The Hero Returns

After meeting Siegfri, Su-hyeun heard all about the red dragons from Blanc. Blanc talked about why other dragons called the red dragons betrayers and where they had gone.

"It was more like abandonment than betrayal. Among the dragons, they were known as runaways during the fight with the boss of the monsters."

"Runaways? Where did they go?" Su-hyeun asked.

"Some dragons say the red dragons abandoned this world and moved to another one… The old red dragons had the power to cross dimensions."

"Really? Cross between dimensions?"

"Yes. Anyway, because of that, some dragons think that the red dragons abandoned us, only took care of themselves. That's why they consider the red dragons betrayers and despise them."

While listening to Blanc, Su-hyeun checked Miru's face. Miru seemed to have no idea as he listened to the stories of the red dragons, who might be his parents or ancestors. Rather, he was dozing off while walking.

"The fact hasn't been confirmed. It was only Karne and other orange dragons that talked like that. Right now, they're claiming to be descendants of the Dragon King," Blanc shrugged his shoulders. "Well. Other dragons like me don't believe what they're saying. I knew the red dragons very well. They wouldn't have abandoned us like that."

"Are there many dragons who don't believe it, like you?"

"A little less than half," said Blanc, "Many dragons didn't believe it at first, but more and more dragons started to believe as the years passed. Well. The red dragons have disappeared from this world, and Karne is still alive. So, it's not surprising his words blind the young dragons."

"I guess you're right."

Then, Su-hyeun, who was following Blanc, felt something strange. There were only a few dragons passing by in the huge city. Some dragons saw them but just left right away. So far, Su-hyeun had seen only five dragons.

"The city's pretty empty," Su-hyeun said.

"Because this isn't a human city," Blanc said.

"What does that have to do with the city being empty?"

"There were only about 50 dragons that survived the war. The number of clans has increased since then, but still, there are only about five hundred dragons here."

"Five hundred?"

Su-hyeun looked around the city in surprise. Five hundred was a ridiculously small population to say that they were only members of this enormous city.

"Maybe by now the news has been around the clan," Blanc said.

"Already?" Su-hyeun asked.

"Because we have 'eyes.' Through that, news can be spread quickly."

"'Eyes?'"

"It's a way for dragons to communicate. No matter how far away we are, we can convey our voices to each other. Also, we can talk with many other dragons at the same time," Blanc said as if he was proud of it. But Su-hyeun didn't impress easily.

<<In a word, it's a conference call.>>

Anyway, by now, it was clear that the news about Su-hyeun and Miru had spread to everyone. On the way to Blanc's house, Su-hyeun wracked his brain.

<<The trial became complicated because of Miru…but I guess my job is ending the war with the monsters remaining here.>>

According to what Blanc had said, the war was still going on. Fafnir was gone, but the monsters that Fafnir had brought remained.

<<And for that…>>

Crack—

Suddenly, a scarlet-colored eye opened in front of Su-hyeun and Blanc, who were walking side by side.

-Sir Blanc.

A voice came out of the eye.

Blanc stopped walking and asked, "Meranya?"

-Yes. It's been a while since we last met.

"It wasn't that long ago. I couldn't sleep long enough because of this man here."

<<I feel like maybe I shouldn't have woken him up.>>

At Blanc's word, Su-hyeun smiled bashfully. Then, he glanced at the scarlet eye.

<<Is this the eye Blanc was talking about?>>

It certainly looked like a giant eye. The voice came from the eye rang a little bit. It was a thin and beautiful voice, like a woman's.

<<The green dragon before and this dragon both called Blanc 'sir.' I guess he's really old.>>

Even though color rank existed in the dragon society, Blanc was a dragon that had lived before the war. Except for a few others, there wouldn't be not older dragons than him left. No. More than that, there wouldn't be many old dragons among the existing dragons.

-I heard. You're with the red dragon, right?

"Yes."

-Sir Karne is looking for you, the red dragon, and the human. Could you come with them?

"Should I go when I am called?"

-…

"Tell him. He can come. And if he's trying to do something wrong, I won't sit on the sidelines."

- Okay, I'll tell him that.

"Hence!"

Rumble—

The scarlet eye closed at Blanc's words and disappeared. Su-hyeun watched the eye, while listening to the conversation, and opened his mouth to speak.

"I guess that was the orange-colored dragon."

"How did you figure that out?"

"Well. The color of the eye was reddish-orange. Also, the concentration of magic was quite high, unlike the other dragon we met before."

"Well. Siegfri is a pretty sloppy one."

"Anyway, how long do we have to wait? I'm too busy to keep waiting."

"It won't take that long."

Rumble—

At Blanc's word, Su-hyeun looked around and muttered, "I guess you're right."

Puff, puff—

Blurring shadows like haze appeared around Su-hyeun and Blanc. They were orange and yellow dragons.

