However, Cale didn’t dare glare at Hannah who was giving off a vicious vibe.
‘My body may be weak, but to say it straight to my face like this!’
The problem was that the people here all had extremely strong bodies; Cale’s bone structure itself was strong if you didn’t care about his pale complexion or his lack of muscles.
His arms and legs were long and his shoulders were wide; he probably would have held his own if he had trained properly. Of course, the issue was that Cale chose a future of becoming a slacker rather than doing the difficult training.
“Hey.”
Hannah started to speak again at that moment.
"What?”
She heard Cale’s almost automatic curt response and continued to speak.
“I’m going too if you are going to go see Clopeh Sekka.”
“Hmm?”
‘Why is she suddenly bringing up Clopeh Sekka?’
Hannah put on an iffy expression while Cale sat there confused.
Hannah had come straight from the training ground after hearing from Rosalyn that Cale had woken up and immediately thought of Clopeh Sekka as soon as he mentioned going North.
‘He is writing a legend.’
‘Sacrifices are necessary for legends.’
‘I am disappointed that I cannot watch this great battle in its entirety.’
She recalled the things that Clopeh had said. He had looked toward Cale who was going to battle with almost a weird amount of passion, but his eyes had been oddly cold.
They felt hot with passion but cold at the same time.
That made her feel iffy.
She was not a good person toward Cale Henituse nor his group either. Their first meeting was as worst as it could be, and it wasn’t as if there were any chances for camaraderie to develop in the middle either. That was why her actions right now may be stepping out of line, but she needed to resolve this iffiness.
She debated for a bit before barely managing to speak.
“Clopeh Sekka. That guy is very weird.”
“I know.”
Hannah’s eyes opened wide after hearing the immediate response.
“Hey. I'm not talking about weird in terms of that craziness you always talk about……!”
“I know.”
‘He knows?’
Hannah could see the corners of Cale's lips slowly start to go up.
“He may be crazy, but his head is fine.”
‘Doesn’t that mean he is dangerous?’
Hannah thought she would end up expressing her inner thoughts. However, she could not say anything after seeing Cale's smile that was getting bigger and bigger. He continued to smile as he almost whispered to Hannah.
“Do you know why that bastard always says that nonsense about legends about me?”
“…Because he is crazy?”
Cale smirked as he responded.
“I'm above his head.”
Current power and influence as well as body condition. Cale had Clopeh Sekka’s everything.
The bastard who had come to destroy Cale and the Henituse territory that were minding their own business was instead captured by Cale.
He then stood on Cale and the Roan Kingdom’s side, and although he now had less physical strength, he had more command of the Northern territory than ever before.
The current Clopeh could not reach Cale. That was why this smart bastard who tried to destroy the Henituse territory deemed Cale to be a legend.
“He knows that as well.”
That was why he ended up as a crazy bastard who spouts nonsense like legends. Cale calmly explained to Hannah who seemed to have made a mistake about something.
“Hannah, I am not a good person.”
Cale believed he was a bad person and a selfish person. Clopeh Sekka was the same way.
He was planning to work with that smartly crazy bastard to put on a play to scam someone.
“Let’s head North immediately.”
Cale got up from the bed. On, Hong, and Raon approached him. The rest of the group were busy preparing the teleportation magic circles, packing bags, and contacting people.
Cale looked at the children averaging nine-years-old and picked up On and Hong. He could see their oddly lowered tails. He stealthily whispered to them so that the others could not hear.
“I’ll tell the two of you about it later too. But you have to keep it a secret.”
On and Hong’s tails started to wag after hearing his calm voice while Raon fluttered his wings.
Cale sighed and shook his head at that response.
Cale's pupils started to shake. Raon snickered as he continued to speak.
‘Damn it.’
Ron approached him and started to speak as Cale started to frown.
“Young master-nim, you must prepare to leave.”
“…Yeah.”
Cale held back his tears and started to head North for his future slacker life even though he imagined a terrible future where he might receive gochujang-jjigae instead of lemon tea and water with gochujang instead of lemonade.
