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Chapter 851: Side Story - Employment Heavenly Lord (4)
Although Ji Hwa gets taken to the police station, she manages to resolve things somehow and is able to come back.
Afterward, Seo Eun-hyun and Ji Hwa thoroughly investigate the campsite over the weekend and return home...
And then, not long after,
The long-awaited inter-kindergarten athletic meet between Silver Sword Kindergarten and New Spring Kindergarten is held.
***
"Th...this insolent...!"
Today is the day of the fateful match between the two English kindergartens.
And only now, on this day, does Shin Young-man see with her own eyes, not through an envoy, the face of the opposing kindergarten's director, Yang Ji-hwang, and she can't control himself from sheer rage.
"How!? How can a parent present this kind of challenge to our kindergarten!?"
That's right.
The director of Silver Sword Kindergarten, Yang Ji-hwang, is none other than the woman said to be the guardian of the recently arrived new student, Seo Eun-hyun.
From New Spring Kindergarten's perspective, she is clearly a parent, but the moment Shin Young-man learned that this parent has plotted something like this to swallow up their kindergarten, Shin Young-man can think of only one thing.
'A spy! Does she send that child and carry out espionage to dig up information about our kindergarten?'
But before long, Shin Young-man shakes her head.
'Guung, n-no. No matter what, I can't pin such a false charge on a child. Seo Eun-hyun probably didn't directly spy on our kindergarten, and as a parent she just entrusted the child to the kindergarten and checked what the atmosphere is like. Even that is, of course, major espionage, but...'
In any case, Shin Young-man trembles with a powerful sense of betrayal and sets her eyes ablaze.
'We can't lose... This fight, we will win no matter what!!!'
As she clenches her fist and steels her fighting spirit.
Seo Eun-hyun, with his face gone cold, holds a kindergarten teacher's hand and looks at the faces of the Silver Sword Kindergarten children.
"Teacher Boram, but what's with those Silver Sword Kindergarten kids...don't they all look kind of similar?"
"Uh...yes. Somehow...their hair length are all similar. Their impressions are similar... They all look pretty."
"It feels kind of strange..."
Every single child at Silver Sword Kindergarten has silver hair and silver eyes, and even the kindergarten's teaching staff is the same.
Everyone looks exactly alike.
'Did you self-divide, Ji Hwa?'
Seo Eun-hyun looks with slightly incredulous eyes toward the Ji Hwa clone among the Silver Sword Kindergarten children who is closest to him, and the Ji Hwa clone, as if it doesn't know what the problem is, grins with teeth showing and makes a V sign with one hand.
'And it's even...splitting right now.'
The clones playing the role of Silver Sword Kindergarten teachers figure out the number of New Spring Kindergarten children and give a signal, and the kindergarten-student clones who receive the signal send a signal to the clones in the very back line.
Then the clones in the very back row quietly, secretly split to match the headcount.
At this bizarre behavior, Seo Eun-hyun wears a dumbfounded expression and tugs on the teacher's hand he is holding.
"Uh...teacher, my stomach hurts, so can I not do the beanbag toss?"
"Oh my, your stomach hurts? Then..."
And just as the teacher of Seo Eun-hyun's class, the Elephant Class, is about to tell Seo Eun-hyun to go and rest,
A clone playing the role of a Silver Sword Kindergarten teacher runs over with eyes rolled back, immediately pulls out first-aid supplies, and shouts.
"Goodness, you poor thing! Is the child sick? At our Silver Sword Kindergarten, a health teacher is on standby at all times, so we can heal any wound or illness in an instant. Shall we bring over our health teacher?"
"Uh, pardon? Uh..."
The Elephant Class teacher looks flustered for a moment, but because she can't refuse a well-meant offer to look after the child, she decides to let Seo Eun-hyun be shown to the Silver Sword Kindergarten's 'health teacher' for a moment.
Seo Eun-hyun opens his mouth again at Ji Hwa's shameless attitude.
"Teacher, I think I'm all better. I'll behave and participate in the match."
"What are you saying!? You might be sick somewhere, so let's at least put a stethoscope on you."
The Silver Sword Kindergarten health teacher.
Ji Hwa, wearing a doctor's coat in a suitably convincing way, examines Seo Eun-hyun's stomach with a sly expression, and only after being harassed by Ji Hwa for a while is Seo Eun-hyun able to escape again.
