[React] Returning the favor

"You seem to have enjoyed the hotspring Young Master." TCF Ron put down the lemon tea in front of TCF Cale who's busy drying his hair with a towel.

TCF Cale frown.

"I would've enjoy it if Soo Hyuk hyung did not dunked me in the hotspring. Not only that, the others join in too and two Toonka jump in the hotspring like it was a pool."

TCF Cale could feel his nerves twitching. TCF Ron smiled at him. If TCF Cale looked at him that time he would have shivered in fear.

Next morning...

"My my. You guys are so energetic in the morning. By the way Cale." The white fox called looking at TCF Cale who's spread like a hawk in one of the sofa at the common area.

"What?"

"The kids will be here in a moment."

TCF Cale sigh in relief.

"Since everyone had already eaten breakfast. Let's begin."

Snap!

They were transported at the theater room and the video is already playing.

Of course, he planned giving them their new hope anonymously. It was something he had learned from the dragon.

"Huh? Is this cut?" TBOAH Cale asked. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion hearing TCF Cale's thought.

"Yes. It is when he saw Taylor Stan and the priestess of God of Death at the Puzzle City." The white fox answered making itself comfortable at Lee Soo Hyuk's lap.

TCF Taylor and TCF Cage looked at each other. TBOAH Cage looked at the two before drinking a bottle of alcohol.

Lee Soo Hyuk who's been used at the fox habit, stroke its white soft fur.

‘Unless their lord has nothing to do and reveals me to them, there is no way that they will recognize me.’

It was impossible for them to learn of his identity. How great was that? He should have done everything anonymously until now. Cale stepped into the ruins feeling like a massive weight had been lifted off his chest.

"Cale-nim always wanted to work on the shadows but always make himself known." TCF Choi Han mumbled which earn a laugh to those who heard him. TCF Cale threw him a look.

He could see people praying all around the area.

At that moment, Hans stealthily approached Cale and whispered to him.

“I just saw the eldest son of Marquis Stan’s household.”“…How do you know about that person?”

Cale was truly surprised. Hans smiled before pointing to his eyes.

“Pretty much any and all information about the nobles is in my head. I could see a man being pushed on a wheelchair. It was weird that there was only one person with him, but I was able to see that there was a red snake crest on the wheelchair.”“Hans.”“Yes, sir.”“You’re better than you look.”“Thank you?”

"I thank you again for your compliment Young Master" TCF Hans said.

TCF Cale ignored him and continue watching.

Hans shrugged his shoulders with a satisfied expression as he finished his report. He then asked Cale.

“What do you plan on doing?”

Cale could feel the left side of his face heating up, and looked in that direction. Choi Han was looking at him. Cale shook his head and answered both of them.

“Ignore them.”

TCF Cage and TCF Taylor smiled.

Both of them nodded their heads without saying anything else. Only then did their tour officially start. After looking around, Cale was shocked at the appearance of the rock towers in the ruins.

“They are …”

Cale seemed to be in disbelief.

“Uglier than I had expected.”

"Wow." TCF Alberu raised his eyebrows. TCF Cale frowned. "What should I do your highness? Compliment something that didn't expect my expectation?"

Although everyone could relate to him at that point.

Cale could not understand the ancient sense of style. He was expecting piles of rocks, but there were rock towers of all kinds shapes in the ruins.

They looked interesting. However, they were definitely not beautiful. Cale peeked at the kittens in Hans’s arms. They seemed to be extremely disappointed as well.

"Are they the children your looking for?" TBOAH Cale asked as he look at his left.

"Yes."

However, there was someone who seemed to be more serious than Cale expected. Choi Han had his head bowed like the other people who were praying, and seemed to be praying as well.

‘I’m sure he’s praying to return to Korea.’

TCF Choi Han flushed as the gazes turned to him.

"I-I wasn't really..." He started mumbling incoherently.

TCF Alberu patted his teacher's back for comfort.

Choi Han had grown up in a happy family environment. He was a different kind of person than Cale, Kim Rok Soo. Choi Han had grown up in a happy family with positive influences. That was why he was able to survive in a disastrous situation while still remaining a good person.

Everyone looked at Choi Han with melancholy.

Cale was staring at Choi Han when Choi Han lifted his head up and made eye contact with him.

