Chapter 76 (2/2)

“I see.”

He smiled beautifully and pulled Myohan close to rub his cheek on his soft hair.

Good, he believes me, Myohan thought, but then the god said, “If you say so…”

Myohan instinctively knew the god had just given him a chance to rely on him. He had refused his offer, and O Shin was hurt by his refusal. He could see that.

“Do you remember my friend, the one I showed you once before?”

However, he pretended to be ignorant. As he had told the man, he wasn’t going to tell on the subjects to the god.

“Today, I will show him to you.”

As they walked, the god explained about his friend. He didn’t let go of Myohan’s hair and stroked it.

“He has a camel’s head, a deer’s antlers,” His voice sounded pleasant in the wind. He spoke kindly and softly, which soothed Myohan’s heart that had been hurt by the subjects. He was explaining about the fierce-looking beast he had shown Myohan when they first met, but Myohan wanted to hear more. “Cow’s ears, rabbit’s eyes, pig’s nose…”

They walked for a long time. The god could have taken them there in an instant, but he seemed to enjoy walking with Myohan. Myohan liked it too, so he smiled.

“Snake’s neck, fish’s scale…”

They soon saw a familiar place. It was the lake where Myohan had met the god; the lake that reflected the clear sky and was full of shimmering beauty.

“Falcon’s claws, tiger’s paws…”

There was a huge beast in front of the lake. It was enormous.

It was coiled up and had its eyes closed, but as it sensed their presence, it started to get up. The moment its black eyes looked at Myohan, he froze.

“And wonderful long hair around his mouth.”

O Shin smiled as he put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. He seemed to think his surprised expression was cute. The mighty power in those black eyes made a thrill run up from his feet.

“He’s an old friend of mine.”

His soft hand stroked Myohan’s head. The enormous beast was still looking at Myohan with its black eyes. The god pointed at it and smiled confidently. He seemed to be genuinely proud of his friend.

Then he asked Myohan, “Isn’t he grand?”

He had asked that, once before. At the time, Myohan hadn’t been able to say anything, but at the time, looking into the beast’s scaly body and bored eyes, he slowly nodded.

“…Yes.”

He would never be able to forget that thrill. The scene of the beast moving slowly as it looked at Myohan with familiar eyes. He couldn’t even hear the god’s proud voice.

That was the first time Myohan saw the dragon with his two eyes.

The sensation lingered longer than he had expected. Myohan even got lost in daydreams as he took care of the subjects’ mischief. After a few days, he asked the god to see him again, but he just kissed him and said, “Well, I don’t know if he would approve.”

Then one day, it snowed. It snowed a lot, but Myohan was wandering in the forest, fooled by O once again. The man told him O was lying, but he knew that already. He was just pretending to be ignorant, as he knew that being fooled would be better.

“You’ve come to nag me again?”

O had said that Sa would be in the northeast part of the forest, but Myohan found him in the east part of the forest. Well, he hadn’t been lying completely.

“The god would be mad if you neglected your duties.”

“It’s none of your business.”

Sa sneered and shrugged. He hated the cold, so what was he doing outside in the snow? Myohan went to him and he got up, shaking the snow off his head. Myohan tried once again.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay here.”