Cale patted Billos’s shoulder. BIlos’s eyes filled with anticipation as Cale started to speak.
“So work hard if you need some treasure.”
It was an indifferent command, but Billos still responded with excitement.
“As hard as you need me to work, hehe.”
Cale shook his head after seeing that Billos was clearly excited. He knew that there was a lot going on BIllos’s mind, but that Billos was putting up this front.
‘Since I didn’t explain it thoroughly.’
All he had told Billos was two words.
Magic Device. Billos had heard only those two words. Cale observed Billos leaving to work before turning to look at a certain person.
He was looking at the person who needed to be the most cautious in the Whipper Kingdom.
Rosalyn.
The mage needed to be careful if she did not want to get hurt or even killed. Cale found her standing on the deck and approached her. It was so that he could warn her.
“...Miss Rosalyn.”
But there was no need to do that. Cale stopped to think about what to say.
“What is it, young master Cale?”
Cale had to ask after hearing the calm in her voice.
“Is that a club in your hand?”
The club in Rosalyn’s hand was causing strong gusts of wind as she swung it around. She looked like she was used to this. He could also see a light leather armor underneath her robe as she refreshingly answered Cale’s question.
“It is indeed a club. Whether it is a magic staff or a club, they’re all the same when you use it to hit something.”
“You are very wise.”
Cale was honestly in admiration as he gave her a thumbs up. There was no need for him to warn her about moving around the Whipper Kingdom as a mage.
“Wise? I just wanted to make sure things didn’t become difficult for everyone else because of me. I may not look like it, but I learned a variety of basic martial arts when I was young.”
Tap. Tap.
Rosalyn lightly tapped her other palm with the club. As part of the royal family, especially as the eldest child in line for the throne, she had learned self-defense, as well as some other basic martial arts.
Her gaze suddenly became chilly.
“I also wanted to take a look at this place with my own eyes.”
Cale started to smile. Rosalyn, the liege in charge of the new Magic Tower in the future, was a very just person like Choi Han. That was why she was able to grow together with her party members. However, she also had a definite goal as well as a cold rationality. The Whipper Kingdom would give her some complicated feelings, as well as an opportunity to learn.
Cale followed Rosalyn’s gaze to look toward the port.
This was the least destroyed port in the Whipper Kingdom because it was the smallest one and because the regular citizens used it quite frequently. However, there were not many ships going in and out of the port, and the faces of the people getting off of the few ships arriving were very gloomy. However, the faces of the people living here were bright.
‘Many of the citizens who were treated like slaves at the Magic Tower live here.’
Cale could see pillars of black smoke in the distance. Civil Wars always left behind destruction in their paths.
“Young master-nim, we can move now. The carriage is prepared.”
“Great.”
Cale nodded at Billos’s statement and got off the ship. He started to speak after taking his first step into the Whipper Kingdom.
“It doesn’t smell that good.”
Cale sniffed the musky smell of the burnt and destroyed buildings as he headed to the residence Billos had prepared for him. He started to speak to Billos once he got to his room.
“You prepared quite well.”
Cale complimented Billos, who had prepared the quietest residence by the port, a carriage with the Flynn Merchant Guild crest, as well as all of the other tiny details.
Billos shrugged his shoulders as Cale asked one more thing.
“Did you make sure to do it quietly without others knowing about it?”
“Isn’t that only natural?”
Cale smiled and responded back after seeing the greedy gaze in Billos’s eyes.
“I knew I liked you.”
“You as well, young master-nim.”
Cale leaned on the couch as he casually asked.
“Victory?”
Billos slowly nodded his head with a sincere expression.
“Yes. It was as you explained, young master-nim.”
“I see.”
In the end, no, as expected, the non-mage faction had been victorious. Cale had arrived right on time for the end of the Civil War.
There was only one thing that signaled the end of the Civil War.
The destroyed Magic Tower.
The fall of the mages’ final fortress signaled the end of the Civil War. Of course, there were still things to take care of afterward the war.
“That non-mage faction was wilder than I had expected.”
Billos started to frown as he described the Civil War.
“They seem like they are not afraid of death and like they are only focused on killing mages.”
Billos’s shoulders shook a bit as he tried to recall how it looked before the Civil War compared to the current situation. These two periods of time were the best time for him to make some money.
However, he had seen much more than that.
“They were especially scary whenever the citizens with magic resistance showed up in large numbers or took the vanguard.”
The biggest influence in the battle between the mage faction and the non-mage faction was this, ‘magic resistance.’
These citizens with magic resistance were slowly born through the generations, and the fact that there were only a few of them, as well as the fact that they could not learn any magic, made their lives difficult in the Whipper Kingdom.
However, these citizens with magic resistance were born in large numbers during this generation, which ended up becoming an advantage for the non-mage faction.
The citizens considered this as a sign from nature that they were to kill those arrogant mages who believed they could rule over nature with their mana.
