Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 24. Terrifying

But there were things I needed to check before departing.

“The ride is a bit rough.”

At Kale’s words, the Necromancer Merry nodded and handed over a cushion. Kale laid down another cushion and gazed forward.

“The view is incredible though.”

I was mainly concerned the bones might shatter.

“Human! Is it fun riding on top of bones?”
“Yeah. It’s fun.”

At Kale’s answer, Raon chuckled. Kale looked down at the bones beneath him. Through the hollow gaps, I could see a forest below that looked deadly if I fell through.

I was riding on a flying monster reduced to nothing but bone.

Merry had restored all seventy-two corpses of flying monsters. On top of that, she had ground up the two highest-grade mana stones Kale had gifted her and scattered the powder over them.
A skeletal flying squadron had been completed.

“You can control them all at once, right?”
“Yes. If not for people’s eyes, I would like to have them all take flight at once. It’s a shame.”

I was being cautious just in case.

“Human, the butler has arrived down there.”

I could see Hans waving his arms. The massive bone wings angled downward, and the skeletal flying monster carrying Kale and Merry slowly descended toward the ground.

Thud!

“Goodness.”

Hans stumbled backward from the vibration, dazed. Then, at Kale’s blank stare, he hastily opened his mouth.

“A message has arrived from the Count and Mueller.”

Kale immediately dismounted from the skeleton and unfolded the letter he received. The core message within the letter was immediately apparent.

【It seems it will be finished soon.】
【Young master, I am decorating the interior according to the concept you mentioned. I am doing my best, working hard enough to make this height grow!】

The City Wall and the ship embodying the principle that the best defense is a preemptive strike were nearing completion.

‘I’ll meet Rosalind soon. Witira will arrive soon.’

Rosalind had taken on the negotiations herself, traveling back and forth between the Breck Kingdom and the Roan Kingdom to conduct talks. That work would be finished soon. As a result of those negotiations, several mages from the Breck Kingdom had secretly gone to the Crown Prince of the Roan Kingdom.

The Whale Tribe had postponed Kale’s departure to the North and sent word through Witira that they had something to convey, saying they would visit directly. Since that time was still quite far away, Kale decided to move in the meantime.

“Is all the luggage packed?”
“Yes!”

Hans, the assistant steward, answered with vigor. Kale looked at the black robe. Merry’s voice came through—someone whose face he had never seen, let alone her eyes.

“I will depart now as well.”
“I see. It’s unfortunate our paths diverge.”

Kale felt a slight regret. Merry had been a valuable asset.
Merry had not embarked on a journey. Instead, she had decided to return to the Underground City somewhat sooner and then emerge into the world again.
At Kale’s words of regret, the black robe trembled slightly. A voice like mechanical sound flowed out.

“I will surely return. Until I come back, please look after the little ones. I think I will miss this place very much.”

Kale’s expression became subtle. With a reluctant face, he nodded at Merry’s words.

“Yes, alright.”

The little ones. In the Dark Forest, Merry had collected numerous bones together with Raon. This place, filled with all manner of mutant monsters, was what Merry called a fantastical forest.
In any case, those bones—the little ones—were all stored in a cave created within the Dark Forest.

Merry had returned the little ones to Kale. Nearly 300 of them in total, including flying monsters. As if urging Kale to treat the little ones with care, he turned his gaze away from the black robe standing blankly and gave instructions to Hans.

“Leave at once.”

Kale departed from Harris Village for the first time in nearly nine months.

* * *

“It’s been a while.”

Kale leaned back against the sofa, his arm resting on the armrest as he ran his fingers across the leather upholstery.

“This leather is quite fine, isn’t it?”
“I had it replaced with a cheaper one.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Kale gazed at the man who used a glittering chandelier as the office’s lighting fixture.
Odeus Flynn, the dark merchant of the underworld in the Northwestern Region of the Roan Kingdom. The old merchant, whom I was meeting after so long, looked healthier and younger.

“Life treating you well?”

Odeus offered a benevolent smile as he observed Kale, who exuded the typical aura of a villain.

“Indeed. Benion Sten spent his entire life locked in an underground dungeon, so life is quite pleasant.”

A smile played at the corners of Kale’s mouth.
The Sten Marquis House and the Northwestern Region had undergone dramatic changes over the past nine months.

