Whispers of the Past, Embers of the Future"

[MC's POV]

The days passed in an almost peaceful routine. Mornings were spent gathering herbs and experimenting with potions, afternoons hunting monsters for supplies, and evenings by the fire with Kkum, the little dragon who still insisted he wasn't following me.

Not that I called him out on it.

I would set aside some food, and he would huff and look away, as if offended by my assumption that he needed it—before sneaking bites when he thought I wasn't watching. When I reached out to scratch his head, he bared his tiny fangs but leaned into my palm anyway.

Tsundere to his core.

But in the quiet moments, when the world wasn't watching, I caught him curled up beside me, warmth radiating from his small body. A tiny ball of inferno, soft as velvet.

Yet I couldn't ignore the thoughts creeping at the edges of my mind. The village fire in the game. The way Kkum had been chained when I found him. The way he flinched at sudden movements, as if expecting pain.

Something had happened to him. Something bad.

And I needed to know what.

The village had no records of a baby dragon, nor any reported sightings in recent years. That meant if Kkum had been here before, someone had erased the evidence.

Which led me underground.

The black market hub was exactly where I remembered from the game—hidden beneath an old tavern, accessed through a loose wooden panel in the storage cellar. The air was thick with the scent of damp wood, cheap alcohol, and something metallic. Blood, maybe.

I moved carefully, my footsteps light as I slipped through the corridors. Dim lanterns flickered against stone walls, casting shadows of cloaked figures exchanging whispered deals. Exotic creatures caged behind iron bars lined the walls—some battered, some barely breathing. My stomach twisted.

I made my way to the document archives, where ledgers and contracts were kept. The nobles who funded these operations were arrogant, always keeping records of their trades.

A quick scan of the pages told me what I needed to know.

A noble—Lord Albrecht.

I clenched my jaw as I read further. His interests included 'rare and exotic beasts,' captured young and broken through torture. He experimented on them, pushing them past their limits, only to discard them once they outlived their use.

And one of his acquisitions, years ago, had been a 'black-scaled dragon hatchling with golden eyes.'

Kkum.

I exhaled, gripping the paper tightly. So that was it. Kkum had been taken, tortured, and when he grew strong enough—he had burned everything to the ground in his rage.

Including the village.

A part of me wanted to leave this paper here, pretend I never read it. What did it matter? Kkum was with me now. He was free. But another part—the part that remembered the way he still flinched when I reached for him too quickly—wanted to hunt down this noble and burn his entire estate to ash.

Kkum nudged me, his form barely visible in the dim light, hidden by the invisibility spell he had insisted on using for my sake. I glanced at him. His tail flicked, his golden eyes unreadable. But he was watching me. Waiting.

Did he remember?

I carefully folded the document and slipped it into my pouch. Whether or not Kkum wanted revenge, we would decide together.

Leaving the underground hub wasn't as smooth as entering.

Two guards spotted us as we exited a back alley. They were low-ranked, probably hired muscle, but they stood in our way.

"You there! What're you sneakin' around for?"

I didn't bother answering.

A flick of my wrist, and a small burst of wind magic sent one of them crashing into the alley wall. Kkum moved before I could stop him, a jet of flame bursting from his mouth and engulfing the second guard. I winced.

"We were supposed to leave quietly," I muttered.

Kkum huffed, flicking his tail. "He was in my way."

I sighed, grabbing his small frame and making a run for it before reinforcements could arrive. The little dragon didn't protest, though he grumbled something about not needing to be carried.

By the time we made it back to the safety of my home, Kkum had settled into his usual spot near the fireplace, pretending not to watch me as I unrolled the stolen document.

"…You're not mad?" I asked finally.

Kkum didn't answer right away. His golden eyes flickered in the firelight, his small claws flexing against the wooden floor.

Then, softly, he said, "You didn't have to look for it."

I stared at him.

He wasn't saying it in a way that meant I shouldn't have. He was saying it as if… he didn't understand why I had.

Something in my chest ached. I reached over, running a hand over his head. "Of course I did."

He blinked, stunned, then quickly turned away, his tail wrapping around himself. "…Tch."

I smiled.

We had answers now. And together, we'd decide what to do with them.