Chapter 116 – Great and Mighty (4)

Cale walked toward Pendrick, who was standing there without being able to say anything.

"Did you decide what you will do with Balbud?"
"That…"
"Difficult to decide?"

Pendrick nodded his head.

The Elven philosophy dictated that they should execute Balbud and the rest of the prisoners. However, it would be disappointing to execute them right away without gathering any information from them beforehand.

"I would like to make a suggestion."
"A suggestion?"

Cale started to smile toward Pendrick, who was confused but also had some expectations toward what Cale would say. Pendrick would definitely remember how Cale mentioned, 'Arm,' and the, 'Eastern Continent.' Since this was new information that Cale did not share in front of the Chief, Pendrick would want to gather more information like this, if possible.

'There are no other races like the Elves that are so thorough with getting revenge.'

The Elves considered them to be an elegant race that was better than other races. That was the reason they were not materialistic. They believed that living in nature without materialistic greed made them better than other races, like the humans. Maybe that was why, but the Elves were thorough with making sure to get revenge on any enemies that choose to provoke them. In this aspect, the Elves probably resembled Dragons more than the Dark Elves. After all, the Dragons were an even more arrogant race than the Elves.

Cale turned his gaze toward Balbud. Beacrox was thoroughly tightening the chains on his arms and legs.

"What about passing Balbud off to someone else?"

Pendrick's expression became odd. This did not seem to be the result he had wanted.

"Do you mean pass him off to you, young master-nim?"

The Elves knew they had already asked a lot of Cale, but they were hoping that Cale would step in.

The Elf Village currently did not have enough Elementals to even restore the valley. Furthermore, they needed to be prepared in case the organization came back to attack again. Although they were lacking manpower, they also wanted to get their revenge.

Pendrick held back his expectations and waited for Cale's response. He thought it would be good if Cale stepped in. You could not find such a righteous person anywhere in the world.

"No."
"Excuse me?"

However, a completely unexpected answer came out of Cale's mouth. If he was not going to take Balbud, who would?

The confusion was clearly visible on Pendrick's face.

"I want you to first discuss my suggestion with the Chief-nim. I will give you the details if you all decide to go along with my suggestion."
"…Will it be with a trustworthy person?"

Pendrick could see Cale nod his head without any hesitation.

"Yes, it is a trustworthy person."

It was because Cale had the person's weakness in his hands. Cale recalled the video communication device that was stuck deep inside his magic bag. He had not had to think about it for a while. He was annoyed with the secret organization and hated them. However, he did not want to step up to deal with them. It was obvious that doing so would lead to a lot of headaches.

"So, think about it and give me an answer by this evening. I will be leaving tomorrow because there are things I still need to do."

Pendrick observed Cale's back as Cale started to walk away after patting him on the shoulder.

'If it is someone such a righteous person can trust, wouldn't it be okay?'

He could not be certain about it, but Pendrick felt like he could trust Cale because Cale had stepped up once again for a situation where he had nothing to gain.

"Oh, one more thing."
"Yes?"

Cale turned back around and started to speak.

"Are you going to the Whipper Kingdom alone?"
"Ah, yes sir. I believe that will be the case."
"Then let's go together."
"Excuse me?"

Cale gently smiled toward Pendrick.

He thought that it would be better to have an Elf from the Elf Village who had a connection with the Gold Dragon when they went to meet him. If possible, he wanted to take everyone that he could. Of course, he would be in the way back of their group, maybe even hiding behind Choi Han.

"The Whipper Kingdom is currently a dangerous place to move around alone. You'll be safe if you go with us. We have things to do there anyway."

The current Whipper Kingdom was a mess.

The Whipper Kingdom has been on a one-way train to hell ever since Toonka became the Commander-in-Chief last fall. Of course, none of the Whipper Kingdom's residents knew that they were headed for despair.
Cale looked toward Pendrick, who had an apologetic look on his face.

"I can't burden you so much-."
"No such thing. Stop thinking about such useless things. It'll probably be better so that you know where the prisoner ends up as well. Just think about it."
"… Thank you very much."
"No need to thank me. Shouldn't we all help each other out?"

