Chapter 22: Who are you guys? (2)

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

The black rain was as thick as the unexpected rainfall in the middle of summer.

Clunk. Clunk.

It also brought gusts of wind with it.

"The edge precinct black mages truly are skilled~"

Cale turned his head after hearing the melodious mumbling.

'He's smiling?'

The mercenary with disheveled hair was smiling while looking out the window. That made Cale think about his suspicions.

'Is this bastard really a member of the Agents of Destruction?'

There were not many reasons to send a subordinate out of the capital no matter how many times Cale thought about it.

'Hmm?'

Cale turned toward the Fourth Imperial Prince who was standing past Zero.

'As expected, the trash demeanor is just an act.'

The Fourth Imperial Prince, who was looking out the window with quite a serious gaze, had both of his fists clenched. It was only for an instant, but he even cursed under his breath as if he was holding back his anger.

– Human! Will our team be okay? One was smiling like a fool before turning serious while the other was angry but suddenly chuckles and pretends to laugh!

As Raon mentioned, the two candidates had quickly hid their emotions.

'The two of their emotions aren't the issue right now.'

Cale looked away from the two of them and looked outside.

Swooooooosh-

The black rain mixed with the wind and turned into something like a small storm.

And that storm-

Baaaaaang!

Slammed into the shield.

Crack.

A portion of the shield broke.

"Will this be okay?!"

One of the candidates became shocked and almost shouted to an aide to ask.

One of the aides stepped forward.

'That person is the one who was speaking to the Margrave.'

Cale recalled that this was the last aide to speak to the Margrave before the Margrave left.

"Please don't worry. There are over one hundred black mages in Precinct 9. In addition, they are all at least at the middle-grade level."

The aide's face was stiff despite telling them not to worry.

"This level of rain cloud is not enough to destroy it."

The candidate who asked the question seemed a bit relieved after hearing the aide's confident remarks, but Cale had a thought after hearing the answer.

'What if it gets past this level of rain cloud?

Then what happens?

Will the shield break?'

Cale heard someone who had the same question as himself.

"Are there instances where it gets worse than this level of rain cloud?"

It was the Second Imperial Princess.

'Hmm.'

The Second Imperial Princess had formed a team with two candidates who did not stand out much.

'The team is set up so that the Second Imperial Princess would shine the most if they do their mission well.'

The aide closed her mouth for a moment at the Second Imperial Princess as Cale quickly came up with that assessment.

The rest of the candidates and their subordinates all turned toward her.

Clunk. Clunk.

The wind that seemed to be getting worse was slamming against the window.

Thankfully, there was no black rain hitting the window.

"Currently."

The aide pushed up her glasses a bit as she responded.

"Currently, there are no rain clouds stronger than this."

"…It sounds like there will be in the future?"

The aide sighed at the Second Imperial Princess's scary gaze.

"The rain clouds have slowly gotten stronger since the dead mana rain clouds first appeared, your Royal Highness."

"Mm."

Someone groaned.

"And the amount of time in between each instance of rain cloud has been getting shorter."

"Is it impossible to determine the cycle of the rain cloud?"

"Yes, your Royal Highness."

The Second Imperial Princess looked up at the ceiling for a bit before asking.

"What exactly is this rain? I've never seen something like this before."

This was also Cale's first time hearing about this.

'This is different from the erosion methods the Church told me about.'

There were multiple methods of dead mana erosion spreading throughout Xiaolen, but there were some common symptoms.

'The ground slowly turns black.

Or liquefied dead mana shoots up from underground in places where the foundation has lost strength.

Finally, river water polluted by dead mana flows down and erodes other pieces of land.

I've never heard of it being through rain clouds.'

The eroded lands did have dead mana fog but it was not something that moved.

"The Margrave should be explaining this for all of you, but I will give a short explanation because of the current situation."

The aide walked toward a wall without a window.

Cale could see a long cloth that resembled a curtain on the wall.

