However, putting out the fire was a task for some other day.

Cale had left the entrance of the tent open on purpose. It was so that the soldiers could see inside as they walked by.

– Human, human.

Cale could hear Raon’s voice in his mind.
Cale did not pay attention as he headed toward the people with light injuries.

“You have a lot of bruises.”
“Priest-nim…”

The soldier who was sitting in the corner of the tent because he only had light injuries answered in shock. Cale took out a potion and wet a piece of cloth.

He then started to press down on the areas around the bruise with the cloth. The light bruises slowly started to disappear.

“T, thank you very much.”

The soldier could see the white-haired priest gently smiling at him. The priest did not say anything else before walking over to another person and healing their light injuries.

– Human, you’re such a good person!

Cale ignored Raon as usual as he used potions to heal even the soldiers with the lightest of injuries.

The soldiers bowed with gratitude toward the white-haired priest who did not care about using potions on even the lightest injuries.

Cale received their thanks and started to think.

‘Free potions feel the best when you use them without any hesitation.’

Cale was using the potions that Alberu had given him without holding back. Maybe it was because he was using someone else’s potions, but it was quite entertaining.

“Thank you very much, priest-nim.”

Cale started to smile while thinking about how he was using Alberu’s money. He responded to the thanks in a manner that normal priests would respond.

“It was nothing. It is a priest’s job to look after the injured.”

Cale took care of the soldiers with light injuries around him before moving toward the rest of his group. Jack and Cage were by the people who were close to dying.

‘They’re working hard.’

The Saint, Jack, was sweating profusely as he looked after the patients.

The patient Jack was currently healing was close to dying because of the deep cut on his side.

Paaat.

Gold light continued to glow in Jack’s hand as he healed the soldier’s injury. Cale observed Jack and started to think.

‘His healing skills are top notch.’

The crazy priestess Cage was a talented priestess, however, an aura that she could not compare with was coming out of Jack right now.

It was only natural that everyone’s gazes would be focused on Jack. Cale looked toward this with satisfaction.

‘He seems good enough to use against the Empire later.’

Cale got excited while thinking about how they could cause chaos in the Empire by doing the same thing in the Empire while wearing this white priest outfit and white mask.

“Uggggh, ugh.”

The soldier who was moaning and close to death slowly started to regain color in his face. Jack finally moved his hand away from the patient’s side.

“Haaaaa.”

Jack plopped onto a chair nearby and started to take deep breaths. Cale slightly clenched his fists after seeing the patient’s side.

The large wound that was rotting and made the man’s organs visible was now completely fine without even a scar.

“Ho.”
“Wow.”

The Whipper Kingdom’s people could not hide their shock and admiration. Cale approached Jack, who was breathing heavily.
He then took Jack to a corner of the tent and sat him down.

“Are you okay?”

Jack smiled in response to Cale’s question. He brushed the sweat off of his forehead with his shaking hand as he started to speak.

“Young master-nim.”
“Yes?”
“I think it was the right decision to follow you here.”

‘What the heck is he suddenly talking about?’

Cale did not understand as he looked toward Jack. He then flinched.

Jack was smiling brightly. He seemed to be happy. He started to speak in a quiet voice that only Cale could hear.

“When I was with the church, my life revolved around healing the important people. I have never seen people who truly needed the hand of god. But now…”

Jack’s eyes were suddenly full of energy again.

“I finally realized what it is I have to do. Young master-nim, can I tell you a funny story?”
“…What is it?”

Jack clenched and then unclenched his fist. His hands stopped shaking.

“My healing abilities.”

Jack finally thought he could understand the will of his god.

“Young master Cale, my healing abilities seem to be getting stronger.”

‘Wow.’

Cale was amazed as soon as he heard what Jack had to say.
His healing abilities were getting stronger even though he could already heal someone who was at death’s door?

‘He really is a Saint.’

He was a real Saint.
Cale patted Jack, who seemed to be very happy that he was able to heal people, on the shoulder before encouraging him further.

“I have faith in your abilities, Jack-nim.”

Jack clenched his fists at Cale’s comment.
He was able to save his younger sister thanks to Cale. He had come to this place with Cale because that person had said he needed help. However, what he was doing here was saving someone once again.

Jack lifted his head and looked toward Cale, who was taking care of patients in front of him. Cale’s gaze seemed to be more serious than ever before.

‘I should have lived like this from the start.’

Jack felt a sense of regret but held it back as he stood up and headed back to the patients.

Cale looked around the tent after seeing that Jack was returning to treating patients. He still had the same gaze that made Jack regret his past life. This was the thought going on in his head.

‘Looks like we’ll be up all night.’