Pendrick started to smile. It looked even purer and brighter because his face was so handsome. Of course, Cale was paying more attention to Beacrox, who was looking at him with an iffy look on his face.

"You are right. Young master-nim, you are definitely right."
"Yes, everything I say is right."

Cale played along with Pendrick using a joking tone before heading out of the underground prison. He could hear Pendrick speaking to him as he walked.

"I will discuss it with the Chief as quickly as possible."

That was exactly what Cale wanted.
Cale started to walk faster. There was someone he needed to discuss this with as well.

To be more specific, he needed to tell the person he planned on dumping Balbud on.

***

Cale, who returned to the Chief's house, immediately ordered Raon to check the surroundings.
There were no bugs nor recording magic in the house, probably because they knew that Cale was with a Dragon.
Cale walked into the guestroom that the Chief had created for him and had his group guard the door.

"Raon."
"Alright, human."

Raon revealed himself in the air.

Cale put the video communication device on the table and sat down on the couch. Raon started to connect the video communication device at Cale's signal.

A person's face appeared on the device after a moment.

– Long time no see.

It was crown prince Alberu. Alberu's eyes showed just the slightest bit of happiness to see Cale.

"Your highness, you still remain the vibrant star in the hearts of the citizens."

However, Alberu immediately started to frown after hearing Cale's greeting.

– What do you want from me now?
"You really understand me now. I am filled with admi-."
– Enough.

Cale closed his mouth and started to smile. Alberu started to frown, as if he found Cale's smile to be disgusting.

The two of them had not seen each other for about 3 months. They had nothing to discuss with each other since they chatted about the Whipper Kingdom three months ago.

– Are you contacting me about traveling to the Whipper Kingdom?

Contrary to the frown on his face, Alberu's eyes were full of curiosity. It was because he knew what Cale was planning to sell at the Whipper Kingdom, as well as how he was going to do it.

"No. Unfortunately, it is not for that reason."
– Then?
"I managed to capture one of the members of the organization that caused the Plaza Terror Incident. This swordsman seems to hold a mid to low-tier position with the organization."

Alberu blinked a few times to think about whether he heard Cale correctly. However, his eyes soon were filled with shock.

– How? No, never mind. That is not important.
"The, 'how,' is important. We captured him in the Roan Kingdom."

Alberu's expression quickly stiffened. Cale looked at Alberu's expression and started to think.

'He bit the bait.'

Alberu had bit onto this information.

Cale hoped to no longer have to deal with the secret organization. At the same time, he didn't want to be the one who took care of them himself. How could the son of a Count fight against an organization that could rock the entire continent?
It would be difficult, even with a Dragon by his side.

That was why Cale thought of this person.
It was someone whom neither the secret organization nor the Elves could easily touch, as well as someone who would take care of it even more thoroughly than himself. It was someone who had negative feelings about the organization and wanted to get rid of them. At the same time, it was someone whose weakness was in Cale's hands.

It could be none other than our dear crown prince.

"I can tell you the details after the discussions are completed, however, we managed to catch this person around the Roan Kingdom's Ten Finger Mountains."
– And why are you telling me all this?

Cale smiled instead of responding, while Alberu clicked his tongue and continued to speak.

– Hand him over to me.
"Yes sir."

Alberu continued to frown as if he found the way Cale answered to be annoying.

– You seem to pass all of the annoying things to me.
"Do you not like it?"
– No, it's great. Soooo great.

Contrary to Alberu's frowning face, his eyes were clear. The Roan Kingdom had not managed to discover the identity of the organization. Not being able to find any answers after a year of investigation was humiliating for the kingdom.
That was why Cale knew that Alberu would do anything and everything to gather information from Balbud. Alberu would also use Balbud to his advantage.

"Your highness."
– Yes.
"You're going to put him to use, aren't you?"

Alberu started to smile as he asked.

– For what?

'Asking even though he knows exactly what I am talking about.'

"Naturally, for the Empire."
– Ha, haha. Yes. I definitely will.

