I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 16: New Student (2) ]

Ark is a pseudo-religious group.

No, it’s not a religion. Despite bearing the name Ark, they actually detested religion. They were more like a pseudo-science club that believed only they could lead humanity down a better path.

For a club, they suspiciously had a lot of money and suspiciously good organizational skills.

I remembered that they had quite a long history. But as Hong Seok-young mentioned, they got caught because they kidnapped children.

I didn’t know why Ark, which had been carefully operating under the radar, suddenly kidnapped the child of an Awakened. Even after searching through the magic clock, there was no clue about the reason.

Anyway, thanks to that, an investigation was initiated, and hunters led by Hong Seok-young discovered the lab where I had been. The hunters destroyed the lab….

The kidnapped children also safely returned to their families.

That was enough. A happy ending.

“Well….”

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

“No, it’s not that.”

I shrugged.

“There’s a part that needs to be explained clearly.”

Judging by the reaction, they clearly didn’t know.

It was better to tell them now than to hear complaints later.

But….

It had been only a year since I was rescued, and there was so little information?

Even if contact with the insider was cut off. Even though they relied on information from Mr. Kim and the original unknown insider…. Had there been any changes in the situation during that time?

Or were they just pretending not to know?

“Don’t tell me you think there was only one kidnapped child?”

“…What?”

If so, that was an impressive act.

Hong Seok-young was good at being nonchalant, but deceiving people was a different matter. This guy wasn’t talented at it, any more than he was at sitting still.

The turbulent magic calmed down. Thankfully, there were no people around.

“How much do you know about Ark?”

Ark operated in a cell structure. The labs and companies securing funds didn’t know about each other unless necessary for their work. Very few people had a complete understanding of the organizational chart.

The kidnapping was probably an independent act by the lab. I remembered the Lab Director ranting about something. What was it? It was such an old memory….

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

“That’s not something you need to worry about.”

Hong Seok-young cut me off.

Hmm.

That was an unexpected reaction.

“We appreciate the information you provided through Mr. Kim. But what we do with that information is our problem. The same goes for the information about Ark.”

So, this was where my jurisdiction ended.

Understood. This was the extent of my credibility right now.

What they wanted from me was information about the organization. Whether it was something they already knew or new information, it was up to Hong Seok-young to decide what to do with it.

Fine. Let’s approach this from another angle.

There was no need to raise unnecessary suspicion.

“Understood, then.”

“You know I’ve accommodated you quite a bit, right?”

He was telling me not to push it.

I had revealed the runes, but should I lower my guard more… maybe it was because I hadn’t revealed many runes yet.

Indeed, a Hunter must be wary of both advance and deferred payments. Those are the words most often repeated by agents who exploit Hunters.

“I’m not asking for much.”

I began counting on my fingers.

“First, rescue the children.”

“You don’t need to add that as a condition. Of course, we’ll do that.”

“…Well, the definition of ‘a lot’ differs for each person, doesn’t it?”

“Right?”

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

Hong Seok-young narrowed his eyes.

“So?”

“Among the institutions managed by Ark, there are several orphanages.”

“……”

“There are quite a few. At least from what I know. There are probably more that I don’t know about.”

Hong Seok-young quickly understood what I was saying. The magic that had calmed down started to stir again.

It was a relief there were no people around.

“Next.”

“What is it?”

“Take me with you.”

“……”

This was the main point.

Hong Seok-young’s eyebrows twitched.

“Take you with us?”

“Yes.”

Let’s think about this rationally.

Saying this might make me sound like an unprincipled person, but at this time, there were more urgent matters than investigating a missing persons case. Things like guild unity, stabilizing the supply of magic stones… or dungeon breaks.

It was an era when dungeon breaks happened frequently. The government did its best to minimize the damage, but if it were something that could be solved with effort, many things would have been resolved more quickly.

Regardless of the dungeon’s grade, a dungeon break was a disaster. There were countless casualties and missing people.

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

It was a cold-hearted time when no one paid attention even if a civilian’s child was kidnapped.

But this meant—

That this kidnapping case was important enough to move the country, even in such circumstances.

Was it because public sentiment was boiling over due to consecutive child abductions?

It wasn’t impossible.

But a more plausible answer was—

Among the kidnapped children, there might have been a child of someone high up. Unfortunately, the Lab Director didn’t include the details of the kidnapped children in the report, claiming they needed to protect them. Honestly, I could make some guesses.

“Why?”

“Are you just going to rescue the children and be done with it? Not going to check out the lab? It’s one of the most prominent research facilities within Ark. If you hesitate even a little, they’ll destroy the data themselves.”

I spoke calmly.

“There’s no time to waste. Don’t you think you’ll need a guide?”

“Do you have to go personally? Can’t you just explain?”

“You won’t be able to open the doors without me.”

Simply maintaining the status of an insider or a runaway wasn’t enough. Thinking of the future, I needed to become a conscientious and highly cooperative whistleblower. Additionally… it would be beneficial to also present myself as a victim of a tragic past.

