Retire 489
by Cristae489 Aerial Aquarium (1)
“What do you think they’re doing right now?”
“Sorry?”
We were still flying over the Pacific. There’s only so much endurance one can muster for a long flight. In fact, the closer we got to landing, the more the boredom seemed to grow.
Perhaps unable to bear the monotony any longer, Kim Chaemin suddenly spoke up.
“Our friends, I mean.”
“…You mean real friends? Or fake friends?”
“Come on.”
Kim Chaemin shot me a cold look, as if he’d just heard a pointless joke.
“I don’t call my guild master a friend. Mr. Woo, do you want to call your boss a friend?”
“No.”
Boss aside, he’s family. Just as there are companies that call themselves families, there can be families that feel like friends. But I don’t categorize it that way.
And speaking of family, to be honest, my father is hardly the sort of person you’d want as a friend.
“There are others, though. Like Mr. Han…”
“Really?”
“No.”
Han Taekyung is even less so. Not that he’s a bad person, but people have their own compatibilities…
“What about Hope? You call him by name now.”
“If it were Sandra, maybe, but Alex… Well, at best, he feels like a friend’s younger brother.”
“A friend’s younger brother is pretty close, isn’t it?”
“I mean in the sense that you can watch from a distance without responsibility.”
“Ah.”
“Still, I suppose someone like you, Mr. Woo, could be called a friend.”
“…Me?”
“What? You don’t want to be friends with me?”
Kim Chaemin’s eyes sharpened. I quickly shook my head.
“No, I’d call you a friend, Mr. Kim.”
“Feels like I’m forcing you to say it…”
“Do you not want to be friends with me?”
“Of course not.”
Kim Chaemin gave a faint laugh at my answer, then got back to the point.
“Anyway, the dungeons seem stable, and there haven’t been any more troubling reports. I wonder what those friends are up to.”
“I’m not sure…”
“They’re not just enjoying a peaceful vacation, are they?”
“I wish they were.”
Lehmann may be a gang leader, but he knows when to keep his head down. Or so I thought, until he showed up to greet my father in person… and then got smacked around by Kim Chaemin. You’d think he’d be lying low after that.
According to Kim Chaemin, the dungeon byproducts Atlas is gathering in the South American black market are mostly materials mages use. They can be used to make potions, amplify magic, or condense mana.
Given how Lehmann used runes, maybe he’s using them to restore something.
“…Honestly, I’m more worried about our French friend.”
“You too, Mr. Woo? Same here.”
Kim Chaemin agreed emphatically.
“I’m sure they’re up to something, but it’s so quiet it makes me nervous. The other friend was like that too—always saying they were overwhelmed because of them.”
“Judging by that, I guess they really did fight… Not that they ever got along in the first place.”
“That’s why you should never go into business with friends!”
Not that Michel and Lehmann were ever really friends, or that they ever ran a business together with laughter and camaraderie…
“I wouldn’t even recommend working at the same company as a friend.”
“Technically, I’m just a guest mage, so it’s not the same company.”
“Don’t try to wriggle out of it.”
Still, Kim Chaemin’s worry was justified.
If Lehmann had just popped up and caused a scene, at least we’d know what he was doing. It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for. And Noah Michel—Hope wouldn’t even talk about him, just called him crazy and wanted nothing to do with him.
“I figured if those two fought after San Francisco, it would be a big mess.”
“It’s quiet.”
“Remember what Alex said? If he’s upset, he throws things. Even this time… For someone like that to just sit still when provoked? Impossible.”
“You do realize Hope was the cause of that bad mood, right?”
“Who can live seeing only the good?”
I know Michel. Not the archmage seduced by monsters and dreaming of the world’s end, but the archmage who, twenty years later, was revered as the Sun of France by mages and hunters alike.
The Michel I met in Marseille was like that, but the one I’d known before was also ordinary. Maybe he’d developed more social skills over time; even though he was sometimes shy, he was confident enough to be called the nation’s leading mage. In fact, I remember being impressed by how polite and altruistic he was—unusual for a mage.
That’s why I always felt a sense of disconnect whenever I thought of Michel’s true identity.
But on the other hand, the dreamy look I saw on that girl’s face in Marseille helped me understand his actions.
That must be why he’s clinging to such an impossible goal. And actually doing impossible things.
“They’re still searching for him in France.”
“Hmm… Are they really trying?”
“Of course. What else would they do?”
“I suppose you’re right.”
I nodded. Ever since Michel went missing, I’d checked the French news every morning. Surprisingly, the local press often pointed out things we’d have missed.
Kim Chaemin frowned.
“I still don’t know why he acted so conspicuously.”