“Cale-nim.”“What?”“I have a question and something to report.”

Cale had a bad feeling about this.

“Start with your question.”

Choi Han seemed to be thinking about something, as he looked toward the rock towers standing in this wide plain and started to speak.

“Cale-nim, are you not going to make a wish?”

Everyone looked at TCF Cale about that question. Would the greatest hero would want something else and wished for it to happen?

‘Is that what he wants to know?’

Cale just casually answered.

“I don’t do things like making wishes.”

"Hmm?" TCF Eruhaben looked at TCF Cale before looking at the screen.

“Why not?”

“It makes you have higher expectations.”

"That's true." TBOAH Litana said. Everyone was caught off guard by that answer.

Choi Han, Hans, and even the kittens all turned to look at Cale. Cale looked at the rock towers like Choi Han had done, and slowly continued to speak.

“It’s so much easier to live without high expectations.”

Both Alberu nodded in agreement.

It feels great if you scratch a lottery ticket hoping for $1 and end up winning $5, but if you scratch it hoping to win the grand prize and only end up with $5, you are bound to get annoyed.

"Well that sucks." Lee Chul Min suddenly commented. The SGT people could only relate to that example.

Tap. Cale turned his gaze after feeling the tap on his shoulder, only to see deputy butler Hans smiling and starting to speak.

“You are right, young master. There is no such thing as dreams or hope in this world.”“…Just stop talking.”“Yes, sir!”

"Your so mean." Soo Hyuk chided making TCF Cale frown.

TBOAH Cale and Kim Rok Soo smiled.

Hans responded loudly, but seemed to be a bit disappointed as well, as he took the lead with the kittens. Cale leisurely followed behind Hans, when Choi Han quickly approached him and whispered in a voice that Hans could not hear.

Choi Han had not given his report yet.

“The dragon has entered the city.”

"A dragon?" Everyone was confused. The dragons in the room started to frown at that. Meanwhile the elves and dark elves started to hyperventilate.

“Ignore.”

"He's so interesting." TBOAH Mila and Eruhaben said as they heard Cale's reply to Choi Han.

“I understand.”

Cale took a look around. The dragon must have made itself invisible, as he could not see it. The only thing he could see was the people praying toward the rock towers. The Rock Tower Festival was still a week away, but there was still a large amount of people here. Cale’s gaze turned to the opposite direction of the rock towers in the plains.

The upscale area, the area that the wealthiest citizens in Puzzle City resides. Behind that area was a small mountain, and somewhere on that mountain was the grave of the person who had lived until they were 150 years old.

"Hmm. That's familiar." TCF Choi Han muttered.

***

The next day, Cale was ready to head to the grave. Naturally, he had to get rid of the humans and the kittens who wanted to follow him. Thankfully, everybody stopped voicing their complaints once he said only a single person was going to come with him.

“I will only be taking Choi Han with me.”

"Oh! It's that time." TCF Choi Han blurted out.

"What do you mean?" TCF Alberu asked looking suspiciously at TCF Cale who avoided his gaze.

"Oh you're right! That was the time when the Young Master rolled around in the mountain!" TCF Hans exclaimed.

Upon hearing that everyone look at TCF Cale with wide eyes. TBOAH Cage and both Buds choked and sprayed the alcohol their drinking.

"Young Master Cale rolled around the mountain?" TCF Rosalyn asked in disbelief. They could not believed what they just heard. A noble was willing to dirty himself while rolling around?

TBOAH Cale and Kim Rok Soo threw him a curious look.

"We really didn't know what purpose of 'rolling around' that the Young Master do at the mountain that time." TCF Ron started. "But maybe we will have a clue on what the young master did at that mountain." TCF Ron was showing his benign smile while looking at TCF Cale who sunk on his seat at that moment.

This vicious old man.

Choi Han was the strongest person there. With Choi Han tagging along, both the Vice Captain and Hans had nothing to say.

The Vice Captain just frowned and said he needed to train the knights, before he quickly started to gather them. While Cale was watching the knights who were following behind the Vice Captain with looks of despair on their faces, Hans just said one more thing before disappearing.

“I will take care of our kitten-nims.”

"Cat addict." Someone commented at the SGT people area.

