The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 163

163. Fog Sea Clan (4)

My younger brother was the kind of child who didn’t require much attention. He hardly ever cried or threw tantrums. He was like that even when he was little, so as he got older, it became even harder to see him cry. Though, when I say ‘got older,’ he was still just a young teenager.

It was the same even after he left my side. By the time I was mostly seeing him on TV screens, there was really no chance of seeing him shed tears. His youthful face quickly turned into that of a steadfast adult. Or so I thought.

“Yoohyun.”

I pulled his trembling body into a hug. I heard a short sound, like a gasp or a sob. What should I do? What did I do when he was little?

I wasn’t much older back then, so I didn’t have any brilliant solutions. I just hugged him. I held him tight and tried to comfort him with clumsy words, and when we were even younger, I would just cry along with him. He was the kind of brother who would stop crying on his own when he saw I didn’t know what to do, and then he’d say, sniffling, ‘I’m not crying anymore, hyung [older brother/term of endearment for an older male]’.

But now.

“I’m okay. I just got scratched a little.”

I was planning to go out there perfectly fine, without a single scratch, and reassure him. But those damn sons of bitches got in the way.

“That bastard is dead. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“……”

“Is your injury okay? Did you get it treated?”

“…Hyung.”

“Yeah, Yoohyun. It’s okay.”

“…It’s not okay, not okay at all!”

His tearful voice cried out.

“My heart hurts so much, I feel like I’m going to die. Hyung, I……”

He gasped for breath, cutting off his words. I felt choked up and parched. I was at a loss, then suddenly remembered the stolen memories. I patted my brother’s back with one hand and took out a bottle from my inventory. It was a glass bottle containing only Yoohyun’s memory beads.

“These are the memories you lost. You’ll feel better when you get them back.”

He’ll realize that there was someone he could rely on when he went into the dungeon. He’ll feel more at ease than when he had to send me off without knowing anything. I hoped he would feel even a little better.

Yoohyun raised his head, which had been lowered. His eyes were red-rimmed. There was a scab of blood on his lip, as if he had been biting it. His gaze at me was filled with all sorts of sorrow. I was very upset by his disheveled face, but at the same time, I felt relieved and reassured.

It’s better than him swallowing everything alone and putting on a calm, nonchalant face. It looks better.

“Let’s get your memories back and go home.”

“…Home?”

“Yeah, home. It’s not our old house, but it’s still our home.”

“Our home……?”

“Of course, it’s our home. Whose else would it be?”

Our home. While my brother was muttering blankly, I opened the glass bottle and took out the bead. As soon as I held it to Yoohyun’s body, it was absorbed and disappeared. His watery eyes blinked a couple of times.

“Do you remember? What I did wasn’t that dangerous, right?”

He was silent for a moment. He just stared at me, his mouth tightly shut, as if he was confused by the sudden return of his memories. But gradually, his fragmented expression began to stabilize. The dangerously wavering look in his eyes also calmed down somewhat.

“…I still don’t like it.”

A sulky voice answered after a long time. My brother’s brow furrowed deeply. I pressed his forehead with my finger to smooth it out.

“Being an S-Class doesn’t mean you don’t get wrinkles. Probably.”

Everyone was still taut even after five years, so I don’t know. Sung Hyunjae, that human, was still smooth as ever.

“I felt like I was going crazy. I felt like I was going to die.”

“Yeah.”

“That bastard could have changed his mind before you went into the dungeon. And if, if you didn’t get help properly. Then, inside the dungeon.”

His voice, which I thought had calmed down, trembled again and continued with difficulty.

“…If you’re left in the dungeon, you disappear without a trace. I, hyung.”

“I’m sorry.”

“…Don’t say you’re sorry. You’re not going to do it again, are you? You won’t, hyung.”

“I’m sorry. But Yoohyun, I’m not going to die.”

It was an arrogant thing to say, considering I don’t know what the future holds, but it was the truth.

“I absolutely can’t die. No matter what happens, not yet. I can’t die.”

How did I manage to save my life? I still have things to do, how dare I end it.

“At least I have to see you get married. And Yerim, too.”

I have an important duty to sit in the groom’s seat. I took out a Ppiyaki handkerchief from my inventory and wiped my brother’s face. How many years has it been since I’ve done this?

“It’s true that I’m weak, but I’m not reckless. I don’t throw myself into hopeless situations. I only move when I’m confident that I can at least keep my life intact. And listen.”

