S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 102: As You Sow, So Shall You Reap (3)
The trust born from our collaboration hadn’t protected my neck, but at least it had saved my life.
The Poison Spirit Wizard was bleeding from his mouth, such was the restraint he was exercising. He snarled like a beast.
“Then tell me what’s fact and what isn’t……!”
If I hesitated here, his fist would surely find my face.
Just as I opened my mouth to explain, Kang Chae-ah—the very person who’d landed me in this mess—beat me to it.
“Dad, just a moment, please.”
Dad? Wasn’t Kang Chae-ah the Poison Spirit Wizard’s granddaughter?
“My dear Chae-ah, don’t worry. Grandfather will handle this.”
“No. I think I misspoke. Please let him go.”
“…Misspoke?”
The Poison Spirit Wizard still hadn’t released my collar.
Kang Chae-ah came over and pried his fingers open by force.
“I need to have a word with Chae Mujin. Dad, go down to the basement.”
“How did you know about the basement—”
“I know everything. Hurry! I’m freezing.”
“Ah, very well. One more thing, though.”
The Poison Spirit Wizard pulled a Restriction Pill from his pocket and held it out to me.
“Swallow this. It’ll prevent you from using Mana for the next hour.”
“You’re telling me to lie down and die?”
“If you don’t take it, I’m liable to kill you on the spot right now.”
“I have no intention whatsoever of placing my life in another’s hands.”
“Damn it, you little bastard……!”
If looks could kill, I’d have been mortally wounded by now.
“Dad, how much longer do I have to wait?”
At Kang Chae-ah’s urging, Kang In-yong bit his lip until blood seeped out.
“If anyone so much as touches our Chae-ah’s hair—”
I’d already touched more than that, I almost said, but caught myself just in time.
After his chilling warning, Kang In-yong disappeared into the basement.
“Finally, it’s just the two of us! Tee-hee.”
Kang Chae-ah stuck out her tongue and grinned—the picture of a mischievous girl.
But I couldn’t bring myself to smile. Not when a single word from her had gotten me into such terrible trouble.
“What exactly do you claim I’ve taken from you?”
“Mujin, don’t talk to me so coldly. I’ll cry.”
“……?”
“If Dad finds out I cried while he was gone, what do you think will happen?”
What? The girl had transformed in an instant. The demure, pitiful maiden suddenly brandished a blade and threatened me.
“You… what do you want?”
“Tee-hee, so threats don’t work on you after all, Mujin. Though I suppose that’s part of your charm.”
She tottered toward me on tiptoes, reaching for my shoulder, so I sidestepped.
“Why are you dodging me? You had no problem touching my body before. How unfair.”
A terrible hypothesis flickered through my mind.
“You… surely you weren’t awake the whole time?”
I’d heard of it before—cases where someone was medically comatose, yet conscious all along, hearing and feeling everything.
Kang Chae-ah clapped her hands in delight.
“Clever! That’s right. From the beginning until now, I’ve been awake the whole time. I knew Dad was nursing me with such devotion, and I knew all those people who came to see me too.”
“…So it wasn’t a miracle.”
“Pardon?”
“You were fighting to survive too. For five whole years. Never giving up. You must have suffered terribly.”
“……!”
I approached her slowly and reached out, bringing my hand to her face.
Kang Chae-ah suddenly shut her eyes tight. I grabbed her cheek mercilessly and pinched.
“Ow-ow-ow!”
“But no matter what, threatening an adult is wrong.”
“D-did you just pinch my cheek? Even Dad has never pinched me!”
“Being spoiled isn’t something to brag about. Or is this just like father, like daughter… Anyway, don’t you get scolded by me when you misbehave?”
“Isn’t casually stealing someone’s Skills worse?”
Her counterattack landed like a punch—my whole body froze.
So she knew all along.
But I had things to say too.
“Want me to give it back?”
“N-no, that’s not it. Will you be okay? Because I know everything, right? Taking someone’s Skill is a violation of international Hunter Law!”
She was right—stealing anyone’s Skills in any way was a Hunter Law violation and, if discovered, resulted in immediate Special-rank Villain status.
That’s exactly why I’d hidden it so carefully, and why I’d acted with confidence knowing she was unconscious.
Pretending to put my hands behind my back, I reached into my Shadow Bag and gripped the River of Lethe Water.
