The knight who was guarding the gate into the desert at the village next to the Land of Death in the Caro Kingdom's Dubori territory was not very happy today.

"Crazy bastard, bossing me around like this because he's been a knight for just three years longer than I have."

The other knight was using his seniority to make this knight take the early guard duty.

The soldiers kept quiet and avoided the angry knight. They would probably end up dead if they ratted the knight out.

'He also takes all the money too.'

The money they made from people while guarding the gate was all monopolized by the senior knight. He did buy them drinks every so often, but how good would the alcohol in a small village like this be?

"He took those two gold coins for himself the other day too. Son of a bitch. You'll be in big trouble one day for taking-."

Tap! Something had hit the knight on the head.

"Ow!" The knight started to shout while rubbing the back of his head. "Damn it, what the hell! Who threw- huh?"

The item that hit his head and fell to the ground was a very small and round item.

It was a gold coin.

Money had fallen from the sky. The knight quickly picked it up and looked around. He did not see anything, even when he looked up at the sky. 'What the—?'

The knight first put the gold coin in his pocket and glared at the soldiers. He was telling them to keep their mouths shut.

"I guess you kept your promise in the end."

Cale got on the carriage they left with the innkeeper at the village and answered Tasha's question. "I'm just disappointed that it is not the same knight as last time."

"I will give you another gold coin if I return alive."

The knight that Cale had said that to was, unfortunately, not here at this early hour.

"I should have just jumped the wall last time too."

"You probably wouldn't have been able to save the two peasants if you did that last time, right, young master-nim?"

Cale pretended not to hear Tasha. He was annoyed that Tasha kept trying to talk to him. However, Tasha looked at the cold Cale with a warm gaze.

"It's cool in here." It was the most comfortable in this carriage that was fortified with magic.

Cale leaned into the chair and turned his head. A black blob was stuck against the window looking outside. Right next to that was an excited Black Dragon.

"Isn't it amazing?"

"Yes, Raon-nim. It is very amazing. Is that the village that I used to live in?"

"Even I do not know that!"

"Is that so? But I have never seen a village like this. It is so amazing."

Raon puffed up his chest after hearing the stiff voice. "The real sky does not seem to have an end. It is difficult to fathom. It is so cool."

"You can look forward to the night sky as well. That is even cooler. It is the coolest if you see it at our house. I will also take you around the Forest of Darkness."

"Thank you, Raon-nim."

Cale cracked a small smile after seeing Raon and Mary chatting with each other, before it turned cold again. "... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Tasha was looking at Cale with a gaze full of admiration.

Cale turned away with the very awkward gaze and shouted out the door. "Let's go!"

The carriage started to move.

Cale pulled up his sleeve and pointed his wrist toward Cage. "Miss Cage."

Cage, who was sitting next to him quietly, cautiously reached both of her hands out and gently placed them around Cale's wrist.

She then started to speak in a friendly voice. "Bring forth the power of death to bring death and despair to those who wish to harm you. Your enemy shall wander in the darkness for eternity and will not be able to stop you. Your enemy will lose their eyes, their legs, their hearing, and their senses as they wander aimlessly for all eternity."

Cale just quietly looked outside while listening to the vicious chant. An eerie feeling surrounded his wrist, well, the bracelet on his wrist to be specific.

"I am finished."

"Miss Cage, is the Blessing of Death always like this?"

Cage responded back in an excited voice. "Of course! It is a blessing from the God of Death. Did you expect it to be gentle?"

That was the correct answer.

Cale was just worried that the bracelet might become a cursed item after being blessed like this for a few days. However, that would likely just benefit the crown prince even more, so he just let Cage continue to bless the bracelet.

"Are there any stronger blessings?"

"I plan to increase the strength of the blessing every day."

"I see."

'She really was a crazy priestess.' Cale was relieved and continued to stare out the window as the carriage continued to move toward the capital.

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

"Is this my room?"

"Yes sir. You can stay here tonight, young master-nim."

Cale avoided Tasha's overly thankful gaze. Cale's group was staying in the same inn at the village near the capital, like last time.

Cale opened the door to his room.

Click. And then... Bang!

He closed the door right back with a bang. Cale looked toward Tasha who was smiling.

Cale let out a deep sigh before opening the door again. He slowly dragged his feet as he entered the room.

Tasha quickly closed the door behind him.

At the same time, a familiar voice started to speak.

"This is not your room."

"Of course not, your highness."

The crown prince, Alberu Crossman, was smiling at Cale. He had a fancy feast prepared in order to greet Cale.

"I did not know that you would come all the way out here to meet me."

"I am in a bit of a hurry."

'Hurry?'

Cale looked toward Alberu, who casually added on. "Toonka became the commander-in-chief of the Whipper Kingdom."

Toonka's group had started to move after laying low for the past few months. The fact that Toonka was commander-in-chief meant that the Whipper Kingdom's royalty had ended up in Toonka's hands.

Alberu could hear Cale's indifferent voice. "They've gotten a one-way ticket to hell."

Alberu started to smirk. "Indeed. Although it has nothing to do with us right now."

"I guess he doesn't know your highness stole all of the remaining mages?"

