Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 616

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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 kept his eyes closed, yet for some reason, his face felt hot and stinging.
So he wanted to open his eyes.

‘It feels like we’re passing through the Shelter’s City Gate.’

Where this mobile bed was, where it was headed.
I wanted to open my eyes and confirm everything.

But I couldn’t.

“…Good heavens.”
“In this state—”

The sighs of people struggling to form words echoed from all around.

‘Something feels wrong.’

An odd sense of familiarity washed over me, accompanied by unease.

“Hic…”
“Sniff…”

Then, the moment I heard someone sobbing.

‘Why are they like that?’

My anxiety reached its peak, and I opened my eyes.
And I witnessed it.

The eyes of those gazing down at me.
Eyes brimming with varied emotions studied my pallid face, caked with blood.
Most of those eyes were clouded or trembling.

‘…Ah.’

Somehow, it felt as though I was facing something I had endured countless times in the Roan Kingdom, on the Western Continent, in that other world.

Lying in bed with only my eyes open, I was reminded of the time I had awakened in the Ten Fingers Mountain Elf Village wearing the World Tree’s crown.
For some reason, a chill ran down my spine.

-Kale. Everyone’s looking at you with moved expressions?

At Jjangdol’s calm words, my face crumpled.

“Are you alright?”

Startled by Kim Min-ah’s concern, I quickly smoothed out my expression and forced what I hoped was a reassuring smile. It was meant to be gentle, but if Raon had seen it, he would have told me to smile like I was trying to con someone—like a squashed apple pie.
She thought it was a gentle smile on her part, but if Raon had seen it, he would have told her to just make the kind of smile she wore when she was actually lying instead.

“…Sigh… Really… You’re…”
“…Ugh… really… that side…”

Kim Min-ah turned her head away with a deep sigh.

“Why is he/she like that?”

When Kale Heniatus stared at Kim Min-ah with a blank, vacant expression, Bae Pureun spoke from over Kim Min-ah’s shoulder.

“…I said I’m fine. Besides, I need to keep my eyes open to understand what’s happening, don’t I?”
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”

Bae Pureun rarely lost his temper, but even he turned his head away.

“Why are they like this?”

Kim Rok-soo of this world also responded as if something was strange.

Why is he/she like that?

Jjangdol answered him indifferently.

I don’t know if you’re pretending not to know even though you know everything.

He spoke as if it were nothing special.

-It seems like you’ve become a hero?
-….
“….”

Kale simply closed his eyes.
This mobile bed, after all.

‘Wherever it goes, so be it.’

He had decided not to dwell on anything else.
But still.

“Is anyone injured?”

With his eyes closed, he posed the question.
After a brief silence, the voices of Park Jin-tae and Lee Soo-hyuk came in succession.

“…Damn it.”
“Rok-soo. We’re not hurt.”

Kale dismissed Park Jin-tae’s words lightly and smiled with satisfaction at Lee Soo-hyuk’s reassurance.

If we continue like this.
If we maintain this pace, everyone will make it through the day unharmed.
Whether it’s an unranked monster or a Sealed God.
We can eliminate anyone.

With the pain largely faded and his mind refreshed, I organized my thoughts with clarity.

My comrades gazed down at me quietly.
Among them, Choi Jung-soo.
Unlike Choi Han, who pushed at the head of the bed, he pushed at the foot posts and glanced around, his gaze leaving me.

No one had died.
And the unranked monster had fled with its eyes and fangs torn away, bearing wounds across its body.

The future remained uncertain, but in a situation like this, even a small cheer or joy deserved a place within the Shelter.

However, those who had been rejoicing soon caught sight of Commander Kim Rok-soo and swallowed their smiles.
Choi Jung-soo understood their feelings to a considerable degree.

‘How could anyone smile at such a horrific sight?’

Whether Kim Rok-soo’s claim that he was in less pain than before was true, the fine tremors throughout his body had diminished, and he was no longer coughing up blood.

Choi Jung-soo had found relief in that alone, thinking he would not die in this state.

“…Good heavens.”

Witnessing the shock-filled reactions of those around him, Choi Jung-soo realized anew that even his sense of relief was indicative of a critically grave condition.

A glance.
His gaze shifted briefly toward Choi Han.

As if questioning when this man had seized the eyes and fangs of the Yellow-Haired Monster, Choi Han had become extraordinarily composed.
Yet beneath his serene expression, a vast inferno seemed to flicker in his eyes.
Choi Jung-soo interpreted it as rage.

But he did not know.
That after examining Kale, Choi Han’s gaze had been keenly surveying all directions.

Choi Han’s nerves were more on edge than anyone else’s at this moment.
He had a mission to complete.

