The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 609: Looking for the Cat (3)

I stepped out of the car and lifted the binoculars to look around. Under the darkened sky, red light was rolling and flickering. The buildings and smoke blocked the view, making it hard to see what was going on deeper inside the airport. I didn’t know who was behind it, but they had clearly targeted Aswan International Airport.

‘They must be trying to mess with the Korean Hunters.’

They were S–class, so it’s not like a trashed airport would keep them from getting off the plane, but they still needed a plane to go home. Boarding without an airport is tricky.

‘Samir didn’t seem like he wanted to block their visit, so it probably wasn’t him. Was it his cousins without blood ties?’

Even if they realized Gyeol and Seong Hyunjae had disappeared, they wouldn’t start by smashing the airport. It was too far, too. Or maybe…

‘Maybe the future bride of the Sesung guildmaster’s side.’

But seriously, who was it? I was curious, but standing here guessing wouldn’t help.

“Gyeol.”

“No, I don’t wanna.”

Gyeol cut me off flatly, folding his arms tight.

“If Dad goes, I’m going too.”

“It’s dangerous. Besides, Egypt is all about cats, remember? You’ll be safe.”

And we had Grace too. When I told him to wait quietly in the car, he grabbed my arm and hung off it.

“Take me with you!”

“Gyeol, a cat walking around alone draws the least suspicion and is the safest. I’m just gonna check real quick and come right back.”

“Then I’ll turn into a cat too! I can do it, I totally can!”

Gyeol bobbed his head as he spoke.

“I’m a fairy dragon, remember? I can turn into other things! And you’re connected to me, Dad. I can change along with you.”

“Gyeol.”

I looked down at him. His golden eyes stared up at me, desperate.

“Then sure, of course you can.”

I bent my knees to meet his eyes.

“You’ll be able to do it, anything. Maybe not right this second, but someday you’ll be able to change however you want.”

Of course he could grow as much as he wanted. It wasn’t even going against his species traits; picking up a transformation skill was nothing. And beyond that, anything else.

The near–tears look on his face brightened into a smile.

“Yeah, I can do it. So help me, Dad.”

Even if he turned into a cat too, I still didn’t really want to bring him along. He was a fairy dragon with damage nullification, but… I couldn’t just stomp on his determination.

“So what do you need me to do?”

“Use your Teacher skill and transform. Send me as much of the feeling as you can. And believe that I can do it.”

“Dad always believes in you.”

I activated Delroux’s skill. My eye level dropped in an instant. And not long after that…

– Dad!

A tiny pink–furred kitten wagged his tail at me. Gyeol! But why could he still talk even as a cat? Well, he talked in fairy dragon form too.

[Good job, Gyeol!]

– Look, Dad! But I’m a little different from you.

Unlike me – unlike Delroux – he looked more like a long–haired breed. Excited, Gyeol hopped around and then popped out his wings, flapping into the air. Even as a cat, he still looked like a fairy, my Gyeol.

– Now I can go with you, right?

[…Well.]

– Huh?

[Yeah. But you have to change your fur color. And Gyeol, cats don’t swish their tails like that. They move slower than dogs. When they’re happy, they put their tails up like this and rub their bodies.]

I was completely Delroux–ified, a full cat transformation, but it seemed like Gyeol had only changed his appearance, because on top of his usual self, a bit of Peace’s behavior showed through. He spun in circles, lightening the color of his fur. He turned into a white cat, with just the faintest hint of pink.

That was probably safe enough, but I still worried. Maybe we should just not go.

– Let’s go, Dad! Meow! Rowr!

Tail sticking straight up, Gyeol strode proudly toward the airport. Gyeol!

[Should we just stay here? I feel like that’d be fine.]

– No, Dad. We have to check. I could go alone and be fine!

[You are absolutely not going alone!]

I hurried after the show–off little kitten swaggering ahead of me. We both had damage nullification, and worst case I could use the Drawer, so it should be fine, but still.

[Stick right next to Dad, got it?]

– Meeoow!

[And cats don’t cry out that much, you know.]

Gyeol, that sounds like a person pretending to meow…

The airport was a decent distance away, but we ran hard. Still, we were faster than a person running. Gyeol was pretty quick too.

[We have to be careful.]

