Last Vacation (2)

If there was one saving grace, it was that they were meeting in a place that wouldn’t attract attention.

“Are we going to ride her?”

-Corruk!

Kang Shin-hyuk was meeting with Eleanor and Meloy, the wyvern that symbolled the Wyvern Knights. Meloy let out a cry of joy and licked his cheek. It was rough to the touch, but thankfully his physical status was high enough not to be hurt by it.

“Hm, I don’t know. It should be possible for two people to ride her at once.” Eleanor stroked Meloy’s head as she rode atop her. She was dressed in a leather vest and pants, with a cloak denoting her as the captain of the Wyvern Knights. All in all, she cut quite the dashing figure.

“…An A-rank dungeon, huh?”

“Going below this won’t help us at all, given what I’ve seen.”

“Well, what could you mean…” Kang Shin-hyuk pretended not to know what she was talking about as he turned away. For reference, the average level of the 1st year was D+ rank, and that of previous Rookie Kings were B-rank. Even with the backing of Shinyoung’s education, a B-rank superhuman would be slaughtered if they entered an A-rank gate.

“I don’t think you need to hide it. It was so cool…”

“Then let’s go!” He forcefully cut her off and climbed onto Meloy’s back. The saddle, which had been renovated by Shin-hyuk, had enough space for two people.

“Hold onto my waist.”

“My sense of balance isn’t bad…?!” Meloy rose vertically as he tried to retort at Eleanor. He quickly managed to find his balance before he fell off. Actually, now the wind beating across his body felt refreshing.

“You won’t hold on?”

“I’m a Rookie King, this is a bare minimum.” He decided to ignore the fact that it wouldn’t be possible without his S-rank Wind Mastery. He used it to adjust the airflow around his body as he corrected his posture. Meloy climbed up to a hundred meters up through Eleanor’s urging before heading off to the dungeon.

“Karen told me to try this.”

“Huh.” Eleanor was really honest. He sent a message to Karen to be prepared for later.

“I told you to rely on Douglas Payne, not me.”

“I hate that person.”

“He’d do just about anything for you.”

“I refuse.”

“I see…” Kang Shin-hyuk looked down below as they flew, hoping that no-one could see them when an idle thought crossed his mind.

“Isn’t it a problem if you fly like this?”

“No, I have permission to fly.”

“You needed permission?!” To fly with any artifact, magic tool, or tamed monster required an international license. If you had one, you could fly all you wanted so long as you gave advance notice.

“It can be a bit bothersome to always report in advance, but it’s no problem. We are students.”

“In particular, you need to obey the law.”

“Hm.” He wondered if he should obtain a license for the blue cow but decided to leave it. He didn’t intend to ride on it in the first place. As he was seriously contemplating how to make riding the cow look cool, Eleanor’s voice reached him.

“We’ll be arriving soon.”

-Gurururuuuu!

Meloy began to descend from the sky with a lively cry.

“Isn’t this angle bad?!”

“Would you like to hold onto me?”

“Well, it’s okay!” Meloy leaned over and quickly descended with its wings out as soon as they could see the gate. When she landed, they were saluted by a man guarding the gate. What flowed out of his mouth was the posh accent of English.

“It’s an honor, Your Highness!”

“I’m just Eleanor R. Algiers, a sophomore from Shinyoung.” She replied in Korean, ignoring the title he had used as she jumped off from Meloy. The man was confused for just a moment before he realized his mistake and stiffened. Kang Shin-hyuk ignored them both.

“Go.”

“Yeah.” Kang Shin-hyuk grabbed Meloy’s reins and followed after Eleanor, who produced her permit for the gate. The guard shouted about her Highness being with a man, causing a fuss with Eleanor. Kang Shin-hyuk felt his anxiety rising at the scene.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

“It’s not the middle ages, no one cares about a princess’s boyfriend anymore.” Kang Shin-hyuk stared at Eleanor, who began to blush.

“I mean, even if you look like my boyfriend, you’re not.”

“…I see.” It seemed that she now realized what it looked like to other people.

“Let’s go in.”

-Kirrrruuk!

She pulled on Shin-hyuk’s hand, forcefully as she marched into the gate. The name of the gate was [Rose Garden (A)], and it had an open sky that was perfect for a wyvern.

