Chapter 173: Sibling Fight (1)
The consultation for the alternative harness for Noah’s saddle turned out to be quite lengthy and detailed. Since Noah didn’t yet have proper equipment for his exclusive form, they decided to create something tailored to his stats and combat style. On top of that, upon hearing about the incident with Liette, they promised to craft a few more items as time allowed.
“Equipment for mounts is rare, and since body shapes and sizes vary so much, most of it has to be custom-made. We’re already receiving several related inquiries.”
Orders were pending not only from Haeyeon but also from Sesung and Breaker. Although some equipment for Peace had already been completed, it could only be used when he was in his adult-sized or gigantified forms, making it unusable in his current fluid state.
“There’s a limit to size adjustments for equipment. If the adjustment range is too broad, the performance ends up dropping compared to its grade.”
Noah, being a small dragon, could use the same equipment in both human and dragon forms. Liette, however, was a different story entirely.
“Hunter Noah, if you ever shed your skin or scales, please bring them to me. Equipment made from parts of your own body has a good magical resonance and, when made into bound items, the performance increases compared to the materials used.”
“I can give you some right now. I have a recovery skill, so cutting off a bit of my hide—”
“No way, Noah!”
What on earth was he saying? Even if it’s fine to get hurt occasionally in battle, I stopped Noah from going through with it. Using leftover material and cutting off fresh parts were completely different things.
“I heard your younger brother and Hunter Park Yerim moved into your house yesterday?”
“Yeah. You heard about it too? Yerim said living alone felt lonely. Since she’s a girl, I was a little worried, and I figured this would be better than leaving her by herself.”
They made sure Yerim had her own bathroom and a loft-style room as she preferred. At home, she diligently wore proper clothes and pajamas, so it didn’t seem too uncomfortable for her since the house was spacious.
“The two of them bicker so much, it feels like a week has passed even though it’s only been a day. Yerim usually starts the fights, but my younger brother also snaps back a bit. Thinking about it, they were like this from their first meeting.”
Still, it didn’t seem like their relationship was bad. If they truly hated each other, the house would’ve already been in ruins.
“It sounds like a good arrangement.”
Yu Myungwoo, listening to me talk about last night and this morning, smiled warmly. His comment about it being good made me unconsciously touch my face with my hand. Nothing about me seemed to have changed, though.
“I made some snacks in my spare time. Take some with you. You said they were delicious last time.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
He always shared so much that I felt genuinely grateful, so I made sure to express my thanks sincerely.
Before returning to the breeding facility, I stopped by Seok Hayan’s team. But the place was completely empty, likely because it was daytime. It seemed they had gone home to rest for once. The gate exploration and measurement work was almost finished, so maybe I should come back at night.
‘I need to start paying more attention to the security of Seok Hayan’s team.’
The personal safety of the team members was adequately handled. With Noah and high-ranking Hunters swarming the first floor, there was no problem in that regard. However, the risk of their research results being leaked was higher. All the high-ranking Hunters belonged to other guilds, and Noah couldn’t spend all his time watching over Seok Hayan’s team.
If Blue could adjust her size like Peace, she’d be the perfect fit for guarding Seok Hayan’s team. People can be bribed or manipulated into stealing data, but monsters can’t be swayed like that. Should I look for a small-sized, fully grown, S-class monster baby?
— Kyaaaau!
Rather than taking the stairs down the building, which was a hassle, I descended to the rooftop garden with Noah’s help again. Blue, who had been waiting, darted toward me as soon as we landed. However, Peace, who was in my arms, bared his teeth slightly.
— Krrrng.
Blue froze mid-step, raising one front paw as if embarrassed, then began wagging her tail timidly. After circling us once, she skipped pouncing on me and instead tackled Noah. Blue, slamming into Noah with full force, was easily caught by him.
— Kya! Kyak!
