Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 178

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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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Even with Kale Heniatus upon his shoulders, Choi Han’s movements across the rooftops remained flawless—as effortless as running across flat ground, with not a single stumble.

‘This is more comfortable than a carriage.’

Kale marveled at the extraordinary stability and savored each piece of apple pie that entered his mouth with every breath.
The aroma of apples, the texture, the sweetness—after finishing one slice, Kale smacked his lips contentedly and felt a profound peace settle over him.

‘Now this is worth living for.’

After using the ‘Destructive Flame,’ an intense hunger always surged through him, but everything else was manageable.

‘At least this time I used less power than at Ten Finger Mountain before, so I didn’t bleed, and that’s really—’

He could not finish the thought.

Cough.

Kale coughed, and blood seeped into Choi Han’s clothes.

Damn it.

Watching himself cough up blood again, Kale understood one thing clearly.

‘Whenever my heart’s vitality surges violently, blood always comes up.’

At the Capital Silver Shield, at Ten Finger Mountain, at the Imperial Shield—every time he pushed himself too hard and his heart’s vitality surged desperately to fuel regeneration, a single cough mixed with blood would emerge.

‘That’s a relief.’

And his mind eased.
Kale was grateful that such a horrible situation—coughing while eating apple pie—had not occurred, and he glanced at Raon.

“…What are you doing?”
“…Nothing, human.”

Kale could see an apple pie crumbling into fragments. He could also see the poisonous mist flowing from On and Hong’s bodies.
Seized by an odd feeling, he patted Choi Han’s back. Since he had gotten blood on his back, shouldn’t he apologize?

“I’m sorry.”
“…It’s fine.”

Choi Han answered after a long pause. Seeing his expression, Kale thought he was accepting it despite being irritated by the blood smeared across his back.
He would be angry too, if he were in Choi Han’s position.

Kale wanted to distance himself from the irritated Choi Han. Since he’d already filled his stomach reasonably well with the apple pie, there was no need to remain carried.

“I think I can get down now. Let me off and we’ll move again.”
“…That won’t do.”

Won’t do?
Kale was bewildered by Choi Han’s response. His voice came quickly.

“It’s merely carrying a broom on my back. Lighter than a pile of straw. I can move faster than you, Lord Kale, and without being detected.”

…So I’m nothing but a broom, a pile of straw?
Kale understood that Choi Han was speaking the truth earnestly, yet for some reason, his feelings were hurt. Then Raon thrust the apple pie forward and spoke.

“Listen to Choi Han, weak human.”
“No—”

Before Kale could finish speaking, the apple pie filled his open mouth completely. He stared at Raon with a dumbfounded expression, but the Black Dragon wore a determined face.

“Human, no matter what you say, this time you’ll follow our will.”

What is this ‘our will’?
Kale was exasperated. At the same time, he swallowed the words he had been about to say. What he’d meant to say was no different from ‘our will’.

‘It’s comfortable and convenient for me, anyway.’

Being carried peacefully while eating apple pie as they headed toward the white Duke’s Mansion on the hilltop was comfortable and pleasant.
However, unlike the comfortable Kale, the streets below where he now passed were descending into chaos and disorder.

Kale looked down below.

Despite the night, the streets were unusually bright. The wooden tower still burned. Yet there was no laughter, no music, nothing to be seen.

Their gazes all converged upon a single direction.
Everyone was staring at the legendary lake, though the water itself remained hidden beyond view. Yet towering above the distant rooftops, a pillar of flame rose into the sky.

“A, a pillar of fire above the lake…!”

A nobleman who had been dining in an elevated private chamber overlooking the Plaza rushed onto the Terrace, his face contorted with undisguised shock.

The wooden tower was nowhere to be seen.
The colossal inferno—as if it could pierce the very heavens themselves, as if it could swallow this Plaza whole—sent cold sweat cascading down his spine merely by witnessing it.

He recalled the crimson lightning that had just struck down upon the lake.
It was as if—

“…a god.”

It resembled divine wrath itself.
The nobleman’s hands began to tremble.

Why would fire erupt at the lake where the god had departed—

But his thoughts could not continue.

“Ahhhhh!”
“F, f, fire!”

