However, the expressions on the faces of the nobles listening to Cale and the crown prince started to be filled with different colors.
There was only one thing that these two could mean right now.
The Roan Kingdom wanted to take over the Empire.
The Ailan household was known as the leader of the Roan Kingdom’s southeast region. The head of that household, Marquis Sand Ailan, saw the expression on crown prince Alberu’s face and gulped.
‘…He means it.’
The crown prince really was aiming for the Empire.
And he had called the kingdom’s highest nobles here in order to express that desire.
‘No. He didn’t only call us.’
Marquis Sand Ailan’s gaze headed to a spot about halfway between himself and the crown prince. Cale Henituse was standing there. He seemed to have already discussed everything with the crown prince.
‘This is bad.’
They had just finished a war.
The fact that crown prince Alberu was preparing for another war made Marquis Sand Ailan unable to determine how the state of affairs of the continent would flow from here.
Furthermore, wasn’t this supposed to be the crown prince who cherished his people?
He had just told the citizens that the war was over and that they could greet spring. That meant that the war against the Empire would go in a different way than the war against the Indomitable Alliance.
‘However, those things aren’t the main issues.’
The real reason that Marquis Sand Ailan thought it was bad. That reason was making his mouth completely dry.
‘The Roan Kingdom is not weak.’
The bad part was that this war against the Empire did not seem impossible.
The growth of the Mage Brigade and the Navy, as well as the overall growth of the knights’ morales. All of these showed that the Roan Kingdom was already one of the Western continent’s strongest kingdoms.
Furthermore, they also had a sword master and many other strong individuals who were a kingdom’s important keys for success.
Although many people did not know about this next topic because the news had not spread, but the crown prince has been pressuring temples for a while and setting the foundations to bring the necromancer and the Dark Elves into the kingdom.
Crown prince Alberu Crossman truly showed the strength of the survivors very well.
He had shown it by surviving when he had no strong supporters after he had lost the king’s favor.
The people who had been his stronger supporters were the Henituse household and the northeast region’s nobles who had been the central figures in this past war.
Marquis Sand Ailan was unable to do anything during this past war. In fact, the influence of the southeast region’s nobles had decreased, putting him in a bad situation.
‘However, no matter how strong the Roan Kingdom has become, fighting against the Empire is a different issue.’
It meant something to touch the Empire that had long been the Western continent’s ruler.
Marquis Sand Ailan’s mind became complicated.
Actually, his heart was even more complicated.
‘The bad thing is that I keep thinking that it is possible.’
No matter how terrible he had been in the political side, he was the Roan Kingdom’s leader of martial arts after all. Which expert, especially a sword master, would want to suppress his own powers in front of a large-scale war?
‘Defending,’ against the Indomitable Alliance and, ‘attacking,’ the Empire were extremely different from one another.
The fact that the Roan Kingdom was in a place where it could launch an attack made his heart excited.
‘It also creates an opportunity for each faction’s nobles.’
Marquis Sand Ailan looked toward Duke Orsena, who represented the central faction.
Both Marquis Ailan and Duke Orsena were known to not be part of the crown prince’s faction. Their influence was decreasing as the Roan Kingdom’s name became better known.
Gaining merit in the war against the Empire was their chance to find a shortcut in order to retrieve their lost influence.
Marquis Ailan had a bitter smile on his face as he looked toward crown prince Alberu.
‘The crown prince probably invited all of us here while aiming for this.’
He was scared of the crown prince’s strategic mind.
However, that bitter smile soon disappeared.
Crown prince Alberu Crossman started to speak.
“Do you know the story of the Crossman royal family?”
The Crossman household had been the only royal family since the beginning of the Roan Kingdom.
There was a story related to that family.
‘The Crossman ruler always has beautiful blonde hair.’
This blonde hair was the symbol of the royal family. Although the entire royal family throughout history had not been blonde, the king and the potential future kings had all always been blonde.
This was because it was said that the Crossman household had received the blessing of the Sun God.
However, the nobles did not dare to share this information out loud.
That reason came out of Alberu’s mouth with an odd smile on his face.
“The Crossman royal family is said to have received the blessing of the Sun God, however, we are unable to share this story because of the Empire. This is the internal sorrow for a kingdom that is average.”
The Mogoru Empire was the continent’s strongest faction and the location of the largest Church of the Sun God. The Mogoru royal family had always treasured the Sun God.
That was why the Roan Kingdom’s Crossman family had been unable to share this information about their roots starting at some point.
It wasn’t that the Empire did something to tell them to stop, instead, the Roan Kingdom chose to shut up about it on their own. Since they were weak, they didn’t want to do anything that might cause a fight.
