“You c-crazy woman!” I screamed.

This continent wasn’t exactly kind to women, and it made sense if you thought about it. This didn’t apply to women like Cha Hee-Ra, Jung Ha-Yan, and Jo Hye-Jin because they were talented, and it didn’t apply to determined women like Lee Ji-Hye either.

However, the majority of the women who had gotten a free ride from the tutorial dungeon were considered weak in society. The men would find it very exhausting to fight against monsters, so it was natural that women would also find hunting a tiring activity considering that they were physically weaker than men. They would usually give up even before the battle could start if they weren’t mages or priests. Even if they could use a mage or a priest’s abilities, they would still end up in the same situation as their less fortunate counterparts if they were without talent. The women who had mustered up the courage to join a hunt would often end up in dangerous situations after joining parties filled with crazy bastards. Moreover, the female players who had to constantly sleep outside, spend a lot of time in the middle of a dungeon control, or were used to a specific hunting style would naturally distance themselves from hunting.

Unaffiliated female players wouldn’t be in a party unless they were in a fixed party, as I was sure they wouldn’t trust a man they had just met for the first time, especially when they had to spend several days together. This was the reason why the Black Swan guild was mostly composed of female members. However, this meant that this issue was already festering before we even arrived here.

In the end, the women who gave up on living as a player would either get an office job in a guild or live as laborers. However, guilds, clans, and even self-employed businesses wouldn’t give them decent wages. The minimum wage was implicitly set, but the problem was that too many people didn’t want to enforce it. To avoid this, they created the…

‘Female Specialized Player Loan.’

They were legitimate lenders like Miju Love and Garosh, and Cash.

There was a bank in Lindel, and even though they were a bit primitive, the Holy Empire stood behind the Empire Bank, and they offered loans and insurance. Obviously, not just anyone could borrow money from these facilities, and I was sure they were confused that a dragon had come to borrow money instead of a human.

I guess Dialugia still hadn’t realized what was going on because she looked dumbfounded when I suddenly screamed. She actually frowned as if asking me what she had done wrong.

“W-What did you say? That’s rude. I did it all for you! This is your gift!” Dialugia yelled.

“That’s bullshit!” I yelled back.

“Y-You’re a really rude person! I can’t believe a person like you is Dialuria’s father! Are humans not capable of understanding gifts filled with gratitude?” she asked angrily.

“Do you have any idea who’s actually the rude one here?! Bring the contract to me right now!” I ordered.

“What?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“I told you to bring me that contract!” I repeated.

When she saw how frustrated I was, Dialugia must have realized that something was wrong because she slowly approached me with a worried expression while holding a pile of documents.

It would have been better if she borrowed from Garosh and Cash. The clan behind them was small, and the clan master, Galoshik, wasn’t that powerful. However, Kim Mi-Ju of the Miju Love Guild was a different story. Their guild was small to be considered a large guild, but she was strong and had the influence to protect herself. When comparing sizes, the Miju Love Guild was nothing compared to the Blue Guild because our guild was in an alliance with the Red Mercenary Guild, the Black Swan Guild, and the Yozora guild. However, Dialugia had borrowed money through legal means, and she had already spent all of it.

I was already getting annoyed when I thought about how I would have to waste my time negotiating with them. I had a lot on my plate, so I didn’t have time to worry about them. However, Dialugia had taken the initiative to borrow from them, and if she didn’t pay after spending all the money, the other guilds and clans would think badly of us.

“H-Here you go…” she stuttered.

I was suddenly filled with frustration.

“I don’t need it!” I screamed.

I couldn’t hold my anger in as soon as I received the documents and hurled the documents away. It seemed like Dialugia had no idea what she had done wrong, but based on the atmosphere; she knew she had made a big mistake, so she started to act timid. She didn’t look like a dragon that could easily crush me, but I was still angry because it was a huge amount. It must have been Dialugia who visited Miju Love first, as the guild didn’t contact her first. As such, this couldn’t be excused.

‘I spent a lot of money at the underground arena…’

I couldn’t ask the Yozora Guild for help, so borrowing money from either the Black Swan Guild or the Red Mercenary Guild was the best option because I just couldn’t watch as the interest rate rose.

‘I wish I had a table I could throw...’

I felt a really strong urge to throw a table, but I bit my lips for now and suppressed it. I knew I had to be like a gentleman to Dialugia.

“Didn’t… Didn’t I… tell you not to make contact with humans without thinking, Dialugia?” I asked.

“I still don’t—”

“You’re not supposed to borrow gold so recklessly like this. I know you’re an intellectual race, but based on human standards, you’re like a child when it comes to social skills. I understand what you were trying to do, but let’s learn little by little. No, in the first place—”

“Kyaaah!”

“...”

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Ooh! Is our Smartie awake?” I said.

“Pant, pant! Pant!”

When I was about to express my anger, Smartie appeared to save their mother. I wasn’t sure if my loud voice woke them up, but I was certain Dialugia was thinking that they had appeared at the right time because I couldn’t raise my voice in front of Smartie. After all, we had to show Smartie that we were a happy couple. It was cute how Smartie frantically ran toward me, and though it was only for a moment, I felt my anger dissipate. It was to the point that I finally understood what people meant when they said that they lived for their children.

“That’s right! Daddy is here! Did you miss me?” I asked.

“Kyaaaaaah! Kyaaah! Pant! Pant!”

