Chapter 49

I only stayed in the Royal Palace for less than a month, but too many things have changed. It was even more realistic to Sunhyuk along his journey back to the Western borders.

"Ah. Feels so nice."

Despite lying on top of the wagon filled with gifts from the Royal Family, no one took notice of him. It was as if he had returned back to his time of living as a military officer in his former days.

So this was precisely the privilege of being a Viscount.

Sunhyuk was enjoying the special privileges of nobles in a strange corner.

However, if there was a reason that he needed to stay vigilant still, it was because of Captain Frederik and the Commander in this world.

"Now that you have received a title of nobility, take care of your appearance a bit more."

He did not have enough authority to ignore the Captain's words, whom had now been promoted to an Advanced Knight. So, despite being full of complaints, he raised his body up.

"Aren't you being too lazy lately? Especially for someone that wasn't like this after being knighted into nobility…"

Frederik was somewhat alarmed seeing how Sunhyuk, who would train harder and more than anyone else, be leisurely relaxing like this. However, since this evaluation was laid down by only him, Sunhyuk was able to fully enjoy the carefree moments just like his last days of spending as an officer back in the military.

The reason why he was so passionate and trained hard during the early training days was for survival, and also the necessities that he needed to obtain; so he was unable to become lazy then. Not only that, in the eyes of others, he may have looked to be extremely hard-working, but within his perspective, he just moved and trained as required, which has always been in his nature.

He had become a noble, and have acquired enough wealth to eat and live on. Of course he still had to satisfy that terrifying appetite of the Drake's, so he knew that his wealth won't last that very long. However, he was waiting for the envelope that the Commander had promised him as a solution.

After contemplating about this and that, he concluded that he could afford to be relaxed in his current situation.

"Ugh. How could a person suddenly become so…"

However, Frederik who didn't know the inner nature of Sunhyuk could not understand his sudden change of character, shook his head in disappointment.

"I'll be hunting!"

Normally, Sunhyuk would head out from the troops who were marching back to hunt food for the Drake, but this time, there was a strong likelihood that he was running away from listening at more nagging.

"Leave him be. Don't you know that all the Strangers were trained hard to survive? It's not bad to have him rest for a while." "However, Commander knows that once a person becomes as remiss, it's hard to regain that kind of training attitude again." "Not everyone in the world necessarily looks up the ranks like you do. That is all the more why we must not force him."

The Commander said that all will proceed accordingly as he confidently comforted Frederik.

*****

In the meantime, Kim Sunhyuk held no interest whatsoever of their conversation between the Captain and Commander were discussing.

"Goldy! Catch it!"

With the armor that was granted to it by the Princess, it sighted a wild boar and rushed towards it, smashing the ground with its feet.

Ggiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Sunhyuk could hear the roar of the Dragon and the squeals of the pig, but even then it was only temporary.

"Hmm."

Thinking that the scene was not good enough to chase and watch, Sunhyuk shook his head as he sat down onto the dry ground. Then, with his hands on his head, he laid down. Since there was no curfew in hunting, there was no one who would scold him for returning a bit late.

Ah. How nice.

After the Drake had reached one hundred in obedience, other than eating, it was now completely suppressed under him. Now, his worries of it running away or causing an accident had been swept away. Not only that, after finding it a suitable prey and releasing Goldrake out, it would hunt and fill its hunger on its own, making it so that Sunhyuk felt no pressure in breast-feeding it.

It was peaceful, tranquil and laidback.

He was so relaxed, that he began to wonder if there ever was a time he had spent in leisure, in such peace ever since he was transported to this world.

Amidst the peace, he began to think of his hometown. However, unlike before, the memories that he reminisced weren't clear nor vivid. It was as if they were blurry pictures full of brightness, making his longing even more ambiguous.

It seems that he had now become fully adapted to this world.

At one point, he thought that his life here was a nightmare, but now life in this world was like a dream.

He reached out into the air with his hands and held that soft, flowing wind in translucent ambiguous reality.

'Master.'

Smiling purely, Atiya appeared and grabbed her Master's hand with both hands.

Since he had come all the way here, he thought he should live properly.

With a warm heart, he saw Atiya's cuteness and from far away, he saw Goldrake stomping its way back after finishing its meal.

*****

It would be almost early evening before Kim Sunhyuk had returned to the ranks again. The soldiers were about to prepare for camping before noticing him, which they greeted with a smile.

Seeing the soldiers hammering the pegs to fixate the tents, Sunhyuk had a passing thought in that moment.

"Give me the shovel there." "Yes? Why the shovel?"

The soldier puzzlingly handed over the shovel.

