WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 127: The Association President (1)

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Sizzle!

An egg settled gently onto the oiled pan.

“Runny or fully cooked?”

“Runny, please.”

I answered, a little dazed. Never in my dreams had I expected to see the Sesung Guildmaster frying an egg for me. If a fortune teller had predicted this scene before my regression, I would have told them to quit talking such ridiculous nonsense.

The smell of bacon soon drifted to my nose.

“Would you like coffee? Or fruit juice?”

Noah lifted a basket filled with mangoes, bananas, and oranges. When I asked for juice, he deftly peeled the fruit. The blender roared through the kitchen.

Noah went without saying, but Seong Hyeonje looked absurdly flawless too. Both were so handsome that it felt like I was watching some kind of 4D kitchen commercial. If they opened a cafe together, it would probably do well even if the food tasted awful.

Contrary to my expectations, this was not a hotel but a villa. With the uproar over the Kraken, we had been moved to a privately owned villa to avoid attracting attention.

“…What do you want?”

My eyes kept drifting to the burn visible through the open collar of his shirt. I pierced the runny yolk with my fork and asked Seong Hyeonje. Please say you protected Yerim because you had some other purpose.

“That’s a disappointing thing to say.”

“It wouldn’t be good for my mental health to conclude that you simply helped me while risking injury out of concern for me. I think I’d lose sleep for about a week, feeling uneasy and suspicious.”

“I wouldn’t call myself a good person, but.”

“…I almost choked just now.”

Noah, seated beside me, wore an equally doubtful expression. Seong Hyeonje continued with a hint of laughter.

“I tend to be generous toward possessions of sufficient value. Besides, failing to properly protect what is mine is shameful.”

“I’m not yours, Mr. Seong Hyeonje. It was just a joke to begin with.”

“I was always sincere.”

“Please don’t say frightening things. If you are sincere, I’ll run away.”

“I’ll wait about a day for you to hide.”

I had no intention of playing tag with him. It was obviously all said in jest, but his talk of sincerity still bothered me.

“Anyway, thank you for protecting Yerim. I’ll also compensate you for your injury.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the latter part. You’re welcome. It was what I should have done for Han Yujin.”

“What do you want?”

“I hope you stay intact until I grow tired of you. Mentally speaking.”

“You don’t care about my body?”

“If your volume decreases, you’ll be easier to carry.”

For a moment, I had no idea what he meant. Then I frowned. I admitted that an F-Class body was not particularly useful, but that was still too much.

“That’s harsh.”

Noah flared up on my behalf. Seong Hyeonje did not even glance at him. That man was particularly dismissive of Noah.

“Could you at least look at someone when they speak?”

“Is there any need to, with the owner right in front of me?”

…What kind of bullshit was that? I protested that Noah was neither a mount nor someone with an owner, but a perfectly independent person. It did not get through at all. It was unfair that I had been moved, even briefly, by the fact that he had looked after Yerim despite getting injured. His personality really was awful.

“Mr. Noah, could you step out for a moment?”

* * *

After a simple breakfast, I spoke to Noah.

“Yes, I’ll be in the back garden.”

Once Noah left, I brought up what had happened last night.

“Did you collect everything?”

“Thanks to you. Several high-grade Hunters tried to escape, but none got away. Since we completely flooded the hotel, it will not seem strange that the bodies cannot be found.”

Seong Hyeonje sounded quite pleased.

Most of the people in the hotel had fallen into his hands, alive or dead. Seeing how he had even taken every corpse, it seemed Sesung had a Hunter with a skill similar to Yerim’s White Corpse.

“Don’t forget to share any useful information.”

“Didn’t you say you had no interest in overseas matters and firmly tell me not to try drawing you in? If you’ve changed your mind, I welcome it.”

“I obviously won’t even look that way, so pass it on to Haeyeon Guild.”

Domestic matters alone were exhausting enough. I would only take the stamina potions from Japan and the Hunters from China, then stop caring.

“Also, gather up the equipped items and send them to me.”

Items in an inventory were difficult to steal. Even worse, when someone died, all their items vanished along with their inventory. That was why I had deliberately made them put their items up during the auction. It would be a waste to simply let them disappear.

“You’re so thorough. How commendable.”

“Take that possessive out of your gaze.”

His eyes were far too openly saying I was his. If he wanted to claim me as his item, he could at least trade a skill with me. Was he trying to take everything for free? What a thief.

As we discussed the rest of the cleanup,

“Ah! It’s Han Yoohyun! Aaaah!”

Yerim’s scream rang out as though she had touched a cockroach. She used to call him a handsome, capable big brother. She had changed a lot.

“Mister! When did you wake up?”

Yerim ran out of the bedroom with loud, pounding footsteps.

“If you can’t notice an F-Class moving right beside you, that’s a problem.”

“I was just really tired. Is there bread?”

“Here. The fact that you get that tired is the problem. It means you put a burden on your body. If that keeps piling up, even an S-Class will break down. It can’t be helped in a life-or-death situation, but try not to overdo it when possible. You too, Yoohyun.”

I looked at my younger brother as he entered the kitchen, his face still sleepy.

“Don’t go crawling into S-Class dungeons with just the two of you.”

“Okay. But you’re the one who overdoes it the most, Hyung.”

“That’s right. You pass out all the time. And you have F-Class stats.”

All the time? I did not think it had been that often. About three times, maybe? Not much at all.

“How are you two, who run dungeons, the same as me, who stays holed up at home?”

“How many dungeons have you gone into lately? If you really stayed home, we wouldn’t worry.”

Well, it just happened somehow. I had nothing to say. I had never intended to work this hard at going in and out of dungeons either. Things did not always go the way you wanted.

