Book 2: Chapter 22: Who are you guys? (2)

Book 2: Chapter 22: Who are you guys? (2)

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

The black rain was as thick as the unexpected rainfall in the middle of summer.

Clunk. Clunk.

It also brought gusts of wind with it.

The edge precinct black mages truly are skilled~

Cale turned his head after hearing the melodious mumbling.

Hes smiling?

The mercenary with disheveled hair was smiling while looking out the window. That made Cale think about his suspicions.

Is this bastard really a member of the Agents of Destruction?

There were not many reasons to send a subordinate out of the capital no matter how many times Cale thought about it.

Hmm?

Cale turned toward the Fourth Imperial Prince who was standing past Zero.

As expected, the trash demeanor is just an act.

The Fourth Imperial Prince, who was looking out the window with quite a serious gaze, had both of his fists clenched. It was only for an instant, but he even cursed under his breath as if he was holding back his anger.

Human! Will our team be okay? One was smiling like a fool before turning serious while the other was angry but suddenly chuckles and pretends to laugh!

As Raon mentioned, the two candidates had quickly hid their emotions.

The two of their emotions aren't the issue right now.

Cale looked away from the two of them and looked outside.

Swooooooosh-

The black rain mixed with the wind and turned into something like a small storm.

And that storm-

Baaaaaang!

Slammed into the shield.

Crack.

A portion of the shield broke.

"Will this be okay?!

One of the candidates became shocked and almost shouted to an aide to ask.

One of the aides stepped forward.

That person is the one who was speaking to the Margrave.

Cale recalled that this was the last aide to speak to the Margrave before the Margrave left.

Please dont worry. There are over one hundred black mages in Precinct 9. In addition, they are all at least at the middle-grade level.

The aides face was stiff despite telling them not to worry.

This level of rain cloud is not enough to destroy it.

The candidate who asked the question seemed a bit relieved after hearing the aides confident remarks, but Cale had a thought after hearing the answer.

What if it gets past this level of rain cloud?

Then what happens?

Will the shield break?

Cale heard someone who had the same question as himself.

Are there instances where it gets worse than this level of rain cloud?

It was the Second Imperial Princess.

Hmm.

The Second Imperial Princess had formed a team with two candidates who did not stand out much.

The team is set up so that the Second Imperial Princess would shine the most if they do their mission well.

The aide closed her mouth for a moment at the Second Imperial Princess as Cale quickly came up with that assessment.

The rest of the candidates and their subordinates all turned toward her.

Clunk. Clunk.

The wind that seemed to be getting worse was slamming against the window.

Thankfully, there was no black rain hitting the window.

Currently.

The aide pushed up her glasses a bit as she responded.

Currently, there are no rain clouds stronger than this.

It sounds like there will be in the future?

The aide sighed at the Second Imperial Princess's scary gaze.

The rain clouds have slowly gotten stronger since the dead mana rain clouds first appeared, your Royal Highness.

Mm.

Someone groaned.

"And the amount of time in between each instance of rain cloud has been getting shorter.

Is it impossible to determine the cycle of the rain cloud?

Yes, your Royal Highness.

The Second Imperial Princess looked up at the ceiling for a bit before asking.

What exactly is this rain? I've never seen something like this before.

This was also Cales first time hearing about this.

This is different from the erosion methods the Church told me about.

There were multiple methods of dead mana erosion spreading throughout Xiaolen, but there were some common symptoms.

The ground slowly turns black.

Or liquefied dead mana shoots up from underground in places where the foundation has lost strength.

Finally, river water polluted by dead mana flows down and erodes other pieces of land.

Ive never heard of it being through rain clouds.

The eroded lands did have dead mana fog but it was not something that moved.

The Margrave should be explaining this for all of you, but I will give a short explanation because of the current situation.

The aide walked toward a wall without a window.

Cale could see a long cloth that resembled a curtain on the wall.

The aide pulled at the cloth.

Chhhhhh-

It's a map.

It's a map of the west?

The cloth had a map of the western part of the Empire.

You will be able to see the edge villages of the ten precincts of the west on here.

They could see the areas of the Empire that had turned black as well as the current boundary of the Empire.

"What are the red dots?

One of the candidates asked.

Five of the precincts, including precinct 9, had red marks on them.

They are the regions where the dead mana rain clouds gather.

Clunk. Clunk.

The window was still shaking violently.

Cale recorded the entire map in his mind.

The rain cloud started in precinct 9 but has started to appear in other precincts as well.

She looked out the window.

They could see the shield in the sky pretty well because they were in a high spot in the castle. The half-transparent black shield was repeatedly breaking and being fixed.

It was proof that the black mages were working hard.

"The first rain cloud appeared half a year ago.

Plop. Plop.

The raindrops were slowly decreasing.

Why did we not know about this when it happened half a year ago?

The Second Imperial Princess's voice was louder now.

Thats true. This is a bit weird.

Half a year was a pretty long time.

Cale, the Church didn't tell you about this either, right?

