Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 385

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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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‘Sacrifice.’

Rather than answer Jjangdol’s question, Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“What are you doing?”

Ah.
Choi Han snapped back to awareness at Kale Heniatus’s voice. He realized he was still hunched over, staring blankly at the open pages before him.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Choi Han forced strength into his trembling voice as he answered. His hand quickly picked up the fallen record book. The open pages closed once more.
His hand quickly picked up the fallen document. The open book closed again.

“Choi Han! Are you okay?”

Choi Han smiled broadly and nodded at Raon’s question. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled.

Choi Han’s heart raced.
Choi Han’s heart pounded.

He stared at the cover of the record book in his hands.
He stared at the cover of the record book in his hand.

The Birth of a Hero

Choi Han couldn’t bring himself to open the record.

“What did I just see?”

The words he had read in that instant organized themselves in his thoughts.
The information I had read naturally organized itself in my mind.

Let the one who has monopolized that power face off against the one with the Sky attribute.
The one who seizes power first shall fight against the one who possesses the Sky attribute.

“…sacrifice yourself.”

In the end, it was telling him to sacrifice himself.
Even if he wouldn’t die, it meant standing at the vanguard of battle where he’d sustain the most injuries.

Choi Han felt sweat forming on his palms. But he had no time to leisurely wipe away the perspiration and compose himself.

‘Right now, Raon and Kale Heniatus are watching me.’

I couldn’t let those two see me wavering. I slowly began turning the pages of the book.

‘Right, let me read first. Let me examine it first and then think.’

One couldn’t judge everything based on information from a single moment.
I slowly, but without hesitation, began reading the words Choi Jung-gun had left behind—the Korean text.

【It was when I, Choi Jung-gun, was playing in a valley with friends. At some point, a force that enveloped and pulled me in made me lose consciousness, and when I opened my eyes again, I was in a place that wasn’t Korea.】
【That place was called the Dark Forest.】

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded fiercely.

It was my uncle.
My youngest uncle had also vanished in an instant while playing with friends in a valley, hadn’t he?

‘Of all places, he ended up in the Dark Forest.’

The Dark Forest where Choi Jung-gun had opened his eyes.
Though ten thousand years of enormous time separated the ancient past from the present, I was certain that place was the Dark Forest where I had fallen.
It was because of the following passage.

【The Dark Forest is located on the Western Continent, a vast forest existing in a place with many stones. There, a temperamental old man who handles stones existed in a position similar to a Guardian.】

A place with many stones on the Western Continent.
It had to be the Roan Kingdom, the Heniatus Territory.
The temperamental old man was surely the one who created the Jjangdol Mansion.

‘…What in the world does our family have that causes such a twist of fate—’

I couldn’t know whether my falling into this world following Choi Jung-gun was coincidence or if there was some deeper reason behind it.

I was a stranger in this world. Nature itself rejected me. But I found people who could be called ‘ours.’
Jjangdol gave me the foundation to survive in this world. Though I now make my home in the Castle of Light, my true homeland is the Land of Stone where the Dark Forest once stood.

Choi Han paused in thought.

Choi Jung-gun. My uncle’s life and mine are remarkably similar.

I too had fallen into the Dark Forest, abandoned by the world, drowning in loneliness and despair. Especially after witnessing what happened to Harris Village, I was barely sane.

Who did I meet then?
Who gave me food when I was sharpening my blade with all my might, and allowed me to find a home to return to and people like family?

That person inherited the strength of Jjangdol from this very book.

Kale Heniatus.
It all began with that name.

Raon, On, Hong, Ron, Vicross, Rosalind, Rak, Merry…
The names I met in this world filled my mind countless times over.

At the same time, a certain fear washed over Choi Han.

My uncle’s life and mine are similar.

…And Choi Jung-gun was the only one who survived the final battle against the Ancient White Star.

‘If I were to become like that too—’

Choi Han shook his head.
That would not happen.
It must not happen.
Everyone dead, only I surviving.

‘Rather than that—’

As Choi Han turned the page, a single sentence caught his eye.