“I want eggs too! Fully cooked!”

Yerim called out as Yoohyun took out eggs. Though he frowned in displeasure, another egg soon appeared in his hand.

“I’ll make it. Sit down.”

“It’s fine.”

Irin appeared on Yoohyun’s shoulder as he lifted the pan. I waved, but there was no reaction. Was it not merely unable to speak? Was its intelligence limited too, making it behave like an ordinary lizard?

“Thank you for the Sesung Guildmaster’s coat. But don’t forget what you promised to give me!”

“Of course not.”

“…Look after? What?”

At my question, Yerim casually replied while tearing apart a long piece of bread.

“I helped move some bodies and people yesterday. It’s my pay for the side job!”

“What? Why would you make a kid do that?!”

“It was only a simple transport job.”

“What do you mean, simple...!”

Clack. Seong Hyeonje caught the blade of the kitchen knife in his hand. Yoohyun set plates of fried eggs on the table. Both had runny yolks.

“I said fully cooked!”

“We only serve runny eggs in this house.”

At those cold words telling her not to eat if she did not like it, Yerim grumbled and put the fried egg in her mouth. Still, they seemed a little closer than before. Maybe children really did grow close through fighting.

Seong Hyeonje lightly tossed the kitchen knife that had flown at him back toward Yoohyun. A fork tapped the knife, and the blade spun through the air before burying itself in the table. It was a marble table, yet nearly half the knife had gone in.

“Someone your age should not play around at the table.”

“The young master started it first.”

“Yoohyun, I know he gets on your nerves, but you shouldn’t throw knives in the kitchen.”

“Okay, sorry.”

Then he hesitated for a moment and looked at me with eyes like a scolded puppy.

“…I was wrong yesterday. You kept your promise, Hyung, but I acted however I wanted. I’m really sorry.”

My little brother really was kind. Just look at how he apologized right away.

“It’s okay. As long as no one got hurt, it’s fine.”

Seong Hyeonje silently raised a hand. What was I supposed to do about that? Still, the burn caught my eye, and I felt a tiny bit sorry and guilty, so I added,

“It’s fine because no one died. What does it matter if you get a little hurt? There are potions and healers.”

“Wow, what is that? Even if the world ended because of Han Yoohyun, Mister would definitely just say it was fine as long as he apologized.”

No, even I would not go that far... If the world ended, Yoohyun would have trouble living too, so I would stop it before then.

“And it was because of the spirit, too. I heard the Spirit of Fire is like that. When he is using its power, his self-control weakens and he becomes more violent. It’s worse because you’re not used to it yet.”

Um, and. Should I say it? Irin was staring at me as if urging me on. Maybe it was simply watching me, though.

“Well, even if you cause some trouble. I still love you, Yoohyun. So don’t worry too much...”

...Rin, this is hard for your brother. If I get embarrassed, I’m done for. Calm down. Act natural. Thankfully, Yoohyun merely smiled shyly without saying anything.

“Mister, what about me!”

“Of course I love you too, Yerim. But my little brother is my top priority.”

“Ah, that’s obvious. It would be more surprising if he wasn’t.”

It was obvious, even? Just then, Seong Hyeonje checked a message on his phone and stood.

“They’ve arrived. Could you come with me for a moment, Dad?”

He headed for the front door. Wondering what was going on, I followed. The door opened, and along with Kang Soyoung,

- Kyaaaang!

“Peace?”

Peace leaped into my arms.

- Kyuuung.

“Yes, yes. How did you get all the way here?”

“I brought Peace.”

Kang Soyoung spoke with an exhausted face.

“Peace was... a little snappish because Han Yujin was not there. Peace cooperated after seeming to understand that we were going to Han Yujin, but... I could not bring Blue too.”

“Thank you. You must have had a hard time.”

She smiled weakly and said it was fine. I should raise Comet as soon as possible when I got back. I felt bad.

“You said Mr. Noah was here too, right? Could I go in for a moment?”

“Ah, yes. He went to the back garden earlier.”

“Thank you!”

Kang Soyoung instantly recovered her energy and ran toward the back garden. Noah’s startled cry faintly carried over. Please calm down, Ms. Soyoung. Peace wagged their tail nonstop in my arms, as if delighted.

“I meant to return quickly, but it took longer than expected. Sorry, Peace.”

- Kkeuang, kyang!

As I soothed Peace, I turned to Seong Hyeonje.

“Um, thank you for being considerate.”

His excessive kindness made me uneasy, but I was honestly grateful that he had brought Peace here.

“Then I must be worth about three stars now.”

“Let’s say you are.”

“I hope your seawater allergy has disappeared too. As you know, this place is an island. And this tour definitely has no add-ons and no tipping.”

“Can three kids and a pet come along too?”

“Of course.”

With conditions that good, I could not refuse. I had been disappointed that we had come all this way with the kids only to return right away. I worried we might attract too much attention, but he was an absurdly overqualified tour guide, so surely he would handle it.

“Really? I thought we were going straight back! Wait, I need to look things up! We need souvenirs too!”

When I went inside and suggested touring Hong Kong, Yerim jumped around in excitement. Yoohyun looked pleased too. We woke Peep, who was still asleep, and headed out with Noah and Kang Soyoung.

One day was not enough, so we enjoyed ourselves through the following day. There were a few minor incidents here and there, but nothing serious happened. There were more than one or two kids, after all. An accident-free trip was too much to ask.

Then we boarded the plane home.

News had reached Korea that I had been rescued by the Haeyeon Guildmaster, and the airport was packed with people.

More than I had expected.

‘It’s something I brought on myself, but...’

Still, the attention was too much. My face grew hot on its own. I should avoid going out barefaced for about a month. This was embarrassing.

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