I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

♪~

The ringtone blared noisily.

At the melody coming from somewhere, the figure, who could be seen as either a boy or a girl, frowned deeply.

Standing still in the hallway, staring into empty space, the person suddenly widened their eyes and searched their pockets.

The boy stared at his phone for a long time. The call rang persistently before stopping. But it rang again almost immediately.

With a sigh, he pressed the call button.

“Did you change my ringtone again?”

-Shanshan!

A woman’s sharp voice came through the receiver.

Alex ‘Shanshan’ Hope pulled the phone away from his ear and lowered the call volume.

“My ears hurt! Speak quietly!”

-Don’t act like a child, Shanshan.

“At my age, I am a child, you know?”

-Twenty-two isn’t usually considered a child.

“Do I care? I’m always Mama’s little boy.”

-Little boy? Not little girl?

“Mom wanted a daughter, so I’m just going along with it. But I was clearly born male….”

-Yeah, yeah. Cute mama’s boy.

The woman chuckled lightly and continued.

-How did the conversation go? Did it end well?

“By my standards, it went well.”

-Your standards?

“Even when I say it went well, how many times have you gotten mad at me later?”

-…So you are learning something? That’s a relief.

“Shouldn’t I be offended at this point?”

-You really are learning!

Alex Hope frowned. With a displeased expression, he kicked the floor a few times, then sang in a drawn-out tone.

“Well, a-ny-way! I clearly warned about the appraiser. That’s what you called to check, right?”

-What about the other thing?

“The other thing?”

-You know, the thing I told you to say. You remember, right?

Alex blinked. He ran his fingers through his short hair, too short to twist, then tilted his head even though he knew she couldn’t see him.

A long silence followed.

-…Forget it. What am I expecting from you, anyway?

The woman sighed.

-Just… next time you need to talk, call me.

“Call you?”

-Yeah. Call me. Then I’ll say it myself.

“I can do it just fine on my own!”

-Then what exactly did I tell you to say?

“……”

Alex pouted. The woman burst into laughter.

-That’s why you should just leave it to me. Got it, Shanshan?

“Yes, Mom.”

-Oh, for heaven’s sake. I never had a son like you! Don’t even want one! How did Eujin even raise you?

“Well, she is my mom.”

-That’s exactly why I’m saying this!

Alex Hope snorted.

“Everyone says it. A mother’s love is great.”

-Great enough to save the world. Right?

“Right.”

Alex twitched his head and looked toward the end of the hallway. After staring at the wall for a while, he sniffed.

“The appraiser has arrived. I’ll call you when it’s all done, Sandra.”

-Got it. Be careful. And don’t forget to call me.

“I said I got it!”

Alex Hope ended the call.

Still gripping the phone tightly, he tapped the floor a few times with his toes.

“……”

There was no one in the hallway.

***

“Blue hair?”

Hope’s warning that the blue-haired mage was a bad guy.

Putting aside how much that could be trusted, the very fact that he gave us such a warning was suspicious in itself.

“Does that mean even a crazy bastard like him finds that guy too nasty to deal with?”

“Who knows….”

“Or maybe he’s just trying to get us to take care of someone who’s in his way?”

“……”

“If it’s the latter, maybe we should protect the blue-haired guy.”

“And if it’s the former?”

“Hmm….”

Hong Seok-young crossed his arms and pretended to ponder.

“Messing with a mage is a hassle.”

But he didn’t say it was impossible.

“If there’s no way, we’ll just make one.”

That ever-confident attitude is really… reliable. In many ways.

As in, what kind of outrageous crazy thing is he going to pull off this time?

There were also mages on the list that Lee Mi-seon had given. It was unclear how honestly those mages had reported their attendance. Still, twenty years from now, there were many mages from the Academy, and quite a few had become independent from the Central Society, so there were a good number of polite mages.

There was no blue hair among the mages listed. There might be one among those who hadn’t confirmed their attendance. Or maybe a mage recently had a change of heart and dyed their hair….

I knew even less about foreign mages from this era than domestic ones.

“Is there anyone you can think of?”

I asked Hong Seok-young.

“I’m not that close with mages, so I wouldn’t know. What about you?”

“No one.”

At the very least, I’d need to see what they looked like to know.

No. There’s a simpler way.

I took my phone out from the inner pocket of my jacket.

“Hmm?”

Waving a hand at the puzzled Hong Seok-young, I scrolled through my short contact list and called the only mage I currently knew.

The kids don’t really count as mages yet, right?

The dial tone didn’t last long.

-Teacher Woo? What’s going on? Isn’t the forum going on right now?

“It’s lunchtime.”

-Aha. Time’s flown by already.

“Teacher Kim.”

-Yes?

“Do you know any mage attending the forum who has blue hair?”

-Blue… hair?

Kim Chae-min replied in a reluctant tone.

-Blue hair… I do know one mage like that, but I doubt he’d attend the forum.

“Who is it?”

-His name is Sem Bloom… He’s a Dutch mage, and he’s a weir, uhm, a mage who’s decked out in blue from head to toe.

A name I’ve never heard before.

I switched the call to speakerphone.

