Cale quietly observed the people gathered in the office once they arrived at the residence. "It will not be easy this time."

Everybody other than Ron, whom Cale had sent to his room, and Beacrox, who was taking care of Ron, were present.

The three children averaging 7-years of age, Choi Han, Rosalyn, Lock, and even Vice Captain Hilsman and the ten Wolf children all quickly arrived in Cale's room.. Cale had gathered up everyone in his arsenal.

Cale had already been his usual calm and calculative self along the road. However he felt like it might be too much, but he didn't have enough information about the enemy. It was better to be over prepared.

Furthermore, he'd rather overkill all those people instead of his own people getting hurt.

Rosalyn looked toward Cale and started to speak. "Young master Cale, then are we taking a ship to Hais Island?"

"Yes. We will probably go somewhere around Hais Island 5."

Hais Island was the term for the group of islands between the Western and Eastern continent. The numbers represented the order they were discovered.

Cale's goal was Hais Island 5. It was the fifth island to be discovered, as well as the largest island in the group.

It was also the closest island to the Western Continent, making it possible to travel by ship easily. That was why even Ron could go with them.

"I heard that there is a mermaid base on the island."

"It is weird that they have a base on top of an island."

"That is why it is probably one of Arm's bases. This is why it is our first destination..." Cale had already decided where they would go. "Will be Hais Island 12."

Hais Island 12 was a very small island that was the twelfth to be discovered. It was the closest island to Hais Island 5.

"Umm, excuse me, young master-nim."

Vice Captain Hilsman cautiously started to speak.

Cale motioned for him to continue.

"Didn't you say that we will be fighting against the Mermaids? Aren't the Whales currently fighting against the Mermaids?"

"Yes."

Hilsman was very serious, unlike his usual goofy self. It was because he knew Ron's life was on the line. And he knew how important Ron was for Cale.

Cale continued to observe Hilsman as he recalled what his father had said.

"Whether he is an assassin or not, it doesn't matter. I trust my own eyes and I trust your mother. I'm sure you have already chosen to trust your heart as well, since you keep him close to you."

Other people may think that Count Deruth was saving just another servant and wondered why he would spend so much effort.

However, it was because he saw with his own eyes how Ron had watched over Cale for over ten years while Cale shunned the rest of his family. He was thinking more as a father than as the Count.

"Young master-nim, will we be okay? I heard that the Mermaids are creatures of the dark and are currently stronger due to the dead mana and poison." Hilsman was worried about their darkness attribute and the dead mana.

Rosalyn answered the question instead of Cale. "We will be fine. Young master Cale knows how to cure the mermaid poison and we just need to oppress the dead mana with an even stronger power."

The usual strategy when fighting against creatures of the dark that use dead mana was to oppress them with a single attack in order to limit the amount of battle time.

They needed to use a stronger mana or aura, or even a very strong attack in order to suppress the dead mana. And there was a power that was extremely strong against dead mana.

Cale knew about that power. Life. 'There is a stupid method that would work very well against it.'

It was actually pretty simple. Living beings were stronger than the dead. There was something that most accurately proved that something was alive.

Rosalyn started to speak. "Of course, it is most effective to use blood when fighting against creatures of the dark that use dead mana, but that is dangerous."

Yes, blood. And they would need quite a lot of blood.

Even a weak human would be able to hold back creatures of the dark for a short amount of time if they sprayed them with their blood. However, there was a high chance that they would die from too much blood loss.

You couldn't fight against the strong creatures of the dark using a small amount of blood.

'Although, blood is useless against Dark Elves or Vampires.'

Dark Elves were still children of nature as they are living beings with blood even though they use dead mana, while Vampires drink blood on a normal basis.

The ancient texts described that the demonic races had dyed human hearts with dead mana in order to make them continue to beat even after the human had died.

'What crazy nonsense.'

It sounded crazy to Cale.

At the same time, Cale had a sudden thought that he mumbled without thinking about. "My blood would probably be extremely effective."

His blood was powered by the Vitality of the Heart. With the regenerative abilities of the Vitality of the Heart, his blood would have more life than any other blood.

The blood would also continue to spurt out without stop thanks to the Vitality of the Heart working to resupply blood and heal him.

There would be nothing that was more effective against the creatures of the dark than his blood.

Although he would need to test it out to be sure, he could probably last a while against the Mermaids.

Most importantly, Ancient Powers were powers born from nature and humans. That meant that the Vitality of the Heart held attributes of both nature and life. There was a good chance that it would be strong against the dark.

Cale started to imagine. "Mm, if I spray my blood—."

What if he covered himself in blood and spurted his enemies with it? Cale started to frown. 'How disgusting.'

It sounded very disgusting. Cale then noticed that the room was silent as he looked around.

A loud voice suddenly filled the silent room.

"What a crazy idea! Why would a weakling like you think about such a thing?! Even with how much you train, you're still the weakest among us. We do not need your weak blood!" Raon was very angry.

"I wish you would stop having such weird thoughts."

"Very weird. It is a very weird thought."