"Of course not. How could the Whipper Kingdom know, when even our own people don't know much about it?"

Cale and Alberu made eye contact.

Cling. The bracelet fell from Cale's hand and landed in Alberu's palm.

Siiizzle. A noise that sounded like water hitting fire could be heard as a black smoke surrounded Alberu's body.

Click. Alberu put the bracelet on his wrist.

"Your highness, this appearance of yours is quite wonderful too."

The quarter Dark Elf Alberu's true appearance appeared in front of Cale.

The blonde hair and blue eyes disappeared and were replaced with brown hair and brown eyes. Alberu's skin was definitely darker than most people as well.

Even though he was only a quarter Dark Elf, the Dark Elf characteristics were very visible.

'It is probably because of the dead mana he absorbed.' Thanks to that, more of his nature as a Dark Elf was developed than his human side.

"Why are you saying such an obvious statement. Everything looks good when you are handsome."

That was actually true.

"The blessing of the God of Death. I'm relieved." Alberu could feel the power inside the bracelet.

He could also feel the impact of the blessings Cale gave to him as a gift as well. He shared one piece of information with Cale as he continued to sense the power inside the bracelet.

"Toonka is said to be going to the Empire in the Whipper Kingdom's heir's place."

Cale started to frown. "...Sounds like it will be a mess."

"I agree."

Alberu then asked Cale. "Will you be spending time at home?"

"Yes, your highness. That is indeed the plan for now." Cale started to think. 'I need to have miss Mary get used to the surface and wait for Ron's arm.'

It was at that moment, Raon started to speak in Cale's mind again.

– Ah! Talking about that idiot Toonka made me remember! The seed is starting to sprout!

The seed from the Magic Tower was now sprouting.

"What will you be doing?"

"I plan to farm a bit."

His network, the seed, the money, he planned to grow them all. Of course, he would just be giving orders and doing the minimum of the actual work.

"I don't think anybody would believe you will be farming when you have such an expression on your face."

"Hmm, I guess my farming might be different from the one in your mind." Cale smiled happily.

Alberu felt iffy at Cale's face. He could tell Cale had a lot of different plots forming in his head. However, he quickly returned to the blonde hair and blue eyes appearance and said goodbye to Cale. He needed to quickly head over to the Empire.

Cale soon left the capital and headed back directly to Harris Village next to the Forest of Darkness.

After spending over a week in that rural village, Cale woke up to listen to a message that Alberu had left him. He did not pick up the call last night because Alberu had called in the middle of the night.

> Just what the hell have you been doing?

Alberu's voice sounded quite chaotic.

> Why does Commander Toonka call you his friend? Why are you the hero of the Jungle? Even one of the Breck Kingdom's princes was asking about you and his sister. Everybody stealthily came over to ask about you before leaving. You're driving me crazy.

Cale just blankly stared outside while listening to Alberu's rant.

At that moment, He heard the last part of Alberu's recording. Alberu sighed before saying one last thing.

> Haaaaa, anyways, I am coming back with one of the Breck Kingdom's princes. Oh, and the Pope of the Church of the Sun God is dead.

"Huh?"

The Breck Kingdom's prince was fine, because he just needed to tell Rosalyn. But it was what Alberu said afterward that caught Cale's attention.

> The criminals are the twins who were the Church's Holy Maiden and Saint. They are said to be on the run, but nobody knows where they went.

'What?'

> Sigh, what a mess. What a total mess.

Click. That was the end of the recording.

Ron appeared at that moment and handed him a cup of water as well as some messages. "We received contact from the Whale Tribe."

It was a letter from Witira.

He received this letter from the North just as the weather was starting to get colder. "So annoying. Anyway, don't forget to contact Miss Rosalyn."

Ron pretended not to hear Cale's mumbling as he continued on. "Understood. We also received a message from home. They were asking if you could come home so that they could see you, since it is festival time soon."

Multiple voices started to speak at once in the originally quiet bedroom.

"Festival?"

"Did you say festival?"

"Festival!"

Raon, On, and Hong who had all been asleep in the corner of the bedroom, suddenly shot up and rushed over.

"Festival..." Cale grumbled. "When exactly?"

Ron answered. "It's in a week from now, the festival will be held for three days."

"A week... around November 8th?"

"Yes, it's the 8th of November, young master."

Cale ended up ignoring the puppy dog eyes the children were giving him and laid back down on the bed, lost in thought.

The kids went silent, looking worriedly at Cale. This is the first time they got ignored. They turned to look at Ron, who seemed to be worry as well.

'Is it reminded him of the time with the late Countess? They used to walk around the festival a lot, and with Master Deruth if he managed to finish the work.'

Ron patted the three children on the head. "Don't disturb him yet, give him a little time to himself. I'm sure he'll bring you to the festival."

"Okay."

"Alright, grandpa."

"I understand."

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

Only after the next morning did Cale turned back to his normal self.

"Ron, we'll go back home tomorrow."

"Yes, young master. You'll need to hurry if you want to show the children the festival." Ron lightly said.

"Did you contact Miss Rosalyn?"

"Yes sir."

"Please bring her here."

