SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 112

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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 112. Holy War (1)
1
Romance Fantasy Canon 999
“Love needs no rules or decorum.”
2
Sometimes, living through the days, you receive gifts by pure chance.
“Miss Geumsamae, there is something I must tell you.”
“Oh my. It’s been ages since you called me ‘Miss Geumsamae’ instead of just ‘Miss.’ And every time you do, something ill-omened happens without fail. So what calamity befalls us this time? Let me try guessing.”
The Baroness Geumsamae Young Lady raised her teacup slowly.
The very picture of elegance.
“Do I have some illegitimate half-sister hidden away somewhere?”
“No, miss.”
“Indeed. Or perhaps my mother was secretly the illegitimate daughter of the previous Emperor, and therefore I carry imperial blood in my veins, making my love for the Crown Prince a forbidden romance?”
“No, miss.”
“Or perhaps I have both a secret half-sister and hidden royal lineage, making me brimming with the talent to be cast as the protagonist in some ridiculous melodrama?”
“No, miss.”
“Then what is it, you insufferable fool?”
“I am getting married soon.”
“Oh ho. Married. So you’re getting married. Married….”
Spit!
The Geumsamae Young Lady sprayed out the tea she’d been drinking. Mostly across my face.
Not a trace of elegant grace remained.
“Married?”
“Yes.”
“Maaaaarried?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“If this is a joke, it’s a terribly crude one, Butler! Want to get slapped after all this time?”
“It is no joke.”
I wiped my face with a handkerchief.
“Why would I joke about such a matter with you, miss? I really will marry. There is no dissuading me. I have already set the wedding for one month from now.”
“W-Who is the other party?”
“The Silver Lily Young Lady, daughter of the Duke.”
“Ah, what. So it was a lie after all.”
The Geumsamae Young Lady let out a long sigh.
Her expression was one of relief—the look of someone utterly convinced that even if the world itself fell to ruin, there was no possibility of me and Rabiel ever marrying. Which, admittedly, was the normal reaction.
“Do you think it a lie, miss?”
“Yes. Not just a lie, but an absurd one. If you meant to deceive me, at least craft something more plausible. I’m giving you a failing mark for creativity.”
“And if it were true—would you permit this marriage?”
“Ha ha. Yes, yes. I would gladly grant permission, Butler. If it were truly so. Besides, my family being betrothed to the most noble house in the Empire? Personally, I stand to gain considerably. Our household status would leap up six ranks in an instant.”
“Then please, affix your seal here.”
“Hmm?”
I produced the documents I had prepared beforehand.
“What is this, Butler?”
“Should I proceed with the marriage to Rabiel Ishansia, this is my formal document of consent as your original master. I shall leave your shadow and become a lady of House Ishansia.”
Pfft!
The Geumsamae Young Lady clutched her stomach, laughing.
“A lady of House Ishansia… Ha ha! What is this? A joke? A gag? Are you telling me our butler will be addressed as Duchess of Ishansia? Just imagining it is hilarious. I’d have better odds of becoming Empress myself.”
Yet even as she laughed, the Geumsamae Young Lady’s smile took on a different quality.
“But that’s precisely what will happen this time, won’t it.”
Hmm.
I recalled the summary I had read before entering this apocalypse.
‘The heroine of the second playthrough.’
I thought back to many things: the Geumsamae Young Lady’s true identity, which I had come to suspect by now; the Heresy Inquisitor who had not yet possessed her; and more besides.
And setting all of that aside for the moment, I spoke.
“Will you affix your seal, miss?”
The Geumsamae Young Lady clutched her stomach and laughed again.
“Oh, gladly. This adds one more embarrassing chapter to your history, you know. As a generous mistress, I simply cannot ignore such a delightful scandal.”
“Thank you. Then tomorrow I shall introduce the man who is to become my husband.”
“Yes, yes. Duchess of Ishansia. The second-brightest moon in the Empire. Do enjoy your frolicking with your phantom husband.”
The next day.
I stood before the Geumsamae Young Lady alongside Rabiel.
“We’ve brought her, as you requested.”
…….
The Geumsamae Baron’s daughter’s mouth fell open.
“You already know, but allow me to introduce myself once more.”
Rabiel fanned herself as she spoke.
