Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 340

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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 75. Huh?

Kale was thinking.

‘If I just pass out now, it’ll be a dream. A damn dream at that. Is this intentional?’

His eyes, cold and settled, scanned his surroundings.
This was a dream.
It had to be. This was a memory from more than fifteen years in the past.

‘Is this that time?’

Early January, just after turning twenty from nineteen. Crumbled concrete walls came into view.
Kale—Kim Rok-soo—was curled up on the ground.

Inside a building with one side collapsed.
Lifting my head through the debris of shattered walls, I could faintly see the murky sky above.
It wasn’t snow—rain was pouring down relentlessly.

“…Damn it.”

A truly damned dream.
Three days.
During this time, Kale—Kim Rok-soo—had spent three days curled up in one corner of this collapsed building, surviving on rainwater dripping through the ceiling hole.

“Shit.”

Raindrops fell and struck at his eyes, but Kim Rok-soo couldn’t bring himself to turn his head away.
Yet the Kale in the dream cursed and turned his head anyway.

In the darkness. Inside the ruined building.
Countless corpses lay within. The traces of death—human and monster alike—filled the building completely.

One day, after finishing the college entrance exam and working a part-time job at a restaurant, the world suddenly descended into chaos. As a result, Kale—Kim Rok-soo—had to face monsters.

‘It really is that day.’

The only survivor in this building was Kale—or rather, Kim Rok-soo.
Kim Rok-soo had to endure three days in a corner of this collapsed building rubble where he could not find an exit.

On the first day, I prayed not to be discovered by monsters.
On the second day, I hoped someone would come to rescue me.
On the third day—

‘I had no thoughts at all.’

It couldn’t have been otherwise.
All I could see while crouched down were the overcast sky and traces of destruction, and all I could hear were screams and the cries of monsters.

But for him, such moments ended after three days.
Before his abilities as an awakened one had properly manifested.

“Huh?”

A hole in the building’s ceiling, only half the size of a palm—the only opening connecting to the outside.
A person appeared there.

“…Hey, down there—can you hear my voice?”

Kale’s face contorted.
The face visible through the rain was backlit and unclear. Yet those eyes—I remembered them even now, after more than a decade had passed.

Former Team Leader Lee Soo-hyuk.

“You hear me? Got the strength to move?”

In the future, he would become a Team Leader, but at this moment, he was merely one of the early awakened ability users. The way he immediately spoke in casual speech upon seeing me was so typical of the former Team Leader.
I spoke the same words I had said when I first met the former Team Leader, uttering them now as if in a dream.

“…I’m hungry.”

At those words, Lee Soo-hyuk smiled wickedly and tossed something down casually.

“Kid, you’re in one piece.”

Lee Soo-hyuk threw a chocolate bar down through the ceiling. I caught it and uttered the same words I had spoken in the past.

“Are you broke?”
“No.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Really? Too bad.”

Lee Soo-hyuk wielded his sword like a lever, methodically clearing away the rubble of the building piece by piece. After shifting through the debris for some time, he descended far enough to extend the hilt of his blade toward Kale, who grasped it without hesitation.
As Lee Soo-hyuk pulled with effortless strength, Kale was drawn free from the ruins.

“What’s your name?”
“Kim Rok-soo.”
“Can you walk?”
“Yes, probably.”

Lee Soo-hyuk turned without hesitation and gestured for Kale to follow.

“Come on. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

Such meddlesome kindness.
This was when I first met my former team leader. And after considerable time had passed, I would eventually join the company where he worked as a new recruit. Much happened between then and now, but looking back, it was a remarkably persistent and enduring connection.

I watched my former team leader stride ahead without hesitation, then lifted my gaze.

Patter. Tap.
The winter rain continued to fall.

It was cold.

How vivid, for a dream.
As I smiled bitterly at that thought, something felt oddly amiss.

Patter. Tap. Patter.

The sensation of raindrops falling felt far too real.
Could something this vivid truly be a dream?
And—

‘…What is this damp sensation?’

When Kale sensed something amiss in the sensation of raindrops falling on his face within the dream, a voice reached him from beyond that dream.
To be precise, it wasn’t quite a voice.

“Sniff!”

Sniff?
The sound of sniffling?
The moment I realized this, my vision flipped. The landscape of the former team leader and the shattered city faded away like heat shimmer.

And finally, when only darkness remained.

“Sniff. Sniff! Our human, something’s wrong!”

