The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 614: Rewind

“Leave the rear to us and just keep running!”

Yerim shouted, leveling her axe at the onrushing mob. With a skidding scrape, Peace’s four paws clawed at the ground as he made a sharp turn and then shot off like a whirlwind. Droplets of water gathered around Yerim, and right before they crashed into the bikes and military vehicles, she kicked off Peace’s back and leaped high.

“Hel–lo!”

Swaaash! Yerim’s axe swept through the group of Hunters along with the water. Like a shark riding a rapid current and slamming into a school of fish, she smashed apart anything that touched the blade. However—

– Dad’s being kind of weird.

“Most of our skills have been sealed.”

– Huh?

“It’s an ability those Hunters who look like they got Chatterbox’s power have. The sealing duration changes every time, from as short as a day to as long as a week. We kept clashing with them, so we kept getting sealed, and in the end no one can really use their skills anymore.”

That damn Chatterbox is causing trouble even after he’s dead! So that’s why Peace isn’t using fire, and Yerim didn’t use teleportation or flight. Water is a power outside the category of skills, so it’s still usable.

– Whiiine.

He tapped Yuhyun’s leg with his front paw. You too, Yuhyun?

“I can use my fire. It shows up as a skill, but it seems to be my fundamental power. That only seals skills. Park Yerim tested it with Chief Song’s skill, and Chief Song could even lower the rank of her water–handling ability.”

Right. Chief Song wasn’t born just to deal with simple skills, but to be able to swallow Seong Hyunjae’s very existence itself… So it’s probably not a power that simply blocks other people’s abilities. Maybe it’s tied to handling Chatterbox’s system.

The car sped forward and Yerim’s figure grew distant. I couldn’t help worrying about leaving just Yerim and Peace together. They can hardly use their skills!

“Don’t worry. It looked like there was only one S–class, and this has been happening a lot lately anyway.”

Yuhyun noticed how uneasy I was.

‘…A lot?’

“Other people will be joining up with Park Yerim soon. She has Hunters she moves around with.”

Who could it be? The way Yuhyun just called them Hunters she hangs out with, it didn’t sound like he knew them all that well. Did Yerim make new friends?

‘Ah, Yuhyun! Your sword!’

I hurriedly pulled out the Ruler’s Sword. Yuhyun smiled as he took the sword and put it into his inventory.

“The Ruler’s Sword is basically contracted to me, so once it’s drawn out of the inventory I can sense its location.”

Wow, if I’d known that, I would’ve just quietly hidden in some corner holding the sword. Well, thanks to ending up in the drawer, I did at least get a good rest.

Just then, another round of bike engines roared from ahead. I was about to dive back into Yuhyun’s coat when I saw a familiar figure through my brother’s eyes.

‘Chief Song?’

Song Taewon was riding a heavy bike that looked like it had been through hell. Wearing the same Middle Eastern–style outer robe as Yuhyun, he pulled back up the cloth that covered the lower half of his face. Then he put on black sunglasses. Guess he had to at least formally cover his face since he’s a public official.

“Keep going straight north like this.”

As he swept past the car, Chief Song spoke. For a second it felt like the gaze behind those sunglasses flicked toward me, half–hidden in the folds of the coat. Either way, with Chief Song here too, I felt a lot safer. After we turned north and drove a while, there—just barely visible, the kind of faint signal only an S–class Hunter would notice—a light blinked.

Yuhyun got out of the car, holding me wrapped in his coat. He stretched out his forepaw and put the car into the drawer, then headed toward where the signal had come from. Between the rock walls, Noah appeared, his whole body wrapped in cloth as well.

Different gender, age, country, even race, and yet somehow everyone’s gotten used to this neighborhood just fine.

“This way. Where’s Mr. Yujin?”

Noah asked like it was only natural I’d be here. Well, it’s not like Yuhyun would leave without me. I poked my head out from between the coat’s folds. Noah’s eyes widened a little. Even though he knew I was a cat, his expression said it was still surprising.

