Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 267
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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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Yet apart from that hollow laugh, Kale Heniatus soon removed the crown from the Dragon Hybrid’s body with an uncomfortable expression.
Grrk, grrk.
The crown appeared satisfied, as if it had just eaten its fill.
The white crown radiated an even more sacred light, and simultaneously, an indescribable aura emanated from it.
Of course, it hardly mattered.
Clang!
The crown was thrown.
Like tossing a stone, the crown slipped from Kale’s hand and crashed onto the Training Ground floor, rolling across it.
All eyes turned toward Kale’s sudden action, and receiving their gazes, Kale casually picked up the crown he’d thrown and answered.
“I was just annoyed.”
Kale reflected on his own answer.
‘I really do have the talent of a reckless fool.’
The way he threw whatever he held whenever something displeased him was indeed quite reckless.
“…That unlucky bastard, sigh.”
The Ancient Dragon maintained a composed expression, yet Kale’s act of throwing the crown revealed the complexity of his inner thoughts.
‘Humans truly possess such varied and intricate emotions.’
It was obvious without even asking that this unlucky, cunning, yet ultimately good-natured fellow must be in turmoil inside.
But Kale harbored no particular thoughts about it.
“Paseton, Archie.”
He called out to the Whale Tribe members who would be outside the Training Ground. Then, Orca Arch cautiously poked his head through the gap in the door.
“Yes, what is it?”
Kale Heniatus maintained his nonchalant tone as he shifted his gaze from Archie to the Dragon Hybrid. Archie swallowed hard as he watched Kale turn away from him.
Archie had hidden Paseton—Witira’s younger brother and a hybrid humpback whale—behind his own back.
“…I would like to see as well.”
Whoosh!
Archie shook his head at Paseton, who was appealing from behind that he too wanted to see inside the Training Ground, before turning his attention back to Kale Heniatus.
‘…Indeed, even Lord Kale Heniatus is… strange.’
The aura that had just spilled out from beyond the Training Ground.
Cold sweat trickled down Archie’s spine. Paseton had also sensed that aura and wanted to see what was happening inside the Training Ground, but in Archie’s eyes, such a bold action seemed reckless for someone as weak as Paseton.
It was an aura that surpassed even Whale King Siceller. That Kale Heniatus could emit such an aura was beyond comprehension.
So it was no coincidence that he was close with two Dragons. This only made Archie more astounded.
‘To think they speak of protecting such a person because he is weak!’
Recalling Kale Heniatus’s companions left Archie speechless and exasperated. Especially those three Palace Destroyers—they made such a fuss about needing to protect Kale Heniatus.
‘…I suppose I am the one who truly understands the world and has matured.’
Archie felt a swell of pride, wondering how the sea’s reckless fool had grown into such an adult so quickly. Without realizing it, he smiled and praised himself, only to lock eyes with Kale Heniatus once more.
“What are you doing?”
“Ahem, nothing, sir.”
Archie straightened his posture and looked toward Kale Heniatus.
Kale Heniatus pointed toward the Dragon Hybrid.
“Mm.”
Archie swallowed as he observed the Dragon Hybrid.
He saw an ordinary human with a pallid complexion. No particular power emanated from him—merely the strength of an average adult one might encounter anywhere.
‘…The traces of the Dragon have not completely vanished.’
However, the traces of the Dragon had not disappeared.
As if from the previous battle itself, the upper left portion of my torso was visible through the gaping tears in my robe, slashed by swords in various places.
The place where a heart should exist.
Dragon scales still remained there.
The Dragon’s power had vanished, but the Dragon’s mark carved into the human heart—its essence—remained.
Kale Heniatus’s voice reached Archie as he observed the Dragon Hybrid.
“Move him to an empty room. Restrain him.”
Kale Heniatus gazed at the Dragon Hybrid’s skin, still a mess with the tattered robe and traces of blood and battle.
It was fragile human skin.
He passed Archie as he headed out of the Training Ground. And he left one more instruction.
“Make him look like a person for now.”
The Ancient Dragon Erhafen let out a laugh that resembled a sigh. It was a statement confirming that this Dragon Hybrid had truly become human.
Like a person.
The same words, yet the expression felt strangely more endearing than “like a human.” Erhafen felt an indescribable emotion.
