Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 400: How Dare You Stab Me in the Back? (3)
“Haha!”
Cale Henituse laughed heartily.
“.......”
Emperor Steinsen quietly stared at him.
That guy is a little, a little strange.
He recalled the evaluation Anlomann had once given of Cale.
He’s kind, you know? Honestly, from what I can see, he’s genuinely kind. To the point of seeming stupid.
But—
He’s also vicious and irritating.
If you really look at him, he’s definitely someone you can trust. Honestly, I’m also carrying out this whole thing right now because I trust that bastard.
But both Cale Henituse and Alberu Crossman. They’re both kind of annoying.
...Did everyone who worked with me feel like this too?
That’s the kind of thing I’ve been thinking about these days. Anyway, once you start talking to him, there’ll be a few moments where the back of your head starts throbbing.
Just as Anlomann had said, the back of Emperor Steinsen’s head was throbbing.
But that throbbing feeling isn’t entirely unpleasant?
That was true.
It did not feel all that bad.
Because things are moving in the direction I wanted.
Right.
And on top of that, Cale Henituse already went through all the hardship and carved out the path first.
Exactly.
Of course, when I think about all the time I spent agonizing over how to solve this, it does feel a little futile. Still, when I see that Cale Henituse went through even more trouble to make all this happen and acts like it’s nothing, I don’t feel that bad about it.
Exactly.
I don’t think that bastard even realizes he’s a workaholic. He thinks he’s some kind of strategist, but to me he’s a strategist and assault commander rolled into one. He runs around at the front stabbing in every direction by himself.
Yes. That did sound like him.
Anyway—ah, just talk to him. It’ll be pretty fun.
Yeah. It was fun.
A faint smile formed at the corner of Steinsen’s lips, and that smile slowly deepened.
His gaze passed over Cale and turned toward the darkness settled in one corner of the room.
“That’s a relief.”
Anlomann’s parents.
Steinsen had only been able to come into being because of those two. That was why they were no different from parents to him as well.
To him, Transparent Co. was the enemy that had killed his parents.
But NaSoJeol was the only legacy his parents had left behind, and it was the world in which Steinsen could live.
The corruption of this world could never be forgiven.
At the very least, this place had to be protected.
For a very long time, he had lived to uphold that resolve.
And he was not the only one who had thought that way.
“System. So that bastard wasn’t thoughtless after all.”
The system.
That bastard had also been moving to protect this world.
“That must be why it wanted to find and meet Your Majesty.”
“It must be.”
“I thought it had only realized Transparent Blood’s scheme too late and was trying to rush into doing something.”
That was not it.
“...It had already been trying to protect this world.”
For quite a long time.
“Alone.”
Yes.
The system. That bastard was truly alone.
At least he himself had had Anlomann.
Steinsen’s eyes, fixed on the darkness in one corner of the room, sank deeply.
“Are the system and Won separate entities?”
“Yes.”
If the system was the World Tree—
then Won was like a spirit created by the World Tree.
“But Won moves according to the system’s will.”
They were two beings who seemed separate, yet were the same.
“Your conversation with Won will be conveyed in full to the system.”
At Cale’s words, Steinsen quietly nodded.
He found himself looking forward to meeting Won even more than before.
His gaze turned back to Cale once more.
“So the hero quest must have been something the system had been carrying out in secret without Transparent Co. knowing.”
“Yes. Once the time is right, the hero quest will probably become known to the world.”
A sharp light flashed in Steinsen’s eyes.
“The hero is Alberu Crossman?”
“!”
Choi Han flinched.
And Cale curved his lips into a grin.
“Yes.”
“You deceived Anlomann.”
“No. I simply didn’t tell Anlomann.”
Cale corrected Steinsen’s wording for him.
“Neither Anlomann nor Your Majesty told us everything from the very beginning either, did you?”
“I suppose not.”
Steinsen accepted that immediately.
“Just because the enemy is the same does not mean we can trust each other completely.”
“That’s right.”
Steinsen leaned back into the sofa.
After thinking for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“If the hero needs strength, then Leenti must step in.”
“It would be good if the nation of knights lent its strength.”
“...You—”
Steinsen paused for a moment, then soon spoke again, his face hardened.
“I heard you intend to gather the Eight Evils into one.”
“Yes.”
“Will you do it together with the hero?”
“Yes.”
The less hesitation there was in Cale’s answer—
“Meeting the King of Lan and meeting me as well—it is also for the purpose of bringing everyone together under one will, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Your final goal is to stop the Absolute God with the power of ‘everyone,’ isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
A hot flame flickered in Steinsen’s eyes.
He spoke not to the system, but to Cale.
“So you had already been preparing an enormous board.”
“It’s my own design.”
Cale said that with an easy smile.
“Ha, hahaha—”
And Steinsen burst into loud laughter.
But soon the laughter faded, and a deep heat took its place.
“And in the middle of all that, you are creating cracks between the hunters, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the Demon Realm, and the God of Chaos.”
Steinsen tapped his knee with his palm and sank into thought.
