"I guess the non-mage faction was wilder than I had expected." Cale commented casually. 'They finished faster than the past life.'

Billos started to frown as he described the Civil War. "They seem like they are not afraid of death and like they are only focused on killing mages."

Billos's shoulders shook a bit as he tried to recall how it looked before the Civil War compared to the current situation.

These two periods of time were the best time for him to make some money. However, he had seen much more than that.

"They were especially scary whenever the citizens with magic resistance showed up in large numbers or took the vanguard."

The biggest influence in the battle between the mage faction and the non-mage faction was this 'magic resistance'.

These citizens with magic resistance were slowly born through the generations, and the fact that there were only a few of them, as well as the fact that they could not learn any magic, made their lives difficult in the Whipper Kingdom.

However, these citizens with magic resistance were born in large numbers during this generation, which ended up becoming an advantage for the non-mage faction.

The citizens considered this as a sign from nature that they were to kill those arrogant mages who believed they could rule over nature with their mana.

"This is especially true for the person named Toonka, the one in charge of the non-mage faction."

Cale was just silently listening.

"That man and his direct subordinates really seemed to move based on instinct. I saw him just once from a distance and he was pulling a mage's neck off with his bare hands. You don't know how terrifying that was to witness."

Billos let out a sigh as he shook his head. "I couldn't even sleep properly that night. Just thinking about Toonka and his direct subordinates still makes me feel sick."

Billos had made up his mind to absolutely avoid those people. It didn't feel like he could communicate with them.

Thankfully, the staff around Toonka were smart and easy to talk to.

"It must have been very cruel." Cale felt a tiny bit pity for Billos, because he planned to go meet Toonka soon.

Billos wildly nodded his head at Cale's short response. "Yes, it was very cruel. The corpses of those mages who were torn to shreds while they were still alive are hanging outside all of the castles."

However, Billos did not say that that was bad. "Well, I'm sure even that is not enough in the Whipper citizens' perspectives."

Billos understood how they were feeling. Furthermore, as someone who was making money off of the Civil War, he was not in the position to say either side was good or bad.

"But, young master-nim." Billos started to smile as he asked Cale a question.

"What is it?" Cale's response felt cold, but Billos did not budge.

"Where are we headed to now?"

Billos was very curious about their destination, as well as what the treasure was. He could see Cale, who had been quietly listening to everything he had to say, start to smile. This smile filled Billos with anticipation.

Cale then started to speak. "To meet Toonka."

"...Excuse me? Who?" Billos thought that he had heard wrong.

The fact that he had not been able to sleep properly for a while may have affected his hearing.

Cale continued to speak while looking at the confused expression that he had seen for the first time appear on Billos's face. "We are going to the Magic Tower."

"What?"

There were many reasons Cale had selected this very small port. It was the closest port to the Magic Tower, one out of the battle areas, and one where many of the citizens still lived.

Cale leisurely continued to speak to Billos, who had a blank expression on his face but seemed to be thinking about a lot of things right now. "Just trust me. I won't harm you."

Billos opened and closed his mouth a few times before jumping up and heading over to the cabinet in order to take out a bottle of alcohol.

He then started to chug it and only stopped after emptying about half of the bottle into his mouth. "I will trust my instincts."

"And what do your instincts say?"

Billos took out a new bottle and handed it to Cale. "My instincts are telling me to follow you, young master-nim."

Cale took a gulp straight from the bottle. "You have pretty good instincts. It is perfect for a merchant."

Cale seemed to be very relaxed. Billos clenched onto the bottle in his hand as he looked past Cale's shoulders and out the window.

Although the official Civil War was over, there were still screams throughout the Whipper Kingdom as all of the mages were not caught just yet.

Madness, despair, sorrow, these were all still plentiful in the air.

"This tastes great."

Billos decided to follow his instincts even more after seeing Cale so calm.

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

Two days later, Cale stepped out of the carriage with the Flynn Merchant Guild crest. There were three more carriages behind him as well.

"Young master-nim, this is as close as we can get to the Magic Tower in a carriage."

