Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 201

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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 44. What is the Sea?

Tap, tap.
I descended the stone stairs without hesitation, my footsteps echoing in the silence. Beside me, Basen Heniatus, the Count’s second son, kept pace and continued his report.

“The Whale Tribe discovered an enemy fleet at the first boundary line of the Northeast Sea an hour ago.”

The first boundary line of the Northeast Sea.
That location marked the boundary between the Norland Kingdom and the Dark Forest.

“They’re moving at considerable speed—approximately two to three days, likely arriving on Roan Kingdom soil between tomorrow afternoon and night.”

Basen continued his report while observing his older brother.

‘Not even wiping the blood away…!’

My brother moved forward without even wiping away the blood, still covered in it from head to toe. Despite the battle having just ended, he remained standing upright without rest, and Basen clenched his teeth as he hurriedly delivered his report.

“The Lord of Ubar and Lord Gilbert’s proxy are currently requesting reinforcements.”

I opened my mouth after hearing Basen’s words.

“Your Highness.”
-…Yes.

The communication orb cradled in Basen’s arms.
It was a communication orb connected directly to Crown Prince Albert Crossman.

The Northeast Territory and other fiefdoms of the Roan Kingdom were currently being handled by my father, Count Derth.

Alberu stared at me with a hardened expression, my appearance haggard and bearing all the marks of one who had stood at the very center of the battlefield. Regardless, I had only one thought on my mind as I opened my mouth.

‘I’m hungry.’

This cursed shield of gluttony had merged with my heart’s vitality and now demanded even more sustenance. I quickly moved to expedite matters so I could eat something soon.

“Send the Mage Battalion 1st Company and the Royal 1st Knight Order to the coastline of Ubar Territory.”
-Again?
“What will you do about the Whale Tribe?”
-I’m still deciding whether to fight alongside them or keep their identity hidden.

Tap.
My footsteps came to a halt.

“Your Highness, I understand you must have many questions, but I’ll contact you later with the details.”
-Very well, I understand.
“Basen, go help Father.”

If Basen was to become the lord of this territory one day, shouldn’t he learn much from Father now?
I looked at Basen with puzzlement as he stood motionless despite my words. He descended the stone stairs and, upon arriving at his destination, opened his mouth while staring at it.

“…Why do you always insist on shouldering the difficult and arduous tasks yourself, Brother?”

A place that had been sealed off in the Lord’s Castle for decades.
The underground prison.

A faint torchlight flickered from within that underground prison. Basen found it difficult to understand why his brother was trying to send him away.

‘How can he always insist on bearing such burdens alone…!’

He could never understand his brother, who always tried to carry everything by himself.

Yet I found it difficult to understand Basen’s concern.
Difficult and arduous tasks?

I had come here deliberately to do something simple, precisely to avoid receiving contact from other fiefdoms or the Temple.
Unable to comprehend his worry, I answered dismissively.

“It’s not difficult work. This suits me fine. Now go back upstairs.”

Basen opened and closed his mouth several times, his lips trembling.

‘What kind of person finds torture to be suited to their nature!’

Kale Heniatus was currently heading out to conduct an interrogation and torture session.
Basen Heniatus keenly felt that his older brother, a warm-hearted man who worked so hard to save the territory’s people, could never enjoy such work, nor could it suit him.

“…If that is your will, brother, then it must be done.”

Yet Basen Heniatus turned away.
He felt one more thing acutely.

Despite having a father and himself as a younger brother, his older brother’s resolve to personally undertake such grueling work with his weakened body.
He understood it now.

‘I am still too young.’

Seventeen-year-old Basen Heniatus realized he must grow further. Like those companions who traveled with his brother. He must grow so as not to become a burden.
Basen Heniatus ascended from the underground prison without once looking back.

When Basen Heniatus had climbed out of the underground prison and was no longer visible, Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“Apple pie.”

Small front paws emerged from thin air, and an apple pie suddenly appeared before Kale Heniatus. He accepted it without much thought, but his face contorted.

“What? Why is this apple pie so soggy?”

The apple pie was damp in patches, as if it had been soaked in water. As Kale Heniatus furrowed his brow, a mumbling voice was heard.

“…I did not cry.”

Sigh.
Kale Heniatus exhaled at Raon’s response.

“…If you dislike it, I’ll fetch a fresh one. Human, if you don’t wish to eat it, then don’t. My ungrand apple pie is not grand.”

Huff.
Kale Heniatus sighed and took a rough bite of the apple pie. How could he simply discard something a child had given him?

And truthfully.
He was far too hungry.

‘I could probably eat dirt at this point.’

I meant it sincerely.
After the vitality of my heart and the unbreakable shield joined forces, my hunger intensified even further.

Of course, these two ancient powers still existed as separate forces. But a connection had formed between them. It felt as though the unbreakable shield were a person, and the vitality of my heart had become one of that person’s organs—the heart itself.

