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Chapter Text

Prologue

The God of Death couldn’t surpass his sigh as he was holding Kim RokSoo’s fragile soul. He was late extracting it from his world. So now it would break if he placed it in an adult body.

He already winded back the time of Cale Henituse’s world to the date of Choi Han’s first arrival to Rain City. It created a paradox already, if he is not careful enough with the rewinds, he can destroy that world. He can maybe go back by ten more years to the date when Cale’s mother died, but that's a fix happening he can’t mess with that.

He contemplated a bit while looking at the small light in his hands. Cale would be eight years old at that time, even that can be hard on this soul.

Then he’s last hope is changing the past carefully, Cale’s birth does not seem to be a fixed point at least. Let’s do that.

But the god still failed to calculate something really important…

Chapter Text

1st Chapter

Kim RokSoo was confused. Well everyone would be if they found themselves in an infant's body, and they would not even understand the language that the people around them spoke.

The only thing he knew was that he was taken from his new mother when a pitifully crying man came to the room. The man kneeled at the bedside of his mother and he was given to a butler looking middle aged man.

Kim RokSoo was actually glad to be taken away. The woman was looking at him quite oddly, definitely not with motherly love.

He was first taken to a fancy looking baby room next door, but shortly after he was moved to a faraway small room and almost fully neglected by everyone except for the wet nurse.

This is how the first six months of his life was spent. He could not learn the language, because nobody talked near him. He didn’t even know his own name. It was hard to even learn his motor skills, because he was rarely out of his crib. Any normal person would have found this cruel, but he was actually happy with lying around doing nothing.

Then one day the butler looking man came back with his wet nurse again.

“The Lord wants Young Master Cale out of the Castle, he said we should move him to the late Lady’s Villa in Harris Village.” Saied the butler, not that Kim RokSoo understood any of it. “You don't have to worry, there will be new full time staff hired, and I will be the one managing your pays. You just have to look after the Young Master. We will move right away, the maids will help you pack.”

The nurse only nodded and picked up Kim RokSoo. The trip to Harris Village was spent in peace and quiet. It was even way too quiet for Ron, the butler. There was a baby in the carriage, but the little thing didn’t even utter a sound.

“Is the Young Master normally this calm?” Asked Ron.

“Yes, sir. I told the Lord once that maybe something is wrong with Young Master Cale, because I never heard him cry and I’m the one who has to wake him up at night to feed him, but the Lord said I don’t have to concern myself over it, if he does not seem to be physically ill.” Answered the nurse.

Ron looked at the baby horrified. Does the Young Master have some mental problems, or is he developing some because of the low personal contact and stimulus he got in his early life?

“Young Master, you should voice yourself sometimes. It’s fine to be a bit fussy. My son Beacrox was non stop crying in the early days.” Leaned closer Ron to baby Cale.

This was the first time that somebody actually talked to Kim RokSoo since he was born. He looked at the butler looking man curiously, but he regretted it almost instantly. The man’s benign smile frightened him for some reason, and his instincts were never wrong. They saved him from suffering death more than once in his last life.

Kim RokSoo’s small body involuntarily let out a small whine. Hearing this Ron’s smile actually thickened.

“See, Young Master. It isn’t that hard.” Said the butler ruffling the small child’s red locks. “This Ron will come and play with you, so you can develop into a smart boy.”

Kim RokSoo had no way of knowing what was just said to him, but he still got even more scared after the light touch he just got.

After they got to the new place Ron only stayed till he got the new staff hired. In those few days Kim RokSoo was actually picked up by him from time to time, and taken around the Villa. So he actually learned his own name and the butler’s, and even though when Ron left he got neglected the same way as before he still started to learn the language bit by bit, because his new baby room was at a busier part of the house and he could hear the servants.

Kim RokSoo, now Cale also learned his family situation slowly, because the staff liked to gossip. His mother actually died shortly after she gave birth to him, and his father didn’t want anything to do with his son. Also the reason he was moved out of the Henituse Castle was no other than, there was a new potential Lady coming.

He spent the next two months learning as much as he could, and by that time, he became sure he was reborn as one of the minor characters in a book he read. The problem was that not everything added up with the plot he remembered. But one thing became clear at last. The reason why he found Ron scarry was no other than that in the book Kim RokSoo had read, Ron Molan was a retired assassin.

Next time when Ron came to visit, Cale was already eight months old. He could already sit by himself and use his hands even though he still preferred to just lie around. So when the butler stepped into the room with his nurse he actually pushed himself up to welcome the old man.

“Oho, Young Master Cale just gets bigger and bigger every time this servant sees him.” Smiled Ron and took Cale into his arms, then he turned to the wet nurse. “I will take the Young Master with me to the study and do the staff’s payment estimations.”

Hearing this Cale actually got somewhat excited. He really wanted to learn the written language now that he understood it. His only hobby was reading back in his previous life, and he missed it. Sadly with his eight month old strength he doubted he could even pick up a book by himself yet.

So this time Cale happily clenched Ron’s shirt with his small fists as the butler carried him to the study. This quiet happiness was actually noticed by Ron:

“Is Young Master Cale happy to see Ron? I will be too busy to entertain you properly, but giving you my keychain to play with should be good enough I think.”

Ron sat behind the table with Cale on his lap, and placed the accounting books before himself in preparation to look over them. Before he picked up his pen, he decided to take his keychain off from its chain, and shook it for the baby, but Cale wasn’t interested.

Instead the red haired baby was looking at the numbers in the book lying on the table with sparkly eyes. His little fists were grabbing onto the edge of the table. Ron was actually baffled by this strange child.

“Not cute at all…” Grumbled Ron under his breath, but he still patted the baby’s little head affectionately.

They spent the whole early afternoon like this, Ron working on the papers, sometimes talking to Cale about what he was doing, while Cale was paying attention to everything. When the nurse came to pick him up, he had already learned all the numbers and even some of the letters of this world.

This time Cale was actually sad when Ron left at the end of the day, and decided he will show some cute baby affection to him next time he comes. A nine month old should be big enough already to say his first words, shouldn’t it?

So when a month later Ron arrived at the Harris Villa, and he went to greet little Cale, the baby was sitting in his crib and stretched his little arms out towards him.

“Lon! Lon!” Said Cale surprising the butler. The baby still had a stoic face as usual, but his voice was super cute to Ron.

“The Young Master really is smart as expected.” Smiled the butler, but it wasn’t his usual benign one, he felt too many conflicting emotions at that moment.

He was proud, because Cale could already say his first words, but he was also sad, because those words weren’t a normal “mom” or “dad”.

“Does Young Master Cale want to go see the accounting books with Ron again?” Asked the butler while holding the baby.

“Book! Book!” Repeated Cale as an answer.

“If you like them that much, I will actually get you some next time I come.” Nodded Ron patting the baby’s back.

And he did just that. They were children’s books not entirely what Cale wanted, but it was still fun turning the pages and reading the short texts of the tales, and because Ron read them with him first Cale learned all the letters he needed.

That’s how he spent his first year in this new world. He was happy even though he was most of the time alone in his crib with only some boring children’s books as company.

Chapter Text

2nd Chapter

Cale got one year old quietly, the only person who actually cared was Ron and even he couldn't come to greet him on the day. The Henituse Castle was way too busy, because Count Deruth decided to remarry.

When things settled down and Ron was able to visit Harris Village again Cale was already able to walk even if his balance wasn't totally right still. So when the butler entered the baby room Cale was standing in his crib ready to be taken out.

“Ron!” Cale even waved one of his small hands to him.

Just when he heard his name did Ron actually notice that he missed this small child. Yes, he pitied him from the moment he was born, but he slowly developed some real feelings down the line, so he hugged the little one with a smile before carrying him to the study.

“I brought the Young Master some new books for his birthday.” Said Ron while he put down Cale on the carpet next to his presents.

The red head immediately took one of the books in his hands and started reading. It was still a fairytale book, but there were no pictures in it.

Ron sat behind his desk to work, but from the corner of his eye he kept watching Cale. He found it funny how the baby kept following the text with his eyes even though there was no way he could read what was written there.

“Which tale was Young Master Cale’s favorite?” Asked Ron jokingly when the small child put down the first book.

“The one where the smart dragon scammed the evil king out of his whole country.” Answered Cale.

Ron's blood chilled at that moment. There were no pictures in the book Cale just finished, the baby had no way of knowing what was in it without reading the text.

“Can the Young Master read?” Asked the butler with a fast beating heart.

“Yes.”

Cale tilted his little head to the side, he was confused. He did not understand why Ron was asking this when he was the one who taught him.

Ron quickly picked Cale up, and took him to the table, then he pointed at a line in his accounting book.

“What does this say Cale?” Asked seriously.

“Daily food expense budget.” Said Cale terrified. He actually got used to Ron after a while even though he had known he was an assassin, but now he was scared of him again.

‘Crazy! This is crazy!’ Ron had known that Cale was extremely intelligent. How would he not when the child spoke like an adult already at the age of eleven months, but this was on a whole new level. The Young Master was a genius, and this actually explained some of his odd behaviors.

“I have to leave immediately, Young Master, but this servant will be back tomorrow to talk to you and finish his job.” Said Ron with pretended calmness as he rushed out of the study with Cale, and gave him to the nurse. He really had to speak to the count about this son of his. It’s fine if the Lord does not want to see Cale, but he really needs to hire someone who can make sure his intelligence is occupied.

Ron left Harris Villa in a hurry, and reached the main castle in only two hours even though this distance normally took him almost twice the time. The count was in his study looking at business plans when Ron knocked and entered the room.

“Is everything all right Ron?” Asked the man without looking up.

“Lord Deruth, I would like to talk to you about your son.” Bowed the butler.

“Basen?” Asked the man putting the papers to the side.

“No, Young Master Cale.” Shook his head Ron.

Deruth frowned at that:

“What about it?”

‘Not him… it.’ Now it was actually Ron who wanted to frown, but he stayed polite. He was actually glad that Deruh did not bother to meet Cale, even that emotionless baby would get hurt hearing someone who should be his guardian talking about him so uninterested.

“The Lord should hire a tutor for him. That child is most likely a genius.” Answered Ron.

“As far as I know I’m still paying for a wet nurse for him, what you ask for is ridiculous. Now that I think about it… is that woman still needed? That child should be more than one year old now.”

“He is still a baby, Lord Deruth. Children need a caretaker.”

“That woman is not a caretaker, she is a wet nurse. You said the child is smart enough to get a tutor, he should be fine without a nurse then, when he has a whole villa full of servants to take care of him.”

That’s how Cale lost the only person who was actually paid to look after him. The wet nurse never showed any affection to him, but she still made sure his needs were met. After this Cale was really on his own in that big house, he was only fourteen months old at that time.

After this life got way harder even though Ron tried to help him at first. He sat down with the housekeeper and Cale to talk. The butler told the old woman that Cale is the new master of Harris Villa. It actually worked and the servants listened to Cale in the first four months, because Ron came every month to oversee them and deliver their pay. Cale learned a lot in those four months from the butler.

Then Ron stopped coming. A new butler Hans took his place, who just left the money to the housekeeper and went back without seeing the accounting books or talking to Cale. So the servants had no need to mind Cale anymore.

They didn’t even care that he could hear them gossip about this situation:

“Hans said that the new Lady is pregnant, so the Henituse family will have a new Young Master soon. That's the reason Ron isn’t coming anymore. The Lady keeps him busy.” Said one of the maids.

“This creepy emotionless child we are stuck with is not even the First Young Master of the family, because the Lady’s son from her last marriage got the title instead.”

Cale was actually happy hearing this. He never wanted to be an heir. He would have been perfectly content with his current life in this remote village if he would have been well fed, but that was the problem. Not only was he ignored, but his meals were served to him less and less often.

For the next half of his second year, it became much more difficult not to spend some periods of time hungry. He usually only begged in vain for the servants to bring him more food, since even though he intended it to be a request, it came across as a harsh demand to the staff. He didn’t sound like someone who was actually hungry. So not even one of them assumed that the child was not getting his meals properly. They all thought the others were doing their job right.

Whenever he was caught sneaking into the kitchen getting food, they didn't hesitate to forcefully drag him out of there. He only received mild punishments, but Cale's new body proved to be quite weak. Normally he wouldn't have been bothered by one or two lite slaps, he had been beaten a thousand times harder by his uncle in his previous life, but the fact that he fell ill so easily after each frustrated him.

All that aside, there were still positives. He was free to do as he pleased, so he spent most of his time lounging in his room or reading in the study. He mostly chose history books, so he could learn even more about this new world. With this newly acquired knowledge and everything he had read in his previous life, he could confidently state that he would be able to create a peaceful life for himself with a little bit of manipulation towards the plot.

The problem was that there were countless changes in the happenings compared to the book he read. Cale Henituse, the character he was reincarnated as, was eighteen years old at the beginning of the book series, but if Cale's calculations were correct… and they were correct, then he was born eight years later than his book counterpart. Which meant that he would only be ten years old when this world descended to madness.

Chapter Text

3rd Chapter

Ron was really happy when the new youngest Henituse was born at last. Not because he liked children, he just hoped he could go back to his usual routine and oversee the Harris Villa again.

Contrary to what he expected, it took him three more months to finish every task that came up with a new baby around. Those tasks actually frustrated him even more, because he wasn’t asked to do any of them when Young Master Cale was born. Nobody was invited from the church to bless him, there was no banquet to welcome him into the world, and so on.

When Ron was free again to take up his work in the Harris Villa Cale was already almost three years old. He hadn't seen the Young Master for more than a year. He expected to see a stoic toddler quietly reading on the study’s carpet. Instead the scene that unfolded before his eyes wasn't so idyllic.

Cale was actually reading quietly somewhere, but instead of the study, he was lying in his own room, wrapped in a blanket. His little face looked red from a fever. It was not surprising that the child seemed sick, considering how cold the room was. There was no fire in the fireplace.

Cale didn’t notice the butler till he was picked up and a cold hand touched his small forehead. Ron did not know if the kid was just focused on the book, or if he was actually too dizzy from the fever to keep track of his surroundings.

“I missed you Ron. You should really fire all the staff here. They were embezzling the money that Hans brought. I was keeping track of it in a clean accounting book for you.” Said Cale when he registered who was holding him. This usually nonchalant child was actually frowning cutely instead of his usual stoic expression.

Holding Cale in his arms made Ron even more scared. The almost three years old was way too small, and weighed nothing. His clothes were also a mess, and not the right size, his hair long like a little girl’s with a black string tied into it sloppily, so that it won't get in the way. Ron was sure the child was the one dressing himself.

What did the servants do to such a small child? Cale was only a toddler at the end of the day even if he was capable of noticing and keeping track of embezzlement. And this child did not look his age either, he was so-so small.

“Good job Young Master Cale, Ron will take care of it from now on.” Said the butler with a scary smile.

Cale trembled at the sight of it, causing Ron to misinterpret it for the toddler being cold. So the butler wrapped him in the blanket even tighter, then he put the small child back on his bed, and quickly went to make some fire so Cale could warm up while he talked to the housekeeper.

Ron had no authority to fire all the staff without talking to the Count first sadly. He also needed a good reason, and thinking back on the last talk he had with the bastard, he doubted child abuse was good enough for him, if it was against Cale. So it was really useful that this crazy smart toddler was keeping track of the expenses.

‘This will take more than a week to solve. I know I shouldn't leave the child here, but I’m also afraid to take the Young Master back with me to the castle.’ The Count did not want Cale to be near his new family at all. Ron even doubted if the new Countess had knowledge of her husband’s first born child’s existence.

That was the reason he tried to keep civil while he talked to the housekeeper. He hoped that even if they were suspecting something, because Ron had asked for all the accounts and estimates, they would not make it even harder for the Young Master in that one week he can get rid of them all.

So Ron tried to finish everything in the shortest time possible. He only slept at most five to six hours in the next three days, as he was trying to piece together the needed information to present before the Count.

He really worked hard, but it wasn't enough. In the end, when he got back to Harris Villa the Housekeeper and Cale were already nowhere to be found.

The housekeeper of Harris Villa wasn’t a smart woman, but she wasn’t that dumb either not to know how perfectly Ron kept the accounts. So she was prepared to run the moment she first took money from the funds Hans had left for them.

She started packing up her luggage right after Ron left. Then waited till night time to exit her room. Just as he was leaving her quarters she was faced with a small child coming out of the study with a thick book in his small arms.

Should she take him? He was an unfavored child, but still a noble. His father should still pay, or if not he can sell him off. The child was quite cute, if someone was capable of looking past his creepy stoic face. She did not hesitate after she got this far with her thoughts. She grabbed one of the red head’s wrists in one hand, then she pressed her other hand over his mouth.

She didn’t even try to deceive this adult acting toddler with sweet lies. She still had the memory of Ron introducing the child to her after the wet nurse was let go. That talk still gave her nightmares. The stoic looking baby was sitting on the butler's lap telling her in his baby voice how she should take care of the staff, when and how the maid should deliver his meals and so on.

No matter how Cale tried to struggle, his weak body couldn’t do anything against a grown adult, and after just ten minutes of him trying his best to resist he actually passed out. Making it easy for the housekeeper to meet up with the man she hired in Rain city almost a year ago for this occasion.

When Cale regained consciousness he was in a cheap carriage. Even though he sat up, the housekeeper didn’t even spare him a glance. They didn’t bind him with a rope either. It just showed how little threat he possessed for them. This made Cale annoyed more than scared.

He was a noble, damn it! They first starved him, and now they had the courage to kidnap him. Cale had a frown unbefitting to a toddler.

“What’s the plan? Do you want to ask for a ransom from the Count?” Asked Cale.

The housekeeper had a disgusted expression while she looked at the creepy child. He was a real eyesore for her.

“That was my first thought, but someone got a better idea.” She was actually happy telling all this to the toddler. She wanted to see his stoic face crack up with terror. “My new friend knows some people who love to pay high amounts for cute little children. That is way safer than contacting your father.”

‘Not bad.’ Thought Cale. ‘There’s no guarantee Count Henituse would pay, not to mention she could be catched while picking up the ransom.’

Cale just had a tired expression at this point. Will he become a sex toy for some crazy guy, it certainly sounded like that way. This was a new low for Cale, even taking into account his last life as Kim RokSoo. He had to escape, but there was no despair on his face, only that endless tiredness.

“The Young Master is still a child it seems at the end of the day. I will spell it out for you, because you don’t seem to get the situation you’re in. Somebody with a sick hobby will buy that pretty red head of yours. You will suffer for the rest of your life or even die early.” The housekeeper was frustrated.

‘She is definitely thinking about me becoming a sex slave, but she doesn’t have the face to say it, what a weak little villain with a poor provocation.’ Cale said nothing aloud though.

He did not even give any sign of understanding, just looked out of the window. He was trying to determine where they were. It was quite hard because he had only read about this world and never left Harris Villa before. Then he noticed rock towers appearing alongside the road, they were arriving at Puzzle City for sure.

They will definitely stop here, and this will be his first chance to escape. If he gets away he should try to head to the mountains and find a small village there. They wouldn't suspect him to leave the city, he was less than three years old after all.

Cale was right, when the carriage halted the driver came and basically packed Cale up in a blanket, so tightly that he couldn't move or make understandable noises. Because of his small size he must have looked like a well protected baby from the cold, so the two kidnappers looked like a normal family with a child.

“My friends said they will meet us tomorrow morning. They actually found a buyer the minute they mentioned that they will get their hands on a Henituse brat. The Count must have some enemies.” Whispered the driver to the housekeeper.

Fuck, this will be not just his first, but his only chance to escape than. Cale kept very still while the villains rented a room, and formulated his plan.

Chapter Text

4th Chapter

The room they got was conveniently on the ground floor. After they entered the driver tied one of Cale's wrists to the leg of the bed and left the toddler on the cold floor.

‘Ah, my fever will get worse.’ Thought Cale, but then he turned his attention to his surroundings.

He was really lucky, even the bed was under the window, so despite him being a small child he could easily reach it. He just needed something to cut the rope with to get himself free.

“I’m hungry.” Said Cale nonchalantly, but the housekeeper fully ignored him.

‘Shit, do I actually have to act miserable?’ Cale was quite a good actor as Kim RokSoo, but he had no idea if it would work the same way now with his child face. He had to try though.

“At least can I get something to drink?” Whined Cale with tears in his eyes. He was looking at the driver, the man did not know him as well as the housekeeper. That woman would have found his actions weird.

“Hey, Emma bring something for the child!” It worked! The driver actually ordered the housekeeper to go out and ask the kitchen for food.

“Why should I be the one going? I’m the one paying you.” Cale was happy seeing the housekeeper angry.

“We are partners now in this transaction.” Answered the driver. “Just go, hurry! Grab something for us also.”

The housekeeper wasn’t pleased, but she left and came back with a tray full of food. It wasn’t anything fancy, but Cale not lied when he said he was hungry. So he quietly drank his soup when it was given to him with some bread. It was in a wooden bowl though, he hoped for a porcelain one so he could smash it and get something sharp.

After Cale finished he silently eyed the water jug and the glasses on the table. Those were made of actual glass.

“Wouldn’t you give him some water, tsk.” Said the driver when he noticed Cale watching.

‘Oho, this man seems to have a soft spot for children.’ Thought Cale. The driver who wanted to sell him off was actually more concerned for him than the whole staff in Harris Villa.

The housekeeper was really frustrated now, but she had no choice. She picked up a water filled glass and kneeled before Cale to hand it over to him. Cale obediently took it from her hands.

The red head’s thoughts were running rampant. Should he pretend to drop it by accident? Would that be suspicious in the eyes of the housekeeper? Then an idea came to him… and he smiled.

The housekeeper was creeped out in an instant when she saw the stoic toddler smile for the first time. It was the scariest smile she had ever seen on any face. She was so terrified that she couldn't even react when the glass was thrown towards her head. So it hit her right on the forehead, then bounced and shattered on the floor.

Her head started to bleed, and slowly her cheeks turned red from anger. When she came back to her senses, she slapped Cale as hard as she could. The toddler's head hit the floor, so now there were two people with bleeding foreheads in the room.

This was actually convenient for Cale, as he was lying on the floor he stealthily grabbed one of the glass shards and hid it. He was prepared for getting a severe beating from her, but there was no second hit, so he slowly looked up.

The driver was holding the housekeeper back.

“You shouldn’t damage the goods. Go take a walk, cool your head.” Saied the man, while pushing her towards the door. “And tell the innkeeper that everything is alright, they should have heard the noise.”

The housekeeper left, and Cale could only pray for her not to return before he succeeded in escaping. Cale's luck seemed infinite, because the driver also seemed to behave like the child wanted him to do. The tiredly man sat down on the bed and closed his eyes, drifting to sleep slowly after all that circus. He lied down and slept even though he wanted to keep watch over Cale.

Cale cut the rope silently. Then he had to face a new problem, should he just run for it or do something about the driver? He was afraid that if he left the man as he was, the driver would have been able to catch up to him when he noticed Cale missing.

Cale made his decision. He was someone who did anything for survival after all.

So the toddler, who was still less than three years old, covered himself with a blanket. Then climbed on the bed and crawled to the driver's head. With one swift motion Cale cut the man's neck artery. He needed all his strength, but it was still easier and quicker than stabbing him in the chest. When the blood gushed out the blanket protected the small child from getting dirty. The moment the man’s eyes and mouth opened from shock Cale quickly stuffed one of the blooded corners of the fabric into the driver's mouth to muffle his scream. It only took ten seconds and the man became totally limp, dead on the spot.

Cale left through the window without hesitation. Leaving the bloody scene behind. The inn was on the border of the city with not even a city wall to obstruct his escape, but not even ten minutes passed when he heard a woman scream. The housekeeper most likely arrived back from her walk.

‘I’m not even far enough not to hear the commotion…’ Thought Cale, and started to run like crazy.

He needed to find a safe place to hide, and out of nowhere the perfect place appeared, a small cave opening only big enough that he could go through comfortably. An adult would have had to crawl even if he spotted the opening.

Cale rushed inside, only when the cave widened, did he notice where he was. He read about this place way back as Kim RokSoo. There was a whirlwind with a half finished rocktower in the middle. He could get a mysterious power here if he completed its trial, The Vitality of the Heart, a so-called Ancient Power.

Cale became excited. The one destined to get this power had no use for it. Succeeding in earning this power actually made the original owner even more desperate and depressed. So Cale won’t feel bad robbing him of it. If he really wanted to help that man, he should be able to fix the whole reason he started looking for the power anyway.

‘Let’s take it!’ Decided Cale.

Then he looked at the wind. Will his small body be strong enough to survive that? No, it’s a question of will. Even if his body becomes a bloody mess the Vitality of the Heart will heal it so he doesn’t need to worry about the consequences. He could just crawl through or try to use Instant. Cale was aware that he still had Kim RokSoo’s awaken abilities from his last life, but they were a lot weaker, a shadow of their former selves.

‘It will hurt either way.’ Shrugged the red head. ‘I hate pain, but it’s better to get hurt now only once if it can prevent me from being in pain later.’

Cale got on his knees and his nails dug into the floor so the wind would not just throw him back. He started to move.

- Go away little one! This is a cursed power! - Heard Cale, the voice belonged to a seemingly old man.

Cale was surprised, but he had no time to lament. This should be part of the trial. For his weak and light body even sticking to the ground was hard, so he just crawled forward. The wind cut him with every collusion, and his hands got wounded as he kept going.

- All my friends died while I survived. - There were even sobbing noises now.

‘How annoying!’ Thought Cale. ‘You shouldn’t blame the power for that. I will live my life in a way that I won't regret anything, and for that I need this power.’

- What a selfish human. This is a selfish power also, it’s a good match. - The old crybaby approved of Cale.

Just before Cale would have reached his limit, he actually got through. His little body was torn into shreds, even one of his arms was broken, but with his last breath he raised from the ground. In his still good hand there was a little white rock which he placed with care.

Then his vision went black and he stumbled destroying the just finished tower. The last thing he heard was the old man:

- Don’t get hurt any more, little one, but if it’s necessary I will always make sure you are healed.

Cale smiled before fainting.

Chapter Text

5th Chapter

Cale was out for a week and missed Ron and some of the Hanituse knights who were looking for him. The butler only found two dead bodies. One was the man that Cale killed and the other was the Housekeeper who was killed by the underground friends of the driver.

Ron checked all the nearby cities and connected some people in the underworld also, but Cale was nowhere to be found. The butler only had himself to blame, he should have just taken Cale to the main castle. Especially when the cat came out of the bag anyway about his existence.

Ron remembered vividly what happened when he told the Count that Cale was kidnaped. The Countess was also in the room.

“That useless child, he only exists to make me miserable.” Count Deruth blamed his son for everything, especially for the death of his first love.

That was the reason he hadn’t even spared a glance for the boy. He should have just paid the wet nurse a big sum to choke the baby to death in his crib as a newborn. Newborns tend to die in their sleep in the early days of their life, nobody would have suspected a thing. He wasn’t that heartless though so he couldn’t go through with it. At least that’s what he told himself even though he deep down knew the reason was his cowardness.

Now this child was actually threatening his second marriage and his reputation.

“What is Ron talking about Dear? Who is this Young Master Cale?” Asked Violan, Deruth’s second wife.

“He is Jour’s son, the child is mentally challenged from birth so I have hidden him. I don’t want him to get caught up with the power struggle between nobles. I didn’t want to inconvenience you with a mentally disabled kid either.” Said the Count. He did not lie, he believed every word uttered.

Way back the wet nurse came to him with his concern when Cale was one or two months old. Yes, a year later Ron visited him and said the complete opposite, but for Deruth his first evaluation was more convenient, so he kept to that.

“Oh, Dear! How awful!” Violan was moved by her husband’s thoughtfulness. “You should send the knight out immediately! A small ill boy…”

She was also relieved that the child should not pose any threat to her Basen’s position. This was all written on her face clear as day.

Ron was watching them with disgust. His perfect little Young Master was not just treated as garbage, but he was looked down upon, and they were making it sound like they were actually good guardians for the child.

This was the turning point in the end. Ron lost all goodwill for the Henituse couple, and he took it upon himself if he ever gets back Cale he will be the parent that the child never had.

The chance to turn his will into reality only came three years later, because while Ron and the Henituse knights left Puzzle City after the two corpses lead to nothing, the driver’s human trafficker friends did not. Those bastards were sure the less than three years old Cale was still in close proximity to the city.

When the human traffickers thoroughly searched the outside area, they found the small opening and the unconscious toddler in the now normal seaming cave. So when Cale came to his senses he was tied up tightly.

The first thing he noticed was the rope around him, so he didn’t open his eyes and continued to pretend to be asleep. Cale wasn’t alone, he heard two people talking.

‘Let’s get some information.’ Thought the child.

“When will the twerp wake up?” Asked a young sounding voice.

“Our doctor said he should be conscious already.” Answered an older one. “It will be really bothersome if he stays like this. We will meet up with the buyer tomorrow, and it does not look great if he is unresponsive.”

“Do you really think he was the one who killed James as the crazy housekeeper said?”

“No, that woman has lost her mind. I bet she was the one who killed him and the kid got away in the comotion.”

Then Cale heard footsteps coming his way and a rough hand grabbed his nape. He was forced to sit, then a glass with water touched his lips. He had to stop pretending, he wasn’t sure if he would have kept up his act. He opened his eyes.

“Look who is up!” Grinned the older one, who was trying to feed him some water.

“Where am I?” Asked Cale in his usual nonchalant manner.

The human traffickers were creeped out hearing his adult like calm voice. The little Henituse boy was definitely weird as the late housekeeper had said.

“In the Tolz territory.” Answered the younger unconsciously.

It was next to the Henituse County. Cale was confused, the Tolz family was friendly to the Henituses even if they were envious of their wealth. Then he remembered in the book he read as Kim RokSoo, “The Birth of a Hero” the Tolzes were alined with the Stan family. Or were there any other rich people interested in buying him in this territory? Not likely.

‘Is this the time when they join the Stan faction?’ Lamented Cale. Then it would make sense.

“Why the hell did you just flat out tell him?” Asked the older one.

“I was just surprised! He can’t do anything with the information anyway.”

“Tsk, just let’s hope everything goes like it should tomorrow. I will make sure he can’t talk in the meantime, just to be sure nothing like this happens. We should keep quiet also, and not talk between ourselves without reason.” Said the older man, and the glass of water was replaced by some clean clothes in his hands.

Cale mouth was stuffed with the fabric skillfully.

The next day Cale’s suspicion became a reality. The buyers were Viscount Tolz and his teenage son.

“Is that really a Henituse child?” Asked Viscount Tolz when he saw Cale’s blood red hair. “He looks nothing like his father.”

“He is, the Henituse knights were looking for him for days. We had to be really cautious.” Answered the older human trafficker.

“Hmm… why is he in rags? Those clothes seem to be cheap, not just damaged as well.” Said the Viscount coming closer to Cale. “Is he really a boy?”

“I’m a boy…” Cale actually got offended. He had longer hair, but still.

The Viscount wanted to pat the cutely frowning child, but it was yanked back by the older human trafficker.

“No touching of the goods before payment!”

“Sure. Neo give them the bag!” Ordered his son Viscount Tolz.

The exchange happened in seconds, the money went to the human traffickers and Cale was taken by one of the Tolz knights.

“Let’s head back! I want the kid bathed and dressed, a present should look nice. Otherwise you can just look him up in the dungeon till Marquis Stan arrives.” Said the Viscount.

Cale found the situation funny. So he will be a present for the Stan head. He was changing detainers like others changed their clothes. He couldn't laugh though. Most of the Stan family consisted of crazy psychopaths.

In the end he couldn’t surpass his snicker when he was sitting on a clean blanket all dolled up in the cold, damp prison. dirty and dark dungeon of the Tolz Manor. This was the first time he was actually wearing fancy noble clothes. The irony…

This was also the first time the guards heard him giggling like a mad man, but not the last. In the next three years this happened multiple times, and they broke out in a cold sweat every single time. There was no getting used to this creepy child.

Chapter Text

6th Chapter

Four people were sitting in the lounge. The two middle aged were conversing about business, while the two younger just sat there bored till there was a quiet knock.

“Oh, it seems like the knights have arrived with the present I acquired for you.” Smiled Viscount Tolz. “I don’t know if you would fancy something like this, but you can just resell it in the Empire if you don’t like it.”

The door opened and a man came in, leading a little child. It was a small delicate boy, with a beautiful face and long red hair. Marquis Stann started to frown, he wasn’t into that kind of shit.

“I’m not interested in kids, Tolz.” Saied the Marquis angrily.

“I did not assume anything like that. This is the son of that annoying Henituse head.” Explained Viscount Tolz. “Oh, and your son seems to be interested.”

It was true. When Cale was led into the room, Venion, the son of the Marquis, instantly became more lively.

“You can have him, if you would like, just stay private, I don’t want any rumors. Just keep him here in this territory, Tolz already promised us a secret base here.” Turned the Marquis to his son.

“Thank you Father. I like his hair very much, I wonder if his blood shines the same way.” Smiled the blond Venion.

