I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 59: Keepsake (2)

TL: SHW

It didn’t take more than five minutes for the children, who were initially excited about the yellow sports car, to quiet down.

That’s how serious Kim Chae-min’s expression was.

Her usual lively appearance was gone. She wasn’t wearing her usual bright patterned dress but a black coat adorned with numerous jeweled brooches. It was probably a battle uniform meticulously crafted by Kim Chae-min.

…She hadn’t changed her clothes.

She came straight here right after leaving the dungeon. Why? Did something so serious happen that she had to rush over immediately?

What about Hong Seok-young? Where is he?

After I forced the anxious children to calm down, I left the classroom. Daeyeon’s Hunters, who had been watching me, subtly stepped back. Lee Mi-seon didn’t come to the pilot school today. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Kim Chae-min had stopped her car. She didn’t even get out, gripping the steering wheel tightly and breathing heavily.

Still, Kim Chae-min didn’t seem to be injured. Her arms and legs were intact. There were no other noticeable wounds.

Then why was she acting like this?

Her face looked as if she would cry if someone merely touched her.

“…Teacher Kim?”

“Teacher Woo.”

Kim Chae-min looked at me with a trembling voice. Her eyes were filled with tears.

She clenched her fists tightly.

“Teacher, can you come with me to the hospital?”

“The hospital? Why? Did the raid fail?”

“N-no, the raid… the raid was successful, but.”

A sense of foreboding washed over me.

That couldn’t be.

Hong Seok-young is the strongest Hunter. He will remain the strongest for the next twenty years. He couldn’t die. Kim Chae-min didn’t die either, so how could he?

Don’t be ridiculous.

“Teacher Hong.”

“”What about old m-Teacher Hong?”

“Get in the car first.”

I bit my lip tightly.

“Um, please send the kids home.”

Daeyeon’s Hunters nodded with stern faces. They seemed to be saying not to worry, but I didn’t hear them clearly.

I quickly got into Kim Chae-min’s car. She started driving immediately.

“…….”

Why?

It’s not like old man would have a hard time catching a few Sirens, right? He must have raided with carefully selected Hunters. There wouldn’t have been any rookie Hunters like the ones who killed Kim Chae-min.

“I.”

Kim Chae-min, who had been driving silently, suddenly spoke.

“I’ll say this beforehand.”

“…Yes?”

“I was against it.”

“What?”

Kim Chae-min started grinding her teeth.

It didn’t seem like she was suppressing grief from an unexpected accident….

“Damn it, I was against it!!”

“Teacher Kim?”

“How can a person be like that? He’s more of a mage than an actual mage! I’m not working with him again next time!!”

It wasn’t grief but anger she was suppressing.

“Hong Seok-young is so annoying!!!”

Kim Chae-min slammed on the brakes and banged her forehead on the steering wheel.

Beeeeeep.

The horn blared loudly.

…Thankfully, this was a rural road with almost no traffic.

* * *

“What on earth happened?”

It was about thirty minutes later that Kim Chae-min, who had been cursing and raging after stopping the car, finally calmed down.

“You came right after the raid, didn’t you? Teacher Hong… he isn’t hurt, right?”

“If that guy was hurt, I wouldn’t be this annoyed.”

Kim Chae-min, who had been pulling at her hair, wiped her face roughly with her sleeve. It didn’t make her look much cleaner.

After checking her face in the rearview mirror, Kim Chae-min gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, sorry. I’m not usually like this.”

“…The raid must have been really tough?”

“The raid was okay. I mean, it wasn’t easy. I made a really stupid mistake…. But still, we broke the core and everything, so it was fine. It ended quickly for an S-rank dungeon.”

Kim Chae-min started driving again.

Her speech was still incoherent… I just hoped she wouldn’t crash into a telephone pole or something.

I glanced at Kim Chae-min, now trembling for a different reason.

“So… what happened? Why are we going to the hospital?”

“Well….”

Kim Chae-min let out a deep sigh as if the ground were collapsing beneath her.

“What time is it now? Three o’clock? They must have started by now. It’s faster to see it directly.”

“See what?”

“Turn on the internet on your phone.”

I frowned.

“It’ll be on the main page of any site you visit… Once you see it, you’ll understand what I mean.”

Despite my doubts, I did as Kim Chae-min instructed and opened the internet browser.

As soon as I did, I understood what she meant. Flashing in bright red letters was a headline.

‘Hong Seok-young, Sokcho Dungeon Raid in Gangwon Province… Press Conference’

“Press conference?”

Unpleasant memories from my time at the Ability Management Agency briefly flashed before my eyes.

Get a grip. That’s not me over there. It’s not me dealing with journalists’ questions as the spokesperson for the old man…!

The thumbnail showed a man in a black suit. I clicked on it as if entranced.

Adjusting the volume, I heard the man’s voice.

“…The raid has been completed. The Sokcho Dungeon in Gangwon Province, also known as the Siren’s Nest, has been fully closed. Detailed information about the raid will be released soon through the Daeyeon Guild.”

The man paused briefly before continuing.

“Fortunately, there were no fatalities. The injured are currently being treated at Daeyeon Hospital. To allow the Hunters to recover from the raid, we ask the reporters to refrain from requesting interviews….”

“There are reports that Hunter Hong Seok-young was injured! Is this true?”

“…Please refrain from requesting interviews.”

“There are eyewitness reports that Hunter Hong Seok-young was among those transported to Daeyeon Hospital!”

