"How did you know?"
"The mana told me."
Harol had a twisted smile on his face after hearing Cale's answer.
The mana told me. That was the phrase that was quite famous for being the Magic Tower's liege's favorite phrase.
Harol Kodiang. He was born between a mage and a magic resistant citizen, and he had the unique traits of both sides. However, his appearance did not look anything like the citizens at all.
"…Are you planning on using my bloodline as blackmail?"
Cale looked down from the 20th floor instead of responding to the question right away.
There were a lot of memorable extra characters in, 'The Birth of a Hero.' Harol Kodiang was one of them.
His mother passed away while giving birth to him alone, and his father did not even know of his existence.
That was the start of Harol's anger.
'However, there was something Harol did not know.'
It was something only the author and the readers would know. That one line was enough to make Harol's anger worthless.
< Harol Kodiang. He was a product of his parents' love, but unfortunately, he would never know the truth. >
The novel did not go into detail about it. All it said was that the liege of the Magic Tower met her when he was out training as a young mage and fell in love.
Cale continued to look out the window before speaking to the son of the Magic Tower's liege, who ended up destroying the Magic Tower.
"Why would I use it to blackmail you? Being related to someone by blood is not a sin."
Harol did not have a response. Cale turned his head to look at Harol.
"Plus, aren't you all the ones who are in a rush?"
They were currently between spring and summer, with the fall harvest season right in front of them. All of them had rebelled against the Magic Tower because they could not handle the taxation of the Magic Tower any longer.
Harol needed to fill the people's desire in order for them to rise up once again.
In fact, Harol was someone who wanted war even more than Toonka did. He wanted to destroy the seeds of mages in the entire world.
"…There is a mage within your crew."
"Yes there is."
Harol could feel mana like his father, but could not use it. There was no way he wouldn't know that Rosalyn was a mage. Of course, the reason that he couldn't feel Raon's presence was because his skills were too weak.
Harol could see how calm and confident Cale was and decided to ask.
"What is the Roan Kingdom planning to do with the Magic Tower?"
Cale started to frown as he made it very clear to Harol.
"The Magic Tower is mine."
Harol observed the red-haired man who spoke confidently while looking out the window.
"I do not share my things with anyone else."
He would have to be crazy to give this to the kingdom. Cale thought about all of the time he spent to get here. There was no way he would give this up. The Magic Tower would become an ingredient for him to create the sturdiest castle for his territory.
Cale could see that Harol's eyes were filled with complications and confusion.
'He probably is going through all sorts of scenarios in his head because he is so smart.'
The final goal of this crazy bastard was to destroy all mages in the world. Harol respected and hoped for a world where everyone just relied on their strength or things like ancient powers.
It was funny, since the world Harol was trying to create would be even worse when it came to comparisons between the people who had abilities and the people who did not. That was why Cale called him a crazy bastard.
"…Young master Cale, is it not that you want the mages of the Whipper Kingdom?"
"Me?"
Cale scoffed to show that he was being honest when he answered. He already had Raon Miru, the Black Dragon with him.
"I do not need any more mages around me. An even greater existence is by my side."
– …Human, I like the view from up here! The great Raon is right here human!
Cale could hear Raon's voice, but he paid no attention to it. Harol had a complicated expression on his face. Cale was planning on sending the mages to the crown prince anyways. He didn't care about whether Harol figured this out or not. He wasn't lying, since he personally would not take those mages under his wing.
'Of course, I will give some help to the crown prince.'
By some, he meant a lot of help to make sure that the mages ended up with the crown prince.
"Alright, Chief Harol Kodiang."
Harol could see that Cale seemed to have no worries at all. He pointed to the door. It was at that moment.
"Cale-nim, it has been 5 minutes."
Their alone time was over.
Choi Han looked through the open door and announced the end of the time before adding on.
"And other people have arrived as well."
Other people? While Harol looked confused, Cale started to speak.
"You can hear the details from my people."
Two people entered through the open door as soon as he said that. It was Billos and Deputy butler Hans. Hans had a large bag of files in his arms.