“Meloy, please.”

-Kiruuu!

Meloy ascended into the sky as soon as they entered the gate. Wyverns were usually B-rank, but Meloy was a strong entity even among the wyverns, so it would be no problem for her to work alone in an A-class gate.

“You’re not going to fight on her back?”

“That sounds cool, but no.” Eleanor laughed a little.

“I can’t rely on her forever.”

“True.” The wyvern was a symbol of the Wyvern Knights, passed down from leader to leader down the generations. His thoughts drifted back to the saddle he had repaired. He had learned a lot from that, and he wanted to use that knowledge to make some equipment for Onyx.

“Let’s practice on the assumption that that won’t happen.”

“…?” Eleanor tilted her head at his suggestion but soon realized what he meant.

“You want to tame a wyvern?”

“I don’t know if I can until I try. There’s also the issue of finding a new one.” They weren’t very common monsters. Given their strength, if they were, Earth would’ve already been annihilated.

“So, just be aware it’s a possibility.”

“Uh…”

“Yes?” Eleanor raised her head with a strange voice. Kang Shin-hyuk followed her gaze, seeing Meloy flying fast towards them. Something else was behind it…

“…There it is. Wyvern.”

“Right…” It was a red-skinned wyvern, larger than Meloy, that was chasing after her.

“Meloy’s in danger, I have to help.”

“Wait.” Kang Shin-hyuk stopped Eleanor, who had just pulled out a huge lance from her bracelet.

“I don’t think she’s under attack. Red leather is the symbol of a flame wyvern, yet it’s not breathing fire.”

“Then?”

“I think we’ll know soon.” Immediately upon saying that, Meloy landed behind them. It was like she was using them as a shield.

-Quooooh!

On the other hand, the flame wyvern saw it, let out a cry, and landed right after her. The flame wyverns yellow eyes were focused on Kang Shin-hyuk, yet as soon as he glared back, it crumpled.

-Quoo…

“Awesome.”

“I think it’s worth trying it out.” The flame wyvern was a particularly strong category among wyverns. The minimum rank discovered so far was A-, but this guy seemed like he might even be as strong as A+. In other words, he was about as strong as Shin-hyuk.

“But I need to stay calm.”

-Quooo.

Kang Shin-hyuk reached out his hand towards it, and the wyvern poked it for a moment before gently lowered its head in obedience. He was immediately convinced; it had been the same with Meloy.

‘It’s no coincidence that my trait has the name dragon in it.’ There were many cases where the information provided by the Gaia system is insufficient. He had heard stories of superhumans discovering or developing hidden abilities of their traits. Didn’t he already realize that when he used it for production before? He wondered if this was one of the remaining conditions for his trait evolution, but no notification popped on. It was just a natural side effect of his trait.

“As expected, you should lead the Wyvern Knights, not me.”

“I’ll be leaving soon enough, so it’s okay.” Kang Shin-hyuk responded firmly to Eleanor, who was watching the scene play out before her. Her cheeks swelled up a bit from his words, but he didn’t notice.

“But what about this one?”

-Quoooo.

-Gururu!

The flame wyvern was trying to approach Meloy while keeping Shin-hyuk in eyesight. On the other hand, Meloy was hiding behind him like a daughter hiding behind her father from the other children at a playground.

“It’s just the same.”

“How old is Meloy this year?”

“Even if she was only a year old at the time the Wyvern Knights were founded, she is much older than us now…” Kang Shin-hyuk looked at the flame wyvern in front of him, who had its head politely bowed.

“I can’t take him with me like this.”

Only

“Monsters that aren’t tamed can’t be taken out of the gate. Do you have taming?”

“No.” He probably wasn’t tamed right now; he just recognized Kang Shin-hyuk’s status and was being polite. If he left him, the wyvern would probably run amok.

“What to do…”

“If you take this guy to the knights, I’d be able to graduate with Meloy.”

“Then there’s only one way left.” Kang Shin-hyuk reached out and produced a simple anvil and forge from his inventory. He had been prepared for something like this.

“I have no choice but to make a taming artifact.”

In this way, their goal inside the gate changed dramatically.