Retire 524
by Cristae524 Words I Want to Convey (1)
‘Ha ha. What’s this? Another kid?’
It was a time when I couldn’t yet distinguish human faces properly. Looking back now, everything seems shrouded in fog, blurred at the edges. Perhaps it was because the “connection” hadn’t been completely severed, even though I wore a human body.
Back then, Alex Hope was less human than…
‘Hey, kid, how old are you? Are you even ten yet? Not that I should talk, but if kids are doing this, isn’t that a sign the world’s ending? Teenagers these days are terrifying.’
It hadn’t been long since I’d learned to remember human faces. Even so, apart from Mom, Dad, and Sandra, I still found it hard to tell humans apart.
Alex Hope looked at the human in front of him. This was important, something to remember. Fortunately, this human had a few distinguishing features compared to others: tall and broad-shouldered. The face was still blurry, but…
Oh. Right. Mana.
I’d never seen mana this dense in a human before. It clung, unpleasantly thick, like sticky juice. Alex Hope watched as the mana crept toward his ankle, as if probing him.
‘There won’t be a next time.’
Alex Hope smiled sweetly.
A child so small and pretty, smiling like a doll, would have caught the eye of any passerby.
But if those sneakered feet were crushing the foot of a grown man, it would stand out for an entirely different reason.
The man blinked a few times, as if he felt no pain, then smiled gently.
‘My apologies. You’re more impressive than you look.’
‘I don’t care what you do… If you need me, say so. But otherwise, don’t bother me.’
The being reborn as Alex Hope truly wanted nothing more than to be done with this troublesome business.
At home, Mom had promised to bake a pie, Dad wanted to decorate the Christmas tree together. It didn’t matter that it was midsummer. And, uh, Sandra had found a fun new game and wanted to play…
But at the same time, those were the very reasons *(~(&! had stayed here.
I knew well enough what the dungeons appearing in this world were. I wasn’t unaware of the plan for the old and new kings to come out and make this innocent world their new home. I still didn’t know how possible that was, then or now…
But here’s the problem.
Alex Hope was now human. A native of this world.
He’d shed his old body long ago, and accepted his new fate as a human. If he could, he truly didn’t want to get involved in any of this.
‘Is this all you called me for, magician?’
But Sandra’s warning that refusing this summons could mean being attacked was fair. When in doubt, asking Sandra was always best.
Alex looked at the magician who had found him. This one’s impression was even blurrier. He focused, trying to see the face more clearly.
‘Yes, fairy. That human agreed to help us, so don’t kill him.’
A tangle of golden hair. He barely noticed the person was wearing light-colored clothes. The face was still clearly that of a child.
‘Well, I’m leaving now.’
There was nothing fun to be gained by staying. Going home for snacks and decorating the tree sounded much better. Besides, if Mom realized he was gone, she’d worry.
Just as ~!()#$… no, Alex Hope, was about to spread his wings and fly home, he suddenly remembered the child who had summoned him.
‘Hey, you know…?’
‘…Yes?’
Sandra had nagged him to remember people’s names. He still didn’t know why that was important, but Sandra’s advice had never led him wrong.
But if you never listened in the first place, you can’t remember. As Alex racked his brain, he realized the obvious: if you don’t know, just ask.
‘What should I call you… Oh. Your name. What was your name again?’
‘…Didn’t I introduce myself?’
‘Did you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Really?’
‘Are you asking me, fairy?’
The man asked back, amused. Of course, Alex didn’t understand what that smile meant. Nor did he realize how the young magician’s face hardened in irritation.
‘You’re both human, aren’t you…? Even I know humans all have different names. That’s why I learned you’re supposed to introduce yourself first.’
‘Learned? Where?’
‘At school, of course. I go to school too.’
That one must have been born human. Alex looked at the man with pity, as if to say, “Don’t you even know that?”
The man burst out laughing.
‘Ha ha, all right. So, fairy, do you know my name?’
‘Huh?’
Alex tilted his head to the side—a gesture Sandra had taught him. If you don’t understand, just smile and ask again.
‘Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?’
Sandra’s advice usually worked.
The man laughed again. See? Smiling is good, so it all worked out in the end.
‘Hahaha, I’m Henry. Henry. I won’t ask you to remember the whole thing, just call me Henry from now on.’
Henry. Henry. Alex Hope rolled the name around in his mouth, then nodded.
And then he pressed the magician, who still hadn’t given their name.
‘So, you?’
‘…I already told you my name three times.’
‘And?’
‘…….’
‘What? Don’t you have a name? Don’t all humans have one?’
Finally, the magician said their name. If they were going to say it anyway, why drag it out?
‘Noah. Noah Michelle.’
The next time they met, Alex pretended not to remember the name and asked again, just out of ordinary mischief.
Now that he was used to human emotions, he could explain more precisely what that feeling was.
‘What should I call you again?’
