Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 253

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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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I caught the distorted expression on Ron’s face and flinched. Seeing my reaction, Ron hastily composed himself and drew back the kind, gentle visage he normally wore.

“Are you suffering greatly?”

I opened my mouth in alarm at the Assassin’s rapidly shifting expression.

“No. It’s fine. Just a little difficult, that’s all.”

Yes. Just a little difficult.

-Like last time when you were throwing money around, couldn’t you toss some coins? Think about it! Now that the vessel has grown, it’s possible!

This noisy Destructive Fire was making things a little difficult.
The one who suddenly burst forth had much to say. Of course, the chatter quickly subsided.
Along with the suggestion to think about it, Destructive Fire fell silent once more.

‘…I do miss the money-throwing.’

When I was scattering coins recklessly. I was happy then. Once I took control of the Underworld in Lieben City on the Eastern Continent, I’d extract a fortune in dirty money anyway.

‘Scatter that?’

My heart quickened slightly. Throwing money around—not my own, but a villain’s—was quite exhilarating. My expression smoothed out as if I’d never been frowning at all.

Watching me, Ron’s wrinkled eyes trembled faintly. It was a movement so minute that others couldn’t detect it, yet Ron was clearly agitated.

Twenty years old.
This young master was now twenty years old.
No matter how great the duties and responsibilities of a noble birth, twenty is the age to soar across vast plains and unfold what one imagined in childhood.

Vicross Molan.
Ron thought of his own son. The process of fleeing from the Eastern Continent to the Western Continent in his teens, settling and establishing himself in the Heniatus Territory. During that time, Vicross had missed many things only children could do and matured too quickly.

Before him now sat a boy who appeared older than that son, who spoke as if he had lived far longer.

‘No. It’s fine. Just a little difficult, that’s all.’

Ron felt the weight of those words accumulated over all the years he had lived.

The only bomb planted within Kale Heniatus’s body was the ancient power. When Ron had visited Erhaben’s Lair, he’d learned of the problem lurking inside Kale’s body.
This situation was undoubtedly caused by that very issue.

Ron had etched into his mind the image of Kale Heniatus—the one who had crafted his arm and taken revenge on his behalf.

“As you requested, Young Master.”

Kale Heniatus had made a request of Ron.

‘Act as you normally do. I’m asking you.’

Recalling those words, Ron answered Kale Heniatus gently.

“I shall conduct myself as I ordinarily would.”
“Yeah. That’s all I need.”

Kale Heniatus found Ron’s tone oddly ominous and somewhat unsettling, but he nodded at the assurance that Ron would do as he asked regardless.

And the next day.
Kale Heniatus began his preparations to depart in the early dawn.

No matter how vital his heart remained, he still needed at least three to four hours of sleep daily. Moreover, to shake off the exhaustion accumulated during the war, Kale Heniatus had taken what little rest he could.

Yet the moment he awoke, the sight that greeted him left him momentarily bewildered.

“…What is this situation, exactly?”

He accepted the teacup Ron offered—lemon honey tea, as always—and took a sip. The tartness jolted him awake. Ron wore a benevolent smile.

“When I inquired with Lord Erhaben, he said that Raon should accompany us.”

Since no one could predict when Raon’s growth phase would end, it was better for him to remain beside Erhaben, the safest place available.
Though it weighed on him slightly that he would have to carry an ailing child throughout the journey, Erhaben had said such a burden would have no effect on him whatsoever.
Rather, he’d insisted it was far worse for Raon to feel unsafe or uncomfortable, and that keeping him between himself and Kale Heniatus would be the better arrangement.

So this time too, I intended to bring him along.
Of course, without On and Hong.

If I brought those two along, there was a risk they’d learn about Kale’s situation, which would be troublesome. No matter how indifferent I was to others’ feelings, I didn’t want to do that to children. I was already displeased that Raon had found out.

So I separated the dejected On and Hong.

But the moment I did, something large attached itself to me instead.

“Thus I’ve brought an attendant. He’s well-versed in all matters, including lodging and meals, so it would be beneficial to have him accompany you.”
“…Father, I am not an attendant.”

Vicross stood before Kale, refuting Ron’s words.
He maintained his usual immaculate appearance, but wore something resembling a baby sling—though far larger, more like a massive cloth carrier.

