Chapter 10. Pick it up"
The image returned to where it left off.
— Where is he now?
- Ah, he's with Ron in Chef Bikros's kitchen.
Cale's heart jumped as he walked into the office. Did the three of them get along as he had planned?
"This is highly doubtful..."
— Based on what I was told, he is learning to cook Chef Bikros's main dishes.
— Learning to cook?
— Yes.
All three heroes looked at each other with expressions of surprise and horror. Ron and Choi Han with surprise, and Bikros with horror, to be more precise.
One corner of Cale's lips lifted.
"Keep your pockets wide open."
They called it "cooking," but he would probably find out about the torture, or Bikros and Ron would admire Choi Han's sword skills. Cale didn't need to see it to know the truth.
— Who the hell do you take us for?
Now all three of them looked, in a rare fit of unanimity, extremely indignantly at the Young Master, who dared to insult the holy of holies. Well, only Bikros thought of the latter. The other two were indignant because they were good people. Yeah.
Cale, naturally, came over and sat down at his desk. Then, as if by chance, he asked Hans, who continued to stand in the corner and remain silent:
- What did he ask for?
— Brother...
Hans seemed shocked by Cale's sudden words before quickly beginning to relay the requested information in all seriousness. It was the information Cale had been expecting to hear.
Hans could not hide his sadness and disappointment as he listened to the story of what had happened in Harris Village, and went to the Count with Choi Han to deliver the note from the village chief that Choi Han had brought.
Choi Han's face sank again as he remembered what had happened.
— Did your father meet him?
- Yes, the Count immediately ordered a funeral and sent investigators, knights and soldiers to investigate. Mmmmm... - Hans paused for a moment, as if hesitant to continue, but then he continued his story: - However, the guest indicated that he would not go with them.
Hans remembered the meeting between the Count and Choi Han and how the young man explained the whole situation to the Count.
Choi Han spoke calmly, but his fingertips were trembling. It was then that Hans learned that Choi Han was only seventeen years old. He had only survived the massacre because he had been busy searching for medicinal herbs by chance, but he still had to witness his neighbors and friends being killed, and all at such a young age. How shocked was he?
The swordsman could only respond to the raised eyebrows and sidelong glances:
"It was easier to say that I was seventeen than to tell the whole incredible story of my age.
Fair enough.
"Will everything be okay?" Hans asked Cale. "Will he be okay if he doesn't tell them his last goodbye?"
"It's his decision," Cale answered Hans's question. He already knew why Choi Han didn't want to come back. The main character of the novel had already said goodbye when he buried them with his own hands. All that was left was to take revenge on the people who had cut short his friends' future.
The remark, although true, was made in a rather strange tone. This tone is used either when one knows what one is talking about, or when one does not listen to the interlocutor and answers in a haphazard manner.
Choi Han decided not to think too much about it. The atmosphere was already quite depressing after the last memory.
- Did Ron take care of him?
- Yes. He made sure that the guest did not miss a single meal. He seemed to have become friends with the young man.
It seems like these three really got along.
The cloud over the heads of the aforementioned trio was ignored by everyone. But the reaction was funny.
"Ah," Hans seemed to remember something, because he continued speaking, "Mr. Ron seems to have been injured while doing his job. He has bandages around his wrists."
- Really? Be sure to give him the medicinal herbs.
"He probably killed someone again ," was what Cale really thought. At that moment, he heard Hans' words again:
— ... I will definitely convey the words and concerns of the Young Master to Mister Ron.
- Of course, whatever you like.
- Hohoho...this servant is wounded in the very heart.
"Do you have a heart?"
It's hard to say who exactly thought of this. Perhaps most of them.
Hans opened his mouth to say something, looking at Cale's indifferent face, but another sound filled the room.
*Tuck-tuck-tuck*
Choi Han arrived. Hans opened the door and Cale saw Choi Han standing outside. Cale waved his hand to send Hans away and the servant bowed his head and calmly left the office. Only Cale and Choi Han remained in the room.
Putting aside the question of whether the former butler had any vital organs, everyone listened. If Cale was going to change something, he had to explain what it was.
Cale, leaving the table between them, gestured to the chair opposite him.
- Come in, sit down.
Choi Han slowly looked around the office before sitting down on a chair. Cale gave him enough time for the young man to look around the office.
