I'll Retire After Saving the World-Chapter 122: Sprouts (2)

TL: SHW

I narrowed my eyes.

“So then….”

Every time I moved my gaze, the children flinched and turned their heads. I looked at each one without missing anyone.

“Ahem.”

“Cough.”

“Kek.”

Where did they learn only the bad things, just clearing their throats like that? I snorted.

At the same time, I felt Mini-me snorting. This kid also learned only the wrong things from somewhere….

“What’s going on?”

From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like anything serious.

Rather, seeing the kids gathered like this puts me at ease. Even Kang Tae-woo, whom I was worried about, is naturally among them. As expected, kids that age become close quickly. My earlier worries about him not fitting in seem silly now.

Next to Kang Tae-woo are Yoo Hye-eun and Yoo Ji-eun. Yoo Ji-eun is understandable, but even quiet Yoo Hye-eun?

If even Yoo Hye-eun is here, that says it all. Though Yoo Ji-eun isn’t an official student yet, still, she can be counted among the current students here.

These are the kids who usually roll around various parts of the villa, meditating or sparring among themselves. Or they would bother the Daseon Hunters to extract raid know-how.

All those kids are gathered here. Even Mini-me is among them.

I looked at the children huddled together. Their black heads flinching under my gaze looked kind of cute and also kind of annoying.

I stared at them quietly and then grabbed Mini-me by the back of the neck and lifted his head.

“I-rok?”

“……”

Mini-me’s lips protruded. He seemed displeased, but it wasn’t a face that was truly disgusted.

If he were, he wouldn’t be hiding so peacefully behind me like this.

What this cheeky little brat wants to do behind my back is obvious. He’s testing if I’ll take his side.

It’s painfully obvious what he’s thinking with that small head. So obvious that I couldn’t even sigh.

The reason he’s clinging to me even though he doesn’t particularly dislike it.

It’s because he hasn’t figured out the power structure here yet. He can’t apply the human relationships he saw at the research lab one-to-one to Pilot High School. If you had to compare, it’s like teachers managing students, similar to researchers and test subjects? But students are way too free for that.

It must be confusing. That’s why he shouldn’t have stayed in the room all the time but should’ve gone out more. Staying inside all the time, no wonder Han Tae-kyung ended up showing him weird cats….

No, wait.

Let’s think positively.

In a different light, him running to me like this is an attempt to gauge the size of the power he’s carrying on his back.

So naive. Was it because he was feeling down since his hyung wasn’t around? There’s also what Kang Tae-woo said to me before he left the research lab. I did say something like “What do you mean, telling him that?” but those words kept ringing in my ears.

'So, lower yourself a bit.'

Amazingly, from his standard, this is lowering himself.

I’m about to cry. Shouldn’t the past stay in the past and not return? Then why am I suffering like this?

…Let’s think positively. Let’s see the hopeful side.

Doesn’t this mean he relies on me that much!

Is that a good thing? It’s certainly better than him suspecting I’m not his hyung.

With drowsy eyes, I looked back and forth between Woo I-rok and the kids from Pilot High School.

“Ahem.”

I should at least separate Hong Seok-young from the kids. That guy’s fake cough.

“Hmph.”

Mini-me isn’t much different.

…Is this why my father kept seeking out therapists while raising me? No, wait. Mini-me hasn’t Awakened yet. Then isn’t this a method I could try using too…?

As expected, parenting should be left to the professionals!

“I-rok. You have to tell me what happened.”

“They keep….”

Mini-me opened his mouth in a sullen voice.

“They keep asking even though I said I don’t want to.”

At those words, I looked at the kids again.

The kids quietly avoided my gaze. What is it. Don’t avoid it. You’re making it seem like you really did something wrong.

Still, among the kids avoiding my eyes, there’s just one. A face stiffly holding up its head and smiling.

Lee Seung-yeon.

Perfect timing. I could just start with Lee Seung-yeon and go through each of them one by one for a consultation. That’s what schools usually do, right? Career counseling and such.

…Don’t they? Let’s say Pilot High School does.

This is originally something Principal Hong Seok-young should be doing. That man? Absolutely not.

“Lee Seung-yeon.”

“Yes.”

Lee Seung-yeon answered swiftly. He didn’t even pretend to gauge the mood.

I subtly frowned without making it obvious.

Being overly confident is also troublesome. I must not forget. He must not become a Hunter.

But judging by how he’s been holding himself back a bit in class these past few days, and cheering on Sun Sun-jin...

I looked at Sun Sun-jin, who was beside Lee Seung-yeon. When our eyes met, Sun Sun-jin slightly shrugged her shoulders and gave a shy smile.

She’s not completely unaware, but it’s not the behavior of someone expecting punishment either.

I looked at Mini-me and the children.

Eleven pairs of eyes were staring at me.

…I’ve handled more than twice this number at the Agency, and I wasn’t this tired then.

“Don’t pick on a ten-year-old.”

“I’m not a kid!”

He is.

I firmly pressed down on Mini-me’s head, who tried to shout back, and quieted him.

“We weren’t picking on him! We were worried Teacher's younger brother might be bored!”

Younger… what? That’s a strange title.

“At his age, playing around is the most important thing!”

“……”

“Staying home all the time is bad for his health.”

Not wrong, but...

Looking at my crumpled shirt, it seemed Mini-me did not agree.

“So we’ve been striving for the health and joy, that is, to improve his quality of life...."

“Have you all been hanging out with Teacher Han these days?”

Somehow, the nonsense sounds familiar.

As expected, the protest burst out from Han Eun-young.

