After safely getting out of the Magic Tower, Cale ran into Beacrox, who was still guarding his tent. Beacrox pretended like Cale did not exist, and Cale also did not say anything as he entered the tent.
Mueller was, naturally, with him.
Cale let go of Mueller and sat down on the couch. Even without Cale saying anything, Mueller kneeled in front of Cale. Although there was no need to do that, Cale didn’t care and just got straight to the point.
“I will give you a warm bed and a safe place where you will definitely not die. And, eventually, I will also give you your freedom.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Cale crouched toward Mueller, who was still kneeling.
“First, I will let you leave the Whipper Kingdom.”
Mueller’s pupils turned cloudy. He was afraid of both the citizens and other mages. Just leaving this place would make him happy. Cale casually put a brooch on Mueller’s collar.
It was the golden brooch that Mueller tried to take earlier. There was no way Cale did not see it happen. Mueller’s face turned pale.
“I will also give you treasures like this. So, you’ll be able to do a good job with whatever I ask, right?”
“Yes, yes sir! I will definitely do a good job!”
“Then create a blueprint for a castle and a ship.”
“…Excuse me?”
Mueller was said to have the potential to become the greatest developer. What Cale wanted was for him to develop things.
“Something along the lines of the Magic Tower is fine.”
He needed a safe sweet home and a strong method of transportation.
“How should I make it?”
Mueller’s question made Cale think of his family crest.
The Golden Turtle.
There was something that came to mind when he thought of a ship and a turtle. Kim Rok Soo recalled the great Turtle Ship of Korea, but chose not to say anything about it. All he wanted was a ship for transporting and safety. The Turtle Ship of Korea with all of its exciting history was not necessary for him.
“…Our family crest is the Golden Turtle. You figure it out from there.”
Mueller will take care of it. Although he didn’t know what the end result would be, Cale made sure to be stern with Mueller.
“Work hard, as if your life depends on it. On, Hong, keep an eye on him.”
Meeeow!
“Surveillance is fun!”
Mueller was weak against children. In fact, he was very weak against children.
“I, I will work hard!”
Cale listened to his voice as he thought about how he was satisfied with today’s operation.
He could hear the citizens singing by the bonfire. The celebration was still going on even though it was close to midnight.
It was going to be a loud night.
***
The celebration continued until early in the morning, but it was calm after that. However, time still continued to flow during the calm.
“Are you feeling better?”
Cale just waved his hand at Chief Harol’s question.
“So-so.”
Cale was always at the best condition possible thanks to the Vitality of the Heart.
“Isn't it all of you who need to worry about your health?”
Harol and the rest of the Chiefs looked tired. Billos was the same way.
“I am not weak!”
Toonka, who was drunk in the corner, was the same as well. Cale ignored Toonka and continued to speak to Harol.
“Things progressed faster than expected.”
“…There was no point to draw it out.”
Just one day was all it took to make the deal for the Magic Tower. Although it could have taken a long time, trades always progress faster when one side is in a state of urgency.
“Makes sense since you are all in a rush, right?”
No matter what they did, the non-mage faction, which was a collection of the poor, was always going to be lacking money. The royal family would have given all of their money to the mage faction, and there was nothing inside the Magic Tower that was worth anything. But it wasn’t like they could sell the magic devices in the kingdom, since that would only bring down their reputation.
But most importantly, Harol probably wanted to get rid of Cale as fast as possible.
“Did you get a chance to read through the contract, young master-nim?”
“I read it as soon as I got it.”
The total amount was slightly more than ten billion gallons because it included some of the nearby land.
“Don’t worry. I will destroy it within a year.”
The contract stated that, although Cale purchased the Magic Tower, he will also destroy it within a year.
He would also not move the Magic Tower building to another location.
He would also not gather any mages under the Cale Henituse name.
“…I really can’t understand you.”
Toonka glared at Cale like he was someone who came to show off his wealth, but Cale just shrugged his shoulders.
“I just wanted to own the highest view after the Empire’s Bell Tower.”
Toonka looked toward him with disbelief, but just pushed the contract to Cale as if he did not want to think about any more complicated things.
“Just sign it. I promised to spar with your subordinate Hilsman today. Muhahaha!”
Cale’s expression turned stiff as soon as Vice Captain Hilsman’s name was brought up. The Vice Captain was very good at socializing. He had started to talk to the citizens about cooperation. Choi Han had reported how surprising all of it was to witness.
