Ch 31
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 31
Teacher Kim hugged me as soon as she saw me, and Lee Seol bowed her head and apologised... When I asked what was going on, they said they thought I was dead.
It was bewildering, but after hearing their explanation, I understood.
It's unexpected.
If I had been Teacher Kim, I'm not sure I would have made the same choice.
I'm a bit upset with Lee Seol too, but considering she ended up accompanying Teacher Kim and came toward me when she thought they'd been spotted by the Ogre, she does have loyalty.
"I just assumed on my own... I'm really sorry."
"It's fine. The misunderstanding is cleared up, so let's hurry and move the monster corpses."
"We'll do it. Shin-hyeok, you should rest."
"That's right, Teacher Kang. We haven't done anything. Leave the transport to us."
"It's fine. I have excellent stamina. And won't it be faster if we all work together?"
The bodies will last for 12 hours so we have plenty of time, but since we didn't herd all the Giant Monkeys together when we killed them, we might miss some.
Together, we moved all the monster corpses toward the portal entrance.
Lee Seol, with her incredible strength, carried one corpse in each hand. Teacher Kim also used magic to float three at a time through the air, so we finished with the Giant Monkeys quickly.
The Ogre was a problem, but fortunately, the joints in its bones had been cut by my sword energy, so we disassembled it into eight pieces to move it.
It took about an hour to move all the corpses that way.
"Teacher Kim, you go out first."
Soldiers stand guard near the portal until it's cleared, but sometimes those soldiers steal monster corpses, so usually one person goes out first to keep watch.
"I think it makes more sense for Teacher Kang to go out first."
"That's right. The leader should go out first at the end."
Honestly, I don't really care who goes first, but I didn't expect Lee Seol to say something like this when she seemed to want to be the leader.
It seems the fact that I killed the Ogre alone made quite an impression on her.
To be honest, although I downplayed it, if the Heaven Demon Sword Technique hadn't worked, I would have had a hard time.
Well, even then it would have just been difficult, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
I said okay and went through the portal, but I was a bit surprised.
Dozens of soldiers were standing with serious expressions.
When we entered, there were only two... What's going on?
Have I caught them in the act of stealing corpses that I've only heard about?
"What's going on?"
"Huh? Aren't you one of the hunters who went in earlier?"
"That's right, but why do you ask?"
"I'm Squad Leader Han Sang-su. What happened to the other hunters who went with you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Did only you make it back alive?"
Ah! They're not gathered to steal corpses, but they think we died because the portal rank increased.
"Everyone is fine. The portal has been cleared, and I came out first to organize things. They'll be out soon."
"What? But that's—"
Before he could finish speaking, the portal flashed brightly, and the Giant Monkey corpses started coming through.
"Could you move aside? I need to organize these."
The squad leader who had spoken to me stepped back and made an urgent phone call. It seems he had requested support because he thought we'd been killed.
As I was neatly arranging the corpses, the soldiers became quite talkative.
"Sergeant Kim, what kind of monster is that? It doesn't look like a Giant Monkey."
"I can't be sure since it's in pieces, but it looks like an Ogre. Wow, I never thought I'd see an Ogre corpse in my lifetime... It's really huge."
"What? That's an Ogre?"
"You must have seen it during training."
"Didn't only three people go in earlier? Not even four, but how could three people... Don't you need at least five A-rank hunters to take down an Ogre?"
"That's what I heard too, but I guess this really was Hong Lee Seol."
"Huh? Who's that?"
"You know Kim Man-dong, right?"
"Isn't he one of only ten S-rank hunters in the country? I'd be a spy if I didn't know him."
"She's his disciple. She's quite famous. I saw the name Hong Lee Seol among the hunter IDs earlier. I thought it was just someone with the same name, but it must have been the real Hong Lee Seol."
"I thought that man killed it."
"Look at those marks. That man uses a sword, but how could a sword make wounds like that?"
"Even if it's Hong Lee Seol, she couldn't have killed it alone, could she? He must have helped at least a little, right?"
All Hong Lee Seol did was help with transport at the end, so I was about to correct them when the portal flashed, and Teacher Kim and Hong Lee Seol came through.
"Good work."
"It was nothing. Why are there so many people here?"
