Episode 09
“So… are you really Shu’s mom?”
At her suspicious gaze, I let out a sigh. I always called myself “uncle” in front of Shu, but Shu insisted on calling me “Mom.” So yes, I was probably the “mom” she meant—but it still felt a little complicated to admit it.
“I’m not her mom, I’m her uncle—”
“Mom!”
“I mean, Shu, I’m your un—”
“Mom!”
“…Yeah. If Shu says so, then I guess I’m Mom, huh…”
I think the woman gave me a pitiful look just then, but I’ll pretend I imagined it.
“Okay, since you are her… uh, mom, I want to ask something. About Shu—”
I raised my hand slightly to stop her. Even though we were standing in a quiet apartment hallway with just two units facing each other, I wanted to be cautious about anything involving Shu. I glanced at the woman and the little girl clinging to her leg like a baby monkey and said,
“Why don’t we talk about it inside?”
“Inside your house?”
“Yeah. This doesn’t feel like something we should talk about out here.”
She looked a bit unsure but eventually nodded. Just like that, for the first time since returning to Earth, I welcomed guests into my home.
‘Shu… at least she doesn’t look hurt.’
As I led them in, I quickly checked Shu from head to toe. She didn’t seem any different from before she disappeared—but I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.
Honestly, I still didn’t fully trust this woman. From her point of view, Shu should’ve looked like a monster, yet she had returned Shu to me without a problem. I couldn’t guess her motive. It wasn’t like Earthlings understood how amazing dragons were, so I couldn’t help but be suspicious.
“Shu, what were you doing all this time?”
“Shu watched Poporo with Su-ya!”
“Poporo? And nothing else?”
“Uhm, we played house? Shu’s the baby! Su-ya’s the mom and Garung is the dad!”
“Wow, Shu had fun, huh.”
Huh. She even knows the word “dad”? But she still insists on calling me “Mom.” Maybe it’s just her preference.
Anyway, all Shu talked about was how she played with someone named “Su-ya.” It didn’t sound like she’d been threatened or anything bad had happened. Probably, “Su-ya” was the little girl still clinging to the woman’s leg.
I guided both of them to the sofa and thanked the woman first.
“Thanks for bringing Shu home. Your name is…?”
“Oh, I’m Park Yeon-chae. And this is my little sister, Park Yeon-soo. You are…?”
“I’m Lee Hyun-woo. But… how did you end up with Shu? And why… did you bring her back safely?”
Park Yeon-chae told me she was an awakened one—though she hadn’t yet joined the academy or gotten her Hunter license. Given her bold personality, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had attacked Shu. But instead, Shu had fun with her sister, and Yeon-chae didn’t seem hostile at all.
Actually…
“You don’t have to be so formal with me. I think you’re older than me anyway. Just call me Yeon-chae.”
“Ah, okay…”
“And you’re talking like I was supposed to hurt Shu or something, but Shu’s not a monster.”
She said it so firmly that I had no choice but to nod. It wasn’t a question—she already believed Shu wasn’t a monster and just wanted confirmation.
“At first, I had doubts. But if she were a monster, the Dungeon Break alarm would’ve gone off by now. Plus, unlike hostile monsters, Shu was crying with Yeon-soo. And she talks, too! I’ve never heard of a monster that cries and talks.”
Her explanation made sense. A reckless person might have attacked first, but she hadn’t. Maybe Yeon-chae was actually more cautious than she looked.
Though she doesn’t act like it…
“And she’s so cute! Do you know how adorable she looked playing house with Yeon-soo? She was wagging her tail and flying around, with her chubby cheeks, round belly, and tiny little paws! And when she blinked her big eyes and laughed—ugh, so cute! There’s no way something that cute could be a scary monster!”
Okay, I take it back. She wasn’t cautious. She just got charmed by Shu’s cuteness.
“Shu’s cute?”
“Adorable! Super cute!”
“Unni, what about Su-ya? Is Su-ya cute too?”
“Of course! So cute I could eat you both up! Come here—Unni’s gonna gobble you up!”
Yeon-chae hugged both kids tightly and rubbed her face against their cheeks. Well… I get it. Kids really are cute.
“…But honestly, I was a little conflicted. Even if Shu’s not a monster, I thought I should report her to the Hunter Association. But they treat all unknown beings as monsters. If I reported her, they might have done something horrible…”
She wasn’t wrong. She had acted recklessly by not reporting it. She might be awakened, but she’s basically still a civilian. Her judgment was immature.
But from my side? Thank goodness. If the association had tried to hurt Shu, I would’ve fought them off—but that would’ve caused a huge mess.
“Thanks for not reporting her.”
“Ah, you don’t need to be so formal with me. Just talk comfortably.”
“Oh… okay. Thanks.”
She was surprisingly friendly. Maybe that’s why she played with Shu so naturally.
Meanwhile, Shu and Yeon-soo were sitting together again, watching something on the tablet. It was Poporo, of course, and they were totally absorbed.
‘But that kid…’
I focused mana in my eyes and looked at Yeon-soo. Something felt off since the beginning. As I suspected, the mana inside her wasn’t flowing properly.
Some parts flowed normally, but others went backward, crashing into each other and creating bubble-like residue. On the La-Moon continent, this was known as mana reflux. She might look fine on the outside, but her body wasn’t okay.
“Anyway, if Shu’s not a monster, is she… an alien? I mean, with how the world is these days, aliens wouldn’t be that surprising.”
“She’s from another dimension, so yeah, calling her an alien isn’t wrong… but that’s not the point.”
I lowered my voice and asked,
“Your sister… she’s sick, right?”
“Huh? How’d you know? She doesn’t look sick right now…”
“You don’t see all that bubbling inside her?”
There’s only one way to fix mana reflux: someone else has to guide her mana along the right path.
