I’d seen the old man every time I came to catch salmon for Varen. But this was the first time I’d seen him up close or spoken to him.
Whenever I approached out of curiosity, he vanished like smoke.
I stared at him in confusion, but the old man wore the same gentle smile as always.
“...Sir. Your... identity... what are you, exactly?”
I was so startled that, for all my polite speech, the question came out unbelievably rude.
The old man let out a hearty laugh and looked over at Varen lying on the ground.
“Just because something looks human doesn’t mean it is human.”
He recognized Varen’s nature at a glance. He definitely wasn’t human.
I couldn’t find a proper response before the old man raised his hand. Even the small gesture made me flinch and tense up.
“W-what are you—”
“Her airway’s been burned; we need to fill it with water.”
The old man pressed his palm to Kallen’s forehead.
Her airway burned? That meant a bronchial burn. But fill it with water?
I was a veterinary graduate—humans were technically mammals too. Basic physiology was the same, and my trained knowledge rose automatically.
“Wait a second. Oxygen comes first. Her swallow reflex is gone—if water gets in her airway, it’ll be even more dangerous.”
The old man only raised a brow. It seemed like my words were meaningless to him anyway.
Then light began to shine from his palm. Even though the sun was still high, the blue glow around Kallen was brighter than sunlight.
The sight was so unreal that I curled my fists and backed away. I didn’t know exactly what he was doing, but I felt certain he wasn’t harming her.
Kallen’s body slowly lifted off the ground. It floated a handspan high, and then black smoke poured out of her gaping mouth.
“Kuhk... kghh....”
For how mystical the atmosphere was, the visual reminded me of a horror movie—like a possessed girl coughing out a demon.
After she expelled all the soot from her throat, Kallen was set gently back on the ground. She began breathing slowly but steadily.
The old man swept his other hand toward the ravine. Beads of water rose and flew over.
They left no wet marks yet sank straight into Kallen’s skin. Color quickly returned to her ghostly white face.
“She’s full of life. She’ll recover quickly.”
Witnessing something impossible for modern medicine, my legs gave out. I sighed at my own stupidity and helplessness.
In a fantasy world, what good were airway positioning or artificial respiration? Useless knowledge ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) I’d clung to out of habit.
And the old man wasn’t done yet. When he swept his hand toward the ravine again, this time the water drifted to Ella’s burns.
Ella twitched her hind leg as if it tickled, but stayed still. More water seeped into her wounds than with Kallen. The red, peeled skin healed instantly where the hair had burned away.
I watched in stunned silence. The old man’s identity didn’t matter—one word surfaced in my mind.
A rope thrown to the desperate.
“Uh, sir... thank you for saving them. Truly, thank you.”
I knelt and prostrated myself before him. He only laughed and rose to his feet.
I couldn’t let him leave. Afraid he’d vanish like smoke, I grabbed the hem of his pants. Luckily, he had legs like a normal person.
“Just one more! I know it’s shameless, but please save one more!”
Varen was still left. A poor dragon whose fever was so high he couldn’t stay conscious.
I didn’t even need to explain—he was already looking at Varen. He stroked his beard as if troubled.
“Dragons heal themselves. The only thing that can help now is replenishing his mana.”
Of course. He recognized Varen as a dragon.
Even so, I desperately clung to his leg, staring up with the saddest eyes I could muster.
“How do we replenish his mana?”
“Hmmm.”
“Please, sir. Save my kid.”
“My kid?”
The old man echoed my words and burst into booming laughter.
“My, my. A human calling a dragon a kid. Are you his guardian?”
“Yes—yes! He’s big, but he’s still a kid. Please help him.”
“No need to worry. Just as you said, it’s growing pains.”
“Growing pains?”
I echoed him this time.
I hadn’t even guessed the cause of the fever, and it turned out to be growing pains? Dragons get fevers when they grow? No—more importantly—
“He’s going to get bigger?”
Even now, when he takes human form, he’s the size of a door. His true body is the size of a house. If he grows even more, how am I supposed to handle that?
The old man only looked at Varen with a pleased smile.
“It is how a dragon becomes an adult.”
***
The old man guided us to a safe place.
Ella, who had recovered quickly, lifted Kallen onto her back with her own telekinesis.
But Varen—there was no way I could carry him again.
While I stood there in despair, the old man flicked his hand. Tens of thousands of water droplets rose from the river and lifted Varen into the air.
I was honestly a little jealous. My whole body felt like lead—if it weren’t rude, I would’ve asked if he could lift me too.
We walked together through the quiet forest. A mysterious old man and a dragon floating in midair. Two monsters and one normal human. A truly bizarre procession.
