The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 636: Anti–Terror Meeting (1)

The high, domed ceiling was packed with lavish paintings. Gold trim covered the walls, the pillars, even the doors, so that whenever light poured in, everything glittered and dazzled the eyes. Yet despite all that splendor, the few tourists present kept letting their gazes wander elsewhere. A girl and a child stood in front of a huge painting. One of them, in particular, was the boy who’d been the talk of the world recently.

“I’ve always wanted to come to Versailles at least once.”

Park Yerim spoke with a sulky face.

“Just… not like this.”

“Yeah, Auntie.”

Standing beside her, Han Gyeol nodded in agreement.

“Leaving just us behind. Dad really went too far.”

Han Yujin had decided to leave Park Yerim and Han Gyeol out of this operation chasing the group of Prophets, on the grounds that they were both too young. Even though Park Yerim was an S–rank Hunter who cleared dungeons, this time their opponents were purely human. It wasn’t like Chatterbox’s party, where both sides’ lives were guaranteed.

“I don’t like hurting people either, but they’re the ones who picked the fight first, right? It’s self–defense.”

Even when Yerim argued that they’d already fought them several times in Africa, Han Yujin was firm. Unlike monsters, humans’ expressions could be read clearly, and they could talk. He said that seeing the final moments of someone you could communicate with, right in front of you, and being the one to bring about that ending was something even adults were better off avoiding, and he stopped Yerim.

“…It’s true I’ve never actually killed anyone.”

Some of the people swept away by the water in China might not have survived. But she had never directly, right in front of her, killed someone. She’d seen the injured and she’d seen corpses. Yerim muttered under her breath that the corpses hadn’t really made her feel anything. Maybe because they were people she didn’t know.

“It’s still overprotective. I’m stronger than Mister.”

“Gyeol doesn’t get hurt, so it’s okay.”

“Come on, that’s not true.”

Yerim turned her head and looked down at the child beside her.

“Gyeol, you really are too little. And you’re not even a monster anymore, remember? It’s right that little kids shouldn’t go to places like that.”

“…But.”

Han Gyeol puffed his cheeks in displeasure. A baby monster and a human child were different. They were both children who deserved protection, but society still treated them differently. So when he was told that he shouldn’t just freely follow Dad anymore, Gyeol had made a face like his whole world was collapsing.

“People already said there’d be complaints about taking you even to Chatterbox’s party, and that one had safety guaranteed. If you followed him to somewhere actually dangerous, Mister might get hauled in on child abuse charges.”

“Mmm…”

Unable to find anything to argue back with, Gyeol clamped his mouth shut and mumbled. When he’d asked if he could just turn into a cat, he’d been told that animal protection groups were no joke either.

“Gyeol wants a stealth skill too.”

“I want a stealth skill too. But before that, I’m an S–rank and I’m sixteen.”

“You’re still pretty young too, Auntie. And Dad’s your guardian, so you have to be careful too.”

Gyeol let out a long, deflated sigh.

“Even if I want to secretly follow him, you said it would cause trouble for Dad. So I can’t. Gyeol doesn’t want to make things hard for Dad.”

“Well, that’s true, but, Gyeol.”

Yerim spoke as she started walking again. Marcel, who was traveling with them as their guardian, followed the two of them toward the corridor at a slight distance.

“I think you really don’t have to worry about that stuff so much yet. From what Auntie sees, you think way too much, Gyeol!”

“But even when you’re little, you still shouldn’t do the wrong thing, Auntie.”

“If Mister says, ‘Don’t do that,’ then yeah, it’s good not to do it. But I don’t think it’s good to be constantly thinking ahead like, this won’t be okay, Dad won’t like that either, and worrying about all of it in advance. That’s… mm, not really a good thing.”

Even a kid born bright and bold, if they couldn’t stand on their own, had no choice but to watch adults’ moods. Even if what they were doing wasn’t wrong, even if they were facing something unfair they should obviously push back against, if they had to rely on an adult’s protection, a child had to shut their mouth and bow their head.

“Auntie was like that at first too, you know?”

Yerim bent at the waist with a faint smile and whispered to him.

“Even if Mister treated me well, he was still technically just someone else, right. I thought, if I weren’t S–rank, there’s no way I’d be able to live like this. If I had no abilities, was no help, and only caused trouble, Mister wouldn’t be able to stand it and would start showing that he was sick of me. Because honestly, that’s what’s normal.”

