Trash of the Count's Family

Cale was frowning so hard that it looked as if he would never stop frowning.

"Cale, Is he asking for your blood right now?"

Eruhaben had a look of disbelief on his face and he looked back and forth at Cale and Eruhaben.

He then slowly asked a question.

"...Your blood... is a... panacea?"

It was at that moment.

"Human, no!"

Raon was quickly flying toward Cale with his wings rapidly fluttering.

Sheritt was naturally with him.

Cale had expected them to have a long conversation with the Dragon half-blood, but it seemed to have been short.

"Human! Not your blood! You are weaker than glass! Actually, if I am completely honest, you are weaker than a pastry! You crumble if you are even touched ever so gently! You'll definitely crumble if your blood is drawn out!"

Cale felt oddly attacked by Raon's words of concern.

Eruhaben looked at Raon and pointed toward Duke Fredo.

"Then what about Duke Fredo?"

"...We can't leave him like that either!"

Raon's eyes were moving around quickly as he thought for a moment before sticking out his front paw.

"I, I'll give him my blood!"

Cale looked toward Raon at a loss for words.

Who in their right mind would use a little kid's blood?

It was so unbelievable that Cale could not say anything for a moment.

Eruhaben was also in disbelief while Sheritt was shaking her head with a smile on her face.

That silence seemed to have reached a certain someone differently.

"...N...no......"

Cale turned his head after hearing the extremely weak voice.

Duke Fredo still had his eyes closed as if he was dead, but his mouth was moving.

"...Dragon blood... I don't want it... reptile blood doesn't taste good......"

Cale realized it at that moment.

"Hey."

He looked angry.

"You're fine, aren't you?"

Duke Fredo kept his eyes closed and mumbled without any changes to his expression.

"...I am not okay......"

Cale looked down at Duke Fredo's hand that was holding him.

'Total bullshit. He wouldn't be able to hold me like this if he wasn't okay.'

Cale could tell the truth now.

'This bastard is fine now.'

Smack.

Cale smacked Duke Fredo's hand away. His hand let go of Cale's wrist without a fight.

"Are you not going to open your eyes?"

He slowly opened his eyes after hearing Cale's statement.

"When did you wake up?"

Fredo started to smile. It was quite bright but definitely looked weak.

"Right around when the necromancer left the room earlier. I decided to just quietly wait since she seemed to be in a rush and my son showed up!"

"Haaaaa."

Cale sighed and shook his head. Raon used that moment to put his paw on Fredo's forehead.

"Fredo! You can't have our human's blood!"

"...I guess not, huh?"

A brief moment of disappointment was visible in Duke Fredo's eyes as he cheekily responded.

Cale immediately asked after noticing that gaze.

"Why do you need my blood?"

Duke Fredo closed his mouth.

Cale continued to speak as if he knew the answer without Fredo having to say anything.

"Are you planning on going to save the Vampires?"

The Vampires and Dark Elves from the Endable Kingdom were currently imprisoned to be used as sacrifices for the White Star's summoning rituals.

Their safety would be guaranteed until the summoning, but they would be in danger as soon as it was time.

"Yes, I need to go save them."

Duke Fredo had to hurry over to rescue the abducted people.

However, although his body looked much better on the outside, his insides were a mess and he could not fight against the White Star in his present condition.

Cale looked down at the pale Duke Fredo before starting to speak.

"Get some rest."

"I can't do-"

"I'll save them all."

Duke Fredo looked toward Cale.

"Just tell me the details."

Cale started to smile.

"Tell me where that damn White Star bastard is right now. Oh, and where the citizens of the Endable Kingdom are as well. Just tell me those things. We will take care of the rest."

"Ha."

A short, laugh-like sigh flowed out of Duke Fredo's mouth.

It could not be helped.

'...I thought that I needed to run away to Cale Henituse in order to survive.'

He had faith that doing so would keep him alive.

However...

'Now he is saying he is going to go rescue the Vampires and Dark Elves without me?'

Had he ever had an ally like this before?

Duke Fredo looked toward Cale with a new look of appreciation as he started to speak.

"I don't know where the White Star is right now. The White Star was on his way somewhere when Solena ran away with me on her back."

"...It must have been quite important if he left without making sure to kill you first."

"Yes. You should know about it as well."

Duke Fredo's eyes had an odd glow to them.

