Chapter 404 – Only Me (1)

– Human! So, the White Star thinks that the earth attribute ancient power is either in our neighborhood, the Whale tribe's neighborhood, or Mary's neighborhood?

Cale quietly nodded his head at Raon's question.

Only two people were said to possess the earth attribute ancient power during ancient times.

One was the Scary Giant Cobblestone while the other was the ancient White Star.

The current White Star was looking for the ancient White Star's earth attribute ancient power.

The three potential locations of this power were the Roan Kingdom's Northwest region, the land of the Whale tribe, and the Caro Kingdom's southern region.

Boom boom.

Cale could feel his heart beating wildly.

'This is driving me nuts.'

The location of the earth attribute ancient power Cale and Choi Han had deducted using Choi Jung Gun's memoirs was the Roan Kingdom.
That meant that the answer was…

'The Roan Kingdom's Northwest region.'

The home of Marquis Taylor Stan.

'…It makes sense.'

This hypothesis made a lot of sense.

The Roan Kingdom's Northeast region that Cale's Henituse territory represented was famous for its marbles.
In comparison, the Roan Kingdom's Northwest region, Marquis Stan's territory, was famous for its granite.

Marble and granite.
The Roan Kingdom was famous for being the land of boulders because of these two different types of rocks that existed in large quantities.

'Things are turning out quite interesting.'

Cale could not help but smile.
It was at that moment.

"Becrock Tower Master-nim, do you think that the liege will visit all three locations?"

The Southern Alchemists' Tower's Tower Master was calling the mage, 'Becrock Tower Master-nim.'
Cale now knew that the mage's name was Becrock.

– Human! That alchemist is spewing nonsense! The smart Rosalyn will be the Tower Master! Even gramps said that Rosalyn was a genius!

He ignored Raon's side comments.

'…Despair, destruction, chaos.'

He ignored the Wind Elemental as well.
Cale then got closer to the window.

"I'm not sure. The liege said that he would first visit the spot that is most likely to hold the power."
"Then I guess the North had the highest possibility. How did such information-"

The Southern Alchemists' Tower's Tower Master looked toward mage Becrock with curiosity and greed as he asked.

"Do you wish to know, Tower Master-nim?"

However, he changed his expression after seeing the cold gaze in Becrock's eyes.

"Of course not. I just wish to follow the will of our liege."
"Good. That is all we need to do."

Cale could see the sweating Southern Alchemists' Tower's Tower Master and mage Becrock as he got closer. He could also see inside of the ninth floor.
There were many different types of documents and he could see a map of the entire Mogoru Empire on the wall.

There were many red dots on the map.

'It's their travel route.'

Cale could instantly tell that the red dots and the connecting lines were the routes the four Alchemists' Towers would use to attack the capital.

– Human, are we going to steal that?

'Steal?
For what?
It'll be obvious if we stole it.'

With Becrock here, it was better not to mess up the ninth floor.

That was why Cale pulled on the black cloth covering his neck.

'We just need to record it.'

His eyes started to record the entire map and every single detail on it.

– Human, don't we need to steal those documents?

As Raon mentioned, Cale could not only look at the map. He needed to go in and look through those documents as well.

The size, makeup, and location of the enemy troops were important as well.
It was at that moment.

Knock knock knock.

"What is it?"

The Southern Alchemists' Tower's Tower Master raised his voice after hearing the knocks. Becrock looked toward the door as well.

"Tower Master-nim, I think you need to meet a merchant."

The Southern Alchemists' Tower's Tower Master started to frown after hearing the response.
The one who made the report was one of his trusted subordinates who would not interrupt his conversation with mage Becrock for no reason.

"…A merchant?"

But he interrupted them for a damn merchant?
The Tower Master continued to speak as he found this to be odd.

"Come in."

Click.

The door opened and trusted subordinate bowed as he continued to speak.

"I apologize for interrupting your conversation."
"It's fine. What do you mean when you said that you think that I should meet with a merchant?"

The Tower Master could see a small smile appear before quickly disappearing from his subordinate's face. The subordinate even peeked toward Becrock before looking back at him.
That made the Tower Master even more curious. This was not someone who would make such motions for no reason.

"Do you remember the Singten Merchant Guild which is one of the Empire's five largest merchant guilds and was close to the royal family in the capital?"
"Are you talking about guild leader Plavin Singten?"
"Yes sir."
"What about him?"

He was an important merchant, but not someone that the Tower Master would easily meet without an appointment.

"He says he has gathered around 1,200 slaves."
"…What?"

The Tower Master's eyes opened wide.

1,200 slaves.