Keeping to the cracks in the rock so we wouldn’t be spotted from the sky, we slipped into a quiet village. In one of the houses there, Hunter Samir was waiting for us. So he’d been moving around with that prince?

“Hunter Samir also knows about you, Mr. Yujin.”

Noah said. After a quick scan of our surroundings, I slipped out of Yuhyun’s arms and turned back into a human. The Delroux skill is handy, but of course a human body is more comfortable. As I stretched, Yuhyun eyed me sharply. On the surface, I looked… fine.

“So that cat really was Hunter Han Yujin…”

Samir murmured. Yeah, it’s surprising. I also never imagined I’d end up playing housecat. Life is… unpredictable.

“Bro, can you take off your shirt for a second?”

“Not a scratch on me. I’ve been eating and resting well. I heard all the departure routes were blocked—what exactly is going on?”

“It’s exactly what you heard. They’re tailing us, watching us, and keeping us from leaving the area. To keep civilian damage from getting too big, we’ve been deliberately showing ourselves to them now and then.”

“The target is me, of course.”

“Plus me and Isabella. Or more precisely, it seems to be because of the Guild Leader of Sesung. What on earth happened?”

“Uh… a kidnap marriage? So… I think the Guild Leader of Sesung ended up in a forced marriage, and now a fake fiancée named Isabella has shown up so… yeah. I don’t really know the details either.”

“Kidnap marriage?” Samir tilted his head. A kidnap marriage with Seong Hyunjae really doesn’t fit. But the fact that nothing has been done, even though sweet photos of him and Isabella have been spreading all over social media…

‘He must be being held somewhere.’

It was way too quiet for someone who was free and fine. Especially with all this mess going on.

“Anyway, it’s also partly my responsibility, so I’ll try to help resolve it.”

“Bella accepted it, so she’ll have to bear with it. And it looks like some of our family issues are mixed in there too. For now, then.”

Samir shrugged off his outer robe. Then he handed it to Yuhyun.

“Since the Haeyeon Guild Leader left, they’ll guess he heard about Han Yujin. They’ll chase you like crazy.”

“Samir and I will act as decoys. Fortunately, Samir’s build is similar to Hunter Han Yuhyun’s.”

That was true. His hair had originally been dark, but now he’d dyed it fully black. There was a slight wave to it too, so from a distance you could easily mistake his back for Yuhyun’s.

“Won’t they notice the skin–tone difference as soon as they get a little closer, though?”

“Just pull your bangs down and leave only your eyes showing. Your eye color is roughly similar anyway. And also—”

Samir held out his right hand. A small black flame flickered up from his fingertips. What the—

“An E–rank skill I got from a raid.”

The color of the flame shifted to yellow. Then green, red, and sky–blue in quick succession, wavering as it changed.

“It’s basically a support–type skill that just changes the color of ordinary fire. But right now, people only know one person who can produce black fire—Haeyeon’s Guild Leader.”

Yeah, that would fool them easily. Yuhyun took off his own outer robe and changed into Samir’s. While he did, Yerim arrived.

“Mister!”

Yerim greeted me happily, wearing an openly sulky expression. …Yeah, I know what you want, but I pretended not to. Yerim, Mister has human rights too.

“Aww, our Gyeol’s so cute!”

Instead of me, she grabbed Gyeol and hugged him, stroking his soft white fur. Gyeol’s tail swayed gently.

– I transformed to follow Dad!

“Gyeol, you’re amazing!”

Then Peace, Song Taewon, and Isabella came in.

– Grr–rrow, kyang!

In his ectoplasmic form, Peace threw himself at me and rubbed his body against mine. My boy, Peace, you missed Dad a lot, huh. I hugged him tight for the first time in a while. Ugh, look at all that dust in his fur. Since he can’t use his fire, he’s gotten a bit grimy. I want to give him a bath.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“You’ve gone through a lot too, Chief Song.”

I didn’t even need to see it to know—Song Taewon gave a small bow of his head before speaking.

