Chapter 529 – Mountain after mountain (2)

'Why did this Vampire come here?'

Cale was shocked.
He thought this Vampire was going to send him an invitation, and furthermore, how the hell did he know he was here?

Flutter.

The black bird didn't care whether Cale was shocked or not and slightly flew up and moved elsewhere.

Plop.

The bird landed on Alberu Crossman's bed.

Chhhhh!

The black bird opened up its shiny beautiful black wings and with some elegant movements…

"Your highness, Alberu Crossman. Nice to meet you."

It greeted Alberu.

"My name is Duke Fredo Von Ejellan of the Endable Kingdom. I currently lead the Vampires of the two continents."
"Hooo."

Alberu quietly mumbled in amazement before slightly bowing toward the black bird.

"Nice to meet you as well."

Alberu was speaking somewhat respectfully to follow the proper etiquette of addressing a foreign nation's Duke. The black bird's eyes slightly curled up in response.

"I wished to meet your highness at some point, but I apologize for suddenly barging in like this."
"Not at all. It's okay."
"Your highness, you truly are as wise and benevolent as I've heard."
"Hahaha! Duke Fredo, you are the one who seems quite wise."

'Oh?'

Cale looked toward the black bird and Alberu who were chatting peacefully with each other in disbelief.
Alberu noticed Cale's gaze and started to speak.

"Little brother, have you ever thought about learning such cool etiquette like Duke Fredo's?"

'What nonsense is this?'

Cale just said whatever came to mind.

"I plan on being a slacker, so I don't think I'll have anywhere to use that etiquette even if I learned them."
"Ah."

Alberu sighed.
Cale found Alberu's pitying gaze to be odd.

'…Why is he looking at me like that?'

Although he didn't know the reason, it made him feel extremely iffy that Cale slightly started to frown as he looked at Alberu.
Alberu shook his head and then started to speak toward Duke Fredo.

"Based on what I heard, Duke Fredo was unconscious. Are you okay?"

Smile.

Alberu started to smile.
He had a sharp gaze toward Duke Fredo as if they had not been speaking peacefully to each other at all.
The black bird who received his observing gaze directly shared his astonishment.

"Hooo. You've heard about my condition."

Swish.

The black bird turned toward Cale.
The black bird's eyes flashed as they looked at him.

"I'm extremely curious as to how his highness knew about my condition. My current condition should have been a secret."

Cale just shrugged his shoulders toward the black bird.

'There's no need to tell him that the Wind Elementals told me.'

He didn't want to share that information with someone who was not his ally.
Duke Fredo seemed to notice this as he did not ask further.

Flutter.

He flapped his wings and flew up into the air.

"Your highness, if it is okay with you, may I have a conversation with young master Cale Henituse in secret?"
"Of course. Do whatever you need."
"Thank you very much, your highness. I will come bade goodbye before I leave."
"I understand."

Cale observed the bird and the crown prince in a stiff position as he thought to himself.

'They work well off each other.'

Cale chuckled and got up from his seat.

He was the one Duke Fredo wanted to chat with the most.
He had no reason to decline that conversation.
It was even better that he didn't need to go looking for him.

"Let's go chat in my bedroom."

They couldn't talk in the reception room nor an office because this was the Stan Lord's Castle.

"Sounds good."

Duke Fredo happily left with Cale.
…While landing on Choi Han's shoulder.

'What the hell is he doing?'

Cale looked toward Duke Fredo who gracefully landed on Choi Han's shoulder with shock.
Duke Fredo didn't care and patted Choi Han's shoulder with his foot before speaking in a satisfied voice.

"Mm. This shoulder is nice because it is the firmest. This is satisfactory."

Cale could see Choi Han's pupils shaking after being taken back by this development.
Duke Fredo who did not notice this at all patted Choi Han's shoulder with his feet again.

"Choi Han, you escort me."

Cale could see something at that moment.

'What is up with this bastard?'

He could tell that Choi Han was swearing in his head just by looking at his eyes.
Cale subconsciously took a step away from Choi Han and headed toward the bedroom door.

– Human!

Raon was invisible and right behind him.

– Is it okay for that fearless Vampire to move around like this after claiming to be unconscious?

'I know, right?'

Cale kind of bowed toward Alberu who was waving his hand and grabbed the doorknob.

– Oh, human, also! You cannot get close to the God of Death at all! The God of Death seems to be cunning! Don't worry, I won't let even a god get away with messing with you!

'Oops. I forgot about the God of Death.'

Cale had forgotten about the God of Death issue because of Duke Fredo's sudden appearance.

Click.

Cale turned the doorknob and headed outside.
A couple of Royal Knights were standing a bit away while guarding the area around Alberu's bedroom door. Cale greeted them before starting to walk toward his room.

"Young master-nim!"

He turned his head after hearing someone calling his name from behind him.
Cage walked out from behind Choi Han, who was walking with the black bird on his shoulder, and approached Cale.

She stood next to Cale and quietly whispered something in his ear.

"Young master-nim, is it fine to consider that you are declining the offer for sure?"

Cale answered sternly without even a second of hesitation.

"Yes."

