Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 375

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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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But Kale’s delighted expression soon crumpled.

“Heh, heheheh….”

What’s wrong with that bastard?
Kale turned away from the face of Mercenary King Burd Illis, who was grinning at me with that ridiculous smirk.
Burd clearly hadn’t drunk a single bottle today, yet his expression suggested he’d downed five or six.

Pop!

At the crisp sound, Kale glanced back at Burd. Then, finally, he sighed and turned away.
The pop was the sound of a bottle cap being uncorked.

“Ahhh! This liquor tastes sweeter than honey!”

Burd was chugging down an entire bottle he’d produced from nowhere. Kale naturally ignored the drunkard and gazed toward Lord Sherit.
Then he paused.

The corners of Lord Sherit’s mouth were twitching.
That expression, brimming with mischief, suggested she was about to pull off something quite elaborate.

“…My lord?”
“Ahem!”

At Kale’s call, Lord Sherit straightened her expression and immediately spread both arms wide.

Whoooosh—
White mana blossomed around her.

“I shall open the path at once.”

Creak.
The sealed City Gate began to open.

“Hmm.”

At that moment, someone let out a deliberate cough.
It was Erhafen. He rolled up the sleeves of both arms while muttering to himself.

“…Let me pretend to struggle a bit….”

As he spoke, platinum-hued mana bloomed around him.
But something felt off.

Whoooosh— whooooosh— whoooosh—
Like a broken machine, the platinum mana drifted listlessly around Erhafen, bobbing up and down.
His platinum mana, infused with his essence, which normally wrapped around him like silk, now appeared withered and tattered—as if it were an old, worn-out cloth.
Erhafen asked the one standing beside him.

“Ron, what do you think?”

The servant Ron observed the mana surrounding Erhafen with an expressionless face and offered his assessment.

“It looks like a rag that hasn’t been washed in about twenty years.”
“Excellent description.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!
The enemies outside continued pounding on the massive dome.
Crack. Crackle.
Since Kale wasn’t using Jjangdol’s power further, fissures had begun spreading across the dome in places.

“Then I suppose I’ll have to deploy a shield now.”

With those words, Erhafen sent the mana around him outward, enveloping the dome with a protective shield.
Then he glanced at Kale.

“What’s happening?”

The voices of the Wind Spirits reached Kale’s ears.

‘The Cat-Human Race member smirked, and now they’re attacking the shield even harder!’
‘Oh! One of the Lion Tribe is heading off to report to the White Star that the shield is flimsy!’
‘A Bear Tribe member is laughing! Kahahaha! The dragon’s power must be exhausted! A pathetic rag of a shield like this! That’s what they’re saying!’

Bang! Bang! Bang!
Somehow, the sound of striking Erhaben’s shield seemed more cheerful and excited than when they had been pounding on the dome earlier.

‘Just as I thought, those inside are rats in a trap. They’ve definitely exhausted their strength! That’s what they’re saying.’
‘They barely managed to hold on! They seem to think you’ve collapsed, Kale!’
‘The White Star is telling the mage that it wouldn’t be bad to observe a bit longer.’
‘Right, right. So they’re saying they’ll keep attacking and then retreat as if exhausted, waiting for you to come out first.’
‘And then they’ll strike! They’re saying to cut off your escape!’

Kale let out a quiet laugh.

Summarizing what the Wind Spirits were saying, the White Star’s plan was to feign attacking the dome, then appear exhausted and retreat, waiting for Kale’s group to emerge thinking everything was finished before striking them down.

‘Do as you wish.’

Kale opened his mouth, delighted at the thought of striking the White Star from behind while they lay in ambush.

“The Bear Tribe is calling this a pathetic shield! and laughing while striking it, according to them.”
“Is that so?”

Even at the assessment of his shield as pathetic, Erhaben smiled brightly, genuinely pleased.
At that moment, Kale turned his head at an odd sound.

Creeeeak—
The doors within the castle were opening very carefully.
When he glanced at Sherit, their eyes met, and she cleared her throat awkwardly before speaking.

“If the door opens too loudly, they might notice something outside. Discretion is important for these things, isn’t it?”

Sherit could not hide her twitching smile.

They’re excited. They’re really excited.
Realizing that the two oldest dragons were thrilled, Kale’s expression turned blank.

“Just open it quickly, please.”
“Ah, yes, that would be better, wouldn’t it?”

Lord Sherit awkwardly scratched her cheek before swiftly opening the doors within the castle.
She had not opened all of them.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
Several doors opened with soft sounds.
Those doors formed a single line.
Lord Sherit opened her mouth.