As a typical pure and intelligent hero, Choi Han loved books. That's why the first thing he did after leaving the Forest of Darkness and arriving at Harris Village was learn how to read from the village chief. After looking around for quite a while, Choi Han finally focused his gaze on Kayla.
— What payment were you talking about?
"I approve, straight to the point," Cale smiled, watching Choi Han not wanting to beat around the bush.
Payment: Choi Han was very meticulous when it came to paying back debts.
"So far so good."
Cale, Kim Rok Soo, realized that he had changed the content of the beginning of "Birth of a Hero". He could see that even more things would change because of this. And although he tried his best to prevent the global change, but...
Cale had to go to the capital. And because of this, many things will change.
The young man placed the piece of paper on the table, looking at Choi Han.
The contents of this sheet of paper interested everyone without exception. Something important was written there. They felt it.
- You have a way to repay me for the food, but I need to determine if you can do it first. Basically, I want to conduct an interview.
- Please continue.
Choi Han immediately agreed to Cale's words about checking his qualifications. And the count's son began his questioning.
- Why would he arrange an interview for Choi Han? Technically, he knows more about Choi Han now than Choi Han himself. He read about his life up to the fifth volume. And he knows his strength very well.
Rosalyn didn't understand the logic of what was happening.
- Who knows. Maybe he will share his thoughts.
Meanwhile, the Sword Master himself was thinking about how he should feel about someone knowing him so well. There are things that people want to keep to themselves: painful memories, personal life, and all that. And then he remembered what he was doing at the moment, and also that there was no Doctor Choi-Han in their world, and he calmed down. He was just a little ashamed of his thoughts.
— Do you know how to protect people?
— ...What do you mean?
Choi Han flinched after the first question and asked a counter question a moment later. Cale's gaze suddenly changed direction. He was now looking at the piece of paper on the table, and not at the young man sitting in front of him.
The sword master also flinched. He had not expected such a question. Deciding that the question was not asked without reason, he thought hard. So far, the answer was quite regrettable.
It took him decades to learn how to protect even himself. And once he was sure he could protect someone. With his strength, who couldn't? And then the Harris Village Massacre happened. And his strength was useless because he wasn't there. He didn't protect anyone. And he doesn't know where to learn it, or if it's even possible.
Oblivious to the inner turmoil of the (not) seventeen year old, the others stared at the piece of paper. If even Cale was staring at him so intently, then he had to play his part. Everyone prayed that the swordsman would answer correctly. Or rather, whatever the young nobleman thought was the correct answer.
Alberu scolded himself for not reading what he had written at the moment he was writing it. Cale, writing something, because it was clearly visible when Hans told him about the meeting with the Count.
Tsk.
Although he had to change his plan quickly, it could benefit him more than before. He could prevent Choi Han's team from obtaining the ancient powers, taking the ones he wanted for himself.
These forces were of no use to them.
And although he was reassured by the fact that their powers would not be taken away completely thoughtlessly, Choi Han still decided to see for himself this "uselessness". He did not consider Cale to be either good or bad. He knew little about him. And therefore, he did not trust him. At least blindly. The God of Death said that in that world they all became a family, but who knows what happened while they were becoming this "family". Until now, Cale had distanced himself from him in every possible way, until he was pushed against the wall.Molana, Eruhaben and Alberu noticed how quickly the new plan was made. This time he didn't lock himself in his office for the whole day, which meant he came up with everything while waiting for Choi Han.
Locke, still unsure how he could have met all these people, simply watched and waited for the explanation to become clear. The piece of paper scared him.
Rosalyn and Vitira, in an attempt to ease the tension, decided to take a closer look at the Young Master's tense face.
O-o-o-o... There was something to see.
Catching the direction of the gaze, they looked at each other and, understanding each other, smiled.
"I think I have a new friend."
Cale was still looking at the paper as he continued speaking:
- It's simple. Can you protect people instead of killing them?
"Who taught you to ask such questions straight to your face?"
Choi Han was suffering. He could roughly imagine what his double would answer. "I don't know" or "I'm not sure." Because that's what it was. And he wouldn't lie. It made his whole body feel useless, and he wanted to rip his skin until it bled to get rid of it.
Silence filled the room. Choi Han was slow to respond. Cale looked away from the paper and looked at the boy sitting on the chair. Choi Han sat with his head down until he found the strength to answer:
- I'm not sure.
