Chapter 140 – In the Middle of the Night (2)

Alberu agreed with Cale and they all got on the ship. They then immediately went to the teleportation portal on board.
The Ubarr territory's liege bowed toward Alberu.

"Your highness, I pray for your safe journey."
"I'll see you later."

The Ubarr liege bowed once more toward Alberu before smiling at Cale. Cale lightly bowed before watching the mage activate the teleportation portal.

Zzzzzz-

The magic portal started to shake before being activated.

– Human, I'll head over too! I told gramps Goldie to guard you properly! See you in a bit!
– Bye!

Cale just thought to himself that Raon had left before seeing a light start to pour out from the teleportation portal. He could hear Alberu's voice at that moment.

"Cale Henituse."
"Yes, your highness."
"You just need to be your usual self."
"…My usual self?"

Crackle, zzzzzzz-

The long-distance teleportation portal started to vibrate. Cale did not look at how the world was warping around him, instead, he looked toward Alberu.
Alberu was smiling.

"Yes, just act like your usual self."

'If you do that, then good things will happen.'

Alberu did not say that part out loud.
Cale looked toward Alberu and started to think.

'Then I guess I better be quiet as usual.'

Cale's specialty was blankly staring into nothing for hours without thinking about anything.
Paaaaat!

At that moment, the warped surroundings let out a bright light and covered Cale's vision. A few seconds later, Cal could see that the light was starting to disappear.

Once the light disappeared completely, a salty smell filled their noses, along with the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

"You are the second to arrive."

Cale could see Queen Litana smiling at them. Alberu left the teleportation area and approached Litana.

"Queen Litana, it is nice to see you again."
"We haven't seen each other ever since we last met at the Empire. Crown prince Alberu, you still look, mm, tired."

Alberu started to chat with Litana while Cale slowly moved away from the teleportation portal and looked around.

Litana, as well as her personal guards, were maintaining the teleportation portal at the shore. The mages of the Jungle also put some alarms in the sky.

'Is it over there?'

Cale looked toward the shoreline that still showed the damage caused by the fire even after a year. There was a tent with all sorts of magic devices at the center of the shore. It was dark outside, but the magic lights around it made that area bright.

– Human, hi there! I'm here! Did you miss me?

Cale just nodded his head since he couldn't even see Raon. At that moment, he could see someone other than the Jungle warriors heading toward them.

A familiar face was within the crowd.

– Isn't that Rosalyn's younger brother? The one that I drenched with a water bomb?

It was Pen, the fourth and youngest prince of the Breck Kingdom. Pen and Cale made eye contact with each other and Cale started to smile. Pen flinched before turning away.

'Miss Rosalyn isn't with them.'

Cale had not seen any of the other people before, but he quickly found out why Rosalyn was not there.

"The Breck Kingdom's prince John was the first to arrive."

John, the Breck Kingdom's first prince who was leading the people over, looked extremely average. Rosalyn would not be here at the meeting in order to show her support for John.

'Hmm?'

John gently smiled toward Cale. Seeing the Breck Kingdom's first prince suddenly smiling at him, Cale subconsciously smiled back.
John approached him and started to speak.

"I am happy that we have gathered together like this."

His voice was average as well. However, the problem was that this average person was looking at Cale.

"And this gentleman is?"

Cale thought that his turn to speak had come and slowly opened his mouth.

'It is an honor to meet you. My name is Cale Henituse, the son of a noble in a small territory at the Northeastern part of the Roan Kingdom.'

That was the introduction Cale wanted to give.
However, someone else started to speak before Cale and introduced him.

"He is our Kingdom's treasure."

Alberu was the one to do so.

'…Didn't he tell me to act like I usually do?'

How was Cale supposed to do that after receiving such an introduction? Cale hid his anxious gaze and looked toward Alberu. However, an even more shocking introduction soon followed as Litana began to speak.

"He is also the savior of our Jungle. I have never seen such a good and respectful noble with such a strong sense of responsibility before."

'Aigoo.'

Cale gulped after hearing Litana's praises and pretended not to see Alberu looking at him. Alberu was looking at him with an expression that seemed to be saying that he had never heard anything so unbelievable in his entire life.

– Mm. Well, I guess you are a good person, weak human.

As usual, Cale ignored Raon's comments, but thought that he needed to speak up for himself. Everybody had said some interesting things to introduce him, however, nobody had said his name.

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

'My name is Cale Henituse. It is an honor to meet you.'

That was what he wanted to say.

"So you must be that Cale Henituse."

However, prince John was faster. Cale was not surprised to see that John knew his name. However, the fact that John said, 'that,' Cale Henituse was a bit concerning.

"I have heard a lot about you from crown prince Alberu-nim, Queen Litana-nim, and my older sister. Even Pen had a lot to say about you. Nice to meet you."
"It is my honor to meet you."

Cale shook John's hand and respectfully greeted him. He then quickly tried to let go, however, prince John did not seem to have any intentions of letting go of his hand.

The two of them made eye contact.

"My sister seemed to be happy. Thank you."

The corner of Cale's lips slightly went up.

