“Shit…” I muttered.

I had returned to Lindel, but I couldn’t rest. I had no idea if it was coincidental, but our party members were out hunting. I was feeling tense, so I naturally visited Kim Mi-Young. I had to make sure what I had seen was actually true. The almost complete nest was so ridiculous that my jaw dropped.

“Shit!” I yelled.

It hadn’t been that long since I left Lindel, and when thinking logically, it was impossible for the guild to be almost done building it. Actually, it wasn’t exactly impossible since this place was different from Earth. It would be different if they hired many top-quality workers and if they hired mages or master artisans with skills. However, they would have to spend a lot of money. When looking at the beautiful architecture akin to a piece of art, it seemed like the guild had hired all the available artisans. I was sure they hadn’t just hired one or two people because if they had done that, then they wouldn’t have been able to complete the central area this fast.

‘Shit!!!’

To build the nest, they hired not only epic-ranked and above mages but also blacksmiths and master artisans from different production fields. The cost of labor was going to be sky high, and there would also be additional charges because the land had to be purchased and cleared. The biggest issue was the materials used to make the nest. I couldn’t help but question if Lindel actually had that much mithril ore. However, if they had imported the ore from other cities and territories, the transportation cost would have definitely been expensive, and they must have used a griffon.

An enormous amount of money was spent just on the materials alone. Even though I had saved a lot of money, I was sure my entire savings weren’t enough to build that kind of nest. I could estimate the cost just by looking at it, and if they had decorated the interior as well, then the cost would be double.

‘That crazy woman. She’s crazy!’

I was able to momentarily forget Park Deok-Gu and the Kasugano Yuno from the Dark World, because the current situation was worse than theirs.

When I opened the door to the administration office, Kim Mi-Young looked surprised.

“Sub guild master,” she spoke up.

Obviously, she looked as if she had something to say about this ridiculous situation. Kim Mi-Young wasn’t an idiot, and I knew she wouldn’t allow the guild to build a nest with the money we didn’t have. As such, this situation must be something she couldn’t control.

I immediately started talking, “Miss Kim Mi-Young, that nest…”

“I-I’m sorry, sub guild master…” Kim Mi-Young apologized.

“I need to hear the details,” I told her.

“Well, you…”

The story was kind of concise. As soon as Kim Hyun-Sung and I left Lindel, Dialugia immediately commissioned the construction of the nest, and since I had already told Kim Mi-Young that I was going to build a nest, the construction proceeded pretty quickly.

“I didn’t really pay attention to the budget at first because you told me about the nest, but…”

“Did the budget keep increasing?” I asked.

“That’s right,” she replied.

The problem started when Dialugia herself started to interfere on the construction site. She constantly made additional requests as if the nest wasn’t to her satisfaction and insisted that they had to construct it according to how she wanted it, and of course, it hadn’t gone the way she wanted. There was a limit to the budget, and I was sure she was using not only my money but the Blue Guild’s money as well. When Kim Mi-Young and a few other party members realized something was wrong, they tried to stop Dialugia, but they failed.

“I cut off the funds when I thought I couldn’t let this continue, but—” she said.

“...”

“Miss Dialugia started to bring money herself,” she continued.

“How?” I asked.

“She visited each guild and borrowed money after giving them her name,” she replied.

“I guess you really couldn’t stop her,” I remarked.

“I couldn’t. Strictly speaking, no one in the guild can exercise their authority over Miss Dialugia. Since we couldn’t control her physically, all we could do was pressure the other guilds to not issue her a bond,” Kim Mi-Young added.

That had been an excellent decision. If she couldn’t stop Dialugia from borrowing money, then she could stop the other guilds from lending her money.

“Naturally, this plan didn’t work out so smoothly. When the guilds in Lindel stopped lending her money, she immediately realized we were behind this, so she announced to all of Lindel that she was going to sell her leather and scale to the humans,” she said.

“Did she manage to sell them?” I asked.

Dialugia wasn’t allowed to sell any of her body parts without my permission. It was better to spend money rather than to let the researchers from other guilds obtain hints about her body. When I discovered this, I realized how we ended up in this situation.

