Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 439

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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 97. Are You Trying to Deceive Me?

“Human! Can you teleport?”

Raon asked while casually stuffing the elaborate desserts from the Roan Kingdom’s finest pastry chef into his subspace pocket.
Raon’s subspace had already become little more than a refrigerator. At six years old in dragon years, he was in the midst of a growth spurt.

‘…I don’t think I see any vegetables.’

Kale Heniatus noticed that among all the food filling the subspace, there were no vegetables, and he grew concerned about this young dragon’s picky eating habits.

“Human, why are you staring? Do you want some? I can share with you!”
“…Never mind.”
“Ah!”

Raon clapped his two front paws together like applause.

“Human wants pajeon, gochujang, and doenjang! Don’t worry! Vicross will make them for sure!”

Kale Heniatus’s piercing gaze turned toward Choi Han. But Choi Han let that gaze pass through him like a breeze, and Kale Heniatus sighed softly, lowering his head as he began clearing away the scattered items on the table.

‘…Perhaps the elder was simply craving Korean food.’

Kale Heniatus tried to understand Choi Han’s feelings.
That was when it happened.

“Kale Heniatus.”
“What? Are you craving gochujang?”

At the sound of Choi Han’s sigh, Kale Heniatus finally looked at him with an awkward expression. He saw Choi Han’s worried face—an expression full of hesitation and concern. Kale Heniatus’s expression changed strangely as he met that gaze.

‘What is this human—’

Click. Click.

‘Why is he clicking his sword sheath with such a worried expression? I keep seeing swords poking out of it.’

With a face full of worry, Choi Han rattled the hilt of his sword, and each time a cool blade glinted from the scabbard before disappearing again.
Kale straightened his shoulders with deliberate confidence and met Choi Han’s gaze unflinchingly.

‘…I simply cannot fathom Lord Kale’s reasoning.’

Choi Han swallowed a sigh at the composed look in my eyes and opened his mouth.

“Lord Kale, I have heard that dead mana is something the White Star requires so desperately that he commands tribute for it.”

The former Crown Prince Adin of Mogur and the Black Mages had offered dead mana to the White Star. This meant that dead mana was either essential to him or beneficial to his cause.

Choi Han reminded me of this.
Of course, I already knew this.
I recalled the conversation I had shared with the Ancient Powers back on Wind Island.

‘The one with the Sky attribute periodically absorbed dead mana. This dead mana storage on Wind Island was also an offering for that creature.’
‘Why does the one with the Sky attribute need dead mana?’
‘I don’t know that much. I’ve tried to find out several times, but failed.’

Choi Han’s voice continued.

“Furthermore, beneath the White Star there still remain the Black Mages and the Lion King.”

He stated the facts to me plainly.

“During that period, in the Land of Death, their power will be formidable.”

A battlefield wreathed in the smoke of dead mana. There, those with the Dark attribute would be more vibrant than ever.

“Conversely, for myself, Lord Kale, and those without the Dark attribute, it will be a grueling battle.”

Especially if the Lion King once again drew the Black Curtain as he had in the previous battle at the Northern Alchemy Tower, my available allies would be severely limited.

“You understand this situation better than anyone, do you not, Lord Kale? And so—”

Choi Han paused briefly before continuing in a measured tone.

“So, I heard that Vicross, Ron, Rosalind, Lord Erhafen, On, and Hong will all be absent. Of course, the Mercenary King as well.”

This morning, before the ceremony to award merit and the banquet began, Choi Han witnessed Kale ordering his group not to venture into the Desert of the Land of Death.
It was after receiving a letter from the Market Master through the Dark Elf Tasha.

“You said you would eliminate the White Star’s right arm.”

The White Star’s right arm would undoubtedly refer to either the Bear King or the Lion King Dorf. Eliminating one of them would certainly make future battles against the White Star considerably easier.
However, the current situation Choi Han observed was not about the White Star’s right arm.

“Perhaps we will end up fighting with one limb each missing from our side. Will you still fight under those circumstances?”

No matter how many Merry and the Dark Elves there were.
In that vast desert, our forces would have to fight with more than half our strength depleted.

‘And on top of that, even Lord Kale cannot fight properly this time.’

During the previous battle at the Northern Alchemy Tower, beneath Dorf’s Black Curtain, Kale had fought at the forefront more than anyone else. He alone had been able to exert his full power.

