Chapter 181 – I Did Pick It Up … But (3)

That was why Cale was anxious.
Raon placed his short paw on top of Cale's shoulder.

"Human, this is worth thousands, no, it is worth over ten thousand apple pies! Look at the jewel!"

His other short paw pointed toward the jewel on the crown, but Cale continued to frown. Raon tilted his head from side to side in confusion as he continued to speak.

"Your aura is flowing out of this crown! I'm sure that it will be beneficial for you! The weak you needs to get stronger!"

'Why the hell would I want to get stronger?'
Cale grumbled as he continued to frown after hearing Raon's words.

"I don't need it. Won't you be by my side anyway?"

'And Choi Han, On, and Hong as well. I have so many people to take advantage of strength-wise, so why would I get stronger and spill my own blood?'
Cale looked toward Raon after not hearing a response.

Flinch.
The Black Dragon flinched at Cale's gaze before starting to shout.

"Of course I will be here! I will not forgive you if you go somewhere without me!"

'He doesn't change whether he is four or six years old.'
Cale pushed away Raon who was extremely close and closed the box before putting it in his bag. He didn't even touch the crown.

'This is just baggage.'

Cale decided to show this crown to Eruhaben after dealing with the Caro Kingdom business and returning home.
But he did have a question.

'Why does Arm have this crown?'

Now that he thought about it, the people who took dead mana from the Black Swamp were members of Arm as well.
Cale started to get annoyed for some reason.

It was because he suddenly thought about something.

'Would Arm really give the Marquis a special animal like a Dragon just as part of a deal?
Why would those bastards who were aligned with the Empire and the Northern Alliance value networking with a noble from a small kingdom like the Roan Kingdom?'

"Human, why are you frowning so much? You look like a squashed apple pie!"

Cale frowned even more at Raon's comment as he continued to think.

'What if the secret organization was planning on taking the Dragon away once he grew up?'

Arm would definitely be capable of doing that.
When he thought about it that way, this crown, and even Raon, were probably part of a sinister plot. Cale started to mumble in annoyance.

"…These bastards, I thought I was a terrible person, but aren't they even worse?"

Raon's eyes opened wide at Cale's quiet mumbling.

"Human! You may be a scammer, but your foundation is firm and good! Do not think that you are a bad person!"
'Haaaa.'

Cale held back his sigh after hearing Raon's nonsense. He ignored Raon, who kept glancing at him, and opened the door.

Click.
Raon immediately turned invisible and became shocked at Cale's next words.

"Blow this room away."

'Blow it away?'
The Black Dragon's wings fluttered.

"No. Don't do it."

Cale thought about destroying this place before changing his mind.
The staff working at the Duke's Estate did not commit any wrongdoings. Cale slammed the door open.
He could see a mess outside of the door.

"Ugh!"

The Lion Edrich's shoulder twisted after being hit by Choi Han's scabbard.
Gronica used that moment to flick her whip toward Choi Han, but the worn-out whip was easily sliced in half.

Plop.

A shout followed the sound of the whip falling.

"Ugh!"
"I, I can't see anything!"

One of the knights plopped down onto the ground after losing his sense of direction. He tried to touch the ground with his hand.

"Ugh!"
"Gasp!"

The knight quickly took his hand off of his comrade who was shaking on the ground from paralysis. He heard a laughter-like meowing at that moment.

"Meeeeeow."

"Oo, oooo-"

The knight quickly covered his mouth. He did not want to take in any poison.
The hallway on the fifth floor was covered in fog, making them unable to see anything.

However, the fog created a path for Cale. Choi Han gently landed next to Cale as he walked.

"You're back?"

That was followed by the Lion, Edrich's shout.

"Return the item you have stolen! It is not something for you classless bastards!"

The fog was not a big issue for people at Edrich or Gronica's level. They waded through the fog and rushed toward Cale and Choi Han.
Edrich was covered in injuries while Gronica's left shoulder was bleeding. Cale looked toward Choi Han.

"It was a light workout."

Choi Han was smiling without a single scratch on him.

'This crazy bastard. He definitely has the main character traits.'

Cale sighed while looking at Edrich who was running toward them.

The two of them made eye contact and Edrich started to shout reflexively.

"You crazy bastards! Do you not know who we are? Give it back if you don't want to die!"

These bastards continued to ruin the plans of his organization.
Edrich thought that they would never attempt to do such a thing if they knew about the organization.

It was at that moment.
Edrich could see the masked man's eyes turning into the shape of crescent moons.

"It sounds more like you are the one who wants to die."

It was a calm voice. However, that calm voice made Edrich stop moving. Gronica also flinched and stopped.

Their animal instincts were telling them something.

'Danger. You may die.'

She stopped and observed the one person who was standing calmly without a drop of blood on him.
Choi Han turned his gaze toward that person as well.

Cale Henituse.
He had felt strong charisma from this man every so often.

However, he had never felt such a strong aura coming from Cale until this moment.

