Chapter 924: Side Story – Teacher’s Grace (2)

Time has passed since those distant memories, and now.

About five years have passed since I graduated from Hunter Training High School, and now I stand before the old school’s infirmary with a slightly fluttering heart.

‘…I’m a little nervous visiting after so long.’

I hope she hasn’t transferred to another school or anything.

I did check the school website, and it says she’s still working there. But those kinds of websites can sometimes be a year or two behind.

‘I wanted to surprise her with a spontaneous visit, so I didn’t contact her beforehand.’

…If she did transfer, I guess I’ll just have to contact her and find her from there.

With that thought, I carefully knocked on the infirmary door, and following the voice from inside, I opened the door and stepped in.

-Knock, knock.

“Who is it? Come on in.”

-Creak.

Following the familiar voice, I opened the sliding door and entered. There sat the school nurse, in the familiar uniform I remembered from my school days, in her infirmary chair. Seeing her long-missed face after all these years, a rush of emotions surged within me.

“Huh? Sung Taekyung?”

“…You remember me?”

“If my memory were so bad that I couldn’t remember you, I should quit teaching.”

She had a point. There probably weren’t many students from Gangdong District’s Hunter Training High School who left as strong an impression on her as I did. Especially since I’d been appearing in the media frequently for various reasons lately, there was no way the school nurse, who had such a deep connection with me in many ways, wouldn’t remember me.

“Wow, it’s been a while. Two years since graduation?”

“About two years since my supplementary graduation, and four years since my official one.”

“Time really flies. Just checking, you didn’t come here injured today, did you?”

“Of course not. Besides, I know how to use recovery spells now, so I’m fine.”

“They say you’re a multi-awakened, and you have a recovery-type awakening ability too? Holy power is a different kind of force from stamina or magic, so they shouldn’t be compatible at all.”

“If you find that hard to believe, should I show you? Like, if I just lightly cut my palm with a knife here…”

-Thwip.

“…No, I believe you, so don’t.”

I jokingly pretended to bring the utility knife on the desk towards my palm, but true to her role as a nurse, she immediately grabbed my wrist to stop me.

“It was a joke. Even so, would I really cut myself and draw blood right in front of you, Teacher?”

“If it’s a joke, make a joking face. When you say things like that with a blank expression, anyone would get spooked.”

“And honestly, whether you believe me or not doesn’t really matter with you, Teacher.”

“Hmm, why? Since you’ve graduated, I’m just an irrelevant outsider now, is that it?”

“Never. It’s just that you’ve always been the teacher I respect the most in my heart.”

“…So you became a Guild Master, huh? You’ve certainly learned how to talk smoothly.”

Still, seeing her smile at my words, it seemed my comment was quite pleasing to her, by her standards.

“Ah, this is a gift. Since Teacher’s Day is coming up soon, I felt bad coming empty-handed.”

“What is it, ginseng? Well, maybe it’s because you’re getting older, but your gift sense is a bit dated. I get so much ginseng anyway, it doesn’t really impress me…”

“It’s wild ginseng. Four roots, worth two million won.”

“…Dated gift sense just means you’ve learned how to spend money properly. I’ve been feeling tired lately, so this is perfect.”

With those words, the school nurse swiftly tucked the gift-wrapped bundle under her desk. She quickly changed the subject, perhaps fearing I might ask for it back. I wondered if she might find such an expensive gift a bit burdensome, but I was relieved she seemed pleased.

“Right. Bringing something this expensive to see me must mean you have a purpose.”

“Huh?”

“Let me guess? Hmm, considering you recently formed a guild, Sung Taekyung, the worries of a new guild master are pretty obvious. You’re having trouble recruiting hunters, aren’t you?”

“…….”

“Since I work at Hunter Training High School, you probably thought of me. And since I’m the school nurse, I interact with students often, especially the passionate ones who get injured frequently and show promise. I can pick them out well. How about it, am I right?”

