Chapter 162 – Somehow Once Again (2)

The people who were rushing out of the entrance suddenly stopped.
They only started to walk again once they were pushed forward by the people behind them.

However, their gazes continued to be focused on one area. One of the Roan Kingdom's envoy members started to speak.

"Young master Cale-"

His gaze was locked on Cale.

It soon started to follow the strand of silver light that started from Cale's hands. He could feel his heart beating fast. He had seen that silver light before.

It was during the Plaza Terror Incident. He remembered seeing this same light at that time.
This administrator was there during that incident because he worked for the palace.

He recalled the shield and large wings that had covered the citizens of the Roan Kingdom.

The administrator's gaze moved up to the sky.

"…Ah."

He could see a faint silver light above his head. The tips of the large wings were currently above his head.

This extremely large pillar was currently being supported by a single shield.
It was preventing the tower from falling on their heads.

But that was not the only thing it was doing.
It was protecting the people underneath the tower that would have been buried if the shield was not there.

'I survived.'

Those two words were currently what the administrator was thinking about.
Someone started to speak at that moment.

"… I cannot … hold this much longer."

It was Cale Henituse's voice.

Alberu came to his senses at Cale's comment.

He looked at the large shield that was supporting the tower.
The wings stretching out of the shield were holding onto the tower and preventing it from falling on top of the people.
They were all focused on the bright shield that they had forgotten that this was all being done by a single person.

Alberu turned his head.

Imperial Prince Adin.
He could see him in the distance.

The Imperial Prince was staring fiercely at Cale. However, his expression changed once he made eye contact with Alberu.

The crown prince could see Adin's changing expression.

He seemed to be amused.

Although there was a frown on his face, his eyes showed amusement when a part of the palace was breaking and both the Empire's nobles and a foreign kingdom's envoy might die at any moment.
Others might not have noticed it because of his frown, however, Alberu could clearly see it.

Alberu's gaze turned deep. However, the two of them were currently making eye contact. Alberu maintained the urgent expression on his face as he started to speak.

"We do not have much time."
"I understand. Duke Huten!"
"Yes sir!"

Duke Huten ran toward the palace entrance as the Imperial Prince gave an order.

"Order the mages and alchemists to get here as quickly as possible! Now!"
"Yes, your highness, I will do as you commanded!"

The knights started to move quicker than before.

Alberu also gave orders to the people around him.

"Go and help the remaining envoy members quickly escape. Help the other nobles, no, the citizens of the Empire escape as well."

There were more servants, maids, musicians, and cooks than nobles still inside the palace. Alberu recalled the Imperial Prince's gaze and focused on the citizens rather than the nobles.

He then gave an order to some of the knights as well.

"Go guard young master Cale!"
"Yes, your highness!"

Some of the knights quickly rushed toward Cale after hearing Alberu's command. Alberu then quietly gave an order to Ben and Kora, two of the Dark Elves that were in disguise.

"Ben, focus on what happens to the servant that jumped onto the pillar, as well as the Imperial Prince."
"Yes, your highness."
"Kora, go to young master Cale's bedroom and let them know what happened."

He did not see Cale's guard knights with him. That probably meant that Cale had given them something to do.
Alberu thought about Choi Han, the sword master. He could not seem to get Imperial Prince Adin's gaze out of his mind.
That was why he had given this command to Kora.

"… Should I go bring Choi Han-nim?"
"No. Just let him know what happened."
"Yes, your highness."

The two secretaries started to move.
Alberu walked over to Cale's side. Daltaro cautiously started to speak while watching Alberu approach.

"Your highness, please head somewhere sa-"
"It's fine."
"I understand."

Daltaro gave an order to his subordinates and stood behind the crown prince.
Alberu then looked toward Cale.

He could see that Cale's face was extremely pale.

'Stupid idiot.'

Alberu started to speak to this smart yet stupid man.

"Hold on a little longer. The Empire's mages will be here soon. People are quickly escaping."

Huuuuu.
Cale let out a deep sigh.
The Kingdom's knights flinched after hearing Cale's deep sigh.

They could see Cale's pale face as well as the tips of his fingers that were turning white. He did not seem to be doing well.

They then recalled what had happened during the Plaza Terror Incident. One of the knight's clenched his sword tightly.

