"You want to go to Harris Village?"

"Yes." Cale nodded his head at Deruth's question.

He had told his father about both the Ancient Power and Harris Village. However, Deruth was focused on Cale leaving home again.

Deruth looked down at the 'Harris Village Incident Report' in Cale's hands before looking up at his son. Cale's gaze looked serious. He really meant it.

Harris Village. Count Deruth had headed over after hearing the report from the investigation squad. He felt anger and sorrow once he saw what had happened.

The village really was completely destroyed, and there were no signs of the perpetrators.

That was why he had asked for cooperation from the nearby territories, as well as reaching out to the Information Guild to keep their ears open for any information.

"...Is it because you are concerned about that young man named Choi Han?"

Count Deruth had found signs of a battle at Harris Village. That allowed him to estimate the level of Choi Han's strength further.

There was no way that his son, who had spent a longer time with Choi Han, would not know about his strength.

"I guess you could said that. Yes, it's part of the reason." Cale continued "The investigation squad has already completed their investigation, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes."

It was one of the excuse he thought of.

He could not say that he wanted to go there for the Wolf children's berserk transformation and wild instinct training. He could not say it was for Raon's growth.

He definitely could not say that he was going to the Forest of Darkness to find the dead mana swamp that was a solution to the Whale tribe's war against the mermaids.

It was not that he didn't trust his father, but he didn't want to worry his father unnecessarily. He knew his father too well. Furthermore, it was Harris village.

Cale continued on, as he could see that Count Deruth was contemplating. "I don't even need to worry about the monsters. It is not winter."

"That is true."

The monsters of the Forest of Darkness. There was a large man-made stone wall between Harris Village and the Forest of Darkness. It was to protect against these monsters.

'I wonder if it's Super Rock's stone, after all he's the guardian.'

There have been no monster attacks in the last 150 years. Maybe people were scared because there are so many stories about how you would die if you go into the Forest of Darkness, but it was very rare for an actual monster to appear.

The problem was that any monsters that actually came out were extremely strong mutant monsters.

The Count found the fact that no monsters have appeared in 150 years to be odd, and so he had sent multiple investigation squads, but they could only roam around the Forest of Darkness without actually going in.

Finally, Count Deruth started to speak. "There are still soldiers in Harris Village, so it should be safe."

He seemed to have made up his mind and continued to speak. "You have to take care of the people you have taken in. "

Cale slowly nodded his head. But...

"Choi Han is not my subordinate. He's family."

Have he ever thought of Choi Han as his subordinate? Cale would never do such a thing.

Deruth stunned at his son's answer and could only smiled at him before agreeing. "Yes. A family. You are all grown up now."

"Of course. I am 18 years old."

"You grew up so fast." Deruth got up and patted his head. "Alright. You can go now."

Cale gave his father a quick hug before turning around to head to the door. However he could hear Deruth's voice behind him.

"Cale." Deruth spoke seriously but still had a hint of doting mixed in as Cale turned back around. "The golden turtle has not always been our family crest. We are a family of warriors who are sworn to protect our family and anything else within our protection."

The two of them made eye contact.

"We protect everything with our strong shell. However, you must remember that the most important thing is to protect yourself. That is why we are a turtle."

A turtle that protects itself with its strong shell. Count Deruth, who was known for being mediocre in all aspects by others, reminded his son once more.

"That is why you should always remember to put yourself first." He then smiled gently and added on. "The Ancient Power you have earned is very cool."

Cale smiled similarly to Count Deruth, as he jokingly answered. "Isn't it? It is a very cool power. It's like a turtle's shell, right? Don't worry, father, I always put my own safety first."

"Good. Then I'm glad."

Cale observed Deruth nodded his head and sat back down to look at the report on the desk before he headed out of the office.

Raon had a question for him as soon as they left.

– The two of us are family, right?

Cale nodded his head at the question.

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

The next day

Cale got onto the carriage as he started to speak to the Whale siblings. "Not bad for my new guards."

Witira with her whip in her hand and Paseton with a sword in his hand, both smiled toward Cale.

They were still under Raon's appearance magic. Cale started to head toward Harris Village, well, the Forest of Darkness, to be more accurate.

Cale got off the carriage once they got to Harris Village, the village closest to the Forest of Darkness.

His thoughts once he got there were simple. "It's black."

It had been exactly two months, but Harris Village was still dark.

Cale looked down toward his feet to see that there were still black ashes on the ground. He then looked back forward and heard the Vice Captain's bitter voice. "Everything burned down."

Cale turned around to look at Vice Captain Hilsman.

(Tsuki: hehe, Cale mentioned his name for the first time.)

"Where did they say the graves are?"

Cale really didn't like talking with this person.

