The image took them back to the dining room of the Hanityuz family, where the most common thing that currently looked like the most ordinary thing was the eldest Young Master of the said family himself.
- You don't seem nervous.
Cale smiled, but did not respond to his father's statement. Cale's complexion had improved significantly over the past few days. He had no choice but to become healthier.
"Since I wasn't beaten to a pulp..."
- What happened to you that this is your main concern? Do you even remember where you're going?
Until yesterday, it was raining over the Hanityuz lands. If the story goes as in the novel, Cale will be beaten half to death on a rainy day. Of course, he escaped that fate yesterday.
- Father.
Cale looked at the breakfast, which was more attractive than ever, and asked:
The young dragon noted the variety of breads laid out on the table and wondered if white bread could make someone do something, what could black bread do? And would butter enhance this effect? He didn't even want to think about bread with seeds.
"Strange man, you must be more careful!"
For some reason he was very worried.
- It seems that the number of people in the escort has increased again. I asked you to reduce their number.
He asked his father to reduce the number of servants accompanying him, so that he could provide everything he needed for the journey. He said that Hans and Ron would be quite enough. Of course, Hans turned pale at first, but he immediately gave in when he heard that the kittens would also go on this journey.
- Oh, you mean that...
For some reason, Derut did not finish his sentence. At that moment, a strange voice entered the conversation.
- It was my decision.
It was the Count's wife, Violane.
Alberu noted that perhaps, in order to reach any agreements, it would be necessary to talk with the Countess, and not with the Count.
Her hair was pulled back into a perfect bun, with not a single stray hair sticking out. The woman continued to stare at her plate. She looked remarkably similar to her son, Basen. Even the way they both avoided eye contact with Cale, maintaining an almost pained expression on their faces.
"We can't allow anyone from our family to look poor and scary, so you can't go to the capital as you wish with such a meager entourage.
It was an extremely stubborn voice. Violane then raised her gaze to look towards Cale before continuing:
— ... I'm not saying you're terrible.
The more Choi Han watched the Hanitus household, the more he found himself thinking that perhaps he should have hit Cale a little less harshly. The red-haired nobleman still deserved a beating, no doubt, but (he was willing to admit it) perhaps he could have been taught a lesson a little more gently.
- Even I know that.
Violane hesitated for a moment after hearing Cale's answer, and before returning to her meal, she continued speaking.
— People, especially noble ones, care very much about their appearance.
Countess Violane. Cale watched her quietly.
She was born the eldest daughter of a poor artist's family and dreamed of becoming the head of the merchant guild when she grew up. The girl was influenced by the luxury goods that nobles sold and entered the territory of Hanityuz. As soon as she came here, she fell in love with the art of sculpture.
She eventually met Count Deruta and fell in love, and became the manager of cultural and business operations for the territory.
The Crown Prince would never admit it, but Cale's way of thinking about everyone he saw delighted him. So much valuable information, all for free.
In Cale's opinion, no, Kim Rok Soo, she also had pride in herself and her life, so the woman was also proud of the Count's family.
Despite knowing that Kayle was watching her, the woman continued without a single change in her expression:
"Art is not for human roads," she said, a crumpled phrase. Violane was a bit of a rough speaker, having worked for some time in the world of commerce.
"She will definitely be easier to deal with."
- In any case, there are many people who think that appearance can tell everything about a person.
This was her way of telling Cale that he needed to bring a lot of servants with him. Her goal was to ensure that Cale would not be judged negatively by others just because he only brought a few servants with him.
Naturally, Cale would like to be surrounded by a multitude of servants who would do everything for him.
"It's so nice to live without stressing, right?"
Now it was hard for him to do without a servant. Kim Rok Soo had only been in this world in Cale's skin for about a week, but he could no longer let go of this easy life.
Rosalyn decided to share her thoughts:
"If he is from the common people, then his reluctance to part with the comforts of the nobility is quite understandable.
Choi Han wanted to say that in their world, there were no nobles as such. And the "common people" for the most part lived better than most people here, even back when he lived there, but he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. It was too difficult to explain, and he probably wouldn't even be able to. And it wasn't relevant to the matter at all.
However, within a few days in the future, Cale will have an encounter with the crazy Black Dragon.
If he failed to release this crazy dragon beforehand, it would break free and kill many people. Although Cale was not burdened with caring about what would happen to other people, he still did not want to see people die before his eyes.
Everyone tensed up again and looked at the dragon. Anyone would start to worry if they were reminded of their impending madness, right?
The dragon, in turn, remained quite calm and looked at them with a strange gaze.