‘But Lord Kale is ultimately human.’

Dead mana smoke.
That dead mana smoke, spreading through the air rather than as liquid, was something Kale also had to avoid.

“No matter how I look at it, I believe this battle in the Land of Death should take place after the period the Market Master mentioned has passed. There is no need to fight while our forces have suffered such heavy losses.”

That was when it happened.

“Raon, didn’t you tell Choi Han about it?”

Huh?
Choi Han could see Kale casually asking Raon. And Raon, having forgotten to put the dessert into the subspace, looked up at Choi Han with wavering eyes.

“Oh, clever Choi Han! I forgot to tell you!”
“You forgot?”
“Choi Han.”

Choi Han, who was about to respond to Raon’s words, turned his gaze toward Kale, who was calling him.

“When I was video communicating this morning, didn’t I leave midway to visit the Crown Prince?”
“You did, sir.”

Choi Han, who was scheduled to enter separately from Kale, was alone in the Crown Prince’s Palace.

“Is there something important that I haven’t heard about?”
“Well, it’s like this.”

Kale paused briefly in thought before speaking.

“Do you remember the Dragon Hybrid?”

The Dragon Hybrid.
The creature I had fought in the Valley of Death, Breck Kingdom, was now living quietly at the Eastern Continent Inn.

“I do.”

Though the topic had emerged abruptly, Choi Han knew that Kale would eventually answer his questions, so he listened obediently to what Kale had to say.
Kale spoke to him matter-of-factly.

“That creature doesn’t have much time left to live.”

In that moment, Kale’s gaze turned toward Raon. The round eyes stared at Kale with unwavering clarity.

Kale recalled one of the things the Dragon Hybrid had said.

‘However, I am ultimately a created being, so my secondary growth reached its limit over nine hundred years. And up until my secondary growth, I consumed a total of four dragon hearts that person gave me. Including the heart inscribed upon my body, I am a being created from the lives of five dragons.’

Five dragons’ lives and hearts.
A living creature that contained all of them—the Dragon Hybrid.

‘…I smell the Lord. That power just now was definitely the Lord. I know it. I’ve definitely smelled it before.’

And despite living for nine hundred years, a creature that recognized the scent of the Dragon Lord who had vanished nine thousand years ago.
Kale’s brow furrowed.

‘Raon had the Red Egg, his sibling.’

Whenever Kale thought of the Dragon Hybrid, there were so many questions to ask.
The day to ask those questions would not be far off.
He looked at Choi Han and spoke.

“Summer is drawing to a close. Autumn will soon arrive.”

Choi Han’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
The Dragon Hybrid had been granted approximately six months from the beginning. The day his life would end was not far off. Even now, it would not be strange if his existence crumbled away into nothingness.

“I made one promise with that bastard.”

Of course, Kale Heniatus had never directly used the word “promise” in conversation with the Dragon Hybrid.
Yet it was undoubtedly a promise.

Kale Heniatus had told the Dragon Hybrid:

‘Rest for now, and when I call upon you again later. At that time, we will go to fight Dark together.’

When he had visited the Eastern Continent Inn before, he had asked the Dragon Hybrid—who was washing dishes in the backyard—if he remembered those words.
And the Dragon Hybrid had answered that he did.
The conversation they had shared that day came flooding back.

‘I know.’

The Dragon Hybrid had answered thus and added:

‘…I believe it would be a fitting place to stake everything in a final battle.’
‘Are you speaking of yourself?’
‘Yes.’

It was the moment an unspoken promise took shape between Kale Heniatus and the Dragon Hybrid. Kale Heniatus spoke his commitment aloud.

“I promised him that before he dies, we would destroy the Arm Secret Base together.”

To destroy the Arm Secret Base on the Eastern Continent.
A glimmer of realization flickered across Choi Han’s eyes.

The right arm of the White Star. Now he finally understood what it signified. As Choi Han’s gaze fixed upon Kale Heniatus, the latter’s lips parted.

“The moment the White Star sets foot into the Land of Death.”

On the Western Continent, when that creature and his subordinates—whether the Bear King or the Lion King, whoever they might be—powerful beings had their feet ensnared in the desert.

“From that day forward, the Dark will vanish from this world.”

The White Star’s right arm disappeared.
Choi Han’s mouth fell open.