Munch, munch.
I ate the apple pie with great relish as I opened the underground prison door.

Creeeeak—
Then I stopped eating. The sound of a whip reached my ears.

Crack!

“Ahhhhh!”

Blood was spraying across the underground prison walls. So much blood had already been spilled that fresh blood left no new marks.

“You’ve arrived, Young Master.”

Ron, my servant, greeted me gently. Yet his gaze swept over me from head to toe with an icy chill.

‘Why is this old man’s gaze so cold?’

I shrank back from that frigid stare. And I was flustered.

Ron drew a short blade and hurled it.

Thwack!

“Arghhhh!”

The blade embedded itself in the shoulder of the tortured prisoner, and blood sprayed once more.
I averted my gaze from Ron’s eyes and looked toward Vicross. The head chef and torture specialist Vicross wielded his whip with an expressionless face, his hands clad in four white gloves.
Father Ron and son Vicross, both immaculate and unmarred by a single drop of blood, introduced me to a person.

“We are conducting an interrogation as you commanded.”

Gasp, gasp.
The sound of labored breathing echoed through the chamber, and white hair was stained dark with dried blood.

Guardian Knight Clophe Seka.
He had fallen into Kale’s grasp.

When Choi Han had knocked him down at Stone Mountain, this young master had immediately seized the Guardian Knight and thrown him into the Underground Prison.
Ron spoke with composure.

“…I’ve kept him breathing, sir.”

Yes… barely breathing at that.
Raon’s voice echoed in my mind.

-Well done! Ron and Vicross are truly clever!

I couldn’t respond.

Clophe Seka’s legs had been pulverized. Yes, pulverized. And both his arms were gone. He simply remained alive.

It would have been kinder to just kill him outright—this was a sight so nightmarish it would haunt one’s dreams.
Ron approached me and continued speaking matter-of-factly.

“Young master, since this fellow doesn’t even know how to handle a wyvern anyway, there seemed no further use for him. So I’ve kept him breathing merely for appearances’ sake. Was that the right call?”

I answered honestly.

“You did well.”

Well done is well done.

“Is he still conscious?”
“Yes.”

At Vicross’s blunt response, I nodded and approached Clophe Seka.

“Hah… hah…”

Clophe Seka was barely drawing breath. With each exhalation, pain radiated from every part of his body. Yet now, even that sensation of agony was gradually fading away.

And so a different fear pressed down upon him.

At this rate, he would die.
He truly might perish in this place.

Why such torture specialists and assassins existed in this rural fiefdom no longer mattered to him. His only thought was that he had to escape this terrifying place to survive.

That was when it happened.

“Guardian Knight.”

It was quite a gentle voice.
Yet Clophe could not lift his head carelessly.

That man. The owner of that gentle voice. He was the true master of this fiefdom.

Kale Heniatus, who wielded the shield.
Who would have thought that the young lord everyone believed to be virtuous and righteous could do such things? Clophe could say nothing.

In that moment, he felt another sensation settling upon his body, which had lost all feeling.
His cheeks trembled finely.

Fear, oppression.
The sensation of someone pressing down upon him.
It was a sensation he had not felt since that man.

Then, a soft voice was heard once more.

“Lift your head.”

Clophe’s head trembled as it rose upward.
The Guardian Knight, directly confronted by the dominating aura, was dominated by Kale.

As he lifted his head, he saw Kale Heniatus smiling gently.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

Was he referring to that moment they met on the city wall earlier? Clophe Seka unknowingly nodded his head in fear.
But soon he stopped his nod. As if time had frozen, Clophe’s body came to a halt.

The red hair of the man before him was turning white, just like Kale’s own hair.
Dark brown eyes were shifting to blue.

“Ah, ah—”

Clophe’s mouth hung open, unable to form words.
A familiar face.
A face that remained vividly etched in his memory.

As the hair color changed, the image of one person overlapped perfectly with Kale’s current visage.

The Priest.
That mysterious Priest he had met in January of this year.

The smile faded from the white-haired Priest’s lips as he looked down at Clophe. A suffocating pressure bore down upon him, and once again his breath caught. The Priest with silver hair spoke with deliberate calm.

“Have you enjoyed yourself in the palm of my hand all this time?”

Did you revel in becoming a legend?
That was how Kale’s voice sounded to Clophe. Simultaneously, the passage of time came flooding back.

Early this year, I met a mysterious Priest, and afterward, a pillar of fire erupted from Lake of God’s Tears. Following the Priest’s words, I believed I would become the protagonist of legend.

Had it all been a lie?

Something shattered within the eyes of one who had desired to become a legend by his own will.

“I shall now give you another prophecy.”

Kale had much he wished to tell Clophe Seka.
And so he spoke to him with sincerity.

“What will become of you from this moment forward.”

Clophe looked up at Kale, unable to still his trembling jaw.
The Priest he had believed carried the will of the divine—he, Kale, had now become the god of Clophe’s life, and he spoke.

