Raon.

“Human, Sui Khan only injured his arm, but you were coughing up blood all over the place and passing out. What do you think people feel when they watch that? Human, do you ever think about the emotions other people might have?”

Hong.

“I’m curious whether you’re actually in any position to be saying that.”

And finally—

“...Honestly.”

On let out another sigh.

Cale pressed his lips tightly together and thought,

No, why are these kids so good with words?

The vocabulary Raon and Hong were using was genuinely surprising.

Then again, they’re smart.

At this point, it honestly felt like they were all better at talking than he was.

Heh.

Then he heard laughter.

“Hehe.”

Sui Khan was eating another slice of apple pie while laughing.

The moment their eyes met, he kept grinning like he thought this was all hysterically funny.

“......”

Just as Cale’s face was about to crumple—

“Sui Khan.”

Raon spoke in a low voice.

“Does this look like the time to be laughing?”

Sui Khan faltered.

Regardless, Hong quietly padded over to his side and tapped his leg with a front paw.

“This is not the time to laugh.”

“......”

Sui Khan stopped smiling.

“Honestly.”

On sighed again, and neither Cale nor Sui Khan could laugh anymore.

Something awkward and sour hung all over their expressions, but neither of them could say anything.

“We’re being careful too so we don’t get hurt.”

That was because of On’s final remark.

“......”

“......”

Neither of the two men could say a word.

“You need to know how to take care of your own body.”

At On’s continued rebuke, the two of them were once again left speechless, and their shoulders shrank ever so slightly.

Seeing that, On stopped talking.

Because of what had entered her view.

“The blood isn’t stopping.”

“Mm! This is a problem!”

On and Raon both turned serious, and Cale’s expression darkened too.

The wound on Sui Khan’s arm was not grievous.

It was not a deep cut, nor was it a stack of overlapping wounds.

Ordinarily, it was not the kind of injury one would call severe.

Just once.

And it had been a clean slice, not even that deep, which made it clear that even in an urgent moment, Sui Khan had done his best to protect his own body.

“You said he was around Choi Jung Soo’s level, right?”

“Yeah.”

Staring at the blood slowly staining through the tightly wrapped bandage again, Sui Khan opened his mouth.

“I failed to dodge one attack by mistake, and it turned out like this.”

His lips were blue, and his face had gone paper white.

He looked like he had chills.

No matter how shallow the wound was—

“But no matter how much I try to stop the bleeding, it won’t stop.”

Blood was still flowing, which meant the situation was urgent.

Cale and Sui Khan were acting calm, but this was not the kind of situation where calm made sense.

Glancing out into the dark night, Cale spoke.

“Hmm. Is it swordsmanship, or an ability?”

This wound that would not stop bleeding.

Was it the power of the opponent’s swordsmanship? Or an ability?

If it was swordsmanship, there was a high chance it was a technique of the Order of the God of Chaos, which meant it was something they had to be careful of.

“I don’t know.”

Sui Khan shook his head.

“The sample size is too small.”

There was not enough evidence yet to make a judgment.

“Hmm.”

Just as Cale sank briefly into thought—

“What about Choi Jung Soo?”

At Sui Khan’s sudden question, Cale answered without hesitation.

“He’s missing.”

“Did Choi Han go?”

“Yes.”

“The Demon World?”

“Yes. North. He mentioned that the Order of the God of Chaos was in the Demon World, and then contact was cut off.”

At that moment, Cale’s gaze met Sui Khan’s.

The Demon World.

The Order of the God of Chaos.

As Sui Khan rolled those key words back through his mind, he opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it here?”

Right then—

“Cale.”

Clopeh’s voice emerged out of the darkness, forcing them to stop talking for a moment.

The moment Cale saw him, he asked,

“That took a while.”

Clopeh had been gone for two hours.

“I apologize.”

But it was not a rebuke.

It had taken longer than expected, yes, but there was reason for that.

“Did you find a route?”

Where should they take the injured Sui Khan?

Cale had considered it and come up with an answer almost immediately.

