I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 23
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Chapter 23 – A Matter of Business Ethics (2)
“Be honest with me.”
After class, I glared at Hong Seokyoung, who couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Do you find it funny to get grabbed by the collar?”
“No, no. How could that be?”
“Then why do you keep repeating the same pattern?”
“It’s my collar being grabbed, not yours. Why do you care?”
His smiling face was annoyingly sly.
When I looked at him silently and steadily, Hong Seokyoung finally wiped the smile off his face and spoke.
“Ahem. Ms. Kim is an Archmage, but to be honest, she’s still inexperienced as a magician. It’s natural since she started her hunter life after becoming an Archmage. It’s rare, but it happens.”
“What does that have to do with… your collar?”
“That doesn’t mean she lacks the reputation of an Archmage. Do you know that?”
He ignored my question.
“Do you know that?”
“What does it have to do with grabbing…?”
“Do you know that?”
I sighed deeply, realizing I had to go through this even after coming back in time.
“…Know what?”
Hong Seokyoung, excited, began to speak.
“Ms. Kim’s mentor and father, Kim Kangyeon, was an Archmage. Kim Kangyeon was also taught by his father… Who do you think was Kim Kangyeon’s mentor, meaning Ms. Kim’s grandfather?”
“…Who was it?”
Life is tough.
But it’s true that I don’t know. Even I haven’t memorized the lineage of hunters. At this point, Kim Chaemin’s father has long been dead. And her grandfather? His grandfather?
But seeing how Hong Seokyoung was making a big deal out of it, I must have missed something. What is it? Was there any unusual information about Kim Chaemin?
“Archmage Kim Youngheon.”
I frowned. It wasn’t a completely unfamiliar name.
If my memory is correct, Kim Youngheon was a mage who led the Druid Attribute Magic School in our country. Any academy student would have seen his name during mage exams.
Of course, I wasn’t an academy student, so I only saw it while preparing for civil service exams.
“Three generations of Archmages with the same attribute. This is rare even abroad. The magical heritage Ms. Kim inherited is not just unique magic. As an Archmage, Ms. Kim may still be lacking, but the reputation of a three-generation Archmage family is more than enough.”
“I still don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
“That’s why a rune guaranteed by an Archmage from such a family cannot be ignored.”
“…Ignored?”
“You’ve been in the Ark for a long time. So you don’t know how scary the outside world is. That’s why you said to reveal the rune freely.”
Is that… the problem?
Does Hong Seokyoung pity me enough to click his tongue and look at me with those sorrowful eyes?
What is this? Why do I feel insulted? Who supported him all this time?
“Magicians are insidious. Why do you think I brought Ms. Kim?”
“To teach students?”
“……That’s part of it, but no mage can ignore knowledge accumulated over three generations. I’ve already discussed this with Ms. Kim, so you don’t need to worry. By the way, it was Ms. Kim’s idea to bring this hunter in.”
Hong Seokyoung even mentioned the training center.
“At the training center, you erased the rune… Well, that was the right thing to do since there were other hunters there.”
I still don’t understand.
Can’t I just reveal it? Is this complicated process really necessary? Why?
Seeing that I still didn’t get it, Hong Seokyoung sighed deeply.
“Mr. Woo. What do you think will happen if the rune is revealed?”
“The rune will be revealed?”
“Yes. Then what will change?”
How was it when the first magic barrier rune was revealed? The French Archmage instantly became a star. It was a game-changer in dungeon strategies.
Of course, there was a lot of backlash. Magicians felt their positions were threatened.
Ah. Is this what he’s talking about?
But that’s why I was planning to use Hong Seokyoung as a shield.
“Do you understand? Besides, didn’t you say the rune was developed in the Ark?”
In the Ark, runes were often used unlike outside… But I had a feeling things would go wrong if I wasn’t careful.
I corrected Hong Seokyoung.
“Only some of them. Not the magic barrier rune.”
Let’s only reveal the runes with a clear developer.
“Really? Anyway, the Ark might track it, so it’s better to be cautious. If you want to save many people, you need to prepare in various ways.”
“I…”
“Lee Miseon may be finicky, but she’s smart. She’d have grasped the value of the rune right away. If she couldn’t, she’d have to step down from being a guild master.”
Hong Seokyoung spoke sharply.
“She knows many people, so she’ll help out. After all, didn’t you save Seungyeon?”
“…Didn’t you call Hunter Lee Miseon because of the Bangi-dong dungeon?”
“For multiple reasons. It’s efficient to handle things at once.”
Hong Seokyoung shrugged.
“Anyway, with Ms. Kim, this hunter, and my name, everything will go smoothly.”
However, I still had a fundamental question. After a moment of contemplation, I asked.
“You didn’t necessarily have to announce it under your name. Why not just announce it under Ms. Kim Chaemin’s name? As you said, being from a family of three generations of Archmages would reduce a lot of hassle.”
“…”
“…?”
“You.”
Hong Seokyoung suddenly grabbed my shoulder firmly.
“You can’t live like that.”
What is he talking about?
“This is your achievement.”
Seriously, what is he talking about?
“You and that magician you know. Mr. Woo, do you think I kept the kids quiet?”
“This hunter…”
“No. The timing doesn’t match. I was holding the small boss, and the kids had reached the perimeter with the civilians.”
“…”
“They made their own judgment. They decided not to talk.”
I don’t understand.
“Why do you think the kids didn’t even tell their families? Because your rune is an achievement that will remain in hunter history forever.”
