The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 598: Twins

“You…”

I pushed myself up to sit. The red line slashing across his black eyes gleamed with a chilly light. His looks resembled Yuhyun when he was a kid, but those eyes were definitely…

“…Black Dragon?”

“I used to be. Even if the memories continued, I was born anew, so you can’t really say I’m exactly the same being.”

His way of speaking also reminded me of Yuhyun when he was little. Up to around eight he often talked like that, like he was a step removed from the world, looking at it from the outside. Even now he sometimes still looked like that.

“So Yuhyun’s blood influenced you more than I thought. Gyeol also unexpectedly ended up being really influenced by Seong Hyunjae… Do I make things I like end up really resembling the people I’m fond of?”

“Hm, this doesn’t seem like reality.”

First off, I didn’t see Gyeol. Then maybe this was inside my consciousness. Around us was a completely empty space.

“Give us names. Me and my younger sibling.”

“…Huh? Sibling?”

A younger sibling… did he mean that rabbit–chinchilla–looking animal he was holding? Its fur was closer to a light wheat color, but maybe Blackie? For that, I couldn’t find even a trace of the Venom and Curse Dragonkin in it. But there wasn’t any monster other than Blackie I could call my other kid… Maybe the SS–class beast we used when we combined them had that kind of shape. The attributes had long since disappeared, but the form might have influenced it somewhat. And its rank had been much higher too.

The small beast, its fur now so light that calling it Blackie felt wrong, gently swished its long, drooping tail.

“Names, now?”

Honestly, I wasn’t confident. Naming a monster I’d created myself didn’t feel like something light, and it felt a bit much to decide on my own…

“Name us.”

But the Black Dragon was firm. No, see, uh… this is bad. The only thing that comes to mind is Blackie… He seemed like he could turn into a person, so maybe I should give him a human name. I think they said you don’t usually use the character for “black” in given names though. But he’s not human, so is that okay? Using the “dragon” character feels a bit much.

“…Do I really have to do it now? Right this second?”

“Because I can’t leave until I receive a name.”

“What?”

The Black Dragon looked straight at me and said coolly,

“I’m going to take my sibling and leave right away.”

“Hold on, wait a second!”

“Don’t worry about the Ruler’s Sword. When I grow, the sword will grow with me. I don’t need to be nearby.”

“It’s not about the sword, where are you even planning to go! This is your first time in this world. You don’t have a single cent, and you’re literal kids!”

He’d said he’d “grow”, which meant he wasn’t mature yet. Even if they were around S–class, they were just–born kids.

“I acknowledge that you’re our father. But don’t try to act like our guardian.”

“Hey, but…”

“You don’t qualify to be our guardian.”

…Hearing that come out of Yuhyun’s face, of all people, made my heart drop. My throat smarted and I couldn’t argue back right away.

“…I mean, still. In my own way, I…”

“I know you’ll cherish us and do your best. But a guardian who might disappear at any moment is better off never having been there in the first place.”

“Disappear?!”

“Father, you care too much about those under your protection. Right now most of them are strong, so it’s still okay. But truly weak, ordinary vessels can’t survive if they lose their guardian. Even if it’s the duty of a caretaker to protect the young, in the final moment they have to put themselves first. That way they can look after the dependents who survive.”

“That…”

“The caretaker has to survive so the children can survive.”

He wasn’t wrong. Even in modern society, children who lost their parents had a hard time. In the wild, the absence of a guardian would be no different from death. Doing your best for a child was definitely a good thing. But if a guardian hurt themselves for that, in the end they’d just end up hurting both sides… wouldn’t they.

“But me… how could I just hang back and watch from the sidelines.”

How was I supposed to put myself first.

“I can’t think about before or after… if someone precious to me is in danger, I can only jump in.”

“That’s why I’m leaving. That’s how you live, Father. We just don’t want to get caught up in that.”

He wasn’t accusing me. Just matter–of–fact. I quietly watched the Black Dragon. Was this what Yuhyun would’ve been like if he’d never given me his heart? Coolly assessing the usefulness of a guardian and acting only on reason.

“…Then at least take what you can.”

I could give things now, unlike before.

