I'll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

“I remembered that I couldn’t properly introduce myself last time because things were so hectic.”

To someone who didn’t know better, it would sound like a normal greeting.

Instead of those bizarre golden-glowing eyes, there were ordinary brown ones. A gently smiling face. A hand extended for a handshake. But I didn’t take that hand. I couldn’t.

Alex Hope, unfazed, grabbed my hand himself. I instinctively tried to shake it off but was met with a stronger grip than I expected. If I really wanted to, shaking it off would’ve been nothing, but as more eyes began to gather on us, I held back.

Already, there were plenty of people watching me because of Hong Seok-young’s statement about me being his disciple. If Hong Seok-young were merely a Hunter who only raided dungeons, it might be different, but this man would later become quite a politically significant figure. Someone claimed as his disciple couldn’t afford to cause trouble.

Whatever monster might be hiding inside, Alex Hope’s exterior at least had an androgynous appearance and a slender frame. Humans are always swayed by appearances.

Alex Hope asked with a concerned look.

“But did those kids get in safely?”

A burst of mana flared beside me. It knocked the breath out of me, but I barely managed to pass it off without reacting. The mana was quickly suppressed.

Let’s at least be grateful that it wasn’t killing intent. If it had been, everyone in the hall would’ve noticed.

Surely, even Alex Hope, who must be facing Hong Seok-young, felt that deep and dense mana, yet he didn’t even blink. He was different from that bastard who tried to flee when Hong Seok-young approached earlier.

…Was it because other Hunters were around? Did he think I wouldn’t be able to act in front of all these people?

The fact that his judgment was correct irritated me. I swallowed the boiling anger without letting it out.

Perhaps sensing the strange tension, more and more glances began to dart our way. I couldn’t let this slide here.

I clenched my teeth and forced a smile. I grabbed Alex Hope’s hand in return, the one that was still holding mine. I squeezed it hard enough to make the bones creak, but Alex Hope didn’t so much as flinch.

“Thanks to you.”

“Really? That’s a relief! I was worried.”

Ark is a highly secretive organization.

According to what Hong Seok-young and Lee Mi-seon had told me, there had been many efforts both abroad and domestically to track down Ark. But all they’d managed was to catch a few small fry. They said now, with the whistleblower Woo Hwijae in their hands, they had the most clues about Ark they’d ever had.

With evidence in hand, we could send official documents and request the cooperation of the Australian government at any time.

But we didn’t. We couldn’t confirm whether the Australian Hunters were on Alex Hope’s side or not, and if we missed even the slightest chance to catch Alex Hope, it would be over.

We couldn’t afford to lose the barely secured link to Ark. We had to find those connected to Alex Hope, follow the trail, and drag out the ones hiding deeper inside.

“What were their names again? Korean names are so hard to remember.”

But watching Alex Hope shamelessly bringing up the kids made me wonder if we’d messed up from the very beginning.

Was attacking the kids, attacking the orphanage where Kang Tae-woo lived, really all that Alex Hope had done?

Was there nothing before that?

Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Even if you kill the witnesses, you can’t so easily erase CCTV footage.

If he went that far, it’s not like he wouldn’t have had a way to bypass CCTV too!

“Lee Seung-yeon. Kang Tae-woo.”

It wasn’t Korean translated through a translator.

It was Korean, clear and distinct in my ears.

Alex Hope smiled slyly.

“Is that right? Am I remembering it correctly?”

We hadn’t come here to confront Alex Hope.

We had merely crawled into the trap Alex Hope had set.

“Those kids….”

I gave up controlling my strength. I didn’t hold back as I gripped tighter. With the resolve to break at least one bone.

Alex Hope’s smiling face wavered for the first time. At least there was one gain, we now knew he could feel pain.

“I wasn’t trying to say anything bad.”

Hope smiled brightly, squinting his eyes.

“We can both win-win if we just-”

“Hope! Hope!! I told you not to wander off on your own!!!”

At that moment, a loud voice calling out to Alex Hope rang from the distance. Alex Hope quickly lifted his head.

A young man, face flushed with red veins bulging in his neck, was bounding over toward Alex Hope. Along his path, groups of Hunters were gathered chatting in twos and threes, but the young man approached Alex Hope without bumping into a single one, moving with surprisingly graceful steps for his size.

“I take my eyes off you for one second, and it’s always this bullshit!!”

“Deputy Leader!”

As soon as he arrived, a rough hand grabbed the back of Alex Hope’s neck.

I let go of Alex Hope without holding him further. He quickly hid his now red-marked hand inside his long sleeve. I narrowed my eyes.

There. Just look at that.

“I told you what? When we enter the hall, stay quiet! Right next to me! Got it?!”

The young man with the innocent look and checkered flannel shirt scratched his head awkwardly and smiled when our eyes met.

“I’m sorry, Hunter Hong… and, uh, Hunter Woo? It’s my kid’s first time in a setting like this, so everything is still fascinating to him. He’s still young, you see…”

“Deputy Leader, ah, if you say it like that, what does that make me?”

“What do you mean what does it make you! Hey, when you mess up, I get disciplined. Please, just behave, okay?”

On the young man’s chest was a name tag with his country’s flag and his name. Not that I needed it, I'd already memorized the entire attendee list.

