I want to survive, and I want to kill him.
Cale closed his mouth after hearing this inconsistent combination.
Someone else chimed in at this moment.
"Are you saying that the White Star is aiming for you, Mercenary King-nim?"
It was Ron. The Mercenary King slowly nodded his head to verify.
"That is the case."
"…May I ask why?"
Ron could see the corners of the Mercenary King's lips quickly moving up.
"Of course. You were the last patriarch of the Molan household after all."
Cale's eyes headed back toward Mercenary King Bud Illis.
Ron Molan.
One of the past leaders of the five assassin households in the Eastern continent's underworld. He had escaped to the Western continent with his son after Arm killed the rest of his family.
– Human! The Mercenary King does not seem like a total idiot! He is smart! He makes me think of the crazy Clopeh!
Cale did not disagree with Raon.
How did he know about Ron?
Why did he come to this inn when he knew about Ron?
The answer to those questions came not from Bud Illis but from Ron.
"You must have seen the directory."
Directory.
That word made one of Cale's eyebrows twitch. Ron then turned over toward Cale to explain.
"The scary thing about the Mercenaries Guild is the fact that there are mercenaries no matter where you go on the Eastern continent."
Even small cities were bound to have at least one mercenary. Incidents will always happen where people gather, and mercenaries were usually the ones to resolve these incidents.
Cale started to speak.
"Their information network must be amazing."
Bud Illis nodded his head.
"Mercenaries accept jobs as long as the conditions are good enough whether it is in the underworld or the bright regular world."
Mercenaries did not care about good or evil.
They just moved according to their own set of rules.
In some aspects, they moved based on what was, 'best for business.'
"That is why information is important. This is especially true for information about strong individuals."
The Mercenary King looked toward Ron as he continued to speak.
"That is why the Mercenaries Guild has records about strong individuals. We call that the, 'directory.' It naturally has information about patriarch Ron Molan-nim."
Face, name, birth information, etc. Mercenaries from all around gathered even the most trivial information about strong individuals and recorded it down.
It was because mercenaries who valued their lives the most needed to avoid these strong individuals.
This directory of information was the reason that the strong individuals, as well as the rest of the world, feared the Mercenaries Guild.
"It is probably a record that is at least ten years old. I didn't think you would be able to predict my current appearance based on that information."
"Well, a lot of it was thanks to luck."
The Mercenary King elbowed the mage next to him.
"…Hey."
Bud ignored the angry voice of the mage as he continued to speak with a bright smile.
"This friend of mine was one of the survivors of the five households."
"…The five households?"
Ron sounded shocked for the first time in a long while.
His gaze turned toward the mage whose robe was covering his face. Cale turned toward him as well. He heard Raon's voice in his mind at that moment.
– Human! Do you remember the safe of the Mercenaries Guild branch's Guild leader?
'Of course I do.
We stole so much money from him.'
– Do you remember that magic safe?
'Yes...?'
– This mage is giving off the same feel as the person who created that safe!
Each person's mana gave off a different feel, similar to how Rosalyn's mana was red while the two Dragon's manas were respectively white gold and black.
– That mage is probably the person who created that safe! I'm so happy to see him! I want to greet him!
'…Greet him? You're trying to cause chaos aren't you.'
Cale slowly turned his gaze away from the mage. He recalled how he had destroyed the Mercenaries Guild's branch leader's room and caused a ruckus.
– I guess I'll greet him later! A highest-grade mage made that magic safe!
'…No thanks!'
Cale started to ignore Raon's comments.
The mage bowed once toward Ron before looking away.
"…It is a past I wish to forget about."
Ron did not ask anything after hearing that.
It didn't matter as they still came knowing who he was. The Molan patriarch was someone who was famous in the underworld.
This was the case even if he was just an old man nobody remembered after all this time had passed since the incident.
The Mercenary King became the center of conversation again.
"I noticed that the issues between the Leeb-An City's underworld and the Mercenaries Guild started around the same time as when this inn opened. That was why I was investigating it when, oh my gosh! This friend next to me said that he thought he had seen your face before, Patriarch Ron-nim!"
Bud Illis was speaking as if he was talking about an exciting legend.
"This friend of mine is very smart. That was why I immediately started to look through the directory. And then, holy crap! I thought that patriarch Ron Molan-nim whose face was drawn inside the directory would look exactly like you do right now as he got older. That was why we came here."
Ron did not avoid the Mercenary King's gaze as Bud Illis continued to smile and speak.
