The young boy with his head down. Cale could also see Rosalyn who was looking at Lock with a concerned expression.
He was a Beast person who could not go berserk even after his first berserk transformation had already passed.
Rosalyn did not know what to say as this was the first time she had heard about such a situation. It made it even more difficult for her to say anything to the weakened Lock as she herself had gotten much stronger in the past few months.
Plop.
The tent’s entrance was lifted up and someone shouted inside.
“Commander-nim, the Roan Kingdom's forces have arrived.”
They were calling for Rosalyn.
She was the commander for all magic in the Breck Kingdom.
She had come back to her senses thanks to the person outside.
The Roan Kingdom's forces.
Although they were not large in number, friends that she could trust to cover her back were coming. It was a happy and welcomed arrival. At the same time, she recalled the upcoming battle and knew that she needed to hurry.
However, Lock’s current situation made her hesitate.
She heard a quiet voice at that moment.
Pat.
“Why is a young boy like you so skinny?”
“Let’s go.”
Lock fidgeted and could not move.
“Raon, push him.”
Those words made Lock flinch. He could then feel a small paw gently pushing his back.
“Everybody wants to see you! Let’s go, Lock!”
Although he was invisible, Lock could feel Raon's existence based on his paw and his voice. Lock thought about the people waiting for him, as well as the Dragon pushing him as he bit down on his lips and slowly started to walk.
He was extremely weak if he could not enter his berserk state.
He was still stronger than the normal person, but compared to the others, compared to his family, he was so weak that he was likely to be a burden.
That was why he was not confident enough to greet them.
Cale started to speak as soon as the young boy stopped right in front of him.
“Focus on my back. Follow behind me and don't think about anything else.”
Pat, pat.
He could feel the small paw patting him on the back as well.
The flap covering the tent entrance was completely lifted.
Lock could see the Breck Kingdom's people standing in formation outside the tent.
The Gorge of Death.
Many people had been stationed at different spots on the long and dangerous gorge ever since a few days ago. They were using magic in order to stealthily hide their movements.
This was the spot where the largest number of people were gathered.
Rosalyn and the leaders of the Breck Kingdom were all here.
Lock could see the leaders and their forces standing outside. They had all gathered here in order to see a single person.
The Roan Kingdom’s northeast region's commander.
They were all waiting for him.
Lock could see Cale heading out of the tent. He had heard a lot about the war while spending time with some of the Breck Kingdom’s mages at the Gorge of Death.
However, Lock then heard Cale's voice.
"Are you not coming?”
Cale still had his back toward Lock, but he was standing there without moving.
Lock then felt two gentle pushes on his back. One was Rosalyn, while the other was the invisible Dragon.
Lock slowly started to walk.
He no longer paid any attention to the Breck Kingdom's leaders outside the tent. He walked while only looking at Cale's back. That was why he seemed curled up as he looked down at the shorter Cale, however, nothing was preventing him from walking forward anymore.
Cale started to walk as he looked around.
There was a large number of people gathered here. However, the majority of the Breck Kingdom's forces were stationed at the closest city next to the Gorge of Death, ready to move at any moment.
Cale looked toward Rosalyn, who walked up to him and started to speak.
“Are all the troops moved?”
“Yes, young master Cale. We installed teleportation magic circles at multiple points around the gorge, while the knights and soldiers will all gather early tomorrow morning.”
The information about the Indomitable Alliance was currently being sent through Clopeh Sekka.
The Roan Kingdom had decided that it was better for the Indomitable Alliance to not know about Clopeh and the Paerun Kingdom's betrayal until later.
Early the next morning.
That was the time Clopeh had said the Indomitable Alliance would make their move.
“Young master Cale, the number of forces we are currently moving should not seem odd, even if the Indomitable Alliance manages to notice it.”
“Of course.”
As Rosalyn mentioned, the number of people that were already at each spot seemed normal and not as if they were preparing for battle.
The Indomitable Alliance had not given up yet.
In that case, where else could they strike?
Anybody would be able to tell that it would be the Breck Kingdom.
People could not easily believe it because of the Gorge of Death, however, it would seem normal that the Breck Kingdom would send approximately 100 soldiers to places around the Gorge of Death, just in case.
Rosalyn started to speak.
“The Roan Kingdom and Breck Kingdom's Mage Brigades will be able to properly show themselves this time.”
Cale looked at Rosalyn’s confident smile and chuckled.
This was the Mage Brigade’s true leader.
Rosalyn had not shown herself until now.
She was a highest-grade mage with the qualifications to be a future Magic Tower Master.
She had spent the last few months strengthening herself and her magic abilities. The thought of using that power for the first time was making her mind run wild right now.
Cale recalled one piece of information Clopeh had provided after hearing Rosalyn’s thought.
‘The Flame Dwarf tribe will supposedly play a big role in the upcoming attack. They said that they found a way to freely move across the Gorge of Death.’
‘However, they will not reveal the method until right before the attack. It looks like they are seeking redemption for the ships at the Caro Kingdom. I think they are trying to exaggerate their abilities by revealing it at the last possible moment.’
