The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 632: Children (1)

“Did Guild Leader of Sesung and his son not accompany you?”

That was the very first question we heard as soon as we stepped into the nearest French Hunter Association. On top of that, most of the employees watching us were giving us similar curious looks. After I brushed it off with a vague answer and rented a well soundproofed conference room from the Association to check the situation, it was a mess.

At first, the articles had only gone as far as, “An awakened boy who resembles the Sesung Guild Leader.” As time went on, they slowly crept over the line, and by dawn they were at, “The Sesung Guild Leader’s hidden son! Who is the mother? A new noble, a prince of the high–rank Hunter world! Are awakened stats inherited too? A literal golden blood,” and so on – they’d basically locked in Seong Hyunjae as Gyeol’s father.

Why does no one consider he might just be a relative. Is it because, for Seong Hyunjae’s age, having a kid that age would fit Gyeol perfectly? On the outside he looks it, but in reality it hasn’t even been a year since he was born.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Gyeol.”

Of course, if Gyeol – and Seong Hyunjae as well – were okay with it, the easiest and safest method for letting him blend into this society as a person was to have him acknowledged as the Sesung Guild Leader’s son.

He had a human form, we could talk, and he was highly intelligent, but Gyeol was still fairy dragonkin, a monster. There are still plenty of people who get uncomfortable just over a different race; if it was a different species altogether, being rejected was the natural progression.

That said, it wasn’t easy to hide what he was forever and have him pretend to be human. If it ever came out later, all that time would come crashing down at once and we’d be hit with a wave of criticism. But if we said he was Seong Hyunjae’s son, the chances of anyone discovering that Gyeol was a monster would almost disappear. Even if someone somehow produced solid proof, so what? His father, the spitting image of him and firmly established in society, would be saying, “He’s my son.” A genetic test? We could just claim a special skill messed with it.

“Honestly, things are fine as they are now too.”

So before the Sesung Guild succession, it was a very tempting option for the sake of Gyeol’s safety and a peaceful life – but only if it was what he wanted. We’d need Seong Hyunjae’s consent too, but judging from how he’d acted so far, I doubted he’d turn it down. …Still, I’d have to ask before getting anything stamped in ink.

“Gyeol.”

At my call, Gyeol tactfully shifted into his boy form. I lowered my gaze to meet his eyes and said,

“You want to live like your dad, right? Like your uncles and aunts, and everyone else.”

Up until now he’d been good about staying in fairy–dragon form and pretending he couldn’t even talk, but when he came forward with me and took the lead on all sorts of things, he clearly looked happy and excited.

“As just another kid, not a fairy dragon.”

“…Yeah.”

Gyeol gave a small nod.

“You were born to help your dad, but.”

“No, Gyeol. Being born isn’t for someone else. Sure, your dad may have thought that way. But whatever the reason you were born, your life belongs to you. That’s true for everyone in the world.”

No one can live someone else’s life for them, or demand that someone live it for them. Even if you carry on another person’s goals in their place, in the end it’s still what you did, and it’s still your life.

“So listen carefully. If we get Seong Hyunjae’s help, it’ll be much easier for you to find your place.”

I calmly explained to him the benefits of going under the Sesung Guild. After quietly listening, Gyeol suddenly asked,

“It’ll be easier for Dad too, right?”

“Let’s not think about Dad for a moment. Look carefully at what you want, at how you feel.”

“…I.”

In a small, hesitant voice, he went on.

“I don’t really like the idea of Dad not being my dad anymore.”

“I’ll still be your dad, but it would get hard to say that openly.”

There was no helping that.

“If I stay your son, then what happens?”

“Then I’ll adopt you. I’ll need to come to an agreement with Seong Hyunjae first, but I’m thinking of not outright denying the rumors and instead letting word slip that you’re a relative of his.”

Officially announcing that Gyeol was Seong Hyunjae’s relative and human could come back to bite us later. It would make it look like we’d lied and had a non–human pretending to be human. But people choosing to believe rumors that leaked under the table wasn’t our fault. There would still be backlash, of course, but it was better than actively deceiving everyone.

“To be precise, we’ll just say I’m raising you and put off the legal procedures until you’re an adult. That won’t cause any real problems.”

