Morning at the Red Lion Team Building.
It was early, but the team building was on alert.
Both dragons and humans were ready to fight at any moment.
The dragons, who are usually relaxed, have sharp expressions, while the humans are armed and alert.
Deep in the basement of the team building, Dragon Slayer Cadmus was detained.
Red Lion team members were on guard in the elevator near the basement.
Without exceptions, everyone on duty was wearing a cape bearing the Red Lion Team’s logo.
The ones at rest talked in the lounge with hushed voices.
“So will Cadmus be continuously under our supervision?”
“That’s what I heard. For the time being, this will be our priority instead of targeting otherworlds.”
“It’s a little hard to roll out the team members in three shifts. Well, it can’t be helped because we can’t ask for help from the Dragon Clan or mobilize external forces…”
“Cadmus is a dragon slayer, so the Dragon Clan shouldn’t be the ones guarding him. Though it was an unexpected move to keep out even the shamans.”
“Isn’t it because they borrow the power of the Dragon King? They say power from dragons doesn’t work on Cadmus.”
“Still, the shamans are human so wouldn’t they be okay?”
The topic of conversation of the team members quickly changed to the association.
“But can we really keep detaining the dragon slayer? He’s a suspect in a major incident, right?”
“I dunno, didn’t the association contact us? They wanted to take him.”
“The dragon slayer went after Junyeol and Jegun-ssi, and the dragon in charge of Junyeol’s security was seriously injured… all of those involved are players. The association has plenty of room to intervene.”
The purpose and goal of the Players’ Association are to “subdue enemies” and “protect players.”
In relation to their duty to “protect players”, the association prescribes two conditions to recognize a player.
First, they must have player abilities.
Second, the person should be recognized by the association.
For humans born with abilities, the two conditions are automatically satisfied when they maintain their abilities until the age of 17 when they get to use their light skills.
However, for the royal lineage and their descendants, the association only recognizes them upon request and registration as official players, unless they have a criminal history.
Most of the members of the Dragon Clan, who managed to maintain a good relationship with the association, are recognized as full-time players.
The best examples are Yong Jegun and the Little Hongryong Yeom Junyeol.
In other words, the association has good enough reason to intervene in the case where people of the Dragon Clan were attacked.
“You don’t need to worry about the association.”
As if he had been listening for a while, Yong Jegun popped out of nowhere and joined the conversation.
The sudden appearance of Yong Jegun reflexively made the Red Lion team members nervous.
On top of that, Yong Jegun’s expression was too bright, making the team members more nervous.
Yong Jegun seemed to be in a really good mood lately, fueling the vigilance of both the Dragon Clan and the Red Lion Team.
“Yeom Bangyeol negotiated with the association. Several players were put in danger because of the incident, but the essence was a dispute between royal lineage, so our request for the association to step back must’ve worked.”
Yong Jegun’s words made the atmosphere visibly soften.
The Red Lion Team itself assumed the possibility that the association would insist on having custody of Cadmus until the end.
“The relationship between the association and the government this year doesn’t look so good. They wouldn’t want to strain their relationship with the Dragon Clan and the Red Lion Team because of a dragon slayer.”
“That’s a relief. I heard that there’s an executive from the association who was stubborn but…”
Suddenly, Yong Jegun raised his head shrewdly as he looked in a certain direction.
The team members looked in the general direction as well, and their expressions quickly brightened.
“Hello, good morning.”
“Hi, Junyeol-ah. Did you sleep well?”
“I woke up a bit earlier than usual today.”
Yeom Junyeol politely greeted a good morning.
He also responded to the pouring greetings one by one before coming to Yong Jegun.
“Jegun hyung, I think I have to go to school early today. Will you be okay?”
“I’m good. Are you heading to school right away? Let’s eat and go together.”
Yeom Junyeol intended to go to school much earlier than usual.
After asking for the understanding of Yong Jegun, who he always go to school with, Yeom Junyeol had breakfast with the other dragons and team members.
Questions different from usual were asked to Yeom Junyeol.
“Is it because of the student association?”
“No, it’s not student association work. I’m going to help Dongha with student council work today.”
“Student council? Oh, you mean the guidance for the returnee?”
“Yes, it’s been a while since Miro went to school, so I think helping in securing everything would prevent unwanted situations.”
Cheongryong, who was listening quietly to the conversation, exclaimed in admiration at Yeon Junyeol’s heart for his hoobae.
“That’s wonderful. Junyeol became more like a sunbae when he became the student representative!”
“Thank you for the praise, Uncle Cheongryong.”
When their meal was halfway through, Yong Jegun, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, suddenly spoke.
“That’s unexpected.”
“…Excuse me?”
“The reason why you’re going to school early.”
Yong Jegun’s face was full of mischief.
Yeom Junyeol was a little worried about what pranks Yong Jegun was formulating in his mind, but he didn’t ignore him.
“You didn’t go out yesterday, didn’t you Junyeol-ie? You didn’t contact him separately too. I thought you wanted to go to school early to greet him today.”
Yong Jegun said something quite enigmatic.
Trying to analyze Yong Jegun’s words, Yeom Junyeol was lost in thought for a while.
In the end, he couldn’t find an answer.
“Greet? I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Wow, I guess you really don’t know.”
Yong Jegun’s face was filled with anticipation.
In contrast, those who watched their exchange became uneasy.
“I’m talking about Euishin.”
“…Huh? Euishin?”
Yeom Junyeol’s eyes were open wide, but he still doesn’t seem to know what Yong Jegun was on to.
Cheongryong, who was listening quietly, helped out by saying a few words.
“Are you talking about Junyeol-ie’s hoobae, Jo Euishin? I heard that he’s back home.”