When Marquis Stan heard his son he just nonchalantly stood up and grabbed Cale by his hair and threw him to Venion.

“The knights will show you where you can keep the child.” Turned Viscount Tolz to Venion. He was very satisfied, because of the acceptance of his gift. “Neo you can go and play with Young Master Venion. You must be bored also.”

So the two teenagers left with Cale and the knights. Cale was well aware what place they were taking him. The cave the Stan family used as a base in The Birth of a Hero was actually important in the main story because of a small dragon that was kept there.

‘I will be tortured there as that dragon was. In the end it’s still better than getting molested.’ Cale’s second life was turning out just as awful as his first.

“Hire me someone who is good with knives and the whip. For today’s fun we'll have to make do with the knights. Bring some wine as well.” Venion was really excited as they got onto the carriage.

“As you wish.” Answered Neo with a slight grimace. “I’m looking forward to the show.”

He couldn’t replicate the other boy’s excitement, even though he tried. Neo Tolz was just a normal person in the end, but he had to put up with this. He had to leave a favorable impression. His survival was now dependent on the Stann family.

‘I guess, I will only be tormented when Venion is visiting.’ Cale did not miss this detail. ‘The problem is the power of the Vitality of the Heart. It’s a double-edged sword. They can be as harsh as they want with the torture and I won’t die or suffer lasting disabilities.’

He should have calculated that there was a chance he would pass out and as a result get caught when he took that power. He was careless.

The new Stan base in the Tolz territory was a dark and damp cave. You had to walk through a long tunnel to get to the more spacious inside. There were some prison cells already set up so the Stans can keep their unwanted acquaintances here where nobody will look for them.

‘I guess one of these will be my new home.’ Thought Cale.

But for now he was strapped into a chair. Well only his torso was, he was too small to get his arms and legs binded. Cale’s shirt was cut so his skin became visible. The unlucky knight who took up the torturer's job, started to feel even worse upon seeing the toddler's bony chest.

The child did not cry when the first shallow cuts were made. His little mouth was pressed into one thin line, but there were no tears. His blood was wetting the floor at an alarming rate though. This seemed too much blood to lose for such a small body, the knight panicked. Did he cut too deep? Did he just kill the child?

The knight wanted to stop the bleeding, so he tried to press on one of the wounds, but his fingers touched nothing. There were no cuts under the bloody mess.

“He bleeds nicely, it goes well with this wine.” Commented Venion. “It’s a pity that he is not crying though. Are you doing your job properly?”

“He is not a torture expert, you can’t fault him for not knowing where to cut so it will be more stimulating.” Tried to defend their knight Neo.

As he spoke he looked reassuringly at the knight, but he was faced with a confused expression instead of a scared one.

“The wounds have disappeared…” Uttered the knight dumbfounded.

Hearing this Venion was quicker on the uptake than Neo. He got even more excited, he turned and ordered the remaining knights in a hurry.

“Bring a bucket of water!” Stood up the blond.

When the knight who he just ordered got back, he basically tore the bucket out of his hand and dumped all of its content on Cale. The water was ice cold. Somehow this felt even worse for Cale than his skin getting cut. Cale started to shiver, but nobody cared about that.

Everybody was looking at the smooth skin on his chest, that seemed to be spotless. There were no wounds or scars.

“Did you actually cut him? Were you deceiving us?” Asked Neo, his gaze was alternating between Cale and the unlucky knight.

“No, I would not dare!” Now the knight looked actually scared.

Venion wasn’t interested in the other teenager’s weak attempt to gasp reality. He was moving forward while everyone else was frozen.

‘Slow idiots!’ He thought. ‘So frustrating as a noble I still have to do it myself if I want something to be done right.’

“Give me that knife!” Ordered the blond.

The scared knight instantly flipped the knife in his hands and offered it to the young noble, who took it without hesitation. Then before anybody could have stopped his reckless action Venion stabbed the toddler in the stomach with one swift motion. He did not want to get dirty with blood so he stepped away instantly.

Cale was glad that he had talent in staying calm in every situation. So he was unfazed as he looked down on the knife sticking out of him. His little hands grabbed the handle and he tried to pull it out. It wasn’t easy. The pain, blood loss and his weak muscles were making it close to impossible. He had to get rid of it though, if he wanted to survive. So the Vitality of the Heart could heal the wound.

He was tearing up from the effort and the pain, but succeeded. As the knife hit the ground Cale coughed up a mouth of dark blood. The Vitality of the Heart was amazing, it worked way quicker then Cale thought after reading the book. In only five short minutes he was fine, only his hunger grew exceptionally.

That was when he heard the sobbing voice of the old man again:
- Don’t worry, I will make sure you’re fine. The pain will also go away in a bit, hang on kid!

Cale would have been confused if he weren’t still in shock from the pain, but in his fragile state of mind he could only look up at the adults with madness in his eyes.

Watching this made everyone except Venion horrified. His regeneration was as potent as a priest’s, but no holy power could be felt from him.

“This present just got way more precious.” Grinned the blond teen. “If he gets older, we can even use him. We have to make sure he grows up into an obedient dog.”

‘Did I just take over the black dragon’s role fully?’ Cale frowned. ‘Will there be no dragon now?’

The events in this world were already different from the book, so now with this much change he wasn’t sure he could use most of the plot he remembered.

It will be even worse for him. He can’t just go berserk, break free and die as the small dragon did. There was no escape for him, not even death was an option. Not that he would choose that to begin with. His life was way too precious for Cale, it had to be. He already lived through way too much shit to just give up.

Chapter Text

7th Chapter

Cale spent his next year in a dark, dump cell of the cave getting tortured when Venion visited. It wasn’t so bad, the blond teen was not creative in hurting him, he only liked to see blood. Also because the guards and even the torturer found Cale deeply unsettling, they left him alone most of the time. The only visible change was that Cale was getting bigger.. Well he also got skinnier but he became a bit taller at last.

The old man who seemed to be linked to the Vitality of The Heart also occasionally talked to him. Cale found him more annoying than useful though, so he chose to ignore him most of the time. He feared he was only imagining it anyway. He was worried he was going crazy from the torture or something.

Then something interesting happened. The organization he read so much about in The Birth of a Hero had shown up. Cale silently watched as a pale gold haired man walked in with Venion. The golden haired man had one red star on his black uniform.

‘He should be a high ranking member.’ Thought Cale.

But most importantly that Red star was holding a black egg.

The dragon actually showed up. It hasn’t hatched yet though. Cale estimated that two more years have to pass before it would.

Cale silently watched the exchange between Venion and the red star. Venison was pointing to the cells while talking. The red star followed his finger with his eyes and met Cale’s gaze. He looked interested and went closer.

“What’s up with this human child?” Asked the man from Venion. Cale reminded him of someone, it wasn’t a good thing.

“He is my pet.” Answered Venion. “He is not obedient enough yet though. Last week he actually bit one of the guards.”

“His hair is an interesting color.” Smiled the red star.

“He got it from his mother’s side of the family. He is actually the son of that Count you asked about.” Shrugged the blond teen.

Cale did not miss, when the eyes of the pale golden man got bigger hearing this.

“Keep a good eye on him, he may be even more valuable than this egg.” Ordered the red star.

Cale was shocked. Why would someone from the organization be interested in him? Is this related to what will happen in Harris Village at the start of The Birth of a Hero? Even though Cale’s brain was rapidly working on these questions, his face was stoic as always.

While Cale was lost in his thoughts the black dragon egg was placed in the next cell. The red star finished what he came for, but when he got ready to leave his gaze traveled back to the pitiful looking red haired child. He felt compassion towards it. A small kid kept in a dark, cold cave away from everything, all alone.

“Hey kid, keep that egg company, will you?”

Cale frowned hearing him. Why was this bastard asking this from him? How would he be able to leave from here in the first place and if he could, why would he not take the egg with him? But he said nothing.

After the red star left nothing seemed to change, the only difference was the small black egg in the next cell. Out of boredom or craziness Cale started to talk to the unborn dragon whenever there was noone around. Not that he had much to say, he had no family or friends in either world. He usually just retold the tales he had read in the books he got from Ron. Okay, he will admit it, he missed the old man.

Two years passed just like this, and just as Cale predicted on a faithfull night the little dragon hatched. Cale was awakened by the quiet crackling of the shell. The first thing that got out was the smooth black head of the creature. Its big blue eyes were looking back at Cale with curiosity.

The small dragon shocked himself and got out of the remains of his egg. He started to walk towards the red headed boy, when the dragon got close enough to the cell bars, Cale’s mind unfroze. He has to stop it! It would be easy for the half meter long dragon to get out between the gaps, but the alarms would go off.

“Stop!” Yelped the boy and holded out his arms with his palms towards the black blob.

The dragon did not understand what was said to him, but he caught the meaning behind the tone of the human. Dragones were smart after all.

Cale was sure the little dragon wasn’t considering him as a threat, but he had to become someone who is trusted by him if he wanted to escape. He needed the dragon's help to get out of this hell.

So he tossed his remaining dried meat to the creature. Food equaled friend in the end. The black dragon gobbled up the small chunk of meat after sniffing it. He looked at Cale for more, but the child had to shake his head, that was all he had.

Cale spent the rest of the night trying to explain to the little dragon that he had to hide. Dragons were miles smarter than humans but it was still a newborn, so it felt like he was trying to teach a dog to sit, still it was a success. The little dragon copied his actions and hid himself in the haystack in the corner.

Now it was the child's turn to act. Cale screamed, Hearing this the guards and the torturer came running in seconds. Why was that creepy silent child screaming? He didn’t even sob under torture. When they arrived at the scene Cale started his performance.

“There was a creature… it came out of that big dark rock.” Cried Cale. “It just ran out!”

Was his acting believable? Yes, it was, but it differed from how he usually behaved. So it was met with suspense. That was why they weren’t fooled running outside, as Cale hoped.

Instead they opened the dragon’s cell.

‘They will find the dragon.’ Cale’s breath quickened. ‘It's all over.’

The cell was empty except the haystack in the corner, so they were checking that first. Cale’s heart was beating crazy, but there was nothing in the hay…

Or there seemed to be nothing in it. Cale was sharp, he saw it. The invisible creature’s body print as he sneakily got out from the haystack.

‘Dragons are truly great and mighty.’ Cale was impressed, the less than a day old dragon could not just go invisible, but he was smart enough to do so after drawing the conclusion from the situation.

The baby dragon’s paw prints were noticeable on the wet ground, but the guards weren’t as keen as Cale to see it. The invisible creature left his cell through the open door.

Cale was bittersweet seeing this. Well at least one of them got out, the dragon can be free and won’t die as it did in the books. Cale was confident the baby dragon could get out safely now. It had sharp senses and could fly, so it was possible for him to leave without triggering any magic traps.

But the dragon did not leave. He hid near Cale’s cell in the shadows. Cale was dumbstruck watching his movements.

“Why isn’t he leaving?” Thought Cale, but his attention went back to himself, when his cell door opened.

Cale got grabbed by his hair and forced to look up at the captain of the guards.

“Where is the dragon kid?” Asked the man.

“It ran out!” Cried the child.

“It couldn’t just run out, the alarms would have gone off. What did you do?”

Cale was kicked in the stomach, his small body hit the cell wall because of the force. He tasted blood in his mouth making him angry. So angry that his acting cracked. His scared face disappeared and he spit the blood into the captain's face.

“Well it seems the creature outsmarted you then. I knew you were all helplessly stupid, but it's not even funny that you blame your own incompetence on a child.” Said Cale mockingly. “What do you think I could have done genius?”

The dragon left his cell on his own, Cale had nothing to do with it to begin with, he was actually telling the truth. As he had nothing to do with the fact that the same dragon now sneaked into his cell. In Cale’s opinion it was all the creature’s own decision. As it was his to get beaten up by the captain as a useless diversion. Getting hurt was normal for him anyway.

The small dragon watched as the red haired child got hit, kicked and even stabbed by the other humans. He had learned from it not to trust everybody, he also realized that Cale was different. He saw the child's eyes follow his invisible body, but the young human didn’t say anything that would make these savages find him. The dragon wasn’t really sure before this if the human child wanted to help him till this point, but he was sure now.

The small black dragon didn’t know if he could actually return the favor, but he also didn’t want to just leave the human behind.

Chapter Text

8th Chapter

So Cale basically got a new cell mate. It made it easy for him to cook up an escape plan. Dragons had strong magical capabilities, and the black dragon even seemed naturally talented.

They had to act fast though. Especially because what Cale heard the next morning while he was still lying half dead.

“Marquis Stan will come in person with Young master Venion to deal with this. We are all dead if we don't find the creature till they arrive tomorrow morning. Especially because the person who brought the dragon is furious.” Saied one of the remaining guards who weren’t out, looking for the dragon.

“Should we just run?” Asked the other one scared.

“Do you think we have a chance to hide from a noble?” Laughed the first guy.

‘I would be more scared of that secret organization than the Marquis.’ Thought Cale. ‘They seemed to be everywhere in The Birth of a Hero. You don’t want to seem suspicious in their eyes.’

Cale tried to sit up, but couldn’t. The dragon’s paws comfortingly petted his back. He needed a little more time to heal. He gave half of his morning meal to the dragon and didn't even eat all what remained so the Vitality of the Heart was working a bit slower. Still he was observing the situation the best he could from his lying position.

The captain and most of the guards were out searching, only two guards and the torturer remained in the cave. Out of the three the torturer seemed to be the most frightened. He was just sitting in a corner and winced hearing every noise. He should be easy to break.

With only two guards present, the torturer will be left alone when they change shifts. Waiting for this Cale had five more hours to think through what to say to the man. He was quite confident in his manipulation skills, but he also needed to get the dragon to cooperate with him.

“Hey, you know when the Marquis arrives you will all die. You and the guards should have kept a better eye on me and the dragon. What will they think when they get here and you have neither of us?” Started Cale when he was alone with the torturer.

“What the hell are you talking about?” The torturer was nervous. “You are still here.”

“Exactly, I’m STILL here for the moment… I have a way to get out, I will be free before tomorrow morning.” Cale wasn’t lying. That plan included this dumb son of a bitch. “Come closer and figure it out if you dare, but I bet you are so useless and scared that you are not able to.”

“I can just beat it out of you. Are you forgetting my job kid? Was I too nice to you?”

“Come then!” Laughed the child.

The torturer really hated this odd red head. He was tormenting him for three years and still failed to get him to be afraid. He even felt looked down upon by him. So this was about his pride as well.

The man got up and opened Cale’s cell door. When he got closer he noticed the child holding something behind his back, so he rushed in immediately leaving the cell door open. Just before he could have grabbed the kid Cale threw what he was hiding through the opening.

It was some dried meat from his morning meal, but the torturer did not recognise it, he only saw a black blob flying through the door following it. Making him even more confused and scared.

“Will you not catch it?” Asked Cale from the frozen man. “That’s the dragon you know…”

The torturer let go immediately of the child’s hand from the shock.

“GUARDS!” Yelled the man, but nobody came.

“Will you let it escape, because no one is around?” Smiled benevolently Cale. “It’s just a baby dragon, it shouldn't be that hard to catch.”

The dragon ate the food and now it was floating towards the cave entrance passageway curiously. This was what made the torturer move, and while the man had all his attention on the dragon, approaching it carefully, Cale stealthy also left the cell.

It was too easy. Now Cale only needed to get rid of the man. The red head remembered almost all the magic traps planted around the cave preventing intruders from getting inside, so he carefully repositioned himself.

“Hide!” Yelled Cale after he found the right spot.

Cale made sure in the short time he had spent together in the cell with the small dragon that it would understand this short command, and the dragon did just that. He went invisible immediately.

Seeing this the torturer knew he got bested by the child again, and that his whole life is over if this thing comes to light. He has to catch at least one of them, if both of the children escape he is definitely dead. Cale seemed the safer bet to get a hold of, he was only a weak looking six year old in the end. Even if he is smart he should be physically no threat and pretty much helpless.

So he turned around and hurried toward the red headed kid. He was in such a dismay, he didn’t notice where the child was standing. He only realized when it was too late, and the floor disappeared under him.

Normally it was intended for people to survive the fall, but Venion implemented a safety measure on the torturer's body when he hired him. The magic artifact on his body made it so that if he got hit by a bigger than normal force the man simply exploded, taking with him the cell keys and the secrets that he knew. Cale did not need any of the knowledge the man had, and the keys were safely left behind by him, still dangling from the cell door.

The explosion was very loud so Cale had to hurry. Still he petted the dragon's small smooth head when it came to him. He was comforting both of them. Then he took the keychain out of the cell’s lock and used it to open one of the secret rooms. There were a thon of shady documents piled up in the small space.

Cale needed to choose wisely what to take with him, and be quick about it. He really did not want to forcefully use his weakened record ability from his last life, but he had no other choice.

He took the first batch of documents in his small hand and scanned through it. He was looking for papers that could ruin the Marquis and Venion. Let’s call this life insurance. It took him only two minutes to find some pretty interesting ones detailing transactions between the Stan head and one of the Mogoru Empire nobles. The Marquis was selling information about the Roan Kingdom’s military power it seemed.

Even though it really only took him a couple of minutes, but Cale already had a fever and felt so dizzy it was hard for him to not fall over. Noticing this the black dragon tried his hardest to support him.

“This fucking weak child’s body.” Cursed Cale as hid the documents in his clothes, and patted the dragon again to calm him. “I’m all right, let’s go.”

Venion had an emergency exit made that nobody was aware of, so Cale planned to use that to leave the cave. Even Cale only knew about it because of The Birth of a Hero. The Stan teenager’s paranoia will actually help them escape, it was ironic. Cale had an urge to smile as he was running his hand along the wall looking for a patch of smooth surface. If he punched the wall there a mechanism would go off opening the secret exit.

When he found the right spot Cale tried his hardest on hitting it, but his attempt seemed ridiculous even to the baby dragon. So the black dragon, understanding what the child tried to do, just taped his back as a signal that he should leave it to him. Cale was fine with letting the dragon do the work, dragons were way stronger than humans after all.

“Don’t use too much force.” Saied the child, he wasn’t really sure what the baby dragon was capable of.

As the dragon’s small paw hit the same space Cale was trying, gears could be heard turning and a passage appeared.

Barely two minutes had passed after this, when a batch of guards arrived running, but they only found what was left of the torturer's body.

The two now invisible children safely left the scene, and now they were standing outside behind a mountain. The sun was blinding for both of them, they were just looking at the sky for minutes. It was a beautiful warm day. They only started to move again when the alarms had gone off behind them.

As they entered the forest they heard someone cursing:
“Ah, I will actually vandalize one of his temples if there's nothing here! This shitty god, pestering me to go to the middle of nowhere!”

Chapter Text

9th Chapter

Two young people were walking through the forest. They seemed to be looking for something. One of them was a noble looking man with blond hair, he had a tall and lean build. The other was a priest robe wearing women with short brown hair. Cale recognised them immediately even though he had never seen them in person.

‘This is quite convenient.’ Thought the red headed child.

He was already planning to meet the man of the duo, because the long haired blond was no other than Marquis Stan’s oldest son, Taylor. Taylor was different from the rest of his family, he had a calmer, kinder nature then the rest.

He was also a very unlucky character in the book, who ended up disabled and then he went on to die even.

Cale was planning to help him, well his plans benefited both of them.

“The god said I will find something really useful, but I can only see trees and grass, and now some alarms are going off not far from here. I’m quite concerned that he is getting us into trouble!” Saied the priestess.

She was Taylor’s childhood friend, Cage. She was actually one of the main characters in the book Cale read. Cale quite liked her, she was someone who did whatever she liked. So he chose her out of the two as he ran up to them.

Cage only saw a red smudge approaching, then there was actually a small child hugging her legs. It was a dirty and skinny red headed girl.

“Hey little one, why are you here? Who are you?” Asked Cage dumbfounded as she patted Cale’s hair.

“Let’s say I’m the trouble Noona was looking for.” Looked up the child grinning. So he was a boy.

It was a very mischievous smile, melting Cage's heart in seconds.

“Is that so, and what kind of trouble are you exactly?” Grinned back the priestess.

“The kind that will help your friend get to be the next Stan family head.” Answered Cale.

Cage’s smile froze. Who the hell is this child? Now that she was looking closer the dirt on the kid’s clothes was mostly dried blood. Seeing her concern Cale started talking again.

“I’m not saying I won’t cause problems, but It’s not my intention and it will be beneficial for you if you choose to help me. I have information and proof that can end Marquis Stan.”

Taylor was quicker on the uptake than his childhood friend:
“And what help do you need in return?” Asked the young man.

“My only wish is to get out of here and back to my family.” It was still better to go back and be under the Henituse name’s protection. Not to mention Ron was there. The old man was scary, but that was what Cale needed the most now. He was sure the butler would protect him.

What the child said seemed easy enough, but Taylor wasn’t stupid. Now he was actually glad they came in secret. First it seemed overkill for him when Cage suggested renting rooms under aliases as well as getting an unidentifiable carriage.

“I guess you are the cause of those alarms, but fine.” Nodded the noble as he picked up Cale. Carrying the child will be way quicker than letting him walk with them. Just as he did that some human voices were already joining the alarms so he hurriedly turned to Cage. “Let’s leave first then we can talk this over.”

The two youths left with the child and an invisibly following dragon. Their carriage was waiting ready to depart with the driver. As they were nearing the territory border they noticed the Tolz knights inspecting every entering and leaving carriage looking for something.

“Is this a problem? Should we turn back?” Asked Cage from Taylor worriedly.

“No, just say you came because you thought your father needed you, but you got sent home by him.” It was Cale who answered her. “As for me, I’m not even here.”

“Wait, my father is here?” Asked Taylor dumbfounded. “And what do you mean you are not herehere?”

“He should have arrived two hours ago...” Nodded the red head, then he grinned. “And how would I be here when you can’t see me?”

Then he slowly started to disappear before their eyes. Pocket dragons were really the best. Smiled Cale watching the two surprised youths.

Following Cale’s instructions they got through the border without a hiccup. That’s when the child materialized again.

“Are you a fucking ghost?! A mage?! A dragon?! Maybe a vampire?!” Cage was quite upset.

“Neither.” Shrugged Cale.

Even though Taylor and Cage were really interested now in this small child, they had a feeling it’s better if they only knew what was absolutely necessary.

That’s why Taylor only asked one question:
“So where are we taking you kid?”

“To the Henituse territory. I would also appreciate it if you could contact Ron Molan from the Henituse estate on the way for me. Just tell him Cale is looking for him and set up a meeting.”

So he was someone under the Henituse family. This boy was someone who was way older than what he looked out to be or a genius. Was the child part of the Henituse information network? Was there a Henituse information network to begin with? It did not make any sense Count Henituse was an unremarkable man, whose only good quality was his wealth.

Taylor's spy theory became even more likely in his eyes as Cale took out some documents from his clothes and gave them to him.

“This is treason…” Taylor’s hands were shaking as he was reading through the papers. “My father will go to jail for the rest of his life, or even get the death penalty.”

“Will you not use it then?” Looked him in his eyes Cale. “It’s your decision, I delivered my payment, now it’s your problem. Although I’m sure you know that you are not the favored heir by the Marquis. I would even say this is your only chance to succeed or even survive.”

Taylor had to swallow. The child was right. He had known for a while now that his father was on his second brother's side. He hadn’t done anything to hinder Taylor, but he had helped Venion a lot. His decision was made, and the child seemed to notice it immediately.

“If you decide to act I recommend you to contact Crown Prince Alberu and get some good points with him.” Continued Cale.

Cale really did not want anything to do with the Crown Prince, but he was sure after reading the books that Alberu Crossman was a really important character. In Cale’s evaluation Alber seemed like a capable man, who would become a good king, so why not strengthen his power a bit by sending him a present. Cale could do quite a lot from the shadows.

When they entered the Henituse County they stopped at the first village. They looked for an Inn, then Taylor went out to find a mage so he could contact the Henituse Mansion through a communication device.

While he was gone Cage ordered some food and drinks for Cale and herself. So when Taylor came back he was welcomed with the sight of a happily eating child. It was a really idyllic scene. At least it would have been if there were no heavily drinking priestesses ruining it.

“Why are you almost dead drunk?” Asked Taylor his friend. Cage was usually a heavy drinker but not to this extent.

Cage got up and approached Taylor on her unsteady legs. When she got close enough she whispered something in his ears:
“Watch him a bit more thoroughly…” Gestured Cage towards Cale with her hand that was not holding a wine bottle.

He followed her hand with his eyes. It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. The child was also feeding something invisible on his lap as he was eating.

Taylor’s jaw dropped. Cage just smiled and went back to sit down at the table. After some time her friend joined her to drink. It was better not to be totally sober with this much crazy shit going on.

Chapter Text

10th Chapter

Ron left immediately when he got the message about Cale. He thought for years by now that the Young Master was dead. He was such a cynical man, that he even thought it was for the best. It was better to be dead than abused.

The young man who contacted the estate only left a message for him so he would know where to meet them. He did not introduce himself, but Ron recognised him. Making him even more confused. Why was the Young Master coming back with Marquis Stan’s oldest son after more than three years?

Ron arrived at the village with his son, Beacrox, in the early morning hours. He left the carriage to his son while he waited patiently while observing the area. There was only one Inn at this remote place, so he was pretty sure Taylor Stan was staying there with Cale. The man said they will be eating every meal at the somewhat nicer looking restaurant at the main square.

He seemed to be telling the truth, because around nine o’clock Taylor exited the inn followed by a woman carrying a small child. The child and the woman were both wearing a cape, so Ron had no way of knowing if it was actually Cale or not.

Ron followed them and watched the small party settle down at a table. Even though the butler couldn’t see the child's face, it seemed content sitting and eating there with the other two. Not like someone who was kept against their will. So he decided to approach them normally. He will let them live for now.

When he reached the table he sat down without any noise. The child was the first to notice him.

‘Damn it!’ Cursed Cale. ‘Why does he have to be so stealthy all the time? My heart almost stopped.’

Their eyes met and Ron could confirm that the child was indeed Cale. He looked even more like his mother now. The resemblance was even uncanny.

“Hello Young Master. Have you been well?” Asked the butler, smiling benignly.

“WHAT A… ?!” Exclaimed both Taylor and Cage in sincron. Cage even got up from her seat knocking over her chair. Then she growled in pain because of her hangover.

They couldn’t finish though because the scarry newcomer hashed them:
“Nobles and ladies should not cuss, especially before a child.”

Then a totally different growl could have been heard. It was coming from Cale’s lap. The child petted the empty air quickly. Ron was intrigued, he did not notice the fourth presence before.

“What do you have there, Young Master?” Asked the old man.

“My little Dongsaeng. He is a bit shy and does not like people in general.”

“Ho, I guess he is coming with us then.” Nodded Ron.

“Naturally.”

“I see the Young Master also made some new friends.”

“I would not say friends, more so business partners.” Shrugged Cale.

The servant and the boy were talking like the other two were not even there.

“I’m hurt, my cute Dongsaeng is so cold.” Grabbed her heart Cage. It was the wrong move. Now Ron was actually paying attention to her.

“I know the young noble man right there, but who might you be?” Asked the butler smiling.

“You didn’t introduce yourself either.” Got back at him Cage.

‘She is dead.’ Cale was sure of it.

“Ho, such a fearless little Lady. I’m not surprised Young Master Cale likes you.” Ron's smile was a little more genuine now. “I’m the Henituse’s estate head butler, Ron Molan.”

Ron got up and actually bowed to them, they deserved that much, they were the Young Master’s acquaintances after all. Cage returned the greeting by copying his actions.

“I’m one of the priestesses under the God of Death, you can call me Cage.”

“So what business do you two have with Young Master Cale?” Turned Ron to Taylor.

Taylor and Cage looked at eachother, they weren’t sure what to say. So it was Cale again who spoke up.

“They helped me get back to our territory in exchange for some information.” Then his redish brown eyes went to Taylor. “Young Master Taylor I hope you will take my advice and be cautious of Venion. Also you should go to the capital instead of going home even if you won’t use what I have given to you.”

Cale was sure there would be some retaliation from the Secret Organization for losing the dragon. It’s best if Taylor stayes out of it. Cale’s concern was unnecessary though, Taylor wasn’t so guileless to let this opportunity go.

“Thank you, I already decided to talk to his highness as you suggested.” Nodded Taylor to Cale. “I think we should get going, Cage.”

Taylor stood up, tossed some coins on the table and grabbed his friends.

“What? We don’t even know who he is!” Complained Cage.

“We know enough. See you around, Young Master Cale.” Bowed the blond nobel before dragging the priestess away.

As they were leaving the scene they still heard the child mutter to himself:
“I hope not.”

‘That hurt. He isn’t cute at all.’ Thought the both of them.

Cale was now alone with Ron. The red head was scared to even look at the butler, he was focusing on his plate instead. Ron was very aware of his young master’s nervousness, but he found it actually handy.

“So where was the Young Master for the last three years?”

“Does it matter? I’m back.” Cale’s pancakes must have been really interesting, because of how the child kept his eyes on them.

“It matters to this old servant.”

How much should he tell? Cale didn’t know, but it was better to start talking then to die to the assessin.

“I was looked up by some psychos who got themself into something way too big that will make them fall. It’s all over, I won’t give them more than a month to live, you don’t have to worry.”

It was very vague, but it was enough for Ron to start sharpening his daggers unconsciously. So his child was kept against his will by someone. The Stan boy must have known how the culprit was. Ron had to get in touch with the noble after he made sure Cale was safe.

After Cale finished his breakfast, he was picked up by Ron. It was actually quite nostalgic to get carried by him. Ron petted Cale hooded head, his child was a lot taller now, but way too light. He felt like nothing to the butler, especially so because the child was hugging that invisible being under his cape, so Ron was carrying both of them.

Beacrox was not happy that his father made him come. He had way too much work back at the mansion, he was reluctant to leave it to anyone. He liked to oversee everything. He came non the less, he had known that the kidnaped Henituse boy ment a lot to his father. There was only a slim chanse that this lead was real, so he wanted to support his father if it led to nothing.

But his father actually came back holding a child. Ron put down Cale before Beacrox.

“Young Master, this is my son, Beacrox. He is quite a capable man, while I'm not around you can also count on him.”

‘Why is Ron saying this?’ Cale did not like where things were going.

Cale looked up at the young man before him. Beacrox was really tall compared to Cale and very scary looking.

Beacrox was looking back at Cale and he did not like what he saw either. Such a weak looking child. Children should be energetic and happy, not silent and stoic looking as this one.

Ron opened the carriage door then helped Cale inside. When he was sure Cale would not hear them, he turned to his son.

“Take Cale back to the Henituse Mansion, but make sure the count does not know that he is with you. I will handle the Lord when I get back. This father of yours needs to catch up with some youngsters in the Capital.”

The Stan boy had an hour advantage on the butler, even more if he counted the time he needed to actually get a ride to the capital. The journey would take him at best three days so he really hoped he could catch up to them before reaching the capital.

The two youths were way more capable than he thought though, because he failed miserably following their tracks.

Chapter Text

11th Chapter

Venion was fuming, his father was blaming him for the things that happened at the Tolz territory. So he will be the one who has to talk to their backer. He hated that strange organization, they were behaving like someone who is better than their noble family. The damn commoner bastards.

The recordings were no help, even if it showed how they escaped, the dragon and a child stayed invisible after that, leaving no trace behind. So he had to thoroughly interrogate every guard and knight. He wanted to prove his superiority and find both the dragon and his pet, but nobody said anything useful. He was at his wits end when he was talking to the knights who were sent out to survey the territory borders.

“How is this my fault? How can my father blame me? I wasn’t even here when it happened!” Whined the blond teen. The two knights winced. They have been up the whole night, and now they really did not want to deal with this fussy noble.

“Your father still trusts you more than Young Master Taylor. I mean your brother actually got sent home by him.” Tried to comfort him one of the knights.

“Yes, you are right.” Nodded Venion, then it dawned on him. “Wait, Taylor was here?”

“We stopped him leaving the territory in an unmarked carriage. He said he also wanted to help the Marquis.”

That was definitely a lie. Taylor shouldn’t have even known the base existed. Venions oldest brother was someone vastly different from their family. So their father kept his distance from him, keeping him out of most ongoing family business.

Taylor was someone who tried to destroy the power of their enemies from the shadows instead of flat out hurting them physically. This whole situation truly resembled one of his schemes. He had no idea how he did it, but he became sure he was the one behind the whole thing.

This had to stop now, and now he had the information to end it for good. He just needed to shift the blame on Taylor when the organization came. They will handle this. He was already planning to hire their assassins to end his older brother anyway.

When the organization arrived that evening Venion eagerly welcomed them. The group consisted of four people and the one who left the dragon egg to Venion was a part of them. The Red Star was furious, he was tasked with taking care of the egg and now it was gone. He should have just destroyed it, but he couldn’t do it. Now he was regretting his actions.

“What’s your excuse? Why shouldn’t I kill you at this instant?” Asked the pale gold haired man.

“I actually know who took that dragon, but I need something in exchange for the information.” Venion was overly confident.

“You are really trying my patience. Do you think this is wise?”
“First promise me you will kill someone as payment.”

