Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 633

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

As everyone began sipping their tea, a small silence settled over the room.

“Could you perhaps explain what happened?”

However, at Mila’s question, the atmosphere in the room shifted dramatically.

“What exactly is the Lord?”

Rashil’s question, directed at Kale Heniatus with eyes that held slightly more warmth than before, caused Mila’s brow to furrow.

The Dragon Lord.
That existence no longer existed.
A flicker of surprise crossed Mila’s eyes as she turned her gaze toward Erhafen.

“Did you become the Lord?”
“No.”

With a soft clink, Erhafen set down his teacup with elegant grace and regarded the two dragons.
Erhafen gracefully set down the teacup he had been holding and looked at the two dragons.

“This looks like it’s going to be quite a long story. Kale, would it be alright if I told it?”

Since it’s related to the Dragon, Erhafen would be able to explain it much better than Kale.

Yes, please.

Crunch, crunch. Kale Heniatus stepped back from the conversation for a moment, chewing on a cookie.

“Well then, let me start by telling you the story of how I met this unlucky fellow and Little One.”

Stories of what had happened in the meantime began to flow from Erhafen’s mouth.

* * *

He abruptly shot to his feet.
Tea water dribbled down from Rashil’s mouth in a thin stream. His gaping mouth, dazed and slack, showed no sign of closing.
He quickly jumped to his feet.

“Insane! What in the world happened while I was asleep—!”

Rashil’s eyes, unable to finish his sentence, turned toward Kale Heniatus. Even as he did, Erhafen’s composed voice pierced through his ears.

“Given the current situation, the Sealed God and calamitous monsters will soon be summoned through the White Star.”

Erhafen delivered his conclusion with precision.

“If we cannot stop what the White Star intends to do, this land will perish.”

This land will perish.
Rashil hastily wiped the tea dribbling from his lips with his pajama sleeve and pointed an accusing finger at Kale Heniatus.

“No, the spirits kept calling you a hero, so I thought you humans were just engaged in some pointless territorial dispute! But what is this! No—!”

Erhafen calmly continued his thought.

“A territorial dispute, certainly. Merely one of considerable scale.”
“No, if you put it that way—!”

Merely considerable scale!
If things went wrong, the seal on the god could break, and the demons who served that god might engulf this land. Or perhaps the White Star or whatever that creature was would seize dominion over this world and proclaim itself a god.

“And on top of that, the soul of the last Lord remains? And that Lord’s child is that reckless little brat who kept spouting nonsense about destroying everything earlier?”

Rashil struck his own cheek with one hand.

“Ow, ow! That means this isn’t a dream!”

What kind of infuriating situation was this!

“Ah, I’m losing my mind!”

The last Dragon Slayer, the White Star. It all began with his endless cycle of reincarnation.
Intertwined in his pursuit of ambition were the Dragon Lord and his children, along with the Sealed God and even the Demon race.
Was that all?
Now the very peace of this land hung in the balance.
Perhaps a war of unprecedented scale since ancient times would unfold.
No.
It was possible that a war even greater than those of antiquity might occur.

No matter how selfishly Rashil lived, he understood the most fundamental duty a dragon must fulfill.
That was to maintain this world against external forces.

By external forces, I meant not only the Demon race but also the Celestial Race and the gods.
According to the laws of this world, their influence upon this land was a grave violation of the rules.
He clutched his head and slumped onto the sofa.

“Ugh! What a headache!”

What was this nonsense, waking up like this!
I should have just kept sleeping!

“Damn spirits! Why are you making such a racket!”

Since childhood, I had heard the voices of spirits clearly. This was a peculiarity unique to me.
I hung my head low.

Tap. Tap.
Then, I lifted my head at the gentle touch of soft hands patting my shoulder.

“Now, please calm yourself and have some tea. Anger is not good for the body.”
“…You—”

I gazed at Kale Heniatus, who offered me tea with a gentle smile, my emotions complicated.
Through Erhafen’s words, I had learned how hard this human struggled and how grueling the battles ahead would be.
I was selfish by nature, and so altruistic beings fascinated me.
But the life of this human called Kale Heniatus transcended fascination—it was worthy of admiration.

