I'll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

A black coat that looked expensive at a glance, herringbone suit trousers, and a white shirt underneath. A single wavy strand of blond hair fell from beneath the bucket hat pulled low over her head.

Click.

Click.

Her low-heeled shoes struck the rough asphalt, making a crisp clicking sound at a steady rhythm.

She looked completely out of place in the dark alley, where even the streetlights were out. The people gathered beneath the garishly colored graffiti, smoking cigarettes, busied themselves stealing glances at the woman and whispering among themselves. But when the face behind the sunglasses, worn despite the nighttime darkness, cast a single glance their way, they began trembling like delicate rabbits placed before a massive predator. Without so much as a snort, the woman turned her expressionless gaze away.

Click. Click.

As though she had not been bothered at all, the woman continued deeper into the alley with measured steps.

She finally stopped in front of a building so decrepit that it was hard to imagine anyone actually living there.

“…I told him to move.”

Her lips twisting in displeasure as she stared at the first floor with its shattered windows, the woman went around to the back of the building and climbed the stairs. Click. Click. Click.

Past the first floor, the second. The third. She climbed all the way to the seventh without stopping.

Unlike the dark lower floors, noise leaked out from the top floor. Only the letters a and n remained on the broken, dangling nameplate.

Thumping music seeped through the gap in the door.

The visitor, who had climbed the stairs hesitantly, took hold of the doorknob and steadied her breathing. It was painfully obvious that she did not want to go inside, but the door slowly opened.

She had expected as much from the faint music she'd heard, but even in such a shabby place, a door was still a door and had apparently been blocking a fair amount of sound. The moment she opened it, blaring music loud enough to make her grimace burst forth. The woman clicked her tongue lightly at the explicit lyrics and stepped inside. Bang. Her displeasure could not have been more obvious.

The space beyond the door was large.

Wooden floorboards creaked whenever weight pressed down on them. The paint had peeled off the walls, leaving the gray bricks underneath plainly exposed.

An extinguished light fixture hung precariously from the ceiling, abandoned where it was. The only thing illuminating the vast space without a single dividing wall was an ancient floor lamp. Even that was nowhere near enough, lighting only the area around an old armchair with stuffing poking out of it.

Beside the armchair stood a precariously stacked pile of books. Apparently it was being used as a table in place of the side table buried beneath empty liquor bottles and empty instant noodle cups, because the cover of the topmost book bore a caked-on coffee stain. Fresh coffee, still warm, was forming another stain on top of it.

On the opposite side of the armchair was a wall covered from end to end in papers. There were a few tattered newspaper clippings, but most appeared to be separately compiled materials that had been printed out. Someone had also supplemented the information with notes written in red pen.

The woman stood before the wall and lifted the papers with her slender fingers, reading what was written there.

Increase in Dungeon Breaks (France)

Dungeon Breaks (Europe-wide figures)

Things to deal with in Mexico

Check U.S. distribution network

Check Mana Concentration (Important!!)

And beneath all those countless sheets of paper was a small note.

☆☆☆11/20 Annoying Guest☆☆☆

“…I'm the annoying guest?”

Click.

“Then what else are you?”

The music stopped.

Once the sound filling the room vanished, an almost unnatural silence took its place. Even the creaking wooden floorboards went quiet, and the noise from outside seemed to have stopped as well.

A stillness as though time itself had frozen.

The woman removed her hat and turned around. At the sight of the magnificent blond hair cascading down like a waterfall, the man stared in genuine admiration.

“Do you have a Subspace connected inside that hat or something?”

“Nonsense.”

“No, seriously, look at this.”

The man strode over to her and snatched the hat from her hand. He shoved his hand inside it. His rough handling crumpled the hat badly.

“How the hell do you fit all that hair in there?”

“What do you care?”

The woman grimaced in disgust and reclaimed the hat from his hand. She snapped the wrinkles out of it, then rubbed the brim as though it had somehow picked up a filthy stain. Watching her, the man let out a dumb little “Heh” and grinned. The hair hanging over his eyes was drenched with water.

His hair was an ash gray streaked with white, like an old man's. The wet strands looked darker than usual and even seemed to glow yellow beneath the dim lighting. Just like the woman's blond hair had been dyed orange. Beneath the yellow light, regardless of their actual hair colors, the two took on such similar shades that they almost looked like family.

“…Why don't you dry your hair?”

“Can't be bothered.”

“Your clothes are getting wet.”

“They're my clothes. What do you care?”

The woman's face remained perfectly calm after having her own words thrown back at her. The hat in her hands, however, was another story. Looking at the brutally crumpled hat, the man gave a light snort and swept the hair covering his eyes back.

The face revealed beneath the dripping hair looked not merely young, but almost boyish. The woman wiped away the droplets that had splashed onto her face with an openly displeased expression.

“Water!”

“No, this isn't exactly the first time I've done this, so why do you react like that every single time?”

“I'm not surprised. I hate it.”

“Ah, now that cute little Sem is gone, the two remaining family members have to get along. Accept me. Just as I am!”

“I seriously hate this…. Who the hell said we're family?”

“You and me?”

“…….”

“Noah and Henry?”

The man tilted his head. As his sharp eyes opened wide and round, his entire impression changed.

“Do you even think of me as family?”

His face had become mild and harmless-looking, but the woman wasn't fooled. Instead, she clicked her tongue with an incredulous expression.

“Whether I like it or not, that's how it was decided, wasn't it? Family, friendship, love, that sort of thing. You used to like that stuff, didn't you?”