The match begins.
It starts with a beanbag toss contest.
It is a contest where you throw the beanbags scattered all around, and whichever side bursts the gourd first wins.
The beanbag toss contest ends in an instant.
Puh-buh-beong!
The moment one of Ji Hwa's clones picks up a beanbag and fires it out, the gourd directly explodes, and fragments scatter in all directions.
"Beanbag toss, Silver Sword Kindergarten wins!"
A Ji Hwa clone, taking the role of referee and wearing a mask similar to the one from the Radiance Hall days, declares Silver Sword Kindergarten's victory, and Shin Young-man grits her teeth.
The second event is ring toss.
Among the many rings, they throw the red rings and the blue rings onto the branches of a tree in the middle of the campsite to hang them, and the kindergarteners from both sides throw while mixed together.
Strangely, during ring toss, every child from Silver Sword Kindergarten clings only to Seo Eun-hyun and only pretends to throw rings, so the victory goes to New Spring Kindergarten.
"Ring toss, New Spring Kindergarten wins!"
The masked Ji Hwa clone declares New Spring Kindergarten's victory, and the Silver Sword Kindergarten kids who are clinging to Seo Eun-hyun alone all return to their own side with satisfied faces.
The third event is chicken-leg fighting.
This time as well, all the kindergarteners get tangled up on the field while doing chicken-leg fighting, and all the Silver Sword Kindergarten kids once again charge at Seo Eun-hyun ferociously like fighting roosters.
In the end, the Silver Sword Kindergarten kids who pay attention only to Seo Eun-hyun are swept away by the Hippo Class friends of New Spring Kindergarten.
"Chicken-leg fighting, New Spring Kindergarten wins!"
The fourth event.
This time, it is tug-of-war.
The tug-of-war is done in a way where each class of each kindergarten faces off, and in the Elephant Class that Seo Eun-hyun belongs to, Seo Eun-hyun ends up positioned at the very front of the tug-of-war line.
Seo Eun-hyun, looking a bit worn out from Ji Hwa's repeated messing around, speaks.
"...Sorry, but I can't go along with your plan anymore. What on earth are you doing on a kindergarten-wide scale!? If you sent me to kindergarten, then just leave me alone!"
"Hahaha, childish talk. Who is it that took off my mask and made me like this? If you made me open my eyes to my heart, you have to take responsibility!"
"I never opened your eyes to this kind of heart!"
"Be quiet! A person's heart is infinite!"
The tug-of-war between the Elephant Class and the Silver Sword Class begins, and Seo Eun-hyun, as if he has no intention of letting it go this time, breathes energy into the tug-of-war rope and starts pulling the rope hard.
Kigigik!
The restrictions placed on Seo Eun-hyun's split body begin to be lifted, and it starts drawing in a portion of the main body's strength.
"Huaaaaaah!"
The authority of Seo Eun-hyun's main body.
That speck of power settles into Seo Eun-hyun's split body as he yanks the rope with force.
However, all of Ji Hwa's split bodies look at Seo Eun-hyun with eyes that find him cute, and smile.
"Cute. You haven't forgotten that I'm the main body, right? Maybe not when it's main body to main body, but at the split-body level, you can't stop me!!!"
Kugugugugu!
Above the heads of the clones in Silver Sword Kindergarten.
A spiritual illusion that only Seo Eun-hyun can see appears.
It is a phantom of a gigantic silver king grabbing the rope from the back of the Silver Sword Class and pulling hard.
"Kuugh...uuuuugh!"
Seo Eun-hyun tries to somehow make up for the lacking strength with martial arts, but the difference in strength is far too overwhelming.
Since tug-of-war is a contest where strength takes up a very large part to begin with, Seo Eun-hyun has no choice but to be flung toward the Ji Hwas.
Ji Hwa's clones catch the flung Seo Eun-hyun and hug him with faces that say he is cute, and Seo Eun-hyun lets out a sigh.
"Silver Sword Kindergarten wins!"
Across four events, each kindergarten earned two points.
However, in the quiz show, the Giraffe Class kids are all miserably defeated, and in the parents' relay race, Silver Sword Kindergarten wins overwhelmingly.
