Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two months.

The God of Death’s divine voice rang in the abyss-like space, holding up two fingers. Cale’s eyes widened where he sat across from him.

It had been roughly a few weeks or so since the White Star was defeated and the despair-crazed god was resealed. Cale thought he’d be done after that, and for a while, he was right, despite all the commotion about him being the ultimate hero— which was total nonsense in his opinion— but then the God of Death suddenly contacted him.

You have two months or so left.

He told him he was going to die. 

“What are you…” Cale frowned instinctually. “Is this some kind of plot related to the gods?”

The God of Death let out a low hum, sipping from his mug of steaming coffee, not quite confirming nor denying his claim— in fact, it actually sounded like he was kind of unsure himself. A short silence stretched across the two individuals in his domain. Cale’s frown deepened.

“Are one of the gods trying to target me?”

Perhaps.

“What does that mean?”

I think I should first clarify that the threat that’s imposed on you isn’t necessarily physical in the sense that it's some kind of attack from someone.

“So what is it then?”

Cale. His voice sounded oddly sympathetic— no, like he genuinely felt bad. The god’s expression twisted in a sort of complicated way as he finished his words. You’re sick. 

Cale flinched the moment he heard him. “Huh?” What was this troublesome god trying to say?

“!” Supposed impending death and some sort of vague, unexplained sickness? Cale clicked his tongue. He could recognize this tragic trope anywhere.

“A terminal illness?”

Spot on. 

“You've got to be kidding me…” Cale held back a groan and a string of curses as he sat and stared at the God of Death across from him, who wore a pitying expression as he sipped his coffee. He asked the first, somewhat cliche question any other character in such a situation would have asked. 

“Is there a cure?”

No.

“Not anywhere in this world?”

Not anywhere in any world.

His fingers strummed on the arm of his seat before Cale took in a sharp breath and placed his head in one of his hands like he was getting a headache. He sighed. “Can I make a deal with you to get rid of it?”

No. 

Cale bit his lip as he spoke the words he never thought he’d ever say. “...I would, maybe, be willing to become a saint for it.”

The god of Death swirled the mug of coffee in his hands and sighed. If I could really cure you, I would have made that deal with you the moment you got here. 

He clicked his tongue. “Is there another god who could?”

Probably not. 

He furrowed his brows. “Okay, fine, what am I sick with anyway?” 

This ‘sickness’ isn’t something a regular human, or really any ‘mortal’ would suffer from. He explained, hands tapping on his armrest leisurely, but his expression was quite serious. Even the gods could be afflicted with this supposed illness.

Cale clicked his tongue. That didn’t sound good for him at all. He crossed his arms as he contemplated, motioning for the man-looking god in front of him to continue. 

There’s not exactly a term for it since it’s pretty rare, especially for a mortal like you. But I guess the best way I can describe it is that… His lips pressed into a line. Your soul is.. It’s deteriorating. 

Cale flinched again at that. “It’s what ?” Why?

You’ve been exposed to too many things, so to speak. He explained. You’ve been exposed to a god’s powers, you’ve transmigrated, you’ve been afflicted with curses and had your original body taken over by a thousand-year reincarnator, you’ve also basically directly stabbed the essence of an immortal, one of the longest living beings across all the worlds too, straight into your heart and thereby your bloodstream, and breaking your plate multiple times also doesn’t really help your case. 

Cale bit his lip at that. “...That’s all?”

Well, no. The God of Death sighed. You’ve also intervened with many fates.

He raised a brow. “When did I—”

Let me explain first. He said. The thing about these multiple worlds is that there’s a lot of them. A near-infinite amount with barely a fraction of a difference, or no difference at all. The fates of these worlds tend to be already written out. For example, there’s multiple worlds that go with the flow of ‘The Birth of A Hero’. Though there have certainly been many transmigrators aside from you, little have changed the fates of their world, let alone other worlds, as much as you have. 

“Mn…”

You’ve changed over dozens of being’s fates and created new worlds with different timelines that flow as your world does. Ah, and the sealed god’s test also sent you to Earth 2 and you also intervened with their fate. So my point is, you’ve messed with original fates and intervened as a ‘variable’ like a lot and it does cause a bit of a, um… complication.

“Okay, so how exactly does that affect me?”

Right, so, think of your soul as a kind of, uh… object. The God of Death said awkwardly. How do the other gods manage to dish out eloquent-sounding explanations for these kinds of matters without sounding like they don’t make sense? And all those things you experienced and were exposed to had different levels of ‘pressure’. Ah, I know now— think of the pressure as a kind of boulder. All of these events stack up one by one, boulder after boulder, until eventually— the god of Death scrunched up a random document from atop the coffee table. It takes a heavy toll and breaks down from all the pressure.

Cale let out a long sigh. “So basically, what you’re saying is, thanks to all that BS I had to go through— mostly because of you, might I add—” he narrowed his eyes. “My soul is overwhelmed with the ‘pressure’ of all these events and now it’s basically going to collapse in on itself?”

He smiled. I knew our clever Cale would be smart enough to understand everything.

“Don’t call me that.”

The whole fate-changing thing also has its backlash on the soul, y’know. It’s just that most transmigrators’ souls tend to be able to handle it. It’s also the reason most gods with this ‘illness’ get afflicted with these things, thanks to too much divine intervention in the mortal realm. He explained. The reason your soul can’t handle it though is because of the already pre-existing exposure from the White Star’s curse and everything else that stacked up throughout your time here. It’s kind of like filling a glass that’s already halfway filled.

“Right, I get it, enough with the analogies.”

He sulked, but cleared his throat before moving on. Ah, and I think I should tell you one more thing.

“Hm?”

The God of Balance might have had a small hand in this.

Cale flinched. So another god was targeting him?

That scary bastard is always super strict about maintaining balance across the worlds and in the divine realm and all. The God of Death sighed, looking around a bit as if wary that the God in question may appear to beat him again. You’ve already done a lot of things and totally changed the fate of multiple worlds as a variable with unnatural circumstances. I have a feeling that old existence might have thought that to balance it out, you, or your allies needed to lose something.

“They need to lose…” Cale frowned, a bit baffled. “Me?”

Yes.

He spoke in a very confused voice. “Just my life is enough?”

He looked at Cale as if he was genuinely stupid. Cale, do you realize how many people either worship you, would actually go to war a thousand more times for you, or would ascend to the divine realm just to beat me up for your sake? He winced for a moment. Actually, so many Gods also want you on their side. Losing you would be the ultimate loss.

Cale let out a kind of dissatisfied sound at that, shifting uncomfortably. ‘Ultimate Loss’ was a stretch— He wasn’t so important that just his life was enough to balance out the existence of an entire world. Sure, he read the novel and changed all kinds of things, but it’s not like he did that all by himself. Most of the time he left most of the heavy-lifting to the others.

Okay, so now that you understand everything… he trailed off. What do you want to do?

—

For a while now, Cale had been moving from place to place after beating the White Star.

First he rested at the Henituse Territory, where everyone at the estate fussed and worried over him, especially Deruth who witnessed Cale, his very first-born, literally stab himself through the heart with a branch. After recovering there for a while, he cycled through various places, staying at the black castle, staying at the super rock villa in Harris village, staying a few days at the palace because Alberu forced him to in order to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid if he went unsupervised, the territories of the northeastern nobles, and even stopping by the Eastern continent. 

Today he returned to the Henituse Estate.

Countess Violan wouldn’t say there’s anything necessarily wrong with her son— no, she’s never thought that there was something wrong with Cale even when he began misbehaving years ago. However, she would say that Cale was acting a bit different than usual. 

“Look here, Orabuni!” Lily smiled, raising her gigantic sword up in the air as if it didn’t weigh a feather. A faint trace of light began to emit around the blade. “It’s aura smoke! It was there before, but it looks more prominent now, doesn’t it?”

Cale nodded with his usual stoic look, but a light smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “It does.”

She waved around her ginormous greatsword with a bright expression. “The color looks a lot like your hair, doesn’t it?”

Cale tilted his head at that, humming contemplatively before agreeing. “It does a little.”

“A pretty deep but sort of bright red— I think it’s a great color!”

He shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Mm, Orabuni, do you think I’ll be able to manifest an aura anytime soon?”

“Of course,” He nodded. “You’re already training really hard, I’m sure it won’t take too long, if it’s you.” 

“The human is right, cheerful Lily! You are very strong.” Raon agreed, flying near her with a bright smile on his face. “You could even be as strong as Choi Han when you grow up!”

Her eyes sparkled up at her brother as well as the little dragon praising her. “Do you really think so, Raon-nim?”

“Of course!”

“Lily, remember not to overdo it.” Cale reminded, picking up a cookie from the stack and handing her one. She took it gladly and had a bite as she sat. “There’s no need to rush it— you’re more than strong enough to manage it, so just take your time.”

She blinked before smiling back brightly with a cookie in her mouth. “I know,”

Cale leaned back on his seat and wiped off a crumb from the little dragon’s face. “How did today’s lessons with Edro go?”

Violan smiled at the sight as she watched from the window of her study near the garden. It’s quite subtle, but Cale has been far more active lately. 

Of course, it wasn’t as if he never held conversations with them. Cale was a great listener and seemed to always know how to say the right words, and they’ve started casual conversations like this with him before. But Violan thought that she’d never seen him initiate himself with them as often as he had been lately. He’s also been a lot more talkative and responsive, asking more follow-up questions and making more remarks and acknowledging hums. Again, it was quite subtle, but something that was certainly worthy of note that wouldn’t escape her keen senses.

Perhaps, after the war ended, Cale was beginning to relax more. Violan hummed in a satisfied manner. She was glad if that was the case. Though she certainly acknowledged and was very proud of Cale’s achievements and capabilities in the war, and all of his great deeds, she also knew that it took a huge toll on him physically. She never wanted to see her son cough up even a drop of blood or faint ever again.

At lunch, Cale continued to listen attentively to what Lily, and now also Basen, were saying. The two siblings seemed to notice this as well and were enthusiastically chatting up a storm regarding just about anything they could think of with a sparkle in their eyes. The black dragon, whose presence they were now starting to get used to, as well as the two cats that always followed Cale around also joined in, and now the table was quite noisy. Violan had to nudge Deruth to remind the lively children to finish their plates.

“Ah, please excuse me,” Cale said, beginning to stand up. “I think I’ll go back to my room now since I’m finished.”

The disappointment on Lily and Basen’s faces were quite evident, though Basen had attempted to try and hide it and failed. Meanwhile, Cale excused himself and walked out the door, the two cat children and the black dragon trailing behind him. 

Violan noted, from Cale’s demeanor, that he was beginning to act more laid back. It was a good thing, of course, but she also worried that it may actually be some sense of… fatigue instead.

Cale seemed somewhat tired all the time these days.

It didn’t seem like anything that could warrant too much concern, since she and Deruth, in collaboration with the crown prince, had worked toward making sure Cale could live the leisure life he wanted and not need to take on anymore duties. In addition, they’ve also been keeping a very close eye on him to make sure he isn’t trying to take on more work himself. 

Maybe it was because he had been traveling around a lot.

Either way, Violan is at least glad her son was finally able to rest.

—

“You look tired.” On asked as she rested on the blanket atop Cale’s thigh. The wooden rocking chair gave gentle rhythmic sways as sunlight shone past the window in warm rays.

Hong, who was next to her, nodded in agreement, climbing up to perch near Cale’s shoulder, while Raon spoke. “But you take so many naps, human! How could you still be so tired all the time?”

“Mn…” He hummed, lightly running his hand through the fur on Hong’s head. “I’m not so sure myself. Are you guys bored?”

“Hm, just a bit! We want to go out and play with you!” he beamed.

Cale nodded at that, before a record of the God of Death’s words played in his head. He also recalled his own feelings regarding the matter.

He was going to die. In just two months at that. 

Cale was pretty upset. All that work for his slacker life, to retire early and just roll around in bed all day lazing around while farming a bit, just to only be able to enjoy 2 months of it? That was really it?

[“...Is there no way to extend the time I have left?”

That’s the most time you’ve got.

He gripped the armrest a bit tighter. “Leading up to the date that I die, will anything happen? Actually, what even are the symptoms of this supposed illness supposed to look like?”

The God of Death hummed. So fortunately, I suppose, this doesn’t work much like a regular human disease where your body suffers all kinds of things since it’s afflicting the soul and not exactly your body. At most you’ll just be experiencing increasing fatigue the closer you get to the date of your death, and I suppose I should tell you that leading up to the end, you’ll start to get feverish and burn up. But..

Cale frowned. 

You’ll also be feeling increasing chronic pain all over your body, but no priest or magic can alleviate it in any way. It’d also be really hard for them to identify so it’ll mostly look like there’s nothing wrong with you.]

He was right about the fatigue, Cale sighed as he leaned back tiredly on his rocking chair. He’d been wondering the past month why he suddenly felt so tired and somewhat pained all over his body and now it made some sense. The chronic pains aren’t that difficult to deal with at the moment, since it was a little similar to his scars as Kim Roksoo that would ache on occasion from the use of instant.

It didn’t feel like much of a big deal at all, but he was pretty much going to die soon.

“Mn…”

On watched the way Cale’s rhythmic tapping on the armrest increased in tempo and heard the low grunt let out and frowned. When this happened, Cale was usually thinking hard about something. Usually a bit too hard. 

She was about to ask about it when Cale suddenly spoke.

“It’s snowing.”

At that, the children looked out to see small, delicate snowflakes slowly descend towards the ground. Hong practically hopped right off of Cale to press his face against the glass. Raon saw his hyung and followed suit, wings flapping somewhat more enthusiastically and his tail swinging more than usual.

“Snow!” Raon exclaimed. This was the second time that this now 6-year-old dragon saw snow, and the sparkle in his eyes was still as bright as the first time he saw it.

On watched her excited dongsaengs with a smile, but didn’t really move too close to look. She still had some mixed feelings about snow.

Though Hong, her younger brother, had become much less apprehensive about it ever since last year, she still had many memories less than pleasant deeply rooted in her mind. Of sitting in the cold fighting to stay awake for hours, trudging through snow till the tips of her paws went numb and till a thin sheen of ice coated their fur, of craving warm meals every second of the day and envying the warm glow of a comforting home from the corner of the slums and of huddling close to her brother to keep him warm.

Snow was more fun now, but it didn't erase those bitter memories completely.

“Ooooh, I wanna go out!” Hong exclaimed with joy.

“Let’s build a snowman! I saw it inside of this book the kind Rosalyn gave me!” Raon immediately flew away towards the night stand, where they kept a stack of books the children liked to read before bed. They usually would read it themselves, but occasionally, Cale would read it out to them as bedtime stories. On liked it when he did that because his voice, though not super expressive, was very soothing and would easily lull them all to sleep.

Raon flew back with the book in his hand, flipping to a page with an illustration on the page. It depicted a figure made out of three big round clumps of white snow, with twigs for arms sticking out and a carrot nose, and small pebbles as buttons and eyes. She thought it looked rather silly.

“It’s even wearing a hat and a scarf!”

“Does it get cold?” Hong asked with slight concern. “It should wear a jacket too, shouldn’t it?”

“It’ll be fine without it,” Cale commented, before hesitating. “Erm, it’s a snow person, right? It wouldn’t get cold, so it’s probably only wearing it to look nice…?”

“These are the main character’s hat and scarf! He let the snowman have it,” Raon helpfully supplied, pointing to the picture with enthusiasm.

“Oh, are you supposed to wear a hat and scarf when you go outside?” Hong asked.

“If it’s cold, you definitely should,” Cale replied, examining the illustration. “You could get sick if you dress too light, so make sure to layer up.”

“Then let’s wear the hats from last year!” Raon said, zipping away and returning with them levitating with magic. They landed in Cale’s hands, and he examined it closely. He tried to fit the hat on On’s head but it came out a bit lopsided thanks to her ears. She adjusted it herself with her paws and blinked up at Cale.

“It’s gotten a bit small,” he commented, smoothing out the knitted surface atop her head. 

“It isn't that small, though,” On said. “Just a little bit more than before.”

“You’ve gotten bigger since last year, so I think it would only make sense that you’ll need another hat. Besides, it isn’t bad to have more things to wear, right?”