What will become of you from this moment forward.

“That’s all within my grasp.”

Clophe understood it all too clearly.
The person before him held his very life in their hands.

“So tell me everything.”

I spoke those words while observing Clophe’s trembling form.

Of course, there was something I left unsaid.

Clophe had only two choices before him.

Die peacefully.
Or suffer before dying.

Those were the only two.
There was no life among them.

I sat in the chair placed before Clophe and looked down at him. He trembled, avoiding my gaze. Yet he could not lower his head either.
He simply stared near my chin, trembling beneath the weight of my eyes.

I recalled the words Choi Han had left behind as he went to receive treatment.

‘The Seka Family is the family of the White Snake.’

I opened my mouth.

“White Snake.”

The white serpent, drenched in blood, drew in a sharp breath at my continuing words.

“What legend were you planning to manipulate this time?”

Clophe realized it.
This person truly knew everything.
He knew of the manipulated legends, of everything.
Terror began to carve itself into his very being.

His lips slowly parted—lips that had remained sealed even under Vicross and Ron’s interrogation now gradually opened.

And Kale Heniatus heard it all.

* * *

-You’re smiling.

The moment the video communication connected, Alberu’s immediate remark made Kale touch the corners of his mouth. He felt them curved upward.

‘Well, I’ve learned quite a lot.’

Through Clophe, Kale had discovered considerable information. Why the Knight of the Helmet—such a formidable warrior—had only now appeared on the Western Continent, and why ‘Dark’ had ventured to the Eastern Continent.

And what problem had been thrust upon Kale himself.

The conclusion was singular.

‘I’ve gotten the story wrong.’

The war, the way ‘Dark’ had surfaced far too quickly—it was all a consequence of that miscalculation. But this was not a matter to dwell on now.

And one more thing.

‘I seem to be quite fortunate.’

Kale leaned back against the sofa, recalling the crown nestled in his pocket, and answered casually.

“I must be delirious from exhaustion.”

He had expected the Crown Prince to scoff. Yet when Alberu remained silent, his face contorted, Kale found himself puzzled—but he soon spoke again.

“I intend to depart for Ubar Territory tonight.”
-…In that condition?

What’s wrong with my condition? I’ve consumed several apple pies, so my stomach is thoroughly satisfied and my body is in perfect form. This heart’s vitality—its regenerative capacity has only grown. My skin has become supple beneath the blood, and I feel as though I could go without sleep for three days and nights.
Kale answered the Crown Prince’s question without hesitation.
Kale Heniatus answered the Crown Prince’s question without hesitation.

“Yes, I shall go myself.”

A sigh escaped the Crown Prince. For some reason, I felt displeased.
But I had to move quickly.
The traces Raon left behind continued to send signals. The Knight of the Helmet was returning with his fleet.
This time, I had to kill that bastard.

So why not bring Ron and Vicross?
I had no intention of letting him die easily.

I also left a message for the ancient dragon Erhafen through the video communication device. Once he checked it, he would likely contact me back. I had quite a lot to do. It was urgent too.

So I got straight to the point.

“Your Highness.”
-Why?
“The Whale Tribe, sir.”

Whether to fight alongside the Whale Tribe or continue hiding their existence—the situation was uncertain.

-The Whale Tribe, why?
“Let’s strike the Paern Kingdom.”

A brief silence fell.
Then the Crown Prince’s laughter rang out.

-Ha, haha-

He laughed for a long while.
He could see Kale Heniatus’s disheveled appearance. At the same time, he could also see those sharp, clear eyes.

This man truly is extraordinary.

A smile formed at the corners of the Crown Prince’s mouth.

-I like it very, very much.

With those words, the Crown Prince turned off the video communication device and spoke.

—Take care of yourself.

Click.
The video communication cut off without waiting for my response. I turned to the figure standing behind me with an expression that said, “As expected.”

“Ron.”
“Yes, sir.”

I gestured toward the corner of the room as I issued my instructions.

“Bring Mueller. And On and Hong as well.”
“…The Cat-Human Race members in the underground training chamber too?”
“Yes.”

I had anticipated this battle would not be particularly difficult, so I had excluded On and Hong from combat and ordered them to train instead. They had work to do.

Soon Ron returned with the three of them.
Mueller, the trembling Rat-Human hybrid dwarf, entered at a considerable distance from the Cat-Humans, while On and Hong immediately rushed toward me. Yet they hesitated at the sight of me still covered in blood and merely circled nearby.
I asked them both.

“You’re ready, aren’t you?”
“We are!”
“All set!”

At their words, I rose from my seat.

I headed toward the Ubar Territory.
The sea was a place where I had nothing to protect.

On and Hong.
The sea would be shrouded in toxic fog.

Operation name: Specter.

They would all perish without even knowing it.
It suited the desolate night sea perfectly.

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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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