Chapter 88

# Chapter 88: <It is a gift, after all>

After leaving the bedroom and reaching the back door of the mansion, Kale encountered Odysseus.

"Odysseus, you did a satisfactory job on this mission."

Odysseus wasn't sure whether to laugh or be flabbergasted at Kale's words. But the outcome was something to laugh about.

"No, I should be the one to say that. The commission was more than enough, and I enjoyed it."

"Of course."

Kale didn't even say the commission was low, even as a formality.

After all, the commission was to eliminate Beinion from the underworld.

"I'll contact you next time."

Odysseus didn't want to see Kale again. He felt it was dangerous and that he would suffer, as his years of experience told him. But he also knew from experience that such things couldn't be avoided. They would eventually meet again.

"Yes, I'll contact you occasionally."

"Alright."

Kale got into the carriage with Odysseus' farewell. Vikros was sitting on the driver's seat. The driver who had brought the carriage from Sten Manor had already returned to the manor.

"Odysseus."

"Yes."

"The basement. You know it, right?"

Odysseus' eyes twitched slightly. He looked at the place near the back door of the mansion where the entrance to the basement had been. Only the completely destroyed remains were left.

"...I'll clean up thoroughly."

"Alright."

Before the basement collapsed, Odysseus had seen the room where blood was splattered, and the marks of meals and broken torture tools were scattered.

'What a joke about being good.'

There was no such thing as a kind and self-sacrificing prince. Only the ruthless and cunning existed.

"And I hope you didn't tell Villous everything about this."

"A mission is a matter of secrecy."

"Right, indeed. A matter of life and death."

Following Kale's gentle smile, Odysseus also put on a gentle smile. But neither of them was smiling inside.

"Then, I'll be going."

"Goodbye."

Odysseus' farewell seemed sincere, as if he never wanted to see Kale again. Kale smiled and closed the carriage door.

Click! The carriage door closed with a light sound, and Vikros started the carriage.

The carriage left Sten Manor and headed towards the western main road of the kingdom, leading to the capital.

For several days, the carriage moved quickly except when they camped.

"Are you bored?"

Kale, who had been looking out the window, turned his head at Choi Han's gentle voice. Choi Han was giving snacks to On and Hong with his usual kind smile.

"Not at all. I'm not bored!"

"I like rolling around the most."

Choi Han responded with an admiring expression to On and Hong's answers in turn.

"Indeed, you two are just like Lord Kale."

...Is that a compliment? Kale looked at Choi Han's response, unsure if it was a compliment or a joke, and then turned his gaze to On and Hong.

The carriage was currently in the middle of the northwest and southwest of Louen Kingdom, more precisely, passing through the western part of the kingdom. While the northeastern part, where Hennitus Manor is located, is famous for marble, the area from the northwest to the west is known for granite.

Therefore, it had a lot of rocky mountains.

Choi Han's voice continued.

"We passed through here last time, but it's almost all rocky mountains."

Had Choi Han been through here before? A question popped into Kale's mind, but he soon found the answer.

Rosalin. He must have passed through here when he went to Breck Kingdom with Lark for her.

"Did you come here when you went to Breck Kingdom?"

After asking the question, Kale felt a strange sensation looking at Choi Han's face. Choi Han's hesitant expression gave him a very uncomfortable feeling. The words naturally came out of Kale's mouth.

"Did you cause trouble in Breck?"

"...No, I didn't."

Kale didn't ask any more. He didn't want to know. It was enough that he had only heard the results from Prince Albert.

There was just one thing. He had a question that came to mind.

"Then, when you passed through the west, did you see the Ten-Finger Mountains?"

"Hmm? Is there such a mountain? I've never heard of that name."

On, Hong, and Raon also showed interest in the strange name. With their sparkling eyes, Kale's expression turned sour.

Click. Raon put his front paw on Kale's knee.

"Explain, human! I'm curious!"

In the end, Kale explained.

"The west has a lot of hard rocks called granite. However, not all of them are made of such rocks. But at the point where the southwestern part of Louen Kingdom begins, there are ten granite peaks."

