The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 479: This Time, the Kidnapper (2)

With a crackle, Iryn had somehow climbed onto Yuhyun’s shoulder and flared up, like an enraged beast bristling its mane. Yuhyun moved in tight at my side, and Yerim exhaled big.

“…It’s stifling.”

“Yeah. Feels like my throat’s being squeezed.”

Moon Hyunah agreed with Yerim.

“It wasn’t like this before.”

Noah, who’d been in the forge basement before, said. Even under the prickling looks of the S–rank Hunters, Myungwoo looked unfazed. He glanced at me, apologetic.

“Is it bothering you a lot? I can’t control it well yet—sorry.”

“…Control?”

“Before, ‘owner’ was just a word. I merely possessed this place.”

At that, the drawer the King of Harmless gave me came to mind.

“Did your, uh, spatial understanding and dominion go up?”

At my words, Myungwoo’s eyes went round.

“Yujin, you know about that?”

“Uh, a little. If you perfect it, you can manipulate the space freely, or so they said.”

“Right. I’m nowhere near that far. Places like this are, in a way, artificial little worlds. Crude with clear limits compared to the real world. You know how isolated artificial ecosystems don’t last long. Maintenance requires interference.”

“The drawer from the King of Harmless needs mana replenishment too.”

“Mana’s the source power that makes and maintains a world. In the end, without Source, you can’t even make, much less maintain, such an artificial world. Only Source creates true worlds.”

The King of Harmless had said that as well. You can make quasi mini–worlds like a forge or a drawer, but the foundation still has to be Source.

“Even so, being able to handle this place perfectly would be…”

“…Like being a god?”

I thought of Rookie and the King of Harmless—changing the scenery, producing all sorts of objects on the spot. Not simple illusions—their will made real things appear and vanish.

“Grand words, but roughly? Omnipotent only within a tiny world. I’m only at the threshold, but I’ve laid the footing as the true master. That’s why people sensitive to mana feel unpleasant here.”

He looked at me and the people around me.

“Because I’m blatantly displaying a mark—‘under my dominion.’ The outside world is commons; this isn’t. It’s not merely entering someone else’s house—here, even the air you breathe is under my ownership. Of course it feels uncomfortable. Like being watched down to the pores.”

So that’s why it felt tight in the chest. He said he could modulate it better once he got used to it, and asked our understanding again. Then he gestured for me to sit—and a chair popped up.

“…You made that?”

“No. I’m not up to on–the–spot creation yet. I just relocated it.”

“I heard humans can’t do spatial transfer.”

“This whole space is mine. Think of it like moving furniture in a model house.”

Urging us to sit, he provided chairs for the others as well. Mine was a proper armchair with back and arms; Yerim and Noah got simple, ordinary chairs. But the rest all got different things: a big crate, a tree stump, a boulder—things you could sit on, but hardly chairs. Were there only three chairs? I thought there were more.

Feeling bad about taking the comfiest seat, I hesitated, and Yuhyun set me down and stood guard beside me. Iryn, who’d crossed over to my shoulder, whispered small.

– Hyung, Iryn hates it here.

“Really that uncomfortable?”

– There’s another spirit. Feels super old; Iryn doesn’t like it. Outside, Iryn is the first!

Partly because this was Ismuar’s domain—and partly because he didn’t like not being the elder. He trembled and kept flicking his tail with sharp taps.

“More interesting than I thought,” Seong Hyunjae said, perched on a rock. Thanks to the Seeker’s Chain that scales with the user, he’d paid less attention to Myungwoo than other Hunters—he needed gear for his subordinates, so he treated him well, but that was that. Now he watched Myungwoo with quite some interest. About to take out his bad habit again.

“I told you not to mess with my people.”

“I thought it was ‘children only.’ Hunter Yoo Myungwoo is your age.”

“Kids are a given as humans, and so are folks at the Breeding Facility and in the building. Why do you keep trying to prod this person and that?”

Sure, sometimes it ends well—but often it doesn’t. And he’s busy. There are already a crowd of annoyances sniffing for scraps; I’m not letting a giant bug latch on. I glared, warning him not to try anything stupid. He spread his hands, all innocence.

