Chapter 344 (1/2)
“Cintamani?”
Su-hyeun detected the unique magical energy and climbed up to the top of Miru’s head and then took a look below.
The Cintamani was emitting light with a completely different level of clarity compared to before.
It was as if that marble itself possessed a will and was trying to say something.
Grrrrr—
Miru began descending to the ground.
Although its action was the same as usual, Su-hyeun was certain that Miru was acting separately from his order from earlier. In fact, Miru was heading toward the village of its own free will.
“Is there something in that village?”
Su-hyeun rubbed Miru’s head.
The dragon was clearly excited. It trembled in excitement ever so faintly, but even then, he could clearly sense it.
However, Miru being this agitated could result in damages to the village down below.
“Calm down, Miru. Calm down.”
Grrrr—
Miru let out a soft growl at Su-hyeun’s petting.
Thud—
Soon, the dragon landed on the ground and lowered its head. The people riding on its back hurriedly dismounted.
As for the villagers, they didn’t come outside the village. Judging from their presence while keeping their distance, Su-hyeun figured that they were immensely scared and wary of Miru.
He casually took a look at the village.
It was fairly large. At a rough headcount, there must have been at least well over a thousand people here.
The houses were built simply with fabric and wooden boards but looked quite sturdy in their own right. Besides, the outer wall surrounding the village prevented strong winds from blowing in, so they shouldn’t collapse that easily, anyway.
“No matter how I look at it, it’s just a regular village…” he thought.
Su-hyeun glanced at Miru.
That Cintamani protruding out of the dragon’s forehead…
That item’s reaction of suddenly emitting light seemed pretty similar to back when Miru discovered it hidden inside the Titan Turtle’s body.
“Miru, I think you should get smaller for now. Everyone’s scared of you.”
Grrrr—
Crunch, creaaaak—
Miru’s body began growing smaller. Its figure that was as big as an apartment building instantly shrunk down to the size of a baby winged dragon that was no bigger than a tiger.
“Are you there?”
Su-hyeun sensed the villagers’ alertness soften just a tad, so he called out to them once more. When he did, a handful of brave people began emerging from the village.
“W—who are you?”
“Well, these folks behind me said that they need to come over here, so…” Su-hyeun replied while pointing at the people behind him. “They told me it’ll be safe here.”
“And what about that monster?”
“It’s just a kid that accompanies me wherever I go. Hey, Miru. Greet them.”
Gya-ong—!
Su-hyeun replied while petting Miru, and the dragon responded with an energetic bow of its head.
The villagers all made puzzled expressions at that response. They thought Miru was a monster, but to think that it followed a human’s orders and even knew how to greet other people.
“In that case, why did you cause that commotion earlier? Lord wizard would have opened the way for you even if you didn’t do anything threatening and simply told us that you wanted to enter.”
This time it was Su-hyeun’s turn to be puzzled when someone asked him that.
They would’ve let his group in if only he announced his intentions first? That implied that the people inside could tell the situation outside the wall.
“Does that mean I did something unnecessary? Or…”
Su-hyeun scanned the crowd of the villagers that had appeared before him.
It was then that he heard a certain voice.
“Ah, my apologies. Sorry about that.”
A good-natured chuckle accompanied that voice.
Su-hyeun’s eyes narrowed in response. The villagers all focused their attention on the entrance of an old man with a long snow-white beard.
“Uh, sir!”
“Sir, what brings you here…?”
“Guests from afar have arrived, so of course, I must come to welcome them in,” the old man replied.
The old man had plenty of wrinkles on his face. His back was bent forward, and his steps seemed labored as well, but he still looked around his vicinity with a warm smile on his face.
That was when a male villager nearby walked up and addressed him. “Sir, the magic circle protecting the village has been shattered. What should we do now?”
“It was my fault, that one. I got too carried away with my stubborn streak.”
“I beg your pardon? Your stubborn streak?”
“No, it’s nothing to worry about. In any case, I was planning to do something soon anyway, so it’s not a big problem. That’s how it is, so you can rest easy and welcome our guests,” the old man addressed the villagers and then shifted his gaze over to Su-hyeun next. “As for me, I’d like to have a chat with that gentleman in private.”
He then turned around to walk away first.
Su-hyeun trudged slowly after the old man. The large gathering of the villagers didn’t try to stop him and simply moved aside to make way for him.
He could hear their murmurings.
Is he a monster in disguise?
Does the good sir know him?
What is the monster next to him, anyway?
Suspicions regarding Su-hyeun spread around in an instant.
The old man eventually stepped inside the biggest building in the village, which was really only slightly taller and had thicker wooden boards than the other houses.
Miru was much larger than a full-grown adult man and, as a result, only barely managed to fit through the doorway.
Su-hyeun took a look at the Spartan interior featuring only a temporary bed before asking a question, “Sir, did you create that magic wall outside?”
The old man settled down on the temporary bed and stared at Su-hyeun who had cut straight to the chase before making his reply. “That I did. Couldn’t you tell with just one look?”
“Were you protecting the villagers?”
“Indeed. You were better than I expected as well. Although I couldn’t tell whether what you used was magic or not.”
Grrrng, growl—
Just as the two people began chatting away, Miru got close to the old man and began pushing its head toward him.
Grrrr, grrrrowl—