Trash of the Count's Family-Chapter 287Book 2: : Cale-nim over Dragons (1)
<Cale-nim over Dragons (1)>
“Hoo hoo hoo.”
Clopeh quietly laughed.
The smile on his concerned face with his white hair and green eyes made him look truly holy.
– Yes, I get it now, Cale.
The Super Rock started speaking seriously.
– When the entire world turns white because it snows for days without stopping…
– When you see the beautiful green light of the unbelievable only tree that survives across the white world…
– The moment the snow suddenly stops, the sun reveals itself and you see the light…
– As the sunlight sparkles on the green leaves of this tree…
– That holy feeling…
The Super Rock was extremely serious as if his questions until now had disappeared.
– That holy feeling is fundamentally a part of this crazy bastard's smile.
‘Haaa.
Did you need all those words to say that?’
Cale was flabbergasted but he kept his mouth closed.
It was because it was annoying to retort, but he couldn't help but scowl at what the Super Rock said next.
– Of course, it is lacking compared to your smile when you are about to scam somebody.
‘What the hell is this damn cobblestone saying?’
Cale couldn't help but sigh. He had no idea what Clopeh understood that sigh was for, but the smiling Clopeh opened his mouth.
“The legend started the day I first met Cale-nim. I was super foolish and did not know Cale-nim’s words were the truth. I placed my own greed on top of it and had some stupid thoughts. I was truly, truly an idiot.”
‘What is this crazy bastard saying?’
Cale frowned even more.
Clopeh didn't care and the gentle gaze he was looking at Cale with moved over to Pope Casillia as he continued to speak.
“Greed prevents you from truly seeing the path you wish to walk.”
“…….”
The Pope silently looked at Clopeh. Clopeh didn’t care and continued to speak.
“The result of foolish actions is probably a futile death. You would also be forgotten without leaving anything behind. If that is not what you wish for, it would be better to follow Cale-nim’s words and leave behind one great story.”
“…….”
Pope Casillia stared at Clopeh before turning her gaze.
This white-haired sword master…
He is extremely scrupulous.
You can’t try to hear everything he says or even put in effort to comprehend the meaning behind his words.
‘The ends of his words are like that of a wicked snake.’
You couldn’t trust anything he says.
No. There was one thing you could believe.
‘Blind faith.’
Cale Henituse.
Clopeh's loyalty toward this man was almost like lunacy.
It seemed even more obsessive because he did not show it openly.
‘And this guy’s master knows his true nature and is using it effectively.’
That was Pope Casillia's assessment based on how Cale had scowled at Clopeh.
As for Cale, he was deep in thought.
‘Why is this crazy bastard saying such nonsense in such a cool way?’
He was thinking about whether he should not have kept this crazy bastard by his side.
Cale was indeed regretting his decision, but he snapped out of his thoughts as the Pope started to speak.
“We plan on moving to Axion's castle around tomorrow afternoon.”
The Third Saint Dragon… Axion was called the God of Earth.
< The First Saint, Ryan, gives off the feel of the Dragon Lord’s trusted subordinate while Axion is the Dragon Lord's sword. >
Cale had gone to see Epley’s island with Raon and Eruhaben before coming here.
‘Human… Everything blew up.’
‘Apparently so.’
The area they arrived at by teleportation was completely scorched.
There were no traces left of the island and the sea was boiling.
It could seem weird that a single explosion was still causing aftershocks, but the reason was clear.
‘It is because of the foundation of this world.’
Eruhaben clicked his tongue while seeing the sea boiling like lava.
‘Ryan’s mana returned to nature the moment he exploded. But the foundation of this world is a power that does not disappear and tries to remain in this world.’
As a result, the foundation of this world that had lost its master was causing this eccentric phenomenon in the sea.
‘Mm. I suppose we need to leave it like this for a while.’
There was no way to immediately fix the phenomenon in the sea by Epley's island.
Of course, Cale knew a way to do it.
‘…We just need to flip things over once.’
Then this weird phenomenon would disappear from the sea.
‘But it looks like there is no chance of Epley coming here to get anything. I guess I was wrong about her coming back here.’
Eruhaben looked toward the location of the disappeared island and made a comment.
‘I thought we may have to find and take Ryan’s remains, but it doesn't seem like he left any traces of himself behind because of the foundation.’