"The White Star is incomplete right now."

Cale nodded his head.

"The White Star does not have an Earth-attribute ancient power. His plate is currently unbalanced. No matter how sturdy the White Star's plate is, his body being unbalanced will restrict him from using his full powers."

Cale knew that the White Star currently had Fire, Wind, Water, and Wood attribute ancient powers, as well as the sky attribute ancient power.

That was why there could be only one thing that the White Star would be rushed to do.

"He probably left to fix his issue before the summoning."

"Yes. He seemed to be on his way to look for an Earth-attribute ancient power or something that could make up for it. Well, that is just my guess. The White Star could have left for something else as well."

Nonetheless, Fredo's hypothesis was quite trustworthy.

Cale crossed his arms and started to mumble to himself.

There would be two summoning rituals.

Either of them taking place would put both the Eastern and Western continent in a terrible state of chaos. The White Star went to fill the one remaining hole he had in order to rule over that chaos.

"...The fact that he left without any hesitation at a time like this must mean that he already had some sort of clue."

He might have to consider the fact that the White Star might end up with an Earth-attribute ancient power.

The enemies had time to power up while Cale's side finished their preparations as well.

"Human! But we now have six Dragons! There are seven if you add the Dragon half-blood!"

"Well, the little kid is right."

"Goldie gramps! I'm no longer a little kid! Dodori told me I'm not! He said a Dragon my age is not a little kid but a teenager!"

"...Haaaa. He just had to make friends with a Dragon just as weird as him. Haaaaaaa."

Cale, who had quietly listened to Raon and Eruhaben's conversation just now, turned toward Duke Fredo.

"Where is it?"

He wanted to know where the Dark Elves and the Vampires from the Endable Kingdom were being held captive.

Duke Fredo closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back and responding.

"...The land of the Cat tribe."

Raon started to frown.

"It is the place where a few different Cat tribes live together with the Fog Cat Tribe in charge."

The Fog Cat Tribe.

That was the tribe that called On and Hong 'mutants' and forced the siblings to run away.

"There is a large stone mountain at the center of their territory. It is kind of like a citadel. The Cats that are talented in fog and assassination are protecting the place."

"That stone mountain is where the captives are?"

"Yes."

Duke Fredo had a serious expression on his face. But he soon flinched and looked toward Cale.

"So that's the case, huh?"

Cale started to smile.

Duke Fredo couldn't help but question the extremely wicked smile on Cale's face.

"Heh."

"Human! You are smiling like a delinquent! Don't do that!"

Cale ignored Raon and nonchalantly responded.

"That's perfect. I planned on causing a ruckus there anyway. This is good. This is very good."

Cale's eyes flashed as he continued to mumble that this was very good.

Cale clearly remembered the Cats that always spewed some bullshit every time they saw On and Hong.

Duke Fredo cautiously asked after seeing Cale smiling more and more like a scammer.

"...You plan on causing a ruckus against the Cat tribe?"

Duke Fredo's eyes were full of anticipation even as he carefully asked. Cale confidently responded, as if to respond to that sense of anticipation.

"Yes. I plan on causing complete chaos."

Everybody looked at him after hearing what he said next.

This was what Cale had said.

"Looks like we can start with the Cat tribe in our plan to take down the White Star."

Their plan to take down the White Star.

Cale looked at Fredo, Raon, Eruhaben, and Sheritt. He shrugged his shoulders at everybody who was focused on him.

"There's no need to wait until the enemies barge in, right? We can always barge in first."

Cale looked quite at peace as he smiled.

* * *

Inside Leeb-An City, a free city located on the Eastern continent.

There was an inn here that was always full of people.

The name of that inn was, 'Hope and Adventure Loving Inn.'

That usually busy inn only had employees there, unlike usual.

A man who used to be a mountain bandit in the nearby Mount Leeb had an apron on as he moved the duster around as usual.

"You shitheads! There's dust here! There's dust there! This place is full of dust! Do the cleaning properly!"

He was the former bandit leader.

However, he was now running his index finger on the table and angrily shouting about the dust.

"You punks! Do you want to get beaten up when the Head Chef-nim shows up?!"

"My apologies!"

"M, my apologies, sir!"

The Head Chef.

The former mountain bandits and now employees seemed to be a lot more serious with the cleaning as soon as the Head Chef was mentioned.

The Head Chef was Beacrox Molan.