“How can someone be this dumb?” The Red Star was almost impressed, but he was too scared to laugh. His hide was also in danger if their leader figured out his mistake. Instead he just waved to one of his men. “Get the information out of him, then send his head back to his father. They seem to forget who are the ones calling the shots here.”

When they were finished the Red Star didn’t even spared one glance at the mutilated corpse.

“You, go deliver our gift to the Marquis.” Then he turned to the remaining two. “The rest should follow up on our lead, make sure there are no witnesses. I have to go back to our base, the leader will miss me soon.”

So just as Ron arrived at the Stan house in the Capital, he noticed a duo of dark clothed individuals approaching the mansion. They had a very familiar scent of blood on them. Ron recognised them immediately, they were people from the same organization who destroyed his home in the distant past.

Why were they here? The damn psychopaths are now also doing business on this continent? Are they responsible for the kidnaping? Ron was really angry, and also a bit afraid, the bastards were close to his new home.

So naturally the butler followed them, they were stealthy but the were nothing compared the Molan household’s assassins.

Taylor Stan was sleeping in his room, when someone held the knife to his throat. It was quite a nasty way to wake up. The intruders were wearing the same black uniform with a strange emblem.

“Do not even think about doing anything rash. If you behave and tell us where the dragon is you can have a quick death.”

‘What dragon?’ Taylor was confused, then he remembered the invisible creature sticking to the child they met. ‘Did the kid steal a damn dragon? Just how?’

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Taylor was regretting ever meeting Cale, but he still chose to say nothing.

“There’s no point acting coy, your brother told us everything. He was quite thorough telling about your schemes after losing some of his limbs. It’s fine to play your little household games, but you should not have touched what is not yours.”

‘Are they talking about Venion? Is he dead?’ Taylor hated his second brother but not to the extent to wish him dead.

Taylor was sure he wouldn't leave the place alive. His only hope was Cage who was staying in the next room, or so he thought.

Ron had heard enough at this point. It was time to show himself. Young Master Taylor did not give out Cale so he deserved his help, not to mention he was glad to kill any bastard from the organization.

The butler basically appeared out of nowhere behind the man who was threatening Taylor.

“I would put that down. Believe me, mine is way quicker.” Said Ron pressing his dagger against the man's throat. The old man’s eyes were then traveling to the other member, but he found nothing for a second.

Then he saw the second assassin on the floor wailing in despair, the man was definitely seeing things that weren’t there. A short brown haired woman was standing close to the place in the shadows. Ron did not hesitate to kill his prey seeing this, throwing the man to the floor so neither of them would get bloody.

“Miss Cage, Young Master Taylor.” Bowed the butler. Ron was really impressed, he never imagined a priest's holy power could be used like that. “Excuse me for the late visit, but I let myself in seeing these two didn’t seem to have an invite either.”

“I should be the one apologizing, because our maids seem to have left some garbage on the floor. I’m ashamed as a host.” Got up Taylor.

“Don’t worry, I will take care of it, I’m a servant after all.” Smiled benignly Ron, then he went and picked up the still alive but now totally unconscious man.

‘Are we letting him just take the guy?’ Asked Cage with her eyes from her friend.

Taylor was not happy with this arrangement either, but he was indebted to the butler, so he answered with a short nod.

“Also I will be back tomorrow evening, I have some questions about how you met Young Master Cale.” Saied Ron before jumping out of the window effortlessly.

“Damn that scary old bastard.” Cursed Cage when he was sure Ron really left.

“I think it’s best to cut ties with my father and ask for a meeting with the Crown Prince early in the morning. My family seems to be deeply involved in something terrifying. The God of Dead was right. It was a big help meeting that child, we would have no idea otherwise.”

“I think he just got us into even more trouble.” Shrugged Cage. “Well I didn’t mind helping the child, he was quite cute when he called me Noona. What will you say to the vicious old man tomorrow?”

“The truth. We have no idea where that kid came from.”

“You have your suspicions though, right?” Frown the priestess.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure my father had a secret base there. Venion visiting the Tolz kid all the time was always suspicious. He was not someone who would care for friendship.”

“Do you think he is actually dead?” Cage had to ask, after hearing her friend talk in past tense about his brother.

Taylor just nodded, Venion was an awful human being, but still he was his flesh and blood so he felt grief that he was gone.

“Well it seems in the end I’m not better than my family. I still plan to give out my father tomorrow and send him to the death row. So much for the fact that I will not play the family game and kill for the heir position.”

Cage's heart ached hearing her friend.

Chapter Text

12th Chapter

Beacrox was someone who didn’t really like children, so he was quite upset that his father just left him with one. He had no idea how to talk to a kid, so when they arrived at the estate he just opened the carriage door and waited for Cale to get out.

Cale stopped at the edge where the steps were. Was he meant to climb down? But when he actually moved to act he heard a sigh then somebody held him up and put him down on the ground.

‘Oh he is actually considerate, just seems to be shy.’ Thought Cale as he followed behind Beacrox.

The second kitchen had an outside entrance back at the vegetable garden, so Beacrox easily took Cale inside without meeting most of the staff. Not that they would recognise Cale. Only his father, the head maid and the housekeeper were in employment back in the day when the first Lady was alive.

When they were inside Beacrox just pulled out a chair signaling to Cale to sit down then started to work. Cale did just that without a complaint, while the invisible dragon took his place on his lap. The child lazily stroked the dragon while he was watching Beacrox work.

Beacrox thought it was easier to make something quickly for Cale before he started making some meals to contribute to the Henituse family’s lunch. Just as he put some simple food before the child, someone knocked and a kitchen maid came in.

“I heard you are back. The first kitchen’s chef is looking for you, he actually sent for you an hour ago, but you were nowhere to be found.”

“Thank you Mary, I will be there in a minute.” Nodded Beacrox, then he turned to Cale. “Stay here, and don’t even think about touching anything.”

‘Rude… I’m kind of your employer, you know?’ Thought Cale, but he was planning to do nothing anyway. He only wanted to eat and laze around. A bed would be appreciated, but he can make do with what he has.

Once they were alone the dragon revealed himself and they started to eat. Cale was the one who finished first, then he was just watching the dragon gobble up everything. His tail was moving happily as he ate. Even Cale thought it was Cute.

“I will call you Raon, Raon Miru. It’s hard when someone does not have a name, you can change it later anyway, if you don’t like it.”

It wasn’t a really complex name, but it was a good one in Cale’s opinion. The red head was smiling unconsciously, so when the dragon looked up he actually smiled back as if he approved of his new name.

After Raon finished eating he actually fell asleep on the table.

‘Babies should sleep a lot.’ Nodded Cale, then he took down his cape and covered the still visible dragon with it.

It wasn’t a good solution, but it was still better than leaving Raon totally unprotected. Under the cape the child wore a big shirt that he got from Taylor over his now clean but still beaten up clothes.

Cale watched the lump under the cape sleep for a while, then he got bored.

So he decided to look out through the kitchen window, and watch the vegetable garden instead. A man was working outside in the sun. He was watering the cucumbers. This made Cale nostalgic, should he make a farm after he grows up? He once made a promise after all. He did not notice he was staring till the gardener yelled at him. The man found Cale’s gaze rude.

“Hey, kid! Why are you just lazing around? Which servant’s child are you? Come and help if you have nothing to do!”

“Beacrox Hyung said I should not go anywhere.” Tried Cale.

“That gloomy cook? It’s fine kid, you are not going anywhere. Children should get enough fresh air and exercise.”

Cale was not fond of this mentality, but still he was a child now who should mind his elders. He jumped down from his seat then opened the backdoor. The gardener actually had a little child sized watering can, what he filled for him. Contrary to Cale’s first impression he did not mind well behaved children.

The weather was really nice, even too nice for Cale. Especially when he spent his whole life inside. So he actually got tired in ten minutes, but he kept going. He was so focused that he hadn't noticed either the gardener leaving or the little girl running up to him from the front garden.

“That’s my can!” Pouted the brown haired toddler.

“You mean this?” Held up the watering can Cale. “You can have it back if you want.”

Cale was observing the child thoroughly. She was tanned and wearing simple clothes. She even had a wooden toy sword on her. Was she actually the child of one of the staff? Was the gardener assuming Cale to be one, because it was normal for the children of servants to run around in the Henituse Mension?

“Now you have to spar with me, because you took something that wasn’t yours.” The girl seemed to be excited to play with a child who was close in age.

“I don’t want to. It was given to me anyway, and I was only borrowing it.” Cale was really exhausted, he wasn’t in the mood to play fight with anybody. Why couldn’t every kid be as calm as the little dragon?

He put down the little watering can and spun around to leave. He already had Raon to look after, he didn’t want to befriend any more children. Then he felt something actually hit him on the head hard. How the one head shorter toddler managed to strike him with that much force was beyond Cale.

He touched his head and felt blood. Of course he was totally fine, and the wound closed in seconds, but it still hurt.

“That wasn’t nice.” Looked Cale back at her.

He was faced with a really scared teary eyed toddler. It was obvious she didn’t mean to actually make the older boy bleed. Cale wasn’t mad, but when he saw the girl ready to run, he actually grabbed one of her wrists. Children should learn how to own up and apologize.

“Release her at once!” The yell came totally out of the blue, so Cale worriedly looked towards the sound.

Cale was faced with a very angry older boy, who had the same hair color as the little girl he was holding. Are they siblings? What an unfortunate timing.

Cale immediately let go of the girl and held up his hands, but it was a mistake. His palm that was on the toddlers wrists was the same one he touched his head with beforehand, so it was still bloody, not to mention it also left a red smudge in the girls sleeves.

Cale really wanted to say it was a misunderstanding, but the brown haired boy was quicker. He hit Cale without giving him any chance to explain. Was this some kind of universal law that he had to be beaten up all the time?

Cale fell to the ground and half of his face and clothes became muddy. He was actually upset now, it was unfair. So he threw the mud he just wiped down from his face towards the boy. It was childish, but he was a child at the moment, so who cares.

That was when he noticed the boy was wearing fancy clothes like a noble would. His shirt was covered in mud, but it still seemed expensive. No way a servant’s child would wear these kinds of clothes.

‘Shit! Is this my stepbrother, Basen? Is the little girl my sister then?’ The ages were adding up if he thought about it. Cale wasn’t sure what he should do.

Cale looked up the two hostile siblings of his. Not a good start. As his brain was running rampant he heard a deep male voice:
“What’s going on here?” It was Beacrox, who seemed to come back with the gardener.

Cale was really glad to see him again. Beacrox did not seem to share his feelings though. He was looking at the children quite disgusted, but after checking that he was wearing his gloves he still pulled Cale into an upright position.

“That kid attacked Lily.” Accused him Basen.

Beacrox's eyes swept over Cale and Lily again. While the red head looked miserable, the girl seemed totally fine.

“Is this true Young Lady?” Asked Beacrox skeptically.

“He was mean!” Proclaimed Lily.

Beacrox was frowning, being mean and attacking someone were two different things, but still Cale should own up. So he put his palm on the child’s head and forced him to face the other two.

“Apologize to the Young Lady..” That’s when he noticed his glove had become damp.

Beacrox took his hand away as if he was burnt. He looked down on his now totally red glove. He had now way of noticing before, because of Cale’s hair color, but his head was bleeding for sure.

“I’m sorry for throwing the mud, but I have done nothing to that girl. She should be the one apologizing.” Cale still had his pride.

“Young Lady Lily?” Asked Beacrox again.

He didn’t mean to be scary, but he looked really terrifying in Lily’s eyes. So the little girl started to cry.

“You have no right to question my sister! We are going. Come Lily!” Basen was upset seeing his little sister weeping.
So his priority changed to protecting her. He took the girl's hand and left the annoyed cook behind.

Beacrox really wanted to stop them, but as the boy said he was over stepping already. He needed to take care of the wounded Cale anyway. Children were truly bothersome.

Chapter Text

13th Chapter

Beacrox stopped in his kitchen entrance. He looked back at Cale with hidden distress. Cale was confused for a second, then he realized.

‘Ahh, I’m really dirty. Beacrox kept himself and his kitchen spotless, this must be torture for him.’

To comply Cale took down his muddy shirt and shoes. The cook instantly sighed in relief.

“Give them to me.” Beacrox holds out one of his newly gloved hands, then after getting the items he throws them into the trash together with his just used two pairs of gloves.

Cale goes to the table and takes his little dongsaeng into his arms. Beacrox eyes the suspicious bundle of cape and Cale’s shaking arms.

“Should I carry it for you?” Offers Beacrox, after confirming the cape seems clean enough.

“No, he would be scared if he woke up.” Cale shakes his head.

Was it some kind of animal? Beacrox was not happy about it, but he said nothing. Children usually keep pets. It’s good for learning responsibility.

He takes Cale and whatever he is carrying to his room. He sat him down then touched his head softly.

“It’s fine. It's already healed.” Said the little boy. There were really no wounds. “I heal really quickly.”

“I see…” Beacrox wasn’t someone to pry. “I got some clothes from Sam, the gardener. He actually went looking for me when he saw how you were dressed. His sons are already working; they just had them lying around without any use. I will bring some water so you can bathe before changing.”

He put down Raon on the bed while he waited. Looking through the small room. There wasn't much, only clean and ironed clothes in the closet, some cookbooks, and a greatsword in the corner.

When Beacrox came back with a big wooden basin Cale was reading one of the books. He put it down, and took some towels out. That was when the dragon poked his little head out from the fabric, his eyes swept through the room and made a high pitched noise when he found Cale.

Beacrox almost dropped the clean towels on the floor he found so dirty even though he cleaned up regularly. It was a dragon, the brat was looking after a dragon!

Cale did not care for Beacrox's surprise, he just petted Raon when he floated to him.

“I call him Raon, he is still a newborn, so he can’t talk yet.” Introduced the black blob Cale.

Beacrox was stunned till he noticed the dragon's dirty little paws. He clicked his tongue, dirty children were just dirty children regardless of race.

“He needs to bathe as well if he wants to sleep here.”

While Cale was sitting in the soapy water with Raon he silently reflected on the day. Cale became sure Beacrox was a genuinely nice guy, he was still scary though. Cale will never forget what he read in those books as Kim RokSoo. Those torture sessions led by him were terrifying. Like father, like son. Well maybe Ron’s fake smiles were scarier.

Beacrox was doing the same as he gently helped the boy wash out the blood from his hair. Looking at the child vowed to make sure he eats enough. He desperately needed to put on some weight.

In the other wing of the villa, Basen entered his mother’s living room.

“Did you call for me mother?” Asked the young boy.

“Lily’s nanny reported that she was crying after you came back from the garden.”

“There was a little misunderstanding with a servant’s child.” Nodded the boy.

Basen did get the whole story later when Lily stopped weeping. He was glad that his sister wasn’t actually hurt, and he wasn’t particularly regretting his own reaction, but he was aware that they were in the wrong.

“Hmm… Do we need to apologize?” Violan was set on keeping a just image.

“I hit him and the kid was demanding one, but he was behaving really rudely. He grabbed Lily and even threw dirt on my clothes.”

“Whose kid was it?” Violan needed to evaluate the situation.

“I’m not sure, he seemed to be affiliated with the Molans.”

Ron and his son were high ranking servants amongst the staff. Not to mention they were both capable men. Violan didn’t like this one bit. She didn’t want to lose them over a children's dispute.

Tomorrow she will talk to Beacrox and the boy. She would have preferred talking to Ron, but the old man sent a message and asked for a one week leave.

The next morning Cale was sitting again in kitchen two eating his breakfast with Raon. As they were eating, Raon turned invisible out of the blue.

‘Someone must be coming.’ Thought Cale. Dragons had superior senses.

It was one of Violan's personal maids. The Lady wanted to talk to Beacrox and the little boy who was with him yesterday after the Henituse’s breakfast.

Cale was quite concerned over it. He didn’t want to cause problems for Beacrox, but the cook reassuringly ruffled his hair.

Later when they left to meet Violan, Beacrox entered first followed by Cale and the invisible Raon.

The second Violan laid eyes on Cale, she recognised the boy even though she never met him. She had seen the portraits of his husband’s first wife, the boy was a total copy of that woman.

‘How? Wasn’t he dead? Why did he have to come back?’ She felt really bad for wishing the boy dead, but this will end the peace of their family.

She needed to do some damage control before his husband got wind of this. She had to make sure the boy and Deruth wouldn't meet. She was sure the man loved her, but she was also aware that he had adored his first wife. She did not want to share Deruth’s attention with someone who was not related to her. So she went with the less bad of the choises, losing the Molans.

Violan was looking warily at Cale. The child would have been quite cute if he didn’t have such an emotionless stare.

“Greetings to Lady Henituse.” Bowed Beacrox and Cale.

“Greetings. I heard there was some misunderstanding between our kids and the young man behind you. I’m apologizing on behalf of my children. I’m ashamed of their unnoble behavior,” Bowed Violan. “and I really want to make sure it won’t happen again. So I spent the whole night coming up with a solution. Our Harris village estate has been abandoned for a while now, and your father has been fond of that place as far as I know. He spent a lot of time there when he was Lady Jour’s personal butler.”

Cale was quite sure where this was going, but he was fine with it. Getting away from the main Henituse house was favorable for him. Raon would be able to feel at ease there, he would also be able to stay visible most of the time.

“So I thought you and your father could take care of that villa for us. This would make sure that the kids won't get into another fight also.” Continued the Countess. “Of course I will make sure you will have the appropriate salaries and living expenses.”

Beacrox was speechless, they were being bribed to hide Young Master Cale.

“I have to talk to my father first.” Said the man frowning.

“Naturally,” Nodded Violan. “but I would appreciate it if you made sure that red headed young man won’t meet anyone from my family. I don’t like when the peace is disturbed in the castle.”

Beacrox bowed to hide his disgust, then he held Cale’s little hand as he guided the boy out of the room. When the door closed behind them, he started to observe the boy. He seemed fine, but he looked stoic even after Young Master Basen hit him.

“I will bake some cookies for you.” Said the man. Sweets should make children happy.

It seemed to be the good call, because Cale’s eyes actually lit up a little bit. Beacrox mentally petted his own shoulders.

Chapter Text

14th Chapter

Ron got down from the carriage holding a small cage. There was a cat hissing inside. He still remembered his surprise when the unconscious assassin changed forms not long after he obtained him.

‘So he was a cat beast person.’ Ron was aware that on the other continent he was from, there were some cat tribes specializing in assassination, but he never would have guessed they would alain themself with that scum organization.

When he entered kitchen two he found Cale sitting on a quilt down on the floor, eating cookies and loudly reading a book. He most likely was doing so because of his little dongsaeng. Ron could see some cookies disappearing into thin air next to him. His little ward also looked way healthier now. He was wearing comoner clothes but they were clean and the right size.

Both Cale and Beacrox immediately looked up hearing the loud animal noises coming from the door as the butler entered. Ron smiled at them and put down the cage on the table.

“What’s the meaning of this Father?” Beacrox did not like him bringing totally wild animals into his clean kitchen.

“I’m truly sorry Beacrox for bringing this trash I picked up here, but there’s a chance it actually contains some gold if we examine it closely.” Answered Ron.

Beacrox didn’t catch Ron’s implication, but Cale did. He got up and went closer to the cage, looking at it seemingly uninterested.

“Is this a beast person?” Asked the boy.

Ron’s smile got even bigger. He ruffled the child's hair, prizing him.

“Indeed. The Young Master got himself into quite the trouble in these years. He seemed to be someone after your little dongsaeng.”

‘Your dongsaeng who is a dragon.’ Finished silently Ron, thinking back on the shocking revelation he got at the Stan Estate. Now that he calmed down. He only felt proud of Cale for getting away with stealing a real dragon from them.

Noticing they were most likely talking about him, Raon left the plate of cookies behind and went to Cale. Then he demanded to be picked up with a high pitched noise, so he could also see their prisoner. Cale compiled without really paying attention, because his eyes were glued to the cat instead, tilting his head with a frown. That bastard was someone from the organization. Ron had quite a catch.

On the other hand the butler was watching Cale. He wasn’t surprised seeing the child’s contemplating frowning face, he had already known Cale was in possession of some information about that damned group.

“The question is where we can keep our new house pet though.” Continued after a while Ron. “We need a place where he won’t cause any disturbance.”

“There’s maybe a really easy solution at hand. We had quite an encounter with Violan Henituse this week.” Decided Beacrox to get involved, not that he was really interested.

“How so?” Ron thought Violan was a good countess and mother, but he had no misconception about her being an overly good person.

Cale actually felt a bit tense, because the situation with Violan was caused by him. He nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Beacrox changed his gloves and patted his head reassuringly.

“She offered us money to move to Harris Villa with the Young Master.” For Beacrox it wasn’t important how this came to be, he only cared about the end results, so he didn’t say anything about Cale’s meeting with the other two Henituse kids.

“So she had seen Young Master Cale.” Sighed Ron.

His son only nodded.

‘Her reaction was as expected.’ Thought Ron.

After thinking for a minute the butler finished deciding. It wasn’t a bad deal, especially now that Ron planned to follow up on the leads he got on the secret organization. It wasn’t particularly important for Violan to make them stay in Harris Villa, so they will be free to come and go. They just have to keep Cale out of sight.

“We will accept it.” Though he still wasn’t sure if it was the right decision.

Taking children to dangerous places normally should have been avoided if possible, but he couldn’t leave Cale here. The dragon should be fine, but he was really worried for the red head. He wasn’t like Beacrox as a child. Cale looked weak and even sickly.

“Does the Young Master want to learn some self defense from me?” Turned to Cale Ron.

“No.” It was an instant reply, Cale didn’t even think about it.

The child was eyeing Ron as if the butler actually went crazy. Even Beacrox was looking at his father oddly.

“He cut himself while he was trying to help peeling potatoes. I had to throw out perfectly good food because of it. Then he dropped the empty pot when I asked him to bring it over, because it was heavy. So I had to wash it, wasting my time.” Listed Beacrox.

Cale felt a little bit offended hearing the cook, even though what he said was all true. Not that Beacrox meant to offend Cale, he just found it hard to admit he was concerned over him.

“He needs to protect himself somehow though.” Sighed Ron.

Silence took over the room. The Molan duo was thinking hard about a solution.

“If all of this is about protecting myself, I have a way.” Broke the silence Cale. “I just need a lot of food for it to work.”

He already thought about getting some of the other ancient powers he read about. So this issue had a very convenient solution in Cale’s opinion. It was The Indestructible Shield. Let’s feed that black tree as it was written.

It took Cale several minutes to explain what he actually needed and for why.

“And how does the Young Master know about all this?” Asked Ron after he got the just of it.

“I read it in a book.” It was the truth, but Ron raised his brows in doubt. “I really did, tsk.”

“If the Young Master says so.”

‘He totally does not believe me.’ Thought Cale, but he did not care enough to try to convince him. ‘It does not matter, the important thing is that they are willing to help.’ So he just shrugged.

“I will talk to Countess Violan, then I will go and contact every baker in the city, so we can pick up enough bread tomorrow morning.” Said Ron leaving Cale and Raon with Beacrox again.

“Am I just a full time babysitter now?” Grumbled the cook as he went back to his kitchen counter. Not that he really minded it, those two were quite cute.

Ron was scarry efficient. That was the only thing on Cale’s mind as he followed behind the two Molans going from bakery to bakery the next morning. They gathered way more bread than it was needed, and they were carrying it as if it was nothing. Cale’s only job was to carry the invisible Raon.

Even if he would have been nervous before about going through the slums to get to the Man Eating Tree that they had to feed, it would have all long disappeared watching them. Both looked terrifyingly strong lifting all that weight. Nobody dared to come close to them as they walked through the narrow alleyways.

Everybody only watched them from a safe distance, and as they were getting closer even the onlookers had disappeared. The Man Eating Tree had an awful rumor around it, as its name suggested. In reality there was nothing evil about it, but people came up with crazy stuff all the time.

Then Cale heard that damn crybaby old man again. He thought he was actually free from hallucinating that annoying voice, but it seems he was wrong.

- I can feel my noona’s power close by. She was such a simple person, I really miss her.

‘I guess the Birth of a Hero wasn’t lying about this place either.’ Smiled Cale, then it got to him. ‘Wait, the Vitality of the Heart and the Indestructible Shield…’ No, he does not need to know about any of their business.

Ron and Beacrox put down all the packs under the tree, even though they became unsure after feeling the place's eerie atmosphere, but the child seemed calm so they forced themselves to go through with it. They trusted Cale's judgment.

Cale gave Raon to Beacrox, then he started to drag one of the packs closer to the opening at the base of the tree. Ron would have actually found Cale struggling cute and funny if he hadn’t been totally creeped out from that damn tree.

When the pack was close enough he pushed it, dumping its content into the dark hole.

- They said my gluttony was a sin. - It was a young woman’s voice this time. - All I wanted was to eat till I hadn’t felt hungry. Let me eat! Give me more!

Cale was actually pitting this one not like he did with the original owner of The Vitality of the Heart. Everybody should eat till they are full. Well he was aware that the world wasn’t such an ideal place that it would come true.

“Sure, I will give you as much as you want. Eat to your heart's content.”

Cale grabbed the second pack not caring for the odd looks the Molans were giving him.

- MORE! GIVE ME MORE!

Cale started to get a headache from the loud yelling as he kept feeding the hole, which slowly started to get lighter in color.

- They actually kicked me out, have I told you this? They said I was priestess-like, but I found some really nice people later. We wanted to make the world a livable place again. I can feel one of my friends' power within you, do you know?

‘What the hell is she talking about now?’

- I guess we must have succeeded, if you can spare this much food for me. It’s a shame I died before the end, and it was even out of hunger. Don’t stop! Give me more!

‘This is actually interesting.’ Thought Cale, there wasn't much about the ancient times in The Birth of a Hero, but the glutton seemed to be done talking about the past.

The hole was actually emitting white light now. The grudge was disappearing.

- Just a little bit more! - Saied the priestess, and Cale complied. He dumped the last pack’s content without hesitation. - You are a good kid! I will protect you.

Cale put his hand in the now bright hole, and the light enveloped him. His already fortified heart now felt protected.

He tried triggering the power and a small silver shield with white wings popped out.

Raon was looking at the shield with sparkling eyes from Beacrox’s arms. Cale would have frowned if he could have been able to see it.

“Beautiful.” Saied the dragon in awe. It was actually the first word he uttered out loud in his life.

Cale was happy hearing their reading sessions weren’t for nothing, but he was also annoyed. Contrary to Raon’s opinion, he did not like how the shield looked. It was way too holy for his liking.

Chapter Text

15th Chapter

Raon developed an unhealthy fascination with Cale’s shield. At least that was what Cale deemed his behavior as. Ron only found it cute that the little dragon was trying to copy Cale. With great success might he add, it only took him a day after moving to Harris Villa to replicate Cale’s shield entirely.

‘He can hardly speak, but he can make magic shields as if it was child play. Dragons are terrifyingly powerful.’ Thought Cale, but he still praised Raon.

Their house pet was turning out not that useful though. Beacrox was taking care of him conscientiously, but he seemed to know almost nothing. He had only given out information about his own tribe. He was from the Fog Cat Tribe, which was now led by the elders, because all the potential heirs were too young after the last leader's death.

“They are the ones who are keeping in touch with some of the organization’s leading figures. I really don’t know anything.”

The poor cat could never look at a kitchen knife in the same way as before for the rest of his life.

Cale wasn’t there when these sessions took place, but he still heard the man scream. It wasn’t because Ron would have not let him, he just didn’t care about watching a minor villain getting tortured. That cat never particularly hurt any of them, he was just mixed in with the wrong cloud. He had trust in the Molans to get all the information even without him anyway. So he chose to spend his time reading instead.

Cale was calmly waiting for the two adults to come out lazily turning the pages.

“We should pay those tribe elders a visit as soon as possible.” Said Ron to Beacrox after closing the door with care, so Cale would not see into the room. He respected Cale’s decision not to take part, misunderstanding it for him not wanting to see people suffering.

Noticing them Raon who was lying on Cale’s lap as usual, became a bit excited:
“What were Grandpa Ron and Nice Beacrox doing inside? The always loud cat was even more loud now.”

Beacrox started to frown. Not soon after the baby dragon started to speak, he attached nicknames to everyone’s name. Beacrox was fine with that, but he just couldn’t figure out how he became labeled as nice in Raon’s little head.

“Do you not remember the story I read to you? There was a saying in it, that [curiosity killed the dragon].” Joked Cale.

“Why is My Human always so mean?” Pouted Raon.

“I already told you to call me Cale Hyung…”

“But you are my human.”

‘Why are dragons so possessive?’ Sighed Cale to himself, but he let him be as always.

“Yes-yes.” Cale didn’t want to argue with such a young existence.

In Ron's eyes though, he was just a cute hyung who was committed to being the bigger person when it came to his younger brother.

That was when they noticed a visiter was coming. While Ron went out to greet the man, Cale and the invisible Raon were watching from the window. It was somebody from the main house, but the man only seemed to come to deliver a letter.

It was addressed to Ron so he was reading it as he came inside.

“It’s from Taylor Stan, he wants to talk to us as soon as possible. He will be waiting for us to contact him by a mage.” Said Ron.

Cale did not like this, but let’s just pretend they won’t want anything from them however unlikely it is. They started the journey to the city in an hour, and succeeded in connecting to the Stan Estate by late noon.

Taylor and Cage came into view shortly after the communication mage left. The two sides exchanged greetings then Taylor got to the point:
“My father will be executed two weeks from now. They will announce it tomorrow, and the crown wants to set an example, so it will be mandatory to attend for every noble who is older than fourteen.”

“I’m not surprised.” Nodded Cale. Alberu just only got his title as a crown prince, he has to set it in stone. What’s a better message than an [I can kill you if you step out of the line]?

“I thought you may want to talk to my father till it’s still possible. In exchange… Mr. Ron is our late night guest, who you took, still alive? If so, and if you are done with the courtesy talk, can we have him?” Offered Taylor.

“Depends on if Young Master Taylor is prepared to keep pets.” Smiled the butler.

“Why do you guys always have to speak in riddles? I’m so done with this! We are fine with doing anything if we can have that bastard.” Cut in Cage frustrated.

“Cage!” Yelled Taylor, but the butler just kept smiling.

“We will bring him with us to the capital then.” Ron wasn’t offended by the rude tone.

“Then I will talk to Crown Prince Alberu, and ask for an opportunity to meet my father in secret for one last time.”

It was a clean deal, and Taylor kept his word. It wasn’t hard to pressure Alberu. The Crown prince was already indebted because of the information, and Taylor didn’t mind promising him his support in the fight for the throne.

The audience went well, but after Taylor Stan left the Castle grounds the Crown Prince turned to one of his helpers.

“Go keep an eye on Taylor Stan, and report to me if there’s any movement in their estate.” Alberu was sure that a third person was involved.

And lo and behold only four days later a message came:
[An unidentifiable carriage arrived at the Stan House last night, they were let in immediately as if they were expected.]

‘How nice of them that they had set up the meeting for me so nicely. I should not waste this opportunity.’

So the next morning Alberu Crossman appeared without any warning at the front door of the Stan Estate to the footman's horror.

“No need to announce me.” Said the prince as he forced his way through the whole house. His behavior was unlike any civilized noble’s, not to mention a crown prince’s.

When Alberu entered the dining hall he was met with a site that he didn’t expect. Excluding Taylor Stan and the priestess there was only a little boy sitting at the table served by a familiar looking butler.

The child had simple but expensive looking clothes, and had a really odd hair color. Red haired people were not common on the continent. The only one who Alberu knew about was Princess Rosalyn, and a long dead noble house. Well to be exact their last blood died six years ago. Jour Themes was Count Henituses late wife.

Then it dawned on him, the butler… That man was the Henituse head butler. Was the child Deruth Henituse’ son? No, there was no information about him having a blood related son. Maybe Jour Themes’ bastard son.

He was quite confident in his conclusion, but it still made no sense why the boy was here and how he was related with the treason case.

Cale’s eyes met Alberu’s, and the child gave him his most angelic smile. The Kid got up and bowed without any hesitation.

“This lowly one greets our kingdom”s shining sun.”

‘This well spoken brat…’ Alberu really did not like the greeting of this child. People with glib tongues were usually dangerous. They always had an ulterior motive.

Cale did have an ulterior motive: it was for Alberu to think he has one, and preferably avoid him.

“We too greet Your Highness.” Taylor and Cage also got up after they grasped the situation. “Why would our Crown Prince visit us this early in the evening?”

“I just came to inform you we are ready to keep our end of the bargain. I need the identity of your plus one though.” Said Alberu, eyeing Cale suspiciously. He did not want to say more in front of the child.

“With respect, he is my plus one, Your Highness.” Nodded towards Cale Taylor.

It was a clue to Cale, who bowed again and introduced himself:
“Our beautiful golden light can call me Cale. I’m someone from the Henituse family.” He did not specify how he was related to the count. He was not officially part of the family.

Alberu really wanted to pry… He wasn’t stupid to think Taylor was sentimental enough to ask for an audience just to bid farewell to his father. So why was this child interested in talking to the Marquis before his death?

