Chapter 123
After the entrance ceremony, the children headed to their respective classrooms.
Amidst the large crowd, Suryeon expressed her discomfort.
"There are too many humans. We really need to reduce them by half."
At Suryeon's sudden remark, Choryeon nodded slightly.
"I agree. There are too many humans, and the Earth is suffering. We need to reduce humans to lower carbon dioxide."
"It's been a while since we've been on the same page, Lee Choryeon."
"Indeed, Suryeon unnie."
Whisper whisper-
Suryeon and Choryeon muttered strange things.
"This is ridiculous!"
Hwaryeon looked at the two dragons as if they were idiots and said.
"That means the number of my subordinates would decrease! No way!"
"Tch."
"That's a shame..."
Suryeon and Choryeon lowered their heads, seemingly disappointed at Hwaryeon's words.
The dragons chatted as they walked down the sleek corridors of the newly built elementary school.
Soon, they reached their destination.
"It's 1-1! This is our class!"
"Let's go! Let's enter!"
Slide-
The dragons opened the classroom door and went inside.
Simultaneously, the gazes of the children already seated poured in. Their eyes were filled with curiosity.
"How interesting..."
It was only natural.
Hwaryeon, Suryeon, and Choryeon had a unique feel compared to the other children.
"Her hair is red! So cool!"
"That one's blue! And there's green too!"
Stand up-!
Starting with a child's exclamation, the children flocked to the dragon sisters.
Rumble-
"W-What's this! Why are you coming to me! You want to fight?!"
Clench-
Hwaryeon clenched her fist at the suddenly approaching children. She was ready to throw a straight punch to the face if they crossed the line.
But the children's eyes only held curiosity.
"Did you dye your hair? It's so pretty!"
"Get away! Don't cling to me, you humans!"
"You're tall and cool!"
"Hmph, of course I'm cool! It's me after all!"
Hwaryeon secretly enjoyed the attention showered on her.
As for Suryeon,
"Did you dye your hair too?"
"Don't talk to me."
"O-Okay..."
She deflected all the attention directed at her with a prickly attitude.
And Choryeon,
"You're so cute! Like a hamster!"
"Thank you for the compliment! Let's be friends! Hehe!"
She responded warmly with a sunflower-like smile.
Thus, the dragons became the center of attention in class 1-1.
Slide-
"Everyone sit down. The teacher is coming."
Along with Kim Si-hoo, the S-class hero's son who gave the representative pledge. Kim Si-hoo spoke to Hwaryeon, who was still standing.
"You should go sit too. The teacher is coming."
"Hmph."
Hwaryeon sneered at Kim Si-hoo and said.
"I don't listen to humans weaker than me!"
"..."
"What are you looking at!"
"..."
Kim Si-hoo glared at Hwaryeon silently and sat in the front row. With this meeting of predators, a strange tension began to fill the classroom.
***
As Kim Si-hoo said, the homeroom teacher appeared, and they decided to have a brief self-introduction time.
Naturally, it started in order of attendance numbers.
"Hmm?"
Suryeon frowned at the face of the first child to come up.
"That face looks familiar. What was the name again?"
A familiar face but a name she couldn't recall. The owner of that face opened their mouth and spoke confidently in front of the children.
"I'm Gu Mingu. I came here to make a lot of money later. Hello everyone!"
Gu Mingu.
The dragons' kindergarten classmate.
"I know you!"
Stand up-!
Hwaryeon stood up and pointed at Gu Mingu, shouting.
"You're my subordinate!"
"I-I'm not a subordinate! I never acknowledged that!"
"Where are your friends?"
"I came alone! They weren't interested in studying!"
Mingu said this and recalled the past.
The day he decided to go to the elementary school in District 04 alone, leaving his friends behind.
'Are you guys really not going? If you study well there, you can get a good job later.'
'No, we're not going. We'd have to take the subway every day, it's a hassle. And unlike you, Mingu, we're not smart. Teacher Bong-gu said it's better for us to learn a trade.'