Kale observed the carrier, glanced at Vicross, then turned his gaze to Ron. And he spoke his honest sentiment.

“Ron truly excels at his work.”
“I merely did what was necessary, Young Master.”

Vicross’s face crumpled.
Yet he pretended not to hear his father and the young master’s words, lifting the limp Raon and placing him inside his carrier.
He recalled the conversation he’d had with his father.

‘Accompany the Young Master and return.’
‘What is the matter, sir?’

When asked for a reason, his father had answered.

‘I cannot go myself, so you are the only one I can entrust with this.’

From those words, he understood both that the reason could not be disclosed and that what lay ahead would be quite grave.

Thus he placed Raon in the carrier and looked at Kale, who rose from his seat and spoke.

“Let us depart.”

* * *

Crunch.
Kale surveyed his surroundings as the sound of twigs snapping beneath his feet reached his ears.

Lieben City, where the inn was located.
And Lib Mountain, where the stone pillar existed.

Between those two points lay quite a vast forest. I examined Vicross and Raon nestled in the carrier before turning my gaze toward Erhafen.

“This forest is called the Gray Eye Forest.”

Gray Eye.
The very name exuded an atmosphere thick with untold history and mystery.
Erhafen explained this place to me, Vicross, and Raon—not from the ancient dragon’s journal, but rather conventional information about the forest itself.

“It’s been called by that name for some time now, though no one knows the reason behind it. Currently, monsters appear quite frequently throughout all regions near Lieben City, yet this Gray Eye Forest alone is said to be devoid of them.”

I absorbed the forest’s landscape into my eyes.

It was an utterly ordinary forest. From various places came the sounds one would expect to hear from a woodland.

“With no monsters, neither mercenaries nor merchants have reason to visit. Though I hear that when spring arrives, people do come to harvest the fruits that grow here.”
“Were there any missing persons among them?”

Judging Water had judged both people and monsters, or so the tale went.

“None.”

Thanks to the barrier created by the dead ancient dragon, no more monsters died, and no more people vanished.
Erhafen watched me pose my question with such composure, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Yet contrary to my measured tone, my situation was far from calm.

“Kale Heniatus, this hardly seems a situation where you can remain so composed.”

Crackle. Snap.
Crimson electricity flowed across my fingertips.
Destructive Fire began to circle slowly, its light growing increasingly vivid.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
Most of all, my heart’s vitality responded.

The power that sustained and regenerated my body was pounding wildly as if it had found a way to save itself. My lips curved upward with increasing intensity. My gaze was fixed upon the space surrounding Erhafen.

“Shouldn’t you ask such questions after you’ve finished your own preparations, Erhafen?”

Platinum-colored smoke swirled around Erhafen. He laughed at my question and lightly stamped the ground.

A barrier.
I could sense the traces of the dead ancient dragon Olien.
In the center of Gray Eye Forest. From that place, the scent of trees—the pure, pristine fragrance of the forest—rose into the air. Erhafen moved toward that scent.

“Follow me.”

I watched Erhafen move ahead and summoned Wind’s Sound at my feet. At the same time, I glanced at Vicross, and he sighed before stamping the ground.

“I’m quite good at following someone, you know.”

Even as a child, I had learned the art of fleeing well—following Father’s back as we crossed from the Eastern Continent to the Western Continent.
Running while watching only Father’s back was never difficult.

I watched Vicross pass before me and pushed off the ground, moving forward.

Swishhhhh—

The sound of leaves rustling in the wind and the whisper of foliage brushing against my clothes reached my ears.

But I felt my heartbeat more keenly than those sounds. Simultaneously, I sensed something strange.

‘This isn’t good.’

Using Wind’s Sound while Destructive Fire rampaged in my palm.
I felt a sensation different from when I was starving or coughing up blood.

Nausea.
It felt as though my insides were being swept up by a massive wave. For the first time, I felt the damage within me—unlike the skin that protected everything else.

The vessel had grown larger, but the vessel itself was far too fragile.
A glass vessel remained glass, no matter how much it expanded.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
The more I realized the twisted state of my insides, the more my heart announced its presence. In that moment, I lifted my head at the tremendous sound.

CRAAAAAASH!

Platinum-hued mana transformed into arrows that shot forward.
Arrows that flew toward what appeared to be an ordinary forest with nothing concealed within it.

The moment those arrows struck the seemingly ordinary forest.

