‘Once addicted to sweet stuff, you cannot find enjoyment from anything not sweet.’
Gyeoul these days was always eating lollies.
Staring at the leftover food, the Regressor thought to himself.
On the plate were vegetables, meats, a block of cheese and fruits with no signs of Gyeoul having even touched them. But if she felt happiness from eating sweet stuff, isn’t that more than enough? The Regressor therefore wasn’t going to intervene.
However, the dragons seemed to think otherwise.
“Ehng? Gyeoul! Why did you leave these behind? Wait, you didn’t even touch them… My mum said you shouldn’t leave any food behind.”
Kaeul raised the problem;
“A little kid is already this picky. Oi Gyeoul you kid, don’t you know how important it is to eat during the Amusement?”
Yeorum criticised her;
“You’re not allowed to eat lollies for now.”
And Bom made a special arrangement for the problem.
Gyeoul stared at her two hands that were now empty after the container of lollies had been confiscated.
Those soft yet chewy lollies that tasted sweet,
Those sweet yet savoury lollies with an exhilaratingly soury kick,
Those gem-like lollies of vibrant colours that were always in her hands…
They were no longer there…
“…How, could, this be…”
She became depressed.
On a certain weekend, Yu Jitae took Bom and Kaeul out of Unit 301.
“Why just us two? What about Gyeoul?”
“I want to ask a few questions about shedding skin.”
“Shedding skin?”
Kaeul widened her eyes. Shedding skin referred to how dragons shed their old skin as their bodies grew in size. They walked into a cafe near the residential area as Bom ordered Yu Jitae’s drink today as well.
“Nn? Why are you choosing ahjussi’s drink, unni?”
“Because he only drinks coffee.”
She squinted her eyes and smiled.
“Is that soo? Hmmm~”
“Why. Is it weird?”
“Hehe.”
They sat on a table after receiving their drinks. Both in the fifth and the sixth iterations, the Blue Dragon had gone through two skin-shedding processes according to his knowledge.
Every time it happened, the Regressor was not inside the underground labyrinth so he didn’t exactly know the type of situation she was in. The only thing he checked back then was that there were no threats to her life and health.
By the time he arrived there after the Blue Dragon shed skin, he was met with the old shell of a dragon, body fluids and blood. Due to the effects of [Fragment of Paradise], the whole place was in a mess. He had faint memories of how the Green Dragon was sluggishly cleaning up the mess.
Looking back to it, that was when the Blue Dragon began acting weird. Despite being under the influence of the paradise, she trembled anxiously or injured herself by biting on the skin.
He thought it was weird but didn’t think it was very serious, because something similar happened everywhere in the battlefield.
But now, it was something that had to be asked.
“You guys went through it as well, right?”
“Yes yes. I went through it twice.”
Kaeul, who was now 11, said with a smile.
“But mine came quite fast!”
“Fast?”
“Yes yes. Shedding skin depends a lot on the situation. My mum was very very loving so mine was a bit earlier.”
Love.
It was a tough topic.
“Right. The environment is very important.”
Bom added more.
“It’s more the environment than love. What’s important is whether the situation needs them to grow or not, and that’s why the thoughts of the hatchling are significantly important.”
“The thoughts of the hatchling?”
“You see, dragons can grow as much as they want, to the form they want to grow in.”
“Right right! I wanted to become an adult as soon as possible!”
“Why?”
“My mum was the guardian deity of Kirido Dukedom.”
Kirido Dukedom was probably the name of a country back in Askalifa.
“My mum being loved by the citizens looked very cool and I became jealous, so I wanted to look after my mum. That’s why I’m really similar to my mum, like, appearance and stuff.”
“I see. Then what do you think of our unit as an environment.”
“Hmm…!”
Both Kaeul and Bom pondered for a bit before replying.
“It feels like our house.”
“Me too. It’s comfortable and snuggish.”
“Un un. First, I love how ahjussi always buys us delicious breakfast in the morning. What about you unni?”
“I…”
While they were chattering about what they loved about Unit 301, he thought to himself.
Both the underground labyrinth that forcibly injected happiness and Unit 301 that contained peaceful daily lives weren’t environments that required one to grow rapidly.
