< Chirp (1) >
It wasn’t easy holding back the urge to turn back now at least. It felt like I had become a horror movie character who had to pretend to the end that they couldn’t hear the creaking footsteps coming closer from behind.
‘I’m still using Lizard Stuck on the Wall.’
Just in case, I had been using it slightly since before we arrived at Seseong Guild. Since Yoohyun, who knew the normal me, could only feel it faintly, no matter how impressive Sung Hyunjae was, he probably wouldn’t be able to easily notice. Would he do something like pressing his nose to my body and smelling me, like that little brother?
“Ah, Guild Leader!”
Kang Soyoung finally noticed and turned around, so I could turn and look as well. A man who looked a lot younger than his age despite fast approaching forty, was wearing a light attire. The shirt with the sleeve buttons undone had its sleeves rolled up about halfway and he didn’t have anything like a tie. He really seemed to have free time, so I really couldn’t say ‘oh, coming all the way when you must be in embroiled in work’ and such to that appearance.
“It’s a relief that you look healthy. I worried a lot.”
Wow, it was a kind expression and tone that caused goosebumps. If I was a little more naive, I might have quickly trusted him and been moved.
“Purposely coming out and inquiring after me, it is to the extent that I feel apologetic.”
I said, filtering out the inner feelings saying that it was burdensome so please go away. At my words, Sung Hyunjae smiled. S-Ranks were all so, but he really was quite good looking. Guys who had everything.
“You came all the way here, so how could I not come out? Above all, Han Yoojin-gun will raise my-[1].”
“Thank you very much for being concerned over me!”
Fuck, Moon Hyuna really, really! Did I have to live hearing this kind of thing! I’ll properly retaliate. Shit, just you wait. If I didn’t pay this back, I wasn’t human.
Just then, Peace, who had heard me shout, quickly came running over. Then, he looked straight up at the newly appeared person.
-Kkeuoooong
Maybe he had felt some kind of apprehension because he stuck right to my leg. Seeing that appearance, Kang Soyoung gestured toward Sung Hyunjae, saying it’s okay.
“Don’t worry, Peace. This is my Guild Leader. He isn’t danger… uh, scary, um, so… he’s a nice… not that either……”
…So this young lady couldn’t lie, huh.
“Anyways he’s a good person!”
It seemed like, as a guild leader, he was indeed a good person. If Peace could completely understand people’s words, wouldn’t he have stepped back a couple steps? But since he couldn’t, he just tilted his head, going ‘what are you talking about’.
“It’s okay. We’re on the same side right now. So you can go play.”
“Though I’m planning on us staying that way.”
Sung Hyunjae said at my words, with his voice full of laughter. What planning on staying that…… Did Haeyeon and Seseong happen to join hands? Yoohyun’s attitude today was kind of weird. Even if he was at the height of his youthful vigor, his title was guild leader, so it definitely couldn’t have been just Kang Soyoung’s influence. Did they have something like a conference in secret?
“I feel relieved even with just your words.”
“It’s a tone that says you can’t trust me.”
“It is because I have lived to now difficultly, in my own way.”
Even if you excluded the 5 years before the regression, it wasn’t a peaceful life. It wasn’t just one or two people aiming for the barely few possessions left to the children. The world was quite rough.
“Han Yoohyun, that guy, protecting is good, but you have to properly give information.”
Sung Hyunjae tsked and shook his head. I was thinking that this ahjussi would badmouth Yoohyun, so I was a little agitated, but I held back at ‘information’.
It was true that Yoohyun really didn’t tell me much at all. On top of that, I was the person directly involved in the kidnapping, but afterwards, I didn’t know a single thing about how it was being handled. When I asked, he glossed over it saying ‘hyung doesn’t have to worry about it, it’s being handled well’.
If I hadn’t had regressed and had gotten just a real magic rearing skill, I might’ve been shut up inside, spacing out, thinking that negotiations or whatever, my little brother was taking care of it all, not knowing anything about the situation taking place. Thinking of that, I had slight goosebumps.
“My brother, does have a frustrating side.”
“Though he doesn’t usually.”
