I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 14: Witch Park Seo-hyun (3) ]

Choi Jin-woo, the wizard, and Park Seo-hyun focused throughout the class, but the other observers did not.

It was expected. How could sword wielders and fist fighters who couldn’t even draw runes concentrate? Even Oh Hyun-wook, who had been staring intently, was now dozing off with his arms crossed. After all, he’s still a young pig, so he’s soft in such matters.

On Oh Hyun-wook’s left sat Yoo Hye-eun. White magic bloomed like snowflakes from her fingertips before dissipating. It’s a training method healers often use to make their fingertips more sensitive. Seeing the rather large snowflakes, it was clear she had been practicing diligently.

Unlike the children playing around, Hong Seok-young was watching with intense eyes, enough to wrinkle his brow.

I saw something I shouldn’t have seen. I pretended not to notice and turned my gaze away.

In the front row, Park Seo-hyun and Choi Jin-woo were sweating profusely as they drew runes.

They skillfully drew the Magic Concealment runes. Even Choi Jin-woo, who had struggled with drawing runes in Myeong-dong, showed signs of much practice.

Park Seo-hyun…

Park Seo-hyun.

“Huh… This time, definitely… correctly…”

I thought about it.

Originally, being a Hunter is a battle with oneself.

Whether forming a party with other Hunters, joining a guild, or even working solo, this fact doesn’t change.

Whether they win or lose that battle is their problem, not something I should worry about.

So, strictly speaking, it wasn’t my fault that Park Seo-hyun ended up like this.

If one becomes a Hunter, they must be prepared for this. Even family members stab each other in the back inside a dungeon. If a person falls apart after a couple of betrayals, how can they survive in this harsh world?

Moreover, Park Seo-hyun wasn’t even betrayed by someone she trusted like other Hunters. She just made a mistake typical for her age. Thanks to my help, that mistake didn’t result in irreversible consequences, so how fortunate is that?

And here’s what’s important: despite her mistakes, Park Seo-hyun, in her disheveled state from surviving the Myeong-dong incident that killed forty-one people, became a Grand Mage. She was a woman who smiled eerily and whose thoughts were inscrutable, but a Grand Mage nonetheless.

There’s no problem pretending not to notice. It’s a guaranteed check. Grand Mage Park Seo-hyun. Witch Park Seo-hyun.

But.

But…

“Is it this time? Teacher, did I draw it correctly?”

Her murmuring voice grew louder. Thanks to that, the trembling was clearly audible.

“Did I draw it correctly? Yes?”

Her eyes, visible through her disheveled hair, gleamed strangely.

But soon, she looked dejected, like a wet puppy.

“Yes? Did I draw it wrong again? Did I mess up again?”

No matter how skilled Park Seo-hyun was, she couldn’t draw a complex rune correctly on the first try. Even experienced wizards often made mistakes while drawing them.

“I redrew it! I worked hard. This time, it must be right. Uh… here? This part is wrong?”

Each time a mistake was pointed out, Park Seo-hyun would redraw the rune.

Over and over.

Again and again.

Continuously.

Even when Choi Jin-woo complained of cramps in his fingers.

Even when one of the students dozing off in the back fell off their chair.

Park Seo-hyun kept drawing the runes without rest.

Watching her desperate efforts left me speechless. No matter how much I… shattered the heads of Hunters while working at the Bureau, I never picked on such a young kid who couldn’t even be properly called a Hunter yet.

“Teacher. Did I draw it correctly this time?”

It’s not my fault.

I don’t need to take care of her.

“It must not be wrong. If it’s wrong…. I… It must not be wrong. It must not be wrongitmustnotbewrongwrongagainit’snotrightgetagripyouidiotit’sthesameplaceasbefore.”

Clap!

I clapped my hands loudly.

“Ugh! Wh-what is it?”

Choi Jin-woo, who had been concentrating on drawing the rune, jerked his head up in surprise. Park Seo-hyun also flinched and cautiously raised her head to look at me. Her eyes were red.

When did she even start crying?

“The first class is over.”

“What? Why?!”

“I can draw more!”

The resistance was fierce. But I shook my head and pointed to the clock.

“It’s lunchtime.”

Realizing how much time had passed, Choi Jin-woo and Park Seo-hyun both widened their eyes in surprise.

“Come on, go out and eat.”

“But…”

“I’m a strict adherent to no overtime, so there’s no use looking at me like that.”

Still hesitating, the two finally left the classroom with lingering reluctance after Hong Seok-young stood up.

I gazed at Park Seo-hyun’s retreating figure.

“……”

It was my fault for not calculating how fragile Park Seo-hyun’s mental strength would be. What can I do?

Anyway, I had already decided to cultivate her from the beginning…

When a problem arises, it’s the adult’s responsibility to handle it.

*         *         *

This wretched school even serves lunch in lunchboxes. Can this even be called a school?

I should have known when Hong Seok-young started driving a van instead of the sedan he first came to school with. I should have realized when I saw the lunchboxes in the back seat.

“You seem to know a lot about runes.”

While the kids were happily eating their lunchboxes without knowing how I felt, poor me was sitting across from my evil employer, eating out of necessity.

“Did you make this?”

“Runes? No way.”

I scoffed.

“A friend of mine made it.”

We had exchanged names and had a conversation, so we knew each other.