When a Dragon dies naturally, all of its existence scatters back to nature.
Ryan had chosen to overload, so his death could be seen as natural, but he didn't want to die in the end. Eruhaben thought that desire to live may have resulted in his corpse being left behind.
No matter how despicable that bastard was, he considered it his duty as an ancient Dragon to recover his remains.
‘Hmm. That’s too bad.’
There was also one more reason.
‘I wanted to figure out how a Dragon was able to handle that black thing.’
Ryan had easily controlled that black liquid.
Dead mana was a critical poison to most living creatures.
It was especially so for a Dragon because of their closeness to mana. Eruhaben wanted to figure out the secrets to Ryan handling that black liquid.
‘I'm sure we will be able to figure out some of the secrets if we keep fighting, Eruhaben-nim.’
‘I'm sure that will be the case.’
Eruhaben, Raon, and Cale held back their disappointments and returned from Epley’s island.
Cale snapped out of his thoughts and opened his mouth.
“I guess Axion is the only one remaining of the Three Saint Dragons.”
Casillia flinched in response.
‘…He supposedly killed Ryan and got Epley to run away.’
The Pope, who had already confirmed the validity of those claims, spoke calmly.
“Yes sir. There are also dozens of Dragons left. The Dragon Lord as well.”
Cale smiled as he responded.
“Those will all come to an end as well as we take care of things one at a time.”
Axion, the Third Saint Dragon.
He was a Dragon who was said to be the strongest after the Dragon Lord.
The path to the World Tree existed in his lair.
The World Tree.
Cale needed to go there to see it but there was also something else that came to his mind as soon as he thought of the World Tree.
“Pope Casillia, you said that the Elves live in Axion's castle?”
“Yes sir. Most of the Elves of this world follow Axion.”
Cale added on to the Pope’s response.
“Is that why all of the Inquisitors follow Axion’s orders?”
“…It is.”
Axion had given an order to the church.
‘Everybody is to gather here.’
Everybody naturally included the Pope, the Bishops, and the Inquisitors.
“He is also gathering the 10 Dragon gods?”
Casillia nodded her head.
“Yes sir. The church must attend but he gave the ten Dragon gods the option to attend while recommending that they do come.”
“Then do you believe that the ten Dragon gods will all gather?”
Clopeh interjected at that moment.
“Cale-nim. Shouldn't you call them the six Dragon gods now?”
The way he spoke quietly and gently also came with a frosty gaze toward the Pope.
"We’ve taken care of four of them already.”
Ryan, Epley…
As well as Kendall and Cisco who were imprisoned in the Black Castle…
“Oh my, we have done so much already. But there are still so many Dragons for us to fight.”
Clopeh looked at the Pope with a calm smile on his face.
“I believe that you would be very disappointed with the current situation, your Holiness. Isn’t that right?”
We have done a lot so you guys do some work too.
Cale had a slightly satisfied smile on his face seeing Clopeh saying this to the Pope.
‘Clopeh really is the best among the people by my side for things like this.’
As Cale finally managed to find a positive thing about Clopeh, the Pope opened her mouth with a stiff expression on her face.
“I am aware of that as well, sir. The Bishops and the Holy Knights will move per my orders and are planning to do as much as possible. However-”
Her voice trailed off.
Cale was very much aware of why.
There was a reason he had come a day earlier when he could have come tomorrow to head to Axion's castle with her.
“You are concerned about the Empire?”
Cale quietly laughed.
He walked over and sat on a chair near the table. He then placed his harm on the table.
Tap. Tap.
He tapped on the table with his index finger before continuing to speak.
“Axion told the Empire, specifically the Emperor, to come to the castle as well.”
Cale let out a short chuckle.
It was as if he couldn't believe it.
“He also told the Emperor to bring the other human kings with him as well. Mm-”
Cale trailed off for a moment before continuing.
“I guess we can see it as a form of a mobilization order? It sounds like he wants to drag the humans into their fight to use as shields.”
The Earth Elemental of an Inquisitor had headed to Axion's castle.
Axion had heard about what happened in the Haru Kingdom from the Elemental and must be thinking about going up against the Haru Kingdom, Cale's group, as well as the Beast people.
This was the reason he was dragging in the Church as well as the other nations on the continent to expand the playing field.
He was planning on using that to pressure Cale's side until they fell.
