Dawn was approaching.
The ocean was calm now that the storm was over. Cale looked up at the sky that was no longer covered by the large rain cloud that covered half of the Hais Islands and then lowered his head.
He had a single thought in his head.
'… Scary bastards.'
Cale was scared.
Everything was destroyed.
Other than the ships that reached the islands, all of the ships were floating in pieces after the whirlpools and the Whales got to them.
He could see corpses floating like black dots as well.
"Human … are you shocked?"
Cale looked toward the Black Dragon, Raon.
"Human, is this too much for you? We had no other choice."
Raon shook his head as he started to speak in a serious tone.
"Sometimes, one side must die or get injured badly in order for the other side to live. You need to firm your resolve to survive the upcoming chaos. Goldie gramps said that there is nobody as unlucky as you."
"Raon."
"Yes, I can understand how unlucky you are. So just trust me, the great and mighty Raon."
"Let's go down."
"…Alright."
Cale let Raon's comments in through one ear and out the other as he headed down to the Hais Islands.
The battle had continued from the moment the sun went down to right before the sun came back up.
This overnight battle was, as expected, won by Cale's side.
It was a battle that they could not lose.
The Whale tribe, the Tiger Tribe, and Cale's group. Who would expect all of these strong forces to gather together to fight a common foe?
Tap.
Cale's feet landed on the sand.
Hais Island 6.
This was the island that the sword master Hannah was fighting on last night.
"What a mess."
Cale's gaze headed down in a diagonal direction to see Hannah just casually sitting on the ground. Her bloodied blade was stabbed into the sand.
Hannah raised her head and started to speak as if she was responding to Cale.
"Isn't it great to look at?"
She was covered in blood.
Cale felt disgusted after seeing that Hannah's blonde hair and black scars were not visible because she was completely drenched in blood.
It was not because she covered herself in someone else's blood.
Cale took out a potion and threw it toward Hannah.
"Enjoy it after you check your own condition. The Saint-nim will faint if he sees you like this."
Hannah caught the potion and then started to laugh. Cale looked away from Hannah who was laughing even while bleeding from the injuries she received from the enemies' swords and arrows.
'She really is crazy.'
Both of these twins had something wrong with them.
Cale continued to look away as he watched the rising sun as well as the rest of his group slowly approaching Hais Island 6.
"Hey, Cale Henituse."
"What?"
Cale responded to Hannah without looking back. She continued to speak in a quiet but crazy voice.
"That was not enough blood."
"… I know."
Even I know by now that you are crazy for blood.
That was why there was something he wanted from her as well.
"Young master Cale!"
Witira quickly rushed to shore. He heard a quiet voice along with Witira's shout.
"… Thank you for keeping your promise."
Cale had kept all of his promises. He kept her alive and gave her an opportunity for revenge just like he said he would. Hannah looked toward Cale, who was pretending to not hear what she said while walking toward Witira, and opened the lid of the potion.
Cale and Witira were soon in front of each other.
"Young master Cale, there are no living humans in the ocean."
Cale just nodded his head after hearing Witira saying that they killed everyone with a smile on her face. She thought that this serious look was more Cale-like than being happy and continued to speak.
"First of all, we took care of all of the First Battle Brigade members. We are currently looking for the few subordinates who are hiding in cracks in cliffs, caves, or other random locations. I presume that we will be able to take care of all of them by lunchtime."
She was someone who had overwhelming strength, but this battle was difficult due to the number of enemies.
"We will take care of all of the bodies and the broken ships."
Cale, who had been quietly listening, started to speak.
"What about the ships that are still intact?"
That made Witira look toward the ship currently docked at Hais Island 6.
Each island had some ships in good condition as well.
"I'm not sure. How should we take care of them? We don't really need them, so should we give them to another kingdom..."
Witira, who intentionally did not finish her sentence, could hear Cale's voice.
"Can I have them?"
"Excuse me?"
Cale asked without any hesitation.
"I wish to take the remaining ships with me. Is that not allowed?"
Witira thought about how hard Cale had worked to create the whirlpools. She thought that she could see the exhaustion in Cale's eyes as she looked at him.
"No, that is fine. We have no use for the ships and we'd rather give them to you than to another kingdom."
"Great."
