Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 489

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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 108. Don’t You Hear a Dog Barking Somewhere?

“It has been a long time, Young Master. Raon.”

As the teleportation light faded and Kale arrived at his destination, he could see Ron wearing a gentle smile.

“Grandpa Ron, it’s been forever! Good to see you! Thanks for the apple pie!”

Ron handed the apple pie to Raon with a graceful motion.

“…Thank you.”

And to Kale, he offered a steaming cup of lemon tea. Kale accepted the teacup with a reluctant expression and headed toward the window.

“You get nothing.”

Choi Han showed no particular reaction to Ron’s words. His expression suggested he hadn’t expected anything anyway.
Kale paid no mind and gazed out the window.

“It’s been quite well organized.”

Through the office window, all traces of Dark had vanished, and beneath the fluttering Molan Family banners, the Molan Residence was being actively rebuilt.

“Greetings, Young Master.”

Kale’s gaze shifted toward the source of the voice, where Gren Puff, Bud’s close friend and a supreme-tier mage, offered an awkward smile.

“You’ve had quite the ordeal.”
“…No, sir. It’s just that I’ve come to know someone like Bud, after all.”

Gren shook his head as if it were nothing, but gratitude for Kale’s acknowledgment of his hardship gleamed in his eyes.

“Where is Sophies’ Residence?”

Ron immediately spoke in response to Kale’s question.

“It is in quite a remote mountain village, a place where even merchant caravans do not pass through.”

The Molden Kingdom was renowned for commerce and transportation.
The fact that no merchant guilds visited such a place meant that the village was quite remote and underdeveloped.

“Young master, I shall guide you, so there is no need to worry about the path.”

At Ron’s benevolent smile, I felt an inexplicable chill run down my spine and awkwardly averted my gaze. Instead, I turned to Gren and spoke.

“Why did Bud go out of his way to visit Sophies?”

Bud had said not to worry about information regarding the Molden Kingdom—he would handle it himself.

‘He may look foolish, but he’s the Mercenary King, after all.’

Bud had countless ways to gather information.
The mercenaries who lived and breathed across the entire Eastern Continent were his sources.

I couldn’t fathom why he would go out of his way to a mountain village to seek out Sophies, who had been deposed and possessed nothing.

“Well, you see…”

Gren’s expression hardened instantly.
The faces of Choi Han and the rest of the group, who had been watching, grew tense as well.
As all eyes focused on him, Gren’s mouth opened again.

“…It’s a secret.”
“Hm? What?”

Gren’s lips curved up awkwardly. He avoided my gaze and muttered quietly.

“…That crazy bastard Bud.”

Then, with his eyes squeezed shut, he continued.

“He said he obtained some top-tier information, and that he’d discover it himself and report it to the young master later. He said if he reveals just this information, he’ll finally escape being treated like a secretary.”

Gren could almost hear Bud’s voice echoing in his ears.

‘Kahahaha! This is it! This is where the Mercenary King shows his true abilities! Always being sent on errands, always being treated like the most incompetent one! Kuhup!’

Gren couldn’t bring himself to voice aloud the absurdities Bud had spouted while drowning in alcohol. Yet his expression alone conveyed everything.
Choi Han’s mouth fell open.

“…You didn’t mention it was a secret.”
“Ha, haha—”

Ron laughed with an incredulous expression, clapping his hands together.
And Gren, hailing from the Puff Family—an underworld house as renowned as the Molan Family—silently prayed for Bud’s safety as he met Ron’s piercing gaze.

“…Sigh.”

Kale exhaled deeply and spoke to his companions.

“In any case, we’ll need to meet with Bud and Sophies first to make sense of this. Ron, would you guide us?”
“Yes, Young Master.”

Ron, already dressed entirely in black, approached Kale’s side and took the lead.
Kale, observing this, quietly took only a sip of the warm lemon tea and set the cup aside.

“Human! Does the lemon tea taste good?”

Kale received Ron’s gaze directed toward me in response to Raon’s innocent question. I found myself compelled to diligently finish the entire cup of lemon tea before we could finally depart for Sophies’ Residence.

* * *

“Young Master, there it is.”

Kale quietly gazed at the small, dilapidated house Ron pointed toward.

“It would be easy to escape from here.”

Choi Han spoke to Kale while observing the flimsy, low fence surrounding the house. But Gren shook his head.

“That’s not the case.”

Kale’s gaze turned toward Gren.
Gren pointed to the area surrounding the small house.

A small house built upon a low hill situated directly beneath the rugged Molden Mountain Range.
Not a single tree surrounded that small house, and below the hill lay a modest village.

“Three distinct types of people inhabit that village.”

People could be seen coming and going through the village, and the sound of dogs barking echoed—they kept many of them.

“Most are those who have lived here for generations. And of the remainder, half are those who watch Sophies.”

A small house upon a gentle hill devoid of trees.
It was perfectly positioned for the village below to observe and monitor.
Choi Han’s expression grew puzzled.

“…Even if the village can easily monitor this house from below, why don’t they keep watch from nearby?”

Wouldn’t surveillance from close proximity be the most certain and effective approach?
Gren provided the answer.

“The final group living in this village were those who served Sophies until the very end.”

Those who watched were not merely observing Sophies alone.

“The nanny who raised her from childhood, servants, attendants, her guard knight, administrators, scholars—all of them are present together, and every last one has been stripped of their means of resistance.”

The guard knight could no longer use his arm properly and was condemned to spend his life in that village. Several other knights suffered the same fate.

“The watchers living in the village come near Sophies’ house at designated times to confirm her movements, then leave. Additionally, dozens of alarm spells—difficult to evade or dispel without the highest-tier magic—are scattered throughout the perimeter beyond the fence.”

