Retire 282

282 Retaliation (2)

Museion.

It was the foundation Sandra Gamble had established. Even in the original timeline, Sandra Gamble had run Museion separately from Pharos. Was there really a reason to go through all that trouble? If the whole point of Museion’s inception had been the safety of the children, then it made sense.

There were a few children from Museion even among the regulatory authorities. Perhaps Hong Seok-young had had a hand in that. But the Museion alumni I remembered from my past…

They were competent. Unless someone was truly lacking, I had no desire to disparage the hard-working staff.

Still, there was one thing I could be sure of.

Back then, Museion had always been under Gamble’s direct responsibility. It hadn’t been handed over to Lee Miseon, as it had now. Had Sandra Gamble’s Museion also been threatened by Henry Lehmann?

There was no way to know.

If there hadn’t been any threats back then, then the cause of all these changes was…

“Don’t overthink it,”

Hong Seok-young flicked his fingers lightly in front of my eyes.

“He’s right. Don’t overthink it.”

“…How do you know what I’m thinking?”

Hong Seok-young looked at Kim Chaemin with an incredulous expression. Kim Chaemin grinned.

“I don’t. But usually, when hunters furrow their brows and pretend to be deep in thought, they end up saying something weird.”

She pointed at me.

“Just like you’re doing right now, Teacher Woo.”

“Somehow, that feels insulting.”

“You’re a hunter. Don’t deny your own nature.”

Kim Chaemin burst out laughing.

Fine. Don’t overthink it.

There was still plenty of time to save the children. All we had to do was save them.

“So, uh… what should we tell Tae-woo?”

“…He more or less knows what’s going on, doesn’t he? It’s better to tell him some of the truth than try to hide everything.”

“Hmm, is that so? Kids are hard. When I was that age…”

Kim Chaemin suddenly trailed off.

“At that age…”

“You were probably just practicing magic.”

“…Yeah.”

“All magicians are like that, aren’t they?”

“Ha. That’s probably not true, but I can’t really argue.”

It wasn’t exactly a situation for jokes, but forcing ourselves to exchange light words made things a little easier.

They say haste makes waste. If you let yourself be blinded by a moment’s anger or excitement, you’re bound to miss something important.

That’s why even Hong Seok-young was struggling to keep himself calm, trying not to get worked up…

Crunch.

I looked at the armrest of the chair, crumpling in Hong Seok-young’s grip.

Well. This was a mild reaction, all things considered. Instead of rushing out to kill everyone, he was actually offering rational solutions. No matter how formidable he was, he couldn’t just leap across the Pacific.

I glanced at the empty seat in the meeting room—where Lee Miseon had been sitting.

‘As for the Henry Lehmann situation.’

Just thirty minutes earlier, Hong Seok-young had spoken.

‘We can’t make a move.’

‘Why not?!’

‘Because the children are in America.’

For the children’s sake, everything had to proceed through legal channels.

‘If this were happening here, Hunter Lee and I could use our influence to do something. But America is different. There’s a limit to what the Association can support…’

We couldn’t just bring the children to Korea.

‘That doesn’t mean we can just sit on our hands!’

Gamble had nearly screamed. I remembered a subordinate who’d once cried, saying the person who’d cared for them had died.

‘Who said we’re sitting on our hands?’

‘…Aren’t we?’

‘I don’t gamble with people’s lives. Especially not children’s.’

Hong Seok-young’s suggestion was fleshed out further.

As soon as the plan was set, Lee Miseon had stormed out of the meeting room, saying only that she had a lot to do. There were no complaints about being treated as an errand-runner. She simply wore a grave expression as she made a call somewhere.

Even after Lee Miseon left, Gamble remained in the meeting room, lips pressed tightly together.

‘…I feel stupid.’

‘You?’

‘I can’t do anything. Not even as a child did I ever feel this helpless.’

‘All humans are helpless.’

Hong Seok-young offered advice to the young magical engineer.

‘It’s important not to be arrogant and think you can do everything yourself.’

‘……’

‘Instead of regretting what you couldn’t do or what you did, you have to look further ahead. But I’m not saying you should only think about some vague future.’

‘…Then what?’

‘People live not in the past or the future, but in the present. What do you think you can do right now?’

‘……’

‘Something you can do for a better future.’

Gamble shifted in her seat.

‘Something only you can do.’

‘……’

‘If you need anything, just say the word.’

Gamble nodded.

We hadn’t told Gamble who had returned from the future. If she asked, I planned to brush it off, saying she’d watched too many sci-fi movies.

But Gamble didn’t ask, and we didn’t tell.

Before leaving the meeting room, Gamble hesitated a little.

When we first met, she’d blurted out whatever she wanted, whether it was appropriate or not. Well, she still did, but lately she seemed strangely more cautious.

Why was that?

Had she finally learned about Korean office culture? There weren’t many guilds with so little hierarchy. It was a shame.

Anyway, after Lee Miseon and Gamble left, only the usual group remained in the meeting room.

“…Are you still going to America as planned?”

“What choice do I have.”

