The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 345: I’ll Be Right Back for a Bit (1)

The black blade tore fiercely through the smoke filling the underground parking lot. The chain of attacks with unpredictable angles was blocked by a golden chain that suddenly sprang out. With a loud clang, sparks flew.

“Yuhyun!”

I called out to my brother while using the Perfect Nurturer skill on Peace. Hey, you can’t be doing this here! But Yuhyun didn’t look like he intended to back down. The Ruler’s Sword clashed with the Seeker’s Chain, thrashing like a living creature. The Seeker’s Chain was SS-rank. But so was the Ruler’s Sword. You might think they were equal, but they were different types of weapons. A sharp sword versus a blunt chain.

Crack!

The chain inevitably took more damage. A fine crack formed on the golden chain where it struck the black blade. Then, with a sound like shattering glass, one of the links broke apart.

Golden fragments scattered as the Ruler’s Sword bared its teeth menacingly at the owner of the chain. But Seong Hyunjae smoothly stepped back the moment the link broke. The spot where he had stood was struck by the chain sword, and the floor caved in as if a bomb had gone off.

“Calm down, young master.”

The split chain attempted to coil around Yuhyun. Dropping to one knee, Yuhyun swiftly lowered his body and swung the chain sword above his head in a circular motion like a whip. The flying chain clashed and tangled with the Ruler’s Sword. At the same time, a dark blue flame formed in Yuhyun’s other hand. A spear made of fire was launched toward Seong Hyunjae.

“Shut up.”

The coat with fire resistance, Silekia’s Wings, fluttered like a matador’s cape. The coat that enveloped the spear puffed up as if it would tear at any moment, but the flames died just in time.

“Sesung Guild, the hospital, and now even in front of our house. There’s no reason to overlook your continuous threats to my brother.”

Yuhyun’s voice was ice cold. Something had happened at the hospital? Either way, it was clear he wasn’t going to let it go. Flames began surging violently around Yuhyun. No, hey!

“Yuhyun! This is my building! My property!”

And we’re in the underground parking lot, no less. One wrong move and the whole place could collapse. At my shout, Yuhyun hesitated and pulled back his energy.

“…We’ll just buy a new one.”

“No. Besides, there are a lot of non-awakened people in the lab!”

We could evacuate them immediately if needed, but why waste money unnecessarily? Yuhyun withdrew his sword entangled with the chain, seemingly conceding. The Seeker’s Chain reconnected and returned to its owner. Seong Hyunjae looked back at his car, now reduced to rubble, while putting the Seeker’s Chain and Silekia’s Wings back in his inventory.

“Too bad, it had some things loaded.”

He said with regret. That—what was it?

“…What was in it.”

“Vanilla mille-feuille, coconut panna cotta, Sachertorte, macarons and truffle chocolates, lemon mousse─”

“Don’t approach my brother.”

Yuhyun stepped close beside me and spoke coldly. Did he run a dessert shop in his car? Hearing “lemon” made my mouth water. My nose twitched instinctively, but the air in the parking lot was choked with smoke, not even a hint of sweetness.

Still, kind of a waste.

“Has anyone suspicious appeared near Han Yujin?”

At Seong Hyunjae’s words, the furrow in Yuhyun’s brow eased. He still looked displeased, but he didn’t ignore the implication.

“No, but what do you mean?”

“His condition is strange.”

Yuhyun turned his head to look at me. What about me?

“I’m fine.”

“He’s avoiding me. Clearly trying to.”

“Am I supposed to welcome you every time? Do you think I like you or something? If you suddenly show up asking to have lunch, am I supposed to say ‘Sure, I’ve been waiting~’ and follow you? What gives you so much confidence?”

His face might be trustworthy, but still. Yuhyun shut his mouth and looked between me and Seong Hyunjae with a conflicted expression.

“…Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“You kind of like that guy, even though I don’t want to say it.”

“It’s just a business relationship.”

“It’s good you’re avoiding the Sesung Guild Master, but this change is still weird. What about other people? Like me?”

“You’re my beloved little brother.”

Yuhyun looked even more troubled. I heard him muttering, “This is still better,” under his breath. But at Seong Hyunjae’s next words, Yuhyun’s face hardened.

“When you came out to the parking lot, neither Peace nor Noah accompanied you.”