Benion Sten was locked away in an underground dungeon. I had said originally that I hadn’t intended to punish him to that extent. After all, he was unofficially the heir to a noble house. Of course, the Sten Marquis House would have killed him in secret.

Odeus smiled when thinking of Benion, but his eyes held a hint of fear as he looked at Kale.

He had gone mad.
Benion Sten. That man had gone completely mad.
I heard he suffered seizures every time he tried to eat in the underground dungeon.

The person who created that outcome was now smiling before Odeus. That man, Kale, asked him a question.

“The Marquis’s subordinates are being eliminated one by one, I hear?”
“Young Master Taylor is quite skilled at it.”

Taylor had become the official heir and declared he would not kill his brothers. And simultaneously, he eliminated the danger of anyone challenging the succession according to the Sten Marquis House’s rules.
‘Oath of Death’. He had summoned a priest of the death god and sworn an oath with his brothers, wagering their lives before the members of the household.

“Indeed. Young Master Taylor would handle it well.”

However, Odeus found Kale before him far more troublesome than Taylor.

“But what brings you here?”

Kale didn’t answer Odeus’s question immediately. Instead, he drummed his fingers against the armrest of the sofa. After a long silence, Kale turned the question back on him.

“There are legitimate channels, aren’t there?”

As expected, Odeus answered this question readily enough.

“If you’re referring to clean trading partners, I have several. I conduct my business in the light, after all.”
“Mm, is that so?”

The fingers tapping against the sofa stilled. Kale withdrew a token from his inner jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

“…A gold token?”

A golden token bearing the mark of the Crossman Royal Family of the Roan Kingdom.
Confusion flickered across Odeus’s face. Yet Kale had not yet broached the main subject.

“Silver.”

Silver—a currency worth ten thousand Gelrons per piece.
Compared to Gold, which was worth one million Gelrons per piece, it was modest.

“Bring me two hundred thousand Silver.”

Two hundred thousand pieces changed the matter entirely.

“Two hundred?”

Kale clarified for the bewildered Odeus.

“Two hundred thousand pieces.”
“T-two hundred thousand?”

Odeus seemed to place peculiar emphasis on the word “hundred,” but Kale simply nodded calmly.

“Yes. Two hundred thousand. Have it ready.”

Two hundred thousand silver coins. Roughly two billion Gelons. That wasn’t what shocked Odeus Flynn—it was the request itself that gave him pause.

“Would gold not suffice instead?”
“Two hundred thousand gold coins? I suppose that works too.”

Two hundred thousand gold coins. Twenty billion Gelons. For a moment, Odeus Flynn wondered if he’d heard correctly. But Kale’s expression remained utterly serene—which confirmed he had.
Odeus Flynn understood.

‘Ah. So it’s simply two hundred thousand of anything, then.’

Two hundred thousand gold coins. As a merchant who dominated the underworld of the Northwestern Region, it would be difficult—but not impossible.

‘However.’

His gaze shifted to the golden badge. He watched as Kale’s fingers opened its lid, revealing the seal within. Exposing himself as someone worth twenty billion to the Crown Prince was far worse than admitting to two billion.
He watched as Kale’s fingers opened the lid of the golden Pae, revealing the seal inside. Rather than being exposed to the Crown Prince as someone with assets worth two hundred billion, twenty billion would be better.

“It’s fine.”
“…What exactly do you intend to do with them?”
“…What exactly are you planning to do with that?”

Two hundred thousand silver coins. He genuinely wanted to know their purpose.
Two hundred thousand silver coins. I was really curious what they would be used for.

Kale Heniatus’s smile deepened at the corners of his mouth. Nine months of good rest and good food had cleared his divine power, making it shine with a lustrous gleam. His mouth opened.

Do you want to know?

At Kale Heniatus’s slow response, Odeus immediately waved his hand dismissively. The person before him was someone Odeus found more comfortable the less he understood what they were doing or thinking.

“Good. Have it ready within the hour. Can you manage?”
“An hour? What on earth could—no, never mind. I’ll prepare it.”
“Sigh. An hour, what on earth— No, never mind. Let’s get ready.”

Kale saw Odeus swallowing his curiosity but still wondering. His eyes were asking.

“What are you going to do with two hundred thousand?”

What else?
With every step forward, I’m paving a golden road by trampling down the ground beneath my feet.

An hour later, Kale stood alone in the basement storage of Odeus’s mansion. He gestured toward the countless bundles stacked in one corner of the storage—two hundred thousand silver coins in total.

