Yong Jegun looked excited.
I could tell just by the expression on his face, but his time of arrival was also a tell.
‘He came earlier than promised.’
It was three hours earlier than the time when the dragons were supposed to join us.
He was like a child who couldn’t control his excitement about a school picnic and went to school at dawn because he couldn’t sleep.
It was a little awkward to compare him to a child considering his age, but that was exactly what it looked like.
It wasn’t time yet and he risked being shooed at the gate, but he still came this early.
‘He would’ve been kicked out if he weren’t Yong Jegun.’
Of course, Hwang Jiho wouldn’t have kicked out Kim Shinrok’s only friend, and Yong Jegun knew and took advantage of this well.
Hwang Jiho looked at Yong Jegun with a jaded look before offering him some tea.
“Sit. You’re here anyway. Have some tea.”
“Yeah, I’ll drink it well.”
“You sit down too, Jo Euishin.”
In this situation, there’s no choice but to have tea together.
I took a seat and drank the tea prepared by Hwang Jiho.
Today’s morning tea was brewed ginger and honey, its pungent taste strangely bringing peace.
‘Ginger tea is best in winter, but ginger isn’t in season during that. Surprisingly, he has some.’
Ginger tea is good for motion sickness.
Hwang Jiho must’ve prepared this for the tigers who will be heading to the Dragon Palace.
We haven’t heard how to get to the Dragon Palace yet, but seeing that he prepared this kind of tea, perhaps the journey would induce motion sickness.
As I was pondering over my tea, Yong Jegun blurted out something.
I had an ominous hunch and felt the sweetness of the tea disappear from my mouth.
“I heard you’re not in your dorm these days, Euishin-ah. Are you going to keep living in Hwangho-ssi’s house?”
Considering that I wasn’t in my dorm and I was instead in the mansion, that was a reasonable conclusion.
It doesn’t make sense that I left my dorm this early.
I wonder where he heard that.
Yong Jegun now has some unnecessary information, but Hwang Jiho responded with even more nonsense.
“Of course, yours truly welcomes him any time. I encourage him to stay in the main house, but if he wishes, I’d give Jo Euishin one of the annexes for his own—”
“I don’t plan to do that.”
“Really?”
I interjected before the conversation went in a strange direction, but Yong Jegun smiled with satisfaction.
I thought I was on time, but I was wrong.
“Euishin-ah, you must’ve stayed at Hwangho-ssi’s mansion throughout the vacation.”
Yong Jegun’s personality remained the same even though he’ll ascend soon.
I have to ignore him if I don’t want to get caught up in his words, but I couldn’t bear to do that to my playable character.
And even though he’s already submitted his resignation, he’s still our class’ assistant homeroom teacher.
Although Yong Jegun is a mischievous dragon, he isn’t a neglectful teacher.
Yong Jegun said some more nonsense that troubled me, but it was Hwang Jiho who made things more difficult for me.
He listened to Hwang Jiho’s words and prolonged the conversation.
“Good morning— Ah.”
Then, Yong Jegun’s favorite person appeared.
Kim Shinrok’s face was hardened as if he didn’t understand why Yong Jegun was in the main house so early drinking tea.
Yong Jegun watched with a smile until Kim Shinrok got a grip on his mind.
The latter was choked up after receiving Yong Jegun’s gaze but soon came to his senses.
Yong Jegun then locked in on a new target.
“So you slept here too, Shinrok-ie. You must’ve gotten closer to the Tiger Clan.”
“…”
Kim Shinrok ignored him, but Yong Jegun was persistent.
“You’re so close to the Tiger Clan that you don’t need to talk to me anymore.”
“What are you saying.”
“I’m saying, you’re close enough that you can eat and sleep at Hwangho-ssi’s mansion throughout the vacation, Shinrok-ie.”
It would’ve been better if he kept ignoring him.
The price of paying attention to Yong Jegun was too great.
Yong Jegun was right, but it was quite uncomfortable for Kim Shinrok to hear.
The distance that had been open for thousands of years was filled in a year, but there was no way his heart could easily follow.
Kim Shinrok couldn’t say anything in surprise.
Then, Jeokho appeared quietly and spoke.
“My son had a room in Hwangho’s mansion since a long time ago.”
“You have a room too, Jeokho. Though you don’t come often.”
“I’ve been busy. My son too. My son is so diligent and busy with work so he stays at the faculty house.”
Hwang Jiho gave Jeokho his share of tea.
According to him, even Jeokho didn’t stay in the tiger mansion for a long time.
Hwang Jiho and Jeokho’s quarrel over the old days was ended by Yong Jegun.
“Yeah, Shinrok-ie has been very busy. He purposely kept himself that way though.”
It wasn’t that big of a deal, but his words were sharp.
Kim Shinrok has two main jobs.
One is to torture those involved with the Tiger Clan, and the other is his job as a teacher at Eungwang High.
Those two jobs have very different principles, but in the end, they were both related to and for the Tiger Clan.
‘Kim Shinrok kept himself busy to get recognition from the Tiger Clan. To avoid burdening Hwang Jiho from making the other tigers accept him.’
As if they understood Yong Jegun, Hwang Jiho and Jeokho stopped talking.
