Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 572

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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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Yet what filled Alberu’s eyes was merely Kale’s composed face.

“…So.”

Crown Prince Albert Crossman of the Roan Kingdom muttered the words with a dazed expression.

“…So, possession?”

In his gaze, both Kale and Choi Han nodded in affirmation.
Both wore remarkably unfazed expressions, and despite his bewilderment, Alberu felt a flicker of irritation at their composure.
Kale, oblivious to his reaction, opened his mouth to continue.

“For reference, only Raon, Choi Han, and I know of this fact.”
“No, that’s—”

That’s not the important part!
Alberu swallowed the rest of his words, pressing his lips firmly shut.

“Hah.”

He was utterly speechless.

‘Possession? Possession, you say?’

The two characters for ‘possession’ echoed relentlessly through his mind.
Albert Crossman, who prided himself on remaining unshaken by most revelations, could not conceal his astonishment at this unforeseen truth.
Yet his expression gradually returned to its usual state. Bit by bit, the literal meaning of Kale’s words sank into his comprehension.

‘For reference, I’m Kim Rok-soo. I worked at a company until age thirty-six in the world I could see, and then one day I opened my eyes in Kale Heniatus’s body. I’ve been living as Kale Heniatus for two years now.’

Two years ago was when Kale had unfurled the ‘Silver Shield’ in the Capital.
Alberu gradually began to piece together the shift in Kale’s reputation during that period and the hidden significance beneath it all.

‘Since the person changed, that would explain it.’

It was truly astounding.

“Then.”

Alberu opened his mouth after a long pause.

“So your current appearance is your true form?”
“It is, though this is also how I looked when I was twenty years old.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Oh!”

Kale Heniatus stopped mid-answer, as if remembering something, and turned to look at Choi Han.
At that gaze, Choi Han smiled softly and opened his mouth.

“I also have something I’d like to tell you.”

Alberu, who had been looking at Choi Han along with Kale Heniatus, hesitated at his words.

“…There’s more?”

At the same time, Kale Heniatus spoke.

“Choi Han is my friend’s grand-uncle. An elder, Your Highness.”
“…Heh.”

The Dark Tiger’s pupils wavered, but regardless, Kale Heniatus and Choi Han continued speaking calmly.

“As Kale Heniatus said, I am indeed the grand-uncle of his friend. Which means Kale Heniatus’s friend is my nephew. And for your information, I underwent dimensional travel around the age of seventeen, so despite my appearance, I’m considerably older.”
“That’s right, Your Highness. Choi Han’s age is quite substantial. He’s likely older than the late previous Your Highness, your grandfather, isn’t he?”
“Yes. Of course I am.”
“Your Highness, it seems that’s the case.”

After listening to the two of them, Alberu opened his mouth again after a long while.

“You damned bastards.”

The Dark Tiger shook his head slowly. His luxuriant mane swayed gracefully.

“…Is that all?”

Alberu could see Kale Heniatus nodding firmly.

“There’s more detail to the story, but I believe I’ve covered the main points.”
“Your Highness. I’ll share the details with you gradually.”

Choi Han spoke with a calm smile and a gentle expression.
Alberu watched the two of them with a distorted face before finally letting out a long sigh and nodding.

“…My secret is nothing special.”

It was oddly amusing, but now that Alberu knew the identities of Choi Han and Kale Heniatus, his own secret—the Dark Elf Quarter—felt trivial in comparison.
Especially given the composed attitude of Choi Han and Kale Heniatus as they revealed their secrets.

‘I quite like that fact.’

Alberu found it amusing that he was thinking such thoughts in this moment, yet he genuinely appreciated his own reflection.
And there was one more thing he appreciated.

‘They trust me.’

The feelings of the two people sharing their secrets resonated with him.
Choi Han, who appeared unbothered yet clenched his fists tightly, and Kale Heniatus, who scrutinized his expression with excessive care.
Either way, they had trusted Alberu and revealed their secrets.

The Dark Tiger’s mouth opened.

“I quite like it.”
“Pardon?”
“…Pardon?”

Confusion appeared on the faces of Choi Han and Kale Heniatus.
Regardless, Alberu nodded with a satisfied expression.

“I’ll keep your secrets.”

He said it bluntly and then added,

“So originally, I’m the younger one?”
“Should I be the older one?”
“No. I don’t like that.”

The Dark Tiger shook its head firmly and added its thoughts.

“After all, you were going to return to where we originally lived anyway, weren’t you?”

I could meet Alberu’s gaze as he stared intently at me alongside that question.
I answered without hesitation.

“I have to go back. Of course.”