Cale could see the destroyed Magic Tower in the distance, but it was much less destroyed than he had expected.

"He really kept his promise about not destroying it much." Toonka had listened to what Cale had said. "It is a beautiful Magic Tower."

Billos seemed to be in a daze next to Cale.

At that moment, Cale took something out of his pocket and showed a small corner of it to Billos.

"Gasp!" Billos let out a gasp.

The golden plaque. He only saw a bit, but that was definitely a golden plaque.

Billos's gaze instantly changed. "Young master-nim, I respect you very much."

Cale just ignored Billos as Hans approached him.

"Young master-nim, what do you plan to do now?" Hans asked what Cale was going to do as he looked around.

They were currently around the entrance of a base that was created in front of the Magic Tower. They could see lots of huts and houses. In fact, it seemed more like a village than a base based on the size.

They could also see uniquely colored people as well. They were the citizens of the Whipper Kingdom. There were also other odd people as well.

This made Hans's eyes start to quiver.

"Mmph!" He then subconsciously covered his mouth with his hand.

There were people who looked like warriors, but they were covered in blood and were chopping up some corpses. They could tell that the corpses were wearing robes. These were all corpses of mages.

Behind the corpses were the chopped off heads of the mages rolling on the ground. The scent of blood and rotting flesh overwhelmed Hans's nose as he started to hear the sound of corpses burning behind him.

"Take a break if it's too much for you, Hans."

Hans turned to look at the calm Cale and realized that everybody else around him was composed. Even Maes and the other wolf children were calmly observing the situation in front of them.

"Hans."

"...Yes, young master-nim."

"This is a battlefield."

Hans could feel the weight of those words. At the same time, he clearly looked into Cale's eyes that were coolly observing the entire battlefield as if he used to seeing such scenes.

'How can a pampered young master of the Count who was only 18 years old get used to the scene of war and corpses? Is he just putting on the tough front like usual? But it doesn't look like he's faking it. Even though I thought he was vulnerable before.' Hans thought as he continued to watched Cale.

Cale indifferently observed the tents, warriors, merchants, and other people moving to and from the camp.

It made him recall when he was Kim Roksoo and working different jobs, to earn money to support himself. That was one of his peaceful time because he lived alone without worrying that his curse would effect other people.

Cale's gaze once again turned toward Hans as he asked Hans a question. "Will you rest?"

"I am okay, young master-nim!" Deputy butler Hans could see Cale speaking to him as his usual self.

"Then let's work."

That made Hans feel better. Cale gathered everyone in front of him after verifying that Hans was calm.

Since the Civil War was already over, Cale and crew were able to get to the base in front of the Magic Tower once they showed their identifications.

The base was now just filled with people finally getting some rest after the long war. And the reason they were able to get so far was because Billos had traded materials with the warriors multiple times during the Civil War.

They had come under the Flynn Merchant Guild's name. However, they were going to do something different starting now.

"We came to meet someone named Toonka today. Make sure you do not respond to any provocations before that."

Choi Han, who had been quietly listening, started to speak. "Who is this person named Toonka?"

"Ah, that Bob guy from before is Toonka. Bob is an alias." Cale just casually responded to Choi Han as he turned to look at Billos.

However, he was able to hear Choi Han's quiet mumbling as he turned. "...So it is him."

"Huh?"

"It is nothing." Choi Han responded with a calm expression.

"Hmm, why do I feel like you still want to beat him up?"

Choi Han avoided Cale's knowing eyes, so Cale could only let it go as he started to speak to Billos. "Billos, you said you could get to the tent with the chiefs?"

"Yes. However, only about 6 people, including myself, can go."

"It seems like you made quite a bit of money?"

The fact that he was able to have conversations with the chiefs symbolized that Billos had made a lot of money through the Civil War.

Billos just smiled and did not say anything else.

At that moment, the invisible Raon started to speak in Cale's mind.

– Funny.

'Now what?' Cale started to frown. 'Something that Raon found funny... I feel a headache coming instead.'

– I have a feeling that something entertaining will happen.