“I am the legitimate daughter and heir of House Ishansia, Rabiel Ishansia. His Imperial Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Silver Lily.”
“Oh? Ah, yes, of course I know, Your Highness……?”
“It is fortunate indeed that I have become betrothed to your butler. His identity is bound to yours; without your permission, the marriage would become difficult. Yet you granted it readily. I am grateful.”
“Yes……?”
“This is a wedding invitation.”
Rabiel tossed the letter forward with a flick. Its edges were trimmed with silver thread. At the center lay a red wax seal impressed with the ducal family’s crest. The Geumsamae Young Lady received it with a stunned expression.
“Be honored. You are the first person to receive such an invitation. I hope you will regard it as a tremendous privilege. Consider it a modest gift, in recognition of how well you’ve cared for my butler all this time.”
“This… this man……? Surely you’re joking……?”
“How disrespectful. As of today, this man is no longer your butler—he is my betrothed. Surely you don’t imagine House Ishansia’s standing to be beneath your barony? From now on, show proper deference to my future husband.”
“C-c-c-Duchess……?”
The Geumsamae Young Lady stared at me with a face utterly lost to the world. Her gaze was desperate—the look of someone begging me to deny the title she’d just spoken.
I bowed respectfully.
“It was truly an honor to serve you, Miss.”
…….
“But from now on, please address me as ‘Your Grace.’ Properly.”
…….
“Shall we go? Rabiel.”
“Ahem—I instructed you to call me ‘husband’ when others are watching.”
“Ah, my apologies, husband. I’m still not accustomed to the title…….”
“My wife is truly mischievous. But I cherish her all the more for it.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We left together, side by side.
Moments later, a distant wail echoed behind us.
“What on earth is happening……!”
Spring, when the magnolias were fading.
The wedding was drawing near.
3
My beloved, Rabiel Ishansia, is a woman who follows through.
When Rabiel says the wedding will take place within a month, it truly does.
“I’ve confined Father to the Villa.”
Rabiel stated it matter-of-factly, without a shred of hesitation.
“There are still those within the family who follow Father, but their numbers are negligible—not worth heeding. I’ve negotiated with His Majesty and received formal recognition of my succession. For all intents and purposes, I am already the Duke of House Ishansia. From now on, I shall be called the Silver Lily Duke, not merely the Silver Lily Young Lady.”
“Oh…….”
My father-in-law had been confined without warning.
‘Can we even do this?’
I was wrestling with a vague sense of guilt toward a father-in-law I’d never met when Rabiel turned to face me.
“You are now, in substance and in name, the betrothed of the Duke of House Ishansia. You have become the mistress of a house second only to the Imperial Household in rank.”
…….
“Save for His Imperial Majesty, the Empress, and the Crown Prince, there is no one in this empire before whom you must bow your head. Not a single soul. Regardless of rank or station, every citizen of The Empire owes you that deference. Wherever the Imperial Household does not dwell, you shall receive the highest honors of all.”
Rabiel was deadly serious.
Only as I heard her words did I grasp that something momentous was unfolding.
Until now, I had approached the wedding simply from the heart’s desire to love Rabiel. That love was sweet. Romantic. But for Rabiel, marriage meant something far beyond romance.
I opened my mouth, sensing the vast reality behind that something.
“But I’m still just a commoner…….”
“Of course the rabble of High Society will whisper. Gongja, your birth is like the unwieldy hem of a heavy dress—it will follow you wherever you go. But I have taken every precaution.”
Precautions.
“What kind of precaution?”
“You shall first be adopted as the foster son of the Chief Attendant of the Imperial Household.”
Rabiel handed me a document.
“The current Chief Attendant is a senior who has long served the Imperial House with distinction. He has received a peerage and enjoys an unblemished reputation. Most importantly, he has no children. By becoming his adopted son, you will elevate your station in one stroke.”
Good heavens.
No, truly—good heavens.
“Is… is that even possible?”
“It’s all right. If that is what I wish.”
Even now, Rabiel was drowning in a mountain of documents. Scratch-scratch-scratch! Her quill never ceased its motion. I couldn’t begin to fathom what those papers contained, or what political tremors they might trigger.
“I’ve omitted all the tedious procedures. Just sign the documents. After that, you’ll be recognized as the adopted son of the Imperial House’s Chief Attendant.”
……
It was true.
Marriage was reality.
