The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 442: Return (1)

The Murim Alliance gave us a whole detached annex to ourselves. I appreciated the consideration, but even with a hot spring right behind us—or maybe because there was a hot spring and they skimped on heating—the rooms were clammy. Honestly, the whole chair–and–table setup wasn’t my thing from the start. At least the bedroom should be shoes off. We even keep wet wipes by our entryway at home and scrub the kids’ paws when they come back from a walk. We’ve got a waterless cleanser, too.

‘Ondol is the best.’

How great is heated flooring. Or at least an electric pad. Yeah, I wanted to go home fast. Even when the military had us detained, the lodgings were nothing to write home about. The hotel in the dungeon was fine, though. At least with Yuhyun around, I didn’t sleep cold. Otherwise, I might’ve caught a cold.

“This is my first time with this kind of tea, so I don’t know if I brewed it right.”

Since everyone except our group had been sent away, Yuhyun brewed the tea himself. The stone bench in the rear garden, walled in by masonry, was warmed up by Iryn snuggling against it. It was still early, the sky a mix of faint reds and purples.

“Thanks.”

“It’s supposed to be good for you.”

So it’ll taste bad. Watching my little brother consult Teacher Hoyeon very seriously about medicinal herbs last night made my mouth go bitter by reflex. That elder even has a decocting skill, and he said using the skill makes it taste even worse.

‘There were five optimization–type skills.’

There was even an SS–rank among them. He didn’t get one of the five—an A–rank—but in terms of skills alone, you could call him an S–rank healer.

– Hyung, the seat isn’t too hot, right?

Iryn climbed onto the back of my hand and asked. Maybe he felt sorry about what happened at the hotel—he was watching me for any sign.

“Yeah, it’s just right.”

– Need anything else?

“No, I’m good. Iryn.”

– Yes!

“I’m grateful you always take Yuhyun’s side. But I wish you’d calm down a little.”

Iryn spun in a circle, tucked his head into my sleeve, and flicked his tail.

– If Hyung doesn’t upset Yuhyun, Iryn won’t do that either…

“No matter how close you are, you can fight sometimes. That’s how you line up with each other. You’ll be a big brother soon, so you should be more mature.”

Whether you’ll be a hyung, nuna, unni, or oppa—who knows. At “big brother,” Iryn popped his head back out and hopped.

– The water spirit has nothing to do with Iryn!

“She’s your little sister, so don’t say that.”

– I don’t wanna! Hyung! It’s fire and water! That’s only natural!

“Yuhyun and Yerim get along, too.”

– …

Iryn clamped his mouth shut and stared at me. What, it’s true enough.

“Yerim’s closest with Yuhyun besides me. Isn’t she?”

– Not close! I only think she’s juuust barely okay! And if we don’t count Hyung, Peace is first and Park Yerim is second!

No idea if that was the truth or if he was putting Peace first because he’s fire–attribute. Either way, he’s still close with Yerim. Including Peace, that makes two friends.

“Peace is close with Yuhyun too, right?”

– Kkuu–ng.

Peace, curled up on my knees, cocked his head. Guess he didn’t get it. If you include Peace, and really, Iryn counts as a friend too. He even talks. That’s normal friend level.

“When’s the Sesung Guild Leader coming back. Should we hit the hot spring one more time. It was nice in Japan too, and as the weather gets colder, an open–air bath hits the spot. Except for the cold when you come out.”

“Should we build one on the rooftop garden?”

“The wall’s high, so if we roof it over it won’t be visible… Let’s table it.”

A private open–air bath sounds a bit too luxurious. And our house isn’t on hot–spring water anyway.

“If we contract safely with Teacher Hoyeon, I’m thinking of nudging the former MKC healer toward Breaker. What do you think? Or would going unaffiliated be better?”

Yuhyun thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Breaker’s better. If they’re not in a guild, they’ll basically end up under the Association. The Awakener Management Office would be fine, but that’s not going to happen.”

“True. The AMO couldn’t afford him anyway.”