Still, Choi Jung-soo tightened his grip on the bedpost.

‘I did nothing.’

I had merely stood beside Kim Rok-soo. I had not fought properly like the others.
That reality weighed heavily on Choi Jung-soo’s heart.

“Jung-soo.”

Then, Lee Soo-hyuk’s voice reached him.

“Thank you for staying by Rok-soo’s side.”

Choi Jung-soo’s eyes met Lee Soo-hyuk’s gaze. The moment their eyes locked, he understood—Lee Soo-hyuk had seen through his heart and offered these words as comfort.

Choi Jung-soo, who had rarely exchanged words with Lee Soo-hyuk before, found this sudden consolation strangely familiar, and he was simply grateful for it.

Lee Soo-hyuk watched as Choi Jung-soo offered a faint smile, then returned it with his own before slowly turning his gaze away.
The turbulent silence within the Shelter—the emotions it carried—seeped into his heart.

A question that had lingered in his mind until recently.

What would change if we continued fighting like this?

It was a question born from the anguish of an exhausted life.

But today, watching the Commander’s battle, that question had vanished.
No—watching the desperate struggle of everyone in this Shelter, he had forgotten the question entirely.

‘Because I was desperate too.’

Lee Soo-hyuk recalled his own image—fighting without doubt or hesitation, throwing himself at monsters to survive, to save others.

At last, he reached a decision.

‘I will continue.’

I will keep fighting these loathsome monsters, keep running through this ruined world, keep pushing forward.

‘And in doing so, I will grow.’

By persisting, I will advance, and others will walk beside me.
Just as they did today, filling this Shelter with their strength.

Lee Soo-hyuk descended from the City Wall and saw Heo Sook-ja approaching him.

“Let us go to the Conference Room.”

She continued with a resolute expression.

She continued speaking with a stern expression.

“First, Commander, you should go to the Medical Room—”
“It’s fine.”

Kale opened his eyes and sat up.

“I need to head to the Conference Room as well.”

Kim Min-ah and Bae Pureun’s mouths fell open in shock, but Kale raised his hand to silence them.
Instead, he spoke in a calm tone.

“The monster hasn’t died yet. A commander cannot afford to rest now.”

Heo Sook-ja thought his sense of responsibility was truly relentless.

“…Understood. Let’s head to the Conference Room.”

But she too held a leadership position in her own right.
Because of that, she could sense the countless emotions beneath that sense of responsibility.

“Please summon all the Squad Leaders.”
“Yes.”

At Kale’s command, Heo Sook-ja immediately carried out his orders.
As he was transported to the Grand Conference Hall on a bed, Kale organized his thoughts.

The sudden ambush from the Sealed God.
The conversation with the God of Death.
Pain unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Connection to the Ancient Powers.
And the appearance of the real Kim Rok-soo in this body.

Everything that had crashed down upon him in an instant had left me bewildered.

‘But now, things are unraveling one by one.’

Discovery of a way to strike back at the Sealed God.
Pain that had diminished considerably.
And the Yellow-Haired Monster, now blind and stripped of its poison.

‘Now, all that remains is to finish it.’

Tick. Tick.
The clock’s hour hand was racing toward 4 a.m.

Dark Tiger.
Once that day ended, Albert Crossman would come here.

Kale waited for morning.

* * *

Clink.
Alberu set the teacup down on the table with graceful, elegant movements.
He swallowed the fragrance of tea lingering in his mouth before speaking.

“Dead mana transformation.”

He recalled the conversation he’d had with Ron moments earlier.

‘I followed Priest Gersei, and he entered the Demon Temple.’

The Demon Temple that existed in the 2nd District Temple Area.

‘There, I discovered a statue of the White Star fragment you mentioned before.’

A temple devoted to the being called Berrow.
And that Berrow was presumed to be the White Star.

‘Centered around that statue were eight enormous circular glass tubes, and priests continuously transferred some liquid into them.’

After witnessing this, Ron had searched the surroundings.

‘When priests clung to the dead mana and did something, it transformed into that liquid.’

And after that investigation.

‘After that, I followed Priest Gersei as he tried to escape, knocked him unconscious, and fled immediately.’
‘He escaped alone?’
‘No. He brought along quite a few priests with him. But something told me this one was about to summon something, so…’
‘Quite bold of you to kidnap him so openly.’

Ron’s smile, tinged with a slight grin, was benevolent.

‘It was rather difficult. Killing him would have been easier.’

For some reason, Alberu found that tone ominous.
But Ron’s judgment was excellent.
Alberu raised his hand and opened his mouth.

“Pour.”