The Empire still had not captured the secret organization and the Holy Twins that had killed the Pope. That fact did not sit well with Cale.
The Empire claimed that they were fervently looking for the twins, however, having to deal with the Whipper Kingdom made it difficult for them to focus all of their attention on the search. At first glance, it might look like the Empire was taking their time in the search with the hope that the power of the Church of the Sun God would go down even more as time passes, however, this was an incident where hundreds of their citizens were killed as well.

'It is weird because the Imperial Prince is someone who cares a lot about saving face.'

It made no sense that the Empire had not figured anything out about the incident. The Empire even rejected the Roan Kingdom's offer to work together multiple times.
That was why even Alberu was curious about what the Empire was doing. At the same time, Cale's train of thought was different.

'The Imperial Prince is someone who would set the jungle on fire to gain control. He also knows that the North will come down to invade, yet is instead waiting for the Roan Kingdom and the Breck Kingdom to lose strength while fighting the North.'

But such a person was leaving the secret organization alone?
That made no sense.

It had to be one of two reasons.

'Either the Empire wants to find the organization on their own in order to prove that they are better than everybody else.'

'Or they have a secret relationship with Arm.'

There was something Cale had paid attention to while he was lounging around in Harris Village. Well, by paid attention, he gave some orders for others to do the work. Anyways, what Cale had done was get Ron to gather Freesia, the assassin posing as a sculptor, as well as others and create an information brigade.

'The Whipper Kingdom's Toonka will soon head to the Empire.'

Cale knew that the contents of volume 5 were coming to an end soon. Of course, the story has twisted in many ways thanks to his interference.
Toonka, who should have already been at war, was delayed, while the jungle was quickly becoming unified under Queen Litana's rule.

'I still have to do what I have to do.'

Cale still planned on going back to the Whipper Kingdom in order to profit. There were a lot of things to do once he got there.

– Hand the prisoner over to my aunt. Report everything that happens as well.

Cale nodded his head as if that was obvious before he calmly continued on.

"Yes sir. Oh, I am also selling dead mana."
– What?
"There's a large amount of it, so I think I will need to sell it in the Dark Elf City."
– ...
"There is no discount. I will sell it to you at the market price. I also only accept cash."

Alberu, who was looking at Cale in disbelief, slowly started to speak with a serious expression on his face.

– How much is it?
"I will sell it to you at a fair price, your highness."

Cale safely concluded his dead mana deal, as well as the issue of Balbud with Alberu, who was still full of disbelief. They discussed everything for quite a while, but the results were satisfactory.
Maybe that was why, but he didn't mind having a long discussion with Chief Canaria regarding Balbud later that evening.

The next morning, Cale was standing in front of the still unconscious Balbud. Cale sat down on a chair and crossed his legs as he looked down toward Balbud. Beacrox approached Balbud and asked.

"Should I wake him up, young master-nim?"
"Yes."

Beacrox grabbed Balbud's hair and splashed him with a bucket of water. Pendrick and the Guardian Knight who were standing behind Cale cautiously asked after seeing Beacrox's actions.

"Are you going to tell him what is going to happen? Wouldn't it be better to take him while he is still unconscious?"
"I'm not sure. I think it will be better to tell him at least some of it."
Pendrick stopped talking after listening to Cale's relaxed response. Balbud was groaning as he started to come to his senses. The cold water did its job in waking him up. Cale stood up and took a step back as he quietly observed.
He recalled the conversation he had with Chief Canaria last night.

'Young master-nim, wouldn't the kingdom know about our village if we work with the crown prince?'
'One of the conditions for the crown prince will be keeping this village a secret. Plus, isn't it difficult on your own? None of the other Elf villages will help you. They will just focus on protecting their own branch from the World Tree, especially if you explain what happened.'

Pendrick was shocked at what Cale had said. Cale was aware of the fact that Elves were selfish and had no sense of race relations. Pendrick noticed Balbud opening his eyes and looking toward Cale as he closed his mouth.

-Ugh, just what the hell-"

Balbud's voice was a mess thanks to the poison from the other day. Cale started to smile at Balbud, who barely managed to realize what was going on.
Balbud bit down on his lips and glared at Cale.

