Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 56

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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 did not directly refute Tunka’s words. Instead, he pointed at Tunka and spoke.

“Then what does that make you and your ilk, who seek to overturn everything? Are you not mad as well?”

Tunka’s lips, which had begun to curl upward, finally burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha—”

It was a booming laugh that resonated through the surrounding air. After laughing for some time, Tunka shook his head slowly and answered Kale’s words.

“No. No.”

Tunka’s eyes, now devoid of mirth, were cold.

“We are not mad at all.”

I knew Tunka would answer that way. He was utterly convinced that the Non-Mage Alliance was righteous, and he proved it through results.

“Precisely. I am the same.”

Tunka observed carefully as I declared that I, too, was not mad. After studying me for a long moment, he spoke bluntly.

“Come and buy it yourself.”

Tunka was not the sort to say he could not destroy the Magic Tower, or that he had no plans to do so.

“I was planning to do exactly that.”

Though Tunka had spoken with unilateral authority, I did not believe his subordinates would refuse.

The Western Continent’s greatest producer of magical devices. That meant the nation’s wealth flowed from mages and magical devices.
After their victory, the Non-Mage Alliance would need “wealth” most urgently. They also wished to erase all traces of magic. I was counting on that moment.

‘Perhaps the Crown Prince will cooperate from a different angle as well.’

The Magic Tower, which I believed held nothing but rubble and ruins, concealed within it a treasure that the Non-Mage Alliance desperately desired.

“How did you know I belong to the Non-Mage Alliance?”

Another deep sigh escaped my lips at Tunka’s question. He faltered at that, and I seized the opening to speak.

“You’re a tribesman from the Wipper Kingdom. Right now that kingdom is on the brink of conflict between the alliances. You came at me with murderous eyes asking if I was a mage—how could I not think of the Non-Mage Alliance?”
“…Think of it?”

I simply turned away from Tunka at that response. I found his lack of perception as a strategist pitiful, yet I couldn’t help but wonder how someone so dull in ordinary moments could become so sharp and instinctively cunning during war.

But Tunka, growing more intrigued, rose and approached my side.

“Why are you here?”

Tunka didn’t budge at my blunt question.

“Seemed like you’d do something interesting. Thought I’d watch.”

A man with nothing but good instincts and no sense. I waved my hand dismissively.

“Go play with the Whirlpools. I’m busy.”
“You really are a noble?”

Tunka found me quite fascinating. He’d thought Amir, a noble, was fairly open-minded, but this man before him was something else entirely. Calling a noble “guy” would normally be a grave offense, yet somehow the word clung naturally to this particular noble.

“I am a noble. Just as you are a warrior.”

I answered indifferently and surveyed my surroundings. There was much to accomplish before day’s end. Then Tunka’s voice reached my ears.

“That’s amusing.”

Furrowing my brow, I didn’t even pretend to hear him. Instead, I unfurled my silver shield. Wings materialized alongside it, fluttering gently. At that moment, the Black Dragon’s voice echoed in my mind.

-I have good instincts.

My body lifted slightly. The Black Dragon had perfectly timed the flight magic. I decided to deal with the other Whirlpools first.

“Pae.”

I called out Tunka’s alias. I had made sure everyone believed Pae was his real name.

“Why?”
“You know this is a secret today, right?”
“Of course I know. I prefer to keep fun things to myself.”

Tunka, grinning wickedly, looked absolutely mad. Perhaps it was the darkness of night, but his massive frame, wild hair, and smile converged to make him appear even more terrifying. I spoke as I took flight.

“I’ll retrieve the ship and the fisherman for you. You should hurry back to your homeland, shouldn’t you?”
“Oh, thank you?”

After a brief pause, Tunka responded cheerfully. I caught only a glimpse of his expression before waving my hand dismissively, offering a curt farewell, and launching myself fully into the sky.

“Win this. You’ll manage it.”

It would benefit me if they did.
I altered my course toward another island where the whirlpools swirled. At that moment, Tunka’s booming laughter echoed from below—louder than I had ever heard it before.

“Hahahaha!”

Did that bastard always laugh so much? I pondered this trivial thought as I headed toward the other island. Tunka watched me for a long while before deciding the whirlpools were no longer amusing and returning to his lodging—though I would never know this.
Instead, I spoke to the Black Dragon.

“Do you know when I’m most infuriated?”
-When?

The Black Dragon could see me smiling with ease.

“When I discard something thinking it’s trash, only to discover it’s a gold nugget. Especially when it’s a gold nugget I desperately need.”

The Black Dragon’s lips twitched slightly.

-A valuable lesson.
“No, there’s more.”
-More?
“Yes.”

I answered with unhurried composure.

“When I must buy that gold nugget for far more than its worth.”
-…That would be infuriating.

I answered with a mischievous smile and focused on the task at hand. I had landed on yet another island.

“No one here.”

At the Black Dragon’s confirmation, I spread both palms toward the sea. Thump. My heart surged violently.

‘As expected, the vitality of my heart has strengthened Wind’s Sound.’

I felt the power of wind beginning from my feet and flowing toward my palms.
Less than a second—a fleeting moment.
Whoooosh.
Wind swirled violently across both my palms.
I gathered the wind from both palms into one.

Screeeech—
Small whirlwinds collided, releasing heat with a sound like flames consuming wood. Yet because they shared the same master, the winds soon merged and formed a sphere. I lifted it into the air.

Crash!
Then I struck it down as an unbreakable shield. The wind sphere was hurled into the whirlpools beneath the sea.

Whoooosh— the wind sphere mixed with the spinning winds within the whirlpools.

I rose back into the sky on the Black Dragon’s flight magic, turning away from the sight. It would hold for at least six months. If it vanished before a year passed, I would sense that dissolution, and I could judge then.

