Field Training in Chaos (5)
As we headed toward Regal Might's office, I spotted two streaks of aura cutting across the sky ahead. One was purple, the other blue. It had to be Regal Might and Han Min-ha. They must have been out on a mission. Given Regal Might's strict adherence to rules, he wouldn't pull any tricks like Half Wonder and was personally taking Han Min-ha along.
"Hee-won, up in the sky, that's Regal Might and..."
When I turned around, Yoo Hee-won was drooling in her sleep.
I parked the car and shook her shoulder hard before she finally blinked awake, looking around in confusion.
"Are we there yet?"
"We're here. And if you're still dreaming, wake up quickly."
"Ah, I fell asleep. Ugh. Let's go."
The moment we entered the office, Regal Might and Han Min-ha were just coming down from the rooftop.
"Hey, Tang!"
"Huh? Hee-won? Professor?"
Han Min-ha broke into a bright smile and bounded down the stairs in one go.
"Why are you here so early? I thought you said you'd come in the afternoon?"
She grabbed my hand, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"Things just worked out that way."
"Heeeh? But why are you here, Hee-won? Aren't you supposed to be doing your internship?"
"Ugh, I don't know! That bitch was pissing me off."
"Hiiik?!"
Startled by the sudden profanity, Han Min-ha glanced nervously at Regal Might descending behind them.
"Huh? That's Regal Might? He's huge in person."
"H-Hee-won... What kind of language is that...!"
Despite Yoo Hee-won's rude remark, Regal Might smiled warmly and greeted her.
"Hello. You're Min-ha's friend, right?"
"Friend?"
At Yoo Hee-won's skeptical reply, Regal Might looked at Han Min-ha and said, "Min-ha told me that Hee-won is her closest friend at the academy."
"That's what she thinks, apparently."
Regal Might let out a hearty laugh and turned to me.
"Welcome, Suhyeon."
"You've been working hard mentoring Min-ha."
"Not at all. Her fundamentals are so outstanding that I've actually been enjoying it. In fact, we just finished taking down a villain together."
"Already?"
"They learn theory at the academy and gain real field experience at their internship sites. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Everyone, come inside."
We followed Regal Might into the office. Han Min-ha eagerly explained the villain they'd just captured to Yoo Hee-won.
"So he was riding some weird machine. I have no idea where he got the money for it. When we ran his ID, it said he was unemployed and receiving welfare. But there was actually one secret behind it?"
"Obviously. He borrowed someone else's identity, like a homeless person or something, right?"
"Hiiing... You already knew..."
Regal Might told one of the office staff to order something delicious for lunch since guests had arrived. The employee, clearly used to this, skillfully made a call. From what I overheard, it sounded like eel rice bowls.
"There's an eel rice bowl place right in the next block. It's delicious, the portions are huge, and best of all, they deliver fast."
"I see."
"By the way, why did you bring that girl? Isn't she supposed to be interning?"
Yoo Hee-won, who had been listening to Han Min-ha's exaggerated tale of heroism, narrowed her eyes.
"The internship supervisor was annoying, so I just left."
"Really? Who was it?"
"Half Wonder."
Regal Might burst into loud laughter.
"If it's Half Wonder, I can see why. She probably dressed you up to the nines and dragged you around everywhere."
"How did you know?"
"It's obvious. We high-ranking heroes all know each other's habits."
"Anyway, she was being so obnoxious that I quit and followed the professor instead."
Regal Might laughed again. Han Min-ha, though it wasn't even her business, fidgeted anxiously and grabbed Yoo Hee-won's hand.
"Hee-won, won't you get zero points for the internship? What are you going to do?"
"What's there to worry about? If I ace the end-of-term evaluation, it'll balance out."
"That's true, but shouldn't you go back now and try again? Or at least look for another internship site..."
"Ugh, I don't know. I'm not doing it. For the rest of the internship period, I'm staying with the professor."
"Eh...?"
At Yoo Hee-won's completely baseless declaration, Han Min-ha froze up like a broken machine and turned to me.
"Ehh.... Professor. Is what Hee-won just said... true...?"
"It's not true at all. Yoo Hee-won will either complete the rest of her internship here or return to the academy and stay alone in the dormitory. She gets to choose."
"What? Professor! You never said anything like that to me!"