A father-in-law I’d never once met was confined. I’d become the adopted son of someone I’d never met either. Things were happening in places I knew nothing about.
Only when I signed the adoption papers did I grasp it, belatedly.
How monumental it was to become the husband of the Ishansia noblewoman.
The truth of it was laid bare just days later.
“We offer our respects to one who shall be the second brightest moon in the Empire.”
I had only to stroll through the Academy for a short while before noble daughters and sons who recognized me dropped to their knees. They were impeccably courteous. The rumor had already spread through the Academy.
“We express our honor to the mistress of House Ishansia.”
“Ah. Yes……”
“Felicitations on the betrothal. May eternal glory shine upon House Ishansia.”
“Th-thank you.”
Merely walking past was enough for the young nobles to abandon their chatter, cease their work, and fall into reverent silence until I had passed. The Academy’s guards and knights saluted me courteously whenever they saw me.
There were no exceptions.
Even the Academy’s instructors bowed naturally, as though it were self-evident.
……
Not even when I’d climbed to rank three in the Tower, becoming an instant celebrity surrounded by crowds, had I felt anything like this.
‘This is rank. This is class.’
Not a celebrity. Not an entertainer. They weren’t swarming around me, nor raising their phones to capture my face.
They were simply kneeling.
‘…It’s extraordinary.’
Perhaps people would only act this way in my presence.
The moment I left, all manner of sordid gossip and petty slander would spread about my lowborn origins, about the Crown Prince and Rabiel’s betrothal that had fallen apart so inexplicably.
Yet not a soul dared to whisper such things in front of me.
“Oh!”
Crash!
One day, a servant belonging to the Academy dropped a water bottle while carrying it. I happened to be passing nearby at that moment. I was about to say something offhand, but in that instant, six servants in the vicinity dropped to their knees in unison.
“We are deeply, deeply sorry!”
“We have committed a sin worthy of death!”
“Please, we beg your pardon for the foolishness of this wretch——!”
I was at a loss for words.
It wasn’t bewilderment for any other reason.
The fact that they begged my forgiveness as though it were only natural. The fact that I possessed the right to forgive them froze my thoughts.
In other words, I was just as free to refuse forgiveness and punish them.
……
This was madness.
This was utterly mad.
-Why do you look so shocked? This is only natural.
The Backhoe Spirit drifted lazily through the air as it spoke.
-Your Tower, nominally free of rank and class, is the odd one out. You didn’t know? Once you climb past the fiftieth floor, you’ll see—most towers are class-based societies.
They’d said that from the fiftieth floor onward, we’d begin competing in earnest with the towers of other worlds.
The Backhoe Spirit dug at its ear with a pinky, then blew air from its mouth.
-Your husband’s family, House Ishansia or whatever, has the second-strongest influence in the Empire after the Imperial House. That makes you practically a queen consort.
Queen consort.
-Congratulations on becoming Cinderella, you zombie bastard.
The servants remained prostrate in the corridor, their shoulders trembling.
Suddenly, words Rabiel had spoken came back to me.
‘All citizens of the Empire must bless me.’
‘If this is my world and my nation, they must surely accept my marriage.’
So this was what she’d meant.
In merely a few days, I had climbed to the apex of the pyramid.
I had ascended to the pinnacle of power.
‘So this is Rabiel’s world.’
Then.
‘How should I conduct myself?’
Not merely as Kim Gongja alone.
Not as a Hunter with a Distinctive Name, one of the Four Kings.
But as the spouse of the noblest aristocrat in this realm.
“…….”
I bowed deeply.
Then I picked up a fragment from the shattered water bottle.
I placed the shard quietly into the palm of the servant who had made the mistake.
“Have that piece made into a necklace and wear it always.”
I opened my mouth.
“A necklace is the jewel closest to one’s heart. By keeping your error nearest to your heart, reflect on your mistake yourself and repent. Understand?”
“…….”
“Do not wait for my forgiveness. When you yourself feel you have reflected enough, then forgive yourself. Is that clear?”
“Y-yes, yes……!”
I turned and walked away.
That evening, Rabiel spoke.
“Your discretion was admirable.”
I was cutting meat with knife and fork, learning table manners as I dined. Rabiel deliberately moved slowly from across the table so I could watch and learn.
“Did I do it right?”
