The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 507

With a thud, Hwangrim was thrown to the floor. Kyul rushed to Hwangrim, who was feigning pain and lying still. Then, he smacked Hwangrim’s cheek hard with his front paw, though Hwangrim didn’t even feel ticklish.

“He’s cute, I must admit. I want a dragon like that too.”

Kyul lifted his two front paws and repeatedly slapped Hwangrim’s cheek as if drumming on it. He seemed quite upset about having his head patted.

“I’ll return this.”

Song Taewon said, removing the bracelet. His fingertips trembled faintly as he took off his equipment.

“…Mr. Song?”

At my call, Song Taewon stopped moving and sighed briefly. He tried to say something but closed his mouth again. His expression was heavy, and…

He seemed faintly frightened.

“Um, I’m fine.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Oh, let’s go inside first. There’s a place to rest, and we can’t just stand outside all the time. We need to dry our clothes too.”

I wondered if there was a fireplace in the drawing room. Urging them to hurry inside, I nudged Hwangrim, who was still sprawled out, with my foot. *Your legs are fine, get up and walk.*

*He must be quite shocked in many ways.*

Between the words Hwangrim had said and whatever that soil was, and coming to protect me only to be subdued instead… it was the opposite of what should have happened. It must be hard for Mr. Song to bear, given his personality. As I entered the mansion, thinking I should offer him something to drink.

“Master, are these guests?”

Number 71, in Yuhyun’s form, appeared. Oh, wait. I forgot. No sooner had Number 71 called me Master than Kyul, Hwangrim, and even Mr. Song turned to look at me. Hwangrim looked very surprised.

“Wow, I’m speechless.”

“What, what!”

“Our Jin is really… amazing.”

Hwangrim nodded emphatically and raised his shackled hand, giving a thumbs up. *What on earth is he thinking!*

“This isn’t my doing! I mean, it’s not something I did, it’s a basic function here, it just reads my mind arbitrarily─!”

“That sounds even more amazing. It means it’s your true feelings. Deep down, you wanted your younger brother in a suit to serve you as Master.”

Hwangrim was spouting nonsense.

“That’s not it!”

“It’s okay. There are as many desires in the world as there are people. It’s quite common for a brother to want to boss around his younger brother. But even calling him Master, hmm. You’re really something. You like being tied up, kidnapping is your hobby, and your brother…”

I wanted to grab Hwangrim by the collar as he rambled on, but my clothes were all torn, so I grabbed his neck instead. It’s disgustingly thick. My heart was shaking him, but in reality, I was just hanging on, so I let go and stepped back. *Damn it.*

“I just like my brother the most! That, the Master thing, is just basic! It’s a helper system. I tried to change it to Sunghyunjae, but I didn’t have the ability!”

“You wanted to hear Sunghyunjae call you Master.”

“No, that’s─… Honestly, there are probably a lot of people besides me who want to hear it.”

And I’ve already heard it. At my words, Hwangrim nodded, agreeing.

“The Seseong Guild Leader is the Seseong Guild Leader, but what about the civil servant? Someone who would never say that kind of thing is even more thrilling.”

“That…”

I inadvertently turned my head and met Mr. Song’s eyes.

“…”

“I was going to change it to Sunghyunjae, Sunghyunjae.”

“…Does it have to be in human form?”

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, I could have it transform into a different form. Why didn’t I think of that? A dog or a cat, or even just a smart device would be fine.

“You’re really sincere about your brother.”

“Hey!”

“Don’t you like your brother?”

“Of course, I like him!”

“You’re just embarrassed. I’ll tell the Haeyeon Guild Leader for you. That your brother─”

“Just shut up.”

“What you desperately want. He dotes on his brother, so he’d probably call you Master.”

“Oh, yeah. Go ahead and blab. Do you think Yuhyun will stand still? Your head will roll first!”

“Wouldn’t he at least listen before cutting off my head?”

…Yuhyun might actually do that. My brother is more innocent than he looks. He knows it’s just teasing, but if this nonsense spreads, I won’t be able to show my face. Yuhyun will purely be sincere, Sunghyunjae will sincerely tease, Hyuna-ssi will actively tease, and Yerim will join in to tease Yuhyun.

