Chapter 121
Chapter 121: Nice to Meet You (4)
Human, careful, careful! You’ll fall and die if you trip!
Raon’s nagging did not reach Cale’s ears . Cale walked toward the destroyed remains that Beacrox pointed to .
“What is going on?”
“Please take a look . ”
Beacrox pointed to a dark area underneath the remains . Cale looked down and saw a box that seemed to have been busted in multiple locations from the explosion .
At that moment, Cale said two words while acting like he was shocked .
“My goodness!”
Beacrox nodded his head at Cale’s exclamation .
‘As expected, the young master is good at acting . ’
Cale then turned around and looked toward Beacrox as he asked .
“How far down is it?”
‘It seems to be lower than the third floor of the basement . ’
That was supposed to be Choi Han’s line .
“That . place . Is-”
But Beacrox blocked Choi Han with his left arm and answered instead .
“It seems to be lower than the third floor of the basement . ”
“…Really?”
Rustle . Rustle .
Cale heard the footsteps getting closer to him and asked with a serious expression .
“Was there a fourth floor to the basement? Didn’t they say that the Magic Tower only had three basement floors?”
“I . Know . Right? That . Is . What . I . Heard . ”
Cale completely ignored Choi Han for the first time . He didn’t even look at Choi Han, and instead turned around to make eye contact with the people approaching him . The mage, Rosalyn, started to speak with a serious expression on her face .
“Young master-nim, to be honest with you, I have heard that the Magic Tower was conducting some secret research . Ah!”
She sounded shocked as she covered her mouth with her hands . She acted like she didn’t know what to do as she looked behind Cale . It was as if she had said something that the person behind Cale should not have heard .
‘Amazing . ’
Cale applauded Rosalyn’s acting skills as he slowly turned around .
“…Chief Harol . ”
Harol Kodiang was looking toward Rosalyn with an odd expression on his face . He slowly turned his gaze toward Cale once Cale called his name . An unknown look of passion was in Harol’s eyes as Cale started to speak .
“Something unexpected seems to have happened, Chief Harol . Don’t you think so?”
“…It does seem that way . ”
Harol was trying to answer with a calm demeanor, but he could not hide the greed in his heart .
“What is going on? Why are you all gathered around the broken Magic Tower?”
Toonka and his subordinates soon arrived . The other Chiefs were arriving as well . Cale put a hand on Harol’s shoulder as he started to speak .
“Toonka . ”
“…What is it?”
Toonka seemed to be nervous . Cale had never called his name so seriously yet gently before .
“We seem to have found a hidden area of the Magic Tower . ”
“What about it? Is it not completely destroyed?”
‘…You stupid idiot . ’
Cale wanted to smack Toonka on the head, but held back as he gave an order to his crew .
“Go figure out what is down there . And Harol . ”
“Yes, young master-nim . ”
Cale looked toward Harol and asked .
“I’m sure you’ll help us?”
“Of course, I will help you, young master-nim . ”
‘Like I don’t know what you are thinking . ’
Cale wanted to laugh at Harol’s greedy face, but he focused on his acting and played along .
“Alright, go . ”
Everybody nodded their heads with serious expressions, as if something unexpected had happened . At that moment, Choi Han, who approached Cale, spoke in a relaxed manner . Choi Han was acting properly for the first time .
“Cale-nim, it is dangerous down there because of the aftermath of the explosion . Please wait here while we go down to look . ”
Yes, human . You are weak, so go sit in the shade!
‘Why are you both saying something so obvious?’
Cale had nothing to say to these repetitively obvious statements . Why would he go to such a dangerous place?
So, Cale just remained silent .
“They are right . Our soldiers and warriors will go with them, so you do not need to worry, young master-nim . ”
“Is that so, Chief Harol?”
“Yes sir . ”
Harol seemed anxious to go in as well . Cale nodded his head with a relaxed expression and gave Harol a warning .
“Of course, everything in there belongs to me . You do know that?”
Harol smiled back .
“Of course . However, won’t you sell it if it is something that you don’t need?”
“Obviously . What? You want to follow them so that I don’t hide anything?”
“That is definitely part of it . ”
Harol did not hide his thoughts . He was worried about Cale’s group hiding the items, but he also was greedy to see everything in that underground lab .
“I see . Harol, I don’t want us to have such lies between us . So, go ahead . ”
Weak human, you are lying again! You’re really good at it! That is your talent!
Cale apparently had a talent for lying .
“Thank you for your understanding . I will do my best to assist them . ”
“Sure, sure . Just don’t get hurt . ”
Beacrox had to hold back a snort at Cale’s final words . Ron patted his son on the shoulder before heading down into the half-destroyed basement .
Naturally, Harol and his subordinates followed behind them .
Cale leisurely moved away from the spot and observed them .
Human, it is a bit disappointing .
What could Raon be talking about?
We put a bunch of traps down there and destroyed the place last night .
Cale recalled what he had just said to Harol .
’Don’t get hurt . ’
Cale wanted to laugh . He was the one who told Raon to install a bunch of traps, as well as the one who told Ron about the location of the traps in order to make Harol’s group fall into them .