The aide pulled at the cloth.

Chhhhhh-

"It's a map."

"…It's a map of the west?"

The cloth had a map of the western part of the Empire.

"You will be able to see the edge villages of the ten precincts of the west on here."

They could see the areas of the Empire that had turned black as well as the current boundary of the Empire.

"What are the red dots?"

One of the candidates asked.

Five of the precincts, including precinct 9, had red marks on them.

"They are the regions where the dead mana rain clouds gather."

Clunk. Clunk.

The window was still shaking violently.

Cale recorded the entire map in his mind.

"The rain cloud started in precinct 9 but has started to appear in other precincts as well."

She looked out the window.

They could see the shield in the sky pretty well because they were in a high spot in the castle. The half-transparent black shield was repeatedly breaking and being fixed.

It was proof that the black mages were working hard.

"The first rain cloud appeared half a year ago."

Plop. Plop.

The raindrops were slowly decreasing.

"…Why did we not know about this when it happened half a year ago?"

The Second Imperial Princess's voice was louder now.

'That's true. This is a bit weird.'

Half a year was a pretty long time.

– Cale, the Church didn't tell you about this either, right?

Cale slightly nodded his head so that it would not be noticed by others after hearing Eruhaben's question.

'Something this big happened six months ago but nobody in the Empire's capital knows about it.'

Cale turned to look at the aide.

She was looking at the Second Imperial Princess as she responded.

"We have been reporting the issue to the Imperial Palace on a regular basis, your Royal Highness."

"…The Imperial Palace already knows about it?"

"Yes ma'am."

The Second Imperial Princess looked at the First Imperial Prince and then the Fourth Imperial Prince.

Cale did the same.

The First Imperial Prince was still standing there without any expression on his face as if he was an ice sculpture while the Fourth Imperial Prince had his fists clenched and was avoiding the Second Imperial Princess's gaze.

"Ha!"

The Second Imperial Princess scoffed in disbelief.

"I guess there are a lot of people who knew about it."

She mumbled before looking back at the aide.

""It would not be weird for the rain clouds to appear anywhere on the Empire."

"That's right, your Royal Highness. However, the rain clouds thankfully have not left the ten precincts so far and the rain only falls in these areas before disappearing."

Cale then heard Mary's voice.

"…That's odd."

– It is weird as Mary mentioned! Why does it only rain in these precincts before it disappears?

Zero spoke in a nonchalant voice.

"It sounds like someone is controlling the rain clouds."

Quite a lot of people heard his voice as he spoke during a silent moment.

"That is why it is the test."

Cale turned after hearing a voice behind him.

The Margrave was coming back inside.

Plop. Plop.

The black rain had almost ended and the wind was no longer blowing.

Cale could see the blue sky that was slightly grey beyond the walls.

The grey and blue sky… The two colors started separate from each other but the blue sky was slowly dyed by the grey color that spread like paint.

"We determined half a year ago that the rain clouds were not a natural phenomenon."

The Margrave in charge of Precinct 9.

Margrave Helson was a Marquis of the Empire.

"That is why we sent people multiple times past the wall to investigate the cause but we haven't gained any useful information."

Marquis Helson.

Cale started to recall information about this man he received from the Church.

'Marquis Helson. He loathes politics and is from a Margrave family that has been protecting the western part of the Empire for generations. He has a strong Knights Brigade and his loyalty to the Empire is deep.'

His loyalty was deep not to the Emperor but to the Empire.

That meant that he would not treat the Imperial family differently.

'He's a fitting character.'

He was perfect as a test administrator.

Old priest Durst had sent a letter through the team leader.

< The current Margrave does not have a family. His only family member, his grandfather the former Marquis, met his death fighting against dead mana. >

The current Margrave was past his mid-thirties but did not marry despite being a noble.

< The Margrave didn't want another family to feel the pain he felt losing his family and is determined to give his life fighting against dead mana. >

This was said to be known by everybody in the Empire.

