I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 11

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Chapter 11 – Hunter Training Demonstration High School (2)

Two days later.

“That sword is pretty nice,” said Hong Seokyoung from the driver’s seat.

“It even chooses its owner. Thanks to it, quite a few ended up in the hospital.”

I glanced at Yoo Jieun’s sword lying on the back seat.

“Is that so?”

“There aren’t many swords that picky about their owners.”

Yoo Jieun’s sword was notorious for being as temperamental as its owner. If anyone other than the owner touched it, they’d get burned.

I wasn’t able to use it initially either. Yoo Jieun’s mana and mine don’t mesh well, so naturally, the sword didn’t like me.

“Is that your sword?” he asked.

“No.”

“Then whose is it?”

“It belongs to someone I know.”

I can use the sword now because Yoo Jieun transferred ownership to me just before she died.

“Did you steal it?”

“Then I would’ve gotten burned too.”

“True.”

Hong Seokyoung didn’t ask any further. I didn’t intend to explain anyway. It’s not a pleasant story.

I turned my gaze out the window. The streets were still in disarray, likely due to the aftermath of the Myeongdong Dungeon incident.

Even though I helped minimize the damage, casualties were unavoidable. At this point, not only are there shortages of rights for the Awakened, but everything is in short supply. The damage to ordinary people is hard to tally. It’s likely to stay that way for a while.

“So….”

Hong Seokyoung broke the silence, seemingly uncomfortable with it.

“Have you thought about what to teach the kids?”

“You told me to teach runes.”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll teach runes.”

“No, I mean, which runes… hmm.”

He pointed to the sword in the back seat.

“You’re not upset about not returning it, are you?”

“I couldn’t use it anyway because of the mana control device.”

“You’re upset.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I’m not, really.”

Hong Seokyoung chuckled.

“Even if you can’t use its powers, a blade is still a blade. At our school, blades are prohibited. Even in classes, we use blunted weapons.”

Hunter Academy was the same.

But that’s…

“Is it just for the students?”

“No. I also use bladeless weapons at school.”

When I looked at him with surprise, he seemed equally astonished.

“It’s enough for teaching kids.”

“Well… I guess so.”

“Besides, you’re teaching runes, so you won’t need a weapon.”

“Just say you don’t want to arm a suspicious person around your students.”

“It’s not exactly that.”

But he didn’t completely deny it.

He’s really a bothersome person….

Of course, if I were him, I wouldn’t want to arm someone like me either.

I sighed inwardly.

As we exchanged short conversations, the car continued down the road without stopping.

The scenery outside the window gradually changed. The dense forest of buildings gave way to lower structures, and soon even those disappeared.

The road changed too. Instead of a straight asphalt road, a bumpy dirt road appeared.

…Was the road to the pilot school always like this?

Hunter Academy hasn’t changed its location from where the pilot school was. Though it’s a bit far from Seoul, it wasn’t this… rural. If anything, commerce developed around the Academy.

Hmm.

I keep comparing it to 2041. This is 2021. The pilot school has just been established, so it makes sense for there to be nothing around it.

Still, it feels like there’s too much of nothing.

“Is this the right way?”

I asked, feeling uneasy.

“Yes,” Hong Seokyoung answered quickly, which only increased my unease.

He’s not taking me somewhere else under the guise of the pilot school, is he?

“This area is restricted from development because there are many dungeons nearby. That’s why it looks like this.”

“Ah.”

That’s right.

Until the magic detectors were developed, areas near dungeons were shunned. No one wanted to live next to a surprise box that could release monsters at any moment.

But it’s perfect for training Hunters. It makes practical exercises convenient. Even those who were skeptical about establishing the pilot school relented once they heard the location. Who would object to having Hunters stationed next to a dungeon?

Twenty years later, all the dungeons in this area were closed. That’s why I forgot about it.

“We’re here.”

Hong Seokyoung stopped the car.

We had driven a long way past the winding dirt road.

“…Is this the place?” I asked, hesitating as I got out of the car.

Due to the circumstances, the pilot school didn’t receive any support and the director funded it out of his own pocket. The reason the director sometimes referred to that period as volunteer work is not for nothing.

Even though being a Hunter is a lucrative profession, running a school is a money pit.

I know that. But still.

“Haha, it’s pretty barren, isn’t it?”

Hong Seokyoung chuckled next to me.

Barren is an understatement. It’s beyond barren—there’s nothing here.

We were in a wide, empty field surrounded by tall reeds swaying in the wind. The open space was vast, with bundles of cut reeds lying around, as if someone had cleared them out. And beside those bundles were three container units lined up. All three were office containers with windows.

“The buildings will start going up next year.”

“This… is really a school?” I asked.

“These are temporary buildings.”

“You want me to teach here?”

“Every beginning is humble.”

“…….”

This wasn’t even mentioned in textbooks. The director never said anything about this.

These… containers are supposed to be a school?

Hong Seokyoung grinned.

“Welcome to the Hunter Training Pilot High School, Mr. Woo.”

* * *

“Alright, listen up.”

Eight kids were huddled together in the container classroom. Five of them were familiar faces.

The small boy sitting in the front wiggled in his seat. Lee Seungyeon kept glancing between my face and Hong Seokyoung’s, his face flushed with excitement.

It seems he was deeply moved by my kindness… or rather, my strategy. If not, I would have felt wronged.

“This is Mr. Woo Hwijae who will be teaching Seohyun and Jinwoo from today. Some of you might already know him, but don’t give him too much trouble, alright?” Hong Seokyoung introduced me nonchalantly.

Honestly, it was too brief. After all the trouble I went through to save these kids, a more dramatic introduction would have been nice.