Blue, clearly fond of Noah, playfully nuzzled her beak against him and hopped around. Meanwhile, Belare, wrapped around my arm, only glanced briefly at Blue before looking away. It seemed she was frightened by Blue. Was it because eagles often prey on snakes? Not to mention Blue was much larger.
Thanks to intermittent training, Blue had grown a lot, to the point where she could now carry one person in flight. Because of her energy and lack of control, even her gentle nudges were a bit hard to handle for me.
— Kyaaa!
Noah lifted Blue into the air and playfully tossed her upward. She folded her wings and floated briefly before flapping them to spin around gracefully in the sky. Spotting a pigeon flying in the distance, Blue darted after it, quickly soaring to the top of the Haeyeon building and perching there. Watching her, I lowered my gaze.
“Do you have time tomorrow or the day after?”
I asked Noah. There was something essential I needed from him for my duel with Liette: a new offensive skill.
Noah’s offensive skills were limited to poison and pain transfer. However, both were ineffective against Liette. Since Liette was well-acquainted with Noah’s skills, she would undoubtedly have prepared countermeasures, such as using painkillers, much like Seong Hyunjae. Furthermore, Noah’s poison was relatively weak in lethality for its grade, meaning even if its effect were doubled, it would still have minimal impact on Liette, who had strong poison resistance.
Thus, acquiring an offensive skill that could work against Liette was essential.
‘Thankfully, I’ll be able to use My Kid Is The Best tomorrow.’
Surely, I’d be able to obtain at least one offensive skill, right? It was worrying that I’d have to choose blindly based on the skill name. If worst came to worst, I’d have to persuade Liette to postpone the duel by a month or ask the Dungeon Managers how to acquire offensive skills.
“I’m free anytime.”
Noah’s gaze was intense, as if he was urging me to say whatever I needed. It felt a bit burdensome. Myungwoo was one thing, but Noah seemed excessively kind toward me. Given that the keyword effect wouldn’t enhance his affection—especially since it was directed at Liette—it felt disproportionate.
“I’ve always thought this, but Noah, you’re way too good to me. I haven’t done much for you.”
Truly, I hadn’t done anything significant. The most I’d done was protect him from Liette. Hearing this, Noah hesitated briefly before speaking.
“That’s not true. Yujin, you’ve given me so much.”
“So much?”
I had no memory of this. What had I given him?
“You’ve always… treated me as cute.”
“…Pardon? Oh, um, well.”
I had unconsciously seen Noah as a bit childlike, but hearing it from him directly left me flustered. Had I been too obvious in treating him as someone younger? Noah, looking slightly embarrassed, continued.
“I liked it.”
“Well… that’s good to hear. I thought you might dislike it since you’re not that young, and you were even a guild leader.”
“No, not at all.”
Noah shook his head firmly. His fine hair swayed and shimmered with the motion.
“As you might guess, my sister saw me as weak and childish, but she never treated me like an actual kid. It was even more so after I awakened. Even though I was still young, I was an A-rank Hunter, so others, not just my sister, had high expectations of me. They assumed I could handle anything because I was A-rank. Whatever I achieved, it was taken for granted.”
He explained that it became even more intense after he advanced to S-rank. It was isolating, to the point of loneliness.
“But you, Yujin, saw things differently. No matter what I did, you found it praiseworthy. Whether I defeated a monster or wrote Korean, you always said I did a great job.”
“Well, that’s because you genuinely did well…”
In hindsight, praising him for learning Hangul might have been over the top. But he learned quickly! Not just Hangul, but he had also picked up a fair bit of difficult Korean phrases.
Noah smiled silently, his cheeks slightly flushed.
“You also worried about me and even found me pitiable.”
“…Pitiable might be too strong a word. Wouldn’t that feel a bit insulting?”
“No, I liked that, too. That’s why I enjoyed doing the things you asked me to. Whenever you did, you looked at me so warmly. You also praised me often. And when I was in dragon form, you’d frequently pat my head.”
