Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 360

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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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Ron turned his gaze away.

I could see my companions scattered haphazardly across the cold library floor.
In particular, those averaging nine years old, along with Choi Han and Vicross, looked exhausted.
Only Erhafen was examining records near Kale’s bookshelf.

That was when it happened.
A single figure entered the Record Library.

“…It’ll be a week soon.”

It was Burd Illis.

A week.
That was how long Kale had remained in this space.
He had sacrificed sleep and spent every remaining moment—aside from the bare minimum needed for survival—searching through the books in this place.

“Why don’t you rest a bit now?”

Even as Burd spoke, I could see Kale continuing to read the records. In just two or three hours, it would be a week since we arrived here.
Eventually, Burd voiced a certain truth.

“You still haven’t found the first one, have you?”

The first one.
My companions’ expressions darkened.
Even the Ancient Dragon Erhafen stopped reading.

The White Star had been reincarnating for roughly a thousand years, or so it was said.
That timespan made it possible for him to create a Dragon Hybrid who had lived for nine hundred years.

‘Then surely, a thousand years ago on the Eastern Continent, the first one must have appeared.’

Erhafen had already heard from Kale that the place presumed to be the Dragon Slayer’s village was the “Castle of Light” on the Eastern Continent.
If so, the first White Star would have an even higher probability of being recorded in the roster of powerful individuals on the Eastern Continent.

‘Besides, just to be safe, I examined the subsequent two hundred years in detail as well.’

However, there was no one to suspect first.
Of course, I had examined several records of those who used or obtained Ancient Powers, but there was no owner of Ancient Powers with destructive capability comparable to what was estimated of the White Star.

“Kale, think about it.”

Bud approached Kale.

“The White Star definitely hid his power. He pretended to be weak and endured for a thousand years. That’s how he avoided the attention of the Record Archive.”

It was a hypothesis Bud had proposed on the third day after entering here.

“Isn’t that right? We only learned he was a reincarnator now that he’s revealed himself—a thousand years later. I don’t think examining the Record Archive would let us uncover his past.”

But the sound Bud could hear was not Kale’s voice.

Rustle, rustle. Rustle.
It was the sound of pages being turned rapidly.

The Mercenary King could see Kale’s face flushed red with heat, beads of cold sweat dripping from his forehead and back, all while accompanying that sound.

“…Madman.”

His honest feelings finally spilled from his lips.
It couldn’t be helped.

For days now, the Mercenary King had rubbed his arms whenever he had a moment—arms that gave him chills.
He could see the path that man had walked, quietly reading only books.

Behind Kale stretched countless bookshelves.
All of them contained records that Kale had read.

One week.
While the group examined at most two or three records, Kale had read approximately ten thousand books.
For him, turning pages seemed like it might actually be a physical strain.

‘Is he even human?’

This was not human memory.
No one could have imagined that Kale Heniatus possessed such an ability.

However, Bud couldn’t fathom why Kale Heniatus would squander such abilities on something so futile.
That was when it happened.

“Human—”

Figures crept cautiously toward Kale Heniatus.
It was On, Hong, and Raon.

“Human, aren’t you exhausted? Should I get you some apple pie?”
“You’re sweating profusely.”
“You can’t collapse.”

The nine-year-olds hovered near Kale with worried expressions, though they didn’t dare approach too closely.
They couldn’t easily get near someone reading while drenched in sweat.

“Hey! Human!”

But soon Raon rushed toward Kale.
Kale stumbled as he reached for the next record book.
His body lurched forward.
Burning with fever, Kale was about to collapse.

“Human, human!”
“Young master.”

Ron caught the stumbling Kale. The group was startled to see Kale stumble for the first time since arriving here and rushed over. Bud did the same.
In that moment, Bud saw Kale’s gaze fixed on him as Ron supported him.
That gaze made Bud stop his approach without realizing it.

It was a chilling stare.
Unlike his face, which was flushed with fever and exhaustion, his eyes held no warmth—only a cold, piercing clarity.
Those eyes remained fixed on Bud as his lips parted.

“There are records of the successive Mercenary Kings as well.”

Bud nodded in response.

“Of course. We’re strong, after all.”

At that moment, Bud caught sight of Kale’s lips curving upward.

“It seems there’s no one here who could be identified as the White Star.”
“Exactly!”

Only then did Bud realize that Kale had given up, and he continued speaking in a worried tone.

“So just rest now. You need to think about the future! You’re a clever one, so why are you being so futile—”
“The Mercenary King.”

Kale cut off Bud’s words.

“The Mercenary King? Why?”

