Chapter 13
I was walking down an entirely white corridor.
The walls were all marble.
If it weren’t for the labyrinthine structure that made no sense, it would’ve been a perfect shrine.
Though, despite being absurdly impractical for its purpose as a shrine, it looked convincingly divine at least.
To build something like this… humans must’ve worked their butts off.
But even so…
“Gyao…”
I didn’t want to walk this long.
I originally planned to dash there and back quickly.
After all, the direction of the tubby snake was louder than where I had awakened.
But maybe because the guy I thought was my stretcher-bearer turned out to be just a janitor, I started losing energy.
Or maybe I just needed more rest.
Actually, that’s probably the real reason.
When I get back, I need to cuddle with Gan Hana and rest again.
Honestly, this time, the break was way too short. It wasn’t even a full day or two.
It seriously felt like someone blinked once and then told me, “Alright, rest is over! Get up!”
And what annoyed me even more was that there was no one around to listen to these totally reasonable complaints.
Normally, if I announced I had something to say, the priests would gather the masses for me.
Wait a minute…
Now that I think about it, that’s strange.
Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing any of my priests at all.
Since I woke up this time, I haven’t met even one priest.
Gan Hana, Jiseol Senior, Emily Harper…
Just three people.
How does someone even end up with a name like “Jiseol Senior”?
These days, naming standards are really questionable. Tsk tsk.
Anyway, I excluded the suspicious gray-coated person and the black-vested guy since they definitely weren’t priests.
There were plenty of people wearing robe-like priest uniforms, but none of them even glanced at me.
Even though it’s been half a month since I woke up—long by human standards.
Back in the day, there were always at least five or ten priests near my lake.
Apparently, all the priests who were supposed to take care of me are busy with other duties.
Like… managing unruly creatures with wild facial features or something.
Phew.
I can’t make heads or tails of it.
Why would they put something like that in a shrine? If it were a guard dog, I might understand, but they clearly haven’t trained it.
The head priest would’ve scolded them by now:
“The essence of the shrine lies in the deity. How dare you focus on trivial matters!”
“…… Auuuuu!……”
“Huh? Security team! Security team!”
Hmm…
I’m bored while walking. Should I check out what’s going on over there?
They say you should turn on the radio when driving to stay awake. That’s what the memories inside my head said.
Since I feel sleepy now, let’s find some entertainment.
“Shoot! Shoot! Kill that dog…”
-Bang! Bangbangbangbang!
“…… Gaaaaah!……”
They’re having fun.
It feels so realistic; someone might mistake it for an actual event.
It’d be nice if there was something to eat while watching.
I closed my eyes and focused on the smells around me.
For a moment, I almost dozed off, but the artificial scents brutally woke me up.
Hmm… there it is.
In the midst of all those disgusting smells, a unmistakable sweetness comes from the metal-and-glass box beside me.
I opened my eyes and walked over to the box.
How do I open it?
I shook it with one hand, but nothing came out.
Hmm…
It’s not like this is some grand door. Can’t I just break this little box? The head priest once said reprocessing metal is easy.
Glass…
Sorry, but my patience is shot due to lack of sleep.
I shattered the glass and took out the intact contents.
A cylindrical piece of metal.
This is definitely giving off that sweet smell. But how am I supposed to eat it?
I bit into it. It tasted like iron.
I spat it out with a ‘thud’.
What kind of food is wrapped in metal?!
Is this some new sorcery? Eating armored food to imbue me with steel power or something?
“Gyaah!”
Screw trying to tear it open with my hands.
None of these methods are satisfying.
I neatly sliced off the top of the cylinder using my wing feathers.
Whoa.
Such a sweet aroma.
It’s artificial, but not bad.
Omnomnom.
Sucking on the sweetness, I resumed walking down the hallway.
My craving is satisfied.
Let’s take another look.
“Who put an unblessed cage here!?…”
“No, we’re escaping!…”
Hm?
Shouldn’t this be over by now?
No matter how weak that wild-faced pseudo-puppy looks, letting it run rampant like this is dangerous.
Could this be some sort of staged act?
Things are getting serious.
I was wondering about the situation when—
“Kuaaaak! My leg, my leg!!…”
“What the hell!…”
Huh?