"I told you so."
— *Tsk* — Cale clicked his tongue. That was why it was dangerous to provoke Choi Han right now.
- But can you kill someone?
This time the answer came quickly:
— Absolutely correct.
- Then you can also protect people.
Choi Han's eyes flickered.
Both of them.
- It's complicated.
- But difficult doesn't mean impossible.
There weren't many things in the world that could be avoided just because they were difficult. The life Kim Rok Soo lived was like that. That's why he was so happy to have the body of a lowlife like Cale, who could do whatever he wanted. But unfortunately, there was a mountain in front of him that he had to climb first to reach that damn peaceful future.
Cale was looking for someone to step up and move this mountain for him.
Choi Han had a bitter smile on his face.
Like the swordsman in the black room. It was hard to hear people talk about you as a tool.
- That's probably true.
- Yes, that's true. Now the last question that will conclude our interview.
- Yes, please ask.
Cale met Choi Han's firm gaze before asking the final question:
- What is your name?
- You don't know my name?
"Of course I fucking know. You're the one who was going to beat me up!"
"How much does it bother you, you miserable bastard?"
- I've heard it from other people, but I want to hear it from your lips.
"Choi Han," the young man extended his hand. "My name is Choi Han."
Cale shook the outstretched hand:
- Excellent. I'm Cale Hanitus.
The short conversation called an interview quickly came to an end. Of course, it was a test. Cale pushed a piece of paper on the table towards Choi Han.
— Whatever he thought to himself, this interview was more geared toward helping you than it was toward helping him.
Eruhaben looked at Cale with some kind of hidden respect. To see an elf respecting a human? Welcome to the twilight zone.
- What do you mean, Eruhaben-nim?
Choi Han was jolted out of his melancholy by the voice of what he thought was the smartest man in the room. He didn't understand. He had practically admitted his own uselessness as a guard.
- Right now, he knows more about you than you do yourself. He knows your strengths and weaknesses. At least, he will know this up to a certain point. He didn't care what you answered. He would know the truth about you anyway, and therefore the answer didn't really matter to him.
There was certainly a lot of meaning in the golden-haired elf's words. Alarmingly so, in fact.
Eruhaben meanwhile continued to explain his thoughts:
- He also needs to know your weaknesses. He knows what you might have problems with. When he asked his first question, you thought about it and wilted. What in this world, what in the next. So he hit a sore spot. Your insecurity. With his words, he made you accept the simple truth that it is not impossible for you. Even if you don't believe it yet. He doesn't convince you that you will definitely succeed. He simply says that if you can kill, you can also save.
The sword master clenched his fist. This was a critical difference.
- Also, if you read between the lines even more than you already do, he immediately prepares you for the fact that you might not succeed. And that's okay. Life is a complicated thing, not everything depends only on your actions.
Eruhaben looked at everyone in the room.
Everyone seemed to be preoccupied with their own thoughts.
In fact, it was an important life lesson not only for Choi Han, but for everyone.
— And the last thing.
Has it gotten colder here or what?
- This piece of paper. We focused on its contents, but completely forgot what it meant in itself.
There was a nervous curiosity in the room. The dragon looked at everyone with a look that clearly said: "Already turn on your brains, you miserable ones."
The first to come up with an answer was the Crown Prince of the Roan Kingdom.
- This is an instruction!
He said with surprise.
- That's right. Whatever is written on this sheet, Cale will not participate in it. He is not in any danger until the celebration in the capital. But Choi Hanu may well be.
Choi Han was shaking a little.
- And don't forget one more thing. For you, it's probably the most important thing right now.
Choi Han finally raised his head and looked into Eruhaben's eyes. Only a blind person would not see his confusion.
— It is not in his interests to harm the "main character" who must ensure his "damned peaceful future," to use his words. So, until we hear otherwise from him, all his actions towards you must be for your benefit first and foremost, and only then for his.
Leaning back in his chair and stroking the child on his lap, who was deep in thought, Eruhaben gave one last piece of advice:
- If I were you, I would listen to him more carefully.
Said the man, I mean the elf, who, based on nine short sentences, practically wrote a philosophical treatise.
So much for your interview.
Straight from hell.
- This is how you can repay me. It's simple.
All eyes returned to the screen. Now they hadn't even expected it to be something simple.