That was not a small number.
It was quite large especially now when they could no longer conduct the slave trade they had been doing in secret.

The subordinate continued to speak with confidence.

"We will be able to gain a lot of dead mana if we receive those slaves."

Dead mana.
It was a necessary ingredient for black magic as well as something they needed to offer to the White Star.

The Tower Master now understood why his subordinate had peeked toward mage Becrock. The Tower Master's shoulders opened wide with confidence. He peeked toward Becrock as he started to speak.

"Ahem, this is great. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, it is. You managed to get someone very useful on your side, Tower Master-nim. I knew there was a reason the Southern Tower was doing the best in comparison to the other three towers."

The Tower Master started to smile after hearing Becrock's comment.
Becrock would share similar sentiments to the White Star. That would raise the Tower Master's status as well.

'I might even get to be the new Tower Master of the Alchemists' Bell Tower.'

That position was currently empty as the former Tower Master had died. The person in that position would lead all of the black mages and be close to the White Star.

If he could get that position!

The Tower Master pushed down his rising greed as he ordered his subordinate.

"And you've confirmed these slaves?"
"Of course. Merchant guild leader Plavin brought a video recording device with him. I have confirmed the slaves chained down in the basement of his secret residence."
"Oh, really?"

The Tower Master was slowly starting to get excited.
The subordinate sounded proud as well. Mage Becrock slowly moved away from the window and walked up to the two individuals.
This made the Tower Master and the subordinate even more excited.

"Yes sir! There seemed to be hundreds of slaves in there, so I have no reason to doubt the 1,200 number."
"Oh, I see! Is that why our Merchant guild leader Plavin wishes to meet me?"

The corners of the subordinate's lips went up in a sly way.

"Yes sir, he said he wishes to meet the person who will be the future owner of the Bell Tower."
"Ahem, the future of the Bell Tower? Ahem!"

The Tower Master quickly responded without being able to hide his joy.

"I guess I need to see our Merchant guild leader Plavin's face at least once. I need to compliment him for doing such a good job."
"Of course, Tower Master-nim."

The subordinate responded but the Tower Master was looking at Becrock. His gaze seemed to be asking for Becrock's permission while reinforcing his worth to the White Star's needs.

"Tower Master-nim, may I come with you? I want to meet such a talented merchant as well."

The Tower Master's expression became even brighter after hearing that Becrock wanted to come as well.

"Of course! Let's go meet him right away! Prepare a spot on the tenth floor."
"Yes, Tower Master-nim!"

They could not meet him here on the ninth floor with all of these strategic documents.
The subordinate quickly closed the ninth floor window.
Then all three of them left the room and headed toward the tenth floor.

Click.

The door closed and was locked from the outside.

Swooooooosh-

Then a small gust of wind blew in toward a tiny crack in the window.

'Opening window. Chaos, destruction, larceny!'

Clang clang.

The lock on the window started to move.

'…Larceny!'

Then it managed to unlock.

Screeeech.

The window made a quiet noise as it opened wide.

– There don't seem to be any surveillance magic devices!

Cale walked into the room while listening to Raon's voice. He looked around before starting to speak.

"I guess they were very happy. I didn't expect them to go see Plavin right away."
"Human! They're all so funny! Hehe!"

Raon fluttered his wings in excitement.
Cale was already picking up a document as Raon laughed.

Flip. Flip.

The information in the documents were quickly being recorded in Cale's mind.

"The humans in the evil merchant guild leader Plavin's basement are all soldiers in disguises! They're all being tricked!"
'Kahahahahaha! Scam! Deception! Crime! Despair!'

Raon and the Wind Elemental were not chatting with each other, but they were oddly saying similar things.
Cale was still busy recording, but Raon continued to rattle on in excitement.

"They'll get captured by the soldiers when they go to collect Plavin's slaves! We will smack them from behind!"

Cale started to smile.

The soldiers in the capital.
These soldiers who were angry at Imperial Prince Adin and the royal family happily disguised themselves as slaves in Plavin's secret residence.

The Southern Alchemists' Tower will send some forces to the residence to collect these disguised slaves.
1,200 was too big of a number to teleport or transport in the merchant guild's carriages.

'Plavin will also say that he will not be able to move all of them by himself.'

The Southern Alchemists' Tower's forces will be treated as criminals as they try to leave with the slaves.

"But that Becrock bastard went with him, will grandpa Ron be okay?"

Ron Molan was next to Plavin right now with his face under a mask.

"Yeah, it's fine. Becrock's body is not normal right now. He didn't even notice us outside. Ron's stealth techniques are top notch. The current Becrock would not be able to tell if Ron hides his strength."
"Hehe, this is fun! I'm so excited!"
'Destruction, chaos! Kahahahaha!'

