Chapter 168 – Perhaps (3)

A house blew up and a person went flying.
However, everything else still seemed calm.

This definitely was enough for Cale to consider this place to be weird.

"Mm."

'But more importantly, he's pretty heavy.'
Cale lowered his head down. Raon quickly avoided his gaze.
Raon had grown about 5 centimeters to 1 meter and 15 centimeters, becoming much heavier in the process.

"Achoo!"

He could see that Raon was smiling as he sneezed and avoided his gaze. Cale wanted to shake his head, but held back and stared at a mountain, no, a residence in the distance.

At that moment, he heard Witira's voice.

"The one that just went flying is a Blue Whale."

"Oh."
Cale let out a gasp of admiration.
A Blue Whale. As their name indicates, they are the lifeform with the largest body after the monsters and dragons. (Blue Whale in Korean is literally translated as Great King Whale, which is what the author is referring to when he says as their name indicates. )

Witira smiled gently at Cale's response and started to explain.

"They are the largest among the Whale tribe. They are also the strongest."

Both of their gazes headed toward where the Blue Whale had gone flying.

"Cough, cough!"

They could see someone getting up as they coughed. He did not seem to be hurt at all as he stood up and dusted away the ice particles on his clothes. Cale's expression turned odd.

"That Whale is laughing!"

'Apparently.'
Cale turned his gaze away from the laughing Blue Whale. Witira smiled once they made eye contact.

"He's a bit … special."
"•••I see."

Cale just accepted it as is and changed the topic.

"It is very quiet."

The Whale Village was very quiet.
Although the ice houses were shining brightly in the sun, the architecture itself was simple and the sizes were average.
Cale could hear Witira's calm response.

"Yes. We are on the ocean after all."

'Is that why?'
Cale looked around.

This giant glacier was on top of the vast ocean.
These houses were on top of this giant block of ice.
Cale could see Whales and penguins in the distance.

"Witira, is there a Penguin tribe as well?"

Cale asked with curiosity.

"How did you know? They are very talented in finances. They make the best butlers. All of them wear black outfits and waddle around. I can introduce you to them if you'd like?"

Raon, On, and Hong responded.

"I'm curious about the Penguins!"
"Me too!"
"I want to be friends!"

However, Cale was stern.

"No. I don't want to meet them at all."

He did not want to get to know any more animals.
Cale sternly showed his refusal and turned his gaze to the ocean.

He could just barely make out the Paerun Kingdom in the distance.
The Paerun Kingdom was at the northern tip of the Western continent.
Currently, they were even farther north than the Paerun Kingdom. The large glaciers in this area were part of the Whale tribe's territory.

Cale started to speak.

"I don't see any wyverns?"

He had heard that the Paerun Kingdom's wyvern tamers had come once or twice a week since last October.

That was the reason Witira had to stealthily move the Whale tribe last November when they were dealing with Arm's First Battle Brigade.

Of course, the Whale tribe had no issues with the surveillance from the wyvern tamers.
They were letting them do it.

Cale could see Witira smiling brightly at his question.

"They won't be back for a few days."

She seemed to be certain.

"Is that so?"
"Yes. I saw a wyvern tamer before I headed toward the Ubarr territory. I had a feeling that we had made eye contact, so…"
"So?"
"So I destroyed one of the small glaciers next to me."

Witira seemed to be happy.

"Then I saw him immediately run away. I think he won't be back for a few days because he's scared."

Cale was at a loss for words.

Destroyed a glacier.
It was definitely possible for a small block of ice to break from a Humpback Whale's tail whip.
However, Cale had no way of knowing what she meant by a, 'small glacier.' He hugged Raon even tighter in his arms.

"If you had not told us to go easy on them, Assault Captain Archie or I would have probably visited the Paerun Kingdom already."
The words Witira said without any reservation made Cale hug Raon tighter once again.

'These vicious Whales.'

Whales really were authoritative.
Although Humpback Whales were known for being benevolent, this was because they were the greatest force in the ocean.
How funny and annoying would these giants find the puny humans who use wyverns and ships to spy on them?

