The Dragon and the Uninvited Guest
Nothing much happened on the plane.
Well—nothing major by Ha-yan’s and my standards, at least.
Ha-yan and I had flown before, so there was no reason for either of us to make a fuss.
Do Ji-yeon, however, was another story entirely.
“Huh? Why are you taking your shoes off all of a sudden, Ji-yeon?”
“Huh?”
“Uh?”
“Eh?”
“Pfft!!”
“…Choi Hoon~~!!!!!!! You son of a bitch!!!!”
Apparently, after hearing that this was Do Ji-yeon’s first time on a plane, Choi Hoon had hit her with that infamous line.
That explained a lot. She hadn’t seemed to know much about the duty-free shops either—so this really was her first flight.
Do Ji-yeon, who had been about to casually slip her shoes off right in front of the aircraft, took one look at Ha-yan’s reaction, jammed them straight back on, and then proceeded to beat the absolute living daylights out of Choi Hoon with every ounce of sincerity she possessed. Choi Hoon only barely managed to survive until takeoff.
There was a bit of that sort of chaos in the middle, but the flight itself wasn’t long.
After roughly an hour in the air, our school’s students landed safely at Jeju International Airport.
From there we were scheduled to ride a bus as a group the rest of the way to the hotel.
“Once we get to the hotel and drop off your personal luggage, you’re completely free. Just make it back to the hotel restaurant by three in the afternoon on Friday when we leave. Until then, wherever you go and whatever sightseeing you do is entirely up to each group, so discuss it properly and stick to your plans. When we get inside I’ll introduce the vehicle and driver assigned to each group, so just listen to me until then, all right? Especially you two—Choi Hoon. Do Ji-yeon. Got it? Don’t make me lose face in front of the hotel staff too, yeah? The flight attendants were more than enough.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Yesss!!!!”
“Do Ji-yeon! Stop hitting him!!”
“Yes, sir!!”
Wham!!
“Gyaaaah!!!”
“…Fine. Hit him. Hit him more. Just kill him already. Kill him.”
Our homeroom teacher completely gave up trying to stop Do Ji-yeon, cast one last pitying glance at Choi Hoon, and climbed down from the bus.
“Ugh! Kack! Graaah!! S-save me!! Ack! Urgh! Ugh!!!”
Teacher or no teacher, Do Ji-yeon simply continued to give Choi Hoon her absolute best effort.
Choi Hoon frantically flashed SOS signals at Ha-yan and me, but—
“You brought this on yourself.”
“You messed up, so deal with it.”
—the two of us refused to so much as glance at the back seat all the way to the hotel.
“Urgh… uuup… m-my solar plexus… I’ve been hit so many times I think I’m gonna puke…”
“You’ve got a pretty good chin, huh? Taking that many shots to the gut and only feeling like throwing up?”
“Whoa… no way. It’s a five-star hotel! We’re seriously staying here for five days? Right? Come on, let’s go in already, Ha-yan!!”
“Y-yeah! Siu, we’re just gonna drop our bags and come right back down!!”
Ha-yan had already spent plenty of time in our house—which was nicer, sturdier, and far more comfortable than any five-star hotel—thanks to me, so the place didn’t particularly impress her. Do Ji-yeon was a different matter.
The moment they confirmed their room numbers and finished check-in, Do Ji-yeon grabbed Ha-yan’s hand and vanished toward their room.
I dragged Choi Hoon—still massaging his solar plexus—up to ours as well.
Ding!
The elevator doors slid open with a cheerful chime. We unlocked the door with the keycard and stepped into a clean, tidy, perfectly ordinary twin room.
Still, the two of us were just ordinary Korean high-school boys.
“Whoa. Money really is the best, huh?”
“No kidding. Let’s just drop the bags for now. We’ve gotta head straight back down. You’re not changing clothes, right?”
“Why would I? We can gawk at the room later when we get back.”
Choi Hoon marveled at the room for a moment, but it wasn’t anything over-the-top. We left our luggage and immediately headed back down to the hotel lobby.
The girls’ room must have been on a lower floor, because Do Ji-yeon and Ha-yan had already finished unpacking and were wandering around the lobby, thoroughly distracted by the sights.
Once the rest of the students had gathered as well, our homeroom teacher called everyone together again.
Lined up behind him were the people who looked to be the drivers assigned to each group.
Confirming that every student was present, the teacher drew their attention and began delivering the announcements.
“All right~ I get that you’re excited. I get that everything’s chaotic. But if you’re going to head out, you at least need introductions, right? No more beating around the bush—straight to the point. The driver in charge of Group 1…”
He began introducing the drivers assigned to each group one by one.
I, however, had been in an extremely foul mood long before the teacher even stepped forward.
Ha-yan had hooked her arm tightly through mine and kept gently kneading my hand the whole time, trying to calm me down—that’s how bad it was.
“Hiiing… d-don’t get too mad. She must’ve had a reason for doing it this way…”
“She still should’ve said something first.”