“You’ll need an identity set up too. If you’re going to live in human form, you need a place and money. I’ll arrange it so you awaken young and get sponsorship from Dodam or Haeyeon. No need to get tangled up with me…”

A lump rose in my chest for no good reason. Thinking about it, this had to be the right answer. If I couldn’t take proper responsibility and look after them to the very end, then I shouldn’t keep them by my side. Just like when Yuhyun had no choice but to leave me, I had no idea what would happen to the current me either. No matter how hard I tried and thrashed, the future was uncertain.

So while I couldn’t help holding on to the people already at my side, I had no right to stop the Black Dragon when he said he was leaving. …Even though I told myself that, the corners of my eyes still burned for no reason. It was because he looked like Yuhyun. Saying all that with that face.

“I’ll do everything I can for you. That’s not too much, right?”

– Pyuut!

Blackie – the no–longer–black furball in the Black Dragon’s arms – suddenly squirmed free. It slipped out of the arms holding it and hopped straight into mine. It bounced around me, then looked back and forth between me and the Black Dragon, flicking its tail like it was smacking something. The Black Dragon’s brows knit a little.

“Now?”

– Pii, pipik!

“…Fine. Now, move your mana along with me.”

The Black Dragon gently stroked the curled–up Blackie with an incredibly tender touch. Then the tiny furball turned into a child.

“Good job, little sibling! A few more times and you’ll get used to it in no time.”

The light beige hair and blue eyes didn’t look Korean at all, but the face resembled me when I was young. Or rather…

“How…”

“I taught her. Unlike me, my sibling is a monster, but inside you she was influenced a lot by me. So I was able to guide her into forming a human shape. Being human–shaped is advantageous in many ways.”

“Dad!”

Blackie threw herself into my arms. Just like that brief time before, she rubbed her head against me. I carefully patted her and she beamed. Compared to the Black Dragon, her body was smaller and she looked younger mentally too. Blackie had always been simple and childish.

“Come here, little sister. We have to go.”

At the Black Dragon’s words, Blackie shook her head.

“I don’t wanna. I’m not going. You don’t go either, hyung.”

“…So you ended up siblings? Because you, uh, got made around the same time?”

“No.”

When I asked while soothing the whining Blackie, the Black Dragon answered.

“In your terms, she’s my twin little sister.”

“What? But she just called you hyung.”

“That’s just the word she heard the most.”

Ah… Right, Yuhyun probably heard “hyung” the most. I’d heard that the youngest with older siblings sometimes copied the words and called someone “unnie” or “hyung” regardless of gender.

“And I don’t have an exact sex.”

“…Huh?”

“I was the only one of my kind. Because of the blood that seeped into me, I’m closer to a male body.”

The Black Dragon reached his hand out toward Blackie.

“Let’s go. Be good. Come on.”

“I don’t wanna. I like Dad. That’s why I wanted to come out fast…”

Blackie’s voice gradually shrank and started to wobble. Ah, geez. As her eyes filled with tears, the Black Dragon panicked, not knowing what to do.

“N–no, see. It’s dangerous next to Dad. You’re still weak because you can’t handle mana properly yet.”

“But Dad gave me yummy stuff…”

“I gave you food too. I’ll give you lots more, okay?”

“…I like you too.”

And then the tears spilled over completely. The Black Dragon looked at me like, please do something.

“I’ve always been by myself.”

His flustered eyes darting here and there made him look like an ordinary kid. He really liked his sibling. Swallowing the laugh that tried to escape, I patted Blackie’s back.

“It’s because you’re making a kid choose something that’s too hard. It’s okay, sweetheart, it’s okay. You can stay with Dad. Your hyung won’t go either.”

Tell a kid holding snacks in both hands that they can only eat one and have to give the other away, and nine times out of ten they’ll dither and then cry. There are kids who grit their teeth and hand one over, but how are you supposed to choose between your dad and your hyung.

“I can’t promise I’ll take responsibility for her to the very end, just like you said.”

I said quietly, soothing Blackie.

“But I’ll do everything I can for her. Honestly, that’s the norm, isn’t it. Guardians, parents… we just do our best.”

