‘Youngest young master?’

Minister Bailey stepped forward as those words popped into Cale’s mind.

“Your Majesty.”

“…Minister, why are you there?”

As young King Dennis looked at Bailey in shock…

Knock knock knock.

They heard someone knock on the door.

“Your Majesty. Is something the matter?”

The person on the other side must have noticed the bit of commotion.

The young king and his old vassal made eye contact and Bailey shook her head no.

Dennis answered the person on the other side of the door.

“Not at all. Everything is fine.”

His voice was completely calm.

“However, call the Prime Minister up to the meeting room.”

The knight outside the door was silent for a moment.

“…As you command, your Majesty.”

He soon answered in a low voice and Dennis continued on.

“Have the people in the palace withdraw. Leave the minimum number of people possible.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

The knight guarding the king outside the door right now, and all of the knights protecting the inside of this palace were Dennis’s people.

It was the tiniest bit of shield the late king managed to leave for him.

“Minister.”

He looked at Bailey and started to speak.

“There are six hours until the changing of the guards.”

That squad was a mix of the Empire faction and the King’s faction.

“That should be enough time for a conversation, right?”

‘Hooo.’

Cale’s eyes clouded over while looking at how calm Dennis was despite this sudden turn of events.

Dennis was looking at Cale as well. His gaze slowly started to move.

He looked at Cale, Raon, and even Eruhaben before he opened his mouth to speak again.

“I didn’t know you would be bringing a Dragon-nim with you, Minister.”

‘Wow.’

Cale was amazed once more.

Dennis would not be able to tell Eruhaben’s identity, but he would have noticed Raon’s identity immediately. However, his pupils had not moved at all.

Of course, Cale could tell that Dennis was nervous.

He could see Dennis’s faintly shaking fingertips.

However, the fact that a kid who looked even younger than Lock could deal with things like this allowed Cale to see his character.

Dennis spoke to Bailey as if nothing was wrong.

“I’m guessing something must have happened in the north.”

Knock knock knock.

They heard some knocks and the knight from earlier spoke again.

“Everybody has withdrawn, your Majesty.”

Dennis walked toward the door.

“Follow me. This place is not adequate for conversations.”

Screeeech.

The door opened and the middle-aged knight was looking inside with a stiff expression on his face.

He saw Cale and Eruhaben, then his serious gaze started to shake after seeing Raon.

However, his eyes focused as soon as the king looked at him.

‘Oh.’

Cale was amazed.

Every person he met in the Royal Palace so far left better first impressions than he had expected.

“This is the Captain of our Third Royal Knights Brigade.”

The Captain contemplated for a bit before asking the king a question.

“Your Majesty, may I search them for anything dangerous?”

Bailey looked at Cale and Eruhaben. She then looked at Raon.

Eruhaben chuckled as he commented.

“I guess you should at least do a search when someone suddenly infiltrates the king’s bedroom.”

“I agree, Eruhaben-nim.”

He nodded his head and opened up his arms.

“I have no weapons… But please feel free to take a look.”

The Captain carefully nodded his head at Cale. He was tense.

It was at that moment.

“Me too!”

Raon opened up his chubby little legs in the air.

He then fluttered his wings.

“Hey Knight Captain, search me as well! I have no weapons!”

Cale could see the serious look on the Captain’s face crumble and his pupils starting to shake intensely.

“Haaaaaaaa.”

Eruhaben let out a sigh. Raon puffed up his cheeks and shouted in a disgruntled voice.

“Hey Gold Dragon gramps, don’t sigh! I am a cool Dragon!”

Gold Dragon gramps.

Those words made the Captain and King Dennis’s faces stiffen.

Cale gently spoke in that brief moment of silence.

“We should follow protocol.”

Cale made eye contact with the king.

Cale continued to speak.

“We came to chat after all, your Majesty.”

They will follow protocol because they came to chat.

Basically, it was Cale saying we have no intentions of harming you.

“Captain. Just do a simple external search.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

The Captain told another knight, who was standing there looking pale, to stay put as he moved alone to do a simple search of Cale’s body.

Bailey approached Dennis as that happened.

“I will give you a detailed explanation later, your Majesty.”

The old Minister of Foreign Affairs already looked fatigued. However, her eyes were burning brighter than ever before.

Dennis noticed this and looked at her. She gave him an answer that surprised him.

“I will be contacting the Eldest Senior, your Majesty. It is time to make the move.”

“!”

Dennis looked at her as he knew the meaning behind those words. Bailey gave a short answer.

“It is a fight against time, your Majesty.”

He clenched his eyes for a moment. But he then nodded his head.

Bailey motioned to her aide with her eyes.

The aide slightly bowed toward Bailey and the King with a determined look on her face before slowly leaving the room.