- I'm not crazy!
In principle, no one argued with this.
The little dragon looked at the still quiet people and decided to share his dragon wisdom with the unfortunate:strange man said that he would try to free me. We just need to find out how he would do it and do it even better.
For the dragon, everything was obvious.
"Goldie's uncle is right. People need to be explained everything."
"Truly, dragons have no equal in this world," Rosalyn thought.
Moreover, the young man also did not want to take responsibility for those people who would be injured because of this dragon.
Responsibility was a heavy burden, and for someone like Kim Rok Soo, who had been forced to bear responsibility since he was a child and knew, this burden was not only the most terrible, but also the heaviest burden.
There are too many alarm bells ringing from this boy's past.
- Really…
That's why he started saying:
— Art is a mirror of the soul.
Violane looked up from her plate and at Cale. It was the first time in a long time that the pair had made eye contact.
— ...You know about it.
- Yes, I know.
Cale had been wandering around the area for the last four days to prepare everything he needed for the upcoming trip. He had just voiced one of the things he had seen on one of his trips.
- Sculpture is not just carving figures from a piece of marble. It is creating a reflection of what is in your heart.
This time, Cale stared at his plate and continued eating, while Violan watched him.
— I read it on a plaque in the gallery.
The gallery on the Hanitus site featured new sculptors. The same phrase was written on a plaque in the gallery, and was left there by Violant herself.
— ... Do as you wish. I will reduce the number of people traveling with you, but, in turn, the stagecoach and everything in it must be of the highest quality. Everything must be so for us, representatives of the Hanityuz family.
- That suits me. Try to provide me with the most expensive transport.
- Good. I will try to make your carriage comfortable enough so as not to exhaust you during the journey on bumpy roads.
- Only the best.
"Glib Tongue vs Countess Hanitheus 1:0"
Alberu saw in his fantasy a very clear picture of how Cale, the precious little brother, brought the good, kind and handsome older brother, that is, him, the keys to the treasury of the richest family in the country. He saw it as if it were real. He could not stop smiling.
The little dragon turned around and thought that the prince's smile was rather strange.
Cale couldn't see it because he was staring at his plate, but a small smile appeared on Violane's face before disappearing again. Count Deruth, who had been watching this from the start, coughed fake to hide his slowly spreading smile and asked his son:
- Have you checked the information from Hans regarding the identities of all the nobles who are going to arrive in the capital?
Derut used his own network of spies and also purchased "goods" from the informant's guild to obtain information on other nobles, and gave it to Hans to give to Cale.
Dreams of beauty did not prevent Albert from noting that Count Hanitus had his own network of spies and was willing to give a very large sum of money to the guild.
That was useful information. About the presence of the network, not what the guild sent.
- Yes, it was quite interesting.
It must have been very difficult to get hold of this file. In fact, it must have cost a fortune. Although there were only three or four lines written about each person, information about nobles was very expensive and difficult to obtain.
Choi Han couldn't understand. Why did they buy information about each other for huge amounts of money if they were supposed to know each other? How many nobles were there in this country?
- Some of them are petty, some are stupid, some are smart, some are scary, there are even those who are desperate for power. It seems like all kinds of people have gathered there this time.
Of course, there were fools, villains and trash among the people on the list.
"Especially such a useless one."
It was beyond his comprehension. Maybe they just liked spending money?
- You read the file I sent you. Hm... Anyway, Cale, do as you wish.
- Yes, father.
Vitira stared at the count in surprise and chuckled, which attracted attention.
"I just thought that given the old Young Master's character, the Count practically sent him to the capital with the wish to destroy all the drinking establishments there.
…
-Pffff!
-Ahahaha!
— I heard a strange rumor.
Cale's shoulders shook slightly.
- Apparently, the tree that was called "the man-eater", this black tree, has changed. Now it has turned white and is covered with beautiful blue leaves. There is even grass growing around it now, and nothing is in its way.
The place that had changed the most in the last four days was none other than the top of the hill in the center of the slums. It was a place where only the black tree had reigned before, but it had turned white and covered in blue leaves after Cale had relieved it of its grudge, and now this beautiful tree looked almost divine.
"If only you knew, Count, how much this beautiful tree cost you personally…"
— Isn't that an interesting rumor?
- It's... Yes, very interesting.
Cale had no intention of revealing his Ancient Power right now, so he simply pretended not to know anything about it.
There was no way that Count Deruth didn't know about Cale visiting the slums. However, he couldn't know about the Ancient Power. The Count simply suspected that the situation was somehow connected to Cale and his visits to the bakeries.
