Discord:https://dsc.gg/wetried
'Putting the children on the line for a one-on-one duel! How shameless.'
Shin Young-man, the principal of New Spring Kindergarten. Although she is a materialist, she is someone who thinks about the children.
'The children can never be the object of a wager!'
Between her and the husband she separated from long ago, she could not have a biological child of her own.
And because she has run the kindergarten until now while taking care of other people's children, even if they are not her own, to her, fighting while treating the children like the reward of a wager is something that cannot happen.
"Hmph, it seems that fellow on the other side who calls themselves a principal isn't even worth dealing with."
Shin Young-man clicks her tongue as she looks around at the kindergarten's executive.
"We'll end today's emergency committee meeting here. I was too frightened of the other kindergarten's principal—"
Drrrriiiing!
But before Shin Young-man can even finish speaking, the principal's office phone rings again, and Shin Young-man picks up once more.
It is the voice of the Silver Sword Kindergarten principal, Yang Ji-hwang, that she heard just a moment ago.
—Fine. It seems my tone had a bit of a problem. Yes, if you are a true educator, you must not do bets with the children. Then how about this. Not staking the children of this neighborhood...but staking a kindergarten acquisition and merger.
"What!?"
A fierce glare gleams in Shin Young-man's eyes.
An acquisition and merger?
Are they not saying, right to her face, that they are going to openly merge and absorb the New Spring Kindergarten she raised up to now?
"Are you saying you are going to shove aside me, the long-standing pillar of this neighborhood, entirely!?"
—It could be the other way around. Rather, your kindergarten could swallow up our Silver Sword Kindergarten, which possesses an immense curriculum and education system, and outstanding children! Do you know how amazing our kindergarten is? We are a kindergarten that boasts an elementary-school advancement rate of 120 percent.
Thump!
Shin Young-man feels her chest sink coldly.
'An elementary-school advancement rate of 120 percent!? How did they do it...? No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't surpass 100 percent...'
And at the same time, something begins to burn inside Shin Young-man's chest.
'...I don't know what kind of bet this person is talking about...but maybe...just maybe...'
If they swallow this terrifying kindergarten, it feels like they will be able to leap one step further.
'This person...judging by what they say, they have no intention of giving up on my kindergarten.'
They clearly seem to intend, one way or another, to devour their kindergarten and become the strongest English kindergarten in this neighborhood.
If it goes like this, she cannot know what they might do if she keeps refusing.
Rather than that, it might be better to step forward proudly, compete proudly, and at least look for the possibility of swallowing the other side.
'More than anything...'
Shin Young-man has something she is truly confident in.
"...Fine. After thinking it over carefully, it is a proposal worth accepting. One thing! We will decide the contents of the wager on our side. You have no complaints, correct?"
—Fine, I can accept that much. When the wager's contents are decided, contact me again.
Click.
After finishing speaking, Yang Ji-hwang hangs up, and Shin Young-man explains the situation in front of the kindergarten's executives.
"And so, in order to face the newly established Silver Sword Kindergarten up ahead...we plan to hold a sports day."
The wager events are decided.
"Teachers, control the Hippo Class well, and have those kids increase their weight class by sports day. With their ferocity, they will achieve tremendous results in tug-of-war and chicken-leg fight."
"As you command!"
"Also, Elephant Class teachers, pay even more attention to singing and dance. With the power of the Elephant Class cheering squad, we can certainly predict victory."
"As you command!"
"Lastly, the Giraffe Class teachers must teach the children not only English education, but also common-knowledge questions and Hangul questions as well. In the quiz event, the Giraffe Class will surely achieve an overwhelming victory!"
"As you command!"
Receiving the kindergarten teachers' prostration, Shin Young-man closes her eyes and thinks of the husband she separated from long ago.
'I'm sorry, old man...I said I wouldn't pull it out...'
In the end, it is time to activate it.
New Spring Kindergarten's strongest, worst protocol.
[Town Musicians of Bremen].
"From now on, New Spring Kindergarten will begin an all-out war in order to bring down Silver Sword Kindergarten. As of this moment, I activate the [Town Musicians of Bremen] alert, so all teachers must make full preparations."
Chwararak!
When Shin Young-man draws back the curtain hung on one side wall of the principal's office, inside, there is a mural of a giraffe, an elephant, and a hippo standing atop one another's backs and singing.
The hippo is at the very top, the elephant is right below, and the giraffe is at the very bottom.
And if you look closely, there is one more animal beneath the giraffe, but its outline is faint, so it isn't easy to see.
Shin Young-man closes her eyes as she looks at the beast at the very bottom.
'It would be best if there is never a need to bring those guys out...'
The animals of the Town Musicians of Bremen are originally four.
