Compared to the excited Black Dragon, the Gold Dragon was feeling iffy even though he got the response that he had wanted.
"Teach me everything! Teach me everything that you know!"
Eruhaben looked at how excited Raon was and quietly mumbled back.
"…I plan to do that."
"Great idea! Don't you agree, weak human?"
"Yes, yes."
Eruhaben had lived for close to 1,000 years, but had never seen such a combination like this human who was nodding his head and the Dragon that was flapping his wings.
'Am I making the right decision?'
He questioned it for a moment, but quickly stopped doubting himself as he did not have much time left. This was fate as well. He happened to meet a young Dragon while in his twilight years, and that Dragon was one that was not like normal Dragons. What else could this be if it was not fate?
He started to laugh, thinking about how he had never expected such an odd situation.
"Might as well pass everything on since I am going to die soon."
Although Eruhaben was laughing as he said that, silence quickly filled the area. However, Eruhaben could feel the gazes that were focused on him.
"What? Goldie, what did you just say?"
"Excuse me? Dragon-nim, what are you talking about?"
Raon flew in front of Eruhaben's face and started to shout, while Pendrick was shaking, as if he had heard the declaration for the destruction of the world.
Raon flew around and looked over Eruhaben's body as he asked.
"Are you poisoned? Did someone curse you? Did you get hurt while fighting?"
Eruhaben felt odd hearing the shocked and concerned voice of this little Dragon. However, he pushed Raon away with his hand.
"Little kid, does it make sense for a Dragon to suffer from such things?"
"Not at all!"
Eruhaben then flinched at Raon's continued words.
"Then why are you dying? Don't die! You're the only other Dragon I know!"
The Gold Dragon's expression became difficult to read. He seemed like he was about to laugh, but also like he was in disbelief. Eruhaben avoided Raon's passionate gaze only to end up making eye contact with Cale.
"May I ask why you are sick?"
"I've just become weak with age."
Eruhaben waved it off, but Cale started to worry.
'Since we're getting something from him…'
Cale started to think back to see if there was an ancient power that could help.
Eruhaben petted Pendrick, who seemed to be in a chaotic state from the sudden news, on the head. He recalled when Chief Canaria had brought this Elf who could not see Elementals with her to the lair.
He was curious about Pendrick's unique disposition that he had saved this dying Elf in order to satisfy his curiosity. This child had started to follow Eruhaben around after that. Feeling Pendrick's sincerity, Eruhaben started to treat Pendrick with gentleness rather than curiosity.
"Pendrick, all things of the world are bound to get old and die. Nothing can overcome death. Well, there are ways of controlling death."
"H, how?"
Eruhaben was calm while Pendrick was anxious.
"You need to follow the darkness. Like the Lich."
"Ah."
Pendrick let out a gasp.
Eruhaben quickly added on.
"Of course, I have no plans to do that."
However, there were some Dragons in the past who ended up doing that. Eruhaben understood why they had done it, but he still did not agree with their decisions.
Necromancers would eventually die, and Dark Elves would die as well. However, a Lich did not feel any pain or die from old age. The difference between the two was quite significant.
"But it is still a while away, so there is no need to worry about it now."
"…I understand."
Eruhaben could see the teary Pendrick nodding his head. At that moment, Eruhaben could hear Raon's voice once again.
"Hey, Golden Dragon."
"What?"
Eruhaben turned to look at Raon after hearing Raon's serious voice. Raon then shared what was on his mind.
"I will be able to find a way for you to live for a very long time because I am great and mighty. Just wait."
Eruhaben just stared at Raon and ignored what Raon had just said. However, he had to use his fingers to prevent himself from smiling as he looked toward Cale.
"Can all of you stay here for about three months? Cale Henituse, I heard that you were a noble."
"Mm, it should be fine for us to stay here for a bit."
Cale thought about his promise with Litana after hearing Eruhaben's question. Litana, the Queen of the Jungle, had said she wanted to meet with Cale in order to pay him back for his help.
"Human."
'Hmm?'
Cale turned his gaze over to Raon after hearing Raon's voice. He then flinched, as Raon's eyes looked vicious.
"…Human, I do not wish to be here alone."
Raon did not even wait for Cale's reaction as he turned toward Eruhaben. The Dragon-like glare made Eruhaben let out an interested gasp as he made eye contact with Raon. Raon then started to speak.
"This weak human only sleeps on the most luxurious and soft beds. He likes fruits and only eats the highest quality meat."
"…You want me to prepare it?"
"Aren't you the owner of this place? Didn't you say that everything would be free? A great and mighty Dragon just requires a flick of their hand to prepare all of those things."
"…That is true."
