Chapter 493 – Do you hear a dog barking somewhere? (5)

– What's up with the dog?
"Ruff!"

Crown prince Alberu Crossman looked confused through the video communication device.

– I don't think such a cute creature suits a profane person like you.

The fluffy puppy did not fit with the red-haired punk wearing a black uniform.

"Haaaaa."

The sighing Cale did not look happy.

'You want me to take this puppy with me?'
'Yes, sir. Please take our Fluffy with you.'

Jopis had elegantly answered before he left her house.

'I cannot completely trust you yet. That is why I need someone from my side who can see what you are doing and inform me about it.'

The one chosen as that messenger was the puppy in Cale's arms. The puppy's name was Fluffy.

'Taking a puppy to a battle is a bit...'
'Cale-nim. Let's take her with us.'

Choi Han's eyes had a rare sparkle as he agreed with Jopis. Ron nodded his head as well.

'Young master-nim. Let's do as she asks. Trust is the most important thing between trade partners.'

He had then smiled so brightly it almost looked vicious. That had scared Cale a bit.

'Human! Let's take her with us! That Fluffy is cute! She's a mysterious puppy that has a way of making me want to get close to her!'

Even Raon felt the same way as he commented in Cale's mind.
Cale wanted to say that Raon had to stay invisible so that Jopis could not see him, but he had no chance to do that.
Even the serious Glenn and Mercenary King Bud who had quietly been full of anger agreed with Jopis.

'…The young master-nim needs to have something like a puppy so that...'
'Yes. You need something like that to run less wild.'

Cale had looked toward them with a, 'what the hell are you talking about,' expression, but Bud was talking to Choi Han. He looked serious, unlike his usual self.

'It's a good idea.'
'Yes. This way, Cale-nim will-'

The two people who had gotten quite close looked toward Cale who didn't know what to make of their expressions.
Anyway, the result was that Cale ended up with this puppy named Fluffy by his side.

He recalled what Jopis had said before they left.

'You don't need to worry about Fluffy. The enemy's f*cking head will plop down on the ground if Fluffy becomes angry.'
'…Excuse me?'
'Oh, it was nothing.'

Smile.

Jopis had said she looked forward to their next meeting as she smiled elegantly.
Cale pushed his thoughts about her to the side as he focused on his conversation with Alberu.

– Make sure to contact me properly even in the Eastern continent.
"Yes, hyung-nim."

He was about to head back to the Eastern continent soon.
Alberu looked at Cale for a bit before starting to speak again after a while.

– …Really.

On top of the completely frozen Lake of Despair behind Cale…
There was a light snowstorm that was different than the usual snowstorm.

– What a grand spectacle.

And there were a countless number of individuals prepared and waiting to go.

On top of the wide lake…
A magic circle filled the entire width of the lake and started to glow.
Numerous Elves in battle outfits were waiting on top of it.

– For there to be this many Elf warriors on the Western continent…

Alberu could not hide his shock of admiration.
Every Elf other than the old, the young, and the minimum number required to defend each area were gathering at the Lake of Despair where the World Tree existed.

"Young master-nim, our side is ready."

A middle-aged Elf walked up to Cale to report.
Pendrick was next to the Elf and bowed toward Cale.

He was someone who originally died in the early stages of The Birth of a Hero, but he was still living now. Elf and healer Pendrick was joining Cale for the first time in a long while.

The middle-aged Elf next to Pendrick was Guardian Knight Jeet from the Ten Finger Mountains' Elf Village.

The Ten Finger Mountains was the place where Cale earned the Fire of Destruction as well as the location of the Elf Village that had its branch of the World Tree stolen.

Guardian Knight Jeet who had lost his home because the branch of the World Tree was stolen had volunteered to lead the Elf warriors.

Cale made eye contact with Guardian Knight Jeet before starting to speak.

"Are you nervous?"

Jeet gave a short response.

"We are in a war."