Cale worked hard to prevent himself from smiling.
The ships he needed to use with the Golden Turtle Ship had rolled into him as a bundle.
It would be a great sight to receive the Northern Alliance's ships with the secret organization's ships.
Cale could hear Raon's voice in his mind. Raon was speaking into Cale's mind even though he was not invisible.
– Human, good job! We got some ships for free!
Raon definitely was getting smarter.
Cale casually petted the head of the Dragon who was looking at him with sparkling eyes. He then looked toward Rosalyn, Mary, and Ron as he started to speak.
"How was it?"
"I quietly took care of everything."
"Good work."
Ron had his benign smile on his face as he quietly stepped away.
Cale saw that even Choi Han had arrived as he lifted his head up.
Caw. Caw.
He could hear the sound of a crow cawing.
Ooooo-
At the same time, the roar of wild animals echoed through the quiet ocean and the island.
It was the roar of the Tigers who had lost their families and tribe members. There was both joy, sorrow, and anger in their roars. Cale looked toward the crow that Gashan had sent as a signal that they were done and started to speak.
"Let's go to Hais Island 9."
Hais Island 9.
This was where everyone had agreed to gather.
* * *
Cale had let down his guard.
Cale realized his mistake once they got to Hais Island 9.
The twenty Tigers with Gashan at the center were looking toward Cale with reverence as soon as he got to Hais Island 9.
Male, female, young, and old.
These Tigers that were huge regardless of whether they were young or old were all smiling at him with a bright smile that only Tigers could have. (Not sure what a Tiger-specific smile really is … )
Gashan approached him with his eyes closed. He has a smile on his face.
Unfortunately, all of them except for the very young and old were covered in blood. They were all covered in the blood of their enemies.
Gashan cautiously started to speak to Cale.
"Young master-nim."
"No."
The Forest of Darkness was not an option.
Cale was taking that out of the equation right away.
"No, I just wanted to thank you."
Cale looked toward Gashan with a gaze that was full of suspicion. The shaman gently continued to speak. He sounded like a grandfather reading a children's book in his old and gentle voice.
The only issue was that he was speaking with a mouth covered in blood.
"We were able to get proper revenge thanks to your abilities. We were able to hunt properly for the first time in a long time."
One of the young Tigers that had not reached their full size yet thanked him with sparkling eyes.
"Young master-nim, thank you very much!"
Gashan lowered his head toward the child and continued to speak with a bitter smile on his face.
"I need to take them to the Western continent because I think that we will continue to run into Arm if we stay in the Eastern continent. It would be great if there was even a small plot of land where we can stay until these children can grow up. We still have not gotten enough revenge either."
Cale started to frown. Gashan continued to speak.
"We have also brought some offerings to give to the landlord."
'Offerings?'
Cale looked toward Gashan.
Gashan slowly took a jewel out of his pocket.
"The Tiger tribe is a tactful tribe. Each family gathered their medicinal herbs and precious items when they left their mountains."
The corners of Cale's lips moved slightly up before going back down.
"Ahem, hem."
Cale let out some fake coughs. The young Tiger started to shout.
"I brought some items too!"
The young Tiger took out a small bottle from his wide sleeve.
"These are two-hundred year old snake scales that were in our cave! I heard that they can become very strong arrowheads!"
'…The Tiger tribe seems to be a pretty decent tribe.'
Cale quietly improved his perception of the Tiger tribe. Raon started to speak in his mind.
– Human, they seem nice.
'Right?'
Cale thought about how the chances of getting even more intertwined with the secret organization would increase if he took the Tiger tribe to the Forest of Darkness. However, he had another thought at the same time.
'When did avoiding things keep me away from these issues?'
Cale could not avoid the secret organization now that he was involved in the meeting between the four kingdoms and the Whales.
Cale looked toward Gashan and focused on the shaman's closed eyes as he started to speak.
"I have a condition."
It was at that moment.
"Oooh, ooooooooooh-!"
Cale flinched.
'What is wrong with this old man?'
"Oooh, ooooooooooh-!"
Gashan suddenly opened his eyes.
His white eyes were opened extremely wide as he started to raise his hand with the wooden staff in the air. His large body was shaking.
'…This is scary.'
Cale subconsciously took a step back. It was at that moment.