“The child isn’t from Korea, and for various reasons it’s difficult to reveal their nationality right now or get Korean citizenship,” or something along those lines would be enough to smooth it over. If by chance that didn’t work, we could just pack up and move to a country that would take us. High–rank Awakened had always gotten special treatment for that kind of thing anyway.

“And I’ll set up a kindergarten, and if necessary, an elementary school, middle school, even high school. Since I’m doing it anyway, I’m thinking of focusing it on kids who are Awakened.”

As long as the world kept going and Awakened kept existing, more slightly special kids would keep being born – like Yuhyun or Liette. And I’d heard there were already children who Awakened young because of accidents and weren’t getting proper education or care. A kid stronger than most adults at an age when they can barely control themselves is hard to handle even for very good parents. Hunter Associations around the world were helping those kids, but there still wasn’t any kind of systematic protection in place.

“I want it so that even if it comes out later that you’re not human, there’ll be as few problems as possible. And so your younger siblings can go there too.”

So that they’d already be accepted as members of society people were used to. It might look like overprotectiveness. But the fact that Gyeol, and the other two kids, were born as monsters wasn’t their fault. Bad habits and misbehavior, sure, those needed to be taught out of them, but there was no need to force them to struggle to “overcome” things they were simply born with.

People who move forward while overcoming nationality, race, their circumstances, disabilities and the like are certainly amazing, but ideally, shouldn’t we be building an environment where individuals don’t have to fight so hard to overcome things they never got to choose? Especially if they’re children.

Of course, creating that kind of society and environment was harder than just telling individuals to try their best, but luckily I had the ability to do it. I’d just been handed a nice big pile of assets, too.

“…Won’t it be hard for Dad?”

“No. And you’ve got your younger siblings too. Getting help from Seong Hyunjae would just make things safer and easier for you, that’s all.”

Gyeol nodded again, then looked straight at me and answered,

“Then Dad, I want to stay with you and my little siblings.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

I’d have to start with a kindergarten. Should I say Gyeol is six or seven? He looked a bit older than that on the broadcast, but anyone could see he looked like a Westerner. Just thinking about how big “suspected father” Seong Hyunjae was, he’d be bigger than Korean kids his age anyway. I’d make the Black Dragon the same age as Gyeol, and the little one around five?

I straightened up and looked over at Chief Song.

“You’ll look the other way for me, right?”

“I have no reason to oppose protecting children. And.”

Chief Song’s gaze shifted to Gyeol.

“To be frank, I do think he’s a child.”

“You’re a person too, Chief Song. So is my little brother, and Seong Hyunjae and Liette. The other S–ranks as well.”

If you live like a person, you’re a person, simple as that. First, I contacted Mr. Vantes. When I asked him for help, he readily agreed. He’d get in touch with Seong Hyunjae for me too. For now, we would vaguely deny that Gyeol and Seong Hyunjae were father and son and let it slip that they were related.

“If I announce I’m planning to set up an educational facility for Awakened children, it won’t seem weird for me to take charge of Gyeol. Guess I’ll have to go back to acting like I’m close with Seong Hyunjae.”

It couldn’t be helped. I had to seem close to him to make it natural that I’d be taking care of his relative’s kid. And I felt bad about making it sound like a successful S–rank like Seong Hyunjae had abandoned his own flesh and blood. I’d just slowly move things along, saying I got really attached and was thinking about adopting him.

“Mister, can I ask what the other one is like? Do they look like you again? Or is it, no way, another Mister Seong? Or someone else?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s…”

I turned to look at Yuhyun with a slightly troubled expression.

“Let’s say a kid that looks like Yuhyun.”

“What, seriously?!”

“Yeah. That one’s going to be a bit of a problem…”

I could claim the little one as my own kid, but Yuhyun was only twenty – no, twenty–one now.

“You might end up getting some weird misunderstandings, Yuhyun.”

“I’m fine with it.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just say the Black Dragon is my kid too. Sometimes they say kids take after their uncle.”