Only then did he glance down at the area beneath the Terrace. The people who had been silent in disbelief began to move.
Some fled in panic, others collapsed to their knees in prayer. A chaos of human desperation unfolded before him. The Plaza risked descending into pandemonium, with people trampled in the confusion.

Yet the nobleman remained untroubled.

Shhhhhhhhh—

Steam billowed upward.
The fire consuming the wooden tower extinguished.

At that tremendous sound, the people ceased their movements. Mages had unleashed torrents of water upon the wooden tower, and now only the charred, blackened structure remained visible.

Then a voice amplified by amplification magic echoed across the Plaza.

“Fire can be extinguished.”

The nobleman turned his head to the side.
The precious information he had heard today—that the Duke of Seka would observe the wooden tower in the Plaza.

The current Duke of the Seka Duchy. He stood upon the Terrace and spoke. Only then could the kingdom’s people see the Duke’s appearance.

The current Duke Rok was still known to the people as the “Guardian Knight.” Rok opened his mouth with a resolute expression.

“This is Paern. Fire can never overcome Paern.”

The coldest of kingdoms—Paern.
The correlation between that fact and extinguishing fire was minimal. Rather, the dryness made it a situation where larger fires could easily spread. Yet despite this, the people gradually found stability in the Guardian Knight’s words.

“Fire can never overcome water.”

Duke Rok pointed toward the wooden tower.

“Everyone, move according to the knights’ commands. Then the fire will soon disappear.”

The soldiers and knights preparing for the festival’s finale, along with the knights of the Seka Duchy that Duke Rok had mobilized, entered the Plaza and swiftly resolved the chaos.

Kale, who had just passed through the Plaza, gazed upon the sight and spoke with indifference.

“How fortunate.”

I meant it sincerely.
And I was somewhat surprised.

‘I didn’t expect the current Duke of Seka to visit the Plaza.’

I had thought that since nobles would come to observe this wooden tower, someone of noble standing would step forward to soothe the chaos even with such a pillar of fire.
However, I had not anticipated that person would be of ducal rank.

“This is becoming quite interesting.”

Raon, who had been staring at Kale intently, cried out.

“Human, why are you grinning like that again?”

Choi Han paused briefly at those words. He could easily imagine how Raon was laughing just from hearing his voice.
However, Kale dismissed such a reaction with ease. There was no helping it—the Duke had just made a bold proclamation.

Before everyone’s eyes, as if it were the truth itself.

‘The fire will soon disappear.’

Soon?
It was an absurd claim.
No matter how much effort was expended, the pillar of fire would not be extinguished, and only after several days would they recall the Empire’s alchemy. Given their cooperative relationship, they would surely know of the Empire’s pillar of fire that had been meant to burn Maple Castle.

In the end, the Duke would be unable to keep the bold promise he had made before the kingdom’s people.

Satisfied with this unexpected turn of fortune, he gazed not toward his destination—the Seka Duchy—but elsewhere.

The Paern Royal Palace.
The place where Guardian Knight Clophe currently was.
Kale was not the only one whose gaze fell there. Duke Rok also turned his eyes from the hastily moving knights toward the Royal Palace.

His son, Clophe Seka.
The father had no doubt that he was leading men toward the lake and would resolve the crisis.

As if answering that faith, the Royal Palace’s main gates, closed in the dead of night, swung open.

Creeeeak—

The massive gates opened, and mounted knights emerged from the gap. At the vanguard was a knight bearing a white flag, and behind him came Guardian Knight Clophe.

“Let’s go.”

Clophe issued a brief command and rode swiftly toward Lake of God’s Tears.
He had been handling duties at the Royal Palace when he glimpsed the bright Plaza in the distance and was enjoying a brief respite. Then suddenly, a crimson lightning bolt struck the earth, and fire surged up from the lake.

For him, who had been planning to march south as soon as spring arrived and departure became possible from the Coastline of the allied nation, this situation was a bolt from the blue.

Beneath his composed exterior, his heart pounded fiercely.

Why was that?

He caught sight of his white hair scattering in the wind. The memory of a few days ago surfaced even more vividly.

The White-haired Priest he had encountered days before.
His words churned through my mind.

The Priest who had become like a mirage—his credentials forged, his form now impossible to locate. He had spoken thus.

‘I pray the lake will fill once more.’

When I heard those words then, a thought had crossed my mind.

