Chapter p2-213: TCF Part 2 - The lone flame in the ice (1)

Aipotu.

Cale had arrived at this world fully prepared with determination to charge forward.

He was ready to not get flustered no matter what happened.

As Cale arrived at this world with that mindset, an old man talking about Archduke, territory, descendant, and other things he could not understand appeared.

He arrived with some other people behind him.

"...Se... Se, se-"

One of the people behind the old man had a blank look on his face and was unable to speak properly.

His finger was pointing toward the sky.

His other hand was on the old man's shoulder.

"S, senior, o, over there-"

"Let go of me! In front of my eyes is the descendant of the House of the Archduke! He is finally here to rescue this land-"

"No, s, senior, over there, p, please look first-"

"What is wrong?!"

The old man got angry and looked toward where the man was pointing-

"Eeeeek."

He gasped and...

"Senior—-!"

"Grandfather!"

"Aigoo, look at this old guy!"

He fainted.

'Mm.'

Cale watched all of this before peeking behind him.

There was a Dragon made of black bones on top of the Black Castle.

The old man saw the black Bone Dragon and fainted in shock.

The people who came with him were supporting the old man while so scared that they didn't know what to do.

They were warily looking at Cale and the Bone Dragon.

'Hmm?'

Cale then realized that the Bone Dragon, the Dragon half-blood, was seriously wary as well.

The original plan was to use an invisibility magic circle as soon as they arrived to turn the Dragon half-blood invisible.

That was the plan as they had no idea where the Black Castle would land.

However, the magic circle had not activated.

"......."

The Dragon half-blood slowly curled up.

Unfortunately, his body was still large.

Cale found it odd that the Dragon half-blood was being weird and avoiding his gaze while acting extremely timid, but...

"Huuuuuu."

He calmed himself.

The snow calmed down a bit and he was able to look around.

Cale was up pretty high right now.

He could see a rough mountain range behind him.

As for below-

'There's a village.'

There was a decently large village.

It looked large enough to be considered a city but the whole place looked pretty old and worn down.

"First."

Everybody looked at Cale as he started to speak.

He spoke firmly.

"It is cold so let's go inside."

He looked toward a middle-aged man who seemed to be one of the oldest in the group.

"Please follow me."

Creeeeeak.

The gate to the Black Castle opened and Cale walked inside.

"Hyung-nim-"

"...Let's follow him."

The middle-aged man hesitated for a bit before deciding to follow Cale.

Four foreigners from Aipotu entered into the Black Castle.

* * *

Cale ran into a few of his people before he met with the residents of Aipotu.

He had a stiff look on his face as he spoke to Eruhaben.

"...Is it true, Eruhaben-nim?"

Could they really...

"Can you really not use mana?"

Before they ran into the people whom they believe are from the village down below... Eruhaben had said something.

'...We can't use mana here.'

Eruhaben received Cale's gaze and nodded his head.

"Yes. The mana is not moving."

Another Dragon, Mila, chimed in as well.

"It is tightly bound. I've never experienced something like this before."

'It is not that there is no mana but that it is tightly bound?'

Cale's gaze now headed toward someone who was not a Dragon.

Ooooo-

The person who was causing a small rumbling as she focused opened her eyes.

Of the ninety nine people... Of course Cale brought this person with him.

The person whom Cale could openly claim to be the greatest with magic among the humans...

"It is as the Dragon-nims have said."

Rosalyn.

"The mana is not moving."

Cale asked her to come with him despite her being completely busy constructing a Magic Tower.

He could not leave her out of his group of strongest people.

"Then it must not be an issue of race."

Eruhaben let out a sigh.

'Shit.'

Cale's face stiffened up. There was a simple explanation.

"I would not have thought much about it if you said that mana did not exist in this world."

He could be honest with his friends here.

"However, since mana does exist but Miss Rosalyn and the Dragons cannot use it-"

The mana was bound.

Cale shared the worst possible situation for such a case.

"Couldn't it mean that someone is regulating the mana in this world?"

Everybody became silent.

Aipotu.

Everything in this world, including the World Tree was currently under the rule of the Dragons of the Purple Bloods

Mana was a kind of law in a world.

If the Dragons were suppressing this world itself, wouldn't they be able to control the laws as well?

"Cale-nim."

He heard Choi Han's sunken voice at that moment.

Cale felt his heart sink. An ominous feeling swept through him.

He turned his head to see Choi Han standing there with an extremely stiff look on his face.

"...My aura has weakened as well. I can only use about twenty percent of its original strength."

Aura.

Mages had mana while swordsmen had aura.

Of course, aura and mana were different.