“That's different!”

“I don't like it, but you do… so it can't be helped. All it takes is me sacrificing myself. Unfortunately, there are only two of us, so I can't exactly look after the happiness of the majority.”

“You think I like this?!”

Noah Michel finally lost her patience and snapped. She had really wanted to keep the conversation quiet this time and leave quickly, but it always ended up like this.

“Why are all the men around me like this?”

“What's wrong with me?”

Ignoring her completely, the man, Henry Lehman, laughed heartily and clapped his hands.

Clap.

At the sound of the clap, the room suddenly flooded with light. The illumination was bright enough to seem almost blue, yet neither of them so much as blinked as they stared at each other.

“You know, Noah….”

Henry Lehman brushed the water dripping from his hair off his damp shoulders.

“Now that Sem's gone, there's nobody left to take your side. Want me to call Alex? You think Alex would take your side?”

“…You think he'd take yours?”

“If you made Alex choose between Noah and Henry, he'd pick Henry.”

“…….”

She couldn't deny it.

“Even if he did take my side, I'd refuse.”

“True. Alex only takes Noah's side when Noah's doing something stupid.”

“…….”

Michel forcibly swallowed the curse surging up from inside her. Reacting would only make her stay here longer.

“Enough small talk. Let's get this over with quickly.”

“Ah… already? That's disappointing. Want a cup of coffee, at least?”

“Expired coffee beans? No thanks. I plan on living a long time.”

“That's why I keep telling you to change too.”

Lehman shook his head. Droplets sprayed from his thin strands of hair. After shaking it out a few more times, his hair became soft and dry, as though it had never been wet in the first place.

Under the bright fluorescent light, his gray hair almost looked white. When his eyes met Michel's, a faint golden hue began to appear in his black irises.

“Why? Think you're gonna fall for me?”

“Bullshit.”

Michel straightened her hat again.

“You know Alex Hope is in Korea right now, right?”

“Our Alex is a busy man.”

“The human that bastard loves so dearly joined Hong Seok-young's Guild.”

“Oh.”

Lehman's eyes widened.

“That's possible?”

“Obviously it is, since he got in!”

“True, but… impressive. Which one is impressive, though? Alex's human? Or Alex?”

“That human is a Mana Engineer anyway, so I heard he joined in that capacity. Apparently he's pretty capable in that field.”

“Noah… I know you're a capable and impressive mage, but you should pay some attention to other fields too. One of these days, you're going to get burned.”

Michel didn't even pretend to listen to Lehman and simply continued with what she wanted to say.

“He hasn't been there long, and they probably wouldn't bother telling a technical worker who isn't even a Hunter much of anything, but apparently he's been hearing a few things.”

“Like what?”

“They're going to the United States.”

“…The United States? Here?”

“Probably.”

Lehman looked bewildered. Only after remaining silent for a moment and getting his emotions under control did he ask Michel a question.

“Why?”

“Why would I know?”

“Didn't you come here to warn me? That's why you showed up unannounced even though it isn't the date we agreed on, right?”

Michel shrugged, not denying it.

“Alex said he secretly overheard it while he was over there.”

“…Hong Seok-young? Alex is impressive.”

“No matter what he looks like on the outside, he's still a fairy on the inside…. He slips right through my magic whenever he wants, so something like that would probably be easy for him. Anyway, apparently the person Hong Seok-young had been chasing all along was you. He said finding the Research Lab in Korea was a coincidence. Good thing we cleaned everything up beforehand.”

“…Really? Me?”

“Looks like your people did something. It got on Hong Seok-young's bad side…. You said you'd handle it yourself, so I left it alone. Are you sure you're keeping them under control properly?”

“Weeell. I'm doing just fine.”

Michel narrowed her eyes at Lehman. Lehman did not avoid her gaze. Unlike Michel, who blinked lightly a couple of times, Lehman merely stared back at her without blinking, his eyes gleaming.

Michel was the first to look away.

“Just keep it that way. No, do better.”

“Demanding, aren't you. So, that's all you came for? Clean things up properly in case Hong Seok-young comes looking?”

“…No.”

“Ah. So this is the main course. I'm the type who eats the main first.”

“I prefer doing things in order.”

“That's our Noah. You know how to eat properly.”

Michel wasn't taken in by Lehman's smooth flattery and made her displeasure perfectly clear. When she kicked at the floor with her foot, it made an irritating click, click.

Apparently realizing that the sound was only making her more restless, Michel stopped moving her foot and crossed her arms.

“I won't tell you to kill Hong Seok-young.”

“You shouldn't. I'm not Sem. I know my life is precious.”

“…If.”

“If?”

“If you see Alex Hope beside Hong Seok-young.”

“Oh.”

“Kill Alex.”

Lehman stopped breathing for a moment. Michel's golden hair glittered. Whether it was truly sparkling or merely a trick of his mind, he still couldn't be sure which it was.

So Lehman swallowed hard. There was a reason Michel was favored, after all.

“Is that okay?”

“If he's beside Hong Seok-young, then it means he guided him here. Kill him even if it costs you your life. No, no matter what happens, kill him before you die.”

“You're already assuming I'm going to die?”

“If you're capable enough, survive on your own.”

“Cold-hearted as ever, our boss.”

But Lehman did not say he couldn't do it. Nor did he say that he didn't want to die.

Because in the end, everything would flow according to the Laws of All Creation.

The strong survived, and the weak died.

***

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