– Human, this guy seems better than that Pen or Ben or whatever that punk's name is!

Cale could see why Rosalyn thought highly of John.
At that moment, they heard the sizzling sound of the teleportation portal again.
It was the arrival of the last guest.

All of them turned their gazes toward the magic circle that supported the teleportation portal. Cale also turned toward the magic circle after letting go of John's hand before a bright light soon flashed and three people appeared.

Harol Kodiang, the Chief of the Whipper Kingdom, appeared along with Toonka's subordinates.
Harol bowed toward the people looking at him.

"Hello, my name is Harol Kodiang, and I am a Chief of the Whipper Kingdom here on Commander Toonka's behalf."

They had all met before at the celebration thrown by the Empire since Harol was always by Toonka's side.
Harol greeted each person before coming to Cale last. Prince John, who was standing next to Cale started to speak.

"Chief Harol, this is your first time meeting young master Cale, right?"

John spoke in a respectful tone to Harol, as they were here to work together and not to fight against each other.

"No, we have met before."
"Hmm? You know each other?"

John did not know about Cale and Toonka's relationship. John could see that Harol had a genuine smile on his face.

"Yes. Young master Cale is someone that I respect."

"Ho."

John let out a quiet gasp. Cale looked toward the hand in front of him with an indifferent expression as Harol started to speak.

"Young master Cale-nim, it has been a while. I feel like I am seeing a close friend that I have not seen for a long time."
"…Nice to see you again, Chief Harol."
"Young master-nim, please speak casually like you usually do."
"…Sure."

Cale nodded his head and let go of Harol's hand. He could then see Toonka's subordinates who came with Harol.

"Nice to see you again, young master-nim!"
"Young master-nim, I hope that you have been well!"

The big-bodied Whipper citizens bowed ninety degrees to greet him. Cale looked toward Harol.

"Commander Toonka-nim instructed them to be respectful toward his friend."

Cale internally clicked his tongue after seeing Harol smiling at him. He then turned to look at Alberu.
Alberu was looking at him with a look of disbelief.

However, Alberu then quickly gathered everyone's attention and started to speak.

"Let us get started. The night is short."

They needed to finish their meeting before the night was over.
Litana pointed to the tent and the leaders of the Whipper, Breck, and Roan Kingdoms headed toward the tent with just one guard each.

Cale took a step back as he watched them all walk over to the tent. Raon asked him a question.

– Weak human, are you not going?

'Why would I go?'
Cale had something else to do. More importantly, why would he get involved in a conversation that involved the heads of their respective kingdoms?

The big issues were already discussed in advance. They were just going to chat and discuss the fine details of everything. Cale didn't want to be a part of something like that.

'His highness will take care of everything.'

Cale thought that he could just sit back as the provider of the meeting location.
Yes, that was what he thought.

"Cale Henituse."

However, Alberu was calling for him.

"Yes, your highness?"
"Are you not coming in?"

Alberu had a smile on his face as he was telling Cale to hurry up with his eyes.

– See! Human, I knew they would call for you!

Cale could not let out a sigh like he wanted to do. He approached Alberu, who was waiting for him outside of the tent.
Both of them had a smile on their faces that seemed to show the level of trust in each other. Cale spoke very quietly as if he was a ventriloquist speaking through a puppet.

"Didn't you tell me to be my usual self?"
"Yes. Stand behind me and do that."

Alberu said that before entering the tent while Cale turned around. Eruhaben was standing there like a proper knight.

"Haben."
"Yes, my lord."
"Stand guard right outside the door and quickly enter if I call for you. Got it?"
"…Yes sir. I understand."

Pat. Pat.

Cale patted Eruhaben on the shoulder before entering the tent.
Eruhaben felt odd while looking at Cale going inside of the tent.
Cale definitely acted as if their relationship was the same as a proper lord and his knight, but something felt odd.

Eruhaben did not know the look Raon had on his face as he followed Cale in while retaining his invisible state. Raon was looking at Eruhaben like a reliable guard.

* * *

Cale stood before Alberu and thought to himself.

'I knew that it would be like this.'

The meeting was pretty dull for the first hour.

First, they all agreed on the fact that they would work together to fend off the Empire and the Northern Alliance. Prince John of the Breck Kingdom was the first to speak.

"Based on what I heard from a reliable source, the Northern Alliance is almost done constructing the ships to cross the ocean on the Eastern side. Since summer is almost over, they will finish the ships in Fall. There is no way that the North will move in the Winter, so they will cross over as soon as Spring arrives. The Roan Kingdom and the Breck Kingdom need to prepare for their arrival.

Harol started to speak.

"However, we need to focus on the Empire right now. They have not used the dead mana bombs yet, but we do not know when they may use them. Shouldn't we reduce their forces while we can?"
"I agree. We need to reduce the Empire's strength first."

Litana agreed with Harol before adding on.

"We also need to find a way to defend against their Alchemy."
"So first."

Harol pressed down on the table with his finger as he continued to speak.

"Shouldn't we find a way for us to defeat the Empire?"

