– How dare you not run out barefoot after hearing my voice?

A thuggish voice echoed in Cale’s mind.

– Wait right there. You need to be punished for waking this great and mighty Dragon’s slumber. Human. I will personally walk over to you, so you better wait right there.

‘Wow, he wants me to wait. He’s going to come find me.’

Cale couldn’t help but laugh louder and louder.

– Mm. I don’t know what is going on, but I will just watch what happens for now.

Cale nodded his head at Dodori’s mom’s majestic voice.

He was still laughing.

“W, why is he laughing like that?”

Toonka hesitated and stepped back after looking at the loudly laughing Cale as if he was looking at some alien life form. It was completely different from the energy with which he had walked in.

‘Cale Henituse is laughing so brightly?! He’s laughing like that in such a terrible situation?!’

Toonka had heard that Cale had just overcome a god’s test.

Although he probably needed a break after that, Cale Henituse had no time to rest because there was still a danger to the peace on the continent.

Toonka remembered what the Chief had told him.

‘Commander, a person who laughs while he is struggling is a true hero.’

“Ah.”

Toonka subconsciously gasped.

‘My close friend truly is a hero……!’

Toonka had no interest whatsoever in books, but his subordinates had done everything they could with the hopes that this complete idiot of a Commander would want to read.

Most of their plans had failed.

That changed when the Chief had nonchalantly handed Toonka a book.

The book didn’t look like anything Toonka would be interested in. However, Toonka stayed up all night reading that book.

The book his Chief handed him was about Cale Henituse’s magnificent exploits in the Whipper Kingdom; it was written as a heroic tale of how he had saved the Whipper Kingdom.

Toonka started to walk toward Cale, who was laughing out loud in front of danger.

“I knew it! My close friend truly is amazing! Hahahaha!!”

He started to laugh out loud as well.

However, Queen Litana who was standing behind him could not see the laughing Cale the same way.

‘He’s become much paler since the first time I met him.’

Litana recalled when she first met young master Cale inside the cave in the foggy Oorim forest. He had not looked healthy at that point either, but he looked much healthier than he did now.

‘He’s laughing so happily because we are here even though he looks like that.’

Litana felt so upset about it that she almost teared up.

‘Why is it that young master Cale is trying to carry the heavy burden of achieving world peace?’

She was in charge of the Jungle.

That was hard enough for her, but this pale hero was trying to save the whole world.

Litana could not wipe the bitter smile off her face.

She felt as if she could only frown while looking at Cale if this bitter smile disappeared.

Alberu walked over to Toonka and Litana at that moment.

“You both got here very early.”

“Your highness! Your hiiiiiiighneeeeeeeeeess!”

Alberu suddenly heard his Chief of Staff’s urgent voice.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing- Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing-

All of them in the room could hear the alarm going off around them.

‘…Intruders?’

This alarm was the alarm for when someone not allowed was trying to force their way in past the barrier.

“Your highness!”

“What’s going on?!”

Alberu urgently asked his Chief of Staff for details.

Litana and Toonka stiffened up as well. They were thinking about what it could be.

The different representatives of the Western continent were supposed to gather here soon.

The representatives of the Jungle and the Whipper Kingdom were already here.

Someone was trying to invade at such a time?

‘We must not let that happen!’

Alberu had kept today’s meeting a secret from most people on purpose. That was something they had to do.

Safety was the most important.

The Chief of Staff peeked toward Toonka and Litana before trying to whisper to Alberu.

“Just say it.”

He quickly started to speak after Alberu told him to do so.

“Your highness! A man is trying to barge in through the barrier in the northern sky right now!”

“What?”

‘Is it the White Star?’

The different representatives all had the same thought.

Someone grabbed Alberu’s arm at that moment.

“Your highness.”

It was Cale.

Alberu looked at Cale’s face that was completely stiff as if he had not been laughing at all just a few moments ago and flinched.

‘…Hmm?’

This stiff face…

He did not seem anxious nor angry.

‘…He looks annoyed?’

It was the look a person would have when something was annoying them.

‘…The corners of his lips are twitching as well?’

The corners of Cale’s lips were twitching even though he was tightly keeping his mouth shut to prevent himself from laughing.

He seemed to want to laugh because this annoying thing was still a good thing.

As for his smile…

This was the type of smile he had when Alberu gave him a golden plaque or when he made a ton of money.

‘This is weird.’

Cale whispered by his ear as Alberu thought that something was odd.

“There are three of THEM.”

‘Hmm? Three of them?’

Alberu wondered what Cale was suddenly saying.

“The individuals that we were looking for.”

‘Individuals we were looking for?’