It was one thing to land a punch on the God of Death, but he did not want to move according to a god's will.
Cage blinked a few times after hearing his response before mumbling to herself.

"Hmm, I don't know if he'll listen. He's a persistent god. He's such a blockhead that you can't really talk to him."

Cale flinched.

Cage who was mumbling to herself slowly looked up at Cale's face and observed him.

Smile.

She then started to smile.

"I will figure out a way."
– Human! Cage is smiling like when you and the crown prince are scamming someone! No, she's smiling in an even scarier way!

That smile soon turned to her usual refreshing smile and she bowed to Cale.

"Then see you next time."
"…Sure."

Cale watched Cage leave in the opposite direction before his expression turned stiff.
He turned away from Cage and started to walk toward his room.

'The God of Death…things are getting annoying.'

His expression continued to stiffen from the frustration he felt as he thought about his situation.

The invisible Raon and Choi Han… As well as Duke Fredo on Choi Han's shoulder followed quietly behind Cale.
Cale's group could no longer see the area around Alberu's bedroom.
There were many people who had watched them from the beginning.

"…Wasn't his expression too vicious?"

The voice of one of the knights in the hallway filled the area.

Peek peek.

The knights guarding the crown prince's room stopped looking solemn and serious and peeked at each other.

'This is weird.'
'His expression…was very serious.'

The battle had ended.
But Cale Henituse, the person who could be said was the one to end the battle, had entered the crown prince's bedroom looking weak and down but left with a stiff and serious expression and headed somewhere.
His steps looked firm and urgent.

All of the knights had ominous feelings.
They were the ones who were responsible for guarding the crown prince and protecting the kingdom after all.
That was why they were worried that another war or something big would happen.

The Knight Captain was not there right now, so one of the knights cautiously started to ask.

"Do you think…something happened to young master Cale-nim?"

His sunbae knight let out a fake cough before adding on.

"Looks that way. He's always working for the Roan Kingdom…he's always busy and unable to rest."

One of the quietest Knights started to speak at that moment.

"It might be for the entire world and not just the Roan Kingdom. Didn't you guys see it just now too?"

The knights all looked toward him as it was rare for him to speak.
He usually did not speak because he was a deep thinker.

"See what?"
"Young master Cale-nim chatting with someone."

They recalled the person who had just whispered to Cale.

"…You mean the lady wearing the priestess robe?"
"Yes."
"That madam-, isn't she Lord Stan's close friend?"

The knights had not reacted to her being here because they were clear about her identity.

"But that's not it."
"What do you mean?"
"I think I can answer that for you."
"Hmm?"

The knight chatting with the quiet knight looked toward his hoobae knight who had been the first to speak.

Peek peek.

The hoobae knight looked around in order to make sure that they were the only ones there before he cautiously started to speak.
He needed to be even more cautious as this was the Stan Lord's Castle and not the palace.

"The lady from earlier is indeed Lord Stan's close friend, however…"

Gulp.

He gulped and continued to speak.

"…She is also an excommunicated priestess of the Church of the God of Death."

The knights who had been quietly listening to him reacted to that statement.

"Excommunicated?"
"The God of Death?"

It was because it was difficult and rare for a priestess to be excommunicated.

"Yes. She was excommunicated from the church of the God of Death, but you see…"

The important information was here.
The hoobae knight shared the story he had heard from his close friend who was a knight at the Stan Lord's Castle.

"She was excommunicated, but the Church of the God of Death does not dare to touch her."

He shared his thoughts.

"And based on what I've heard, that excommunicated priestess-nim can still use powers like the vow of death that the God of Death gives to his priests."
"…How is that possible?"
"Exactly."

Peek peek.

The knight looked around once more before continuing to speak.

"The fact that the church does not dare to touch that priestess-nim is because the God of Death still considers her to be his child. Such a person came urgently looking for young master Cale-nim. She then chatted so closely with him."

The knight known for being silent started to speak again.

"Especially right after that evil White Star bastard told us that thing about young master Cale-nim."

A priestess who was excommunicated but still remained the child of a god.
That priestess urgently came looking for Cale and chatted so closely with him until just a moment ago.

Cale had turned stiff after that conversation.
The White Star had just said that Cale was someone who had received the will of a god.
Of course, the White Star did not say which god it was. He just considered Cale to be an envoy of a god.

Young master Cale was saying that that was not the case, but…

A scenario popped up in the knights' minds.
They all subconsciously looked at each other.

"…Perhaps?"

The knights all looked toward the quiet Knight. He stood up straight after receiving their gazes and started to speak.

"I just shared my hypothesis."

He then shut up again.
All of them shut up.
They felt as if they figured out something they were not supposed to know.

Silence filled the hallway once more.

* * *

Cale closed his bedroom door and looked toward the center of the room.

"So, why did you come to find me?"

Flutter.

The black bird that elegantly started to flutter its wings on Choi Han's shoulder approached Cale.
It then made eye contact with Cale once it was about a step away.

The bird's beak opened again.

"My friend, it looks like you'll need to go to the Endable Kingdom with me."

'…Since when am I your friend?'

Cale was flabbergasted.

***

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]