Retire 446
by Cristae446 Hong Seokyoung’s Detective Agency (1)
“……”
“……”
“…Hi?”
“Shut up.”
“What did I even do…?”
“……”
“…Okay. I did a lot, actually.”
Hope raised both hands in surrender and then fell silent.
The greenhouse became quiet.
The sky was still dark. Even the sound of insects outside seemed to pause for a moment.
The world was still.
I wished this peace could last forever.
Of course, it wasn’t truly peaceful. Maybe from a hundred meters away it would look that way.
“Wow.”
It was Sunsunji who broke the silence.
Her sleepiness seemed to have vanished; with wide, alert eyes, she murmured in awe.
“Is this really a secret base?”
“It’s not a secret base, exactly…”
I’d regretted it more than once. I shouldn’t have used this place like this. For the sake of convenience, I’d crammed all sorts of things in here.
The lab was fine. Even the academy had a lab, and I had the excuse of needing to guard Gamble.
But Hope should have been moved somewhere else long ago. When Kang Taewoo noticed something… No, back then, Hope hadn’t even been in her right mind.
Even thinking about it now, there hadn’t been many options. There was no place as isolated from the outside world and filled with trustworthy people as this school.
If only I’d been a little more careful, maybe Hope wouldn’t have been so easily discovered by the kids—by Lee Seungyeon, of all people. If Seungyeon hadn’t recognized Hope, there wouldn’t have been a problem…
I wasn’t blaming Seungyeon, but Hope. What was she doing, not noticing the kids’ presence?
…Not that I had much room to talk.
Sunsunji tilted her head.
“But isn’t this witness protection?”
“Does Taewoo know?”
At the same time, the first thing Lee Seungyeon—who hadn’t said a word the whole time—asked about was Kang Taewoo.
I could feel my father glancing at me. I could see the pride in his eyes, as if to say, “How about the student you picked?” I kicked him under the table.
I studied Lee Seungyeon’s face.
Alex Hope was indeed a criminal, and had been involved in criminal activities for quite some time, but recently had turned over a new leaf and was hiding here under witness protection—or so my father and I explained. Sunsunji couldn’t hide her curiosity.
But Sunsunji didn’t know Alex Hope from her criminal days. Even if I made excuses—“He was actually a good person!”—it didn’t change the fact that Seungyeon and Taewoo had been attacked.
Taewoo, at least, had his own background and the fact that his sister was alive, so he’d let it go…
But Seungyeon.
“He knows.”
My father answered.
“He knows she’s here too?”
“They haven’t met, but yes.”
This time, I answered.
“…Did you tell him?”
“No. Taewoo figured it out on his own.”
“Oh, and he didn’t bother telling me?”
Seungyeon burst out, frustrated. It was a bit different from what I’d expected.
She ran her hands through her hair.
“I know who she is. I knew there was more going on. I just kept quiet because it didn’t seem like my place.”
“Huh?”
“Teacher, I think you forgot, but I saw her face too, remember?”
“……”
“When she and Taewoo attacked me. I saw her face when you blocked her.”
I looked at the awkward Alex Hope. Not exactly a face you’d forget easily—especially in that situation.
“I saw her face plenty during the Boston dungeon break. I won’t even mention how a monster that looked just like the ones in Boston showed up on the school field.”
“Uh… thanks?”
“And Taewoo’s supposedly dead sister suddenly came back from Hawaii? Do you know how hard it was to pretend I didn’t notice? I was dying to ask about it!!”
I tried to recall what had happened when I first met Hope.
I remembered Hope asking me if I could see mana…
Apparently, Taewoo had confided quite a lot to Seungyeon. I had no intention of criticizing that. It was Taewoo’s choice. If he wanted to talk, he would.
Not that Taewoo knew all that much, anyway.
I reflected on myself. Compared to the other kids, I’d always thought of Seungyeon as lighthearted, and because of her small stature and youthful face, I tended to treat her as younger.
But the kids were growing up just fine, even without me watching over them every second.
“So… whatever. This all looks complicated, and it seems like it involves my aunt too.”
Seungyeon gave a wry laugh.
“I know my aunt’s working a second job behind Grandpa’s back.”
“Cough.”
My father made a strangled noise beside me.
I was honestly shocked.
Even Lee Miseon would be surprised.
“It’s fine… I don’t think the principal or Mr. Woo would bring someone truly dangerous here.”
“Uh… thanks for understanding.”
She was surprisingly understanding.
Or was she? Was it right to say she understood?
Things had worked out much better than I’d expected. I couldn’t hide my mixed feelings as I looked at Seungyeon.
She pouted.
“Teacher.”
“Y-yeah?”
“I’ve even hung out with Sophia.”
“Oh… right. I know.”
“Do you know how much Sophia talks about the ‘oppa’ who saved her?”
“……”
I realized too late that I should have asked her to keep quiet.
Seungyeon looked at me and my father, who were both sitting awkwardly, and shook her head.
