There was a big frown on Cale's face.

He could hear Toonka responding to him. "You don't feel well?"

"Yes."

Toonka started to frown at Cale's nonchalant answer. The surroundings were very loud. The citizens were enjoying the celebration to welcome a new warrior.

Toonka knew of their current financial situation, but this was more important to him. He needed to use the warrior name to draw people to them. That was why the chiefs had agreed to this dinner celebration.

"...You weakling." Toonka seemed to be disgusted, but it was hidden through his swollen face.

Cale just pointed to Choi Han. "The main character for the celebration is still available, so it shouldn't be a problem. I need to rest because I am a weakling."

Although Choi Han did not seem to like it, Cale lightly pushed him toward Toonka and crew. Naturally, Hilsman was with Choi Han as well.

"Hahaha! I can feel the will of the Whipper Kingdom's warriors! A celebration! This is great!" The Vice Captain really was good at socializing.

It seemed to be the only useful thing about Hilsman in Cale's opinion.

"Then goodbye." Cale left the celebration area without any regrets.

Beacrox was with him as a guard. He asked a question because they were heading toward Cale's crew's tents that were quite far away from the celebration.

"I just need to stand guard outside of the tent?"

Even though Beacrox was asking casually, but there was concern hiding behind.

"Yes, I will be sleeping. Nothing dangerous."

"That will be the official story. I trust that you won't do things that make people worry for you."

It really was easy to talk to Beacrox. Cale didn't need to do any unnecessary explanations. Although he's worried, he would still trusted him.

"I'll be careful. Don't worry." Cale whispered so only the two of them could hear.

Cale had gathered the three others into his room. Of course, he needed to crouch to look at the three of them. On, Hong, and Raon were all sitting on the ground.

"Did you find him?"

On and Hong started to smile.

"We have a good feeling about where he may be!"

"We know approximately where he is!"

They were very excited. Cale had already changed into another outfit. He then looked toward Raon and started to speak."To the liege's room, please."

Raon covered Cale, On, and Hong with invisibility and flight magic before avoiding the gazes of the other people and arriving at the 20th floor of the Magic Tower, the liege's room.

Since all of the alarm magic devices were already broken and only a guard was left at the entrance of the Magic Tower, it was not very difficult.

Toonka had been adamant that as many people as possible took part in the celebration. He was oddly useful in times like this.

Whaaaaaaa~

Hahahahaha~

Laughter and clapping, as well as even singing, could be heard echoing throughout the night.

Cale could see the soldiers and citizens all gathered by a bonfire and dancing around. They seemed excited to be celebrating for the first time in a while.

Cale put his magic bag on his waist before looking toward the kittens. The kittens slowly started to guide Cale through the Magic Tower.

They moved stealthily, living up to their reputation as members of the stealthy Cat tribe, while Cale followed behind them down the stairs.

He could not use any magic devices since they would leave some evidences of being used.

However, Cale then started to frown. He stopped exactly on the 15th floor stairs and asked. "...Where is he?"

This was how the novel had described Mueller.

Which wall would it be? Where would Mueller be?

Hong wagged his red tail as he answered. "The first underground level!"

Damn it. Cale had selected the wrong spot to enter. Cale held back his sigh before quietly using the Sound of the Wind and picking the kittens up in his arms.

He then spoke to Raon. "Follow me."

Cale's body moved very quickly down the stairs.

Tap. Tap. It was very quiet, such that the guards outside would not be able to hear it.

The Magic Tower's layout was 20 stories above ground and three stories underground.

"A-Amazing!"

"We got down here in an instant!"

– You are weak, but as fast as my claw, Human!"

"Thanks? I guess." Cale listened to the compliments of the three, who averaged only 7 years of age, while he stood outside the stairs to the underground levels. "Around here?"

"Yes!"

The kittens were saying that they could smell a Rat. However, even they could not know the exact location. Cale had read the novel, so he could open the secret door as long as he knew the location.

'It really described a lot of useful details.'

[The Birth of a Hero] took times to describe all extras and passing characters with at least one line of description. Cale only knew the location because of this.

Cale took out a small steel rod from his magic bag. On and Hong were curious and looked toward him, but he was focused on finding the location he knew as he started to tap the wall and walk down one step at a time.

Ding. Ding.

"Where could it be~?"

Ding. Ding.

The red-haired man started to hum as he walked down the staircase that was lit up by glowing rocks one by one.

Cale was feeling good that he would be able to save Mueller who, in the novel, was caught before almost starving to death and had to watch as the non-mage faction destroyed his family's bodies before they killed him.

Ding. Ding.

However, the kittens and Dragon following behind him did not look so good. Although they knew that Cale was a good person, sometimes he could also be very evil.

At that moment, Cale took another step down and hit the wall.

Dong. "Found it~"

It looked just like the rest of the walls in appearance, but the inside of this wall would be different than the rest.

Cale started to smile. He took out a magic stone from his bag and touched the wall. Cale was quite focused, as it required paying attention to a lot of details.

'There is a spot on the wall with five holes in the shape of a star.' Cale managed to find the five holes in the shape of a star. He then put the magic stone at the center of those five holes.

