Retire 364

364 Cleaning (2)

“That’s not some mage’s toy, you know.”

And so, we come back to the beginning.

No matter how un-mage-like she might seem, in the end, a mage is a mage. After that conversation with Kim Chaemin, which left me with that realization, we focused on dismantling that damned mass of magic.

Hunters might do all sorts of odd jobs, but I never imagined I’d be doing something like this in a school infirmary, not even in a dungeon.

It was just a clump of magic, yet I couldn’t understand why it had taken on such a form. Anyone would think it was flesh. It looked like something torn from inside a body. Even my hands were sticky with some viscous fluid. Despite the vivid red, there was no blood smell as I’d feared.

“Could you… not enjoy this so much? Show a little more respect!”

Hope spun around in Shin Minseo’s chair, squawking complaints.

But despite his protests, he didn’t actually seem that upset. If anything, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Maybe that’s why Kim Chaemin ignored him, too busy examining the “wing”—or whatever it was—in her hands.

A very thin, transparent cloth. If it didn’t glitter, you’d never know what she was holding. For something that had devoured so much magic, there was almost nothing to see.

Hope had said it hurt when it was removed, so in a sense, it really was like an organ or body part. That explained the appearance. Well, there was no blood smell, but that was probably because he was a monster.

“Interesting.”

Kim Chaemin’s eyes sparkled.

“You carried this around all the time? I never saw it.”

“Well, it’s not something you can normally see… It only became visible after it left my body, full of magic.”

Hope pouted, grumbling.

“Can someone else use it to teleport?”

“It’s not an item.”

“That’s boring. Doesn’t it have any special function? If you grind it up and eat it, do you get immortality or something?”

“Hey! Is this mage even sane?”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Isn’t anyone here sane?!”

Hope scowled. It was absurd to hear that from the least sane person in the room.

But I didn’t feel like getting involved, so I stayed quiet. Hope slumped in the chair. He was strangely entertaining to watch.

He gave up.

“Yeah. I guess mages are all crazy. My cute little Semi was like that, and that stuck-up Noah, too…”

Hope shook his head.

“Guess I’ll have to be the sane one.”

“……”

I almost said something, but stopped. Who was he to talk about being sane?

Still, if he was willing to pull himself together, even in this way…

But Hope couldn’t help getting in one last word as Kim Chaemin marveled at the wing in the sunlight.

“…If you want to get technical, it’s basically dead skin now, you know? Don’t judge it like it’s some fun novelty.”

“Dead skin? Ew.”

“And don’t make faces like that right in front of me!”

Hope protested. He really was an amusing guy. Even if he could be annoying, I never expected him to be so easily flustered. These days, Gamble and Kim Chaemin had become friends, but at first, she’d been pretty wary of him. Maybe you start treating people differently the closer you get.

Of course, Kim Chaemin paid him no mind.

“Dead skin or not, I have to analyze everything I can. This is a sample you can’t get anywhere else.”

“If you could, that would be a problem.”

“It might even help with Sandra’s research…”

Kim Chaemin frowned, muttering to herself.

I remembered how, before Hope woke up, Gamble had been excited at the idea of dissecting him as part of her research into external dungeon interference. Far from stopping her, Kim Chaemin had only encouraged her.

That made me think of Han Taekyung, too.

…Maybe Hope made the right call by getting rid of his wings. If he’d kept them, he would have ended up dragged into the lab like Han Taekyung. These days, Han Taekyung ran away at the sight of Gamble’s hair from a distance.

Unfortunately, Yangseong High was located in a remote place, far from the city. The law didn’t reach here easily… Honestly, I doubted the school itself was built through entirely legal procedures.

Especially in Kim Chaemin’s domain—the hut—and Sandra Gamble’s lab, who knows what went on… Well, someday Hope would find out.

“Better to try something than just leave it lying around. Who knows, maybe we’ll find a use for it! Alex, you don’t need this, right?”

“Why would I need that?”

“Good. Don’t try to claim ownership later.”

“Why would I…”

“Mr. Woo!”

Kim Chaemin stubbornly said her piece, ignoring Hope. He slumped his shoulders. I had a feeling he’d be coming to the counseling room soon. After Han Taekyung, now Kim Chaemin?

Hope’s human life was not going to be smooth.

“I’m going to talk to Sandra about this! Clean up here, please!”

“Huh?”

Kim Chaemin did something magical to the dead skin—or wing—in her hand, then marched out of the infirmary.

Clean up?

I mulled over her words and looked around.

The infirmary had already been a mess when I cut that thing from Hope. I’d cleaned the floor as best I could, since leaving it would have made it impossible to tidy up later.

And now?

The infirmary I’d cleaned was a disaster again. The remains of the mass of magic that Kim Chaemin and I had torn apart were scattered everywhere, along with splatters of something like blood.

“Hmph.”

Hope hummed a strange tune, rising awkwardly from his chair.

