“What did you just…”

Dialugia looked shocked. I was sure she was at a loss for words when I told her I didn’t need to fix all this, and when I even looked happy about it. I thought maybe I was being too obvious, but I didn’t want to hide my feelings.

‘30,000 years? Humanity will perish before then.’

It didn’t matter to me whether humanity would perish by then or not.

I guess this continent had a long history considering that things related to the ancient kept on appearing…

‘Actually, I’m sure the continent is pretty old.’

Dialugia was more than 4,000 years old, and I was sure the Dragon Lord existed as well. Considering that this continent was blessed by God, it was safe to assume that mankind had a long history here. The chances were low, but civilization here might remain the same even after 30,000 years.

‘If you base it on the dragons, maybe it’s different…’

I would probably live a long life, considering the fact that I was sharing a life with Dialugia, but it probably wasn’t going to be 30,000 years.

While I was many different thoughts, Dialugia spoke once again.

“Did you just say there’s no need to fix all this?”

“That’s… not exactly what I meant…” I replied.

“I’m at a loss for words. Or is it simply because you don’t understand the gravity of the situation? The Fragment of the Ancient God will slowly absorb the life of this continent. It’ll absorb the mana in the atmosphere and it’ll start eating the land we’re standing on. Lifeforms will start dying one by one and in the end, there will be nothing left,” she explained.

“Ah! Is that what the tentacles do? So that’s why the museum’s functions have stopped. I don’t think it really affects us, though… Are we safe?” I asked.

“That’s not what’s important right now. You’re really!” Dialugia angrily said.

“Why are you so angry? Don’t get worked up; speak slowly, Dialugia,” I told her.

“This isn’t the time to calm down! The situation is very serious!” she shouted.

“I don’t understand why you’re angry with me when you used Breath not that long ago. Honestly, you also played a big role in breaking the seal…”

“Th-That’s…” she stuttered.

“Is it because dragons live more than 30,000 years? Is that the reason why?” I asked.

“That’s not it. Our lifespans vary, but we usually live around 10,000 years or so since it’s not possible to live any longer than that. As the spouse of a dragon, you’ll follow the life of the dragon as well and live about 6,000 more years as long as there isn’t an issue during your lifetime…” she answered.

It was kind of long, but living a long life was a good thing. I kind of expected it, but hearing her say it made me feel kind of uneasy.

“It won’t be a problem since the world won’t end in 3,000 years. Our Smartie will live comfortably for about 10,000 years and even if she had children, hm… it won’t really affect them as well. It won’t affect our grandchildren, so I don’t understand why you’re acting like this,” I commented.

“What do you mean? I told you just now,” she said.

“It’s fine. The future generation will take care of everything,” I told her.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Diaugia asked, dumbfounded.

“The future generation will be the ones to build the future,” I replied.

Even though I was the one who said it, it was still a shitty and irresponsible thing to say. Dialugia looked disgusted by my reply, but I wasn’t planning on putting my life on the line by jumping into battle once again.

‘The future belongs to the future generation!’

There was nothing we could do about it.

“You’re not supposed to use that saying here. The continent will fall and if we don’t fix this now, it’ll really happen. It’s no different from us destroying the world with our own hands. H-How am I supposed to see my ancestors now… aaahhh.” Dialugia pointed out.

It was definitely different from a dragon's point of view. Normally, a person may waver a bit if they heard that the world would be destroyed in 300 years. For a petite bourgeoisie like me, what would happen in the future didn’t matter as long as I was living a comfortable life, but people like Kim Hyun-Sung may feel a big responsibility for it and Dialugia was probably that type of dragon.

“We have to fix all this no matter what,” she said.

“By putting our lives on the line?” I asked.

“Not like that, but…”

“Let’s be honest here, Dialugia. What’s most important for you?” I asked her.

“What are you even saying…” she questioned.

“Aren’t Smartie and I the most important?” I asked.

“That’s…”

“You also contributed to the destruction of the Fragment of the Ancient God’s seal. Think about it. If we keep this information to ourselves, then we can live happily, including Smartie. Honestly, we were really lucky earlier, as it wouldn’t have been strange if we all died in that situation,” I explained.

I was sure she would agree that we were lucky to be alive. Moreover, the Fragment of the Ancient God didn’t recognize us as its enemies. The monster simply wiggled a bit, but even its wiggling had been difficult to handle for us.

“I understand your love for the continent. I don’t know much about dragons, but I’m guessing you feel a sense of responsibility with the whole equilibrium thing. However, it’s okay to be selfish to an extent. If we do something wrong while trying to fix all this, everyone will die,” I continued.

“I know that, but…”

“We can’t just think about ourselves. Think about Smartie who’s on her own right now,” I added.

Dialugia was silent. Obviously, she felt really guilty.

‘She could really…’

She could really sacrifice herself by jumping into the dangerous situation just so she could protect the continent because her attribute was The Giving Tree, but it was only if Smartie didn’t exist.

“Our Smartie is waiting for her parents to return. Do you really think I want to ignore the fate of this continent? What Smartie needs isn’t the fate of this continent, but her parents. Be honest. What’s more important to you? Smartie or the future people of this continent?” I asked.

“Smartie…” she replied.

“That’s right, she’s the most important, so there's no need to have complicated thoughts about this. Ahem…” I told her.

“Th-This isn’t right…” she muttered.

“Don’t worry so much. Didn’t you hear it earlier? That backup program or whatever has activated and the Rift Museum is trying its best right now to fix all this. If their preparations failed, then I’ll do my best to stop the monster as long as it’s within my power,” I said.

“Okay…” she mumbled.

When I patted her shoulder, Dialugia hung her head low. She seemed like she was having a difficult time accepting the fact that she had somewhat agreed with what I had said, but her thoughts didn’t matter. Just like how my life was the most important to me, Smartie was the most important to her.

‘It’s a relief we have Smartie…’

“By the way, it’s probably best if you don’t tell the expedition party about the continent getting destroyed or the world ending,” I suggested.

“What?” she questioned.

“Ordinary humans will have similar thoughts as me, but there could be some who will feel responsible for it, so let’s make a plan on what we’re going to say,” I suggested.

“I don’t understand how we’re going to do that,” she said.

“Of course, it’s going to be about the Fragment of the Ancient God. The party hasn’t asked you questions since you’ve been recovering, but when we return, I’m sure they’ll start asking questions. Out of everyone in the party, you’re the only one who knows about the Ancient God and why the tentacles are embedded in the museum ground. I’m sure everyone is curious. I’ll do all the talking, so all you need to do is make comments so that what I say will seem believable.” I instructed her.

“Do I need to do that?” Dialugia questioned.

“If you don’t want to do that, you can simply remain quiet… I do feel kind of uncomfortable since it feels like I’m the only one doing the dirty work. You should show me your feelings for Smartie,” I requested.

Dialugia bit her lips and it was amusing how she nodded despite thinking how wrong this was. It felt like I was tainting something innocent, but this was the best thing to do right now. And while I was thinking about how we should tell everyone…

‘Huh?’

I saw a strange object floating around.

‘What’s that…’

The funny part was that it seemed like Dialugia couldn’t see it. But she must have felt that something was off because she commented about how the mana around us had become strange, but I was certain she couldn’t see the object. Obviously, I used Mind’s Eye to look at the transparent object.

[Anemone’s Eyes]

[It’s one of the unique spells passed down by the blood-stained gem, Anemone. You can view the world with Anemone’s Eyes.]

‘It’s just Jung Ha-Yan… whew…’

I thought maybe the Fragment of the Ancient God was up to something, so I was nervous for a moment. I was relieved when I realized Jung Ha-Yan was just spying on us.

‘I guess… she really adapted…’

It was a bit funny to say that I was relieved because it was honestly a really horrifying situation to be in. However, the interesting part was that Anemone’s Eyes—which was a spying camera for Lee Ki-Young—was able to fool even Dialugia’s eyes…

‘This could be dangerous…’

I knew Jung Ha-Yan would achieve something, but this was more than what I had imagined. I didn’t think she would immediately use the magic knowledge she had acquired from the unique magic that was passed on to her by the staff she had thrown away earlier. She really was a genius. I knew better than anyone that materializing a spell right away was difficult even if one had techniques and the spell itself.

I exclaimed for a moment, but Jung Ha-Yan’s growth wasn’t important right now. I could find out later exactly what she had acquired. For now, I just had to focus on what I should say to the expedition party. I was sure Jung Ha-Yan didn’t really care about mankind or the continent’s destruction and if she caught on to the fact that I was going to lie to the expedition party, she would probably help me.

After Dialugia and I were done talking, we started walking toward the expedition party. The Anemone’s Eyes that Jung Ha-Yan had created followed and was then turned off when she was finally able to see us with her own eyes.

“O-Oppa!” Jung Ha-Yan called out.

We were apart for only a few moments, but the way she ran to me as if we were having a family reunion was kind of cute. After stroking her hair once, she started growling as if she was Smartie. However, I couldn’t focus on her alone because Kim Hyun-Sung and Park Yeon-Joo had approached us. Naturally, I spoke as if nothing was wrong.

“I think we can relax for now.”

“Ah, so you’ve already heard from her,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“I did,” I answered.

“Could you explain what you mean by we can relax for now?” Park Yeon-Joo asked.

I guess she was starting to feel hopeful at my optimistic expression and the other expedition members were looking at me as well. They were resting as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I guess they were somewhat anxious.

“Dialugia will explain it to you,” I told them.

When I looked at her, I saw my innocent wife talking with an indifferent expression.

“I believe the Fragment of the Ancient God… has entered a r-resting period…” Dialugia stuttered.

Underneath her indifferent expression was a sense of guilt the others obviously wouldn’t recognize.