Chapter 178 – Tricked? (6)

Choi Han looked as if he was running across a flat plain, even as he jumped across roofs with Cale on his back.

'This is more comfortable than a carriage.'

Cale was admiring Choi Han's extreme stability while enjoying the apple pie that was fed into his mouth every time he opened it.
The smell and texture of apples along with the sweetness. Cale licked his lips after finishing one slice of apple pie and felt more relaxed.

'Much better.'

The only issue with the Fire of Destruction was this extreme hunger that came afterward.

'But this time was much better than the time at the Ten Finger Mountains because I didn't cough up blood-'

He could not finish his thought.

Cough.

Cale coughed, and blood seeped into Choi Han's clothes.

'Damn it.'

Cale realized something after seeing that he was coughing up blood.

'There's always blood when the Vitality of the Heart moves with urgency.'

This was the case whether it was the Plaza Terror Incident, the Ten Finger Mountains incident, or the recent incident in the Empire when he used the shield again. Whenever he used a significant amount of strength, the Vitality of the Heart would urgently start to work in order to restore his health. It always made him let out one bloody cough.

'But I feel so much better.'

It always made him feel better afterward.
Cale was relieved that something terrible like coughing up blood while eating apple pie did not happen and looked toward Raon.

"…What are you doing?"
"…Nothing, human."

Cale could see a piece of apple pie flying away as dust. He could also see the poisonous fog starting to come out of On and Hong's bodies.
He had an iffy feeling about it all as he patted Choi Han's back. Shouldn't he at least apologize for getting blood on him?

"Sorry."
"…It was not a problem."

Choi Han responded after a while. That made Cale think that Choi Han was annoyed that there was blood on his back but had calmed himself down.
Even he would have been angry if it had happened to him.

Cale wanted to move away from the angry Choi Han. He had filled his belly with apple pie, so he could probably walk on his own now.

"I should be okay to get off now. Let's start moving again once you put me down."
"…It is not a problem."

'Not a problem?'
Cale found Choi Han's response to be odd. Choi Han quickly added on.

"It is like moving with a broom on my back. You are lighter than a haystack. Furthermore, I can move more efficiently and stealthily than you can, Cale-nim."

'…Did he just compare me to a broom and a haystack?'
Cale knew that Choi Han was speaking honestly, but he couldn't help but feel upset. Raon shoved another piece of apple pie toward him at that moment and started to speak.

"Listen to Choi Han, weak human."
"But-"

Raon shoved the apple pie in Cale's mouth when he opened his mouth to speak. Cale looked toward Raon with shock, but the Black Dragon had a determined look on his face.

"Human, I don't care what you have to say. Listen to our will this time."

'What does he mean by our will?'
Cale was flabbergasted. However, he did not say what he was originally going to say. What he had planned to say was not different than this, 'will,' that Raon was talking about.

'I don't mind, this makes it easier for me.'

It was relaxing to be carried and fed apple pie as they headed up the hill to the white Duke's Estate.
However, the streets underneath them were becoming completely chaotic.

Cale looked down at the streets.

The streets were busy even though it was night time. The wooden pillar was still burning. However, neither laughter nor music could be heard.

All of them were looking in the same direction.
They were all looking toward the lake of legends. They could not see the lake itself, but they could see the tall pillar of fire that was shooting up toward the sky.

"T, there's a pillar of fire at the l, lake...!"

One of the nobles who was enjoying his meal in a VIP room walked out onto the terrace in shock.

He could not pay attention to the wooden pillar anymore.
The giant pillar of fire that looked as if it could easily decimate this plaza had scared the shit out of him.

He recalled the red thunderbolt that had just descended onto the lake.
It was as if-

"…God."

It seemed to be a god's rage.
The noble's hand started to shake.

'Why would the lake that the god left from start to burn-'

However, he could not finish his thoughts.

"Aaaaaah!"
"F, f, fire!"

