Anybody would think that this was a normal noble young master travelling alongside his servant and his guard.
‘No. It was originally that kind of combination.’
Cale recalled this fact that he had forgotten about and smiled gently toward the blonde man.
However, things did not go as he had expected.
‘What the?’
The man became even warier of Cale.
His pupils were shaking quite a bit while looking at Ron. The man stared at Ron’s left arm.
Ron’s left arm was the arm made by the necromancer, Mary.
Although it was not visible because Ron usually wore a long sleeve shirt and black gloves, the blonde man was still staring at that covered left arm.
His expression was full of uncertainty, wariness, and chaos.
It was as if he knew that the arm was fake and made of the darkness attribute.
Just looking at it was enough for this man to realize that it had the darkness affinity.
‘…Oh?’
Cale had a suspicion.
His gaze headed over to the blonde man and the blonde woman. They looked different, but oddly similar at the same time, as if they were siblings.
He suddenly thought of something.
‘Magic Bomb.’
And one more thing.
‘The Church of the Sun God.’
And finally.
‘The Saint and the Holy Maiden.’
‘…Damn it, really?’
Why did he have to have such a suspicion?
Cale made up his mind.
‘Let’s pretend not to know anything and just be civil.’
However, that feeling did not seem to be shared by the other party.
“I will not be t, tricked!”
The blonde man went over and hugged the blonde sword master while staring at Cale’s group, specifically, Ron. However, his innocent eyes that looked like one of a young horse that was drench in the rain, just seemed pitiful rather than intimidating.
“I am not sure what you are talking about. We are not tricking you about anything. We just happen to be passing by.”
Ron, who had his usual smile as he slowly approached the blonde man, seemed like the typical villain to Cale.
“D, don’t come here!”
The blonde man seemed to be unable to hear anything as he picked up the woman and slowly started to move backward.
“Ugh.”
‘Ah!”
The unconscious woman let out a moan. The blonde man stopped moving backward and quickly put the woman back down onto the ground.
The gaze of the man who was looking over the woman seemed to be full of anger and resentment as he started to shout.
“You evil beings! First you throw dead mana bombs, and now you’ve even contacted a necromancer?”
‘Hmm? He seems to have the wrong idea.’
Cale realized that this person, whom he suspected to be the Saint, had the wrong idea.
Tap. Tap.
Cale lowered his head after On tapped on his arm to see On looking at him with a gaze that seemed to be asking if they needed to take care of this.
‘Don’t we need to take care of this?’
‘No, not yet.’
However, Cale shook his head.
His intuition was telling him to hold on.
Usually in these situations, the side with the wrong idea tended to spew out useful information.
Furthermore, there was something that he needed to figure out.
‘Dead mana bombs?’
Was it possible to make bombs with dead mana?
Cale thought that the secret organization may have made such a bomb and needed more information. That was why he did not do anything and just observed the situation.
And Ron was moving exactly as Cale wanted him to.
Ron was smiling gently as he deliberately took another step toward the man.
“I really don’t know what you are talking about sir. You seem to have the wrong idea about us.”
Ron’s action of showing that he was innocent made the man start to shout with a gaze that seemed to be saying he would not be tricked again. His voice sounded like someone who had accepted the fact that they may die soon.
“I will protect Hannah now! How could you do such terrible things in the name of the Empire?”
‘…What?’
“The Sun God’s mace will not let you off!”
Veins were popping out on his forehead as he continued to shout.
“The Sun will know of our grudge!”
‘What the? What is this punk talking about?’
Cale’s mind became a bit chaotic. However, the blonde man seemed to have gotten past his fear as he continued to shout without stopping.
Although his face looked innocent, his voice was as loud as a train’s horn.
“Although I may just be the half with the healing abilities! I will not stand still-”
In the end, Cale had to cut the man off.
“Hold on.”
“Ha! I will not stop, even if you try to prevent me from saying any-”
“Hey, hold on!”
The low but strong voice made the blonde man shut up for a moment.