On and Hong were looking at Cale like he was crazy.

That response made Cale look toward Rosalyn, who was also shaking her head. She looked like she was saying that there was no way they would let him do that.

"There is no need to do that."

Cale looked around at everyone and stopped after seeing Hilsman's face, that seemed to be full of admiration for some reasons.

Cale responded back with a bit of anxiety.

"Of course I have no plans of actually doing that."

He had many cards to play other than his own blood. His thought was just going through possibilities since he was thinking about it.

Why would he use his own blood when he hated seeing his family's painful face? He would rather run away than do something like that. He could heal Ron if he just grabbed a mermaid corpse and ran away.

Raon flew over near the couch Cale was sitting on and spoke angrily. "I will make sure you don't do such a thing."

Nobody believed that he wouldn't do such a thing. Cale sighed at their reactions, but quickly decided to forget about it.

There was no way such a thing would happen, so he didn't feel the need to waste any more of his energy thinking about it.

Instead, he stood up.

"Where are you going?"

'I guess he is very angry right now, he doesn't even call me Human anymore.' Cale responded to Raon. "The Cliff of Winds."

The steepest cliff on this shoreline.

Cale headed to that cliff with a whirlpool underneath it. He looked down once he got to the top of the cliff.

The shoreline was busy with the construction of the Naval Base. However, his gaze soon moved away, toward the horizon.

"What are you trying to do, Cale-nim?"

Cale shrugged his shoulders at Choi Han's question before he took out a conch shell that looked like a horn flute out of his magic bag.

Choi Han had seen this item before. It was one of the items Cale had received from Witira when they had met the Whale King on their way to the Whipper Kingdom.

"...What?" Choi Han thought he might know what Cale was trying to do.

Cale put his mouth on the smaller opening of the conch and started to blow.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii- A quiet yet high pitched noise started to come out before the conch shell was covered with a blue light.

It was so quiet that the people down below could not hear it, but there were people far away who were able to hear it clearly.

Two days later, Cale was standing at the Cliff of Winds while watching the sunset. The sun was slowly going down across the horizon. He then suddenly put the still glowing conch shell to his ear.

Giiiiiiiiiii- He heard something inside the conch shell.

"They're here."

Raon pointed toward the horizon as Cale said that and shouted as well. "They're here!"

"Haa."

"...Wow."

Choi Han, who had assumed this might be the case, let out a gasp while Rosalyn, who had no idea, was shocked.

Splash, splash. The ocean seemed to be moving far in the horizon. The cause of it was two large Whales and a smaller third Whale.

Cale turned around to look at the rest of the group. They were all focused on the red-haired Cale rather than the red sunset. They could see that Cale had a smile on his face.

"Time to go." Their guides had arrived. 'Might as well ride the Whales if I have to move.'

The large Whales swimming across the horizon suddenly disappeared. Instead, a single person appeared in front of Cale.

"Young master Cale, long time no see."

"Good to see you as well, Paseton."

The mixed-blooded Whale, Paseton. Only, the small Humpback Whale turned into his human form so that he could appear in front of Cale and company.

Raon, Choi Han, and Rosalyn were the only ones with Cale on this now dark cliff.

"Why did you suddenly call for us?"

Paseton moved his gaze to the conch shell in Cale's hand. They were in the middle of fighting with the mermaids, but had to come over after hearing Cale's call.

The signal Cale had sent was, 'Urgent.' It was a noise that only the Whale beast people could hear.

"Do you need our strength already?" One of the conditions of Cale's deal with the Whales was that he would be able to use their strength.

Cale got right to the point in order to answer Paseton's question. "I found out about the organization that is helping the mermaids."

"...Excuse me?" Cale's unexpected answer made Paseton's face stiffen up.

The Whales were already having major headaches from the people who had taken over Hais Island 5 and were helping the mermaids out in the dark. It was not that they were very strong, but the fact that the mermaids had helps was concerning.

"One of my subordinates was injured badly while figuring that out. I contacted you because we need to quickly take care of his mermaid poison and because I thought you should know the information."

However, Paseton had a question after hearing Cale's comments. "Young master Cale, why were you looking into that?"

Cale closed his mouth for a second. A rare, awkward smile was on his face. "Just because I was concerned."

Raon was not invisible, but chose to speak into Cale's mind anyway.

– You're doing it again.

However, Cale could only just ignored it and started to look annoyed.

"With the mermaids getting stronger thanks to the Forest of Darkness that is by our territory, I wanted to help somehow, even though I knew the strong Whale would be able to take care of it."

Paseton thought that the expression on Cale's face was one of embarrassment. Cale had a similar expression when he stabbed the mermaid's arm to help get rid of the mermaid poison in his leg.

(Tsuki: how did Cale annoyed face look like an embarrassed face, Paseton? 😅)

Many emotions quickly went through the handsome Paseton's eyes. His beautiful eyes were very clear, even underneath the dark night sky.

Cale turned his head away.

"I see."

"It's not like we are strangers."

