How Druids Live with the Beast

‘A new species has been born?’

Eun-ho wiped the cold sweat off his face with a look of surprise.

《This plant has pain-relieving and wound-healing properties.》

He hadn’t expected something like this to be possible.

In fact, pain relief was exactly what he needed right now.

Although pain caused Eun-ho’s brows to furrow, his growing curiosity could not be suppressed.

“Then, Tablet… if I mix several vegetables together to create a single plant, can I make a detox juice with just that one plant?”

《This information is not recorded. Unknown information.》

“Then, I’ll just try it later.”

《Please name the plant.》

‘Name…’

Eun-ho closed his eyes as the pain surged. Suddenly, the medicine he had thought of earlier came to mind.

“Tyre…”

He hesitated just before adding the last syllable, “nol.”

《The official name ‘Tyre’ has been registered.》

Eun-ho was startled by the words that appeared.

“…Wait a minute.”

The name had actually been assigned.

《The plant is sufficiently effective for use. Consumption is recommended.》

Seeing that he could eat it, Eun-ho grabbed the flower without hesitation.

“Wait!”

The black dog urgently called out, but Eun-ho had already put it in his mouth.

“…Ugh.”

Eun-ho screamed and grabbed his throat.

“Human!”

The black dog yelled frantically, and Eun-ho grimaced, his face contorted.

“…This is really disgusting. Don’t eat it.”

It wasn’t a joke— the taste was genuinely terrible.

How could something be so awful that just chewing it made him gag?

“Human! Why are you eating that? Even if you’re careless, you should know you shouldn’t eat anything recklessly!”

The black dog was angry.

Eun-ho was even more surprised by the sincerity in its tone.

“You… brought it, didn’t you? And I grew it.”

“You can see that it’s not the same as what I brought, can’t you? Human. How much effort do you require?”

“It said it wouldn’t kill me if I ate it.”

Eun-ho pointed to the tablet, and the black dog squinted its eyes.

The screen was just filled with a dark, blank display, and it sighed deeply.

“Human, I know your body is weak, but are you now seeing things that aren’t there?”

“This… You can’t see it?”

“Just sleep already.”

The black dog sat down beside Eun-ho, curled up.

It covered him with its tail and held something out to him with its front paw.

“Something fell.”

When the black dog pulled its paw back, Eun-ho could see what had fallen.

“…A seed?”

Eun-ho’s gaze turned toward the Tyre plant.

‘If I have the seed, I can use it again, right?’

Eun-ho couldn’t hide his joy as he picked up the seed.

It wasn’t just a one-time use, and he had created this plant himself.

He closed his eyes in satisfaction, exhaling slowly, and then looked up at the ceiling.

Blinking his eyes, Eun-ho realized the pain had significantly lessened compared to earlier.

‘…What? The effect is faster than I thought?’

It might be more effective than most medications.

“Human.”

“What’s wrong?”

Eun-ho looked up at the black dog.

It seemed hesitant, unsure of how to proceed.

“…If you, who were abandoned by humans, have nowhere to go… I mean, you need a place to sleep, right? So…”

Eun-ho inhaled sharply at those words.

His eyes widened in surprise.

“Why do you say that?”

Despite the black dog’s question, Eun-ho couldn’t respond.

‘…I was kidnapped, right? No, it’s not exactly kidnapping, but… it is kidnapping.’

Anyone could see that the black dog had effectively kidnapped him from the hospital.

It was so comfortable here that he had forgotten about the whole situation, something he never imagined would happen.

Wiping the cold sweat still lingering on his face, Eun-ho squeezed his eyes shut.

‘…You crazy bastard. How could I forget this?’

Eun-ho exhaled deeply.

For now, he needed to think of a way to navigate the situation.

‘The black dog didn’t actually kidnap me, right… well, that’s easy enough to figure out?’

A smile appeared on Eun-ho’s face as he looked at the black dog.

The black dog stared back at him with a gaze that seemed to hold something tempting.

“Human, your gaze is strange right now. I don’t want to look like that at all.”

“Come on, no one is as pure as me. So, big dog, would you be willing to cooperate with me?”

“Looking at your gaze, I don’t want to agree.”

“Big dog, I didn’t want to say this, but…”

The black dog’s ears twitched slightly.

“Your gaze is more terrifying. It looks like you want to eat someone.”

At these words, the black dog’s ears perked up. It raised one paw to cover its eyes and asked,

“…Is that really true?”

