Nobody seemed to find it odd that Cale suddenly wanted to head out. Ron seemed to have gone somewhere as well, as he was nowhere to be found. The only question Hans had for Cale was about where Cale was going.

"Young master, where are you going?"

"Don't worry. Choi Han will be with me."

"Yes, sir! But since this is your first day in the capital, can you please return without breaking any alcohol bottles today?" Hans joked a little as he saw how tense Choi Han was.

"...Are you really going to keep getting out of line like this?"

"Not at all. Please be safe, young master."

Cale got on the carriage and started to think about what to actually say to Choi Han. The carriage arrived at the temple while he was thinking.

"Let's get off."

"Got it."

Cale got up to step out of the carriage. Choi Han had been quiet ever since they got on the carriage, no, since they stepped out of Cale's room. He seemed to have a lot of complicated emotions storming through his head right now.

Cale only knew about Choi Han's personality until the fifth volume of, [The Birth of a Hero]. Since he didn't interact with Choi Han beside the first time they met in the past life.

However, there was one thing that Cale was sure about. Although Choi Han was a good person, he was not gullible. He was very smart.

'I don't want to just give a believable excuse when I couldn't have told him everything. He may believe me at first, but will definitely doubt me later.'

Choi Han may have been very lonely after living in solitude for tens of years, but that experience taught him how to survive on his own, and how to stubbornly persevere.

Choi Han is someone who will live to make his personal view of justice a reality.

The Temple of the God of Death that Cale saw once he alighted was completely white, without a speck of dirt to be seen.

The believers of the God of Death considered white to be the color of death, and cleaned everything over and over again every single day to make sure there was not a speck of dust anywhere on the building.

'Even though his space was black and full of darkness.' Cale couldn't help thinking. 'Did the believers misunderstood the God of Death or did he was just lazy to tell the believers?'

The Temple of the God of Death looked like it wanted to show that people had nothing to fear about the night with their actions.

They opened the temple to both believers and non-believers once the sun started to set. 'Apparently, the priests are all sleeping if you come during the day.'

Cale and Choi Han were greeted by two priests at the temple entrance.

"May you be blessed with a peaceful rest!"

"May you be blessed with a peaceful rest!"

The priests of the God of Death were generally extremely bubbly.

Although people may consider death to be the end, the philosophy of the Church of the God of Death believed that it was important to enjoy life as they headed toward the peaceful rest.

"Priest-nim." Cale slowly approached the priest.

The priest inspected Cale with a curious expression. Cale looked like he was either an extremely affluent noble or a wealthy merchant based on his outfit.

But the man behind him looked like a beggar, although the sword on his waist made him look somewhat strong.

"What can I do for you?"

"Is there an open Room of Death?"

The two priests' expressions stiffened. The priest who asked the question looked back and forth between Cale and Choi Han before asking. "Whose death will you be putting on the line?"

The priest peeked toward Choi Han as he said that. Choi Han currently looked like he had been rolling on a mountain and been suffering for a while.

He also looked like he had not eaten anything for about two days, and seemed to be the type that would be easily scammed.

The priest had a bitter feeling about this. The priest turned his gaze over to the affluent noble.

Beautiful red hair and a handsome face. He was not very handsome, but it was enough to catch attention wherever he went. In addition, this man was currently smiling.

Cale smiled as he slightly raised his hand. "Mine."

"Huh?"

Cale smiled once more at the confused priest. "I will be putting my life on the line."

Choi Han put his hand on Cale's shoulder at that time. "Cale-nim."

"What?"

Cale turned around to see Choi Han with a stiff, yet anxious expression. "I will believe you even if you don't do this."

Cale started to smile and slowly responded. "I don't think you will believe me entirely."

Choi Han would have no choice but to doubt him. How could he believe Cale when Cale was not planning to tell him everything? That was why they were at the temple.

There was no reason for him to tell Choi Han everything he had been through. Cale didn't want anyone to find out about his memories from the past two lives.

"Priest-nim. The room?"

"Yes, we have one. I will prepare it for you right away. Please head to the basement."

"Thank you."

Cale started to walk behind the priest. Choi Han followed behind Cale with an iffy expression. Cale noticed Choi Han's movement, and leisurely walked toward the innermost area of the temple.

After walking for a long time, they could see numerous doors on one side of the wall. The priest opened one of those doors to reveal a staircase leading down into the basement.

"Death awaits you at the bottom."

"Great. Let's go."

The priest watched Cale walking down the stairs without any hesitation with interest. The 'Death' that is mentioned in the Temple of Death also meant 'Vow'.

Death was something that was guaranteed to visit you at some point. It was not something you could avoid, and your responsibility was to accept your role in the world while you are here.

'Well, Immortal and Regressor evaded death.' Cale thought of the content from his mother's diary.

