Chapter 141
“Uuugh…. Yeonwoo is strong….”
“Hehe, it didn't hurt too much, did it?”
Reika unnie got thoroughly beaten up by Yeonwoo unnie's instant-target curse skill and ended up crying and giving up right away. I had no idea how to block it, and she couldn't even shoot properly, so of course she probably couldn't win.
“Yeonwoo, you're scary.”
“Didn't I tell you not to call me without my surname? Want me to twist something for you?”
“Sorry.”
Yeonwoo unnie came back after taking the win in style, and Minium, who had been standing quietly beside me and watching, nodded and gave me a thumbs-up.
“I-I can win..?”
ㅡClack!
“Come to think of it…. Isn't this just a matter of me enduring the pain and winning….”
Since Minium is a golem, the curse skill probably won't do much to it. The problem is that Yeonwoo unnie might just target me directly.
“Oh, okay. Yoo Choa, Eve, step forward.”
“I don't think I can win.”
“Ehehe.”
Choa looked unsure as she stepped forward, flexing her hands in the heavy gauntlets to check them and settle into her stance. Minium also loosened up by snapping its neck this way and that, as if Choa wasn't even a problem.
“Start!”
“Haah!”
“Hwaeek!”
Choa rushed in at incredible speed the instant it began and smashed a fist into Minium's face. Minium quickly lowered its stance, raised its shield to block the attack, then drove the sword in its other hand into the ground and grabbed Choa's leg to fling her far away.
“Hwaee….”
Choa managed to regain her posture in midair, but she unfortunately landed out of bounds and was eliminated. Kyou, who had secretly been rooting for the Choa who'd beaten her up, blinked with a hollow look.
“That Gundam is strong….”
“Looks like Eve's stronger.”
After that, it was my match against Yeonwoo unnie.
“Minium..! Do you know how to beat Yeonwoo unnie..?”
ㅡNod nod
“R-really..? Can I trust you..?”
ㅡClack!
Minium was full of confidence, boldly saying not to worry because it could win. Of course, Minium is insanely good at fighting, so even if its owner were in pain and crying, it would probably ignore me, fight on its own, and still win….
“Y-Yeonwoo unnie! Are you going to hurt me?!”
“That's how the world works, Eve.”
“Hwaeek!”
Apparently Yeonwoo unnie had no intention of going easy on me. In the end, under Teacher Baek Sangjun's signal, the fight began.
ㅡClack!
“Wuing, what are you doing, Minium? I can't see anything.”
ㅡClack
Minium spread the shield out really wide the moment the fight began, turning it completely opaque.
“Hey, Minium. I said I can't see in front of me.”
ㅡNod nod
But for some reason, Yeonwoo unnie didn't seem to be doing anything at all. Thinking maybe something had happened, I tried to peek out a little from beside the shield Minium had set up, but—
ㅡClack! Clack-clack!!
“D-Don't come out?”
ㅡNod nod
Then I heard Seniors Byeongho and Gyeongwon chatting from the side.
"This is crazy, they figured it out?"
"Ah, you mean Ha Yeonwoo's 'countermeasure'.... That Gundam is amazing...."
Yeonwoo unnie's countermeasure, you mean? No way..?
“If I go out there, the skill will hit me..?!”
ㅡNod nod!
Minium nodded and gave me a thumbs-up as if to say, "You only just realized?" It planted the shield it had spread open into the ground, motioned for me not to come out, and then just left.
“Wow!! You're fighting so well!!”
“Yeonwoo-ssi, hang in there!”
“That's the realm of speed!!!”
“How can the second generation have this kind of power!!!”
It was all so loud that I couldn't see a thing, and all I could hear were ping-ping and bang-bang sounds. Then Teacher Baek Sangjun declared my victory and the fight was over.
“Oh my god. What is this.”
“H-Haa..! This golem really fights well, Eve!”
“Ehehe....”
After it was all over, when I went outside and saw Yeonwoo unnie drenched in sweat, Minium was doing a huge acrobatic celebration, flipping through the air.
“Eve-chan is strong! Amazing!”
“Hehe, thanks.”
ㅡBeep!
“Did Doggie see that too?”
ㅡBeep!!
