I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 42

[ Chapter 42: Teacher and Student (2) ]

“Master. Should I do it like this?”

Two days later.

“Uh, let’s see… Good! You’re doing very well! Now, try it like this!”

They were making quite a scene.

When did she say she didn’t want to be a student? When did she say she was going to give up on magic?

Even Park Seo-hyun, who didn’t seem like she would, got sucked in by Choi Jin-woo and started talking strangely. Her body was stiff, and her speech was awkward, but it was hard to believe this was the same girl who walked around with a face so gloomy she seemed ready to die just two days ago.

Really… they were funny characters.

“Ah! This part… you have to do it like this. Ah, do you understand?”

Still, seeing Park Seo-hyun, who had been withering away, playing around like that made him feel proud. Kids should be like that.

If there was a problem…

“Gasp! I have cut off your head!”

“It is your head that has been cut off!”

“What nonsense! Insisting like that won’t bring back your lost head!”

“You’re one to talk!”

Thanks to that, even the other kids started imitating their speech.

They were full of energy.

Noisy… so noisy.

Hong Seok-young, who had been watching the kids, suddenly realized he had vanished. He must have gone to the teachers’ office to sip on mixed coffee.

Even that man couldn’t hide his age. Though he had plenty of stamina, dealing with kids who never stopped talking was a different matter.

“Teacher! Teacher Woo!”

Lee Seung-yeon shouted, calling for him.

“Who won between him and me?!”

He looked at Lee Seung-yeon and Seo Han-seong.

“Play rock-paper-scissors.”

“What?!”

“The one who wins at rock-paper-scissors is the winner.”

“Where’s the fairness in that?!”

“Here.”

“Ah, teacher!”

He waved them away with his hand. A rare peaceful moment without a class to teach…. He couldn’t let it be disturbed.

Though he was bound to be disturbed soon. A now-familiar sports car was approaching from a distance. It was Kim Chae-min’s bright yellow sports car.

“Hello, kids!”

“Hello!”

Kim Chae-min jumped out of the car without opening the door. Today, she wore a long dress that reached her ankles. It was a bright green with large white and yellow flowers. He wondered how she managed to walk around in such cumbersome clothes every time.

Kim Chae-min looked around.

“Where are Jin-woo and Seo-hyun?”

There was no need to search. The two wizards, having noticed Kim Chae-min’s arrival, were tidying up their spots and walking over.

Kim Chae-min smiled brightly when she saw them and took out a brown envelope from the bag slung over her shoulder. How did that fit in such a small handbag… a spatial pocket. Last time it was a different bag. Just how many bags did she have with spatial pockets?

Anyway, that brown envelope was the star of today’s show.

Frankly, it was absurd for Hong Seok-young to ask a Grand Mage like Kim Chae-min to merely deliver documents. And Kim Chae-min bringing them so readily was absurd too.

If they were satisfied, it wasn’t his place to complain….

“This is something the teacher urgently brought… It’s something the teacher used, right? There might be parts that don’t suit you, so check carefully and tell me if you want to fix anything. Got it?”

Kim Chae-min said he was raised in a relatively free-spirited family. That might be one reason why Hong Seok-young brought him on as the children’s magic teacher.

Of course, the biggest reason was likely because Kim Chae-min was also chasing after Bangju. Trustworthy mages were few.

But how did Kim Chae-min end up chasing Bangju?

“Wow. Why is this so thick?”

“This is short. I hear contracts these days are even thicker.”

“Even more than this?”

Choi Jin-woo, who had reverted to his original way of speaking, looked at the document envelope Kim Chae-min was holding with surprise. It hadn’t even been taken out of the envelope yet, but its presence was overwhelming. If it were a person, it might not be a lethal weapon, but it would deal considerable damage.

“Do all mages do things like this?”

“Not everyone. Only between master and apprentice.”

What Kim Chae-min took out was a bundle of documents. A contract. A contract used by mages.

The so-called standard master-apprentice contract.