“…You really are a good person, aren’t you?”

Despite my intention to cause chaos, he alone, unlike the others, had looked after me.

“No, I am not a good person. I am quite materialistic and selfish.”
“…You-”

Rashil found himself at a loss for words.
Rather than continue speaking, he gripped his teacup tightly and averted his gaze from Kale Heniatus.
His inner thoughts were too complicated.

‘He’s handling this well.’

Observing Rashil, I smiled inwardly—the smile Raon would have called a con artist’s grin.

‘That’s actually the most reasonable reaction I could have hoped for.’

Unlike his demeanor at their first meeting, Rashil’s response seemed surprisingly rational. Though he was somewhat grumbling and a bit prickly, if handled correctly, he seemed like someone who would face the White Star with unwavering sincerity.

‘On the other hand, this one is utterly inscrutable.’

Mila, having set her sickle aside, silently savored her tea.

“What do you think?”

Erhafen posed the question to Mila, and she turned her gaze toward Kale Heniatus.

“When I learned I had become a mother, I wondered what I could do for my child.”

Mila set down her teacup.

“Through farming, one comes to understand many truths of this world. No matter how much care and attention you give, a single natural disaster can ruin an entire year’s harvest, and the crops you’ve nurtured with such devotion become ruined.”

And she grasped her sickle.

“I did not raise Dodori with meticulous care.”

She slowly wiped the dirt-covered sickle with cloth she had produced from somewhere.

“However, if calamities like natural disasters stand in the way of my child’s path, I will eliminate those calamities themselves.”

Mila’s face reflected in the sickle as it grew clean.

“I will kill anyone who puts my child in danger.”

That was the moment.
Clatter. Clatter.
The teacup and teapot on the table began to vibrate.
Wind swirled around Mila.

Gulp.
Rashil, who had been watching, swallowed involuntarily.

He had sensed her age and experience, but thought her power was finite, so her attributes would be nothing special.
That was why he had dismissed her as a dragon inferior to Erhafen, but now her momentum was no joke.

Clatter. Clatter. Clack!
The teacup vibrated violently, as if it could shatter at any moment.

“To be honest, I don’t care what happens to this land. Whether the Sealed God’s seal breaks or not, whether the Demon Race invades or not, what the White Star does—I don’t care. As long as my child and I are happy, that’s all that matters.”

Mila’s gaze turned toward Kale Heniatus.

“But my child’s wish is to follow you, and you have dreams of this world’s peace. So I must step forward as well.”

A strange light danced in her eyes as she stared at Kale Heniatus with piercing intensity.
Feeling an inexplicable pressure, Rashil quietly buried himself into the sofa’s backrest.
Then it happened.

Smirk.
The corners of Kale Heniatus’s mouth rose.

“You’re mistaken.”

At the same time, he set the teacup down on the table.
Tap!
With a light sound of contact, the vibration ceased.

“Mistaken?”
“Yes. My dream is not world peace. It’s simply for me and my people to live comfortably and safely, doing what we wish.”

However.

“That’s why the world needs peace for me to live that way. So I’m trying to protect that peace.”

Mila met Kale’s unwavering gaze.

“World peace isn’t the reason I live. I’m different from what you imagined, aren’t I?”

I was never a hero, nor someone who wished to sacrifice myself.
What mattered most to me was myself and my people, and my goal was to live comfortably as a lay person.
As I’ve always said, I don’t believe I’m a good person.

I smiled.
Mila gazed at me quietly before opening her mouth.

“Truly, how arrogant. Peace is merely a stepping stone to your goal.”
“I never said such a thing.”
“That’s how it sounded to me.”

Mila’s imposing presence gradually dissipated and vanished entirely.

“But I rather like it.”

A smile graced her lips.

“I don’t care for heroes. Especially not those who sacrifice themselves.”