“That’s right!”

“Don’t go out until I get—” he paused. “hm…” 

“What’s wrong?” On asked.

“Mn, no, nothing’s wrong,” he assured them. “I was just considering something,”

She tilted her head but wasn’t met with an answer. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the kind of thought that would make him act recklessly, or do something dangerous without telling them, so she didn’t try to press for more. But if it was Cale, then they’d still needed to worry.

But besides, if anything were to happen, she could go and report it to grandpa Eruhaben, uncle Beacrox, or Ron and they would make sure he’s okay. They have lessons after this, so On was going to train hard to get stronger so she could protect Cale herself, too.

—

When Kim Roksoo was little, his clothes would often get holes, rips, and tears on them. And in the first place, he’s never had many clothes either. Little Kim Roksoo worked quite hard to try and take good care of his clothes that were still in good condition, but there wasn’t much a weak little kid could do against a drunk adult in his own house.

Eventually, he picked up sewing. A nice old ahjumma from the second floor of their apartment was kind enough to let him have one of her small kits, and give him some short and quick pointers, but he learned most of it in his own time. He got a lot of cuts and pricks on his fingers and palms the first time around, since his small hands weren’t used to doing such finework— And most of the stitches would come out shabby. He’d rip out parts from old clothes he’d completely outgrown but never got replaced or old cloth that was thrown away he could salvage to patch up some holes, and messily stitch together tears here and there. And when he got beat by his uncle it would sometimes mess up the stitches too, and he'd need to do it all over again.

He also recalled once, when he had a particularly nasty gash on his leg, he got desperate and tried to sew it up the way he would stitch up his ripped clothes, but he’d rather just forget about that.

A lot of his clothes were very thin, so in the winter, when he would be wandering around hungry and thirsty in the snow, he’d get cold and then sick. He remembered passing out a few times in alleyways and waking up still cold and hungry, and he remembered having to clean up the apartment with bad headaches and a flu. It wasn’t pretty, so he’d rather just ignore those parts, but because he went through all that, he’d say he was okay enough at sewing to be able to pull it off, and he’s gotten a lot better over the years as Kim Roksoo. He picked up knitting that one time too when Lee Soohyuk and Choi Jungsoo got him a knitting kit for the holidays as a half-joke, but he actually managed to make some use of it. He also apparently seemed to be okay at embroidery, considering how he actually managed to make those bad-quality Arm uniforms a while ago.

All in all, Cale was at least half-decent at needlework.

Which was why he was sitting at the moment, alone in his room, with some yarn and knitting needles and a book with knitting patterns in it.

To start off, he decided on a scarf, since he remembered how to make one from the knitting set Choi Jungsoo and Lee Soohyuk got him. Simple enough. 

“Hm…” The kids weren’t regular human kids, but rather cat-tribe members and a small dragon, so he’d need to make adjustments. For Raon, he’s never shown an interest in polymorphing, so he’ll knit a smaller one than usual to fit him. On and Hong, however, do polymorph occasionally. The children, all in all, generally have a preference for their original dragon and cat-forms respectively, especially Hong and Raon. On, however, does tend to switch to her polymorphed form more often. 

“Should I just knit two for her?” he considered. It wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, and he had enough yarn for it anyway.

When he had asked Hans to go out and get him some knitting supplies, he had gone a bit overboard and brought him way too many colors, and an entire array of different kinds of needles. What the hell? He had thought. What was he even supposed to do with all these balls of yarn?

“They say cats like balls of yarn though, right? Would On and Hong like to play with these…?” He mumbled to himself. Actually, considering Hans’ fondness for the two, maybe it was his intention.

“Huh,” he remarked absentmindedly, temporarily pausing his needlework. How big would the scarf need to be for Raon, actually? He contemplated it for a moment, and then tried to imagine the little dragon in front of him, in his hands.

This big? He clicked his tongue and widened the space between his hands. No, he’s gotten a bit bigger than that.

Cale recalled the day he carried Raon out of that cave with him. He was really small and frail. Even for a baby dragon, he had been a lot lighter than Cale expected him to be. 

He tried to imagine how he was now— when he’d fall asleep while waiting for Cale to finish a book he was reading, or some kind of paperwork, Cale would often carry him from the sofa inside his room to the bed. Over time, he had gotten heavier, and quickly grew in size. It was a bit more difficult nowadays to fit him in his hands, but Cale could make it work. His cheeks were also chubby enough for Cale to pinch sometimes.

The same would go for On and Hong. Thinking about it now, they’ve grown quite a bit too since the first time Cale had met them at the slums when he was off feeding the man-eating tree every other day. It got harder to carry them both at once. On would even be a teenager soon.

“...They’ve also started getting picky with their food,” Cale remarked to himself, but he had a satisfied smile on his face. Good, they were still kids. They should be able to pout and frown down at the food on their plates, and throw tantrums if they wanted to. Even so, they would eat everything off of their plates, praise the food afterwards and thank whoever brought it to them.

“Raon isn’t very fond of bell peppers, On doesn’t like sour things very much unless it’s lemons, and none of them like bitter things at all…” Cale thought about it as he mumbled nonsense to himself. One day, they wouldn’t even be able to fit in his arms anymore, and he’d have a harder time carrying them around. If they fell asleep in a random place somewhere, how was he supposed to move them? He wasn’t Choi Han or something.

“Maybe I should try working out…” he trailed off, before sighing. “It wouldn’t really matter, though.” 

No matter how great and mighty the children were, they couldn’t grow so much within 2 months.

“Still, these kids,” He thought about the first time he saw Eruhaben in his dragon form when he went with Pendrick. He really looked ancient, in comparison to the little chubby 5-year-old Raon who puffed his chest up at him and announced his name. Will Raon really grow up to be that big? It seemed a bit impossible, to him. It was difficult to picture the cute little now 6-year-old as such a large presence. 

On and Hong too. Maybe they wouldn’t grow to be a giant dragon, but one day they’d be adults too, wouldn’t they? Like him, and Rosalyn, or Alberu.

What would they be doing when they’re older? Actually, have the kids ever mentioned what they wanted to be when they grew up? On and Hong seem to be training and studying to be the heirs to the Molan household. They’re smart kids, and they seemed really enthusiastic about it. The Molans were now an information-based household rather than an assassin one, so Cale also wasn’t too worried about them. Raon also seemed to really like magic. Maybe he’ll study it more in the future, or maybe he’ll even work with Rosalyn at a magic tower. Or maybe he’ll travel around— he could do that with On and Hong too, since all three of them really liked adventures.

“… Kids really grow up fast, huh,” He sighed. It seemed far away, but it’s already been 2 years. Someday it’ll be 5, then 6, 10, even 20. What would the children look like in the future, all together? 

Cale could only wonder.

Chapter Text

In the end, Cale spaced out a little and ended up making too much. Once he got the hang of it, he just sat there and his hands were practically moving on autopilot, repeating practiced motions. It’s already been a few days— almost a week, and it’s all he does. He didn’t stop at scarves, either. 

Am I really going to give everyone all of this? Cale clicked his tongue. Well, what else was he supposed to do with all these scarves, hats, and whatever else? 

“Do you three want to go out?” Cale asked. “The snow’s piled up a bit more.”

It was late into the afternoon already, and the kids had just gotten back from studying. Like the bundles of endless energy they were, they had been pressing their face against the glass and talking enthusiastically about going out and playing in the snow while drinking hot cocoa and munching on cookies. 

They immediately lit up. “Yeah! Let’s go!”

“I wanna build a snowman today— Let’s get a carrot from Beacrox!”

“For the nose, right? What about the eyes?”

“There’s rocks outside— I saw a few. We can use them for the buttons too.”

“Oh, right! And let’s give it a nice smile,”

“What about the hands?”

“Some twigs and branches~”

Even when they were walking down the hallway, the three were still buzzing about. Cale only followed them from behind with a sigh, putting on his coat. At some point on their way to the garden, they ran into Ron and Beacrox. The kids told them about their plan to build a snowman and go outside, and Beacrox obliged and fetched them an old carrot from the second kitchen. Ron, meanwhile, offered Cale some of his warm, signature lemonade, which he tried to reject, but in the end just relented and accepted anyway. Scary old man.

“Mn…”

“Do you like it, young master?”

“...Sure.”

“Ho,” Ron wore his usual benign smile in response, and Cale suppressed a shiver.

They were at the garden at this point, and the cool air blew past as they walked past the gate and stepped out onto the path. 

“Wait.” Cale said. “You have to layer up first, don’t forget.”

The children’s scarves and hats were pretty small, so it wasn’t too difficult to carry around. He pulled out three sets of hats and scarves, and also small mittens.

Raon’s eyes sparkled as he knelt down and unfolded them. “Human, what’s that?”

Hong let out a little gasp. “Ooh, is it for us!?”

On blinked up at him. “New hats? And scarves?”

Cale just hummed back. “Come here,” carefully, he wrapped a gray scarf around Hong’s neck, and then slid on a small hat of the same color on his head. His ears twitched as they poked out of the holes Cale had added for him. “There,” he said. “Does it feel weird? Too small or big? Itchy?”

Hong shook his head so fast it could have flown off. “No! Not at all!” his eyes were sparkling so impossibly brightly that Cale had to squint somehow. “Is this really for me?”

“Yes. If it feels a bit off, it’s because I knit it myself— so it isn’t really that good.” Cale said, before hesitating. “...Do you like it?”

“You really knit this yourself?” he beamed. “That’s so cool! I didn’t know you could knit— I really, really like it! It’s the same color as noona!”

Well, Cale did have that in mind. He figured having the two siblings swap colors would be cute, rather than having it match their fur. It really did end up looking adorable. He let out a satisfied huff and ruffled the top of Hong’s head.

“Human! Me too! I also get one, right!?”

“And me?” On asked, and Cale nodded at the both of them.

Raon’s scarf and hat was white. Cale didn’t think too much about the color choice, aside from the fact that it would contrast well with his dark scales. There were also holes at the top of his hat where his horns could poke out. Cale had guessed how big it should be, and it did end up a bit bigger than needed. Honestly, all of the things he made were pretty amateur and shabby, with his lack of skill, but he tried his best to make it decent enough, despite the occasional loose threads. Aside from the contrast, Cale supposed he also thought about Sheritt. It would be cute if the little 6-year-old dragon were to match with his mom, right? White also looked good on Raon anyway.

As for On, her set was red, like her brother. It suited her well, and she seemed quite satisfied about it for some reason. Cale also managed to knit an extra scarf for her that was a bit bigger.

“You might want to polymorph more often, so I made you an extra,” he said, showing her the red scarf in his hands. Thinking about it now, he should also maybe make on for Hong too just in case. “I’ll hold on to it for now, you can use it whenever you want,”

On’s eyes sparkled as she looked at it. “Really?” she whispered with awe before beaming. “Thanks, Cale,”

Cale observed her for a bit. “On, do you not like snow?”

She blinked. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s just my guess,” he said, and On just awkwardly hummed back. Cale spoke. “I don’t like snow very much either.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope,” he admitted, honestly. “It’s wet, it’s cold, it’s a pain to shovel and move through— there’s lots of reasons not to like snow, and I don’t like it. And that’s why I choose to just stay inside. Even if I decide to go out into the snow sometimes, I would always just come back to sit near a fireplace and take a nap,” he said, looking at On. “The same is for you. If you don’t like snow, you can always come inside. If it gets too cold, you can always return to the house with me and warm up, if you get hungry there are warm meals on the table, and when you’re feeling tired from playing you can nap and rest for as long as you want.”

Cale kneeled to sit next to her and placed a hand atop On’s head, thumb lightly circling in a smooth soothing gesture. “There’s a warm house and the rest of our family waiting for you back at home,” he said. “So if you dislike snow, come inside.”

Cale watched On blink slowly a few times as she stared down at the patches of white snow that sat near her feet. He knew On and Hong must have been through some tough winters throughout the years they’ve been on the run. 

Though his own experiences as Kim Roksoo probably weren’t as severe, he knew what it was like to sit outside in the cold craving warmth. It was a really lonely and painful feeling, so he didn’t want any of the kids experiencing that ever again. Kids should be getting excited during snow days and run around before getting sick from playing so hard. And then it was a parent’s job to look after them and warm them up afterwards. On, Hong, and Raon still had lots of childhood snow days ahead of them.

“...Okay.” On nodded. “I’ll come inside when it gets too cold,”

Cale nodded, satisfied. “That’s right,”

“Cale, Cale! Where’s your scarf? And your hat?”

“That’s right, weak human! You can’t freeze to death in the snow!”

Cale frowned at that. “I won’t freeze to death, Raon,”

“You could though~”

“You’re so skinny and you have no fur, so you could really freeze over! Like a block of ice!”

“Weak human, if you turn into a block of ice I’ll burn the whole world down!”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Cale sighed. He did wear a coat before heading out, but he didn't actually knit anything for himself. It wasn’t like he needed a new scarf or hat anyway. 

“Young master-nim,” Cale got the chills as he turned around. “Please do not forget your hat and scarf. It would most trouble this old servant if you were to fall ill, after all.”

Ron was already there, smiling benignly, holding out a tray with Cale’s scarf and hat ready, even some gloves. He was relatively warm already, but this was fine, he guessed. Cale just sighed and hesitantly took them from Ron. 

As he tied his scarf, Ron was already there adjusting it for him. It felt secure and warm around his neck and fortunately didn’t choke him to death.

Looking back towards the kids, they had already started rolling around in the snow while shouting and playing. Hong was showing his nona and their youngest how to make snow angels, which Cale remembered from a book he showed him a few days ago. The two cats’ angels’ had little cat ears imprinted in their silhouette, while Raon’s had an extra set of wings and a few horns poking out.

Hong crouched down and drew a little smiley face on On’s snow angel, giggling. “Hehe, look, look, it’s you, noona! You’re smiling!”

On laughed and went to Raon’s and drew two dots for eyes and a smile with a little tongue sticking out. “Blep.”

Raon went to Hong’s, and drew a silly face with a wide semi-circle smile and triangular eyes that made it look like Hong was laughing. He also added whiskers for extra detail. “Ta-da!”

The children did that for a while, laughing while doodling on the snow and adding more details to their snow angel. Eventually, they called Cale over to take a look. The faces were quite silly, but grew more detailed over time– they even added eyebrows. Raon’s silhouette had some scales drawn in, Hong added some swirls for extra effect around his angel and On’s had stars drawn around hers. It was very cute.

“Cale, Cale, you should do it too!”

“That’s right human, make a snow angel!” Raon was beaming brighter than the snow. “We’ll show you how to do it, It’s very simple!”

“You just have to lay down and move your arms around like this—” On made up and down motions with her arms, paws swiping at the air. “And also your legs too,”

“Um…” he hesitated. 

“Come on, please?”

“Pleaseeeeeeee?”

With three shiny eyes blinking up at him hopefully it would’ve been mean for Cale to decline. He sighed and laid down in the snow, feeling the cool sort of crunchy surface press against his back. Laying in a bed of snow and facing up, the children were peering down at him while laughing. Hong picked off some snow from his face and Raon swept his hair to the side.

“Okay! Now move your arms around, human!”

“Mn…” he sighed and obliged them, waving his arms and legs around in the snow. He kind of wished he wore a hat since there was a lot of snow in his hair now, but it wasn’t a big deal.

When he was finished, Cale sighed and stared up at the sky— only to be met with Choi Han’s very confused face. He flinched.

“Gah!”

“Cale-nim?” Choi Han asked in a somewhat concerned tone. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, hi Choi Han!”

“He’s making a snow angel~”

“Yup!”

He tilted his head to the side as he stared down at Cale’s lying figure. “Snow angels…” he echoed. 

“You can get up now, human!”

“Yup, you could get sick if you stay in all that snow,”

“Don’t get sick, Cale!”

Choi Han offered his hand and pulled Cale up to his feet. As he dusted himself off, grimacing at the wet and cold sensation of the snow against his clothes, The children marveled at his snow angel.

“Ooh!”

“It’s tall!” Raon pointed out. “Wow, and the wings are big too, human!”

“It really looks like an angel!” Hong remarked. 