In the sixth event, it ends up 2 to 4, and Silver Sword Kindergarten pulls ahead.
"No...this won't do! To think in the quiz we were most confident in, and an English quiz at that, our Giraffe Class lost..."
Principle Shin Young-man of New Spring Kindergarten has eyes thoroughly bloodshot, and she glares at Silver Sword Kindergarten.
"This won't do. We have to turn it around. We have to turn it around...!"
And now, there is only one chance left to turn it around.
"Relay race...!"
The relay race has a total of three rounds, and unlike the other events, each round gives one point.
"If we win all three rounds of the relay race, it's our victory...!"
Shin Young-man bites her lip hard.
"To win the relay race...I probably have to bring those kids out."
Giraffe, Elephant, Hippo.
A class of kids who are even smarter and tougher than these three classes.
But a class where cunning and terrifying kids gather.
If she calls them, she might even be able to predict victory.
'But if I use those kids as the cornerstone of victory, though those kids are still kids, the parents are going to be incredibly annoying...! Above all, it also pricks my conscience...'
Shin Young-man squeezes her eyes shut and decides to first try gaining victory through the other classes' kids.
"Alright. First, Hippo Class. Send out the Hippo Class kids."
Now the relay race begins.
The Hippo Class kids, true to being the most vigorous and sturdy kids in New Spring Kindergarten, run incredibly well.
But Shin Young-man has no choice but to widen her eyes.
"Wh-What!?"
The Silver Sword Kindergarten kids are too fast.
Shiiiiiiik—
It is a speed so fast it feels like they are not humans but ghosts.
At the sight of them running as if there is no air resistance, Shin Young-man's eyes widen right and she starts to break into a cold sweat.
'Ah, no... Do I have to call those kids, even at the risk? Is New Spring Kindergarten really going to get gulped down by that wicked Yang Ji-hwang...!?'
It is then.
"Teacher, my hand that got scraped in tug-of-war earlier hurts a bit... Do you have something like a bandage?"
"Oh my, what do we do? Other friends also scraped their hands, so we ran out of bandages..."
A student named Seo Eun-hyun holds out his hand to the teacher, saying his hand is scraped, and the teacher's face turns a little troubled.
Then Silver Sword Kindergarten's 'health teacher' runs over, laughing like crazy.
"AtourSilverSwordKindergarten,wehaveemergencyfirst-aidsuppliesoverflowing. Come here,little one.Ohoho,thishealthteacherwillexamineyousoitdoesn'thurt."
Right after the child named Seo Eun-hyun gets dragged off as if kidnapped by Silver Sword Kindergarten's health teacher.
For some reason, from that point on, the Silver Sword Kindergarten kids' footsteps start to slow down.
Their movements look as if their attention is being greatly pulled to something else.
Shin Young-man burns her gaze and shouts.
"It's now!!! Go!!! Don't miss this chance!"
The Hippo Class kids sprint, shake off the distracted Silver Sword Kindergarten kids, and finally seize victory in the relay race round one.
"Relay race round one, New Spring Kindergarten wins!"
Now the score of the New Spring Kindergarten and Silver Sword Kindergarten is 3 to 4.
But after seeing the next runner, Shin Young-man's eyes darken again.
"What...wait. How is this possible!? The next runner...why is it that child!?"
"Ah, Principal...that's because the fastest kid in Elephant Class in the end is...Eun-hyun."
Relay race round two.
Shin Young-man's face turns dark when she discovers that Elephant Class's Seo Eun-hyun is included as the runner for round two.
"That kid is a child who has a Silver Sword Kindergarten person as family... Even if school ties run deep, can they be deeper than blood...? What if he runs slowly on purpose for Silver Sword Kindergarten?'
"S-Sorry...should we switch him out even now?"
"No, we can't switch him out that openly. No matter how rotten it is, that Yang Ji-hwang is a parent, and we can't forcibly replace the designated runner in front of a parent... Kugh...it can't be helped. For now, to reduce variables, change the order so Eun-hyun is the last runner."
Because of Shin Young-man's anxiety, Seo Eun-hyun is changed to the last runner.
"Still, the Elephant Class kids are all quick, so if they overwhelmingly shake off the Silver Sword Kindergarten kids, then even if Eun-hyun runs slowly, there is hope!"
