I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 105 Youth Event (5)

TL: SHW

A Hunter must have the stamina to stay awake for a week straight without blinking.

In dungeons, it’s frequent to face situations where you can’t even get a wink of sleep. If you sleep, it has to be after you leave the dungeon. Even if you die, it must be after exiting the dungeon. This is a basic guideline for Hunters.

Of course, simply staying awake isn’t that hard. But mental exhaustion is a different story. That’s why humans need to sleep.

Look at this. It’s been barely a day, and Lee Mi-seon already looks like skin and bones. The Hunters from Daseon in the study also have similar faces. I don’t know what happened here last night, but the suffocating atmosphere could be felt.

Was it like this when Lee Seung-yeon died?

I became momentarily curious about the woman I never knew.

Lee Mi-seon spoke as if she was ready to grab me by the collar. Her voice was hoarse.

“You said you got in contact with Seung-yeon. What do you mean by that?”

“It’s exactly what I said. I got in contact with him.”

Various emotions flashed across Lee Mi-seon’s face.

I thought she would get angry right away. Either about how a thoughtlessly runaway kid had the nerve to contact their teacher, or why they weren't contacting her instead.

However, after sorting through those emotions, Lee Mi-seon swept a hand over her chest with a face that looked on the verge of tears.

“He’s not hurt, right?”

If I’d known she was this worried, I should have told her right away when he called this morning.

Feeling guilty, I showed her the photo I had just received.

After looking at the photo of a colorful fruit bingsu, her smiling nephew, and Kang Tae-woo awkwardly staring at the camera, Lee Mi-seon made a complicated expression. This time, I really thought she might lose her temper, but Lee Mi-seon only let out a deep sigh.

"Looks like they're doing well..."

Lee Mi-seon staggered and sat on the sofa as if her tension had been released. The Daseon Hunters also finally relaxed their shoulders.

I was planning to tease her about how, despite being the International Ability Association’s branch director, her information-gathering skills were so poor.

But looking at her face, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

"So where are they now?"

Lee Mi-seon asked with a bright smile.

It was a smiling face, but for some reason, I felt a chill. If Lee Seung-yeon returns, he probably won’t be safe. Well, that’s a family issue, so it’s not something I should care about.

…No, I do need to care. How many days did I give Lee Seung-yeon? A week? Why did I do that? I should’ve told him to come back immediately.

“I told him to keep reporting to me about what he’s doing.”

“Where is he?”

"To report when they move... or that they're safe."

“Where is he?”

Lee Mi-seon’s eyes were growing colder.

"They're not completely thoughtless, so..."

“Where is he?”

“…….”

“Teacher Woo.”

Lee Mi-seon lowered her voice as she spoke.

“What did you say to Seung-yeon?”

The intuition of a Hunter….

I avoided Lee Mi-seon’s gaze and replied.

“A week.”

“…A week?”

“I said I’d give him a week.”

“A week?”

“I figured dragging him back by force would only backfire. Kids that age are all like that, aren’t they?”

“…….”

“Rather than forcing him to come back and risking him running off again, it’s better to let him report where he is and what he’s doing until he calms down.”

“…….”

Lee Mi-seon didn’t respond.

I could feel the Daseon Hunters listening in on our conversation.

Wait. Where is Hong Seok-young? He didn’t show up this morning, so I thought he was with Lee Mi-seon.

“…….”

Lee Mi-seon was glaring at me as if she were about to stab me in the face with a knife, but really, what did it matter where Hong Seok-young was?

Still, I couldn’t back down here. If I acted like I had done nothing wrong, I could avoid being held responsible. There’s a reason why the one thing you should never say at a press conference, an interview, or a hearing is “I’m sorry”.

So I looked straight at Lee Mi-seon. She continued to stare at me intently, and then,

“Hoo.”

She let out a soft breath.

“I understand what you’re saying, and I get why you did it.”

Lee Mi-seon roughly ran her hand through her hair.

“But you know they’re in danger right now, right? We can’t just leave those two alone. Where are they?”

“…….”

“I’m not saying I’ll go bring them back! I just want to put someone there to keep an eye on them because I’m worried!”

“…….”

“Can you stop looking at me like that?!”

What’s wrong with my eyes?

I shrugged my shoulders. Seeing Lee Mi-seon flustered like this was refreshing, considering how composed she always looked twenty years into the future.

Should I push her a bit more?

“I don’t mind you putting someone there… but who exactly are you going to send?”

“What?”

“I mean, the Daseon Hunters are also affiliated with the Association, right? Isn’t it a little inappropriate to use them for personal matters?”

It’s absolutely wrong to use public personnel for private affairs. These people might not be government employees or work for a state institution, but even private companies don’t allow their staff to handle personal business.

Lee Mi-seon’s face suddenly turned bright red.

"W-well, the Pilot High School is partly funded by the Association, and the people who attacked the kids are suspected to be from Ark… and besides, Kang Tae-woo-!”

“You’re not worried about your nephew?”

“…….”

“I’m joking.”

Lee Mi-seon looked at me as if to ask what kind of joke that was.

“Both Lee Seung-yeon and Kang Tae-woo have already been attacked once, so of course they need protection. I’m not planning to leave them alone either. That's why I'm telling Hunter Lee about this."

Her expression didn’t change. Unfortunately, my sincerity doesn't seem to have gotten through.

But I meant it.

Maybe I shouldn’t have teased her.

My father also told me to fix this habit of mine, poking at people just to see how they react. He said it was a bad habit that I absolutely needed to break.

It’s all because Mini-me has been getting on my nerves lately.