-He’s not the type to join dungeon raids, so Teacher Woo probably wouldn’t know him. As for Teacher Hong… maybe? He sometimes knows weirdly specific things.

“Nope, I don’t know him either.”

-Whoa, Teacher Hong’s there too? So, why are you asking all of a sudden?

“Oh, I just overheard someone talking about a blue-haired mage. I got curious….”

-Really?

Kim Chae-min sounded confused but continued speaking.

-But seriously, I don’t think that guy would attend the forum.

She seemed strangely certain.

“Is there a particular reason?”

-Because I haven’t heard that Noah Michel is attending the forum.

At the familiar name, I almost acted like I knew her without meaning to.

Though it wouldn’t be strange if I did, Noah Michel is already a famous archmage even now.

The Jewel of Nantes. The genius of the century. Rune Master.

There are many words that describe Michel. Her brilliance was revealed to the world when she became an archmage at just six years old.

And with a kind heart that offered runes for free, simply hoping it could help save more people.

She was such a perfect human being that I didn’t want to keep her close.

When I said that, Yoo Ji-eun nagged me, telling me to be a little more warm-hearted and asking why I saw the world so negatively.

-Sem Bloom calls himself Noah Michel’s student. I don’t know what Michel thinks of Bloom, but… he refuses to leave her side.

“Isn’t that a crime?”

At this point in time, Noah Michel is…

Younger than me, right? Probably around the same age as Kim Chae-min. Twenty-six, was it? I don’t know how old Bloom is, but the image doesn’t look great.

-Well…

Kim Chae-min replied casually.

-Bloom is still a kid.

Oh. He’s a kid?

-Michel could easily keep Bloom away if she wanted to.

That may be true, but still….

-Actually, Michel often takes Bloom along to official events. She’s never called him a student, but I think she made him her assistant.

“So that’s why you said there’s no way Bloom would attend the forum?”

-Yeah. Michel’s never attended the forum either.

“…She hasn’t?”

I frowned. As far as I know, Noah Michel is a regular attendee of the forum. She never missed a single year and often presented solutions for dungeon raids.

Was she different when she was younger? Maybe she hasn’t started preaching about the sanctity of life yet?

People can change as they get older. Like me.

-Should I check whether Bloom is attending the forum?

“Yes. Please do. The mages will be arriving soon, so we’ll know then, but… Teacher Kim, you might hear something we can’t.”

-I’ll let you know right away if I find anything.

Kim Chae-min cheerfully ended the call.

She’s not just any mage, she’s got an archmage on her side. In that regard, it’s convenient. The mage community is so closed off that even for me, getting information from them is close to impossible.

I slipped the phone back into my inner pocket and looked up. Hong Seok-young was staring at me with an odd expression.

“Why that look on your face?”

“It’s just….”

“Yes?”

“This might be a stretch, but the coincidence is just too perfect, it’s bothering me.”

Hong Seok-young hesitated, chewing his lip in a way that was unlike him.

“So I figured you should hear it and judge for yourself.”

His unusual pause made me all the more curious about what he was about to say.

“I’ve never really connected it before… but I’ve been handling some business related to Ark, and when that name came up, it just felt off.”

“What name are you talking about?”

“Noah Michel.”

Hong Seok-young spoke the name quickly.

“Yes.”

I didn’t understand why he was bringing up that name.

“Noah Michel, I said.”

“Yes.”

“…You really don’t get it?”

“What do you mean?”

Hong Seok-young gave me a frustrated look, then spoke again.

“Ark.”

“Sorry?”

“Noah and Ark.”

“…Oh.”

I finally understood what he was getting at. Hong Seok-young shook his head.

Ark.

And Noah.

It had always been obvious where the name Ark came from. I grew up staring at the pictures of that ship drawn all over the lab walls. The emblem was on the researchers’ chests, on both my father’s and mother’s clothing. Even my brother’s collar had that mark.

An overturned ship, with a mast made from a rusty sword and surrounded by a cluster of black stars.

And the Ark is the ship Noah built upon receiving revelation from Yahweh. It destroyed a corrupt world with water, allowing Noah and his family to rebuild it.

Ark is not a religious group. But they believe only they can awaken this foolish world and guide it toward something better. Depending on how you look at it, that belief is itself religious, and an arrogant challenge.

It’s not religion. In Ark, they don’t believe in a god. Just thinking back to the words of those people who barely resembled parents makes that clear.

But even so, they chose an incredibly religious name.

Why?

To profane the name of God?

To mock religion?

Or.

Or….

Ark is rarely called just “Ark.” It’s usually preceded by the name of the one who built it.

Noah’s Ark.

“It’s such an obvious name that I hope it’s just wild speculation.”

But my father always said:

The things you hope never happen are the ones that always do.

So you should always be prepared for the worst.

I thought about the Noah Michel I knew. When she said she wanted to save people, it didn’t feel like a lie.

But sometimes, you know exactly how far a fervent belief can go wrong. Just look at my parents....

I shook my head to rid myself of the thought.

There’s a very simple way to find out whether or not Noah Michel is connected to Ark.

I looked at Hong Seok-young and said,

“Let’s dig into Sem Bloom.”

***

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