Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 492

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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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Kale’s gaze turned toward Sophies.
She watched the aura enveloping Bud and him, then moved her hand.

‘Hmm!’

Kale’s eyes gleamed as he followed the direction of her hand.

Sorcerers and illusionists.
They all possessed catalysts.
The Tiger Tribe Warrior Gashan’s staff served as his catalyst, used whenever he cast sorcery. So what could Sophies’ catalyst be?

Rustle—
Her pinned-up hair came undone.
At the same moment, a violet light emanated from the wooden hairpin caught between her fingers.

Whoosh—
The rope binding Bud unwound at the exact instant the violet light rose.

“The catalyst is a secret.”

Sophies left only those words before gracefully pinning her hair back up once more.
Kale’s gaze lingered briefly on the wooden hairpin adorning her locks before shifting back to Bud.

“Bud.”

Gren had already extricated himself from the puppies and was approaching Bud.
The puppies, sensing the shift in atmosphere, gathered quietly in the corner of the room, observing their surroundings.

“Gren, explain this situation to Kale.”

Bud glanced toward Kale, who was watching him, then closed his eyes with his arms crossed.

“Rather, let’s first handle this matter—”
“Gren.”

Bud spoke quietly, his gaze fixed on the anxious-looking Gren.

“Explain the situation to Kale. I need to think for a moment.”

At those words, Gren turned to look at Kale, and Kale immediately began to speak.

“Briefly.”
“Yes, understood.”

Gren glanced at Sophies for a moment, and Sophies placed her index finger against her lips.

“I know how to distinguish between what should be said and what should not.”

At her gesture of discretion, Gren’s mouth opened immediately.

“The Northern Eastern Continent has extremely rugged terrain and harsh weather conditions, making it difficult for ordinary scouts to conduct proper investigations.”

Moreover, we needed to investigate the Dark’s secret base and the even more secretive Gate of the Demon Realm in that northern region.

“That is why we dispatched all 1,001 members of the Ranger Unit.”

They were quite important figures within the Mercenary Guild.

“They are an organization composed of specialist mercenaries capable of adapting to all types of terrain and weather conditions, including mountainous regions. Their combat strength far exceeds that of ordinary units of a thousand, rivaling even Knights Order forces of comparable size.”

Choi Han interjected into the conversation.

“Is it possible for forces of that caliber to vanish all at once?”

His face was filled with bewilderment.

“Could it be a communication issue?”
“That’s impossible.”

The one who firmly shook his head in response to Choi Han was Mercenary King Burd Illis.
He still had his eyes closed.

“Ten minutes.”

Kale looked at Burd.

“A Ranger Unit of a thousand soldiers is composed of ten battalions of a hundred soldiers each. And those hundred-soldier units act together in groups of ten.”

In other words, there were one hundred groups of ten soldiers each.

“And within each group of ten, there is one Mage who is provided with a communication crystal.”

Ron Mollan’s gaze turned toward Bud.
Even if Mages weren’t particularly rare, assigning at least one Mage capable of handling communication crystals to each group was quite an impressive feat.
For a single organization, not even a nation.

“Furthermore, all groups within the Ranger Unit must maintain their communication crystals without breaking them throughout their entire period of activity, and to prepare for cases where the Mage’s mana runs low, we provide magic stones.”

Gren, who had been silent until then, opened his mouth.

“That’s why reports come in every ten minutes through those communication crystals.”

Ten soldiers at a time. Contact coming every ten minutes from a total of one hundred groups.
A dedicated department existed to receive these communications from the Ranger Unit.

“Then, could it be that the supply of magic stones has run out?”

Choi Han asked Gren, and Gren shook his head without hesitation.

“The supply of magic stones would never run out. Because we distribute magic stones in quantities at least double the duration of the operation.”

If an operation was expected to last ten days, the principle was to distribute at least twenty days’ worth of magic stones.
Ron’s mouth opened.

“Quite a significant military force.”

With a force of that scale, it would be a unit cultivated with considerable time, effort, and resources.

“Of course. They’re the ones I invested the most effort into raising when I was in charge.”

Normally, Bud would answer with a proud smirk, but there was no smile on his lips.
The same was true for Gren.

“Five minutes ago. A report should have come in, but none arrived.”

Contact every ten minutes.
Five minutes had passed since that contact failed to arrive.

“Have we tried contacting the Ranger Unit through our video communication channel?”

Ron asked, and Gren nodded.

“We’ve tried, but none of them are responding.”

All communications had been severed at once.
This was definitely an emergency.
Moreover, there was something even more alarming to consider, and Gren voiced that concern.

“The 1,001 Ranger Unit members were divided into a total of eleven squads, conducting reconnaissance and exploration of the Northern Mountain from multiple directions.”
“In other words, something happened simultaneously to all the scattered squads.”

Ron let out a low whistle.

The mountain range in the Northern Region was vast.
Moreover, the path to the Secret Base where Dark was located was treacherous and varied. All those Mercenary Guild members, scattered across such terrain, had lost contact simultaneously?
And they were a formidable force at that?

Then Kale spoke up.

“Eleven squads? Does one person form an entire squad by themselves? You said 1,001 people?”

Ten people formed one unit, and ten units formed a squad. Ten squads formed a battalion.
By that calculation, one person remained, and that single individual seemed to constitute an entire squad on their own.

Kale voiced his question, and Gren immediately responded.

“That’s precisely the problem. Out of the 1,001 people, there is one person. That person is someone whose contact must never be lost. Yet that person’s communication has been cut off.”
“Who is that person?”

Kale’s gaze turned toward Bud. Simultaneously, Bud opened his eyes and spoke.

“Rat Tribe.”