But at New Spring Kindergarten, the last animal is so ferocious that it remains sealed.
As for the New Spring Kindergarten executives, they even go so far as to refer to the children of the last beast, the last class, as 'the last knight of the apocalypse'.
"All of you draft the first outline of the sports day and bring it to me. Through the sports day, we will show who on this land is the true English kindergarten. Once the sports day plan is written, we will send an envoy to Silver Sword Kindergarten through a messenger, so know it as such! That concludes today's emergency committee, so go prepare for classes!"
And so, that day's New Spring Kindergarten meeting comes to an end.
***
"No, Ji Hwa. Why in the world would you go and do something like that?"
Inside the bathhouse.
Seo Eun-hyun splashes water with Ji Hwa in the bath and asks, and Ji Hwa only shrugs.
"Everything has a grand purpose, so don't worry."
"No, well...hah...fine, let's say that's true. But putting that aside...did you use history revision when you set up Silver Sword Kindergarten? Does your kindergarten have students? How did you hire the teachers?"
"It looks like your kindergarten principal is probably going to propose a sports day...so you'll probably find out about the students and teachers on that day, and the act of establishing the kindergarten itself isn't history revision. In the first place, I was a Heaven Immortal, you know? Now that I became a Heavenly Venerable, I can do revision too, but it isn't my specialty..."
"Then how?"
"I just got a bit of a line of credit, properly and fairly bought the building, and injected a little [wisdom] to get the permit, that's all."
"..."
Seo Eun-hyun looks up at Ji Hwa with a stunned face, and Ji Hwa laughs as she roughly kneads Seo Eun-hyun's shoulders.
" Hehe, don't worry too much. The interest is only 60%. I can pay it back easily..."
"The interest is...what?"
"Compared to debt enforcement that sucks away your very existence, it's an interest rate worth paying back. Don't worry, I can do it somehow!"
"Ah, no, ah...uh..."
Seo Eun-hyun stays stunned for quite a while, but after seeing Ji Hwa's confident expression, he ultimately decides to give up thinking about it.
"Hah...I don't know."
***
The weekend comes.
Seo Eun-hyun heads with Ji Hwa to a campsite near Mount Chilgap.
According to Ji Hwa, it seems New Spring Kindergarten has rented the campsite and decided to hold the field day there.
"It seems they're doing it more seriously than I thought. So I'm going to do a preliminary inspection."
Boo-ooong—
While driving the truck, Ji Hwa tells Seo Eun-hyun in the passenger seat what the envoy who came to Silver Sword Kindergarten said.
"That principal's personality doesn't seem ordinary either. So since we don't know what they might do at the campsite, we have to investigate thoroughly in advance."
"No, Ji Hwa. The principal is only a mortal to begin with, but if you, a Heavenly Venerable, goes as far as to investigate thoroughly, isn't that too much?"
"What are you saying!? Even a lion uses all its strength when catching a rabbit!"
Ji Hwa drives the truck with a serious face and smacks her lips.
"Rather, because I'm a Heavenly Venerable and the other side is a mortal, I mustn't dismiss them even more. Even to respect the other side, I have to suppress the other side with all my strength all the more. Whether the other side is an Entering Nirvana, or a kindergarten principal, or a little child, whoever it is, I will always do my best and seize victory!"
At her hearty shout, Seo Eun-hyun looks at her with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
Just then,
On a quiet highway heading toward the campground.
There, a red van suddenly and roughly cuts in front of Ji Hwa's vehicle without so much as a signal.
Honk! Honk, honk!
Because it happens so abruptly, and right in front of Ji Hwa's truck, an accident nearly happens, and Ji Hwa, with anger rising to the top of her head, honks like crazy.
But as if the horn annoys them, the red van changes lanes left again, slows down a little, pulls up right beside Ji Hwa, and rolls down the window.
"Hey, hey, I was wondering what kind of beggar bastard was blasting the horn like...but it's an unexpectedly pretty noona? That kid next to you is your son? Nephew? Little brother?"
The tanned blond men with piercings in the van start throwing flirtatious looks at Ji Hwa, and Ji Hwa gets irritated as she looks at them.
"You bastards! How can you cut in like that!? Do you want to die!!!"
"Ooh, noona has a temper? Sorry! There was some big truck up ahead being in the way, so I just wanted to mess with it a bit. If I knew you were this kind of noona, I wouldn't have done it. By the way, noona, where are you going? Are you going to the Mount Chilgap campsite? You've even got camping gear in the cargo bed."
"Get lost. You're getting in the way of driving."
"Ahahahaha! Sure, driving is kind of hard for this noona. Want us oppas to help you drive?"
"Hah..."
