Chapter 22: Returning the Favor (2)

Chapter 22: Returning the Favor (2) Translator: miraclerifle Editor: Borderline Masochist After easily passing through Puzzle City’s gate, the Henituse family’s Golden Turtle carriage followed the lead of deputy butler Hans to the inn. “It is smaller than Western City.” “Right. Small.” Cale nodded at On and Hong’s words, and looked outside the carriage. ‘It won’t follow me into the city, right?’ According to Choi Han, the Black Dragon would follow them from a far distance, before coming by in the early morning to drop the food off and then running away. “Isn’t it cute? The dragon seems like a little kid that hasn’t lost its innocence, even after living such a terrible life.” ‘...Not really.’ That was what Cale was thinking as Choi Han spoke to him with amusement. If Choi Han had seen the dragon blow a mountain away, he would not be saying things like, ‘Cute,’ to describe it. Cale didn’t know why the dragon was doing this, even though it said that it hated humans. It was really overwhelming for Cale. This was not the way he was expecting things to go. Since it was still young, Cale thought the dragon would stay away from the Marquis’s territory and create its own lair to develop its strength. Cale was hoping that, after growing stronger, that the dragon would destroy the Marquis’s estate before the war broke out in the continent. That would be helpful in keeping the Henituse territory peaceful for a longer period of time. “Tsk.” Cale clicked his tongue, and the kittens, who were excitedly looking out the window, flinched before approaching him. It seemed like they had seen something odd outside, and had come to ask. “Each house has a rock tower in front of it.” “Very very weird.” Cale just casually answered. “This is the city of rock towers.” Puzzle City was famous for the ancient ruins with a lot of rock towers, but it was also famous for the fact that each house had small rock towers in front of them. The people in this city made a small groove outside of their windows to put a small rock tower on top of it. It really shouldn’t be called a rock tower, because it was made with less than ten rocks, but the rock towers were formed in different shapes based on the personality of the home owners. That was why it was only natural that the luxurious inn that Cale arrived at also had a rock tower in front of it. “Will we be staying here?” Hans quickly responded to Cale’s question, as they followed behind the inn owner. Hans seemed to be very excited, as he was walking with the kitten siblings in his arms. “Yes sir. We have reserved two days for Choi Han-nim, and have agreed to pay for the rest of the group depending on how long we end up staying here.” Ron flinched for a moment at Hans’s words before quickly following behind with the magic box in his hand. Hans continued to speak. “We arrived right before the Rock Tower Festival season, so the room was not that expensive.” The Rock Tower Festival. Puzzle City was currently busy preparing for next week’s Rock Tower Festival. Cale just let out what he was thinking without giving it any thought. “It’s not like there are a lot of rocks here, but the rock towers are quite interesting. Very odd.” “I know the reason for that.” ‘Huh?’ Cale peeked toward Hans, who had responded to his mumblings. “There is a sad yet thought provoking story that has been passed down through the ages.” “Stop right now if it is going to be long.” Cale really didn’t care about it. However, Hans continued to speak, as he had probably determined that the story was not very long. The group that had entered Cale’s room watched as the attendant stepped out of the room and then had to listen to Hans’s story. “This story, well, this legend, is about something that happened in ancient times.” “Ancient times?” Click. The attendant had closed the door behind her and only Cale’s group was left in his room. Cale responded to the words, ‘Ancient times.’ “Yes. Ancient times.” “Go on.” The kitten siblings in Hans’s arms were wagging their tails, as if they were interested in the story, and looked up at him. Ron just silently poured a cup of lemonade from the bottle he carried in with the magic box and handed it to Cale. Cale held the cup of lemonade in his hands and sat down on the couch with his legs crossed and motioned to Hans with his chin. He was telling Hans to hurry up and speak. “Ahem. This city supposedly fell out of the grace of a god in the past.” ‘Falling out of grace?’ Cale did not know anything about this story. “This is my first time hearing about it.” “That is because young master has not studied history.” “...You seem to enjoy talking back to me these days. Are you going to keep talking back like that? Hmm?” Hans quickly turned his gaze away from Cale. “It is only natural for a great butler to inform their master about things that the master does not know.” Hans started to speak about the ancient times. “I do not know why this city fell out of the grace of a god. However, that is apparently when some of the people in this city started to gather together to build rock towers. It seemed to have been an act of worship to reach out to the god that had abandoned them.” “Did it work?” Hans sternly responded to Cale’s question. “No.” The god did not listen to them. “Apparently, none of the prayers went through. That is why the present day Puzzle City does not have a single temple.” “There’s no reason for me to worship a god who has abandoned me. Is that it?” “Ding ding ding! Our young master truly is smart and does not need to study at all.” “...You want to get punched?” Hans turned away from Cale to look at a far away mountain and continued to speak. “Ahem. Anyways, they have rock towers instead of temples. The rock towers represent a promise that the people made after all of that. It was a promise between the people, as well as a promise with themselves.” “What kind of promise?” Hans started to explain an odd rule that was followed in Puzzle City. “A human who has had their wish granted will destroy their rock tower.” Cale started to smile. “What an interesting city.” “Isn’t it? Since they were abandoned by their god, they needed to achieve everything with their own strength. The act of destroying their rock tower represents, ‘overcoming the odds.’ Cale liked the act of destroying the rock tower very much. He then recalled the numerous rock towers in front of the houses. “The rock towers are not created to seek help from a god.” “Right. It is more of a representation of their own determination.” This kind of rock tower held a lot of importance, even if you never got to destroy it. “I guess it wasn’t the god granting their wish in the end.” “Yes. You are right. Although it is sad that they were abandoned, this story also gives people a lot of hope.” Cale casually gave an ordered to Hans who was responding to him. “Look down.” “Excuse me?” Seeing Hans looking confused, Cale pointed to Hans’s chest with his finger. “Looks like the kittens are angry.” “What?” Gasp. Hans looked down and gasped as his eyes opened widely. The kittens were showing their teeth in anger. The golden pupils staring at Hans were vicious. “Aigoo. Why are our kitten-nims so angry? Should I go bring you some more jerky?” Hans started to smile as he put the kittens down from his chest. Since he still had no idea that they were beast people, he just assumed they were angry because they were hungry. However, the kittens were not angry because of that. Cale recalled the things that the siblings had told him earlier. ‘I heard from Hans earlier.’ ‘Hans said.’ ‘If you make a wish at a rock tower, it will come true.’ ‘He said the rock towers were pretty.’ Tap. Tap. On seemed to be angry, as she was tapping on the floor with her paw, while Hong was tapping on the floor with his tail. They were angry that Hans had lied to them about the rock tower, but Hans seemed to have gotten the wrong message. “Aigoo, our precious kitten-nims. I will go get some delicious snacks for you! Young master, may I go get something for them?” “You can stay out as well.” “I will be back really quickly.” Hans said that he would hurry back, but he still made sure the things he brought for Cale were neatly organized, before heading out like the wind as soon as it was done. “Ron, you can go rest as well.”