The former bandit leader touched the back of his head after seeing their reaction instead of smiling.

It was because he felt as if he would sweat bullets.

'...I have no idea what the hell is going on!'

The true owner of the Hope and Adventure Loving Inn... was Cale Henituse.

Ron Molan and Beacrox Molan were his subordinates.

The two of them were father and son and were responsible for this inn's operation and cooking.

'Something is weird. The condition of the Eastern continent does not seem normal.'

Multiple kingdoms around the Eastern continent were moving troops around, making the people who lived here worry.

He didn't know the details, but he was feeling it was serious because the people from the Molan Household seemed to become busy every time it happened.

It was because he was in charge of Cale's secret organization here in Leeb-An City.

"Hey, the dust!"

He was in charge of the cleaning as well. He looked up toward the sign.

< Hope and Adventure Loving Inn No. 1 >

That was right.

This was the first of many inns.

The vicious father-son duo of the Molan household restored their 'family' before opening inns all around the Eastern continent.

Of course, normal people did not know that this inn was being run by the Molan household. They just considered it to be a great business that was extremely helpful and nice to beginner adventurers.

He frowned and started to mumble.

" '...A great business that is nice to beginner adventurers,' my ass!"

"What about your ass?"

"Eek!"

He turned into a statue after hearing a benign voice behind him.

Pat. Pat.

"There's some dust on your shoulder."

Ron brushed the man's shoulder with gloved hands. He then walked past him as if nothing happened.

The former bandit leader realized something after seeing Ron appear.

'He's coming!'

Last night... Someone had rented out the entire inn.

Ron must have shown up right now knowing that the person would soon arrive.

"Meeeeeow!"

"Meeow!"

Once he heard some cats meowing...

All of the bandit-turned-employees smiled and stood up straight.

Screeeech-

"Welcome, sir!"

"Welcome, young master-nim!"

The door opened and the employees all loudly greeted the person.

Even the former bandit leader greeted the person.

"Welc- ahhhh!"

However, he soon screamed before grabbing his hair with both hands.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

An arrow flew into the inn.

Baaaaang!

It crashed into a picture frame and broke it.

"You arrogant little curly-haired punk!"

"Just go and sleep! Go on, junior!"

"Why the hell am I your junior?!"

"You are the last subordinate to join, so you're the junior!"

"Subordinate? Ha! Then are you his subordinate too?!"

"Nope! I am an esteemed party member of the hero!"

"Ho! "You dumb little curly-haired punk!"

The employees watched as a pink-haired person and a buzz cut person fought against each other and destroyed different things around the inn.

The inn they had worked so hard to clean for the arrival of the owner was turning into a mess.

Two kittens.

A pink curly-haired person and a buzz cut person.

– Human! Is this our team to go barge into the Cat tribe's territory?

Raon, who was currently invisible.

"Young master-nim."

Finally, there was Ron, who was walking toward Cale as if nothing was wrong.

The employees blankly stared at Cale's 'friends' before noticing that Cale was about to speak.

Cale picked up the glass of lemonade from Ron before speaking to Rasheel and Dodori.

"Get out."

His other hand was pointing outside the inn.

"Fight outside if you're going to fight."

Rasheel and Dodori stopped fighting for a moment and looked where Cale was pointing. They then looked back at each other.

They shouted at the same time.

"Fine! Let's go outside, you curly-haired punk!"

"Hmph. I guess you aren't scared of my arrow. I'll make you regret that!"

Rasheel and Dodori immediately walked out of the inn.

– Human! Can I go watch?

"Meeeeeow."

"Meeow!"

The children averaging nine-years-old chased after them with extremely curious expressions on their faces.

Cale took a sip of lemonade.

The bitter taste woke him right up.

"Young master-nim, is that the team you are going to take with you?"

Cale nodded his head with a stoic expression.

"...Yes. This is the team I brought with me, but..."

'I may have made a mistake.'

Cale did not say that latter part, but Ron gently responded to him.

"They seem to be the greatest combination to destroy things and turn things into a mess."

Smile.

Cale started to smile.

"That is true."

Three Dragons and two Cats.

There was also Cale and the Molan household.

Screeeech.

"Oh! You're here! I came right on time, didn't I?"

The last member was Mercenary King Bud.

This was more than enough to cause a ruckus in the Cat tribe's territory.