And the Silver Sword Kindergarten students overwhelmingly shake off the Elephant Class kids and carry relay race round two to a shining victory.
"Kuaaaaaaagh!"
Shin Young-man's tears stream down as she looks with resentful eyes at Silver Sword Kindergarten's last runner, who jogs at ease.
As if mocking Shin Young-man, Silver Sword Kindergarten's last runner receives the baton slowly, leisurely, and quickly circles half the campground.
Only then does the Elephant Class child touch the baton to Seo Eun-hyun.
'Ah...we lost.'
Even if Seo Eun-hyun is not a spy for Silver Sword Kindergarten, with a gap in distance like this, losing is only natural.
'Still, it's a relief. There's no need to suspect a student from the same kindergarten as a spy...'
It's not that they lost because Seo Eun-hyun is a spy. They lost simply because the Silver Sword Kindergarten students are overwhelmingly superior.
As a teacher who teaches children, there is no need to shamefully resent her own student.
Just as Shin Young-man is about to accept the result calmly,
Kwaaaang!
A sound like a bomb exploding begins to rumble from beneath Seo Eun-hyun's feet.
An unexpected turn begins to occur.
***
Seo Eun-hyun, with a serious gaze, sends a voice transmission to Ji Hwa.
—Sorry, but I'm going to stop your sly plan. This isn't a fair competition at all.
—What do you mean not fair!? I'm facing you with my full strength!
—The problem is that you, a Heavenly Venerable, are using your full strength against mortal little kids!
—What's the problem? We are doing this with physical abilities matched to be the same anyway. I am purely taking the advantage with movement techniques. In our Silver Sword Kindergarten, we teach movement techniques, so it is just New Spring Kindergarten's fault for not putting lightness skills into the curriculum!
At Ji Hwa's words, Seo Eun-hyun looks toward Ji Hwa and sends a voice transmission with the playfulness fading from his face.
—...If you are going to go that far, then I will also give it my all.
—Hah, you know it too, but this time it's cheating to draw on things like the strength of your main body. I am also just running with movement techniques added to the pure physical abilities of a kindergartener.
—Fine. I will also run using only a kindergartener's abilities.
—Can you really catch up to this gap in an instant!? My clone already ran half a lap around the camping ground. No matter how deep your martial attainments are...!
And the next moment,
When Seo Eun-hyun gets the baton touch from the Elephant Class schoolmate,
He starts running with all his strength.
Kwaaaaaang!
When Seo Eun-hyun's foot kicks off the ground, an enormous blast booms, and his body begins to launch forward rapidly.
—What is this, Seo Eun-hyun!? You said you will run only with a kindergartener's physical ability!
—It is a kindergartener's physical ability.
—Mountain Lord's Transcending Peaks Flight needs a lot of internal energy, so it shouldn't work with a kindergartener's ability!?
Hwieoooooo!
The wind brushes past behind the young Seo Eun-hyun's back.
A kindergartener's body tears through the air, and even runs ahead of the sound, as he chases Ji Hwa's clone that has almost finished circling the campground and is about to reach the finish line.
—Seo Eun-hyun! Is this [his] martial arts!? That's cheating! Most of [his] martial discipline squeezes out power even to the point of ruining one's own body, so it goes beyond a kindergartener's ability!
In an instant, Seo Eun-hyun catches up to Ji Hwa's clone and smiles faintly.
—It is [his] martial arts, but it also isn't.
—What?
—This is...merely something that uses a part of [his]... It is Quasi True Marital Arts, so it isn't completely self-destructive.
Dance of Emptiness.
Eternal Step.
—This is clearly a martial discipline that is used strictly within a kindergartener's limits.
Shriririk...!
In an instant, Seo Eun-hyun stands with Ji Hwa's clone right before the finish line, and Ji Hwa sends him a voice transmission as if she cannot accept losing.
—Hah, if that is a kindergartener's limit, then I will also show you what I can do within my limits!
Kiriririk!
With the finish line right in front of them, the 'time' of Ji Hwa's clone starts accelerating.
Kiriririk—
Behind Ji Hwa's clone, the faint image of a [Silver Snake Biting Its Tail] that only Seo Eun-hyun can see glimmers.
—Radiance Mantra, huh...
Seo Eun-hyun smiles as he watches Ji Hwa faintly accelerate time with kindergartener-level energy.