'He coughed up blood. He then fell over.'

He staggered before falling down and coughing up blood.
After that, he required a long period of recovery.

The people around Cale started to look worried.

However, Cale's mind was quite loud at that moment.

– Human, are you okay? Does it hurt? At least you are not coughing up blood.
– Human, my mind is on fire right now! We are saving people again! Human, you are weak, but still very great!

'So annoying.'
Maybe Cale was affected by the thought of saving someone once again, however, he started to frown at Raon's loud ramblings.

– Human, stop using your strength if it is tiring! Do not overdo it! I can do it myself!

'What would the other people say if you did it on your own?'
The sword master and the Imperial Prince would question the situation if the tower continued to stay up even without the shield and the wings.

'The sword master is probably already thinking that my ancient power is very strong.'

Raon's formless mana, as well as Cale's ancient power, were both different than magic. Since they were both powered by nature, Duke Huten, the sword master, would have a difficult time figuring it out.

'It's problematic if he thinks my ancient power is very strong.'

Cale was worried that Duke Huten would overestimate his ancient power.
That was why Cale was using the Indestructible Shield at the maximum level. Thanks to that, the silver light was brighter and clearer than ever before.

But this made it difficult for Cale to maintain it.

He actually needed to use the Vitality of the Heart to help him this time.
It was different than when he used it for a short duration to defend against the magic bombs in the plaza.

"…Young master Cale."

Daltaro could see the sweat on Cale's forehead. He could feel the toll these few minutes were taking on the young noble's endurance.
He heard some noise at that moment. Daltaro instantly figured out what was going on.

"The m, mages and alchemists are here!"

He reported to the crown prince, who quickly turned toward the palace entrance to see Duke Huten and one of the envoy's knights sending out some signals.

Half of the mages used magic on the ground by the tower.

Ooooooooong-

The Alchemists threw an unidentifiable liquid on the ground. The other half of the mages who were in the sky created a shield.

Clang-

Twenty mages cast a shield on top of Cale's shield. At the same time, the ground by the tower shot up to the air.
The Alchemists and mages had worked together to create this dirt pillar.
The pillar continued to shoot up farther into the air while making loud noises in the process. The pillar stopped once it supported Cale's shield.

The leader of the Alchemists started to shout.

"Start the second support process!"

The Alchemists started to put odd-looking black ropes around the pillar. The weak dirt pillar started to become sturdier as more and more black ropes were placed on top of it.

A mage and Duke Huten shouted toward Cale, who was watching what they were doing.

"Ready to support!"
"Young master Cale, you can stop now!"

The Duke shouted quite loudly so that everybody heard the person's name. Their eyes all turned toward the individual.

Pssssssssss-

The silver light that had been shining even brighter than the Sun Palace quickly disappeared.

Boom!
The tower crashed onto the shield and the dirt pillar supporting the shield.

"Ugh."
"Ugh."

All of the mages that had cast the shield let out groans. Only the high-grade mages let out lighter groans.
Hearing them groan made them all recall what had just happened.
Cale had been standing firm without letting out a single groan. Their gazes could not help but turn back toward Cale.

"Cough!"

Cale covered his mouth with both hands as he coughed. That cough was so strong that his entire body staggered forward.

"Young master Cale!"

Daltaro called out to him in shock.
He could see blood in Cale's hands.

However, Cale's body did not fall to the ground.

"Cale, are you okay?"

Alberu supported Cale and prevented him from falling. His gaze was focused on Cale whose head was looking down.

Cale started to think with his head down.

'So refreshing.'

His palms were tingling more than last time due to the longer duration, however, his body felt better after a single cough.

'The Vitality of the Heart really is the best.'

Cale was thinking that the Vitality of the Heart was the best ancient power he had obtained. He heard a voice in his head at that moment.

– Why do you not sacrifice yourself?

He quivered after hearing the Super Rock's voice. He then flinched after hearing what came next.

– … I just wanted to destroy the Empire.
It was the Black Dragon, Raon.

– However, I will hold back since you seem to be in a better condition than when you used the fiery thunderbolt.

'…I need to let Raon know that I am fine as soon as I get back to my room.'
Cale thought that Raon would know by now that he was fine, even if he was coughing up blood. However, he continued to be amazed by Raon's vicious reaction each time he got hurt.