“Hyung, what happened to you?”

“…Nothing happened.”

“I suspect you’re subconsciously starting to avoid people around you, especially S-rank awakeners. If I had to guess the purpose, it would be to make you easier to kidnap.”

Yuhyun’s expression grew more serious.

“Do you think it’s a mental-type skill?”

“That’s the most likely. I don’t know how it was applied, though. Since Han Yujin is F-rank in stats, he’s more vulnerable.”

“Hyung, are you really sure nothing strange happened? Think carefully.”

I tried to recall in response to my brother’s words, but nothing came to mind. A mental-type skill, really. I hadn’t felt anything, but with both Seong Hyunjae and Yuhyun saying it like this, it started to seem like it might be true.

“…If I really had been affected, they would’ve made sure I wouldn’t realize it. But even with low stats, mental-type skills aren’t easy to fall under. They usually have strict conditions, and direct contact is practically required. Was it at the broadcasting station?”

The broadcasting station had recently been the easiest place to come into contact with strangers. Though some time had passed since then. Or maybe at the airport where Yerim came in. But that place had tight personnel control.

“It must’ve been recent, since you were fine when I asked that favor.”

“The day you called the Sesung Guild Master was the same day Park Yerim returned…”

“The breeding facility, or this building.”

Seong Hyunjae concluded. I had gone to a dungeon with Yerim and later joined up with Yuhyun to go to the aquarium, but no one had approached me there. I did spend a bit of time watching the beavers and manatees, but it’s not like they cast a mental-type skill on me. Aside from that, I hadn’t left the breeding facility or the building.

“…Hyung, we need to check the access logs.”

“We should also pull Han Yujin’s call records.”

“And I hesitate to say this myself, but I think it would be best to confine him.”

He raised a hand slightly as he spoke.

“He might try to leave on his own, seeing as he’s not even trying to figure out what happened or who he met. He should be kept from going out alone and always have someone accompany him when leaving.”

“Yeah, hyung. That’s a good idea.”

Yuhyun nodded, and Seong Hyunjae approached.

“I also recommend staying somewhere else for a while.”

“What, don’t tell me you mean your place?”

I took a step back. Why get so close all of a sudden. There was a rustling sound, and something was pushed into my mouth. Yuhyun quickly pulled me into his arms.

“Why’d you eat that?”

“I… just did it reflexively.”

What was inside the chocolate? Lemon cream? More importantly, I didn’t even understand myself. Why did I eat something Seong Hyunjae gave me? I frowned and looked up at him. He gave a light smile.

“You seem to have forgotten, Han Yujin. But there was at least that level of trust between us.”

“Trust that you wouldn’t put poison in a chocolate? You do know I have poison resistance.”

“And you know I could easily obtain substances that poison resistance doesn’t work on.”

Well… that’s true. Still, I doubt it’s gotten that serious. Seong Hyunjae took a step back. Then he exaggeratedly made a disappointed expression.

“Looks like I’ll have to postpone the housewarming until we catch the bug.”

…Postpone? Like it was even scheduled in the first place. He’s leaving Korea soon anyway. Once he launches internationally, who knows when he’ll be back. Even before the regression, he barely returned, having practically handed the Korea branch to Kang Soyeong.

There really won’t be many chances to see him again. Not like we were the type to spend time face to face anyway.

“I leave Han Yujin in your care, young master.”

“There’s no reason for me to hear that from you.”

Seong Hyunjae gave me one last look, then turned away. He didn’t have a car, so maybe he was planning to take a taxi. If his phone was fine, one call would bring someone right away. Well, not my problem. But maybe because the lemon flavor still lingered in my mouth, I couldn’t take my eyes off his retreating figure.

“I always thought a day like this might come.”

Myungwoo looked at me with a slightly complicated expression.

“But I didn’t expect you to be the one to ask for it yourself.”

“…Then who did you think would ask?”

“Your brother, or Chief Song Taewon, or the Sesung Guild Master.”

As he said this, Myungwoo held a long cord in his hand. Each end had a locking mechanism. Memories of Solemnise came flooding back. I wonder how Sigma is doing.

“Or maybe some country losing their mind.”

“You didn’t prepare this in advance, did you?”