“Impeccably. Had you simply forgiven the servant then, people would have said ‘Her lowborn origins show—she cannot command respect from inferiors. How could someone of such temperament lead a Duke’s House?’ And had you been harsh, rumors would have spread: ‘Already drunk on sudden fortune, lording it over everyone.’ ”
Either way, you lose.
“Whether you forgive or punish, people will criticize you. In moments like these, the facts don’t matter. The presentation does. You framed this incident brilliantly, crafting a beautiful anecdote from it.”
Rabiel smiled.
“What happened today has already spread through the High Society of The Empire. The kind-hearted will admire your character, and the shrewd will recognize your wisdom. I thought you a stranger to politics. What sorcery did my love employ?”
“…I was simply thinking of you.”
My knife cut through the egg yolk.
The golden color of a young chick collapsed.
“I realized you were working incredibly hard in places I couldn’t see, in ways I didn’t know about.”
“Mm.”
“Thinking of how hard you were working for me, I naturally began thinking of you in return.”
I simply considered things from Rabiel’s perspective.
‘What conduct would benefit my wife most?’
“If I’d forgiven the servant, I’d have been seen as a benevolent Duchess. If I’d punished her, I’d have been seen as strict. But I thought the perception of being wise would serve you best.”
“Why is that?”
“Simply because I act generously doesn’t make you generous. Simply because I act strictly doesn’t make you strict.”
The candle on the table flickered dimly.
“But if I am wise, you become wise as well. Because choosing a wise spouse proves, by itself, that you are wise.”
“…….”
Rabiel dabbed her lips with a white napkin.
“You were thinking of me.”
“Yes.”
“Gongja, you have already saved me. The world may never know it, but you have saved this world from the brink of annihilation. You will continue to save it. Surely you’ve earned the right to be a little selfish, no?”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“I will spend my entire life with you. My whole life. I don’t want to dwell on what I’ve done for you. I don’t even want to think about it. I want to give you far more than I already have—give you something far more precious.”
“…….”
“I hope meeting me is the greatest fortune of your life. I wish being with me brings you the deepest happiness. I want to be the only one who matters most to you.”
“…Not fortune or happiness.”
Rabiel rose from the table.
She approached me slowly and bowed.
“You are a miracle to me.”
Our lips met.
* * *
Of course, not everyone surrendered to the name Ishansia.
“I will oppose this marriage!”
The Geumsamae Young Lady came to me every day to lodge her complaint. Now that the Crown Prince had been summoned by the Emperor, she didn’t dare confront Rabiel directly and vented only to me.
“Haven’t you already stamped your seal on the documents?”
“It’s void, void! I only did it as a joke!”
“Regardless of your intentions, the documents are legally binding.”
“Ugh… uuugh!”
The Geumsamae Young Lady gnawed at her fingertips.
“This is strange. So strange. Nothing like this happened before… A butterfly effect because of me? No, but that doesn’t make sense… Ah, Reaper of Ruins, what in the world is happening……?”
The Cow That Harvests Ruins.
I deliberately tilted my head as though hearing that keyword for the first time.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“…It’s nothing at all!”
The Geumsamae Young Lady clenched her teeth.
“That’s enough. This is clearly another scheme by the Silver Lily Young Lady!”
“The Silver Lily Duchess. She will be a Duchess soon. Mind your manners.”
“Ugh. Butler, I really hate you! I’ll never forgive you!”
Geumsamae glared at me and stormed from the room. Bang! The door slammed with such force the hinges creaked. A clear statement of her refusal to let this wedding proceed unchallenged. The Geumsamae Young Lady would undoubtedly become the wedding’s greatest obstacle.
But I was not worried in the slightest.
Ten days before the wedding ceremony.
“Four Kings!”
Someone dressed as the Geumsamae Young Lady threw open the door.
“I seem to have become the heroine of this apocalypse!”
I smiled from where I sat in my chair.
“Heresy Inquisitor.”
“Yes, Four Kings!”
“In ten days, the constellations of another world will invade.”
I spoke to my ally who had transformed from the greatest obstacle into my finest aid.
“Prepare the holy war, O Saint of the Highest Rank.”
S-Rank Hunter: I Live by Dying (Serial Publication)
Author │ Shin Noah
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ JPlus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin Noah 2019
※This work is published by JPlus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this work may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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