The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 661: Heir of the Mermaid Queen (1)

A tower of domino tiles was being stacked up in one corner of the living room. It wasn’t a simple straight line. Except for the four pieces at the very bottom, every rectangular tile was standing on the tip of a corner. Propped against each other in 人–shaped pairs, they formed a precariously balanced domino tower nearly a meter high.

The living room was dead quiet, like even a sigh might knock the tower down. Liette had her mouth clamped shut and her full attention on it. Thanks to that, our place was still intact this time around. Whose idea was this again? Noah’s? After Liette managed to stack a new tile, Yerim picked up another domino with a serious expression.

“Anything happen?”

Yuhyun walked over to me, lightly tapping his foot. At the same time–

Crash–

“Hey! Han Yuhyun!”

Yerim yelled as the tower collapsed. She was pretending to be mad, but her eyes looked relieved. Liette also stretched with a drawn–out groan. Looked like they’d been getting bored, but kept going because they hated losing.

“I worry every time we send you out alone, hyung.”

Ignoring Yerim’s outburst, Yuhyun checked me over. No injuries, body in one piece.

“I’m fine.”

As I answered, I glanced at Liette. She’d worked hard on the fields too.

“I got a reward for the crops.”

“What is it?”

“An extra life.”

Yerim tilted her head.

“An extra life?”

“It means if I die, I can come back once. Or it might cancel something out entirely.”

My voice automatically grew heavy as I said it. Needing an extra life ultimately meant I could end up dying. I probably shouldn’t have called Yerim.

“It means it’s that dangerous.”

Yuhyun said, looking at Yerim. Her eyes went wide, then scrunched into a scowl.

“Even so, I’m not dropping out. I’m a Hunter too.”

“…They said we can’t swap people out anyway.”

“Don’t worry too much, Mister. If the world ends, there’s no kids or adults left anyway.”

That didn’t make it any less unsettling.

“And you said you got an extra life on top of that.”

“Yeah. You, Yuhyun, and Noah.”

My gaze stopped on Noah. I could hide it. But I had to say it.

“I gave the last of the four to Peace. Sorry, Liette.”

“Why?”

Liette looked puzzled.

“I’m totally fine with giving my share to Noah~”

“Huh? What?”

“Right? Honey’s share is at least two anyway. You can’t split half a life, so you gotta pile them on.”

Liette said it like it was obvious.

“…I already gave it to Peace, though. You sure you’re okay with that?”

“It’s your item, Honey. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

So… she was thinking of it like dungeon clear rewards. Which wasn’t wrong. You could use whatever you earned for your contribution however you wanted. Still, giving it to a monster… Then again, maybe Liette didn’t really see a difference between monsters and people. She herself was half dragon, after all.

“R–right. I’m glad you’re not upset.”

“I don’t intend to take anything from you, noona.”

I thought it’d end there, but Noah suddenly spoke stiffly.

“And it would be better for you to have it than me.”

“Noah, support and healer classes are the ones who get protected first.”

“I’m different. In terms of survival, I might be better off than you are.”

“Really? But you’re still my little brother.”

Liette blinked as she said it. Noah’s brows drew together slightly.

“Just because I’m your little brother doesn’t mean I’m weak.”

“Yeah. And even if you get waaay stronger than me, Noah~”

Spreading her arms wide, Liette went on.

“I’m still going to give you an extra life~”

“…Even if I’m stronger?”

“Because I decided I’m going to protect you.”

“…”

That was all. There was no other reason. Noah let out a small sigh.

“You really do whatever you want from start to finish, noona. And the person who’s hurt me the most is you, you know.”

“You looked like you’d die if I left you alone.”

Liette said it casually. She might have changed a little, but that part of her hadn’t. Noah fell silent.

“You were totally in the wrong there, Liette unni!”

Yerim smacked Liette on the back.

“But I still don’t really get it. You die and that’s it, right? Soyeong explained it, but I couldn’t really understand. Am I supposed to just leave him weak?”

“That’s, um…”

Yerim, at a loss for words, looked over at me. I glanced at Yuhyun standing beside me and opened my mouth.