Woof—
A dog’s cry brushed against my ears.

“However, Sophies could escape if she truly wished to.”

No matter how closely they watched from below, if she headed toward the mountain range instead of the village, an escape route would present itself.

“But in that moment, everyone in the village who followed her to the very end would be slaughtered. And their families. Their relatives. All of them.”

Choi Han finished listening to Gren’s explanation without raising further objections.

‘…It would be difficult to escape.’

Even Choi Han would have found it difficult to escape if he were in Sophies’ position. Especially him—it would have been even harder.
In that moment, Kale’s lips parted.

“Why didn’t Elysnet I kill her?”
“I couldn’t say, sir.”

Gren shrugged at Kale’s gaze.

“Officially, it’s known as the older sister’s mercy toward her younger sibling. But as you know, Elysnet I wasn’t that sort of person, was she?”

That was true.
Elysnet I, setting aside her position as a subordinate of the White Star, was someone who had no qualms about manipulating people, controlling them, and displaying despair.
She might have genuinely pitied her younger sister, but the probability of that was low.

“Hmm,”

Kale gazed quietly at the small house, lost in thought.

“Young master, I believe it would be best to enter and investigate.”

Ron offered him gentle advice with a kind tone, and Gren nodded in agreement beside him.

“Indeed. Maintaining the invisibility spell continuously is taxing. Of course, with Raon present, it’s manageable.”

The group was currently under an invisibility spell to avoid watchful eyes. This was why they could converse so freely.

Only the barking of dogs could be heard nearby; there was no one around to see them or overhear their conversation.

“Right. We should go in.”

Kale nodded.

Creak—
It was that moment.

—Human!

When Raon’s voice, who was in the midst of turning invisible, reached my mind, I could see the worn wooden door of the small house opening.

A face I had only seen through the video recording device appeared.
A woman with an air of elegance, her hair pulled back without a single strand out of place.

“You’ve arrived.”

The moment I heard that graceful voice, Choi Han’s hand moved to his sword hilt without his own awareness.
They were currently invisible, concealed by Raon and Gren’s invisibility magic.

Yet Sophies opened the door and spoke as if she could see them.

“I have been waiting for you.”

A skilled one.
Choi Han realized that she, who had immediately discerned their identities, possessed considerable skill.

‘Something is off.’

Yet something felt wrong.
When Choi Han judged a person’s martial prowess, he primarily sensed and evaluated the aura they possessed.

In Sophies’ case, he could not discern what power she held.
However, it felt clumsy.
It was not that she had completely concealed her aura so he couldn’t gauge her strength—rather, the power she possessed itself felt mediocre.

Then Kale stepped forward. Still invisible, he approached Sophies while speaking.

“You are a shaman, aren’t you?”

Ah.
An exclamation escaped Choi Han’s lips.
Sophies is a shaman.
Her gaze turned toward where the voice had come from.

“To call it shamanism would be far too generous for such mediocre skills as mine.”

That was right.
The skill Choi Han had sensed in her was, as she said, truly mediocre at best.

—That’s right! Human, I sense something similar to Gashan’s power from that royal, but the tiger grandfather is far stronger! That royal is weaker than the Tiger Tribe’s little shaman!

Raon, who had revealed Sophies’ true identity to Kale, was also saying she was weak.

—I don’t know how you detected us!

Well, I do.
Kale approached the fence. Naturally, he walked while avoiding the alarm magic device that Raon had warned him about beforehand.

“Your shamanic skills must be lacking.”

He stepped inside the old, dilapidated fence. Then he stopped before Sophies.
Sophies stared straight ahead even though she couldn’t see him. Kale met her gaze directly.

“A shaman has friends, you see.”

An elegant smile graced Sophies’ lips.

Woof, woof!

Behind the house.
A dog peeked its head out cautiously.

The alarm magic only responded to humans.
If it reacted to every wild beast or insect, it would waste manpower and drain equipment resources tremendously.

Woooo—
The barking of dogs echoed from various places in the forest.

Sophies’ lips parted.

“That’s right. My friends have keen ears and an excellent sense of smell. And they always show me their trust.”

Just as Gashan has ravens.

Woof, woof!
Sophies spoke while petting the dog that rubbed its head against her leg.

“These friends roam in packs around the Molden Mountain Range. Since my power is insufficient, I can only extend my connection to a portion of the Molden Mountain Range.”

Sophies had a dog.

“Do come inside. Though I cannot quite place the scent.”

Even now, the puppy had revealed to her the identity of the scents that had just arrived at this place.

“One who commands the Mercenary King. One who treats the master of the Molden Mountain Range—the new, or rather, the returned master of the Molan Family—as a subordinate.”

The corners of Kale’s mouth lifted.
Sophies stepped aside from the door, and Kale moved forward.

“Dispel the invisibility.”
-Understood, human!

The magic dissolved.
Following that, Choi Han and Ron entered as the wooden door closed.

“…An unfamiliar face.”

Sophies, seeing Kale’s appearance for the first time, extended her hand with an elegant smile.

“Yelp, yelp!”

And behind her, Bud—still gagged—sat on a worn sofa, wagging his body left and right as if delighted.

“Sigh.”

Kale sighed and ignored Bud, taking Sophies’ hand.
Then he opened his mouth.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am the one who will obliterate the Royal Palace of Molden.”
“Yelp!”

Bud froze, drawing in a sharp breath, while the Princess Sophies maintained her dignified smile as she spoke.

“That sounds far more entertaining than blowing off the Mercenary King’s head.”
“Yelp!”

Bud drew in a sharp breath once more, as if bracing himself for battle.
His pupils trembled helplessly as he watched Kale and Sophies exchange a handshake with smiles on their faces.

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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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