Yuric consistently studied dragon language every day without fail. Although he had mastered enough of the dragon’s language, he was not yet ready to use it. Even though the Earth Dragon Alaldur said he could take his time, Yuric felt somewhat impatient. However, the Earth Dragon marveled at Yuric’s progress each time he saw him.
– You may feel impatient, but from my perspective, your progress is astonishing. The dragon knights I have seen took years just to learn the theory of dragon speech. Yet, you are attempting to use it after merely two months.
“Then what did you mean by taking it slowly?”
– I was thinking about twenty years.
Twenty years for slowly? Yuric was amazed by the dragons’ concept of time, which far surpassed human understanding.
It seemed that since most dragon knights do not know magic, they might be unfamiliar with such studies.
After waking up, Yuric meditated deeply and then tidied up his place. He had a light breakfast with Lynnet and opened his shop. The city was in the midst of a potato harvest festival, and colorful papers were posted everywhere to celebrate.
In the morning, the paper girl and bookshop maiden came and brought potato dishes, saying “try this.” They had piled salt on a plate and placed potatoes on top, steamed, and mashed potatoes topped with plenty of melted cheese. Yuric thought, it’s no wonder it’s a harvest festival.
While tasting the steamed potatoes on the salt plate, someone cautiously opened the shop door. A young boy, seemingly around seven years old with a dark complexion, entered. From his attire, he appeared to be a shepherd.
His big innocent eyes looked extremely tense. Yuric approached the young boy with a friendly smile.
“Hello.”
“Oh, hello. My name is, um, Connie, who lives in that hut over there.”
“Alright, Connie, nice to meet you. I’m Yuric. But why are you here?”
“I need medicine. Lyka is sick. … Oh, Lyka is our herding dog. That dog can herd two hundred sheep. Now there are only fifty, but many more lambs will be born soon.”
“Is Lyka very ill?”
“Yes, now he sleeps all day. Even when we give him his favorite meat, he barely eats it.”
Yuric pondered what medicine to give. Actually, he had only made medicines for humans, not animals.
He stared intently at Connie’s desperate eyes. Lyka must be like family to this boy.
“Wait a moment.”
Yuric went inside and fetched a single medicine bottle. It was a pill made from the mixture used to treat mana blockage disease. This should work.
“Mix this in water and feed it to him. He’ll regain his strength.”
Ah.
Connie’s expression brightened. He took out all the coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter with a little hop.
“Here. Um, is this enough?”
There were seven copper coins. This might be all the money the boy had saved his whole life.
Yuric smiled and returned five coins, keeping only two.
“The price is two copper coins.”
Seeing that he might not have enough money, Connie sighed with relief.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Come visit often.”
“Yes, brother!”
Connie bowed politely several times and ran out of the shop energetically. Truly a shepherd’s run.
Even after Connie left, Yuric kept thinking about the young shepherd boy. So, two days later, he headed to the hut outside the city where Connie lived.
The shepherd’s hut was quite far from the city, and Yuric felt he understood how much the boy loved Lyka, having walked such a long distance.
When Yuric arrived at the hut, an elderly man with white hair was inside.
Yuric introduced himself as someone working at Lynnet’s shop, and the elderly man seemed to know about Connie.
“What brings you all the way out here?”
“I wanted to check if Lyka is doing well.”
The kind elderly man invited Yuric inside the hut. Inside the small hut, Lyka lay curled up on a blanket. Clearly, this old dog was quite aged.
“This child. He has grown old and lost much of his vigor.”
Yuric sat down in front of Lyka and gently stroked the herding dog. Feeling Yuric’s touch, the old dog lifted its head and panted.
“Thank you for the medicine. The price surely wasn’t just two copper coins…”
Seeing the elderly man’s remorse, Yuric waved his hand.
“He is a child who came seeking medicine for a beloved family member. Two copper coins is already generous.”
The elderly man nodded with a bitter smile, looking at Lyka with wrinkled eyes.
