Chapter 232: Welcome to the Museum. (2)
“Kieeek. Kiying kiying…”
“Dialuria…”
Dialugia’s betrayed expression was still evident. Meanwhile, I felt embarrassed.
I thought I would see the heartwarming parting scene of a mother and her son, but what I could see was the mother’s distorted face, who had gotten betrayed by her son.
“Kiiyiing…”
Whether he knew his shocked mother’s expression or not, Tol To-ri still buried his face in my chest and waved his tail.
As I gently stroked his head, the whine turns into panting in an instant. He eventually turned over and exposed his stomach to me. Naturally, I reached out for a scratch.
I sometimes thought that he was like a puppy, but he acted like one more so today.
It seemed that he was showing affection as much as we would be separated in a little while, but Dialugia’s expression of looking at all these actions seemed to be terrible.
Her mouth was open, of course, and her pupils were shaking continuously.
When Dialuria was still the size of a puppy, I remember that he followed his mother, too.
At that time, I felt that he paid more attention to me, but now that he grew up to a teenager’s size, I had no idea that this would be how he’d react. Seeing her extremely tired expression, I could tell that he had given his mother a lot of trouble…
‘Didn’t he show his mother this behavior?’
Considering Dialugia’s reaction, he would never have shown his belly like this.
I understood roughly what ‘Mother is annoying,’ written with a hashtag on his unique characteristic, meant.
‘That’s not good…’
Although his characteristic was already twisted, I honestly wanted him to grow up normally. However, I couldn’t focus on this now. I had the expedition to focus on.
As it was, the expedition members were waiting for me.
“Tol To-ri, I think daddy needs to go…”
“Kiyiing…”
At this, Dialuria continued crying. Tears immediately filled his eyes as if he could understand what I was saying. Seeing his arms open, he seemed to be waiting for a hug.
As I held him slightly, I could still hear the sound of panting.
“Ah…”
Dialugia continued looking at us with a blank expression. I knew I had to speak up.
“Tol To-ri, shouldn’t you say goodbye to your mom?”
It was a bit cute to see Dialugia looking grateful.
Tol To-ri seemed to be reluctant, but Dialugia, who was in a hurry to miss her chance, quickly went to hug her son.
“If you obey them well, we are going to play together all day, okay?”
“Kiek!”
“Dialugia, it’s time to leave.”
“Okay. Dialuria, mom…”
“Kiek!”
The situation ended only after passing Dialuria to Hwang Jeong-yeon and Kim Ye-ri, who were not going to the expedition.
Of course, the screaming picked up once we left, but I chose not to look back.
“You must not look back.”
“B-but…”
“You need to be firm.”
“…”
“If you look back and keep responding, it will become more difficult to separate. I don’t know much about the dragon’s ecology, but Dialuria can be alone right now. Of course, he needs a lot of help, but the guild members will take care of him.”
“…”
I wanted to give her some advice, but unfortunately, I was not an expert. I hadn’t had any parenting, and I hadn’t raised a common puppy, either.
Rather than pretending to know something, I thought it was best to keep my mouth shut.
“Kie-e-e-e-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eek!”
Seeing that Dialugia was constantly flinching and reacting to the sad cries from far away, it seemed as if she would have run to Dialuria again if I had not been here.
I saw her holding back her tears.
“Sorry for being a bit late.”
“It’s fine, Kiyoung-ssi. We are still departing earlier than scheduled. We also understand the situation, so…”
Park Yeon-joo, who said so, look at Dialugia this time.
“Nice to meet you, Dialugia. I’ve always seen you in the nest, but it’s the first time I’m officially greeting you. I am Park Yeon-joo.”
“I’m Dialugia.”
“Thank you for coming with us.”
Dialugia nodded, looking overly depressed. Perhaps she needed time to calm her sadness while thinking about Tol To-ri.
“First, get on the carriage. We will have to travel for about two days.”
“Okay.”
“Go inside and rest, Dialugia.”
“Alright.”
A total of five wagons were loaded with luggage.
There were supplies for 30 people to eat during the expedition, first aid supplies, and clothes to change for those isolated in the Crack Museum.
‘Their carriages are really good…’
After I first sent Dialugia into the wagon where Blue was staying, and I was forced to realize that it was certainly not just big when I looked around the wagon.
‘We should also buy it.’
In the first place, as I went only on a small expedition, it was true that I did not feel the need for a large wagon. However, upon seeing this, I knew it would be a good investment.
