Retire 284

284 Retaliation (4)

Alex Hope gently stroked the little girl’s hair. What was her original name again? Sohee? Sophia?

Remembering people’s names was still a difficult task. Was it really necessary to memorize them all? Sandra would probably get annoyed if she heard him say that.

“How long do you expect me to clean up after you?” she’d say.

Even so, compared to his childhood, his understanding of humans had improved greatly. He knew he had to make an effort, since he’d decided to become a person. For now, it was still more imitation than anything else… but someday, he wouldn’t need to pretend.

This time, too, he imitated Sandra. Having watched her up close, it wasn’t hard. He added touches from the teachers and counselors he’d seen at school. He could feel himself growing more adept.

Was it simply that his imitation was getting better? Or was he becoming more human?

Alex asked himself questions he knew he couldn’t answer.

“…Maybe it doesn’t matter either way.”

He shrugged. Obsessing over questions he couldn’t answer wasn’t in his nature. He would just do what he could. That was why he’d come all the way to America.

Alex looked at the child sleeping soundly beside him.

The girl, who’d been so excited to see a photo of her brother in Korea, had chattered on for a long time before finally nodding off. Alex laid her down on the sofa and sat nearby, pretending to read a file.

Then, he carefully began to unravel the threads of mana woven around the child. Manipulating mana with one hand was tricky, but it was his own mana. As long as he concentrated, it wasn’t hard.

The more he unraveled the tangled mana, the colder Alex’s eyes grew.

“Hope.”

“Yeah?”

One of the hunters who had come with him spoke up cautiously.

“You came here because there’s a high chance Henry Lehmann will show up, right?”

“Probably? I said as much, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“I thought you’d forgotten. Why? Are you scared now? Then you’d better leave while you can.”

Alex made the suggestion with genuine concern for the three hunters. Judging by the way their expressions hardened, he’d said something wrong again. But since he didn’t know why, Alex just shrugged.

“There’s a child here. Don’t joke around.”

The hunter gestured toward the sleeping girl. Alex pouted.

“I’m not joking. I’m being serious.”

“Stop fidgeting with your hands. Let her sleep.”

“Ugh, this is why you can’t talk to people who can’t see.”

Alex let out a deep sigh, but he didn’t stop moving his hands.

The threads of mana he’d left with the child were now tangled with Henry Lehmann’s foul mana. He hadn’t done this with the other children, so Henry must have specifically targeted her. If Alex didn’t unravel it now, Henry would be able to track the child’s location easily.

Instead of explaining, Alex began to talk about Henry Lehmann.

“You know, Henry’s afraid of me.”

“…What?”

“But just because he’s afraid doesn’t mean he likes me… Actually, if he’s scared, he definitely doesn’t like me, right? Hmm, being scared doesn’t mean he listens to me. If anything, because he’s scared…”

“……”

“He wants to get rid of me.”

Worried the hunters might not understand, Alex added,

“It’s like… you know, when you’re fighting a monster and some people panic? No matter what you say, they don’t listen and just charge in…”

“I know what you mean.”

“Yeah. Henry’s more rational than that, but it’s the same idea. Since I warned him… if he wants to survive, he’ll be plotting to tear my throat out.”

He’d explained it well enough, Alex thought, feeling a bit proud as he frowned in concentration. The last tangled thread of mana was the problem.

If this child were just an ordinary girl, it might not matter, but she had a high chance of awakening in the future. To avoid problems later, he had to do this properly now.

Just a little more, just a little more…

But while Alex focused, the three hunters’ faces grew even more grave.

“In that case…”

“Hold on.”

Alex cut the hunter off. He needed to concentrate.

His lips stuck out without him realizing. To an observer, it might look like he was just playing with the hair of a sleeping child, but to Alex, this was serious work.

“There. Done.”

A moment later, Alex relaxed his expression. There was still a bit left, but he’d untangled most of it. The rest would unravel on its own with time.

‘Nothing urgent left, so I’ll finish up… Maybe I should leave another mark.’

Alex stroked his chin. Only then did he notice the eyes still fixed on him.

“Oh. What were we talking about?”

“……”

“By the way, what were your names again?”

The three hunters sighed.

The oldest, Kang So-yoon, scratched her head roughly before speaking.

“Back to what we were saying—did you expect Lehmann to go after the kids?”

“Not exactly, but… I thought it was possible.”

“Then why did you deliberately provoke him?”

“Provoke?”

Alex tilted his head, then burst out laughing. The sleeping child stirred at the sound, and Alex quickly held his breath. Thankfully, she didn’t wake.

Unable to hide his amusement, Alex waved his hand.

“No, no. That wasn’t provocation.”

“Then what? A friendly warning?”

“Closer to a warning than a provocation, I guess.”

Alex recalled his conversation with Henry.

Fear and worship.