Litana and John closed their mouths for a moment.
In the end, the Whipper Kingdom was asking for support to defeat the Empire.
However, it would be complicated if the Whipper Kingdom had a major victory like that as well.

The Breck Kingdom was working with the Roan Kingdom to increase the number of mages under their command. In such a situation, they could not let the Whipper Kingdom, a kingdom that detests magic, to grow stronger, even if they were currently allies.

The Jungle did not have any land connected to the Roan or Breck Kingdoms. However, they were connected to the Whipper Kingdom and were worried that the Whipper Kingdom would then turn their attention toward the Jungle if they got much stronger. As such, the Jungle also did not wish for such a situation to happen.

Litana was debating what the best response would be before realizing that one side had been very quiet.

The person who had gathered them together, the Roan Kingdom's prince Alberu, was being too quiet.

Litana was not the only one to feel this way. Litana, John, and Harol all turned their gazes to one side of the table.
Harol started to speak.

"Your highness, you seem to be very quiet."

Alberu, who seemed to fit the title of prince well with his blonde hair and blue eyes, gently smiled toward them.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His index finger was tapping on the table.
Alberu was waiting for something.
He then slowly started to speak.

"I have a lot I want to say, however."

Tap.

He tapped on the table once more before his index finger rested on the table. Alberu then continued to speak.

"Young master Cale, do you not have anything you want to say?"

Seeing Alberu casually addressing Cale made everyone looked toward Cale. They could see that Cale looked even more relaxed than Alberu.

Even though Cale should know that everyone other than Alberu, who was sitting in front of him, was looking at him, Cale still seemed very calm as he started to speak.

"I do not really have anything to say, your highness."

It was the truth.
Cale had nothing to say. He was just looking at the clock hanging on the wall.
At that moment, Raon started to speak in his mind.

– Human, they are coming.

Cale started to smile.

"They are about to arrive."

Alberu started to smile after hearing Cale's words.
The moment he had been waiting for was not far off.

"Arrive?"

Litana looked toward Cale with confusion. The rest of them looked confused as well.
It was at that moment.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep- Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-

A magic alarm started to go off.
Everyone sitting around the table turned pale except for Alberu and Cale.

The entrance of the tent flapped open and one of the Jungle's warrior rushed in. Litana quickly started to shout.

"What is going on?!"
"Your majesty the alarm installed in the ocean went off."

The alarm they had installed a couple hundred meters away from the shore had gone off.
It meant that there was someone or something headed their way.

Litana started to look worried.

"What kind of ship is it? Can you see a flag on it? How many ships are there?"

She started to ask a lot of questions while prince John stood up from his seat with his guard moving right next to him. As for Harol, he was looking at Cale.
The warrior started to speak in that moment of chaos.

"It is not a ship."
"What can it be if it is not a ship?"
"That, umm, they are whales!"

Silence filled the previously chaotic tent.

Beeeeeeeeep-

The magic alarms were still going off as the warrior continued to speak.

"Very large whales are headed toward us!"

Someone else started to speak after the warrior.
It was Cale.

"They are finally here."

Plop.

Cale headed toward the entrance of the tent and lifted the flap up. He could see the ocean as well as the warriors getting into a formation along the shoreline. Their gazes were headed toward the ocean.

Splaaaash, splaaaaaash-

Two large whales and one small whale could be seen heading toward them.

Screeeeech.

The sound of a chair being moved could be heard as Alberu stood up.

He looked around at the people inside the tent before starting to speak.

"There is a secret organization working with the Empire and the Northern Alliance."

'What?'
'Huh?'

The sudden information thrown at them in this chaotic moment made everybody else anxious. Harol, who had been quiet, started to shout.

"What are you talking about?"
"Prince Alberu, what do you mean by a secret organization?"

John asked as well. The whales were not the problem. However, Alberu pointed outside the entrance.
Their gazes followed his finger toward the ocean.

Psssssssssssssssh-

The large humpback whale in the front let out a large amount of water vapor.
Once the vapor disappeared, a person suddenly appeared and easily jumped over the warriors standing by the water.

"Huh?"

A confused warrior shouted as the person landed behind them.

Tap.

The person who landed with a light noise pushed back her blue hair.

"…The Whale tribe?"

Someone murmured in confusion.

The Whale tribe was known as the strongest Beast tribe, but also was also known as a tribe that was difficult for humans to see. Many people were thinking that this must be someone from the Whale tribe.

The appearance of these unexpected guests had caused everyone to be silent. However, someone inside the tent started to speak.

"Witira, long time no see."

It was Cale Henituse, who walked out of the tent.

The three Whales were naturally Witira, Paseton, and the Killer Whale, Archie.

All three of them had arrived on land.
Witira, who was in front, started to smile and greeted Cale back.

"Long time no see indeed, young master Cale."

Cale nodded his head at her greeting and looked toward Alberu inside the tent.

"I have invited the future Queen of the Whales as you instructed, your highness."

Alberu and Cale's smiles became thicker as they looked toward each other.

This meeting between the four kingdoms and one tribe could not help but go the way that Alberu and Cale wanted it to go.

***

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]