Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 376

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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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Crunch.
Leaves crumbled beneath Kale Heniatus’s feet.

“…I never thought such a place could actually exist.”

The Mercenary King Bud gazed around with an expression of disbelief, unable to conceal his astonishment.
Those who had descended slowly to the ground using Raon’s flight magic looked around, each displaying their own varied emotions.

“It’s even more incredible than the Underground City!”
“Truly! Wow! Wow!”

On and Hong wandered about with their mouths agape, too busy marveling at their surroundings.

“…I thought it would be something like the Underground City.”

Choi Han murmured, surveying the area around him.

The Dark Elves’ Underground City had many trees as well. There was even an artificially created river.
All of it was thanks to magic and spirits.

When Choi Han had seen that Underground City, he had thought it was ‘a well-constructed city.’
A beautiful and pleasant city where Dark Elves and humans coexisted in harmony.

‘But this place is different.’

This vast expanse, several times larger than the City of Life, was truly ‘nature’ itself.
It didn’t feel artificially created.
Situated in a place surrounded by towering cliffs that formed walls on all sides, everything here felt utterly natural.

“…It’s free.”

At Bud’s observation, Choi Han nodded in agreement and lifted his gaze.

On the ceiling of the vast underground space hung a small sphere that shone like the sun itself.
Beneath it, trees grew freely.
Flowers, all manner of plants flourished as nature intended.

It wasn’t beautiful alone.
I could see plants dying and rotting, fruits decaying as well.
That was what true nature was.

Choi Han slowly turned in a circle, taking in the surroundings.

A quiet yet vibrant and free space.
Paradise seemed fitting.
It felt as though war and everything else had no place here.

“Kale Heniatus.”

As I turned to survey the area, my eyes met Kale Heniatus’s. My lips parted of their own accord, and admiration for this beautiful space flowed out.

“This place is truly beautiful.”
“Even after seeing that?”
“…What?”

But I could see Kale Heniatus’s hardened expression.
I looked toward where he was pointing.

Kale Heniatus indicated the cave near the middle of the cliff from which our group had escaped.

The cliff where that cave existed.
The moment I saw it, my expression froze.

I hadn’t noticed it when descending near the cliff.
I had thought it was simply a rough and jagged cliff.
Because the other cliffs were just cliffs.

Bud’s face contorted as he followed Kale Heniatus and Choi Han’s gaze toward the cliff.

“…Could those be letters?”

Enormous lines were carved into the cliff.
They were marks carved so deeply that time itself seemed unable to erase them.

“…Damn.”

Bud took a step backward.

He needed to distance himself further.
Away from the cliff.

Only then could he discern what those deeply carved lines meant.

“Ah.”

Finally, after retreating several paces, Bud’s eyes caught the characters inscribed upon the cliff face.
Sentences written in the common tongue of the Eastern Continent.

Bud read the characters at the very top.

“Grow stronger. And save the world.”

A sword.
Those massive lines forming characters—they were unmistakably carved by a blade.
Such precision demanded at least a Sword Master’s skill.
No, beyond the distinction of whether one could emit aura or not, one’s pure swordsmanship would have to be supreme.

Bud wetted his parched mouth with liquor.
He had no choice.
The first sentence he had just read.
The characters carved beneath it, which he had yet to decipher.

“…This appears to be carved by someone else.”

The sentence below differed in handwriting from the one above it.

Those who carved characters into a cliff with a blade, yet revealed their own penmanship.
Those who wielded a sword like a brush—their skill must be formidable indeed.

He glanced around at his companions.
They had already read through the Mercenary Guild’s roster with Erhafen’s translation magic.
They too must have seen the characters carved by this other person.

Yet Bud opened his mouth and began reading the sentence he had not yet deciphered.

“I will dominate the world. Do not resent me.”

The first inscription carved into the stone.

【Grow stronger. And save the world.】

The inscription carved beneath it.

