Retire 541
by Cristae541 (Hunter Academy Side Story 8) The School Nurse_2
Awakening is different for everyone.
There are general patterns, but how quickly someone adapts to their powers after awakening, and the extent of those powers, varies from person to person. Even among mages, each possesses a different amount of mana, and Awakened are no exception.
Just looking at the graduates of the Academy shows this diversity. In fact, you don’t even need to look at the graduates—just the three current students are enough to see it.
Kang Tae-woo is sensitive to mana. When you say someone is sensitive to mana, people often expect something more animalistic, but in his case, it’s the opposite. He processes a lot of incoming information. So, when faced with a situation, he thinks before he acts.
Because he’s more sensitive to mana than most, Kang Tae-woo processes as data what other Hunters would just accept as intuition or “a feeling.” When Daniel first saw how Tae-woo was being trained at the Academy, he was most surprised by this. Since there’s no clear standard for mana sensitivity, most people don’t even realize it in themselves until they’ve gained enough experience to talk about it with other Hunters.
But Woo Hee-jae noticed it right away and tailored Tae-woo’s education accordingly. It was only after joining Guild Mimi that Daniel learned this approach had roots in the Ark’s experiments, but that didn’t make Woo Hee-jae’s teaching methods any less impressive.
On the other hand, Yoo Ji-eun is a textbook example of an animalistic Hunter. That’s why Woo Hee-jae’s delicate style of instruction didn’t always suit her. Woo Hee-jae himself is sensitive to mana, so he didn’t immediately pick up on Ji-eun’s instincts. But perhaps from long experience with similar people, he quickly sensed what Ji-eun needed. To act as the de facto guild master alongside someone as instinct-driven as Hong Seok-young, you’d have to at least be able to do that much.
And then there’s the third student—the problem child.
Kim Abel.
If you had to classify him, Kim Abel is closer to Kang Tae-woo’s type than to Ji-eun’s. He’s not as sensitive to mana as Tae-woo, but he’s quick to notice its flow. That’s why, when he first arrived at the Academy, he was drawn to the greenhouse. There are few places outside dungeons where so much mana gathers.
But there is a clear difference between Kim Abel and the other two.
“He’s emotional.”
“…Emotional, you say.”
Woo Hee-jae clicked his tongue, looking exasperated.
At first, he’d only tilted his head at Daniel’s comment, but as Daniel explained further, he understood and ran a hand through his hair with a complicated expression.
“We call that being ‘entranced’ around here.”
“Entranced?”
“Yes. Whether it’s a dungeon, a monster, or mana itself. Maybe it’s because he’s a pianist. Hunters with an artistic streak tend to be like that. Maybe it’s their sensitivity.”
“As long as he keeps his balance, he’ll be fine. If he goes into a dungeon unprepared, it could be dangerous, but fortunately…”
Daniel shrugged.
“This is a school, after all.”
“…A school built to teach kids like him.”
Woo Hee-jae gave a bitter smile.
“I was so busy looking after Tae-woo and Ji-eun that I missed it. Thank you for telling me.”
“No, it was Teacher Han who mentioned it first, so I talked to Abel about it.”
“Teacher Han? Ah, right. He was in charge of that kid.”
Because of his consistently lighthearted manner, the students didn’t always trust Han Tae-kyung, but Daniel, who had traveled with him in America, knew better than anyone that appearances could be deceiving.
“As long as he doesn’t get too absorbed in dungeons, he has all the makings of a good Hunter.”
“Then we’ll need to start with mana adaptation training… Anyway, please look after the new kids when they arrive.”
“No need to worry about that.”
Daniel tidied up the character bandages scattered across the desk. The silly bandages spoke volumes about the atmosphere of this school.
But Woo Hee-jae didn’t leave right away. Daniel, who had thought Ji-eun was sent off early just so they could discuss the new students, looked at him curiously.
“Is something wrong?”
“…It’s not really important.”
Usually, when someone started a conversation that way, it was something important.
“This… If you’re not comfortable, you can refuse.”
But what came out of Woo Hee-jae’s mouth was unexpected.
There were a few things Daniel had braced himself for when he agreed to be scouted by Guild Mimi. Working at the school was one of them.
He hadn’t believed all of Woo Hee-jae’s sweet talk. But it was obvious that staying in America would mean being swamped with work. He hadn’t planned to spend his life at that job, and he’d even considered working as a doctor in a hospital. Accepting Woo Hee-jae’s offer was a mix of curiosity, wanting a change, hope for working with Hong Seok-young or Kim Chae-min, and the objective fact that it wasn’t a bad deal.
He’d been told he didn’t have to go on Daseon assignments if he didn’t want to, but none of those suggestions had been this cautious. In fact, it had felt more like, “Are you sure you don’t want to?” He’d accepted the trips to Daseon partly to hear other people’s perspectives on Guild Mimi, and it hadn’t been bad. Maybe Daseon was unusual, but their dungeon strategies were much more systematic than American guilds, and there was a lot to learn.
“You’re saying I can refuse?”
Daniel asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Woo Hee-jae nodded.
“I didn’t bring you here expecting this part.”
“…What part?”
“Do you remember the research you did with Sandra and Teacher Kim when our master was injured?”
“Of course I do.”
