Chapter 88
Chapter 88: I Suppose It Is A Gift (1)
Cale, who was coming out of the bedroom and heading to the back door, ran into Odeus .
“Odeus, very satisfactory performance . ”
Odeus didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Cale’s comment . However, based on the results of everything, he had only happiness on his mind .
“No, the pleasure was mine . I am very happy about the overflowing benefit I gained . ”
“I’m sure . ”
Cale didn’t even play along to say that the fee Odeus received was small .
The deal was for Cale to get rid of Venion from the Southern Underworld after all .
“I’ll contact you next time . ”
Odeus did not want to see Cale ever again . His instincts that he had built up through his long life were telling him that it was dangerous and that he would suffer greatly . However, his vast experience was also telling him that it was unavoidable . He will have no choice but to see him again .
“Of course . I will let you know where I am every so often . ”
“Good . ”
Cale got on the carriage with Beacrox in the driver’s seat . The driver who had brought the carriage to the Stan territory had already returned .
“Odeus”
“Yes sir?”
“You know what to do with the basement, right?”
Odeus’s eyes slightly shook . He looked toward where the entrance to the basement near the back door used to be . Now it was just a pile of rubble .
“…I will take care of everything properly . ”
“Good . ”
Odeus had seen the remains of the feast as well as the broken torture devices in the basement before it was destroyed .
‘Total bullshit about him being a good person . ’
There were no good nobles with a strong sense of self-sacrifice . There were all vicious and sly .
“And I don’t want you to tell Billos about what happened . ”
“Secrets are the life of such commissions . ”
“Yes, I know . It definitely is the main part . ”
Both of them started to gently smile at each other . However, neither of them was smiling internally .
“Then, off I go . ”
“Please have a safe journey . ”
Odeus’s goodbye was very sincere like he wanted to never see Cale again . Cale smirked at Odeus’s goodbye and closed the carriage door .
Beacrox started to drive as soon as the door closed .
The carriage left the Stan territory and headed toward the Kingdom’s western region . They continued to quickly travel other than resting during the night .
“Bored?”
Cale, who had been looking out the window, turned his head after hearing Choi Han’s gentle voice . Choi Han’s unique pure smile was on his face as he was handing On and Hong some snacks .
"No . Not bored!”
“I enjoy rolling around doing nothing the most”
Choi Han laughed and responded back .
“You guys really are similar to Cale-nim . ”
‘…Is he talking shit about me?’
Cale focused on Choi Han after hearing what could be both a compliment or a dig and then turned his gaze to On and Hong .
The carriage was currently between the Roan Kingdom’s Northwest and Southwest region . Basically, they were currently in the Western region of the Kingdom . If the Northeastern region where the Henituse territory lies was famous for its marble, the Northwest to the West region was famous for their granite .
That was why there were a lot of stone mountains in this region .
Choi Han continued to speak .
“I came here last time too but there really is nothing other than stone mountains . ”
‘Choi Han passed through here before?’
Cale questioned that fact in his mind before quickly figuring it out .
Rosalyn . He probably passed through here when he went to the Breck Kingdom with Lock to help Rosalyn out .
“Did you pass by when you went to the Breck Kingdom?”
Cale had an odd feeling after seeing Choi Han’s reaction to his question . Seeing Choi Han hesitating to answer gave him a bitter feeling . Cale continued to speak like nothing was wrong .
“Did you cause a mess in the Breck Kingdom?”
“…It wasn’t like that . ”
Cale did not ask anything else . He did not want to know . It was enough that he heard the results of it from crown prince Alberu .
However, there was something else he needed to ask .
“Did you pass by the Ten Finger Mountain when you went through the West?”
“Hmm? Is there a mountain with such a name? I have never heard it before . ”
On, Hong, and Raon seemed interested in the unique name as well . Their sparkling gazes asking Cale to explain made Cale scowl .
Tap .
Raon put his paw on Cale’s knee .
“Human, explain! I am curious!”
In the end, Cale had to explain .
“There are many strong rocks called granite in the West . However, not everything is made of such rocks . Still, at the border of the West and Southwest region are ten granite peaks next to each other . ”
These granite peaks were located at the border of the West and Southwest and had a unique shape that looked like ten fingers .
“Mm, I don’t think we saw it last time because we cut through the Northwest and not the Southwest region . It was the same when we came back . I’m sure I would have remembered seeing such a mountain . ”
“Really? I was curious because they said it was a unique view from there . ”
Raon responded to Cale’s answer about being curious . Raon remembered how Cale told Litana that he enjoyed traveling .