“I thought I’d get on splendidly with Hunter Yoo Myungwoo. A pity.”

“Splendid nothing. You’re total opposites.”

Not a speck of similarity between them.

“I’ll say it again: I won’t stop you from toying with people—excluding kids, non–Awakened, and lower ranks. If they’re high–rank Hunters.”

At that level, they won’t ruin their lives over Seong Hyunjae. Not if it’s not forced.

“But not around me. I won’t watch that. I’ll poke your eyes out before I let that happen.”

“Most people say ‘before dirt gets in my eyes.’”

“Why would I stake my eyes with an unharmed perpetrator sitting there? The proverb’s wrong. It should be ‘before dirt gets in your eyes, you bastard.’”

As in: if worst comes to worst, I’ll bury you. Anyway, I should warn Myungwoo to be careful.

“And what are you doing just sitting there like you own the place. You’re supposed to be pretending you’re not involved yet.”

If Chloe stonewalled to the end and Park Hayul’s side refused to negotiate, it was better for him to stay one step removed. So I’d said: better yet, don’t come; if you have to, don’t bring the helicopter again; even your car—use something ordinary.

“The Sesung Guildmaster might later have to ‘rescue’ Hunter Chloe,” I added.

“I’m not confident I can act naturally.”

“Then do your ‘I’m here to rescue you, Princess!’ again.”

“Did you actually do that?” Yerim, seated beside me, asked. Uh—

“Back when Liette kidnapped Chief Han and tried to jump him? Did you wear a dress too?”

“Of course not! Who brings a dress into a dungeon!”

There’s no ‘dress’ in equipment. You’d trip on the hem mid–fight. Ugh, why did I bring that up. It’s because the person who seems the cheekiest on earth just said he can’t act naturally.

“Should we put the Sesung Guildmaster outside?”

“In that case, me too, please,” Myungwoo said—right as Chief Song raised a hand.

“Leaving him alone outside would endanger the captured Hunters.”

“I promised I wouldn’t have them killed—not personally, anyway—in the interest of gaining information,” Seong Hyunjae said, leaning forward, forearms on knees. That promise—he meant Ms. Min Jinsoo, presumably. If he reads memories, he can know how they died; there might even be a contract. At his words, Chief Song’s brow creased.

“In the past, among the four, one was…”

He cut himself off—it wasn’t a story to bring up here—but I could guess. As long as he didn’t kill them himself. There were three outside; he could make the others kill one of them. Neatly, cleverly. I didn’t know the exact method, but if it were Seong Hyunjae, he’d handle it clean—clean enough that Ms. Min Jinsoo wouldn’t mind.

…Honestly, extracting information from a corpse is the easiest way. Even so—

“Both of you stay here. We can put up a screen so you can’t be seen.”

No sooner had I spoken than thin panels appeared in front of Seong Hyunjae and Song Taewon. I hadn’t sensed a thing. He tapped the panel; it quivered lightly, but we still couldn’t make out movement within.

“You can’t sense them either?” I asked Yuhyun, just in case.

“Yeah. Nothing at all.”

“I can still hear voices,” Seong Hyunjae said.

“It only blurs recognition of what’s beyond,” Myungwoo replied.

“Can you use it outside too?”

“No. It’s not an item effect—I twisted the space a bit. The panel’s both a screen and a boundary. I’m clumsy still, so I need to draw a visible line.”

He really could do anything. If I learned from him, maybe I could manage mana replenishment for the drawer. Just then, a necklace whipped out from beyond Seong Hyunjae’s panel. Yerim snatched the thing flying true for her.

“Lending it to the little lady.”

“Thanks! But you carry interpretation items too, Mister Sesung?”

“I’m not fluent in every language.”

Even him—he wouldn’t know remote dialects and such.

“What about you, Ms. Hyunah?”

“Mm, maybe I’ll hide too, just in case. Since I’ve known Chloe longer than you, I could pretend I’m the rescuer instead of him.”

