Chapter 7 : Reward of Rewards

After being possessed, twenty years somehow passed by.  

That’s a fifth of a human’s lifespan.  

It was quite a long time to spend in another world, but…  

whether it was fortunate or unfortunate,  

to me, it felt like no more than a couple of months had gone by.  

‘Is this how a long-lived species perceives time?’  

When I thought about it, it wasn’t incomprehensible.  

A human’s lifespan is, at most, about a hundred years on average.  

Considering this is a medieval fantasy world, it’s likely even less.  

And dragons? Their lifespans?  

At least several thousand years, and if they live long enough, ten thousand is no big deal.  

It was only natural that it felt like barely any time had passed.  

Twenty years, by dragon standards, was equivalent to just a couple of months.  

‘Makes sense, but still…’  

– Rustle.  

“Teonar-nim. Here’s the report.”  

“Oh, uh, right.”  

The report was handed over just as I was lost in thought.  

It was written by Shahr, Lucia’s lieutenant, who had evolved into an Orc Lord by now.  

I skimmed through it lazily with magic.  

“Literacy rate: 98.5%. Over half of them are now fluent in… Korean. No, Millennial.”  

‘This much progress in just twenty years? Even without factoring in dragon time perception, this is incredible.’  

The more I read, the more impressed I became.  

Just twenty years no, it had only been ten years since we began accepting citizens.  

And in those ten years, all of them became literate in Hangul?  

More than half of them even mastered Korean?  

It was nothing short of a miracle.  

Even more so considering it wasn’t a modern era but a medieval one—and that it was achieved with other races as the target group.  

‘They deserve a proper reward for their work.’  

“Lucia, you’ve done an outstanding job as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Language Integration.  

This success is entirely thanks to your efforts.”  

I decided to start with recognizing their contributions.  

First on my list was one of my closest aides—Lucia herself.  

Her voice, filled with emotion, came back to me.  

“No, not at all!! This miracle was only possible because of the excellence of Hangul created by King Sejong!!”  

“……”  

‘Uh, wouldn’t any phonetic alphabet have been similar?’  

Her reaction was overly dramatic, leaving me a bit awkward.  

I didn’t think Hangul was the best writing system in existence.  

It just looked particularly impressive compared to logographic scripts like Chinese characters or rune-based languages.  

But there was no need to nitpick.  

Hangul is, without a doubt, an incredibly unique and effective script.  

“Moreover, the spread of Millenian was entirely thanks to Sejong… no, to your magic, Teo-nim!! Please don’t downplay your role!”  

“Uh, well.”  

‘She’s not wrong about that.’  

One more thing to add…

It was indeed my achievement to spread not just Hangul, but the Korean language.  

More precisely, it was a feat I accomplished through magic.  

[Teo! I’ve obtained something called a “Skill Book”! Apparently, just reading it lets you master a skill…]  

[Hmm. A magic that directly implants information into the subject’s brain? Humans do come up with interesting uses.]  

[…What do you mean by that?]  

[Hold on for a moment. I’ll tweak it a little and make a Korean language Skill Book.]  

It was an absurdly fantasy-like method.  

Implanting Korean directly into someone’s brain with a Skill Book.  

Though it was an extremely high-level magic that transferred the information wholesale to the recipient,  

[All done. Take it and give it a try.]  

[…Already? It hasn’t even been five minutes!]  

[Once you understand the principle, it’s easy.]  

‘To be honest, it only took thirty seconds to finish. The rest of the time was spent verifying it ten times.’  

It didn’t even take a minute to create the Korean language Skill Book.  

A small moment that justified the title of “Transparent Dragon.”  

“Ahem. But that Skill Book was ultimately useless to anyone who hadn’t already learned Hangul.”  

‘Because they still needed to grasp the very basic concepts.’  

Leaving the past behind, I returned to the matter at hand.  

I made sure to give most of the credit to Lucia.  

The Skill Book’s requirement was that the user needed to have learned Hangul.  

Without her efforts to spread Hangul, the Skill Book would have been utterly pointless.  

