Retire 388

388 Clue (3)

Sometimes… no, honestly, quite often, I find myself wondering how my life ended up like this.

It’s both in a bad sense and a good one.

It’s not healthy to assign meaning to every step you take in life. But you can still look back on the road you’ve traveled, can’t you? To figure out whether you’ve lived well, or if you’ve failed as a human being.

In that regard, I have no shame. I don’t think my life has been without crises, but all things considered, I’d say I’ve done better than average.

When the changed past walks before my eyes, and a child who once died now runs lively across the playground, it’s hard to deny.

There are still people whose deaths are yet far off—Kim Chaemin, Sandra Gamble. Considering Gamble died in the original timeline, Hope probably did too.

And in that timeline, I doubt Father would have been discussing the ecology of poison toads with Gamble.

Life, after all—

Isn’t all this struggle just our way of trying to turn the bad into something good?

“Let’s see, Noah liked to play with dolls, but at least in front of me, she never played with anything so interesting.”

Think back to the first time I woke up in the past. That overwhelming moment when I had no idea what to do.

Now I have Hong Seok-yeong, Kim Chaemin, Gamble, and Hope. Even Han Taekyung, though I trust him a bit less.

I don’t have to worry about everything by myself. If we each combine what we know and think it through, we’ll find a breakthrough.

“Maybe that was Noah’s own trump card?”

“A trump card, huh…”

“Or maybe she just stumbled on it while looking for a way to interfere with the dungeon.”

Hope tilted her head from side to side as she spoke.

“Well, that’s my take! But it’s definitely best to solve the poison problem quickly. Our master is still our greatest asset, right? As long as he’s alive and well, he’s a huge help!”

Like a talisman, maybe?

…Not entirely wrong.

“Won’t the Americans be working hard to find a solution? They must be desperate too.”

“That’s a separate matter. It’d be good if we could find a cure ourselves. Don’t you have any ideas?”

“I told you, I don’t know much about poison…”

Hope, who had been pouting at Hong Seok-yeong’s question, suddenly trailed off.

She blinked.

“You said that dungeon was a swamp, right?”

“Hm? Yeah. Dark, muddy, damp. Not exactly my favorite kind of place.”

“…That one’s a swamp too, right?”

“That one?”

“The place with the talking fairy.”

“Tati?”

“Yeah, her.”

“What about that fairy? Just as there are all kinds of humans, there are all kinds of fairies. Some might even be friendly to humans.”

I frowned.

How long had it been since I’d caused that mess in Marseille? No one had come looking for me since. No one had come to attack, either.

No, worrying about my brother isn’t the issue right now.

“The Ark wasn’t interested in that dungeon because of the fairy, was it?”

It was probably because the runaway janitor escaped into that dungeon. Tati had hidden herself well until we entered. Well enough to keep the dungeon’s rank low.

Hope shook her head.

“No, that’s not what I mean… Dungeons are basically escape pods, right?”

“…So?”

“The internal ecosystem always has a certain structure. Not exactly identical, but… like how the types of plants you find inside are similar.”

It’s like how apple trees grown in Korea and those in America might be a bit different, but they’re still apples.

It was such an obvious fact that I’d never even thought about it before.

“You said that fairy used mud, right?”

I immediately understood what Hope was getting at. So did everyone else at the table.

Hong Seok-yeong leaned forward toward Hope.

“I thought that was just the fairy’s unique ability?”

“That’s true, but… it wouldn’t be enough to fill the whole dungeon with just that. There must be a basic substrate. Her ability is probably to move it around.”

“So that mud is part of the dungeon?”

“It’s part of the dungeon’s ecosystem.”

This time, Hope spoke with a curious certainty.

“It’ll be a little different, but the mud there and the dirt in the poison toad dungeon should be similar. If you bring some back, that—”

Hope glanced at Hong Seok-yeong’s leg.

“—might help solve the problem.”

---

Knock. Knock.

I knocked on the door.

“……”

No answer.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I knocked again.

“……”

Still no answer.

There was definitely someone inside. I couldn’t sense any presence, but that didn’t mean the place was empty. The intricate weave of mana was like a finely woven tapestry, preventing me from peeking inside. Hong Seok-yeong probably wouldn’t be able to either.

No, I couldn’t be sure. That man was a monster who could read mana by sheer instinct.

“……”

The door probably wasn’t locked. No one would bother breaking through this level of security magic, especially when the domain’s master was inside.

So I waited.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

I kept knocking.

Patiently, calmly.

“……”

How many minutes passed?

At last, the door opened.

“Sorry!”

Kim Chaemin appeared, hair tied high in a hurried ponytail.

“I was so focused, I didn’t hear! What’s up?”

“You said you’d come to the lab soon, but you never showed.”

“Huh? Isn’t it still early—wait, what? When did it get so late?”

Kim Chaemin looked at me with an apologetic face.

“I didn’t realize how much time had passed! Is everyone at the lab? I’ll head over right now!”

“No, it’s fine. We haven’t talked about anything important yet. It’s all things you already know.”

