Retire 437
by Cristae437 Hunter and Teacher (2)
Park Seohyun rarely spoke about her childhood.
She might have told Choi Jinwoo. Perhaps Kim Chaemin knew as well. But she had never talked about it in front of me, and I had never pressed her to do so.
From the occasional stories about her early years or her grandfather, it didn’t sound like those were particularly happy times. Not that she seemed to think of them that way herself.
Kim Chaemin had never met Park Nogyung in person. Still, with his influence, it wouldn’t be hard to find someone who knew him. Whatever people thought of him, Park Nogyung was one of the few great magicians in Korea.
Hong Seokyoung had also once said that he’d run dungeons with Park Seohyun’s grandfather in the past. It had been convenient, but not exactly enjoyable, he’d said.
Pyunes had said much the same. Still, he never spoke ill of Park Nogyung. He was difficult, but given the nature of his magic, it was hard for him to protect himself, so Pyunes actually gave him higher marks for that.
Pyunes had met Park Nogyung before he returned to Korea to educate his son. Perhaps the difficulties of training a successor had affected Park Nogyung.
And what effect had the death of that successor had on him?
And how much of that did Park Seohyun remember?
“They said they met my grandfather?” Park Seohyun blinked, as if hearing something unexpected.
“Uh, well, yes… I suppose so. My grandfather lived in Europe before I was born. He used to show me a lot of photos he took back then.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. He said he never really belonged to any one guild at the time, and told me I didn’t need to get tied down to a guild either.”
“If Seungyeon heard that, she’d sulk.”
“But she’s not planning to start a guild right after graduation, is she…?”
Park Seohyun grumbled, glancing sidelong at Choi Jinwoo.
“But it’s great that they saw my grandfather’s magic!”
“Huh?”
“You can ask them how he used his magic. My grandfather did take me into a dungeon once, but honestly, that was…”
“Wait, your grandfather took you into a dungeon?” I interrupted, listening to the children’s conversation.
Park Nogyung died ten years ago, when Park Seohyun was still very young. Her father, Park Eunsik, had died and the guild had been disbanded when she was about a year old. I’d thought it was seeing his newborn granddaughter that finally brought him to his senses.
But he took a child that young into a dungeon?
No matter how obsessed with training a successor, that was too much.
Park Seohyun liked her grandfather, and I didn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but…
Was he out of his mind?
“Uh, ah! No, it wasn’t a dangerous dungeon,” Park Seohyun quickly explained, picking up on my alarm. For her grandfather’s sake, she hurried to clarify.
“It was a dungeon with no monsters, but it was classified high because of the illusions. With my grandfather’s magic, you could go straight to the core regardless.”
“…No monsters?”
“Right! And my grandfather held me the whole time. He said he wanted to show me his magic in person…”
I nodded.
That must have been the last time Park Seohyun saw her grandfather’s magic with her own eyes.
“It was so long ago, I barely remember… That’s why it’s hard for me to explain his magic. I can’t reproduce it myself.”
“She’s lying!” Choi Jinwoo interjected, unable to contain himself at Park Seohyun’s hesitant words.
He looked at her in disbelief. Clearly, something had passed between them that I didn’t know about.
“She’s been trying to imitate her grandfather’s magic with shadows. She said she’d show you before graduation…”
“Shut up!”
“But honestly, I think she’ll pull it off before graduation…”
“I said shut up!”
Park Seohyun grabbed an eraser from the desk and threw it at Choi Jinwoo. He just giggled.
Watching her, face flushed and fuming, I simply nodded.
“All right… If you get stuck, just ask.”
Whether you could use a magic of the opposite attribute by adapting it to your own, I really didn’t know. The witch Park Seohyun had never said anything like that when she taught me magic theory.
…What was Park Seohyun’s unique magic again?
She’d rarely gone with other guilds, and even when she did, it was always with Yoo Jieun or Oh Hyunwook. Her unique magic… She didn’t like using it in front of crowds, so there weren’t many accounts of it.
Park Seohyun’s unique magic, “Lantern Sinking into the Mire.”
A spell that, quite literally, covered everything in shadow. The power to turn any area covered by her shadow into her own domain. She never explained it in more detail, but thinking back to when that little witch went berserk at the pension, I imagine it was something like that.
“…Ask me?” she said.
“Huh? Oh, I can’t really answer, but if you’re struggling with something, I’ll listen.”
“What’s that supposed to mean…”
“Sometimes, just having more heads thinking about it helps you get unstuck.”
Park Seohyun gave a small laugh.
“Doesn’t that just make things more complicated?”
“Maybe that’s the destination.”
Kim Chaemin had explained that unique magic was something engraved in your mana.
Could you… change that into another kind of magic? I didn’t know.
But maybe, in a world where the little witch was no longer a witch, things could be different. Not that I was a mage myself.
“If you want to hear stories about your grandfather, just go find Mr. Pyunes. You know where he is, right?”
“Eunyoung’s been following him around!” Park Seohyun said.
“Really?”
