The Dragon Family’s Beloved Baby Cat - Chapter 39

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 39

 

[Come this way…]

 

A tremendously resonant voice, as if thunder were striking within a vast cave, could be heard very faintly.

 

‘Is it calling me?’

 

Moa frowned and pondered for a moment.

 

“Somi, is it okay to follow?”

 

She had certainly been taught for a long time not to follow strange adults.

 

Then, would it be okay to follow the voice of a strange adult ghost?

 

“Should I say ‘not now,’ ‘I don’t want to,’ or ‘please don’t’ even now?”

 

At Moa’s question, Somi, who had been inside the bracelet, popped out with a puff.

 

[Hmm?]

 

Somi twitched both ears as if pondering something.

 

[Come here…]

 

And when that voice was heard once more, Somi’s fur stood on end in surprise.

 

[Ah! This… it should be okay to go? Geez, I’ll hide for a bit.]

 

Like a tenant who felt awkward about running into the landlord, Somi hurriedly went back inside the bracelet.

 

“Huh, huh?”

 

Moa, who hadn’t expected to be abandoned and left behind, was startled and shook her arm frantically.

 

But Somi didn’t respond.

 

Realizing that Somi had fled to avoid that voice, Moa pouted her lips.

 

‘That voice must have scared Somi. I should scold them for that.’

 

Moa bravely took the lamp that softly illuminated the bedside and carefully opened the door.

 

The inner courtyard corridor was much darker and quieter than during the day.

 

This was because the staff had been minimized so the master’s family could rest comfortably.

 

Every time Moa moved, shadows danced here and there.

 

Whenever the wind blew, the paper screens and window frames also swayed and creaked.

 

‘Oh my…’

 

It would be nice if Somi were here with her at times like this.

 

Moa grumbled inwardly while trying to walk stealthily so as not to wake anyone.

 

Following the guidance of the voice, Moa arrived at the ancestral shrine she had visited before.

 

‘The door is open?’

 

Moa confirmed no one was there, tilted her head in puzzlement, and entered through the slightly open gap.

 

“Is anyone there?”

 

She had planned to get angry and ask why they kept calling and bothering her.

 

But upon seeing the revealed identity, Moa forgot not only her anger but her words entirely.

 

Within the mist that thickly filled the ancestral shrine, a massive shadow swayed.

 

A head as large as a house, sharp claws, and a long body that seemed to cover the sky…

 

“A shadow?”

 

What Moa saw was the shadow of a dragon.

 

[Come quickly…]

 

Now that she thought about it, even hearing it up close, the voice sounded small and lacking in energy.

 

Moa thought ‘could it be’ and recalled something, then quickly asked.

 

“Dragon Grandfather?!”

 

Moa certainly knew that Jin Cheonryong, the guardian spirit of this clan, was not showing himself.

 

So when she asked just in case.

 

[As expected, you’re clever, little one.]

 

“You know, our mother is worried, so why don’t you appear?”

 

Moa asked, recalling Jaseonghwa’s worried voice.

 

Then Jin Cheonryong’s shadow trembled slightly, and a voice that seemed to be laughing was heard.

 

[Child, something has gone wrong with my body.]

 

“What?”

 

Startled, Moa approached the shadow a bit closer and held out her bracelet.

 

“Dragon Grandfather, are you hurt? I’ll heal you!”

 

Sensing an unusual power from Moa’s bracelet, Jin Cheonryong carefully examined the child, then.

 

[Why does this tiny child have That Person’s power…?]

 

He sighed softly.

 

Moa’s divine power was not a force that an ordinary human should possess.

 

It was a power that reminded him of the Heavenly Deity from ancient times, who had created him and sent him down to this land.

 

The power of a deity is called divine power.

 

Divine power was a force that even guardian spirits closest to the Heavenly Deity could not use.

 

Only the Heavenly Deity had used it, and on this earth, it was bestowed only upon very special humans.

 

Those humans formed clans and established a nation, which became the Dan Empire.

 

[…I must have sensed it wrong.]

 

While thinking that surely it couldn’t be so, the massive dragon’s shadow slowly lowered its head.

 

“…Huh?”

 

Moa prayed to the bracelet to bring out tools to heal Jin Cheonryong, but no tools appeared.

 

‘Oh dear… she shouldn’t do that.’

 

Somi clicked her tongue from inside the bracelet.

 

Since the bracelet was created, Moa kept trying to use her power in the wrong way.

 

Frustrated by this, Somi wanted to give proper advice, but she quietly hid herself for fear of being discovered by Jin Cheonryong.

 

As a new guardian spirit who had secretly entered a senior’s territory, she felt unnecessarily self-conscious.

 

[Thank you for worrying about me, child. But this isn’t something you can heal right now.]

 

Jin Cheonryong’s voice resonated low in Moa’s head.

 

“Why not? Is it harder than mother and big brother?”

 

[The curse of alchemy has devoured Master Seon’s spirit creature. When the spirit creature goes mad, the master falls ill, and the poison has even reached me, who shared power with the spirit creature.]

 

“How terrible…!”

 

Moa knew this well too.

 

The states of a spirit creature and its master are one.

 

If a curse invades either side, the other side also falls to the curse, and if one side is healed, the other side is healed too.

 

But she never thought this would apply even to the clan’s guardian spirit.

 

Moa looked at Jin Cheonryong with pitying eyes.

 

[Still, thanks to you healing Geumoh, I’ve been able to appear even if just with my voice like this.]

 

“Mmm… I see…”

 

It should be happy news that things had improved even a little, but Moa didn’t feel happy at all.

 

The problems she had to overcome ahead felt like a mountain.

 

Still.