However, Cale didn't mind him if the Vice captain didn't mentioned the nicknames he got.

"I will immediately go find out."

It had been a while since Cale had seen Vice Captain Hilsman being so calm, but it wasn't Hilsman's fault.

A large stone wall. Harris Village, The village located outside of that wall heading into the Forest of Darkness, was no more.

All that was left was the crumbling ruins of houses and dark ashes that served as signs that something once existed in this location.

"I feel a strong sensation of fire here."

"You can feel something like that?" Cale was curious.

"I am from a tribe of the sea after all." Witira lightly smiled and responded, but then she seemed to get emotional.

However, Cale did not have time to pay attention to her. He had work to do. He headed over to the Wolf children who did not seem to be able to get off the carriage.

"Maes."

"Young master-nim." The eldest Wolf, Maes, was stiff after seeing the remains of the village in front of him.

Cale was pretty sure that they were currently thinking of their hometown. "Do you know why I brought all of you here?"

Maes could not answer Cale's question. Cale had not told him why he brought all of them here. It was a small group such that even deputy butler Hans and Beacrox were not here, but they were included.

Maes looked toward Cale with uncertainty.

The young master that his Lock Hyung told them to serve leisurely started to speak with his arms crossed. "A lot of money is about to fall into my hands."

"Excuse me?" The sudden talk about money confused Maes and the Wolf children.

Cale just continued to speak. "And I plan on using some of that money to rebuild this village."

The Magic Tower and the Queen of the Jungle. He would have a ton of money after these two interactions. He was also going to bring the rights to a peaceful sea route to his territory.

The term 'village' caught the children's attention. "I also plan on building a villa here for all of you, me, and the rest of the group to play together."

"...I heard the Forest of Darkness is dangerous."

"Are you being serious?" Cale questioned Maes and looked around.

On and Hong were getting off the carriage and Raon was probably flying around somewhere. The Whale siblings were approaching a well that was covered in ashes.

"Will they be stronger than all of you when you grow up?" The blunt question reached the Wolf children's ears. "I promised Lock that I would take good care of all of you. That means I also have to provide a place for you to live like the Wolves you are."

The moment a smile that seemed to say that it was not hard to accomplish at all appeared on Cale's face, a cold wind passed by them.

Once some of the black ashes flew away with the wind, Cale's voice once again filled the void. "I will create that place for you. I will help you grow and develop into great Wolves before Lock gets back."

Cale looked toward Maes and the Wolf children and questioned in a serious tone. "No response?"

"...Y-Yes!"

"Yes!"

Cale was satisfied with the children's answer for now. He patted their head and started to walk away.

Maes looked toward Cale, who was walking toward the wall, before turning around. His younger siblings were all looking at him.

Maes started to speak. "...Let's all grow strong together."

Maes then looked around the village. He was thinking about how this black village would one day become a warm place like the hometown in his mind.

Maes could feel that his siblings were feeling the same way, even though they did not say anything. They were all Wolves.

Cale did not know about the Wolves' determinations as he tapped on the Stone Wall. "It's quite thick."

Cale turned his head to see the only gate on the wall. This Stone Gate was the only access point to the Forest of Darkness.

Of course, Choi Han did not use this gate when he first arrived at Harris Village. He jumped over the approximately 10-meter tall wall to enter.

"Is the Forest of Darkness past this wall?"

"Correct." Cale peeked over to Witira, who had approached him.

Her blue hair and pupils were both dyed brown with magic, and her face was also magically changed to an average face. However, her voice was still just as beautiful.

"I can't see past the wall, but it should be pretty unique seeing as how it is one of the Forbidden Regions, right? I wonder if the wall is strong." Witira smiled as she lightly pressed onto the wall with her index finger. However, that finger stabbed right into the wall.

"...Haha." Witira awkwardly started to laugh.

'Whales really are a scary race.' Cale pretended not to see and turned away.

These two long-haired siblings were still not used to controlling their strength on land.

Cale quickly changed the topic. "It's similar."

"Hmm? What is?"

"Past the wall. You said it probably looks unique."

"Ah." Witira let out a small gasp.

Cale just shrugged his shoulders. He turned away from the wall as he continued to speak. "The Forest of Darkness is a regular forest, just like any other."

Cale saw that Witira had quickly approached him and was walking at the same pace as him and continued. "But the thing inside of it is different."

Nobody knew the reason why, but the Forest of Darkness often had mutated plants and monsters. It was easy to tell the mutated monsters apart because they looked different, but it was more difficult for the plants.

Although they might look similar, a mutated version of an herb used for healing could end up being poisonous. And there are also monsters that are generally found in the Eastern Continent as well.

That was why it was one of the Forbidden Regions. It was the one place on this continent that they could find traces of the Eastern Continent.

"Young master-nim!"

