Chapter 275 – A Beautiful Night (4)

"Why would throwing money away be…?"

The ancient Dragon Eruhaben casually responded back to Raon.

"I threw away a lot of money when I was curious about the world too. It's a good experience to use as much money as you want as well."

Cale was thinking that this calm ancient Dragon was probably no joke when he was younger as well.
Raon seemed to have snapped out of it as he started to speak in Cale's mind again.

– …Oh Goldie, that's not it. Human! Goldie gramps doesn't seem to understand your shockingly exciting action!

Eruhaben then asked Cale a question.

"When will you do it?"
"Tonight."
"Tonight?"

Eruhaben thought Cale was going to spend a ton of money when he said that he was going to throw it away.

'Using money at night… Is he going to drink some expensive alcohol? I thought he was going to go buy a couple mountains or something.
I guess his scale is quite small when it comes to money.'

Eruhaben looked toward Cale as if this was unexpected. Cale touched his inner pocket as the others all stared at him. There was a bag inside that pocket.

– …Hehe…It was two billion last time…This time it is five billion...!

The cheapskate fiery thunderbolt remembered Cale talking to the crown prince about five million gallons last time. He recalled something else at the same time.
The Fire of Destruction asked Cale a question.

– But can you use the golden plaque in the Eastern continent?

Cale had not yet used the golden plaque he had received from crown prince Alberu for his personal use. That was why the crown prince's five billion gallons was pretty much nonexistent right now.
The fiery thunderbolt who realized that slowly quieted down.

– …I guess five billion gallons is not possible...

He did not say anything else after that. It felt as if he was probably curled up in a corner somewhere.

However, Cale didn't care about that. He started to speak to the ancient Dragon and the others who were still looking at him.

"I plan to do it somewhere quiet."

Choi Han and On's expressions turned odd.
Eruhaben's expression started to turn weird as well.

At night and somewhere quiet.
This was a weird combination to throw away money.
However, Cale did not give them any more time to ask questions. He finished the sausage Ron brought for him before getting up and looking toward someone.

"Let's talk for a bit."

Screeeech.
A chair pushed back and the Dragon half-blood got up from the seat.

He didn't look too good while standing up either. He was now weaker than the average human, however, the traces of his light attribute and Choi Han's darkness were still clashing in his body and causing him significant amounts of pain.

"Follow me."

Cale said that before heading to the third floor of the inn and the Dragon half-blood quietly followed behind. Raon was with the two of them.

* * *

"Sit."

Cale pointed to the chair across from him and the Dragon half-blood with an indifferent expression on his face.
It was a neat but luxurious room. This room at the end of the third-floor hallway was for Cale's personal use.

Cale nonchalantly commented to the Dragon half-blood who was looking at him.

"How many of Arm's battle brigades are left in the Eastern continent?"

He got right down to business.
That action made the Dragon half-blood chuckle as he started to speak. Although his limbs were still shaking in pain, there was no such shaking in his speech.

"The second and third brigades are left. There were originally three brigades, but didn't you all destroy the first brigade?"

The first brigade that was the strongest in Arm was destroyed by Cale's group when they were coming from the Eastern continent to the Western continent.

That was only possible because they were out in the ocean and had the Whale tribe helping them.

The Dragon half-blood now knew that the ones who did that were Cale's group, however, Arm still did not know the people behind the attack.

Cale did not respond to the Dragon half-blood's question as he tapped on the armrest of the chair.

Tap. Tap. Tap.
The finger that was tapping in rhythm stopped at the Dragon half-blood's question.

"Will you kill the second and third brigades as well?"

Although he had an indifferent expression on his face, the Dragon half-blood was quite curious about Cale's plans. Cale indifferently responded back.

"Who knows?"

Cale sat up a bit and leaned his body forward. He then looked at the Dragon half-blood on the other side of the table and continued to speak.

"Hypothetically speaking…"

Cale started to imagine a situation.

"…It'll be really difficult even with a lot of people if you don't have money or a home, right?"

If Arm lost their base and their money there disappeared…Then how and where would all those battle brigades and regular members eat and sleep?

"And if the mercenaries are chasing them around…It'll be really hard, especially if they don't have any money or a base right?"

The corners of Cale's lips were slowly going up.

"Then the Eastern continent's Arm would want to ask the Western continent for help. But as you know, the Western continent's Empire, Arm, and the Alchemists' Bell Tower are all in the middle of a war and unable to help. Then it'll be really hard for the Eastern continent's Arm. Don't you agree?"