The Northern Alliance had been spying on the Whale tribe since last year because Arm was trying to cross over from the Eastern continent, however, they had no reason to spy on them prior to that.

The northern kingdoms were on alert against the Whale tribe hundreds of years ago. However, that slowly disappeared with the passing of time.

'They had forgotten the strength of the Whale tribe.'

The Whale tribe had chosen not to show their strength to humans on the continent for quite a while. The battle against the mermaids was one reason, however, they just had no interest in the affairs of the continent.

The humans who did not know their reason would not continue to be wary of something they had heard was powerful but had never seen for themselves.

Witira pointed out that fact as well.

"I think we have been too quiet."

Cale jokingly responded back.

"Aren't you staying quiet on purpose right now?"

The Whale tribe had heard that Arm was working together with the Empire and the Northern Alliance. The Whale tribe had reasons to suppress the Northern Alliance and wanted to destroy Arm.

"You're right. That is why we are staying quiet."

They were allowing the Paerun Kingdom to spy on them while acting normal.
At least that is what they let the Paerun Kingdom see.

In reality, they were busier than ever before.

"It's been a while."
"It is an honor to get to meet the Whale King once again."

Cale shook Whale King Shickler's hand.
There wasn't much awkwardness even though it had been a while.

"These are the documents you asked for."

Shickler motioned and a Penguin waddled over and handed him a pile of documents. Cale received the documents and handed them to Rosalyn.

"Thank you very much, your majesty."

Of course, he did not forget to thank him.

"For what? I did not do much."

Cale could see that Shickler was smiling even though he was responding that way.

The documents that Shickler had handed him.
These documents were full of information on the ships that the Northern Alliance had made on their coast.

The Northern Alliance was wary of the other kingdoms on the continent spying on them, however, they did not even think about the Whales spying on them.

They were currently in a house that was very simple to be a king's residence.
Shickler leaned back on the couch and leisurely started to speak.

"It has been a while since I've fought a battle like this."
"What do you mean by, 'a battle like this?'"

Cale sniffed the tea that had a scent of seaweed as he asked. Shickler looked toward Cale and responded back.

"A total mess."

Cale had a smile on his face as he put the teacup down.
Shickler did not hide his joy either.
This chain of events had come for them after they had suppressed those annoying mermaids. However, this one was quite entertaining.

"Our Whale tribe. No, probably just myself. I prefer to just fight without thinking. I hate trying to trick each other and all that nonsense."
"Ahem, hem. Your majesty."

The Killer Whale Archie let out some fake coughs toward the Whale King, but Shickler just ignored him. His majestic aura would not disappear because of this statement.
Shickler shared his feelings with Cale.

"But for me to be the one to surprise someone, this is quite entertaining."

Cale added on.

"Isn't it because they are the ones who were trying to do the same to you, your majesty?"
"Haha! You're right. I cannot forgive the ones who tried to use the mermaids to mess with us."

That was why Shickler was entertained these days.

"The Northern Alliance would never even dream about the fact that our Whale tribe has allied ourselves with the other Kingdoms. Most importantly, Arm and the Northern Alliance do not know that we are aware of what they are doing as well as their alliance."
"That is why it will be a total mess for them."

Shickler nodded at Cale's statement.

"I think it will be very entertaining."

Cale did not try to calm Shickler or the other Whales.

Weaker people had a better chance of survival if the strong were excited and stood at the vanguard.

Furthermore, Cale had a lot to earn from these interested individuals.

"What will we need to do for the sea route?"

Cale had come here because of the sea route.

"We have finished the preparations. I have selected a group of Whales who will escort your side to the Eastern continent. Paseton is in charge of them."

Paseton, who had been quietly standing to the side, slightly raised his hand.

"However, your side will need to prepare the ships."

Cale nodded his head and handed over a document.

"This is a document we have prepared from our territory."

Cale was here as an administrator of the territory.
It was because Cale was the most fitting person because this transaction needed to remain a secret and because he had a good relationship with the Whales.

Shickler looked over the details of the document before signing at the bottom.