"The n, nature is speaking to me!"
Gashan shouted as he continued to shake.
'Ho.'
Cale could not believe what was going on.
However, Gashan's next words made Cale fix his thoughts.
"The n, nature is telling me that our Tiger Tribe will have to fight against cold swords next spring!"
'Wow.'
Cale was amazed.
How could there be such a psychic shaman?
He started to get the chills.
'How did it know that I was planning on making the Tiger tribe fight against the knights of the Northern Alliance?'
Cale stared at Gashan who was starting to calm down. Gashan's white eyes focused on Cale once he finally calmed down. Cale started to speak.
"That future will become true if you go with me. Are you okay with that?"
Gashan answered without any hesitation. He didn't even need to ask the others.
"Our Tiger tribe has lived too quietly for these past years. We will happily run wild if it has to do with our revenge."
Cale nodded his head.
"Then I welcome you."
Cale reached his hand out and the shaman shook it.
The Forest of Darkness was wide.
There was plenty of space for twenty Tigers.
"That is wonderful."
Witira has a bright smile on her face as she started to speak. She had finally figured out why Cale hadn't been willing to accept the Tiger tribe until now.
'He didn't want the Tiger tribe to have to fight against the Northern Alliance.'
It wasn't as if Cale did not have money. He would not be tempted by the Tiger's medicinal herbs and offerings.
Witira had heard that Cale was the son of a wealthy family. He was not the type to be greedy for their offerings.
If he was a greedy person, then there was no reason for him to put his most valuable asset, himself, on the line to help others without getting anything in return.
Witira started to speak.
"We will help you move the Tiger tribe and the ships."
This was her way of thanking Cale for helping out without expecting to receive anything in return. Cale naturally accepted her offer.
"Thanks in advance."
"Of course. We also have to discuss the sea route issue."
The sea route to the Eastern continent.
Cale had the rights to this route up north that the Whales controlled. Cale opened his mouth to respond to that issue.
"Human, human!"
Raon took the video communication device out of his spatial dimension and approached Cale. The video communication device was shining red from a call.
Raon continued to speak to Cale, who started to frown.
"It is the crown prince! Red means it is the crown prince!"
It was Alberu that was calling.
"Should I connect the call?"
Cale sighed at Raon's question and started to speak.
"Let's connect him inside of the wooden building. Witira, Gashan, let's talk about the other issues later."
"Sure thing. Please respond to the crown prince first."
Witira answered back and Gashan nodded his head. Cale immediately headed into the wooden building after receiving the two leaders' responses and asked Raon to connect the call.
He then sat down on a wooden chair across from the video communication device.
Although it was hard compared to his usually soft couch, Cale did not care.
Alberu Crossman, the person who had told him to get some rest, was suddenly calling him.
He had a bad feeling about this.
Cale greeted Alberu once his face appeared on top of the device. Alberu ignored Cale's unhappy expression and started to speak.
He launched a straight without any jabs.
– You don't know the Imperial Prince's face, do you?
The Imperial Prince was the Mogoru Empire's future king.
Cale was at a loss for words.
He had an ominous feeling.
Cale tried to answer the best he could.
"Umm, I know the things I need to know, like the color of his eyes and hair. Mm, I bet I'll recognize him if I see him?"
– Whatever. Basically, you're saying that you've never seen him before.
Alberu continued to speak to Cale, who was avoiding eye contact in a tone that seemed to be saying that he knew what Cale was thinking about.
– I heard that you are guaranteed victory if you know your enemies and yourself. Go there.
Cale started to speak.
"… Your highness, maybe my ears are going bad, but I believe that I heard something weird just now."
'Go there? To the Empire? Why would I?'
Cale did not understand why Alberu, someone who knew his personality well, would say something like that.
– Ah, I said it wrong. Let me fix that.
Alberu raised his hand in a way that seemed to admit that he was wrong.
– Let me rephrase.
An even greater straight landed on Cale as Alberu started to speak again.
– Go to the Empire with me.
'Go to the Empire with him?'
– To do something big.
'… To do what? Something big?'
Cale could finally see the smirk on Alberu's face. Cale's frown quickly disappeared.
Cale leaned back into the wooden chair and started to speak.
"Let me hear what you have in mind."