STABLE BOY ; Trash of the Count's Family

67. HAIS ISLAND 5

And so, the plan. South had no idea what was supposed to happen, but seeing as this was clearly part of the plot of some kind, there's probably not much for him to do.

"We have to be undetected by Redika to attack the central base on Hais Island 5," Cale said. "If he has spread his magic far, then we need to sneak past it all. I will be fine with Raon with me, but you two can use the stable boy as a crazy mage detector or something. If it doesn't work, it's fine either way, you two are strong enough to protect yourselves and the deadweight."

"I'm glad to hear you have faith in me," South muttered sarcastically, and he earned a bonk over the head from Choi Han. "Okay! Deadweight is shutting up!" he gets hit again.

"His senses are best, excluding the beastchildren," Rosalyn acknowledged, "which..." she frowned, "honestly makes me wonder about that whole half-horse theory the kids are telling."

"The what," Cale did not want to know. "Stop talking nonsense. Just prepare to go."

"This is animal abuse Young Master," South said.

-

South descended on Hais Island 5 with Choi Han and Rosalyn. Since they decided to forgo the initial plan of raiding the central, they set off immediately to bury the bomb.

"What are you doing, South?" Choi Han pulled him back from wandering off. "We have to avoid the magician."

"Huh?" South turns to him, surprised.

Choi Han stares. Then, "what do you mean, huh?"

"I thought you wanted to find the mage and kill him," South admitted.

"That was not the plan," Choi Han invoked.

"I do not care about the plan," South declared, "Rosalyn can bury the bomb. You want to kill the mage. What do you think I'm doing here?"

"Not whatever this is!" Choi Han's exasperated, "and I care about the plan—"

"Liar," South pouted.

"You are not allowed to read my emotions right now," Choi Han ground out. "Let's follow Cale-nim's plan instead of going off on our own—"

It is in the middle of this wrangling that Rosalyn reemerged from the woods, "what are you two doing?"

"Stop him for me—"

Rosalyn didn't even let Choi Han finish, "no, magic works weird on him."

Choi Han made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, half-choking South now with his arms folded around South's neck in some kind of suspension hold, tucking him close enough he couldn't move.

South whined, "Oh come onnn, you guys want to kill the crazy blood mage too!"

"Yeah, but not when I'm babysitting you and your magic high ass!" Choi Han snarled, and South gasped.

"I made him say a bad word!" South celebrated. Looks like there is still an impudent Korean teenager somewhere buried in Choi Han's old soul after all. "Lady Rosalyn did you hear that??"

"Shhh!" Rosalyn's flustered, though her cheeks are flushed from the stifled laughter she had to hold back after hearing Choi Han curse like that. Even from travelling together she's not heard Choi Han actually get frustrated at difficult people like this. He even called it babysitting. "If we make too much noise, we'll get discovered—"

"Oh they already found us," South said. "So it's fine."

Choi Han and Rosalyn froze.

"What?!"