Having an A–rank healer in public service would be great, but unless they’re burning with civic spirit, they won’t go. If it were an item with the same ability, it’d be easy to fund with state money. But if it’s a person, the whole ‘a civil servant’s salary’ spiel will come out one hundred percent. There’ll be tons of people shouting, ‘Why won’t you treat us if you’re eating up our taxes!’

The sky kept brightening, and Noah came outside. Yerim stretched a little later and asked what we were having for breakfast.

“I want something spicy!”

“In the morning? You’ll wreck your stomach.”

“My stomach is S–rank, so it’s fine~”

Teacher Hoyeon left ahead of us to meet the family rescued by the Murim Alliance. His daughter and son–in–law would be going to Korea with us. As the family of an A–rank healer, not only entry but immigration permits would be issued immediately.

Only when it was about time to eat breakfast and for us to get going did Seong Hyunjae finally arrive.

“Why are you so late?”

Just how much did he mow down that it still smelled like burning—wait a second.

“What happened to your face!”

A faint scar line remained on Seong Hyunjae’s cheek. It wasn’t much of a wound, but what it meant was a very big deal.

“…What happened.”

I hurried over and asked. Sure, he could get hurt fighting military Hunters. But of all places, Seong Hyunjae wouldn’t give up his face easily. And it hadn’t healed yet.

“Did you use a potion? Even without treatment, a shallow cut like that should heal quickly.”

He glanced around at the Murim Alliance people, then bowed his head toward me and activated a sound–blocking item. His lips barely moved as he answered.

“A kind of stopping skill.”

“Stopping?”

“Or call it hardening. It seems it applies not only to an opponent’s skill but to wounds as well. Since it fixes the injury’s state, potions don’t work.”

“Then will it leave a scar?”

Why the face, of all places. It’s the most presentable spot.

“It’s loosening, slowly. I alternated an antidote item with a curse–dispelling item, and it turned out to be on the curse side.”

He said it wasn’t fully recovered, probably because the rank was high.

“A conditional type—‘what’s cut by a blade is hardened.’”

“That’s a convenient condition. They’re usually fussier.”

Curses without conditions or costs tend to be weak. Unless it’s an innate racial trait like the Lautitars or Venom and Curse Dragonkin, curse skills are hard to use as offensive options in combat. That’s why they mostly get used in mutually agreed–upon contract forms.

I reached out and cupped the wound on his cheek. The faint scar that remained disappeared completely.

“If it was only your face, did you deliberately give them a target to test it? Why your face, of all places.”

“I wasn’t the one aiming for the head.”

“So who was it.”

For him to show up like this—my brow drew together without thinking.

“…Chatterbox’s side?”

“More precisely, the ones who think dungeon appearances are God’s will—the ones Chatterbox extended a hand to.”

“Oh, those…”

Them. There were, of course, people who believed that the sudden appearance of dungeons in the world, monsters popping out, and the emergence of Awakeners were all God’s power. There were fewer in Korea, but overseas there were some serious cases.

“Which faction. If they’re listening to Chatterbox, is it the apocalypse crowd?”

“They believe stopping dungeons is going against God’s will.”

“Good grief…”

A sigh slipped out on its own.

“They’re perfect tools. People who think the world ending is right. But as I remember, they weren’t that strong. Lots of terror incidents, sure.”

Since they opposed dungeon raids, they had no S–rank Hunters among their members and most were low–rank. Even so, overseas they used firearms, so the damage tended to be big.

“They didn’t value their lives, so it was quite tiresome.”

He openly showed how annoyed he was, saying he’d run into them a few times.

“Even S–rank Hunters don’t live day–to–day much differently from non–awakened.”

If they chased you to a hotel and set off a bomb, or stormed a restaurant and sprayed a machine gun around, of course it’d be a hassle, he said.

“It was a café I rather liked, too.”

They’d planted a time bomb, apparently.

“They were active in North America and Europe, and reports said they’d recently spread to South America.”

“There wasn’t much in Korea even right before the regression.”

The Hunter guilds had tried a few times to root them out but it was impossible, Seong Hyunjae explained. Above all, the number of non–awakened among them was a problem. There were even cases where someone who’d fired a gun as a non–awakened was released after paying material damages, since a mid–rank or higher Awakener wouldn’t be harmed.