He looked down below the terrace. The people who had been shocked by this unexpected event finally started to react.
There were some who were running away and others who kneeled and started to pray. He could see people reacting in many different ways. People may end up getting hurt if the plaza ended up in chaos.

However, the noble was not worried.

Chhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

He could see vapor starting to rise.
The fire on the wooden pillar was put out.

The sound of the fire being put out made people stop moving. The mages had poured water onto the wooden pillar, leaving behind only the charred wooden pillar.

At that moment, a loud voice that was amplified with magic echoed throughout the plaza.
"Fire can be put out."

The noble turned his head to the side.
He had heard some information earlier in the day. Duke Sekka was going to visit the wooden pillar in the plaza.

The Sekka Duchy's current Duke. He was standing on a terrace and speaking to the crowd down in the plaza. The citizens could finally see the Duke.

The current Duke, Rock Sekka, was still known as the, 'Guardian Knight,' to the people. Rock started to speak with a firm expression.

"This is the Paerun Kingdom. Fire cannot defeat our Paerun Kingdom."

The Paerun Kingdom was located in the coldest part of the continent.
That fact actually did not have much to do with putting out the fire. In fact, the fact that it was dry made it more susceptible to fires. However, people started to calm down after hearing the Guardian Knight speak.

"Fire cannot win against water."

Duke Rock pointed to the wooden pillar.

"Everybody listen to the knights. The fire will soon be put out."

The soldiers and knights who had been stationed at the plaza, as well as the Sekka Estate's knights that Duke Rock had brought with him, quickly headed into the plaza and settled the chaos.

Cale started to speak while watching all of this as they moved past the plaza.

"I'm relieved."

He really meant it.
He was a bit shocked as well.

'I didn't know that the current Duke would come to the plaza.'

He knew that there would be a noble to calm the crowd in the plaza.
However, he never expected it to be the Duke himself.

"This makes it quite interesting."

Raon, who had been looking at Cale almost obsessively, started to ask.

"Human, why are you smiling like that again?"

Raon's comment made Choi Han flinch. It was because he could imagine how Cale was smiling by simply listening to Raon's question.
But Cale just ignored that reaction. He had no choice because of the Duke's proclamation.

He had said it in front of the crowd as if it was the truth.

'The fire will soon be put out.'

'Soon?'
The Duke was speaking nonsense.
The pillar of fire would not go out no matter what they do. They will only think about the Empire's alchemy after a few days. They should know about the pillar of fire that the Empire used on Maple Castle since they are in an alliance.

In the end, the Duke will not be able to keep his promise to the people.

Cale was satisfied at this unexpected situation as he looked, not at the Sekka Estate, but somewhere else.

The Paerun Castle.
That was where Guardian Knight Clopeh was currently located.
He was not the only one who had his sights on the castle. Duke Rock was also looking toward the castle.

His son, Clopeh Sekka.
He believed that his son would be heading toward the lake with his people. He was confident that his son would take care of this problem.

The main gates of the castle opened as if it was responding to the Duke's trust.

Screeeech-

The large gate opened as knights on horseback appeared from within the castle. There was a knight holding a white flag in the front with Guardian Knight Clopeh behind him.

"Let's go."

Clopeh gave the short order before quickly heading toward the lake of God's Tears.
He had been taking care of business in the castle before taking a short break while looking toward the brightly lit plaza. However, a red thunderbolt suddenly shot down to the ground and the lake started to burn.

This was not good for Clopeh, who was planning on moving south as soon as spring arrived.

His heart was beating fast even though he looked calm on the surface.

What was going on?

He could see his white hair fluttering in the wind. That made him recall the events of the other day even more.

The white-haired priest he had met a few days ago.
The words that the priest had said were dominating his mind.

The magical priest who had disappeared into thin air. The identity card he had been presented had ended up being a fake. The priest had said the following.

'I pray that the lake fills back up soon.'

Clopeh had thought of something while listening to the priest.