Furthermore, other than the fact that the family received the blessings of the Sun God, the Roan Kingdom did not have a national religion. The Roan Kingdom’s royal family did not push forward the Church of the Sun God to the citizens and was reluctant to have the royal family be tied closely with the church.
Alberu watched the nobles start to frown at his words before turning to look at Cale.
Although people may think that he was sincerely listening, the fact that he was staring at the ceiling made it obvious Cale was not thinking about anything right now.
‘How did I end up having to work together with a bastard like him?’
The issue was that this bastard was the most trustworthy person to him.
Crown prince Alberu held back a sigh as he continued to speak.
“His majesty was originally planning on handing over the crown after this war.”
‘What is he talking about?’
Cale, who had been barely listening, turned toward Alberu.
Why was this crown prince saying something so important as if he was Ron talking about a kid from next door walking by the house?
Cale frowned and observed Alberu, who had announced this bomb of an announcement. However, he was not as shocked as the other nobles.
“T, that is big news! I see. I didn’t know something like that had happened.”
Duke Orsena, the leader of the central faction, showed his shock before quickly calming himself and responding back.
However, he could not help but gasp after hearing what Alberu had to say next.
Alberu continued to speak to the shocked nobles.
“But I declined it.”
He declined the crown.
That act made it clear who held the power in the Roan Kingdom right now.
Marquis Sand Ailan finally managed to open his mouth to ask a question.
“Your highness, I know that I should not question your decisions, but may I ask your reason for doing that?”
Crown prince Alberu quietly observed Marquis Sand Ailan, who had asked the question.
Beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. The crown prince completely looked the part of a Crossman heir.
He smiled at Marquis Ailan, who did not avoid his gaze, and turned around. He then walked toward the terrace.
Chhhhhhhhhh-
The closed curtains were opened again.
At the same time, the bright light of the sun entered the room.
Crown prince Alberu put his back toward the sun as he started to speak.
“I will become the Roan Kingdom’s ruler when it is at its highest point.”
The Roan Kingdom that Alberu was thinking about was when it would have fully opened up its wings once again.
That was the moment Alberu Crossman would become the Roan Kingdom’s new king.
“I wish to be the brightest person in a larger Roan Kingdom.”
The reason he pushed back the coronation.
He desired to become the king of the Roan Kingdom once it had eaten up some of the Empire’s territory. This desire was thoroughly delivered to the four noble leaders.
They could see the brightly smiling Alberu Crossman.
His face was covered with shadows because the sun was to his back, however, his gaze and smile were clearer than ever before. Alberu’s calm voice echoed in the chilly room.
“Will you all take me there?”
Silence filled the area.
Alberu’s voice continued through that silence as if it was a fog.
“Of course, I do not wish to shed our citizens’ blood in order to get there.”
‘Wow.’
Cale was amazed internally.
He was pressuring the nobles thoroughly.
This really was the person who managed to handle Choi Han in the novel.
He was someone who cared about the Roan Kingdom’s citizens and cared about the greater good.
However, he was also someone who did not hide his greed.
‘These are his instincts. These are his instincts as a king.’
If Rosalyn was someone who threw away her royal position and chose a different path without any hesitation because of her greed…
Alberu Crossman was someone who hid the fact that he was a quarter Dark Elf and persisted even when he had no support in order to reach the position of a king for a stronger Roan Kingdom.
It might be possible that the Choi Han in, ‘The Birth of a Hero,’ chose to help Alberu out not just because of his glib tongue but because of his appearance as a true, ‘ruler.’
‘I bet that Alberu Crossman definitely becomes one of the main heroes after volume 5.’
The Alberu that Cale read about up to volume 5 only had the role of giving tasks to Choi Han and nothing else.
However, if new strong individuals or heroes other than Choi Han, Lock, and Rosalyn appeared starting from volume 6, then Cale was certain that one of them would have been Alberu Crossman.
‘Alberu Crossman is not the type to lose to Imperial Prince Adin.’
That was why Cale could not help but support this crown prince who was greedy but still put the needs of the citizens first.
However, although Cale smiled and quickly hid it, the other nobles were feeling a sense of chilliness that they could not even feel the warmth of the sun.
Marquis Sand Ailan had his eyes closed. All sorts of thoughts were going through his mind. However, he soon opened his eyes again. He had made up his mind in less than 5 seconds.
‘Let’s do it.’
It was time to put everything on the line.
However, there was someone who had made up their mind faster than any of them.
One person’s voice responded to Alberu’s request.
“Your highness.”
Cale Henituse.