It was at that moment.

Creeeak. A small noise could be heard as the wall moved and absorbed the magic stone.

Cale took a step back.

Creeeeeeeeeeeak. An odd noise was made as the wall slowly started to open.

A very small person could be seen inside.

Cale tried to give a friendly greeting as Mueller became visible. "...Hmm?"

But something was off.

"Waaaaaaaaa." The very small coward was shaking intensely while having a pale face. It was as if he had seen a ghost, no, a homicidal maniac.

It was different from what Cale had expected when he decided to be the hero who saved Mueller.

"Waaa, hiccup!" Mueller was even hiccuping.

Cale tried to smile as gently as possible and greeted him. "Hi?"

However, this only made Mueller shake even more. On, Hong, and Raon all looked toward Mueller with pity.

Cale was confused. 'Why is this punk like this?'

Cale looked toward On, Hong, and Raon. 'What is going on?'

He asked the three of them with his gaze, but the three just sighed and shook their heads.

"Soooooooob."

Cale could still hear Mueller continuing to cry. Why was he crying so much? Cale turned back toward Mueller.

Both the dwarves and the Rat people were very short. Having received both sets of genetics, Mueller was smaller than both dwarves and Rats.

He resembled the dwarves in fairy tales, having very cute features that would make almost any adults have the desire to protect this small person.

However, this did not really apply to Cale, since he wasn't actually a child.

"I feel so bad for him." On and Hong wagged their tails before approaching Mueller with pity in their eyes.

Mueller started to shake even worse as they got closer. He was crying even louder now.

"...I feel so bad for him."

Cale shook his head at On's words. There was no need to feel bad for him.

Mueller was 30 years old and lorded over the others as part of the family that helped develop the Magic Tower. He knew about the Magic Tower's last line of defense, but did not use it because that would have meant revealing himself to Toonka and his crew.

He was so scared that he just ignored his father's last wishes. If it wasn't for that, there was no way that the Mage faction would have lost so badly.

Of course, this was actually beneficial to Cale.

Although he looked like a young and cute boy based on his appearance, inside of that body was a thirty-year-old man who knew the ways of the world. He knew that his own life was what mattered the most.

Naturally, Cale preferred such a person to make a deal with.

"Sooooob."

Cale was tired of seeing a grown ass man continuing to cry. He decided to stop the good guy act. "Hey."

Mueller flinched at Cale's voice. He started to shake again after seeing the steel rod in Cale's hand. He felt like this was the end of his life.

Plop, plop. Cale placed some things on Mueller's arms while he was still crouching inside the wall.

It was a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk. He had taken it out of his magic bag.

Mueller's eyes started to shake. He cautiously looked up at Cale only to see a slightly annoyed expression.

"Eat it."

Mueller quickly took a bite after hearing what sounded like a command. Cale had an odd feeling while watching Mueller eat the bread that got drenched in his tears.

'...He seems to be useless. I have a bad feeling about this. Mueller looked like a totally useless fool.'

He was supposed to have the dwarves' technical skills and the Rat's stealth and meticulousness. This combination was said to have given him the potential to become the greatest developer and constructor. But why-

"T-Thank you very much."

Why does he feel like such a doof? Cale had a bitter taste in his mouth.

However, On, Hong, and Raon all looked toward Mueller with pity and approached him. They were trying to be his shield, as it looked like he was afraid of Cale.

However, contrary to their intentions, Mueller was unable to even taste the bread he was chewing. Two purebred Cat tribe kittens and a Dragon.

At that moment, he heard a noise that brought chills down his spine.

Ding. Ding. Cale tapped the wall with the steel rod.

There was no reason behind it, he was just randomly tapping. He had a bad feeling about Mueller, but decided to take him anyway.

The Henituse territory had a lot of sculptors, as well as skilled artisans of all styles. There were especially many artisans involved in construction. It was because they had a lot of quarries. That was why Mueller would be useful.

"Do you want to live?" Cale's low voice echoed throughout the staircase.

He started to get annoyed with Mueller, who looked like he was ready to cry again.

Ding. Ding. Cale calmed himself by tapping on the wall with the steel rod.

He thought about how he probably needed to be gentle with Mueller since he was such a coward.

Cale put on a gentle smile as he asked Mueller. "Should I save you?"

Mueller vigorously nodded his head. It was so energetic that the breadcrumbs started to fling off of him.

Cale was satisfied with his energetic response and started to speak in a relaxed manner. "Then you have to listen to me. Got it?"

"Y-Yes sir!"

"Finish your bread first."

Mueller quickly started to eat the bread.

Cale was satisfied with the speed and casually asked. "You know where the Magic Tower liege's treasure room is, right?"

Plop. The bread in Mueller's hand dropped to the ground.

Cale gently added on. "You dropped your bread. Should I give you another one?"

Mueller quickly picked the bread back up while shaking his head. He was still crouching inside the wall with Cale, On, Hong, and Raon surrounding the entrance to the inside of the wall.

"I know that you know about the secret room. The real room for the liege of the Magic Tower."

The room on the 20th floor was not the real liege's room. The Magic Tower had more to it than meets the eye.

