Retire 337

337 The Almighty Magician (1)

A log cabin stood tall in the middle of the reeds. Roses bloomed all year round, climbing the pillars and covering half the roof, while ivy crept up the walls, lush and green. Yellow flowers peeked out between the leaves. Countless pots of all shapes and sizes surrounded the house, making it look like the home of a dwarf straight out of a fairy tale.

There was even a low fence around the cabin, draped with broad-leafed plants. There was no gate, but in the only gap leading to the road stood a sign painted with a red “No Entry” mark.

“Authorized Personnel Only. We are not responsible for trespassers.”

On the opposite side of the flower- and leaf-covered log cabin stood a stark white modern building. If not for the grass of the sports field, the scene would have felt desolate.

And across that field strode a woman. With each vigorous step, the deep teal skirt she wore fluttered, the large yellow flower printed on it swaying. She walked the path leading straight to the log cabin. Neither the “No Entry” sign nor the invisible security measures could stop her.

Of course not—she was the owner of this log cabin.

The mistress of the blooming climbing roses.

Creak.

“Ugh, this door again.”

Kim Chae-min glared in annoyance at the hinges. No matter how great a magician she was, there was nothing she could do about a creaking door. What good was it to be an all-powerful mage if she couldn’t even fix a squeaky door?

“Is there no rune that works as a substitute for oiling?”

She opened and closed the door a few times for no real reason. The creaking, if anything, grew even louder and more grating.

With an exasperated look, Kim Chae-min slammed the door shut. A small flowerpot hanging on the inside fell to the floor from the impact.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Her voice, now past irritation and into anger, echoed through the small log cabin.

Even a great mage couldn’t conjure a spell to scoop dirt off the floor. Maybe somewhere in the world there was a magician who had developed such a spell, but Kim Chae-min was not that person.

She transplanted the variegated vine into a new pot, swept up the broken shards and spilled soil with a broom, and, since she was at it, checked on every plant in the house.

Anyway, since they were within her domain, even if she neglected them, they would only wither a little, never truly die.

But that didn’t mean she intended to leave them unwatered or uncared for. Kim Chae-min soon forgot the reason she’d come to check her domain and became absorbed in tending the plants. She repotted those with new leaves, checked each leaf one by one…

It was only when the sky outside had turned red with sunset that she finally came to her senses.

“This isn’t what I came here for!”

She jumped to her feet. Grains of soil rolled down her colorful skirt. Without bothering to brush them off, Kim Chae-min headed further inside. There was a single room with only a dim light.

It was as dark as a photographic darkroom. Yet her sharp senses could feel the runes covering the walls. More precisely, she could sense the mana being supplied to activate those runes.

The amount of ambient mana was abundant. The clear, pure mana here was hard to find even inside a dungeon. If she could, she would never take a single step outside this place. If this were another magician’s domain, she might have tried to seize it by force to find out the source.

But she didn’t, because this was her own domain. Well, and she was a little too rational a mage to act like a beast.

Still, if anyone tried to trespass on her territory, she couldn’t guarantee what she might do.

Humming to herself, Kim Chae-min straightened her dirt-stained work gloves. In the center of the dark room, on a table, stood a small greenhouse that looked almost ornamental. Inside the white metal greenhouse grew a blue plant that looked even more decorative.

Kim Chae-min stopped humming.

“…What am I going to do about this?”

She reached out her hand. Near the leaves, blue motes floated in the air. They looked like pollen, but as soon as they touched her hand, they vanished without a trace. Kim Chae-min felt a tingling in her fingertips and clenched her fist. The motes of mana in her hand transformed into a red petal.

It was a plant sometimes found inside dungeons. In this era, which recognized mana as a new source of energy, it was considered the most important plant and energy source. Its name was simple: mana herb, so called because it contained mana.

Yet, despite its potential, it received little attention. Like monsters, mana herbs couldn’t survive more than three months outside a dungeon.

A dead mana herb contained no mana. Perhaps because it originally held mana, even after death it retained a faint magical aura, but not enough to be useful. Therefore, mana herbs had to be processed inside the dungeon. Even then, after three months outside, their efficacy diminished. Monster byproducts also had some limitations, but none as severe as mana herbs.

So, when Kim Chae-min saw the mana herb in the greenhouse, she understood why Woo Hee-jae and Hong Seok-young had been so surprised. Naturally—she herself had been just as shocked.

Perhaps because it had grown outside a dungeon from the start, even after three months post-processing, the mana it contained hadn’t changed. The thought of what could be done with it in the future was exhilarating.

“But that’s only if it grows.”

Kim Chae-min squeezed the petal in her hand, turning it back into mana.

She sighed again.

How long had it been since she started growing mana herbs? Yet, compared to the beginning, the plant hadn’t grown much at all.