There were a couple other patient tents as well.
However, Cale did not need to do much even if they were pulling an all-nighter.
He handed potions to Cage and Jack. It was the only thing he could do for these two who will suffer the most throughout the night.

***
The next morning.
The Whipper Kingdom’s soldiers’ gazes were focused on the priests who had spent all night treating the patients.
The treated patients were coming out cheering as they were moved to other tents while a new batch of seriously injured patients was being moved to the tent.

And now, another patient was crying as they showed their gratitude.

“Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Really, truly, thank you very much.”
“It was nothing. We just did what we needed to do.”

The soldier whose leg might have needed to be amputated was crying while holding Jack’s hand. Jack seemed to be getting emotional as well, as he was tightly holding the soldier’s hand back.

This type of scene had been repeated multiple times already.

Toonka, who saw this for the first time as he headed into the tent, flinched. Harol went up to stand next to him.

“Commander-nim.”
“…Yes?”

Toonka looked toward the healed soldier with an odd expression.
He had realized that the atmosphere among the soldiers was much brighter this morning. It was a different type of liveliness than when they would achieve a victory in a battle.

“Commander-nim, welcome.”

The familiar voice spoke to him as if they did not know each other. It was Cale.

Toonka looked at Cale, who was posing as a priest, and was starting to approach him, before looking around at the rest of Cale’s group in the tent. All of them had pulled all-nighters and were sweating hard as they continued to heal the patients.

Toonka made eye contact with Cale, who approached him and started to whisper.

“Tonight. I’m putting the fire out, so bring all of the files.”

Cale’s tone was cold but Toonka started to smile.

“Alright. I got it.”

After not sleeping a wink last night, Cale did not like Toonka’s smiling face. He quickly turned around and walked away.
Of course, Cale was fine even after not getting any sleep thanks to the, ‘Vitality of the Heart.’

“Thank you.”

Cale ignored Toonka’s voice behind him.

* * *

That night was the night of the new moon.
Cale stood on top of Maple Castle as he looked down.

‘It is completely dark other than this pillar of fire and the lights in the base.’

The fire shone even brighter without the moon. Cale recalled what Harol had told him as he handed him the report.

‘Is there really nobody inside of the castle?’
‘It is. Don’t you know that I have three mages with me? Some of my trusted subordinates and I entered the castle with their magic to verify.’

Three mages, one each from Roan, Breck, and the Jungle, were currently disguised as Toonka and Harol’s servants for video communication and emergency situations.
Cale had looked toward Harol, who had no issue with using mages, with amazement. Harol, who felt Cale’s gaze, had responded back like this.

‘Sometimes you have to sacrifice the small stuff for the greater good. In order to get rid of all magic in the future, I need to use my enemies to my advantage as well.’

Cale ignored the gaze of this opportunistic yet crazy bastard. He only focused on the information Harol handed him.

‘In addition to nobody being there, there were no useful items nor even magic devices. It was just an empty castle.’
‘The mages verified that there were no magic devices?’
‘Yes. There was no trace of mana at all.’

It meant that the castle did not have the general magic devices used on the Western Continent. It might be possible that there were variations hidden in the castle.

Cale started to speak.

“Let’s go down.”

“Yes, Cale-nim.”
“Right away.”

Choi Han and Rosalyn responded back while Raon started to speak in his mind.

– I just have to let you down on the top of the castle?

Cale’s group stealthily and quietly landed on top of the castle that was surrounded by the pillar of fire. The invisibility spell around them was removed as soon as they landed.

The soldiers guarding the pillar of fire did not notice Cale’s group’s actions. This was because Toonka and Harol had lowered the number of soldiers standing guard.

“It’s hot.”

Cale shared his sentiments as they stood on the terrace on top of the castle.
It was hot due to the fire.

Cale looked toward Choi Han and Rosalyn. Choi Han was rubbing the embroidery on his outfit.

It was one red star with five white stars around it.

This upgraded fake secret organization outfit was still not a perfect replica of the original, however, Hans and Beacrox had used their skills to make it look more legitimate.

“Young master Cale, what is the plan?”

Cale responded without hesitation to Rosalyn’s question.

“First, we will go down through the castle while looking for any magic devices. Miss Rosalyn, you and Raon should be better than those other mages. We may also be able to figure out the Empire’s plan.”

Choi Han and Rosalyn nodded their heads. Cale looked at the blueprints of the castle that Harol had handed him while continuing to speak. The castle also had one underground floor.

“We will also look for any treasures or precious items that may be hidden.”

The two people flinched. Raon appeared in the air and started to shout.

“I knew it! Human, I knew you would say that!”

Raon seemed to be excited. Choi Han looked toward Rosalyn only to see that she was smiling.

