WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 100: Traditional Play (4)

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Rooaaar!

The enormous black dragon roared. Several A-Class Hunters instinctively stepped back at the thunderous roar brimming with pressure. A Fear Resistance message appeared before my eyes, then disappeared.

My ears hurt.

“All right, then.”

Riette raised her long neck and looked down at the humans. If not for the backdrop of the Alps on a bright spring day, it would have been a convincing dragon-versus-human scene.

Though I was conveniently left out of that versus.

Not that I was unrelated. I was more like the grand prize.

Being held in a dragon’s foreclaw beneath a brilliantly blue sky felt absolutely fantastic.

“I shall kidnap the princess! If you are confident you can face me, defeat my underlings and come to the top of that tower!”

What was Yoohyun doing right about now? The kids were probably playing nicely instead of fighting.

“Honey, this is when you scream, ‘Save me, Prince!’”

“No.”

Why was Seong Hyeonje just watching? Of course, it would be convenient if Riette left like this. Still, just standing there with the expression of someone opening a bag of popcorn was too much.

Grrrnk.

Riette’s hind feet scraped the ground. Muscles packed beneath her hard scales flexed.

“Hold on tight, Honey~”

Hold on to what, fuck. Wait a second.

Boom!

Three feet forcefully kicked off the hill. The ground shook and split with a sound like rolling thunder, and dirt poured down. Crushing the small hill like a sandcastle, the massive black body soared into the air.

For a moment, I felt enough pressure to make my ears go numb. Then another deafening crash rang out as the surroundings collapsed.

The city wall.

The relatively intact city wall, the buildings around it, even a relatively small tower. They all crumbled beneath Riette’s footsteps and a single sweep of her tail.

In the meantime, my connection through the teacher skill was cut off, leaving me unable to see properly through anything but dust and black scales. I was tempted to use the teacher skill on Riette, but if I passed out now, I really would not be able to handle the consequences.

Even if I woke tied to the top of a tower in a flowing dress, I would not be surprised. Lightning would be striking nearby, a dragon would be rampaging, poisonous mist would fill the air, and Noah would be crying...

Something like that, probably.

Would staying alert lead to a different outcome? Well.

At least I would not have to wear a dress. That was a very big difference.

“Mr. Han Yujin!”

Then I heard Noah’s voice. I was grateful he had come after me, but remembering his frightened eyes made me worry first. I did not want Noah to overextend himself because of me.

“Mr. Noah, not alone, urk!”

The foreclaw holding me shook hard as Riette rose onto her hind legs. One of her foreclaws gripped the base of the huge tower.

I caught a glimpse of Noah beyond her writhing black scales. The platinum dragon was by no means small compared to a human, but now he looked like a chick before an eagle.

Grrrr!

With a fierce growl, Noah clung to the black dragon’s head. He dug in his claws and gnawed at her scales with his teeth, but a single rough shake of Riette’s head sent him flying.

Riette had Poison Resistance and Curse Resistance too, so all Noah had left was close combat...

Anyone could see he was no match for her.

How were they twins by any stretch of the imagination?

“I’m fine, so come with Seong Hyeonje!”

Noah, who had been circling around us, reluctantly changed direction. Riette, climbing the tower, looked down at me with sparkling eyes.

“Honey, you really do have a talent for raising kids. How long has it been since he last came at me like that?”

Her delighted tone left me dumbfounded.

What kind of standards did this person have for child-rearing?

Though the enormous dragon drove her claws into it as she climbed, the central tower was holding up remarkably well. Riette lightly tossed me inside the round balcony at the top.

Since the tower was large, the room inside was fairly spacious too. Judging by the faint traces of remaining ornamentation and the decorations on the high, rounded ceiling, it must once have been quite splendid. The scratched-up table and chairs, and the cabinet with its doors torn off, all looked expensive.

Its decorations had all fallen away, leaving only the frame and tabletop, but even the bed was clearly no ordinary piece just from its size.

“Honey~”

I had unconsciously walked farther into the room to look around when I heard Riette’s voice behind me. She had returned to human form.

...Was it safe to turn around?

I lowered my gaze and only glanced toward her feet. She was properly wearing shoes and clothes.

“Your clothes are fine even after full beast transformation.”

“I adapted a curse skill. I can only apply it to A-Class equipment for now, though.”

You could use it that way too? It really was a useful ability.

Riette strode in and set a picnic basket on the table. When had she grabbed that?

“When I was five, my dream was to become an evil dragon from a fairy tale book~”

“Congratulations on achieving your dream.”

