Chapter 69

# Chapter 69: <Contrary to Intentions>

Cale tapped Villous on the shoulder. Anticipation filled Villous's eyes. He could hear the words Cale was about to say.

"If you need treasure, work for it."

It was an indifferent command. Still, Villous responded clearly.

"Of course. Hehe."

Shaking his head at the obviously delighted and sly look on Villous's face, Cale knew he was acting that way on purpose. Villous's mind must be quite complicated right now.

'Since I didn't explain in detail.'

He had only given a single word.

Magical device. Villous had merely nodded in understanding at that word. Cale watched as Villous headed off to work, then he found someone.

The person in their group who needed to be most cautious in this Viper Kingdom.

Rosalin.

A mage must be careful to avoid injury or death. Cale spotted her standing on the deck and approached her to give a warning.

"…Miss Rosalin."

But it wasn't necessary. Cale paused, thinking about what to say.

"Master Cale, is something wrong?"

Her calm voice prompted Cale to ask her directly.

"Is that a cudgel in your hand?"

Rosalin was swinging a cudgel, causing a strong wind. The movement was quite familiar and well-practiced. Under her robe, a light leather armor was visible. She replied cheerfully to Cale.

"Yes, a cudgel. Swinging a magic staff or a cudgel, it's all the same. The hitting part is the same, anyway."

"Very wise."

Cale genuinely admired her and gave her a thumbs up. There was no need to warn her about the dangers of wandering around as a mage in the Viper Kingdom.

"Wisdom. I don't want to cause trouble for everyone. Even though I look like this, I learned basic martial arts when I was young."

Tap. Tap. Rosalin lightly tapped her other palm with the cudgel. As a member of the royal family, and the first in line to the throne, she had learned several basic combat skills, including self-defense.

Her eyes, holding the cudgel, turned cold.

"And I want to take a good look at this place."

Cale's lips curled slightly upward. Rosalin, who had once been the figure most likely to become the owner of a new magic tower in the future, was the one most similar to Chae Han in her kindness. She would grow alongside her companions.

But fundamentally, she possessed a clear dream and a cold rationality. The Viper Kingdom would give her a complex heart and opportunities to learn.

Cale looked at the port with Rosalin.

The smallest port, and thus the least damaged. This port was mainly used by the tribespeople, making it relatively safe. However, there were few ships coming and going, and the faces of those disembarking were dark. Only the expressions of the port residents were quite bright.

'This place had many tribespeople who were treated like slaves by the magic tower.'

In the distance, black smoke rose. After the civil war, only ruins remained.

"Master, we can move now. The carriage is ready."

"Alright."

Cale nodded at Villous's words and disembarked. Stepping onto the land of the Viper Kingdom for the first time, he spoke.

"It doesn't smell very good."

The acrid smell of burnt and destroyed places filled the air as Cale headed to the accommodation Villous had prepared. Upon arriving, Cale met with Villous in his room.

"You did quite well, didn't you?"

Cale praised Villous, who had prepared the quietest accommodation near the port, a carriage disguised with the symbol of the Flynn Merchant Guild, and all the other minor details.

Villous shrugged. Cale then asked him another question.

"Did you prepare everything quietly without spreading rumors?"

"Of course."

Villous answered with a serious expression.

"Why would I share my profit?"

With eyes full of greed, Cale smiled and said,

"Indeed, you're to my liking."

"Master, you too."

Cale leaned back on the sofa and casually asked,

"Victory?"

Villous nodded slowly with a cautious look.

"Yes, as you said, Master."

"I see."

Ultimately, or rather, as expected, the Non-Mage Alliance won. Cale had arrived just as the civil war was ending.

The end of the civil war was marked by one thing.

The fallen magic tower.

The collapse of the magic tower, the final stronghold of the mages, marked the end of the civil war. Of course, there were still minor issues to be resolved.

"That Non-Mage Alliance was more reckless than I thought."

Villous began to talk about the civil war, his brows deeply furrowed.

"They seemed to focus solely on killing, without fear of death."

Villous shuddered slightly. He had only seen the aftermath of the civil war or the scenes before it began. That was when it was good to buy and sell things.

But even so, he had seen a lot.

"Especially when the magic-resistant tribespeople appeared in large numbers and took the lead, it was truly terrifying."

The Non-Mage Alliance and the Mage Alliance. The most significant variable in their conflict was 'magic resistance.'

The tribespeople had a few generations of individuals with magic resistance.

They were few in number and unable to learn magic, which led to their greater oppression in the Viper Kingdom.

