How Druids Live with the Beast

***

“…Oh, you didn’t have to come all the way here.”

Eunho chuckled as he looked at Ga-eul and Taeho.

He already knew it was the day he would be discharged, but he was still happy to see them.

“Did you pack everything?”

At Ga-eul’s question, Eunho glanced around his bed.

His grayish hair fluttered slightly in the breeze.

“Just a moment.”

“Take your time.”

Ga-eul pretended to adjust her glasses and looked at Eunho.

Eunho had only been in the hospital for about a month.

Originally, they had said it would take about three months, but his recovery had been surprisingly fast.

“Nothing left. I’ve been here for about a month, and I just want to go home already.”

Hospitals were still hospitals.

All he wanted was to go home.

“…Ah, but I don’t have a home. Where should I stay?”

Eunho glanced at Taeho.

“Just a moment.”

Ga-eul tapped on her tablet and spoke.

The day Himpia had left, Eunho had told Taeho what he wanted to do.

A temporary shelter.

He wanted to help familiars, protect them, and play with them, without being affiliated with anyone.

Perhaps it was a change of his childhood dream of running a zoo, transformed into something new.

He still loved animals, and now familiars were part of that.

He also wanted to feel their warmth again.

How fun would it be to live helping them and interacting with them using his druidic powers?

Of course, he couldn’t ignore the practical concerns, so he thought he could have a good relationship with Taeho, who shared the same dream.

―…This feels good. After all, we’re dreaming the same dream, right? The research institute will actively support you.

Taeho didn’t hesitate to become a good collaborator.

He even hinted that the research institute had a lot of money, but that was a secret.

―You might call this a side job, but familiars shed their fur, right? When they spread out into nature like mountains or rivers, it’s hard to find them, but if you gather them, we’ll pay you for them. It’s for research, so you don’t have to feel burdened.

Familiars were protected species, and as such, it was illegal to trade them unless you were a researcher.

The government had tightly regulated it, so the black market was booming. Fur, claws, and almost every part of familiars were sold at high prices.

―…You can probably guess why familiar hunting happens. Money is circulating in the underground. Familiars are treated as mythical creatures, and there are a lot of superstitions surrounding them. And…

Taeho hesitated when he spoke the last part.

It wasn’t good to stop in the middle of a conversation, but to maintain a good partnership, he figured it was acceptable to leave it at that.

“I bought a house instead of an apartment, thinking of the black hound. A house with a big yard.”

Ga-eul hesitated for a moment before showing a photo.

“A house… with a yard?”

Eunho was surprised.

Honestly, he would have been content with just a two-room apartment, but suddenly, the scale had changed.

“…An apartment does have its advantages over a house, but there’s no denying that it’s lacking in practical aspects.”

“How different can an apartment and a house really be?”

A house with a yard.

Eunho wondered, imagining the house in his head. Since this was another world, he couldn’t help but ask if it might be different.

“An apartment is like a small town on its own, with countless amenities like restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, libraries, and health centers.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, I wouldn’t use most of those, so it’s fine.”

“I see. I’m relieved. You’re very considerate.”

Ga-eul smiled and handed the tablet to Eunho.

‘…Wow.’

Eunho immediately wanted to cover his mouth.

Wasn’t it a common fantasy for someone to want to live in a house with a big yard?

This house made that fantasy a reality.

It was a three-story building with a yard that was so large it left him speechless.

The backyard was connected to an unknown forest, likely for the black hound to run around in.

‘This is insane!’

Eunho couldn’t close his mouth.

“Most good locations are in apartment complexes, so commercial facilities are concentrated in those areas. Naturally, the quality of facilities in areas with single houses tends to be lower, so I was worried, but I’m glad you understand.”

“…Are you rich?”

Eunho couldn’t help but swallow his words. Just being given a house like this was beyond his understanding.

Taeho had mentioned the research funding being ample, but to what extent was it to be able to provide such a house?

Ga-eul subtly pointed at Taeho with her eyes.

Taeho was the one being referred to as rich.

“…Wow, I’m suddenly feeling a deep sense of intimacy. Should I just call you ‘brother’ right now?”