“…Gyeol…”

His golden eyes, full of light, blinked rapidly.

“Gyeol wasn’t born normal either. I wanted Dad to like me.”

“Yeah.”

“So I tried really hard.”

“But you don’t have to.”

Beyond the stairs, a wide, open garden came into view. It had lost its green in the winter, but its neatly arranged shape was still worth seeing. Yerim hopped and jumped down the stairs in one go, shouting,

“Even if we completely wrecked Versailles, Mister would still smooth it all over! Then we’d get scolded, and that’d be the end of it.”

Like always, they’d go home, eat dinner, go to bed, wake up, and sit at the breakfast table as if nothing had happened. Gyeol trotted down the stairs after her.

“We still shouldn’t do that, Auntie.”

“Of course we won’t. I don’t want Mister struggling either. I just mean, whatever happens, and whatever happens from now on.”

Yerim’s eyes tightened slightly. It wasn’t that she had no anxiety at all. She knew this life they had now could collapse completely in an instant. That the day could come again when someone by her side disappeared forever.

Yerim stopped talking and suddenly pulled Gyeol into a tight hug.

“Auntie loves you, Gyeol!”

“Yeah, Gyeol loves Auntie too.”

Gyeol stretched out his short arms as far as he could and hugged Yerim back.

“And Mister loving you isn’t going to change. That’s for sure!”

“Mmhm.”

“But leaving us behind was still too much. Saying I have to be at least two years older…”

Yerim walked over to an inactive fountain in the quiet, rarely visited garden and sent the water surging upward. The jets of water drew a heart, then shifted into flowers, stars, and birds before falling down like rain with a shimmering sound.

“It might even be safer if we stuck together, you know. I’m really strong. And it’s not like they can go wild here in Paris. There are a lot of resident S–ranks in Paris too!”

With the European Hunter Union around, if anything happened, S–rank Hunters from England or other nearby countries could rush over to help. So she’d been told to just stay in Paris sightseeing with Gyeol. The Paris branch of the French Hunter Association had also promised there was nothing to worry about and guaranteed their safety.

“Mister’s face! …You don’t look like him. Then Peace!”

– Chirp chirp chirp!

Chirp, perched on the rim of the fountain, flapped his wings like he was clapping. “Huh?” Yerim and Gyeol both turned to stare at him.

“Chirp?”

– Chirp.

– Sss.

“Auntie, Belare’s here too!”

Ignoring them, Chirp floated up lightly into the air and started examining the fountain decorations. After circling them once, he flew back to Belare and chirped something at him.

“Chirp, how did you even get all the way here? Don’t tell me you came sightseeing?”

– Chirp chirp.

“Mister told you not to wander around on your own.”

– Pyaak.

The white chick let out a sharp “pyaak,” as if arguing back, then settled onto the head of the red jewel snake. A moment later, the two of them vanished. Yerim narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

“Is he going through a rebellious phase? I swear, Chirp is not normal.”

“…Yeah, Auntie.”

Still staring at the spot where Chirp had disappeared, Gyeol spoke.

“Chirp is weird.”

Back when Ru Ga Pheya died, Chirp had appeared. In a space where not only other S–ranks, but even Transcendents couldn’t easily interfere. Then he’d led Han Yujin beneath the snowing tree. Even if it was thanks to him swallowing the magic stone of the King of Harmless, it was an incredible ability. Gyeol couldn’t just talk about what had happened back then, so instead of explaining, he folded his arms with a grave expression.

“Hey, Auntie. Do you think maybe Chirp is related to Outside too?”

“Mmm. But it’s not like Chirp has only been with Mister for a day or two. And Yun Yun can handle ultra–long–distance spatial teleportation too.”

As if that round, pudgy little chick could be anything like that. Yerim relaxed her face and nodded.

“Besides, Chirp is… hooonestly, he’s not that smart. Peace has a much better chance. That guy’s at least five times smarter than Chirp. Sometimes he’s practically human.”

“Mmhm.”

Feeling pent up, Gyeol shifted into his fairy form and settled on Yerim’s shoulder.

– Chirp’s never actually done anything bad to Dad, but.

“Wandering around on his own is the problem. How did he even know about Versailles? Did he see it on TV?”

Gyeol fidgeted with the tip of his tail. Just like Yerim said, it really did seem like Chirp was simply out playing. Nothing bad had happened so far.

‘…Because Chirp likes Dad too.’

