The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 618: We’re Getting Married (1)

“Hey! Han Yujin!”

When we arrived at the Lyon branch of the French Hunter Association, a welcome face popped out. Do Hamin walked up to me, sneaking these petty, resentful glances at Yuhyun.

“Your little brother dumped me in America and ran off!”

“Huh? What nonsense is that. How old are you again, and you can’t even find your way home from America?”

“Hey! He called me over there to help and then just disappeared! I flew all the way to the States out of the goodness of my heart to look for you!”

“Goodness my ass, that was work. Do you know how much money has gone into you?”

At the mention of money, Do Hamin clamped his mouth shut. It wasn’t just once or twice, or a small amount, that he demanded extra care fees because we had to treat that damn hamster “properly.”

“…Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. Your brother’s been scary as hell this whole time. I swear I lost at least half a year off my life!”

“And you brag about only half a year?”

“What? Han Yujin, you really haven’t changed a bit, your temper is just as—”

He cut himself off and tilted his head. His rank was low, so the memories he’d seen of before the regression were completely gone, but it looked like some traces still remained.

“But you didn’t have to come all the way to America, did you?”

“Uh, that’s the thing.”

Dropping his voice way down, Do Hamin whispered to me.

“I got a new skill while taking care of Geumdong.”

“A new skill?”

“Yeah. Geumdong was a D–rank boss monster after all, so I was a bit lacking in power. I leveled up and took him out for walks by going into dungeons with Haeyeon hunters a few times. Then not long ago, I picked up a skill called Friend of Rats.”

…What the hell. Is that a skill you get if your love for hamsters is extreme enough?

“It’s linked to my trait, so it’s kind of an information type.”

“Information?”

“I can get information from rodent–type creatures. The range is pretty broad. Not just monsters, but regular rats too.”

Puffing his chest out, Do Hamin grinned. Wait. If it’s rats…

“That’s actually pretty useful.”

“Right?”

“Not as good as cockroaches, though.”

“…Hey. Rats are gross enough, you know?”

“Look who’s talking.”

“Hamsters and rats are different! Anyway, since the targets are rats, the information isn’t crystal clear. But it’s great for finding people. They’ve got good noses and roam all over the city. I heard there are lots of rats in France too. There’s one that cooks, remember? That one’s kinda cute.”

“If it were cockroaches, it’d be perfect.”

“…I wouldn’t take that even if you gave it to me.”

Cockroaches really do get everywhere. Just imagining it was disgusting, though. After congratulating him on the new skill, I turned back to Yuhyun.

“Still, Yuhyun, once you hire someone, you should at least give them notice before you fire them.”

“Sorry, hyung. I couldn’t contact him because I had to move in secret. And I figured it wouldn’t be a big problem. America’s safer than Africa. Probably.”

“True, a grown man isn’t going to get lost in a big city with full cell reception. One call to Dodam or Haeyeon and he’d be fine. Look, that’s how it was.”

“I’ll let it go since I did get something out of it.”

Hamin pouted. Compared to before the regression, he really had mellowed out. Back then he was much pricklier, probably because he had a hard time of it.

“Everyone doing okay? I haven’t been able to contact people properly, trying to move quietly and all.”

“Yeah, more or less.”

His answer was oddly unenthusiastic.

“Something happen?”

“No, it’s just… the Master Blacksmith came down with the flu. Hit him pretty hard.”

“What? How did that happen! The forge shouldn’t even be cold. Don’t tell me he overworked himself again? He nags me to take care of my health and then…”

“He asked about you, then took care of his business and disappeared again, so I don’t know the details…”

“Did he look really bad?”

“He did look pretty exhausted.”

“Yuhyun, you didn’t hear anything else?”

“I went to the forge.”

Yuhyun told me what happened right after I went missing. He went into a dungeon to meet a new recruit, then got transferred to Myungwoo’s forge and met the recruit and Hwang Rim there.

“At the time, I think he could barely move. But when he contacted me later, he told me there was no need to tell you, hyung.”

“Still, you could have mentioned it before now…”

A new recruit and Hwang Rim, huh. What on earth happened. It sounded like he overdid it trying to help me again, like at that dungeon in China. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve asked the old man about it. It looked like he’d recovered enough to move around, but… once he goes into the forge there’s no way to contact him, so I just had to hope he was okay.

“Anyway, are you going straight home now? Geumdong’s probably waiting.”

“Uh, about that.”

Before that, I had to find where Seong Hyunjae’s wedding was being held, but we had no exact location. Even if I asked Hamin for help, the range was too big. I at least needed a rough area. Is he seriously not sending me a wedding invitation?