“No—to stop her from selling, you had no choice but to let the other guilds lend her money,” I concluded.

“That’s right,” Kim Mi-Young acknowledged.

“Please show me the cost,” I requested.

Kim Mi-Young cautiously handed me the documents, and the more I looked at them, the more nauseous I felt. Rather than scolding Kim Mi-Young and the administration team, I realized that I had to compliment them because I noticed them operating the guild with as little money as possible. Kim Mi-Young must have been unable to sleep for a few days because I noticed bags under her eyes, which was the same for the others. These past few days must have been like hell to them.

“Good job, Miss Kim Mi-Young,” I complimented.

“It’s nothing, sub guild master. I just feel really bad,” she said.

I couldn’t blame the guild’s administration team because this situation wasn’t really their fault. I found myself exhausted before I could even start my research. I was at a loss for words because it felt like I had instantly become buried in debt. Of course, we were earning money, as the potions were selling even at this moment, but there were also things we had to spend money on. The black market beneath Castle Rock was still under construction, and the other businesses were still being prepared.

I felt kind of sad to say this, but how could we recover with Dialugia being here? Naturally, I had no choice but to visit her because I had to know the status of the nest.

When I immediately got on Whitefall, I noticed Jung Ha-Yan looking at me. She looked like she wanted to come with me, but she couldn’t because this was a family issue.

“Ha-Yan,” I called her.

“Yes, Oppa…” she mumbled.

“I’m going to start my research tomorrow, so be prepared. I’m sure we’ll spend a few nights together in the lab,” I informed her.

“O-Okay!” she excitedly replied.

This was enough for me to leave Jung Ha-Yan, and when I quickly flew over to the nest, I saw a massive dragon’s nest.

‘It looks nice, but… did they also use magic stones?’

There was a dragon’s nest inside the city. It was symbolic, and it was big enough to intimidate people. It seemed like they had also used several artifacts, not just magic stones.

When I quietly entered, I saw a very flashy interior. The light orbs embedded into the ceiling were shining brightly, and I saw objects whose purposes were unknown to me. I didn’t really know since I wasn’t a dragon, but I was sure they were being used for something, and that was when I heard a voice beside me. When I turned my head, I saw Dialugia with her large horns, and she was wearing her usual clothes.

“You came back pretty quickly,” she remarked.

“Where’s Smartie?” I asked.

“Sleeping, but more than that, there’s something I’d like to show you,” she replied.

“They made it pretty quickly…” I commented.

I wanted to be mad and scold her, but when I saw Dialugia’s smile, I realized that she really liked this nest. She looked the happiest since she came here, and I would probably look the same if I were in her shoes because the nest was beautiful, and they had even done the landscaping. There was a pond and trees inside the cave—need I say more? Actually, they were more like a lake and a forest.

“I think human magic is marvelous,” Dialugia started.

‘Shit…’

“I never thought they could create an environment like this inside the nest. Hehehe,” she continued.

‘She looks really happy…’

Our feelings were totally different.

“I actually wanted to discuss many things with you since we’re going to be living together, but you seemed busy… and Smartie needs a large nest as well,” she added.

“I-I wasn’t that busy, so you could have discussed it with me…” I stuttered.

“It’s fine. I think I acted a bit sensitive last time. There were things I couldn’t handle on my own, but when I mentioned your name, they took care of it, and that helped me realize just how high your position was within the world of humans. It’s not much, but while building this nest, I was able to see how the humans lived,” she explained.

“I see…” I commented.

“I could see how you’re able to provide a safe nest. By the way, I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from going out so much… since you have Smartie here. Anyway, thank you for your hard work,” she complimented.

Honestly, my lips were trembling because the person in front of me had used up all the money I had saved up until now. It would be strange if I weren’t upset, but I could still tolerate it because she was suddenly being friendly even though she had been cold before I left for the capital.

‘Dialugia is special.’