"I debated whether the Molan household or if patriarch Ron Molan-nim had chosen to bow to the White Star and cause a ruckus in the underworld and the Mercenaries Guild."
A smirk appeared on Ron's face.
'Bow to the White Star? Me? Someone like me who has lost my family and my wife? Someone like me who saw the people of my household dying one by one?'
"…What a funny little punk."
The respectful tone disappeared, and Ron started to call the Mercenary King a punk. His eyes that were usually cold were slowly starting to reveal the fire hidden inside of him.
Bud Illis bowed his head in response.
"I apologize. I realized that I made a big mistake once I got here."
Bud Illis immediately apologized to Ron. He then continued to speak.
"However, one of the five households did voluntarily bow down and go to serve the White Star in Arm."
"…What?"
Ron had not known about this.
He had believed all five assassin households had been destroyed or massacred like his own.
"He is talking about my family."
Cale turned away from the Mercenary King and Ron. The robed mage was not looking at anyone as he continued to speak.
"The Poeff household. My uncle who was second-in-command took his people and crawled into Arm."
Cale remembered that this mage was the only survivor of his family.
"Then my uncle's group along with Arm's members massacred our Poeff household. They killed everyone except me, who was hiding."
The mage was calling the second-in-command, 'uncle.'
"My mother, my father, my siblings, they all died."
The Poeff was massacred but not massacred at the same time.
The mage did not say anything else. However, they could feel his hatred for Arm, the White Star, and his uncle's people.
A short silence filled the area.
Cale was the one who broke the silence.
"It doesn't sound like you finished what you needed to say."
The smile on Bud Illis's face became wider.
Bud, who had lived for over thirty years, knew that Cale was younger than him, however, he did not mind Cale's casual tone.
In fact, he responded right back.
"Do you know why the White Star wants to kill me?"
"Didn't you just tell us?"
Cale took a gulp of alcohol as he responded back.
"He wants to kill me because he hates my power that is able to tell other people's abilities, or…"
The power to tell other people's abilities.
That was a very dangerous yet desirable power. Cale's stoic gaze headed toward the Mercenary King.
"…Or he wants it for himself."
The White Star wanted to either get rid of that power or wanted to make it his own.
Bud Illis continued to speak.
"I possess an ancient power."
Cale's eyes clouded over for a moment.
This was the first time he met anyone other than someone from Arm who had an ancient power.
He had a question at the same time.
It was a power that could tell other people's abilities even if there were restrictions and it was not very detailed.
"What attribute is it?"
Cale then thought about his Dominating Aura.
That power did not necessarily fall under any of the attributes. Was Bud Illis's power similar to that?
However, the Mercenary King's power did have an attribute.
"Wind."
'Wind?
That is the power of wind?'
Cale then thought about his, 'Sound of the Wind.' Bud Illis continued to speak as Cale was thinking.
"I can smell things."
His expression turned dark as he scrunched up his nose.
"I can also hear things."
His rough palm brushed by his ears.
"I can faintly smell and hear a person's smell, their presence, and their abilities."
Bud Illis looked toward Cale. Cale's smell, presence and abilities.
"They are delivered to me along with the wind."
But could see and smell those things.
They came to him by riding on the wind.
That was why he had been mistaken.
The White Star and his new friend in front of him were similar.
"People with ancient powers smell like the attribute of their powers."
Bud touched the bridge of his nose.
"Do you know what I noticed as the biggest difference between you and the White Star?"
"What is it?"
Cale calmly asked and Bud Illis quickly responded back.
"I smell something from each of you that the other does not have."
'One thing that each of us has that the other does not have?'
Cale started to smile.
He made eye contact with Eruhaben.
The ancient Dragon had said something to Cale before coming to the Eastern continent.
'The White Star is not complete.'
'Unlike you, that bastard has not achieved a balance of attributes.'
The attributes of nature.
He did not have a balance of those attributes in his body.
Cale started to speak.
"I probably don't have the smell of the sky?"
"Correct. You knew."
Bud Illis quickly continued after seeing Cale's gaze that was telling him to hurry up and share the information.
"But there is a scent that the White Star does not have that you do have. It is the faintest smell."
'The faintest smell?'
Cale started to think about all of his ancient powers other than the Dominating Aura.
He knew that the White Star had both fire and water.
"Which is it?"
"Earth."
'…Earth?
The Super Rock?'
– You called?
He ignored the solemn voice of the Scary Giant Cobblestone.
"It doesn't seem like the White Star has an Earth attribute ancient power. Of course, I can't be certain as this information was from three days ago."
