I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

In his defense, Hong Seok-young was in a state of elation upon learning that his disciple from twenty years in the future was, in fact, his son.

It was probably because Woo Hwijae, who had likely hidden the fact that he was his son to distinguish himself from the future Hong Seok-young, had called out for "Dad" the moment things got desperate, relying on him to that degree.

The person Woo Hwijae had relied on was not the present Hong Seok-young. But if the sharp-edged child standing before him had grown into such a remarkable adult...

He had told himself he would never build a family again, and yet seeing the kid whose eyes had gone wide enough to pop out of his skull grow into such a thoughtful adult made him feel that perhaps he hadn't been such a bad father after all.

Yeah.

He was elated.

Considerably so.

"I-rok, hm? How about becoming this ajussi's son?"

"What are you talking about?!"

And ten-year-old Woo I-rok snapped in a surge of irritation and swung his hand.

Smack.

"Ugh."

"Oh."

Woo I-rok stared at his own hand, now planted firmly on Hong Seok-young's cheek, then flinched in shock and hid it behind his back.

Hong Seok-young rubbed his stinging cheek, far too hot for a hit from a child, and burst into loud laughter.

"Ahahahaha."

That despite all that grief, he would have a family again......

......made him happy.

"Why are you laughing?! I'm not becoming your son!"

"Haha, why not? It'd be great being my son."

"What's so great about it?!"

"Well.... I'm really strong, for one."

"My hyung's strong too, you know?!"

"I've also got a lot of money."

"My hyung also...!"

"Then have your hyung become my son too."

"...What?"

"Yeah. You both become my sons, problem solved. A second son and a youngest son. That's a whole house full of boys."

Because he had learned the truth: that the Hong Seok-young who had died in the future Woo Hwijae knew was not some melancholy man who had sought out the one thing that could kill him, but a hero who had given his life to save his precious family.

Holding Woo I-rok, who had been stunned into silence and could only blink, Hong Seok-young laughed and laughed.

*

Woo I-rok admitted that walking all the way to the villa on his own was beyond him, but he stubbornly refused to be carried in Hong Seok-young's arms.

The kid didn't want to be treated like a baby, so what could he do? Se-un had been the same at that age, throwing tantrums about not being a baby anymore. Hong Seok-young shrugged, knelt down in front of Woo I-rok, and offered his back. Woo I-rok hesitated briefly before climbing on.

"Alright, now... ah."

"Hm?"

Hong Seok-young looked at his spear lying on the ground. Following his gaze, Woo I-rok said bluntly:

"That's your spear, ajussi."

"Mm."

"You're not taking it?"

"It'd be better to take... right?"

"Why are you asking me?!"

"Hmmm."

Hong Seok-young scratched his head.

"Nobody else around here can carry it anyway, so let's just stand it up here for now."

"Stand it up? Aagh!"

Hong Seok-young bent at the waist to pick up the spear. Woo I-rok pitched forward with a yelp and clamped his arms tight around Hong Seok-young's neck.

"Oof, I can't breathe. You've got some grip, I-rok."

"Don't just move around like that!"

"Haha. Okay, okay. Sorry."

Hong Seok-young held the spear blade-down. He considered the field of vision of the child clinging to his back for a moment, then adjusted the angle as if simply driving it into the ground. He fine-tuned his mana carefully so that piercing through something wouldn't make a sound.

He reached over his shoulder and roughly tousled Woo I-rok's hair. Having spent his life in the lab, the kid had a strangely innocent streak that made him fall for even simple tricks like this. Or perhaps it was precisely because he'd only ever been in the lab that he was so innocent.

"Don't touch my hair!"

Soothing the squawking Woo I-rok, Hong Seok-young confirmed that the spear was lodged firmly in Sem Bloom's corpse. This way, even in the unlikely event that Sem Bloom opened his eyes again, he wouldn't be able to escape.

