Cale and the envoy easily passed through Puzzle city's gate. Under the lead of Deputy Butler Hans, they headed toward the inn.

According to Choi Han, the Black Dragon would follow them from a not-so-far distance, then when the time come, he would go and hunt for prey to drop at their camp before running away.

"Isn't he cute? The Dragon seems like a little kid that hadn't lost its innocence, even after living such a terrible life."

"Choi Han, he IS a little kid. Hmm, should I come up with a name for him? Just in case he wants one. Calling him Dragon is sad."

"I think that's a good idea." Choi Han nodded his head.

This was what Cale and Choi Han talked about right before they enter the city. Since then Cale was always in deep thought, thinking of a good name.

On and Hong, who was looking outside the window, came and tapped his lap.

"Cale, each house has a rock tower in front of it."

"Very very weird."

Cale snapped out of his thought and answered them casually. "This is the city of rock towers, after all."

Puzzle city was famous for the ancient ruins with a lots of rock towers, but it was also famous for the fact that each house had small rock towers in front of them. The people in this city made a small groove outside of their windows to put a small rock tower on top of it.

It really shouldn't be called a rock tower, because it was made with less than ten rocks, but the rock towers were formed in different shapes based on the personality of the house owner.

Cale got off the carriage and looked at the luxurious inn in front of him. "Will we be staying here?"

Hans quickly responded to Cale's question, as they followed behind the inn owner. Hans seemed very excited, as he was walking with the kittens siblings, who finally allowed him to hug them, in his arms.

"Yes sir. We have reserved two days for Choi Han-nim, and have agreed to pay for the rest of the group depending on how long we end up staying here."

Ron looked at Cale's back at Hans's words. 'Now this is the first time I heard about it.'

"We arrived right before the Rock Tower Festival season, so the room was not that expensive."

Cale remembered what the kittens said inside the carriage. "It's not like there are a lot of rocks here, but the rock towers are quite interesting. Very odd."

"Oh, I know the reason for that, young master." Hans said. "There's a sad yet thought provoking story that has been passed down through the ages"

Cale saw that the kittens's ear peaked up, they seemed to be interested in the story. "Let's listen to the story when we reach the room."

The group that had entered Cale's room watched as the attendant stepped out of the room and then focused their attention on Hans.

Hans smiled happily at the attention. "This story, well, this legend, is about something that happened in ancient time."

"Ancient time?"

"Yes, ancient time."

"Now I'm interested. Continue." Cale sat leisurely on the couch inside the room.

The kittens in Hans's arms were wagging their tails, as they waited to hear more.

Ron just silently poured a cup of lemonade from the bottle he carried and handed it to Cale. Cale accepted it naturally and took a sip.

"Legends say that this city supposedly fell out of grace of a god in the past."

Cale was thinking about it. "This is my first time hearing about this."

"Isn't that because young master has not studied history?"

"..." Cale smiled "Hans, you seem to enjoy talking back to me these days."

Hans coughed a little. "Ahem. Young master, it is only natural for a great butler to inform their master about things that their master does not know."

"Fine. You always have your reason. It's another one of Henituse butler's etiquette, right?"

"Let me continue. I do not know why this city fell out of grace of a god. However, that is apparently when some people in this city started to gather together to build rock towers. It seems to have been an act of worship to reach out to the god that had abandoned them."

'God, huh? Haa, I did meet God before.' Cale asked curiously. "Did it work?"

"No. Apparently, none of the prayers went through. That is why the present day Puzzle city does not have a single temple."

"There's no reason for me to worship a god who has abandoned me. Is that it?"

For some reason, the Indestructible Shield that was stored inside his heart seems to react to the story.

"Aww, young master, you're so smart to guess it without Hans has to tell you about it."

"... it seems that you want a punch."

"I apologize. Hehe. Anyways, they have rock towers instead of temples. The rock towers represent a promise that people made after all of that. It was a promise between the people, as well as a promise with themselves."

"What kind of promise?" Cale sipped more lemonade as he listened.

"A human who had their wish granted will destroy their rock tower."

'Oh... that's why I need to look for the unfinished rock tower to find Vitality of Heart. Did this Ancient Power also had unfinished wish?' Cale mumbled his thought. "How sad."

"Sad? Isn't it interesting, young master? Since they were abandoned by their god, they needed to achieve everything with their own strength. The act of destroying their rock tower represents 'overcoming the odds'."

"Right. How could a god be so free to help everyone with their wish? You have to work hard to have your wish granted."

This kind of rock towers held a lot of importance, even if you never got to destroy it.

"Yes. The rock towers is a representation of their own determination. The story gives people a lot of hope"

"Hans, look down." Cale smirked as he pointed to Hans's chest with his finger.

"Yes?" Hans followed Cale's hand in confusion.

"Look like they won't let you hug them again." Cale chuckled.

"What?" Hans looked down and gasped with his eyes widely opened.

The kittens was gashing their teeth in anger. The golden pupils staring at Hans were vicious.

"Aigoo. Why are our kitten-nims so angry? Should I bring you more jerky?" Hans who had no idea that the kittens were actually beast people, only thought that they were angry because they were hungry. So he put them down on the floor.

On was so angry, as she tapped on the floor with her paw, while Hong tapped with his tail. They were angry because Hans lied to them about the rock towers.

"I will go get delicious snacks for you, so don't be angry. Young master, may I go get it for them? Do you need some snacks as well?"

"No. You can just stay out."

"I will be back really quickly." Hans left as quickly as the wind.

"Ron, why don't you go rest too?"

"Young master, will Choi Han be leaving in two days?"

"Yes. I send him on some errands. He'll meet again when we reach the capital."

"That's good to know." Ron finally smiled. He remembered Cale told him that the organization wanted to do something during the King's birthday celebration.

"Trust me, I have it planned. So go have a rest."

"I trust you, young master. Then excuse me." Ron finally left the room.

"Cale, that butler is a big liar."

"We trusted him."

"Aww, come here." Cale learned that children needed comfort to calm them down. So he motioned for them to come close before hugging them. "Let's ignore him and go out to look at the rock towers together. Yes?"

"Good."

"Great."

The kittens's anger calmed down immediately as they snuggled in Cale's embrace.

***********************************

Tsuki: hmm, Raon might get his name a little faster then novel.