Not to mention Marquis Stan did not talk even under torture. He seemed to be afraid.

“Also I hope you will understand, but I will accompany you to his cell.” Said Alberu. First he only wanted to send his Aunt Tasha with them, but he changed his mind.

He was kind of interested now.

Chapter Text

16th Chapter

Cale was really annoyed that the crown prince wanted to come personally. Getting a royal escort, one of Alberu’s man was expected, but not this. Then Raon made his day even worse.

- That person is strange. He has dye magic all over him, and even the magic feels strange. It’s not like mine. - Heard Cale Raon’s voice in his head.

‘Let’s just pretend I haven’t heard this.’ Cale's face actually crunched up cutely from his displeasure.

Alberu did not miss this and it made his mood a bit better. Well the other person suffering being only a child made it a bit bitter sweet, but the temptation to continue was too great.

“Is this your first time in the Capitol Cale?” Asked Alberu.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Nodded the red head. He was getting even more gloomy, because his praises did not seem to be working so well as a crown prince repellant as he thought they would. Still he was way too committed at this point. “I’m honored to be here, especially in the presence of Our Radiant Sun.”

“Then I would be happy to take you around the city today.” Smiled Alberu.

Cale was totally confused why the crown prince was tormenting him. Walking around in public with Alberu will ruin his life. His anonymity will be lost.

“Your Highness does not need to bother with entertaining me. Young Master Taylor and Miss Cage are taking care of me very well.” Cale could not flat out refuse, making him even more frustrated.

“This is my day off. It’s not a hustle to spend time with such a cute little child anyway. My little brothers are all grown up now sadly.” Alberu wanted to use this opportunity to figure out Cale.

‘Liar, as a new crown prince this bastard should have a lot of stuff to take care of. Not to mention he was never close with any of his siblings according to the books.’ Cale was so tempted to complain.

“Your Highness can join us eating, or wait in the living room for us to finish.” Offered Taylor.

Cale would have killed the traitor Taylor on the spot if killing with eyes were a possibility.

After they finished the meal Cale was waiting standing next to Alberu for Ron to grab their coats in the lobby when Raon noticed something again.

- Human! There’s something containing a lot of highly concentrated mana here. What’s this?

Cale flinched. This wasn’t something that he could ignore.

“Where?” Asked the child out loud, forcing the crown prince’s attention on himself.

- Here on the shelf. It’s hidden between those fake flowers on that fancy hat.

Cale's eyes were frantically looking for the item Raon was talking about. He found the big female hat with black lace and fake flowers high above his head close to the entrance. It was totally unreachable with his height.

“Your Highness has to grab that hat for me now!” It was rude to talk to a crown prince like that, but Cale did not care about being proper at that moment.

Alberu was looking at him with a really odd gaze, but he complied. Cale tore down the flowers from the hat one by one, while praying for his hunch to be wrong.

This was the site that welcomed Taylor and Cage coming out from the dining room, a seemingly mad Cale destroying a poor black hat.

“What are you doing? That’s my sister’s hat.” Taylor was confused, and a little panicked. His oldest sister really liked that piece of clothing. She wore it whenever he left the house.

That was when Cale found what he was afraid of. He let the hat fall to the ground, he was only focused on the small orb in his hands.

“Is that what I think it is?” Alberu was speechless. First he also thought Cale went crazy, but now he was questing his own sanity.

“Yes, it’s a mana bomb.” Nodded Cale, then he turned to Taylor. “Would she have been wearing this to the execution?”

“Most likely.” Answered the blond noble horrified.

“Is Your Highness capable of taking care of this item?” Held Cale out the mana bomb to Alberu. “Also Young Master Taylor should go and get this hat fixed in secret before the event.”

Alberu didn’t take the item from the child, he wasn’t sure how Cale could hold it in his hands so calmly either.

“I will send for someone to pick it up with a special box, just lend me a communication device. She is someone I fully trust, don't worry.” Shook his head Alberu.

“Let me take care of it till then, Young Master Cale.” Said Ron as he was coming down with Cale’s coat from the second floor.

Cale had given the mana bomb to the butler, fully trusting Ron. While the man disappeared to take the item somewhere safe, Cale was thinking about the next steps they should take.

“How many people does Your Highness have like that woman? Are there any mages between them?” Asked Cale.

There was a terror incident in the capital in the first volume Cale had read involving mana bombs, but it should not happen for four years.

“I have some, though they are not exactly mages.” Answered Alberu.

“Can they sense mana?”

“Sadly no.”

Cale cursed. He could only rely on Raon then. He was reluctant to reveal the dragon to the crown prince. He could act as a medium, but he will be misunderstood as someone way more capable than he actually was.

“Get two of them to dress up as normal servants and come with us. This sightseeing just became mandatory. Let’s wait for them. I would love some tea in the meantime.” Sighed Cale.

Cale was ordering everyone around without thinking about it. Making Alberu even more wary of him, but he still followed what was said to him and connected his palace asking for his Aunt Tasha.

Alberu’s people arrived in an hour. The crown prince went ahead personally to welcome them.

“Aunt Tasha, did you bring what I asked for?”

The brown haired woman nodded and showed a container to Alberu. It was small, but strong enough to absorb any impact, including a huge explosion.

“I also want you to check something for me. There's a child with red hair. I suspect him to be an elementalist. He was talking to some invisible being.” Continued the prince. Tasha was someone who could answer this question with one glance.

Tasha was a dark elf in disguise, a race connected to nature and elementals even if they had affinity for dark mana.

Tasha was surprised. She hadn’t seen a human who could see elementals for a decade. As they entered the manor she felt an entirely different thing though than expected. There was something with a powerful but totally unfamiliar aura.

She was led into a lounge by her nephew. A small child around six years old was sipping tea with a woman wearing a priestess robe. The aura was coming from that child. Who was definitely not an elementalist.

“Cale this is my right hand woman Miss Tasha. Miss Tasha this is Mr. Cale from the Henituse family. She is the one I asked to pick up the item.” Introduced Alberu the two people to each other.

“Nice to meet you… Mr. Cale.” Bowed Tasha, while she was looking questioningly at her elemental.

- There’s a dragon here! - Got her answer even without asking, but it led to some misunderstanding also on her part.

The elemental did not mean Cale was a dragon. It just called out that one was present, but Tasha was led to think otherwise.

Dragons were very powerful. Even though this was most likely a young one she should treat him with respect. Her distressed eyes wandered to Alberu. She had to warn his nephew as soon as possible.

“Nice to meet you Miss Tasha.” Cale nodded to Tasha also. “Ron will take you where the item you have to move is. He should be in the lobby.”

Cale was happy to cut this meeting short, because Raon was rumbling about useless information in his head again.

- They are not human! What are they? Now that I think about it, the fake blond also has kind of the same feeling about him.

Tasha bowed again, and as she was passing her nephew she whispered to him:
“That child is a dragon, Alberu!”

Chapter Text

17th Chapter

Alberu now saw Cale in a whole new light. It all made sense. They said dragons were enchantingly beautiful. This little boy looked just like a perfect porcelain doll. Even his arrogant way he ordered them was so typically dragon like.

He also may as well be way older than he looked. Dragons could alter their appearances easily. He shook his head, he needed to concentrate on the issue at hand first.

“So now that my people are here, could you tell us what's this all about? Why did we have to wait in the first place?” Asked the prince.

“Yes, I’m just too lazy to tell this twice.” Shrugged Cale.

“You cra…” Alberu was really close to call a dragon crazy.

Cage snickered seeing their crown prince struggle, even though she felt compassion towards him. That child was totally mad most of the time. This will definitely be a fun evening even without Taylor, who was gone to get the hat fixed. Well the rum in her tea also helped a bit.

It was Cale who asked her to stay. She had no clue why though.

“Before I start I want to make it clear I do not know who are the leaders of the organization I will be talking about. Neither do I know their end goal. I’m not involved with them at all.” Cale was talking in a very relaxed manner, as if he was talking about the weather. “The important thing is that I think there will be a terror incident in the city plaza at the execution led by them.”

“Why should I believe that you are unrelated, when you’re talking about them attacking us as a fact?” Asked Alberu, a bit unsure if being this rude to a great being like him was a good idea.

“That’s why Miss Cage is here.” Sighed Cale. “I’m ready to take a vow of death.”

Heavy silence took over the room.

“I will not assist in a child taking that vow.” Cage was outraged.

“I won’t die Cage Noona and I think His Highness would not let me walk free after this otherwise.” Smiled bitterly Cale.

‘Not that I could keep a dragon from doing whatever he wanted to do and lock him up, but if he is willingly taking that vow, who am I to stop him?’ Thought Alberu.

“Still…” Cage wasn’t convinced.

“Also I’m mentally older than I look.” Cale insisted. “I will not swear anything for the future. I will only confirm those sentences from before are true and that’s all.”

Cage reluctantly started the ritual. Cale felt a strange power geather around him. The odd thing was it kind of seemed familiar to him. It was unsettling and calming at the same time.

“You can take your vow now.” Said the priestess.

“I Cale vow that I’m not and never was part of the organization who plans to attack the Roan kingdom’s citizens and have no knowledge of their end goals or the leader’s identity as I said beforehand. That is all.”

Cage cut off the power quickly and closed the ceremony.

“So now that we are on the same page. I have my reasons to believe there will be more mana bombs hidden around the plaza, and I want to confirm their positions.” Cale wasn’t affected by the still heavy air.

“You just want to confirm where they are and leave them there for now. I think I know your intentions.” Alberu wasn’t happy to admit they were on the same wavelength with the creepy child.

They will only remove them before the event, so the organization won’t figure out a thing.

“Also there will be some bombs hidden on unknowing civilians. Like it would have been with Young Master Taylor’s sister.” Continued the child.

“We need to buy time then. We need a mana disturbance tool.” Said Alberu after thinking about it for a second. “This will make their mage vulnerable also, so we may have a chance to capture them.”

“We definitely need to prioritize that.” Nodded Cale. “But I’m not optimistic enough that they will leave him unprotected.”

That mage was someone crazy, they called him The Blood Crazed Mage in the books. Cale really wanted to get rid of him if it was possible.

Cage and Alberu’s two helpers were watching silently as the two of them chatted unaware of the rest of them. They really had very similar thought processes.

A knock ended the conversation.

“Young Master Cale, Miss Tasha has left. We can follow through with our stroll.” Entered Ron.

“Thank you Ron!” Got up Cale instantly. He really didn’t want the sharp old man to figure out he took a vow of death. It was best to leave the room as quickly as it was humanly possible.

Everyone got ready to leave in a hurry, so only in five minutes Cale found himself sitting in a royal carriage with the crown prince and Cage.

“So how old are you Cale?” Asked Cage.

“Technically I’m six.” Answered Cale stoically.

“Did you lie?” Cage became quite miff.

“He only said he was mentally more.” Joined Alberu, it was something that he paid attention to back then.

“Mhm.” Confirmed the boy.

“How old exactly?” Cage was not letting it slide.

“Thirtysix… maybe fortytwo?” Cale wasn't sure.

“Ho, you’re old.” Laughed Cage.

On the other hand Alberu was counting in his head:
‘Does one dragon year equal to six or seven human ones or is it the other way around?’

When they arrived they walked around seemingly without any care, but Cale was instructing them quietly to check places Where Raon felt any traces of mana.

They went over every crack and cranny but only found four bombs. Still it confirmed that Cale was telling the truth.

It only took them one and a half hours, but the red headed child was totally exhausted. He looked like someone who was close to fainting.

Alberu looked at him contemplating if it was only an act, but he still decided to offer some help:
“Cale…” Should he put some honorifics? In the end he decided not to, he seemed to be pretending to be a kind of normal child. “Do you want to be carried?”

Cale was glad to accept, if it meant he won’t need to walk or stand anymore. He never felt any shame being lifted. Alberu’s concern about hurting his pride was unnecessary.

Still the child yelped in surprise when it was the crown prince who picked him up. He thought one of his man would be the unlucky one carrying him around.

Shit, this was a really bad look for Cale. The people were whispering as they were walking past them. Cale will be the biggest news tomorrow between the citizens.

“Aaaw, look at them, they seem like a living painting.” Said an onlooker. “Our new Crown Price is even good with children.”

‘You calculative bastard, so that was your end game!’ Thought Cale bitterly.

As they were leaving Alberu noticed how longingly was Cale looking at one of the food stands. It was selling candied fruits.

‘Does he have a sweet tooth? This is the first actually cute thing about him.’

“Should I buy you a strawberry one?” Offered Alberu with a grin.

“Buy two, and I will eat it at home.” Decided Cale. It would have been unfair considering Raon otherwise. He was the one who did the most work out of them.

Cale was holding the two little packs of sweets like they were treasures the whole journey home. They arrived without any problem and after Cage helped Cale down from the carriage, the child turned to Alberu before the crown prince could leave in peace.

“Oh, I hope Your Highness will come and pick us up to meet Marquis Stan as soon as it’s possible.” Said Cale, shattering the idyllic happy child image again.

“Why is this so important to you?” Alberu did not expect a straight answer, but he still tried.

As he thought, Cale only shrugged, but the interesting thing was Cage’s reaction. The priestess looked uneasy and a bit guilty. She definitely knew something. It was a pity she seemed like a loyal person, so she won’t talk.

“I will arrange for it, and make it so we can go tomorrow. You don’t have to worry I will be here to pick you and Young Master Taylor up in the morning hours.” This was the fastest way to figure things out, of course he will be quick getting everything ready.

“I’m speechless how capable Our Shining Sun is.” Smiled Cale making Alberu even more eager to leave.

“My whole night will be as bright as day after hearing your unworthy compliment.” Hissed the crown prince between his teeth before escaping.

Chapter Text

18th Chapter

Alberu kept his word. Cale was surprised the Marquis seemed to not get any special treatment even though he was a noble. He was also severely tortured, but according to Alberu the man said nothing.

Marquis Stan looked like a scared animal cowardly staying in one corner of his cell. He was nothing like when Cale met him three years ago. Well the man did lose his favorite son and he was basically on the death row.

Cale’s eyes traveled to Taylor’s face. The blond man seemed to be in pain deep down, but he looked determined.

‘He will be fine even if he hears me pressure him a bit.’

Cale sighed and tried to grab Marquis Stan’s attention, but the man’s gaze was fixed on the floor.

“Can we go in?” Asked Cale from Alberu.

“It should be fine, the guards are here.” Nodded the man, then signaled to the guards who opened the cell.

Cale slowly approached the man, then he crouched before him, so he entered the marquis' vision. Seeing him made the man actually raise his head. He recognised Cale even though he only saw him that one time, years ago.

Marquis Stan was not a dumb man, he knew Cale was deeply involved in his downfall. He saw the recording of his escape, so his eyes flickered with anger for a second, but the fear he felt was much stronger, and it overwhelmed him again. Alberu watched this interaction with interest from the back line.

“What are you afraid of? You will die either way, even if you choose to be silent or talk.” Asked Cale. “Not to mention they killed one of your children. Do you not want to take revenge?”

While he said these out loud, he had a crazy idea.

‘Wow, could it be that he is actually a way better father than I thought so? Even after he got betrayed by his own son?’

“Or is it exactly because of that? Are you afraid they will go after your other children if you talk?”

The Marquis flinched. Cale touched a nerve. Taylor was also shaken, but he had to endure it.

‘So it's fine for his family to keep killing each other, but it’s not if they die to an outside force.’ Cale couldn’t warp his brain around it. He felt intrigued and disgusted at the same time. ‘Does not matter, I know where to press now.’

“They are already on their list, even though you are holding your tongue. We found a magic bomb on one of your daughters. There’s no merit in not talking anymore.” Cale was smiling with his most angelic smile, making everyone shudder.

It took some seconds for Cale’s speech to sink in, but when it did the anger came back with full force on the old marquis’ face.

“Roan will fall, but my bloodline could have lived through it. Now everything is lost!’ Spoke Marquis Stan, surprising the crown prince. Alberu took part in almost all the torture sessions, but the man never uttered a word.

“Roan is strong.” Shook his head Cale. He read five volumes of that damn book, he was confident about the kingdom surviving, and he himself was determined to help it from the shadows.

“You don’t know who you are up against!” Laughed the Marquis. “The Roan Kingdom does not excel in anything. No, the country is behind in every aspect.”

Alberu wanted to feel offended, but it was all true. Cale started to frown in displeasure though.

“Raon was never particularly good at anything, but it has the will to survive. This kingdom has the longest history on the continent.” Cale read countless history books after he learned the written language. This palace has existed for ten thousand years.

He was never particularly strong as Kim RokSoo either, but he lived through everything. He respected the Roan Kingdom's history.

Alberu heard the child talk and somehow his whole mood changed. It was good to hear that someone thought about their land and citizens this way.

“Our luck end here though. These people have control over the whole Eastern Continent, and now they are coming for this one.” Marquis Stan wasn’t affected by Cale’s sentiment. “To be honest they are already here. The information I'm convicted over, who do you think it went to?”

“Shit, then the Mogoru Empire is involved.” Cursed Cale. He had a hunch Crown Prince Adin was not a good natured person, but he had not much proof, he was barely mentioned in the books.

‘And you are involved in getting those documents.’ Thought Alberu.

“I should have sold you off or killed you when I had my chance. I blame my weakness as a father.” Said the Marquis with regret, he was only talking about pleasing his favorite son back in the day by giving him the child he wanted, but… It made Taylor almost choke on nothing.

‘There’s no way… right?’ He looked at Cale then at his father. They looked nothing alike. ‘My father and Jour Themes?’

“You are most likely not the first with that thought.” Laughed Cale. “It is a pleasure that I will outlive all of you. I’m done here.”

When Cale turned around he was faced with two very pale blondes. Looking at him dumbfounded. Both looked totally confused. He only clicked his tongue, and walked past them.

He got what he came for, now he will let the other two have his fun with the marquis. He will talk now without any issue. So he approached one of the guards to ask them for help in leaving. They left Ron at the entrance, he didn’t want to make the man wait too much.

Tasha was standing next to Ron when Cale arrived. She seemed uncomfortable. Cale smiled, Ron could make people feel angst for sure. In reality Tasha’s feelings were also caused by the thought that she will shortly have to talk with Cale.

“Why is Miss Tasha here?” Asked the boy, ending her suffering.

“His Highness said I should take Cale-nim to the palace so we can walk through our plan.” Said the woman.

‘Ho, Alberu really does trust her a lot I guess, but why is she calling me with such a… never mind.’ Frown Cale, but obediently followed Tasha.

Cale was taken to a nice looking study room.

“Cale-nim can sit.” Signaled Tasha to one of the sofas. “Alberu said that according to you there will be hidden bombs carried by innocent citizens.”

Cale just silently nodded his eyes fixed on the cookies on the table.

“You are free to take some.” Smiled Tasha, then she continued. “So we would be really glad if you could help us identify those people, so we can get rid of the bombs. I will walk around with you and if you notice something I will message the others.”

“Sounds good to me.” Mumbled Cale with his mouth full. “Do you have a mage who can launch the bombs into a safe distance or do you need me to take care of it?”

‘I mean, let Raon take care of it…’ Cale was sneaking some cookies into his clothes for the little dragon also.

“No need, we can manage, but I appreciate the offer Cale-nim.” Shook her head Tasha.

‘If they are covering the bombs then I can let Ron and Beacrox cover the mage.’ Cale had to smile. ‘People doing all the work while he slacks is the best.’

“Let us handle the mage then.” Asked Cale.

Hearing this made Ron smile. The Young Master was planning to make them hunt some foxes it seems. He was looking forward to it.

Tasha shuddered seeing the two of them smile so similarly.

Chapter Text

19th Chapter

The day of the execution came. Cale and Raon were patiently waiting for Tasha and at the back of the Stan Mansion. The child was thinking back on Taylor’s crazy antics in the past days.

The blond man made multiple offers, wanting Cale to move in with him. It got to a point that Cale was considering looking for an inn instead of staying in the manor. It truly made no sense.

His thoughts were cut short when Alberu’s right hand woman actually arrived. They were the last ones to leave the house. Ron and Beacrox took their positions in the early morning, so they could observe the place. While the Stan family and Cage left an hour ago to avoid the common people. When Cale and Tasha got to the plaza Tasha offered her hand to Cale.

“Is it fine to hold hands, Cale-nim? I’m afraid of losing you in the crowd.”

Cale just nodded and took her hand. The city plaza was full of people, some of them looked grave, but some of them were gossiping loudly and ridiculing the Marquis. Noone really paid attention to Cale and Tasha even though Cale should have looked quite out of place with his young age and bright hair color.

Grabbing Cale was definitely the right choice, because they had to fight through the sea of people to get around. Cale really envied Raon who could fly around freely above everyone.

- Human, I found a bomb! Not far on your left, there’s a person with a funny beard. He has a brown bag, the bomb is inside it.

“I can feel something. Pick me up so I can see.” Said Cale to Tasha, who instantly complied.

It took only a second for the child to find the man the little dragon was talking about. He immediately showed him to Tasha.

To Cale's surprise Tasha didn’t use any communication device or telepathy. She said every order out loud.

“One target in sector three. A 172 cm tall man with a beard. He is wearing a black jacket and brown vest. The bomb is in his bag. Do not act, follow the target and wait for the signal.”

‘Is there an invisible messenger?’ Pondered Cale. His brain went through every possibility. ‘Raon said they are not human, and she is talking to someone or something that neither me or Raon can see or feel…Ah, are they disguised elfs? Is she talking to an elemental? It would make the crown prince part elf also, but why the dye magic? Maybe not elfs than… Shit, they must be dark elves!’

Cale was confident in his hypothesis, but then the elementals must have noticed Raon. So his attempt to keep the dragon a secret was futile. Cale had to sigh, it pained him that his work was unnecessary.

Cale was actually sulking for a bit while the others were doing their work diligently, but even though they were very thorough they only found three more bombs, making Cale quite confused. In The Birth of a Hero there were ten in total, so there were two missing.

Then the event actually started. Cale was listening to the accusations against the marquis from Tashas arms, but his eyes were actually on one of the noble tables. He recognised Countess Violan, so the man next to here must have been his father. He had never seen him before, he thought he would feel something, but no. No bond, no hate, no nothing, they didn’t even look similar on the outside.

‘I’m content with staying with Ron. He is vicious, but I’m quite sure he likes me, that’s more than enough. Being affiliated with a noble family is convenient, being part of one is a hustle anyway. Let’s just stay away from the count.' So Cale’s eyes went back to the execution site.

The retelling of Marquis Stan's sins had finished, but before the verdict could have been carried out the commotion started. Red light gathered on top of the belltower, as a dark clocked individual appeared. The people’s attention immediately shifted.

Marquis Stan also turned around to see what people were pointing at. He instantly recognised the mage, he was the man who introduced him to the organization. Did they come to save him? Was the red headed kid lying when he said they were trying to kill his family? He must have been tricked by that brat.

“Redika-nim!” Said the Marquis. “I’m glad to see you again, I would have never imagined you would actually come and aid this subordinate.”

“Useless fucking bastard, how dare you address me?” Looked down the mage.

Under his hood only Redika’s mouth could have been seen, and that was showing pure disgust. Cale yanked on Tasha’s clothes as he noticed the mage visibly gathering mana, and the marquis’ head exploded just like that.

Panic took over. Cale actually became scared as the crowd started to flee towards the exits, but to his surprise Tasha was standing firm and she protected his body with her free arm, while she gave out the order for turning on the mana disturbing device. Alberu’s man swiftly worked, collecting all the bombs despite the panic.

It seemed getting Alberu involved was the right choice, because of his lead the guards immediately started to guide the citizens out as the alarms went off. They were all organized and ready.

“Ho, mana disturbance? This won’t stop me for long.” Redika’s crazy laughter filled the air.

It was true, they would have had five minutes at most, but someone was there, waiting for the mana disturbance to go off in arms reach, hiding in the shadows. It’s harder to break through the disturbance when you are under attack.

Redika’s laugh stopped as a gloomy looking man with a huge greatsword appeared before him. It all happened so quickly that his guards couldn't react in time. The sword struck down, cutting one of the mage’s arms right off cleanly.

Redica was frantic, his scream seemed even crazier than his laugh. Losing an arm was a death sentence for a mage in the long run. It limited their casting ability. Cale was quite aware of this, so it was natural to instruct Beacrox to aim for taking a hand.

“Catch him! You need to take my arm back no matter what!”

The cook retreated after his success taking the arm with him as Cale asked him beforehand. He jumped down, followed by two of Redika’s people.

Even though Redika was wailing and grabbing his wound, he was still working on breaking through the mana disturbance.

“Send someone to help Beacrox and burn that arm to ash.” Asked Cale of Tasha, he was confident Beacrox could hang on till the disturbance ended making Raon able burn it, but there was no reason to wait when the elementals could do it right now.

Tasha just nodded and gave the orders. Two of their people moved instantly, both were dark elves disguised as knights. One was telling the already fighting Beacrox to drop the bloody body part, the other took over one of his attackers. Bright light erupted as the flames destroyed the arm, making Radika totally lose his mind.

“You will pay for this!” Shrieked the mage. The mana disturbance shattered and Redika’s red mana gathered around him. “Go! Take out as many as you can!”

Two more people jumped down hearing his orders. They were wearing black backpacks.

- They have magic bombs on them! - Called out Raon to Cale.

This was definitely different in the books. There were no suicide bombers. One of them ran towards the remaining nobles, where Alberu stood, while one was running into the crowd of citizens where Cale was.

The collected bombs were safely thrown into the air and detonated, but this was a big problem especially the one who was running towards the common people.

“Miss Tasha, tell His Highness Alberu to order the mage guards standing near the nobles to erect shields!” Cale’s Heart was beating like crazy. This will solve the safety of the nobles, but his side was in great danger.

He really didn’t want to use his shield publicly, but he had no choice. He and more than a hundred citizens will die otherwise. Raon will definitely help with his own copy of that damn Unbreakable Shield, it should be possible to stop the explosion like that.

Cale couldn’t think about it more, he had to act. His little arms extended towards the black clothed individual approaching them. His silver shield immediately appeared and enveloped the attacker.

- Let me help, Human! - Cried out the baby dragon as Cale predicted, so a second layer was added to his. Cale smiled, Raon was truly reliable.

The remaining two bombs had exploded, dust rose up but nobody had died. There were injuries on the noble side, but the common people weren’t even touched. Everybody was looking at the magnificent silver shield that isolated the bomber and was now slowly disappearing. It was connected to a small child with silver light.

Cale felt immense pain as if he had been the one who had absorbed that impact.

- I’m so sorry little one. - Heard Cale the voice of The indestructible Shield. - You are just too weak.

- Don’t worry you will survive though. I will make sure! - Sobbed the Vitality of the Heart also.

Cale could taste the blood even before he felt the need to cough. Then he had no way of suppressing it, with every cough dark almost black blood left his body, wetting Tasha’s clothes.

The dark elf woman who was calm through the whole terrorist attack was now terrified, but the ancient powers were telling the truth, Cale’s life was in no danger, He didn’t even feel any pain anymore, he was just feeling weak and hungry.

Redika saw all that happened, but instead of it making him even more furious, the sight actually calmed him down in a sense. The mage was crazy for the color red, so his eyes were basically glued on Cale’s small frame.

“Ah, what a lovely color. Let’s meet again, little red head.” Laughed Redika, then he turned towards the royal family. “I guess you have won this time, but I will be back and I will rain blood on all of you.”

Just as he finished he took out a teleport scroll and tore it up before anybody could have acted. The still alive man of the organization all followed suit.

‘Now it all depends on Ron.’ Thought Cale, he had to worry about himself first, because the whole plaza’s attention was on him.

Chapter Text

20th Chapter

Cale was eyed by everyone even though the king was talking at the podium. As Zed Crossman spoke he also stole some glances on the little red head. He personally knew Jour Themes and could not miss her features on the little boy’s face. King Zed was left with this task because his first son left his place without a word.

Alberu was approaching his aunt and Cale with his personal knights parting the crowd before him. He wasn’t the only one trying to get to them though. Beacrox, Taylor, Cage and… Count Henituse reached the place at the same time.

Cale looked them over then buried his face in Tasha’s bloody shirt. It was bad enough that the crown prince came personally, but why was his father here? Did he recognise him? How? They never met.

“Send for a healer.” Instructed Alberu.

“Cale!” Cried Taylor worriedly.

“Cale, are you alright? Can I see your body?” Asked Cage. She was still a priest even though she had no potent healing powers.

“Jour’s… My son… I didn’t know he looked so…” Mumbled Deruth.

Everybody talked at the same time, only Beacrox observed the situation silently.

“Can you stand?” Cage was the first to come closer.

When the boy nodded Tasha put him down carefully, and the priestess held his wrists circulating her holy power through him.

“His life is not in danger.” Said the kneeling Cage. She felt that Cale was more than fine to be honest.

She then stepped back, what seemed to be the wrong decision, because Deruth Henituse got over his initial shock. He basically threw himself before the boy and tried to grab him.

‘Shit!’ Thought Cale as he jumped back avoiding the man. ‘Let’s run for it!’

Beacrox seemed to be the safest bet out of the five surrounding him. He hid behind him as an age appropriate little child would have. The cook frowned, but still he did not step aside. He shielded Cale.

“You know I’m your father, right?” Deruth seemed to be surprised by the boy’s reaction.

Of course Cale knew, but there was no way he was willing to admit it.

“Beacrox Hyung, that stranger is scary!” Cried out Cale.

‘Damn scary bastard…’ Alberu was floored seeing Cale act like a helpless child for the first time, it was even more surprising to him than the slowly out folding drama. Though the citizens were all watching eagerly.

Deruth slowly got up as his second wave of shock subdued. He didn’t know how his son was found or why he was with the second kitchen’s cook, but Beacröx was still a Henituse servant.

“Beacrox come here with Cale!” Ordered the count.

“Hyung, no!” Cale was grabbing the cook’s hand sounding as pitiful as he could.

Beacrox was hesitant to move, but luckily Taylor decided to get between them.

“The child clearly does not want to go with you, Count Henituse.” Said the blonde noble.

“I’m his father!” Deruth was outraged. “Young Master Taylor has no right to butt into our family business.”

“Can the count prove that?” Asked Taylor with a smile. He was well aware Cale was not registered at a temple into the Henituse family. This was the first thing he checked after meeting Ron.

“He looks just like my late wife damn it!” Cursed Deruth, not even caring how unnoble like he was.

“That does not prove that you are the father.” Taylor was vicious. “I had the displeasure to meet my father when he was in the royal dungeon. He admitted to being Cale’s biological father. His Highness The Crown Prince can testify.”

‘What is this? Is this some kind of soap opera? It’s not even funny.’ Cale was dumb founded behind Beacrox, what the hell was Taylor talking about?

“How dare you suggest Jour cheated on me?!” Deruth’s face was almost as red as Cale’s hair.

‘This is getting totally out of hand, and now Taylor is getting me involved.’ Alberu started to feel a huge headache coming his way. ‘Cale can’t even be related to either of them, if he was a dragon.’

The whole plaza was looking at Alberu, so he had to confirm it:
“He did say something like that… but he could have lied.”

“Count Henituse can also be lying.” Said Taylor.

“I’m prepared to even swear under the vow of death.” Said Deruth.

“I’m fine with doing the same. Cage, can you lend me a hand?” Turned to her Taylor.

Cale looked at Cage for help. This was getting crazier and crazier. Taylor will die if this goes on, but even though he was telling the priestess with his eyes not to do it, Cage was confident in Taylor’s words. Even if she was not happy about doing all this. Damn, she already helped Cale take that vow. This isn’t much worse.

“Is my only use now is making vows?” Asked the priestess, but started the ritual.

Both men took it, both men said their truth, but neither died.

“This only proves that both of them believe what they are saying in this moment of time.” Said Cage. “The only way to prove this is a relation trial, but that’s something that needs to be prepared carefully at a temple.”

This just made the two nobles eye each other. Cale felt like crying for real, this circus needed to end. Let’s try the crown prince then. Cale eyed the young blond royal as a traveler would eye the water after traveling through the desert. Alberu looked back at him then sighed.

“Count Henituse, Young Master Taylor, I'm ordering you to stand down.” Said Alberu. “The child will be under my protection till we can arrange that trial. I’m also taking your servantes Ron and Beacrox Molan with me for the time being. I hope you can understand why.”

The crown prince approached Beacrox and Cale, then picked up the child without thinking about getting his white clothes dirty.

“You are indebted to me.” Whispered into the child’s ears Alberu, making Cale’s little body shake. Noticing this actually made Alberu feel a bit better. Damn he really liked to see this red head suffer if he was the reason for it.

The healer also arrived, so Alberu just ordered her to follow them. As they were leaving the remaining citizens were all gossiping between themselves.

“Oh, do you remember what I told you a week ago? That child is the same one His Highness was walking around with.”

“He was hurt so badly because of us and those two nobles did nothing, just argued. Our Crown Prince was the only one really concerned about him.”

“So who is he actually?”

“Does it really matter, he is a hero.”