Cale frowned as if he felt sorry for Arm as he continued to speak.

"And then if people are going around saying, 'we are the 'Real Arm!' and destroying the Mercenaries Guilds around the continent that are said to be corrupt, as well as rotten thugs in the underworld, they'll be really angry, right?"

The Dragon half-blood's expression turned odd.
He tried to piece together what Cale had just said. Wasn't he just saying that he was going to get rid of Arm as well as the corrupt Mercenaries Guild and the underworld?
The Dragon half-blood honestly answered back.

"…Are you trying to something good?"
"What nonsense are you saying now?"

Cale was honestly shocked. He looked at the Dragon half-blood who still had an odd expression on his face and continued to speak as if he was frustrated.

"Do you know what bad guys hate the most? That's what I'm trying to do."

'What bad guys hate the most?'

The Dragon half-blood tried to think about what the opposite of bad was. The only thing he could come up with was, 'good.' Wouldn't bad guys hate something that was the opposite of them?

"Is that why you are trying to do something good?"

"Haaaaa."

Cale let out a sigh. He thought that the Dragon half-blood was kind of airheaded as he started to speak again.

"Bad guys don't care whether other people are good or bad, nor if they do charity work or not."

'Look at the world.
Bad guys don't care what other people do.'

"They just get angry if they get things stolen from them."

The more they loot corrupt Mercenaries Guilds, there will be an increasing number of corrupt people getting angry. That was the case for the underworld and Arm as well.
They will get angrier as they lose things one by one to the point where they are afraid by the end.

That was why Cale created a plan like this.

The, 'Real Arm,' will start to take things that belong to Arm one by one.

Although Cale did not say this out loud, the Dragon half-blood who had a decent idea asked Cale a question. His expression was serious to the point that his pain was not showing. That was similar to how his mind was right now.

"…What do you need me to do?"

Six months.
What did he need to do for these next six months?
That was the most important question for the Dragon half-blood. He was waiting for Cale's response. The response came almost immediately.

"Rest."
"What?"

The Dragon half-blood wondered what Cale was talking about. However, Cale continued to speak.

"Do whatever it is you want to do. Of course, it will be under supervision. You will not have complete freedom."

Cale was planning on keeping the Dragon half-blood under thorough watch.

This punk was different than the sword master Hannah.
Hannah had become enemies with Arm and the Empire and they wanted to kill her, however, that was not the case for the Dragon half-blood. In fact, he was someone that Arm would want to look for, that was why he had somewhere to return to even if he didn't stay in Cale's territory like this. That was why Cale had to restrict his freedom more than he did for Hannah.

Cale did not know about the chaos that was going on in the Dragon half-blood's mind right now as he said what came to his mind to the person blankly staring at him.

"Ah, and there is no such thing as free."

Why would Cale take care of him for free?

"I know you are in pain. You can still work here."
"…Work?"

The Dragon half-blood was honestly confused.
He was thinking about what he could do for work here. He recalled the first floor of the inn he was just at. It was a space full of regular people and busy workers.
It was a place that was always loud and where the fragrance of delicious food that was made for breakfast brushed past his nostrils. It was extremely bright compared to the dark cave.
But nobody had looked at him even though he was sitting there.

He slowly opened his mouth to speak and looked at Cale.

"Do you mean working at the inn?"
"Yes. Nothing in life is free."

Of course, Cale was planning on telling Ron to give the Dragon half-blood a task he could complete even with his painful body.

'Ron will give him the right tasks.'

He'll probably hand him a task like folding napkins. You can't have someone who feels pain every few seconds clean or serve dishes.
It'll also be annoying if he suddenly fainted in front of a guest.

"you're an adult as well, so you need to pay for your meals."

'…Pay for your meals.'

The Dragon half-blood thought about that statement. It sounded weird to him for some reason.

'I'm going to work in that inn? I'm going to work with other people?'

He felt that it was extremely weird.
He was already in pain every few seconds because of Choi Han's attack, but Cale was now saying that he was going to work. Why did he have such complicated thoughts right now?
He recalled the sight of the peaceful inn.

Cale just continued to say what he needed to say as the Dragon half-blood was going through all of that. He didn't see a reason to carefully explain things to the Dragon half-blood as he did for Choi Han, Raon, and the others.

"Ah, I'm also going to ask Eruhaben-nim to dye your hair. We can't let you be spotted by Arm. Is there a color you want?"
"A color I want?"
"Yes."