“The wings kind of make me think of your shield,” On pointed out, crouching down and placing her paw in the snow at the center of the figure. “The shield would be right here, see?”

“Oh!” Raon gasped. “It does! Isn’t that right, Choi Han?”

Choi Han observed the silhouette in the snow with a hum before nodding. “It does.”

“Let’s draw it!”

While the kids were busy with that, Cale finished dusting himself off and spoke to Choi Han as he adjusted his own scarf, “Were you training earlier?”

He nodded. “Yes— with the knights at the training grounds,” he paused. “Miss Lily was also there,”

Cale hummed. “Really? How did she do?”

“Good,” Choi Han answered with a smile. “She’s really strong and has a remarkable amount of stamina, and a lot of talent. She’s well regarded by all of the other knights and when she practiced with me she—”

Cale choked on air. “You sparred with her?”

“Hm? Oh, yes,”

Cale almost caught a heart attack when he heard that. Lily? Fought Choi Han? Cale was confident and certain in her strength, but to this extent? At her age? Against this munchkin protagonist? Wasn’t she like, 10? 9?

Sensing Cale’s supposed worry, or perhaps bafflement, Choi Han quickly assured him. “It was a light practice match and it wasn’t like I went all out— Despite wielding a greatsword, I thought she was still agile, and her stance is very refined— um, don’t worry, she’s fine,”

“No, I’m sure she’s fine,” Choi Han was a good kind of guy so Cale couldn’t imagine him ever hurting her intentionally in a thousand years. “I’m glad she’s doing well,”

Choi Han blinked before smiling. “I can report to you about her progress, if you’d like,”

“You don’t have to,” he sighed. “Though I don’t mind hearing about it every once in a while,”

“Okay,”

“Oh, before I forget,” he pulled out a magical bag from his pocket and rummaged inside for a little, before pulling out a dark red scarf. He held it out to Choi Han. “Here.”

Choi Han stared at it for a while, looking somewhat stunned. He blinked. “This is…?”

“Yeah, I know, it’s not much,” he shrugged. “It’s just something I made in my spare time— it’s a bit shabby but, just take it,”

Choi Han’s scarf was actually some of the first of Cale’s knitting attempts. As he was an amateur, there were loose threads poking out here and there, though he cut most of them so it would look less shabby, and it had a relatively simple design. He didn’t have much in mind when he started it, but after some time, he considered giving it to someone since it was coming out relatively well. 

“You train outside a lot,” Cale simply stated. “Don’t underestimate the snow. I’m sure you know that already, but I thought this could help somewhat in staying warmer. It’s easy to get sick during the winter,” Even munchkin protagonists in fantasy novels could catch colds.

Choi Han’s eyes looked like they were sparkling as they fixated on the folded up scarf Cale held out for him, though he wasn’t sure why. He carefully took it before unfolding it, observing it up close before mumbling. “You… made this?”

He shrugged. “Yeah,”

“For me?”

“I made some for the kids too— you saw those hats? And the scarves?” Choi Han turned to observe the children who were doodling in the snow still around Cale’s snow angel and let out a little gasp.

“I didn’t know you could knit,”

“It’s a small skill I picked up on a whim,” he shrugged. “So it looks amateurish,”

“! No! It’s not amateurish at all! It looks very nice!” Choi Han exclaimed suddenly as if trying to reassure Cale.

He tilted his head. “Thanks?”

Choi Han put the scarf on, wrapping it around his neck once or twice. It fit nicely enough, and the punk seemed strangely pleased by it. On the other hand, Cale winced. The scarf was a dark red. He hadn’t put much thought into the color choice, except that Choi Han wore black all the time and a splash of color could probably help or something and red yarn was the color he had most of, but looking at him now it just looked like blood on his clothes. He shivered. Choi Han meanwhile seemed to like color quite a bit.

“Ah. Thank you,” he smiled at him. “I like it— I’ll wear it whenever I go out for sword training, Cale-nim,”

“You don’t have to,” 

“But I’m going to,” 

“Just don’t catch a cold,” he sighed. “And you can’t miss meals because it’s colder now, so your body is going to burn through more of its energy so it can keep you warm. Have you eaten yet?”

He smiled. “I have, this morning— I had a lunch break earlier as well,”

Cale hummed. “Good,”

Turning back around, the two of them looked at the now elaborately decorated Cale snow angel, courtesy of the children. It was quite a sight— A smug looking nonchalant expression, a scarf around its neck, and they even added some hair. Around the silhouette were various bags of money, some spilling out coins, magic stones, and lots of sparkles. 

“Human, look!” Raon exclaimed, pointing his paw at it. “It’s you!”

“You’re scamming someone, see?” Hong tapped on the doodle of a shocked bald figure next to his supposed face. Cale heard Choi han stifle a laugh from beside him.

“It’s a loooot of money. 5 billion gallons~” On chuckled. 

Huh, the kids were quite artistic. Cale bent down slightly to get a closer look. “It looks pretty good,”

“Oh!” Raon drew a circle next to the snow angel with dots and smaller circles inside. “Here’s a cookie, human!”

“It’s from the crown prince’s office— the chocolate chip ones~” Hong added. “Oh, and also the blueberry flavored ones, here!”

“Oooh, and…” On doodled another circle with ornate-looking patterns on it. Cale could recognize it almost immediately despite the messy details. “A golden plaque~”

Cale seemed somewhat satisfied by it all. It was an accurate depiction of him. Choi Han crouched down with the kids and observed their drawings, then drew a glass with a lemon-slice on the rim and a straw sticking out with his finger.

“And here’s the lemon tea that Ron would often make you,” he added, but Cale grimaced. The children laughed at him. 

“Oh!” Raon fluttered over to Choi Han and touched the scarf wrapped around his neck. “Did you get a scarf too, Choi Han?”

“Mhm,” he nodded with a smile, pulling the end and showing it off a bit. “Cale-nim made it for me,”

Raon gasped. “Mine too! Look, Choi Han! Isn’t it cool? The human knitted it for me– it’s white just like the snow!”

Hong also let out a little gasp. “Yours looks like noona’s!”

Choi Han and On made eye contact and showed off their scarves to each other while smiling a little. Cale didn’t really understand why they were showing it off so much, but if they liked it then it wasn’t like there was a problem.

—

“Ah, it’s young master Cale-nim!” a few knights turned their heads towards Cale’s way as he walked near the training grounds. They all stood and greeted him with a small bow with cheery expressions. 

“Orabuni!” Lily exclaimed as she leaned on her greatsword and waved as the knights conversing with her did. 

“How’s practice?” Cale asked, handing her a handkerchief to dry up some of the sweat rolling down the side of her face. 

“It’s been great! Take a look,” She gripped her sword a bit tighter and seemed to focus a little. The same foggy red aura rose like faint smoke from her sword, though it was more prominent than a few days ago even now. “It’s gotten bolder right?”

“It has,” he nodded. “You’ve been training hard— did you eat yet?”

She nodded. “Mhm. I made sure to drink a lot, too,”

“Good, that’s good,” Cale nodded, satisfied.

“What brings you here, orabuni?” she questioned curiously.

“I was just passing by, so I thought I might as well say hi,” he sighed. They both sat on the steps, and Cale pulled out some cookies he had kept with him. They were usually for Raon, Hong, or On, but he had plenty on him so it wasn’t much of a problem. “How did it go today?”

“Great! I had a few lessons with master over at the restaurant this morning and he treated me to breakfast there— he’s a great chef on top of being a great swordsman, did you know? Then he made me run a bunch of laps and we practiced—”

Cale had honestly been out on a small stroll on his own while the kids finished up their snowman, saying he could come back when it was finished. Choi Han and Beacrox were helping out with rolling up balls of snow to form the body, but they somehow made it a little competitive. He didn’t want to get mixed up with that and decided to take a walk.

Lily was the kind of kid that really grew up quickly. For a 9-year old, she was already quite tall. Not tall enough to be above Cale, but he thought she could get there in just short of a few years. She also seemed to have matured a lot more over the past two years, but she’s still cheerful. 

Lily was actually younger than On was, too. She hadn’t seen them talk all that often since they didn’t meet as often in the first place, but he thought it would be good if they ever decided to talk. Making other friends your age was quite important, though Lily was closer to Hong in terms of age.

“Mn, Lily,” Cale cut in, pulling out the spatial magic bag from his pocket again and digging through it. From there, out went another scarf, only this time with a more unique design, following a striped pattern. It followed a dark and light blue color scheme, and the tassels at the end were braided. He didn’t think too much of it, other than the fact that she seemed to like the color blue. Cale had gotten used to scarves after a while and tested out a more complicated design, which was why it was striped.

Her eyes sparkled as she stared at it. “This is…?”

“It’s for you,” he said. “You train hard all the time, and it’s winter. Don’t get sick,”

She blinked a few times as she took it and held it, observing the details up close. “Did you buy this?”

“No,” he admitted. “...I made it,”

The sparkle in Lily’s eyes seemed to increase ten-fold. “You made this, orabuni? By yourself? Really?”

“...yeah,”

She let out a little gasp. “Wow… Thank— Thank you!” she smiled widely at him. “I’ll make sure to take good care of it and— and I’ll wear it all the time. I promise!”

“You don’t—”

“I will!” she grinned, putting it on right away. Fortunately, it fit fine— it complimented her bright blue eyes quite well. “I just finished up with practice, so I’m going to go back and show this to Basen-orabuni— and mother and father as well!”

“Um… all right?”

“Thank you!” Lily got up and ran off, dragging her giant sword with her while she wore a cheerful expression. It was quite the sight.

Well, he shrugged to himself. I guess it doesn’t matter what she plans on doing as long as she’s happy with it. 

A familiar voice suddenly chimed in from beside him. “Good afternoon, young master-nim,”

He looked up, and found vice-captain Hilsman smiling at him in his training gear. He greeted him with a small bow as she stood in front of him. “Hilsman,”

“The knights are all very happy to have you here, young master-nim! It feels as if we could grow ten-times more motivated just by your presence,” he smiled widely. 

“That sounds ridiculous,”

“It’s true! How could a flame within us not immediately blaze when the renowned hero of silverlight himself has come to cheer us on?”

Cut the crap. Cale sighed. All this hero stuff is seriously bothering him. “I didn’t come here for that though?”

“Well, it wouldn’t really matter as long as you’re present,” He laughed. Hilsman has been all smiles for a while now. “It’s a wonderful day, isn’t it?”

“It’s snowing,”

“Snow days can be nice too, young master-nim,” he replied. “On cold days like these, it’s best to warm up with a drink at the tavern,”

“Hm…” Cale shrugged. He wasn’t wrong.

“Have you gone to the new tavern that opened recently?” he asked. “It recently opened a while ago, sometime after the battle at Puzzle City. The drinks and food they serve there are quite delicious.”

“Really?” he tilted his head. “What is it called?”

Hilsman smiled. “Silver Shield Tavern.”

Cale’s expression soured immediately. “What?”

“Hahaha!” he laughed with a wide grin on his face. Cale was sure that he definitely knew what he was doing. “It’s a great establishment, young master-nim. If you ever plan to go into town, this Hilsman is always ready to guide you there,”

“Haa…” he just wanted a free drink, didn’t he? “Well, whatever.”

“Everyone’s been in a lively mood as of late, young master-nim,” he smiled. “The White Star has been defeated, and the new year is approaching. I think they’re looking to hold a festival sometime soon,”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “A veil of peace has descended upon the entire kingdom, in fact. Even my mother who has been quite tense for a while since the war has gradually loosened up. We shared a drink just a few days ago. I’m quite glad, you see,”

“Mn…”

Hilsman smiled again at Cale. “Young master-nim, truly, deciding to follow you and serve you was the greatest decision of my life,” he said, with an expression of ease yet certainty. Cale stilled a little. “Thanks to you, I’ve gotten stronger,” he said. “And thanks to you, the territory— no, the kingdom, better yet the entire continent can continue to live in peace.”

“...”

“And for that, I’m eternally grateful,”

This place must mean a lot to Hilsman. Though he was somewhat arrogant towards Choi Han in the beginning, he was a hard-working kind of guy who was dedicated to his duties, and good with his words. A fitting vice-captain for the knights that served the territory. Cale couldn’t think of anyone else who could fill the role much better than Hilsman could.

“If you’re really grateful, just keep doing your job properly,” he sighed. He didn’t need to be so thankful towards Cale, he only did what was necessary for his peaceful life. Though there isn’t much left of that peaceful life for him to live, at least the others who had worked hard, like Hilsman, could properly enjoy it. He tossed him a bag of coins from his spatial magic bag. “Take the rest of the knights to that tavern you like so much for a meal tonight,”

All the other still-training knights within earshot cheered like they had just gotten pay-raise.

Chapter Text

Beacrox, as the second chef in the Henituse estate, did not like having other people in his kitchen. They could mess something up, or break something, or bring in dust or mud from outside, or make things dirty. Needless to say, no one was allowed in unless they got permission.

If his past self from 2 years ago saw him let Cale, who used to throw fits about his food and hurled wine bottles on a daily basis, into his kitchen, he may try to assassinate him in real time.

“You want to cook?”

Cale seemed to flinch a bit at his genuine look of bafflement. “...Yes.” 

“Young master-nim, I could just make it for you if there’s something you want, there’s no need for you to do it yourself.”

“It’s not something you can make.” Beacrox’s frown deepened drastically and Cale quickly corrected himself. “Wait, no, I meant that it’s not something you’d probably know how to cook.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“It’s a recipe from Choi Han’s world.”

He raised a brow. “Choi Han?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you know a recipe from his world?”

He took a moment to think before answering. “He told me about a few.” Cale replied. “I’m just… interested in them.”

Beacrox watched Cale tie his hair into a rare ponytail, as opposed to the usual black ribbon behind his hair, and sighed. “Why can’t you just give me the recipe?”

“Mn, I just wanted to try it out myself,” Cale shrugged. 

Usually, he would have pressed on some more to convince Cale to just get out of his kitchen and let him handle it, but he’d seen how oddly fatigued and passive he had been the past month since the aftermath of the battle within the temple. It was better for him to be a bit more active rather than just sleep for long periods of time, he supposed. And besides, it wasn’t as if he’s actually seen his young master cook anyway, and though he wasn’t expecting much, it might at least be an interesting new thing to know about him. 

“Fine,” he relented. “Though I don’t know if that punk is really someone you can trust when it comes to something like recipes.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that, I’ve got it.”

“How exactly?”

“Here’s the recipe,” he said, handing him a piece of paper with Cale’s recognizable handwriting in ink. 

Beacrox read it and tilted his head. “Kimbap…?”

“It’s a pretty simple recipe,” Cale remarked as he glanced at the magic clock on the wall. “It’s still a bit early for lunch, so this can count as a nice snack.”

Cale was right, it did seem quite simple, and the instructions seemed detailed enough for them to actually follow without much issue. Essentially, it was rice wrapped in seaweed paper with a variety of fillings. As he watched Cale take out a pot though, he was still slightly skeptical about the young master using his kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“Starting with the rice,” Cale replied, pouring water in and switching the stove on. “It shouldn’t take too long. Probably done by the time I finish stir frying and chopping.” He blinked. “Mn, are you going to help me out?”

“Of course I am,” Beacrox said. It was preposterous enough to him that he even let Cale do this. 

“Mn, in that case, could you get some of the ingredients? I’ll be cutting them later.”

He frowned. “No, I’ll be doing the cutting, young master-nim.” he said, sounding quite insistent. Cale gave him an odd, somewhat fearful look but just awkwardly agreed. What he didn’t know however, was that there was an unspoken ban on sharp objects coming anywhere near his vicinity until further notice ever since the stunt he pulled inside the temple— which they still weren’t over, by the way.

“...Alright,” he agreed with reluctance, pouring a few cups of rice inside the pot and water in from over the sink. Beacrox watched attentively as Cale repeatedly poured water in, sifted through it with his hands like he was washing it, and drained it. His motions seemed practiced, as if he had done it dozens of times before, which baffled the chef because who would have the balls to make the young master of a county, no, a duchy , better yet the hero on the continent, wash rice?