Choi Jin-woo tilted his head at Kim Chae-min’s words.

“I heard masters and apprentices are usually like family…?”

“Yes. I learned from my dad too.”

“Do you use contracts like this even between family?”

It might have been too high a barrier for an ordinary citizen. Anyone would react that way if a 300-page contract were suddenly presented.

Kim Chae-min smiled brightly, unaware of Choi Jin-woo’s bewilderment.

“Since it was my dad, I did it simply.”

“…This is simple? Teacher Woo. Is it just me who doesn’t understand?”

Poor kid.

But this was the realm of mages. To become a true mage, one must overcome such trials.

“There are often lawsuits between master and apprentice.”

At my words, Kim Chae-min nodded with a serious face.

“It’s fortunate if it’s just a lawsuit. I heard recently an apprentice stabbed their master….”

“Stabbed?”

“Oh, but that was deserved. The master had made the apprentice, who was a distant relative, do housework and other chores for about ten years, using magic as a hostage.”

“How was that possible under a contract?”

“Of course, it was a breach of contract.”

Kim Chae-min answered nonchalantly.

“So the relative will probably be acquitted.”

“…Are mages really that scary?”

Choi Jin-woo asked with a grim face. He might have been regretting becoming a mage. But seeing Park Seo-hyun flipping through the contract Kim Chae-min brought, it was clear there was no turning back.

Park Seo-hyun glanced up and cautioned Choi Jin-woo.

“If you ever have complaints about me, tell me before you stab. I’ll fix it as much as I can.”

“I won’t stab you!”

Seeing the terrified Choi Jin-woo, Park Seo-hyun laughed softly, her eyes crinkling.

Realizing belatedly that Park Seo-hyun’s words were a joke, Choi Jin-woo scratched his head. He looked at the 300-page contract with an embarrassed face.

He pretended to look.

“But this is too much. I don’t understand a thing.”

Mages also employ lawyers. There are lawyers specializing in master-apprentice contracts.

Not all mages use contracts, but with so many dreadful incidents, most opt to use them.

To prevent incidents like the one Kim Chae-min mentioned, where a master uses magic as leverage to enslave an apprentice, and vice versa. There have been cases where someone exploited a mage’s weakness to forcibly take their formulas.

“Seo-hyun. Do you understand?”

“Um. Actually, I don’t really know.”

“You look like you’re reading it with full understanding.”

“It’s fascinating. Grandpa taught me without any of this.”

Park Seo-hyun flipped through a few more pages of the contract before closing it again.

Then, with an oddly apologetic look, she glanced at Kim Chae-min.

“If I had known you went to get this, I would have told you it wasn’t necessary…. It seems like I made you go through unnecessary trouble.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine. But are you not going to use the contract? No matter how close you are, you need to make this clear. You should be even more precise because you’re friends.”

“I’ll use one, but I don’t plan to make it this complicated.”

“You’ll use one?!”

Ignoring Choi Jin-woo’s reaction, Park Seo-hyun took out a clean sheet of paper.

Instead of the pencil she usually used to draw runes, she grabbed a ballpoint pen and began writing swiftly.

1. Park Seo-hyun will teach Choi Jin-woo all of her grandfather’s (Park No-kyung’s) magic formulas (including the unique magic ‘Navigator for All of Us’).

2. Park Seo-hyun acknowledges Choi Jin-woo’s ownership of the magic in item 1.

3. However, neither Choi Jin-woo nor Park Seo-hyun can decide alone on a successor when necessary. Both must agree to bring in a new successor.

4. If Park Seo-hyun dies, Choi Jin-woo can choose a successor based on his sole judgment.

5. If Choi Jin-woo dies, Park Seo-hyun can choose a successor based on her sole judgment.

“……”

Park Seo-hyun signed the document and added her name and resident registration number at the bottom.

After a moment’s thought, she dismantled the pen and removed the cartridge. Watching her, they saw her break the cartridge and use the flowing ink to stamp her thumbprint. It was all done smoothly.