At that moment, Eruhaben wondered why he had to do all of this, even in his old age.
'I've grown too old.'
He had become too nice. How did he, someone who used to beat up those arrogant Dragons so that they would be stuck to their beds licking their wounds for at least a month, end up like this?
However, Raon didn't care about what Eruhaben was thinking about as he turned back toward Cale.
"Human, don't you need to go meet with the Queen of the Jungle?"
"…Yes?"
"Hurry, hurry back. I will give you one week." (Yes, he uses hurry twice. )
"…Okay."
Raon snickered after hearing Cale's response and returned to the couch next to Cale to lay down on the fluffy couch.
That made Cale let out a sigh.
"Haaaaaa."
"Ho."
Eruhaben let out a gasp as well. At that moment, Cale and Eruhaben made eye contact again. Although they were almost a thousand years apart, they felt a sense of connection with each other.
Cale then started to speak.
"Then I will be back."
"Sure."
Eruhaben let out a sigh and responded back, before casually adding on to Cale, who was getting up from the couch, as well as the rest of the group who were getting ready to follow behind him.
"It doesn't matter whether you go in and out, but be quiet while you are here. I am a bit sensitive. I accepted all of you because the little kid demanded it, but be careful."
The Gold Dragon could see that both Cale and Raon were giving him the same odd expression.
"What are you looking at?"
Cale slowly shook his head and answered back.
"No, nothing at all."
At that moment, Raon started to speak into Cale's mind.
– That Golden Dragon doesn't seem that sensitive though?
Cale felt the same way. Eruhaben did not seem sensitive at all. Eruhaben, like Raon, did not seem like a normal Dragon. Eruhaben must have been feeling iffy about Cale's gaze, as he quickly added on.
"Also, I am only going to teach the little kid. I will not teach anybody else anything, no matter how much you beg and plead. Well, I am a bit curious about the Beast children, but no."
Cale clearly understood.
'He'll teach us if we beg and plead.'
Cale's gaze moved toward his group to see Rosalyn and the Beast children.
Rosalyn looked toward him and started to smile.
Rosalyn, as expected, had understood as well. Cale had a sly smirk on his face.
"…Why are you smiling like that?"
"This is my way of agreeing with you, Eruhaben-nim."
Eruhaben found this to be suspicious. He didn't know what was going through Cale's mind.
Cale was thinking about how Raon, as well as everybody else in his group, would take whatever they could from this Dragon for the next three months.
He had thought that this Dragon would be scary, but it just ended up being a nice old man who continued to help them out, even as he grumbled.
"Human, I do not know why you are smiling like that again, but you need to hurry back."
"I got it. I'll only take a few people and come back soon."
Cale responded back to Raon's repeated question, but suddenly felt nervous after thinking about the group that would go to the Jungle with him.
***
The next day, Cale figured out the source of that nervousness.
"Enjoy your trip, human! Don't step in to take action and get hurt again!"
They were standing in front of Eruhaben's lair. Cale was not paying attention to any of Raon's concerned statements, as he was currently deep in thought.
'I knew that something was weird.'
Cale's gaze turned toward the group that would be going with him.
First of all, in order to go through the, 'Path of No Return,' one of the Five Forbidden Regions, he needed On with him. On was currently saying goodbye to Hong. Cale walked past On and toward the others.
Choi Han, Beacrox, and Ron.
"Mm."
It was a combination that he couldn't help but groan about.
'Should I have brought Hans instead?'
Cale thought about Hans, whom he had left back in the Ubarr territory. An unknown coldness made Cale get the chills and start to shiver.
"Young master-nim, are you okay?"
Ron approached him and pretended to be a nice old man.
"…Yes, I'm okay."
"I'm glad that you are okay. Please let me know if you start to feel sick."
Ron put on his usual benign smile.
"In a way, it's nice to travel with only a few people like this. It has been a while since we have done so."
'It's not nice at all.'
Cale looked at Beacrox, who was putting on a pair of white gloves as usual, and started to contemplate about this member makeup.
'It seems like the perfect team to go do some bad things.'
Beacrox must have noticed Cale's look of uncertainty, as he brushed his hands off and approached Cale.
"Young master-nim, we should be able to head out now."
"Sure, let's go."
Raon and the others said goodbye as Cale and the group headed toward Hoik Village, which was located at the southern end of the Whipper Kingdom. This was the location of the entrance of the, 'Path of No Return.'
***
It just had to be raining.
"It is similar to last time!"
The silver kitten On, who was in Cale's arms, started to hum as she controlled the fog.
Cale's group was currently walking inside the, 'Path of No Return.' Even the rain could not get rid of this odd fog.
