I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 32

[ Chapter 32: Spoiled Meat (2) ]

As it was time for the children to get out of school, the state of the beef had deteriorated beyond recognition.

When Kim Chae-min had bought it, the beef was fresh and vibrant red. Now, there was not a hint of that color left. It had turned black, its shape had collapsed, and it emitted a stench that stung the nose.

“I understand the effect, but… isn’t it a bit too effective?”

Kim Chae-min said, frowning deeply.

“According to the principal, it shouldn’t be this bad….”

“It seems the corpse hasn’t been in the dungeon for long.”

“Can’t you come up with a more plausible hypothesis?”

“I can come up with a more gruesome one.”

“Gruesome?”

I smirked.

“The monsters ate it before the corpse completely decomposed.”

“Ugh….”

Kim Chae-min grimaced.

“Well, even if that’s not the case, there are too many variables. The meat we used was still dripping with blood. Plus, the weather is hot…. The runes were drawn properly this time, not hastily sketched on a shirt.”

I waved the rune that was attached to the spoiled beef.

“To know when that corpse was placed in the dungeon, we’d have to conduct experiments, which we don’t have time for. For now, just knowing the effect is enough.”

And we had confirmed the most crucial part.

These guys were really feeding the dungeon.

Artificially nurturing a dungeon is something even the Bureau of Management does. This is usually done when the dungeon has low-level monsters but the byproducts from it are valuable.

For example, the Daegu dungeon where Arachne appears.

Arachne isn’t a monster that lives in groups or shows interest in other living creatures. As long as it has enough food, it just keeps spinning webs and building its nest, and these webs are incredibly valuable. Even though they are docile, since these large monsters extract and produce their own magic, the webs are exceptionally strong. Although difficult to process, Arachne’s fabric is highly popular for hunters’ armor.

It’s not just done in our country. The same goes for abroad. In Greece, where Arachne dungeons are clustered, and similar dungeons operate in the same way.

But in any case, it involves not killing the monsters and leaving them be.

Naturally, the related laws are strict, and there are double and triple safety measures in place. The management procedures are also complex.

What was Bangju trying to achieve by raising monsters? Was their goal a dungeon break? Or something else? But no matter what, could they really blow up every dungeon in the world at once?

Though we didn’t know what would happen in the future, Kim Chae-min had similar doubts to mine.

“But why would they do something like this?”

“Who knows. If I knew that, I’d have come up with a solution by now.”

“Still, didn’t you hear anything, Mr. Woo?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t be here examining these runes with you.”

Kim Chae-min awkwardly smiled, having run out of things to say.

I glanced at the rotten meat for a moment, then looked at the children gathering their bags and coming out to the playground.

Those backpacks. They don’t even take classes here.

“Let’s send the kids home first, then we can talk.”

* * *

After Dropping the Kids Off

“Got it!”

“Pardon?”

Kim Chae-min dragged me into a café. Just as our ordered drinks were served, Kim Chae-min clapped his hands lightly and said,

“You know the place Mr. Woo mentioned? Taeguk! That place!”

“Yes. What about it?”

“How about we infiltrate it?”

“…”

“You said it was Bangju, right?”

“That’s correct… But no. Don’t even think about infiltrating.”

“Why not!”

Kim Chae-min stirred his ice with a straw, protesting.

“What other way is more certain than checking it out ourselves?”

It’s not entirely wrong, but…

No, I shouldn’t fall for this.

When dealing with such stubbornness, the best approach is reason.

“Have you ever done it?”

“What?”

“Have you ever done it?”

“Uh…”

How old is Kim Chae-min now? Twenty-five? Twenty-six?

For a Hunter, twenty-six is an age that’s young if young, and old if old. Moreover, Kim Chae-min only started his activities after becoming an adult. It’s a time when the world can seem bright and beautiful.

In other words, he lacks experience.

And he himself mentioned it, didn’t he? That he lacks dungeon strategy experience. Although infiltration investigation is different from dungeon strategy, from the standpoint of dealing with people…

I looked at Kim Chae-min silently.

Despite his slim limbs, his face still showed traces of youth. Seeing his sparkling accessories and bright dress, he looked more like a college student who likes to dress up than a Grand Mage.

Unlike me, who was wearing the shabby tracksuit Hong Seok-young roughly picked up at the market. It’s no wonder I was the subject of rumors in this rural town.

Moreover, the car Kim Chae-min drove around was strikingly conspicuous.

“Mr. Kim, you stand out too much.”

“…Is that an insult or a compliment?”

“Neither. It’s just a fact.”

No doubt, Kim Chae-min was already famous around here.

Among the Hunters who gathered around the construction site that was supposedly a school, he’d definitely be noticed as the woman coming and going.

If such a conspicuous woman suddenly showed up with a flyer, anyone would be suspicious.

“And the same goes for me.”

It’s not just because of my clothes. It’s the unique environment of the Pilot High School that’s the problem.

You could tell from the taxi driver’s reaction when Yoo Ji-eun arrived.

And if you keep seeing kids off and picking them up every morning and evening, you stand out whether you like it or not.

Even now, look at us. Sitting in a café with a tacky interior just like the pub… a man in a tracksuit and a woman driving a sports car?

If that doesn’t stand out, what does?

Rather…

Hmm.

“What is it? That expression? Do you have a good idea?”

“No.”

I shook my head. Even for me, there are certain lines that should not be crossed.

