I'll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

"I don't have any."

Only after the words left my mouth did I realize my mistake. Too quick an answer.

I shrugged my shoulders. Even though I'd been healed, my shoulders were still stiff. Pouring a Potion over myself and receiving a healer's treatment didn't change the fact that I'd been hurt. It made for a good excuse, at least.

No, actually, thinking about it again, my pride really was wounded. Of all things, taken down by a Rune like that? I hadn't even noticed when it was drawn right there on the floor? It wasn't even an unfamiliar Rune. That was the one they'd used at the Research Lab for the Pompeii Project. The kind meant to detonate when intruders were present.

At the Research Lab, they'd taken various measures to make sure it wouldn't break down easily. Engraving the Rune into a Mana Stone, things like that. If it hadn't been for me, it would have been impossible for Lee Mi-seon to neutralize it without any damage.

Anyway, to fall for such a crude trick. No matter how long it had been since I'd entered a Dungeon, me? I used to spar with my father every morning, but now I didn't even have that anymore. Was that why?

I'd managed to get through it this time, but I'd be in trouble if this kept happening. If I wasn't going to use a spear, I needed to get more accustomed to the sword too....

"Student Hwijae?"

I blinked and came back to reality.

A face I wanted to look away from was right in front of me.

"I'm tired. It'll take quite a while for Gamble to get to Korea anyway, won't it? Let's rest a bit and talk again later."

Flatly refusing would only provoke that man's petty nature. He enjoyed watching people squirm when they disliked something.

But if there was a legitimate reason, he wouldn't push.

"Hmm...."

See? He looked reluctant, but Hong Seok-young nodded and backed off.

"Right. You've been sitting there looking so fine, I forgot. Want a Potion?"

"......"

...Well, if I'd already had a Potion poured on me and received healing from a healer, that was really all there was to do. I'd actually been treated quite well. The dizziness from the treatment had only lasted a brief moment, and right now I was fine enough to walk straight into a Dungeon.

There was no way Hong Seok-young didn't know that.

"I have my younger brother, too."

The existence of a young sibling worked like a charm.

Hong Seok-young gave up entirely.

"Right. Go get some rest."

Having given up on talking to me, he must have decided to get to work instead, because he called out to Kim Chae-min, who was still slumped over the table muttering incomprehensible things.

"Kim Teacher!"

"...Yes?"

"Let's go."

"Where?"

Why was Kim Chae-min suddenly so out of it?

Was this normal for a Mage without a proper Domain, or was it specifically because Kim Chae-min was an Archmage?

"Where do you think? We've got work to do."

"Work?"

"The Daseon Hunters should have finished collecting by now."

"...Ah! Oh, right. Understood."

"And the kids too. Because of that Hope bastard, I haven't even been able to check on them. They're all right?"

"Yes, they're fine. The situation's been resolved, but I told them to stay in the Study just in case. I only brought Hye-eun out to treat Teacher Woo."

Hong Seok-young looked at me.

"Go see if I-rok is all right, and check on the other kids too."

"Okay."

"I'm counting on you, Student Hwijae."

I looked quickly at Hong Seok-young.

Only now did I notice that the way he addressed me had changed.

...From Teacher Woo to Student Hwijae. A noticeably warmer form of address.

I would have thought that even if he'd suddenly called me "son," it would have been within character for Hong Seok-young, but... should I be grateful he had at least that much tact?

"......"

As if that were possible.

*

The next day.

"Gamble is being cooperative."

Lee Mi-seon said this while gazing with pitying eyes at the Country Villa, which had been torn apart by Kim Chae-min's Magic. A full day had passed, but no one had made any attempt to clean it up.

...Could it even be cleaned up?

Maybe if Kim Chae-min covered it all over with plants. But then it would be hideous in a different way.

"She says she'll only share her information with Hong Hunter-nim, but aside from that, she's cooperative."

"Can you really call that cooperative?"

"She's handing over her own research materials. That's cooperative, isn't it?"

Lee Mi-seon pulled her gaze from the garden and smiled with satisfaction.

"Even though she has a doctorate in Mana Engineering, she hadn't done anything noteworthy since grad school or after graduating, so I wondered what she could possibly have to show us...."

"And?"

"Think Hong Hunter-nim would be upset if we scouted her to our side?"

She said it lightly, as if joking, but there was an edge to it.

No one knew Sandra Gamble's genius better than I did. I studied Lee Mi-seon's expression and asked.

"Daseon? Or Daeyeon?"

"......"

Lee Mi-seon smiled.

I added one more.

"The Association?"

"If the Ark is watching Hong Hunter-nim, it'd be more comfortable to use a place that seems completely unrelated. I'm thinking of putting Gamble forward and starting a company."

"You've already gotten that far in the discussion? Aren't you trusting Gamble too much?"

I hadn't actually been trying to pry an answer out of Lee Mi-seon, so I let it go. From what she was saying, it sounded like she was planning to embed Sandra Gamble into all three organizations.

But to this question, Lee Mi-seon answered firmly.

"That child's research is worth it."

I shrugged.

Like I keep saying, nobody knows that better than I do.

"What about Hope?"

"He went back to Australia."

The forum had been terminated on day two. A Dungeon appearing might have been manageable, but with actual casualties, it was perfect fodder for all kinds of rumors.

And problems did arise, in fact. If something like this had happened back when I was working at the Ability Management Agency, I'd have burned my vacation days and fled without looking back. Fortunately, it had nothing to do with me now. In a South Korea without an Ability Management Agency, the kind of place that could handle an international incident of this scale was....

I looked at Lee Mi-seon.

