I Will Save the World and Retire Chapter 322

Guardian (2)

There was not a single shade of gray in her white hair. Her hair, which was unusually fine, did not look like that of an old woman. The old woman, who had her pure white hair pinned up with a clip, smiled gently.

Before I could even react, the old lady hugged me tightly.

“We finally meet!”

It’s a remark so familiar that it’s embarrassing.

“Isabella, let me see my grandchild’s face too!”

In contrast to the old lady’s voluminous hair, the handsome old man has no hair. He wears a dark gray bowler hat on top of his neatly shaved head. Underneath a sweater of the same color as his hat, he twitches with firm muscles that are not appropriate for his age.

Anyone could tell that he was a retired hunter.

The old couple began to argue with me in fluent Korean. They had the awkward pronunciation typical of foreigners, but they were fluent enough to have been using Korean for a long time.

So, maybe these people… .

“No, you’re getting in the way, so go away!”

“You are the one who is bothering me!”

“Stop acting like a child! Look at Taewoo and Sophia. What if they’re worse than those kids?”

Kang Tae-woo’s eyes met over the old lady’s shoulder. Kang Tae-woo shrugged, took his sister’s hand, and spoke to the old lady. His pale, plump face was both pleasant to look at and annoying.

“Grandma, I’ll go see my other brothers and sisters!”

“Oh, okay, I’ll go play and come back.”

Why is he taking this situation for granted?

“Oh, Sophia. I heard you had something for the teacher.”

“Uh, uh. Yeah… .”

Sohee, the girl who now went by the name of Sophia, approached me, her body twisting around as if embarrassed. Thanks to her, the old woman let me go, but I couldn’t tell whether I should be thankful or not.

The old lady clenched her fist at Sophia. Perhaps encouraged by that small gesture, the girl handed me a nicely wrapped paper bag.

“…This?”

“Hey, brother!”

I was taken aback by the unexpected title.

“…what?”

“These are the cookies I baked with my grandmother!”

“… … .”

“It’s my first time seeing your bare face… but I was still grateful back then. Um, ku, it was my first time making cookies! Grandma, you helped me a lot… . I think it’ll taste… okay. I tried it too and it was delicious…”

I realized too late that it was my brother, not me, that Sophia was talking about.

The boy who deserves the shy thanks from the little girl is not the one who only played mischievous pranks. It is the man who wore the mask of a crow and was kind to the children living in the laboratory.

But the reason I am here now is because I have decided to live in my brother’s name… .

“… … Over there, that. Oppa?”

Sophia was cautious while watching my reaction. In the video sent to Kang Tae-woo, she was a child who couldn’t stay still for even a moment and was busy bouncing around.

For the first time, the name of my brother, who may or may not be alive, or who may have died a long time ago, came to me differently.

At first, it was definitely because of my father. Because my father guided me on the right path, and I didn’t want to let down his expectations.

But this child is greeting not me, but my brother’s kindness. I.

I am….

Bam.

The old lady gently wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She was much shorter than me, so it was more like she was barely placing her hand on me rather than wrapping it around me, but the way she gently patted my back was incredibly affectionate. When I turned my head, warm eyes poured down on me. A face that understood everything. A face that said it was okay not to say anything.

A face that says it’s okay to be a little more confident.

A face that has no doubt that everything will work out well.

“… You made it yourself?”

“huh!”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

I stroked Sophia’s head. I did it a little roughly like I did with Uirok, and then flinched. How should I treat girls? Can I… do the same? I treated the Yangseong High School kids fairly, but they’re hunter aspirants. This one’s not like that… .

But Sophia was tense at my touch for a moment, and then her cheeks turned bright red and she smiled brightly. Even in my vague memories of my days at the research institute, she seemed to be a girl who laughed without a second thought.

There is something about the laughter of a child seen through the eyes of an adult, not through the eyes of a peer…

… … .

It dawned on me that I was no longer a child.

* * *

“My name is Isabella Blake. This is Robert Blake.”

The old couple sipped their coffee and greeted each other formally.

“As you might have guessed, we are Seok-yeong’s in-laws. But now, aside from that, we think of Seok-yeong as our son.”

Isabella Blake spoke in a quiet voice.

I couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to call the son-in-law of a long-dead adopted daughter a son. Even her only grandson was dead.

Just because you’re related by blood doesn’t mean you’re family, and just because you’re not related by blood doesn’t mean you’re not. I know that best.

But when I face those two people, I can’t understand what Hong Seok-young was thinking. When he was creating the identity of Kang Tae-woo and his sister, it was Hong Seok-young who first brought up these people’s stories. Really… what was he thinking?

Damn, you weren’t thinking! What were you thinking!

When their eyes met, Isabella smiled softly as before. Her face felt hot for no reason, so she looked away.

Fortunately or unfortunately, this person wasn’t looking at me.