By the time he came back from the pantry with the ingredients Cale listed in the recipe, the pot was sitting atop the counter to simmer with the lid on. The redheaded young master asked him a few times to let him do the cutting too, insisting that it’d be done faster that way, but Beacrox stood his ground and ignored him until he was finished with the process. He let him do most of the other, deemed safer steps, though.

Firstly, he blanched some spinach, scalding it in boiling water for a few seconds before running it under cold water right after. Then he placed it in a relatively large bowl after letting Beacrox cut out the bulb, and added salt, sesame oil, and minced garlic cloves. Then he mixed it with his hands— of course, only after Beacrox made him wash them one more time before doing so.

“...Have you done something like this before, young master-nim?”

Cale tensed slightly before relaxing again, giving an awkward hum. “Mn.. Well…” he trailed off, seemingly contemplating his answer a bit too much. ”I guess so.”

“And when did that happen?”

“...Sealed god’s test,” he replied. Beacrox’s eyes widened in surprise since he never really knew what exactly transpired when Cale was sucked in the black orb that day. Apparently the sealed god forced him to… cook? Did the young master-nim despise cooking enough that it appeared in the test of a god who essentially represented despair? 

“...I see,” he simply replied. It couldn’t be helped that he asked that question considering how unaffected Cale looked about sticking his hands into the ingredients and mixing it himself (As long as he washed his hands, which Beacrox watched him do very attentively, it’s fine). He wouldn’t have expected him to be so normal about it, let alone good at it.

“Can you tell me a bit about this dish, young master-nim?” Beacrox decided to ask. To be honest, it wasn’t often that Cale took particular interest in something so specific aside from money and maybe wine. Especially when it was about Choi Han’s mysterious faraway hometown in another world. He couldn’t help but be curious about his thoughts on it.

“Mn…” Cale tilted his head as if recalling a few things. “It’s a dish from… Choi Han’s hometown. It’s called ‘kimbap’. They come in a lot of varieties, this one is just the simplest and most basic. I guess you could call it the ‘original’ variety.” he explained. “You would usually pack these for picnics or gatherings. They’re a popular lunch that moms would pack you for school picnics, or just for regular school lunch. They’re round, and bite sized. They’re also easy to make with leftover kimchi, so they make a quick lunch when you’re in a rush.”

Cale seemed satisfied enough when he talked about this dish, and his pronunciation of its name sounded somewhat authentic, even though Beacrox wasn’t sure what he was talking about. He did say he had learned some of Choi Han’s language. “Have you ever had these?”

“...” Cale took a moment. “They taste good.” 

It felt like he was hiding something.

But lately, it felt like Cale had been a lot more honest with them, and a lot more willing to answer questions. It felt as if he had let down some of the walls he had put up when it came to some parts of himself. Maybe he was still hiding a few things, but this much from him was enough, for now.

He watched Cale beat a few eggs in a bowl mixed with salt before pouring the mixture on the pan. It sizzled as he tilted the pan to allow it to spread evenly, and again Beacrox was surprised by Cale's unexpected adeptness with cooking he had literally never seen him do. And then he flipped the egg with his bare hands.

“What are you doing!?”

He flinched. “Uh, flipping it?”

“With— with your bare hands…!?”

“Yes…?”

“The— the stove is on! Is your hand not burning…?!”

“Ah, mn, it’s perfectly fine, don’t worry about it.” he said, before mumbling to himself. “I’d usually just use disposable chopsticks from the convenience store, but… It’s no big deal at all— it’s just a little hot, this is faster than using a spatula or something.”

Beacrox was left somewhat speechless before sighing exasperatedly and pointing behind Cale. “There’s burn salve in that drawer,”

Then he stir fried the rest of the ingredients, moving with a sense of expertise. It was like Beacrox’s level of skill when he used to make Cale's favorite dishes all the time when he was a child. Now that he thought about it, ever since the day he had suddenly changed, his trashy young master-nim had never once complained about his food and pretty much just ate everything off his plate. 

“Young master-nim,” Beacrox called as he lifted the pot to check on the rice. “What’s your favorite food?”

Cale glanced at him as he stirred the vegetables. “Mn… anything’s fine as long as it isn’t sour or bitter, or generally inedible,”

So I guess he really doesn’t like father’s lemon tea, Beacrox sighed internally. Why does he keep drinking it anyway though?

“Is there anything more… particular?” he asked. “A specific dish you might like?”

Cale gave a thoughtful hum before opening his mouth like he was going to answer, before faltering. “I like…” Beacrox stared at his strange expression, waiting for him to reply, before Cale’s reddish-brown eyes glinted as he mumbled. “...Kimchi.”

Beacrox blinked. “What was that?”

“Kim…” he trailed off, sounding somewhat hesitant, before exhaling and relaxing his shoulders a bit. “Kimchi-jjigae.”

“Is that…” he trailed off. “a dish from Choi Han’s world?” Wow, the sealed god really made him do a lot of cooking. 

Cale nodded. “Yeah,” he placed the stir-fried vegetables on the plate. “It tastes— I think it would taste good.”

He looked a bit nostalgic when he said that.

Cale glanced back at Beacrox before humming. “I can show you how to make it.” It seemed that his curiosity showed on his face. “Another day, maybe. I can show you other recipes too, if you want. I remember— I know a few.”

Steam wafted out from the pot of rice that seemed like it had finished cooking, and Beacrox could spot a small, satisfied smile from Cale as he laid out the seaweed sheet. 

“Of course, young master-nim.”

Beacrox didn’t mind Cale in his kitchen.

—

Basen sighed as his quill scrawled over the pages of his parchment, trying to focus on the paragraphs in his book about management. Father didn’t assign him any work today, but that didn’t mean he should slack off too much yet. There were still lots for him to study.

However, he frowned when he remembered when Lily had come in yesterday with a blue striped scarf and a happy expression, before promptly showing it off to him.

“It’s a scarf that Cale-orabuni made,” She had proclaimed, pointing and poking at it to emphasize her point. “He knitted it himself because he was worried about me,”

“Haaa…” Basen wasn’t childish. No, he definitely wasn’t. He was mature and he wouldn't be bothered by a scarf. Definitely. 

Is it because Lily is always training outside? He wondered to himself, before mumbling quietly. “...I want something from hyung-nim, too.”

At that moment, the door to the study opened with a light swing, and like he had heard his words, in stepped his hyung carrying a plate of… something. It looked like a snack, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Basen straightened his posture. “Hyung-nim.”

“Studying today?” he asked in a casual tone, closing the door behind and walking over to sit on the sofa near Basen, setting a plate of the mysterious snacks on the table. 

He stared at the peculiar thing for a while. “This is…?”

Cale picked up one of the rolls, at least that’s what Basen would guess it was, and dipped in the strange pallet of sauce that came on the plate. Afterwards he ate the entire thing in one go and chewed, as if demonstrating to Basen. He tilted his head.

“Kimbap.”

“Huh?”

“This is called Kimbap.” Cale paused, as he picked out a book from the shelf. “It’s a foreign dish.”

“A foreign dish…?” He didn't recognize it as any of the national dishes from other kingdoms, and it didn’t exactly seem like something you would find in the western continent. “The eastern continent…?”

Cale hummed pensively, before shrugging. “Sure,” he replied, before sliding a glass of water across the table in his direction. “You should drink.”

“Oh…” Basen, in all honesty, drank tea more often than he did water, though he couldn’t deny needing something more refreshing at the moment.

“You’re studying really hard,” Cale remarked. He stilled. “You should remember to take breaks. Or at least drink enough. Dehydration can cause headaches, remember that.”

“Ah… right. Thank you, hyung-nim.”

Cale opened up the book he had picked out earlier— it wasn’t too thick, and from the quick glance he had of its contents, it seemed to be a novel of sorts. Oh. he thought. Cale must have enjoyed reading stories. He’s seen him read a few times before but he’d completely forgotten after the war started and Cale got busy dealing with… everything.

“How have your studies been? I also heard you were helping father with some internal affairs.” he said. “Hans mentioned you were pretty good at it.”

“Oh,” he blinked. “They’ve been… good. I quite enjoy it,”

“You do?” Cale tilted his head at him slightly before picking up another roll of the ‘kimbap’ from the plate. “That’s good, then. Keep up the good work.”

He smiled. “Th… Thank you, hyung-nim. I will,”

“Has anything happened lately?” he asked while stabbing one of the rolls with a fork and swirling it in the dipping sauce.

“Ah… well,” Basen contemplated a response. “This morning my instructor happened to take a day off,”

“Your instructor?” He paused. “Mr. Walt?”

“Yes, him,” he nodded. “Apparently his wife fell bedridden not long ago. Father is sending him support and well wishes,” 

“Mn, alright,”

“I've been studying on my own since this morning,” 

“Mn, well, keep up the good work,” Cale handed him one of the kimbap rolls with a fork, already dipped in sauce. “Have you eaten breakfast yet? Either way, it's gotten a bit late– if you've really been studying all morning, then you should eat something now. Thinking on an empty stomach won't get you anywhere,”

“Ah…” he blinked, accepting the offer. With the way Cale ate it, he was just supposed to eat the whole thing at once? “Thank you, hyung-nim,”

He opened his mouth and put the entire thing in his mouth and then chewed. “Mn…!”

Cale tilted his head. “Is it good?”

“It's…” Basen decided to finish swallowing before he spoke. “It's great…!”

Basen didn't have rice all that often, and he's never had it wrapped in… seaweed? Either way it was delicious. The rice was soft and the seaweed was somewhat crunchy, and the taste of the contents in the middle of the roll was remarkable. He could taste a few things, kind of. There was spinach, some sort of meat, eggs, and more.

“The dipping sauce is delicious,” he said. “This is… it's called kimbap?”

Cale nodded as he cut the remaining rolls into halves with a fork. “Rice rolls wrapped in seaweed with filling in the middle,” he said. “They're a nice study snack,”

“Oh…” did Cale often eat something like this when he was studying back then? “I didn't know Chef Beacrox could make something like this…”

“Hm? Oh, he just learned today,” Cale replied. “I was the one who gave him the recipe, and I guess I also cooked some of the ingredients-”

His eyes widened. “Hyung-nim, you made these?”

“...kind of,” he shrugged.

Oh wow. Oh… wow. His hyung made a snack, for him? “It tastes amazing,” Cale blinked at him. “Really, I didn't know you were so talented at cooking, hyung-nim…!” he was definitely going to brag to Lily about this later.

“It was just something I picked up,” he sighed. “...On that note, here's something for you.”

“Hm?” 

Cale pulled something out of a pouch he carried with him, and slid it across the table to Basen. His eyes widened slightly. “You use a lot of fountain pens nowadays, and sometimes pencils,” he mentioned. “It’s easy to lose them when you carry them around,”

It was a knitted… pouch? It was a green color with a dark button at the top to seal it. As he held it, gently, he could feel something inside of it, and undid the button to check. It was a new fountain pen.

“If you’re having trouble storing them, you can put them in here… I guess,”

In all honesty, Cale didn’t know why he started all these knitting projects. Well, it was something he’d considered doing when he was younger, he guessed, but he supposed he just felt like he had a lot of things to think about and it was easier to space out while working on something rather than sitting down and staring at a wall, which would definitely raise some concerns.

I mean, I guess…. He remembered his days as Kim Roksoo, when he would study at his part-time jobs, restaurants, and would even stay after school just to study until late. Of course, that was all before the world basically collapsed. He thought if he’d gotten into a good college with a good scholarship, he could at least live on-campus and let the scholarship cover some funds, maybe get a good job after he graduates. But then again, the world did kind of end, so all that was in vain.

I guess I just kind of thought Basen was a bit similar? 

Of course, Basen would definitely have all that work pay off in the future, working for the duchy probably as the next count if that’s what he really decides he’d like to do. He was doing well already, in Cale’s opinion, so he should really just relax a bit. Lily and Basen sure are diligent.

Mn, but it’s kind of stupid. Would Basen even like something like this? He tried to make it look as nice as possible but it still looked amateurish.

Contrary to Cale’s expectations, Basen was basically beaming on the inside. Oh Lily would never hear the end of this. “Th… Thank you,” his eyes were sparkling. “This is… I appreciate it very much, hyung-nim— I’ll make sure to make good use of it!”

“You don’t ha—”

“I will,”

“Okay,” Cale sighed. As long as he liked it, he guessed, but wasn’t this a bit much? “Well, I’m sorry for disrupting your studies, I’ll get going now,” he said. “If you need me, I’ll be heading out for a bit after this, but I should be back soon. Ask Hans or Ron,” he eyed the plate of kimbap that was already running out. “There’s more of these in the kitchen. Lily and the others are eating outside too, so join them if you need fresh air,”

“Ah.. Okay.”

“Keep up the good work,” and a few steps later, Cale was out of the study. Basen stared down at the pen holder in his hands.

Cale looked really relaxed today. He hoped that… He hoped that Cale would keep visiting every once in a while like this, too.

—

As Alberu’s royal instructor, Choi Han had gone to the palace that day for their scheduled training. The weather was cold out, and after what Alberu considered a training session from the seventh circle of hell, they stopped and went in to warm up and talk. 

Alberu spoke more about how Puzzle City’s restoration was progressing, as well as some plans he had in regards to handing out the rewards for the contributions towards the battle at puzzle city against the unranked monsters— particularly in regards to Cale. Choi Han also told Alberu about how Cale had been acting a bit strangely lately.

“I don’t think it’s a bad change,” he had said. “Not at all, actually. It’s just a bit sudden. He’s been more open and honest about things, and he talks more during normal conversations. I don’t think I’ve heard Cale-nim swear in a while too.”

“Maybe it’s because he’s had some time to think,” Alberu said. “Commanding the war was a heavy burden, even for Cale Henituse himself.” 

They tensed slightly as they recalled the way he looked when Raon carried him through the balcony, bleeding, covered in a thousand open red cuts, and unconscious. Alberu and Choi Han decided that they would stop at nothing to make sure he never had to hurt himself like that ever again.

“Look, he even gave me a scarf,” 

He sighed as he eyed the red scarf Choi Han had been wearing all day. “You’ve mentioned that 5 different time already,”

Choi Han contemplated it for a while. “Do you think he might be hiding something?” 

“If it’s Cale, then yes.” Alberu sighed in a deadpan. “But, maybe it’s okay to just let him have the benefit of the doubt, right? From the way you described it, it sounded like that punk was finally relaxing and fulfilling that slacker life he always talked about.”

“That’s… yeah…” Choi Han nodded. It did definitely make him feel relieved to see Cale resting comfortably and safely so much the past month. “If something seems suspicious, we could ask Miss Cage to ask the God of Death, right?”

“That’s right.” Alberu agreed. “Now we just need to keep an eye on that bastard.”

“That bastard? You couldn’t possibly be talking about me, could you hyung-nim?”

They turned their heads around to see a familiar figure dressed in a coat, with a baby black dragon floating above him with a cheery expression and two cats in his arms. On hopped off as he got closer to them.

Albery scoffed. “Speak of the devil.”

“The devil? Me?” he made a sarcastic motion to himself. “Your sharp words wound this lowly subject, your highness.”

“What are you doing here?” Alberu asked as Cale approached Choi Han.

“Delivery, I guess.” he shrugged, and they both noticed him holding some sort of box. Hong climbed up his shoulder before leaping off, snatching away a jar of cookies from the desk. “Tsk. You shouldn’t be out training when it’s snowing. You get hungry easier when it’s cold out, you know.”

Cale held out a rectangular, wrapped lunch box. Alberu tilted his head in somewhat confusion, while Choi Han’s eyes lit up with a nostalgic sparkle at the recognition. Hesitantly, he reached out and took it, carefully unwrapping the colorful cloth before opening the box.

“!” he gasped. 

“This is…?” Alberu questioned as he opened the cookie jar for Hong and let Raon carry it away.

“Kimbap!” Choi Han exclaimed. “But, how…?”

“I convinced Beacrox to let me use the kitchen,” he shrugged, looking to the side to see the kids at a distance far away enough they wouldn’t really be paying attention. Currently, they were with Mary, who went to visit Tasha who was working at the palace, all while enjoying Alberu’s stock of sugar cookies. “It’s Korean food, from Earth. I made some.”

“You made this?” Alberu blinked. 