“You’re completely, utterly wrong.”

“Yeah, yeah, I knew it… Huh?”

“I didn’t come for any specific reason like that. I just wanted to see you, Teacher Yang Miyeon.”

The thought of visiting my former teacher at the school just to ask for a troublesome favor never even crossed my mind. It was simply because the school nurse’s help had been significant in many ways for me to successfully complete my three years at Hunter Training High School and graduate safely. I just came to express my gratitude.

“The gift is just a gift. I’m not expecting anything in return; it’s truly from gratitude.”

“…Ahem, R-right?”

“If it weren’t for you, Teacher Yang Miyeon, back then, I might have been bullied even worse by the female Beast-type hunters. I might have even started doubting my goal of becoming a hunter and transferred or dropped out. Thanks to the knowledge you shared with me then, I was able to graduate safely. Now, I’ve become a proper hunter and even a Guild Master, so I had to come thank you at least once.”

“…It feels like I only taught you a few things, though. Ah, well, regardless, it’s great that you’ve become a Guild Master with that.”

Teacher Yang Miyeon smiled awkwardly, seemingly not having expected that I’d come purely to express my gratitude. Perhaps because she was still active as a current hunter using her recovery-type awakening ability, her beautiful smile, unchanged after all these years, made my heart flutter unexpectedly.

“So, how’s the guild management going these days?”

“I think we need to wait and see a bit longer. We’re currently operating with a small, elite group without open recruitment. There are a few people among the members you might know.”

“Your little shadow, Kang Hye-eun, is probably in it, of course.”

“…Well, yes. Besides Hye-eun, Han Min-ah, and her younger sisters Han Jin-ah and Han Seon-ah are also part of my guild now.”

“It’s amazing that Kang Hye-eun, who awakened so early, is still active. And Sung Taekyung, you seemed to have bad memories with Beast-type awakeners, so how did you end up recruiting three of them?”

“It just sort of happened that way.”

It couldn’t be helped. For Min-ah, her first experience itself was unavoidable in many ways. And Jin-ah and Seon-ah were girls who naturally grew closer as they got closer to Min-ah.

“So, have you completely overcome the trauma from your school days?”

“Actually, it wasn’t really trauma back then. I was just anxious about not awakening as a hunter, and I disliked the girls who kept bothering me. Giving myself to them once to help with their heat wouldn’t have been difficult, but once I started doing that, I’d have to do it for the entire student body. I hated that, so I avoided them as much as possible.”

“…The moment you said giving yourself wasn’t difficult… No, no. It’s not right to lecture a graduate. Forget I said anything.”

“I’ll listen if it’s your lecture, Teacher. Though I can’t promise I’ll follow it.”

“You’ve got some nerve. Still, seeing that Han Min-ah and those twin sisters are all in your guild, it seems they’re all dating someone after graduation?”

“……Yes, well. That’s right.”

I didn’t mention that the object of affection for all three of them was me, or that I regularly helped them through their heat cycles. Even though Teacher Yang Miyeon is my mentor, I didn’t feel the need to share all my personal information. And it was probably information she wouldn’t really want to hear anyway.

“You know they all liked you back in school, right? Still, they were good kids. They knew it was harder for Beast-type awakeners to control themselves, so they deliberately didn’t approach you closely during school days, afraid they might do something strange to you because of their heat cycles.”

“I know that too. That’s precisely why we’re still close now.”

“Anyway, it’s good to see you doing so well. Honestly, you were the most worrisome graduate from our school.”

“Because I was a male hunter hopeful obsessed with being a hunter without even awakening?”

“Of course. For a while after you graduated, whenever I saw news about a male hunter dying, I’d check the articles thinking it might be about you. Seeing you now, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case anymore.”

“…Well, naturally. I don’t stick my neck out in dangerous places.”

…Although, technically, I’ve had a couple of near-death experiences during my hunter career. I didn’t see the need to cause her unnecessary worry by telling my former teacher about that after all this time.