I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 16

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Chapter 16 – Freshman (2)

The Ark is a cult.

No, it’s not a religion. Despite its name, the Ark actually despises religion. It’s more akin to a pseudo-scientific society that believes only they can lead humanity to a better path.

Suspiciously wealthy and suspiciously effective for just a society.

I remember it having quite a long history. But as Hong Seokyoung mentioned, they got caught because they started kidnapping children.

I don’t know why the Ark, which had been cautiously operating under the radar, suddenly decided to kidnap the child of an awakened person. Even after scouring the mana clock, there was no explanation.

Anyway, thanks to that, an investigation was launched, and hunters led by Hong Seokyoung discovered the research facility where I was held. The hunters destroyed the facility…

And the kidnapped children safely returned to their families.

That should be enough. A happy ending.

“Well…”

“You’re not saying you don’t know now, are you?”

“No, it’s not that.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“There are some parts that need clear explanation.”

Judging by the reaction, he definitely doesn’t know.

It’s better to explain now than to get scolded later.

But still…

How can there be so little information about something that happened just a year before I was rescued?

Even if contact with the insider was lost… Did something change in the meantime?

Or are they just pretending not to know?

“Surely you don’t think they only kidnapped one child, right?”

“…What?”

If that’s the case, it’s quite the act.

Hong Seokyoung is good at playing dumb, but deceiving people is a different field. This guy is as talented at that as he is at sitting still.

The boiling mana calmed down. It’s a good thing there are no people around.

“How much do you know about the Ark?”

The Ark is a cell-structured organization. Research facilities and companies securing funds do not know of each other’s existence unless necessary for their operations. Very few people have a complete grasp of the organization.

The kidnapping incident was likely the independent action of the research facility. I remember the head of the facility ranting about something. What was it? It’s such an old memory…

“No matter what you think you know, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Ark…”

“That’s not for you to worry about.”

Hong Seokyoung cut me off firmly.

Hmm.

An unexpected response.

“I appreciate the information you’ve provided through Kim, but what we do with that information is our business. The same goes for information about the Ark.”

He’s basically saying this is overstepping my bounds.

Understood. This is the extent of my current trust level.

They want information about the organization from me. Whether it’s new information or stuff they already know, what they do with it is Hong Seokyoung’s jurisdiction.

Fine. Let’s go around it.

No need to provoke unnecessary caution.

“Understood. Then…”

“You know I’ve been quite accommodating to you, right?”

He’s telling me to be reasonable.

He asked me to reveal runes, but maybe if I eased up a bit more… Perhaps it’s because I haven’t shared many runes yet.

Well, hunters are always wary of advance payments and deferred payments. Those are the words most spoken by swindlers targeting hunters.

“I don’t expect much.”

I counted on my fingers.

“First, save the children.”

“You don’t need to make that a condition. It’s a given.”

“…Well, everyone has a different idea of ‘many,’ don’t they?”

“Right?”

“I don’t know how many you think there are… but it’s not just the kidnapped children. As I just said.”

Hong Seokyoung’s eyes narrowed.

“Then?”

“There are several orphanages managed by the Ark.”

“……”

“There are quite a few. Even the ones I know of. There are probably more that I don’t know.”

Hong Seokyoung quickly understood what I was saying. The previously calm mana started to stir again.

It’s really fortunate there are no people around.

“And secondly.”

“What?”

“Take me with you.”

“……”

This is the main point.

Hong Seokyoung’s eyebrow twitched.

“Take you with us?”

“Yes.”

Let’s consider our thoughts.

Saying it this way might make me seem like a jerk, but at this time, there were more urgent matters than investigating missing persons cases. Guild unification, stabilizing the supply of mana stones, and… dungeon breaks.

This was an era where dungeon breaks were frequent. The government did its best to minimize the damage, but if effort alone could have solved the problem, much would have been resolved sooner.

Regardless of the dungeon’s grade, a dungeon break is a disaster. Casualties and missing persons were rampant.

Even if children were kidnapped openly by the roadside, it would be forgotten within a month due to a dungeon break.

This was a cold-hearted time when no one paid attention even if an ordinary citizen’s child was kidnapped.

But this also means…

This kidnapping case was important enough for the country to take action even in such a situation.

Was it because public sentiment was stirred by consecutive child disappearances?

It’s not impossible.

But a more plausible explanation is…

Maybe one of the kidnapped children was the child of someone important. Unfortunately, the director did not include the personal information of the kidnapped children in the report, insisting on protecting them. Honestly, I have my suspicions.

“Why?”

“Are you just going to rescue the children and be done with it? Without inspecting the research facility? It’s one of the top research facilities within the Ark. If you hesitate even a bit, they’ll destroy the data themselves.”

I spoke calmly.

“We can’t waste time. Don’t you think a guide is necessary?”

“Do you need to go personally? You can just explain it.”

“You can’t open the doors without me.”