The Dragon half-blood's gaze headed toward Cale's red hair.
The White Star that he had called father. Cale Henituse, whom he had thought was a half-blood like himself. The Dragon half-blood thought about the two of them as he sat there in silence. Cale had no intentions of waiting for him as he continued to speak.

"Let Eruhaben-nim know once you have decided."

He then got down to the most important business.

"Rest a bit and then we will go attack Arm when I call you again."

There was no smile on Cale's face. The Dragon half-blood's expression stiffened as well. Cale asked him another question.

"How many central bases does Arm have?"

There was no need to know about all of Arm's numerous branches.
All of that information was gathered at the center. He just needed to know where those were. The place where information gathers is where the flow of the organization could be found as well.

The Dragon half-blood knew where those locations were.

"There are two places."

Cale was waiting for the Dragon half-blood to continue, and the Dragon half-blood continued with an odd expression on his face.

"Your subordinate will know a lot about one of those places."
"…My subordinate?"
"Yes. Your subordinate, Ron Molan."

Cale blinked.
The Dragon half-blood calmly continued on.

"I was shocked after seeing him in the inn. Although I had not ever seen him in person, his appearance was important to Arm leaders fifteen years ago. The branch managers and red stars who have been around for more than fifteen years would know of him."

Of the five households that controlled the Eastern continent's underworld, Ron and Beacrox were the only head and heir that managed to escape.
Their household was also one that was talented in gathering information and assassinations.
Arm searched the entire Eastern continent for the head and heir that escaped, however, they did not manage to locate them. Fifteen years later, they weren't trying very hard to find them anymore.

However, the Dragon half-blood remembered how Arm had acted in their search for Ron Molan fifteen years ago.
Ron was important to Arm.

"Ron Molan, the Molan household's territory is one of our central bases."

The Molan household was known as the Eastern continent's greatest family for stealth and information. That household's territory was naturally a fortress. Arm had done some modifications as soon as they got their hands on it and made it one of their central bases.

Cale subconsciously mumbled.

"…This is driving me nuts."

He had thought that the Empire business was urgent and that this side was more relaxed, however, that was not the case.
There were mountains of old business to cut off here.

'Raon, Choi Han, Ron, Lock, On, Hong-'

Cale thought about the many things he needed to cut off and then connect back together. Of course, his life was still the most important.
That was why he said the following to the Dragon half-blood.

"You can head out now. I've said all that I needed to say."

Cale decided to take care of what he needed to do first.
Just like how the flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a storm somewhere else, you could cause a giant storm if you took things step by step.
The people who did not see the butterfly might think that the storm came out of nowhere, however, the butterfly can anticipate a storm from the moment it flaps its wings.

Cale was flapping his wings again in order to draw out one of these anticipated events into the world.

The results of that would appear that night.

* * *

Eruhaben raised his head while Choi Han, On, and Hong remained silent.

Shaaaaaaa-

The night wind was blowing past them.
They were currently at the Grey Eye Forest.

The ancient Dragon was looking up at the night sky that had stars but no moon as it was the night of the new moon before lowering his head to look back at the place where Cale had earned the Sky Eating Water.

He could see the large lake that looked like a human eye.
The water that used to be grey was now normal in color such that even the stars could be reflected off of it. Cale was standing by that lake. Raon was flying around in nervousness around him.

The ancient Dragon started to speak as he watched the two of them.

"…I thought you were throwing money away?"

Cale continued to walk toward the large lake with the others behind him.

"Yes, I will throw money away."

He had a calm expression on his face.
However, Eruhaben, Choi Han, On, and Hong could not help but be confused. Raon shouted to Cale at that moment.

"…Human! Let me know if you need my piggy bank! I can give it to you at any moment!"

Splash.
The water in the lake hit Cale's shoe and made a noise. The tip of Cale's foot was now touching the water. He could hear Eruhaben's pressing tone.

"Are you throwing money into the lake?"

It sounded unbelievably weird.

"Didn't you say you were going to strengthen something? You're going to strengthen something by throwing money into the lake? There's no way humans who possessed powers of nature would give you such a trial!"

Eruhaben could see Cale turning around.
Someone was rambling loudly in Cale's mind right now.

– Finally...! Finally! Ahh, ah- finally another chance at a happy moment that I would happily die again for!

'He's so crazy.'

Cale ignored the fiery thunderbolt and started to speak.