Cale slightly nodded his head so that it would not be noticed by others after hearing Eruhaben's question.

Something this big happened six months ago but nobody in the Empires capital knows about it.

"Seriously. Haaa, this is going to be rough.

His subordinates grumbled as well.

Tsk.

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi looked at them as if they were foolish before giving the top aide, Eaen, an order.

To our lodging.

Yes, candidate-nim.

It was at that moment.

Clunk!

The Fourth Imperial Prince turned his gaze and then scowled.

What the hell?

Cale opened the window.

Haha-

He then awkwardly laughed as if he was embarrassed.

Our Sui was feeling frustrated.

A black wing slapped Cale's cheek asking what he was talking about, but Cale just ignored it. He then motioned with his eyes toward the open window.

Sui, you were feeling frustrated being stuck inside, werent you? Go out and play!

Haaaa.

The bird's body moved up and down as if it was sighing before it landed on the window ledge.

Human! Should I go out with Sui Khan as well? I'm concerned because Sui Khan is so skinny!

Cale simply ignored Raon's comment.

Sui Khan looked at Cale, Eruhaben, Choi Han, and then Mary before looking back at Cale and heading out of the window and into the sky.

Cale watched Sui Khan leave and hoped internally.

Team leader, please come back with some information.

Sui Khan would know to go gather information even without being told to do so.

Eruhaben shook his head while watching Sui Khan leave but Cale didnt care.

Tsk!

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi clicked his tongue even louder before walking toward the door.

Ah. Please let me escort you right away!

Eaen flinched before moving in front of Noi and leading the group.

Zero and his subordinates followed behind as well.

Should we go?

Mary asked and Cale nodded his head.

Choi Han led the way and the others followed.

However, Cale remained in the back to look around at the remaining people.

The First Imperial Prince.

He was with the individual whom they were confused about being a dragon, the first young lady of the Black Bloods household, and a robed individual. His team members seemed to have already left.

Hmm.

The First Imperial Prince and Fourth Imperial Prince seemed to have information about these rain clouds.

Would they know the reason behind them as well?

If that was the case, this test was catered for the First Imperial Prince.

It was a test to make him the Emperor.

There's quite a lot of potential for that being the case.

Of course, he didnt think that the Margrave informed the First Imperial Prince in advance of the cause of the rain clouds. That would be a rash judgment.

It is more likely that this rain cloud is connected to the Hunters of the Black Bloods household and they informed the First Imperial Prince about the answer.

But that could also be wrong.

Cale left a lot of room for other potential answers.

This was a world he did not know.

Human, are you not going? Choi Han keeps looking back!

Cale heard Raon's voice but he motioned to Choi Han with his hand to keep going and did not move.

Mm.

The black haired woman who could be a Dragon looked toward Cale for a moment before frowning and looking away.

That was understandable.

Human! Why is she coming this way?

Click. Click.

The Second Imperial Princess was walking toward Cale.

She had quite the vicious look on her face as she did so.

Whats wrong with her?

However, the Second Imperial Princess did not stop in front of Cale and just walked past him.

Dont work with the puppets.

She slowly walked past Cale as she said that.

Tell that to your master.

Cale looked at the Second Imperial Princess as she walked past him. She was looking forward.

She did not even glance at Cale.

Puppets do not have their own will. Of course, the young puppet seems like he is trying to run away.

The Second Imperial Princess stopped talking and slightly turned her head to look at Cale.

Heni Wishrop. It was a subconscious movement because she didnt know whether the man who seemed to be her Chief Advisor would have understood her.

Mm!

She could see that the man, whose face was covered except his mouth, had a thick smile on his face.

I will keep that in mind.

He had a picturesque smile on his face as he said that before walking toward Heni Wishrop.

The Second Imperial Princess quietly watched him.

Human! Both the Second Imperial Princess and the First Imperial Prince are looking at us!

Of course, Cale didnt care much about their gazes.

The conclusion is simple.

He had this thought while listening to the Second Imperial Princess's comments.

This place.

Both this world and this test

Is a mess.

That was why the answer was simple.

We just need to do what we need to do.

They would just simply get rid of the things that get in their way as they did that.

Cale looked out the window.

Beyond the large and thick wall

Cale, it looked like it would be easy to destroy the rain cloud. Dont you think that we would be able to easily destroy the reason behind it as well?

The Fire of Destruction. The cheapskate revealed confidence once again. He was being so chatty and loud but Cale could not ignore him.

I mean come on; I'm a human that even the World Tree feared!

He had every reason to be that confident.

* * *

The next day, the first day of the test.

Nice to meet you. Heni Wishrop.

Nice to meet you as well.

The Second Imperial Princess was standing in front of the door heading out of the wall and looking at the people approaching it.

Are you going out to investigate?

Yes.

Heni Wishrop. The First Imperial Prince was also approaching the door behind her.

Mary spoke as plainly as usual.

I am going to go investigate past the wall.

Translator's Comments

Mary got a stalker.

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