Typhoon And Ball Stones (4)

“Let’s play a game, hehehe, it’s the second bet.”

“A bet?”

Rurin’s eyebrows furrowed. It means she doesn’t like it. It seems she’s recalling the nightmare from last time.

“No. I’m sure I’ll lose again. Last time, it was a bet I couldn’t win from the start! You’re a cheater! There’s no way what you make wouldn’t be delicious!”

Rurin shook her head as if recalling the memory of her loss. But this time, it’s fair. Last time, the outcome was definitely decided.

There’s no way chestnuts wouldn’t taste good, right?

Chestnuts are the truth.

“No, no. This time it’s fair. Sit down.”

As I insisted strongly, Rurin, with a face full of doubt, sat down.

“Oh? There are empty chairs, so why sit here? Oh geez.”

Rurin sat on my lap as if it were natural, despite there being three empty chairs at the four-person table, and still looked at me with a curious gaze, wondering what kind of bet it was.

She was so confidently sitting on my lap that I felt like I was in the wrong.

Sigh.

“I just sat as you said. You’re too much.”

As I pointed that out, she grumbled and moved to the chair next to mine. I placed five small stones in front of her.

“What is this?”

“Hehe, it’s a traditional game from my homeland called ‘Gonggi’.”

“Got it! Is it about turning the stones to powder first? That’s easy!”

“Pfft.”

How could she imagine that? I couldn’t help but laugh. Then Rurin raised her arms and started to get angry.

“Your expression is annoying! Isn’t it?”

“Of course not.”

“Th-then!”

“It’s not about eating the stones, right? If it is, you eat them. I’m not doing that.”

She moved to the chair next to mine, turned halfway to look at me, and grumbled.

Her imagination is lacking. Well, it’s strange for a dragon from another world to know Korean traditional games anyway.

“It’s not like that. You can’t use mana for this. Dragon abilities are also banned. If you use them, it’s an automatic loss. You have to play purely with hand movements.”

Seeing is believing. I started to demonstrate.

Level 1. Level 2. Level 3. Level 4. Level 5 of Gonggi. The detailed rules can be set as you like. When playing the so-called ‘breaking’, where you catch the stones on the back of your hand, the number of stones caught is the score, and the first to reach the set score wins. I used to play this often as a child.

“Oh.”

After explaining the rules, the dragon’s face, which had been full of doubt, softened. It seems she thought it was a doable bet. Heh, sorry, but I’m confident in Gonggi. I didn’t take the stones out for nothing.

My noble goal is to defeat the dragon and teach her another concept from the human world.

“Alright, then let’s bet on who gets 50 points first?”

“If I win, you have to cuddle me! All day!”

“Isn’t that a bit too bothersome? All day?”

When I questioned the bet, the dragon puffed her cheeks up.

“You were the one who suggested it first, so anything should be allowed! Oh, are you scared? Hehehe.”

The dragon even mocked me as she provoked me.

Well, that’s true. Rurin is playing for the first time. There’s no way I’ll lose. I accepted the provocation, burning with the will to turn her mockery into despair.

“Let’s see, if I win, how about you go shopping? And you have to go politely, like a human, without transforming into a dragon.”

“Bow to humans? I can’t do that!”

“That’s why it’s a bet.”

“Ugh, it’s boring.”

“Scared?”

I took the chance to provoke her back. The dragon shook her head. Her eyes showed confidence.

Alright, let’s do this.

“Let’s decide the order with rock-paper-scissors.”

“Got it!”

Rurin is also familiar with rock-paper-scissors.

When traveling with companions, we used rock-paper-scissors to decide who would do the dishes and clean up. Rurin also became completely familiar with it through the journey to the capital.

Rurin had a thoughtful expression as she decided what to throw, then looked at me with a smile.

Let’s see, let’s read Rurin’s expression.

Rurin generally liked to throw rock. At first, she was full of complaints about why her rock couldn’t beat paper. She said she could punch through paper with her fist.

She’s a creature with a clear destructive instinct. So if I throw paper, I won’t lose.

“Rock-paper-scissors!”

“Rock-paper-scissors!”

We shouted rock-paper-scissors at the same time. Rurin threw scissors, and I threw paper.

“Hold on! Why did you throw scissors?”

“I was going to cut you!”

Rurin said something ridiculous as she picked up the Gonggi stones.

“So, you spread them out like this?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Rurin spread out the stones and picked one up. Then she started the first level of picking them up one by one.

And then.

“Oh, she’s pretty good.”

“Hehe. This body is great!”

Even as she answered my question, she didn’t waver. But it’s just one or two rounds.

Mistakes will definitely occur.

That’s what I thought as I watched Rurin. Her score kept going up. Rurin picked up the stones with machine-like precision.

Despair began to spread across my face.

What is this?