Now all traces of the Dragons this Dragon Hybrid had consumed had vanished, save for a portion carved into his heart.
What remained was only the trace of the Eastern Continent’s Ancient Dragon Olien, consumed by the fake Dragon Slayer.
Then, Archie’s voice echoed through the Training Ground, which had grown somehow subdued.
“…Uh, um, Young Master, I’m a Whale Tribe member, so I know how to act like a beast-human, but I don’t know how to make someone look like a person.”
Sigh.
Archie reflexively answered upon hearing Kale Heniatus’s sigh.
“Oh! I remember now! I understand! Let’s make him look like a proper person!”
Archie couldn’t understand why his mouth was uttering words without his knowledge. But Kale Heniatus paid no mind to such confusion on Archie’s part.
Kale Heniatus glanced at the sleeping Dragon Hybrid and headed to his bedroom.
He recalled what Erhafen had told him. Before going to retrieve the three from Jjangdol Mansion, Erhafen had privately told Kale Heniatus about what he and the Dragon Hybrid had discussed in the Underground Tunnel Prison.
‘The White Star. The leader of Dark has another organization besides Dark, I hear. That one is supposedly the main body.’
Dark is said to be a subordinate organization.
Then what could the superior organization be?
Where was the main body?
Kale’s expression grew progressively colder as he walked toward the bedroom.
A composed chill enveloped his presence.
It was the same expression he wore when planning something back when he was Kim Rok-soo.
“There are far too many reasons to overturn the Empire.”
He recalled the information Erhafen had brought back from the Dragon Hybrid.
‘That organization uses alchemy.’
If the Eastern Continent was Dark, then the Western Continent had employed alchemy.
The White Star’s hunger—rooted in each continent since ancient times, seeking to devour everything—was palpable.
‘The Alchemy Tower Master is the last red star.’
I had met the Sub-Tower Master of the Alchemy Tower, but never the Tower Master himself. I had no information about him either. His appearance, personality, age—nothing was properly known about this figure.
‘And Kale.’
Kale’s expression faded away entirely.
‘The White Star’s hair color is said to be identical to yours, Kale.’
Not the brilliant scarlet that resembled the sun like Rosalind’s, but a scarlet that mirrored sunset and blood—like Kale’s own.
Kale stopped walking and gazed out the corridor window. His own hair, which had grown slightly past his shoulders, came into view.
It was valuable information.
Kale smiled, recalling the enemy said to resemble him in both hair color and demeanor. The vague form of this mysterious adversary was beginning to take on clearer shape.
‘Especially the smile beneath the mask—the appearance is said to be similar.’
Kale Heniatus’s smile deepened with each passing moment. Based on the information before him, he gazed at his reflection in the window and began to envision how his enemy would appear at the height of their power.
* * *
But that smile soon vanished.
-Long time no see! My friend!
Friend.
Even hearing it again made my skin crawl and left me exasperated.
Kale Heniatus’s expression as he stared at Tunka through the video communication channel was contorted beyond recognition—the face of someone who had just swallowed the bitterest medicine in the world.
“Since when was I your friend? You said I was a bad guy and not trustworthy?”
-Ahahahahaha!
Oh my, my ears.
Tunka’s laughter rang out sharply.
Kale glanced at the children averaging nine years old covering their ears on the bed outside the video communication channel’s frame, then paused as he noticed Choi Han adjusting his sword sheath before looking back at Tunka.
“Be quiet.”
Then you got hit by Choi Han.
-Hehehe.
Tunka suppressed her laughter and said in a sharp tone.
-I saw the information sent by Crown Prince Albert. The Empire is targeting us again?
“Albert Crown Prince, Your Highness.”
-Right, Your Highness. The information that His Highness sent.
“It’s true.”
In response to Kale’s simple answer, Tunka stared at Kale without saying a word. Kale also looked at Tunka.
Tunka had changed into a wilder and more violent person as soon as we could see him.
His physique in particular had become even more imposing. This meant that the Wipper Kingdom had not merely been idle, watching other nations’ wars from the sidelines all this time.
-I just waited for the moment to be myself.
Kale burst into laughter at Tunka’s words. But that smile gradually disappeared.
-It is the Empire and Nabal, and those who come will be torn to death.
A madman who overthrew the Weeper Kingdom and aimed for the empire.