It looked like a trailer. When I saw there was such a room in the carriage, my jaw dropped.
‘I knew that the welfare of all guild members was good…’
As it was a women’s guild, the welfare for this part seemed certain.
Park Deokgu and Ahn Ki-mo, who had already entered, were also looking around with expressions of wonder.
“It’s really good.”
“Well, weren’t you from the Red Mercenary? Such a wagon…”
“Of course, it is true that they also have large wagons, but they are not so well maintained. They don’t really believe in comfort during expeditions. She said it would be better to invest in equipment with this kind of money. It is also a problem that wizards and priests are indispensable.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s because it is a burden on horses to pull a carriage like this anyway. No, rather than that, it is impossible in the first place. This is why sorcerers have to give up their magic power to horses constantly. Of course, in order to manage the overburden, the priests must also give them divine power.”
“Ohhh…”
“Perhaps the Black Swan shall employ coachmen. Usually, most of the wizards are abandoned because they have no talent or progress.”
“Well, that’s right…”
“You don’t have to be bitter, Deokgu-ssi. This is good for them, too. The wages are higher than you think, and in a way, they created jobs. It will be perfect for wizards who have lost their talents.”
“Oh. I can see it that way, too! Hyung-nim, can we have this kind of wagon?”
“I think that’ll be okay…”
“Of course, it is!”
Jung Hayan, Sun Hee-young, and Cho Hyejin, the female members sitting in the carriage, showed more joy than Park Deokgu.
They didn’t say it outright, but it seemed that the guild members were envious of the Black Swans, who could use such facilities.
Kim Hyunsung, who had just finished organizing his luggage in the room, came out.
“I was thinking about it, too. New members have also joined, and we plan to have one more party in the future.”
It was quite interesting to see their faces brightening once again when the guild master gave his permission. Of course, Dialugia didn’t seem to care that much, but in the first place, these facilities weren’t for her.
Kim Hyunsung smiled a little and spoke once more.
“And about this expedition…”
“Yes.”
“In the future, there will be no time to have briefings or training. Of course, it seems that there will be a time to convey brief changes while having a meeting and a meal, but… First, I have documented all the parts that everyone needs to understand, so you must read them.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
“When we enter the dungeon, we will probably get quite busy. It wouldn’t be bad to enjoy your leisure thinking it’s the last time.”
“Yes.”
He could say that, but there was no way we could enjoy it when we were going on an expedition. The same was true for Kim Hyunsung, and even Jung Hayan was not as relaxed.
‘That’s because there is always danger in dungeon attacks.’
Everyone knew it very well as this was not their first time. As the wagon began to move, we began spending our time in our own ways.
As Kim Hyunsung had previously announced, we had a short briefing time based on changes or reports during our every break, and we organized or repaired other items whenever he had time.
Personally, it was a bit boring, but these repetitive briefings were certainly helpful.
Though we moved quickly, it was apparent that Yeon-joo felt impatient.
Exactly two days passed, and when we arrived at an area where it was no longer possible to travel via wagon, we unloaded the luggage and began the march.
‘The reality is a little different, but…’
In fact, the dungeon attack would not take long.
The reason I forcefully filled the bag was because of the possibility of being isolated in the dungeon. Of course, I didn’t tell the expedition members this, but those who were quick to notice were probably feeling the possibility of failure.
Assuming that a mythic-grade named monster would appear, all we could do was endure it with the collective power we had now. Or else, we would pay the price.
Anyway, the atmosphere of the expedition wasn’t all that bad.
Harem King Park Deokgu was enjoying his heyday surrounded by female guild members of the Black Swan, and although not as much as Park Deokgu, Ahn Ki-mo also became very close to some.
Jung Hayan had the privilege of sticking to me during our breaks. Sun Hee-young seemed to be having a serious conversation with the Black Swan priests, and Cho Hyejin, who was secretly in love with Kim Hyunsung, didn’t seem very happy about his relationship with Park Yeon-joo.
The scenery before us kept changing, and the expedition gradually reached a place that no one else seemed to have reached.
‘It’s pretty…’
A purple light emanated from the cracked space of a large rock wall, with no end visible.
Perhaps the Crack Museum would be found within that rock wall.
And then…
[Welcome to the Crack Museum]
A little kid created out of magical power appeared before us.
We had officially entered the Unrated Dungeon Crack Museum.