“He must be out of touch with reality.”
“Still… despite what Alex says, he seemed to have a plan.”
Reluctantly, I agreed.
“At least when it came to research, he seemed sincere. And there was that business with our Dutch friend.”
“I still don’t think he planned this whole thing… Was he just that upset? Or was this all part of the plan?”
“Neither option is appealing.”
The plane shuddered gently. The captain’s announcement followed, explaining it was turbulence.
I’d used “personal reasons” as my excuse for going to Korea. It was a magic phrase that kept unwanted attention away. It meant flying commercial, but in some ways, that was more comfortable.
Kim Chaemin stretched, perhaps trying to shake off his frustration.
“It’s nerve-wracking when it’s quiet, and a headache when it’s noisy. What are we supposed to do?”
“Our Master did say something, you know.”
“That we only have one job?”
“If we’ve won once, there’s no reason we can’t win again.”
I repeated my father’s words from before we left America.
Actually, this wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. On the way to Korea, when we checked the rune at Yangseong High, after that, even now…
Whenever the weight of the altered timeline pressed in, I repeated those words like a spell.
Yes. Whenever I felt anxious. No matter how much I trusted my father, no matter how much we’d changed or disrupted over the past year, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy. As my father said, maybe it’s better than being overconfident. Better to tap the stone bridge a few extra times.
“Yeah, yeah… It’s not us who wanted to win so badly, it’s those friends.”
The plane steadied again.
Kim Chaemin glanced at his watch, calculating the remaining flight time. A small laugh escaped him.
“Who knows? Maybe we’re just out of the loop because we’re on a plane.”
“Don’t say weird things.”
“Or maybe something will happen the moment we step off the plane.”
“Don’t you know words have power?”
“Mages all want attention, you know. Why else would magic be so flashy?”
“Are you really saying that yourself?”
“I want attention too!”
Kim Chaemin burst out laughing.
“So I think it’s about time our French friend made a move.”
“Don’t say ominous things…”
Just then, the captain announced preparations for landing. I shook my head.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all this, it’s that a hunter’s intuition isn’t worth much, but a mage’s hunch is surprisingly accurate.
I should have taken Kim Chaemin’s words a little more seriously, instead of dismissing them as a silly joke.
Yes. I should have seriously considered what it meant for a crazy mage who craves attention to be so quiet…
If nothing else, I could have at least been mentally prepared, even if I couldn’t have stopped it.
“…?”
We couldn’t have been far from landing, but the flight attendants began moving about busily. It wasn’t just the usual pre-landing checks.
“Doesn’t something seem off?”
“Yes…”
Kim Chaemin noticed it too.
Just as I was about to flag down a flight attendant, the captain’s voice came over the intercom.
“Currently, over Las Vegas, uh, an unidentified monster has been sighted.”
The voice was flustered. Considering how strictly flying monsters are managed, it made sense that such an announcement would be alarming.
Unease quickly spread among the passengers.
“Las Vegas authorities are responding, and there’s… there’s no damage, and the monster isn’t attacking. But Las Vegas airport is now closed… We will be landing at another airport. Please follow the crew’s instructions…”
I looked at Kim Chaemin. He looked back at me.
“Ah, I’ll be more careful with my words from now on.”
That wasn’t what I meant, but there was no harm in it. I nodded. For now, there was no way to know what kind of monster had appeared over Las Vegas.
The plane landed at one of Los Angeles’s airports.
As soon as we disembarked, I checked the news. Not that I needed to search—everyone at the airport was talking about it.
There hadn’t been a dungeon break. No one knew where the monster had come from.
The monster had appeared over Las Vegas just an hour ago, without warning. A massive fish, resembling a carp, was swimming leisurely through the sky.
The elegant curves of the fish cast a great shadow over the city. Citizens were evacuating, but the monster, fortunately, showed no signs of aggression. It might just be a whim, but there was always the chance it could suddenly attack.
It had fins and a tail like a fish, but no shimmering scales. Where the scales should have been, there were white feathers instead. Short and blunt at the ends, but still feathers. On its back, red and gold spots were scattered.
And it had no eyes. As if someone had gouged them out, blood pooled in the empty sockets. The blood, looking like golden mud—just like the blood Lehmann had spilled in the hotel plaza—ran down the fish’s sides and dripped onto the city below.
……
I gritted my teeth and dialed a familiar number.
The call was answered before it even rang properly, as if he’d been waiting.
“What’s going on? What happened?!”
—I’d like to know that too!
My father laughed, a note of irritation in his voice.
—You landed in Ontario, right? Daniel’s coming to meet you, so join up with him and head this way.
“…Be careful.”
—Yeah. You too, Heejae.