“Why? Just tell me. Don’t leave me hanging.”

“No….”

Kim Chae-min raised an eyebrow. I gave in and spoke.

“There is one way that might not raise suspicion, but it’s too dangerous.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not something we would do ourselves.”

“Then?”

“…It’s Yoo Ji-eun.”

“Ji-eun?”

It seemed Kim Chae-min had gotten close to Yoo Hye-eun’s sister, as he called Yoo Ji-eun by her first name.

Gradually, understanding dawned on Kim Chae-min’s face.

“Wow, I didn’t think you had it in you, Mr. Woo….”

He looked at me as if I were some sort of scoundrel.

I felt wronged. Who said I was going to do it? I specifically said we wouldn’t because it was too dangerous!

But objectively speaking, she was a perfect fit, wasn’t she?

A freshly awakened middle school student. No guardian, living with just her sister. If she came saying she heard some rumors online and came to check it out….

Snap out of it. We’re talking about the young Yoo Ji-eun here. If it were the adult Yoo Ji-eun, I wouldn’t hesitate to send her, but sending a minor is a different story.

“It’s too dangerous, so I wouldn’t think of sending her.”

“How could you even think of involving a child in something like this….”

“You’re the one who asked me to tell you. And I’m telling you we’re not doing it.”

I sighed as I watched Kim Chae-min grinning. Kim Chae-min tormented me in a different way than Yoo Ji-eun did.

No one at the Bureau of Management felt as comfortable around me as he did, so it was a unique feeling. Except for the Director and Yoo Ji-eun, everyone else seemed somewhat intimidated by me.

Ah. Lee Mi-sun also felt comfortable around me.

No, rather than being comfortable, it was more like…

‘Oh my. Were you that little boy? Hunter Hong boasted about you so much, I wondered what you were like… hmm.’

The first time we met, she had given me a once-over with a meaningful look.

It had been similar ever since. It wasn’t so much that she felt comfortable around me, but that she was indifferent. She always nagged Yoo Ji-eun about joining Guild Dasun whenever she saw her.

What did I lack compared to Yoo Ji-eun? I was far better than that woman who only knew how to swing a sword ignorantly.

Of course, I didn’t plan to join a guild and work as a Hunter, but still, it stung. Honestly, many other guilds would have loved to have someone like me….

…Recalling those unpleasant memories made me a bit agitated.

“Mr. Woo?”

At least with Kim Chae-min, we could now be considered colleagues. It was better than being uncomfortable around each other.

“I’ve already spoken with the Principal, so he should take care of it. Or maybe Hunter Lee Mi-sun will help.”

“From Dasun?”

“By sending someone suitable to infiltrate….”

At my words, Kim Chae-min burst into laughter.

“Dasun is a Hunter guild, Mr. Woo. Do you really think Dasun is all-powerful?”

A regular Hunter guild wouldn’t perform autopsies and such, would they?

Dasun was like a jack-of-all-trades for Ajusshi. Matters that couldn’t be publicly handled in his position as the Director of the Management Bureau. Ajusshi often asked Lee Mi-sun to handle such things for him.

I had thought it was simply because of Lee Seung-yeon, Ajusshi’s unfortunate deceased disciple and Lee Mi-sun’s nephew… But it seemed the two had a deeper connection than I expected. It looked like they had been working together to track Bangju even before Lee Seung-yeon died in Myeong-dong.

I looked at Grand Mage Kim Chae-min with a sympathetic expression. It was probably my duty to enlighten my less knowledgeable colleague.

“Mr. Kim, aren’t you underestimating Dasun too much?”

Well, he was a mage, so it was somewhat understandable.

There were originally few mages, and even fewer useful ones. Given the nature of mages, who are hired and revered like mercenaries rather than settling in one guild, they couldn’t know much about internal guild affairs, power struggles, or political battles. One way or another, mages were always outsiders.

“Dasun is Dayeon.”

“Pardon? Hunter Lee Mi-sun does belong to that family. But Dayeon doesn’t interfere with the guild’s operations, they said.”

So naive.

Well, it was probably because of this personality that he died trying to save other hunters.

“Mr. Woo, your eyes sometimes look really strange, and it’s kind of unsettling. Can you just say what you want to say?”

“What’s wrong with my eyes?”

“It’s the look my dad used to give me every time I failed a spell when I was little.”

What kind of comparison is that?

“I’ve never seen your dad’s face, so I don’t know what kind of look that is.”

“It’s like, ‘I’m teaching this idiot because she’s my daughter, but is this really a waste of time?’”

“……”

“And then he’d smile really kindly and praise me for doing well.”

“……”

“It makes you feel like the world’s biggest idiot….”

I don’t treat people like idiots to that extent.

It’s just, well… if I’m frustrated, I might feel pity or sympathy.

“Oh, there it is again, that look!”

“You’re imagining things.”

“My dad said the same thing.”

“……”

I changed the subject. The longer we talked about this, the worse it would be for me.

“To continue what I was saying, no matter how much they say they’re unrelated, as long as Lee Mi-sun is the guild master, there’s bound to be a connection with Dayeon.”

“…Because they’re family?”

“Neither Dasun nor Dayeon is a public service project. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and if you look at the relationship between student Lee Seung-yeon and Hunter Lee Mi-sun, they seem to get along well, don’t they?”

“……”

“Consider it, Mr. Kim. There’s a reason why so many corporations run guilds.”

Everyone stands to gain something in some way.