The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 257

“Noah is always real to me. Whether it’s an acknowledgment or anything else, the very idea of him being fake is impossible.”

Before that, would he really become fake just because I thought, ‘Ah, that person is fake’? Sigma… well, he’s a bit ambiguous. Not sure, though.

“Besides, would Noah….”

I almost said, ‘Would he want to stay here?’ but swallowed the words. If this wasn’t a doomed world. Then, which is better, Noah or Mu? It wasn’t my place to say, but Noah had definitely said he was envious.

I turned to Noah. He was looking at Sigma with a slightly stiff expression.

“That you might stay here, what does that mean?”

“It means exactly what it says. If you covet someone else’s position, why not just take it? The current Mu is you anyway.”

Noah’s brow furrowed slightly at the suggestion that there was no harm in trying.

“I am not the real Mu.”

“So what? It’s not like I’m asking you to do the impossible, especially since you’re already sitting in that seat. You’re being awfully spoiled.”

Noah’s face turned coldly at Sigma’s openly disdainful attitude. This might be dangerous. Sigma’s behavior just now reminded me of someone. Like, Liete.

“You only resemble him in appearance, Yoojin. Even the Guild Leader of Sesung is better.”

“Again with Sung Hyunjae. If someone is similar to me, your praise would be unpleasant. Too bad.”

“Enough, Sigma!”

He’s openly picking a fight. Why is he being like that to Noah? Is he upset because he was forcibly dragged here? …Well, he has a point. I guess he holds grudges.

“If you’re not even the Guild Leader of Sesung, there’s no need for you here, right?”

Noah said coldly. Wait a minute.

“There’s a patient here!”

He’s not thinking of fighting here, is he? Noah told me not to worry, raising one hand. At the same time, Sigma took out a chain.

Clang!

The golden chain embedded itself in both walls of the hospital room. Just as Sigma grabbed the taut chain, a round circle appeared beneath his feet. Beyond the circle, an unknown surface of water was rippling. It was a spatial teleport portal. If Sigma, who lacked flight skills, hadn’t used Combat Prediction, he would have been helplessly dropped somewhere else.

“It seems you can’t directly move someone without touching them.”

Sigma said, lightly swinging himself onto the chain like a gymnast. Noah raised an eyebrow, erasing the portal.

“I was going to send you off unharmed. You cannot use combat skills within this ship anyway. Watch your words.”

“Certainly, the current me is weaker than you. So, C-Rank.”

With a clatter, the chain was retracted, and Sigma descended. Then, he came right next to me, who was sitting down. His golden eyes narrowed, filled with laughter.

“Protect me.”

…Seriously?

“What nonsense are you spouting to Yoojin!”

“Nonsense? The C-Rank said he would protect me first.”

At Sigma’s words, Noah’s expression crumpled.

“Is that lie true? Isn’t it?”

“Well, it’s true for now….”

I did say to let me protect him. But I didn’t expect him to actually ask me to protect him. Even if his attack skills are sealed, his stats should still be SS-Rank.

“And the C-Rank is my possession. That’s the agreement.”

“Y-Yoojin?”

“…That’s also true for now. I couldn’t explain the dungeon raid in detail earlier, but they said Sigma needs to be safe. That’s all. We need him to get out, so we’re protecting him.”

“You said you’d take responsibility. Are you already changing your words?”

“No, that’s… Move away a bit!”

I pushed Sigma aside. Even though I’m much weaker, he obediently backed away and stared at me. Noah also looked at me with a somewhat aggrieved expression.

“…Does he just need to be safe?”

“As long as he’s alive.”

The answer wasn’t from me. It was Yoohyun’s voice. My brother, who had woken up at some point, rested his chin on my shoulder.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but.”

“Yoohyun, are you okay? I told them to keep you asleep.”

“Irin woke me up. …What is this?”

I quickly stopped my brother from pulling out the IV needle. He frowned at the explanation that it was a neutralizing agent but didn’t pull it out.