‘Anyway, I will let our Roan Kingdom know as soon as I find out, so it shouldn’t matter, right? Hahahaha!’
Cale started to frown after recalling Clopeh’s crazy laugh as well. He would only trust half of what that crazy bastard said from now on.
Rosalyn did not see Cale's expression as she pointed to a side.
“Ah, young master Cale. You know Count Ecross, right?”
Cale’s gaze headed toward where Rosalyn was pointing.
Count Ecross.
He was the number one disciple of the top mage in the Breck Kingdom, making him the second-ranked mage in the entire Breck Kingdom. Of course, Rosalyn was not a part of that ranking.
Cale clearly remembered how Ecross had ignored and looked down on him when he visited the Gorge of Death last time.
Count Ecross flinched as soon as they made eye contact. He subconsciously gulped.
Ecross clearly remembered how Cale had come with the Tiger tribe earlier in the year. The Cale from back then and Commander Cale in uniform today felt extremely different.
It could not be helped as Ecross had heard about everything Cale had done.
The battle at the Henituse territory, the battle at the Roan Kingdom's northeast region’s shores, and finally, the battle in the Caro Kingdom.
All of those deeds had made Count Ecross embarrassed about his past actions, however, he felt relief knowing that the Cale who came to assist the Breck Kingdom was reliable.
“Long time no see, Count Ecross.”
“Yes, Commander Cale-nim. It has been a while.”
Count Ecross subconsciously used respectful language toward Cale, however, neither of them realized the change.
I knew he would be like this!
Raon had realized it, but Cale did not have time to pay attention to him.
“Commander-nim.”
“Cale-nim.”
Cale could see a group of people walking toward him from the other side.
They were the Roan Kingdom's First Knight’s Brigade and the Mage Brigade.
Finally, there was Choi Han, Mary, and the rest of his group.
Count Ecross looked toward the main characters responsible for the Roan Kingdom's victory and took a small step back. They had already won two battles. The aura around them was completely different than his own.
Cale looked at the people around him and started to speak.
The Dwarves’ method of crossing the gorge, the Lion tribe and Bear tribe, and even the enemy soldiers that will come with them.
They needed a good plan that would make all of them walk on top of their palms.
Cale headed back to the tent with Rosalyn and the other leaders and passed by Lock, who was standing behind him. He walked by and said something to Lock.
“Let’s eat dinner together tonight.”
Cale saw that Choi Han, Mary, and the others who were not a part of the meeting surround Lock and continued to walk without any second thoughts.
“What are you doing? Are you not going to eat?”
This tent had been created for Cale.
A decent dinner table was set up in this quite large tent that was imbued with soundproof magic.
Cale continued to eat the food in front of him and peeked toward the other side.
“Did the Breck Kingdom not feed you?”
“N, no, they did.”
Kim Rok Soo had once had to starve in the past. He did not enjoy seeing children looking so skinny. Although Lock had always looked feeble and his tall height made him skinny from the start, he seemed even thinner now.
Cale looked at Lock, who was holding a fork but unable to eat anything, before turning his gaze back to his plate.
Lock flinched and looked at Cale.
Only Ron, Cale, and Lock were at the table. The others were eating dinner together elsewhere. Lock knew the reason Cale had prepared this meal for just the three of them. He slowly started to speak.
“…Really, I really trained very hard. I wanted to show you that you were right to trust me, and so I trained as hard as I could.”
‘I trust you.’
Lock had trained endlessly at the Gorge of Death in order to thank Cale for trusting him. He had worked so hard, such that he had almost passed out numerous times.
Every day felt so long at the Gorge of Death if he did not do that.
But most importantly, he didn't want to be left behind as his friends got stronger.
“I pushed myself harder and harder after hearing about how Choi Han-hyung and the others performed during the battles.”
The story of how they had protected the Henituse territory.
The story about the battle at the Roan Kingdom’s shores.
Hearing those stories had made his heart beat wildly.
‘My family did these things!’
He was so proud that he wanted to share it with everybody while being thankful that they were okay.
He had a wonderful tool to assist him.
The diary that Cale had given him.
That diary had been written in someone's blood.
Cale had read that diary as well. He looked toward Lock.
“This was written inside the diary.”
The reason Cale had left Lock here alone had to do with the diary as well. The young boy started to recite what he had read in the diary.
“Wolves need to know about loss and loneliness. Only when they are alone can they realize the importance of those that are precious to them and become stronger.”
Lock did not disagree with the statement.
He agreed with the old diary. The words written in dry blood were correct.
He too had gone through his first berserk transformation when he had lost the Blue Wolf tribe and his family. That was when he had first found a way to get stronger.
“Although a Wolf may shed its own blood, it will not allow those precious to it to bleed.”
Lock had agreed with the Wolf King here as well.
It was better for him to bleed than for those precious to him to bleed. He really believed this to be the case.
“I read that over and over and trained really hard. But…”