“…Should I bury you here?”

“Please spare me.”

“That level of magic power would be helpful for maintaining the space. If you wish, I can tell you where to bury him.”

Number 71 said calmly. Hwangrim looked back and forth between Number 71 and me.

“You seem a bit like your brother in personality? You’re ruthless.”

“Am I not a guest, but a creature for charging?”

“No, you’re a guest for now.”

I quickly waved my hand and answered.

“That doesn’t mean we have to treat you well.”

I can’t stand seeing Number 71, in my brother’s form, bringing tea to Hwangrim. Depending on the situation, I might just bury him. More than that, it’s possible to charge with a creature that possesses magic power. In this case, it wouldn’t have to go through me? No need for control either? If necessary, I could catch a few monsters and bury them. Even if it’s a monster, burying it alive feels uneasy.

I told him to shut up and follow me, and moved to the drawing room. Hwangrim babbled from behind, saying I could use him and he’d allow it. Still, thanks to that, Mr. Song’s gloomy mood seemed to have improved a bit. …I hope he doesn’t misunderstand.

“Please, sit down! Would you like to take off your clothes to dry them?”

“Jina, my pants are wet too.”

“Stand in front of the fireplace. Or should I light you on fire?”

“It’s alright. I’ll stand, so the sofa doesn’t get wet.”

“It cleans automatically here!”

Probably. After forcing Mr. Song to sit down, I asked Number 71 to return the remaining items to their original places and boiled water. I don’t know what kind of tea this is, but I hope it’s okay to drink.

“The peddler will kneel on the floor.”

He already took over the sofa. I told him to get down immediately, but he didn’t even pretend to listen. Seriously, that guy.

“Where is Park Hayul? Surely that fake skill can’t copy multiple people’s skills at once. Yuhyun copied Willow Leaf [a movement skill] and then contacted Park Hayul, right?”

If he could steal everyone’s skills, he’d be on par with an L-class [the highest hunter rank]. Practically invincible. But Hwangrim didn’t use either the flight skill or the Willow Leaf skill and fell into the water. So, one at a time. That seems to be the limit.

“However, Park Hayul’s skill won’t be very effective with just one.”

“It’s true that stealing skills used to attack me is limited to one at a time,” Hwangrim rattled on. “Duplication is possible without mutual consent. But you can get up to three skills for a price.”

“…Is that skill’s name ‘Fake Peddler’?”

A dodgy merchant who trades but also makes and sells knockoffs of other people’s stuff. He has a skill just like him. Anyway, it seems he can’t steal skills unless they’re used aggressively against Hwangrim.

“There’s a limit to the grade too, right?”

“You know well.”

“Is it around A-class at most? So, who did Park Hayul disguise himself as?”

“He already ran away.”

“…What?”

“Hyung would never kill me, but he was scared of the surrounding S-classes [high-ranking hunters], so he made a deal with me. To release him instead.”

What confidence, thinking I would never kill him.

“It can be *released* even if it’s not your skill?”

“That’s the condition we made in the deal. Stolen skills last for an hour, and traded skills last for 24 hours, so there’s not much time left.”

“Then release it right now! You used the skill I gave you to release, you scammer.”

Hwangrim smiled and rolled his eyes as if bringing up the skill window.

“Okay, done.”

At those words, I immediately turned on the Fear Resistance skill again. Then I looked at Hwangrim. …He really has a good body, well. I can’t really tell just by looking at him, but, Park Hayul, that damn bastard. Good, seeing that he’s annoyed and angry, it seems the skill has been released for sure.

“Can you apply it to the same person again?”

“A month after the release. So, I recommend getting rid of him before then. It seems you’re quite weak against that skill, Jin.”

Fear Resistance was the biggest problem. Normal mental skills would prevent me from being affected, but the kind Park Hayul has makes me even more susceptible.

“I intend to do that without you telling me.”

As soon as I get out of here, I’ll issue an arrest warrant with the cooperation of the government and the association. When I looked at Mr. Song, he nodded slightly as well.