Alberu thought about who that could be. He then thought about how Cale had emphasized ‘THEM’ and looked toward Cale.

“Cale Henituse.”

Cale had shocked Alberu so many times since they first met.

But it was a bit different this time.

‘There are three of them? Three of the individuals we were looking for? Is he talking about the Dragons? He’s saying three Dragons showed up on their own?’

Alberu was asking numerous questions to Cale through his gaze.

“Yes, your highness. It is exactly what you are thinking about.”

Cale smiled brightly and nodded his head toward Alberu.

Twitch.

The corners of Alberu’s lips were twitching the same way Cale’s had just been doing. He was trying so hard to stop himself from laughing.

“Your highness. I will take care of it. You need to greet our guests.”

Alberu nodded his head at Cale’s comment.

“Chief. My sworn brother will take care of it, so go with him.”

“Ah, of course, your highness!”

The Chief of Staff felt relaxed even as the urgent alarm continued on now that Cale Henituse, the man who was becoming a greater hero every time he saw him, was stepping in.

“Young master-nim, please let me show you the way!”

“Of course. Shall we go then, Mr. Chief of Staff?”

Cale walked out behind the Chief of Staff and briefly greeted the two representatives who had come to find him.

“I will be back soon. Unfortunately, I am not sure whether I can participate in the meeting.”

He greeted Litana first, and she smiled while shaking her head.

“The meeting is not important. Young master Cale, you must be safe. You really must be safe. You know that, right? Take care of yourself first.”

“Of course, I make sure to take very good care of my body. I always make it out okay, don’t I?”

Cale found it odd that Litana was telling him to be careful but honestly answered after seeing the emotional gaze in her eyes.

He then turned toward Toonka because he was in a rush.

That was why he could not see the frown on Litana’s face.

“Long time no see.”

“…My close friend. I will come with you!”

“Why would you do that? You came here for important business. Take care of that first.”

“What you are doing is important too!”

“It’s fine. I need to do it. I’m fine on my own for this.”

‘Yes, yes indeed. It’s dragging three Dragons to be our allies at once. Who else but me could do this?’

Well, he wasn’t alone.

There were Raon and lots of other people who would help him.

Even the bulldozer-like Toonka was staring at him at a loss for words, but Cale did not notice this as he continued to speak.

“See you later. I’m in a rush.”

“……I see. Okay! I hope that your silver light can spread throughout the whole world!”

‘What is he talking about?’

Cale completely ignored Toonka’s incomprehensible nonsense.

He then walked out of the room with the Chief of Staff.

Litana and Toonka were watching his back with pitying gazes on their faces.

Only Alberu was shaking his head while looking at Cale.

“Now then.”

He then used the situation to his advantage.

“As young master Cale mentioned, we should do our jobs too, don’t you agree?”

Litana and Toonka turned toward Alberu after hearing that.

Although his official title was crown prince, he was someone who had even more influence on the Western continent than the king.

“I must ask a question before we get into the details.”

Alberu reached out his hand.

“Will you join us?”

Litana immediately grabbed his hand.

“Of course.”

Toonka also put his hand out and spoke with a valiant face fitting of a Commander.

“We will do everything in our power to help.”

The two representatives naturally chose to do everything they could do to help as they could feel danger approaching.

They were doing it for the Western continent as well as for their precious friend who had stepped up to help their respective territories in the past.

Alberu gestured with a bright smile on his face.

“Shall we head over to the meeting room?”

He then peeked toward Cale who was getting farther and farther away and started to think.

‘He’s probably happy that he gets to miss the meeting.’

He was absolutely right.

‘This is great.’

Cale’s steps were quite light.

‘I guess I don’t need to join the meeting.’

It was obvious that they would call him a hero or whatever another terrible thing like that at the meeting.

Cale had learned something while looking at the large group of people gathered outside the Henituse Estate this morning.

He started to speak to the person behind him.

“Choi Han. You remember what to do?”

“I understand.”

“Hurry.”

Choi Han immediately started to walk in the opposite direction.

– Human! I’ll be back soon too!

Raon was moving in a different direction as well.

The Chief of Staff peeked toward Choi Han, who was walking away. He was feeling anxious because the strongest swordsman was heading in a different direction when an enemy was trying to break through the barrier.

“Please don’t worry, I sent Choi Han away because there is something he needs to do.”

“Ah, young master-nim-”

“I am not going anywhere.”

The Chief of Staff became emotional at Cale saying that to console him.

He had heard about everything Cale had done, probably before anybody else, because he worked in the palace.

The Chief of Staff’s steps became more confident as he looked at Cale quickly walking forward.

His anxiety lessened with each step.

