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Chapter Text

A firm hand was gently tapping his side. Kim Rok Soo groaned before curling up tighter, sleep still pulling at the edges of his conscious. The incessant tapping continued, the warmth of the hand spreading out from his side each time it made contact. He was tempted to ignore whoever was trying to drag him into the waking world, fatigue still heavy in his limbs and the softness of the bed a siren’s lullaby. But such was not meant to be as a sharp voice broke the silence, abruptly cutting his conscious from sleep’s sweet hands.

“Young master, it is morning.”

Chills rushed through Rok Soo’s body, instinct alerting him that there was the potential for danger from this unfamiliar voice. His eyes snapped open as he quickly rolled onto his back, his gaze immediately seeking out the source of the voice that had sent his hackles rising. The sunlight backlit the man standing calmly over him. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light before he made out
the satisfied expression on the man’s face.

“It is surprising to see you wake up after a single attempt, young master.”

Rok Soo did not recognise the old man smiling down at him. Confusion a storm at the forefront of his mind. He didn’t know what expression was on his face but whatever it was had the old man resolutely ignoring it as he turned around to face the small trolley behind him which had a teacup and teapot sat on top. Rok Soo sat up before stealthily looking around the room whilst the man’s back was turned. The bedroom he had woken up in held no indication that he could still be in Korea, the furnishings reminding him of the style preferred by old European nobility that he had seen in historical movies. Everything in the room was extravagant and luxurious, wealth bleeding from the walls.

His investigation was interrupted by the old man turning back around with a teacup that he held out for Rok Soo to take. Rok Soo carefully took to teacup, peering inside before cautiously taking a sip which caused his face to scrunch up and him to cough in surprise. There was lemon juice in the tea. Rok Soo frowned down at the cup, before cradling it between his hands in his lap.

“The master wishes to dine with the young master this morning since it has been a while,” the old man continued. Rok Soo looked up at the old man before moving his gaze slightly to the right, past the old man’s left shoulder. He could see a mirror. Inside the mirror was red-haired young man who frowned back at him with confused eyes. Rok Soo slightly tilted his head to the right without being too obvious. The young man in the mirror copied him. Rok Soo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

‘I guess that guy is me?’

The lack of the reply to his previous statement made the old man frown down at Rok Soo in concern.

“Young master Cale?”

Rok Soo turned his gaze back to the old man. Looking at him properly, Rok Soo concluded that this man was likely a servant. A butler. But that was not Rok Soo’s biggest concern at the moment. He had clearly heard it. The old man had clearly just called him ‘Cale’. Young master Cale; it was a familiar name. Unmeaning to, he blurted out a familiar name to the old man with a questioning tone.

“Cale Henituse?”

The old man was looking at him with the same concern a grandparent would have towards their grandchild before he answered.

“Yes. That is your name, young master. I’m guessing you are still slightly drunk from yesterday?”

Listening to the concerned response of the old man, Rok Soo thought of another name that was even more important than his.

Hesitantly, he asked, “And Beacrox?”

The old man’s frown deepened, his eyes sharpening as he looked down at Cale who was behaving oddly.

“Are you talking about my son, young master?”

Not aware of the old man’s gaze sharpening towards him, Rok Soo mumbled “chef” to himself.

“Yes. My son is the chef,” the old man responded. “Do you need him to make something for your hangover, young master?”

Rok Soo felt his surroundings begin to turn dark as a wave of dizziness crashed into him. He lowered his head slowly, bringing one of his hands away from the teacup he was still cradling and put his head into it, breathing deeply as he tried to ignore the nausea that the dizziness had brought on.

“Young master, are you still drunk? Should I call the doctor? Or will you wash up?” The old man asked in succession as he looked at the young man whose complexion had gone pale, his red hair falling in front of his face. It was a bright red colour, much different from Rok Soo’s original black hair.

Cale Henituse. Beacrox. Beacrox’s dad. That would mean that the old man standing by his bedside was Ron. They were the characters that had appeared in the beginning of the novel, The Birth of a Hero, which Rok Soo had been reading before he fell asleep last night.

Still concerned at the lack of response from his young master, Ron prompted him.

“Young Master?”

Rok Soo took the hand away from his head and looked back up at Ron, who was pretending to be concerned and worried for his young master like a proper butler.
“Cold water.”

Confused by this abrupt statement Ron asked, “Excuse me?”

Rok Soo needed something to clear his mind. He could still see the face of Cale Henituse in the mirror behind Ron.

‘At least he still looks normal,’ Rok Soo thought. ‘I guess Cale hasn’t been beaten to a pulp by the main character just yet.’

Rok Soo quietly inspected the handsome face looking back at him. Unbelievably, he had become Cale Henituse when he opened his eyes. Cale Henituse: the trash young master who was beaten to a pulp by the main character in the beginning chapters of The Birth of a Hero. That was who he had become.

“Young master, I presume you will not be bathing in the cold water. Are you asking for drinking water?” Ron asked having not received an answer from Cale.

Cale turned his eyes back to Ron. Ron may be pretending to be a benign old man, but he was hiding his identity as a cruel and vicious individual.

“Please get me some drinking water,” Cale requested.

He needed to drink something cold and clear his mind first before dealing with whatever this was.

“I will prepare it right away,” Ron replied, bowing slightly towards Cale.

“Great. Thanks,” Cale replied.

Ron flinched for a second at Cale’s response, an odd expression making its way across his face. Cale didn’t notice. Ron straightened, still looking suspiciously at Cale, before he took the teacup from Cale, which he had still be cradling in his lap, the contents now cold.

Ron had to leave the bedroom as there was only warm bathing water in the room. Once he was left alone, Cale got off the bed and headed to the bathroom. If he really was inside of the novel, he knew that there should be another large mirror inside. As expected, upon entrance he saw the full body mirror. Cale Henituse had a lot of interest in his appearance and physique, having the mirror set up in here so he could admire himself in relative peace. Unsurprisingly, nobody else in the household had such a mirror.

The man in the mirror had red hair and a pretty fit physique. It wouldn’t be wrong to say he had a body that would make any style look good as it was relatively slim and toned.

“I really am Cale,” Rok Soo said out loud to himself in the mirror.

The man in the mirror was unmistakably Cale Henituse from the novel. The Birth of a Hero was very descriptive about each of the characters’ appearances and that was why Rok Soo had no choice but to agree that he had indeed turned into Cale Henituse despite how unbelievable the situation.

Do people usually become calmer when they are surprised and shocked? Kim Rok Soo, no, Cale, thought.

Yesterday, had been one of his typical days off. He had thought that it had been a while since he had read a physical book rather than one on his phone, so he had decided to spend the entire day reading. Rok Soo had then gone to the library to check some out. He had chosen to borrow and entire series since he would have found it inconvenient to not have had the next volumes immediately at hand.
The name of the series was The Birth of a Hero. He had managed to finish up until the fifth volume before eventually falling asleep. But when he had woken up, he had turned into Cale Henituse, the individual who the main character had mercilessly beaten up in volume one.

‘Will things go the same way as they did in the novel?’ Cale idly thought. He felt unnaturally calm despite the situation. Once he got past the initial shock, his mind had calmed down. He then started to remember the contents of volume one.

The Birth of a Hero.

This novel was about the birth of the heroes in the Western and Eastern continents, as well as their trials and growth. The main character was, naturally, Korean. He was a high school student who had been transported into the world when he was a freshman. Furthermore, his lifespan became as long as a dragon’s, make him seem as though he never aged.

‘This is bad,’ Cale thought. He was going to be beaten up by such a person? The bright side was that it seemed he had not yet been beaten up. There was still time to avoid it.

Cale took his eyes off the mirror and disrobed, stepping into the tub that was full of warm water. He leant against the tub and looked up at the ceiling. It was expensive, having been made of marble. The estate that Cale lived in was actually full of marble and was his family’s main source of income.

Cale started to mumble as he looked at the ceiling.

“It’s not like there’s much I’ll miss.”

There wasn’t really much to his life as Kim Rok Soo; he was an orphan and didn’t have much money; he also didn’t have a person who loved to death, and he no longer had any friends he would be willing to give his life to save. He only continued to live because he could not die.

Yes, he could not die.

He hated the thought of death or being in pain. He became an orphan after both of his parents passed away from a car accident when he was little. He didn’t like pain or death. No matter what it was, even if he was rolling in a pile of dog shit, it would still be better than being dead.

‘For that reason,’ Cale thought. ‘I need to make sure I don’t get beaten up.’

He didn’t know what day it was in the novel right now, but he was sure that he had not yet met with the main character. The reason was simple. He did not have a scar on his side. Cale Henituse, the trash of Count Henituse’s family, would get a scar a few days before meeting the main character. Cale would have been drinking and causing a ruckus and flinging things around, when he would have gotten stabbed on his side by a broken desk leg, resulting in the scar.

‘What an interesting character,’ Cale thought. He didn’t get the scar from fighting someone, instead he got it because he was angry that the alcohol he had been drinking didn’t taste good and threw a tantrum. He meets the main character after he gets the scar and, after a short discussion, gets beaten to a pulp.

Cale crossed his arms and started to think.

He did not know what had happened to Cale after getting beaten to a pulp in volume one as he no longer appeared after that. All he knew was that the main character, Choi Han, had many fateful encounters and overcame a lot of trials in order to grow into a hero along with his party members. Thus, the era for him to prove that he is a hero will begin. The Roan Kingdom that Cale currently lived in, as well as many other locations in the Eastern and Western Continents, would be filled with war. It truly was a time for the heroes to show their potential.

Cale started to frown. Kim Rok Soo, the man who had become Cale, had a pretty simple life motto: Live long without pain, enjoy the small joys of life, and live a peaceful life.

‘As long as I make the story proceed like normal, whilst avoiding the fact that I get beaten up, the main character should take care of the rest.’

For some odd reason, Cale could recall every single line in the book without any issue and, whilst strange, it was otherwise quite helpful. Cale relaxed in the warm water whilst coming to a conclusion now that his head was clear.

‘It’s worth trying,’ Cale thought.

It was worth trying to avoid the continent’s war and living peacefully. This trash’s situation was much better than Kim Rok Soo’s. The location of this estate was also in the corner of the Western Continent, making it an ideal location to avoid the war. In the novel itself, there were many nobles who managed to avoid the influences of war and, even if he could not completely avoid it, he should be able at least reduce the damages to his territory to a minimum.

“Young master, are you inside the bathroom?”

Cale heard Ron’s voice coming from outside. He thought about Ron’s true identity: an assassin who had crossed over from the Eastern Continent by sea. He pretended to be a benign old man, but the true Ron was a cruel and merciless man who was as sharp as a knife’s edge.

A shiver went through Cale before he responded.

“Yes, I’ll be right out.”

Despite how scary he knew Ron could be, his instinct was to talk informally to the old man. Cale realised what he was doing and made up his mind about what to do in the future.
He needed to push that old man to the main character and send him away.

That old man could easily kill Cale with a single blow, but instead treated Cale like a puppy who you left alone because you felt bad for it. Ron might smile gently on the outside, but there was no ounce of care for Cale on the inside. In the novel, Ron leaves with the main character and his son after Choi Han beats Cale to a pulp.

Cale pulled himself out of the bathtub and grabbed the nearby bathrobe, putting it on as he quickly exited the bathroom. Ron was standing outside with a smile on his face and a tray with a cup in his hands.

He extended the tray out to Cale. “Young master, your water.”

Cale picked up the cup and walked past Ron. He did not want to make eye contact with such a dangerous man.

“Great. Thanks.”

Ron’s expression turned odd once again, but Cale had already walked past him.

Cale took a sip of the cold water as he started to think.

‘There are too many strong people here.’

In fact, there were too many of them throughout the novel. No matter where the main character ended up, there were either strong individuals or individuals with secrets. These individuals were both human and other races.

‘I at least need the strength to protect myself.’

In order to live without pain in a continent that would soon be filled with war, he needed a decent level of strength. Of course, he could not be too strong as then other complicated things were likely to happen and disrupt his chance at a peaceful life.

Cale thought about the different fateful encounters that had occurred in the beginning of the novel. The powers that would strengthen the main character and his party members. He was thinking about the ones that would help him live long without pain, there were a couple that came to mind. He just needed to pick one of them.

“Young master, we will start to dress you now.”

Startled from his thoughts, Cale absently responded, “oh, right. Thanks.”

The door to the bedroom opened and a couple of servants entered to help Ron dress Cale. Cale didn’t notice that Ron had a stoic expression, unlike his usual self, as he looked at the clothes the servants were bringing in.

Cale turned his head and eyed the clothes the servants were bringing in. Most of the clothing looked like it would be a hassle to put on and wear. He really hated complicated attire. Simple clothes that let you relax comfortably were best. He glanced over at Ron before opening his mouth.

“Ah, something simple today.”

“Yes, young master,” Ron replied before directing the servant in charge of the attires. The servant quickly pulled out some simple clothes and Cale changed into the simplest of them all. He lightly frowned after finishing. Even this ‘simple’ attire was extremely extravagant and not to his liking. However, the reflection in the mirror looked quite handsome.

‘He really is handsome and makes any clothes look good,’ Cale thought to himself.

The face really was the final piece to fashion. He walked up to the mirror and fixed his sleeves before turning around to look at Ron who was once again smiling like a gentle old man. Cale couldn’t help but flinch but quickly gathered himself.

“Ron, let’s go,” he announced confidently.

“Yes, young master.”

Ron turned around and made his way towards the door, Cale following close behind. It was nice that he did not need to know the layout of the estate, he just needed to follow Ron wherever it was he needed to go.

All of the servants that Cale passed flinched and bowed respectfully towards him before they hurried away. Cale raised an eyebrow at the display. Whilst aware that the original Cale was often prone to violent outbursts, he had never hit anyone. He just liked to drink and play. Sometimes when he was drunk, he would break things, but that was why he was the trash of the family. He also didn’t treat people like people, other than those he liked.

‘Well, it’s better if nobody talks to me.’

Cale thought about it peacefully. It would be more difficult for him if he was in the body of a model citizen. Trash, on the other hand, can do as they please without worry.
Having reached the dining hall door Ron announced, “I will now open the door.”

Cale nodded his head towards Ron. The book mentioned that Cale treated Ron, someone who had raised him like he was his own grandson, as nicely as he treated his own father. It mentioned that he always responded to Ron and treated him like a person. Of course, Ron didn’t really think that way. That was why it was easy for Cale to talk to Ron. He just needed to answer Ron’s questions and treat him like a human being.

“I hope you enjoy your breakfast.”

“Thanks. Ron, make sure you eat a good meal too.”

Cale walked past Ron and into the dining room once he opened to doors. He could see his family sitting at along dining table, breakfast spread out before them. His father and the current head of the Henituse household, Count Deruth, was seated at the head of the table and watched Cale passively as he entered. On his right was Cale’s stepmother, Countess Violan, along with his stepsister Lilly and his stepbrother Basen with an empty seat to the Count’s left that had been prepared for Cale. The four people looked toward Cale.

“You are late again today,” Count Deruth stated stoically.

Cale looked towards his father. In The Birth of a Hero, Cale’s relationship with his father was described:

‘His father was the one person that Cale listened to. The reason the trash did not leave the area and got everything he wanted inside the Count’s territory was because of his father, Count Deruth Henituse.’

Unfortunately, Cale’s father was unlike the other strong fathers in the novel. He did not have any special skills or influence. All Count Deruth had was a lot of money. However, Cale liked this fact a lot. His stepmother, who was aware of Cale’s dislike towards her, avoided him. Basen, Violan’s smart first-born, found Cale hard to deal with. And the cute youngest of the family, avoided Cale much like her mother. But it wasn’t like Cale bothered them or they bothered Cale. They just treated each other like strangers.

It was the perfect family environment to live a simple life alone.

Count Deruth, having watched his eldest son stand in the doorway for a while without moving, gestured to the empty seat beside Basen.

“Take a seat.”

Pulled from his thoughts, Cale looked towards his place at the table before looking back at his father and politely responding, “yes, father.”

As he made his way to his seat, Cale looked at the feast on the table that went beyond his definition of breakfast. He sat down. He then felt something was odd and lifted his head.

Cautiously Cale asked, “Is there something you need to say, father?”

The Count hesitated before responding. “No, I do not.”

Count Deruth had been staring at Cale. The rest of the family was doing the same. Cale made eye contact with each of his family members, all of them quickly turning away once he had done so before they continued to eat.

Having saw how quickly each of his family members avoided his gaze, Cale had a thought: ‘I guess they find me really difficult to handle.’

Cale turned his head towards the table as well. This luxurious feast was very different from the breakfast he was used to having as Kim Rok Soo. Rok Soo only ate just to fill his belly.

He first started by cutting a sausage in half with a knife, watching as the juice from the fat spilled out. He didn’t know if the juice flowed out as soon as he cut into it because it was handmade or because it was cooked well, but the colour of the sausage made him hungry. Without realising it, Cale began to smile.

A loud metallic clang resounded in the dining room. Cale frowned at the noise before looking up, making eye contact with his Basen across the table. He could see that Basen had dropped his fork.

“My apologies.”

Basen calmly apologised as he quickly dodged Cale’s gaze. A servant quickly came over to hand Basen a new fork before picking the dropped fork off the floor. Watching that made Cale think that it was nice to be a noble before he focused once again on the food in front of him.

Cale had found the first good thing about being transported into the world of the novel. This breakfast was extremely luxurious and so tasty that his stomach was completely satisfied. The smile on his face did not disappear.

Cale failed to see Basen’s shocked expression at this fact.

Cale looked around at all the dishes in front of him. He then moved his fork towards a salad made of fruits that he did not recognise. After filling his stomach with meat, soup, and bread, he wanted to try something new. The fruit itself looked like an orange, but the colour was closer to that of grapes. Cale put the fruit in his mouth and took a bite. A sweet juice filled his mouth. He really hated sour fruits, so this extremely sweet flavour in his mouth made him subconsciously start to drool. Cale made a pleased hum before reaching for another.

As his fork was reaching for the fruit, he made eye contact with his father, who was watching him.

“Cale.”

Count Deruth quietly called Cale’s name before hesitating, putting his knife and fork onto his plate before clasping his hands in front of his mouth with his elbows on the table. Cale didn’t like the awkward atmosphere that was beginning to be created and started to speak.

“It’s delicious,” he announced before stabbing the fruit with his fork and putting it into his mouth.

“Yes, it tastes like trash…” Count Deruth who had been nodding with his eyes closed, as though this was what he had expected Cale to say suddenly trailed off before looking back at Cale in shock. “Did you just say it is delicious?”

Cale finished chewing, before nodding his head. “Yes. Everything tastes wonderful.”

Cale picked up a different fruit this time and smiled after tasting the sweetness in his mouth once again. He probably shouldn’t continue to eat whilst speaking with his father, but the trash, Cale Henituse, never cared for etiquette anyway.

‘It really is the best to be trash.’

Nobody cared no matter what he did. As long as he could prevent himself from getting beaten up by the main character, then he would be living a good life.

As he expected, nobody criticised his lack of manners. In fact, Count Deruth started to smile as he nodded his head.

“Yes, it really is delicious. It is nice to see you enjoying the food so much.”

The Count really did seem like the only person who cared for Cale. He didn’t even seem to care about Cale’s lack of manners. Well, a truly caring father should have probably tried to have fixed Cale’s personality, but this Cale didn’t care as he was not the real Cale Henituse.

“Yes. Please make sure you eat a lot as well, father,” Cale responded.

Basen continued to look shocked at Cale’s behaviour that was quite different from normal. Cale, noticing this, turned his gaze back to the food. Cale did not try to argue with Basen, despite hearing his gasp of shock, knowing that Basen was looking down on him. But what could he do about it?

The 15-year-old Basen, was 3-years younger than Cale. Unlike Cale, Basen was smart, sincere and very responsible. The people of the family were pushing for Basen to be the next head of the household. Kim Rok Soo agreed with this sentiment even after turning into Cale. Rather than having a complicated life overseeing the territory, Cale would rather use his position as the future Count’s older brother to laze around and live peacefully in a section of the territory. Basen’s personality was one where he would be unlikely to kill Cale to secure his position, however, in order to not get hurt and to move quietly to a small village, he needed to ensure he didn’t get on Basen’s nerves.

‘If that’s not possible, I’ll just make some money beforehand and go somewhere that the war won’t reach.’

Cale pretended not to hear Basen’s gasp and continued to eat quietly. Once the meal was over, his father, Count Deruth was the first one to get up. He seemed to have been satisfied with breakfast as his face was filled with a smile.

If breakfast was like this every day, Cale would probably be willing to give up some sleep to come eat breakfast all the time. Count Deruth looked around at his family members who got up after he did, before resting his gaze on Cale.

“Cale, is there anything you need?”

Confused by Count Deruth’s sudden gesture, Cale hesitated. However, this was a perfect opportunity to begin putting his plans into action, so he decided to answer honestly.
“Please give me some money.”

Count Deruth smiled wider before answering without any hesitation. “Sure, I’ll give you a lot.”

This really was a well-off family.

As a territory that mined marble and grew grapes for wine, they were overflowing with money right now.

“Great. Please give me as much as you can.”

Cale could feel his two younger siblings looking at him, but there was no need for him to be embarrassed about his request. Wasn’t it better to ask for money instead of drinking and causing a ruckus? Furthermore, he needed money if he was to get anywhere with his plans. The fateful encounter that would allow himself get a strong enough power to protect himself required money.

“Sure, I’ll give you as much as I can.”

Cale started to smile, satisfied with his father’s response. However, he was at a loss for words when, after returning to his chamber, he received a cheque from the deputy butler, Hans. The cheque that was issued through a partnership with the treasury department and the magic department made Cale’s heart run wild.

‘So much money?’

Cale choked in surprise at the amount despite asking for as much as the Count could give him. This family didn’t seem to only have a bit of money. In fact, they seemed to have a lot of money. The novel had mentioned that Cale received a large allowance, but it did not mention the exact figure. However, he could realistically understand how large it was based on the amount listed on the cheque.

10 million gallon. That was how much he had received. In Korea’s currency, this was approximately equivalent to 10 million won. If it is like this, Cale could change his plans. Cale’s brain quickly started to parse through his options.

“I’ll be heading out now, young master.”

Having delivered the cheque, Hans dismissed himself, but Cale did not respond. Hans just treated this as Cale’s normal behaviour and headed toward the door. However, he soon stopped moving. It was because Cale had gotten up from his seat and said something to Ron.

“Ron, let’s go to the study.”

Hearing this, Hans became anxious. Ron was the same.

“Did you say the study?” Ron asked.
Cale found this odd. The sly old man’s voice was shaking a bit. Was there a reason he could not go to the study?

Ignoring their reactions Cale bluntly responded. “Yes.” He needed to go to the study to form his plan. There were no desks or even any paper in his chamber. There were a lot of expensive looking alcohol bottles though.

“Excuse me, young master.”

“What is it?” Cale looked toward the anxious Hans.

“This, we have not been able to do our morning cleaning of the study just yet.”

Confused as to why a lack of cleaning would be a big issue Cale continued, “is that so? It’s fine if it goes a day without cleaning.”

“No sir. We cannot let that happen.”

For some reason, Hans was being extremely pushy about this. He then smiled brightly and put up a single finger before confidently announcing, “please just wait one hour! I will put my name on the line to make sure that the study is completely clean, not like a study that has not been used in ten years, but one that was used just yesterday!”

Cale raised an eyebrow before dismissively waving his hand. “Sure, whatever.” He didn’t mind waiting an hour.

Relieved Hans brightly responded, “great. Then I will go report this to the master.”

Before he turned to leave Cale called out, “no need to do that, but go ahead if you want to do so.” Cale didn’t understand why cleaning the study would need to be announced to his father, but he didn’t care enough to find out.

“Yes, young master. I will be off now.”

Like the well-trained butler he was, Hans closed the door without making a sound and disappeared. He seemed to be in a rush. Cale knew that there were three deputy butlers vying to become the official head butler. Maybe that was why Hans was so passionate about his job.

“Ron.”

“Young master.”

“Why are you blanking out like that?”

“My apologies, young master.”

“No need to apologise.”

Ron had another odd expression on his face, but Cale put the cheque in his inner pocket as he asked. There was so much going on that he didn’t even have any time to ask about today’s date.

“What is today’s date?”

This question would seem odd coming from anybody else, but Ron answered in a gentle voice.

“It is the 29th day of the 3rd month in the 781st year of the Felix Calendar.”

Cale hummed before mumbling to himself, “that is a problem.”

Having heard that last part Ron asked, “excuse me?” However, Cale didn’t elaborate.

Cale tightly pressed his hand over his heart where the cheque was. The only thing he could trust was money.

Yesterday, the 28th day of the 3rd month. That was the day that the villagers of Harris Village, the village that the main character Choi Han went to after escaping the Forest of Darkness, the place that Choi Han felt human affection for the first time in this world, made friends, and created a second family, were all murdered by an unknown group of assassins. Even Cale, who had only read up to the fifth volume, didn’t know the true identity of the secret organisation that murdered the villagers. Some readers of the novel couldn’t help but wonder what Choi Han, who was supposed to be really strong, was doing whilst they were being murdered. It was only natural to think like that. However, there was a reason the novel was called The Birth of a Hero, and not The Strength of a Hero or The War of Heroes.
Birth.

It was the story of a person who overcame all sorts of obstacles and carried the pains of his past as he became a hero. Love and friendship came up along the way as he meets enemies and friends.
Something that cannot be missing from a story is the ‘awakening’. He may have explosive talents and have lived for tens of years in the Forest of Darkness, but, through all of that, Choi Han was still an innocent and gentle person who could not kill another human being. He had no issues killing monsters, but Choi Han had never hurt or needed to hurt another person. In order to turn someone like him into a hero, the novel had created a situation for Choi Han. In order to heal the lady who treated him like her own son, Choi Han had gone into the Forest of Darkness to find some precious medicinal herbs. He had to travel deep into the forest to find it, and, when he finally managed to find the herb and head back towards the village, he found the corpses of the murdered villages, the burning houses, and the assassins who were about to leave. Choi Han went berserk after seeing this and killed someone for the first time. Of course, the people he killed are the members of the secret organisation, and this secret organisation clashes against Choi Han every so often throughout the novel. Choi Han only returns to normal after killing all of the assassins from the secret organisation, before falling into a state of deep despair as he is unable to gather any information from the dead bodies. He then buries the bodies of the villagers before making a promise to himself.
‘I will kill them all. I will kill all of the people that made this happen.’

Choi Han realised what the sadness of death was at this moment, but his first kill starts to twist his mind. He starts to feel again and starts to become more human-like after meeting his party members later in the novel, growing to become a true hero.

“Ron.”

“Yes, young master.”

“A cup of cold water please.”

“I understand.”

After Ron left and he was alone in the room, Cale covered his face with his hands, sighing deeply.

The problem was that the city that this newly twisted Choi Han arrives at after leaving Harris Village in the city called Western, located in the centre of the Henituse territory. The original Cale, who happens to run into Choi Han annoys him and ends up getting beaten up. That is when Choi Han meets his first party member, the reliable chef Beacrox.

‘I was going to head there in advance and help him out,’ Cale thought, ruffling his hair. ‘The best scenario to not get beaten up is no longer available.’ Cale did care more about potentially saving the people of the village, but there was nothing he could do about it at this point. Now, all that was left is to make sure he didn’t act in a way to warrant getting beaten up by an angry Choi Han, who is
moving at a crazy speed in order to arrive at Western City by tomorrow.

‘Avoiding the main character is not a good idea.’

He needed to run into Choi Han so that Ron and Beacrox run into him as well. That was the only way for the three of them to leave this place together to start their official journey. Then that just left one course of action: have them run into each other and then get out of their way, with the best possible first impression, if possible.

Ron re-entered the room, a cup in his hand.

“Young master.”

“Ah, thanks, Ron.” Cale took the cup from Ron before taking a sup. He then started to frown and peered into the cup. “It’s not cold water?”

“It is lemonade,” Ron answered dutifully.

Ron really was an insidious man. He knew that, just like Kim Rok Soo, the original Cale hated sour things, however, he still chose to bring lemonade which would take more work to prepare than cold water. Cale wanted to be angry at the sour taste, but he couldn’t do so as he was afraid of the assassin old man. He could only reluctantly drink the lemonade with his eyebrows scrunched in displeasure.
Having finished the sour drink, he handed the cup back to Ron. “Thanks, it was wonderful.”

“No problem. Young master. We should be able to head to the study soon.”

“Great.”

Ron’s benign and gentle smile caused Cale to have the chills. He clenched the spot over his heart once more.

Money really was the only thing you could trust.

Chapter Text

Cale let out appreciative hum as he ate. Happy with the fact that having been transported into a novel had the added benefit of allowing him to eat such delicious meals. He was unable to think about anything else whilst he was enjoying the food in front of him. Everything else seemed of such minor importance compared to eating these meals. He could not even prevent the admiration for such meals from flowing out of his mouth.

“Ha, it’s so delicious.”

Hans, who was stood beside Cale flinched at his appreciation of the food, which was much unlike his historic trashing of any and everything he had eaten before.

Other than breakfast, the Henituse family tended to take their other meals separate, each having their meals at different times in accordance to their schedules. Your schedule would be especially strict if you worked in administration or politics, with the need to be able to drop everything if an order was received from someone above you on the ladder. Count Deruth had responsibilities as the lord of the region, making it difficult for him to share his meals with the members of his family. Cale’s younger siblings timed their meals in accordance to their studies, whilst the Countess was busy interacting with the wives of the influential households in their region, as well as other tasks. Nobody said that it was easy to be a noble. That was, unless, you were Cale, who had no other responsibilities. He, on the other hand, was free to have his meals as and when he liked.

Cale continued to blissfully eat his meal, content with the fact that he had no work to do, allowing him to indulge in whatever past-times he fancied, compared to the members of his family who were all busy working towards their own goals.

Thinking about work caused Cale to pause, and put his fork down, his face losing the blissful look of ease which he had had whilst eating. Hans, seeing this sudden change, started to get nervous, expecting Cale to have one of his usual outbursts over something minor. He was mostly worried that the fork Cale had put down would become a missile aimed at his face.

Unaware and uncaring of Hans’ thoughts, Cale began to think.

There are a lot of experts hiding as artists or craftsmen within the Henituse territory.

The Roan Kingdom itself, was pretty advanced in terms of construction and the arts. This was especially true in regard to sculpting due to the large amounts of marble found within the kingdom. Thanks to that, the Henituse territory became the fifth largest marble mining region, bringing in a lot of money Furthermore, a mountain range made up most of the Henituse region, and, even though it was located in the northwest, the mountains were extremely fertile, allowing the residents to grow grapes in between the mountains to be used for wine. Although there was not a large quantity of wine from these fields, it was still treated as one of the best wines in the continent.

However, Cale was more concerned about the ‘strong individuals’, and not the trades that the Henituse region specialised in. He had even missed lunch as he had sat in the study thinking about them all day. He had to wonder why there were so many experts in this land. It wasn’t like this was the martial arts world which had been known for its many hermit experts. That was why Cale had concluded that it would just be best for him to not mess with anybody. For all he knew, an average looking chef could be a poison expert, and the person working in the local repair shop could be someone who viciously kills people with wires. This was that type of land, it seemed.

Cale sighed deeply. He had just wanted to complete his plant to prevent himself from dying and live peacefully, but it seemed that things were getting more complicated by the day.
“Young master,” Hans called out cautiously.

Cale, who wanted to let out another sigh, turned to face Hans. “What?”

Hans peeked down at Cale’s plate, which he had abruptly stopped eating from and asked, “should I get them to make something else?”

Confused, Cale began to frown.

Hans held back a sigh of his own as he watched Cale frown. He was thinking that Cale would likely flip the table as he had been known to do before. Hans could not fathom why the Count would assign him to take care of Cale but held back his rising despair as he waited anxiously for Cale’s response.

“Why would you remake something this delicious?” Cale asked baffled as to why Hans would think he was unsatisfied with his meal despite its quality.

Surprised by this response, Hans could only weakly ask, “excuse me?”

Cale picked his fork back up and began slicing the meat. Dinner was even fancier than breakfast. Cale was sure that it wasn’t just delicious because he had never had the opportunity to have something like this as Kim Rok Soo, but because it was rich in flavour. The same, he believed, would be true for the original Cale.

Whilst Kim Rok Soo didn’t know the specifics of how the original Cale had grown up, he did know that the original Cale had issues with anything that was not fancy. He liked that fact quite a bit. Everybody knew that that was the case and, as such, only brought the best of the best for him to eat.

Cale put the slice of well-cooked, but still juicy, piece of steak in his mouth, before asking Hans, uncaring of etiquette, “Hans, who made this meal?”

“Ah, it was second chef Beacrox,” Hans replied.

Cale suddenly no longer had an appetite. Beacrox. He was a clean-cut individual and was the son of Ron. However, unlike his father, he had specialised in the way of the sword instead of assassinations. Beacrox was also obsessed with cleanliness and sharpened his spotless blade every day. This was the same sword he used to slice the heads off his enemies. He also specialised in torture. That kind of guy ends up admiring Choi Han’s sword skills and chooses to follow him. His father, Ron, makes a deal with Choi Hand to help him, and chooses to leave with the two of them for the sake of his son. Although he may not look like it, Ron cherishes his son quite a bit.

Cale looked down at the steak on his plate, the insides still slightly pink causing images of blood to flash through his mind. There was no way he could allow his own blood to be shed like that of this steak.

Cale turned his gaze towards Hans who was still looking at him before cutting another slice of steak and putting it in his mouth.

“It is delicious. He’s Ron’s son, right? I wasn’t aware that he was such a talented chef.”

Hans looked slightly uncomfortable as Cale praised Beacrox’s cooking skills, before replying. “I will deliver your message to chef Beacrox. I’m sure he will be pleased to know that young master Cale complimented his cooking.”

Cale raised an eyebrow and hummed noncommittally. “Is that so? Let him know that I truly enjoyed this meal.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hans was looking at Cale with a stiff expression, but Cale had already made up his mind not to mess with Beacrox and instead would work on making a good impression.

Cale resumed enjoying the meal with a relaxed heart. Everything would be settled once he made Beacrox run into Choi Han and leave the region. Cale had already planned how he would make such an encounter happen.

Just like during breakfast, Cale completely emptied his plate. He wore a satisfied smile on his face as he got up and looked towards Hans. There was something Cale had been curious about since earlier, and he thought that now was as good a time as any to get answers.

“Hans, why did you suddenly end up being assigned to me?”

Hans had briefly mentioned before dinner that his father, Count Deruth, had sent him to personally handle Cale’s needs. Although Cale didn’t know about the situation in Count Henituse’s family Cale knew that, once Choi Han leaves with Ron and Beacrox, Hans had the best chance out of all the deputy butlers in becoming the new head butler.

Hans bowed slightly before answering his question.

“The Count-nim was concerned after hearing that young master Cale had missed a meal while working in the study and ordered me to make sure that the young master made sure to eat every meal. As a result, I will be overseeing the meal-related duties for the young master.”

In simpler terms, Hans was responsible for Cale’s meals.

“Is that so? My father did something unnecessary. I would eat properly on my own, but I guess I wouldn’t have realised it was time for dinner if Hans hadn’t come to tell me.”

Cale had been busy writing down all the fateful encounters Choi Han had in the first five volumes of the novel. It was important that Cale didn’t accidentally interfere or inadvertently cause the encounters to not occur.

After leaving the dining room, Cale smiled toward Hans.

“Hans, take good care of me.”

Hans stumbled a bit after hearing the sincerity in Cale’s voice, before quickly responding. “Ah, of course. Please take good care of me as well, young master. I will do my best.”

Satisfied with Hans’ response Cale turned around. Ron was standing outside the dining room. Seeing him caused Cale to frown, he hadn’t expected to see Ron as soon as he exited.

“Ron, didn’t I tell you to go eat?”

Cale had dismissed him as he didn’t want to see this old man’s face, but Ron was refusing to leave. Instead, he seemed to just roam around Cale like a fly. Ron had been waiting outside the door when he had been in the study, but even that had gotten on his nerves just as much as if he had been in the same room.

“Young master, it is my duty to take care of you,” Ron replied.

Cale clicked his tongue in annoyance after seeing Ron smiling at him. He then took a page from the original Cale’s book and threw a bit of a tantrum.

“Enough,” Cale snapped. “I don’t need you to follow me, so go eat. Why don’t you go eat even when I tell you to? You’re aware of my temper, right?” Cale glared at Ron, trying to threaten him with his gaze in order to reinforce the fact that he didn’t want Ron to follow him as he stormed back to the study. After he had gotten halfway down the corridor, Cale peeked back at Ron who was standing where he had left him with a stiff expression. Hans was looking towards Cale in shock.

‘Should I have not thrown a tantrum?’ Cale thought nervously. The stiff expression Ron was showing was sending a chill up Cale’s spine. He quickly turned his head back around to avoid looking at Ron before speeding back to the study.

The study’s desk was completely empty. The document Cale had been working so hard on, which he had written in Korean, had already burnt in the fire. Cale had made sure of that fact himself. There was nobody here who knew Korean, but he could never be too careful. He had also made sure that none of the servants would enter the study without his express permission.

It didn’t matter that Cale had burnt the document outlining Choi Han’s fateful encounters, he remembered everything anyways. Kim Rok Soo had always been good at remembering things he enjoyed; comic books, novels, movies, no matter what it was, if he had enjoyed it, he was able to remember the names and appearances of the characters. Of course, if he didn’t like something, he wouldn’t remember anything.

Cale made his way to the plush chair behind the desk and sat down. He leant back in the chair and began to think about what it was he needed to do in the future. First, he needed to see Choi Han tomorrow and do that. The corners of his lips began to rise, a sly smile making its way onto his face. He needed to pick up a shield.

The Indestructible Shield. Cale was thinking about this first shapeless strength he was planning to get. To live long without dying. Cale had no intentions of fighting. And in order to achieve that goal, his first step was to raise his defenses. Second, was to find a recovery method. Third, was ensuring that he was faster than anybody else. And fourth, was to find a source of strength that wouldn’t hurt him but had the capacity to kill others. Of course, the most important thing was to avoid the battlefield or anywhere where there was bloodshed.

Cale thought about these plans of his as he slowly closed his eyes with satisfaction. At least he wouldn’t be beaten up even when the time comes for it to occur in the novel. As he fell asleep, the corners of his lips that had gone up didn’t seem as if they would ever come down.

Fateful encounters didn’t have an owner. It was a first-come-first-serve type of deal, and Cale would get there first.

Chapter Text

Cale was nervous. The prospect of meeting the main character of the novel he had been transmigrated into weighed on his mind. His solution to his nerves? A hearty breakfast. He felt like the only thing he had done since coming to this world was eat, but he was going to enjoy the meal to the fullest since he was going to be busy for a while starting tomorrow.

The Henituse family was sat around the dining table sharing their morning meal. Count Deruth fondly watched Cale eat heartily, a small smile gracing his lips.

“Ahem.” Count Deruth coughed into his hand, drawing Cale’s attention. “I heard you fell asleep in the study last night.”

Cale nodded once towards his father. “It somehow ended up that way,” he answered casually, his focus still mostly on the food in front of him. The fact that he didn’t look towards his father would normally be considered rude, however, everyone ignored this fact due to Cale’s reputation as a trashy young master.

The Henituse family enjoyed the rest of their breakfast in comfortable silence.

Cale, having finished first, stood up from his seat. The chair screeched against the floor as it was pushed backwards, drawing the eyes of those in the room. Uncaring of his interruption, Cale announced, “I will head out first.” It wasn’t proper etiquette for Cale to get up before the head of the family had finished their meal, but Cale’s father, Count Deruth, didn’t seem to mind his lack of manners, liking his son as he was anyway.

Count Deruth looked back and forth between Cale and his empty plates before smiling wider.

“Sure. Go ahead.” Count Deruth happily bade permission for Cale to leave.

Cale thanked his father before turning on his heal before briskly walking towards the door. He had a lot of things he needed to get done today. However, Count Deruth called him back for a second.

“Do you not need any allowance today?” He asked jovially.

Cale turned back to face his father, crossing his arms across his chest as he thought for a moment. His family really did have a lot of money. Cale suppressed a smile after hearing that his father would be willing to give him another allowance. Having more money at hand would be beneficial for his plans.

“I do need some,” Cale replied, bluntly. Count Deruth nodded at his sons reply before stating that he would send Cale his allowance through Hans.

Happy with this turn of events, Cale continued out of the dining room without even saying thank you. He did make eye contact with his brother, Basen, for a moment, but Cale ignored him, more focused on getting on with his day.

Ron was once again waiting for Cale outside of the door. Seeing this, Cale frowned before making a shooing motion at Ron.

“Ron. I’m going out. Don’t look for me.”

Don’t look for me. That was Cale’s code for letting Ron know that he was leaving the estate in order to go drinking in the city. Whenever he did this, Ron would smile and tell him to have a safe trip and that would be the end of their interaction. But for some reason, Ron asked a rare question today.

“Will you not go to the study today, young master?”

Cale started to frown at this unexpected question. “Ron, I don’t think that that is something you need to be curious about,” he replied sharply.

Ron continued to smile benignly, as he bowed slightly towards Cale. “I understand, young master. I will be waiting for your return.”

Cale’s frown deepened, his forehead wrinkling, after hearing that Ron would be waiting for him. “Don’t wait for me,” he ordered, in the hopes that Ron would listen for once. Ron just continued to smile, giving no indication that he be following Cale’s order. Seeing this, Cale opted to ignore Ron and continued his path down the hallway, towards the entrance of the Henituse estate.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Cale flicked his finger to beckon one of the servants standing near the entrance towards him and walked out with them. Cale still seemed angry to those around him, so the servant didn’t dare say anything as he followed behind Cale. Once he had exited the residence, Cale could see the garden and the gate leading into the Henituse estate. It was only then that Cale let out a sigh as he peeked back towards the mansion. Ron was stood in the doorway with a stiff expression. Cale was glad that he had managed to make sure Ron wouldn’t follow him, however, a chill was quickly making itself known through him due to Ron’s stiff expression. He was an assassin after all which didn’t bode well for Cale. Cale resolved that he would begin treating Ron better, ensuring that he wouldn’t make him angry starting with their next interaction in order to secure his own survival.

A carriage was waiting for Cale at the end of the stairs leading up to the door of the mansion. It was just as extravagant as the rest of the estate, the Henituse family’s golden turtle crest - representative of their family's love of wealth and longevity - emblazoned on the sides. The driver was stood near the door, holding it open for Cale as he approached. Cale nodded towards the driver as he gripped the inside of the door and pulled himself into the carriage, making himself comfortable on the plush velvet seats. It wouldn’t take long for him to arrive in the city as the Henituse estate was only slightly to the south of it.

Seeing that his young master had made himself comfortable, the driver closed the door before climbing up onto the driver’s seat at the front of the carriage and picking up the reins of the horses. With a strong flick of his wrists, the carriage set off.

A little while later, Cale, who had been blankly staring out the window, was pulled from his thoughts by the driver.

“Young master, is this the right place?” The driver asked as he hesitantly opened the carriage door, his eyes flicking back and forth between Cale and the shop in front of him. The driver was clearly confused as to why his young master would want to come to such a place.

Cale looked out at the shop, before standing up and dusting himself off. “Yes, this is it.”

Cale, who was wearing clothes that would be fancy to other but was in fact the simplest ones he had in his closet, stepped out of the carriage. Nobody was around as they had quickly moved out of the way as soon as they had seen the crest on the carriage.

The shop Cale had come to was called ‘The Fragrance of Tea with Poetry’. It was a tea shop that allowed you to read poems whilst drinking tea. This clean three-story building looked to be expensive, and it was true that the owner was very wealthy. In fact, the owner was the bastard son of the leader of a large merchant guild. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he was even wealthier than Cale. The only thing was that the son was living here whilst hiding his identity.

In the novel, Choi Han had met the owner of this tea shop in the when he went to the capital in volume three. It is there that he claims that, even though he may be the bastard son of the merchant guild leader and the son of a concubine, he would become the owner of the merchant guild. He shouts and swears to Choi Han that he will achieve this despite the odds against him. Despite the fact that Cale had only read the first five volumes, and thus didn’t know if the man actually ever ended up becoming the owner of the merchant guild, he could assume that, since this man was aligned with Choi Han, the main character, it was highly likely he would succeed in his endeavour.

Cale looked back towards his driver who was sweating nervously like a hog and ordered him to leave.

“Excuse me?” The driver stammered out.

“Are you going to make me say the same thing twice?” Cale responded back archly.

“No, that, do I not need to wait for you, young master?” The driver asked anxiously.

Cale stepped towards the door of the tea shop, hand on the handle, before turning to look at the driver. “No. I’ll be here for a while.”

The driver gulped at Cale’s brusque tone, before turning back towards the carriage.

Having watched the driver leave with the carriage, Cale pulled the door of the shop open. A quiet but clear bell sound announced his entrance into the tea shop. Letting the door close behind him, Cale looked around. The tea shop looked much like a library with bookshelves lining the walls all the way round the shop. Desks were placed parallel alongside both sides of the shop with chairs surrounding them. Stairs leading to the second floor was sequestered in one corner. As it was still early, there were not many people in the shop, so it was relatively quiet. However, silence fell once Cale had entered, all of them were shocked to see their region’s trashy young master in a tea shop of all places. Cale wasn’t surprised that the city’s people knew who he was, as the novel had mentioned that there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know him by appearance alone.

Cale was public enemy number one for the merchants of this region as he tended to break everything in their shops when he threw a tantrum. However, the owner of this shop warmly welcomed Cale in, grinning broadly. Cale looked at the baby pig-like man who had welcomed him from behind the counter. Billos, the wealthy bastard, had a round face and full body. He fit the novel’s description of him looking like a baby pig, though Cale was more inclined to think he looked like a piggy bank because of his stature and his wealth. However, he had a merchant’s token smile – bright and full of charm.
Cale headed over to the counter, taking a gold coin out of his money pouch and placing it down in front of Billos as he ordered.

“I’ll have any tea that is not bitter. And I plan on staying on the third floor all day today,” Cale told him bluntly.

Billos stared at Cale, merchant smile firmly in place on his face. Cale pretended not to notice as he pointed to the nearest bookshelf before asking, “Do you have novels here too or just poems?”

The clanging sound of someone putting their teacup down a bit too forcefully rang through the shop. Cale ignored this and continued to look toward Billos, waiting for an answer. Cale preferred novels to poems.

Billos continued to smile before walking out from behind the counter and gesturing towards a bookshelf near the front of the shop. “Of course. We have a lot of novels as well, young master Cale,” Billos replied.

“Really? Then send up the most interesting book and a cup of tea.” Having received Billos’ confirmation, and satisfied with his order, Cale handed to gold coin over to Billos. Billos tried to give Cale his change quickly but Cale just raised an eyebrow before announcing dismissively, “I’ll drink more tea later, so just keep it.”

Billos’ smile twitched, his eyebrows begin to scrunch in a frown. “But it is still too much, young master,” Billos responded, concerned.

“I have a lot of money,” Cale said waving his hand dismissively. “Consider it your tip.”

Cale wasn’t concerned about flaunting his wealth, even if Billos was technically wealthier than he was at this moment. He also knew about many fateful encounters that would allow him to earn a lot of
money in the future. Cale tried to look cool as he pointed towards the tables on the first floor with his chin.

“Well, if you really think it’s too much, you can treat everyone here to a cup of tea.”

Cale had always wanted to do something like this once. After he had told his father that he needed an allowance, he had received three gold coins whose total worth was that of 3 million gallon, or 3 million won in Korea.

Still, Billos persevered. “But young master…”

“Ah, enough,” Cale interrupted. “Just bring me my tea.”

Being the trash of the family really was the best. He didn’t have to worry about being respectful as he headed pass Billos and up to the third floor. He could hear whispers coming from behind him, but he didn’t care as there were already enough rumours about him in circulation, what was one more?

Just like Cale had expected, there wasn’t anybody else on the third floor right now as it was still early in the morning. Cale chose a seat in the innermost corner near the window which allowed him to see the Northern Gate of Western City. Cale planned to watch Choi Han from this location today.

Chapter Text

Having buried all his beloved villagers, Choi Han would head in the direction he remembered hearing about from the villagers. Once reaching Western City, he would be chased away from the gates. Seeing as Choi Han had been transported here when he was in high school, and having lived in the Forest of Darkness for much of his life so far, meant that he had matured in a slightly twisted way, and, as such, was more rational than any normal person would be after such a horrific incident.

Harris Village may have been a remote village, but it was still under Count Henituse’s jurisdiction. That way why Choi Han had headed toward Wester City, to report the massacre to the Count, and in hope that at least a small funeral would be prepared for the villagers. He was also planning on looking for information regarding the assassins he had killed, as he was unable to ask them any questions with them being dead and all. However, sending the dead off properly had come before revenge. Choi Han had at least owed that much to the villagers.

If you thought about it, Choi Han really was an affectionate person, but losing all the people who had shown him love after tens of years at once, had made it impossible for Choi Han’s mind to remain untwisted. In the novel, it was after this incident that the original Cale had messed with Choi Han and ended up touching a nerve. He remembered what the Cale in the novel had said to Choi Han:

‘Why should my father care about the deaths of some useless villagers? This cup of alcohol in my hand is worth more than all of their useless lives combined!’

This caused Choi Han to begin coldly laughing at the original Cale’s words as he asked back:

‘What an interesting thought. I am very curious to know whether you will change your mind or not? Shall we test it out?’

The test Choi Han was referring to was him beating Cale to a pulp so that he was on the cusp of death. The amazing thing was that Cale never did end up changing his mind even after being dragged to hell and back by Choi Han’s fists.

The thought alone was giving the current Cale chills. He rubbed his arms after seeing goose-bumps start to appear and taking a quick sip of the tea Billos had brought him. He then looked out the window only for the chills to return at what he saw.

The moment the gates opened for the morning, a young man wearing clothes with black marks everywhere, such that it made it seem like the clothes were burnt in multiple places, approached the gate.

It was Choi Han.

Cale didn’t get up from his seat as he observed Choi Han. His speed was admirable. He had run all the way from Harris Village which, if using a carriage, would have taken a week to travel to, however, as a result, Choi Han looked a mess. Of course, the events in the village were also responsible for his appearance.

Unsurprisingly, the guard blocked Choi Han’s path as he walked towards the gate with his head hung low, looking completely exhausted. Cale didn’t know what they were saying, but he could Choi Han shake his head at the guard’s question. Cale was pretty sure they were asking if he had any identification. The guards of Western City were generally gentle, but they were strict when it came to the rules.
They replicated their liege, Count Deruth’s personality. That would also account for why the Henituse territory was generally a safe and peaceful region.

As expected, Choi Han wasn’t sent away by the guards. Cale watched him back out of the gate. He didn’t throw a fit like most people would if they had been denied entry. After having continuously ran for a day, Choi Han’s slightly recovered conscience told him not to kill an innocent man, even if that man was blocking his entrance into Western City. Instead, Choi Han would wait until night-time before he would stealthily jump over the city wall. He would have then run into Cale who was busy drinking the night away.

Cale stood up, the chair screeching behind him. He went downstairs and informed Billos that he would return soon.

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t clear my spot.”

“Yes, young master. I look forward to your return.” Billos smiled towards Cale as he walked out of the tea shop, the other patrons watching him as he left.

Before he the door had fully closed, Cale overheard someone announce in a shocked voice, “he didn’t break anything!”

Cale rolled his eyes. He didn’t care about what the other patrons thought of him, he had bigger concerns. He needed to set the foundation to earn the Indestructible Shield today.

The shield itself was not a physical item. The best comparison might be that of a mage’s mana shield. Something that doesn’t have an actual physical form. However, it was also very different from a mana shield as it was closer to a superpower than to that of magic. The funny thing was that the human who created the power was someone who served a god but ended up being excommunicated.

As with the history of any fantast world, this world also had its own ancient history. And during that ancient time, neither magic nor weaponry was developed. Instead, it was a society where your own innate talents, or talents that you had gathered from supernatural occurrences, played a pivotal role. The strongest powers in that society were superpowers, divine powers, and natural forces. It was a very primitive time, all things considered. Some of those powers were left behind by those who had them and lasted all the way until now, having stayed hidden in certain locations or items. It was possible to take those powers for yourself if you met the right conditions.

These powers were known as Ancient Powers.

The heroes would find these powers; however, these powers were all supporting powers, not strong enough to be used as a hero’s mainstay.

These were the powers that Cale was looking for.

Cale was only going to focus on gathering ancient powers, completely ignoring any divine powers. Whether it be a god, angels, or devils, Cale didn’t want to get involved with any of them. That was why Cale was looking for the powers that the people of ancient times had naturally developed or ones that had appeared from nature. These powers would ensure that Cale didn’t need to put in any effort, unlike something like sword arts or magic which would require him to practice. He didn’t want to do something like that.

Unlike other books, the ancient civilisation in the novel was not that strong. As civilisation developed, the magic and summoning skills that were developed began to outshine the natural powers left behind by those of the ancient times. Superpowers were the same way. Most subtle superpowers would be blown away by a single hit from the ‘aura’ that was used in the present day.

It wasn’t like the heroes just used these powers sparingly for no reason.

And Cale’s goal was to collect these subtle superpowers to become decently strong in order to protect himself. It was a satisfying goal. Especially because he also knew of an ancient power that could
strengthen these subtle superpowers.

In order to take the first steps toward his goal, Cale started to look for the ancient power that was hidden in Western City. He already knew the requirement to earn that power. All he had to do was gather a few things he needed in order to do so.

Cale made his way to one of the many bakeries in Western City. The baker was outside the store sweeping the front steps. Upon noticing Cale’s approach, he bowed so low that it looked like his head might touch the ground.

“Young, young master. Welcome,” he stuttered.

Cale just nodded his head towards the baker before peeking through the window at the breads on display. Part of him felt bad that his reputation was so bad as to make this baker so fearful, however, he had no plans on actively trying to fix it.

