Chapter 167: Perhaps (2)
So vicious.
That was the thought in Cale’s mind as soon as he heard that phrase.
Flip.
The crazy priestess quickly flipped through the pages. She continued to speak after looking through all of the pages.
“All of them. Every single page says the same thing.”
“…It looked like a regular essay to the others and me.”
Of course, the original contents were not, ‘regular,’ per se, but it did not give off such an ominous aura.
Bang. Bang.
Cale, who had been trying to figure out what was going on, sighed after seeing Raon continue to banging on the window and opened it for him. Raon quickly entered and shouted out loud.
“I've got a bad feeling about this!”
He then sat down right next to Cale and stared at the book in Cage’s hand. Cage blankly watched Raon's actions before starting to speak again after seeing Cale’s gaze.
“To be honest with you, I cannot actually read what is on here. The collection of foreign characters makes me think of that statement in my mind.”
Cale asked once he saw that Cage had finished what she was trying to say.
“What does it mean to kill death?”
The priestess shook her head.
“I'm not sure. What a complicated book. The author’s name of, ‘A Heartfelt Death,’ is total bullshit though.”
Cage's words became rougher as she continued. She continued to swear before stopping herself, letting out a fake cough, and then continuing to speak.
“There is a book of the God of Death’s words in the Church of the God of Death. They have deciphered the words in the book and use it as the God of Death’s teachings.”
“Does that book have a similar phrase?”
Cage smiled at Cale, who always understood what she was trying to say, before continuing to speak.
“That is not the case. However, it is said that the God of Death said the following.”
She recalled the contents she was forced to memorize before she could go to bed as a child. The priests only let her sleep if she memorized all of it.
“Death is not the end.”
That was what the God of Death had said about life.
“We are given two choices after death. The right path and the twisted path.”
Shhhhhhh-
A black light surrounded the book again.
Both Cale and the priestess flinched, but she calmly continued to speak.
“The moment you enter the twisted path, you will be given another choice to make at the end of that path.”
Flip.
The book started to turn pages on its own before stopping on a specific page.
Cale opened his mouth to ask Cage what was written on the page. However, the rough words coming out of crazy priestess Cage's mouth made him close his mouth back up.
“You crazy god.”
Cale flinched while Cage started to speak.
“Are you curious about the method to kill death? It is asking that question again. Are you curious?”
Cale responded back.
“Not at all.”
He truly was not curious at all.
He thought that this would be a treasure, but it ended up just being a terrible item.
“Yes, human. There is no need to keep such a dangerous item.”
Raon patted Cale's arm with his short front paw and snickered as if he was telling Cale that he did a good job. Cale held back his sigh at Raon's action.
He had asked Eruhaben about divine items on their way back from the Empire. Eruhaben had shaken his head at that time.
‘There is no way to decipher the language of the gods. Only the qualified can listen to it or read it.’
Cale asked the crazy priestess.
“Miss Cage, are you curious about it?”
“I am not curious about it at all either.”
‘As expected.’
Cale pointed to the book after seeing that Cage always seemed to think the same way he did about things like this.
“Can you keep it safe for me?”
“Sure. I heard that most of the God of Death’s divine items were gone. I will keep it safe and hand it over to you when you need it, young master-nim.”
She started to tap on the book.
The way she tapped made it feel like she considered it more of an obnoxious item than a precious item.
“I think regular people will struggle and have nightmares because the book is full of an ominous aura.”
“That must be why I had a nightmare!”
Raon shouted in response before glaring at the book once again.
Cale tilted his head to one side.
‘Nightmare? Struggle?’
Cale had not had any issues sleeping. In fact, he probably slept better than ever.
‘… This is weird.’
Cale thought that it was weird, but turned his head after hearing a noise.
Clang. Clang.
The tea inside the teacup seemed like it would spill as the cup clanked against the plate underneath.
“…Saint-nim?”
Cale called out to him, but Jack just continued to shake without being able to answer.
The teacup in his hand looked as if it would fall down at any moment.
‘And why is he acting like this?’
Cale started to frown as he had no idea what was going on. Jack then finally managed to respond.
“I, I was trying to drink some tea because it suddenly got cold. T, that was all I was trying to do.”
‘Cold?’
There was someone who took the teacup out of Jack's hand while Cale was trying to figure out what was going on.
Clang!
Cage almost slammed the teacup on the table before sternly speaking to Jack.
“It is a god.”
‘God?’
Cale became even more confused.
“Jack-nim, that is the aura of a god.”
The crazy priestess Cage had figured out what Jack was feeling. A cold and scary feeling that could not be resolved by something like hot tea.
‘…He can’t hear the words of his god, but I guess he can still feel it.’
She thought that it really was fate that Jack became a Saint.
Although he could not hear anything the god said to him, he could at least feel it when the god was looking at him. She opened her mouth to speak.
“The aura of a god is scary, chilling, and cold.”
Although she complained about how the God of Death was whining and swore all the time in response, she had not let go of her identity.