I watched the old man’s back as he walked without making a sound. After hesitating several times, I lowered my voice to ask:
“I’ve been curious for a while... sir, are you a spirit?”
The old man glanced back with a grin before turning forward again.
I let out a small sigh. My thoughts tangled.
Spirits were nature embodied. They protected their territory and ensured life thrived.
They were powerful figures—but there was a problem. The reason I couldn’t guess the old man’s identity right away.
“Sir, why did you help me?”
In the original story, spirits played a very important role. But they were cowards who hid away, refusing to fulfill that role.
Especially when it came to interfering with human lives—they didn’t. So I had no idea what kind of character he was.
At my earnest question, the old man smacked his lips and gazed into the air.
“The rice balls you left behind were delicious.”
“...Sorry?”
“And the walnuts were wonderfully nutty. Hard to come by except in autumn.”
Only then did I remember the offering I’d left behind after fishing.
I scratched my head awkwardly. I’d taken a pile of fish and left it behind on a whim as payment. A tiny gesture had come back as a massive favor.
“You have a peculiar soul.”
“Ah... do I?”
“You’re not a human of this world, are you?”
He didn’t even look back when he said it. A spirit’s eyes really couldn’t be deceived.
I glanced at still-unconscious Kallen, then smiled and nodded to answer.
Suddenly, a chilling sensation crawled over me. Nothing visibly changed, yet it felt as though gravity had flipped.
“Uh?”
The old man answered casually:
“You’re quite sensitive for a human.”
“Something just passed by.”
“You’ve entered my domain.”
Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed—but at some point, the dense conifers were gone.
In their place stretched a broad meadow and a cozy cabin. Just looking at it calmed the heart.
“This place is invisible to human eyes. No one can enter without my permission. Rest here. Eat as much as you want.”
A place invisible to humans—this was the safest possible location for Varen in the entire forest.
But... eat what?
“Prrrng.”
“Hiyung!”
It wasn’t me who answered the old man’s cryptic words.
Ella, having handed Kallen over to the hovering droplets, bent her neck and nibbled the green grass. Rami fluttered down from my shoulder and began hunting crickets in the lawn.
And lastly, Varen drifted along at the old man’s gesture. When he reached the center of the meadow, he began to glow white.
Instead of blistering heat, a warm breeze spread outward. When I blinked, a golden dragon was curled up on the grass.
“Ha... Varen.”
My throat closed up at the sight I hadn’t seen in so long. Varen’s expression was far more peaceful than when he was human.
I rushed to him and stroked his face. His steady breathing made my knees weak, and I sank down beside him.
“Thank goodness. Thank god, Varen.”
I pressed my forehead to the dragon’s and whispered. His body was still burning hot, but at least he looked at ease.
Though I thought he was asleep, Varen slowly opened his eyelids. His hazy gaze swept the surroundings.
Ceryl....
As soon as he opened his eyes, his heat-drenched voice called my name. My eyes suddenly stung.
“Varen, you’re okay? It’s safe here—rest as much as you want.”
Ceryl....
“Yeah, I’m right here.”
His golden eyes rolled slowly, scanning the area. Only after confirming it himself did he close them again.
It hurts....
That faint, sighing whisper tore my chest into a thousand pieces. A creature a hundred times my size curled in on itself, wrapping its plump tail around its own body.
I wanted to grab the old man by the collar. Growing pains or whatever—my kid was in pain. Wasn’t there anything else to do?
But I couldn’t repay kindness with anger. I stamped my feet helplessly and stroked the dragon’s snout.
“It hurts? Where does it hurt, Varen? What do you want me to do?”
I fussed over his burning hot body, touching wherever I could. Even scratching under his chin—his favorite—couldn’t perk up his limp tail.
...Hold me....
Just like a child whining for comfort, Varen pressed his forehead to me. This really wasn’t the time for this, but the moment melted all the broken pieces of my heart.
“Aww, does my baby want a hug?”
Yes....
“What else do you want? Just tell me—your big brother will do anything.”
...Kiss me....
His warm, golden forehead pressed against my chest, rubbing slowly.
His size was overwhelming for a human body, but I stretched my arms as far as I could, hugging the dragon and planting kisses all over him.
“My poor baby. It hurt, didn’t it? Your fever was burning you up.”
Yeah....
“Get some sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”
...More....
Varen was only acting like this because he was in pain. I knew that. I really did. But I couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot.
This time I climbed fully onto his face. I kissed his warm forehead and snout as much as I wanted. His tightly shut eyelids twitched at every touch.
Far away, the spirit sighed softly.
“Tsk tsk. No wonder he’s such a crybaby with a guardian like that.”
I couldn’t make out the rest.
