I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 116: Favorite Disciple (3)

TL: SHW

“Why are you asking that?”

Hong Seok-young shrugged his shoulders.

“Just felt like you might know.”

…What is he doing right now? What exactly is this guy trying to figure out?

I want to crack open his head and peek inside to see what he’s thinking.

If he had been continuously pretending not to know while enjoying my reactions, I would have thought he was engaging in a battle of wits as I had considered earlier.

Conversely, even if he were to suddenly pressure me and demand to know my identity, it wouldn’t be strange. Even I think I look suspicious.

But this?

What is this even about? Is there still something he wants to test me for? I mean, I guess it’s possible. But why ask this of all things?

What is it that Hong Seok-young wants to find out from me?

What does he know?!

“So, you don’t know?”

“I don’t.”

I didn’t want to give away any new information. I answered flatly.

“Really?”

“I said I don’t.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hmm. You don’t know.”

Hong Seok-young’s eyes narrowed. He stared at me intently for a moment, then suddenly smiled so brightly it felt unnatural.

“That’s possible.”

What is?

“Then how about learning spear techniques from me?”

What is he even saying now?

Before I could react, Han Tae-kyung practically shrieked in protest.

“No, Principal! You said you wouldn’t take any disciples!”

“I’m just making a suggestion.”

“What about me?”

“You’re doing fine without me.”

“But sunbae would do even better without you!”

“Well…”

Han Tae-kyung pointed his finger at me. That finger of his. Maybe I should break it at least once so he’ll stop pointing like that.

Though she’s been a little off since her oppa showed up, I still remembered the polite and prim Han Eun-young, who always maintained her manners. Even just now, though her attempt to drop out failed, she didn’t forget to bow and greet respectfully.

How did someone like her end up with an oppa like him?

They must’ve grown up in the same house and received the same upbringing…

I know it’s weird to say this about people whose faces I don’t even know, but maybe they realized raising Han Tae-kyung like that was a mistake. So, they decided to raise the second child properly… Han Tae-kyung has never talked about his family, not even once, in the last twenty years.

“You never know.”

“No, sunbae-nim, say something too!”

“Say what?”

“People with everything, I swear!”

“Are you really one to talk?”

Hong Seok-young flicked Han Tae-kyung’s forehead with his finger.

Snap!

The sound was too loud to believe it was just a finger hitting a forehead. Mini-me was watching them wide-eyed, so I lazily gestured with my hand. Mini-me looked between Hong Seok-young and Han Tae-kyung, then resumed drinking his milk.

“Ow… That’s too harsh a trial for my delicate head.”

“You have to overcome at least that much.”

“Skulls can’t be trained, you know.”

“You’re just not trying hard enough.”

Brushing aside the groaning Han Tae-kyung who was clutching his forehead, Hong Seok-young looked at me.

“Anyway.”

I frowned.

“I won’t be learning.”

Hong Seok-young paused, stared at my face for a moment, then nodded.

“Right, we were talking about that.”

So annoying.

Is there no way I can just stab this guy?

He had warned me that Han Tae-kyung is the annoying type, but he’s the real annoying one.

“If you change your mind later, just let me know anytime.”

Hong Seok-young patted my shoulder.

“Of course, you probably won’t need it.”

“……”

“Anyway, I told you before to raise your Hunter rank, right?”

I answered cautiously, watching Hong Seok-young suspiciously.

“…Yes.”

“Get it raised by the end of this week.”

“…This week?”

If he’s saying something like this, it means that even though he suspects me, he still intends to use me.

Why?

I really want to crack open that smugly smiling head and take a look inside.

Is it just plain recklessness? Confidence in his own power that he can stop anything?

Father is not a perfect human. As a human being, of course, he had his flaws and weaknesses. One such piece of evidence was the incident in Myeong-dong. The master of the guild managing the Myeong-dong Dungeon was an old acquaintance of Father’s, and so, trusting his friend, Father left the students in their care. Even at the moment the Minotaur was being taken down, Father believed the guild had evacuated the students.

Even after I came to the past, there were many close calls. Despite Kim disappearing and losing the information from the actual whistleblower, Father trusted me just because we shared the same surname and weapon. He even threw me into the school.

…Well, I mean. To be fair, he did impose some restrictions on me. He sealed off my mana, and during that period, Hong Seok-young didn’t leave the school. While killing children who could barely use mana properly would be nothing, it would have been impossible with Hong Seok-young nearby.

But after that, honestly, no matter how generously I try to describe it… it was just too reckless. The idea of using Kang Tae-woo as bait was simply too dangerous. If anything went wrong, other kids might have been dragged into it too.

It was something Father would never have done.

Was I wrong about Father?

Or, just like I had taken Father’s presence away from Woo I-rok, had I taken something from Father too?

What if the rough but gentle personality that prioritized children above all else was formed after Myeong-dong, after losing a young disciple so meaninglessly?

My head hurt. Let’s not think about it. I must not think about it anymore. This is something I must not dwell on.

“Then….”

I slowly opened my mouth.

“The rank should be as you mentioned last time?”

“Hmm. No.”

Hong Seok-young rejected it right away.

Didn’t he say B-rank was enough?

“Set it to A-rank.”

“All of a sudden? Jumping from D-rank straight to A-rank will stir quite the fuss.”

“That’s true, but…”

Though he agreed with my words, Hong Seok-young didn’t back down.

“There’s a forum coming up soon.”

“A forum?”

“Oh, is it that time already? I’m not going.”