"Why would I throw money into the lake?"
"What? Then where will you throw it?"

Eruhaben started to speak again. He had calmed down a bit.

"Are you planning on using all of the money you earned from the underworld? There's no way an ancient power would give you a trial like that, so tell me what is going on. I will help you. I have a lot of money as well."
"I'm not sure."

Cale shrugged his shoulders and took a small item out of his pocket. He had no hesitations as his instincts were telling him that strengthening this ancient power would not affect his plate.

A small magic bag appeared on top of his hand.
The only one to recognize that item was next to him.

"H, human! T, that is…!"

Raon was shocked.
Raon knew about that bag.

It was last seen at the VVIP auction in the Caro Kingdom.
It was used to trade with the bishop of the Caro Kingdom's Church of the Sun God.

Cale and the bishop had conducted their own auction with the jewel called the Night's Exultation.

'15. However, it is impossible to give you anything more than 10 billion today.'

Cale had asked, and the bishop had responded.

'How much?'
'20.'
'How much?'
'22.'

Cale had said one last thing when the bishop called out 22 billion.

'23.'
'…You bastard.'

The Night's Exultation had been sold for 23 billion counds. The bishop had thrown him a small money bag. It was a bag with spatial dimension magic on it.

'Here. 10 billion counds.'

The bag with 10 billion counds had appeared in front of Raon's eyes again.
Cale had given the pouch to Billos in order to purchase the, 'Wolf King's diary.' Naturally, that item that was no more than a relic of a Beast person to other people and thus would not cost the entire 10 billion counds.

It was much cheaper.

Thanks to that, the Wolf King's diary as well as the remaining money was returned to Cale. Cale had put a portion of the money he got from the Singten Merchant Guild's guild leader for selling the Determination of Fire into this bag as well.

For reference, the Determination of Fire was sold to the Singten Merchant Guild's guild leader Plavin Singten for 30 billion counds.

'30 billion counds.'
'W, what crazy nonsense!'

Cale recalled the shocked expression on the face of the Singten Merchant Guild's guild leader. Just a small portion of that money was in this bag.
The money earned from both the bishop of the Church of the Sun God and the Empire's Singten Merchant Guild was gathered together in this bag.

The young Dragon's pupils were fervently shaking. He subconsciously shouted out.

"…That bag is a t, ten billion cound bag! T, this is shocking!"

Silence filled the area.
Forget Choi Han, On, and Hong, but even Eruhaben could not say anything this time.

Shaaaaaaa-

The moment a gust of wind brushed past them, Cale also took out Raon's special potato sack. The way he took things out one by one made Eruhaben let out a comment.

"This crazy bastard."

It was at that moment.

Oooooooong-

Eruhaben's expression changed.
The ground started to rumble.
He could also feel the power of nature.

It was the most destructive of natural powers, something that could even destroy itself.

"…Fire."

He could feel the power of fire.
The cheapskate shouted in Cale's mind at that moment.

– You're crazy! 10 billion! 10 billion! 10 billion!

The Fire of Destruction, that cheapskate fiery thunderbolt, had heard what Raon had just said. Cale could feel the power of fire running wild inside of his body.

– 10 billion! Ahahahahaha, ten billion! Ahehehehehehe!

Cale hesitated for a moment.

'…Did he go nuts?'

The fiery thunderbolt seemed to be slightly, no, extremely excited.
It was the moment Cale's expression turned odd. He heard the Super Rock's voice for the first time in a while.

– This is bad.

The Super Rock continued to speak in a concerned voice.

– The power that burned the North will appear again.

The Super Rock described the current situation in a few words.

– It's the second coming of a disaster.

'…Disaster?'

Cale flinched as he looked down.

Boooooooom-
An incomparable rumbling was shooting out from the ground. Cale could feel the wild fire inside of his body.

Fire was weak against water.
However, this fire had fought against the Sky Eating Water which was so strong that a god had to suppress it.

Fire was not weak.
It symbolized the thing that was in its full name. Destruction.

– Ahahahahahahaha! It's a party, a grand old party! I'll burn everything!

Cale frowned because the fiery thunderbolt was too loud before opening his eyes wide.

"…Shit!"

The eye-like lake.
That lake was starting to change.

Siiiiiizzle-

The water that filled the lake quickly evaporated and the bottom of the lake cracked open. Red fluids started to shoot out from those cracks.

– It's a party, a grand old party!

The Fire of Destruction was figuratively jumping up and down in joy.

***

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]