If you could so easily annoy someone who had disrupted your peaceful life, not many people would resist.
Alex was not one of those people.
‘Were you Noah, or Henry?’
He remembered teasing her more, just because it was funny to see her answer so obediently even as she glared at him in irritation. It was payback for the time she’d threatened his family—Mom, Dad, Sandra.
Even with that calm face, she would sometimes watch the house. At first, he let it slide, but later, he grabbed her every time he saw her. He’d been deliberately harsh, so it must have hurt.
Sometimes Alex wondered what would have happened if he’d chosen a different path.
If he’d stayed in the dungeon, never come out. Or if he’d opened the door and lived a short life in a strange world.
If he hadn’t learned love.
If he hadn’t had a family.
If he hadn’t made friends.
Through endless “what ifs,” Alex learned what fear was. That’s why he’d asked Sandra, the smartest human he knew, for help. He didn’t want to lose love.
Since then, he’d never doubted his choices.
He knew he wasn’t smart enough to dwell on too many things. If it couldn’t be changed, he didn’t look back. He didn’t regret having a family.
Mom’s pies were delicious, the Christmas tree he decorated with Dad was beautiful, and Sandra’s games were fun.
Alex wanted to protect that small world.
But for the first time—
For the first time since meeting Noah Michelle—
Alex wondered if there really hadn’t been another path.
Maybe, just maybe, there could have been.
In countless memories, Noah didn’t always become a magician. One by one, the choices before her disappeared, until only that path remained—the path to becoming a magician.
In some vanished timeline, maybe we made different choices.
“There’s nothing you can change.”
“…Huh?”
“Listen carefully, Alex.”
Guild master Hong Seok-young spoke as if he could see right through Alex’s thoughts.
“This is the time we’ve been given. What do we always say?”
A big hand, like a father’s, gripped his shoulder firmly.
“We have to focus on what’s in front of us. Live in the present.”
“…But.”
“I’m not saying never look back. But don’t get caught up in time that doesn’t exist. Understand?”
Hong Seok-young waited until Alex answered.
Slowly, Alex nodded.
“Let’s hear it, just to be sure. What did I say?”
“…Don’t think about time that doesn’t exist.”
“And?”
“In the present…”
“That’s right.”
“We have to look at reality.”
“Good.”
Hong Seok-young said firmly. Then, seeing Alex still staring blankly at the gate, he gave him a gentle push.
“Come on. Are you hurt anywhere? You spent longer in the dungeon than we thought… Go get some water first.”
As soon as Hong Seok-young gave the word, the backup team that had been hovering nearby rushed over. Only then did Alex realize he hadn’t hidden his face, but since no one said anything, it must be fine.
They sat him down and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. He drank lukewarm water and watched the medical staff fuss over him. For some reason, more people were crowded around him than anyone else.
Only then did he realize how tired he was. He hadn’t moved this much since he’d cut his wings. How many days had it been? He thought being caught in the runes had only lasted a moment, but maybe not.
Forcing his heavy eyelids open, Alex looked at the gate.
The gate flickered like a broken lightbulb, then vanished into nothing.
“To be honest, it wasn’t a difficult dungeon.”
Kim Chae-min spoke as he gazed out the window.
“But it was one of the hardest I’ve ever been in.”
“You haven’t been in that many dungeons.”
“I only picked the best ones!”
I looked into the back seat.
“Sit up straight!”
“Ugh… nagging.”
“Seatbelt on!”
Hope, who’d been sprawled across the back seat, reluctantly sat up.
“When we came out of the dungeon, the year had changed. I didn’t realize that much time had passed inside.”
“It’s likely we lost time bit by bit every time we got caught up in the magic. There were runes at the end, too.”
“Dungeons…”
Kim Chae-min shook his head.
“What’s going to happen with Moby?”
“He’s cooperative. The problem is how to explain things to people. I’ll just use Master’s and Mr. Kim’s names as needed… If we lure him with water, it should work.”
I drove slowly toward the edge of the city. From Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Even in LA, we drove for a long time into the residential areas.
The city’s bustle faded away. Well-kept lawns stretched along the road. I slowed down to check the address.
Kim Chae-min asked nervously,
“Is it really okay to just show up like this?”
“They said they’re home.”
“I mean, you found that out by monitoring them…”
“If you call it monitoring, it sounds like a crime. I just wanted to make sure we didn’t waste the trip.”
“…Then you should have brought Master.”
I parked in front of a house.
“They’re a civilian. They might not know Master.”
“Civilian?”
Kim Chae-min snorted as he got out of the car. Hope hesitated for a long time before finally getting out.
They could have stayed in Las Vegas with my father and Han Tae-kyung, but after making such a fuss about coming along, they were acting oddly now.
“They’re a civilian.”
I saw Hope quietly hide behind Kim Chae-min as I rang the doorbell.
“Except their niece is an archmage.”