“So, if you don’t like it, you can attack him as much as you want.”

My brother encouraged the fight. He even wrapped his arm around me, preventing me from intervening. No, what’s going to happen if you let them fight here? Besides, isn’t now the time when we need every hand we can get? Losing an SS-Rank when we don’t know what will happen is a big loss.

“…I have no intention of attacking. I was just trying to send him away a moment ago.”

“Noah, I’m really sorry, but it seems we need to keep Sigma by our side.”

“Why are you apologizing, Yoojin? And it’s not entirely… wrong. I’m already insecure, unable to properly hold onto the position I’ve taken.”

“What? No, don’t listen to him! The original Mu is someone else, so it’s natural to feel uncomfortable. Noah is normal.”

Sigma is just being shameless. Noah smiled wryly, looking at Sigma and then back at me.

“Since Hunter Han Yoohyun has woken up, let’s have a meal first. I heard you haven’t eaten properly yesterday and today. All the combat personnel from Akates and Lancia are also on board. The injured are being treated.”

He took care of everyone else too. I got up and approached Noah, who was about to leave the hospital room.

“Noah, I absolutely don’t think you’re wrong. You’re a really good person. At least, you definitely are to me. Myungwoo and the people in the lab probably think so too.”

“…Thank you.”

Noah said softly. He was smiling, but his face was far from bright.

“But I’m not that good of a person. You’re a good person, Yoojin, so you think of me that way. You even indulge my whims.”

“No, that’s not it! How good have you been to me? How can someone only receive unilaterally? Maybe for a short time, but that kind of thing doesn’t last long, and you quickly get tired and exhausted. You’re a good person too, Noah, so am I.”

“Shouldn’t we help Hunter Han Yoohyun?”

At Noah’s words, I reflexively turned around. Yoohyun, who had gotten out of bed, was staring at the IV drip hanging there. Just take it out, is there no mobile IV stand? He probably doesn’t know since he’s never been hospitalized.

“Come with me. The dining hall is this way.”

While I hesitated, Noah left the hospital room. I was worried about Noah, but I had no choice but to turn back to Yoohyun. I found the IV stand in the corner, moved it over, and we went outside together. Sigma also quietly followed us.

“Both of you are up!”

Moon Hyuna was already in the dining hall. Even though it was called a dining hall, it looked more like a small, high-end restaurant than a common facility on the ship. There was a long dining table and two individual tables, and a chef was waiting in the kitchen. The surrounding decorations also looked luxurious.

“The food here is delicious.”

Moon Hyuna said, pouring wine into a glass with leisurely movements. It was as if she had been invited as a guest, not captured. I envied her composure.

“Yoohyun, sit down. What do you want to eat? Can you eat?”

My brother shook his head at the question of whether they should make something for him since the kitchen was open.

“It’s okay. Hyung [older brother] must be tired too. I’ll just eat what’s here.”

Since I have poison resistance, should I feed him? I don’t think Noah would do such a thing, but my brother might be anxious. Noah and Sigma also sat down. The chef came out himself to take our orders.

“We’ve put out the immediate fire, but what do we do now? We can’t just keep guarding the Mana Hole.”

Moon Hyuna said after dismissing the people in the dining hall. As she said, we couldn’t just stay here.

“We need to find Yerim and Peace and finish installing the discs.”

I explained the discs to Noah as well. Even that each of their cities was the installation location.

“Medes is quite far from here. We arrived in a day, but that was because we used spatial teleportation in between. Besides, although my spatial teleportation skill rank is high, long-distance travel is impossible while connected to the Mana Hole.”

Noah said that cutting off the connection to the Mana Hole would consume too much mana.

“You said you were connected to the Medes Mana Hole, right? Can’t we go in there?”

“Well, mana and living beings with mass are different… I don’t know what will happen. I didn’t create the passage connected to the Mana Hole.”

