Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Dragon's First Summer Vacation
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The sweltering summer.
Soon, the summer heat would rise to temperatures that melted not just ice cream, but people too.
They said that even an hour outside could make your skin melt.
'In this kind of weather, no parent would let their kids go out.'
That was why.
Elementary schools implemented a truly wonderful policy.
It was the summer vacation that the students loved so much.
A policy that adults quite disliked, though.
"Sigh, it was so nice when the kids were at school."
As a kid, I loved summer vacation.
But now, I hated it.
I let out a sigh as I stared at the front door.
Thud thud-!
"Daddy, I'm home! Open the door! If you don't, I'll break it!"
"It's hot outside. Hurry up and open the door, Dad."
"Please open the door!"
The kids, who had already finished their end-of-term ceremony, were pounding on the door.
I sighed again and looked at Mangmung.
"Mangmung."
"Meow..."
"No more freedom for you now."
"Meeeow..."
Mangmung let out a pitiful mewl.
Mangmung had lost the freedom to watch TV alone at home.
At least there would be people to play with, so it wouldn't be as boring.
The door seemed like it was about to break, so I hurried over and opened it.
"It's vacation!"
"No more going to school."
"Yay! It's vacation!"
Clatter clatter—
The kids burst into the house, tossing their bags aside.
They seemed thrilled about the vacation.
"Man, you shouldn't be so happy about vacation."
As soon as vacation started, I spoke to the kids crawling around on the floor.
"Don't you all have summer homework?"
"Ah, how do you know that, Dad!?"
"I've been to elementary school too, you know."
"We were trying to hide it! My plan's ruined!"
So that's what they were scheming.
I decided to give Hwaryeon a stern warning.
"If you don't do your summer homework, no meat dishes for a while."
"That's child abuse!"
"Quiet. This goes for you too, Choryeon. You have to do your vacation homework without fail. Got it?"
Nod nod.
Suryeon and Choryeon nodded without complaint.
'Even on vacation, they can't slack off too much. They need to do their homework properly.'
Kids who spend a fulfilling vacation doing their homework end up enjoying elementary school even more.
I spoke to the kids facing their first vacation ever.
"Still, let's have fun during summer vacation, kids."
"Sure, whatever!"
"I can enjoy it on my own."
"Yes, Father!"
Sigh—
These little troublemakers.
At least they weren't causing incidents at school anymore.
"I'm hungry, so let's eat Mangmung! Mangmung, come here!"
"Me, meow—!!"
Seeing Hwaryeon already tormenting Mangmung.
A thought naturally crossed my mind.
'...I wish I had summer vacation too. Now I've got all this extra hassle for no reason.'
Why had all these bothersome tasks piled up?
I sighed and checked my smartphone messages.
[Male Elf No.1]
[Great master's father. I have urgent news. I'll send a photo. The guy lives in 09 District.]
The photo from the elf showed the Dragon Slayer I'd met before walking around 09 District.
Unlike the excited kids on vacation, my mind grew complicated.
I texted the Male Elf No.1 back.
[Let's talk about it in person.]
***
09 District was a dangerous place to meet.
So I called the elf to a café near my house in 04 District.
But.
"Hey, Elf."
"Yes, Father of the great Dragon—"
"Just call me bro. You're older, probably. Feels more comfortable that way."
We sorted out the title first.
"More importantly, you."
"Yes?"
"You're too eye-catching even without makeup. Everyone's staring at you."
The place we met was a small café.
But with an elf who had celebrity-level looks in a small café like this, people were giving him curious glances.
His ears were hidden with magic, so no one knew his true identity, but he was still drawing plenty of attention.
"No, more than that. I'm an A-rank Hero, and you're more popular than me? Does that make sense?"
"Y-Yeah, tell me about it."
"Do I need to bring up my inferiority complex from my basement days in front of you? Anyway, tell me about that photo. What's that about?"
"Oh, that."
Ahem—
The elf cleared his throat and got to the point.
"You know my wife and colleagues are doing reconstruction work in 09 District with the locals, right?"
"Yeah, you got my permission."
"Yes. While patrolling 09 District, we spotted that Dragon Slayer guy from before going into a place called Wish Villa."
"And?"
"After keeping watch, it looks like he's decided to live there full-time."
"Hmm..."
Was he tracking my trail?
The elf read the worry on my face and shook his head.
"Doesn't seem like it. The Dragon Slayer didn't show interest in the area. Rather..."
"Rather?"
"He was just using it as a place to sleep. Looks like he heads out to construction sites for work."
"...Really?"
Sounds just like me.
Back in the day, I slept in 09 District and commuted to the day labor office.
"But why's a guy who wants to kill dragons working at a day labor office?"
"Probably short on cash. We grow veggies and live in the mountains, so even gluing doll eyes pays the bills. By the way, since I'm broke, you'll have to cover the coffee. Anyway, the Dragon Slayer's different from us—big build and all."
"True."
At least he wasn't searching for my family, so that was a relief.
The elf sipped his coffee with a happy expression and said.
"So, bro. Mind if we use him a bit?"
"Use the Dragon Slayer? What do you mean?"