Shaaaaaa-
The rain was so loud that Cale couldn't even hear On's humming.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Cale was starting to get annoyed by the rain falling on his raincoat. Beacrox slowly walked up next to Cale.
"It is getting late and the rain is strong. Young master-nim, I think it would be best to spend the night in the forest."
Cale nodded his head.
"On, let's head back to that cave from last time."
"It's nearby."
Cale saw that On was controlling the fog again, and so he told the others to follow.
Ron, Choi Han, and Beacrox all clutched at the raincoats and followed behind Cale. Choi Han walked up next to Cale and asked.
"Are you heading to the cave where you met Queen Litana-nim?"
"Yes, that one."
It was a memorable location where Cale had pretended to be a good and benevolent person. It was a place where he had acted like all sorts of things that he was not.
"I have some good memories in that place."
On must have recalled that memory as well, as she shook her head and continued to control the fog. Maybe it was because everybody was walking quickly, but they soon saw the cave up ahead.
"It's over there! Hmm?"
On, who was pointing toward the cave, suddenly stopped. Ron came up to Cale.
"There seems to be someone in there."
A faint light was coming out of the cave. Someone seemed to already be inside of the cave. Cale debated it for a moment before starting to speak.
"It seems like it is too late to go elsewhere. Let's head there for now."
It was annoying to go look for another location. It was raining, it was dark, he was hungry, and he didn't want to walk anymore.
Since there really wasn't anywhere else to go, they might as well spend a night with some strangers.
"As you wish, Cale-nim. Thankfully, I do not feel any strong auras in there."
Cale quickly answered after hearing Choi Han's comment.
"Let's go."
They didn't have anything to lose.
Drip. Drip.
The rain started to pummel their raincoats harder as they quickly headed to the cave.
The faint light started to get stronger and they could see the entrance of the cave.
'I can finally rest.'
Cale was about to walk even faster with that thought in mind when he heard Choi Han's voice.
"…It's a familiar aura."
'What?'
Cale could see the entrance of the cave as he heard Choi Han's comment.
He could see a small fire that lit up the inside of the cave.
There were two people inside.
'Son of a…'
Cale rubbed his eyes.
"Who, who are you?"
One of the people inside asked in a shaking voice.
A weak and innocent looking man was looking at Cale and the others. Not only were the man's eyes pure, but they seemed to be teary as well, making him look very pitiful.
But that was not the problem.
'Why is she over here?'
There was a blonde woman lying on the ground next to the innocent-looking blonde man.
He had seen her before.
The blonde sword master.
The person from the secret organization who had killed the blood-crazy mage, Redika.
That woman was dyed black in multiple spots on her body and was lying there unconscious.
Clang-
A very quiet noise reached Cale's ear.
Choi Han had started to take his sword out of the scabbard.
Cale felt like someone had thrown a punch at him.
'What the hell is going on?'
At that moment, he made eye contact with Ron.
'What's wrong?'
That was what Ron's gaze seemed to be asked. At that moment, Cale's mind became clear.
'Oh, right. That woman does not know my face.'
The blonde sword master did not know Cale's face, or anybody else's face for that matter. She had only seen them with their masks on.
'Perfect.'
Cale put a hand on Choi Han's shoulder.
"Choi Han, put your sword away."
"Excuse me? But!"
Cale whispered to Choi Han who asked with confusion.
"Hide your aura."
The woman may feel Choi Han's aura if she woke up later.
Instead of looking at the confused Choi Han, Cale looked toward the unconscious sword master and the blonde, innocent-looking man next to her.
Cale gently smiled at the man as On meowed in Cale's arms.
Meeeeow.
She seemed to be saying that this was a repeat of what had happened last time. However, Cale did not care about her opinion right now.
Choi Han definitely said that he did not feel any strong aura inside of the cave.
That meant that, unlike the blonde sword master, this man was weak.
Cale took off the hood of his raincoat and started to speak to the blonde man.
"I'm sorry. Did we scare you?"
It was a gentle and sincere tone.
Choi Han flinched at that tone. However, Ron stepped forward at that moment.
Ron, Beacrox, and On, the three of them did not interact with the enemy during the battle they fought alongside the Whale tribe. That was why they didn't know the face of the blonde sword master.
However, Cale was not worried about what Ron would say.
"I apologize. Our young master-nim's guard is very dedicated to his job."
Ron spoke warmly, fitting his role as a servant masterfully.
Cale made eye contact with Ron and then Beacrox. The father-son duo stealthily nodded their heads at Cale.
'We don't know what is going on, but we will play along for now.'
That seemed to be what they were saying.
'How reliable.'
Cale suddenly felt like they were very reliable. This was the first time Cale actually liked this member configuration.