— Not caught, not a thief.
Eruhaben was amused by the whole situation.
- Yes, but that's not the point. My point is that you need to pay attention to rumors, no matter what you do. There's nothing scarier than human eyes and mouths. However, everything that's happening on the grounds now suits our family members just fine.
- I will remember this.
Cale felt like he could really live a peaceful life as long as he stayed in his territory. How nice it would be to quickly return from the capital and live the life of a potato on a couch.
Vitira could not help but be touched:
- He needs so little to be happy.
And the two cats only embellished the emerging picture of a modest man.
The sumptuous breakfast that had been prepared especially for Cale as he was leaving for the capital finally came to an end. He said goodbye to the Count and Countess, who were busy with their work and unable to see him off in person, and then turned to his brother and sister, who were shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other.
- What?
His younger brother, Basen, just shook his head at Cale's question. And his younger sister, Lily, slowly approached him. The girl was seven years old. She was the youngest child in the family, eleven years younger than Cale himself.
- P... Please be careful on your journey.
Ron was very surprised. The earl's younger children had last spoken to their eldest about three months ago. And it had been to wish them bon appetit. And here was such progress.
- Thank you. You be careful here too.
Lily nodded her head vigorously.
- Yes!
Then she looked calmly at Cale. He simply gave her a calm look.
Everyone noted that their facial expressions were surprisingly similar.
— Should I buy you a gift during my trip?
- Is it true?
"As I thought, she just wants a gift."
Cale nodded, watching the surprised, astonished, and happy expressions that alternated across Lily's face.
- Yes. What would you like to receive?
- Sword.
The girl's desire to acquire a sword did not surprise anyone, much to Choi Han's surprise.
"The joys of life in a fantasy world."
- ... What?
- Please buy me a sword.
"A seven year old girl wants a sword as a gift?"
Seeing the shock on Cale's face, Basen began to speak.
- Hyun-nim, Lily has been dreaming of becoming a swordsman lately.
- Is that so?
Cale looked at Lily seriously. The people of this house had long arms, long legs, and good physiques. Lily was only seven years old, but she was tall for her age and could easily become a good swordsman if she put her mind to it.
Vitira wondered why he was looking at the inhabitants of the house so closely?
Choi Han wondered how he knew what physical qualities a good swordsman needed. It wasn't a common occupation in their world. Not even in Korea.
- I guess this will really suit you.
Lily's eyes began to sparkle.
- I'll buy you an expensive blade.
—You specifically can buy the cheapest sword and pay a fabulous sum of money for it.
The prince was apparently very worried about this, since he said it out loud.
Lily started to smile widely before she lowered her head in embarrassment instead of answering. Cale didn't see it as he looked at his younger brother who had already reached the age of fifteen and was also looking at him.
- Do you want a gift too?
— A fountain pen.
- Understood.
Vitira promised herself that she would bring Paseton a souvenir from every hike or trip. And even Archie might get something if he behaved well.
But he won't, so Vitira's finances won't suffer.
Breakfast came to an end as soon as he received a list of gifts that his brother and sister wanted to receive.
* * *
A look of surprise crossed Cale's face as he stood before the carriage that was to take him to the capital.
"How strange."
He had this expression when the young man turned to the man standing next to him and asked his question:
- Why is their place better than mine?
Cale looked at the soft cushion on the seat where two kittens were sitting.
"Young Master, shouldn't our precious kittens travel comfortably on this trip? They're so small, so precious."
Hans responded as he loaded the carriage with special treats he had prepared for the kittens for the journey. Cale and Ron had helpless expressions on their faces.
- Mister Ron?
- Yes, Miss Rosaleen?
— Are there any normal servants at the Hanityuz estate?
"I never had any questions for the old laundress Louise.
The fact that Ron had no questions was not an indicator of the servants' normality, and what kind of questions arose for the vast rest of the staff, she omitted and answered:
- Thank you, Mr. Ron!
- Always happy to help, Miss Rosalyn.
Alberu shuddered.
"It's just because he hasn't seen them create fog and fill it with poison yet."
Cale called On and Hong to a deserted corner of the garden three days ago.
- What can you do?
And this is the answer he received:
"He can create mist while in cat form, while Hong can spread poison in the air using his blood. Of course, He can control the poison mist to prevent Cale from dying, and the poison Hong can spread now is only paralytic."
Ron thought the mission of getting close to these kids so he could take them on as apprentices had become a little more difficult. How lovely. He loved a challenge.
- You two are very useful.
He and Hong responded with pride after hearing Cale's praise:
— We were only able to escape thanks to our poisonous fog!
