Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 508: The Prince and the Father (13)

Choi Han stopped walking.

“!”

Asiprang, the great general’s youngest son, froze solid.

SHING.

Choi Han slowly slid his sword back into its sheath.

Tap, tap.

Asiprang swallowed as he looked at his severed hair.

In an instant, Choi Han had reached him.

“Choi Han!”

Choi Han heard Cale’s startled, urgent voice approaching from behind him, but he looked at Asiprang and spoke calmly.

“He might have been an enemy, so I hurried to check first.”

Gulp.

Asiprang swallowed again as he heard those words.

Absolutely not.

Those eyes.

That swordsman with those murderous eyes had truly been about to cut Asiprang. Saying he had only moved to confirm his identity was a lie.

I won’t tolerate it.

And it truly was a lie.

Of course, Choi Han had not intended to kill Asiprang. Judging by General Ferry’s voice from behind him, Asiprang seemed to be an ally.

I heard. About the young master’s identity.

Not long ago, Ron had come to Choi Han and spoken to him.

He had finally heard about Cale’s identity from Cale himself.

So?

We have to grow stronger. To keep up with him, and to protect him.

Beacrox and Ron both wished to grow stronger.

To keep up with him and to protect him. One person alone—Cale Henituse.

As Choi Han joined this Oceanic Alliance matter, he had quietly observed his surroundings. In particular, he had gauged Cale.

Choi Han, who still had not properly manifested his individuality.

He was trying to gauge just how strong he needed to become in order to protect Cale and stand before him.

In the middle of that, Choi Han simply could not endure an attack openly launched toward Cale.

...I’m becoming sharper.

He could feel himself growing a little sharper, his nerves drawn tighter.

The more he felt his own insufficiency, the more he changed that way.

Until now, he felt that, at the very least, he had performed his role as Cale’s sword.

...But now—

Could he still say that?

That stifling feeling continued to provoke Choi Han.

That’s right.

It was like the time after he had first fallen into the Forest of Darkness.

After he had escaped the confusion of not knowing what to do, once he could survive to some extent, he had felt that same suffocation.

I have to become stronger.

He had decided on the path.

Then all that remained was deciding how far along that path he would walk.

There isn’t much left.

Choi Han could feel that his patience—his limit—did not have much left.

Was his name Mujeon?

The individuality of someone who used a sword, who used martial arts.

If he could obtain information about it, his own individuality, which was still nothing more than a seed, might be able to manifest.

With a calm face, Choi Han looked at Cale.

“Ah, is that so?”

Cale, who had approached a moment later, let out a sigh of relief at Choi Han’s words.

Then he turned his gaze to Asiprang.

“Choi Han is actually a very gentle kid, but I suppose he was startled. Haha!”

Cale smiled amiably, subtly moved Choi Han behind him, and held out his hand to Asiprang.

Gentle? Who is?

Asiprang’s pupils trembled at Choi Han’s gaze, which stared fixedly at him from behind Cale’s back. Regardless, Cale spoke again to the dazed Asiprang.

“It seems you were startled because this was so sudden. I am Cale Henituse, and I came with General Ferry.”

Cale inwardly clicked his tongue when Asiprang, apparently severely shocked, showed no sign of accepting the handshake, and stepped back.

“General Ferry will explain.”

Haa.

General Ferry, who had run over after them, exhaled and approached Asiprang.

“Sister—”

Leaving behind Asiprang, who finally came back to his senses, Ferry spoke to Cale.

“We will go speak alone for a moment.”

“Please do.”

Cale readily gave the two of them time alone.

He headed back toward the ship and spoke to Choi Han beside him.

“You can take your time.”

Pat, pat.

Choi Han’s eyes widened at the hand that tapped his shoulder.

He quickly looked at Cale, but Cale was climbing onto the anchored ship as if nothing had happened.

...Cale.

Choi Han once again felt that, despite pretending to be indifferent, Cale cared about his people more than anyone else.

