Chapter 190 – A Small Goal (5)

Second day of the VIP auction. Billos couldn't help but wonder what he was doing right now.

"A, are you resting today, young master-nim?"
"Yes."
Slurp.
"Ah. I got some on me."

Cale wiped away the sauce near his mouth. He then thought about how he always ate a chicken skewer no matter where he went as he stood in front of a toy store.

"Meeeeeow!"

"Yes, yes. Let's start with the toy store."

They were currently in the southern part of Vegas City, which was the area that was the most densely packed with shops. Many tourists went through this street daily.
Billos peeked toward Vice Captain Hilsman, who was standing behind Cale with an empty magic bag.

'That person is not the type to do that.'

Vice Captain Hilsman.
The Hilsman that Billos knew was an uptight and authoritative person who was aiming for the Captain position.

Such a person was standing with an empty bag for gifts and souvenirs for the Cat children.
Billos could not believe it.

Hilsman and Billos made eye contact. Billos could see a faint smile on Hilsman's face. Why did that smile make Billos think of the sorrow of a worker with a peculiar superior?

Cale did not know about his two subordinates' sorrows as he grabbed the handle of the door to the toy store, the first store they were going to enter in this southern street.

It was the second day of the VIP auction. He didn't have anything special to do today. The magic bag he handed to the Singten Merchant Guild's guild leader had a note about what he needed to do, so Cale did not need to worry about that anymore.

'Mary and Tasha should be making their moves behind the merchant guild leader as well.'

But he didn't want to be at an auction with the theme of Beast people.

If it was not living Beast people, what else could they be auctioning off?

'Humans are the cruelest of all of the races.'

There were weapons and item that once belonged to famous Beast people, however, the majority of the auctioned items were the remains of beautiful or unique Beast people.
For example, a white Lion's pure white hide, accessories made of a Whale's beautiful blue hair, and other things like that.

He couldn't take his Beast children into an auction like that.

Cale started to frown as he pulled open the door. It was at that moment.

Clack!

A kitten paw slapped the back of Cale's hand.
It hurt a bit.

"Meeeeeow!"

It was On.

'…Why is she acting like this?'

On never acted like this. The fact that it was On and not Hong made Cale look at her in confusion. He noticed that On's gaze looked weird.

He felt as if she was thinking he was pathetic and looking at him with pity.
Cale felt weird receiving such a gaze from a twelve-year-old. He quickly turned his eyes toward Hong instead. Hong just seemed to be happy as he was twitching his ears and looking around the toy store.
Cale heard Raon's voice at that moment.

– Human, what are you doing? Hurry up and buy whatever it is you want to buy.

Cale flinched.

'Whatever it is I want to buy?'

Something seemed off.
Cale was thinking about buying toys for the children averaging nine-years-old, but for some reason, it felt as if Raon was thinking he was going here for something he wanted.

The strength in the hand holding the door handle quickly disappeared.

– Hmm? Human, don't you want to buy toys? Hurry up and go in! I'll be out here people watching. Just make it fast.

'This is weird.'
Cale looked back toward On.
On's paw was pointing somewhere.

Cale had no choice but to look at what she was pointing at.

"…As I expected."

These children really were as vicious as he expected.

He could see an alley with a weapon store and a magic device store.

Cale reflected on his mistake.
He had been wrong. At the same time, he thought about the group of people around him.

Including his sister Lily, who turned nine this year, the children around him all preferred weapons over toys. This was the case for the Tigers and Wolf children as well.

"…Damn it.'

A fantasy world truly was amazing.
Cale turned away from the door.

"Young master-nim?"

Billos called out to Cale, who suddenly changed directions, but Cale headed toward the alley without responding back. Hilsman followed behind Cale with a slightly more relaxed expression.

However, Billos could not help but turn pale after entering the weapon store. His gaze moved while following Cale's finger.

"This. This. That."

Cale casually pointed to many different types of swords. He was just pointing out the ones Raon had told him to pick.

