Chapter 697: How did it get here 4
Silence descended in the room for a moment.
Cale looked around at everybody, starting with Raon, during that moment of silence.
He then realized it.
‘I forgot for a moment.’
He forgot how vicious these four individuals around him were. They were asking him what Cale was plotting to do after going into the temple alone.
‘No, it’s not just these four.’
Cale got the chills.
‘These four, as well as On and Hong, noticed something. No, if On and Hong know, it is highly likely that Ron and Beacrox know as well. And if Ron and Beacrox know-’
Cale’s mind started crumbling as the extent of his thoughts expanded further and further.
– Keke.
The Sound of the Wind chuckled.
Cale didn’t care as he had a thought on his mind.
‘If I tell them the truth?’
If he told them that he needed to stab his heart with the root dagger the World Tree gave him, and then use that bloodied root dagger to destroy the White Star’s annual rings...
If he told them that that was the only way to stop the White Star’s endless reincarnations...
Furthermore, if he said that the World Tree claimed that stabbing his heart would be beneficial for him...
What would happen if he said all of that?
‘...It would go one of two ways.’
First, they would make it so that he cannot use the root dagger and try to look for a different method.
Second, Cale would have to stab himself with the root dagger while all of the people who knew about this watched him. It was obvious how his allies would react in the second situation.
‘Human! I’m going to watch to make sure you really are okay! I, I will burn the World Tree!’
‘Cale-nim... I cannot even trust the World Tree.’
‘Oh. This is truly the legend! I have no reason to believe in a god anymore. A god is in front of my eyes.’
‘Gasp.’
Cale got the chills. The last person he had thought about was Clopeh. Clopeh Sekka would say something like that and urge him to hurry up and stab himself in the heart like a crazy bastard.
Cale made up his mind.
‘Let’s play dumb.’
That was his only choice.
“What do you mean by that?”
‘Good. I’ll just feign ignorance like this.’
“I am the only person who has come face to face with the sealed god. That is why I should be able to react quickly even if some variables occur in the temple because of the sealed god.”
Eruhaben frowned. Cale felt as if the Dragon’s gaze was turning vicious, but did his best to ignore that gaze.
“Most importantly, getting to the end of the temple is not just a matter of strength.”
Everybody other than Eruhaben frowned after Cale said that. Eruhaben asked with a confused expression on his face.
“Is there something in the temple?”
“Yes, Eruhaben-nim.”
“What is it?”
Eruhaben’s expression instantly turned serious as he asked Cale for details.
“Heh.”
They heard someone laugh at that moment. The ancient Dragon turned toward the person who laughed and flinched.
It was because Choi Han was the one who laughed. He nodded his head as if he accepted something before speaking to Cale.
“So this is how you planned on getting out of it, Cale-nim.”
Flinch.
It was Cale’s turn to flinch.
Raon immediately shouted as well.
“We won’t be fooled anymore! Don’t try to change the subject!”
‘Shit.’
Cale did his best to hold back a sigh.
Clap, clap, clap-
The crown prince leaned against the head of the bed with a slightly fatigued expression on his face as he leisurely clapped.Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)
“You’re such a good actor. You would be great as a scammer.”
Cale tilted his head with an innocent look on his face.
“What? Who is acting?”
“Okay. Feel free to keep it up.”
The crown prince gently spoke to Cale as if he was enjoying this quite a bit. Cale lightly shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know what you mean by, ‘keep it up,’ your highness.”
“Yes, yes.”
Alberu raised his body from the bed with an elegant smile of a crown prince.
“Eruhaben-nim.”
“Hmm?”
“I will answer your question about the temple in the grand assembly hall.”
“Huh? You’re not going to rest?”
Alberu peeked toward the white spear next to the bed before channeling his dead mana. His skin, hair, and eyes... They changed color and slowly turned him into crown prince Alberu Crossman’s appearance.
“My mana has recovered a bit, so this should not be an issue.”
“Ho!”
Eruhaben scoffed in disbelief at Alberu.
“Are you trying to be like this unlucky bastard?!”
The ancient Dragon pointed at Cale.
“What about me?”
“Haaaaaaaa.”
Cale responding as if he had no idea what Eruhaben was talking about made him shake his head before looking at Alberu.
“Get some rest. You don’t have any major external or internal injuries, but... You still need some time to recover.”
“That is why I need to step in now.”
“Hmm?”
A bright smile slowly appeared on Alberu’s face.
“I need to show up with my current condition to make it seem dramatic.”
“......?”
However, he started speaking as he needed to take care of this fake Hilsman issue as well.
“Will you meet my father when he wakes up?”
“Mm.”
The fake Hilsman seemed to debate it for a bit before lowering his body toward Cale.
“Hey.”
Cale realized something the moment he heard the fake Hilsman’s stealthy voice.
‘No! I have a feeling that this situation...!’
He felt as if he would hear something he shouldn’t hear, something that would hinder his slacker life.
Cale urgently started speaking. His eyes were full of urgency as if he had never been tired.