That was why the officials of the Temple of the God of Death brought the end known as death for those who go against their vow.

Because of this, people who headed to this Room of Death, or sometimes called the Room of Vows, tended to be humble and serious.

In contrast, this relaxed and confident person was really unique in the priest's eyes. 'It makes me think about priestess Cage.'

She was someone who cursed the temple extremely frequently, but she was still loved by the lord.

'Cage.' The priest suddenly thought about her, but quickly erased it from her thoughts.

At the same time, Cage was becoming frustrated while hearing the Lord's voice again.

After getting rid of the thoughts about Cage, the priest headed down the stairs behind Cale. Once they got to the bottom, the priest opened the door and informed Cale and Choi Han.

"Please wait a moment. I will get it ready." The priest then entered into the room alone.

Cale looked toward the closed door and started to speak. "If you really don't think we need to do this, I will let you know one of the truths in advance. What do you think?"

Choi Han immediately responded. "Yes, please tell me. I trust you."

"Is that so?" Cale rubbed his chin with one hand before casually spitting the truth out. "The first of the two truths."

His gaze turned toward Choi Han. "I know some of the secret organization's plans. But I can't tell you how I got the information."

"...What the-" Choi Han's pupils started to shake.

At that moment, they heard a click and the priest came back out of the room.

"You can enter now. The person putting their life on the line just needs to raise their hand once inside the room for the priest-nim."

"Thank you. We understand."

Compared to the relaxed Cale, Choi Han seemed extremely confused and anxious.

The priest tilted his head in confusion at this, but quietly left the area. It was none of his business.

Cale grabbed the doorknob as he turned to look back at Choi Han. "Do you still believe that you can trust me?"

"That, you see...."

Cale could see Choi Han struggling to answer. Choi Han had said he trusted Cale, but he could not believe Cale's words. 'How could you know about their plan?'

Choi Han then heard Cale's voice in his ear. "I understand."

Choi Han looked toward Cale. Cale's relaxed expression made him seem very mature.

Cale then started to speak. "Let's go in."

Choi Han followed Cale into the Room of Death that was behind the white door.

As expected, the room was completely white, with a white table, white chair, and white walls. The only non-white thing in the room was the priest who was standing there with his mouth and ears covered.

The deaf priest. Cale did not really look favorably upon that title, but these priests were pretty well respected in this world. Nobles and royalty, anybody who needed to have a secret conversation or stealthily sign a contract came to see these priests.

Cale silently bowed his head to greet the priest before raising his hand. The priest nodded at Cale's action and pointed to the two chairs by the table.

Cale sat down on the right side while Choi Han sat across from him on the left. The priest moved to the head of the table before pushing a piece of paper toward them.

[For the person who is putting their life on the line. The hand of the God of Death will touch the one who came with you. Once that happens, you can say your vow. Should you break your vow, death awaits you.]

What a vicious set of directions.

Cale pushed the paper back to the priest after verifying that Choi Han had finished reading. The priest then lifted both of his hands up.

At that moment....

Ooooooooong- oooooooong- The white room started to shake.

Maybe it was because this was a place that served the Lord, but a black smoke started to form around the priest once the room started to shake.

The black smoke then surrounded both Choi Han and Cale before creating a connection between the two of them.

"...Is this the power of the God of Death?"

"Yes." Cale was a bit familiar with this black smoke.

Cale responded to Choi Han's question before trying to feel the black smoke thread surrounding him. The power of the God of Death reminded him of the stakes of this vow. 'I will die if I break this vow.'

Cale was sure Choi Han felt it as well. That must be why his face stiffened up. Cale could feel the touch of the God of Death and started his vow.

"The priest in front of me guarantees that he cannot hear, and, if that is not the truth, he will pay the price with his life."

This was the general phrase stated first whenever a vow was made with a deaf priest.

"Furthermore, I, Cale Henituse, vow to speak the truth to Choi Han in front of the God of Eternal Rest, and, if what I say is even slightly a lie, I will immediately die in this spot to pay the price."

Immediately. That word made Choi Han's face stiffen up even more. He was nervous.

"The first truth. I, Cale Henituse, knew of some plans of the secret organization. However, I do not have any direct connection to them as of now."

'Now, in this lifetime, I haven't directly meet any of the secret organization's members yet. This is one loophole I could use.'

Cale said this to Choi Han because he was afraid that Choi Han might get the wrong idea.

Sigh. Choi Han let out a deep sigh before covering his face with both hands. He slowly moved his hands away after a bit to see that Cale was still alive.

"And one more thing. I am being completely honest when I say this."

The second of the two truths.

"I despise the organization and wish for it to disappear."

Choi Han seemed like he was at a loss for words. He looked at the black thread connecting himself, the priest, and Cale, before repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist.

