I Raised A Black Dragon

“Is that so?”

She asked back because it was weird, but come to think of it, Kyle really was right. Hadn’t she first heard about Kyle’s family history a few hours ago? There was so much more Noah hadn’t told him.

His voice continued, not too fast and not too slow.

“At first, I was only curious about your original appearance, but after seeing the real you, I’ve been gradually wanting to know more. Where you came from; how that place was; what you did there; if you had three square meals a day; what kind of terrible things you ate to have your body end up like this.”

“Hold on. I think I heard something strange in the middle,” interjected Noah.

“Strange how? You’re mistaken. There's nothing more important to me than that.”

Noah lost what she was about to say when Kyle coldly denied her comment. She remarked, “Such an unappetizing remark. I have no desire for materialism. And no lust for power… Oh, I had no drive in the first place. You can see vividly how I’ve lived.”

She should never tell Kyle that she’d eaten an average of a meal and a half when she lived in South Korea. Noah vaguely changed the subject.

“Even back then, I wasn’t the type to live hoping for something. And you will find out once you’ve overworked yourself to death. The motivation that I have disappears with a lot of effort.”

“Overworking. Good one. I’ve also wanted to ask about that. Where and how in the world did you work to nearly kill yourself? It must have been a workplace with no common sense. ”

“…I don’t think that’s what you’re saying.” Noah couldn't say that she was a bit of a pushover and had done everything she didn't have to do. She turned her head on the sly. “Oh, where did Muell go… Muell?”

Now that she thought of it, Muell was actually missing. Just a while ago, he had been pulling on the hem of Noah’s dress, following behind her.

She saw the little boy standing alone in the distance when she turned in bewilderment. It seemed that he’d been standing there for a long time.

“Muell, what are you doing?”

Despite her calling his name, the boy didn't reply and only stared at the vast universe for a long time. Noah turned back around at the strangeness, then heard a voice stopping her.

[Master, I am going back.]

A yellow fairy swam gently through space and flew to Muell.

It looked like the two were having a conversation. Muell’s lips moved around and stopped, and Noah wondered if he was listening to Perri’s story, then he shook his head at once. Before long, a bright smile appeared on Muell’s face.

“Muell?”

“Yes! Muell is going!”

When Noah called Muell out of sudden angst, he immediately replied. He sprang out across outer space and grabbed her dress.

“We should stay together; you must not lose me. Let’s hold hands,” Noah said, extending her towards Muell.

“Yep!” He quickly let go of her dress and grabbed her hand. From the looks of his shiny dark red eyes, he was relieved then.

“Let’s go.”

“Noah, let’s go!”

Noah took off again after having stopped at the friendly voices urging her from all around. In no time, they’d reach the door leading to her world.

[The medium is holding on very narrowly. It’ll end up disappearing if we go back through it one more time.]

The fairy came up with its tiny wings, and several sheets of paper fluttered in the air.

The spectacular view of thousands of pages fluttering on a shining sphere did not unfold as Noah had experienced the other day. Still, the entrance seemed to be gradually shining brightly in the medium's magic.

“Noah, your hand!”

Before she’d known it, Muell, hugged by Kyle, was reaching out to her. The moment she grabbed his tiny hand, light from the sphere blinded her vision. It was as if outer space had exploded.

Once again, the door leading to her world was open.

***

Seoul, South Korea.

A sunny August 17th without a cloud of dust or a speck of fine dust in sight. 11:59 a.m.

Today's date on the electronic display clearly showed off its presence. Noah looked up for a long time at the seconds, counting on the electric clock.

11:59:56, 11:59:57, 11:59:58, 11:59:59… 12:00.

It was noon. It was a morning on a weekday, so the quiet main road gradually became busy starting at noon. The roadside in front of the station was crowded with workers flooding out of the buildings to go eat lunch, students running late to class, and construction workers going out to buy lunch slowly.

Noah stood in front of the crosswalk that she had crossed countless times a day two years and three months ago and looked at the electronic display board for a long time, which she had never even had time to look up to before. The year was not displayed on it, so she couldn’t even give a rough estimation of what year she was in.