“Everything was great, except for that one thing. I had no wings. I was supposed to spread my wings wide and fly off dramatically. That would have made it perfect! Next time, I should make a cooler, more perfect exit. Should I get a flight skill?”

What next time? Let this be the only time.

“So what should I do now? Eat you?”

Riette tilted her head.

“Why would you eat a hostage? You need to keep them safe until someone comes to rescue them. If you get hungry, eat a sandwich from the basket.”

If there were sandwiches in it. I suddenly wondered what Seong Hyeonje had packed. He surely had not prepared it himself. His secretary or someone else around him must have done it, so perhaps it was surprisingly ordinary.

Riette took the only chair, so I went and sat on the bed. Seong Hyeonje would manage on his own, and since I had some time, I should sort things out.

‘Originally, Seong Hyeonje joined hands with the cultists, then betrayed them later. But because I regressed, it was exposed.’

It seemed certain that the cultists also knew about events before my regression. That was why they had dragged in MKC, Sudam, and even Riette to kill Seong Hyeonje.

I did not know why they were interested in me. Did they know I had regressed?

‘Then Seong Hyeonje is on the system’s side... should I put it that way?’

I still could not be sure. Rather than taking either side, perhaps he simply intended to collect whatever benefits he could and leave. Or maybe he would just support whichever side he felt like.

“What are you thinking about so hard, Honey?”

Riette had approached without a sound and stopped before me. When I looked up, I saw her golden eyes giving off an unusual light. The room was slightly dark without any lighting, so they held the light like a cat’s eyes.

“Riette, how did you end up under a curse or brainwashing?”

This was important too. Riette was S-Class, and a natural-born S-Class at that. Yet she had followed someone’s command.

Did that not mean the same method could work on other S-Classes?

Riette pouted, looking offended by my question.

“I’m not entirely sure either, but there were these unpleasant people who had been lurking around for a while. I first found out about them around three years ago? Not long after I awakened. They approached me, saying they could help me grow stronger faster than anyone else, so I kicked them away because they creeped me out. Then they kept pestering me, asking if I wasn’t curious why the world had become like this. They said they would give me information about items and skills too.”

Three years ago meant it was right at the beginning.

Riette, Seong Hyeonje, and even Yoohyun. Had they approached only natural-born S-Classes first?

“You turned them down well.”

I probably would have been tempted.

“It was boring. If they had said, ‘Fight me, and listen to whoever wins!’ then maybe I would have accepted? Of course, with terms that allowed revenge. Anyway, I kept refusing, so they even tried to go after my little brother. I beat up every one I saw, and then they went quiet for a while. Over two years, maybe?”

I frowned at the mention that they had tried to go after her little brother. Perhaps Yoohyun had faced a similar situation, making him keep me even farther away.

There may have been enemies like Yoon Gyeongsu too. But perhaps the main problem had been these cultists or whatever they were.

It seemed Yoohyun had been threatened into silence, unable to say anything properly.

“Then, recently, they suddenly appeared and gave an order. ...To the firstborn of Dio Valshecis, the cursed poison dragon.”

Riette’s voice dropped sharply. A faint killing intent filled her eyes.

“Yes, that bastard. He felt somewhat similar to you. A cursed poison dragon species higher-ranking than me.”

“Cursed poison dragon species?”

If it was even higher-ranking, had Riette broken free from the command because of the Dragon Slayer title? Or perhaps it was the combination of Raucitas’s Natural Enemy and Curse Resistance.

If what bound Riette was a curse from the cursed poison dragon species, then my Curse Resistance skill would have been twice as effective.

Either way, it really was a fortunate coincidence...

‘...Was it a coincidence?’

The cursed poison dragon species. Of all the dragon species, only this one kept appearing. First Raucitas before my regression, then Dio Valshecis, who should not have existed, and now even the cultists.

...Blackie was probably really a coincidence.

If, just if, it had not been a coincidence that Raucitas, a cursed poison dragon species, had appeared in the dungeon I entered...

“Honey!”

“...Yes?”

Riette bent down and stroked my cheek with one hand.

“I think you really are unusual.”

“Ah, well, I’m not ordinary.”

“But unlike before, you’ve gotten soft?”

The corner of Riette’s mouth slowly lifted. A bad feeling smacked me across the back of the head. I had expected that my condition would be exposed as soon as we met again, but still.

“I didn’t think you were really F-Class, even though everyone said you were. But today, you couldn’t do anything against me, could you? Even if you were like that earlier because other people were watching... You still seem soft now. What do you think?”

“What do I think?”

Touching the bead on my necklace, I opened my mouth.