“Not money nor food, but treasure, right?”
“Yes. Miss Rosalyn, I knew you would get it.”

They would leave the money and food for the soldiers. Cale was looking for more precious things.

“I will work hard.”
“Yes, I will leave it to you, Miss Rosalyn.”
“Human, what about me?”
“You as well.”

Choi Han watched Cale, Rosalyn, and Raon chatting as they started to head down with a blank expression before following behind them.
Cale started to investigate this Maple Castle.

However, there was not much to investigate.

“Mm, there have been no reactions until now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”

Cale’s group gathered at the first-floor hall without having any luck.

“Well, let’s still go look in the basement.”

Rosalyn nodded her head. Forget treasures, Cale and Rosalyn were now just trying to figure out the Empire’s plan.

The Empire just started this fire and left?
That made no sense. That would be too much of a waste.

Rosalyn started to speak.

“Shall we head to the basement now?”
“No. Let’s verify the condition of the pillar of fire before we go.”

They could see the fire up close because they were on the first floor.
The fire was in the shape of a pillar approximately 7 meters in diameter. That was why the soldiers could not see Cale even when he opened the castle door.

Cale headed to the entrance of the first-floor hall.

‘Young master-nim, you can see the fire as soon as you open the first-floor door.’

He recalled what Harol had told me.

“Young master Cale, be careful.”
“Cale-nim, I will open the door.”

Along with Rosalyn’s concerned statement, Choi Han stepped forward and headed toward the door. Choi Han stood in front of a door that was half the size of the large main entrance and looked toward Cale.

“Open it.”

Choi Han opened the door at Cale’s command. Cale slowly started to be able to see the fire through the opening door.
He gulped.

“Mm.”

Craaaaackle-

An intense heat entered the castle along with the sound of the crackling fire.

“Cale-nim, you should probably step back. It is very hot.”

Cale shook his head at Choi Han’s statement and took one step closer to the door. It was hot but still bearable thanks to the, ‘Vitality of the Heart.’
Cale’s expression turned serious.

“It is stronger than the last one.”

He thought that it would be weaker because it encompassed a smaller area than the Jungle’s Section 1 fire. However, he could tell that this pillar was radiating a stronger level of heat than the fire in the Jungle.

‘…A large drenching is difficult this time.’

Cale, who did not plan on making it hail again, started to frown.
At that moment, some wind blew in from the door.

Craaaaaackle-

A wave of heat brushed by Cale’s face. It was so hot that it made it difficult for Cale to breathe.

Cale tried to step back as getting burnt would hurt, even with the Vitality of the Heart.

It was at that moment.

– Are you trying to sacrifice yourself?

‘Hmm?’

Cale stopped moving backward as a voice started to speak in his mind.

– Will you sacrifice yourself to protect them?

It was the voice of the Super Rock’s previous owner.

‘Why is he suddenly talking?’

Cale had not paid any attention to the Super Rock power ever since he received the earth affinity. It was because he had no need and no desire to use it at all.
Cale’s mind became complicated. Someone grabbed his arm at that moment.

“Cale-nim.”
Cale coldly responded back to Choi Han who grabbed his arm while he was contemplating.

“What?”
“That-.”

Choi Han pointed in a direction with a confused expression. Cale’s gaze moved following Choi Han’s finger as he continued to speak.

“Raon is acting weird.”

Now that he thought about it, Raon had not said anything when he was getting closer to the fire. The usual Raon would have been nagging at him to stop. Raon had not said anything since they arrived on the first floor.
Cale finally managed to see Raon after he followed Choi Han’s finger.

“…What the?”

A confused voice came out of Cale’s mouth.

Sniff. Sniff.

Raon had his face buried on the ground as he continued to sniff.

Cale looked toward Raon while wondering what was going on. Raon suddenly turned his head and the two of them made eye contact.
The Black Dragon pounded on the ground.

“I can smell it! I can smell it!”

‘Smell what?’

“It is the same scent that was near the Black Swamp!”

‘The Black Swamp?’

Cale wondered what Raon was saying. However, he soon figured it out.

The Black Swamp. That was the place that he had found the Dragon Bones and the, ‘Dominating Aura.’
It was also the location that the secret organization had given the mermaids the dead mana.

Raon looked toward Cale and started to speak.

“I smell that dead Dragon’s dead mana!”

Cale started to smile.

The Saint and the Holy Maiden had said that the dead mana bomb was in liquid form.
He had wondered where the Empire had gotten that liquid from, but it seemed like some of the dead mana from the Black Swamp had been given to the Empire as well.

Cale started to speak.

“We’re heading down to the basement now.”

There was something that Cale wanted in the basement of the Maple Castle.

<< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >>