Chapter 310: Faded Promise (2)

A deep darkness had fallen like a curtain over the night. On the rooftop of a worn-down orphanage, a boy and a girl sat staring up at the sky.

“

Ugh

, that damn bald bastard. Why did he have to hit you in the eye of all places?” The red-haired girl gently touched the bruised area around the skinny boy’s eye.

The director usually avoided hitting obvious places like the face. However, he had completely lost it today and struck a place dangerous enough to risk permanent damage.

“That bastard! I swear I’ll report him to the cops!” she shouted.

The boy shook his head bitterly. “You know it’s useless.”

They had already tried reporting him a few times, but the police always brushed it off and left as if someone had paid them off behind the scenes. Even if they showed their bruises, the adults would just say they tripped and fell. Cases had closed just like that.

“And that grown-ass man still teases kids about their names!” Still fuming, the girl let out an endless stream of curses toward the director.

“I should’ve just kept my mouth shut,” he said.

“Don’t say that! You didn’t do anything wrong, Oh-Jin!”

At the girl’s firm declaration, a faint smile formed on the boy’s lips.

“Still, it didn’t get too bad thanks to you stepping in.”

“Didn’t get too bad? Your eye is a mess!”

“If you hadn’t been there, it would’ve been worse.” The boy gently took her hand. “Thank you, Ha-Eun.”

“

Hmph!

If you’re thankful, hurry up and get better!” The girl lay on his thigh and looked up at the night sky.

The stars sparkled above like a divine blessing raining down from heaven.

The boy looked up at the stars, their brilliance mirrored in his eyes. He gently stroked the girl's hair as if she were a precious treasure.

“Ha-Eun.”

“Yeah?” The girl cocked her head and looked up at him.

The boy smiled softly. “Let’s live together when we leave the orphanage.”

“W-What? What did you just say?”

“I said, let’s live together, just the two of us.”

The girl’s jaw dropped as if she had been hit over the head. Her face turned as red as her hair, but she nodded. “O-Okay. L-Let’s live together.”

“When that time comes, I’ll protect you, Ha-Eun.” The boy gently stroked her flushed cheek as if making a vow.

Suddenly, the girl sat up and snorted. “

Ha!

And how exactly are you going to protect me?” She placed her hands on her hips and laughed mockingly. “It’s the older sister’s job to protect her little brother!”

“Really?”

“Of course! Where do you get off saying a little brother will protect his older sister?”

The boy chuckled and nodded. “Then I’ll help you protect me.”

“What are you even saying you’ll help with?” The girl lightly tugged his cheek and laughed.

He was too thin and scrawny to make such promises.

“You liar. You’re always saying nonsense like that.” She got up from his lap. “Let’s go back down before we get caught.”

As she walked away, the boy whispered under his breath, “It’s not a lie.”

His last words never reached her.

***

A chilly wind swept through the canyon and rustled the tent.

Kwon Oh-Jin opened his eyes and wriggled out of his sleeping bag like a caterpillar shedding its skin.

“Maybe it’s because I talked to Ha-Eun about the past yesterday...”

He had dreamed about the promise he made long ago on the orphanage rooftop. She probably didn’t even remember that old vow.

He chuckled to himself as he replayed the memory.

I’ll help you protect me, huh...

The young Kwon Oh-Jin never had any plans or real goals on how to accomplish that. He just said it impulsively in the heat of the moment.

“Yeah, looking back, it was kind of a lie.” He shrugged and stepped outside the tent.

Isabella greeted him with a bright smile as she prepared breakfast. “You’re awake?”

“You’re up early.”

“

Hehe

. They say the early bird catches the worm, right?” Isabella leaned in and softly kissed him on the lips.

A pleasant scent tickled his nose.

“Are you saying my lips are worms?”

“Oh dear, I guess I’ll have to thoroughly get rid of it so it doesn’t spread inside the house.” Isabella, who had pulled away, playfully pressed her lips back to his.

After kissing once more, Kwon Oh-Jin pulled away and glanced around as he walked to the campfire.

“Where’s Ha-Eun?”

“She’s still sleeping.”

“I’ll go wake her.”

“Okay, I’ll finish up breakfast in the meantime.”

Their exchange sounded like a conversation between newlyweds who’d just had a child. The sweet scene came straight out of a melodrama. Of course, he wasn’t going to wake up a child but another lover. It suddenly leaned more toward a trashy morning soap opera.

Kwon Oh-Jin stood in front of the tent and called out, “Ha-Eun, wake up.”

He called a few more times, but only heard soft rhythmic breathing inside the tent. Song Ha-Eun showed no sign of waking up.

“I said, wake up.” Left with no choice, Kwon Oh-Jin crawled into the tent himself.

Song Ha-Eun was still fast asleep in a loose white T-shirt that exposed her belly and dolphin shorts. She scratched her stomach and drooled as she slept.

“Ma’am, if you sleep like this, you’ll wake up with a crooked mouth.”

“

Mmmgh?

” Song Ha-Eun opened her eyes with a hazy look.

Without a word, she wrapped herself around Kwon Oh-Jin like a squid and pulled him into the sleeping bag.

“

Hehehe

, Oh-Jin.”

“Hey, I said, wake up. What are you doing?”

“Just five more minutes.” Song Ha-Eun pressed herself tightly against him and clung to him like a body pillow with her long limbs wrapped around him.

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed helplessly and lay down beside her. “You have to get up. We need to eat breakfast.”

“I’ll just eat you for breakfast instead,” she murmured sleepily as she hugged him tighter.

She suddenly bit his cheek and moved her lips.

“

Hmph.

”

Thankfully, she used her lips and not her teeth. It didn’t hurt, but saliva instantly covered his entire cheek.

“You little...” He pinched her side and twisted hard.

“

Kyaaaa!

” She jolted upright and screamed like she had been electrocuted.

Kwon Oh-Jin sat up and wiped his cheek with a tissue. “You awake now?”

“You jerk... Can’t you wake me up a little more gently?”

“I thought I’d get eaten alive if I didn’t.” He smoothed her messy hair and handed her the eye patch lying next to the sleeping bag.

Isabella waved cheerfully when they stepped outside. “I kept breakfast simple, just fried eggs and spam.”

“Wow, you’re basically Korean now.” Song Ha-Eun quickly sat down and picked up a spoon.

She placed a fried egg on top of her steaming white rice and took a bite with everything. The flavor of happiness filled her mouth.

“

Mmm

. This is the best. There’s nothing better than this for breakfast,” Song Ha-Eun said.

“At first, I was surprised when I heard that people fry and eat spam,” Isabella said.

“Well, it’s not common outside of Asia.”

“But it was delicious once I tried it with rice.”

Had Isabella’s tastes become fully Korean now? With perfect chopstick skills, she split apart her spam and ate it with rice.

“If it weren’t for that kid’s backpack, we would’ve been in real trouble and stuck eating nothing but jerky every day,” Song Ha-Eun said.

Kwon Oh-Jin agreed. Even in the Demonic District, being able to eat like they did on Earth was all thanks to the backpack Kim Si-Hoo made for them.

“Alright, let’s move out once we’re done eating,” he said.

After finishing breakfast and packing up the tents, the group climbed onto Boppy’s back.

For the record, they had killed a nearby demonic beast and gave it to Boppy for breakfast.

“

Grrrr!

” Looking satisfied, Boppy cheerfully growled and charged forward.

They spent several more hours exploring the canyon.

Then, from on top of Boppy, Song Ha-Eun pointed at something in the distance. “Oh-Jin, look over there.”

He could only see dull, dark rocks in the direction she pointed. “There’s nothing there.”

“What do you mean? There’s stuff floating around like fireflies!”

“What?” Cocking his head, Kwon Oh-Jin activated the Stigma of Canes Venatici.

Still, he only saw gloomy rocks. “I don’t see anything.”

“Hold on.” Song Ha-Eun leaped off Boppy’s back. She walked toward the rocks and pointed. “You really can’t see anything?”

“Yeah, I only see rocks.”

“Weird...” She cocked her head and reached out toward the blue specks of light floating around the rocks.

The glowing lights scattered and flew away the moment her hand got close.

“Oh, they ran away.”

“I think only you can see them, Ha-Eun.”

“Looks like it.” Song Ha-Eun reached behind her head and removed her eyepatch.

It was most likely because of her Draconic Eye that she could see something that they couldn’t.

“

Whoa

,” she gasped.

Before removing the eyepatch, she could only see a few blue specks of light. Now, they completely filled the area.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“Let’s go over there,” she said.

The lights flowed like a stream toward a certain place.

“Wait. First, let’s figure out if it’s dangerous—”

“It’s not dangerous,” Song Ha-Eun cut him off with certainty. “It’s like... I don’t know exactly what this is, but I can feel that it’s not dangerous.”

“

Hmm

.”

Maybe only someone with a Draconic Eye could sense it. Trusting her, Kwon Oh-Jin began walking in the same direction.

After walking for a while, a massive structure that looked like it had been carved from the entire canyon came into view.

“This is...”

The sight of the grand city made their jaws drop.

Is this the Dragonian Kingdom?

As expected from the land of dragons, just looking at it made their hearts race with excitement.

“That must be the Dragonian Kingdom,” Isabella said.

“Wait, what? This was the path to the kingdom?” Song Ha-Eun asked with a bewildered expression.

She had merely followed the trail of blue lights, yet they had arrived at their destination.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded. “There’s no way a city this massive wouldn’t be visible from afar. It must’ve been hidden by some kind of barrier, and you pierced right through it with your Draconic Eye.”

Song Ha-Eun had effortlessly seen through the barrier hiding the kingdom of the dragonkin.

She touched the area around her left eye. “What the heck? My eye is kind of awesome?”

Veins branched out from the corner of her eye like tree roots, and her vertically slit pupil gleamed like a reptile’s.

“Let’s scout the outside first,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

Even though they had found the kingdom, they couldn’t just walk in unprepared. Like with the beastkin before, the locals could be hostile toward humans.

“Wait here for a bit. I’ll head up and check things out from above,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

They couldn’t see inside from their current position because of the fortress walls surrounding the city.

Bang!

Kwon Oh-Jin used his wire shooter to ascend a nearby cliff and leaped higher using Lightning Steps. His expression hardened as he looked down on the city with the Stigma of Canes Venatici.

“What the hell...?”

The once-majestic Dragonian Kingdom looked devastated and in ruins. No trace of the dragonkin could be seen. Instead, groups presumed to be demonkin roamed the wrecked city.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s face twisted with fury. “Goddammit.”

Are we too late?

They spent so long looking for the Dragonian Kingdom, only for the demonkin to have already destroyed it.