“Feeling a little guilty, huh?”

“…No.”

The black dog’s voice trembled.

“I’m going to let everyone know how cool you are, big dog.”

Eun-ho grinned and looked around his surroundings.

He especially moved his broken leg. Though there was still pain, it felt slightly different than before.

If the Tyre plant he had just made worked properly, he wouldn’t need anything more.

“Alright, big dog. Let’s go back to the hospital. To the place I came from!”

“…Human. Your words are beyond my comprehension. Humans locked you up and restrained you. Why would you want to go back to that place?”

“For you.”

The heavy words and Eun-ho’s bright smile made the black dog swallow hard.

A strange feeling welled up inside. His insides felt ticklish.

Even though it was a cave with no light, it seemed like a warm light was shining behind Eun-ho.

The black dog, overwhelmed by these unfamiliar feelings, gently pressed its paw to Eun-ho’s face to hide his smile.

“…You are a strange human.”

With a confused expression, the black dog slowly removed its paw.

Drip.

As blood flowed from Eun-ho’s head, the black dog quickly pressed its paw back onto his head.

“Ah! Why are you pressing so hard?”

“…Ah, it’s nothing.”

The black dog’s pupils were shaken.

The human was weaker than expected.

***

“…This is not acceptable. I’ve told you multiple times, but this time, no means no.”

The familiar manager in charge of the current incident refused with a troubled expression, and Tae-ho furrowed his brow.

“I have research rights. Even if the black dog did something like that, I have the authority to confirm why it did! So, what does it mean that you’re trying to stop me from leaving now?”

“No, Doctor. This time it’s clear. Too many people have already seen it. If we don’t do anything here, I’ll really be in trouble…”

“You’ll be in trouble, alright. You’ll go crazy because you couldn’t protect the victims. But still, no one knows what happened yet, do they?”

“Doctor! The familiar kidnapped the victim! Not once, but already twice. In this situation, killing the familiar is obvious! You know no familiar can stand above humans.”

“I know what kind of situation it is. But the order is wrong. Shouldn’t we free the people first and search before anything else?”

As Tae-ho’s face twisted in anger, Ga-eul, standing beside him, raised her voice.

“I agree that no familiar should stand above a human. However, the search is a separate issue. It hasn’t even been a few hours yet.”

“Exactly! Before you issue a kill order on the black dog, shouldn’t you be searching for the person, just like what you’re saying about ‘humans standing above familiars’? Find the person!”

Tae-ho slammed his hand on the desk, shaking the familiar manager’s shoulder.

“It’s the black dog found after 10 years! It could be one of the black dogs you killed 10 years ago for no reason!”

At the mention of the ‘10-year-old black dog incident,’ the familiar manager’s face froze.

If you were a familiar manager, you would most likely avoid this subject.

The incident, where familiars were killed indiscriminately by managers, almost caused a war between humans and familiars, and it raised the importance of familiar research, which led to increased power for research institutions.

“No, forget it. Give me your phone. I’ll contact the higher-ups.”

What would he expect from the familiar management department?

Without research into the familiars’ survival methods, their preferences, or what they dislike, they just kept them all locked up under the guise of ‘protection.’

With a scowl, Tae-ho reached out, and the familiar manager immediately spoke up.

“…I’ll temporarily suspend the kill order. Please, don’t contact the higher-ups.”

Seeing the familiar manager’s pale face, Tae-ho exhaled deeply.

“Only after saying I’ll contact them, does the story change.”

As he opened the door to leave, a commotion erupted.

The familiar manager also stood up.

“What’s going on?”

It was too loud outside to be just a simple commotion, so the familiar manager touched his smartwatch.

Whoosh!

A fierce wind suddenly blew so hard that it shook the windows. Tae-ho’s eyes widened.

It was black wind.

‘…It’s the black dog!’

Tae-ho ran.

“Doctor!”

“Ga-eul, slow down!”

“No, it’s the first floor.”

Ga-eul opened the window and jumped out without hesitation.

“Why take the long way when there’s a shortcut?”

With a look of confusion, she pushed up her glasses and ran.

Tae-ho made a slightly blank expression before finally jumping out of the window himself.

“Y-yeah, as expected from Ga-eul!”

***

The familiar managers were momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the black dog.

The black figure that appeared as the night approached was so large that it seemed like it could cover the entire night.