I thought to myself.
If I had known it would come to this.
If I had known I would be the sole survivor.
I should have sacrificed myself instead and saved the others.

Choi Han, whose fingers had paused briefly, turned the page again. The pages continued to turn.
Like a still lake, Choi Han read through the record without any change in expression, his presence serene.

But Choi Jung-gun’s memoir was anything but serene.
His emotions churned like a whirlpool.

Unlike the rather detached manner in which he recorded information about the Ancient White Star and useful intelligence, he had etched his feelings throughout the pages of the book.

…Everyone died except me. I wish I had died with them back then…
…At first, I was not in my right mind. Even living felt like I wasn’t truly alive. Every night, I saw the faces of comrades and those like family dying before me.

The same words and similar sentiments continued scattered throughout.
Choi Jung-gun’s despair and regret carved deeply into Choi Han’s heart. This was not merely someone else’s story to hear and forget.
Choi Han steeled himself, focusing his eyes.

But I regained my senses. Because I had to honor the request that uncle left me with. He told me this: let us not create such tragedy again. If another White Star appears, if another wielder of the sky attribute emerges, then we must stop it with minimal casualties.
That promise is what kept me alive.
That word saved my life.

Gradually, the truth began to come to light.

Many remnants of the Dark Forest faction that followed the White Star remained, and wicked individuals appeared, seeking to satisfy their ambitions in the gap left by the White Star and the strong ones’ absence.
Another chaos, another war was on the brink of unfolding.
Another chaos and war were about to unfold.

After that came a period of transition.
It was then that Choi Jung-gun made a vow.
At that moment, Choi Jung-gun made one resolution.

So I, being weak, had to deceive the world. And the one who helped me do that was my eternal friend, Sherit.

A human and a dragon moved to the Eastern Continent Light Castle.

People praised me as a hero for surviving that final battle. They mistook me for a strong man. It was only natural—I alone had survived. Everyone else in that place had perished.
But here’s the thing.
I possessed only the power to feign strength. Yet in this era, merely bearing an aura rivaling a dragon, merely holding the title of a lone survivor-hero, was enough to draw people to me.
Of course, those who stood beside me and aided me knew the true nature of my power.

The boy whom the Guardian of Stone had protected because he was the weakest had become, at some point, the strongest being in the human world.
He deceived the world.

But I had no intention of merely deceiving the world and leaving it at that.

Choi Jung-gun sought to transform that lie into truth.
To accomplish this, he wagered his own lifespan.

Earlier, I wrote that I had created the Calamity Sword by pouring my power into it.

A being with a lifespan rivaling a dragon, pouring nearly a thousand years of existence into a single force.

I poured all my remaining lifespan—save for the six months needed to leave this record—into creating one power.

Choi Han bit his lip.
The Calamity Sword.
He knew of this power as well.

This power would likely be inherited by the Dragon Slayers who came after me.

True to Choi Jung-gun’s words, that power had been passed down through the ages and was now possessed by the White Star, who had even created a false Calamity Sword containing roughly half his power, which he entrusted to the false Dragon Slayer Sirem.
And Sirem was currently imprisoned in the Roan Kingdom Underground Dungeon.

In that moment, Choi Han’s pupils trembled.

To you, a fellow otherworlder reading these words:
In this village, the strongest becomes the Dragon Slayer of the next generation.
I hope that you will become that Dragon Slayer and claim this Calamity Sword.

Rustle. Rustle.
Choi Han’s hand turning the pages did not tremble in the slightest.

The Calamity Sword—this power, which literally contains calamity, will only truly unleash its strength when it falls into the hands of an otherworlder rejected by nature itself.

But Choi Han’s heart pounded fiercely.

【I imagine it.】
【If I possessed the Sword of Calamity, the crown, and two powers of the earth.】
【Then perhaps I could overcome the heavens.】

The crown and one power of the earth.
That was what Kale Heniatus currently possessed.

【Outsider. Do you not have precious bonds in this place as well?】

Yes.
They are precious.
So very, very precious.

People I met only after spending decades, countless hours together.

Choi Han’s hand, which had been turning pages, stopped at the final page.
A page written in Eastern Continent language appeared first.

