The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 532

530. During the Party (3)

‘Ugh, I’m going to die….’

I collapsed onto the sofa as soon as I entered the lounge. Gyeol and Peace came over to me, asking if I was okay. Of course, Peace only made ‘kiyang’ sounds. I replied that I was fine, pulled a cushion over, used it as a pillow, and turned to lie down.

‘…I feel a bit deflated.’

I had prepared in my own way, but there were few areas where I could interject. When discussing with our lawyers, they were considerate and spoke in easy terms, but the other side naturally didn’t offer such consideration. They even presented relevant materials in English as if it were obvious. They did give me a translated version, but since they were fluent in English, I often missed the timing while trying to find the translation.

On the other hand, their lawyers immediately understood Korean. Then just use Korean! Of course, they wouldn’t give up their advantageous means.

– Dad, are you very tired?

– Kkiang.

“No, it’s just… it makes me realize the world of experts is very different.”

It felt like the basic threshold was different. Well, Kim Team Leader said before we started that there was no need for Director Han to worry too much since they were hiring lawyers to handle this kind of thing. I guess experts are experts for a reason. Even experts would fumble like me if it wasn’t their field.

Still, it made me think I should learn English. Or maybe it would be faster to cling to Myungwoo and the new recruits… Why don’t people use the same language? Let’s unify languages in this global era. In Korean.

– You seem to have a fever.

The fairy dragon said, touching my forehead with its tiny hand.

“I’ve been focusing all day. I’m fine.”

How many hours had I been stuck there? It had started in the morning and was already evening. And it wasn’t even completely over. Seriously. So this is what they meant by a battle of stamina. After lunch, I was so tired that my head wouldn’t work properly. No wonder they sent me to rest first. It was the timing to wrap up and see each other again tomorrow…

Seriously, are they crazy? How many pages can they make out of content that isn’t even that long when summarized? They could create a thousand-page book from a single document. Scary. Lawyers are scary. It was a different kind of fear that even fear resistance couldn’t help with.

Gyeol, who had been checking on me, picked up the phone that was on the table. It seemed like Peace wanted a phone after seeing Gyeol’s phone, so I got one for Gyeol too. It was a foldable type so it would be easy to use even in fairy dragon form. It half-opened the phone, set it up on the table, and started fiddling with it quite skillfully.

– That bad guy is being deported today.

“I told you not to surf the web too much.”

– It was a main article, so I saw it.

Should I have blocked the internet even if I gave it the phone? Unlike Peace, Gyeol can read Korean. I also took out my phone and checked the organized files I had saved. There were many discussions about compensation issues, and several clauses were added.

‘Not directly requiring sacrifices from participants.’

This was also newly added. Sung Hyunjae and Noah brought it up. For example, it meant they shouldn’t create situations where one of the participants had to die to pass. In this kind of situation, the weakest, the F-rank, would be the most disadvantaged, so it was essentially a clause to protect me. And one more thing.

‘Not disadvantaging participants through majority vote, either.’

This was also the most necessary content for me. Among the participants, there were some on my side, but what if there was a viewer vote? Just imagining it made me want to cry.

‘I’m glad I entrusted it to them.’

I almost got torn to shreds from the very beginning of the party. However, they said that even if they dug in and blocked it like this, I shouldn’t be relieved. People who find loopholes in the law keep appearing. It’s easier to break through than to block.

At that moment, the door opened and Sung Hyunjae came in. With his hair neatly styled up and glasses on, his calm suit made him look more like someone who was a big shot in the legal world rather than a guild leader. Especially on the corporate side. The atmosphere is important in these kinds of situations. It would be easy to overwhelm them with S-rank intimidation, but that was naturally prohibited.

“Totally, like, what’s it called.”

– He looks like a nerd.

Gyeol said, snorting. Where did you learn such words?

“You still don’t look well.”

As Sung Hyunjae approached me, Gyeol slammed the phone shut and stood in front of Sung Hyunjae as if to protect me. Peace, who had been lying under the sofa, also raised its head.

– Peace, bite him!