"E, excuse me?"

The weapon store owner blanked out after hearing Cale's quick selection.
Some of the weapons Cale had pointed out included a highest-grade dagger and a greatsword imbued with fire magic. He had accurately pointed out all of the good items in the shop.

Cale frowned after seeing the owner's blank expression, so he pointed to the weapons in an easier way.

"From there to here."
"Excuse me?"
"Give me all of them."

"Ho."
The owner gasped.
One of his first customers today was a noble.
The owner peeked toward Cale before quickly gathering up the weapons and heading to the counter after seeing Cale motioning for him to hurry up and calculate the price.

Billos just quietly watched all of this.
What he did not know was that this was just the beginning.

– Human, human! I want to go to the magic items store.

'Damn it.'
Cale did not let his emotions show as he headed to the magic items store next. The owner of the weapon store felt as if there was a golden aura surrounding Cale, however, the only thing on Cale's mind was Raon's voice.

– Mary and Rosalyn would like that magic device. How disappointing.

'Damn it.'
Cale quickly realized what these children averaging nine-years-old had seen as they grew up. They had only seen expensive items for the past two years.
He had been trying to teach them about controlling their finances with their allowances.

Cale stood in front of the magic item Raon had pointed out.

– Mm. Human, five gold coins is expensive. You don't need to buy it for me. Buy me something cheap.

"Ha."
Cale started to frown after hearing Raon's comment. He then pointed to the magic item that Raon had pointed out.

"Please give me that one."

– Human, you can buy a mountain of apple pies with 5 gold coins! I'm okay without it!

Raon tried to stop him in a serious voice.

"Meeeeeow."

On and Hong also patted on his arm in an attempt to get him to stop. However, Cale did not stop and only added on.

"Ah, please give me three of them."

Raon started to shout in shock.

– Human, why are you buying three of them? Is it for Rosalyn and Mary? Your problem is that you are too nice. You value friendship too much too! This is why I have to be by your side in order to supervise you!

Cale frowned even more after hearing the six-year old's concern.
Billos was watching him in shock before smiling after hearing Hilsman whisper in his ear.

"Doesn't he seem to be angry?"
"Ah, yes he does."
"He always makes that face when he's doing something for others. But he still pays a lot of attention in order to make sure everyone else is taken care of properly. It is really easy to tell what his true feelings are."

Billos understood why Hilsman was playing the role of a mule without complaining. Billos's gaze toward Cale warmed up a bit as well.
But Raon was worried about Cale.

– Human, are you okay? How wasteful! I don't need that many toys!

Magic devices were toys to Raon.
Cale snorted at that fact before mumbling to himself.

"It's not very wasteful at all."
He didn't feel upset about using all of this money.
It wasn't much compared his wealth. It was fine that he was spending what Raon would consider enough money to fit in his paws.
He was just getting a headache while thinking about how many baggages that he needed to take care of were around him now. ( (PR: This sentence looks weird until you remember that baggages is referring to people) )

– ...

Raon became quiet.
On and Hong, who were both patting his arms, calmed down as well. Cale assumed that they were quiet because he bought them everything that they wanted and nodded in satisfaction.

He could do what he came to do now that this other issue was out of the way.

"Billos, where is a store selling armor?"
"Armor?"
"Yes. And martial arts uniforms too."
"Martial arts uniforms?"
"Yes."

These were for the Wolves and the Tigers.
Cale leisurely swept through the stores.

"It really is nice spending money without thinking."

He felt refreshed after using money for the first time in a while. Cale bought some apple pies to finish his shopping spree before turning toward the others.

"Let's go back."

Cale slowly returned to the inn with the rest of the group quietly following behind him. Everyone in the group had the same thought in their minds as they looked toward Cale.

The only thing he had bought for himself was the chicken skewer.

That fact was engraved in their minds.
On the other hand, this was the thought in Cale's mind right now.