Raon opened his mouth to say, ‘let’s go there right now!’
However, Cale was faster .
“I thought about going there in about a year . That was why I asked . ”
“A year later?”
“Yes . ”
Cale definitely had to go to the Ten Finger Mountains in one year .
‘The last Ancient Power will reveal itself there . ’
Cale needed to get this final ancient power, an attacking fire ancient power that was similar to lightning .
“I thought it’d be great if we all traveled together . ”
Cale nonchalantly mumbled that line, but his words made the fatigue on On, Hong, and Raon’s face all disappear . Choi Han also had a small smile on his face .
“Yes, that sounds good . But there probably aren’t any villages near there . ”
“Why wouldn’t ther-, no, there aren’t any . ”
Cale looked toward Choi Han and the children and sternly repeated himself .
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“There are none . Based on my knowledge, there are no villages around there . ”
‘None at all . ’
At least when it came to human villages .
The problem was that there was a village of Elves who passionately loved nature and almost worshiped dragons .
Elves .
They were a magical race that used illusion magic to hide their village and lived away from humans . They were the race that was closest to nature after the dragons .
That was why they were able to handle elementals and had a beauty that was admired by all humans .
They were different than the Dark Elves who were just as beautiful but had the darkness element instead .
In the novel, Choi Han passes through the Ten Finger Mountains with Lock on their way back from dealing with the issues in the Breck Kingdom .
They coincidentally happen to find the Elf Village and get involved with one elf .
Pendrick the Healer .
Unlike Cale’s restoration abilities, the Elf Pendrick had the ability to heal others . He joins Choi Han’s group and starts to travel with them .
Fantasy worlds always seem to have at least one elf in the main character’s party . That was Pendrick in this novel .
‘The problem is that he ends up dying . ’
The original point of Lock’s berserk transformation was Pendrick’s death . He died while Lock was protecting him and that results in Lock going berserk for the first time . It also changes Lock’s personality as well .
That meant that Pendrick should not die if he does not meet Lock or travel with Choi Han’s party .
‘They already missed the moment to run into each other . ’
Pendrick had not had any interactions with Cale, Choi Han or Lock until now . If one year passes like this, Pendrick would have lived longer than he had lived in the novel .
It could be considered the biggest change in the flow of the original novel .
“…Yes, there are no villages . ”
Cale mumbled once more and made up his mind .
He told himself that he would avoid the Elf Village when he went to the Ten Finger Mountains next year .
He had taken on too much baggage by not thinking things through and just doing whatever he thought was the easiest for him . Cale was not going to let the same thing happen again next year .
“I want it to be next year already . I do not care if there are no villages . ”
Cale looked toward Raon who seemed to be excited .
He definitely could not take a dragon to the Elf Village . He would be treated like a god . Thinking about that was already giving Cale the chills .
Cale quickly turned away from Raon . He strongly reminded himself that he would not even take a step into the Western region until he returns a year later with the crown prince’s golden plaque to find the last ancient power .
Cale opened the small window toward the driver’s seat and spoke to Beacrox .
“Let’s speed it up a bit . ”
“Yes, sir . ”
The carriage quickly drove through the Western region and arrived at the capital .
“It has been too long, your highness . ”
The gently smiling Cale, who was wearing a simple yet stylish outfit, would catch anybody’s attention .
“Yes . I am glad to see you again . How was your recovery?”
Blonde hair and blue eyes . Alberu, who was just as handsome as Cale, smiled brightly as he hugged Cale .
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They were currently in front of the Crown Prince's palace . Crown prince Alberu was warmly welcoming the hero of the now faint Plaza Terror Incident .
Although people didn’t talk about it much anymore, the Plaza was still being rebuilt and had knights patrolling around it . There were also many who were upset with the palace for not revealing the identity of the terrorists .
“I was able to rest well and recover thanks to your highness’s concerns and the royal family’s generosity . ”
Cale, who was smiling like he was telling the truth, definitely looked healthy . Crown prince Alberu looked at him like he was happy that Cale had recovered and then pointed to the inside of the palace .
“Come on in . I should at least give you some tea since you’ve come to visit after such a long time . ”
“Yes, your highness . I’m sure you are busy with work, so I will only take a bit of your time . ”
I don’t know why you do this every time .
Cale had the same thoughts but there was nothing he could do .
Click .
The moment they entered Alberu’s office and closed the door, both Cale and Alberu who had been walking close to each other quickly moved away .