Su-hyeun thought, looking around them, <<Teleport? They all have that rare skill?>>

Even among awakeners, only a few were skilled enough to move a far distance. Jumping long distances was a very rare skill. Even an S-Rank awakener couldn't get the skill easily.

<<It looks like any dragon above the yellow ones can use the teleport skill.>> Su-hyeun changed his evaluation of the dragons. <<I was very disappointed when I saw that green dragon.>>

But still, a dragon was a dragon. It was the highest-grade species among the divine beasts.

"Is that him? The human that came with a descendant of the Dragon King."

"A descendant of the Dragon King? My ass. That red dragon is just a descendant of a betrayer."

"Please refrain from talking about unconfirmed accusations. And please don't fight. We are all dragons."

Su-hyeun could understand what they are talking about because Blanc used interpreting magic for him. And it seemed Miru could understand them as well. Miru, standing next to Su-hyeun, lowered his head. He looked like he was about to cry.

Gyaong—

Miru's sad crying made Su-hyeun upset. He looked around at the dragons who surrounding them and looking at them like monkeys in a zoo. They were all above yellow. About five of them were orange-colored dragons. Among them, Su-hyeun found the tallest dragon standing in the center.

<<I guess he is the leader of the dragons.>>

They all had a special aura, but the tallest dragon had a particularly special one. The tall dragon, Karne, saw Su-hyeun. Their eyes met.

Karne asked, "Are you the man who brought the descendant of the Dragon King?"

He asked the question very formally. But, at least, he asked more politely than Siegfri, the dragon Su-hyeun had met before. But, of course, though he spoke politely, his gaze and expression were about the same as Siegfri's.

"If you're talking about Miru, yes, you are right."

"Miru… In some humans' language, that means dragon, doesn't it?"

Suhyun was a little surprised when Karne understood his language.

Karne said with a smile, "Don't be surprised. I don't know much about your world. I've just lived for a long time, so I happened to hear a little here and there."

"It looks like you know a lot of things," Su-hyeun said.

"Compared to humans who only live a hundred years."

"If you are a dragon who knows so much and is old, why do you bear enmity toward a three-year-old child?"

Rumble, rumble—

Su-hyeun and Caren's auras hit each other and bounced all over the place. Karne's aura was aimed at Miru from the beginning. The concentration in his aura was out of the ordinary. So, Su-hyeun had to raise his magic as well to stop it.

<<No wonder Siegfri was in trouble.>>

Karne was inwardly surprised. He was doubtful before he met Su-hyeun in person. After he saw Su-hyeun stopping his magic in its tracks, Karne could believe what Siegfri had said. Su-hyeun seemed above the level of a normal human being.

"So, are you Karne?" Su-hyeun asked.

Karne had never thought that a human would dare to look directly into his eyes and speak to him like this.

"Yes?"

"I heard what you said and I have a question. Did the red dragons really betray the other dragons?"

At Su-hyeun's question, Karne knitted his brow.

"Are you trying to deny it? That's a useless attempt. They are cowards who have abandoned the clan, and they are unqualified to return to us."

"Did you see it?"

"Yes. I was the only one who survived the war, which was a good thing. Otherwise, other dragons would believe and praise that the red dragons have saved the world themselves!"

"I see," Su-hyeun said, nodding his head, "Go and give them a piece of your mind if you're that angry. Ask why they abandoned you guys."

"What?"

Karne and other dragons frowned at Su-hyeun's sudden words. Su-hyeun looked back at Miru.

"It wasn't this little child who abandoned you. Why are you venting your anger on the wrong dragon?" Su-hyeun shook his head as if he had heard the pathetic words. "You have been thinking they abandoned you guys. I can understand that, since it looks like you guys believed them. But don't you think you're taking it out on the wrong person? Are you guys excluding someone because they have the same blood? Even humans, that you guys think are lower than dragons, know that blaming children for their parents' mistakes is wrong."

What dragons were doing was called "guilt-by-association." It was a system that assigned joint responsibility tp a sinner's child or close relatives. Although it, as a system, had mostly disappeared by modern times, it still occurred secretly. People looked at the child of a murderer in a certain way. People even had a similar tendency when they looked at a child without parents.

Guilt-by-association hadn't disappeared. And the dragons were the same. They were looking at Miru through colored glasses and trying to reject him just because he was the descendant of the red dragons.

"I don't want to argue with you here. But if you don't mind, I would like to say this is a difference between humans and dragons."

"A difference between humans and dragons?" Su-hyeun asked.

"What happened that day was dragon business. And the culture of humans and dragons are different, of course. But if you still can't understand… That's fine. You don't have to understand. We don't ask you to understand. By the way" —Karne looked at Su-hyeun and Miru alternately and asked in a deep voice— "What is your relationship with that little dragon. Why are you so angry on its behalf? I don't get it."

"Why do you ask such an obvious question?" At Karne's question, Su-hyeun answered, stroking Miru's head, who was about to cry. "He's my child."