Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 268

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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 57. With Love

In particular, On and Hong’s innocent faces, which had been watching Kale Heniatus, turned toward Sir Rex. Hong looked utterly shocked.

“He’s really just a kid! He doesn’t even know about berserk states!”
“That could happen. If he doesn’t know, he can learn like the youngest does. And he seems like an adult anyway.”

On blocked her younger brother Hong from approaching Sir Rex with her front paw, speaking calmly. Of course, Sir Rex looked utterly bewildered.
Kale asked calmly, just like On.

“Sir Rex, if you’re a Cat-Human, wouldn’t you naturally seek out information about your kind out of curiosity?”
“When I was in the Slums, there was no such information available, and after becoming a Knight, I didn’t have the time because there were things I needed to do.”

When he was young, he wanted to know, but given the Slums’ circumstances, it was difficult to find such materials. After becoming a Knight, he couldn’t afford to draw attention through unusual actions for the sake of his revenge.

“Above all, I was afraid something terrible would happen if it was discovered that I’m a Cat-Human.”

Tap.
Eventually, Hong approached and tapped Sir Rex’s foot as if in understanding, and each time, Sir Rex flinched and stiffened. It was a reaction that happened without his awareness.
Strangely, these two Cat-Humans felt somewhat frightening. There was a sense of pressure. For Sir Rex, it was a reason he couldn’t comprehend.

But On’s eyes, watching this unfold, took on a peculiar gleam.

The Mist Tribe—the most secretive among the Cat-Humans.
Among cats, being the most secretive meant being the strongest. And only a select few within the Mist Tribe possessed special abilities.

On wielded mist, while her younger brother Hong wielded poison.

On, who carried the bloodline of a ruler even within the Mist Tribe and was simultaneously a mutant.
Her younger brother Hong was still innocent, but On was far from naive. Three years—not a large age gap between siblings, but it was On, the older sister, who had fled the tribe that abandoned and neglected them, taking Hong with her.
That was in January of the year she turned ten. And that spring when she was ten, she met Kale Heniatus.

On’s eyes swept over Sir Rex once more before turning back to Kale Heniatus. When On raised her front paws in a way unlike her usual demeanor, asking to be held, Kale Heniatus simply obliged and lifted her into his arms.

On had grown quite large.

Kale Heniatus held her without particular thought, feeling her weight. Then, into his ear came On’s calm voice.

“I’m stronger than Sir Rex.”

Kale Heniatus froze for a moment.
He had simply brought them along to help Sir Rex feel a bit more comfortable, and because he felt oddly guilty about leaving only On and Hong behind last time.

But what was she saying now?

“I think I’m about to gain a subordinate.”

On spoke so casually that Kale was taken aback.

‘Who? Sir Rex? A twelve-year-old On taking Sir Rex as a subordinate?’

Kale’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Meanwhile, On felt pleased that she could help Kale.

Kale looked at On. On looked at Kale.
Their eyes met.

On grinned widely, then slipped gracefully from Kale’s arms and descended to the ground. With quite an elegant gait, she walked away from him.

‘…What’s going on?’

Kale watched the departing On with bewilderment.

On and Hong.
They were similar to Raon in my eyes.
Simply children I had taken in.
Rak’s siblings were the same.

But Kale knew that at least On didn’t speak carelessly or impulsively. He suddenly realized something.

I knew nothing.

‘I know almost nothing about the Cat-Human Race.’

He only knew the basics.
The Cat-Human Race was known to be a secretive species, so what was known about them was extremely rare. In particular, since Kale had only seen the stories of the demi-human races through “The Birth of a Hero,” it was only natural that he knew little about the Cat-Human Race, which barely appeared in books.

Of course, I had heard about On and Hong’s situation, the Mist Tribe, and the mutants, but it wasn’t enough.
Kale Heniatus added one more task to his mental list as he observed On and Hong.

‘I’ll need to ask Erhaben in detail about the Cat-Human Race later.’

Someone approached Kale, who was lost in thought.

Ray Stecker.
The drunken alchemist from the Slums who had once fled from the Alchemy Tower’s misdeeds.
And now, a man who no longer touched alcohol and had waited for Kale more than anyone else.

“Young Master.”

He spoke to Kale cautiously.
With his white hair and blue eyes, Kale’s contemplative expression emanated an atmosphere so delicate that even speaking to him felt precarious.

Kale’s gaze turned toward Ray the Alchemist.

“What is it?”
“Well, I haven’t been introduced to the people behind you.”

Ah.
Only then did Kale recall the four people standing behind him.
So he answered as naturally as water flowing.

“That’s Choi Han, whom you saw before.”

Choi Han removed the hood of his robe. The alchemist remembered this cold swordsman well, and while swallowing hard, he bowed his head quite composedly in greeting.
It was as his head lowered.

“This is Kaige, a defrocked priestess.”

Kale’s introduction continued casually.

“And these two are a Saint and Saint Maiden of the Sun God Church.”
“…Pardon?”

Like a creaky old machine, the alchemist’s head lifted with a grinding sound.
A blonde man with a gentle expression came into view.

A Saint.

The very Saint who had appeared at the Sun God Church’s ceremony.

‘…Then, could it be that the one beside her…?’

Ray the Alchemist’s gaze shifted to the figure standing next to her.

“…Gasp.”

And he recoiled in shock.
The face of the woman he had known to be the Saint Maiden was now marred by black lines etched across it like a spider’s web, revealing a grotesque visage.
She still possessed golden hair, and her features remained those of the Saint Maiden who had smiled with such benevolence.

‘Her expression—her eyes are completely different!’

The eyes revealed beneath the black spider web belonged to an entirely different person. At that moment, Kale’s voice reached his ears.

“The Empire and the Alchemy Tower used dead mana bombs to transform the Saint Maiden in this manner.”

Ah.
A groan escaped from both Ray the Alchemist and Sir Rex. Ray the Alchemist, in particular, had once participated in the dead mana experiments conducted by the Alchemy Tower on the children of the Slums.
As a result, he had severed his own hand, which had become addicted to dead mana, and fled to hide in the Slums, forced to live with the weight of his guilt.

The Alchemist’s face contorted.
The dead mana bombs—created as the price of his own evasion.
The Saint Maiden had become a victim of those very bombs.

No, worse still—those bombs had begun to claim other victims as well.
At this realization, Ray the Alchemist’s remaining hand began to tremble slightly. A single truth surfaced in his mind.

‘Those addicted to dead mana ultimately perish.’

Unless one severs the afflicted limb immediately upon infection, as he had done.
Unless one becomes a Necromancer.
Death comes.

Then, Kale’s grave voice reached his ears.

“But the Saint was being used without knowing anything—through the power of the Sun God, through the radiant power of justice, through the heart’s strength of caring for our Sun God Church followers who were being manipulated.”

Ray the Alchemist’s eyes, and Sir Rex’s gaze beside him, turned toward Kale Heniatus.
The moment our eyes met, I spoke with a gentle smile.

“You endured it.”

Ah.
An exclamation escaped simultaneously from the lips of Ray the Alchemist and the Mad Priestess Kage.
Both carried surprise in their voices.
Of course, what lay beneath was different. The Mad Priestess Kage looked at Fake Saint Hana. Hana’s expression was equally astounded. Regardless, I spoke to the Alchemist and the Cat Tribe Knight with a solemn expression.

“And as a result, you lost all of the Sun God’s divine power.”

The Alchemist’s face contorted, his pupils wavering as they turned toward the Saint. The Saint’s face was already twisted as well.

‘…How difficult it must have been.’

Ray the Alchemist could not even imagine how arduous it must have been for the Saint to overcome the dead mana and survive, and most importantly, to lose her divine power.
Of course, Hana’s face contorted for a different reason. Yet she held back and waited for my next words. But what I said next was nothing short of astonishing to the Sun God twins and the Mad Priestess.

I borrowed the power of the white-haired, blue-eyed figure who appeared sacred, and conveyed that sanctity to the Alchemist with weighty solemnity.

“But without despairing over the loss of divine power, you took up the sword and resolved to establish a new Sun God Church upon this land, casting light upon the future of your followers.”

Saint Jack clasped his hands together. There were some things in what I said that differed slightly from reality.

‘But ultimately, the heart is what’s true.’

The Saint believed that was what mattered. The heart within my words—the desire to save others. He believed that heart would become the light of this chaotic Western Continent.
And so he could offer a gentle smile.

In that smile, the Alchemist felt the Saint’s noble heart returning to his limbs, and at that moment, my voice continued perfectly.

“Moreover, the Saint will stand with you all through the sword, and the Saint Maiden through her original sacred healing power.”

I gazed at the Alchemist and the Cat Tribe Knight.
I had given them an order.

‘Hold on.’

And so they held on.
To those who persevered, I would grant them fruits of their labor, one by one.

“Bilos.”

I withdrew an object from the spacious sleeves of my plain white priestly robes. Bilos, who had been approaching me, froze upon seeing it.

“…Young Master.”

I tossed the object to Bilos.

“Huh!”

Bilos caught it reflexively in his surprise.
He gazed down at his palm.

A golden plaque.

The golden plaque, bearing the Crown Prince’s seal in unmistakable clarity, gleamed incongruously against the shabby dwelling. It was something I had brought for this very purpose.
Of course, it had nothing to do with my own compensation.

Bilos clutched the golden plaque tightly to conceal his trembling hands as he looked at me. Sir Rex and Ray the Alchemist, unaware of the object’s significance, watched us awkwardly.

“Young Master, what would you have me do?”

Merchant Bilos immediately asked me what his role would be.
I answered him.

“From today onward, gather every single alchemical material in circulation.”

Alchemy. At that word, Ray Stecker stiffened.
But my words were not yet finished. I continued to Bilos.

“And spare no expense.”

After all, it was not my own coin anyway.
Yet I understood the weight of money.

Money could purchase not merely goods, but countless other things that existed in this world. What I needed to buy this time came at a steeper price.

“Buy people’s mouths.”

Bilos grasped the meaning instantly.
People’s mouths.

It was rumor.

I conveyed to the Merchant—one who would understand—words meant to spread through lips.

“When the Empire faces peril, the sun rises once more. On that day, all shall witness the midnight sun.”

The midnight sun.
Bilos could not fathom what I was orchestrating.
Yet he smiled, his lips curling upward—a grin brimming with avarice.

“Once the Bell Tower and Imperial Palace lie in ruins, I shall be the one to rebuild them, yes?”
“Don’t ask what’s obvious.”

Bilos clenched his fist at my immediate response. He could feel the weight of the golden token in his palm.
Merely by maintaining a connection with me, the true power of the Roan Kingdom, he drew ever closer to the position of Flynn Merchant Guild’s master.

“I shall procure the mouths that will shake the Capital.”

Bilos bowed deeply, accepting the command. The Alchemist watching this exchange met my gaze, and heard my voice.

“Bring me the Alchemists. Whether they hide or dwell in seclusion—gather every Alchemist within your reach.”

Ray Stecker, who would become the new center of the Alchemists.
I turned my head without waiting for his response.

“And Sir Rex.”
“Yes.”
“Gather all your subordinates that can be mobilized in the Slums.”

Sir Rex’s subordinates, who had once assembled to destroy the Alchemy Tower.
Sir Rex lowered his head, thinking the moment had come, preparing to respond. But then he hesitated.

Meow, meow.
Meow—

On and Hong’s cries echoed through the air, and simultaneously, light bloomed once more within the dilapidated house.

Whoosh.

The teleportation magic unfolded a second time.

“…Who else?”
“Huh?”

Ray, Sir Rex, and even Bilos flinched in surprise at the unexpected activation of the magic circle, but I stepped forward to greet the person leading the group that had just arrived.
A knight.

“This is my escort knight, Sir Erhaben.”

I looked past Erhaben in his knight’s armor toward the white robes behind him. I spoke to the Empire’s alchemist and the Cat Tribe Knight.

“These are the Sun God Church followers and priests who will aid us.”

Whoosh.
The figure at the front of the white robes lowered her hood.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Frigia, a priest who wishes to follow the will of the sun, even without divine power.”

A middle-aged woman with a warm, gentle impression—Frigia.
She who had worked as a sculptor in the Heniatus Territory and created the demonic rabbit resembling Cerberus, the hound of hell, that became Raon’s prized possession.

Moreover, she was an assassin who had operated in the Southwestern Region of the Roan Kingdom, boldly killed her own leader, and fled—the leader of the information organization Ron had established in the Heniatus Territory.

She had come to the Empire with her subordinates.

‘From today onward, you are priests. At the same time, you become the most covert existence in this Empire.’

It was my command.

And there was one more presence.
A figure in white robes stepped forward.

“Greetings. Though I am but humble, I am Fendrick, who walks the path of the Sun by following the Saint’s will.”

