Calm Down (3) >
Yoohyun still didn’t know Noah’s face yet, so he might luckily overlook it reasonably.
‘I should rather expect red beans to grow where peas were planted[1].’
Was there any reason he wouldn’t realize? A foreign S-Rank Hunter standing guard in front of my house. It was past giving a hint, to sticking a name tag. In the first place, Noah was the only foreign S-Rank Hunter within the country currently.
After putting Peace down and quickly texting Song Taewon, I grabbed Yoohyun’s arm. The difference in our strength was so he didn’t even need to shake me off, but he obediently stopped.
“You’re not going to do anything, right?”
“That’s not polite. I should at least greet him.”
I didn’t know who’s kid he was, but his manners were quite good. If he was really going to end the greeting with nodding his head, that is.
“Hyung was indebted to him while I wasn’t here, so could I just ignore it?”
…He really did notice. It sure was fast, before he even saw his face.
“And Hunter Bak Yerim is also a Haeyeon Guild member. If she protected hyung as well against an S-Rank Hunter, she definitely would’ve gotten an injury, but he was physically fine. Tell me, hyung. Where did Hunter Bak Yerim get hurt?”
“……Arm.”
I couldn’t not answer. Putting me aside, he couldn’t overlook Yerim’s matter, as a guild leader. I wasn’t in a position to interfere either.
When I let go of the arm I grabbed and sighed, Yoohyun rounded his eyes.
“Don’t worry. It’s not a break[2] region, and I’ll keep to a limit. And there’s hyung, too. I won’t be able to carelessly do something dangerous.”
“Chief Song said that he had to be resolved to lose an arm when he went up against you.”
“He said something useless. I was still young then, too.”
Though he was still young now.
“It’s only been two days since I moved. Putting aside the house, there’s the kids, too.”
Don’t smile. Just then, Yoohyun’s expression became chilly in an instant. Soon, he put on a smile again, but it definitely had a different mood than before. Peace also stuck close to my side and grew to about an adolescent.
When I turned my head, I saw Noah walking out toward the lobby. Underneath the lighting, the silver gray eyes reflected an odd light. He stopped about ten meters away and stared at us.
“He’s young.”
“He’s one year younger than you. He’s still a kid.”
Though outwardly, there wasn’t much of a difference between them. And it was just a one year difference, too.
“I am the Haeyeon Guild Leader, Han Yoohyun. I heard that my hyung and Hunter Bak Yerim were indebted to you.”
He did specifically talk about indebtedness, but it was a normal greeting for now. Noah looked back and forth between me and Yoohyun with a hazy expression. Like that, he wouldn’t suddenly throw a fit, right?
“……Brothers?”
He mumbled softly, and tilted his head like he didn’t really understand. He wouldn’t not know the relationship between me and the Haeyeon Guild Leader – did we not look like brothers? Still, I had heard a lot that we were similar in our own way.
“His state is a little weird?”
Yoohyun said lowly.
“I said he’s a poor kid. So, if you can, be tolerant.”
Riette was the main cause, but it was also due to my skill.
“If he’s not normal, then wouldn’t he be more dangerous? Chief Song was negligent, too.”
“I think he has a hiding skill. There’s no helping that he’s hard to catch and keep in one place.”
“Other than that?”
As he asked, he took out a coat from his inventory, but put it on me. It was obvious, but this guy’s clothes were also big. It really seemed like he didn’t plan on quietly overlooking it.
“…He has a poison skill and can partially transform to dragon type. The poison skill is probably S-Rank. A pretty good antidote doesn’t work, but the spreading speed is slow. He’s a curse and poison dragon type, so you should pay attention to curses, and it seems like he has a healing skill, too.”
I didn’t know what kind of skill Soundless Scream was. Seeing how he didn’t use it yesterday, it didn’t seem to be an attack skill.
“He does spread miasma, but he shouldn’t have a long distance attack skill, and should be specialized in assistance.”
If he did have any, it would’ve been too hard for me to be safe yesterday. Noah only had proximity attacks.
“He shouldn’t not have any weapons, but he didn’t take any out. It might’ve been because his transformed claws are stronger than the weapons he has, or that he didn’t have the time to take out a proper one. Though it was probably the former.”
He wasn’t normal, so it might’ve been the latter, too. At my words, that Yoohyun had a really satisfied face.
“That’s more detailed that I had expected. I feel like I might get unreasonably greedy.”
Ah well, when the ranking competitions appear, I could probably advise him.
“If only the miasma spreads, then I wouldn’t have to worry.”
“Start with talking, with conversation.”
Should I not have spilled it all? I swallowed a sigh, and used the Teacher skill on Yoohyun and Peace just in case. If it seemed like that the situation would get serious, it would be better for the two of them to combine forces and quickly subdue Noah. It would be nice if I could use it on Noah too, but it was highly likely he would reject it.
He told me to stand back, and Han Yoohyun walked forward. The distance between those two narrowed to about five steps.
“Noah Luire-ssi?”