“Dr. Taeho already has everything he likes, so you might become the closest person to him.”

“Ga-eul, don’t get too close to Taeho. I might get jealous.”

“…Me?”

What was he even talking about?

Ga-eul squinted her eyes, overwhelmed by her emotions.

“…Ah, I made a mistake.”

Eunho made an awkward expression.

No matter how well Taeho treated Ga-eul, he was still her boss.

As long as they stayed within that framework, boundaries existed.

“He is a good person, though.”

“…What did you just say, Ga-eul?”

Taeho looked surprised, and Ga-eul, with her usual impassive face, responded.

“I didn’t say anything. Please finish your conversation and come down. I’ll start preparing to leave.”

Once Ga-eul left the room, Taeho pointed at the door, looking pleased.

“The best thing I’ve done since becoming director is hiring Ga-eul.”

“It certainly looks that way. Ga-eul really does her job well.”

“And Eunho looks the same, right?”

“Don’t call me ‘Eunho-ssi’ anymore. Just call me Eunho. I’ll call you hyung from now on.”

“…All of a sudden?”

“Well, everything starts suddenly, doesn’t it? I’ve thought of you as hyung ever since I met you, Taeho-hyung.”

Eunho extended his hand.

Taeho couldn’t help but laugh at Eunho’s playful behavior.

He seemed like a very capable person at work.

Since Eunho wanted to maintain a good partnership with him, this kind of talk was welcome.

“Let’s get along well, Eunho-ssi.”

“Of course. I’ll go ahead.”

Eunho smiled brightly and then looked at the shadow.

“Let’s go, my dear hound.”

“…Human. You’ve become quite talkative.”

At the sudden disappointment in the black hound’s voice, Eunho limped forward but glanced down.

―I’ve rarely called anyone ‘hyung.’ This is an honor.

Eunho suddenly remembered what he had said to the black hound.

“Such a cute little guy.”

He figured it was something that could be said to a third grader.

***

Creeeeak.

The car suddenly stopped, and Eunho was startled.

A front paw extended from the shadow and blocked Eunho from falling.

“I’ll go check it out.”

“No, stay here for a moment, my hound.”

Eunho looked ahead.

The road was blocked, similar to a drunk driving checkpoint.

“Who are those people?”

“They’re familiar handlers. The ones with lion-face patterns on their left arms are always them. It looks like something happened since they’re controlling the city entrance.”

“Stay here, Ga-eul-ssi, Eunho-ssi. I’ll go check.”

Taeho unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door.

“Doctor, let’s go together.”

Ga-eul opened her door as well, and Eunho unbuckled his seatbelt. She turned back while only sticking one foot outside.

“Seungho-ssi can stay here.”

“Then it would be too lonely. I’ll follow.”

As soon as he got out of the car, Eunho briefly held his breath. The apartment area was so messed up that he couldn’t even speak.

It looked as though someone had purposefully smeared colorful paint all over the entire city.

People were running away from the sticky liquid, and it was all very strange.

“I don’t know much about this, but is this an art city or something?”

Ga-eul gave him a cold look, and Eunho awkwardly laughed.

“Ah, so it’s not that? Then, is it an attack by a superhuman?”

“…Eunho-ssi. This was done by a familiar.”

Taeho brushed his hair back and quickly dialed someone on his phone.

At the mention of that, Eunho held his breath.

Looking again at the sticky liquid smeared on the apartment walls, a groan escaped involuntarily.

‘I said I wanted to run a temporary shelter…’

Maybe it was a foolish thing to say.

From this scene, it was clear that a familiar had attacked a human first, so it was impossible to even think about protecting the familiar that did this.

“Hyung. Do you know which familiar did this?”

“There’s only one familiar that does this kind of color-changing attack. Poiki.”

As soon as Eunho heard the name, he subtly touched the tablet, but no information appeared.

‘Do I have to touch it to get the information? Or is it because I’m still underdeveloped?’

Without the headset, he still couldn’t communicate with the black hound.

One of the training methods to communicate with familiars involved the use of the headset, and he’d been using it almost all the time except when sleeping.