Instead, Cale just pointed at the breads displayed in the window before sternly ordering, “give me some bread.”

The baker slowly raised his head, the hands holding the broom still shaking slightly in fear. “Excuse me?”

Cale ignored the baker’s confusion and pointed at all the bread in the bakery.

“I want everything from here to here.”

Cale then pulled out one of his other gold coins and tossed it into the air before catching it.

“Pack it all up.”

Having watched the gold coins ascension into the air and then Cale catching it, the baker, who had been frozen till this point, looked hungrily at the gold coin in his hand.

“Two or three more gold coins should be enough for a week’s worth of bread, right?” Cale asked archly.

In reality, that many gold coins was too much money to be used just to pay for bread, however, Cale just stoically responded to the baker’s shaking eye with a tentative threat.

“I can go somewhere else if you don’t want it.”

Not wanting that to happen and end up losing out on the opportunity of earning some gold coins, the baker quickly responded, “no, it’s nothing like that! Young master! I will pack it as fast as possible!”

The baker became extremely respectful for a completely different reason than before as he moved around, quickly gathering all the bread in the shop. After a few minutes, Cale left the bakery with a large bag full of bread hanging over his shoulder. Even though it was just bread, this amount weighed quite a bit. The weight made Cale start to frown. He ignored the baker who was watching him with greedy eyes as he stepped back onto the street.

Cale walked leisurely with the bag over his shoulder, noticing that anybody who made eye contact with him would swiftly turn and walk away. Many people even went so far as to run away to avoid eye contact with him.

Unbothered by this cold treatment, Cale looked around as he wandered the market. Most of the buildings were timber-framed with white walls. The bottom floors acted as shops, whilst the top floors were lodgings for the family who owned the shop or the people who worked there. Oil lamps lined the sides of the street. Large pieces of fabric were hung from one building and connected to the building on the opposite side to act as cover for when it rained. Merchants selling things Cale hadn’t seen before had their stalls set up and were trying to lure in customers. You could really feel that this was the world within a fantasy novel.

Anytime Cale made eye contact with a merchant, they would become shocked and avoid his gaze. It was obvious that the original Cale had lived up to his reputation as trash in the past.

Cale walked past the market and toward the western part of Western City.

Like most cities in a fantasy world, it had a slum. It was located to the west. No matter how wealthy a territory may be, there was always going to be poor people. As soon as Cale made his way through the slum, he could feel people peeking at him. This was the place where both the idlest and the most vicious people lived together. And, although the poor may not know the face of their liege, the Count, they knew Cale’s face. These people who had nothing needed to pay even closer attention to the type of person that would cause a ruckus in the market, pubs and plaza. Cale had probably caused a ruckus almost everywhere within Western City.

Despite knowing the stories about Cale, they couldn’t resist the sweet smell of bread coming from the bag on Cale’s shoulder. Cale just ignored the people’s gazes and continued to walk. The tips of his expensive leather shoes started to become dirty from the puddles, and a foul stench filled his nose, causing his face to scrunch up in disgust. This made him begin to walk even faster.

The slums, themselves, were on one side of a small hill and was made up of old houses. Cale’s goal was at the top of that hill. As he got closer, the gazes and steps of the people following him started to lessen. The sharp glare Cale had been piercing them with probably played a role in that as well.

After being freed from the stench, Cale stood at the top of the hill and turned to look down at Western City. Of course, this hill was not as high as the one the Count’s estate sat on. They couldn’t allow the lord of the territory to live somewhere that was on lower ground than the slums.

Happy that he had been freed from the dirt of the slums, Cale headed towards a tree that was fenced off in all directions. The fence, which had been made of planks the width of Cale’s body, had an entrance that had rotted. It was broken easily with a little force from Cale as he pushed on it. The large tree seemed to have lasted for hundreds of years. Most trees in the slums would have been chopped down and used as firewood or had its layers peeled off to make it useless, however, this tree was not like that. The reason for that was simple.

This tree was known as a man-eating tree. Anyone who hung themselves on this tree became mummies overnight. Furthermore, any blood that landed on this tree instantly disappeared. Finally, there was only dirt around this tree. Grass, and even weeds, refused to grow anywhere near it.

This was the tree Cale was looking for.

A long time ago, during ancient times, there was a person who had loved food so much that their gluttony in the place of worship got them kicked out. Ironically, that person ended up starving to death. As such, this tree was said to have grown on top of their body, and the grudge, as well as the strength, of that person was said to be sealed inside. The Indestructible Shield that Cale was looking for was here.

As he approached the tree, Cale heard two voices – the only two who had followed him up here from the slums until the end – call out.

“You can’t approach that tree!”

Cale ignored the warning and continued to step towards it.

The voices tried again: “You can’t go there! It’s a man-eating tree!”

Cale continued to ignore their shouts, and instead placed the bag he had been carrying beside him before crouching down and pulling out a piece of bread. He carefully observed the hole beneath the tree that was the size of an average adult’s head. Just as he was about to toss the piece of bread in the hole, the voices called out again, this time shaking quite a bit more than before as they could no longer see Cale behind the fence because he had crouched down.

“You’re going to die! Don’t do it!”

Annoyed, Cale pressed his fingers to his temples and sighed. The number of people following him had decreased the closer he got to the tree; however, the owners of those voices had continued to follow him. Cale frowned as he stood up and turned to face the source of the voices. One of them was a girl who seemed to be no older than 10; she was holding a younger boy’s hand whilst looking at Cale, her eyes full of concern.

Seeing that Cale was frowning at them, the young girl stumbled backwards in fear slightly and startled to mumble.

“It’s a man-eating tree. You’re going to die.”

Sighing again, Cale placed his hands on his hips before confidently stating, “I am not going to die.”

The children looked doubtfully at Cale, before glancing at each other. Annoyed by this, Cale turned back to the tree. He bent down and took two loaves of bread out of the bag and threw them towards the girl in the hope that giving them bread would get them to leave. It didn’t matter if it rolled on the ground as they were individually wrapped.

“Take that and get lost.”

The young boy instantly grabbed the bread, but the young girl hesitated. In the end, it seemed like Cale would need to use his reputation to get rid of them. He stood back up with his arms crossed as he looked at the children.

“You two don’t know about Cale the trash?”

The young girl’s face paled, whilst her younger brother just looked toward Cale before picking up the other bread for his sister and then tugged on her arm.

“Noona,” the young boy whispered, glancing at Cale.

The young girl looked back and forth between the tree and Cale even as her brother pulled on her arm.

Cale saw the young girl gather her courage and stand up straight. “You can’t die.”

Cale clicked his tongue at the girl’s statement and watched both her and her brother leave before making sure nobody else was around. Cale crouched back down and looked towards the hole. Nobody would be able to see what he was doing unless they came right up to the fence.

Satisfied, he started by taking out a loaf of bread and putting in into the hole. His hand disappeared into the darkness underneath the three, a cold sensation creeping up his hand as the bread disappeared. It felt like his whole hand might be sucked in, so he quickly pulled it out. The darkness of the hole remained the same.

If you die with a grudge, then you must resolve that grudge.

The same was true for the man-eating tree. It wasn’t actually a man-eating tree – it was just a tree that would eat anything. It was a side-effect of the power that had been left behind by the person who had starved to death. But for such a thing to be related to an ancient power? It was comical. However, it also made it seem more realistic.

The novel had said that in order to gain this ancient power, Cale would need to feed it until the darkness disappeared. The darkness in the hole underneath the tree was not the result of shade. It was darkness formed by the grudge held within the tree.

Realistically, not many people would be able to earn this ancient power as one person had to continue to provide a large amount of food for it until the darkness disappeared. Once the darkness finally disappears, the light that was hiding underneath would appear. Cale would then need to eat that light, and the Indestructible Shield would become Cale’s.

Cale smirked. “Eat all you want.”

He put the opening of the bag into the hole and then tipped it, emptying all the bread into it. In a normal situation, that small hole would have become filled with bread, however, only the darkness continued to remain once Cale had removed the bag.

Whilst the darkness had become slightly lighter, it seemed that Cale would need many more bags of bread before the darkness completely disappeared. Someone like Cale, who had 3 million gallons as an allowance, would have no trouble continuing to feed it.

Just as Cale stood up and dusted off his knees, an odd cry seemed to resonate from the tree. Moans of hunger and pleads for more food could be heard. Cale felt like the darkness might suddenly come out of the hole and grab him. He felt like he shouldn’t be here for a long period of time.

Gluttony was a scary thing.

Cale said goodbye to the strange rumbling tree as if it was a person before quickly moving away from it and out of the fenced off area. As he walked away and down the hill, Cale saw the siblings he had given bread to heartily eating. For claiming that he shouldn’t go there because it was a man-eating tree, they seemed to enjoy eating the bread themselves. They must have liked the taste as both seemed very happy.

Cale snorted at the siblings before ignoring their gazes. However, their gazes were not on him, but on the bag that had previously been filled with bread. Curiosity filled their eyes. But what could they do about it? The children were probably too scared to even go near the man-eating tree. But it was always a good idea to be on the safe side. It would be bad if they went up to the tree and put their heads into the hole and got eaten instead.

‘The children of the slums have no fear. This was because they treasure a single grain of rice more than a blade coming their way. Death is always around them, so they do not fear it. They fear being hungry more than death.’

That was a passage that had been written in the novel. That was why Cale decided to speak to the siblings.

“If you want to eat bread again tomorrow, don’t say a thing.”

The siblings didn’t say anything in return. They were immediately following Cale’s order. The young girl, who seemed hesitant earlier, put her hand on her brother’s mouth and pretended not to see Cale. Cale smiled at them. The girl was smart.

Cale continued to walk away from the siblings and back through the slums. The people in the slums who knew that Cale had gone to the top of the hill were watching him and wondering what crazy thing he was doing now. Cale didn’t mind that kind of gaze.

Once he had exited the slums, the people in the city looked at Cale weirdly as well, but Cale didn’t care. He just made his way back to the tea shop.

Billos greeted Cale happily as he entered.

“Young master. You are back.”

Cale nodded at Billos. “Yes. Bring me a new cup of tea. A refreshing one this time.”

Having given Billos his order, Cale headed back to his seat on the third floor. It should have been busy at this time, but there was nobody on the third floor. They were all avoiding the trash of the Count’s family. That was why Cale could relax.

A few minutes later Billos made his way up to the third floor with Cale’s tea.

“Here is your tea, young master. I also brought up some desserts.”

Cale thanked Billos and continued to look toward the city gate as he took a sip of the tea. Billos quietly observed Cale’s face with an odd expression before leaving him alone on the third floor. It was strange to hear young master Cale thank someone.

Cale continued to order tea and desserts as he looked outside the window until the sky slowly turned from blue to orange and the sun had set. He only got up when night had arrived and outside was dark.

It was now time to go find the dangerous man outside the wall.

Chapter Text

Cale stood up from his seat, picking up the book he had been reading and made his way back down the stairs to the ground floor. It was past 9pm. Not many people were left in the tea shop. This was the time when there would be more people in bars than in tea shops as the people mining the pits would go to drink away a long day of hard work.

Billos, who was putting the books people had left out away, noticed Cale coming down the stairs.

“Are you heading out?”

Cale nodded his head as he walked over to the counter, placing the book he had been reading on it.

Billos put on his merchant smile. “I look forward to your next visit, young master.” He was looking forward to the money Cale would be willing to spend.

Cale made his way to the door, his hand on the handle. Just before he pulled it open, he turned to Billos.

“The tea was great.”

Billos’ smile faltered for a second in shock, his eyes widening. Uncaring of his reaction, Cale continued.

“And the book was good, even though I only got through half of it.” Cale hummed for a moment, shifting his weight onto one leg. “I especially liked the main character whose abilities are appreciated, and at the way he grows.” As he said that, an image of Choi Han flashed briefly through his mind.

Billos had begun to frown at Cale as he praised the book Billos had chosen for him, but quickly caught himself and resumed smiling genially. However, Billos’ eyes clouded over as he continued to observe Cale.

Cale didn’t notice this change in Billos as he was trying hard to remember the contents of the book he had just read. He had been too worried about Choi Han to pay attention to it but had still found it fun to read despite having this sense of urgency in his heart.

It might have been an auto-setting from possessing the original Cale’s body, but Cale was able to understand the language in this world, and had no issues reading the book. A smile formed on Cale’s face as he continued to speak to Billos, who was standing in front of the shelves with a blank expression and books in hand.

“Reserve the book you recommended me, so that I can read it whenever I come by.”

As immature as it was for the son of a Count to monopolise someone else’s property, and whilst Cale would understand if the bastard son of a wealthy merchant guild might not like that fact, there wasn’t really anything Billos could do. He was the son of a Count, after all. However, Billos didn’t seem to mind as he quickly agreed.

“Yes! I will reserve this book for young master Cale.”

Cale hadn’t expected this reaction and was briefly taken aback, but Billos just smiled brightly as he urged Cale to come back soon.

“Please come again soon. I will be waiting for you.”

Cale finally opened the door, the bell ringing as he did so. He called out a nonchalant, “sure, whatever,” as he waved his hand in a lazy goodbye before stepping out the door.

Cale would have been quite content to stay longer, but he had to leave in order to meet Choi Han.

As he stepped out from the quiet tea shop, he was overwhelmed by the sudden noise of the outside. Even though this territory was far from the capital, the fact that a lot of artists resided here, and that they had two specialised trades, meant that it was a popular location. These individuals, as well as the miner who were looking to relax, were all out late to drink.

Cale walked along the street alone.

The original Cale was actually a unique person if you thought about it. Normally in fantasies or martial arts novels, those who tended to be described as ‘trash’ would often hang out with gangsters or bad crowds; they would drink, fool around with women, and cause a ruckus on the streets or in stores. The funny thing was that the original Cale Henituse hated gangsters and scammers. In fact, he despised them. To him, they were all scumbags. And whilst he wasn’t fond of the regular citizens, the fact was that, even when he was drunk, he wouldn’t beat innocent people up. However, he had no problem throwing things at any gangsters he saw. Or at least attempted to throw things since his aim when drunk was terrible. To him, it was better to at least be a hard-working citizen, even if there was no chance of a better future for them, than a scumbag gangster.

Once, Cale broke pretty much everything around him when he was sitting to drink. In fact, Cale was probably number one on the blacklist for all bars in Western City.

Maybe that was the reason the owner of the bar was extremely afraid of Cale as, upon his entrance into the bar, the owner rapidly paled and began wringing his hands in front of him.

“Young master,” the bar owner began anxiously. “You’re here?”

Cale didn’t respond to the owner’s greeting and just threw his last gold coin at him.

“Bring a bottle of my usual. Oh, and a roasted chicken breast. Don’t put salt on it.”

The bar owner fumbled to catch the gold coin flying towards him, before hesitantly raising his head to look towards Cale.

The bar owner stuttered out a question. “Excuse me? You don’t want to find a seat first?”

Cale started to frown. Worried about incurring his anger, the owner quickly bowed in apology stuttering, “immediately! I will bring it immediately!” before dashing towards the kitchen.

Once his back was towards Cale, the owner started to smile in relief. Cale wasn’t planning on finding a seat which meant that he would soon be out of the owner’s hair.

Cale glanced around the bar that had gone silent since the moment he had walked in. Everyone was avoiding his gaze by ducking down or turning around. They were all wondering why he had to choose this bar out of all the bars in the city. The gangsters and scammers in the bar were all extremely nervous now as well.

Cale clicked his tongue, the sound a sharp blade cutting through the silence.

Before he could say anything, the bar owner came running back, a bottle of alcohol and chicken in his hands.

“Young master, here is the bottle you requested.”

“Great.” Cale grabbed the bottle and the bag of chicken. The alcohol was the one he drank often. It was probably the most expensive alcohol in this bar.

Much to the relief of the bar owner and everyone in the bar, once Cale had grabbed his items, he spun on his heel and left. Once outside, he opened the bottle and drank about half of it.

Cale let out a pleased hummed as he finished his long swig of alcohol. The alcohol tasted pretty good, and since Cale had a high tolerance, it didn’t affect him even if he drank this much at once. His cheeks just flushed easily, making many people think he was a lightweight.

Cale walked along the dark streets with the bottle in his hand. He walked back past the tea shop he had stayed in all day until he saw the guards stiffen after seeing him. Seeing them act like this made him want to go out of the gate, but unfortunately, that was not his destination.

Cale felt himself start to heat up as he continued to drink, making him undo the top button of his shirt. He walked a bit further until he reached the city wall. The tall wall of the city that started at the gate seemed to defend well against potential intruders. However, that would depend on the intruder. Cale snorted to himself.

Approximately 100 steps from the city gate – that was the location where Choi Han would jump over the wall. It was in a corner of the residential area so there weren’t many people on the street. There also wasn’t any other light source apart from the torch the guards had put up on the wall, as well as the light spilling out of the windows of the homes. But that was enough light.

Cale clenched the bottle in his hand as he quickly ran toward that location. Once he had reached the location, he took a deep breath, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark.

Just as he had expected, he could see something curled up underneath the wall. Two cats were meowing as they laid there, shaking because of the cold. Cale continued to walk towards them. This was the right spot. In the novel, the moment Choi Han jumps over the wall, a kitten is body slammed by the alpha cat of the neighbourhood and gets sent tumbling towards the wall. Choi Han quickly twists his body to avoid landing on it. This was, after all, a world where coincidences played a big role.

Because of this, Choi Han ends up twisting his ankle in his attempt to avoid hurting the kitten. He had run like crazy to reach Western City after killing tens of people for the first time and burying the corpses of the villagers, and his body had reached its limit making him unable to land properly after quickly changing direct. This just went to show how much of a good guy Choi Han was.

Cale gazed at the kittens that were curled up and shaking. The smaller kitten seemed to be licking its sibling’s wounds from the tumble and to comfort it. He then turned his gaze slightly to look at the entrance to one of the alleys that was close to where Cale was standing. Peeking out slightly from the entrance was a man who was wincing in pain whilst looking like one of the many homeless people that lived in the slums. According to the novel, Cale and Choi Han would meet tomorrow; tonight, Cale was meant to get drunk and receive a scar on his side. Things were already different than the novel, even if it was only minor details.

Choi Han must have felt his gaze from a few moments ago, as he was slowly raising his head, his eyes focused on Cale through the mess that was his black hair.

Cale’s heart was going crazy with fear. His hands that were holding the bottle and the bag of chicken were shaking. And, although it was too dark to see clearly, Choi Han’s eyes that were watching Cale were extremely cold. Cale thought it was a good idea that he had chosen to have a drink beforehand.

Congratulating himself on having made a wise decision, Cale calmed down slightly. All he needed to do was to leave a good first impression and not get beaten up.

Taking a deep breath, Cale started to speak to Choi Han who was staring at him.

“You look like you’re hungry.”

Getting no response, Cale clicked his tongue before moving towards the kittens and crouching down. He then took the chicken breast out of the bag but, with an extremely gentle movement, offered the chicken, not to Choi Han, but to the kittens.

Cale didn’t know that the kittens would be this small. He hoped that they could still eat the chicken breast. Clicking his tongue again, he quickly ripped the chicken into smaller pieces so that the kittens could eat it better. He was wondering what the hell he was doing crouched down near the wall in one of Western City’s residential areas feeding kittens.

To be honest, Cale didn’t like cats, however, Choi Han treasured small animals and Cale needed to make a good first impression. The injured kitten must have sensed Cale’s dislike of cats as it showed its teeth and began to growl. Undeterred, Cale reached out and started to pet the kitten’s silver fur as he looked into its golden eyes. The kitten must not have liked it, as it did its best to avoid Cale’s hand.

“You poor things. Eat this and get better soon.”

Cale didn’t look at Choi Han as he said that, however, he was aware that Choi Han was definitely looking at him.

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

He didn’t hear a response, however, Cale continued to speak. The guards would soon come to patrol this area, and he needed to make a move before Choi Han started to limp away to avoid them.

“Or a place to stay?”

Cale continued to attempt to pet the growling silver kitten, nudging the red kitten that was trying to attack him away as he asked. The red kitten kept trying to hit Cale for some reason. It’s golden eyes, that matched its sibling’s, shined brightly even in the dark.

But rather than the kittens, Cale needed to focus on Choi Han.

“Are you hungry?”

There was still no response, which Cale had expected. Choi Han was probably observing him right now, but Cale knew that he also probably wanted to rest. Both his body and mind would be at their limit. In addition, he had gone through a horrible traumatic experience just the other day. For someone like Choi Han, who had lived on his own without any human contact other than villagers, Western City was completely foreign to him. He may have lived for tens of years already, but he was still otherwise young.

Cale stopped trying to pet the kittens and turned his gaze towards Choi Han. “Are you not going to say anything?”

Choi Han continued to watch him closely before asking, “why are you talking to me?”

It seemed that Choi Han had finally decided that Cale was weak, and thus was safe to talk to. To Choi Han, Cale was weak enough that, even though he was at his limits, he could easily kill him. That was why Choi Han felt that it would be okay to accept Cale’s goodwill even though he had no idea why Cale was being nice to him.

Pleased that he had finally gotten an answer out of him, Cale stood up and walked towards Choi Han. He could see Choi Han’s situation better once he had gotten closer. He was a mess; however, his eyes were clear. This might have been because he was the main character, but this small display of strength despite the situation was quite inspiring. The black hair and black eyes that showed that Choi Han was Korean, were also quite nice to see after having spent the last few days around, who were essentially to him, foreigners. That was why Cale smiled warmly as he casually spoke to Choi Han.

“Hey, follow me. I’ll feed you.”

The best first impression, at least in Cale’s opinion, was to be the one who provides delicious food.

Choi Han stopped leaning against the wall and pushed himself up onto his feet. He was still leaning to his left because of his twisted right ankle, but Cale didn’t help him or say anything about it. There was no reason to be any nicer to him than he had already been.

Cale told Choi Han to follow him as he headed towards the Count’s estate, however, the red kitten ran towards Cale and rubbed its cheeks on Cale’s shoes. Cale started to frown. He didn’t like cats, but nevertheless, this one seemed pretty cute despite the fact it had been valiantly trying to attack him earlier. Cale was planning on just ignoring the kitten, but he suddenly felt chills race down his spine, making him turn around. Choi Han was staring at him.

‘Damn it.’

It was clear that Choi Han was expecting something, so Cale awkwardly crouched down and started to pet the kitten.

“It seems like it likes me,” he aimed this statement at Choi Han before looking back down at the kitten. “But I have to go, so I’ll see you next time.”

Cale had never understood why people spoke to animals, however, Cale, who had now become the person that was speaking to animals, quickly stood back up and walked away from the kitten. The silver kitten growled at its sibling as if it was telling them to come back whilst also telling Cale to get lost. The red kitten seemed to not want to go back as it continued to look at Cale as it walked away, but Cale didn’t look back.

As he walked, the sad cries of the kittens got farther away. Cale peeked backwards towards Choi Han who was limping but keeping up with him. Cale was walking slowly to make it easier for Choi Han to keep up. Noticing Cale peeking at him, they made eye contact once more causing Cale to flinch before he quickly turned his head. He finally knew how all the servants and citizens felt when they made eye contact with him.

Once they passed the residential area, Cale took another sip of his alcohol. The bars, the market, and the plaza. They passed the residences of the wealthy, and finally arrived outside the Count’s estate located near the rear of the city.

As soon as Cale stepped through the main gate leading up to the estate, the guards and knights stationed outside stumbled over their words in their haste to greet him causing Choi Han to stop moving. It was odd hearing them stumbling over their words every time. Since he had possessed the body of this trashy young master, Cale had tried his best to act like one as it was easier to be a trashy young master than it was to be a noble young master. And Cale wanted to make his life as easy as possible. However, it wasn’t always pleasant watching people curl up in fear every time he went by.

Cale frowned at the guards before turning to face Choi Han.

“What are you doing?”

Choi Han had noticed that the citizens had been avoiding Cale on their way here and was now surprised by how the soldiers had greeted him.

Cale could hazard a guess that Choi Han was probably questioning whether it really would be easy to kill Cale.

Cale asked Choi Han a question once more. “Are you not going to come?”

As he had expected, Choi Han resumed walking. His main reason for following Cale was probably to get some information as well as to host the funeral for the massacred villagers.

As they passed, the guards and the knights looked at Choi Han as well. They were probably curious about this beggar that had followed their young master back as well as suspicious as to why he had done so.

Ignoring the looks the guards and knights were aiming at them, Cale gestured his hand towards Choi Han. “Follow me.”

Whilst Choi Han should know of Cale’s status by now, he continued to limp after Cale.

On the outside, Cale looked calm, however, his heart was going crazy. He was sure that Choi Han was contemplating taking him as a hostage if something dangerous were to happen.

‘That was probably why he stood right behind me.’

He was sure that Choi Han wouldn’t kill him, but just thinking about being taken hostage was causing some serious mental strain, making Cale frown. He glanced at the two knights who had begun following them since they entered onto the estate, throwing them a sharp look.

‘Don’t follow me.’

Cale’s gaze was a clear order which caused the knights to flinch. They looked warily back and forth between Cale and Choi Han before one of the knights approached Choi Han and Cale with a stiff expression on his face.

Their creed was something the knights cared about more than anything and was especially fitting of the knights that Count Deruth treasured.

Satisfied at the knight’s response to the man who must look like a foreign beggar to him, Cale left the knight alone to follow them. Cale just led Choi Han to the entrance of the Count’s residence where Ron was waiting for him outside the door.

“Young master, you’re back.” Cale was warmly greeted by this scary old man. Cale hadn’t actually expected Ron to be waiting for him and, whilst still scared of him, thought that it was actually for the best that he had been.

Ron’s gaze turned towards Choi Han, his benign smile suddenly stiffening. Cale knew that Ron should be at a level where he could estimate Choi Han’s strength by sight alone. Likewise, Choi Han also stared back at Ron. Cale didn’t care what kind of attacks they were sending each other with their eyes and instead was focused on doing what he needed to do.

“Follow me.”

Cale quickly called out to Choi Han once more and started to walk. Ron quickly followed Cale as well concerned by the addition of the foreign man following his young master.

“Young master, what is going on? I will take care of this guest if you tell me what is needed.”

Cale waved Ron’s concern away. “No need.”

Someone else was also approaching Cale.

“Young master. You returned after drinking today.”

It was Hans. Cale had forgotten that Hans had become responsible for him.

Cale clicked his tongue and ignored Hans’ statement. Instead, he lifted the alcohol bottle up and pointed towards Hans. Hans quickly covered his face with both of his arms and curled up. Silence filled the air. Cale looked between the bottle and Hans before lowering his arm and clicking his tongue. Hans looked up; his face completely red from embarrassment.

“Put this away,” Cale ordered.

Hans received the bottle from Cale with a blank expression on his face. Annoyed by that overreactive display Cale ended up saying, “I will actually throw it at you next time.”

Hans turned pale at Cale’s words. Cale didn’t care at all as he continued to walk. With the inclusion of Hans, there were now four people following him. Cale peeked backwards every so often to make sure they were following him properly before they arrived at their destination: the second kitchen.

“Young master?”

He could hear Hans’ confused voice behind him, however, there was a thick smile on Cale’s face. The end was near.

Beacrox and Choi Han would now meet. Cale’s heart was beating fast in anticipation. He pushed the door open and stiffened at the scene in front of him.

Second chef Beacrox was smiling to himself whilst sharpening his blade. He seemed to be enjoying himself. However, that smile disappeared as soon as he saw Cale. That was why Cale was scared. It was always scary dealing with lunatics. You never knew what crazy things they would do.

Cale made a move before Beacrox could respond. He put a hand on Choi Han’s shoulder and pointed at him.

“Give him something to eat.”

Beacrox frowned in confusion. “Excuse me?” The sharp blade in his hand was reflecting the light. Cale calmed his shaking heart as he repeated himself.

“Give him something to eat. He’s hungry.”

The knight who had followed him let out a shocked noise, but Cale wasn’t paying attention to him. He was more concerned about how Beacrox would respond. Finally, Beacrox answered with a stiff expression on his face.

“I will do as you instructed, young master.”

He had done it.

Beacrox and Choi Han, and even Ron, had met. They were all connected now.

A bright smile took over Cale’s face. He could finally relax as he gave Beacrox another order.

“And prepare something for me. I’m hungry.”

Cale thought about the steak from last night’s dinner.

“Your steak last night was the best. You’re a great chef.”

Cale nodded seriously at his own words, not noticing the way the tip of Beacrox’s knife slightly shook.

“Something like that steak would be a wonderful meal. Prepare it quickly.”

Without waiting for his response, Cale turned around, leaving the kitchen and headed towards his chamber. The knight and Hans followed him out at which point Hans quickly asked.

“What should I do about that guest?”

Cale hadn’t thought that far ahead and so was caught off guard for a second. But now that he thought about…

“I guess he is my guest. You take care of it.”

Since he had connected the three main players together, he didn’t want to deal with anything else for today. Beacrox and Ron should be able to get a read on Choi Han’s strength. In the novel, Beacrox originally swears his loyalty to Choi Han because of his strength, so he should pledge his loyalty after figuring out his strength this time too. Of course, Cale had some other plans in place, if for some reason, Beacrox was unable to determine Choi Han’s strength. All Cale had to do was make Choi Han beat someone or something up, that wasn’t himself, and Beacrox had to be there to watch.

Even if his plan might have some holes, Cale had thought about a lot of different things.

“Hans. Stop annoying me and just bring the meal over to my chamber when it’s ready.”

As expected, Ron hadn’t followed them. Cale left the knight and Hans outside his chamber door before closing it and going to lay down on the bed. He was happy. His exhaustion, mixed with the alcohol, made him fall asleep even before his food ever showed up.

That was why he didn’t know that Beacrox’s cooking knife had slashed towards Choi Han’s neck and that Ron’s sharp dagger had been flung towards Choi Han’s heart. Of course, both of their attacks had failed.

Not that this was a situation, that anybody other than the three individuals involved, would ever know about.

Chapter Text

“He went to the Flynn Merchant Guild’s illegitimate son’s tea shop. He brought back a young man whose identity we cannot verify. And in terms of drinking, he only drank a bit and kept a clear head.” Count Deruth summarised Han’s report. He leant forward in his chair, his elbows on the desk and his hands joined in front of him. His eyes focused on the paper in front of him that listed Cale’s recent actions. Han’s report had been short, but Count Deruth had found it interesting, nonetheless.

“Should we put a tail on him?”

Count Deruth looked away from the report and back at Hans who was stood in front of his desk. He waved his hand in dismissal of Han’s question. He didn’t want to know what his son had been up to outside the estate to the point that he would go as far as putting a tail on him.

“No need. As long as he remains within the city, anything he does is under my authority.”

Nevertheless, Count Deruth was pleased that Hans had gone so far as to ask about putting a tail on Cale. He cherished Hans the most out of all the young deputy butlers because he fulfilled his orders well and was a good person overall.

“Do what you have been doing in terms of observing Cale and continue to report anything you see.”

Hans bowed towards the Count. “I understand.” He gathered his report and turned to leave. However, the Count called out.

“Hans.”

“Yes, Count-nim?”

“Bring me some information about the Flynn Merchant Guild.”

Billos, the tea shop owner. Count Deruth knew about the bastard son of the Flynn Merchant Guild, as the guild was the Henituse’s largest trading partner for wine.

“I will get right on it.”

Count Deruth waved Hans away and leant back in his chair.

The Count, himself, didn’t have any special abilities nor any sold networks. However, just like the previous Count, he was able to rule over the Henituse territory and grow his wealth by selling marble and wine. He was someone who was able to protect his territory, as well as the people in it, through his wealth alone. This was largely because there hadn’t been any major changes within the territory or outside his region since the last generation.

However, Cale had changed.

The Count had noticed that Cale had felt different than normal. It wasn’t that he had suddenly gotten smarter or stronger, but that his actions were clearly different from before. He didn’t know what had brought about this sudden change in his son’s behaviour, and he was unlikely to get a straight answer if he asked Cale directly, so his only choice was to gather information himself.

And, like with the issue of his son’s changing behaviour, Count Deruth has also received endless amounts of information about the current status of the continent. The atmosphere around it had become dangerous recently. The building pressure felt like a volcano right before eruption. The Count could clearly feel the dangerous atmosphere even though his territory was tucked away in a corner of the Kingdom. And the message he had received from the Imperial Court today, made Count Deruth even more certain of this building pressure.

The former Counts of the Henituse territory had always passed on a single piece of advice to their successors:

‘There is no need to be recorded in History. Just live for peace and happiness.’

The Count turned in his chair and looked out at the walls surrounding his territory. It was probably time he reinforced them. He may not be a good fighter, but Count Deruth was always thinking about ways to protect himself and his family. That was also why he cherished the knights and soldiers who helped protect his territory and its citizens.

***

Meanwhile, Cale had slept in. There were times where the body was stronger than the mind, especially if it was clouded with sleep.

Ron was stood next to Cale’s bedside. He had brought over a cup of lemonade instead of cold water again, much to Cale’s displeasure - not that he was going to openly complain to Ron about it.

“Young master,” Ron began, his usual smile on his face. “You were sleeping so soundly that I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Cale groaned before rolling off his stomach, onto his back, and then sat up groggily. He dragged a hand through his hair, before sighing and looking up at Ron. Just as he went to reach for the lemonade, his hand froze in mid-air – there was a bandage around Ron’s neck. Cale might not particularly like Ron, and in fact was terribly scared of him, however, even he would be concerned if Ron suddenly appeared in front of him injured.

Cale frowned, taking the lemonade before asking. “Are you hurt?”

Ron’s smile stiffened, his eyes sharpening as he looked at Cale. “Are you worrying about me, young master?”

Cale shrunk under Ron’s gaze, before mumbling slightly petulantly: “no. It’s just annoying to look at.” He took a sip of the lemonade, pulling a face at the sourness, before avoiding Ron’s gaze.

Ron continued to watch Cale closely. “It is nothing much. I was just scratched by a cat’s claw.”

Cale stopped him self from snorting. Is that what they were calling Choi Han these days? A cat?

Cale was sure that someone had had their fated meeting last night.

Handing the emptied cup back to Ron, Cale stood up and headed towards his chamber’s window, peering out at the servants and guards bustling about the estate. He needed to move faster today as he’d slept in.

Ron had already laid out Cale’s clothes for the day, so Cale quickly went about getting dressed. As he was doing up the buttons on his shirt, he heard Ron ask a question.

“Will you be heading out right away?”

Cale nodded absently, still focused on doing up his buttons. “Yes. I’ll take care of everything outside on my own.”

Ron continued to smile. “I understand.”

As Cale walked over to his chamber door, his hand on the door handle, Ron called out, and odd smile on his face.

“What did you think of the lemonade?”

Cale looked at Ron, confused by the odd question. “Great,” he replied. “It’s delicious.”

Ron’s voice became an octave lower as he watched Cale’s reaction.

“Is that so?”

“Yes?” Cale didn’t know what was up with Ron this morning, but it was unnerving him.

Since Ron was someone that Cale could mostly ignore, he just answered Ron’s questions as nicely as possible before turning back around and opening the door. However, he quickly slammed it shut again.

“Ron,” Cale called out, unamused.

Ron approached Cale leisurely with a smile, before putting his hand on the handle of the second door.

“Young master, were you surprised? Your guest from yesterday is waiting for you outside.”

Cale was surprised. He had seen Choi Han staring at him as soon as he had opening the door, causing him to close it again in shock. Cale put his hand over his heart where the cheque for 10 million gallons that he had been given the other day was still tucked safely in the inner pocket of his shirt. Touching it calmed him down.

Ron gazed towards Cale as he continued to speak.

“I didn’t have the chance to tell you, as you opened the door right away. I told him to wait comfortably in his room, but he insisted that he needed to see you right away and waited outside the door.”

‘He didn’t have the chance to tell me my ass.’

Ron had certainly had the time to tell Cale, he had just chosen not to. Cale couldn’t openly complain to this scary old man who was too close for comfort, so he tossed a glare over his shoulder at him instead.

Ron opened the other door this time and Cale stepped out.

Cale pretended as though he had never slammed the door in Choi Han’s face and nonchalantly asked: “What’s going on?”

He was paying close attention to Choi Han’s appearance, sweeping his gaze up and down the man in front of him.

After taking a shower, fixing his hair, and putting on new clothes, Choi Han was exuding a pure and clean feeling. However, his appearance wasn’t matching up with the look in his eyes. He was still in a twisted emotional state, his eyes stormy. The strong look he was giving Cale was starting to make him feel a bit scared.

Choi Han continued to stare at Cale unblinking for a moment, before finally speaking.

“Pay you back.”

Cale was confused by the non-sequitur and let out an impolite, “huh?”

“I will pay you back for the meal,” Choi Han elaborated, a determined expression on his face.

Unlike yesterday, Choi Han was speaking formally to him. But more importantly, Cale began to frown at the words ‘pay you back.’ They seemed to imply that Cale would continue to be connected to Choi Han in someway and that was definitely not part of his plans. Cale just wanted Choi Han to get out of this city as soon as possible. He knew that Choi Han would agree to help Cale if he said it was to pay him back – he was that kind of person – however, Cale didn’t have anything he needed from Choi Han other than him leaving as quickly as possible. Cale didn’t want to play a game of balancing scales with him.

“No need.” Cale swiftly rejected Choi Han’s offer. “Is there anything else you need?”

Choi Han was observing Cale even more closely after that. His gaze made Cale think about how the original Cale had gotten beaten up. Goosebumps made their way up his arms. He subconsciously began to rub at his forearms.

“There is something I would like to request your help for,” Choi Han answered.

Cale closed his eyes at the word ‘help’. He didn’t want to get involved with Choi Han. The ‘help’ he was looking for would be to ask about the people who had massacred those in Harris Village. The Cale in the novel called the villagers of Harris Village useless and ended up black and blue because of it. Cale thought about this fact as he opened his eyes. If he didn’t want to get involved with Choi Han himself, he could just make someone else help him.

“Tell Hans your request. He will take care of everything.”

Cale made eye contact with Choi Han, who was standing as still as a statue.

“He is a talented deputy butler,” Cale continued, concerned that Choi Han was worrying about Hans’ competency after he had implied that he would not be the one to help him. “He will be able to help you out with almost any normal request.”

Cale then put a hand on Ron’s shoulder. He felt Ron flinch under him, but Cale decided this was as good an opportunity as any to get both men out of his sight at the same time.

“Ron here is pretty useful as well. He will also be able to help you out.” Cale turned to look at Ron, who was watching Cale with a stiff expression. “Ron, he is my guest. Make sure to take proper care of his needs.” He then removed his hand from Ron’s shoulder.

Cale had turned around, planning to swiftly flee the scene, but Choi Han called out to him.

“But you don’t even know who I am.”

Cale turned to face him. He could see Choi Han’s hand subconsciously reaching out to him a complicated expression on his face; Ron was staring at the hand that was outstretched towards his young master with a chilling gaze. Cale flicked his gaze between Choi Han, Choi Han’s hand, and Ron, worried that he might be a witness to a fight if Choi Han dared to get any closer. Noticing the cold gaze towards his hand, Choi Han dropped it back beside him. He was still observing Cale closely, however, rather than the scary pressure emitting from him earlier, Cale could only feel an unexplainable purity spilling out from him.

Cale looked blankly back at Choi Han. “Why do I need to know who you are?” He asked, somewhat coldly. “Is there a reason to help someone who doesn’t have as much as I have?”

Choi Han started to frown a bit at Cale’s words. It was faint, but Cale, who had been observing Choi Han just as closely, saw it.

‘Is he annoyed that I said he doesn’t have as much as me?’

Cale cocked his head confused and concerned that he might have angered Choi Han, before continuing.

“And based on your situation, I doubt that you’ll ask for something difficult.” Cale shrugged his shoulders. “Well, even if it is something difficult, I’m sure Hans will know here to draw the line.”

Cale stepped towards Ron slightly, before pushing him towards Choi Han and turning away again.

“Then goodbye. I have a lot of things to do.”

Cale stalked off quickly towards his father’s office to make sure that neither of the two men could call him back. He needed to get a large amount of allowance today.

Before he turned the corner, Cale heard Ron’s voice behind him.

“Young master, I will do as you command.”

Cale waved his hand as he stepped around the corner. He didn’t care whether Ron actually did as he asked or not. Interacting with each other was their jobs to do as main characters, not Cale’s. He was sure they would get closer to each other faster as Cale had made the meet four days earlier than in the original novel.

Ron watched his young master walk away, before looking down at the empty cup still in his hands.

“How interesting.”

That puppy didn’t like sour things when he was young, and he still didn’t like them now that he was older. However, he had drank the lemonade Ron had given to him.

Ron touched his neck where the bandage was. He had been hurt for this first time in a while, but something more interesting than the injury he had received was nagging at him.

It was clear that Cale, once a fearless puppy, had recently become scared of him. Ron smiled coldly. He couldn’t help but wonder if his young master knew something.

“Lead the way.”

Ron had been ignoring Choi Han, more interested in this change within his puppy young master, but he looked towards him. Choi Han was looking at him with clear disgust. This punk seemed to have figured out that he was someone who had killed before after their short spar last night.

Ron smiled towards him. “Sure.”

This punk also gave off a similar scent of blood but was pretending to be clean. Ron found it amusing that such a twisted punk was trying to act innocent. Choi Han gave of the violent, disgusting, and murderous aura of the Forest of Darkness. It was an aura that Ron and Beacrox could instantly tell apart from the others. Of course, that murderous aura was not Choi Han’s own. He had gotten that aura from the assassins he had killed, and now that he had showered and cleaned up, that aura no longer surrounded him.

‘I guess there’s no way those people would cross over to the Western Continent.’

Ron thought about the events of last night as he started to talk to the boy who had gone through a lot in the past few days.

“Follow me.”

Ron started to walk in order to follow his puppy young master’s order, Choi Han following behind him. Choi Han’s gaze momentarily turned towards the direction Cale had left in, lingering for a bit, before turning back to Ron.

Chapter Text

Cale held a bag  full of bread  that was twice the size of yesterday’s as he headed back to the top of the slums . The two siblings were  watching him approach as they waited for him at the bottom of the hill.  Just like he had told them to, the children kept their mouths shut as they  eyed the bag on Cale’s shoulder. Cale smiled at them as he walked towards them. Once in front of them, he crouched down, plac ed  the bag in front of him, and  took out two smaller bags , pushing  them towards the children.  

“Take it.”  

The young girl slowly reached her hand out,  a hand on her side as she limped forward slowly. Cale frowned as he watched her , observing the way she would wince as she moved. Cale put his hand out. “Stop.”  

The girl flinched, shrinking into herself and look ed  uncertainly at Cale. She flicked her gaze between Cale, the bags in his hand, and her brother.  Anyone could tell that she was worried that Cale had decided not to give them bread after all.    

Ignoring this, Cale pointed towards her brother. “You come here and take it.”  

The  siblings looked at each other in surprise before the  young boy quickly rushed over and snatched the bags, pulling them towards himself tightly,  and then  quickly running back  and handing  one to  his sister.   Compared to Cale’s bright red hair, the boy’s red hair was darker and coarser and shook when he ran.  

The children looked excitedly at the food in their bags, each pulling an item out  and taking a bite . Big smiles crossed their faces as they savoured the taste.   Having completed his end of their deal,  Cale brushed off his knees as he stood up, picking up the large bag of bread and  turned around  to  beg in  climbing the hill towards the man-eating tree.  

The  air was cold. The  black leafless tree’s branches bent  rhythmically  in the win d , w aving at  Cale’s arrival.  The sight of the tree, paired with the wind, gave Cale an eerie feeling, nerves knotting his stomach  as he made his way past the rotten fencing and towards the black hole at the base of the tree.  Ignoring the unsettling feeling, Cale crouched down, pulling the bag off his shoulder before emptying its content into the hole.    

Like before, the bread quickly disappeared.  

Cale stared into the darkness, impressed by the way the bread ceased to exist despite the fact he had already known  about  it thanks to the novel.  

It was at that moment that an unfamiliar voice could be heard begging for more.  

“More, give me more,” it moaned.  

Cale wasn’t surprised by the sudden vocal addition as he had already read about it in the novel. It was the voice of a weak girl. The person who had starved to death had been a priestess. However, unlike the present-day priestesses of the temples or churches, the ancient priestesses where more like shamans.   Most of  the ancient shamans could be considered people who had had superpowers or were able to manipulate natural forces.  

Cale quickly grabbed the empty bag and stood up, making his way out of the man-eating tree’s territory and back through the slums.  He could see the two siblings watching him with cake on their face.  

Count Deruth had asked Cale to come to his study later that evening when he had gone to get his allowance. That was why he knew that he would have to make sure to  return to the estate  earlier.  

Cale  had come to the gluttonous tree with the intention of quelling at least half of its grudge  today. As such, he headed back into the market  to get more bread. There were many bakeries lining the street. He had already swept up the stock of the bakery he had gone to yesterday ,  so he had no choice but to find another one.  

As he was glancing at the many bakeries in front of him, he heard a woman call out to him.  

“Young master.”  

Cale turned towards the voice. There was a middle-aged woman smiling awkwardly at him, flicking her gaze nervously between Cale and the bakery behind her. Mustering up her courage, she pointed a shaking hand towards the bakery.    

“We have a lot of bread, young master.”  

Cale  started to smile. He  admired her courage to call out to him first despite his reputation amongst the citizens.  This woman truly knew how to do business. Other vendors were peeking in their direction, looking at what was going on.  

Cale threw a gold coin towards her. The woman caught it quickly and stared at it as she cupped it between her hands.  

“Give me everything you have,” Cale ordered. “And pack it quickly.”  

The woman began to smile as she clenched the coin before tucking it securely into her aprons front pocket. She sped quickly towards the store and came out with a large bag full of bread that had obviously been prepared in advance.  

Cale raised his eyebrows in surprise. She was  really  good  at business.  This was someone who knew how to make money.  

“Here it  is  young master.”  The woman handed the bag over to Cale, before greedily smiling up at him. “I can also prepare some more.”  

Cale was liking this woman more and more.  

The other bakers, having seen Cale’s pleased smile towards the woman, quickly began glancing between each other. An old man across the street, seeing this as an opportunity, raised his hand as he rushed towards Cale. Cale looked at him as he approached. He was wearing a baker’s uniform that was clean and well-kept.   

“Young master! We can make even more bread that that!”  

Cale hummed, pleased that the old baker was trying to do business with him. He took another coin out and tossed it to the old man. The old man scrambled to catch it.  

“I will head to your shop next. Have a bag ready.”  

The old baker looked up at Cale and beamed.  

“Right away, young master.”  

Cale was amazed by the bakers who, though they were still afraid of him, had no issues in coming up to him in order to make some money. This willingness to approach for the sake of money was likely because they knew that Cale didn’t hit anybody who wasn’t a gangster. Still, he could see why the  Henituse  territory was doing so well for itself.  

The fact that Cale had spent one gold coin to buy bread yesterday had already spread like wildfire amongst the vendors and merchants in the city. One million gallons – the people gasped at him having spent a week’s worth of their usual profit on simple bread, their eyes sparkling with greed and opportunity.  

Cale observed three bakers who were whispering amongst themselves as they glanced at Cale. He could go to their shops tomorrow. Since he had given the other two bakers one gold coin each, he should be able to get another bag from them tomorrow as well. Things were going smoothly.  

However, someone was watching Cale as he stirred up a frenzy amongst the bakeries.  

Beacrox  was stood not too far away and, just like his father, he had a bandage around his neck. He was watching Cale from behind a corner, suspicion clear on his face. He had just watched Cale buy the bag of bread as well as some  medicinal  herbs before heading back in the direction of the slums.  

“Did he go crazy?”  Beacrox  mumbled to himself.  

It seemed as though Cale had finally snapped since yesterday when he brought Choi Han back with him.  

Whilst  Beacrox  had never cared about Cale, even after his father had insisted that Cale was an interesting kid, but the more he saw, the more he was inclined to agree. He had begun to feel like it would be just as fun to watch Cale as it would be if he was to watch yesterday’s black-haired punk.  

Beacrox’s  eyes sparkled in interest, he hummed to himself as he turned back towards the  Henituse  estate, groceries in his arms.  

Nearby, Billos was sat at the highest point of his shop, looking out over the streets as he took a sip of his tea and received his subordinate’s report.  

He too was beginning to take an interest in Cale.  

“Young master Cale is going in and out of the slums?” Billos asked his subordinate blankly.  

“Yes, Billos-nim.”  

Billos  scrunched  his brows in confusion, before nodding absently to himself. “I see.”  

His subordinate quickly added on, “and we also received communications from the capital.”  

Billos perked up at that, completely pushing aside his  curiosity  and confusion towards Cale’s recent actions.   

“Is that so?”  

His eyes widened, face hungry for information. His subordinate flinched before continuing.  

“Yes. It mentioned that the crown will soon be gathering people. That is why they wish for you to return and get to work, Billos-nim.”  

Billos put his teacup down on the table, a sharp ceramic clink breaking the tension from the capital’s report. He motioned with his chin.  

“You can head out now.”  

His subordinated quickly moved into the shadows and disappeared. Billos stared at the spot where his subordinate had been moments ago, a corner of his lips twisting upward, a sneer on his face. It seemed his so-called family wanted him to be their dog and watch the house again.  

Billos’ gaze headed back out of the window. It felt like he could reach the far away capital with his gaze alone.

Chapter Text

“This isn’t bread.” The young girl looked down at the medicinal herbs cupped gently in her hands.   

“This isn’t bread.” Her hands were shaking as she repeatedly mumbled that statement over and over again.  

Cale raised an eyebrow. “And?”  

The girl looked between the herbs and Cale, a complicated look on her face. She thrust her hands holding the herbs out towards Cale. “This isn’t bread!” Her voice took on a high-pitched tone as she desperately tried to communicate that fact to Cale.  

Cale just looked back at her blankly. Of course, the herbs weren’t bread. What did she expect? He snorted and rolled his eyes. The girl looked at Cale with a pleading gaze, willing him to understand what she was thinking, but Cale just turned around to head back towards the man-eating tree.   

However, the young boy got in his way. He stepped in front of Cale; his arms opened wide as he stared resolutely toward him.  

“You cannot die.”  

Cale looked down at the young boy as he pretty much ordered him to stay alive. His sister had said the same thing on their first meeting. He didn’t know what it was with these siblings and telling him not to die. It’s not like he had any plans to throw his life away at any point in the near (or far) future.  

Cale ignored the boy as he walked around him.  

Kim Rok Soo had been an orphan with nothing to his name, that was why there hadn’t been a lot of people who had shown him  sympathy.  When he was younger, he’d asked people if there was reason to show sympathy for the needy. People looked at him with pity when he asked that. They told him that there didn’t need to be a reason to show sympathy to others.   

There had been a time when he’d taken those answers at face value, but he’d started to understand the real meaning as he got older.  

There wasn’t a logical reason for the things your heart drew you to do, and you didn’t always need a reason either.  

That caused Cale to stop. He drew in a deep breath before clicking his tongue, his shoulders sagging. One of his hands came up to ruffle his hair aggressively.  

“So annoying.”  

Cale hated to see young children being hurt, however, he had no thoughts about nursing the young girl nor any thoughts about consoling her. He frowned as he turned back towards her. She was limping after Cale, the young boy was next to her, following after her steadily.  

“I won’t die.”  

The siblings stopped following and looked up at him. Cale was unhappy at the thought that he’d just done something that he hated the most. He hated people who got involved in other people’s business without being asked. However, he’d done just that by giving the girl some medicinal herbs.  

Annoyed with himself, Cale turned on his heel and walked briskly up the hill towards the man-eating tree, not bothering to check if the siblings were still following him.  

Upon his approach, Cale could hear the voice of the tree getting louder. It was begging for more food. Cale kneeled down and dumped the whole bag of bread into the hole beneath the tree without caring about how it landed. He was no longer afraid of the tree. The bread disappeared into the darkness that was becoming too light to be called darkness. It had become a grey- ish  light. Only Cale, who had been feeding the tree, would see this change; to everyone else, the hole would remain black. It seemed like all that money he was spending on bread was paying off.  

Cale poured the second bag of bread into the hole before he got up and headed home. He didn’t see the siblings as he walked back down the hill and through the slum.   

Instead he saw two struggling cats on the street leading to the estate. Cale flinched in surprise when he spotted them. It was the cats from yesterday. The two cats didn’t even meow as they stared at Cale. Not wanting to cause a scene and, thinking they wouldn’t remember him, Cale only glanced at them before walking past.   

The cat’s watched his back as he left.  

***  

Cale was rapidly becoming pale.  

“Could you please say that one more time?” He was hoping that he’d only heard wrong.  

Count  Deruth  calmly watched his eldest son as he repeated what he’d said.  

“You shall go to the capital as our family’s representative.”  

So, his hearing hadn’t been wrong.   

Basen was standing calmly next to Cale as well. The story of the  Henituse  family that wasn’t mentioned in the novel was unfolding right in front of Cale’s eyes.  

Unaware of his son’s inner turmoil, the Count continued.  

“Originally, Basen was supposed to go. However, you are still the first-born son of our family.”  

Cale just opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as he watched the Count who was sitting behind his desk with a content smile.  

“The crown is hosting a big event and the noble families of each territory have been invited to gather. It will be your first time going to visit the crown, but Basen has been going to similar functions for the last two years without issue, so I am hoping for you to go this time.”  

Cale could feel a headache coming on.  

Going to visit the crown at such a time? Cale was quickly trying to parse through the knowledge he had about the events of the novel. A big event hosted by the crown? Cale could only think of a single incident.  

The Plaza Terror Incident: a secret organisation commits a terrorist act when many of the capital’s citizens are gathered in one place. The hero of the novel, Choi Han, manages to block about half of their plot. This incident would be the fourth time that Choi Han and the secret organisation would have clashed with each other. As a result, Choi Han is able to save a lot of people and becomes connected to the crown prince. They then quickly develop a friendship with each other.  

Cale got the chills.  

Since the novel described the event from Choi Han’s point of view, it didn’t have much information regarding the gathering of the nobles. All it mentioned was that Choi Han gained some part members before and after the incident, as well as the backing of the crown prince.  

