The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 630: The Alps (2)

“Take us to a nearby restaurant. Then wait at the bottom of the mountain.”

Mari gave the order like it was only natural. Samir answered with a troubled look.

“I’d like to do that too, my lady. But I’ve been ordered to stay by your side and protect you.”

“That’s kind of weird.”

Mari, who had been about to get into the car, strode right up to Samir and tipped her head back. Standing on tiptoe to study his face closely, she continued.

“You didn’t get caught by my mother’s skill?”

“She said the conditions aren’t met yet. Instead, we made a different contract. If I help out with things to a certain extent, she’ll lend me a hand in return.”

“And that’s why you’re coming with us?”

“My own situation is rather difficult. I ask for your understanding.”

“There’s one more person you should be asking.”

Samir swallowed a sigh and looked back at Seong Hyunjae. Faint curiosity gleamed in the golden eyes that met his deep navy ones.

“What kind of skill is it.”

It was a short question with no preamble, but his intent was obvious. Samir would only be allowed to accompany them if he properly satisfied that curiosity. He felt like he hadn’t even finished crossing one desert, and there was an even bigger one waiting. He spread both hands as he answered.

“Of course, I didn’t hear the details. The contract has its restrictions.”

“I can’t say anything either. She’s still my mother.”

Mari quickly cut in, not wanting the sparks to fly her way.

“In that case?”

Just before he could cut things off coldly—

“Guild Leader Seong, do you have a son?”

Samir suddenly threw out the question. Mari’s eyes flew wide in shock.

“A son, Mister Seong?!”

Her hands clenched into tight fists as her green eyes blazed at him.

“Was this a scam marriage? You con artist! You philanderer! You shameless crook!”

“Before that, it was a kidnapping and forced marriage.”

“You could at least have told me! I didn’t know a thing, I was totally fooled! Storybook princes don’t have sons or daughters before they get married!”

Mari stomped her feet, declaring that it was honestly a blessing the wedding had been ruined.

“Kidnapping is fine! That happens all the time. Usually it’s the princess who gets kidnapped, but the world is changing! So what kind of kid is he?”

Once her anger cooled down, curiosity crept in and she asked. Guild Leader Seong had disqualified himself as a prince candidate, but his son would be more than enough to count as a modern prince. If he took after his father, his looks would be perfect too.

“His personality shouldn’t take after his dad, though. How old is he? If he’s your son, he might already be in his late teens.”

“Are you changing your target to my son now.”

“You know, younger guys are trendy these days, so it should be fine. I’ll decide after I meet him.”

She had left the wedding hall, kicked off her heels, and torn her dress, but she hadn’t given up on marrying a prince. That was the shape of the world as Mari knew it. Of course, now she would choose for herself and take more time to worry and hesitate.

At her words, Seong Hyunjae pretended to think it over.

“To start with, that child doesn’t acknowledge me as a parent.”

“Really? Is that why you’ve been hiding him? I love secret–birth stories. They usually stick those on princesses, though.”

“You’ve already met him once, Mari.”

“Huh?”

“At the wedding.”

The wedding hall. Mari blinked as she searched her memory. The wedding hall.

“…No way. But he’s Changeling!”

There had definitely been a kid who resembled Seong Hyunjae. She’d been shocked at first, but then he’d turned into the fairy dragonkin.

“He’s a monster!”

“Species discrimination isn’t nice.”

“…So your, um, partner for, you know, making a baby was a dragon? Uh, was it that Black Dragon? Hunter Liette?”

“I did receive a proposal from Hunter Liette once. The princess at the time was Han Yujin.”

“I have no idea what weird thing you’re talking about! Ah, come to think of it, I think I heard on the broadcast that Mister Han was the fairy dragonkin’s dad… then the three of you…”

Mari trailed off and clapped a hand over her mouth. Then she covered her whole face with both hands and hid behind Samir’s back.

“I don’t know anything! I know nothing!”

“There was nothing in there that children can’t hear, so don’t worry. In terms of ratings, the sexual content is all–ages, and only the violence is around 15+. With good editing, we could probably get it down to 12+ viewing.”

