Chapter 126

The light on the ceiling let out a bright light . I had memories of replacing it several times with my own hands . The living room wasn’t that large . A sofa and a TV . The wall clock was stopped .

“…Why here of all places? Besides that, you can use a mind-related skill?”

Or it might be an effect of the elemental’s contract skill .

[The place that Yoohyun likes!]

“Yoohyun?”

[Yeah, it is the house that he lived in with you, hyung . So Rin[1] also likes here . ]

The lizard said, going around and around as if it was trying to catch its tail . I felt that there was a ton of affection filled in the voice talking about Yoohyun . So this guy was a good lizard, huh .

[This skill is yours . ]

Irin, who was going around and around, stopped and looked up at me . The black eyes were glossy like gems .

“Mine?”

[Though it seemed like you can’t use it properly yet, so Rin helped . ]

“I don’t have this kind of skill . ”

[You do . That kind of power . ]

I mean, rather than this being mine, it was the lizard owner guy’s… Suddenly, I thought of the zombie guy calling me Diarma’s successor . At that time, I had thought it was because of combining the curse and poison dragon types .

‘…Did I become able to use Diarma’s other skills, too?’

Though they weren’t on the skill window . And I didn’t know how to use them either . Should I consult the immoral people?

I lifted my head and looked around the surroundings anew . To think that it was a place he likes – my mood was weird . I had been unable to endure this place and ran away . Because, past things came to mind too clearly everywhere I placed my eyes if I stayed here . I didn’t want to see any corner inside the house, or even a white cup that wasn’t particularly distinct, or the empty desk, or the bathroom slippers, so I had moved out as if escaping with just my own self .

Even though I did that, now that I was here, I thought that it was a pity .

“Rin . ”

[Yeah?]

“Yoohyun seems a little weird right now, but is it related to you?”

[A little to Rin, a lot to you . ]

“What?”

[Hyung, please hug Rin . ]

Like it wanted, I held the lizard . It was warm to a perfect amount and smooth and soft . It seemed like if you held it around in the winter, it would feel good .

[Since elementals are a pure power . While accepting Rin, he became more honest . And thanks to the attribute, he is becoming a liiittle aggressive? He wants to clear away irritating things and the strength to do that appeared, so he didn’t hold back . ]

“…Does he hate Sung Hyunjae that much?”

[Sung Hyunjae probably tried to kill Yoohyun, too! Since he should’ve thought that you are incredibly useful . Yoohyun noticed that . ]

Irin spoke, wagging its tail .

[Yoohyun is suppressing it a lot, but the two’s original natures are similar . He realized what kind of thought Sung Hyunjae probably had after receiving the doubled attack skill effect . That he was going to kill all of the other people and steal you away . ]

If he had done that, Sung Hyunjae wouldn’t have remained alive . Specifically, he would’ve died by my hands . At the question asking if Sung Hyunjae would’ve really gone that far, Irin nodded its head hard . I had shared with him twice, but there wasn’t much of a problem, though .

“To think that Yoohyun is uneasy . It’s a waste, but do I have to put that person far away somehow?”

[No, it is okay! If Yoohyun calms down, he will probably also think it would be better for him to be here . Since he will keep on protecting you if you are useful . And the other people, too . There needs to be a lot of people who will protect you, so that Yoohyun has less of a burden . ]

“Even though the burden is lessened, he said that he’s lonely because he feels like I’m being stolen away . ”

[You just have to make it so that he isn’t lonely . Please tell Yoohyun that you like him the most . ]

“Of course my brother is the best . Would he even compare to something like Sung Hyunjae?”

[Please tell him a lot . He was estranged from you once . It could happen again, so he is uneasy and doesn’t know what to do . Yoohyun is still young!]

“You’re even younger . ”

[Rin knew a lot starting from when Rin was born!]

“Still, being young is being young . ”

As if cranky, Irin hit my arm with its front feet . What it was doing was incredibly cute . When I pet its head, it laughed like it was ticklish .

“I had thought that I expressed it a lot in my own way – did I not?”

[How many times did you tell him that you like him and that you love him?]

“Um… I mean, I don’t openly say that kind of thing much . ”

[Why? You can say it a lot! Since it’s not fake . Since it is real! You do not want to do it even though Yoohyun will like it?]

“It’s not that I don’t want to – it’s just a little awkward? And he’s not young . You don’t say it much when you’re big . ”

Irin’s eyes became thin and it glared at me as if blaming me . I mean, really, you didn’t normally say things like that, that much . Especially between brothers . If it was a parent-child relationship and an incredibly harmonious household, then you could probably say it often . Even if I raised Yoohyun, first of all, we were brothers .