But he had to go to the scene of that terrorist attack?  

Cale wasn’t happy about this development. He didn’t want to be anywhere near such a big event, especially if it meant that he could potentially be in danger. Of course, he didn’t know whether the nobles would be made to gather in the plaza as well. It might have just been the citizens.  

Cale recalled a passage from the novel:  

‘Tons of people were gathered in the plaza. The platform was still empty. It was for the royal family that would soon arrive. Choi Han could see some other people who looked like they held important positions. However, more important to Choi Han, was the fact that a lot of citizens – young, old, male, female – were gathered here. Choi Han’s heart started to beat faster. He didn’t want to see a group of innocent people dying ever again.’  

Would Choi Han’s description of the people who look like they held important positions include the nobles?  

Cale turned to look at Basen, even as his father continued to speak. Basen was stoic, looking at their father without giving Cale a single glance.  

Count  Deruth  had said that Basen would normally go to events like these.  

Cale’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly. He didn’t want to go to such a dangerous, but he couldn’t bring himself to suggest that Basen go in his place. The original Cale’s relationship with Basen had been neither good nor bad. Basen had found Cale to be difficult, but that was about the extent to which they had interacted.  

Cale frowned at Basen, his hands worrying together behind his back. Cale’s mind was getting complicated. Would the original Cale have been made to go? It was highly unlikely that the Count would’ve sent the trash to such an important event. Why was he trying to send him there now then instead of Basen? Had he done something wrong to have caused this to happen? He didn’t want to go himself, however, he also didn’t want to risk sending Basen and him getting hurt.  

Why was his life beginning to get so complicated?  

Cale tuned back into his father’s explanation.  

“You will leave in five days.”  

That settled one question then. Five days later. Cale now knew that the Cale in the novel hadn’t gone to the capital. In the novel, he was beaten to a pulp by Choi Han and carried into the Count’s estate. There was no way he would’ve been healed enough to have gone to the capital that soon after.  

“Cale. Before Basen started to do it, you had participated in all of these ceremonies. Think back on those times and have a relaxed journey,” the Count advised, mistaking Cale’s expression as him being nervous about going to the capital after a long time of not having any noble duties.  

“Father.”  

The Count looked at his eldest son. Basen also slowly turned to look at his older brother.  

“I am bit anxious because of this sudden development. I haven’t gone to any of these gatherings since two-years ago. I don’t understand why I have to suddenly go to this one. Please let me think about it.”  

Count  Deruth  had expected for Cale to be hesitant at his suggestion – he had expected him to be slightly mad even – however, Cale just seemed, to him, to be nervous about re-entering noble society. As such, he agreed to Cale’s request and dismissed his two sons from his office.  

Once outside, Cale was busy thinking about all sorts of things, his mind a mess of questions without many answers. If Cale threw a fit and caused a scene now, the Count would probably end up sending Basen to the capital, but that would leave a bitter taste in Cale’s mouth. He was still reluctant to get Basen sent in his place even if it had occurred like that in the original novel.  

It was as he was thinking that Basen called out to him.  

“Hyung-nim.”  

Basen was stoically making his way towards him without looking at Cale. Basen always spoke to Cale without ever making eye contact.  It  showed the kind of relationship Basen and the original Cale had had with each other.  

“Hyung- nim , there is no reason you cannot go.”  

Cale looked at Basen blankly before sighing and ruffling his hair. He was about to reply but, obviously satisfied that he’d said what he’d wanted to say and eager to get away from Cale, Basen turned and headed towards his own room. Cale watched Basen’s retreating back with a frown on his face.  

It wasn’t supposed to go like this.   

Cale, who had almost certainly been pushed out of the successor seat, wasn’t supposed to be the one going to the capital as his household’s representative. The original Cale hadn’t stopped acting like trash even when his younger brother had flat out started acting like he was the family’s successor two-years ago, there was no way he would’ve changed this late in the game. And the current Cale had no qualms about handing over the successor position to his brother. That was why there were a lot of reasons for him to not go to the event. However, Basen was saying that there wasn’t any reason for him to not go.  

Basen was implying that there were enough reasons to warrant Cale going as the family’s representative.  

Cale couldn’t understand what his father or his brother were thinking.  

Cale started to frown. He didn’t like how things were progressing. Things were starting to become a lot more complicated.  

However, Cale thought it might be worth going through the events that were about to come up. This was because he believed that there was a high chance of him coming back without dying or getting hurt. And him going would mean that there wasn’t any chance of Basen dying or getting seriously injured, which would make things difficult with the succession of the county.  

In order for Cale to get the peaceful life he wanted, Basen needed to survive. Even if his youngest sister, Lily, were still here, she was too young to be named the successor. Furthermore, Cale needed to head out of Western City after taking the ancient power from the tree as there were ancient  powers  he needed outside of the  Henituse  territory.  

The scales in Cale’s mind were starting to tilt.  

Cale was making his way towards his study when Hans walked round the corner. Hans was approaching him, his expression was intense, but it wasn’t dark. Bitterness was encasing his mouth, but his eyes were clear. There wasn’t anything on his face to indicate that Cale should be concerned.  

“Young master, the request that your guest has asked for-”  

Cale lifted his hand, cutting him off.  

“Hans. Bring that guest here.”  

Hans froze halfway to Cale. “Excuse me?”  

Cale wasn’t going to allow himself to be pushed around. If the novel’s plot was going to force him to make a move, he might as well do it in a way that was comfortable and beneficial for him. And based on Hans’ expression, Cale was certain that Choi Han’s issue was settled. Count  Deruth  had given a proper funeral to the villagers even after Choi Han had beaten the original Cale to a pulp, and that fact was unlikely to change.  

“If he doesn’t want to come, tell him this.” Cale held up one finger, a smile made for scheming on his face. “Payment.”  

Hans looked at Cale, bewildered. “Pardon?”  

“Tell him to come because a way for him to pay me back has come up,” Cale continued simply.  

Hans quickly called over the nearest servant and ordered them to call Choi Han over immediately.  

Cale watched as the servant hurried away before turning back to Hans. “Where is he right now?”  

“He is in the kitchen with  Beacrox  and Ron.”  

Cale’s heart leapt with anticipation. Were the three scary individuals getting along as expected? As much as the thought of the three of them being in cahoots together scared him, if they were getting along, then it meant that Cale was one step closer to successfully pawning Ron and Beacrox off on Choi Han.  

“Based on what I’ve been told, he is learning how to cook basic dishes from chef  Beacrox .”  

An incredulous look crossed Cale’s face. “Cooking?”  

“Yes.”  

Cale began to smirk. Cooking his ass. It was more likely that their ‘cooking’ involved teaching Choi Han methods of torture, or Ron and  Beacrox  admiring Choi Han’s sword skills. Cale didn’t need to be there to know that cooking wasn’t what they were doing. And to be perfectly honest, he was glad that he was nowhere near them at the moment. It was unlikely that he’d be able to stand being in a room with the three of them for long – the tension would likely kill him on the spot.  

Cale gestured for Hans to follow him as he finished the journey to his study. Once in, he naturally walked over and sat down at his desk. Hans stood idly in the doorway. Cale raised his eyebrows at his hesitance, before waving him forward. Hans hurried into the study, closing the doors behind him. He then went and stood in front of Cale’s desk.  

Cale leant back in his chair before casually asking. “What did he ask for?”  

Hans seemed shocked at Cale’s question but caught himself and quickly put on a serious expression as he started to make his report about what Choi Han had requested of them. The information was as Cale expected.  

Hans couldn’t hide his sorrow and disappointment as he shared the tale of what had happened to Harris Village. Despite being the top head butler candidate, Hans was very emotional and had the tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve rather than keeping it safely tucked in his pocket. Cale was slightly worried that Hans, as an affectionate individual, might end up getting smacked on the back one day because of it. However, as long as Hans’ emotional inclinations didn’t negatively affect Cale, there wasn’t really a need for him to care all that much about whether Hans had his heart on his sleeve or on his forehead.  

Hans had taken Choi Han to see the Count after Cale had left the matter with him. Luckily for them, Choi Han had brought the Village Chief’s plaque with him so it quickened their verification process.  

Cale wasn’t surprised that the Count had immediately agreed to meet with Choi Han after hearing what had happened. As much as it was a disastrous incident, it was likely that the Count was also concerned for Choi Han’s own well-being after the fact and had wanted to check on him himself rather than rely on Hans’ reports.  

Hans revealed, much like the novel, that the Count had immediately ordered for a funeral to be held as well as sending inspectors, knights, and soldiers to the village in order to investigate.  

Hans had stopped for a moment, seeming to hesitate before he continued. “However, your guest has indicated that he will not be returning to the village with us.”  

When Choi Han had been explaining the situation to the Count, Hans had seen the tips of his fingers shaking despite the fact that the boy had been speaking in a level tone. It was then that Hans had found out that Choi Han was 17-years-old. It had been explained that he had only been able to keep his life as he had been out searching for medicinal herbs on his own at the time of the massacre, but Hans couldn’t get over the fact that this young boy had still had to watch as all his neighbours and friends were heartlessly slaughtered. Just how much of a shock did he receive from this incident?  

Hans frowned deeply, his eyes dampening. Cale watched as the butler’s expression began to crumple. Cale had a pretty good idea about the turn Hans’ thoughts had taken and, whilst he sympathised with both Hans and Choi Han, he really didn’t want to watch as one or either of them broke down in tears. Instead, Cale awkwardly coughed into his fist, drawing Hans back to the present situation.  

Hans’ eyes snapped back up to Cale and he quickly rearranged his face back into something more suitable for a butler before asking. “Will that be okay?”  

Hans wanted to know whether it was truly alright for Choi Han to not return to the village and say his final farewells.  

“It’s his decision.” It was as simple as that. If Choi Han didn’t want to – or couldn’t bring himself to – return, then he shouldn’t be made to. No one should have had to have gone through what Choi Han did, nor should anyone in his situation be forced to face what was left of the aftermath.  

Having answered his question, Cale changed the topic. He already knew why Choi Han didn’t want to return and he didn’t want to have a long existential conversation, about why someone would or would not want to return to the place where they had seen their friends and neighbours murdered, with Hans. As far as Cale was concerned – and likely, Choi Han as well – he had already said his goodbyes as he buried them, and all that was left to do now was to get revenge on the people that had taken their lives away.  

Shutting that train of thought down, Cale asked. “Has Ron been taking of him?”  

Hans nodded vigorously. “Yes. He had made sure that your guest has been eating every meal. He has also been very friendly with him.”  

It seemed to Cale that the three of them were indeed getting along as well as they had in the novel. Cale had already been certain that, even if he hadn’t ordered Ron to take care of Choi Han’s needs, he would have looked after him anyway. Ron was,  after all , a competent butler.  

Satisfied by this progression, Cale felt himself relax slightly. He hadn’t realised that he’d been worrying about whether or not the three of them would still get along without his getting beaten to a pulp. He was sure that Ron and  Beacrox  would have enjoyed the sight of him black and blue very much, and felt a small pang of smugness that he’d taken that opportunity away from them.  

Hans then gasped, seeming to have suddenly remembered something. “Mr. Ron seems to have hurt himself while working again. He had bandages around his wrist.”  

Unconcerned by this fact, Cale blandly replied. “Really? Make sure to give him some medicine then.”  

He was sure that Ron had just ended up killing someone again which wasn’t something that Cale really needed to be concerned about or that he wanted to know the details of. As far as he was concerned, not involving himself in Ron’s business was the way to ensure Cale had a long life.  

Hans had expected Cale to react to hearing Ron was injured with disinterest which, whilst he still did, he had also asked Hans to deliver medicine to Ron, surprising him. Cale really did seem to be changing.  

Hans smiled brightly. “I will make sure to deliver young master’s words and feelings to Mr. Ron.”  

Cale thought that that was a bit of an overreaction, but he waved it off. “Sure, whatever.”  

Hans opened his mouth to say something as he observed Cale’s nonchalant expression but was interrupted by knocking on the door.  

Choi Han had arrived outside Cale’s study. Hans walked over and opened the door. Cale could see Choi Han waiting outside. He waved his hand to send Hans away before inviting Choi Han inside. The door was shut leaving only the two of them in the room.  

Cale didn’t get out of his seat, strategically keeping his desk between them as he pointed at the chair across from him.  

“Come sit down.”  

Choi Han looked around the study as he sat down. Shelves filled with books on a variety of topics lined the walls. Cale was pretty sure that the original Cale hadn’t actually read most of them, but they at least made him look and feel intelligent by their being here. Odd pieces of paper were scattered on the surfaces, none of them contained anything of note or importance so Cale wasn’t worried about them being out in the open like this.   

Cale allowed Choi Han to take a long look around the study. His eyes fell on the bookshelves and stayed there as read the titles on the spines. Like a typically pure and smart hero, Choi Han was fond of books. One of the first things he’d done since getting out of the Forest of Darkness and arriving in Harris Village was learning how to read and write from the Village Chief. It was a smart decision in Cale’s opinion; not being able to read or write would’ve put Choi Han at a big disadvantage in the long run. That’s why it was convenient that such knowledge had already seemed to be hardwired into his body saving him from having to the same.  

After looking at the books, Choi Han’s gaze finally landed on Cale, strong and determined.  

“What is the payment?”  

Cale leant forward with his elbows on the table, his hands covering his mouth as he smiled as Choi Han got right to the point. He appreciated Choi Han not beating around the bush, forgoing social niceties.  

Choi Han was thorough when it came to debts he owed; he didn’t like not evening out the scales between himself and other people. That was why, when Cale had initially dismissed his question about paying him back earlier, he had been left feeling slightly uncomfortable with Cale’s choice to help him, despite not knowing who he was, weighing on his conscience. Choi Han knew that, realistically, people could help others without expecting anything in return, however, he was still wary of anyone other than those he had known in the village. But trust didn’t come easily to him now.  

Cale was aware that he had changed the contents of the beginning of the novel as he watched Choi Han’s clear gaze pierce him. He could see that even more things would continue to change because of this fact. He definitely didn’t want to end up changing too many things, but him having to go to the capital was as good as fact now even if he knew that his presence there would undoubtably cause even more changes. He just had to hope that the butterfly effect wouldn’t come and bite him on the ass.  

Sighing at the thought, Cale took a piece of paper out of the first drawer of his desk and placed it in front of Choi Han. Choi Han’s eyes were immediately drawn to the paper.  

“There is a way for you to pay me back for the meal, but I need to first determine whether you will be capable of doing it.”   

Choi Han raised his eyebrows both in surprise and confusion by Cale’s words.  

“In simple terms,” Cale continued. “This is an interview.”  

Choi Han nodded his head. He had already decided that he’d do what he could to pay Cale back, and if he needed to undergo an interview to do that? He would.  

“Please go ahead.”  

Choi Han easily agreed to Cale’s request. As such, Cale began to speak.  

“Do you know how to protect people?”  

Choi Han flinched. Cale’s gaze had turned sharp as he observed Choi Han’s reaction. He was resolutely looking down at the piece of paper on the desk and not at Cale. Although Cale had had to quickly change his plan, this one might bring him more gains than the one before. With this plan, he could prevent Choi Han’s party from gaining ancient powers, whilst taking the ones he needed for himself. Those powers had been useless to them anyway, so it wasn’t like they would be at a disadvantage later on.  

Choi Han was still staring at the piece of paper as he responded   

“I don’t understand.”  

Cale kept his gaze firmly on Choi Han as he continued.  

“Simple. Are you capable of protecting people instead of killing people?”  

Silence suffocated the room. Choi Han didn’t have an answer. Cale removed his gaze and looked down at the piece of paper. Choi Han was still sitting there with his head down. Cale was beginning to think that he might have been a bit harsh, wincing at his lack of tact despite not having cared about such a useless thing previously. Cale was trying to come up with a nicer way of asking Choi Han the question, but he didn’t need to.  

“I am not sure.”  

Cale clicked his tongue despite the lingering feelings of guilt at having come off a bit too strong with his questions. He was reminded that it was still too dangerous to provoke Choi Han right now .  However, he needed to pressure Choi Han if he  wanted to push him in the right direction.  

“But you can kill someone?”  

Choi Han’s answer came easily this time.  

“Absolutely.”  

Cale leant his chin on one of his fists, crossing one leg over the other as he began to smile.  

“Then you should be able to protect people as well.”  

Choi Han’s head snapped up at that. Cale could see Choi Han’s pupils shaking from between the strands of his hair. He looked lost, a little wild, and a little hopeful. Cale was reminded that Choi Han, despite having been in this world for tens of years, was still only 17-years-old on the inside.  

“That is difficult.”  

Cale shrugged. “But difficult doesn’t mean impossible.”  

There weren’t many things in this world that you could avoid just because they were difficult. The life that Kim Rok Soo had taught him that the best.  That was why he was happy to possess the body of a trashy young master like Cale who could do whatever he wanted. But, unfortunately, there was now a mountain he needed to climb in order to gain the peaceful future he’d always wanted. Cale needed someone who could climb and flip that mountain over for him.  

Choi Han had a bitter smile on his face. “I guess that’s true.”  

Cale hummed. “Yes, it is.” He leant back in his chair and crossed his arms, the tension lightening. “Now for the final interview question.”  

Cale looked firmly towards Choi Han whose gaze had strengthened. Choi Han clenched the fists on his knees tighter as he waited for Cale to ask.  

“What is your name?”  

Choi Han faltered a bit, not expecting that to be the question. “You don’t know my name?” He asked lamely.  

Cale internally rolled his eyes. ‘Of course, I do. You're the person who was going to beat me up.’  

Instead Cale said, “I have heard it from other people, but I want to hear it directly from you.”  

Choi Han loosened his fists before letting a small smile form on his as he reached out his hand.  

“Choi Han.”  

Cale took his hand with a firm grip, returning the smile, as he shook it.  

“Great. I’m Cale Henituse.”  

The handshake signalled the end of the interview. Of course, Choi Han got a passing grade. Cale pushed the paper on the desk closer to Choi Han.  

“The way you can pay me back is simple.”  

Choi Han’s face turned serious as he nodded his head in understanding.  

Cale pointed his finger, placing it on the sheet of paper.  

“Go to the capital with these people.”  

There were two names written on the paper: Rosalyn and Lock. It also indicated where Choi Han would meet them. These two were party members that Choi Han would meet on his way to the capital.  Beacrox  and these two people would grow and get stronger at Choi Han’s side until volume five.  

Rosalyn was the princess of a neighbouring kingdom who Choi Han would meet as she was returning to her home, having survived an assassination attempt; the other was an injured kid called Lock. Of course, that kid was no ordinary child and was, in fact, the heir to the Wolf King, making it possible for him to transform into a wolf.   

In the novel, Rosalyn was stong and cold, with an explosive strength that was sharpened and honed after her and Choi Han had begun using her strength strategically. She wasn’t interested in succeeding her kingdom’s throne and, instead, desired to create the continent’s greatest Magic Tower. She would move closer towards her goal as she grew into a hero. The Archduke of her kingdom, who attempted to assassinate Rosalyn, would be tortured by  Beacrox  in the future.  

Cale got goosebumps as he recalled how clear and descriptive that torture scene had been in the novel.  

Choi Han looked at the names written on the paper.  

“Rosalyn and Lock.”  

Cale nodded his head at Choi Han. “Yes. Those two people. I’m glad you know how to read.”  

Choi Han continued to stare at the two names. Cale looked away from Rosalyn’s name and towards Lock’s.  

This world had other races apart from humans: Elves, Dwarves, Beast People. However, the most secretive of all the races were the Beast People. They included beasts, birds, and even insects. Beast People were different from monsters because of the existence of their conscience. Lock had the purest blood of all the wolf people. He had received the bloodline that made to dominate the wolves and keep them under control. Beast people with the purest bloodline tended to look weak and average when they were in their human or animal form, however, once they were in their berserk state, they would become crueller and more violent that anyone else. In the novel, Lock was the only survivor of the entire Blue Wolf Tribe.  

Cale reached back into the top drawer and pulled out a map, opening it up on the desk.  

“You will start your journey with me.”  

Cale then pointed to a location on the map. “We will separate at this point. You just need to follow what I wrote on the paper in front of you.”  

Choi Han watched as Cale pointed out the location on the map. He didn’t ask any questions and instead just quietly listened. Cale watched as Choi Han observed the map. There was a reason he was making Choi Han travel with him until a specific point: he needed to avoid a dragon.  

The beginning of the novel – like any other – would need new villains to appear in order for the hero to progress and grow. However, those villains were not necessarily easy-picking. The villain after the original Cale, was involved with a Marquis who led one of the noble factions. Throughout the beginning of the novel, this individual would get in the way of the crown prince and Choi Han. Unsurprisingly, he ends up falling into ruin around the second volume, but Choi Han runs into the Marquis for the first time on this trip to the capital.  

The Marquis was someone who was crazy enough to try and raise a dragon.  

Though the dragon itself was still just a baby, it had gone through years of torture at the hands of the Marquis’ future successor. They were trying to train it to obey the Marquis’ commands, however, dragons are known to be the strongest  existence  in the world with a pride to match. Cale thought that it was idiotic for the Marquis to have even tried to tame a dragon in the first place.  

The Marquis had gotten a hold of a dragon egg through the secret organisation and, as soon as it hatched, chained it down with mana restricting chains. The fact that the secret organisation had been able to get a hold of a dragon in the first place was already impressive. Cale couldn’t even begin to fathom the extent of the secret organisations power.  

The black dragon was currently less than 5-years-old, but it was still a dragon. After having lived in a cave and been tortured every day without ever having seen the sun, the young dragon managed to let enough mana lose that the chains exploded. However, since the chains were made to restrict mana, the mana that the dragon had used to make them explode was actually life force. It cut into its life force in order to gain its freedom. But sadly, despite successfully escaping, the dragon ended up going crazy and went berserk, losing its rationality. At this point in the novel, Choi Han had been staying in a village that ended up in danger because of the berserk dragon. Choi Han ended up fighting against it. Cale clearly remembered the scene:  

‘Choi Han gazed at the small dragon that was barely 1-metre long. It had managed to blow up a mountain with its small body, putting the villagers in significant danger. However, Choi Han could not easily attack this dragon.  

The eyes of this dragon that had lost its rationality were in pain and full of sorrow. However, the black dragon’s mouth was smiling. Choi Han found that to be extremely sad.’  

Choi Han ended up killing the black dragon, gifting it the freedom called death.  

In the end, Cale had decided that he needed to go to that village. It was a matter of either Choi Han taking care of it or Cale preventing it from going crazy and finding a way to release it. There weren’t any other choices and, because it was on his way to the capital, if he wanted to avoid it, he would need to take an extremely long detour which would change the flow of the story. He would also be late in arriving to the capital.  

Despite the dragon being known as a crazy one, the novel had also described it as being really cute with short legs. It was scary that such a cute existence could go crazy and wreak absolute havoc.   

Turning himself away from his thoughts, Cale gave Choi Han the rest of his order.  

“Come to the capital with the owners of these two names. Only then will I consider the debt paid in full.”  

Choi Han nodded before asking a question.  

“And I just need to protect these two people?”  

Cale shrugged. “If you want to.”   

Protecting them wasn’t the reason Cale was sending Choi Han after them. These two people should already be strong enough as to not require Choi Han’s protection, especially Rosalyn. She wouldn’t budge an inch even if a truckload of Cales with Indestructible Shields all attacked her at the same time.  

Cale continued to speak. “Do as you wish. However, you must definitely come to the capital. You must also meet me there without any injuries.” Cale stipulated that last point strongly, making Choi Han confused. He didn’t know why Cale was so concerned about him potentially getting injured, especially when it wasn’t certain that he would in the first place.  

Ignoring Choi Han’s confusion, Cale continued. “You can at least keep yourself safe, right?”  

Choi Han stared at Cale bewildered at the strength Cale was putting behind his order for him to not get injured.  

Slightly annoyed by the lack of response, Cale frowned. “Why are you not answering? Can you do it?”  

Snapping out of it, Choi Han’s gaze became clearer and determined as he responded confidently.   

“Yes. I can do it.”  

Choi Han seemed to be speaking more respectfully than before, but Cale just let it slide. He relaxed after seeing Choi Han put the paper in his chest pocket, confident that Choi Han would follow his order.  

After this, Cale and Choi Han should have no reason to meet again. Choi Han would have another negative encounter with the secret organisation after getting involved with Lock, but meeting Lock should allow for Choi Han to stop the danger in the capital just like in the novel.  

Slightly proud of himself, Cale started to crave a drink. He looked towards the alcohol bottles on one of the shelves with heat. It was really tiring talking to Choi Han with Cale’s body.  

Cale waved his hand at Choi Han. “You can leave now.”  

Choi Han stood up and bowed towards Cale before he started to walk towards the door.  

Leaning forward, Cale watched as Choi Han reached for the door handle before he started to speak.  

“In addition, everything we’ve discussed here is a secret. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that?”  

Choi Han didn’t look back as he answered, pulling the door open.  

“Of course.”  

Cale could hear the smile in Choi Han’s voice. He was confused as to what part of their conversation would warrant a smile but he let it be.  

Once he was alone, Cale took out a piece of paper, grabbed a pen, and started to write in Korean. After writing for a while, he left the study and headed towards his father’s office.  

Knocking twice, he called out. “Father.”  

Cale could hear the Count’s reply through the door. “Yes?”  

“I need money.” There wasn’t any point in beating around the bush. It was better to be honest when you needed money.  

Cale heard the shuffling of papers before the Count replied. “I will tell Hans to give you some.”  

Pleased, Cale returned to his chamber. He was in need of a lot of money.  

As Cale laid down on his bed, another 10- million-gallon  cheque tucked safely in his chest pocket, Ron approached him and put a teacup on the nightstand before he started to speak.  

“It is warm lemon honey tea. My son made it especially for you, young master.” He smiled cordially towards Cale before bowing. “Please have a good night. I am always by your side.”  

Cale, who had felt fatigue pull at his limbs and mind, stiffened, all hopes of sleeping dashed mercilessly. No matter what happened, he needed to make sure Ron and  Beacrox  left with Choi Han at all costs.  

Chapter Text

Cale’s shoulders began to shake as he briskly walked out of the Count’s estate, eager to continue plan to get the Indestructible Shield, but also to get as far away from Ron. 

Cale had been greeted by the ominous sight of Ron standing over him as he lay in bed again this morning, his benign smile looking a little bright which didn’t bode well for Cale. 

“Young master. I heard everything from deputy butler Hans. This Ron will do whatever I can with my lacking abilities to make sure you can shine whilst at the Capital.” 

Still half asleep, Cale hadn’t immediately computed what Ron had said as he stared blearily up at him. Usually, the mere sight of Ron hovering at his bedside would’ve had Cale snapping awake, but it seemed as though, despite his instincts yelling at him that Ron was dangerous, he was getting used to Ron being the first face he saw when he woke up. 

“This is going to be your first time outside the Henituse territory, right young master?” Ron carried on casually. “I am very good at hunting rabbits, so I will catch some for you when we are camping outside.” 

Cale could feel Ron’s calm voice echoing in his ears. It felt as if Ron’s voice was a hallucination that was piercing through the fog of Cale’s mind. 

“You need to be careful when handling a small animal like a rabbit as they get scared easily. And since you don’t know when, or how, it will run, you need to pay close attention to your surroundings and kill it in an instant.” 

Cale was very much awake now, Ron’s description of how to catch a rabbit making his survival instincts smack him forcefully into wakefulness. 

“Ah, you also need to remove the innards after catching it. I am also very good at that.” Ron smiled genially as he mimicked cutting open a rabbit with his hands, he seemed excited at the prospect of hunting rabbits on their journey to the capital. Cale watched Ron’s hands with morbid fascination, before nausea overtook him. The image of Ron covered in the blood of who-knows-what as he skinned them alive crossed his mind. Cale rolled over, facing away from Ron as his stomach rolled. Cale was sure that Ron was toying with him, like a predator before they killed their prey – trying to get as much satisfaction out of his reactions before he would inevitably be eaten alive. 

Despite this less than pleasant morning wake-up call, Cale was actually glad that Ron was coming to the Capital with him. Cale had also planned to tack Beacrox onto their group as his personal chef. He had told Hans this fact in the morning, much to his surprise. 

“Hans, I want to take Beacrox with me on my trip as my personal chef.” 

Hans had looked skeptically towards Cale. “May I ask, why Beacrox? He is extremely busy running the second kitchen.” 

Cale shrugged. “I don’t know. But I can’t eat anything other than Beacrox’s cooking, so I will be taking him with me. You can figure the rest out.” 

Hans became anxious at his statement that Cale was leaving everything for him to figure out, but Ron had seemed happy with the fact that he would soon be travelling with his son. 

“Young master, my son will be very pleased to hear that you requested for him to accompany you. We had needed to go to the Capital anyways.” 

Cale relaxed after hearing that Ron and Beacrox had needed to go to the Capital anyway, he’d been worried that they’d say no. Now that he had this father-son duo, as well as Choi Han, travelling to the capital with him, Cale thought that there was no longer anything for him to be worried about. The story was progressing a little differently than the original, but it wasn’t like Cale could give up on gaining some benefits for himself. 

*** 

A fog had settled through Western City’s streets. The morning air was cold with condensation but the atmosphere was calm.  

“Young master, you’re here early today.” 

The baker from yesterday quickly seemed to have become pretty relaxed around Cale after seeing him a couple of times. 

Cale just nodded his head as he stoically asked the baker. “The bread?” 

The baker smiled brightly as he handed Cale a bag full of bread. 

“Of course, I have it all ready. But is today really the last day?” 

Cale smirked as he tossed the bag over his shoulder. “Why? Greedy for more money?” 

The baker laughed, nodding his head. “Yes, I definitely am.” 

Cale smiled. He liked it when people did away with social expectations and answered honestly. Cale patted the man’s shoulder in a silent show of approval before heading towards the slums. He waved his hand over his shoulder. 

“I’ll come back when I want to eat your bread again.” 

The baker longingly watched Cale’s back as he disappeared into the fog before he started to pray. He was praying for Cale to come back and spend a ton of money. 

Naturally, Cale wasn’t aware of the baker’s silent prayers being directed at him as he walked through the slums. Cale had come much earlier than usual; however, the siblings were curled up together and waiting for him as though they’d been waiting at the top of the hill all night. The younger brother was leaning into his sister’s embrace as they fought off the chill. Cale couldn’t help but wonder whether or not these kids had a home, considering he’d never seen where they returned to after he left. 

The siblings were silently watching Cale as he climbed the hill; their hair and clothes were damp from the fog, implying that they’d been waiting here for quite a while. Of course, Cale pretended not to notice. 

Cale pulled their shares out of the bag and held them outwards the siblings. 

“Here, take it.” 

The young boy extracted himself from his sister’s arms and walked over to Cale, taking their shares before walking back. Cale waited until his saw the children take a piece of bread from the bag and begin eating it before he turned around and headed towards the man-eating tree. 

Since this hill was the highest point in Western City, apart from the Count’s estate, the fog was even thicker up here. Cale was glad that it was foggy as it made it difficult for others to see what he was doing. Nobody would be able to see what Cale’s actions, but more importantly, nobody would see what he was about to receive from the tree. 

The tree was still groaning for more food as Cale approached. Cale tsked at its greediness before pouring the bag of bread into the hole. The darkness was slowly turning from grey to white. Cale started to smile, anticipation and excitement thrumming through his veins. His efforts hadn’t all been for nought. 

However, the tree called out: ‘more, more, more!’ 

Cale flinched, stepping backwards in surprise as the voice of the tree became a screech. The novel hadn’t mentioned anything like this happening. 

‘More, more! I will give you are present if you bring me more! A present!’ 

Despite his surprise, Cale’s eyes began to sparkle at the mention of a present. He hadn’t expected the soul of the priestess to go crazy like this, but it seemed to signal that the end was near. 

Cale held a hand out towards the tree as he stood up. “Just wait a moment.” 

One the tree’s black branches started to sway as if nodding at Cale. He couldn’t help but feel that this must look like a scene from a horror movie. He shivered as he started to move back through the fog and down the hill. It was nearing the middle of the morning now but the sun wasn’t out, hidden behind the fog that seemed to grow thicker. It looked like it would start to rain soon. 

Cale didn’t see the siblings as he descended the hill. He thought they must have found somewhere in order to dodge the cold and rain. He was slightly relieved by this fact, despite himself. 

Cale quickly went to the nearest bakery and paid for another bag of bread before rushing back through the slums and up the hill. Without delay, he put the bag in front of the man-eating tree. He was certain that this should be the last batch needed in order to satisfy the gluttonous priestess’ grudge. 

As he poured the bread into the hole, the light emitting from it went from white to transparent. Once all the light had disappeared, a rumbling that was worlds different from any earthquake or natural disaster poured out from underneath the tree and towards Cale. The rumbling was only aimed at Cale; however, Cale didn’t care about that as he could see something within the hole that realistically should have just been dark inside. 

It was the Ancient Power. 

Cale could hear the voice of the priestess who had been asking him for more food until now. 

‘The soft texture of the bread was so, so good!’ she praised, slightly obnoxiously. ‘I especially liked the third bag of bread you brought. I guess even food develops as time goes by? There was no such thing as bread back in my days! The wheat itself must grow on a really fertile land! Yes. Not all wheat is the same-’ 

Cale began to tune the voice out as it started evaluating the taste of all the different bakery’s breads, he had brought to it.  

Cale’s eyebrows scrunched up as he frowned. This hadn’t been mentioned in the novel. The spirit that was tied down to the earth because of its grudge was resolving that grudge by evaluating the taste of bread. Cale started to frown even further. He was only thinking about the Ancient Power in  The Birth of a Hero . The Indestructible Shield had been the only ancient power that was written about in the novel but never claimed by anyone. He could still hear the voice droning on about the bread. It was no wonder that nobody had ended up taking control of it.  

But would the author really mention something that could be useful but never actually claimed by anyone? 

‘And that’s why I am so full! It was delicious!’  

The voice continued to chatter away. It felt like its grudge should have stemmed from not being able to speak rather than being hungry. After hearing the voice chat on and on for a couple of minutes, Cale nodded his head was about to cut off its rambling when it mentioned something interesting. 

‘Things like this weren’t available in ancient times. The people of the Forest of Darkness claimed to be servants of a god, yet they only gave me tasteless things. I was, naturally, banished from that place as they said I was a glutton. A glutton my ass! Of course, I decided to leave with my friends. We were planning on putting the world back on the right track.’ 

For someone like Cale, who needed the ancient powers, it was important that he listen to stories about the ancient times. However, the story soon ended, and the voice went back to regaling Cale with their observations regarding the bread he’d given them.  

Cale, not wanting to listen to another 10-minute spiel about the differences in the bread's texture caused by cooking methods, he cut them off, clapping his hands together once. 

“Yes, that was an amazing and professional evaluation. But you’re being a bit lou-” 

Excited, the voice cut Cale off. “You understood my evaluation? You really are a good guy!” 

Cale couldn’t tell whether it was impossible for him to communicate with the spirit properly or not. In fact, Cale was having trouble figuring out the situation currently at hand. It was a small mercy that the voice seemed to have finished its long-winded and unnecessary evaluation of the bread. 

Cale stared at the tree. “How interesting.” The man-eating tree, which had originally been completely black and completely devoid of life, was starting to turn white, green leaves growing from its branches. The scene looked even more mystical because of the surrounding fog. 

The ground beneath the tree began to rumble again, the noise holding a heaviness compared to before. Cale knelled on one side and sat down underneath the trunk of the tree. A bright white light was beginning to pour out from the hole. Instinctively, Cale put his hand into the light, closing his eyes. A warm and strong power wrapped around his hand, making him smile. He was sure that this was it.  

Cale heard the voice begin to speak. It was pure and warmer than its chattering and groaning of before. 

‘I will protect you.’ 

The white light shone brightly for a very short moment, enveloping Cale’s body in a blanket of silver warmth before being absorbed by his body. It melted slowly along his veins and gathered above his heart, softly twisting together to form a small silver shield on his breast bone. Its lines were intricate and beautiful, delicately claiming the skin above his heart, giving form to its promise to protect Cale. Most ancient powers left a mark on their owner like a contract seal and they would remain until their owner’s heart stopped beating. The shield would stay with Cale until his heart last breath. 

Cale let out a soft sight as he opened his eyes. The absorption of the ancient power didn’t hurt; instead, it felt like a warmth that you could easily sink into as it enveloped you as you were with no judgment. It was comfortable and freeing. 

Cale was pleased. He’d finally gained the first ancient power he needed in order to get one step closer to his goal of a peaceful life. The shield would prioritise its owner’s safety above anything else. 

“How nice.” 

Cale could feel the strength from the shield wrapping around his heart in a tight embrace. It wasn’t causing any issues, but it felt like the shield was doing its best to guard his heart from anything that could hurt him, no matter how small. It was a bittersweet feeling. As Kim Rok Soo, Cale had spent much of his life without anyone willing to protect him and – even when he’d finally found people who were willing to do so – they had quickly been taken from him. 

Cale brought his right hand up to the spot above the shield’s mark, pushing his palm against it. A slight heat radiated through his clothes. He remembered the method to trigger the ancient power that was written about in the novel. As with many powers in a fantasy world, it was all about the user’s ability to picture what they wanted to occur and then will it into existence. 

The Indestructible Shield appeared in front of Cale’s eyes. 

It was just big enough to cover Cale’s upper body and, like the mark on his skin, was a glistening silver. Two angel-like wings stretched out protectively on either side of the shield, allowing the shield to move within a certain radius from Cale. He could also control the shield’s size. 

The shield itself felt like an extension of Cale’s body. The immediate familiarity of it was one of the special traits that all ancient powers carried with them; that was why many heroes used them even if it was only as a source of support. 

Cale started to smile. He was sure that this shield would be able to block two full-powered attacks from Choi Han who was the strongest person around him right now. The strength of the shield was stronger than he had expected. He couldn’t comprehend why the heroes wouldn’t use it all the time if it was this convenient? 

The Indestructible Shield, unlike the image its name conjured up, was actually capable of being broken, however, it wouldn’t disappear upon breaking. If the shield received an attack that was stronger than its blocking capabilities, it would store as much of its strength in order to protect its owner’s heart before breaking. After a while, the shield would have recovered enough strength and could be used again. And, as cliché as it was, the strength of the shield came from the owner’s heart. 

The heart was the strength behind the shield. The heart strengthens the shield whilst the shield protects the heart. It was a symbiotic relationship. So, what would happen if the heart gets stronger? 

This was the question that Cale wanted to pose.  

There were many ways to strengthen an ancient power and Cale had a plan to do just that whilst on his way to the capital. Once that happened, he would be able to make a shield that could last 10 or 15 minutes against someone of Choi Han’s calibre if they tried to use all of their strength to kill him. 

Ancient Powers, as seen with the man-eating tree, were difficult to earn unless you had ‘coincidentally’ run into one. And the person who knew the most about such coincidences in the first five volumes of the novel was the current Cale. 

Reaching his hand out to touch the shield, Cale grinned. It felt cool against his skin despite not actually being made of metal, however, there was one thing he didn’t like about the shield: it looked too divine. 

At full strength, the shield had a holy quality to it that would be suitable for the knights of a god. Though, of course, the former owner of this shield was priestess which could account for much of its appearance. But like Cale, the priestess was also tired of gods and their whimsical nature. 

Cale was positive that there wouldn’t be many reasons for him to need to use the shield in the near future though, so its appearance wasn’t a dire concern. If it came to it, he was planning on leaving the fighting to everyone else. Only the terror attack at the Capital might require Cale to have to use his shield if something beyond Choi Han and his party’s capabilities occurred. If he did need to use it, he was planning on making the shield as small as possible and then fainting in order to not draw too much unwanted attention to himself. Cale had no plans on becoming a hero. 

Returning the shield to his heart, Cale approached the white tree, patting it a couple of times before he started to walk away. Rain began to fall, wetting Cale’s shoulders. As much as Cale liked fog, he could not say the same about rain. He began to walk faster down the hill, trying very hard not to slip on the wet ground as he made his way towards the Count’s estate. He really could do with a carriage right about now. 

As he reached the edge of the hill leading up to the estate, Cale heard a soft meow. In one of the alley’s outside the estate, two pairs of golden eyes watched him from amongst the fog. Cale began to frown. The two familiar kittens looked extremely pitiful with their fur drenched from the rain. They continued to meow as they approached Cale, rubbing their cheeks against his legs. Cale looked down at them stoically before sighing and continuing to walk. The two kittens followed closely behind him, their short legs working hard in order to keep up. 

Hans greeted Cale as he entered the estate, but was confused by the sight of the two kittens chasing after Cale, his eyes widening. 

“Young master, what is going on?” 

Cale clicked his tongue before bending down and scooping the kittens up into his arms. He then thrust them towards Hans. 

“Don’t ask stupid questions and just take them.” 

The two kittens were shivering slightly and looked feebly up at Hans as they each let out a weak sounding meow. Hans’ eyes shook as he observed the state of the kittens. 

“What cute and lovely kittens!” 

Hans really did seem to be butler material as he wasn’t overly phased by the fact that Cale had returned with two kittens of unknown origin. Cale carefully handed the kittens over to Hans who, despite himself, seemed equal parts distressed at the state of them an excited at the prospect of gaining two cute pets. 

“Young master, may I take care of these lovely kitten-nims?” 

The kittens curled up comfortably in Hans’ arms, wetting his shirt, whilst looking towards Cale. 

Cale glanced at the kittens in Hans’ arms before walking away and beginning to ascend the stairs. “Whatever you want.” 

Hans beamed brightly towards Cale’s retreating back.  

Suddenly remembering something, Cale stopped with one hand on the banister as he turned to look down at Hans and the kittens. 

“Ah, for your information, the two of them become quiet if you give them food. They are also siblings.” 

Cale watched as the two kittens flinched, their eyes opening wide. Their gazes shook as they stared unblinkingly up at Cale. 

Hans cocked his head to the side. “Excuse me?” 

However, Cale didn’t respond to his question. He lowered his gaze towards the kittens before directing a question at the two of them. 

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know?” 

He had been wondering about it for the last few days, admittedly uncertain, but he had noticed that the silver kitten had the faint smell of medicinal herbs, very similar to the ones he had given to a certain young girl, when he had picked them up earlier. Likewise, he could smell the beak-steak and bacon cream pasta he had given to the children this morning. That made Cale certain of it. 

Cale looked down at the siblings he’d been feeding the last few days and started to smile. 

The kittens’ eyes continued to shake in fear and confusion as they tucked themselves closer against Hans’ chest, staring stiffly up at Cale. 

Cale was reminded of the moment he first met Choi Han as the injured silver kitten began to growl at him whilst the red kitten whined next to her, their instincts obviously going haywire at the fact that Cale had figured them out. He was sure that his bright smile wasn’t helping him look nonthreatening either. 

Cale looked up at the top of the stairs before looking back at the kittens. 

“We’ll talk later.” 

The kittens stopped the noises they were making and avoided his gaze. Hans, who had been thoroughly confused throughout this entire one-sided conversation, asked hesitatingly: “Are you talking to me?” 

Cale looked unamused as he blankly stared at Hans. “Not you.” 

Even more confused, Hans let out a quiet “oh”, before glancing between Cale and the two kittens in his arms and holding them tighter against his chest. It was an instinctual movement that seemed to show that Hans was trying to keep the kittens away from a dangerous person. However, he soon had to approach Cale. 

“Are you planning on heading back out?” 

Cale nodded, as he continued up the stairs, answering with his back turned towards Hans.  

“Yes.” 

Cale was planning on changing out of his damp clothes before preparing to leave again, this time in the form of a carriage rather than on foot. 

“Where will you be going?” 

“I have a promise to keep and someone to meet.” 

Hans couldn’t hold back his surprise.  

“Young master, you are going to keep a promise?” 

Stopping at the top of the stairs, Cale turned to look at Hans. 

“You seem to be getting ruder.” 

Hans quickly apologised. 

Part of Cale couldn’t believe that Hans was their best head butler candidate considering how daringly rude he was to Cale. But he seemed competent enough thanks to the way he’d swiftly dealt with Choi Han’s issue. 

However, the Hans that was caressing the kittens with a dopey smile on his face didn’t come off as very reliable. Cale was slightly worried for the future of his household. 

Despite this, Cale was also planning on taking Hans to the capital. 

Cale was about to continue to his room in order to get changed, when he realised, he hadn’t seen someone in a while. 

“Where’s Ron?” 

Hans had a conspiratorial smile on his face at the question. 

“I heard that Choi Han-nim will be going with you as one of your guards for the beginning part of your journey, right?”  

Hans had seen Choi Han defeat all of the Count’s Knight Brigade members during their training this morning. Choi Han was more skilled than either Hans or the knights had expected, making it easy for them to accept him as one of their young master’s guards as Cale had wanted. Despite the fact that Cale was their trashy young master, who was prone to fits of violence, they still cared about his safety and well-being. As such, they couldn’t allow just anyone to take on the role of their young master’s guard and had wanted to vet Choi Han’s abilities to make sure he was capable enough to protect Cale. Of course, neither Hans nor the knights knew that Choi Han had played down his true abilities. Nevertheless, the beat down the knights received meant that it was impossible for them to argue against Choi Han taking on the role of Cale’s guard. 

“Mr. Ron found out that Choi Han-nim would be going with you and went out to buy some clothes and other necessities for travel. Chef Beacrox also went with them.” 

“I see. I’m relieved.” 

There was a rare, and extremely bright, smile on Cale’s face. The smile was fitting of his bright red hair. He was pleased that the three of them were continuing to get along well. Hans started to speak while being happy about Cale’s bright smile. 

“Mr. Ron, Choi Han-nim, and even Beacrox, seem to be excited about serving you.” 

The shift in Cale’s expression was instantaneous. Hans didn’t know why his young master had gone from smiling brightly to looking like he had lost his appetite. 

Cale shivered at the thought of Ron and Beacrox being excited to serve him as he hurried to his chamber in order to finally get changed. He probably would’ve felt better if someone had told him the Plaza Terror Incident would be occurring in his bedroom instead of in the Capital. Having the father-son duo excited to serve him was truly an ominous omen.  

He was suddenly concerned for his future. 

Chapter Text

Pleasantly dry, and no longer dripping water with every step, Cale headed out the main gates of the estate towards the carriage waiting for him. Hans and the kittens were waiting to see him off. As Cale stepped onto the carriage, he asked Hans a question. 

“Hans. Don’t the deputy butlers learn basic martial arts?” 

Hans confirmed that that was the case, not quite sure where this line of questioning was going. 

“And you’re the greatest head butler candidate?” 

Han’s lips twitched, uncertain whether he should smile or remain neutral. It was obvious to many that Count Deruth cherished Hans as he completed his tasks efficiently and was very competent; he was well-liked throughout the Henituse estate and – perhaps the biggest factor being that – like Ron, he could handle Cale to some extent. 

“Yes, sir,” Hans replied proudly, puffing his chest out slightly. “I know the basics for three different styles: martial arts, dagger arts, and spear arts.” 

It was a prerequisite for all good butlers to learn a handful of different fighting styles in order to protect their masters in an emergency. And, whilst Hans was certainly not on the same level as Ron, Beacrox, Choi Han or any of the Count’s knights, he would still be able to put up a valiant fight in order to buy the Count’s family time to run away if trouble ever came knocking on their territory’s door. 

Cale raised both his eyebrows. “Amazing.” 

Hans grinned, thrilled at having received a compliment from Cale for the first time. 

“I guess I am a bit amazing.” Hans shrugged his shoulders, trying to act nonchalant but unable to suppress his smile. 

Cale couldn’t help but feel his own lips twitch upwards at the obvious display of pride. Hans truly was someone who would never be able to mask his emotions for long, but Cale found that he liked Hans better this way. It made him easier to deal with. 

The two kittens could only shake their heads in exasperation as they watched Hans grinning foolishly and Cale smiling slyly. 

Cale nodded his heads toward Hans and the kittens, as well as the knight holding the carriage door open. 

“I’ll be leaving now.” 

The carriage door was closed and Cale made his way back into the city.  

It seemed taking Hans to the capital with him would turn out to be a good decision after all as, like with Choi Han and the father-son due, he could use Hans to take care of any annoying things which might come up.  

*** 

“I guess nobody is here because of the rain.” 

Cale stepped into Billos’ tea shop, the bell once again announcing his arrival as it crisply rang out through the desolate shop. Billos was seated behind the counter, documents spread out before him. He looked up as Cale entered, welcoming him brightly as though they had known each other for a long time. He was truly putting his charm as a merchant to work. He really was an intelligent individual. 

“Welcome, young master!” 

Cale walked past the desks before stopping at the last one and grabbing a chair; he pulled it until it was in front of the counter. Sitting down, Cale crossed his arms and made eye contact with Billos. 

In lieu of a greeting, Cale stated “I promised to come back.” 

Billos nodded his head solemnly. “Of course. Promises need to be kept.” 

The two smiled insincerely at each other, both a mirror reflection of ulterior motives. 

Looking away first, Billos stood up and asked, “should I prepare the book and tea from last time?” 

Watching him, Cale replied, “Yes. Three cups of tea please.” 

Making his way to the small kitchen in the back, Billos called out over his shoulder, “which teas should I make?” 

Cale ordered three types of tea and set a time for Billos to bring them, before standing up and heading to the third floor, leaving the chair he’d pulled over for Billos to deal with. 

Having returned to the third floor, Cale sat in the spot where he’d waited for and watched Choi Han’s arrival at Western City. Choi Han had arrived a lone wolf with wounds the size of ridges, his claws bared and bloody, and his edges jagged; trust and happiness a long-forgotten phantom. Now, Choi Han had found hope in Cale’s belief that he could protect people; in the fact that he had a request to complete with someone else’s trust that he could do so clutched tightly in his hands. Cale could already see the beginnings of the hero Choi Han would grow into. 

The rain had gotten stronger as Cale ruminated quietly over the last couple of days. He clicked his tongue at the emotional turn his thoughts had taken before he noticed Billos walking towards him with a single cup of tea. Billos placed it in front of Cale with a gentle clink before pulling out the chair opposite Cale and sitting down. 

“The rain is pretty strong, isn’t it?” 

Cale observed Billos closely as the man watched the rain fall. Choi Han, Beacrox, Ron, and finally, Billos. These were the names of the individuals who would continue to show up in the novel past volume one. Of course, Billos had only had about two sentences written about him in volume one, being the owner of the tea shop that Choi Han had stopped to rest in, but he returned in volume three to swear his loyalty to Choi Han and revealed his ambitions. 

Reveal. That word was important. 

Billos had always been a greedy person. And, unlike Hong Gil-dong, he wasn’t sad that he couldn’t call his father, ‘father’, or his brother, ‘brother’. In fact, he was just trying to beat them. He wanted to push them into a corner, making it so they had no choice but to accept him. He wanted to create a situation where they would be forced to introduce to him as their son, to introduce him as their younger brother.  

It had to be exhausting, fighting with everything you had just to get the slightest bit of recognition from someone who couldn’t care less about you. But Cale didn’t hate that trait of Billos’. Having that type of greed made him seem more human. Cale didn’t like people who had the abilities and strength to get what they want, but said things like ‘I’m going to give up as I have no choice.’ It was frustrating. Why would you give up on something that could be yours? As far as Cale was concerned, you should always take what should rightfully belong to you. 

Choi Han met Billos once during the time of frame of volume one, but seeing as how Cale had changed a few things, he would have to set up their short encounter himself, unable to rely on the flow of the novel. 

Billos sharply derailed Cale’s train of thought. 

“Young master, I hear that you are going to head to the Capital soon.” 

Cale gave Billos a side-wards glance. “Are you going to keep sitting there? Don’t you have work to do?” 

Seeing Cale pretend to be annoyed made Billos smile. He didn’t even try to hide it. Cale really was a very, very interesting young master, however, Billos could tell that his mind was also pretty sharp. 

“I will be heading to the capital as well. I guess I will be following after you.” 

Cale turned to fully face Billos, lifting his cup up and taking a sip.  

“And?” 

Cale already knew that Billos would be travelling to the Capital. He had to in order to have an encounter with Choi Han in volume three. 

Billos had a stoic expression as he asked Cale, who was leisurely sipping his tea, a question. 

“Young master, it seems like you have changed?” 

Cale raised an eyebrow in interest, motioning with his chin for Billos to continue. 

“You seem different than your nickname.” 

Billos could see the corners of Cale’s lips beginning to twitch upward. 

“Which one? Trash?” 

Cale smiled bitterly. Should he have gotten a bit drunk and broken a chair or something? 

Billos observed the man in front of him. Cale definitely was different than before. The man seated in front of Billos right now wasn’t the trash that he had heard about from the rumours. That trash didn’t know how to make such a bitter expression. 

“Yes. You’re right. Trash. Haven’t you always been a trashy young master?” 

Billos really didn’t seem to have any fear saying such things to the Count’s son, especially one renowned for his temper tantrums. Cale couldn’t help but wonder if Billos was being terribly clever or just plain stupid? Was Billos the one who had had something to drink today? Cale didn’t want to start a fight with Billos, as he was someone who was going to take over a large merchant guild in the future; it wouldn’t be good for Cale to get on the bad side of someone who could be highly beneficial for him later on. And Billos was being sincere for once. He wasn’t smiling and was honestly asking Cale a question. 

‘Haven’t you always been a trashy young master?’ 

Cale hummed into his cup as he raised it to his lips. It wasn’t a hard question to answer. And if his answering kept Billos sweet and willing to help him in the future, there was no harm in assuaging his curiosity at Cale’s recent behaviour. 

Lowering his cup, Cale smiled. 

“Billos. You can’t call your father, ‘father’, and you can’t call your brother, ‘brother’.” 

Billos’ sincere gaze quickly turned chilly as Cale began to speak. He noticed that the young master in front of him had no qualms about digging his finger into his sore spot. It was just like how he had dug into Cale’s by bringing up the rumours. It seemed like Cale was returning the favour by picking at his most painful one. 

