The Dragon and This Time, the Mountain
After hearing Ji-yeon's suggestion through Siu, I passed the news along to the kids who had been groaning over my homework in their own rooms. Their reactions were a little mixed.
Teave showed a touch of fluster and apology.
Lily perked up at the mention of a trip to a mountain villa.
Silvi tensed at the idea of meeting my friends.
Still, I had been pretty interested myself when I first heard Ji-yeon's invitation. Even if I had gotten a little closer to these kids, a bit of awkwardness lingered between us, and that was the truth.
As for Ji-yeon… well. Whether she set this up because she knew how I felt, or simply because she wanted to get on my good side, I couldn't say. Honestly, I leaned toward the latter.
Even so, for putting a gathering like this together, I could grant her one request later. After all, with Ji-yeon it was usually enough to buy her a heaping bowl of malatang.
It had been arranged on short notice, but Ji-yeon used her incredible gift of gab and that magnetic personality of hers to win the kids over in seconds.
"Hehehe. What cute kids. You're each a year younger than me, right? Ha-yan already dropped the formalities, so I'll drop them too. That's okay, right?"
"Yes, yes! Unnie! It's fine!"
Lily, the most outgoing of the three, answered at once with sparkling eyes.
"Y-yes… I like it too…"
Silvi nodded as well, looking as though she had just gained another kind unnie.
And Teave? Well. Siu would handle him just fine.
Once the quick introductions were done, Ji-yeon immediately held out her phone, collected the kids' numbers, and launched straight into a barrage of questions.
"But how did you end up getting so close with Ha-yan? I get that you came to study abroad, and that Ha-yan became your assigned mentor, but how? I've never once heard her apply for something like that."
Do Ji-yeon knew, as we had coordinated beforehand, that I was serving as mentor to the trio after they entered Korea. She simply didn't know the full story behind it yet. Back then we still hadn't settled on how to describe our exact relationship—mentor and mentees, and whatever else it might be.
But that was then. This was now.
Lily glanced at me for a cue, then tossed her blonde hair, beamed, and poured out the version of our story she had just finished organizing in her head.
"Ha-yan unnie's mother applied for it a while back. But applying doesn't mean you get a call right away. They check whether nearby schools can take transfer students, what the living situation is like, whether the student's age is a good fit—all of that—and only then make the assignment. So there was no news for years, and this time we just happened to get placed."
"Ahh, so that was it. Your mom going that route… hmm, hmm. She would, wouldn't she. She's always loved looking after people."
The cover story was airtight and completely blinded Do Ji-yeon. Lily shot me a little wink that said, Did I do good?
I smiled and stroked her hair.
When I first heard Ji-yeon's invitation I had hesitated a little over the tight timing, but a chance like this was welcome. When else would these kids get to experience something like this?
Teave would feel the same, right?
"Okay. Got him."
"Is this really all right? Ha-yan noona told us not to use magic in front of people if we could help it…"
"Heh. This guy's fine. You want me to explain every little thing the hard way? Just hit him with one clean spell and put him to sleep for a bit. His head might ache like a hangover, but for us this is the easiest and fastest method."
"Kueoooooo~~~"
"Oh? Snoring already?"
Teave sat there looking flustered, chewing snacks with a slightly awkward smile. Off to the side the girls seemed to be handling Do Ji-yeon with actual words, but for us that was never an option.
Why would I go through all that trouble for Choi Hoon? Honestly, even if I had explained everything out loud, this guy probably wouldn't have thought much of it either way.
Right now the only thing occupying his head was how he was going to talk to Lily and Silvi once we got to the villa. Nothing else.
And the moment we actually arrived, he would freeze up, stare blankly, and never manage a single word to them. That sudden crush of his would just evaporate on the spot. I had lived with this idiot for years—did he think I didn't know?
Besides, he had been put under like this plenty of times already, so he had built up a little resistance to magic. What else were friends for?
I shoved the snoring Choi Hoon, who had passed out cold, off to the side, resettled myself, and turned to Teave.
"Didn't the sudden call throw you off? The part about going on a trip with ordinary people instead of other mages."
Teave finished chewing, cleared his mouth, and answered.
"Not exactly thrown off. Just a little sudden. Everyone was busy with the homework Ha-yan noona gave us, just eating whatever in their rooms."
