WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 51: A Date for Now (2)

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“Having to bring in extra people just for me would be too much. I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.”

More than that, though, I really didn’t want to run into Seong Hyeonje, the Sesung Guildmaster. The man himself made me uneasy, but my current condition was the bigger problem. Yoohyun had said I seemed strange, so there was a good chance Seong Hyeonje would notice something off about me too.

I could use Wall Lizard and deny it all I wanted, but there was no reason to walk myself right up to someone dangerous.

“Too much? Not at all!”

Kang Soyoung looked straight at me, sincerity filling her large eyes. Her face was truly beautiful, as though it embodied the very word adorable. Then she cried out in the same heartfelt voice.

“It’s for the person who’ll raise my child!”

...I heard that nonsense not long ago. I never thought I’d hear it again.

“...You shouldn’t say it like that. Someone else might misunderstand.”

“It’s okay. Everyone says that.”

What the hell...?

“Everyone does...?”

Kang Soyoung nodded cutely.

“Yes. Hyuna unni, I mean the Guildmaster of Breaker Guild, said it like that a few times, and before I knew it, it had spread everywhere.”

Damn it, Moon Hyuna! What was she doing, spreading it everywhere? I told her not to gossip about my little brother, and she was out there gossiping about me instead? The fact that it wasn’t entirely wrong made the back of my neck ache even more.

“Still, wouldn’t something like mount, monster, or magical beast be better than calling it a child?”

“That sounds too unaffectionate. More importantly, a top-rank mount would be a partner you’d have for the rest of your life, one that would be hard to replace. I’m really going to love and care for it like my own child. My heart’s already racing. How adorable will my baby dragon be?”

Her cheeks even reddened slightly. It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand how she felt, but still... still...

“So you really don’t need to feel burdened! It’s fine if you ask for more, if anything! Is there anything you need? I may not look it, but I’ve saved up quite a lot of money.”

She was an A-Class Hunter in a huge guild, so naturally she had plenty of money. But if I actually asked for something, I felt like I’d become some scumbag extorting a kid. She was eleven years younger than me, no, six years younger. Either way, she wasn’t even twenty yet. And it wasn’t as though I needed anything.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t need anything.”

“Then for now, I’ll just help you take a walk in the garden.”

“No, but I can’t trouble you over something like this.”

“Don’t worry. Far from finding it troublesome, everyone will welcome you. If you’re still concerned, I’ll make sure to get the Guildmaster’s permission.”

She immediately pulled out her phone. Ugh... Well, it didn’t matter. Yoohyun probably wouldn’t allow it anyway.

‘...I do want to take Peace to a park, though.’

What should I do? It might be okay if Seong Hyeonje wasn’t at the guild.

“Yes, Guildmaster! Yes, yes.”

Meanwhile, Kang Soyoung was talking to Seong Hyeonje on the phone. Their conversation sounded much friendlier than I had expected.

“The Guildmaster says you can come anytime! He says he’ll send people over right away too.”

“Um, you said the Sesung Guildmaster is at the guild right now. Is there a high chance I’ll run into him?”

“He seems busy, but if you want, I can ask him to come out for a moment...!”

“No, no! It’s just that the Sesung Guildmaster is a little, well, scary.”

At my words, Kang Soyoung nodded.

“Right. Most people are wary of him. The Guildmaster doesn’t usually come out to the rooftop garden.”

Was that so? Then should I go? Of course, the problem was that I needed Yoohyun’s permission. I smiled at Kang Soyoung and took out my phone.

“I’ll ask my younger brother for permission. Just because I want to go doesn’t mean I can leave here whenever I want.”

“Yes, of course you should.”

I wondered if my brother would let me. He answered soon after I called. I briefly explained what had happened and asked him.

“They say it’s safe. Wouldn’t it be okay?”

[No.]

As expected, his answer was firm. Of course, there was no way he would easily let me go outside at a time like this. It would’ve been stranger if he had immediately said it was fine.

“But Peace is really depressed. Peace is your mount, you know. And I want to take a walk too.”

A brief silence followed. Then Yoohyun’s voice came through the phone.

[Do you feel that cooped up?]

“The house is probably too small for Peace.”

[Not Peace. You.]

Think about Peace a little too, brat.

“I do want some fresh air. I heard the rooftop garden is nicely done. Right?”