Cale just silently watched as Billos’ frosty gaze bore into him. The rain outside poured harder. 

Unperturbed by the hostile atmosphere he’d created, Cale leant forward in his chair still holding his cup between his hands. 

“Are you just going to keep being the bastard? Are you satisfied with that?” 

Billos watched this sly young master closely, his heart hammering in his chest. He watched as Cale opened his mouth, anticipation and fear filling his stomach in equal measure, as Cale lowly continued. 

“I know you’re not.” 

Cale finally leant back in his chair, placing his cup down. His movement gave Billos room to breathe but Billos still felt that something else was coming. 

He was proved correct as Cale spoke. 

“I’ve acted like trash since I was 8-years-old. It’s been 10-years.”  

Now that he thought about it, the original Cale Henituse really had been doing trashy things ever since he was 8. And he had started to drink when he was 15. He really was a massive piece of trash. 

Cale started to smile as he thought about the original Cale’s past. To Billos, his smile held a terrifying edge. 

Footsteps could be heard through the rain. Someone was coming up the stairs. Cale turned from Billos and looked towards the entrance of the third floor. Choi Han was peeking round the corner at Cale. Behind him was Ron. Cale had told a servant to tell Choi Han to come to the tea shop later in the day before he’d left the estate. 

Moving his gaze away from the two of them, Cale finished his conversation with Billos as Choi Han and Ron finished coming round the corner. 

“Billos.” 

Billos’ face was stoic, ice freezing his expression. 

“It’s okay to throw away something you’ve been doing for 10-years.” 

Cale’s expression began to look livelier, the cold smile from before melting away, as he finished. 

“And I can’t live like trash forever.” 

Ron and Choi Han who were walking towards them froze.  

Of course, Cale was still planning on spending all the money he wanted and doing as he pleased, even if he wasn’t behaving like trash - he was, after all, planning to live peacefully, enjoying the life of the son of a rich noble - and, although that was different than the direction of Billos’ life, what mattered was that both of them weren’t going to continue living the way they had been until now. 

“Aren’t you the same?” 

The corner of Billos’ lips started to slowly move upward, his eyes expression thawing. He hunched over slightly and began to snicker for a bit before raising his head and looking at Cale. 

“I am indeed tired of it.” 

Billos was laughing despite the fatigue that had taken over his eyes. 

Cale nodded to himself, knowing that that was the case. 

“I told you.”  

Cale shrugged his shoulders before he looked towards Choi Han and Ron, motioning for them to come over. At that point, Billos got up from his seat and started to speak. 

“Young master. I will see you in the capital.” 

Cale frowned slightly. It would be complicated if they ended up meeting at the capital right away. 

“Why bother?”  

Cale motioned for Billos to go away. Billos respectfully bowed before leaving. Ron and Choi Han made quick eye contact with Billos, but they all just ignored each other. 

Cale welcomed the scene. Choi Han and Billos had just barely ran into each other in the novel, and now they had just barely run into each other thanks to Cale. He started to smile, satisfied that things were beginning to go back on track. 

Sweeping his hand out towards the seats in front of him, Cale signaled for Ron and Choi Han to take a seat before speaking. 

“Ron, I knew you would come with Choi Han. According to Hans, Beacrox had accompanied you earlier, but I presumed he would likely return to the kitchen. He has a strong sense of responsibility towards it.” 

Ron stared at the place Billos had been, his eyes sharp and suspicious. 

“Young master, are you close with that person?” 

Cale shrugged his shoulders. Whilst Billos played an important monetary role in the novel as he helped out Choi Han’s group, as well as the fact that he would be a useful person to have on Cale’s side, he wouldn’t go so far as to say they were close. 

“No?” 

Ron slowly turned to look at Cale, his expression frosty. 

“I see.” 

Cale was slightly worried as to why Ron was acting like this but pushed it aside as not being of any immediate importance.  

However, Ron had clearly heard his young master say that he couldn’t continue to live as trash. Arguably being the closest one to Cale, Ron had noticed the changes in his young master’s behaviour over the last few days before anyone else. He had, after all, been serving at Cale’s side for the entirety of his life so far. 

Cale stopped looking at Ron as the old man’s response trailed off, instead making eye contact with Choi Han who staring at him with a surprised expression. 

“I guess you can’t trust the rumours?” 

Cale frowned. What was this guy saying? 

Ignoring his words, Cale watched as the two men sat down. Ron took the seat directly opposite Cale, whilst Choi Han sat to Ron’s left. Hearing footsteps ascend the stairs, Cale looked back over just in time to see Billos bringing the other two cups of tea he had ordered earlier. 

“Should I give these cups to the two gentlemen?” 

Cale nodded his head. 

Confusion was clearly written in cursive across Choi Han’s face. 

Cale answered his unspoken question. “I ordered them in advance.” 

Before Billos could put the teacups down himself, Cale waved him over to his side of the table, taking the cups from him and personally placing one in front of each person. The tea in Choi Han’s cup had been randomly ordered from the menu. As for Ron’s though? 

Cale smiled impishly, pushing the tea cup towards the scary old man. 

“I specially ordered this for you since you seem to like it a lot. Why else would you bring it for me every day?” 

Cale had ordered warm lemon tea for Ron. Cale was filled with a sense of satisfaction as Ron looked down at his cup with an odd expression. However, his satisfaction quickly gave way to chills as he watched Ron drink it without any complaints before setting the cup down with a sharp clink. Cale thought that Ron putting the cup down had sounded louder than usual, thankfully, it seemed that it wasn’t just Cale being paranoid as Choi Han, who had been quietly enjoying his tea, frowned, before glancing between Ron and Cale. 

“Why don’t you enjoy your tea a little more quietly?” 

Ron held back his laughter after noticing that Choi Han was speaking in a respectful tone to him whilst also trying to scold him. 

Ron had brought Choi Han a decently useful sword when they were out in the city earlier. It was a sword made by the same blacksmith who’d made Beacrox’s favourite cooking knife.  

Ron had been set on ensuring that Choi Han had a good enough sword made in order to properly protect his young master; he couldn’t, in good conscience, allow Choi Han to accompany them without being adequately equipped to deal with whatever might come their way whilst on their journey. His pride as the head butler of the Henituse estate also wouldn’t allow for anything less than perfect.  

Choi Han had still been carrying around the old and battered sword from when he’d first arrived in Western City, keeping it firmly secured to his waist. The blade was dented and dull, the edge blunt and jagged, and the hilt was held together with strips of fabric. During his sparring with the knights, they had offered to lend him a newer sword but Choi Han had shot them down firmly, claiming he could only fight with the current sword at his side. However, such a blunt and cracked sword wasn’t good enough in Ron’s opinion and he had badgered Choi Han relentlessly – and maybe lightly threatened - until he’d agreed to get a new one. The deciding factor seemed to be Ron’s offhanded comment that such a sword would be useless at protecting Cale. That had caused Choi Han’s eyes and hands to shake as he held the old sword tightly at his side before he all but dropped it on the floor with a resounding clank. 

Ron watched Choi Han release his hold on the sword with an odd gaze. He’d expected Choi Han to put up more of a fight on the matter and was surprised that he’d let the sword go so carelessly. 

Meanwhile, Choi Han was thinking back to his conversation with Cale in the study. Did he know how to protect people? Was he even capable of doing so? Cale had certainly seemed to think he was. That was why Choi Han had released his sword so easily even if it was important to him as a reminded of all that had happened at Harris Village. Cale had said that he could protect people and – whilst he himself was unsure – he believed in Cale’s unwavering trust in him. If getting a new sword and releasing his old one was what it took to live up to that trust? Choi Han would throw it away. 

Squaring his shoulders, Choi Han looked straight at Ron, his eyes determined. 

“I’ll get a new one. I will get stronger and become someone who can protect others.” 

“Hoh!” Ron raised his eyebrows. It seemed like his young master wasn’t the only one changing. 

After that, Beacrox had kept nagging Choi Han to fight him with his new sword, having seen a bit of his strength first-hand from their short bout in the kitchen last time and excited to find out more. However, Choi Han was firm in his rejections. 

Ron had watched his son and Choi Han bicker cutely, before following Choi Han to come see Cale, however, he hadn’t expected to hear Cale say that he couldn’t live as trash forever. 

That was what Ron was thinking about as he drank his lemon tea. To anyone else, it looked like Ron was glaring at Choi Han, but Cale noticed the slight interest held in Ron’s gaze as he watched the scene with satisfaction. 

In the novel, Ron and Choi Han’s relationship had been just like this: whilst they were always at each other’s throats, they still continued to travel together, tied by a contract, but still able to rely on one another.  

Cale had been worried that a lot of things were getting twisted because of his actions, but it looked like their relationship was progressing as it should. It was slightly disappointing that some things were getting twisted, however, the importance of Cale’s life came before the contents of the novel. He couldn’t let a novel dictate how he should live. 

Cale would ensure his life as his first priority. After that, it was ensuring that everyone living within his territory lived peacefully. What else could he need after that? 

Cale hummed as he sipped the last of his tea, happily stating, “Sweet teas really are the best.” 

Ron flinched. 

The tea time for these three individuals ended in the middle of the downpour. Billos had called over a carriage to take them back to the estate and saw them off at the door. 

“I guess the next time I’ll see you will be at the capital, young master Cale?” 

Cale shook his head at Billos. 

“I will be coming here every day for a while.” 

Surprised Billos replied, “is that so? To read the book?” 

Cale shrugged.  

“Whatever I feel like doing.” 

Content with that answer, Billos nodded smiling happily.  

“Please feel free to visit whenever you’d like. This tea shop is open to you at all times, young master.” 

Billos watched as Cale walked away, pretending to not have heard what he’d said. Ron quietly observed the two’s interaction from the side-lines. 

The bastard son of the Flynn Merchant Guild. The fact that he was extremely talented made the official children resent him. That was why Billos had come to the remote, yet highly profitable, region in the Henituse territory. 

He couldn’t even us the family name ‘Flynn’, either. 

Ron had watched Cale act friendly towards this greedy man Billos and clicked his tongue in distaste. He shouldn’t care why his puppy young master seemed close to Billos, however, it seemed he couldn’t help but be curious anyway. 

“I guess even dislike creates affection.” 

Choi Han, hearing this from Ron, pulled a face. 

“I don’t want my dislike of you to turn into affection.” 

Ron let out a sigh after seeing that Choi Han had misunderstood his words. He truly was slightly clueless. 

“Not you, punk.” His eyes were on Cale. 

Ron had been planning on heading to the capital with Cale since the moment he’d found out that his young master was going as the family’s representative. It was because he’d had a bad feeling about it – and not because he was worried his puppy young master would cause a scene.  

He’d been thinking about it ever since Choi Han had come out from the Forest of Darkness and entered the city with that dense murderous aura clinging to him.  

The reason Ron had to hide out in this territory; the reason he’d had to escape from the Eastern Continent; it was beginning to look like he’d need to research the people responsible for it one more time. 

Wouldn’t it be appropriate for him to make sure his puppy young master got to the capital safely as his final duty as his servant? 

He had claimed to others, while laughing good-naturedly, that he’d remain by his young master’s side because he found Cale’s scared expression to be funny. But would an assassin actually ever tell the truth to others? 

Cale was someone that Ron looked after even more so that his own son, Beacrox. Ron knew very well about the terrible things Cale had done over the years, as well as his terrible personality. 

However, he also remembered the young Cale who’d consoled his father after his mother’s death. How he’d hated his stepmother and her family, but never caused a ruckus with them, even whilst drunk. 

Ron thought that he should tell his son to make their little puppy some food that he’d like during their journey. 

Ron sighed. 

18-years. Ron had watched over Cale for too long. 

*** 

Once back at the estate, Cale retreated to his chamber immediately, Ron hot on his heels, only to find two kittens staring up at him from their perch on the sofa. 

“Ah, I’d forgot about the two of you,” Cale said lamely. 

Cale thought that he should’ve brought Choi Han, who cherishes small animals, with him. Choi Han had returned to his own room after announcing to Cale that his heart needed to become stronger in order to become someone who could protect others. Cale had laughed and asked who Choi Han was going to protect? That had made Choi Han go silent as he stared at Cale who had raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for an answer. In the end, Choi Han had said that he would let Cale know once he’d become stronger.  

The thought of someone like Choi Han getting even more powerful than he was now, sent chills down Cale’s spine. 

Hans approached Cale who was staring at the kittens. 

“Young master, what do you think? Aren’t they even cuter now that they are clean and dry?” The two kittens blinked owlishly up at Cale, swishing their tales as if to say, ‘so, what do you think?’ 

Cale just blinked blankly back at them as Hans continued.  

“They were so mean to me, though. They wouldn’t even let me pet them!” 

Hans crouched down next to the kittens and looked up at Cale with self-satisfaction. His expression was so full of admiration that it caught Cale and Ron by surprise. His expression was definitely not related to the cuteness of the kittens. 

“Don’t you agree?” 

It truly did seem like the strongest head butler candidate was weak to cats. 

“I guess so?”  

Cale didn’t really have an opinion on the matter if he was being completely honest. Even Ron seemed inclined to agree with his assessment – or lack thereof. 

The two kittens were seated on a silk cushion that Cale hadn’t seen before, nor did he know where it came from. The kittens looked fuller and healthier than they had when they’d first arrived making Cale sure that Hans had done some kind of magic on them in the short amount of time he’d been gone. However, the kittens continued to avoid Hans’ gaze. It seemed to be a very stereotypical relationship between a butler and a cat. 

Having failed to get the kittens to warm up to him, Hans stood up sighing. 

“Then I will be heading out now, young master. Please call me if there’s anything you need for the kitten-nims.” 

Cale waved him off. 

“Just go.” 

After verifying that Ron had gotten Hans to leave, Cale ignored the kittens’ sparkling eyes as he headed towards the bathroom. Seeing this, the kittens’ ears drooped. They’d been hoping that Cale would praise their clean appearance. 

However, they were quickly distracted by Ron’s approach.  

Closing the door to the bathroom, Cale left Ron and the kittens alone in the bedroom. 

“You’re children of the Cat Tribe.” 

The golden eyes of the kitten’s turned sharp. However, Ron didn’t care as he verified that his young master remained in the bathroom. 

There was an odd smile on Ron’s face as he looked down at the siblings. 

The Cat Tribe was better known in the Eastern Continent than the Western Continent, but there was no way that someone like Ron, who was skilled in assassinations, wouldn’t have knowledge on them. 

Unlike most beast people, who became violent when they went berserk, those of the Cat Tribe became stealthier and sharper, known for their sensitivity towards their surroundings. This made them stealthier than anyone else. That was why they were a scary tribe although they weren’t at the strength levels of the Wolf, Tiger, or Lion Tribes. 

The Cat Tribe also put a lot of importance on relationships. They were suspicious by nature, but, like the Wolf Tribe, they valued interpersonal relationship. If they trusted someone once, they would never betray them. And children of such a tribe had come looking for Cale of their own accord.  

Ron thought it would be nice to give his young master a farewell present. 

Ron watched the two Cat Tribe children as they stared suspiciously at him. It was a sudden thought, and they were still young, but Ron thought that it might be worth passing on some of his technique to them. 

Ron moved closer to the children, reaching out his hand to caress the head of the silver kitten. 

The silver kitten slapped his hand away, quickly jumping off the sofa and running away to the corner of the room, the red kitten following after her. 

Ron’s eyes turned curious. He was impressed. These children seemed to have figured him out already. It made sense, since they needed to quickly be able to recognise people like him, people who were close with death, in order to live a long time. As, even if cats were known to have nine lives, they still needed to cherish them. 

Ron’s smile widened. 

“One child is fog and the other one is poison.” 

Ron could even recognise their attributes; the silver one had the power of fog, whilst the red one was blood or poison. 

The silver kitten turned its head away from Ron, whilst the red kitten snorted despite himself. The siblings had no desire to become like the killers who gave off such a thick stench of death. But even if they didn’t end up becoming killers, they still had the right foundations to become shadows. 

Once Cale came out of the bathroom, the kittens dashed over to him and began rubbing their cheeks against his ankles, meowing up at him. 

Cale frowned down at them. 

“Stop looking at me.” 

They stopped. Instead, making their way back over to their spot on the sofa whilst giving Ron a large berth. 

Cale looked over at Ron before ordering him to get him a meal from Beacrox. 

Ron bowed towards his young master before leaving. 

Sitting across from them, Cale observed the two kittens before speaking. 

“You two are part of the Cat Tribe, aren’t you?” 

The kittens nodded their heads, easily answering Cale’s question. 

“Are you planning on following me?” 

The kittens looked away. There was no response this time. 

Instead, the red kitten jumped off the sofa, softly landing on the floor, before ducking under the coffee table dividing the individuals, and rubbed his cheek along Cale’s leg. The silver kitten soon approached as well and started to tap Cale’s foot with her front paw. 

Cale had already come up with a plan for these two siblings, but he’d wanted to ask anyway, ensuring that he wasn’t about to force the children into going along with. 

Nodding his head, Cale made up his mind about the kittens. 

“Then you need to make yourselves useful.” 

The kittens looked up at Cale before meowing. 

Cale raised an eyebrow. 

“Answer in human language.” 

The pupils of the silver kitten, the older sister named On, began to sparkle as she spoke. 

“I want to eat meat. I’m hungry.” 

The red kitten, the younger brother Hong, tapped Cale’s leg as he added on: “And cake!” 

Cale smiled as he responded to their requests. 

“I will give you a lot of meat and cake, so you know what to do, right?” 

The two kittens responded in unison: “Be useful!” 

That was how, the two siblings who had been kicked out of the Fog Cat Tribe, became a part of Count Henituse’s household. 

Chapter Text

Four days later, Cale joined his family for breakfast for the first time in a while. Count  Deruth  watched his son fondly, noting Cale’s simple and comfortable attire.   

“I guess you’re leaving today?”   

Cale nodded as he savoured his breakfast.   

Today he would leave the  Henituse  territory and head towards the Capital.  

Count  Deruth  watched as his son heartily ate another sausage before commenting.  

“You don’t look like you’re nervous.”   

Count  Deruth  was referring to the time in his office when he’d announced to Cale and Basen his intention to send Cale to the capital as their family’s representative. At the time, Cale had seemed hesitant to take on the role. Seeing his, otherwise outgoing though temperamental son, seem anxious at the prospect of being sent on official duties, the Count had considered sending Basen anyway as he didn’t want to force Cale to do something if it would upset him somehow. However, his son was sat in front of him at present relaxedly enjoying his breakfast, no trace of that troubled boy from a few days ago.  

Cale smiled instead of responding to his father’s statement. His complexion had gotten better over the last few days as the contents of the novel – apart from his not getting beaten up – seemed to be flowing as it should, easing Cale’s worries. He could also feel the Indestructible Shield surrounding his heart and, knowing that he would manage to survive even if he accidentally pissed someone like Ron or  Beacrox  off, lightened the weight on his shoulders. Because of this, he’d been sleeping better lately.  

Cale continued to eat, noticing that the breakfast spread was fancier than usual, before he asked.    

“Father. It seems like the number of people in the envoy has increased again. I asked you to reduce the number.”  

Once Cale had fully committed to the fact that he would be heading to the Capital, he had specifically asked his father to decrease the number of servants accompanying him. As far as he was concerned, Hans and Ron were enough. Of course, Hans had turned pale when he’d first heard this, however, he’d started to pack diligently after finding out that the kittens would be travelling with them as well. A small part of Cale had felt annoyed that Hans had only wanted to travel with him the moment he’d heard the kitten were coming, but a larger part of him just didn’t care.  

“Ah, about that.” Count  Deruth  trailed off, moving his gaze away from Cale and towards someone else at the table.  

“That was my decision,” Countess  Violan  interjected sharply.  

True to form, the Countess’ hair was tied into a perfectly formed bun, not a single hair out of place. She was looking down at her plate despite how confidently she’d stated that Cale’s envoy increasing was her doing. She looked so similar to her son, Basen. Even the way they both avoided making eye contact with Cale whilst maintaining a stoic expression was the same. Cale that genetics were truly a wonder of nature.  

Realising that Cale wasn’t about to blow up at her, the Countess continued more certain of herself than before.  

“We can’t have someone from our family looking poor and terrible just because you want to go with such a small envoy. I can ensure you that they’re not all there to babysit you.”   

Everyone knew that was Ron’s job without it being explicitly stated.  

Countess  Violan  lifted her head slightly to meet Cale’s eyes.  

“I am not saying you’re terrible.”  

“Even I know that much.”   

Hearing Cale’s blunt reply, the Countess flinched slightly but, not being one to back down first, she took another bite of her food before continuing.  

“But people, especially nobles, care a lot about appearances.”  

Cale observed the Countess quietly.  

Violan  had been born as the eldest daughter of a poor artist’s family and had dreamt of being the head of a merchant guild when she grew up. Influenced by the luxury items being sold to the nobles, she’d come to the  Henituse  territory in the hope of making her childhood dream come true. However, as was typical of life, she unexpectedly fell in love with the art of sculpting.  

Eventually, she met Count  Deruth  and fell in love, and was now both the Countess and the director for the territory’s cultural business operations.  

In Kim Rok Soo’s opinion, she had a lot of pride for herself and her life, which was why she held a lot of pride in her family and held them to high standards. Of course, this included Cale as well.  

The Countess was aware that Cale was watching her, but chose to ignore it and continued on without changing her expression.  

“Art is not for those human  tras -”   

The Countess caught herself before she could finish saying the word ‘trash’, quickly flicking a glance at Cale before breathing in relief when he didn’t seem angry at her slip up.  

“Anyway,” she continued. “There are a lot of people who believe that appearances reveal everything there is to know about a person.”  

That was the Countess’ way of telling Cale to take a lot of servants with him even if it wasn’t what he wanted. She didn’t want Cale to be wrongly judged just because he’d chosen to take a handful of servants with him. And, despite that Cale hated her, he was, after all, still a member of her family that she was so dearly proud of.  

Naturally, Cale also wanted to take a lot of people to do his bidding so that he could have a relaxing journey. Recently, he’d also noticed that he’d been finding it difficult to get changed without a servant to help. Though Kim Rok Soo had only been in this world as Cale for about a week, he’d already become accustomed to this easy lifestyle.  

However, Cale’s life wouldn’t be as easy as it had been up until now as there was a crazy Black Dragon in his near future.  

If he wasn’t able to release the crazy dragon in advance, the possibility of it going wild and killing a lot of people was still extremely high. And, whilst Cale didn’t care about what would happen to other people, he still didn’t want to see them dying right in front of his eyes. Furthermore, he didn’t want to be inadvertently held responsible if anyone got injured because he didn’t do anything about the dragon. That kind of responsibility was a heavy burden and, for someone like Kim Rok Soo, who’d taken responsibility for his own life since young, he knew that the responsibility related to people and their lives was the scariest and heaviest burden of them all, especially if you were perceived to have failed them.  

That was why he started to speak.  

“Art is the mirror of the soul.”  

Violan  lifted her gaze from where it had fallen to her plate and looked towards Cale in surprise.  

“You know about that?”  

Cale nodded. “Yes. I do.”  

He’d roamed around the entire territory the last four days in order to prepare the things he’d need for his trip. What he’d just recited was something he’d seen whilst roaming about.  

Cale looked at the Countess as he continued. “’Sculpting is not just cutting into a chunk of marble; it is creating a reflection of what is in your heart.’ I read that on the plaque at the Gallery.”  

Violan  was watching Cale closely. The Gallery in the  Henituse  territory displayed the works of new sculptors and the statement that was written on the plaque was something  Violan  had personally written. She was surprised – and equally delighted – that Cale had obviously taken the time to look around the Gallery and had payed close enough attention that he’d remembered what was written on the plaque. She hadn’t expected Cale to take an interest in anything besides alcohol and money. Admittedly, she’d been quite worried about Cale for that very reason;  Violan  didn’t want to see her step-son fall onto a path that would eventually ruin him even if he’d never given her a reason to care for him. Family was, after all, something you chose. And, like how she’d chosen the Count after falling in love, she had likewise chosen Cale even if he had not indicated that he’d chosen her as well.  

Smiling slightly, but trying hard to remain stoic, the Countess relented.  

“Do as you wish. I will reduce the number of people accompanying you, but in return the carriage and everything else shall be of the highest quality. That is how it should be for members of the  Henituse  family.”  

“That’s fine with me. Please give me the most expensive stuff.”  

The Countess nodded her head, satisfied with the compromise they’d come to.  

“Great. I’ll make sure your carriage has the softest pillows, so you won’t even hurt your butt as you travel across bumpy roads.”  

Cale snorted, lifting another piece of food to his mouth before mumbling into his place.  

“Only the best.”  

Cale couldn’t see it, but there was a slight smile on the Countess’ face before she returned to her stoic self. Count  Deruth  who’d been watching this interaction, let out a fake cough in an attempt to hide his growing smile before asking Cale a question.  

“Did you verify the information from Hans regarding the personalities of all the nobles attending the event in the Capital?”  

The Count had used his own network, as well as the information guild, in order to gather information on the other nobles. He’d wanted Cale to know enough before he went, so that he wouldn’t be caught off guard and be more relaxed during his time there. It was usually difficult to gather information on nobles but that wasn’t an issue for the rich Count. However, the information he’d managed to gather only had about three or four lines about each person – but even this was precious and expensive to purchase. Such was the case when it came to a noble’s information as even the smallest bit of it being leaked could lead to their undoing.  

Cale lifted his head to look at his father.  

“Yes. It was pretty entertaining.”  

The information the Count had given to him, whilst small in substance, told a lot about the nobles he’d soon be meeting. There were some pretty ones, some stupid ones, some smart and scary ones, and even some who are desperate for power. Of course, there were also some stupidly nice, as well as villains and trash.  

Cale smiled slyly. “It looks like there’ll be all sorts of people coming this time.”  

Seeing this cold smile, the Count couldn’t help but be surprised. He’d never expected for his son to be capable of showing such a smile. A sense of foreboding could be felt on the horizon. Whatever it was, he was sure that Cale would be fine as long as Ron was by his side. And regardless of whether or not his son was plotting something without his knowledge, the Count had something else to ask him in this moment.  

“Ahem. Anyways, do as you please. But Cale?”  

“Yes, father?”  

“I heard a strange rumour.”  

Cale’s shoulders flinched ever so slightly. Catching this, the Count observed his son closely.  

“Apparently the man-eating tree has changed. It’s said to no longer be black, but white instead, with beautiful blue leaves growing from its branches. There’s apparently even grass growing beneath it.”  

The Count took a bite of his breakfast as he watched Cale.  

The place that had changed the most in the last four days was none other than the top of the hill in the slums. It was a location where only the black tree had resided, having been fenced off generations ago in order to ward the citizens away from it and keep them safe after many failed attempts to fix the problem. However, such a tree had turned white after Cale was reported to have been visiting it. As such, the Count had a pretty good idea as to who had brought about this sudden change, but he wanted to see if Cale would admit to it.  

“What an interesting rumour.”   

Cale ignored his father’s pointed gaze and took another bite of his breakfast as he casually looked away. There was no way that Cale wouldn’t be aware that the Count knew that he’d had been visiting the slums recently, the fact that he’d brought up such a rumour in the first place showed exactly how much he already knew; however, Cale had no intentions of revealing his Ancient Power right now, so he simply pretended not to know.  

And even if the Count did suspect his son, there was no way he’d ever be able to find out what had occurred between him and the man-eating tree.  

“Yes, it is. Not that it’s that big of deal. However, you need to pay close attention to rumours no matter what you do. There is nothing scarier than human eyes and mouths. Of course, anything that happens inside the territory is fine for members of our household.”  

Cale hummed.  

“I will keep that in mind.”  

It truly felt like he’d be able to live a peaceful life as long as he remained inside their territory. How great would it be to quickly come back from the Capital and live the life of a couch potato?  

As breakfast came to an end, Cale received brief farewells from the Count and Countess, who were unable to send him off due to work, and then made eye contact with his siblings who were awkwardly shifting their feet, unsure of what to say or do.  

Cale watched them patiently, waiting to see if either of them would muster up the courage to say something or at least completely ignore him and walk away. However, when nothing more was  forthcoming,  he prompted them bluntly.  

“What?”  

Basen shook his head at Cale’s question, eyes still firmly planted on the ground. Lily, seeming to have a lot more courage than her older brother Basen, slowly approached him. Cale’s sister was 11-years younger than him, making her only 7-years-old. She was younger than either of the kitten siblings he’d brought home with him, making him unable to be as cold to her as he was to the other people around him.  

Steeling herself, Lily squared her shoulders as she bid her eldest brother farewell.  

“Please have a safe trip!”  

Cale wasn’t entirely sure how to react. Part of him wanted to ruffle her hair whilst the other part of him was sure that the Countess would yell at him for messing up a lady’s hair. In the end, he just nodded before replying.  

“Thanks. You be safe here too.”  

Lily vigorously nodded her head.  

“I will!”  

Silence fell on them as Lily continued to stare up at her brother. Cale was pretty sure that she was expecting something from him, but he wasn’t entirely sure what that something was. Choosing the most likely option, he asked.  

“Should I buy you a present while on my trip?”  

Lily’s face lit up at the prospect of a present.   

“Really?”  

Cale was now sure that that’s what her gaze had been hinting at. He was also pretty proud of himself for having guessed correctly on the first try considering he’d never been around children much as Kim Rok Soo.  

Nodding his head, Cale watched as surprise, amazement, and happiness danced across Lily’s face.  

“Of course. What would you like?”  

“A sword!”  

Cale had expected her to respond with something along the lines of a doll, some jewellery, a dress or a pretty decoration; something that most girls her age would probably ask for. However, he’d most definitely not been prepared for her answer.  

“What?”  

Blissfully unaware of her brother’s confusion, Lily confirmed her wish.  

“Please buy me a sword!”  

Was it even safe for a 7-year-old to own a sword? Did she mean a wooden one?  

Seeing the shock on Cale’s face, Basen finally chose this moment to speak.  

“Hyung- nim , Lily’s dream these days is to become a swordsman.”  

“Is that so?”  

Cale looked seriously towards Lily. The people of this household all had long arms and legs, as well as a good physique and, whilst Lily was only 7-years-old, she was tall for her age and could easily become a good swordsman if she put in the effort. She also looked very much like the Countess and Cale could certainly see her wielding a sword. He imagined a grown-up Lily wielding a sword whilst looking like her mother. It was a terrifying image to say the least. He might actually have to start being cautious of his younger sister, now that he knew of her future aspiration. He wouldn’t want to end up becoming acquainted with the end of her sword.  

“I guess it would suit her. I will make sure to buy you an expensive one.”  

Lily smiled as she lowered her head in embarrassment, her eyes sparkling from the praise. Cale didn’t notice this as he was too concerned about the possibility of him being on the receiving end of her well-trained sword. Hopefully buying her an expensive one would help ensure she never felt inclined to use it on him in the future. Why was he surrounded by such scary people?  

Looking towards Basen, Cale asked him the same question.  

“Would you like a present too?”  

Basen hesitated before weakly replying.  

“A fountain pen.”  

Cale nodded, relieved that it was a normal request.  

“Got it.”  

Having received his siblings’ present requests, Cale said one last goodbye before turning on his heels and exiting the dining room. He didn’t see his family watching his retreating back with wishes for his safe return held firmly in their hearts.  

Chapter Text

Cale stood in front of the carriage that would take him to the Capital with an odd expression. He was staring at the suspicious number of pillows that were taking up one of the seats as well as the two kittens that were curled up comfortably on top of them.  

“Why is it that their seat is better than mine?”  

Cale turned to the likely culprit of this pillow infestation. Hans was smiling warmly beside him as he admired the kittens fondly.  

“Young master, shouldn’t our precious kitten- nims  travel comfortably on this trip? They’re so small and precious after all.”  

Hans, quite rudely, stepped into the carriage before Cale, and pulled out the special treats he’d prepared for the cats. Cale and Ron both had blank expressions on their faces.  

Cale believed that Hans could only act this  enamoured  with the kittens because he hadn’t seen them create fog and then fill it with poison.  

Three-days ago, Cale had called On and Hong to an empty corner in one of the estate’s gardens. Aware that many of those in the Cat Tribe had abilities, he’d wanted to see just how good the pair were at controlling and using their own.  

On began to create fog whilst in her cat form, as Hong used a bit of his blood in order to spread poison into the air. Of course, On was able to control the poisonous fog and prevent it from spreading towards Cale, directing and shifting the fog’s flow so it swirled and gathered in different places. Furthermore, the only poison Hong could use at the moment was one that caused temporary paralysis.  

Cale was impressed.  

“You two are quite useful.”  

On and Hong lifted their heads with pride after hearing Cale’s praise, their tails swishing happily behind them.  

“We were able to run away because of our poisonous fog!”  

From that day on, On and Hong were able to eat delicious food and, naturally, Hans was more than happy to provide this for them as it gave him an excuse to be around the kittens as often as possible.  

Ron and Cale watched as Hans coaxed the kittens into eating small bites of the snacks, his sparkling eyes widening each time the kittens allowed him to feed them. Cale sighed before turning to Ron with exasperated who was resolutely not looking at him.  

“Young master, I will be sitting with the driver up top.”  

Cale narrowed his eyes. He was pretty sure that Ron was only sitting up there to get away from Hans’ sickeningly sweet display, leaving him to fend for himself.  

“Okay.”  

Ron nodded at Cale, then jumped up next to the driver. Cale was about to reluctantly drag himself onto the carriage as well, when Choi Han approached him.  

“Cale-nim.”  

Choi Han had attempted to address Cale with just his name at first, minus any honorifics, however, that’d sent one of Ron’s eyes twitching and his fingers itching to pull out his daggers. In turn, Ron had demanded that Choi Han address Cale as ‘young master’ seeing as the young man was to serve as part of his guard, however, after Choi Han stubbornly refused – and them almost coming to blows - calling him ‘Cale- nim ’ was the compromise the pair had come to.   

“What?”  

Choi Han looked at Hans who was still fawning over the kittens and then at Ron who was sat up next to the driver.  

“Are you sure it’s okay for me not to be in the same carriage protecting you?”  

Choi Han didn’t think that Hans, and his basic martial art skills, would be enough to protect Cale, especially considering that he seemed to be more preoccupied with the kittens than anything. And even if Ron was just outside, that wouldn’t stop Choi Han from being concerned.  

Cale looked like he’d just taken a bite into a very bitter persimmon. Was there a reason for Choi Han to sit in the carriage with him? Cale was pretty sure that having Hans, the kittens and Ron directly by his side would be enough, as he didn’t think anything overly dangerous would occur whilst they were travelling, especially if he managed to stop the black dragon from going berserk. He’d also noticed that Choi Han had been acting slightly weird the last few days leading up to their departure.  

Choi Han’s eyes still contained anger and thoughts of revenge towards those responsible to the massacre of Harris Village, however, he felt different compared to when Cale first met him; he wasn’t in complete despair like he’d been described to be in the novel. Using his knowledge from the novel, Cale had expected Choi Han to remain skittish and quicker to anger for quite a while but he’d recovered pretty quickly. It was weird.  

The Choi Han that Cale could see before him now, was more like the Choi Han when he was travelling with Beacrox, Rosalyn and Lock, with a sharp sword in his heart but a calm demeanour on the outside. This wasn’t a bad development per se, but it still left Cale with an oddly bitter taste in his mouth.  

It was during Cale and Choi Han’s stalemate on the issue of him travelling in the carriage, that the Vice-Captain of the territory’s Knight Brigade, and leader of Cale’s envoy, began to approach. He gave Choi Han a sweeping look, hands on his hips, before smirking down at him.  

“I don’t think this is your spot?”  

Cale clicked his tongue at the display. He knew that their group would have at least one person who’d try to find fault with Choi Han accompanying them seeing as Choi Han was downplaying his abilities to that of a more average level.   

The problem had originally stemmed from the fact that Choi Han was the first-person Cale had brought into the Count’s estate, and this had meant that Count  Deruth  had been treating him as an important guest. Adding on the fact that he’d been allowed to accompany them as part of Cale’s guard, many people had begun to dislike and oppose him.   

It wasn’t like they annoyed him outwardly, as he was still Cale’s and the Count’s guest, but there were a lot of things one could do secretly in order to get under someone’s skin.  

Earlier in the week, Cale had received a report from Hans detailing the fact that Choi Han wasn’t getting along with the other knights who were going to the capital and that Hans believed the Vice-Captain was responsible for the tense atmosphere. The knights who weren’t accompanying them, hadn’t been involving themself in the dispute, instead remaining solely as observers to the conflict. Cale had felt bad for Choi Han, but he didn’t think that it was something he needed to worry about. He was sure that Choi Han could take care of himself and he’d told Hans as much causing his shoulders to droop as he left Cale’s office.   

In reality, Cale was more concerned for the Vice-Captain. The fool hadn’t realised his head was in the sand and, as such, hadn’t been able to see Choi Han’s abilities for what they truly were. All would be fine, as long as he didn’t do anything to get himself beaten up by Choi Han. Once he saw Choi Han’s real skills, he wouldn’t be getting any sleep for a while.  

“Young master, shall we leave now?” The Vice-Captain was looking at Cale, his back turned towards Choi Han. Cale looked at Choi Han over the Vice-Captain's shoulders; his eyes were coldly staring at the man’s back. How stupid was this guy to turn his back on the biggest threat to him here?  

Rolling his eyes, Cale finally stepped onto the carriage and closed the door so they could finally head towards the Capital.  

***  

As with most fantasy novels, the group’s trip was not peaceful one.  

Whilst no one would dare to touch Cale’s carriage within the  Henituse  territory, too afraid of the repercussions it would bring falling upon themselves and their family, the same could not be said about the regions outside of it as, no sooner had they departed, they were met with a situation.  

Dozens of bandits had begun to surround their group having popped up from the nearby valley as they passed through a mountain range. From the state of things, Cale could tell that they were relying on their numbers in order to successfully attack the carriage which only had 5-knights and 15-soldiers protecting it.  

“Pay the toll if you want to cross this mountain!” One of the bandits demanded loudly. “Take out everything you have! If we find anything after you claim to have emptied your pockets, it will be one slap for every bronze coin we find!”  

Cale watched the scene from inside the carriage, one eyebrow raised as he covered his upturning mouth with his hands. The lack of knights really seemed to be giving those idiots a confidence boost.  

Cale smirked down at  On  who was yawning, arching her back as she stretched before circling and laying back down on the pillows.  

“You think they can’t see the symbol on my carriage?”  

On peeked one eye open to look up at Cale briefly in disinterested answer before closing it again.  

Hong had stood up the minute he’d heard the commotion outside, jumping on Hans’ lap to peer out the window; he wasn’t afraid mere of bandits. Why would he be?  

Cale watched the children’s uncaring and curious attitudes towards the situation in turn. It made for a truly amusing sight.  

Knocking came from the small window by the driver’s seat before slowly sliding open as Ron peered inside.  

“Young master, it looks like we will need to take a break. There seem to be quite a lot of rabbits here.”  

Cale flinched for a moment before Ron continued.  

“Of course, these rabbits are different from the rabbits I was going to catch for you, young master. And these ones will not be caught by me, but by other people.”  

Ron, having said his piece, shut the window tightly. It was true that the bandits would look like mere rabbits in Ron – and Choi Han’s - eyes. Cale was, after all, being protected by people who were significantly scarier than roadside bandits.  

Screams and shouts could be heard coming from outside the carriage.   

Cale began to calculate how long it would take them to reach the area surrounding where the Black Dragon was being tortured. It would take about a day and a half. It would be earlier than when Choi Han had arrived in the novel. It was for this exact reason that he had been making his group rush forward without taking any breaks.  

***  

In order to achieve the results he wanted, Cale had chosen to camp outside and also due to the fact that there were no villages along the way to the village near the hidden cave of the Black Dragon.  

Hong meowed and wagged his tail, excited by the delicious smell filling the area.  Beacrox  had prepared their main course for the evening: a soup made with rabbit meat. Despite how Ron had kept saying that he’d catch his young master some rabbits, the rabbits used for their meal had actually been caught by Choi Han, who was heartily wolfing down the soup.  

Cale, on the other hand, was swirling the contents of his bowl with his spoon, a pinched expression on his face; he couldn’t help but think about the ‘rabbits’ that had been caught earlier as he messed with the soup.  

On and Hong, having watched Cale mix his soup for the past 5-minutes without taking a bite, walked up to him and began tapping on his leg. The meowed up at him, gazes pleading for him to give the soup to them if he didn’t want it.   

Hans had a wide smile on his face as he cautiously approached the two children, an open package of dried meat in his hand.  

“Would our precious kitten- nims  like to eat the jerky that I prepared for you? It’s very healthy. No salt or preservatives!”  

Despite having let him feed them whilst travelling, On and Hong ignored Hans in favour of trying to coax Cale into giving them his soup. Hans, not knowing they were part of the Cat Tribe, naturally found the kittens’ sass to be cute and continued to linger around them.  

Cale had thought that the joy of the day comes from eating a delicious dinner – or at least he had until being served this soup. A warm dinner was supposed to signal the end of a long and tiring day and allow them to start to relax, but Cale was anything but.  

The same could be said for the knights, who had an odd atmosphere surrounding them. They kept peeking towards Choi Han, who was still blissfully enjoying his soup. The Vice-Captain's expression seemed to be full of agony.  

Cale clicked his tongue as he finally put the soup down on the ground for the kittens to eat.  

Cale’s party had faced a battle with tens of bandits, and the one to handle most of those bandits was, naturally, Choi Han. He had no issues cutting off a limb or leaving a wound that would scar deeply. Not only that, he did so with incredible speed. When the Vice-Captain had reported the end of the battle to Cale, he’d had a deeply shocked expression on his face. He obviously hadn’t expected the fight to end so quickly considering that it had looked like the bandits were the ones with the advantage of both familiarity of the area as well as numbers.   

Unfortunately for them, their first target had ended up being Cale’s carriage who had Choi Han protecting it. The reason the Vice-Captain's face had gone completely pale was not because of the strength of the bandits, but because of the  strength  of Choi Han.  

After the battle, Choi Han had approached the Vice-Captain's side, placing his hand on his shoulder, and lowly said to him, “what a light battle. Not even enough for a warm-up,” making him flinch. Choi Han had smirked before walking off. He really wasn’t the type to let people do as they pleased with him, especially if you considered the fact that this boy had had no issue beating up the Count’s son in the novel. Cale had found the Vice-Captain's scared appearance to be quite funny.  

Ron had been watching his young master from a distance. He’d seen Cale impolitely play with his food, before putting his bowl on the floor for the children to eat without ever having actually taken a bite of it.  

“Do you not have an appetite?” He asked as he walked over to his frowning young master.  

Cale was frustrated. He watched Ron approach with his usual benign smile before looking back and forth between the soup and Ron. A light bulb went off.   

The old man enjoyed making of fun of him, it seemed.  

Hearing his question, Choi Han looked towards Cale and then towards his bowl that On and Hong were happily lapping out of on the ground.  

Answering the snide old man’s question, Cale replied, “yes. None at all.”  

That caught Choi Han’s attention and he narrowed his eyes at Cale as he observed his face. “Are you feeling unwell?”  

Cale waved his concern off, not about to complain to Choi Han about his choice of game. “No, nothing like that.”  

However, Choi Han continued to stare with a pinched expression, slightly annoying Cale.  

“What are you looking at?”  

Choi Han opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated. He glanced at the area around him before continuing in as soft a tone as possible. “Was that your first time experiencing a battle?”  

Cale flippantly returned his question with one of his own. “What battle? You mean those bandits earlier?”  

Choi Han nodded seriously. “Yes.”  

“Of course. I’ve never seen so many bandits before.”  

“I see.” Choi Han dropped his head as he quietly mumbled to himself. “It must have been your first time facing potential death.”  

One of the nearby soldiers let out a gasp.  

Cale, himself, let out a loud gasp. ‘  

First time facing potential death my ass. Do you know how nervous, I’ve been the last few days because of you?’  

Many things had happened over the last few days that had made him feel the freezing cold threat of death, that the bandits had felt like a cool breeze in comparison. Ron’s smile as Choi Han had brought back the rabbits; the sight of  Beacrox  sharpening his cooking knife – Cale had been constantly nervous because of them since they’d left the  Henituse  territory.  

Those thoughts alone had made him lose his appetite for real.   

On the bright side, he’d avoided getting beaten up and now he had the Indestructible Shield to protect him in case anything went wrong.  

Cale hadn’t realised that the soldiers were looking at him with an understanding gaze, or that Choi Han had stopped paying attention to everyone around him as he nostalgically thought about his past in the Forest of Darkness.  

“Cale-nim.” Choi Han’s voice was soft.  

“What?”  

“The first time is always difficult to handle.”  

Cale looked at him, face stoic as he asked flatly. “What are you talking about?”  

Choi Han had a slight smile on his face. He remembered his first-time facing death. He remembered his first battle. He remembered how terrified he’d been, all his limbs shaking with adrenaline and fear, as his heart beat a mile-a-minute and his mind whited out, static in his ears. He remembered killing his first monster with nothing but his fists and rocks, knuckles bloody and clothes stained. It’d been no short of a miracle, when he’d found an old sword in the forest. He’d done his best to fix it up with what he could find, not that it’d necessarily made much of a difference. Part of him had thought it’d been fate finding that sword and he’d made sure to put it to good use. He was pretty sure he was alive today because of it.  

That was why he seriously asked Cale.  

“Cale- nim , do you not study any martial arts?”  

“No need.”  

“Shouldn’t you at least have the strength to protect yourself?”  

His tone was serious, but Cale could hear the underlying concern. He didn’t understand why Choi Han was suddenly becoming so serious in regard to him being able to protect himself. He couldn’t see a reason for why Choi Han would care so much? Apart from the fact that he was naturally selfless and altruistic.  

“I have plenty of ways already.”  

Cale took his gaze off Choi Han and looked around at the soldiers who were stronger than him, and the knights who would do well no matter where they ended up. There were only a few servants apart from that, but Ron,  Beacrox , the kittens, and even Hans were much stronger than himself.  

Cale looked at each of the people that were travelling with him to the Capital before turning back to Choi Han.  

“You can see them to, right?”  

This was the protection that the son of a wealthy Count got.  

Cale started to smile. He knew that all the people here would do their best to protect him. Of course, he wasn’t sure that Ron or  Beacrox  would do the same, but they would at least prevent him from getting killed - not that Cale had any intention of putting himself in a situation where he would need them to.  

And they were, of course, not his only source of protection.  

Cale decided to be a little more honest with Choi Han, as he placed his hand above his heart.  

“And I trust my heart. I will live.”  

The Indestructible Shield that encased his heart would be his biggest source of protection from now one. But that fact also depended on him avoiding people like Choi Han in the future. And as far as Cale was concerned, he wouldn’t have any reason to get involved with strong individuals in the future so he was content with the knowledge that the shield was protecting.  

Choi Han looked towards Cale, his eyes shaking. His grip on his empty bowl tightened infinitesimally as he stared at where Cale had his hand above his heart. Since the moment they’d first met when he’d been slumped in the alleyway, Choi Han had known that Cale was weak. That was why he’d allowed Cale to get so close why he’d followed him back to the estate. Cale had never been an actual threat even if his motives were often unclear and his words harsh. That was why Choi Han couldn’t understand where this confidence was coming from? The confidence that he would live even if faced with potential death. A small part of him was annoyed. It felt as if Cale was inadvertently picking away at a  wound  he didn’t know he had. Like he was looking down on his past-self - when he’d been so sure he would die and then surprised when he saw another sunrise.   

Realistically, he knew that Ron and  Beacrox  – and even Hans to some extent – would be able to protect Cale even if Cale couldn’t protect himself, but part of him couldn’t trust in even that. It made his throat tighten.  

Choi Han put his bowl down with a sharp clink, standing up but continuing to stare down at the spot where Cale’s heart continued to beat away in his chest. Choi Han lifted his own hand up and placed it to his chest, feeling the dull thuds of life.  

“I’ll be practising with my sword now.”  

Cale had watched Choi Han’s gaze become foggy before he’d suddenly seemed to have come back to life and leapt up, his eyebrows scrunched and eyes narrowed.  

“Right after eating?”  

“I feel like I need to get stronger.”  

Cale thought Choi Han’s dedication to getting stronger might actually come back to bite him later. What was he trying to do? Get strong enough to blow the whole Earth away?  

Cale watched Choi Han stalk off before his gaze was drawn to the sight of  Beacrox  approaching him carrying a new dish.  

Once in front of him,  Beacrox  stoically handed him the plate. It was filled with the highest quality meat and spices.  

“Please enjoy.”  

Cale smiled. “Thanks!”  

Having smelled the arrival of more food, On and Hong, having finished the soup, began pushing up on Cale’s legs with their paws. Getting no response, they began butting their messy faces against him making Cale frown in disgust. He nudged them away, making the kittens pout before the pair walked off in search of another victim to steal food from.  

As Cale ate, a cup entered his vision.  

“Bitter foods and drinks like lemonade are best to restore your appetite, young master.”  

During Cale and Choi Han’s conversation, Ron had slipped away to tell  Beacrox  to make Cale something else to eat. Of course, Cale hadn’t noticed the old man silently disappear and then return, but Choi Han certainly had. The punk’s sense  were  very sharp.  

He smiled benignly as he held the cup out for Cale to take. This was the first time Ron had handed him a lemonade since their interaction at the tea shop.  

Too excited about finishing the steak, Cale shook his head, his mouth stuffed, causing Ron to hold the lemonade close to his chest for when his young master was finished.  

In the distance, the Vice-Captain, having been motivated by Choi Han, was gathering the knights and soldiers.  

“If everyone has finished eating, we will start our evening training session soon.”  

Cale watched the fired-up knights and soldiers as he chowed down on his steak.  Beacrox  had even brought over a smaller bowl of rabbit soup so, despite pulling a face, decided to try it. It was actually pretty good in the end, as was his expectations of  Beacrox’s  cooking.  

On and Hong had returned with some jerky strips in tow that they’d begged off a couple of the  soldirers , and had attempted to offer them to him, but he adamantly refused. There wasn’t any seasoning on them so he wouldn’t even touch them.  

Chapter Text

Cale’s group was currently stopped outside the entrance of a village in the nearby Viscount’s territory that was next to the Henituse territory. A villa belonging to the Viscount had been built in the mountains on the right side of the village a few years ago.   

Naturally, whilst it was labelled as the Viscount’s villa on the outside, in reality it belonged to Marquis Stan who was the person responsible for making the Black Dragon go crazy. The Viscount of the territory was nothing more than a lap dog panting at the feet of the Marquis. It was in the mountain behind the villa, that the Black Dragon was being hidden away and tortured.  

3-days. The Black Dragon would cause a mana explosion in 3-days. At that time, the cave and the mountain would be sent flying with the force of it.  

Cale looked at the small peak to the right of the mountain they’d crossed, his chin resting on his palm, and clicked his tongue as his face scrunched up. Venion, the Marquis’ second son, was an absolute psycho who’d gone as far as to cripple his own older brother in order to rise to the position of heir. That same psycho visited the villa every so often in order to torture the Black Dragon for his own amusement. It was disgusting.  

Hans flinched after hearing Cale click his tongue and seeing his young master’s expression become increasingly irritated. Worried, he quickly called Choi Han over and began to speak.  

“Young master, I will take Choi Han- nim  and quickly look for an inn. Please wait a moment.”  

Hans wanted to escape the firing line if Cale was about to throw a tantrum, even if he hadn’t done so for quite a while.  

Cale continued to stare at the peak of the mountain. “Whatever.”  

“We’ll be right back.” Hans bowed towards Cale before stepping off the carriage and speedily making his way into the village.  

Choi Han, who’d been called over by the man who was all but running away, hesitated as he watched Cale’s angry expression be directed at the nearby mountain. He didn’t understand why Cale was suddenly making such a face, but he was sure there was a good reason. As such, his own gaze was drawn to the mountain’s peak. He wondered what was up there?  

Cale, sensing Choi Han next to him, turned his gaze to look at him. Choi Han was staring at the same spot he’d previously been looking at with a curious expression. He couldn’t understand why someone like Choi Han would fight with an existence that could cause such a large mana explosion? He knew that Choi Han had been worried about the people in the nearby village, unable to throw them away in order to save himself. They had reminded him of those in Harris Village, who had taught him both love and hate, and that was why he’d been compelled to make a move in order to save them despite not even knowing them. Cale felt that such heroic acts were foolish. Why throw your own life away for someone else’s? He just couldn’t understand that way of thinking.  

Cale frowned as he called Choi Han over.  

“Choi Han.”  

“Yes?”  

Cale opened his mouth before closing it, turning his head to stare back out the window. “Hurry back.”  

Choi Han let out a small gasp. This 17-year-old boy, who’d lived for tens of years, formed an innocent smile as he stared at Cale before nodding his head.  

“Yes sir. I will be right back.”  

Cale’s shoulders hunched slightly as he waved his other hand in a dismissive manner, acting as if he was annoyed. Choi Han just smiled brighter at the display before bowing and following after Hans. Cale preferred this more open and focused version of Choi Han compared to the one who had been all blank expressions and stoicism. He also felt that this version of Choi Han would be able to accomplish his goals a lot quicker than he had in the novel.  

Cale continued to stare out the window, thoughts on the incident that was to occur in the Capital, when he saw a carriage quickly heading in their direction. Cale’s hands began to sweat at the sight, feeling as though someone was in the process of handing him a poisoned apple, as his neck began to run cold.  

An old man was walking in front of the carriage. Cale felt his heart stop as he watched the scene play out in front of him. Cale could see Choi Han rushing towards the old man, having doubled back at the sight before him, and, not having enough time to avoid the carriage completely, Choi Han threw himself at the old man, ending with them both crashing down on the wayside. Seemingly blissfully ignorant to what had taken place, the carriage continued to travel down the road like nothing was amiss.  

Cale’s mouth tasted bitter. That was such a cliché.  

The carriage had a flag hanging on it with a red snake coiled in the middle of the crest – it was the symbol of Marquis Stan. Cale’s eyes began to shake. It was about to happen. He could feel that an incident was about to occur.  