This dragon seemed to have no fear with his words since he’d ascend soon.
On the other hand, Kim Shinrok’s expression remained the same.
Glaring at Yong Jegun, that is.
“It’s a relief that he’s less busy now. Right? I hope he gets closer from here on.”
“Of course. My son and I will be close.”
Yong Jegun laughed cheerfully at Jeokho’s affirmation.
He seemed relieved by Jeokho’s answer, but he must be having a lot of fun from this situation.
Another incident was caused by the overly-happy Yong Jegun just before we left.
Ahn Dain was one of the people who saw us off.
“Hello, Professor Yong Jegun.”
“Hi, you’re here, Dain-ah. You really became a member of the Tiger Clan.”
“Yes, because I am of the Tiger Clan.”
Ahn Dain appeared with Eunho’s descendants after their morning training.
She seemed to have exhausted her energy waves and physical strength from training, but she didn’t look fatigued at all.
Indeed, she was worthy of being called PMH’s perfect heroine.
‘The tiger couple didn’t go easy on her.’
The tiger couple pampered Ahn Dain like a baby, but they were completely different in training.
They have experienced war since the age of myths, and their skills remained.
The tiger couple acknowledges Ahn Dain’s potential and pushes her roughly.
‘But Ahn Dain doesn’t lose to that level of training.’
I was a little worried at first that she might get hurt during training, but when it started, I realized that I didn’t have to.
Ahn Dain has achieved more than what the couple demands.
The couple would boast about her whenever they saw me, and I was also proud of the dignified title of heroine.
“I heard that Professor Kim Shinrok will be away for a week. I’m here to say goodbye.”
“…Thank you.”
“…”
When Kim Shinrok answered with a firm face, Ahn Dain looked at him with a sad expression.
Kim Shinrok was flustered, his intention nowhere near making his student sad, so he fixed his words.
“…T-thanks.”
“Well, you’re my professor and family, so it’s only natural to greet you goodbye.”
Ahn Dain softly spoke and smiled, making Kim Shinrok shy.
And Yong Jegun was watching with much excitement.
Ahn Dain greeted those who would leave one by one, and she said goodbye to me too.
“Be careful and have a safe trip, Euishin-ah.”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful.”
I was greeted by Eunho’s descendants and the title heroine, boosting my morale dramatically.
Ahn Dain spoke to Kim Shinrok again.
“Professor Kim Shinrok, please remember what Sung Gukeon sunbaenim said.”
Kim Shinrok’s eyes opened wide at the comment.
He hesitated a little before nodding a little.
She didn’t get a proper answer, but Ahn Dain was satisfied and backed down.
While leaving the tiger mansion and heading to the Red Lion building, Yong Jegun kept jabbing at Kim Shinrok.
“Shinrok-ah, what was Dain talking about? Tell me, I wanna know too.”
“…I don’t wanna.”
“Then should I ask him myself?”
“Suit yourself.”
Isn’t it obvious what Sung Gukeon, who found out Kim Shinrok’s identity, would’ve said?
I think Yong Jegun is feigning ignorance.
No, maybe he just wants to hear it directly from Kim Shinrok.
Yong Jegun continued bugging him until we arrived at the building.
He pretended to be disappointed, but his smile said otherwise.
“Alright. The moment you leave this door, Euishin and the Tiger Clan are no longer related.”
Yong Jegun said before opening the limousine door.
I made a small measure so that my relationship with the Tiger Clan wouldn’t be publicly revealed to the traitor.
The Tiger Clan and I were not invited together but separately.
“Euishin is a child from Eungwang High, and he’s specially allowed to enter the Dragon Palace because he politely asked the Dragon King.”
It seems like an absurd lie at first, but all of it is true.
Yong Jegun said that I was invited to the Dragon Palace when I received a revelation from the Dragon King.
“And I invited Kim Shinrok because he’s my friend, and Jeokho came since he’s Kim Shinrok’s father.”
“I’ve checked.”
Yong Jegun suddenly invited a lot of people.
It wasn’t a strange thing though.
Yong Jegun is someone who does weird things when he’s enjoying things.
Moreover, his ascension is just around the corner, so it’s not strange for him to invite people that he liked to the Dragon Palace for the last time.
“Jeokho-ssi, did you memorize the Dragon Palace’s architecture last time? It could be the same this time, but it could change in accordance with the scope, so please move carefully.”
“Understood. Please be careful because there may be situations where we have to move separately from Jo Euishin and my son.”
After the final checks, the door opened.
The air seemed different.
There was a huge energy wave flowing throughout the Red Lion team building.
As soon as we came out of the limousine that Hwang Jiho wrapped with boundary, the seal on my wrist reacted a little.
It means that earth power is also flowing here.
“This way.”
We moved to the depths of the basement under Yong Jegun’s guidance.
We went deeper than the last time I visited the Red Lion building.
Like the underground of Hwang Jiho’s mansion, the density of power grew more and more.
“Welcome.”
Cheongryong was waiting in front of a door embossed with a blue dragon.
Behind him, I saw the five shamans.
A huge force swirled among the five shamans representing their own colors.
That power was the gate to the Dragon Palace.
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