Trash of the Count's Family (Web Novel)

There was an extremely large plaza in front of the Sez Royal Academy.

In an alleyway just outside that plaza…

“What’s wrong? Does it feel weird?”

On touched her hair at Cale’s question.

Cale was here looking like Duke Fredo’s son, young master Naru, while On was in her human form.

However, they both looked different from their usual appearances.

– I used the dye spell really well!

Both of their hairs were as red as the sunset.

“You don’t like it?”

On immediately shook her head at Cale’s question.

“I like it, nya!”

On had subconsciously touched her hair because she liked the fact that it was the same red as Cale’s hair right now.

But it was also true that her mind was a bit of a mess.

The Fog Cat Tribe.

On and Hong were the former tribe leader’s only remaining bloodline.

However, Hong had been On’s only family member for as long as she could remember.

The Fog Cat Tribe only ignored them and kept them under surveillance while calling them mutants and trash.

On had realized that she and Hong were originally the true successors to the leader position because they monitored them despite calling the two of them trash.

She then found an opening to grab Hong and run away.

She thought that doing so would be the only way they could survive.

And now… They were heading over to destroy that Fog Cat Tribe.

‘…Maybe I’ll be able to learn the details.’

She might be able to learn more about herself and her brother.

On frowned.

It was at that moment.

“You don’t need to think that hard about it.”

On raised her head after hearing a stoic yet gentle voice.

Cale, who was about her height in this appearance, was looking forward.

“I will take care of everything. On, you just do whatever you want to do. Just think about doing that.”

Cale recalled the time he met the leader of the Fog Cat Tribe outside Sheritt’s castle in one of the Three Restricted Areas.

He was recalling the things the leader had said while looking at On and Hong.

‘They are the last of that bloodline, so they must have been persistent. But I didn’t know they were on Cale Henituse’s side. Is that why we didn’t find them?’

‘That dirty blood needs to disappear from the world.’

On had said that the current leader was not her family member.

‘On and Hong probably has the bloodline of the former tribe leader. The current leader must be the one who pushed the former out of the position.’

And most likely…

‘That current leader bastard might have killed On and Hong’s family when he took the position.’

However, he kept On and Hong alive.

That was what Cale could not figure out.

‘Did he keep them alive because they were young?’

The Fog tribe was known for being the stealthiest tribe among the Cats.

Being the stealthiest meant that they were the strongest of the Cats.

Only a select few within the Fog Cat Tribe had special abilities.

‘Like On and Hong.’

Cale reached his hand out and ruffled On’s hair.

“By the way…”

On could see Cale looking at her.

“Do you want to go to an academy?”

On flinched.

– Human! I don’t want to go to an academy! I am already an extremely strong and great and mighty Dragon! I’m just going to have fun with you, human! We’re going to travel the world!

Cale just ignored Raon’s voice as usual.

It was at that moment.

Dang- dang dang- dang—

The bell on the Sez Royal Academy’s bell tower was ringing.

It was the sign that it was now 10 am.

One hour.

It also signaled that only one hour was left until the king’s speech.

Cale did not have time to hear On’s response.

They needed to start moving.

“Let’s talk about the academy later. Well, I’ll let you do whatever you want to do. I don’t care whether that is being a slacker or studying in an academy.”

Cale didn’t think much about it and shared his thoughts before stepping out of the alley.

He then turned around and motioned to On.

“Are you not coming?”

On looked at Cale, who looked like young master Naru right now, before recalling the first time they met Cale when he had given them food.

It was said that a person goes through three times of luck during their lives.

On was certain that the day she met Cale was one of those times for her.

That was the day she had found a family.

On heard Raon’s voice in her head at that moment.

– Fighting! And don’t worry! I’m going to be invisible and following you guys! You won’t get hurt!

On started to smile after hearing her youngest dongsaeng’s bright voice.

She decided to stop thinking about it.

She just had to do whatever she wanted to do as Cale had mentioned.

– …Y, you look like the human when you smile like that! Are you planning on scamming someone? Tell me! I want to do it with you!

On’s smile grew wider at Raon’s comments before she walked toward Cale.

The two of them headed for the main gate of the Sez Royal Academy.

The way there was quite loud.

“Please step back! His majesty will only appear at 11 am!”

“Please stay in a single file line! We will kick all of you out if you don’t line up properly!”

People from the academy and the palace were shouting everywhere.

It could not be helped.

“Oh, come on, let me go to the front too!”

“Move, move!”

“Wow. Am I really going to see his majesty today? I’ll even be able to hear his speech?”

“Of course! This is the ideal spot!”

Numerous citizens of the kingdom were gathered at the plaza and forming a human wave.

This could not be helped as well.

“Mommy, his majesty is the strongest in the world, right?”

“Of course~ our kingdom is the land of knights. Our majesty is also a sword master!”

“That’s right! He’s the strongest knight!”

The current king, Bakehe.

He was a sword master in the land of knights.