“There will be no further questions. This concludes the conference.”

However, the reporters continued to shout as if at a marketplace. Because it was live, their voices were heard clearly.

It’s as good as answering when you avoid questions like that.

The commotion continued before the screen switched back to the studio. It was hardly a press conference. Checking the time, it had only been about 10 minutes.

“…….”

“…….”

“Just to be sure, Teacher Hong didn’t really…”

“If he had, I wouldn’t be this annoyed, I told you.””

Right.

“Then why…?”

Kim Chae-min sighed deeply once again.

I’ve lost count of how many times she’s sighed. She wasn’t usually like this—what on earth happened in the dungeon?

“It’s because of Ark.”

“Ark?”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who used Ark as an excuse.

“If they have eyes and ears, they would know that Teacher Hong is after them, wouldn’t they?”

“Well… probably.”

Why did Hong Seok-young start chasing Ark? Didn’t he say he was asked by the bereaved family to retrieve a friend’s body?

It’s not easy to miss the movements of someone as significant as Hong Seok-young. That’s likely why Hong Seok-young was investigating quietly behind the scenes, even using someone like Mr. Kim.

“So, he decided to pretend he was severely injured this time.”

“…….”

Too much of the middle part was skipped.

“Teacher Woo, didn’t you say Ark might return to the training center?”

“I did, yes.”

Kim Chae-min glanced lightly at me.

“Always keep your eyes on the road while driving.”

“…So annoying.”

Kim Chae-min grumbled lightly and then spoke.

“Because of the Songpa District Dungeon incident… Teacher Hong deliberately attacked several Ark branches.”

“Attacked…? I haven’t heard anything about this.”

“You’ve been busy teaching the kids. Teacher Hong thought there was no need to add unnecessary worries.”

That damned old man.

“And we kept it out of the media too. Anyway, because he acted so openly, Ark is now lying low, wary of Teacher Hong.”

By now, I understood what Kim Chae-min was trying to say.

“So, you’re pretending that Teacher Hong got injured to see how Ark will react?”

“Why do you think it’s pretend? He could really be injured!”

“You said earlier that he wasn’t injured.”

“Ugh.”

I wasn’t sure what I was doing with this person.

This time, I sighed.

“I understand what you’re saying. But what about the Hunters who went into the dungeon with him? Were they Daeyeon Hunters? Or did you get help from somewhere else?”

“Oh. Those people really think Teacher Hong got injured.”

What kind of nonsense is this?

“He was covered in Siren blood, so he looked terrible. Plus, he got hit pretty hard.”

“Hit? Teacher Hong?”

“Well, I told you I made a mistake…”

I recalled what Kim Chae-min said a while ago.

“A really stupid mistake?”

“…You know, you’re really annoying.”

“Anyway.”

Kim Chae-min cleared her throat noisily before explaining what happened in the dungeon.

She was already nervous since it had been a while since her last dungeon raid, and then her hearing was blocked too. Still, living up to her name as the Archmage, she pulled herself together and focused on the raid, but…

“You missed the siren’s presence and couldn’t even cast a shield? That’s an unbelievable mistake, and Teacher Hong covered for you?”

“When you put it like that, it makes me sound completely hopeless…”

Kim Chae-min muttered dejectedly.

I ignored her.

“If it had been another Hunter, they’d have been at least seriously injured, but Teacher Hong was unharmed…. But since he was covered in Siren blood, he pretended to be injured?”

“I was fooled for a moment too!”

“Is that why you were so annoyed?”

“N-not exactly, it’s because he said he would deceive the kids as well….”

So it was that.

“He told me only after we got to the hospital! Even Hunter Lee Mi-seon thought it was a good idea.”

Considering her personality, that makes sense.

I nodded at Kim Chae-min’s explanation. After hearing the details… Hmm. It’s fine. It seems fine.

They’re trying to force Ark to make a move.

Above all, the old man is safe, and Kim Chae-min is fine too.

Since the Siren’s Dungeon is closed, there’s no danger to Kim Chae-min.

It’s not just fine, it’s excellent.

Kim Chae-min squinted her eyes.

“Doesn’t it bother you to deceive the kids?”

“It would be more dangerous if they knew something vaguely.”

“…….”

“Besides, Yoo Ji-eun, that kid, almost fell for the nonsense from an Ark sub-organization, which I had to stop.”

“Oh, that ‘National New Heart and Spirit Association’, right?”

“It’s better they don’t know.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to be cautious if they know?”

“If the kids are on alert for no reason, it would arouse suspicion more easily.”

I shrugged.

“And if he’s not really injured, he won’t be in the hospital for long. Even if he were injured, with Teacher Hong’s recovery ability, he’d be back on his feet in ten days at most.”

Kim Chae-min widened her eyes at me.

“Keep your eyes on the road.”

“Stop being annoying. Teacher Woo, you’re more cold-hearted than I thought.”

“It’s a logical judgment. Well, since Teacher Kim caused such a fuss and brought me from school…. Now that it’s come to this, how about you enter the hospital crying?”

“No way!”

“It would be effective.”

“If I cry, then you have to cry too!”

That’s not difficult.

“If necessary.”

Her eyes, which seemed unable to get any bigger, almost popped out. But soon, Kim Chae-min’s eyes crinkled as she laughed.

“Alright. Then let’s go into the hospital crying together. Who knows?”

Kim Chae-min’s voice rang out cheerfully.

“Teacher Hong might get flustered!”