Chris Wilson. Nationality: Australia. Deputy Leader of the team Alex Hope belonged to.

Alex Hope grumbled at Chris Wilson.

"I came to greet someone briefly because there was something to be grateful for."

"Grateful? What trouble did you cause?"

“No, I said I just came to say hi! Why do you always jump to conclusions?!”

“When you cause trouble, your mom chews me out. Please! Please!! Don’t do this to me even when we’re overseas.”

“I really came just to say thank you!”

Alex Hope, still dangling by the back of his neck, shouted in protest.

Maybe it was the yellow-patterned outfit, but he looked like a loud baby duckling. I quietly took a step back.

This was... drawing attention for a very different reason.

“It’s your first time in Korea!! Why are you thanking Korean Hunters?! Do you even know who that person is?!!”

Wilson pointed at Hong Seok-young.

Hong Seok-young tried to quietly take a step back but froze.

“Someone like you could be killed by a fingernail, no, by a speck of dirt under their toenail.”

“Now that’s a bit much, even for me.”

Hong Seok-young began to ponder whether it was inhumane to say someone could be killed by toenail grime, or whether it was inhumane to say someone would die from it.

He even asked me.

“Could it be that I...?”

“What are you even asking me right now?!”

“Hey, you never know.”

“Do you have so little faith in yourself?”

“I’ve got too much faith, that’s the problem.”

“……”

I ignored Hong Seok-young.

Wilson was still yelling at Alex Hope.

Alex Hope responded clearly to each of Wilson’s words, but soon, even that seemed to tire him out. He shook off Wilson’s hand, which had been gripping the back of his neck, and regained his freedom.

Hope then pulled his hood up snugly over his head, pretending to block out the noise. That only seemed to aggravate Wilson more, making him raise his voice further.

“Ah, seriously! You’re the one being loud!!”

“What? And whose fault do you think this is?! I’m doing all this for you!”

“You seriously sound just like my mom!”

Hope ignored Wilson and turned away. While Wilson continued shouting over Hope’s head, Hope turned to me with an apologetic smile and bowed his head slightly.

“Let’s talk again later, okay?”

“……”

“There’s still plenty of time!”

But soon, Alex Hope tilted his head and muttered something ominous.

“Or maybe not? They weren’t… ow!”

Alex Hope eventually got smacked by Wilson and was dragged back to the table where the Australian Hunters were seated.

Hong Seok-young slowly, very slowly, raised a hand and rubbed his chin.

“Hmm…”

I clenched and unclenched my fist, thinking about Alex Hope’s hand, which was almost certainly broken.

He had hidden the bruised hand from Chris Wilson.

What could that mean? Were the other Australian Hunters really not connected to Ark?

Or was even Wilson’s nagging part of the act, and all of this just a well-orchestrated performance?

“We’ve been played.”

Hong Seok-young said in an unusually flustered tone.

I didn’t want to admit it, but I couldn’t help but nod.

“Yes.”

Either way, Alex Hope had taken control of the game.

That was a very bad development.

***

Once the minor commotion among the Australian Hunters settled down, the forum began.

There wasn’t much to it. Gratitude for the presence of renowned Hunters from around the world, hopes that this event would continue to support dungeon raids, that active information exchange among Hunters is the true hope of this era, and so on and so forth.

Why is it that speeches like this never change? Is it a lack of creativity from the International Ability Association, or did they simply not bother because no Hunter was ever going to pay attention to such old-fashioned words anyway?

Looking around the hall where more than half the attendees were dozing off, it felt safe to assume it was the latter. It was amazing the forum was still being held at all.

Even for the first day, the most they were going to do was introduce the number and classification of unconquered dungeons. The real forum wouldn’t start until the second day. That’s when the mages, who considered waiting a grave insult, would begin arriving one by one.

Though the information would be stored in my mana watch anyway, I leisurely listened to the presentation prepared by the association. Since the data was being spoon-fed so neatly, there was no need to reject it. It also helped in understanding the current era’s perspective on the dungeons.

If I wanted to build my name, dropping a few hints about raiding unconquered dungeons might be a good strategy. Just because a dungeon hadn’t been cleared yet didn’t mean it wouldn’t be cleared in the future.

For example...

“And in Romania, we have the dungeon known as the Duke’s Castle.”

An indoor dungeon in Romania with vampires.

Vampires were tricky to deal with, but as long as you prepared well, there was nothing easier. You did need Runes… I guess the mana pen should be the first thing I release.

“Also, next year, entry into the Mont Saint-Michel dungeon, also known as the Library, will remain prohibited. Just in the first half of this year, two Archmages failed to return.”

“Tell that to the mages! We’re not mages!”

“…Additionally, two guilds that entered the dungeon illegally without permission have been completely annihilated. That news is also being shared with you.”

The presenter on the stage spoke in a cold voice.

“As you know, entering a dungeon requires authorization from the respective country. If you proceed without it, there is a high possibility it will escalate into a diplomatic issue. If you care at all about your country’s diplomats, please keep that in mind.”

Coughs echoed from various parts of the hall. Even the person who had just yelled about speaking only to mages covered his mouth and began coughing.

Nothing had really changed. Seeing these Hunters who, even twenty years from now, would show no sign of having learned anything, I couldn’t help but sigh.

***

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