A madman who had toppled the Wipper Kingdom and set his sights on the Empire.
-Hehehe, their strong scent is wafting from all over the continent. Haha, I waited too long.
… Your smiling face is not normal.
…That smile isn’t normal.
Cale decided there was no need to hear any more.
Kale Heniatus decided there was no need to listen further.
“So, Tunka.”
The moment Tunka, who was laughing with a desire to fight, looked at Kale, Kale’s voice pierced Tunka’s ears.
“Are you guys good at playing with fire?”
Tunka paused.
Tunka froze.
-… Playing with fire?
Yes, playing with fire. I wanted to show the essence of madness in front of the imperial bastards.
Yes, playing with fire. I wanted to show the true nature of this madman before the Empire’s dogs.
If a simple, brutish fool goes mad, it would be truly terrifying.
“Uh, a sea of fire?”
“Yeah. A sea of fire, maybe?”
-…A, a sea of fire?
“What about smashing things?”
Tunka, who was reflexively answering, paused as she saw the smile spreading across Kale’s lips. But soon he burst into laughter. When that guy laughs like that, something big explodes.
Tunka, who had reflexively answered, paused upon seeing the smile spreading across Kale Heniatus’s lips. But soon he grinned along with him. When that guy smiled like that, something big was about to happen.
“Let’s go soon.”
“I’ll leave soon.”
Even if we’re not friends.
We’re not friends.
Kale Heniatus’s face twisted.
Originally, I had planned to visit Tunka first. Time to revise the plan.
-thanks! Hey friend!
… It seems like Tunka is having a hard time.
-Thank you so much.
Pop.
Click.
Kale Heniatus simply cut off the video communication. The conversation with Tunka had drained my mental energy in a way different from before.
The tyrant was still a tyrant, yet somehow he was becoming more human.
“Mr. Kale.”
Choi Han approached Cale, who cut off the video communication channel and erased Tunka’s lingering ‘thank you’.
After cutting off the video communication, Choi Han approached me as I tried to shake off the lingering echo of Tunka’s gratitude.
Unlike the others who were enjoying themselves catching up with the Priesthood from the Jjangdol Mansion, Choi Han had followed me all the way from the Training Ground to my Bedroom.
“why?”
“Why?”
Cale found the question absurd.
“Why are you asking the obvious?”
Choi Han was silent for a moment and then slowly asked.
“Are you planning to go to the Whipper Kingdom first?”
“Are you planning to go to the Wipper Kingdom first?”
Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Meow.
On and Hong came to Choi Han and Cale’s side. When returning from the Valley of Death, it was Kale who brought On and Hong from the East Continent at the request of Raon. Raon asked, coming up after On and Hong.
“Human! Shall we go too?”
“Human! Are we going too?”
On and Hong’s eyes widened when they heard that they were going too. And then he rubbed his body against Cale’s leg. Cale didn’t care whether that was the case or not, and the average 9-year-old asked him this question.
“Where are you going, human?”
“Where are we going, human?”
“I’m curious where!”
Choi Han also looked at Cale with a stern expression. Cale calmly pointed to the floor with his finger.
“To the lowest point of the empire.”
The lowest point of the glorious empire.
The lowest place in the glorious Empire.
A place that nobles were reluctant to visit and turned away from.
“We’re going there.”
Although Cale is the lowest place in the empire, the destination was a place that could take the empire by storm at any time.
Night in the capital of the Mogor Empire.
Night in the Mogur Empire Capital.
Unlike the central district, which was never truly dark thanks to brilliant magical streetlamps, this part of the capital was shrouded in unrelenting darkness.
But a bright light emanated from within the old house and drove away the darkness.
Yet from within that decrepit dwelling, brilliant light poured forth, driving back the darkness.
At the center of that radiant glow.
“long time no see.”
The three people in the old house showed different reactions to Cale’s greeting. Cale seemed to have immediately realized the reactions, spreading his arms slightly and smiling.
“Ah, was this your first time seeing this?”
Kale, a saintly priest with long white hair and clear eyes, looked quite saintly even when he smiled.
“I saw it once.”
“I’ve seen him once before.”
The alchemist, who had been frustrated while drinking in the slums, and the merchant Billos, the bastard son of Flynn, responded one by one and bowed to Kayle.
Unlike those people, one person looked unfamiliar and lowered his head awkwardly.