The sky and the earth.
These were the powers that Cale and the White Star had or were missing.
Eruhaben and Cale looked toward each other again.
Ancient powers clash against each other due to their different attributes.
That causes a burden within a person's body, while collecting all five attributes being a way to help them be balanced.
The sky attribute was not one of nature's five attributes.
The White Star.
The missing link for him to achieve balance was an earth attribute ancient power.
"Anyway, the White Star started to desire my power since who knows when. I think he might be desiring my power so that he can find an earth attribute power easier."
The Mercenary King was calm.
"That is why I am openly running from him while thinking about ways to kill him."
His eyes were no longer smiling but full of worries.
He had not been drinking at all since some point in the discussion.
"It is because the White Star cannot dominate both the underworld and the Mercenaries Guild. That would destroy the balance of things."
The underworld and the regular Eastern continent.
The Mercenaries Guild stood in the middle of the two.
If the balance broke because of Arm, then it would put many spots around the Eastern continent in danger.
"And I can't let mercenaries be sacrificed for no reason like that."
Some mercenaries liked to work alone while others moved in teams.
The only place they trusted and could rely on was the Mercenaries Guild. The Mercenary King had the responsibility of protecting that guild.
"…Haaa."
The Mercenary King reached toward the bottle.
He ended up taking a sip because he felt his insides boiling. Drinking alcohol might make that worse, however, he could not do anything about it.
The alcohol flowed in from the bottle to his mouth.
"Friend."
Cale started to speak.
"My name is Cale Henituse. I am the trash of the Henituse household in the Western continent's Roan Kingdom."
'Ohhhh. I'm a trash too.'
The Mercenary King could not respond as he was drinking and instead motioned with his head for Cale to continue. Cale continued to speak.
"I plan on making you two offers."
Bud, who remembered Cale saying he was going to kill the White Star, nodded his head.
It was his signal for Cale to continue.
Cale continued to speak as Bud just continued to drink.
"First of all, the directory."
'…The Mercenaries Guild's directory?'
"Show me the directory."
Cale then added on.
"Show me all of it."
Cale wanted to see the entire directory.
Bud Illis took his mouth off of the bottle.
"…The directory is a record of close to 1,000 years."
Bud could see Cale smiling brightly in response.
However, it also looked wicked as well.
It looked extremely wicked.
"Ah."
Bud turned his head.
The black-haired sword master was gasping as if he realized something. Cale heard Eruhaben's voice in his mind at that moment as well.
– You're smart.
Cale shared what he was thinking in his mind.
"Bud Illis."
The Mercenary King looked toward Cale.
"The White Star."
The White Star. He was a reincarnator.
He was someone who had lived many lives.
"I think I need to learn that man's history."
The reincarnator could have been born anywhere in the Western continent or the Eastern continent. That was why he was able to go to both the Eastern continent and the Western continent.
He was also a strong individual.
Cale was certain there was some type of record about the White Star in the directory.
Of course, he probably looked different in each of his many lives in the close to 1,000 years that he lived.
'Weakness.'
He needed to find the White Star's weakness.
He would look through the directory and find the hidden past of the White Star.
"…And the second?"
The Mercenary King asked in a low voice. Cale answered back very confidently.
"Save the Dragon-nim in front of you."
'What?
Save a Dragon?'
The Mercenary King's gaze turned toward Eruhaben.
It was a man with white gold hair who looked pale. However, he gave off a presence that said that he was the strongest person in this room.
Tap. Tap.
Bud Illis turned his head away from the Dragon after hearing some taps on the table.
Cale was lightly tapping on the table as if he was trying to tell Bud to look at him.
"Then I will make it so you can live peacefully."
Live without worrying about getting killed.
"I will also take care of Arm."
Cale looked toward his servant Ron. He then turned back and smiled at the Mercenary King before adding on.
"I will also get rid of the White Star."
The Mercenary King thought about the White Star.
He also looked toward Cale, Choi Han, Eruhaben, as well as the empty spot in the air where he presumed Raon was currently floating.
Was it possible for such a team to exist in this world?
Cale slowly raised his wine glass and brought it to his mouth.
"Friend, work with me."
The Mercenary King was thinking that the corners of Cale's eyes that curled up as he took a sip of the wine looked wicked.
"Hmm? Didn't you say you want to live?"
Cale quietly whispered to Bud.
– Human! You smiled even more wickedly than the White Star just now! You really are amazing! Let's smile like that toward the White Star next time!
Cale started to frown.