Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 203

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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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It was like the migration of migratory birds.
The fleet of roughly three hundred ships cutting through the waters of the Night Sea advanced in a triangular formation.

A fleet that had departed from the Indomitable Alliance’s Norland Naval Base.

At its center was the largest icebreaker among those that had shattered the frozen ice of the Northern Coast.
The Knight of the Helmet was receiving treatment in the uppermost cabin of that ship, which occupied the center of the formation as it sailed southward.

“Pathetic.”

At the Healer’s blunt remark, the Dragon Slayer’s face contorted. Yet he could not speak properly.
The Healer sighed and cast Heal on the Tamer’s heart.

The heart was damaged to about two-thirds of its capacity.
It would take at least a week to repair it. Just the repair would take a week, and complete recovery would likely require a month.

Moreover, an arm had been severed as well.
An arm was a simple matter—she would just report it to the organization and have them arrange its restoration. The Healer let out a scoff at the Dragon Slayer.

“You’ll have to be confined for a while, just like that old Tamer.”
“Shut—cough!”

The Tamer opened his mouth only to close it again.
That magical claw that had seized his heart at the end. Because of it, his body had suffered greatly.

Then, a person who had been observing the Knight of the Helmet and the Healer opened his mouth.
The Elderly Mage’s voice was cold.

“You’re telling me that in that small fiefdom, there exists a Sword Master slightly inferior to you, a Necromancer, and a possessor of ancient power capable of blocking your sword even once?”
“Yes.”

The Knight of the Helmet’s demeanor toward the old man was casual. Yet the Mage paid no mind and continued speaking.

“And on top of that, there’s a Mage superior to me?”

The Knight of the Helmet hesitated inwardly but showed no outward sign as he answered.

“Yes. That mage who mimicked my Calamity Sword and destroyed the heart. There is a mage.”

The Knight of the Helmet—the dragon tamer—gazed into the dragon’s two eyes.
But he said nothing.

‘I must have it.’

If I speak, these fools will steal it from me. After stealing it, they’ll magnanimously hand over the dragon’s leash to me as if bestowing charity. Wasn’t that how I was promised to receive a dragon in the first place? Of course, it vanished before I could claim it.
The Knight of the Helmet recalled the battle at Heniatus Territory, those two eyes of the dragon that had gazed upon me once more.

‘Judging by the size of its eyes, it’s not an Ancient Dragon.’

It’s a Young Dragon. Clearly, it hasn’t even undergone its first growth yet.
The Knight of the Helmet suppressed his thundering heart as much as possible.

The dragon didn’t refrain from using Breath—it couldn’t use it.

At that realization, exhilaration surged through the Knight of the Helmet. If I play this right, I might gain an opportunity to grow stronger without that madman, the leader of this organization, knowing.

‘I will devour the second dragon myself.’

The Knight of the Helmet made a vow for the future. Then the mage’s voice reached his ears once more.

“That Sword Master inferior to you—what is the capacity of his vessel?”

Vessel.
It referred to a body capable of containing Ancient Power.
Ancient Power was commonly known to be weak. But that was merely what ignorant fools said.

Among Ancient Powers, those derived from nature rather than humanity’s inherent strength—those bearing nature’s attributes—were gifts bestowed by nature itself.
How could such gifts be weak?
They seemed weak only because people didn’t know how to wield them. Of course, among Ancient Powers, humanity’s inherent strength was weaker than nature-attributed power.

The Knight of the Helmet hesitated at the mage’s question, but soon answered without concern.

“Mediocre. His vessel isn’t particularly large.”

The Knight of the Helmet uttered a lie.
A Sword Master with black aura—his vessel was equal to my own.
That was why I couldn’t speak the truth.
If I spoke truthfully, there would be no reason for them to treat my wounds, and they would simply search for another vessel instead.

“Hmm.”

The Elderly Mage furrowed his brow as if lost in thought.

“Once we conquer the Roan Coast, we must head straight to Heniatus Territory. We’ll need to eliminate that place.”

The Knight of the Helmet clutched his aching body and spoke with considerable urgency.

“That petty nobleman! That red-haired bastard—I’ll kill him myself!”