'Now that I used some money, it is time to rip someone off for a lot more.'

* * *

That mindset did not change on the last day of the auction.

Terrace R, number 4.
Billos cautiously asked Cale, who was sitting on the couch with the curtains closed.

"Young master-nim, will the bishop really come to terrace 1?"

The priest of the Sun God had been guarding terrace 1 for the past two days. Billos had heard that the priest had entered terrace 1 today.

However, Cale was supposed to meet with the bishop and not the priest today.
Billos could see that Cale did not seem to be worried at all. Cale took a sip of wine before starting to speak.

"The biggest donor to Vegas City's Church of the Sun God is the Golden Tree. Their relationship is probably tighter than we expected."

Cale didn't think that it would be difficult for the bishop to stealthily enter terrace 1.
Although it looked like Billos had some connections with the Golden Tree staff, there would be a limit to the information that a staff member would be privy to have available.

"But young master-nim. Do you really have the Night's Exultation?"
"What is it? You can't believe it?"

Billos awkwardly nodded his head at Cale's mischievous gaze.

The Night's Exultation.
That jewel held quite the significance to the Caro Kingdom and the Church of the Sun God.

The Land of Death.
This location, which was also known as the Desert of Death, was one of the Five Forbidden Regions.

It was also the location of the battle against the last necromancer and his army of corpses in the past.
At the same time, the sand looked as red as blood during the day and as dark as night during the night.

There was a jewel embedded in the heart of the last necromancer.
That black jewel was the Night's Exultation.

This meant that the Night's Exultation was a great joy and an honor for the Caro Kingdom, as well as one of the proudest moments for the Church of the Sun God.

Cale naturally had Mary look at the jewel when he arrived in the Caro Kingdom.

'Do you feel anything?'
'Am I supposed to feel something? I do not feel anything.'

There was nothing in the jewel that was beneficial to a necromancer.
In that case, Cale had no reason not to sell it. What good would it be to have such a beautiful paperweight?

Cale took the jewel out of his chest pocket.

"Mm."

Billos let out a moan.
He had researched the Night's Exultation ever since it was first mentioned by Cale. It was supposedly stored in the Caro Kingdom's Temple of the Sun God and put on display for a week every year.

Does that mean that the jewel on display was fake all this time?

"I'll be heading out now."

– Human, I am going with you!

Cale's body slowly turned invisible.
Billos bowed toward him and responded back.

"I await your return."

Screeech.
The curtains were opened and Cale headed toward terrace 1, which also had their curtains opened.
At that moment, the auctioneer got started by talking about the items on auction today.

"Today will also end with a very interesting item! It was very difficult for us to acquire this item! It is probably the most precious item in this auction!"

The auctioneer seemed more confident than ever.

"I will give you a hint. The Wolf King."

'Hmm?'
Cale, who was flying toward terrace 1 with flight magic, suddenly stopped.
His gaze headed toward the auctioneer. The auctioneer wearing the fancy mask stealthily whispered to the crowd.
However, the amplification magic made it possible for everyone to hear.

"They are the remains of the final Wolf King."

"Oh."
'How interesting.'
Cale let out a gasp of admiration.
He chuckled as he entered terrace 1.
He could see the priest inside.

Screeech.
Cale quickly closed the curtains behind him before removing the invisibility spell and heading toward the servant of the priest. The priest gulped in shock and covered his shaking hands with his sleeves after seeing Cale suddenly appear.
However, Cale did not pay any attention to him.

He recalled what Saint Jack had told him.
Cale had asked Jack about the bishop before he left for the Paerun Kingdom.

'The bishop is a coward. However, he is very greedy.'

Jack had also described the bishop's appearance as well.

The servant wearing shabby clothes glared at Cale's mask.
Cale looked back at him before respectfully greeting him.

"Nice to meet you, bishop-nim."

He was genuinely happy to meet this person that he would receive a lot of money from before putting to work.

***

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]