Crash!
Green branches materialized and began their assault.

“Ha! His tastes truly never change.”

Erhafen laughed at the sight of those grotesque green branches suddenly appearing and rushing forward. Yet he did not slow his pace. Instead, he accelerated further, casually firing mana arrows as he spoke.

“I’ll break through directly.”

Kale Heniatus followed without hesitation in the ancient dragon’s footsteps.

Crash!

Each time dozens of mana arrows made contact, the branches crumbled into dust with thunderous booms and vanished. In that instant, Erhafen’s voice reached them.

“Dragons do not possess only the attributes of ordinary natural elements. We may harbor abstract attributes or possess something far more unusual.”

Crash. Crash, bang!
The platinum dragon pierced through the barrier, revealing his attribute to the young one and Kale Heniatus.

“When I first discovered my attribute, I was ridiculed.”

After his first growth phase concluded and he awakened to his attribute, Erhafen had been mocked by other dragons. That ridicule persisted for quite some time even after he became a mature dragon.

“My attribute was trivial compared to my appearance.”

Erhafen, who possessed an exceptionally beautiful form even among dragons, faced even greater mockery for his attribute that contradicted his outward appearance. There were truly many insolent dragon whelps.

Kale Heniatus gazed at Erhafen’s back.
He could not discern what attribute his platinum-hued essence possessed.

Crash!

The moment Kale Heniatus witnessed the barrier’s branches vanish into the air with another thunderous boom, Erhafen’s voice reached him.

“Dust, or powder.”

My eyes reflected the twigs vanishing like dust as they collided with the platinum-hued mana.
Erhafen had obliterated even the massive stone pillars of the Jjangdol Mansion in this very manner—reduced to dust, to powder.

“That is my attribute.”

Erhafen was pleased with his attribute.
Why?

“And it’s quite a favorable one at that.”

He had not left the Dragons who mocked him unscathed.
He had fought them.

“Because I’ve always had a taste for beating things until they scatter like dust, until they become powder.”

And since becoming a Holy Dragon, he had never tasted defeat in battle.
Even words that others pointed at and ridiculed held value that varied infinitely depending on how one perceived them.

There was a reason Erhafen was telling this to Raon and me.

“Everything that exists in nature, or in this world, that is called by language has a reason, and every character carries meaning.”

On the way back from the dead ancient Dragon’s lair to the inn, he had heard about Judging Water from me. He had also read the diary entry about an arrogant power that resembled divinity.

“But how you accept that meaning is your discretion, Kale Heniatus.”

Judging Water.
Even if that name was frightening and resembled divinity, it was ultimately a power wielded by humans.
Its value was determined by the thoughts of the human who would possess it.

Erhafen turned the final attacking twig to powder as he stepped into the barrier. I, now standing beside him, followed him through the barrier and spoke.

“Thank you for the counsel.”

Erhafen smiled at those words, then immediately erased it.

Thud.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I narrowed my eyes.

“…This is troublesome.”

Needles.
I felt a violent aura as if countless needles were piercing my skin.

Simultaneously, a lake appeared in my vision.
Kale Heniatus’s calm voice reached my ears.

“Now I understand why it’s called Gray Eye Forest.”

An elliptical lake, resembling a human eye, filled Kale Heniatus’s field of vision.

The water of that lake was gray.

I watched as Vicross moved behind Erhafen. Cradling Raon, he seemed to instinctively position himself behind the strongest presence.

“…I’ve never encountered such formidable ancient power before.”

I began to understand why this force was called arrogant power.

“A violent aura that pierces the skin—are you alright?”

I turned to look at Vicross, who had come behind me, and asked. Vicross shook his head slightly. At that gesture, the ancient dragon immediately cast a shield for him.
Only then did Vicross’s expression improve somewhat.

The moment he saw the lake, words failed him.
It was an unpleasant aura, as if someone had bound his limbs and was examining him.

He truly disliked it.
It was unsettling.

It was a power he didn’t want to approach or even look at.
Vicross swallowed hard and turned away from the lake.

Writhe.

In that moment, he lowered his head. He’d felt movement from within the bundle just now. Vicross thought Raon might have awakened and bent down to check, but Raon remained limp and unconscious.

Vicross observed carefully before cradling the bundle. He wondered if he’d imagined it.