“Sir!”

Thankfully, it wasn’t just me who thought that. Lee Seungyeon raised his hand energetically.

At the same time, Oh Hyunwook, who was sitting with a sullen face, also raised his hand.

“Yes, Hyunwook?” Hong Seokyoung called on Hyunwook, ignoring Seungyeon.

“I saw that guy use a sword. He’s not a mage.”

“Hmm. True. Mr. Woo isn’t a mage.”

“Then why is he in charge of Seohyun and Jinwoo?”

“Because he’s going to teach them runes. I worked hard to bring him here.”

Then Choi Jinwoo raised his hand. Seungyeon still had his hand up.

“Rune for magic concealment? Or a new rune?”

“A new one. It’ll be more than enough to help you two, so don’t doze off and listen carefully.”

“Isn’t that something really amazing? Can we just be taught that?!”

“If we’re teaching you, then it’s okay. Why, don’t you want it?”

“No!! I love it!!!”

Then a student sitting next to Jinwoo chimed in.

“Sir, can only mages take that class?”

“It’s not restricted, but… only Seohyun and Jinwoo can draw runes, right?”

When were magic pens invented? Should I just introduce them too?

Even if it’s not a proper magic pen, there are plenty of primitive methods Hunters use in emergencies.

Even that would be enough in this era.

“Anyone who wants to listen can. Our school has flexible class schedules, after all. Learning anything will be helpful.”

Seungyeon raised his hand again and this time, he didn’t wait to be called on.

“Sir, weren’t you hurt back then?”

What a kind boy. He’s worried about my well-being. Hunters twenty years from now are a different breed.

Seungyeon spoke with a tearful expression.

“How could you just leave like that! I was really worried!!!”

“Yeah, we were really worried.”

Yoo Hyeeun, who was with Seungyeon in Myeong-dong, also chimed in with concern.

Such naive kids. They were so innocent that even Hong Seokyoung hadn’t expected their comments and was wide-eyed.

Normally, Hunters don’t ask about each other’s well-being like this. If someone dies, it’s their fault, and their share is ours; if they survive, it’s thanks to us, so their belongings are ours. That’s the world we live in.

I think there was a student among the first batch who was betrayed and killed by his party members in a dungeon… but it’s such an old story that I don’t remember well. I’ll have to check with the mana watch later.

“We asked Sir about you, but he wouldn’t tell us! My aunt didn’t know either….”

“We were really worried that something happened to you….”

“Are you really okay? You didn’t get hurt?”

Lee Seungyeon and Yoo Hyeeun chattered away, showing no signs of calming down. Even Choi Jinwoo joined in after a while. Oh Hyunwook stood with his arms crossed, watching without intervening, while… Park Seohyun.

“…”

What’s with her?

Park Seohyun, already pale, looked ghostly white and sat huddled in a corner. Her usually well-kept long hair was a tangled mess, and her lips were chapped and crusted with blood from being bitten.

This wasn’t the Park Seohyun from the pilot school I saw in Myeongdong… This was closer to the gloomy witch Park Seohyun I knew.

It’s been barely ten days since Myeongdong. What on earth happened to her?

* * *

“Hey, mages. You drew that wrong.”

A man who had been lying unconscious on the building floor pointed out from behind.

Park Seohyun gritted her teeth and erased the rune she was drawing. Choi Jinwoo, drawing runes beside her, crumpled his paper too.

They only needed to draw six. Just six runes correctly.

She didn’t want to undermine her friend, but at least she had been taught magic by her grandfather. Jinwoo, on the other hand, had only awakened last year and hadn’t practiced magic properly before joining the pilot school. She should be better than Jinwoo.

If this rune really concealed magic as that suspicious man claimed, it would cause a huge stir.

“Seohyun, can you check my rune?”

“Um… this part seems a bit off.”

“Really?! Oh, you’re right. Should I correct it like this?”

“It looks fine, but… Did you ask that man?”

“I wanted to ask you first.”

Seeing him smile shyly made it hard to say anything.

Park Seohyun just nodded and focused on her rune.

The blank paper was filled with runes. They weren’t complicated, but she couldn’t afford to be careless since her friends’ lives depended on it. She drew, corrected, and redrew the runes over and over until she finally started drawing the rune on her friends’ foreheads.

“Jinwoo, are you okay?”

Park Seohyun watched Jinwoo, who was sweating heavily as he drew the rune on her forehead.

“Controlling magic is really hard. It looked so easy when you did it.”

“My grandfather taught me when I was little. Just draw up to Hyunwook. I’ll handle Seungyeon’s rune.”

“Aren’t you tired? No, I’ll do it.”

“I’ve been practicing magic longer than you, remember? Don’t worry. Besides, you need to conserve your strength for the shield spell later. We can’t have you exhausted before we even start.”

Earlier, the man had clicked his tongue at her rune. It meant she was doing it correctly. So, she…she should do it….

I was too confident.

Grandfather always said that.

Pride ruins everything.

Park Seohyun was leading the group. The line was long because of the many civilians. She didn’t hear the commotion at the back.

She only found out what happened after reaching the city hall.

After seeing her friend’s tear-streaked face.

“The rune didn’t activate?”

Pride ruins everything.

Seungyeon had insisted it was fine, saying thanks to her, everyone was safe, but she couldn’t forgive herself.

“This is Mr. Woo Hwijae who will be teaching Seohyun and Jinwoo from today.”

The man who had saved Seungyeon and disappeared into the herd of monsters walked in with the teacher.

“You drew that wrong.”

The voice that had haunted her mind for the past ten days echoed in her ears again.

Park Seohyun bit her lip. The wound, not yet healed, began to bleed again.

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