Ji Hwa raises her speed as if she can't be bothered dealing with them, but the van clings to Ji Hwa even more persistently.
"Hey, where are you going? We're all headed to the campground too, so are you going to keep getting red in the face? We'll have to see your face at the campground too, you know? Don't do this, just go together with us, yeah?"
The van sticks to Ji Hwa's truck so roughly that it feels a bit threatening, and Ji Hwa, unable to endure it in the end, speaks to Seo Eun-hyun.
"Hey, Seo Eun-hyun."
"Why, want me to help?"
"Yeah. Help."
"Okay, then I'll just lightly put a puncture in their tire..."
"No, not that. You drive for a bit."
"...What?"
Ji Hwa unbuckles Seo Eun-hyun's belt in the passenger seat, lifts the back of his neck, stands up from the driver's seat, and sits Seo Eun-hyun down in the driver's seat.
Before he knows it, Seo Eun-hyun ends up driving in a kindergartener's body, and he somehow works the wheel with his short arms and legs while shouting.
"Ji Hwa, it's a crime for a kindergartener to drive!"
"Shut up! That isn't important."
Then she fully stands up, steps on the driver's seat, and sticks her upper body out the window.
"Hey, noona! That's fiery. What are you doing? Trying to come over to our car?"
The men in the red van snicker even more as they look at Ji Hwa.
At that moment, one man sitting in the back seat seems to recognize Ji Hwa's face and starts stopping the others.
"Hey, hey! Wait, I know that bitch. Step on it! That bitch is the Mount Chilgap Sword-Wielding Woman!"
"What? What are you talking about?"
And right then, Ji Hwa pulls out a sword that is 1.5 meters long.
Kaaaang!!!
Ji Hwa's sword smashes the van's window to pieces.
"Huaaaaagh! What are you doing, you crazy bitch!?"
Buaaaang!
The red van tries to flee, but it is too late.
"To the ones who drive recklessly!"
Kwaaaaang!
Once again, Ji Hwa's iron sword tears through the air, and the van's right-side mirror shatters off with a crash.
"I shall teach you justice!!!"
Kwaduduk!
What she swings...
...is too big to be called a sword.
With a single slash from her, the van's right door tears off and falls away.
"You crazy biiiiitch!!!"
"Steeeep on it!!! It's the Mount Chilgap Sword-Wielding Woman!!"
"Goooooo!!!"
The men raise the speed with faces seized by fear.
The van starts to pull ahead of the truck, but Ji Hwa has no intention of letting them go.
"Seo Eun-hyun! There's a hook behind the driver's seat. Give it to me!!"
"Ji Hwa!!! What are you doing!!??"
"Be quiet!!! Just hand over the hook!!!"
With his short arms, Seo Eun-hyun barely manages to pick up the hook in the back seat and hand it to Ji Hwa.
A chain is attached to the hook, and Ji Hwa starts whirling the chain through the air with a whoosh, adding more and more centrifugal force to the hook.
After a while, when the centrifugal force reaches its peak, Ji Hwa throws the hook toward the fleeing van.
Tukwaang!
The hook bites into the van's rear trunk, and Ji Hwa grips the chain with her arm strength and forcibly starts narrowing the distance between the van and the truck.
"I am the goddess of victory. I am the owner of war and iron, and the guardian who protects justice!!!"
Kaduduk!
As she forcibly drags the van in, Ji Hwa lifts the greatsword.
"Today, to you!!! As the guardian who protects justice, I shall make you learn that if you drive recklessly, you pay the price!!!"
Kwaduduk!
First strike.
Ji Hwa's greatsword cleanly slices off the van's roof.
"I shall teach you clearly!!!"
Second strike.
Ji Hwa's greatsword cuts the men's van, their faces turning blank, into half.
The red van starts exploding on the spot.
Third strike.
Her greatsword even cleaves apart and erases the phenomenon of that explosion, showing mercy so that the van's men do not lose their lives.
Kaaang!
She reels the hook back in, tidies the sword and hook, folds them away neatly in the back seat behind the driver's seat, sends Seo Eun-hyun back to his original place, and grips the steering wheel again.
With a refreshed, satisfied expression, Ji Hwa looks ahead and speaks.
"Since they have learned their lesson, they will not drive recklessly again. Today as well, I have righteously enlightened a group, so as a divine spirit of light, I feel fulfilled."
"..."
"Now, I too can be called a proud youth of Korea, right? I am very happy that I seem to have reached the same level as you, Seo Eun-hyun."
"...When did I ever do something like this...?"
"The weather is very good!"
The sky is high, and it is the season when horses grow fat.
That day is autumn.
***
And that day, Ji Hwa is taken to the police station.
The reason is retaliatory driving and reckless driving.
It is autumn.