Choi Han, having rolled to land on his back and use himself as a cushion for the old man, got up before running in front of the offending carriage in order to stop it.  

Seeing this, the driver pulled the reins halting its journey. He was about to start yelling at Choi Han, when a man slowly stepped out of the carriage.  

Cale let out a sigh. It looked like he’d have no choice but to step in, after all.  

Climbing out his own carriage and preparing to head over, Hans, who’d also returned after being drawn by the commotion, put his hand on Cale’s arm.  

“Young master, are you heading over there?”  

Ron had approached Cale the minute he saw his young master step out of his carriage,  

Cale ran a hand through his hair. “Who will go if I don’t?”  

Ron made eye contact with the Vice-Captain who was stepping towards them and, at his nod, the pair followed after Cale who was heading towards the incident location without hesitation, Hans trailing reluctantly behind. They boxed him in on both sides, acting as though the world was about to end and their last mission was to protect Cale, but Cale didn’t care as he continued to walk towards where a very angry Choi Han was staring down the man who’d stepped out the other carriage.  

Venion Stan.  

Cale frowned deeply as soon as he saw him. There had only been one line in the file his father had given him regarding  Venion  Stan’s personality: a typical and authoritative noble.  

Or in other words, a typical villain.  

However, it was quite a headache to meet that villain in real life, rather than as a character in a novel. Cale couldn’t beat someone up for doing something bad or just because he didn’t like them like Choi Han could, no matter how much he might be inclined to do so.  

By the time Cale had arrived to stand behind Choi Han, the situation had already escalated quite a bit. In the few short moments between Cale getting out of the carriage and him walking over, Choi Han had already become so incensed that his shoulders were violently shaking as he clenched and unclenched his fists.  

“How can you get in the way of a noble person like that?”  

“What the hell are you saying when someone could have gotten seriously hurt? Who was in the way? This only happened because you were driving the carriage like a maniac!”  

“Peasants should move out of the way when they see a noble’s carriage. It’s not my that that peasant was stupid and just stood there without moving!”  

Choi Han was in the middle of an argument with one of  Venion’s  lackeys who was standing haughtily in front of Choi Han as they looked down their nose at him. Hans frowned at the sight as he whispered in Cale’s ear.  

“Choi Han- nim  seems to be extremely agitated.”  

It seemed Hans had already realised that the owner of the carriage was the Marquis’ family. He also seemed to have realised that the person standing behind the haughty lackey was none other than  Venion  Stan.  

The narcissist had probably only stepped out of his carriage because he saw the symbol of the  Henituse  family’s on Cale’s.  

“Enough.”  

Venion  put his hand out in front of his lackey as he gently spoke. As soon as he’d spoke, his lackey stepped behind him stoically as though they’d never been angry in the first place, leaving only Choi Han huffing a puffing as he kneeled down beside the old man consoling him.  

Cale clicked his tongue. It was obvious that the lackey hadn’t ever actually been angry, Cale’s carriage might’ve been far away, but he’d probably seen the Golden Turtle on it like  Venion . That was why he’d made a big deal of exaggerating and being extremely loud whilst scolding Choi Han in order to draw Cale out onto the scene.  

Cale coldly glared at  Venion  and the lackey before putting a hand on Choi Han’s shoulder.  

“You too.”  

“But-!”  

Cale understood why Choi Han was angry. He knew that this place seemed very similar to Harris Village to Choi Han. As such it was understandable that he was angry that the people of this village were being put in danger by those who didn’t even show an iota of remorse or any sign of apologising for their careless actions. However, the victim in this situation, the old man, was unable to get angry. It was because he didn’t have anyone or anything to support him like Choi Han did.  

“They could’ve used another road, but decided not to and as such, could’ve hurt someone. How can I just let this be?”  

“Choi Han.” Cale pressed firmly on Choi Han’s shoulder, grounding him. “Calm down.”  

Choi Han’s pupils were shaking in rage as he looked directly at Cale. Cale could see the angry Choi Han, or to be more specific, the Choi Han that was being held down by the memories of Harris Village, start to calm down.  

After verifying that Choi Had was not about to exploded in a fit of righteous anger, Cale turned his gaze to look at  Venion .  

He had the token blonde hair of the Stan family as well as his father’s cold smile. His attire was pressed and ironed to perfection; his boots had a leather sheen without a single mark. All in all,  Venion  looked very much like an evil doll made real. However, the things that caught Cale’s attention the most was the small amount of red tipped at the cuffs of  Venion’s  white dress shirt. Some blood had landed on him whilst he’d been enjoying his afternoon past-time.  

Venion , the crazy bastard, was also someone who enjoyed having his meal whilst watching the torturer whip the Black Dragon until  its  skin was dyed red.  

Cale observed the bastard frostily as he approached.  

“Nice to meet you. Are you someone from Count  Henituse’s  household?”  

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Young master  Venion  Stan.”  

As expected,  Venion  already knew of Cale. Whilst  Venion  wasn’t someone who’d had an easy life as he reached for the heir position, he was still terribly rude.  

“Mm,”  Venion  hummed as he smiled gently, coldly observing Cale. He was the type of person who could smile at you and yet you’d still feel nothing but disgust towards him.  

“I haven’t had any reason to come to this area – having only heard stories – but I'd heard that there was someone in the Count’s family who was a free spirit and didn’t seem like much of a noble.”   

Cale had the feeling that  Venion  was trying to start something.  

“I’d also heard that young master Basen, had been taking part in all of the nobles’ gatherings since last year-”  

Cale cut him off, annoyed. “Yes. I am indeed that trash.”   

Cale wasn’t talented in small talk, nor did he ever intend to become so – especially not for the benefit of the likes of  Venion .  

The minute the word ‘trash’ left his mouth,  Venion’s  lackey flinched.  

“I’m probably the trashiest of all the trash.” Cale smiled brightly as he stared  Venion  down.  

The corner of  Venion’s  mouth began to twist upwards. His expression seemed to say that he’d never seen such a crazy person before – ironically enough – but Cale didn’t care.  

Marquis Stan was someone who was strong enough to lead a faction of nobles, but  Venion  couldn’t do as he pleased with others nobles until he was officially proclaimed as the future successor of the Marquis title. Normally, a Marquis would officially proclaim a child as their successor in order to protect that child, as well as to allow that child to begin building their own network at an early age, however, Marquis Stan had yet to do that.  

He still had three other children.  

Venion  had two younger sisters and one younger brother that had the potential to usurp the successor position from him. The Marquis enjoyed watching the competition between the siblings. To him, the succession fight was nothing but an exciting and bloody sport with his children as the star players. Likewise,  Venion  enjoyed watching the Black Dragon being tortured in order to destress from the successor competition. Naturally, the crippled eldest son was the result of such bloody competition.  

The Stan household was a crazy one.  

In comparison, Cale thought himself quite lucky that his  Henituse  family was an extremely great one in both attitude and wealth, even if their influence or power was below that of the Marquis’. Seeing as the wealthy Count resided in the outskirts of the North-east without being a part of any faction, not many people would be rushing to make a connection with the  Henituse  family, it’d be more likely that they’d just be greedy for his land.  

“You’re a very interesting person, young master Cale,”  Venion  responded casually.  

Despite his casual tone,  Venion  didn’t like Cale as a person. He went against everything he’d been taught that a noble should be and found him a disgrace to all nobles. It didn’t help that the trash eldest son and the pretty smart young son, reminded him of his own relationship with his older brother.  Venion  couldn’t help but see that crippled bastard  every time  he looked at Cale.  

However, he kept up his act of a proper noble, pushing his disdain down, and handed the reins of this incident over to Cale.  

“An unexpected obstacle has made me  waste  time, but I guess it might’ve been a good thing considering I got to make your acquaintance, young master Cale.”  

Cale frowned. An unexpected obstacle – that was how  Venion  was referring to the old man.  Venion  was just disappointed that his time had been wasted because of this old man and wanted to finish this inconvenience on a happy note.  

“But it looks like you need to teach your subordinate to clearly distinguish between the people who have the right to travel across this road and this earth, as well as the people who have the right to make them stop.”  

As a well-known Marquis’  unofficial  successor, this was the most he could do to the trash of the Count’s family. His tone was saying that, although they were both young masters, their statuses were  completely  different and it should be clear who had the advantage.  

Of course, Cale  was’t  paying too much attention to  Venion ; he wasn’t the type to pay attention to a lap dog’s yapping.  

Venion , having finished saying his piece, looked down at the old man with a cold expression. Choi Han tried to shield him but the old man quickly kneeled on the ground once  Venion  looked in his direction, bowing his head so his forehead touched the ground.  

“My apologies,” he stuttered as his hands shook.  

Choi Han’s hands were still shaking but for an entirely different reason as he watched the old man frightfully apologise to the bastard in front of them.  

It was true that each territory’s residents would be shaped by the personality of the reigning noble. With the Viscount of this territory being one of Marquis Stan’s dogs, they were very authoritative and looked down on the commoners.  

Venion’s  lips started to curl up in smile. He was satisfied after watching the frightened old man apologise.  

“Young master  Venion .” Cale called out to him making  Venion  turn back towards him. “Are you done?”  

“I am.” His smile was wide but his eyes were narrow.  

Seeing this, Cale nodded once before walking over to the old man and crouching down on his other side uncaring of ruining his expensive clothing. He watched as the old man’s hands shook. On the old man’s other side, Cale heard Choi Han suck in a deep breath before releasing it. That had to be the sound of him tightening the restraints on his anger. A shiver went down Cale’s spine. He had the distinct feeling that if he allowed this situation to continue, things would begin to get dangerous. He could not allow Choi Han to punch a noble whilst he was associated with him – he didn’t need that kind of headache.  

Cale put a hand on the old man’s shoulders, making him flinch slightly.  Venion’s  eyebrows started to twitch at the display. A noble’s hand was on a commoner’s shoulder. It was unheard of.  

“Old man,” Cale called lightly.  

Shocked by his tone, the old man lifted his head.  

“Y-yes?”  

“Where’s the bar?”  

The old man’s face furrowed in confusion. “Excuse me?”  

Cale sighed as he patted the old man on the shoulder. “Where can I get some delicious alcohol? As you’ve heard, I’m trash. I don’t feel refreshed in the morning unless I have something to drink. In order to make sure tomorrow is another great day, I need a drink. So!”  

Cale lifted the old man’s upper body, Choi Han helping to support him on the other side.   

“Lead the way.”  

Venion , who had been observing Cale quietly, shook his head at the trashy display. It was widely known that Cale was an excessive drinker and it seemed that that was clearly true.  

Feeling that the old man hadn’t yet begun to support his own weight, nor direct Cale to the nearest bottle of alcohol, caused him to frown as he turned to the old man.  

“Are you not going to get up?”  

Hesitating, the old man flicked his eyes back and forth between  Venion  and Cale in quick succession. Cale ignored that as he passed all the old man’s weight off onto Choi Han before reaching the hand, that had been on the old man’s shoulder, out towards Venion.  

“It was nice meeting you today, young master  Venion .”  

Cale was clearly asking for a handshake, however,  Venion  just stood there quietly as he looked at Cale, down at his hand, and then over towards the old man. It took a lot of effort to stop his face contorting in disgust.  

At that moment, one of  Venion’s  servants urgently approached him and whispered something in his ear, though deliberately loud enough for everyone to hear.  

“Young master, we have been delayed enough already.”  

Though the servant was clearly trying to help his master,  Venion  snapped calmly back.  

“Do  not  interrupt a conversation between nobles.”  

He looked down at his servant without smiling, making the servant quickly bow and then retreat. Turning towards Cale,  Venion  smiled once again and grabbed onto Cale’s hand firmly.  

“As you can see, I am very busy. So, I must be on my way.”  

He quickly let go of Cale’s hand after a brief handshake. Cale put a drunken smile on his face as he responded back.  

“If we happen to meet in the Capital, let’s have a drink together.”  

Venion  smiles was lukewarm and his eyes showed that he’d be grimacing if he didn’t have an appearance to upkeep.  

“I don’t believe we would  appreciate  the same thing, but sure.”  

Seeing this Cale decided to do something big to finish of their conversation.  

“Yes. Based on our interaction today, it truly looks like only young master  Venion  deserves to be the future patriarch of the Stan family. You’re a very cool person, young master Venion.”  

Venion’s  eyes clouded over briefly at the mention of the word ‘patriarch’, before he began to smile brightly, and offered praises for Cale as well.  

“Young master Cale is also a very interesting and free- spirited  person. Let us meet again in the future.”  

Cale returned  Venion’s  bright smile despite having absolutely no desire to ever see this crazy bastard again. He watched as  Venion  quickly got back on his carriage, acting as though he truly was busy, before watching it disappear.  

Once the carriage was completely out of sight, Cale patted Choi Han’s shoulder, impressed that he’d been able to control his anger. He knew that doing so was probably very difficult for him, especially considering  Venion’s  special brand of shitty attitude that he doled out by the pound to everyone around.  

“Half of the nobles are like that.”  

Choi Han’s shoulders flinched, as Cale calmly looked back at him. Cale felt bad that he was pretty much indirectly telling Choi Han to get to used it, but there wasn’t much he could do to change other people’s behaviour on a large scale.  

Cale crouched back down in front of the old man, looking up at him, as he continued to be held up by Choi Han.  

“Old man. You can’t get up? Did you hurt your leg?”  

Cale began to systematically pat the old man for injuries. Nothing was bleeding, nor did anything seem broken. He continued to look up at the old man with a confused expression.  

“Choi Han.”  

Choi Han looked back at Cale, patiently waiting for whatever it was that Cale was going to ask of him.  

“Take this old man home.”  

Flinching at that, the old man quickly tried to dismiss Cale’s help.  

“No, I’m okay. But that bar you were talking about-”  

Cale held up his hand, cutting the old man off.  

“No need. I’m not in the mood to drink.”  

Cale looked back at Choi Han.  

“Since you saved him, you might as well do it all the way to the end and take him back safely.”  

Choi Han’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, his eyes wide. He was unable to say anything in response to Cale, stunned at his generosity. It had an even greater impact after his little interaction with that bastard Venion.  

The old man cut-in in the middle of Choi Han’s shocked gaping. “My place sells alcohol.”  

Cale turned towards the man in curiosity. “Old man, your place was a bar?”  

The old man awkwardly smiled, as he scratched the side of his face, but began to speak in a slightly more relaxed tone towards Cale.  

“Yes, sir. It is the village’s only Inn, as well as a bar and restaurant.”  

Cale clapped his hands, having come to a decision. “Since it’s the only inn, that must be the best place.” He looked towards Hans who had remained quietly behind throughout the whole ordeal with  Venion . “Hans.”  

Without him needing to say anything else, Hans quickly approached the old man and took over holding him up, before beginning to ask about the inn. Once the two of them began to move, things started to get rowdy around them.  

Ron brushed the dirt off Cale’s clothes from where’d he’d crouched on the floor and held the old man up. The Vice-Captain and the rest of the soldiers and knights began to head towards the village entrance. The only people left were Cale and Choi Han.  

Choi Han watched Cale quietly before a bit before speaking lowly.  

“Cale-nim.”  

“What?”  

“Are you angry?”  

Cale looked at Choi Han, confusion evident on his face. “About what?”  

Choi Han hesitated, glancing away as he clenched his fists, before briefing deeply and bringing his gaze directly back to Cale. However, before he could answer, Cale shrugged his shoulders and started to speak nonchalantly.  

“The fact that he looked down on me? Or how he made such an  unbelievable  statement to you? Or how about, how he almost killed an innocent old man and, instead of apologising, blamed him and called him an obstacle?”  

Cale’s voice was calm and level as he spoke.  

“Do you have to keep moving when you see someone in front of you? Why didn’t you try to avoid him? Don’t you see that you could’ve hurt the old man? How can you casually say that a person was an obstacle when you almost killed him?”  

Choi Han was paying close attention to Cale, who was looking towards the same mountain range he’d been staring at earlier.   

“ Venion , why is the old man apologizing to you? You should properly apologize to him.”  

Cale looked at Choi Han, his face was calm but his eyes were cold.  

“Is that what you wanted me to say to him?” Choi Han flinched. Sure, there were times when Cale wanted to behave as righteously as Choi Han, and he knew that he could do so if he wanted to but-  

“I am not someone who can speak like that. Nor do I want to. I’m also not that angry.”  

Choi Han only now noticed the hardness that had been threaded throughout all of Cale’s words. He said he didn’t want to speak like that nor that he was angry, however, Choi Han was getting the impression that Cale might just be lying.  

On the other hand, Cale was aware that this trait of Choi Han’s was one of the things that had drawn Kim Rok Soo to him and made him look cool in the novel, but Cale didn’t want to be cool like that. He didn’t need it.  

In the end, the old man wasn’t injured, and Cale didn’t do anything to warrant a blade being pointed towards his family by the Marquis. The fact that he’d made himself look bad in the process would be beneficial to Basen in the end, so as far as Cale was concerned, all was still progressing as planned.  

“Also.”    

Cale began to smile, his lips quirking mischievously as he stared in the direction  Venion’s  carriage had left. He was someone who always returned the favour, no matter how long it took. If someone looked down on him or did something to him, he would always get his revenge.  

“That bastard will probably be kicked out of his house soon.”  

Choi Han looked confused. He could tell that Cale was referring to  Venion , but he couldn’t understand how Cale had come to such a conclusion considering that it seemed like the bastard was the current favourite for the successor position.  

On and Hong, who had been approaching the pair silently after realising that neither of them had followed after the group, halted their movement as they saw Cale’s expression, their fur standing on end.  

Cale was planning on snatching that bastard’s dragon.  

Once the dragon was gone,  Venion  would have to face the wrath of the Marquis, and a new obstacle would be firmly placed in his path to becoming the family patriarch. Shouldn’t someone, who doesn’t know what an obstacle in the road looks like, be taught what one is properly? And it just so happened that Cale was willing to put a large obstacle right in the middle of  Venion’s  way.  

Of course, all of this would be occurring in secret.  

Looking at the curious Choi Han, Cale spoke.  

“If you’re curious, you can help me out.”  

Still a little lost, but no less supportive to Cale showing that expression in regard to Venion, Choi Han nodded his head in agreement.  

“Whatever it is, I definitely want to help.”  

Choi Han started to smile as well. It was a pretty evil smile for such a good-nature individual, but the kittens were becoming intrigued as well as they observed the pair.  

Cale looked towards the mountain that was supposed to blow up in 3-days, and started to mumble. The fact that he had been looked down upon by  Venion , the sight of blood on  Venion’s  sleeves, as well as the fact that the old man had bowed down to him in fright – all of these facts were still fresh in Cale’s mind.  

“You won’t regret it.”  

Cale would definitely pay him back.  

“You definitely won’t regret it.”  

Chapter Text

“Young master, this is the best room we have.”  

Cale, as well as On and Hong who were held tightly in his arms, inspected the room, it was larger and better furnished than he’d expected; there was a bed under the window to one side, a chest of drawers with a vanity, a small couch, as well as a narrow table with two chairs on either side. There was even a handful of books on the shelves.   

Cale hummed. “Seems acceptable.”  

The exterior of the inn had looked old and rustic, as though the building had been standing since the development of the village, but the interior was well-maintained and had everything you could possibly need. This was likely because of the number of merchants that often passed through this area whilst visiting the  Henituse  territory. The inn was obviously getting good business, then.  

“This is the first time we’ve had a noble staying with us. Please look upon us favourably even if it is lacking quite a bit, and just consider it as a place where lesser beings live.”  

The old man seemed more comfortable than when he’d been apologising to  Venion , but he still seemed scared by the fact that Cale was a noble who’d be staying with him. Cale thought having a healthy amount of anxiety about this fact would mean that he’d give Cale his best service, however, this was too much even for him. It was making Cale uncomfortable that the old man was treating him slightly like how he’d treated  Venion  - he didn’t want to be put on the same level as an asshole like that. Cale wasn’t about to get angry just because the inn didn’t have the kind of luxuries he’d gotten used to at the Count’s estate.  

Cale placed On  and  Hong down before patting the old man’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, before telling him seriously.  

“Old man. Relax. I don’t like people who put themselves down like that. This is the place that people who come and go from our territory rest at. There’s no way that such a place could be lacking.”  

The old man’s pupils shook as he looked up at Cale’s sincerity. He couldn’t believe that a noble was praising his inn. He’d been caring for this business with everything he’d had since his father passed it down to him and was very proud of it even if it didn’t get as many visitors, or earn as much, as the inns found in larger villages. It was still the thing that he’d helped grow. He wet his upper lip with his tongue as he thought of a reply. Hesitating slightly, he spoke.  

“Young master, are there a lot of good people like you in the  Henituse  territory?”  

Cale furrowed his brows. “Excuse me?” He couldn’t understand how the old man had gotten such an impression. “I am the biggest trash in our territory. Almost anybody you find will have a better personality than me.”  

The old man let out a gasp. On and Hong who’d taken control of the couch were meowing and shaking their heads in exasperation but nobody seemed to notice.  

Give the confused old man’s shoulder one last pat, Cale dismissed him.  

“You can go do what you have to.”  

The old man bowed as best he could towards Cale before leaving the room. It was annoying that the old man still seemed to act stiffly with him, but Cale decided not to care too much as long as he didn’t act as terrified towards his as he’d been towards Venion.  

Cale stretched and was about to lay down on the bed for a bit when someone knocked on the door.  

Displeased, Cale frowned slightly. “Come in.”  

The door opened to revel Hans holding a small box in his hands. He looked down at the box curiously before looking towards Cale.  

“Young master, you only asked for this box, right?”  

Cale nodded as he moved his hand in a ‘hand it over’ gesture.  

Hans handed Cale the box and peered down at him, slightly hoping that Cale would be willing to show him what was inside as it’d been the only luggage that Cale had personally brought with him. Usually, he’d just assume it contained alcohol or snacks if it was an ordinary box, however, this box wasn’t normal – it had one of the highest quality magic boxes with a lock to match. The seal on the magic box was the logo of the Flynn Merchant Guild. Hans had an idea as to how his young master had gotten  a hold  of such an item.  

Cale could see that Hans was extremely curious as he stared at the box in his hands.  

“Isn’t a butler not supposed to show their emotions on their face? Especially curiosity?” he remarked casually.  

Unbothered by being caught, Hans grinned up at Cale. “One of the proper etiquettes of a butler is to show all of their emotions to their master.”  

Cale rolled his  eyes . “Funny man.”  

Hans nodded. “I guess I am a bit funny.”  

For someone who hadn’t wanted to come to the Capital with him until the kittens were mentioned, Hans was a bit impudent, but Cale still thought he was much more personable and easier to deal with than the other head butler candidates. It was especially amusing to see Hans slowly start to get used to him.  

Eventually Cale waved Hans off.   

“Get out.”  

“Yes, sir.” Hans left slightly disappointed that he hadn’t been able to see the box’s contents. But before he closed the door, he had a question regarding their travels.  

“Will we be staying here for three-days?”  

“Yes. Make sure to take care of everything.”  

“Yes, sir.”  

As they watched Hans’ retreating back, and after hearing the door click shut, On spoke up as she approached Cale.  

“He seems like a good butler.”  

Cale nodded his head, he placed the box he’d received from Hans on the table before bending down to pick On up, stroking behind her ears. Hong followed after his sister and butted his head against Cale’s legs as On continued.  

“It doesn’t seem that hard for him either.”  

Cale agreed with  On’s  assessment. Other than the Vice-Captain who was in charge of the envoy’s safety, Hans was responsible for everything else. Even with such a workload, Hans didn’t seem to show any signs of struggling, instead efficiently taking care of every jobs that came towards him. For Ron to do something like that, was one thing, as he was a scarily competent old man. But Hans was the one who had the least difficulty dealing with Cale. Sure, he was scared of him most of the time, but didn’t find Cale to be too difficult overall. He truly was a pretty decent butler.  

Cale pulled out one of the chairs with one hand before sitting down in front of the box. He placed  On   on  his lap and allowed Hong to jump up to join his sister. Both of the kittens stood up on their hide legs, with their front paws resting on the edge of the table, as they watched Cale open the box. The method for opening a box with a magic lock was simple: Cale’s fingerprint. That was the only key that could open this particular box. It reminded Cale of the smartphones back in Korea.   

He placed his index finger on the centre of the magic seal and, with a small beep, the seal released with a click. Inside the box were the items Cale had asked to be prepared during the four-days prior to his leaving for the Capital.  

On and Hong stood on their tippy-toes as they peered inside the box with wide eyes and their ears pressed against their heads.  

“I’m really curious about what this is,” On stated.  

Hong mirrored his sister, “really curious.”  

Ignoring the pair of siblings, Cale answered vaguely.  

“They’re things that will help rescue a poor soul, screw over some douchebags, and prevent me from getting hurt.”  

On and Hong nodded despite not understanding what Cale was getting at but nonetheless excited at the sight of the strange objects in the box. Cale caressed the items with satisfaction. He recalled the conversation he’d had with Billos before he’d left.  

“Young master, just where do you plan on using these things?”   

Cale could see that, whilst Billos was curious as to why a young master such as Cale would need such items, he was also concerned. Cale was sure it was because, when grouped together, the items seemed to give off the air of potential trouble.  

“I don’t see why I have to explain that to you.”  

Billos had accepted that easily before continuing. “But it’s going to cost quite a bit to purchase all of these items.”  

Cale raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t  it  possible to rent them?”  

Billos nodded enthusiastically, his merchant’s smile firmly in place. “For you? Of course, it’s possible.”  

The majority of the items within the box were magic tools. Cale had expected them to be expensive, but it’d really been quite a sum. Cale had used up all of the allowance he’d gained so far. He also had to return the items to Billos once he got to the Capital. He hadn’t wanted to get involved with him again once he got there, but two of the items couldn’t be rented to outsiders and had had to be rented under Billos’ name. Cale had thought about sending Hans or someone else over to return them, but Billos had been adamant that he had to return them in person.  

Cale pulled one of the items out of the box – it was a black orb, no bigger than a toddler’s fist, with a lot of symbols engraved on it.   

Hong patted Cale’s arm to get his attention.  

“Really curious about this.”  

Cale looked down at Hong. “It’s a Mana Disturbance Tool. It’s worth almost a billion gallon.”  

On and Hong gaped simultaneously, their eyes wide and their ears perked straight up.  

“However, it only cost 20 million  gallon  to rent it.”  

On and Hong quickly jumped off Cale’s lap and onto the bed, making sure not to jostle him too much, before retreating to one end. They were trying to keep as much distance between themselves and the black orb as possible scared by the  possibility  of breaking such an expensive item.  

Cale had been impressed that Billos had found exactly the item he’d been looking for.   

According to the information he’d gotten from Billos, the orb would cause a disturbance in the flow of mana within a certain range, making all magic tools temporarily inactive. It also had to be installed 27-hours in advance to someone wanting to use it at it was created to slowly infuse a force that would disrupt the mana but remain unnoticed by any nearby mages. The disturbance would last for 40-minutes once fully activated, but Billos had warned him that any nearby mages would likely notice and manage to resolve the issue within 5 to 10-minutes.  

The black orb was also sturdy enough that, even if something unlikely like a mountain blowing up happened, it would remain unbroken unlike a weak surveillance tool.  

The corner of Cale’s lips curled up, mischief coating his expression. It was the most expensive item he’d rented from Billos, but he would definitely have many uses for it on this trip.  

He especially liked how durable it was.  

The Flynn Merchant Guild truly was a very useful place.  

Satisfied, Cale turned in his seat and tossed the black orb towards the kittens crouching in the corner of the bed. Both of them startled badly, and meowed loudly, as they quickly leapt away from the orb flying towards them. Once the orb had safely landed on the bed without incident, the kittens glared up at Cale who just shrugged at their expression.  

“You two know how to read a map, right?”  

Confused by the sudden shift in topic, On cocked her head and tapped her tail on the bed in response.  

“Of course. We were, at  one-point , potential successors to the Fog Cat Tribe.”  

Hong nodded  seriously . “Right. My sister is right.”  

Cale turned back to the box and pulled out another important item – a map. It wasn’t very detailed, but it had the general markings of landmarks around the  Henituse  territory. Most of the merchants going to and from the territory would use a map like this.  

Cale pushed the box aside for a moment and laid the map out on the table and placed his index finger on the map.  

“We are in this village right now.”  

On and Hong jumped up onto the table to get a better look, peering down at where Cale’s finger was.  

Cale then moved his finger along so it pointed to the mountain that was right of the village and made eye contact with the children.  

“You see this mountain?”  

The two kittens nodded.  

“If you go towards this mountain, you will see a villa in the distance. Behind the villa is a cave.”  

Currently, there were no mages around the Black Dragon. The people of the Magic Tower respected Dragons as the greatest magic race and didn’t want humans to torture or domesticate them. They considered doing so an absolute disgrace to magic. The only people around the cave, and the villa, at the moment were trusted knights and soldiers of the Marquis who were willing to do the dirty work for him.  

“Don’t go near there at all. You can’t allow yourselves to get caught.”  

Cale had heard about these two’s situation from Ron which was why he was confident that they could complete this task for him, nevertheless, he still wanted to give them a warning just to be on the safe side. It’d be bad if their curiosity led them towards the cave.  

The children watched him curiously as he told them not to get caught. They could see that Cale was being serious as his gaze was hard and his tone was firm. They realised that, despite how he usually acted, Cale was worried about sending them on whatever mission this was. The two siblings briefly glanced at each other; their eyes were bright with the knowledge that Cale wasn’t quite as indifferent towards them as he’d always seemed to be.  

Cale leant forward in his chair, clasping his arms in front of his face with his elbows on the table. He stared down at the image of the mountain with a hard expression before looking back at On and Hong who were waiting patiently for him to continue.  

“Inside that cave, something is being tortured. We’re going to rescue them, so you have to be very careful.”  

Not expecting that, the children looked at each other in shock before asking.  

“Something?”  

Cale nodded solemnly as he looked at the youngest kitten. “Yes. They’re even younger than you, Hong.”  

The kittens flinched as Hong tentatively asked. “Even younger than me?”  

“Yes. They’re 4-years-old.”  

Of course, this 4-year-old was a dragon that was strong enough to send On and Hong flying once the mana restriction chains were removed. That was part of the reason he was slightly concerned about sending them on this mission.  

On and Hong stared down at the mountain Cale had pointed at. They walked closer to the map, both of them placing one of their paws over the mountain’s marking.  

“We’re going to save him?”  

Cale observed the unexpectedly solemn children as they stared at the map. He was sure they were empathising with the dragon, having gone through some hard times of their own at the hands of the tribe that was supposed to care for them. This was the other reason he was worried about sending them on this mission. He didn’t want to subject the two children – as that’s what they were, Cat Tribe or not – to the sight and knowledge that another child was going through something similar to them. Shouldn’t children be allowed to grow up peacefully? They shouldn’t have been made to see the ugly sides of the world just yet.    

Cale sighed. “Save? Sure. Just make sure to stay in your cat form and go bury this orb in the mountain without getting caught.”  

In their cat forms, there shouldn’t be any chance of the pair accidentally getting caught as their stealth ability was heightened in this form. Standing up, Cale went over to the bed and picked up the black orb, before pulling out a small pouch and placing the orb inside. He then tied it around  On’s  neck like a necklace.  

Motivated by the knowledge that they were about to save someone, On asked a question.  

“Where should we bury it?”  

“Anywhere on the mountain.”  

On gaped. “Really? Anywhere?”  

Cale nodded. Just like the durability of the orb, the range was that of a single mountain, so it wouldn’t matter where On and Hong decided to bury it – it would still be able to successfully serve its purpose.  

The siblings looked at each other before nodding their heads.  

“Easy!”  

“We even managed to get past our Cat Tribe’s elders to escape.”  

Cale agreed with them.  

“It should be easy for the two of you as you both have the skills for it. I wouldn’t ask someone useless to do something like this in the first place.”  

The kittens looked up at Cale with shining eyes as their tails wagged. They’d almost been killed by their own tribe for not having abilities, even though they’d never received the opportunity to learn. The fact that someone like Cale was saying that they were useful and was even worried about them was making them emotional. They scrunched their noses and lifted their heads up high to hold back their tears.  

Cale could see that the siblings were getting emotional and had a good idea as to why. He looked down at them sternly before saying, “I will give you as much beef as you want once you’ve successfully and safely returned, okay?”  

The kittens nodded their heads quickly before running and jumping out of the window, stealthily making their way into the mountain’s terrain. 
 

*** 
 

On and Hong slipped between the trees, dodging roots and rocks as they speedily navigated the terrain they remembered from Cale’s map. Despite what their tribe’s elders had thought, On and Hong were actually very competent and adept at learning, their memory being one of their strongest skills beside their fog and poison abilities. The poison fog they’d left behind them when they’d escaped from their tribe had been the only thing that had allowed them to do so successfully – from what they’d remembered of overheard conversation, and brief snapshots of maps they’d snuck peaks at, the siblings had managed to find their way to the  Henituse  territory. They’d debated venturing into other regions, but now they were glad that they’d wandered into Cale’s father’s territory.  

On the day they’d met Cale, they’d been preparing to continue their journey, not wanting to stay too long in one place in case they were being tracked, but then they’d seen a stupid noble march confidently towards where the man-eating tree was.  

When  On  and Hong had first arrived in the slums of the  Henituse  territory, the first thing they’d done was scout the area as well as  gathering  information;  from  this they’d learnt the story of the man-eating tree. Curious, they’d approached the tree, bringing sticks and rocks with them so they could investigate it without actually touching it. They’d poked the trunk with their sticks, flung rocks at it, and sniffed around the base whilst in their cat forms to see if they could figure anything out. Finding nothing but a big black hole on one side, which On and Hong had kept a wide berth from just in case, they decided to try tossing rocks into the hole to see if anything would happen. They gathered rocks of all different sizes and then, whilst remaining a safe distance away, began tossing them in the hole. They got through two large piles of rocks each without any sign of change. Not understanding how such a hole still remained unfilled by their rocks, they investigated once more in the cat forms, peering into the ever-remaining darkness.   

Mustering up some courage,  On  tentatively dipped her paw into the hole, watching as the darkness seemed to envelop it entirely like a black mist. At first, nothing extraordinary happened and, satisfied that the tree might not actually go around eating people and instead was just really odd with its gigantic hole,  On  had gone to pull her paw out when an ice-cold feeling grasped it sharply, its cold fingers digging in painfully. She flinched violently and tried to pull her paw out from the hole but found that the freezing feeling was climbing ever higher as it grasped her tightly. Panicking at the sight of his sister struggling, Hong bodily smashed into his sister knocking both of them far away from the hole.  

Adrenaline pumping, the pair quickly jumped the fence around the tree and dashed back down the hill. Once they’d reached the edge of the slums, Hong butted and rubbed his head against his sister meowing worriedly. On lifted the paw she’d stuck in the hole but thankfully nothing seemed to have changed. They glanced back up the hill but decided that approaching it again likely wouldn’t end well. That was why, when they’d seen Cale strut towards the tree without any once of concern, they’d immediately tried to stop him. They’d learnt the hard way that messing with the tree wasn’t a good idea, and they couldn’t in good conscience allow Cale to figure that out the same way even if they hadn’t known him at the time, so they’d followed him up the hill despite being rightfully scared of the tree.  

When Cale had continued to approach the tree, going as far as to crouch down next to it, even after they’d yelled at him that he’d die if he approached it, the siblings had been at a loss at what to do. They didn’t want to see someone get injured but they also didn’t want to get any closer to the tree. Whilst they’d been mulling over how to convince Cale to leave the tree along, he’d stood up and tossed bread towards them.  

They’d been confused as to why Cale was suddenly tossing food at them but Hong had quickly picked the bread up, not wanting to miss the opportunity to eat something. On thought that Cale was likely hoping to bribe them to leave him alone so hesitated at the thought of accepting the bread. The chance to save a person’s life wasn’t worth ignoring for one piece of bread after all.  

That was when Cale had asked them if they knew of the trash son of the Count’s family – that had been another piece of information they’d gathered in the handful of days they’d spent in the  Henituse  territory. They needed as much information at their disposal in order to survive, after all.   

Realising that the young stupid noble in front of them was the trash son from the rumours,  On  had paled rapidly, worried that her and her brother might receive some kind of punishment for trying to stop him from approaching the tree. They didn’t, after all, know why he was there in the first place. For all they knew, he could’ve been ordered to inspect it by the Count.  

Deciding that, for the sake of her and her brother’s safety, it might be better to just leave Cale to whatever it was he was doing, she had mustered up her courage before announcing that he couldn’t die. No matter the rumours about him, she would still be concerned for his safety, especially after having given the two some bread. After that, Cale had returned safely like he said he would, shocking both On and Hong; he’d also said that he’d be coming back with more bread for them.   

That was the moment that  On  had decided that Cale might not be as bad as the rumours had led everyone to believe he was.  

From then onwards, Cale had kept his promise, had even taken them in and helped care for  On’s  injury. They’d finally found someone who was willing to take care of them and they didn’t want to risk doing anything to potentially lose that. As such, when Cale had said that being useful would allow them to pay for their meals, On and Hong had jumped at the opportunity to fulfil their role - if being useful allowed them to stay with Cale, then they’d make sure to remain useful forever.  

Of course, they now knew that even if they did become less useful to Cale, it was unlikely that he’d kick them out. They’d seen the way he’d begun to care for them, even as he acted indifferently or annoyed by them; they’d seen the way he worried over the safety when asking them to complete this mission; and they knew they’d likely see relief in his eyes when they returned after having completed it safely. Cale truly wasn’t an honest person.  

That was why, for Cale’s sake, they were going to do their best to bury this orb and return home. They did have some delicious beef to look forward to, as well, after all.  

***  

When the kittens returned, Cale already had their reward waiting for them – a 10-tier beef steak all to themselves. Cale had also included a small plate of fish on the side as an added bonus and not because he felt bad about sending children out on dangerous errands.  

The next day, Cale drank what had become his morning lemonade, having gotten used to the flavour slightly from Ron constantly giving it to him, and asked Choi Han a question.  

“Have you ever seen a dragon?”  

Choi Han, who had been in the middle of drinking some tea, placed his cup down gently as he looked towards Cale. “A dragon?”  

“Yes.”  

Choi Han stared blankly for a second as he tossed his mind back to his time in the Forest of Darkness.  

“I’ve seen something similar once.”  

Cale cocked an eyebrow. ‘Similar, my ass.’ He was very aware about what Choi Han was describing as being ‘similar’ to a dragon.   

In the Forest of Darkness, there were many vicious monsters hidden within its depths. Among these terrifying monsters, were creatures that were somewhere between a lizard and a dragon. Choi Han had killed a dragon-like monster as soon as he’d advanced from the middle-stage to the final-stage of his Dark Destruction Sword Art. But Cale pretended not to know this fact.  

“You did? How was it?”  

Choi Han looked at Cale. “It was a monster. Its appearance, its strength, everything. It was a monster in all aspects.”  

“Is that so?” Cale nodded his head but his words and his actions didn’t match up.  “Then you’ve not seen a dragon.”  

“Excuse me?”  

Cale took a sip of his lemonade. “Dragons are like people.” He then leant forward and put the cup on the table in front of him with a click. “Dragons, Beast people, Dwarves, Elves – they are all like humans. Why? Because they also have emotions and lives.”  

But that part wasn’t important to Cale, and he didn’t want to start and existential debate on what supposedly made one race superior than another, that wasn’t his main point.  

“However.”  

Noticing Cale’s change in demeanour, Choi Han sat up straight and focused solely on what Cale was about to say.  

“Such an existence has fallen into darkness since it was born. The only thing currently lighting up that darkness in its life are torches. It has never seen the light of the sun. What kind of life do you think it has?”  

Cale tapped the table with his index finger, the sound an ominous ring in the silence.  

“It’s being forced to be an existence without rationality. It’s had to suffer through its loneliness without anyone to lean on.”  

Choi Han’s gaze fell every time Cale’s finger tapped on the  table;  his fists were clenched painfully tight underneath the table to the point where his veins had begun to flare up angrily. Unaware of this, Cale continued.  

“It’s tortured and abused every day and is only left alone when it’s barely breathing.”  

Choi Han’s expression stiffened, the black of his pupils swirled tumultuously. Cale knew that Choi Han would react this way – there was no way a good person like him wouldn’t get angry after hearing such a story. He should’ve also figured out the reason why Cale had told him such a story in the first place.  

Cale took another sip of his lemonade.  

“And that existence is nearby.”  

Silence descended sharply in the room. Cale turned his head to look out the window, before slowly turning his gaze back to Choi Han. He didn’t know what Choi Han was thinking about, but his whole body was oozing a bloody aura. He thought that Choi Han might be just be angry at the fact that someone was being abused because he was a good person, but contrary to Cale’s hypothesis, Choi Han was currently thinking back on the tens of years he’d had to endure alone in the Forest of Darkness.  

That had been a dark time for him, quite literally. Like the existence Cale had mentioned, those tens of years had felt like they were forcing him to change into a being without rationality as he drowned in his loneliness. They’d felt like they were tearing deep holes in his mind and morality. He hadn’t felt human during that time; he’d felt like he was slowly being infected by the monsters as he himself became one. And it felt like there’d been nothing he could do about it – he'd needed to change that way in order to survive.   

In the end, he wasn’t proud of himself for how he’d changed even if it’d meant that he’d lived. Even when he’d finally escaped and lived in Harris Village, there’d been a small part of him that had always felt like the monster-version of him was one step away from taking over completely. That became especially true after the massacre when he’d allowed his anger, sorrow and despair to take over, uncaring of whether he remained human or turned in a monster. It wasn’t until he was hunched over in an alleyway after having avoided On and Hong, that the loneliness he’d not realised he was drowning in had suddenly allowed him a small burst of air when a strange red-headed man asked him if he had somewhere to return to. That small burst of air had felt like a drop of water after a lifetime of thirst. It felt like an opportunity that, if he let go of it now, would likely never return, and he’d been caught in a desperate state. He’d grasped that opportunity with both hands and held on tightly, despite his inability to trust anyone at that moment, and it hadn’t been wrong of him to do so as he’d gained so much from that one small encounter.  

And if there was currently an existence who was facing similar things to what he’d faced? Then Choi Han wanted to help give that existence its first breath of fresh air before it drowned completely.  

Cale watched Choi Han as the man’s silence continued for quite a while. But finally, Choi Han lifted his gaze and made eye contact with Cale, his expression serious.  

“Will you save it and then try to tame it?”  

Cale’s eyes widened in shock as he stopped himself from gaping. “Are you crazy?”  

Shocked by his outburst, Choi Han could only mutter a weak, “excuse me?”  

Cale felt like he was moments from going insane. He couldn’t understand Choi Han’s thought process at all if he’d had to ask a question like that.  

“Why would I try to tame it?” He waved his hand around like Choi Han was crazy.  

There was no way that a dragon – especially one that had been abused by humans – would be willing to serve a human. In fact, it would probably be filled with so much hate and disgust for them, that it’d try to get as far away from them the minute it was free, even if it was a human that had saved it. Dragons were creature who believed they were above all others. This would be their natural instinct even if they hadn’t had any contact with other dragons their whole life. As such, a dragon could not grow under humans. Their attitude made it impossible for them to be domesticated or trained without the use of torture or abuse to break down its mind.  

Cale didn’t want to deal with any dragons any more than was strictly necessary. He could also feel that, if he ever got involved with such a being, he would get himself wrapped up in some highly annoying incidents – that, he could happily do without.  

In total, there was estimated to be less than twenty dragons in the Eastern and Western Continents combined. To raise one of those dragons, was to pretty much say that you wanted to be at the centre of all the happenings in the continents. Cale didn’t want to be at the centre of any happenings anywhere, let alone the continents.  

As far as he was concerned, the dragon they were going to help was a dragon that was supposed to die anyway. As such, it would be better for it to go off into its own little world and not get in anyone’s way.  

Cale was also definitely against this dragon – or any dragon for that matter – coming with them. As long as Cale got rid of the mana restriction chains, the four-year-old dragon would have the chance to live a much better life than Cale. Dragons weren’t called the kings of the world since birth for no reason.  

Choi Han looked confused by Cale’s vehement reply. “Then?”  

“Why are you asking such an obvious question? Let it go so it can live a free and peaceful life.  Shouldn't  a dragon live like a dragon?”  

Choi Han slowly nodded as his fists unclenched. “I see. Then we will be saving that dragon?”  

Cale nodded, pleased that Choi Han had caught up with his plan. “Yes. So, I need your help.”  

Choi Han looked at Cale seriously. “Anything. I really will do anything to help.”  

Cale shook his head. He was slightly worried that Choi Han would escalate the situation if he attempted to help by doing anything.   

“No need to go overboard. I have no plans to kill anybody, if possible, either. I’m planning to execute this plan as quietly as possible.”  

Choi Han breathed in deeply as he looked at Cale with admiration. “Cale- nim  you really-”  

But Cale interrupted him as he looked at the clock, saying what he needed to say.   

“Go tell Ron to prepare some alcohol on the first-floor.”  

Choi Han was startled by the interruption, and confused by its contents. “What?”  

Cale was in need of a drink first.  

***  

Cale had started drinking even though it was still the middle of the day. Choi Han sat next to him, confusion written in bold across his face, as he looked around. Everybody, other than himself, looked peaceful. And in the middle of this peace was Cale, as he drank bottle after bottle of expensive alcohol, a flush colouring his cheeks that made anyone who was watching him believe that he was getting quite drunk.  

Choi Han looked towards Hans who was sat on his other side. “Is it okay to let him drink so much?”  

Hans was currently trying to feed bites of food to On and Hong who were ignoring him.  

“Yes! There’s nothing in his hand, thus, it is safe! He promised he wouldn’t throw any bottles this time.”  

When Choi Han had asked the question, he’d been asking in concern for Cale’s health, but Hans had answered thinking he was worried about their own safety. Seeing that the conversation had taken an odd turn, Choi Han shut his mouth and moved away from Hans. It was better to leave Hans alone with his favourite kittens than try to correct his misunderstanding.  

Instead, Choi Han decided to watch Cale in order to make sure he remained safe and didn’t accidentally  overdo  it with the alcohol consumption.  

Unaware of Choi Han’s gaze on him, Cale was focused on praising the alcohol.  

“Owner. Your alcohol tastes great! Much better than I’d expected!”  

Cale’s group had been drinking for two hours already. Of course, there were some who’d decided not to drink just in case something happened, but the large majority had been enjoying the festive atmosphere.  

Cale glanced around the drunk knights, soldiers and servants. They’d all be nervous for the first hour after Cale had ordered them to gather in order to drink with him. Some of the soldiers had even shown up with their helmets on. Cale couldn’t believe it, but had promised him that he wouldn’t throw any bottles in order to get them to start to relax.  

The old man, and owner of the inn, began to smile as Cale praised his alcohol.  

“This village may be small, but there are a lot of mountains nearby. The alcohol is specially made by myself with the fruit and herbs from the mountains. That’s why it is a bit expensive.”  

Cale admired the alcohol, impressed that the old man had made it himself, as he lifted the bottle up to the old man.  

“Do you have a lot of these?”  

The old man nodded. “Yes. Quite a bit.”  

Cale tipped his head upwards as he took another swig from the bottle. “Then get some more and send it around to everyone here.”  

The Vice-Captain, who’d been enjoying his drink with a flushed face, whipped around in Cale’s direction as he heard that, but his eyes were focused on the bottle in Cale’s hand. Likewise, the rest of the soldiers were also looking at the same thing. “Young master, you don’t need to-”  

However, Cale was aware of what they were all really thinking and cut him off.  

“Just drink. I’m telling you to drink, got it?”  

The eyes of all the soldiers began to sparkle. It was the first time they’d been excited to see a bottle in Cale’s hands. Cale watched their excitement with a sharp gaze as the inn owner brought over the alcohol, as well as snacks, for everyone.  

Contrary to popular belief, Cale  Henituse  had a strong alcohol tolerance. Everybody had thought he’d had a low tolerance as his face flushed easily and he would cause a ruckus each time he drank, but the truth was that he’d done all those things whilst being almost completely sober. That was why Cale’s head was perfectly clear right now.  

He drank for another thirty-or-so minutes before looking toward Choi Han.  

“Choi Han. Come support me. I’m going up to rest now.”  

Hearing that he was going to rest, the Vice-Captain stood up slightly unsteadily.  

“Young master, I’ll do it.”  

Cale waved the Vice-Captain off. It would become complicated if the Vice-Captain or any of the others followed him.  

“It’s okay. Rest a bit for today. The rest of the soldiers as well. Didn’t you fight in a battle yesterday? This isn’t a dangerous are, and I feel bad for the soldiers on guard duty, but the rest of you can relax and enjoy yourselves.”  

“But, young master-”  

“I’m tired. Bye.”  

Cale quickly cut off his argument and began to make his way up the stairs supported by Choi Han, with Ron and Hans, who was holding the kittens, following after him. Thankfully, none of them tried to approach him after seeing that Choi Han was supporting him, and because of the fact that Ron and Hans were going with him. It was also likely that they didn’t try to follow because Choi Han hadn’t drunk anything at all and was the strongest person here. They had nothing to worry about since such a person was going to be guarding Cale.  

That left only one other person for Cale to try to escape from. It was easy to avoid the guards at the gate and around the inn, but Ron was still left. Hans and Ron wouldn’t come into his room if he told them not to come in, however, the difference between the two was that Hans wasn’t skilled enough to sense whether Cale was still in the room or not.  

Realistically, he knew that Ron wouldn’t care whether Cale snuck out or not, or about what he’d do once he’d snuck out, as that was how it’d always been until now, but Cale didn’t want things to get annoying in the future. As such, he’d chosen to tell Ron in advance.  

Seeing Ron follow behind Choi Han, Cale quickly informed Ron.  

“Ron, I’m going to go out and play. It’s a secret, understood?”  

Ron liked to drink from time to time, but he’d not drank a single drop tonight, instead, choosing to stare at Cale all night, much like Choi Han. Unlike with Choi Han’s stare, Cale couldn’t help but notice Ron’s gaze seeing as he was a scary old man. The benign smile Ron was giving him at the moment was arguably even scarier than his gaze earlier.  

“I understand, young master. I will be waiting for you.”  

Cale waved him off. “Don’t.”  

As expected, Ron had agreed without him needing to say anything else. Cale continued to be supported by Choi Han as he went into his room.  

“I’m going to be resting. Hans, Ron, don’t come in to wake me up unless it’s an emergency. You know how I get when someone messes with my sleep, right?”  

It was well-known that a servant had received a barrage of swearing when they’d tried to wake Cale up in place of Ron. Although Cale didn’t physically hit anybody that time, the servant had gone around the estate telling all the other servants about how he’d felt like he’d been hit by a flurry of punches in the form of swear words. And Cale was currently making good use of that fact.  

“Of course, I do, young master. Please rest well.” Hans placed the kittens on the floor before bowing towards Cale and exiting the room.  

“Young master, this Ron will be standing right outside your room.”  

Cale stiffened after hearing Ron’s response, but he watched him follow after Hans, before stealthily giving Choi Han and order.  

“Once you close the door, use the windows to quietly come back to my room.”  

Choi Han nodded his head, before quickly following Ron and Hans out of the room, and closing the door behind him.  

On looked up at him from the floor. “Is it time now?”  

Cale nodded his head as he made his way over to the box on the table in the room. Placing his index finger on the seal, it clicked open. Cale then took a black outfit out of the box and began to change. Once he’d finished, Choi Han entered through the window. Upon seeing Cale, he opened his eyes wide in shock.  

“Cale-nim?”  

Cale threw another black outfit towards Choi Han before putting on his mask.  

“You wear it too.”  

The orb from yesterday would temporarily stop the magic recording devices surrounding the cave and the nearby area, but that wasn’t enough. Cale didn’t want to get caught or have people connecting the incident that was about to occur to him. That was why he’d been drinking since the middle of the day as well as having prepared these outfits. No one would expect a drunk young master to go and set a nearby dragon free.  

Choi Han held the outfit in his hands, running his fingers over an insignia on the left of the chest area. It was a single red star with five smaller white stars surrounding it.  

“What is this?”  

Cale looked at Choi Han before answering. “What is it? It’s the outfit worn by those of the secret organisation.”  

In the novel, the outfit worn by the secret organisation that Choi Han frequently ran into had been clearly and accurately described. The outfit in Choi Han’s hand had been specially ordered by Cale following the novel’s explanation as accurately as possible. Just to be on the safe side, Cale had even had the outfit created separately and then personally added the stars. That was why it looked a bit crude up close, but the effect was pretty decent from a distance.  

People who saw this outfit wouldn’t remember the crudeness of the stitching, instead they would remember that it was a ‘black outfit with one red star and five white stars.’  

The purpose of this was so that someone like  Venion , who had not personally met members of the organisation like the Marquis had, would hear the report from his subordinates who saw them and be given a significant headache to compliment his anger.  

Choi Han looked down at the insignia again. “Are we doing something bad?”  

Seeing Cale dressed in all black, paired with the mask covering much of his face, certainly gave off the feeling of a  villain .  

“Yes. We’re doing something bad.”  

Cale started to grin under the mask, his eyes narrowing with a cunning light to them.  

“We’re doing something bad to that bastard,  Venion  Stan.”  

Choi Han gasped. He finally seemed to understand as he pointed to the other mask in Cale’s hand.  

“Please give it to me.”  

Even good people had someone they didn’t like and would want to screw over – it was just human nature, there were no exceptions. Not even this 17-year-old, who’d spent tens of years alone in the world.  

Suddenly remembering, Cale gestured to On and Hong who were patiently sat on the bed.  

“These kids are from the Cat Tribe, On and Hong. They’re beast people.”  

Choi Han and the kittens exchanged simple greetings. The Cat Tribe children, who were sensitive to a person’s true character, already had a good idea about Choi Han’s strength, and Choi Han had already noticed that they weren’t your average cats from their behaviour during their travels.  

Cale waved his hand at Choi Han. “On, Hong, he’s Choi Han.” He then clapped his hands together once. “End of introductions. Everybody  get  ready.”  