“You just have to stamp here.”
Harol handed an ink pad to Cale. At that moment, Cale and Harol made eye contact. Harol gazed into Cale’s eyes like he was trying to read Cale’s intentions, but Cale just smiled back.
Harol probably did not want to sell the Magic Tower because he was suspicious. However, he had no choice since they had a lot more to gain from selling it. It was difficult to ignore such gains.
“Here, I stamped it so you do it too!”
Toonka refreshingly, and, if we want to be mean, stupidly, stamped his thumb on the contract without any hesitation. Cale also stamped his thumb on two copies of the contract. He then put his copy inside of his pocket. It was now Billos’s turn.
“I, Billos Flynn, as a member of the Flynn Merchant Guild, will serve as a witness and the intermediary for the transfer of funds.”
Toonka nodded his head and reached his hand out and Cale responded to shake his hand.
“Let me know if you need my help to destroy the Magic Tower. I can always help destroy that dirty building.”
“Sure.”
“You can feel proud that you made a deal with us, who will go on to do great things.”
Cale made eye contact with Toonka, who put some more strength into their handshake.
“We will leave a mark in the history of this continent! You can go around saying you know of me! Hahaha!”
History my ass. Well, being defeated does go down in history as well. The contents of volume 5 will soon end. Cale didn’t know what came after that.
“I look forward to it.”
Cale just responded respectfully to Toonka’s words.
The contract was finished.
Cale left the chiefs’ tent and headed back to his own. Billos naturally followed behind him. As soon as Cale entered the tent, he knew why Billos had such a perverted smile on his face.
Cale took the golden plaque out of his pocket and slightly turned it around. With a click, the top of the golden plaque opened like a lid.
“Oh~!”
Billos couldn’t help but admire it as a stamp of the royal crest appeared.
“What are you looking at so amazed?”
Cale laughed at Billos before using the stamp on a note. This stamp with the royal crest would disappear after he used it twice. Cale passed a magic bag over to Billos, who was looking toward the golden plaque with greed.
“Isn’t this the bag I gave-?”
“Open it.”
Billos opened the magic bag that he had sold to Cale.
“…Wow.”
He could see many magic devices that have been shrunk inside of the bag. All of them were magic devices for the nobles and royals. Billos then heard Cale’s voice once again.
“You will receive at least a few more of those bags in the future. Slowly start to sell them after about a month.”
Billos clenched onto the bag and cautiously asked.
“How much do I get?”
“30%.”
“That much?”
Billos could not hide his shock. It wasn’t that 30 percent was large but the Cale that he knew was pretty thorough when it came to things like this. That was why he thought, at max, he would get 20 percent. Especially since these magic devices were no longer available for sale.
“Leader of the merchant guild.”
Cale’s voice accurately landed in Billos’s ear.
“The position that you wanted. You need to quickly take that position. The north and the sea routes will soon be flipped over.”
“…Another war.”
“Don’t tell anyone else.”
“Why would I share such precious information?”
Billos carefully put the magic bag into his pocket.
“Please feel free to give me whatever you want in the future.”
“Sure. If possible, stay in contact with your uncle as well.”
His uncle, Odeus Flynn. The man who was in control of the Roan Kingdom’s Northwestern underworld.
“Why my uncle?”
It would not be long for the Black Dragon, Raon, to get his revenge.
“There’s a reason. No need for you to be curious.”
“I understand.”
Billos did not ask anything else, instead, he handed Cale a magic video communication device. It was a precious item that Billos had worked hard to acquire, but Cale just took it and lightly tossed it onto the bed. Seeing Cale acting like his normal self, Billos started to exit the tent.
“Next time, I will contact you via video, young master-nim.”
“Sure.”
Cale ordered On and Hong as soon as Billos left.
“Bring the children here.”
Meeeow.
A few moments later, Cale looked toward the children that On and Hong had brought before he started to speak.
“The duration is...”
He stopped mid-sentence and let out a sigh. He was frowning as much as possible.
“Hilsman.”
“Yes sir!”
The Vice Captain looked like a mess and smelled like alcohol after enjoying the celebration until the wee hours of the morning. However, his condition seemed to be fine.
According to Beacrox’s report, Hilsman was arm in arm with the citizens and enjoying himself as he got back to his tent.