Hearing all this made Cale bury his head again into the clothes of the person who was carrying him. After exiting the plaza Cale found himself alone with Alberu in his royal carriage which left towards Alberu’s Palace, while Beacrox and the healer were following them in a different one.

“So what do you want me to do now?” Ask Alberu.

“Just make sure that trial gets delayed as much as possible.” Sighed Cale. He was holding his head in his little hands.

“You know I need to give you a reward for what you did, because of the public.”

“Please, anything is fine, just don’t give me a medal.”

“You don’t want anything?” Alberu was quite surprised, dragons were known to be greedy and materialistic.

“Tsk, of course I want something.” Clicked his tongue Cale, he actually wanted quite a lot of things. “But I can’t receive that as a public reward. I guess I could get it myself with money, but then again I’m a child who needs a guardian so you can’t just give me a big sum of money either.”

“Let’s talk about it later then.” Nodded Alberu. “Are you really all right?”

“Quite so.” Nodded Cale. “Just tired and hungry.”

“I will make sure you get the nicest room and a lot of food, don’t worry.”

“Your Highness’ benevolence knows no bounds, I’m so proud to be a citizen under your care.”

“Oh, just shut up and sleep.”

Cale was happy to oblige. He drifted into sleeping happily, because everything went down as planned. His good mood was doomed to not last for long though, as he had to face the reality that not everything went so well after all just after they arrived at the palace.

Chapter Text

21st Chapter

Ron was leaning against the wall. He seemed like someone leisurely waiting from afar, but it got painstakingly obvious that it was not the case as they got closer.

There was a wound on one of his upper arms that was bleeding severely even though the butler tried to stop the bleeding by tying his blood flow with a piece of cloth under his shoulder.

“Ron?!” Cale was surprised to see the man hurt. Ron seemed so invincible in his eyes even though in the books he wasn’t nearly as strong as the protagonist. “What happened?”

Beacrox was also quite shocked, even if he never saw his father as flawless as Cale. The cook was really worried, his father was his last remaining relative. If he is gone, who will he deal with the two children they picked up?

“I seem to be getting old and carless.” Smiled Ron bitterly.

Thinking back on it, it was really all his fault. He waited for the organization to appear at the place Cale said they were teleporting to to escape the plaza. After a quick flash of light five people walked out of thin air.

Ron easily recognised the mage, because of his slightly different uniform. He activated the mana disturbance tool he was carrying, then ambushed them. This rendered the mage useless. He planned to take out all of them, starting with the normal members guarding the already injured mage.

He killed the first guy without an issue. The problem came when he was fighting the others. The mage who he thought was no threat did something that he would have never expected a mage would do.

That crazy bastard runed in and attacked him with a knife seemingly wanting to cut off his arm while laughing. Ron moved back to avoid him, but he still succeeded in stabbing him under his shoulder.

“I will end this whole kingdom and the traitors who gave out the coordinates of our scrolls.” Yelled Redika, then he looked into Ron's eyes. “I will remember all of your faces also, and I will come back to take your lifes, mark my words. Though you may die before that, sadly.”

Ron felt his hand slowly going numb, the knife was poisoned. He needed to get away from them if he wanted to see his son and Cale again. He wasn’t confident in winning any more, but still they have all seen his face… most likely they have seen the appearance of the others at the plaza as well.

So as he jumped back he threw a knife with his still good hand. His aim was perfect even in these circumstances and Redika lost one of his eyes as well. This was the second blood freezing scream leaving the mage’s throat that day. The still alive organization members runed to Redika in worry, making Ron able to escape.

Cale told him he will meet with the crown prince and wait for him at Alberu’s Palace after the incident so he patched himself up and waited there.

Never would he have imagined that the red head would come back as drenched in blood as he was.

“But the real question is what happened to the Young Master?” Asked Ron, his smile was getting dangerously soft.

“It’s nothing. Let us settle down,” Shivered Cale. “and I promise to tell you everything as the healer looks you over.”

With the lead of Alberu they entered a luxurious bedroom. Cale was put on the bed while they brought a chair closer for Ron to sit. After everybody settled down, Beacrox carefully cut down his father’s shirt.

The wound looked awful, blood and something green was sipping out from the almost bone deep opening. While Cale was rehashing what happened the healer carefully took Ron’s arm into her hands. She tried to use her holy power to no avail. The wound was not closing at all.

“This poison… I don’t know what it could be. Never seen something like this. My powers are useless against it.” The healer looked really panicked.

“Miss Priestess should try to stop the bleeding as much as possible. I think I know what this is.” Jumped down Cale from his bed.

The child went closer and sniffed at the wound. Not caring about the odd looks. It smelled kind of fishy under the pungent rooting.

“I’m pretty sure this is mermaid poison.” Continued Cale.

In the later parts of the books Rosalyn, one of the main characters, encounters this same poison.

The room became dead silent. There were no known antidotes for that. Even the always cold Beacrox looked totally distraught.

“How much time do I have?” Sighed Ron.

“If the child is right, two weeks at most.” Answered the healer.

Cale’s brain was overheating going through the records he had of that damn book. There was actually a cure to this, but it wasn’t easy to get. Cale needed to fix this, it was all his fault. He was the one who sent Ron there.

- Will Grandpa Ron die? First it was you, now it’s Grandpa Ron! - Cried the little dragon in Cale’s head.

“Nobody will die.” Said Cale to calm Raon. “I know a way to fix this.”

‘Of course you do…’ Thought Alberu. ‘Damn scary dragon.’

“I want Miss Priestess to finish up her work quickly. Then I need to talk to His Highness. I will need a lot of help to get what we need.” Cale was fully determined to save Ron. There was no way he would be letting someone die under his watch.

The healer did what was asked of her. She stopped Ron’s bleeding and checked Cale to confirm he was alright, while Beacrox dressed his fathers wound. As the healer was leaving Tasha entered the room and stood beside Alberu ready to make her report, but the heavy air stopped her.

“Should I assume the mage got away?” Asked the dark elf woman. It was the only reason she was able to come up with for everybody looking so gloomy.

“This servant proved inefficient, yes.” Nodded Ron. The butler’s lap was getting wet from the silently weeping dragon. It was hard for him not to pet Raon. “The Young Master shouldn’t feel the need to help me, I’m quite old already.”

“It’s my fault. I was overconfident, so don’t worry about it.” Said Cale, then he turned to Alberu. “Your Highness, can you contact Baroness Ubarr for me? I have a proposition for both of you in exchange for your help.”

Alberu looked at Cale in deep contemplation. Popelina Ubarr was trying to get the crown to invest in their territory for a long time, but all her suggestions were doomed to fail and lose money. He really didn’t want to ask any favors from her.

- Will the Fake Blond Prince help? He does not seem to want to. - Asked Raon from Cale.

“Ask it yourself, they are already aware of you.” Smiled mischievously Cale.

‘Let’s see if the crown prince can say no to a teary-eyed baby dragon.’

Cale did not need to tell him twice, Raon materialized next to Ron instantly, and even started to sob loudly. If Cale did not know better he would have thought the dragon was doing it intentionally.

“Hey Prince, you will call that woman right?” Cried Raon. Now Ron could pet him with no reserve, so he did slowly using his still good arm.

As Cale observed the situation he felt something was really off. Both Alberu and Tasha looked like they had seen a ghost looking at Raon. Were they not aware? There’s no way, right? Alberu’s eyes were traveling between Cale and Raon constantly for a minute, then it settled on the dragon.

“Yes, Dragon-nim.” He really hoped that he could afford this talk with a baroness, but there was just no way he could say no with everybody present anyway.

He already planned to help when he heard Cale had something that could be beneficial to them. Being curious was one of his bad qualities, and now there was even a new question on the horizon.

‘So there were two dragons, or is Cale not one?’ Alberu wasn’t sure anymore. He looked to his aunt for help, but Tasha was too occupied with seeing a dragon in his true form for the first time to care.

“Our Sun’s trust will not be in vain. I will make sure this will be profitable for you, Your Highness.”

Alberu did not feel any better hearing this, still he left to contact the Baroness so she would not have a chance to leave the capital. Tasha followed his nephew after bowing, so Cale and his people were left alone in the room.

It was awkward Cale and Ron both wanted to scold the other but neither could because of their own injury. It was the little dragon who was now angry after he had finished being sad and desperate.

“Why are humans so weak? I don’t like this! If either of you gets hurt again I will destroy everything.”

“Raon-nim is right, both of you are reckless, after we deal with this issue we will need to talk about this again.” He sounded cold and angry, but he was actually glad there was a way for his father to get rid of that poison according to Cale.

Beacrox needed to focus on that hope to function.

Chapter Text

22nd Chapter

Alberu was sitting across the Popelina Ubarr who just arrived.

“So can I take it as if Your Highness gave in, and willing to invest?” Asked the middle aged woman with a smile. “Otherwise it would be quite rude to waste my time.”

She wasn’t a particularly smart woman, but she was a good territory lord with a stubborn personality. She was well aware their territory didn’t possess any way to make enough income for the citizens not to suffer, she really wanted to fix that. She just had no idea how.

Their coasts were not suited for trading, because of the whirlpools. Neither were there safe swimming areas so tourism was low. They were getting by barely with fishing.

“We are waiting for someone, when he arrives we talk about it, but it won’t be for free. You will need to provide your part.” Answered the prince.

Cale entered the room after Tasha at that exact moment. The baroness looked back at the woman. Were they waiting for her?

But Tasha only bowed and left, leaving Cale there who leisurely walked to the comfy couch and slumped down, being hell of rude to both in present. In his little head it was fine to be disrespectful because Alberu and the Baroness will be his business partner on equal standings.

“Good morning to you also Cale.” Alberu’s smile was quite forced.

Cale just nodded to Alberu and bowed his head to Popelina still sitting

“What a rude little child. He really does not deserve the nickname of Our Kingdom's Ruby.” Grimaced the baroness.

Cale’s eyes rounded in horror. What did she just call him?

Alberu would have laughed at his misery if he didn’t know about another name the redhead got. Some people referred to him as The Crown Prince’s Treasure. Even thinking about it gave him goosebumps.

“Believe me Baroness Umbarr, it’s a blessing that he doesn't want to get on your good side with words.” Sighed the prince, then he turned to Cale. “So what do you want from us?”

“Wait so we were waiting for this child? I’m not here to play games, Your Highness.” Popelina was now actually annoyed. The crown prince was still young, but he earned that title so he should have been mature enough not to do this.

“I suggest building a naval base in the Umbarr territory.” Cale was unfazed by the baroness as he answered to Alberu.

Both adults were surprised. Alberu thought about it for a bit then he replayed:
“It sounds more useful than the last ideas I heard as an investment, but the whirlpools still cause a problem.”

“What If I could get rid of them?” Asked the child. “Of course not for free…”

“What do you want in return?” Alberu was quite suspicious of this being the pain in the ass.

“From you the item you got when we first met. I’m pretty sure you have succeeded in dismantling it already, and from the Baroness I want a ship with a captain and crew who are accustomed to the whirlpools and confident on sailing long distances.”

Why a six years old child wanted a damn mana bomb and a ship was beyond Alberu. Was he planning a naval siege or something?

His confusion was still nothing compared to Popelina Ubarr’s. She chose to listen quietly for now though.

“I can spare that item, but I’m not convinced on the naval base yet.” Said Alberu, it was a lie, but he needed to see how far Cale would go to convince him.

“I may have said Roan was strong, but it’s better to prepare. You don’t have to believe me, but there will be wars all over the continent in ten years.” Cale trusted in Alberu’s decision making and wasn’t afraid to share some of his knowledge with him after what happened at the plaza. Children needed the support after all. “I will give many gifts to Your Highness, if you help me here and there in the future also.”

‘Is this a threat? No, I think he is just not aware of how he sounds…’ Alberu really cursed the day his curiosity got the better of him and went after Taylor’s secret companion. Still he was slowly getting the hang of how the redhead thought.

“Fine, it’s a deal, but you still need the other side to agree.” Sighed the prince.

Popelina was still dumbfounded by what she just witnessed. She definitely did not expect this when she got the crown prince’s message yesterday.

“I guess it’s doable, if it means money will flow in because of that base.” Said the baroness a bit unsure.

“Perfect!” Smiled Cale, then he turned to the Ubarr Baroness. “When can we leave? This is really urgent. I trust His Highness can pretend I’m recuperating here, while I'm off in secret.”

“You want to go personally?” Raised a brow Alberu. He really did not like the idea, definitely not because he was worried for Cale, he was worried for the damn Umbarr territory.

“I need to be there.” Nodded Cale. He planned to pick up something along the way.

“So be it, but you will be accompanied by one of my people.” Sighed at least for the tenth time Alberu. “I need someone to do some estimates for the base.”

Cale grinded at the crown prince, that person was sure to be surveillancing him, and he will use them well. He will never refuse free workforce.

“How soon can we depart Baroness Umbarr?” Asked Cale from the woman.

“In two days from now.”

“Let us hurry up then.” Nodded the boy. Every one of them had stuff to take care of.

After the Ubarr Baroness left, Cale found himself alone with the prince a second time.

“Are you really a human?” Asked Alberu.

Yesterday Tasha talked with one of the elementals after they left Cale’s room, who corrected them about this issue, but still it was hard to believe that this kid was just a normal human child. Well coles to normal, the elemental did say Cale had a really pure wood sent.

Cale was looking at him as if he asked something really dumb.

“Why would I not be?” Asked back Cale, then he thought about it. The crown prince wasn’t entirely human at the end of the day; it was normal for him to ask this. “Does it really matter? My little brother is a dragon, but he is still my little brother.”

“Make sense, and you are still a pain in the ass either way.” Grinned Alberu.

“It’s nice to see Your Highness getting so familiar with me. I’m honored.” Cale was not losing to the blonde.

Both were annoyed with each other. It was Alberu who decided to be the bigger person and break the silence. He took out a small thing and passed it to Cale. It was a communication device.

“Do you have a way to use this?” Asked ALberu.

“Raon could learn to connect it.” Nodded Cale. “I hope we can use your library in the remaining time.”

He was already planning to look through some magic books with the dragon. Kids did need opportunities to learn and grow.

“Raon?”

“Yes, the black dragon. He is smart.” Cale was quite proud of him.

“Then bring the item with you, and call me if there are any problems.” Alberu was definitely not worried…

“Sure.” Smiled Cale. He was glad to receive such an expensive item for free. He didn’t think it through that it meant Alberu was also able to contact him anytime now.

Chapter Text

23rd Chapter

Cale was sitting in the Ubarr carriage with the baroness and her daughter. He wanted to travel with the Molans, but he was still considered part of a noble lineage so he just couldn’t.

Amiru Ubarr, the daughter, was looking at the little boy.interested. She heard all the rumors so when her mother said they are leaving with the same child she was very excited, but this kid seemed truly distant. Nothing like he was described.

Her mother was also acting strange. Popelina seemed a bit scared of him. The papers speculated that the redhead had a potent defensive ancient power, but this should have been no reason to act so reserved. What made her think her mother knew something other than what was publicly available.

“So have you been near the ocean, Young Master Cale?” Asked Amiru.

Why was this conversation starting so similar to what he had with Alberu when they met for the first time?

“No, I had no chance to really travel before.” Well being locked up does this to people. “You can just call me Cale.”

“I will take you to the beach then.” Smiled the girl.

“No need, I’m here on His Highness’ eran…” Ahh, he should not have said that. It was so easy to forget he was only six. Let’s go with a different lie. “I’m here to rest and get better after the plaza incident. It’s best if I don’t move around much.”

‘Him being this cute makes it easier to forgive him.’ Amiru let it slide even though it was really obvious that the boy just didn’t want to go with her. Then her thoughts went back to the rumors.

“So how is your father really?” Asked Amiru.

‘Damn, teens were talkative with no chat filter.’ Thought Cale, but his answer was not filtered either.

“How should I know? I wasn’t there when they conceived me.” Shrugged the boy.

While Popelinas face went red from outrage, Amiru only giggled. So she earned a disapproving side eye from her mother also.

“Aren’t you here to rest? Why don’t you sleep a bit then?” Popelina looked at Cale.

This felt very similar to his carriage ride with His Highness also, but sleeping was a thing Cale was always happy to indulge in. So he just closed his eyes till he actually fell asleep without any complaints.

The three day journey went by quickly. When reaching the territory border Raon was excitedly shouting in Cale’s head. He was happy to see the ocean for the first time, not to mention he missed spending time with Cale because he was traveling in the same carriage as the Molans.

“Hey Human, look I can see the sea! We must be close!”

Cale still couldn’t see any water even though he was looking out of the window. It took almost an hour more for the ocean to come into view for him, and just after two more hours they actually arrived. Cale let the two women leave first, after which he was helped down by Beacrox, who was attending him instead of Ron. The older man was weakly standing to the right, making Cale frown.

They were at a small village on the shoreline and 5 people were already waiting for them. Popelina went to greet the waiting men to Cale.

“This old fisherman will be the captain for your journey, Young Master Cale. He may normally only work in a different field, but you can’t find a better man for this job.”

“Greetings Young Master. The other two here are my son and my helper.” The old man bowed to the boy followed by the two mentioned.

Then the two standing in the far back also came closer. They were wearing leather armor, so they were definitely not normal sailors.

“And these men are some of the Ubarr knights, who are trained for sailing. I'm lending them to you as a gift. Let me show you the ship you can use.” Continued the Baroness.

It was a relatively small ship, but for five to ten people it was enough. Not to mention it was most likely impossible to navigate through the whirlpools with a bigger one.

“When does the young master want to depart?” Asked the old fisherman.

“Right now, I only need to talk to my companions who are remaining here.” Cale then walked to the Molans. “As promised by the baroness you will be provided with accommodation in this village. I will come back in a week with the antidote.”

“The Young Master Should take Beacrox with him.” Said Ron.

“No, he is needed here, to look after you. I got babysitters from both the Crown Prince and the Baroness, and Raon is also coming with me. I will be fine.” Smiled Cale.

The little dragon presence was as soothing as it was worrying. He was strong, but together with Cale they were a very dangerous combination. Beacrox would have also insisted going with the boy if he weren't so afraid of his father’s health, but in the end he just nodded to Cale even if it made Ron furious.

So the ship left with only Cale, Raon, the disguised dark elf knight and the five people chosen by Popelina.

“Where are we going exactly, because even the Lady seemed to be unsure about it when she recruited us.” Asked the fisherman from Cale. He didn’t seem to be bother with him being only a child, but he was less formal.

“I want to dock and spend a night close to the Cliff of Winds. Make sure you dock in a safe distance from the biggest whirlpool, and you can just sleep through the whole night.”

“Got’cha!” Grinned the old man, and he did get the true meaning behind the boy's words. There will definitely be a commotion while they are staying there, and they will have to pretend not to see or hear a thing. The rest of the group was sadly not that lucky. They were in for a surprise.

Cale needed to get the power of the Sound of the Wind, because it was really likely they would be fighting in the near future, and it would make it so much easier for Cale to survive.

After arriving the group set up a camp on the island. Cale even got his own tent which was quite convenient. Cale asked Raon to take out some of the gear he made Becrox prepare beforehand. He was lazily lying on the camp bed watching the little dragon use his newly learned space magic. He was happy, he will never have to carry anything around anymore.

He waved the little dragon closer when he finished, and just hugged Raon to his body, forcing him to rest with him. They needed to sleep to have energy for tonight, also kids taking naps were normal, even if Raon seemed to be fine without one.

When night time came Cale changed his clothes to simple diving gear. As much he abhorred it he would have to go into the water. Leaving his tent Cale was surprised to be greeted with Alberu’s knight. Why did Raon not warn him?

“Where is the Young master going?” Asked the dark elf. He was trusted to oversee the boy, in his opinion an easy job, even though Alberu seemed unsure to send only one person for the task for some reason.

“Mr. Ben, right? I’m only doing my end of the bargain I have with His Highness.” Said Cale nonchalantly.

“I would like to help.” Smiled the elf knight.

“You can’t.” Ancient powers were something that needed to be earned alone. People could help to prepare but in the end you had to rely on your own strength. Cale didn’t want to be harsh. He was just stating a fact.

“His Highness asked me to lend a hand and protect the Young master.” Ben thought Cale to be arrogant and stubborn. Why would he not let an adult help? “So I need to go with you.”

“I didn’t say you can’t come, but you have to stick to observing.” Said Cale with a frown. It would be nice if the dark elf could keep the other two knights at bay if they decide to investigate the noise.

Ben was fine with this even if he did not like it. He could still intervene if needed.

When they arrived at the shore Cale signaled to Raon and the little dragon casted flight magic on him. They hovered over the biggest whirlpool while Raon took out the second stack of items needed.

It was what was left of the organization’s magic bomb. Cale and Raon made several smaller bombs from what they got from the prince. There was a way better bomb architect in the book, but Cale was in a hurry so this was the only option he could come up with.

He touched the small shovel on his belt before nodding to Raon. Cale threw the first small bomb as he activated his shield and dived down. The dragon and the boy were working in syncron. Raon was detonating every bomb at just the right time. Destroying the whirlpool so it was easier for Cale to reach the bottom.

There was a boulder stuck there, covering the top he needed to free. As he dug up the surrounding soil he heard a new voice in his head.

- They said I was a heretic, a sinner for stealing from a god, but I doubt it. No god should demand human sacrifices.

‘I don’t even believe in gods.’ Thought Cale. ‘I never seen them helping anyone, what makes them cruel, non-existent or powerless at best.’

- Haha, I like your reasoning. I Hope you will never get caught as I did. This power will help you with that.

As the boulder tilted the top freed. Cale took it just to stomp on it with his full force. He was a bit worried if his strength would be enough, but it gave in with a crack. The wind hugged his body and lifted him above the water level.

He was faced with a smiling Raon. He was happy that Cale got stronger. He wanted his hyung to never get hurt. Cale smiled back. They were on the same page for once.

“The Human can also fly now, I guess, but you should just let me handle it. You are still weak, don’t strain yourself.” As he said these he already casted his flight spell, so Cale canceled his power.

Chapter Text

24th Chapter

Cale really felt awful as they flew back even though Raon casted warmth magic and even a shield on him. Being wet just sucked. He wanted to change his clothes as soon as possible, so his bad mood got even worse after seeing the two Ubarr knights were also standing on the cliff with Ben. Only the fisherman and his crew stayed in their tents.

As a grumpy Cale looked at the three men they instantly stopped approaching. The kid just blew up a whirlpool and flew through the night. Of course they were wary of him.

“I don’t care if you report to His Highness or the Ubarr Baroness, but nobody else should know about this. This will be the same through this whole journey. Now leave me be.” Cale was rude as always. He just left the confused knights behind.

The next day Cale woke up to something beeping obnoxiously.

“Raon! Make it stop!” Whined the boy.

The sound stopped, but then he heard an even more annoying noise:
“Cale?” Asked a very confused crown prince.

“Why would you connect it?” Complained Cale to Raon.

“You were the one asking me to make it stop beeping.” Answered Raon unfrased.

“You should have just hung up.” Sighed the redhead, but he still sat up and looked at the direction of the device. “Good morning to The Sun of our Kingdom. I hope you slept well so you can look after our citizens as usual. I have slept well knowing you look out for us.”

Alberu did not care for Cale’s bullshit.

“What have you done last night, because you definitely weren’t just sleeping.” Alberu was upset when he was woken up by reports from the Ubarr territory talking about several explosions.

“I fixed the whirlpool problem by picking up something useful for myself.” Shrugged Cale.

“So it was an ancient power causing the whirlpools? I can’t believe you actually have two of those things… Do you know how hard it is to find those?” Alberu was looking at Cale, impressed.

“Three.” Looked back at him Cale.

“What?”

“I have three.”

“Of course you do… You crazy basta…” Why was it so hard not to curse in front of these two children?

- Actually you have four, Cale. - It was the Indestructible Shield who said this.

“I only picked up three.” Scrunched his face Cale. It was out of confusion as he talked to the Shield, but Alberu thought it was because of displeasure towards him. Cale was not paying attention to him though, he was focusing on his ancient powers.

- You had it even before me. - Said the Vitelity of the Heart.

- We tried to talk to it, but it did not respond. We don’t know if it can’t or just does not want to answer us. - Said the Shield.

‘Should I be concerned about having something I don’t fully grasp?’ Cale didn’t like this.

“Cale? Are you all right?” Alberu’s annoyed mood changed to concern quickie as he watched the boy space out.

“The human sometimes does this.” Answered Raon instead of Cale. “First I also got scared, but Grandpa Ron said it is normal for people like Cale.”

“Like him?” Asked the prince.

“I don’t know either, but it’s fine if he says it’s normal.” Shrugged Raon.

“He thinks I’m a genius, or something like that.” Got back on track Cale. “I don’t know how it came around, but I just let it slide, because Ron is scary. The less I talk to him the better.”

“And contrary to that you’re just a normal kid…”

“I’m hanging up Your Highness!” Rolled his eyes Cale.

“Wait! What’s your next plan?”

“I’m going to visit the whales.”

“Like the whale people? You know where they are located?”

“Loosely.” Cale just nodded, making Alberu swallow. The whales were the strongest tribe among the beast people. If Cale caused trouble for them even if they wouldn't come to their land they could just destroy their trading ships as retaliation. “Don’t worry I won’t reveal I’m associated with Roan.”

“I would be more at ease if you would have said you won’t cause trouble instead of this.”

He didn’t want to lie. The whales won’t help him just because he asks nicely. At best he will sell them information, at worst he will blackmail them.

“Just stay safe.” Sighed Alberu in the end.

“I will.”

The call disconnected. Cale dressed and left their tent to eat while some of the group packed up. While munching on his breakfast and feeding Raon in secret, he was thinking hard. They needed to capture a mermaid dead or alive. Their best bet was to find the whales, who were in war against them almost all the time.

The whales were living on a huge iceberg, so locating them wasn’t easy as it naturally traveled. He only knew that it should be at the northern tip of their continent. So he instructed the captain to move the ship in that direction.

It happened on their second night while sailing. The captain spotted a shipwrecked person, or what he thought to be one. They should have been still far from the whale territory, but there was a big commotion on the deck so Cale came to have a look.

There was a woman lying on a wooden plank. Her whole body was covered in blood. She seemed like a corpse to Cale.

“Fish her out.” Sighed Cale, he was reluctant to save a random person, but he couldn't just leave her there.

The two Ubarr knights moved efficiently, grabbing a rope. One of them descended on it while the others helped to pull them up after he grabbed the unconscious person. Cale was observing the situation closely.

“Lie her down on her stomach.” Ordered Cale. There was a huge wound on the back of the injured.

Cale made Raon took out a high grade health potion. It was actually Tasha who gave them to the boy. It seemed the time when Cale threw up blood all over her left quite a shadow on the dark elf woman’s mind.

As he poured it on the wound it closed, but it still left a big X shaped scar. It was unfortunate. Cale came to hate scares, as he had way too many in his previous life. He personally should have been fine though this time around with The Vitality of the Heart.

It was hard to see at first, because of the blood and the dark, but the woman had long blue hair and a muscular build. So Cale had a good hunch who they just stumbled upon most likely.

This made everything way easier. Cale could not surpass a grin forming on his face. He just made the whale’s one and only princess indebted to him.

The woman now identified as Whitira slowly started to come around. She looked around warily as she sat up. Her gaze stopped on the knights,for a second then traveled to Cale. She felt a strong aura there even though the child looked weak.

“Greetings. My name is Cale. Are you alright enough to talk?” Smiled the boy warmly, making the knights feel conflicted. They have only seen the boy stoic or grumpy.

All the adults seemed to be leaving the talking to the little redhead. So he must have been the highest in rank amongst them.

“I will be fine. Thank you for saving me. I’m Whitira.” The whale princess gave her name without worry. Their tribe wasn’t active on land so her name should have meant nothing to the humans. “My ship was attacked by some kind of sea monster. I don’t think anybody else survived.”

‘What a lie…’ Thought Cale, but he just kept smiling and continued faking concern.

“We should still look around to be sure. I don’t mind stalling a bit, though we are in a hurry.” Continued the boy. “We are going to the Paerun Kingdom. My client asked me to buy something very exotic for him.”

“Oh, so you are traders?” Asked the whale woman.

“Yes.” Nodded Cale.

All the people present were thinking Cale’s words to be total bullshit including Whitira, but nobody said anything. There’s no trade caravan led by a child and the ship was too small for any load.

“Mr. Cale, I'm glad you offered to look for my companions, but to tell you the truth I have been drifting away for four days now. It’s unlikely we could locate my ship’s remains.”

“I understand.” Nodded the child. “Can we help any other way?”

‘It’s hard to locate something that does not exist for sure…’ Thought Cale.

“I would be really thankful if you could take me to the Paerun Kingdom, and I will definitely pay you back for your good will.”

That was what Cale wanted the hear. His smile slowly became genuine. Whitira in the book was a righteous person, she will keep her word.

- Hey Human, are we getting something good? You smiled like this whenever you got gifts from the Fake Blond.

Cale just ignored the little dragon.

Chapter Text

25th Chapter

Whitira’s health improved rapidly. Cale also noticed that the whale princess seemed to be weak to children the same way as Beacrox was. Being a cute kid had its perks and Cale was fine using them.

The fisherman captain was also a smart man and adjusted their destination without an issue even though Cale hadn't given any orders. They were actually traveling towards Paerun now. That kingdom was a bit of a concern for Cale.

They actually attacked Roan in The Birth of a Hero, so he really hoped their stay would be short and smooth, but he had his doubts. Trouble kept finding him, even Whitira was a living proof of this.

As they were approaching the docks Whitira came again to talk to Cale. She seemed to make up her mind about the way she wanted to pay them back.

“So how long are you planning to stay in the Paerun Kingdom?” Asked the whale.

“Till I get the item I was trusted to buy.” Smiled Cale.

“What exactly is this item you are after? You said it was a rare one.”

This was the question Cale was waiting for from the start. He had to get Whitira to ask the questions, that way she would feel more in power. He really did not want to scare away the whale.

“I would tell you, because Miss Whitira seems like a trustworthy person, but I’m afraid you would look at me differently afterwards.” Faked concern Cale.

“Why would I? It is your client who wants it and not you after all.” Smiled the blue haired woman, not that she believed it wasn’t Cale who needed whatever he was looking for.

“I still took the job, but I will tell you if you are that interested. It’s a mermaid corpse, a fresh or a dried one that hasn't started to decompose.”

Whitira was speechless for a second then she became quite hostile. Was the boy trying to get his hands on mermaid poison?

“And where do you intend to get that?”

“I will offer something that will get the attention of the Whale tribe.” Smiled the boy. Now Whitira saw that smile for what it was, calculating and greedy.

“What do you intend to give them?” Swallowed the woman.

“Information against the mermaids, as well as something that is most likely a deadly poison for those dark creatures.”

The whale thought about it for a second. She could set up a meeting to come even with a boy, but first she needed to make sure he wasn’t a threat.

“Let’s drop the act. I will introduce myself again. I’m Whitira the daughter of the whale king Shickler.” Held out her hand the blue haired woman.

“Fine. My name is Cale,” accepted her hand the redhead. “but I’m not a trader, my real identity is way simpler to be honest. I’m just a bastard son of a small noble house, and because I’m only here for my own gains I don’t think it’s necessary to say which one. I would stay totally natural if possible.”

“It’s hard to believe. You possess way too much information, and you are definitely not just human either.”

‘Shit, it’s all Raon’s fault.’ Keeping an invisible dragon on you all the time also had its drawbacks. Namely you get way too much credit for the others strength.

“I may have a little bit more knowledge, because I got caught up in stuff, but I really am just a weak human Your Highness.” Shook his head Cale. Then he thought about it for a second and decided to give out a little information to the princess. “On the other hand… Do you see that knight there?” Pointed Cale at Ben. “He is a dark elf.”

In the last couple of months the mermaids themselves became stronger than they were and they even seemed to have a new group of allies. Those people were using dead mana. So it piqued her interest. Did he know about this fact?

“Why would you travel with a dark elf?” As far as Whitira known humans shunned all dark creatures, that included the dark elves even if they were still part of nature.

“Because some people think I need babysitters…” Sighed Cale.

The answer just made Whitira have even more questions. Cale was just making the whale so confused that she started to give up. There was a question way more important than the identity of Cale or his group anyway.

“Let’s say I can give you what you want? What will you do with it?”

“If you are afraid I will use it as a weapon, you don’t have to be. On the contrary, I need it to save one of my people.”

“Save? How?”

“That’s part of the information that I’m willing to give as a payment.”

“I can hand you that corpse as a thank you gift even without compensation, but if I find out that you used it to hurt someone innocent I will make sure you will regret saving my life.”

The second part was a threat, but Cale only cared about the first. The corners of his mouth went up instantly.

“Then I will share my information as a gift as well, because it would benefit me in the long run if you are aware of some stuff.”

Hearing this Whitira also started to smile. This was more in line with what she liked.

“After we dock I will try to get in touch with my family. My little brother should be really worried for me, and I’m a bit afraid of him doing something crazy.” She still remembered his face as she was separated from them in the fight.

