Summer Vacation (1)

Several months had passed since I began mentoring Kwon Sang-ah.

Spring, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, had gone by, replaced by the blazing summer sun.

As the end of the semester approached... I taught Sang-ah a great deal.

What Sang-ah desired most was to control her rampages, but making her understand that required considerable effort.

Usually, Sang-ah appeared demure and quiet, but the very source of her power was 'anger'.

I was well aware of her family history. Perhaps due to the environment she grew up in, her anger was extraordinary.

In fact, it was impressive that she had managed to suppress it for so long.

Sang-ah herself realized how immense her anger was.

That's why she had no choice but to focus on controlling her rampages.

However...

—I understand that you want to control your rampages, but you've skipped an important step.

—What do you mean by that?

—You're trying to solve the hardest problems first, instead of starting with the easy ones.

It's like this when you compare it to a game.

It's like trying to unlock top-tier skills before mastering the beginner or first-tier abilities.

If you don't have the basics down, it'll just take you longer to control your rampages.

So what are those fundamentals?

—Can you use your power properly when you're not rampaging?

—Well...

—When you rampage, your power surpasses even most professional Hunters. But not in your regular state, right? That's the basic, most fundamental thing I'm talking about.

Rampaging is extremely dangerous, but if she could control it, she'd surpass even the pros.

Because of that, she trained late into the night focusing only on controlling that state.

This had been Sang-ah's approach up till now.

Perhaps it was fitting for a middle schooler. It was a rather simple mindset.

She was skipping the basics and trying to tackle only the tough part straight away.

—If you want to control your rampages, you shouldn't be focusing on the rampages themselves, but on yourself.

That meant she needed to become stronger without relying on rampages.

She had been so impatient that she missed the simpler path.

Being unable to find composure, she was always on edge, and so never considered just walking the peaceful road first.

There was a reason why Chohyang-sunbae had invited Sang-ah to the temple.

—So let's start with the basics.

How to use magic power or doing monster-targeted exercises—those were already taught at school, so I skipped them.

What I was teaching Sang-ah was how to get stronger without rampaging.

Normally, when rampaging, people breathe fire or grow dragon scales on their bodies, but in reality, it was power that could be used even without rampaging.

Sang-ah hadn't realized that until now.

So I helped her awaken to that method, and since then, time passed until it was nearly winter break.

And then—

Fwoooosh—

"Oh? It works! I'm doing it!"

Finally sensing how, Sang-ah was now able to ignite fire in her palm.

A strength she'd before only been able to use while rampaging, she could now wield it calmly.

"Ah... but now that I have a fire, it's so hot. Is there any water?"

"Just put it out yourself."

"Oh, right?"

Sang-ah was so excited she started making a fuss.

Additionally, she could now cover her body in dragon scales.

Both her hands became covered in tough red scales, and flames leapt up as she shouted,

"Armament Hardening! Flaming Fist!"

I supposed, in some ways, that was very much like a student...

****

With summer break here, the dorms emptied for a while.

Like everyone, when break came, we paused our studies and went home.

I too grabbed my bags and hopped on the bus to see my parents for the first time in months.

I arrived at our apartment after all that time and stood in front of our door.

Beep beep beep beep—

Luckily, the password hadn't changed.

Tsk—

"Son, welcome home~"

"Welcome back, Seongjin."

The moment I entered the code and opened the door, my mom and dad greeted me.

"Hey! Squid! Hurry up and hand over that Monster Seal! You promised!"

"What kind of way is that to talk to your brother who just got home?"

My little sister, still an elementary schooler, ran up, being as immature as ever.

My mom scolded her for that, as an added bonus.

And then—

"Ah, hello."

A girl who had followed me from school greeted them.

My family, surprised but happy to see me bring home a guest they'd never met before, looked astonished.

"Ah... You're that friend, huh?"

"What was your name again?"

"I'm Kwon Sang-ah."

"Of course, Sang-ah! Come right in."

"Yes..."

At the enthusiastic welcome from my family, Sang-ah frowned a little.

It was probably her first time meeting a friend's relatives like this.

She seemed to have never hung out at someone else's house before.

"Is this your first time with something like this?"

"Yeah... pretty much."

"Pretty much?"

"I had friends in elementary school too, but... I always ended up having to say goodbye. Because I lost control and rampaged..."

Even before entering Hand High, Kwon Sang-ah had been well-known.

She had, after all, once suddenly lost control and knocked out several teachers.

That earned her notoriety but brought nothing good.

"After that, the kids who used to bully me disappeared... But even the ones I was close with left me."

Sang-ah had become a figure of fear overnight.

She said herself that when she rampaged, it turned her into a monster—so frightening even allies and enemies abandoned her.

"And that's not all."

That fear didn't stop inside the school.

News of Sang-ah reached the families of the injured staff and the parents of other students.

They came to school to protest directly, some calling her a monster.

'Why does a monster like you have to be in the same class as my son?'

'How has someone like this not been expelled?'

'What a real punk of a girl. Do you even know how many months my husband's been bedridden because of you?'

Sang-ah had to listen to such complaints from parents at school.

There had always been overprotective parents.

If there was anything that could harm their child, they would do anything to eliminate it.

Some stooped to verbal abuse and personal attacks.

They were really the worst of the worst.

"Do you know what's most unfair about all this? I didn't even have parents to protect me."

Sang-ah didn't even have those foolish parents.

The closest thing was a mother who lay bedridden, not attempting to move at all.

"How did you survive through all that hell?"

"Fortunately, it didn't last long. Once it came out that I was the child of the Hwasan Guildmaster, everyone clammed up."

To be honest, the Hwasan Guild didn't do much to protect Sang-ah.

