The Dragon and the Horse Ranch
Clip-clop clip-clop clip-clop clip-clop
Thump-thump-thump-thump
"Ugh. Ah. Oooh. Ah!"
The horse that had been walking gently at first began to pick up a little speed as the riding grounds came into view ahead of it.
And Ha-yan, perched on its back, was making strange noises in time with the horse's bouncing gait.
Before that, the riding grounds we were walking toward under the owner's guidance were about a thirty-minute walk away, but I had casually cast a little magic on the other kids. After all, the horses had come because of me, and we had already climbed Seongsan Ilchulbong before that—making them walk another half hour afterward meant I ought to take care of their fatigue, right?
Maybe that was why Do Ji-yeon was...
"This! Is! Going! To! Make! Me! So! Mad!!"
"Ack! Oof! Ugh! Ah! Gack! S-someone! Help! Gack!!"
...cheerfully thrashing Choi Hoon, who had teased her yet again, to a lively jangdan beat as they walked. In the middle of their otherwise peaceful progress, Choi Hoon had run his mouth in a weird way again.
What did he say, again?
"No, seriously!! It's true! Gah!! Did I say anything wrong?!"
"Wrong or not! I'm a girl too, you know! How can you say something like that in front of a woman?!"
"What do you mean 'something like that'! Just look—the horse's important bit is dangling and... Gaaah!!!"
"Just shut uuuup!!"
Hmm. If I keep going any further here, the words that would turn this into an R-rated scene in an instant are overflowing, so I'd better cut it short.
Anyway. Choi Hoon, who had misspoken once, spent the entire walk getting beaten by Do Ji-yeon.
And when the riding grounds came into our view, the owner casually asked me—who clearly looked like the leader of our group. Not only that, he seemed to have instantly noticed that Ha-yan and I were not just ordinary friends.
"Would it be all right if I picked up the pace a little for the horse this young lady—Lee Ha-yan, was it?—is riding? It's already a bit fast as it is. Ah, of course, there won't be any danger at all. We're almost there, too."
"If Ha-yan says it's okay, then I'm fine with it."
"Ah, I see. Understood."
Having gotten my permission that wasn't quite permission, the owner said something to Ha-yan, who was still bouncing along with bright, sparkling eyes, and soon, with a clip-clopping sound, the owner, the horse, and Ha-yan atop it pulled away from us at a rapid pace.
I approached the two who were still scuffling and said,
"You two stop fighting already. What kind of scene are you making in front of the owner? Let's hurry up and get to the horseback riding experience too."
"Tsk. Fine. Nowhere left to hit him anyway. Even if we've known each other a long time, what's with asking about a horse's genitals right in front of a girl? So annoying..."
Do Ji-yeon, still not fully cooled down, glared at Choi Hoon once more and then darted into the riding grounds with quick steps.
Choi Hoon rubbed the solar plexus where Do Ji-yeon had last hit him and asked me,
"Did I really mess up that badly?"
I looked at him with a sincerely dumbfounded expression and shot back,
"Are you seriously asking because you don't know?"
"No... it's not like I made some R-rated sex joke... I just, uh. It was so big I wondered if she'd seen it too, so I asked..."
"You. Seriously. Can't you please use a little of that awareness you show between me and Ha-yan in places like this?"
"Then I wouldn't be getting beaten by Ji-yeon right now. Honestly, after I said it I thought 'oh crap,' but the words were already out."
"...What a hopeless guy."
I finally gave up on Choi Hoon and headed into the riding grounds.
There was no hope for that guy.
"Uwaaaaaaah~~~!!!"
The moment we stepped into the riding grounds, a strange scream mixed with fear and delight rang out.
"I'm jealous... I want to ride like Ha-yan too."
"...Me too."
Do Ji-yeon and Choi Hoon, as if they had never been fighting, leaned against the fence outside the arena where Ha-yan was galloping on the horse and watched her with envious eyes.
Until we entered the grounds, the horse had been bouncing along at a light run, but the moment it entered the riding arena it went completely wild—and of course, Ha-yan on top of it went wild right along with it.
But this did not seem like a situation we could just stand around watching, did it?
"Stop~~!! Please stooooooop!!!!"
And naturally, the horse's owner was going wild too. If Ha-yan fell off that horse, everything that had brought us here would turn into a complete mess—not to mention the moral and financial responsibility he would have to bear. So the owner's mind was clearly running just as wild as the situation right now.
Hmm. No choice then.
I began drawing up my mana, secretly so Do Ji-yeon and Choi Hoon, who were watching Ha-yan with anxious eyes, wouldn't notice, and shot my mana straight at the rampaging horse with a clear warning.
If you keep thrashing around any more, I'll turn you into a delicious-smelling whole roast horse right this second.
And very firmly. In a pitch so low Ha-yan had never heard it from me. In a completely emotional voice that meant I really would do it if he messed up.