“The precedent was that you can’t call it attempted murder if it’s clear the target won’t die or be hurt.”

“…Not wrong, but it feels unfair.”

So it had been quite a headache even for Seong Hyunjae.

“It was a nuisance.”

“Is that why you went to India and Egypt.”

“And now they have S–rank Hunters, too.”

My eyes flicked to his cheek, where the vanished wound had been.

“For now, two.”

“…There could be more.”

“They came with a prophet.”

“Excuse me? A prophet? That’s culty, all right.”

“A prophet who can’t see Korea’s future.”

I understood as soon as I heard that. My lips tightened a little.

“Memories from before a regression.”

“He said they started surfacing about a month ago.”

“A month—then it might have been the King of Harmless intervening rather than Chatterbox.”

If I’d known, I would’ve asked in detail what they did to our world. Of course, it could’ve been Chatterbox. He’d been acting in concert with the King of Harmless.

“…If there’s a prophet, obviously they’re in an important position, and the S–rank Hunter guarding him is probably their strongest. How was he.”

“If there’d been no restraints, I would’ve handled him on the spot.”

He said it lightly, as if it were only natural. Good for you, really. We’re too advantaged, and there’s no way Chatterbox doesn’t know that. He’ll try to find a counter.

I asked Seong Hyunjae for information on that cult. It seemed a lot had changed with Chatterbox’s meddling, but we should still learn as much as we could.

“Hunter Miller knows that side quite well.”

“Ms. Evelyn?”

“She kept running into them till she was sick of it.”

Yikes.

Anyway, with Seong Hyunjae back, we headed down the mountain to return home. Of course, there was something to take care of before heading to the airport.

“Now, now, don’t worry~”

The five Hunters who’d served as the military’s item warehouses looked at me with anxious eyes. I held up a round, flat glass plate to them.

“A single–use curse–dispelling item for S–rank and below.”

It was an F–rank, single–use light item. A mere 10 points, one–hour duration, brightness only good for sleep mode or the like. Great to turn on when you’re camping outside. It’s an item that doesn’t even exist here yet, so they wouldn’t notice it’s a fake.

“Don’t move, and when I give the signal, take the item out.”

“Is this… really okay?”

“Of course! Trust me. Let go of your fear for a moment, and you’ll regain your freedom! Curse–dispelling items are precious—this opportunity won’t come twice! Miss this chance and you’ll have to go see the Saintess~”

I soothed them and hugged the Hunter tight from behind. Seeing the light item start to glow, the Hunter began taking items out of his inventory. A bracelet came into his hand. Naturally, nothing happened. The expressions of not only him but the other Hunters around him brightened.

And my face did, too. Come on, let’s get everything out.

All sorts of items poured out in a rush, and the Hunter stepped away with a lighter heart. Having seen a successful case, the second Hunter came up to me without hesitation.

“Please take care of me!”

“Yep, yep. Don’t forget—leave nothing behind.”

Of course, we also drew up separate contracts. More items piled up, and I finished the “dispelling” process for the third, fourth, and finally the fifth Hunter. Fifty points’ worth of light items shattered with a cheerful clink–clink.

‘Corners of my mouth, calm down.’

Seeing the heap of items made the corners of my lips rise on their own. Just looking at it made me feel full.

“Hands off. Don’t even think about putting these into your inventory. Step back.”

I was getting reluctant to hand any to the Murim Alliance. Still, I had first pick. Together with a Murim Alliance appraiser under a no–inventory–use contract, I sorted the items.

“Nineteen S–rank, fifty–seven A–rank, and three B–rank.”

No SS–rank, unfortunately, but there were a whopping six S–rank weapons. Oh, I love it.

“I’ll take all the swords for now. Three of them. I’ve got someone to give an S–rank wire to as well. One of the two is for the Sesung Guild Leader, and the spear—well, we’ll leave that.”

A bit of a shame, but a promise is a promise. Since I was taking the higher–value weapons, I decided I’d take more of the remaining S–rank items.

After splitting them up, the S–rank items in my hands totaled twelve. We can outfit all the gear our Yerim is missing.