Cale nodded toward Vice Captain Hilsman, who had called out to him, before turning back to speak to Witira. "Please take care of the children for me."

"Of course. There are quite a lot of young Beast people." Witira quietly watched Cale who smiled at her statement.

Cale then turned around and headed toward Hilsman. "Let's go."

"Yes sir."

Cale only had Hilsman with him as they headed to a certain location.

"Here it is."

Many graves were located here. This was where Choi Han had buried all of the villagers of the Harris Village.

Hilsman moved away from Cale and went to stand with the soldiers before looking toward Cale. The Vice Captain had moved away to give Cale some alone time.

The fact that Cale Henituse came to this village was surprising, but the fact that he looked for the graves as soon as he got off the carriage was even more surprising.

Of course, Cale didn't even realize or care about the Vice Captain's action and just started to talk to himself. "...The fact that he didn't go crazy is amazing."

The fact that Choi Han remained sane after this incident was amazing. Choi Han seemed to have put a lot of efforts into these graves, but they were mostly just made with dirt.

In addition, they did not have any gravestones, instead they just had their names written on flat pieces of rock.

Cale counted the number of graves. Choi Han had personally buried all of the bodies underneath the graves.

Cale silently offered his prayer. He decided to tell Choi Han about some of the information he had regarding Harris village and the Forest of Darkness.

"Hilsman."

"Yes, young master."

So all Cale did was what he needed to do as a member of the Henituse family.

"Tell them to give them proper graves in the future. This is too shabby."

"...Yes sir!"

Cale looked at Hilsman, who responded more energetically than usual, before looking toward the soldiers. The soldiers slowly moved back.

Cale whispered. "You know what to do?"

All sorts of emotions appeared on Hilsman's face as he recalled what had happened two nights ago.

They were camping out in the when Cale called him over to his tent. "I will be going into the Forest of Darkness."

"What? Why would someone in recovery go somewhere so dangerous? The perpetrators will not be in there. Do you have to do so much for Choi Han-"

"Who said this has anything to do with Choi Han? Even if it does, you have no right to tell me what to do. I was just telling you so you could at least know where I will be disappear to." Cale had a frown on his face as he scoffed. "Dangerous? I could still protect myself without Choi Han around."

The small Raon appeared with his head on Cale's lap while staring disdainfully at Hilsman. 'Don't look down on my Human.' the gaze seemed to say that.

Vice captain Hilsman was extremely surprised when it had happened, but that was not the end.

Meeeeeow. The kittens meowed before turning into people. They were Beast people.

Furthermore, the Vice Captain felt chills for the first time in his life after seeing the woman pull out a long water whip and the man holding a sword with a whirlpool at its end.

"This is a just warning. But if any of this was leak to anyone, even to my father, you can guess what will happened."

At the center of all of these strong monsters was Cale, who had a stoic expression on his face. The fact that Cale seemed so at ease around them made Hilsman even more shocked.

Hilsman had made up his mind in the last two days. Although he was someone whose only goal was to become captain, he still wasn't an idiot. He wanted to follow young master Cale's footsteps.

"Yes, I got it, young master-nim."

"Good." Cale turned away without any other issues from Hilsman. Hilsman followed right behind Cale, who continued to speak. "I trust you."

That made Hilsman silvered, that sounds like a threat was hidden behind the word. He had thought that it would be enough if he could make it to the Captain position in the Henituse Knights' brigade.

However, his mentality had changes in the last two days. Even though he had no idea how he offended the young master, but he will try his best to redeem himself.

"Young master-nim, I will get stronger." Hilsman said with determination. 'And do whatever it takes to gain your trust.'

"Do whatever you want." Cale answered disinterestedly, only feeling relieved that it sounded like he could get away from Hilsman for the time being.

'That's why they say first impression is important. It can't be help that I don't like him since the first time I saw him. How dare he looked down on Choi Han who I considered a friend?'

Cale didn't just hate Hilsman for no reason. Even though he hid it well, or maybe it was subconsciously, the expression every time he faced Cale before wasn't what Cale imagined by himself.

The feeling was the same as facing Neo Tolz, the arrogant when he felt that he's better than a trash like Cale.

Hilsman is different from Neo only because he was under Deruth's direct order to guard Cale so he didn't want to offend Deruth who had been famous within the territory as a son-slave toward Cale. It was almost as famous as the fact that Cale was a Trash.

Cale was sensitive to people intentions toward him, he had to develop that sense to survive when he lived as Kim Roksoo. There, he doesn't have his father to backing him up even when he kept his distance. Kim Roksoo was alone for a long time after his parents died.

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Tsuki: Another difference was pointed out this chapter, what do you think? Express your opinion. At least this is what I see as I am using the novel as the base. Enjoy!