Sir Rex, a Miao knight.
Sir Rex, the Cat Tribe Knight.
A man from the Slums who had escaped the Alchemy Tower in his childhood and desired its destruction.
“Lord Rex, it’s been a while. I can hear your voice, right?”
When Cale spoke very softly, Sir Rex smiled awkwardly.
“Yes, of course I know, Confucius.”
As he answered, Sir Rex swallowed his saliva as he looked at Cale in his priest’s uniform and those standing behind him with their faces hidden behind white robes.
I know because it’s an article.
As a knight, he understood.
But there was another reason why he swallowed his saliva.
Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Meow.
Two cats.
Two cats.
Two young cats approached up to Sir Rex’s feet, their eyes gazing up at him.
It was then.
Tuk.
Pat.
“Now, should I let my group know who will be with us here in the empire? Everyone knows Bilos.”
Cale was trying to introduce the alchemist and Rex to the white robe party that came with them.
“Now, let me introduce Sir Rex first.”
“Well then, let me start by introducing Sir Rex.”
“…My lord, shall I introduce myself?”
Rex felt strange in Cale’s answer.
Sir Rex sensed something odd in Kale Heniatus’s response.
Why did he insist on doing it himself? Surely I could introduce myself?
Yet that question soon dissolved.
“Lord Rex is the person who will surpass the Emperor and Crown Prince and ascend to that position.”
what?
What?
Sir Rex stared at Kale Heniatus in shock.
Silence fell over the old house.
A profound hush descended.
“To put it simply, he is the one who will become the center of the revolution.”
“In simpler terms, he will be the center of revolution.”
What? Center of revolution?
What? The center of a revolution?
Sir Rex repeated the words in a daze.
“Oh, and they are Miao people.”
[UNTRANSLATED LINE 381]
Kale Heniatus patted the speechless Sir Rex on the shoulder with a satisfied smile. After all, he was the most crucial figure when it came to utterly dismantling the Empire.
“It’s a baby!”
“He’s a kid!”
Cale stopped and lowered his head.
On and Hong were grinning and tapping Rex’s legs.
‘A baby? Rex?’
Cale’s pupils wavered as he looked at the adult Rex.
Kale Heniatus stared at the adult Lex, his pupils trembling.
At that time, On and Hong’s voices were heard.
“Hey brother, are you from the fog tribe? You smell like the fog tribe?”
“Hey big brother, you’re from the Mist Tribe? You smell like the Mist Tribe?”
Fog people?
The Mist Tribe?
Those Mist Tribe members skilled in assassination and poison among the Cat-Human Race?
The tribe that On and Hong had fled from?
The corners of Cale’s mouth rose.
The corners of Kale Heniatus’s mouth lifted.
“Because I couldn’t go berserk for the first time, my older brother is an adult, but he’s still a kid!”
“Since he couldn’t undergo his first rampage, he’s an adult in age but still a child!”
… What did you not do? Aren’t you in your mid twenties?
…Couldn’t do what? Wasn’t he in his mid-twenties?
“…Do you know much about beastmen?”
Rex paused before answering Cale’s question.
“…I don’t know.”
Tuk. Cale lowered his head when he felt his feet tapping.
“I think this older brother will become emperor?”
In response to Hong’s question, Cale nodded weakly.
“That’s shocking!”
“That’s shocking!”
“That’s amazing!”
I could hear the voices of an average 9-year-old in my ears and head.
Through my ears, I heard the voices of children averaging nine years old echoing in my mind.
This was clearly a gathering to discuss the beginning of revolution and the next throne, yet because of the children averaging nine years old, the atmosphere lacked any sense of gravity or majesty whatsoever.
Even though he became a knight, Rex was clearly a just person who wanted to take revenge and reveal the truth about the slums, his family, and the lives that had died unfairly.
Despite becoming a knight, Rex was undoubtedly a righteous man who sought to expose the truth about the Slums, his family, and the lives lost unjustly—and to avenge them.
“Lord Rex, is this your first time seeing the Miao people?”
“Sir Rex, is this your first time seeing the Cat-Human Race?”
“Yes, except for me, it’s my first time.”
“Berserk transformation?”
Cale was speechless.
Kale Heniatus found himself at a loss for words.
Something felt off—a premonition of exhaustion loomed ahead.
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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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