 

“It’s okay, Dragon Grandfather! I’ll definitely heal you! I was going to heal mother and grandfather anyway!”

 

[Yes. You might be the hope that breaks this rotten chain.]

 

“Mm-hmm, but I don’t know what to do first.”

 

Moa’s face, which had been talking hopefully with clenched fists, clouded over again.

 

She wanted to comfort Jin Cheonryong, but Moa was actually feeling a bit overwhelmed herself.

 

‘Even when I see the sparkling letters, I don’t know what to do…’

 

She understood that she needed to help Grandfather, but what exactly should she do and how?

 

‘Hmph.’

 

When Moa became dejected again, Jin Cheonryong’s shadow trembled.

 

It felt like he was flustering about, not knowing how to comfort Moa.

 

[To the west, there are those skilled in exploration. If you go to them, you’ll be able to find answers.]

 

Jin Cheonryong’s shadow, having squeezed out his strength to give Moa the next direction, began to gradually fade.

 

“Huh, Dragon Grandfather! Grandfather! Where are you going!”

 

[Please hurry. Before I lose more of my power…]

 

***

 

The next morning.

 

Jin Saheon rose from his seat when his daughter burst through the study door after the sun had reached its zenith.

 

Instead of calling out “Dad!”, Moa stood with a determined expression, clenching her fists tightly.

 

“Dad! I dreamed of the dragon grandfather!”

 

“A dragon dream?”

 

“Yes! The dragon grandfather said so. In the west, there are people skilled in, uh, birth!”

 

Jin Saheon approached the child, suddenly lifting her up while frowning.

 

‘West and birth?’

 

“Birth, no, search!”

 

Just then, Moa quickly corrected herself after being told by Somi that she had remembered wrong.

 

“But what’s search?”

 

And she tilted her head at the difficult word she was hearing for the first time.

 

Jin Saheon was amazed that the child had spoken an unfamiliar word so accurately and specifically.

 

“It means finding something.”

 

“Ah! He said if I go west, I can find out what I need to do. The dragon grandfather’s shadow said so!”

 

‘Could it be Lord Jin Cheonryong?’

 

With that thought, the words ‘those skilled in search in the west’ didn’t sound trivial.

 

‘Isn’t the Haejeo Family in the northwest direction?’

 

The Haejeo Family, a member of the Twelve Families like the Jinryong Clan.

 

It was a clan that served the Haejeo Spirit, a guardian spirit in the form of a pig.

 

The people of the Haejeo Family were particularly known for being skilled in searching and tracking.

 

‘Moa doesn’t know about this.’

 

He could only think that Jin Cheonryong had given Moa a revelation.

 

“Dad, we must go!”

 

Moa grabbed Jin Saheon’s arm and shook it urgently.

 

Since it was rare to see the child with such an enthusiastic expression, Jin Saheon’s heart was completely swayed.

 

‘Wasn’t there a problem with the Haejeo Family…’

 

After pondering for a moment, Jin Saheon soon nodded.

 

“Alright. If our Moa wants to go, then we must go.”

 

***

 

Jin Saheon’s decision was swift.

 

His orders were carried out with lightning speed.

 

Since a large procession would be conspicuous, they took an unmarked carriage with only a small number of people to avoid attention.

 

The Emperor would surely say he was being mocked if he took her on a trip after asking for time, claiming she needed rest due to high fever.

 

To make it look like she was really recuperating, Moa’s maids and the brothers Jin Dowoon and Yeongang were deliberately left at the manor.

 

When Yeongang felt left out about being left at home again, Jin Saheon had to promise to prepare a family outing soon.

 

Moa, who got to ride in the carriage alone with her dad, excitedly swung her legs back and forth.

 

“To the west~ to the pig friend’s house~!”

 

“Shh, Moa. It’s not… wrong, but you should call it the Haejeo Family.”

 

“Oh right right. Haejeo Family.”

 

Moa covered her mouth with both hands at Jin Saheon’s correction and giggled.

 

“Is the Haejeo Family built with straw or with bricks?”

 

“Hm?”

 

Jin Saheon looked momentarily confused at the unexpected question.

 

In Moa’s mind, the ‘Three Little Pigs’ fairy tale book she had seen at kindergarten was flowing through her thoughts.

 

“Even if a wolf comes, it can’t be blown away with a huff, right?”

 

However, Jin Saheon, who didn’t know fairy tales and had no idea what the child was imagining, could only sweat profusely while barely managing to respond to her excited chatter.

 

‘If my wife were here, she would have given more witty answers…’

 

Though all his children were basically well-behaved, raising them showed him that sons and daughters had very different temperaments.

 

Dowoon and Yeongang would come at him with wooden swords to hit dad, but they didn’t talk enough to make his ears bleed for hours.

 

Moa expressed her excitement about the journey non-stop throughout the entire carriage ride.

 

“Um, hmm… Moa. Should dad make you a grass doll?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

Jin Saheon, who had taken out grass and sticks that he had gotten from his wife for occasions like this, sweated profusely as he braided a doll’s head with grass.

 

By the time Jin Saheon, who had to make dad and mom dolls and even play pretend with them, was internally crying ‘please stop now.’

 

The carriage finally arrived in the region where Haejeobu was located.

 

When new scenery unfolded, Moa pressed herself against the carriage window to look outside.

 

“Huh? It’s not a red brick house?”

 

A massive estate built with dazzlingly white and smooth stone walls could be seen in the distance.

 

Moving a little closer, they reached the main gate of the Haejeo Family.

 

There wasn’t a single guard in front of the main gate, but the gate was surrounded by a huge straw rope.

 

The moment he saw the white paper attached to the gate.

 

Jin Saheon’s expression hardened.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————