Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The door opened with a bang.

“Good morning!”

At the cheerful greeting, the two men exchanged glances with puzzled faces.

I inspected them carefully and finally saw something behind them.

“Oh my! I think I can see something moving right there. What’s that?”

“You don’t need to know. Here are the ingredients you asked for.”

The knight on the left pushed the bags through the door. Inside one bag were some poultry, pork, seafood, flour and some other daily necessities.

I asked for these ingredients because I wanted to make fried chicken, but I also wanted to make pancakes.

It’s really convenient having everything I want delivered like this.

The satisfaction I have as a customer reminds me of C**pang rocket delivery! It’s a luxury that I never thought I’d ever experience here.

The other bag had clothes in it, and I realized again that Rose was a maid who really knew how to throw her weight around here.

The maid’s clothes were as colorful and ostentatious as a noblewoman’s dress, while Albert’s were so shabby that you wouldn’t think he was a noble himself.

But I know—the most important aspect of fashion… is the face!

Some say that fashion could make a statement all on its own, but with Albert, it doesn’t matter what he wears, he’d shine either way. And I’ll just be here and continue to be a faithful fan.

“I can see something moving behind you.”

“We’ll take care of it. It followed us on the way.”

The knight on the right sighed.

The animal behind them made a kyuu sound.

“Oh my…”

How cute!

It looked like a reptile, but it was so cute.

It wasn’t taller than my knees, but its sparkling eyes alone were already a source of so much cuteness.

Seeing it standing on two legs and wagging its tail looked so adorable to me.

It reminded me of something.

I closed my eyes.

The reptile in front of me kept reminding me of something.

What was it?

As I was in deep thought, the animal and I made eye contact.

It crawled past the knights and then easily went into the door of the tower to come inside.

“…Huh?”

The animal ran straight to me as though it liked me.

It was only after I saw its wagging tail closer that I realized what it really was.

…Isn’t this a dragon?

I didn’t even think of a dragon when I saw it because it was so tiny, but it really was one.

It was similar to the dragon I saw in that cartoon before, but it was hard to tell that it’s a dragon because the animation had a fully-grown dragon.

Did dragons exist in this novel?

Since it’s a fantasy world, it wouldn’t be strange if a dragon appeared, but I wonder… Was there any mention of a dragon in the original?

Isn’t it just a tale of romance between Albert and Seo Ina after Rosteratu dies? I’m not too sure because I couldn’t read until the end…

I shifted my gaze and looked at the knights, who were contemptuously looking at the animal at my feet.

Do they not know that this animal was a dragon?

“Mister*.”

“Huh?”

The knight on the right responded to me, and I pointed to the dragon that was still circling around me.

“What does this look like?”

“A black cat.”

Huh? But I’m looking at a white dragon right now?

The man on the right was called Bob, but I asked John on the left this time.

“Do you also see a black cat?”

“You don’t like black cats? Looks like it can enter the tower.”

“People say that cats are really smart. I guess that’s right.”

The two misters talked to each other and just accepted it.

What? Did it look like a dragon only to me?

Do I have what they say… a transmigrator buff?

“If you don’t like it, you can send it back out. We’ll take it.”

John grew worried as he saw my complicated expression.

I stared at the dragon that was still scurrying around. If it’s a dragon, isn’t this the best…?

Dragons were always described as the strongest animal due to its omnipotence and sheer power.

If I raised this animal well, wouldn’t it give me a gift later to thank me? Or an ability?

I transmigrated here, but I’m just an extra without any buffs.

But it would all change if I suddenly gained a dragon companion.

And how could I possibly shoo it away and potentially get it to hate me? That would just mean I’d be further away from my goal of having a long and safe life.

I was planning to get a pet anyway…

Isn’t it great that this dragon seems to like me?

And wouldn’t it be cool to be an extra who can ride a dragon?

“I’ll try raising it. Thanks for delivering these to me again this week.”

Afraid that they would take the dragon away from me, I smiled and quickly closed the door.

The kitchen grew quiet as only the dragon and I were left together.

Albert couldn’t come down here, so it was a perfect place to talk to the dragon.

The small dragon climbed over to where the cutting board was, its movements light and agile like a cat’s.

The dragon stared at me with its head tilted to the side.

Oh… oh my gosh. I grabbed my chest and felt my heart almost stopping.

“Hello, Sir—no, Lord Dragon…?”**

I heard that dragons usually live really long lives, but I wonder how old this one is? It could be my great grandfather’s or even my great-great grandfather’s age if they were alive.

The dragon continued to have its head tilted to the side.

“…Do you not know how to speak to humans?”

Dragons usually talk to humans, right?

That’s always the case.

“Lord Dragon, my name is Jeon In—no, please call me Rose.”

At that moment, I heard a voice.

“Can you see me?”

It was a refreshing, lilting voice. However, it was a voice that couldn’t be called human.

It was a voice that seemed like it shouldn’t exist in the world.

The dragon and I locked gazes. Was it the one who spoke?

“You’re not even a mage, but you can see me?”

“Is it you who’s talking right now, Lord Dragon? Is that voice from you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What did you mean by a mage?”

I am but a humble office worker—but reality really hit me just then. I’m talking to a dragon right now.