“He’s the main culprit in Han Yujin’s kidnapping, so cooperation is possible. He’s also a criminal we need to arrest first.”

I’ll make sure he can never show his face again. Then the chances of getting hit by the skill will decrease.

I poured the boiled water into teacups. Just in case, I drank some first. It was a slightly sweet and clean tea. I gave a cup to Mr. Song and took a few more sips myself.

“What about me? There seems to be a lot of water left.”

“Ah, this is for torture. I’ll be pouring boiling water on your head and interrogating you soon, so please wait a moment.”

His body is S-class, so it’ll just be hot. I finished my tea and stared at Hwangrim, who was sitting quietly. The restraints can only be used here, so I need to ask everything I need to know before leaving. The SS-class restraints have an option that prevents the use of attack and movement skills below SS-class. In addition, they reduce strength and agility stats by half. Even so, if he’s an S-class hunter, he’ll still be stronger than a mid-level hunter, but that’s still something.

…Should I take one of those? It’s good, but if it gets stolen, it could be troublesome for us too. There weren’t restraints that good even before the regression. Those kinds of special items were rare. However, if they were to be taken away, it could be difficult for us.

“So, Mr. Hwangrim. The reasons you attended my gathering are, 1. To contact Park Hayul and trade skills, releasing the mental skill that was cast on me. 2. To kidnap Mr. Song. Are those the two reasons?”

“1 is a side job.”

“Nothing else?”

“I’m a diligent businessman, even if I don’t look like it.”

I approached Hwangrim and held out the kettle. Then, instead of Hwangrim, Song Taewon stood up from his seat.

“Han Yujin-ssi could get hurt.”

“Civil servant-ssi, worry about me too.”

“Boiling water won’t do more than slightly redden the skin of an S-class hunter.”

I also have grace. Still, he could get a slight burn. I put the kettle down on the table and took out the contract instead.

“If you honestly answer only the truth, I’ll spare you. Sign here. The condition is that if you lie, your right pinky finger will turn blue.”

“You’ll spare me even without signing the contract?”

“Suit yourself.”

Hwangrim shrugged and took out a pen to sign the contract. As soon as the contract was made, I asked again.

“Who did you get that soil from? What exactly does it do?”

“I’d say it’s soil that cultivates seeds to create a lunar eclipse. I don’t know the details either.”

“Seeds?”

“For now, he’s a human from this world.”
Hwangrim raised his shackled hands and pointed towards Song Taewon. Song Taewon’s shoulders flinched slightly.

“It’s a world where transcendents [beings beyond human comprehension] can’t directly intervene. So, he planted a seed with a faint but definite direction of growth. It’s hard to lead him to swallow the moon with just the instinct of the Origin, so he’s providing assistance.”

So…

“A transcendent helped the White Star and the Origin? Mr. Song…”

To create him. I hesitated to say it directly in front of the person involved. To summarize.

The Crescent Moon created the small moon, Sunghyunjae, to eliminate the Origin. And the White Star asked another transcendent for help to allow the Origin to create an antibody, Song Taewon.

And before the regression, Sunghyunjae, the small moon, was about to be completed but was stopped by Song Taewon, and I regressed to the present.

“Then that transcendent…”

Is he trying to recover Mr. Song? I inadvertently glanced at Mr. Song. He was sitting quietly with a calm expression, but it was still hard to say. I lowered my voice as much as possible and asked Hwangrim.

“The person who ordered you to kidnap me, is that transcendent?”

“You could say that.”

“…Why now?”

“Who knows. Did he make a deal with the Crescent Moon?”

“Who is that transcendent? Even if it’s not their real name, they have a title, right?”

It could be a transcendent I know. Even if it’s a name I don’t know, I can ask the newbie. Hwangrim tilted his head slightly and answered.

“The Puppeteer.”

…I don’t know who it is, but it’s not a name that comes across very well.

“When, where, and how did you get in touch?”

“It’s hard to tell you all of that. But my feeling is that he doesn’t seem to have bad feelings towards you, Jin. If anything, it might be the opposite.”

“What?”

“He seems quite interested in you.”

Hwangrim said with a grin. If it’s a benevolent transcendent, I’d be happy, but why me?