But hearing the name of one of Korea's four major guilds was enough to make people cower and flee.

Those parents, who had tried to protect their own by attacking Sang-ah, were nothing more than cowards acting on a cheap sense of justice.

But it was obvious that incident had left Sang-ah deeply scarred.

"I wondered every day what I could do not to be treated like a monster. The reason was, of course, my trait... and I finally understood what I had to do."

She must control her rampages.

So as not to be treated as a monster.

That was why she'd skipped the basics and focused solely on controlling rampages.

"To be honest, even now I get scared. I worry how other parents will react if they see me."

Just thinking of those events made her whole body tremble. Afraid she'd be called a monster again.

The anxiety and anger born from that fear was still alive inside her.

But for as long as she was in my home, that wouldn't happen.

"Since Seongjin's friend is here, what should we eat?"

"I dunno... How about the new pork belly restaurant next door?"

"You just want to drink. We should get something the kids want."

My parents had no objections to Sang-ah at all.

They were only considering what she might want to eat.

"I want chicken!"

"No way. Since your brother's friend is here, we should have something else. And you had chicken just yesterday, Yunhee."

"Mom, don't you know? There's no such thing as a bad person who likes chicken. Am I right?"

"Hmmph."

Yunhee insisted and my mom shot her down.

She still hadn't changed.

Honestly, I wasn't sure she'd ever grow up.

"Okay, let's let Sang-ah pick what she wants to eat."

"Yeah, it's her first time here."

"Uh...?"

Suddenly, my parents' eyes were on Sang-ah.

When asked what she'd like to eat, she dazed for a moment.

Being welcomed like this by others was probably a very foreign feeling.

"I... um..."

She seemed like she could agonize over it endlessly.

So I leaned close and whispered in Sang-ah's ear.

And she parroted exactly what I'd whispered.

"P-pizza!"

Dawdling and wasting time wasn't my style.

I might as well have us get what I liked.

"What? You just whispered in her ear! Isn't that cheating?"

But my sharp little sister instantly noticed.

She only got perceptive at times like these.

"I don't mind. Just order whatever Seongjin wants."

So the meal was decided, and we put in the delivery order right away.

Before long, Sang-ah was seated at a table loaded with instant food.

"Thank you for the meal."

She took a slice of pizza and bit in.

Before she knew it, the warm, lively atmosphere wrapped around her.

At her family's mansion, things had always been cold and silent—she'd lived alone, like a mouse in her hole.

But my house was the exact opposite.

No one gave her the cold shoulder.

No one saw her as livestock or a defective product.

"But, unni, what's that on your head?"

Yunhee, still chewing chicken, pointed at the horn on Sang-ah's head.

"That's..."

Sang-ah hesitated.

But Dad cut in first.

"A horn, huh? Are you perhaps a dragon-type Mutamit?"

"How did you..."

"I heard a bit about you from Seongjin, so I looked some things up."

"You investigated me?"

"I'm a prosecutor, after all."

So they must already know she was the Hwasan Guildmaster's daughter.

And probably even about the rampage incident back in elementary school.

"Um... I mean, about before..."

"Ah, we already know. That was the incident where you put all the magic power teachers in the hospital, right?"

At those words, an earthquake shook Sang-ah's heart.

Her most embarrassing past.

The fear that she'd be seen as a monster again made her tremble.

"Don't worry. We're not going to judge you for that."

"Huh?"

"Neither Mom nor Dad is the type to nitpick about something from so long ago."

It wasn't just Dad—the whole family already knew.

Hearing that, Sang-ah was about to burst into tears.

Despite knowing the dangers of her rampage, they still welcomed her. It felt as warm as being hugged by a mother in a hospital bed.

"Unni, are you a dragon?"

"...."

"Can I touch that?"

Yunhee reached out and poked at Sang-ah's horn.

In that instant, Sang-ah burst into tears—of a different kind.

"Kyaaak! Don't touch that!"

The moment Yunhee touched her horn, Sang-ah flinched and covered it with her hands.

Yunhee, oblivious, asked,

"Huh? Why?"

"I-it's ticklish!"

It was the moment the tears of emotion turned into ones of embarrassment.

Yunhee grinned and reached out with her greasy hands.

"How can it be ticklish? If you touch it with greasy hands it gets clean!"

Outraged, I yanked Yunhee away by the collar and put some distance between her and Sang-ah.

"It's because you poke too hard. And do you think chicken oil is some kind of premium cleaning agent?"

"Chicken oil is good for your skin and your health..."

"Stop with the nonsense!"

"Aagh! Why'd you hit me!"

After I flicked Yunhee's forehead, she smeared her greasy hands on my face.

When on earth would my bratty sister mature?

As all that worried me... Sang-ah was laughing.

She probably never made an expression like that in her cold mansion.

****

"They've all fallen asleep."

"Yeah."

That night, dad and I sat on the living room sofa.

Sang-ah was sharing a room with Yunhee.

Judging by the way they slept on the same bed, they seemed to have gotten close.

"Did you check it out?"

"Yeah."

Before the break, I had introduced Sang-ah to my dad.

When I mentioned that I'd be bringing her home soon, he seemed pleased.

But I'd also asked him for something at the same time.

"Genetic information about Sang-ah."

Dad showed me a tablet with the data I'd asked for.

The reason I'd requested it was because I'd felt some kind of incongruity while mentoring Sang-ah.

And then Dad made a shocking statement.

"About Sang-ah's mother... It's possible she's not from 'this world'."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=It's been mentioned by Hwasan's guildmaster that Sang-ah's mother is from another world...I'm guessing Hwasan's guildmaster isn't even her real father, he probably just kidnapped her mother or something.【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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