“Hyung-nim, are you trying to say I can’t cook?”

“I mean— well… I’m just more baffled that that scary person actually allowed you in his kitchen in the first place.” he sighed. “Agh, whatever— let’s just taste it first.”

Cale handed them both a pair of wooden chopsticks. Choi Han wondered where he’d gotten those since he had never even heard of them existing in this european-esque world, but he found that they worked well. Alberu watched him, looking baffled by the concept of eating with just two sticks as utensils, but thanks to his time in Earth 2 as the tiger, he wasn’t as shocked over it.

Choi Han picked one roll up and ate it.

“So?” Cale gave them both an expectant look. “I personally think I’m an okay cook— even Beacrox said it tasted alright when we tried it. Basen, Lily and the kids also thought so. Even Ron said it tasted fine.”

“What the—” Alberu looked quite undignified as he chewed while he spoke. “What is this and why does it taste so good?”

“It’s Kimbap.  Mn, just some rice rolled up in seaweed with filling.” he said. “I was in the mood for it, so I made some.”

“Oh…” Alberu examined the roll in his hands with a hum before smiling in a sun-like way. “Really, I’m honored that my precious dongsaeng personally brought such delicious food to us so suddenly, and right after swordsmanship lessons. Isn’t that right, instructor-nim?”

Cale, as Alberu’s sworn brother, also had an amazingly glib tongue. He placed a hand on his chest and put on a smile which any nearby civilian would describe as heroic. “Your highness, the most radiant star of the kingdom, this lowly self doesn’t deserve such praise. I simply could not bear the thought of allowing you to starve just like that in this cold weather after training so diligently, you see. To thank me for such a thing, you truly are the kindest and most thoughtful, the most shining—”

Meanwhile, Choi Han was a bit too busy at the moment, eyes sparkling as he chewed through another roll of kimbap. There were many triggers for flashbacks and remembering things, one of which was taste. Choi Han had thought he’d never even try any Korean food ever again when he arrived at the Forest of Darkness. He’d even almost forgotten the taste. 

Now, though, it helped him piece back some old memories. His mother’s voice sounded a bit clearer to him when he remembered the times she would send him off to school with a wrapped lunchbox just like this filled with kimbap made from leftover kimchi that they had the night before, or that one time they went out to a picnic and had some with tuna filling. The more he tasted it, the more he began to remember some things he had forgotten.

“Choi Han?” he blinked and turned towards the source of the voice. “So? I don’t think it’s half that bad. I used to make it all the time when I was Kim Roksoo. A bit less fancy though.”

“It’s— It’s great, Cale-nim!” he quickly replied. “It tastes amazing! You’re a great cook!”

He blinked. “Huh?”

“Thank you so much for bringing this over,” he said with a grateful smile. “Really, I really…”

“Hey, calm down,” Cale said, sounding petrified from his dramatic reaction. “You’re treating it like it’s a 5-star gourmet dish you’ll only be able to afford once. It’s just basic kimbap I made on a whim. We could make more.” he sighed. “It won’t be long until Beacrox figures it out and makes it himself. I’m sure his cooking would taste a lot better.”

Alberu frowned. “You shouldn’t bring yourself down so much, you know.” he sighed. “It actually tastes pretty good.”

Cale shrugged. “It’s passable,” he glanced over at Choi Han. “I know how to make a few more Korean recipes, you know.”

He blinked. ”Really?”

“Don’t expect much, it’s just from what I remember as Kim Roksoo.” he shrugged. “Mn, it’d be nice to have kimchi jjigae during cold weather like this, right?”

Choi han’s eyes widened. “Kimchi!”

“Yes,” Cale nodded. “I can also make regular kimchi, I guess. Ramyeon would be nice this time around too. Mn, ah, and tteokbokki would be great too, huh?”

Alberu watched the steadily growing sparkle in Choi Han’s eyes and let out an amused huff. Well, if Korean food was this good, he’d be willing to try more too. He was particularly interested in tteokbokki because of how psyched Choi Han looked at just the mention of it.

Looking past that, it was interesting to him that Cale had decided to get up and cook something, a foreign dish even, himself suddenly. Actually, according to Choi Han, he’d been acting more actively but also a bit strangely as of late too. And knowing Cale, there might be some underlying reason for it aside from just the fact that he liked it, and they knew he’d probably never come out and say it himself. 

Of course, that isn’t to say that Cale’s new behavior was a bad thing. Not at all. It was actually pretty nice of him to suddenly pop in and bring some food for them like that. Maybe he was overthinking it. However, there was one thing he’d been wondering about for a while now since he first went to Earth 2 to help Cale with the sealed god’s test.

“Cale—”

“Oh, right, also,” Like a magician, he reached into his coat and pulled out a long scarf. Choi han let out a small gasp. “Here.”

Cale tossed the scarf to him and he caught it in his lap. Unfurling the folded thing, he fiddled with the tassel and smoothed over the knitted surface and observed its appearance. “It’s…”

“You made another one,” Choi Han remarked.

“Sorry it isn’t anything too elaborate,” he said. “It’s a pretty basic pattern after all, just stripes.”

“You…” Alberu observed the scarf with an expression of bafflement. It followed a peculiar color scheme, yellow and a dark brown, but it made it look cozy. “Hey, is knitting your hobby now? Are you a country-side grandma?”

Cale looked genuinely confused. “What?”

“I heard you made Choi Han a scarf, the kids a scarf and a hat, and you made Miss Lily and young master Basen something too. Is this just your thing now?” Not that he was complaining. To be honest he was kind of tired of hearing Choi Han brag about and show off his scarf while knocking him to the ground every second like it was a game during training. No, he wasn’t jealous, it was just that if he got Choi Han a scarf, shouldn’t he make one for his hyung too?

“What? No,” he denied. “I just got bored, and wanted to try my hand at it a little, but then Hans went overboard and bought me a full box of yarn. It’d be a waste if I didn’t do anything with it,”

“Uh-huh,” For the others, maybe, but Alberu knew that no matter how much Cale wanted to deny it, he was probably the most doting parent Alberu has personally ever met. He’d guess it started out for the kids and then escalated from there because Cale can’t for the life of him keep things small-scale.

“Though, this seems like a specific color palette,” Alberu noted. The others seemed quite intentional with their colors. He had called Raon and the kids a few days ago and they had also shown off their new winter hats and scarves while chatting up a storm about their snow day with Cale earlier in the day. “Did you have anything in mind while picking it?”

If anything, he’d expect something like blue and yellow, or just yellow. Cale hummed before snickering to himself. “It looks kind of like caution tape.”

He blinked. “Caution what?”

“Caution tape,” he could see Choi Han squinting before attempting to suppress a laugh. 

“What the hell is a caution tape?”

“Mn, it's a thing from Earth. Basically what the police use to keep people away from places. Like blocking off entrances, crime scenes…” 

“...Alright,” that did sound somewhat useful. “But why?”

He shrugged. “I thought it’d be funny,”

“You wanted the crown prince to walk around looking like he’s wearing tape because  it’d be funny?”

“Hey, I didn’t say you had to wear it,” 

“Yeah? Well I’m going to, and I’ll announce to the entire kingdom that my precious dongsaeng knitted it personally himself for me because he was so worried for my health in this cold weather,” Alberu smiled like the sun. “Oh, truly, how selfless is the Silver Shield Hero, savior of the continent! There is no soul in which I have faith—”

“Hahaha!” Choi Han couldn’t help but laugh.

Cale had a very disrespectful expression on his face. “Will you stop,” 

“Stop preaching about my wonderful dongsaeng? Young master silver shield? The hero of silverlight? Savior of the continent? The one with the most best-selling merchandise in the market?”

“What?”

“They sell dolls of you, Cale,” 

He looked positively horrified. “They sell dolls of me…?”

“Oh, no, not just dolls,”

“That reminds me, I saw a few kids in the city running around with them, and the wolf children even asked for one when I was heading back from Harris Village.” Choi Han smiled.

Cale made the sourest, most petrified expression he’d ever seen, and Alberu wheezed hard. Cale glared at him harder.

Alberu picked up another one of the rolls of kimbap and stared at it. This is the food that Kim Roksoo grew up eating, and also probably Choi Han. Then he looked back at Cale. He couldn’t help but wonder if he must’ve missed it for a while, both of them. “Cale,” Alberu glanced to the side to see the kids playing, and also decimating his cookie supply. “Do you plan on telling them?”

The redhead looked at him and seemed to figure out what he meant. “Mn…” he trailed off contemplatively. “Right now I’m… not too sure.”

“I see,” he nodded. Whether Cale actually decided to tell them or not didn’t really matter to him. Kim Roksoo was a past identity, and Alberu could understand if Cale wanted to really throw that name away and just move past it. However, Alberu was concerned if his dongsaeng might be feeling some sort of guilt weighing on his mind about keeping that fact from his family and allies. Perhaps this was his way of easing things into eventually telling them the truth. He might also be feeling home sick. 

Actually, Alberu was half amazed and also quite astonished by the fact that Cale had settled so easily into this world after transmigrating against his will so suddenly. Perhaps he should have expected some level of home sickness, at least.

“What do you think?

“Hm?”

Cale looked at him, gaze intent. “Do you think I should tell them, hyung-nim?”

Alberu blinked before giving it some thought. “...I don’t think it’s something I can really decide for you, dongsaeng. But, at least…” he trailed off. “I think you can take your time with it. It’s not something you have to rush.”

Cale looked at him before subtly smiling. “Yeah,” he nodded. “That’s right. But, I think I'll have to tell them at some point soon.”

“If that’s what you want to do,” Alberu nodded, setting his cup of tea down and staring at his reflection within it. 

Chapter Text

Cale sat in his room within the Super Rock villa, rocking chair swinging back and forth as he sipped from his tea. He had gotten really tired lately. Perhaps it was because of his whole soul deterioration thing, and maybe also because it was winter. 

The children were outside this time around, playing with the wolf and tiger children in Harris Village, or perhaps exploring around the villa again. Raon may have alsp decided to teleport to his black castle with On and Hong to hang out with Sheritt.

Meanwhile, the ancient powers were buzzing around in his head.

He’d finally told them what the God of Death said.

–You can’t die! 

The Super Rock spoke after the cheapskate’s panicked voice. 

-Cale, are you sure there’s really no cure for it? Any way to slow it down at all? Are you sure that god isn’t lying?

It’s pretty bold of you to just assume a god is lying, you know. He commented. I’ve tried looking for it myself. I don’t think the concept of this ‘sickness’ even exists here, and there’s a few unsolved medical cases for people with terminal illnesses, but they all had different symptoms.

-Hey, geezer, isn’t there anything you can do?

-I don’t know! I… I can’t seem to do anything about it, sob! I didn’t even realize it!

The crybaby was crying at that point and it sounded quite irritating to the ears, despite it all happening in Cale’s head.

-I can barely even keep you from being exhausted all the time!

-Well, you do feel somewhat weaker than before. It’s hard to tell, but…

The glutton sounded like she was frowning.

-Agh, Cale, eat another cookie! I’m stressed out by this!

-Is it because of that world tree!? Is she the reason our Cale is dying now!?

Cale clicked his tongue. Don’t set anything on fire.

-So it’s really because of her? Then I’m with cheapskate on this one, for once.

Cale had always thought that the thief was somewhat sensible, so long as they weren’t trying to loot anyone, but perhaps if the Super Rock could turn out like that, so could she.

-That XXX God of Death! I can see why that priestess wants to cuss him out all the time! That XXX bastard! XXXXX

Please stop that, it’s hurting my head.

-S-So, then… you’ll really…

-Our Cale is… he’s going to die just like that in less than 2 months?

-Y-You can’t just give up yet! There has to be— there should be—!

-There’s a few texts on medicine that I kept in the library in the villa, there could be something there. Why don’t we try to check those later? Alright, Cale?

-It’s fine! You’re going to be fine! You’ve survived through worse, so, really, you could… couldn’t you?”

Their voices started to sound quite desperate as they called out one after another.

-...Oh, that poor little dragon and those two cats…

-Mn, the world might really blow up, huh…

-Cale, we…

-...

It suddenly got quiet.

Cale set the tea cup down with a clack atop the saucer and took the opportunity to bring something up.

When people with Ancient powers die, he began. They essentially ‘drop’ those powers, right?

-...

I wanted to know about how exactly that worked, and I wanted to ask something, He continued. Would you mind if…

…

At some point in their conversation, three knocks sounded on the door to Cale’s room. With cookies in his mouth, he let them in.

“Eruhaben-nim,” he acknowledged with a light hum. 

“Well hello there, punk.” the gold dragon said, strutting in with elegance while Cale basically watched with a deadpan, wiping crumbs off his mouth and washing it down with tea. He was basically sparkling like sunlight and it was honestly too early for that today. “I take it you’ve been resting properly these past few days?”

His tone sounded more expectant than questioning, but Cale just nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I’ve practically been forced to do nothing but that everywhere I go.”

The palace, the estate, the villa, the black castle, Harris Village, the Wheelsman, Ubarr, and Chester territory. Quite literally everywhere he’s gone he was treated like some sort of VIP. Cale couldn’t really understand why they were so dead set on treating him like he was made of actual glass and preventing him from pretty much even bringing up the topic of any work, but it was nice that they kept annoying disturbances off his back.

“Ho,” he said, sounding amused, but nodded as if it was something up to standard. “Then keep doing that.”

Cale sighed and just leaned back, listening to the sound of the Ancient powers discussing various things in his head. It was tiring in the early days when they began to talk like this, and could still be tiring and annoying even now, but after a while, they ended up being white noise that was somewhat easy to fall asleep to, like the sound of a teacher’s lecture on a slow school day. 

“Cale,” Eruhaben spoke again, taking a seat on a chair near his. “Now that the White Star is gone, what do you plan on doing?”

He tilted his head at that, stirring his tea with a tiny spoon before taking another sip. “Slacker life, obviously.” he replied. “It’s what I’ve wanted from the start.”

“Ho,” he crossed his arms with a somewhat puzzled expression. “I suppose you have mentioned that a few times, but I… you really are serious about it.”

Cale frowned. “Of course I am.” It was just that that white thing kept getting in the way of it by being an annoying, infuriating bastard.

“It’s just that… well, the things you’ve been doing up until now…” Eruhaben’s expression twisted in a sort of confused yet pitying way, before he shook his head and sighed. “Well, what would this ‘slacker life’ entail, anyway?”

He gave it some thought before replying. “Mn… well for one, I’d probably just stay in the Super Rock villa, right here.” There would be no reason to move around anywhere else. It had everything— it was still within the Henituse territory, so if anything were to happen he could just head over even without teleportation magic. He also had a lot of protection and next to nobody outside of his party knew where to find the villa. It was near Harris Village so if he needed to get anything he could also pick them up from there— the tigers had begun setting up markets too, and he heard a tavern was also being built. Though if the kids wanted to travel, he wouldn’t have minded a few trips spaced out throughout the year.

“But I also have the villa in the jungle, and there’s also the black castle if Raon wanted to visit Sheritt-nim, and of course various other places I’ve prepared,” Cale said, recalling all of the preparations and saving up he did before the war started. He thought it was a bit tiring back then, but now he somewhat regretted thinking that way when he ended up doing even more tiring things in the future. “I’d stay in all the time and just eat, sleep, and slack off,”

“I… see.” Eruhaben replied, sipping his tea. Cale was too busy imagining his would-be slacker life to really hear it. 

“Ah, but I promised Basen I’d take care of some external affairs for the duchy here and there, so we’d probably travel every once in a while. I think that’s fine— On, Hong, and Raon would probably like it,” They were very active children, after all. 

He remembered the way Hong and Raon would paw at his face and blankets while trying to persuade him to wake up in the noon, and On opening up the curtains until the sunlight streamed in and hit his face. Afterwards they’d drag him off to eat somewhere and then on a walk around the garden and sometimes even the city. He’d always wondered where children get so much of their energy from, since he was more of a timid kind of kid when he was younger. But it was better to be an open and curious kid than one who always had their head down.

Cale hummed as he recalled those memories. “I also…” he trailed off. “...wanted to start a small farm.”

Eruhaben almost choked on his tea. “A— A farm?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to live a slacker life?”