– Grrr.

Peace glared at Sung Hyunjae as if it was bothered by him. But of course, it didn’t bite.

“It’s good to consume some sugar.”

Saying that, Sung Hyunjae held out the box he was holding. He couldn’t have gone out and come back, so did he have a subordinate prepare it? I opened the box, soothing the disapproving Gyeol. Colorful macarons were neatly arranged inside.

“Here, Gyeol.”

– Gyeol won’t be swayed with things like that. It’ll eat it because Dad’s giving it.

Gyeol said coldly, accepting the mint-colored macaron. It’s good to have something sweet when you’re tired. Sung Hyunjae sat next to me and took off his glasses. He wasn’t nearsighted, of course, he was wearing glasses because his eyesight was too good, like Noah. It wasn’t to Noah’s extent, so he didn’t usually need to wear them, but today he had to look at dense text all day.

Thanks to that, not only Noah and Sung Hyunjae, but also Chief Song and Hyunah wore glasses today. They didn’t need them, but it was convenient to have one. Yoohyun probably has one too, I should buy one for Yerim. When Yerim becomes a high school senior, she’ll be studying all day, won’t she? Maybe not.

“I wanted to limit even indirect demands for sacrifice, in addition to direct ones.”

“Then the scope becomes too broad. You could argue that even just putting two snacks in front of two people and making them yield is an indirect demand for sacrifice.”

“Usually, they would each eat one, but Han Yoojin wouldn’t.”

“I’ll eat them too, though.”

“If eating the snacks raises stats, and Young Master or Little Miss are next to you?”

“That’s… it’s more beneficial in the long run for the kids to eat them.”

That’s right. It’s much better to make Yoohyun or Yerim SS-rank than for me to raise my stats to E-rank or D-rank. Sung Hyunjae looked at me as if to say, ‘See?’ But this is a really rational judgment.

“Especially with those marks on your neck.”

I reflexively touched my neck. I had shown off the still-visible bruises to the Chatterbox representatives as if to say, ‘Look at the damage Chatterbox caused me.’

“…I already got scolded by the kids.”

“Even so, Han Yoojin would act the same way in the same situation.”

“But, it was a really good opportunity. It wasn’t dangerous either.”

– …Dad, don’t let him take his side.

Gyeol grumbled with a very swollen face, and Sung Hyunjae wore a disgustingly benevolent expression.

“Sung Han─”

– Aaaagh! Ack! Ack! Ack!

Gyeol threw the half-eaten macaron at Sung Hyunjae with all its might. Sung Hyunjae lightly caught the macaron and offered it to Gyeol with a gentle attitude. The fairy dragon shuddered and ran to my shoulder, the opposite side of Sung Hyunjae.

“I told you not to tease me.”

“I’m being kind. I even accepted it as a small price. As my teammate.”

Gyeol’s groaning sound was faintly heard. Oh dear.

“As a guardian, I haven’t allowed it yet. Gyeol doesn’t have to go, you know?”

Chatterbox wasn’t the King of the Harmless, but you never know. They might be curious about the existence of a unique fairy dragon. Moreover, Gyeol had contributed to the death of the King of the Harmless… I wanted to tell it not to come at all, but Gyeol’s stubbornness was considerable. It insisted on following me even more because I was going alone.

At first, it even insisted on going with me pretending to be a pet monster, not a teammate. It was impossible because the invitation counted other races as one person.

“Director Han, are you okay?”

The door opened again, and Moon Hyunah and then Song Taewon entered the lounge.

“Where’s Noah?”

“Seeing off the Chatterbox representatives. He said he would be better than Chief Song and took over instead.”

Noah had shown a more skilled side in this matter than I had imagined. The French hunter world was similar to the Anglo-American legal system, and as the leader of a support guild, he had many legal entanglements because of Liet. In fact, among domestic hunters, he probably knew the hunter world’s laws in that area as well as Sung Hyunjae.

Liet wouldn’t have solved it with the law. That’s why Noah must have suffered even more.

“What did Sung Hyunjae say again to make our little dragon’s cheeks so puffy?”