“What are you talking about!”

"Never mind if not."

“Apologize!”

"Who are you to tell hyung to apologize or not!"

“Woo I-rok.”

“Oh my, look at how he gets angry when someone talks to the teacher. So cute.”

“Hyung, hyung! Are you just going to stand there and watch?!”

“Teacher! We’re innocent!”

“It was Lee Seung-yeon who suggested it!”

“Hey, you all agreed too!!!”

The shouting kids were creating chaos.

I looked at Hong Seok-young, who was sitting as if he didn’t even exist in the room.

I knew he wouldn’t be helpful, but seeing him give a thumbs-up with both hands as if to say “Trust only me”...

It made me ashamed that I’m his son.

Was declaring myself his successor really the right thing to do?

I’m already starting to regret it.

***

“So… I didn’t exactly call you in here to scold you.”

“I totally feel like I’m being scolded, though.”

Lee Seung-yeon.

Short build, pale face. There were barely any photos left among the articles you could find online. That’s because Lee Mi-seon had worked hard to erase them so he wouldn’t become a topic of gossip.

Still, she couldn’t erase them all. A few photos from his middle school graduation album always followed Lee Mi-seon around. There was even one on her desk in the Chairman's Office at the Hunter Academy.

A photo of a young, smiling Lee Mi-seon standing with her arms around a boy and a girl.

I’d never looked closely at that photo. But every time Lee Mi-seon spoke about her niece or nephew, she would quietly stare at that photo. That boy in the picture must be Lee Seung-yeon, and given the context, the girl must be Sun Sun-jin.

I don’t know Lee Seung-yeon. He was Lee Mi-seon’s precious nephew, the one who died at eighteen, leaving behind only his name.

…Hong Seok-young said I’m the evidence. The evidence that the future can be changed.

Right. He was right. The Lee Seung-yeon in front of me is not dead. The same goes for Yoo Hye-eun and Choi Jin-woo.

Choi Jin-woo is alive and studying to become a light-attribute mage. Yoo Ji-eun, who had sunk into depression after losing her sister, is now stuck to her side, chatting away.

And Lee Seung-yeon.

“My little brother asked me to say something to you all, so I figured I should, just to save face.”

“You’re softhearted, Teacher.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, doing something just because your younger brother asked you…”

“Then should I scold a ten-year-old?”

“If you spoil a kid too much from a young age, it messes with their character…”

“Enough.”

I clicked my tongue.

Lee Seung-yeon closed his mouth.

I silently observed him.

Even when sneakily gauging my mood, if our eyes met, he’d flash a big grin. If I raised an eyebrow, he’d drop the corners of his mouth again and pretend to reflect without even knowing what he’d done wrong.

If I let out a small chuckle because it was funny, his confidence would bounce right back and he’d grin again along with me.

Even if my eyes were on the soles of my feet, I wouldn’t think he was someone who had died. A kid that full of life?

How could I ever have thought he was dead after seeing that?

Just like I was proof to Hong Seok-young that the future could be changed, the proof that the past could be changed was standing right in front of me.

I’ve already changed it.

I saved at least fifty lives that would’ve otherwise disappeared by now.

That snowballed and rolled all the way to this point. No. 3, who wouldn’t have been at Pilot High School, is now laughing and chatting under the name Kang Tae-woo.

I mustn’t forget about Kim Chae-min either. The ill-fated archmage who died to a Siren. While the date of Kim Chae-min’s death hasn’t come yet, at the very least, the Siren who killed Kim Chae-min is no longer here.

I have already changed the past. Then the future will change too.

“Teacher. Your gaze is a little intense.”

“Just stay still. I got a bit sentimental for once.”

“Why would you be sentimental… ah, yes. Right. Thank you for pretending not to notice I went to Yeosu. I never thanked you for that… I almost became a total ungrateful bastard. I, Lee Seung-yeon, am not that kind of guy.”

“You really are hanging around Teacher Han, huh? The way you talk...”

Hong Seok-young even gave Han Tae-kyung a probation period. Since he wasn’t entrusted with teaching anyway, Han Tae-kyung was assigned dungeon cleanup duties around Pilot High School to pass the time.

Lee Seung-yeon responded with a strange expression.

“…Is it that similar?”

“The vibe?”

“…If you ride in the same car with Teacher Han for five hours, you end up like this.”

I frowned.

“Don’t tell me even Tae-woo turned out like you?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“It’s fine to get along, but don’t teach him weird stuff...”

“Teacher. Do you really not trust me?”

Lee Seung-yeon asked with wide eyes.

“You took him along with you when you ran away.”

“Ah, that. I had a lot on my mind.”

“If you think twice, all ten of you might run away together next time.”

“I’m not that reckless.”

Lee Seung-yeon answered with a sheepish grin. Not a face I could put any trust in.

We first met when he was trembling in Myeong-dong, right? Back then, while saving them, I never thought things would turn out like this. Life’s strange like that.

Still, better to see him cheerful now, even if it’s because of Han Tae-kyung’s influence, than sniffling in a shabby container classroom.

I crossed my arms.

“So? What’s this really about?”

“It’s not that big of a deal…”

“Should I rephrase the question? What’s this about involving my little brother?”

“That’s also not really a big deal…”

“If it’s not a big deal, then it’s fine to talk about it.”

“Uh…”

Lee Seung-yeon scratched his cheek.

“Well, that is…”

“That?”

“Umm, I was planning to tell you anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s just…”

“It’s just?”

“It’s just…”

Lee Seung-yeon hesitated forever before finally opening his mouth.

“We’re trying to start a club!”

***

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