"Could those soldiers..."
Both of their expressions looked concerned, as if they were making the same misunderstanding I had earlier, so I gave them a brief explanation.
"So that's what happened."
"I suppose they can verify from outside the portal that the rank has increased."
"We need to call a company. Do you know any good ones?"
Most monster corpses are processed by a few major corporations, but they don't purchase directly from hunters.
This too is because of monopolies, so purchases are made through other companies. Some set up subsidiaries to mask this arrangement, but most are small to medium-sized businesses.
Guilds have designated companies, but temporary raiding parties like ours don't.
The market rates are similar across companies, but occasionally some places try to lowball you, and if you deal with them regularly, you can get benefits like discounted fees.
"It's been so long since I've hunted that I don't really know."
"I'll handle it. A friend's father runs a place that's definitely better than others. They have many branches, so they'll get here quickly."
As Lee Seol said, the company arrived in less than 30 minutes after she called.
She seemed to know the person who arrived, as they exchanged friendly greetings before immediately starting to inspect the corpses.
Using a small phone-like magicstone verification device, they measured and calculated as we watched.
"So there are 21 total magicstones including the Ogre's, and I'll give you 2,500 for them."
"What? Director Hwang, 50 per Giant Monkey magicstone is fine, but 1,500 for the Ogre magicstone is too low."
"You saw when we checked earlier. It looks like it had just evolved. Magicstones are calculated by their measurements, so we don't make much profit either."
It is definitely smaller than what I saw in the guidebook.
Still, this is unexpected additional income.
"Alright. What about the rest? Honestly, isn't this condition exceptional?"
"It certainly is exceptional. It's my first time seeing Giant Monkeys in such good condition, but also my first time seeing an Ogre in such tatters."
"So how much?"
"Monkeys are currently worth about 25 to 30 each, but given their good condition and quantity, I'll give you 1,600."
"Then what about the Ogre?"
"The bones of the Ogre are fine, but the hide is too damaged, so I can't offer much... How about 1,300?"
1,300 doesn't seem bad.
I searched while waiting for the dealer earlier, and Ogres usually fetch about 4,000 per head.
Of that, 2,000 is for the magicstone, and the other 2,000 is for the corpse.
As the dealer said, the bones are fine, but the hide is completely tattered.
I was about to agree when Lee Seol stepped in again.
"Director Hwang, we brought all the scraps too. Are you going to be like this? You buy all of these as materials for armor repairs, don't you?"
"That's true, but..."
"I strongly recommended you to them. Please save some face for me."
"Fine, then 1,400..."
"Can't you do 1,500?"
"We have to make a living too."
"I'll take 1,400, but you'll waive the service fee, right? We're not just meeting once, after all."
"You're really fleecing me. If you weren't my daughter's friend, I wouldn't be so generous. Let's do that."
I didn't know Lee Seol had this side to her.
Like earlier, I initially thought she was a somewhat cold person, but this is unexpected.
If the service fee is waived, then after excluding just 20% for taxes, that's 4,400?
Just for killing one more Ogre, the profit more than doubled.
"How should I make the payment? Send it to your account?"
"No. Shin-hyeok, please provide your account details. And mister, just deduct 20% for taxes. We're both academy teachers."
"Don't you think it's too much to avoid legal taxes and waive the service fee? Could one of you please show me your teacher ID?"
I took out my wallet, handed over my teacher ID, and gave him my account details. The payment was made immediately.
"It's been deposited."
"Yes. Then we'll be going now to process these. Lee Seol, come have a meal sometime when you're free."
"I will. I'll stop by this weekend."
"Shall we go then?"
"Yes. Oh, please give me both of your account details."
"What? Oh, I'm fine."
"Me too. I didn't do anything."
Both of them waved their hands in refusal.
"But we made an agreement. Please tell me quickly."
It's true that I killed everything myself, but when we entered the portal, I promised that instead of a 1:1:1 split, I would take 80% and give each of them 10% of the total profit.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't reluctant, but without these two, I wouldn't have even been assigned to a B-rank portal.
Besides, they didn't just stand by and watch; they helped with transport, Lee Seol drove us here, and she negotiated a better price.
Although both adamantly refused, saying it was fine, I persistently asked and finally got their information to make the transfers.
