Chapter 384 – Decision (1)

However, some people stopped the walking Cale.

"Human! Are you okay? Is it okay for you to move?"
"It looks like you shouldn't move. It'll be bad if you faint."

Raon and On roamed around Cale and thoroughly observed him.
Raon who was floating in the air and circling around Cale even had a piece of apple pie in his paw.

Cale debated for a moment before looking toward Bud.

"What is it?"

Bud asked in a slightly grumbling voice, but Cale didn't care as he said what he needed to say.

"Water."
"Huh?"
"Do you have any water?"
"…Why?"
"To rinse out my mouth."

Bud took a water bottle out of his spatial pocket bag and pushed it toward Cale with a slightly annoyed expression.

"I'm not someone who should be doing this!"
"Yes, yes."

Cale nonchalantly nodded his head and put Hong down before rinsing his mouth. He needed to get rid of the red liquid in his mouth that was used to fake his condition.

"Sigh! My poor life!"

Bud pounded his chest in frustration, but nobody seemed to care.

"…Cale."

Ancient Dragon Eruhaben moved to stand next to Cale who was still rinsing his mouth.

"This liquid isn't all blood, right?"

His gaze was focused on Cale's hands and feet that were still slightly shaking. He didn't show any signs of fainting, but he seemed extremely tired.

"Yes sir, it is not blood."

Cale stoically answered before he stopped rinsing his mouth. He then raised his head.

He could see that the others were all surrounding him.

Choi Han, Raon, On, Hong, Ron, Beacrox, Eruhaben, Bud, and Sheritt were all looking at him. Although their expressions were different, they all seemed to be concerned for Cale.

Cale ignored the weird wave of emotions deep in his heart as he started to speak.

"Eruhaben-nim."
"Yes."
"You look happy."

Eruhaben who was looking at Cale with concern started to smile.

"Looks like I was caught."

Raon shouted at that moment.

"Gramps, you are smiling like the crown prince now too! Let's show it to the White Star!"

'Huuuuu.'

Eruhaben barely managed to hold that sigh from coming out. He then looked toward Raon and started to speak.

"Little kid, you must be really happy."
"Hmm? What are you talking about? Our human and the smart Choi Han! Both of them! I'm not happy at all because they got hurt! I want to fuck the White Star up!"
"…Where the heck did this little kid learn a phrase like, 'fuck him up?' "

Eruhaben looked toward Cale.

'Was it you?'

Cale shrugged his shoulders.
Eruhaben looked at Cale and nodded his head. His gaze soon changed.

'It was you.'

Cale had a lot he wanted to say after seeing that gaze but kept his mouth shut. It was because he felt as if Raon probably did learn it from him.
Cale ignored Bud who was looking at him with the corners of his lips twitching. Eruhaben looked right into Raon's eyes at that moment.

"W, why are you looking at me like that? Gramps, did you finally realize how great and mighty I am?!"

Eruhaben ignored Raon's rambling and explained himself.

"Little kid, you can live with your mom now."

Flinch.

Raon's wings flinched.

"You must be really happy, little kid."

Ancient Dragon Eruhaben had a gentle smile on his face as he looked toward Raon, whose round eyes slowly looked behind him.
Lord Sheritt was standing behind Raon.

The black Dragon and the white Dragon both flinched before awkwardly looking at each other.

Cale asked Eruhaben a question at that moment.

"Eruhaben-nim, did you find a way to move the castle?"
"Yes. I sure did."

Raon's wings were fluttering as he quickly jerked his head back toward Eruhaben and started to shout.

"How?! Gramps, how can we do it! I want you to hurry up and tell me!"

He then stiffened up.
Eruhaben laughed at Raon before continuing to speak.

"It is something the Lord-nim knows better than I do. Isn't that right, Lord-nim?"
"Hmm."

Lord Sheritt let out a fake cough before starting to speak.

"This castle, the castle walls, and I are all tied together as one. I think it would be possible if the owner of the castle moved all three parts somewhere else all at once."

Eruhaben continued Lord Sheritt's explanation with a serious expression.

