A Dragon’s Modern Magic

“Write a letter to me, too.”

“What for?”

The dragon’s face contorted at my remark that writing a letter was pointless when he was sitting right next to me. He flopped onto the floor and threw a tantrum, demanding to know why he didn’t get one, so I just clicked my tongue and ignored him.

“I said write one!”

“Tsk, tsk. Fine, here!”

I scribbled a few words carelessly on a palm-sized memo pad and handed it over. Kaiern immediately complained again, insisting I put it in an envelope and deliver it properly. I wondered where exactly all those thousands of years of age had gone… It was absurd, but my heart softened when I thought of all the help he’d given me. I pulled out an envelope, tucked the note inside, and held it out.

The dragon, who stopped his fussing over such a trivial thing, grinned broadly. He opened the envelope, checked the note, and then promptly snatched a piece of paper from the side, declaring he would write a reply.

“Here, my response.”

He looked at me with eyes full of anticipation. I opened it on the spot. Only three syllables—one word—were written on the paper.

—Samgyeopsal (Pork Belly)—

Since I had written ‘What do you want for dinner tonight?’ on my note, his answer was technically perfect. I wondered if he had thrown that whole tantrum just to have this little exchange.

“We ate the last of it recently, so there’s no meat left.”

“I’ll go buy some!”

I shook my head as I watched Kaiern vanish into thin air with a pop.

There was no kimchi here, so once I had served him grilled pork belly with seasoned bean sprouts, he had practically ascended to heaven. He even muttered “pork belly” in his sleep now.

With Kaiern gone and the distractions silenced, I focused on writing my replies. They wouldn’t be sent until the next supply delivery, but it felt good to get my thoughts down.

Due to preservation issues, butcher shops didn’t really exist in this world in the modern sense. Most places sold smoked ham or bacon, and shops selling fresh raw meat were rare. Usually, you had to place an order, and they would slaughter the animal on the spot. That was why Kaiern’s return was often delayed.

In the meantime, I enjoyed a rare moment of solitude and drifted into thought.

‘When I first arrived, I wondered how I could possibly survive here.’

Now, Kaiern had overhauled everything so thoroughly that the original state was unrecognizable. But if I closed my eyes, the memory of this place’s former self surfaced naturally. It was a sight so shocking it had been seared into my brain.

The state of the monastery I arrived at—after leaving the palace and traveling through multiple warp gates—was truly wretched.

The walls were made of jagged, uneven stones, and the floor was bare dirt. The door was little more than a collection of wooden planks slapped together, and there wasn’t a single piece of proper furniture. It was essentially a ruin. To make matters worse, being halfway up a high mountain meant it was piercingly cold, and the drafts were relentless.

I had never imagined a place of Imperial exile would be this dilapidated. I stood there, mouth agape.

“You will reside here from now on,” said the knight who had escorted me as a guide.

“I’m supposed to live here?” I asked instinctively. It didn’t look like a place meant for human habitation.

Though I hadn’t expected an answer, the knight hesitated, unable to ignore my question.

“…You must endure it, Your Highness.”

His eyes were full of pity. He looked like a man wondering how a child who hadn’t even reached adulthood could survive here alone. I had assumed he was purely the Emperor’s man, but his genuine concern softened my heart.

“I suppose I must… Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

His mission should have ended with dropping me off, but he seemed worried. He began organizing the supplies with practiced efficiency.

“Fortunately, the climate is cool. As long as you watch out for pests, you shouldn’t have to worry about the food rotting.”

It was still a ruin, but once a few belongings were set out, it looked slightly better. The knight repaired what he could before offering a final salute.

“Please take care of your health, Your Highness.”

Once the knight descended the mountain and I was alone, Kaiern emerged from hiding. He seemed annoyed that the knight had lingered so long.

“Instead of staying in a dump like this, let’s just go to my lair.”

“I can’t do that.”

The moment I abandoned this post, everything would go wrong. I would be branded a fugitive for defying the Emperor’s decree, which would strip me of my status as Crown Prince. If I lost that title, not only I, but the Empress, the Beringers, and Chase would all be in danger.

“First… let’s eat.”

I went to the “kitchen” to prepare a meal, only to find something reminiscent of a primitive hearth—actually, it was cruder than that. There wasn’t even a rack for cookware; it looked like I’d have to hold a pan directly over an open flame.