Since that man received the Dragon’s protection, capturing him would grant me the Dragon.
With one arm alone, he was entirely manageable. A man with nothing but a shield and human regeneration.

The Mage answered calmly to the Tamer, who seemed to grow heated discussing another ancient power wielder.

“Do as you wish. Either way, with you, me, and the Healer together, they’ll be easy prey.”

The Tamer didn’t bother denying it. Though weaker than himself, the old Mage and the Healer were useful enough.

The Mage glanced at the Healer and the Tamer, then opened the cabin door. A figure standing before it immediately bowed respectfully.

“We will soon enter the waters off the Northeast Rowan Kingdom.”

He was the Spear Master.

The enemy who had appeared most frequently when Kale’s group faced the Dark—a man who wielded both magic and spear techniques, and who had betrayed the Fake Saint Hana, a Sword Master.

He bowed his head upon seeing the three figures in the cabin. People of one rank above him. They were essentially the core of the organization.
This could be discerned from the red star embroidered on the Mage’s robe.
Unlike the Spear Master, whose garment bore a white star with five red stars embroidered upon it, these three bore only a single red star each.

Five garments bore a single red star each.
Five red stars serving the White Star.

“I’ll head out soon. I should check on the vanguard.”
“Yes, I shall accompany you.”

At the Elderly Mage’s words, the Spear Master bowed his head. Then the Healer, who had been quiet until now, clicked her tongue.

“They say the Roan Kingdom’s Naval Base is pathetic? There are only a few ships, yet they’re bringing so many. What’s the point?”
“They’re trying to conquer the Wipper Kingdom’s coastline while they’re at it. Besides, it’s fortunate. Since Rowan is stronger than expected, we need to keep pushing like this.”

The old man answered casually and headed toward the cabin door.

“Above all, since Rowan landed a blow on us, we should return the favor with a stab in the back, shouldn’t we?”

The Healer twisted her lips upward and nodded.

“True. Rowan probably thinks only the Indomitable Alliance is coming, right? They have no idea we’re on this ship. It’ll be fun.”

The Healer’s appearance as she savored the thought was familiar to them all. And none of them denied the child’s words.

However, there was someone else who was enjoying this far more.

Three hundred ships. Far below those vessels.

In the deepest depths of the sea.
A humpback whale swam through those waters.

A humpback whale bearing an X-shaped scar on her back. Witira, the Whale King’s successor, gazed southward.

‘The Fourth Boundary Line will be coming soon.’

The humpback whale’s lips curved upward.
She recalled what Kale Heniatus had said last night.

‘Witira, destroy the Paern Coast together with the Whale Tribe.’

And the words that followed.

‘In return, we will annihilate the enemy fleet.’

This will be quite entertaining.
Witira became certain upon seeing Kale Heniatus’s unwavering resolve.
He was a man who kept his word, so she was confident there was no need to witness the enemies’ final fate.
Her massive tail shifted direction.

North.
The humpback whale began swimming upstream against the current, moving in the opposite direction from the three hundred vessels.
The Whale Tribe and countless whales began to follow in her wake.

Silently, beings who had lived forgotten, turned toward the north.

* * *

And at that very moment.
A faint sound captured Kale Heniatus’s attention.

Click.

It was a signal from the Mage.
A signal that enemies had entered our sea.

A smile played at the corners of Kale Heniatus’s mouth.

Fog.
It obscured the enemies’ vision, but it also obscured the vision of Kale Heniatus’s allies.
Kale Heniatus no longer needed to conceal what he possessed.

Aside from Kale Heniatus’s group, most people in the Roan Kingdom believed he possessed only the power of a shield.

Kale Heniatus made no effort to dispel this misunderstanding.
It was convenient that way.
To live comfortably, there was no need to display one’s strength.

But within the fog, there was no need to hide.

Silence reclaimed the sea once more.
Wind began to blow across the Night Sea.

Whoooosh—

The fog spread slowly outward.
And Kale Heniatus moved.

* * *

The fog dispersed with the stealth of a cat’s footsteps.

“What is this? Fog?”

The Elderly Mage, who had left the ship with the captain’s quarters and now stood on the deck of the lead vessel commanding the fleet, furrowed his brow at the sight of the fog.

