The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 263: Water Spirit (2)

“What’s wrong, Yerim? Did something happen?”

I asked, gently stroking Peace as he clung to me with his whole body. Yuhyun and Moon Hyunah also turned to Yerim, surprised.

“It’s way more advantageous for me to be near the sea. So wouldn’t it be better if I just stayed here? If an SSS-rank monster shows up, you can bring it back to Drosia again.”

“That’s true, but Yerim. We don’t know what might happen after all the discs are installed. I’d feel too anxious leaving you alone. And since Mister Noah can teleport, we could return to Drosia quickly if needed.”

We only traveled slowly to lure monsters, but if we’d used teleportation, we could’ve made it to Drosia from Lanchea in two days. From here to Medsang is even closer—it’d only take a day.

“If it’s because you’re worried about getting weaker—”

“No, it’s not that.”

Yerim said, slightly furrowing her brow.

“It’s also because of the spirits.”

“The spirits?”

“Yeah. It’s just that… they won’t stay behind.”

Her blue-tinted eyes flicked toward the spirits still floating around us.

“If they all leave at once, not only will Drosia be in danger, but they’ll be in trouble too. If I leave the water’s edge, it’s not like I get weaker—it’s just that my advantage disappears. But those guys really do get weaker. And even then, if I end up fighting monsters, they’ll jump in. I know it.”

Unless they have a contractor, spirits are bound by limitations, she said. Normally it wouldn’t matter since spirits don’t leave the water unless they’re following a contractor. But this situation was different.

“They listen to me well, but it’s not like they follow everything I say. Even if I tell them not to come, a bunch of them definitely will.”

Yerim came in close and lowered her voice.

“I know they’re not real. But they really, really like me. They all say I’m their favorite. If you were in danger, Mister, or if Han Yuhyun was still captured, I wouldn’t just sit around. But right now, isn’t it okay for me to stay here?”

I looked around. The spirits were watching us with curious eyes. Their varied shapes made it hard to read expressions, but there was no mistaking the friendliness in their gazes.

I didn’t want to leave Yerim alone. What if, after the discs were installed, something like an entrance appeared? What if there was a time limit? Then it might become impossible to bring Yerim out with us—an absolute worst-case scenario. Of course, I had no intention of leaving her behind, but staying together was also something we had to avoid.

So no matter what, I needed to persuade her to come with us.

‘…The ones who like her best.’

That part caught in my heart. It had always lingered at the back of my mind. Yerim was still young, at an age when she needed parents who put her first. Not every parent in the world is good, but usually, a child comes first in a family.

But I had no choice but to put my younger brother first. And Yerim knew that too. She couldn’t not know. She’d never shown any complaints. On the contrary, she was broad-hearted enough to even comfort Yuhyun like she did yesterday. Still… was she really okay?

I didn’t think she was pretending to be cheerful. Not only with Haeyeon, but also with Moon Hyunah and Kang Soyeong, she got along well with other guild hunters, and she still kept in touch with her school friends. When she went to take finals, she even bragged about how popular she was.

Currently, her schooling mostly consisted of tutoring, and she only went to school for special activities or tests. But starting from the second semester, they were planning to gradually increase her school attendance days. Some even said that if nothing went wrong, she could just attend a regular school like any other student. Both the school and the parents welcomed the idea, as long as she maintained good relationships with her peers. Of course, their real intent was probably to bring in an S-rank Hunter to protect the students.

Still, in all honesty, she was probably at least twice—no, five times—more sociable than Yuhyun. Even compared to others.

Really, there was almost nothing to criticize. She was outstanding in every way. Her final exam scores were a bit low, but that was understandable—she’d just awakened and had been busy. Her midterms were great. Considering how little time she had to study, her scores were impressive. Shouldn’t they give her bonus points for that? It’s not like she slacked—she was saving the country!

Anyway, by all accounts, Yerim was doing really well. She looked so unaffected by any shadows, it made me worry more.

“…Is it troubling you a lot?”

“Huh? Oh? No, not at all.”

“If it can’t be helped, then that’s that.”

Yerim said brightly, and I quickly shook my head. It definitely could be helped.

“For now… let’s try explaining it properly. Yerim, you can’t stay here forever.”

“Is it okay to say that?”

“No one said we couldn’t. We just shouldn’t go into too much detail. We can say you’re from another world. And that we’re trying to find a way to take the spirits with us through a contract.”

Yerim’s eyes widened.

“We really might be able to take them?”

“I can’t promise. But there’s no reason to give up from the start.”

If she could make a contract with a spirit, it would help in many ways. But before that, I just wanted there to be someone who would put Yerim first. Not everyone is lucky enough to have someone who treats them as their top priority. Plenty of people live fine without it.