Mages used the mana around them to cast spells while a swordsman's aura started from within them.

However, this too was a type of energy.

It was normal to think that aura and mana were similar.

"I guess they are not just regulating mana but all of the different types of energies in this world."

"We are in a repressed state. I don't know how they were able to do such a thing."

Cale held back a sigh after hearing what Eruhaben and Mila had to say.

"But at least aura is not completely not working."

He turned toward the ancient Dragon.

"Plus, if mana does exist but is just being regulated, doesn't that mean that we will be able to use it freely if we are able to release that stronghold?"

"Yes. I will look for a way to release the suppression."

Nobody was feeling disheartened about the current situation.

This was the same for Cale.

'It's a bit disappointing about mana and aura, but-'

Dragons were capable of using their attributes and their physical bodies, including Dragon's Breath, which meant they were still strong.

The Dragons should have no enemies at their level aside from fighting other Dragons.

Cale had brought seven Dragons this time including the Dragon half-blood. He had nothing to fear.

'Yes, it will be a bit of a headache, but-'

Cale bit down on his lips.

Although they were not disheartened, it was true that everybody was thinking hard about the situation.

"Mm."

Someone groaned at that moment.

It was an extremely clear and cute noise.

"Mm."

Everybody turned toward the direction of the sound.

"What is it?"

Cale asked the question and the person who was groaning, Raon, tilted his head.

"Human."

"What is it?"

"It works for me."

Cale did not understand what he was saying.

"Hmm?"

"It works for me!"

Raon raised his voice as if to show that he was certain.

He then extended and opened up his chubby front paw. It was still short and chubby so it didn't extend very far, but...

Paat.

"Huh?"

Cale's eyes opened wide.

Crackle-

A small flame appeared on top of Raon's front paw.

"This is the limit right now! But I can use magic! I'll be able to use it better if I have more time!"

Cale's gaze moved from that small flame to Raon's face.

Raon had his stomach puffed up and his wings were fluttering, as if he was asking for Cale to praise him.

Cale made eye contact with Eruhaben and Sheritt at that moment.

He realized that the two Dragons were having the same thought as him.

'Attribute.'

Raon's attribute was the present.

It was a mysterious attribute that they had not learned anything about until now.

Was it possible that Raon's attribute had a role in his being able to use mana right now?

"Raon. How did you do it?"

Eruhaben asked and Raon brightly answered.

"it just works!"

Cale looked stupefied. Raon didn't care and looked confident.

"I called for it to come like this in my mind and the mana came!"

"You called for it to come?"

"That's right, Goldie gramps! As I always do-"

Raon stopped talking.

He then tilted his head.

"Hmm?"

Clunk.

Cale jumped out of his seat.

"You!"

Cale quickly walked over and squeezed Raon's nose.

"... A n, nose bleed-!"

Raon saw his bleeding nose and became anxious.

Cale saw this and sternly commented.

"Magic is sealed."

"Hmm?"

"You cannot use magic."

"Hmm?"

"You'll be punished if you use magic."

"!"

The flustered Raon could only say one thing.

"U, unbelievable!"

Cale didn't care and motioned to the other with his eyes. He heard the ancient Dragon's voice in his mind.

- I'm sure that what is happening to Raon right now is related to his attribute.

- However, I've never seen a situation where a Dragon uses their attribute and feels a physical burden to the point that they got a bloody nose.

- ...Let's watch the situation for now. I'll look into it with Sheritt-nim and Mila.

He then added on.

- I thought Raon's attribute was related to time but it seems to be different.

The present.

They expected that attribute to be related to time, but the attribute did not seem to just simply be like the definition of that word.

Cale slightly bowed his head to ask Eruhaben to do as he said and looked back up.

- Don't worry.

Cale felt relieved as he spoke to Raon.

"You can use magic if Eruhaben-nim or Sheritt-nim give you permission. But don't use it right now."

"I got it!"

Raon spoke energetically.

"I'll get permission! I also won't get another bloody nose! I'm not feeble like you, human!"

It made Cale feel unsettled but he nodded his head.

"Yeah, you are not feeble like me."

"That's right! I am strong! I am probably the strongest seven year old Dragon!"

Cale saw this impossible to miss chubby paws and legs.

"Yeah. Yes. You are right."

Cale just agreed with him and confirmed that the blood had stopped when someone knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock.

"Young master-nim."

It was Ron.

"Is he up?"

"Yes, young master-nim."

The old man who said things Cale didn't want to think about, such as calling him the descendant of the Archduke and mentioning a territory, had woken up.

"Shall I prepare a spot for you to meet?"

"Yeah."