“I love my little brother a lot too, but Yuhyun and I are still different people. As the older one, I think it’s my job to teach him how to live in society more comfortably. But that’s as far as it goes. Anything beyond the basics stops being about what he needs and becomes about what I want.”

“Even if he dies because he’s weak?”

“Liette. That’s something Noah has to choose, not you. The most you can do is try to convince him.”

For the basic things you need to live, forcing them through is the right call. But pushing a guardian’s personal standards on someone beyond that is violence. Just like how I tried to force Yuhyun to fit my line in the past, Liette had probably believed she was doing the right thing by her own standards.

But even blood family are still other people with clearly different lines and standards. Living together can make you similar in a lot of ways, but you’re definitely not the same person.

“You and Noah are different.”

“I know.”

“You don’t want the same things.”

Liette jutted out her lips. She looked a little sulky.

“…I’m still giving it to Noah.”

“What if I say I don’t want it?”

In contrast, Noah spoke with a slightly lighter expression. Liette scrunched up her eyes.

“Can’t you just take it, Noah? Mm, I’d really like that. I think that’s what would be best. What do you think?”

Is she trying to convince Noah in her own way? Instead of “You take it,” she was awkwardly asking what he thought, saying she’d like him to have it. Noah’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“Okay, I will.”

At Noah’s answer, Liette lit up, grabbed her brother again, and started smothering him with kisses. Geez. She was only changing like this because she really did love Noah. Otherwise, she would’ve just gone “Who cares what you think?” and kept forcing him down with sheer strength. She was born S–class; there were almost no situations where she had to bow to anyone.

“Hyung, don’t tell the sub–team about this.”

Yuhyun said to me.

“There are a lot of people who’ll want it even when it’s not their share.”

Yuhyun had probably seen plenty of that as a guild master. Yerim nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, Mister. Especially if they hear you gave it to Peace, some people are gonna get mad. You know how there are those people who yell at you for spending money on a pet, even though you’re a total stranger, like, ‘Why would you buy something expensive for an animal?’ It’s your own money, as long as you’re not doing anything bad with it, who cares.”

“I’ve run into that a few times too.”

“You ever had a dog?”

“When I worked part–time at the animal clinic. I’d be walking the dogs and sometimes people would suddenly start cursing me out.”

If it ever came out later, it’d be better to say it was a one–time skill Peace picked up before. Fire attributes have stuff like phoenixes, so people would just roll with it. Fire’s always been a symbol of resurrection anyway.

I looked at Yerim, telling her that things might really get dangerous from here on.

“So Yerim, want to go meet the Mermaid Queen?”

“I’d feel bad wasting a title too, but… will it really be okay?”

“If you pick up even one skill from it, you’ll be safer. They said I’m allowed to go with you too.”

“Then I’m in.”

Yerim couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. Heir of the Mermaid Queen. It was an L–rank title; if it applied properly, it would definitely help.

“I don’t want to rush you, but you should probably decide on your reward too, Yuhyun.”

“Yeah.”

He answered, but there was still hesitation on his face.

“I’ll send it through a system message for now. That way, once you choose, you can get your reward right away.”

That way, in an emergency, he could get a new skill or item immediately. Not a bad setup. I fiddled with the system and sent the message to Yuhyun.

“I’ll accept the invitation!”

Yerim grabbed my arm as she said it. A moment later, my body was dragged along with her to somewhere else. First, a cool, crisp air wrapped around my whole body.

Splash–

The sound of waves reached my ears. Ssshaa– fine grains of sand were swept away by the water, then pushed back up the shore. The dim beach glowed bluish, as if someone had scattered gems over it.

“It’s so pretty! Mister, look at this!”

No, they were actual gems. Or maybe glow–beads. Small, translucent stones full of light were scattered everywhere. Would these be expensive? They really looked like they would be. If I had a sieve, I’d just scoop them all up…

“Think it’s okay if we pick up a few?”

“Let’s ask the Mermaid Queen, just in case. We can request a few as souvenirs.”

There was so much here, she wouldn’t be stingy enough to say no. Wow, they came in all sorts of colors too. The kids would love them. I’d have to watch Star and Chirp, though; they’d probably try to put them straight in their mouths.

