The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 451: Name (2)

“Whatever the name is, she’ll want Mr. Han Yujin to be the one to give it.”

“That’s why I’m only asking for advice.”

So I can get away from color and species.

“I’ve tried pretty hard, but for a pink fairy dragon, I can’t get past ‘Cherry.’ On the other hand, I don’t like names completely unrelated either. What are the foreign words for pink besides ‘pink’?”

“Rose, or Rosa, Rosabi.”

“…Isn’t that just ‘rose’?”

“Right. As in ‘rose–colored.’”

Aren’t roses usually red, though?

“Ms. Evelyn gave her Pegasus a name unrelated to it. ‘Vare.’”

“Mischievous, isn’t she.”

“…Huh? Oh, I’m not blaming Ms. Evelyn.”

“I meant Hunter Miller, not you.”

Huh? Ms. Evelyn? What’s that about.

“She said it meant nothing, but… is it a bad meaning? That name?”

“No, it’s probably an anagram of Minerva.”

He kindly added that Minerva was Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Said it meant nothing, yet it’s a good name.

“So you can name that way too. It fits a Monster Mount you fight alongside…”

Taking a god’s name seemed fine. Come to think of it, when Yerim first built her image, we went with Hermes.

“When you think pink, any gods come to mind?”

“Generally… Eros, Cupid.”

The baby angel with a bow? It fits, but the names didn’t feel right. Meanwhile, the helicopter reached the Sesung Guild. The collapsed building on one side had long since been cleared, and reconstruction was in full swing. The financial and operational losses must have been heavy.

“Director Haaaan~!”

From the rooftop helipad, Kang Soyeong waved both arms at me. Her beaming face was dazzlingly bright.

“I heard you brought a Water Dragon?”

Ignoring her own guildmaster, Soyeong asked me.

“Yes. For Yerim’s Monster Mount.”

“And there’s an egg too? Do you think it’s a dragon?”

“How would I know.”

“Can you hatch the egg? It’s not that hard to get eggs from a Dark Dragon nest. Baby dragons are super rare, but dragon eggs are less so, so I have some.”

“…Pardon?”

“I bought some, and they were too precious, so I grabbed a few just in case when we evacuated. One Thornwing Rock Dragon egg, one Parfalla Grassland Dragon egg, and a Six–Winged Ice Dragon egg.”

Even if they’re more common than baby dragons, you have three? Dark Dragon, and the other two would be A–grade or higher as well.

“I haven’t tried yet. I don’t have a method. Given my skill’s nature, hatching eggs will be hard.”

Since I can’t apply keywords. At my words, Kang Soyeong looked so disappointed she might cry.

“Then, maybe if your skill ranks up, egg hatching becomes possible? Let’s rank it up!”

…It’s L–grade, though. I soothed her, saying I’d at least care for the egg. What should I do — maybe incubate it by hand?

“At this point, I feel like I should hand the Sesung guildmaster’s seat over to Mr. Han Yujin.”

Treated like cold rice by his guild member, Seong Hyunjae spoke in mock pity. Soyeong jumped back and stiffened.

“What are you saying, Guildmaster!”

So she trusts him as guildmaster and—

“If you’re handing it over, give it to me.”

—or not.

“In like ten years. I’m going to play around for about ten more.”

Smiling, Kang Soyeong declared she loved her freedom for now. Still, it probably meant she liked Seong as guildmaster in the end.

“Anyway, Director Han, if hatching’s possible, please! Please take good care of my kids!”

“Of course I will. But three more — isn’t that too many?”

“I can afford to feed that many!”

She said, confident I needn’t worry. Planning a dragon squad? With four dragons, she might clear S–class dungeons alone without other Hunters.

Practically skipping, Kang Soyeong led us downstairs. She looked that happy.

“It’s still fall, but the garden might be a bit chilly for you, Director. Be careful not to catch a cold. There’s the parlor, or a conference room is free too.”