***
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A dent appeared and the table continued to slowly break as the index finger covered in calluses tapped on it.
“Mm.”
The person who was watching this with a nervous heart hit the other person's arm. Whale Paseton peeked toward Archie who hit his arm as Archie motioned with his mouth.
‘How about we destroy everything?’
Paseton started to frown and chose to ignore Archie. Archie looked frustrated at Paseton’s response, however…
Tap, tap, tap.
He kept his mouth shut after seeing the index finger continue to destroy the table. It would be his loss if he ran his mouth right now and ended up having to ‘train’ with Witira.
“Right now.”
Something happened in the silent area. Witira, the Future Whale Queen, started to speak.
“Should I kill them all?”
‘Gasp.’
Archie grasped.
Her voice was cold without any emotion in it.
“They’re annoying.”
Crack.
The wood debris from the broken table flew into the air. Archie closed his eyes and shared his inner thoughts.
“Should I go destroy them all for you? I'm very good at destroying things.”
“Haaaa.”
Witira sighed and pretended not to hear Archie. She chose to look at the people sitting around the round table with her instead.
The person she first made eye contact with started to speak.
“Mm, first of all, the ancient text is mostly completed, however…”
Taylor Stan, the power player in the Roan Kingdom’s Northwest region, looked down at the old parchment inside a clear glass box. Cage, the former priestess of the God of Death, was next to him.
“We forged this ancient text as young master Cale requested, but we left the portions for the location and other important details empty.”
He touched the glass box with the item he created inside with a concerned expression.
Taylor and Cage had arrived at the Mogoru capital's Imperial Palace after communicating with Cale. They met Tasha who came over from the Caro Kingdom there as well as Clopeh Sekka.
The two of them soon went to meet up with Cale while Taylor and Cage remained at the capital. Although the creation of the forgery had paused for a bit at the time, they had focused on how they would stealthily procure the ingredients as well as how they would go about creating this ancient text.
The battle at the capital happened not too long after that and Cale Henituse had fainted.
How worried had he been at the time?
He was certain that young master Cale Henituse would have called them over because something needed to change, however, they had not been able to hear the details yet.
That was why seeing Clopeh Sekka and Tasha became hints for him. He was dragging someone from the Caro Kingdom into a plan that would take place up North. The two of them determined that there was a reason for that and delayed forging the portions about the location as well as other important details.
Three weeks had passed since then and he was currently staying in a secret residence at the most northern shore of the Paerun Kingdom that Clopeh had prepared for them.
He cautiously asked Witira a question.
“… Can you still feel the gazes of the black mages?”
The future Whale Queen had a cold gaze before she blinked.
The annoying existences. The ones she wanted to kill.
“It is slowly getting worse. There are more eyes stealthily spying on the glacier that the Whale tribe lives on. There seem to be other factions in addition to the black mages as well.”
She bit down on her lips.
“It died down for a few days when Cale Henituse fainted. But now it is worse.”
Witira had a headache. She was pretending not to notice the spying black mages because Cale had told her in advance about a plan. However, the Whale tribe was not one to be spied on by others. She was struggling internally because the Whales were not a tribe that liked spying on others nor being spied by others.
“What do you think about all this?”
Witira turned to look at someone else.
“Sir Clopeh, I'm curious to know the thoughts of the man who has been quiet for a while.”
Clopeh started to smile after hearing Witira’s comment. It was a noble and majestic smile.
“Witira-nim, you see, legends.”
‘Ah, this nonsense again.’
Archie started to frown after hearing the word, legend.’ He looked ready to shut Clopeh up at any moment.
Clopeh continued to speak with a calm expression.
“Always have a main character.”
“…I see.”
Witira nodded her head and agreed.
‘What does she mean by, ‘I see?’
Archie looked toward Witira’s back in frustration. Witira started to speak in a pained tone as if she was responding to Archie’s frustration.
“However… It is too annoying to let the black mages keep spying on us.”
It was at that moment.
Screeeech.
The door opened.
“If they are annoying, why don’t you teach them a lesson?”