Wouldn’t they think that the information was more valuable if they had to suffer a bit to get it?
Human, you have an evil smirk on your face! And give me my gold coin! I did the work!
‘An evil smirk?’
Cale touched the corners of his lips with his fingers and quickly hid his smirk .
“Toonka . ”
Cale approached Toonka while Harol and the Chiefs were gone . Two of Toonka’s subordinates, his two most trusted subordinates, were standing behind him .
Cale quietly asked Toonka a question .
“You told his highness the crown prince that we were friends?”
“Ahem!”
It was rare to see Toonka look so shocked . Cale did not miss this opportunity to keep talking .
“I presume we will find some of the mages’ research documents in that hidden floor . If there are any documents that will help all of you, I plan to give them to you . ”
“…What?”
Cale answered back seriously while Toonka stood there looking lost like an idiot .
“And if it is something that could bring you harm…”
The words, ‘something that could bring you harm,’ made Toonka’s expression turn serious . Even an idiot who did not think much like Toonka knew that it was reasonable for the mages to have research that would be able to harm them .
That thought made Toonka start to worry . However .
“Then I will definitely hand that over to you too . ”
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The word, ‘definitely,’ echoed in Toonka’s ear .
He recalled how Cale had found a ship for him and had come to say goodbye when they first met .
“…Should you be saying that? Shouldn’t you at least pretend to not sell something so precious in order to be able to sell it for a high price?”
Cale looked shocked .
“Toonka, do you think I am such a person?”
“No . You are not like that . ”
Yes, Cale Henituse, this person was not such a petty person . Cale continued to speak after hearing Toonka’s comment .
“You said that I was your friend . I believe that a fair deal can only start between two people who are at the same level . I don’t think you are the type of person who will try to cheat me . ”
Cale then jokingly added on .
“You’re not a petty bastard like those mages . ”
Toonka started to smile . The concerned expression slowly disappeared from his face and Toonka started to laugh out loud .
“You are right . Indeed, kehehe! I am not like that! Hahahaha!”
Toonka laughed for a while .
However, his gaze was still focused on Cale . He had never seen such a noble before . He was worlds different compared to those noble bastards who were pretty much dogs to the Whipper Kingdom’s mages .
Nobody, seriously, nobody had cheered him and his subordinates on . However, he had now found someone who was cheering for him . [1]
Friend .
Toonka himself was shocked after saying that word to the Roan Kingdom’s crown prince . However, he now felt that it was a good thing that he had used that word .
“You really are a weak, but good person . ”
Toonka had approved of a weakling for the first time in his life .
“Don’t say such obvious things . ”
Cale accepted it as something obvious as he was thinking to himself .
‘Now Harol cannot try to trick me . ’
He stealthily reinforced it with Toonka once more .
“A fair deal . Sound good?”
“Of course! I am not a swindler! Don’t you all agree as well?”
Toonka’s two subordinates nodded their heads .
“You are right, Commander-in-Chief-nim . ”
“Absolutely . It must be fair . ”
There was nothing wrong with what Cale had said . It was only right for people at the same level to have a fair deal .
Even Cale himself believed this to be the case .
That was why he just waited for Beacrox and crew to bring back the research and share the results with everyone once they came back to the surface .
They found a half-destroyed box in the hidden fourth floor of the basement .
A portion of the documents inside of the box were still intact, with the contents revolving around two topics .
‘A mana storage device that used the principles of ancient powers . ’
‘The reasons for developing magic resistance . ’
Both of these could become poison to harm the reformed Whipper Kingdom .
“I’m sure that the Whipper Kingdom side knows the worth of these documents better than anybody else . ”
Nobody responded to Cale’s comment .
They were currently in the Chiefs’ tent . Toonka, Harol, as well as the other Chiefs, were all gathered together with Cale . Cale’s group was by his side, like they were protecting him .
“…Yes . We are well aware . ”
Cale held back his laughter while seeing how slowly Harol responded to him .
‘A mana storage device that used the principles of ancient powers . ’
Harol was a poor soul who hated magic because he could feel mana but could not become a mage because he could not store mana . However, a mana storage device, as well as part of the research regarding it, was now in front of him .
Something that would give him the opportunity to use magic had appeared .
‘I’m sure that he wants to get his hands on it . ’
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Cale touched the small cloth pouch in front of him .
“And this is supposedly the mana storage device?”
Harol’s eyes started to shine at Cale’s comment .
You are right human . I raised it .
The seed that Cale had passed off to Raon a year ago was the mana storage device . However, the item currently in Cale’s hand was not that seed . Once that mana storage device sprouted and then developed a plant…
He had simply taken one of the plants and extracted the seed .
Of course, this seed was modified as well .
“Rosalyn, is this usable right now?”
“No . It is currently in seed form, but it is too dry to be used . You might be able to use the seed and the research documents to create a new device however……”
Rosalyn stopped talking and peeked toward Harol .
Cale also observed Harol’s reaction . Harol could not hide his greed for this seed and the research documents, even if they were damaged .
Cale verified this before moving on to the next topic .