Robert Blake’s face, with his hat off, was clearly visible under the fluorescent lights. Robert was looking around the teachers’ office, stroking his well-groomed moustache. Despite his imposing physique, his face was full of curiosity and mischief.

Isabella noticed where my gaze was directed and nudged her husband in the ribs with her elbow. It was an unwanted act of kindness.

“You…! Can’t you just sit still?”

“No, I heard that Seokyeong created a school… Isn’t that amazing?”

“Stay still for now!”

“Just stay still… .”

Robert shrugged his shoulders and looked at his wife, who was much smaller than him.

Isabella, who had been nagging her husband for a while, turned to me with an awkward smile.

“Anyway, just call me Grandma.”

I opened my mouth. No words came out.

There are many things I want to say. But it is not directed at this person… these people. It is for the annoying old man who is currently playing around in America.

After licking my lips like a carp for a while, I ended up saying something stupid.

“…You speak Korean well.”

Is this all you can say?

But what should I say? This is also a problem.

Throughout my entire life, I have never had grandparents. My biological parents… I doubt that they were born normally after going through the process that other people go through. Grandparents? Grandparents?

The same goes for my father. I first learned of this when I came here, that my father had been in constant contact with his deceased wife’s parents.

Why didn’t you tell me?

… if I think back to my childhood, the answer is easy.

I would have hated it. I hated having someone I didn’t know interfere with my life.

So why am I introducing these people to you now?

“Foot.”

“… … ?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Isabella and Robert burst out laughing at the same time.

As I looked at her in bewilderment, Isabella waved her hand. The way she smiled and shrugged her shoulders seemed similar to my father. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve known each other for so long that we’ve become similar, or if it’s because we’ve caught on to the habits of people we know in common.

“That’s what Quartz said.”

“yes?”

“I guess they’ll start by complimenting me on my Korean skills.”

“… … .”

“He told me not to think anything of it because he was embarrassed.”

That guy is really… .

Robert, who had been laughing beside her, quietly chimed in.

“If he’s Seok-yeong’s son, then he’s our grandson. Where’s the third one? Is he still at school?”

“…Third?”

“He’s Seokyeong’s third son, so he’s the third one.”

I blinked.

“… … Are you talking about my younger brother?”

“Yes. Third.”

“… … .”

Even though it was obvious that I was flustered, Isabella and Robert did not correct me.

This point was also the same as my father.

The soft, bright smile that came every time our eyes met was completely different from my father and sister’s. I felt an unbearable tickling sensation all over my body. I forced myself to suppress the urge to get up and run away right away.

… It’s not that I didn’t like it. It’s not that I didn’t like it.

Just, something a little bit. That.

I forced my mouth open without letting it fall down.

“Excuse me, sir… that is, to your son-in-law.”

“Your father?”

Isabella corrected me with sharp eyes.

“No, that’s….”

“Why your father?”

“My father… … .”

“Ahem?”

“… … .”

I knew instinctively. Even if I said no, he wouldn’t understand. This was a fight I was losing the longer I dragged it out.

I asked, mumbling the words a bit.

“… Yes, how much have you heard about me?”

Still, I don’t think Hong Seok-young would have told me everything without asking.

But aren’t these people Hong Seok-young’s family? The family of my father whom I didn’t know. And I don’t know them either.

“well.”

Isabella was still smiling brightly.

“I think you’ve heard everything there is to hear. Haven’t you, honey?”

“Huh? Um, yeah.”

Robert nodded vigorously.

“Aren’t you Seokyeong’s son?”

“… … .”

“Then it’s our grandson. That’s enough. What else do I need to know?”

“that….”

“No, I should know. What’s your favorite food? This old lady is really good at making one.”

Robert looked me up and down.

“I heard you’re a hunter. Why are you so skinny?”

I?

I looked at Robert with suspicious eyes. Was his eyesight poor?

“Yeah, yeah. Why are you so skinny! You seem to be about the same height as Damon… but you weigh 30 pounds more.”

“Who is Damon?”

“Huh? My son.”

I kept my mouth shut. If these people were his sons, wouldn’t they be dead hunters whose bodies were never found?

As I awkwardly kept my mouth shut, Isabella became even more excited.

“I’ve cooked a lot of Korean food because I feed Hannah. So if there’s something you want to eat….”

“It’s true. It’s really top-notch. I’ll make anything you want, so just tell me what you want.”

“that….”

“I also bought a present for the third child! School? Still school? Can we pick him up?”

“You don’t know our faces yet! Is it okay if we go together?”

“excuse me….”

The old couple who called themselves my grandmother and grandfather didn’t give me a chance to argue.

I listened to what the two were saying with a puzzled look on my face. I had no idea how to react.

Only the weight of the cute paper bag with the pink ribbon in my hand reminded me that all this was real.

Fantasy, contemporary,