Retire 328
by Cristae328 Return Home (2)
I watched the approaching car carefully.
It wasn’t one of the black SUVs or sedans favored by Dasun, nor was it Kim Chaemin’s yellow sports car. For the record, Kim Chaemin’s sports car was parked in the school lot, looking pitifully neglected and covered in dust because its flashy owner couldn’t be bothered to wash it.
The old, slightly worn white sedan approached at a slow pace. When it got close enough for me to see who was in the driver’s seat, I couldn’t help but snort in disbelief.
I let my sword hang loosely and took a deep breath. All right, let’s recall Father’s teachings.
‘Always keep your composure.’
‘You can’t even do that, Ajusshi.’
‘What? Why couldn’t I?’
‘It was Jieun noona who broke the side mirror.’
‘Yoo Jieun!! Yoo Jieun, I knew it! I knew you’d do that!!!’
Not sure if that helps or not.
The battered white sedan soon entered the school grounds. Instead of heading for the parking lot, it rolled right over the grass and came to a stop nearby.
The license plate… was familiar. The car my sister had once broken the side mirror on, then blamed the rude neighbors in our apartment building.
It was Hong Seokyeong’s old companion.
“Did you come out to greet your dad?”
Hong Seokyeong got out of the car, grinning slyly.
I swung my sword without hesitation. Hong Seokyeong, of course, wasn’t so much as scratched by my sudden move, but that wasn’t my intention anyway.
Crack.
“My car!”
The side mirror shattered. Since my sister wasn’t here to do it, I had to take her place.
I smiled in satisfaction and swung my sword again.
“Son, isn’t this a bit much for a welcome?”
Again, Hong Seokyeong dodged easily. I never expected him to let himself be hit. What I was aiming for…
“Fire! Fire!!”
Hong Seokyeong started hopping around, trying to brush off the flames that caught on his clothes.
I watched him for a moment, then turned away. I had work to do.
Through the classroom windows on the first floor, I could see the kids pressed up against the glass, probably guessing what I was about to do since I was holding my sword for once. I’d warned them this morning: I was going to burn something, so don’t come out onto the field. I didn’t mind if they watched from inside. For kids sensitive to mana, like Kang Taewoo or the mage students, it could even be a good learning experience.
And anyway, wasn’t this the age when kids were fascinated by fire?
I walked to the opposite side of the field and pulled back the tarp a little.
Half the corpse was exposed. The other half had been dealt with in Boston. The ground beneath the tarp was still dirt, stained with the monster’s blood. The unnaturally broken marks… that was where Alex Hope had been.
Summoning fire was easy. It had been ever since Myeongdong. When my sister was alive, I hadn’t even been able to hold this sword. Had she been able to wield it from the start?
The fire caught.
Blue flames, formed from mana, quickly engulfed the monster. Even within the flames, the corpse held its shape for a long time.
……
I’d thought it would burn up easily.
I’d even told everyone I’d take care of it—if it didn’t burn, that would be a problem.
I’d experimented with the monster’s feathers. Even if it didn’t look it, maybe it was closely tied to fire? But the feathers burned. So did the chunks of flesh.
So why wasn’t this burning?
“Fire!!!”
“…Hmm.”
I waited a little longer.
Thinking back, even the feathers and flesh hadn’t burned instantly; maybe the size was the issue.
I glared at the monster and poured in a bit more mana. Any more and I’d have trouble controlling it… Besides, fire and Kim Chaemin didn’t mix well. It wasn’t the time to call on the omnipotent archmage.
Thankfully, as soon as I added more mana, something changed.
It was a strange sight. I frowned and pulled out my phone to record a video.
The feathers, which had stubbornly held their shape within the blue flames, began to melt slowly. Like candle wax melting from the wick. I hadn’t seen this when burning a single feather.
The melted… what should I call it? Bodily fluid? Whatever it was, the liquefied remains vanished before touching the ground. It felt like watching a giant wax doll melt away.
I’d seen my sister burn monsters before, but never saw them melt like this. Usually, they burned away completely, leaving not even ashes—only monsters with high mana resistance might leave a trace. Or some wouldn’t burn at all.
Once the melting started, the rest went quickly. There was no lingering mana in the corpse, and as it burned, there was no change in the surrounding mana. Just to be sure, I checked everything carefully before putting out the flames.
All of them.
Including the ones burning Hong Seokyeong’s clothes.
“…Didn’t I teach you not to play with fire?!”
“Don’t worry. I’ve never burned down a house.”
“……”
“Kidding. I don’t play with fire. That was Yoo Jieun’s specialty.”
Hong Seokyeong’s eyes wavered. Hard to imagine, thinking of the little Yoo Jieun now.
“Jieun did?”
“She never burned a person, at least…”
“What’s with that ominous pause?”