【I will dominate the world. Do not resent me.】

Bud could not discern who had carved the first inscription.
But he felt he could identify who had carved the final one.

“…The White Star.”

It must surely be the White Star, the final Dragon Slayer.
It was a mark he had left for the villagers before he departed to destroy Lord Sherit’s castle.

“This place is… beautiful?”

Bud heard Kale Heniatus’s murmuring voice.

“I hear no birdsong, no insect calls. Only false illusions like plants and warm sunlight, suffocating walls.”

Bud’s eyes met Kale Heniatus’s.
Kale Heniatus spoke with an expressionless face, his words cast carelessly.

“If the world’s mightiest warriors were born and died here, they must have felt terribly confined.”

He took a step forward and added:

“It must have felt like a prison.”

A prison.
Bud could say nothing.

“You’re quiet.”
“…Huh? No, I was just—!”

Bud scratched his head as he watched Kale Heniatus pass by him.
However, Kale Heniatus hadn’t been speaking to Bud.

He had addressed the fearsome Jjangdol instead.

But no response came back.
Since repelling the White Star’s assault, the Ancient Powers had fallen silent.

Yet Kale Heniatus needed Jjangdol.
He needed information about the First Dragon Slayer that Jjangdol had protected.

“Ahem. Kale, regarding your theory that this place might be a prison—I think—”
“Quiet.”

Kale Heniatus silenced Bud.
Bud looked at him with an aggrieved expression, but Kale Heniatus gestured to Raon instead.

“Let’s head to the Central area.”

Kale Heniatus lifted his gaze above the dense forest canopy.

A colossal Stone Building rose between the trees.
Though ensnared by trunks and vines, it was unmistakably a structure.

“The Village is located there.”

Whoosh.
The Voice of Wind swirled around Kale Heniatus’s feet.
He pushed off the ground.
His companions followed in his wake.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

Kale Heniatus parted the foliage and pressed forward.
This untouched place resembled a Jungle.

“Lord Kale.”

Choi Han pointed ahead.
On and Hong, moving through the trees, cried out.

“There seems to be a village ahead!”
“I can see buildings!”
“Human! It’s over there!”

Kale’s gaze had already turned toward the spot Raon’s two front paws indicated.

A vast clearing came into view.
In the heart of the forest.

Structures built of stone or wood emerged from the undergrowth.
Buildings crumbling to ruin or smothered in vegetation, their age impossible to determine.
At the entrance to the village where these buildings stood, two colossal statues had been erected.

“Swordsmen.”

The enormous statues guarding the village entrance were warriors kneeling on one knee.

Clang!
Choi Han drew his sword.

Flash!
Light glimmered in the eyes of both statues.

‘I placed Guardians at the village entrance. They are the ones who protect the village.’

One of Lord Sherit’s pieces of advice surfaced in the group’s minds.

Rumble—!
Boom!
The two statues, the Guardians, rose to their feet, their bodies covered in vines after a thousand years of abandonment.

Crack!
Snap!
The vines binding their bodies tore away.
Simultaneously, the two warrior statues drew massive stone swords.
The blades pointed toward Kale’s group.

However, Kale Heniatus and his group did not slow their pace. Rather, as they drew closer to the village, they accelerated.

Boom! Thud!

The Guardians shifted their stance. And the two of them deployed their combined formation.
Guardians of colossal size—three times that of Choi Han.
They raised their swords high toward the sky.

And the moment those blades descended toward the earth.

“I’m going first.”

I burst forward.
Choi Han’s blade followed, slashing diagonally.

Whoosh!
The branches blocking my path were severed by Choi Han’s aura.
Nothing stood in my way anymore.

Whooom!
A stone sword descended toward me.
And.

Boom!
Thud!

The stone swords fell to the ground.
Simultaneously, the Guardians’ bodies shifted.

Thud! Thud!
The massive Guardian’s two knees gouged deep into the earth.
The swordsmen had knelt.
The stone swords were embedded in the ground.

