The Dragon and the Foreseeable Ending
The mana detection device whirred to life with its usual hum, but the number of lights blooming across its screen was incomparable to anything before.
Until moments ago it had displayed the entire world map. Now it was locked onto just the Korean Peninsula—specifically the half that was South Korea—and far more points were glittering than ever before.
Naturally, compared to China and Japan on either side, it was still next to nothing. Even so, it was completely different from how things used to be.
It had happened suddenly, but Rhea, grasping the gravity of the situation and snapping back into work mode, stared at the screen in silence before turning to me.
"How... did you know about this?"
"...If I told you that the grandparents of a friend I've been hanging out with for years are wizards I never even knew about—wizards who rank among the most outstanding I've ever met—would you believe me?"
"Who would say such a... ahem. Right. That isn't what's important right now."
Rhea, startled for an instant, had been about to press me further, but the weight of the matter closed her mouth again.
Yeah. Right now, who told me wasn't the important part.
Turning back to the screen, she spoke with a faintly incredulous look.
"Still, there were more of them than I expected. But why have they all been living without showing the slightest sign of being wizards? Doesn't that run completely counter to how wizards everywhere else cluster together?"
"Well. I can't exactly ask every single one of them what they were thinking... but it's not like I don't understand."
"What do you mean by that?"
"There's a reason."
Since Rhea still had no idea I had spoken with those two that morning, her eyes went wide as she asked again. I had no intention of answering.
There was something more important right now.
"For now, put everything else on hold and start with this. If you carefully comb the places where those points are, you might turn up more mana stones."
"What is that supposed to— Haah. Understood. Let's begin."
Rhea looked ready to question me again, but once she decided my mind was made up she immediately got to work.
Even I wasn't one hundred percent certain yet.
Ancient nature. Mana stones. The only wizards of South Korea, living in hiding.
And what those two had told me.
"The reason the Korean Peninsula was targeted by the wizards around it... Hmm."
Getting the picture? No? Then never mind.
I dumped a mountain of work on Rhea and returned to my vacation.
"A curse... There has to be curse magic out there somewhere... One of these days I will absolutely..."
Dodging Rhea, who was muttering that while glaring at me with dead eyes after only a few hours, I fled straight back to the Gangwon-do villa.
After working for so long and coming back, the sun was about to rise.
As a dragon I could go a week without sleep and still be fine, so the next day's schedule wouldn't be too rough.
But it was still the middle of the night.
I carefully approached Ha-yan, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and slipped under the covers beside her.
There had been a brief ruckus earlier thanks to a certain dragon's intellectual curiosity, but that noise had been Rhea's alone. Ha-yan was still deeply asleep.
She claimed otherwise, but she had been running around in the water all yesterday. There was no way she wasn't exhausted.
As I inched closer, Ha-yan—who had been showing me her back—immediately rolled over and latched onto me like a body pillow, as if north and south poles had suddenly aligned.
Her face, blank until I arrived, lit up the moment she hugged me, the way it did after eating something delicious.
And still she refused to wake.
Then, still clinging tightly, she began groping around the base of my spine as if searching for something.
With a stranger it would have been an "Oh my god!" moment. Between Ha-yan and me, though...
I shifted just enough to let my sleek dragon tail slip free from the base of my spine.
The instant she felt that smooth, soft length,
"Ehehe..."
she smiled in her sleep and started stroking it all over again.
Every so often I would bring out my dragon tail or wings for her to touch, and she always loved it.
If she hunted for it even in her dreams, that said everything.
Summer dawn light began to filter through the blackout curtains, but I had no intention of waking her just yet.
I stayed like that for a long time, soaking in her warmth while she stroked me.
Sounds perverted?
Shut it.
"So. What's the plan for today?"
On the school trip I had controlled every schedule and herded everyone around. This time I wasn't the main character.
"Hmm. Well, we've come all the way to Gangneung. Just sitting in this villa the whole time feels a little off, doesn't it? Grandfather said he'd assign us a driver, so maybe we should hit some of the nearby spots. While we're out we could look at the ocean too?"
"Why is that a question?"
"Even if I decide, you all still have to agree. Same goes for the juniors."
After a long stretch of soaking up Ha-yan's warmth, we only came to our senses once the sun was high overhead. We knocked out a quick brunch and started talking about the rest of the trip.
We had come to the villa to play, sure, but the idea of spending the entire three nights and four days just here felt like a waste of time.
