Got a Gallery in the Wild

I don’t know.

No matter how many times I think about it, I simply can’t understand it.

I was certain I had heard that dragons treasured their hatchlings more than anything else.

Which meant they would never entrust their children to someone they didn’t trust.

And if something happened to the hatchling under those circumstances.

The retaliation I would face would be terrifying.

Besides, this was the Forest of Four Seasons.

Unless you belonged to the same pack, every other animal was practically an enemy.

Well, there was the Kangaroos’ Combat Arena, which functioned as a neutral zone, but it was an extremely rare exception born from a tacit agreement.

The moment you left that neutral zone, everyone became enemies again.

There was no truly safe place.

“Peeeep~”

“Kyuuuu~ Kyuu~”

Then.

Why had the dragon entrusted the hatchling to me?

At that moment, the hatchling was happily playing with Wonmo.

Every time he flapped his wings and floated a little into the air, Wonmo jumped after him.

Watching those two adorable little ones play together was comforting.

But that peace didn’t last long.

“Mister.”

“……”

“This is your first time seeing something like this, right? Me too.”

I had no idea how I was supposed to treat the hatchling.

Was the dragon really using me as a daycare and leaving its child with me?

Or was there some other reason?

Whatever the answer was, one thing was absolutely certain.

I had to protect the hatchling at all costs.

Just yesterday he had crawled into the cave covered in wounds.

I didn’t know who had attacked him, but there was a high chance that threat was still nearby.

‘The dragon probably went to deal with whatever attacked him.’

Maybe it only intended to leave the hatchling here until then.

I let out a long sigh and accepted reality.

I couldn’t kick the hatchling out.

We would have to get along.

Fortunately, he seemed to like this place and got along wonderfully with Wonmo.

“Kyuuuuuu~”

“Peeeeep~”

Right now, the two of them were even using Largo’s neck as a slide.

Meanwhile, Largo was sweating buckets from how nervous she felt around the hatchling.

‘…Maybe this is actually even safer?’

Dragons were terrifying.

And that fear seemed to be instinctively engraved not only in humans but in all animals.

Just like Largo, most creatures probably wouldn’t even consider provoking the hatchling.

If that was the case, this shelter would also benefit from that effect.

Of course, this was still the Forest of Four Seasons.

There was no way of knowing what kind of absurd monster might appear.

‘He’s practically a living nuclear bomb.’

That was exactly how dragons were regarded.

AllFather once told me that a dragon’s heart alone possessed enough power to destroy an entire city.

If just its heart had such destructive power.

There was no need to imagine what the owner of that heart was capable of.

As I silently watched Wonmo and the hatchling playing together, I opened the Gallery.

I wanted to explain the current situation and, while I was at it, ask why the dragon had left the hatchling with me.

Title) Daycare is now open.

WildGrills

(Photo of the hatchling playing with Wonmo)

(Video of the hatchling happily running around)

(Video of the hatchling trying to drag Wonmo)

For some reason, the dragon left the hatchling here.

Does anyone know why?

He already left once, but then came back and just left him with me.

Weren’t dragons supposed to adore their hatchlings? Does anyone know what’s going on?

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) It seems the dragon trusts you enough to leave its hatchling with you. If you think about it, it’s actually quite natural.

ㄴ WildGrills) And why is that?

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) Didn’t you say dragons are as intelligent as humans? Unlike humans, beasts never forget either a favor or a grudge.

ㄴ WildGrills) Leaving the hatchling with me isn’t repaying a favor. It’s dropping a bomb on me. ;;

ㄴ Swordmaster) Don’t look at it so negatively. After all, you’re under a dragon’s protection now, aren’t you?

ㄴ A person protected by a dragon? Didn’t that also appear in the legends?

ㄴ Yes. It also comes from mythology. Back when humanity was ruled by dragons.

ㄴ So the gods killed those dragons and liberated humanity?

ㄴ Exactly.

ㄴ But why? From the perspective of the countries protected by dragons, wouldn’t the gods have looked like invaders?

ㄴ StarlightPrincess) Because the dragons’ oppression was far too brutal. That’s also where the legend comes from that unimaginable treasures can be found inside dragons’ nests.

ㄴ Sounds like dragons had shitty personalities. LOL.

ㄴ StarlightPrincess) They certainly weren’t kind. There are even stories of dragons killing people with their breath simply because they were in a bad mood. The dragon you encountered, in fact, is considered quite peaceful.