Ark was destined to be the sacrificial lamb.

It was convenient to have an obvious villain. You could blame everything on them.

“You escaped, didn’t you? It doesn’t matter what kind of door it is; you won’t be able to open it.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t have prepared for that?”

“Then you can just tell us.”

“It’s a method only I can use.”

This still lacked a decisive blow….

Here, I had to approach it emotionally. This would work better on him.

“And….”

With a melancholic expression, I subtly avoided Hong Seok-young’s gaze.

“I need to find someone.”

It wasn’t a lie. Really. It wasn’t a lie.

I had to find young Woo Hee-jae. Whether he was here or not.

Either way, it would be a problem if he was here or if he wasn’t.

But in any case, I couldn’t just pretend I didn’t know.

“I need to see if he’s safe.”

Ah, seriously, it’s not a lie.

“……”

Hong Seok-young’s face hardened.

But the magic remained calm. There was nothing as honest as magic.

It meant he was already halfway convinced.

Now, a story to drive the final nail in….

“Fine.”

Hong Seok-young spoke before I could say more.

He gave an answer sooner than I expected.

“It’s definitely better to have a guide. Fine. We’ll take you along.”

I thought more persuasion would be necessary.

So easily?

At least provoke me to reveal my true intentions, but he didn’t do that either. Hong Seok-young agreed cleanly.

Well, he was much younger than the last time I saw him, so it could be that. Or maybe he was confident he could subdue me no matter what I tried.

He was the strongest Hunter in South Korea.

That level of confidence was only natural.

“But it’ll take some time.”

“Time? How long?”

“Well….”

Hong Seok-young stroked his chin.

“It seems better to call a few more people than to move alone. If you wait a few days, I can gather some reliable folks.”

“People you can trust?”

“What do you take me for?”

Hong Seok-young snorted.

“I don’t joke around when it comes to matters involving children.”

This was a fact I knew well.

It wasn’t urgent, so it was fine. The children wouldn’t be tortured or anything, so they could endure a few more days without seeing their parents.

“Understood.”

* * *

And then, I continued teaching.

Park Seo-hyun remained gloomy, and Choi Jin-woo, who had been friendly with his questions at first, started watching me warily.

…What went wrong?

I kept praising them.

“Teacher!”

My savior was Lee Seung-yeon. Lee Seung-yeon was the only one who continued to hover around me, acting friendly. Thanks to him, I could greet other students from the pilot high school whose names I didn’t know.

A student who followed behind Lee Seung-yeon shyly greeted me when our eyes met.

“What are you doing here? Where are Seo-hyun and Jin-woo?”

I pointed behind me.

The two young mages were on the floor, concentrating on their rune-drawing papers.

“Wow, they’re still drawing? It’s lunchtime. Did they eat? They should take a break.”

Without a word, I gestured to the empty lunch containers rolling around under the parasol.

They chose to cut into their break time to practice, so who was I to stop them? Teachers should praise students who take the initiative to study on their own.

And… they were progressing faster than I expected.

Some might think that simply tracing runes isn’t difficult. However, without the correction function of a magic pen, mages needed more than just drawing skills; they needed intense concentration to draw runes. Constantly using magic also led to significant fatigue.

I told them they could take it easy, but they didn’t listen….

Was this the power of praise?

At first, I felt awkward because I’d never praised anyone before, but once I got used to it, it became second nature. If I had known it would be this effective, I should have done it with the people at the Ability Management Bureau as well.

Instead of pestering them with rejected reports….

No, it wasn’t pestering. As a superior, I was justifiably pointing out my subordinates’ mistakes. If they didn’t like it, they should have done it right the first time or gotten promoted above me.

I’m digressing.

Anyway, they were keeping up better than I thought. It might be time to teach them the next rune.

“Maybe it’s because they’re mages…. I couldn’t sit in one place like that for so long.”

“You said you’re a swordsman, right?”

“Yes! But why don’t you carry your sword, teacher?”

“Your principal told me not to carry it around at school.”

“Aww…. I wanted to see that sword up close.”

Come to think of it, if young Woo Hee-jae could be here, could there be another sword like Yoo Ji-eun’s?

A sword with such performance… another one?

Though a sword wasn’t my main weapon, it was tempting.

Screeeeech!!

While chatting idly with Lee Seung-yeon and building rapport.

A car pulled into the empty lot, kicking up dust. The bright yellow sports car was covered in dust from the dirt road.

Hearing the sound, Hong Seok-young came out of the container.

Click.

“Oh, you’re here?”

A woman wearing sunglasses was in the driver’s seat of the sports car. She got out and took off her sunglasses.

“You didn’t tell me the road was this bad! I would have brought a different car!”

Years later, Grand Mage Kim Chae-min, who would die trying to save a reckless B-rank Hunter attempting to take down an S-rank monster, appeared at the Hunter Training Pilot High School.

…This, undoubtedly, was something that hadn’t originally happened.