White fog enveloped the dark Night Sea, spreading across a considerable expanse.
Did fog often blanket the waters of the Roan Kingdom?
The Spear Master beside the old man sensed something ominous.

Then, the Mage spoke.

“It is not magic.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“That’s right. The fog was not created by magic.”

The fog was not magic. If so, it must be merely a natural phenomenon.
If it were not magic, what else could create such fog?
The Spear Master felt reassured. He watched the ship entering the fog and issued an order.

“The sea is calm, but since we’re entering a fog zone, alert everyone to Alert Level 1 as a precaution.”
“Yes, sir!”

The Norland soldier bowed his head and obeyed the Spear Master’s command.
This ship was primarily crewed by Dark’s people, and the two ships directly behind it carried members of the Indomitable Alliance.

The Norland soldier raised the horn to his lips and drew in a breath to relay the Spear Master’s order.
Yes, he drew in a breath.

In his eyes as he inhaled, the fog that had crept right before him came into view.

It seemed to have been quite far away, but was he already in the fog zone?

He brought the horn to his lips with that thought. All he had to do now was blow.
That was when it happened.

Sssssss—

The sound of wind spreading mist.
Through that wind sound, the Mage’s voice pierced through.

“This wind is magic!”

At the same moment, another sound erupted across the deck.

Clang!

The horn fell.
The Spear Master spun his head around in panic.

“Cough, hack!”

Blood was pouring from the mouth of the soldier who had inhaled. Even as I watched that sight, I trembled involuntarily.

Poison.
And an enemy.

I hastily covered my mouth with my hand. But the wind was already beginning to blow fiercely.

Whoooooosh—

The wind drove the mist forward with terrible force. In an instant, the surroundings were filled with white fog. I cried out without thinking, my eyes wide open.

“…What…!”

Red mist.
The fog began to tint crimson.
An ominous hue.
Mist the color of blood slowly consumed the sea.

Raon, On, Hong.
The red mist born from the combined power of three began to seep into every place where air could flow.

“…Cough!”
“What is this fog… Hack!”

Unfortunately, the fog seeped into the weakest first.
The soldiers of Norland and Paern, the two northern kingdoms, clutched at their throats. Their vision was consumed entirely by crimson.

The Spear Master hastily unfurled a shield and seized the war horn.

Poouu— Pouuuu—

War.
Not an alarm, but the call to war began to echo across the sea.
The sound reached all the way to the heart of the fleet.

“What is that sound all of a sudden?”

The Healer, a child aboard the fleet’s central vessel, bolted upright and peered out the window.
Crimson fog was visible. And she could see the Dark operatives collapsing, coughing blood.

“…Poison?”

The child’s eyes shifted. It was the Healer’s specialty.

“I’ll step out for a moment.”

The Healer reached for the cabin door handle. But the Tamer grabbed the child’s wrist.

“Stay here.”
“What?”
“Stay here, cough, I’m not better yet, so stay here!”

The Healer was exasperated.
Emergency treatment was complete, and all that remained was rest—yet this one was relentlessly selfish. Those operatives out there, coughing blood and dying, were from the same organization.
But the Tamer’s condition was somewhat different.

“…Ominous.”

The Dragon Slayer sensed foreboding.
Though he had rested briefly, his body had not yet recovered. He was still in critical condition, and one arm was gone.

That’s why even if the Tamer was the weakest in combat ability, having the Healer nearby put my mind at ease.

“Sigh, let me just go check the situation outside for a moment.”

The Healer exhaled a sigh and brushed away the Tamer’s hand.

“Be back in one minute!”

At the Tamer’s growling, whining voice, the Healer gave a casual nod and turned the cabin door handle.
Click. The handle turned easily, and the Healer immediately stepped outside the room.

As the door closed, the Tamer glanced out the window.

It was intuition.
Intuition I could gain only because I’d experienced it once in the Heniatus Territory of the Roan Kingdom.

A kingdom that hides a Sword Master, a Necromancer, and even a Dragon.
If they were doing something like this, it surely meant there was something more.

My body wasn’t in normal condition, but I pulled myself into a combat-ready state as much as possible.
That’s when it happened.