“That’s right.” he nodded. “It’s only going to be a small-scale farm, so it won’t be that much trouble.”

Well, that had been the plan, anyway. Cale doubted two months would even be enough time to plant nor harvest anything, and it was smack-dab in the middle of winter too.

Eruhaben stared at him as if he was ridiculous, and also like he didn’t trust his statement about it being small-scale at all. 

“I’ve researched the easiest crops to grow.”

“Mn, alright, but… should I- may I ask why? You don’t exactly strike me as the type to want to willingly do something as strenuous as farming. Especially not with that build.”

Cale was slightly offended by Eruhaben’s statement, but just sighed and set his tea back down, leaning back on his rocking chair. “It’s for…” he paused for a second, a record playing in his mind as if automatically, and he heard Choi Jung Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk’s voices for a moment.

“It’s for a… promise, of sorts.”

“Ho? What kind?”

Normally, maybe Cale would have decided to avoid answering such questions, or change the topic to something else. Perhaps it would be because it would just make things complicated, or be too much trouble to explain. But now, he couldn’t really find it in himself to really care about such things.

Maybe it was because he was dying soon.

It could be, because of that, he’d been more honest and open about these things. Maybe it was because he wanted to talk as much as he could with them? 

Maybe, it could be that even when he’s thrown away the name ‘Kim Roksoo’, and fully accepted the name ‘Cale Henituse’ as who he was, he still wanted his family to know just a little bit about who ‘Kim Roskoo’ was.

There’d be no other chance to tell them. 

“Some friends asked me to start a farm when I retired,” he said. “They said that that way, I wouldn’t be out running around getting into trouble, or something like that.”

Eruhaben’s eyes widened at that before they curled in an amused fashion. “Is that so? Your friends sound very smart, I must say.” he said with a chuckle. “You’d ought to introduce me to these friends of yours, someday. I don’t think I’ve heard of them, unless maybe it’s someone I already know?”

“No,” Cale answered honestly. “They’re…” his lips pressed together in contemplation. “They aren’t… from around here, I guess.”

“Ho? Are they from the Eastern continent then? Somewhere else?”

“Somewhere,” he shrugged vaguely. Cale still wasn’t so sure about whether or not he really wanted them to know about him being a transmigrator. He could very well literally choose to take that secret with him to the grave, but…

“I’ll tell you more about them someday.”

Maybe he really does want to be a bit more honest with them after all.

“Ho, alright then,” Eruhaben looked suspicious of him but didn’t pry. 

Seconds ticked by, and Cale didn’t remember when his head quieted down, but the Super Rock broke the silence.

-Cale, are you going to tell him? Actually, will you tell anyone about this at all?

“...” Even if he decided to keep it a secret, in the end, they would all find out about it anyway after the 2 months were over. 

“It feels peaceful now, doesn’t it?” Eruhaben spoke. “So very peaceful.”

Golden mana rose and lit a fire in the fireplace, bright red flames dancing and crackling. Cale even felt a blanket rise from his bed before draping on his shoulders.

“Do you think it would last even until a thousand years, Eruhaben-nim?” 

The golden dragon raised a brow at Cale’s sudden, strange question before humming. “I wouldn’t count on it,” he said. “Humans— even beastfolk have their way of destroying peace after some time, you know. Though I feel you wouldn’t have to worry about it for another few decades at least.” 

“Mn…” Cale hummed. “Do you know the saying that history tends to repeat itself?”

“Hm, no.” he replied. “Though I can understand it. I’ve seen humans repeat and forget things over the course of decades. I suppose that would also apply to their mistakes.”

“That’s right,” he nodded. “Even with the Ancient White Star, and that white wannabe,” Cale said. “It’s an interesting trend, you know. Things tend to experience  some sort of ‘revival’ after they wear out. There’s data and records you can look at from over the years. You can even begin to predict what might happen in the future as long as you have data.” 

“Hm, data, you say,” he said with a somewhat cautious tone. “That’s an interesting perspective.”

“Eruhaben-nim,” he began, hesitating before he spoke. “I won’t live a thousand years.” maybe not even one.

The ancient dragon seemed taken aback by the sudden statement before seeming calm again as he replied. “...yes.”

“I’ll live about 90 years at most as a human. I also have the vitality of the heart, so it's possible I could even live until I’m 150— maybe a little bit more.” Cale said. That was how long the old crybaby had lived. “On, Hong, and especially Raon will live longer than that.”

“...”

“You drank a lot from the jar, right?” Cale said, his tone sounding somewhat satisfied. “You’ll live for another thousand years, Mila-nim said.”

“...ha.”

“I’m sure it was always your plan, maybe. But please watch over Raon, On, and Hong. I know they’re good and clever kids, so they won’t go out and cause too much trouble.” he took a sip from his tea and stared out the closed window. “It might be a big favor, but please protect and guide them.” He didn’t want Raon to go and destroy the world, after all. An amused smile tugged at his lips. “After all, you’re the greatest and mightiest of them, aren’t you?”

“It seems so,” he sighed, casting him a worried glance. “...of course I'll keep an eye on those little kids, but what brought this about?”

“mn..” Cale’s gaze drew to the side.

“Cale.” His tone sounded less light and more serious. “Did something happen?”

He flinched slightly. Why are the two scary old men in his life so sharp?

“Nothing happened,” he lied with a sigh. “I just thought I'd ought to start thinking about certain things and to ask you about it, I guess.”

“...I suppose so,” he accepted with reluctance. “You'd do better not to worry about things like that too much for now. Just go on and enjoy this ‘slacker life’ you’ve talked about so much, you unlucky punk.”

“Will do.”

—

Groups of the tiger people shoveled the streets of Harris Village, snow crunching beneath their feet. Some children ran around carrying snowballs and throwing them at each other while some warriors were off running laps barefoot in the snow for some reason. It must’ve just been some form of training he didn’t get.

Cale sat on the bench with Raon, who was eating some freshly baked apple pie that a nice lady had given him, and was attempting to shove a piece into Cale’s mouth. After messy trial and error, it was finally in and Cale was chewing it. It tasted quite sweet, and it was nice to have them warm and crisp rather than soggy for once.

“Oh no!” Raon frowned, pointing to his white scarf. “It's got some of the apple jam on it…”

“That’s fine,” Cale replied, patting off crumbs and wiping the corner of his scaly mouth. “We can always wash it. Be as messy as you want.”

“I’ll ask Goldie Gramps to teach me a cleaning spell instead!” He exclaimed. “Your clothes get dirty a lot too, human! Let's just magic it away!”

He hummed with a note of interest. “You can do that?”

“Of course I can!” He puffed his chest out. “I am a great and mighty dragon, after all.”

Cale nodded affirmatively, dusting snow off the small dragon’s hat. Dragons really were the best.

He saw Raon’s big blue eyes sparkle as he watched snowflakes fall from the sky and descend towards the ground and spoke as he dusted frost off his hair.

“You know,” Cale said. “If you stick your tongue out, snowflakes will land on it and it'll melt.”

“Ooh, really?”

“Yeah. It feels cold. You can try it if you want.” 

“Okay!” 

Raon stuck his forked lizard-like tongue out with an ‘ahhhh’ and let a snowflake or two land. They disintegrated and melted into water after a few seconds. “It's cold!”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Ooh, the kind Rosalyn taught me that snowflakes form from water, right?”

“That's right. You're very smart.”

He beamed. “Of course I am, weak human!” he proclaimed. “The snowflake tastes very cold and refreshing, so I want more,”

“You don't have to spend your time sticking your tongue out like that all the time.” Cale sighed. When Kim Roksoo was a child living with his uncle, there were many instances where would be outside the apartment wandering around starving and thirsty during winter days. He used to stick his tongue out and catch snowflakes all day as a way to refresh himself when he didn’t have water. He even ate clumps of snow once when he was really thirsty and tired and almost froze over.

“Let's just have snow cones.”

He tilted his head. “Snow cones?”

Cale nodded with a hum. “It's like ice cream, but a big scoop of snow with some sweet syrup on top.”

“With syrup!?”

“Yes.”

“Oh! Is this one of the things from your hometown, human?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I want to try some!” 

“Sure you can,” he nodded. “I'll ask Beacrox when we get back.”

Meanwhile, the wolf children were training again as always in the field just across from the bench where Cale was sitting. Aigoooo, really, these children. He really wished they'd all take time to play more. It was a snow day, they could be at home sleeping in by a warm fireplace if they wanted to.

Though, as Cale hummed while watching the children laugh and enthusiastically train as they began sparring with each other, at least they were having fun.

In the distance, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst all the white snow, was Choi Han in full black. He brushed his hair back and panted slightly as he gripped his sword in his right hand, looking quite serious, before turning to the side and noticing Cale and Raon. His previous focus switched to an innocent-looking smile as he waved to them. Scary bastard.

The only thing that really stuck out from his full black attire was the red scarf Cale made for him. The intention was so that he'd have a little more color in his wardrobe but it just looked like blood from afar. Cale shuddered, but Raon took that as a sign of him being cold and cast more temperature regulation spells on his clothes while Choi Han seemed to smile wider as he adjusted his scarf and motioned to it as if he was showing off. Cale didn't really get it but just gave him an awkward thumbs up.

Cale leisurely watched Choi Han from where he sat as the wolf children surrounded him in a lively crowd and asked him all sorts of questions. Choi Han patiently replied to each one, before they eventually asked to spar with him. 

“Oh, it looks like they're going to practice together!” Raon pointed out. 

“It seems like it.” Choi Han had switched to a wooden sword. 

Choi Han wasn’t just Alberu’s instructor because of his sword arts skills or because they arranged it that way so he would be out of the nobles’ reach, but also because he could be quite the good teacher on his own. As the wolf children lunged at him with their various attacks, Choi Han pointed his fingers and calmly spoke like he was giving them pointers and advice while he almost effortlessly dodged each one. Cale quietly shuddered again. Scary bastard.

“Hey human, let’s sit closer! I wanna see!” Raon seemed to be quite invested in the whole thing so Cale obliged him and they moved to the bench closer to the training grounds. 

“Cale-nim, Raon-nim!” Choi Han greeted with a bright smile. 

Cale waved his hands as if to tell him to just dismiss him and Raon. “Mn, don’t worry about us and just go and keep practicing. We’re just watching.”

“No, that’s totally fine!” 

“Oh! Young master-nim, look at this cool move I can do with my sword!” one of the wolf kids beamed.

“Young master-nim, young master-nim look here! I’ve got a shield like yours too!” Cale hummed. Well, he did hear there was a tiger who was a good blacksmith here.

“Young master-nim, can you show us your powers? Please?”

“Young master-nim!”

“We want to see the shield!”

“Mn…” Cale sighed. Children sure have lots of energy.

-You could show off a bit of your powers, you know

-Won’t that strain him though?

-Well, not as bad as you'd expect! He might get a bit more tired than usual, but aside from his… soul deterioration, he could mostly use us like usual, just, well, it consumes more energy. 

-Ooh, show him some thunderbolts then, Cale! Burn away some of that snow and show ‘em a sea of fire!

-Maybe let’s not set anything on fire

“Young master-nim, you should try sparring!”

“Yeah, with sir Choi Han-nim!”

“You’re both very strong!”

Cale shuddered again for the umpteenth time that day. Him? Fight Choi Han? Sounds like a death wish.

-Ooh, that swordmaster punk? Y’know, you’re real strong! I’m sure you’ll do more than fine in a small friendly match, y’know?

-Don’t strain yourself, Cale.

-If you’re feeling up to it, I think you can, as long as you don’t overdo it. Again, don’t overdo it, keep that part in mind. 

Meanwhile, Choi Han’s eyes widened slightly at the idea like it was surprising. Of course, Cale supposed, beating up a frail skinny man might just seem like bullying to him. Although, Cale should mention, he could have sworn he’d seen some glimmer of interest in his eyes. He sighed. 

“Well,” he shrugged. “If Choi Han wants to, I’ll consider it, I guess,”

“Really?” Choi Han seemed somewhat surprised by his response. “Are you sure, Cale-nim? You don't have to.”

Why would I force myself to do something I don’t want? Cale thought as he tilted his head at him before shrugging. Warming up in the winter might be a bit good for his body, and if he was tired he could just stop and Raon could teleport him straight to the villa at any time. 

“Why not, I guess,” he replied, standing up, and stretching just a little bit. It was an interesting thing he could try at least once. “I’ll be using my ancient powers if that’s fine.”

“Oh, of course,” Choi Han nodded, staring at Cale’s thin build. A sword would not do him much good anyway.

His boots crunched in the snow below his feet as he stood across from Choi Han. The swordmaster readed his stance slightly while Cale listened to the buzzing of the ancient powers, their different words causing a ruckus in his head. The Cheapskate and Crazy Kid were screaming excitedly like they were at a wrestling match, while the Super Rock and Crybaby reminded him not to push himself too hard, again.

-Okay, so you’re not going to use every one of us, right? 

-Let’s limit the use a bit to just 3 powers, aside from crybaby.

-I think you should use me— you won’t have much luck outspeeding that punk on your own so a little wind in your step would be useful, right?

-And don’t forget me! These kids want to see a silver shield, right? Let’s show them something cool.

-But you need a bit of offensive power, so how about a spear from water? I’m the strongest, right?

-Hey, I thought Cale was going to be using my thunderbolt today! What else would be cooler than a fiery big red thunderbolt in all this snow!? 

-What? Obviously he needs something more flexible and versatile, like water, you XX! You’re way too out of control, anyway! Cale, I’ll show you a few new tricks with my amazing sky eating wear, yeah? 

-No, I’ll teach him how to blow those kids away with my fire!

-XX! Cale is more of a water-person anyway!

-Hey! Clearly, he’s more—

-Stop bickering so much, you’re hurting his head.

-Cale, just please don’t go over your limits!

“Cale-nim?”

“Mn…” Cale groaned as he listened to the commotion in his head while Choi Han watched him with slight concern. Eventually he just sighed and ignored the voices, turning to face Choi Han. “So, how is this supposed to go?”

“Ah, well, hm, I suppose we should first come to an agreement regarding the intensity,” Choi Han noted. “I won’t use my aura since I take it this is your first sparring match?”

“Hm…” Cale hummed before shrugging. “I guess so.” He's never really practiced with the ancient powers, in all honesty, applying them only during battles. On the other hand, he did have some experience bodybuilding and some sparring as Kim Roksoo, thanks to Lee Soo Hyuk’s hellish training sessions during his time with him, as well as some continued training over the years once he took on the position of Team Leader after Lee Soo Hyuk and the rest of the team died.

“Alright— oh, one more thing!” Choi Han seemed serious. “If you feel like you’re overdoing it, you must say so immediately and we’ll end the match,”

“That’s right!” Raon piped in, enthused. “You cannot cough up blood this time, human. If you faint again, I’ll lock you up forever!”

Lock me up forever? Cale considered it. Well, it didn’t sound too bad if he was forced to stay in all day. Unfortunately, there were too many things he needed to do and think about to take Raon up on his offer. 

“You have to promise!”

“Swear it, Cale-nim,” 

“...Alright, I guess?”

Choi Han smiled. “Okay then. Let’s start.”

Wind gathered beneath Cale’s feet, swift as it flowed. Choi Han took a stance, which was a sign that he was going to be moving first. Cale’s reddish-brown eyes glinted as he whispered under his breath. “...three counts— now.”

Choi Han charged forward and Cale’s feet kicked the ground and away, dodging. This was the first time they’ve ever sparred against each other, so Choi Han seemed slightly surprised by Cale’s quick move but didn’t hesitate, feet turning and dashing to his new position.

“...four— now.” he dodged again.

“...three.”

“...six.” Cale’s eyes narrowed attentively as he mumbled. It seemed like Choi Han was starting to get used to his pace. His eyes flashed with focus and Cale almost shuddered as he kicked off the ground again. Scary bastard.

Choi Han finally swung at Cale’s side and he immediately summoned a silver shield to block it and countered with a stone spear, which he blocked with another quick swing of his sword. The shield was quickly pulled back and resummoned to block Choi Han’s next swing early while simultaneously pushing him back to give some distance.

-Woah.

-You sure are good at this!

-Watch out, he’s moving again.