Cale didn’t know much about Whitira’s brother, Paseton, because he died in the background of the books without doing anything important, but it seemed he was very much alive this time around. They were only half siblings, and the mother of Paseton was actually a human, making him a half-blood.

After they arrived Cale instructed the Ubarr knight’s to look for a nice inn, while Whitira left with the promise she will meet Cale at a restaurant for dinner. When the time came Cale was surprised to see Whitira outside, and she was accompanied by a tall silver haired man. Was there some kind of problem?

“My brother is missing.” Said the whale princess. “He was waiting for me to turn up in the city with our knight, Archie and they saw the person that I was fighting when I disappeared.”

“I warned him not to go after the man, but he snuck out at night and left me behind.” The silver haired man looked quite disapproving.

It was hard to tell If his anger was directed towards Paseton or Cale. Most likely both were ignorant weak children in his eyes.

“Do you have any idea where he went exactly?” Asked Cale.

“Sadly, yes. That person, the sword man, who injured Whitira-nim was with a human. A human quite famous on this part of the continent.” Confirmed Archie.

Cale didn’t like where this was going.

“They saw the bastard with Clopeh Sekka, the son of the Guardian Knight of Pearune.” Nodded Whitira.

‘Shit… They are definitely asking for my help.’ Cale was really not inclined to do so, but there was a high chance the organization was involved, and in that case it would benefit him to look into it. ‘I will need to consult with Alberu.’

"I will have to make a call, before we could continue this conversation." Sighed Cale.

"Why would we wait? I don't even know why Whitira-nim insisted on talking to you. We should just gather some capable man and attack them." Had enough Archie.

"Do you really want to go to war?" Asked Cale.

"Let's give a boy a chance, Archie." Shook her head Whitira.

Chapter Text

26th Chapter

So Cale found himself talking to the crown prince in a private room in his inn, while the whales were waiting for him. He needed Alberu's permission or preferably even his help.

“I did not expect you to call this soon.” Frowned the prince on the other side of the screen.

“You can believe me when I say, I didn’t want to either.” Sighed Cale.

“So it’s a failure, right? You couldn't find or convince them.”

“No, I succeeded, but I got my hands on some new information that might interest you.” Shook his head Cale. His red locks were swaying from left to right. “If you choose to get involved we will get some strong allies, and we may as well as avoid a war.”

“That’s some heavy stuff you just blurted out. Explain yourself.” Alberu was fed up with how he had to beat every little detail out of the boy every single time. What was he so mysterious for?

“The whales asked me for help.”

There was a moment of silence before Alberu asked his next question.

“Why you of all people?” It was crazy enough that Cale found the antisocial whale tribe this quickly, but for them to actually trust Cale enough to ask for a favor was totally insane.

“Because I’m the only human that is available to them at the moment, and it’s kind of a human issue. They want to solve it without waging an open war on land.”

“So that’s the war we would avoid?”

“Not really… I’m pretty sure the three big nations in the North will declare war on us if we don’t build a relationship with them, and solve some of their issues.”

“You do know that you sound crazy?” Alberu was speechless hearing this accusation. They were at peace for more than a thousand years with them.

“Am I? Think about it. Their land is not suitable for agriculture, because of the cold. Do you not think they are envious? They only need someone to back them up, and they will erupt.” He did not mention that he actually saw this war unfold in a book.

“And you think someone is backing them?”

“The same people who were behind the terror incident,” nodded Cale “but I could be wrong. So I have to look into it.”

Alberu hid his face in his hands. It did sound like something Roan would have to get involved in.

“How does this all relate to the whales?”

This question ment that Alberu had decided on helping, making Cale lie back confidently in his chair.

“I can’t breach their privacy. Sorry, Your Highness, but you can ask them yourself if you want.” Grinned Cale.

“Raon-nim, can you give me the coordinates where you are at?” Alberu raised his head.

“Sure thing, Prince.”

“Wait, you want to come here?” Cale’s smile froze instantly. He wanted them to talk through the communication device as a normal person.

Even though the two children had talk at the same time, the blond was only paying attention to the little dragon, and before Cale could stop Raon, he already gave out their location.

With a flash of light Alberu arrived instantly, he didn’t even bring a mage with him to keep up with appearances. Cale felt more annoyed than honored to be trusted like this.

“Good to see Our kingdom’s little ruby in person again.” Said Alberu petting Cale’s little head.

Cale grumpily looked up at the young adult while trying to fix his hair. Why was everybody so fucking fixated on touching his head?

“So you are fine just walking out like this to greet the whales?”

“Why shouldn't I? You said we will be allies after all.” Grinned the prince.

‘That’s why he came, he wanted to meet the fucking whales and make them indepted to him.’

“Hey Human, the prince has the same smile that you have sometimes.” Chimed in Raon.

“Do we look that similar to you Raon-nim?” Asked Alberu and he stopped smiling instantly. He did not like the idea of them having the same expression.

“Yes, you are both good people.” Nodded his little black head Raon.

“Neither of us is a good person.” Looked at the dragon with concern Cale. He really needs to make sure Raon learns how to evaluate people correctly in the future. Alberu seemed to think the same thing, but he feigned being offended.

“I’m hurt, Cale. Not to mention it is a crime to defame the royal family.”

Cale just rolled his eyes. He just got up and walked out of the room to face the two whales waiting for him. Raon went invisible the second he opened the door, while Alberu followed the boy.

The whales nervously stood up seeing the new person behind Cale.

“Let me introduce you two.” Sighed Cale. “This is Crown Prince Alberu Crossman of Roan, and the young lady there is Princess Whitira of the Whale tribe.

Both sides were stunned. Whitira was floored that the person Cale contacted was actually the crown prince of a kingdom, while Alberu couldn’t believe Cale was connecting him to whale royalty.

“So you still lied about being just a bastard of a nobleman, after I truthfully introduced myself.” It was Whitira who was quicker to adjust.

“He didn’t really lie.” Shocked his head Alberu even before Cale could defend himself. “He is not registered into any noble family.”

“So how is he related to Your Highness than?” Asked the whale princess.

“I’m kind of his guardian at the moment. It's a long story.” Alberu really did not want to talk about that soap opera that he got to be a part of.

“What type of guardian lets a small child sail alone?” Joined Archie. His question would have been justified if the child in question wasn’t Cale, but because it was him he only got some odd looks from everyone. “What?” Asked the man.

“If you think that’s a simple child you are just dumb.” Whitira had known Cale for less Than a week, but that much even she could tell. So she needed to warn Archie again.

To Alberu Cale even became someone akin to a little devil that he willingly made a pact with. He could easily imagine him in hell, with that blood red hair of his, he would look right in place managing the torture there.

Cale did not care for their small talk, he just just sat down at the table, and started to munch on a cookie, he hadn’t got to eat his dinner yet. Between two bites he started to describe his plan:

“I want Crown Prince Alberu to contact the Paerun Kingdom and ask for an opportunity for some Roan knights to train with their troops. Offer some kind of religious relic in exchange, they will take it. So we can easily get close to the Sekka household this way.”

There was only one sentence about Clopeh in the book, and that was about his obssesion with legends. So he would definitely make his father accept a gift which had a story attached to it.

“Can I guess? In those knights we will include some whales.” Nodded Alberu.

“Of course.” Smiled Cale. “You can talk about the numbers with Princess Whitira. While you will be setting this up, I hope I can have my reward and get some time for myself to help my family.”

Ron was way more important to him than helping out here. Whitira and Alberu were smart people anyway, they would figure it out, and he would be back to join them before anything gets into motion.

“I already arranged for your gift to be delivered before coming back to talk to you, Cale. They should be here with one tomorrow morning.” Answered Whitira. Even despite her own brother missing she made an effort to keep her word.

So Cale felt inclined to put in some sincerity also.

“Keep a spot open for one of my people in the knight’s lineup, and come up with an excuse so I can join as an observer.” Turned the redhead to Alberu.

Beacrox could pass as a knight, and having a person who he was familiar with amongst them will be beneficial for Cale.

So the next morning their little group was standing on a desolate shore waiting for Whitira’s people to arrive. Alberu was quite interested in the thing Cale wanted to get form the whales, so he looked at the water proof huge bag with anticipation.

“Unpack it.” Ordered Cale.

“Should I, Whitira-nim?” Asked the whale who delivered the goods, she was concerned about a child seeing what was inside.

“It’s fine to do as he asked.” Nodded the princess.

To Alberus great disgust and surprise, a fresh looking bloody corpse came out from the bag. Did the child ask from them to kill someone? Then he noticed that it wasn’t a human body, as well as that there were huge teeth marks on the corpse.

“I don’t need the whole thing, just chop down a limb.” Sighed Cale because of the gory sight. “Cut off the last finger digits also. I do not need those.” Added the boy after thinking a bit. He was concerned that Raon would get scratched by the claws.

After the whale finished mutilating the body with a frown, Cale signaled for Raon to store what was left of the arm in his space. The clueless whales only saw the body part disappear making them even more uneasy.

After this was all done Cale had a very satisfied smile on his face as he looked up at Alberu:
“I’m off, Your Highness. Let’s meet in three days at the Roan Capital.”

Raon didn’t wait for any more signals, with a flash he activated his teleportation magic, leaving the two royals and their people standing above the rest of the mermaid remains.

“What the hell did just happen?” Asked Archie, but nobody answered. They weren’t sure either.

Chapter Text

27th Chapter

Cale entered the room where Ron was staying. The butler looked weak after being poisoned for a week. When Beacrox noticed him arriving he got up and bowed to the boy.

“Raon, give me that arm.” Asked Cale. “Beacrox you should undress the wound.”

Raon complied, then he sat down at the end of Ron’s bed. Cale held the arm firmly even though he found it unbearably disgusting. It was the thing that will save Ron’s life, so it was precious no matter how it looked. After Beacrox finished, he stepped closer.

Three people watched as Cale squeezed the arm above Ron’s shoulder as hard as he could. It took great effort for a six year old, but he would have felt bad if he left the job to anyone else. Raon was still a baby, and Beacrox hated dirty things.

The festering flesh sizzled as it came in contact with the dripping blood. It was a scary sight, but Ron felt its effect instantly.

“I would have never imagined that their own blood was the antidote.” Said Ron with a smile, as he watched the fin-like fingers of the mermaid hand.

“It’s quite logical. There’s no way they would ever accidentally scratch each other or themselves, especially if you think about their young.” Said Cale nonchalantly.

Ron never ceased to be impressed by his little mester, he was indeed way too smart. In reality Cale only knew this information because had remembered that damn book.

“So how did the Young Master get his hands on this?” Asked Ron now that he felt better.

“It was a thank you gift after I saved someone's life.” Shrugged Cale.

“Young master Cale really likes to save people it seems.” Even though Ron was smiling it did not reach his eyes.

“Not really.” Cale felt like Ron was talking bullshit. “I’m just keeping alive the people who can be useful later.”

“So this old man is still useful to you?” Ron felt awful after he failed his task, so this one sentence from Cale was quite reassuring.

“Of course.” Cale was confused hearing his question. Ron was the scariest assassin he had known, and he met a ton in his last life.

“Then this Ron will serve you for many years to come.” Ron had a genuine smile on his face for once as he looked at Cale, making the latter look away instantly. Ron found it really cute. It seemed the Young master could be shy as well.

Cale planned to only take Beacrox with him, but Ron insisted on also going as his butler, even though he still couldn't use his left arm. So two days later four people teleported back into Alberu’s study. Cale was actually dressed as a proper noble, while Beacrox was wearing the Roan knight uniform.

To Cale’s surprise there were no new faces present. The list of knight’s seemed to consist of the two men of Baroness Umbarr, Ben, Whitira, Archie and a newly joined Beacrox. Six people in total. Cale eyes a group with concern, half of them looked too beautiful to be just simple knights, even though the two whales had their hair dyed to the common brown color.

“Why can’t you be a little more ordinary looking?” Shook his head Cale.

“Complain after you had a look in a mirror yourself first.” Clicked his tongue Archie.

‘It’s not me who has to blend in… I was deliberately dressed up like this by Ron.’ Cale couldn’t surpass rolling his eyes. He was misunderstanding Archie, who was not talking about his clothes, but Cale never thought much about his appearance. He knew Cale Henituse was said to be a handsome individual in the book, but that was all.

“So what did Your Highness come up with to the Paerun Kingdom so I can tag along?” Asked Cale.

He could have gone as a Henituse representative, as that was a martial arts household, but they weren't the number one in that category. The Ailans had the most knights, and they actually practiced their craft. So it would have been an awkward choice, and an insult to them.

“You are going, because I’m, your guardian, is going.” Alberu put on his most beautiful smile as he answered. “As you said we need to build a good relationship with Paerun, so in the meantime I will pitch some business ideas to them.”

Cale was really close to curse out loud. Did this mean that he had to go everywhere with the prince? Can he have a pass on those business meetings at least? He is just a kid, people should not make children sit through long and boring conversations.

Alberu must have guessed his thoughts, because he winked at him. He fucking winked! Act as a proper royal, damn it!

Whitira watch their interaction with a smile. She wasn't really sure if she should view Alberu’s character in a positive light till now. The man was calculating, but he still acted way too nice, which she didn’t like, but his facade seemed to drop before Cale.

“I will act as His Highness’ personal guard, so I will also join most of the time.” Said Whitira, not that it made Cale any better.

Cale looked at the smiling Alberu once again:
“So what’s your offer to Paerun?”

“It’s a new safe ocean trade line between Roan and Paerun, with the help of the whales, though they will only take part silently, without Paerun knowing. Both countries will promise no duty taxes on the goods.” Said Alberu.

Cale was quite impressed it was beneficial for both kingdoms, but there was very little in it for the whales. So the boy had to ask:
“Whitira-nim is good with all this?”

“Is little Cale worried for me?” Asked the princess, smiling.

“Never mind.” If Whititra was fine enough to tease him, why should he care? He felt so awkward even, that he hid behind Ron.

Whitira was really okay, what Cale didn’t know was that she and Alberu actually shared a lot of information between each other. This trade route was a good way to monitor Paerun, and the whales wanted to make sure that they wouldn't support the mermaids behind their backs, if it turns out both of their issues are all related to that interesting organization.

Also Roan seemed to have at least two very capable people, not to mention they most likely were allied with dark elves, as she later figured that Ben was actually one of Alberu’s personal knights.

“We will teleport to the Paerun Royal Castle’s welcoming hall, but I asked to stay with the Sekka family, as they are the leaders of their knight brigade.” Alberu took on the leader position naturally.

Cale peaked out behind Ron, as felt the attention shift to the actual task. Then he slowly approached Alberu and held his little hand towards him to the crown prince surprise.

“I will act really cute while we are staying there, I hope you can put up with it.” Sighed Cale.

Alberu held the boy’s small hand. He said nothing, but it wasn’t a burden. It felt quite nice to be honest. He always thought he was immune to the charm of small children, but maybe he wasn’t, or Cale was really a devil, who was slowly brainwashing him.

“Let’s go, and meet the teleport mage.”

The poor mage was most likely not someone usually working for Alberu, because he was staring open mouthed at their group. It wasn’t surprising. The only two normal people between them were the two Ubarr knights, who were looking a bit scared to be there, because it was hard to grasp for them how they exactly ended up here. At the start of the week they were only tasked with accompanying a child. They weren’t paid enough for this madness.

Alberu just smiled and gave the coordinates to the mage, and off they went. The next thing Cale noticed they were standing in a wide hall, with quite a crowd welcoming them.

Chapter Text

28th Chapter

Cale immediately noticed the white haired individuals to the side. How would he not when the younger one was particularly staring at him. He unconsciously stepped closer to Alberu as the blond greeted the King of Paerun.

Cale remembered what Ron told him about the Paerun kingdom’s royal family. The king was quite old, already in his seventies, but he had only one daughter, who was kind of dumb, so not suitable to inherit the throne. There was a big dispute about the next heir between the king's nephews, and instead of settling it the king decided to stay in power, and let the minister and the four big noble families lead them. One of those leading figures was the Sekka head, Rock Sekka. (1)

Then Cale heard Whitira hiss behind him. He looked back, and stealthy followed her line of sight. She was looking at a young man standing behind the Sekkas. He must be the one who gave Whitira that ugly scar.

“Will he recognise you?” Whispered Cale to the woman.

“I don’t think so. I stayed as a whale for most of the fight, and even after I changed form it was hard to see for a human because of the dark and water flying everywhere.” Responded Whitira with a low voice.

After the welcoming speech of the king, Rock Sekka’s group approached them. As they came closer the swordsman who hurt Withara also started to stare at Cale quite oddly. Then the man seemed to whisper something to Clopeh. Cale did not hear it, but Raon did.

- He is talking about you, Human. He said that you have multiple ancient powers, but it’s strange, because your plate is awfully weak. What does this mean?

Cale could not answer to the dragon even if he wanted to, but he was busy shuddering under the Sekka son’s stare that became even more intense.

Then the knight froze. It was as if he had seen a ghost. He wasn’t looking at Cale anymore. He was looking behind him.

- I think that awful man, who hurt the princess, can feel my presence. He is looking exactly my way.

Cale had to swallow hard. Normal people should not feel the presence of dragons. Who the hell was that swordsman?

“Let’s depart. We prepared carriages for all of you. Of course Your Highness and his ward will trawell with me and my son.” Smile Duke Sekka. “We haven’t had this small of a child on our premises for a while. I hope you won’t be bored Young master Cale”

“Just give him some sweets, and let him into the library and he will be fine.” Said Alberu.

“Oh he really sounds like a well behaved child.” Alberu almost snorted after hearing this. Cale was many things, but he definitely wasn’t a docile kid.

“He is a little angel. Roan is lucky to have him.” Said Alberu contrary to his thoughts.

When they got to the carriages Rock Sekka opened the carriage door for Alberu, who lifted Cale up before him without thinking.

“Your Highness really does cherish the Young master.” Rock Sekka’s smile stiffened seeing this. A bastard son of a noble just entered before him.

“Oh, sorry. He is not good with strangers.” Said Alberu, noticing his mistake. “I have seen him cry, because somebody touched him who he didn’t know.”

‘Yes, that little beast faked crying when his supposed father tried to hold his arm…’

“Sorry, I didn’t know he was that timid. Clopeh was quite an outgoing child. How old is the Young master exactly?” Bent closer to Cale Rock Sekka.

Cale thought about it for a second, then held up his little fingers, signaling six. It was better not to talk, to keep up Alberu’s facade.

“Would have never guessed. He looks so small. He should play outside more.” Duke Sekka definitely had some toxicity behind his words.

“He is frail, he gets a fever easily if he overexerts himself.” Alberu’s smile was getting sweeter and sweeter. It wasn’t a good sign, so Cale squeezed his hand. as a warning to calm down, even though he was angry as well.

“What a pity. It’s always sad to see a sickly child.” Rock Sekka didn’t feel the threat it seemed.

Then Cale remembered that Ron was sitting next to the driver:
‘Ahh, he just signed his own death sentence, if he was heard by him.’

Cale only found the Duke mildly annoying, what scared him was how intensely Clopeh was watching him. The young man must have found his hero antics, that he showed during the terror incident appealing. He himself wanted to have his name go down in history as a legend.

Cale sent a shy smile dowards the man. Maybe he could use that obsession. He can pretend to be a tragic hero.

“We heard Young master Cale and his servant won’t receive a medal.” Turned Clopeh to Alberu.

“He is too young to handle such a responsibility, and the servant isn’t exactly in his employment. He works for Count Henituse.” Answered the prince.

“What a shame, he really deserves the acknowledgement.” Voiced Clopeh his feelings. He sounded regretful.

“His Highness appreciates me a lot, that’s enough for me.” Said Cale in a very low voice looking up at Clopeh. He was the role model of a cute soft spoken child. Clopeh was not pleased with his answer.

As they went through the city plaza Cale felt his ancient powers became somewhat excited.

- I can feel my big sister’s power here, but it’s faint, I think she only passed through here. - Said the crybaby old man.

Cale looked out of the carriage window quickly, making Clopeh follow suit. There was a huge empty pool in the middle of the city.

“That’s the Lake of God’s Tears.” Said the white haired youth. “It has a sad story.”

“I have read about it.” Nodded Cale. his brain was occupied by the new information of the dry lake being linked to an ancient power. “God pitied the people of Paerun and gifted them a lake that never froze over, but because they were greedy he had taken it away.”

The legend made no sense in Cale’s eyes. The god should have known better, all people were greedy from the start.

- Cale, you are so right. - Said the Sound of the Wind.

He will definitely need to look into this later.

“Young master Cale is very well read.” Smiled the Duke. “You can use our library as you fit, though most of the books are in the language of Paerun.”

It wasn’t a serious offer, but Cale was planning to take the duke up on it. Well it depended on if Alberu was willing to teach him.

The Sekka estate was huge, but it was expected as one fourth of the kingdom's military stayed here. Cale, Alberu and Ron were accommodated in the main house, while the “Roan knights” were sent to the barracks.

After settling down, they moved to the training grounds. Cale asked Raon to stay behind, because he didn’t want him coles to the swordsman, suspected to be from the organization. The little dragon wasn’t happy, but Ron said he would stay with him, because Beacrox will be there with Cale.

“If it’s fine with you we will do a demonstration of power today.” Said Rock Sekka proudly. “My son and our best knight, Syrem, volunteered for the task.” The knight he was talking about was Whitira’s attacker who Cale suspected to be part of the organization.

They took their position, and the fight began. At first glance it was a normal spar between two skilled individuals, but Cale was not fooled. He leaned closer to Alberu to whisper his deduction.

“That swordsman definitely can use aura.” Uttered Cale with the confidence of someone who had seen thousands of fights.

“How do you know?” Asked Alberu surprised.

“Just look at him, his movement’s precision is off without the extended edge of his aura sword.”

Alberu watched the man carefully, and Cale was right.

“You have really good eyes.” The prince was impressed. Now he found it funny how a swordmaster was getting beaten by a high level knight, as Clopeh was slowly overpowering the man.

“What is the Young master whispering about?” Asked Duke Sekka in annoyance. He didn’t like that the two were seemingly in their own world instead watching his son fight with full attention.

“I just told His Highness that Young master Clopeh’s opponent really should work on his ability to measure distances while fighting.” Answered Cale truthfully.

Syrem must have heard him, because he stopped in the middle of his slash.

“Such a weak child should not butt into the business of adults. Just because you have some ancient powers you think you are someone?” Asked the swordsman. He was so angry that he couldn’t control what he said.

Hearing the man insult Cale Alberu got up, and pulled down one of his white glows slowly, then he threw it on the ground. It landed just before Syrem’s boots. Alberu had no other choice, the man insulted him also with his words, because he was Cale’s guardian, and because he insulted a royal, he insulted the whole kingdom. It was just that simple.

Chapter Text

29th Chapter

Alberu had only an ornament weapon on him so held out his hands to Ben. The disguised dark elf handed his sword over without a word.

Cale hugged one of Alberu’s legs as if he was concerned.

“Can you win?” Whispered Cale to the prince.

“If he holds back not using his aura.” Answered Alberu.

“What about if he doesn’t? “ Frowned the boy.

“It depends if I do the same.” Grinned Alberu.

‘What an arrogant fake blonde.’ Thought Cale. He had known that even if Alberu got attacked by Syrem with full force the prince couldn’t risk showing his true power.

Alberu made Cale release him, and confidently walked down to the field. Syrem must have registered what was going on, because he had a look of regret on his face, as a puppy who just did something wrong.

On the other hand Clopeh Sekka looked really excited for some reason, but his eyes were not following Alberu. They were stuck on Cale. He even smiled at him as if they were friends. What the hell was going on in that white head of his?

Clopeh then walked over and sat beside Cale taking over Alberu’s seat.

“His Highness really treasures you. Makes people wonder why. According to the rumors he is not an overly emotional person.” He did not say he thought the prince was calculative, but the meaning was clear.

“Rumors can be far from the actual truth.” Said Cale.

Down at the field Alberu and Syrem were preparing for the duel. Cale wanted to turn his attention to them, but Clopeh kept talking.

“I really would like to see your shield, Young master Cale. They say it looks holy, a weapon befitting an angel or even a god.”

“As His Highness already said, summoning it takes a toll on my body.” There was just no way he would had entertained this lunatic,

Cale ignored Clopeh after that, because Syrem actually made his first attack. Alberu defended with a clean but over flashy move. As Cale watched he noticed how Alberu was behaving like someone who was only taught how to look good during a fight, but he used all those moves efficiently even though they were unfit for a real battle.

He definitely had his own style, maybe he even preferred a different weapon. His skill to not give away any of his true strength was admirable. Nobody else suspected a thing. To them Alberu looked like a talented individual who was never taught seriously.

“Seeing the Roan Crown Prince fight makes me sad. He has talent, but he has no knowledge. It’s such a waste.” Shook his head Rock Sekka.

Cale almost laughed hearing him. Alberu was an amazing actor to fool a man like him. Ahh, he really wanted to eat some popcorn watching this.

Syrem was not having a good time. First he was overpowered by a Clopeh Sekka technical knowledge, and now he was even matched with somebody who had no sufficient experience with a sword. It was humiliating.

Alberu smiled seeing the swords man’s face, his goal was never to actually win this duel. Syrem was concentrating so hard he almost missed the prince's small grin. Almost. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He was giving his all ,but apparently the Roan crown prince sill had the capacity to smile casually.

Syrem’s anger flailed up. A faint white aura surrounded his hands. The only two person who noticed were Cale and Clopeh.

“Stop, it’s enough! Let’s call it a draw.” Got up from his seat Clopeh to end the fight before Syrem did something crazy, but he was late.

The sword master charged forward. There was no way for Alberu to block the aura infused strike without exposing himself. He prepared to try dodging the attack, but before he could act, there was a silver shield separating him from Syrem. The indestructible shield had absorbed the attack. The silver light was so strong that it even masked the sword master’s white aura conveniently for Syrem.

As the shield faded the child groaned a bit next to Clopeh. Cale only coughed once this time. It wasn’t that bad, his hand only had some tiny spots of blood on it after he took it away from his mouth.

“Young master Clopeh has said it’s enough. Stand down!” Cale calmly wiped his hand into the front of his expensive shirt as he talked. His voice was strong and power totally different from the shy facade he had put on beforehand.

Alberu moved to get back to Cale side, his eyes were fixed on the blood stain smeared on the child’s shirt. He was mad, Cale’s intervene was unnecessary. He would have dodged it, that attack was not a coordinated one making it easy to avoid.

“This was truly quite a presentation.” Laughed awkwardly Rock Sekka. “Syrem apologize and let’s wrap this up. I will send for a healer.”

He tried to solve the situation, but nobody was paying attention. Alberu was checking Cale over while the “Roan” knights were hostilely eyeing the sword master, who seemed ready to continue the fight.

“I will take Syrem away. Father should go with Crown prince Alberu back to the main house.” Nodded Clopeh and basically dragged the fuming man away, heading towards the gates. “He will send a written apology.”

Cale had to reevaluate his judgment over Clopeh. The man still possessed some common sense it seemed. Well he was at least better in reading the situation than his father.

Cale let out a small sigh. He really regretted leaving Ron behind who could have followed them. Alberu misread his face and got even more worried.

“Does it hurt somewhere?” Asked the prince.

“I’m fine, just a bit hungry.” Shook his head Cale.

“We set up a huge dinner for our guests. So Young master Cale can eat when we get back to the mansion. Of course your knights are also invited.” Tried to take lead Rock Sekka again. This time with moderate success, because it lined up with what Alberu's group wanted.

They left the training field after Alberu picked up Cale. Cale got really used to being carried in this life. He even thought about how he will miss it when he gets too big to be held. It was way more comfortable than walking. He wasn’t lazy, he just liked saving his energy for the important stuff.

He had to work so much already. Children should be carefree. Back as Kim RokSoo he really thought people born in rich families had it easy. He now knew it wasn’t the case all the time.

“What are you thinking about?” Asked Alberu.

“That having an easy life from the get go was always impossible with my shit luck.” Answered Cale truthfully.

“I don’t know about your luck, but even if you are born privileged it can still go off track.” Alberu really had a great childhood while his mother was alive, then he lost almost everything. Without Tasha he would have most likely not even tried to turn his life around. Was Cale needing his support as he did the dark elves’ back then? “Cale, you are not alone.”

“That is the problem, being alone is easy, but now I have people to care about.” Frowned Cale.

“But they will also take care of you. Just watch how that butler of yours will react when we get back.”

“Is this a try on comforting me? It sounds like more of a threat.” Said Cale, but he actually felt better. Alberu’s pet talk meant that he could use the crown prince freely in the future.

Cale’s face was not that melancholic anymore, but somehow Alberu didn’t like the change that much. He had a hunch the boy was thinking something rude again.

Alberu’s prediction had become true as Ron welcomed them back.

“How is it that whenever this butler takes his eyes off of the Young master he comes back injured?” Ron had his trademark smile.

- Human, who hurt you? Do you want me to kill them? - Asked Raon in his head.

‘Hey, I did it to myself. Do you want to kill me or something?’ Shuddered Cale. ‘Raon is definitely taking over Ron’s viciousness.’

Neither of them expected a real answer, so Cale kept silent. It was better than compromising himself even more with explanations.

“Let me dress Young master Cale in some clean clothes before dinner.” Held out his arms Ron towards Alberu.

After getting dressed, and finishing that grand feast, their small group met in the living room linked to Alberu’s accommodation.

“It’s safe to talk, there are no recording devices around.” Said the Prince.

“I will take the liberty to make a report then. We made ourselves useful while the young master was away.” Smiled Ron.

- We took a field trip back in the mountains behind the estate. - Raon was shouting in Cale’s head excitedly. - We even saw huge winged lizards.

“Winged lizards?” Asked Cale.

“Wyverns, Young Master Cale. They seemed to be kept there by someone.” Answered Ron even though he only heard one side of the conversation.

‘Did they find a way to control them?’ Wyverns were basically the emblem of the Sekka household. Cale had goosebumps all over just thinking about it. Well those lizards were just dumb animals, but they were strong.

“I guess they have their base there.” Sighed Cale. Ron really exceeded all his expectations, he somehow got essential information while babysitting.

“Do you think they may be keeping my brother there?” Asked Whitira.

“We will find out tonight. Let’s see what they are hiding” Smiled Cale.

Chapter Text

30th Chapter

“So what’s your plan?” Asked Alberu.

“Whitira-nim and Archie will be tasked with distraction. I want you two to change back your hair colors and wear a mask while you openly attack their base. Ron and Beacrox will come with me to infiltrate them and free your brother in secret if he is there.” Said Cale. Raon was also coming with them, but Cale did not announce that.

“So I can go all out? I like this plan.” Smiled Archie.

Alberu wasn’t that happy though.

“I guess I have to stay here and chat up with the duke as an alibi.” Sighed the Prince.

“Our Highness is really sharp.” Grinned Cale.

Cale made Raon take out the generic black clothes and masks for the whales to wear. He asked them specifically to use their original hair colors because they fought with Syrem at one point and Cale wanted them to identify the two attackers as whales. He wanted to make sure Roan would not fall under suspicion.

They stealthily left the room with Ron’s lead. Back at the mountain they were met with the exact sight that Ron described. There were at least a dozen wyverns around, and a house built into the mountain side. It was quite a big and old building. It must have been in use by the Sekka household at least for a decade.

- There’s a sound barrier around the area. We will be entering it in a minute. - Chatted Raon.

Just as Raon said the silence broke out of nowhere. There was roaring, so loud Cale unconsciously touched his ears. The culprit was a huge white wyvern chained to the ground. He seemed wilder then the rest as those were mostly let to roam free. Cale got an idea instantly:

“Archie, let’s release that big ass white lizard.” Grinned Cale.

“Wow, I really like you today.” Smiled the man back, while Whitira just rolled her eyes.

“Have fun, we are off.” Nodded to the whale’s Cale, as Ron picked him up from the ground, so they could move more efficiently.

Raon made them invisible as they started to move closer to the building. Then they waited for the commotion. Cale had to admit Raon was a real cheat as they moved through all the magic traps without triggering even one of them. If Choi Han, the protagonist of this world, would have succeeded in saving this little black dragon, he would have had an easier life.

The place was even bigger than he initially thought. It seemed at least one fourth of the mountain was the building itself.

- I can feel people east from here. - Said Raon.

Ron and Beacrox followed the little dragon’s directions till they could hear people talking up ahead. Syrem and Clopeh were arguing quite loudly, so they just had to follow the noise after that.

“We should capture and torture that child, not tippytoeing around him.” Yelled the sword master, then a thud could be heard. Something must have been thrown through the room. “There was a dragon with him. I felt the presence of the bastard.”

‘Shit, if we go closer to that damn sword master he will notice Raon again.’ Cursed Cale.

“Let’s stop. Ron, take a communication device. You will go closer, while we stay behind and listen through the call.” Whispered Cale. This was the safest option.

Ron nodded so Cale got given to Beacrox to hold. They moved to an empty room while they listened to the two man’s argument.

“Are you sure about that? We can’t touch him, he is a guest, we will cause a war.” Tried soothing him, Clopeh.