He was the first one to respond to Alberu’s request.
Cale slightly bowed and continued to speak.
“Your highness, you will start the new story about the Roan Kingdom and the Crossman royal family.”
‘Funny bastard.’
Alberu held back his laughter.
The Crossman royal family had always had blonde kings.
Although he thought that it was a rotten tradition, Alberu had to turn himself blonde as well. It was not just an issue for him, as he felt that it would be difficult for the citizens to accept him and his quarter Dark Elf blood that had been hiding the truth all this time. Furthermore, his true appearance would be a weakness when it came to politics and foreign affairs.
That was why Alberu understood what Cale meant by what he said.
The person who never said useless things had said, ‘the Crossman royal family’s new story.’
This definitely meant that he would become the Roan Kingdom’s king even though he was not truly blonde.
‘I like it a lot.’
Alberu then looked toward the others. They all bowed their heads and shared similar sentiments.
“We will do what we can to create that path for you, your highness.”
He could see Cale raise his head before the other nobles.
He looked quite evil as he smiled.
– Human! The crown prince is smiling like you as well!
However, Alberu had a similarly evil smile on his face.
“Raise your heads.”
The nobles raised their heads at Alberu’s command. Alberu gave another order to the nobles after that.
“I will teach you the path that you will need to walk from here.”
Of course, he had come up with this plan with Cale.
The bright sun was shining while the citizens were cheering outside the terrace. However, the Roan Kingdom’s central figures were planning for their future.
* * *
Cale returned to the Henituse residence at the capital and looked at the clock.
Click, click.
He could hear the second hand moving.
“Human, they will be here soon!”
He heard Raon’s comment. Cale turned his head.
Paaaaat-
A bright light caught Cale’s attention. The empty room next to Cale’s bedroom. The magic circle in that room was shining brightly.
Once that light disappeared…
“Nice house.”
Cale could see the ancient Dragon Eruhaben looking around the room. He could also see three people wearing white priest robes with no crests.
Eruhaben had returned to the Super Rock Villa in order to bring these three people over. They were naturally the three that Cale had been waiting for.
The crazy priestess Cage, the half-Saint Jack, and the blood-crazed sword master and fake Holy Maiden, Hannah.
They had come to see Cale for the first time in a while.
“Long time no see. The God of Death seems to be doing a good job.”
“Hey.”
“Young master-nim, I have heard a lot about your great deeds.”
Crazy priestess Cage took out wine glasses with shields etched on them while Hannah casually greeted Cale and touched her scabbard. Saint Jack was smiling with an even holier face than usual.
Cale put on a smile that was as gentle as possible as he said something to these three that had each greeted him in their own ways.
“We need to go evangelize.”
Silence filled the room after hearing Cale’s words.
Cale continued to smile as he asked crazy priestess Cage, who was staring at him a question.
“Miss Cage, did I seem holy?”
Cage responded back with an odd expression on her face.
“…Young master-nim, you look evil.”
The crazy priestess Cage did not know how to lie.
Cale’s expression quickly became blank in surprise.
‘How did I end up having to work together with a bastard like him?’
Ah yes, Alberu. Accept it. You and Cale are fated to work together for life the moment he decided to steal the MC’s spot from Choi Han LMAOOO
Well the thing is, he didn’t mean to steal it and was planning to live a slacker life-
Cale was staring at the ceiling and thinking about nothing while in a meeting with the crown prince and the most powerful nobles in his kingdom. And poor Alberu who noticed doesnt have the power to do anything about it 🤣
The skill of scamming should be taught by the two of them lmao
“…Young master-nim, you look evil.”
The crazy priestess Cage did not know how to lie.
Cale’s expression quickly became blank in surprise.
This is the best! I love Cage’s honesty.
Thanks for the chapter.
Cale looks more like a villain, what can I say~
Cale staring at the celling was funny
Why did you surprise at Cage’s honest saying, Cale? XD You scam people all the time!
Thank you for the chapter
Sorry Alberu, you’re stuck with Cale, and I think you don’t even mind that much!
Thanks for the chapter!
Cage: “…Young master-nim, you look evil.”
Raon: ” that’s what i keep telling him!”
I love how Hannah greets Cale every time with just a “Hey.” 😂
That consistency lmao
Not gonna lie but…
Only having blonde kings is both racist and misogynistic
I mean rosalyn could’ve become the queen and Latina is the queen of jungle so I thought other than hating dark elfs for thier connection with black mana there is no such things as being racist and misogynistic in this world,
“This blonde hair was the symbol of the royal family. Although the entire royal family throughout history had not been blonde, the king and the potential future kings had all always been blonde.”
