The Dragon and Yet More Lunatics

Summer vacation.

Two weeks of the Osaka trip and the magic evaluation had eaten a little into the calendar, but the sky was still clear, the sun still brutal, and the weather still completely unhinged — peak summer-break season.

A few kids prepping for regular admissions were buried in hagwons or stuck at school grinding through study sessions, but that had nothing whatsoever to do with Ha-yan or me.

And this was also the season when Rhea made it her personal mission to steamroll me into company work.

Ha-yan was busy in her own way getting ready to receive those kids, and I was busy in mine, pinned down by Rhea processing corporate business. There wasn't even anything particularly urgent right now, so why was she like this?

"Please. Just this once, attend. There has been a powerful request from 'His Excellency.' It seems they have learned that Master's schedule is free this time. Of course I would rather not, but this time they appear to be holding something solid. The usual excuses will not cut it."

"How did they know that? Did you leak the info?"

"To doubt me like this, right here… If Master is going to be that suspicious, I have no choice. I shall abandon everything, leave the secular world, and retreat into the mountains…"

"Aaaah, okay, okay. I was kidding. Kidding."

"Was it truly a joke?"

"If I said there was about 0.1% sincerity in it, would you let it go?"

"That much would be diluted by the remaining 99.9% anyway, so I shall overlook it this time."

"Seriously. I can't tell who's the master and who's the subordinate anymore."

I took the official government notice Rhea handed me and heaved a long sigh. Then I stared at the document — which looked exactly like something a civil servant would send — and scratched my head.

"I'm already losing my mind with the Trio, so why is the government kicking up this fuss too?"

"Why do you think, Master? You have never watched the news once in your life, so of course you do not know. Their situation over there is… not good."

"Took a critical hit?"

"Something like that. Approval ratings are in the toilet. So they are gathering rich company CEOs and putting on a little show. 'Please do something about the economy~'"

Rhea spoke in a completely flat voice. Hearing her talk with that little emotion, she'd clearly suffered plenty over this particular agenda.

I looked over the document and decided to use a little magic to peek at the true intentions of the official who'd sent it and the president behind him. Ha-yan had told me not to use magic that controlled people's minds or thoughts unless absolutely necessary, but politicians were impossible to read from the outside. And I had zero desire to look at their faces anyway. I was also a little curious why the people who never said a word when I skipped before were making such a scene now.

My mana flew out for quite a while, seeking the civil servant who'd sent the notice and the politicians behind him, examining their hearts one by one. And the mana that came flying straight back brought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me—

"These lunatics???"

—a rage so enormous that the Trio's trip to Korea looked like a minor side episode by comparison.

"…So. This time, I'd like to openly receive a little help from Miss Ha-yan."

"Just how angry is Siu that Rhea, Sia, and Ho-jin all came looking for me? Bad enough that work's grinding to a halt?"

Having learned that Rhea had given instructions to another homunculus about lodging for the three kids soon arriving in Korea, I'd volunteered to take that work on myself — housing, belongings, school registration, that sort of thing. But out of nowhere these three showed up looking half-dead and asked me to help a little with company work, and I had no idea what was going on. This kind of thing almost never happened.

"Uuuugh… No one can even approach the top floor where Master's office and residence are. The mana pouring out is so strong I can't even…"

At my question, Ho-jin shuddered and answered with a horrified expression.

"M-Master getting this angry is a first even for Rhea and me… Rhea thinks the cause is this official notice. After Master looked at it, he closed his eyes for a moment and used some kind of magic, and it's been like this ever since."

"What kind of notice is it?"

I looked at Rhea and Sia and took the bundle of documents they held out. The first page was the typical format of an official government document — something I'd seen plenty of while helping with Siu's work. And on that first page was written:

I tilted my head slightly and asked Rhea.

"Isn't this the same notice from last year? Siu said he obviously didn't want to go and shredded it on the spot. There wasn't a peep after that. Isn't this the same annual notice?"

Rhea nodded.

"On the surface, yes. But judging by the magic Master used, I believe some rather insane business is going on behind the scenes this time."

"Insane business?"

"These are various details behind the event that we investigated separately after Master flew into a rage."

Rhea carefully handed me a tablet PC. I took it and began scrolling through the document on the screen. And what was written there made even me wrinkle my face.

Nearly every dark facet of the government and politicians was laid out in there. Of course, this wasn't the first time we'd received this kind of document and underhanded scheme. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that as Siu's company grew explosively, we'd weathered every dirty trick in the book. Back then, my mom had even given Siu open permission to use magic. After that warning, this kind of thing had stopped — but the newly elected people clearly hadn't been properly briefed on those previous warnings.