Then, suddenly, he realized something.
“Cale Henituse.”
His voice trembled slightly.
“You intend to make the God of Chaos and the hunters fight each other. You intend to drive the forces of the God of Chaos out of this world—or make them be shunned by it.”
Yet his voice was filled with certainty.
“You must have played some sort of move in the Demon Realm as well. The Demon Realm too will surely be left with no room to care about New World.”
He looked at Cale, who was smiling.
“Then all that remains are the hunter families and the Absolute God.”
He asked Cale,
“When that time comes, you intend to pour out everything you have prepared, don’t you?”
Cale had said it again and again.
He—we—were dealing only with the hunter families and the Absolute God.
The divine realm, the Demon Realm—that was none of his business.
There was no reason for him to bear that burden as well.
That was why, this time too, Cale could answer without hesitation.
“Yes.”
Mm!
And Steinsen swallowed a groan.
If he had not, he would not have been able to hide the shiver running through his body.
A design.
An enormous board took shape before his eyes.
God.
Demon King.
Absolute God.
And the one trying to wield all of those colossal beings and the forces that followed them according to his own will was a single human.
Without knowing such a human existed, those giant beings were each, unknowingly, completing that design.
And in the end, the massive, absolute cluster of enemies was steadily being reduced to a level that could actually be fought.
“Ha.”
It truly was enough to send a shiver through him.
“But.”
Cale quietly let the emperor know one more thing.
“I’m going to split the hunters in two as well.”
“...What?”
“When the hero actually appears, Transparent Blood will not be able to pay as much attention to New World as they think.”
Ah!
Steinsen finally sprang to his feet.
“Anlomann!”
“Yes.”
The president had already declared war on Transparent Co., staking his remaining term and everything else on it.
“That’s right. More than the Five Colored Blood family, the Transparent Blood family is the greater threat to us!”
Because the Transparent Blood family—Transparent Co.—was the only existence capable of imposing restrictions on the system.
Because they were the “operators” of NaSoJeol!
“If we make it so those bastards have no room to pay attention to the game because of what’s happening in the reality of the Third District—”
And in that gap, if we rose up and dealt with the Absolute God and the Five Colored Blood—
“...It’s possible.”
It really was possible to save NaSoJeol.
To protect this complete New World.
His gaze met Cale’s dark brown eyes.
“...What a terrifying bastard.”
That was the only thing that came to mind.
*****
At that same time, Alberu lowered the hand that had been rubbing the back of his head while suppressing an inexplicable sense of unease.
Then he went back to the work he still had to do.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and immediately turned around.
“!”
There, standing in the doorway with a smile on his face, was Clopeh Sekka.
At the sight of the genuinely startled Alberu, Clopeh slowly approached.
He sat down beside Alberu, who was seated in a chair, and asked in a gentle voice,
“Is the comment work going well?”
“Huh? Ah, well. Yeah.”
Alberu had a translucent window open.
It was the official community he had accessed from inside the game.
Inside NaSoJeol, it was possible to connect to the outside internet, and thanks to that, footage could be uploaded in real time.
Alberu was currently taking part in manipulating the comments on the “Eruhaben Miru Birth Ceremony footage.”
Grin.
Clopeh smiled, and Alberu flinched.
“I’ll trust you.”
“Mm.”
Alberu let out nothing but a low sound.
Clopeh looked at that face—which anyone could see was awkward, burdened, and at a loss—and simply smiled as he rose from his seat.
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
He politely greeted Alberu and headed for the doorway.
Alberu watched him go, then turned his head and looked at the comment he had posted.
===================
-The Mad Dragon. If it’s a dragon holding light, why is it evil? And why is it a Sacred Evil?
-Isn’t this all flowing in a strangely odd direction?
===================
He had posted it based on the direction Clopeh had laid out for him.
And it was not just Alberu—Choi Sun Hee and Rosalyn were also taking part in the same work.
Alberu examined the reactions to it.
===================
-Huh? It really is kind of weird. No, why did the former boss of the Seven Evils suddenly disappear, and the “Mad” in Mad Dragon didn’t look like madness at all?
-Watching the footage, it was born in an incredibly sacred way, though? This isn’t the birth of a Demon King—it’s the birth of a hero who drives away darkness (the dark red clouds) and radiates light (the aurora), isn’t it?
-The field of the Eight Evils was originally supposed to be secret, wasn’t it? Then why is information leaking out like this? Are the operators planning to reveal the field of the Eight Evils?
-Is a new episode coming out? Or some kind of large-scale quest?
===================
“...This is going to develop in a strange direction.”
Mm.
Alberu thought for a moment.
His eyes lingered on the word light.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He left a new post on the community board.
===================
But didn’t something happen recently at the temple of the Sun God too?
Wasn’t it the God of Chaos, or some kind of weird faction that showed up?
But now an Eight Evils tied to light appears too? Doesn’t that seem seriously strange?
It feels like changes are happening regardless of faction, like something big is about to happen.