'Mm.'

Cale held back a groan after recalling a piece of information.

< P.S. >

The old priest had added something as postscript.

< For reference, the Margrave's grandfather had a secret relationship with our Fire of Purification. >

< He was a hidden believer. >

'…The former Margrave was a secret believer.'

< For reference, the current Margrave is aware of that fact as well. >

< Of course, the Margrave is not a believer. >

< He is just keeping his grandfather's secret tightly hidden. >

Cale had been thinking that the Church had a lot of power despite being called heretics and treated as a cult, but it seemed to be because they had hidden believers all around.

– Human, why are you smiling like that?

Cale ignored Raon's comment and watched as Zero took a step forward.

"Is that our mission?"

The Marquis peeked toward Zero after hearing the loosely asked question and responded.

"That's right. The five teams with three members and one team with four members will all put finding the source of this dead mana rain cloud as top priority."

"Hooooo. Does that mean the mission is a success if we simply find the cause?"

"That's right."

A twisted smile appeared on Zero's face.

He asked the Margrave another question.

"What if we also get rid of the cause? Do we get first place?"

"Pffft."

The Margrave scoffed.

"I'm sure you'll be first place then."

The air in the room instantly changed.

The people who had been anxious because of the rain cloud were now heated up.

The candidates were looking at each other warily or deep in thought.

The Marquis calmly spoke again.

"If you don't die, that is."

The heated air sank cold once again.

"All of the candidates here should be familiar with dead mana. You all have that great and mighty power. However, it will benefit you to remember this."

The Marquis pointed out the window.

His finger was pointing past the wall.

"The dead land is not somewhere you can survive through just because you are familiar with dead mana."

A thick smile appeared on the Marquis' face.

"Remember that if you wish to survive."

Boom.

The Marquis stomped his foot.

"All aides guide your respective candidates to their lodgings! You will be given areas to strategize with your teams and all necessary information will be delivered to you!"

Cale's eyes clouded over as he looked at the aide heading over toward them.

The aide who had stepped up was approaching them.

"Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Eaen and I am the top aide."

The Fourth Imperial Prince opened his mouth.

"Who determined the aides for the teams?"

"The Marquis-nim did so, candidate-nim."

Cale looked up toward the Marquis.

It was only for an instant.

The Marquis was silently looking at Mary but turned away after noticing Cale's gaze.

– Human! That Margrave was looking at Mary with such a fierce gaze until he turned his head!

The Margrave opened his mouth once again.

"Your mission will start tomorrow! You will have one week!"

The Marquis seemed more like a soldier or a knight than a noble.

Furthermore, he treated all of the candidates equally as if they were his subordinates who needed to complete the mission.

"You are dismissed!"

He left the area first without any hesitation.

"Wow. They couldn't even find any clue in half a year and they want us to take care of it in a week."

Zero shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

"Hyung-nim, this is impossible!"

"Seriously. Haaa, this is going to be rough."

His subordinates grumbled as well.

"Tsk."

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi looked at them as if they were foolish before giving the top aide, Eaen, an order.

"To our lodging."

"Yes, candidate-nim."

It was at that moment.

Clunk–!

The Fourth Imperial Prince turned his gaze and then scowled.

"…What the hell?"

Cale opened the window.

"Haha-"

He then awkwardly laughed as if he was embarrassed.

"Our Sui was feeling frustrated."

A black wing slapped Cale's cheek asking what he was talking about, but Cale just ignored it. He then motioned with his eyes toward the open window.

"Sui, you were feeling frustrated being stuck inside, weren't you? Go out and play!"

'Haaaa.'

The bird's body moved up and down as if it was sighing before it landed on the window ledge.

– Human! Should I go out with Sui Khan as well? I'm concerned because Sui Khan is so skinny!

Cale simply ignored Raon's comment.

Sui Khan looked at Cale, Eruhaben, Choi Han, and then Mary before looking back at Cale and heading out of the window and into the sky.