……Did I have to drink with that little brother once again? I was being tackled day in and day out. I did think that both that guy and I needed a place where we could have a candid conversation.
“If it’s okay, will you sit for a bit and talk?”
Sung Hyunjae said, seeing me with a bitter expression.
What should I do?
I wasn’t planning on continuing to pretend I didn’t know anything. It was my goal to be a peaceful landlord, but I did need to exert the minimum effort in order to protect what I had.
But right now, I was staying inside of Haeyeon Guild, where my little brother had eyes and ears everywhere, so I couldn’t pull anything. It wouldn’t be hard to reel in the future’s information dealer Do Hamin, but it should be after I had built my nest.
Far from building the building yet, it was even before the demolition, so should I hear a little from the Seseong Guild Leader’s mouth?
“Yes, that would be fine.”
I nodded my head, putting on a smile that said I didn’t know anything.
We moved the table at the pergola on one side of the park. Kang Soyoung left, saying that she would bring over some refreshments. Maybe Peace had zero faith in Sung Hyunjae because he didn’t play anymore and came up to my lap and sat. Still, there didn’t seem to be any sign that he would excessively cling like before. It seemed like coming out for a walk did have an effect.
“There are parts where I don’t really understand Han Yoohyun’s recent behavior.”
Sung Hyunjae said in a characteristic easygoing tone. The kid did get a little weird because of the keyword effect – was it very severe? Still, he let me go outside, and it seemed like he got a little better.
“It might’ve been different before you got the magic beast rearing skill, but the current Han Yoojin-gun has the power to possess and cultivate your own influence as much as you want. I think that as long as you properly establish yourself, you could become bigger than a decent giant guild. In addition, you’ve already gotten the groundwork down through the negotiations last time.”
What was this, he was overestimating me. Though if I wanted, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.
“But I do not have that big of a greed. And as I said the other day, the demand for familiars will also gradually decrease.”
At my words, Sung Hyunjae gave a small smile.
“Do you really think so?”
“…Would it not obviously become so? Outside of something crazy like using high rank familiars as single use.”
“Of course, probably nobody would do something like that. But high rank, highest rank familiars have similar combat prowess to A-Rank, S-Rank Hunters. Instead of as familiars, they could be used as team members, or even an monster combat unit.”
Well, it was indeed so.
“Monster rearing probably would only be permitted within a suppressible range. Even for Seseong, it will be hard to possess more than four or five highest rank familiars.”
Taming wasn’t a skill that perfectly controlled monsters like some kind of puppet or robot. Even if you looked at just Peace, even though I had the owner’s token, he would complain and act unexpectedly.
Tamed monsters didn’t harm their owners, and followed them as if regarding them as their group’s leader. It was just that. If you could perfectly control and manage them, tamers would have been regarded as Hunters that attacked dungeons leading a group of monsters. Instead of a special job that tamed and parcelled out monsters like now.
So, whether they were regular monsters or tamed monsters, the relevant guilds or organizations could only possess a suppressible amount of them, just in case.
“It’s like that now. But, how will it be in the future?”
Sung Hyunjae continued speaking, smiling significantly.
“Han Yoojin-gun. The things called laws, can only exist if there are nations and societies.”
“That is indeed true.”
“From when dungeons first appeared to today, the number and level of difficulty of dungeons have been gradually increasing. Right now, it’s at a point where dungeons can be fully managed with enough breathing room left over. And when Awakening Centers appear a while later, it will get a little easier. But how much longer will that breathing room last? Personally, if it’s long, then 5 years. If it’s about that much, considerably many things will change.”
…It was an accurate prediction. Of course, in even the 5 years later that I knew, the monster rearing limitation law was still the same. But if I thought about it, truthfully then, there was no reason entirely for the law to change. Since the highest rank familiars that would make it do so, didn’t exist at all.
The highest rank tamer skill was A-Rank, so even high rank familiars were rare. It was because you had to tame monsters with B-Rank and lower abilities, and then grow them, in order to make high rank familiars. It was about half luck, since not all monsters could grow above their rank.
“……Then are you saying that it could become possible to attempt dungeon attacks with just monsters, from now on?”
