Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 507: The Prince and the Father (12)

CREEAK.

Cale entered the cabin without even knocking and flopped down into a chair.

“The Council of Seventeen will be held exactly one week from now.”

At his words, a leisurely voice was heard.

“Well, I suppose that much time would be necessary for the generals of the seventeen islands, scattered across that vast sea, to gather.”

“Yes. And Island 1’s magic defensive formation will also open one week from now.”

At that time, the ships of all the seventeen island generals waiting in the waters before Island 1 would enter port.

“Did we not say we would arrive five days from now?”

“Yes. According to General Ferry, she knows a secret passage and can enter Island 1, where the great general stays, ahead of time.”

Having said that much, Cale asked the person sitting on the bed and reading a book.

“Two days. Will that be enough, Your Highness?”

Rustle.

Alberu turned a page as he answered.

“Yes. That is enough time to find His Majesty the King.”

Cale crossed his arms as he watched Alberu read calmly without giving him even a glance.

“Your Highness.”

Then he asked as though it were nothing.

“Are your emotions complicated?”

“...What?”

“Or are you nervous?”

Alberu’s gaze turned toward Cale.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Seeing Alberu’s face with its radiant smile, Cale let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

“Well, I suppose you are on your way to find your father, who ran away from home without a word, so all sorts of thoughts must be going through your mind.”

Ha.

Alberu let out a sigh.

The radiant smile vanished without a trace.

“Little brother. You truly are irreverent.”

“This is the heart of a younger brother thinking of his older brother.”

“That mouth of yours truly never has a moment when it cannot speak.”

“That is my strength.”

Haa.

Alberu let out a deep sigh.

Irritation was etched into his slightly frowning face.

Thud!

He shut the book and spoke with an emotionless expression.

“We are on our way to find a king who disappeared without a word, not a father who ran away from home without a word.”

Alberu deliberately corrected what Cale had said.

Cale did not understand everything in Alberu’s heart.

Still, he added something.

It was something only he could say.

“And he is also a king who has been said to have little time left before his death.”

“...That is true.”

Alberu squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.

Blond hair and blue eyes. The prince with a typical beautiful appearance had eyes that were exceedingly cold as they looked at the cabin wall.

Alberu Crossman stared at the wall for a long while.

Cale watched Alberu, who had come to the castle of the Seven Evils as soon as Cale contacted him, but had somehow stayed a step back once they arrived at the Oceanic Alliance.

Zed Crossman.

He had about two weeks left to live.

No, now even two weeks did not remain.

By the time they reached the island, less than five days would likely remain.

“Cale Henituse.”

“Yes.”

“What would be the correct thing to do?”

Cale thought of the relationship between Alberu and Zed Crossman.

Crown Prince Alberu Crossman, who had grown up alone, practically neglected and ignored after losing his mother.

Zed Crossman, who had been indifferent toward that Alberu.

When Alberu raised the Roan Kingdom’s status and made his name known throughout the world,

Zed Crossman had suddenly disappeared with his guard.

Alberu had lost the chance to inherit the king’s seat from the king.

And then he had received word that that king would soon die.

Cale recalled his conversation with Zed Crossman.

I am personally pursuing the hunters.

The White Star Cale had faced.

The ancient White Star who had existed before him.

The Crossman royal family, who inherited that White Star’s blood.

White Blood.

And originally, there had been seven hunter families.

Among them, the Red Blood family had been destroyed.

And the White Blood family was said to have betrayed the hunters and disappeared.

I thought that among them, the White Blood family might be related to the Crossman royal family.

Cale had not yet heard the answer to that from Zed.

Because Zed had drawn a line.

Come to think of it, I needed to ask Choi Jung Gun about the Red Blood family.

The young Choi Jung Gun he had met in the past at the Temple of the Sealed God had told Cale to find the Red Blood family before disappearing from that illusion.

There had to be a reason he had told him to find a family known to have been destroyed.

And the Thames family is not the Red Blood family.

The Thames family, who had learned about time.

As the maternal family of Cale Henituse’s body, they had fallen because of the hunters.

“There are more than one or two things to solve.”

He needed to ask Choi Jung Gun, whom he would meet again soon, about the Red Blood family.

And my maternal uncle, who strangely seems to be avoiding me.

Yes. That person who ran off with my money. He had to ask that person about the Thames family.