And with a faint smile, Seo Eun-hyun lets out a single line.
—What I did just now was three steps, and with this...
Achieving, Halting, Breaking.
The last step symbolizing emptiness.
With that step, Eternal Step is truly completed.
Paaaatt!
In the next moment, Seo Eun-hyun accelerates to the extreme and passes through the finish line faster than Ji Hwa's clone, and Ji Hwa's clone, wearing a mask and acting as the referee, trembles and gives the ruling.
"...Elephant Class. Victory!"
"...Uwaaaaaaa!!!"
Shin Yeong-man hugs Seo Eun-hyun while shedding tears, and Seo Eun-hyun looks at Ji Hwa with a slightly tired face.
"...Elephant Class wins."
It is Elephant Class's victory.
And like so, the score between the two kindergartens becomes a 4 to 4 tie.
***
The last match of the last event begins.
Shin Young-man lets her heart settle down.
"Silver Sword Kindergarten's children cannot be beaten with just any ordinary kids."
In the end, she has to bring out the card she has been hiding.
"Town Musicians of Bremen...do I have to pull out the final card?"
In the end, Shin Yeong-man decides to call 'them,' rather than the Giraffe Class that she has kept waiting as the last class.
From the start, the Giraffe Class is a class focused more on academics than physical activity, and it is obvious that even the Giraffe Class kids do not particularly want to run, so there is no choice.
"Please lend me your strength."
They are New Spring Kindergarten's last class.
Those who symbolize the fourth animal of the Town Musicians of Bremen.
Because they are 'early-year' born, every one of them has overwhelmingly good physical abilities, and because their parents are also unusually wealthy, feeding them growth medicine from a young age, they are taller and more nimble than their peers.
On top of that, because they are early-year births, they are smart and always do not move without compensation.
A special class where, every time they move and they get even a single scratch, their parents throw an especially severe fit.
[Lizardman Class].
The children wearing class shirts with lizardmen drawn on them come out for the relay, and Yang Ji-hwang touches the aluminum hat on her head with eyes mixed with tension.
Yang Ji-hwang, who has said nothing until now, opens her mouth to her own students for the first time.
"They are not easy opponents. Everyone, give it your all!"
Shin Young-man smiles as she watches that sight.
'As expected, even to your eyes, the Lizardman Class looks quite strong, huh.'
For the first time, confidence circles inside Shin Yeong-man's chest.
Before long, the third round of the relay begins.
Bang!
The final relay begins.
Since it is the final round of the final event, the children of each class are extremely fierce, and the children of Lizardman Class, with physical ability that easily exceeds kids their age, stand toe-to-toe with Silver Sword Kindergarten's pupils.
"Yes, that's it! Win, you lizardmen...!"
Shin Young-man cheers excitedly, but gradually her complexion grows dark.
In the end, it is because Silver Sword Kindergarten's students start pulling ahead again.
"Th-This can't be..."
The thought fills Shin Young-man's mind that the reversal they barely achieved is meaningless, and that they are going to lose like this.
It is then,
"Elephant Class dance team! I know everyone is tired, but let's cheer for our friends!"
Elephant Class starts cheering.
When the Elephant Class kids, wearing outfits like baby elephants, start cheering while holding bundles of tassels.
The eyes of everyone in Silver Sword Kindergarten focus on one child who starts cheering in Elephant Class.
"Win, Elephant Class, win!"
It is Seo Eun-hyun.
When Seo Eun-hyun, in a cute elephant outfit, starts cheering while holding tassels with a strong, clear voice...
The feet of Silver Sword Kindergarten's relay runners slow as they watch that.
And the lizardmen do not miss that brief opening.
Tudududududu!
After the last runner of Lizardman Class receives the baton,
They circle the campground at a crazy speed and reach the finish line.
The moment the Lizardman Class child finally reaches the finish line...
Shin Young-man lets out a crazily joyful laugh, all the teachers of New Spring Kindergarten shout cheers, and the teachers of Silver Sword Kindergarten only look at New Spring Kindergarten with strange expressions.
"...New Spring Kindergarten, victory! With this, I hereby proclaim that the inter-kindergarten competition is won by New Spring Kindergarten!"