Cale had to chat with them.

Aipotu.

It was his way to learn about this world.

* * *

"Sir, are you saying this land is in the northern part of the Haru Kingdom?"

The old man wiped some sweat off his forehead and nodded his head at Cale's question.

"Y, yes sir. Please speak freely, sir."

"No sir. I'm not even a noble."

"Mm."

The old man pretended not to hear that.

However, he understood that Cale was not the descendant of the House of the Archduke. It was because he saw how Cale knew nothing about this world.

Cale looked at the old man and the three people behind him before continuing to speak.

"Sir, you are saying that the Haru Kingdom used to be an Empire but has fallen to a kingdom since the death of the last Emperor?"

"Yes sir."

"The House of the Archduke that perished while protecting that Emperor used to rule over this territory and you, the Chief, believed that I was the descendant of the House of the Archduke?"

"Yes sir."

Cale suddenly thought about the red crown that should be in his shirt's inner pocket.

A crown was one of the three treasures left behind by Maxillienne, the Dragon with the future attribute.

It was now red after combining with Cale's crown and the imugi's reverse scale.

< The crown is a crown used by the first Emperor of the last Empire I lived in. That Emperor was quite famous as a Dragon Hunter. I swiped his crown when that bastard destroyed the Empire! Kahahaha! That bastard is probably going crazy because he can't find the crown. Kahahaha! >

'That last Empire must be this Haru Kingdom.'

Cale was starting to understand things.

"It has been over 200 years since the House of the Archduke perished?"

"Yes sir."

The Chief, who had been calmly answering, hesitated before looking at Cale again.

"Sir, are you really not the descendant of the House of the Archduke?"

"Yes sir. I am not."

The Chief looked visibly disappointed at Cale's answer. At this point, Cale was confused.

"But why did you believe that I was the descendant of the House of the Archduke?"

'Was it because of the Black Castle?'

He thought it was possible for them to think that after seeing the Black Castle suddenly appear in the rear mountain of the village, but... The old man's actions seemed exaggerated for it to be just that.

"... That-"

He hesitated before answering.

He spoke with a solemn look on his face.

"The lone flame in the ice."

'Hmm?'

As Cale flinched at the solemn look on the old man's face...

"Hair as red as blood was the symbol of the House of the Archduke."

Cale subconsciously brushed his hair back.

There had been no physical changes when he came to this world.

"And based on how things are in current times, I thought it was about time for the descendant of the House of the Archduke to appear. I'm sure a part of it has to do with my dream of seeing a red-haired man coming into the village last night as well."

"The current times?"

The old man clenched his eyes shut after hearing Cale's question.

'This person really is not the descendant of the House of the Archduke.'

At the same time, he had a question.

These people who suddenly appeared...

'They know too little.'

They basically knew nothing about this place.

That was why it was odd.

However, their demeanor at least made it seem as if they were not enemies.

The Chief opened his eyes and started speaking.

"The Holy Empire has indicated that they will send a subjugation squad to the Erghe Mountain Range.

"Is the Erghe Mountain Range the mountain range back there? And did you say the Holy Empire?"

'He really doesn't know anything.'

The Chief had a small smile on his face as he answered.

"Yes sir. The mountain range back there is the Erghe Mountain Range. As for the Holy Empire, it is the only Empire in the world and is located at the center of this place."

"...What do they worship?"

An ominous feeling swept over Cale.

"They naturally worship the living gods, the Dragons."

'Wow.'

Cale managed to hold back his sigh after hearing the Chief's answer.

Aipotu.

Dragons were gods here.

Cale asked a bit more.

"What do they need to subjugate here?"

He needed an answer to this issue first.

Dragons.

The fact that people who serve Cale's enemies as gods was coming here was something he needed to quickly figure out.

"Sir, you really don't know anything. Mm, although it is called a subjugation, it is basically an annual tradition."

The Chief let out a sigh.

"Beast people live in hiding in the Erghe Mountain Range. The Holy Empire comes here with the reasoning of erasing their dirty blood from this world."

'Beast people......?'

As Cale's face stiffened after unexpectedly hearing those words...

"And the master of the House of Snow, the Archduke, has protected this land for generations with the help of the Beast people, especially the Wolves, who are known as the strongest warriors among the Beast people.

The Chief's face showed pride and longing for this forgotten part of history.

"The red hair standing in the middle of the Blue Wolf Warriors. That is how the lone flame in the ice has become the descriptor for the Archduke's House of Snow."

"Ah."

Cale thought about someone.

The Blue Wolf tribe. Lock.

He thought about the Wolf who was to carry on the legacy of the Wolf King.

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