[Hyung . ]

“…I’ll try . Will it get better with that?”

[Probably!]

Probably, it said . It sure was irresponsible . I grabbed and pulled the lizard’s soft cheek . It flapped its tail and made a big fuss about it hurting .

[Yoohyun was always together with you! But then suddenly you guys were separated! For him to become really completely fine, you will probably have to return to like before!]

At those words, I stared at the place I ran away from . I had left, though . My brother had left first before me, though . Even so, had the truth still remained here?

Unconsciously, a sigh spilled out . He was an amazing guy unlike me, so he should’ve just lived well . I had acted really foolishly, but that Yoohyun also seemed difficult to handle . Was it that you couldn’t fool blood even though the ranks were different? There was no need to be similar with regards to something like this .

“For me, I lived looking after my one brother, but why is he like this even though he has a lot of things?”

[There is no person who hates receiving love, hyung . Not just humans, but any thing . It probably would have been okay if you didn’t know that kind of feeling from the beginning . But once you know, you cannot give it up . And there is nobody other than you who loves Yoohyun!]

“He’s just twenty now . You can’t know how things will be from now on . ”

[There can’t be! There isn’t!]

“Are you cursing him?”

Why isn’t there? It won’t do if there isn’t anybody else . I even regressed, so I had to see that little brother I raised marry and have a kid and live well . Now, I could confidently sit in the family seating for the wedding . And now that I thought of it, did I have to sit there for Yerim, too? Oh, wait . Yerim also has the bride entrance . It would be about ten years later, so if I was over forty, then it would be quite reasonable… ah, no . I would be in my thirties even then . I didn’t know what bastard would whisk her away, but I would kill them if they did something even a little bit wrong to my kid .

“I want to see the kids’ babies . I should live at least twenty years more from now on . ”

[Hyung?]

“So if he calms down and I soothe him well, it’ll be okay from now on? He won’t be like that every time he uses your power, right?”

[It probably would not be to today’s extent!]

So it meant he would get a little weird .

[It is like that because he is not used to Rin yet . If it is severe, please pour water on him or something! Then he will calm down a little!]

Yerim, I’ll leave it to you .

“You have a skill called Elemental’s Contract, but can I know exactly what kind of skill it is?”

[It is just an elemental’s contract! The contracted rank is the elemental’s maximum rank . Hyung, hyung . What is Rin’s rank?]

The two black eyes shone as they sparkled . It was its own skill, but could it not check?

“L-Rank . ”

[Wow, Rin is impressive! Rin is impressive!]

Irin was excited and so, shouted . I followed suit and chimed in agreeably, praising that it was really impressive . To think that it could grow up to L-Rank .

“Our Rin will probably get really strong from now on . ”

[Yeah! Rin is the strongest!]

“And get along well with Yoohyun . The contract won’t become cancelled, right?”

[It will not be cancelled until one side ceases to exist!]

Rin, grow up a lot . As long as just this one finishes growing up, the worries about the future would probably all disappear .

“How long will it take to finish growing?”

[It hasn’t been long since Rin was born, so about a thousand years!]

…It was really slow, huh . It had been good for a moment .

I walked slowly as I pet Rin . In the kitchen, the tableware was left as they were . There were two chairs at the table . The calendar on the wall was that of 3 years ago . I tried flipping through a few pages . There was a circle around my birthday .

I turned around and went towards a room . Including before the regression, it was from a long time ago . Even so, it felt like I could find it with my eyes closed . I grabbed the door handle and slowly turned it . The scene inside the room was the same as before, too . But unlike when I last saw it, there were signs of life . The top of the desk wasn’t completely empty either . I saw textbooks and writing utensils .

“It feels like Yoohyun is going to call out to me from behind soon . ”

Asking ‘hyung, what are you doing standing there’ .

[Yoohyun is outside, hyung . ]

“Yeah . I should go . ”

I wanted to look around a bit more, but I didn’t know what kind of mess was happening outside . I should ask Yerim to hit that little brother of mine with a splash of water .

“I’ll see you next time, Rin . ”

[When Rin gets bigger, Rin will be able to speak outside, too!]

“Alright, then . ”

…How do I go out? I definitely remembered it being dismissed when both people decide to go out, but it didn’t work .

[Hyung?]

“Wait, it seems like it’ll work too……”

Let’s ruminate on Diarma’s memories . First of all, there was mutual agreement and, ah, this was different from that bastard’s!

“Irin, I think it changed because you intervened……”

[Really?]

“Yeah . ”

Was there any way? We should put our heads together and figure it out . So skills that weren’t standardized through the system were actually dangerous, huh .