“Then preventing Vicross, Erhafen, and the others from coming to the desert was—”
“Your current thoughts are likely correct.”
“…So they’re staying on the Eastern Continent to destroy the Dark’s secret base.”
“That’s right.”

Only then could Choi Han grasp the full scope of Kale’s plan.

Kale had sent Ron and the others not to the desert, but to the Eastern Continent. By now, they were likely consolidating all the forces he had cultivated there, centered around Ron, the patriarch of the Molan Family.

For the fall of the Dark.

“Choi Han, when the Dark disappears, the White Star’s foundation on the Eastern Continent crumbles with it.”

The White Star, the Bear King, the Lion King—all were formidable.
Yet if the world were governed solely by strength, it would have long been ruled by only a handful of powerful forces.
But in this world, there existed cases where a collective of many weak ones proved stronger than a few mighty ones.
Kale intended to dismantle the very organization the White Star commanded.

“And we’re fighting?”
“Kale.”
“Choi Han, are we fighting the White Star?”

The corners of Kale’s mouth lifted.

“No.”

Why waste strength on an enemy I cannot kill right now?

“We won’t be fighting the White Star this time.”

The Dark Elves had already completed all their preparations and were waiting.

“We’re simply going to restrain them.”
“Human! Didn’t you say earlier that we would have fun?”

Kale Heniatus smoothly pretended not to hear Raon’s words. Instead, he retrieved something from his pocket and placed it on the table.
A soft clink.
The metallic sound of something hard. Choi Han’s eyes widened as he grasped its identity.

“…A golden token?”
“Yes, a special golden token.”

True to Kale Heniatus’s words, this golden token differed from the one Choi Han had seen before. It gleamed more brilliantly, and the intricate pattern engraved at its center carried an inexplicable solemnity.
Kale Heniatus traced his finger across the token’s surface.

“The meaning of this golden token is simple. It means: ‘What I speak now are the words of the Crown Prince himself.'”
“…Is this the golden token you received this time?”
“Yes, this is it.”

Kale Heniatus tucked the golden token back into his pocket, and Raon immediately began activating the teleportation magic circle.
From within the Terrace came the sounds of festive music and laughter, yet these were not for Kale Heniatus to enjoy.

He spoke as he stepped onto the teleportation circle.

“I’m going to meet Prince Valentino.”

I needed to visit Prince Valentino of the Caro Kingdom.

“He doesn’t know there’s an underground city beneath the desert. He believes the Dark Elves and Merry are all from the Roan Kingdom—merely secret forces under Crown Prince Alberu’s command.”

During the naval battle of the Caro Kingdom, the Dark Elves had appeared suddenly after crossing the Land of Death. Prince Valentino and everyone else had concluded they were Roan Kingdom forces who had traveled across the desert through a secret route originating from Roan.
This was because of what Kale Heniatus had told Prince Valentino when the Dark Elves first appeared.

‘Now all of Roan’s forces have assembled.’

From that moment on, the Dark Elves had become Roan’s forces.
Kale Heniatus, the Dark Elves, and Alberu all intended to leave this misunderstanding intact.

This was greatly influenced by the Dark Elves’ own judgment.
Knowing the reason behind their judgment, Kale Heniatus was willing to respect their wishes.

“If we’re about to cause a commotion in the Land of Death soon, there will be explosions and chaos. We should at least get permission to use it, shouldn’t we?”

Choi Han spoke as he stepped onto the teleportation circle.

“You’re not going there just to warn me not to needlessly interfere, are you?”
“Ah, seriously.”

Kale Heniatus answered with a smile.

“How do you know my heart so well?”

With those words, Kale Heniatus, Choi Han, and Raon vanished from the Terrace in a brilliant flash of light.

And soon they arrived not in the east where the Roan Kingdom lay, but in a city on the western edge of the Western Continent.

-We’ve turned invisible!

Kale Heniatus opened his eyes at Raon’s words, and immediately bowed toward the figure before him.

“It has been a long time, Your Highness.”
“Yes, it’s good to see you!”

Prince Valentino greeted Kale Heniatus and Choi Han warmly with a friendly expression.
In that moment, Raon’s voice reached Kale Heniatus’s mind.

-Human! Ron Grandpa sent word! He says everything is ready!

Kale Heniatus’s smile deepened.

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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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