The Dragon and the Mountain of Company Work
Even with a sudden guest, my company work kept right on going. No—looking back, it had never stopped in the first place.
"Does this go here?"
"Yes, that's correct. You're getting quite used to this, aren't you?"
"I put in a pretty solid amount of work at the company myself, you know? Been at it since middle school."
"True enough. Back then the number of homunculi wasn't nearly as high as it is now."
"You should've seen how shocked I was when Siu showed me the amount that hit my mom's account after his first investment. I'd never even seen a number that big on the internet."
"And with that money you raised this building, correct?"
"There was even some left over after that, so that says it all. Ah, should I put this one here? Looks like crypto-related documents."
"Thank you for your assistance."
And now that she was fully dressed and ready for the day, Ha-yan was helping Rhea with company work as well.
The appearance of a brief guest—or rather, an unwelcome visitor—had put Ha-yan in a slightly sour mood, but whether it was because I'd handled things reasonably well or not, her spirits bounced back to normal with surprising speed.
I kept finishing the paperwork that had piled up on my desk while Ha-yan sorted those same documents with Rhea so each department could collect what it needed.
Ha-yan had been so thoroughly seasoned by company work that she needed no further coaching from Rhea; her hands moved with brisk, practiced efficiency.
If the discovery of the mana stone had twisted events or sent them careening in some strange direction, something else might have happened. In the end, though, nothing much had changed.
What, teach Ha-yan extra magic just to snag more points under the slightly revised evaluation system?
With teleport magic alone she could crush every kid who scraped together bonus points. Was there any real need to take risks? Besides, Ha-yan simply wasn't using magic much right now because of her mother; she had already mastered most spells.
So after trading opinions we decided to keep doing exactly as we had been.
And "exactly as we had been" included company work.
"Huh? This document's entirely in English. Should I try out the translation magic for the first time in a while?"
Among the papers Ha-yan was sorting were documents from foreign companies, written one hundred percent in English. And the content was—
"Let's see… Hmm? Wall Street is still sending investment proposals?"
"They're investment proposals for now, at least. Up until a year ago they kept raising the offer and telling us to sell the company."
The Americans really did have a stubborn streak of their own.
Even after we said we wouldn't sell, they kept sending documents until it became exhausting. Now that our company had grown too large for them to swallow whole, they were asking us to grow their money for them instead.
I shrugged at Ha-yan's question.
"You know too, Ha-yan. Money doesn't mean much to us anyway."
"True. After all, with your foresight you can turn a hundred won into ten billion."
In fact, for any investment deal I was directly involved in, even Rhea never interfered. My foresight ability probably wasn't meant for this, but it worked ridiculously well in that area.
Just the American stock market alone could shake the entire world, so my foresight exerted far too much influence.
Yet when it came to predicting Ha-yan's mood the next day, the same ability told me absolutely nothing.
"Don't we have to finish all this before we leave for Japan? Once we're there we won't be able to do company work for a while."
"But you never know when company work is going to show up."
"Not even with your foresight?"
"My foresight seems to have decided that company work isn't that big of a problem."
"That's a little disappointing."
"Same here."
It was useless the moment I truly needed it, but without that ability I never would have been able to live this leisurely life, so I didn't have any major complaints.
Once the last remaining tasks were cleared away, the next set of problems arrived.
This time the focus wasn't on "investment" but on "the company" itself.
The scale of our company.
Uh… so… how big was it again?
As I sat there staring blankly at the HR documents that had suddenly landed in my hands, Rhea approached with a look of mild disbelief and began rattling information off at machine-gun speed.
"Currently the number of employees working in this building is approximately one hundred homunculi and about four hundred regular human staff. The number of employees spread across the country or overseas is roughly the same. To sum up: around two hundred homunculi and about eight hundred regular employees. Just comparing headcount, we can't match a typical large corporation, but our sales and net profits rank among the top not only in South Korea but worldwide."
"Whoa~~ It grew enormously without me noticing? That's why the lobby has all those coffee shops and snack stores?"
