Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 441

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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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-Are you saying there’s fire visible in the desert right now?

Choi Han answered Tasha’s question instead of Kale, having grasped the situation from the casual flow of conversation.

“Yes. We can see massive flames engulfing the desert. At any moment—”

Choi Han paused briefly before continuing.

“Those colossal flames appear ready to sweep across the desert and consume Dubori Territory, and even reach Yengen City.”
“…That’s strange.”

Choi Han looked toward Kale. Kale handed the video communication device to Choi Han and instructed Raon.

“Cast a flight spell. We need to see what’s happening outside.”

Kale hurried toward the window at the end of the corridor. The window swung open with a sharp click, and he immediately leaped out through it.
Choi Han followed right behind him.

Whoooosh—
Their bodies did not fall downward. Instead, they soared upward.

-Of course I am magnificent!

Lifted by Raon’s flight magic, the two of them could finally see the full landscape of Yengen City.

Wee-wee-weee— Wee-wee-weee—
The warning sirens blaring across the entire city pierced sharply into Kale’s ears.

“It’s chaos.”

Just as Choi Han said, all of Yengen City was consumed by pandemonium. People rushed about frantically, their eyes wide with confusion and alarm.

“What on earth is happening!”
“Is it an earthquake?”

Boom!
The ground trembled once more.

“Ugh! All the fruits spilled!”
“Grab the display stand!”

The merchants clutched their wares while those who had been running stopped in their tracks, crouching down to survey their surroundings.

“In the desert! A massive fire in the Land of Death! Is that fire causing these tremors?”
“Is that fire coming toward our city?”

Kale swiftly wrapped a robe around himself from head to toe, then descended downward.
He surveyed his surroundings in a relatively less crowded area, a golden spinning top held in his hand.

Boom.
The ground trembled once more.

“Go investigate.”
‘Understood! Wait, I’ll be back soon!’
‘…Tremors, chaos, destruction. I will discover the truth. And I must meet the World Tree. Baby Fire Spirit, you wait as well.’

The two Wind Spirits departed from Kale’s side.

“Lord Kale!”

At Choi Han’s voice, Kale turned to see him with his hand pressed to the ground, eyes closed. He opened them moments later, meeting Kale’s gaze.

“The tremors are coming from the west.”

The west.
Where the desert of the Land of Death lay.

-…Young master, everything here is perfectly fine.

At that moment, a video communication device in Choi Han’s hand displayed Tasha’s image.

A tranquil desert landscape appeared.
Though covered in reddish sand in the daylight, there was nothing but desolation—no flames, nothing at all.

“Not the desert.”

However, the vibrations were coming from the west.
Then there was only one answer.

“The Dubori Territory forces.”

The White Star must have done something there.

-Human! Prince Valentino is trying to contact you!

Prince Valentino, whom I had just parted ways with, was requesting a communication connection.

“Tasha, don’t act rashly. Quietly investigate the situation in Dubori Territory.”
-Dubori Territory?
“Yes. Be careful. If it seems dangerous, don’t touch it. Perhaps.”

Kale Heniatus paused for a moment before continuing.

“Perhaps the White Star has already descended upon that place.”
-Understood.

After the communication with Tasha ended, Kale Heniatus slipped into a sparsely populated alley and gazed at the video communication device from the shadows.
On the reconnected video communication device, Prince Valentino’s stern face was visible.

-Prince Kale Heniatus.

His eyes were trembling with rage.

-I cannot reach the Lord of Dubori.

So something had indeed happened in Dubori Territory, not the desert.

-It seems that fellow, the White Star, has done something to Dubori Territory. If this is the case, I cannot keep my promise with you.
“Will you be sending the Knights Order and Mages to Dubori Territory?”
-Yes. I plan to move with them as well.
“Understood. I will send my forces to the Land of Death for now.”
-Very well.

The video communication ended shortly after.

“Kale Heniatus.”
“…I cannot fathom what these bastards are thinking.”

Kale Heniatus continued, his gaze fixed on Choi Han.

“Why? Why would the White Star drag the Caro Kingdom into this affair?”

The scenario he had envisioned was the White Star and himself, each commanding their own forces, clashing in the Land of Death. Yet the White Star had deviated from his expectations, orchestrating something entirely different and setting the Caro Kingdom in motion.

“Why expand the battlefield?”

An inexplicable sense of foreboding washed over me.
He was not the type to move without reason. So why was he doing this?
He was rather cunning, after all.

-Human! The tremors have ceased!

The tremors had indeed stopped.
The vibrations that had been approaching from the west were no longer felt. Yet far in the distance, a colossal inferno towered like a mountain.
That blaze stirred something within me—a strange sense of déjà vu. It was then.

-Human! That fire looks just like the one that erupted in the Jungle Zone 1 before!
“Ah.”

Yes, it did resemble that fire.
The shape was strikingly similar to that vast inferno that had consumed Jungle Zone 1. One might argue that all flames look the same, but this one genuinely carried that same inexplicable quality.

-It’s as if the fire from Jungle Zone 1 has spread across that desert!