I said it again as we slipped inside the airport proper. Gyeol flicked his tail like he was telling me not to worry. Watching him like that made me feel guilty. Even if he was a monster born from a mana stone, a fairy dragon or whatever, a kid was still a kid. A child who wanted to spend time with his parents and do everything together.

With my current situation, my environment, I couldn’t take care of him in any normal way. Someday, when everything was over…

Rumble!

Part of a building collapsed. We carefully avoided the cracked sections and headed toward the runways.

[Even if it doesn’t hurt you, getting buried makes it hard to get out, so be sure to dodge well.]

– Me–ow!

[That one actually sounded kinda real!]

Flames flickered here and there. I circled wide around the choking black smoke and headed toward where I heard people. Hiding myself in a gap between fallen concrete walls, I surveyed the area.

Thud!

I saw a Hunter get kicked and sent tumbling.

[Hide behind Dad.]

Nothing good for him to see anyway. The one attacking the Hunter who looked like airport security was…

‘…That guy.’

The face was familiar. My ears flattened reflexively.

‘Cho Hwawoon.’

It was that bastard. He wore one of those local outer garments that looked like a robe, hiding his body, but both legs were clearly fine as he stood there. So Hwang Rim had reattached his legs? No, more importantly, why the hell was he here wrecking the airport?

‘So Hwang Rim pretended to help and was actually a spy for them or something?’

Either way, not someone you could trust. Cho Hwawoon walked up to the fallen Hunter and casually drove his sword down. Two more Hunters approached his side. They seemed to be on the same side and started talking, but I couldn’t make out the words from this distance.

‘One of them’s C–class.’

At that level…

I used my Teacher skill on the C–class Hunter. A wave of rejection pushed back at me, but since his rank was low, it only left me dizzy for a moment. The C–class Hunter frowned and glanced around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dunno, I just feel… weird…”

He wouldn’t feel anything besides that discomfort – it wasn’t a one–way stream of senses just into me. Through the C–class Hunter’s eyes, Cho Hwawoon came into clearer view. His cold expression was the same, but he looked a little thinner. And…

‘…Chatterbox?!’

I could feel Chatterbox’s power coming from him.

What the hell, that guy was dead.

From Cho Hwawoon’s right leg and left arm – the parts Yuhyun had cut off – Chatterbox’s mana was faintly leaking out. Chatterbox had definitely teamed up with the Prophet’s side. So had Cho Hwawoon joined them in exchange for fixing his limbs?

‘Of course the Prophet’s side was bound to be grinding their teeth at me…’

I’d thought things were mostly wrapped up after we took down Chatterbox, but apparently his leftovers remained. The ominous guess made my head ache.

Don’t tell me, that bastard Chatterbox…

‘He’d already gathered all the S–class he wanted to use and handed out power beforehand?’

Originally he’d planned to farm items with parties and raise them up, but maybe when he changed plans he’d quietly gathered his own S–class underlings. Technically he wasn’t supposed to interfere like that, but Chatterbox had already decided to throw away his status as a Transcendent anyway. A penalty for secretly buffing a few S–class was probably something he could endure.

‘Make me the King of Harmless, command a bunch of S–class under him… he must’ve been living his best life.’

And then he still ended up dead.

“They say the plane Song Taewon’s on is scheduled to arrive in five hours.”

A B–class Hunter reported to Cho Hwawoon.

“Cairo’s procedures are more complicated than here, and he’d have to move again by car or helicopter, so it’ll take more than a day.”

“If it were me, I’d jump.”

Cho Hwawoon said coldly, looking up at the sky.

“Sir?”

“Especially if that bastard Han Yuhyun is there – he’ll come straight to Aswan.”

Well, yeah, if it’s Yuhyun, of course he would. He’d be fine just jumping, plus he had Peace and Blue Willow Leaves. And Yerim too. But Chief Song would most likely go on to Cairo to go through the formal procedures.

‘Wouldn’t they drop Yuhyun, Yerim, and Peace off, then divert the plane to Cairo?’

Yuhyun was strong, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy. That bastard had taken a Transcendent’s power. Last time, Yuhyun had crushed him easily, but this time might be trickier. I really should’ve killed him back then. No, even now…

“Huh?”

Just then, a strange voice came from above my head.

“A cat.”

The rubble of a collapsed building was swept aside in an instant, and two big hands shot out and grabbed Gyeol.

The hell?!

– Hiss!

– Kyaa–ow!

[Gyeol, it’s okay! They haven’t figured us out yet!]