“That’s not true! Both the Skill Book and Hangul were created by you, Teo. How could I take credit?”  

“I didn’t create Hangul, though.”  

“…But you taught it, didn’t you? How could I claim credit for something that’s your miracle?”  

Although she seemed reluctant and uncomfortable with the praise,  

“Modesty taken too far becomes a flaw. When your sovereign praises you, learn to accept it graciously.”  

“…Yes, my lord.”  

At my words, she immediately prostrated herself with her forehead on the ground.  

Power was truly a wonderful thing.  

“Alright then. Tell me what reward you want. I’ll grant you anything.”  

“H-Huh!? Anything!?”  

“Yes.”  

“Huuuuhhhh!?”  

A beast-like cry filled the air.  

True to their excessive loyalty, the promise of “anything” seemed to stir greed.  

“…In that case, could you grant me the honor of bathing your esteemed body?”  

“That’s all you want?”  

“Yes!! Since Mel has been away on an infiltration mission for some time, please allow me this honor!”  

“…”  

‘I knew it.’  

I hadn’t carelessly made an empty promise.  

Their so-called happiness always amounted to trivial things.  

Touching my scales, cleaning up, and other such chores.  

I decided to oblige.  

‘The others may not be satisfied, but so be it.’  

“Fine. I’ll leave it to you until Mel returns.”  

“Kyaaahh!! Thank you, Teo!!!”  

Lucia was so ecstatic that she started bouncing up and down.  

She seemed to forget all propriety, radiating pure happiness, as if no one in the world could be happier than her in that moment.  

‘Ending it here would feel too trivial. This is quite the accomplishment, after all.’  

“Wait. There’s one more reward.”  

On top of the bathing privilege, I decided to give her an additional reward.  

Lucia was the loyal servant who achieved the great feat of spreading Hangul.  

As a ruler, it wouldn’t be right to gloss over it.  

I didn’t need long to decide what to give.  

“…Pardon? Teo, what are you…?”  

“Hold on. Gravity Manipulation.”  

With that, a solid gold bar floated into the air.  

My beloved gold bar, which I had been hugging to sleep often these days.  

It was saturated with my mana and was a fantastic magical material all on its own.  

“Heating. Shape transformation. Magic infusion. Cooling.”  

— Sizzle… Crack!  

I cast a few spells, using the cherished gold bar to craft an artifact just for her.  

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel any hesitation or regret.  

“Done. Here, take it.”  

“Teo, this is…”  

“Ah, it’s called a ring. A decorative item worn on your finger.”  

“…Wait, this is made of the gold you love so much! I can’t possibly accept this!”  

But Lucia, in stark contrast to earlier, panicked and frantically waved her hands.  

Her reaction made sense, as she knew full well how much I cherished gold.  

“Just take it. Your accomplishment deserves no less.”  

“But… this is gold…”  

“Do you think spreading Hangul is a lesser achievement than some gold?”  

“……”  

“Take it graciously.”  

“…Yes…”  

But only after some hesitation.  

Even as I urged her repeatedly, she slowly approached the floating ring.  

She glanced at the ring suspended in midair, then at me—well, not quite at me, but in my general direction—with visible unease.  

She was clearly uncertain whether she was truly worthy of receiving such a gift.  

“Teo, are you sure this is really for me…?”  

“Just put it on your finger.”  

“…Understood…”  

Her hesitation continued for a while longer.  

She carefully took the ring in her hand, slowly slipping it onto her finger.  

I waited patiently, confident that she would eventually appreciate the gift.  

Swoosh. 

The gold ring slid onto the fourth finger of her left hand…  

“Thank you for granting me such a precious—”  

—Freeze.  

“——What?”  

Her eyes widened to their limits.  

Still holding her hand with the ring, she stared blankly at me, frozen in shock.  

Her gaze, which had been wandering aimlessly, finally locked directly onto my pupils.  

“T-Teo, this…?”  

“Amazing, isn’t it? I’ve enchanted it with a wide-range detection spell.”  

I explained as I maintained eye contact with her.  

– The ring was enchanted with a detection spell.  