‘If I just erase the memory of me taking her Skills, that’s all that matters.’
Kang Chae-ah didn’t seem to have much to say.
The moment my secret slipped out in careless words, my life and everything I’d built could come crashing down.
“Why are you looking at me like that? So scary? I’m telling you, if you touch me, Dad won’t let it slide!”
Like a frightened kitten—all fierce hissing and posturing until you push back a little, then it runs off yowling.
“I’m going to ask you one last time. So, what is it you want from me?”
I gave her one final chance. If she said anything pointless now, I’d have no choice but to do what was necessary.
Perhaps she thought I’d backed down. Emboldened again, she approached and rose up on her tiptoes.
“Marry me!”
* * *
Chae Mujin pressed his forehead and opened his mouth.
“First, how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-three!”
“You’ve been asleep for five years, so you’re essentially eighteen.”
“Eighteen is legally marriageable, isn’t it?”
“You seem sharp enough to know about the Nightingale Effect, don’t you? What you feel for me—this love—is simply because I saved you. It’s infatuation, nothing more.”
At Chae Mujin’s calm explanation, Kang Chae-ah shook her head vigorously.
“No, it’s not infatuation. I liked you from the moment I first saw you.”
“Your eyes were shut. How could you have seen?”
“I can perceive objects through Telekinesis.”
“…Fine, I’ll grant you that. But deciding to marry someone based on a first impression isn’t acceptable.”
“Why not? Is there a law against it?”
“You’re still young. You don’t understand your own feelings yet.”
“Twenty-three is young? Even if we subtract the five years like you say, eighteen-year-olds understand everything. I dated when I was in school—everyone does everything.”
Chae Mujin now held his forehead in both hands and took a deep breath.
“Hah… hah-hah….”
“I don’t have dating experience, so don’t worry—”
“This isn’t about that level of difference. It can’t happen. It just can’t.”
“Is it my face? That can’t be. I’m cute. Everyone says so—my friends, Dad, all of Dad’s friends. They all say I’m the cutest in the world. Don’t you think I’m cute?”
“You’re cute. You are. But it still can’t happen.”
“What about my abilities? Then what am I lacking? I have two S-rank Skills. I’ll become an A-Rank Hunter in no time. Do you know how few women become A-Rank Hunters?”
Chae Mujin was suffering terribly, trying to persuade her logically only to be attacked by her logic instead.
“What is it about a man like me that makes you say that?”
“Why do you say ‘man’? Oh! Are you perhaps a baby face? Are you actually over thirty?”
Chae Mujin decided lying might be easier than dealing with her confusion.
“That’s right. I’m actually mid-thirties, despite how I look.”
“That’s perfect!”
Realizing this could go on forever, Chae Mujin decided to deliver the harsh reality that even an adult must face.
“I embrace the Non-marriage Philosophy.”
“All the adults I know who said that ended up getting married anyway. So why don’t we just start dating first?”
Kang Chae-ah didn’t yield an inch. Chae Mujin’s hand slipped into his pocket, gripping the River of Lethe Water.
‘If I refuse, she’ll threaten me with exposure.’
Kang Chae-ah was absolutely capable of it.
The delusion of love was tedious but bearable. But using the Collection secret as leverage for blackmail—that was unforgivable.
‘I won’t do this for your sake. I’m sorry, but I have to erase your memory.’
Just as the resolved Chae Mujin stepped toward her, Kang Chae-ah suddenly sank to her knees and clutched her chest.
At first I thought she was trying to manipulate me with sympathy. But she wasn’t.
After several dry coughs, blood seeped between her fingers.
“You……!”
I hastily supported her, cast Light of Healing on her, and checked her complexion.
“Tee-hee, I didn’t want to show you how frail I am… In truth, my body hasn’t fully recovered yet. But when you said you’d leave, I suddenly felt strength flood through me.”
“…I’m sorry, but this still doesn’t make you pitiful. Just rest a little and you’ll recover completely.”
“I know that too. Like you said, I’ll be fine with just a little rest. In a year, I’ll be a Hunter stronger than you!”
Kang Chae-ah never conceded an inch.
Chae Mujin was beginning to feel exasperated.
“Why are you so obsessed? By your own logic, there’s barely a soul in this world who’d dislike you.”
“And why do you push me away so hard? We could just date out of curiosity.”