He was a strong king. That was enough for his popularity to rise significantly, but he had done something else five years ago. He had created a new law as soon as he became king.

‘Create a training center to teach the way of the sword!’

Training centers where anybody could learn the way of the sword were created throughout the Sez Kingdom.

The palace covered all fees associated with the facilities.

‘A person’s identity or whether they are rich or poor will not matter! Make it so that anybody who wishes to learn will be able to learn!’

‘Send anyone with talent to the Reserve Knights Training Center and give them the support they need to reach their full potential!’

Current king Bakehe opened a path to becoming a knight for everyone and after five years, there were now people popping up who had gone from orphan to knight, a poor peasant to a successful knight, people here and there who had achieved their dreams.

“…That’s why he’s quite popular.”

Cale was smiling while blending in with the crowd of people.

It was at that moment.

“Hmm? Why is an academy student over here?”

A person who made eye contact with Cale mumbled with confusion.

Cale’s expression instantly changed.

“Excuse me. Excuse me!”

He looked anxious and pretended as if he was trying his best to push his way through the crowd with On.

“One moment, please! We need to get inside! Excuse me, could you please move?!”

Cale’s pleading voice along with the uniform that symbolized his status as an academy student made everyone turn toward the two of them.

A knight in armor was frowning as he walked toward them.

“Over there! The student over there!”

Cale stopped walking.

He was smiling internally.

It would normally require a thorough identity search outside the academy gates to get inside.

‘But they can’t do that right now.’

The extremely popular king made it so that the entire plaza up to this gate was full of people.

It was making it difficult for the academy employees to work.

‘We would normally have to be checked out by an employee.’

Unfortunately, that might lead to their ruse being found out.

“Knight-nim!”

Cale grabbed the arm of the Sez Kingdom’s knight who was walking toward them with a stiff expression on his face.

The knight instantly started frowning.

These could be intruders posing as students.

“Why are you two-”

He could not finish speaking.

Plop!

A student ID and a doctor’s note were placed in his hand.

“We came out yesterday because I was sick! We really want to hear today’s speech. Is there any way we can get inside? Please?”

Cale put his hand on On’s shoulder.

“My sister’s dream is to become a knight! She really wanted to see his majesty… But she came out with me so that she could take care of me. Is there any way we can get inside?”

– Human, you’re so good at acting!

The knight still had a stiff expression while looking at this young boy with a look of desperation on his face, but his wariness was starting to subside.

‘…He looks very pale.’

It was because he was looking at a boy who was so pale, something that could not be faked with magic.

‘He looks young as well.’

Although magic could be used to dye hair or change different parts of the body, it could not be used to turn an adult into a child.

‘It is impossible unless there is a Dragon. And if there was a Dragon, it would be here to praise our majesty for his good deeds, not to harm him.’

He still needed to do this job.

King Bakehe was the Sez Kingdom’s greatest knight, but this knight still had to protect his liege.

“Follow me!”

He headed toward the gate with the sick-looking boy and his sister who was behind him.

“Please move back!”

“Back, move back!”

The gate was also extremely chaotic with people and the knight headed for a tent right outside the gate.

“These kids-”

The knight frowned after seeing that there were no employees inside the tent.

They must have all rushed out to organize the chaos.

“…There is a lot more activity than usual this year.’

There were more people than usual trying to push their way forward to see his majesty.

– Human! Bud’s mercenaries are doing a good job!

Those troublemakers were all camouflaged mercenaries.

“Ahem.”

The knight peeked to the side hoping that Cale wouldn’t have heard his mumbling.

Cale put on an anxious but bright smile.

“I think everybody wants to hear his majesty’s speech as close to him as possible like we do. Right?”

“Yeah, oppa.”

– Wow! Both of you are so good at acting! Your acting is like the sky while Choi Han’s acting is down on the ground! Choi Han needs to practice!

The knight nodded his head after seeing this pair of siblings who seemed to have a very good relationship with each other.

“Alright, let me confirm a few things.”

He decided to do the check himself instead of waiting for an employee.

The knight headed over to multiple magic devices in the tent.

“We will check your student ID, followed by your aura and mana.”

They normally only used magic devices to check that the student IDs were real.

But they were checking for aura and mana today as well since the king was giving a speech. They wanted to prepare for any potential trouble.

“Put your student ID over here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cale placed the ID on the magic device.

“Mm.”

It naturally said that it was real.

– Hehe. I slightly twisted the mana in the magic device!

It was thanks to their Dragon buddy Raon who had done something that was not easy to do at all.

They easily passed the mana and aura tests as well.

These two were On and Cale after all.

Both of their powers had nothing to do with aura or mana.

“Mm.”

The knight apologetically smiled at the siblings whose IDs were real and had no powers of any kind.

“Follow me.”

His tone of voice was much gentler as he led them far away from the main gate to a small side gate.

He could not open the main gate right now.

“Hmm? Vice Captain-nim? Who are these kids?”