"He could help clean up the trash in 09 District. He's essential talent for turning it more natural. With just Gu Bong-gu, Ppong-ppong, and Bi-sil stepping up, no way our tails get caught. What do you say?"
"Hmm..."
I took a long swig of my iced Americano to think deeply.
Then I put on my sunglasses and said.
"Go ahead."
If there's no risk of tails being caught.
Using the Dragon Slayer didn't sound bad.
He seemed to get along fine with humans who weren't dragons.
"If a tail does get caught—"
"It's fine. We'll end our lives right away if caught, so just cut off the tail."
"No need to go that far—"
"All for the great Dragon."
"..."
Right.
These guys were Dragon fanatics.
I understood what "no chance of getting caught" really meant.
***
Summer vacation.
The kids had to finish their homework within the period.
If they didn't, they'd face severe punishment.
"I, I'm gonna eat meat! I hate tables with only veggies!"
Scribble scribble scribble—
Hwaryeon diligently scribbled in her notebook, solving math problems.
She was pretty good as long as she used her head.
So the math homework went by quickly.
"The rest is experiential activities, which I can't do right now! So that means I've finished my homework! Yay!"
Now she was free!
Hwaryeon happily sprawled on the sofa and turned on the TV.
She mocked Suryeon, who hadn't finished yet.
"Hmph, Suryeon, you're still doing homework? Your hands are slower than mine! Mangmung, laugh at her too!"
"Meow..."
"Hurry up and laugh! Or I'll eat you!"
"Meow meow meow—!!"
Hwaryeon forced Mangmung's laugh button.
But Suryeon smiled leisurely despite the mockery.
'Hwaryeon sis is such an idiot, after all.'
She had her reasons.
After about ten minutes, Suryeon yawned and stood up.
"Done with vacation homework."
"Hmph, you're so slow! I finished ages ago!"
"What are you talking about, Hwaryeon sis? You didn't finish. I did all of mine."
"W-What!? No way!"
How'd she do the experiential and experimental parts?
She didn't read any books, so how'd she write the book reports?
Shocked, Hwaryeon checked Suryeon's homework.
"Th-This is impossible! Cheating!"
Suryeon had filled out experiment results spanning over ten days.
This couldn't be.
Suryeon showed her A Pad to the protesting Hwaryeon.
"Nowadays, this one thing finishes all vacation homework. It's all on XTube. No need to do annoying experiments yourself. Use your brain, sis."
"Th-That's cheating! That's not homework!"
"Hmm, is it? XTube's legit, though."
Suryeon brushed it off like it was nothing.
But she didn't foresee what would happen next.
Before bed.
Lee Ha-jun approached Suryeon, who was engrossed in a game on her A Pad.
"Suryeon."
"Yeah, Dad?"
"How far are you on your vacation homework? Hwaryeon and Choryeon finished today's share."
Flinch—
Suryeon panicked a bit.
But she hid her fluster, keeping her eyes on the A Pad.
"...I finished too."
"Really? Then let's check. It's in your homework bag, right?"
"N-No!"
Whoosh-!
Suryeon paused her game and blocked Lee Ha-jun.
She showed her resolve not to back down.
"I can't show you my homework, Dad."
"Why?"
"It's... personal privacy."
More importantly.
"I really did finish it. Don't you trust me, Dad?"
She tried gaslighting him in reverse.
But Suryeon made one mistake.
"I trust you, Suryeon."
"Right?"
"But I don't trust your homework."
"...!!"
Checkmated.
"Get out of the way, Suryeon—!"
"Eek—!"
Lee Ha-jun pushed Suryeon aside.
He rummaged through her bag and pulled out the homework.
"Whew, the earphone cord was tangled. Tough."
"Give back my homework!"
"Let's take a look."
Bounce bounce—
Ignoring Suryeon hopping like a rabbit.
Lee Ha-jun checked her vacation homework.
Which was already filled out, even a day later.
"Hmm..."
"..."
"Suryeon really did it all. Did you use time travel magic or something?"
"...I can use it later."
"What?"
"...Nothing."
Sigh—
Lee Ha-jun sighed and handed the homework back to Suryeon.
"Erase everything you wrote for experiments, book reports, and experiences."
"...Okay."
"You have to do it yourself. Can't just copy others."
"...It was a hassle."
Turn—
Suryeon said that and turned her head away.
She was a bit sulky.
'I get how she feels. I copied from the internet back in the day too.'
I wasn't blameless, so I couldn't scold her harshly.
Lee Ha-jun patted Suryeon's head and said.
"It's a hassle, but it only means something if you do it yourself."
"..."
"On that note, there's experiential learning, right?"
"Yeah."
"Tell me where you want to go. Let's go together, Dad and you."
Experiential learning.
Go somewhere you want, write about what happened there.
At those words, Suryeon immediately named her choice.
"Mars."
"Huh?"
"I wanna go to Mars. Curious why that American dude's so obsessed with it."
"I'm curious too. But Mars might be too much."
Suryeon nodded at Lee Ha-jun's words.
"Yeah, probably. Aquarium instead."
"Yeah, that's better."
And so Lee Ha-jun and Suryeon decided to go to the aquarium together.
To avoid complaints about favoritism.
The other kids would go to places they wanted too.
Thus, the dragons' first summer vacation began.