“N-”
“I think a Hunter has appeared.”
“Fuck!”
Cale couldn’t help but swear.
“As I expected. You truly do have the blood of the Thames. You can’t hide your anger as soon as you hear about a Hunter.”
‘No! That’s not it!’
Cale felt everything go dark while thinking that he heard something he didn’t need to hear right now. He lowered his head to see Raon, who was waiting for the fake Hilsman to continue speaking with a sparkle in his eyes.
His future seemed quite cloudy.
The fake Hilsman looked at Cale, who looked as if he lowered his head because he could not control his anger, with pity as he continued to speak.
He had originally not planned on saying something like this to Cale, but decided that he should at least tell Cale a portion of things after seeing Cale in battle.
Cale Henituse seemed to have a tight relationship with the Roan Kingdom and the different kingdoms of the Western continent.
The fake Hilsman continued in a warm voice.
“The damn Hunter bastards who appeared seemed to have a sponsor.”
The Hunters who hunt single-lifers...
They were back and there was someone sponsoring them.
“I followed the flow of their funds to the Roan Kingdom.”
The sponsor for those Hunters was in the Roan Kingdom.
“Do you know of the Flynn Merchant Guild?”
“I do!”
Raon raised his paw.
“Billos, the guy who looks like a piggybank, is a part of the Flynn Merchant Guild!”
Billos Flynn. He was the merchant that Cale had met in the Henituse territory, the bastard of the Flynn Merchant Guild who had been living quietly until he met Cale and ended up achieving many things that helped him rise to the position of a strong candidate for the future leader of the Flynn Merchant Guild.
Cale raised his lowered head. His eyes were full of questions.
“...Is the Flynn Merchant Guild that sponsor?”
‘There’s no way.’
Billos was not someone who would sponsor an organization like the Hunters.
He was someone who was interested in making money and not interested in things like gods or immortality.
“The funds came from the Flynn Merchant Guild. That information is accurate.”
Cale subconsciously mumbled at the fake Hilsman’s confirmation.
“...There’s no way that Billos Flynn would do that.”
“Hmm? Are you talking about that bastard who will die soon?”
‘What?’
Cale questioned his ears for a moment.
‘Die? Who is going to die? Billos Flynn?’
Billos Flynn had been a strong candidate to succeed the merchant guild the last time Cale heard from him.
“What are you talking about?! Why would Billos die?!”
Raon shouted in shock.
“That bastard was pushed back.”
“Pushed back? Billos?”
Cale found this to be unexpected. Maybe it was because he had expected Billos to plow his way to the top as he had done in ‘The Birth of a Hero’ after meeting Choi Han.
“Yes. The second child of the Flynn family who has received young lady Orsena’s sponsorship will soon become the merchant guild leader. The succession will happen as soon as things are settled here in Puzzle City. Then Billos Flynn will probably be executed.”
“...The Orsena Duchy-”
Cale’s expression stiffened up. He had leaned forward at some point and was tapping on the armrest with his index finger.
The Orsena Duchy.
The Northeast region, Northwest region, Southeast region, and Southwest region. In addition to those four, the Roan Kingdom had five noble factions with the central region being the fifth. The distribution of power in the different regions had become faint as they had to deal with these recent battles, but there were Grand Nobles who represented each region.
The Orsena Duchy represented the central region.
The successor for the Duchy was young lady Karin Orsena.
“Wait, then-”
Cale’s eyes opened wide as he continued to think.
“The Flynn Merchant Guild’s future merchant guild leader received sponsorship from the Orsena Duchy and the funds sponsoring the Hunters came from the Flynn Merchant Guild?”
“Yes. Do you see the picture now?”
The fake Hilsman bluntly commented.
“The reason I came to see Duke Deruth, no. I’ll be honest. There is only one reason I came to the Henituse Duchy.”
The look in his eyes was probably the look that someone would have after having had to suppress their wrath for a while. The fake Hilsman’s eyes were giving off a vicious glow. He spoke to Cale almost in a whisper.
“The funds to resist the Flynn Merchant Guild. A household to go up against the Orsena Duchy. The Henituse Duchy is the only place that meets both conditions right now.”
The fake Hilsman’s hair color slowly started changing.
“Furthermore, it is the one place I can trust as it has my bloodline.”
His hair slowly started to turn red, similar to the color of the sun setting in the sky.
* * *
At that moment...
“Then this is the team we will first send into the temple.”
Alberu was standing at the center of the grand assembly hall with a paper in his hand that listed the individuals who would be the first to enter the temple.
—
PLEASE DO NOT REPOST OUR CHAPTERS ANYWHERE ELSE FOR ANY REASON.
Translator’s Comments
HIS HAIR TURNED RED. HIS HAIR TURNED REEEEEEED!
What will happen next?
TCF is currently posted Mondays and Fridays at evening time GMT. Join our discord to be notified as soon as the chapter posts!
If you can’t wait, please subscribe to advanced chapters on our EAP website to get access to up to 8 chapters!