Cale turned away from Hans, who seemed to be very excited about being with the kittens, and headed out of the inn. Choi Han followed behind him.

“Are we doing something again today?”

“Again? Someone might get the wrong idea if they heard you.”

"Damn right." TCF Alberu crossed his arms while looking at the screen.

Choi Han did not respond. Cale did not care however, and just headed toward the mountain behind the upscale area and continued to speak.

“I need to go to that mountain over there. You can just wait for me at the mountain entrance.”

“I understand.”

Choi Han did not say anything else. Cale preferred someone like this. Choi Han did not ask Cale any questions. He was someone who seemed to follow Cale, but did not have any curiosity about what Cale did. This was probably only possible because Choi Han thought that he could figure it out if he really wanted to, and because he thought that he would not be in danger no matter what Cale ended up doing.

"It's so scary that the Young Master can deduce what are the other people's thinking." TCF Paseton was perplexed on how TCF Cale's mind work. The others could only agree with him.

Cale arrived at the small mountain after passing through the stereotypical upscale area, before stopping after hearing Choi Han call out to him.

“Cale-nim.”“What?”“I’m leaving tomorrow.”“I know. I was the one who told you to leave tomorrow.”

Choi Han made eye contact with Cale, who was standing impatiently at the mountain entrance. Cale was someone who said that he, Choi Han, was enough for protection. Choi Han had been thinking about this act of protecting the last few days.

“I’ve been debating this for a while, but there is something I need to tell you.”

The report about the dragon yesterday was not really what Choi Han had wanted to report. He hesitated for a moment, before looking back toward Cale and starting to speak. Choi Han’s gaze was looking past Cale’s shoulder to a tree near the entrance of the mountain.

“Mr. Ron is a dangerous person.”

"Ho." TBOAH Ron scoffed. His mildly bewildered of what the other Choi Han did to expose his identity to the counter part of his young master. Both Beacrox watched the screen in amusement. Both wanted to know TCF Cale's reaction.

Cale flinched for a moment at this straight that landed on him without any warnings. Should he pretend to know or pretend not to know? He quickly made up his mind. Cale had not expected a question like this, but he calmly responded back.

Ah right. He knew. TCF Beacrox snorted. His a transmigrator with the knowledge of their world.

“Is that so?”

“You are not surprised? There is a dangerous stench of blood on him. He is a strong person who has shed a lot of blood. At first, I thought that Cale-nim knew about it already and still had Mr. Ron by your side.”

"The Young Master wouldn't be surprised to the things he already knew. Unless. He acted surprise." TCF Ron smiles. 

But if Cale had known, he would have taken the strong Ron with him to rescue the dragon. But Cale had not done that. Choi Han thought that to mean that Cale either did not know about Ron’s strength or did not trust Ron, but there was no way Cale wouldn’t trust someone who had been with him for 18* years.That was why Choi Han had come to the conclusion that Cale was not aware of Ron’s strength.

"Hmm. Good thinking instructor-nim." TCF Alberu muse.

TCF Choi Han flushed

“But neither Cale-nim nor anybody else seemed to know about Mr. Ron’s strength.”

Both Ron scoffed.

Choi Han had debated about this for a while. Honestly speaking, the fact that Cale had said that he did not have any expectations made him decide not to say anything about Ron. However, the fact that Cale had chosen him to be the guard today made Choi Han feel guilty.

“That was why I thought I needed to tell Cale-nim.”“Oh really? I didn’t know Ron was strong.”

"Haaa." TCF Alberu snorted at TCF Cale's ignorant acting.

Choi Han asked once more after hearing Cale’s calm response.

“Will you still keep him around you? He seems like he is an evil person.”

Both Beacrox had their eyebrows twitched.

Cale snorted at Choi Han’s words. Keep Ron around him? Cale was planning on pushing Ron over to Choi Han the moment they arrived at the capital.

"I guess your plan failed?" Jung Soo jested throwing a look to TCF Ron and TCF Choi Han.

TCF Cale glared at him making the people at the VIP seat laugh at his reaction.

“Whether it is you or Ron.”“Excuse me?”“You say that he has a dangerous strength, but why do you leave Ron alone?”“That is because-.”

"I was actually speechless at that moment." TCF Choi Han mumbled.