When Yoo Hee-won flared up, Regal Might looked at her, Han Min-ha, and me in turn with great interest.
"In any case, the option of spending time with me isn't on Hee-won's list of choices, so keep that in mind. I'm not on vacation—I'm here for field guidance, so I'll have to return to the academy eventually. There's plenty of work waiting for me there too."
With nothing left to argue, Yoo Hee-won grumbled under her breath but didn't push any further.
I turned to Regal Might, who was wearing a subtle smile.
"If it's alright with you, could you mentor Hee-won as well?"
"We'll talk about that privately. Looks like the food's about to arrive."
Right after Regal Might spoke, the eel rice bowls were delivered to the office. Impressively fast.
"Let's eat first. Min-ha and I just finished a request, so we're both starving."
Regal Might smiled as he passed around the bowls. His portion was a double-sized serving, fitting for his massive frame.
The eel rice bowl was delicious. The large, plump eel soaked in moist sauce was chewy yet tender. It came with fluffy shredded egg and perfectly caramelized onions, paired with rice cooked to just the right firmness.
Han Min-ha, truly hungry, shoveled the food down, and even Yoo Hee-won seemed to enjoy it.
"It's good."
"Right? Eat plenty."
After the satisfying meal, I left the girls behind and went up to the rooftop with Regal Might alone. Like most hero offices, the rooftop had landing guidance lights and markers painted on the floor.
"That girl, Yoo Hee-won. She's the Advisory Chairman's daughter, isn't she?"
"Yes. She inherited his talent perfectly."
"I already saw that during the PVP Combat Evaluation. She was incredible. But she quit her internship?"
I told Regal Might what had happened at Half Wonder's office. He laughed heartily.
"Half Wonder really got what was coming to her. Not many people would dare charge at an S-class hero like that."
"Which brings me to..."
"Yeah, yeah. You want me to take her on for internship too? I can do that. Actually, we'd be grateful. We've been swamped with requests lately, so we've even sent out all our sidekicks."
What a relief. I had expected him to refuse. Regal Might disliked the Advisory Chairman. The missions he'd been assigned while the Chairman led Secreto had clashed with his sense of justice. Of course, even when we worked as a team, there had been plenty of friction between them.
"But can you take two interns? I thought that wasn't allowed."
"Normally no, but if the assigned internship supervisor refuses the student, there's a rule that allows them to be placed at another site."
"If there's no issue, then I'll have you mentor Hee-won starting today."
"Thanks, Jun-hyeok."
"We worked together once. We should help each other out."
Regal Might—An Jun-hyeok—patted my shoulder with his thick hand, then asked as if he'd just remembered something.
"Min-ha seems to like you a lot."
"I've helped her adjust to academy life in various ways."
"No, it's not just gratitude. I mean in a different sense."
I knew exactly what Regal Might was implying. It wasn't as if I was unaware of Han Min-ha's feelings. She displayed them so openly that even someone with the intelligence of a dolphin could figure it out.
"I understand what you mean. But she's still a student. And I've never thought about her that way."
"I figured as much. Besides, you're an academy professor. By the way, what on earth happened that turned you into a professor of all things?"
"It just sort of happened."
"I see. The Kyo Suhyeon I knew was the last person I'd expect to become an academy professor. Well, people do change."
"Yes. People change."
Regal Might looked at me for a moment before smiling.
"I'll take good care of Hee-won, so don't worry. I'll train her hard with a focus on real combat."
"I'd appreciate that."
When we went back down, I called Yoo Hee-won over and explained the situation.
"I don't want to. I want to stay with you, Professor."
"Are you going to keep speaking informally, Hee-won?"
"Anyway, I don't want to. And do you really think I'd go back and do the internship again now?"
"Regal Might promised to take you on every villain suppression request without fail."
Yoo Hee-won fell silent, seemingly conflicted. There wasn't really anything to be conflicted about. If she followed me, she'd just end up returning to the academy and we'd have to part ways anyway. But if she stayed here, she'd get a real chance to experience the field she so desperately wanted—under Regal Might, who was being considered for S-class.
"Then I guess I have no choice. I'll do that."
And so, I managed to stuff Yoo Hee-won into Regal Might's office.
At that same moment, Song Do-yun, who had gone to Goshawk's office as an intern, found herself in a rather awkward situation.