Sacrifice.
The meaning behind it is considered noble.

“Because it saddens those left behind.”

Most people might feel joy from what a hero’s sacrifice gained them. Or perhaps guilt.
But those close to them.
Those who witnessed that sacrifice up close, those who loved that sacrificing hero—they would face profound sorrow.

Mila despised that.
Because there could be no perfect happy ending.

She looked at Kale.
He was completely different from the image she’d learned through books.

“A human whom the world considers a hero, yet who does not believe it of himself.”

And yet he has made sacrifices, while simultaneously wishing for himself, those around him, and everyone to live in peace without being sacrificed.
That desire was so vivid and unwavering.
People like this typically achieve their desires through one method.

“I quite like you.”

Mila found Kale Heniatus rather appealing.
The Kale Heniatus she faced in person was one of her kind—not the one described in the book Dodori had purchased and forced her to read.

“Dodori will learn good things from you.”

The corners of my mouth lifted.
Her words meant that Dodori had definitively joined my side.

‘If Mila joins us as well!’

With just the Dragon, Sherit, and the Dragon Hybrid, that made seven.
I waited for her next words with eager anticipation.
Mila asked gently.

“Would it be acceptable for a parent to accompany and observe?”

…Hmm? A parent?
I tilted my head to one side.

“…I am not a teacher, though?”
“It’s a condition.”

My mouth closed firmly.
Regardless, Mila continued with her words in a composed manner.

“Show Dodori how you live in this world. Then naturally, there will be things for Dodori to learn. If the child learns something, wouldn’t that make you a teacher?”

A soft smile bloomed.
A smile took shape.

“Isn’t that right, Teacher Kale?”
-Lucky bastard.

A sigh followed from Erhafen.

“I’m far too undisciplined to be a proper teacher—”
“Teacher.”
“…Very well. I accept the conditions to become your teacher.”

I added with a resolute expression.

“However, I shall be a teacher in title only. I have no intention of teaching anything. I will simply allow you to observe from my side. Mila said this arrangement was acceptable, did she not?”
“Yes. I simply ask for a place at your side where I can watch, listen, and feel, Teacher.”

Mila, speaking so gently while holding that sickle, was genuinely terrifying.
Mila noticed my gaze drift toward the sickle and tapped it lightly with her finger.

“It’s been so long since I’ve stained this sickle with blood. Hehehehe.”

In that instant, I saw the same gleaming eyes in both Dodori—who had volunteered to write my biography—and Mila.
This was no illusion.
Dodori was the spitting image of her mother.

“…Insane.”

Rashil, the half-shaved dragon, trembled in his legs and turned away from Mila. Watching Rashil, who seemed far more anxious than the other dragons, I felt an inexplicable unease.

Dodori, Mila, Rashil.
These three dragons. Would they truly be all right?
The die had been cast, and for some reason, a chill ran down my spine.

That was when it happened.

Crash!
The door burst wide open with a thunderous sound.

“Why did the door suddenly—!”
“Is it an enemy?”

Beyond the open door, I caught sight of the flustered servants.

“It’s alright. Please, compose yourselves.”

Choi Han soothed the startled attendants, and Dodori entered the room with a bewildered expression.
At that moment, I heard the voice of the one who had burst through the door like shattering it with my mind.

-Human! The Dragon Hybrid! The Dragon Hybrid!

Raon’s urgent voice trembled, revealing the turmoil in his heart.

-The Dragon Hybrid has collapsed!

I rose from my seat with a hardened expression.
The Dragon Hybrid had originally been given six months.
After meeting Sherit, he had lived longer than what was given to him.

-…He is calling for you, human….

My lips parted.

“Erhafen.”
“Yes.”
“I must go to the Dark Forest and return.”

I spoke to the three new dragons as well.

“Let us go meet the Lord.”

I reached my hand into empty space.
Even invisible, I knew how to touch it.
I grasped Raon’s trembling front paw firmly in my hand.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————