Taking perfect, total responsibility was close to impossible, not just as a parent but as a person. People were bound to be lacking in all sorts of ways. There were plenty who couldn’t even take care of themselves properly, let alone others. I was the same. And even if you tried that hard, things could still end badly.

But Yuhyun loved me to the end, and I loved him too. That’s probably why, even with all our shortcomings… the title of Perfect Nurturer had appeared. It wasn’t like anyone would say I’d raised my little brother perfectly, but at least our feelings for each other had never changed.

“Let’s go home. If it’s really uncomfortable, I’ll set up a separate room on the first floor. Let’s at least live together until your sister grows up. There’s nothing bad about it. You’ll have to get used to a new place, and if you want to buy her tasty food and clothes and toys, you’ll need money.”

“Either way, this place is…”

The Black Dragon trailed off and let out a small sigh.

“It’s because of the blood. If not for that, I wouldn’t be calling you Father at all, but the owner of the blood likes you so much it influences me too.”

Hm, thanks to Yuhyun, it seemed he couldn’t be completely cold to me.

“Is that why you care about her too?”

“No. The owner of the blood only has eyes for you in the first place. She has nothing to do with it. She’s just… my one and only little sister.”

I remembered the Black Dragon saying he was the only one of his kind. I didn’t know exactly how it worked, but to him, Blackie seemed to feel like his sole kin. A one–and–only family member, different from me even if I was his father.

Blackie started nodding off in my arms. Soon she reverted to her beast form. Small, soft, and warm. She curled herself into a ball and fell completely asleep.

“I’ll name her after we get home too. I don’t really trust myself to do it alone. You’d also prefer your sister to get a pretty name, right?”

Finding out she was a girl made my confidence drop even more. I’d done a good job naming Gyeol though. But would a girl who looked like me really be okay? She’s cute now because she’s still young, but… it’ll be different when she grows up, right?

“Fine. Just give her a name as soon as you can. Without a name, even coming outside and moving around is hard. She also clung to me saying she had to help Dad, so we overdid it a little.”

“Ah… so that’s it.”

Without thinking, I glanced down at the wound on my palm. I remembered the heat that had flared there when I handled the Ruler’s Sword. So the Black Dragon helped me because Blackie asked him to.

“Thank you.”

“…We had to survive too.”

The Black Dragon answered flatly, as if that was all there was to it.

“And Father. It looks like the Fairy Dragonkin didn’t say anything, but be careful.”

“Huh?”

“It’s definitely better if you don’t know.”

Before I could even ask what he meant, the Black Dragon and the Blackie in my arms vanished. Then my eyes opened.

“…Oh, crap.”

It was an unfamiliar ceiling. On top of that, my arms and legs wouldn’t move. I didn’t know where I’d fallen, but it probably wasn’t somewhere friendly to me. Well, as long as it was Earth, it shouldn’t be a huge problem.

“Chatterbox kept his promise!”

A woman with long, bright blond hair cried out joyfully.

“Even if he seems to have died, who cares. The preparations are perfect, right?”

“We’ve finished laying all the traps and the S–class is on standby. But won’t it still be lacking? The opponent is that Sesung Guild Leader.”

Park Hayul lowered his voice a little, uneasy.

“I’m still going to sit this out. He might try to kill me the moment he sees me!”

“Coward.”

“And it’s got nothing to do with me anyway. I just need to get Yujin–hyung back.”

Park Hayul’s expression softened. Staring off into space, he said earnestly,

“I really do like Yujin–hyung a ton! He’s so freaking cool and so, so heartbreaking! Maybe it’s because of the party, but I like him even more than before!”

“Right, you don’t remember, do you.”

The woman looked at Park Hayul with a faintly exasperated gaze.

“I find Han Yujin annoying. I like him even less now.”

“What do you mean why? How can you possibly hate Yujin–hyung? Maybe if it was Han Yuhyun! Hyung, just wait a little longer. I’ll definitely save you!”

Leaving Park Hayul behind as he shouted for Yujin–hyung with tears in his eyes, the woman walked on. He would be in the room at the end of the hall. The man who would become her groom.