There was a short time for Choi Han to get changed in the rest room before Cale ordered him as they stood in front of the second story window.  

“Carry me when you go out the window. I can’t jump so far down without getting hurt.”  

Choi Han let out a sigh for the first time in front of Cale. On and Hong approached Choi Han and patted his legs with their paws to console him.  

Watching the interaction, Cale rolled his eyes in impatience before urging them onwards.  

“Let’s hurry.”  

Choi Han picked Cale up bridal style before jumping out the window. The group then safely exited the area surrounding the inn and headed for the mountain with the Viscount’s  villa  and the Black Dragon’s prison.  

Chapter Text

Cale’s group made their way to the location where On and Hong had buried the black orb. The Viscount’s villa was 30-metres away from the cave where the dragon was being kept; On and Hong had buried the black orb 50-metres from the cave in an area filled with trees and shrubs. This made it difficult for the orb to be located. Cale was impressed with the two kittens’ smart thinking.  

Cale patted the kittens on their heads as he pulled down his mask to smile at them. “You two are kind of amazing.”  

By placing the orb in such a location, the kittens had not only ensured it would be difficult to locate once it had been activated and anyone noticed what was going on, but they’d also placed in such a position that it would be easy for them to retrieve once it had fulfilled its purpose.   

“Something like this is a piece of cake!”  

On lifted her chin, pride blanketing her as she basked in Cale’s praise. She’d already known that her and her brother had done a good job – it was the kind of task they were best at, after all – but it was nice to be positively acknowledged for once rather than with disdain and hatred.  

Cale watched fondly as  On  announced that the task he’d given her had been easy, however, he could see her nose twitching in joy as she resolutely refrained from grinning.   

The group crouched around the spot where the black orb had been buried as they looked towards the entrance of the cave in the distance, as well as at the Viscount’s villa that was behind it. Light poured out of the villa’s windows into the nearby area, creating large stretched shadows through the trees. Flickers of movement could be seen outside the cave, but Cale, Choi Han and the kittens were hidden firmly amongst the night’s darkness.  

Lowering his voice to a hushed whisper, Cale spoke lowly as he looked at each of his group’s members in turn. “You remember the plan?”  

He’d explained their plan briefly on the way over as they navigated the mountain’s terrain. Realistically speaking, Cale didn’t actually have much of a plan as it could be boiled down simply to ‘get in, get the dragon, get out,’ all whilst ensuring none of them got caught and all returned safely. In Cale’s mind, the more complicated a plan, the more likely it would be to fail.  

In the novel, the Black Dragon had been smart like most other dragons; it had been gathering information for the four longs years it’d remained captive which had played a part in the reason for its attempted escape that was due to happen two-days later.  

According to the information that the dragon had gathered during this time, there were a total of thirty people residing within the villa. Originally, there had been close to 100 people, however, it had slowly whittled down as they realised that they didn’t need to worry about anyone coming to this area or the area surrounding it.  

Among the remaining thirty people, there were three high-level knights that were on par with the Vice-Captain, as well as seven mid-level knights. There were also a number of soldiers, the torturer, and a handful of random labourers. The number of people left here was a good indication of just how much attention the Marquis had been giving this place. However, Cale had Choi Han – someone who was capable of taking down the strongest knight in the Roan kingdom in ten moves.   

Cale held up six fingers as he continued his explanation. “There  are  a total of six people on guard at this time. Amongst them, there is one high-level knight, two mid-level knights, as well as two soldiers, guarding the cave’s entrance. Inside the cave, there is only one high-level knight in the passage leading to the back, whilst only the torturer remains at the end.”  

The three individuals flinched at the mention of the torturer, their hands shaking as they thought of the horrible bastard that had been torturing a young child for years. Whilst all three of them had experienced pain in one form or another over the years, they couldn’t imagine what it was like for that poor dragon. Unaware of the kind of turn his three group members’ thoughts were taking, Cale continued.  

“The recording devices located on the path leading from the villa to the cave’s entrance will be  inactive  for 40-minutes thanks to the black orb On and Hong buried. The same goes for the alarms, traps, and anything else that relies on mana to work.”  

Marquis Stan, who had needed to try to domesticate this dragon – a creature that had the greatest abilities in magic – and hadn’t been able to ask any mages for help, had meant that he’d filled this location with magic items in order to supplement that fact. The reason there was also so few guards around, was because they trusted their magic items as mana disturbance tools were very rare and very expensive. For that reason, the dragon had had no choice but to cause a mana explosion in order to escape, destroying the Marquis’ tools in the process.  

It also helped that the Marquis and his people believed that nobody, other than those directly involved, knew of what was being done here.  

Of course, they hadn’t expected someone like Cale, who was staring up at the lights from the villa with a calculating expression, to come along.  

‘An eye for an eye, and money for money.’  

Since the Marquis was throwing money around in order to carry out his plan, Cale would throw his money around in order to stop it in its tracks. He patted the magic bag tied around his waist; it was enchanted with an ability that acted much like an extradimensional subspace, allowing you to store many more items that the exterior of the bag would indicate it was capable of. Inside of the bag were other useful magical items, tools and objects to help with their mission of rescuing the dragon.  

Choi Han watched as Cale patted his bag before turning to look back at those guarding the cave’s entrance. They looked significantly weaker than him despite the fact that their levels would be considered high by normal standards. They also weren’t on their guard. Choi Han looked down his nose at them.  

“I just need to take out the guards, right?”  

His eyes sharpened into blades, blood thrumming under his skin as he thought about taking down those involved with the merciless shedding of an innocent being’s blood. Righteous anger threatened to spill over as he clenched his hand tightly around the hilt of his sword.  

Cale looked at Choi Han with a serious expression.  

“Yes. You’re the only one I can rely on to cover my back.”  

Naturally, Cale was planning for Choi Han to be doing the battling. Why would he even try to fight when a much stronger person was right next to him? Someone like Cale thought paper cuts were the height of agony, so the prospect of getting cut by a sword sounded less than appealing.   

Squaring his shoulders, Choi Han nodded earnestly as he sincerely responded.  

“I will definitely live up to your expectations.”  

Cale patted the hard-working Choi Han on the back. He’d feel bad about pushing all of this work onto Choi Han if the guy didn’t like it, but he was so dedicated to helping that not making him work would probably land a bigger blow than making him work hard. He was the most suitable for something like this in the end, and would make the entire process a lot more efficient.  

“Yes. As I mentioned, make sure the people here see our outfit and then knock them out. Don’t kill them. And don’t show them your sword art. You remember what to do after that, right?”  

Choi Han’s unique black transparent aura should easily be camouflaged by the darkness as long as he makes sure to use it carefully. Cale was sure that Choi Han would already understand this fact as he’d told him many times.  

Choi Han nodded. “I remember it all.”  

“Good. I’ll leave it to you.”  

Reaching into his bag, Cale pulled out a voice changing device and turned to Choi Han before moving closer. Once he was directly in front of Choi Han, Cale grabbed the tip of Choi Han’s mask, resting gently over his nose, between his thumb and forefinger before pulling it down. Startled, and confused, Choi Han blinked owlishly back but didn’t move away. Unaware of this, Cale continued to pull the mask down and forward to reveal where it blended in with the collar of Choi Han’s outfit. He then slipped his other hand into the mask to securely fasten the voice changing device at the bottom of it. The device itself was reminiscent of  lavalier  mics used in television but without the transmitter; it could be connected to the collar of their clothes or to the inside of their masks, and was small enough that it’d go unnoticed by those around them. Satisfied that the device wasn’t about to fall off, Cale pulled the mask back up and over Choi Han’s face, fixing it until it sat comfortably under his eyes. Cale thought it’d be bad if Choi Han was made to talk during the fight and they ended up recognising his voice. He didn’t want this incident to be connected back to him or to Choi Han – both could do without the potential mess.  

Cale patted the spot above the device on Choi Han’s collar bone. “It’s expensive, so don’t break it.”  

Choi Han stared back silently before focusing. “Got it. You don’t need to worry about it.”  

Cale then fastened his own voice changing device into the inside of his mask before turning towards the kittens. On and Hong were wagging their tails as they looked up at Cale expectantly. Having a good idea as to what they were after, Cale had to stop himself from smiling. Instead, he pointed at them with a serious expression.  

“I will give you meat once this is over.”  

But that didn’t seem to be the right answer, as the pair snorted before looking at each other and turning away.   

Cale shrugged before checking the time with his watch. There were 5-minutes left until the black orb could be activated. According to Billos, the magic items that were influenced by the Mana Disturbance Tool would instantly stop working, with most of them turning off to prevent them from blowing up. However, any items that were of the highest quality would start beeping to signal that they were broken. Billos had said that the noise would be similar to that of a clock rather than an all-out alarm. Either way, that many devices going off at once would create chaos. That was enough for Cale.  

Cale breathed deeply before pulling up his mask.   

“Get ready.”  

The kittens covered themselves in charcoal to cover the colour of their fur before leaving Cale’s side and melting into the dark undergrowth. The two of them wouldn’t be showing themselves to today’s enemy but Cale knew they’d follow the plan and remain close by. Choi Han relaxed his limbs as his mind sharpened.   

Once all of their preparations were completed, Cale hoisted himself to his feet as vibrations began to move outwards from where he’d been sat. The black orb had activated.  

“Let’s go.”  

At his order, Choi Han followed the plan. He quickly dashed ahead,  On  following as she created fog in the area. Cale walked amongst the centre of the fog. He couldn’t see directly ahead of him, but he could hear a distant ringing as the highest-grade magic items drew attention to their change in status. Following the sound, Cale headed towards the entrance of the cave.  

From this moment onwards, it was a battle against time.  

The fog began to lessen the closer he got to the cave. Already, Cale could see Choi Han fighting against the knights guarding the entrance. The soldiers that had also been there were already covered in injuries and knocked out on the floor. Cale was impressed by how quicky Choi Han had taken care of them, before remembering that they were nowhere near Choi Han’s level in terms of skill and ability.  

A high-level knight thrust his sword towards Choi Han, angrily calling out.  

“Who are you? How dare you come to this place!”  

Choi Han lightly stepped to the side to avoid the knight’s attack. He then twisted his body around, standing behind the knight, before taking a deep step forward and slashing his sword outward. A deep cut opened up on the knights back and side. Avoiding the blood spurt, Choi Han stepped forward and slammed his elbow into the knight’s back and then his neck making him faint.  

The high-level knight who’d been inside the cave came running out, having heard the sounds of a battle being mixed into the incessant beeping of the magic items. Greeted by the sight of most of his comrades injured and knocked out, the knight swiftly unsheathed his sword as he glared at Choi Han who stood tall amongst the fallen  soldiers.  

“Shit! What the hell is going on?!”  

Ignoring the new arrival, Choi Han looked towards Cale as he stepped further out of the fog.  

“Poison.”  

Speaking through his own voice changing device, Cale ordered Hong to begin stealthily mixing his paralysis poison into his sister’s fog. The white mist curved around Cale, completely avoiding him, and rolled outwards towards their enemies. It crawled over the fallen soldiers like a ghost and numbed their limbs, ensuring that they wouldn’t be able to move for a while even if they happened to wake up sooner than expected.  

Cale then made eye contact with the confused and furious knight as he spoke.  

“Cover.”  

Understanding, Choi Han instantly moved to stand in front of Cale and then darted towards the cave’s entrance, Cale following leisurely behind him.  

The high-level knight called out to two mid-level knights that had been stood off to the side as they’d watched Choi Han make swift work of their comrades.  

“Block them.”  

The two mid-level knights charged towards Choi Han, their swords raised and beginning to glow with aura. However, no sooner had they moved, Choi Han had slipped towards them and sliced their swords in half, the top halves falling heavily to the ground with a loud clank.  

Seeing their swords be so easily cut down, shock and despair washed the colour off the three knights’ faces.  

“What the? Is he a Swordmaster?”   

Only a  Swordmaster’s  aura blade could cut through an aura-filled sword. And becoming a  Swordmaster  was so difficult and rare, that it wasn’t a major concern for most ordinary knights. However, that supposedly minor concern was now unravelling before their very eyes and becoming a bigger one by the minute.  

After cutting through their swords with his aura that had been camouflaged by the darkness, Choi Han used his sword and scabbard to attack one of the mid-level knight’s neck and stomach simultaneously. Like the rest of his comrades, the knight fainted from the attacks.  

Cale couldn’t hide his amazement as he continued to move forward, maintaining a safe distance away from the fighting. Choi Han had only needed one hit per person in order to knock them out. That kind of strength and skill was a true testament to his survival and  perseverance . Not many would be able to compete on equal footing, or have an advantage over, Choi Han.  

Choi Han turned his attention to the second mid-level knight who was backing away from him in fear, however, a  shout could be heard coming from the villa.  

“Intruders!”  

Cale ignored the shout and turned his gaze back towards the remaining mid-level knight who staggered before falling down hard. Cale made eye contact with him, smirking as he lay prone on the ground from Hong’s poison. Seeing this, the knight panickily muttered.  

“P-poison. A-assassin.”  

With a sharp hit, Choi Han made him faint. Furious, the high-level knight charged forward and swung his sword in a wide arch. Choi Han parried the sword before balling his hand into a tight fist and lunging forward, planting it in the centre of the knight’s ribs as he punched upwards making the knight stumble backwards. Using this opening, Cale entered the cave.  

They could see the people from the villa getting closer. They could also hear them yelling in the distance.  

“Where did these people come from?”  

Choi Han continued to avoid the high-level knight’s aura-filled sword with ease - he was dragging this fight out on purpose to act as a distraction.  

The kittens had stealthily entered the cave before Cale to check that there were no other enemies in the passage leading to the back of the cave.  They didn’t want to risk Cale getting hurt if something or someone was lying in wait, especially when their best fighter was preoccupied with guarding the entrance.  

Verifying that Cale had safely entered the cave, Choi Han moved to block the entrance. Lifting his sword, his gaze skated along the edge of the blade, sharpening it, as he pointed the tip at the high-level knight and the wave of enemies approaching him. His voice was hard as he spoke.  

“Come.”  

As he walked further into the cave, Cale called out behind him. “I leave it to you.”  

Hearing Cale’s serious, yet calm, voice behind him, Choi Han started to smile. He could feel the weight of that man’s trust on his shoulders, but it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, Choi Han found it comforting as he gripped the end of his sword tighter. Focusing once more, he released some of his strength into his sword. His sword art – the Dark Destruction – consisted of two components: darkness and destruction. Of the two, the force of destruction began to surround him. A burning heat radiated beneath his skin as it clawed along his veins. The force of a volcano's eruption mounting inside of him as he stared down the people approaching h im .  

“Nobody can get past this spot.”  

He looked at the crowd of people before him. It would be easy enough to stop them from breaking through. He was someone who always kept his word, after all.  

Whilst Choi Han was busy protecting the entrance of the cave, further in, someone else was protecting something in a different manner.   

The torturer was the one to protect the dragon’s prison.  

By the time Cale arrived inside, the torturer was already in a state of chaos. He held a Magic Crystal Ball in his hands – something that  Venion  had given him as an emergency backup in case something went wrong – and was frantically trying to get the item to work.  

“Why, why?! Why is the crystal ball not working?!”  

Seeing Cale come round the corner, the torturer began to shake violently as he hurriedly retreated, his back pressing up against one of the walls. He kept glancing to one side, his eyes falling on the same spot. He had no choice to be scared as, if he received an attack higher than an average person’s strength, he would instantly blow up. The blast would make it so that the prison key, as well as the prison itself, would be completely destroyed. Naturally, the torturer knew this. It was one of the safety measures Venion had put into place in order to keep the secrets of this place.   

“D-don’t come here! Do you know what’s in here?! If you come, everyone here will die!”  

Cale stopped a fair distance away from the torturer, seeing this, the torturer began to relax slightly thinking he’d wait until the knights could come and deal with this dangerous man. However, Cale just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the torturer. Did he really think that someone would come crashing in here without knowing what they were getting themselves into? Clicking his tongue at the man’s idiocy, Cale waved one of his hands. Once he did, fog started to form in the air and crept towards the torturer.  

Seeing the fog creep towards him, the torturer began to frantically yell. The sounds of battle floated in from outside towards the torturer along with the fog. Of course, the fog was also filled with poison as it quickly surrounded the man. His body began to shake, his limbs seizing, before falling to the ground. He spluttered weakly, choking on his saliva.  

“Just  wha -p-poison!”  

He looked terrible as he lay on the ground, becoming unable to speak as he forcibly shook uncontrollably. Approaching him, Cale knelt at his side, uncaring of the man’s cold terrified gaze as he reached out and began rummaging through his clothes.  

Cale was unable to attack the torturer, so he’d chosen to use poison. Of course, he could’ve attempted to negotiate and make a deal with him in return for him handing over the prison key, however, he hadn’t wanted to use the latter method as it took up too much time and energy.  

Finding what he wanted, Cale grabbed the key and pulled it out from one of the torturer’s pockets. Noticing that the man was beginning to fall unconscious from the poison and the stress, Cale closed the man’s eyes. He wondered if they’d maybe use a bit too much poison, but quickly shoved that thought aside as he found that he really didn’t care what happened to a man like this one.  

Snapping his fingers, On and Hong gracefully fell from where they’d been hiding in the shadows amongst the ceiling. Looking them over, Cale made sure that they were safe and unharmed, before heading towards the farthest corner of the cave. An iron-barred prison cell was harshly erected on one side, the interior dark and damp with old blood stains. The bars had magic symbols engraved down the entire length of them. The Black Dragon was curled up inside this now-useless magic prison, its eyes closed. The stench of freshly spilt blood was strong, the dragon’s scales tinted in dripping and dried red. It was likely that the dragon’s mind and mana were in a state of traumatic chaos, right now.  

On and Hong looked at the dragon with shaking eyes, unconsciously moving closer to one another in a search for comfort from the sight.  

Cale quickly approached the prison cell, locating the lock on the iron gate before pressing the key into and turning it with a sharp click. He then slowly opened the gate, listening to it squeal, as he entered the cell.  

For a prison cell, it was terribly large; whips and other torture devices lined the walls; a luxurious couch lined one wall where  Venion  sat to watch the show; abuse was brutally etched into every facet of this place.  

Entering further, Cale headed to the corner where the Black Dragon lay curled up. It was a small figure, no longer than 1-metre, and was lying on a dirty stack of hay. As he got closer, Cale noticed that the dragon’s inner eyelids were shaking as it laid there with its eyes closed. Chains formed strong shackles on each of its limbs and a mana restricting chain a cold collar on its neck, relinquishing the dragon of any strength.  

Cale crouched in front of the dragon, but still maintained a slight distance.  

“Hey.”  

The dragon didn’t open its eyes even after Cale called out to it. Looking at his watch, he noted that it was about time they left before the black orb inevitably ran out of power.  

Looking back at the pitiful dragon, Cale spoke called out to it again.  

“ Hey. Let’s  leave.”  

Sensing Cale reaching toward it, the dragon opened its eyes. Cale started to smile at the sight of the dragon’s eyes. Its gaze was still strong, showing that it hadn’t yet lost its will to live. It was still filled with energy, anger and resistance. This was not the dying gaze Choi Han had run into in the novel. This was the gaze of someone who very much still wanted to live, even if they had to fight for it.  

This was the gaze of a dragon.  

“What a nice gaze.”  

The dragon glared at Cale but had no energy to stop him from reaching towards them. Cale lifted the dragon into his arms, blood beginning to stain his clothes, and walked out of the cell. The dragon stiffened, but didn’t do much else.  

Once outside the cell, Cale put the dragon down in front of On and Hong. The kittens circled the silent dragon in concern, their ears flat and their heads tucked low.  

“That looks like it hurts.”  

On looked up at Cale as she said that. She remembered being injured by the city’s alpha cat and then being given medicinal herbs from Cale. She remembered Cale ordering Hans to see to her injuries when she’d first arrived at the  Henituse  estate. She also remembered some of the less-than-stealthy glances he’d given to her injured side over the days it took to heal, and the relief that filled them when he saw that she was steadily recovering. On knew that Cale would help heal this dragon.  

Getting annoyed at being on display, the dragon bared its teeth and growled. This was the first time in its life that it’d seen a creature besides humans.  However, it wasn’t all that interested in anything that was connected to the humans in some way. He could sense that these cat children were stronger than the red-haired human in front of him, so he couldn’t understand why they were following him around. If they were stronger than him then they should be able to do as they please. He narrowed his eyes the individuals in front of him.  

Checking the time once more, Cale concluded that they still had enough time to escape. He’d brought a highest-grade healing potion with him for the dragon, but he wouldn’t be able to use it on them until the mana restriction chains had been removed. The potion would only work properly if the mana, which was practically as important as the dragon’s heart, was no longer being restricted, otherwise, the potion was as good as just decoration – it wouldn’t do much without being able to utilise the dragon’s mana in the healing process.  

Heading towards the opposite side to the prison, Cale looked at the location the torturer had seemed to be protecting, seeing as he’d kept glancing at it. Cale patted the cave wall with his hands. He kicked the unconscious torturer aside and out of his way, and continued along down the wall, patting it and paying close attention as he went. Noticing the torturer on the floor, the dragon growled at him, but looked back at Cale and observed him closely with suspicion.  

Cale knew that  Venion  had a last line of defence set up within the cave as, like all members of Marquis Stan’s family,  Venion  was extremely worried about the possibility of someone intruding whilst he was not around. As such, this had led him to create a secret tunnel to use as an emergency escape route if something like that ever happened. It was likely that the torturer knew of the escape routes existence, but didn’t know where it was exactly or how to use it.  

In the novel, the escape route had been described to be found where there was a flat area on this bumpy wall. Finding the flat area, Cale noticed that it was no bigger than a person’s hand. Initially,  Venion  looked like he had OCD and would never do such a thing as training, however, every member of Marquis Stan’s family had been trained in martial arts. The flat area on the wall would break if you used a strong enough force on it – that would cause the wall to open and reveal the tunnel.  

Hearing footsteps approach from behind, Cale turned his head and called out.  

“All done?”  

Choi Han nodded as he lightly swung his sword in the air to get rid of the blood on it as he approached Cale. He then turned his gaze towards the dragon curled up on the floor and started to frown. It was a natural reaction to seeing such a small creature covered in its own blood. Choi Han’s eyes turned vicious as he looked over at the torturer lying unconscious on the floor. His grip on his sword tightened and an immense pressure radiated outwards from him.  

“Choi Han,” Cale called out, trying to draw his gaze away from the torturer before he did something like stabbing him in the neck.  

Choi Han remained focused on the torturer even as he gave his report.  

“As you ordered, I left the escaping workers alone. I also made sure that all of the strong individuals would be unable to fight.”  

Cale clapped him on the back. “Good job.”   

He then pointed at the flat area on the wall. “Punch this spot.”  

That drew Choi Han’s gaze away from the torturer, changing his vicious expression into one of bewilderment at the sudden, and strange, order.  

“As strong as I can?”  

Cale shook his head. Was he planning on destroying the cave? “No. Control your strength. Just pretend that you’re creating a 10cm dent in the wall.”  

Choi Han nodded his head before looking at the spot Cale wanted him to punch. “So, very lightly.”  

Cale waved his hand. “Sure.”  

Cale couldn’t believe that Choi Han had said that that would be very lightly, seeing as it was something that Cale wouldn’t be able to do even if he used his full strength. He quickly stepped away from Choi Han in case any debris went flying. Understanding that Cale wanted him to hurry, Choi Han immediately pulled back his fist before soundly punching the wall with a chilling screech. An area the size of an adult male appeared leading into a tunnel. Cale picked up the dragon whilst the kittens admired Choi Han’s handiwork and Choi Han picked up one of the nearby torches on the wall to light their path.  

“Let’s go.”  

At Cale’s command, the kittens climbed on Choi Han’s back, as the group stepped into the tunnel. The dragon remained quiet and tense in Cale’s arms, its breathing being the only noise it was making, whilst its eyes remained viciously focused on the man carrying it. Rather than having any gratitude towards being saved, the dragons thoughts were filled with terror as it contemplated the likelihood of it being tortured by someone else instead, as well as its  ever-present  resentment and hatred towards humans.  

Cale glanced down at the dragon. “Stop staring at me like that.” He jostled the dragon slightly, his arms aching and chest heaving as he tried to keep up with Choi Han’s steps who seemed more inclined to run everywhere than walk. Part of him thought he should’ve made Choi Han carry the dragon instead as, despite it being quite small, it was still pretty heavy. He knew that he wouldn’t be finding this task as difficult if he had the ancient power called the Vitality of the Heart.  

Cale held the dragon tighter in his arms to stop himself from potentially throwing it away in anger. There was no way he could leave it here after having gone through all that effort to rescue it.  

The dragon continued to watch Cale silently.  

***  

After running through the dark and narrow tunnel for a few minutes, Choi Han suddenly called out to Cale.  

“There’s a wall in front of us.”  

Cale didn’t see how this was a problem considering Choi Han’s strength.  

“Hit the centre of the wall with your fist with the same strength as before. Then we’ll continue to run as discussed.”  

“I understand!”  

Decision made, the kittens jumped off Choi Han’s shoulders and ran to stand next to Cale, out of the way of the blast zone. Choi Han put strength into his fist and punched the wall like he had done back in the cave. The wall collapsed, the night sky spilling into the opening. Seeing that they’d reached the outside, Cale took the lead as he looked around. This was the reason they needed the Mana Disturbance Tool to work on the entire mountain.  Venion  had put magic recording devices in the secret tunnel – he was a thorough bastard – and, seeing as Cale didn’t know exactly where the exit of the secret tunnel was, they needed the range of the disturbance tool to cover the entire mountain.  

Noticing that they didn’t have much time left until the black orb stopped working, they needed to get out of the range of  Venion’s  recording devices in the next one or two minutes.  

Choi Han followed behind Cale and made new traces of their presence, or erased some, as they passed. After surviving in the Forest of Darkness on his own for so long, he’d become an expert at creating and following tracks. After running away from the secret tunnel entrance for two minutes, Cale looked at his watch.  

“Stop.”  

The mana tools’ alarms in the distant had gone turned off. The black orb had finally stopped working.  

Cale took a deep breath, calming his rapid heart. The Indestructible Shield gathered strength every time his heart beat fast like that, just in case of an emergency situation. But he had no plans on using it right now. After freeing this dragon and saying goodbye to Choi Han in the next city, Cale was planning on gaining the Vitality of the Heart ancient power in order to strengthen his shield even further. Only then would he use the shield.  

Looking down at the dragon in his arms, Cale began to smile. A look of pure wonder and admiration had taken over the dragon’s previously murderous gaze as he looked up at the night sky. For a dragon that hadn’t seen anything except the cave walls in its four-years of life, Cale understood what the dragon was feeling and, whilst he would’ve liked to give it more time to admire the sky, he couldn’t do that.  

Placing the dragon down gently on the grass, its gaze was drawn to Cale, filling once again with anger and suspicion, curling its body up tightly and looking a second away from attacking. Cale could see why the dragon hadn’t broken under torture e ven after all these years. That was one of the reasons Cale was personally drawn to this dragon. Kim Rok Soo had been abused growing up as an orphan, in the end,  he’d given in to the abuse and broken under it. Becoming much less of a person than he’d been before as he only survived from day-to-day instead of living, not wanting to bring any unnecessary attention to himself as it’d been ingrained in him that that just led to negative attention. After that, he didn’t want to be the main character of a story, like Choi Han. He just wanted to live peacefully on the side-lines, watching the main characters as they developed and grew into better people. He didn’t need that kind of life for himself. He didn’t need the kind of stories or adventures people like Choi Han were destined to have. He didn’t think he had the strength to fight against the world.  

“Hey.”  

Cale made sure the dragon was looking at him, before taking out a pair of gloves and some scissor-shaped cutting tool. There were a lot of magic seals on both the blades for cutting. He then put on the electricity-resistant gloves. The cutter was one of the two items that had had to be rented in Billos’ name. This was not something you could borrow with money.  

The fact that he’d asked for such an item had made Billos slightly concerned for Cale as he stated that he’d hope to see him alive in the Capital. Cale had been slightly offended that Billos thought there was the possibility of him dying before then. Cale shook his head.  

Silence had fallen on Cale’s surroundings before he’d realised. Looking over, he noticed that Choi Han was looking at the cutter in his hands with chaotic eyes, whilst the kittens had moved to hide behind Choi Han. The dragon was still staring at him.  

Clicking his tongue at his group members’ reactions, he approached the dragon. The mana restriction chain was made with something similar to rubber. It it’d been made of metal it wouldn’t have continued to fit the growing dragon. As such it’d been made with something that had some elasticity to it.  

Reaching out to hold the dragon’s neck, Cale knelt next to the dragon. He heard the kittens gasp, however, he ignored them and continued onward since it was better to do this as fast as possible. They watched as the cutter headed towards the dragon’s neck, its blades shining under the moonlight. The dragon just stared at Cale, who eyes were calm, before closing his eyes.  

A snapping noise sounded out in the silence, followed by a strange sizzling. The mana restriction chain was causing sparks in Cale’s hands.  

“What are you looking at?”  

Cale scoffed as the dragon opened its eyes to look at him and took off one of the gloves, handing it to Choi Han. Choi Han put the glove on and Cale handed the chain over to him before taking the potion out of his pocket. This potion alone had cost quite a bit to purchase. It made Cale feel bad for asking for an allowance the last few days before he’d left the  Henituse  estate. Cale clicked his tongue as he looked and sharply stared at the dragon.  

“Do you know how much money I spent on you?”  

The dragon had heard similar words often. He’d heard it almost every day since he’d been born. Why do you not listen to me I spent so much money on you? Guess you need to be beaten some more. And then he was beaten. They’d said that he needed to stop thinking for himself and listen to them as they continued to beat him. But this time was different, as these words were followed by any pain.  

“Since I spent so much money on you, you better heal properly, you stupid fool.”  

Cale poured half of the potion onto the dragon’s back and poured the rest into its mouth. Thankfully, the dragon didn’t resist and actually swallowed it.  

Cale watched as the dragon’s injuries quickly healed. The mana,  which was the equivalent to a dragon’s heart and the source of all its power, had started to move into its body, regulating its internal abilities and speeding up its regeneration.  The  injuries on its back disappeared and a blue aura surrounded the dragon’s body like the wind.  

The swiftness of the exchange made Cale realise that this truly was a dragon in front of him. It was a scary and powerful the existence like no other.  

“Hey.”  

Cale stepped towards the dragon. The dragon should have no more reason to get injured anymore, and it also seemed to understand what had happened to its body as its eyes began to gain some vitality. However, with Cale approaching, it still curled up whilst continuing to observe Cale.  

Ignoring this, Cale asked, “what do you want to do now?”  

Cale started to smile whilst looking at the dragon who was remaining stubbornly silent.  

“I know you can speak the human language. You’re a dragon, after all. The smartest and strongest existence in the world.”  

There was no way that the dragon hadn’t learnt to speak the human language in the last four-years, so Cale asked once more.  

“What did you want to do once you got free?”  

The dragon opened its mouth and hesitated. Cale could see it debating whether or not it should answer, but ultimately it began to speak.  

“I.”  

The dragon could feel it thrumming true in his heart. With his current strength, he could easily kill the man in front of him as he was much weaker than he was. However, he was scared of the man in the back, but it would still be possible for him to escape alive if he was careful. He’d finally gained the strength he’d waited for so long to be able to obtain. That was why the dragon finally said the thing he’d thought to himself over and over for the last four-years. However, this was the first time he’d even spoken it out loud.  

“I will live.”  

He would live, no matter what it took.  

“I will go away.”  

He was going to go away from here.”  

“I will not be tamed.”  

He’d revealed his inner thoughts for the first time, and to a human no less.  

“Yes. You’re right.”  

Cale was saying that the dragon was right.  

“You are a dragon. A DRAGON. You have the right to live freely.”  

Even a four-year-old dragon was stronger than most of the animals in the world. It had enough strength to survive on its own and, normally, dragons were extremely independent and prideful. They generally wanted to create their own lair once they turned about two-years-old. They were worlds apart from that of a human two-year-old.  

Cale looked into the dragon’s eyes - that still didn’t trust humans and likely never would - and sternly started to speak.  

“I will not take care of you.”  

Cale had no reason to look after something that was ultimately stronger than him, and would consider to become so. There were also too many potential headaches to justify keeping him around to pay back Cale’s help. This was completely different from when he’d taken in the children of the Cat Tribe. A dragon was beyond Cale’s limits.  

And this dragon couldn’t trust Cale.  

“Liar. Humans are good at lying.”  

Anger raged in the dragon’s eyes. It wasn’t directed specifically at  Cale,  however, dragons were naturally born with a lot of pride. This anger came from the years  his  pride had been trampled upon by humans.  

Cale shrugged. “I guess that’s true. I lie quite a bit as well.”  

Cale easily accepted the dragon’s words before moving on.  

“Live however you want to live. What is you want to do?”  

The dragon lifted its head to look at the night sky. It was so different from the darkness inside the cave. It was dark, but there was still light. And  there  would always be so.  

“I hate humans. I want to be free.”  

“Good.” Cale got up from where he’d been kneeling on the ground. He then took out some mid-grade potions and a smaller pouch from his magic and put the potions into it before handing it to the dragon.  

“Live freely.”  

The dragon’s pupils widened as they shook. There was still doubt and resentment clouding his eyes, but there was also confusion and a tiny bit of gratitude. Naturally, Cale didn’t care. He believed this was enough. He’d freed the dragon, screwed  Venion  over, saved the village, and helped Choi Han understand what freedom meant thanks to the dragon.  

Most importantly, he didn’t need to take responsibility for the dragon beyond this point. He could see in its eyes that it didn’t want to follow him and that was a very good conclusion.   

Cale spoked to his group members in a satisfied tone.  

“Let’s go.”  

He turned his back on the dragon with no regrets and started to walk away. Choi Han silently followed behind and focused on altering their tracks. The kittens hesitated for a moment, watching the dragon turn his gaze away from Cale before following.  

Once even the Cat Tribe siblings turned away from it, the dragon lifted its head and watched their retreating backs.  

“I hate humans. They’re evil,” it muttered to itself.  

But for some reason, the dragon was paying more and more attention to the back of the red-haired human – a being that it was familiar with and hated - rather than the night sky it had only just seen for the first time.  

Hong slowly approached his sister as they followed behind Cale.  

“ Noona ,” he whispered. “I think he’s going to follow us.”  

On nodded her head. “Uh huh. I think so too.”  

Excited that his sister agreed with him, he asked, “am I going to get a younger brother?”  

“Looks like it.”  

Cale had caught snippets of the siblings’ conversation and scoffed to himself before retorting back.  

“No way. Dragons are extremely prideful and will never accept being under a human. Furthermore, this is a dragon that has good reason to hate humans.”  

On’s  expression showed that she disagreed. If a cat could have a mocking expression, it would be the one currently on  On’s  face.  

On shook her head and mumbled, “I don’t think so.”  

Hong nodded seriously beside her before looking behind them. The black dragon was still looking in their direction. Hong was sure of it now. This dragon will enjoy its freedom for a bit before sharing some beef with him in the future.  

Cale ordered the two kittens, who were still whispering to each other, to retrieve the black orb. In exchange, they would get to eat even more beef than Cale had originally been planning to give them.  

Cale didn’t check to see whether the siblings were following his order as he patted Choi Han on the shoulder.  

“Good work.”  

Today should’ve been the first time Choi Han had ever saved something. There was that battle with the bandits earlier, but that was more protecting than outright saving.  

Of course, the actual events had changed from saving the village people to saving the dragon that he’d originally killed in the novel, but the important thing was that he’d been the one to ‘save’ someone.  

“Cale-nim.”  

“What?”  

Choi Han was silent for a while after calling out Cale’s name, before he finally started to speak.  

“What if the dragon decided that living as it wants involved following you, Cale-nim?”  

“That will never happen.”  

“What if. Just hypothetically speaking.”  

Cale raised an eyebrow as he thought about it for a while, before lightly responding.  

“I don’t think about what ifs or the past.”  

They were dangerous territory, after all. But despite this, for some reason, Cale suddenly got the chills and looked behind himself for the first time since turning his back on the dragon. Thankfully, the black dragon wasn’t visible.  

Cale sighed in relief before returning to the inn where he fell asleep. That was why he didn’t notice that the dragon had used magic for the first time to become invisible. He was sat at Cale’s window for a long time before leaving, tightly clutching the  bag  of potions Cale had given him.  

Chapter Text

Sat prone on the sofa with his head tipped back, the morning sun fell through the window of the room he was staying in and hit the back of his eyelids. Scrunching his eyes up in an attempt to block the traces of daylight, Cale brought his hand up to cover his eyes as he sighed deeply. Choi Han was sat across from him on one of the wooden chairs, looking at him expectantly. He’d had to deal with Choi Han’s questions since early morning, but his energy had been shot after last night's thievery making it even more difficult for him to wake up than usual.  

“Cale- nim . There’s a city coming up in a few days. Is that the middle point?”  

It was almost time for Choi Han to finish making up his ‘payment’. This also meant that Cale was a step closer to getting himself another ancient power.  

Originally, the eldest son of Marquis Stan’s family – the one pushed out and crippled by  Venion  – was supposed to find this ancient power in a month’s time. It was his last glimmer of hope for restoring his legs and taking back the successor position, but unfortunately, it ended up being a power that he couldn’t use.   

Cale nodded in answer to Choi Han’s question, his hand still firmly placed over his eyes. Mustering up the energy to do anything, Cale dropped his hand and reached out to pick up the cold glass of water that Ron had prepared for him, sitting up as he took a large gulp, the chill jolting his body into a more acceptable level of wakefulness.   

When Ron had brought the water in, he’d taken one look at Cale before remarking blankly.  

‘Young master, it isn’t good to take such a long night walk. This Ron was very worried about you.’  

That statement alone had helped clear Cale’s mind, even without the help of the cold water.  

Carefully placing the empty cup back onto the table, Cale finally looked at Choi Han, finally awake enough to discuss last night’s incident.  

“You took care of everything properly?”  

Choi Han nodded sternly. “Yes, Cale- nim .”  

After Choi Han had carried Cale back to the inn, the young master having complained that he was tired, he’d immediately returned to the mountain to erase their tracks and created a set of fake tracks heading towards the West. This way, it would be unlikely for the Marquis’ or the Viscount’s people to be able to connect Cale and Choi Han to the sudden disappearance of their dark secret.  

Cale glanced down to his right, On and Hong were happily eating jerky whilst yawning, their tails swishing calmly from side-to-side. Apart from Choi Han, they were the most awake individuals in the room.  

Pulling his gaze back to Choi Han, Cale began to explain the next steps of their plan.  

“The name of the next city is Puzzle City. It’s the middle point of our journey and where our group will separate.”  

Once you got outside of the  Henituse  territory, that was largely surrounded by mountains, all the roads became paved and well-maintained for the use of merchants and those who travelled between cities regularly. This was the reason that the  Henituse  territory was able to thrive, even if the roads within its own regions were more difficult to navigate. The road they needed to take from this small city in the Viscount’s territory to the Capital was like that as well.  

Furthermore, the paved roads made it easy for the influential powers in the Eastern half of the Roan Kingdom to gather frequently. That was why the people in the Capital were able to discuss many of the issues regarding the East without issue, even though there were no nobles with a higher title than that of the Marquis in the East.  

“It took a while to get this far because our territory has a lot of mountains, but it won’t take very long from here onwards.”  

Puzzle City was not in fact the middle point of their journey in terms of distance. However, it was in terms of time. And Cale’s group would use that fact to their advantage.  

Cale saw Choi Han open his mouth, hesitate and then frown slightly.  

“Cale- nim .”  

“What?”  

“When I went to check the Viscount’s villa on my way back.”  

Cale gestured for Choi Han to continue, not sure as to where this line of conversation was going.  

Choi Han looked at Cale’s stoic expression, before his face pursed in bitterness.  

“They all seemed to be in a state of chaos. There were also soldiers and knights leaving the village.”  

“They probably went to report.”  

After regaining consciousness, the Viscount likely sent people to  Venion  and began investigating around the area surrounding the cave. However, Choi Han hadn’t finished his report.  

“However.” Choi Han bit his lip as he looked at Cale.  

Annoyed by his consistent hesitance, Cale urged him onwards. “Just say it.”   

Choi Han was acting as though something Cale should genuinely be worried about had happened and it was irking him that he wasn’t getting to the point.  

“A part of the exit route we took out of the cave was blown up. Even the trees, grass and ground. Everything surrounding it was a mess.”  

On and Hong, who had been listening in to Cale and Choi Han’s conversation, dropped the jerky they were eating. However, Cale relaxed slightly after hearing that. That wasn’t something he needed to worry about.  

Shrugging, Cale stated, “I’m sure the dragon did it.”  

Choi Han silently watched Cale as he began to smile. He stood up and stretched his arms outwards.  

Even if the dragon was only 4-years-old, it was still extremely smart. It knew that someone may come to investigate the escape route and probably decided to blow it up to stop them from doing so. And as they were sensitive to mana, the dragon likely also wrecked everything around it to destroy the magic tools within the nearby area.  

“It’s good enough that the dragon didn’t kill all the fainted people.” Not that Cale would’ve particularly cared, but it at least lessened the scale of the incident by quite a bit. “It’s probably holding back because it’s still young and scared.”  

Choi Han nodded his head. “I see. I did feel a strong amount of mana there.”  

Cale raised his eyebrows at Choi Han’s nonchalant tone. “Don’t look down on the dragon just because it’s small. You’ll regret it.”  

Dragons were said to be large animals that were extremely beautiful, with many believing that their beauty could even surpass that of the Elves. Such a large and majestic existence would garner too much attention regardless of the form it took. Once again, Cale gave himself a mental pat on the back for leaving the dragon to its own devices instead of trying to bring it with him, before asking Choi Han a question.  

“Are you planning on resting until we leave?”  

Choi Han shook his head as he stood up. “No. I need to go help  Beacrox  out.”  

Cale gaped in shock. “Who?  Beacrox ? I guess spending a lot of time travelling together recently has meant that you two have gotten closer.”  

Choi Han’s relaxed expression faltered and became stiff, as he frowned. His eyebrows were furrowed harshly as he sternly replied. “No. We’re not close at all.”  

On the contrary, Choi Han had actually been trying to spend as little time with  Beacrox  as possible which wasn’t very hard considering  Beacrox  was a chef whilst he was part of Cale’s guard. As such, they had no real reason to interact with each other outside of meal times or when they were packing up in order to continue travelling. It didn’t help that  Beacrox , and Ron for that matter, seemed hell-bent on trying to get him to spar with them, despite his consistent rejections, and had begun to resort to surprise attacks when no one else was around. It also didn’t help that Ron had been keeping a close eye on him whenever he was around Cale lately, his gaze sharp and focused, fitting of his assassin status, and putting him on edge. He didn’t understand what was up with this father-son duo.  

“I see. Okay then,” Cale replied slowly, beginning to frown himself at the harshness of Choi Han’s denial. He thought that Choi Han and  Beacrox  would be getting along quite well by now? But obviously, that wasn’t the case. Cale didn’t know whether he should be concerned about his plans to pass the father-son duo off to Choi Han.  

Bowing slightly, Choi Han silently made his way to the door. Just as he was opening the door, Cale gave him an order.  

“Ah. Tell Hans to prepare some drinks on your way out.”  

Choi Han’s eyes opened in shock as he looked at Cale who was watching him leave with a calm expression. He glanced at the clock in the room and back at Cale. It was only 7am.   

Seeing his silent question, Cale spoke. “Haven’t you ever heard of a hangover drink?”  

Choi Han left without another word. On and Hong were looking up at him and seemed to be asking if he really was planning on drinking this early in the morning, but Cale just ignored them as he looked into the nearby mirror.  

“What a wonderful expression.”  

He turned his head side to side as he inspected his face. His skin was slightly pallid, making him look extremely tired and haggard. His eyes were ringed red and there was still a slight flush covering his cheeks giving the illusion that he was still slightly drunk. Nodding in satisfaction, Cale headed towards the door and down the stairs opening up onto the first floor. It was only 7am but many of the people in his envoy were already awake and bustling around, looking for the world as though they’d never even had a sip of alcohol last night.  

Choi Han was stood near one of the corners as he watched the Vice-Captain talking to someone near the inn’s entrance. His expression was serious as the person the Vice-Captain was speaking to was one of the knights that he’d defeated yesterday. It was clear by his appearance that the knight had recently been involved in a skirmish, as he had bruising on his hands and neck, as well as a handful of scrapes on his face. But the most prominent evidence of his current state was the fact that Choi Han had noticed that the knight was favouring one of his sides over the other, a testament to how hard Choi Han had hit him when they fought. He couldn’t help but feel slightly smug about that and sure that there was a nasty bruise blooming over the knight’s ribcage.  

Approaching Choi Han, Cale kicked his foot to get his attention as he stood next to him, his hands in his pockets, before leaning over to stealthily whisper in Choi Han’s ear.  

“Why are you stiffening up like that?”  

Flinching at the feeling of Cale’s warm breath brushing across his ear, Choi Han smiled awkwardly as he looked at Cale.  

“I thought I’d used enough strength to make them unable to fight for about a day, but they’re up and moving about much earlier than I’d expected. I guess I thought the human body was much weaker than it actually is. Seems I can use more strength against people in the future.”  

Cale turned his gaze away from Choi Han. He truly fit the model of a normal main character who’d happily destroy anything in his path towards justice. He didn’t even seem to register the state the knight was in as he spoke. Cale frowned as he leant against the wall beside Choi Han. He was very glad that Choi Han was currently on his side as he wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of his version of justice.  

On and Hong had also followed Cale down the stairs and were sat in front of him, their tails wagging as they peeked at the knight. Smirks took up the majority of their faces as they examined the  knight's  appearance. It was plain to see that they were enjoying the current situation.  

Cale thought that he was probably the biggest coward out of the four of them as he’d still had that instinctual stomach-dropping feeling when he’d noticed the knight speaking to the Vice-Captain.  

Pushing himself off the wall, Cale walked towards one of the nearby tables and sat down. The owner brought over a bottle of alcohol.  

“Young master, I prepared the same alcohol you enjoyed last night.”  

Pleased by this, took the bottle from the inn owner before leaning back in his  chair .  

“Old man, there’s something that keeps coming to mind whenever I see you.”  

Hesitant at the sudden turn in conversation, the old man responded, “yes?”  

Cale smiled as he opened the bottle with a refreshing pop and began to pour a cup before downing it in one go. “I think you’re a really smart vendor. It’s a compliment. This is the perfect hangover drink.”  

Instantly, Cale’s face took on a bright flush. He then purposefully made his eyes only half-open, before looking towards the Vice-Captain as he continued to talk to the knight.  

“Yesterday, we had a party to relax after our long journey. Everybody was drinking and relaxing. Nobody left the inn. But what I still don’t understand, is why someone from the Viscount’s estate would be curious about that?”  

The knight from the Marquis’ estate seemed to have introduced himself as someone from the Viscount’s estate. The knight smiled calmly as the Vice-Captain observed him suspiciously, but the knight answered back seriously.  

“There was a thief who’d broken into the Viscount’s villa yesterday. A couple other knights were on guard duty, but we ended up losing a few items to the thief. After hearing that people from Count  Henituse’s  estate were here in the village, we came to see if the thief had likewise stolen, or attempted to steal, anything from the Count.”  

Cale had to stop himself from snorting. Thief his ass. Though, he could understand why someone, who’d help free a dragon from their supposed owner, would be considered a thief in their eyes.  

Taking a gulp directly from the bottle, Cale made eye contact with the Marquis’ knight.  

“What are you looking at?”  

The knight bowed quickly before turning his gaze away. The Vice-Captain looked towards Cale nervously, before letting out a fake cough and then spoke loudly and confidently.  

“Our young master is drinking in the morning because his day turns out better if he does so. Furthermore, it is a hangover drink. He is the type of person who likes to drink in order to cure his hangovers.”  

Cale glared at the Vice-Captain. He couldn’t tell whether he was mocking him or coming up with an excuse for him but, either way, he wasn’t doing a very good job.  

“I see. What an interesting young master.”  

The knight responded positively to the Vice-Captain's words, despite how ridiculous they were, before bowing respectfully towards Cale.  

“Then I wish you a safe journey as you continue on your way.”  

From his drunken act and the Vice-Captain's assurances, Cale was sure that the Marquis’ knight would no longer be suspicious off them. The dragon happened to disappear while Cale’s envoy was passing through, and it was known that they were leaving the morning after. As such, it was understandable why they’d be the first ones to be suspected, but there weren’t many concrete reasons to justify their suspicions.  

Venion’s  remaining subordinates would be more focused on the six-starred outfits they’d seen their attackers wearing – the ones that seemed to represent a certain organisation – as well as the fake tracks Choi Han had created. More importantly, however, is that they would never think that someone like Cale, known for his trashy behaviour, would be capable of pulling off such a heist.  

In addition, there was no way they’d be able to hold the eldest son of a Count in custody when they didn’t have the Marquis,  Venion , or even the Viscount with them. Especially when that noble was heading to the Capital under orders from the Crown.  

Who would think that a noble, who was drinking on his way to a summons from the Crown, would be normal? Being trash really had its perks.  

Cale continued to drink with self-satisfaction. He was sure that  Venion  wouldn’t suspect him, even after finding out what’d happened. He, along with the Marquis, were the people who knew better than anyone else that there was absolutely no relation between Count  Henituse  and the secret organisation. That was especially true in regard to the dragon and its existence.  

Cale smirked as he watched the knight leave the inn, no closer to finding out the identity of their night-time attackers.   

Once the knight had left, and the mood on the inn’s first floor had settled down and relaxed, Ron approached his young master carrying a cup of honey lemon tea and placed it gently down in front of Cale, before returning the cork into the top of the alcohol bottle, cutting his young master’s drinking short. He’d abided by his young master’s orders earlier when he’d asked for a cup of cold water, but he’d yet to give Cale his morning lemonade. However, the inn didn’t stock lemonade but did have some lemon tea for their use. Finding this a satisfactory compromise, Ron had made quick work of preparing the tea and added in a little bit of honey to sweeten it. Whilst he didn’t explicitly know what Cale had been up to last night, he had seen the state of the group upon their return and thought that he’d allow his young master a little bit of sweetness to negate some of the sour lemon, in order to get his energy back up. Lemon tea, after all, was good for one’s health.  

Sipping on the tea given to him, Cale called out.  

“Ron.”  

“Yes, young master.”  

“Honey tea really seems to be the best cure for a hangover.”  

“Isn’t it?”  

Ron smiled warmly as he looked at Cale, but his young master was too busy trying to calm his stomach from having drank too much the night before paired with the act he’d been putting on this morning. The original Cale might’ve had a high alcohol tolerance, but he wasn’t above the effects that alcohol left their drinkers with.  

Once he no longer felt nauseous, Cale gave out the order for his envoy to begin moving again so they could continue onwards to Puzzle City.  

***  

Puzzle City was the centre of the transportation goods in the East and it was famous for the number of rock towers scattered around the city.  

In order to gain his second ancient power, Cale needed to find an unfinished rock tower.  

On took a bite of the jerky Hans had given her as she asked Cale a question.  

“Are we camping out today?”  

Cale nodded his head. “Starting today, we will be camping outside every so often.” He had a pretty filled schedule from here on out as well. This was because he wanted to have enough time in Puzzle City to search for the ancient power.  

Turning away from the kittens, who had begun to whisper excitedly to each other at the prospect of camping, he looked out at the scenery passing by the carriage’s window.  

The Vitality of the Heart.  

That ancient power would allow Cale to strengthen the Indestructible Shield as it was a power that was focused on restoration and vitality. That was also why Taylor, the eldest son of Marquis Stan, was looking for it. Amongst the members of the Stan family, Taylor was the only genuinely good person, but due to the lower half of his body becoming paralysed thanks to  Venion’s  schemes, he’d been pushed out of the running for successor. In the novel, Taylor had rummaged through all sorts of texts looking for a means to cure his paralysis. It was during this search that he’d stumbled across an ancient text in an old bookstore and, although the ancient text had been difficult to decipher, Taylor had managed to decipher enough words to lead him to Puzzle City.  

Restoration and Rock Tower – those were the two-words he’d managed to decipher and, as such, became his biggest clues. He immediately headed to Puzzle City, which was also known as Rock Tower City. Then, after having spent a month searching, he would finally find the ancient power. But the power itself would turn out to be useless to Taylor. The Vitality of the Heart was unable to restore existing injuries. It was only able to restore any injuries received after earning the power. There was also a limit on how much could be restored as well as a cost to pay for the restorations.  

His hope shattered, Taylor fell into despair, his time slowly running out as he didn’t know when  Venion  would finally come to kill him.  

In the end, Taylor ended up dying a month after finding the power by the hands of an unknown organisation whilst the Capital was in a state of chaos thanks to the terror incident. Of course,  Venion  was responsible for sending the organisation after Taylor.  

The reason why Cale remembered the side character called Taylor – who seemed to play an even smaller role than the original Cale in the novel – was because of the strong friendship Taylor had with his closest friend.  

The crazy priestess was Taylor’s friend and the only person who survived Taylor’s assassination. She ended up killing half of the assassins in anger and despair. The incident left her with a large injury on her back. Afterwards, she confidently announced to the temple what she’d done, proudly stating that she’d acted as a human rather than blindly following the will of the lord, and ended up being excommunicated.  

That was the moment she began to be called the crazy priestess.  

When the war ended up breaking out in the novel, she became famous, even though she was not a hero, because of how she’d helped to heal the injured.  

However, Cale thought that things would occur differently than how they had in the novel. There was a good chance that Taylor wouldn’t dying in a month’s time, and  Venion  was going to be kept busy for a while with the dragon incident and sucking up to the Marquis. He likely wouldn’t have the time to focus on his crippled older brother, being more concerned by his younger siblings’ actions and countering them in order to maintain his status as the heir to the Marquis title.  