"What kind of homework? Ha-yan said she wasn't going to assign anything difficult on the magic side until you all settled into school life."
"Ahaha. It wasn't that. It was about high school life. We've never attended a regular high school—not here, and not back home either."
"Ah. That? What's so hard about it?"
"We've never even seen a school that ordinary people go to, let alone attended one."
The not-really-homework Ha-yan had given them was simpler than it sounded. Each of them had to think through various situations that could happen to "normal" high school students—at school, in class, hanging out with friends—and write down how they would handle them without using magic.
Teave showed me the list. There were several scenarios that would have been real headaches for anyone who had only ever lived in the mage world.
"On top of that she banned everyday magic use, so everyone was even busier trying to adapt."
"Not frustrating?"
"Not really. Refreshing, I guess?"
"Good. That's good to hear."
By now I had no intention of telling these kids to pack up and go home, or of staring at them with cold eyes. They had turned out not to be bad kids at all—they kept their polite speech, and they kept secrets.
"And this trip is something we're grateful for. We were starting to feel it would be a waste to come all the way to Korea just to go back and forth between the house and school. Lily and Silvi were getting a little restless too."
"Yeah, yeah. There's so much to eat and see in Korea. It's not like you're only here a day or two. Have fun this time. Watch your mouths, though. You're in charge of Lily and Silvi, got it? I won't be babysitting you even here. I can trust you, right?"
"Ahaha. Of course."
"Good, good."
Yeah. This Teave kid actually seemed to have a brain on his shoulders. Honestly—
"Kueoooooo…."
—compared to the damn friend currently snoring right next to me.
It may have been a suddenly decided domestic trip, but riding a train still felt wonderful. That went for me and for the others alike.
Of course, Rhea's screams as she once again found herself stuck handling every last thing at the company were none of my business.
We boarded the KTX from Seoul Station bound for Gangneung, snacked and chatted happily the whole way, and before long we arrived at our first stop: Gangneung Station.
And it was summer.
Gangneung Station was packed with people heading out to enjoy the East Sea beaches. A top-tier handsome male student and a beautiful female student, an ordinary-looking guy and girl, a male student who looked foreign at a glance, plus a blonde and a silver-haired girl—glancing around, I could already feel countless pairs of eyes locking onto us with interest.
I let out a long sigh, flicked my fingers, and cast.
My mana spread wide, and the glances that had been flicking our way vanished in an instant. The trio shot startled looks at me behind Ji-yeon and Hoon's backs, while Ha-yan simply nodded with an expression that said, As expected of our Siu.
Apparently, casting magic over such a wide area was supposed to be a high-difficulty spell or something.
While I was temporarily driving away the surrounding gazes, Do Ji-yeon finished the call she had been deep in and walked over.
"Grandpa said he'll send a car. He wants us to wait a little at a nearby café. Traffic's bad, so it'll be later than expected."
We moved at once and filed into a café near the station.
The weather had started going completely insane, but the only ones actually suffering from the heat were Ji-yeon and Hoon.
Me, Ha-yan, and the kids?
Did you miss what happened in Osaka? We have perfect temperature magic, thank you very much. We couldn't survive summer without it.
Still, not sweating a single drop in this heat could raise real suspicion from Ji-yeon and Hoon, so I forced a little sweat into existence, pretended to wipe it with a handkerchief, and asked her,
"How much farther do we still have to go? All we've heard is that the villa is somewhere in Gangneung."
Do Ji-yeon puffed out her chest with great confidence.
She clearly meant to look proud and imposing, but she had been dragging a mountain of luggage and was sweating so hard her face was practically wallpapered with it. The effect was less than majestic. Ha-yan seemed to notice too, glancing at her with a faintly awkward expression.
Still, Ji-yeon pressed on boldly.
"Hehehe!!! Even if Cha Siu and Ha-yan run some huge company and come from money, I bet you've never seen a villa like this one!"
Just how incredible was this place for her to sound that sure of herself?
Ha-yan and I laced our fingers together and traded quiet guesses through magic voice, but we couldn't pin down an exact answer.
Meanwhile Choi Hoon, who had been quietly sucking down an Americano, grumbled with a thoroughly unimpressed look.
"…I hate the sight of it."
…Aren't you taking this a little too seriously, my friend?