- We are very helpful!
From that day onwards, He and Hong were able to eat delicious food all day long. Naturally, Hans was only too happy to provide it to them.
- Young Master, I will sit with the coachman upstairs.
- Fine.
Ron jumped into the seat next to the coachman, and as Cale was about to get into the carriage, Choi Han approached him.
- Kayle-nim.
"Kale-nim?"
Choi Han didn't understand what he heard at first. And when he did, he still didn't understand.
Where did this politeness come from? Yes, Cale had helped him. Yes, he might have made him think about important things. But he did it with the air of someone talking to a flowerpot. And if he understood correctly, he also avoided him like the plague until the clouds over the city cleared and the puddles dried up. Just in case. Choi Han didn't like people like that at all. So why? For him, their relationship was purely one of debt.
The sword master did not understand the thoughts of his double, and yet the difference between them was only one week.
Choi Han said that he did not want to call Cale "Young Master", instead he preferred to call him "Cale-nim".
- What?
- Is it okay if I don't share the carriage with you to protect you?
Ron looked at the other Choi Han and asked thoughtfully:
— Who was he going to protect him from in the carriage?
Everyone shrugged, but the unspoken answer was:
"Since these are unlikely to be cats, that leaves only you!"
Cale's gaze moved to Choi Han's face, which resembled the face of someone who had eaten an astringent persimmon.
- ... Eat...
"Is there a special reason for this?"
"This reason sat down next to the coachman!"
These words were clearly reflected on Cale's face, and Choi Han, without saying anything, only nodded. Cale squinted his eyes, watching Choi Han leave.
"It's really weird."
Choi Han's eyes were still not quite clear. His mind still seemed filled with anger and thoughts of revenge. When Cale said yesterday that they sent people to Harris Village, he could see the anger in the eyes of the novel's protagonist.
But he felt a little different than before. The young man was no longer in complete despair, like in the novel, thinking something like: "The world doesn't want me to be happy! How could they kill all my loved ones?!" That's why his current behavior was strange.
"He recovered pretty quickly."
"Hello, class! I'm Dr. Cale Hanitus. Today's lecture topic: The peculiarities of the evil Choi Han's mood changes in the conditions of noble comfort."
Despite the sarcastic thought, Choi Han did not forget to notice the differences between himself and his double.
Dr. Hanithues has taught his subject with distinction so far.He seemed to have stepped out of the scene of the novel, traveling with Bikros, Rosalyn, and Lock, keeping a calm exterior but tormented inside. He let it go, because it wasn't bad, but Cale had a strange bitter feeling in his mouth. At that moment, something happened.
- I don't think there's a place for you here.
The leader of the escort group, the vice-captain of the knight squad, walked up to Choi Han and began to speak. The vice-captain looked the black-haired youth up and down before grinning as if he saw something funny about him.
"I knew at least one person like that would come along ," Cale clicked his tongue.
Choi Han hid his abilities, appearing to be barely average in appearance.
Oh, these sidelong glances...
The problem was that Choi Han was the first person Cale had brought to the Count's estate as a guest, and the fact that Count Derut treated him as an important guest.
Add to this that some uninvited boy was now part of Cale's security, some people began to dislike him and even openly oppose him.
They didn't directly irritate him because the youth was still the Young Master's guest, but there were many things they did secretly to irritate Choi Han.
— I understand less and less the treatment of Cale Haniteuz in his own home.
Rosalyn looked at the screen doubtfully.
— The servants are afraid of him. No one cares what he does. They may allow some disdain, since the only person who really asked him about his strange behavior was Bylos, who did not even know him. The Countess and the children are afraid to look at him at the table. At the same time, even Countess Violan, who cares greatly about the family's appearance, seems to have no problem sending a man to the capital who can ruin the family's reputation like no one else.
The younger brother and sister asked for souvenirs outside the dining room quite calmly. Young Master Basen himself even said that Cale had no reason not to go to the capital. Which doesn't fit with the comment that Basen looked down on Cale. I generally get the feeling that both younger brothers respect their older brother, God knows why, but they find it hard to show it and have anything to do with him. And now the knights are jealous that he brought a stranger into the house and took him on as his guard. So how do they really treat him there?
Now even Ron couldn't answer that question. He didn't look at it that way.
- Well, the children weren't afraid of him before. Tension and fear are two very different things.
- And the knights may simply react to hurt pride. This may have nothing to do with the Young Master.
But nevertheless, questions continued to accumulate.