Still, she couldn’t quite erase the guilty look from her face.

“Really. We were talking about the principal’s leg.”

“Ah… Do Sandra or Alex know anything?”

She stepped aside to let me in.

As I entered the cabin, a gentle wave of magic brushed over me. This rough little hut was the safest place in the whole school.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of grass.

“Dr. Gamble wants to ask you about mana bombs. Since that’s probably what caused the poison to turn out this way.”

“Ah! I know that look. This is why people say you shouldn’t be a mage, right?”

“Not exactly.”

But I didn’t entirely deny her words.

Deeper inside the cabin was a small, empty greenhouse. The magical herbs that used to be grown there had long since been moved to the main greenhouse outside.

Exposed to all sorts of mana, the magic herbs had started to grow again. Kim Chaemin had boasted to me for ages that, as expected, mana was the answer.

“…?”

Inside the mini-greenhouse was a small flowerpot. At first, I thought she hadn’t cleared out the old magic herbs, but something was sticking out of the soil. Something dried and shriveled, like an anchovy…

Just before I could ask what it was, I realized. I remembered Kim Chaemin saying she’d try to use the empty greenhouse to revive her grandfather’s rose.

It must be a painful memory for her, so I let it go.

“Did you find anything from the bandages?”

“I can tell you the mana is twisted up like hell.”

She spoke as if she’d been waiting for the question.

“The structure is so warped. I can barely make out the original form.”

But what followed was not hopeful.

“But that’s as far as I got.”

“What do you mean, as far as you got…?”

“Poison isn’t my specialty. I don’t know who’s looked at this in America, but I’m sure they had someone who claimed to be an expert.”

Which meant even they hadn’t figured it out.

Or maybe it was just a matter of time. No one had died yet, so in a way, it wasn’t a failure. With enough time, they might be able to analyze it and treat people.

…Even if Hong Seok-yeong’s injury wasn’t Henry Lehmann’s trap, if not for the anxiety that Lehmann might learn of this at any moment, we would have chosen a safer path.

What I wanted most to avoid now was for them to see this as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rid of Hong Seok-yeong. If they thought healing him would close that window forever, there’s no telling what they’d do.

“Anyway, you said Sandra was looking for me?”

“Yes. And Hope mentioned that the components of any dungeon’s ecosystem are basically similar. They all have the same fundamental properties.”

Kim Chaemin didn’t catch on right away. But as I repeated my conversation with Hope, her face quickly brightened.

“If we know what the original dungeon was like, that makes things much easier. Dungeons are places overflowing with mana, after all. That’s probably why the mana bomb had such an outsized effect. The flow of mana in the air is similar to the outside, so it’s easy to infer, but water isn’t.”

“More precisely, it’s a swamp. Mud.”

“If you can splash around in it, it’s all water.”

“Right. So I’m planning to go in and get some mud.”

“Jirisan?”

I nodded.

But Kim Chaemin tilted her head.

“Does it have to be there?”

“…Why?”

“According to what Hope said, that place was influenced by monsters. Hm, considering the effect of external mana, it’s not a bad choice… But a mage’s mana and a monster’s are different.”

“That’s true… But the only dungeon I can think of right now with enough mud to be called a swamp is the one in Jirisan.”

“There’s another one, isn’t there?”

Kim Chaemin’s eyes widened as she countered.

“That one might be even better.”

“…Where do you mean?”

“The place you went to with the principal, back in the day.”

“I did?”

I searched my memory. There weren’t many dungeons I’d entered with Hong Seok-yeong.

The Jirisan dungeon. The Bangidong dungeon, which we’d entered together. And then…

Ah.

“Right?”

Kim Chaemin grinned triumphantly.

“The dungeon where you said you’d get a baby crocodile for me.”

“…Do you need a crocodile?”

“Oh, no thanks. I’ve got enough to do, and too many eyes watching. I can’t even manage the magic herbs properly, let alone a monster. No way, no way.”

She shook her head vehemently.

“I have to take care of the rose now, too.”

“If you ever need one, just let me know.”

“I think it’s more likely I’ll end up supporting Sandra’s dream than needing a crocodile.”

“You mean her idea about closing dungeons? That would be nice, if it works.”

As I talked with Kim Chaemin, I thought about that crocodile dungeon.

Yes, it was definitely less exposed to external mana. At least, the outside area where it rained, not the crocodile habitat deep inside the cave.

That was where we’d found Kim Yuhwa’s body. And where I’d found the last trace of my brother.

If I went back in now, maybe I’d see something new.

“All right. I’ll take care of that one. Do you want to come along, Ms. Kim?”

“Me? Too much trouble.”

“……”

“Send Mr. Han.”

“…Okay.”

She smiled brightly and waved her hand.

“But now that I think about it, it’d be good to have some dirt from the Jirisan dungeon, too.”

“……”

“As soon as possible, all right?”

“……”

“Then I’ll go see Sandra!”

“……”

I rubbed the back of my neck. Now, where was Han Taekyung?