happened.
Kurung—!
Suddenly, with a loud tremor, cracks began to form in the wall Naro had pressed against.
“Gasp!”
Sensing danger, Naro reflexively pulled back his body, but the wall collapsed much faster. Soon, large and small debris fell to the floor, scattering a huge cloud of dust inside.
“That startled me.”
By heaven’s luck, he wasn’t buried under a pile of stones. Having fallen backward and inadvertently dodged it, Naro slowly got up while rubbing his bottom that throbbed from hitting the ground. In the midst of confusion wondering why the wall suddenly collapsed and whether it was because of him, the dust obscuring his vision gradually cleared.
“Huh? My money!”
In the middle of the inner space revealed by the collapsed wall, the money pouch that the black fox had taken earlier was placed. Naro quickly trampled over the pile of stones, ran over, picked up the pouch, and checked inside. Fortunately, the money was still there.
“…Hm?”
But the pouch wasn’t the only thing placed there.
“No way… a dragon…?”
What entered Naro’s eyes was none other than a small baby dragon breathing laboriously.
He knew that this place was completely different from the world where he was born and lived in the past. That made sense, since this wasn’t the Republic of Korea but a place called the Erwin ‘Empire,’ a world where imperial authority existed and an emperor ruled the country.
Not only was the landmass incomparably larger than the Republic of Korea, but it was a fantasy world where a special discipline called magic studies existed and there were mages who handled powerful energy.
Even though he had fallen into this world where everything from one to ten was different, the reason Naro could adapt relatively quickly was precisely because he had seen countless such creative works. Although it was concerning that he’d only read the beginning of this original novel, in any case, he was just a stranger who had entered this world, so if he lived quietly there would be no problems.
At least there were a few pieces of information he learned from reading the early parts of the original work: not only the element of magic, but that this novel’s world had a setting related to a special race called the ‘Dragon Tribe.’
And one of the stories he heard when he came to this world and went around diligently gathering information was:
‘A hero fought and defeated an evil dragon threatening the Empire, bringing peace.’
So Naro could be certain. This world might be the world after the ending had occurred. Because normally in this kind of royal road story, doesn’t it end with a hero or knight protagonist defeating the biggest enemy and becoming a hero of the world?
That’s why he’d been living with even more peace of mind.
“…”
Naro gulped. Inside some damp and cold cave. He’d tried to take care of a fox and ended up having his money stolen, came here to retrieve his money pouch, and now an unbelievable creature was visible before his eyes.
The dragon’s head had horns that resembled the shape of well-trimmed tree branches, and below them, what extended down in an oval shape were ears. The scales and claws sprouting on its four legs glittered sharply even from a bit of a distance. Moreover, it had triangular horns and a thick, blunt black tail.
Naro hesitated and unconsciously took a step back. A fear of the unknown came over him from facing a species different from humans. What if other dragons were living in this cave too?
As Naro stepped backward, labored panting sounds could be heard from somewhere. Listening carefully, it was a sound coming from that baby dragon lying on the ground. He hadn’t noticed earlier because he was startled, but the dragon’s condition was clearly not normal at a glance. Several broken pieces that appeared to be from an egg were scattered beside the dragon, and the eggshell had black patterns dotted on a pure white background.
And that baby dragon breathing laboriously seemed to have completely lost consciousness. Above all, there were deep wounds all over its body, and blood kept seeping from those wounds. Though it was hard to see in the darkness, there was also a puddle created by blood pooling around the dragon.
Naro saw himself from his past life overlapping with the appearance of the baby dragon that wasn’t even writhing in pain. He recalled that time when he suffered from a chronic illness, writhed in pain, but ultimately ended his life lonely on a hospital bed without a single person who truly worried about him.
The trembling of his legs that had been shaking with fear eventually stopped. Naro clenched his fists and approached the collapsed baby dragon.
Then he took off his outer garment, wrapped the baby dragon in it, and held it directly in his arms. Seeing it this close, its condition looked even more serious. Its body drooped limply and its breathing was so faint it wouldn’t be strange if it stopped at any moment. Naro immediately dashed out of the cave and ran home.
Dragons as portrayed in creative works were strong and frightening existences. But in Naro’s eyes now, this baby dragon wasn’t a frightening existence but merely a small creature suffering in pain.
“You can’t die. Hang in there a little. I’ll help you…”
Naro endlessly muttered to himself words that might have been meant for his past self who had died once, as he came inside the house.
First, he pulled over all the blankets he had and wrapped them around and around the dragon’s body. Perhaps because it had been continuously in the cold cave, its body was cold as ice.
While he was at it, he added more firewood to the fireplace and burned it. After making the house warm like that, Naro scratched his head in confusion.
But how should he treat a dragon? It would be different from one to ten from a human body. Moreover, he couldn’t take it to a medical center. Because the creature before his eyes was literally a dragon.
“Let’s just try.”
But the longer he delayed, the more certain it was that the dragon’s survival rate would drop. With a firmly resolved face, Naro left the house and ran into the pharmacy. Then he fixed the sign to ‘CLOSED’ so no one could enter and moved busily.
He didn’t know if medicinal herbs effective for humans would also work on dragons. But if he didn’t treat it, the dragon might die. So there was no reason not to try.
Naro brewed medicinal herbs that restored vitality into tea so it could be drunk, and mixed and finely ground various medicinal herbs to apply to wounds. When he added a small amount of water and mixed it, a thick ointment was completed.
He took the prepared items and hurried back home. Inside the house, labored breathing sounds could still be heard.
Naro directly held the dragon in his arms and carefully opened its mouth. Since it had no energy in its body, fortunately opening its mouth was easy. Then he poured the brewed tea straight in.
“Even if it’s bitter, you must swallow it all.”
Naro continuously spoke to the unconscious dragon. In his past life, when his illness worsened, he occasionally lost consciousness, and even during that, he dimly recalled hearing the voices of doctors and nurses. Someone had said it. Even when people are unconscious, they can still hear voices. Weren’t there stories of comatose patients miraculously waking up after hearing their family’s desperate voices?
Of course, Naro had no family to hold onto him with such warm voices, but at least he believed in such miracles. If anything, the fact that he gained a new life and could live here was also a miracle.
After making it drink all the tea, he moved on to treating the wounds in earnest. First, he cleanly wiped the affected areas with clean disinfectant. Whether it was painful, the dragon’s body reflexively flinched.
“It hurts, doesn’t it? I’m sorry. But please bear with it a little.”
After disinfecting, he applied the ointment he’d made directly to the wounds everywhere. After thickly applying the ointment so it could soak in well, he wrapped it with clean cloth.
After the treatment that took a whole hour was finished, Naro finally caught his breath. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
For now, he’d done everything he could do right away. He could only hope that the medicinal herbs he used would work well on the dragon’s body too.
Naro wrapped the dragon’s body in blankets again and brought over a wide basket to lay it down. He placed the makeshift bed he’d roughly made close to the fireplace.
The dragon was still breathing painfully. Of course, he knew it would be difficult to wake up right away even if the effects appeared, but still, he felt anxious.
“Please hang in there. I’ll be by your side.”
Naro gently whispered while stroking the dragon with clumsy hands.
