Retire 531
by Cristae531 The Human’s Child (5)
“All done!!!”
Gamble threw his arms up in triumph.
But the moment our eyes met, his confidence faltered.
“…Well, not a hundred percent, but close? At least the urgent parts? The kind of stuff where, if you don’t use the data right away, it loses its freshness… that kind of thing?”
“So is it done, or isn’t it?”
“If there’s anything missing, can I send it later?”
“As long as you’re sure it’s not our information. I really want to avoid anything that’ll make this mess more complicated.”
“That’s why I’m being so careful! It’ll be fine. I’ll be cautious. Lehmann might suspect we had a hand in it, but what does that matter?”
Gamble didn’t really wait for my answer. It was obvious what I’d say anyway.
“All right, then… where do you plan to send it?”
“Uh, well. Anywhere’s possible. The police… but maybe the FBI or somewhere like that would be better. If it feels like insider info?”
“Not right now… Do it after we’re back in Korea.”
Gamble nodded.
“So we can really go home now?”
I wondered when Gamble had started calling that dimly lit lab “home.” Maybe he sensed my pity, because he flinched as he was tidying the messy table.
“I—I’m going to get a real place this time!”
“Finally? You always refused, even when we offered to find you a place.”
“It seemed like a waste, since I was hardly ever there.”
But even Gamble was changing.
“It’s going to be a long haul from now on, so I need to change my lifestyle.”
“A long haul?”
“I’m going to start with the mana detector.”
Gamble said it simply but with conviction.
“That seems most urgent. I still can’t implement the final version of the design you gave me, Mr. Woo… but it’s better than nothing, right?”
“Of course.”
With a mana detector, we could prepare for dungeon breaks.
“My first goal is to lower the cost. Before, they weren’t widely distributed because they were too expensive, right? And instead of marking a single gate, I want to adjust it so it measures mana within a certain area—even if the accuracy drops a bit. With Mr. Kim here, maybe we can use runes for resonance… the fairy’s runes might help!”
I had been half-tuning out Gamble’s explanation, but snapped to attention at that. Runes? Fairy runes?
“I need to check, but magical resonance seems like a really useful concept… I want to see if the runes can act as relays. Or maybe not relays, but…”
“All right, pack up. You said you wanted to go home.”
I hurriedly cut Gamble off before he could ramble further and stood up. Gamble burst out laughing.
The world keeps turning, no matter how much it creaks, how precarious it is, how rotten it may be inside.
That’s how the world works.
“Ah, finally, I’ll be free of all those texts from the kids. Did you know they even call now?”
Thankfully, Gamble kindly changed the subject. Not that this topic was any easier.
“You’ve gotten close to them.”
“Don’t talk like it’s someone else’s business!”
Gamble pouted.
“I already told the kids I’m coming back.”
“…And they’re okay with that?”
“I turned my phone off.”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
I shook my head as I left the conference room and spotted a familiar face approaching from a distance.
He looked better than before, but anyone working in the current disaster camp was in a similar state.
Of course, working for a government agency rather than the city meant his workload would only increase, not decrease.
Well, he’s probably more of a specialist than a hunter anyway. How did he end up tangled in all this?
Hmm.
That’s just how it is for civil servants.
“Daniel.”
He must have spotted me too, because he came over as I called out.
We hadn’t seen much of each other lately, both busy with work, but he was still a talent I coveted. And after all, he’d worked hard to help us, and during our stay in America, we’d treated him as half a guild member.
“Mr. Woo.”
Daniel greeted me with a haggard but friendly face.
“I heard you’re going back to Korea.”
“Yeah, well… It was never supposed to take this long.”
“Haha. Right…”
Daniel laughed hollowly.
“We never meant to get this deeply involved, either.”
He looked at me with suspicion.
He knew we hadn’t really come to help America, but he didn’t contradict my words.
If there was any American who’d figured out what we were really doing with Moby, it would be Daniel.
Not that I could ask.
Even if he hadn’t figured it out, just letting our suspicious movements slide was kindness enough. He deserved it.
And the offer to join the guild was still open.
And I wasn’t heartless enough to ignore disaster looming over a future guild member. If we’d saved the world, saving one person was nothing.
“There’s going to be a lot of hassle coming up.”
“Huh?”
“If you stay in America. It’ll be so much trouble, you’ll wish it was like now.”
“…What?”
“Why not join our guild?”
Daniel blinked. Next to me, I heard Gamble desperately trying to stifle his laughter.
“You won’t regret it.”
“I want to stay here.”
Hope declared suddenly.
“…What?”
“What’s he talking about now?!”
Gamble snapped, and before we could ask, he rushed over and smacked Hope on the head. It’s easier to do that with a guardian nearby.
“Ow!”
“Don’t pretend it hurts when it doesn’t! That just makes me angrier!”