“That’s why I’m talking to Teacher Woo instead.”

Hong Seok-young pushed aside the revived Han Tae-kyung and continued his explanation.

“Once a year, Hunters from all over the world gather to discuss newly discovered monsters or unexplored dungeons.”

I know that much too. It’s a fairly important event and one of the few international conferences Father personally handled. It might be smaller in scale now than it was then, but it’s still prestigious enough not to be ignored.

Either way, it’s far better to trust verified information from the forum than unreliable stuff floating around online.

“Hunter Lee checked the participant list….”

And the forum is hosted by the International Ability Association. With Lee Mi-seon being affiliated with the association, checking the attendee list would be as easy as pie.

“Turns out, a promising talent from Australia, whom we know well, is also on the list.”

“…That guy?”

“Yes.”

Hong Seok-young grinned.

“Australia? Promising talent? Principal, since when do you care about overseas Hunters? Who is it? Would I know them too?”

Despite Han Tae-kyung’s interruption, Hong Seok-young pressed on undeterred.

“So raise your rank to a level where you won’t be dismissed at the forum.”

“If that’s the case. Do I need to go up to S-rank?”

“Leave that just in case. Honestly, I think B-rank would be fine… but A-rank seems more suitable.”

Hong Seok-young burst into laughter, his shoulders bouncing as if he found something amusing.

“Well, if people ask, I can just say you’re my disciple.”

“…….”

I can’t tell how much is joking and how much is serious.

…If there were a way to open up his head and see what he’s thinking, I would’ve done it a long time ago.

Seriously.

***

“Yeah. Yeah… So.”

“…I think it’s fine. I’ll ask.”

“This kind of thing…”

There’s a suspicious movement in a corner of the garden.

The children were still huddled together under the tree that had somehow remained intact. They were chattering in hushed voices with serious expressions. Even Kang Tae-woo had been caught by Lee Seung-yeon and stood awkwardly among them.

“What are they doing?”

I approached Kim Chae-min, who was sitting under the parasol, and asked.

To be honest, this parasol wasn’t here originally either, but at some point, it appeared. After they said they removed the container, I wondered if the Daseon Hunters had brought back what was there.

“Aren’t they cute?”

Kim Chae-min spoke with a strangely dazed expression.

She’s not in her right mind either. No one is. Actually, all mages are like this, and archmages even more so.

I think she said something about domain this morning.

I scanned Lee Mi-seon’s villa. Spacious and nice. A family vacation home of Daeyeon’s. Though Lee Mi-seon isn’t a mage, from a mage’s perspective, she might still feel like she’s in someone else’s domain.

At the very least, while I’m here, I should keep my distance from Kim Chae-min. I quietly stepped away from her.

“What was I doing at that age, I wonder… Seeing them play like that makes me want to go back.”

“So, what exactly are they doing?”

“Teacher Woo, you have no romance in you.”

Kim Chae-min shot me a sideways glance.

“That doesn’t look particularly romantic to me.”

“They’re cheering each other on as kids do. As a teacher, you should be supporting that.”

“You know Pilot High School isn’t a formal educational institution, so we’re not exactly real teachers either, right?”

“…Speaking of which.”

A light returned to Kim Chae-min’s half-vacant eyes.

“If this place actually becomes a real high school.”

“Yes.”

“We… should, you know, do that thing, shouldn’t we?”

“That thing?”

“You know, to become a proper teacher, you have to pass the certification exam.”

“……”

“……”

I looked up at the sky.

What was it like at the Hunter Academy? They didn’t teach any of the regular subjects taught at normal high schools anyway, so regular teachers didn’t work there.

It was Hunters, mages, or at least people with degrees related to dungeons. Among them, I don’t think any held a teaching certificate.

“Teacher Hong and Hunter Lee will handle that.”

“Then, I don’t have to prepare for the teacher certification exam?”

“If they say it’s necessary, would you actually study for it?”

“No… I was thinking of applying to be the school janitor.”

“……”

See? Mages are never sane.

I didn’t even have the energy to respond. When I said nothing, Kim Chae-min’s eyes went blank again.

“Oh my. By the way, where’s your little brother?”

“He’ll come out when he’s bored.”

“You used to have him glued to your side ever since you brought him.”

“If I kept doing that, he’d just cling more. That might’ve been fine before, but not anymore. I’ll have to send him to school eventually.”

“Right, he said he wanted to go to school. I hope he’s not too bored here since there aren’t any kids his age.”

Rather than suddenly throwing him into the wild with kids his age, I figured it might be better for him to adjust with older teenage brothers and sisters for now.

“Come to think of it, Teacher Kim.”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing this weekend?”

“Oh my.”

Kim Chae-min puckered her lips and looked at me.

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“If you think going to the City Hall is a date.”

“City Hall?”

“I need to get my rank reassessed.”

“……”

“……”

Having understood what I meant, Kim Chae-min furrowed her brow.

“Why don’t you get a license first?”

“I don’t even have a car.”

“The cars lying around in the parking lot all belong to Daseon! Borrow one!”

“How can I drive someone else’s car? I don’t even have insurance.”

“Hunter Lee will take care of all that!”

That… was hard to deny.

Th𝗂ʂ 𝓬h𝕒pτ𝓮r 𝘪𝘴 pℴ𝕤ţ𝗲𝗱 bყ 𝗞𝕀ƚ℮𝐧𝖔𝐯ɛ𝕝

When I stayed silent, Kim Chae-min burst out in giggles.

***

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