There were plenty of cases where people went, “Wow, they look just like their grandpa! Or their grandma!” It was a good thing we were brothers. Maybe I’d just dye the Black Dragon’s hair the same color as the little one’s. Then people would assume they had the same mom. Yerim gave me a rather pitying look.

“Mister, if you do that you’ll really never get married.”

“…I gave up on that a long time ago. As long as I have the kids, I’m good.”

It wasn’t like you had to build a family through marriage. There were other ways.

“But starting with Mister Seong and then you and Han Yuhyun… is there maybe a kid that looks like Hyunah unni or Mister Song too?”

“What are you talking about, no. Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“Well, you never know how life is going to turn out…”

Seriously, who would have thought things would end up like this. Yuhyun shot me a disgruntled look.

“…Hyung.”

“Of course, if I can help it, no way! It’d be rude to Ms. Hyunah and Chief Song. Seong Hyunjae thought it was funny and you’re my little brother so I can let it slide, but those two are different.”

It wasn’t my place to block perfectly normal young people’s chances at marriage. More than that, I was already worried about the little one. I was planning to say all three of them had monster–transformation skills like Mr. Noah or Liette, but the little one couldn’t maintain a human form for long… For now, I called the little one out. A round ball of fur popped up onto the table.

– Kyuuuk.

The little one looked around, then stared fixedly at Noah. Then it scurried across the table toward him. Noah turned to me, a little flustered.

– Pyuik!

“Yujin, this little one… seems to want something from me.”

“It’s because you’re all sparkly, Noah. Little one, come here.”

“There’s chocolate here! Come to your aunt!”

“Oh, big bro too! Over here!”

Gyeol called out awkwardly. He’d get used to calling me big bro soon enough. The little one stretched his body out long as if he wanted to stuff Noah’s hair in his mouth, then spun around and bounded back this way. He bit down on one of the chocolates being held out and took both with his hands.

“Don’t give him too many.”

Two was already a lot. I picked up the little one as he quickly finished one chocolate and started nibbling the second. Blue eyes stared straight up at me.

“Little one, can you stay transformed as a human for a long time?”

“Huh?”

The little one shifted into the form of a small child and clung to my shoulders. Noah, seeing the little one for the first time in that state, widened his eyes.

“He really does look like you, Yujin.”

“Right? Little one, you said you like being with Dad, right?”

“Yeah.”

The little one glanced around again, then stretched out his arms, wrapped them around my neck, and whispered in my ear like he was sharing a secret.

“I’m not pretty. Everyone was scared of me.”

…It must have been an old memory. I’d hoped as little of it as possible had remained, but it seemed he’d remembered more than I thought.

“They’d scrunch up their faces like this.”

“That’s not true, you’re pretty.”

“Big brother said I was pretty.”

The little one giggled and whispered.

“Dad was the first one who liked me. So I like Dad too.”

…That pure affection, returning just from that brief bit of kindness, was as clear and deep as a lake. It made my chest feel tight.

“Dad likes you too, little one.”

“I like sparkly, pretty things too.”

“You’re pretty and sparkly too.”

Maybe that’s why he’d become brighter and more colorful than before. People around him had hated him. And all of that was just from a human point of view.

“Is it hard to stay like this?”

“It’s tiring.”

“How long can you stay like this? Without it being too hard on you.”

“Big brother said if Dad gives me a name, it’ll be easier.”

It seemed that receiving a name would help him grow ability–wise too. “I’m tired,” the little one said, turning back into a baby monster. He let out a big yawn and vanished into my hand. I stared at my palm for a moment, then lifted my head.

“Let’s stop by the dungeon to get a grasp of the situation, then gather the Hunters.”

It’d be nice if I could meet the rookie this time. Quite a bit of time had passed since then, so maybe I could get some information.

“We need to wrap this up quickly and get home before February hits.”

“February has your birthday and Lunar New Year, Mister. I have to get your present ready!”

“Gyeol wants to give Dad a present too!”

“It’s fine, just stick some candles in a cake or something.”

Even as I said that, I was honestly a little excited. Above all, it had been a long time since I’d spent my birthday with my little brother and a crowd.

After taking care of a few small errands, we headed for the dungeon – to a wide white room with an out–of–season gigantic Christmas tree rising in the middle.

[Honey!]