Tell me when he’s attacking if I can’t see him. It wasn’t cheating since he was technically using his ancient powers.

Choi Han was there in a blink, about to strike, and Cale set up his shield early. It was enough time for him to notice and change course, aiming below the shield. Cale suppressed a smirk, as he had planned for him to react that way and blocked it with a quick wall of stone to slow momentum and used that shield he had set up prior to hit him. It landed as he had predicted.

-Oh yeah, we got ‘em!

Choi Han was panting as he stood before Cale, and he shuddered when he saw the smile on his face.

-Look at this punk, having fun.

-Careful, Cale, looks like he’s going to pull something.

Cale clicked his tongue as he watched a dark glittering aura rise from the tip of Choi Han’s wooden sword. It was, fortunately, light, almost like aura smoke, so Choi han was still holding back. He’d done a good job ignoring the children's loud cheering up until this point, but it was hard to miss now.

“Go human!” Raon cheered.

“Young master Cale!”

“You’ve got this, mister Choi Han!”

“I hope you don’t mind, Cale-nim.”

“Bastard.” If he really wanted to ask him, he’d have done it before he kicked off the ground and tried to pounce on him. Cale placed a shield above him, which Choi Han struck with his aura before jumping off and landing behind him. 

He timed each of Choi Han’s strikes and dodged each one, being pushed back. Cale waited, before he spotted a good enough opening and tripped Choi Han using the shield, knocking him off balance. 

Thinking about it now, Cale panted as he summoned the small water spears. The shield has a lot of uses. 

The glutton chimed in at that moment, sounding quite prideful.

-Heh. Of course, the shield is very useful isn't it?

Setting that aside, Cale also realized that he had a pretty good terrain to use the Sky-Eating Water. Droplets of water rose from the ground and heaps of snow and formed cold, smaller spears of water, slightly frozen at the surface. As Choi Han quickly recovered and rose to his feet, Cale saw the aura intensify slightly in all its dazzling gleaming dark glory as he got back into a perfect stance.

-Ha! Let’s get that XX punk, Cale!

By now, they seemed to be getting used to each other’s pace, and Cale was truthfully getting pretty worn out. The chronic pains had been pretty manageable the past day, but they were starting to act up a bit. It felt like invisible cracks all over his body were being prodded occasionally and unpredictably, and was quite inconvenient.

He was a little distracted and reacted later when Choi Han moved. Cale moved back with the help of the Sound of the Wind, and had a shield quickly summoned to block the blow before quickly dispersing it. Choi Han made his next move and Cale noticed it in time to start releasing spears as he dashed around to dodge his strikes. 

It managed to hit him once or twice, while Cale was also pushed back a few times by Choi Han’s strong aura-powered strikes. He barely seemed tired at all— what kind of stamina monster was this teenage punk?

He changed the form of the small spears of water from earlier and gathered them into one singular spear that he held in his hand. It felt light as a feather, but strong. Cale used it to block Choi Han’s swings like a baton and push him back.

-Cale, slash ‘em! Go big in a diagonal angle, he’s got an opening in about… now!

Slash!

That managed to send Choi Han far enough back that Cale had time to catch his breath and re-evaluate his next course of action, his mind flipping past hundreds of pages of Birth of a Hero and identifying Choi han’s next possible move. He regained his footing and pooled the wind at his feet.

Cale exhaled a breath and focused his gaze. What other counters can he try? He was already starting to burn up, and though the crybaby said nothing, he could feel as if he was warning him not to overdo it in his gut.

Well… He trailed off. I haven’t tried that yet, I guess.

-Hm? Oh, you want to use my power again?

Just on my hands, Cale replied to the Super Rock. 

His reddish brown eyes glinted with a focused shine as he was getting pushed back by Choi Han’s unending swings, waiting and anticipating as Choi Han’s own gaze bore into him with every strike to his shield. Cale could have sworn he spotted a smile from him too, that crazy protagonist bastard.

The water spear dispersed in a second like melted snow. “2, 4… 3…” Cale’s fist wound back before landing a punch on Choi Han straight to his jaw.

The swordsman staggered back and stopped, before lifting his hand to touch his jaw. There wasn’t even a bruise there, or anything like that, but Choi Han seemed too stunned by what just happened to realize that immediately and just kept touching his jaw as if not believing it. Thinking about it now, Cale had been mostly relying on his ancient powers compared to physical attacks, setting aside the (very satisfying) slap he delivered to that White Thing. 

“Wha— Cale-nim…?”

“Why do you look so surprised, you punk?” Cale sighed. It was, unfortunately, not that strong due to his admittedly scrawny build, but the Super Rock’s power helped harden his fist and made it less painful and hit a bit harder. It was crazy though, he was pretty sure it hurt his hand more than it hurt Choi Han, if it did at all. How strong is this guy?

Raon gasped. “That was a good punch, weak human! It was not even as strong as the tip of my fingernail, but it was good!” Raon yelled from the sidelines, probably trying to be supportive in his own dragonly way and Cale just sighed as he examined his fist. 

“Ah– is your fist okay?”

“Worry about yourself,” Wasn’t he the one who punched him?

“Oh, uh… yes. I’m fine. It doesn’t sting anymore.” he reassured, nonchalant. “But Cale-nim, how did you…?”

“Aigoo, I was the team leader, remember?” he replied, somewhat vaguely. 

But it should make enough sense— Kim Roksoo didn’t have any abilities that could be really used specifically for combat or fighting unlike Choi Jungsoo and Lee Soohyuk. Though of course, that didn’t stop Lee Soohyuk from dragging him into his hellish training sessions, where he built a bit of muscle and learned some basic self defense. After he became the new Team Leader, even though by this point they had more access to more destructive weapons that could compensate for anyone’s lack of a combat ability, he focused more into body building and trained his physical combat skills. After all, you couldn’t fight monsters as a team leader without knowing how to throw a strong punch. That, combined with Instant, made for good saves when his team was in trouble with a monster and lacking weaponry.

Though I’m totally weaker now, I still at least remember how to do it, he noted.

“Ugh, why don’t we stop and just call it a draw, or something,” Cale sighed, breathlessly flopping down on one of the benches at the training grounds next to Raon. The young dragon immediately summoned water from his magical pocket dimension and poured it through his lips while chiding him about being a weak human and everything. Choi Han stood next to Cale and was also given a water bottle, and the wolf children handed them both towels while loudly gushing about the entire duel and how awesome both of their powers were. Cale was too tired to stop them and just shut his eyes.

Chapter Text

The young master enjoyed reading.

It was a fact that many people in Cale’s party partly knew of. Though they knew this, it seemed that they may have underestimated how deep his fondness for reading went. 

The Rock Villa had a library near the lab where Rosalyn and Eruhaben often worked. It was quite the sizable room, with a large catalogue of books, cozy chairs to lounge in, tables with ink and quills and parchment at the ready, lamps that cast a soft glow during the night, and windows that let sunlight filter in.

Though, in Rosalyn’s opinion, the most interesting thing about this library was the large collection of older books, even ones dating back to ancient times. She’s been there many times herself, finding interest in the large array of old magic scrolls, ancient spellbooks, and records from old mages. Sometimes they’d help her look through a different point of view and she’d end up solving the problem she’d had with her spells and potions. 

It seemed like young master Cale had a similar interest in these books.

Quietly, Rosalyn pushed the door to the library open with a small creak, and smiled when she found a certain someone lounging on the loveseat with a stack of books sitting on the coffee table and a cup of tea or two in front of him.

“Good afternoon, young master-nim.”

“Oh— Miss Rosalyn,” he looked up to acknowledge her, before his gaze went back to flip the pages of his book. Rosalyn studied the covers and the title on the spine of the books Cale was supposedly reading. 

“Are you reading fantasy novels, young master-nim?”

“Mm, some of them are,” he replied. “My mother sent some from the library in the estate, and some of these are also from the Flynn Merchant guild.”

“And the rest?”

“Just this and that, also some old legends and records that were from this library that happen to date back to ancient times. They had a lot of stories back then. I’m familiar with only a few of them, so it’s interesting.” 

“I see,” she nodded, coming in and running her finger past the different spines of books maintained with magic on the shelves, and picking out a few on magical theory and practice. “Are you interested in ancient times, young master-nim?”

“Somewhat, I guess. I just think the old stories can be a little interesting to hear about.” he then grumbled. “...And I guess I’ve also got bothersome voices to tell me all kinds of unnecessary details while reading.”

“Pardon?”

“Nevermind,” he sighed. “Have you come here to get books, Miss Rosalyn?”

“Mm, ah, yes.” she said, motioning to the two thick books in her hands. “The evolution of magic is a very interesting subject matter, and I think that learning different perspectives could help me better understand it.” Rosalyn explained. “For example, they used to have old maps to help visualize the flow of mana, and magic used to be a more intuitively manifested force rather than a more objective, logical one.”

“Mn, really?” he remarked, before going quiet for a moment as if he was contemplating something. “What kind of magic do you like?”

Rosalyn blinked at the question, before smiling. “I like to handle mana,”

Cale tilted his head slightly. “Isn’t that what all mages do?”

“That’s right, but I suppose I just like the feeling of handling mana the best.” she replied. “Young master-nim, when you rip a teleportation scroll, or use any kind of magic or have Raon-nim cast a spell on you, do you feel a sort of sensation about the air, or even through you?”

“Hm…” he hummed. “Well, sometimes there’s this tingling feeling. It was strange at first, but I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Right, like that. When I cast spells or handle mana, a feeling like that courses through me. That’s mana.” she said. “It can feel different depending on different factors, like the strength, atmosphere, sometimes I can get a sense of its temperature.” she explained, while Cale simply listened with the side of his head resting on his hand atop the arms of the chair. She smiled. “I quite like that feeling.”

Cale looked at her for a moment before nodding. “I see.”

She grinned. “Do you know what feeling of mana in particular is my favorite, young master-nim?”

“Which one?”

“The condensed feel of mana from the highest-grade magic stones that you often lend me in bulk, young master-nim.” Rosalyn said, mana pooling at her fingertips before rising in a condensed, red flame of energy, burning brightly. Cale’s eyes widened slightly as he watched.

“When I handle all that mana, coursing through me like a rushing river of endless power, I think there’s no better feeling. It reminds me sometimes of when I first handled mana when I was small, and how powerful it felt, and when I realized I really wanted to be a mage.” she explained. “After all, there’s no better feeling than trying to imagine the unfathomable destruction you could cause, right?”

Rosalyn saw Cale shiver where he sat and laughed. 

“So then, I guess it’s safe to conclude that you like magic, Miss Rosalyn?”

“Of course,” she nodded with a smile that was like the sun. “I love magic.”

Cale looked over at the stack of books in her hands, and the ones on the shelves. “Then I wish you luck on your research, Miss Rosalyn.”

She smiled. “Thank you, young master-nim.” she said, before similarly looking over at Cale’s own stack of books. “..What do you find interesting about fantasy novels then, young master-nim?”

Cale looked up, eyes widening slightly at her question, before humming. “Hm… I don’t know, actually,” he shrugged. “They’re just amusing to pass the time with.” he closed the book on his lap and examined the cover, finger resting beneath the title. His gaze lifted and Rosalyn nodded with a smile, urging him to continue. 

“Mn, they’re all so cliche sometimes, though.” He sighed. “The main character could be ridiculously powerful, and they could also have some sad, tragic backstory that would come up as their motivation. The villains could be really annoying and infuriating and kind of a pain, and the main character would either be too good or too temperamental. Sometimes if there’s romance, it would feel especially cheesy, there’s also some dramatic monologuing that takes too long during fights, and the author would sometimes mention details off-handedly that don’t actually affect any part of the story or even come up in the character’s path, and…” 

Rosalyn sat down as she listened. Maybe this was supposed to be a rant on the young master’s critiques of fantasy books, and it could even seem as if he didn’t like them at all. But there were still stacks of books left in the library everyday, empty cups of tea, and sometimes the quiet sound of page turning when you’d pass by the door, if you listened closely.

“Are you fond of cliches, young master-nim?”

Cale sighed. “They would get repetitive, and predictable over time.” he said. “And the story would always either end in tragedy, with the hero all alone to walk the path of the cruel world by himself, or just a cliche happy ending.”

“Which one do you like more?” Rosalyn asked.

Cale crossed his arms and leaned back, before closing his eyes. Then he opened them. “...I’m not sure.” His voice sounded honest. “I’m a bit… I’m used to main characters with tragic backstories, and I wonder sometimes if it’ll end the same way for them.” he said before sighing with a shrug. “But I guess it’s just natural that you would want a story to end with the characters happy, right? So I guess I would prefer that.”

“I see.” Rosalyn smiled. Even if it were fictional characters, the young master would wish them nothing but happiness.

“Miss Rosalyn,”

“Yes?”

“...” he paused. “What do you think of stories where the main character would die at the end?”

She blinked, taken aback by the sudden question, but gave it some thought. Hearing Cale’s opinions and perspectives have been great enough, and she won’t miss the chance to have a discussion with him on a topic he’s particularly interested in. “It isn’t typically normal for the main characters to die at the end of the story, at least in most of the books I’ve read myself,” she admitted. “Though I suppose a story like that would be what’s called a tragedy. They were quite common in ancient myths. I’m sure there’s more than a few here in the library too.”

Cale nodded, glancing to the side at a few particular titles. “That’s right.”

“But, well, personally…” she trailed off. “It would depend on the type of death. I think I would be satisfied by a story that would end with the main character dying of old age after a long satisfying life after their adventures.”

“...I see.” he nodded. “Mn, well, the type of death I had in mind was the sudden kind.” he said. “While they were still on their adventure, or right afterwards when everything was over, or when something happened, and they’d decide—”

“Like a story with a sacrifice?” Rosalyn frowned. “I don’t like sacrifices at all, young master-nim.” She sounded quite firm when she spoke, which caught Cale off guard a bit. “Isn’t it better when the main character would work everything out with their allies and face things together, rather than going ahead and sacrificing themselves for them?”

Cale’s gaze moved away as he hummed a little awkwardly. “I… see.”

She sighed, but thought about it more. “I think tragedies are interesting.” she said. “They’re essentially cautionary tales meant to teach a lesson with the hero’s demise or unfavorable ending, right?” she said. “I suppose that’s just what makes them the genre they are but… I’m like you, young master-nim,” she smiled. “I like happily ever afters. With all of the characters, together.”

“...Is that so?” he remarked. “I do too.”

—

Choi Han sat on a stool in the villa’s kitchen, sword laid against the counter at his feet. His elbow rested against the counter as he watched Cale stir a pot on the stove, steam wafting with a familiar aroma around the room. 

Beacrox allowed him in the kitchen, on the condition that he didn’t move from his spot or touch anything, and also washed his hands and changed into cleaner clothes since he had just come back from a training session. Choi Han, not wanting to miss it for the world, obliged.

“Raon, could you give me—”

“Here you go, human!” a bowl floated over from the side with magic, and landed perfectly in Cale’s hands.

He gave a satisfied hum. “Thanks.”

“Here!” Meanwhile, Hong was wiping some newly-rinsed plates from the sink with a sense of great enthusiasm, while On was with Beacrox chopping up some ingredients in her polymorphed-form. Cale would look over occasionally to watch them and then go back to what he was doing, and even though the kids were doing quite well, Choi Han thought it was very endearing of him to secretly fret about them anyway. 

A blue vase sat at the window of the kitchen, with a colorful yet messy bunch of wildflowers held within. Choi Han had asked about it earlier, and Cale simply said it was something the wolf children gave him some time ago with a nonchalant expression, and said he would have preferred fresh produce like fruits or vegetables compared to flowers. 

Cale lifted the ladle and brought it to his lips, taking a small sip. He made a peculiar expression, before looking back. “Hey, Choi Han?”

He replied immediately. “Yes, Cale-nim?”

Cale headed over and held out a ladle with some broth that held a thick curry-like consistency in it. “Try it. Is this spicy enough?”

“We’re baaack~” the door swung open and a familiar face entered, striding in and sitting on a stool next to Choi Han. “Woah— what’s this amazing smell?”