It would be fine. The image of that white winter tree rose up in his mind, and Gyeol hugged his tail tightly.

The greatest treasure vault in the Hunter world, no, in the entire world! A special vault where numerous pieces of equipment, from at least S–rank up to SS–rank and higher, were sleeping!

And the lucky man who had inherited that vault was Director Han Yujin of Dodam.

After the news story, “The Seong Guildmaster’s hidden son?!” the world erupted all over again at this new headline. Once it was made public that Chatterbox had left a will stating that, upon his death, he would bequeath his entire fortune to the winner of his party, his assets became the hot topic on everyone’s lips.

The dozens of properties and all the cash were enough to make people’s eyes bulge, but what drew even more attention was the Hunter gear. Equipment and items packed into a special vault that no one but the owner could open or destroy. Even just from the abilities that had been showcased during the party, everyone knew they were far from ordinary.

[We plan to distribute them as prizes to party participants according to how many gold coins you’re holding and the ratings.]

Han Yujin announced that he would divide them among the participants, just as Chatterbox had promised.

[Of course, as the winner, my share will be the biggest. But I’m F–rank in stats, so I don’t really need very high–grade gear. For me, a B–rank that boosts flat values is more useful than an S–rank that boosts by percentage. So I’ll first take care of the people around me, and then the rest of my share will also go to Hunters who suit it.]

He didn’t go so far as to say he’d give them away for free. Even so, S–rank and SS–rank equipment were things that were hard to obtain even with money. In a situation that would make any high–rank Hunter’s ears perk up—

[However, I can’t go straight to New York to open the vault right now. Some terrorist group has been targeting me since Africa. Unfortunately, the vault itself can’t be moved.]

A new obstacle had appeared.

[The airport’s already been destroyed by the terrorist group. To prevent further civilian casualties, we’re planning to join forces with European Hunters to wipe them out.]

He added that help was welcome at any time, and the party participants who had scattered in all directions began to gather again. Hunters who weren’t on bad terms with Han Yujin and who were holding a lot of gold coins packed their bags for France immediately. A few Hunters who hadn’t even participated in the party, but were hoping for scraps, slipped in as well.

A small plane landed on the short, sloped runway. Helicopters circled lazily in the sky above. Some Hunters, unwilling to wait for the tiny mountain airport and its procedures, simply jumped out instead of going through a proper landing.

“Who’d have thought S–ranks would be getting together this often.”

An S–rank Hunter who had just gotten off the plane slung a Boston bag over his shoulder and muttered. On one side of the airport, a handsome young man with golden wings hovered a few meters in the air, holding a megaphone.

[Please follow the road on the right! Staff from the European Hunter Union are handling registration! Private fights are prohibited!]

At the entrance to the road leading to the reception area, a man who just screamed “public servant” to anyone who looked at him stood silently. Like a statue, he didn’t move a muscle, but his eyes carefully tracked all the activity in the airport. A temporary European Hunter Union badge hung around his neck. People wearing the same badge were scattered around, yelling “No, you can’t do that!” in various spots.

“What about SF?”

“I saw him over that way earlier.”

Someone craned their neck as they spoke, but it was hard to spot Han Yujin. He was probably being protected, but with most of the people here being high–rank Hunters, he was also just getting lost in the crowd.

“That kid named Han Gyeol, is he really a relative?”

“They said their family names are different.”

“They still look way too alike though.”

Several people were holding fresh–off–the–press magazines in their hands. The cover photo was of Han Yujin and Han Gyeol. High–rank Hunters were still people; they liked gossip just as much as anyone else.

“Honestly, it wouldn’t even be weird if Seong Guildmaster had like ten hidden kids.”

“I don’t think he has any. He seems like the super thorough type.”

“When’s that marriage variety show going to air? Did it get pushed back because of the terrorist attacks?”

“I was waiting for that too. Seong Guildmaster doesn’t seem to be here, so is he maybe filming?”

The Hunters finished registering one by one. The clauses were cold and clear: no compensation in the event of casualties, and any civilian damage outside of the anti–terror operation was each person’s own responsibility. But no one hesitated. It wasn’t any different from when they attacked dungeons.

“Thank you all for coming from so far away.”

Once registration ended, a voice they’d gotten used to from the broadcasts rang out. A Flame Horned Lion spread its wings and rose lightly into the air, and Han Yujin, riding on its back, waved cheerfully.