'His gaze seemed to be full of certainty.'

Although the priest said he was praying for it, his gaze had been full of certainty. Clopeh remembered all of the things that the priest had said.

'Everything will be visible in due time.'
'The esteemed god gathered up his gift to the humans and left because of human greed. He never showed any anger.'

Clopeh's hands that were holding the reins flinched.
He then lifted his head up. He needed to stop his horse.

"Woah, woah-"

However, he did not need to do anything. The horse stopped on its own. It just stood there without being able to move any farther. Clopeh quietly observed the situation in front of him.

Clopeh could not say anything about the sight of the lake in front of him.

To be specific, all he could see was the pillar of fire filling the lake.

"How could this-"

The pillar of fire did not extend beyond the lake and just continued to shoot up toward the sky. Looking at this made him think of a single word.

Anger.

Clopeh's heart started to beat wildly. The mages who had been with him soon caught up.

"Captain-nim!"

Clopeh gave an order with a stoic expression.
"All units focus on putting out the fire. Knights, cut the nearby trees and bring over large quantities of dirt. Mages, start to use your magic."
"Yes sir!"

The people who had come from the castle quickly started to move.
They could not leave the fire as is even if it was hard to approach. Clopeh looked toward the pillar of fire for a while before turning his head toward the eastern forest.

This was the forest where the white-haired priest had disappeared. Clopeh looked toward the forest for a long time as if he was a statue.

However, Cale, who had pretended to be the white-haired priest, stopped acting like a sloth and got off from Choi Han's back. He then started to stretch a bit before sighing and responding to the vicious gazes focused on him.

"I told you I'm okay."

"I will guard you."
"I will protect you!"
"I'm going to surround the enemies with poison."
"I'm going to cover their sights with fog."

Cale shook his head at all of their comments before looking toward the white building of the Sekka Estate.
The white building was not dark.

Lights were on throughout the building.
But that was good.

It would be harder to find something in the dark.

"Raon."
"What is it, Human?"
"Turn On and Hong invisible."
"Alright!"

Raon, On, and Hong quickly disappeared.
Cale took out a mask. Choi Han put on his mask as well before sighing and suggesting to Cale.

"Cale-nim."
"What is it?"
"How about we make better outfits for next time?"
"You mean the Arm uniform?"
"Yes Cale-nim."
"But I don't want to."

Choi Han flinched at Cale's response. Cale was smiling like a villain.

"Choi Han."
"Yes Cale-nim."
"Think about it from Arm's point of view. Wouldn't you get angrier at people who are wearing a shabby version of the uniform that people would clearly notice wasn't the real thing while messing around as them than at people with a perfect uniform messing around?"
"…I see."

Cale was leaving the outfits looking shabby on purpose.
That was bound to make Arm even more irritated.
Choi Han remained silent for a few seconds before adding on.

"I am amazed by your deep thought process."
"This is nothing."

Cale casually responded to Choi Han's comment and looked down at his hands.

Swooooooosh-

The wind was pointing toward a single direction. Cale used the Sound of the Wind to head down.
Cale, who had been on top of the Sekka Estate's main building, headed toward an odd direction.

"…Cale-nim, why are you heading that way?"

Choi Han followed with a confused expression.
They were moving away from the lit area.

Cale was heading toward the corner of the Estate, the original building that made the first Duke become known as a simple person.

A small abandoned field. That was what Cale could see.
He was feeling the wind heading toward that field as he started to smile brightly underneath the mask.

– Human, you're smiling right now, aren't you? I know what you are thinking! It is exciting!

Raon accurately guessed Cale's smile like a ghost.
Cale started to move with light steps in order to find a divine item.

Of course, he did have a question.

If the main character of the legend of the God's Tears was a human with an ancient power, what would the divine item be?

The Super Rock chimed in at that moment.

– Are you trying to sacrifice yourself?

Cale stopped smiling. He suddenly felt the chills instead.

***

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]