Yet the sensitive Dragon couldn’t see it or speak of it, but he could hear it and feel it.
A malevolent aura.
Raon understood the situation Kale Heniatus was heading into to obtain that power. The Black Dragon’s heart began to race with unprecedented intensity.

Unaware of this, Erhafen looked at Kale Heniatus and asked.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve sensed such a sharp and violent aura. Should I cast a shield? Even with a barrier, it’ll be difficult—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Boom—

The earth trembled violently.
In that instant, Kale Heniatus heard the voice of Destructive Fire once more.

—Hey, you bastard. Now that’s impressive! Just like I taught you, you’re throwing the first punch!

What?
Before Kale Heniatus could even respond to that voice, vibrations surged up through his feet, and he turned his head. The lake rose up violently.

Whoooosh—

The gray water transformed into a colossal spear.

‘…This thing could attack me right now?’

Wasn’t obtaining ancient power supposed to be done through some strange method?
Kale Heniatus’s expression twisted.

The earth continued to shake, and the spear rising from the lake grew increasingly sharp and deadly.
Whoooosh. And the tip of that spear was aimed directly at Kale Heniatus.

To obtain ancient power, even with the aid of those around you, ultimately the one seeking the power had to face and overcome it alone to truly claim it.

‘Do I have to fight? Against that spear?’

Curse, throw the first punch, and stir up trouble if needed?
I wasn’t about to trust the words of these deranged ancient masters.
Kale Heniatus’s face contorted grotesquely.

That was the moment.

“Ugh.”

Vicross inside the barrier let out a groan. The violent aura had given him an involuntary headache. Erhafen wrapped another shield around him and looked at Kale Heniatus. Even he hadn’t anticipated this degree of intensity.

“I’ve never felt such a sharp and violent ancient power before! Will you be alright? Can you manage?”

The ancient dragon asking with concern hesitated.

“…Violent aura?”

A voice tinged with bewilderment reached him.
Erhafen frowned, but he could see Kale Heniatus’s face showed no sign of pain.

“…You feel nothing? No sense of this space at all?”
“No. It seems ordinary to me? I suppose it would hurt if that spear pierced me?”

Erhafen was at a loss for words.
He felt nothing? A power that even gave him, an ancient dragon, a moment of hesitation? He now fully understood the choice of Olien, the ancient dragon who had erected the barrier here.

Yet Kale Heniatus was truly fine.
But watching Vicross and Erhafen’s reactions, he realized something was amiss.

Boom—

The ground trembled once more.
Or rather, the lake itself vibrated, and the shockwave reached Kale Heniatus as well.

Whoosh.

The tip of the gray spear turned toward Kale Heniatus. It was a stance that screamed for combat. And the premonition proved accurate. The voice of Destructive Fire reached him.

-We’ll have to fight anyway. That one loved duels so much. Did he set the trial as a duel?

Kale Heniatus’s face contorted.

“…Damn it.”

My stomach was already churning, and now I had to fight?
The moment Kale Heniatus exhaled a sigh.

The gray spear began to move.

Whoooosh—

Erhafen hesitated as the spear approached. Should he help Kale Heniatus? But then he wouldn’t obtain the ancient power? The ancient dragon’s brow furrowed as he took a step toward Kale Heniatus.

But he took no further steps.
He could see Kale Heniatus’s face.

Kale Heniatus was smiling.

Whoooosh—

I could see the gray spear flying toward me.
At the same moment, Destructive Fire’s voice reached my ears. The instant I heard that voice, I couldn’t help but laugh.

-He’s never defeated any of us even once.

Destructive Fire retrieved an ancient memory.

-There were many draws.

Suppressed power can never overcome liberated power. Unless one chose suppression of their own volition, power constrained by external force cannot triumph over power freely chosen.

Unlike Judging Water, Destructive Fire spoke of two beings who had created duty and responsibility through their own will—those who were free.

-But he always lost to Meokbo and stubborn Jjangdol.

Meokbo and stubborn Jjangdol.
Wood and earth.
An unbreakable shield and formidable Jjangdol.
Suppressed power had never once overcome them.

-And a ruler dominates even the judge.

Kale Heniatus recalled a small amount of ‘Judging Water’.

Boom.

He felt the ground trembling once more.
Simultaneously, a silver shield unfolded toward the spear came into view.

A trial to obtain the power of ancient times.
I still possessed the strength to transcend that barrier.

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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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