"What do you mean why. I wanted to shovel since I haven't done it in a long time." The soldier was still dumbfounded, but handed the shovel over to him.

"Twet!"

After rubbing his hands roughly, he grabbed the shovel and began to shovel out the dirt strongly. Then he began to demonstrate that ultimate form of labor once more.

"Uh. You can stop now…"

At first, the soldier thought he was digging out a drain. But as time passed, the purpose of this shovelling became unclear. The dirt was being extracted into all directions, and after a while, he would cover up the hole that he just dug before repeating it again.

Wondering what the hell he was doing, all of the soldiers displayed curiosity. They were surprised that there was a Rider which was so great at shovelling, and it was also absurd for them to see him become immersed in this passionately.

"Ahhhhhh! Why isn't it working!"

After shovelling for a long time, Kim Sunhyuk began to express his frustrations. No matter how much he shovelled, his dominance of the Earth attribute was not rising.

After angrily shovelling for quite some time, it had become a huge pit rather than a drainage line.

"Ah. I'm sorry. I'll restore it to the original state."

After belatedly realizing that he had made a mess of the camping area he was in, Sunhyuk stood in front a bottomless pit. If he were to leave it like this, the soldiers who were in charge of patrolling might fall into this.

But then, Goldrake who he had let out in the open began to run over from somewhere far away from the camp.

"Huh? Huh?"

Though the soldiers knew that Goldrake would wander around here or there, there was nothing to be surprised about. However, it was the first time they saw those large red eyes in the darkness nearing them. There was never a time when Goldrake would return back to the camp when night came, for it would usually just stay on the outskirts.

The Drake was definitely a monster of monsters. Unlike that gentle look that it showed in the daytime, it had a completely different look, and the soldiers screamed subconsciously before retreating.

"What again?"

At first, he thought that fiddling with sand and dirt would increase his attribute dominance, but instead he had made a mess and now the Drake had trampled over here in the midst of all that.

Kereeeeeung.

Goldrake appeared in front of him regardless of his attitude and buried himself in the pit that Sunhyuk dug out.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Then it began to growl pleasingly. Sunhyuk's eyes were wide open as he had never heard of Goldrake uttering in satisfaction for once, ever since he had succeeded in taming it.

[Attribute Dominance(Earth) has increased by 1.]

It was then that he heard the message that he wanted to hear so earnestly.

"Wait, seriously? It wasn't me?"

Since he had obtained the Wind attribute that way, he thought that the Earth attribute would be acquired through a similar method. That was why he continued to shovel out dirt and touch it with his hands. He even rolled in the dirt and had even swallowed it when others weren't looking. Nevertheless, no matter what he did, he couldn't raise his dominance.

Now he knew the reason why. It wasn't him that was the main subject, but the Drake.

[Attribute Dominance (Earth) has increased by 1.]

It was as if the Goldrake was like a child in the embrace of its mother as it continued to roll its body in the pit pleasingly. In the meantime, the message of his attribute dominance increasing continued to appear.

*****

He left the Goldrake there and corrected the mess that he had done. In that time span, his attribute dominance rose consistently, and it had now risen over fifteen.

But the growth of his attribute dominance stopped once he finished cleaning up the mess, and the pit that he had created, and it did not rise further.

Then, on the next day, when they were about to camp, he dug out a pit from a place somewhat far away and left the Drake there.

[Attribute Dominance (Earth) has increased by 1.]

Although the growth speed was not as quick as yesterday, it had increased by two overnight, and after a few days, his attribute dominance stopped at nineteen completely.

"So I need to find another option."

Just like his Wind attribute, there was also periods where his growth rate accelerated and stopped at certain points.

"Well, what about it?."

Now that he knew the method, he would perform several experiments to find a way to increase his attribute dominance.

Of course, it would be not him, but Goldrake that will suffer during the experiment.

*****

Kim Sunhyuk continued to trouble Goldrake. At one point, he would push the Drake into the pit he dug, and then cover it up with the dirt again. At first, it lay quietly there, but once the gravel began to rise, it was upset and started an uproar.

The return was minimal.

His dominance rose a tiny bit, and it would only be the first attempt which it had risen so quick. Afterwards, it did not increase at all.

Kim Sunhyuk found another way. This time, he began to include dirt, sand, and even rocks in his meals. It would be the first time that Goldrake would try to rebel after Sunhyuk had achieved one hundred obedience. However, his experiments weren't over, and the Goldrake suffered the whole way on the return journey to the garrison.

TL Afterword:

Calvis: Poor Goldrake. Animal Abuse at its finest

Editor Afterword: T0ngan: LOL! Borderline Masochist: N/A