The suit she always wore razor-sharp was full of wrinkles, and her hair, pulled back in a tight bundle, was a mess. Unmistakable exhaustion was plastered all over her face.

The Association must be handling it.

No, wait, Lee Mi-seon wasn't even officially affiliated with the Association. Why was she this exhausted?

"He's been behaving himself. Even though he knows our people are watching him, he just waves at them cheerfully."

"That sounds about right."

"He even said to take good care of Sandra."

"...Well, he would have expected as much."

As if we'd just leave things alone after he dropped a bomb like that. Of course,

"Though Gamble didn't seem to know."

Gamble apparently hadn't known.

"She may be brilliant in Mana Engineering research, but a person can't be exceptional in every field."

"She's a student who only just graduated. You know how it is with some of those book-smart kids, a few screws loose here and there."

Lee Mi-seon agreed with me.

"In any case, she insists she won't say anything more unless it's to Hong Hunter-nim, so...."

"Don't tell me you're planning to bring her here, where the children are?"

"What? No! Of course not."

I looked at Lee Mi-seon with skeptical eyes.

"Hope could show up out of nowhere. We can't have that."

Lee Mi-seon waved her hand dismissively.

"Chuseok is coming up soon anyway."

I blinked at a word I hadn't expected at all.

"Most of them will go home.... For the ones who don't, we'll send them on a trip with Seung-yeon and Sun-jin. A field trip. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Ah, well.... Yes. Sounds nice."

They were at an age when they should be running around and playing, but instead they were learning how to fight. Once in a while, something ordinary like that was good.

Especially....

"How are things with Museion? You said Gamble is being cooperative."

"Yes. They're looking into the children. There aren't that many, so it should be confirmed within this week."

"...What about that child? Tae-woo's."

"Safe. On paper, at least."

I let out a small breath. For all the fuss Lee Mi-seon had been making, things were actually going well on the American side too. It was bound to take time since they were moving as carefully as possible, but still.

If that child had been alive under Museion, under Sandra Gamble, then maybe No. 3 from the Original Timeline had been the same.

Perhaps far more people than I'd vaguely estimated had been faithfully living their own lives in that timeline. Whether those lives could be called happy or not was up to them.

No. 3 was living in America with his younger sibling, and Sandra Gamble was still cleaning up after Alex Hope, same as now. Lee Mi-seon, having lost her niece, did good deeds in her niece's name. Oh Hyun-wook and Park Seo-hyun, whose will was strong enough to enter Dungeons again despite their friend's death, each did what they could and became Hunters. The same went for Yoo Ji-eun, who had lost her only family.

Had Lee Mi-seon, Oh Hyun-wook, Park Seo-hyun, and Yoo Ji-eun merely dragged themselves through life with gloomy faces, too stubborn to die?

No.

The dead had left wounds that would never wash away, but each of them had been faithful to their own lives. Sometimes they got irritated, sometimes they got angry, sometimes they grieved, but...

There was laughter too.

'Hey! Woo Hwijae!!'

'What.'

'You're going into a Dungeon tomorrow, right? First time?'

'...First time alone.'

'Here! Take this with you.'

'What is it?'

'Something good.'

The Yoo Ji-eun in my memory smiled. Much younger than the last time I'd seen her, and a few years older than how she looked recently.

'...A Potion?'

'It's a prototype Potion.'

'I already have plenty of Potions.'

'You can never have too many Potions, dummy. It's better than a regular Potion, so make sure you bring it.'

'......'

'Don't make that face. Carry them on you all the time. Trust me, there'll come a moment when you need them.'

...If I had to put it into words, Yoo Ji-eun had been something like an older sister to me. I got so worked up over her calling me a Parachute that I called her "ajumma" in return, but, well. [TL: "ajumma" means middle-aged woman, used here as a deliberate insult to a young woman]

That's how siblings are. You grow up trading insults.

Just as that girl, who had been nothing but gloomy when I first met her, had eventually learned to smile brightly, so too had my father.

I have ears, so I know. How much of a wreck Hong Seok-young had been after losing his wife and son. The man who hadn't stopped clearing Dungeons since becoming a Hunter had a grand total of zero Dungeons cleared during that period alone.

But even that version of my father had smiled. The day he first reached out his hand to me at the Orphanage, unlike before when his smiling lips had dead eyes behind them, he'd looked genuinely happy. His eyes sparkling in a way unbefitting his age.

...Exactly like that man hiding behind the wall right now, quietly smiling as he watched me.

Could the mere fact of having a son really change a person that much?

I didn't know.

When my conversation with Lee Mi-seon wrapped up, Hong Seok-young sidled over.

"Ahem. Now then, don't we have something to talk about?"

"Hunter Lee mentioned sending the kids on a trip during the Chuseok holiday. You know about that, right?"

"Huh?"

"Some of them will be going home, but rather than having some left out, it might be better to send them all together. You know... like a school trip."

"Hmm...."

"I heard you're the guardian for Yoo Hye-eun and Yoo Ji-eun.... What about Oh Hyun-wook and Seo Han-seong? Did Park Seo-hyun say she had a separate guardian?"

"Uh, um...."

"Since there are girls in the group, it wouldn't be right to send only Daseon Hunters as chaperones.... Teacher Kim might want to go along too. Have you given any thought to where would be a good destination?"

"Hmmm...."

"Hunter Lee will figure that out on her own, I'm sure."

"R-right.... No, wait."

"There are only a few days left, so instead of standing around like this, we should start preparing. The villa needs repairs too...."

I didn't give Hong Seok-young a chance to speak.

"Lots to do. If you'll excuse me."

I was absolutely not running away. There was simply a lot to do.

***

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