My Tamed Beast Returned with a Dragon Chapter 66 - We Made the Porridge and Gave It to the Dragon

Yuha was lounging around in the guild lounge when he received a message from a guild member he was close with.

[Kim Nokdu: Hyung Yuha! Hunter Yoo Eunsae is in the training room right now.]

They were in different teams, but they often went dungeon-clearing together. Yuha got up from the sofa and moved his fingers to reply.

[Kim Yuha: Eunsae? What’s she doing in the training room?]

[Kim Nokdu: She’s incredibly intense. She started at Level 28, and she just cleared Level 29.]

[Kim Nokdu: Oh, it looks like she’s trying to go all the way to Level 30 without resting? She seems to be pushing herself too hard!]

Yuha doubted his eyes. Yoo Eunsae was training that recklessly? His fingers, which had stopped, started moving again.

[Kim Yuha: Are you sure you didn’t mistake someone else for her? Eunsae isn’t the type to do that.]

[Kim Nokdu: No! It’s definitely Hunter Yoo Eunsae. (Photo)]

Yuha enlarged the photo Nokdu had sent. Yoo Eunsae… Yep, that was her.

It was surprising enough that she had gone to the training room, but it was strange that she was forcing her way through Levels 28, 29, and 30 all by herself.

Level 30 was comparable to an SS-rank dungeon in difficulty. With her companion monsters, it might be possible, but it would be too much for Eunsae alone.

Eunsae’s face was covered in sweat in the photo. Yuha frowned.

[Kim Yuha: I’m coming. Is she still going?]

[Kim Nokdu: Yes!]

He got up from his seat. Why was Yoo Eunsae doing this again…? After years of experience, Yuha knew that she wouldn’t act like this for no reason.

Yuha left the lounge, took the elevator, and got off on the fifth floor.

When he entered the simulator training room, he clicked his tongue as he saw the hunters all looking in the same direction. It had to be Yoo Eunsae.

Sure enough, when he followed their gazes, he saw a face filled with terrifying concentration. Eunsae was fighting a Stone Dragon.

One of the hunters who spotted Yuha raised his hand high.

“Hyung! Over here!”

It was Kim Nokdu, who was about the same age as Seo Horang. Yuha walked over to him and asked,

“Kim Nokdu, what’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know. I noticed her stamina suddenly dropped a lot at Level 29, but she drank a potion and immediately moved on to Level 30.”

“What? She’s going to get herself hurt.”

Kim Yuha approached the field where the battle was taking place. Then he spoke loudly enough for her to hear.

“Yoo Eunsae, why are you pushing yourself this hard?”

“Oh… Yuha! Just a second!”

The Stone Dragon roared and took flight.

The Stone Dragon was especially skilled at combat among the monsters classified as dragons.

Eunsae held Veil Karas’s staff vertically and blocked the Stone Dragon’s attack. But it wasn’t enough.

Seeing Eunsae being pushed backward, Yuha shouted.

“You can’t clear it alone anyway! Give up and come out.”

“…I don’t want to!”

Eunsae bit her lip and shook her head. What was wrong with her? Yuha narrowed his eyes.

“Ugh…”

Eventually pushed backward, Eunsae struck Veil Karas’s staff against the ground and used the recoil to fly into the air. She refused to give up and attacked from above the Stone Dragon’s head.

“Yoo Eunsae! Stop being stubborn and quit already!”

“……”

“Did she really eat something weird?”

He urged her to give up several more times after that, but Eunsae stubbornly continued fighting. She managed to land a few attacks, but they weren’t enough to defeat the Stone Dragon.

“Haa, hoo…”

Eunsae’s legs trembled as she gasped for breath. It was obvious that her stamina had reached its limit.

Yuha let out a deep sigh and finally raised his hand.

“All right, I’ll help you, so stop for a moment!”

“……”

“Yoo Eunsae!”

Eunsae reluctantly stopped the training. As soon as the Stone Dragon stopped moving, Eunsae collapsed into a sitting position.

“Huff, huff.”

Yuha approached her and handed her a potion. Eunsae simply took it and sat there.

She was so exhausted that she didn’t even have the energy to drink the potion. Yuha frowned and asked,

“What’s wrong with you? Did something happen?”

“…Nothing. I’m just training.”

“I’m saying this because it’s not like you.”

“……”

Eunsae stubbornly bit her lip. Yuha clicked his tongue inwardly.

She’s bottling things up by herself again. Keeping her mouth shut with a stiff expression was a habit Eunsae had whenever she was worried about something.

Yuha took the potion from Eunsae’s hand and opened the cap for her. After receiving it back, Eunsae slowly drank the potion.

However, stamina that had been completely depleted couldn’t recover right away. Eunsae melted onto the floor like a limp noodle.

“I’m so tired I could die…”

“You can’t continue, right? Go wash up and come out. Let’s go get some food.”

Yuha helped Eunsae to her feet. Eunsae’s face turned pale as she covered her mouth.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up if I eat.”

“Don’t underestimate an S-rank’s stomach.”

Yuha urged her along, pushing her back. Eunsae had no choice but to go wash up.

