Sneaking out of the mansion was an easy affair is what he’d like to say, but….

“Young master Cale, are you going somewhere?” Ron asked with a bow. 

…To think he couldn’t even sneak past an elderly butler…..

‘If a certain thief ever came to know of this, she would certainly look down on me. (─.─||）

“Er, that-” For a moment he broke out into a cold sweat.

How do I explain this-

…Wait, why does he need to explain anything, to a mere servant no less? Wasn’t he a dashing young master of a noble family? Why would he need to answer Ron? 

Is it because he was a fake young master that he was scared of a mere butler? 

Cale clicked his tongue and glared at him. “What’s it to you, anyway?” He asked. 

“I was just concerned, Young master,” Ron explained. 

“Ron,” Cale said bluntly. “You are being a busybody.”

Ron’s grey eyes bore into Cale for a while, making him feel like a bratty child causing trouble for no reason. His eyes seemed to see through his very soul, making him wonder if his secret was out. However, that did not seem to be the case. 

“Ah, you are right, young master-nim.” 

Ron smiled suddenly, which for some reason sent a shiver of terror down his spine. 

“It seems like I have been getting on in years, Hohoho~ ” 

Cale felt goosebumps rising at Ron’s words.

“I will retire for the night then, sir. Please be back by the morning.”

It wasn’t until Ron walked away that he remembered to breathe. Gasping, he leaned against a nearby wall for support and rubbed the goosebumps on his arm to calm himself.

Thinking back on the heavy aura that Ron seemed to exude just now, he shivered.

‘…..Scary. Ron is so scary.’

When he finally calmed down from this unexpected encounter this late at night, he decided to focus back on his (self proclaimed) mission. 

Placing a hand over his heart, he could still feel his erratic heartbeat-

Boom. Boom. Boom!

-that seemed to be guiding him to somewhere.

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards at the thought of this next encounter that awaits him.

‘Wait for me. I’m coming!’

---

Seeing that he didn’t run into anyone else while sneaking out, he guessed his stealth skills weren’t so tragic that it deserved a thrashing from a certain thief. Yet. 

It also seemed that Ron hadn’t outed him yet, since there weren’t any knights sent after him to either bring him back or guard him. Good. Now he can meet the other person with ease.

The streets were quiet and deserted. Other than a few homeless people and drunkards, there weren’t many people out at this time of time. However, even though he was eye-catching in this luxurious outfit, he strangely didn’t seem to gather much attention from the drunkards and the homeless people of slums.

It was as if seeing him walk down the streets in the middle of the night was to be expected. Though, they must be used to seeing his drunken self, not him being sober at this time of night.

….Still.

‘You brat, your reputation as a trash is even worse than I thought.’  He thought with a vein twitching over his forehead. 

Sighing, he decided to not think about that troublesome brat anymore.

Guided by his unusually fast heartbeat as well as his powers –that seemed to nudge him to the correct direction every now and then– he left behind the deserted shopping district, night market and walked past the brothels and the bars. He finally halted before the entrance to the slums. 

It wasn’t because he reached his destination, no. It was because he finally began to second guess himself.

He took a deep sigh. “Haah, this is crazy.” He looked at the dreary atmosphere of the slums, and muttered doubtfully, “Is there really someone waiting for me? Or is it just me being delusional, again?”

As if to answer his thoughts, a tiny red flame burst out of his palm, burning brighter than ever.

The corner of his mouth twitched at that. 

“Hah! And she said my powers aren’t sentient,” Cale snorted. “What a load of crap.”

“You can’t fool me, you know~” He said as he lifted his hand closer to his face. The red flame sputtered before disappearing into nothing.

 Cale smiled and clenched his fingers into a fist. He then placed it over his chest, where he could feel the loud beating of his heart.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

He then stared at the dreary place before him and smiled even wider. He was never the one to fear the unknown. 

“The only thing to do is to move forward,” He said as he stepped into the slums of Rain city.

---

His powers guided him through the twists and turns of the slums, passing by the old houses and the sharp gazes from the residents. Of course, after realising who it was that was trespassing in their territory this late at night, the people averted their eyes and shrunk back into their dark corners. While they haven’t seen Count Henituse with their own eyes, they did know of the trashy Eldest Young master of the Henituse family. In fact, most of them have once or more times come across Young master Cale causing some sort of mess. None of them wanted to mess with someone like that.