"However, it would be too much for Raon to move the castle, the castle walls, and the Lord-nim all at once."
"Why? I can do it! I am great and mighty!"

Eruhaben looked toward Raon and shook his head.

"You don't have enough mana. It will be difficult even if we work together. The Lord-nim's mana is useless because she is tied to this castle."

Choi Han who had been quietly listening asked a question.

"Didn't you easily move all of the books in the Mercenaries Guild's Directory?"
"Those were just books."
"What do you mean by that?"

Sheritt answered Choi Han's question for Eruhaben.

"I poured a large amount of mana into this place when I was alive. You can consider this area that was created by the combination of the castle, the castle walls, and myself to be a giant lump of mana."

Of course, the castle walls and the castle itself were built with regular construction materials. However, Sheritt had created many magic circles and poured in a significant amount of mana to maintain the castle, protect her children, and provide a relaxed life for them.
This castle was something that the Lord created with all of her mana before she died.

"That is why this castle and the castle walls are stronger than most defensive bunkers."

'Most' was just her being modest.
It was much more amazing than that.

If it was not someone as strong as the White Star, then most people might be able to damage the castle but would not be able to destroy or invade it.

Eruhaben shrugged his shoulders and got to the conclusion.

"Anyway, we need more mana than that if we want to move this giant lump of mana without causing any damage to it."

The castle, the castle walls, and Lord Sheritt. They needed enough mana to overpower this lump of mana.

"In conclusion, we need a place to move this castle, the knowledge to create a large teleportation magic circle with this castle at the center, and finally, enough mana to activate the magic circle."

Bud chimed in at that moment.

"So, you are saying that we have the first and second but that the last requirement, the mana needed to activate the magic circle is not enough with just you and Raon-nim, right, Eruhaben-nim?"

Eruhaben nodded his head. Cale made eye contact with Eruhaben.
Cale then flinched after seeing the ancient Dragon's eyes.

It was weird.

'Why? Why does my back feel so cold?'

He had not felt like this in a while.
Cale felt as if someone was about to completely rob him.
Eruhaben started to speak.

"Cale."

It was a very gentle and warm voice.
Eruhaben even had crown prince Alberu's bright smile he used when talking to others. This combination caused an extremely charming face that made Cale look like a mosquito.

Cale started to frown after feeling this iffy sensation.

'Something feels off.'

Eruhaben continued to speak.

"I… You see."

'Why is this ancient Dragon acting like this?'

Cale's expression slowly turned stoic. Eruhaben started to speak in an even warmer tone.

"I don't have money."
"…Excuse me?"
"I don't have jewels either."

Cale's expression instantly turned blank.
Eruhaben continued to speak.

"I was robbed."

Eruhaben's lair had been robbed by Arm.
That was why Eruhaben had come to look for Cale along with Pendrick after the Caro Kingdom's battle.

Cale could hear Lord Sheritt's cautious voice as well.

"…Everything inside this castle was looted by the White Star."

The White Star naturally robbed all of the jewels and other precious items in the castle when he destroyed the castle and ran off with the eggs.
He probably used the jewels and items to create the Mercenaries Guild and the foundation to survive in the Eastern continent.

Eruhaben gently continued to speak.

"Raon and my mana are not enough. I don't think we will have enough even if that child, Rosalyn, helped us. The best thing to make up for lacking mana are magic stones."

This was true.
Magic stones were the best to make up for the lack of mana.
They didn't need to drag in anybody else and reveal the Lord's identity nor have to worry about any issues with the magic circle.

Raon looked around before slowly taking his piggy bank out of his spatial dimension. On and Hong pressed on Raon's side and signaled him to take theirs out as well.
On and Hong handed the piggy banks to Raon once he took them out. Raon's wings started to flutter.

But nobody was paying attention to what the children averaging nine-years-old were doing.
Everybody was looking at Eruhaben and Cale.

"Cale, don't you have a lot of money?"

Eruhaben smiled brightly as he continued.

"Let's buy some magic stones."

Cale started to speak at that moment.

"…You know I can obtain magic stones, right Eruhaben-nim?"