At the call, the gaze that was directed toward me, moved to Yoohyun. The dark pupils became slightly sharp, but they were still closer to a human’s.
“……Are you the younger brother?”
“That is right.”
Why did he keep on asking? And he still had a confused face. Exactly why…
‘Ah, could it be.’
Was he projecting his situation onto me and Yoohyun?
The person Noah saw as Riette was me, but actually, the born S-Rank like Riette was Yoohyun. But we were even brothers, so his mind could be dizzy.
A similar but opposite relationship. If there wasn’t the keyword effect, Noah might have projected Riette onto Han Yoohyun instead of me. Though us brothers didn’t really have any issues.
“……Han Yoojin-ssi.”
Whatever he was thinking, Noah looked at me again. With a slightly wet voice, his eyes were trembling uneasily. It was Haeyeon Guild matters, so I wasn’t going to interfere, but there was no helping it.
“Yoohyun, can you stand back for a bit?”
From Noah’s point of view, there was no doubt that there were two people who were similar to his noona, standing their ground. Even without that, he would’ve been afraid because he ruined Riette’s request, so his situation would feel considerably stressful.
“Why?”
“Or at least I’ll leave. That seems better.”
“Then again, hyung is weak. As expected-.”
Cutting off his words, Yoohyun moved. No, Noah was first, but the preceding sensation of one step was mixed in, so it felt like nearly the same time. The five-step distance narrowed in an instant and sharp claws below the white gold scales flashed.
It was a bare hand and a beast’s claws. It seemed like the weak hand would be shredded under the claws if they met like that. But Han Yoohyun’s hand slid over the scales and gripped Noah’s wrist.
Right after, along with the smell of burning flesh,
Bam!
He twisted Noah’s arm back, and grabbed his head with his other hand and slammed it to the ground. Long cracks appeared on the smooth marble floor. He didn’t stop there and put strength into the grabbed arm enough to break it, but,
Shiik!
Felt something rushing close from behind and quickly dodged to the side. But in that short time, a black scratch was left on Han Yoohyun’s arm. It was poison.
“I didn’t know he would have a tail, too.”
He said nonchalantly as he took out a dagger, and then cut out the scratch in one stroke. It was an S-Rank poison with a slow spreading speed, so that was the fastest and most accurate method, but… shit. Even though I saw him treat it right away with a potion, I didn’t feel good at all.
In the meantime, Noah raised his body. Behind him growling with his pupils in needle-like slits, a dragon’s tail of white gold scales swayed.
“He seems about half monster, so wouldn’t it be okay to kill him?”
“You can’t, you definitely can’t. There are kids in the area next to here. This is my house. They said the ground is solid, so up to the floor should be okay, but be careful with the walls and ceiling.”
It was now just a level of shaking hands, but there was already a hole in the floor. And if Noah died here, then it was problem for me too. We still didn’t know each other well, so even if I got the memories, I wouldn’t be able to adjust to the strength well, but he was S-Rank. On top of that, doubled because of the Lauchtas.
……It was really dangerous. Should I not have applied the keyword?
“Noah-ssi, please calm down!”
I thought it was risky, but why did he suddenly burst? Come in after you turn on the turn signal.
At my shout, Noah, who was glaring at Yoohyun, turned his head toward me. The tip of the long tail scratched the floor.
What should I do? Did I have to call Riette again? But then it would be three with Riette, so wouldn’t he go even more crazy and wild?
“Please tell me calmly. What would like us to do?”
“I’ll catch him with as little damage to the building as possible. Even as an S-Rank, he seems to be on the weaker side.”
“Please, you calm down too, and wait a bit.”
What catching him. He wasn’t a monster; he was a person.
“……Does Han Yoojin-ssi, think there is nothing wrong with that person?”
Noah said just then.
“Sorry? Was it that you attacked because you felt Yoohyun was like Riette?”
“I have not attacked.”
Huh?
“I was trying to go over to Han Yoojin-ssi.”
“……Yoohyun?”
“He tried to approach hyung with his hands like that. Of course, I had to block it.”
Yoohyun said, with a face that said he did nothing wrong. That was true. When I turned to look at Noah, he drooped his shoulders.
“This time, I was not thinking of harming you. But that person looked so dangerous. So…”
He glanced at Yoohyun while speaking.
“Han Yoojin-ssi, are you really okay?”
It was a voice full of worry. It was a surprise. Was the relationship between me and Yoohyun much bigger to him than the keyword effect? Like I was ill-treated by family, being told I was weak, like him… ah, that Yoohyun also said I was weak.
“Please do not worry. My younger brother is not a bad person-.”
Yoohyun threw the dagger that he was holding. Not toward Noah, but toward the entrance.
Tak!
The dagger stopped accurately in front of Song Taewon’s neck. A considerable amount of strength had gone in, so blood spilled from the fingers that the blade touched. It was that level because it was an S-Rank Hunter; if it was a normal person, it would’ve cut all the fingers and pierced the neck.
“Is this all you are giving back?”
Song Taewon said calmly, tossing the dagger back to Yoohyun.