“This is especially true for the person named Toonka, the one in charge of the non-mage faction.”
Cale was just silently listening.
“That man and his direct subordinates really seemed to move based on instinct. I saw him just once from a distance and he was pulling a mage’s neck off with his bare hands. You don’t know how terrifying that was to witness.”
Sigh.
Billos let out a sigh as he shook his head.
“I couldn’t even sleep properly that night. Just thinking about Toonka and his direct subordinates still makes me feel sick.”
Billos had made up his mind to absolutely avoid those people. It didn’t feel like he could communicate with them. Thankfully, the staff around Toonka were smart and easy to talk to.
“It must have been very cruel.”
Billos wildly nodded his head at Cale’s short response.
“Yes, it was very cruel. The corpses of those mages who were torn to shreds while they were still alive are hanging outside all of the castles.”
However, Billos did not say that that was bad.
“Well, I’m sure even that is not enough in the Whipper citizens’ perspectives.”
Billos understood how they were feeling. Furthermore, as someone who was making money off of the Civil War, he was not in the position to say either side was good or bad.
“But, young master-nim.”
“What is it?”
Billos started to smile as he asked Cale a question. Cale’s response felt cold, but Billos did not budge.
“Where are we headed to now?”
Billos was very curious about their destination, as well as what the treasure was. He could see Cale, who had been quietly listening to everything he had to say, start to smile.
This smile filled Billos with anticipation. Cale then started to speak.
“To meet Toonka.”
“...Excuse me? Who?”
Billos thought that he had heard wrong. The fact that he had not been able to sleep properly for a while may have affected his hearing.
Cale continued to speak while looking at the confused expression that he had seen for the first time appear on Billos’s face.
“We are going to the Magic Tower.”
“What?”
There were many reasons Cale had selected this very small port. It was the closest port to the Magic Tower, one out of the battle areas, and one where many of the citizens still lived.
Cale leisurely continued to speak to Billos, who had a blank expression on his face but seemed to be thinking about a lot of things right now.
“Just trust me.”
Billos opened and closed his mouth a few times before jumping up and heading over to the cabinet in order to take out a bottle of alcohol. He then started to chug it and only stopped after emptying about half of the bottle into his mouth.
“I will trust my instincts.”
“And what do your instincts say?”
Billos took out a new bottle and handed it to Cale.
“My instincts are telling me to follow you, young master-nim.”
Cale took a gulp straight from the bottle.
“You have pretty good instincts. It is perfect for a merchant.”
Cale seemed to be very relaxed. Bellos clenched onto the bottle in his hand as he looked past Cale’s shoulders and out the window.
Although the official Civil War was over, there were still screams throughout the Whipper Kingdom as all of the mages were not caught just yet. Madness, despair, sorrow, these were all still plentiful in the air.
“This tastes great.”
Billos decided to follow his instincts even more after seeing Cale so calm.
***
A few days later, Cale stepped out of the carriage with the Flynn Merchant Guild crest. There were three more carriages behind him as well.
“Young master-nim, this is as close as we can get to the Magic Tower in a carriage.”
Cale could see the destroyed Magic Tower in the distance, but it was much less destroyed than he had expected.
“He really kept his promise about not destroying it much.”
Toonka had listened to what Cale had said.
“It is a beautiful Magic Tower.”
Billos seemed to be in a daze next to Cale. At that moment, Cale took someone out of his pocket and showed a small corner of it to Billos.
“Gasp!”
Billos let out a gasp.
The golden plaque.
He only saw a bit, but that was definitely a golden plaque. Billos’s gaze instantly changed.
“Young master-nim, I respect you very much.”
Cale just ignored Billos as Hans approached him.
“Young master-nim, what do you plan to do now?”
Hans asked what Cale was going to do as he looked around. They were currently around the entrance of a base that was created in front of the Magic Tower.
They could see lots of huts and houses. In fact, it seemed more like a village than a base based on the size. They could also see uniquely colored people as well. They were the citizens of the Whipper Kingdom.
There were also other odd people as well. This made Hans’s eyes start to quiver.
“Mmph!”
He then subconsciously covered his mouth with his hand. There were people who looked like warriors, but they were covered in blood and chopping up some corpses. They could tell that the corpses were wearing robes. These were all corpses of mages.
Behind the corpses were the chopped off heads of the mages rolling on the ground.
The scent of blood and rotting flesh overwhelmed Hans’s nose as he started to hear the sound of corpses burning behind him.
“Take a break if it’s too much.”
Hans turned to look at the calm Cale and realized that everybody else around him was composed. Even Maes and the children, whom he recently learned were Wolves, were calmly observing the situation in front of them.
“Hans.”
“...Yes, young master-nim.”
“This is a battlefield.”
Hans could feel the weight of those words. At the same time, he clearly looked into Cale's eyes that were coolly observing the entire battlefield.
Teaser