The red-haired man seemed to be annoyed as he let out a strong aura. The pressure from the aura made the blonde man freeze up.
Shaaaaaaaaaa-
It was now quiet in the cave, other than the sound of the rain. Cale could finally start to sort things out in his head. His brain quickly started to process everything.
‘The dead mana bomb is a product of the Empire.’
And these blondes were currently being chased by the Empire.
Cale’s gaze headed over to the blonde woman. The blonde man must have noticed this as he hurriedly hugged the woman, but Cale had already verified what he needed to verify.
There was a good chance that the black marks on her body were the result of being exposed to dead mana.
‘…This is bad.’
Cale had never expected that the Empire would have developed something like a dead mana bomb. The novel had not discussed such a thing.
“Young master-nim.”
Ron’s voice made Cale gather his thoughts and look back toward the blonde man. The man flinched at Cale’s gaze, but bit down on his lips and started to shout.
“I, I will not give in!”
However, the man could not hide his anxiety as the red-haired man slowly approached him. He had not felt such a strong aura in a long time.
It was not just the aura of a strong person, but that of a ruler.
Squeak. Squeak.
Cale’s wet shoes continued to squeak as he approached the blonde man. The blonde man could see that the red-haired man was right in front of him now.
‘No.’
He needed to protect Hannah, his younger sister. The blonde man had always been baggage for his younger sister, had ended up being used by the Church, and was now being chased by the Empire after being framed. He was disappointed in himself.
The red-haired man approached him and looked down at him. That gaze made the blonde man get the chills. The red-haired man, Cale, slowly started to speak.
“Was she injured by the poison from dead mana?”
“…What?!”
He wanted to shout and say, ‘what bullshit.’
However, Cale handed an item to the blonde man.
“It is a highest-grade potion. This should be able to prevent the dead mana from spreading. But you know this already, right?”
For this man who had lost everything, this highest-grade potion was what he had been desperately praying for.
This was the real thing.
The blonde man, the Saint of the Church of the Sun God, could not use his healing abilities on his dying younger sister. The power of the Sun would burn the darkness. Using healing on his sister would lead to his sister being purified along with the darkness instead of healing her.
The blonde man, the Saint, could see the red-haired man smiling gently. The red-haired man then pointed to the person that he had introduced as his servant.
“I know a bit about it as our servant had been injured by dead mana before. Right, Ron?”
Cale pointed to Ron’s left arm as he asked. Ron answered without even having a change in his expression.
“Yes sir. My left arm and body were injured severely. We barely managed to fix it.”
‘Fix it?’
The Saint’s face turned odd, but Cale pretended not to notice as he continued to take out more highest-grade potions from his magic bag.
He had a ton of these highest-grade potions. Raon had packed his bag full of them, to the point that it was scary.
However, Cale only took out ten of them before putting on an awkward smile as he looked back at the blonde man.
“This is all that I have on me. Oh, these are potions were made by the Roan Kingdom’s Church of the God of Death. How about you use these to treat the lady as we resolve this little misunderstanding?”
The Saint’s pupils started to shake.
The Saint had not seen such a genuine smile in a long time. The red-haired man who had that genuine smile on his face said something that resonated with the Saint.
“Isn’t human life the most important thing?”
The Saint quietly stared at the potion that was handed to him with the cap removed.
His younger sister had often said this to him.
‘Oppa, your problem is that you trust people too much. You trust people too easily and say everything without suspecting anything at all. Stop being like that. I guess that is one of your strengths though. Don’t worry. I am strong, so I will protect you.’
He needed to save his younger sister.
At that moment, the Saint could hear the red-haired man continuing to speak.
“Ah, by the way, my name is Cale Henituse, and I am from the Roan Kingdom.”
The blonde man could see a small badge with the golden turtle crest on it.
“…Cale Henituse?”
“Yes.”
Cale answered in a gentle, yet stern voice.
He needed to do this so that this man, as well as the woman who would wake up later, would think of him as a noble who happened to be passing by, and not the man who was pretending to be from the secret organization.