Dioriel.

He had decided they should enter the city with the lord’s castle.

Because the current Demon King’s close aides are there.

Which meant it would be seriously troublesome if Cale’s identity or the existence of the mediator group was exposed to them.

Still—

The Order of the God of Chaos and the Five Colored Blood hunters won’t be able to run wild there either.

From the look of things right now—

the Order of the God of Chaos and the Five Colored Blood Wanderers each had their own hidden agendas.

Which means the Demon King is the one most likely to get stabbed in the back.

So the Order of the God of Chaos and the Wanderers would both be trying to avoid the Demon King’s notice.

That meant staying near the Demon King’s close aides was probably the best way to avoid the enemy’s eyes.

“Yes.”

At Clopeh’s brief answer, Cale nodded.

Late at night, Cale had ordered him to find a way to get Sui Khan inside the city walls.

I heard Dioriel was originally the sort of place where movement was fairly free even at night, but...

Ever since Count Lupe, the former lord, had gone missing, access at night had been restricted to people who had received permission through the mining or commercial sectors.

Especially since Cale’s group were outsiders, they would be subjected to quite a thorough verification process if they tried to enter the city at night.

And with the Team Leader here—

It was better to infiltrate quietly and secretly, then find a place to stay.

That was why Cale had told Clopeh to either sneak them over the wall or come up with another method.

“Please follow me.”

Clopeh had found one.

“Everyone is already exhausted, so I # Nоvеlight # chose the safest and most comfortable option—one that should help us going forward as well.”

“Good.”

Cale silently followed behind him.

Watching Clopeh guide them without the slightest hesitation, he thought,

He really is good at getting things done.

There were strengths to the way Clopeh handled things that you could not really expect from Choi Han or Rosalyn.

Should I use magic?Sensing the mood, Raon hurriedly made the offer, and Cale gave a slight nod.

Because honestly, just using Raon’s magic to hop over the wall would have been a good option too. Or invisibility.

“......”

“......”

So they all walked on in silence, until—

“......”

Cale truly lost the ability to speak.

“Ahem. Hm!”

When one of the guards posted at the east gate cleared his throat—

Slip.

Clopeh handed over a small pouch.

“Ahem!”

The guard glanced inside, flinched, then turned to his fellow guard with a wide grin.

The other guard grinned too and held out a hand.

Creeeak.

A small side door next to the city gate opened.

It was a little door mainly used by the guards themselves.

Smile.

With a polite smile, Clopeh stepped through the door with unhurried ease.

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......”

Cale and Sui Khan, along with On and Hong, followed after him wearing dazed expressions.

Then—

“Ah, one moment.”

One of the guards pulled something out of his coat.

It was a bundle of papers.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

Clopeh bowed courteously in thanks, then pulled another pouch from his clothes and handed it over.

“Ahem. Hm!”

The smiles on the two guards’ faces deepened even further.

“......”

Cale stared blankly at the scene, then resumed walking after Clopeh motioned for him to follow.

Soon they entered a residential district and stopped in front of an ordinary-looking, reasonably modest house.

“Ahem.”

An old man was standing there, and he greeted Clopeh as if they knew each other.

Slip.

Clopeh once again pulled a pouch from inside his clothes and handed it over.

“Gasp!”

The old man’s eyes widened when he looked inside.

When he lifted his gaze in shock, Clopeh simply placed an index finger to his lips and said,

“Shh.”

That one small word was all it took.

Nod.

The old man nodded with a grave expression, handed Clopeh a key, and disappeared.

He did not even glance at Cale’s group.

Human, what exactly is happening right now?Raon, invisible, spoke in a dazed voice, but Cale did not have time to answer.

Creeeak.

Using the key, Clopeh opened the door and stepped into the snug, cozy-looking house.

Inside, there was basic furniture, but none of the small daily items or lived-in feeling of an actual home.

“...Hey, you—”

Cale wanted to ask him something.

What the hell did you do for two hours?

And where did you get that kind of money—

But then Cale realized something.