“Of course I’m sure, I have been preparing to kill one of them for my whole life. Also we have to hurry up, I don’t know how much time that child has left.” Clicked his tongue Syrem.

“What do you mean?” Asked Clopeh surprised.

“His plate will break. I have no idea how he is still alive to be honest. I’m totally sure he has at least two elements clashing inside him.”

One dragon and one human froze next to Cale. Beacrox hold got tighter around Cale, while Raon instantly cried out in his head:
- What is he talking about, Human?

Cale would have loved to know as well. He had never read anything about dying because of ancient powers in the damn books. He felt fine though, maybe this wasn’t an issue for him because of the Vitality of the Heart.

“How…” Clopeh must have wanted to ask something, but they got disturbed.

There were running footsteps, then a bang as the person entered a room where Clopeh and Syrem was.

“Lord Syrem! Somepeople attacked us! They released the alpha wyvern. It’s rampaging! Please come, and get it under control. We can’t deal with it and the attackers at the same time.”

‘Ho, so the one controlling the wyverns wasn’t the Sekka household. That pest really needs to die.’ Thought Cale. He had already decided to kill the man when he was threatening Raon, but his resolution just became firmer. ‘Or I can just let Whitira have her revenge, I guess.’

“Who dares attack our base?” Clophe also seemed furious.

“It’s only two people, but they are really strong. Especially the woman with blue hair who seems to be the leader.” Answered the new comer.

“Ho,” Syrem seemed amused. “I have a good hunch who might have come to visit us. Clopeh, go keep an eye on our guest in the dungeon, I think these people are looking for him. I will go and welcome the princess.”

Hearing this Cale decided to let the sword master go. If he wanted to meet Whitira of his own will, who was he to stop him?

“Raon, tell Ron to let Syrem leave. He should follow Clophe, he will lead him to Paseton. He should connect us if he found the whale. We will need to stay behind for a bit.”

Cale's decision to stay came from the place that the two men were arguing in. When the guard came to ask for help he could see into the room through the open door. It was a fucking study. Cale hit the jackpot. He was planning to look through all the available documents left out.

After everybody left the screen Cale’s small group stealthily entered the room.

“Let me down, Beacrox, and guard the door.” Said Cale.

“Shouldn’t I help you check those papers, so we can be quicker?” Asked the cook.

“No need. I’m really good at reading quickly. Raon just has to keep giving the papers into my hand.” Shook his head Cale.

Befor Beacrox left he looked at Cale seriously one last time:
“We will talk about what that bastard Syrem said about you dying later. Do not think we have forgotten.”

There was a short silence.

“I know. Let’s get to work for now.” Sighed Cale.

“What are we looking for, human?” Asked Raon.

“Anything linking the mermaids to the organization.”

“Okay, I will be really helpful. I’m quick as lightning.”

Cale unbuttoned his shirt at his neck as he sat down to read. He was planning to use Record for this. While Raon flew around carrying stocks of papers, he kept flipping through everything. He was slower than when he was Kim RokSoo, but he was still reading in inhumane speed. His cheeks flushed, and his fever was evident, but nobody noticed it as they were in a hurry.

“I found it!” Exclaimed Cale in less than five minutes. “Raon, put these away for me.”

Cale was drenched in sweat, even his hand was shaking a bit as he held out the documents for Raon to take. The little dragon who just noticed his condition looked at him really worriedly.

“It’s just a fever. I strained myself a bit.” Smiled Cale. “We should go and follow after Ron.”

As he got up to leave, the Sound of the Wind stopped him.

- Cale! CALE! That book! Get that book, it was written by a saint. - She was directing him towards the other end of the room, where the wall was covered by bookshelves. The wind softly guided him as he went. It was quite comfortable for his overheated body.

The book the ancient power was talking about was a heavy tome. As he opened it the pages of the book flipped to the right page because of the wind.

[She made them a river as he ordered, but the people had stopped its natural flow…]

Cale eyes read through the page in seconds. It was the true tale of what must have happened ten thousand years ago with the lake. What seemed to be not even a lake at the beginning.

Chapter Text

31st chapter

Reading the true origin of that legend caused Cale to have an idea. The only thing that he was not sure of is how far he should take it.

It seemed the Sekka household was not blessed at all. On the contrary they angered a god by hurting his saint.

“Hey Raon, how much can you change my appearance? Can you make me look older?”

“I don’t think it’s possible.” Raon shook his head.

“Just change my hair to white, and my eyes to blue then.” Cale was a bit iffy about what he was planning to do, but sometimes people had to go to the extremes.

“Okay.” Smiled the dragon. “Are we doing something fun?”

“I will be delivering a play. I guess it will be quite entertaining.” Smiled back Cale. “Oh also surround me with some simple light magic, so I will glow faintly, and change my cape to white.”

“Easy.” Raon excitedly flew around Cale as he did what was asked of him.

“Can you tell us exactly what your plan is?” Asked Beacrox. He started to become quite suspicious about Cale’s ideas. They mostly led to him being hurt.

“All of you will stay invisible except me. We will take our position then make just me appear. I will fuck around with Clopeh’s head a bit to distract him, when I give out the signal use more light to blind him, so Ron can knock him out.” Shrugged Cale. It wasn’t complicated, but he was confident it would work. “Let’s go. Ron is waiting.”

The basement was dark. It was a favorable thing for Cale. They followed Ron’s directions to reach where Paseton was kept.

“There is really no merit in keeping you here, but Syrem says otherwise, and now your kind even attacked us. Maybe I should just kill you and give over your corpse, this will lead to war anyways now that it seems they figured out you are here.” Clopeh’s voice could be heard before they even saw the prisoner.

‘He is definitely not loyal to the organization, even though he cooperates. This person won’t blindly follow anybody.’ Thought Cale. It made his job easier for now, but this may cause problems in the future. ‘I will have to keep him on a short leash.’

These types of characters were the worst. He was kind of like Alberu in a sense, but so different in reality. Even though the Roan crown prince was mostly morally gray in the books, Cale nowadays found him quite endearing, and sometimes even cute.

“Kill me then.” Arrived the answer. Cale frowned because of the whale’s words. He really despised people who gave up on life for dumb reasons like loyalty or pride. Living was the best. When you are dead it’s all over. You can’t protect anyone from the grave.

So he prepared himself for his performance. It was impossible for Cale to cry naturally. It was beaten out of him from a young age, but he could force himself to cry anytime he wanted easily. Him starting sniffling was the signal for Raon to slowly make him appear before Clopeh’s eyes. Cale’s tears flew without a stop.

“What the hell?” Paseton was the first to notice the child. His question was making Clopeh turn around and look at the glowing figure also.

“Why is the Sekka household betraying me again?” Cried Cale. “I send you my children as help all the time, but you keep hurting them.”

“That appearance…” Whispered Clopeh.

“It’s my saint’s. I thought you would like it, as you were paying so much attention to him.” Smiled the white haired child sadly. Well being a non existent god’s saint was better than an actual one. Cale needed to make some compromises.

“Your saint… the god of The Lake of God’s Tears’…” Clopeh’s brain definitely overheated. Cale almost stopped crying to chuckle at the man’s reaction.

“Don’t make me be disappointed in Pareun again. Let them help you, don’t follow the wrong people. They will let you shine with my light.” This was the second signal.

Raon did not miss his cue, and the blinding light exploded all around the room. After which Ron quickly stuck down on the Sekka boy’s nape making him faint.

The light also ruined Paseton’s vision for a minute. So when heard a second child laughing he was even more confused.

“Human, have you seen his face?” Asked Raon laughing. “This really was fun.”

“Yes, It was hard to keep my tears falling.” Grinned Cale as he wiped his face.

“So what now, Young master?” Asked Ron.

“Leave him there.” Shrugged Cale. “We came for the whale.”

‘They came for me?’ Paseton became wary. He was forcing his eyes to clear.

His cell opened, and the same white harried child entered that he had seen before, but he was not crying anymore. He had a stoic expression as he came closer followed by a middle aged man. Maybe the one who called the kid “Young master’?

“Who are you?” Asked Paseton.

“Oh… Raon you can stop your magic.” Said the child, and his appearance slowly changed. The light that surrounded him faded and his hair changed to a blood red color. “I’m Cale. I’m a friend of Whitira’s. Take his collar off, and let’s get out of here.” Well they were more so business partners, but he can’t say that.

“Noona’s?”

“Is there anyone else with that name?” Cale really didn’t like wasting time.

Ron quickly followed his instructions. Paseton had the same collar on as Ron had put on the poor cat assassin, preventing him from changing form or using magic. The next thing the whale noticed was that everybody including himself became invisible.

Who the hell were these people? Their group seemed to consist of more people then the two he had actually seen.

- Follow my voice. We are going to pick up the Whale princess and the Rude whale. - Paseton was so surprised hearing the voice in his head he had to take some deep breaths to calm down, but it was definitely talking about his sister and Archie, so he followed the directions given to him.

There was chaos outside. Paseton’s sister was fighting that damn sword master with the white aura, while Archi was killing wyverns one after the other.

“Raon, tell Whitira to capture that bastard Syrem alive. I have some questions for him.” Sighed Cale.

- So I can talk to the princess now? - Asked Raon excitedly.

“You could have talked to her whenever you wanted. How am I to stop you?” Cale was a bit offended. Raon had his own will, and he never forbade him from talking to the whales. He talked with him about the dangers of showing himself before strangers, but that was all. Well it was still better than him running around accepting candy from suspicious people, but he may have scared the little dragon way too much.

- I will deliver your message, Human, and later I will chat with the princess. I’m really interested in their whale forms.

Whitira was fiercely attacking with a water whip when she heard a child talking to her:
- Strong Princess, the Human has your brother. He said to tell you he needs the Sword master alive. We will go back to the room of the Roan prince, and wait for you.

Whitira wasn’t surprised about someone talking to her telepathically. She had known Cale had a really strong mage with him, but that mage being also a kid was unexpected. Children nowadays were really scary. She will never underestimate any kids in the future for sure.

The most important thing was though, that Cale had his brother it seemed. The boy kept his promise about saving him if he was kept here. So it was now her turn to deliver.

“Can you hear me, Small mage?” Asked Whitira half loudly while blocking Syrem’s attacks with her whip.

- Of course, my hearing is great and mighty as well. - Answered Raon.

“Tell Cale, that I will give the man over to my people at the port, and he can come to interrogate him whenever he wishes. I can’t promise he will be totally intact though.”

After hearing what Whitira said from Raon he just shrugged. It seemed like she needed no additional help from them, so they were free to leave.

- Okay, let’s meet in an hour. - Heard Whitira the cheery child voice. These kids were truly scary.

Chapter Text

32nd Chapter

Paseton was made to sneak into the Sekka family’s main mansion. He was a bit dumbfounded why they were not escaping just changing buildings. Especially when they entered one of the guest rooms and everybody became visible.

There was a tired looking blond man inside seemingly waiting for them.

“Why can’t you do your business quietly? Do you know how it feels when someone interrupts your dinner tea with your host, who is pale as a sheet of paper and sweating buckets?” Asked Alberu while holding his head.

“Tsk, I guess your friendly chat with the duke was cut short. Such a shame. It must have been pleasant. On the other hand I worked my but off…” Clicked his tongue Cale.

“My poor little Cale… Should I buy you some sweets for compensation?” Asked the prince.

“I’m not yours, but actually I’m happy to accept anything if it's free.” Rolled his eyes Cale.

‘Wow, he is feigning ignorance, but he really does have a sweet tooth. It’s kind of cute.’ Thought Alberu while smiling at the only thing childish about Cale.

Cale moved to the table in the middle and made Raon take out the dőcuments he “borrowed”. One of them was a big blueprint taking up most of the space.

“What’s that?” Asked Alberu with curiosity.

“This is a factory for cleaning and condensing dead mana.” Answered Cale.

“That building is huge. Why do they need that much dead mana?” Joined Paseton.

“You are asking the wrong question. The right one is where do they get this much dead mana…” Shook his head Cale, then he turned to Alberu. “Your Highness, they are seeming to be stealing our kingdom's resources.”

Alberu’s eyes widened. Cale categorized the dead mana as a resource, as if it was a precious material. It was such, but only for the dark elves, for humans and most other races it was a frowned upon poison. Alberu wasn’t particularly surprised Cale knew about his helpers, but he was surprised how accepting he was.

“They are getting it from the Roan Kingdom?” Asked Ron.

“Not just from the Roan Kingdom, they are stealing it from MY backyard. I’m so pissed!” Said Cale angrily.

“The Forest of Darkness…” Whispered Alberu.

“Exactly… they seemed to be getting it from one of the swamps in that forest. Not to mention the whales’ problem also originates from there…” Cale seemed to be really-really mad, his usual calm was nowhere to be seen. Stealing from the bad guys was fun, getting stolen from you by them was infuriating. “Let’s wait for Whitira-nim, before talking about countermeasures.”

Whitira arrived in just short of half an hour. She and Archie jumped through the open window without an effort even though they were on the second floor.

“Noona!” Paseton welcomed her happily.

Instead of answering, first Whitira just hit the back of her brother’s head lovingly.

“How is it that you are even more reckless than Archie? If you keep acting alone, you will get yourself killed sooner or later.” Sighed the whale princess after a while.

It was a valid concern. In the Birth of a Hero Paseton died somewhere off screen in the start of the story, so Cale had to agree with Withira. Paseron really needed to evaluate his actions. Cale nodded along with Whitiras words, earning some accusatory looks from Alberu. Cale was the most reckless out of all of them.

After she finished scolding Paseron she turned to the others:
“So why is everyone so gloomy?”

“All of Cale’s deductions proved to be right. You can read through these to grasp the situation.” Pointed Alberu to the table, which was now buried under the massie papers because they had read through them themselves while they waited. “It’s even worse than we thought.”

Whitira compiled, and after ten or so minutes she got her own conclusion:
“So this Organization, which seems to be called Arm, joined hands with the mermaids to build a base. That base will produce a huge amount of concentrated dark mana for Arm, and a shit ton of strong poison for the mermaids.”

“In a nutshell, yes.” Nodded Cale.

“So what do you suggest?” Asked Withira from Cale. Then she shuddered under the thought, how natural it felt for her to rely on a small child’s wisdom.

“Let’s split up. We will take care of the source of the materials, and you will destroy the construction site of the base.” Shrugged Cale.

“It sounds fair.” Nodded Whitira.

“I will also provide something useful against the mermaids. Raon, give me one of those small enchanted containers.” Said Cale after thinking about it for a bit.

Syrem was captured, but Redika and a lot of others roamed free. Those strong members were a pain in the ass to deal with even without the mermaids. So Cale decided to land a hand.

The container he asked for was bought by Beacrox at some point. They were enchanted to keep whatever you had put in them fresh. It was needed for his “B plan” if the negotiations fell through with the whales, but now he planned to use one to make sure the whales would win.

After getting the container he took out his small knife that he got from Ron as a gift, and quickly before anyone could have stopped him sliced his palm.

“What the hell are you doing?” Alberu was so taken aback that he even cursed, but Cale ignored him.

Cale kept the knife in the wound, because he was afraid it would close before he succeeded filling up the bottle. The Vitality of the Heart could be inconvenient sometimes. Still it only took seconds for his task to finish.

He closed the lid then approached Whitira, who was looking at the small bottle that was offered to her as if it was the devil himself.

“My blood is lace with life force. It should be extra effective against dark creatures who are weak to it. Just mix it into your whip and you can kill the mermaids with one strike.” Said Cale as an explanation.

“The Young master is very generous, but he shouldn’t do this again. I think you may have traumatized the people who are present.” Scolded him Ron. His tone was friendly, but that was what made it extra scarry.

“I’m fine though. Look.” Held up his palm Cale after rubbing the blood away to show them there was no scar.

Ron looked at his small hand and thought back to those two years that Cale was missing. Cale never talked about it, but Raon told them the people there hurt Cale. The butler never saw any scars on Cale’s body so he always thought they had only beaten him, but he may have been totally wrong. A child didn’t even cringed when he cut himself as if he was so used to the pain he hadn’t even felt it.

Nobody said the word even though they had similar thoughts, but they exchanged looks as they swear to protect him silently. The only one who showed how affected he was by this was Raon.

The little dragon started to sob. Cale cutting himself was the catalyst, but his worries went way deeper than that.

“Don’t hurt yourself, Human!” Cried Raon. “What if you die even sooner because of it? The Syrem guy said you will going to!”

Ron and Beacrox were there to hear what the sword master told Clopeh, but the rest were confused then terrified when they noticed how gloomy the servants looked.

‘Shit!’ Thought Cale.

“I can promise you I won’t die. He was most likely talking bullshit, and even if he wasn’t I have a very strong healing power which protects me as it was just demonstrated.” Tried Cale to downplay the situation.

“I guess we will ask some questions from that bastard even before you come to talk with him.” Said Whitira, she looked quite vicious.

“Do what you want.” Shrugged Cale. He didn’t mind the whales doing free work. Especially if it meant they will forget pressuring him for information about stuff he didn’t want to talk about.

Chapter Text

33rd Chapter

Even though Cale wanted to leave as soon it was possible. There was still a meeting he had to take part in between Alberu and the Paerun kingdom. Originally he wanted to leave it to the crown prince, but things had changed.

He was sure that his small comedy show only worked on Clopeh because he was caught off guard. Now that the knight had time to think, he most likely figured out that he was fooled. But Cale’s appearance on the scene ment two things. First, Roan had known about Arm, and second, that they were helping the whales, which meant some kind of alliance between them. This will pressure Paerun even more to accept Alberu’s suggestion.

“Will it be okay that our fake knights have already left?” Asked Ron the next morning while he helped Cale get dressed.

“It should be fine, the cat is already out of the bag that we had ulterior motives for being here.” Shrugged Cale with a small smile. “They can’t prove anything though.”

After Ron finished Cale asked Raon for the book they borrowed from the Sekka library. He hesitated a bit then still tore out the pages he needed and packeted them. It was just some insurance if he needed to bribe the family.

At that perfect time there was someone knocking on the door. Cale sighed and signaled for Ron to let the guest in.

“His Highness Alberu Crossman.” Announced Ron.

“Hey Cale, I’m surprised I don’t have to drag you with me. What changed?” Asked Alberu as he entered. He had known Cale was planning to let him handle the issue beforehand.

“There’s a new variable…” Shrugged the boy as Ron was fixing his hair. The butler took out a black ribbon to gather up his overgrown bangs, but Cale shook his head. “I want a white one today.”

Ron must have caught on why he asked for the change, because his benign smile turned to a wicked one for a second:
“Good choice, Young Master.”

Alberu looked at the two with concern:
“Should I be worried?”

“It’s most likely beneficial for our cause, but It may become a little bit annoying for me.” Cale seemed a bit iffy about the issue.

Alberu was sure that Cale definitely did something crazy again, but everything that aided their plans and even annoyed the boy in the process was a welcomed change in his eyes.

‘I guess, I will figure it out soon anyways…’ Thought Alberu.

After Cale got ready, they left to join their hosts. The Sekka family head and Clopeh were both waiting for them in the hall. Rock Sekka was watching them cautiously, but Cale expected that much. On the other hand Clopeh’s eyes were focusing on only Cale, but he seemed rational though, unlike what he had shown to the boy yesterday.

Seeing him calm, made Cale relax a bit. The red head was a bit afraid of the knight getting angry because he had scammed him.

What Cale didn’t know was that the white haired youth was still deep in thought. Gods were not kind beings. They didn’t let random people claim to be their saints without punishment. So even if it was truly Cale there yesterday a god allowed him to use it’s name, or he just haven got the divine punishment yet. He needed to figure out which was the truth.

“Why is His Highness bringing a child with us?” Asked the guardian knight.

‘Rock Sekka really does not like me.’ Thought Cale.

“Because of the commotion yesterday I don’t know if this place is safe enough for me to leave Young Master Cale behind.” Smiled Alberu. This was a low blow against the duke. He was rude, but the old man proved to be just as rude several times now.

Rock Sekka couldn’t say a thing though. He was in an awkward situation. The organization who promised them help was raided by the whales, so their deal stood on shaky legs, and this blond bastard of a prince was most likely involved somehow.

His son was also acting really strange. He was the one who advocated for joining hands with Arm as a solution for their infrastructural problems, but last night Clopeh came to him like a lunatic talking about gods and saints. Clopeh was always a strange child, but lately his ambitions were scary.

Rock Sekka didn’t understand much, but the facts were clear. Arm lost the battle, most of the wyverns were massacred, and their connection to the main branch of Arm was captured. Even if their deal still stood, he wasn’t sure anymore if that organization could provide them with enough help to win a war.

So he couldn’t say anything. He could only frown as their group had left for the Royal Castle. When they entered the hall not just the rest of the big household’s representatives were there, but two more, someone dressed in a priest outfit and the king himself. It was a surprise as Alberu’s position was still on shaky legs as a successor.

While Rock Sekka and Alberu only needed some nice words and a short little bow to greet the old man, Cale was way under in class so he needed to perform a perfect bow. He was not educated for this, damn it.

He tried to remember, but he was never into western historical dramas. He was fine when he first met Alberu, because he was fine with Choi Han’s rudeness in the books, so he didn’t stress over it that much, but now he could have caused a war with a wrong move.

His bow was a full ninety degree one, it wasn’t in line with the protocol, but it seemed genuine:
“This lowly person greets His highness and all people attending.”

Even though he did perfectly and the king seemed pleased, the rest were not. Whispers could be heard everywhere:
“Are we a kindergarten now? I thought Prince Alberu was delivering a serious business offer.”

“All are equal under the gods.” Said the high ranking priest next to the king. Pearson wasn’t dedicated to one god, most of their priests bow to several masters. Maybe that was the reason why they never produced any saints.

Cale smiled at the man. He did agree with the first half of the sentence. This made Clophe sigh.

“So should we just let in every person to this meeting from the streets?” Asked the only woman not caring about offending a priest.

“Maybe if they are smart and capable you should. Discussions need people like that.” Looked into her eyes Cale.

“How dare you?” The middle aged woman was fuming. She was totally mad about the implication of her being stupid and useless.

“I haven’t said anything offending the people here personally, but if you fill like it, I will apologize.” Cale’s smile was so annoying the woman got up from her seat ready to attack.

“Enough Cale!” Said Alberu. The noble woman was sure the boy would be kicked out and punished now, but the Roan Princes’ words proved her wrong. “He is not here as my ward. He is here because he is one of the silent mediators in the deal I want to propose. His heroic deed made him influential, people trust a cute child.”

Cale looked at Alberu feeling betrayed. Making Alberi quite sad. Cale’s involvement wasn’t one of his schemes. It was something that both the whales and the head of the Ubarr household wanted.

‘Hey, I just made myself out to be someone who would use a childs reputation for connections and you're still mad at me?’ Thought Alberu. His sorry face felt forced to Cale though.

“Let’s hear them out…” It was actually Rock Sekka who voiced for them. Cale and Alberu both expected this. The old Guardian Knight had way more information then the rest of the nobles.

As Alberu pitched their offer about a safe sea tradingrout the participants seemed to ease up a lot.

‘He is a good speaker.’ Praised him in his head Cale.

“And how can we trust you that the ships will be really safe all the time? Both Paerun’s and Roan’s navy is quite lacking.” Asked one of the heads.

“We can’t reveal how we can guarantee it, but Roan will provide insurance for both the ships and the goods.” Saied Alberu. This made the two men from the Sekka family sure that the whales were involved.

‘Also the kingdom's navy situation will change shortly.’ Thought the Prince, but that was secret information.

“It’s a nice offer, but what do you want in exchange?” Asked Clopeh, this was the first time he spoke up. His eyes were still glued to Cale.

“I want Paerun to be our double agent.” Answered Alberu. “We know about the Alliance.”

It was time to threaten them. The silence was deadly. Rock Sekka only seemed defeated, while the others were pale, than angry.

“You want us to turn against our neighbors?” Asked the king.

“We only want information. You can decide your side later. You can easily turn on us at any time, but be aware the moment when we figure out you provided fake information, the safe sea path is canceled.” Said Alberu. He was not expecting trust between the two kingdoms.

“Why should we not just outright kill you here and announce war on Roan? Our kingdom has superior military power.” Asked the nobel woman.

“You are not prepared for a war at this moment.” Mumbled Cale, he wasn’t particularly talking to anyone, but everyone heard him.

“And Roan is prepared? Roan has no power while Paerun is strong.” She did not backed down.

Cale was annoyed:
“Is your information network slow or something? Those wyverns you wanted to use to infiltrate Roan are dead, your navy is weak, and you don’t have enough ammunition to last long in war. Even if those lizards were still around I would have made sure the Henituse territory was capable of stopping you, because I have known about your plans to fly over the Forest of Darkness even before it was made by you.”

It was an arrogant monologue. Even surprising Alberu with new information he never thought about. So this was how that war would have gone in the future.

“Did God-nim tell you this? Did they send you to offer us a second chance?” Clopeh was totally out of it hearing Cale speak. It was as if Cale just admitted to getting the revelation, and preparing to deliver god's punishment.

Cale was prepared for Clopeh accusing him of heresy after his scam, but he was not prepared for him actually believing his bullshit. While the red head boy was thinking hard about how he could use this scenario, Alberu’s head was only full of three words: ‘CRAZY FUCKING BASTARD!”. Even the prince wasn’t sure if he was thinking about Cale or Clopeh.

Chapter Text

34th chapter

Everybody was frozen excluding the priest whose eyes went wide:
“Ah, so I wasn't mistaken when I felt holy power coming from him. It was so faint, but I still caught it.”

‘What the hell is he talking about?’ Thought Cale. Then he remembered the torn out pages that he put in his pocket. That book allegedly was written by a saint, so it would be not surprising if it had some lingering touch of holy power. ‘Shit, you are totally mistaken, priest-nim. Should I correct him? Could I correct him?’

Cale couldn’t just show them those pages. It would have meant losing the support of the Sekka household. No, not just that, they would be shunned and become his enemy.

‘Well if I can’t get out of this situation I will just ignore it for now. Let’s neither deny nor confirm.’ Ended his own mental suffering Cale.

“I’m only here on my own accord. No god is a partner in this deal that Roan is offering.” Said Cale coldly. Then his lips slowly started to quiver. “I just want peace.”

He looked sad and childish again. It was a huge difference from his attitude just minutes ago. This made his yelling seem like a desperate child’s tantrum who pretends to be a grown up. Most people felt pity for Cale. They saw him as someone trusted with great responsibilities despite his young age.

To everyone's surprise the king slowly stood up and walked down. He stopped just before Cale and patted his head.

“We will accept your offer and conditions.” Said the man.

‘Old people are really weak to children.’ Cale was amused.

Alberu felt iffy looking at Cale’s bewildered face as he watched the king. He was sure the kid just learned how to weaponize his own age.

Not everybody was sure if they made the right decision, but nobody objected as the meeting came to an end.

Alberu could not suppress his sigh as the door closed behind them:
“You are truly scary. You basically threatened them and instead of feeling anger they sympathized with you… and felt bad.”

“I know right? I don’t want to grow up.” Smiled Cale.

This sentence made Alberu imagine an adult Cale. That picture was even more terrifying. The child Cale already accumulated so much political power in just a month… If he keeps up his pace he will reach world domination in ten years. The only thing that made him keep his cool was the knowledge that this bastard was not interested in power.

“Cale, what do you think about becoming my minister after I ascended?” Alberu really wanted to put a leash on the adult Cale… No, he already wanted to put a leash on this small child. Thought of owning Cale’s talent made Alberu excited.

“Absolutely NOT!” Said Cale firmly. “Why is it that adults can't just slack off? Shit, this really makes me want to stay as a child forever.”

“Hey, being a grown up isn’t that bad…” Alberu was perplexed. “You should grow up to be a healthy young man, don’t say things like that.”

“I tried it once and it wasn’t fun. Not that being a child was any better.”

Cale's words made Alberu confused and concerned at the same time. Especially now that he was mostly sure that Cale was human.

“What do you want to do then? What would be fun?” Smiled Alberu.

“I want to live a peaceful life in the countryside with Raon, Ron and Beacrox. I would only eat, sleep and read books.” Then he thought about it a bit more. “I guess Raon will build a lair sooner or later, so I can just freeload at his place. Yes, that's even better, and we could build a small garden as well…” His rumbling was really cute, but then he got vicious instantly. “That’s why I need to make sure all those bitches from the organization die as soon as possible.”

That trash organization hurt his family; it was enough reason for Cale to go all out.

“Roan will help you… No, I will help you.” It was something Alberu had to do, not just because of his obligations, but because it felt like the right thing. He never thought of doing anything good selflessly but here he was promising something out of the good of good will.

“I hate that we have the same way of speaking. You are phrasing that really nicely to make me feel better about you. Thank you though.” Cale didn’t take the other’s sincerity seriously, but he believed the prince's promise. Alberu will help him to win this man hunt, it was for the future of their kingdom.

Alberu felt a bit hurt, but he couldn’t really complain. His words were truly out of character if it wasn’t taken with a grain of salt. He can show his dedication with actions later anyway.

“Should I contact Count Henituse that we are visiting the territory?” Changed topic Alberu.

“Can’t we just do it in secret?” Sighed Cale. “And what’s with the “we”? I thought your highness needed to go back to the capital.”

“Who will handle the dead mana if I’m not there? Also I will most likely need to build a base nearby the Forest of Darkness if the documents are right about the amount of dark mana located there. Which means I have to do business with the count, because the place still belongs to him in the end.” Alberu had already planned quite ahead.

Cale had to admit the prince was right even if he did not like it, but he really didn’t want to meet Deruth. Cale had seen something crazy in the man’s eyes. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of similar to Clopeh’s. Cale shuddered, but it was a good thing. He most likely won’t refuse Alberu.

“Contact him. Let’s wrap up things here tomorrow, and leave this place. That church here also concerns me.”

“Oh yes… How on earth did you make them think you are a divine messenger?” Chuckled Alberu.

“I’m more of a saint than a messenger…” Murmured Cale.

“What?!” Alberu’s smile froze.

Cale was dense, but even he knew that he fucked up:
“It’s a lie, Your Highness. I’m not affiliated with any god.” Shook his head Cale.

‘I would never willingly get myself involved with such powerful beings. Raon was bad enough…’ Thought Cale. Taking care of a dragon was a huge responsibility, but it was worth it. Especially as Raon was beyond useful.

“I just can’t figure out what to think about you, you know? You always blurt out the most random shit I ever heard and I can’t differentiate between when you are telling the truth, or joking.” Alberu felt really tired all of a sudden.

“I had never lied to you, Your Highness.” Blinkked Cale. “I’m always serious.”

Cale never had a good sense of humor, so he had no idea what he could have said, that Alberu took as a joke or found funny.

“I really hope you are joking, because if you are not that’s even more concerning.” Said Alberu, but deep down he knew Cale meant what he said.

He just vowed to never let Cale off without an explanation anymore.

Chapter Text

35th Chapter

Deruth Henituse loved his first wife dearly. Jour was his first love, it was a borderline obsession. So he was happy when she revealed that their family will grow, but that child led to Jour’s death.

He would have still not recented Cale, if Jour hadn't said something strange on her deathbed.

His wife was crying and she only repeated one sentence:
“Cale is gone… our son is gone…”

“Cale is fine, Jour. He is healthy. I can tell the servants to bring him back and you can confirm it with your own eyes.” Deruth tried to tell her that the baby was fine.

“No, don’t go! I only want to spend my last moments with you.” Shook her head Jour.

Her wish made Deruth happy. He felt that he was the most important person in Jour’s life.

Now when he thought back on it, this conversation was the one that poisoned his mind. He started to think about Cale as someone who wasn’t important. So he only focused on the loss of Jour.

Then Violan came into his life and he became happy again. So he just pretended that Cale had never existed. Then the child actually disappeared, and he just moved on, till he saw him at the plaza.

He looked so much like Jour did. He just never thought about Cale as someone who was a part of Jour, but now he couldn’t unsee it.

That’s why he was so mad at himself for not keeping the boy close, and he was actually furious with Violan. Cale actually turned up at the mansion weeks ago, but his wife decided to handle the matter without him.

They argued for days, but in reality Deruth was happy. Violan's decision to hide Cale came from her love for their family, her love for him. So he had forgiven her. He only needed to get back his firstborn now and make him part of the people whom Violan cared for.

This was the reason why he accepted immediately when the crown prince asked to let them visit with Cale.

That was the reason why the whole Henituse family was waiting outside for the arrival of Alberu’s carriage. They calmly watched as the Crown Prince stepped out, then he leaned back inside and he personally lifted Cale out to everyone's surprise.

While Deruth was mostly fixated on Cale and only felt a bit of jealousy over Alberu’s action, Violan was more calculative and noted it down as a sign of closeness. It made Cale a bit more useful in her eyes. She reassuringly tightened the hold on Basen’s shoulder and Lily’s hand and let her husband talk. Her eyes didn’t miss the Molans either mixed between the prince's entourage.

“I welcome Your Highness Alberu Crossman to the Henituse Estate.” Bowed Deruth when the two of them reached the stairs leading up to the house.