Cale pretended to be a clueless noble young master as he looked at the man he suspected to be the Saint.
“You were Sir Cale!”
‘Hmm?’
The blonde man’s reaction was not what Cale had expected.
“You are right! That red hair! Now I understand why you came to the, ‘Path of No Return.’
Grab.
The blonde man grabbed both the potion and Cale’s hand.
Cale slowly started to pull his hand out.
“…Do I know you?”
“Ah, you see.”
The blonde man put on an innocent smile. Cale wondered how this man’s demeanor could change so quickly.
“The villagers of Hoik Village had told me about you. They said that you helped the villagers get closure and taught them about the secrets of the forest.”
“I did do that.”
Hoik Village was the village at the entrance of the, ‘Path of No Return.’ Cale had bypassed the village to come straight to the forest this time.
“Ever since that happened, the villagers have shared the story about young master Cale Henituse whenever a traveler arrives in time. I happened to overhear it when I was hid-, ah, anyways, I happened to hear about it.”
‘I guess he was hiding out around the village and happened to hear it.’
“They described you as a wise and charismatic noble who had a warm heart.”
“…That’s quite the praise.”
That kind of description did not fit Cale at all.
He had left things for Hans and the Vice Captain to take care of as he headed over to deal with the fire in the jungle. He now seriously wondered how the two of them had taken care of things.
However, Cale had to focus on the man in front of him right now.
The blonde man seemed to have calmed down a bit, as he started to blab on with a relaxed expression.
“Yes, Queen Litana-nim always brought you up whenever she talked about a good person.”
“…Who?”
‘What the hell is he talking about? Why does the Saint know about Litana?’
“Ah, that.”
The man seemed to have realized his mistake as he put on an awkward expression and started to make up an excuse.
“The Queen of the Jungle. We had an conversation with her when we went to the Jungle in the past. She’s just someone we know.”
It definitely did not sound like they just had a simple interaction.
The Saint quickly continued to speak.
“My younger sister and I are just your average people. We were helped by the Queen.”
‘Haaa. How could he say such an obvious lie?’
Cale held back his sigh and nodded his head.
“I see. Let us heal her first.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Ron, help him.”
“Yes, young master-nim.”
The Saint flinched when Ron approached, but he bowed his head after seeing Ron carefully taking out a cloth to help him.
Cale observed the two of them before standing up.
“Then I will step outside for a moment. Choi Han.”
“…Yes, Cale-nim.”
Cale pointed to the entrance of the cave.
“Stand there and protect them.”
“…Yes, Cale-nim.”
Listening to Choi Han’s half-assed answer and seeing the increased level of trust in the Saint’s eyes, Cale wondered how this extremely trusting Saint would continue to live on in this world as he patted Beacrox on the shoulder.
“Let’s go look around the area. It would be bad if a wild animal or monster showed up while they are tending to the patient.”
“Yes sir, I understand.”
Beacrox responded like a trustworthy guard and followed behind Cale. Cale walked by Choi Han, who was standing at the entrance, and quietly whispered.
“Choi Han, keep your eye on them.”
Choi Han finally seemed to understand, as he nodded his head with a serious expression.
“Yes, Cale-nim. I. Will. Do. My. Best. To. Guard. Them.”
Choi Han’s bad acting showed itself again. Cale, as well as Beacrox, ignored Choi Han and headed out of the cave. The rain had slowed down to a light drizzle, making it okay to stand outside with their raincoats on.
"Beacrox.”
“Yes sir.”
“I don’t have a mage to use the video communication device. I’ll give you a message to deliver.”
Beacrox asked with a stoic expression.
“For Toonka?”
Cale was a bit touched. Beacrox seemed to understand what was on his mind without needing him to explain it in detail.
It would be too much of a disadvantage for Toonka’s side if they fought against the Empire without knowing about their dead mana bombs. He could not keep this information to himself.
“Yes. Deliver the message to Toonka. Don’t you think that they need to know this information to be able to fight at a similar level?”
