The Reward for Saving The World is a Husband - Chapter 4
His piercing blue irises were cold, at first glance, but they appeared to heat up upon closer inspection. It seemed as if his temperament was faintly discernible through them.
After a long silence without an answer to his question, he came to a conclusion on his own.
“…I asked something pointless.”
Just before his gaze shifted away from me, I caught a fleeting glimpse of an emotion that felt eerily familiar. It was the same expression most people had when they learned I was from the laboratory.
‘Anger and disgust, unease, and a hint of pity.’
This realization struck me suddenly.
‘He still doesn’t seem ready to be my Pair yet.’
As I contemplated how to process this new understanding, the man began to stride forward.
‘Where is he going?’
I reflexively looked ahead and saw a space I hadn’t thoroughly observed during my battle with the Demon Dragon Ermitar.
‘Was there originally a door over there?’
In the direction opposite to the entrance we had used, far away, there was a metal gate. It might have been obstructed by the massive body of the dragon.
The man was naturally heading towards it.
And when he finally reached and opened the door, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
People…
Not just one or two, but a large number of people were there.
‘How…? They were all supposed to be dead?’
Moreover, they seemed extremely frail, hardly the sort of individuals who could survive in our world.
‘……?’
As I stared blankly at them, I suddenly felt a sense of incongruity.
The ground beneath my feet, the wind brushing against my skin, the greenery covering the vast fields.
‘This is…’
It wasn’t artificial lighting. The source of light that whitewashed the entire world was the sun, too dazzling to look at directly.
The clean, fresh air seemed to purify my lungs, which were filled with toxins.
‘What is all this…?’
This was not the world I knew. As if to prove it, a translucent window appeared before me.
‘A new world…?’
Adjusting balance…
As I was distracted by these absurd messages, one from the gathered crowd approached.
The bulging eyes and wide mouth resembled the venomous frogs that parasitized the F-11 type dungeons.
“Elias, you’re safe.”
Thanks to this, I learned that the name of the man I thought to be my pair and the quest reward was Elias.
“What’s that? What about the dragon?”
“It seems like she’s a victim kidnapped and imprisoned by the dragon. She was the only one unconscious and collapsed.”
“Hmm… Is that so? Then interrogating the woman might give us more information about the dragon. Hand her over. I’ll take her.”
As the poisonous frog-like creature extended its hand towards Elias, he hesitated to hand me over, causing the creature to raise its eyebrows impatiently.
“…She needs medical attention first.”
His addition sounded like an excuse, even to my ears.
“Because there’s nothing you can find out if you’re not breathing.”
I wondered if the poisonous frog felt the same way, and his flattened face contorted.
“Fine, but make sure to keep her alive. Remember, you’ll be responsible if anything goes wrong.”
“Yes, hyung.”
As the poisonous frog-like creature turned and walked away, I glared at the back of its head.
Compared to Elias, this frail-looking figure had an audacity that irked me. Despite its weak appearance, it behaved so arrogantly.
Moreover, assuming that the translator was working correctly, it seemed that this creature knew this place was the dragon’s lair yet had allowed Elias to enter alone.