Bud asked in return.
Why the Mercenary King?

“He’s not here.”
“What?”

As Bud questioned him again, Kale’s smile grew increasingly radiant.

I was beginning to understand the nature of these rosters.
Rosters recording most of the Eastern Continent’s powerful figures.
Yet the one who should be most clearly documented is absent.

“The First Mercenary King.”

When I had compiled the first roster, there was one figure the Mercenary Guild should have found easiest to record, yet didn’t.

“There’s no record of the First Mercenary King.”

In that instant, Bud’s expression crumbled.
It was as though he’d been struck hard on the back of his head.
A detail he had never particularly considered until now.

“…Could it be?”

Records of Bud and the other Mercenary Kings existed.
Kale Heniatus’s lips parted.

“The First Mercenary King. What kind of man was he? What power did he wield?”

A bright smile bloomed across Kale Heniatus’s face.

“I have a feeling that man might be the White Star. Why does my intuition tell me that?”

The White Star—who had emerged into the world after slaughtering his own family, his relatives, and an entire village.
No matter how powerful that man was, he had been alone.
Naturally, he would have needed a foundation.

And given his circumstances, he would have needed work he could easily begin.

A mercenary.
An occupation anyone could take up.
For the strong, an occupation that made establishing a foundation all the easier.
Above all, an occupation where one’s past rarely needed to be exposed or discovered.

And in this Record Archive, there was not a single record of the First Mercenary King.
The White Star.
If that man had deliberately hidden and concealed himself.

“Where are the records of the First Mercenary King?”

Kale Heniatus’s gaze held both the current Mercenary King and the records beyond his shoulder.

“…They’re not here.”

Bud could not hide his bewilderment.

“They’re not. Truly.”

His pupils trembled as he looked at Kale Heniatus.

“Really, not a single one. The position and name of the First Mercenary King remain, but the Mercenary Guild system he created has endured for a thousand years!”

Bud finally realized something was off.
A fact he had taken for granted and never examined closely suddenly surfaced clearly in his mind.
Because he had searched for it.

“When I first became the Mercenary King, something felt wrong. Only the First Mercenary King—his power and life weren’t recorded in detail!”

Bud, caught between frustration and the sudden clarity flooding his thoughts, ran his hand through his hair without thinking.

“So, so here’s the thing. I! Contacted the Free City Library and libraries all across the Eastern Continent to request materials about the First Mercenary King?”

Unlike the frazzled Bud, Kale asked calmly.

“You requested them?”

Ha!
Bud let out a laugh that was almost a sigh.

“Do you know what I found?”

Though he was a Sword Master and the Mercenary King, Bud had loved reading books, searching for things, and thinking since childhood.
The records about the First Mercenary King that he had uncovered.

“A great Mercenary King who laid the foundation for a massive power that endured while countless kingdoms rose and fell across the Eastern Continent over a thousand years. He was the idol of mercenaries at the time, and they did not hesitate to move for him.”

Bud spoke with a low laugh.

“That’s it?”

Everything about the First Mercenary King gathered from across the Eastern Continent amounted to just that.
Yet detailed records of the early Mercenary Guild remained.

“…I just thought he was a legendary hero or something, so I assumed only such records survived.”

He opened his mouth as he watched Kale, who was smiling with a weary expression behind his glasses.

“Were they deliberately erased?”
“I don’t know.”

Kale answered decisively.

“I don’t know. Whether the First Mercenary King is the White Star or not. There aren’t any concrete clues yet. But.”

At that moment, Choi Han opened his mouth.

“We could certainly entertain suspicions. The First Mercenary King is someone who suddenly appeared in the world at some point.”

A peculiar smile played at Choi Han’s lips. For some reason, Bud found that smile to be tinged with bitterness.
Tap. Tap.
Kale Heniatus patted Choi Han’s shoulder and spoke.

“It doesn’t matter that he suddenly appeared in the world at some point. That’s certainly possible.”

Choi Han’s smile vanished as he gazed at Kale Heniatus. However, Kale Heniatus spoke while looking at Bud and the others in the group.

“But the fact that there’s not a single trace of that person’s history afterward, no records whatsoever—that’s worth suspecting.”

In that moment, Choi Han turned his head and saw Kale Heniatus looking at him.
Suddenly, Choi Han recalled something Kale Heniatus had said.
When the battle between the Heniatus Territory and the Paern Kingdom had erupted.

‘It’s your turn.’
‘…Did I have something to do?’
‘Use all your strength.’
‘…Is this a new history?’