“Your highness, you must be tired . ”
“I’m sure you feel the same way . ”
Alberu sighed before pointing to a table on one side of the office . However, he noticed that Cale had always walked over there and sat down on what seemed to be the most comfortable couch .
“People will think you’ve been here a couple of times . ”
“It is my first time here, but I feel like it is very welcoming . ”
Cale had no problem using that glib tongue of his . Alberu looked toward Cale who sat on the couch of his choice while keeping the seat at the head of the table open for him and sat down .
“I thought I told you to come as quickly as possible . ”
“That is why I cut into my sleeping time to rush here, your highness . ”
Alberu snorted at Cale’s response . He didn’t know what Cale had been up to, but the person who was supposed to be in the Northeastern Henituse territory had come in from the West .
And he knew exactly what had happened in the West, no, the Northwest region right now .
“You are a very suspicious person . ”
Alberu took a sip of the tea that his servant brought over and just quietly observed Cale until the servant left the room . There was quite a lot for him to discuss with Cale today . He also had a lot of requests for Cale as well .
The crown prince has a sneaky look on his face .
Cale agreed with Raon’s assessment and pretended not to notice Alberu’s gaze . The gaze was one that seemed to want to take a lot from him today, however, that thought and their relationship will go the opposite way .
Click .
The servant left the office with a small click of the door . Alberu was about to speak but there was someone who started to speak even faster .
“Your highness . ”
‘Huh?’
Cale made eye contact with Alberu who seemed confused . Raon was speaking in his mind as he did that .
After dealing with both things, I am now certain . He really is an odd existence .
Cale took a magic bag out of his pocket .
“I have prepared a present for you . ”
“…For me?”
“Yes, for the star on the minds of our Kingdom’s- . ”
“Enough . ”
Alberu was not happy at hearing that Cale had a present for him . In fact, he looked toward Cale with even more suspicion . It was because of the things that had happened with Cale up to this point . However, he could not lie and say that there was no anticipation in his mind at hearing about a present . A few weeks ago, Alberu had already received one of Cale’s so-called presents under one of the Flynn Merchant Guild’s people .
“Let’s first take a look at this present . ”
Cale slowly opened the magic bag with Alberu’s permission . Raon’s voice rang in Cale’s mind as he took a small glass bottle out of the bag .
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He has a darkness attribute .
Tap .
The glass bottle was placed on the table .
“… What is this?”
Cale showed with his actions instead of answering .
Squeak, squeak . The lid of the glass bottle slowly opened .
This small glass bottle was full of black water .
The lid opened completely, and an invisible substance slowly started to come out of the bottle .
I am used to this smell . I smelled it in the Black Swamp .
The scent of the dead mana slowly started to fill the room .
This was one of the items he received from the Whale King on their way to the Whipper Kingdom .
Unlike Cale’s other bottle, this bottle only had dead mana with no poison in it .
⅓ of what he received from the Whale King was in this small bottle .
“…You- . ”
Cale slowly closed the lid back while seeing that Alberu could not continue to speak .
“Your highness, of course, this present is not free . ”
There was no way Cale would give something so precious for free .
It was poison for humans and not precious at all .
However, Cale remembered what Raon had said about Alberu the last time they were here .
‘Why did this puny human called the crown prince dye his hair with magic? It is at a level that only a great dragon like me can notice . Did another dragon dye it for him? No, is it a different type of power?’
A different type of power . Raon was able to tell that it was different than natural mana because he was a dragon, but he was not sure of exactly what it was .
It made sense because Raon had never experienced it before .
However, he had experienced it now .
Dead mana .
Cale mumbled like he was talking to himself .
“Probably not a demon, black magic, or a necromancer . ”
Dead mana .
It was used by those with the darkness attribute to use magic . Of course, it was very different than regular mana . Magic Devices that were made to detect mana could not detect dead mana . Especially if the dead mana was used by a high-tiered race .
“I heard that the late Queen was an average person, but that people thought she was part Southerner because her skin was a bit dark . ”
Raon mentioned that the crown prince had regular brown hair .
His hair and eyes were regular but Alberu was known for his looks . People also said that the crown prince’s mother was a beauty as well .
“Dark Elves have dark skin, but I heard that a mixed child of a Dark Elf has skin similar to the Southerners . ”
Cale looked toward Alberu and finished his deduction .
“So then, the child of a half-blooded Dark Elf?”
The crown prince answered more confidently than Cale expected .
“You’re driving me crazy . ”
“I guess I was right . ”