“The search has finished.”

The Captain happened to speak at that time and the King took the lead.

He walked past Cale, looked at the Dragons, and started speaking.

“Please follow me to a quiet place, Dragon-nims.”

“Your Majesty-”

Bailey quietly approached him and he whispered in a low voice.

“Not too many people came to the palace today. It is very quiet.”

She finally realized that there were no Empire faction nobles for them to worry about in the palace right now and followed behind Dennis more at ease. She had a thought as she did.

‘How did he grow up so well even at his young age?’

He was her King, but Dennis was also like her grandson.

The King walked into a room that was smaller than his bedroom and only had one table with chairs all around it.

This room didn’t even have a window.

“This is fitting to have a quiet conversation.”

Dennis smiled at Cale’s comment.

He then asked.

“You know who I am, right?”

“Yes, I do, Your Majesty.”

“Then there is no need for me to introduce myself. Who are you?”

“My name is Cale Henituse. I am just a temporary guest who happens to be staying by the Erghe Mountain Range.”

Cale introduced himself and then immediately asked the thing he was most curious about right now.

“What is the disappeared youngest young master?”

“Are you from the Archduke’s House of Snow?”

The king answered by asking a question back.

“No, your Majesty.”

Cale shook his head. Dennis looked at Bailey. She shook her head as well.

However, Dennis noticed the questioning look on her face as he had spent a lot of years with her.

He asked Cale in a nonchalant voice.

“It is a problem you do not need to know about if you are not a member of the Archduke’s House of Snow.”

The corners of Cale’s lips curled up.

“I heard that the entire main branch of the Archduke’s House of Snow has perished. But I guess the youngest young master disappeared?”

Dennis gently shrugged his shoulders.

He then spoke in a relaxed manner.

“Since the Minister said it is a fight against time, I just want a short breakdown.”

‘As I expected.’

Cale really liked how this young king did things.

Many people in the Empire must suffer from worshiping but their gazes were alive.

Of course, their faces looked tired.

“We’ve captured the entire subjugation squad, your Majesty.”

“…You did?”

“Yes, your Majesty. We did.”

The young black Dragon on Cale’s lap…

And the white gold-haired man seated next to him with his legs crossed as if he has no interest in their conversation…

‘The two of them are Dragons.’

Dennis recognized that as he opened his mouth.

“This is dangerous.”

He spoke in a nonchalant voice.

“Danger has come to the Haru Kingdom.”

Cale looked at the intelligent King who did not need a long explanation and understood why this Captain, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs all chose to side with the king.

This king…

He had enough abilities for them to put their trust in him.

It allowed Cale to smile cheekily as he answered.

“But this could also be an opportunity, your Majesty.”

“Why?”

King Dennis asked calmly, despite claiming that danger had come to the kingdom.

“Are you planning on fighting against the Holy Empire or something?”

Smile.

Cale smiled instead of answering. Dennis shook his head after seeing Cale’s gaze that seemed to be asking if this was enough of a response.

“Don’t answer with a smile. I am the type of person who only feels at peace after hearing things directly and receiving official documents.”

Cale’s smile turned odd.

Dennis recognized this and continued to speak.

“When you are weak, you need to make sure you have some sort of insurance.”

‘Ah.

This king seriously is not bad.’

Cale wholeheartedly believed that.

He seemed like a great person to work with as they went forward to fight against the Holy Empire and the Purple Bloods.

He could communicate with this guy as he could with crown prince Alberu Crossman, despite it being in a different way.

“In that case, I will use my words, your Majesty.”

Cale decided to answer honestly as he was going to speak anyway.

“Our target is not the Holy Empire, your Majesty.”

Bailey’s face stiffened. However, Dennis still looked nonchalant as he observed Cale.

It made Cale smile brightly as he explained.

“Dragons. We are here to capture the Dragons of Aipotu.”

Bailey’s pupils started shaking while the Captain standing behind the King subconsciously gulped.

“Hoohoo.”

Dennis just chuckled in a low voice.

“It’s a good thing there is nobody around us.”

He raised his head toward the ceiling. He looked at the empty black ceiling before speaking.

“Since something has already happened in the Haru Kingdom’s territory, especially in the Erghe Mountain Range where the Beast people reside… There is no way for us to see ourselves out of this issue. Well, we could go bow our heads toward the Empire to get out of this mess, but-”

His gaze slowly moved down to Cale.

“…We wouldn’t be able to change anything like that now, would we?”

He pointed at himself.

“The Haru Kingdom. No. You wish to get on the same boat as me?”

Cale shook his head.

“No, your Majesty. We wish to have you on our boat.”

This could seem like an extremely bold comment, but…

“Haha!”