‘And how do I even start a fire?’

I saw some flints lying around, but in my past life, I was someone who loved modern conveniences. Camping did not exist in my vocabulary. And even if I had gone camping, I wouldn’t have brought a flint instead of a portable stove.

Fortunately, fire was easy to come by. I had a multi-purpose tool called a Dragon.

I drew water from the well to wash the ingredients and plunged my hands in, only to find the water was like liquid ice. I stared at my reddened hands, wondering how the water hadn’t frozen solid. I let out a heavy sigh.

‘How am I going to live like this?’

I managed to get through that first day, but the following days were the real problem. My body, raised in the lap of luxury, eventually buckled under the sudden hardship.

“Ugh…”

“Aillen! Are you alright?”

“No… I’m not…”

I had collapsed a few times after the attempted poisoning, but I was usually healthy enough to never catch a cold. Yet the environment here was so harsh it broke my constitution. We had heating magic tools, but the drafts were so strong they rendered the tools useless. Eventually, I came down with a severe fever and chills.

My head spun, and my body felt like it was on fire. I needed to eat to regain my strength, but I was the only one who could cook, and I couldn’t even stand up. I lay in bed, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

“Ugh… I’m dying.”

“Don’t die!”

“So cold…”

“Aillen!”

That was my last memory. When I opened my eyes, Kaiern was holding a bowl of soup in front of me.

“Are you awake? Eat.”

“Yeah…”

But I lacked the strength to sit up. Kaiern had to support my back and feed me. When he shoved a spoonful toward me without blowing on it, I yelped that it was too hot, making him let out a long sigh.

“You really are a high-maintenance human.”

I worried he might get fed up and leave, but surprisingly, he obediently cooled the soup and fed it to me. He was clearly inexperienced and clumsy, but despite his grumbling words, his actions lacked any real annoyance.

After finishing the soup, I finally looked around. To my confusion, the biting drafts were gone. Kaiern explained.

“I put a shield around the bed to block the wind.”

Basically, he had created a magical “heating tent,” meaning the drafts were still howling everywhere else in the house. I looked at the empty bowl and asked where he got it. He replied proudly.

“From the Great Forest.”

He had flown to the Great Forest and commanded the priestesses to hand over some soup. I had assumed that if I died, he would simply lose interest and vanish, so the fact that he went to such trouble to care for me was genuinely surprising.

“…Thank you.”

I thanked him sincerely. He looked startled to hear me say it, then broke into a wide grin.

The cold didn’t vanish in a day, so for every meal, Kaiern flew to the forest to fetch soup. Once I was well enough to be bored, I started talking to him.

“I want to soak my body on a hot gudeuljang (stone floor).”

“What’s that? Soaking? Is it a torture device?”

Kaiern looked at me like I was insane—as if he couldn’t believe a human would ask to be tortured. Before he could actually bring out fire to “scorch” me as I requested, I hurriedly explained the concepts of ondol and boilers.

Kaiern found the idea fascinating. The next day, he started renovating the house.

“I’ll make the walls and the ceiling hot, too.”

“Not that far…”

Since humans don’t tend to cling to the ceiling, I told him to skip that part. He installed heating lines in the floor and walls. The first version of his ondol was so hot that the moment my feet touched the floor, I had to hop around like I was on a griddle. After several adjustments, he finally dialed in the perfect temperature.

Luckily, I had brought plenty of magic stones for the heating tools.

With perfect heating, my quality of life skyrocketed. Still, there were many things missing, so I continued to tell Kaiern about my “wish list.”

“A boiler… it heats water like this. It does the heating for the room, but it also gives you hot water to wash with.”

In the palace, there were massive tanks that kept water hot, supplied to each palace through pipes. I had never lacked for hot water there, but here, I craved it.

Perhaps out of boredom, Kaiern began crafting objects based on my descriptions. They weren’t perfect at first, but whenever I pointed out a flaw, he fixed it immediately.

“This has a summoning circle connected to the river in the northwest, so water comes out the moment you turn it. And if you turn it this way, the inscribed flame magic…”

Kaiern explained the mechanics of his magic tools, but I only understood about half of it. I was simply amazed that he was recreating modern technology using magic instead of science. Seeing my genuine admiration, Kaiern puffed out his chest with pride.