Retire 255
by Cristae255 Jirisan Fairy (1)
“Have a safe trip!”
Kim Chaemin waved her hand energetically, beaming with a wide smile.
“Well then, I’ll leave things in your care.”
I bowed to Kim Chaemin and climbed into the driver’s seat. Jirisan was a long way off. There had been talk about whether it wouldn’t be better to take public transportation, but that was out of the question with Hong Seokyoung coming along.
It was only after the car started moving that Kim Chaemin turned away. I glanced at her, uneasy.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Kim Chaemin, but this was a different matter entirely—leaving her alone at the school while both Hong Seokyoung and I were away.
Kim Chaemin, seemingly oblivious to my concern, was saying something to Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo. Park Seohyun still hadn’t completely given up on me, but when I asked what she planned to do about Choi Jinwoo, she didn’t insist. To my eyes, it looked like nothing more than children playing house, but to them, she was quite seriously mentoring Choi Jinwoo. Kim Chaemin seemed proud of Park Seohyun for that.
After being told that becoming the disciple of a Hunter—someone who wasn’t even a mage—might put her own disciple, Choi Jinwoo, in an awkward position, Park Seohyun instead made sure to involve him actively in Kim Chaemin’s magic research club. The way she looked at me, almost threatening, as if things would get complicated if he was left out, reminded me that, even if her appearance had changed, there was still something of the witch in her.
But really, why do they keep thinking I’m a mage…? I just can’t understand kids these days.
“Nervous?”
Hong Seokyoung, sitting in the passenger seat, studied my face and asked bluntly.
I didn’t deny it.
“It’s not that I don’t trust Ms. Kim, but…”
Admitting I was uneasy felt almost like admitting I didn’t trust her. Whatever I said, it sounded like an excuse, so I stopped.
Hong Seokyoung, for his part, didn’t seem to care.
“If anyone’s going to make a move, now’s the perfect time.”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Hong Seokyoung still wore that insufferable grin.
“With you gone, and me gone… If someone wants to try something, now’s their chance. It’s so obvious, though, I almost think no one would take the bait…”
“But it’s still a hard opportunity to pass up?”
“Think about when I was hospitalized. When else would there be such a chance to avoid my eyes?”
“Why not? All you have to do is go into a dungeon.”
“You wouldn’t be there, either.”
Even so, I understood what Hong Seokyoung was getting at. This man… he never changes. He’s so consistent it’s almost absurd.
Well, people don’t change easily as they get older.
“So if anyone’s going to try something, now’s the time to do it and get it over with—why do you keep looking at me like that?”
A parade of memories flashed before my eyes: all the times Hong Seokyoung had tested me, deliberately leaving openings, acting clueless, then making cryptic remarks as if he knew everything all along.
Given the life Hong Seokyoung has led, it’s not hard to understand why he acts that way.
But.
But still.
“Don’t get cocky.”
For a moment, Hong Seokyoung looked as if someone had grabbed him by the throat.
I checked the navigation display. To Jirisan… It was going to be a long, dull drive.
“Ahem, well, that’s, you see… I didn’t mean it like that.”
Hong Seokyoung, for once, looked away, his face tinged with embarrassment.
I didn’t reply. He cleared his throat, fanned himself, and glared out the window at the roadside trees. Only after a long silence did he speak again.
“…I won’t do it anymore.”
“Telling me a hundred times doesn’t make any difference.”
“……”
He watched me, gauging my reaction. I hadn’t meant to scold him.
“It’s not as if we can watch Ms. Kim every second.”
“Exactly! That’s what I’m saying.”
“If Ms. Kim does anything… well, we’ll just have to blame our own poor judgment.”
“…Do you really think she would?”
I pictured Kim Chaemin standing on the field with the students. Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo clung to her like baby koalas.
Even looking at that, it was hard to believe those two weren’t already her disciples.
“No.”
“Hmm.”
“Whatever else, she’s not the kind of person who’d betray the kids.”
Let’s not forget—Kim Chaemin was a mage who died trying to save a Hunter she didn’t even know. Someone like that isn’t going to suddenly change. A mage who risked her life for strangers isn’t about to endanger the children she cares for like her own disciples.
I spoke firmly, and Hong Seokyoung didn’t contradict me.
“And you were the one who said we could trust Ms. Kim.”
“Ah… I did, didn’t I.”
Hong Seokyoung replied, sounding less than pleased.
I reminded him once more.
“Don’t get cocky.”
“…All right.”
“I mean it.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Really…”
“I get it, okay!”
Hong Seokyoung folded his arms and stared out the window, sulking.
Honestly, it was a little funny. Not that I was laughing at Hong Seokyoung, but… how should I put it? To see someone who always seemed so perfect still have things to fix and lessons to learn.
Life really is full of strange things. My father would have laughed and said that’s just how life is.
Just like Hong Seokyoung was now, twitching his lips.
“Hey! Senior!”
Han Taekyung waved energetically, his ever-present sunglasses standing out even in the dead of winter.