Still, if you do have someone like that, it’s definitely better. The more people you have who are unquestionably on your side, the better.

“Then I’ll tell them all to gather!”

Yerim smiled brightly, her face now at ease.

-Kkiaaung.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t worry. I’m holding you just fine.”

Peace rubbed his snout against my shoulder, acting all clingy. With water everywhere, and having to cross a narrow bridge over it too, he must’ve felt nervous.

“You’ve got wings now, Peace,”

Yuhyun said, calling him a crybaby.

“He hasn’t had them for long. He’s probably not used to it yet.”

“He flew just fine, though.”

-Kkiang, kkeuuung.

“He must be tired from flying all this way.”

-?

“Looks like the wings are a skill—since they disappeared. If that’s the case, he’s probably even more drained. It’s not like this world makes it easy to recover mana.”

And yet he flew all this way. He really worked hard. Monsters can’t recover mana from mana holes, so how did he replenish it? …Did he eat another monster?

“Over here!”

Yerim called, flying down to the center of the Drosia Defense Bureau’s underground area, where the lake water filled the space. Her voice echoed, bouncing off the cave walls.

“Is everyone here?”

-Almost all!

-I’m here too!

The gathered spirits answered in chorus. Even the white whale had shrunk to the size of a palm and was swimming next to Yerim. A sea serpent peeked its head out of the water. Once we crossed the bridge and stepped onto a small rocky island in the center, Yerim landed beside me.

“Thank you for coming. And, um, thank you for liking me.”

Yerim glanced at me once, then continued.

“But I can’t make a contract with you.”

-Why not?

-Why?

-We could help a lot!

“Guys, I’m not from this world.”

The spirits tilted their heads, spun around, and blinked their eye-like features, looking confused.

“I’m only in Delta’s body temporarily—I’m not really Delta. I’m Park Yerim, an awakener from another world.”

A brief silence followed, and then a shark with frill-like long fins spoke.

-We could already feel you were different from Delta.

-Even if you’re from another world, that’s okay with us.

-Me too.

Butterflies and tiny birds chirped. Spirits all around began to chime in, saying it should still be possible to make a contract, that it didn’t matter if she was from another world.

“I want to make a contract with you too. It’s not that I don’t want to. But I might not be able to take you back to where I live. And I don’t want to leave you behind after forming a contract. Even if you say it’s okay, I don’t want that.”

As Yerim firmly said she could never do something like that, the spirits began murmuring to each other. Then, the sea serpent slowly opened its mouth.

-If it’s the oldest spirit, they might know a way to cross between worlds.

“You mean that sparkling spirit from the dream?”

-Yes. It’s sleeping in the deep sea, far from here, but it could reach this place in a day.

-That’s right! They know a lot!

-We really hope we can go with you.

“Mister, they say it only takes a day.”

Yerim turned to me. The oldest spirit—seemed worth meeting, even aside from Yerim’s situation.

“It appeared in your dream?”

“Yeah. Not long after I got here. It was round and sparkly, and it said it was glad to meet me and to take good care of the spirits. It had a really old-sounding voice.”

“Then let’s wait.”

We explained to the spirits that if there was no way, Yerim would have to leave and asked them not to follow. The spirits were sad, but accepted the parting.

-If we can go to Yerim’s world later, can we come then?

“Of course! Come anytime.”

Yerim said brightly, then turned her back, sneaking a glance full of regret toward me. There was no way to know if there really would be a “later” for them.

“I hope we find a way.”

So Yerim wouldn’t have to say goodbye again.

Since we decided to leave Drosia after meeting the oldest spirit tomorrow, Yerim kept busy. She had to lie to the Drosia guards, saying she’d return right after resolving the issue. That it wouldn’t take long.

-Kyaung.

Peace jumped down from my arms and grew larger—about adolescent size now—and stretched out his wings wide.

-Krrrng, kyarurur.

“You look amazing, Peace!”

Peace shoved his back toward me and growled softly while looking at Noah, who was leaning against the railing. Yuhyun saw this and said,

“Peace says now that he can fly too, he doesn’t need to ride that dragon anymore.”

“…How would you know that?”

“I just do.”

-I heard the same thing, hyung!

…Is that for real? Judging by Peace’s actions, it did sound kind of convincing. Noah didn’t say anything, but his expression noticeably darkened. He was already troubled because of Myu’s situation, and now these guys…

“Don’t worry about it, Mister Noah. We don’t even know if Peace can fly outside yet. And besides, you’ve got stealth and support skills, so it’s totally different.”

“I’m not that unsure of myself. It’s just…”

Noah turned his head to look at the spirits swimming in the lake.