The fact that he brought it the instant I contacted him was just a bit suspicious. Myungwoo smiled and replied, “Nope.”

“It’s not that durable. You’ve got an S-rank gun, so you could break it easily anyway.”

“Yuhyun has the gun.”

It’s not like I use it regularly, but I could still take it back if needed. While I’m at home, we decided to keep it confiscated just in case.

“Really? It’s not flimsy, but to break it with bare hands would take at least B-rank stats. It can extend up to 30 meters depending on movement, and if someone tries to break or unlock it without the key, an alarm will go off immediately. The wearer’s movements are also transmitted every ten minutes.”

There were also suggestions to move me somewhere other than the breeding facility, but it was still the safest place. Even an S-rank Hunter couldn’t just barge in. As long as I didn’t leave on my own, I’d be safe inside.

“I want to stay by hyung’s side…”

“I don’t have to go to school for a few days.”

Yuhyun and Yerim said. I understood how they felt, but—

“Yuhyun, you’re a guild master. This isn’t something you can keep doing forever. Yerim, you need to go to school.”

“Yujin-ssi, I’m neither a guild master nor a student.”

“We can’t leave the lab unattended. For all we know, someone might be targeting it and using me as bait.”

It was possible they were focusing attention on me to distract from an attack on the lab or the forge.

“Besides, if we’re going to catch some unknown bug, it’s better to look outside than inside. I’ll leave it to you, Noah.”

“Yes.”

Noah nodded, a bit reluctant but understanding. We checked the CCTV footage from both the breeding facility and the building and interrogated the security personnel, but nothing came up. There was an unfamiliar number in my call records, but it turned out to be an untraceable burner phone. The call contents had also been completely erased.

So in the end, we had no choice but to directly check the people moving between the breeding facility and the building.

“They must’ve been able to avoid even an A-rank’s perception. Maybe it’s an S-rank Hunter.”

“I’ll keep a close watch.”

Noah was fired up with determination. Who could it be, sneaking quietly into the breeding facility to get close to me? It had to be a high-level Hunter, but judging by the fact they didn’t simply carry me out, maybe kidnapping wasn’t their goal.

“The ankle would be best, right?”

Myungwoo said as he opened the lock on the restraint line. The alarm and key device connected to the item were made into three copies, to be held by Yuhyun, Yerim, and Noah. Living with a strap around my ankle for a while—kind of depressing. But as expected of an item made by Myungwoo, it was comfortable and lightweight.

“Here, your phone.”

Yuhyun handed me a new phone. On top of location tracking, it was also under surveillance. I really hoped they’d catch the bug quickly, even just for my privacy’s sake.

“Contact us right away if anything happens.”

-Kreung.

Peace responded to Yuhyun’s words. At times like this, he really seemed to understand everything.

“It’s going to be frustrating for a while.”

“We’ve asked for cooperation from the Special Surveillance Office, and Sesung and Breaker said they’ll help too. It won’t take long. Just hang in there a bit, hyung.”

“I’ll come straight home from school for a while!”

You can play after school, though.

In the end, I ended up living a semi-confined life, but it wasn’t as inconvenient as I expected. The breeding facility’s security became even tighter—no one could enter, not even people I knew, unless they were cleared by both the security office and the Haeyeon Guild.

The most troublesome part was taking care of the baby monsters. Since I had to be accompanied by Yuhyun, Yerim, or Noah whenever I went down to the pens, I ended up bringing a few of them into the house.

“Milky, Blanc. I told you not to chew the couch!”

The baby wolves glanced at me briefly, then pretended not to hear and resumed gnawing on the couch. Yerim liked having them around, but it was still hard to keep them in the house for long. They were going to grow quickly, and their fur shed like crazy.

-Grrr!

-Yelp!

-Kyaang!

Peace enlarged his body to about adolescent size and grabbed the baby wolves by the scruff, roughly pulling them off the couch. The baby wolves rolled dramatically on the floor, whining. Sorok, who had been completely flattened against the living room floor, got stepped on by one of them and squeaked. Upon seeing that, the baby sheep headbutted the baby wolf.

Good grief, it’s chaos. I really overdid it bringing them all. I should’ve just brought one or two—got too enthusiastic.

Just then, a call came from the Haeyeon Guild. More precisely, from my employee, Seo Kyunghoon.