The sound of the Black Dragon sniffling reached my ears.
I realized it was time to wake from the dream.

‘Sigh.’

Thinking of the sniffling Black Dragon, I should get up, but the moment I recalled all the tasks awaiting me upon opening my eyes, exhaustion crashed over me suddenly.

Cleaning up after the Empire, matters concerning the Sun God Church, the Alchemy Tower, and on top of that, worries about the balance of power on the Western Continent.
I felt sorry toward Raon, but should I rest just a little longer?

As I deliberated whether to open my eyes, the voice I heard forced them wide open.

“Really something’s wrong! The body is completely fine! Hasn’t woken up for 14 days, 7 hours, 21 minutes, and 41 seconds!”

What?
How many days?
My eyes snapped open.

“H-h-h-human! Y-you’re awake!”

And I flinched.
The moment my eyes opened, Raon’s chubby face was right in front of mine, and tears were streaming down from his large, round eyes.
And snot as well.

“Our human woke up after 14 days, 7 hours, 22 minutes, and 3 seconds!”

Raon’s joyful voice rang out loud and clear.
Kale shifted his gaze away from the Black Dragon’s face that filled his entire field of vision.

That’s when he startled for the second time.

“…Where am I?”

Gold gleamed beyond Raon’s head.
Unlike the soft, plush sensation of the bed, a dazzling canopy ceiling adorned as if covered in gold came into view.
He turned his head to the left.
Though Raon’s plump body occupied most of his vision, beyond it he could see an ornate bed canopy etched with elaborate patterns.

‘What in the—’

Kale’s face twisted in displeasure.
It was an ostentatiously decorated bed whose design didn’t match his taste in the slightest. He wanted to see what lay beyond the bed, but the curtains drawn around it obscured his view.

At that moment, a voice reached his right ear.

“You’re awake?”
“Good grief!”

Kale flinched and turned his head, his body tensing.
There, perched at the far end of the bed with a pallid complexion, sat the Ancient Dragon Erhafen, his expression utterly indifferent as he leisurely ate fruit.

“…What is this?”

Without thinking, Kale blurted out his inner thoughts.

‘This isn’t what I imagined at all.’

Kale had opened his eyes expecting to see a chaotic Empire. Yet the scene before him appeared somehow luxurious and leisurely.

“What do you mean? I’m resting.”
“Pardon?”

Resting?

“Where is this place?”
“Crown Prince Adin’s room.”

What?
Where?
Crown Prince Adin’s bedroom?
…Is this Crown Prince Adin’s bed?

“Human! Aren’t you hungry? Choi Han will bring food soon! I didn’t prepare anything for you, but I’ll give you mine! I’ll bring all kinds of steaks! Mine—one, two, no! I can give you all of them!”

Raon, excited and wagging his front paws, tucked the blanket that had scattered when Kale awoke back up to his neck and patted him gently.

Kale’s expression grew increasingly bizarre. Meanwhile, Erhafen casually offered a glass of water.

“Drink. Have some water and then speak. Your throat must hurt.”
“…Yes… okay.”

Kale accepted the water and drank it.
His throat had indeed ached from speaking the moment he opened his eyes. After drinking, his voice became smoother as he asked.

“What is the situation right now?”

Erhafen studied Kale at that question, then rose from the bed and pulled back the curtain as he spoke.

“While you’ve been unconscious for fifteen days, quite a lot has happened.”

Swoosh.
The curtain drew back, and Crown Prince Adin’s bedroom suddenly came into view before Kale’s eyes.
At that moment, Kale flinched for the third time.

“Huh?”

A gilded table that must have belonged to Adin in the past. On either side of that table sat an ornately decorated long sofa, one on each side.
That wasn’t the problem.

“…Tasha?”

The Dark Elf Tasha, occupying one of those sofas.
She could not respond to Kale’s call. Leaning her back against the sofa, she held documents—

“Human, Tasha is so smart that she does a lot of work. That’s why she’s tired!”

She was sleeping.
And on the sofa across from Tasha, one person was sitting at ease. Of course, holding documents.

“Hello?”

Sigh.
Kale let out a sigh.
Crown Prince Albert. He waved his hand at Kale while wearing the appearance of a Dark Elf Quarter.

Kale thought.

‘Why is that guy here?’

This was said to be Crown Prince Adin’s palace. Why would Albert, a crown prince from a foreign nation, be here? And in the appearance of a Dark Elf Quarter at that?

“…Why?”

I had instructed Choi Han to contact me if he had any questions. But why?