As I shook my head, the dragon looked at me curiously.

“But don’t dragons sign contracts? Can you use your strength to be omnipotent?”

If that’s the case, then I’d very much want to enter a contract! If I become a powerful person, my life will also be so much easier!

A life of being the best without having to try too hard. Let’s do that.

“Don’t call me Lord Dragon. I’m not a dragon…”

“…Pardon?”

No, but Lord Dragon. What do you mean? You’re a dragon no matter who looks at you. And what’s with this cute baby-like voice and demeanor?

As I agonized over this, I spoke.

“…Then what should I call you? Do you have a name?”

“Call me whatever you want. I don’t have a name, buuut…?”

“……”

I wanted to ask more questions, but the dragon had lain back down on the table.

“It’s warm here. It feels good because there’s so much mana.”

“This tower itself is surrounded by mana… Are you going to take a nap? Right now? While we’re talking??”

“I’m tired…”

His words gradually grew muffled, and right then, the dragon fell asleep.

As he fell unconscious, his tail stretched out.

The sound he made as he slept peacefully was like a cat’s purr.

As I saw this, it broke the image I had in my head of dragons.

“Hey, excuse me?”

I tried to call out to him, but no matter how much I called, the dragon wouldn’t wake up.

He says he’s not a dragon, so now it’s weird to regard him as one.

Was there something wrong with my eyes? Maybe he really is a cat, it’s just that I’m deluding myself that he’s a dragon.

What am I supposed to believe?

In this case, I really needed Albert urgently.

He was a well-educated prince, so he should know everything. I had a faithful sense of trust in him.

“But I can’t bring Albert to the kitchen.”

First of all, I had to organize the ingredients and prepare breakfast. As the morning sun drew higher in the sky, beams of light shone through the small window of the kitchen.

Firstly, I decided to call him Blanc*** because he asked me not to call him Lord Dragon. After covering him with a small blanket, I started organizing the ingredients.

I put away the fresh vegetables, then the clothes that needed to be carried upstairs were set aside in one corner for now.

All the meat was placed in a magically operated refrigerator and freezer.

“If we’re talking about breakfast, meat is the best.”

Fried chicken in the morning would have been great, but I’m too fatigued to make it, so I can’t make that. There’s a reason why fried chicken is a popular meal for delivery.

I took out a thick portion of pork and sliced it up, maintaining an appropriate ratio of fat and lean meat.

Life is all about balance.

The quality of meat had definitely improved compared to what was being given before. This was all thanks to those two misters, Bob and John.

Setting aside the thinly sliced meat in a bowl, I took out the red pepper paste and red pepper powder again today. The garlic that I chopped last time was also added in.

Breakfast this morning will be stir-fried spicy pork over rice.

This was a meal that I really liked eating whenever I felt down.

When both body and mind are beaten down, the best remedy is delicious food.

I mixed the seasoning with the pork and took out the rice I soaked before I went to bed. Then, I chopped up some green onions.

“I wish I had some kimchi stew…”

How delicious would it be if this was kimchi stew with pork instead?

But the problem is that I don’t know how to make kimchi.

Seasoned vegetables and fermented kimchi were just different. It’s so out of reach. I’m sad that I can’t have kimchi.

I placed the pork over the sizzling pan. Wait a sec. I just remembered Seo Ina, the female protagonist in the novel.

Seo Ina’s main job and hobby was cooking.

Her hands were so adept at cooking, and the dishes she made were truly marvelous. She was such a great person who perfectly personified ‘cooking is life’.

If I were Seo Ina, I’d have been able to cook excellent Korean food in this world.

As I tried to figure out when exactly Seo Ina would appear, I recalled my first day after coming here.

Considering the original timeline, I guess there’s about eight months left.

For a moment, I imagined my life after leaving the tower.

After I get that building that I’ll rent out, I’ll go on a gourmet trip…

Once Seo Ina gets here, I have a perfect picture in my mind of getting along well with her while reminiscing about Korea.

The life of a landlord who enjoys kimchi stew made by the best chef, Seo Ina! That’ll be my life!

Seo Ina, ma’am. I’ll give you a lot of money.

“It smells good.”

As I was lost in thought, I was startled back to reality after realizing that Blac came up next to me.

It seemed like he was gravitating towards the smell of the stir-fried pork as it’s almost done cooking.

“I’ll give you some separately. Please wait for a little bit.”

Sniff, sniff. Blanc took a whiff of the sizzling stir-fried pork.

I was afraid that Blanc would eat up the breakfast I prepared for Albert and myself, so I quickly put out portions on our plates.

The steamed rice was cooked just in time as well, so that was also placed in two bowls.

Spicy stir-fried pork over rice—done!

——

tl/n:

*Rose calls the two knights ‘ahjussi’. I never know what to translate that to, it’s such an all-encompassing word with so much context lmao

**Dragon-ssi / Dragon-nim are both gender neutral. I’m not actually sure of the dragon’s gender, so I’m keeping it as sir/lord for now. This can change later~

***Blanc, but basically Rose calls him ‘Whitey’. It’s a common way to call pets in Korea, but it doesn’t translate well in English, so let’s go with French lol