The highest-grade magic stones from Section 1 of the Jungle. He had used a good amount of them, but there were still some remaining.
Of course, he had handed them over to the Roan Kingdom's Mage Brigade and Rosalyn through crown prince Alberu, but Cale still had a good amount on him, and he could also get those back from them as well.

However, Cale's expression did not look good as he said that.
It was because he knew that Eruhaben knew about this fact as well.
The ancient Dragon had a good idea about anything related to magic happening around Cale.
However, that ancient Dragon was still asking to buy magic stones.

Eruhaben awkwardly started to smile as Cale started to frown.
He then responded back.

"It is probably not enough. Hahaha!"

He then gulped before mischievously adding on.

"You'll probably need to use at least 10 billion in the Roan Kingdom's currency."
"Gasp!"

Bud gasped.

'10 billion?'

10 billion was not your neighbor's dog's name, no, it was a significant amount.
Even Mercenary King Bud could not immediately gather that much money.
Although Cale Henituse was from a wealthy Count's family, he was only the eldest son.
Where would someone who always go around saving others have that much money?

'How much is in my emergency fund?'

Bud started to calculate his emergency fund.
The Mercenaries Guild did not have much money right now because they were busy purchasing weapons and food to prepare for their war against Arm.

All he had available to use was his personal emergency fund. Honestly speaking, most of that emergency fund was poured into the Mercenaries Guild as well, leaving only enough money for him to run away from the White Star for about a year.
Bud looked around as he calculated the number.

Lord Sheritt's head was down.
Raon's shoulders were hunched with the piggy banks in front of him. On and Hong looked sad.

'Yes. Let's empty my emergency fund! There's no way I will starve to death!'

Bud decided to empty his emergency fund.
It was at that moment.

"Oh, that's it?"

'Hmm?'

Bud's gaze quickly moved.

He was certain that Cale was the one who said, 'Oh, that's it?'
Cale mumbled to himself with a refreshed expression.

"I'm relieved. I thought it would be something difficult because I got the chills."

'…This is plenty difficult though? It's 10 billion gallons?'

Bud's expression turned odd.
On the other hand, Cale stopped frowning and happily continued to speak.

"Let's give it a try. It's not a very hard request."

Cale had made 23 billion counds from selling the Night's Exultation and 30 billion counds from selling the Determination of Fire at the Caro Kingdom's auction.
Only a portion of that was received in cash while the rest remained to be collected.

He had even used 10 billion of the 53 billion to fortify the Fire of Destruction last time.
He also had the crown prince's golden plaque. He could earn about 5 billion using that.

Cale thought about it thoroughly before casually commenting.

"Mm, I had to go to the Empire's capital at least once anyway."

He looked toward Eruhaben and asked with his usual expression on his face.

"10 billion should be enough, right?"
"Huh?"
"Do you need more?"
"…No."
"Then I'll bring it over. 10 billion counds should be enough, I think? Either that, or I will come back with about 10 billion counds worth of magic stones."
"…Either is fine."

Cale nodded his head at the ancient Dragon's response and stated his next plans.

"I'll go to the Mogoru Empire and if it is difficult to get all that cash right now, mm, I'll ask his highness to foot half the bill."

Bud's pupils started to shake.

'The crown prince?
…This bastard has enough influence to tell the crown prince to pay up?
No, more importantly, how did he make so much money?
He's really rich!'

Bud's pupils were shaking. Cale did not care.
He stood up while wondering whether his body was feeling better because he ate an apple pie or because he rested for a bit.

"Then I will go to the Western continent for a bit after returning to the village with Choi Han. Please take care of the things we discussed until I come back."

Eruhaben nodded his head. He then asked with curiosity.

"Looks like you found something at the village?"

Cale looked toward Choi Han as he responded. Choi Han awkwardly avoided Cale's gaze.

"We found the record book the Lord-nim mentioned. It was written in two languages. One of the languages was something nobody recognized, but Choi Han thought it might be possible for him to read it, so we are going to go look."

Cale could see Sheritt looking toward Choi Han. He could tell that she was shocked.

