Chapter 23: Returning the Favor (3)

Chapter 23: Returning the Favor (3) Translator: miraclerifle Editor: Borderline Masochist Of course, he planned giving them their new hope anonymously. It was something he had learned from the dragon. ‘Unless their lord has nothing to do and reveals me to them, there is no way that they will recognize me.’ It was impossible for them to learn of his identity. How great was that? He should have done everything anonymously until now. Cale stepped into the ruins feeling like a massive weight had been lifted off his chest. He could see people praying all around the area. At that moment, Hans stealthily approached Cale and whispered to him. “I just saw the eldest son of Marquis Stan’s household.” “...How do you know about that person?” Cale was truly surprised. Hans smiled before pointing to his eyes. “Pretty much any and all information about the nobles is in my head. I could see a man being pushed on a wheelchair. It was weird that there was only one person with him, but I was able to see that there was a red snake crest on the wheelchair.” “Hans.” “Yes, sir.” “You’re better than you look.” “Thank you?” Hans shrugged his shoulders with a satisfied expression as he finished his report. He then asked Cale. “What do you plan on doing?” Cale could feel the left side of his face heating up, and looked in that direction. Choi Han was looking at him. Cale shook his head and answered both of them. “Ignore them.” Both of them nodded their heads without saying anything else. Only then did their tour officially start. After looking around, Cale was shocked at the appearance of the rock towers in the ruins. “They are ...” Cale seemed to be in disbelief. “Uglier than I had expected.” Cale could not understand the ancient sense of style. He was expecting piles of rocks, but there were rock towers of all kinds shapes in the ruins. They looked interesting. However, they were definitely not beautiful. Cale peeked at the kittens in Hans’s arms. They seemed to be extremely disappointed as well. However, there was someone who seemed to be more serious than Cale expected. Choi Han had his head bowed like the other people who were praying, and seemed to be praying as well. ‘I’m sure he’s praying to return to Korea.’ Choi Han had grown up in a happy family environment. He was a different kind of person than Cale, Kim Rok Soo. Choi Han had grown up in a happy family with positive influences. That was why he was able to survive in a disastrous situation while still remaining a good person. Cale was staring at Choi Han when Choi Han lifted his head up and made eye contact with him. “Cale-nim.” “What?” “I have a question and something to report.” Cale had a bad feeling about this. “Start with your question.” Choi Han seemed to be thinking about something, as he looked toward the rock towers standing in this wide plain and started to speak. “Cale-nim, are you not going to make a wish?” ‘Is that what he wants to know?’ Cale just casually answered. “I don’t do things like making wishes.” “Why not?” “It makes you have higher expectations.” Choi Han, Hans, and even the kittens all turned to look at Cale. Cale looked at the rock towers like Choi Han had done, and slowly continued to speak. “It’s so much easier to live without high expectations.” It feels great if you scratch a lottery ticket hoping for $1 and end up winning $5, but if you scratch it hoping to win the grand prize and only end up with $5, you are bound to get annoyed. Tap. Cale turned his gaze after feeling the tap on his shoulder, only to see deputy butler Hans smiling and starting to speak. “You are right, young master. There is no such thing as dreams or hope in this world.” “...Just stop talking.” “Yes, sir!” Hans responded loudly, but seemed to be a bit disappointed as well, as he took the lead with the kittens. Cale leisurely followed behind Hans, when Choi Han quickly approached him and whispered in a voice that Hans could not here. Choi Han had not given his report yet. “The dragon has entered the city.” “Ignore.” “I understand.” Cale took a look around. The dragon must have made itself invisible, as he could not see it. The only thing he could see was the people praying toward the rock towers. The Rock Tower Festival was still a week away, but there was still a large amount of people here. Cale’s gaze turned to the opposite direction of the rock towers in the plains. The upscale area, the area that the wealthiest citizens in Puzzle City resides. Behind that area was a small mountain, and somewhere on that mountain was the grave of the person who had lived until they were 150 years old. The next day, Cale was ready to head to the grave. Naturally, he had to get rid of the humans and the kittens who wanted to follow him. Thankfully, everybody stopped voicing their complaints once he said only a single person was going to come with him. “I will only be taking Choi Han with me.” Choi Han was the strongest person there. With Choi Han tagging along, both the Vice Captain and Hans had nothing to say. The Vice Captain just frowned and said he needed to train the knights, before he quickly started to gather them. While Cale was watching the knights who were following behind the Vice Captain with looks of despair on their faces, Hans just said one more thing before disappearing. “I will take care of our kitten-nims.” Cale turned away from Hans, who seemed to be very excited about being with the kittens, and headed out of the inn. Choi Han followed behind him. “Are we doing something again today?” “Again? Someone might get the wrong idea if they heard you.” Choi Han did not respond. Cale did not care however, and just headed toward the mountain behind the upscale area and continued to speak. “I need to go to that mountain over there. You can just wait for me at the mountain entrance.” “I understand.” Choi Han did not say anything else. Cale preferred someone like this. Choi Han did not ask Cale any questions. He was someone who seemed to follow Cale, but did not have any curiosity about what Cale did. This was probably only possible because Choi Han thought that he could figure it out if he really wanted to, and because he thought that he would not be in danger no matter what Cale ended up doing. Cale arrived at the small mountain after passing through the stereotypical upscale area, before stopping after hearing Choi Han call out to him. “Cale-nim.” “What?” “I’m leaving tomorrow.” “I know. I was the one who told you to leave tomorrow.” Choi Han made eye contact with Cale, who was standing impatiently at the mountain entrance. Cale was someone who said that he, Choi Han, was enough for protection. Choi Han had been thinking about this act of protecting the last few days. “I’ve been debating this for a while, but there is something I need to tell you.” The report about the dragon yesterday was not really what Choi Han had wanted to report. He hesitated for a moment, before looking back toward Cale and starting to speak. Choi Han’s gaze was looking past Cale’s shoulder to a tree near the entrance of the mountain. “Mr. Ron is a dangerous person.” Cale flinched for a moment at this straight that landed on him without any warnings. Should he pretend to know or pretend not to know? He quickly made up his mind. Cale had not expected a question like this, but he calmly responded back. “Is that so?” “You are not surprised? There is a dangerous stench of blood on him. He is a strong person who has shed a lot of blood. At first, I thought that Cale-nim knew about it already and still had Mr. Ron by your side.” But if Cale had known, he would have taken the strong Ron with him to rescue the dragon. But Cale had not done that. Choi Han thought that to mean that Cale either did not know about Ron’s strength or did not trust Ron, but there was no way Cale wouldn’t trust someone who had been with him for 18 years. That was why Choi Han had come to the conclusion that Cale was not aware of Ron’s strength. “But neither Cale-nim nor anybody else seemed to know about Mr. Ron’s strength.” Choi Han had debated about this for a while. Honestly speaking, the fact that Cale had said that he did not have any expectations made him decide not to say anything about Ron. However, the fact that Cale had chosen him to be the guard today made Choi Han feel guilty. “That was why I thought I needed to tell Cale-nim.” “Oh really? I didn’t know Ron was strong.” Choi Han asked once more after hearing Cale’s calm response. “Will you still keep him around you? He seems like he is an evil person.”