I glanced back at the Association staffer who’d been hovering at a distance, too nervous to come over. He gave us a friendly smile.

“If you’re ready, shall we head in?”

“Yes, let’s.”

We followed the staffer further inside. The Lyon branch wasn’t that big, but faint traces of mana seeped out here and there, so it looked like they’d used quite a lot of dungeon byproducts in the construction.

‘It really is starting to come back.’

The sense of mana engravings was stronger than yesterday.

“Won’t it cause trouble if it gets out that I’m in France?”

“Unlike Africa, they can’t run wild so easily in Europe, so please don’t worry. Above all, if it becomes known that Director Han has come to Europe, won’t the airport and plane attacks stop?”

Including France, the countries around here have way more airports per area. Taking them all out while avoiding European hunters would be nearly impossible. The European Hunter Union also had about as many S–rank hunters as the United States. Even if S–ranks tend to be individualistic, they’re not going to sit back and watch someone rampage around their turf.

“More than anything, that terrorist group has been a headache here in Europe as well. If we can use this chance to clean them up by working with Korea, we’d be delighted. This way, please.”

The Association staffer opened a door. Inside, a few reporters – and what looked like Association media staff – were waiting.

“Fritz Weil, from the German Hunter Association.”

After the middle–aged man,

“Marisa Moore, from the British Hunter Association.”

A middle–aged woman greeted me.

“Hello, I’m Han Yujin, Director of the Dodam Breeding Facility.”

Introducing myself in front of people from other countries’ Associations was a bit embarrassing. With Haeyeon guild leader Han Yuhyun standing slightly behind me like he was my aide, it felt even more awkward. This kind of thing really isn’t for me. When I first regressed, I swore I’d never stand out like this.

“And this is Haeyeon’s guild leader, Han Yuhyun. As you know, he’s my younger brother.”

And next to him was just a café owner. I was technically co–owner too, but at this point it was basically all Do Hamin’s. Yuhyun gave them a polite bow.

The reporters then took photos and video of me and did a brief interview.

“I think the last spatial transfer must have gone wrong somehow. I never imagined I’d end up dropping into Africa, though.”

I glossed it over by saying I’d been injured and had to recover at the home of some kind soul, so I’d been late contacting anyone. It was a remote place, no one recognized me, and there was no phone service.

“I’ll make an official announcement about the things you’re curious about once I’m back at Dodam Breeding Facility. And, it seems there was some happy news while I was missing.”

Maybe one of them would know details.

“I heard my dear Sesung guild leader is getting married, but maybe because no one knew where I was, I still haven’t received an invitation. I’d really love to attend, so I’d be grateful if someone could reach out.”

I casually added that I’d be very thankful for any information, implying of course that I’d show my appreciation properly.

Once the reporters left, we decided to stay at the Association until the news spread and Yerim’s group came over to France. As long as nothing interfered, they should get here by tomorrow at the latest.

“None of you happen to know anything about Sesung’s guild leader, do you?”

I asked the Association staff as well. But aside from “I heard he was getting married,” they didn’t seem to know much either.

“My daughter is getting married soon as well.”

Marisa spoke as she sorted documents in her bag.

“Really? Congratulations.”

“She insisted she’d handle all the wedding preparations herself, but it doesn’t seem to be that easy. In the end, I had to step in and help.”

“It’s not exactly a simple job. There’s a lot to take care of. I don’t know how it is in the UK, though.”

Marisa’s eyes crinkled gently as she smiled. From the way her lips moved, it sounded like she was speaking Korean, and she was pretty fluent.

“There isn’t much time left. Would you like to attend too, Director Han? The groom–to–be would be thrilled.”

“Your invitation alone is more than enough. Please give them my congratulations.”

Thrilled, huh. Is the groom a fan of mine or something. The memories from the regression were gone and Chatterbox’s presence had faded, but they still remembered the party, so my popularity should still be, ahem, decent.

An Association staffer took us to a nearby hotel. Do Hamin headed out, saying he’d go sightsee. We still hadn’t heard from Yerim’s side. We couldn’t call either. Instead, we contacted Dodam and Haeyeon to update them on the situation.

[Aside from Chirp and Belare disappearing from time to time, there are no problems. Sorok has grown quite a bit, and Little Song has gotten a little bigger too.]

Kyunghoon hyung said everything at the Breeding Facility was fine and told me to come back safely. I specifically told Chirp not to take Belare out, but that kid never listens.

“I’m sorry I keep being away from the place. I’ll be relying on you a lot again.”

[It’s fine. There are only a few days left, but happy New Year in advance. Realistically, it’ll be hard for you to make it back that soon, right?]