“Not to that extent; it would probably become mixed. Not as familiars, but as a type of different species of Hunters. And you will become the sole person to continue to stably raise S-Rank and A-Rank Hunters.”
I heard an ominous prediction that said ‘like this, wouldn’t you be unable to retire for your entire life?’. Why didn’t I think of the fact that the laws could change? No, but still, wasn’t monsters swarming around outside of dungeons precarious? Of course, it was better than high rank dungeons bursting open……
“How should I say this, it is becoming burdensome.”
“There’s still time, so you can slowly take your place. Above all, unless someone with a similar skill appears, your worth is higher than S-Rank Hunters’. There’s no need to be hunched over like now, too. You can act however you want.”
“You are saying it is fine for me to act however I like?”
“That’s right. What’s anybody going to do if you act a bit high-handedly? It’s an ability that’s impossible to replace.”
Sung Hyunjae bent the corners of his eyes, impishly.
“You can do anything you want. Even if it’s not the guilds from the negotiation, if it’s a guild with the ability to possess high rank familiars, you could call any of them and demand all sorts of things, and they wouldn’t be able to say a single protest? Of course within the country, but also overseas. There are already foreign guilds lining up to try to talk to you. Should I give you one of their contact information? Do you want to try calling?”
“……No, that is a little much.”
Contact any guild and demand anything? What was he talking about? It was a power trip that I hadn’t even imagined. Was it that a person who had lorded their power before could do it well? I was satisfied plenty with just getting one building.
“Your current position is that level. Try showing even a glimpse of ‘ah, it’s tiring so I can’t grow them’ after you take in highest rank monster babies. Immediately there would probably be contact from the line of guild leaders asking if you need anything?”
I mean, in terms of business ethics that was a little… This ahjussi didn’t have a good personality, as expected. Why was he sitting someone down and goading them to go on various chaotic power trips? Did he think that since sincere rearing and such were also in the negotiations, it wasn’t his business?
“This is something that Han Yoohyun definitely doesn’t not know, but despite that, he’s trying to be overly protective like a mother bird brooding baby birds. It’s an attitude unlike him.”
Sung Hyunjae said in a tone that said even he didn’t know up to this much well. That’s, the keyword… the caregiver was the same person, so it seemed like it was applied double.
“It might partly be because my stat rank is so low. Even if I am in a position to extensively lord my power, if some crazy guy lunges at me, I could be killed.”
“For that, it would be solved by keeping a highest rank monster next to you. At any rate, the idea of using Haeyeon’s second highest rank baby monster for your protection is also in the middle of being exchanged.”
“Is that so?”
“He didn’t tell you this either? It’s planned to be shouldered by MKC, taking responsibility for the kidnapping matter.”
It was a good condition for me, but Yoohyun, this brat, was really completely leaving out the person directly involved. He would probably tell me once it got determined, but still, would it hurt you to give me a hint ahead of time?
“I don’t know if this is similar to what Moon Hyuna did.”
Seeing my expression, Sung Hyunjae shrugged his shoulders. She had blocked sound with her skill, so did that mean that what Sung Hyunjae knew was what Moon Hyuna told him herself?
“No, it is a little different from that. I also feel that my younger brother’s actions are excessive. Still, he was worrying about me, and he would not be able to interfere if I happen to come out of Haeyeon again, so I was turning my eyes from it.”
“I recommend properly talking it out.”
“Yes, I will certainly do so.”
While we were talking about other things, Kang Soyoung returned holding refreshments. Even just looking at how they looked, they were high class and excellent tasting snacks, but they fell a little short compared to what Myeongwoo made for me. Thinking of how he would get busy after getting the Forge skill, I was starting to feel depressed again.
“This is a little bit of sincerity.”
Sung Hyunjae handed over a small accessory box with a certificate attached to it.
“You might have heard from Soyoung, but we will soon be indebted to you, so think of it as something meaning please take good care of us.”