Cale watched Sui Khan leave and hoped internally.

'Team leader, please come back with some information.'

Sui Khan would know to go gather information even without being told to do so.

Eruhaben shook his head while watching Sui Khan leave but Cale didn't care.

"Tsk!"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi clicked his tongue even louder before walking toward the door.

"Ah. Please let me escort you right away!"

Eaen flinched before moving in front of Noi and leading the group.

Zero and his subordinates followed behind as well.

"Should we go?"

Mary asked and Cale nodded his head.

Choi Han led the way and the others followed.

However, Cale remained in the back to look around at the remaining people.

'The First Imperial Prince.'

He was with the individual whom they were confused about being a dragon, the first young lady of the Black Bloods household, and a robed individual. His team members seemed to have already left.

'Hmm.'

The First Imperial Prince and Fourth Imperial Prince seemed to have information about these rain clouds.

'Would they know the reason behind them as well?'

If that was the case, this test was catered for the First Imperial Prince.

It was a test to make him the Emperor.

'There's quite a lot of potential for that being the case.'

Of course, he didn't think that the Margrave informed the First Imperial Prince in advance of the cause of the rain clouds. That would be a rash judgment.

'It is more likely that this rain cloud is connected to the Hunters of the Black Bloods household and they informed the First Imperial Prince about the answer.'

But that could also be wrong.

Cale left a lot of room for other potential answers.

This was a world he did not know.

– Human, are you not going? Choi Han keeps looking back!

Cale heard Raon's voice but he motioned to Choi Han with his hand to keep going and did not move.

'Mm.

The black haired woman who could be a Dragon looked toward Cale for a moment before frowning and looking away.

That was understandable.

– Human! Why is she coming this way?

Click. Click.

The Second Imperial Princess was walking toward Cale.

She had quite the vicious look on her face as she did so.

'What's wrong with her?'

However, the Second Imperial Princess did not stop in front of Cale and just walked past him.

"Don't work with the puppets."

She slowly walked past Cale as she said that.

"Tell that to your master."

Cale looked at the Second Imperial Princess as she walked past him. She was looking forward.

She did not even glance at Cale.

"Puppets do not have their own will. Of course, the young puppet seems like he is trying to run away."

The Second Imperial Princess stopped talking and slightly turned her head to look at Cale.

'Heni Wishrop.' It was a subconscious movement because she didn't know whether the man who seemed to be her Chief Advisor would have understood her.

'Mm!'

She could see that the man, whose face was covered except his mouth, had a thick smile on his face.

"I will keep that in mind."

He had a picturesque smile on his face as he said that before walking toward Heni Wishrop.

The Second Imperial Princess quietly watched him.

– Human! Both the Second Imperial Princess and the First Imperial Prince are looking at us!

Of course, Cale didn't care much about their gazes.

'The conclusion is simple.'

He had this thought while listening to the Second Imperial Princess's comments.

'This place.'

Both this world and this test…

'Is a mess.'

That was why the answer was simple.

'We just need to do what we need to do.'

They would just simply get rid of the things that get in their way as they did that.

Cale looked out the window.

Beyond the large and thick wall…

– Cale, it looked like it would be easy to destroy the rain cloud. Don't you think that we would be able to easily destroy the reason behind it as well?

The Fire of Destruction. The cheapskate revealed confidence once again. He was being so chatty and loud but Cale could not ignore him.

– I mean come on; I'm a human that even the World Tree feared!

He had every reason to be that confident.

* * *

The next day, the first day of the test.

"…Nice to meet you. Heni Wishrop."

"Nice to meet you as well."

The Second Imperial Princess was standing in front of the door heading out of the wall and looking at the people approaching it.

"…Are you going out to investigate?"

"Yes."

Heni Wishrop. The First Imperial Prince was also approaching the door behind her.

Mary spoke as plainly as usual.

"I am going to go investigate past the wall."

—
Translator's Comments

Mary got a stalker.

***

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]