Just as how being excommunicated did not stop her from living her life following her own philosophy, her identity as a priestess kept her from avoiding her god.
“…Miss Cage.”
Jack clasped his shaking hands together and looked toward Cage. He had calmed down a bit after a priestess serving the God of Death put her hand on him.
“Jack, what do you want to do?”
Jack reached his hand out at her question.
He seemed to be reaching for the compact mirror.
The compact mirror was soon placed in his hand. Cale had put it in there.
“Please do whatever you wish to it.”
Jack slowly opened the compact mirror after hearing Cale's words.
Click.
He could see the old cracked mirror inside.
“Ah.”
Jack’s eyes opened wide. He looked toward Cale with shock.
“T, there are letters written on the mirror……!”
‘Letters here too?’
Cale asked in a relaxed demeanor.
“What does it say?”
Jack looked back at the mirror while continuing to shake.
“Condemnation. It says condemnation.”
It was as if the word was being etched into his mind.
At the same time, it allowed them to be certain that this compact mirror was the, ‘Condemnation of the Sun.’
The Sun God was not a benevolent god.
He was a righteous god who acted according to his rational judgment.
However, the fact that he was rational made him benevolent.
Power, affection, and compassion. A judgment made without being swayed by anything was often benevolent.
Jack was relieved after seeing the word on the mirror.
It was because the word, ‘condemnation,’ was not directed at him.
However, he was scared. He also felt oppressed.
He could feel anger coming from the divine item.
“Young master-nim, I have no confidence to hold onto this item.”
Cale accepted the mirror back from Jack. He did not see anything written on the mirror. He also did not feel any scary aura coming from it.
“I will keep it then.”
The Saint smiled in relief after hearing Cale's response. However, the smile quickly disappeared after hearing what Cale said next.
“However, you will need to take this mirror with you when we go to the Empire, Jack-nim.”
Cale then shared the information about Alchemist Rei and the Cat Knight Rex. Furthermore, he thoroughly explained the image of the destroyed Vatican and the conversation among the citizens.
Jack could only blankly stare at Cale after hearing all of this. Cale started to speak to him.
“We need to save them.”
Those words made Jack focus again.
“…Yes. We need to save them.”
Jack nodded his head and the crazy priestess patted his shoulder. Jack smiled back at her.
“Young master-nim.”
“Yes?”
“I respect you.”
Jack continued to speak after seeing that Cale was speechless.
“I want to save people like you do, young master-nim. I want to be like you.”
Cale could only nod his head at Jack's pure expression. He could not tell the holy and pure Jack to be like himself.
“Then I think I should get up now.”
Cale drank the rest of his tea and stood up from his seat. He said goodbye to the two priests and opened the door of the room.
“Young master-nim.”
“Gasp.”
Cale gasped in shock.
He could see a pair of completely white eyes.
It was the Tiger shaman Gashan.
“What, what is it?”
Cale almost stuttered in shock. However, Gashan had a serious expression on his face.
“Nature told me that a mighty power had come down. Did something happen? Are you okay, young master-nim?”
‘Wow. It really is psychic.’
Cale nodded his head to show Gashan that it was fine.
“It's fine so you don’t need to wor-”
“What?”
“Gasp.”
Cale gasped once again.
Raon raised his voice.
“Goldie gramps! Can't you see that our human is shocked? You might kill our weak human if you suddenly appear like that!”
‘…Kill?’
Cale prevented Raon from saying anything scarier and awkwardly smiled toward Eruhaben.
Eruhaben had returned to his lair since they returned from the Empire.
He must have recently returned, as he was at the entrance of the fifth floor looking into the room.
“My goodness. I can't believe such a little kid is a Dragon.”
Eruhaben shook his head and looked at Raon with disbelief before turning back to look at Cale.
“Here you go.”
He handed a bottle with a purple liquid to Cale. Raon's eyes started to sparkle as he looked at the bottle.
“Is this the Dragon's Rage?”
Gashan flinched at the name, ‘Dragon's Rage,’ however, Cale did not care as he responded back.
“No, this is the one from the Empire. Dragon's Rage is different.”
The purple liquid was the item they had stolen from Maple Castle.
“Why do you need this?”
Cale put the bottle in his magic bag as he responded to Raon's question.
“To create issues between the Empire and the Northern Alliance.”
Gashan flinched once again at Cale’s casual words. He felt as if he had heard about a large-scale plan.
He then heard Raon's voice at that moment.
“Ah, I see!”
It was also very casual and bright.
Gashan started to worry.
‘…Did we come under someone who is too powerful?’
However, it was too late for that.
Cale asked Gashan.
“Are Tigers good at climbing cliffs?”
“···Excuse me? Cliffs?”
“Yes. It is a pretty dangerous cliff.”
Gashan answered honestly in confusion.
“Well, the warriors can.”
Smirk.
Cale started to smile.
“Is that so?”