This was a war for the Elves.
No kingdoms on the Western continent other than the Roan Kingdom knew about this, but this was a war for the future of the Elves who were connected to the World Tree and thus they needed to protect their homes.

That was why it was normal for them to be tense and stiff.

Cale heard a different voice to his right at that moment.

"It is a war for our side as well."

Cale who was looking at Jeet to his left turned his gaze to the right. Dark Elf Tasha was standing there with Mary.

"We are prepared as well."

She said that to Cale while giving a short greeting to Alberu through the video communication device with her eyes.
Alberu responded similarly before looking toward the Dark Elves standing behind Tasha.

The Dark Elf warriors looked both relaxed and tense at the same time.
Although their numbers were less compared to the Elves, they were giving off the aura of individuals who had been victorious in many battles.

This group of warriors was one of the magnificent spectacles that had caught Alberu's attention, as well as individuals who made him excited.
Alberu then noticed someone who seemed to be the most anxious and excited at the location.

– Is that person the Elementalist?
"Yes, sir."

Elementalists were very precious individuals. There was a faint red furball floating around him.
Cale's gaze headed toward him and Elementalist Sully clenched onto the straps of the bag on his back once he made eye contact with Cale and bowed his head.

They had decided to take Sully with them for this battle.
The things the Wind Elemental was saying to Cale who was holding the top's whip in his hand was the reason.

'Chaos, destruction, war! To purify dead mana! And to take on that Darkness Elemental! The baby Fire Elemental needs to go! Both Sully and the baby Fire Elemental have firmed their resolves!'

This baby Fire Elemental claimed that he had the destruction attribute and could burn up dead mana and the power of the Darkness Elemental, unlike other Fire Elementals.
If that was indeed true, this punk would be the one to work the hardest during these upcoming two battles along with Cale and someone who definitely needed to go with them.

Cale started at Sully and slowly looked around.
He could see numerous Elves and Dark Elves.

"Young master-nim."

He then saw Elf priestess Adite and multiple Elf Village Chiefs standing by the side of the lake.

"The World Tree-nim hopes you have a safe trip and said that she leaves it to you. I hope you have a successful trip as well."

Adite slightly bowed and Cale nodded his head.

"I'll take care of it as quickly as possible and come back soon."

He then looked toward Alberu through the video communication device and addressed him as well.

"I will be back soon."
– Good, I will get started as well.

Alberu then ended the call and Cale's group walked up to him.

– Human! I brought Choi Han and Beacrox!

Choi Han and Beacrox were now standing where Jeet and Tasha had just been standing as Cale addressed them and the Elves and Dark Elves on top of the lake.

"We are heading to the Eastern continent."

A large number of people started to move for war.

* * *

Underneath the Molden mountain range.
In the small village that didn't even have a proper name… Actually, people called this village the Ghost Village. This was because the goal of this village was to turn the lives of special people into empty lives as if they were ghosts.

Awooooooooooo-

The cries of animals echoed through the village.

"Ah, I really can't get any sleep!"

One of the guards of Ghost Village who was a watchdog for the princess stood up and pulled at his hair.
He looked out the window.

"Do these damn bitches never sleep?"
"Just go back to sleep."

His peer on the other bed pulled up his blanket as he mumbled.
However, the watchdog man frowned and glared viciously out the window.

Ghost Village.
The people of this village started to call this village Dog Village since a few years ago.

It was because a number of wild dogs suddenly appeared around the village. However, the villagers liked those wild dogs because they were all gentle and protected the village from other wild animals.

Those gentle dogs had shown up quite frequently since a few days ago.

Awooooooooooooo-

They heard another dog's cry.

"…Why do these bitches keep taking turns crying at night time?!"
"You are louder than they are! Get out if you want to flap your mouth!"

His peer got annoyed and the man who had completely woken up decided to leave the bedroom. He grabbed a bottle of alcohol from a nearby table before slowly walking over and sitting down on the couch.