Choi Han suddenly could not say anything.

“It is probably because he has not done anything to you.”

Choi Han could not retort Cale’s words. There was the initial misunderstanding had that led to their small battle, but Ron had helped him find a sword after that, and even helped take care of the issue with Harris Village.

"Hmm." TCF Beacrox mused.

Cale silently observed Choi Han.

It was not just to Choi Han. Ron did not do anything to anybody. The only thing that Ron did was giving Cale lemonade every so often or making fun of Cale with rabbit meat. But that was nothing.

Everyone looked at TCF Ron who smiles benignly at them.

“Ron has been my servant for 18* years.”

No matter what, Ron was dedicated to his act as a servant. Even the Vice Captain, who cared a lot about hierarchy, did not get angry when Ron, a servant, was walking shoulder to shoulder with him. Even deputy butler Hans did not get angry when Ron did his job for him.It was because Ron was skilled and well-liked throughout the estate.

Both the Henituse family nodded at that statement.

“Do you hate Ron?”

Choi Han shook his head after debating it for a moment.

“No.”“Then?”“I just thought it would be better for you to know that he was a dangerous person, and thus decided to report.”“Whether it is you or Ron.”

Choi Han looked at Cale after hearing that once more.

“You are both the same to me. In that aspect, you are dangerous as well.”

The way his mind works is really peculiar. The dragons thought.

Cale looked at Choi Han with a stoic expression and continued to speak.

“You are strong as well.”“Ah.”

Choi Han let out a gasp. Cale didn’t know the reason behind it, but continued to speak.

“It’s all the same to me.”

TBOAH Choi Han looked at TCF Cale.

He didn’t know the reason, but Ron, who had come over from the Eastern Continent, was living in the Henituse territory while hiding his identity. If someone like that was to touch the son of the Count? That would spread like wildfire in the kingdom.

At this point, the SGT people looks actually lost.

Ron was someone who did not care about anything or anyone else, other than his son and himself. So why would someone like that cause a ruckus? Cale was just scared because he knew that Ron was a dangerous old man. He wanted to get rid of that dangerous old man as soon as possible so that he could live in peace.

“As long as he is my servant, he is just my servant. Just like you are Choi Han, who needs to pay me back.”

TBOAH Ron and TBOAH Beacrox gaped at the statement.

Cale checked his watch. The strength of the wind in the cave was different based on the time of day. He needed to hurry.

“You have nothing else to say, right? Don’t follow me.”

Choi Han silently nodded his head in respond. Cale did not even look back as he headed to the small mountain.

After seeing that he could no longer see Cale, Choi Han looked back at the tree at the mountain entrance and started to speak.

“You heard him, right?”

Ron smoothly jumped off the tree. He glared at Choi Han and started to smile. A blunt voice started to flow out of Ron’s mouth.

“I changed his poopy diapers and raised him since he was young.”**

He was there? TCF Cale looked conflicted.

That was the truth.Choi Han stood in front of the path to the mountain and started to speak.

“Cale-nim had said that nobody is to follow him from here on.”

“I know, you little punk.”

Ron turned his back to the mountain with no regrets. After hearing that Cale was only going with Choi Han, and even leaving the Cat Tribe children behind, Ron had followed, just in case something happened.

TBOAH Cale and Kim Rok Soo looked solemn.

“I shouldn’t have come.”

They say that you get more fickle the older you get, and this fickleness was such a pain. Ron walked back to the inn at a much slower pace than when he had left, and Choi Han watched Ron disappear before sitting down on a boulder to wait for Cale to return.

Cale was standing in front of a cave just off of the mountain path. The cave entrance was covered with vines, such that it would be difficult to find unless you were looking carefully.

“Damn it.”

Cale started to frown.

The cave entrance was pretty small. He looked down at his clothes. He had worn simple clothes, but they were still baggy.

“Sigh.”

Cale let out a long sigh before crawling into the cave. Whether it was the man-eating tree or this cave, everything related to ancient powers seemed to be crazy. The ground by the cave entrance now had the traces of Cale crawling in.

"Haaah." TCF Alberu scoffed as he run his hands on his face.

"I don't see that as rolling around Young Master." TCF Ron benignly smile at Cale who sunk deeper at his seat.