“But I don’t see the Mermaid Queen anywhere.”

“Yeah. Maybe she’s underwater?”

Why call guests over and not even show up? As we looked around, Yerim glanced about and spoke up.

“Maybe we’re supposed to go find her.”

“What?”

“You’re becoming her heir, right? You should at least be able to scour the sea and find her! Like a basic test?”

That actually sounded plausible. But with an ocean that huge, how long would it take to find the Mermaid Queen?

“Let’s go, Mister!”

“…Huh?”

“You’ve got underwater movement items, right? Even if you don’t, just stick right next to me and you’ll be fine!”

Yerim suddenly hoisted me up. Hey, hey! The dark black sea rushed up to fill my vision.

Splash!

With a splash, we plunged deep into the ocean.

“…Mermaid Queen or whatever, I can’t see a thing!”

“I can see a little. There’s a huge fish passing by over there.”

Something big and dark suddenly appeared and brushed past beneath my feet before vanishing. If I didn’t have Fear Resistance, I would’ve gotten goosebumps all over.

“Still, it’s going to be hard to find her just by sight. It’s way too big.”

“Feel the water.”

Sounding like some shady guru, I used my Teacher skills on Yerim.

“If you sync up with my mana sense, the range will expand.”

“Okay!”

Yerim’s magic, her mana, slowly spread out along the water. The water overflowing on all sides carried her mana without scattering it, like a web of wires.

“Ugh…”

Yerim clenched her teeth. Countless big and small fish. Even more numerous tiny life–forms. An immeasurable number of movements poured in and in again.

“Dull it a bit more. Let it flow past you.”

It’d be impossible to endure if she tried to pick up every single one. Just like how I’d weakened her mana imprint before, I guided her to lower her sensitivity to mana. So she’d feel it as a vague sense of “there’s something small there.” Like when you look at a dense forest, you don’t clearly perceive each individual leaf inside it.

And then, from deep within that vastness–

“Found her!”

A presence stronger than anything else made itself known. Yerim shouted in delight and sped up.

“W–wait!”

Too fast! A giant turtle, practically a monster, flashed past us in an instant. She slid smoothly around a whale’s fin that blocked our path and kept diving down. Something like an eel the size of a house opened its jaws wide. Just before we brushed those jagged teeth, Yerim’s foot stomped down on its snout with a sharp kick.

– Keeek!

The thrashing eel quickly faded into the distance. She kept plunging down, totally at home in this world.

“Wow–”

We arrived at a valley filled with light. At the line of coral crowning the valley, the flow of the water changed. The valley floor, lighter and calmer, was a solid field of blue. Broad, grass–like leaves spread out and swayed slowly, as if in a breeze.

When we went even deeper inside–

“It’s like dry land.”

A meadow and forest appeared. The light above the valley acted as the sun, and big fish moved in schools like herds of deer. At the end of the meadow stood a mansion, with a forest behind it like a folding screen. Aside from the fact that it was underwater, with coral and anemones clinging to its walls and a big crab nosing around instead of a dog, it was a perfectly normal mansion.

“Welcome.”

The Mermaid Queen appeared before us, wrapped in a wide shawl. Yerim greeted her back a bit awkwardly.

“This place feels pretty similar to being out of the water.”

“To us, the outside of the water feels similar to this place. In fact, people on land once adopted our civilization and advanced because of it.”

We followed the Mermaid Queen into the house. The first thing that caught my eye was the hole in the ceiling, where stairs normally would have been.

‘You don’t need stairs underwater.’

You could just swim up instead. The living room looked ordinary. The Mermaid Queen sat down on a sun bed about twice the usual height, her tail stretched out long.

“For you two, those sofas should be more comfortable.”

“Ah, yes.”

The simple sofas had belts attached.

“If you feel like you might float away, buckle up, Honey.”

In the Mermaid Queen’s neighborhood, even the beds probably had straps on them. You couldn’t have people drifting off in their sleep.

“Little Droplet.”

The Mermaid Queen looked at Yerim as she spoke.

“You are slowly following the path of my power.”