【The one who sought to become a god is dead.】
【And all the heroes are dead.】

A smile began to form at the corners of Choi Han’s lips.
His gaze traced over another language’s record written on the final page.

The final record of Choi Jung-gun, written in Korean.

【Yet in the moment of crisis, the hero shall be born anew.】
【The hero shall surely be born.】

Thud.
Choi Han closed the book.
His head lifted, a serene smile gracing his face. Then he saw Kale Heniatus gazing at him.
With his usual expressionless face, Kale Heniatus stroked Raon’s head and opened his mouth.

“How is it?”

His voice remained as calm and measured as always.
Yet even as Choi Han held a smile at the corners of his lips, he could not bring himself to speak hastily.
Before he could accept Kale Heniatus’s outstretched hand, Raon flew toward him instead.

“Human! I knew it! Our Choi Han figured it all out! Our Choi Han is so clever! Far smarter than that dimwitted Mercenary King!”

Even in that moment, I could see Kale Heniatus’s eyes fixed upon me.
As always, Kale Heniatus spoke.

“Yes. Choi Han is clever.”

Kale Heniatus stepped forward and approached me.
He snatched the record book from my hands and began flipping through the pages rapidly.
I watched silently as he did so.
Then I paused.

“Choi Han, do you know which part of this record book left the deepest impression on me?”

His fingers stopped at the final page.
Kale Heniatus traced his finger across the sentences written in Eastern Continent language on the last page.

“The final page.”

I could see the final sentences beneath his tracing finger.

【The one who sought to become a god is dead.】
【And all the heroes are dead.】

Kale Heniatus continued.

“I don’t like the final sentence.”

I considered it.
The final sentence Kale Heniatus spoke of must be referring to ‘And all the heroes are dead.’

But Kale Heniatus was pointing at both sentences.
The Eastern Continent language. And the sentences written in Korean respectively.

“And all the heroes died.”
“A hero must always be born.”

I didn’t like those sentences.
Even though I was already being called a hero on the Western Continent, it was a contradiction.

“Choi Han, do you remember what I said to you once?”

I recalled the words I had spoken to Choi Han.

“That you are writing your own history.”

During the Heniatus Territory battle, I had told Choi Han something.

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

Choi Han recalled those words once more. And at the same time, he savored this present moment.
Different from ancient times, now ten thousand years have passed.

“I, and Raon as well, are writing our own history. It is not the history of heroes.”

My voice reached Choi Han without the slightest wavering.
Choi Han finally made up his mind.
No, he became certain.

This direction was correct.

“So? Did you finish reading?”
“Yes.”

Choi Han answered my question without hesitation.
I then asked him something.

“Then, what do you have to say?”

I waited for Choi Han’s response.
He would understand my intention.
Because he was clever.
And because I trusted him. We had time spent together.

—Will we have to make a sacrifice?

Jjangdol asked again, and I answered silently within my mind.

‘No. We will not sacrifice anyone.’

In that moment, Choi Han spoke.

“I will become the Dragon Slayer.”

Raon hesitated.
But Choi Han continued.

He had read Choi Jung-gun’s memoirs and feared losing those precious to him, consumed by anxiety.
Yet Choi Han was different from Choi Jung-gun, and he had learned a way of living through his own experiences.
We had our own path.

“And I believe Kale Heniatus must become the Guardian.”

Choi Han spoke with conviction to Kale Heniatus, who gazed at me.

“Be our shield.”

And without hesitation, he added:

“I will stand beside you and become the sword.”

Choi Han had made his resolve.

No one would die.
Not me, and not the others.

Raon was also reflected in his gaze.

“Raon must steadfastly support Kale Heniatus from behind.”

It was not only Kale Heniatus, Choi Han, and Raon.

“Our companions must stand with us as well. We all have a role to play.”

My lips curved upward slowly.

Yes. This is it.
Choi Han had finally grasped our way of fighting.

“Lord Kale Heniatus, we must combine our strength.”

A smile bloomed across my face.

The story had vanished.
Now it was our history.

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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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