“It’s a familiar that looks a little like a monkey. They’re a territorial familiar, so they usually don’t come out into the city, but something seems off. There must have been something that made them angry enough to do this to so many apartments…”

Taeho wrinkled his face as he spoke.

“So, you’re saying the familiar didn’t attack first?”

“That’s right. But to people, it might look like an attack. In reality, it is an attack.”

They had been talking about an attack for a while, but since it was difficult to remove the substance, and no one was injured, Eunho hadn’t fully accepted it as an attack yet.

“So, the liquid is hard to remove, and that’s why it’s considered an attack?”

“That’s part of it, but the bigger issue is that the sticky, paint-like liquid turns into poison.”

“…Poison?”

Eunho’s eyes widened.

It felt like he had entered an unreal world.

It was already clear that things were unreal, especially with the black hound, but the feeling he was experiencing now was different.

Maybe it was because the setting was an apartment, the most familiar environment to him.

Or maybe it was because he was seeing this in a city.

“No matter how much I like familiars and want to protect them, the power they possess is dangerous.”

Taeho’s eyes darkened, and a sense of melancholy showed on his face.

“…Unlike the black hound, it might be hard to stop even if a kill order is issued.”

At these heavy words, Eunho lowered his gaze to look at the shadow.

If you just looked at the black hound’s appearance, it seemed like it could rule the city, almost like a boss with a bunch of familiars below it.

But in reality, the black hound liked to sleep lazily or dig into the shadows and run, and while it grumbled, it enjoyed talking.

It wasn’t a boss who led others, but rather a creature who liked to stay at home, covered by a blanket, lying in bed.

“Then, let’s find out. Let’s figure out why Poiki is acting like this and what state it’s in.”

Eunho said with confidence.

If the black hound was so different from what it seemed, maybe Poiki was the same.

He needed to see things on a broader scale.

“Human.”

The black hound called out to Eunho.

“Hmm?”

“Wait for a moment.”

“Got it. I’ll stay here.”

After hearing the response, Eunho felt the black hound move from one shadow to another.

Suddenly, there was a hollow feeling, as if something had slipped away.

Eunho took out his tablet and whispered quietly.

“Tablet-ssi.”

《Yes.》

“Is there any way to locate a familiar that isn’t recognized?”

《.》

《.》

《”A Druid’s Guide to the Difficult” section has been retrieved.》

《If you’re a Druid and struggling to locate beings you can’t recognize, don’t worry. The solution is here.》

《To find multiple beings, you can activate the power of the most perceptive being in that world.》

Click.

The screen suddenly distorted, and the text changed.

《If you want to find a familiar, you can activate ‘Raptor’s Eyes.’》

‘Raptors… They’re birds, right? I think it’s referring to animals. I can borrow the power of animals?’

Eunho focused on that fact.

The idea of borrowing the power of animals was exciting.

‘For example, if I haven’t met many familiars yet, and can only borrow the power of animals, if I meet more familiars, and this power gets unlocked…?’

Every assumption felt quite exciting to him.

《Our beginner Druid is still too inexperienced to handle many powers, so it’s too early. Look through your bag and find the ‘glasses.’ This is also part of the training.》

Without hesitation, Eunho rummaged through his bag.

Licking his lips, he pulled out a pair of glasses from his bag.

They were just simple round glasses.

“So, I just have to wear these?”

At Eunho’s excited words, Ga-eul glanced over at him while she was talking on the phone.

His whispering to the empty tablet made her tilt her head in confusion.

‘…Doctor. Are you sure he’s okay as a partner?’

For the first time, her emotions were shaken, and Ga-eul quietly turned her head and approached the familiar handler.

Eunho looked around once more, then whispered again to the tablet.

He seemed so excited, but no one seemed to notice.

‘If someone sees me…’

He moved to the back of the car, squatted down, and put on the glasses.

“What do I do next?”

《It’s simple. Just say, ‘I borrow your power.’》

“That’s a scary phrase.”

《Since it’s training, just wear it until you’re used to it. Good luck, little Druid (laughs).》

《That’s all.》

That laughter slightly bothered him, but Eunho muttered the words softly.

“I borrow your power.”

At that moment, the scenery before him changed.