“A friend? Right, you’re not a mage. You know so much about runes that I was mistaken. It’s impressive that you know so much about runes despite not being a mage.”

“……”

The probing, which I thought had quieted down, began again.

I decided not to respond this time. People usually take that to mean whatever they want.

He didn’t know much about the insiders either, so I could use that to my advantage. Maybe I could add a little more to the story.

I looked down diagonally, avoiding eye contact. My lips were turned down. I made sure not to smile. My voice was a bit… gloomy.

“…Just in case.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s knowledge too precious to lose.”

Hong Seok-young seemed to want to say something but closed his mouth. I could almost hear his mind working.

After giving him a moment to let his imagination run wild, I spoke again.

“Those two mage students.”

“Oh. Right. How’s it going with them in class? I was going to ask you anyway. Have you taught anyone before? You seem pretty skilled at teaching.”

“I’ve done similar work before. How are you teaching those two magic?”

“Magic? I’ve been getting whatever common magic books I can for them….”

Hong Seok-young stroked his chin.

“Seo-hyun learned some magic from her grandfather, so she’s fine. But Jin-woo is the problem. He doesn’t seem to lack talent, but finding a teacher for him is really tough.”

Hong Seok-young’s eyes sparkled.

“Why, do you know some magic?”

No matter how capable I was, magic was beyond me.

…Did the Magic Watch even have magic books?

No, there were no magic books. Those couldn’t be digitized like that.

“I’m not a mage, remember.”

“You’re not a mage, but you know so much about runes, so I was hoping.”

This is why I shouldn’t show off.

But here’s a lesson.

If you’ve already shown off, do it thoroughly. That way, they won’t look down on you.

I had been considering it since he told me to teach runes, and just now, seeing Park Seo-hyun, I made up my mind.

“I’ll teach them all the runes I know.”

Hong Seok-young didn’t hide his surprise at my unexpected statement.

“Is that okay? Those runes aren’t ordinary, right? Are you sure you should teach them?”

“You asked me to teach the kids.”

“I thought you’d teach them one or two and boast about it. To be honest, even the magic concealment rune you taught at Myeong-dong alone is invaluable….”

“……”

“What about that mage you know? Did they say it’s okay to teach others?”

“Isn’t it good if I teach the kids?”

“It is good.”

Hong Seok-young answered promptly.

“It’s too good to be true.”

And he added honestly.

In response, I decided to answer honestly too.

“They’re just kids.”

Ah, this was honest enough. It wasn’t a lie. So, it wasn’t wrong, right?

What was the setup again? A righteous person risking his life to save children even in an emergency?

“Runes will help until the kids can at least call themselves mages. If we support them with the runes I know in common magic, they won’t be seen as useless anywhere.”

Having a setup where he was weak to kids wasn’t a bad thing.

That way… there would be a reason to trust a runaway insider.

“Hmmm.”

To raise Park Seo-hyun the way I wanted, I needed to increase my influence too.

“Of course, there are conditions.”

“Conditions?”

Hong Seok-young frowned.

“I originally planned to teach a few runes and be done. But looking at the kids, I couldn’t. In that state, those kids will die.”

Considering one out of two died, wasn’t the mortality rate quite high? A whopping 50%! Half of them died!

“I don’t want to see kids dying.”

“…What’s the condition?”

He was practically already on board.

“When the right time comes, please make the runes public.”

“…What?”

“Please make all the runes I know public. Under your, um, teacher’s name.”

“Wait, wait, wait!!!”

Hong Seok-young panted. Rubbing his face repeatedly with a complicated look, he asked me again.

“So, you’re asking me to make the runes public? Is that the condition?”

“It’s a bit too much to make them public under my name.”

“The mage who made the runes?”

“He would be glad if it could save even one more person.”

That’s what the Grand Mage said when he made the Magic Concealment rune public.

Revealing it a few years earlier could save more people as he wanted.

“…Are you saying to make it public right now? Isn’t this rune made in the Ark?”

Oh. That’s a decent setup? Let’s add it.

“So, I’m asking you to make it public at an appropriate time. Not now. Um… if there’s a trustworthy mage, they can use it too, including you, teacher.”

Hong Seok-young couldn’t hide his confusion at my continuous words.

Seeing him unable to manage his expression like that, he seemed genuinely taken aback. I didn’t know him well, but seeing that look made me feel like I had won a round.

Ah.

Since it came to this, let’s push one more. It’s related to the kids, so it can be bundled together.

“And there’s one more condition.”

“…What is it?”

His voice became cautious somehow.

If I mess up here, it would only raise suspicion.

But who am I? I know what this man’s weakness is.

I recalled the report I reviewed last night.

“Do you like kids?”

“What?”

“Do you like kids?”

Hong Seok-young blinked like a toad.

He couldn’t keep up with the rapidly changing subject. He could do all sorts of crazy things in battle but was weak in areas like this.

At times like this, just pushing forward works. In the end, he would end up doing it.

Though it wasn’t even a necessary issue.

This man was really weak to kids.

“I know a place with lots of kids.”

Cold lunchboxes don’t taste good.

But I ate it. Compared to the meals I had at the lab, it wasn’t unbearable.

“You’ll need to go there.”

Young Woo Hee-jae was scheduled to be rescued a year early.