Why had Cale called Billos and Hans to come with him? It was naturally in order to put them to use.
Harol could feel Cale's hand on his shoulder.
Tap. Tap.
Cale lightly tapped Harol's shoulder before continuing to speak.
"Have a nice discussion."
Harol started to laugh at Cale's calm voice before returning to his usual gentle expression.
"I definitely will."
Harol gave that short response before quickly heading over to Billos and Hans. Billos walked over to Cale while Hans and Harol were discussing. He then cautiously started to whisper.
"Young master-nim."
"What?"
"Should I make the deal under my name for now?"
The transfer of funds was completed with Billos as the middleman. Billos would take Cale's money and deliver it to the non-mage faction. It was because of the difference in currencies and such.
Of course, Billos would be taking the crown's money and not Cale's, but the non-mage faction had no way of knowing about that.
"Yes."
"Then I will leave a deposit and deliver the rest of the money within a month."
"You take care of it."
"But I do have a question."
Cale could see Billos licking his lips. It looked so gross that Cale motioned with his chin for Billos to hurry up and speak.
"That, you see, how much were you thinking of spending?"
The great Magic Tower held a lot of history within its walls. Everyone else believed that all of the devices except the elevator were completely destroyed. The citizens of the Whipper Kingdom also hated this building.
Cale put up one finger in front of Billos. Billos seemed confused after looking at the finger before cautiously asking.
"…100 million?"
"No."
"One billion?"
Cale did not respond.
"…Ten billion?"
Cale nodded his head at the cautious question.
"Take care of it within that range."
It seemed small compared to the tens of billions of gallons that went into feeding the army per month, but the non-mage faction needed money urgently to settle the needs of the citizens. The same amount of money could have different values based on the needs of the people.
Furthermore, it was the crown prince's money and not Cale's money anyway.
Billos started to frown as he quietly, but quickly, started to whisper.
"But it is all destroyed? Well, the original Magic Tower would take more than even a hundred billion gallons to purchase, but none of the magic devices even work right now."
"That is why it is a maximum of ten billion gallons. Bring the cost down using the fact that it is just a skeleton of what it used to be. Oh, and you can use more money, so buy a good chunk of the nearby land as well."
"…Excuse me?"
"There is something that we can sell that is worth the cost of this Magic Tower."
A short period of silence filled the area.
"Sigh."
Billos let out a deep sigh.
"I have no idea what you are planning, but I guess we should always aim to generate the most profit?"
"Of course."
"Then I will do what I can."
Cale started to smile after hearing such a satisfactory answer. Billos seemed to be at a loss of words, but still barely managed to smile back.
"My heart is shaking after hearing such large amounts of money, young master-nim."
"I'm sure it is beating with joy."
Billos did not retort Cale's response. He respectfully bowed before leisurely walking back toward Harol.
The non-mage faction had no use for the Magic Tower and instead needed to do something big like destroying the Magic Tower to satisfy the citizens. Since it was going to be worthless anyway, they might as well make some money off of it.
"Cale-nim."
Choi Han and Beacrox approached Cale. Beacrox looked around the room before asking.
"Are you going to clean it once you buy it?"
Cale gently responded to Beacrox's question.
"I'm going to get rid of everything."
The moment Beacrox let out a sigh of relief, Cale stopped leaning on the windowsill and started to walk away. There was no need to look at anything else right now.
He would be back at night anyway.
***
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.
"Then goodbye."
Cale left the celebration area without any regrets. Beacrox was with him as a guard. Beacrox 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?"
"Yes, I will be sleeping."
"That will be the official story."
It really was easy to talk to Beacrox. He didn't need to do any unnecessary explanations.
That was why 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 device since they would leave some evidence 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.
< Mueller used his small body to hide in a secret wall along the Magic Tower Staircase. It was a spot that only his family and the liege of the Magic Tower knew about. The coward hid in that location. He ended up being stuck there, too afraid of the guards to step out. >
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!"
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 useless things.'
'The Birth of a Hero,' took time 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 flinched and looked toward him, but he did not care 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 mumble 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.
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 than 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?'