‘Axion probably sees no reason to get his own hands bloody.’
According to the information he received, Axion was the Dragon Lord's sword but not the type to personally step in very often.
It was the reason Ryan was able to take the place as the Dragon Lord’s trusted subordinate.
Axion was the one to show himself the least of the three Saint Dragons as he enjoyed staying in his castle training.
“My goodness, I am so thankful toward you, your Holiness.”
Cale placed his arm on the table, placed his chin on his hand and observed the Pope.
“…….”
Cale gently continued as she avoided his gaze as if she found it uncomfortable.
"We got all this information thanks to you, your Holiness. We wouldn’t have known about any of it without you.”
Cale shrugged his shoulders.
"Because the Emperor didn't tell us anything.”
The Pope flinched at Cale talking negatively about the Emperor, but she did not show any emotion on her face.
The Pope had told Cale about the situation with Axion without Cale needing to ask. However, the Emperor had not said anything.
“Huuuuuu.”
He let out a sigh and continued.
“He is that kind of person.”
Emperor Alt…
He was someone who would do something like that.
“Cale Henituse, he would have probably contacted you if he knew that Ryan was dead. He would have tried to have a leg over on each side.”
However, Cale was hiding the information about what happened to Ryan.
“Since he has no information about that, Alt probably moved in a direction that he deemed beneficial to him.”
Cale comfortably leaned back against the chair as he listened to the Pope.
‘Was it jealousy?’
Emperor Alt had looked at Cale with a gaze of jealousy.
It was quite admirable that he could look at Cale with jealousy despite being clearly scared because of the Dominating Aura.
“But we can’t have this wishy-washy testing the waters on both sides business.”
“Maybe he is trying to stab us in the back.”
Cale looked toward Clopeh who suddenly interjected.
Clopeh smiled as he explained.
“The Dragons. And you as well, Cale-nim. He is probably planning on stabbing both sides in the back for his own benefits.”
He mumbled in an oddly cold voice.
“He is scheming to take everything for himself after the whales fight and kill each other.”
Clopeh had gone back and forth between the church and the Imperial Palace while staying in the Empire.
But he had not told either side about the situation with Cale's group.
It was because both sides were trade partners, not trustworthy allies.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Cale tapped on the table before nonchalantly commenting.
“The Haru Kingdom's King hasn’t said anything?”
“He has not, Cale-nim.”
He nodded his head at Clopeh’s answer and continued to speak.
“I'm sure there are kingdoms that don't want to follow Axion’s orders.”
“Fighting will only lead to meaningless deaths.”
"That’s right. Do you think King Dennis will be able to convince them if we ask him to do so?”
The Pope and Clopeh were the ones who have seen the Haru King the most after Cale.
The King who became King at a young age and was now a teen…
Clopeh answered with a holy-looking smile on his face.
“I'm sure he will want to achieve it.”
“I see. And if I send Miss Wiesha and Rasheel-nim with him?”
The White Snake and a Dragon…
If he sent the two of them with The Haru King to convince the other kingdoms…
“Bailey-nim will be very happy.”
Haru Kingdom's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bailey.
Clopeh mentioned her before speaking with a voice of certainty.
“If it is not a kingdom that has sided with the Dragons, I believe it is worth trying to convince them.”
“…Sounds like you’ve done quite a bit of research?”
Clopeh answered as if that was obvious.
“You must look into anything that may cause a dent on your path to a legend.”
Politics.
Power dynamics was necessary for politics.
They could not only look at the Purple Bloods, the Church, and the Empire.
They needed to look at all of the pieces.
“You really are smart.”
Clopeh smiled with satisfaction at Cale’s compliment.
He truly was satisfied.
Choi Han, Raon, nobody was by Cale’s side right now.
He was the only one.
“Then your Holiness, I will handle dealing with the other kingdoms.”
Cale then got up.
“I also need to figure out the Emperor’s thoughts, so I will poke around a bit.”
He planned on heading to the Imperial Palace to meet the Emperor.
‘Well, I'm really going to see the Wind Elementals.’
He had told the Wind Elementals to keep an eye on the Imperial Palace and observe the Emperor’s actions.
They would tell him what the Emperor was scheming.
“I understand, sir. We will prepare as well.”
Pope Casillia spoke with a solemn look on her face.
Cale stared at her for a moment.