Confirming the underworld story on the tablet with my own eyes, I could roughly guess which part had made Siu explode with rage.

"Looks like some people, whoever they are, have roughly figured out that Siu's weakness is me."

"…Are those bastards insane?"

"Either insane, or they genuinely believe they've got a firm leash ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in hand."

I handed the PC back to Rhea.

"The magic Siu used was probably… something that checks minds or emotions. By now, even while furious, he's probably already figured out roughly everything."

"Already?"

I shrugged at Rhea's words.

"It's not just anyone. They tried to mess with me. You don't think Siu's going to leave them alone, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do you?"

"At minimum, death?"

"That's a given, but I have to stop him as much as I can. Killing them won't solve this. I should head over myself. You three should be able to go up by now. He's not the type to completely lose his head, and this isn't his first time dealing with something like this."

I quickly wrapped up the conversation, threw on some clothes, and teleported the three of them with me to the company building. And the three of them could feel it immediately.

"Huh? For real…"

"His mana's back to normal."

"Ugh. I'll start with the ones who fainted."

I quickly parted ways with the three and boarded the elevator headed for the building's rooftop.

"Ugh. My head."

Having briefly lost consciousness in the violent storm of mana, I finally managed to come back to my senses. Unlike before, my mana hadn't completely exploded and trashed the office, but the side effect was a mild headache. Not that there was zero reason for it. Just what the hell were these people thinking, trying to take Ha-yan away from me?

My weakness? Ha-yan? Well, that wasn't wrong. Without Ha-yan, I had no intention of living in this world. But that meant forcing Ha-yan into some party that might as well become their mass grave? Without me knowing? Using their pathetic little "power"? And then take control of me and my company? Create slush funds? Nationalize the company?

Were they all complete lunatics? Communists? Is this North Korea?

"Stop. Stop thinking. Just because you peeked with magic doesn't mean everything is the truth."

"…When did you get here?"

"Just now. How deep were you concentrating that you didn't even notice me come in?"

"That's… uh. Hmm…"

Faced with Ha-yan's sudden appearance, I briefly wondered what to say first. Ha-yan and her mother had taught me all kinds of social common sense and a few absolute principles I had to keep. The most important among them: no matter how thoroughly magic could erase every trace of evidence, never commit murder.

I was clearly a dragon, and humans were little more than lesser beings to me — but Mother had told me to think carefully. Just as the fact that I was a dragon would never change, the fact that Ha-yan and her mother were human would never change either. Even for criminals who'd committed the most unspeakable crimes, everything had to be handled according to rules and law. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the rule of the society I lived in, she'd taught me.

But this time… maybe it would be okay to break that rule? That enormous temptation was currently occupying my entire head.

Yet Ha-yan, who approached me with quick little steps, carefully sat herself on my lap as if she already knew everything and said:

"Even so, wrong is wrong. You know that, right?"

"…I know."

With just those words from Ha-yan, everything I'd been agonizing over scattered like the wind. But how did Ha-yan know I was struggling with this?

"Was it Rhea?"

"Rhea, and Sia, and Ho-jin. They came looking for me. Said there was nothing they could do at their level. And I heard roughly everything."

Hearing that she already knew all the information, I asked her sincerely.

"Can't I just do what I want this once? Last time I saw Mother watching politicians on the news, she was cursing them out something fierce. If they're the kind of people even she would genuinely curse, then with magic, one quick sweep…"

"Ahem. By that logic, what happens to Dad, who Mom is constantly grumbling and nagging about? Are you going to sweep him away too?"

"…"

Sunk by a single line from Ha-yan, I had nothing left to say. But as if she knew every corner of my heart, Ha-yan carefully stroked the horn that had sprouted on my head and said:

"Wrong is wrong. I understand that you're angry. I just saw the documents myself — those lunatics trying to grab me by the throat to get their hands on you."

"So you're just going to sit still? Do nothing? You saw the notice — this time there's no way we can refuse to go. And we still haven't figured out with magic what kind of leverage they're holding."

Whether she understood my frustration or not, Ha-yan was silent for a moment. Then she looked at me with an expression far more wicked than mine — or even Mother's — and said:

"When did I ever say I was going to sit still? They threw the first punch without even declaring war, and I'm supposed to just take it? In two weeks the Trio is coming back and we're already losing our minds getting ready for them, and those bastards decided to mess with us?"

"Oh my…"

Looks like Ha-yan was seriously pissed off too. I started carefully watching her expression, but her eyes had already gone full spiral.

"Eheheheh. Lunatics… If they want to walk into the tiger's den… no. The dragon's den on their own two feet, I won't stop them. I'll crunch them up nice and slow… eheheheheh…"

"Oh."

Damn.

Ha-yan was pissed too.

They're all dead.