He wore them so often that I’d once asked Han Eunyoung if he ever took them off at home.
She didn’t really know, since her brother had lived on his own for a long time, but she said he always wore them even at their parents’ house. No matter what their parents said, he refused to give up the sunglasses, and eventually, they surrendered first.
Yeah… He always wore them in the future, too. No point trying to understand someone so odd.
“Are you ready?”
“All set!”
Han Taekyung answered energetically.
There’s nothing especially remarkable about the Jirisan Dungeon, except for one thing.
The terrain inside the dungeon changes.
Right now, the Jirisan Dungeon is, fittingly for a mountain dungeon, a forest thick with greenery. The mana density is high, making it a good environment for Hunters, according to the reports. It was like that when my sister entered, too.
But as the dungeon neared closure, its interior rapidly became desolate. The endless forest withered and turned to desert. While it wasn’t unusual for a dungeon’s environment to shift slightly—thanks to the monsters living inside—it was rare for the change to be so extreme. That’s why the Jirisan Dungeon became a subject of research. But before the cause could be discovered, the dungeon closed.
It’s probably an issue with the power source maintaining the dungeon. But for now, desertification is still a long way off, and the inside is filled with lush trees.
“Are you sure I really don’t have to go in?”
Han Taekyung asked, making exaggerated gestures. Even though there was no one else around, it was funny to see him lower his voice.
No, I shouldn’t get complacent either. There’s no harm in being careful.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“But I reported that I’d be entering too, didn’t I?”
“Just take a rest.”
“…Didn’t you say not to leave the area around the gate?”
“Take a nap in the car if you want.”
Han Taekyung looked longingly at the gate.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in a dungeon… I’m getting bored.”
“Bored, after all the dungeons you’ve run? Good. Next time, I’ll—”
“My apologies!!!”
Han Taekyung quickly scurried away.
I hadn’t even pushed him that hard… Clicking my tongue, I walked over to Hong Seokyoung and checked the gate. From the outside, it looked just like any other.
“I said we’re going in to collect purple apples at Dayeon’s request. As for you, the reason is that you’re bored.”
“…Even thinking about it again, that excuse is a bit much for me.”
“You should have said something sooner if you didn’t like it.”
Maybe he was just saying it, because Hong Seokyoung just shrugged.
Unlike the Mud Dungeon, the Jirisan Dungeon isn’t completely deserted. That’s because of the purple apples. The color is ominous, as if they’re poisonous, but they’re infused with mana and were once used as an early potion ingredient. Now, more efficient materials have replaced them, so their value has dropped, but there are still mages who seek them out. Dayeon sometimes requests them, and since the timing lined up, Hong Seokyoung volunteered to enter this dungeon.
As I mentioned, as the dungeon dried up, those apples stopped growing. That was also a factor in the Jirisan Dungeon’s closure.
“That’s why we added another excuse.”
“A field trip to scout a dungeon for the students?”
“Not a bad excuse, right?”
It’s well known that Dasun is closely linked with the special high school, the Hunter training school. The Jirisan Dungeon is a good choice for taking students to collect plants inside a dungeon. There aren’t any extremely dangerous monsters, and the gathering process isn’t complicated.
For Hong Seokyoung, it was a decent idea, but I still felt oddly reluctant to just accept it.
“Thanks to that, Han Taekyung’s name is on the list too.”
If it was just me and Hong Seokyoung from Guild Mimi, I worried we’d attract unwanted attention, so I added Han Taekyung, one of the teachers from the training high school. It would have been easier to bring Kim Chaemin, but I hadn’t told her about my brother yet. Who knows what we might find inside—how could I bring Kim Chaemin along?
This wasn’t a matter of trusting Kim Chaemin, but of protecting my own privacy.
In any case, Han Taekyung’s job was to keep watch outside the gate and make sure no suspicious people approached.
I checked the gate. Being halfway up Jirisan meant I’d had to do some unexpected hiking. Since it was far from the main trail, there were no hikers around.
“Hmmm…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, nothing like that.”
Since returning to the past, the only time someone checked when I entered a dungeon was when I took the special high school kids into a nearby one.
But that was a special case because of the school.
The government manages the dungeons, and entry is by registration, but what’s the point if no one checks who actually goes in? Now that I’m taking advantage of that loophole myself, I can’t really complain, but isn’t this too lax? The authorities used to check every single case.
…Are they short-staffed? Of course they are. But still, isn’t this too much neglect? In a remote dungeon like this, anyone could go in and out without anyone knowing. If it’s a dungeon where you can gather valuable materials like mana grass, they should manage it properly.
“…About those apples.”
“The ones we’re supposed to pick?”
“Yes. They may not be worth much, but there are still uses for them. Could there be someone inside?”
I pointed to a scraggly bush near the gate. It was bent, as if something heavy had crushed it.
Hong Seokyoung scratched his chin.
“It’s the dungeon Hope mentioned…”
Ark could be inside.
I frowned, staring at the gate.