“Anywhere quiet is fine.”

“The quietest is the guildmaster’s residence, actually. Shall I take you there?”

At her words, Seong nodded. I felt a bit bad coming empty–handed.

“It’s not inside the guild building this time.”

She lowered her voice.

“On the modest side. Much smaller, too.”

If it’s an external residence, is it a detached house? Or a penthouse? Even if the house is outside, the connected portal was in the Sesung Guild. Unlike before, we had to pass through three portals this time.

“Bit far from Sesung, then?”

“The portal’s range is within a 1 km radius.”

“Even so, not easy to find.”

Nine times out of ten, it would be disguised. Plus, the Sesung Guild’s surroundings had several high–end residential areas — an S–class guild premium, so to speak. Lots of redevelopment too.

After stepping through the third portal, a wide entryway appeared.

“Excuse us~. I’ll bring toilet paper next time.”

From the entrance alone, “modest” didn’t seem the right word — let’s just see how well he’s feathered his nest. I walked in through the opened door. Past a surprisingly normal hallway, into the living room…

“…Modest, my foot.”

I stopped before I could set foot inside. What was this floor.

“Were you a fish in a past life? Maybe a mermaid?”

There’s no rule you were always human. Dumbfounded, I stared at the living room floor.

This time there was no giant aquarium. Instead, everything beneath the floor was water. It was like a house built over a lake. The transparent barrier item that used to be the aquarium tank now covered the living room floor. Fish swam right under my feet.

“With a small house, there was nowhere to put an aquarium.”

“Removing it wasn’t an option? And what’s that.”

One side of the generously large — not small — living room was all glass. Beyond it was a huge greenhouse. Another item, probably. He’d glassed over the entire garden and turned it into a conservatory.

“With a small house, there was nowhere to put an indoor garden.”

“Since when are garden and aquarium daily necessities? Did you lug everything over?”

More than anything, what about the living room floor. It’s so transparent it makes me uneasy. I hurried to the sofa and climbed on. Seong took the Pegasus contract from Soyeong and set it on the table. The basic terms were the same as with Comet.

“Pegasi were pricey to begin with. Even an upper–grade foal that couldn’t be grown further was over a billion won. A tamed mid–grade adult was hundreds of billions baseline.”

Measured in billions, but thinking about it, not that expensive. Racehorses alone go for tens to hundreds of billions of won — and this one has wings. Popular and rare, to the point money alone can’t buy.

“Let’s call it A–grade for now, and if she grows to S–class, we’ll pay an additional fee. How’s that?”

“Reasonable.”

“I’m really cutting you a deal, you know. Appreciate your partner.”

Money can’t buy this. Bantering, I signed the contract. I really am soft–hearted.

“If you want a name related to her even while excluding color and species — how about first organizing what you think of Changeling.”

As he signed under my name, Seong said it. What do I think, huh.

“Mm, honestly, I feel sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“…Yeah. How to put it — it’s like she was born for what I wanted.”

That was the initial purpose. She was basically a tool to apply Final Recompense. That’s why I wished she would resemble Diarma.

“You could say, for the end.”

Double–powered. If the Transcendent’s magic stone granted her great power — then maybe she could stop the Source from swallowing the world, and I could reach Yuhyun.

“The end, huh.”

“Your shard is in there, but the main stone was Diarma’s — a Transcendent. I thought if I used her right, I could end it all.”

I couldn’t tell the whole story. Even so, saying it out loud made my chest heavier. In the end, I was going to kill Changeling. For my brother. The damn lizard murdered my brother first, but still — Changeling was basically unrelated.

“Even so, Changeling helped me. Without her, we couldn’t have stopped the King of Harmless. I think she knew what I was thinking.”

I recalled the snowing tree. The place I should have reached at the very end.

“So for Mr. Han, Changeling was a kind of closure.”

“Closure, yeah. Maybe so.”