Whoosh—
Between the two Guardians.
I descended lightly to the ground, having wielded the wind.

Lord Sherit spoke.

‘When the moment comes for the Guardian to appear.’

A white crown rested upon Kale Heniatus’s head as he descended to the ground.

‘Kale Heniatus, become king.’

The two Guardians bowed their heads deeply before me.

‘That land belongs to the Dragon Slayer. All things will welcome the king’s return.’

I gazed beyond the colossal kneeling statues.

The Stone Building that had loomed majestically between the trees from a distance now revealed its full form directly before me.

‘There is a Stone Building in the center of the Village.’

I took a step toward the Stone Building.

‘A protective barrier envelops that building. It was created together by me and the First Dragon Slayer.’

A translucent barrier wrapped around the Stone Building, which was covered in tree bark and vines.

‘Plants and water can freely approach that building, but humans and animals cannot cross that barrier.’

I moved forward without hesitation.
Nothing stood in my way.

I stepped toward the barrier.

Uuuuung—
The white crown upon my head vibrated.

Crack!
At the same moment, the barrier surrounding the Stone Building vanished.
I glanced back to confirm my companions following behind, then entered the Stone Building that had remained untouched by human footsteps for a thousand years.

‘That Stone Building was both the home of the First Dragon Slayer and the protective barrier created for him.’

It was a building that only those bearing the crown of the Dragon Slayer could enter across generations.

“…How fascinating.”

Those following behind me turned their gaze upon my back at my murmur.
Yet I did not turn to face them, instead passing through the dilapidated staircase and heading toward the center of the building beyond the entrance.

In the center of the empty first-floor hall stood a single Altar.
Walking toward it, I opened my mouth once more.

“A thousand years have passed, yet the traces of humanity remain untouched.”

Bud’s expression hardened at my words.

From the moment we descended from the Cave and set foot upon this land, not a single skull had been visible. One might assume they had crumbled to dust with the passage of time, yet clothing remained, vessels remained.

In the Training Ground outside the Stone Building, traces of toys that children had once played with were evident.
No people remained, but their traces persisted.
Traces brimming with vitality.

It was as though those who had spent a peaceful day had suddenly vanished from the world without leaving even bones behind, while their belongings and traces alone had remained untouched for a thousand years.
Bud found himself wondering whether this assumption was merely imagination or perhaps reality itself.

Yet he soon collected himself and followed me toward the Altar.
Lord Sherit had spoken to them.
That there existed a record written by the First Dragon Slayer.
That all answers would be contained within it.

‘Examine the record upon the Altar.’

She had said that within it, one might discover the weakness of the White Star.

‘Only one who can wear the crown upon their head may claim the record.’

Bud gazed upon the crown atop my head.
Only I would be able to claim the record upon the Altar in this place.

As Bud reached the Altar, he beheld a rather thick record resting upon it.
The record, wrapped in a sturdy protective barrier, remained in pristine condition despite the passage of ten thousand years since the First Dragon Slayer.

That record book would soon be in Kale Heniatus’s hands.
Bud’s heart pounded in his chest.
It was a rather pleasant tension.

“…Lord Kale Heniatus?”
“Human?”

However, Bud’s face stiffened at the sound of his companions calling out to Kale Heniatus.

“…Hey, what’s wrong?”

Bud found the expression on Kale Heniatus’s face unfamiliar.
He had never seen such a look before.

Kale Heniatus’s face had gone deathly pale.

Kale Heniatus clenched his fists.
His fingertips trembled. He wiped his face with shaking hands.

The record book on the altar came into view.
The record book that had endured ten thousand years, wrapped in a protective barrier.

The title and cover of that record book became visible.

The Birth of a Hero.
Neran Berow.

It was the title and author of that book which Kim Rok-soo had laughed at, saying what kind of pretentious title and author name was that, and had read up to the fifth volume.

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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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