'So you're planning to stay in District 09? You should think about getting out of here like their dad!'
'We're fine here. It's gotten better to live here recently.'
'...Alright. You guys go to a nearby school and learn a trade or something. I'm going to the elementary school in District 04.'
For a better future, Mingu applied to Mirae Elementary School in District 04, dreaming of a better future.
To become like Lee Ha-jun's family, who escaped District 09 after painstaking efforts.
'I'll get out of District 09 someday, just like that mister.'
After Mingu's brief self-introduction, Kim Si-hoo, next in line, stood up with a stern face.
Kim Si-hoo spoke with a slightly arrogant tone.
"You all probably know who I am."
"Suryeon, do you know who he is?"
"No, I don't."
"I've never seen him before either."
"..."
The dragons interrupted slightly, but Kim Si-hoo maintained his composure and said.
"As you all know, I'm the son of an S-class hero. I'm smart and strong. If you have any troubles, tell me first. I'll help you like a hero."
Puff-
Kim Si-hoo said this and immediately sat down.
"Hmph, showing off."
Hwaryeon didn't like Kim Si-hoo's puffed-up attitude.
"Then the next in order is Na Jin-s-"
"Wait a minute!!"
So, Hwaryeon immediately stood up for the turn after Kim Si-hoo. Standing up, Hwaryeon glared at Kim Si-hoo and said.
"I'm Lee Hwaryeon! And you, Kim Cheese Fry!"
"It's Kim Si-hoo."
"Anyway! You think you're so good at fighting? Then come up to the rooftop during break time! I'll show you who's really better at fighting!"
Roar-!
Hwaryeon's confident challenge to a real fight. Kim Si-hoo didn't back down at all, facing off with Hwaryeon as if ready to fight.
The homeroom teacher tried to mediate with a gentle tone.
"Both of you, calm down... Let's finish our self-introductions first, shall we...?"
Lee Hee-ju, a female teacher in her 30s.
She doesn't have much experience as a homeroom teacher, but she's quite popular with the children due to her gentle personality.
Lee Hee-ju sighed and spoke again in a soft tone.
"Sigh, everyone calm down... Let's not fight... We should get along as friends..."
"He's not my friend! He's going to be my subordinate!"
"Why would I be your subordinate? Don't say such nonsense."
Bicker bicker-
A fight where neither side would back down. Lee Hee-ju lowered her head, witnessing this scene.
'...Did I pick the wrong class?'
It was a moment when she felt certain that her life as a homeroom teacher would be difficult from the start.
"If you're so good at fighting, come at me! Are you scared?"
"Heroes don't use their fists recklessly."
"What hero! The only heroes I acknowledge are Masked Ranger and my dad!"
"...Are you disrespecting my father now? My father is an S-class hero."
"Hmph, my dad is SSS-class!"
"T-There's no such thing!"
And so, the children's self-introduction time was replaced by Hwaryeon and Si-hoo's fight.
'Yes! I don't have to do it.'
Grin-
Unlike the homeroom teacher who was burning up inside, a smile spread across Suryeon's face.
***
After getting beaten by the Dragon Slayer, I realized I lacked experience.
And I thought about why I lacked that experience.
'It's because I've been taking dimensional gate conquests for granted.'
Due to the dragon aura, all magical beasts run away. So I end up skipping all battles and can't gain experience.
There are downsides to taking things for granted.
So, I learned how to control this dragon aura by contacting the Yellow Dragon through text messages with the Association President.
[Association President]
[Yellow Dragon is currently recovering from the battle with the Dragon Slayer. So, I'll relay the message instead. Yellow Dragon said that to control the dragon aura, you need to block the energy as if you're holding your breath.]
Block the energy as if holding your breath.
I'm not a dragon, so I couldn't understand what that meant. But after practicing holding my breath for about a year, I found a way.
"Somehow I can fool C-grade magical beasts now."
I can't fool A and B grades with good instincts, but I can easily fool up to C grade.