And so, Cale’s journey went unobstructed. As he left behind the old houses of the slums, he found himself walking uphill. His heart started beating even faster -as if that was even possible- as he reached the fenced area at the top of the hill.

The moment he stood before the fenced gate, his heartbeat gave a final harsh thud –making him almost flinch in pain– before slowing down to a normal rhythm.

“So, this is it, huh.” 

He held out his hand to push the fence, but stopped when he heard someone exclaim-

“No! D-Don’t go there!”

“Huh?” Cale took back his outstretched hand and turned to the side, and saw two little kids huddled at a corner outside the fence. “Why?” He asked them.

Seeing him turn to them, the both of them flinched.

The younger child with red hair tugged the older child. “Noona….”

The older girl pulled her brother closer to herself, and bit her chapped lower lips. 

“T-T-There’s a man-eating tree inside! You will die if you go there!”

Haah-? What nonsense is this now?

“….Man-eating tree?” He asked skeptically.

Seeing the disbelieving expression on his face annoyed the girl. 

“I-I’m not lying. The man eating tree will e-eat you if you go there!” 

Hoo~ There was such an interesting thing in this territory, and no one told him about it? How unfair~

“I’ll burn it down before it eats me. Trust me.” Cale reassured the girl.

“Still, thanks for the warning, child.” 

He ruffled her hair, not caring if it was dirty and tangled. The girl flinched and backed away from him along with her brother.

‘Ah, I startled her.’

He held his hands in a non-threatening manner and stepped away from them. “Sorry about that,” He apologised to them. “I should get going now.” Saying this, he turned back to the fenced gate and pushed it open. 

“D-Don’t die!” The girl called out to him as he walked inside.

“Of course I won’t,” He replied and put the fence gate back in it’s previous position after stepping inside.

He then turned to face the man-eating tree, and lo and behold- there it stood before his eyes. A pitch black tree stood before him, emitting a dark aura. The ground underneath it was barren and uneven. This was strange, considering just some distance away from the vicinity of the tree, lush green grass and weeds grew on the ground. 

Well, it certainly did look evil. However, he didn’t know why his powers would guide him here.

“…Hello?” He called out. 

However, there was no reply.

He frowned. ‘How strange.’

“What is this….. Are you making fun of me?” He clicked his tongue as he thought that even his own powers were betraying him now. My god, he would be the only fool in this world to be emotionally swayed by his own supposedly sentient powers and be pranked by them like this.

What a waste of time.

However, it was too soon to lose hope.

“Maybe, I should try again.” 

He stretched out his hand before him, and conjured up a red flame. 

Swish.

A bright red flame flickered over the palm of his hands, lighting up the dark of the night.

It was then that something happened. The ground beneath the tree rumbled, and a pitch black hole appeared at the base of the tree.  

Oooooooooooong-

And then he heard a voice. A voice so hoarse and distorted that it took him a while to understand what it was saying.

–i̜̇T̠̳͒̕ H̛̗̠̰̆̓u̠̇R̯̓̽͜tS ̦͚̭̆͐͗

“!”

When he did understand the words it spoke, his body trembled. He stumbled back in shock, and fell down on his butt. 

His eyes dulled as he listened to the heart wrenching cries of someone who once was one of his closest friends. 

 

–H̡̼͈̭̱̏̍̿͘͡u̢͓̬̦̮͋̑̔͛̏Ṇ̡̪͕̄̍̑̀̑͢G̛͉͕̹͕̼̉̈́͐̄r̘̹͉͇̝͛͑̽͊͠Y̠͔͓̬͉͛̀̽͒͘!̧̞̯͙̔͆̋̈́̍͢ ͙̪̥͐͌́̅̚͢͢Ī͔̲̝̓̈̕͢͜͠ ̡̢͖̗͕͑̊̄͛͞ǎ̡͍̤̭̝̉͋̊͞M̮̪̥̦͍̄̉̊́̕ ̢̘͔͎̺͑̓͌̓͠S̪̼̜̪̩͗͆̀͘͡O̡̧̩͓̱̾͗̓̊̆ ̡̤̝̍̌̎͑͢͠ͅh̨̞̺̦̠̆̔̎̈́̌Ṵ̭̹̦̰͛͊̾͡͠n̨̛̰̩̗̲̿̎̕͘g̝̙̭͚̦̓̾͗͐͡R̢̼̯̰̾̍̄̉͢͝Ý͇̞̠̺̄͊̽͝ͅ!̫̳̭͓̩̾̽̓̋͠

 

There was no doubt about it. There was only one person who was obsessed with food. 