“Yes! Guildmaster of Haeyeon Guild, it’s really nice! We’ll guarantee your safety. I swear!”

Kang Soyoung raised her voice loudly enough to be heard through the phone.

“The A-Class and higher Hunters of Sesung Guild and I will absolutely never take our eyes off you! Please trust us just this once!”

[...Hyung, do you really want to go that badly?]

“More than me, I can’t stop thinking about Peace. Peace seems so down that it drains me too, and I feel sorry for Peace.”

[Still, Sesung would probably be better than other guilds.]

“Of course! Don’t worry.”

With Kang Soyoung egging him on, Yoohyun finally gave me permission to go out.

[You can’t take a detour for any reason. Hunters from our side will accompany you there and back. And you have to return before sunset.]

“Okay. Thanks.”

Even so, he had given permission more easily than expected. Could Soyoung have had something to do with it? This punk hadn’t already taken a liking to Kang Soyoung, had he?

“I’m so glad you got permission! I’ll prepare for us to leave right away.”

Seeing how purely happy she looked, I could understand why my little brother might fall for her. Soyoung probably had influenced him after all.

The two of them would make a good pair. He had seemed lonely living alone in that huge house. Since things had come to this, they should just start dating and get married already. Their kids would be cute. Mixed-race children were often cute and pretty, or so I’d heard. I hoped they would look like Yoohyun.

“Yes, I’ll be in your care.”

My little brother too.

* * *

“We’re here~”

Kang Soyoung said brightly. Sesung’s rooftop garden sat atop the second annex, fifteen stories tall, which connected to the main building. When Kang Soyoung opened the glass doors, a breeze carrying the scent of grass flowed in.

How long had it been since I’d gone to a park like this?

‘...I can barely remember.’

There had been times when a dungeon’s environment was a forest or grassland, but that was different. A carefree stroll. I definitely hadn’t had time for that.

...No, that was just an excuse. If I had wanted to, I could have done it anytime. How much time would it take to visit a nearby park once? And even if I didn’t specifically seek out a park, I could take a walk just by stepping outside my house.

I could slowly look around, occasionally tilt my head back to look at the sky, see what shape the clouds had taken today, how lush the roadside trees had grown in summer, read a flyer stuck to a wall, or watch an ant crawling between paving stones.

‘Well, even if I wanted to now, I can’t.’

I could no longer even dream of wandering around alone. I should just build something like this in my own building.

The rooftop garden was spacious. It was wide open, but tall trees had been densely planted around the edges to conceal the fact that it was on a rooftop as much as possible. It had well-made walking paths, neat flower beds, various sculptures, fountains, and even a small greenhouse.

And not a single person was in sight.

“There’s no one here.”

“We restricted access so you could use it comfortably. It’s not completely empty, though. There are a few people watching over the place. Someone could invade from the air, after all.”

It wasn’t like I was a target for concentrated fire. Who would do that in broad daylight? Still, they were thorough.

“Peace, look over here. It’s a lawn.”

- Grrr.

I set Peace down on the grass, but instead of running around, the young Flame-Horned Lion immediately clung to my leg. The weather was nice, the sunlight was nice, and the scenery was nice, so why wasn’t Peace interested?

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

- Whine.

“Look, there’s a butterfly flying over there.”

Peace paid no attention even to the yellow butterfly fluttering about. At this point, I was starting to worry. Was the trauma worse than I thought? Were there animal psychologists too?

“What should we do, Peace?”

When I crouched and stroked the nape of Peace’s neck, Peace tightly grabbed my arm with those forepaws. Peace was especially clingy. Did Peace not want to be separated from me?

‘Could it be that this isn’t because he was kidnapped, but because we were suddenly separated?’

Peace had been taken away without warning and locked alone in a cage for quite a while. Peace was sensitive enough to detect an Appraisal skill, so even if Peace had been asleep, Peace might have sensed the surroundings to some extent.

“That won’t happen again.”

I didn’t know how much he understood, but I tried to reassure him anyway.

“Look, can you see the lady next to us? Can you tell how strong she is? She’s protecting us.”

“That’s right, Peace. I’m here, so it’s okay.”

Kang Soyoung chimed in at just the right moment. Then she bent down and lightly pulled me into a hug. At the same time, Peace tensed and raised its fur.