Sandra Gamble, Guild Mimi’s only non-combatant and researcher, and Archmage Kim Chae-min. Daniel had worked with them for a while to treat Hong Seok-young’s injury.
“Teacher Kim is about to start a new project and seems to need various opinions.”
“A project? What kind of project?”
“I can’t tell you the details. You know Park Seo-hyun and Choi Jin-woo, right? The mages among the graduates…”
“I taught them, too.”
Woo Hee-jae gave a small smile.
“Yes. They’ll be assisting Teacher Kim. Sandra’s on board too… Actually, I’m not sure if Sandra or Teacher Kim is leading the project. They’ll sort it out themselves.”
“And you want me to join?”
“I’m not sure.”
“…?”
“I’m just letting you know. If they need you, Teacher Kim or Sandra will come running, and as you know… when those two get excited, nothing else exists for them.”
A wry smile crept onto Daniel’s face. He’d had enough experience last year to know what could happen when those two lost sight of everything else.
“I’m just asking that, if they come at you again, don’t be too startled and at least hear them out. You can refuse if you want, or join if you feel like it.”
He couldn’t tell if the man in front of him was being considerate or irresponsible.
Daniel looked at Woo Hee-jae. Maybe this was all part of a larger con. If you’ve gone to the trouble of recruiting expensive talent, you might as well use them for everything.
Still, what’s done is done. There’s no going back… or rather, if he was going to give up so easily, he wouldn’t have come in the first place.
Just two years ago, Guild Mimi had been nothing but Hong Seok-young’s one-man guild. The things they’d accomplished since then were astonishing—not just what happened in Marseille, but the runes and mana pens announced with Daseon at the Okinawa fairy dungeon, the events in America, and more…
Only once, since joining Guild Mimi, had Daniel visited Sandra Gamble’s lab. Like any researcher absorbed in her work, Sandra had introduced him to several of her projects.
Who knew how realistic or feasible they were.
“All right.”
If it was a con, so what? If anything, being close to a con makes it easier to blow the whistle. People who underestimate internal whistleblowers don’t know how dangerous they are.
And if it wasn’t a con, even better. If even one of those projects succeeded, how many lives could be saved…?
“I don’t know what I’ll do yet. But if those two lose their heads and come after me again, I’ll at least listen before refusing.”
Still, answering too quickly makes you look careless. If there’s one thing he learned from Daseon assignments, it’s that if you say yes to everything you can do, your workload just keeps growing.
“It might be something I’m not qualified for.”
Woo Hee-jae seemed surprised by that answer, then nodded.
“That’s true.”
“And if it’s something I can help with…”
“If it’s work?”
“Then it’s not really work, so you’ll need to pay me a separate research fee.”
This time, Woo Hee-jae didn’t bother to hide his reaction. He burst out laughing—something Daniel had never seen before.
“Yes, yes. I’ll pass that along.”
“And let them know I’m not some half-baked talent. If I’m joining a project, I’ll be thorough about it.”
Still smiling, Woo Hee-jae got to his feet.
“All right. I’ll be sure to tell them.”
Daniel didn’t know what Kim Chae-min was planning to research, but not long after Woo Hee-jae’s warning, Park Seo-hyun and Choi Jin-woo arrived at the school.
The sight of the two mages out of uniform was unfamiliar. It hadn’t been half a year since they’d graduated, and aside from their clothes, nothing much had changed, but it still felt strange.
It was a sign they were slowly becoming mages. Seo-hyun and Jin-woo paused at the edge of the school field. The grass, kept ever-green by Kim Chae-min’s magic, swayed in the wind.
“Seo-hyun, Jin-woo!”
Only after Kim Chae-min waved at them did the young mages move forward. As a healer standing on the boundary between mage and Awakened, Daniel immediately understood their hesitation. Healers aren’t as territorial as mages, but they understand the behavior.
Just now, Seo-hyun and Jin-woo had been seeking permission to enter Kim Chae-min’s domain.
They hadn’t noticed it while living within it, but a few months away had made them aware. Kim Chae-min couldn’t hide his pride as he watched his students.
“Seo-hyun, did you drive here?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll be moving around a lot from now on, so I figured it would be inconvenient without a car.”
“That makes sense.”
While the three mages chatted amiably—
Another car entered the school. Unlike the young mages, the archmage’s domain didn’t faze the newcomers.
Woo Hee-jae got out of the driver’s seat.
“All right, we’re here. Are you okay?”
Two children, visibly tense, climbed out of the car.
Wearing baggy clothes that didn’t quite fit and clutching worn backpacks, both stared in awe at the Academy’s gleaming white building under the sunlight.
Daniel slowly approached them.
Mages have their own business, but these two would be under Daniel’s care from now on.
The two children from America startled when a strange white man approached, glancing at Woo Hee-jae. Woo Hee-jae smiled gently and introduced Daniel.
“This is our school nurse, Teacher Daniel.”
“Uh…”
“Hello, kids.”
When Daniel greeted them in fluent Korean, the children’s tension eased a little. They must have stayed in America for protection, but didn’t speak much English.
Daniel crouched down to their eye level.
“If you catch a cold or even just scrape your knee, you have to come see me, okay?”
“…Yes.”
“Y-yes…”
“Let’s get along from now on.”