Chapter 21.5

Cale glared at the Vice Captain because he could not tell whether the Vice Captain was mocking him or coming up with an excuse for him, before taking another drink. “I see. What an interesting young master.” The knight responded to the Vice Captain’s words positively, before respectfully bowing toward Cale. ‘I guess this should lessen their suspicion of us.’ Cale felt like they should no longer have any reason to be suspected by the Marquis’s knight who came to the inn so early in the morning. The dragon happened to disappear while Cale’s envoy was here, and they were leaving the morning after, but there weren’t many reasons to suspect them. Venion’s remaining subordinates here will think about the six starred outfits that the attackers were wearing, the ones that seemed to represent a certain organization, as well as the tracks that were leading to the west. Most importantly, however, is that they would never think that someone like Cale, who was called trash, would be able to do something like that. “Then I wish you a safe journey as you continue on today.” In addition, there was no way they could hold the eldest son of a Count from leaving when they didn’t have the Marquis, Venion, or even the Viscount with them. Especially when that noble was heading to the capital under the order of the crown. ‘Who would think that a noble that is drinking on his way to a summons from the crown would be normal?’ It really was good to be trash. Cale continued to drink with satisfaction. ‘I’m sure Venion would not suspect us, even after finding out what happened.’ Venion and Marquis Stan were probably the people who knew better than anyone else that there was absolutely no relationship between Count Henituse and the secret organization. That was especially the case when it came to the dragon. Cale watched the knight leave the inn before drinking the honey lemon tea Ron had put in front of him. “Ron.” “Yes, young master.” “Honey tea really seems to be the best to cure a hangover.” “Isn’t it?” Ron smiled as he looked at Cale, but Cale looked away and tried to calm his stomach. Once Cale no longer felt sick from drinking too much, they started on their way once more. Their next destination was Puzzle City. It was the city that was the center of the transportation of goods in the East, and it was pretty famous for the number of rock towers around the city. Cale needed to find an unfinished rock tower in Puzzle City. “Are we camping out today?” On took a bite of the jerky as she asked Cale. Cale nodded his head. “Yes. Starting today, we will be camping outside every so often.” Cale had set a pretty filled schedule from here on as well. It was because he wanted to have enough time in Puzzle City. He turned away from the kitten siblings, who were whispering quietly to each other, and looked outside the carriage window. ‘The Vitality of the Heart.’ That was the name of the ancient power that would strengthen the Indestructible Shield. This was a power that was focused on restoration and vitality. ‘That was why the eldest son was looking for it.’ Taylor, the eldest son of the Marquis, who had lost his position as heir. He was the only good person in the Marquis’s family, but the lower half of his body had become paralyzed because of Venion’s schemes. Taylor had rummaged through all sorts of texts to find a power that would cure him. He happens to find an ancient text in an old bookstore in the process, and, although it was difficult to decipher the ancient text, he manages to decipher a few words after putting in a lot of hard work. Restoration. Rock Tower. Those two things became clues for Taylor who immediately headed to Puzzle City, which could also be called Rock Tower City. He was probably at Puzzle City right now. In the novel, he would find the ancient power in about a month from now. ‘But it was useless.’ The, ‘Vitality of the Heart,’ was unable to restore an already injured body. It only was able to restore any injuries received after earning the power. There was also a limit on how much could be restored, as well as a cost to pay for any restorations. Taylor fell into despair after learning about that fact. He had no time, and that ancient power was his last hope. It was because Taylor did not know when Venion would come to kill him. ‘He dies a month after finding the power.’ Taylor ends up dying by an unknown organization while the capital was in a state of chaos from the terror incident. Of course, Venion was responsible for sending that organization after Taylor. The reason Cale remembered this side character, that seemed to have an even smaller role than the original Cale in the novel, was because of the strong friendship Taylor had with his friend. The crazy priestess. She was Taylor’s friend and the only person who survives Taylor’s assassination. She kills half of the assassins in anger and ends up becoming excommunicated by the temple. She ends up with a large injury on her back from the incident and confidently tells the temple about what she had done. ‘I acted as a human rather than following the will of the lord. I believe that is the right thing to do.’ She then continued on after that. ‘I am now free!’ That is when she starts to be called the crazy priestess by others. Her specialty was using the strength of the God of Death for curses. The temple had excommunicated her, but her god did not throw her away. When the war broke out in the novel, she became famous, even though she was not a hero, because of how she helped to heal the injured. ‘I think it will be different this time.’ There was a good chance that Taylor would not die in a month. Venion was going to be busy dealing with the dragon incident and sucking up to the Marquis. He probably would need to focus on his younger siblings rather than his paralyzed older brother to maintain his status as the heir to the Marquis title. ‘And since I will be taking Taylor’s last hope away, I will need to give him a new hope.’ Although the Vitality of the Heart was an ancient power that Taylor did not need, Cale was not such a bad guy to take someone’s last hope away. Cale was also curious to know about what that combination of Taylor and the Crazy Priestess could achieve if they managed to live longer. He thought that the two of them could change the Marquis’s estate. If that could happen, that would be better for Cale in the long run. However, something that he suddenly thought about made Cale stiffen his expression. ‘Even Beacrox struggled under her curse right?’ Once Cale thought about the struggles the torture expert Beacrox had with the priestess, he stopped thinking about her right away. He decided to stop thinking about the good-natured and citizen-caring noble Taylor as well. ‘They don’t mesh well with me.’ They were different types of people than Cale. They were good people who were loyal and trusted each other deeply. Cale preferred Ron or Beacrox to those kinds of people. ‘...No. How could I ever think about such terrible thoughts.’ Cale quickly stopped thinking about Ron and Beacrox as well. At that moment, Cale looked down after feeling something tapping at his leg. He could see the golden pupils of the kittens shining, as the kittens started to speak. “I heard from Hans earlier.” “Hans said.” Hans still didn’t know that the kittens were Cat Tribe kittens, and continued to say all sorts of things in front of the kittens. The kittens seemed to want to tell him something they had heard Hans say. “What?” The siblings seemed to have gotten used to Cale’s rude way of asking, and started to speak. “If you make a wish at a rock tower, it will come true.” “He said the rock towers were pretty.” “I want to go. But it’s okay if it is too annoying.” “I want to go with you, but it’s okay if it is too difficult.” Cale blankly stared at the fidgety kittens before casually asking. “What kind of wish do you have?” Hong shook his fur, that was now healthier and shinier thanks to getting good treatment from Hans, and shouted out with excitement. “That everybody, including my new little brother-” “Dismissed.” Cale immediately started to ignore the kittens and turned away from them. The carriage stopped at the same time. They had arrived at the location of their campsite for the evening. “Looks like we are camping out again starting today.” “Indeed.” Cale answered Hans’s statement, before looking around their campsite. The wind from the forest blew by his head. Cale spent the night with a pretty relaxed mind. The next morning. “Young master.” “...What is this?” Cale stared at the dead deer that was at the border of their campsite. It had been hunted recently. Hans reported to Cale, who just continued to stare at the deer. “Someone left it here on our campsite.” Hans pointed next to the deer. Cale was looking at that spot as well. On the ground was a drawing of a fork and a knife. It was as if someone had left the deer there for them to eat. Cale suddenly had an odd thought. He then turned his gaze toward his companions. The kitten siblings in Choi Han’s arms, as well as Choi Han himself, were all smiling while looking at him. ‘...I have a bad feeling about this.’ He had a really bad feeling about it. An individual that could speak, but could not write, had left the deer for them. Also, it was an individual that Choi Han, the person on watch last night, clearly knew was there, but pretended not to see. ‘...I have a bad feeling it was the dragon.’ He turned his head back to look at Choi Han, On, and Hong, who were still looking at him, and seriously warned them. “We are going to pretend like we don’t know.” Meeeow. Meeow. The two siblings seemed to be mocking him, but Cale pretended to not know about it. However, a new ingredient was delivered to them every time Cale and crew camped outside. Wild hog, rabbits, and all sorts of fruits. Cale was now sure about the existence of the dragon following behind him. Cale then arrived at Puzzle City with that confirmation in his mind.