“I thought that if children spent about ten years within this castle, wouldn’t they become curious about the outside world?”

The room where Raon would have lived around age ten, had he been born in this castle.
When the door opened all the way to that room.

Snap!

Lord Sherit’s finger struck something, and another door opened.
That door was in the floor of the room.

Creeeeak!
The floor tiles rose up along with the carpet inside the room.

“That Underground Passage should lead you to the Dragon Slayer Village.”

Kale’s companions gathered around him. Those departing with him were Choi Han and a boy averaging nine years old, along with the Mercenary King. The Mercenary King’s face had flushed red from drinking several bottles of alcohol.
That was the moment.

‘The Mage has begun their attack!’

The Wind Spirit’s voice reached them, followed by a different roar than before.

Boom!

“It is the Mage’s attack!”

Kale shouted, and Erhafen spoke excitedly.

“Oh! Then I should pretend to struggle to hold it back.”
“Lord Erhafen, it would be good if the shield wavered and then came back together with difficulty.”
“Thanks, Ron. That was sound advice.”

I let out a sigh.
Watching Erhafen and Ron converse, I exhaled deeply and took a step forward.
My path naturally led toward the entrance of the Underground Passage.

Lord Sherit walked alongside me.
She shared several important details about this passage and the village with me. The information proved quite useful, and through it, I came to understand what I needed to find.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the Underground Passage, I saw dark stairs descending into the depths below.

“I’ll be back soon.”

At my words, Lord Sherit was about to nod when her eyes met Raon’s. She gazed at Raon quietly for a moment, then waved her hand toward the children averaging nine years old.
Then she spoke.

“Come back safely.”

The children averaging nine years old smiled and nodded.
In particular, Raon’s smiling face was vividly etched into Sherit’s eyes.

Come back safely.

Sherit had never imagined she would ever be able to say such words.

“Human, human! You must hurry back!”

Raon urged me forward without even properly looking at Sherit. I sighed and gestured toward the interior of the Underground Passage.

“It’s dark first, so light—well, never mind.”

Around Raon, there were already five or six magical light spheres he had created. At that level, the Underground Passage would be as bright as midday.

“I’ve prepared acceleration magic too!”

Raon’s acceleration magic unfolded across our bodies.
I straightened my shoulders and, with a sigh at Raon’s insistence to hurry, turned my gaze toward the Underground Passage stairs and began descending. I spoke to Raon, who was trying to follow.
I said to him as he attempted to follow.

“I should say goodbye to Mother first.”

Raon flinched.

Meow!
“That’s right, I should greet them! Hans said I had to!”

On and Hong swished their tails as they spoke to Raon, then leisurely followed behind Kale Heniatus.
Choi Han naturally caught up to Kale Heniatus and even positioned himself in front of him.

“Hehehehe.”

Bud followed along, stumbling as if he were genuinely drunk.
Raon was left alone.
The Black Dragon’s eyes, which had been fluttering his wings, quietly glanced to the side. His gaze met Lord Sherit’s.
Raon’s eyes hurriedly shifted forward again.

Raon hesitated for a moment before quickly disappearing into the Underground Passage. As he did, he called out.

“I’ll be right back!”

Lord Sherit watched Raon vanish, mimicking the unusual speech patterns of On and Hong, then slowly closed the Underground Passage door with a smile.

As the carpet returned to its proper place, erasing all traces of the door’s existence, she slowly raised her shield.

I must endure.
Protecting and defending a place where those I care for would return was also one of the dreams I had cherished.

Whoooooosh—

The white shield grew larger and larger.
Then Ron’s voice reached her.

“Lord Sherit.”

Ron pointed at Lord Sherit’s shield with an expressionless face.

“Your shield looks far too new and splendid. Wouldn’t it be better to make it look worn? I would prefer a shield that looks so strained it might shatter and crumble at any moment.”

Lord Sherit smiled wickedly.

“I was planning to do that anyway. But if I show myself too weak, they’ll grow suspicious. I need to give the impression that I’m risking my life to some degree.”
“Ah, I see.”

Ron nodded, and Lord Sherit, her playful face curved into a smile, sent out a shield with carefully controlled power beyond the dome.
The shield engulfed Erhaben’s tattered defense.

“My lord, it appears they intend to hold out as long as possible!”
“Indeed, it seems the others have overextended themselves trying to protect the castle and Lord Sherit. You can tell by how Lord Sherit’s shield is the sturdiest.”
“Kale Heniatus appears to have no strength left to defend anything.”

