"Hmm... Well, I’m still lacking, but..."
"I want to take more pictures, but..."
"There are still about five board gas left to play..."
"I haven’t asked Junior to wash my hair yet."
"Jin Yuha! I made a wingsuit! ...Huh?"
"Hmm, I only got to enjoy it for a day or so..."
The party mbers looked at Jin Yuha with a mixture of pity and disappointnt, but they couldn’t push him any further.
Jin Yuha was slumped in his chair, looking completely burnt out, with a faint smile on his lips as if he was about to leave.
The next day, in addition to the six, Baek Seol-hee joined in, relentlessly making demands. It was a knockout.
"....I burnt out."
Kook. Kook.
Ichika, sitting next to him, poked him with a wooden stick, but he didn’t budge.
Shin Se-hee, who had been watching this, nodded.
"Hmm, it’s a sha, but... Let’s call it a day."
At that, Jin Yuha’s head, which had been bowed, slowly lifted.
Finally.
At long last.
At last.
At long, long last...
It was over.
Plink.
A tear glistened at the corner of Jin Yuha’s eye.
’I really can’t do this again if they ask to... From now on, I have to make ti to hang out with the party mbers, even if it’s just a little...’
Jin Yuha deeply regretted his past actions.
Shin Se-hee chuckled at this sight.
"Actually, we knew you were struggling, but this ti, we were a little spiteful."
"Hmm? Spiteful? I wasn’t, though! I really wanted my junior to take care of ─ Mmph!"
Lim Ga-eul spoke without thinking, but Ichika’s shadow rose up and covered her mouth.
"Spiteful? Why...? Did I do sothing wrong?"
Was there so conspiracy that he didn’t know about during this break? Jin Yuha asked Shin Se-hee, but...
"I don’t know. Why would it be?"
Shin Se-hee and the other party mbers just smiled aningfully.
"Ahem! Anyway! We may have gone a bit too far, but thanks to you, I feel like I’ve had a proper rest for the first ti in a while. Thank you, Jin Yuha."
Yoo-ri cleared her throat, changing the atmosphere, and thanked Jin Yuha. She added that it wasn’t over yet.
"So, you’ve been working hard, and it’s your turn now. Is there anything you want? Just say it. We’ll do whatever you ask, just like you did for us, within our capabilities."
At that, the others nodded in agreent.
These party mbers could be relentless, but they also knew how to give back. Jin Yuha was touched by their consideration.
"What I want? Hmm... Well, there is sothing..."
But Jin Yuha hesitated to speak. He knew that what he wanted was beyond the capabilities of the party mbers.
"Disciple."
Baek Seol-hee spoke in a casual tone.
"....Yes? Master?"
"Didn’t you say yesterday that there are two ways to drive a person crazy?"
Jin Yuha was hit with his own words, and he looked defeated.
"So, speak up. What is it that you want?"
"....Hwa."
Jin Yuha reluctantly opened his mouth. He knew that if he said this, the party mbers would be disappointed.
"Hwa?"
"The fire dragon..."
Jin Yuha tightly closed his eyes.
"I want to catch the fire dragon..."
He was honestly frustrated.
’I really wanted to catch it if it appeared... I worked so hard, staying up all night, barely getting any sleep! I went through so much trouble!!!’
But the fire dragon, which had seed so close to appearing, never showed up.
It was truly frustrating that it had set up so many flags, only to disappear like McGuffin without ever revealing itself.
Of course, it never appeared in the ga either! But still!
The party mbers made indescribable expressions at Jin Yuha’s request.
"Hwa, fire dragon...?"
"Huh, wasn’t that the monster that was supposed to be here?"
"But didn’t Teacher say that Lina had already defeated it?"
The party mbers, who hadn’t expected Jin Yuha’s request to be this, looked bewildered.
Was he expecting a dead monster to co back to life?
"I know, so... Don’t worry about it."
At this, Jin Yuha mumbled in a dejected tone.
Then...
"Hmm? Disciple, do you want to catch the fire dragon?"
Baek Seol-hee tilted her head in confusion and asked. Jin Yuha’s eyes imdiately snapped towards her.