“I’m worried too, so I’ll go after the mage. Even if it’s just dead skin, it came from my body… It’s safer if I’m there, right? I can respond if anything happens!”

“……”

“Yeah, that’s right! I definitely need to be there!”

That sly, quick-witted brat.

“Sit down.”

“…But it’s not safe to leave Sandra alone, either. If I’m there, I can escape! Even if I can’t go far like before, I can at least run from the lab to the field!”

“Why would you be needed with the archmage right there?”

“That’s discrimination!”

“I told you to use the right honorifics.”

“……”

Hope clamped his mouth shut and rolled his eyes.

My sister used to say:

You have to establish authority with a disobedient rookie from the very start, or you’ll regret it later.

“Don’t think only mages are animals, Heejae. Hunters are animals too. All humans are animals.”

I don’t believe in violence. Resorting to such barbaric means only proves you’re an animal.

Of course, whether I could really consider the person in front of me a fellow sentient being was another matter.

I stared at Hope, still sitting in the chair.

“What? Why are you sitting?”

“You just told me to sit!”

“Get up.”

“No…!”

“The cleaning supplies are over there. If that’s not enough, go out into the hallway, turn left… You know where the bathroom is, right? Use the stuff in there.”

Hope’s eyes went wide as he realized what I was asking.

“What? You want me to clean?!”

“Should I do it, then?”

I pointed to the source of the mess in the infirmary.

“Technically, it’s yours, isn’t it?”

“If you put it that way…! Well, you’re not wrong!”

“I’ll check in an hour. Make sure it’s done right.”

“I’ve never cleaned before!”

“Everyone has a first time. That’s how you learn.”

I left Hope in the infirmary and made my escape.

It really is convenient to have someone to boss around.

---

—Oh. That lazybones finally got up?

“Lazy… Well, he still slacks off, but surprisingly, he does what he’s told if you make him.”

It had been a while since I’d gotten a call from Hong Seok-young.

Having to rush to the U.S. before he could even wrap up things in Busan, he must have been in a tough spot. He’d come to Korea for a bit, then disappeared without a word, so it was understandable.

Im Miseon had hurriedly sent Kim Chaemin, but if she’d taken any longer, I bet they would have started a search in the U.S. too.

Hong Seok-young grumbled for a while about how sometimes people just can’t be reached, but things on his end didn’t sound easy either.

He’d tried to leave me at least a message every day, but said that for the next few days he’d be too busy for even that, so not to worry if I didn’t hear from him. I’d had to take the kids into a dungeon, so it was the same for me.

Then, today, he suddenly called.

—That’s how those types are. Look at Han Taekyung. He only wants to do what he likes, but if you give him a task, he’ll do it.

At that, I told him what had happened with Han Taekyung. I could hear Hong Seok-young’s regretful sigh over the phone.

—Yeah… That’s part of why I brought him to the school. If you throw him in with the kids, he gets things done.

“Does he?”

—Hey. Have you ever seen him hurt any of the kids? He’s good at controlling his strength. Doesn’t look it, but everyone’s fooled by appearances.

When I fell silent, Hong Seok-young chuckled unpleasantly.

—So Han Taekyung and that lazybones don’t like each other? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard lately.

“…How about you? When are you coming back?”

—Miss your dad?

“What are you talking about?”

—I miss my boys. Didn’t Irok say he misses me?”

“He’s doing well. He seems to enjoy training with, uh, Grandpa B…”

—I should have been the one to do that!

Hong Seok-young cried out in disappointment.

But he still didn’t answer my question.

My father never showed it when he was struggling. If anything, he’d act even more over-the-top than usual. Hong Seok-young was the same. Of course, it made sense, since he was my father.

Woo Irok is eleven now. In the original timeline, he would have been adopted by my father at this age.

As far as I know, my father had never been away this long before. Sure, he’d gone into dungeons or traveled abroad, but his whereabouts were always known. You could even see on the news: “Korea’s Hunter Hong Seok-young has entered a dungeon in Indonesia,” and so on.

What had changed this time, that he was stuck in America for so long?

“So.”

—Hm?

“Is it going to be a while before you’re done?”

—……

Hong Seok-young was silent for a long time. I took that as a yes.

“If possible, I’d like you to keep contacting me at least once a day.”

—Of course.

“We’ll be staying put for a while on our end. Don’t be surprised if the lab racks up some big expenses.”

—Just leave me enough for food.

“They don’t feed you over there? Get someone to treat you.”

—My heart aches!

I didn’t respond, just scratched my head.

Honestly, I thought Hong Seok-young would be back by now. It’s unsettling to go on without him, but there won’t be a better opportunity than this.

“And Ms. Kim says she’s going to take some vacation.”

—Ms. Kim?

“I’d like to go too, if possible… I’ll discuss it with this Hunter.”

—You too? Where are you going?

“The European Magic Conference in France. Ms. Kim was invited.”