“…You can have a baby with an all–ages rating?”

“Depending on the situation. That’s the kind of world we live in.”

So it hadn’t been ordinary biological reproduction. It was probably due to an item or a skill. Once she’d calmed down a little, Mari peeked out and tapped Samir on the back.

“This all happened because you suddenly said something weird.”

“Being a servant in someone else’s household really isn’t easy. But it’s already all over the place, my lady.”

Samir pulled out his phone and opened a news article. There were piles of sensational headlines like, Hidden Son of Sesung Guild Leader?

“It’s because of the boy who appeared on last night’s broadcast.”

“Seeing it like this, they really look alike.”

Mari whispered as she looked back and forth between Seong Hyunjae and the photo of Hangyeol in the article.

“People are fired up about the fact that he’s old enough to have a child that age, and that the boy, presumed son of an S–class Hunter, is an Awakened with a special ability.”

“Whether the descendants of high–rank Awakened are also high–rank Awakened is one of the more popular topics.”

Seong spoke like it was someone else’s problem.

“I did find it suspicious when Changeling turned into you, Guild Leader.”

“And that almost blew the wedding apart.”

“That?”

“Right, you don’t know yet, Mister Seong. There was a ridiculous rumor that this prince’s cousin, Princess Isabella, was supposed to be your bride! Changeling turned into you and took pictures with her. Very affectionate ones.”

“At the time, Bella was trying to form a betrothal with Hunter Han Yujin.”

“Seriously?”

“And then Changeling, in your form, proposed to Bella.”

“Oh my God!”

It had been quite the circus.

Seeing Seong listen with interest, Samir felt relieved inside. As expected, he was curious about anything involving Han Yujin and Hangyeol.

“It’s about lunchtime, so why don’t we talk on the way to the restaurant. This is the photo from back then. And this cat here is Hunter Han Yujin.”

“A cat? He turned into a cat? Mister Han sounds pretty storybook himself!”

“A black cat. Watching him transform into monsters, I did wonder if he might have a skill like that.”

Because Chatterbox’s broadcast had used the skill–hiding option, even Mari, who had watched the show faithfully, hadn’t known.

“A few days after Chatterbox’s broadcast ended, I heard that Hunter Han Yujin had been found in Africa. I went immediately to secure his safety. His stats were F–rank, so I relaxed a little, and he disappeared right in front of me.”

“He turned into a cat then, didn’t he! Right?”

“You must never let your guard down around Han Yujin. He’s slipped out of my hands before as well.”

Chatting back and forth, Seong Hyunjae and Mari docilely got into the car.

Snow had fallen overnight. In the air, colder than before, the vast scenery of the Alps spread out. Clouds rose and coiled around the snowy peaks, blending sky and ground until everywhere the eye could see was white upon white. Mari propped her chin on her hand and stuck out her lips as she watched the sea of clouds crawl slowly along on the wind.

“It’s already been days!”

Sitting at a terrace table with a laptop in front of him, Seong marked points on a map. As expected, it wasn’t easy to find one unknown point somewhere in a huge mountain range. Still, a considerable part of the map had been crossed off.

“This is harder than I thought. I narrowed the range down by my age as much as I could, but there’s still the chance the terrain changed in the five years I don’t remember.”

“In just five years?”

“Artificially.”

Seong thought of the monster in the first dungeon he’d gone to with Han Yujin. If that massive toad had burst out in a dungeon break, it could easily have devoured a small mountain.

“I’d like to ask Han Yujin, but.”

His gaze turned to the phone sitting on the table. He let out a short sigh.

“I thought I’d at least get a text by now.”

“You could just call him first and ask.”

“Chief Song Taewon hasn’t contacted me either. It’s lonely.”

“You don’t have any friends? You do kind of look friendless. You’re the difficult–to–approach type. Even if you’re acting a bit nicer now.”

She’d at least heard rumors that he was fickle. Mari pouted again. If he suddenly flipped back to being cold like he’d been before, it would hurt. Maybe that was why his reputation was so bad.

“But your guild member came looking for you in person.”

“And yet nobody trusts me enough to contact me first. Some of them are even afraid to. The only one who calls me like a normal person is Han Yujin.”