‘Eyes full of certainty.’

Despite his words of hope, the Priest’s expression had been one of absolute conviction. In that moment, I recalled his words in no particular order.

‘As time passes, all will become clear to your eyes.’
‘He merely withdrew what He had given in the face of human greed. Not once did He express anger.’

My grip on the reins faltered.
I lifted my head. I needed to stop the horse.

“Whoa, whoa—”

Yet there was no need to force it to halt. The horse stopped of its own accord, standing motionless without advancing further. I too remained silent, staring ahead.

After my encounter with the White-haired Priest, as time had passed and revealed what lay before me, I found myself utterly speechless.

A pillar of flame filled the lake—nothing but the lake.

“How could this be—”

A pillar of fire that consumed nothing else, rising with such force as to pierce the heavens, filling only the lake. Upon witnessing this, for reasons I could not fathom, a single word came to mind.

Wrath.

My heart surged violently. The Mages following behind approached from the side.

“Commander!”

Clophe issued instructions with a composed expression to the anxious group.

“Everyone focus on extinguishing the flames. Knights, fell all nearby trees and bring soil. Mages, execute your magic.”
“Yes, sir!”

With swift acknowledgment, the people from the Royal Palace sprang into action.
Approaching the massive inferno proved difficult, yet they could not simply stand idle. Clophe gazed at the pillar of fire before turning his gaze toward the Eastern Forest.

The forest where the White-haired Priest had vanished without a trace. Clophe stared at it for a long while, his expression stone-like.

However, Kale, who had been masquerading as the White-haired Priest, descended lightly from Choi Han’s back where he had clung like a sloth. As he loosened his ankles and wrists, rolling his shoulders, Kale sighed at the piercing gazes he felt.

“I’m fine, really.”

“I will provide cover.”
“I’ll protect you!”
“I’m going to spray poison from beside you.”
“I’ll obscure your vision with mist.”

Shaking his head at the barrage of words, Kale fixed his gaze upon the white mansion—the Seka Duchy.
The white mansion was not dark.

Its lights were burning brightly.
That pleased me.

If it were dark, wouldn’t it be difficult to find what I’m looking for?

“Raon.”
“What is it, human?”
“Make On and Hong invisible.”
“Understood!”

Soon Raon, On, and Hong vanished from sight.
Kale retrieved a mask and put it on. Choi Han also donned a mask, and with a sigh, offered one to Kale.

“Kale Heniatus.”
“What?”
“Next time, shall we craft something more refined?”
“You mean Dark agent attire?”
“Yes.”
“I’d rather not.”

At my refusal, Choi Han hesitated. I was grinning wickedly.

“Choi Han.”
“Yes.”
“Think about it from Dark’s perspective. Wouldn’t they be even more infuriated if someone strutted about in shoddy clothing that looks like it would fool only the careless, then fled?”
“…I see your point.”

I was deliberately keeping the outfit crude.
It would irritate them far more that way.
After a few seconds of silence, Choi Han spoke again.

“I am impressed by your profound strategy.”
“Well, it’s nothing special.”

I responded lightly to his words and gazed down at my hand.

A sharp whistle of wind.

The wind converged in a single direction. I rode the breeze lightly beneath my feet and descended. My form atop the Seka Duchy Main Residence roof moved toward one location.
Kale Heniatus’s new body, which had been on the roof of the Main Residence of the Sekka Duchy, headed toward one place.

“…Kale Heniatus, why are you going there?”

We moved further from the illuminated areas.
Gradually moved away from the light.

Kale ran to a corner of the Seca Estate, a space that had earned the first Duke his reputation for frugality in the eyes of the world.

I felt the wind guiding me precisely toward that vicinity, grinning widely beneath my mask.
He felt the wind blowing toward that exact spot and was smiling broadly beneath his mask.

“Human, you’re smiling right now, aren’t you? I know what’s in your heart! How exciting!”

Raon eerily read the laughter behind Kale’s mask.
Kale moved forward with light steps to search for the divine artifact.

Of course, one question had occurred to me.

If the protagonist of the Lake of God’s Tears legend was a human with ancient power, then what was the divine artifact?

Just then, Jjangdol spoke.

-Are you planning to sacrifice yourself?

Kale’s laughter stopped. An inexplicable chill ran down my spine.

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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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