When she first discovered the mana herb in a broken, abandoned domain, she’d been full of hope. She’d unraveled the tangled magic of the domain and somehow recreated a similar environment. She’d poured money into building a mana greenhouse.

And so she’d nurtured it. At first, the mana herb grew quickly. But that was as far as it went. Kim Chae-min sighed again. The mana herbs that grew inside dungeons reached up to a person’s waist—tall as the reeds outside. But the one she was growing now?

Small and cute.

The biggest one… barely thirty centimeters, if that.

“Is it the greenhouse, after all?”

But if she took it out of the greenhouse, the mana herb would die.

Based on her experience raising plants, she could narrow down the possible causes. The most likely was—

“If I put it in a bigger pot…”

Plants grow according to their pots. There’s a limit to what a small pot can do. But to change pots, she’d need a bigger greenhouse, and considering the materials used to build the current one, even a great mage would hesitate.

Kim Chae-min sat on a small nearby stool and stared at the mana herb. She’d boasted that she could handle it, but now she just felt embarrassed.

What should she do? First, she’d have to modify her grandfather’s rune to improve efficiency, push Woo Hee-jae to find a helpful rune… And in between, she had to look after the children, and track the Ark.

“Ugh! Why am I so busy?”

No, I’m not even that busy! And yet I am!

Kim Chae-min flailed, unable to make sense of her situation. Having never in her life been a salaried worker, the great mage was suffering under the life of a laborer.

And Woo Hee-jae! That guy—did he run away just to avoid work?!

She understood where and why he’d gone, but she had no desire to be the only full-time teacher left at the school!

Bzzzz.

“…!”

Kim Chae-min jumped at the vibration in her pocket.

Thank goodness no one was around. How ridiculous would it look for a great mage to be startled by a vibrating phone? Kim Chae-min checked her phone.

“What is it?”

—Are you at school right now?

As soon as she answered, Lee Mi-seon asked urgently. Kim Chae-min frowned.

“…Yes, but why? What’s going on?”

—Have you heard from Mr. Woo or the principal?

“No, I haven’t…”

—When was the last time you were in contact?

“Well…”

Kim Chae-min searched her memory. She’d gotten a call when she arrived at the Jirisan dungeon, because she’d set up magic near the dungeon. She’d gotten another call when she came out.

What had he said then?

‘I have to go to Busan. Please look after the kids.’

He’d told her about the assignments for the students… Kim Chae-min was glad she wasn’t Woo Hee-jae’s student. A disciple, yes, but a student and a disciple were different!

“…I haven’t heard from him since then. Why? What’s going on?”

Lee Mi-seon paused. The always-confident, assertive Hunter’s hesitation only made Kim Chae-min more uneasy.

She found herself pacing the domain with nervous energy.

“Hunter?”

—I-rok told Mr. Blake that he can’t reach Mr. Woo.

“Hm. Well, with the kind of work he does, it’s not unusual to go a few days without contact, is it?”

—No… That was already several days ago. It’s been a week since Mr. Woo and Hunter Hong went down there. Even if it were anyone else, isn’t it strange that there’s been no contact with I-rok for so long?

“……”

Kim Chae-min fell silent at Lee Mi-seon’s words.

—When Hunter Hong needed something from me at Busan Port, he called. That was the last time. Since then, I haven’t been able to reach either of them.

“You mean, you can’t reach them at all? No contact?”

—I didn’t want to ask I-rok too directly, since he’d worry, but apparently Mr. Woo has never gone silent without a word before.

“…If it’s Mr. Woo, that makes sense.”

—Before, if he thought he wouldn’t be able to contact anyone for a while, he’d say so in advance.

“You said the last call was from Busan Port? Was the principal with him then?”

—Yes.

“…Tell me exactly what happened.”

Lee Mi-seon hesitated a little, but didn’t hide anything. She explained that she’d needed to check something discreetly, so she’d arranged for police assistance… Now I see why she hesitated to tell me. It wasn’t something you could talk about openly.

Kim Chae-min knew a bit more than Lee Mi-seon. The source of the information about the warehouse, the stories of Henry Leman, Atlas, and the Ark. Lee Mi-seon might have had a vague idea, but it was nothing compared to Kim Chae-min.

After a moment’s thought, Kim Chae-min spoke up.

“Send me the address of the warehouse they went into. I’ll check it out.”

—…Will you be all right?

“Who else would go? Hunter Hong’s people? Can you handle it? If even Hunter Hong is out of contact, and not just anyone else?”

—……

“Just look after the kids.”

Kim Chae-min ended the call. A text from Lee Mi-seon arrived immediately. Busan Metropolitan City… After checking the address, Kim Chae-min left her domain. Worries about the mana herb would have to wait.

It was time for the great mage Kim Chae-min to go to work.