“Raon, take it all.”
“Understood, human!”

Raon deposited all the silver coins into his subspace. In an instant, Kale handed five silver coins to Raon, who was watching him intently.

“Human, am I getting some too?”
“Of course. Good things should be shared.”

A grin spread across Raon’s face. He retrieved a small piggy bank from his subspace.

“Put it in here, human!”

Clink, clink. Five silver coins dropped into the piggy bank. Raon was now saving pocket money. He seemed delighted to receive irregular allowance for the first time, in addition to his regular ten silver coins.

After confirming that Raon had turned invisible, Kale opened the basement door.

“Hah.”

Odeus exhaled a sigh tinged with bewilderment at the sight of the empty storage. Kale bid him farewell with a pat on his shoulder instead of words.

“Where are you going next—no, never mind. I won’t ask anything.”
“A wise choice. Give my regards to Bilos.”

Kale appeared to be enjoying himself.

“I live happily while scattering money about.”
“…Yes. Safe travels, Young Master.”
“Take care.”

Kale flashed Odeus—who clearly wished for his swift departure—a villainous smile before leaving the Sten Territory.

The carriage carrying Kale came to a halt at a village near Ten Finger Mountain, a place marked by ten peculiar peaks at the far western edge of the Roan Kingdom. The reason it was merely “near” was that even from here, it would take several more days by carriage to reach Ten Finger Mountain itself.

“Young Master, our beloved companions say they quite like this inn!”

Kale observed Hans, the vice butler, and On and Hong nestled in his arms.

Meow.
Meow.

The two had now completely mastered manipulating the vice butler to their whims. Amused by their antics, Kale let out a soft chuckle and descended from the carriage.

On and Hong had grown considerably.
The Beastkin grew at similar rates whether in animal or human form. Had On and Hong been true cats, they would have been fully grown by now. But as members of the Cat Tribe, they were still young kittens.

Choi Han, the wolf boy Rak, Vicross, and Ron followed in Kale’s wake.

“Lord Kale, shall we wait for Rosalind here?”
“Yes.”

Block Village.
Located near the western border of the Roan Kingdom, the village had grown to rival a city in size. It was a place where countless travelers and merchants passed through.

Kale was unhurried.
Even with Ten Finger Mountain nearby and the Elf Village only days away, he remained at ease.

‘Those who despise humans would never come to Block Village, would they?’

In ‘The Birth of a Hero,’ the elves of the Ten Finger Mountain Elf Village never ventured to cities or villages inhabited by humans, including Block Village. It was a rule of their village.

‘They would only descend from the mountain if the village faced annihilation.’

Elves were such beings. Thus, he entered the inn with ease.

“I’ll prepare the rooms at once.”
“Yes. Take your time.”

The inn that On and Hong had chosen was quite clean and pleasant. Kale surveyed the first-floor dining hall and common area. The counter where he stood was no exception, and the first floor was quite crowded with people—mostly merchants.

As Kale slowly scanned the first floor, his eyes caught sight of five robed figures near the counter, in the far corner of the first floor farthest from him, their faces completely obscured. As he was about to pass by them casually, his gaze fell upon the food on their table.

All vegetables.
Nothing but greens.

“…What?”

A chill ran down my spine.
Elves ate only grass and fruit.

That chill reached its peak the moment I heard Raon’s voice.

-Weak human, those people don’t seem to be human?

…Had the village been threatened with annihilation?
That’s what I thought in that moment.

Like the Dark Elf Market Master, were there elves and spirits inside who had experienced dragon energy?

Clang. A fork fell from the hand of one of the five robed figures. That hand was trembling violently.

Damn it, they’ve experienced it before.

I whispered urgently in a voice so small the five elves in that corner couldn’t hear.

“Raon, keep circling around inside the dining hall. And don’t reveal yourself. I don’t know you.”
-Hm? Got it! Human!

I closed my eyes. The invisible Raon would continue circling through the air above the dining hall.

Bang!
At the loud sound that followed, I opened my eyes. The robed figure who had dropped the fork shot to his feet, scanning the surroundings.

I admitted it.
I had grown careless.
After nine months of rest, I had let my guard down.
I ignored those five robed figures. Looking around, there were many people entering the inn and many already seated inside. It was a favorable situation.

‘I know nothing.’

For now, I would play dumb.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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