- Grrr!

“It’s okay, Peace. She’s a nice lady. She’s not trying to hurt me.”

“That’s right, we’re close. Look.”

Then, smooch, she kissed my cheek.

No, this was a little difficult... Was she like this because she was foreign? She was too touchy-feely.

- Growl?

Peace tilted its head as it looked at us pressed together.

“She’ll protect us, so you can stop worrying and play. It’s okay.”

The tips of Peace’s reddish furred ears twitched. Finally, Peace stepped away from me and slowly began looking around. They said Flame-Horned Lions came from volcanic dungeons, so this lush scenery was probably something Peace had never seen before.

Scritch.

Peace’s still-small paw scraped the grass. Blades of grass flew everywhere. Peace sniffed at the scent of grass for a moment, turned in a circle, then looked back up at me.

“Do you like it?”

- Yip!

Peace jumped in place and began properly exploring the surroundings. Peace still did not seem inclined to wander far, but Peace would probably be fine before long.

“I think it’s all right for you to let go now.”

I spoke to Kang Soyoung, who was still holding me. There were watchers around, so I hoped she would keep an appropriate distance.

“Would you like me to help you up?”

“I’m fine.”

Did I look like I couldn’t even manage my own body? Relatively speaking, I probably did look like a chick that was about to keel over and die.

We walked along the path in the direction Peace wanted to go. Its red body leaped into a flower bed full of hydrangeas, and pale purple petals immediately began scattering everywhere. It took no time at all for an entire flower bed to become a ruin.

“That...”

“It’s fine!”

The moment I opened my mouth, Kang Soyoung smiled brightly.

“Please don’t worry about it. It’s not a problem even if Peace tears this whole place up. Landscaping can always be redone.”

As expected of a huge guild, they were generous. Peace was having so much fun that once the effect of Final Grace ended, I should bring Peace here often.

“If it isn’t rude, may I ask how long it takes for a top-rank mount to grow? I haven’t heard the details.”

Kang Soyoung asked cautiously.

“It depends on the monster, so I don’t know exactly either. I think it varies according to species and grade. It will also differ depending on how well it takes to training. If they are a group of dragons from an S-Class dungeon, they would be around Tier 2 or Tier 3, wouldn’t they?”

If only one appeared, it would be Tier 2, but if nests appeared as well, then it was almost certainly a group. Kang Soyoung nodded at my words.

“Yes. More precisely, it’s a Tier 3 wyvern species. It’s the Thorn-Winged Black Dragon, which has good Health and Defense for a wyvern species, along with excellent overall stats.”

Wyvern species were relatively weak among dragon species. However, their exceptional flying ability would make them more useful as mounts.

“They have three huge thorns sticking out of their wings, like this, and they’re really cute.”

“...Excuse me?”

Had she just called them cute? Thorns as big as her outstretched arms?

“There are scale-like spikes on the tips of their tails too, and they can fire them! They’re slightly smaller than my forearm, and they’re coated in paralytic poison! They’re even cuter because, although they’re wyvern species, they have all four feet, front and back. They’re sturdy, and their scales are hard. And their scales are black and glossy, like rows of black gemstones. They’re really beautiful.”

Hmm. Honestly, all I could picture was a terrifying winged giant lizard monster, not something cute. A vicious-looking black dragon bristling with spikes, at that. Her taste was a little unusual.

“Ever since our first raid, I wanted to tame one somehow, and I can’t believe my wish is coming true. Since learning about the Magical Beast Rearing skill, every day has felt like I’m walking on clouds. Ah, really... Can I hug you one more time?”

“No.”

I had thought her mood had been unusually bouncy from the moment we met. So she really had been excited. She was already like this, so once I raised her mount, all I would need to do was casually say I loved her and the Keyword would apply immediately.

Still, it would be better not to do it, since I had no idea how the Keyword’s effect would manifest. It would be a disaster if my sister-in-law started treating me like a father or mother. Watch your mouth.

I was considering whether to casually bring up Yoohyun when,

[Weakling’s Premonition warns you!]

The premonition skill, which had activated several times on the way here, triggered again. Who was it this time... Fuck, an S-Class. Weren’t they supposed to be busy? Why were they coming all the way out here? She said they rarely came out.

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