Right. He’s rich, isn’t he?

Clopeh Sekka.

He was the heir to one of the most renowned noble houses in the Paerun Kingdom.

He was loaded.

From the look of it, the pouches were filled with gold, silver, or jewels.

Cale found himself impressed by how thoroughly prepared he had been.

“...How do you even know those people?”

At Cale’s question, Clopeh smiled and answered,

“This is a land where the one in charge vanished a year ago—”

The lord had disappeared.

“So naturally, greedy people would be running rampant.”

As if stating the most obvious thing in the world, Clopeh calmly said that corruption must already be seeping into Dioriel.

“...Hmm.”

Cale had no rebuttal.

It was a fairly reasonable deduction.

It was just—

Human, I have never seen anyone handle things like this before!Cale was simply astonished by Clopeh’s way of getting things done.

Because no one among Cale’s companions worked like this.

“Even if it costs a little more time and money, I thought the safest and most comfortable method would be best.”

Two hours.

Clopeh had done a remarkable amount in that time.

No, how the hell had he managed to arrange even a house in just two hours?

This bastard is seriously impressive, isn’t he?

Cale was impressed.

Human, Clopeh Sekka gets more impressive the more you go around with him!Raon was impressed too.

But it did not stop there.

Slip.

The bundle of papers he had received from the guards earlier.

Three bound stacks in total.

Clopeh Sekka spread out two of them on the table.

“Hah—”

Cale was genuinely floored.

The translation magic cast by Aurora’s mages activated, and Cale’s gaze turned to Clopeh.

“You crazy bastard—”

That was all he could say.

Human! It’s the patrol schedule for the lord’s castle!Information on the night patrol units at the lord’s castle.

Gasp! And it’s even the personnel chart for the people currently managing the lord’s castle!An organizational roster listing the names of the people working in each department of the castle.

The first was close to confidential.

The second was information one might obtain with enough effort.

But both were hard to get right now.

And they were unbelievably important to Cale.

Because Cale intended to stir up a massive board game by meddling with all three at once—

the Order of the God of Chaos,

the Demon King,

and the Wanderers.

“......”

As Cale looked at Clopeh with a complicated gaze, Clopeh spoke with a quiet smile still on his face.

He untied the last stack of papers as well.

“I prepared this for your will, Cale.”

Rustle.

That final bundle.

“Hah!”

Cale was speechless.

“You really are insane.”

It was praise.

Truly.

Human, those are the names of Count Lupe’s collateral line members currently staying in the old castle!The collateral relatives of Count Lupe’s bloodline, the ones Cale suspected had joined hands with the Order of the God of Chaos.

The names of the collateral line staying in that old castle were now in Cale’s hands.

You got all of this together in only two hours?

At Cale’s dumbfounded look, Clopeh gave him a simple answer.

“I brought quite a lot of jewels.”

Money.

That was his answer.

“When I was young, my family simply taught me how to spend money.”

The Sekka family.

Clopeh had simply learned how to spend money from his family, and then put it into practice well.

Money and politics were inseparable.

And Clopeh Sekka, who had a rather sharp instinct for politics, had not forgotten that.

“Hah—”

Cale laughed.

“......”

Clopeh simply looked at him in silence.

Catching the meaning in that gaze, Cale let out a breathy little laugh and said,

“You did well.”

Something bright flickered in Clopeh’s eyes, and seeing it, Cale continued.

He meant it.

“I think I was right to bring you along.”

“!”

Joy spread through Clopeh’s eyes.

Because he had heard the sincerity in Cale’s voice.

“Hehe.”

Unable to hold it in, Clopeh let out a low laugh.

“Heh.”

And Cale, looking down at the information in his hands, could not stop himself from laughing either.

“Hehe! Looking at the lord’s castle patrol schedule, I think it’ll be easier to go rob Count Lupe’s secret vault!”

“Hehe! It will! We can make a plan now!”

“Hehe. We should calmly go through all the information first.”

The average ten-year-olds were excited too.

“......”