The first to recover was Kim Chae-min. Realizing what Park Seo-hyun had done after reading the document, signature, and thumbprint, he asked,

“Is this the contract? Is this all?”

“Yes. This is enough for me… Ah. Jin-woo. Do you have anything to add?”

“Um… I’m not sure about this. Does ‘successor’ mean an apprentice?”

“Yes. It means you should just let me know if you take on an apprentice. And I should tell you if I want to teach light magic to someone else.”

“That’s fine… Anyway, it’s your grandfather’s magic. You don’t need to ask me. If someone more talented comes along, teach them as much as you want.”

Park Seo-hyun didn’t respond to Choi Jin-woo’s words but smiled instead. His ignorance about mages was evident in what he said.

Choi Jin-woo then took out a ballpoint pen and wrote his name and resident registration number under Park Seo-hyun’s name.

As he was about to ink his finger for a thumbprint, just as Park Seo-hyun had done, Kim Chae-min grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, wait… Do you understand that this makes it legally binding?”

“Yes. You said it yourself, teacher. If a contract that thick didn’t have legal effect, that would be scary in its own way.”

“But you only have one sheet! This isn’t even…!”

Park Seo-hyun, who was more mage-like than Choi Jin-woo, furrowed her brows as she looked at the contract she had written.

“That’s why it would be great if you could notarize it, teacher… Since you’re a Grand Mage. If you notarize it, there won’t be any legal issues.”

“Well, yes, that’s true! What I’m saying is, it’s still better to draft detailed clauses rather than keeping it so simple.”

At this point, my input seemed meaningless. Honestly, it didn’t seem like Park Seo-hyun or Choi Jin-woo would listen to Kim Chae-min’s words. Look at Park Seo-hyun’s decisiveness. She stamped her thumbprint in an instant; what more would she consider?

Choi Jin-woo nodded at Kim Chae-min’s words. He seemed to be merely pretending to listen.

“It’s okay, it’s fine.”

In the end, Choi Jin-woo also stamped his thumbprint.

“Oh, really…”

Even though she looked dejected, Kim Chae-min couldn’t win and had to add her name as a witness. She seemed quite displeased, but what could she do? Even if one of them backstabbed the other in the future, it would just be considered a life experience. We couldn’t live their lives for them.

“Teacher, you too.”

“…Me?”

“They said it’s better to have three witnesses. We’ll get the principal’s signature too.”

“Where did you hear all this from… Never mind.”

With Kim Chae-min and Hong Seok-young’s signatures, no one could ignore this contract written in round handwriting.

I wrote my name under Kim Chae-min’s name and hesitated while writing my resident registration number. It shouldn’t start with a 1. The number on the ID Hong Seok-young gave me… was it 92? I forcefully extended the strokes. Luckily, it was a number that didn’t look weird even with added strokes.

I double-checked to ensure I wrote it correctly. It was still a number that didn’t feel familiar.

“Alright, teachers, stamp your thumbprints too.”

“…Thumbprints too? Isn’t a signature enough?”

“Handwriting can be forged!”

What are kids these days watching?

Though Kim Chae-min found the situation amusing and laughed, she quickly stamped her thumbprint as well. It was troublesome how easily she agreed to everything.

“Teacher Kim did it too!”

Park Seo-hyun handed over the broken pen cartridge with a sulky face. She could at least have brought proper ink….

“Teacher Kim is Teacher Kim… I’m not doing this.”

“But Teacher Kim is a Grand Mage.”

Choi Jin-woo chimed in.

“What about you, teacher? What are you?”

“Watch it!”

“No, I didn’t mean it that way! If you’re the only one not doing it, it looks weird! Since we’re doing it, let’s do it right!”

“…”

Surely, Hong Seok-young wouldn’t refuse either…. If I kept resisting, it would only make me look strange.

Damn it.

I reluctantly smeared ink on my finger.

The old man always said not to lend his name carelessly. These kids had no idea who was notarizing their contract.