“He said you could clear a dungeon without even going in. Eunyoung doesn’t really like dungeons, so I guess she was curious about that.”
“I see…”
Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo continued to chatter about things that had happened among the kids.
I looked at Choi Jinwoo. Once again, Kim Chaemin’s words echoed in my mind.
A good mage.
But Kim Chaemin hadn’t used the same words for Park Seohyun.
“Seohyun is a talented mage. She could become a great magician, just like Teacher Woo insisted.”
“She will, I’m telling you…”
“You never know. The Park Seohyun you know as the great magician and our Seohyun are different people.”
A talented mage who might become a great magician.
And then there were Hope’s words, and the conversation with Hong Seokyoung, who hadn’t denied them, lingering in my mind.
If the children wanted to enter dungeons, we couldn’t stop them.
Monsters don’t care if you’re a child.
If the world ends, I won’t be the only one to die. Who knows if those twenty years are still guaranteed? If it’s possible, the best thing is to resolve it quickly.
Pyunes had said the same. That even in the short time he spent in the dungeon, he saw the fairy adapting to humans.
No one knows how many Hunters and mages have entered Mont-Saint-Michel since then. Or how many reached the fifth floor. Or maybe that so-called king left the fifth floor to hunt down the humans who entered.
Or maybe our Noah Michel captured humans and offered them to the king.
…Either way, the longer it takes, the more that fairy will become a monster. It already was enough of a monster.
“If you’re curious about anything, ask away. Both Mr. Pyunes and Mr. Robinson have worked with mages a lot, so they’ll be a big help to you.”
“What about you, Teacher?”
“Hmm?”
“Now that I think about it, you’ve never really told us stories about working with mages.”
Well, of course—I was never a Hunter to begin with…
It’s not that I never worked with mages, but not enough to have all sorts of stories to share with the kids.
I shrugged.
“I was never that close to mages.”
“What about Teacher Chaemin?”
“I’ve barely ever cleared a raid with her, either.”
Feeling I’d given them enough attention, I started to rise.
The kids were doing well. As for Park Seohyun’s magic, I’d ask Kim Chaemin about it later…
“Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be off.”
“Yep!”
“Goodbye, Teacher.”
Yes.
The kids were fine.
The problem… was me.
“They really do seem to be thriving since we built the greenhouse, don’t they?”
“Told you, it was a mana problem. Remember how wild the mana was back then? I guess it helped. All the mana got mixed together.”
“…Are these regular mana herbs?”
“Yeah. I mixed them a bit… See how healthy they are? I’m thinking of trying to grow some rarer ones soon.”
“Rarer, like…?”
“Magic beans, maybe…”
“Hm.”
I hunched my shoulders as I spotted someone passing by in the distance.
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence settled.
Kim Chaemin shot me an incredulous look.
“You really think you can hide just by ducking your head at your height?”
“Well, I mean…”
“Did you have a fight with the principal?”
“It wasn’t a fight…”
“Then what?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you keep avoiding the principal?”
“It just happens sometimes.”
Kim Chaemin frowned.
“You’re not going through puberty at your age, are you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Looks to me like you’re the one at fault.”
“Why do you think that?”
“If it was the principal’s fault, you’d have chased after him and nagged him to death.”
I had no comeback. She was right.
When I fell silent, Kim Chaemin smirked as if to say, See?
“If you did something wrong, just go apologize.”
“……”
“Honestly, I bet the principal isn’t even thinking about it, but you’re the one feeling guilty.”
“That’s not…”
“Don’t even try to deny it.”
Kim Chaemin didn’t even bother listening to my protests.
In the end, I gave up on making excuses and focused on tending the greenhouse. I picked out the mana herbs that were dying, and set aside the wilted ones for class use.
The greenhouse had flourished under Kim Chaemin and the kids’ care. There were now quite a few plants brought in from dungeons, not just mana herbs. With guests around, it wasn’t possible, but before that, Hope would sometimes sneak out late at night to wander the greenhouse.
After lunch or dinner, even the veteran Hunters would circle the greenhouse.
It was quietly attracting a lot of attention.
“Teacher Kim…”
I stared at the greenhouse, still shimmering with all sorts of colors from the mingled mana, and finally spoke.
“Do you think teaching suits you?”
“Sorry?”
“You’re teaching Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo, aren’t you? Let’s not pretend they’re not your students.”
“…I guess I have taught them a lot, haven’t I?”
Kim Chaemin shrugged and gave an awkward laugh.
“The other kids, too.”
“Ah, when I first came here, I never thought I’d get this invested. It’s all your fault, Teacher Woo.”
“Why are you blaming me?”
“If it weren’t for your runes…”
“My apologies.”
“I’m kidding. Sometimes I feel like I got tricked by the principal, but I don’t regret it. The kids are nice, and teaching is more fun than I expected… I’m pretty satisfied with everything else, too.”
Kim Chaemin admitted it cheerfully.
I looked at her for a moment… and then, the question that had weighed on my mind ever since I ran away from Hong Seokyoung a few days ago finally left my lips.
“Teacher Kim, do you want the kids to become Hunters?”