‘I thought she wanted to destroy the world-’
He had no idea what kind of change had happened, but the Pope's actions were a bit different from before.
“However-”
The Pope spoke with concern.
“…Even if you manage to convince some of the kingdoms, the size of the battles from now on, starting with Axion’s castle, will get much larger.”
Cale's group, the Pope's people, the Haru Kingdom, and the Beast people…
The Haru Kingdom and the Beast people were lacking in many ways to call them a strong force.
In comparison, the enemies were quite numerous.
Dozens of Dragons as well as Elves and Dwarves who make up a majority of the continent… There were also a countless number of people.
Some of them were probably people known to have been chosen, the sword masters and mages.
How would they fight against such enemies?
The Pope did not seem to have any thoughts of avoiding battle despite having such concerns.
Smile.
She saw Cale smiling at that moment.
It was an extremely sly smile that did not suit the holy-looking priest’s robe.
“Please don't worry. There is always a way.”
He then added on.
“A numbers advantage is not always the answer. Of course, I am the type who likes to suppress the enemies with a large number of allies.”
Cale said some things that made no sense before standing by the door to leave. Casillia fidgeted a bit while watching him leave.
Cale saw this and nonchalantly commented.
"Raon did not come today.”
“Excuse me?”
Cale smiled at the Pope who sounded surprised before leaving the room.
Only Clopeh followed behind him.
"Cale-nim, then will it be alright if I handle the Haru Kingdom's side?”
Clopeh had reasoned that he would need to handle the Haru Kingdom issue as Cale said he was going to the Imperial Palace.”
“No. You stay out of that.”
However, Cale sternly shook his head.
He then headed toward the carriage in front of the church.
“!”
Clopeh flinched after seeing the person standing in front of the carriage.
Choi Han.
The guy who had not been here when they first arrived was now standing in front of the carriage, opening the door, and greeting Cale.
“Cale-nim, are you finished with your business here?”
“Yeah.”
Beacrox was now seated at the coachman's seat.
“Let’s head for the Imperial Palace.”
Cale then got on the carriage.
Clopeh tried to get in behind him, but had to stop.
“Not you.”
Clopeh looked confused before following Cale’s gaze.
Choi Han had not gotten on the carriage either and was looking at Clopeh.
“…Hmm, what could this mean?”
Cale leaned toward Clopeh after hearing the question. Clopeh also leaned toward Cale to hear what he had to say and soon heard Cale’s voice.
“I have the sword of the Guardian Knight Elf that should be used to protect the Dragon Lord.”
He had received it from Eruhaben.
“I thought about giving the sword to Choi Han.”
However, Eruhaben said that the wooden sword did not suit Choi Han.
Cale had agreed.
“I need a sword who will serve me whether it is in front of a Dragon or even a god.”
“…….”
The smile disappeared from Clopeh's face.
Cale could see the cold look on Clopeh’s face.
‘Yes, this is the crazy bastard’s true face.’
“Receive the sword from Choi Han.”
Choi Han looked toward Clopeh.
But Clopeh only looked at Cale.
Cale’s calm eyes were the same as usual.
He spoke to Clopeh in his usual tone.
“If you can get Choi Han to agree.”
Receive the sword from Choi Han if he agrees to hand it over to you.
That was the condition Choi Han gave when he heard Clopeh would be the one to receive it.
Click.
Cale closed the carriage door without any hesitation.
Clopeh did not get on the carriage.
Clack clack.
The carriage moved far away.
Choi Han and Clopeh remained. Only the two of them were here.
Clopeh looked toward Choi Han.
“Haa.”
Choi Han scoffed.
He made a comment after seeing the cold look on Clopeh's face and the contrasting crazed look in his eyes.
“You know what you need to do to get my permission, right?”
The air around the two of them changed.
Under the bright sunlight, only the area around the two of them felt frigid.
Clopeh slowly nodded his head.
“Of course I know.”
A sword only for Cale-nim.
“I will need to fight you. Only then will you give me permission.”
Choi Han and Clopeh…
It had been a while since the two of them needed to seriously point their swords at each other.
“Heh-.”
Clopeh couldn’t help but laugh.
The eyes that made people think of green leaves turned into the slimy and shady green of a swamp.
—
Translator's Comments
Choi Han vs Clopeh. Will Clopeh be victorious? Stay tuned to find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z! I mean… TCF!
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