Before I knew it, Irin reached out and bit the end of the handkerchief. She tugged at it as if asking for it, then swallowed it whole. Yeah, you worked hard today too. Eat as much as you want.

“You said it yourself. You’d save me no matter what. I trust you.”

My brother’s expression relaxed slightly. He’s so easy to read when he’s like this. All that time, I really thought I didn’t know.

“I’ll trust Yoohyun and stay alive no matter what. You can see that I’m useful, right? I’m confident that I can make any opponent save me. Whether it’s through threats or flattery, I’ll do whatever it takes. So come and save me. Don’t rush, prepare thoroughly. I can wait forever.”

Even when I had nothing in my hands compared to now. I survived while doing all sorts of reckless things. Compared to the past when even my body was insignificant, I now have an overflowing amount of cards in my hand.

“…It would be best if there was no need to be saved in the first place.”

“That would be nice, but things in the world don’t always go as you want. Even today, I thought it would end well. I never dreamed that bastard would be resurrected as an SSS-Class.”

“And what’s this about Choi Seokwon’s contractor coveting hyung?”

“Ah, that? You know the lizard’s successor, that zombie from back then. He said he’d save the people I cherish if I contracted with him, but I refused. That bastard seems to be interested in you too, so don’t ever accept it even if he asks you to contract. I refused, so you should refuse whatever offer he makes.”

Yoohyun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. I reassured him again not to have any strange thoughts and then got up.

“Let’s get out of here before the gate closes.”

“You said it was our house earlier.”

“Yeah, it’s our house.”

Yoohyun got up. The bloodstains that flowed from his shoulders to his feet were striking. Choi Seokwon, that son of a bitch I should have chewed up and swallowed. I let him go too easily.

“…Can I, can I sleep with you tonight?”

“Is it because you have tear stains? You look about ten years younger, so yes.”

Should I give you a pillow? I can sing you a lullaby too. Yoohyun managed a small smile at my joking words.

“But hyung, weren’t you supposed to be at the Sesung Guild?”

“Of course, I ran away. I lasted a long time considering this?”

“You said you weren’t reckless, but you were wandering around alone.”

“I wasn’t alone. Bellalre with the A-Class poison skill was there, and I used stealth skills too. You’re the one who went to meet Choi Seokwon without me. Let’s not hide anything from each other, okay?”

“I’ll see how you do.”

“You look about ten years older now. You’re old enough to sleep alone.”

I said some nonsense and walked out of the gate. Familiar faces were visible in the desolate landscape. I was relieved that everyone was safe. Kang Soyoung was still out of her mind, held in the arms of Riet, who had returned to human form. Bellalre was also sitting on her owner’s shoulder.

“Choi Seokwon is dead.”

Surprise and doubt were in the gazes directed at me. Anyone would be surprised and suspicious if an F-Class stat person went with a monster that instantly incapacitated S-Classes and came back saying that the monster had been eliminated.

“Of course, I didn’t kill him myself, it was kind of like murder by proxy. I can’t go into detail, but I borrowed someone else’s hand.”

Anyway, Noah and Song Taewon were relieved by my words that it had been handled cleanly. Song Taewon still had a suspicious look, but he seemed to believe it because both I and Yoohyun were unharmed. The truth is that we survived the dungeon.

On the other hand, Riet showed a little disappointment before suddenly saying to me.

“Honey, be good to your brother.”

…What the hell? Why do I have to hear that kind of thing from that human?

“Are you one to talk? You should be good to Noah.”

“You wouldn’t know because you don’t have─”

“Riet Hunter.”

Yoohyun stepped forward, half-shielding me, and cut off Riet’s words.

“Don’t say unnecessary things.”

“I’m taking your side, but you’re so prickly.”

No, why is Riet taking Yoohyun’s side? I don’t know why, but it’s better than being on someone else’s side. Did my brother become likable to her? She has an eye for things, but as a brother, I wasn’t happy. She’s a typical bad influence.

“This time, I also think Yujin-ssi……”

Noah hesitated a little and then shut his mouth after receiving a glare from Yoohyun. Even Song Taewon was looking at Yoohyun with a strange look in his eyes. What on earth did Yoohyun do while I was gone…….

“Don’t worry about it.”

My brother said, as if protecting me.

“They’re just overreacting because they don’t know me as well as hyung does.”

…Well, I was surprised to see Yoohyun crying after so long. Still, it’s unsettling that Riet and Song Taewon are acting like that.

“I’m tired, hyung.”

“Huh?”

“I’m still anxious too. I want to go home quickly.”