He then leaned forward and tried to meet Cale's eyes, but the boy was stubbornly staring at the ground.

“It must be hard for you to remember, because how small you were when you got kidnaped, but I’m your father Cale.” Said the man smiling.

‘Small, my ass…’ Thought Cale. He only saw the man briefly on the day he was born. He wasn’t angry because Deruth cast him aside, he was mad because the man was lying to his face instead of owning up to his mistake. He had a hunch now, where Lily got his personality from.

Even though he was furious, Cale just stepped closer to Alberu and clenched his trousers with one of his fists. Alberu did not miss the shaking of the boy's hand, making him upset as well.

“I’m sorry, he can be really shy.” Said Alberu with a fake smile.

“Your Highness shouldn’t apologize. We know how hard it is with children like Cale.” Said Violan.

Alberu’s smile froze. He didn’t like the implication of the countess.

“Children like Cale?” Asked Alberu coldly.

Violan only nodded with a small sad smile:
“He had communication issues from birth. That’s the reason why the family tried to protect his identity.”

“And that’s the reason why we want him home in a calm environment as soon as possible.” Agreed Deruth. “We are the most qualified to look after his needs.”

Alberu was speechless. He wasn’t sure if the Henituse couple really believed that Cale had mental problems or if they were using this as an excuse, but their words scared him. Were they planning to confine Cale if they got back their guardianship over him? It awfully sounded like so, and If Deruth was proven to be Cale’s real father there was hardly anything that he could do to prevent them.

Cale was a minor, so his guardians had absolute power over him, and if Deruth succeeded to make Cale out to be someone with special needs, he could actually prolong his guardianship over him even into his adult years. Alberu was quite sure Violan was pushing this agenda, because of the inheritance, but he had no idea why Deruth was doing so.

It needed to be stopped here though.
“I have no idea what the count and countess is talking about. Cale is the brightest child I have ever met.” Said the Crown prince.

Alberu wanted Cale to say something, but the redhead was eerily silent. Then he heard something slowly dripping. He looked down and saw Cale free little fist so tightly closed that his nails most likely hurt his palm as blood was dripping from it.

He immediately picked the boy up and took his hand into his and carefully nudged it loose. First Alberu thought Cale was hurt by Deruth words, but when he looked at his little face he only saw fury. Cale was mad that they were calling him mentally challenged, but it wasn’t just Cale who felt that way…

- Are they saying something is wrong with My human? - A little dragon was also raging in Alberu’s head. - My human is perfect as he is! He is not hard to deal with at all! He even eats my vegetables when I don’t want to, so Beacrox won’t scold us.

His words were cute, but the rage of a dragon was always terrifying. Alberu really hoped that Ron was doing his job properly and he was calming Raon down in the back, but when he looked back the butler seemed to hoon the same amount of murderess intent.

‘We shouldn’t have come…’ Thought Alberu. ‘I should have asked Cale why he didn’t want to meet the count.’ The child always did everything deliberately, so he should have known better than to think he just found the man annoying.

“Ah…” Cried out Violan with worry. “We should have known better not to talk before such a sensitive child!”

‘You should have never opened your mouth…’ Thought Alberu. ‘Just shut up!’

“Let’s move inside and treat Cale’s hand immediately.” Said Deruth. “Violan, you should alert the servants that Cale is prone to self harm. It’s better to be safe.”

Cale’s breathing got rigid in Alberu’s hold. The crown prince was sure that the child would have strangled the count there and then if he got the opportunity. Well he didn’t blame him.

As they walked inside Ron silently joined them as a good butler should while Beacrox took Raon and went with the Henituse housekeeper to settle down where they would stay with the rest of Alberu’s people. It was a strange feeling to be at the Henituse Castle as a guest.

Count Henituse took the crown prince to a reception room. Hans was already waiting for them and after a short talk with Violan he left and came back with a first aid kit, but before he could have approached Cale Ron took the package from him.

“Let me handle this.” Said the old butler with a small bow. Ron had to make sure Cale's secret healing power was kept secret. He didn’t trust Deruth.

He diligently cleaned Cale’s hand and bandaged the woundless smooth skin without batting an eye.

“You are efficient as always, Ron.” Smiled Violan, but her smile was venomous. Ron was aware why. The countess definitely blamed him for Cale’s appearance at the plaza. Ron didn’t really care though.

If the counties decided to destroy their carriers, he would just take Beacrox, Cale and Raon change their names and move on.

While Cale was taken care of. Alberu was talking with the count:
“As I said in my message I’m planning to visit both families who are involved with Cale before the relation ritual and talk with you to determine that no harm will come to him despite the results. I also want to have a look at the territory now that I’m here, if it’s fine with you.”

“Yes, I’m happy to show you around.” Smiled Deruth.

“No need.” Shook his head Alberu. “I want to look around in my own pace and spend some time with Cale freely.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Bowed Deruth. His demeanor was a bit forced. Alberu was sure they will be followed by someone tomorrow when they planned to leave for the Forest of Darkness. Not that it mattered, their group was impossible to follow.

“After we come back I would like to talk with you alone regarding Cale.” Continued the crown prince. Maybe he couldn’t legally take Cale from his real father, but he sure could threaten him to give up his rights.

Chapter Text

36th Chapter

Their small group consisting of Cale, Raon, Alberu, Ron, Beacrox and Ben moved out the next morning under pretense of surveying the territory.

“So when should I take care of the rats?” Whispered Ron to Cale as they boarded the carriage.

“Wait till we leave the city, and please do not kill them.” Answered Cale.

“As the Young master wishes.” Smiled the butler, then he took his place next to Beacrox, who opted to drive. Ben was following them on horseback.

“I wanted to ask this for a while now… “ Started his question carefully, Alberu. “That ‘butler’ is really skilled, he shouldn’t be following a kid. They are hiding, wouldn’t it be better for them to leave and look for a quitter employer? You have way too much attention on yourself nowadays.”

Alberu had seen how deadly the Molans were. So there was no other reason for them to work as servants then to hide.

“I think it started out as pity, and now we have a common objective.” Shrugged Cale.

“Pity?” Asked Alberu.

“Contrary to what Count Henituse says, I was pretty much pushed aside from the start. Ron was on good terms with my mother, so he took care of me.”

“And you trusted him just on that premise? He is an assassin.” Alberu was suspicious of everybody all the time, so Cale’s trust was really strange in his eyes. His only confidant was Tasha and even that came from their blood connection.

“Ron is not unreasonable. Just because he had killed people, he won’t hurt me without a reason. He is really scary sometimes though.” Said Cale.

“So you trust your judgment.” Nodded Alberu with understanding.

“No, I trust his character.” Shook his head Cale.

Ron wasn’t really eavesdropping, but he still heard everything. He was sad and happy at the same time. He was sad how coldly, his little Master viewed their relationship, but he was happy to have his unconditional trust.

The heavy air shattered in an instant as Ron heard Cale’s next word’s though:
“Also he is as indebted to me as I am to him now.”

‘That cheeky little…’ Thought Ron, but he was smiling. His smile remained as he took out the trash in line with Cale’s orders.

Even though they took the shortest route it took them several hours to reach the edge of the Forest of Darkness. So Alberu had time to catch up with his aunt through a communication device, while Cale took a nap with Raon. So he set up a sound barrier around the three of them.

Tasha looked really tired.

“When are you coming back?” Asked the dark elf woman. “I can’t stop Taylor Stann anymore. His friend, that priestess, is totally crazy. Even though I tried everything to delay them, they set up everything with the temple for that relation trial. I even threatened the woman with excommunication, but she laughed in my face.”

“I guess Taylor settled into his new position as the head of the house then. Good. You can just let them be now. We will be arriving back in the capital in a couple of days anyway.” Smiled Alberu. “Make them set a date. How about two weeks from now? That should be enough time for everyone to arrive.”

“The King was also looking for you. He wanted to talk to you because of the funds you took out and sent to the Ubarr Territory.” Continued Tasha.

“To be honest that sum needs to be doubled now.” Sighed Alberu, they needed to build a trading post as well now.

“He seemed quite upset already. I really hope you know what you are doing.” Commented Tasha.

“Don’t worry, we are on the right track.” As he said this his eyes unconsciously traveled to the sleeping boy before him. Their Kingdom will profit both militarily and economically because of him. Then he thought about the dead mana they are about to secure. It wasn’t just the kingdom, he himself got a lot out of meeting Cale. “Aunt, you should contact the Village Chief. I will send him coordinates, the dark elves will get quite a bit stronger in the future.”

“Why? How?” Tasha’s eyes widened.

“We will get our hands on a huge amount of dead mana really soon.” Grinned Alberu. Dark elves needed dark mana to survive. It was always a struggle for them, that’s why they lived next to cemeteries and old battlefields. “Knowing Cale is really beneficial.”

“You really should adopt that child.” Said Tasha half-jokingly.

Hearing his aunt made Alberu frown for some reason:
“I’m way too young to be a father, and he would kill me if he needed to become crown prince one day.”

In truth the image of Cale calling him ‘dad’ almost made him throw up. Tasha couldn't keep in his laughter seeing his face.

“You are old enough to marry. Your second brother just got engaged.” Retorted his aunt.

“I’m not talking to you anymore.” Disconnected the call Alberu.

“She is right though.” Said a little voice after a big yawn. Cale got woken up by Tasha's laughter.

“I’m not planning to marry anyone in this lifetime.” Alberu’s voice sounded quite cold.

“Why?” Asked Cale, tilting his head to one side.

“My mother was a half-dark elf, she hid it even before my father. I don’t want to do the same and lie to my spouse or keep secrets between us. I don’t want children either, as I don’t want them to feel inclined to hide their heritage.” Even Cale couldn’t miss the sad undertone in Alberu’s voice. He wanted to help the crown prince feel better.

“I’m not good with human connections, but I’m sure there are many people who would accept you for who you are, and the rest of them are trash, who do not matter anyway.” Said Cale with confidence.

“That’s very naive, but I guess most children are like that.” Chuckled Alberu.

“Never mind, your personality is unbearable. It’s better if you stay single. I would deeply pity your partner.” Said Cale a bit offended. He thought himself to be quite objective most of the time.

At that moment the carriage stopped. They reached the wall that separated the Henituse Territory from the Forest of Darkness. Ron opened the door, and their small group stepped outside.

“So we have to climb over this?” Asked Ben, looking up at the stone towing before them. He was ready to ask for his elemental’s help.

“I will carry…” Started Ron and Alberu in unison looking at Cale.

Hearing the other one speak made them eye each other quite hostilely. Cale just sighed seeing their unreasonable dispute:
‘And Alberu has the face to call me childish…’

“Tsk, I’m perfectly capable of doing this myself.” Clicked his tongue Cale. “Let’s go, Raon!”

It’s not like he needed physical strength for this. The wind hummed around him, as if the Sound of the Wind agreed with him.

Cale acted so quickly that even the little dragon was left behind. The redhead was already floating by the time Raon was ready to cast his magic on him.

“Hey Human! I said I will use my spells, what if you cough blood again?” Cried out the little dragon, but he followed his human immediately. He didn’t even bother to keep up his invisibility magic, it’s not like there was anybody there who was not aware of his presence.

The adult could only watch as the two children disappeared behind the huge wall. Only the dark elf Ben wasn’t surprised as he had already seen Cale doing this, but he was stunned for a different reason. It was his first time seeing a dragon. He knew about Raon but still, hearing about it and seeing it with his own eyes were two different things.

“Let’s go Beacrox. There are monsters on the other side. We shouldn’t leave the children unsupervised.” It was Ron who got moving first. Both Molans effortlessly climbed over the wall and jumped down.

Alberu with his magic and Ben with his elemetal followed them shortly after.

They had only started but the forest seemed dark even in the daylight. The flora also seemed odd. Some plants were clearly mutated version of known ones, but there were quite a lot that Alberu couldn’t recognise.

“Oh this is nostalgic, I haven’t seen these flowers for ages.” Smiled Ron benignly. “As far as I know this only blooms on the other continent.”

Cale watched the flower suspiciously. It had a very vibrant color. That usually meant that it was poisonous.

“Let’s pick some and take it home, Grandpa’ Ron.” Said Raon cheerily, but Beacrox caught him in the air before he could have flown closer.

“You shouldn’t touch it.” Laughed the old man. “It can make you unable to move for hours, it has a really strong muscle relaxant effect.”

“Then it’s not just beautiful but actually useful.” The little dragon seemed even more interested now.

The shining of his blue eyes made Cale shudder.

Chapter Text

37th Chapter

Cale made Raon take out the map he had drawn the night before. He used the Organization’s files and his own memories to make an overly detailed one. He wanted to make sure they don’t run into any big monsters or dangerous places.

‘Should I avoid Choi Han as well?’ Cale was still iffy about if he should interfere with the Korean teenager or not. The book was vague about the exact date when the protagonist got out of the forest. Choi Han spent tens of years in this place and the book didn’t really set an exact timeline for when he had achieved things while he was wandering around inside here.

Choi Han suffered a lot back then. Cale had the means now to look for him and cut his suffering a little shorter, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to change the plot again. Then again he can pick him up and just leave him at Harris Village with his second family. Choi Han should be able to spend four years there in peace and Cale can come back and set him on his journey after that. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have the protagonist indebted either.

He just shook his head in the end. He had a lot to take care of before he could freely look for the man so he had put the issue aside for now.

“This is the swamp that was marked on Arm’s map.” Pointed Cale to an area circled with red. “We should be somewhere here, so I plan to take this route.” His small index finger travelled confidently on the paper.

“That’s a very nice map. The Young master is very well informed again.” Said Ron looking at the hand drawn map.

“Raon made a copy just for you as I had known you would like one.” Smiled Cale at the butler. Ron took the paper and bowed.

“I guess you want me to scout for monsters.” Ron was well aware what Cale’s word really ment.

“Stay safe, and come back if you see anything out of the ordinary.” Said Cale as Ron disappeared into the shadows. “Let’s move! We should be able to get there relatively quickly if Ron kills the small fries.”

Nobody really believed him as the Forest of Darkness was a notoriously dangerous place, but to their surprise it turned out to be true. Beacrox had been chosen to carry Cale while they moved.

The trip was smooth and boring except for the occasional dead monsters killed by Ron they came across. So their group almost reached their destination when Ron appeared before them unexpectedly to report something.

“There’s a commotion at the target destination. A young man in rags is fighting that damn crazy sorcerer.” Said Ron.

‘Shit! This fight definitely didn’t happen in the books.’ Thought Cale. Choin Han did visit the black swamp at one point, but he had met noone there. The book only talked about how he left after seeing monsters die after drinking the strange water.

He was totally confident the young man could have been only one person, but he still had to ask:
“Does the man have black hair?”

“Yes. How did the Young master know? Have you met him?” Asked Ron with suspicion.

Cale just shook his head:
“I have never met him.”

‘How do I keep meeting all the main characters even without trying?’ Sighed Cale. He really didn’t pursue any of them intentionally. His face looked sour.

“Is he also an enemy? Is this an internal dispute?” Asked Ron after misunderstanding Cale’s expression. He was ready to end the young man together with the sorcerer if Cale as much as nodded to his question.

“No, he is someone the guards on the walls have been spotting a couple of times while surveying the forest from afar. Nobody believed them. People said they were hallucinating. It was a gossip between the servants at Harris Villa.” Lied Cale.

“He must have been really young back then. He looks out to be just a teenager.” Ron was sharp as always.

“Looks can be deceiving.” Doubled down Cale.

“The same way you always say you are older?” Asked Alberu.

Cale’s frown deepened. Why were they attacking him from both sides?

“Kind of. Let’s go, we need to kill or capture that mage.” Cale tried to urge Beacrox to move, but Alberu wasn’t letting it slide anymore.

“Explain first!” It was an order. This was the first time Alberu tried to use his authority against Cale. He regretted shouting but not as much as to step down.

He got two deadly stairs as a response. While the Molans seemed ready to attack the prince for yelling at Cale, the latter was well aware the crown prince acted out of frustration. Alberu was the same type of person as Cale. Both of them valued information and they had been a bit of a control freak. Well Cale only really admitted the first part to himself.

Cale was already planning to tell the prince about his previous life at some point, but this was not the time and place. He looked Alberu in the eye.

“I promise to tell you everything, but I don’t want an innocent man to die just because we were stalling.” Said Cale seriously. He may have even looked cool if it wasn’t for a fact that he was still carried by Beacrox.

Alberu knew Cale was right so he nodded. Seeing him agree Cale they started to move again stealthily.

“I knew I made the right choice to come here when your whale friends attacked our construction site.” Redika was arrogantly laughing while casting explosion after explosion.

His speed couldn’t keep up with Choi Han’s though. Cale wasn’t sure if the Korean man was the one who was way too quick or if the mage had become slow after losing an arm, but it was an impressive sight.

Choi Han was dodging, attacking, then falling back constantly. While the mage wasn’t able to hit him he was still able to block his attacks so the fight seemed to be wholly dependent on who got tired first. Choi Han wasn’t at the level of a sword master yet.

“Still not talking to me?” Asked Redika looking at the silent Choi Han. “Don’t worry I will torture everything out of you later.” He seemed confident he would be the one on the winning end.

Cale and Alberu looked at each other and nodded. It was time to interfere.

“I will stay back with the Crown prince and the Young master.” Said Ron. That left Beacrox and Ben who will go out to support Choi Han.

Neither was strong enough to handle Redika alone, but with teamwork it was possible.

“What type of elemental are you contacted to?” Turned Cale to Ben.

“A wind one.” If Ben was surprised at the question he didn’t show it, but the dark elf still glanced at Alberu for approval before talking.

“Can you ask them to aid Beacrox as well to boost his speed?” Hmmed Cale satisfied. “You will take black haired man's place and attack the mage head on, while Beacrox should wait for the right opportunity for a surprise attack. That’s our best bet. Raon, can you contact the black haired one and tell him to fall back? Then you can support them with shields if needed.”

Choi Han must have been tired, so it was better to take him out of the equation, but when Raon sent Cale’s message something seemed very off. It was too late to stop them though. Cale was already put on the ground and Ben was running towards Redika head on.

Choi Han’s face seemed surprised as expected when he heard the child’s voice in his head, but he did nothing to comply with what was asked of him. Why was he not moving? Did he not trust Raon? The Korean teenager shouldn’t have any trust issues at this point. Redika should have been the first human he came across who had bad intentions in his life. So why?

He seemed really wary of Ben when he appeared on the scene as if he wasn’t warned of his arrival by Raon. He even froze for a second leaving him open. Redika did not hesitate to use it, but Raon’s sparkling Indestructible Shield replica instantly enveloped him as the explosion had gone off under his feet.

Cale petted the small dragon who was floating next to him.

Choi Han watched the shield appear and Ben go forth with a frown.

‘Well at least he didn’t attack the dark elf when he runned past him.’ Thought Cale.

Chapter Text

38th Chapter

The fight was chaotic. Choi Han was visibly not used to cooperating with anyone. Ben tried to adapt as much as he could, but it was not enough. There were times when they basically crashed into each other while moving. It was a miracle they didn’t get hurt.

But this also made the situation impossible to comprehend by Redika. The mage eyes were constantly snapping from one person to the other.

‘I guess this works even better.’ Thought Cale. His only concern now was if Choi Han would act out when Beacrox attacked, but that was unlikely. He was hot headed, but not dumb.

He was right but not entirely. Choi Han used the moment when Beacrox struck down to disappear. Cale could only watch as the man decided to run for it, he couldn't send anybody after him for now. They needed to finish their business here first.

“I can easily follow that young man's tracks. Don’t worry, Young master, we can hunt him down.” Ron patted Cale’s head seeing the child’s unsatisfied look about Choi Han escaping the scene.

Hearing the butler actually made Cale have a new type of concern. He was worried for Choi Han now. Imagining Ron initiating a manhunt was scary.

It was a baseless worry though. Choi Han already mastered masking his presence and his tracks. It was a life saving skill in the forest infested with monsters. This was the reason why they stayed unaware of the young man staying behind and watching them eagerly from a safe distance.

Cale nodded, then they decided to approach the swamp where the fight took place.

Beacrox was holding his greatsword to the mage’s neck with one hand while he was keeping his other silencing his mouth. Cale had to admire his arm strength holding the two handed blade with ease in just one.

“Good job, Beacrox.” Said Ron, while putting an anti-magic collar on Redika after binding his hands.

Cale looked at the helpless mage and smiled. Capturing Redika this early meant a lot of changes to the original plot. They were not bad changes though, because the mage would have been the center figure in destroying a wolf beastman village four years from now. Not to mention that the Molans can take out some of their resentment on him.

Then the red haired boy’s eyes travelled to Alberu and Raon. The quarter-dark elf was staring dumbfounded at the huge pool of dark water-like substance. Then both the crown prince and the little dragon took a step towards the swamp, they seemed quite out of it.

“Stop! It contains poison!” Yelled Cale as Alberu seemed compelled to touch the surface of the mana.

“I know, I just never imagined there would be this much of it.” Said the prince.

“Human, I know that’s dead mana, but I feel something familiar in it.” Followed up Raon.

Cale clicked his tongue, and looked at them as if they were stupid children. Well at least one of them really was a child. Then he looked at the black water with concern. The quantity was truly scary.It will take ages to move and clean it from the poison. What if someone just stumbled on it and did what those two dumb idiots almost had done. It was an unreasonable worry as nobody really entered the Forest of Darkness, but Cale wanted to be safe than sorry.

Then he heard the cry baby old man talk in his head:
- There’s something under that lake of dead mana. It feels incomplete, but it contains an ancient power.

This added one more reason to Cale’s list to try and safely contain the mana somehow.

- Do you want to pack that dark liquid up? - Asked the gluttonous priestess. - You have the ability, I can help.

Her saying anything was quite a surprise as she usually didn’t talk much.

“How so?” Asked Cale.

“It’s a bit similar to my mana.” Said Raon as he thought he was the one who was addressed with the question.

“I have an idea why. Something is buried under that pool.” Replayed Cale to the little dragon’s unexpected answer.

Raon tilted his head with interest, but Cale wasn’t in the mood to entertain his curiosity with words for now. Actions spoke more.

- My power has a wood element. You can create roots that will drink all that water up and safekeep it for you.

“Let’s check if I’m right about what’s submerged here..” Smiled Cale.

Cale didn’t think much about it, as he raised his hands at least a dozen white roots sprouted from the ground. They hungrily runned through the ground towards the swamp water. When those roots started to suck up the liquid they quickly turned black.

“Cale?” Asked Alberu with concern.

“The roots will safely store the mana. You don’t have to worry.” Said Cale. His eyes were fixed on the growing roots.

“Not that. Your nose is fucking bleeding. Just stop.” Lashed out the prince, but Cale did not pay much mind to him.

He wiped his nose and stayed focused. Alberu couldn’t believe his recklessness. No, he could totally believe it. It was expected, but his tempere proved to be very short that day, so he was furious again.

This time even the Molans couldn’t fault him for being angry and grabbing the little boy. Cale seemed to be so concentrated he didn’t even notice him holding his shoulders, so Alberu decided to gently shake him.

Nobody from their group saw the action as threatening, as they were fully aware of the situation, but somebody did perceive it that way.

Choi Han, who was watching them thoroughly the whole time, was quite surprised when a small boy appeared at the swamp. Yes, he heard a child’s voice in his head, but it was still hard to believe. The kid was small, and sickly pale with red hair and a very unchild-like facial expression. He was really out of place standing there, looking around nervously. They even had a small black monster with them. They were a really odd group.

So he was quite agitated when he saw the blond man shaking the boy, which after the child coughed blood.

His instincts to protect the weak kicked in, as he couldn't hear them from his hiding spot. Not that he would have understood them even if he could. Because Choi Han had already seen two people from the group fight he was well aware of them being stronger than him, but he needed to interween.

Without hesitation he jumped from his hiding spot and got between the blond man and the red headed boy. He didn’t speak the language, so he growled like an animal as a warning.

The air became tense.

“Aw, look who's back, and I was even looking forward to hunting him.” Ron’s words were light hearted, but they were dripping with killing intent. This feral animal of a young man was keeping them away from their Young master.

Nobody dared to move though. They feared for Cale’s safety, because the black haired man seemed unpredictable and dangerous to them.

Cale knew the situation was bad. He needed to de-escalate it, but it was easier said than done, as his body felt worse by every second now that the Unbreakable Shield finished working.

“Everyone should calm down, he is…” Started Cale, but his sentence ended in a coughing fit.

This actually worked though, because it made Choi Han turn around. The young man’s scared face made Alberu grasp the misunderstanding.

“I think he thought I was hurting Cale.” Mumbled the prince, he wasn’t speaking loudly but everybody heard him. Even with this revelation it was hard to trust the man.

Especially when he saw the man touching Cale, as Choi Han forced Cale’s body to lean forward. He supported the boy with one hand, while he was patting his back with the other. He was trying to make sure Cale wouldn't choke on his own blood.

Alberu wanted to get closer to check on the redhead, but he was stopped by Choi Han’s glare again. He was afraid that the young man would attempt to flee again this time taking Cale with him.

The others had the same concern, except Raon who was still too young to think deeply about possibilities. The little dragon only cared about his human being hurt. So he runned to him without hesitation on his chubby legs after getting through his initial shock.

“HUMAN, please don't die!” Cried Raon. Choi Han’s eyes changed direction to the running little monster, he was stunned to hear it speak something resembling a human language.

Choi Han was clueless what to do. The black lizard-like monster sounded like a child and he was weeping uncontrollably.

Hearing Raon distress made Cale force his choughing to calm, he pushed on the hand supporting him and crouched down immediately to calm the dragon.

“It’s okay, Raon! My insides are fine now.” At that moment he had no strength to lift Raon so he chose to sit down and let Raon climb onto his lap. Then he looked up at Choi Han as he figured out their issue at last. He thought about what to say to the man for a second, then he smiled and used his native language from his last life for the first time in six years. “Sorry for the late introductions. I’m Cale.”

Chapter Text

39th Chapter

The red headed boy was the last person in this strange place who Choi Han would have expected to hear speak in Korean to him. So he had to take a double take:
"Excuse me?"

"Ah, am I so rusty that I'm hard to understand?" Wondered Cale.

It was true that his pronunciation was a bit off. Cale had never attempted to speak his home language in his new body before. Still it should have been understandable in his opinion.

“No, it’s perfectly fine. Sorry,” shook his head Choi Han. “I’m Choi Han. Nice to meet you.”

“Human, what is he saying and what had you just told him?” Asked Raon curiously.

“That, I also would like to know.” Said Alberu with a smile.

“We were just introducing ourselves.” Cale patted Raons little head. He was quite glad the dragon seemed to have forgotten him coughing up blood. Children's attention span seemed to be quite short.

While Cale was occupied with Raon Alberu’s words made Choi Han turn back towards him with hostility, Seeing him take on an attack stance again made Cale intervene really quickly:
“You should stand down. They are with me.”

“But he hurt you.” Nodded Choi Han towards Alberu.

“No, ugh,,, I kind of hurt myself. He has nothing to do with it.” Shook his head Cale. “That reminds me… wait for me here.”

He sweeped Raon off of himself then stood up. The Vitality of the Heart hadn’t finished working so he staggered a bit from the blood loss. Then he walked to the edge of the now empty swamp.

In the middle of it a huge black dragon skeleton could be seen. Everybody’s attention shifted.

“So the dead mana was from a dragon corpse?” Asked Ben in ave.

His reaction was warranted. Dragons were the strongest existence living on these lands, and their remains were really rare as they only left their dead body’s behind when they were killed by someone. Naturally the dead mana produced by their remains were way more potent than anything else's.

“I have to go down there.” Said Cale after a bit of observation. “Raon, can you help me?”

He was way too hungry and tired to use his own powers, and why should he work when the others can fill in for him. The only reason he used the Sound of the Wind to get over the forest’s walls was because Ron and Alberu started arguing.

“You won’t do anything dangerous, right?” Asked the little dragon with worry. Raon's trust in Cale wasn’t the highest at the moment.

“Why would I?” Raised his brows Cale. “And you will be there to protect me anyways.”

“So I can go down with you?” Raon's eyes sparkled. He was quite interested in seeing the huge dead dragon from closer.

“Of course. Why would I stop you?” Nodded Cale, then he looked at the rest of his group.

‘They should be fine, right?’ They were all grown men, who had no reason to attack each other now. He still glanced at them pleadingly. He wanted them to behave for once, and only went down when he heard some reassurance.

“I have no reason to fight with him, if he does not attack me anyomre.” Held up his hands Alberu.

“The Young Master shouldn’t worry, there will be no more bloodshed today.” Joined Ron.

The dragon bones were still half covered by mud. As they went closer the sticky brown substance started to move as if it was alive. It would have been quite a threat if it had any dead mana left in it, but Cale trusted that his powers captured all of it. So he only smiled. He did not mind getting a little dirty. So Cale’s steps didn’t halt for even a second.

- Don’t you find it scary? - Asked an ominous voice.

‘Scary? What would I find scary? The mud?’ Pondered Cale. Even if it still had some dark mana in it, he would have been able to deflect it easily with his shield. Not to mention he felt no ill will behind it. He was quite good at detecting those who really wanted to harm him.

“Nothing is scary when you know it’s just a bluff.” Answered Cale, making Raon think he was reassuring him not to be afraid, because of the oppressing aura coming from the dragon.

“You’re right, Human. This is just some dirty bone pile.” Raon’s voice was cheerful.

The ominous voice started to laugh:
- True, a bluff is only useful when it’s believable. That’s why this power is so great. It can fill your words with authority that a human child like yourself lacks. Do you understand what I mean, kid?

Cale couldn’t stop smiling hearing the voice. This person was a bit similar to him.

“Yes, scamming is a really useful skill.” Grinned Cale. “Will you give it to me?”

As he spoke the mud settled down, and a white crown appeared at the dragon skeleton’s head.

- You proved yourself brave enough, so just take it. - The voice seemed to like his greedy face.

Cale did not hesitate and reached out his hand.

“Human, what’s that crown? Is it something I shouldn’t touch again?” Asked Raon, but Cale paid him no mind.

Instead his fingers confidently glazed the strange object, in that instant the crown bursted into small light particles and disappeared.

“Wow, the aura was coming from that crown, but now it’s origin has changed…” Raon only got this far in his observation before he understood what just happened. “No, Human! You shouldn’t take more ancient powers.”

Then again this one seemed to make Cale seem more powerful so maybe this one was fine. Tried to console himself the little dragon.

“I feel fine. Let’s have a look then go back up to the others.” Saied Cale as he walked around the huge skeleton.

The bones were still black which indicated they were still infused with dead mana, but the dead dragon seemed to be fully intact. It was impressive. Cale could imagine it moving just as it was.

“Human, will I be this big one day?” Raon seemed just as fascinated. He liked the idea, but had his worries also. “But how will I fit into our room then?”

“You can just change shape later and imitate a human.” Shrugged Cale.

“Change shape?” This never occurred to Raon before.

“Of course you don’t have to. Being a dragon is way cooler than any other existence.” Said Cale, misunderstanding the little dragon’s bewildered face, but Raon's line of thoughts were totally different.

He was thinking about how he could walk around openly with Cale, if he could disguise himself as a human. He could also buy and eat candy without any assistance. He could share it with Cale on the streets!

“I want to learn it, Human.” Said Raon in the end.

“Let’s go then. You can ask about it from Whitira, though I don’t think their shape shifting is entirely the same.” Nodded Cale, thinking Raon’s thirst for knowledge was endless.

As they levitated out of the hole left by the dead mana chaos welcomed them again. Beacrox and Choi Han were at each other's throat again, while Ron kept instructing his son.

This time Cale actually was not just annoyed. The air seemed to freeze as his mood changed, making everyone turn his way.

“Didn’t you promise you won’t start a fight?” Asked Cale. A new frightening aura was seeping out of him. The scene of the pressure coming from the small human child was grotesque. It would have felt like a bluff if it wasn’t Cale, but they have seen him in action and knew how scary he could be.

“I only promised there would be no blood.” Smiled Ron. “And the Young Master also promised he wouldn’t do anything dangerous, but… it seems you picked up something new again. Besides this was just a friendly talk between swordsmen.”

Choi Han’s eyes didn’t seem to perceive it that way to Cale though. His hands were all white as he squished his bone sword’s handle.

‘Shit, do I have to calm him down again? What if he thinks of us as enemies now?’ Cale sighed. His power slowly evaporated.

“Beacrox, step back.” Ordered Cale, then he turned to Choi Han. “Would you believe me if I said they just wanted to be friendly with you?”

“Do you have a lot of friends like them?” Growled Choi Han.

“A couple…” Admitted Cale. “Still it’s better to come with us than to stay in this forest. You don’t have to accompany us either after leaving this place. There’s a small village on the edge of this forest. My family has a holiday mansion there, you can stay there for a while.”

“Why are you helping me?” Choi Han was quite suspicious, so he couldn’t surpass the question.

“It’s not free loading, it’s more of a house sitting job, so don’t worry about it.” Shrugged Cale.

‘Well it’s better to follow him for now.’ Choi Han had way too many questions to ask anyway.