“Why, you ask.”

Crown Prince Albert. He brushed back his dark brown hair. His face was worn with fatigue. But after observing Kale’s complexion—which had finally regained clarity after nearly a week—he spoke playfully.

“My younger brother calls for his older brother, so I had to come. Shouldn’t I?”

This guy and his brother-sister nonsense.
As Kale’s expression darkened, Albert finally let out a snort of laughter and opened his mouth.

“I heard you were being secretive about it, but you openly unfurled your shield right in the Imperial Capital.”

Ah.
Kale recalled the massive silver shield he had unfurled while fighting the White Star.
No matter how much he concealed his appearance with robes, the citizens of the Empire—especially those in the Capital—were familiar with Kale’s silver shield, even if they didn’t know about Choi Han or Merry.
After all, he had once supported the collapsing Imperial Palace with his silver shield and even received a commendation for it.

“Because of that, I couldn’t appear in the Empire as Crown Prince Albert Crossman right now.”

Kale continued from where Alberu had left off.

“If we’re not careful, other nations might think Roun is trying to swallow up the Mogur Empire.”
“And the people of the Mogur Empire might see this as Roun’s conspiracy.”

Alberu picked up the thread again.
Kale pushed himself upright and leaned against the bedpost as he continued.

“It would be best to frame this incident in the Empire as my personal assistance to Saint Jack.”

It was a situation where we had to turn a blind eye to reality.

“Well, that’s how we’re handling it.”

Contrary to Alberu’s composed demeanor despite the mountain of documents piling up, Kale asked bluntly.

“But that doesn’t explain why Your Highness needed to come here personally.”

In that moment, Kale watched the corners of Crown Prince Alberu’s mouth curl upward in a crooked smile. When an inexplicable unease washed over him at that expression.
The Crown Prince spoke in a refreshing tone.

“The Emperor and all the imperial family of the Empire have been imprisoned in the Imperial Underground Prison. The great nobles were also arrested.”
“…What?”
“Sir Rex led the knights and my colleagues to completely overturn the Imperial Palace, or so I heard?”

Who?
Sir Rex?

“Sir Rex apparently rushed to the Imperial Palace with tears streaming down his face, saying he would save the Empire. And the people of the Empire were moved by it, they say.”

What?
The events of this week were casually tossed at Kale.

“Crown Prince Adin will probably be executed. Of course, we decided to determine the details after you wake up.”
“…What—”
“And the underground of the Alchemy Tower has been opened, and a large-scale joint funeral ceremony has been underway for the past two days.”

This week, the Mogur Empire had been swept up like a typhoon.

“For your information, all the Black Mages have been imprisoned under Dark Elf surveillance, and they will likely face punishment according to the severity of their crimes.”

Rustle, rustle.
Alberu turned the documents over one by one as he spoke at a leisurely pace.

“Ah, and regarding the sightings of Raon Mir, we announced that he was a colleague in a black robe. We made it seem as though the intense battle prevented anyone from getting a clear look.”

Tower Master Bernhard’s black storm. The silver shield that followed and the platinum light—amid the endless collisions, the small-framed Raon Mir appeared. Those who witnessed it from a distance were given a vague announcement about the black figure.
We simply glossed over the matter when people became curious about the dark entity.

“Do you think they’ll believe it?”
“Who knows? In any case, we’ve officially stated it that way. Besides, there’s no foreign footage that captured it separately.”

Sometimes this method worked. After all, everyone had been in chaos.

“Ah, there are many people in the Capital right now protesting to destroy all Alchemy Towers within the Empire.”

Alberu picked up his teacup and took a sip.
In the space covered in gold, Alberu as a Dark Elf stood out distinctly.

“Additionally, the Imperial Sun God Temple of the Mogur Empire, which closed after last year’s terror attack, is planning to reopen its temple.”

Kale simply listened now.
This week.
He was feeling just how severely the Empire had been shaken during all this time.

“By the way, Sword Master Hana has stepped down from her position as Saint. Moreover, it seems Saint Jack will become both a Saint and the Pope.”

…Hana stepped down from what?
…Saint Jack will become what? The Pope?

“Ah, and Prince Valentino of the Caro Kingdom and his group were imprisoned underground. Sir Rex rescued them, and in exchange, the Caro Kingdom agreed not to interfere with the Empire for a while as it undergoes changes.”

So that’s why Prince Valentino had been quiet—he’d been imprisoned.
Kale nodded quietly.