“You always say a hunter shouldn’t just know how to fight monsters. Maybe you should learn a bit more about how the world works, Teacher?”
“…That’s why I teach you kids that way.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m a little more motivated now.”
I couldn’t tell if I should be annoyed or proud of my student’s growth.
“……”
After a moment’s thought, I decided to take it as a good thing.
“Taewoo’s been going on about hunter police or something. Maybe I should think about that too… I thought he was just watching too many dramas.”
“He seemed pretty serious about it, though.”
“You thought so too? Maybe he really means it. What if he doesn’t join a guild?”
“Then he can just build up experience in a guild first.”
“You’re a genius, Sunsunji.”
Listening to them, they really were just kids their age.
I thought of Sunsunji, who might have ended up as an association hunter under Lee Miseon a few years—or twenty years—from now.
I’d wondered if Lee Miseon would have taken in her dead nephew’s friend, but it was starting to make sense. When Seungyeon declared her ‘second job,’ Sunsunji hadn’t even looked surprised. She just yawned, as if sleep was overtaking her again.
“Hoo, I’m sleepy now. I’m going to bed.”
“…Why were you up this late, anyway?”
“Playing games…”
Seungyeon shrugged and smiled.
“I saw those two awake in the hallway, so I called them over for a chat.”
“If you stay up this late, you’ll have to talk to the principal.”
“So… does that mean talking to me is bad?”
I shrugged.
Seungyeon roused the dozing Sunsunji.
Just before heading back to the dorm, Seungyeon glanced at me and Hope, hesitated, then spoke.
“…Can I ask why you suddenly brought her out after hiding her so well? Is something big going on?”
“Ah.”
I shook my head.
If anything, it was something big.
While the cause of what happened in San Francisco could be traced to a certain mage, there was nothing we could do right now. That’s why I’d sat Seungyeon and Sunsunji down for a calm conversation.
“You’ll find out soon enough anyway.”
“Huh?”
I checked Hope’s old phone. News articles were already popping up in Korea.
I tapped one and showed it so everyone could see.
“There’s chaos in San Francisco.”
“Dungeon break?”
“In just one hour, dungeons…”
Seungyeon and Sunsunji, now fully awake, staggered back to the dorm.
Whether those two would be able to sleep was another matter.
“The kids are off to bed, so let’s get to work, adults!”
I gave Hope a look of disbelief.
“Are you really the one to say that?”
After the news from San Francisco, the mood at school grew tense.
It wasn’t that Seungyeon was suddenly traumatized or avoiding people. It was just that what had happened in San Francisco was that shocking, even if it was another country.
Even the guests at the school spoke in hushed tones, cautiously discussing the incident.
Dungeons were still an unknown. There was no guarantee something like what happened in San Francisco couldn’t happen elsewhere. At least it was America, and a major city, so they were able to respond quickly.
Still, the damage was immense.
After about two days, news from San Francisco was reaching Korea almost in real time. “Almost” because access to the city was restricted, so they had to rely on official U.S. government statements.
Even Gamble, who was from California, didn’t look cheerful.
And the same went for the members of Guild Mimi, who were gathered in the lab as usual.
“Honestly, it’d be better if it was Noah Michel who did this.”
“Better than dungeons just going crazy on their own.”
“Yeah.”
“But I still don’t understand.”
Noah Michel’s abilities and motives. Why San Francisco, of all places?
It was all a mystery.
“Let’s keep it simple.”
Gamble spoke curtly.
“You can’t expect to understand a madman’s logic. Wasn’t Noah Michel’s goal from the start to create a world of monsters?”
“That’s… true.”
“Maybe this is some kind of test run.”
“…The problem is, could she really do this without any limitations?”
“She couldn’t.”
Gamble was adamant.
“It’s not like every dungeon in the San Francisco area broke. She picked and chose which ones to trigger.”
“And there weren’t any dungeons with intelligent monsters, right?”
Kim Chaemin added, her face thoughtful.
“If it was just an experiment, she wouldn’t have limited it to one city’s dungeons. I wouldn’t.”
“Me neither. You’d want more variables. The ultimate goal is every dungeon in the world.”
“But if it’s just dungeons in a certain area… it’s not quite an attack on the city. If she wanted maximum damage, there were better targets. Some of the dungeons that broke were D-rank—almost no potential for casualties.”
Kim Chaemin looked at Hope.
“Isn’t Alex’s theory the most likely?”
“Henry Lehmann?”
“Probably. Though I can’t be sure.”
Everyone fell silent, lost in thought.
But there were no clear answers.
“For now.”
In the end, my father stepped in to wrap things up.
“There’s nothing we can do at the moment, so let’s just wait for things to settle down. I think…”
My father frowned.
“I think there’s a common thread among the dungeons that broke.”
“A common thread?”
“Not all of them, but some… there are a few notable points. But I’ll have to check before I say anything.”