The mind-related space skill was only dismissed after a long time . Still, thanks to that, I properly studied the skill . It seemed like I would be able to use it even without Rin’s help after a bit of practice .

When I opened my eyes, I saw a ceiling . It wasn’t outside, but indoors . How much time had passed? With the light past the curtain being dim, it wasn’t night . It seemed like I was on a bed, and both arms were grabbed . When I turned my head to the right, I saw Yoohyun . I only heard a slight sleeping noise as if he was deeply asleep with his body turned toward me .

First of all, it seemed like he was fine .

Yerim was sleeping on the other side . Clinging to my wrist with one hand, she had kicked the blanket off about halfway and was sprawled out .

‘Yerim also looks fine . ’

It looked like there wasn’t a big problem, thankfully . In order to get up, I took away the arm that Yoohyun was holding . At that sharpness, the closed eyes opened slightly .

“…Hyung?”

“That’s right, sleep more . ”

Don’t get up . With him falling back asleep at the light patting… it seemed like there had been a big problem . It meant there was something that would make an S-rank Hunter tired . Hong Kong was probably safe, right?

“Yerim, let’s sleep after letting go of my hand . ”

“Uhh… guild leader bastard, come at me……”

Yerim sleeptalked . Hm, okay . It looked like the two of them fought . It was a relief they were safe . I didn’t know if Sung Hyunjae was alive .

I got off the bed carefully in order to not wake the two . When I turned and saw the bed that was large enough to hold four, not three, I laughed automatically .

‘Both of them sleep well . ’

Ah, how cute . Since they were quietly asleep, they were like angels . And on the floor next to the bed, a young man who was exactly suited to be a model of an angel was crouched over .

Noah-ssi, why were you sleeping on the floor? There was enough room . Was there no other bedroom here?

“Noah-ssi, please go up and sleep . ”

At my call, Noah slowly raised his body . He rubbed his eyes with a tired face and then was startled when he saw the empty place I gestured to .

“Ah, no . I am awake . ”

“I do not know about Yerim, but Yoohyun is a calm sleeper . ”

“It is alright . I will go wash my face . ”

Noah sent a slightly frightened gaze toward the two people and left . It looked like the kids made a bit of a commotion yesterday .

When I quietly went outside of the bedroom after seeing Chirpie sleeping inside a basket, a big living room appeared . Seeing the sea through the front window, it seemed like we were still in Hong Kong . Was it a different hotel? There were stairs going up to the 2nd floor, too . I looked around the surroundings, and then turned on the TV . Along with a reporter’s nervous voice, a news screen appeared .

“…Wow . ”

That had definitely been land . A round portion where the hotel had been had disappeared and seawater was filling it . Here and there, there were traces of things that had melted and then solidified . The reporter’s explanation that the ground had collapsed and melted over ten meters in depth pierced my ears .

[The whole region of Hong Kong has fallen into astonishment at the traces of the 2nd rank giant sea creature type Kraken having been swept away . The □□□ Hotel has completely disappeared, and the current missing people-]

So they had told people that the Kraken that done that shit, huh . That guy’s size was big and it had a skill that could call waves, but it wouldn’t be able to make things like that . But what the hell did they do that the ground disappeared? The hotel site and up to the coast was a considerable width, but all of it was broken up .

“You’ve woken up . ”

Sung Hyunjae came down from the 2nd floor . I wasn’t particularly surprised that he was here .

“…What happened to healers that you are like that?”

But it was quite surprising that there was a trace of an injury on his exposed nape . It seemed like the region that was covered by his clothes was bigger .

“Did you say it was an elemental? It’s thanks to the young master’s flames being incredibly fierce . It contained a power that slows recovery speed, so apparently the healing will take a few days . ”

It seemed like it had a similar effect to the blood flames . Besides that, it was interesting that he was hurt .

“Did you sell off the Sillekia’s Wings somewhere in the meantime?”

A burn that big wouldn’t have occurred if there was an S-Rank flame resistance .

“I lent it to the little mistress for a bit . ”

“…Excuse me?”

“If something happened to the little mistress under the young master’s hands, my item wouldn’t be okay . I don’t want it to be broken yet . ”

Did my ears go bad – what nonsense was this now? So did that mean that this person in front of my eyes protected Yerim? While he himself was getting hurt? I had been going ‘he’s crazy, he’s crazy’, and now it looked like he finally went crazy .

I stared blankly at the smiling face, and then turned around . I should also go wash my face or something .

[1] using ur name in 3rd person is a childish thing, like in eng, so throughout this ch, irin gives off a v ‘young child’ feel .