“…Well. Who knows what she was up to behind our backs.”
“What?”
Hong Seokyeong stared at me in disbelief.
Then, snapping out of it, he yelled at me again.
“Still, why would you do that to your dad?!”
“Want me to burn your hair, too?”
“…I’m so glad to see your mana control is excellent, Heejae.”
He coughed.
It probably hadn’t even been that hot. What a drama queen.
“What were you thinking?”
“Hm? Oh, I thought things in America would take too long, so I came back to Korea for a bit.”
“What does that—no, not that. There’s something you should talk about first.”
I cut him off. Coming back without warning was one thing, but…
There was also the mess he’d made.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
He understood immediately. His eyes sparkled—there’s no way he didn’t know. But he just kept grinning, pretending not to get it.
“……”
“Hmmm?”
“…The people who came with Kang Taewoo.”
“Isabella and Robert? I couldn’t leave his little sister alone, and I couldn’t ask you to take care of her. I asked, and they agreed right away.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what?”
His smile grew even wider.
I looked at the sword still in my hand. Hong Seokyeong didn’t flinch. He’d only let me hit him earlier out of indulgence; it wouldn’t work twice. He hadn’t even bothered brushing off the flames.
“If you don’t speak up, your dad won’t know what’s going on…”
Whoosh.
“Gah!!!”
Hong Seokyeong screamed at the sight of the sword embedded in the driver’s side door.
Hmm.
My sister wasn’t here to crash into a streetlight or kick the door off and finally force Father to replace that old car, so I had to do it for her.
“My car!!”
In her defense, that had happened during a driving lesson. Father had been in the passenger seat.
After that, he never asked her to drive again.
“So what were you really thinking?”
Hong Seokyeong was sitting on the counseling room sofa where the kids usually gathered, a paper cup of instant coffee in his hand as always.
He sipped his coffee as if he hadn’t heard me at all.
“Those two…”
“Isabella and Robert are good people.”
I stopped talking.
“They’re also among the few people I trust.”
He continued calmly.
“We caught Sam Bloom, but sooner or later, Irok will be a target.”
“…Noah Michel?”
“Even if not him. He’s just too tempting a prey.”
He shrugged.
“And, well, a stable environment is the most important thing for a child.”
I almost said something, but stopped. He wasn’t wrong.
“They’re both retired now, but both of them were Hunters. So… Sophia, was it? That girl has a high chance of awakening, so they’ll take good care of her. And Irok, of course.”
“They were both Hunters?”
Robert Blake didn’t hide it—anyone could see he’d been a Hunter. But Isabella… It was hard to believe that the tiny old woman, who looked like she belonged in a rocking chair knitting, had ever been a Hunter. She didn’t seem like an Awakened at all.
Seeing my face, Hong Seokyeong laughed.
“Oh, absolutely. Be careful with Isabella. My mother-in-law once subdued the entire East Coast of America with her fists.”
“……”
“It was a long time ago, so you might not know. Look up Isabella Harland sometime. There are still plenty of American generals who tremble at that name.”
“Generals?”
“In the old days, all Hunters in America were part of the military. She was a lieutenant general. General Harland.”
I looked at him skeptically. He wouldn’t lie about something like this, but… I still couldn’t quite believe it.
She really didn’t seem like an Awakened at all.
The grandmother who’d shyly smiled about learning her daughter’s native food for her adopted child?
The grandmother who’d laughed happily when introduced to Irok’s cat?
You can’t trust appearances… Even being able to see mana doesn’t make you infallible.
I decided to think about Isabella Blake’s shocking identity later. Or maybe there was nothing to think about. I should just be grateful that someone like her was willing to become a neighbor… and a grandparent to Uirok.
Still, I couldn’t resist asking.
“What about Robert?”
“He was Isabella’s aide.”
“Ah.”
“Love knows no boundaries.”
Hong Seokyeong smiled softly. It was an unfamiliar look.
“You and Irok both still need guardians, don’t you think?”
“I’m over thirty.”
“To a parent, their child is always a kid.”
His eyes met mine, unwavering. I started to say something, but realized that, no matter what I said, he’d just treat it as childish whining.
…How unfair.
Seeing my face, Hong Seokyeong chuckled.
“Anyway, I really do have to go back to America.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Why else? If I leave my son alone too long, he starts thinking weird things… Put that sword away!”
He shook his head.
“Schneider said something, but it needs to be verified. It’ll take some time, so I came back for a bit. I don’t have much time.”
“Verified? What’s it about?”
“I’ll tell you as soon as it’s confirmed.”
“No…”
“I wanted to check that the kids are doing well, that Isabella and Robert are settling in… and there’s something else I need to look into.”
He tapped his paper cup with his fingernail. Tap, tap. An annoying sound.
“There’s something I want to ask that fairy in Jirisan.”