“You’d be annoyed even if I didn’t pretend…”
Hope puffed out his cheeks like a child, but he didn’t take back what he’d said to annoy Gamble.
“I’m not going back to Korea.”
“…So what are you going to do? Stay in America? Here? Alone? Did someone say something weird to you? What, did they offer you a lot of money? Or are they blackmailing you with your parents?”
Gamble grabbed Hope’s shoulders and pressed him with a strong tone. Maybe it was a bit childish, but I understood why Gamble was worried. Hope was more perceptive than he looked—he avoided things differently than Han Tae-kyung. If Han Tae-kyung pretended not to know to avoid trouble, Hope walked right through it, knowing full well. I still couldn’t decide which was more infuriating.
Hope shook off Gamble’s hands, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
“That’s not it! Just for a month? I’ll stay here.”
“…A month?”
“Yeah. After that… I can go home, right?”
Hope craned his neck to look at me. I nodded.
“Right. But you’ll still have to stop by Korea once. There’s an interview you’ll need to do.”
“Interview?”
“About why you hid your identity, that sort of thing. It’s just a formality. This hunter will handle it. Once that’s done, you can go home. If necessary, we’ll explain everything to your parents in advance.”
Lehmann was still out there, but the fact that Hope was alive was no longer a secret.
Hope hesitated, then asked Gamble with an uncertain face,
“That’s better, right? If I just went home…”
“Your dad might not care, but your mom would kill you.”
“Ugh.”
I waved my hand.
“We’ll explain as best we can. So, why America…?”
Hope had actually given a relatively specific time frame, by his standards. He wasn’t just saying he’d stay on a whim.
I looked at Hope. At first, he squared his shoulders confidently, but soon he avoided my gaze.
It wasn’t quite the look of someone about to cause trouble. He wasn’t discouraged, either. There was a stubbornness that said, no matter what anyone said, he wouldn’t back down—even if he knew I wouldn’t like it.
A month. A month…
That was about Moby’s estimated remaining lifespan.
“Moby?”
“……”
Hope pursed his lips. Gamble shouted,
“Are you out of your mind?!”
“What, why…”
“A monster? A mooonster??”
It’s definitely easier to scold someone when there’s a guardian around… Maybe that’s why parent-teacher conferences exist.
But instead of siding with Gamble, I said to Hope,
“Don’t cause any trouble.”
“…Is it really okay?”
“You’re the one who asked, so why are you surprised?”
“I thought you’d say no.”
“Would you not do it if I did?”
“……”
Gamble looked at Hope’s face and sighed. He realized he’d lost.
“Just don’t cause trouble.”
“Okay.”
“And behave.”
“I said okay.”
“I was going to have you and Mr. Han take turns.”
“Huh? Me?”
“I’ll just let you stay…”
I thought of the feather Moby had given me. Despite the sharp sound it made, the feather itself was soft. There was a roughness to it, but I could tell it was just the mark of time. Originally, it would have been pure white, perfect, with no dust or dried blood.
There’s no sin in the desire to live. When those who can no longer live in their own world drift in search of a new place, it’s just survival instinct. If I were in that position, I doubt I’d just sit and wait for death.
But resisting invaders is our instinct, too.
Refusing invasion and helping is, too.
Or even siding with the invaders.
To some, it will feel like an unforgivable crime; to others, an unavoidable choice for survival.
I still hate monsters. I wish all dungeons would disappear. The survival of monsters can’t coexist with my life.
But some monsters… yes. Compassion, pity, guilt—whatever it is, they don’t ignore the kindness in a hand offered to help.
That wasn’t the life my father taught me.
The world shown to me by the person who broke the glass and led a child out from the deepest room of the lab wasn’t like that.
If I remained a person who let a moment’s frustration and anger loose on the world, I couldn’t teach children.
At the very least, I hope the kids I teach won’t get angry the way I did.
“Tell him thank you for the help.”
Hope’s eyes went wide, clearly not expecting that.
The others looked at me suspiciously, but I didn’t take back my words.
My father quietly came to my side. For a moment, I was afraid, but I didn’t regret my choice. And my father had always supported me.
Even if he hadn’t, the man who raised me wouldn’t have let me be so rude as to not say thank you.
“Tell him I’m grateful, too.”
The person who had more reason than anyone to hate monsters said it.
But my father’s voice was gentle.
“Oh, me too! Tell him I’m grateful, too.”
Kim Chae-min raised his hand high.
“Ugh. He did help us, after all…”
Gamble, not quite able to resist, joined in.
“…There really are all kinds of monsters in the world!”
Han Tae-kyung grinned as if he’d had a revelation.
My father laughed cheerfully and clapped Hope on the back.
“You be sure to thank him and come home!”
Hope jumped and shouted, trying to dodge my father’s heavy hand.
“That’s not my home!”
Watching the commotion, I couldn’t help but laugh along with them.