"Teacher Kang, I think more money was deposited than expected?"
"Me too. 10% of 4,400 should be 440. But 500 was deposited."
"I initially promised 10%, but our profit increased because of the Ogre. So I added a bit more."
As they said, the original 10% would be 440, but thanks to the Ogre, we made more profit than expected, and giving exactly 10% seemed ungenerous.
We'll be hunting together for almost a month, and if I show goodwill first, they'll probably follow me better.
120 is practically nothing for an investment in the future.
"I feel bad just taking money without doing anything, but if you give us extra like this..."
"That's right. This makes me feel too guilty..."
"Like Lee Seol said earlier, we're not just meeting once. Are we done after today?"
"What? No. There's still a lot of vacation left. I'll continue to join."
"Me too."
"Then don't feel burdened."
***
After returning to Seoul, we had dinner together and then parted ways. I went back to the car with Seon-hwa to take her home.
"Lee Seol, how was it?"
"How was what?"
"This morning you said you'd try it for a day and quit if you didn't like it. Seeing that you said you'll continue, I guess it was good?"
"It was more than good. I didn't do anything and earned 500. Honestly, I'm still feeling guilty and thinking about returning it."
For an A-rank hunter like me, 500 isn't a huge amount, but all I did was help transport corpses and drive.
"It's fine. Teacher Kang said not to feel burdened. It might be awkward if you give it back. By the way, you seemed to dislike Teacher Kang at first, but what do you think now? Has your opinion changed a lot?"
"A little."
I was actually really surprised, but if I say that here, Seon-hwa will definitely tease me.
"He killed an Ogre alone, and you say just a little?"
"You already told me he was skilled."
"Then, defendant Hong Lee Seol, why did you object so strongly earlier?"
"I didn't know then. I've already apologized, so don't scold me too much."
"You should have trusted me when I first mentioned it. Isn't Teacher Kang really great? His face, his skills, even his personality... What could possibly be lacking? Should I seriously try to seduce him?"
"He seems like he'd be popular. Think you can manage it? You're a forever-single."
"You're one to talk, Ms. Forever-Single."
"I've received confessions but turned them down. You've never even received one."
"Is that my fault? It's all because of my dad."
Seon-hwa looked indignant. When Seon-hwa and I were in school, my master was the student guidance counselor who taught boxing while also being in charge of the disciplinary committee.
As a result, he was synonymous with fear among students, so no male students approached his daughter, Seon-hwa.
"Right. And even though you changed your name and hid the fact that you're the vice principal's daughter, you still couldn't get anyone."
"Are you really going to do this?"
"That's why I wonder why you became a teacher who can't even go outside."
"I'm popular with the male students, you know."
"But they're just kids. Don't tell me you became a teacher to prey on kids? Maybe we need to go to the police station instead of home."
"Do you want to die?"
As Seon-hwa and I bickered, we arrived at her house.
"Thanks for the comfortable ride. Huh, why are you getting out?"
"Is Master not home? I thought I'd at least say hello since I'm here."
Actually, I wasn't planning on just saying hello.
As soon as we opened the door, Master rushed out in one step, wearing mismatched slippers, probably because he heard the sound.
"My daughter, why are you so late... Oh? Lee Seol, you came too?"
"We went hunting together today. I'll go change my clothes, you two talk."
I was a bit hesitant to talk in front of Seon-hwa, but fortunately, she excused herself.
"You went hunting? Was it dangerous? Our Seon-hwa isn't hurt anywhere, is she?"
He acts all stern outside, but at times like this, he's just an ordinary doting father.
"Like father, like daughter... No, she's fine. Even if she was hurt, Seon-hwa specializes in healing magic, right?"
"You'll understand when you have a child of your own. Anyway, it's getting late, so you should go."
"I just got here and you're already being cold. Besides, Master, you mentioned last time that there was a position open at the school, right?"
"The open position is for spear arts."
"It's just teaching kids, so with a bit of practice, I should be fine, right?"
"When I told you to do it before, you said you'd never do it even if I beat you to death because teachers don't earn much money and can't go out freely. Why the sudden change?"
"When did I say that? Anyway, my guild contract period just ended, and Seon-hwa has been encouraging me... Is it possible?"