“No, more than that… It was more like giving him a single way out. The trap wasn’t Henry’s—it was mine.”

For Henry Lehmann, the secrets of the dungeon and the existence of fairies must have been like a thunderbolt revelation.

Once, a small fairy who’d fled from a now-vanished dungeon, curious about the living beings of the world, would have delighted in being revered.

But that fairy had become human.

The very source of life was different. After struggling to survive and becoming human, he hadn’t thought much about it. But there was love. A warmth he never wanted to give up… something he’d felt for the first time.

He still didn’t understand much about human emotions and ways of living, but when it came to someone as instinct-driven as Henry Lehmann, even Alex couldn’t help but understand.

“He’d already been using my name for all sorts of things behind my back. But then I caught him. What do you think he’d do?”

Kang So-yoon didn’t answer.

“Would he just say, ‘Yes, sir,’ and bow his head?”

“…Doesn’t seem likely.”

“Exactly. That’s why I did it this way. So he’d panic and attack me.”

The mana surrounding the child stabilized. Alex carefully checked to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

“If he doesn’t want to get eaten, he’ll have to eat me first.”

Whether Alex Hope wanted to eat Henry Lehmann was another matter entirely.

It would have been better if he’d just left him alone.

Alex yawned and thought idly.

---

The third day at the safe house.

Whatever the complicated circumstances, Hong Seok-young and Woo Hee-jae in Korea had decided that the children’s safety was the top priority.

Kang So-yoon didn’t object. Even if it was a hassle and a lot of work, if this were the kind of job where people’s lives were treated like stones on the roadside, she would have quit long ago.

‘Still, it’s a little funny for Teacher Woo to say things like that.’

The Sohee they were protecting now was from the same research institute, wasn’t she? Does betraying and leaving erase the sins of the past?

If that’s called atonement, she had nothing more to say…

‘The higher-ups will decide that.’

Kang So-yoon shook her head.

“Sohee.”

“Yes?”

It couldn’t have been easy for a child to live with unfamiliar adults, but the girl never complained. She got excited and raised her voice when talking about Alex Hope or her brother, but otherwise, she was strangely quiet. Almost invisible.

If that was a habit from her time at the institute, it only fueled Kang So-yoon’s anger toward those people.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

“We’re all set now.”

“Can I go see my brother?!”

“Of course.”

The girl smiled brightly. Kang So-yoon looked at her with satisfaction. Doing thankless, unrecognized work, work you couldn’t even brag about, was sometimes worth it just to see a smile like that.

It wasn’t about some grand sense of duty. Just—

Just…

The world slowed down.

Alex Hope sprang up and wrapped the child in his arms. The air twisted. Nausea swept over her. It felt as if all her organs would be forced out of her body.

Before her mind could process what was happening, old instincts took over. She grabbed a nearby police officer and dove to the floor. Protect your head. The others—

All of this happened in less than a second.

In the blink of an eye, the world turned upside down.

KWAANG!!!!!

A searing heat burned her back. She couldn’t tell where the explosion had started. The deafening blast numbed her senses. Her ears rang.

Kang So-yoon checked on the officer she’d pulled to the ground. He was unconscious, but didn’t seem badly hurt. She cautiously got up and looked around.

It was eerily quiet. Was it the explosion? Or something else?

There were still embers, but thankfully no flames. However—

Kang So-yoon looked up. The roof of the safe house was completely gone. The sky was blue, the clouds white. And something that should not exist was floating there.

“Ah! For crying out loud!!”

Pop!

Like a bubble bursting, the sounds of the world returned. Choi Dae-hyun and Ji Yu-geon staggered to their feet. Thankfully, neither seemed seriously injured.

[KEEEEEEEE]

It was a monster shaped like a snake biting its own tail. Its golden, glittering scales twitched as if each had a will of its own, and beneath them, golden eyes rolled and turned. Between the scales, white feathers sprouted and fluttered like wings.

[KYA AAAAA]

“If you have nothing to say, then shut up already!!!”

Even for a monster from a dungeon, it looked bizarre. But Alex Hope, voice full of irritation, only snapped at it. Each time his voice rang out, her mind cleared.

Hope threw the child he was holding toward Kang So-yoon.

“Take her!”

“What? Hope!”

“Go!!!”

Clutching the terrified, speechless child, Kang So-yoon called out to Hope.

The unidentified monster in the sky beat its wings violently. There were barely any feathers, yet the wind was so strong it was hard to stand.

Hope stood firm in the gale. His red and white hair whipped wildly. He tapped his toes against the ground.

“Get out of here. Got it?”

Hope vanished.

“……!”

And then fell from above the monster’s head.

THUD!

Hope’s hand tore at the serpent’s head. The snake spat out its tail and lunged at Hope with its jaws wide open.

Kang So-yoon, holding the child, grabbed the unconscious officer at her side.

“Get out! Get out of here!!!”