Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 375: The Gift Pile

“What is all this?”

Yeon-woo muttered while gazing at the endless pile of gifts stacked in a corner of the hospital room.

From energy drinks to brand-name health snacks, to treats that had absolutely nothing to do with health. Most of it was probably sent by Shar and Tae-oh for themselves.

It’s Yeon-woo who got hurt, but it’s just ridiculous that she’s restricting herself to what she can eat while everyone else is enjoying goodies.

“Nom nom.”

“Sis, this is super delicious! How about that one?”

“This one’s good too!”

The two kids were feeding each other the snacks they were munching on. It was quite a lovely scene—except for the fact that Yeon-woo couldn’t partake in it herself.

‘Eating that stuff won’t speed up my recovery…’

Thinking that, she still couldn’t bring herself to indulge because she felt bad for the doctors.

She didn’t want to be that troublesome patient who ignores orders. She didn’t want to shed her nice person image.

“Well, I suppose I have no choice,” Yeon-woo sighed, starting to munch on healthy snacks. The two kids looked at her with pitiful eyes. Stop looking at me like that…!

As she spent this leisurely time, there was a knock at the door. After she set aside the health food, Yeon-woo lifted her head to look at the door.

“Come in.”

At her words, the door burst open. With a patter of cute little footsteps, a dark-skinned girl walked in. It was Dawn, followed closely by Nea.

“Did you come, sis?”

“Oh dear….”

Yeon-woo wanted to say something to the bright-smiling girl, but Nea sighed heavily because one doesn’t spit on a smiling face.

“Are you just going to leave without a word? We were worried.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. My fever shot up all of a sudden.”

All Yeon-woo could do was bow her head and apologize. Thankfully, she had a hole in her abdomen, so she was exempt from having to bang her head. Thank you, thank you…

“Phew… What can you expect? I suspected as much from you.”

“Haha.”

“Laughing? What’s so funny? You little brat.”

Yeon-woo pinched her smiling lips with her fingers, and perhaps because of that, Nea’s anger eased a bit, and she chuckled lightly.

“Well, I’m just glad you returned safely. Did Baek In-hwa help?”

“Of course! Was she the one you sent?”

“Um. There wasn’t anyone else I could send. I’m glad it helped.”

Nea smiled while saying that, but there was an unidentifiable edge to it.

Yeon-woo flinched. She had a feeling she knew what was behind that smile.

“So, I heard an interesting story…”

“There’s a bit of a misunderstanding regarding that…”

“Why the formal speech? Just speak comfortably.”

“No, please let me tell my side first.”

At Yeon-woo’s serious tone, Nea crossed her arms and looked down at her. The piercing gaze seemed to challenge Yeon-woo to say something. Taking a deep breath, Yeon-woo opened her mouth.

A while later, Nea was rubbing her temple.

“Is it true you still haven’t clarified that?”

“No, rather, I’d say I just hadn’t had the chance to explain…”

Nea knew that the Ice Palace Master was misunderstanding Yeon-woo’s relationship with Baek In-hwa; she’d mentioned it once before.

But it seemed quite unexpected that that misunderstanding was still unresolved.

Of course, the Ice Palace Master understood that Yeon-woo was in a romantic relationship with Nea. Still, she was saying she’d marry her daughter to Yeon-woo if Baek In-hwa was okay with it.

And that made things more complicated. Yeon-woo knew Baek In-hwa had feelings for her but couldn’t block the future of a potential palace master.

‘I have a human interest in Baek In-hwa, but…’

It was hard to call it romantic feelings. It was much closer to friendship in every sense.

Given the gap between calling it love, it was doubtful if Baek In-hwa could even be satisfied if they ended up together.

Of course, whether Nea would permit it was another story.

“Next time we meet, let’s go together. I need to lay down some serious ground rules, or this won’t do.”

“Is that so? Not a bad idea.”

Alright, maybe this would solve everything. Sorry, Baek In-hwa, but perhaps she could find someone better than me.

*

“How are you feeling?”

“Bored.”

Hence, Yeon-woo decided to visit Baek In-hwa. It wasn’t too far, even if it was another hospital room. Both rooms were luxurious single-patient ones arranged with money. It was just a nearby unit on the same floor. This is why having money is important.

“Bored.”

Baek In-hwa, staring blankly out the window, slowly turned her head to reply.

Though Yeon-woo’s injuries were more severe, Baek In-hwa was able to walk first thanks to the regeneration divine art from Dawn.

Even better, it wasn’t Baek In-hwa activating it herself; a god was directly helping her walk, speeding things up considerably.

That’s why regenerative arts are just as popular as recovery arts.

Recovery comes with risks, but they can be used to treat serious injuries on the battlefield, while regeneration arts, given enough time, can theoretically heal any grave injury.

Except for critical wounds like mine.

So while Yeon-woo was able to move around with her IV, Baek In-hwa was not. That’s the difference in power.