In the end, Rurin completed 50 points perfectly without making a single mistake. It was such an easy defeat.

“How’s that!”

How’s that? What do you mean how’s that? I had nothing to say. There’s no way I could get 50 points in one go. In other words, even if I won rock-paper-scissors, it was a game I was bound to lose.

Rurin looked at me with an expectant gaze, demanding an answer. I had no choice but to admit defeat.

A Gonggi-playing monster.

How could this happen?

“I lost…”

“I won! I beat you! It’s the first time! Oooooooh!”

Rurin climbed onto the chair with a triumphant expression. Then she made a victory V sign.

And she jumped at me.

“Then from now on, it’s cuddling time!”

The dragon embraced me.

Crash!

Thanks to that, I fell to the floor. Once again, I was crushed by the dragon. Losing is more shocking than being crushed.

Besides, cuddling all day is too much. I have restaurant work to do. From the start, cuddling all day is too devilish.

“Rurin, get off me for now.”

“What? A bet is to be executed immediately! From now on, you’re like my pillow! Exciting!”

“No, there’s something else first.”

“Another condition?”

“I’ll give you a gift. Let’s call it even with that.”

“What is it? No!”

“How about this?”

I summoned a diamond into my palm. Rurin tilted her head, seeing the sparkling gem.

“What is that? I like gems, but right now, using you as a pillow is better! Warm! And something thumping!”

“What’s thumping?”

“There’s something like that.”

Rurin avoided my gaze slightly and then looked back at me.

“You always looked at the earrings Berna or Mrs. Rayne wear, right?”

“Huh? The… the shiny gems on their ears?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… yeah. They were pretty. Wearing gems on ears…”

Rurin looked at me with a face full of curiosity. There seemed to be room for negotiation.

Rurin seemed familiar with necklaces, bracelets, and rings but found earrings quite fascinating. It seemed no one in the dragon clan wore earrings.

She liked gems so much that she still wore the bracelet I gave her as a birthday present.

She never takes it off.

“I had dwarves make these beautiful diamond earrings. What do you think?”

They’re called drop earrings.

They’re earrings that hang down like sparkling strings. The main part hangs from the ear with a central piece dangling down.

The special feature of these drop earrings is that they’re made entirely of diamonds. Crafted by dwarves, they shine beautifully. I think they would especially suit Rurin’s black hair.

They emit a presence like thin, sparkling strings. If drop earrings hang too low, it looks odd. But these are just the right length.

The design is by an expert, the crafting is by an expert, and the commission was by me. Of course, the earrings are specifically for Rurin.

They’re earrings just for Rurin.

“I don’t want to see my dragon envying others’ things. Here, I even learned how to pierce ears.”

“I can make holes without piercing!”

“Huh?”

“This body is polymorphed, so I can make holes easily. Hehe.”

Rurin extended her ear slightly, and a small hole appeared. It’s a very fascinating body. A convenient and amazing body. Well, some reptiles, like lizards, can detach their tails, after all.

It’s convenient for me if there’s no need to pierce. I immediately put the earrings on her ears.

After putting them on the other ear, the diamonds glittered. Honestly, I planned to use these earrings later, but I never dreamed I’d bring them out so soon.

“So, you prepared this for me?”

“Yes. Earrings just for you.”

Rurin seemed to have forgotten about the bet and started touching her ears.

“Am I pretty?”

“Well, of course. Our dragon is pretty.”

When I brushed Rurin’s hair back to expose her ear and showed her the mirror, she suddenly blushed and stood up, stepping back.

“You… Something’s wrong again! My body feels hot!”

Rurin said that and ran up to the second floor.

Her ears are red again.

She’s been reacting like that often these days, running away with red ears. It’s somewhat uncharacteristic of Rurin.

But anyway, I managed to settle the bet. I should be thankful I avoided the terrifying prospect of losing my bodily freedom to a whole day of cuddling.

The rain outside had also begun to stop.

It seemed like we could resume normal operations from tomorrow. So, I started making dinner.

We had kalguksu for lunch, so dinner could be something simple.

I took some bread out. Then I started grilling it on a hot plate.

Sizzle. Sizzle!

The unique smell of grilling bread tickled my nose. A savory aroma. I sprinkled blackberries and raspberries on the golden-brown toast. Then drizzled syrup and topped it with powdered sugar to make delicious toast.

It’s quite sweet, but sweet things are the truth for Rurin.

“Rurin! It’s time to eat!”

I called Rurin, but there was no answer. I took the toast and went up to the second floor.

Rurin was sitting on the bed, absentmindedly touching the earrings on her ears.

“You-you-you!”

I don’t know when she recovered from her shy mode, but as soon as she saw me, she approached. Her bright smile was dazzling. The diamonds were dazzling too.

Typhoon and peace.

Today was such a day.