Who said that? Do Ji-yeon.
And who immediately shot back?
"If we came to a villa, aren't we supposed to just rest here? Going out again in this heat?"
"You wanna go out, or you wanna go home?"
"..."
A counter that never stood a chance.
Having sunk Choi Hoon with a single line, Do Ji-yeon turned her gaze on the trio and asked them next.
Honestly, the three of them had come along, but until now they had been treated like quiet extras tagging behind us.
There was no way someone as energetic as Do Ji-yeon—MBTI pure EEEE—would leave kids like that alone.
"Isn't there anywhere you want to go? We left Seoul and came all the way out here, so we should enjoy everything we can before we head back! Once we get home, school starts soon, you know? You understand perfectly well that even if you suddenly want to come back after the semester starts, it won't do any good, right?"
"Uh... um..."
"Th-that's true, isn't it?"
"R-right. School really is that kind of place..."
They must have forgotten in all the fun.
Among the three whose faces briefly darkened at Do Ji-yeon's pointed reminder, Lily spoke up.
"Th-then how about this place...?"
"Where? You actually have somewhere you want to visit? Didn't you say this is your first time in Korea?"
"W-we searched hard among ourselves before we came. About Gangneung."
"Let's see... Hmm? How do you even know about this place?"
"Ahaha... The internet is pretty good these days."
At Do Ji-yeon's question, Teave answered with an awkward smile.
Ha-yan slipped in between them, glanced at the phone Lily was holding out, and said,
"Anban...degi? What kind of place is that?"
"Hehe. But it's a fantastic choice. Perfect for summer! Let's head out first! I already told the driver to wait for us, so we can leave right away!"
The trio looked bright-eyed, Ha-yan and I looked completely lost, and Choi Hoon was already being frog-marched by the nape of his neck the same as always. Just like that, our real sightseeing schedule began.
Doing this made me think of the school trip all over again.
Those crazy old wizard fogeys aren't going to pull another stunt and call me again, right?
Don't raise flags?
Yes, ma'am...
We walked a short way from the villa, climbed into the car of the driver who had been waiting just as Do Ji-yeon said, and while we rode I searched diligently on my phone.
"Anban...degi... Elevation eleven hundred meters... Highest inhabited place in South Korea... Cool enough even in midsummer for highland cabbage to grow, and wide open... Ooh. You guys picked a good one."
"Ahaha. Thank you."
"But how did you even find out about this place? You said you haven't been in Korea long."
Teave, sitting in the middle seat, answered my and Choi Hoon's questions with a slightly awkward smile.
"The day before we left we searched hard among ourselves. We looked up all kinds of YouTube videos and reviews from people from our country who'd traveled to Korea. Surprisingly, a lot of them had been to Gangneung."
"Right. There's a KTX from Seoul Station to Gangneung Station."
"Still, even I who lived my whole life in Korea am hearing about Anbandegi for the first time. Cha Siu, same for you, right?"
"Exactly. At first I had no idea what Do Ji-yeon was even talking about."
It was a place name I had genuinely never heard before.
But when I looked it up, it actually ranked among the popular tourist spots.
Especially if you went around summer, the write-ups said the scenery and cool breeze were absolutely killer.
Choi Hoon, who had been searching just as hard as me, spoke up.
"Here... there's a cafe that only opens at exactly this time of year. The one observation deck they used to have has been closed, though."
"Huh? Really? I heard that place was the best for stargazing at night."
"Even if it's a shame, nothing we can do. On one hand I think it's actually fortunate..."
Choi Hoon said, lips sticking out in a pout.
I stared at him, then asked,
"Why? Scared Do Ji-yeon will grab you and throw a tantrum to make you show her the stars?"
But the words that came out of his mouth only made me more speechless.
"No? Do Ji-yeon grabbing me by the collar and shaking me around is just daily life, so I don't particularly care. I'm just glad I won't have to shove my way through the crowd of people at that observation deck to climb up."
"...Just what kind of image of Do Ji-yeon do you have in your head?"
"Can't you tell by looking? I'm her punching bag. It's not like I can hit her back either. How am I supposed to hit a girl? And she's a friend."
"...She is a friend, right?"
"You. What exactly are you trying to say right now?"
Choi Hoon immediately sensed the pitying realization that had begun to bubble up inside me and shot me a warning glare.
Since I didn't particularly want to poke the bear either, I left it there.
But what could I do? I could already see exactly how this was going to end.