He casually answered before making eye contact with the others. Rosalyn and Choi Han were staring at Cale.

Their eyes easily revealed what they wanted to say. 'Isn't that different than the truth?'

Paseton then started to speak. "Thank you very much, young master-nim. You helped us out again after saving my life last time."

Cale still didn't look back toward Paseton. He could see Rosalyn and Choi Han asking him with their gazes. 'When did you save this person?'

Cale ignored their gazes while Rosalyn and Choi Han did not ask their questions aloud.

In fact, Rosalyn opened her mouth to say something else. "Young master Cale headed over here as soon as he learned of the information. We needed to quickly take care of the mermaid poison, but he thought we needed to let the Whale tribe know this information as quickly as possible."

Cale showed his thanks with his gaze. This was the first time someone actually helped him pull off a scam.

Choi Han just kept his mouth shut and stepped back.

"I see. I guess we need to bring over a mermaid corpse in order to get rid of the mermaid poison."

"We will go ourselves."

"Excuse me?"

Cale looked back at Paseton. "We are going as well."

'There was something I needed to do.' Of course, the words coming out of Cale's mouth were very different from his actual thoughts. "There aren't many of us, so we probably can't participate in the battle, but we want to help out, even if it is just a little."

But really, Cale was just planning on doing a hit and run. Of course, the 'hit' would have to be big enough to calm his anger.

Paseton's pupils started to shake. The Whale Tribe was currently in the middle of a fierce battle with the Mermaids.

Of course, they had the advantage since they learned about the dead mana and poison in advance, however, there were a lot of mermaids while the Whales had a lot of obstacles in their way because they had to protect the weaker sea creatures while fighting the mermaids.

That was why they needed an overwhelming strength.

'Young master-nim says they are weak, but...' Paseton's gaze headed toward the Black Dragon, Raon. It didn't matter if it was on land, on an island, or even in the sea.

"What are you looking at, little Whale?"

The cute Dragon with short legs wrinkled his nose and started to strike a pose that seemed to say, 'I am great'.

Paseton had seen the Dragon's strength before. He had seen that overwhelming power with his own eyes. "It is nothing, Raon-nim."

"Hmph, I will be going as well." Raon snorted at Paseton's respectful response and turned his head away.

At the same time, Raon started to speak into Cale's mind.

– Did I do a good job, Human? Was I great?

Cale slightly nodded his head at Raon. He did well for his age. Cale didn't care about how Raon was excited about his acting, his Raon excited about every new thing, as he started to speak to Paseton.

"I will explain on our way there. I want to move as quickly as possible. What do you think?"

Paseton answered as Cale expected. "We can leave right away."

"Good." Cale was preparing to leave very quietly late at night. They were not going to depart from the port, as there were many soldiers patrolling the area right now.

Cale was currently on the island that was farthest away from the coast. Everyone had moved here earlier during the day.

"Oh. Wow." Paseton was in awe as he looked at the group.

He had expected On and Hong, but there were more people than he expected. He could also feel that they were all pretty strong.

Paseton thought he might have misread because he was one of the weaker Whales, but he seemed to be right based on the reactions of the two Killer Whales that came with him.

"Archie, long time no see."

Archie, the Killer Whale that served as Whale King Shickler's guard, bowed with a stiff expression. He then turned his gaze away from Cale right away.

Cale's gaze, as well as the Black Dragon staring at him from behind Cale, made him feel odd.

Raon started to speak at that moment.

"Are we riding this Killer Whale?"

"Probably."

Archie started to frown. Did he hear correctly? Did they say ride? Archie looked toward Paseton, who quickly looked away before starting to speak.

"Ahem, a large ship will be easily spotted, so we will use a medium-size ship in order to have everyone head out to sea, but since we have limited space in the ship and also have an injured patient, young master Cale-nim and Raon-nim as well as some other people, will follow us using levitation magic, ahem, before landing on the two of your backs."

"Ho!" Archie could not believe what he had just heard.

Raon started to speak at that moment. "But Killer Whales are smaller than Humpback Whales. Will there be enough space?"

Killer Whales were small in comparison to Humpback Whales, however, they were still at least 7 – 10 meters in length. Archie started to frown even more, while the other Killer Whale soldier that came with them was confused.

"Archie, thanks in advance."

Pat, pat. Cale patted Archie's shoulder and started to smile.

Archie felt like Cale was mocking him.

At that moment, Archie could hear Paseton starting to speak once again. "Ah, for your information, the two of you will have to pull the medium-sized ship as well. It has some magic in it, so we just need to tie it to you. We didn't get any crew members."

"...Why should I deal with such crap!?"

"My father said to do anything and everything."

Archie shut up after hearing Paseton's answer. The Whale King was extremely sensitive these days from fighting against the mermaids, so he might really get beaten to death if he made a wrong move.

"Damn it!" Archie looked up at the sky and started to swear.

Cale stood there and patted Archie's back. "I will be on your back, so please swim safely, Archie."

Archie had become a living taxi.

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

Tsuki: Enjoy!