“Did you enjoy the celebration?”
“Of course! I have made a lot of friends!”
Maybe it was because Hilsman was the jealous type, but he was really a social butterfly.
‘Will It be okay to send such a guy with Lock?’
Cale had some concerns, but there was nothing else he could do at this point. He looked toward Lock, the Wolf children, and Hilsman as he returned to what he was saying.
“The duration is one month.”
Cale was planning on starting his deal with Lock now. He opened up a map on top of the table and pointed to a mountain at the southern end of the Whipper Kingdom.
“Mount Yellia. You just need to go find the item I tell you to find there.”
The ancient power this time was one that was embedded in an item.
“…Umm young master-nim?”
“Yes, Vice Captain.”
“I heard about that mountain before. It has a very high summit, and the peak is said to be covered in snow all year long. I also heard that it is one of the top three most dangerous mountains on the continent.”
“And?”
Cale looked toward Lock instead of Hilsman, who could not answer.
“Can you do it? Yes or no?”
“I can do it.”
Lock answered without any hesitation. He was still timid and naive, but he was much different compared to when he had first met Cale.
“Maes.”
“Yes sir.”
“All of you do not need to go up to the peak. Just support Lock from around the base.”
Maes and the children exchanged glances before responding vigorously.
“Yes sir! We will definitely show you a successful completion of the mission!”
“Uhh, no need to be so passionate about it.”
Cale waved at them before speaking to Hilsman.
“You are the guide. Guide the children well, feed them well, and make sure they get their rest.”
“…So, I don’t have to climb the mountain?”
Hilsman scratched his head as he started to mumble.
“I am a bit afraid of heights.”
What the hell was this kind of guy doing being a Vice Captain? Cale suddenly had a lot of questions about the Henituse family Knights Brigade.
“Do what you want.”
“Yes sir! I will be a great guide and guard for the children! Oh, young master-nim, where should we return to?”
Cale pointed to a location at Hilsman’s question.
“…Over there?”
“Yes.”
“Umm, are you sure you did not point to a wrong spot?”
Hilsman’s eyes could not move away from where Cale was pointing.
It was one of the Western Continent’s 5 Forbidden Regions.
The, ‘Path of No Return.’
It was located in Oorim, a rainforest that rained throughout the year. This path in that forest was one where many travelers went in and never came back. Nobody knew what happened to the people who entered.
It was located at the border between the Whipper Kingdom and the Western Continent. Cale was pointing to that rainforest.
“Vice Captain, there is a small village called Hoik Village by the Path of No Return. It is a small village, as well as the only entrance into the Path of No Return.”
It was a very small village located at the most southern part of the Whipper Kingdom. That village rested at the entrance of this rainforest with no exit.
“Come over there.”
The Path of No Return.
In about a month from now, the Queen of the Jungle will be running amok inside of Oorim with her subordinates. Cale was planning on being her guide at that time.
Choi Han, who had been standing to the side, approached him and asked.
“Then is Hoik Village our next destination?”
“Yes.”
Cale was thinking about the last stage of the first step toward the luxurious slacker life, the ‘money’ step and started to smile. Once he took care of this business with the Queen of the Jungle, he would return to the Roan Kingdom to take care of Raon’s revenge and some trivial things before building a sturdy house.
“We can head there right away once things here are done.”
Cale was meticulously preparing for the future beyond volume 5 that would soon arrive.
***
Three weeks later, Cale arrived at Hoik Village. It was sprinkling.
“…Why are there so many gravestones here?”
Cale looked toward the gravestones that started from the entrance of the village before responding to Rosalyn’s question.
“Hoik Village is a village that was created by the families of the travelers who went in and never came back.”
Their desperate pleas for their loved ones to return as well as the hope that they would someday return had led to them remaining here and building this village. Those people who entered the Path of No Return had entered for many different reasons. However, with them never coming back, their family ended up moving as close to them as possible.
“However, people will eventually give up. Once those hopes turned into despair, well, those gravestones are the results of that.”
The gravestones were placed for their loved ones who they decided would never come back. Hoik Village was more of a village of sorrow rather than a village of hope.
Cale looked toward the large forest beyond the village.
“What a sad place. What are we doing here?”
Cale casually responded to Choi Han’s question.
“Hope.”
“Excuse me?”
“We will be the hope of the jungle.”
Teaser