“I deceived you when we first met.”

“Really? Interesting. You’re actually F-Class now, right?”

“Yeah.”

Then my body was shoved backward.

Hey, wait a second.

“What are you trying to do?!”

“What I was going to do back then~”

I thought she might get angry that I had deceived her, but this was far too different from what I expected. Fuck, let go. Don’t rip my shirt.

“Turn back into a dragon and hang off the tower! You said it was your dream!”

“What did you say? You like me better transformed? You have unusual tastes, Honey. I like it.”

...Damn it, why was Seong Hyeonje not coming? There had already been enough time for him to wipe everyone out. Surely he was not wasting time playing with those poor people again.

Then, with perfect timing, I heard the sound of Noah’s wings. Seong Hyeonje jumped into the balcony right after. Somehow, he had removed the attribute-sealing item, and lightning once again flashed around the chain coiled around his forearm.

Later than expected, but he had arrived in time.

“I have come to rescue you, Princess!”

...That damned man shouted enthusiastically.

It was sad that I could not tell him to go away again. Switch roles, old man. Did he want to play prince at his age? Trade places with Noah.

“Mr. Han Yujin! Are you all righ...”

Noah, who had stuck his head inside the balcony, flapped back out in shock.

Damn it, Riette. You startled the kid. To Noah, his older sister and his older sister...

I stopped thinking there.

Seong Hyeonje also looked at the two of us as if he had not expected this.

“Was it an adult story disguised as a fairy tale?”

“Stop talking nonsense and defeat the dragon as your role requires.”

“Want to join me?”

“Riette!”

Riette threw out that crazy joke and burst into laughter as she sprang up. The longsword suddenly in her hand sliced through the air, and Seong Hyeonje vanished from where he stood in an instant.

Slice.

The sound was like paper being cut.

But what collapsed was stone. The diagonally sliced balcony fell, followed by the walls and ceiling splitting apart.

“Now, shall we dance for the ending? Sorry, Princess. I’m stealing your dance partner!”

“Take him. You don’t even have to return him.”

Just leave the skill behind.

Riette leaped through the collapsing tower. Her body vanished below in an instant. Then Seong Hyeonje jumped up, holding me in one hand and the picnic basket in the other.

Rumble!

Whatever Riette had done below, the huge central tower began collapsing entirely, not just at its upper half. Seong Hyeonje leaped off a crumbling wall and landed atop Noah’s back as he flew nearby.

“Please take good care of our lunch.”

Seong Hyeonje put the shirt he had taken from his inventory on top of the picnic basket and handed them to me, then sharply turned and dropped below.

“Excuse me, Mr. Noah.”

I used the teacher skill on Noah and checked the situation.

The central tower had completely collapsed, and dust billowed up like fog.

Rattle!

The Seeker’s Chain stretched endlessly, embedding itself between buildings and cutting through the air. Seong Hyeonje righted his upside-down body and landed lightly on it. The instant his feet touched the chain, he slid into a run.

And in the space he had just vacated,

Kraaaash!

A sword strike wrapped in dust like a hurricane swept through. The chain was cut apart, and the ground overturned. Even the buildings that had remained intact were sliced apart like sheets of paper.

Everything within several dozen meters of them was brilliantly carved to pieces and scattered.

“...Mr. Noah, you really have had it rough.”

Noah silently but clearly nodded.

Choi Seokwon’s attacks had been fairly powerful too, but that was... practically a whole different grade.

Even borrowing Noah’s vision, I could not see through the dust-filled interior. But Seong Hyeonje was not simply standing there and taking the attacks either. The severed chain vanished at some point, and light whirled.

Rumble!

The air trembled as though it had been frightened first, followed by a storm of electricity. Fragments of the collapsed tower popped up like popcorn kernels, blackened beyond scorching, then shattered into pieces.

The light was intense enough to burn our optic nerves. Noah and I reflexively shut our eyes, and when we opened them, all we saw was the blackened site where the buildings had stood.

As if the dust and building debris had annoyed him, Seong Hyeonje had swept it all away and stood tall amid the traces of destruction. His position made him hard to see clearly, but that man was definitely smiling.

Riette was the same. Crouched atop a pile of swept-away buildings, she giggled as poisonous mist slowly flowed out. Her long tail swayed behind her. With its black spikes viciously raised, it casually crushed chunks of brick as though mashing boiled eggs.

Then once again, savage force collided with savage force.

The Fear Resistance message appeared again.

How many times had that been now?

Hmm... There was nothing I could do about those two. Should I check what was in the picnic basket instead?

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