'Does he just react this way because he sees blood?'

Cale could not fathom what was going through the five-year-old Dragon's mind. Cale then heard Alberu's voice.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Alberu could not hide his concern seeing Cale continue to shrug his shoulders. That fearless Cale Henituse shaking was difficult to accept.

Of course, Cale had been shaking because of the Super Rock and Raon's comments, but everybody else just thought that it was the recoil from using the power.

Alberu started to frown after seeing that the punk who always responded to him sarcastically being quiet. He then heard Cale's weak voice.

"The envoy, ahem."

His voice did not sound normal as he had just let out a loud cough. However, he soon started to speak normally.

"Is everyone in the envoy okay?"

Cale slowly raised his head.
The healthy yet slightly hungry Cale could see the frowning crown prince. That expression made Cale stiffen up.

"…Did they get hurt?"

Alberu started to respond to Cale's question.

"You cra, haaaa."

'What was he trying to say?'
Cale felt like the crown prince was about to call him a crazy bastard before stopping after seeing all of the eyes that were currently focused on them.
Alberu helped Cale sit down on the ground before handing him a handkerchief.

"Wipe the blood off of your mouth first."
"Ah."

Cale quickly started to wipe away the blood that he had forgotten about as he was not in pain. That made the crown prince frown even more as he continued to speak.

"There are some with minor injuries, but everybody is fine overall."
"That is a relief."

Alberu brushed his eyes with one hand while looking at Cale respond while wiping the blood on his mouth.
Cale did not care as he looked around. Only Alberu's personal knights and Daltaro was around them.

Cale started to speak.

"Your highness, what do you think about going to the mid-rank or low-rank nobles right now?"

The crown prince checking on the mid-rank and low-rank nobles of the other princes' factions would make their loyalty start to waver.
There was a high chance that those nobles would consider the crown prince to be a larger umbrella than the other princes.

Alberu was at a loss for words after hearing Cale's comment. He subconsciously started to shout.

"Look at your condition before saying something like that! You stu- haaaa!"
'It sounded like he was about to call me stupid this time.'
Cale continued to sit on the ground as he wiped off the blood and looked up at Alberu. Daltaro interjected into the conversation.
He was extremely serious.

"Your highness, our young master Cale is correct. Please leave young master Cale to us. You need to go console the others right now. I will do my best to send young master Cale safely back to his room."

Cale felt iffy for some reason after hearing Daltaro's comment but decided to stay quiet after seeing Alberu sigh before nodding his head.

"… Yes. I will do that."

Alberu agreed and looked as if he was going to turn toward the direction of the rest of the envoy. However, he did not do so, and instead reached his hand out toward Cale.

"Can you stand up?"

Cale stood up instead of answering Alberu's question. The knights clenched their swords after seeing Cale stand up on his own. Cale only shook Alberu's hand after getting up.
He then approached Alberu. Alberu hugged him as if it was normal.

This made people recall the scene where Cale and the crown prince hugged after the Roan Kingdom's Plaza Terror Incident. The knights and Daltaro took a step back before suppressing their emotions.
They had never expected to feel those emotions in a foreign Empire. Watching them hug made them feel like they could relax now.

Cale quietly spoke so that only Alberu could hear.

"Your highness, you will ask the Empire for a reward, right? Let's take everything that we can. Oh, and I am glad that you are okay."
"Ha, haha-"

The crown prince let out a laugh.

'He hasn't changed.'

Glad that you are okay.
Cale meant it when he said that.
That was why Alberu had no choice but to trust Cale.

He also responded back in a quiet voice so that only Cale could hear.

"No need to ask me something so obvious."

Cale let out a quiet chuckle. It was because of the emotions in Alberu's answer that he was going to take everything that they could.
His voice held both relief that the envoy was safe as well as anger that they had to experience something like this.

This was why Cale could not help but push for the crown prince to be the next king of the Roan Kingdom.

Furthermore, the sight of the Roan Kingdom's crown prince and the son of a noble hugging each other and laughing in relief was something that would capture people's attention.

"Young master Cale, are you okay?"

However, Cale and Alberu's gazes toward the approaching Imperial Prince Adin were sharp.
Cale was prepared to act like an injured noble of justice once again.

***

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]