Healing in the Countryside with a Baby Dragon - Episode 3: The Generosity of the Countryside

Murmurs filled the air. Had I been deeply asleep? A voice from somewhere woke me up.

“Ah! Great one, please show mercy!”

“Don’t eat me!”

It was a high-pitched buzzing voice. What was that, a bug? I fumbled to see if there was something biting me, but there was nothing. I opened my eyes wide and sat up, feeling empty in my chest. There was nothing on the floor. Was it a dream? Or did I go outside? Anxiously, I rushed to the yard and looked around.

I spotted Seol-ah squatting in the vegetable garden, now looking human.

“Seol-ah.”

She didn’t turn around, focused on something. What could it be?

As I got closer, I saw tiny creatures wriggling around her. They were crowded around her, making a fuss. 

One was caught in Seol-ah’s hand.

“Seol-ah!”

I quickly snatched it away, worried it might be dangerous.

“Are you okay? Did it bite you?”

“Bba-ya?”

Seol-ah looked puzzled at my urgent question. Then I felt a light resistance from her hand.

“Let go! How dare you touch me!”

Looking down, I saw a small, fuzzy creature, about the size of a finger, glaring at me with its big eyes.

“Human, how dare you touch me!”

It flailed its tiny limbs in what seemed like a threatening pose. What is this? I had never seen a talking furball before. When I gently pressed it with my finger, it surprisingly felt nice—a mix of fuzzy fur and dirt?

After pressing it a few times, it shouted,

“Ah! Great one! The human is trying to kill me!”

Seol-ah just giggled at the furball. It seemed harmless after all. I handed it back to her and looked at the others gathered on the ground.

“What are you?”

“We are earth fairies! We have come in response to the call of the great one!”

Earth fairies? Great one? I couldn’t possibly be the great one; it must be Seol-ah.

“Did Seol-ah call you?”

“Bba?”

“Did you call them, Seol-ah?”

“Bba!”

Seol-ah smiled brightly while nudging the earth fairies forward. It seemed she indeed called them. Is she a genius dragon who knows how to summon them? As I pondered this, Seol-ah’s eyes drooped slightly.
She probably thought I didn’t like it.

“No, you did well.”

I stroked her head and smiled, and she finally looked relieved.

“Touching the head of the great one! The human must be insane!”

“Bow down and beg for forgiveness from the great one!”

“We are surely doomed!”

The earth fairies seemed shocked by my simple act. They cried out in dismay, some even sat down and wept. Seriously, why all the fuss over just a head pat?

“I’m Seol-ah’s dad, the great one, so it’s fine.”

“Hu-uh?”

“Dad? The human is the great one’s dad?”

They paused in shock, then started whispering among themselves.

“Really. Right, Seol-ah? Who am I?”

“Bba-bba!”

Only after Seol-ah confirmed did they stop whispering.

“This house is mine too.”

“Is the human?”

“Yeah.”

Though it’s called a house, it’s where I live with Seol-ah. The fairies rolled their eyes, then gathered around me.

“We greet the great master!”

Then they bowed deeply in reverence. These creatures can smell power. Seol-ah smiled brightly at that.

“Great master, please save us!”

I ignored the cries of the one in Seol-ah’s grasp. It had called me “the human.” Time for some payback.

I, Baek Jin-sol, am a man with a vendetta.