“Right. Let’s do that.”

Moon Hyunah vanished behind a panel too. It was odd when they first popped up, but after a moment, they felt like walls. Also part of his ability?

‘…So I’m the only one left.’

To persuade Chloe. Yerim was out, and I couldn’t have Yuhyun or Mr. Noah do it either. Can I handle this. I swallowed, squared my shoulders, and crossed my legs.

“Wake her. How’d you knock her out, anyway?”

It was odd to see an S–rank out cold for so long. S–rank Hunters don’t faint easily unless they’re grievously injured… Yuhyun stayed calm even then.

“I twisted her mana flow.”

“You can do that?”

“Ismuar’s mana is far stronger, and this is my domain. I can’t outside. That’s why the capture was quick, but making her lose consciousness took longer.”

He said he’d thought about inflicting a major wound, but then he thought of me. See—kind. He brushed the back of Chloe’s neck. Her closed eyes snapped open.

“…I didn’t expect you to use the blacksmith.”

She spoke calmly and pushed herself up to sit, still bound. Her cool glance found me.

“Sending a low–stat friend alone was dangerous, wasn’t it.”

“I volunteered.”

Myungwoo circled slowly past her and came toward me.

“Of course Yujin worried about me. But I was sick of being the guy who sits and watches.”

Didn’t you even come to the China dungeon, though. You helped a lot, but still.

“Fewer than I expected,” Chloe said, moving only her eyes to scan the room. She couldn’t perceive the three hidden, it seemed.

“It’s our business,” Noah said, standing from his chair, voice cold. Strictly speaking it was the Breeding Facility’s business, as he said. Yuhyun and Yerim belong to Haeyeon—but first and foremost, they’re my family.

“Whatever your goal, you took Mr. Yujin from us.”

“Yeah! Mister’s not even that healthy.”

“Just being one of that lot is reason enough not to let you live.”

Bystander or not—it doesn’t matter. In any other situation, Yuhyun would already have drawn his sword; his tone was icy. The air churned with the anger from when I vanished.

Through it all, Chloe looked straight only at me.

“You’re more loved than I thought.”

“Thankfully.”

I smiled. Her ‘I don’t like you’ had stung badly, but now—it didn’t, surprisingly. It’s hard to keep hurting when the people precious to me are holding me up this firmly.

“Would you consider cooperating with me.”

“No.”

The obvious answer.

“I’m a victim. I believe I have a right to compensation.”

“State it.”

“First, Park Hayul. Remove his skill. That’s a demand, not compensation. For compensation—every invitation from Chatterbox. That should do.”

“…Chatterbox?”

“The Transcendent who issued the invitations. I have a little more intel than you. I was wondering how to acquire the invites, as it happens.”

I spoke as if I already knew, so it wouldn’t look like I’d learned it from Seong Hyunjae. I swung a foot, toe pointed up.

“As you know, our side received nothing. Call it a bit of bad blood with Chatterbox. Petty—refused the first offer, and there was no second.”

Not entirely a lie. The King of Harmless, who had dragged him in, did make me an offer.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t answer you.”

Chloe’s tone was even.

“I truly regret the situation with Park Hayul’s skill, but now that I know Director Han’s faction is larger than expected, I find it even harder to back down.”

“Sounds like you want to keep using me. Hard to tell who the villain is.”

My face cooled on its own. In the end—S–ranks. Park Hayul’s words rose to mind. The S–ranks around me—I’d had reason to trust them, having rolled through so much together. Mind–type skills are context–sensitive. And Yuhyun—I never guarded against him.

But Chloe is different. Closer to an enemy from the start. Which made her that much more uncomfortable now.

“Then maybe I’ll play the villain for real. I’m already a kidnapper—let’s make it official.”

I smiled at her.

“After you vanished, your colleagues came to rescue you. We have them, of course.”

At that, her expression hardened.

“They’re still unharmed. But to be frank, I have no reason to leave my kidnappers’ crew intact.”

The calm in her eyes chilled. I didn’t want to, either—but my people matter more.