The moment the mana reached him—
Screeeeeech~!!
Just like a car leaving skid marks as it slammed to a stop, the horse dragged its footprints long across the ground and halted at once.
"Eunyahhh!!!"
And Ha-yan, who had been about to tumble forward, I barely managed to hold in place with my mana.
"Hah... huff, huff... Th-that bastard. Finally stopped. Are you all right, student? You're not hurt, are you?"
"Huh? Ueh... Y-yes. I-I'm fine!"
Ha-yan had clearly felt something catch her, but after confirming there was nothing behind her, she immediately looked my way and shot me a wink with trembling eyes.
Even if she was pretending otherwise, it must have been a little scary.
"Whew, whew..... C-can I get down now?"
"Oh my! Of course! Come down slowly!"
And the moment I heard Ha-yan was getting down, I immediately vaulted over the fence of the riding grounds and ran to stand beneath her.
"Hmm? S-suddenly? This is embarrassing..."
Ha-yan, seeing me approach in an instant and reach out to hold her, fidgeted a little shyly, glancing at the owner.
But I spoke boldly.
"What's the big deal? The owner already seems to know everything. Right, sir?"
"Huh? Aha. Hahaha. Of course. With the two of you exchanging such warm, steamy looks, how could I not know? And who would object to a handsome young man and a lovely young lady sending signals that they're dating?"
"See?"
"Mm... Th-then, excuse me for a moment."
Only then did Ha-yan reach her hands toward me as well, and I slipped my hands under her arms to lift her down. Ha-yan, still a bit stiff, settled naturally into my arms.
The owner watched our little lovey-dovey moment with a pleased look, then, as if something occurred to him, grabbed the horse's reins and hurried into the stable as he spoke.
"I'll bring out a gentler one. If you'd like to watch, feel free to come inside and take a look."
"Ooooh! If that's the case, thank you so much!!!"
"Hey, hey! Do Ji-yeon! Wait up!!"
But the ones who reacted first to the owner's words weren't me or Ha-yan—it was Do Ji-yeon and Choi Hoon.
Ha-yan, still blankly nestled in my arms, smiled sweetly and said to me,
"Shall we go too? It got a little scary at the end, but the horses are cute!"
"Of course, then."
I set Ha-yan gently on the ground, took her hand lightly, and went into the stable together.
"Hey. Working hard?"
"Ah. Captain. You're here?"
Rhea, who had driven the vehicle away from Cha Siu's group, parked in a suitable spot and immediately cast teleport. The place she teleported to was the information gathering room in one corner of the company building.
It was called the information gathering room, but in reality—
"Digging through it again? You've hacked so much that everything's practically transparent by now."
"Shut it. No matter how many times I dig, new stuff always comes up. Just how interested was this place called Earth in a creature called dragons?"
"Aigoo. Tell me about it. And why am I stuck here just pounding on a computer..."
—it was more like a dragon archive that managed every piece of data on Earth related to dragons.
All the dragon-related materials found so far were organized in data form and as magically processed documents, and even now the information was pouring in in real time. And several homunculi stationed around the world were sending physical materials that couldn't be found on the internet in real time as well.
Rhea had visited often enough that she was already familiar with the woman in charge here.
"It's not anything that serious this time. I just need to know what kind of relationship the creature called dragons had with animals."
"...Animals? Did the Master suddenly decide to keep a dog or a cat or something?"
"No, not that. He's on Jeju Island right now, and he said some horse there was coming on really aggressively. It seemed pretty wild, too."
"Hmm. He's always been popular with pets, but that's a bit unexpected. I thought wild animals wouldn't approach because of the mana."
"Exactly. Just look into it."
"Yes. One moment."
Once the conversation with Rhea ended, she began tapping rapidly on the computer.
And after barely five minutes—
"Hmm... There are some materials that say that, but usually dragons became objects of fear to every animal except themselves."
"Right? Yeah, that makes sense. Just thinking of Master's appearance when he was a dragon still makes my legs go weak."
"That's right. Rhea-nim, you've seen that form too, haven't you?"
"Well, we'll talk about that later. So basically no other content, right?"
Rhea quickly steered the conversation away, still a little scared thinking back on that time.
The employee who had delivered the "same as before" content tilted her head a little and passed on something else to Rhea.
"That's how it is for 'dragon' content. But when you express the word 'dragon' in Korean, what does it become?"
"Dragon? Uh... yong?"
"That's right. If you search for 'yong,' a bit of different content comes up. Especially centered on East Asia over here."
"...Just give it to me on a tablet. I'll pass it to Master."
"Understood. I'll give you the compiled version."
At the unexpected story, Rhea began thinking first about how to time the delivery—
and at that same moment,
our Cha Siu party was—
"So good."
"Crazy good."
"Om nom nom."
"This. Is secretly a delicacy, huh?"
—committing the insane act of eating horse meat tartare right in front of the horses.