Reuniting with past connections I had once parted from and living alongside them was quite a happy thing, but the bonds I shared with those still here—those I hadn’t yet sent away—were equally precious.
My honest heart wanted to build a future with the connections I had now.

This world I was being tested in might be a parallel dimension, or perhaps the people I saw might actually be living, breathing individuals.
Kim Rok-soo’s thirty-six years. The memories I had spent within that time were mostly things these world’s people did not possess.

As I organized my thoughts once more, Choi Han’s voice reached my ears.

“I will go too.”

Choi Han drew a smile across his lips.
That smile carried a hint of melancholy.

Over these past days, staying by my side, Choi Han had wondered: ‘What if I returned to when I had crossed dimensions? What would happen then?’

‘I wouldn’t be able to adapt.’

Unlike me, who had returned at twenty and managed to adapt reasonably well, he had no confidence he could properly live as high school student Choi Han again.

‘It’s impossible.’

He had not forgotten the name ‘Choi Han,’ but he had forgotten many other things.
And he had experienced many new things as well.

Within that time, Choi Han’s many emotions had dulled, shattered, and disappeared, only to bloom anew and come alive, bringing him to this moment.

‘I like it now.’

Now, with the White Star not yet resolved. Many things were unstable and brought danger to Choi Han and his connections, yet despite it all, he liked it now.
So he had no intention of going back.

Choi Han recalled a fragment of conversation he had never shared with anyone—words exchanged during his deal with the God of Death.

‘If you wish to return to how things were, then speak.’

Truly.
Just as Kale Heniatus said.

“Gods really do act as they please, don’t they?”

Choi Han faltered at words that had escaped his lips unbidden, then his eyes met those of Alberu and Kale Heniatus.

“Well said.”
“Choi Han, those are wise words.”

Choi Han chuckled softly at how emphatically both of them affirmed his statement, nodding in agreement. Alberu gazed quietly at Choi Han and then at Kale Heniatus, whose expression had grown noticeably more at ease, before pressing his lips firmly together.
Alberu quietly observed Kale, who appeared consistently at ease, unlike Choi Han, then pressed his lips firmly together.

“I’ll tell you later.”

But he held his tongue upon witnessing the desperate expression Kale Heniatus had worn during battle, and upon hearing that this place was Kale Heniatus’s past from twenty years ago.
But he closed his mouth at the sight of Kale Heniatus’s desperate face during battle and the mention that this place was Kale Heniatus’s past from when he was twenty years old.

“…Well, I guess I should try as far as I can.”

That was when it happened.
Tap. Kale Heniatus’s hand came to rest upon the Dark Tiger’s soft, fluffy foreleg.
Thud. Kale’s hand rested on the Dark Tiger’s fluffy front leg.

“…Why?”
“…Why?”

Just moments ago he had called him ‘Your Highness,’ but now suddenly he was saying ‘older brother’—the smile seemed all the more suspicious.
Especially when Alberu recalled that Kale Heniatus was at least thirty-eight years old, he suddenly looked rather cunning.
Especially when she thought that Kale Heniatus was at least 38 years old, he suddenly looked sly.

“Why do you ask?”
“Because once you awaken, I won’t be able to predict how the Dark Tiger will behave.”
“Once my older brother wakes up, I have no way of knowing how the Dark Tiger will behave.”

Alberu, who had been feeling uneasy, looked down at his own body as if searching for something in response to the perfectly reasonable question, then opened his mouth.

“Since I’m currently in control of this body, if I give you instructions before I fall asleep, when my consciousness is absent, it seems you’ll move according to your commands.”

And then when Alberu fell asleep again, I would simply converse with Kale Heniatus as the Dark Tiger.

A smirk crossed my face.
Kale Heniatus’s lips curved upward.

“Oh. That’s nice.”
“…Isn’t it?”

Strangely, Alberu felt a sense of discomfort at that smile.
That was the moment.

“Kiiieeeee—-!”

A sharp cry reached Alberu’s ears. Just as the Dark Tiger’s black eyes turned toward the sky.

“It’s here.”

Kale Heniatus rose from his seat.
He could see Park Jin-tae rushing over in alarm from outside the building.

“Hey, Kim Rok-soo! Isn’t that a grade-1 monster? Why is another grade-1 monster appearing? You said there were only seven!”

And in the sky above, a massive hawk-shaped monster with gray, rigid feathers—another grade-1 monster—was approaching in this direction.

That monster was not an ordinary grade-1 monster.
Alberu’s mouth opened.

“That one looks like a leader too?”

Though it was currently emitting monster cries, in truth this creature capable of conversing with humans was yet another sample leader-class monster.
In that instant, Kale Heniatus spoke.