“Do you know anything about the Guild Leader of Sesung’s situation?”

“No. I have no idea. I was shocked when I heard about the wedding, you know.”

I was really curious about what was happening with Seong Hyunjae right now. I hoped he wasn’t tied up and crying in front of a forced wedding. With his personality, there’s no way he’d go through with a marriage he doesn’t want, so what was going on?

“How did you have a baby?”

“…Excuse me?”

Isabella, who’d been staring right at me and Gyeol, suddenly dropped that bomb. Have a baby? I mean, Gyeol is my kid but… I mean… When I thought about it, it really was hard to explain to someone who didn’t know about magic stone combinations and who we couldn’t tell about them. I could just say, He’s a monster, but saying that in front of Gyeol felt wrong.

“The fairy dragonkin turned into a cat.”

Thankfully, Yerim picked Gyeol up and answered.

“Gyeol is Mister’s kid, that’s true, but—”

– He’s my dad.

The fairy cat declared proudly, and Isabella muttered, “So cute.”

“I want to hold him too.”

“Not yet. I just got here. And besides, Gyeol likes his aunt, me, more.”

“You’re so stingy.”

Yerim and Isabella started bickering. Honestly, they looked like they got along pretty well.

“Hunter Moon Hyunah couldn’t make it here due to the series of airplane terror attacks. After hearing about Mr. Han Yujin, she returned home with Liette and Hunter Kang Soyeong for dungeon management.”

“Well, we’ve already been away from Korea for about a month.”

Even if the dungeon overflow rate back in Korea had slowed, we couldn’t leave it unattended forever. Evelyn had also gone back, and with Comet, Soyeong was basically at S–class Hunter level, so she should be able to cover it. Haeyeon had Seonghan plus Blue and the unicorns, so as long as no new S–class dungeons appeared, they’d be fine.

“Once Bro gets out, the terror attacks will stop. They’re doing this to keep him from escaping.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Waiting for Peace to recover will be the safest and fastest way. Planes have a high chance of causing civilian casualties, and it’s hard to secure a ship. The helicopter was easily shot down.”

I looked around at everyone gathered. They all seemed healthy and without major injuries, but they had to be exhausted. I could stay in the drawer until Peace could use his skills again, but then I wouldn’t hear any news from outside.

“Can I go outside for a bit? Or somewhere with a wider open space would be fine too.”

“They haven’t tracked this place down yet… There’s an open yard in the middle of the building.”

We went out to an empty space that had probably been a garden once. Then I glanced apologetically at Chief Song and—

“Mister, seriously.”

“…Mr. Han Yujin.”

—I took a fighter jet out of the drawer. Chief Song couldn’t hold back a deep sigh.

“It’s not expensive, okay. It’s an old model with lower performance. I didn’t even load weapons; it’s just for flying! When I casually asked the Guild Leader of Sesung, he said he could pilot a fighter, so I thought… y’know, maybe it’d come in handy someday. Helicopters are slow, regular planes are too big. It’s basically just a fast little patrol jet.”

“…”

“…Mister, you should probably be nice to your guild leader.”

“Uh, yeah. I should. I’ll send a New Year’s card, and gifts for Lunar New Year too.”

I even wrote a Christmas card. I really am grateful to him for a lot of things. Chief Song finally put a hand to his forehead.

“Make sure you return it.”

“Yeees. Still, it’s perfect for this, right? As long as someone can pilot it.”

Even S–class Hunters would have a hard time catching a fighter jet. It was small and fast; as long as it got off the ground safely, that was it.

“I’ve had basic training, at least.”

“I can handle simple piloting.”

At Chief Song and Samir’s words, Yuhyun looked at the cockpit with a slightly anxious gaze. There was only room for two people. I could go in cat form and ride in his arms, right?

“But I should really leave the country officially if possible.”

“…I can’t send my brother off alone with someone I can’t fully trust.”

“Haeyeon’s Guild Leader, you’re very particular. Then want to learn?”