“…Lyka was such a good and smart dog. I met Connie because of this child.”
He slowly recounted his connection with Connie, Lyka, and himself to Yuric.
In fact, Connie was a child abandoned in the forest. Lyka first found him wrapped in a blanket under a tree, cradling the baby. When the elderly man entered the forest searching for the suddenly missing Lyka, he heard Lyka barking and found Connie.
“Lyka and Connie cared for and loved each other like family. And so did I.”
“…I see.”
“Connie might find it hard to accept this situation. He is still a young child, and experiencing the death of a beloved family member is difficult.”
Tears welled up in the elderly man’s eyes. Yuric felt his heart tighten.
“But isn’t this the natural order? Having spent a lifetime tending to flocks and witnessing countless births and deaths of sheep, I learned to accept the cycle of life.”
Lyka was already seventeen years old. The time to leave was approaching.
“…Where is Connie now?”
“On the eastern hill.”
“I’ll go see Connie.”
“Alright… Thank you for caring so much.”
Yuric smiled.
“It’s nothing. Connie led me here.”
And Yuric left the hut, heading toward the eastern hill where Connie was herding sheep.
Connie, who was playing a flute, was surprised to see Yuric and ran over to him.
“Brother Yuric!”
“Connie.”
Yuric picked Connie up.
“What are you doing here? What about the shop?”
“Now I have free time. I missed you and came to see you.”
For Connie, who always saw sheep, Yuric was a surprisingly welcome guest and friend.
Yuric herded the sheep with Connie while chatting. Yuric’s many journeys were incredibly fascinating stories to the boy.
“Wow! Amazing!”
Then, Yuric gave Connie another medicine bottle he had brought along just in case.
“If it’s not enough, give him more.”
“Thank you. I’ll come to your hut and pay you.”
“No, this is a gift for today, since you showed me the sheep.”
Although it was just medicine, Connie was extremely happy to receive his first gift.
“Take good care of Lyka. Okay?”
“Yes!”
After that, Yuric frequently visited Connie’s hut.
One day, Yuric was delayed telling Connie stories and ended up staying overnight.
Lying down with Lyka tightly hugged, Connie asked Yuric with moistened voice.
“Brother… Is Lyka… going to die now?”
Connie had been aware of Lyka’s impending death, even though he hadn’t shown it.
As a shepherd boy, Connie had witnessed many births and deaths of sheep. He rejoiced with joy when a lamb was born and grieved with sorrow when a sheep died. Sheep were also family to Connie.
“…Yes, he will soon go to a faraway place.”
Connie buried his face in Lyka’s body and cried.
Beloved Lyka.
Though he lacked parents, Connie was happy with his grandfather, Lyka, and the sheep.
Lyka raised his head and licked Connie, telling him not to cry and that everything would be okay.
Grandfather also got up and embraced Connie and Lyka together.
“Love you, Lyka. Love you. Love you… I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you so much.”
Connie reminisced about the past.
The fields where they played together.
The nights they slept together.
Connie told Yuric about those happy moments with Lyka.
Yuric listened quietly to the boy’s story and prayed to the universe.
Please guide Lyka kindly.
With all his heart, Yuric stroked Lyka. Lyka looked at Yuric with grateful eyes.
Two days later, in the evening, Lyka quietly passed away in Connie’s arms.
Connie and Grandfather buried Lyka deeply next to a tree on the hill.
The shepherd boy quickly shook off his sadness and stood up. He had his grandfather and the sheep.
One day, Connie came to Yuric’s shop.
Holding a puppy in his arms.
“Brother Yuric!”
With a brighter smile than ever, Connie showed Yuric the puppy in his arms.
“Lyka has returned! He must have missed me and Grandfather and came back!”
Indeed, the puppy looked exactly like Lyka. Connie said he found the puppy near Lyka’s grave.
“We’ll live together with Lyka for a long time!”
Yuric offered a prayer of gratitude to the compassionate universe.
Thank you for giving this child love and hope.