What’s going on? Are these priests really incapable of handling such an unruly puppy?
That thing looks incredibly weak.
Even the weakest novice priest could turn that puppy into stars in the lake within a minute.
Shouldn’t they easily overpower it with bare hands?
Now that I think about it, something’s off.
Why are the white-robed priests standing by while the janitors in black vests fight?
Using weaker ones as shields?
What a cowardly priest!
What kind of failure is leading the priesthood these days?
I wanted to meet him.
At first, I thought Jiseol Senior or Gan Hana were the head priest since they were staring at me right after I woke up, but they’re too incompetent.
Hmm…
Even so, why hasn’t this random-looking puppy been caught yet?
Somehow, it makes me feel sorry, so I quickened my pace.
Then, the incident happened.
“Damn it, if only I had silver bullets…”
“Crooooww!…”
-Crunch. BOOM, BOOM.
As soon as the puppy escaped the cage, all the janitors turned into lake stars.
The priest who stood aside with crossed arms didn’t even throw a punch before being devoured and joining the janitors.
Good grief.
I thought he was just using the weak ones as shields, but turns out he’s useless too.
Why are the believers’ abilities so low these days?
Surely, it’s not possible that Gan Hana isn’t the dumbest person alive but represents the average intelligence of humanity now?
There are too many oddities.
Last time I spread my presence, there were quite a few people lingering here, yet I haven’t encountered a single human on my way here.
An alarm that wasn’t sounding when I left my awakening room has been blaring since earlier.
Hmm…
By now, a possibility arises in my mind…
Nah, surely not.
-Medium-level hostile unknown phenomenon isolation failed. Evacuate immediately.
“… Damn it! Code Blue, Code Bluuue…”
“… Too late, no place to hide…”
Are my believers really afraid of just one puppy?
Do they lack the talent to discipline one little dog?
Are they hiding together, waiting for someone to rescue them?
“… Run! Alex!…”
“… Haa, haa!…”
… So, it seems code red doesn’t discriminate between humans and dragons.
Goodness.
“Gyao…”
If, by chance…
Really, just by chance, if there’s truly no human capable of recapturing this runaway puppy with wild facial features…
Then, this is a big problem.
A big problem for humanity and for me.
Because what’s there isn’t just…
‘…Longing…’
…humans.
Oh no.
Wild-faced creatures tend to attack each other fiercely upon meeting 90% of the time.
Why are the tubby snake and the puppy so close?
Of course, the puppy looks incredibly weak. So weak that even a training bout with the weakest apprentice priest would likely end in its defeat within five minutes.
The issue is, the tubby snake is weaker.
Like the difference between 0.00000001 and 0.000000001 might seem negligible, but it’s actually tenfold. I bet the tubby snake will become lake stars the moment it meets the puppy.
I can’t let that happen.
Not only does it feel wrong to return empty-handed after coming this far, but most importantly…
‘…Ancestor…’
Because the tubby snake is the only one now who shares a two-way telepathic connection with me.
Tubby snake, I’m coming. Stay calm and wait, okay?
I warned it not to cause trouble unnecessarily.
‘…Acknowledged…’
Thank goodness it listens.
Stretching thoroughly made me feel slightly refreshed.
Alright.
Let’s go then.
Weak humans, and cute tubby snake, hang in there.
Your dragon deity is coming to save you!
“Gyao!”
Here I come!
—–
“Yeah, yeah. It’s me, E. I got your call.”
“The containment room entrance for the dragon deity has been opened for you, but are you alright? That presence… can’t be hidden anywhere except the usual containment chamber. Code Black? Yeah, I’ve canceled the failed containment alarms.”
“So, did I do the right thing? Should I just sit tight? Really? Even those crazy guys who obsess over securing and relocating won’t show up?”
“Hmm… Not sure what you mean. ■■■ talks too complicatedly. Still, I understood well enough that losing that rookie researcher would piss ■■■ off.”
“Yeah, always appreciate it. Yeah! Hope our partnership lasts long. Take care. Love ya~”
– Click, click.
With the sound of the call ending,
No one remained in the Director’s office of Research Facility No. 4.