With a slightly more relaxed face, Choi Han followed Cale onto the ship.

And then they waited for General Ferry and Asiprang’s conversation to end.

*****

General Ferry returned soon afterward.

“You may move now.”

Cale got off the ship at her words.

Only Choi Han, Alberu Crossman, and the average ten-year-olds followed behind him. There was also one person from Ferry’s side.

“I will see you later, young master.”

Ron and the rest of the group would enter Island 1 two days later, on the day the Council of Seventeen began, a little earlier than the others.

There will certainly be people inside Island 1 who follow the other generals.

Because of that, General Ferry had suggested that they go secretly to the great general’s residence with the minimum number of people.

Cale had accepted as well.

“You will move as Asiprang’s hands and feet.”

Cale’s identity was decided.

“Mm.”

Asiprang groaned as he looked at the people who had suddenly become his hands and feet.

They’re that strong?

He had heard a rough explanation from General Ferry.

Along with the scheme of the general of Island 3.

“...Follow me.”

Asiprang hugged the broken long spear to his chest and moved into the cave while suppressing both his sorrow and his wariness.

“Were you guarding this place, Asiprang?”

Asiprang did not bother answering Cale’s question.

Even if he is strong, he won’t be stronger than my father!

And once his eldest sister, the Seventh General, came, he would be able to ignore this bastard.

Unlike the black-haired swordsman from earlier, Cale looked frail to Asiprang and did not seem strong at all. Especially the way he spoke politely to him and approached him warmly—it made him look weak.

Poke.

However, when General Ferry poked him in the side, Asiprang had no choice but to open his mouth.

“That is correct.”

Haa.

General Ferry let out a sigh and spoke.

“It is possible to be self-sufficient within Island 1, but even that has its limits.”

“Sister!”

Asiprang bristled, wondering why she had to say something like that, but he soon closed his mouth.

“......”

Because the moment his eyes met Choi Han’s, Choi Han was silently staring at him with his hand resting on his sword sheath.

“...Good grief.”

Asiprang sighed, but he did not stop walking.

Father told me to listen to General Ferry and the Seventh General in an emergency.

In the past, when he was young, his father had told him that if anything happened, he should trust the Seventh General, who was blood-related to him, and General Ferry, whom he had treated like an older sister.

Ferry, in particular, is a child with an upright core. That child cherishes Island 1, Island 16, and even this sea. So you may trust her.

Remembering his father’s words, Asiprang allowed General Ferry to bring them into Island 1.

Of course, it was not without conditions.

“The moment you do anything even slightly foolish, the Council of Seventeen will collapse.”

A secret passage in the cave. After descending endlessly underground, they finally arrived at a teleportation circle with a unique shape.

It was said to be a combination of magic and formation.

—Oh. Human, this is a pretty unusual form!

Raon showed interest in it.

However, the first thing that entered Cale’s eyes was the handful of people guarding the formation.

“Vice Captain Ebo will remain here.”

Ebo, General Ferry’s younger brother.

He was the only member of Ferry’s side who had come with them.

Asiprang spoke with an indifferent face.

“If I do not contact them once every half day, they will kill Vice Captain Ebo.”

Mm.

Choi Han let out a low groan.

However, neither General Ferry nor her younger brother Ebo showed any particular change in expression.

Cale’s gaze turned toward Ferry.

Smile.

Ferry smiled.

“Of course, if your side tries anything foolish, I will immediately order my subordinates to kill Vice Captain Ebo.”

Asiprang calmly continued.

“In addition, if my subordinates do not contact me every two hours, or if I sense any change in my subordinates’ condition.”

His gaze turned toward Cale and the other outsiders.

“I will judge that your companions have done something, and I will take measures in my own way.”

Asiprang calmly asked.

“Will you still accept?”

For him, this was the bare minimum defensive measure.

“Yes.”

Cale nodded as he watched Ferry answer before he could.