Gashan subconsciously clenched onto his staff. He was waiting for nature to tell him that this would be bad, however, nature did not say anything. That was why he focused on what Cale had to say.
“Let’s head to the Gorge of Death when the weather gets better then.”
“…Yes sir, huh? The Gorge of Death?”
That was one of the Five Forbidden Regions. The Gorge of Death.
This gorge that was known for having the worst terrain was somewhere that monsters, humans, and animals all found difficult to live in. Furthermore, it was so terrible that even plants could not survive well. It also had terrible weather because it was higher in elevation.
Gashan gulped after hearing Cale talking about heading there. Cale casually added on.
“The Dragon's Rage will fall upon the gorge.”
“Ho.”
Gashan heard the ancient Dragon's scoff.
“The unlucky punk is quite ballsy.”
Eruhaben seemed to be proud of Cale as he continued to speak.
“Good. “You need to be ballsier the unluckier you are.”
“Thank you very much.”
Cale sounded calm as he accepted the compliment with embarrassment. Gashan just quietly watched them chat.
“Gashan, can I go now? I have something to discuss with Eruhaben-nim.”
“Ah, yes sir.”
Gashan blankly nodded his head as he watched Cale and Eruhaben head toward Rosalyn's laboratory. Raon approached him at that moment.
Gashan found it weird as the Black Dragon had never approached him first before. Raon started to speak to him.
“Cheer up!”
“Excuse me?”
Gashan asked back, but Raon had a smile on his now chubbier cheeks as he quickly followed behind Cale.
Gashan watched the three of them leave for a while before heading away from Cale's room with the two priests.
“You want me to get on your back?”
Ubarr territory's coast.
It was currently late at night as Cale stood underneath a small source of light.
“Yes. We will guide you to the village.”
A large Humpback Whale with an X-shaped scar offered her back to Cale.
Witira continued to speak to Cale, who seemed to be hesitating.
“Raon-nim and young master Cale, your group have earned the qualifications to get on my back.”
“That is true! You can ride on my back as well!”
The half-blooded Whale Paseton agreed with his sister and offered his back to Cale as well.
“Mm.”
Cale hesitated before finally starting to speak.
“Sorry.”
“Excuse me?”
Cale tightened the scarf on his neck as Paseton asked on confusion.
“The Winter ocean breeze is cold.”
He thought it would be too cold on the Whale’s back.
Paseton’s mouth opened up as he let out an, ‘ah,’ in agreement.
Cale pointed to Rosalyn and Raon as he looked toward Witira.
“Please tell me the teleportation coordinates. Raon and Rosalyn said that they will teleport me over.”
Witira started to frown.
“… Uhh, mm. Young master Cale-nim.”
“…What is it?”
Cale was slightly worried.
It was currently the middle of January. Cale was secretly meeting with the Whale siblings at one of the islands that had been designated as part of the Henituse territory in this cold weather.
It was now time to head over to the Whale Village for the sea route. Witira awkwardly started to smile.
“It is a glacier.”
‘Hmm?’
“Our village is on top of a giant glacier. It is always slightly moving. Because of that, it is difficult to give you accurate coordinates to the village.”
‘Huh, if it’s like this-’
Cale thought for a moment before starting to speak.
“Raon, flight magic will be cold too, right?”
“It will be very cold! You'll catch a cold, human!”
“…Thermal magic please.”
He did not expect the Whale Village to be on top of a moving glacier.
He had expected it to be a part of the continent as they had mentioned that the Northern Alliance was observing them.
Cale watched Choi Han quietly tie a small ship to the two Whales while Rosalyn held On and Hong in her arms and proceeded to enchant the ship with magic.
He then finally walked onto the ship.
He thought it would be too cold on the Whale’s back.
“Human, I will ride on the small Whale's back! It feels nice!”
Cale listened to Raon's voice as he wrapped himself up in a blanket.
A few days later.
“…Wow.”
Cale let out a gasp of amazement as he stepped off the ship.
Raon was wrapped up in his arms. He was completely wrapped up in a blanket.
“Achoo!” [1]
Sniffle sniffle.
Raon sneezed and then sniffled.
Cale let out another gasp of amazement.
“Wow, even a Dragon can catch a cold.”
“…You can be great and still catch a cold.”
Cale looked at Raon's grumbling face as he struggled to walk off the boat with Raon in his arms.
“Beautiful.”
He could see houses made of ice.
The houses that were shining under the sun looked as if they were made of diamonds.
“This is our village.”
Cale listened to Witira’s excited voice as he observed the village in front of him. He then became anxious.
Baaaaang!
One of the ice houses was destroyed along with a loud noise. The anxious Cale could hear Raon's voice in his arms.
“Huh? It is a human!”
Someone seemed to be getting thrown out of the house.
‘I think that person is a Whale as well?’
Cale looked toward Witira.
“Only that house is like that. It looks like they will need to build a new home.”
Cale listened to her calm tone and started to think.
‘…This place is weird too.’
1. (PR: If even a dragon got sick…what would have happened to Cale?!)