Kale recalled Mueller, who was a hybrid of the Rat Tribe and Dwarves.
The Rat Tribe were exceptionally skilled with their hands while being small and agile as a species.

“That bastard holds the rear line, enduring until the very last moment. He’s the best at running away. Even his contact has been cut off.”

He was first-rate at escaping within the Mercenary Guild.
That meant he was the best at fleeing on the Eastern Continent. Yet even that man’s communications had been severed.

“Is that explanation sufficient?”

Bud asked while looking at Kale, and Gren responded to him. Gren was about to tell Bud they should do something, his face urgent again.
But Bud spoke to Kale just slightly faster.

“I need your help.”
“Why ask the obvious?”

Kale spoke without hesitation.

“What do you need?”
“Information.”

Kale understood what the Mercenary King meant without him needing to specify.

“You need information about what happened to the Ranger Unit. That’s it, right?”
“Right. Mercenaries get injured often, and eventually die on missions—that’s the job. But we can’t just overlook it like nothing happened.”

Kale rose from his seat in response to Bud’s words.

“Of course.”

I couldn’t simply remain idle.
At Kale’s response, Choi Han approached with a hardened expression. To obtain the information the Mercenary King needed, they would ultimately have to venture into the White Star’s territory near the forbidden Gate of the Demon Realm.
This was dangerous work, and naturally, the Mercenary King was aware of it.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d come with me.”

That was all the Mercenary King was asking for.
But Kale shook his head.

“No. You don’t need to go. We don’t have time. There’s too much to do.”
“…I understand the Molden Kingdom matters are important, but the Mercenary Guild takes priority for me.”
“I know.”

Kale tapped Bud on the shoulder and spoke.

“Put the Molden Kingdom affairs on hold and go assemble the personnel we’ll need to rescue the Ranger Unit.”
“What?”

Bud’s eyes widened.

“Just preparing that personnel will take considerable time. If you also try to gather intelligence, we might be delayed in rescuing the Ranger Unit.”

Neither Kale nor Bud—
neither of them spoke the words that the Ranger Unit’s members were dead.
Bud hesitated as he listened to Kale’s words.

“But right now, what I need most is information…?”
“I’ll get that for you, didn’t I say?”

Bud fell silent for a moment.
He had gone to gather intelligence, and the Ranger Unit members had vanished entirely.

“…The situation will have changed considerably from when we made that sudden assault last time.”

The White Star was likely waiting for Kale. Or, judging by the Ranger Unit situation, he would have assembled considerable forces and would mercilessly tear apart any enemy who dared to intrude.
The likelihood of an attack far beyond the scale of the previous ambush was high.
Bud mentioned this to Kale, and Kale remained composed.

“I know.”
“But you’re saying I don’t need to go?”
“Yes.”

Then.

“Kale.”

Choi Han approached.

“It is dangerous to go alone.”

The White Star’s rage toward Kale would have been simmering since their last encounter. Going to the Northern Secret Base where the White Star was expected to be in such a state?
And worse, near the Gate of the Demon Realm, which might even be connected to the Demon Realm itself?
I absolutely could not send him alone.

“Who said I was going alone?”

Choi Han hesitated, and Kale spoke to the Mercenary King.

“There are people with nothing to do regarding this Molden situation anyway. I thought there were too many of them but nothing particular to assign them to, so why not ask them for help? It’s not entirely unrelated to the Molden matter either.”

Ah.
Choi Han understood what he meant and let out an exclamation, while Bud asked with a hardened expression.

“…Who are they?”
“Elves.”

At Kale’s words, everyone except Choi Han flinched.

“And the Spirits contracted with the Elves. Let’s use both of them.”

Use whom?
Everyone’s eyes widened. Then Kale pulled out a golden spinning top from his inner pocket and held it in his hand.
Seeing the surprised expressions of his companions, he opened his mouth as if he had realized something.

“Ah. Don’t worry. The Elves won’t be in any danger.”

In the quiet room.
Suddenly, a ticklish breeze like a spring wind blew softly around the group.

‘Chaos, destruction! Don’t worry! I’ll take the Wind Spirits and scout it out properly! Chaos, destruction, exploration!’
‘Sigh. This one gets stranger by the day. Anyway, Kale. Don’t worry.’

The Wind Spirit spoke gently.

‘I’ll take only the Wind Spirits contracted with the Elves, scout the situation, and come back.’

The Elves didn’t need to cross the Northern Mountain Range to reach the Secret Base. So there would be almost no risk of injury.
The Wind Spirits could ride the wind over the mountains, search for Ranger Unit members, and investigate the situation.

‘Chaos, destruction! Of course, I’ll avoid that Lion King who ate the Dark Spirit!’

Lion King Dorf, presumed to have consumed the Dark Spirit, had a high probability of recognizing spirits. So I only needed to be careful of that beast and his subordinates.

Although spirits found it difficult to reveal themselves to other beings without a contractor, and struggled to launch materialized attacks, they could still move about this world.
As long as they weren’t discovered.

‘This is about protecting the World Tree—we must step up!’
‘Right! Chaos, destruction, protection! We defend our home! We’ll take that White Star’s head! Chaos, destruction, despair!’
‘Sigh. That chaos and destruction nonsense again. Anyway, I’ll first find out whether the Ranger Unit members are alive or dead.’

Smart ones.
I smiled contentedly as I listened to the three Wind Spirits following me formulate their strategy. Hearing them plan tactics, these creatures seemed to have grown quite a bit.
But that smile soon faded.

The lives of 1,001 Ranger Unit members hung in the balance.
I had to move faster than anyone else.

“I’ll visit the Elf Village.”

I needed to bring the Western Continent Elves and draw in the Eastern Continent Elves as well, then overturn the Northern Eastern Continent.
Of course, I planned to bring the Dark Elves along as well.

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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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