“Thank you.”

Cale offered his thanks to General Ferry. He could still sense that she was not fully certain about him, and yet General Ferry and Ebo were showing trust in him first.

“...Let us go.”

Seeing that the two of them seemed more firmly trusting than he had expected, Asiprang’s expression softened somewhat, and soon he began activating the formation.

Inside the deep underground cave.

As bright light began bursting out there—

“As General Ferry knows, the place where we will arrive is my home.”

Asiprang, receiving Cale’s gaze, added.

“I mean my father’s—the great general’s—residence.”

Paaaat!

Soon, bright light covered Cale, and before long, Cale opened his eyes in another place.

*****

“We’re underground?”

“Yes. The center of the underground waterway beneath the residence.”

Cale looked at Asiprang and Ferry.

Among the information about Island 1, there had been nothing about a massive underground waterway like this.

“This underground waterway is large enough to be used during war. Though in truth, it looks more like a passage than a waterway.”

Asiprang sighed at Cale’s words.

“That is correct. This is a place only the guardian, General Ferry, and the bloodline of my house and a few others know about.”

Cale looked around the center of the enormous underground passage that extended north, south, east, and west, then raised his head.

There was a path leading aboveground.

“Let us go.”

General Ferry took the lead.

Asiprang sighed and followed after her, and Cale and his group moved behind them.

—Human, I can feel mana here! It looks like magic has been spread all over the place! I think there are formations too!

Listening to Raon’s explanation, Cale looked at Alberu. The two could guess each other’s thoughts without speaking.

First, the great general.

After checking him, they intended to immediately search for King Zed Crossman.

Slide.

Cale checked the mirror, the God of Sacrifice’s divine relic, which still showed no change, and continued walking.

The God of Death. He also had to find the body that bastard would descend into.

One thing at a time.

Cale resolved not to grow impatient.

STEP, STEP.

Ferry climbed the underground stairs and opened the door.

“!”

“......!”

The soldiers were startled for an instant, then fell silent after confirming Asiprang’s presence.

As soon as he came aboveground, Cale swallowed a groan while looking at the corridor and the soldiers filling it.

The security is tight.

The residence’s defenses were quite thorough.

His Majesty wouldn’t be among them, would he?

Through the corridor windows, he could see the residence garden, the area outside its walls, and even all over Island 1 below the great general’s residence, which stood at the highest point. Countless soldiers were moving around.

How did he sneak in?

How had His Majesty slipped into a place like this, and how was he going back and forth between inside the game and outside the game?

Cale felt puzzled as he confirmed an even more thorough state of alert than expected.

...His Majesty is not that strong.

And his bodyguard was not particularly strong either.

Of course, that was when measured by Choi Han’s standards.

“......”

However, for now, Cale quietly followed Ferry.

And when they finally reached the third floor of the residence and arrived before the only door on that floor, he realized the time had come.

The great general.

He could finally meet the great general, who was said to have been unconscious for several months.

“Withdraw.”

At Ferry’s words, the knights before the door looked at Asiprang.

He nodded and opened his mouth.

“All of you, go downstairs.”

Not only the knights but also the forces placed throughout the third floor withdrew.

When Cale looked at this in puzzlement, since it was completely different from how they had guarded against Cale’s group, Asiprang opened his mouth.

“I will tell you about my father’s condition.”

Ah.

Cale realized why they had sent the soldiers away.

Even among those guarding this place so thoroughly, there might be people who served other generals, so keeping information about the great general confidential took top priority.

“My father repeatedly loses consciousness and sleeps, then wakes again.”

Mm?

That was different from being unconscious.

People were even saying they did not believe it and wondering whether the great general had already died.

But he sometimes woke?

“However—”

Asiprang hesitated for a moment, then saw General Ferry’s gaze and let out a sigh before speaking.

Now that the Council of Seventeen was going to be held, his father’s condition would be revealed anyway.