Raon was flying around in circles in the air.

"I'm so excited I want to spin in circles! But I'm not going nuts like the crown prince!" ( spinning and going nuts are homophones in Korean. )

Swoooooooosh-

A small breeze joined Raon in the air.

'I'm going to spin too! Party! Joy! Despair!'

Clap!

They heard a small clap at that moment. Raon looked toward Cale.

"Human, are you done?"
"Yeah."

There were no more documents in Cale's hand.

"Raon, make a call."

The corners of his lips were twisted up.

"Who do you want me to call?"
"Call them in the order I tell you. As quickly as possible."

Cale told Raon the order to call people and Raon immediately called the first one.
Merchant guild leader Plavin will buy them as much time as possible.

– Huh? Young master-nim? Long time no see.
"Tasha."

Dark Elf Tasha, crown prince Alberu's aunt.

– I sent the kids… young master Cale? Are you currently stealing something?
"I'm going to speak quickly because I don't have much time."

Tasha sat up straight after hearing Cale's comment.

– Of course, go ahead.
"Will it be okay to drag the White Star to the Land of Death?"

The Caro Kingdom's southern region.
Mary's neighborhood that is known as the Land of Death.

– Oh.

Tasha let out a short gasp before asking.

– I'll need you to tell me more details.
"Please come here. I do not have time."
– That is fine. I will come to the Empire soon.

The call ended.
Then the next call was placed right away.

– …Young master-nim?

Cale joyfully greeted the person who seemed shocked to see him in a mask.

"Marquis Taylor-nim, have you been well?"
– …Young master-nim, what the f, mm, what is up with your appearance?
– Oh! Young master-nim, what are you doing? Are you stealing something?

He could see an anxious Taylor and an excited Cage through the screen. Cale started to talk to these two people showing very different reactions.

"I will keep it short as I do not have much time."

The two of them quickly looked serious.

"Marquis-nim, please hold off on the fake ancient document for now."
– Excuse me?
"And Miss Cage, please cuss out the God of Death for me."
– Oh, should I do that?
"And both of you."

Cale had a thought on his mind.

"Can you both come to the Empire if you have some time?"

The land of the Whale tribe at the Northern tip of the Western continent.
The Caro Kingdom's Land of Death located at the Western continent's western region.
And finally, the Roan Kingdom's Northwest region on the eastern region of the Western continent.

A huge play that encompasses all three places filled Cale's mind.

– That is fine.
– Sure. We'll be there!

The third person they called greeted Cale from the other side of the screen.

– Cale-nim, you seem to be writing the legend from the back side of history once again.
"Clopeh."

Cale looked at Clopeh's white hair as he continued to speak.

"Stealthily come to the Empire."

As Clopeh's green eyes started to show confusion…

"Let's increase the playing field."
– I understand, Cale-nim. I finally get to be a part of the leg-

Click.

The call ended.
Cale closed his eyes while Raon connected the last call.

Clopeh Sekka from the North.
Tasha from the Land of Death.
Taylor Stan from the Roan Kingdom's Northwest region.

The three of them and himself.
And the White Star.

"…I will take away what you wrongfully believed as yours."

Cale would take away the White Star's wish as the White Star had taken away Raon's future and Lord Sheritt's dream.

Anger? Revenge?

It wasn't something like that.
It was just because it was beneficial.

– Young master-nim.
– Cale!

He could see the people on the other side of the screen for this last call.
They were necromancer Mary and Mercenary King Bud Illis.

"I have figured out the enemy's attack routes."

Cale started to explain the routes for all four directions. Once Bud wrote all of them down…

"Bud, contact Hannah, Sir Rex, Jack-nim, and Rei Stecker."

Bud jumped up with the paper detailing the routes in his hand.
His eyes were waiting for what Cale would say next.

"Tell them to get started."
– …Okay.

Once Cale's words are delivered to them…
They would immediately start to move toward the four Alchemists' Towers.
The troops waiting to leave the capital would start to move.

"Mary."
– Yes, young master-nim.

There were a few Dark Elves behind Mary. They were reinforcements from the Land of Death.
Cale started to speak to them.

"I figured out where they are storing the dead mana."

The location of the dead mana storage facilities for all four directions.

"Start the hunt."

Mary bowed.
All of the dead mana in the Empire will soon be taken by Mary and the Dark Elves.

"Tonight…"

Cale said the last thing as he ended the call.

"…The Southern Alchemists' Tower will explode tonight."

This was the start of war.

***

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]