Choi Han looked refreshed after saying everything he needed to say. Strong passion could be felt coming from him.
He then waited for Cale’s response.
Cale opened his mouth to respond.
However, someone started to speak first.
“There is no way the smart Choi Han would say something like that!”
Choi Han and Cale both looked toward Raon after hearing the sudden shout.
Raon shook his head side to side before looking toward Choi Han the same way that he looks at Mercenary King Bud and continued to speak.
“We have all been fighting together since the beginning! Why do we need to combine our powers again when we have already been doing that?! Choi Han! You cannot become like the Mercenary King!”
Cale started to chuckle. He then responded in a serious tone.
“Choi Han is definitely smarter than Bud.”
“That is true! Human, you really are smart! You are sliiiiiiiiighty! Just slightly less smart than I am!”
“Yes, yes.”
Cale patted Raon's soft back.
He then realized something.
‘…Did he lose some weight?’
Raon's cheeks that had been chubby until they got to the Castle of Light were slightly less chubby. Cale started to frown.
He recalled Hong’s haggard face that had been shaking. He also thought about how On did not gain weight, unlike Hong and Raon.
Then those trashy bastards from the Cat tribe and the White Star popped up in his mind.
“…These damn bastards that need to be beaten to death.”
Choi Han and Raon flinched.
“Raon.”
“What is it, human?”
“Take out an apple pie.”
“Oh! Alright!”
Raon quickly took out an apple pie and pushed it toward Cale with sparkling eyes. Cale picked it up.
He then started to speak.
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
Raon, who repeated after Cale, felt a slice of an apple pie being pushed into his mouth. Raon closed his mouth with a part of the apple pie dangling outside.
“Eat up.”
Raon grabbed the slice of apple pie with both paws and started to eat even though he didn’t know what was going on. Cale mumbled to himself as he watched.
“…Can’t believe he lost some weight.”
Choi Han, who was watching this from the side, started to think.
‘Who?
Who lost weight?’
Choi Han blankly watched Raon’s chubby cheeks becoming extremely full because of the apple pie in his mouth.
He then started to laugh.
“Haha-”
It felt as if his heart was being tickled.
He really did choose the right path.
Everything was the same as usual and there was no despair, loneliness, or pain even though he said that they needed to all fight together against the White Star.
“Human, do you know why Choi Han is laughing by himself like that?”
“I don't know. How would I know? Well, I guess it is good to laugh.”
“Mm, that is true! It is good to laugh! Choi Han, laugh a lot! I will cancel the comment about you being similar to the Mercenary King!”
Choi Han started to laugh even louder.
Raon continued to nibble on the apple pie with wide eyes as he had never seen Choi Han laugh this loudly before.
However, Raon soon stopped eating and blankly stared at Choi Han.
Choi Han had started to speak after laughing for a while.
“To be honest with you, Cale-nim, I have been alive for a very long time.”
Plop.
The apple pie in Raon's two paws fell to the ground. Choi Han didn’t care as he continued to speak.
“That is why I am actually older than you, Cale-nim. I am older than Mr. Ron as well.”
Raon's eyes blinked a few times as he looked toward Choi Han.
Choi Han was still smiling as he continued to speak.
“I age very slowly. I think I will live for a very, very long time.”
Choi Han wanted to let everything out. He thought that this was the right moment to do it.
He thought it would be okay to say it now in front of these people.
He couldn’t tell them everything, but he thought that there was no need to keep it so tightly hidden away.
“I also came from a very far away place. I am probably the only one in this world who can read the words in this book.”
Choi Han could see Cale looking at him without many changes to his expression.
Cale was always like this. His expression changed sometimes when he was scamming his enemies, but usually, it was always this stoic and emotionless.
However, that expression quickly changed if something happened to one of their group members.
It was something that everybody other than Cale himself knew about.
It was not just for the people in their group.
During the war that started at the beginning of the year, Cale's face was filled with emotion every time he activated his shield with his allies standing behind him.
Choi Han felt the silence in the room for a moment before continuing to speak.
His voice was as pure as his usual expression.
“My family and friends are all in that far away place. I came here when I was 17 and have lived alone for tens of years, for an uncountable number of years since then. But that is not the case anymore.”
Raon was still unable to pick up the piece of apple pie from the ground. Choi Han smiled at Raon before looking toward Cale.
Choi Han could see Cale starting to frown. Cale looked as if he was contemplating something for a while before finally starting to speak.