There were two names written on the paper. He also indicated where Choi Han could meet them.
- Go to the capital with these people.
These were the team members that Choi Han would meet on his way to the capital. Bikros and these two people would grow and strengthen alongside Choi Han, developing until volume 5.
Rosaline and Locke.
- What?They both looked at each other, then at Choi Han, who looked back at them in equal shock.
"So far it sounds really simple. But after such a detailed analysis of Eruhaben-nim, I have a bad feeling about it."
The prince frowned again.
One of them was a princess of a neighboring kingdom who was returning to her own kingdom after surviving an assassination attempt, and the other was a wounded child. Of course, this child was the heir of the Wolf King. In the future, he would manage to turn into a wolf.
Those who didn't know about Rosalyn's royal origins looked at her in surprise. Everyone except Alberu, that is. She just smiled sweetly.
Then they turned their even more shocked glances to Lok. This timid boy was not only a beastman, but also the heir of the Wolf King.
"Stop! What do you mean wounded?"
Everyone returned to the screen with gloomy faces.
Was that the reason for the "interview"?
Princess Rosalyn was a strong and cold lady. She had the most powerful power of all after Choi Han, so it would be logical to use that power.
She had no interest in gaining control of the throne. Instead, Rosalyn's goal was to create the continent's greatest Magic Tower, and she would become a hero once she got close to achieving her goal.
Alberu didn't want to be distracted, but he couldn't help but think that renouncing a title was a fashionable thing these days.
"The Archduke of the Kingdom who tried to kill Rosalyn will experience Bikros in the future."
"So that's who was behind this..."
The princess and the torturer exchanged glances. Apparently, having found something in each other's eyes, they nodded and returned to watching with a satisfied look.
"What just happened? Should we start worrying about this couple?"
Cale's heart fluttered as he remembered how clearly and thoroughly the torture scene had been described in the novel. His heart seemed to flutter too often these days.
— Rosalyn. Locke.
Cale nodded to Choi Han, who finally spoke up.
- Yes, these two people. I'm glad you can read.
Choi Han continued to look at the two names. Cale's gaze fell on the name "Locke".
Locke: There were other races in this world, such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, and beastmen. However, the most secretive of all the races were the beastmen.
Beastmen. Among them were animals, birds and even insects. Beastmen differed from monsters by the presence of consciousness.
"Loke has pure Wolfman blood in his veins."
"The more he drags it out, the more frightening it becomes to hear what this will lead to."
Because of his bloodline, Lok had earned the right to dominate the wolves. Beastmen with the purest bloodline tend to appear weak and ordinary, whether they are in animal or human form. However, once they enter a berserk state, they become more brutal and furious than anyone else. And Lok was the only survivor of the entire Blue Wolf tribe.
The bomb finally dropped.
Locke melted into the chair and turned so pale he practically glowed in the dark room. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
- N-no. It's i-impossible. It c-can't b-be true.
He covered his ears with his hands and tried to forget what he had heard.
He refused to believe that something like this could happen.
It was one thing to hear about the possible deaths of people he didn't know in a distant city. It was awful, no doubt about it. But it didn't weigh heavily. Here, this was his family. These were his parents. His younger siblings. His cousins. Just kids. What was that to say, he was only thirteen himself, the oldest child in their village. What did that say about the others?
How could this even happen? Beastmen, especially wolves, were much stronger than humans. And the whole tribe was there. His uncle was the strongest man he knew. What happened to him?
Was it an attack? Or what? A whole village could really burn down from a random spark. Without any help. But then again. They're not exactly human.
And if he's the only survivor, where was he when it all happened? Did he already leave with Choi Han and find out about it after it happened? Or did he leave with him because there was nowhere else to stay? Or did he run into him while he was escaping? What happened?
He both wanted to know and didn't want to know. He wanted to go home. Where his uncle told good stories and his younger brothers and sisters laughed beside him. He wanted to be anywhere but here. Here, each story was more terrifying than the last. He shrank even more. And he didn't hear Rosaleen's voice shaking his shoulder, trying to reach him.
- …ok…Lock…Lock!
She looked at the others for help, but she knew it was useless now. He wouldn't hear them. She probably wouldn't even be able to slap him, the space rule wouldn't allow it. She needed to give him time to calm down a little. So she did the only thing she could.