…Now I was starting to blush, too. I’d tried not to pat his head, but my habit of petting Peace and the others kept leading my hand to do it unconsciously.
“I liked all of it so much. I know I’m too old to act spoiled, but still, I enjoyed it. It made me happier than being seen as capable just because I was a guild leader or an S-rank Hunter. It may sound immature, but I prefer being treated affectionately. It’s comforting. I think these days are the happiest I’ve ever been.”
A life where he could just follow what I said and be met with praise, without having to stress or overthink.
“I know I shouldn’t rely on this too much, but… I’d like to live like this a bit longer. Just a year, or maybe even six more months… Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
I quickly responded to his tentative, worried question.
“To begin with, Noah, you’re still young. It doesn’t have to just be a year—it can be longer. These days, most people only start working after they graduate from college.”
If he were a student, he’d still be considered a kid.
“Besides, even adults can act spoiled sometimes. There’s no clear-cut line between being a child and an adult. Even after turning sixty, people might still look like kids to their parents or grandparents. No matter how old you are, it’s okay to enjoy being cared for if that’s what makes you happy. As long as it’s mutual, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s not like it harms anyone.”
Isn’t it far better than holding grudges or disliking others? Hearing this, Noah smiled brightly, looking truly delighted.
“As expected, Yujin, you’re giving me so much. So don’t hesitate to call me anytime you need something. I’d prefer it that way.”
“I still feel like I’m freeloading off you too much…”
“I don’t mind at all. Just keep treating me affectionately.”
Well, it’s not hard to find him cute. Seeing Noah’s genuinely happy expression also made me feel lighter.
“And I hope you, Yujin, can become happier, too. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
…It seemed that Noah wasn’t just angelic in appearance but through and through. How did someone like him end up as Liette’s sibling? It had to be some mistake by the heavens.
With a loud flutter, the curtains were dramatically pushed aside as Yerim came bounding—no, flying—down. She floated gracefully into the living room like she was gliding, then spread her arms wide.
“Mister, I’ve got the same pajamas as you!”
She was wearing the exact same pajamas she had gifted me before, the ones embroidered with little chicks. She beamed proudly, while Yuhyun’s eyes narrowed at her display. Just as Yuhyun was about to say something, Yerim threw a box she was holding in his direction. It turned out to be a box containing pajamas.
“Bow your head in gratitude, Han Yuhyun.”
Yerim, her chin raised arrogantly, didn’t even get a glance from Yuhyun as he picked up the box and went straight to his room. Yerim pouted and grumbled to me.
“See, Mister? Even when I go out of my way to take care of him, he doesn’t say a single word of thanks.”
Maybe if she didn’t tease him while giving gifts, his reaction would’ve been different. But instead of responding, I just smiled. I’d learned in a single day that taking sides when those two bicker only backfires. It was better to step in and stop them both when it started getting out of hand.
“There are some snacks Myungwoo made in the kitchen.”
“What? Really?”
Yerim raised her arms in triumph and dashed into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Yuhyun, now changed into his new pajamas, came back and sat down next to me. He glanced at the TV screen briefly, then leaned in close to complain about how the Association had been pestering him today.
“They’ve gotten fairer than before, but at the same time, they’ve also gotten stricter.”
“Still, being fair is better, isn’t it?”
I comforted him, saying I’d help out if things got too tough, when Yerim returned with a piece of the snack in her mouth.
“…Mister, doesn’t it creep you out that someone bigger than you acts like that?”
“Hm? Not really. Honestly—”
“I don’t want to hear it. You’re just going to call him cute again.”
She scowled, then took a bite of the snack, her expression quickly softening into one of bliss. After nibbling her way through the snack, Yerim scooted right up next to me and wrapped her arms around me.
“…Park Yerim, you are touching him.”
“If you don’t like it, Guild Leader, why don’t you move away?”
The two of them started growling at each other again. Well, it was just another peaceful evening.
–TL Notes–
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