“…Choi Han.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
Choi Han responded gently with a smile on his face, however, his emotions were neither gentle nor calm.
He felt refreshed after sharing a part of his secrets. However, there was a small amount of fear on his mind as well. Although he had lived for tens of years, his appearance looked as if he had not even aged a single year.
Would Cale feel repulsed by that fact?
Choi Han's mind that had been relaxed until just now slowly started to become complicated.
Choi Han could see Cale's expression becoming more complicated as if Cale knew what Choi Han was thinking.
Cale, who had been hesitating for a bit, started to speak.
“Are you trying to tell me you want to be called, ‘hyung,’ like his highness? Is that how I should address you?”
“…Excuse me?”
“…Or maybe grandpa? If not that, Choi Han-nim?”
Cale’s expression became more serious with every word while Choi Han’s expression turned even odder. He then started to smile again and responded in a serious tone.
“Please keep things as they were.”
“Sure, Choi Han.”
Cale finally returned to his usual expression after saying that.
Cale then turned away from Choi Han and handed Raon another piece of apple pie as he continued to speak.
“Eat without dropping your food.”
“…A, alright. H, human!”
Raon quickly snapped out of it and started to eat the piece of apple pie. He then approached Choi Han and took another apple pie out of his spatial dimension and offered it to Choi Han.
“Choi Han! Eat this!”
Choi Han knew Raon's methods by now.
He happily took the apple pie from Raon and patted him on the head.
“I am the great and mighty Raon Miru! Just trust me!”
He was the same as usual.
Choi Han felt completely relieved after seeing Raon quickly returning to normal even after hearing his story.
Cale confirmed that Choi Han had a relaxed expression before slowly starting to walk.
‘Should I tell him too?’
Cale had that thought the moment Choi Han told him about his situation.
He had no way of knowing what happened to the original Cale Henituse.
He could be dead, or he could have ended up in Kim Rok Soo’s body.
He had no way of knowing anything.
Cale could not say anything in such a situation.
The Henituse family and people related to them were here.
Sometimes, certain things were better left as baggage to carry alone.
Cale looked toward Choi Han’s refreshed face with no regrets.
Choi Han was different from him.
There was no point in having any regrets about not having that refreshed expression himself.
There was nobody close to him left in Korea.
However.
The future of Kim Rok Soo who had been enjoying his first day off in a long time.
The location of the real Cale Henituse.
The Korea that was finally starting to adjust to the changes as well as his subordinates at work.
Large and small feelings of guilt, regrets, concerns, dilemmas, and responsibilities.
All of those were recorded in Cale’s mind.
He chose to walk on while carrying all of these on him. He didn’t know whether this was the right decision, however, there were too many other issues in front of Cale to think about that right now.
The book that carried the clues to solve those issues was in Cale’s hand right now.
“Cale-nim, are you going to take the book with you?”
“Yes.”
He had left the book here the first time because they had to go back and fight the White Star.
Honestly speaking, it was so that he could keep Choi Han away from the book for a while and formulate a plan as well.
Cale put the book in his spatial pocket bag before continuing to speak.
“Choi Han, please explain what you read to me as we head back.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
All of them headed back toward the secret passage without saying anything else.
It was faster to use this secret passage to return to where Lord Sheritt and the others were located.
It was at that moment.
“Human! What is it?”
Cale had stopped moving.
The book was in his spatial pocket bag and a golden top’s whip was in his right hand instead.
A corner of his lips oddly started to go up.
He could hear the voice of a Wind Elemental.
‘It’s a jackpot! I found some information extremely quickly! Hehehe!’
He was pretty sure it was one of the Wind Elementals that chased after the White Star's group, but it had returned earlier than Cale expected.
Of course, there was a reason this Elemental came back so quickly.
‘A few of the White Star's subordinates are standing at the end of the entrance to this village! Not the secret passage from the white castle, but the real exit!’
It was the exit that Cale had used when he left the village to smack the White Star from behind.
A door on the ceiling would appear if they followed that path.
The ground with white pebbles was located on the other side of the door.
Cale had moved stealthily from that point to strike the White Star from behind.
“…He’s uselessly smart.”
The White Star did not know about the secret passage from the white castle, however, he knew about the original entrance.
‘This is what the White Star said as he sent his subordinates here! He said to guard over this path to see if anybody comes out this way!’
The White Star needed to find out how Cale's group had escaped from the castle to get behind him and so he sent his subordinates to guard the entrance to the village.