“First pattern. Exactly five o’clock. When a sample grade-1 monster leader breaks away from the vicinity of the Central Shelter, grade-2 monsters surge in.”

And.

“Second. If the leader of the tasting monsters doesn’t leave the Central Shelter, then at 5 o’clock, grade-2 monsters will inevitably pour in.”

Finally.

“Third.”

Kale Heniatus’s eyes met Lee Jin-ju’s.

“If the leader of the tasting monsters leaves the vicinity of the Central Shelter before 5 o’clock, the grade-2 monsters will attack even before 5 o’clock arrives.”

The third scenario was the most horrific.
Without the leader monster, the remaining grade-1 tasting monsters and grade-2 monsters would swarm in as a horde.

Kale shifted his gaze upward toward the sky.

Another tasting leader monster approaching this building—a grade-1 Steel Hawk.
That hawk was the one that had invaded the Central Shelter closest to this one.

Simultaneously, it was the one that had come to invade this place as the third scenario.
The corners of Kale’s mouth lifted.

“Prey has arrived.”

Kale shook his head slightly.

“No, wait. Is it an opponent to converse with?”

At that murmur, a flicker of intrigue crossed Alberu’s eyes.
Though he didn’t know the full context, he could infer one thing from Kale’s words.

“You’re planning to trap that thing here?”

Kale raised his hand instead of answering.
It was a prearranged signal.
In that instant, Lee Jin-ju’s mouth opened.

{Starting now.}

Her voice trembled slightly.

‘She really can do it!’

Even as she spoke the words Kim Rok-soo had conveyed to her beforehand, her heart trembled.
But soon she clenched her fists and opened her mouth.
Lee Jin-ju’s voice reached toward two other Central Shelters in this vicinity that she could contact.
Places where, according to the information Kale had conveyed through Park Jin-tae the night before, people were still desperately holding out against grade-1 monsters.
She conveyed her message to them.

{From now on, I will dispatch the First Support Unit.}

Park Jin-tae, who had been approaching Kale, stopped in his tracks and stared at Lee Jin-ju with wide eyes.
No, he turned his head again to look at Kale.

{Please hold on just a bit longer.}

Recalling the conversation Grandmother Kim had shared with Kim Rok-soo, he pushed himself to his feet.

“It’s my turn now.”

Lee Jin-ju continued.

{The First Support Unit will eliminate all the lesser monsters.}

Kale opened his mouth.

“Choi Han.”
“Yes, Rok-soo hyung.”

Even as Choi Han answered, Kale’s gaze fixed on Lee Jin-ju while he glanced at the Steel Hawk, who was eyeing the Dark Tiger.
He spoke while keeping his eyes steady.

“Play with that Steel Hawk for a bit. Until five o’clock. You can rest and train Lee Chul-min in the meantime.”

For a moment, Choi Han’s eyes gleamed before his face softened and he nodded.

“Yes.”

At his reliable response, Kale smiled.
Then his gaze passed over Park Jin-tae, who had drawn near, and turned toward Alberu.

“Let’s go together, hyung.”

Heh.
Park Jin-tae couldn’t hide his astonishment at Kale Heniatus’s suggestion to help another Central Shelter alongside the boss-level monster.
However, the Dark Tiger’s mouth corners lifted, revealing hidden fangs.
The tiger’s low voice resonated through the air.

“The First Support Unit is just you and me?”
“There are a few more, but…”

Kale paused briefly before continuing.

“For now.”

Each Central Shelter’s attack squad possessed combat strength comparable to Park Jin-tae’s, if not quite matching it.
Though the Central Shelters had crumbled in the past when facing the preview monsters, this time they should still be holding out with the information Kale had provided.

‘I told them to send a signal if they were about to fall.’

No signal had arrived from anywhere yet.
It meant everyone was struggling but still holding their ground.
If that was the case, Kale had only one task ahead.

“For now, let’s go provide support.”

And I added:

“After that, we need to prepare a counterattack.”

In that instant, the eyes of Park Jin-tae and Alberu—everyone except Choi Han—turned toward Kale.

“A, a counterattack? Us?”

Park Jin-tae found himself stammering as he asked.

A counterattack? How could we possibly launch a counterattack against those monsters?
Was that even possible?

Park Jin-tae could see the calm eyes of Kale Heniatus fixed upon him as he posed his question.
Kale’s lips parted, and a measured voice emerged.

“Why couldn’t we launch a counterattack?”

The words tumbled out with an almost serene quality.

“We can’t keep taking blows like this.”

Yet despite the tranquility in his voice, the twisted smile that crept across Kale’s lips sent a subtle chill racing down Park Jin-tae’s spine.

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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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