The healing Elf, Fendrick.
He had arrived.
Kale Heniatus stood before them and regarded Bilos.

“Bilos, there is one more thing I need you to procure.”
“What might that be?”

Bilos felt a creeping concern that the scale of Kale Heniatus’s endeavors was growing beyond what he could manage. Yet his greed outweighed any desire to withdraw.

“White cloth.”
“How much should I acquire?”

Bilos turned the image of white cloth over in his mind as he gazed at Kale Heniatus in his white robes, and Kale answered simply.

“Enough to blanket the Empire.”

Bilos closed his eyes at those words, then opened them. Greed bloomed anew within him.
This was no mere matter of profit.

This young noble before him was playing the Empire itself as a game piece.
He had placed the very pinnacle of the Western Continent upon his board.

I understood now why the Crown Prince had entrusted him with the golden token.
The shrewd merchant had discerned that Roan aimed for the Empire.

“I shall prepare enough to cover it and more.”

And he too was a man of Roan.
Kale Heniatus smiled. I could see the Drunken Alchemist and the Cat Tribe Knight frozen in their gravity. To ease their tension, I continued lightly.

“From this moment forward, we shall forge the Sun with our own hands. So carry this resolve in your hearts as you work.”

I pointed to myself to demonstrate this conviction.

“I am the Sun.”

The spotless white priestly robes and silver hair suited me perfectly.

On this day, a new emblem for the Sun God Church was created.
A golden sun inscribed upon white priestly robes.
This was the new face of the Sun God Church.

The golden sun would be forged when the Empire faced peril.

“When will danger come to the Empire?”

Ray the Alchemist posed the question, and I answered.

“Now.”
“Pardon?”
“We create it now.”

I accepted the imperial decree from Prince Valentino, which Fendrick extended toward me, my expression serene with quiet confidence.
Beneath the surface of the waters, the tides of war were already churning.

The Mogur Empire yearned to become the center of the Western Continent and command all within its grasp.
Yet fortune had decreed otherwise—the true center lay elsewhere.

* * *

A low rumble echoed through the desolation.
A place still blanketed by the remnants of ruin.
Even after two years, this land remained dark and shrouded in shadow.

Another rumble—a beast’s cry pierced the gloom.
Hearing the growl of the creature, I extended my hand to the woman seated atop the black beast that matched this desolate landscape.

“Lord Kale.”
“It has been far too long, Ritana.”

Ritana, the sovereign of the Jungle.
She grasped the hand I offered and descended gracefully from her companion, the black panther, with practiced ease.

“Lord, does our alliance finally show its strength?”

At Ritana’s question, I allowed a smile to bloom across my face.

The Roan Kingdom, the Breck Kingdom, the Wipper Kingdom, the Jungle, and the Whale Tribe.
Now the center of the Western Continent was a union of four kingdoms and one tribe.

I recalled the message from Prince Valentino of the Caro Kingdom.

“The Caro Kingdom has agreed to support the Empire from behind.”

The Empire would soon declare war with the Caro Kingdom’s backing.
They would announce their intention to reclaim Maple Castle.
For a power of the Empire’s stature, a surprise attack would be dishonorable. The Empire would not do what even Tunka had refrained from doing.

“Just speak your mind.”

Prince Valentino conveyed his intentions to me with considerable courtesy.

“I will bite at the Empire’s nape.”
“I am still quite hungry.”

I opened my mouth.

“Ritana, when the Empire declares war.”

I gazed at Jungle Zone 1, burned by the Empire and the Alchemy Tower. Though I had extinguished the flames using the water I commanded, only barren land remained rather than verdant growth.
Recovery had been swift, but one could not expect a forest to flourish in a place where roughly a year and a half had passed.

Yet thanks to that, a vast wasteland had been created in Jungle Zone 1.

I opened my mouth slowly.
When the Empire declared war on the Wipper Kingdom to reclaim Maple Castle.

“At that moment.”

I gazed at Ritana before me and the black panther behind her.

“We strike the Empire.”

Behind her, in Jungle Zone 1, tens of thousands of warriors stood arrayed across the wasteland, stretching beyond sight.
Ritana, the ruler of the Jungle and its greatest warrior, had led the jungle warriors up here.
I spoke to her.

“Your Majesty, the time has come.”

The Empire that destroyed the Jungle, the lives and homes of Jungle Zone 1.
At last, the moment to exact vengeance upon that place had arrived.

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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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