“However, when he is asleep, his heart does not beat.”

Hm?

Cale’s eyes widened.

If his heart did not beat, didn’t that mean he was dead?

“And when he is awake, he is in a state of madness.”

Mm?

Seeing the question in Cale’s eyes, Asiprang snapped in a face full of irritation.

“I mean he mutters nonsense while not in his right mind.”

“Asiprang!”

At Ferry’s reproachful voice, Asiprang swallowed his frustration with a dissatisfied face.

“...In any case, that is his condition. I am telling you not to be startled when you go inside and see the great general, so handle yourselves properly.”

He squeezed his eyes shut.

“For reference, even the Oceanic Alliance’s famous doctors, its priests, and even the famous doctors of that continent were unable to identify the illness.”

Cale opened his mouth for the first time and asked.

“Did he suddenly become this way?”

Asiprang’s expression became strange.

“Well.”

He seemed to suspect something but could not bring himself to say it.

At that moment, General Ferry looked at Asiprang with a puzzled face.

“...Did it not happen suddenly?”

However, Asiprang avoided her gaze.

It was the expression of someone who was not certain, someone who had something to say but could not say it.

“I don’t know. Let us hurry inside.”

He opened the door without hesitation.

“Judging by the time, Father should be awake. Even if he is mad, he rarely acts violently and merely sits still while muttering, so there is no need to worry.”

His expression was bitter.

“If the madness worsens and he has a seizure, we will forcibly knock him unconscious.”

Creeeak—

The door opened.

The sight beyond it entered their eyes.

An elegant space filled with sunlight.

A single bed sat alone in the center.

The waiting attendants and physician bowed their heads and stepped back.

It seemed they had heard the commotion outside the door.

STEP, STEP.

Asiprang walked toward the bed.

Cale could see an old man sitting blankly on top of that bed.

“...Great General—”

Ferry’s voice was filled with resentment and grief.

The great general.

The person worthy of that name was not on the bed.

Scrawny body, dark shadows beneath the eyes, empty pupils.

And he could be seen ceaselessly muttering something.

...His condition is bad.

Most of all, his whole body was trembling.

He was covered in cold sweat as well.

Even when an attendant wiped it away, it seemed useless.

As if he had suffered some terrible nightmare. No, as if he were inside a nightmare even now.

The old man trembled nonstop while muttering something.

He muttered so quietly that Cale could not hear what he was saying.

His empty pupils wandered aimlessly.

“Father.”

Asiprang called him, but the old man did not respond.

He showed no movement even when Ferry called him.

“Haa.”

General Ferry sighed and looked at Cale as she asked.

“Sir Cale Henituse, will you examine him further?”

It was at that moment.

“!”

Cale’s eyes widened.

The instant General Ferry called him—

“F-Father!”

Asiprang shouted in shock.

Cale could see the old man, who had been staring aimlessly into empty air, turning his gaze this way.

The old man’s eyes were wide open.

Still sweating coldly and trembling, the scrawny old man looked precisely at Cale.

Hm?

Is he looking at me?

The moment Cale registered that, he immediately realized something else.

Not me.

The old man’s gaze was directed over Cale’s shoulder.

“Father, Father! Can you hear us right now?”

Asiprang ran toward his father in shock.

The old man was still looking this way.

Not at Cale, but slightly past him, over his shoulder.

The old man, whose muttering had even stopped.

His mouth opened.

Unlike when he had been muttering quietly, he tried to make his voice come out.

“U, ah—”

However, as if producing sound were difficult—

The old man could not speak properly.

Even so—

“Ah, ah, ah!”

After trying several times, he finally spat out a single word.

“A-Alberu—”

At that moment, Cale heard Crown Prince Alberu Crossman’s voice from behind him.

It was a voice he had never heard before.

A voice that trembled endlessly, as if unable to believe what it was seeing.

“...Father?”

What?

Cale alternated his gaze between the old man with an un