They stand like fingers or towers, ten rocky mountains in a strange shape at the point where the southwestern part begins.

"Hmm, we didn't go through the southwestern part but directly through the northwestern part, so I don't think we saw them. If we had seen such rocky mountains, I would have remembered."

"Is that so? I was curious because I heard the scenery is mysterious."

Hearing Kale's curiosity, Raon reacted. The black dragon remembered what he had said about Kale liking to wander around the jungle queen Rithana.

Let's go now! Raon's mouth opened to say.

But Kale was faster.

"I thought about going there in about a year. That's why I asked."

"In a year?"

"Yeah."

Kale had to go to the Ten-Finger Mountains in a year.

'Because the last ancient power will reveal itself there.'

Kale had to obtain the last, offensive ancient power, which is similar to lightning and resembles a firestorm.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we all went on a trip together?"

Kale muttered indifferently. The fatigue from the journey disappeared from On, Hong, and Raon's faces, and Choi Han had a gentle smile on his lips.

"Yes, that would be nice. But if it's a rocky mountain, there probably won't be a decent village nearby."

"There isn't. There- no, there isn't."

Kale firmly reminded Choi Han and the children again.

"There isn't. As far as I know, there is no village nearby."

No, there isn't.

There is no village where people live.

The problem is that there is an elf village that loves nature terribly and worships dragons more than mages.

Elves.

A mysterious race that lives separately from humans, hiding their village with illusion magic. They are the most nature-friendly race after dragons.

Therefore, they handle elementals and are always well-liked by the people of the continent for their beautiful appearance. They are different from dark elves, who are also beautiful but have dark attributes and are criticized.

When the protagonist Choi Han returned to Louen Kingdom after dealing with Rosalin's matter in Breck Kingdom with Lark, they passed through the Ten-Finger Mountains.

At that time, they accidentally discovered an elf village and got involved with an elf.

Pendrick, the healer.

Pendrick, an elf with the ability to heal others, different from Kale's regeneration power, joined Choi Han's party.

Originally, there is always one elf in the protagonist's party. That was Pendrick.

'The problem is that he dies.'

The starting point of Lark's first berserk. It was Pendrick's death. He died protecting Lark, and as a result of his death, Lark experienced his first berserk and his personality changed drastically.

If Pendrick didn't meet Lark and didn't travel with Choi Han's party, he wouldn't have died.

'Already, I missed the chance to prevent it when they joined.'

So far, Pendrick had not been involved with Kale, Choi Han, or Lark at all. If things continued this way for a year, Pendrick would live longer than originally planned.

This could be considered the biggest deviation from the original story of 'The Birth of a Hero.'

"...Right, there is no village."

Kale muttered again, making a resolution.

When he goes to the 'Ten-Finger Mountains' in a year, he must avoid the elf village.

How many burdens had he carried by moving comfortably and carelessly until now? Kale intended to prevent such things from happening this time.

"I want to see it as soon as possible in a year. It's fine even if there's no village."

Kale looked at Raon with a cheerful voice.

Especially, dragons should not be brought to the elf village. They would almost certainly be treated like gods. The scene was vivid in his mind.

Kale shivered and turned away from Raon's smiling face. He strongly resolved not to go to the western side until he obtained the last ancient power with the golden token given by the prince.

Kale opened a small window near the driver's seat and said to Vikros.

"Try to go a bit faster."

"Understood."

The carriage quickly left the western part and arrived at the capital.

***

"It's been a while, Your Highness."

Kale, dressed neatly and elegantly with a gentle smile, caught everyone's attention.

"Yes, it's good to see you again. How was your convalescence?"

With blonde hair and blue eyes, Prince Albert, who was as handsome as Kale, greeted him with a bright smile and a hug.

In front of the prince's palace. Prince Albert personally welcomed the hero of the now-fading magic bomb terrorist incident.

Even though the incident had faded, the capital square was still under reconstruction, and knights were patrolling. Many people were dissatisfied with the palace for not revealing the identities