Retire 439

439 Hunter and Teacher (4)

Bolstered by Kim Chaemin’s advice, I resolved to finally face what I’d been avoiding.

There was no point in running from this any longer—it would only make things harder for me. Hong Seokyoung himself probably wasn’t even thinking about it.

That was always how he was. No matter what I did, he would just laugh it off with a hearty chuckle. As long as I stayed within that embrace, I was safe. No one could touch me, and I could live exactly as my father always said: doing what I wanted, refusing what I didn’t, free from all burdens.

Hong Seokyoung probably didn’t even think I’d run away.

Which only made it worse. Not because of him, but because of myself. The fact that I’d turned my resolve to stand by my father’s side into a lie, and ended up running away like the eleven-year-old kid who’d been adopted by Hong Seokyoung.

Damn it. These days, even little Woo Irok wouldn’t run away like that. I thought I was at least better behaved at that age—so why…?

Anyway, as Kim Chaemin said, I needed to set an example. As an older brother, or as a teacher.

So, as soon as I left the greenhouse, I set out to find Hong Seokyoung—

“Ah! Teacher Woo!!”

—only to be intercepted by Daniel, who had been scouring the school looking for me.

Daniel rushed over, his face alight with excitement. Unlike Robinson, this man was gruff in his own way, but lately he too had begun to discover the joys of being a teacher. I wondered what the retirement process was like for intelligence agents. Did he ever plan to work in Korea permanently?

“I was just looking for you.”

“What is it?”

“There’s been news from America!”

But Daniel’s next words made me forget everything else.

“They think they’ve found a way to treat Hunter Hong’s leg!”

---

Hong Seokyoung’s leg had been poisoned.

The ID tag protected against physical shocks, but unfortunately, not against poison.

The venom of a monster, mutated in the chaos of mana bombs and Hunter battles, had become something nearly impossible to neutralize. In America, which could be called responsible for the incident, they had done everything they could to find a cure, unwilling to lose a powerhouse like Hong Seokyoung, even if he was a foreign Hunter. The great magician and mana engineers on our side, who had received the data, had done the same.

We could not afford to lose Hong Seokyoung.

But there had been no improvement. Daniel, a healer affiliated with some American government agency, had been changing the rune-engraved bandages every hour, keeping the damage limited to just the one leg—but that was all. It hadn’t gotten worse, but it hadn’t gotten better, either.

Noah Michel and the rest of the Mont-Saint-Michel group were most wary of Hong Seokyoung.

This man was our greatest strength.

Even if he limped on one leg, Hong Seokyoung’s skill was undiminished—but he could never be quite the same as before.

Among the Hunters being treated in America, there were some who had died in the end. Not always because of the poison. Some had been injured in the fighting inside the dungeon.

But if it hadn’t been for the poison, they might have lasted longer.

“The MIT Mana Engineering Lab ran experiments based on the analysis from the Pharos Institute, and that’s where they saw the best results. The Hunters who received the treatment are showing improvement.”

“Wait, hold on… the results from our side?”

“Yes? You gave them to me not long ago.”

What was that?

I frowned slightly. Fortunately, my confusion didn’t last long. Kim Chaemin, who had come running from the greenhouse after hearing the news, explained in my stead.

“When you went to Japan! The analysis from the mud dungeon!”

“…Ah. So that’s why you couldn’t come straight to Okinawa.”

“Right. I was finishing up the data to send. Sandra could have handled it alone, but I’m more accurate with the magic side of things.”

Just moments ago, she’d been worrying about the kids’ futures with me, but now she was completely back in mage mode.

Kim Chaemin turned to Daniel.

“So, if it worked, that means our hypothesis was correct?”

“Yes. We should have assumed from the start that the inside of a dungeon is contaminated with mana. We shouldn’t have thought the mana inside and outside the dungeon were the same. Everyone knew dungeon mana was different, but no one expected even the basic laws would change… If that’s the case, doesn’t it shake up Grimes’s Law?”

“No, no. We just need to identify the variables. Grimes’s Law wasn’t perfect anyway. We used to think monsters influenced it, but there were too many exceptions. So it’s better to use the Pelz-Royd Three Laws of Mana…”

Names of mana engineers and magicians I’d heard somewhere before began to spill out.

Wasn’t Daniel supposed to be a healer? …Well, healers don’t avoid using mana, and in fact, they need to study it even more. Medicine always incorporates the newest technologies from every field.

Just because I recognized the names didn’t mean I understood the conversation. Should I call Gamble over? No, that would only make things more complicated…

I stood quietly, waiting for the two of them to remember I was there.

……

I glanced at my wrist.

……

My watch was gone.

……

Feeling oddly empty, I looked at the wall clock.

……

I massaged my neck.

“Excuse me.”

I spoke up, trying to halt a conversation that seemed like it would never end.

“Why don’t you two discuss that later? So, what about the principal? What do we need to do for the treatment? Can it be done right away?”

“S-sorry. The safety hasn’t been fully verified yet, but the MIT lab said they need something…”

“The original sample?”