Sun. Light. Don’t they feel kind of connected?
===================
It was a sudden mention of the Sun God.
But Alberu glanced at the Sun Sword and muttered,
“Yeah. I should build a stage for myself too.”
Hero.
There should be some buildup for that as well, shouldn’t there?
It should not be something that appears out of nowhere.
Just like Eruhaben Miru, shouldn’t the hero also be given a reason that makes his appearance feel inevitable?
Creak.
Meanwhile, Clopeh carefully shut the door and headed to his study.
“Heh.”
When he arrived, he stood by the window.
Far away, he could see a green field.
No one looking at it would think this was the land of the boss of the Seven Evils.
It was simply fresh and beautiful.
“Yes. It is beautiful.”
Clopeh Sekka.
He was creating a legend.
“...Eruhaben Miru. He must not remain as nothing more than a simple evil.”
But it was not a legend for Eruhaben Miru.
Eruhaben Miru too was only one process among many.
“Originally, the evil and the good of a world stand in opposition to one another.”
And yet—
“When an enemy that threatens the world appears, they ultimately fight together to protect this land.”
Because that was not a matter of good and evil, but of survival.
“Cale.”
Even now, he pictured his lord, who must be working hard somewhere, and recited softly,
“I know what it is you are drawing.”
Through the Eight Evils and the Dark Kingdom, he would govern evil.
By taking hold of the Lan Kingdom and others like it, he would create the domain of good.
And at the end—
“Neutrality.”
Anlomann and Alberu Crossman.
One was the king of the Third District.
One was the new emperor of New World.
“Good, evil, neutrality.”
The powers that always existed within one world.
“You intend to embrace all of them, and through that, defeat the enemy that will threaten this land, this world, and even our own world.”
He could see what Cale intended to do.
“The path you seek to walk.”
That harsh path.
“That path must never collapse.”
A legend would 반드시 be fulfilled.
Clopeh Sekka.
For the time when the Eight Evils and the many kingdoms would later join forces, he was cultivating the seed called Eruhaben Miru.
“Cale. I will remove the stones lying in the road you have made.”
A hot blaze rose in Clopeh Sekka’s eyes.
Those green eyes, like a blue-green meadow, shone more vividly than ever.
Cale Henituse.
Alberu Crossman.
Clopeh Sekka.
Even though they had not properly spoken with one another in real time, they were each making their own preparations toward a single design.
*****
“Achoo!”
Cale suddenly sneezed, and a chill crept up the back of his neck.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cale answered gently and gave a smile.
“Mm.”
King Tamahi of Lan.
Before he knew it, Cale had already returned to the Lan Kingdom.
After entrusting the Wanderer So Hee to Emperor Steinsen of the Eastern Empire, Choi Han had been set to remain behind until the end and oversee the matter.
Once Cale had confirmed that, he hurried back to the Lan Kingdom.
“This differs from the original plan, but rather, I feel more at ease because you came.”
King Tamahi pointed to one side.
“Stand over there beside the head steward.”
“Yes.”
Cale went to stand beside the head steward and politely bowed his head.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes. No, that is not right. From now on, I will do this properly.”
“Yes.”
The head steward was nearly an old man. At the firm words he spoke, Cale smiled as if he approved.
“Hae Il. Shall we go with that name?”
“Yes, Head Steward.”
“Good. Then for today, you are a servant working under me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Head Steward.”
Cale, with black hair and dressed in servant’s clothes, wore a smile like that of a treacherous courtier.
However, nearly half of his face was tightly wrapped in bandages.
Both the head steward and King Tamahi felt uneasy at that smile, but as soon as Martial Arts Master Cha Run appeared, their expressions hardened and their bodies tensed.
“...The Wanderer has arrived.”
The Wanderer So Hee.
And Guide Hinpa of the Order of the God of Chaos.
A new Wanderer had secretly come to the Lan Kingdom in order to learn more about them.
“Hoo.”
King Tamahi let out a breath and spoke before heading to the secretly prepared meeting place.
“Dragon, I will introduce you as the captain of my guard.”
Cale had not come alone.
This new Wanderer—
there was no way to know who it would be.
Then I should call in a strong dragon.
Cale’s gaze turned toward the black-haired man standing in the position of Tamahi’s guard captain.
A dragon with different hair than usual.
-Whenever you call in a rush, there’s always something going on.
It turned toward the ancient dragon Eruhaben.
For the first time in a long while, Eruhaben had taken on the role of a guard knight, and for the first time in a long while, Cale had taken on the role of a servant.
I need to make the God of Chaos and the Wanderers fight!
Cale firmly strengthened his resolve.
“Heh.”
Without realizing it, he failed to suppress the quiet laugh that slipped out.
“.......”
The ancient dragon Eruhaben looked at Cale with a deeply uneasy expression, but Cale, excitedly thinking about how to smash the Wanderer in the back of the head, did not notice that expression at all.
The ancient dragon Eruhaben thought,
He’s fired up.
Just as he thought, Cale was quite excited.
I