'Choi Jung Gun said that he didn't tell others in this world about Korean.'

That was why neither Lord Sheritt nor the White Star would know Korean.
However, unlike the White Star, Lord Sheritt was Choi Jung Gun's friend. She might even know that Choi Jung Gun was a dimension traveler and came from Korea.

"Raon."

Cale called out to Raon.

"What is it, human?"

It was easier to get to the village using the secret passage if they had magic.

"Raon, you come with the two of us as well."
"I understand, human! I knew you need me for everything!"

Raon responded with excitement as if he had never dropped his piggy bank in shock after hearing '10 billion.'
Cale patted Choi Han's shoulder.

"Let's go."
"…Yes, Cale-nim."

Cale headed to the Dragon Slayer village through the white castle's secret passage once again.

***

It was not difficult to come to a place a second time.
In fact, they arrived in a more relaxed state as they did not need to worry about the White Star's attacks.

However, their hearts were not relaxed as well.

"Huuuuu."

Choi Han let out a breath as he entered the three-story stone building in the Dragon Slayer village.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

His heart was beating wildly.
He could see Cale in front of him picking the book up from the altar.

Choi Han's eyes stopped on the book in Cale's hand.

'Inside that book.'

That book might have the reason behind why I ended up in this place.
Choi Jung Gun really might be his uncle.

'No, it's just…'

His heart was beating crazily because it had been so long since he had seen Korean.

"Choi Han."

Cale pushed the book toward Choi Han. Choi Han looked at Cale's usual stoic face as he reached toward the book.

Plop!

But maybe he was too nervous.
He did not grab onto the book properly and it fell to the ground.

Chhh.

The record book opened once it fell to the floor.

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

Choi Han quickly bent down to grab the book in shock.
His expression turned serious after thinking that he might have damaged the book.

'Snap out of it.'

He tried to calm himself as much as possible.
Choi Han's hand headed toward the book on the floor.
He could see the page that it opened to when it fell.

He couldn't even see the part that was written in the Eastern continent's common language.
The Korean that Choi Jung Gun left behind was clearly visible.

< ...The ground may not be able to defeat the sky on its own, however, a slightly easier battle might have been possible thanks to the help of the people with the other natural attribute ancient powers. >
< ...The sky can look down on the ground, but cannot destroy it. The ground may look up at the sky, but will never bend its will. >

Choi Han could not even grab the book as he read the information on the page.

< In conclusion, I believe that it is most effective for the person with the earth attribute ancient power to stand up against the sky. >
< If that person has both earth attribute ancient powers as he fights against the sky attribute wielder in the future... >

Cale Henituse had one of two earth attribute ancient powers.

< Yes. >
< This may sound cruel, but... >
< Don't you think that if you sacrifice just the person who has both earth attribute ancient powers, then others can get hurt less and the world can be at peace? >

Choi Han's pupils started to shake.
Cale quietly watched Choi Han's back.

< That is why I want to ask something of you who can read Korean. If you manage to read this and a new person with the sky attribute tries to rule the world, I hope that you can help prevent the world from turning into hell. >
< I know I am a terrible person to ask for such a request. However, after seeing the world turn to hell and watching everybody die without being able to do anything, this unfair request is all I can leave behind. >
< I'm sure you have a good idea about how to defend against the sky attribute wielder by now since I have written about it. You must monopolize the earth attribute ancient powers. >
< Of the two earth attribute ancient powers, I am certain about the location of Mr. Super Rock's earth attribute ancient power. That power is located in the underground cave in the Western continent's Forest of Darkness. >

Choi Han, the Choi Han that Raon, On, and Hong said was smart, could feel himself blanking out.
Cale continued to quietly observe Choi Han's back.

Cale had become certain after reading Choi Jung Gun's 'The Birth of a Hero.'

The novel, 'The Birth of a Hero,' that Kim Rok Soo had read no longer existed.
The story had changed.
Only the current situation was what existed.
He heard a voice in his mind.

– Are you going to sacrifice yourself?

He could hear the Super Rock's question.

***

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]