And so.
As my gaze remained fixed on that distant blaze, the Wind Spirits returned.

‘Kale! Kale! This is huge! I’ve brought back something incredible!’

The spirit’s voice burst forth in excited urgency, speaking rapidly to me.

‘When I was wandering around, I ran into a Fire Spirit in this neighborhood, right? I got information from them!’
‘That fire is fake. A scam.’
‘Are you serious?! What if you tell everyone what I found out?’
‘I was right there too. Anyway, that fire is fake.’

What?

“Lord Kale Heniatus, did something come to mind? Your expression doesn’t look good—”
“…That fire is fake?”
“Pardon?”

Kale Heniatus listened to the Wind Spirit’s words while observing Choi Han’s face, which was just as bewildered as mine.

‘The Fire Spirit says that’s not real fire! It’s fake! They can’t feel any fire energy at all! They were giggling while watching the humans run away in shock? That one has a weird personality too. Right?’
‘Agree, weird, that fake fire identity must be identified.’

Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“Let’s move right now.”
“Are we going to see Tasha?”
“No.”
-Then where are we going?
“Dubori.”

Dubori Territory.

“I think we need to check there. We need to verify what the White Star has been doing.”

This feels ominous.
A premonition that I would make a grave mistake if I didn’t identify the nature of that fire now engulfed me.

Whoooosh—
Soon, light enveloped Kale Heniatus, Choi Han, and Raon, consuming the shadowed alley, and they were wrapped in a teleportation circle.
Kale Heniatus organized his thoughts as he watched the light surrounding him.

‘First, I need to go to Dubori Territory and assess the situation—’

But his thoughts could not continue to their conclusion.
At the very moment of teleporting, wrapped in brilliant light.

“Ugh!”

Kale Heniatus felt his breath catch sharply in his chest.

“What is this?!”

A massive barrier materialized before him, and the impact reverberated through his entire body. The brilliant light twisted in an instant, and he felt as though his world had been turned upside down.

“Kgh!”

Kale Heniatus shielded his eyes and sank slightly to his knees.

“Mm!”

Beside him, he heard Choi Han’s groan. Kale Heniatus looked down at his own body. Despite the absence of any wall or collision, his appearance remained pristine as before, yet simultaneously he could see his own body trembling finely.

Screeeech—
The light of the teleportation circle extinguished in an instant.

“Ugh!”

Hearing a child’s cry of pain, Kale Heniatus hastily reached out his hand.

“Raon!”

As the invisibility dissipated, Raon’s body, which had been suspended in midair, plummeted downward. Kale Heniatus caught him urgently, but the impact caused him to stagger.

“Are you alright?”

Fortunately, Choi Han steadied both Kale Heniatus and Raon, preventing them from falling. Kale Heniatus examined Raon without answering Choi Han’s question.
The small, plump front paws trembled finely, and the black mana enveloping Raon vibrated as though scattering grains of sand.
And as if struck by the impact, Raon’s eyes remained shut, his eyelashes quivering delicately.

“Raon?”
“…Human.”

At Kale Heniatus’s call, Raon slowly opened his mouth and his eyes.

“Teleportation to Dubori Territory won’t work!”

As Raon’s front paws and mana tremors subsided, he opened his round eyes wide and spoke urgently.

“I was trying to lock coordinates and teleport there when suddenly mana twisted from that direction and came at me!”
“…Mana twisted?”
“Yes!”

Raon quickly slipped out of Kale’s arms and continued speaking while looking down at his own front paws.

“My magic was precise, and the coordinates were correct! My mana is normal! But the mana pressing in from over there, from Dubori Territory, wasn’t normal! That’s why the teleport suddenly failed and I bounced back as if hitting a wall!”

Kale recalled the moment when the teleport had been working smoothly before suddenly bouncing back as if colliding with a wall.

‘…What on earth is happening in Dubori Territory?’

The teleport didn’t work?

“Human! I experienced something similar when I was four years old!”
“What? Four years old?”

Two years ago?

“Yes! Do you remember when a mana disruption device was used in Whis, Capital of Roan Kingdom back then?”

Ah.
An exclamation escaped from Kale’s lips.
It was the first time he had used his unbreakable shield—back then, Kale’s party had used a mana disruption device to prevent magical bombs from detonating throughout the Capital Square.

‘Then…’

Kale spoke the answer he had arrived at.

“If what you’re saying is true, Raon, then Dubori Territory is currently in a state of mana disruption?”
“Exactly! And it’s an incredibly powerful mana disruption state that’s incomparable to the mana disruption device I experienced when I was four years old! That’s why the mana over there twisted and blocked the teleport!”

Raon rattled off his words excitedly.

“Lord Kale, isn’t this… a serious situation?”

Choi Han hesitated before continuing.

“Isn’t Dubori Territory now like a rat trapped in a jar?”

If teleportation into Dubori Territory proved difficult, they would have to teleport nearby and travel on foot. Leaving Kale behind while Prince Valentino led the Knights Order and mages to Dubori Territory had become extraordinarily challenging.