Click.

The sound of the door opening, and the Healer’s hair came into view.
The Tamer let out a small laugh.
The Middle-aged Man wearing the appearance of a child—the Healer. Cunning, but obedient as expected.

“Hey, get in here quick!”

Whether the low-ranking agent lived or died was none of my concern.
I urged the Healer, who would at least be useful in combat, to hurry back inside.

Creeeak—
The door opened.

Thud.

The Healer in the form of a child collapsed helplessly to the ground.
And then I saw red.

‘Mist?’

A person shrouded in crimson mist. The moment I recognized it in my mind.

“Damn it!”

The Tamer immediately sprang up from the bed.

Crash!

But his body was instantly slammed against the wall along with black aura.

“Cough!”

The Tamer let out a groan.

Screech. A very faint sound reached his ears. And white gloves came into view. Now the Tamer had to draw the Calamity Sword once more.

‘This is the last resort right now!’

In my current physical state, maintaining the Calamity Sword for long would be difficult. A massive sonic boom unfolded before the Knight of the Helmet once again.

Crash!

Black aura.
That Sword Master who had rushed at him.

He appeared again.

Black aura bloomed from Choi Han’s hand and surged toward the Tamer in silence.

The Tamer barely evaded it. But the moment he slipped away from the wall and dodged the attack, he was forced back once more to block the black aura that surged at him again.
And then something suddenly burst forth from behind him.

White gloves.
The white gloves worn by the one standing beside the Sword Master had appeared.
Movements as covert and swift as an assassin’s, with skill rivaling the Sword Master himself.

Choi Han from the front, the Assassin from behind.

The moment the Dragon Tamer’s face contorted, the white gloves seized his nape in an iron grip.

“Gahhk!”

A dagger twisted through his severed shoulder blade, a strike designed to inflict maximum agony.
Simultaneously, Choi Han drove his black aura into the Dragon Tamer’s abdomen and surged upward.

Crash!

The cabin ceiling shattered. Beyond it lay a sky saturated with crimson mist.

“Gahhk!”

The Dragon Tamer was dragged upward through the fractured ceiling, his nape still gripped in those white gloves. His mind reeled.

How had these men arrived here? And in such a manner?
They had only just appeared—how could they have known I was here?

It was the Whale Tribe’s intelligence about the Knight of the Helmet’s presence here, combined with Raon’s magic, that had made this possible. But there was no way the Elderly Mage or the Dragon Tamer, whose magical prowess paled beside Raon’s, could have known this.

“Gahhk, cough!”

He could only glare at the one crushing his throat as the pressure steadily increased.

A man in his sixties.
Ron smiled.
Borrowing his son’s white gloves, he stood before his young master.

The heart of the enemy fleet.
The highest point of that ship.
Kale Heniatus watched as Ron and Choi Han brought the Dragon Tamer before him, and he opened his mouth. Only then did human speech ring out.

“Begin.”

Woooooo—

The silence shattered.
It sounded like the wail of a ghost.
The cry of hundreds of souls ascending from the sea.

The Dragon Tamer stood at the highest point and could not help but witness everything. No—I felt it.

Tap.
The Dragon Tamer turned my head at the touch of a hand patting my cheek.

Kale Heniatus.
He was smiling brightly. The Knight of the Helmet’s mouth fell open.

“…Another ancient power existed?”

Tap, tap tap.
Kale Heniatus patted the Dragon Tamer’s cheeks as he spoke.

“Watch carefully.”

Woooooo—

The sound rising from deep within the sea, like the wail of ghosts.
Kale Heniatus whispered into the Dragon Tamer’s ear.

“The cries of ghosts are always terrifying.”

The depths of the sea convulsed.

Woooo—
The wailing ceased.

And a whirlpool surged upward.

Crash!
Crash!

Kale Heniatus’s whirlpools and Raon’s magic.
Whirlpools began to surge upward through the crimson mist.

Kale’s eyes, devoid of laughter, were fixed upon the Dragon Slayer.
He recalled the words he had promised to everyone.

Annihilate the enemy.

Kale Heniatus—Kim Rok-soo—was a man who kept his word.
Now I simply had to honor that promise.

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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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