“Sounds like he’s pretty busy himself.”

Samir came out onto the terrace carrying a tray in both hands. Drinks, sandwiches, cheese, salad, and rösti were laid out on the table. Mari quickly grabbed a sandwich and bit into it. Seong ignored the food and lifted his coffee cup.

“He’s not seriously planning to wait until I actually get to New York to call me, is he.”

“New York?”

Without answering, Seong spun the satellite image on his laptop screen. Places with sparse populations. Or—

“Places that were forced to become sparse.”

The likeliest candidates were areas near where S–class dungeon breaks had occurred. Dungeons did not overlap. Even in densely populated regions, they appeared at set intervals whenever possible. Lines were drawn across the dots marking dungeon locations on the map.

“We’ve walked around enough for a stroll.”

He had the state of the mana in the air that he’d checked while wandering the Alps. The Swiss dungeon data sent from Sesung. The still–unfinished dungeon generation rules that Seok Hayan’s team had helped compile. The coffee cooled after he’d taken a single sip. Mari and Samir finished their breakfast while enjoying the view.

“I never even got to go to the pool.”

“The infinity pool at this hotel looked pretty nice.”

“I don’t have a swimsuit.”

“There’s no one around. You can just go in with your clothes on.”

“Sorry, but I can’t give you that much time.”

Seong drew a circle around one spot on the map as he spoke.

“This will be our last climb. I could go alone, but.”

“No way. I followed you all the way here. I’ll just play for one hour and come back.”

Mari dragged Samir back into the hotel. Left alone on the terrace, Seong turned his head to look at the mountain jutting up through the clouds.

Crack!

A length of golden chain bit into the cliff face. Then, thud, crunch, a dozen more short chains drove into the rock in different places, spaced out at regular intervals like charges for a blasting operation.

Kra–boom!

Lightning crashed down. In a burst of light bright enough to hurt the eyes, the rock shattered and cracks spiderwebbed across the entire cliff. Earth and stone rumbled down in a rush, like a landslide. Before the billowing dust had even settled, more chains shot out. Bang, boom! With a deafening roar, another part of the mountain collapsed, exposing its insides.

“Is it really here?”

Mari shouted, hands clamped over her ears. Even as an S–class, she couldn’t completely avoid the dust billowing over them, and her face was twisted into a grimace. After ripping into the mountainside one last time, Seong jumped back.

“This was it.”

He could feel mana, faintly twisted. When the dust finally settled, he stepped onto the remains of the cliff. Even with his senses drawn to their limit, it was a thin trace, difficult to grasp. His eyebrows rose slightly at how far it fell short of his expectations.

“This won’t be easy.”

With his abilities, it was close to impossible to extract anything from this place. Maybe he would have to restore the trace as much as he could, copy it, and show it to a rookie or to Young Chaos. As he pondered, Mari came up next to him.

“Want me to help?”

“…With a skill?”

At Mari’s sudden offer, Seong asked back. She nodded.

“Mother told me to keep it a secret. But I really did kidnap you, Mister Seong, so this is in exchange for that.”

“I see. It would have been difficult to call Crescent Moon down with the ritual alone.”

“It’s a little annoying how you figure everything out by yourself and then just say it. My skill is, um, a power that pulls in something that doesn’t exist here, but definitely exists. The last page of a fairy tale.”

A power that turns into reality the missing final part of a story. It was a kind of ritual skill that, once everything was prepared to summon Crescent Moon, helped complete that last, nearly impossible outcome. Crescent Moon had been able to settle more easily into Han Yujin’s body thanks to Mari using her skill to force the wedding to its end. Even though she’d meant to call Crescent Moon into her own body.

“You might have an ability similar to the fairy dragonkin, Mari.”

“Really? Then we’d be a great– I mean, no. I was way too young!”

Mari activated her skill. Her mana overflowed, drawing out the faint traces that were both past and future. So that what someone had left behind would be passed on to the person who’d come searching for it, the final link clicked neatly into place.

Seong Hyunjae was standing in an unfamiliar space. In front of him was a face identical to his own – except it had lost one eye.