"Most of them are operated at almost no profit for the welfare of company employees, but that level of welfare is only 'natural.' Ah. Of course Master is fully aware of all this, correct?"
Rhea said it with a gentle smile.
But I knew. That "smile" held a test for me.
And when it came to every part of the company besides investments—
"Umm…. Y-yeah? O-of course, right?"
"…Siu?"
I had left roughly 99.9 percent of it entirely in Rhea's hands, so I had nothing to say and nothing I could say. You need to know something before you can talk about it. Even a dragon can't claim knowledge he doesn't possess.
Ha-yan, who had clearly noticed me subtly avoiding Rhea's gaze, looked thoroughly disappointed as she spoke.
"There are eight hundred people receiving salaries and dedicating their lives to this company, and Siu doesn't care about them at all? Including their families, there are over two thousand people whose livelihoods are hanging by a thread on this place…?"
"No. Uh. Well. You see…"
Just because I only ever showed myself getting close to about four humans—Choi Hoon, Do Ji-yeon, Ha-yan, and Ha-yan's mother—
I am a dragon. And though I'm the only dragon left in this world, dragons have various well-known "habits."
This was only prediction through novels, but one thing was certain.
Dragons instinctively recognize humans as an inferior species.
And from my own feeling, the place of humans among those inferior species sat even lower than ordinary animals.
So how could I converse normally with other humans at all?
Obviously thanks to Ha-yan's mother's education.
And now I was reaping the full karma of having ignored company affairs and every human outside my immediate circle all this time.
"Furthermore, because of Master's awareness like this, for major HR matters and any place where Master needs to show his face in company management, our company is treated almost like a ghost corporation. Ordinary employee promotions I can handle based on basic evaluation data, but I can't exactly go out for recruiting new staff or appearing in financial circles, can I?"
"Rhea, you can just transform with magic and go…"
"Ahaha. So that method exists. Then you're saying I can use magic to alter my body and attend the worldwide company gatherings that make up most of our external schedule? How would I know which overseas firms have mages mixed in? Master, who stands above every mage on Earth in magical ability, would have no problem, but I can only use magic to the extent of defending my body and hiding or changing it. If something major happens there and my identity is exposed, what becomes of our company's standing? My my. Hearing Master's current thoughts, I should call Ha-yan's mother right this moment for another proper round of education…"
"Aaaah!! My fault! One hundred percent my faaault!!!!"
The instant Rhea pulled out her phone to call Ha-yan's mother, I lunged forward and stopped the hand holding the device.
I could have used magic, but long years of human living meant acting with my body came first.
Rhea looked back and forth between my slightly twisted face and her captured hand with her usual cool, expressionless face, then said:
"Even if Master is my master, I am female in appearance. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from randomly grabbing another woman's hand like this in front of Lady Ha-yan, your partner."
"First! First put the phone down a bit and let's talk, okay? I'll cleanly finish every bit of company work by today or tomorrow. Okay? Got it?"
"Those are good words and a good attitude. But today alone might not be enough."
"I know! I know, so just!!!"
"If you insist. Understood."
When Rhea casually lowered her hand and slipped the phone away again, I could finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Did you see? Even though I had a bit much work, it seems the two of you can date quite boldly at the company."
"Ehehe. Thanks, Rhea. Ah, you said the other company people think I look like I'm in my twenties, right?"
"Of course. And since Lady is naturally appointed as the vice chairman of our company, there is absolutely no problem with you going around with Master."
"But… once Siu finishes all the work, what are you going to do, Rhea?"
"If Master is working, then of course I should rest, shouldn't I? When else would I get a chance to experience rest if not an opportunity like this?"
"…You planned this?"
"Hehe. Of course. Thanks to Lady, I'll be able to rest well this weekend."
"…Evil."
"The one who created this personality of mine is Master. You can take it up with him. Well then, I'll be going…"
And with that, Rhea winked once at Lee Ha-yan and used teleport to vanish in an instant.