Well, it had certainly felt like a clean kill. Still, it never hurt to be cautious. Hadn't Sem Bloom himself said he wasn't human? It wasn't as if there were no monsters that played dead when their lives were in danger.

Hong Seok-young moved quickly so that Woo I-rok wouldn't take an interest in the fallen villain.

"Hey, ajussi."

Perhaps it was his mistake to have jogged at a leisurely, strolling pace out of concern for the child. Woo I-rok, who had been quiet until now, opened his mouth.

"That person from earlier."

"Hm?"

"Is he dead?"

Hong Seok-young's mind raced.

Still, Hong Seok-young was someone who had been a father once. He knew well enough that answering honestly here wouldn't be good for a child's emotional development. That was exactly why he'd been so desperate to leave the scene.

"I told you I'm strong, didn't I?"

The question was whether Woo I-rok would simply take his word for it.

The kid was surprisingly naive, so maybe he would?

"I knocked him out."

"...Knocked him out?"

"He was a mage, you see. So I had to use a lot of power too. He probably won't be getting up for a few days."

"Ahh.... but still, if you just leave him like that, he could run away."

"True."

"Don't just say 'true'!"

"I was going to ask the Daseon hunters to arrest him once we got to the villa."

Woo I-rok squirmed on his back.

"Are those men police?"

"Hm? No."

"Then why would they arrest him?"

"......"

Children are far cleverer and sharper than adults give them credit for. Hong Seok-young almost drifted into reminiscence before catching himself.

"Those men aren't exactly police, but they do similar work."

Elated as he was, Hong Seok-young still had enough sense not to tell a child that Daseon was the Special Activities Division of the International Ability Association. Several hunters affiliated with the Association held investigative authority through international cooperation, and in order to handle illegal Awakened individuals and prevent Awakened crime, they were authorized to shoot suspects on sight without facing punishment. The same applied to Lee Mi-seon and several of Daseon's key hunters.

It had applied to Hong Seok-young too. Though he hadn't been an Association hunter.

"If mages or hunters commit crimes, regular police who aren't Awakened would have a hard time arresting them, right?"

"So the hunter men arrest them instead?"

"That's right. They arrest them and investigate."

Whether convinced by Hong Seok-young's explanation or not, Woo I-rok fell quiet again.

The villa came into view in the distance. Kim Chae-min's magic was still active. When Woo I-rok caught sight of the rose-vine wall encircling the villa, he drew in a sharp breath.

Since he'd been pulled away by Kim Chae-min's magic, he wouldn't have seen the exterior of the villa.

"That's Teacher Kim's magic."

"...Magic?"

"That bad person from earlier tried to sneak in, you see. Teacher Kim was keeping him out."

"......He still got in, though."

Woo I-rok's voice was pointed. One wrong word and the child might start doubting the skill of one of the few Archmages in Korea, so Hong Seok-young scrambled to add more explanation.

"That's because the bad guy used a dirty trick. Didn't you see the roses holding that, uh, that guy? That was Teacher Kim's magic. They were holding him tight so he couldn't escape."

"......"

"That's how I was able to come rescue you, I-rok."

"Hmm...."

Woo I-rok nodded, looking less than fully convinced.

Hong Seok-young pretended not to notice and pulled his phone from his pocket. If he'd been alone, he would have simply cut through Kim Chae-min's magic and walked in, but with a child who hadn't even undergone Awakening yet, he couldn't resort to such a crude method.

And there was something he needed to confirm before bringing Woo I-rok inside.

─Did you catch him?!

Just like before, Kim Chae-min answered before the phone even rang.

"I did."

Hong Seok-young replied without surprise.

"I left my spear standing up. You'll be able to see it easily. Tell the Daseon hunters to go collect him."

─Yes, understood.

Kim Chae-min was perceptive. On top of that, she had chased Ark alongside Hong Seok-young on several occasions. She would have immediately understood what his words meant.

Perhaps because of that, Kim Chae-min spoke up before Hong Seok-young could even ask.

