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life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
#4e817d XXX#ba982d
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Naoko then kindly guided Seongjae through the first floor, demonstrating some spells that Seongjae was eager to learn or review. Occasionally, they would stop so Seongjae could assist a few customers, which he did with ease -- not because he was the most knowledgable on magic, but because he was comfortable around people and great at customer service (after all, most of his jobs had been in either food or retail).
Naoko, in the middle of explanation on teleportation, paused to turns towards the elevator, which opened to reveal a young teenage girl in a school uniform. She was somewhat pale, and with her honey blonde hair in a bob, she looked like a younger, livlier, and female version of Kenji. Ah, so this must be Kaori, the little sister.
"Obaa-chan, I'm home!" the girl exclaimed. "Guess what we did today in class? We're doing our necromancy section of the textbook and Sensei brought in an actual necromancer, they brought this dead frog to life and -- oh I'm sorry. Customer." The blonde teenager halted her rambling when she finally noticed Seongjae's presence.
Naoko chuckled before saying, "No, actually. This is Seongjae, darling, he's going to be working here for a while and staying with us in the main house."
"Staying with us? Why? Is he homeless or something?" Seongjae raised his eyebrows, amused. Bold kid. Seongjae started to understand why Kenji had said that Seongjae and Kaori were similar earlier, but Seongjae hoped that he had more tact than her (he probably didn't) (no offense to Kaori, she seemed like a fun kid).
"No. Your grandfather apparently sent for a student many years ago, and Seongjae is simply the first to respond." Kaori's cheerful expression faded, and she gazed at Seongjae with a look of longing envy. He suddenly felt a little guilty -- this was the first time he had looked back at his choices from the last 48 hours, and it did seem like he was just barging in to claim something that wasn't his. He hoped that the others didn't see it that way, and that they didn't think of him poorly. "And as your grandfather is no longer here, I have taken it upon myself to house him. Your brother and I have both shown him about to a degree, but I believe you two will get along, if you'd like to introduce yourselves."
"Well, if it's what oji-chan wanted, it must be for good reason." Placing her faith in her grandfather, despite no explanation for anything that's happening? Huh, he must've been a good guy. "I'm Kaori, by the way. You're Seongjae? Is that Korean? Did you come here all the way from Korea? Just for a letter? Because if you did, that's pretty damn ballsy. Especially since you're, like, a kid. And probably broke and homeless."
Seongjae laughed. "Hey, I'm glad you think it's ballsy and not idiotic. Yes, my name is Kyung Seongjae, although you may call me Chiaki if you wish. I came from Seoul, and yeah, I guess I did put my fate in a piece of paper. But it was among the things my mother had left for me, and your grandfather mentioned my grandfather, Kyung Minseung, in the letter, so I assumed it was worth listening to. And watch who you're calling 'kid,'" Seongjae said playfully. "I'm eighteen, so I say I've got a good three or four years on you, at least. And I can assure you, I'm not homeless, but broke? Well, that part is debatable." Seongjae grinned cheerfully.
"So you're studying necromancy in school? Necromancy is actually one of my favorite magical subjects! Unfortunately, South Korea is pretty strict about magic. All the magic schools are elite private schools or universities, and it's technically illegal to practice necromancy, although it's still possible if you're willing to go through a really bureaucratic process. Sadly, that means that there aren't any lessons on necromancy in Korea. I think it's so cool that your teacher brought in a necromancer for your lessons!"
Seongjae turned slightly towards Naoko as he continued speaking, his next statements directed toward both of the Minamis in his presence. "That's actually another reason why I was so quick to come here! I can't say I'm too familiar with magic laws of other countries, but South Korea is really restrictive on magic -- the only people who can learn it are of the upper class, since it was money that got you anywhere. And yeah, I did get accepted into a good magical university, but Japan overall seems more open to magical learning, so I thought it'd be better to come here anyway."
"So, Kaori-san," Seongjae directed his next words towards the teenager once again. "What area of magic do you specialize in?"