Choi Han suddenly, truly suddenly recalled Kale Heniatus’s answer to his question. Vividly.

‘Yes. It’s your history that you will write in this place.’

Choi Han drew a subtle smile across his face.
Kale Heniatus’s gaze naturally shifted from Choi Han to Bud.

“And you know what?”

The Mercenary King, preoccupied with talk of the White Star and the First Mercenary King.
He felt an inexplicable chill wash over him as Kale Heniatus seemed about to broach a new topic. So, without thinking, he spoke first.

“I doubt you’ve been speculating about the First Mercenary King for just a week?”

Bud swallowed hard before continuing.

“Isn’t that right? You could have gotten away with just reviewing a hundred years of records, but you spent the entire week examining at least thousands of documents. Why did you do that?”

The group nodded in agreement with the question, their eyes turning toward Kale Heniatus.
And they could see that Kale Heniatus was still smiling.

“I think what I’m about to tell you will answer that.”

I examined these records while speculating about the existence of the First Mercenary King.

Because something felt off.
Because an unsettling unease had touched me.

“Is this place really meant to record only the strong?”

This space where records of the Eastern Continent’s powerful had been preserved.

“If it’s truly the case that the White Star is where this roster begins…”

Then why would he need to keep records of the Eastern Continent’s strong?
No matter how ambitious he was in expanding the Mercenary Guild.

The Last Dragon Slayer.
Would the one who might have been the strongest among humans fear other powerful beings?

That question had driven me to examine the records throughout the entire week.

“This roster of strong individuals, these records—they seemed slightly different to me.”

The White Star.
One of the things he had done thus far.
And records of various powerful beings on the Eastern Continent.
As these two pieces interlocked, a hypothesis formed in my mind.

“They say that if a human gains even one Ancient Power during their lifetime, they are blessed by fortune. That’s how difficult it is to obtain an Ancient Power.”

Ah.
An exclamation escaped Erhafen’s lips.
He too had grasped something.

“These records contain documentation of powerful individuals who have revealed the Ancient Powers they possess.”

I closed my eyes. The information I had recorded flashed through my mind.
Details that could easily be overlooked when tempted by the mention of records about the strong.

The Ancient Powers that strong individuals frequently wielded as secondary abilities.
Information about them had been preserved within these thousand years of records.

Though I had not yet seen everything, there was likely no other place across the East-West Continent where records of Ancient Powers were gathered so abundantly.

“And another thing.”

My closed eyes slowly opened.

“The easiest way to obtain an Ancient Power is.”

Bud’s hair stood on end without his realizing it.

“To kill its owner and claim the Ancient Power that scatters.”

Bud repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists. He felt as though he might lose control.
I posed a question to him.

“If the First Mercenary King were alive now, he could sneak into this place undetected, couldn’t he?”

My smiling finger pointed toward Bud.

“Just like you.”

If the White Star is the First Mercenary King, he would have crept into this place and verified the information.
There was no need to come frequently.
He could visit once every ten years, or perhaps every few decades, to check.

To find the owners of the Ancient Powers he required.

“Ha, haha.”

Bud seemed to understand why Kale Heniatus was laughing.
It was chilling, yet he found himself grinning as well.
Because he understood.

Bud’s mouth opened.

“The White Star wants to seize my Ancient Powers.”

The White Star currently lacked only the earth attribute among nature’s five fundamental forces.

“With these records added to my Ancient Powers, the White Star would find it far easier to obtain the earth attribute Ancient Power.”

That’s why.

“That’s why he tried to kill me. And why he’s attempting to devour the Mercenary Guild through Dark.”

The White Star, who had remained hidden for a thousand years, no longer concealed his movements these days.
He was gradually revealing himself.

“Because he’s grown desperate.”

This time, Bud’s finger pointed toward Kale Heniatus.

“Because of you appearing.”

The White Star had likely never encountered anyone like Kale Heniatus before.
Ancient Powers that required heavenly fortune to possess—it was already remarkable to hold two, yet this man possessed more than five.
And he also possessed the earth attribute that the White Star sought.

“He must believe he has only two paths: kill you and seize the earth attribute, or die by your hand.”

Bud understood why Kale Heniatus was laughing. His mouth opened.

“He’s desperate. That bastard too.”

Kale’s entire body erupted in goosebumps, yet he laughed.
Walking the razor’s edge between life and death was something Kim Rok-soo—something I—had been doing for over fifteen years.
His lips parted, and his voice emerged, steady and measured.

“Yes. Just like us.”

The White Star was equally desperate, just like us.
Because we each had to sever the other’s lifeline.

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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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