ㄴ So he’s basically living on top of a ticking time bomb.

ㄴ No, not a ticking time bomb. His life is more fragile than a fly’s.

ㄴ A fly among flies. LOL.

ㄴ StarlightPrincess) You people really are terrible.

Most people seemed to think the same thing I did.

Since I had protected her hatchling, the dragon had decided this place was safe.

The problem was that dragons were notorious for their violent tempers.

There was no guarantee she wouldn’t change her mind at any moment.

No matter how I looked at it, I was still sitting on top of a ticking time bomb.

‘…Well.’

I’ll eat first.

No matter how much I worry, nothing is going to change.

The only thing I can do is get along with the hatchling as well as possible so the dragon won’t be able to harm me so easily.

But first.

I had to give him a name.

Calling him “the hatchling” every single time was far too inconvenient.

‘If I ask the Gallery, they’ll definitely come up with the most ridiculous names imaginable.’

I’d name him myself.

And, as it happened, I already had the perfect name.

A species that once ruled the Earth.

But ultimately went extinct after a great catastrophe.

The most iconic species of that era, bearing the most famous name of them all.

Thinking of that name, I walked over to the hatchling.

Then I picked him up while he was still happily playing with Wonmo and said.

“Tyran.” [1]

“Peeep?”

“From now on, your name is Tyran. Understood?”

“Peeep!”

Now that he had a name, it was time to put him back down.

It would take him some time to recognize that as his name, but that didn’t matter.

Just as I was about to start preparing the meal.

“…Tyran?”

Ludwig asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

Apparently, he had never imagined I would even give him a name.

“Yeah. We’re going to be seeing each other very often, so I had to at least give him a name.”

“……”

Ludwig simply nodded.

Since I was the owner of this place, he seemed to respect my decision.

“I’m going up to the river for a while. Stay here.”

I slung the Sloth onto my back and headed up to the river, leaving Ludwig at the shelter.

Ludwig alone was enough to protect the shelter, and Lackey was there as well.

“By the way, weren’t you afraid of the dragon?”

I asked the Sloth as we climbed.

Everyone else had been terrified when they saw the dragon, but the Sloth had simply scratched his back as calmly as ever.

I didn’t know whether he was brave or simply incapable of feeling fear.

“……”

As expected, the Sloth didn’t answer.

He wore the same relaxed expression as always.

I wish he could talk like the gorilla.

Though, to begin with, I didn’t even know if he had vocal cords.

Still, he understood what I said, and that was enough.

Shhhhhhh!

Since quite some time had passed after the rain stopped, the river’s water level had returned to normal.

There were no more fish scattered along the riverbank.

The animals had probably carried them away.

Originally, I had planned to come to the river early in the morning, but the dragon’s sudden appearance had made that impossible.

‘I’d better set the traps.’

Since it hadn’t rained that heavily yesterday, there was no need to secure them with stones either.

After setting the traps without much trouble, I returned to the shelter.

When I got back, I found quite an interesting sight.

“Cheeep! Cheep! Cheep!”

“Cheep! Cheep!”

While I had gone to the river, Ludwig must have planted wheat seeds in the field.

The wheat grew immediately, and naturally, a flock of birds appeared.

Normally, they would have stripped it bare, but…

“Peeeeeeep!!!”

“Cheep! Cheep!”

“Cheep! Cheep!”

Fwap! Fwap!

The moment Tyran roared, the entire flock fled in terror.

Even though he was still just a hatchling, he seemed to retain a dragon’s natural intimidation.

Thanks to that, Ludwig was able to harvest the wheat without any interruptions.

“…Oh?”

It was a completely unexpected reaction.

If this kept up, harvesting wheat would become much easier from now on.

Ludwig seemed to have reached the same conclusion, as he looked at Tyran with a strange expression.

Meanwhile, Tyran had already lost interest and gone back to playing with Wonmo.

“Come on, you two. Eat first, then play.”

We had to eat first.

As I’d said before, we still had some fish left.

The problem was that Tyran could also devour an entire fish without any difficulty.

Me, Ludwig, Wonmo, Lackey, and Tyran.

Five in total.

That meant consuming five fish in a single meal.

Thankfully, Largo only ate grass.

Otherwise, things would have been much more difficult.

‘I’ll have to set more traps or expand the farmland.’

There was something worrying me.

Would Wonmo and Tyran start becoming picky eaters?

Wonmo was a bear, so he could eat anything.

But Tyran was probably a carnivore.