Was it a bribe? Seeing the certificate, it was as much as an S-Rank item. It was Mana integer increase with a B-Rank shield skill effect added to it. Wow. It was B-Rank, but to think that it was a skill effect item. Skill effect items were really rare, whether then or now. When I opened the accessory box, it was earrings similar in shape to the Black Fairy’s Earrings that were stolen. It was only different in that the color of the gems were red.
“It is a little burdensome[2].”
“It has to be burdensome for there to be an effect. And this.”
Then, what he took out of his inventory was some large wing bone. At the appearance of a well dried wing bone that had a little bit of meat stuck on, Peace pricked up his ears.
“Most high rank carnivorous monsters like dragon bones.”
It was the first time I had heard of that. Without a single bit of hesitation, Peace immediately bit the dragon wing bone that was held out. Seeing him pull it over with his front feet as if he was going to hug it, it seemed like he really liked it.
……Sung Hyunjae, this ahjussi, he might be a better person than I had thought.
Early in the morning, a message came informing of the success in purchasing an exclusive entrance pass for an F-Rank dungeon 20 minutes away from the Haeyeon Guild building by taxi.
It was a dungeon requested two nights ago. Purposefully adding more money to bid for monopoly for a low value F-Rank dungeon was rare, so there were no competitors.
As soon as I got the message about the completed exclusive entrance pass purchase, I contacted Yoohyun and told him I wasn’t going to go out and was going to rest at home. When I told him I felt a bit like I was coming down with a cold, so I was just going to take some medicine and sleep, I had a hard time stopping him from coming to find me. I also told him keep it a secret because it would be annoying if other people knew.
“When did I buy these kinds of things?”
I was wondering if I had anything to cover my face, so I had rummaged through the luggage I had stopped unpacking halfway through, until a sun protection hat appeared. It was something that covered everything except the eyes with fabric, so it looked like I definitely wouldn’t have my face discovered. Why did I buy it? Was the sunlight last year really hot? Or was there something that needed me to cover my face?
It was a little early, but it was the beginning of summer, so it seemed like it wouldn’t look too weird to go around wearing it.
I had packed the gate stone in my inventory, and had enough equipment. Even though they were only integer increases. I also had plenty of potions and I probably wouldn’t need to take an emergency food supply. Even if I didn’t come out halfway and did an attack, if it was my current rank, it would probably take around one hour.
‘It was a forest environment, right?’
According to the dungeon bid page explanation, inside of the dungeon was a small forest and the monsters that appeared were Moss Monkeys. It was a little difficult if I didn’t have a long range attack skill, but I had the 4 meter tentacles, so I would be able to handle it in an instant. The boss monster was a giant turtle that was in a pond at the end of the forest.
With the agile monkeys who swung around trees and the turtle with high defense, for an F-Rank, the level of difficulty was high.
Maybe because of that, there was even a precaution added that they advised an attack with a team including an E-Rank or higher.
If it was possible, should I do an attack and come out? Since, if I monopolized it, there would be some left over even after making up the money used to buy the exclusive entrance pass.
-Geureureureung
When I took the hat and went out to the living room, Peace, who was scratching at the dragon’s wing he got yesterday, came bounding over while making noises. I scritched the region around the horn and then spoke soothingly.
“Dad is going to out for a bit, so look after the house well[3]. It won’t take long.”
-Kkioong
“And be moderate about breaking the furniture.”
Myeongwoo would probably return in the evening, but just in case, I told him that I was going to leave Peace loose in the living room and take a nap. I told him that if I didn’t pick up because I was sleeping, to not come into the house right away and to wait. Even if Peace was good, it was a little uneasy leaving him with a stat F-Rank.
“I’ll be back.”
I had worried thinking what I would do if he tried to follow, but Peace didn’t go past the inner door and well-behavedly sat down and looked at me. He really was a good boy. There, now I just had to safely get out.
[1] bc krn is sov instead of svo like eng, the verb was left out and instead it was sth like ‘hyj-gun (to) my child-’ but since this has come up numerous times already, I’m sure the verb was gonna be ‘raise’
[2] just wanted to point out that he means that it’s burdensome bc he’s receiving too much kindness/help, which is a common way to use the word in krn.
[3] this sth commonly said in kr when leaving the house