Born to help me reach the ending I wanted. But then, I chose to keep living a bit more. Instead of ending it after bringing my brother back, we kept going — like this.

“…‘Gyeol.’”

What I want is—

“It’ll be Hangyeol.”

For things to stay the same, for everyone to remain constant — to make it all the way to the end without losing anyone.

“Then it’s Seong Hangyeol.”

Seong said shamelessly. I rolled my neck; my nape ached from exasperation.

“You don’t even have a rat–tail’s worth of stake, okay? Put that spoon down. Just Hangyeol.”

– Right!

An agreeing voice chimed in. At some point, the pink fairy dragon appeared, curled around my neck, settled on my shoulder, and squeaked.

– Dad, why are you with that thing again!

Looking utterly displeased, Changeling — Hangyeol — flicked her tail with sharp little slaps. Seong reached a hand toward her. Her round golden eyes narrowed, the pink tint drained from her scales. Like a skin–color shift? Changeling clamped down on Seong’s hand.

– Hangyeol reeeally hates Seong!

The metallic silver–sheened hatchling dangled from Seong’s hand, mumbling as she hung on. Seong gave his hand a light shake, apparently not hurt. Right, she has no offensive power.

“Don’t bully the kid.”

“Pretending to be a child, more like.”

“She’s not even a year old yet, you know? Come here, Hangyeol.”

With a growl, Changeling returned and burrowed into my arms. Her scales turned pink again. …Does she think I like pink too? Diarma, the dragonkin, Seong — none of them were pink.

– Let’s go home, Dad!

“Yeah, yeah. We will. You’re done napping?”

– No. But Dad gave me my name himself.

She said that made it easier to be active. I should’ve named her sooner… If I had, it would’ve been ‘Pinkie,’ though. Honestly, ‘Pinkie’ isn’t bad either.

– Go away!

Hangyeol trembled her wings and glared at Seong like an angry kitten. Why does she dislike him this much?

“Don’t be so harsh, Hangyeol. He’s not that bad. He’s gotten pretty decent lately.”

– No, Dad. You just don’t know!

“Huh? Know what?”

– He’s, like…!

She trailed off, then pressed her little forepaws firmly over her mouth.

– Better not say.

“What is it? It’s okay, you can tell me.”

– No. Dad, be careful of him. To him, Dad is really necessary, so that makes you in danger! Let’s go to Uncle, quick!

Hurry, she tapped my shoulder and arm with her tiny paws.

“The kid’s fussy — I’d better head back.”

“Leaving as soon as you arrive. I’m hurt.”

“It’s not like your house is going anywhere. Next time I’ll bring a housewarming gift—”

– Nooo!

Should I come secretly.

“It’s a tight space; for many reasons, I recommend you come alone.”

– No, Dad!

“All right, all right.”

I soothed her and moved toward the entry. Seeing Seong following behind us, Changeling’s eye corners shot up.

– Dad, he’s following.

“Mr. Han’s stats are F, Ms. Seong Hangyeol.”

– It’s just Hangyeol!

“That means I have to protect him.”

At Seong’s words, Hangyeol trembled her wings in indignation. Changeling had no power to protect me. Raising my stats would be too much of a burden on me.

– …I really don’t like him.

It was like looking at the old me. No blood relation, yet she calls me Dad — fair enough.

Back at the Sesung Guild, the waiting Kang Soyeong’s eyes went wide. Then her face lit up with pure joy.

“That fairy dragon from back then! Hi, I’m Kang Soyeong.”

– Hello, I’m Hangyeol.

“Really! So cute! Director Han! Are you leaving now? Can’t you stay a bit longer?”

Contrary to what she’d said at the helipad, Soyeong looked like she wanted to move into the Breeding Facility right this instant and trailed after us. She was planning to come see the Water Dragon anyway, so we returned to the Breeding Facility together. There, Seok Gimyeong was waiting for me.

Is it time to name the Facility itself this time?