Unless his mother started bringing him meat, I’d have to figure something out for now.

…

After finishing the meal, I noticed a small change in Wonmo.

He had visibly gained weight.

It wasn’t just his belly; his entire body had grown larger.

That meant winter was very close.

We had already prepared ourselves.

But what about Tyran?

Would his mother come to take him away?

Or would he keep staying here?

“Kyuuuuuu……”

With a full stomach, Wonmo waddled toward the cave to take a nap.

Tyran tried to stop him so they could keep playing.

But the difference in size was simply too great.

No matter how much he blocked his way with his body or tugged at him with his mouth, Wonmo didn’t budge at all.

“Peeeeep……”

In the end, when Wonmo fell asleep, Tyran put on a sad expression.

As if saying,

‘I still want to play. Why are you going to sleep?’

He even gently nudged him with his front paws.

But Wonmo was already fast asleep.

There was no way to wake him up.

‘Doesn’t this guy sleep?’

As far as I knew, most young animals spent more than half the day sleeping.

But dragons seemed to be the exception.

He was still full of energy.

Looking at Tyran, who seemed a little dejected, I carefully asked,

“Tyran, do you want to play with me?”

“Peeep?”

Flap! Flap!

Could he understand what I was saying too?

The moment I spoke to him, he began flapping his little wings.

His big eyes even started sparkling.

He looked eager to play.

‘Now that I think about it, they said dragons liked shiny things.’

I asked Tyran to wait a moment and opened a box.

Inside was the mithril left over from Ludwig’s prosthetic incident.

Since mithril also shone with a greenish glow, I thought he might like it.

‘I’ll roll it around and play with him.’

I took out a fist-sized mithril sphere.

When I showed it to him, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Just as I expected, dragons loved shiny things.

“Nom!”

“……?”

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

…He did like it.

But for a completely different reason than I expected.

Tyran swallowed the mithril in a single bite and calmly began chewing it.

Mithril was famous for being as hard as steel.

And he was eating it like it was a cookie.

Gulp.

“Peeeeep~”

“…Is it good?”

“Peeep!”

As long as he liked it.

I guess that was what mattered.

***

Dragons were widely known as the most powerful lifeforms in the world.

Their strength came from their overwhelming size.

They possessed intelligence capable of using magic like humans.

They had wings that allowed them to freely soar through the skies.

And finally.

Their breath could melt absolutely anything.

Very few creatures could face a dragon on equal footing.

That was why humanity, along with most beasts, feared provoking a dragon’s wrath.

Most ignored a hatchling as if it were a cow or a chicken.

And if anyone ever harmed one.

They were expelled from their own pack.

After all, it was better to sacrifice one member than allow the entire group to be annihilated.

However.

That only happened outside the Forest of Four Seasons.

This forest was home to monsters every bit as terrifying as dragons themselves.

Like the giant crab and the giant crayfish Grills had seen by the lake, there were creatures that looked as though they had stepped straight out of a kaiju movie.

In other words.

There were monsters the same size as dragons and with comparable power.

“Grrrrrr……”

The gray dragon let out a threatening growl as it stared straight ahead.

Its expression made it clear that it intended to tear apart the enemy before it.

At that moment, the dragon was inside its lair.

Normally, it would have been resting.

But there was a reason it couldn’t.

“Sssssssss…”

Standing before it was a gigantic white serpent.

It radiated an oppressive presence different from the dragon’s, while its forked tongue flicked out as if taunting it.

Judging by its length alone, the monster was more than twice as long as the dragon.

Its bulk was equally monstrous.

If it opened its mouth completely, it looked capable of swallowing the dragon whole in a single bite.

It wasn’t the typical Imugi from the tales of the Central Continent.

It seemed to be a creature on an entirely different level.

“Sshaaaaaa…!”

When the gigantic white serpent opened its mouth, enormous venomous fangs were revealed.

A purple liquid dripped from them and fell onto the ground.

Sssssss!

No.

It didn’t even penetrate the earth.

The moment it touched solid rock,

It melted it completely.

That was the real reason the dragon couldn’t remain with the hatchling.

And it was also why it had no choice but to temporarily entrust its child to Grills.

Just like the Celestial Whale.

It was a monster that seemed to exist only in the Mythological Era.

“KRAAAAAAA!!!”

“SSSHAAAAAA!!!”

In one corner of the Forest of Four Seasons.

A battle to the death began.

T/N:

(1): A wordplay on the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex.