Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 317

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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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Kale Heniatus’s gaze shifted from the black book toward Merry and Obante across from him.
Merry’s quiet voice reached his ears.

“…I am hungry, no—I wish to become stronger.”

There was only one answer Kale could give to those words.

“Begin.”

It was time to go for purification.
Then, a voice stopped his footsteps.

-One day.

Kale turned around.

In the hands of the Ancient Dragon Erhafen was a video communication device. From within it, Crown Prince Albert spoke as he ended the call, leaving behind a single message.

-Come to the Empire one day later.

Kale, who had planned to go immediately after handling Merry’s matter, fell into thought before nodding.

“Understood.”

With that response, the video communication ended.
Kale took in his surroundings.

Beneath the brightly shining sun, the tangled tree branches were drawn like black spider webs.

* * *

Before Kale’s tent, the Dark Elf Market Master Obante caressed the black tree branches.

‘Extraordinary.’

The connected and tangled tree branches. Within them, he sensed dead mana struggling desperately to escape.
The quantity was so vast that it was impossible to gauge.

‘If Merry absorbs all of this, she’ll become considerably stronger.’

Of course, the quantity was so enormous that it was impossible for Merry alone to absorb it all.
Obante found it regrettable, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Power wasn’t something I could obtain simply because I desired it.

Just as swordsmanship had stages, and magic had stages as well.
Just as a novice swordsman wielding aura would accomplish nothing.

Everything required acquiring power in moderation—only as much as was suited to oneself—to maintain balance.
Overindulgence led to indigestion.

That’s why he found Merry’s hesitation both gratifying and admirable.

Kale had told Merry to take all the dead mana.
That’s why Merry hesitated.

‘The Dark Elves suffered alongside us, so it feels wrong to claim all the dead mana for myself alone.’

Obante approached her, thinking how very much like Merry this was.

“Merry.”

At his call, Merry looked toward him.

“We’re fine. So take as much as you wish, fill yourself to contentment.”

Behind Obante, Merry could see Tasha and the Dark Elves nodding. They had all gathered before Kale’s tent.

“That’s right, we have spirits too!”
“And yesterday we absorbed dead mana while purifying the Black Despair.”

They all nodded in agreement as they spoke.

“Merry, take it all! You’ve suffered so much fighting in this war, haven’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re the most famous among those from our city, and you’ve worked the hardest! You deserve at least this much as a reward!”
“Indeed.”

The Dark Elves cheered each other on, urging Merry to quickly absorb the dead mana.
Fundamentally, the Dark Elf warriors were over a hundred years old. In their eyes, the struggling twenty-seven-year-old Merry was both a pitiful and admirable younger sibling—or perhaps a niece.

Merry’s gaze passed over the Dark Elves and turned toward Kale.
He gave a curt nod as if to say he would handle it himself.
At that sullen face, Merry began walking slowly forward.

At the sight, Tasha cried out.

“All warriors, disperse!”
“Yes!”
“Yes, yes!”

The Dark Elves quickly began scaling the black tree trunks. Tasha’s command followed them.

“Spread throughout Sector 7 and tell everyone to avoid the area near the black tree trunks!”

She added further.

“Announce that the purification process is beginning!”

Rustle—
Instead of a reply, the sound of rustling leaves accompanied the Dark Elves as they scattered throughout Sector 7.
Their voices echoed from every corner.

“The purification process is beginning!”
“Everyone, please withdraw from the black tree!”

As their voices grew distant from the tent, they spread further and further into every nook and cranny of Sector 7.

Listening to those sounds, Merry drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Sigh…”

Kale pointed to one location for her.

“Your traces remain there.”

Traces. I walked toward the traces I had left behind.

At the spot where she had unconsciously absorbed a bit of dead mana earlier, she lifted her head.

A massive tree trunk blocked out the sky.
The spring sky was beautiful, but tangled branches obscured it from proper view.

It resembled me.

Merry placed her hand once more against the purified wood surface, no larger than her palm.
And she closed her eyes.

I am hungry.
I want to become stronger.

Living while harboring dead mana is painful and difficult.
So Merry made her choice.

But a voice kept echoing in her mind.

‘Do not do this while hurting yourself.’

Kale’s powerless hand that held me, his dark brown eyes filled with sincerity, and the small dragon’s silver shield that protected me.
These were what I encountered after choosing to venture into the world.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
Merry felt her heart pounding fiercely within her body. It was a tremor filled with exhilaration and fear.

Thump. Thump.
Exhilaration toward the enormous dead mana contained within the tangled branches.
Thump. Thump.
Fear toward the Necromancer’s fate that would still bring pain even if I accepted this.

Contradictory emotions swirled together.
But Merry understood that the world could not contain only good things.

Uuuuuu—

Kale lifted his head.
The black tree trunks began to tremble—no, to wail.
He lowered his head.