"I don't like that look of yours."

Cale sounded very calm as he frowned about Balbud's gaze. That calmness made Balbud even more anxious as he started to speak.

"W, what did you do to me?"
"Nothing yet. But there is a lot planned from now."

The phrase, 'from now,' made Balbud's shoulders slightly shake. However, the man looking down at him, Cale, continued to speak in his casual town.

"You will leave this Elf Village with me. Your life will be in my hands."

Pendrick, who was behind Cale, made eye contact with the Guardian Knight. He did not know Cale would share such details with the prisoner. However, Cale's next words made Pendrick abruptly turn his gaze back toward Cale.

"That is why I'm going to share my itinerary with you."

Cale, who was seated once again, uncrossed his legs and lowered his head to make eye contact with Balbud.

"What do you think is the strongest race after Dragons? Hmm? Take a guess."

'Strongest race after Dragons?'

Cale did not miss Balbud's pupils starting to shake. He could see his smiling face in Balbud's eyes.

'Damn boy, you look so cool when you smile.'

After that moment of narcissistic reflection, Cale noticed that Balbud's face was filled with chaos and fear as he continued to speak.

"I plan to meet with the Whale tribe."

'The same Whale tribe that hates the secret organization and wants to kill all of you.'

"In fact, I'm meeting with the Whale royalty."

Cale heard Raon's report as he stared at Balbud's pale face.

– Human, this swordsman does not have any type of surveillance magic on him. That device from last time was the only one.

That meant that nothing Cale said would be leaked to the secret organization.

"After that, I plan to go meet with a Dragon. You know about Dragons, right?"

Darkness descended on Balbud's face. He clearly remembered Cale saying that they would be moving together. Cale stopped smiling as he continued on.

"They are quite famous for being selfish and violent."

Raon's shocked voice went off in Cale's head.

– T, that! That is not the case!

"…Of course, there are some Dragons who are not like that."
– That's right! I am a very good Dragon that likes to save things!

Cale held back his sigh at Raon's response before he made eye contact with Balbud, who was staring at him fiercely.

"This Dragon is an Ancient Dragon who cherishes the World Tree and the Elves quite a bit."

Cale stood up from the chair. Balbud, who was turning pale for multiple reasons, could see Cale looking down at him with a gentle expression. Cale fixed his clothes before saying one last thing to Balbud.

"Look forward to it."

The next words were directed at Beacrox.

"Cover his eyes and knock him unconscious."
"Should I paralyze him as well?"
"Yes."

Balbud's eyes were slowly covered with a black cloth. Balbud debated whether he should flail around or scream, however, Cale's indifferent gaze made him stay still. He could not even die on his own accord anymore. He could hear the torturer asking Cale something else once he finished placing the blindfold around his eyes.

"What about a gag?"
"That too."
"Yes sir."
"You take care of everything. Just make sure he cannot kill himself, but that he is not relaxed either. Don't overdo it though. Got it?"
"Yes sir."

A gag was placed inside Balbud's mouth. Cale peeked at Beacrox taking care of Balbud as he turned around.

"Shall we go?"

Pendrick and the Guardian Knight slowly nodded their heads at Cale's casual question. The two Elves were looking at Cale as if he was an alien, but Cale just shrugged his shoulders.

All he did was scare Balbud enough so that he can have a quiet journey until they met with Alberu's aunt, the Dark Elf, Tasha.

Plus, it wasn't like he was lying.

Cale asked Pendrick, who had been standing there with a blank expression until they made eye contact.

"Did you pack your bags?'
"Yes sir."
"Then I guess we can go."

Cale's true new party member was Pendrick, not Balbud.
However, there were people preventing Cale's group from leaving. It was the other Elves of the village that Cale managed to avoid during his stay.

"D, do you really have a Dragon-nim's protection?"

Oooooong-

The half-transparent Elementals were causing a ruckus while flying around in front of Cale's eyes.
Cale looked toward the one who asked him the question.
There were many Elves behind that Elf with the same expression that was full of anticipation.

'What a pain.'

Cale could feel a headache brewing.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]