It’s clearly stated even if alberu was a human but because of his dark hair he wouldn’t even be qualified to be considered a potential future king
Most likely because their blonde hair is what they are known for and it symbolize that they are blessed with the Sun of God’s blessing. So they must think that having blonde hair means that the blessing has been passed on the child and having different hair color means, not. Therefore, in order to maintain the so-called, ‘blessing’ and to preserve the tradition, they needed to have that qualification to ascend and become a potential king.
Thanks for the chapter!!
Alberu x Cale moments going to be the death of me.
I am also worried about Choi Han achieving full darkness, but this novel does not have similar view about ‘light’ and ‘dark.’ They’re only elements, which I’m pretty happy to see applied in a fantasy world.
I also wonder why the birth of a hero novel chose to give Choi Han a dark element instead of others. Hmm…
Just like how the Slytherin house does not equate evil.
This chapter shows the fact that Cale is not greedy much better than even the chapters where he’s at his most benevolent because it shows his understanding of the concept, and his lack of understanding about how thoroughly he rejects his own greed. He well and truly only every wanted to be left in peace but was compassionate and foresighted enough to step forward.
As for Alberu, I think there’s a big problem with his characterization as everything he’s supposed to be is told rather than shown… or rather.. shown rather than done. I understand that fits his characterization very well from a thematic standpoint but… he’s really not carrying his weight, all the while the narrative pushes this idea of him and Cale being equals but he doesn’t partake of the equal division of labour, and that isn’t looking like it’s gonna become a plot point. Or at least, it didn’t feel like it even if it does in fact becomes a plot point in the future. It is feeling more like, we, as readers, are supposed to take the omniscient narrator at his word that the two characters are equal. This looks really odd given both characters’ “glib tongues” that they use “to put others to work”. Anyways, that’s my thoughts on why I don’t like Alberu as a character
Some more stray thoughts to add to that: I think the idea is that this characterization of the Crown Prince is also supposed to represent the idea of leadership or kingship, but well, he isn’t managing Cale at all. Cale is voluntarily doing all this. It would be interesting to see Alberu struggle with that more. More distrust, more power plays, more balance to the equation between Cale & him… although, I don’t really want to see more of him, tbh…
Omg, I’ve gotten far to invested in this story, ugh…
P.P.S He’s not putting the kingdom first. He’s putting the idea of the kingdom first. *His* kingdom. Not the kingdom. While Cale does actually give two sh*ts about the people within the kingdom and outside of it
…yeah, I’ve joined Caleism
@RJ I can see why you feel that way, BUT it will get there. He will get involved, he will carry his weight.
Just as Cale mentioned here. How Alberu acted so far, is parallel to how he was in the original novel. Only giving tasks to Choi Han ect. But as Cale predicts how Alberu will grow and become a hero after the 5th volume of The Birth Of A Hero, he will do the same this time starting slowly, now that those 5 volumes Cale read are well and truly over. Of course Cale never realises this since he never thinks of himself as the MC, but Alberu’s characterization will flow just like it did in the original novel albeit with a different MC in a different dynamic.
In my opinion this parallel is pretty clever whether the author intentionally planned it or just happened accidentally as a byproduct of the plot.
Also, author will address Alberu’s lack of involvement and how he feels about it. Then will go onto involve him in one of the most important arcs in my opinion. It’ll happen gradually, you just have to wait.
There’s a reason why most readers end up loving Alberu and why you don’t see any re-readers complaining about him. (At least I haven’t seen any).
You probably have caught up now and won’t see this long a$$ reply but I’m just leaving this here anyway, for anyone else who’s annoyed with Alberu. Give him a little time people, he’ll pay his dues.
@RJ I think you thought too negatively of Alberu… like this TCF mainstory is about Cale. Ofc the everyday and every move of Cale will be presented, but not for the other characters. Do not forget about that Alberu is a Crown Prince, one who stuck on administration on the palace and not as free as Cale, just a young master before and become a Commander whose task mainly to be on site. Cale able to become a Commander and do many of the current badass actions also came from Alberu help to give him the position in the first place.
You can’t do many of these arc just by showing many badass actions, someone also need to take care of the admin and information gathering and processing, which Alberu took as his role. His status and appearance helped to support Cale, both internally in Roan Kingdom and to gather the kingdoms alliance. In times of urgency when Raon is sick and cannot connect Clopeh call, Alberu become the information relayer. When Cale need to go to earn the Sky Eating Water, Alberu helped him become the central figure leading the alliance, as even Rosalyn had another mission to do.