'Feeling?' Cale got the pain and he touching his forehead as he ignored Raon's words. 'I feel the headache already.'

He then quickly selected the four people who would go with him.

"Choi Han, Lock, Hilsman."

He was struggling between choosing Beacrox or Hilsman, but since it might be dangerous, he chose to leave Beacrox in a slightly safer place with the children.

Cale then made eye contact with Rosalyn. She had not said anything after looking around the residence once they arrived.

Cale wondered whether she was angry about the death of her fellow mages. However, what Cale saw in Rosalyn's eyes was the gaze of a royal princess.

Rather than getting angry because of the deaths of the mages, she was thinking about the stupidity of the Whipper Kingdom's royal family for keeping things as is until the citizens rebelled like this.

"Miss Rosalyn, you'll be coming, right?"

Rosalyn fixed the large club over her leather armor as she answered. "Yes."

The people who would go with him had been decided. Cale decided to leave the rest to Hans.

"We will go somewhere quiet and stay there! I will keep everyone safe!"

Cale could see On and Hong snorting at deputy butler Hans's words.

At the same time, they were asking Cale with their eyes. 'When will we go to the Magic Tower?'

Cale responded back with a gaze. 'Just wait patiently for a bit.'

They will soon be able to get to the location for the kittens to run wild.

"Let's go."

"Yes sir."

Billos put on a large necklace with the Flynn Merchant Guild crest on it and took the lead. Cale followed behind him.

As soon as they entered into the base, they could feel multiple sharp gazes falling on them.

"Just look forward." Everyone looked forward like Cale said.

The non-mage faction was made of citizens, knights, and the magic-resistant individuals. Cale's group stood out like a sore thumb amongst the faction members, who were all covered in blood.

Cale could see the non-mage faction members in front of him as well. 'I guess they haven't had enough.'

They wanted war. He could feel the madness and chaos in the air around him. Cale recalled how Toonka had taken control of the Whipper Kingdom royalty and made them his puppets before rushing to fight with the Queen of the Jungle and the Empire.

He took the time to look at the soldiers under the command of a tyrant like Toonka. They did not come up to provoke them or fight with them.

They were just mesmerized by Toonka, who they instinctually feared. However, none of them backed away either. They just continued to viciously stare at Cale, who looked like a noble.

"We are here." Billos stood in front of a tent.

It was not very deep in the base, as Cale had expected. It was only a bit away from the entrance.

"Honestly speaking, the chiefs-."

"Billos." Cale cut Billos off because he knew what Billos was going to say.

The non-mage faction thinks that they destroyed their 'rationality' but in reality, a different kind of rationality had exploded in its place.

Are only mages smart? Are they the only educated ones? No. There were many others who were educated as well.

The scientists had come under Toonka because they were tired of being suppressed by the mages.

'They hate magic even more than Toonka does. You could just consider them to be crazy. It is even scarier when smart people go crazy.'

"Contact them."

"Yes sir." Billos approached the largest tents in the chiefs' section.

A warrior approached him to guide him and watch him. The chiefs' tent. There were many more warriors here than the other areas.

It was interesting that Toonka had no problem throwing away weak warriors but were protecting these chiefs.

'That is why he couldn't become a real hero.' Cale ignored the sharp gazes of the guards and waited for Billos to come back with the chiefs.

He just needed to ask them to meet with Toonka and they would probably welcome it with open arms.

However.

'Why does my intuition pick up an ominous feeling again?' Cale looked around to see what might be causing this odd feeling.

Billos was taking longer than he had expected. It should not take this long to come back with a single person.

– Human.

Raon's low voice rang in Cale's mind as the entrance flap to the tent Billos entered started to move.

It looked like a large person was trying to run out.

'No way?'

Suddenly, Choi Han, who had been standing behind Cale, stepped in front of Cale with a stiff expression.

"Choi Han?"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Huh?"

Riiip! The tent entrance ripped open.

"I smell it! I smell the scent of a strong person! Muahahahaha! This is perfect! I was so bored!" A large man covered in blood revealed himself. Behind him was a man and a woman who were slightly smaller than him, but still quite large.