It looked just like a giant nightmare coming toward them.

Familiars were terrifying just to look at, and the fact that creatures like them still existed in this modern era felt impossible, like something out of a fantasy.

“Surround it… and wait.”

The familiar managers held their breath as they watched the black dog.

When the black wind stopped, the black dog returned to its original form.

The yellow eyes locked with theirs, making everyone feel stiff.

The tension in the air was palpable, and just as they felt the cold pressure, the black dog suddenly lowered its head.

Someone slid down as if on a slide, waving their hand.

“Hello, everyone!”

With a cheerful voice, Eun-ho landed on the ground, and all eyes turned to him.

“Ah, ah!”

Tae-ho pointed at Eun-ho, unable to speak.

To be with the black dog, who hated humans…

He quickly took out his phone to capture the situation.

“Quite the noisy entrance.”

Ga-eul stopped and took a breath.

Her gaze shifted to Eun-ho’s leg.

The break was so severe that they had said he would need a wheelchair for about two months, yet he was standing.

“…Doctor.”

“Y-yes?”

Tae-ho’s gaze didn’t leave the black dog or Eun-ho.

“Does the black dog have healing abilities or something?”

“No. The black dog was born in the darkness, so its abilities are related to the dark. Familiars with healing abilities haven’t been discovered yet.”

Listening to Tae-ho’s explanation, Ga-eul pushed her glasses back up.

‘But his body is healed? …Did he experience a miracle?’

“I just took a little walk, and I’m feeling good with this welcome, though.”

Eun-ho teased the black dog’s face as if mocking everyone.

“……”

A brief silence followed.

Not only was Eun-ho standing next to the familiar who rejected humans, but he was even touching the black dog.

The familiar managers looked at Eun-ho’s arms.

They weren’t cut off.

They weren’t bitten.

“But is this because of me…? Or is this just really embarrassing? Anyway, thanks for all your hard work, everyone.”

Eun-ho smiled mischievously and casually walked toward the entrance with the black dog.

‘…Ugh.’

Eun-ho winced as pain surged and swallowed his groan.

He had chewed several Tyre flowers, but it still felt a little too much for him.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, he looked around and saw familiar faces.

“Seol Tae-ho! Oh Ga-eul!”

Eun-ho waved as he saw Tae-ho and Ga-eul standing among the people.

Only then did Tae-ho and Ga-eul approach Eun-ho.

“Big dog didn’t quite understand the concept of a window and broke it… is that okay? Will the window cost be alright?”

“Can you explain later… later?”

“Of course.”

Eun-ho squinted one eye and lowered his voice.

“You kept your promise, right?”

“……”

When Eun-ho mentioned the promise, Tae-ho had a momentary blank expression.

The black dog appeared in front of people.

Not only that, but it appeared with Eun-ho riding on its back.

This situation defied the common belief that familiars were always dangerous.

But what Tae-ho saw was that the black dog, which had been killed by humans 10 years ago, appeared alongside a human.

The scene that had been a lifelong wish for him was unfolding right before his eyes.

Tears slowly welled up in his eyes.

“Seol… Tae-ho?”

“……Thank you.”

Tae-ho cursed himself for being so emotional and covered his eyes with his hand.

A familiar and a human, together.

Ever since he started studying familiars, he had always carried that difficult and challenging goal in his heart, and now, seeing its final moment, he was overwhelmed with emotions, feeling his chest swell with pride.

“…Thank you.”

“Seol Tae-ho, I don’t know what’s going on, but if you’re going to cry here, it’ll be embarrassing. Let’s go inside and cry.”

Eun-ho whispered to Tae-ho.

“…Is this how humans are?”

As the black dog watched Tae-ho, Eun-ho also whispered softly.

“…At times like this, you should pretend you don’t know.”

After patting Tae-ho’s shoulder a few times, Eun-ho casually made a request to the black dog.

“Give me a ride, brother.”

“…Hah.”

The black dog sighed, seeming annoyed, but lowered its body.

Eun-ho got on, and they headed toward the hospital.

Ga-eul, who had been alternating between watching the crying Tae-ho and the familiar manager, who seemed to think this was all a dream, took out her phone.

Deputy Director of the Familiar Research Institute, Cha Ye-rim.

“The situation is over.”

“He’s crying.”

<…Crying? Why?>

“Maybe it’s menopause.”

While talking on the phone, Ga-eul subtly covered her face and left the spot.