'How could a weak person do this?'

How could such an aura come from someone who has never fought for his life or even picked up a weapon to fight in the first place?
Choi Han kept his question to himself as he looked at Cale.
Cale's mind was quite loud right now.

– Human! Why…why do you look so strong? You seem as strong as my front paw, no, as strong as one of my wings!

Cale ignored Raon's voice as he used the Dominating Aura without any restraint. He looked toward the two Lions looking at him and started to speak.

"You don't know who we are, do you?"

The Lions flinched.
Edrich recalled what he had just said.

'You crazy bastards! Do you not know who we are? Give it back if you don't want to die!'

He gulped.
The masked man in front of him was difficult to approach, just like that esteemed person. Unlike the calm man, Edrich felt the tips of his fingers starting to shake.
The casual voice and the gaze of the man that seemed to be looking down at him even though they were standing eye to eye left a deep impression on Edrich.

"Who do you think has allowed you to still be alive?"

Cale looked toward the Lions who could not answer as he continued to speak.

"You don't know the danger of things you do not know about."

Things you do not know about.
That was the truth. Edrich did not know about the people in front of him. He finally got a sense of what was going on.
They were stronger than him. There were Cats who were as strong as the Fog Cat Tribe that he knew was the strongest of the Cats.
Most importantly, there was this mysterious man in front of him that was looking down at him.

'Why am I still alive?'

Edrich slowly figured out the answer to that question. The expression of the second prince of the Lions who had not known the definition of fear slowly, yet quickly changed.

The masked man started to speak as they made eye contact again.

"You look scared."

The masked man was laughing.
He then turned around in a relaxed manner, but Edrich could not get himself to charge at the masked man.

His back seemed to be as large as Mount Tai.

Choi Han quietly observed Cale who was heading to the end of the hallway. Cale whispered an order to him as he walked by.

"That brown broom head, cut off that hay-like hair. I think short hair will look good on him."
"…Excuse me?"

Choi Han asked in confusion before making eye contact with Cale's eyes that seemed to be full of anger and annoyance.

"…I understand. I will come after finishing the deed."

Choi Han said goodbye to Cale, who was moving away using Raon's flight magic, before rushing toward the Lions. Cale looked at the scared Edrich's eyes before floating up from the residence.

"Aaaaah! My, my precious hair! My golden hair!"

Edrich, whose hair looked to be a mess after being cut by Choi Han, who had zero fashion sense, shouted in fear and panic. Cale could hear Edrich's shouts coming from behind him.

"Human, you are finally smiling!"

Cale ignored Raon's comment as he started to clap.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The sound of his clapping was buried by another noise.

Baaaang!

The tall wall was broken by Archie's punch, Paseton's sword, and Rosalyn's magic.

"What wonderful allies."

Cale clapped while watching the Sekka Estate's tall wall that had stood for close to 1,000 years slowly crumbling down.
He then started to speak using Raon's amplification magic.

"Withdraw."

Everybody flinched at the voice that could be heard at the Duke's Estate, as well as the nearby noble district. Archie noticed Duke Rock Sekka coming back at that moment and scoffed one last time.

"Is this wall 1,000 years old? No wonder it breaks so easily! Ahahahahahahaha!"

He then retreated.
The rest of the group retreated at that moment as well.
The group quickly disappeared from the Sekka Estate through their predetermined escape routes.

A moment later, Guardian Knight Clopeh, who had taken his time to return because of his faith in Arm and the knights of the Estate, could not help but frown.

* * *

"So much happened in a single day."
"Right? Who would have expected a thief to hit the Duke's Estate?"

The citizens of the Paerun Kingdom could only peek toward the pillar of fire while chatting about the Duke's Estate. The person he was chatting with quickly added what he knew.

"I heard that it was not just any ordinary thief."
"Really?"
"My cousin works in one of the noble residences by there. He said that the Duke's Estate's walls and the villa itself were all destroyed. You think a mere thief would be able to do that?"
"Aigoo, that sounds like a big deal."
"Seriously! They also destroyed the wyvern sculptures of the Sekka Estate!"
"They destroyed the sculptures? How? Aigoo, the Guardian Knight household is in trouble this time."

Another citizen who had been quietly listening to their conversation grumbled and added on.

"Is that really the biggest problem right now?"

The two people shut up after hearing that question.
All three of their gazes headed toward God's Tears Lake. ( TL: I guess that is now the official name. )

They could see the tall pillar of fire.

The fire that the Duke claimed would be put out quickly was still burning brightly. The size of the pillar made it warm even if they were a distance away.
In fact, it was so warm that they felt their palms starting to become sweaty.

One of the people started to speak.

"… Is it safe?"

He was asking if the capital was safe.
The fire was not spreading past the lake.
However, he was still worried.

A fire was not going out in this cold land.
They had never seen such a pillar of fire before. This unknown fire was making them feel uncomfortable.

This was the same for Guardian Knight Clopeh as well.