The knights guarding the side gate noticed Cale and On and looked toward the knight who brought them here.

“I checked their identities. Their IDs were real and they didn’t have mana or aura.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

Those devices were made by the Sez Kingdom’s greatest mage.

Nobody would question the magic devices made by a highest-grade Royal Mage.

Only a Dragon would be able to mess with those devices.

And what reason would a Dragon have to mess with a small device that checks a student’s academy ID?

“Alright, head on inside.”

Cale bowed toward the knight.

“Thank you very much, knight-nim! I’ll be able to show something great to my sister thanks to your help!”

The knight chuckled after seeing the joy on the young boy’s face. On thanked the knight as well.

“Thank you very much, sir. I truly hope I can become a great knight like you, Vice Captain-nim.”

“Ahem, hem! It’s not like I did much. Hurry on inside! There are less than 30 minutes left!”

Cale and On respectfully bowed toward the embarrassed Vice Captain shooing them inside as well as the other knights before quickly starting to move.

“…They really do seem to be students. They’re moving through the extremely complicated pathways of the Sez Royal Academy that are difficult to navigate without a map with no hesitation.”

“That’s right. They seem to know exactly where they are going.”

The knights had no way of knowing that Cale had a clear map in his mind.

– Oh! Human, the buildings are all so pretty!

The buildings of the Sez Royal Academy were giving off a vintage feel that showed its long history as Raon mentioned.

However, Cale’s eyes were sharply looking around.

“It’s over there.”

He was walking through the complicated streets with no hesitation until he arrived at the Academy’s plaza that was directly in front of the main gate.

The plaza floor was made of marble.

There was a high platform in the front.

“That is the king’s spot.’

There was an area for the nobles in front of the platform, followed by an area for the chief executives of the academy and then the rows of students.

The whole area was surrounded by knights and soldiers.

‘10 minutes.’

There were only 10 minutes left until the speech now.

“Hmm? Who are you guys?”

The knight in the rear frowned at them and Cale quickly bowed.

“I’m sorry, sir! We went to the restroom-”

“Shut it and hurry up and get in line!”

“Yes, sir!”

Cale grabbed On’s hand and stood at the back of the row of first-year students as if that had been his original spot.

“Stand in front of me.”

“…Okay.”

On stood in front of Cale and Cale looked around.

He heard Raon’s voice at that moment.

– Human! The Dragons have infiltrated with no problem!

Raon’s report continued.

– Grandpa Ron and Beacrox have made it in as well! The Molan household members are all here!

– Bud said that he made it through a dog hole so you don’t need to worry about him!

One, two. As his allies all made their ways inside using their own methods…

Boom- boom- boooooom-

He heard some drums before reverent music filled the plaza.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

He could also hear the cheering of the citizens from behind the gate.

Cale turned toward the platform.

A person was slowly walking to the top.

He was a beefy man.

He was someone who had always kept his sword on him and looked after the kingdom in full armor from the moment he became king.

This was the Sez Kingdom’s greatest knight.

The Sez Kingdom’s sword master.

The king who had given opportunities to his people and showed his benevolence.

This was the man known as King Bakehe.

A magical fog slowly started to descend from the holy Mount Nex the moment he became king five years ago and started covering the entire mountain this year.

The citizens of the kingdom cheered that a new legend was starting with their king.

However, Cale had realized something the moment he heard about that.

‘This bastard.’

The king walking up to the platform right now…

‘That bastard allied with the White Star before he even became king.’

He must have handed Mount Nex over to the White Star once he became king.

The White Star would have used the Fog Cat Tribe to slowly turned Mount Nex into a place for him.

‘Once that fog covered the entire mountain today must have been when the Fog Cat Tribe moved over.’

Duke Fredo had said that the entire stone mountain was a place to imprison the sacrifices.

Booooom Boom- boom–!

The king finally arrived at the top of the platform and looked down toward the crowd.

The music stopped and everyone bowed to show their respect to the king.

The king started to speak with his voice being amplified through magic amplification devices to spread throughout the academy and the plaza outside.

“Everybody raise your heads.”

Cale raised his head and whispered to On in front of him.

“On. Spread your fog.”

On nodded her head and Cale started to smile with anticipation.

Slowly…

White fog was slowly starting to appear without people noticing.

Once this white fog covered where Cale was standing and the platform…

That is when everything would start.

That time quickly arrived.

“Hmm? What the heck?”

Once the people in the back noticed the fog creeping in…

“Strongly.”

Cale gave the order.

On and Raon answered back.

“That’s easy, nya.”

– I’m getting started too!

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

There was a sudden gust of wind and the fog burst in size before charging forward as if it was going to gobble up the platform with the king.

Swooooooosh-

Wind whirled around Cale’s ankles at that moment and his body followed the fog toward the platform.

His goal was to capture King Bakehe alive.

—

Translator’s Comments

GET THE KING. GET THE KING.

What will happen next?