"Haaah, how frustrating."

Just how long would he need to keep an eye on Jopis and her subordinates in this village?

"It'd be much easier if we just killed her. Her majesty is too nice."

He felt disappointed at Elisneh the First who cherished her younger sister and felt anger toward Jopis who challenged such a wonderful person as he brought the bottle to his lips.

It had high alcohol content so his insides quickly heated up.
It was at that moment.

Awooooooooooooo-
Awooo- ooooooo-

"Pfft, what the hell?"

He spit out the alcohol he was drinking and jumped up from his seat.

"Did those bitches go crazy?"

Awoooooooooo- oooooooooooooo-
"Ruff, ruff ruff!"

He heard dogs crying from all directions.

"Ah, damn it! What the hell?!"

The man walked out of the guardhouse in shock with the bottle in his hand. The chilly night breeze brushed past him.
He started to frown in annoyance.

"Where are these damn crying dogs?"

It was at that moment.

Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

The ground started to shake.

"Huh? What's going on? The ground… why is it shaking?"

The wooden fence that surrounded the small village…
These wooden fences were built to prevent former Princess Jopis's subordinates from running away and to prevent wild animals from charging into the village.

There was a large dirt wall rising above that wooden fence.

"Son of a...!"
"What is going on?"
"Why is the ground suddenly…?"

Lights turned on throughout the village and people walked out of their homes. Naturally, the homes of the watchdogs lit up as well.

"Hey, what is going on?"

The peer of the man who had come outside walked up to him and asked about the situation. However, the man did not have a clear enough mindset to respond to his peer.

Booooooooom- boooooooooom-

The dirt wall had shot up as the ground continued to shake.
Then he saw someone jumping up and landing on the dirt wall.

"…Elves?"

They were not human.
There were a lot of them as well.

"Ahhhhh!"

They heard someone scream long with an explosion at the same time.

"…The communication office!"

The explosion had come from the facility with the video communication device that did not suit such a country village.
The scream had come from the mage responsible for handling the video communication device. The guards who noticed this looked up toward the Elves with shaking pupils.

"…Elves attacking a human village?"

The moment a guard mumbled that question…
Cale's voice flowed out of the video communication device in the hand of the first Elf who jumped on top of the wall.

– Capture all of the guards.

The village now covered in dirt walls…
…Would not be able to contact the outside.
The Roan Kingdom's Commander Cale who was also the commander of the Elves and Dark Elves for this mission gave his order. The Elves who heard the order started to speak.

"Follow our orders if you wish to live!"

The Elf warriors jumped off the dirt walls and over the wooden fences as they entered the village. They then started to capture the guards.
It was not difficult for the Elf warriors to determine who the guards were.

"It's this person!"
"Them over there!"

Jopis's people who were being guarded pointed out the guards.

All of them had visitors starting from last night.
Their visitors were dogs with notes in their mouths. The owner of the dogs had given an order to her subordinates who had lived imprisoned with her.
The first order on those notes was to point out the guards.

"Go to the communications office!"
"Search through the guardhouses!"

Administrators, knights, nobles, and maids. The people who followed Jopis started to move to complete their respective orders.
There were dogs next to the guards they did not manage to point out.

"Did these dogs go crazy?!"
"Ruff, ruff!"

The dogs were telling the Elves who the guards were.

"Aaaaaah!"
"Why are the Elves…?!"
"Do you think the kingdom will let you do as you please?! Ugh!"

Guards started to scream from all directions and those noises echoed through the village.
And on top of a hill looking down on everything…

Knock knock knock.

Cale knocked on the door.
The door soon opened and Jopis appeared.

"I've been looking forward to this sight for a long time."

Cale pointed outside the door and started to speak.

"Ma'am, let's go to the capital now."

Jopis smiled elegantly and walked up next to Cale.
There was a teleportation magic circle shining underneath them.

***

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]