"...The Directory?"

"Yes."

Bud smiled brightly at Cale's short answer. "Then let's sneak over to the Mercenaries Guild!"

Cale observed the smiling Bud and pointed out his choice of words. "Sneak?"

'He doesn't want to openly go there?'

"Yes. Sneak. We need to go to the city with the Mercenaries Guild's central headquarters."

The Mercenaries Guild's central headquarters. That was enough for Cale to understand what the Mercenary King was thinking about.

"...Arm's people might be watching the Mercenaries Guild."

"Correct."

Bud pointed toward Cale. "And in my opinion, now anyone above the middle-grade rank in Arm probably knows what you look like."

Cale had fought with White Star already and had a high chance of fighting again in the near future.

Maybe Arm's lowest ranking members might not know about him, but the middle-grade and higher members were most likely informed of Cale's appearance for strategic reasons.

"And I'm pretty certain that there are middle-grade ranking members around the central headquarters since they are desperately trying to find me as well." Bud did not need to explain any further.

Cale nodded his head in agreement.

White Star was currently trying to use Arm to gobble up the Mercenaries Guild and kill the Mercenary King. That was why the Mercenary King was moving around in the name of investigating.

Cale started to speak. "The last information they have about you is that you arrived at our inn, so it would cause quite the stir if you suddenly appeared in the central headquarters. That's bad for you and for our inn."

"Correct. That is why I am saying we should quietly go there."

Cale nodded his head. He then looked somewhere else.

"Gramps! Are you better now?" Raon was flying around Eruhaben and inspecting.

Eruhaben snorted at Raon before starting to speak with an arrogant expression. "Little kid, why are you saying something so obvious?"

Eruhaben looked fine on the outside. Actually, he looked very healthy. The children averaging nine-years-old finally started to smile.

"I'm relieved." Ron Molan commented to Eruhaben in a gentle tone.

Beacrox bowed once he made eye contact with Eruhaben, while Choi Han smiled back.

This made Eruhaben feel very odd. He had never had anybody worry about his lifespan or his health during his life.

He couldn't understand why such a thing was happening in his final year and he was unintentionally getting a lot of concern from those around him. He didn't know how to feel in such a situation.

"Goldie gramps! I will build you a house later! Just wait! I'm going to visit you every day! I've gathered a lot of money!"

"Me too!"

Raon and Hong were walking in circles around Eruhaben with excitement. On was slowly roaming around Eruhaben as well.

Eruhaben observed the children for a bit before turning his head. He ended up making eye contact with Cale.

Cale's gaze looked the same as it always did, however, the ancient Dragon found it difficult to keep looking at him for some reason. However, he started to smile as he knew that one could not avoid something forever.

Cale then started to frown and turned away. He ended up making eye contact with the Mercenary King again as a result.

"What? What is it?" Cale bluntly asked the Mercenary King who was observing him.

Bud approached Cale and asked in a quiet voice that others would not be able to hear. "The ancient Dragon-nim did use the ancient artifact, right?"

Cale looked at Bud's pupils behind the glasses.

Bud started to smile in response and tried to explain himself. "No, I was just wondering why my friend might have suddenly wanted to enter the training ground alone. That was why I asked one of the many potential situations I had considered."

Bud's green eyes behind the glasses started to curl up as he smiled. A similarly smiling Cale was visible through the reflection on Bud's glasses.

Cale whispered quietly as well. However, his voice was not very quiet.

Other than the children averaging nine-years-old who were still happily chatting away by Eruhaben's side, the others had moved over toward Cale, who was a bit away from them.

Cale spoke in a quiet tone that was loud enough for experts like Choi Han, Ron, and Beacrox to hear. "There is no longer an ancient artifact for anyone but Eruhaben-nim to use anymore."

This was technically the truth. Although the ancient artifact was in Cale's possession, he was saving it for Eruhaben.

Cale could see Choi Han who was looking at him after hearing what he just said. He could see Ron and Beacrox nodding their heads as well.

