I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

Sem Bloom was dead.

I didn't hear the news until after the situation had more or less been sorted out.

The Dungeon dissipated on its own, just as Alex Hope had said it would. There was no need for us to find and destroy the Core.

Gates forming wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. It was uncommon for civilians to get caught up in one appearing in the middle of a city, but it did happen on occasion.

But a Gate forming right where a group of Hunters happened to be gathered? And the Dungeon getting cleared on the spot because of it?

That was a first.

Hong Seok-young was among the Hunters who'd been swept up in it, so clearing it was never in question. Reporters who'd reached that conclusion swarmed around the hotel. Hong Seok-young shoved through them with a deep scowl before finally giving up.

"Unfortunately, a young mage was caught in the Gate's formation and lost his life."

Of course, Sem Bloom wasn't actually dead.

There was speculation that he'd been caught in the explosion, but there was no body. All that remained was a burned robe. And I, who knew perfectly well why that blood-stained robe had ended up in that state, could only scoff.

"We express our condolences for this tragic loss."

The mention of a death quieted the reporters down. At least they had that much sense.

Then again, it might have been because of the sharp, dangerous aura swirling around Hong Seok-young that refused to settle. Or maybe it was the spear he was still gripping.

Either way, anyone with eyes wouldn't want to provoke a Hunter fresh out of combat.

The reporters glanced around nervously before slinking away. Hong Seok-young swung the spear lazily as he walked through the pack of headline-hunting hyenas and made his way over to me. Maybe it was because Hong Seok-young looked visibly irritated, but after that Bennett guy who'd spoken to him earlier, no one dared approach.

Hong Seok-young only reined in the menacing aura once he was beside me. He was silent for a long time before roughly dragging a palm down his face.

"It was my mistake."

His voice was deflated.

I raised an eyebrow at Hong Seok-young. It was rare for this man to act like this.

"I should've caught at least one of those two. I made the wrong call."

Was he really that shaken?

I let out a sigh. What was I supposed to say when he came at me like that? Not that I was in any position to criticize in the first place.

"No, if we're going down that road, I'm just as much at fault."

Everyone makes mistakes. There's no such thing as a perfect human being.

Hong Seok-young was trying to defy that absolute truth.

"If only I had at least...."

I shook my head.

"Same goes for me."

This time, Hong Seok-young stared at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Naturally, I ignored him. I didn't even listen to my own father.

"I shouldn't have been toying with him when I first broke through the magic."

"How was that toying with him?"

"I was acting on my feelings."

I shouldn't have prioritized my personal anger. That was what gave Sem Bloom the opening. No matter how I thought about it, the only window where he could have called Hope was during that time. I'd been too busy taking my sweet time getting under his skin.

Hong Seok-young narrowed his eyes.

"By that logic, it doesn't make sense that a Hunter of my caliber got trapped by that magic in the first place."

"Mental Magic isn't something you can block just by training against it. That was beyond anyone's control."

"But you broke free quickly enough, didn't you?"

"Well...."

I shrugged.

"Because the memory was too disgusting to look at."

Hong Seok-young started to say something, then stopped. I knew he would. That man was oddly perceptive in the strangest ways.

"Even so...."

And persistent.

Just let it go. We both made mistakes, and, loath as I was to admit it, we'd both let our guards down.

Besides, still...

Everything was shrouded in mystery.

Not a single thing had been clearly defined.

I'd stepped up to help Hong Seok-young, even going as far as playing the role of his disciple, but I never imagined things would turn out like this. It had made me doubt even the time I'd lived through.

"That's enough."

He should have been more vigilant, how could a Hunter of his level be caught off guard so defenselessly, maybe he was getting old....

I cut off Hong Seok-young mid-ramble through his bizarre bullshit.

"Let's just say we both messed up."

"...But that feels unfair too."

Seriously, so fussy!

"Fine, then let's say neither of us was at fault."

"But still, if we'd at least gotten one of those two...."

When I scowled, Hong Seok-young broke into a hearty laugh, as if something about it amused him to no end.

I let out a sigh.

"You're saying we should've killed at least one of them?"

"If necessary."

"On what grounds?"

I looked Hong Seok-young straight in the eye.

"Alex Hope, sure, there's circumstantial evidence he killed people. But there's no proof that he was the one who did it."

CCTV? All that was captured was Alex Hope entering the orphanage. Even if someone latched onto that, he could claim he went inside because of the Dungeon Break to check on things, and we'd have nothing to say. Everything that happened inside the orphanage had been attributed to monsters.

The attack on Kang Tae-woo was the same story. The intent was a bit more obvious in that case. But it wasn't as if there was no way to wriggle out of it. How would anyone prove that Alex Hope had truly intended to kill those children?

With Sem Bloom, it was even worse.

No matter how much the man went around declaring he wasn't human, that didn't make Sem Bloom a monster.

Even if he'd done something unimaginably insane to fuse with a monster, that would only prove he was a lunatic, not that he intended to harm people. He'd been an insufferable nuisance with his combination of Memory Magic and Illusion Magic, but he never actually attacked. In fact, I was the one who attacked. I'd used far more force than the magic he'd cast warranted.

"I don't kill people without a reason."

That was why I couldn't kill him.

Why I didn't kill him.

"Because I'm not a murderer."

Even if a day came when I'd regret not killing Sem Bloom then, I also knew I'd regret it just as much if I had.

That was what I'd been taught.

I avoided Hong Seok-young's eyes. My father would probably smile and say I did well, but I had no idea how Hong Seok-young would react.