“Yeah, looks like it. Happy New Year.”

Why did Seong Hyunjae have to get married on January 1. I know it’s probably not his choice. …If it turns out he picked January 1 himself, I’m smacking him once on the back.

I propped a big cushion behind me, stretched out on the bed, and flipped through TV channels. Yuhyun sat in a single–seater sofa, examining the Ruler’s Sword he’d taken out. The way his eyes were lowered toward the blade was seriously intense.

“Is it bothering you?”

“…Huh?”

“I mean the you from before the regression.”

Yuhyun looked at me and tilted his head slightly.

“…A little, yeah.”

“I figured. That’s normal, so don’t worry too much. Hey, I went totally off the rails in that Chinese dungeon too. Grabbing collars, drawing weapons and all that~”

“I think I was too careless back then. Sorry, hyung.”

“Nah, it wasn’t a bad outcome, in the end.”

He still annoyed me now, but more than that, I just wanted him to live well. He should be living well. Still makes me grumpy, though. Why is that guy so damn unlikable.

“More than anything else…”

Yuhyun’s gaze fell back onto the pitch–black sword.

“You must have liked the pre–regression me as much as you like me now.”

“Well, you’re you. Because it was you, Yuhyun.”

I forced down the jolt in my chest.

“That’s what gets to me. If it were someone else, I wouldn’t care. I believe now that you’ll always come back to me. But if we’re in the same world…”

“…It’s still you. The same person.”

“Yeah.”

He gave a small nod, still not looking my way. At some point my fist had clenched tight. My throat felt completely dry. Someday I’d have to tell him. But that kid was dead, and I, in the end, would have to let him go. Unlike the little brother who was here with me now.

So it would be okay.

“Want to go out and look around later? There were a lot of pretty buildings. The Association staff said this place is famous as a food city even in France. We can go eat something good together.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

He answered dutifully, but he still looked more deflated than usual. Man. I’d just have to spoil him a bit while we played tourist.

I set the TV to a hunter–focused channel and opened my palm. A faint trace of a wound was still there.

“Kiddo, can you come out for a second?”

How do I get him out. Diarma calls his in and out whenever he wants. When I focused my mana, heat pricked faintly at the scar and then–

– Pweek!

A small beast with sleek beige fur popped out. The little guy bounced around on the bed, then saw Yuhyun and bristled his tail.

– Kwee! Peep!

He stomped his hind legs in protest at being washed, then, as if his anger was all spent, caught one ear with his front paw and started grooming it. This kid was pretty simple. Well, he’d always had a good–natured, straightforward personality.

“Come here. Come to Dad.”

The little one bounded over to me. So damn cute.

“You’re not allowed to pop out on your own unless Dad calls you, okay? Don’t wander around alone. And don’t eat the blanket. It’s not food.”

Did he actually understand what I was saying?

“Is it boring inside? Can you feel what’s outside while you’re in there?”

“No!”

He suddenly turned into a little child and answered. Yuhyun glanced over at us, his gaze landing on the kid. He usually had zero interest in monsters, but I guess this one reminded him of me when I was little?

“I’m always sleeping.”

“Sleeping?”

“I play with big brother in my dreams.”

He was probably talking about some kind of mental world. Maybe that was where the Black Dragon taught him how to transform into a human. They must have gotten pretty close, playing together all the time.

“Big brother told me not to go out either. I only came out because Dad called me.”

After saying that, as if staying transformed was tiring, he turned back into a baby monster. I was relieved that the Black Dragon was taking good care of his little brother. Once I gave this kid a name, he’d become independent like Gyeol, so it would be better to do it after we got back to Korea. I didn’t exactly have anyone to leave the kids with right now.

I ordered room service, sprinkled some magic stone powder on it, and fed the kid. He ate everything without being picky, but he clearly liked snack foods the most. When I told him he couldn’t have too much, he whipped his tail against the bed. For someone showing his displeasure, he still listened well.

[Sesung guild leader’s marriage partner revealed to be British.]

Just then, a breaking news ticker flashed across the bottom of a program introducing a French Awakening Center that was about to open. Huh? British? Then the whole screen changed.

Sure, Seong Hyunjae was impressive, but did they really need to make it breaking news on French TV of all places? Was it because the partner was British? More importantly, who the heck was it…

“…Huh?”

A radiant blonde woman appeared on the screen. That woman was definitely—

‘That’s… Park Hayul’s older sister?’

She was exactly the woman I’d seen in the video that came with the invitation. What the, he said we should go as party partners and all, and his bride is her? When did they even fall for each other? Don’t tell me it’s actually a love match?!