“M-maybe she wanted it to be a surprise~? Rhea does pull stunts sometimes, but she’s never done something without saying a word at all, right?”
“Tch… don’t tell me…”
The reason I was so irritated had nothing to do with the vehicles themselves.
Each group had been given a perfectly ordinary domestic seven-seater SUV—comfortable enough that four passengers plus the driver could ride in complete ease. That part was fine.
The problem was the driver.
“Looking forward to spending the day with you, students.”
“Tch.”
At a time when she should have been handling personal business either at the company or in the mana space beneath it, Rhea appeared right in front of Ha-yan and me. I immediately flicked my fingers and cast a spell.
“…We’re going. To the car.”
“…Got it. To the car.”
Choi Hoon and Do Ji-yeon, the light completely gone from their eyes, walked in a daze over to our group’s vehicle and climbed inside.
Only after casting another spell to keep the surrounding people’s attention off us did I finally address Rhea in a slightly lowered voice. She stood before me looking sharp, casually adjusting her sunglasses.
“What exactly are you thinking?”
“What would I be thinking? Even if I am merely an employee, there was no way I was going to let an opportunity this good simply slip by, was there?”
She was wearing a pair of sunglasses that looked far more expensive than the ones Do Ji-yeon had brought, a form-fitting sweater-like top that highlighted her figure, and perfectly tailored skinny jeans that showed off her legs. Rhea looked me straight in the eye as she spoke.
On top of that, I had no idea what she’d seen online or what magic she’d used, but her hair was cascading in silky, glossy waves.
Of course a girl’s eyes would notice that first. Ha-yan immediately scampered over to Rhea’s side and asked,
“What did you do to your hair? Is it some kind of magic? Or do you use a special shampoo or product?”
“Heavens, no, young miss. It’s naturally the effect of magic. Would you like me to cast it for you?”
“Yes yes! I haven’t learned all those everyday spells from Mom yet! I’d love it if you taught me!”
“…”
It felt like the main and supporting cast had somehow switched places, but Ha-yan looked so happy I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
Besides, getting angry now wouldn’t change a thing. Short of rewinding time itself to stop Rhea from coming here in the first place, there was nothing I could do—and the situation wasn’t nearly urgent enough to justify that kind of risk.
I walked over to Rhea, who was sprinkling a fine white glowing powder over Ha-yan, and said,
“That ‘last word’ of yours. You said it back there because I looked like I wasn’t going to listen, right?”
“Oh~ so you finally developed a bit of awareness. Let’s rewind your memory a little, shall we? I clearly said it, did I not? That I would see you soon on this trip.”
“Yeah… I’m the idiot. I’m the moron who didn’t listen and just walked off. No wonder the back of my head felt itchy…”
I let out a long sigh and hung my head. Rhea wore the expression of someone who had just won and began speaking with complete confidence.
“If you can’t avoid it anyway, why not simply enjoy it? With me here you can worry a little less about the young miss and fully enjoy the school trip, can you not?”
“I was planning to stick with her the whole time anyway.”
“Then kindly dispel the magic and let’s be on our way. Ah—I’ll properly cast the appropriate spells on the other two. They already know that Master and the young miss have connections to the investment firm, so guiding them in that direction should be sufficient, no?”
“Fine, fine. Do whatever you want. You already came here fully prepared, so why even bother asking my opinion?”
“I am merely a homunculus who follows Master’s orders, am I not?”
“Ugh, seriously. At least stop talking.”
In the end I threw up both hands in complete surrender.
There wasn’t much I could do about it now, and Rhea was right about one thing—having her around did put my mind a little more at ease.
Nothing particularly strange involving magic had happened during our school life so far, but recently there had been some odd incidents.
That bizarre mana stone still being researched in the basement of our company, for one.
It hadn’t posed any direct threat to Ha-yan’s safety, but the situation was unusual enough that I felt we needed to be prepared for anything.
I finally walked toward the car while releasing the surrounding magic.
The moment Ha-yan and I climbed in, the other two—who had completely forgotten their strange behavior—greeted us cheerfully and turned to Rhea as she took the driver’s seat.
“Thanks for doing this, driver! I can’t believe you like driving so much you took a side job like this.”
“With a face like yours, Noona, you could just post a few photos on social media and make side money easily, right?”
Under the spell’s influence, Do Ji-yeon and Choi Hoon now saw Rhea as nothing more than an ordinary mixed-race Korean company employee who happened to love driving and was picking up some extra work.
Rhea lowered her sunglasses slightly, smiled softly, and answered,
“Heh. Of course. That said, I simply don’t feel the need to put my face out there. I’ll be in your care this week, you lively high-schoolers. Now then—just as planned, we’re off to our first sightseeing spot~~~!”
“Let’s go!!”
“Yeeeaaah~~!!!”
“O-ooh!!!”
“…Tch.”
An unexpected uninvited guest had inserted herself into the picture, but the first day of the school trip—and the first sightseeing stop—had begun all the same.
Under a brilliantly clear sky, the vehicle carrying us began speeding smoothly down the roads of Jeju Island.