 

–T̨̤̳̪̹̆͐́̔̾h̥͙̪̝̜̒̐͂̽͞I̦̫͈͍̓́͑͊̀ͅş̖̖͕̱̈́̑̿̿̕ ̢̬̱̥͎́͗͂̕͡H͍̭̭͍̻̆͐͡͡͠ủ̧̻̹͔͚̐́̏͠ņ̘̣̤̼̍̾̎̈́̍G̰̻͇͕̥̍̆̑́̓e̹̫͚̻͐͋͊̋̔ͅŘ͍͎͉̲̻̒̀̓̕ ̖̱̱͎̗̄͂́̒̒ỉ͎̠̞̺̪̓͊̕͠Ş̹͉̬̣̇͌͒̔̕ ͇̬̦̞͇̆̊̓̃̋s̞̻̤̱̅͐̎̎͘͢O̡͍̪̘̠̅̾̀͛͘ ̧̨̙͎̄̓̾̃͐͟P̢͓̞̥̐̅̅͋́͢á̢̲̬̺͍̓̈̉̕ì̧͇̰̬̯͒̓̌̚N̻͈̩̞̖̑̀̅͊͡f̢̱̝̦͓͊̈́͗̔͘Ų̜̱͍͛̊̇̎͜͡L̡̟̗͙̃̃͊̐͌ͅ!̠̲̹͆͋͛̚͘͜ͅ

 

The owner of the Indestructible Shield. A person with a voracious appetite. An ex-priestess.

They called her-

 

–f̛̝̲̗̲͎͋͆́͘O̹̯̩͔̯̍̀̎̋͂o̢͍̖͙̹̿͌̓̎͞D͙̭̭̬̑́́͂͆͜-̡͇͉͎̪͌̈́̿̓̂!͉̥͈͔̾̅̍͌̽ͅ ͇̫͉̐͗͂͂́͟͜G̹͖̦̯͈̾͛̂̇̓i̧̪̝̰̥͐̒̽̏͊v̢̛̠̰͔̋̆͐̓ͅḘ͚̜̫̱́̋̀̎͠ ̞̲͍̞̲̉̽̂̎̕ḿ̮̞͎̰͆̈́̀͘͢E̘̠͓̜̭͒͑̆̽̈́ ̦̻̺̤̲̂͌̄̆͞S̖̥̝͔̅͐̊̀͘ͅǫ̛̘̩̗̜͐̀͘͞M͉̩̋̉̊̓̅͢ͅͅE͎͔͙̜̽͋̎̊͢͞ ̡̜̪͚͐̄̚͝͝ͅF̛͉͕̮̏̅̊̕͟ͅỏ͙̻̪̐͜͟͞͡͞ô̹̥͔̦̙̌̒̑̐D̛̖͓̺͚̳͆̀̋͡!̰̺͓͓̯̉̑̎̾͊

 

Glutton. 

---

How did it come to this? How did Glutton end up like- like this? 

For her soul to be bound to this world in such a manner-

…….Just what had happened after he died?

“Who did this to you, Glutton?”

However, his voice didn’t seem to reach her. Her distorted voice echoed in his ears as she rambled on and on.

 

–F̘͖̼̪̞̓̿͛͗͘õ͎̲̺̫͚̆̓̑͘O̩̳̺̮̭͂͊̅̆̈D̤͉̞͎̖̉͆̅͠͠!̺̘̹̙͚̊̎̀̉͞ ̡̠̩͎͚͐̓̐̑̉ǧ̡̰̦̟͇̉͑̓̚I̡͈̠͑̇̄̋͢͜͠V͚͉̻̳̅̒̇͒͢͞ḙ̳̟̖͓́̌͂̿̾ ̧̛̳̦̮̱͐͋̒͂I͎̣̻͎̜͊̈́͊̾̀t̡̫̤̺͙̀̂͛͌͡ ̡̟̞̼̩̿̽͐͂̚T̢̝̭̜͂͂͑͂̓ͅo̠̣̻̹͔̐̅̑̽̽ ̧͇̪͍̻̀̊̓̾̉M̲̙̮͙̹̈́̊̈́̿͝E̛̯̖̙̤͋͗̑͜͝!̛͖̩̞̌͑̒̕͢ͅ