Cale flinched at Choi Han's scary expression when Choi Han started to speak. "How can you know about their plan? If you have no prior connection with them."

"That is something I would not tell to anyone, if possible." Cale looked at Choi Han steadily. "Nevertheless, we have already encountered a couple of the terrible things they did. The Black Dragon and Lock are two of them. Choi Han."

Cale pointed to himself with his index finger. "I have lived my life as trash. That was my goal."

Choi Han's expression changed after hearing Cale say that his goal was to be trash.

"But now, my dream for the future is just to live peacefully. I have no desire to become my family's successor. Basen Henituse, my younger brother, I am hoping for him to become the successor."

This was also the truth. That was why Cale asked Choi Han a question.

"So then why would I have come to the capital as the representative of the Henituse family? Especially when I am hoping Basen to become the successor? My father, the head of the household, told me to go, but I could have said no."

Choi Han answered after a duration of silence. "...I am not sure."

"It is because I know what the secret organization is planning to do in the capital."

Choi Han's pupils dilated once more.

"As I said, I would not answer you about how I know. But they are planning to kill a lot of people at the capital. I couldn't send Basen to such a place. I want to prevent that incident from happening."

"...You really cannot tell me how you know?"

"Correct. I would not tell anybody, no matter who it is, about it."

Choi Han's eyes were full of questions, but his mouth stayed shut.

'Cale-nim seems to know some other things beside that too. But he said he hates the secret organization and wants them to disappear.' Choi Han's head fell even more as he started to think things over. His head was a mess right now.

Even still, the power of the God of Death coming through the black thread gave him serenity. He knew that Cale would die right here if he had lied.

"Okay, I will tell you one more thing."

One more. That made Choi Han quickly lift his head to look at Cale.

"The last truth." This was the third truth Cale told Choi Han. "I have no desire to harm you."

Cale was confident as he said that. He remained alive, which meant this was the truth.

Choi Han started to frown. Tap. Tap.

Choi Han started to tap his thigh with his clenched fist. Although he was not tapping very hard, veins were popping out of his tightly clenched fist. He slowly raised his head. Cale was still alive.

"...I trust you." He knew Cale wouldn't harm him.

He knew but... Cale's words tonight, had him thinking about everything that had happened after he was out of the Forest of Darkness.

Listening to that response that took so long to come out, Cale repeated the words he had said to Choi Han before they entered this room.

"I understand." He then started to smile.

Sigh. Choi Han sighed while still sitting at the table. He lifted his head to look at Cale. Cale's eyes were clear as usual, while stubborn.

"Cale-nim. Please promise one more thing. Then I will completely trust you." Choi Han added in his mind. 'And follow you for life.'

"Sure. What is it?"

"Cale-nim."

"Yes?"

"I must get revenge on that organization. I think this is the first time in my life I've ever hated a person or an organization so much."

Anger filled Choi Han's pure eyes. A sense of nostalgia could be seen behind the anger as well. Choi Han was probably thinking about Harris Village.

'Mm. I could relate... He reminded me of the me in my past life... though I was too weak.' Cale smiled bitterly.

"Please tell me no matter what if you find out any of their plans."

"Ah-, well, sure." Cale had a shocked expression as he made the vow. "I, Cale Henituse, will inform Choi Han about the secret organization's plans as soon as I could. I will pay with my life should I go against this vow. Good enough?"

"Yes, thank you very much." Choi Han finally started to smile. He seemed to be relieved. 'Now I know how that old man feels.'

"Then are we done?"

"Yes."

Bang! Cale lifted his hand and slammed down on the table. His smash made the table slightly shake, and the priest opened his eyes and nodded his head.

The area vibrated once more. Ooooooong!

With that, the smoke disappeared into each of their bodies. Cale felt the vow becoming ingrained into his body as he took a piece of paper out of his pocket.

It was the cheque for 10 million gallons. Cale put that money in front of the calmly seated priest and got up. He then said goodbye to the priest before heading out of the room.

Choi Han looked back and forth between the money and Cale, before following Cale out of the room and closing the door. He then looked toward Cale with confusion.

"Nothing in life is free." Cale casually responded to Choi Han's gaze. 'I'll just think of it as an offering to God of Death for everything he had done for me.'

"I see."

Cale walked back up the stairs to find the priest from earlier standing at the entrance on the first floor.

The priest greeted the still alive Cale. "May your life continue until its destined time."

It was their way of telling you not to break your vow so that you could continue to live. It was completely merciless.

"Thank you very much, priest-nim." Cale thanked the priest with a smile in response.

The priest still found Cale's smile and relaxed voice to be odd, but Cale just walked past him to leave the temple.

He then got on the carriage and started to speak once the carriage started to move.

***********************************

Tsuki: it's 3k. This is the hardest to write so far... the truths...