‘Yes! Who would dare to attack the Roan Kingdom when young master Cale-nim is here?! The intruders won’t be a problem at all!’

There was something the Chief of Staff did not know.

Cale’s quick footsteps were only quick and light because he didn’t need to attend the meeting and because Dragons were rolling over to him by the handful.

“Chief!”

The Chief of Staff finally arrived at the location of the problematic intruder.

He looked as confident as a tiger.

“Chief! Huh? Behind you?!”

“…Commander-nim!”

“Young master-nim!”

The knights and soldiers who had quickly gathered to fend off the intruder all relaxed a bit after seeing someone.

‘The young master-nim is here! He was in the palace!’

‘We can relax now!’

Cale was walking with an extremely relaxed expression on his face.

The Roan Kingdom’s knights knew about this expression.

They knew how many times he had saved the Roan Kingdom and the Western continent with that relaxed expression on his face. The ones who had been with Cale in some of the Roan Kingdom’s battles lit up with joy.

However, Cale’s face quickly stiffened.

“Commander-nim!”

“…I am no longer a commander.”

“Once a Commander, always a Commander. That person is the intruder!”

The Vice Captain of the 1st Knights Brigade pointed up at the sky.

Cale had already been looking there.

‘…Is he crazy?’

Cale had wondered how the Dragon would come to find him.

‘Wait right there. You need to be punished for waking this great and mighty Dragon’s slumber. Human. I will personally walk over to you, so you better wait right there.’

That was what the Dragon had said.

“…He really is walking over to me.”

The Dragon was walking in the air as if there was a carpet in front of it. The man was taking large steps as he stomped forward.

“He easily destroyed the magic barrier!”

‘Yes. He’s stomping over here after breaking it.’

Cale nodded his head at the Vice Knight Captain’s words.

“We believe he is extremely skilled. He is at least a highest-grade mage, so the mages are heading here as well! But although he is extremely skilled, he-”

The Vice Knight Captain could not say what he wanted to say.

Cale finished his sentence for him.

“He seems like a crazy bastard.”

“…Ah… that-”

The Vice Knight Captain could not disagree.

Cale started to think.

‘Why is everybody I meet lately like this?’

He could hear the voice of the Dragon as it glared at him.

– Hmph! You showed up! How dare you wake me up?

‘It does seem that way. He really seemed to have been sleeping.’

The Dragon had walked over.

He was barefoot.

He was also wearing pajamas.

On his side was a long and comfortable looking pillow.

Cale looked at the pajama-clad Dragon whose feet finally touched the ground.

He had a buzz cut.

However, there were some patterns that looked like scratches on both sides of his head.

There were some patterns in his eyebrows as well.

On the other hand, the pajamas had a really cute design on it.

‘… Was wrong?’

Cale had recently been thinking that the Birth of a Hero had been wrong about Dragons.

“I finally see the face of the bastard who dared to disturb my slumber!”

The buzz cut Dragon with a gangster-like voice was brusquely walking forward with his bare feet.

“P, protect the Commander-nim!”

“Stop him!”

Cale raised his hand.

“It’s fine. He is someone I know.”

Everybody instantly stopped being chaotic.

“Sir, he’s someone you know?”

Cale quietly observed the buzz cut Dragon after hearing the Chief of Staff’s question.

The eyes glaring at him seemed extremely annoyed.

Cale found it oddly welcoming to finally see someone look at him as if he was annoying.

It was because this Dragon was a giant piece of gold that had rolled in on its own.

“Who knows? I may or may not know him.”

“What?”

The buzz cut Dragon scoffed in disbelief at Cale’s response before stopping right in front of Cale and glaring at him.

His long vertical pupils were glaring at Cale so hard as if they wanted to pierce right through him.

“You are a very unique human.”

The human in front of him had so many things inside his body that the Dragon could not figure him out so easily.

“However, you still need to be punished for the crime of waking me up from my sweet, sweet slumber!”

The Vice Knight Captain looked at this shouting pajamas-clad Dragon as if he wanted to swear at him. The Vice Knight Captain had no idea that such a crazy bastard would be a Dragon.

“However! You seem somewhat entertaining.”

The Dragon started to smile.

“I think I understand why the other two outside were observing you.”

The buzz cut Dragon recalled the two Dragons who seemed to be family. The older of the two Dragons had been quietly observing this human in front of him right now.

Smile.

The corners of the buzz cut Dragon’s lips were fully curled up.

“I will give you special treatment and forgive you after just breaking your arms and legs!”

He thought that it might be fun attacking this interesting bastard on different parts of the body to force him to use the different powers inside him.

“How can he say such ludicrous statements……?!”