Cale had suddenly entered the training ground alone.

Everyone was curious about what Cale and Eruhaben had done inside there. They probably had their own hypothesis about what happened.

Cale looked back toward the Mercenary King and quietly added on. "So let's hurry on."

He needed to take care of the tasks at hand as quickly as possible.

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

"...Is this really necessary?" Beacrox was the one who asked that question.

There was a terrible frown on his face as he crawled on the floor.

They were in a completely dark tunnel. It was a tiny tunnel that an average adult male could barely crawl through, so Beacrox's meticulously combed hair was being covered in dust.

"I thought we were heading toward the marble buildings because you said we were going toward Resting City."

It was rare to see Beacrox sighing and grumbling like this. He looked at the dust on his body and continued to frown. His white gloves were already extremely dirty.

Resting City, a free city located in the central region of the Eastern continent.

That was where the first branch of the Mercenaries Guild was built in the past, and it was where the building that was now being used as the central headquarters was located as well.

The original Mercenaries Guild base was an old three-story wooden building in the outskirts of Resting City.

This building used to be the central headquarters in the past, however, the Mercenaries Guild purchased land inside Resting City about two hundred years ago and built a new central headquarters that was quite spectacular and tall.

The new central headquarters was a building built with marble that was famous for its beautiful and extravagant exterior.

Choi Han, who was crawling in front of Beacrox, made a comment.

"You're being so annoying."

"...What did you say?"

Beacrox started to frown even more.

However, neither Choi Han nor Beacrox could say anything else.

"...Both of you should shut up."

It was because they heard the ancient Dragon's low voice.

Eruhaben was crawling as well.

"Huff, huff, huff, huhuff-" Mercenary King Bud Illis who was crawling at the front of the group was starting to cold sweat.

He started to speak. "I-I'm sorry. The HQ will be alerted if an unauthorized person uses magic in this tunnel."

There were magic circles throughout the tunnel. These advanced magic circles did not match the shabby tunnel.

This was a secret passage that only the Mercenaries Guild's top leaders knew about. They made sure that no unauthorized person could use magic in the tunnel and the area at the end of the tunnel.

"Enough, just keep moving."

Cale's voice made Bud flinch before he started to quickly crawl once again.

He said just one more thing to them. "Ahem, I should have said something in advance, but I didn't remember it until we got here. Ha. Ha, haha-"

It was the truth. Thinking about bringing Cale here quickly but stealthily made the Mercenary King forget about the unique nature of this tunnel.

He heard Ron's voice at that moment. It was a decently warm tone.

"The Directory is located at the end of this tunnel, right?"

However, Bud felt that that voice was cold. It almost sounded like a threat. It sounded as if Ron was saying that Bud was dead if the Directory was not there.

Bud quickly shouted back. "Yes sir! The room with the Directory is at the end of this tunnel, patriarch-nim! That is why I am leading the way! Hahaha."

The Mercenary King's mage friend was currently stealthily entering the central headquarters.

Bud, who was left with Cale's group alone, couldn't help but shake after hearing Ron's response.

"I see. That is why we have been crawling for the past hour."

That was the current situation. Cale's group had been crawling for one hour.

"Weak human! Should we rest again? Your arms are shaking! Is it tiring? Should I give you another apple pie? Human, we have already rested twice, but we can rest again if you're struggling!"

"We can rest again!"

"You're the only one sweating so much!"

Bud's cold sweat became even worse after hearing the children averaging nine-years-old.

"Sigh, I'm fine... just count it as training... I need it anyway."

Raon was fluttering his wings and leisurely flying around while On and Hong were easily walking in the tunnel in their kitten forms. The children averaging nine-years-old who were tiny were just amazed by this tunnel.

"Ahem, the central headquarters will be alerted if an unauthorized person uses ancient powers as well." That was the only thing Bud could say.

"...Just hurry up and go." Cale rolled his eyes. 'Do you really wanna get killed by all the people behind? Just shut up and hurry before they really kill you.'

Bud started to crawl faster after hearing Cale's comment.