Anyway, I'd beaten two of the last three, so first place was already locked in. In the match to decide second place, Choa and Yeonwoo unnie went at it.
“The ankle..!”
“Hey, hey, Yeonwoo! No going for the ankle!”
“Gyaaah..! That hurts!”
Yeonwoo unnie, being both a mage and good at hand-to-hand fighting, kept the upper hand by casting curse magic on Choa at just the right moments and won. Choa had learned thanks to me how to counter Yeonwoo unnie's curse skill, but there just wasn't any terrain around to hide behind.
“Eve wins!”
“Oh yeah, thank you very much.”
* * * * *
“Thank you for the meal~”
Even the elementary division doesn't get dismissed after fifth period during reinforcement training. All Hunter class students now stay until seventh period, so we finish two hours later than usual.
But Teacher Baek Sangjun had already run out of ideas, so since we'd eaten and were feeling drowsy, he just told us to do our own thing and relax.
So we listened to Reika unnie and Kyou talk about Kannagi High School and other things, and then the subject of high jump suddenly came up, which got everyone fired up enough to see who could jump highest.
ㅡWhoooosh
“Hey, Bya, isn't flying cheating?”
“Heehee.”
I just flew off while holding Minium in my arms, so even I thought that was kind of cheating. So I decided to count myself as the exception.
ㅡTaat!
“Wow, Reika jumped really high.”
“For archers, securing high ground is important!”
Reika unnie won this time. She just jumped over ten meters with a single leap. After that we kept chatting about whatever came to mind and trying out anything we thought of. Then the topic turned to arm wrestling, and after Byeongho senior and Kyou went back and forth, Byeongho senior won again.
“Time flies so fast. Is it already over?”
By the time dismissal rolled around, Teacher Baek Sangjun appeared scratching his belly, having doused himself in a strangely unpleasant old-man cologne over the stench of stale cigarettes.
"Alright, kids. Time's up. Reika and Kyou, come up front and say your goodbyes.'
Of course, we'd be doing the same thing again next time, but for now it felt like a farewell.
"Ah, um…. I was glad to take class with all of Aegis's A-Class students today! Thank you for treating us so kindly! And thanks to Eve-chan, I was able to get through class comfortably! Thank you very much!"
"Ugh, Reika! I'm going to miss you! Wanna exchange LINE IDs!"
"Ahaha…. My house forbids dating…."
"Kraaah!!"
Byeongho senior was devastated to the very end. After Kyou's farewell was over too, everyone was shuffling to their feet and getting ready to leave school.
"Ah, Ha Yeonwoo. Eve. You two, follow the teacher.'
“Yes, sir~”
“Wuing, what's this.”
But at the very end, Yeonwoo unnie and I were suddenly called by Teacher Baek Sangjun, so we followed him to the teacher's building.
“What is this? Did we get prizes for taking first and second in the tournament..?!”
“Hm? Eve didn't hear?”
“Huh? What?”
“I mean the homestay arrangement for the exchange students coming this time.”
“Gasp! Homestay!”
Right, now that I thought about it, there had been something like that. Could I really have been chosen for homestay, and were they deciding right now which house I was going to go to..!
“Oh my god.... Who will it be..?”
“Eve, you really didn't hear about it?”
“Huh? What..?”
“Didn't they already decide all the students doing homestay?”
“Huh?! Really!? Sir, is this for real?”
“Yeah, it was all discussed with your parents. Didn't your mother tell you?”
“Whoa....”
Ophelia hadn't said a word to me about it. Then I guess Yeonwoo unnie was going to stay with someone too.
Anyway, following Teacher Baek Sangjun, Kyou and Reika unnie also headed to the teacher's building. In front of the building, the Kannagi High School students we'd seen in the morning and a few other Hunter Class students from our school were gathered together in little clusters.
“Alright, since everyone seems to be gathered, I'll make an announcement once. Starting today, May 3rd, until mid-July, you'll be staying in homestays with students from Kannagi High School. You all heard about it once already, right?”
It seemed everyone had already been contacted at home and the students had been notified in advance. So I was the only one who hadn't heard. After checking the headcount, the teacher called out names one by one and shuffled everyone around, telling some to come here and others to go there.