“Furthermore, the Wipper Kingdom released the Imperial soldiers on humanitarian grounds. They arrived at the Imperial Capital yesterday.”

Oh.
Kale let out an exclamation of admiration.
The soldiers abandoned by the Crown Prince.
The Wipper Kingdom had released them again, and those soldiers had returned to the Capital.
This plan was undoubtedly the work of Crown Prince Albert.

“The soldiers are currently handling the defense of the Capital and escorting Sir Rex and the Sun God twins, while preventing other Imperial nobles from causing trouble.”

It was obvious whom the soldiers abandoned by the Crown Prince would support, and how desperately they would want to drive the Black Mages from the Empire.

“By the way, the Imperial Palace is currently empty, but Sir Rex is positioned at the Central Palace, which handles administration. We’ve also handled most of the urgent matters, and the Empire is rapidly regaining stability.”

Alberu opened his mouth.

“How is it?”

Kale’s mouth opened.

Oh.

Clap, clap, clap.
He applauded.

“There has been quite a lot happening this week.”

Heh.
Alberu let out a dry laugh.

“A lot? Just ‘quite a lot’?”

Kale hesitated.
Alberu’s gaze was not pleasant.
Kale recognized that look. It was the same as when he was Kim Rok-soo and was on the verge of collapsing from overwork after handling the tasks assigned by the company.

Kale’s mouth opened.

“…Your Highness.”

Without Sir Rex, the Sun God twins would not have been able to handle the Empire’s affairs to this extent.
Most likely, Crown Prince Albert and Rosalind, who casually produced results, and Tasha, who had worked long in the palace, had quietly suffered behind the scenes without being discovered by the Empire or foreign powers.
In particular, Crown Prince Albert, who had handled the most extensive practical matters for the longest, had probably supported almost everything from behind the scenes.

‘Of course, given Albert’s nature, it wouldn’t have been for free.’

Surely Crown Prince Albert had also gained benefits from the Empire or Sir Rex, which was why he had helped to this extent.
After a long time, Kale activated his well-oiled tongue.

“Indeed, wherever one travels on the Western Continent beyond Rowan, your Majesty’s beautiful night sky-like wisdom benefits all, and one as lacking as I can only shed tears of gratitude—”
“What?”

To Alberu, whose eyes still held a sharp glint, Kale quickly said instead.

“Thank you, your Majesty.”
“Good.”

Only then did Alberu smile with satisfaction and speak as if tossing the words aside.

“The White Star is a reincarnator and a dragon slayer?”

When Kale faltered at the suddenly introduced topic, another who had been silent opened his mouth.

“Yes. A reincarnator and a dragon slayer.”

The Ancient Dragon Erhafen. He spoke.

“Lord Erhafen.”

Alberu regarded him with quite a respectful demeanor and asked.

“Then wouldn’t he be reborn even if he dies? And even if we let him live, he will eventually die of old age and be born as someone else.”

Kale saw the pale-faced Ancient Dragon looking at me. The Ancient Dragon hesitated for a moment before speaking. His voice carried anguish but was quite resolute.

“…We must destroy his soul.”

Destroy the soul so it cannot be reborn again.
It was truly a cruel act. That was why the Ancient Dragon’s expression darkened.

At the same time, the bedroom door opened.

Click.

Through the open doorway came Choi Han and Vice-Captain Hilsman, pulling a food tray behind them.
Choi Han froze in surprise the moment his eyes met Kale’s. And Hilsman spoke while tears streamed down his face—or rather, he was already crying.

“Oh! Our precious silver-haired prince, the treasure of the Western Continent! You’ve finally awakened! I, Hilsman, am overjoyed to see those glorious eyes once more! All the people of the Western Continent will rejoice that our treasure has awakened! *Sob*!”

…Treasure of the Western Continent?
Why would everyone on the Western Continent be happy about this…?
Kale averted his gaze from the Ancient Dragon’s pitying stare as it shook its head slowly with a sigh.
He deliberately looked away, shifting his attention elsewhere.

“…Tsk tsk. Unlucky bastard.”

Kale’s pupils trembled.
…The goal was supposed to be a small hero.
He wanted to lose consciousness again.

But his eyes refocused, opening wide.

“…Erhafen?”

As Kale looked away from the Ancient Dragon’s gaze, he noticed Erhafen’s hand. A hand quietly moving behind his back.
That hand was trembling slightly.
Only then did Kale properly see the Ancient Dragon’s ashen complexion.

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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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