Noah said softly, explaining that he was using what the original Mu had created. He also mentioned that his spatial teleportation skill was still clumsy.

“If you master it properly, it will be very useful.”

Yoohyun, who was eating the steak I had cut for him, looked at Noah and said,

“It would be good for various applications. Especially since Hunter Noah can use poison, it would be possible to directly inject poison into the opponent’s body.”

Yoohyun seems a bit envious. But as my brother said, spatial teleportation skills are really useful. It would be great as a simple support, but combined with combat skills, it would be amazing. At Yoohyun’s words, Noah lowered his gaze to the table.

“That would honestly be difficult. It’s too hard. It seems to be related to Mu’s characteristics.”

“Characteristics?”

“Yes.”

Noah nodded at my question.

“Rumor has it that one of Mu’s ancestors was a spirit.”

-That’s right, a spirit!

Irin suddenly popped out and shouted.

-Rin felt it too. There’s a different spirit in this world than Rin!

“Really? What kind of spirit is it?”

-Probably water. I don’t think there’s any fire. The Mana Hole also had a strong water energy. But it was friendly to spirits, so it was helpful to Rin too!

A water spirit. Yerim immediately came to mind. I wonder if we can take a spirit with us from here. Just looking at Rin, she’s very helpful, and it would be the same for Yerim.

“So, if we go back to the original world, I probably won’t be able to use spatial teleportation.”

His unusually insecure voice stung my heart. I quickly stopped Yoohyun from saying something to Noah, seeing his appearance. Noah has had enough of the whip, it’s too much. I wish he could be treated comfortably even while he’s Mu, but it was pitiful how he drew a line, saying he wasn’t the real him.

He should have much more confidence than he does now. He has the qualifications and the ability.

“Then, wouldn’t it be better for Hyung [older brother] to go install the discs first? Leave this place to us.”

Moon Hyuna said, finishing her glass.

“It’s quick to get to Lancia.”

She said it would only take a few hours by helicopter. The problem was Medes and the remaining two places. Raising his lowered gaze again, Noah said in a calm tone.

“I still think it would be better to give up on Akates. In its current state, it can’t properly function as a city anyway.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame, but let’s move the citizens of Akates to Lancia first. We can’t do anything about the Mana Hole’s anomaly right now. Fortunately, Lancia has the capacity to receive refugees.”

Saying that, Moon Hyuna glanced at Sigma. I also shifted my gaze towards him. The monsters popping out of the Mana Hole, it must be related to Sigma. Sigma was also the target.

Sigma, who was delicately carving out the skin of a roasted pumpkin-like vegetable with a knife, looked back at us as if asking what was wrong. I bet he eats the crust of bread separately too. I want to try feeding him.

“What do you think, Hyung [older brother]? If we take him to Lancia, will monsters pop out of the Lancia Mana Hole too, or not?”

“I don’t particularly want to experiment. Akates is enough.”

What about the innocent citizens if Lancia is turned upside down too? Even if he’s not the real one, I don’t want to see that chaos.

“Hunter Noah, can you throw him far away outside the city for a bit?”

At Moon Hyuna’s words, Sigma put the vegetable in his mouth with a slightly sulky expression. He eats well. I need to make sure Yoohyun eats his vegetables too. Are there any fruits?

“I can go up to half a day’s distance from here. Shall I throw him away now?”

“Feed him first and then send him. This is just a simple experiment, so it’s not breaking the contract. You know?”

“…Can Mu be trusted?”

“I definitely trust him more than Sigma. And Noah.”

“Yes.”

“While you’re imprinting Yoohyun, can I get an imprint too?”

“You can get one, but you said you have a real body, Yoojin. You won’t be able to modify or delete it when you go back. The Mana Hole doesn’t have that technology right now either.”

“I have no intention of erasing it.”

Yoohyun continued, carefully watching my expression.

“I heard there’s an imprint that’s engraved on the entire spine, which is the main mana pathway. I’d like to get that procedure.”