A little while later, Eunsae staggered out with her hair still partly wet. Yuha, who was extremely particular about cleanliness, went, “Ugh,” then found a towel and vigorously rubbed Eunsae’s hair.

“Ow, ow.”

“Even if it’s summer, you need to dry your hair properly.”

“It’ll dry if you just leave it…”

“You probably don’t even have the energy to dry it yourself. Here, eat this.”

Yuha handed Eunsae a chubby banana milk. He had gotten it from the snack refrigerator in the corner of the training room.

With her head left in his hands, Eunsae poked the straw into the banana milk and took a long drink.

“Huaa.”

The sweetness made her feel a little more alive. After letting out a satisfied breath, Eunsae turned to Yuha.

“But how did you know and come here?”

“You thought you were the only one using the training room? Nokdu contacted me.”

“I see.”

A-rank hunter Kim Nokdu was someone Eunsae knew as well. He was famous within Docheon for knowing everyone.

When her hair seemed mostly dry, she asked,

“What are we going to eat?”

“What do you want?”

“Hmm… samgyetang.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go to the place we usually go.”

They left the guild and traveled in Yuha’s car. After about twenty minutes, they arrived at a samgyetang restaurant.

“Long time no see!”

“Hello.”

Welcomed warmly by the owner, Yuha and Eunsae went into a private room. After placing their order and waiting for a while, steaming samgyetang with a rich, glossy broth was served.

Eunsae, who had said she felt like throwing up if she ate, was already licking her lips as if she had never said that.

“Looks delicious!”

“Of course it does. Let’s eat.”

As if he knew she would say that, Yuha handed her a spoon and chopsticks. The two of them chatted about this and that while quickly finishing an entire chicken each.

As Yuha had said, an S-rank stomach was impressive.

While they ate the coffee and yanggaeng served for dessert, Yuha suddenly asked,

“So why were you acting like that earlier?”

“Hmm. Weren’t you just going to let it go?”

Eunsae took a bite of the yanggaeng with her fork and looked troubled. Yuha snorted and put down his coffee cup.

“I just put off the nagging until after I fed you. Tell me. What happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

Eunsae hesitated. Yuha quietly waited for her.

As the silence grew longer, Eunsae had no choice but to speak. She was a little embarrassed even as she said it.

“…I want to get stronger.”

“Pfft, all of a sudden?!”

Yuha spat out his coffee. What was going on? Yoo Eunsae was talking about ‘strength.’

Ever since awakening as an S-rank hunter, she had always been labeled as one of a kind. While he and their other friends worked on developing their abilities or trained, she trained her monsters.

“The only reason that would make sense is… Wait. Is it because of Belquior?”

“……”

Eunsae gave a barely noticeable nod. Yuha sighed. Why had that person come to this world and lit a fire under the ambitions of so many S-ranks?

‘Something must have happened.’

There had to be a reason she was acting like this after being quiet all this time. Yuha prepared himself to listen seriously.

“Tell me everything. You wouldn’t act like this over something minor.”

“Uh, it’s embarrassing.”

“Hah, seriously. Is there anything left to be embarrassed about between us? I still remember what you did when you got drunk on Christmas three years ago.”

“You still haven’t forgotten that?!”

Eunsae’s face turned red. She had been mentally exhausted at the time because one difficult thing after another had happened.

So she had gotten completely drunk and mumbled, ‘Santa Grampa, please make the gift an escape button…,’ while repeatedly pressing the frozen persimmon served as a snack like it was a doorbell.

Of course, there was no way her hands and clothes had remained clean. It would have been less embarrassing if she had stopped there, but she had fallen asleep with her head planted directly on the persimmon.

Afterward, her friends called what happened that day ‘The Yoo Eunsae Persimmon-Eating Incident.’ Remembering it, Yuha chuckled.

“How could I forget that? Anyway, stop stalling and tell me.”

“Um, you remember how we talked about the Sacrifice Stage in the Daejeon Dungeon? I felt a lot of things when I saw Belquior then.”

Eunsae fidgeted with her hands on the table. She wasn’t sure how to put her thoughts into words.

“Belquior has always helped me, so I want to be able to help him when he needs it. But it would be difficult if I stay like this.”

That was what it came down to. She wanted to be useful to Belquior.

“So I want to get stronger.”

“What…? Why would you…”

That dragon didn’t seem like he needed your help at all. At Yuha’s dumbfounded reaction, Eunsae became indignant.

“You never know what might happen! Huh? Like, I could save Belquior from danger!”

“Hey, hey… Yoo Eunsae, you sure dream big.”

Yuha looked horrified, as if he had heard something he wasn’t supposed to.

“If that dragon were ever in danger, we wouldn’t even be able to find our bones afterward.”

“That may… be true! But there might be a situation where my ability is needed.”

Monster taming? It seemed like if Belquior just punched any monster a few times, they would all obediently behave.

Then a flash of realization passed through Yuha’s mind. No way. His eyes narrowed.

‘Does she like that dragon?’

She wanted to be useful to him. She wanted to help him. Those weren’t words that came easily from Eunsae. Other than the friends she was close to, she was more indifferent to people than one might expect.

…No matter how he thought about it, that seemed to be the case. Whether she realized it herself or not.

‘We made the porridge and gave it to the dragon….’