The sea route would start at the Ubarr territory and follow the Whale tribe's escort through the north to the Eastern continent.

Cale had a short meeting with Shickler in order to discuss the details. Shickler asked him a question once the meeting was over.

"Where are you headed to now?"

There was a reason Shickler had immediately gotten down to business on the day Cale arrived.
Cale had asked for it to be this way. He had no choice as his schedule was packed. The Whale King had agreed after hearing what Cale needed to do in the north.

Cale explained where he would head to early the next morning.

"I plan to head to the Lake of Despair first."
"What?"

Shickler's eyes opened wide. The Penguin secretary by his side seemed shocked as well.

The Lake of Despair.
It was a lake covered in a snowstorm that the Paerun Kingdom's citizens avoided.

This was because the snowstorm was poisonous.

Shickler subconsciously asked.

"You plan to light the lake on fire?"

Witira added on with urgency as well.
Paseton chimed in as well.

"Young master Cale! Don't you know that the World Tree is there?"
"You want to set the World Tree on fire? Isn't that too big of an issue? Even if you are gutsy, that would be a disaster!"

'What is he talking about?'
Cale blankly stared at the Whale siblings before starting to speak.

"No. I plan to put the lake in the capital on fire."
"What?"

Shickler jumped up in shock.

The lake in the capital of the Paerun Kingdom.
Although it was called a lake, this place that did not have a single drop of water had a legend that had passed down through time.

The lake had been made with a god's tears.
The god had left the Paerun Kingdom once the tears had dried up.
They were waiting for the return of the god's tears in this lake.

Cale explained to the Humpback Whale family that was looking at him with blank expressions.

"Wouldn't they be shocked if we showed them god's rage instead of god's tears?"
"Human, you are right! They will be shocked!"

Raon sniffled and agreed with Cale.
Shickler blankly asked.

"…Then why are you heading to the Lake of Despair?"
"Running an errand for someone."

The World Tree and the Elementals next to it. As well as the Elf Village over there.

"…Who?"
Shickler was asking who would send Cale out as an errand boy.
Cale responded back as if it was nothing.

"It is an errand for Eruhaben-nim, a Gold Dragon-nim."

The Whale King peeked over at the Black Dragon Raon before sitting back down.
He then started to speak after a while.

"…Ho. Alright, I suppose you would be able to light the lake in the capital on fire."

A sigh of acceptance flowed out of his mouth.
Cale wiped some snot off of the sniffling Raon's nose with his handkerchief as he asked the question.

"How are the Elves at the Lake of Despair?"

The Whale King immediately responded back.

"They are arrogant and rude."

Cale immediately responded back as well.

"Great."

'Hmm? Great?'
Shickler and the Penguin looked toward Cale with confusion. On the other hand, Cale's group, as well as the Killer Whale Archie and the Whale siblings, seemed normal.

Cale petted Raon's round head as he started to think.

'Who cares since I have two Dragons behind me?'

It didn't matter to Cale whether the Elves were arrogant or not.

* * *

That was why Cale was relaxed once they snuck in through the Paerun Kingdom's northern shores a few days later.
They were at the northernmost shores of the Paerun Kingdom.

There was nobody here.
The reason for that was because of the snowstorm that was whirling nearby.

"It is over there."

The Killer Whale Archie pointed to the snowstorm.
The Whale King Shickler had sent Archie along with Paseton while saying that it was going to be entertaining.

'Someone rude like Archie is best for those rude Elf bastards.'

Cale agreed with that logic and had no issues with Archie coming with him. Of course, Archie was upset and did not want to be here.

"Let's go."

Cale headed toward the largest lake in the north that was frozen 365 days a year.

Meeeeeow.
"How exciting! I'm getting stronger!"

On and Hong were excited while sitting in Cale's arms. They were wagging their tails while thinking about the white poison that was mixed in with the snow.
On's eyes were sparkling as she looked at the snowstorm.

"I think it would be great if I could make my fog look like that!"

A poisonous snowstorm.
Cale's expression was as excited as the red kitten Hong who specialized in poison.

***

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]