“I think it is lacking, but I don’t think hyung will like it.”
“I suppose I should thank Han Yoojin-ssi.”
……Was the ground not good here?[3] I did call Song Taewon over, but I wasn’t anticipating something like that. To stabilize my heart, I stretched out my hand and petted Peace’s head. Our Peace really was the most good-hearted.
“Noah Luire-ssi. If you keep on acting like this, it will be difficult.”
Song Taewon said, going toward Noah. Noah didn’t even pay attention to Song Taewon and kept on being on guard against Yoohyun and staring at me.
“He’s a really weird person. Why is he suddenly worrying over hyung now?”
In the opposite direction of Song Taewon, Yoohyun came towards me. At the same time, Noah’s face, which I had thought had become calmer, filled with unease.
“Hey, wait.”
“And saying I’m dangerous – does he think I’ll harm hyung or something?”
He didn’t pay heed to my protest and approached to one step in front of me. I thought it wouldn’t do, so I reflexively stood back, and then realized I was wrong. To Noah’s eyes, it would seem like I was avoiding him.
And then he placed his hand on my neck. He only slowly grazed it, but it was clearly challenging. On top of that, the continuing words.
“He’s feeble anyways, so he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
He was openly picking a fight. Crazy, did he think there wasn’t anything to hesitate over since it seemed like Noah didn’t plan on harming me?
“Yoohyun!”
“Don’t touch him!”
Keureureu, the shout changed into that of a beast’s. Noah’s body completely changed, and that Yoohyun smiled.
“Chief Song should evacuate people or something.”
Song Taewon stood back with a stiff expression. In the meantime, Noah, whose human appearance had disappeared and who had become a small white gold dragon’s form, bared his teeth.
Beast transformation skills were extremely rare, but they didn’t not exist. If you completely transformed into a beast, you would definitely become stronger than a human’s body. But it hadn’t been even one month since Noah got the Dio Valshesis title. It was hard to skillfully handle a body with four feet and a tail, and even wings.
On top of that, it was indoors despite him having wings.
His human appearance would’ve actually been better instead, but was it because he thought he already couldn’t overcome him? It was obvious that he was being excessive.
“Don’t kill him, you crazy guy!”
“I’ll see.”
Fuck, he really didn’t listen!
Flap!
Just then, Noah spread his wings and flew up. At that, the ceiling was high and his body was about two people in size, so flight was more or less possible, but his movements really were uneasy. Midair was more advantageous if he was against someone without a flight skill.
“Green Willow Leaves.”
As if to fill the large lobby, green leaves started to flutter. It also disturbed your field of sight, so while Noah was taken aback, Yoohyun’s body shot up. There was no way he couldn’t feel the approaching presence, so he naturally tried to dodge, but the speed racing though the air was much faster and agile than the clumsy flapping. On top of that, Yoohyun had become completely skilled in using Willow Leaves in a short period of time.
“The location is too small to properly play with you.”
Along with the light voice that was full of a disdainful tone.
Kadeudeuk
A long knife blade stabbed a wing and even scraped the bone.
-Kyaaak!
The small golden dragon twisted his body and fell. Miasma poured out like fog, and blood mixed with deadly poison splattered, but flames appeared near Yoohyun and burned it all entirely before it could touch his body.
Boom!
Fragments of marble flew. Han Yoohyun’s foot strongly stomped on the dragon’s head. Under that, the floor groaned again and broke down.
-Keureuk!
The ripped wing was wrapped in light, and it quickly recovered. It seemed like he had used the healing skill. Flapping his wings, and scratching the ground with his four feet, Noah drew back. But before he could completely dodge, a thick string wrapped around the dragon’s neck. At the same time, it powerfully pulled and threw him.
Bam!
“Sorry. The wall broke a little. Still, that was the training room, so there wasn’t anyone there right now, right? I’m trying to use my skills as little as possible, so it’s taking a while. The scales are really tough. Why don’t you just keep clear, too, hyung?”
Between the collapsed wall, Noah raised his body. Him hunched over, growling, unable to easily lunge forward, was wretched. Even though they were the similarly S-Rank, when he had originally Awakened into assistance type, he was A-Rank, so the difference would be big.
I thought that it was enough if he did that much, but that little brother seemed like he had no intention of stopping. Shit.
I quickly used the Teacher skill on Noah, and connected him with Yoohyun. The two guys stopped at the same time.
“That’s enough now.”
“Hyung.”
“If you keep on going, I’m going to convey the sensations to Noah unilaterally.”
Then Yoohyun would definitely be at a disadvantage. Noah would be able to feel how Han Yoohyun would move, but Han Yoohyun wouldn’t know. Of course, the difference in strength was large so he wouldn’t lose, but it was impossible for him to go against him easily like now.
If it became like that, obviously the damage would be bigger, and my house would be blown away, and anyways, as the guild leader of the guild building right next door, he should restrain himself.
“……So you can use it like that, too.”
Yoohyun sullenly stared at me and then backed off. Whew, really. That little brother, really…