“Yes. There truly are many things to ask, and many things to solve.”

Alberu’s voice had sunk in a strange way.

Regardless, Cale spoke in a calm tone.

“Yes. So you asked what would be best to do?”

Cale answered Alberu’s question without hesitation.

The answer was obvious.

“First, once His Majesty the King sees us, there is a high chance he will try to run away. So the moment we see him, we kidnap him.”

“...Huh?”

“Choi Han or the Heavenly Demon will be very good at that sort of thing. Or it would be even easier if we asked Raon, On, and Hong to scatter paralytic poison and bind his feet all at once.”

“Huh?”

“Let us tie him down so he cannot run away. And we do not know whether he is in this New World game as an NPC or whether he logged in as a user, do we?”

“......”

Cale spoke perfectly well on his own, even though Alberu said nothing.

“If he is a user, he might suddenly log out, so if we see any sign of that, let us knock him unconscious.”

“......”

Alberu silently looked at Cale.

“And then let us ask him everything we have been curious about. We will not let him go until we hear the answers!”

Cale’s expression was extremely firm.

Whether the man was a king or anything else, Cale looked as though he would not be satisfied this time unless he heard everything he wanted to know.

“And we tell him to leave the hunter matter to us, return to the Roan Kingdom, and take care of the Roan Kingdom’s internal affairs while Your Highness is absent.”

“Ha!”

Alberu let out a small laugh and opened his mouth.

“And?”

“Then Your Highness will have fewer worries about the Roan Kingdom, so you can comfortably save New World and this world as a Hero.”

“Ha, haha—”

He could not hold back his laughter at Cale’s words.

Because Alberu knew the premise behind what Cale was saying.

“Is saving him simply an obvious prerequisite?”

Cale’s words had continued on the premise that King Zed would naturally be saved.

“Of course.”

“How?”

“Who knows?”

Cale shrugged and said,

“But there will be a way, won’t there?”

“I see. You are right.”

Alberu murmured as though letting out an exclamation.

“There is always a way, whatever it may be.”

“Yes. So later, after resolving the Hero matter, you return to the Roan Kingdom, receive the throne from His Majesty King Zed...”

Cale, looking as though he found this quite entertaining, tossed the words lightly at Alberu.

“And become emperor, correct?”

“......!”

Alberu’s eyes widened slightly.

As expected, this punk had not forgotten his words, his will.

For that reason, Alberu also spoke of Cale’s wish.

“By then, you will be unemployed as well.”

“That’s right.”

Alberu slightly avoided Cale’s gaze and opened his mouth.

“When that time comes, it would not be bad to hold a modest party with only acquaintances invited, to commemorate becoming emperor and unemployed.”

A modest party with acquaintances.

There had never been a single moment like that in Alberu’s life.

“Oh. Let us hold it at Black Castle.”

Unlike usual, Alberu heard Cale Henituse respond to his words in that calm tone and slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

“But, Your Highness. You really will not make me do anything, right?”

Because of that, he showed a crooked smile at the sincerity Cale Henituse carefully offered.

“Yeah.”

Of course, unlike that crooked smile, which did not look kind at all, his voice contained quite plain sincerity.

Because he sincerely hoped that Cale, who had gone through every sort of hardship, would rest a little and enjoy peace.

CREEAK.

Cale rose from the chair.

“Then let us catch His Majesty the runaway king and ask him exactly why he did it.”

“Yes.”

Cale left the cabin, and Alberu no longer kept his gaze on the book he could not read anymore. Instead, he looked at the sea beyond the cabin window.

“...Father.”

Conversing with you is not a particularly pleasant moment, nor one I desired.

But this time, I believe we must have a deep conversation.

Like the endless sea, Alberu’s gaze sank deeply, very deeply.

Only, unlike before, it was filled with clear will.

The ship was quietly crossing the sea.

*****

And the central sea, too, was quiet for the first time in a long while.

There were small disturbances and disputes, but the sharp tension unlike before could not be seen on the sea.

“A council? General Ferry has gone mad!”

Instead, the islands rather than the sea were noisy, with tension and excitement hanging in the air.

A small number of islands currently maintaining neutrality.

Or weak islands that could not participate in the competition at all.

Aside from those, most islands had attached themselves to one of the generals from Island 2 to Island 18.