He sent a message with his watch.
[Me: Yeorum]
[Yu Yeorum: ??]
[Yu Yeorum: What’s up lol]
[Me: When did you shed skin]
[Yu Yeorum: When I was super young]
[Yu Yeorum: Like 3 times yeah]
3 times at the age of 16, and when she was young.
Since she had to become stronger, she had to become an adult as soon as possible. That’s why she went through the process multiple times at a young age.
It made sense according to what they were saying.
[Me: K]
[Yu Yeorum: -.-]
[Yu Yeorum: What’s up? Is that all? -.-]
Yu Jitae turned the messenger off. The alarm rang a few more times after that but he nonchalantly ignored them.
There was a time when he had taken Bom to the underground labyrinth. He therefore decided to ask her.
“If Gyeoul sheds skin at the underground labyrinth, what would it be like.”
“What? You definitely can’t do that.”
Bom’s response came immediately after his words.
“Why.”
“We become really sensitive when shedding skin. It’s the time when dragons become the most sensitive. At a young age, it’s hard to control mana properly and the body hasn’t grown enough so both the body and the mind are extremely fragile. The light from the labyrinth will have a negative impact for sure.”
The Regressor didn’t know what to say. It was rare for Bom to say something in such a clear-cut manner.
“Hukk. Really? Where is the underground labyrinth? What’s it like!?”
Kaeul, the only one that hadn’t visited the labyrinth yet, widened her eyes.
“It’s like a mental hospital, where happiness is forcefully injected into you.”
“Ahah…! Then if I shed skin there, would I like, die or something?”
“You won’t die, but wouldn’t it feel like you’d rather die?”
“Wow… that’s even scarier… but why?”
“We become sensitive when shedding skin right. We can’t take in irrational and unreasonable things when that happens, so what would it feel like to have happiness injected into us?”
“Nn? Nn? I see… right, I also heard my mum swearing about my dad when I was shedding skin…”
The two of them chatted, going through a simulation of how it would be like in such a situation.
Meanwhile, the Regressor gazed at the blue lemonade that Bom ordered with a hazy gaze.
His thoughts were muddled.
They wouldn’t die, but would rather die.
He remembered the end of the sixth iteration. The blue-haired girl that stopped her own heart. The words that had been spoken by that little girl vividly flashed past his ears.
“…”
Those thoughts sparked up against his will. Branching into other further thoughts, they gained size. Most of them were negative emotions and memories.
But when the kids became aware of his silent state, Yu Jitae placed a stop on the continuing thoughts.
Whatever the case, those had all been in the past.
“Also, I have another question…”
That day, Yu Jitae asked them everything about shedding skin.
***
Lying down on the living room floor, Gyeoul appeared disheartened. The protector glanced at the child’s eyes. Gyeoul, who was blankly staring at the ceiling, had the expression of a person who had lost everything in the world.
A few minutes ago, Gyeoul whimpered to Bom and asked for lollies but failed. After that, she came to the protector and asked if she could go outside but the protector had to hide his sorrow and say no.
These days, the cat spirit beasts weren’t gathering near the house after Gyeoul stopped going outside. In other words, stopping her from going outside was working out.
“For the next three weeks, you are not allowed to leave, young lady.”
Hearing that, she crossed her arms. Even her arms were slightly chubbier than before and thus resulted in a chubby appearance.
After staring at the protector with a dissatisfied look on her face, she laid down on the floor, carrying out a one-man protest.
In fact, she was fine at least around 10 minutes ago because Yu Jitae was inside the house.
Having everything taken away from her, Gyeoul ran up to Yu Jitae and was hugged. She then checked his necklace and gazed at his face to be at rest both physically and mentally.
But he went outside with just Kaeul and Bom. Gyeoul asked if she could go out with them as well but in the end, he only took the two of them outside.
After that, this cute yet beautiful and precious young lady started lying down on the floor, as if her soul had followed them outside.
“…”
Gaze: What is life…
“Umm… young lady. Are you okay?”
“…”
Lying still on the ground, she rolled her eyes to the side but ignored him.
“…!”
It was then. Gyeoul widened her eyes with a flash. Having come up with something, she sat up on the ground and with a serious look on her face, she touched her chin.