 

–t͙͈̗̪͙̓͛́̋͠H̢̟̺͓̗̽͒̀͆͞I̡̡̠͉͛̊̇̔̚͜s̘̳̝̦̀͊̈̎̾͟ ̣͕̗͔́͗̆͋͒͟ḩ̼̫̮̀̎͆̓̀͢Ṵ̡̫͚̣͌͛͗͡͠N̘̦̣̹͒̏̓͂̕͢g̢̨̬͚̀̈́̄̊̂͟ę̞̯̺͔͐̒͑͛͠R̘͎̹̳͕̐͌̌͊͞ ̰̞̖̇̓̐̓͢͠ͅi̝̼͉̍̓̈̃̕͟ͅS͓̮̣̮̼̽̓̓͋̎ ͓͙̼̃̆̑̎̚͜͜ù̢̻̜̞̻͗͐̕͘Ǹ̢̟͔̺̘̐̃́̕b̘̪͚͛̅̌̈͡ͅͅE̘͖̲͑̾̃̀̅͜ͅÀ̢̬͉̘̘̀͐̚̕ŕ̨̧̠̬̅́͑͒͟À͙̗̲̗͇͊̄̊̿b̯̹̠͔͋͊̾̑͟͠L̛͖̼̜̩̍̏͌̚ͅE̛̮̰͚̣̺̓̒͘̕

 

–ŝ̡̰̤̼̍̿̈́͢͝Ơ̧̝̤̝͓̋̈́̈́̀ ̛̯͇̩͍͗̾̈̆͟P̹̠̥̥̳͌̊̀͛͘a͕̗̺̼̰͆̒͑̎̎i̩̪̝͇̪̔̀̐͊̒N̺̖͓͙̯͌̂̓͝͝f̛͉̜̖̲͙̓̀̿̃Ư͍̥̼͎̾̿́͜͠L͍̞̬̙̀̀̓̅̔͟!̧̛̖̙̖̥̀̑̓͡

 

-͇̲̖͇̝̓̈́̽̿͌Į̙̼̣̹͐̍̀̔͡ ̟͚̟́̒̇͗̚͢ͅw̢͙̱̣̺̏͐̏̀͡À̞̥̠͎̜̂̽̅̓n̢̖̗͔̣͛͊̀̊̑T͎̤̟̦͓̑̄̃͌͝ ̺̥̱̬͂̒̾̍̚͢t̪͔̙̤̾̑̍̆̕ͅO͇͙̫͕̐̋̑̀͒ͅ ̨̲͇̜͓̋͌̌̈́̓É̥̼͔͈̭̃̊̈́̊ą͙̳̮̍͋̅̋̔͢Ţ̢̠͈̟̍͒̆̏͝!͇͉̱̟̐̿͑̚͝ͅ

 

It was as if she had lost her senses. She couldn’t even recognise him. 

Cale stared at the pitch black tree with a blank look on his face. What had that child called it again?

“…..a man-eating tree.” 

Why would that child say that? Surely such rumors won’t start just because this tree looks evil. Unless-

The expression on Cale’s face twisted at that thought. 

Glutton- the Protector. The Indestructible Shield. Among the ancient heroes, she was the most powerful after Rock-for-Brains. She never ever let the enemy harm those under her protection. Her shield never broke. 

However, such great power had its consequences. The more she used her powers, the hungrier she went. She was already a glutton by birth (hence the nickname) and the overuse of her powers made it worse.  

To think she’d be so painfully hungry even after dying….. Was it just because it has been ten thousand years since her death? Or was it because of something else?

Did she die because she overused her powers? But even so, that does not explain her current state.

Why would she be so painfully hungry? Why did her soul materialise in a tree? Why is the tree black-

-Wait. 

“….Dead mana?” He muttered as he stared at the dark tree blankly. “You consumed dead mana?!”

Of course, no sane reply came from Glutton. Her ear piercing shrieks of hunger were still ringing in his mind.

Crackle.

Swish!