Samir lightly tapped the jet’s wingtip and spoke to Yuhyun.

“You never piloted a plane or anything?”

“Just a helicopter, a bit.”

“That’s still something. You’re just going to fly, and you’re S–class, so crash–course basics will be enough. If you manage to take off, for landing just avoid places with people.”

Irresponsible words—but he wasn’t wrong. Even if he crashed somewhere random, he’d probably just end up with a few bruises.

“The problem is, if you head toward Europe there’s a chance they’ll shoot you down. Since you’ll be an unidentified fighter, it might be better to ditch it in the ocean.”

“I can take care of that with a few calls.”

Noah spoke up. He looked between me and Yuhyun.

“Head straight to France, avoiding other countries as much as possible. Land somewhere with no people, if you can.”

“Is that okay?”

“I’m still a French Hunter, after all. Especially in that area, Liette has a lot of influence, so they’ll give us that much leeway. And it’s also a way to put an end to the current terror attacks.”

Noah looked incredibly reliable just then. Local connections really are the best.

“Then, Mr. Han Yujin, please head to France together with Hunter Han Yuhyun. Once they realize you’ve left Africa, we should be able to leave without interference as well.”

“Haeyeon Guild Leader, take a look at this.”

Chief Song and Samir started teaching Yuhyun how to pilot the fighter jet. My little brother’s smart, so he should pick it up fast.

Gyeol wriggled out of Yerim’s arms and took a Santa hat out of his inventory, popping it onto his head. Then he pulled out a card with a pretty ribbon on it.

– This is the Christmas card Gyeol made with Dad.

Yerim looked at him with an emotional expression as he held the card out.

“Aunt didn’t prepare anything! Thank you, Gyeol! Once we’re home I’ll buy you anything you want!”

– No, it’s okay. Thank you for liking it, Aunt.

Yerim accepted the card and read the message inside. With eyes saying she absolutely loved it, she put the card into her inventory and turned to look at me.

“Mister, thank you. Merry Christmas!”

“Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too.”

– Here, Uncle. Dad and I made this.

A card was handed to Yuhyun as well. Thanking Gyeol, my brother read the message and then carefully stored the card in his inventory too.

“Thanks, Bro. I love you too.”

“Sorry I didn’t get your present together properly. It’s not like I didn’t prepare anything, it just got delayed.”

“No, it’s fine. This is more than enough.”

“Hey, Han Yuhyun! My present is time with Mister. Go to France and spend your birthday with him. We’ll stall things over here. How about it?”

“I’m fine with that. It doesn’t matter if it adds a day or two. Thanks, Gyeol.”

Noah nodded as he took the card. Still, even so…

“It feels a bit… like we’re the only ones taking it easy…”

“It’s only once a year. And the situation right now, it’s not that bad. Honestly, it’s kind of, pretty fun!”

Yerim pulled her axe from her inventory as she spoke.

“Not being able to use most of my skills actually makes it better for building real combat experience. I relied on my skills way too much.”

“Your skills are your power too, Yerim. And what’s with that axe?”

“A certain princess with a ranged weapon had a whooole lot of complaints about us not being able to sync up.”

“I was right, though.”

“You were a mess too.”

“That’s also true, but still.”

“Chief Song told me it’d be good to get hands–on experience with different kinds of weapons. It makes you more flexible when dealing with them, whether they’re in your own team or on the enemy’s.”

Yerim’s eyes sparkled as she said it. They say kids grow even when you look away for a second. For some reason, my chest swelled with pride.

“As expected of Chief Song.”

“I’ve been training to match other Hunters too. He’s a good teacher.”

Chief Song looked up at the distant sky for a moment. Mm, he’s really been through a lot. Seriously. He deserves a Teacher title or something.

– Mister Song–Dad, Merry Christmas too!

“Thank you.”

– Merry Christmas, Peace!

– Kyang.

Isabella watched the fairy cat delivering cards with envious eyes. I should’ve made ones for Isabella and Samir too. I hadn’t expected we’d end up acting together like this.