The way Smartie wagged its tail really fast made it seem like a rampaging spell had been placed on it. I guess they must have really missed me because they started licking my face. This was natural since we hadn’t seen each other for a few days now.

“Yes, Daddy is back from work!” I exclaimed.

“Kyaaaah!”

I was sure Smartie couldn’t understand what I was saying because they were jumping around so that I would hug them. While hugging Smartie, I looked at Dialugia as if I was dissatisfied with her actions, and she avoided my gaze.

“I can… pay them back…” she muttered.

“How? Keep in mind that you don’t have the option to sell parts of your body because your body belongs to me. That was part of the deal,” I mentioned.

“Kyaaah! Pant, pant!”

“‘T-Then I can go hunting and capture monsters…” Dialugia stuttered.

“Capturing one or two monsters won’t be enough to pay the full amount, and even if you captured monsters, it’d only cover the interest considering the rate. I’ll figure out the gold myself. Whoo. Looks like Smartie isn’t the only one that needs lessons. You need lessons as well to prevent this from happening again,” I explained.

“...”

“There’s something I need to check about your body, so please be prepared,” I informed her.

I was going to take my time with it, but it would be best to do it as soon as possible, and the laboratory that looked like it had been taken from a picture was already complete, anyway. I was somewhat thankful for what she had done, but I was instantly filled with frustration knowing that I couldn’t tell her that.

Even though she didn’t tell me, Dialugia looked kind of disappointed, so in the end, I had no choice but to thank her.

“And… thank you for the gift. I’ll use it well.”

That seemed to have made her feel better.

It was natural for me to want to learn more about Dialugia right after spending time with Smartie. I had been neglecting this for quite a while now, as I had a lot on my plate.

‘I actually wanted to rest for a few days…’

My empty bank account broke my heart.

‘I’ll get that money back, anyway.’

Compared to the money I was going to earn from now on, that money was considered small, and despite knowing that better than anyone, I still couldn’t help but feel bitter about it.

Even while spending time with Smartie, I kept thinking about how I should approach Dialugia. She still looked guilty and was watching us from a few steps away. Moreover…

“What should I do?” Dialugia asked.

She was looking at me as if she was ignorant of everything.

“First, I want you to transform into your original form since I haven’t figured out how it works yet,” I replied.

“Okay...”

As soon as she answered, strange things started to appear on her body. The clothes she was wearing were torn apart, but I didn’t have the time to appreciate her body because she was rapidly turning into a dragon. Unique scales started to appear on her arms, and it was amazing to see her human skin shed into dragon skin. I heard her bones and muscles twisting, but she didn’t seem to be in pain. It was like this was as natural as walking.

“Roaaaaaar…”

Seeing her instantly grow so big was intimidating, and I couldn’t help but stare at her with my mouth agape. Actually, she looked kind of scary, and I suddenly remembered the moment when I hurled the documents away. I had no idea what she thought of me while she was in her original form, but seeing the dragonized Dialugia up close was really overwhelming.

“Wow…”

She had two large horns and teeth that could swallow me with one bite. Above all, as an inferior species, I felt awe looking at a superior species. Seeing her shiny leather and scales made me think that I was really standing in front of a dragon.

- Do I look strange?

“Huh?”

- I can only talk to my spouse since it’s impossible for a dragon’s body to speak the human language…

“I understand what you’re saying, and you don’t look strange. I just think you’re simply amazing. You looked scary back then, but looking at you in a calm situation like this is really astounding,” I replied.

‘Even though you spent all of my money…’

“We’ll start by analyzing your blood. After that, I’ll measure the values and figure out different things. If it hurts, please tell me,” I informed her.

I slowly drew her blood out using the syringe I had specially designed for her. When I began, I immediately heard her voice.

- It tickles. He… hehe. Hehehe.

Her laugh was sillier than I had expected.

“Please bear with it just a little more,” I told her.

- He… hehehehe!

“If you don’t want to crush me to death, please stay still!” I yelled.

- But…

“All done. Please be more careful. My body is very weak,” I warned her.

- I’ll be more careful.

I knew this research wouldn’t be done in one day, but I had to hurry because I didn’t know how much time I would have to spend on this. I immediately activated Mind’s Eye and moved her blood to the Alchemist Kit. Her blood started to separate little by little, and when it was moved to each flask, it immediately reacted with the catalysts that were there. I wasn’t expecting any result because checking the reaction of the equipment that had been prepared was the first thing I had to do, and I was doing just that. Naturally, I then extracted the cells and performed a genetic search. I thought it would be best to return it to the apparatus first because it would take some time to calculate with the equipment and mana I had.

‘Where do I start?’

[Discovered Legendary-Ranked Catalyst _____ for the first time.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1 point.]

[Discovered Legendary-Ranked Catalyst _____ for the first time.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1 point.]

[Discovered Legendary-Ranked Catalyst _____ for the first time.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1 point.]

[Please enter the name of the catalyst.]

[Obtained a new title.]

[Pioneer]

[This is a title for players who have discovered materials that did not previously exist on this continent. Intelligence has increased by 1 point.]

[Alchemist Who Experimented on Dragons]

[This is a title for the first player to experiment on a living dragon on this continent. Intelligence has increased by 1 point.]

[I am in awe of your endless quest for alchemy, the truth, and your adventurous spirit.]

[Discovered a new legendary-ranked job.]

[Dragon Alchemist - Unique Legendary Rank]

“I love you, honey!” I screamed.

I had already forgotten that she had used up all my money.