However, his subordinates would not be able to open the door and could only stand outside.
That was because only the person with the crown controlled all of the gates in this village.
And while the White Star had the crown before Cale, he could not use it to come into the village.
That was because this village was something precious to him.
The oath of death, the curse from breaking it would make it so that he could not enter.
That was why he had told his subordinates to guard around the door.
‘Guard it for 100 days for all I care. I’m not leaving that way.’
Cale chuckled as he started to walk again.
Choi Han and Raon followed behind him.
However, the two of them soon stopped walking again.
“Ah.”
Cale stopped walking and turned toward Choi Han as he started to speak.
“The words that you read.”
“…The Korean?”
Cale nodded his head after hearing Choi Han slowly ask back.
“Yes, that. That Korean thing. That seems to be a language that cannot be translated using Eruhaben-nim’s translations spell.”
He casually commented as if it was nothing.
“Teach it to me later.”
“Ah.”
Choi Han let out a short gasp. He then watched as Cale continued to speak.
“It’s kind of hard right now, but later when we go back home. Teach it to me then. By then I won't have anything to do since I’ll be a slacker.”
Cale nodded his head as if he was satisfied with his own words.
‘It is hard to pretend that I don't know Korean, so I might as well pretend to learn from Choi Han so I can use Korean as well. Ah, I'll need to make sure Raon's name isn’t revealed.’
It was a brilliant plan.
‘I'm just going to be a slacker after we take care of the White Star anyway. His highness promised that he’ll let me be a slacker.’
Cale trusted Alberu's words. Of course, he was planning to make it happen whether he trusted Alberu’s words or not.
Choi Han remained quiet for a moment before slowly responding.
“Yes, Cale-nim, I will definitely teach it to you!”
“I'm going to learn it as well! I am smarter than the weak human, so I will learn it faster.”
Cale shook his head after hearing Raon flutter his wings and shout with passion.
Choi Han chuckled thinking that the way Raon had shaken his head earlier looked the same as Cale right now.
“I will teach whoever wants to learn.”
Choi Jung Gun had not taught anyone Korean.
However, Choi Han wanted to teach his new family the language of his hometown and chat with them in Korean.
“I will tell you stories about my hometown at that time as well.”
That was Choi Han’s method.
“You returned so quickly.”
Bud waved his hand as he sat in a corner of the castle drinking.
The two Dragons, Beacrox, and Ron also welcomed Cale, Choi Han, and Raon who returned through the secret passage. On and Hong had already run over to Raon as soon as they entered.
“Did you find anything?”
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben approached as he asked.
Then the ancient Dragon had a slightly confused expression after seeing Raon's actions.
Ooooooooong-
Raon took out a video communication device as soon as he came out of the passage and into the castle.
The video communication device surrounded in black mana started to glow as it connected.
Cale was making a call.
Eruhaben who was watching this could hear Cale's voice.
“Yes, Eruhaben-nim, we found something big.”
‘Found something big?’
Eruhaben turned toward Cale.
“…What did you find?”
Cale looked toward Choi Han. Choi Han smiled and nodded his head.
It had happened on the way back to the castle through the secret passage.
‘The book has clues about two earth attribute ancient powers.’
Choi Han had explained about Choi Jung Gun's records.
Of course, Cale remembered all of the information as well, however, he calmly listened to Choi Han’s explanation.
‘First is the earth attribute ancient power you gained from the Forest of Darkness's underground area, Cale-nim. The owner of that power was the Guardian of Boulder.’
Cale turned away from Choi Han and looked toward Eruhaben.
Choi Han had talked about the second earth attribute ancient power that the ancient White Star had possessed. Of course, the story was already in Cale’s mind.
Cale recalled a portion of Choi Jung Gun’s records.
It was the part that was written in Korean so that only a foreigner from Korea would be able to read it.
“Human, it is connected!”
The call was connected before he could respond to the ancient Dragon.
Cale thought about the potential spots that Choi Jung Gun had listed.
Cale knew about that place.
The Roan Kingdom.
Cale turned toward the video communication device.…You- you-
A person who seemed to have been woken up had a shocked expression on his face.
“Ah.”
Cale finally remembered how he looked right now.
The fake blood he received from the Mercenary King. He had rinsed his mouth, but he was covered in fake blood from head to toe.
Cale smiled and started to speak to the person on the call.
“I didn't get hurt very much. I am fine, your highness.”…You're driving me nuts.
Crown prince Alberu Crossman started to frown.