─What about I-rok? Teacher Woo started looking for I-rok the moment he woke up.

"He's on my back right now, eavesdropping on my call."

Woo I-rok kicked Hong Seok-young in the side. It was a bare foot without a shoe, so it didn't hurt, but the kid's temper was something else. Hong Seok-young couldn't tell whether he should be impressed or worried.

It was a relief that the kidnapping hadn't traumatized him too badly, at least...

─Oh, thank goodness! Teacher Woo, I-rok's fine! He's with the Principal!

Voices came through from the other end. The sound quality wasn't great, making it hard to make out the words clearly, but Woo Hwijae's voice was unmistakable.

Hong Seok-young let out a long breath. Only then did he realize he'd been tense the whole time. He'd administered first aid with potions, but the worry had been impossible to shake.

"How are Teacher Woo and Teacher Han?"

─They're both fine. Hye-eun was a big help.

"Yeah? Hye-eun must have had a tough time."

─The potion healed a lot of the wounds.

"Even so, hard work is hard work. Anyway, you can release the magic now."

─Oh, right! I'll release it now. Come on in.

"Don't release all of it, though. Keep it up so no one else can get in, just in case."

Hong Seok-young narrowed his eyes. Alex Hope was still weighing on his mind.

He couldn't fathom the man's intentions. Honestly, the initial attack on Kang Tae-woo had been easier to deal with because at least it was clear what he wanted.

But now? He told them to kill Sem Bloom, then went and rescued him, then turned around and whispered for them to kill him again.

On top of that, he had, one way or another, warned them that Sem Bloom would attack the villa. Loath as he was to admit it, without Alex Hope's warning, the odds of being caught completely off guard had been high. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't be the strongest in a place where he wasn't present.

On the other hand, anything within arm's reach, he would protect no matter what.

The rose wall slowly unwound its vines. The tangled, twisted vines changed shape as if time were rewinding. Their thickness, once as wide as a man's forearm, shrank to thin tendrils. The deep brown gave way to pale green.

The same went for the roses that had been in full bloom. The deep red petals curled inward, becoming pale buds. The buds and vines gradually shrank smaller and smaller until, at last, they became tiny sprouts.

The sprouts vanished into the soil.

"...Wow."

"Amazing, right?"

Kim Chae-min's magic was famous for its splendor. Anyone who saw the roses in full bloom would find it impossible to argue otherwise.

Woo I-rok, who had been watching the magic in open-mouthed awe, turned his head sharply, ears flushing red. Even so, the red ears gave him away, and Hong Seok-young chuckled softly.

"I want down."

Perhaps that small laugh had gotten on his nerves again, because Woo I-rok climbed off Hong Seok-young's back. Since they had already arrived at the villa, Hong Seok-young didn't try to stop him. Woo I-rok gave Hong Seok-young one look, his expression unreadable, then took off running toward the villa.

"......"

Hong Seok-young followed slowly behind.

After sprinting ahead some distance, Woo I-rok stopped and turned around.

Hong Seok-young stopped too.

"What?! Why'd you stop?!"

Woo I-rok planted both hands on his hips and shouted.

"Hurry up and run!"

"......"

"At that pace, when do you think we'll get there?"

Hong Seok-young resumed walking. Contrary to Woo I-rok's demand to hurry, his pace remained leisurely.

Despite looking thoroughly exasperated, Woo I-rok didn't go ahead without him. When Hong Seok-young reached his side, the boy did grab his sleeve and tug, insisting he walk faster.

Just before they crossed through the ruined garden and entered the villa.

Woo I-rok murmured in a voice so small that even Hong Seok-young barely caught it.

"...Thank you for saving me."

And then he called out for his hyung and darted inside.

"Heh."

Hong Seok-young let out a soft laugh as he watched the boy's brash retreating figure.

He couldn't help but understand why he had adopted Woo Hwijae.

***

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