’W, what if...!’
"M, Master?"
"Hmm, on purpose... I’ve been keeping its power from leaking out by stabbing a sword into the seal, but..."
At her words, Jin Yuha’s eyes widened as much as they could.
"Hmm, that guy’s awake. About three days ago."
"!"
.
.
.
Baek Seol-hee led the entire party to the basent of the Winter Palace.
Unlike the Winter Palace, which was maintained at a pleasant temperature, the temperature underground increased exponentially the further they descended, as if they had entered a sauna.
"Whoa, there’s a space like this below..."
Shin Se-hee wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, marveling at the surroundings.
It was a pitch-black space surrounded by a massive magic circle. And in the middle of the circle, Baek Seol-hee’s sword was stabbed into the ground.
Baek Seol-hee looked at the sword and spoke in a blunt tone.
"Hmm, the fire dragon seems to have awakened below. I temporarily stabbed my sword into the seal to prevent it from breaking."
Thump thump─
Hearing my teacher’s words made it feel real.
The fire dragon was here.
Below.
We could catch the fire dragon.
It would be the first ti in the history of Velvet School Life.
This was probably the first achievent.
I had never heard anyone talk about catching a fire dragon, even though there were stories about catching water dragons and earth dragons.
’Calm down.
This is a 100% first achievent. Don’t get too excited and ss up.’
I opened my subspatial tattoo and poured out the secret items I had prepared onto the floor.
The items that spilled out onto the floor were various weapons made of ice: spears, arrow bundles, gloves, swords, shields, and light armor that could be worn on the body.
Of course, since I made them by carving ice myself, not as a blacksmith, their craftsmanship was quite crude.
"....This, this is..."
"Huh, when did you make these..."
"Junior, you were making these while fulfilling our requests?"
"....You really wanted to catch the fire dragon, huh."
Had they finally realized my sincerity? The party mbers looked back and forth between the weapons and with bewildered expressions.
"This isn’t ordinary ice."
I smiled with anticipation as I explained.
"It’s not ordinary ice?"
"Yeah, I made these by carving the walls and furniture of this Winter Palace."
"....The walls and furniture?"
"Do you rember who made this palace?"
"Lina."
At Kang Do-hee’s answer, I nodded.
"Yeah, this Winter Palace is made of ice imbued with Lina’s magic. And it’s so dense with magic that it hasn’t lted for decades, even in this hot place, maintaining its form."
At that, my teacher nodded in agreent.
"Hmm, indeed... It won’t maintain its form for long since I cut it out forcibly, but it’s an optimized thod for dealing with the fire dragon."
As she said this, my teacher picked up a sword made of ice.
"This is a replica of my sword."
"Yes, that’s right. I made it so it would be easier for you to use... Well, of course, my craftsmanship isn’t great, so it’s quite crude!"
"No, it’s very well-made. The blade is sharp, and it’s excellent."
Baek Seol-hee swung the sword through the air with satisfaction.
Then, the other party mbers rushed forward and picked up their own weapons.
"Wow! This shield looks just like mine!"
"Hmm, mine is a glove?"
"Wow, ice arrows! When did you carve all of these?!"
"Hmm, Junior? Won’t this mask fit you...?"
"Yes. I made it because I thought it would suit you, Senior."
"This is too cringey..."
In the middle of this, Lim Ga-eul grumbled, but they each took their weapons and armor.
However, Shin Se-hee and Ichika, who didn’t have weapons, had a separate request.
"First, Ichika."
"Yes. Yuha."
"Can you use those flat, rectangular blocks as stepping stones?"
"Use these as stepping stones...?"
"Yeah. The fire dragon’s flas will likely be a wide-area attack, so your shadow will probably be reverse-summoned quickly. That’s why I want you to use these ice blocks as stepping stones."
"....I’ll try."
Ichika nodded calmly at my request.
"And, Shin Se-hee."
"....Hmm?"
"Your role is important this ti."
"My role?"
"Yeah, out of all of us, you’re the most resistant to fire magic since you use fire magic yourself."
Shin Se-hee was the vanguard, the brain of Utopia, and the operator.
She was the key to this operation.
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