“‘The reason for developing magic resistance . ’ This is some tremendous research as well . ”
This time, it was Toonka and the other Chiefs’ turns to flinch .
The reason that they were able to defeat the mages had a lot to do with their magic resistance . This document regarding the reason for developing magic resistance was something that they needed, as well as something that they could not pass off to anybody else .
Cale looked toward Toonka .
Toonka smiled back at him . Cale turned away and asked the Whipper Kingdom's side .
“Well, it’s only a portion of the research, so it probably isn’t that important . I can just throw it out, right?”
The table shook . Someone had kicked the table with anxiety .
“Of course, I was joking . ”
Huuuu .
Someone let out a sigh .
“It may just be a portion of it, but it is valuable information . ”
Cale recalled what Rosalyn and Raon had discussed with him before .
‘Young master Cale, it would take at least ten years to figure things out with just these files . Although, it is only ten years if talented mages are leading the research . ’
‘Human, you need to be able to control magic to be able to research that . ’
Cale focused on those words .
Research that required mages to complete .
Harol would do whatever it took to continue the research .
In order to do that, he would need to hire some mages .
Rosalyn had accurately pointed that out for Cale .
‘Young master Cale, we might be able to have the Whipper Kingdom’s weakness in our hands . ’
‘I knew it . There are many times you and I are thinking the same thing . ’
The Whipper Kingdom’s leadership, who claimed their goal was to get rid of magic, was using mages to do magic research .
Something like that was bound to happen if the Whipper Kingdom acquired these documents, and Cale just needed to find an informant to gather some evidence of it .
Rosalyn and Cale were smiling while thinking about having that information in their hands, while Raon was looking inside the box and giving his feedback .
‘This is no more than the scraps . ’
The actual seed was safely in Rosalyn’s lab that Raon liked to visit .
“Toonka . ”
“Y, yes?”
“I will hand these documents to you . ”
Toonka’s expression quickly changed .
“D, do you mean that?”
Cale looked toward Harol and nodded his head .
“Of course . ”
Cale tapped the table with the cloth bag in his hand .
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Tap, tap .
The dry seed made a dull noise as it hit the table . The Whipper Kingdom’s side all flinched at every tap .
Cale did not care as he proceeded with what he wanted to say .
“I spent ten billion gallons on this Magic Tower without managing to gain anything from it . Now that I have found something, I plan to sell it all to you . Toonka, what would you do in this situation?”
“…I would try to get as much compensation as possible . ”
“Correct . ”
Chief Harol started to frown . If it was the Cale that he knew, and if it was him in Cale’s position, he would try to take as much money back as possible .
Especially since the Magic Tower itself was gone now .
‘But our financial state is not very good right now . ’
They did not have much money available because they were preparing for a war with the Empire . However, Harol wanted to get those two documents, no matter what .
‘But we also cannot fight them . ’
Cale had quite a large amount of power . Their war against the Empire would be delayed if they started to fight Cale . Delaying the war any longer was not good for the soldiers’ morale .
‘He’ll try to get more than ten billion, since he bought the Magic Tower for ten billion . ’
The Empire would happily pay ten billion gallons for it if Cale tried to sell it to them . Both Harol and Toonka were well aware of this fact .
“This is what I’m thinking . ”
Cale opened up his left hand .
“Ah . ”
Harol let out a gasp .
Five fingers .
“Fifty billion gallons?”
Toonka shouted with surprise . Harol quickly started to smile .
‘We can negotiate now that we know the starting point . ’
You always started higher than what you wanted at the beginning of a deal . Harol was about to speak in order to properly start negotiating, but Cale was a bit faster .
“Fifty billion? No, just give me five billion . ”
“Excuse me?”
Harol asked with confusion .
‘Did he really say five billion?’
Cale put on a gentle and pure smile . His warm gaze swept by the leaders in the room .
“Yes . Five billion . ”
He had already agreed to sell the actual documents to the crown prince for quite a sum .
It would be great if the Roan Kingdom’s mages managed to eat up the Whipper Kingdom once it was weakened by the Empire .
Cale recalled the conversation he had with the crown prince last winter .
‘Cale, sell it for five billion to those poor souls . It’s not like you were the one who paid the ten billion gallons to purchase the Magic Tower in the first place . ’
‘I planned on selling it to them for ten billion, but I will do as you command, your highness . ’
‘Good . Wouldn’t it be great if you could be their benefactor? That’s what you’re really aiming for, isn’t it?’
‘Of course . ’
‘You terrible bastard . ’
Alberu cursed at Cale as he started to laugh . Cale laughed with him as well .
“The Whipper Kingdom is currently struggling . I feel like it is a fair deal for your current situation . ”
“You, you really! Really, such a noble, I!”
Toonka could not speak properly, as he looked toward Cale with teary eyes . Cale found this to be annoying, but maintained his smile .
Toonka finally stood up from his chair and started to shout .
“Thank you! Thank you very much!”
Cale had never seen someone thanking him after buying scraps for five billion gallons . However, Cale naturally responded back .
“As long as you know . ”
1 . (PR: I almost feel sorry for the idiot . )