The S-Classes That I Raised - Chapter 442: Returning Home (1)

The Mulim Alliance assigned us an entire annex separate from their main quarters. I appreciated the consideration, but despite the hot spring just behind us—or perhaps because of it—our room was uncomfortably chilly. To begin with, having a Western-style floor bothered me. At least in a bedroom you should remove your shoes. At home, we keep wet wipes by the door and wipe our feet thoroughly after the kids return from walks. We even have waterless cleansing spray.

‘Ondol floor heating is the best.’

How nice it would be to have heated floors. Or even an electric mat. I just wanted to go home. The barracks under the military were awful too, they said. The hotel inside the dungeon was fine, though. At least Yuhyun was there, so I didn’t sleep cold. Otherwise I might’ve caught a cold.

“This is my first time making this tea, so I’m not sure if I brewed it properly.”

Since everyone else was still unconscious, Yuhyun brought us tea herself. Irin warmed the stone bench in the walled garden so it wouldn’t be cold. It was still early, and the sky was tinged with pale red and violet.

“Thank you.”

“They say it’s good for your health.”

I expected it to taste awful. Last night, I watched my sister seriously consulting Teacher Hoyun about medicinal herbs, and my mouth puckered at the memory. That elder even has a skill to brew medicine—and using the skill makes it taste even worse.

‘There were five optimization skills, right?’

One was SS-rank. Of the five, we missed getting one A-rank, but the skills alone could rank a healer as S-class.

“Brother, is the bench too hot?”

Irin climbed onto the back of my hand and asked, watching me anxiously—probably feeling bad about what happened at the hotel.

“It’s perfect, just right.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“No, it’s fine. Lin.”

“Yes!”

“I appreciate that you always side with Yuhyun. But I wish you’d calm down a bit sometimes.”

Irin spun around with a grin, hiding her head in her sleeve and flicking her tail.

“If you didn’t upset Yuhyun, I wouldn’t have to do that……”

“Even the closest of friends argue sometimes. That’s how you learn to get along. You’ll be an older brother soon too—you need to act more mature.”

Whether brother or sister, I don’t know. Hearing “brother,” Irin popped her head out and bounced.

“The Water Spirit has nothing to do with me!”

“You’re Yuhyun’s sister—you can’t say that.”

“I don’t want to! Fire and water are opposites! Of course they’re enemies!”

“Yuhyun and Yerim get along fine.”

……

Irin snapped her mouth shut and stared at me. Why—being rivals is fun in its own way.

“Yerim is the closest to Yuhyun aside from me, right?”

“We’re not close! We’re just… sort-of okay! And if you count me out, Peace is first, and Park Yerim’s second!”

Whether that’s true or because Peace is fire-elemental and gets first dibs, it still means she’s close with Yerim. Including Peace, she has two friends.

“Peace, you’re close with Yuhyun too, right?”

“Grrruff.”

Peace, curled up on my lap, tilted her head. She seemed not to understand. Still, Irin counts as a friend—she even talks. That’s enough to be ordinary friends.

“When will the Sesung Guild Master return? Should we go soak in the hot spring again? It was nice in Japan, and I love an outdoor bath when it’s chilly—except for the cold when you get out.”

“Should we build one on the rooftop garden?”

“With the walls so high, if we put a roof on it, no one would see… Let’s think on it.”

A private open-air bath felt a bit extravagant. And anyway, our home’s water isn’t hot spring water.

“If Teacher Hoyun’s contract is secured safely, I think the former MKC healers could be directed to the Breakers. What do you think? Or is it better for them to stay independent?”

Yuhyun thought for a moment before replying.

“I think Breakers would be better. If they’re not in a guild, they’ll effectively be in the Association. They could go to the Awakener Management Office, but that won’t happen.”

“True. The AMO wouldn’t be able to afford them anyway.”

Having an A-rank healer in public service would be great, but few with such dedication would sign up. If it were an item with the same ability, funding would be easier. But if a person, everyone would say, “You’re taking taxes and not providing treatment!” endlessly.

As the sky brightened, Noah came outside. Yerim stretched and asked what to have for breakfast.

“I want something spicy!”

“At breakfast? You’ll wreck your stomach.”

“My stomach’s S-rank, so it’s fine~”

Teacher Hoyun departed first to meet the family rescued by the Mulim Alliance. His daughter and her husband were coming to Korea too. As A-rank healers’ family, their immigration permits would be immediate.

Just as we wondered if it was time to leave after breakfast, Seong Hyunjae finally arrived.

“Why are you so late?”

How much had he cleared out for the stench to linger? Wait—

“Why does your face look like that?”

A faint scar remained on Seong Hyunjae’s cheek. A trivial wound, but its meaning was anything but.

“…What happened?”

I hurried over. Hunting military hunters might cause injuries—but Seong Hyunjae wouldn’t casually expose his face. And it still hadn’t healed.

“Did you use a potion? Even a shallow cut heals quickly without treatment.”

Seong Hyunjae surveyed the Mulim Alliance members around us, then bowed his head toward me, activating a sound-dampening item. His lips barely moved as he answered.

“It’s a kind of freezing skill.”

“Freezing?”

“Rather, it solidifies. It applies not only to an opponent’s skills but to wounds as well. It fixes the wound’s state, so potions are ineffective.”

“So it will leave a scar?”

Why his face? It’s the one place he’d least hide.

“It’s slowly easing. I tried alternating antidote and purifying items—it’s a curse.”