Black smoke was rising beside Merry. The smoke began to wrap around her like a shield.
While that sight was astonishing, those accompanying Kale found it difficult to focus on it.

Uuuuuu-
Uuuuu-
Uuuuuu-

The vibrations of the trees, their cries, grew louder and louder.
What had initially been heard only around Merry began to spread further, engulfing all of Sector 7.

“…What is happening?”
“What is this?”

The Jungle people scattered throughout Sector 7 all stopped what they were doing.
The Dark Elves who had been shouting warnings to retreat from the black trees also halted their steps. They looked down beneath their feet.

Trembling.
The black tree trunks were shaking.

One Dark Elf unknowingly opened his mouth.

“…Already this far?”

He looked around.
He was at the northern edge of Sector 7.
Not only the massive tree trunk beneath his feet, but even the smallest twigs were trembling and emitting cries.

“…What exactly is Merry trying to do?”

He turned his head.
His gaze directed toward the tent near the Royal Palace where Kale and Merry were.

That was the moment.

Uuuuuu-
The cries of the trees abruptly ceased.

Whisper, whisper, whisper—
Spring leaves rustled in the breeze, their soft murmuring filling the air.
Through that quietude, Kale gazed at Merry.

More precisely, at the tree trunk where her hand rested.
The dark surface of the bark had changed color—transformed by the extent to which she had absorbed the dead mana.

White.
It had turned white, the exact size of Merry’s small palm.

An unbreakable shield.
When Kale had obtained that ancient power, the black tree had transformed.

White.
Blue.
And beautiful.
It had changed into that form.

Kale waited.
He waited to see the change Merry would bring forth.
And at the end of that waiting—

Whisper, whisper—
The spring breeze subsided, and the trembling of the leaves ceased in that instant.
Goosebumps erupted across Kale’s entire body.

It was transforming.

From where Merry’s touch had made contact, the black tree trunk gradually turned white.

“…Oh!”

An exclamation escaped Ritana.
But Kale’s gaze remained fixed on Merry alone.

From the white tree trunk where her hand touched, verdant leaves began to sprout.
The green foliage spread gradually outward.

“…What is this?”

Thud. The Jungle Kingdom warrior dropped the shovel he was holding.
The charred tree trunks that bore the scars of the previous war transformed into pure white, their branches filling with verdant leaves.

It was beautiful.

The Jungle Kingdom warriors and soldiers engaged in restoration work lifted their heads in a daze.
The black lines that had obscured the sky vanished, replaced by brilliant white lines that outshone the heavens themselves.

The pace of transformation accelerated.
North, south, east, west.
The Royal Palace, the Commercial District, the Residential District—tree trunks throughout every location transformed white at an ever-quickening pace.

One of those witnessing the spectacle opened her mouth.

“It’s too fast!”

The owner of that urgent voice was the Dark Elf Tasha. Obante cried out immediately after.

“S-such an enormous amount! This is dangerous!”

Obante’s eyes darted urgently across the surrounding landscape.

Merry’s absorption rate of dead mana was far too rapid.
Moreover, she was absorbing an excessive quantity.

This was a dangerous situation for Merry.
Growth has its stages; excessive greed is never wise.

Tasha discerned the gravity of the situation from Obante’s darkened expression. She turned her gaze toward Merry and drew slightly closer to her.
Then Merry’s form, enveloped in black smoke, became clearly visible.

The hand touching the tree trunk trembled violently.
Black veins bulged like spider webs, threatening to rupture.

Her entire body shook.
Tasha watched as beads of sweat fell from Merry’s hooded face, dampening the ground. She was drenched in cold sweat.

She was pushing herself too hard.

Tasha immediately reached toward Merry, opening her mouth to speak.
She couldn’t be injured. Merry had danced with death since childhood. She didn’t want to witness her suffering further wounds.

But Tasha’s hand froze before it could touch Merry’s shoulder.

“…I… can-”

Merry’s voice emerged from within the black robe.

“…I… I can do this.”

It wasn’t a mechanical voice.
Though it trembled terribly, it was a voice brimming with resolve.

Tasha withdrew her hand completely.
Then, another voice reached her ears.

“You remember what I said, don’t you?”

It was Kale’s voice.
Merry clenched her eyes shut at the sound.

‘Don’t do it while getting hurt.’

I remember.
Merry felt the dead mana surging toward me like a tidal wave.

What had been bound tightly to the tree carried despair and anguish within it.
Even if it wasn’t purely black despair, I could feel the hearts of those who had died unjustly.

‘…This is the limit.’

The dead mana flowing through my veins felt as though they would burst.
My entire body trembled beyond my control.
A voice reached Merry as her eyes remained closed.

‘Merry, keep running! Don’t look back, just run!’

I heard Mother’s voice.
Mother, addicted to dead mana and dying, had told Merry to run.

Merry’s memories before age ten were blank.
Only that night crossing the Desert remained—Mother’s voice urging me to run and the sensation of sand sinking beneath my feet.

I think I understood the reason now.

It had been darkness.
The Desert beneath the night sky, blanketed in black sand. Wisps of black dead mana rising into the air.
Everything was black.

That was why, even when I closed my eyes trying to remember, only Mother’s voice from within that darkness and the sensation of sand remained. That was all the memory I had of that day.

Merry bit her lip.

There had been times when I thought the tangled black branches prevented me from enjoying the beautiful sky.
But things were different now.

‘Good Merry! I’ll show you the night sky! The human will come too!’
‘Sigh.’
‘Human, don’t sigh! Smile! Today is a good day!’

Through the choices I had made myself, I could feel and understand countless things.

The tangled black branches.
The black spider webs.
These blood vessels covering my body.

None of them hindered me in embracing the world.

Merry accepted all the dead mana flowing toward her.

The sound of wind touching my ears.
The sunlight streaming through the gaps in the branches.
The scent of the Forest reaching my nose—I accepted it all.

Merry opened her eyes.
She saw a tree trunk.
What had been black had turned white.
She accepted even the whitened tree.

I am alive.
Even if my blood vessels have turned black, I can accept everything.

Whoooosh—
The black smoke surrounding Merry began to swirl violently.
The group stepped back a pace or two, worried they might interfere.

That was the moment.

Whissssh—

The emerald leaves sprouting from the white tree trunk began to tremble.
There was no wind.
Yet the leaves swayed.

And the moment that trembling ceased.

Whoooosh—!

All the black smoke was sucked into Merry’s body.
It vanished without a trace.

Silence descended.
Ritana, the ruler of the Jungle, lifted her head.

In the silence, beautiful white trees came into view.
Like a masterpiece carved by nature’s grace, they shone pure and luminous white.

“…This is—!”

Ritana turned her head in alarm at Kale’s urgent voice.

Kale caught the stumbling Merry in his arms.
The body beneath the black robe trembled violently. Kale saw Merry lifting her head toward him.

Between the mask covering his face, I could see eyes peeking through ever so slightly.
Unlike the dark veins near his eyes, the corners of his clear eyes curved gracefully.

A voice like a navigation system rang out.

“I am satisfied.”

Kale Heniatus let out a small chuckle without realizing it.
Then, a voice reached his ears from far away in Sector 7.

“Purification is complete!”
“Purification finished!”
“Sector 7 has been completely purified!”

The Dark Elves came running from afar, shouting.
In the wake of their cries, cheers from the Jungle people began to spread.

At that moment, I heard Raon’s voice.

-Human! Merry is good and great and beautiful!

I paid no mind to Raon stating the obvious and tried to support Merry. But the dragon’s words were not yet finished.

-Oh.

The dragon exclaimed briefly.

-Merry is very strong now.

Yes, yes.
Having consumed so much dead mana, she had to grow stronger.

-Choi Han loses.

What?
Kale Heniatus stopped short.

-If they fought ten times, Merry would win six of them against Choi Han! Our Merry is amazing!

Geez.
Kale Heniatus slowly raised his thumb toward Merry, who was watching him.

* * *

And the next day.
After spending the day following Crown Prince Alberu’s instructions and preparing to depart for the Empire, Kale’s face contorted like a flattened steamed bun.

“What in the world did that Crown Prince do in just one day?”

When Kale shouted in exasperation.

Beep beep beep— Beep beep beep—

The emergency alert sound from the video communication device inside the tent rang incessantly.

“Human! Another message came in!”

Raon began reading the messages left on the video communication device.

“Kale! It’s me, Tunka! Are you really dead? No, you’re not, right? Please respond!”

The Black Dragon continued reading the messages without pause.

“Young Master, this is Bilos. I heard some strange rumors. You’re alive, aren’t you? I’m worried since I can’t reach you.”

Tunka, the Grand General of Wipper Kingdom, and then Bilos, the illegitimate son of the Flynn Merchant Guild in the Empire.

“Young Master! This can’t be! I even threatened the Death God so nothing would happen to you! You’re okay, right? If you’re okay, please contact me. Dead? That must be a lie!”

Even the Crazy Priestess Kage had sent a message.
More messages continued to arrive from several other places. Among them, the most absurd was from his father, Count Derth Heniatus.

“Playing dead. I support it. I’ll help too.”

Kale wiped his face with both hands.
Why did everyone think I was dead?!

“Human! More messages keep coming!”

This is driving me crazy.
Kale Heniatus watched Raon tilting his head in confusion.

“Our human is alive! Everyone’s saying such strange things!”

Raon snickered as if amused. Of course, the Ancient Dragon beside him was also stifling laughter.
Eventually, Kale’s distorted lips uttered a single word.

“…Crown Prince.”

What in the world had I done in a single day?

I was exasperated that rumors were spreading not that I was in pain, but that I was dead.

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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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