Dialugia was starting to realize her worth little by little. She had used up all my money and had put me in debt, but it wasn’t a bad trade as long as I managed to win her favor. Even with a little bit of research, I could obtain many things, and money was an additional benefit that would certainly come with it. I would make an enormous amount of money. Dialugia would be a massive help with my job, and she would also be the key to strengthening Park Deok-Gu.

‘Smartie’s quality of life will increase as well.’

Becoming close to her like this wasn’t a bad idea, and thinking about it made me smile.

“Didn’t you say there was something you wanted to show me?” I asked.

“Of course. There’s a lot you need to know since we built a large nest, and humans don’t know anything about dragons,” Dialugia replied.

She was absolutely correct, and just by taking a look at the nest, I thought I could get a rough idea of how dragons lived. While walking with her, I noticed a lot of interesting things.

“This is the food storage room,” she said.

“Does it have to be that big?” I asked.

“Dialuria may be eating a little right now, but… in three to five years, she’ll continuously consume nutrients because those nutrients will be transformed into mana,” she answered.

“Ahhh…”

“I saw human magic that can prevent food from spoiling, so I think that’ll be really helpful,” she added.

“What about that forest and lake…”

“Dialuria will learn how to hunt in that place,” she answered.

“I see…” I replied, nodding.

Fortunately, she didn’t waste money on useless things. The items that Smartie would be using were high-quality, and I understood why she chose them when thinking about it from a mother’s point of view.

‘It still breaks my heart, though.’

“And this is your room,” she said.

“My room…”

“You’re Dialuria’s father, so you should sleep here. I’m still quite ignorant about how humans live, so I did my best with the little knowledge I had,” Dialugia explained.

‘I can’t stay here that often, though…’

Still, I decided to thank her for it.

“I appreciate the thought.”

“Actually, there’s one more place I really wanted to show you,” she mentioned.

“There is?” I asked.

As we passed the dungeon-like room, I saw a large alchemy lab that was so big Dialugia could lay there in her original form.

‘What—’

“I was told that you really needed it. I honestly don’t like it, but you mentioned that you wanted to know more about my body, and that had been the condition for me to stay here. I don’t know much, but based on human standards, I’m considered high-quality. You can consider this as a gift for providing me with a nest,” she explained.

“A gift…”

It was pretty big, and it felt like she had spent a lot of gold to build this. I did feel upset thinking that money had been spent on this room, but this was a part of my job, anyway. I was sure Dialugia had asked the construction manager to create this. She had probably been ripped off because she had no idea about the prices, but I appreciated the thought. At that moment, a question suddenly popped into my head.

‘Is the budget correct?’

The budget I had calculated in my head and from the documents only involved the cave itself. It wouldn’t be enough to build a room this big.

“You don’t have to worry. This is really a present for you,” she said.

“And the gold—”

“Oh, I borrowed it from the kind humans,” she answered.

Thankfully, she hadn’t sold any of her body parts.

“I was able to complete this nest thanks to the help of the guild members in Lindel, but their help alone wasn’t enough. I met a kind human willing to lend me money, so I asked for their help,” she added.

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.

“Their condition was a bit complicated, but luckily, I managed to meet those conditions…”

“What were their conditions?” I asked.

“Strangely enough, those humans seemed like they only give loans to females. I don’t know the details, but I saw the text, which said Female Specialized Player Loan. Since this was a gift, I didn’t think it was right to be indebted to the humans in the guild since you’re affiliated with them, so I signed a contract for the first time in my life. I may not be a player, but they must have trusted me because of you,” Dialugia explained.

“What?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“You don’t have to be so happy. It’s my way of asking you to take good care of Smartie from now on. Hehe,” she said, giggling.

“Wait, what did you just say? The thing you said before being indebted…”

“Are you talking about the Female Specialized Player Loan? Is this your first time hearing about them?” she asked.

“You… cra… cra…”

“So you have heard of them. Mi… Mi… I can’t remember what they said… Oh! A guild named Miju Love lent me the money,” she said.

“You crazy woman!” I screamed.

When she said that, I couldn’t help but scream out the words I had been holding in.