And what is wrong with calling Roan Kingdom as his kingdom? He is the KING, and kingdom meaning the area, the jurisdiction of a king. How he wanted, then it is what Roan will become. It is said that he care for Roan Kingdom, because right now the Roan kingdom and their citizens basically have nothing. His decisions (that he had made and that he will make in the future) are all for the good of Roan Kingdom, he gave indentity for Roan Kingdom. He always put the best interest for Roan Kingdom and Roan citizens – He did all these for Roan Kingdom identity, Roan citizens safety and development, Roan future.
One more thing, he himself is also a citizens of Roan Kingdom.
Sorry for the long comment, but it hurts seeing him slandered like this 😭
I totally agree with you and I’m glad someone else said something about RJ’s inability to think about all the aspects that come with being the crown prince and apparent lack of understanding, or forgetfulness, of the things Alberu has done to help. I wanted to say something myself but I really didn’t want to write a comment that was long enough to address all the problems with RJ’s criticism of Alberu. It’s fine to not like Alberu, but at least make sure the things you’re saying you don’t like about him are actually accurate and remember that he has a crap ton of responsibilities as the crown prince which make it so that he can’t go around personally gathering information and commanding all operations and battles against the enemies.
Muito Obrigado por este capítulo.
Ohhh cage xd Cale-nim’s gentle smile only looks evil because you know him.
Its time to spread the word of caleism! Im sure clopeh would be all over this
I don’t really like Alberu, he only handles polítics and scams even tho he’s strong and can fight but well, just my opinion… Cale, You Joker 🤣 You only look hoy for Choi Han and Saint Jack lol
Hannah’s consistent greeting of ‘hey’ is so good 😆
//“We need to go evangelize.”
Silence filled the room after hearing Cale’s words.
Cale continued to smile as he asked crazy priestess Cage, who was staring at him a question.
“Miss Cage, did I seem holy?”
Cage responded back with an odd expression on her face.
“…Young master-nim, you look evil.”
The crazy priestess Cage did not know how to lie.
Cale’s expression quickly became blank in surprise.//
I love Cage hahahaha this must’ve put a blow on Cale because he knows he’s a decent actor 😆
These people who talk shit abt the crown prince! I wont talk abt whats already been said here but I will add: dont you know in TBoaH, they are the ones who [SPOILERS REDACTED]. And those times those shits think Alberu doesnt pull his weight and only get Cale’s fruits of labor in the previous chapters, you’re forgetting he already planned on getting the mages on Whipper Kingdom even without Cale which he successfully did it in the book. And since the war already happened here, let’s just say these battles and the ones to come that are in line in TBoaH(w/o KRS) they fcking s******* the same way K** ***** ******-[REDACTEDD-btw this is not the admin lol, fully OP] . Anw that fact says something big. Cale got this far because of 5 volumes cheat and the other cheats, he knew every detail of the events you wouldn’t normally get to know and he took advantage of that (not to discredit unique-to-Cale feats tho). Imagine Alberu getting this cheats as well hm? How abt clean your eyes properly, arent your eyes not peeled enough? Yall talk shit abt smth with ugly eyes.
-sincerely, an Alberu fanatic
The first time I read TCF I didn’t bother with the comments as I am so into the story. But now that I’m rereading it I always take time to read coz it’s cute to seethe other readers’ pov. But all these Alberu haters~ (┛✧Д✧))┛彡┻━┻
I’m happy to see other readers defend Alberu. I’d like to point out that Cale helps Alberu because he’s a crown Prince worthy to be King. Cale has pointed out so many times that despite Alberu’s greed and glib tongue, everything he does is for the good of Roan. And Cale may be an unreliable narrator, but his impression of people were never wrong.
I know everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I’m thinking more about reading comprehension? Nohate.
Anyways, I hope these Alberu haters came to their senses after reading future chapters.
Omg I did the same when I read the first time, straight out skipped comment section and now I’m reading them for the exact reason you said. 🤣 It’s cute to see the theories of first time readers because i could totally see myself in them.
And also I sort of want to comment little bits and pieces that aren’t spoilers but will be curious to new readers meanwhile drive re readers nuts just like these facts did to me when I realised the connections.
It’s fun. *evil laughing*
Also totally agree with the Alberu comment.
wow i cannot let people said bad thing about alberu😑…all the things i want to talk already got said😂.. @Rj comment about not liking alberu is so not acurate tho🤣🤣 and nonsense..
sincerely from me loyal tcf and kimroksoo/cale fanatics✨
Thanks for the chapter!!
cage : you look evil
you got the point miss cage
that is his inner self (according to himself)
thank you for the chapter 🫡