“…Can you also let me walk? This is uncomfortable.”

“That could be arranged. But it will definitely be a slower pace, so keep that in mind.”

Yeon-woo’s skills had improved enough to extend to friends. Though they may not realize it, every time she fought, she’d randomly used her powers, inevitably enhancing her proficiency.

Yeon-woo channeled her divine art, wrapping her soft divine energy around Baek In-hwa’s body. It felt a bit awkward since she rarely used it on others, but somehow, it was successful.

“Don’t just use divine arts on your own… oh, both of you are here?”

Suddenly, the door swung open, and in walked a woman in a white coat. Her frizzy brown hair caught the eye first. It was Na Yang-ho.

Na Yang-ho, who had participated in the last war, had been diligently working in rear support. Yet, it seemed even that wasn’t enough; after returning, she was attending to patients in the Academy’s infirmary and hospitalized injured soldiers like these two. Talk about impressive.

“I was going to say don’t use pathetic divine arts, but if it’s Dawn’s, it’ll be fine. I’ve removed everything from In-hwa’s body that was left there.”

“…Wha-what was in my body…?”

Baek In-hwa asked, utterly bewildered by Na Yang-ho’s statement. What could possibly have been inside? Just broken shards of blades or pieces of a demon king’s tentacle?

“I won’t mention it for your mental health, but please behave your body a bit better.”

Instead of reassuring her, Baek In-hwa seemed even more shocked and began trembling. This woman sure knows how to scare effectively. Doctors really are different.

“But it’s her fault!”

“That’s true. Don’t go dragging her into dangerous places. You don’t need to rush to die; you’ll die someday anyway…”

“Oh, I’m quite long-lived…”

At Yeon-woo’s words, Na Yang-ho frowned. No, no, that’s not how it goes. Understood. I’ll be more careful next time. That was all she could come up with.

“Well, you’re healing pretty well, so I just came to let you know that once the visible signs of recovery are done, you should be able to be discharged… You two aren’t doing anything weird in the hospital, right?”

“Of course not. Why would we do anything with a girl who can’t even move?”

“Now that you’ve both legally become adults, it’s practically the same as a graduation from the Academy, right? Only the graduation ceremony is left, or so I hear it might be skipped this year.”

Indeed, it was absurd, but the graduation ceremony was set to be canceled. The reason was that the high-ranking officials were far too busy.

Especially Yuri. Just a few days ago, word came that she was heading to the Arkeon continent to confront the Demon King. In other words, she set off while Yeon-woo was fighting Toyo.

I thought there was a lot of significance in Yuri heading in that direction instead of towards Yeon-woo. For as much as she worried about Noelle, it seemed to imply some trust in Yeon-woo himself.

“Well, I didn’t expect them to skip the graduation ceremony. I didn’t think I’d earn the status of a graduate so soon.”

A tad premature, but now she’d officially become an adult. Who would have thought she’d take down two demon kings before reaching adulthood? But good things are good things.

‘…Does this mean I can now officially get married to Nea??’

Thinking back, that’s true. But first, she had to handle things with Baek In-hwa, though there was no need to worry about it anymore. Yeon-woo could just sit there like a bump, and Nea would handle it all.

“Come by before you get discharged. Let’s have a drink or something.”

“…Drink?”

Baek In-hwa’s eyes sparkled. Even if she was from the Ice Palace, it seemed she couldn’t smuggle vodka during the hospital stay, and her expression suggested she was thirsty for it.

Na Yang-ho’s serious face twitched a bit, but since she was in doctor mode, she quickly composed herself.

“Alright? You must come.”

Na Yang-ho left that line as she turned sharply and closed the hospital door behind her. Yeon-woo gazed at her retreating figure for a moment before turning back again.

“When will the princess come?”

“I don’t know. She said she’d come by before you’re discharged.”

“Can Nea unnie come with me?”

“Sure, that’s fine. She probably has things she wants to discuss too.”

Hehe, gotcha! Yeon-woo’s plan had already succeeded! Of course, there was no real reason for Baek In-hwa to refuse.

“Okay, say it then. I’ll head back now.”

“Alright. I’m glad to see you looking well.”

Wanting to have some chit-chat, she had come to visit, but after Na Yang-ho swept through once, there were no more topics left to discuss, so Yeon-woo just turned and left.

*

“I’m here!!”

A few days later, bursting into the hospital room was a small girl. From her energetic and lively voice, one could guess it was Leviathan. Of course, Yeon-woo was the one who called her here.

“You’ve arrived? Care for a bite to eat?”

As Yeon-woo offered a chicken leg while munching on some, Leviathan dashed over and gobbled it down in one go. The Demon King also enjoyed chicken! Maybe it could be used as bait?

“So why did you call for me? I heard you defeated Toyo.”

“Well, it’s nothing special, really….”

Yeon-woo pointed at Tae-oh. It was due to the demon king’s energy that she had isolated and stored within her body.

(To be continued…)