I was his son, but to the Hong Seok-young of the present, I was a disciple from the future. He might not want such a soft successor....

"Well done."

Hong Seok-young patted my shoulder.

"If you'd killed him there, I'd have been disappointed in my disciple's character."

...And yet this was the same man who'd nodded in approval when I'd asked for permission to use extreme measures.

Only then did I lift my face to look at Hong Seok-young. He was smiling with eyes full of pride.

A gruff tone came out naturally.

"...So if I had killed him, you were planning to cast me out?"

Was that damned test still going on?

"What?"

But Hong Seok-young widened his eyes and denied it.

"Of course not. How could I doubt my own disciple's judgment?"

"......"

"On the contrary, since you made a difficult decision, it's my job to trust and support you."

Hong Seok-young gave a thumbs-up.

...What an infuriating man.

*

The aftermath of the Dungeon dragged on.

The few who were injured had been transported to the hospital long ago, but the rest of the Hunters remained on-site.

"What were you doing inside the Dungeon?"

Association staff were bustling around, collecting statements from the Hunters. Given how unusual the situation was, they were verifying each person one by one.

Well... explosions during Gate formation were rare enough, but an actual fatality from one? That was a first.

Not that the fatality was real.

"By the way."

Hong Seok-young stroked his chin and spoke slowly. Something seemed to be nagging at him; his expression was dark.

"What is it?"

"I heard there was only one casualty."

"Yes. Sem Bloom."

Perhaps in the original timeline I'd come from, he had faked his own death in a similar fashion.

Maybe not by tearing open a Dungeon like this, but dying during a raid or something along those lines.

"Alex Hope did tell us to kill him at first, but I don't think he'd actually kill the kid after going through all that trouble to keep him alive."

"Well... if he'd intended to kill him, it would've been faster to just do it right there."

"Right. So let's set Sem Bloom aside."

"Set him aside?"

"What about Alex Hope?"

"......!"

"He would've come out of the Dungeon. I broke at least five or six of his ribs, didn't I?"

No matter how tough a Hunter was, that kind of injury meant a minimum of four weeks in the hospital receiving a Healer's treatment.

"But the injured..."

I'd heard there were none among the Hunters. Just some scrapes on hotel staff who'd tripped and fallen.

I scanned the surroundings along with Hong Seok-young.

There was no way someone with a face as distinctive as Alex Hope's would blend into a crowd. If he wasn't visible, there was only one reason.

He didn't want us to see him.

Instead of searching for the invisible Alex Hope, I checked the positions of the Australian Hunters I'd grown familiar with over the past two days. I didn't know the inner workings of the Australian Hunters' situation in detail, but given how frustrated Alex Hope had seemed with them, it felt like they'd always be keeping an eye on him.

"Ah."

The Australian Hunters, who'd been nowhere to be seen for a while, emerged from a temporary tent the Association had set up, walking unsteadily. Chris Wilson was speaking to an Association staff member, asking something.

"Are we free to go now? We'd really like to rest."

"Yes, you may return to your rooms. However, you're not permitted to leave the hotel."

"Until when?"

"Uh, well.... We'll make a separate announcement."

"Hold on, isn't this basically just keeping us locked up?"

"No, I wouldn't put it that way...."

Behind the scowling team leader of the Australian Hunters, a small figure was visible. Red hair, wearing baggy clothes.

Alex Hope must have sensed the gaze; he turned his head.

That same annoying face I'd been looking at for two straight days. But his movements were subtly more cautious than before. Hope drew lines under his eyes with his index finger, mimicking someone crying.

When I pretended not to see it, he started faking a limp. When I ignored that too, he grabbed his own wrist and jutted his lower lip out in a pout.

...What was he trying to do?

"Team leader! I'm heading to my room to rest!"

"What? Hope!"

"I said I'm tired!"

Hope shook off Wilson's hand and slipped into the hotel. Just before he went inside, he looked at us and gave a quick nod....

"I think he wants us to follow?"

"What choice do we have?"

"Let's at least hear what he has to say."

Hong Seok-young nodded.

The hotel interior was chaotic. Hope was waiting for us at the entrance to the first-floor restaurant. The moment he confirmed there was no one around, he burst out in a sulky voice.

"I told you to kill him!"

"What?"

"I had to rescue him because of you!!"

...That was completely unexpected.

"I swear... ugh. Forget it, forget it. Forget I said anything."

Hope made his disappointment blatantly obvious.

Why... why were we standing here being lectured by this kid?

"Seriously... you think I sent you to the bottom of that Dungeon for no reason? If you'd killed him, everything would've been fine without any hassle! Why didn't you kill him?"

Before either Hong Seok-young or I could react, Hope rattled off at machine-gun speed.

"But whatever, what can you do. Kindhearted me has to suck it up. My mom always said that good people have to accept getting the short end of the stick. She said it comes back to you later. Honestly, I think she had a point."

I didn't think that was wrong, exactly, but it certainly didn't seem to apply to Alex Hope.

Hope looked back and forth between me and Hong Seok-young. His gaze was skeptical, but he didn't look like he was about to attack. So what did he want?

"This time, we kill him for sure. Got it?"

"Sem Bloom? Why? Aren't you on the same side?"

"If you want to call us the same side, then I guess we are, but...."

Hope stuck his lower lip out.

"Just because you work together doesn't mean you're on the same side."

"If it's infighting, handle it yourselves."

"It's not infighting. Ugh, if you guys had just killed him, there'd be no problem!"

Hope said, stamping his feet.

"Hey, you guys, you've set up proper security at your homes, right?"

***

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