The Dragon Clan regards Jo Euishin as their benefactor, but for now, he’s being referred to as Yeom Junyeol’s hoobae for the sake of the Red Lion Team Members.
The only ones who know about Jo Euishin being the clan’s benefactor are Yong Jegun, Cheongryong, Yeom Bangyeol, and Yeom Junyeol.
Yong Jegun continued speaking.
“You see, yesterday, November 1st, was Euishin’s birthday. You’ve done some research on the Year 1-0 students when you were researching the Red Wall Thief, right? I thought you remembered.”
Yeom Junyeol looked as if his world had stopped.
He did conduct investigations on the Year One Class Zero students involved in the Hwanmong Auction to get clues about the Red Wall Thief.
His research included personal details of all Year One Class Zero students, which of course included their birthdays.
Birthdays are only a few numbers among the numerous materials so he must’ve read it in passing, but anyway, just as Yong Jegun said, Yeom Junyeol once investigated when Jo Euishin’s birthday was.
‘That’s right, it was November 1st… Why did I forget about it?’
It was his teacher and hoobae Jo Euishin’s birthday yesterday, but Yeom Junyeol did nothing.
No, he asked about how he was and they talked about the weather like usual, but he didn’t greet him a happy birthday.
Yeom Junyeol felt his vision go dark.
‘As his student and sunbae, I couldn’t greet him. And November 1st had already passed!’
Those who noticed Yeom Junyeol’s unusual behavior immediately looked restless.
There wasn’t anything apparently off with what Yong Jegun said, so they couldn’t understand Yeom Junyeol’s reaction.
“Junyeol-ah…?”
Cheongryong called his name anxiously, but Yeom Junyeol couldn’t afford to say something reassuring.
Yeom Junyeol eventually stood up from his seat.
“…I’m off to school!”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry, I’ll be on my way!”
Yeom Junyeol instinctively started running for the nearest exit.
He thought of a quicker way than riding the elevator to the ground floor and riding an air limousine.
He opened one of the windows.
Fwaaaa!
Yeom Junyeol jumped out of the window without any hesitation and summoned Hongryong.
Hongryong flew high and carried Yeom Junyeol through the five-colored flags surrounding the Red Lion Team Building.
Those who looked out the window with stunned faces eventually praised Yeom Junyeol’s grace.
“My goodness…! There are no mistakes in his movements!”
“His skills in handling Honryong have improved so much!”
“Did anyone film it? I could only take a picture!”
Meanwhile, Yong Jegun, who was flying quickly behind Yeom Junyeol, talked to himself with his signature ecstatic face.
“I think Hongryong’s energy is getting stronger…”
Yeom Junyeol couldn’t afford to be aware of Yong Jegun’s presence.
Not realizing that Yong Jegun was flying after him, Yeom Junyeol headed to Eungwang High at full speed.
‘There he is…!’
In front of Eungwang High’s main gate.
Yeom Junyeol saw Jo Euishin and plunged toward him.
* * *
The Dragon of Flames is flying in the sky.
It was an unbelievable and ridiculous sight, but when I saw Yeom Junyeol riding on the back of Hongryong, it felt like it was real and I immediately felt admiration.
‘He’s dealing with Hongryong faster than our last training! I think Hongryong got a little bigger too…’
My student improved again, and I was filled with pride.
I thought about how I should praise him the next time we meet as student and teacher, but then Yeom Junyeol suddenly began to descend quickly this way.
The Dragon of Flames came down at a frightening speed, yet Hwang Jiho, Cheon Dongha, and I stood our ground.
Fwaaaa…!
About five meters to contact…
Yeom Junyeol deactivated his Hongryong summoning skill and jumped off.
He landed lightly on the floor in front of the blurred traces left by the fire dragon.
Like the star player that he is, there was no excess in the movements of Yeom Junyeol.
Without having to catch his breath, Yeom Junyeol spoke right away.
“Euishin-ah, it’s a bit late, but happy birthday.”
Yeom Junyeol greeted me a happy birthday as soon as he appeared.
He looked in a hurry while riding Hongryong to school, and it was to greet me a happy birthday!
It was too sudden and touching, and I couldn’t respond right away.
Meanwhile, Yeom Junyeol lowered his eyebrows and spoke in a weaker voice.
“Sorry. I couldn’t send you a message in advance because I was in a hurry, and I couldn’t even prepare a birthday present…”
It’s only been a few hours since November 1st, so there’s no need to be sorry.
I soothed the sulking Yeom Junyeol.
“No, thank you for greeting me.”
As I felt happy with my student’s growth and birthday greeting, I felt a stinging gaze on us.
Right behind Yeom Junyeol, Yong Jegun landed.
And…
“…Oh?”
Yeom Junyeol’s gaze landed on someone beside me, his face a little embarrassed.
He was looking at Hwang Jiho.
‘Right, Hwang Jiho is here.’
It was Cheon Dongha who grasped the situation the quickest.
Yong Jegun, the assistant homeroom teacher for Year One Class Zero, and Hwang Jiho, a student of Class Zero.
And then there’s Yeom Junyeol.
Cheon Dongha realized that the three recognized each other.
“…Huh, I guess royal lineage and descendants can recognize each other so there’s no way they can hide.”
“Huh? It looks like Dongha knows.”
Looking at Hwang Jiho and Cheon Dongha, Yong Jegun looked very excited.
Cheon Dongha seemed embarrassed by Yong Jegun’s attitude, while Hwang Jiho wasn’t fazed at all.
“Hahaha! I see the only people here are those who know my true identity.”
He’s bragging.
I had to do my best to swallow any harsh words.