Vicross silently poured the water bucket he held downward.

Splash—
“Gasp!”

Priest Gersei’s unconscious body convulsed, his eyes trembling beneath closed lids.
A room in the Black Castle.

Separated from where the other comrades were.
The windows were covered so no outside light could enter, leaving only candlelight to illuminate the space.

Alberu, Ron, and Vicross.
Only these three were here with the priest.

Alberu’s lips parted, his voice emerging cold and indifferent.

“You’re already awake, so there’s no need to keep your eyes closed, is there?”

Scrape. Scrape.
At the same time, the sound of Vicross sharpening his blade echoed through the room.
Priest Gersei’s body flinched.
Then, Alberu’s gentle voice reached his ears.

“If you don’t open your eyes now, everything you’re imagining will become reality. How does that sound?”

A gentle smile played at Alberu’s lips.

“Shall I make your imagination a reality?”

At that moment, Priest Gersei’s eyes opened.

“Mmph, mmph!”

His entire bound body, including his mouth, trembled as he glared at Alberu.

“Hmm.”

Alberu regarded Priest Gersei calmly.

‘I have no intention of torturing him.’

Unfortunately, neither he nor Vicross were doing anything more than playing along.

This was said to be Raon’s castle.
No matter how powerful a dragon might be, one could not commit such brutality in a place where a child was the master.

‘But it seems he fell for the act.’

Alberu read the fear swimming in Priest Gersei’s pupils as he glared at him.
It appeared that Vicross’s display of sharpening his blade had worked quite well.

But Alberu did not know.

Priest Gersei felt a stronger sense of caution from Alberu’s indifferent gaze as he looked down, scrutinizing him, than from Vicross.
Priest Gersei rose from the sofa and trembled slightly as he watched Alberu approach him without hesitation.

But Alberu drew near without reservation and reached out his hand.

“Gersei. What lies within that mind of yours?”

Alberu’s hand slowly turned Priest Gersei’s head.
And Priest Gersei saw.

“Mmph, mmph!”

One of the nobles of the Endable Kingdom.
He was among those who had stormed into the Black Castle in the Dark Forest alongside Prince Nar.
Dark Elf Count Mok was lying in what resembled a coffin, his complexion deathly pale.

Of course, I had merely knocked him unconscious and placed him in the coffin; over three months, the Dark Elf’s wounds had healed completely, and he was in perfect condition.

Gersei did not know this.
All he could see was Count Mok lying there as though dead.

Then, Alberu’s voice, tinged with amusement, reached his ears.

“If you wish to live, it would be wise to tell me everything you know.”

In that moment, Gersei saw Ron standing near the coffin where Count Mok lay.
He saw the sincerity burning in Ron’s eyes.

Kill.

That resolve.
As the struggling Gersei fell silent, Alberu withdrew his hand from the man’s face.
Then he turned his gaze toward Ron.

Ron met Alberu’s eyes with a benevolent expression, as though he had never been staring at Gersei with such lethal intensity.

“Remove the gag from this man’s mouth.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ron unfastened the gag from Gersei’s mouth and stepped back behind Alberu.
Alberu then opened his mouth.

“The Sealed God.”

Gersei showed no particular reaction to those words.
Yet Alberu continued.

“The White Star—no, rather, Kale Berrow. Why does he serve the Sealed God?”

Alberu recalled some of the letters that had been inscribed upon Kale’s body.

【There seems to be something odd about this.】
【If the White Star truly served a Sealed God, shouldn’t there be a statue of the Sealed God carved in the Demon Temple?】
【So why did he carve himself instead?】

The statue in the Demon Temple bore the name Berrow—the White Star’s own surname—and was a sculpture of the White Star himself.

【As if he were a god.】

The words Kale had conveyed burned deep into Alberu’s mind.
It was the sentence that followed which truly struck him.

【He is one who endlessly reincarnates, paying the price with the lives of his own bloodline. A cursed wretch who can possess nothing precious because of that very curse.】

The White Star, cursed to lose everything he held dear.
Yet he did not yield to it. He gathered his forces and marched toward his ambitions.

【Such a man serves a god?】
【Could that possibly be sincere?】

Not at all.
Alberu was certain it was anything but sincere.
And so he tossed his question at Gersei, who had shown little reaction.

“What does the White Star truly covet from the Sealed God?”

Like a stone cast into a lake.
Gersei’s pupils trembled violently at Alberu’s question, rippling like disturbed water.

Kale had conveyed one more thing to Alberu.

【The truth about the White Star’s intentions regarding the Sealed God. Brother, please uncover that truth.】
【And when I return.】
【We shall fight our final battle.】

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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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