Cale held back a chuckle at Bud's reaction.

His arms were shaking. But they had already had Cale rested twice while crawling for an hour.

Cale was fine. Even if the amount of muscles he had had gone down because of the week of starving, he had not become a complete weakling. He was a survivor, he had gone through some worse situations.

Cale just ignored the excessive concerns of the children averaging nine-years-old.

Instead, his mind was quickly moving.

He was thinking about what Bud Illis had said before they came into this tunnel.

"This tunnel was created by the first Mercenary King. It was created when the Mercenaries Guild was small and weak. That was when everybody just considered mercenaries to be cannon fodder."

A small house built in the forest outside Resting City's walls. The tunnel was in that house's basement. That house was thoroughly hidden by magic circles created by the Mercenaries Guild.

"This tunnel is the only passage to the location of the Directory."

Cale had asked in response. "Where exactly is the Directory located?"

The Mercenary King had smiled before responding back. "Underneath the first Mercenaries Guild's branch."

The three-story wooden building did not have a path down to the basement. However, that basement had a secret area that stored the Directory, which could be considered the Mercenaries Guild's most important pieces of information.

"And that area will explode if someone tries to infiltrate it using any type of power."

That was the reason Cale's group was currently crawling through the tunnel.

"F-Finally!"

Cale could hear the Mercenary King's excited shout. He could faintly see some shining stones past Bud.

"Those shining stones are the entrance! They are on the door! Hahaha!" Bud laughed for the first time in an hour.

He then heard Ron's voice. It was a warm and gentle voice.

"My my, it sure took a long time to get here. Mercenary King Bud, can you make some time to chat with me later?"

Bud oddly felt as if the hair on his back was starting to stand up. It was a warm voice, but it felt very cold.

"L-Let's quickly head over there!" The Mercenary King quickly continued to crawl and finally arrived at the end of the tunnel. He touched the shining stones here and there.

Cale could see the light on the stones disappearing as the Mercenary King touched them.

And once he touched the final stone...

Boooooooom- The tunnel started to shake.

Bud started to speak in an excited voice. "Here it is!"

Ooooooooong. The rumbling came to a stop.

Boom! A new entrance appeared with a loud boom.

"Please follow me."

Cale watched as the Mercenary King crawled into the entrance before he followed behind him.

"I'm going to turn the lights on."

Cale then heard a click and slowly started to see a large area.

Flash. Flash. Flash. The lights started to turn on one by one.

They had crawled through a small tunnel in order to get to this large area.

Cale stood up. He then looked around.

"...A library." He could hear Choi Han's voice behind him.

"Amazing." Beacrox who was mumbling to himself had even forgotten to brush the dust off himself.

"...Ho." The ancient Dragon sounded amazed.

Cale left those reactions behind him as he started to walk.

Tap. Tap. The ground was made of stone.

Bud Illis started to speak once Cale got a good look around the area. "I believe that this is the Mercenaries Guild's greatest pride and joy."

He laughed as he introduced the area to the group. "This is the Eastern continent's first and greatest record library."

This area looked large enough to fit multiple houses. This whole place was filled with books.

Preservation magic was cast on them so that they were maintained in the best condition. These books all recorded just one thing.

"This is the record of strong individuals the Mercenaries Guild has collected for hundreds of years."

Strong individuals. The first Mercenary King and the first Mercenaries Guild started to record information about strong individuals in order to survive.

Bud Illis approached Cale and continued to speak. "I did call it the records of strong individuals, however."

The Directory. The reason these records were important was not just because of the information on strong individuals.

"You can actually call it the history of the Eastern continent for the past 1,000 years."

This area was filled with tens of thousands of books.

Humidity, temperature, preservation and security. All of these spells were cast on the books in this records library.

The Mercenary King smiled and asked Cale a question. "What do you think? Do you think you can find the information you are looking for here?"

Tens of thousands of books.

The group looked at Cale and the Mercenary King. Their expressions did not look good. Even the ancient Dragon seemed a bit upset.