“Let’s go to the next island.”

At my words, the Black Dragon’s wings flapped and accelerated. I threw several wind spheres into the sea this way, and collected all the water from the puddles on the island.

The next day, I arrived at the dock early in the morning.

“Pae.”

I showed him the ship and crew. Tunka stared at them for a long while before opening his mouth.

“Come back in two months. The world will be different by then.”

I decided I absolutely could not return to the Wipper Kingdom for those two months. Madness gleamed in Tunka’s eyes. He was ready to rampage.

“…Go quickly.”

I subtly stepped away from Tunka. Then I glanced at the sailor, signaling him to depart at once. Seeing this, Tunka hesitated before finally asking.

“Are you weak?”
“Yes.”

At my brisk, sharp reply, Tunka’s expression twisted into confusion, as though he’d fallen into deep contemplation. Yet soon enough, he boarded the ship.

“Come back in exactly two months.”
“Yeah, yeah.”

I gave Tunka a half-hearted wave as he departed, then turned away from the vessel. Just then, Tunka’s voice reached me from behind. It was remarkably loud.

“My name is Tunka! Remember it well!”

I turned to look. A medium-sized ship drifting across the sea, glimmering in the morning sunlight. Tunka stood aboard, waving his hand and shouting.

It looked exactly like a scene from a boy’s manga where the protagonist departs. I turned away without hesitation, as if I’d witnessed something I shouldn’t have. Behind me, Tunka’s voice continued insisting that I remember his name, but I never looked back once. Yet as I thought of two months hence, my belly already felt full of anticipation. After all, I would gain both a lifetime’s worth of retirement funds and a sturdy fortress.
Just thinking about two months from now already makes me feel full. Because I’ll be getting lifetime retirement funds and a sturdy castle.

Kale Heniatus returned to the Lodging and encountered the others. Since coming to the seaside, Kale had been cooped up inside the Lodging, and now he stroked the backs of the baby kittens On and Hong as he spoke.

“No, I felt I should express my gratitude and apologize for startling you back then.”
“No, it’s more that I wanted to thank you and apologize for surprising you back then.”

Witira observed my complexion carefully before asking cautiously.
Witira carefully asked while observing Kale’s complexion.

“Same as always.”
“Well, it’s always the same.”

I spoke to Witira, who had suddenly fallen silent, and to her younger brother Paseton beside her.
He suddenly spoke to the silent Witira and her younger brother Paseton beside her.

“Yes. Thank you.”
Yes. Thank you.

Yet Witira spoke to me with formal respect. She had not done so to Choi Han in the books.
However, Witira spoke to Kale in formal language. She had not done so to Choi Han in the book.

‘Why would they reveal their identity as members of the Whale Tribe but deliberately hide their status?’

Yet Kale Heniatus chose not to voice the question that had nagged at him since yesterday. He was equally determined to avoid revealing just how much he knew about the Whale Tribe.

“More thanks? I told you not to.”

Kale spoke to the two siblings, who looked like a painting brought to life.

“Since the siblings have reunited, that’s fortunate. You may leave now.”

I had already sent Tunka away, and now I wanted nothing more than to meet with the lord of the Ubar Territory and return swiftly to the Heniatus Territory. Of course, there was work waiting there as well, but I wouldn’t rest until before heading to the Wipper Kingdom.

That was when it happened.

“Um, Prince Kale.”

Witira. The Whale Tribe member’s voice was as beautiful as that of the legendary sea creature, the Siren.
The Siren—that terrifying being whose beautiful voice lured people to leap into the depths of the sea.
As that image surfaced in my mind, a chill ran down my spine. I turned to look at Witira. Something felt strange.

“We have a very ancient enemy. Since you treated Paseton, you must know—it is the merfolk.”

I know. I know it very well.

“But my brother Paseton has discovered why they suddenly became stronger.”

What is this now? My brow furrowed. Paseton continued.

“I was being hunted by the merfolk because I had discovered the source of their increased strength.”

Paseton, the half-breed whale who had been hunted to death by the merfolk. He had a reason for being pursued, and what he knew was crucial information in the conflict between the merfolk and the Whale Tribe.

“I heard you are of the Heniatus Family, Prince.”
“…And?”

Witira and Paseton did not answer immediately but exchanged a meaningful glance. That gesture made me deeply uneasy. Finally, Witira spoke, looking directly at me.

“The Dark Forest. We wish to go there. No—we must go.”

I found myself uttering a name I had never once considered.

“Our Territory?”

The Dark Forest. Where Choi Han had lived for decades, and one of the five great mysteries of the Western Continent.
And the place the Heniatus Count Family had long guarded vigilantly for the kingdom.

“I beg of you. I have prepared sufficient compensation. Could we not go together?”

The large whale and the small whale gazed at me with longing. On and Hong tapped at my knees with their front paws—a small gesture expressing their wish to come along. Then, with a knock at the door, it opened. It was Mess, the wolf boy.

“Young Master, I have brought tea and refreshments.”

Two wolf children filed in after him, carrying a tray and a teapot. Vicross watched from outside the door.

-I am far more magnificent and beautiful.

Even hearing the Black Dragon’s final murmur in my mind, I closed my eyes. I felt as though I stood at the center of a chaotic whirlpool.

“Um, Young Master?”

At Witira’s cautious question, I raised my hand. At that gesture, Witira fell silent. The room grew quiet as all the wolf children left. Soon, my eyes opened slowly.

I reclined leisurely against the sofa, my crimson hair artfully disheveled. Yet contrary to this ease, my dark brown eyes held depths unfathomable.
Witira and Paseton gazed into those eyes before hearing my dry voice.

“Tell me the details first.”

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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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