Gasp, Utaha unnie.
I noticed that most of the students hosting the Japanese exchange students were high schoolers. I'm so short that I couldn't see anything at all and was just squeezed into the front.
“Student Tennoji Utaha?”
When her name was called, Utaha unnie carefully stepped forward. Since E Class was having theory class today, she was wearing the Kannagi High School uniform, and she looked absolutely beautiful.
“Now.... Eve! Come on up. Student Tennoji Utaha will be doing her homestay at Eve's house. Understood?”
“Whoa.”
It looked like everything had been arranged by gender too; the boys were staying with boys from Kannagi, and the girls were staying with girls' homes as well. I guess there was nothing they could do about that since they were high schoolers.
The other seniors were staring at me with downright envious eyes. But what's weird is that the Japanese students also seemed to be looking at me with the same envy, and they were obviously disappointed and all that.
“Eve.”
“Long time no see, Utaha unnie! Ah, right. Just a second....”
I hurriedly asked Doggie, who was tucked under my arm.
“Doggie, hurry and pull out one more earphone.”
ㅡBeep..?
“Oh, right. Eve, come here for a second.”
“Yes?”
I was trying to talk to Doggie, but then Teacher Baek Sangjun suddenly called me over and pulled me aside. A few other teachers came too.
“Eve, how many more of those translators can it make? Is there a limit or anything?”
“This? Uh.... Hold on. Doggie, how many more can you make?”
ㅡBeep, beep-beep-beep..!
“It says it depends on how much tribute you offer....”
In short, he meant we should hand over more dog treats. Teacher Baek Sangjun had seen me using the magical Doggie poop translator today and thought it would be good if the other students could use it too, so he'd brought it up to the other teachers.
Teacher Baek Sangjun explained what had happened today and even brought Reika unnie and Kyou over, and they were all talking about how great the earphones were and stuff.
“Ah, wait a second.... I think I need to call mo- no, my mom....”
The mana cost for the Doggie translator is low, but if 32 people use it, it might still burn through a fair bit of mana. But I didn't know exactly how much would be needed, so I had to call Ophelia.
“Hello?”
“Princess, what is it?”
After I explained the situation and all that, Ophelia asked me to hand the phone over to the teacher.
“Yes, Eve's mother. I'm on the line.”
Teacher Baek Sangjun explained the whole thing and, after stepping away for a moment, talked for a while about how great Eve was and so on. When he handed the phone back to me, he had a rare expression like all the life had been sucked out of him.
“Ophelia? I've switched the phone over.”
“Yes, Princess. I agreed on the condition that I receive a small reward. I think we can make translators for the exchange students from Kannagi High School. Before that, could you hand the phone to Doggie?”
“To Doggie..?”
It was kind of funny, but when I held the phone up to Doggie's ear while it was tucked under my arm, Doggie started talking with Ophelia over the phone.
ㅡBeep….
ㅡBeep-beep..?
ㅡBeep!
The teachers were looking at me strangely, and I also felt like I looked a little strange. Talking on the phone with both my guardian and my pet did seem pretty funny, I guess.
Doggie nodded as if the call was over, and in the end we decided to make the poop translators for all the exchange students.
“Exchange students, everyone~ I have a quick announcement~”
While the teacher who could speak Japanese was making the announcement, Doggie was scrunching up its face and working hard to make the in-ear translators.
“Now, if you put these earphones in your ears—”
ㅡPpudududut!
“Uh.... No, this one is clean, so don't worry, okay?”
ㅡPpududududut!!!
“Uh....”
It was funny how the thirty newly created wireless earphone translators piled up in the teacher's hand like rabbit droppings. And the sight of him taking them one by one and handing them out to the Japanese students was pretty weird too....
“Eeeh! What's this? That's amazing!”
“Seoha-chan, you're not speaking Japanese right now, are you?”
“To me it sounds like you're speaking Korean.”
“Student Eve here made them. Now, everyone, give Eve a big round of applause~”
ㅡClap clap clap
“So cute~”
“Ahem....”
“I thought it was poop, but it's surprisingly amazing.”
ㅡBeep….
Doggie said, 'Once you're famous, even pooping gets applause.'