However, contrary to what Cale was thinking, Beacrox said something else.
“You seemed to be worried about him.”
“Who? Toonka?”
“Yes sir.”
Cale was silent for a moment before he started to speak again.
“Just don’t say anything and go.”
Beacrox’s stoic expression slowly turned into a smile as he nodded his head. It was an expression that seemed to say that he really couldn’t do anything about this young master of his.
Cale did not give any other explanation, even after seeing Beacrox’s expression.
Cale knew about Toonka’s battle tactics.
He was the type to just push aside his injured soldiers and move forward.
Toonka was the type to think that it was only natural for weak people to be left behind, injured, or killed.
Harol was the same way.
Both Harol and Toonka just did whatever they felt like doing. Harol’s greed revolved around getting rid of magic on the entire continent, while Toonka’s greed revolved around fighting and getting stronger.
‘The people under them shouldn’t have to suffer just because their leaders are a mess.’
If he was worried about anybody, it was not Toonka, but the soldiers following Toonka’s orders.
Who would be the most injured by those bombs?
Furthermore, it was difficult to recover from being poisoned by dead mana. You needed to use highest-grade potions in order to prevent the dead mana from spreading.
Would Harol use highest-grade potions on their soldiers?
What about Toonka?
Absolutely not. Toonka was the type to have completely ignored Cale if he had acted like a weakling.
Cale gave an order to Beacrox, who was waiting for his command.
“You don’t need to go all the way to Toonka. Rosalyn is nearby, so deliver the message to her and she’ll be able to relay the message. That will be faster. Oh, and tell prince Alberu as well.”
“Yes sir. I understand.”
Rosalyn and Beacrox together would be able to take care of everything properly.
Beacrox showed a bit of curiosity as he asked in a quiet voice.
“Young master-nim, they are?”
“I presume that they are the twins from the Church of the Sun God.”
“…The two on the run?”
Cale observed Beacrox’s expression for a bit before starting to speak.
“Yes. And that woman in there is the sword master from the secret organization that we fought against at the Hais Islands.”
“…That woman?”
“Yes. So hurry back. I will take care of making an excuse for your departure.”
The corner of Beacrox’s lips started to twist. The secret organization had brought his father to the brink of death. Cale casually commented to Beacrox, who was quickly turning angry.
“Trust me and Ron and hurry back.”
“That’s very reassuring.”
Beacrox nodded his head. His father and young master Cale would be fine. Furthermore, they had the strong Choi Han with them, so there should be no dangerous situations.
Meeeeow.
On meowed in order to show that she was there as well. Beacrox smiled and reached his hand out to Cale.
“Please give me the message.”
Cale sent Beacrox off with the message and slowly headed back to the cave.
“Cale-nim, you’re back.”
“Yes.”
Cale entered the cave while being greeted by Choi Han. Ron still had his benign smile on his face. Choi Han and Ron did not say anything, even though Beacrox was not with Cale.
Cale quickly approached the Saint who was worriedly looking at the blonde sword master.
“How is it? Is the lady doing a bit better?”
“Ah yes. The dead mana in her body is slowly-.”
It was at that moment while the Saint was speaking with a bright expression that something happened.
“Mm.”
The blonde sword master let out a moan. Her eyelashes started to flutter as if she would open her eyes soon.
“Ha, Hannah!”
The Saint called out what Cale presumed to be the sword master’s name as the woman slowly opened her eyes.
“…Oppa.”
“Hannah!”
The Saint called out his sister’s name and hugged her.
Cale wrote something on Ron’s palm while the twins were having their moment.
‘Part of Arm.’
Ron’s gaze turned cold while Cale pretended not to know anything as he smiled at the Saint who was looking at him.
“I’m relieved.”
“Young master-nim, my sister is awake thanks to you. Thank you very much!”
Cale received a look of gratitude from the Saint, as well as a look of confusion from the sword master, as he put on his most noble-like smile.
There was still a lot of things that he needed to find out from the two of them.
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