Red liquid fire bubbled under his feet, burning the weeds and the grass into ashes. The hot liquid flames spread from underneath him, and kept increasing bit by bit.

Brilliant red sparks appeared over his palms, making his hands glow a faint red. He clenched his fists, making the red lightning coat his fists in brilliant glimmer.

“I should have burned this world down to ashes long ago.” 

This wretched, worthless world. What is the meaning to such a world where the people with power laud themselves as gods, while the actual gods just watch over everything as if it’s just entertainment? Where does the rich look down on the poor, where a kind person is still prejudiced against because of how they look? Where heroes are made to be sacrificed? Where a being who controls them is hailed as a god, but the one who protected them , who went against the odds for their peace are treated as heretics?!

Ugh, he should have burned everything in the past, instead of just the north. A world where his friends heroes are sacrificed should be turned to ashes-

 

–o̰͙̲̟̱͂͛̇̕͡O̢͙̦͔̔̄͐̀͒͜D̨̗̱̭͂̿̈̈̒͢!̨̗̝̱͎̎̐̉̌͌ ̢̗̞̤͔̋̈́̂͞͝G̬͙̣͍͎̎͒̌͠͠i͉͙̝̹̘̒͑͑̀̈́V̧̦̪͎̣́̽̓̂͆Ẽ̠̯̰̖͌͌̀͟͝ ̨̯͔̰̬̀̋̉͐͞m̦͎͍̩̩͗͛͐͑̚Ȩ͇̣͓͙͆̊͌̿̒ ͔͉̬̇͑̂̇͛͟͜F͈͕̦̼̼̂͐̄̆͋ọ͙̣͎̟̊̅̑̈́̀Ǫ͍̳̫̔͛̑̓̍͜ḑ͎̱̦̩̓͊̓̏͗!̳̺̣̻̯̋̾̃͐̚

 

Glutton’s ear piercing screech snapped him out of his dark thoughts. Her distorted scream not only abruptly woke him up from his trance, but also startled him enough to cut off his power.

Sizzle.

Blinking in confusion, he glanced down, only to be struck dumb. The ground around him was a smoking, charred black mess, filled with the ashes of the grass and weeds that used to grow on it. 

“Ah…” He mumbled sheepishly. “I hadn’t meant to do that.”

 

-̬̩̖̞̰̂̒͗̕͘I͙͉̭̖̼͑̊̋̐̋ ̡̨͔͉̼̉̈́́̍̊ặ̟͇̞̥́̓͘͞M̨̡̖͖̻̑̾̉̒̽ ̛̛̜̲̟̲͙͛̉͘S̘͈̪͖͕̾̒͋̋̉o̟̫͍̻̓̀͊͋̾ͅ ̱̤͍̘̯̃̉̅̊̋H̨̖͍̳͒̀̊̒͐͢ṵ͉̹̝̝̃̀͗͆̈N̼̻̙͕͇͌̑͗̿̐ģ̛͎̥̜̟̓͌̒̇R̛͉̤̯̬̬͆͒̐̽Y̢̜͙̯̣͑̀̏̚͝!̣͙̣͇́͊̔͋̕ͅ

 

“Yes, yes you damn glutton. I can hear you loud and clear!” Cale spoke in annoyance.

He got off from the charred black ground and dusted off the black soot from the back of his pants –not that it did him any good. 

As he looked back up, he couldn’t help but stare at the distant mountains, as well as the sun that peeked behind it. Huh, he didn’t even notice that the dark sky had lightened considerably, giving way to dawn. 

As the first few rays of sunlight lit up the sky reached him, he couldn’t help but smile.

-̳̞̱̹̈́̄͋̎͆͜F̨͚̼͖̭̅́̐̚͠ơ̯͙̹̜͗̄̀̈͟Ṍ̭̳̠̾̍͜͜͠ḓ̢͙̮̣̐̀͒̓̓!̭̖̯͈͆̈́͂̚͢͡

A new day has come.

---

A certain Hungry pit (Editor) has something to say:- Feed me faster, you cheapskate. :Hannahrage:

Cheapskate’s mental theatre- 

Cale: *ruffles On’s hair*

On: T-This Oppa ruffled my hair! (๑>ᴗ<๑) N-No one has ever done that for me!

Hong: *sulks* I want a head pat too! (இдஇ; )

 

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