– Dad, we’ve got extra cards left…

“It’s okay if it’s a bit late. You’ll see everyone again soon.”

– Yeah. And I’ll stay here too. If I’m in fairy dragonkin form, I’ll be better bait.

“That’s true, but you can come with us.”

– It’s fine. I’ve been with Dad for a long time already! I’ll be okay for a little bit. And this one’s your card, Dad! I made it while you were sleeping.

He held out a card decorated with stars and hearts, all done up cute.

[Dear Dad, Merry Christmas! Thank you for loving Gyeol. On Christmas I’m going to ask Santa Claus to make sure Dad stays healthy. And happy. And that we can all live together for a long, long time. I love you, Dad!]

My nose stung. Our sweet Gyeol.

“Thank you, Gyeol. Dad didn’t even prepare a present for you.”

– I already got one! I had fun with Dad! It was really great.

I hugged him tightly. After finishing his crash course, Yuhyun put the fighter jet back into his inventory. He hadn’t been able to actually practice flying it, but things would work out somehow.

Samir and Noah took Gyeol and headed out first to lure away the Hunters chasing us.

“This is one of Liette’s villas. I’ve already contacted the caretaker, so please use it as you like.”

“Thank you, Mr. Noah.”

“Please have a safe trip.”

– Dad, see you later!

The three of them left. Then Yerim and Isabella stood up.

“We’ll go make a mess of things just enough.”

“Thanks, Yerim. Ms. Isabella, please take good care of our Yerim.”

“Okay. Turn into a cat for me sometime.”

“It’s the other way around! I’m the one taking good care of her.”

They really did seem to get along. Peace rubbed against me one more time, reluctant but still following the two of them out. Only Yuhyun and Chief Song remained. We waited until the others had pulled the Hunters away enough, then left the building.

“The news about Hunter Seong Hyunjae’s wedding is said to have leaked from Europe as well.”

“Really? Then we can swing by the wedding venue while we’re at it. It’s not long now.”

“Yes. The terrorists won’t be able to run wild to this extent in Europe. The European Hunter Union won’t just sit back and watch.”

I wondered if I’d get an invitation before the ceremony. How much should I give as a wedding gift? Of course, if it turned out to be a wedding Seong Hyunjae didn’t want, then as his partner I’d have to help flip the whole thing over.

The maximum range to France was cutting it close, so we moved to the nearest possible launch direction. Once we reached an uninhabited wasteland, Yuhyun and Chief Song created a makeshift runway. I worried whether the plane would really take off safely, but my brother was an excellent student, and as for the actual ride… it just confirmed that private jets really are the best.

We even managed to land safely, then immediately put the jet away into the drawer to hide it. We gave a rough explanation of the situation to the staff from the French Hunter Association who were waiting for us and went through some quick formalities.

“Our country especially likes Hunters with fire–type skills. Have a very Merry Christmas.”

Telling us not to worry and to get some good rest, the Association employee gave a cheeky wink. We were also able to borrow a car. The streets were full of Christmas decorations. On the big square tree, white artificial snow was piled up.

“I hope they still have cake left.”

We went to the shop the Association employee had recommended. Luckily, since it wasn’t in the city center, they still had some cakes left. Christmas cakes, but still.

“Still, I’m glad we get to spend it together like this.”

At my words, Yuhyun, who was driving, smiled.

“Yeah. It’s been a long time. It feels like it’s been about ten years since I spent Christmas with you.”

“For me it really has been almost ten years. I regressed, then over half a year passed, so… around nine years?”

“…Sorry.”

“No, it’s not something you need to apologize for. There was nothing you could do.”

“I hope it stays like this from now on.”

Following the navigation into a quiet road, Yuhyun spoke.

“You’ve got a lot of people now, Bro, but I want to be selfish about this one day.”

“Hey, what do you mean selfish. It’s my one and only little brother’s birthday; of course I should be the one to celebrate it with you. Besides, when it comes to Christmas, everyone already gets together on Christmas Eve and does their parties and dates then, so you don’t have to worry at all.”