“…”
“I have my own ethics. I can’t take this away from you.”
If he says it like that, what does that make me? I briefly thought of the French Archmage.
He’s a kind person, so he would understand, right? Right?
“…It’s not necessary.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t live like that.”
Hong Seokyoung patted my back firmly. He probably meant it as encouragement, but every time my back hurt, my conscience hurt too.
“You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll make sure your name is written in history books.”
I thought of the French Archmage, followed by the elder Park Seohyun who created the Shadow Rune, and other magicians and magitech engineers who made useful runes….
And the royalties that those thieves took away….
‘….’
The French one didn’t take any royalties, but revealing the rune earlier saved a lot of people as they wanted. I’ve put a lot of thought into it.
Park Seohyun also released the Shadow Rune for free, and I’m praising her now. That’s enough.
The rest?
How much royalty has the management office brought in? That astronomical number. With that money, they could buy new equipment for the hunters and build a new hunter academy building, and I wouldn’t have to beg Lee Miseon to donate…!
I felt at peace.
By releasing it for free, those people should be grateful to me.
“Alright.”
I nodded. Hong Seokyoung looked puzzled, probably because my attitude had changed suddenly.
I moved my body to avoid Hong Seokyoung’s hand, which was still patting my back, and asked.
“If you brought Ms. Kim Chaemin and Hunter Lee Miseon with that intention, you could have explained it from the start. Why show the rune without any explanation…?”
I squinted at Hong Seokyoung.
“Is it really because you enjoy getting grabbed by the collar?”
“That’s…”
Hong Seokyoung cleared his throat and looked away.
“No, well. It was fun to see those usually nerdy kids charging at me.”
What a terrible personality.
When I frowned, Hong Seokyoung waved his hands dismissively.
“Alright, alright. Don’t glare at me like that. Because of the rune you showed today, our Lee Miseon is already on fire.”
“The one I showed? The Shadow Rune?”
“One of the dungeons taken over by Daseon was deemed unraidable. That rune might make it possible. She’s probably racking her brain right now.”
Out of curiosity, I asked Hong Seokyoung.
“You’re not thinking of hiring Hunter Lee Miseon as a trial teacher, are you?”
“Oh? Would you like that?”
“No.”
“Actually, I did consider it, but…”
Hong Seokyoung answered while stroking his chin.
“But I realized that if we did, all the kids would end up in Daseon after graduation, so it wouldn’t work.”
“That’s good, no worries about employment.”
“Well, we’re not in a business where we need to worry about post-graduation employment rates, right?”
“We need to lower the post-graduation death rates.”
“…. That’s a harsh truth. Take it easy, Mr. Woo.”
Hong Seokyoung shook his head while taking a piece of bulgogi from my lunchbox.
Just in time, lunch break ended.
* * *
As soon as I stepped out of the teacher’s office container, an unexpected scene greeted me.
“What, what is…?”
It was so unexpected that even the ever-confident Hong Seokyoung stuttered in surprise.
“Oh, you’re back from lunch?”
Lee Miseon, who was giving instructions to the hunters, waved. The hunters following her were unloading an icebox from an SUV.
In the middle of the clearing, there was a proper parasol made of wood, not the plastic ones Hong Seokyoung had picked up from somewhere. There was not just one, either. Around the parasol, there were sunbeds like the ones you’d see at a resort.
While the other kids stood awkwardly on the sidelines, Lee Seungyeon and Sun Soonjin were lying on the sunbeds, wearing sunglasses and enjoying the sunshine.
How on earth did they get all this…?
“This is a sacred school!”
“Nowadays, calling a place like this a school will get you reported.”
“We’re putting up a building next year, I promise.”
“Our Soonjin is a girl, and her skin will suffer if she rolls around here.”
“Aunt, what about me?”
“You… Who are you again? Are you Soonjin’s friend?”
“Aunt!”
Ignoring her nephew’s outburst, Lee Miseon spoke to the hunters.
“Is that the last box?”
“There’s one more left, Master.”
“Alright. Make sure everything is set up properly.”
From the SUV trunk, a wooden coffee table was being unloaded. It was clearly too large to fit inside the car.
As I stared at it in disbelief, Lee Miseon approached me stealthily.
“I’ve set up a subspace.”
“Ah… what?”
“A subspace. It’s not fully commercialized yet… but since our company developed it, I get to use it first. There’s nothing better for carrying large items.”
“Oh, I see…”
There was subspace storage big enough to fit furniture at this time?
Feeling a bit betrayed, I looked at Lee Miseon. The annual rental fees she collected for subspace…
Forget it. What’s the point in arguing about it now?
“If you need one, let me know. It won’t be as big as this, but I can get you one about the size of a backpack for cheap.”
“No, thank you.”
I already have one. I keep it on me. It holds my ID from 2041 and the tag from the old man. It looks like a wallet, and it has a lock, so no one but me can open it.
“Let me know if you need it later.”
Lee Miseon poured some gum from a plastic container into her hand and smiled bashfully.
Instead of chewing the gum, she tucked her hair behind her ear and extended her hand to me.
“We haven’t been formally introduced, have we? I’m Lee Miseon, master of the Daseon Guild, and currently assisting Hunter Hong with…”
Lee Miseon glanced at the kids.
“… various things.”
Then she lowered her voice, whispering just loud enough for me to hear.
“And I’ll be helping you, Mr. Woo Hwijae, with whatever you need in the future.”
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