“I’m not exactly irreplaceable. Not only to Yujin, but even Kang Soyeong has an older sister. And this time… I found myself envying Hunter Park Yerim. Sorry, I keep saying pathetic things.”

“What do you mean, pathetic? Seriously, who in the world has never been jealous of someone? And there’s only one Noah in the world.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

He smiled faintly—then vanished from sight. When we first met here, he’d been so confident. Boasting about how strong support-type awakeners were. Maybe reconnecting with us made the reality of his old world feel more real again.

In the end, he has to go back. And that world is very different from this one. That reality might already be weighing on Noah’s shoulders.

“Noah isn’t weak at all, really.”

“No, he is.”

“Hey, of course he’s weaker than you—”

“It’s not about power. The problem is how quickly he gives up. If hyung had Hunter Noah’s ability, no one would call him weak. He would’ve seemed threatening to other S-ranks.”

“That’s… maybe a little too much.”

Sure, if I were Noah, I would’ve made very different choices. But that was more because Noah and I came from different environments. The me who didn’t regress is different. And Noah, who didn’t grow up with Liette as his sister, is definitely different too. If I’d had my parents’ protection until adulthood, I would’ve turned out differently. And if Noah had grown up in a peaceful, loving household, he would’ve too.

“Noah’s attitude isn’t his fault. It’d be great if he could be more confident and grow stronger, but even if he stays the same, that’s not wrong. Sometimes you try and still can’t change. People don’t change that easily. And besides, Noah is already a good person.”

When I said not to push him so hard, my little brother only tilted his head. Come on, even I—who say I’m different from Noah—lived pretty miserably for years. I tried in my own way. And still ended up like that.

KWAANG—

At that moment, a wall of the Drosia Defense Bureau exploded. Moon Hyunah burst out, laughing, standing atop a turtle-shaped spirit floating on the water. Beyond the dust and broken wall, Sigma also appeared. What were those two doing?

“Don’t worry, Director Han! We’re just having a light spar! I’ve been itching to move after two days of rest. I told Yerim too.”

She said it was important to stay active to get used to Lambda skills, and Yuhyun immediately jumped up onto the railing. His crimson eyes narrowed as he looked at Moon Hyunah and Sigma. My little brother, honestly.

“Don’t damage the surroundings.”

“We’re on the water—it’ll be fine.”

Yuhyun launched himself into the air. Lightly stepping on willow leaves, he descended as if skimming the water’s surface. Moon Hyunah grinned broadly.

“Just keep it to skill practice! Practice only!”

“Why do I have to be part of this?”

“Don’t pretend you’re not into it, Dali.”

He didn’t actually seem to dislike it. Even Seong Hyunjae had sparred with Moon Hyunah back when we entered a dungeon together. Feels like ages ago. I glanced at the sky while holding the now-small Peace in my arms.

“Could you send me a signal or something? Let me know you’re still alive. Are you out of yarn? And how are you even knitting with just one arm?”

Honestly, bringing yarn into this world was weird in the first place. Wasn’t I the only one who came in with my body? POOOM—water shot high into the air above the lake. As mist rose, lightning crackled, and steam pounded the surface like a drum. From afar, I could hear Yerim shouting that she wanted in too.

“You’d want to join in too, right? You’re alive, aren’t you? No way you’d skip watching this.”

[^^]

A quest came in. Though I wasn’t sure it even counted as a quest. It had no description, and the reward was available immediately. The reward itself wasn’t much, either.

“Tea, snacks, and… a wing bone?”

-Kkiang!

“Looks like they’re telling us to enjoy the show while snacking.”

I gave the bone to Peace and bit into a cookie myself. He seemed busy with something, but at least he was okay.

-We’re here!

-We’ve arrived!

The spirits contacted us early the next morning. Since the oldest spirit couldn’t come into Drosia, we went out to the sea. On the vast, frozen ocean, a massive hole had opened up as if beckoning us inside. The shifting blue water beyond the hole gave off an eerie feeling. It was almost enough to pierce through Fear Resistance—was it because of whatever lay beneath?

-The nurturer needs to come too.

-This one right here!

“No.”

Yuhyun replied coldly to the spirits.

“Who knows what might happen. Being underwater is too much of a disadvantage.”

“But Yerim’s with us.”

-They’re not going to hurt anyone.

-We’d never hurt someone Yerim likes.

“That’s right. And it’s not like I can’t protect Mister underwater. Don’t worry and make a fire, will you? Looks like Hyunah unnie is cold.”

“It is a bit chilly.”

At Yerim’s words, Yuhyun frowned but stepped back.

“Be careful, hyung.”

I nodded and entered the sea with Yerim. Deep in the darkness, faintly glowing white, something was silently lying in wait. It was a pearl oyster—so enormous its size was impossible to guess.