My brother smiled happily.

“Thanks. My Christmas has always been a day just for you, too.”

“It should be a day for you.”

“If you’re there, then that makes it a day for me.”

Liette’s villa was in the mountains. At the fairly big, respectable two–story house, the caretaker was waiting with the keys for us. In the living room with a big fireplace, a Christmas tree was already set up.

“It feels weird walking around with shoes on. What time is it? Let’s wash up first. You go ahead, Yuhyun. I had it pretty easy in the drawer, but you didn’t.”

I sent my brother off to the bathroom and checked out the kitchen. There was food, but everything was unfamiliar, so I took some things out of the drawer instead. I set the food on the living room table and put the cake down too. Freshly washed, Yuhyun came out and sat next to me.

“We’ve never really gone on a proper trip, have we. We never had the luxury.”

I bit into some bread we’d bought together at the shop as I spoke. Aside from school trips, there wasn’t anything. I’d been young, and my little brother even younger.

“After you finished the college entrance exam, I was thinking we could go on a trip around your birthday. Going overseas would’ve been tough, but somewhere in Korea with a nice view.”

“I’d have liked anywhere.”

“I’d have liked anywhere too. Just being away from home and going with you would’ve been enough.”

If that day had come without incident, it would have been right after I finished one of the most important tasks I had. I would’ve had a lot of feelings about it. Pride probably would’ve been the biggest one.

“Next year I’ll handle all the planning, so let’s go wherever you want, Bro.”

“It’s your birthday, so why should you do it. Think about where you want to go. Take your time, starting now. And don’t just say, ‘Anywhere is fine as long as I’m with you.’ That’s your homework.”

His expression turned a little serious. It looked like nothing was really coming to mind. Once he decided on a place he wanted to go, I’d definitely take him. No matter what.

I took my phone out and checked the time. With the time difference, midnight on the 25th in Korea was around 4 p.m. in France. Since my brother was born in Korea, we had to go by Korean time.

“I really did prepare a present. Just wait a little longer. I wanted it to land exactly on Christmas.”

I wanted to just pop over to Switzerland even now. I need that teleportation skill. Did they even finish it? Last time we talked, they’d said I’d get it well before Christmas! …Though I had been missing, so they wouldn’t have been able to hand it over.

“Being like this right now–”

“That and a present are different things.”

“Yeah, Bro.”

Yuhyun gave me such a pretty smile.

We chatted about this and that until it was close to midnight Korean time, then stuck candles into the cake. A warm red flame bloomed at the tips of the birthday candles.

“Happy birthday, little brother.”

“Thanks, Bro.”

He blew out the candles. I could kind of guess without asking, but I asked anyway what he’d wished for.

“To keep living with you. Until the very end.”

“…Yeah. We will. Of course we will.”

I had to grant my little brother’s wish. No matter what I ended up like, he would accept me as his brother, so it would be okay. Yuhyun cut the cake. I stood up to go get plates. When I came back from the kitchen, he was looking at me with a smile on his face. Sunlight reddened by the setting sun was streaming long through the window, and as I smiled back—

“Bro!”

My brother’s expression crumpled. Right after his sharp shout, his body and the sofa were shoved aside and sent flying. Thud! With a loud crash, blood splattered.

“Yuhyun!”

As I tried to run to him, strong arms wrapped around me and held me in place. Yuhyun braced a hand against the wall, trying to get up. A longsword had pierced through his leg and into the floor. Blood seeped into the wooden boards. From behind me came the smell of burnt residue clinging to the air. I turned my head.

“Yuhyun…”

Above an entirely black outfit, a pale face. A familiar face I could never forget.

“It’s okay, Bro.”

A familiar voice I could never forget. Grace slipped from my wrist. In a low whisper, almost like he was breathing the words into my ear, Yuhyun spoke.

“I’m a fake.”

Crack.

Han Yuhyun’s hand – and Han Yuhyun’s – were stained red.