“I was proposing to Director Han Yoojin.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], if it’s more than a dozen years apart, you’re a son of a bitch.”

Moon Hyunah sat next to me, laughing.

“Of course, it’s dog barking [nonsense]. And I’m thirty.”

“Really? Do you like younger men?”

Suddenly, I wondered what was going on, and then I met Hyunah’s eyes. Her eyes, smiling as she looked down at me. Younger, so, since I said I was thirty… I felt like my neck was turning red.

“Ah, really, don’t tease me.”

“Don’t you like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it… Anyway. Really, truly.”

I know it’s a joke, but it’s still bad for my heart. If Hyunah says ‘younger’ with that face and expression….

“Um, Chief Song also knows a lot about foreign hunter laws. I was a little surprised.”

“…There was a need to know.”

Song Taewon said with a sigh. It must be because of Sung Hyunjae. Sung Hyunjae said, ‘Chief Song is very capable,’ pretending he didn’t know anything, and Moon Hyunah laughed heartily.

“Chief Song really suffered when Sung Hyunjae started causing accidents overseas. I even gave him a ride on a private plane.”

“You did, Hyunah?”

“I happened to have something to go out for. If Sung Hyunjae causes an accident, what can civil servants or association employees who aren’t S-rank do? It was all Chief Song’s responsibility. He was cute back then. He even had a lost child look on his face for a moment?”

I’m sorry to Chief Song, but I wanted to see it too. When Chief Song first went abroad and was wandering around because of Sung Hyunjae, he must have felt really lost.

“Hyunah is also good at English.”

Yoohyun had entered the dungeon raid that had been postponed, so Yerim was originally supposed to come with Noah and accompany me. But Yerim said to Hyunah, ‘Unnie [older sister], I’ll raid the dungeon for you instead!’ and asked her to take care of me.

“Even so, many places overseas wanted me. Before awakening, I mean.”

“…Should I study too, after all?”

“It’s never bad to do so. But for now, you can entrust it to others, but go to college.”

Moon Hyunah said seriously.

“It’s really better to go now. If the party results are bad, postpone it a bit, and if you think you won’t get criticized, go no matter what.”

She puts her arm around my shoulder, telling me to prepare since there isn’t much time left this year.

“People can’t be perfect, but it’s better not to have weaknesses. You should reduce them if you can.”

“There will be talk of special treatment.”

“That’s only temporary. And Hyung [older brother/male friend] deserves special treatment.”

Well, yeah. Should I really go? There’s still some time until next year, but I’m already feeling uneasy. When is the college entrance ceremony? The college entrance exam is over, so are they submitting applications now? I heard there are many rolling admissions these days. I didn’t know much about it because Yoohyun awakened before he became a high school senior.

In the meantime, Noah also returned to the lounge.

“Noah, you’ve worked hard.”

“You’re welcome. Yoojin, you’re the one who’s had a hard time.”

Noah was also wearing a neat suit. It really suits him well. He was truly aristocratic. Yet, he was incredibly sharp at the negotiation table. I was newly grateful that Noah was at the Breeding Center.

But if I go to college, will I be a classmate with Noah?

“The party schedule will be announced in three days, so please prepare thoroughly.”

Song Taewon said to us.

“The location will be announced tomorrow.”

We heard about it in advance through our representatives. The location where Chatterbox’s party would begin was none other than the United States. I had a feeling since it was constantly related to that area, but seriously, the United States.

“Is the attendance of Sung Hyunjae Hunter and Liet Hunter confirmed?”

“That’s right. There’s an SS-rank bow at stake.”

“Do you think Chief Song will allow it? The United States is far away.”

“It seems like Yoon Yoon Hunter will be there, so it should be fine.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Even if it’s the United States, he can come to Korea in an instant. Then Yoon Yoon will have to go to the United States once. He hasn’t been to the United States yet, has he? Neither have I, of course.

A brief discussion of the situation continued a little longer, and we rested early today for the negotiations that would continue tomorrow.

And three days later, Chatterbox’s party schedule was released.