Archie turned around. They were at the study at the center of the secret residence. Someone was walking into the study with a golden stick in his hand.
“Young master Cale.”
Cale walked inside the study the moment Witira called out to him. The others followed behind him, however, Cale didn't care about that. Instead, he focused on the center of the round table that Witira and the others were sitting around. He looked down at it as he started to speak.
“This is a pretty good map.”
It was a map that marked the northern tip of the Paerun Kingdom and the land of the Whale tribe.
“Our plan is simple.”
Cale's complexion was paler than before, but his burning gaze made them unable to look at his complexion.
“The White Star seeks to find an important treasure in the land of the Whale tribe. I was planning on using that to my advantage. The ancient text Marquis Taylor-nim forged was for that as well.”
Clopeh who had been quiet started to speak.
“What kind of treasure is it?”
“Why, do you want it?”
“I do, Cale-nim.”
Cale calmly looked toward Clopeh who answered him honestly. Clopeh was someone who treasured his life more than anything else. He jokingly responded to Clopeh who was looking at him as if he was a hero.
“I don't know either. It is something none of us need to know.”
“I understand.”
Cale raised his hand after seeing Clopeh shut up without saying anything else.
“Choi Han.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
Choi Han stepped forward and opened a cloth on top of the table.
Chhhhhhh.
The map drawn on it was revealed.
“… A map of the Western continent.”
Cale’s finger seemed to almost be dancing on the map as Taylor said that.
“The White Star will find the forged ancient text in the land of the Whale tribe. Then, following the information on the text…”
Tap.
His finger stopped on the western portion of the Western continent.
“We will make him head to the Caro Kingdom’s Land of Death.”
And then…
Cale internally thought about the other large portion of the plan that he had not told them about.
‘And I will head to the Roan Kingdom to take the other earth ancient power.’
He heard Taylor’s voice at that moment.
“Young master-nim, then do I just need to put the Land of Death in the empty spot for a location?”
“No, Taylor-nim.”
He shook his head.
“The Land of Death is a Forbidden Area that was created after ancient times.”
“Then what should I put?”
Smirk.
Cale started to smile.
“I will tell you that separately, Taylor-nim.”
Choi Jung Gun, the first Dragon Slayer. There was a phrase he used to describe the area around the Land of Death. The White Star would be fooled if they used those exact words.
Cale looked at the people who would execute this plan with him and continued to speak.
“The core of this plan relies on the White Star believing that this ancient text is real. So, Witira. Attack the black mages.”
Cale continued to speak as Witira flinched.
“Do you know why they have been more open about their spying these past three weeks? It's been so open that the Whale tribe would notice.”
The reason the White Star was increasing the level of his spying little by little.
“He thinks it is weird. The Whale tribe would normally move immediately to capture and kill them, especially after the issue with the mermaids.”
But the Whale tribe was quiet. Who wouldn’t think that something was weird? The black mages who were tasked with spying were probably doing it openly while knowing it might lead to their death.
They were thinking that something must be up because there was no response.
“Ah!”
Witira gasped before starting to speak with a stiff expression.
“…Then do you think they realized we are trying to trick them?”
“I have no idea.”
That was something even Cale could not know. How would he know what they were thinking?
“That is why we have to lay out a trap.”
Cale looked back toward Clopeh.
“The first trap. You are the first trap.”
The corners of Clopeh’s lips started to rise.
‘Mm.’
Witira held back a groan. A smile that was full of greed and desire and far away from noble and majestic was covering Clopeh's face. She could also see a smile on Cale’s face that was just as full of desire. The two of them looked similar, at least for this moment.
Cale approached Clopeh.
Pat.
He then placed his hand on Clopeh’s shoulder and started to speak almost in a whisper.
“Guardian Knight Clopeh Sekka, it is time for you to lead the Wyvern Knights Brigade once again.”
Clopeh's shoulder started to shake. It was shaking from anticipation and desire. Clopeh turned slightly and looked up. He made eye contact with Cale.
“You will recreate the legend of the North.”
Cale's smile was reflected in Clopeh’s eyes that were filled with ecstasy.