A moment later, there was a small reptile footprint on the same spot.

Cale could see the cave becoming wider after crawling in for about five minutes.

"Man. I feel bad for the servant who's in charge of his laundry." Someone commented making everyone laugh.

‘Taylor must have been really desperate. He crawled all the way in here, even with his disabled lower body.’

TCF Taylor and TCF Cage shared a look while TBOAH Cage chugged her alcohol.

Since you had to stack the rock tower with your own strength, the eldest son Taylor had to personally come here. What took Cale five minutes to do probably took Taylor much, much longer.

TBOAH Cage gripped at the bottle tightly.

Cale stood back up once it was wide enough and started to walk farther in. The farther he went in, the clearer the noise in his ear became.

Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish. Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish.

It was the sound of the wind. The sound that appeared when the winds were hitting each other became louder as he walked farther into the cave. Finally, Cale located some cloth and a pillar that was probably a hut a long time ago.

After taking a single look at it, Cale continued to walk farther inside.

"It feels surreal seeing you work alone." TCF Alberu mumbled. TCF Cale only shrugged.

Swiiiiiiiiiiiish.

The sound of the wind became even stronger. Boom. Boom. He could even hear the wind crashing into the cave walls like a giant fist. Cale started to walk even faster.

‘The wind. I wonder if it will sound like this when I get the, ‘Sound of the Wind,’ ancient power later.’

Shield. Then Recovery. Then quick feet. That was Cale’s plan of action. Cale finally had to stop walking after thinking about the next ancient power he would be trying to get.

It wasn’t that he stopped walking, it was that he was forced to stop walking.

“Wow.”

This was even worse than Cale had expected.

A large underground area had appeared in front of Cale. At the same time, a vicious wind tornado filled his gaze.

TCF people look at the scene with furrowed eyebrows.

Boom, boom!

The rocks on the cave walls were slowly crumbling because of the tornado. There were quite a bit of rocks on the ground that let Cale know that this area was consistently getting larger.

Cale looked back and forth between the underground area and the path that he traveled to get here. He felt like he would be pushed back by the wind if he went inside. Well, not just pushed back, but smashed against the wall, which would probably seriously injure him.

That was how strong the wind was.

“Mm.”

Of course, the center of that tornado will be calm, as it is the eye of the storm.

‘I guess it would have been impossible for Taylor without Cage’s help.’

He now understood why the novel said the two of them had struggled for a whole week. However, Cale started to smile. It was now going to be a battle against time.

"A week." TCF Taylor whispered and look at TBOAH Cage's direction.

Cale stepped into the underground area, into the vicious tornado, without any hesitation. Cale’s red hair started to flutter along with his clothes.

At the same time…

“N, no! You will get hurt! You are extremely weak!”

The dragon appeared at the back of the path and shouted urgently.

Everyone gasped once the screen revealed a cute black dragon. The elves almost fainted at the sight while the dark elves gulp.

"Don't tell me that one is also one of the children your searching?" TBOAH Cale asked with his eyebrow arched.

"I'm not speaking then."

Also at the same time …

“…Huh?”

The dragon could see a large shield with silver wings appear and surround Cale.

The wings, that were shining so brightly that it could be called holy, surrounded Cale while the large shield blocked the wind. The shield and the wings were keeping Cale safe.

TCF Cale frowned at the sight. He really doesn't like how holy it looks.

Cale turned around. His eyes opened widely as his gaze landed on the dragon.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The Black Dragon could not say anything in response.

"Ha. To think a dragon could follow a human." TBAOH Rasheel scoffed which earned him a glare from TCF Eruhaben, TCF Dodori, TCF Mila, TCF Rasheel. The Dragon Fear suddely release from the area making the room vibrate violently.

Their counter parts looked at them silently. The room was so heavy that it made the people inside it gasp for air.

TBOAH Rasheel was trembling in his seat looking at the other direction.

Snap!

"That's enough." The room stop vibrating and the people gasp for air. The elves and dark elves looked petrified.

"Lets proceed to the next file."

[A/N: Has it been two days? 😅🤔 Man I got caught up and can't stop myself from reading manhwa. I plan on uploading chapter tomorrow but I finished it today so why not update it now? 😅]