He said it was a high-grade curse, so it wouldn’t fully heal.

“It’s a conditional curse: it solidifies cuts.”

“How convenient. They’re usually tricky.”

Curses without conditions or costs are weak. Unless a species trait—like the Lych Draconids’ venom—the curse skill is hard to use offensively in combat. That’s why it’s usually in a consensual contract.

I reached out to touch Seong Hyunjae’s cheek. The faint scar vanished immediately.

“If it’s only the face, did you let me check on purpose? Why there of all places?”

“I didn’t aim for the head.”

“Then who did?”

If Seong Hyunjae reacts like this… I frowned.

“…Chatterbox side?”

“Precisely, those who believe the dungeon’s appearance is God’s will were approached by Chatterbox.”

“Ah, those……”

They. People who thought the sudden appearance of dungeons, monsters, and awakeners was divine. There were fewer in Korea, but abroad some were extreme.

“Which faction? If they listen to Chatterbox, are they apocalypse cultists?”

“They believe preventing dungeons violates God’s will.”

“Sigh……”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

“I suppose it suited their purposes—people who think the world’s end is right. But they weren’t all that strong. Though their terror attacks were frequent.”

Opposed to dungeon raids, no S-rank hunters belonged to them; mostly low-rank. Yet overseas, the use of firearms made casualties high.

“They didn’t value their lives, so they were exhausting to deal with.”

Seong Hyunjae said with obvious annoyance that he’d encountered them several times.

“Even S-rank hunters are mostly like civilians in daily life.”

Chasing him at a hotel, planting bombs, storming restaurants with machine guns—that was a hassle, he said.

“It was a cafe I liked.”

They’d left a time bomb there.

“They were active in North America and Europe, then spread to South America recently.”

“In Korea, nothing happened until just before regression.”

Seong Hyunjae explained that hunter guilds tried to root them out several times but failed. A bigger problem was the non-awakeners. When non-awakeners shot awakeners, only material compensation was imposed, then they were released.

“There’s a precedent that if they acted fully aware the target wouldn’t die or be hurt, it’s not attempted murder.”

“…It makes sense, but it’s frustrating.”

Thus, Seong Hyunjae had a difficult time too.

“Annoying.”

“Is that why they went to India and Egypt?”

“And now there are S-rank hunters too.”

I unconsciously glanced at Seong Hyunjae’s cheek, where the scar had been.

“At least two.”

“…There may be more.”

“A prophet came with them.”

“A prophet? How cultish.”

“A prophet who can’t see Korea’s future.”

I understood immediately. My expression stiffened.

“Memories before regression?”

“He began seeing them about a month ago.”

“A month ago… Then it wasn’t Chatterbox but the Undefiled King who intervened.”

If only I’d asked what they’d done in our world. But it could still have been Chatterbox—they acted alongside the Undefiled King.

“…A prophet would hold an important position, and the S-rank hunter guarding them is likely their strongest. How was it?”

“If not for the constraints, I’d have dealt with them on the spot.”

Seong Hyunjae said lightly, as if of course. Impressive. We held all the cards, and Chatterbox must know that. They’d find a way.

I asked Seong Hyunjae for information on that cult. Though much had changed with Chatterbox’s involvement, I needed to know as much as possible.

“Miller Hunter knew quite a lot about them.”

“Miss Evelyn?”

“We clashed relentlessly.”

Good grief.

Anyway, with Seong Hyunjae back, we descended the mountain for our return. But before heading to the airport, there was one more thing to prepare.

“Don’t worry~”

Five hunters, who had guarded the military’s item warehouse, eyed me anxiously. I held up a round, flat glass slate.

“A single-use below-S-rank purifying item.”

An F-rank disposable light item. Only 10 points, one hour of light—good for camping outdoors. Such items don’t exist in our world, so they wouldn’t suspect a fake.

“Don’t move. When I give the signal, take the item out.”

“Is this really… okay?”

“Of course! Trust me. Discard your fear, reclaim your freedom! Purifying items are precious—opportunities like this come once! Miss will see you if you miss it~”

I patted the hunter’s back to °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° reassure him. Seeing the slate sparkle, he opened his inventory and pulled out an item: a bracelet. Nothing happened, of course. His expression and those of the others brightened.

And mine too. Come on, everyone, take them all out.

Items poured forth in a torrent, and the hunter relaxed. A second hunter, seeing success, stepped forward without hesitation.

“Thank you!”

“Yes, yes. Remember not to leave anything behind.”

I’d drawn up a separate contract. As items continued to flood out, the third, fourth, and final fifth hunter completed their purifications. Fifty points’ worth of light items shattered away.

‘Calm your grin.’

I watched the piled items, my lips twitching upward. Just seeing them filled me with satisfaction.

“Don’t touch them. Don’t think of storing them—step back, please.”

I felt a pang at giving them away—though I have priority. Together with the Mulim Alliance appraiser, who barred inventory use, I organized the items.

“Nineteen S-rank, fifty-seven A-rank, three B-rank.”

No SS-rank, but six S-rank weapons. Delightful.

“I’ll take all the swords and blades—three of them. Someone gave us an S-rank wire too. One is for the Sesung Guild Master; leave the spear, though.”

Regrettable, but promised. In exchange for high-value weapons, I’d keep more of the remaining S-rank items.

After dividing them, I held twelve S-rank items. Yerim’s lacking equipment could be fully furnished now.

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