For that reason, all sides stirred at the Council of Seventeen General Ferry had suddenly activated.

“So General Ferry used a move like this? Is she trying to do something as a neutral party?”

There were those who spoke about General Ferry’s intentions.

“...Everyone will gather in one place. This is not bad.”

There were those who aimed for the moment everyone gathered.

“Mm. Yes, there is a need to look over everyone at least once.”

There were those who wanted to see how the situation would flow.

People with various inner thoughts began to emerge.

However, even in the midst of this, most generals shared one common thought.

“It is the right time.”

“Any more war will be like cutting away our own flesh.”

“We needed to gather at least once.”

That it was time for everyone to gather and discuss things together at least once.

“But will Island 1 open its gates? Someone might target the great general’s life.”

“Will they really? Whoever kills the great general can never obtain the great general’s seat. They would lose justification.”

“That is true.”

They simply questioned whether Island 1 would open its gates.

However, they thought Island 1 would not be able to refuse.

General Ferry, gatekeeper and guardian of Island 16.

The moment they ignored the right of convocation for the Council of Seventeen that she had activated, it would mean that the will of the great general they served could also be violated.

“...It is strange. This does not seem like that child’s choice.”

Only the Seventh General expressed doubt about General Ferry of Island 16’s activation of the convocation.

If it were her, she would ask the Seventh General to become her ally rather than use such a bold move. Moreover, she would not do something that might endanger the great general.

“...She is the child who follows Father more than anyone.”

The Seventh General felt a strange unease with a hardened face.

“Surely she will not interfere with our work.”

“Do not worry, General. General Ferry does not know anything, does she?”

“That is true.”

The Seventh General did not treat variables carelessly and remained wary.

And,

“Everyone is in an uproar.”

Wooho, the general of Island 3 and a Wanderer, heard about the surrounding situation and felt his excitement rise.

SPLASH, ROOOOOSH—

ROOOOOSH—

The ship of General Ferry, who had thrown everyone into chaos, worry, and excitement, quietly approached an island located in the northern part of the central sea without flying any flag.

“Is this the place?”

Cale took in the island where the ship had anchored.

“Yes. It is an island without even a name.”

General Ferry stared silently at the uninhabited island where not a single person lived.

Island 1, where the great general stayed.

Instead of going there, Cale had arrived at an uninhabited island a little distance away from it.

“That cave over there.”

General Ferry’s hand pointed toward a cave.

“There is a magic circle beneath that cave that leads to Island 1. It is an emergency passage.”

She took out a token in her hand.

“Only someone carrying this can activate the magic circle.”

Ferry looked at the token in her hand.

Would it truly be a wise choice to let Cale and his companions enter the great general’s island ahead of time?

As she wrestled with that dilemma until the very end—

“Oh. Is that an enemy?”

At the words Cale suddenly threw out, she looked up in surprise.

“Ah!”

And then she panicked.

The cave.

A man had burst out from it.

A young man.

He held an enormous long spear in his hand.

General Ferry, who had removed her uniform and put on a hat to hide her identity, immediately recognized who the other party was.

“That person is the great general’s youngest—”

But her words could not continue.

The young man leaned his body back, then bent forward with all his strength and threw the long spear.

SHAAAAAA—

It flew precisely in Cale’s direction.

The great general’s youngest son glared at the enemies who had come to the island with the secret passage and shouted.

“Who dares set foot in this place! I, Asiprang, will never—”

But his words could not continue.

CRAAAAAASH!

With a tremendous roar, the long spear he had thrown was cut apart.

“...Ah, the divine weapon Father gave me—”

A family treasure handed down through the generations.

A long spear carrying the legend that it had been used by the greatest spearman of the sea, who had once stood against the god of the sea.

That spear—

CRAAAAAASH—

Was cut apart far too lightly.

And the person who had cut that long spear apart was quickly approaching him while emanating a murderous aura.

Asiprang could hear a voice shouting at that man.

“Choi Han, hold back......!”

The one shouting urgently was the red-haired man standing at the bow of the ship.

“Huh?”

And when Asiprang saw the woman beside that man remove her hat and run after him, he was flustered.

“Older sister?”

That woman’s identity was General Ferry.

“Huh? They are not enemies?”

While Asiprang panicked, Cale shouted.

“Choi Han, do not knock him unconscious! Just go easy on him!”