Chae Mujin couldn’t retort that the world would end in ten years anyway—what was the point of dating? And especially not with a child. He held his tongue.
He’d almost considered lying that he already loved someone, but abandoned the idea. Knowing her, she’d probably say something like “Does having a goalkeeper stop the ball from going in?”
So this time, Chae Mujin spoke with complete sincerity.
“I don’t want to love anyone.”
“It seems your ex hurt you pretty badly. It’s okay. I’ll comfort you.”
It was true, but Chae Mujin shook his head.
“No. I have nothing more to say to you. Kang Chae-ah. So what will you do?”
Finding further conversation pointless, Chae Mujin pressed her for an answer.
Kang Chae-ah too realized that pushing further was meaningless.
“…I understand. There’s a backstory, isn’t there? I happen to like men with a past.”
“Will you keep it secret? That I can take people’s Skills?”
“Yes. I’ll never tell anyone.”
There was sincerity in those words, but Chae Mujin wasn’t carefree enough to stake his entire future on that alone.
He withdrew the vial of River of Lethe Water from his pocket and offered it to her. He’d originally intended to force it down her throat, but decided to trust her sincerity just this once.
“This is a Mythic-tier Elixir called River of Lethe Water. Drink it and one memory will be erased.”
A memory erased.
Though she understood the intent behind those frightening words, Kang Chae-ah spoke quite calmly.
“You want to erase my memories?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“I don’t know you. How can I trust someone I don’t know?”
“If I say no, you’ll force me to drink it anyway?”
“That’s how it’ll have to be.”
Chae Mujin thought he was pressuring her, but he wasn’t.
Kang Chae-ah actually laughed softly instead.
“You’re really something else—how can you be this good-hearted?”
“…What?”
Clink, gulp.
In the blink of an eye, Kang Chae-ah drank the River of Lethe Water and spoke.
“I’ll erase the memory of you taking my Skills. Is that enough?”
“…Perhaps.”
The River of Lethe Water took effect immediately. Everything connected to the memory of Chae Mujin’s ability to take Skills was completely erased.
Since she’d forgotten why her two Skills had vanished, she’d also forgotten that Chae Mujin could take Skills at all.
“Ah…….”
Kang Chae-ah clutched her head, feeling the migraine from the memory gap.
“So memories really do just… disappear?”
“Do you remember what disappeared?”
“No. It feels like I forgot something, but… hmm….”
“Trying to remember will only make it worse.”
She couldn’t recall it no matter how hard she tried anyway.
The only way to restore it would be to consume the River of Lethe Water again. And Chae Mujin was the sole holder of this Elixir in the world.
After struggling with it for a while, Kang Chae-ah clapped her hands. For a moment, Chae Mujin panicked—had she remembered? But no.
“It wasn’t an important memory anyway.”
“…What?”
“I was worried you might be erasing the memory of loving me itself, but that’s not it at all.”
Kang Chae-ah stood up briskly and spoke.
“You erased a memory you could erase. I’m the type who won’t do something I dislike even if it kills me. So I’m fine with it, but you must have only erased the inconvenient memory for yourself, right?”
“…You’re right.”
“Then we’re done. I’ll convince Dad that it was all a misunderstanding on my part. So you can go.”
Kang Chae-ah waved her hand hurriedly, urging me to leave.
Even though my objective was achieved, I couldn’t easily move my feet. I didn’t even understand why myself.
But her next words forced me to take that step.
“If you just stand there, Dad will demand an explanation for what happened. And I can’t stop him.”
That was indeed too troublesome, so Chae Mujin returned to the company immediately.
Yet all the way back, he felt uneasy.
He’d protected the Collection secret, gained a Mythic-Grade Elixir and poison, and established a partnership with the world’s finest Elixir Master.
Only good news, yet why did his chest feel so unsettled?
He was certain of one reason alone.
‘Don’t like me, damn it.’
Many people would die in the years ahead, and death cared for none—not the ordinary nor the A-Rank Hunter.
At least Chae Mujin wanted those he held dear to survive.
Selfish if you will. He simply wished there were people expendable enough that their deaths wouldn’t hurt. Then he could endure it.
Yet the list of people he didn’t want to lose kept growing. He’d founded the Management Company to prevent it, tried to distance himself from people, and still it continued.
After steadying his nerves with a deep breath, Chae Mujin made his oath once more.
“Never, never again…….”
He would give his heart to no one.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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