“Oh, loooooooord!”

The Dragon’s comments made the soldiers and palace staff shout in astonishment. The knights were only staying in place with their mouths shut because Cale had not given them any orders. Their hands were shaking in anger.

“Hmm.”

However, Cale looked calm.

He slightly tilted his head and looked toward the pajamas-clad Dragon.

“Sir, did you not hear why I was looking for you?”

That question made the Dragon frown even more.

“Why would I care about that? Those damn Elementals were so loud looking for me that they woke me up. I then heard that you were the one looking for me, you little bastard. That was enough for me. Why the hell would I care that a mere human like you was looking for me? Hmph!”

He snorted and channeled his mana.

Ooooooong-

Grey mana started to gather around him.

Clang, clang!

The knights around Cale all drew their swords.

They had forgotten about how Cale had told them to stay put and pulled their swords out of reflex. That was how destructive this mana seemed to be.

“You’re going to punish me?”

Cale tilted his head a little more.

“That’s right. I’m going to punish you, human.”

“Mm. You’re going to regret it.”

“Ha! Regret?! Did a punk like you just tell me I’m going to regret it?”

Cale started to think while looking at this Dragon who truly seemed baffled.

‘There was a reason Mayor Obante was so scared of seeing a Dragon.’

How scared must he have been after seeing a Dragon like this?

Cale understood Obante’s feelings as he calmly responded to the mana-channeling Dragon.

“Yes, sir. You’re going to regret it.”

“…How dare you tell my esteemed self that I’m going to regret-”

The buzz cut Dragon suddenly flinched mid-sentence and quickly turned his head.

Something was coming.

Something was coming from the direction that this human named Cale Henituse had come from.

Someone who was extremely strong was getting closer.

‘It’s a Dragon.’

He was certain it was a Dragon.

The buzz cut Dragon heard a calm voice in his mind at that moment.

– It looks like it is already too late for regrets.

It was the old Dragon he saw outside the barrier.

That Dragon was strong, but its power seemed to be on the gentler side.

However, the Dragon approaching him was different.

It had an extremely ferocious power like he did.

He could see the white-gold hair.

It was a swordsman with a slightly peculiar aura. The white-gold haired knight was following behind the young man with black hair who was quite strong for a human.

Going back to last night…

Cale had asked Raon to get Eruhaben to come after his meeting with Dodori.

He had a feeling that Dodori’s mom and Eruhaben might know each other.

Raon had urgently contacted Eruhaben again earlier as things had changed and Choi Han had gone to escort Eruhaben over.

Eruhaben, who was dressed like a knight, swept his white-gold hair back and looked toward the buzz cut Dragon.

– It sounds like you are the one who wants to be beaten to a pulp.

The buzz cut Dragon got the chills for the first time in a long while, no, for quite possibly the first time in his life after hearing Eruhaben’s cold warning.

It was at that moment.

‘Mm!’

He felt the aura of a Dragon from a different direction.

This was definitely the power he had felt next to Cale Henituse earlier.

– I will destroy everything if you put even a finger on our human!

The voice was a young voice, but the power it was gathering was quite fierce.

Then there was a third.

“Mm!”

The Dragon raised his head.

Tap.

Someone who descended from the sky pointed his arrow at him.

“I won’t let you harm our young master Silver Shield-nim!”

The pink curly-haired Dragon that had been with the other Dragon earlier was huffing as he glared at the buzz cut Dragon.

This was the third Dragon.

The buzz cut Dragon’s anger was slowly subsiding as he thought about how there were too many Dragons here.

He had never seen so many Dragons in one place throughout his life.

…It also looked as if all three Dragons were taking a human’s side.

That was something he had never seen nor heard about throughout his entire life either.

The Dragon heard the white-gold haired knight’s voice again.

– Do you want to die? Do you want me to beat you down until you turn to dust? Hmm? Should I turn you into dust? It’s been a while since I beat someone up until I felt refreshed. It’s a gloomy day, so you’ll probably need to be beaten for quite a while if I want it to cause some dust.

The human standing in front of the buzz cut Dragon walked up to him and whispered.

“The Lord is looking for you.”

‘…Lord? …Dragon Lord? There was a Dragon Lord? I’m sure there wasn’t. What’s going on? It doesn’t look like he’s lying.’

The buzz cut Dragon was sweating bullets now that he was completely awake and his anger had subsided.

He looked at the human in front of him.

“Are you regretting it yet?”

Cale asked as he gently smiled at the Dragon in front of him.

—Translator’s Comments

Three Dragons walk through a barrier…hohoho. Cale truly turning into Lance, the Dragon Master of the Pokemon Elite Four!