If you do it regularly, the reversed mana flow gradually corrects itself. Eventually, her body will learn how to handle it on its own. That’s why it was considered a minor issue on La-Moon.
“Bubbly?”
“Anyway, since I owe you one, I’ll fix your sister’s illness.”
“W-What?! Wait, what are you talking about?!”
Yeon-chae looked stunned. She asked if I even knew what illness Yeon-soo had.
“Yeah. It’s mana reflux.”
“What? No, it’s not! I don’t know what that is, but Yeon-soo has mana overload disease. It’s incurable! How can you say you’ll fix it when you don’t even know what it is?!”
Guess she didn’t believe me. Fair. If someone said they’d cure an incurable disease as payback, I’d think they were crazy too.
But calling it “mana overload” just showed they didn’t understand the real cause. That’s why it was labeled incurable.
“Well, if you don’t want help, that’s fine. I’m not going to force anyone.”
I felt bad for the kid, but I wasn’t going to insist.
Just then, Shu came up and tugged on my leg, saying,
“Mom…”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Shu?”
“Su-ya is bubbly.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. But why are you…”
“Su-ya is hurting. Mom and Shu are good dragons!”
“…”
As expected of a dragon—Shu had noticed Yeon-soo’s condition too. And being the sweet, kind-hearted dragon she was, she didn’t want to leave her friend in pain.
I was the one who told her to be a kind, brave dragon. She was just trying to keep her promise. Leaving a sick friend alone definitely wasn’t something a “good dragon” would do.
If I ignored this because I was lazy, it would hurt Shu’s moral development.
“Sigh… I guess I have no choice.”
Yeon-soo was dozing off. I walked past Yeon-chae, who still looked suspicious, and gently picked the girl up. I sat her on the couch and placed my hand on her back. Right away, I could feel a faint trace of someone else’s mana.
“…Did you do something to her?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I can feel some kind of half-baked healing attempt.”
“Oh… they said you have to draw out the mana for mana overload, so I tried that. Wait—you can feel that?”
“Yeah. Your technique’s awful.”
She pouted and mumbled, “I only awakened recently…” Well, she wasn’t wrong, but her method was totally off.
Mana is the source of existence. Trying to forcefully pull it out just causes it to leak like a broken faucet. It might look like things are improving, but long-term? It’s worse.
“So what makes you so special—”
“Make sure you thank Shu, if not me. If it weren’t for her, your sister wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”
“What do you mean…?”
I focused again. Thankfully, Yeon-soo was still dozing—it was easier to work while she stayed still.
I channeled mana into my fingers and gently sent it into her body. I first figured out her unique mana flow, then matched my mana to it.
‘Good, it’s not too serious. The buildup is manageable.’
Every time I found a spot where the flow reversed, I corrected it with my own mana. Once the flow started moving the right way, it kept going on its own. A few more adjustments and the entire mana stream stabilized.
“Huh?”
The first to notice the change was Yeon-soo herself. She blinked her eyes wide and jumped up.
“I don’t hurt anymore!”
“What? Really, Yeon-soo?!”
“Yeah! The buzzing pain is all gone!”
“…How did you…?”
Yeon-chae stared at me in shock. She couldn’t sense mana well, but her sister’s reaction made it obvious.
“I feel so good! I think I could fly like Shu!”
When mana flows smoothly, the body feels lighter. Yeon-soo had probably never felt this good in her life.
Overjoyed, she ran around the apartment giggling. Shu, excited too, spun in the air doing a weird version of the Happy Dance.
“Me too! Su-ya, let’s do it together!”
The two danced together, doing their own wild version of the “tough and healthy” routine. It looked nothing like the original—but they were so cute it didn’t matter.
Meanwhile, Yeon-chae had tears in her eyes.
“…Is Yeon-soo really better?”
“Not completely. Right now, I’ve set the mana flowing right. But it might reverse again. I’ll need to help her regularly until her body learns on its own. Then she’ll be fully cured.”
“…Thank you. Really, thank you…”
I did tell her to thank Shu, but still—I wasn’t coldhearted enough to push away a sincere thank-you.
I smiled slightly and said, “We’re even. If you hadn’t found Shu first, we could’ve had a huge problem.”
“No… Shu helped Yeon-soo get healthy and make a friend. Because of her illness, she kept missing kindergarten and couldn’t make friends. Then we moved to Grandma’s house, so she didn’t know anyone here. But thanks to Shu and you, I got to see Yeon-soo smile like that for the first time in ages.”
Just like she said, Yeon-soo was grinning brightly at Shu. And Shu, even though it was past her bedtime, was still laughing and chatting like crazy.
Shu needed a friend her age too. Watching them made me feel relieved.
I did it for Shu’s moral education… but now I was genuinely glad I helped.
“…So, what are you and Shu really?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I’m not accusing you or anything! It’s just… Shu’s amazing, and you seem kind of superhuman too…”
I paused. Since returning to Earth, I’d only ever been with Shu. I hadn’t thought about whether I could tell someone what I’d gone through.
Yeon-chae didn’t seem like a bad person. But it’s not like we were close. And even if I told her I used to be a hero and dragon messenger from another world—would she believe me?
So I just replied with a shrug.
“I’m not some big deal. I’m just…”
“Just?”
“Shu’s mom—uh, I mean, uncle.”
“…Oh.”
She looked a little disappointed at first, then smiled playfully.
“Not her mom, huh?”
Ugh, again with the “mom” thing. I glanced at the little troublemaker who made me her “Mom” in the first place.
Back when I thought I lost her, it really felt like my whole world had ended.
That’s when I realized—Shu was all I had left now. So whether she called me Mom or Uncle didn’t matter.
I just wanted her to grow up healthy and happy.
That was my only wish now.