“Yes. They need the mud sample analyzed by the Pharos Institute.”

The Administration didn’t have its own lab.

Well, the Administration is a government agency, after all. If you had to compare, it’s more like the police or fire department. There’s no reason for them to have their own research lab.

Even the mana clock, now with Gamble, was developed by the Korean Mana Research Institute in Daejeon. We did collaborate sometimes, but my role was just to nod and smile when someone from the lab gave a presentation, maybe raise a fuss about the budget, and ask for more features.

Thinking about it, I could guess what the Americans were asking for. They just needed materials—sending me on an annoying errand. People are the same everywhere.

Daniel asked cautiously.

“That dungeon… it isn’t closed, is it?”

“It’s fine. It’s high-ranked, but if all you need is mud, it’s easy to get.”

It would greet you the moment you stepped through the gate.

Daniel’s face brightened. Seeing that, I realized something. As an intelligence agent, had he really only ever worked as a healer, as he claimed?

I had my doubts… Judging by his reaction, it seemed they’d asked him, not us, for the sample.

Still, since it was a Korean dungeon, unlike in Okinawa, we couldn’t let him go in alone. That’s what Han Taekyung was for.

“It’s a bit of a trip from here, but… if necessary, we can go today. Will you be going in, Daniel?”

“Is that all right?”

“If you can enter an S-rank dungeon. Since it doesn’t require combat, just go with Teacher Han when you have time…”

I trailed off.

“Wouldn’t it be hard for the principal to go because of the bandages?”

“I was about to mention that. This is something Teacher Kim needs to handle.”

Something she needs to handle?

Did that mean we didn’t need a specialist for the detoxification?

Daniel hesitated, then asked for one more person.

“And a mana engineer as well. I’ve already explained the basics to Hunter Hong, but it can’t be neutralized right away. The first step is just to slow its progress…”

“You need an engineer for that?”

“It would be safer.”

So it was dangerous.

But keeping the bandages on indefinitely was just as dangerous. We could always hear more details before making a decision.

“Here they are.”

The conference room door opened.

Hong Seokyoung strode in, paying no mind to the cast on his leg.

He smiled at me as soon as he saw me. He must have noticed I’d been avoiding him these past few days, but he acted as if nothing was wrong.

It stung.

“Ah, hello…”

Gamble followed behind him, looking awkward.

Daniel had been told the lab was off-limits. Gamble, too, rarely left the lab. This was probably the first time they’d been properly introduced.

Daniel’s eyes sparkled.

“I’m Daniel. I’ve read your papers with great interest, Doctor.”

“M-my papers?”

“Even your most recent publications.”

Wait a minute…

I studied Daniel. His eyes were shining with a kind of anxious excitement.

…Was he trying to lure Gamble back to America?

It was possible. After all, Gamble was American. From the U.S. government’s perspective, it must have driven them mad to have a diamond slip out of their pocket.

Though really, they hadn’t even known they had a diamond.

I snorted inwardly. There was no way Gamble would ever go back to America.

I wondered if Daniel thought mentioning Gamble’s undergraduate papers would win him over… Could that really work? I doubted Daniel’s strategy.

At any rate, I distracted him.

“Let’s get back to the topic. Everyone involved is here now.”

“Ah, I’m just very interested in mana engineering. Sorry.”

Daniel returned to the main topic, looking sheepish.

“So, basically, this isn’t really a poison.”

“Didn’t you say it was?”

“It is a poison, but… that’s not the important part. The problem is that the poison has altered the mana. Basically, according to Grimes’s Law…”

Was Daniel speaking English now?

After spending time with Yoo Hyeun, Daniel’s Korean had improved dramatically. I was impressed—if you work in intelligence, I guess you have to be that good.

“But we were thinking about it wrong from the start. If you go back to the questions raised by Teacher Kim and Dr. Gamble, Grimes’s Law fits almost perfectly in environments where Earth’s gravity applies. But inside dungeons…”

It was strange… He was definitely speaking Korean, but it just wasn’t registering. I probably wouldn’t have understood if it were English either, but still.

I looked around. Sure enough, my eyes met Hong Seokyoung’s. It was inevitable—Kim Chaemin and Gamble were both so focused on Daniel’s words, it was like they were in a trance.

“But that doesn’t make sense. Mana should flow from areas of high density to low, just like everything else.”

They were even asking questions.

Hong Seokyoung gave a hazy, awkward smile. It wasn’t funny. I must have looked the same.

I sighed.

I didn’t want to interrupt their passionate seminar, but right now, academic enthusiasm wasn’t the most important thing.

“Excuse me.”

“And if that’s the case…”

“Could you explain it a little more simply?”

All eyes turned to me.

I met their gaze unflinchingly. Hong Seokyoung was at my side.

“Ahem.”

Daniel cleared his throat.

“To put it simply, it’s not poisoning—it’s mana intoxication.”

“…Mana intoxication?”

“No, actually, ‘parasite’ might be a more accurate term.”

“Parasite?”

“Not a real parasite, of course. But at this point, physical removal seems to be the most effective approach.”