The enemies’ conversation was laid bare before the Wind Spirits.
Who would have thought that Kale could hear the spirits’ words?

‘We have to tell him everything!’
‘We’re so happy there’s a human who can hear us. We have to tell him everything!’
‘Be quiet. Just remember what they’re saying! We have to tell him everything!’

The Wind Spirits listened intently to the enemies’ conversation.

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of rapid footsteps striking the ground filled the underground passage.
It was a fairly wide passage—large enough for a substantial cart to pass through comfortably.

“…Ahahaha! I never knew such a passage existed!”

The Mercenary King Bud raced through the passage with both arms spread wide, wine bottles clutched in each hand.

‘…That madman.’

I wanted to abandon Bud and move on. But regardless, he drew closer to me. As he approached, the stench of alcohol and his flushed face inexplicably irritated me, and I tried to evade him.
But before I could, Bud opened his mouth.
But before she could, Bud’s mouth opened.

I didn’t know the Dragon Slayer Village was beneath this Castle of Light.

Bud continued speaking with an untroubled expression. He recalled the stories that Rodd had told him just before he entered the hallway.

“According to Lord Sherit, you’re saying they built a village underground? That’s fascinating. I never would have thought of an underground village.”

Kale tossed out his words while observing the amazed Mercenary King.

“What fascinates me is you.”

Kale found the Mercenary King fascinating now—the way he cycled between acting like a madman and returning to perfect sanity. There couldn’t be another person like that in the world.

“What? I’m fascinating?”

Kale ignored the Mercenary King’s question and pushed forward with greater intensity. On and Hong were already running at the front alongside Choi Han and Raon.
On, Hong, and Raon were already running at the front alongside Choi Han.

“Mr. Heniatus, it looks like we’ll be arriving soon.”

As Choi Han, who had been running while gauging the distance, seemed to be approaching the point Lord Sherit had mentioned, he reported to Kale.

“Keep running without stopping.”

Kale gave Choi Han an order and continued running without stopping himself.

Therefore, they had to move with maximum urgency.
At the same time, they couldn’t afford to miss anything and had to be precise.
At the same time, she had to be precise and not miss anything.

Lord Sherit’s words echoed through my mind.
The words that Lord Sherit had spoken echoed through his mind.

‘That place is the Dragon Slayer Village.’
That is the Dragon Slayer Village.

He recalled the Dark Elves’ Underground City for the first time at the mention of the word “Underground Village.”

“That place has always been a dead land where only stone exists. It’s no place for people to live.”

Lord Sherit explained about that Underground Chamber Village. Moreover, she had something to add.

There’s something you need to find there.

I recalled the item that Lord Sherit had said I must find.

“…So there’s a record book?”

Lord Sherit had said it.

‘After the Ancient Era ended, the First Dragon Slayer began recording the causes that necessitated the end of that age.’

Records of the cruel deeds of one who sought to become a god in the Ancient Era, and the great battle waged by those who opposed him—all of it documented.

“Kale!”

At Choi Han’s call, I looked ahead.
The end of the passage.
A massive boulder came into view.
I gave Choi Han, who was looking at me, an order.

“Destroy it.”

Choi Han immediately drew his sword.

The blade sang as it was unsheathed.
A gleaming black aura descended in a vertical slash.

A deafening boom erupted.

The massive boulder blocking the end of the passage shattered, and dust swirled through the air.
I stepped forward slowly into that cloud of dust, gradually increasing my pace.
It seemed I could hear Sherit’s voice explaining.

‘Once you pass through the passage, a cliff will appear immediately.’

Debris from the shattered rock tumbled downward.
Fragments of the broken boulder rolled down the precipice below.
I surveyed my surroundings from the cave that had formed in the middle of the massive cliff.

‘The enormous cliff that envelops the Underground City.’

His gaze descended downward.
That place where time had frozen for a thousand years.

‘Then I would see nothing but the barren Land of Death.’

A gasp.
The Mercenary King’s exclamation reached my ears.
I closed my eyes quietly, then opened them.

A thousand years.

“It’s beautiful.”

A paradise-like land, utterly devoid of any human presence yet breathtakingly beautiful, was reflected in my eyes.

‘But that land reflected in your eyes will appear as a paradise.’

Lord Sherit spoke with a melancholic smile.

‘Because it is the village that my precious friend and I have carefully cultivated and protected.’

A paradise-like place that had been concealed for a thousand years was etched into my memory.
I unfastened one button on my collar.

A paradise with neither people nor animals appeared to me as nothing more than a dead land.

“Let’s go.”

My body slowly descended toward the ground below the cliff.

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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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