Dennis laughed out loud.

“You are right. That is the correct way to phrase it. There are two esteemed Dragons by your side. Your boat must be bigger.”

However, the smile on his face quickly disappeared.

“However, our boat is not small either.”

Dennis thought that Bailey’s judgment was correct.

‘We need to call Eldest senior over.’

Although he had not heard much yet, it looked as if the Haru Kingdom would get entangled in something big that would involve the Holy Empire.

He had no idea whether it would result in gains or losses for the kingdom, but…

They needed to do something.

If things continue as they are, they would eventually lose everything to the Empire faction.

“The boat being big is great, your Majesty.”

This cheekily smiling red-haired man…

Dennis looked at this man and thought about when the late King called him before his death.

The Prime Minister and Bailey had been by his side.

‘Dennis.’

‘Royal Father.’

‘Listen carefully.’

The late King mentioned the Eldest senior and other hidden cards of the Haru Kingdom before saying one last thing.

‘I am not certain about this, but in addition to the Wolves, the youngest young master may have survived in the Erghe Mountain Range.’

‘If he survived, I’m sure his bloodline is being continued in the Erghe Mountain Range. Prime Minister, bring the portrait over.’

The portrait that the Prime Minister brought over…

It contained the faces of the Archduke’s House of Snow.

It had the last Archduke Snow, his wife, and their children.

‘Someone carrying the bloodline of the youngest young master should look similar to them, so remember their faces.’

‘The Archduke’s House of Snow would definitely know where the Blue Wolf tribe disappeared.’

The bloodline of the Archduke’s House of Snow…

Blue Wolves…

And finally…

‘And Dragon Slayers. We are hunters who slay Dragons. Remember that.’

Dragon Slayers.

Dennis never forgot about these three things.

‘Cale Henituse.’

This man’s face was similar to that of the Archduke’s House of Snow’s people.

It was not just his hair color, even his presence felt similar. He couldn’t really pick out which person this man looked like as it had been over 200 years.

‘No. He looks like them too.’

Dennis continued in a calm voice.

“I presume we will be hearing from the Empire tonight or tomorrow.”

He asked Bailey a question.

“Who do you think will contact us?”

“I will prepare a list, your Majesty.”

He nodded his head and looked toward the Captain.

“Bring some food for a light meal. Some drinks as well.”

His gaze turned toward Cale.

“It looks like there will be a lot of things I need to hear. Isn’t that right? Shouldn’t we get to know each other a bit?”

It was at that moment.

“Hey King!”

Raon placed his chin on the table and started talking to Dennis.

“I want to eat some cookies! I want to know what cookies taste like in the Haru Kingdom!”

The king became confused.

‘…How could a Dragon act like this?’

However, he did not let it show.

“…Cookies as well.”

He barely managed to get those words out to the Captain.

Dennis calmed himself down.

“How do you plan on fighting the other, the enemy Dragons?”

Cale clearly said that his target was the Dragons.

“I’m not sure, your Majesty.”

Dennis spoke seriously to Cale, who was smiling suspiciously as if he couldn’t say yet.

“This world became extremely weak after the cataclysmic period. Magic and aura especially declined.”

Cale had noticed that as well.

He nodded his head as the white-haired young king continued to speak.

“But Dragons are different.”

Ancient Dragon Eruhaben’s eyes clouded over but Dennis did not notice this as he continued to speak.

“They became even stronger.”

He then added on.

“They also became more cruel.”

He was basically warning Cale.

“They are judging humans. They are acting like gods.”

It was at that moment.

Someone inside Cale reacted.

– …Judging?

The ancient power that used to be called the Water of Judgment started to react.

However, it was now an existence aiming for the sky.

* * *

That night…

In the Central Temple of the Holy Empire…

“We have lost contact with the subjugation squad.”

Pope Casillia was kneeling on the floor as she spoke.

“It looks like you will have to go to the North, sir.”

“Hmm.”

Someone cheekily sneered. He twisted his long silver hair with his finger as he asked.

“Is it the Lord’s order?”

“Yes it is, Oh God of Victory.”

He got up and lightly stretched.

“Okay. I guess I will go. Where did you say it was?”

Pope Casillia looked at him and answered.

“The northern part of the Haru Kingdom in the Erghe Mountain Range, my lord.”

“Alright, noted!”

The pupils of the man lightly answering were long and vertical.

The way he smiled gave off a child-like naivety as well as cruelty that could not be hidden.

The ten living gods that ruled over Aipotu…

The Dragon Kendall, who was in charge of Victory, looked at the location on the map the Pope showed him.

It was where Cale’s Black Castle was located.

The Church was starting to move quicker than Cale and the Haru Kingdom expected.

—

Translator’s Comments

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