I pressed my temples as I spoke. Lee Mi-seon’s outburst was probably because she knew she was already using her subordinates for personal matters.

Better not point that out. Let it go.

“Still, I think you should reconsider sending Daseon Hunters.”

“…Why?”

Lee Mi-seon looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“Because your nephew knows all their faces, doesn’t he?”

“…….”

“And Kang Tae-woo is sharper than he looks. If you try to monitor them poorly, they’ll notice immediately. Do any of the Daseon Hunters specialize in tailing people?”

As far as I’d observed, there weren’t any. There might be some Hunters I didn’t know about, but….

In the Ability Management Agency, this sort of work had originally been handled by Oh Hyun-wook rather than Lee Mi-seon. There’s a reason his profile is full of censored details.

Bang!

"You don't need to worry about that!"

Just as Lee Mi-seon started to shake her head, Hong Seok-young burst through the door energetically. The door hit the wall with a loud noise.

“What matters most is that those two brats are safe.”

Hong Seok-young didn’t even try to hide that he’d been eavesdropping. So bold.

“Daseon already has too much work, doesn’t it? Pulling personnel from here would make things difficult. I’m already borrowing staff for the kids’ classes.”

"Ah, umm..."

Lee Mi-seon couldn’t exactly deny that.

“So leave the kids’ safety to me.”

I frowned.

“You’re not planning to go yourself, are you, Teacher Hong?”

“…Hmm.”

“That’s not happening.”

“Come on, Teacher Woo, don’t be so rigid.”

Rigid ? My ass.

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to go myself….”

Hong Seok-young grinned slyly as he looked at me.

…Is this guy thinking of sending me?

“I’m not going.”

I don’t trust my younger self enough to let Mini-me out of my sight.

“I can’t leave my younger brother alone.”

“I know. I don’t intend to send you either. Do I look that thoughtless?”

Hong Seok-young muttered briefly.

“There was originally a junior who was supposed to come to our school as a teacher.”

“Oh my.”

Lee Mi-seon immediately caught on.

“Is Hunter Han back in Korea?”

“Hmm. With Teacher Woo here, I thought maybe we didn’t need him, but….”

Hong Seok-young shrugged.

“If someone that skilled is willing to work voluntarily, it’d be a waste to refuse, wouldn’t it? It’ll be perfect if I ask him to keep an eye on Seung-yeon and Tae-woo and bring them back when they’re done.”

“It’s best to keep things tied up when you can. Although, having nine students and three teachers seems a bit excessive. With Hunter Hong included, that makes four, right?”

Even excluding the mage, it does seem like overkill to have three teachers managing just seven students.

Lee Mi-seon added this with a laugh.

What’s this? Who is Hong Seok-young talking about that made Lee Mi-seon suddenly so relaxed?

Hunter Han. Hunter Han.

Among the Hunters under my father’s wing, there’s only one with the surname Han….

…….

How could I have forgotten about him?

The last time I saw his face was over a year ago. Even before that, because of his constant business trips, I rarely interacted with him face-to-face. So he’d completely slipped my mind.

That person was originally the only teacher at Pilot High School!

The reason Kim Chae-min is acting as a teacher at the school now is because I showed her the runes. Originally, there were only two official teachers at the Pilot High School, my father and his junior.

Judging by how the school operates now, it’s clear Daseon had been helping with classes back then, but officially, even during the Hunter Academy days, the two registered teachers were them:

Hong Seok-young and Han Tae-kyung.

Han Tae-kyung.

Dungeon Raid Division Team 1 Leader at the Ability Management Agency.

“There might be a lot of teachers now, but won’t there be more freshmen next year? It’s good to secure teachers ahead of time.”

“If it’s Hunter Han, we can trust him.”

“And Teacher Woo, you’ll have a hard time focusing on classes for a while because of your younger brother, won’t you?”

“That’s true.”

“And I have other tasks I need you to handle.”

“What?”

I looked at Hong Seok-young. He grinned at me with a feral smile.

“Now that your brother’s been found safe, isn’t it time we started hitting Ark in earnest?”

*

A man wearing sunglasses was walking out of a convenience store. The lenses of his sunglasses glimmered brightly as the sunlight hit them.

The man paused as he began to unwrap the candy he had bought. With the candy stick in his hand, he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. A call was coming through.

When he saw the name displayed on the screen, he answered immediately.

“Oh, sunbae-nim. I was just about to contact you. What’s this about some school retreat? What’s with the sudden retreat?”

He listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

“What? Where am I supposed to go? That’s the retreat location? …The kids? Seung-yeon ran away from home? Ah, I knew it. From the moment he started threatening sunbae-nim, I could tell he was going to be a big deal. So it’s him and one more kid… Whoa, Yeosu? Youthful and rebellious, I love it. Isn’t the sea the perfect place for a runaway?”

The man laughed quietly, amused, before tilting his head.

“You want me to keep an eye on them? Why? Protection? Do they need something like that? …No, no need to explain. If you’re saying it, there must be a reason. You want it done secretly, right? Got it. I’ll check that they’re okay and bring them back.”

Although his caller couldn’t see him, the man politely bowed as he said his farewells.

“Yes. I’ll call you when I find them. Yes, yes. Take care.”

Once the call ended, he finally put the candy into his mouth.

“Ah, shoot.”

Humming a light tune, the man suddenly frowned.

“I forgot to tell them to let my sister know to pick up Mom’s calls.”

But his face soon relaxed again as he rolled the candy in his mouth.

“Whatever. I’ll see her soon enough anyway. That little brat. Blocking her big brother’s number, how dare she?”