Because of this, I can now gain combat experience even when entering dimensional gates.
"Conquering dimensional gates is harder, but this is much more effective."
Phew-
Today too, after finishing a dimensional gate conquest,
Unlike before, I came out of the dimensional gate drenched in sweat instead of looking fresh.
"Conquest complete. Good work everyone."
"Yes, Hero Lee Ha-jun! Good work! Now, about signing an official contract with the association again-"
"I won't."
If I sign an official contract, I'll have too much work and can't take care of the kids. I still want to spend time with the kids after work.
I refused the official contract and left the place.
"It's almost 2 o'clock, time for it to end. I should hurry."
Today's the entrance ceremony, so it ends early, right?
I quickened my pace and headed to Mirae Elementary School. And I waited for the children to come out at the main gate of Mirae Elementary School.
Not long after I started waiting, a group of elementary school students began coming out of the main gate.
"Hmm, let's see. When will my daughters come out..."
I wonder if they did well at school today. I hope they didn't cause any strange trouble.
Thinking this while waiting at the gate, I saw distinctive hair colors in the distance.
"There they are. But..."
Why does Hwaryeon's expression look so bad?
Unlike Choryeon who was walking over saying goodbye to friends, Hwaryeon's expression didn't look good at all.
If I had to describe it, it was like the expression of a murderer trying to kill someone.
'I should ask what happened.'
I waved at the children arriving at the gate and said.
"Kids, Dad's here."
"Ah, Father! I missed you!"
Pitter-patter-
Choryeon immediately ran and hugged me. I patted Choryeon's head and asked.
"Choryeon! How was school today? Was it fun?"
"Yes, I made lots of friends! The kids seemed to like me a lot!"
"That's good. Get along well with your friends and don't fight."
"Yes, Father! I won't fight! Unlike Hwaryeon unnie!"
"Hwaryeon?"
Did she cause big trouble on the first day?
There was a reason for her bad expression. I asked Hwaryeon, who was standing still.
"Hwaryeon. Who did you fight with today?"
Huff-
At that, Hwaryeon immediately raised her head and shouted.
"I didn't fight!"
"Then why do you look like that?"
"I'm like this because I didn't fight! I wanted to fight! But the teacher said not to fight! Even though she's a weak human! She stopped me because she's a teacher! Raaah!!"
She's very angry.
Well, if she had fought, she'd probably look relieved instead of angry. Still, I was glad she didn't cause trouble.
'I should apologize to the teacher later.'
I patted the head of the very angry Hwaryeon.
"But you listened to the teacher. Well done, Hwaryeon."
"You told me to listen! You even threatened not to give me meat! Dad! I don't want to listen to the teacher!"
"You still have to listen."
"Why!"
"Because she's the teacher."
Hwaryeon is a prime suspect for destroying teacher authority. So I need to educate her to listen to the teacher well.
"Of course, if you think it's unfair treatment, you can rebel to some extent."
"Then I'll rebel! I'll fight the teacher!"
"...Hwaryeon, let's just listen to the teacher well."
"Raaah!"
Expressing complaints to me won't change anything.
"Hwaryeon, come here."
"Put me down!"
"I won't put you down until you calm down."
Since she doesn't seem likely to calm down, I'll take her home like this.
I hoisted Hwaryeon on my shoulder and walked home. And finally, I asked Suryeon walking beside me.
"Suryeon. How was your day?"
Swish-
Suryeon took out her earphones and said to me.
"Nothing particularly happened."
"Really? That's strange. Didn't anyone talk to you?"
"They did."
"And what happened?"
"I made sure they couldn't talk to me again."
"..."
That's a very Suryeon-like answer. And so I returned home with the children, talking about what happened at school.
'There's a snack shop near the school. Should we go there sometime?'
Looking around at the buildings near the school.
That's how we shared our day together as we returned home, towards our own nest.
...
[Please stop running. I'm really going to die from the noise. I'm about to fail my exam again. Shit.]
"A post-it note? What's this about?"