“…”
After pondering for a little bit, she stood up and walked to the protector with a determined expression.
“Young lady?”
“…”
The child pointed at the gates on the other side of the corridor.
“Are you saying you would like to go outside? You cannot.”
“…Do you, have to do that?”
“My apologies. Even if you do go outside, I must go with you and you can’t carry the feed outside either.”
“…”
Sorrowfully and slowly, she approached him. The protector became nervous, because it was rare for Gyeoul to personally walk up to him.
After nearing him, Gyeoul placed her hands on his gauntlet.
“…I, bought you this…”
She was referring to the pink rubber gloves.
At this point in time, the protector felt like he had become a great sinner. But he couldn’t allow it. What was no, was no.
“My apologies.”
“…Are you… stubborn as a donkey?”
“Kuhuk.”
Gururuk–
The protector’s heart began wobbling.
But he still couldn’t allow it. The identity and purpose of Armata the protector, was to look after dragons as a protector. He held his ground.
Then, Gyeoul heaved a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair.
She primly opened her mouth.
“…Let’s, make a deal.”
“A deal?”
What deal.
Thinking back, he remembered Gyeoul kissing Kaeul on the cheek a few days ago. The protector’s eyes flickered.
Don’t tell me.. Is it that?
Oblivious to the protector’s wish, she gestured with her chin and instead of a kiss, it seemed that she was telling him to follow her. Feeling slightly regretful, the protector followed from behind.
Gyeoul took the protector and stood in front of the storage room before quietly opening the door.
The storage in the corner of the dormitory was quiet and tidy, with fans, reserve cupboards and toilets.
However, one more thing which should be here, wasn’t here.
The protector squinted his eyes.
After Yu Jitae took Kaeul outside, the protector had immediately locked the baby chicken up in the storage, so that it couldn’t somehow sneak outside.
And yet, where did this chicken go?
Gyeoul ran to a deep corner of the storage and vanished.
“…Here.”
When the protector walked up to that place, he realised that there was a hole in some plastic in the corner of the storage, that was hidden behind objects. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that it was a broken ventilation hole.
It was slightly too small for a basketball to go by, but the protector knew that the baby chicken with its fur lowered after a shower, was smaller than a soccer ball.
“…”
The protector’s crimson eyes carried a deeper look.
“…How, is it.”
“…Deal made. Thank you for your precious information, young lady.”
“…Close, your eyes.”
“I have. Anything that happens henceforth is beyond my knowledge.”
Wearing a bright expression on her face, Gyeoul nodded and ran out of the room. She then carried a whole bag of feed and headed outside the house.
After a few minutes, she met a cat at the same old place.
What came today was a gray mackerel-coloured cat, which was the one that got scared the most. Perhaps it was placed low on the hierarchy, but it always glanced at other cats and was always near the end when other cats were leaving.
Gyeoul poured some of the chicken feed onto a bowl. Then, she said the magic word that she learned from Yu Jitae.
“…Here you go.”
The cat dashed forward and became indulged in its food. There was only one cat compared to before but it was still eating something that was given by herself.
Thinking about that fact put her in a very good mood. She was unable to touch it because the cat might not like it, but she was patting the cat on the head in her mind.
That was when a thought sparked in her head.
If she used the method that allowed her to receive permission to go outside from the protector, wouldn’t this work on allowing Bom-unni to give permission to have those lollies again?
*
That night, Gyeoul walked into Bom’s room with large strides. She had a serious look on her face, with confident steps.
Bom, who was blankly focused on writing the novel, turned her eyes to the water-coloured child.
“What’s wrong, little Gyeoul?”
The opponent was tough.
Gyeoul knew what Bom-unni was like among the dragons. The green dragons were the ones that created regulations for all and because of that, she was slightly scared of making a deal with her.
But once she looked at the container of lollies, placed behind some flower pots on top of the bookshelves, she gained courage.
“What’s with the seriousness. Do you have something to say to your unni?”
“…I want to take, what is mine.”
“Yours?”
Bom smiled gently. It was a smile that somehow made Gyeoul feel smaller in comparison.
Therefore, she repeated the slogan of courage once again inside her head.
Lo–llies–!