“Really? Then we should go quickly. Chief Song Taewon, please take this.”

I handed the memory beads to Song Taewon.

“These are the memories of the people who were shrouded in fog. If you hold them to the right owner, they will be absorbed on their own. I think there’s one for Song Taewon-ssi too. Noah-ssi, please check as well.”

The two went to find their memories. I asked them what they had lost. Noah’s was a memory of Kang Soyoung coaxing him to go on a date while visiting Riet, and Song Taewon’s was three consecutive days of overtime and a missed recycling day.

I’m sorry for the aftermath, but I passed it on to Song Taewon. It was an unprecedented situation where the MKC Guild Leader had turned into an SS~SSS-Class and died, so I thought he would hold onto me or Yoohyun at least once, but he quietly nodded. I’m fine, but Yoohyun is an important witness, but for some reason, he ended up telling him to attend tomorrow.

I received Bellalre and returned to the breeding facility with Noah’s help. It’s good to be home after a long time. I was so tired that I almost hit my head against the wall several times while showering in warm water. If it had been a bathtub, I would have definitely fallen asleep in the water.

As soon as we lay down on the bed, we fell asleep as if we had fainted, without either of us saying anything.

* * *

“You were useless to the end.”

A disappointed voice echoed through the fog-filled tank. Luga Peyeha stroked under his chin with the end of a long, soft tentacle.

It wasn’t difficult to induce that S-Class human to sacrifice himself. But he didn’t expect that he would wipe out his own clan, which he had no doubt would be unmatched in the current world.

“I thought he would naturally ask me for help. But he got away.”

He also tied up the man who felt the trace of the Crescent Moon to confirm him, just in case. He was convinced that the one chosen by the Filial Unpiety [a powerful, influential group] in the current world was definitely that human. So he thought that if he blocked that man, the Filial Unpiety would not be able to intervene.

“There’s no way he could have stopped it with human power right now, is the caretaker the choice of the Filial Unpiety? Why?”

Peyeha slowly tilted his fifth tentacle. Caretakers were certainly rare. But because of the long time and the many worlds that existed, the number that had appeared in the meantime easily exceeded ten. And every time, the Filial Unpiety didn’t pay much attention to the caretaker.

Rather, they regarded the caretaker as an obstacle. This was because there were often cases where useful innate S-Classes showed abnormal behavior because of the caretaker. So it was common to kill the caretaker early on and start managing the world.

The innate S-Class who lost the caretaker was sad in a way that was unlike them, but soon returned to their original nature. Even if they were the ones who raised them, they were different from their own kind from the beginning. There was a limit to the love they gave and received.

So he thought that the Filial Unpiety would not pay much attention to the caretaker this time either. It was unexpected that he had acquired Diarma’s skill, but he guessed that the man related to the Filial Unpiety, Sung Hyunjae, had given it to him because it was related to raising him.

In fact, it was that man who was taking care of the caretaker who had the magic stone. But the caretaker took the SSS-Class Harmless Clan to the dungeon and dealt with them. He didn’t know what happened inside the dungeon, but he thought that the Filial Unpiety had intervened.

In other words, the person chosen by the Filial Unpiety in this world is the caretaker.

“That’s strange~ Is there something more?”

Interesting. Peyeha called his teatime companion. He pretended to make a phone call by holding an object that resembled a smartphone to his ear, which was only in shape.

“Hello, Chatterbox.”

[What’s wrong? King of the Harmless.]

“I’m a jellyfish here. I guess that’s what happened.”

[□□ri, jellyfish. Hasn’t it almost always been like that? If it’s a world with jellyfish, I mean.]

“That’s not the important thing. Help me.”

[Huh? Why? I thought you were going to do it moderately and stop.]

“There’s something special.”

Peyeha lowered his voice and continued.

“I have a feeling. This time it’s real.”

[There’s been less than one in ten times when you said it was real and it was real. And the newbie in that world is annoying. He’s competent for a newbie. He’s not compatible with me.]

“Then find me just one thing first.”

[One thing?]

“The human corpse that the white bird took.”

What the caretaker thinks about most deeply.

[A white bird, I don’t think I’ll be able to find it easily.]

“Since it’s disappeared, it must be kept somewhere. Most likely around a tree where snow falls.”

[That’s a huge place. It’ll take a long time.]

“I’ll repay you handsomely, so please do it as soon as possible. Humans die quickly.”

I also wonder why the white bird took it. Luga Peyeha left a message asking for his help and hung up.