I can’t just keep the identity of an insider or a defector forever. Thinking about the future, I need to position myself as a conscientious and very cooperative whistleblower. Moreover… it would be good to add the setting of a victim with an unfortunate past.

The Ark is going to be the sacrificial lamb.

It’s convenient to have a clear villain to blame everything on.

“You escaped, didn’t you? Whatever door it is, you wouldn’t be able to open it either.”

“Do you think I didn’t prepare for that?”

“Then you can just tell us.”

“It’s a method only I can use.”

I’m still missing a decisive blow…

This is where I need to appeal emotionally. This works better on him.

“And…”

I avoided Hong Seokyoung’s gaze with a melancholy expression.

“I need to find someone.”

It’s not a lie. Really. It’s not a lie.

I need to find young Woo Hwijae. To see if he’s here.

If not, that’s a problem, and if he is, that’s also a problem.

But either way, I can’t just pretend I don’t know.

“To see if he’s safe.”

Really, it’s not a lie.

“……”

Hong Seokyoung’s face hardened.

But the mana remained calm. There’s nothing more honest than mana.

I can consider him half-persuaded already.

Now, a story to drive the nail in…

“Alright.”

Hong Seokyoung spoke before I could say more.

He decided faster than I expected.

“It’s definitely better with a guide. Alright. We’ll take you with us.”

I thought it would require more persuasion.

So easily?

I thought he’d provoke me to draw out my intentions, but he didn’t even do that. He agreed cleanly.

Well, he’s much younger than the man I last saw, so that could be it. Or maybe it’s because he believes he can subdue me no matter what I do.

He’s the strongest hunter in Korea.

He should have that level of confidence.

“But it’ll take some time.”

“Time? How long?”

“Well…”

Hong Seokyoung stroked his chin.

“It seems better to call a few more people rather than going alone. If you wait a few days, I can gather some useful ones.”

“People you can trust?”

“What do you take me for?”

Hong Seokyoung snorted.

“I don’t mess around when it comes to kids.”

I know this very well.

It’s not an urgent matter, so it’s fine. The children aren’t being tortured there, so they can endure a few more days without their parents.

“Understood.”

* * *

And then, I continued teaching.

Park Seohyun remained gloomy, and Choi Jinwoo, who had been friendly with questions at first, started to watch me warily.

…What went wrong?

I’ve been giving them constant praise.

“Teacher!”

My savior was Lee Seungyeon. Among the students at this model high school, only he hovered around me, trying to be friendly. Thanks to him, I could introduce myself to other students whose names I didn’t know.

One of the students following Seungyeon shyly greeted me when our eyes met.

“What are you doing here? Where are Seohyun and Jinwoo?”

I pointed behind me.

The two young magicians were still focused, placing their completed rune drawings on the ground.

“Wow, they’re still at it? It’s lunchtime! What about food? Shouldn’t they eat first?”

I silently pointed to the empty lunch boxes under the parasol.

If they want to cut into their break time to practice, who am I to stop them? As a teacher, it’s my duty to praise students who study on their own.

And… they’re progressing faster than expected.

Some might say that copying runes is easy, but without the magic pen’s correction function, magicians need intense concentration to draw runes accurately. Using magic continuously also causes significant fatigue.

I’ve told them it’s okay to take it easy, but they don’t listen…

Is this the power of praise?

At first, I felt awkward since I’d never really praised anyone before, but now it comes naturally. If I’d known it was this effective, I would have used it on the administration staff too.

Instead of torturing them with rejected reports…

No, I wasn’t torturing them. As a superior, I was rightfully pointing out their mistakes. If they didn’t like it, they should have done things correctly from the start. Or gotten promoted higher than me.

I’m digressing.

Anyway, the two students are keeping up better than I thought. It might be time to teach them the next rune.

“Maybe it’s because they’re magicians… I could never sit in one place that long.”

“You said you’re a swordsman, right?”

“Yes! But why don’t you carry a sword, Mr. Woo?”

“Your principal told me not to bring a sword to school.”

“Aw… I wanted to see it up close.”

Come to think of it, if young Woo Hwijae is here, could there be another Yoo Jieun’s sword as well?

A sword of that caliber… another one?

Even though a sword isn’t my main weapon, it’s still tempting.

Screeeech!!

While I was bonding with Seungyeon through idle chatter, a car pulled into the middle of the empty lot, kicking up a cloud of dust. The bright yellow sports car was covered in dust from the dirt road.

Hearing the noise, Hong Seokyoung emerged from the container.

Clack.

“Oh, you’re here?”

The woman in the driver’s seat was wearing sunglasses. She got out of the car and removed her sunglasses.

“You didn’t tell me the road would be such a mess! I would’ve brought a different car!”

Appearing at the Hunter Training Pilot High School was Great Magician Kim Chaemin, who, years later, died trying to save a B-rank hunter foolishly attempting to take down an S-rank monster.

…I can say with certainty that this wasn’t supposed to happen.

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