We both squirmed at the same time, but the guy didn’t budge and just scooped us up. Then he hopped toward Cho Hwawoon. In one bound he closed the distance and greeted Cho Hwawoon cheerfully.

“Hey there, recyclable!”

…Ah, no. That… felt a little harsh. Cho Hwawoon was an asshole, sure, but calling a person “recyclable”?

Cho Hwawoon’s face twisted.

“I told you I’m more than enough on my own.”

“If you get chopped up again, you won’t even be recyclable anymore. It’s confirmed that the Haeyeon guildmaster left for the States. He chased after him like a rabid dog, and even after we leaked the intel on purpose, he’s been quiet for hours.”

What the hell was this jerk saying about someone else’s little brother? I sunk my claws into the hem of his clothes and tore a hole hard. His skin, well… he was S–class too, after all. I could feel Chatterbox’s mana from this guy as well.

So he really had gathered the S–class he’d contracted with in one place. At Jerk Dog No. 2’s words, Jerk Dog No. 1 curled his lips.

“So Han Yujin really is here.”

Right in front of your eyes, genius. Too bad cat paws couldn’t flip him off.

“I’ll find him before Han Yuhyun does.”

Yeah, good luck with that.

“I’ll cut off Han Yujin’s arms and legs and throw them to him.”

Gyeol flinched and froze.

Seriously, what kind of bastard says that with a kid right there!

“You should watch out for my cousins too. They’re with the Sesung guildmaster, so they definitely know about Han Yujin. They’re after him as well.”

He must’ve meant Samir and Isabella. So this guy was a prince too? Seriously, princes were everywhere. How many had it been just today?

“They’re just ordinary S–class.”

“Samir’s adoptive father is one of the strongest contenders for the throne. His younger brother is the elder’s loyal supporter. You really think they’d adopt an ordinary S–class as a foster son? There was an unofficial ranking match, remember?”

My ears perked up at the words of Prince Number Whatever.

“They went into a dungeon with a healer and a few royal observers and had one–on–one matches. Tournament style. Isabella took first, Samir came in fourth. They say that since Samir forfeited partway through, he was effectively second. He might’ve even been first.”

So that happened, huh. Those two were more impressive than I thought…

“Even if it was just a royal playfight, they’re all competitive as hell, so the hierarchy is real. The rewards were good, so not just Saudis – every S–class from the Islamic world jumped in. And with rank one and two practically glued together now, going alone’s dangerous.”

In other words, they were basically the top of the Middle Eastern S–class, or so Prince So–and–so warned. I thought back on Samir. He didn’t come off like that, but huh, surprise. Worried, Gyeol tapped me with his front paw.

[It’s okay. This is actually better. If we’d just stayed quiet, Samir and Isabella wouldn’t have taken any big action.]

But now the chances of those two clashing with this lot had gone up. The enemy of my enemy and all that. If they fought on our side, I’d be grateful.

“So for now, we pull back. If we hang around and end up crashing into my cousins and the Korean Hunters at the same time, it’ll be a pain.”

“…I was planning to find Han Yujin first anyway.”

Cho Hwawoon looked displeased but turned back without protest. Still holding me and Gyeol, the prince jerk followed after him. What should I do, just ride along for now? They thought we were just normal cats, so it felt like we could slip away anytime. If it were just me, there’d be nothing to think about, but I was worried about Gyeol.

Kwarrr–rung, the sound of a burning building collapsing echoed around us. Damaged planes were scattered everywhere. With all the roads destroyed, we were leaving the airfield on foot when…

“To think the terrorist would turn out to be you, big brother.”

Samir was standing beside several vehicles. Behind him, a helicopter sat on the ground. Captured Hunters knelt disarmed, and Isabella was perched on a car bumper, leaning back against it.

“You never considered that I came here to catch the terrorists?”

“Ooh─ is that so. Looks like you were in the middle of escorting them, then.”

Samir said it with a face that didn’t believe a word. He must’ve chased us in the helicopter right after noticing we’d disappeared. At that speed, he’d probably tracked the car. The contract was intact, so maybe he’d suspected the chef who suddenly vanished.

Isabella lifted the body she’d been leaning and leveled her axe.

“Put the cats down first.”

Then she muttered softly,

“I thought it was a male.”

No, I am male! A tomcat can walk around with his kitten too, what’s the problem!