She moved to the armrest of the teenager's chair and hugged him. He immediately pressed himself against her with all his strength.
They looked at the boy with pity.
Meanwhile, things were not standing still in the office.
Cale took the map out of the drawer and laid it out on the table.
- You will go with me.
Then he pointed to a certain point on the map.
- We'll split up at this point. You just follow what I wrote on the paper.
Given what was going on in the room, no one was paying much attention to what they were discussing. Where they would go together, everyone would find out anyway. Things couldn't get any worse, right?
Choi Han didn't ask any questions and just listened quietly. Cale's gaze lingered on Choi Han for a moment. There was a reason why Choi Han had to come with him to this particular moment.
"I must avoid this crazy dragon."
Or maybe.
"Shit..."
In "Birth of a Hero," as in any other novel, new villains were to appear after Cale. However, these villains were not as easily eliminated as the unfortunate Cale.
All attention returned to the office.
The next antagonist is a marquis who led one of the noble factions. He is a thorn in the side of the Crown Prince and Choi Han throughout the novel. He will end up being destroyed somewhere in the pages of Volume 2, but Choi Han will encounter him for the first time on this trip to the capital.
"Marquis Stan? What does a dragon have to do with it?"
"This bastard raised a crazy dragon!"
It was definitely a crazy dragon.
"What the hell do you mean raised a crazy dragon…."
Alberu had almost finished his thought when his gaze fell on a black tail wagging next to his leg. He froze.
Seeing the Crown Prince's strange behavior, people began to look where he was looking.
Cale's voice echoed in the deep silence.
And although the "dragon" was only a baby dragon, it didn't make it any easier. This black dragon was tortured by the Marquis' family under a great deal of secrecy. He was trained to obey the Marquis's will.
"They are crazy too. Dragons are the most powerful creatures in the world. How could anyone even think that they would be able to tame a dragon?"
Although it did make sense.
The Marquis managed to obtain a dragon egg through a secret organization and chained it with a mana-restrictive shackle once the dragon hatched. Cale couldn't comprehend the scale of this secret organization.
But could dragons be called the most powerful creatures in the world without reason?
This black dragon, less than five years old, was still a dragon. Eventually, the dragon would go crazy and go berserk.
The black dragon was shaking and closed his eyes.
Living in a cave and being tortured every day, unable to see the light of day, a young dragon uses his own life force to gain freedom.
After managing to escape, the Dragon ends up losing his mind completely and goes on a rampage.
"Shit".
The village where Choi Han was staying at the time would be on the verge of being destroyed by this crazy dragon, and Choi Han would be forced to fight it.
[Choi Han looked at the small dragon, less than a meter long. It managed to blow up the mountain with just such a small body and put the residents in great danger. However, Choi Han could not easily attack this dragon.
The eyes of the dragon, who had completely lost his mind, were full of pain and sorrow. However, the mouth of the black dragon was distorted into a terrifying smile. Choi Han found this sad.]
"Oh God..."
The black dragon slowly turned to the black swordsman with fear in his eyes. And he saw exactly the same fear in the eyes opposite him.
Choi Han kills this black dragon, giving him the freedom called death.
Cale was supposed to go to this village.
"Either Choi Han takes care of this, or I have to stop him from going crazy and find a way to free him."
"Before he became a crazy dragon, he was described as a really cute creature."
Choi Han asked a question, interrupting Cale's train of thought:
— I just need to protect these two people?
- If you want.
- Do as you wish. However, you must definitely come to the capital. You must also meet me there without being wounded. You can at least protect yourself, right?Cale and Choi Han should have no reason to meet again after this. Choi Han will have another unpleasant encounter with the secret organization after meeting Lock. Meeting Lock should allow Choi Han to prevent danger in the capital, just like in the novel.
- Why don't you answer? Can you do it?
Choi Han's gaze became a little clearer:
- Yes. I can do it.
He seemed to speak more respectfully than before, but Cale left it as is. He relaxed a little when he saw Choi Han put the paper in his breast pocket.
- Now you can go.
No one paid attention to the rest of the dialogue, or to Choi Han leaving the office, or to the fact that the room had returned to its original state.
They were left in deathly silence, alone with themselves.
The future last representative of his tribe, who still hasn't come to his senses.
Future dead child.
And his killer.
And seven witnesses of the impending disaster.
"Shit".