Cale immediately thought of the report Hans had given shortly before the trip:
"Young Master, I don't think Choi Han will get along with the other knights who will be going with us to the capital."
- Is that so?
- Yes, I think the vice-captain is responsible for this.
- I've thought of everything, Hans. You can stop worrying about it.
Cale understood that the situation was not going well, but not for Choi Han, but for the vice-captain.
"He will soon realize that his eyes were not only on the ground, but were completely underground."
It would be good if he did not allow a situation to arise that would lead to him being beaten.
Cale decided not to interfere and let them solve their problems themselves.
The vice captain won't be able to sleep properly once he sees Choi Han's real skills. How can he sleep when he's afraid?
Alberu noted that although Cale had decided to help Choi Han during his forced journey, he clearly had no intention of coddling him.
- Young Master, are we moving now?
The vice-captain asked Cale as he closed the carriage door, and the young man replied:
- Yes, let's go.
Fifteen soldiers, five knights, and a special guard. Cale's escort group consisted of this protective squad, as well as some other people accompanying him on his way to the capital.
They were finally moving forward. The strange twists and turns of the Hanityuz relationship quickly faded into the background as they prepared for the events of their immediate future.
Of course, like most journeys through fantasy worlds, this was not your average trip.
No one dared to touch Cale's carriage in the county. The carriage was adorned with two flags, demonstrating the Haniteuse family's affiliation, and the carriage itself was adorned with the Golden Turtle, the family's symbol. It was a reflection of the Haniteuse family's love for wealth and longevity.
However, as soon as they left the territory of Hanityuz, they immediately encountered one situation.
- As expected, they will indeed appear.
As they raced through the mountain range, dozens of people suddenly appeared in the highlands.
- Pay the toll if you want to cross this mountain!
- Give us everything you've got! If we find anything after you say you've given us everything, for every bronze coin we find, you'll get one slap!
Yes, they were bandits.
There were always going to be bandits in fantasy stories, but the fact that there were dozens of them was pretty surprising. They were probably relying on their numbers to attack this carriage, which was only guarded by five knights. Cale looked at the kittens, who yawned, and asked,
- Do you think they couldn't see the symbol on my carriage door?
- I guess so.
- Idiots! Worthless idiots!
Cale nodded, agreeing with Hong's assessment. He wasn't afraid of the bandits. Why would he be?
Choi Han realized with surprise that he had seen these bandits. Just yesterday. He hadn't known they were bandits, though. When he was crossing the ridge with Ron and Bikros, these guys had come out from behind one of the turns to meet them. Ron had approached them and was talking to them. After a short conversation, they turned around and went back in the opposite direction. Choi Han thought they were asking for directions.
Now he realized that it was very naive of him.
In any case, from what he understood about this former butler, if he could show the way anywhere, it was only to hell.
Knock knock.
The knock came from the small window positioned to communicate with the coachman before it opened and Ron peered inside.
- Young Master, it looks like we'll have to take a break. There seem to be a lot of rabbits here .
Rabbits. Cale hesitated. Ron let out an "Ah!" before smiling and adding,
- Ah, these rabbits are different from the rabbits I was going to catch for you, Young Master. Of course, they are not exactly rabbits, but simply other people.
-Ho-ho-ho...
The old butler's collection of funny facial expressions has a new favorite exhibit in his soul.
Everyone looked at the happy old man with a strange, slightly frightened expression on their faces.
The little dragon, who, due to his small size, looked at everything from a slightly different point of view, noticed that even the pen was trying to roll across the table away from Scary Grandpa and closer to the Right Prince.
"What a timid hand!" thought the little boy.
In the black room, it is impossible to physically harm anyone. At the moment when everyone turned to the screen, among the eight different creatures (humans, dragons, wolves, whales, and even a quarter of the elves) - Bikros was not counted - an unspoken rule was born:
"If you hear strange sounds from the former butler, don't turn around."
Moral trauma can be worse than physical trauma.
Cale was protected by someone more fearsome than the bandits. He heard the bandits' screams coming from outside the carriage, and began to count the time.
"About a day and a half."
In about a day and a half, they would arrive at the area where the Black Dragon was being tortured. This was before Choi Han arrived in the novel. This was the reason why Cale had his squad rush forward without stopping for a break.
- He doesn't seem to care much about the dying bandits, despite the fact that he himself said that he wouldn't like to see people dying around him.
- Firstly, he covered the window with a curtain. And secondly, he most likely doesn't even consider anyone there to be people. For him, they are just characters in a book. When you read books, do you worry much about all sorts of bandits?
- …No…
- That's what I'm talking about. I don't see any other reason for such calm.