But in this generation, many more magic-resistant tribespeople were born, turning this into a significant advantage.

The tribespeople called it a revelation from nature. A revelation to kill the arrogant mages who believed they could control nature with mana.

"Particularly, there's a leader of the Non-Mage Alliance named Tunka."

Cale listened silently.

"That man and his direct subordinates truly moved by instinct. I saw him once from a distance, and he was pulling out a mage's neck with his hands. It was brutal."

Sighing, Villous shook his head.

"I couldn't sleep properly that night. Even now, thinking about Tunka and his subordinates makes my stomach churn."

Villous resolved to avoid and be cautious of those men. They didn't seem like people he could reason with. At least, Tunka's advisors were smart and could be reasoned with.

"Quite cruel, it seems."

At Cale's casual remark, Villous nodded vigorously.

"Yes, very cruel. The bodies of mages who were torn apart while still alive were hung in front of each city."

But Villous didn't say it was bad.

"Well, from the perspective of the Viper Kingdom's citizens, it might still be insufficient."

Villous understood their feelings. And he couldn't judge who was good or bad, given that he was profiting from the aftermath of the civil war.

"By the way, Master."

Villous smiled subtly and asked Cale.

"Why?"

Cale's question, which could be perceived as cold, didn't faze Villous.

"Where are we going now?"

What was their destination, and what was the treasure? Villous was very curious. He could see a smile forming on Cale's lips as he listened to his story calmly.

That smile filled Villous with anticipation. Then Cale's voice echoed.

"To meet Tunka."

"…What? Who?"

Villous thought he had misheard. He wondered if he was hearing things due to lack of sleep during the civil war.

Cale, seeing Villous's bewildered expression, finished what he had to say.

"To the magic tower."

"Really?"

A very small port. Cale had chosen this place for more than one reason. It was close enough to the magic tower but still out of its attack range, and it was a port with many tribespeople.

With a blank yet complex expression, Cale spoke to Villous, who sat across from him, with ease.

"Trust me."

Villous opened and closed his mouth several times before abruptly standing up, taking a bottle of alcohol from the cabinet in Cale's room, and gulping it down. When the bottle was half empty, he answered Cale.

"I'll trust my instincts."

"What instincts?"

Villous handed a new bottle to Cale.

"My instinct is to follow Master."

Cale took the bottle and drank a mouthful.

"You have the makings of a fine merchant."

He looked truly relaxed and indifferent. Villous, holding the bottle, gazed out the window behind Cale.

The official civil war had ended, but the Viper Kingdom was still plagued by the cries of death as they hunted down the remaining mage factions. This place was a space where madness, despair, and sorrow coexisted.

"The alcohol tastes good."

Hearing Cale's indifferent voice, Villous decided to trust his instincts even more.

***

A few days later, Cale stepped out of a carriage with the Flynn Merchant Guild's emblem. Behind his carriage were three more.

"Master, this is the closest point the carriage can reach to the magic tower."

Cale saw the partially destroyed magic tower in the distance. It was less damaged than he had expected.

'They did a good job not destroying it too much.'

Tunka had listened well.

"What a beautiful magic tower."

Rosalin, who was standing beside him, had a glint in her eyes. At that moment, Cale took something out of his coat and showed a part of it to Villous.

"Ah!"

Villous gasped.

Golden token.

Even though it was only a part, it was clearly a golden token. Villous's eyes changed.

"I admire you, Master."

Cale dismissed the comment lightly. The butler, Hans, approached him.

"Master, what do you plan to do now?"

Hans looked around as he asked Cale what he intended to do. They were near the entrance of a large encampment set up in front of the magic tower.

Numerous tents and houses were visible. The scale was more like a village than an encampment. People with unique attire were also seen. They were the tribespeople.

Various other people were also visible. Hans's eyes wavered.

"Ugh!"

He instinctively covered his mouth. He saw warriors, covered in blood, dismembering corpses. The clothes of the corpses were faintly visible. Robes. They must have been mages.

Behind them, he saw the heads of mages rolling together.

Suddenly, the smell of blood and decay dominated Hans's senses, and the sound of burning corpses reached his ears.

"Take a break if you feel sick."

At that moment, Hans looked at Cale with a calm voice and realized something. Everyone in this place was calm. Even the children, including Mace, who had discovered he was a wolfkin, stood calmly, taking in the scene.

"Hans."

"…Yes, Master."

"This is a battlefield."

Hans felt the weight of those words. At the same time, he could see Cale's eyes, which were calmly observing the scene.