Cale was also curious to find out what the combination of Taylor and the Crazy Priestess could achieve if they managed to live longer. He had a feeling that the two of them would be able to change how the Marquis’ estate was run and, if that happened, it would be better for Cale in the long run.  

However, The Vitality of the Heart was an ancient power that Taylor had no use for, but Cale wasn’t such an evil person that he’d take away the man’s last hope without giving something back. He would just have to give him a new hope in its place.  

Cale was beginning to think on what Taylor and the crazy priestess might achieve in the future, when he remembered something that made his face stiffen up and chills run down his back.   

The crazy priestess’ specialty was using the strength of the God of Death for curses. Ironically, whilst the temple had excommunicated her, the God himself didn’t throw her away, instead continuing to bless her with his powers. In the novel, a moment came when  Beacrox  had been put under one of her curses and he ended up struggling quite a bit. Thinking of a torture expert such as  Beacrox  struggling under a curse made Cale’s skin crawl. The priestess truly was crazy if she managed to pull something like that off.   

Cale decided to push all thoughts of the priestess, as well as the good-natured noble Taylor, aside. People like them wouldn’t mesh well with Cale. They were too different from him as they were loyal and trusted each other deeply. Cale, loathe as he was to admit it, preferred Ron or  Beacrox  over those types of people.  

Snapped from his thoughts, Cale felt a tapping on his leg. Looking down he noticed that On and Hong were staring at him with bright eyes.  

“We heard from Hans earlier that if you make a wish at a rock tower, it’ll come true.”  

Hans was still unaware of the fact that the kittens he was so fond of, were actually children from the Cat Tribe, and continued to natter on at them as he said all sorts of things.  

The kittens continued to look up at him with shining eyes as they relayed what Hans had told them. They seemed to want something from Cale, but he just responded blandly back.  

“And?”  

The kittens had gotten used to Cale’s rude way of speaking, no longer phased by his voice’s consistent fluctuations between harsh and apathetic. They knew that he was paying attention to what they were saying even if he pretended to be disinterested.  

“We want to go, but it’s okay if you find it too annoying or difficult.”  

Cale stared blankly back at the kittens as they fidgeted nervously, waiting for Cale’s response.  

“What kind of wish do you have?”  

Hong shook his fur, that was now much healthier and shinier thanks to the good treatment it received from Hans, as he prepared to announce his wish excitedly.  

“That everybody, including my new little brother-”  

“Dismissed.” Cale cut Hong’s wish short. He didn’t want to hear about a wish involving the dragon. It would be pointless considering they were never going to see it again, anyway. He also remembered the old myth surrounding what would happen if you told someone your wish, not that he thought  On  or Hong would know of it.  

The carriage continued on the road a bit further before stopping. They had arrived at the location of their campsite for the evening.  

Hans approached the carriage and opened the door, smiling up at Cale. “Looks like we’re camping out again, starting today.”  

Cale nodded at Hans’ statement as he peered out at their campsite. “Indeed.”  

A strong wind was blowing East-ward out from the forest.   

***  

Laying on the branch of a nearby tree, the invisible Black Dragon was silently watching Cale’s group prepare their campsite for the evening.  

It hadn’t even been a day since the young dragon had been freed from his prison by the red-haired human. And yet, despite his strong desire for freedom and to escape the humans he despised so much, the dragon had found himself following after the red-head's group. He hadn’t planned on following them, quite the opposite actually, but he couldn’t help trailing after the inexplicable pulling sensation he felt towards this human in particular. He’d never felt anything like it. Before, he’d only known and felt the all-consuming urge to run and escape. Never had he felt the urge to chase. However, he was now chasing after something that had deliberately walked away from him. And to his dismay, that something was a human.  

A part of the dragon was disgusted with himself - at how easily this human seemed to be able to manipulate him without trying. On the other hand, the dragon had to reluctantly acknowledge that the human wasn’t actually doing anything to manipulate him, deliberate or otherwise, and this feeling was completely centred within himself. But his pride was a high wall to climb.  

Despite not having ever met another dragon, the Black Dragon had already had some of his natural instincts as one awoken – his pride had been the first, and as such, was his strongest instinct. His pride had been severely wounded at the hands of  Venion  and his subordinates over the last four-years, mirroring the lacerations that they’d cut into his skin, as deep scars marred his being. His pride had also been hurt by the fact that he’d been saved by a human of all things. He couldn’t believe, that someone of the race that had tortured him, had then saved him and given him his freedom. During the last four-years that he’d been shut up in that cave, he’d envisioned finally escaping over and over again, but each time, the only one that had saved him had been himself. In his imagination, no one had come to his rescue.  

Venion  and his lackeys had said a similar thing during the dragon’s time locked up, pointing out that no one other than them knew that the dragon was in here; that no one other than them could be bothered to deal with the dragon; that no one other than them had the power to save the dragon. And so, in his imagination, no one had helped him escape, and no one had been waiting for him to do so. He had been all alone.  

That’s why it’d come as quite a shock for two humans and two cats to come crashing in to release the dragon from his chains. Hope, and bitter hatred, had filled the dragon in equal measure at the sight. Hope as the possibility of his freedom moved ever closer into his reach; bitter hatred at the fact that he hadn’t been able to save himself after all.  

The red-haired human had carried him out of his prison cell, and then later carried him out of the cave once a scary human joined them. And as he lay curled in the human’s arms, he’d realised that this was the first time he’d received touch that hadn’t had pain following close on its heels. His body had still ached from the torture of the day before, but no new injuries had been forthcoming. Still, his chest had hurt with an unnamed feeling.  

The dragon had also noticed that the human had been struggling to carry him, his breath coming out in short pants as the dragon felt his heart raging against his ribs. He didn’t understand why the human had continued to push himself in order to free him. Neither of them had met each other until mere minutes before, and yet this stupid human had been putting so much effort into getting him out the cave. It was idiotic. What did he gain out of all of this? The dragon had frowned as he closed his eyes.  

A burst of cool air had then whipped against his face, the chill a refreshing welcome after the stale air of the cave. The outside world had been laid bare before him for the first time; trees and grass sprawled outwards for miles. The dragon’s eyes widened at the sheer scale of his surroundings. There was so much of it. His senses were assaulted with the new sights, smells and sounds. He greedily took it all in, anxious that this might be his only opportunity to do so. To think for four-long-years he had been wrongly kept from all the world had had to offer him. His hatred had burned deeper with renewed vigour at the humans who had done this to him.   

A breeze then passed, rustling the leaves on the trees and the dragon's eyes were drawn upwards. A black abyss stared down at him but he wasn’t afraid. Small specks of light shone down on, the moon a natural lamp in the darkness. It was beautiful. The dragon’s eyes sparkled as he held his breath, his gaze flitting from star to star in wonder. He felt the urge to reach out for one, but knew they were too far out of his reach, so his paws remained steadfastly by his sides.  

The human had then placed him on the ground, he’d watched as the human put on gloves that had mana threading through them, before pulling out a sharp pair of cutters. For a moment, his heart had sunk; the belief that this human had turned out to be just like all the rest swirled through him as he closed his eyes to brace himself. However, a sharp metallic snap had resounded in his ears, weights falling off him. He opened his eyes in surprised, the mana restriction chains laid uselessly in front of him. He had a sharp moment of shock, before he could feel the tell-tale hum of his mana twirling and twisting in relief throughout his being. The chains that had tied him down were no more. He was free.  

The human had then pulled out a small bottle, mana radiating from it, before pouring it on the dragon’s injuries and then in his mouth. The dragon didn’t resist as he could feel the healing properties of the potion beginning to work. The human had exclaimed that he’d spent a lot of money on the dragon, however, his tone was different to that of  Venion  who had spoken similar words. There was no anger or frustration directed at the dragon threaded through them. It was only a statement of fact. The words following the human’s statement had also caught him by surprise.  

“Since I spent so much money on you, you better heal properly, you stupid fool.”  

He was offended that this weak and terribly stupid human had dared to call him a stupid fool when he was clearly describing himself, but he could hear the notes of concern lilting the human’s words as he demanded that the dragon heal properly. A tight angry feeling knotted his stomach as his pride took another swift left hook to its gut. Having a human worry over him infuriated him, but there was also a small delicate fluttering feeling in a corner of his chest, though it was currently outweighed by the shame the dragon was feeling.  

Unaware of his inner turmoil, the human had just casually continued to stir his feelings up at his declared that, ever so confidently and without hesitation, the dragon had the right to live freely. Those words felt like cold water had been tipped over him, washing him of his fury, shame and disgust, leaving only a blank slate. Never had he been told that he had a right to live as he wished. He’d only ever been told that his life belonged to others to control, and that wishing for freedom was futile. However, in the space of one evening, this human, that seemed to have a red light about him, had broken down each and every one of the obstacles blocking the dragon’s way with such ease. It was both infuriating and liberating.  

The dragon looked up at the human, the moon shining down on his back. Where had such a human come from? And where had he been during the last four-years of the dragon’s own personal hell?  

“I will not take care of you,” the human had declared. The dragon had still been suspicious of him, arguing back that he could be lying which the human had easily agreed with but assured he wasn’t. It wasn’t like the dragon needed a human to look after him anyway. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, after all.  

The human had handed him a pouch of mid-grade healing potions before he’d turned his back on the dragon and walked away. The dragon had watched silently as the humans and the kittens got further away from him, staring after them as that inexplicable pull began to run taut between them. The dragon didn’t need the weak and stupid human to take care of him, but the human certainly seemed like he needed other people to watch over him. That was likely why the strong human had stuck close to his side, as well as why the kittens had been circling him. He couldn’t be trusted to take care of himself, it seemed.  

Clutching the pouch in his paw tighter, the dragon hesitated before making himself invisible. It didn’t sit well with him that the foolish human had helped him out, the weight of that help bearing down mercilessly on his pride. He would have to pay back the human somehow, but he didn’t want to be caught following him. He might’ve told the human that he wouldn’t be tamed, so it’s not like the human could dictate where he could and couldn’t go, but he still felt it’d be better if the human never found out about him trailing after him. It’d be too much of an embarrassment after he’d confidently stated that he wanted to stay away from humans.  

Trailing after the human with the intention of paying him back, he’d followed them from the inn to their campsite where an idea had struck him – an easy way of paying the human back who obviously couldn’t look after himself – he'd hunt animals for the human’s group. That way it wouldn’t look like he was just helping the human. He still hated humans, after all.  

With a clear goal in mind, the young dragon had quickly moved through the forest at the edge of the human’s campsite, excitement filling him despite himself.  

He was only doing this to pay the human back; and because the human was obviously too stupid to look after himself. Nothing more.  

***  

The next morning, Hans glanced at Cale nervously as he approached, wringing his hands. As good a butler as he was, even Hans had no idea what to do about this situation.  

“Young master.”  

Cale stared blankly. “What is this?”  

In front of Hans, and at the border of their campsite, a dead deer was lying on the ground. From the sight and smell of it, the deer had been hunted recently, however, no one in their camp had any idea as to who had killed it or where it’d come from, leaving many of the soldiers and servants accompanying Cale in a bit of a confused flurry.  

“Someone left it here at our campsite,” Hans reported, though he couldn’t give Cale any more information than that. Hans then pointed at the ground next to the deer, drawing Cale’s attention to it.   

On the ground was a drawing of a fork and a knife. It was as if someone had left the deer here for them to eat. Cale suddenly had an odd thought and turned his gaze towards his companions. The kittens were curled comfortably in Choi Han’s arms, as he walked towards Cale. All three of them had a mysterious smile on their face. Cale narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He had a bad feeling about this as he looked back at the drawings. It gave off the impression that an individual who could speak, but couldn’t write, had been the one to leave the deer here. It was also an individual that Choi Han, the person who’d been on watch last night, and clearly would’ve known they were there, had allowed to pass and pretended not to see.  

Cale had a bad feeling that that individual had been the dragon.  

Sighing loudly, Cale dragged his hand down his face before turning back to face Choi Han, On, and Hong, who were still watching him and warned them seriously.  

“We’re going to pretend like we don’t know.”  

The two kittens meowed as they smirked. They seemed to be mocking him, but Cale resolutely ignored them.  

After that, a new ingredient was delivered to them every time Cale and his envoy camped outside. Wild hogs, rabbits, and all sorts of fruits, were left at the edge of their campsite overnight. Cale was now sure that the existence known as a dragon was following them.  

With that confirmation, Cale finally arrived at Puzzle City.  

Chapter Text

Passing easily through Puzzle City’s gate, the carriage followed Hans’ lead to the inn. On and Hong looked out the carriage’s window, perched on their hind-legs with their front paws holding the window sill, as they stood on Cale’s lap. Cale was watching the kittens, a hand out behind their backs in case the slight jostling of the carriage knocked them off balance.  

On watched as the clean and well-maintained streets passed them by. People were busy moving boxes of merchandise and decorating stalls; colourful banners were being draped between the houses and the lamps by men leaning out of windows or on tall ladders.   

“It’s smaller than Western City,” On commented as she observed the lively atmosphere.  

Hong nodded his head. “Right. Small.”  

Cale hummed in agreement as he raised his gaze from the kittens to the sight of the streets. It wouldn’t follow him into the city, right?  

According to Choi Han, the Black Dragon had been following them from quite a distance, his fear and dislike of humans only allowing him to get so close. The only time he’d venture nearer would be in the early morning when he’d drop of the food before scampering away like a startled cat.  

“Isn’t it cute? The dragon seems like a little kid that hasn’t lost his innocence, even after living such a terrible life.” Choi Han had smiled gently as he’d s aid this to Cale, amusement dancing around the corners of his eyes.  The dragon reminded him of the children he’d see walking to school in the mornings, as they bounced along the roads with their friends, laughing and smiling. Children like them had never known hardship, and Choi Han hoped that it’d stay that way.  

Cale pulled a face, bewildered at Choi Han’s suggestion. “Not really.” He knew that Choi Han wouldn’t be saying such things if he’d seen the dragon blow a mountain away like in the  original  novel.  

Cale didn’t understand why the dragon was following them, nor why he insisted on bringing food to them every morning. As far as he was aware, the dragon hated humans, so it following them was overwhelming Cale with a sense of unease and confusion. He’d thought, since the dragon was still young, and having expected the last four-years to have left a large imprint upon the dragon’s psyche, that the dragon would stay away from the Marquis’ territory and create its own lair in order to develop its strength before eventually destroying the Marquis’ estate. That would’ve helped keep the  Henituse  territory peaceful for longer before the war eventually broke out.  

This had not been part of Cale’s plan.  

Cale clicked his tongue. The kittens, who had been excitedly watching the scenery go by, flinched at the unexpected noise before looking at Cale, their faces scrunched in confusion. Nothing had happened to possibly annoy Cale so they didn’t understand why he’d clicked his tongue. Deciding they likely wouldn’t get an answer even if they asked him, the kittens glanced quickly between the scenes outside and Cale, their eyes sparkling.  

“Each house has a rock tower in front of it!” On stated, curious.  

Hong looked at the small rock towers outside the houses. “Very  very  weird.”  

The siblings remembered what Hans had told them about making a wish at a rock tower and had thought that that meant the rock towers would be rare – there was no way wishes could come true in large quantities. However, from the sight outside, they could see that this was not the case.  

Cale shrugged his shoulder. “This is the city of rock towers.”  

Puzzle City was famous for its ancient ruins with a lot of rocks towers, but it was also famous for the fact that each house had a smaller rock tower in front of them. The people in this city made a small groove outside their front windows and then put a small rock tower on top of it. In reality, they really shouldn’t be considered rock towers seeing as each one was made with less than 10 rocks, but it was a more romantic description than just saying they were a pile of rocks. Each of the rock towers outside of the houses were also formed in different shapes based on the personality of the home owners; a perfectly formed pyramid might suggest the home owner was stable in all aspects of their life; a free-spirited person might have a more haphazardly formed rock tower; whilst a more evenly built one could suggest the home owner valued equality or control within their surroundings. Even the colour and texture of the chosen rocks could tell you a lot about the person living there; light over dark; smooth over rough – each aspect of the towers had a carefully made decision behind it. They were interesting to look at.  

Even the luxurious inn that Cale arrived outside of had a rock tower in front of it, the rocks, light and polished, stacked neatly and stably in front of the window.  

“Will we be staying here?”  

Cale stepped leisurely off the carriage; the kittens tucked safely in his arms as they admired the inn’s rock tower. Hans nodded his head, his smile  bright  as they followed behind the inn owner who had come to greet them.  

“Yes sir. We’ve reserved two-days for Choi Han- nim , and have agreed to pay for the rest of the group depending on how long we end up staying here.”  

Ron, who had been following behind Cale, flinched for a moment at Hans’ words, the magic box held carefully in his hands as they were directed upstairs.  

Unaware of Ron’s reaction, Hans continued to speak. “We arrived right before the Rock Tower Festival season, so the room wasn’t too expensive.”  

Puzzle City was currently busy preparing for next week’s Rock Tower Festival; the decorations were well underway in the centre of the city, as well as throughout the inn.  

Cale raised an eyebrow as he spoke what was on his mind. “It’s not like there are a lot of rocks here, but the towers themselves are quite interesting. It’s very odd.”  

“I know the reason for that.”  

Cale turned his questioning gaze to Hans who looked pleased with himself at being able to share his knowledge with his young master.  

“There is a sad, yet thought provoking, story that has been passed down through the ages.”   

Cale adjusted his hold on the kittens so he could raise one hand up in front of himself, stopping Hans from immediately continuing.  

“Stop right now if it’s going to be long.”  

Cale had no real interest in the story behind the rock towers, however, Hans ploughed on regardless, having determined that the story wasn’t very long, and thus, could share it with his young master.  

Stepping into, what was to be, Cale’s room whilst they stayed at the inn, Ron dismissed the inn owner out of the room and made sure the door clicked shut behind him, leaving only Cale’s group in the room, before Hans continued his story.  

“This story, well, this legend, is about something that happened in ancient times.”  

“Ancient times?”   

That piqued Cale’s interest. He placed the kittens down on the bed, so they could listen to the story comfortably, before seating himself down beside them.  

Hans nodded his head, happy that Cale was taking an interest. “Yes. Ancient times.”  

Cale waved his hand. “Go on.”  

The kittens were wagging their tails, their own interest in the story clear on their faces as they looked up at Hans. Ron just silently went about pouring Cale a cup of lemonade from the bottle he’d carried in with the magic box and handed it to him.  

Holding the cup of lemonade in his hands, Cale crossed one leg over the other being motioning to Hans with his chin. He wanted Hans to hurry up and get on with the story.  

Coughing into his hand, Hans began. “The city supposedly fell out of the grace of a god in the past.”  

Falling out of grace? Cale didn’t know anything about this story.  

“This is my first-time hearing about it.”  

Hans glanced at Cale out of the corner of his eyes. “That’s because young master has not studied history.”  

Cale stared flatly back at Hans. “You seem to enjoy talking back to me these days. Are you going to keep talking back like that? Hmm?”   

Hans quickly turned his gaze away. “It’s only natural for a great butler to inform their master about the things they don’t know.”  

Cale continued to stare flatly at Hans. Even Ron had begun to stare blankly at Hans. Becoming increasingly uncomfortable by the silent pressure, Hans quickly returned the topic of conversation to the story.  

“I don’t know why this city fell out of the grace of a god. However, that’s apparently when some of the people in this city began to gather together to build rock towers. It seemed to have been an act of worship in order to reach out to the god that had abandoned them.”  

Cale took a sip of his lemonade before asking. “Did it work?”  

Hans shook his head as he sternly responded. “No. Apparently, none of the prayers went through. That’s why there isn’t a single temple in Puzzle City.”  

“There’s no reason for me to worship a god who had abandoned me, isn’t that right?”  

Hans clapped his hands as he smiled. “Correct. Our young master truly is smart and doesn’t need to study at all.”  

Cale frowned. “You want to get punched?”  

Hans stopped clapping as he turned away from Cale, looking out the window at a far-away mountain. “Anyways, they have rock towers instead of temples. The rock towers represent a promise that the people made after all of that. It was a promise between the people, as well as a promise with themselves.”  

“What kind of promise?”  

“That a human who has had their wish granted will destroy their rock tower.”  

Cale started to smile. “What an interesting city.”  

“Isn’t it? Since they were abandoned by their god, they needed to achieve everything with their own strength. The act of destroying their rock tower represents ‘overcoming the odds.’”  

Cale liked the act of destroying the rock tower very much. He then remembered the numerous rock towers he’d seen throughout the city.  

“The rock towers aren’t created to seek help from a god.”  

“Right. It’s more of a representation of their own determination.”  

That kind of rock tower would hold a lot of importance even if the person who made it never got to destroy it. Just having something as a physical representation of their wish or desire, would act as motivator for them, pushing them to do their best so that they could one day feel the accomplishment that would come with breaking it.  

“I guess it wasn’t the god granting their wish in the end.”  

“Yes. You’re right. Although it’s sad that they were abandoned, this story also gives many people a lot of hope.”  

H ans continued to stare out of the window at the mountain. He couldn’t understand what it must have felt like to those people back in ancient times to have been thrown away by their god. The sorrow and hatred those people must have felt would’ve ran deep. Hans thought that it was a good thing that they’d eventually stopped clinging to their god with false hope and, instead of giving up, made their own. To live without hope wouldn’t have been much of a life at all.  

Cale looked down at the kittens before sighing loudly. He looked at Hans before pointing down at his feline companions, giving Hans an order.  

“Look down.”  

Snapped from his thoughts, Hans turned, confused. “Excuse me?”  

Cale raised an eyebrow as he gestured at the kittens. “Looks like the kittens are angry.”  

“What?” Hans followed Cale’s finger to where it was pointing at the kittens. He gasped as his eyes opened wide. The kittens were tucked down lowly, looking as though they were ready to pounce on Hans, as they bared their teeth, ears pulled back. Their golden eyes sparked like molten honey with betrayal.  

Walking over and crouching in front of the kittens, Hans cooed. “Why are our kitten- nims  so angry? Should I bring you some more jerky?”  

Cale thought that being that close to two ferocious looking kittens was an extremely stupid decision on Hans’ part, but he wasn’t about to correct him. Since he still didn’t know that the kittens were actually beast people, Hans just thought they were angry because they were hungry. However, the siblings weren’t angry because of that.   

Cale recalled what the kittens had told him earlier: ‘If you make a wish at a rock tower, it’ll come true.’ That’s what they’d learnt from Hans.  

On and Hong’s tails slapped continuously in anger. Hans had lied to them about the rock towers. They couldn’t believe that he’d done that. Just as their relationship with Hans had started to warm up a bit, he’d gone and doused it with cold water himself, completely unaware about what he’d done.  

Getting the wrong message entirely, Hans continued to coo over the kittens. “Don’t worry our precious kitten- nims . I’ll go get some delicious snacks for you!” He turned to Cale with a pleading expression. “Young master, may I go get something for them?”  

“Why don’t you just stay out?”  

Taking that as permission, Hans stood up. “I will be back quickly.”  

He made sure to neatly organise the things he brought for Cale before swiftly heading out of the room like the wind. The kittens still staring angrily after him.  

Cale continued to sip leisurely at his lemonade as he turned his gaze to Ron. “Ron, you can go rest as well.”  

Turning to his young master, Ron smiled benignly, sending chills down Cale’s spine as he began to get a bad feeling. He really hated that old man’s smile as it was making him feel more uncomfortable than usual.  

Ron approached Cale and stood in front of him. “Will Choi Han- nim  be leaving in two-days?”  

Cale nodded as he lifted the cup to his lips. “Yes.” He was about to take a sip when he remembered something, making him smile. “Why? You don’t want to send him away? Do you want to go with him?”  

Ron’s benign smile became even bigger. Cale thought that Ron was going to agree, allowing him to successfully rid himself of the scary father-son duo, however, Ron had other ideas.  

“Why would I leave you behind and go somewhere else, young master? I like being next to you. It’s just disappointing that Choi Han- nim  will not be travelling with us all the way to the Capital. I’ll need to speak with him as much as possible before he leaves.  Beacrox  will probably be sad to see him go.”  

Whilst Ron had said that  Beacrox  would be sad to see him go, and that he himself was disappointed that Choi Han wouldn’t be travelling with them for much longer, in actuality, a part of Ron would be glad to see the back of the boy. He’d only really been tolerating the punk’s presence due as he was Cale’s important guest and because  Beacrox  had wished to spar with him.  Beacrox  would be disappointed to find out that Choi Han was leaving before he’d been able to make such a thing happen. The young man was truly stubborn at turning them down. Even Ron could admit that he’d be slightly disappointed to not have been able to pay the punk back for that cut on his neck. He’d been looking forward to teaching the boy a lesson or two about what it meant to pick a fight with him. The sparring opportunity also would’ve given  Beacrox  a chance to learn a few things.   

But mostly, Ron would be glad to be rid of him. The way the young man had been hovering around his young master, sticking to his side unless ordered otherwise, had left a bitter taste in his mouth that most certainly wasn’t the result of drinking too much lemonade. The punk’s presence near Cale had had Ron on edge from the moment he’d stepped into the estate seeing as this boy walked close to death like he did. And Ron didn’t take lightly to those he considered a possible threat following Cale. The fact that his identity couldn’t be traced didn’t help the young man’s case. The sooner that punk was away from his young master, the better.  

Unaware of the turn Ron’s thoughts had taken, Cale had been getting ready to frown after hearing that Ron liked being next to him, but his expression got better after hearing the rest of Ron’s words. It seemed that, despite Choi Han’s earlier adamance that the three of them weren’t close, a level of friendship had developed between them. In the end, Cale knew that, despite how difficult Choi Han was to read, if he truly hated someone, he wouldn’t even speak to them, let alone hang around them.  

“Well, you can see each other again at the Capital since you’ll be moving together,” Cale assured Ron, smiling mischievously. That way the three of them could leave this kingdom and travel to Rosalyn’s. It was a sound plan, in Cale’s opinion.  

Smiling brighter, Ron responded. “I look forward to when we’re all together with Choi Han- nim  in the Capital. This old man’s wish is that everybody arrives  there  safely.”  

Cale didn’t believe for a second that Ron was genuinely looking forward to arriving in the Capital together, or that he was genuinely wishing that everyone arrived safely. Those types of emotions weren’t suited for this old man. To him, they were just  flowery words meant to placate others and keep up his image as a superior head butler.  

Even the kittens snorted after hearing Ron’s so-called wish. They just found it annoying that Ron kept trying to teach them assassination skills they already knew behind Cale’s back. They knew that Ron was only doing this because he was worried about the possibility of leaving Cale’s side unprotected, so they went along with his secret lessons easily in order to appease the old man. The kittens themselves were also slightly thankful for Ron’s guidance, as they too were worried about not being strong enough to protect Cale if it was ever required of them. They didn’t want to allow the first person to give them a proper home to become injured or disappear, and for that, they needed to get stronger.  

Cale closed his eyes as he sighed, waving his hand in dismissal. “You can leave now.”  

Being around Ron for too long was truly stressful and all Cale wanted to do at the moment was rest quietly.  

Once Ron exited the room, the kittens, who had been quiet for the duration of the conversations, finally released their anger.  

“Hans is a liar!”  

“I trusted that butler!”  

Cale just pet the kittens’ heads in an attempt to calm them down as they mumbled curses to each other.  

Turning to look out at the window, Cale stared in the direction of a cave that was in the corner of Puzzle City. This cave was the location of the incomplete rock tower and The Vitality of the Heart. According to Cale’s information, there should be a small house inside the cave where a person was said to have lived until they were 150-years-old. The Vitality of the Heart was a power that an ancient being had left behind after naturally dying from old age. The deceased person had thought their power to be a curse. But Cale was more inclined to call it a blessing.  

Getting up from his seat, Cale fixed his clothes a bit before walking over and opening the door. A shocked gasp came from outside it. Hans was right outside the door, hand positioned as though ready to knock. Seeing the butler who’d ran back with his arms full of jerky, Cale started to speak.  

“Let’s go see the rock tower.”  

The kittens, whose anger had calmed down to a slight simmer under Cale’s ministrations, flicked their ears in Cale’s direction in interest before jumping off the bed and running up to his side. Cale smirked down at the kittens who were acting as though they’d never been angry in the first place, before bending over and picking the two of them off the floor.  

“It will just be us and Choi Han going. Of course, I’m bringing On and Hong too.”  

The human who died at the age of 150 had wanted to finish a rock tower in the Wind-Gathering Cave in Puzzle City. The centre of the cave had a hurricane that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The old man had spent over 100-years trying to build a rock tower in the eye of that hurricane, however, he failed. Of course, this was only because the old man always destroyed his rock tower whenever it looked like he was going to finish it. He repeated that over and over until he died one day after stacking it back up halfway.  

Cale couldn’t help but wonder what wish the ancient old man had had, not that it’d make any difference to him in the end. He just planned on carefully looking at one thing while they were out looking at rock towers today. He at least wanted to make the rock tower he’d have to build look good. He also had to pay close attention to some select people at the Rock Tower Ruins just in case.  

Walking past Hans without waiting for an answer, Cale went in search of the last member of their group. He found Choi Han talking to  Beacrox  on the ground floor of the inn. Cale smiled. The pair really had gotten close, even if Choi Han wouldn’t admit it.  

***  

Cale’s group arrived at the entrance of the Rock Tower Ruins on foot. He didn’t bring their carriage, emblazoned with the  Henituse  territory’s crest, as he didn’t want to bring too much attention to themselves. Cale also made sure to wear a hat in order to somewhat disguise himself, using the excuse that he didn’t like the sunlight.  

Entering the ruins, Cale immediately located the people he was looking for. He stealthily moved behind Choi Han and Hans, allowing him to watch them discreetly from a distance. A man and woman were dressed casually. The man was in a wheelchair whilst the woman was pushing it towards the entrance of the ruins in order to exit. Neither noticed Cale’s stealthy gaze as they casually left the ruins.   

Turning his head slightly towards the woman, the man in the wheelchair asked a question. “Why did you want to come here today?”  

The woman shrugged as she continued to push him onwards. “I don’t know if it’s a message from the Lord or just complete bullshit, but I've had the same dream for a couple of days that stated that I needed to come here. My dream said that our future benefactor would show up if we came to the ruins. Something about how even the Lord didn’t know how the benefactor would act, other than the fact that they would be coming to the ruins today.”  

The man’s eyes widened. “There’s a person that even the Lord cannot predict?”  

“Who knows? Half of the things the Lord says is bullshit. Complete bullshit,” the woman vented angrily.  

“Bullshit? It’s the word of the Lord. Plus, wasn’t it a secret that you can hear messages from them?”  

The man in the wheelchair was Marquis Stan’s eldest son, Taylor Stan.  

“It’s not like there are any priests here in Puzzle City. And who cares about the word of the Lord? Does the Lord feed us? How can there be a benefactor for people like us? Absolutely bogus.”   

The annoyed woman was Taylor’s close friend, Cage, who would eventually be known as the Crazy Priestess.  

Dragging a hand through her short hair, Cage huffed angrily. She couldn’t understand that goddamn Lord of hers. He got her nerves for no good reason, sending them on this ridiculous journey to find someone they weren’t even sure was going to show up.  

She cursed her Lord out mentally, before speaking to Taylor. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”  

Nodding seriously, Taylor responded. “Cage, I suddenly feel like drinking beer.”  

“Really? I’m craving smoked pork.”  

The looked at each other with serious expressions, as though they were in the middle of plotting some big scheme, before they grinned.  

Pointing his finger forwards, Taylor exclaimed. “What a wonderful combination! Let’s go. It’ll be my treat!”  

“Your treat?! This priestess will do her to escort you there.”  

The pair began to laugh as they moved further away from ther ruins.  

Cale hadn’t been able to hear their conversation, but he was doing his best to remember the faces of the two individuals. Now that he’d confirmed what they look like, he just needed to make sure to avoid them from now on. Cale believed this would be easy considering they didn’t know who he was. Of course, he planned on giving them their new hope anonymously. It was something he’d learnt from the dragon.  

The only way this wouldn’t go to plan, was if their Lord decided he had nothing better to do and revealed Cale to them. As far as he was concerned, the chance of that happening was highly unlikely. As such, it was impossible for them to learn of his identity. How great was that? Cale nodded solemnly to himself. He should’ve done everything else anonymously until now.  

Stepping into the ruins had felt like a massive weight had been lifted off Cale’s chest, proof that his plans were progressing smoothly. He could see people praying quietly all around the area, wishing for things that would hopefully come true.  

Hans stealthily approached Cale and leant up to whisper in his ear. “I just saw the eldest son of Marquis Stan’s household.”  

Surprised, Cale turned to look at Hans. “How do you know about that person?”  

Hans smiled and pointed his index finger, placing it to his temple. “Pretty much any and all information regarding nobles is in my head. I could see a man being pushed in a wheelchair, as such, it was weird that there was only one person with him. However, I was able to see that there was a red snake crest engraved on it.”  

“Hans.” Cale placed his hand on the butler’s shoulder.  

“Yes, sir?”  

“You’re better than you look.”  

Hans shrugged his shoulders as he cocked his head to the side with a confused, but satisfied, expression. “Thank you?”  

Patting him once more, Cale removed his hand as he looked in the direction that Taylor and Cage had left in.  

Hans watched his young master for a couple of moments before asking. “What do you plan on doing?”  

Feeling the left side of his face heat up, Cale turned to look in that direction. Choi Han was staring at him, the weight of his gaze a brand against Cale’s skin. Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion at the intensity of Choi Han’s gaze, Cale titled his head to the side slightly as he tried to work out what Choi Han was thinking. When nothing in his expression was forthcoming, and the man himself remained silent, Cale shrugged his shoulders, deciding to leave it be. Instead he turned to look at Hans before answering his question.  

“Ignore them.”  

Both men nodded their heads at that without saying anything else. Only then, did their own tour of the ruins begin.  

Looking around, Cale was shocked at the appearance of the rock towers amongst the ruins.  

Frowning in disbelief, he stated. “They are uglier that I had expected.”  

Cale couldn’t understand the ancient sense of style. He’d been expecting piles of rocks, but there were rock towers of all kinds of shapes. They looked interesting; however, they were not anywhere near being described as beautiful. The towers were spread around the wide plain. Most of them were cracked and falling apart in places, looking one small nudge from falling down completely. The sharp edges of the rocks sticking out in jagged bursts, making the towers look more dangerous than representing the people’s hopes. Cale knew that On and Hong had been interested in the towers, but he didn’t like the thought of letting the children anywhere near these hazards waiting to happen.  

Cale peeked down at the kittens in his arms, seeing if it was likely that they’d want to get a closer look, however, both were frowning deeply. They were extremely disappointed at the sight before them. Despite that, there was only one person amongst their group that seemed to be taking the rock towers seriously. Choi Han had his head bowed, his hands clasped in front of him, as he prayed like the other people here. Cale was sure that he was praying to return to Korea.  

Unlike Kim Rok Soo, Choi Han had grown up in a happy family environment with positive influences. That was why he’d been able to survive in such a disastrous situation while still remaining a good person. He was a completely different type of person than Cale.  

Cale was staring at Choi Han when the other man lifted his head, the two of them making eye contact.  

“Cale-nim.”  

“What?”  

Choi Han’s expression gave nothing away as he answered. “I have a question and something to report.”  

Cale had a bad feeling about this.   

“Start with your question.”  

Choi Han nodded, before looking back towards the rock towers. He seemed to be thinking about something carefully before turning back to Cale and asking. “Cale- nim , are you not going to make a wish?”  

Cale raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. Is that what he wants to know? Cale couldn’t understand why Choi Han would want to know something like that, but pushed the issue aside as he casually answered.  

“I don’t do things like making wishes.”  

Choi Han furrowed his brows as he began to frown. “Why not?”  

“It makes you have higher expectations.”  

Choi Han, Hans, and even the kittens all looked at Cale, frowning. Ignoring their gazes, Cale looked at the rock towers much like Choi Han had done, before continuing.  

“It’s so much easier to live without high expectations.”  

Cale knew that it would feel great if you scratched a lottery ticket hoping for $1 and ended up winning $5, but on the other side, if you scratched it hoping to win the grand prize and only won $5, you were bound to be annoyed. Cale didn’t need those kinds of high expectations in his life as they would only lead to disappointment.  

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Cale turned only to see Hans smiling up at him.  

“You’re right, young master. There’s no such as dreams or hope in this world.”  

Cale gave Hans a sharp glare. “Just stop talking.”  

“Yes, sir!” Hans responded loudly, but he still seemed slightly disappointed as well. He’d attempted to make a joke out of his young master’s words in order to lighten the mood, however, it seemed like he’d just annoyed him instead.  

Hans sighed before reaching out to take the kittens from Cale, wanting to get some comfort from them. Cale handed them over easily, and watched as Hans walked on ahead of them, before leisurely following behind. Choi Han quickly approached Cale, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back slightly before he whispered lowly, so that Hans couldn’t hear.  

Cale had forgotten that Choi Han hadn’t given his report yet.  

“The dragon has entered the city.”  

Cale turned to look in the direction of the rock towers in the plain. He was sure that the dragon had made itself invisible as he couldn’t see it. The only thing he could see were the people praying towards the rock towers. The Rock Tower Festival was still a week away, but there was still a large amount of people here.   

“Ignore it.”  

Choi Han dropped Cale’s wrist as he nodded. “I understand.”  

Turning his gaze in the opposite direction, Cale looked towards the upscale area of Puzzle City. It was the area where the wealthiest citizens lived. Behind that area was a small mountain, and somewhere on that mountain was the grave of the person who had lived until they were 150-years-old. That grave was where Cale needed to go.  

Chapter Text

The next day, Cale was ready to head to the grave within the Wind-Gathering cave. Naturally, he had to get rid of those who were trying to follow him. Hans, the kittens, as well as the Vice-Captain and a couple of knights, were dogging Cale’s heels no matter how many times he ordered them to remain at the inn, arguing that it was their duty to protect their young master. Annoyingly, it seemed that many of them had warmed up to Cale after travelling with him for a while. This had been especially true for the knights since Cale had brought them alcohol back at the first inn. Thankfully, everybody stopped voicing their complaints once he’d revealed that he was only taking a single person with him.  

“I’ll only be taking Choi Han with me.”  

That had had Cale’s shadows stopping in their tracks. Choi Han was the strongest person here. With him tagging along, both the Vice-Captain and Hans, as well as the knights, had nothing to say against Cale’s decision.   

Frowning, as he could no longer argue without sounding petulant, the Vice-Captain said he needed to continue training the knights, as he sulkily began to gather them before walking away. The fact that Choi Han had defeated most of the knights during their training sessions back at the estate, as well as him having taken care of almost all the bandits by himself on their first day of travelling, had left a bitter taste in the Vice-Captain's mouth. On one hand, he was glad to have someone as strong as Choi Han by Cale’s side, however, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d been shown up by this mysterious young man. As he was now, the Vice-Captain couldn’t compete with Choi Han’s strength, and that was a frustrating conclusion to come to. It looked like he still had room to become stronger. Resolving himself to more training, the Vice-Captain called out to the surrounding knights. “Let’s go. Everybody outside.”  

Cale watched the knights trail behind the Vice-Captain with looks of despair on their faces, aware that, with the mood their Vice-Captain was in, their training would be relentless as he worked through his frustration. On the other hand, Hans seemed to have no qualms about being left behind as he excitedly declared that he’d take care of the kittens whilst Cale was gone.  

Heading out of the inn, Choi Han stuck closely behind Cale. He’d expected Cale to have at least brought the kittens with them this time as well and was surprised when Cale had declared that only he would be going with him. Not that he was going to argue against Cale’s decision. It was an honour for Cale to trust him with such a task. A tight feeling had squeezed his chest at that, making Choi Han frown in confusion as he massaged the area. Maybe he’d had too much to eat this morning? Ignoring that strange feeling, Choi Han asked Cale a question.  

“Are we doing something again today?”  

Cale smirked slightly. “Again? Someone might get the wrong idea if they heard you.”  

Choi Han didn’t respond as they made their way through the colourfully decorated streets of Puzzle City. Pointing towards the peak of the mountain poking out from behind the trees that were obscured by some of the wealthier looking houses in the upscale area, Cale explained. “I need to go to that mountain over there. You can just wait for me at the mountain entrance.”  

Choi Han looked towards where Cale was pointing before nodding. “I understand.”  

Having received Cale’s order, Choi Han didn’t say anything else as he continued to follow him. Cale preferred someone like Choi Han – someone who didn’t ask Cale any questions but still followed him. He didn’t seem to have any curiosity in regards to Cale’s actions. Cale thought this was likely because Choi Han thought that he could figure out his motives if he really wanted to, and because he didn’t think that Cale would be putting them in danger, no matter what it was he was doing.  

Passing through the upscale area, Cale and Choi Han reached the bottom of the small mountain. Cale glanced up briefly at the path he’d have to walk through to get to the Cave’s entrance. He was about to remind Choi Han to remain here when Choi Han called out to him, his voice low and subdued.  

“Cale-nim.”  

Cale turned, confused by the sudden shift from Choi Han’s usual tone. “What?”  

The young man seemed to hesitate briefly before continuing. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”  

Cale raised an eyebrow, confused at where this was going. “I know. I was the one  who told you to leave tomorrow.”  

Choi Han nodded his head slowly before lifting his gaze and making eye contact with Cale, who had crossed his arms as he stood impatiently at the mountain entrance.  Cale was the first person who’d said that Choi Han was capable enough to protect someone. He’d also proven this point by allowing Choi Han to accompany him on his travels, as well as asking for his help to save the dragon, and now as he followed Cale to the edge of the mountain. The trust that Cale was putting in Choi Han to watch his back meant that he’d  been thinking about what this act of protecting meant the last few days.  

Choi Han opened and close his mouth a few times before speaking. “I’ve been debating this for a while, but there’s something I need to tell you.”  

The report he’d given about the dragon yesterday hadn’t actually been what Choi Han had wanted to say. He hesitated for a moment, glancing away from Cale and towards a tree near the entrance of the mountain briefly, he narrowed his eyes at it before forcing his gaze back on Cale.  

“Mr. Ron is a dangerous person.”  

Cale flinched in shock, the straight hit smacking him without any warning. He couldn’t decide whether he should pretend to know or not? Cale hadn’t expected such a blunt statement from Choi Han. However, he gathered himself, masking his surprise before calmly responding.  

“Is that so?”  

Choi Han’s eyes opened wide. “Aren’t you surprised? There’s the dangerous stench of blood on him. He’s a strong person who has shed a lot of it.” Choi Han couldn’t believe that Cale was acting so calm. “At first, I thought that Cale- nim  knew about it already and still kept Mr. Ron by your side, but-”  

If Cale had known, he would’ve taken Ron with him to rescue the dragon. But Cale hadn’t done that. That meant, either Cale didn’t know about Ron’s strength, or he didn’t trust him. However, Choi Han thought it unlikely that Cale wouldn’t trust someone who’d been by his side the last 18-years. That was why he’d concluded that Cale wasn’t aware of Ron’s strength.  

“-neither Cale- nim  nor anybody else seemed to know about Mr. Ron’s strength. That was why I thought I needed to tell Cale- nim .”  

Truthfully, Choi Han had debated telling him this since the begin of their acquaintance. The fact that Cale had said he didn’t have any expectations had made him decide not to say anything regarding Ron, however, the fact that Cale had chosen him to be his guard today had made him feel slightly guilty even if he was more than happy to do so – proud even, that he’d been chosen over others.  

Cale hummed. “Oh, really? I didn’t know Ron was that strong.”  

Choi Han frowned, concerned at Cale’s lack of reaction.  “Will you still keep him around you? Even though he seems like an evil person.”  

Cale snorted, his lips becoming upturned. Keep Ron around him? He was planning on pushing Ron onto Choi Han the moment they arrived in the Capital. He hardly had any reason to worry about the old man being by his side temporarily. And even if he did, it was unlikely that Ron would actually do anything at this moment.  

Cale smiled as he spoke. “Whether it’s you or Ron.”  

Choi Han’s frown deepened. “Excuse me?”  

“You say that he has a dangerous strength, but then why do you leave Ron alone?”  

Choi Han flinched, his eyes flying open and his mouth agape. “That’s because-”  

But Choi Han found that he couldn’t say anything and lowered his head as he stared at the ground, his eyes scrunched up in frustration. He knew for a fact that Ron was very strong and, as such, very dangerous,  especially to someone weak like Cale. It didn’t sit right with him that such a man was by Cale’s side.  

Cale smiled. “It’s probably because he hasn’t done anything to you, right?”  

Choi Han didn’t have a retort. Sure, there had been the initial misunderstanding between them, which had led to their small battle in the kitchen, but Ron had helped him find a sword after that, and even helped take care of the issue with Harris Village. Everything about him screamed danger, but he hadn’t actually done anything to Choi Han except throw a dagger at him a couple of times to try to arouse his anger and get him to spar with him. The only real issue Choi Han had with Ron, was that the old man didn’t seem to like the fact that he was by Cale’s side. It seemed they were the same in that respect.  

Cale silently observed Choi Han as the young man made a complicated expression. It wasn’t just to Choi Han – Ron didn’t do anything to anyone. The only thing that Ron did was give Cale lemonade from time-to-time, despite knowing he didn’t like sour things, or making fun of Cale with rabbit meat. Other than that, there was nothing he’d done to warrant being called an evil person even if the stench of blood and death clung to him.  

Cale stared at Choi Han. “Ron has been my servant for 18-years. And during that time, I’ve had no issues with him or his way of doing things. He has proven himself capable and has never put me, or anyone else, in any kind of danger. He is a good butler.”  

No matter what, Ron was dedicated to his act as a servant. Even the Vice-Captain, who cared a lot about hierarchy, didn’t get angry when Ron, a servant, walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him. Even Hans didn’t get angry when Ron did his job for him. This was because Ron was skilled and well-liked throughout the estate. The people there trusted him and valued his insight on matters, even if they fell outside of his jurisdiction. Ron might’ve been an assassin, but right now? He was nothing more than Cale’s butler who’d be by his side until he passed him onto Choi Han.  

Tilting his head to the side, Cale asked Choi Han a question. “Do you hate Ron?”  

Choi Han thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No.”  

“Then?”  

“I just thought it’d be better for you to know that he was a dangerous person, and thus, decided to report.”  

Cale smiled. “Whether it’s you or Ron.”  

Choi Han lifted his head after hearing that again.  

“You’re both the same to me. In that aspect, you’re dangerous as well.”  

Choi Han frowned. His expression was cross between confusion and offended.  

Seeing this, Cale refrained from laughing as he explained. “You’re strong as well.”  

Choi Han gasped in understanding. Cale didn’t know the reason behind it but he continued to speak.  

“It’s all the same to me.”  

He didn’t know the reason, but Ron, who’d come over from the Eastern Continent, was living in the  Henituse  territory whilst hiding his identity. If someone like that attempted to touch the son of the Count? That would spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom and negate all the hard work Ron had put into laying low until now. Ron was someone who didn’t care about anything or anyone else, other than his son and himself. So why would someone like that cause a ruckus when it went against his initial goals? Cale was just scared because he knew Ron was a dangerous old man. Getting rid of that dangerous old man was one of his top priorities so that he could live in peace. As such, he wouldn’t involve himself in Ron’s affairs more than was strictly necessary.  

“As long as he is by my side, he is just my servant. Likewise, as long as you’re by my side, you’re just Choi Han who needs to pay me back.”  

Cale turned from Choi Han as he glanced back up the small mountain path. He quickly checked his watch. The strength of the wind in the cave was different based on the time of day, which meant that time he would need to enter was quickly approaching. He needed to hurry.  

“You’ve nothing else to say, right?” Cale began walking up the mountain, not waiting for Choi Han’s reply. “Don’t follow me.” He might’ve felt bad about being so blunt to Choi Han, but this was a time-sensitive matter and, at the moment, making his plans fall into place was more important than his manners.  

Choi Han silently nodded his head in a response that went unseen. Cale didn’t even look back once as he ascended up the small mountain path. He watched Cale grow smaller in the distance, furrowing his brows in concerns, dissatisfied with the fact that he couldn’t follow after him, as he didn’t know what Cale was walking towards or when he’d be back. Once he could no longer see Cale’s back, Choi Han’s expression went blank, as he turned to the tree he’d briefly glanced at earlier.  

“You heard him, right?” Choi Han’s tone was flat.  

Ron jumped smoothly off the branch he’d been perched on during the punk’s conversation with his young master. He stood up, straightening his clothes, before placing his hands neatly behind his back as he glared at Choi Han.  

“I changed his diapers and raised him since he was young.” Ron’s tone was blunt and sharp. It was the truth. “I’ve been by his side since the moment he was born. I was by his side when his mother died, and I was by his side when his father remarried. Did you really expect him to remove me from his side just because you revealed that I had the scent of death on me?”  

Choi Han flexed his hands, his eyes narrowing. “I just thought he should know that the old man by his side was not all that he appeared to be. It’s up to Cale- nim  to decide what he does with that information.”  

A sharp chill blew from the East. The tension between the two men felt like a thin metal wire pulled tight, as it cut through the surrounding area.  

Ron calmly approached Choi Han, stopping when he was only an arm reach’s away. “You’re a funny punk, aren’t you?” His smile held no ounce of humour.  

Despite the fact that Choi Han had a good 8-centimetres on Ron’s height, he could feel the old man’s pressure towering over him as it pulled at his senses, seeming much larger than he actually was. Choi Han wasn’t intimidated, however, as he continued to stare evenly back. Ron raised an eyebrow in surprise at the Choi Han’s ongoing defiance. He knew the punk had to have a backbone somewhere underneath those clothes, considering the strength of the stench that had clung to him when he’d first arrived at the state. He would’ve had to have had one after the situation he’d gotten himself out of the day before that. But Ron hadn’t expected it to be this strong, seeing as Choi Han was able to confidently look down on him without an ounce of fear. In fact, Ron would even say he seemed amused.  

Choi Han raised an eyebrow. “If you’re trying to get me to spar with you again, my answer is still no.”  

Ron’s smile took on a lighter tone as he answered. “This old man does know when to give up. My son, on the other hand, does not.”  

Choi Han frowned. “I’m not going to fight him either.” His sword was only made for protecting people now as Cale believed that he could. It was no longer made for killing.  

The pair observed each other closely for a few moments longer, before Ron gave in first. He looked towards the path where his young master had disappeared through. Seeing this, Choi Han moved to stand in front of the path leading up to the mountain. “Cale-nim had said that nobody is to follow him from here on.”  

Ron moved his gaze back to Choi Han as he replied bluntly. “I know, you little punk.” He had no thoughts about following after his puppy young master, certain that he wouldn’t have to worry about whatever it was the boy was up to now. And if it did turn out to be something to worry about, then Ron was more than capable of dealing with it.  

He turned his back on the mountain and Choi Han as he began to walk away. After hearing that Cale was only planning on taking Choi Han with him – even leaving the Cat Tribe children behind – Ron had followed after them just in case something happened. He’d also followed as he was still no closer to trusting the strange young man dogging his young master’s heels.  

“I shouldn’t have come.” Talking to Choi Han only seemed to get on his nerves. He was looking forward to sending him off tomorrow.  

They say you got  more fickle  with age. And the fickleness Ron was experiencing at the moment was a pain. He walked back to the inn at a much slower pace than when he’d left. Choi Han watched Ron disappear before sitting down on a nearby boulder and sighing. He truly didn’t get along with that old man. Pushing that conversation aside, he would sit here and wait patiently for Cale to return.  

Chapter Text

“Damn it.” Cale started to frown.  

He stood in front of the cave that was tucked away to one side, located slightly off the mountain’s path and obscured by a handful of trees. The entrance was small and close to the ground; vines weaved their way across it, curtaining the darkness, with small plants and bushes lining the front. It would’ve been difficult to find unless you were looking carefully.  

Cale glanced down at his clothes. He’d made sure to pack simpler outfits for his journey, placing his comfort above looking like the well-off son of a Count. However, the clothes themselves were still expensive and both his trousers and shirt were white in colour. He looked back at the low narrow entrance before sighing. Hans would likely have something to say when he’d see the state of his clothes later. He was, after all, the one in charge of his luggage. Whether it was the man-eating tree or this cave, everything related to ancient powers seemed to require making Cale look like an idiot in some way.  

Unclipping his cloak from his right shoulder, Cale placed it neatly near the entrance of the cave and got on his knees. He  tore the vines, making a gap big enough for him to fit through, before beginning to crawl through the entrance,  leaving traces of his destruction in his wake.  

A moment later, the vines Cale had pulled to the ground crunched.  

The path through the cave was claustrophobic, the entrance only letting in enough light for Cale to barely make out what was in front of him. The ground was damp and dusty, leaving large stains on Cale’s knees and the cuffs of his shirt. He could feel the wet mud clinging to him unpleasantly, making him frown.  

Luckily, the path began to widen after 5-minutes, allowing Cale to stand up comfortably. He wiped his hands on his thighs, no longer caring about ruining his trousers, seeing as they were already caked with dirt, and walked the rest of the distance.  

In order to gain the ancient power, you had to stack the rock tower with your own strength, meaning the Marquis’ eldest son, Taylor, had to have come here personally. Taylor must’ve been really desperate, in order to have crawled all the way in here personally. What had taken Cale 5-minutes, likely took him a lot longer.  

A sharp, low whistling sound could be heard in the distance. The farther Cale went in, the clearer the noise in his ears became. It was the sound of the winds trapped within the cave, as they stretched their reach to fill the surrounding areas. A taunting whisper of the power that lay farther ahead.  

He wondered if it’d sound like this when he got the Sound of the Wind ancient power later. A shield. Then recovery. Then quick feet - that was Cale’s plan of action regarding his collection of ancient powers.  

After a while, Cale located some cloth hanging from a pillar; likely the remnants of a hut from long ago.   Cale observed the ruins left from a time long passed; the pillar was cracked and crumbling in multiple places, dust piling around it from its age; the cloth, presumably a roof or curtain years ago, was torn and bug bitten, its edges frayed and worn. Objects that looked like bowls lay scattered and broken. It was impressive that an old man had lasted in this cave by himself for so tens of years. It reminded Cale of Choi Han – how lonely must the old man have been to hole himself up? Watching as those he knew died around him, his own time continuing ever forward. It must’ve not been much of a life, waking up each day to build his rock tower only to destroy it before he was finished. Cale wondered what his wish had  been?  