Tens of thousands of books.

They needed to find information about that reincarnator, the White Star, in these books.

It was at that moment.

"It's been a while."

The Mercenary King could see a bitter smile appearing on Cale's face.

Cale started to laugh as he continued to speak. "It really has been a while."

His cold gaze was slowly looking through the numerous amounts of books in front of him.

"What's been a while?"

Cale responded to the Mercenary King's question. "I expected this. 1,000 years' worth of records should at least be this much."

The area with the Directory. Cale thought it was obvious that a significant amount of information would be present.

Cale brushed his hand past his eyes. "I'll need to record this large amount of information for the first time in a long while."

Kim Roksoo, Grade 1 Ability User.

First brain-related special ability, [Record].

Medium to use ability, "eyes".

His eyes slowly took in the large number of records. He started to walk toward the tens of thousands of books as he asked. "Ron, you prepared some cold drinks like I asked, right?"

Cale faced a familiar sight for the first time in a long while as he unbuttoned the first button of his shirt.

His mind always heated up when he recorded things. He had unbuttoned the top button in order to help with the stuffiness.

That was Kim Roksoo's habit whenever he worked.

"Yes, young master." Ron answered, even though he was curious.

Despite the fact that the request sounded like they were to do thing relaxingly, the seriousness in Cale's eyes was too much to be a joke.

"...You're going to go through all of these?" The Mercenary King urgently chased behind Cale, who was heading toward the center of the area that was full of thousands of books.

He seemed to be nervous. "Cale, I remember what you told me when you made me the offer."

Bud Illis recalled the things Cale told him the first time they met. "You asked me to show you the Directory."

The Directory was not a file that even the Mercenary King could easily show others. However, he still brought Cale here, even acting stealthily in the process.

There was a simple reason for it.

"You said you needed to know White Star's history."

Cale turned his head and looked toward the Mercenary King. The Mercenary King flinched.

It was because Cale's eyes did not look human for a moment. They were cold and emotionless. It was as if he was looking at an object.

However, those thoughts quickly disappeared once Cale started to speak. Cale had not told the Mercenary King much information about White Star.

However, it was time to share some details. "White Star is a reincarnator who has gone through many lives for approximately 1,000 years."

That was enough. Cale confirmed the Mercenary King's expression changing before turning back around and heading toward the records.

Bud just blankly stared at Cale's back.

Pat. Pat. He only returned to his senses and started to speak after the ancient Dragon patted his shoulders before walking past him.

"...Eruhaben-nim, are you saying White Star is someone who repeatedly died and was born again?"

"Yes. He reincarnated over and over."

The ancient Dragon was approaching Cale. Eruhaben looked toward Cale who stopped in front of a desk and was looking around before continuing to speak.

"That is why we came here to look for records about him. He should have left traces throughout the Eastern and Western continents during his reincarnations."

Bud quickly responded back. "...There's no way that we have no records on such a strong individual."

However, Bud's lips opened and closed a few times without saying anything before he stopped hesitating and continued to speak. "However, it is close to impossible to find traces of him in these tens of thousands of books."

As the current Mercenary King, he had the most knowledge about these records than any other living being.

"Each book has hundreds of people listed in it. It is ... almost not realistic to go through hundreds of thousands of individuals."

He peeked toward Ron Molan before continuing to speak. "Of course, I have a good knowledge of all of the strong individuals in the past fifty years. Those are considered the 'currently recording' information."

Ron Molan was an example of a strong individual from the Eastern continent whose traces had disappeared.

That was why the Mercenaries Guild was keeping his record under the 'currently recording' status.

"...Around two hundred years might be doable, but a thousand years is just-"

"Bud."

Someone cut him off. It was Cale.

"Where is the first-ever record?"

"Haaaaaaaaa."

Bud sighed at Cale who seemed ready to start looking from the first-ever record. He quickly walked over to Cale.

"Cale, are you planning on spending the next few years in here? Hmm?" Bud was getting frustrated.