Mueller's eyes turned chaotic. 'How did he know about the room? It was something that only the liege of the tower and the members of the developer's family knew about.'

At that moment, Mueller heard Cale's voice once again.

"You also know how to get into the fourth floor of the basement, right?"

Cale could see the shock in Mueller's face.

The Magic Tower was known as having 20 floors above ground and three floors underground.

Cale started to get an odd feeling after seeing that Mueller was looking toward him with fear, wondering how Cale knew about all those secret places.

Cale felt like he had become a criminal, taking a hostage and threatening them for information.

He had no plans to do that. In fact, his goal was to save Mueller and give him a safe place to stay.

Cale started to smile and console the shaking Rat person. "First of all, I will let you live if you do as I say."

He naturally had no plans to free Mueller. He needed to take him back home and put him to work. Cale could see that Mueller quickly responding.

"Anything, I will do anything you tell me to do." The Rat and Dwarf mix halfling sounded like he was desperate.

"Good choice." Cale responded to Mueller's desperation.

Mueller's eyes were still shaking as he looked at the man who brought the scary Cats, Cats that were even scarier because they were pure-blooded Cats, as well as the Black Dragon with him.

"Then eat the bread and guide me to the fourth underground floor."

"But you need a magic stone to go-."

Cale took a bag out and threw it toward Mueller before he even finished his sentence. It was a bag filled with many magic stones.

Mueller quickly finished eating the bread that was still drenched in his tears. He then had to go down to the third underground floor with Cale's group surrounding him.

The stairway to the third underground floor. In front of it was only the door to the 3rd floor and no other stairs heading downward. However, Mueller took a magic stone out and approached the wall, eventually revealing a mechanism on the wall.

Creeeeeeeak- A cave was revealed accompanied by the noise.

It was the pathway to the fourth underground floor.

"You go in first."

Mueller mechanically stepped forward after Cale ordered him to do so.

Cale was excited as he headed down the inclined pathway. The cave was dry without any humidity, and there were light stones keeping the path lit.

The 4th floor of the basement. This was somewhere that only the liege of the tower, the mages who were secretly experimenting down below, and Mueller of the developer's family knew about.

Cale walked down the path for a while to find a small door.

"...There is an alarm magic device."

Raon stepped forward as Mueller stood there mumbling. Once Raon lightly waved his paw, the small door opened. Naturally, there was no alarm that went off. Mueller was shocked, but Cale did not care as he stepped in through the door.

'Found it.' He had found the first treasure.

What was hidden in the Magic Tower? The biggest secrets were the two research projects that the Magic Tower was conducting in secret.

The names of the research projects were simple.

[A mana storage device that used the principles of ancient powers.]

[The reason for developing magic resistance.]

A research that Harol would desperately want to acquire, as well as research that would take away the citizens' greatest advantage, were both held here.

"Wonderful." Cale could see the files under layers of security inside two large circular bins.

The citizens who respected ancient power, and Harol who hated magic but also wanted to be able to use magic. How great would they have felt if they had found these research documents?

'But something like that will not happen now.' These now belonged to Cale.

Cale approached the large orb located in the middle of the two circular bins. He could see a seed resting within a fluid inside of this transparent orb that looked like a giant egg.

"Human, that looks interesting!" Raon approached the egg and squished his face onto the glass in order to observe the seed inside of the fluid.

Cale approached Raon and patted his back as he asked. "Do you want to try raising it?"

"Human, is that okay?"

"Yes. But it is mine once it is done growing."

"Deal! I will give it to you. I only wanted to raise it!" The young four-year-old happily accepted a deal where he would do all of the work only for someone else to benefit from it.

Cale had a doting smile on his face as he continued to speak to Raon. "Let's pack up everything in here."

"Of course! I am curious about everything!"

"Yes, let's create a lab just for you in the future."

"Alright!"

Cale started to smile, knowing how much this seed and the research material were worth. "Mueller."

"Gasp, you even know, m-my name."

Cale approached Mueller, who was hiding at the entrance without coming in.

Mueller looked back and forth between the Dragon that made the documents and the large egg disappear into another dimension, and Cale, who was approaching him. He could not help but shake.

"Let's go to the liege's room now."

"Y-Yes sir!"

"Raon."

"What is it, Human?"

"Set an alarm device here and a few magic traps."

The fourth floor of the basement would be revealed once the Magic Tower was destroyed. Toonka and the non-mage faction would become even stronger if they found the items that were down here.

Of course, Cale did not really want them to get stronger. 'They are variables to the plan. If they just irrationally trying to fight with everyone, I don't want them to get stronger than they already are.'

'Although they will perish faster this way.' Cale thought. 'I will lend a hand if needs arise.'

Cale just blankly watched as Raon happily created some magic traps.

"Other humans cannot take all of the interesting things in here. I need to make it so they die the moment they step in here!"

Cale watched the excited four-year-old with satisfaction, but Mueller's face continued to turn paler.

Cale didn't care about Mueller's current mental state, instead, he waited until Mueller resealed the room that was now filled with Raon's magic traps before he grabbed the back of Mueller's neck.

"To the liege's room."

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

Tsuki: Enjoy!