Sui Khan quietly took in the whole scene, then turned his gaze toward the window.

They’re strange.

These people were definitely strange.

But he could not say what he was thinking.

Because the average ten-year-olds suddenly dragged him into the bedroom.

The only room with a bed.

Sui Khan had to lie down on the bed and stay there quietly under the blanket.

“So the bleeding won’t stop even after treatment.”

The look in Clopeh’s eyes was terrifying.

Clopeh had realized that he was beginning to earn Cale’s recognition, and his gaze was blazing with intensity.

His eyes flashed as he said to Cale,

“I will bring back a treatment method and information.”

With a brilliance in his eyes unlike before, Clopeh left the house.

He vanished into the darkness, practically overflowing with energy.

Staring blankly after him, Sui Khan heard a voice.

“So.”

It was Cale.

“How did you get injured?”

He was asking Sui Khan.

And the Team Leader did not know how to beat around the bush.

“The Order of the God of Chaos is planning to swallow the Demon World by using corruption of chaos to create something called gray sickness.”

He drove straight into the heart of it.

“Right now they’ve only spread gray sickness seeds, but soon they plan to make it erupt all at once across the entire Demon World and expand their influence here by treating it themselves. The place where it begins is probably this city, Dioriel, and the timing will probably be during the selection period for the new lord.”

“!”

On’s eyes widened.

“I saw an entire village get wiped out in a propagation test for gray sickness seeds, and I kind of lost it.”

He gave an awkward smile and looked down at his own arm.

“So I got hurt. Haha.”

But the smile quickly disappeared from his face, and he asked Cale,

“Did you save Choi Jung Gun?”

Choi Jung Gun had been struck by corruption of chaos.

Behind that question—whether he had found a way to save him—was another question.

Could gray sickness be solved too?

As if the answer were obvious, Cale replied,

“Yes. I saved him.”

A smile formed once more at the corner of Team Leader Sui Khan’s mouth.

Looking down at his own wound, he did not even try to hide the gleam in his eyes.

Letting out a low laugh, he said lazily,

“Then we can ruin every last one of those bastards’ plans.”

And Cale thought,

He’s pissed.

Team Leader Sui Khan—his eyes were completely flipped.

Human, why are your eyes flipped about 120 degrees too?And Cale’s own eyes were a little flipped too.

Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo, who had died and left only Kim Rok Soo behind.

Lee Soo Hyuk, whom he had barely managed to meet again, now in a new body.

A child’s body, at that.

And now that body was injured, and the bleeding would not stop.

Watching Team Leader Sui Khan grin with that ghostly white face, Cale’s heart was pounding harder than he had realized.

Hmm.Raon secretly said to On and Hong,

I think our human is going to tear everything down this time!At that, On and Hong answered only by silently nodding.

*****

Morning came, and Cale headed toward the lord’s castle with Clopeh Sekka.

“Let me know if Choi Han contacts us.”

Naturally, he left that instruction with Raon before going.

“Second Brother.”

Playing his role to the fullest, Clopeh Sekka spoke in a gentle voice.

Today, Cale and Clopeh Sekka were going to meet the current Demon King’s close aides and make something happen.

If things went well, they intended to visit the old castle afterward, openly and boldly.

Without ever losing his smile, Clopeh continued,

“There is plenty of money. I brought enough that it might as well be endless.”

Then he added,

“You won’t mind if I spend it however I like?”

At Clopeh’s words, Cale nodded energetically.

“Yeah! Big Brother, spend as much as you want!”

“Hehe.”

A commercial city whose lord had vanished.

A place where rules and integrity had disappeared, and competition and corruption had begun to overflow instead.

And into that place came Clopeh Sekka, a crazy rich man who, just in case, had filled an interspatial pouch with a truly enormous amount of jewels and gold.

Clopeh Sekka smiled.

Cale looked at him with shining eyes.

For the first time in his life, this bastard felt dependable.

Chaotic Dioriel.

And suddenly, a mad rich man—Clopeh Sekka—had appeared there.