"Captain-nim!"

One of his subordinates ran over to Clopeh, who was standing here watching the pillar of fire without even tending to the restoration of the Estate. It was the subordinate he had ordered to search the eastern forest.

"What is g- what is in your hand?"

Clopeh, who was originally going to ask, 'what is going on?' stiffened up and looked at the item in his subordinate's hand. The subordinate started to speak with an awkward expression.

"We found it at the center of the eastern forest. It seems to be from the person you were looking for."

Clopeh received the clothes from the subordinate.

It was a white priest robe.

There was no crest on it, but it was still luxurious yet simple. It was something you could purchase anywhere.

However, it held a different meaning for Clopeh.

Both he and his subordinate had seen this robe a few days ago.

The white-haired priest.
This was definitely the outfit that the priest Clopeh had met a few days ago had been wearing. Guardian Knight Clopeh looked toward his subordinate.
"This wasn't there when you searched a few days ago, was it?"

They had not seen this robe in the forest when they had initially searched through the eastern forest a few days ago.
Clopeh looked toward the pillar of fire and opened up the robe.

Plop.

A small piece of paper fell out of the robe.
Clopeh looked at the fallen piece of paper.

< The god has not forgotten. >

He heard his subordinate's voice.

"Ah, only I read the note. It was weird, so I brought it over right away."

Clopeh slowly picked up the piece of paper.
There was more written on it.

< The lake will eventually flow to become a river. >

Clopeh started to speak.

"How odd. Are you the only one who read it?"
"Yes sir. I remembered you mentioning for us to be discreet, so only I read the note. Isn't it very odd?"
"It is. Anyway, good job. Let me know if anything else comes up."
"Yes sir!"

The subordinate bowed before rushing back to the forest. Clopeh watched him leave before throwing the piece of paper toward the fire.

Crackle-

The paper disappeared into the fire.
Clopeh started to whisper quietly, only loud enough for his trusted subordinate next to him to hear.

"Kill him."
"…Yes sir."

The trusted subordinate understood that this was the last day of that subordinate's life as he bowed toward Clopeh.
He didn't know why Clopeh told him to kill the man, but his job was to do as he was told.

Clopeh ignored the look on his trusted subordinate's face as he looked toward the pillar of fire.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

His heart was beating fast.

'The lake will eventually flow to become a river.'

'…How did he know my family's secret?'

Was this man really the messenger of a god?

Clopeh had believed that he was the one to receive the god's will. Only the successor of the Sekka Household learned about the truth of the Paerun Kingdom.

He recalled the other piece of paper he had found while tracking down the white-haired priest.

< Only a new legend can be created to continue the glory. >

Clopeh had believed himself to be the main character of that legend.
He looked toward the pillar of fire that seemed to be reaching the sky. The citizens were whispering to each other that it was god's rage, however, the leaders were suspecting the Empire's alchemy and looking into it.

'The god has not forgotten.'

Clopeh recalled the information on the note he just burned and tried to calm himself down.
This was how he had understood that sentence.

'The god has not forgotten about his wrath.'

Clopeh looked toward the pillar of fire before closing his eyes.
He could not calm down.

***

Cale opened his eyes.
He was currently back in the Roan Kingdom. He had to use multiple teleportation magic circles before riding on a carriage to get to the meeting spot.

Click.

Someone opened the carriage door from the outside.

"Young master-nim, you've gotten so thin."

Ron welcomed Cale.

"Young master-nim, it has been a long time!"

And the assassin Freesia who sculpted the devil's guard dogs sculpture welcomed Cale as well.
Cale asked Ron a question.

"Is everything ready?"

Rosalyn and Choi Han had already returned to the residence.
Raon was still with him as expected.

"Meeeeow."
"Meow."

On and Hong were here as well.

The three of them, as well as Ron, and the information guild led by Freesia, as well as Vice Captain Hilsman who should have arrived at Antonio Gyerre's territory by now, this was the group for this next operation.

Cale came to choke Antonio, the future Duke of the Gyerre household and the leading power of the Southwestern region.

Ron had a different answer than Cale expected.

"Mm, there was a bit of a problem."
"A problem?"

Cale was trying to use the fact that one of the Gyerre family's vassals had requested a kidnapping to deal with Antonio.

But there was a problem?
Ron gently responded after seeing Cale's expression stiffen up.

"That vassal seems to be involved in human trafficking now. I was bored so I took a walk around."

'Ah.'
Cale figured out what the problem was.

They had come to use a past incident to their advantage, but that vassal was doing something crazy now.
Cale started to frown and asked Freesia, the sculptor of the devil's guard dog sculpture, a question.

"But all preparations are finished, right?"

Ron answered instead of Freesia.

"Yes sir. Everything is prepared to gut them."

Cale did not think the vicious assassin's response was vicious this time.

"I'm sure you prepared something that they deserve."

Experience truly did not seem to disappear as Ron had prepared properly, according to the situation.

***

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]