Ji Hwa's clone, who takes the role of referee, takes off the mask, lets out a faint sigh, and gives the final ruling.
Thus, the inter-kindergarten competition comes to an end with New Spring Kindergarten's hair-thin victory.
***
"I learned a lot. We still have many shortcomings."
Yang Ji-hwang readily comes to Shin Yeong-man and bows his head.
"Silver Sword Kindergarten is splendid too. That said, about the merger...there's no need for a merger. As long as you do not threaten our New Spring Kindergarten...I think it might be fine to keep positive exchanges like today. What do you think?"
Shin Young-man shows a magnanimous side and extends a hand of reconciliation, and Yang Ji-hwang hesitates for a moment at Shin Yeong-man's hand.
'Heh...it looks like she's a little moved. Yeah. For the children, the more diversity in the kindergarten ecosystem, the better. Even if it means a competitor appealing, if we compete in good faith...'
However, at Yang Ji-hwang's next words, Shin Young-man freezes.
"Eh, no, please take us over. This is a complete defeat for our Silver Sword Kindergarten. How can we say two different things with one mouth? Since it is our defeat, absorb us."
"Uh, uhh?"
That day, Shin Young-man, led by Yang Ji-hwang's hand, ends up taking over Yang Ji-hwang's Silver Sword Kindergarten in a daze, and Yang Ji-hwang gets hired as the homeroom teacher of 'New Spring Kindergarten Silver Sword Class', as well as the vice principle of New Spring Kindergarten.
"Uh..."
"As a parent and also a competitor, you are someone I respect so much that I decided to follow you gladly, so please think of it as receiving what you ought to receive. From now on, let's develop New Spring Kindergarten together into the number one kindergarten in the world."
"Uh, uhh..."
Shin Young-man feels as if she is possessed by a ghost. She cannot refuse Yang Ji-hwang's proposal.
It is as if some enormous existence is guiding her, so even after the event ends and a week passes, she still can't erase the dazed feeling.
"This is exactly how you lose the battle but win the war. Hehehe..."
And now, being caught in Ji Hwa's hands as she kneads and fiddles with him even after coming to kindergarten, Seo Eun-hyun looks up at Ji Hwa with a face that finds it absurd.
"...Are you saying you planned this from the beginning?"
"Even if I look like this, I am the god of war and victory. If you make absolutely clear what you are trying to gain through war, then winning is as easy as eating cold porridge. Honestly, if I stayed in the rear with the Field Garden Heavenly Lord and did nothing but keep making strategies to push you, you would've been captured and sealed by Radiance Hall, you know?"
"...Then why didn't you do that, and why did you end up like this?"
"From the moment you saw my bare face and left a trace in my heart, I simply could not help but step out to the front."
"..."
At the confession that comes in playfully and yet seriously, Seo Eun-hyun's face reddens a little.
"Hem, hem..."
Ji Hwa, perhaps embarrassed even though she is the one who said it, also has her face redden a bit.
"Anyway, I got employed now, so it's fine, isn't it?"
"No, if you have the ability to create a kindergarten, get it acquired, and get employed as vice principal, then you should just run a business instead..."
"Then I can't be with you."
"..."
In the end, Seo Eun-hyun cannot withstand her gaze, clears his throat, and asks.
"...By the way, if it was going to be like this, then wouldn't it have been fine if you just got employed as a kindergarten teacher?"
"There's no opening, so how do I get employed? Forcing someone out on purpose just for that is vile, so I can't."
"Even so, you made the matter too big... In the first place, what about your loans?"
"A loan is something I can repay quickly at my level, so don't worry. And more than anything, from watching the principal..."
Ji Hwa smiles brightly and looks toward the New Spring Kindergarten's principal office.
"I confirmed that person's heart that thinks of children is real. As the god of justice, giving a reward to the righteous is only natural."
"...Sorry, but you already quit the position of god of justice."
"Well, then..."
Ji Hwa pulls Seo Eun-hyun into her arms, looks out the window, and laughs playfully.
"Let's say it's a reward given by the angel of miracles. Is that acceptable, my boss?"
Receiving Ji Hwa's playful gaze, Seo Eun-hyun smiles softly along with her.
"As the god of miracles, I permit it."
The end of autumn.
The day winter begins.
At New Spring Kindergarten, the sound of the two of them laughing echoes out.