“The timing is just…”

Hong Seok-young waved off my concern.

“Let’s look on the bright side. We can clear the dungeon and deal with Henry Lehmann at the same time.”

“Hmm.”

“If that’s the case, I might end up being away longer than expected…”

He looked at me and Kim Chaemin as he continued.

“I’ll leave things here to the two of you. If anything comes up, act as you see fit.”

“Nothing happening would be best.”

Usually, saying things like that was a surefire way to invite trouble.

But the school didn’t suddenly explode, nor were there any screams.

A peaceful day continued, no matter what was happening far away in a foreign land.

---

One week later.

An East Coast city in the United States.

“To be honest,”

A small helicopter landed at a private airstrip.

Ji Yu-geon let out a sigh.

“I don’t like business trips.”

“Then why’d you become a hunter? You have to travel all over for dungeons.”

“I hated studying.”

“Seriously.”

“Besides, I’m pretty good at this.”

“Is that supposed to be bragging?”

“You need talent to get into Daseon.”

“That’s true.”

“But don’t you think this was a mistake? I joined Daseon, not the Association.”

Choi Dae-hyun looked at his junior with a sympathetic gaze.

“I was the same.”

“Isn’t this basically a job scam?”

“I joined the Association. Things were fine until I got assigned to the Korea branch…”

“Ah…”

“……”

A chilly silence fell.

Another hunter following behind clicked his tongue.

“What are you all talking about? Enough with the sad stories—let’s talk about work.”

“Isn’t that even sadder?”

“What can you do? No matter where you work, you’re still a wage slave. Hey, Yu-geon, your patch is wrong.”

“Huh? Oh!”

Ji Yu-geon hurriedly checked the patch on his shoulder. It was the Ability Association’s logo.

He peeled it off and burned it away with mana. The rule was to remove anything that could cause trouble before a mission.

Brushing away the stray ashes, Ji Yu-geon rummaged inside his jacket. Well, “inside” meant his subspace. The first trick he’d learned from a senior after joining was how to search a subspace without drawing attention. Ji Yu-geon’s eyes grew moist at the memory.

He pulled out a new patch and attached it to his shoulder. It bore the logo of the FBI.

Kang So-yoon shook her head as she watched.

“If you get caught impersonating, there’s no way to talk your way out of it.”

“It’s official business. It’s not impersonation… right?”

“Hahaha.”

A hollow laugh swept through the group.

The three of them climbed into a waiting car.

“So, what exactly are we supposed to do this time? Headquarters is always wishy-washy, but…”

Ji Yu-geon spoke in a voice full of confusion.

“They said we just have to protect the kids, right? They’re going into the witness protection program. Is there anything for us to do?”

“There’s a kid with ties to the Ark, apparently.”

“That little girl?”

Ji Yu-geon recalled the small girl Lee Miseon had been particularly concerned about. She’d been adorable, stammering into the camera as she tried to say something to her brother. That girl must be…

“Tae-woo’s little sister, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Those siblings have it rough.”

“We raided Henry Lehmann’s property not long ago and found profiles on the kids there… The police are protecting them, but given the situation…”

“Since Henry Lehmann is an international criminal, it’s not strange for us to get involved.”

“Ugh… It still feels weird.”

Ji Yu-geon shook his head at his seniors’ explanations.

“I just joined a guild, not some international investigative agency.”

“Well, the Association isn’t really an investigative agency…”

Kang So-yoon chose her words carefully.

“It’s more like… a shadowy organization running things behind the scenes.”

“More than a shadowy organization… you know, like in those movies. The world seems peaceful on the surface, but behind the scenes, people are fighting to save it… Always in action movies. Stopping nuclear war and all that.”

“Nuclear war? That’s such an old trope. These days it’s all about dungeon breaks.”

“That’s retro, too. Everything comes back around eventually.”

Choi Dae-hyun chuckled as he listened to Kang So-yoon and Ji Yu-geon’s conversation.

“The good thing about this job is the pay.”

“If you’re going to scam us into this, you’d better pay well!”

“Sometimes I think they don’t pay us enough for what we do…”

“It’s really unfair. People think you make a lot at big companies, but there’s a reason they pay so much.”

“Hazard pay?”

“Hazard pay, yeah.”

“All hunters are the same. But at least the Association and Daseon give good support. Even if I die…”

“Hey! Don’t say ominous things before a mission!”

The car fell silent.

But it didn’t last long. It was the kind of conversation that always came up on business trips.

The car sped down an empty highway and stopped at a shabby gas station. They didn’t really need gas, but…

Click.

Someone opened the car door and climbed into the back seat. Wearing an oversized FBI jacket, he held a coffee and a donut.

“Hey!”

With his small frame and long hair, he could easily be mistaken for a girl, but his low voice just barely marked him as a boy.

“Everyone’s so nice when you wear this jacket.”

“…You didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”

“I behaved myself!”

Alex Hope took a big bite of his donut as he spoke.

“…But is it really okay to wear this? America’s strict about this kind of thing. I won’t get arrested for impersonating a cop, right?”