– It constantly emitted a faint amount of mana in all directions, using the reflected mana to sense objects in its surroundings.  

It was practically identical to one of a dragon’s natural abilities,

 Clairvoyance.  

“Technically, it’s called echolocation or sonar. It’s the same principle as how bats, which have poor eyesight, use sound waves to navigate.”  

“Bats…?”  

“Of course, compared to that, the range and resolution of this spell are on a completely different level.”  

The range of detection was about one kilometer.  

Within that radius, everything would be perceptible.  

Even things normally invisible to the naked eye could be sensed, not seen but unmistakably felt.  

Not even I, a transparent dragon imperceptible to lesser beings, was an exception.  

“T-Teo… you’re… smaller than I imagined…”  

“I’m still a hatchling.”  

“And, um, your scales are stunning. So radiant and noble. And your eyes… your eyes are so gentle…”  

Lucia’s voice began to tremble, and her eyes glistened with tears.  

It seemed she was deeply moved to see me for the first time in twenty years.  

‘To be fair, I only made it so she could see me when she bathes me. I didn’t think she’d react this strongly.’  

“Show it off. Let the others know so they can strive like you did.”  

The ring bore the image of a small, white, and delicate bird engraved into it—a subtle nod to her humble beginnings as a lowly creature.  

An artifact that allowed its wearer to see the invisible transparent dragon—me.  

It was a gift to honor her incredible achievement of spreading Hangul.  

“Teo… you’ve given me such a precious… gift…”  

—Plop.  

Lucia finally broke down into tears, overwhelmed with emotion.  

“I’ll make sure to show it off proudly! So much that Mel and the others will be green with envy! They’ll be so jealous that I can see your esteemed form, Teo, that they’ll work even harder for you!!!”  

“Good. I’ll be counting on you, Lucia.”  

“Yes!!!”  

I knew it. She’d love it.

*        *        *

A short while later.  

“Teo, I’ll take my leave now!”  

“Alright. Don’t forget to come to the hot springs tonight.”  

“…I’ll make sure to bring all the bathing tools!!!”  

After a brief recognition of her achievements, I sent Lucia on her way.  

Even though the spread of Hangul was complete, it was just the beginning.  

There was still much work to be done.  

There was no time to rest.  

“Let’s go, Shar!”  

“Yes, Lucia.”  

“That’s right, can you see this? It’s a ring that none other than Lord Teo gave me! If I have this, I can see Lord Teo. Aren’t you jealous? You can’t even begin to imagine how noble he looks, not even in your dreams…”  

Even though I had immediately sent her back to work, she didn’t look disheartened at all.  

Instead, she chatted away to Lieutenant Orc, Shar, as if nothing had happened.  

It seemed she was thoroughly delighted with the ring, but…  

“Ah, Shar. You stay.”  

“Lord Teo? If there’s something you need done, please leave it to me.”  

“No, this isn’t something you can handle.”  

“…Pardon?”  

“Sorry, but I need to borrow your lieutenant for a day.”  

Glare.  

“Do you really believe that lowly creature can do something I can’t?”  

Her expression crumpled instantly, her eyes flashing with jealousy.  

“Forgive me for saying so, but Shar is compared to Shar”  

“That’s enough, just stay. Lucia, you’re dismissed now.”  

“……Understood.”  

Though she reluctantly stepped back at my repeated insistence, her gaze lingered on Shar, brimming with hostility.  

Her feelings were plain as day,

 ‘What does someone like you think you’re doing?’  

Poor Shar, caught in the middle of this mess.  

I should finish this business quickly and let her go.  

As for Lucia, I can talk to her tonight.  

“Ahem. Shar, let me ask you something as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.”  

I quickly made eye contact with her—an orc who had evolved so remarkably over time that it was hard to believe she was still one. She exuded an intelligence that defied her origins.  

“Yes, Lord Teonar. Anything you command…”  

“——-The proclamation of the Millennia Federation’s founding. Tell me what you think about it.”  

“……!!!!!”  

Her previously expressionless face now showed genuine surprise for the first time.