"Yes, young master."

Ron had a benign smile on his face as he left the room, but his eyes was filled with worries, his young master only looked okay on the outside. He still seemed absent-minded.

Cale sighed and rubbed his eyes, it was a little redden.

"Human, are we leaving for your home?" Raon asked carefully.

"Yes, Raon. But we are not leaving right now."

"Alright! I will return after letting people know that we are leaving. Don't worry, Human." Raon flew out the open window, and On and Hong jumped out behind him.

The three children were headed toward the Forest of Darkness. Cale just looked at them with a smile.

Rosalyn soon arrived and Cale delivered the message to Rosalyn.

He started with how one of the Breck Kingdom's princes had asked Alberu about her and then about how they asked about him. He then told Rosalyn that Alberu was returning with that prince.

"Miss Rosalyn, I asked you to come so that I could share that news with you."

Once he was finished, he could see Rosalyn smiling gently. "It must be the fourth prince."

"Is that so?"

"He's a total bitch that probably left his courage behind in a Dragon's Lair."

'...Leave what where?' Cale had never heard Rosalyn talk like this before. He coughed a little, fortunately he wasn't drinking anything.

"He whined about everything ever since he was a little boy."

"Really?" He played along for now.

"Yes. That was why I always nagged at him. He might not have known because he was a prince, but we don't live in a world where you can get what you want simply by whining." Rosalyn had a refreshing smile on her face. "That is why I taught him about the world."

Cale wondered what she might have taught him. He felt like it would have been very scary.

"Anyways, whether it is the fourth prince or someone else, I will take care of it."

Cale found the words, 'take care of it,' to be scary, but decided not to ask for details. He knew that she would take care of it properly.

It was at that moment.

Knock knock knock. He could hear a knock on the door as a black blob quickly flew in through the window.

"Human, open the door!"

Cale looked at Raon, who was now covered in leaves and dirt, before sighing as he shouted toward the door. It was obvious who Raon would have brought.

"Enter."

Click. The door opened and an existence that was even darker than Raon walked in.

"Hello, young master-nim. What a wonderful morning we have today."

It was Mary, who greeted him in her robotic voice as usual.

The necromancer Mary adjusted well to Harris Village. He paid a lot of attention to her at first because she just stared up at the sky both night and day, but she was doing well now.

To be specific, she was playing well with the Black Dragon, Raon.

"Human, listen. The good child and I found something!"

Rosalyn smiled brightly and took a sip of the tea in front of her.

Cale asked with a blank expression on his face. "What? Did you find another interesting rock or a leaf with many holes?"

Raon had shown Mary around the Forest of Darkness. Cale felt little iffy about Mary learning about the surface world from Raon alone, but he let it be since Raon was growing up fine as he was.

Raon reported to Cale every time they saw an interesting rock or leaf. Cale recalled how excited he had been at first, thinking that Raon had found some treasure.

"No! But it was just something pretty similar!"

If it was something similar to a rock or leaf, Cale thought it was probably something like dirt. He just nodded his head and pointed to a seat for Mary to sit.

Mary dragged her black robe over and sat down as Rosalyn offered her some snacks.

Raon continued to shout as that happened. "Yes! We found some bones!"

'Bones?'

"There seemed to be hundreds of them!"

Cale turned his gaze over to Mary. "There seem to be at least two hundred corpses in there. The majority of them seem to have been buried intact, as the bones are in very good condition. It seems to have happened within the last two years."

"Choi Han thinks that they were fighting and killed each other in the Forest of Darkness!"

Mary used the dead monsters or animals she found every so often in the Forest of Darkness to practice her necromancer abilities.

Mary, however, did not use any human or Elven corpses. "I will need to put the bones together in order to know for sure, but it seems like it was a battle between land monsters and flying monsters."

Rosalyn could see that Cale's expression quickly changed and that the corner of his lips was twitching.

"Human, can the good child use those bones?"

Rosalyn's expression became odd. Raon and Mary reported everything that they found in the Forest of Darkness to Cale before asking if they could use it.

"She will use it cleanly!"

"I promise I will not break it."

Cale lifted up his teacup instead of responding to the combination of the Black Dragon and the Necromancer.

He was about to take a sip of tea when he suddenly thought of something. 'Why didn't I think about that?'

He couldn't drink because the corners of his lips continued to twitch as he held back his laughter. Every other thought from the night before was all gone.

He finally gave up drinking his tea and asked Mary. "Were the flying monster bones in good condition, Miss Mary?"

"Yes sir. I will need to put it together and restore some broken parts, but they seemed to be in a pretty good condition."

"How many?"

"There are fewer than the land monsters. I guess there are around 70 of them."

"Size?"

"They seem to be mutant monsters-."

"Are they the size of wyverns?"

"They are a bit smaller."

Mary didn't know why Cale was suddenly talking about wyverns, but she still answered properly.

Cale could feel his heart beating quickly at her response.

The North's Wyvern Knights Brigade.

Cale had worried about how to deal with the Wyverns in the future. It would cause a lot of damage to the territory if he used the attacking ancient power or magic.

"Miss Mary."

"Yes sir."