In the meantime, there was no telling what the White Star might do.
Weren’t those the very ones who had drowned their soldiers in dead mana liquid?

The people of Dubori Territory were in danger.
Kale’s face contorted miserably.

‘Did I foolishly lure the White Star to the Land of Death?’

Had I not done so, Dubori Territory would not have found itself in this predicament.
Kale recalled a similar moment from the past—when a decision made with confidence in my own judgment had only worsened the situation. That very moment.
My mind twisted into knots.

“Kale.”

Then, I heard a voice that steadied me. It was calm yet resolute.

“Predicting the emergence of a Grade 1 monster was not a mistake.”

Just as Kim Rok-soo’s anticipation of a Grade 1 monster’s appearance and leading his team members had not been a mistake.

“This situation is not your fault either, Kale.”

Kale looked at Choi Han. Behind him, I could almost see the figures of Choi Jung-soo and Team Leader Lee Soo-hyuk.

“And above all, we have not yet fought. There is no need whatsoever to imagine unfavorable outcomes at this moment.”

As Choi Han offered these words with a gentle smile, I could calm my tangled thoughts. Choi Han, seeing my expression return to its usual state, opened his mouth.

“Kale, if that area is in a state of mana disruption…”
“Ah.”

Something flashed through my mind in that instant. My lips parted, and I spoke the words Choi Han was about to say.

“They can’t use magic either. Since dead mana from dark magic is ultimately mana, they won’t be able to use it under mana disruption.”
“Exactly! Human! It’s possible they might still use dead mana even under mana disruption, but if they mishandle dead mana in a situation where the entire Dubori Territory’s mana is in chaos, the disrupted mana and dead mana will collide, and there’s a high probability those dark mages will be injured!”

Raon stated it firmly.

“That level of disruption would require me or Grandpa! Oh, and Rosalind too!”
“Kale, dark magic cannot be used. That means the dark mages cannot control the golems with dark magic either.”

Kale’s mind rapidly organized the current situation.

“Raon, move to the closest point near Dubori Territory. But not the Land of Death—the nearest coordinates instead.”
“Got it, human!”

Uuuuuung—
The teleportation circle began glowing rapidly.
Soon, a brilliant light enveloped the three beings.

-Human! Just as I thought, there’s no mana disruption outside Dubori Territory!

Kale opened his eyes as he heard Raon’s voice.

-It’s a mountain right outside the Dubori Territory boundary! From here, we should be able to see both the territory and the Land of Death!

At the peak of a rugged rocky mountain where scarcely a tree could be seen, beneath the shadow of a massive boulder, Kale gazed downward from that darkness.

To the west.
Dubori Territory and beyond it, a desert engulfed in flames came into view.
Indeed, the desert was still burning.

“…Human, something seems odd inside the territory?”
“Kale, the people inside the territory appear normal—just as usual.”

In Kale’s sight, the peaceful residents of Dubori Territory went about their work and laughter as they always did.
Unlike the expansive Heniatus Territory, Dubori was a small fiefdom with a modest central town where the lord’s castle stood and broad plains nearby. Simply ascending the mountain on its outskirts was enough to take in the general atmosphere and situation of the territory at a glance.

A sense of déjà vu washed over me.
While chaos reigned outside, why did Dubori Territory and the desert remain so peaceful?
That was when it happened.

Beep beep beep— Beep beep beep—

The video communication device in Choi Han’s hand rang once more.
It was the Dark Elf Tasha.

“Tasha.”
-Young master! I’ll put the Market Leader on for you!

Market Leader? The Dark Elf Market Leader Obante?
Kale Heniatus gazed at the figure who had newly appeared on the video communication device.

-It has been a long time, Young Master Kale.

The Dark Elf, whose face was covered with a white beard, looked at Kale and immediately got to the point.

-On the Western Continent, humans who survived by absorbing dead mana became either Necromancers or Dark Mages. On the Eastern Continent, there are also several professions that humans who survived dead mana possess.

At first, Kale wondered what this was about. But this Dark Elf, who had lived for over five hundred years, possessed both experience and wisdom, and he had contacted Kale knowing exactly what he needed.

-Young Master Kale, are you familiar with Illusionists?
“…Illusionists?”
-On the Eastern Continent, they are rare beings with unique abilities, alongside Shamans. They are those who show illusions and falsehoods to living creatures. They use their power in a manner quite similar to Shamans.

Obante spoke with a tone half-filled with conviction.

-If it was not created by magic, then I suspect the identity of the false fire is an illusion created by those individuals. Did the White Star not come from the east?

At that moment, Choi Han and Raon could see Kale smiling.

“Raon, contact Gashan.”

The Tiger Tribe leader and the Shaman who commands ravens—Gashan.

“Tell him to come to the desert immediately.”

I needed him.
Additionally, Kale issued one more instruction to the allies who were currently observing this situation.

“Find the Illusionists. Now.”

The golden spinning top glimmered in the sunlight. A gust of wind passed through Kale and headed down the mountain toward Dubori Territory.

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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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