Pulling his gaze away, Cale continued to walk.  

Stepping out of the path, Cale entered a wide underground cavern. A vicious tornado filled his view, its low hum overwhelming the area. Loud blustery echoes reverberated off the cave’s walls like giant fists, as different wind paths attacked each other relentlessly, thrashing one another with wild abandoned as they crossed. Bits of jagged rock lay amongst the debris on the ground, occasionally being knocked to the side when the wind’s whips got too close. The cave walls had been slowly crumbling under the tornado’s assault, widening the space. There was no doubt about the strength of it.  

Cale was forced to stop walking. This was even worse than Cale had expected.  

He looked back and forth between the underground area and the path he’d travelled from. It felt like he’d be pushed back by the wind if he attempted to take a step inside. Well, not just pushed back, but smashed against the wall, probably gaining serious injuries in the process. Of course, the centre of that tornado would be calm, as it was the eye of the storm – it was just a matter of getting there.  

He now understood why the novel has said that Taylor and Cage had struggled for a whole week gaining this power. It would’ve been impossible for Taylor to have done it without the priestess’ help.  

However, Cale didn’t need someone else’s help in order to take the power he wanted.  

Smiling, Cale crossed the underground area in quick strides, before walking directly into the vicious tornado without any hesitation. His hair whipped to one side like fluttering streaks of blood, as his clothes billowed wildly. Goosebumps rose along his exposed skin, causing Cale to plunge his hands into his pockets in an attempt to fight of the chill.  

Frantically, a voice called out behind him, their pitch rising in panic. “No! You’ll get hurt! You’re extremely weak!”  

The Black Dragon shot out from the path Cale had come from, wings flapping with nervous energy as he hovered in the air at the edge of the cavern where the wind was weaker. The dragon was about to call out to the idiotic human again, a scathing complaint about his recklessness on his tongue, when his mouth opened in confused shock. A large shield, sprouting silver wings at its sides, appeared in front of Cale. Its wings shone brightly with a holy light as it cut the through the winds path, as it protected him.  

Turning around at the shout, which had been muffled by the wind filling his ears, Cale’s eyes opened widely as his gaze landed on the dragon.  

“What the hell are you doing here?” Cale’s voice rose in a startled yell.  

Cale watched in disbelief as the Black Dragon looked away quickly, slowly descending to the ground, his head hung low and his shoulders hunched, as he crawled back towards the path.  

“I was-” the dragon flicked his eyes towards Cale as he paused, before quietly continuing. “-just passing by.”  

The truth was, the dragon had watched the foolish human and the scary human leave their inn before making their way through the streets towards the bottom of this small mountain. He’d then silently observed their conversation, before the weak human had continued alone. The dragon had thought it stupid that the weak human had brought the strong human with him and yet left him behind. Especially considering the tornado he was trying to walk through, even if he happened to have a shield.  

Cale clicked his tongue making the dragon’s back flinch. He didn’t have time to pay attention to, or figure out why, the dragon had followed him this far. The cave’s wind had a cycle of 3-hours of strong wind, followed by 3-hours of weak wind. This was the moment when the wind started to get weaker, feeling less like sharp knives flying past him and more like a stream of strong continuous slaps. Of course, the wind would continue to increase in strength the close he got to the centre.  

It was quite scary, seeing as this wind was still unbelievably strong despite being part of the ‘weak phase.’ The novel had mentioned that the 150-year-old man had walked through this strong wind in order to get to his rock tower. Cale couldn’t believe that an old man had been able to walk through this wind alone. It sounded ridiculous and too much of a hassle to have done it once, let alone repeatedly. Cale wondered if the years had strengthened the wind since then? Having been easier to walk through during the old man’s time. Or if it’d always been this strong?  

Turning back to the centre of the cave, Cale could see a half-stacked rock tower in the middle of the tornado, the area windless. Surrounding it were numerous other rocks that Cale would need to use to complete the rock tower. The issue was getting to the tower. Stacking the rocks would be the simple bit.  

Cale swiped his gaze over the shield in front of him, the winds curling around on either side of him, before stepping forward. The wind clashed against the shield; metallic bangs resounded outwards before being swept away by the tornado's fists. Even though the shield was mostly transparent, it sounded as though the wind was hitting real metal.  

The onslaught of violent clangs made the Black Dragon, who’d been slowly making its way out of sight, turn around to look at Cale, frowning as he muttered lowly.  

“But you’re weak.”  

The Cale that the dragon could see, was clearly having a difficult time. Even with the shield and the wings protecting him, some of the wind couldn’t be blocked, making his clothes flutter wildly. He stopped moving every so often from the wind seeping through the bottom gap of the shield, trying to push him back. Despite this, Cale continued to move forwards, one slow step at a time.  The dragon watched Cale struggle. Why would someone so weak be so persistent about doing something dangerous? He might’ve had a shield, but the dragon doubted the human could actually defend himself if something went wrong. The dragon gritted his teeth in frustration. This human was very, very stupid, and very, very stubborn. It annoyed him that he’d been saved by someone like him.  

The dragon looked up at Cale’s face, expecting to see signs of his own frustration and struggle, however, Cale was grinning as he stared down the chaos around him.  

This human, that was nothing compared to the strength of the tornado; the same human that was weaker than even the kittens he was travelling with; the human that was, ultimately, the weakest out of everyone in his envoy, was smiling widely as he pushed his way through the wind. The dragon watched as the shield forcefully redirected the wind, its wings cutting through the currents as if they were paper. He’d never seen such a silver shield before, nor had he seen such wings. He marvelled at the delicacy and strength of them - their appearance soft and downy, but their edges sharp. The dragon opened one of his own wings, angling it in front of him. The shield’s wings were very different from his own. His were all muscle and strength; the  shield’s  were extremely beautiful. The dragon felt curiosity stirring as he stared at the shield, unfamiliar with its power.  

But the dragon’s attention was not only on the holy and magnificent shield, or its wings. Its attention was on the stupidly grinning human behind it.  

Cale was finding walking through the tornado to be more doable and comfortable than he’d expected. It was only a bit difficult and slow because of the wind, but it’d turned out to be much more of a breeze. Cale was right about it being the best to earn something with minimal effort. If he hadn’t had the shield, Cale never would’ve tried to get this power.  

Whilst using the Indestructible Shield, there was no physical or mental strain that Cale had to endure. He would only feel a small amount of strain if the shield was to break, but there was no danger of the wind being able to do so right now. The shield was only getting pushed back if the wind blew particularly strong. Honestly speaking, Cale had expected to struggle a lot more, perhaps be flung about a few times. That was why he’d originally lowered the strength of the shield in order to enlarge it as much as possible. He’d been planning on slowly shrinking the size of the shield whenever he got pushed back. But other than having to steady himself a couple of times, blocking the wind proved simple. Cale smile took on a smug quality because of that. Compared to how  Beacrox  was almost killed by Ron when being taught his sword art, this was child’s play.  

However, as Cale approached the halfway mark to the centre of the tornado, he had to push all other thoughts aside. The novel had said that he would hear a voice once he got close to the centre. It was supposed to be the voice of the old man. The tornado was also supposed to get stronger once the voice appeared.  

As the wind picked up, making Cale stumble a few steps, a low, breathy voice spoke out.  

‘I regret it.’  

Cale instinctually looked around as the voice spoke, raising an eyebrow. There was something odd about the voice.  

Coughing once, as though he was about to read lines form a script, the voice continued. ‘Ahem, I regret it.’  

Cale clicked his tongue. None of these ancient powers were normal. Why did Taylor think the old man’s voice was sincere? It sounded more like the old man was trying to manipulate him. Cale couldn’t understand Taylor’s train of thought.  

Stopping in his tracks, Cale listened patiently to the old man’s next words.  

‘The one that has a power I’m familiar with, I’m hoping you don’t get this power.’  

Cale furrowed his brows, annoyed that the old man had said he didn’t want Cale to get his power. As though in response to his annoyance, the wind rushed at Cale, throwing itself against his shield as it relentlessly attacked, metal bangs ringing out. Dirt swirled as it got thrown up into the tornado and swept through the area. Cale lifted one hand up instinctively, shielding his face as he closed his eyes from the onslaught. Once it’d calmed down slightly, he opened his eyes again.  

Unconcerned by the wind’s temper tantrum, and blatantly ignoring the fact that the old man didn’t want him to gain his power, Cale was more interested in what he’d said before that. The one with a power a power I’m familiar with? Was he talking about the Indestructible Shield? The shield was the only thing Cale could deduce from the phrase ‘familiar power.’ It hadn’t said anything like that to Taylor in the novel. Had the owner of this ancient power been acquainted with the owner of the Indestructible Shield?  

Multiple thoughts flew across Cale’s mind in quick succession. However, Cale continued to step forward, undeterred by the old man’s statement or the increasing harshness of the wind, as he titled forwards to fight against the winds pushing.  

‘I betrayed my comrades! I was a terrible person!’ The old man exclaimed. The pitch of his voice was all over the place reflecting the state of the wind as he whipped wildly in different directions. ‘I stayed alive on my own and got old. How shameful am I?!’  

The old man’s voice dipped in and out of focus as Cale was concentrating on stepping forward, each step harder than the last as the wind began putting up a proper fight. Cale had been too quick to say that this’d been easy.  

‘I was always hoping for everyone to come back to life. However, my wish was something that couldn’t be achieved. I could only lament and cry! That’s why I couldn’t finish my rock tower.’  

Cale rolled his eyes as he frowned. The old man’s lamenting voice was annoying. Rather than sounding sincere about wanting his friends to live again, it sounded more like he wanted to die. Cale hated those types of people. Why wish to die when you could live like an Epicurean instead? Life was too short just to throw it away.  

Centring himself after being knocked back slightly, Cale put strength into his legs as he forced himself onward.  

‘This restoration strength is useless. It’s only capable of protecting myself. It’s not helpful in any other way. I’m trash!’  

Cale ignored the old man’s cries. Having the power to protect himself was the most important, he couldn’t understand why the old man thought that was a bad thing. Who cares if it made him trash? None of it mattered as long as he could live a long and peaceful life.  

Breaking through the wind’s barrier steadily, Cale could see the centre of the tornado just ahead of him. As he approached the wind became ever more violent in rejection of Cale’s approach. It was if the old man himself was punching his shield. At this rate, the shield might actually break. Cale watched as his shield seemed to vibrate from the pressure the wind was applying against it. It should be receiving more damage now. Just as he thought the wind might break through and cut him, Cale realised something else about the owners of the ancient powers so far.  

‘I didn’t die even when the wind cut me like a sharp blade.’  

They were all extremely chatty. Whilst the Indestructible Shield’s owner had gone on and on about bread, the Vitality of the Heart’s owner seemed to like to act pitifully.  

Curling up, Cale decreased the size of his shield. He reached out towards the shield, clenching the transparent handle on the inside as he stepped forward. Now that it was smaller, the strength and durability of the shield had increased. Pushing back the wind was easier.  

The old man continued to speak as Cale moved forward.  

‘Restoration is a cursed power. My heart was always beating, but I couldn’t move on. It was because I was afraid of death. I was afraid of pain because I’d always been injured, and I was even more afraid of death, the end of that pain.’  

Cale burst through the tornado and into its eye. The sudden loss of pressure pushing against him, caused Cale to trip forward, managing to right himself before he fell. Being inside the windless area made it sound like it was raining all around him as the winds swarmed like insects. He could hear the old man’s voice along with the wind.  

‘I chose to throw everything else away so that I could continue to live.’  

Cale clicked his tongue as he crossed his arms, returning the shield to his heart. Who cared about anything else? Living comes first. The old man had a lot of useless things to say.   

In the centre of the tornado’s eye, the old man’s half-finished rock tower stood solid. Cale walked over and crouched in front of it. It was a normal rock tower by anyone’s standard, except all the rocks were black. Just like with the man-eating tree, these rocks, that had existed since ancient times, were different from the rocks you’d find lying about outside. It was the same with the unnatural wind surrounding the area.  

Cale looked at the rocks lying about the tower – he'd been thinking of making the tower aesthetically pleasing, however, he’d changed his mind after hearing the old man’s annoying lamenting. What was the point of trying to make something look pretty, when the person who made it wasn’t sincere about his wish? It didn’t help that Cale could tell that the old man was deliberately hiding something.  

Taking out a pair of gloves, Cale put them on and began picking up the rocks, stacking them as he completed the rock tower. It didn’t take long to finish, even Taylor had completed this part easily. However, Cage, who’d not come into the central area and had waited outside the eye of the storm, had suffered quite a bit as she worried over Taylor’s safety.  

Cale picked up the last black rock and gently placed it on the top of the rock tower, ensuring that it didn’t come tumbling down. A bright flash of light emanated from the finished rock tower as the rocks slowly began to fade from black to white. Around him, the wind had begun to die down.  

Standing up, Cale glanced around him and crossed his arms, waiting for the old man to continue his speech, having no choice but to listen if he wanted to gain the ancient power. The Black Dragon stood at the edge of the cavern with a confused expression as he watched the tornado that’d been surrounding the weak human disappear.  

‘I tried to fight with them. However, I didn’t know that I was so weak against pain. They weren’t people who served the Lord. I only realised that after we all went our separate ways and I ended up alone,’ the old man continued mournfully.  

Cale recognised the mention of the Lord from when he’d gained the Indestructible Shield. The owner of the shield had said ‘the people in the Forest of Darkness, who called themselves servants of the Lord, only gave me terrible food.’  

Cale frowned. He had the odd feeling he’d just learnt something he shouldn’t have. Something he’d have to go his entire life without mentioning to anyone else if he wanted it to remain peaceful.  

The Black Dragon had watched as the weak human made his way through the tornado, before the wind completely obscured his view of him. He’d paced back and forth from one side of the cavern’s entrance to the other, even flying up, out of reach of the winds, to see if he could spot the human from high up. Seeing nothing, and unable to get closer, the dragon had descended to the ground, laying his head on his front paws as he observed the tornado closely for any signs of trouble. He wasn’t worried about the human; he was only curious to see if such a weak person could make it out of there without being thrown. When a bright light had flashed from within the tornado, the dragon had lifted its head in surprise as the winds began to disappear, revealing the human standing silently in front of a white rock tower with his arms crossed, staring at nothing. Seeing this, the dragon hesitated to approach and remained where he was.  

Only Cale could hear the old man’s voice.  

‘I piled the rocks. I piled them up hoping that I could turn back time, hoping that I could be happy. But then I destroyed it. I hated my selfishness, for thinking about my own happiness after betraying my comrades and running away.’  

Cale sighed. The old man was frustrating him with his ongoing self-pity, biting out a blunt statement. “It’s human nature to be selfish.”  

The old man’s voice disappeared. Cale narrowed his eyes. Is it over? Had the old man finally stopped talking. Just as he was about to smile, the old man’s sobbing voice continued.  

‘My older sister said the same thing. She was a really wonderful older sister. She was more reliable than anybody else. Ah, my older sister!’   

The old man began to cry, making Cale’s skin crawl as he impatiently tapped his foot. He didn’t want to continue standing here as the old man revealed his deepest regrets. He wasn’t a therapist for ancient powers.  

After crying for a while, the old man showed his thanks.  

‘You, the one with the familiar power. That rude personality of yours makes me think of my older brother. I’m very envious of how rude you are.’  

Cale raised his eyebrows. He didn’t care about being thanked by an ancient power. He just wanted to get what he came for and then return to the inn so he could change.  

Finally, the old man said the words Cale had been waiting for. They were the same words he’d said to Taylor in the novel.  

‘Break it. The you’ll ‘overcome’ your limits.’  

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Cale smiled as he instantly kicked the rock tower without any hesitation. The white rocks scattered in different directions, hitting the ground as they bounced away. He didn’t want to give the old man even the slightest bit of an opportunity to begin rambling again.  

The dragon flinched, his eyes widening in shock as he looked at Cale like he was crazy. However, a white light floated up from underneath the broken rock tower drawing both Cale and the dragon’s attention.  

A gentle vibration pulsated throughout the cave, radiating a similar heat to when Cale had acquired the Indestructible Shield. Veins of light reached out throughout the cave from the spot beneath the destroyed rock tower, snaking across the ground and up the walls. Cale bent down and reached his hand out, placing his palm on the origin of the light. The moment he touched it, all the veins of light congregated under his palm, before shooting outwards like an arrow, piercing the spot above Cale’s heart and disappearing in a bright burst.  

Letting out a breath, Cale felt the Indestructible Shield’s and the Vitality of the Heart’s powers melt and twine into each other, seemingly deconstructing before building back together in a sturdier fashion. The heat his heart had felt from the shield’s embrace was doubled now that it was paired with the power of vitality. It felt like the completion of a strong unit.   

Unlike the shield, which was a superpower, the Vitality of the Heart was more intertwined with the physical strengths and capabilities of the human body. This regenerative strength was so strong that it’d managed to maintain itself since the ancient times in order to be passed down to someone like this. Now that he had the power of vitality, Cale would recover at a much faster rate than normal people.    

Pulling the collar of his shirt away from him, Cale peeked down at his breast bone. The intricate shield tattoo had disappeared and was instead replaced by a delicately carved red heart that seemed to pulse in time to his own heartbeat. Pressing his hand over his heart, Cale brought forth the shield.   

Just as he’d expected, the pattern on the shield had changed. Where the shield had been relatively plain, apart from a few intricate  detailings , a heart was now embossed on the front. The only difference from his tattoo, was that the heart on the shield matched its ethereal silver, whereas the one on his chest was a reddish-pink.  

Returning his shield, Cale swiftly turned on his heels with his arms crossed as he looked down at the dragon with a serious expression.  

“You.”  

The dragon flinched, before turning his gaze up to the cavern’s ceiling, acting like he hadn’t just been caught blatantly following after Cale despite his own announcement that he would go far away from humans.  

Cale continued to stare silently at the dragon. When an explanation wasn’t forthcoming, Cale walked towards him before stopping in front of him and crouching down so they were at a similar eye level.  

As if he was throwing a rock into a lake, just to see where the ripples would go, Cale stoically asked the dragon a question.  

“Do you want to come with me?”  

The dragon brought his gaze down to look at Cale blankly, before turning his gaze, his tail swishing side-to-side slightly as he answered. “You are so weak that you need protection.” He quickly flicked his eyes to Cale before landing his gaze back on the wall as he began to turn invisible. “But I don’t like humans.”  

Cale watched the dragon disappear under his invisibility magic, before snorting. What a fickle punk. Though he, himself, was also fickle, considering he’d asked such a question after telling the others to ignore the dragon and after having resolved himself to not get mixed up with one. However, there was nothing bad about this dragon, and Cale couldn’t just ignore him after he’d jumped out earlier in an attempt to save him, no matter how unnecessary the attempt was.  

Standing up, Cale looked around the cave. There were no longer any violent wind storms raging about and the rock tower lay in pieces on the ground. Turning his back on the sight, Cale made his journey back out of the cave.  

Once outside, Cale manoeuvred the remaining vines, that hadn’t been ripped down by him, into suitable enough positions to hide much of the cave’s entrance. He picked up his cloak and dusted it off, before reattaching it to his left side so it draped over his right arm. He spared a glance at the state of his trousers and the cuffs of his shirt, knowing Hans would have a few choice words to say about his care for his clothing.  

Looking out at a nearby patch of grass, Cale called out. “I can see you standing on the grass.”  

Four imprints were embedded in the grass, each representing one of the dragon’s four paws. However, they quickly disappeared after Cale’s call as the dragon flew upwards.  

Cale shook his head, lifting a hand and raking it through his hair as he sighed deeply. It seemed he’d accidentally adopted another one.  

It was obvious that the dragon would continue to follow Cale in his invisible state, regardless of if he’d asked him that question back in the cave. Cale would even bet that if he’d told him to leave, the dragon would’ve done as he wished and remained a silent tail anyway. Just why was this dragon such a noob at remaining hidden, when it knows magic like invisibility? Cale had thought that all dragons were naturally intelligent creature, but it seemed liked that might not be the case with this one.  

Walking back down the mountain, Cale could see Choi Han spring to his feet the moment he’d sensed Cale’s arrival. Choi Han had begun to smile when he saw Cale walking towards him, however, his expression got stuck halfway and reverted into a frown as he scanned Cale’s appearance before hesitantly asking.  

“Did you roll around the mountain?”  

To Choi Han, Cale looked like he’d ended up in a scuffle with something; his trousers were streaked with dirt with small rips in places; his shirt’s cuffs were muddy and frayed; whilst his hair looked like he’d been dragged through a hedge backwards.  

Cale stared stoically back at Choi Han, despite the litany of curses making its way through his mind, and responded in a flat tone.  

“Yes. I rolled around.”  

Choi Han furrowed his brows in concern, whilst his eyes narrowed as he tried to work out if Cale was joking or not.  

Cale just avoided his gaze and began walking back through the streets. He pulled his cloak tighter around him. He’d should’ve brought a change of clothes with him.  

Chapter Text

Choi Han held the door open as Cale walked into the inn, his cloak almost fully wrapped around his torso. It did nothing to hide his tangled hair or the dirt smeared messily down the front of his trousers.  

As they’d walked through the streets, Cale had gotten many odd looks from the residents of Puzzle City, confused and shocked to see a young man, who was obviously a noble, looking messier than his guard beside him. Cale had just ignored the looks, uncaring of how they viewed him, as he briskly headed in the direction of the inn so he could take a bath. He knew that the Countess wouldn’t be pleased to find out that he’d walked through a city with his clothes caked in mud. But luckily, none of his clothes had the  Henituse  crest on it so it was unlikely that she’d ever find out unless someone in his envoy was a snitch. He’d make sure to tell the knights to keep their mouths shut.  

However, Choi Han had taken issue with the stares. He’d moved to walk in front of Cale, rather than two-steps behind, blocking the sight of him without getting in the way of him walking, and glaring at anyone who took more than a passing glance. Choi Han supposed this was another form of protection in itself.  

Stepping into the inn wasn’t much better, the sound of the door opening naturally drawing many people’s attention. The Vice-Captain was off to one side with many of the knights, obviously in the middle of eating their lunch as Cale heard, more than saw, them drop their food as they took in the state of their young master.  

Cale was about to make a beeline for the stairs when a chair screeched harshly against the floor. The Vice-Captain was striding towards Cale, his eyebrows scrunched downwards in concern and, if he was seeing correctly, anger. Sighing, Cale turned to face the Vice-Captain, his face carefully blank as he raised an eyebrow at his approach.  

“What happened here?” The Vice-Captain asked lowly. His eyes might’ve been on Cale, but it was clear by his tone that he was addressing Choi Han.  

Upon the Vice-Captain's approach, Choi Han had straightened his back, his hands clenched at his side, having expected such a question as he, too, had asked Cale a similar thing. He knew that in the eyes of the Vice-Captain, Cale’s appearance looked like a failure on his part, a sign that he’d been unable to protect him from whatever had caused his dishevelled look.  

Looking the Vice-Captain in the eye, Choi Han calmly responded. “I don’t know.”  

The Vice-Captain's eyes widened as the young man’s calm response, before narrowing quickly. “What do you mean you don’t know? Where were you when our young master ended up like this?” The Vice-Captain had begun to raise his voice, though he still maintained enough self-control to not be outright yelling and disturbing the other patrons of the inn.   

Choi Han flicked a glance at Cale, before returning his gaze to the Vice-Captain, who was glaring at him, as he stated simply. “Cale-nim ordered me not to follow him.”  

That seemed to light a match under the Vice-Captain as his hand shot forward, clenching the front of Choi Han’s clothes in his fist as he hissed out through gritted teeth. “Your job was to guard him and yet you left his side? What if something had happened?”  

Choi Han stared stoically back. The only reason he was letting the older man manhandle him like this was because he’d already proven that he could take him down in a fight. It was also because he was the acting Captain of Cale’s envoy and Choi Han didn’t want to cause any unnecessary problems for him.  

Opening his mouth, Choi Han went to repeat himself. “Cale- nim  ordered me-”  

“I don’t care.” The Vice-Captain cut him off. “You were meant to guard him, and by the state young master Cale is in, it seems like you’ve failed at that.”  

Choi Han frowned, his own eyes narrowing. He’d just been following Cale’s orders. Sure, he hadn’t liked the fact that Cale had refused to allow him to accompany him up the mountain - or that he hadn’t told Choi Han what he was doing there - but he’d still been able to protect Cale, as he made sure no other people or creatures entered the vicinity. Choi Han trusted Cale to know when he was needed by his side, and he’d decided that today was not one of them. Choi Han hadn’t failed.  

Clearing his throat loudly, Ron, who’d disappeared up the stairs after seeing his young master enter looking like he was one step away from becoming a street beggar, clapped his hands once as he glanced between Cale and the Vice-Captain, smiling benignly. However, his eyes were sharp as glass as he made eye contact with Choi Han.  

“Young master, I have prepared a warm bath in your room. Why don’t you leave these two here and go clean up?”  

Cale had been silently watching the Vice-Captain direct his anger at Choi Han, debating whether or not he should step in before one of them threw the other against a wall. Thankful for Ron’s interruption, and that he’d ran him a bath so he wouldn’t have to do it himself, Cale nodded his head as he replied. “I’ll do that.”  

However, Cale wasn’t about to leave Choi Han alone with an irate Vice-Captain, not wanting them to cause any more of a scene than they already had. Reaching his hand out, Cale circled the wrist of the Vice-Captain's hand that was gripping Choi Han’s clothing, pulling the older man’s attention towards him. Raising a pointed eyebrow, Cale watched as the Vice-Captain reluctantly released his hold on Choi Han before stalking back to the table he’d been sat at.  

Satisfied that a fist fight wasn’t about to break out, Cale looked at Choi Han and tilted his head towards the stairs in silent command, making his way past Ron and up the stairs. Once his back was turned, Ron’s smile vanished as he observed Choi Han with an icy gaze. The two men looked at each other in silence, before Ron turned on his heel to follow after Cale, Choi Han not far behind him.  

Entering his room, Cale was greeted by the sight of the two kittens curled up comfortably on the bed. Hans was crouched in front of them with a piece of string, wiggling it this way and that, as he tried to get them to play with him. On cracked one eye open, staring nonplussed at Hans, before curling up further and continued to ignore him.  

Sighing, Hans stood up, turning around to face Cale as he lamented, “young master, the cute kitten- nims  won’t-” However, he cut himself off as his eyes widened at the state of Cale, who’d tossed his cloak onto the nearest chair, before going and sitting heavily on the sofa and titling his head back, his eyes closed. Choi Han closed the door behind them, going to stand behind Cale.   

The sound of Hans suddenly cutting himself off, caused the kittens to open their eyes and raise their heads to look at Hans in annoyance at being disturbed. Seeing his shocked expression, they followed his gaze, their own eyes landing on Cale and making them gape. What’d happened to him in the handful of hours he’d been gone?  

Hans looked between the mussed-up Cale and the tidy Choi Han, frowning in concern before hesitantly asking a question. “Young master.” He paused. “Did you get into a fight?”  

Cale rolled his eyes to look at Hans as he flatly answered. “No.”  

Hans nodded his head absently. Sensing that he wasn’t about to get an answer out of Cale, Hans looked up at Choi Han, eyebrows raised in silent question.  

Looking down at the butler, Choi Han responded the same way he had to the Vice-Captain. “I don’t know.”  

Frowning at the lack of explanation, Hans assessed the state of Cale’s clothes, sighing to himself at the realisation that they were going to be a struggle to get clean again. Turning to leave, Hans decided it’d be best if he didn’t know what had happened to his young master whilst he’d been gone, as he went to prepare Cale a change of clothes, in darker colours this time.  

Once Hans had left, Ron approached Cale with a towel folded neatly in his hands, holding it out for his young master to grab.  

Pushing himself up and off the sofa, Cale took the towel with a thankful nod before making his way into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He’d be glad to finally feel clean again, as he could feel the dried mud causing the fabric of his trousers and his shirt’s cuffs to rub irritatingly against his skin.  

Once the bathroom door had clicked close,  On  sat up, turning to Choi Han with a confused expression. “Why’s he covered in dirt?”  

Choi Han was about to answer, with what seemed to have become his staple saying today, but Ron interrupted him, his tone an artic tundra. “Choi Han- nim  doesn’t know how to be a proper guard.”  

The kittens whipped their heads in Ron’s direction, the iciness of his tone surprising them, as they moved closer to each other to stave off the chill exuding from the old man.  

Choi Han stoically stared back at Ron from his place behind the sofa. It seemed he’d become a broken record today. “Cale-nim ordered-”  

“I know, you little punk.”   

Ron’s hands were clenching around each other behind his back, his nails digging in hard, shy of breaking the skin. He knew that Cale had ordered Choi Han to remain where he was - had been present for that very conversation – before his young master went off to do whatever he’d planned, but that didn’t mean Ron had to like it.  

Seeing his young master return, looking like he’d been dragged through the nearest bush, had concerned Ron more than he’d like to admit to himself. Realistically, he knew Cale was alright, only his clothes feeling the brunt of whatever he’d gotten up to, himself, remaining uninjured. But it’d still left Ron with a sour taste in his mouth. It also didn’t endear Choi Han to him - seeing him return as neat as when he’d left, when Cale was a crumpled mess. Logically, he knew that his young master’s appearance wasn’t Choi Han’s fault, and that whatever Cale had been doing couldn’t have been too dangerous, considering he’d returned unscathed. But the what ifs were nagging at him.  

Choi Han could feel the tension raining down on him from Ron, making him straighten his back as he stared at the old man. He knew that Ron wasn’t pleased that Cale had returned to the inn looking like he’d been dragged into a fight, but there wasn’t anything Choi Han could do about it. He also knew that Ron was taking his anger out on him as he was the easiest target at the moment. He couldn’t be mad at Cale as it wasn’t any of his business as to what he’d been getting up to. Ron also didn’t like Choi Han from the start, so it wasn’t a surprise that he was pushing the blame onto him.  

Ignoring, the fact that Ron had questioned his abilities as Cale’s guard, Choi Han raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t about to stand here and let the other man berate him without fighting back. “Is that the guilt talking?”  

The temperature in the room dropped. Ron’s eyes were vitriolic. Choi Han felt coldly smug that he’d guessed correctly. Ron didn’t trust Choi Han, so the fact that Cale had returned looking a mess was of no real surprise to him. However, the fact that he’d not trusted Choi Han to look after Cale, and yet still left him alone with his young master, felt like a failure on his part.  

The door to the room opened, gracelessly shattering the tension in the room. Hans walked in, Cale’s change of clothes in his arms. However, the shards of tension remaining from its shatter had hit Hans as he froze in the doorway, flicking his eyes nervously between the occupants, unsure as to what’d caused this sudden suffocating feeling. Moving forwards, having been taught him to work efficiently even amongst such an atmosphere, he placed Cale’s clothes on the bed next to the kittens before avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room as he hurried to leave. The kittens jumped off the bed, seeing this as their chance to escape the atmosphere as well, as they followed after Hans.  

The interruption had broken much of the tension, putting a sound end to Ron and Choi Han’s disagreement, however, animosity still stretched wide between them. Choi Han turned his gaze away from Ron, staring blankly ahead of him as he waited for Cale’s return. Ron relaxed his hands as he went about preparing tea for when Cale had finished bathing. Neither men looked at, or spoke, to one another.  

Blissfully unaware of the standoff that had occurred through the door, Cale stood in front of the bathroom’s mirror, bathrobe opened loosely, as he prodded at the new mark on his chest.  

He hadn’t expected for the Vitality of the Heart’s mark to completely replace the silver shield that’d been there earlier. He’d expected for them to blend together like the shield’s actual form, or at least for the vitality’s mark to appear alongside it. For him to have a heart-shaped mark directly above his actual heart was a little on the cliché side, but Cale didn’t care about the mark’s appearance as long as the ancient power did its job. It also wasn’t like he’d be walking around shirtless, so it was unlikely that anybody else would ever see the mark.  

Fixing his robe so it covered the mark, Cale stepped out the bathroom drawing Choi Han’s gaze to him. A lemon scent filled the air, courtesy of Ron’s tea making. Cale pulled a face. He really wished Ron would stop torturing him with lemon flavoured things.  

Locating his change of clothes, Cale went about swiftly changing, unbothered by Ron or Choi Han’s presence, having gotten used to others being present when he dressed back at the estate. It was odd to think of how comfortable he’d gotten with such facts since arriving in this world.  

Buttoning his shirt as he turned around, Cale made his way to sit on the small sofa, towel hung loosely round his shoulders to catch any rogue water droplets. Ron handed him a cup of lemon tea, which he frowned at slightly, before taking a sip, his face pursing minutely at the sourness. Noticing the lack of noise, Cale glanced around trying to locate the kittens. Finding them gone, Cale looked up at Choi Han, about to ask where the kittens had gone – though he could guess that they were with Hans – to find him resolutely staring to one side, away from Cale, with a complicated expression on his face, his brows creasing slightly. Cale had felt the oddly strained atmosphere since he’d exited the bathroom, however, he’d quickly decided that whatever had happened since he’d left had nothing to with him. He didn’t want to get involved in whatever was happening between Choi Han and Ron.  

Resolving to remain silent, Cale sipped leisurely at his tea as he allowed his hair to airdry, not wanting to bother drying it with the towel.   

Once he’d taken the last sip of his tea, Cale placed the cup on the table with a ceramic clink as he turned his attention to Ron.  

“I plan to take the children and Choi Han out for lunch.”  

Ron smiled, his gaze flicking coldly towards Choi Han before he spoke. “Young master, may this Ron accompany you?”  

Cale shook his head, water droplets scattering. “No. I don’t plan on going far, so there’s no need.”  

Ron’s smile stiffened. He didn’t want to leave Cale in Choi Han’s care a second time, however, it was a small mercy that the Cat Tribe children were going with them.  

Choi Han whipped his head around, his eyes widening slightly as Cale mentioned taking him and the children out for lunch. He’d thought that after this morning, Cale would just want to relax and drink at the inn, but that didn’t seem to be the case.  

“That’s not necessary.”  

Cale looked at Choi Han as he protested, raising an eyebrow before asking. “Don’t you think the children should be allowed to explore a bit, before we continue travelling?”  

Choi Han hesitated. He did think that it’d be nice for the children to get out of the inn and sightsee, however, he remembered what Cale looked like returning from the cave, and thought that he could do with some rest.  

However, Cale took Choi Han’s silence as an agreement and nodded his head, before giving an order to Ron. “Tell Hans to prepare a small pouch of money.”  

Ron bowed in acknowledgment, before exiting the room, side-eyeing Choi Han as he left.  

Cale hadn’t originally planned to do anything after getting his second ancient power, however, he remembered how disappointed the kittens had been yesterday at the sight of the rock towers, and also how they’d been cooped up for the last few days as they travelled. It wasn’t good to keep children trapped indoors for too long. They needed to be allowed to explore.  

Now that the dangerous old man had left, Cale turned his gaze on Choi Han, staring at him pointedly. “What was with the atmosphere between you and Ron?”  

Choi Han avoided his gaze, his face stoic. “It was nothing, Cale-nim.”  

Cale hummed his disbelief, but let the subject drop. If Choi Han didn’t want to talk about it, then he wasn’t going to pry any further.  

***  

On and Hong were tucked securely in Cale’s arms as they made their way down the streets of Puzzle City - Choi Han following close behind. The kittens hadn’t expected for Cale to come down the stairs, freshly dressed, and inform them that he was taking them out for lunch. Like Choi Han, they’d expected Cale to stay in and laze about as he drank, not willingly wander the city with them. However, the siblings were excited at the prospect of food and the opportunity to see more of the city, rather than just those disappointing rock towers from yesterday.  

Cale had asked some of the knights, who’d explored the city in their downtime, for some recommendations of where to go for lunch. The knights had been shocked that Cale had asked them for their opinions, but Cale ignored their surprise; it was more convenient to ask for their recommendations – as they’d actually been out and tried these places - then to try and find a place himself without any knowledge.  

In the end, one of the knights had recommended a small café in the city’s market place, saying that the sandwiches there were light on the stomach. Cale had decided that such a place would likely suit the children’s tastes, seeing as Choi Han wouldn’t complain no matter where they’d end up. Cale, himself, also wasn’t very hungry, so it was the right choice.  

Passing through the market place, Cale could see that decorations were also being placed along the stalls, as well as in nearby shop windows. The city’s preparations for the festival were well underway despite the festival still being a few days away. The people were happily chatting about their plans for that day, delegating tasks and rotations amongst employees and close friends, to ensure that the majority of the people got to enjoy the festival at some point.   

Spotting the  café  the knight had mentioned, Cale passed the kittens to Choi Han before entering, the door being held open by a weighted pot. The interior was similar to Billos’ tea shop back in the  Henituse  territory; the walls and floors all made of a sleek wood with the only differences being the smaller size and the lack of bookshelves. Small tables were scattered about for their patrons, and a counter lined the front displaying light snacks and cakes, a menu hung proudly behind it.  

Seeing Cale enter, his entire – though simple – befitting of a noble, the staff behind the counter stiffened, their expressions turning nervous. The café wasn’t one that specialised in serving nobles, tending to serve the lower classes with cheap but high-quality food. Most nobles wouldn’t enter a place that wasn’t catered directly to them, so the staff were surprised and nervous by Cale’s appearance.  

Ignoring their anxious stares, Cale approached the counter as he calmly looked over the menu, Choi Han and the kittens following two-steps behind him, and ordered a mint tea alongside a ham and salad sandwich for himself, as well as small plate of meat for each of the kittens. He then turned to Choi Han tipping his head in the direction of the menu before asking. “What do you want?”  

Choi Han briefly swiped his gaze over the menu before responding. “I’ll have the same as you, Cale-nim.”  

Nodding, Cale relayed this to the nervous staff member before pulling the small pouch of coins from his inner pocket to pay.  

Transaction complete, the kittens pointed towards one of the empty tables near the window, pleading eyes looking up at Cale from Choi Han’s arms. Sighing, Cale walked towards their desired table, pulling out one of the chairs as he sat down and leant his chin on his palm, looking out the window. Choi Han sat across from him, holding the two kittens who were perched on his lap as they stood up to watch the people outside.  

On glanced between the people outside and Cale. “It’s sad that we won’t be here for the festival.”  

Hong nodded his head in solemn agreement. “Very sad.”  

On continued, as she watched two children run past. “We’ve never been to one.”  

Choi Han frowned as he looked down at the children in his lap and began to pat On’s head in reassurance.  

Cale shrugged, as he nonchalantly responded. “Plenty of festivals happen all the time. I’m sure you’ll get to go to one at some point.”  

At that moment, their food was brought over and all thoughts of the festival were put on hold. On and Hong heartily ate their fill, whilst Cale and Choi Han ate at a more reserved pace with Cale picking slowly at his food.  

As they ate in relaxed silence, Cale looked at the small rock tower which stood proudly on the outside sill of the café’s window. Some of the rocks looked like they had been painted with small decorative designs before being stacked. Cale traced the designs with his gaze before he had an idea, glancing at the kittens.  

Finishing only half his sandwich, Cale passed the rest to Choi Han to finish, before getting out of his seat and returning to the counter. He ordered a small meat-filled sandwich and had it wrapped to-go. Choi Han watched Cale in confusion, wondering why he’d ordered something extra when he hadn’t even finished his own meal.  

Once the kittens were finished, the group left the café, Cale silently leading the way. Choi Han and the kittens had no idea where he was leading them, but as they began to walk through a familiar route, Choi Han had a good idea as to where they were heading.  

They made their way up the mountain path Cale had travelled alone this morning, and stopped outside the entrance to the cave. Choi Han looked at the small, partially covered opening, realising just how Cale had ended up that unkempt earlier.  

Cale pointed at the cave’s entrance as he turned to face Choi Han and the kittens.  

“Inside there’s some small white rocks scattered around. On and Hong, you two should be able to gather most of them and bring them outside.”  

The siblings glanced at each other, confusion on their faces. They didn’t understand why Cale had brought them to a small cave entrance, or why he was asking them to go in and retrieve some rocks.  

Cale pulled out his pouch of coins, emptying the money into his hands, before tucking the coins loosely in his pocket. He then tied the pouch around  On’s  neck.  

“You can use this pouch to make gathering the rocks easier.”  

Cale had thought about suggesting they turn back into their human forms; however, he was aware that he hadn’t brought any children’s clothes with him for such an occasion. He’d have to see about finding any of the original Cale’s old children’s clothes, or even some of Basen and Lily’s, when he got back to the estate. He might as well, also take the children out to buy their own clothes, rather than rely solely on hand-me-downs.  

The two kittens entered the cave’s entrance without any complaint, despite how confused and curious they were behind Cale’s reasoning.   

Choi Han, on the other hand, turned to Cale with a small smile on his face. He’d been confused about why he was bringing them to the cave, until Cale had mentioned that he wanted the children to collect the rocks within it.  

“Cale-nim.”  

Cale looked at Choi Han, who had a gentle smile on his face. Cale stared flatly back.  

“What?”  

“Are the children going to build their own rock towers?”  

Cale raised his eyebrows. He knew that Choi Han was quick on the uptake, but he’d figured out Cale’s plan faster than expected. Turning back to watch the cave’s entrance, Cale nodded. “Yes.” He then flicked his gaze briefly at Choi Han. “You as well.”  

On and Hong had been disappointed by the rock towers they’d seen yesterday, and they were also disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to stay in Puzzle City for the festival. As such, Cale thought it’d be nice if they got to make their own rock towers to wish on. Cale might not believe in making wishes, but he wasn’t about to force other people to think the same – especially not children like On and Hong. As for Choi Han, someone like him, who’d been through a lot since arriving in this world, needed a few of his wishes to come true, and if making a rock tower helped with that, then so be it.  

Choi Han’s eye shot open in surprise. He’d thought that Cale was only bringing them here so that On and Hong could build a rock tower and make a wish, but Cale had also intended on allowing him to build one as well. A warmth flooded his system as he smiled brightly for the first time in a while, excited despite his age.  

On and Hong managed to retrieve all the white coloured rocks after making multiple trips, piling them in front of Cale who bent down and began splitting the rocks into four equal piles. In the end, he was left with one extra rock. He looked between the piles, debating whether or not he should add the rock to Choi Han’s so the siblings didn’t argue amongst themselves, but instead decided to pocket it.  

He pushed a pile of rocks towards On and Hong each, watching as they went about pushing them into position, using their mouths to place one rock on top of the other. They had been excited when they’d finished gathering the rocks, only to be told that they were for them to use to make their own rock tower to wish on.  

Choi Han was methodically stacking his up next to the kittens’, trying his best to ensure the tower wouldn’t topple over at any point. He had also been helping the siblings finish theirs as they began getting too tall for their mouths to reach.  

Once the three were satisfied with their towers, they closed their eyes as they directed their wishes at them. All three of them with small smiles on their faces.  

Cale watched calmly with his arms crossed, he could feel the remaining rock weighing down his pocket. He had no idea what he was going to do with it, but it’d felt wrong to leave it behind. Perhaps he could give it to Hans?  

Wishes made, the three individuals turned to look at Cale, before glancing at the fourth pile of rocks. The kittens tilted their heads in question, whilst Choi Han remained silent with a knowing glint in his eyes.  

“Are you not going to build a rock tower?” On asked.  

Cale shook his head. “I don’t believe in wishes, remember. Let’s just leave them for someone else to build one with.”  

Accepting that, Choi Han lifted the kittens into his arms before heading back to edge of the mountain path. Cale waved him on ahead, waiting until Choi Han and the kittens were making their way down the path, before he approached the last pile of rocks and placed the wrapped meat sandwich on top of it. He was sure that the dragon was still following them and, considering that the dragon was still only a child, Cale had concluded that he too, might want to make his own rock tower even if it was a stupid human thing.  

Turning his back on the rock towers, Cale followed after Choi Han and the kittens, not seeing how one of the white rocks floated in the air, before being delicately placed.  

Chapter Text

That night, Cale sat at the small table in the inn’s room as he penned a message. This letter would be the new hope for the priestess Cage and the Marquis’ eldest son, Taylor. However, the letter was created with magic, making it impossible to determine the handwriting of the writer – Cale didn’t need for them to realise he’d been the one to send it. Tucking the letter neatly in an envelope, Cale turned to the kittens, who were sat patiently on the bed as they waited for him to finish. He held the letter out to On, who grabbed it between her teeth.  

Making eye contact with each of the siblings, Cale sternly ordered them. “Make sure they don’t see you.”  

The kittens getting caught would potentially result in the letter’s sender being revealed. That would only cause problems for Cale, even if he trusted that neither of the children would reveal who’d sent the letter themselves. It was also important to him that the siblings to put their own safety above their goal to deliver the letter. He knew the errand he was sending them on wouldn’t be dangerous, but the what ifs were nagging at him. He needed them to return to safely.  

The kittens nodded sharply once, before jumping gracefully out the window and travelling in the direction of Puzzle City’s outskirts. Both children were proud that Cale trusted them to run errands by themselves. They’d make sure to deliver the letter safely and gain their reward once they returned.  

***  

Inky blues had taken over the expanse of the sky, small silver lights dotted through it as they broke the darkness. A soft orange glow spilled out from a gap in the curtains of the first-floor window of a small two-story house on the outskirts of Puzzle City. It was the only light amongst the empty street. Behind the curtains, Marquis Stan’s eldest son, Taylor started to frown in concern as he watched his friend, Cage, bring her hand, that wasn’t holding her pitcher of beer, up to her head as her face scrunched in pain.  

Taylor brought his hand up, reaching for Cage from where he was sat. Seeing her in pain was frustrating, as he knew that there wasn’t anything he could do to help. He couldn’t take her pain as his own, nor would she want him to. Clenching his hand that was outstretched, he dropped it uselessly back into his lap as he quietly and tightly asked, not wanting to worsen her pain. “What’s going on?”  

“Damn it,” Cage hissed and waved her hand dismissively, and slightly violently, in Taylor’s direction as she groaned. “Hold on. Don’t talk to me right now.” She gritted her teeth through the pain as a wave of nausea hit her. The beer cup in her hand falling to the ground with a crash.   

The noise caused Taylor to pitch forward in worry, wanting to go to her side, but his paralysed legs kept him where he was. He gripped the fabric of his trousers in frustration as he watched his three trusted subordinates approach Cage quickly in case she fell, angry that he couldn’t do so himself.  

Breathing out as he pushed such thoughts away, he kept his eyes on Cage as he asked, his voice taut, “What? Is the Lord saying something to you again?”  

The God of Death spoke to Cage from time to time. Each time it  happened,  Cage felt as though her head was splitting as she paid the price for receiving her God’s messages. Her ability to receive insights from the God of Death had suddenly occurred one day, and had sporadically appeared since then without warning. Cage had hidden this fact from the Church – only Taylor and his three trusted subordinates knew about it.  

Slamming her hands down on the table, Cage jumped to her feet as she exclaimed. “Ah, so annoying!” She spun on her heels, as she darted towards the back door of the house, still gripping her head as she staggered a bit from the pain, but her gaze was sharp and focused.  

Taylor’s subordinates made to follow her but were stopped in their tracks as Taylor raised his hand. Glancing at them to make sure they wouldn’t follow, Taylor watched Cage strut determinedly away, before rolling the wheels of his wheelchair forward, following slowly after her, his eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion.  

With the sheer amount of tension flowing from Cage, Taylor thought that someone might’ve tried to break in. However, despite the fact that this house was small, and otherwise innocuous, they’d made sure to set magic alarms up everywhere to ensure no one who meant them any harm could get close. Without the alarms, Taylor was too paranoid about his younger brother coming to finish what he’d started, making him unable to sleep at night. After having both of his knees destroyed by a hitman in his own room at the Marquis’ estate, Taylor no longer considered anywhere to be safe. As far as Cage and Taylor’s subordinates were concerned, the alarms were set up specifically to protect Taylor; however, Taylor had insisted on as many as he did – not for his own sake – but for the sake of those following him. This was especially true for Cage. His subordinates had been serving him for years, and were familiar with the state of his family, however, Taylor wanted to keep Cage as far away from them as possible. She might be following him of her own free will, whilst knowing of the familial dangers on his heels, but that didn’t mean that Taylor would allow her to come close to them.  

“Cage,” Taylor called out. He’d managed to catch up to her, as she stood motionless in front of the back door, tilting her head, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “What’s going on?”  

She swung her arm in his direction, gripping the back of his wheelchair as she gritted out a sharp, “hold on.”  

Removing her hand, she slammed the door open. The cool night air brushed calmly against their faces as the light from the room went flooding out. A handful of lamps lit up the edges of the garden, making it the most well-lit area in the property. The back garden was a tranquil landscape, which was in stark contrast to the serious frown marring Cage’s face as she rushed out the door, walking speedily towards the fence at the boundary of the property. Taylor used all the strength in his arms to follow quickly after her.  

Cage let out a gasp. “Crazy shit. It’s real.”   

On top of the fence, right outside the range of their alarms, was a tower made out five small rocks. It was just large enough, that the single knight staying at the house would’ve found it when he went on his patrol later.   

Cage let out a string of curses as she looked up at the sky with disbelief before frowning back at the small rock tower. Taylor wheeled himself up next to Cage and stared at the rock tower on top of his fence with confusion.  

“What is this?”  

Cage squinted at the rock tower. Just to the right of it, a message was written in chalk: ‘Break this if you want your wish to be granted.’  

Cage read the message out loud to Taylor and crossed her arms. She watched as confusion and curiosity flitted across Taylor’s face simultaneously, his eyes shining in interest. Sighing, Cage pressed a finger to her temple, making circular motions to relieve the residual headache, courtesy of her God’s message. She could see that Taylor wanted to follow the chalk message’s instructions, however, he glanced at Cage to gauge her opinion on the matter.  

Seeing that he was waiting for her answer, Cage responded. “I vote that you break it.”   

Taylor tilted his head in question. ‘Are you sure?’ written clearly across his face.  

Nodding, Cage continued. “It sounds crazy, but the Lord days to break it.”  

Surprise lit up Taylor’s expression. “What?”  

“This is the first time the Lord hasn’t said some bullshit.” Cage smirked wryly. “Why’s he talking so much these days? Usually, he speaks to me maybe once a year.”  

The God of Death only came to Cage when she was sleeping. Sleep was similar to death; the loss of consciousness, your awareness slipping stealthily away, as a great darkness takes over. That was why sleep was a path of sorts for the God of Death. However, this time, she’d heard her Lord while she was drinking. She’d thought that the God of Death was angry at her for drinking so much. That was why she’d welcomed his presence in her mind, wanting to piss him off enough so he’d stop paying attention to her. However, the God of Death had had a different idea, filling her head with sharp bursts of images and words, as he relayed his message to her.  

“What does the rock tower have to do with it?”  

Cage turned to make eye contact with Taylor, an enigmatic spark lighting her eyes.  

“Breaking it would be the turning point of our lives.” Cage turned back to the rock tower as she continued. “’The decision is yours to make. However, don’t break it if you want to live a peaceful life.’ Is what he said.”  

Cage stared at the rock tower, trying to figure out how breaking it could lead to a turning point in their lives that was unlikely to be peaceful. Scanning her eyes down the tower, she noticed the edge of a piece of paper sticking out from underneath the bottom rock, fluttering weakly from the faint breeze.  

Cage raised an eyebrow. “There’s a letter underneath the tower. I think they piled up the rocks to act as a paperweight.”  

Taylor looked up at the tower, unable to see the letter Cage had mentioned from his vantage point. Despite his curiosity, as well as his confusion, a hesitance was taking over him. No one inside the house had noticed the sender’s approach, nor was there any trace of their presence. Taylor couldn’t decide whether to trust it or not, even if Cage’s Lord had advised him to – it was human nature to be sceptical.  

Seeing his hesitation, Cage reassured him. “I don’t feel any strange powers coming from it.”  

Although she wasn’t as sensitive as real mages, using her divine powers allowed Cage to be pretty perceptive towards her surroundings, giving her the ability to feel if there were any curses or negative energy surrounding an item or place. She was a servant of Death, after all. Such an ability had already come in handy a number of times, and this strange occurrence was no different.  

Cage watched Taylor jump between a myriad of emotions. He sighed heavily, raising his eyes to the stars before determination finally settling over his features, a wisp of hope hovering about the edges.  

Turning to Cage, Taylor ordered. “Destroy it.”  

Grinning, Cage immediately turned her gaze to the rock tower and punched it without mercy, sending the rocks flying in all directions.   

Taylor blankly watched the tower crumble. Cage’s Lord had said not to break it if he wanted to live peacefully. However, Taylor had never lived peacefully. Not once. Not even as a child, with the constant ruthless competitions between him and his siblings, their father watching in sadistic glee as they tore each other apart. His parental presence fuelling the fire between them, rather than quelling it, and watching as his children burned. Luckily for him, Taylor also had no desire to live peacefully. He was going to find a way to get his legs working again, and then he’d continue to push relentlessly forward towards his goal.  

He was going to overturn this damned family of his.  

Reaching his hand out, Cage handed him the envelope. He tore it open without checking it further. Inside, Taylor found a letter written using magic. He smiled wryly, unsurprised that the sender had used such a method. He’d already concluded that the individual behind this occurrence wanted to keep their identity hidden from the lack of presence when placing the letter. However, he also suspected that the person was a noble, seeing as nobles frequently used this type of item for security reasons. He couldn’t help but wonder what the other party was after to go this far.  

His suspicion was heightened further when he read the contents of the letter. The words barely visible thanks to the lamps scattered throughout the garden.  

The Crown Prince is in possession of an ancient power. It’s called the Star of Healing, and is useless to him. It’s a one-time use power that can heal any injury. Luckily, he is looking to trade it for a method that will hold the second and third princes in check.  

Taylor’s hands shook as he read and re-read the letter’s contents, his eyes wide.  

Seeing his reaction, Cage frowned. “What is it?”