"Haaa...." Cale let out a sigh.

The crazy person who was covered in blood as if he had showered in mage blood was naturally Toonka.

As usual, Toonka was accurately looking at a specific location.

"It's you!" He was looking at Choi Han, who was protecting Cale from him. Toonka did not seem to even see Cale behind Choi Han. "The other ones smell strong too, but you seem to be the strongest! I can't sleep while smelling such a scent!"

Cale decided he needed to step forward. However, Choi Han asked in a very low voice. "Is he Toonka?"

"Oh, you recognized him right away." Cale just answered Choi Han's question without thinking.

And Toonka pointed to Choi Han at the same time. "Fight me. Aren't your hands itching too?"

Cale facepalmed. Toonka really never seemed to change.

Cale thought that Choi Han would naturally decline as he had already told them to ignore the provocation. So Cale tried to walk past Choi Han, who was in front of him. That was when he heard Choi Han's voice.

"Sure."

"Choi Han?"

Raon's voice echoed in Cale's head.

– Just as I expected. I, the great and mighty Raon Miru, is smart!

Contrary to Raon's excited voice, Cale started to frown.

On the other hand, Toonka licked his lips after seeing the way Choi Han was glaring at him. He only had Choi Han in his eyes and did not see anybody else.

Choi Han had the strongest scent here. It was the same scent that made him think of the Whale people who were staring back at him in the Ubarr territory.

"Kekeke, yes, I like that type of gaze." Toonka was excited. He felt like he could have a physical fight, one that did not rely on crap like magic.

Choi Han put his hand on the hilt of his blade after seeing the madness in Toonka's eyes. He was calm, but his gaze seemed like it wanted to chop Toonka in half.

Screech. A part of the blade came out of the scabbard.

It was at that moment.

Squeeze. Choi Han felt a strong grip on his shoulder and suddenly got the chills. He had felt this once before. It was the same pressure that caught everyone's attention when they were with the Whales.

A quiet yet emotionless voice reached Choi Han's ear. "Choi Han."

Cale was looking at him. Cale wasn't blaming him or giving him a command, but his gaze seemed to be extremely deep.

That gaze made Choi Han subconsciously let go of the blade.

Click. The blade was pushed back into the scabbard.

"Are you trying to fight right now?" The Dominating Aura was surrounding Cale's entire body right now.

He walked past Choi Han and faced Toonka. The stench of blood filled his nose.

"Toonka." Cale needed to stand above Toonka now. It became a little more complicated, but he decided that he might as well use this opportunity. Cale pushed back his red hair and greeted the blankly staring Toonka. "Long time no see."

"You...you ar-" Toonka did not recognize him right away. However, as soon as he saw the red hair, he thought of a single person.

However, this person in front of him was too different from the last time they had met. He clenched his fist.

An unexplainable feeling was coming out of this bastard in front of him. The bastard that shoved him in the ocean and looked down on him, Cale Henituse.

His gaze was the same as a months ago.

The man he saw a months ago asked him a question.

"Did you just ask for a fight?" Cale had a calm smile as he asked. However, he did not wait for Toonka's response. "Choi Han."

"...Yes sir." Choi Han could not help but stand up straight at attention after hearing Cale's indifferent voice calling his name.

"Fight him if you want. But make sure you win."

Choi Han could only answer in one way. "I will definitely win."

Choi Han put his hand back on the hilt of his blade. His tightly clenched fist let him feel a stronger desire than before.

Cale then turned toward Toonka, who was slowly starting to smile.

Toonka then let out a loud laugh. "Muhahahahahahahha!"

It was so loud it echoed through the base. However, Toonka was still nervous. The person in front of him was definitely weak, however!

There was an aura that dominated this area.

Toonka ignored that aura and shouted even louder. He was excited. His body was heating up. Blood, he needed to see blood. "Let's fight! Great! Very good!"

In that moment, Raon was scoffing at Toonka as he spoke to Cale.

– He's crazy for a beating. What an idiot. Our Choi Han is much stronger!