Beacrox looked over and discerned him closely, before glaring daggers at his clothes. If Choi Han could guess, it was probably the few specks of dirt that must have gotten on him while he was out training with Hannah earlier. Hannah herself picked up on Beacrox’s death glare and rushed out to quickly wash her hands or do something about her hygiene that may satisfy the chef and save her from his wrath, while Bud was none the wiser.

Glenn was at least nice, or rather sensible enough to elbow him and give his finger a twirl, erasing the stains and specks on his clothes with magic. Bud complained, but Beacrox just turned away in a huff, sated. 

Bud looked over at the ladle Cale was about to give Choi Han. “What’s that, Cale?”

He sighed. “It’s a foreign dish— I’m having Choi Han try it so that he can tell me whether it needs more spice or not,”

“Oh! It looks and smells delicious, so can I try it?”

Cale looked over at Choi Han and raised a brow, and he only gave him a shrug. He handed him the ladle.

Bud smiled, gleeful. “Thanks!” He took a sip. 

Cale hummed. “Choi Han, did you—”

“...Mpfh!?” Just moments later, his hands shot up to his mouth while he choked and coughed. Everyone else in the room stared at him in confusion. “S-S–!”

Glenn took the ladle away from him and stared at Bud in disbelief, summoning over a glass of water already sitting on the counter. “Hey, what’s up with you?”

“S… Its’...” he choked. “SPICY!”

Glenn raised a skeptical brow as he watched Bud gulp down the entire glass desperately. “It can’t be that bad— you’re being dramatic over this.” upon the frown he got from Bud, Glenn only shrugged with a huff before sipping the remainder of the broth. “Mn, it tastes—” he choked, ending his initial sentence abruptly. “MFH….!?”

The ladle almost fell to the ground, but Choi Han was quick to catch it before it could. Glenn was choking and summoning buckets of water directly into his mouth with magic while heaving like there was coal in his mouth. On, who was observing this whole ordeal, tilted her head curiously and looked over at the pot of whatever Cale was cooking on the stove while Hong and Raon let out a few giggles at their silly reactions. Meanwhile, Bud was pacing around the room fanning his open mouth while going “Haa… haaa!” as if it was really on fire.

Cale sighed at them and took the ladle back, just in time for Hannah to come in while wiping her hands with a towel, only to immediately stop at the door to see the Mercenary King himself run around the room while being yelled at by Beacrox, as well as his mage companion doubled down on the floor panting like a dog while repeatedly refilling a single cup of glass and downing it like he was trying to drown himself.

“What—” she finally walked in. “What the hell happened here? Did you get poisoned or—”

“It’s, haa… that! Cale’s stew!”

“Young master Cale’s stew…?”

“I mean, it isn’t really a stew—”

“You’re running around over stew? ”

“It’s spicy!”

“It can’t possibly be that—”

“Miss Hannah, please— don’t.”

“Stop being so loud,” Beacrox snapped, but by this point he seemed to be quite intrigued by what exactly it is Cale was making, since he had been handling most of the ingredient prep with On by this point. Though he probably looked at the handwritten recipe from Cale, he didn’t actually know what it was supposed to taste like.

“Human, human, I want to try it too!”

Cale sighed at that. “No, you already know it’s spicy. You wouldn’t like it.”

The little dragon puffed his chest up pridefully while pouting. “I am great and mighty! Surely, I can handle it!”

“It’s not really that you can’t handle it, it’s just that even if you could, you probably wouldn’t like it so much.” he explained.

“Oh! Like when grandpa Ron gives you lemon tea?”

“...” The redhead turned back to his cooking and sighed. “I’m also making a milder one for you, Hong, and On, so don’t worry about not getting to try it. It tastes sweeter.”

Hong lit up. “Oooh, Really?”

“You could've said so earlier!” Bud yelled from across the kitchen island, earning yet another glare from Beacrox, this time with a knife in his hands. 

Hannah looked over at Cale with a confused look, watching him take another sip himself and shrug, mixing in some more spices, and seemed rather perplexed about everything. In the end she just shook her head and headed over, much to Glenn and Bud’s dismay. “Can I try it, young master-nim?”

He raised a brow. “The ‘spicy’ one?”

“I guess so.”

He shrugged again and this time scooped up some of the thick broth with a tablespoon and handed it to her. “Help yourself, I guess.”

Choi Han felt a little bad, but in all honesty he was enjoying this a little. It was like watching those reality shows where foreigners would try local Asian food and give out funny reactions, especially if it was spicy. In the meantime, Cale slid him a small saucer with some broth, and of course, an actual ingredient in the dish.

“Well, here you are— tteokbokki. Try it out for me.” He said, motioning to the small rice cake sitting on the table. “Does it need more spice?”

Just as Choi Han was about to thank him and sample it, a spoon clattered to the ground followed by a muffled sound of surprise. This time, however, Hong figured out the pattern of various people around him trying Cale’s cooking and running off for water, so this time he already had a glass ready to hand to her. Unfortunately, Hannah instead dashed to the nearest window, threw it open, and grabbed a clump of snow before shoving it into her mouth.

“Miss Hannah!?”

“ARE YOU EATING SNOW!?”

“Wait, why didn’t I think of that!?”

“Hey— stop that! I’ll tell Saint Jack!”

Tteokbokki was normally spicy, but never extremely hot— unless of course, if everyone here wasn’t used to eating something particularly spicy, being a European-esque fantasy world and all. Choi Han looked over at Cale, who sighed, yet again, and shrugged. “I made it the same way I usually like it,”

He tilted his head. “Really spicy?”

“Just with an extra kick,” he said, while readjusting his apron. “I liked to eat gochujang with extra flakes on some store-bought rice cakes in the mornings to help with hangovers. Some leftover kimchi with rice, too. Burns away annoying memories and refreshes me.”

“Mn…” 

“I thought the others might like something like this since most of my team liked spicy stuff whenever we ordered or went for company dinners.” Cale sighed. “Haa… and I even toned down the gochujang, too.” 

He stared down at the small sample he was handed, then ate the small rice cake. Choi Han hummed in delight. It tasted a lot like the ones he used to have in Korea, though a few levels spicier, as he had been warned of. “It’s delicious,” he nodded with a smile, scraping off more of the sauce using his spoon. It was a nice blend of spicy and sweet. He gave it some more thought. Choi Han was also the kind of kid who happened to enjoy spicy dishes and would eat Samyang noodles with his friends after school every now and then— he had a preference for spice, too. “Mn, but it could use some more.”

“WHAT!?”

“Figures,” Cale nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and the two swordmasters and mage watched in absolute horror as he dumped more spices in the pot like it was nothing.

“Ahh, stop it, stop it! At this point it’s just going to be a pot of molten lava!”

“Y-Young master-nim, is this really today’s dinner…?”

“Let me try that,” Beacrox finally said, heading over to the stove where Cale’s supposed pot of molten lava sat, and picked up the ladle. The redheaded young master took a step back.

“Oho? What an interesting aroma,” Ron entered through the door, before stopping to inspect the condition of the room. If he was perplexed, the only sign of it was the slight furrow of his brow. 

Coincidentally, it seemed Eruhaben and Rosalyn also entered after him, and were promptly greeted by a cheerful Raon who flew over to them to start explaining that his human had created a delicious dish that managed to defeat the strong Bud, Hannah, and Glenn. 

“Hm?” Eruhaben commented with a small tilt of his head. 

“How exactly did something that the young master-nim—”

“...!” Beacrox gasped and covered his mouth right that second, eyes widening in something akin to horror, or perhaps surprise. “Wh-What is…” Hannah sighed as she sat with her head in her hands and a very confused Cale simply grabbed a glass of water and cautiously held it out for the chef. 

As Beacrox gulped it down like his life depended on it, Choi Han failed to suppress a snicker. “Pfft—”

Beacrox was this close to actually murdering him on the spot, and he would have done so had it not been for Cale quickly attempting to calm him down with a petrified look on his face.

“Oho? And what is it that’s so funny, young punk?”

“...Nothing.”

“Lemonade Gramps! Like I said before, the human decided to make a new dish for today’s dinner, and when everyone tried it they all keeled over like they were defeated!” Raon explained with excitement. “Oh, except for the human himself and Choi Han!”

“Is that so?” Eruhaben joined in, peeking over to see just what it is that Cale was making. “How peculiar— I’ve never seen anything like those before. What is it?”

“It’s, mn…” Cale paused, contemplating. It really was like trying to describe Korean dishes to foreigners. “Rice cakes with spicy sauce, I guess. Ah, but I made a more mild version for the kids.”

“So it’s just spicy? That’s it?”

“No, that’s not just it! Clearly it’s way too spicy!” Bud yelled out in protest.

“Rice cakes…? Huh, I didn’t know you could prepare rice in such a way,” Rosalyn remarked. “What’s it called, young master-nim?”

“Tteokbokki,” he replied. 

“Ah, it’s a dish from my world,” Choi Han supplied helpfully.

“I’d like to try it,” Rosalyn said. “I personally think I have decent spice tolerance, since I’ve sampled a few dishes brought from foreign regions, so I think it’ll be—”

“NO!”

“...”

Beacrox had regathered his composure already by this point, but Choi Han could clearly see that his tongue must still be burning because the glass of water never left his hand. 

“If you all can’t handle it, there’s the milder version,” Choi Han said.

“Add more then, since it’s not spicy enough for you, punk,” Beacrox gritted out, pointing a hostile finger at him. “I dare you.”

Choi Han looked over at Cale, who just looked back with an expression that seemed to ask ‘are you really going to?’. He laughed, and Cale sighed before handing him a small bowl of fresh, hot Tteokbokki. Chili flakes and a bunch of other ground up spices sat on the kitchen island, and under Beacrox and the others’ piercing gazes, he sprinkled a decent mound, not breaking eye contact with the chef the entire time.

“Eat it.”

Choi Han stared unblinkingly as he lifted the spoon to his mouth and chewed. In truth, this was actually a bit spicier than he can handle. But he’d be a fool to admit that in front of Beacrox of all people, and he’d also be quite embarrassed to say so in front of Cale, who was also Korean.

“So?” Bud inquired. “Good, huh?”

“...Delicious,” Choi Han managed in a mostly serious voice.

“Finish it, then,” Choi Han glared back at Beacrox. “There’s at least 3 more spoons left, you punk,”

“If I do it, what’ll you give me?”

“Who said we were making a bet?”

“Are you scared?” Choi Han accused. “If you’re not willing to make a bet you must be confident in me winning,”

“When did I ever say that, you bastard?” he scoffed. “2 more spoons of chili flakes, and some from that chili paste on the table. No water,”

Choi Han eyed the bowl of chili paste in question and realized it was Gochujang. Fortunately for him, he often enjoyed eating it straight from the tub when he was younger. His spice tolerance was in-tact, so it should be fine. “And if I manage that?”

“Tch. What do you want?”

“I want you to let me use the kitchen,”

Beacrox’s eyes were vicious. “What?”

“I want you,” Choi Han reiterated. “To let me use the kitchen,”

“For what?” 

“I want to cook,”

“You can cook?”

Choi han felt offended. “Of course I can,” he didn’t survive in the forest without knowing how to boil water or cook meat at least. Though, to be fair, the meat usually did end up a bit crisper than he liked or sometimes a little bit mushy on the inside. But it wasn’t inedible. 

“I don’t trust that,”

“Well it’s what I want if I win so there’s nothing you can do about that,”

“On the condition I watch you. The entire time. If you blow it up or damage this room in any way I’m kicking you out.”

“Fine,” he relented. “Let’s get started.”

“I haven’t said your end of the bet,” Beacrox cut in. “If you fail, I’ll make you do grocery runs for a month, every morning,”

He scoffed. That would cut his morning training hours. “A month?”

“Are you scared?”

“Of course not,” he replied. “Fine,”

“Get started, then.”

While all that was happening, Cale was pretty much finished already, washing his hands in the sink. The others had formed a crowd around the kitchen isle where Choi Han was sitting and dumping ungodly amounts of spice into his dish like it was a spicy noodle-eating challenge on the internet that they filmed during a sleepover. It was just as noisy.

Cale flipped through the papers he clipped together, containing a catalogue of different Korean recipes he managed to memorize. He’s done Kimbap, Tteokbokki, he tried out corndogs a few days ago, which Hong liked a lot, and even some bulgogi for last night’s dinner. 

“Mn, kinda craving yachaejeon,” he mumbled to himself. “But we definitely need to get kimchi out of the way too, it’s been way too long since I’ve had it…”

“Cale, Cale!” Hong piped in. “Look, I finished all the dishes— here!”

Hong held up a shiny, polished plate which Cale could see his reflection through, while beaming brightly waiting for praise. He took the plate and ruffled his hair. “Good job,”

“I also washed up the cups, and the forks and spoons, easy peasy! But I stayed away from the sharp stuff like the kitchen knife, like you told me to,” He smiled. Cale was well aware that the kids were practicing with daggers on the daily, but seeing a little kid near sharp stuff still made him uneasy, especially while washing dishes. Soap and water made it slippery— he cut himself a lot when he was a kid because of it.

He nodded, satisfied. “Good. Thanks, Hong,”

“So, I helped out, right~?” He said. “Can I have some snow cones from the ice storage? Please?”

Oh. So that’s why he’s been so enthusiastic about helping. Cale huffed out a sigh but he was smiling as if it couldn't be helped. The kids already had some today and he told them not to have too much or they’d catch a cold. What a clever kid— where’d he learn that?

“Well, you did help a lot,” he shrugged, turning towards a room near the kitchen. “Alright,”

Suddenly, On raised her hand. “I also helped,” she said. “I cut up all the ingredients, remember~?” 

“And me too, human! I brought you the ingredients so you could focus on cooking! I helped out!” Raon yelled out, raising his hand like his noona did and waving it around while flapping his wings.

He scoffed. Where did they learn to be so clever? He can’t even get upset. “Alright, alright. The three of you can have one more snow cone today,”

The children got together and high-fived. “Yes!” 

“I want cherry syrup,”

“The blue one for me, human!”

“I want the same thing that youngest wants!”

—

In the end, Choi Han won the bet, at the cost of his throat burning so hot that he drank 5 cups of water in one go as soon as he was done. His voice was even all hoarse and dry, so he refrained from speaking for the rest of the night. Beacrox was not happy.

The cooking also took a bit longer because he needed to make more of the mild version. After the challenge it had been a continuous cycle of people coming in, being confused, trying the spicier variant, and then promptly regretting it. He even toned down the milder version some more just in case.

The reactions varied, everything from summoning icicles and shoving them in their mouth (Rosalyn), eye twitching and non-verbal before walking out of the room, only to have the sound of what seemed like a rapid waterfall follow (Eruhaben), mistaking it for poison and attempting to throw it out (Ron), and even just curling up on the ground and nearly crying, while whispering prayers frantically (Jack).

Some were spared, like the kids, and Mary, who Hannah quickly warned and stopped. All in all, it seemed that Cale overestimated their spice tolerance. How many times has he heard and said the word spice already, again?

Bud stared at him in sheer disbelief as he, Cale, was the only one eating from the spicy, or as they’ve taken to calling it, death pot. “How can you eat that?”

“I mean, why not?” 

“It’s nothing like I’ve tasted before…” Rosalyn admitted. “It’s so…”

“Please, spice doesn’t even sound like a word anymore…” Glenn sighed.

“Just why?”

“It’s spicy, but that’s kind of the point,” he shrugged, drinking from a glass of cool water. There was no better combination to clear his head. 

“How would you… describe the taste, young master?” Beacrox asked.

Cale hummed. “Refreshing,”

Multiple slammed the table. “What!?”

“You aren't supposed to use that word to describe… this!” Bud yelled. “That’s for something like frozen treats! And beer!”

“It’s the opposite of refreshing—! It’s literal hellfire!”

“Haha! It seems even the weak human is mightier than everyone else!” Raon exclaimed, much to Eruhaben’s quiet offense.

“Choi Han would agree with me,” Cale shrugged, and Choi Han silently nodded back with a thumbs up of approval. He couldn’t eat anything particularly spicy or else his throat would get worse, but Cale promised to save some of it for him in the morning once he heals.

“Well, setting that aside, this version is far more reasonable,” Eruhaben said as he wiped the corner of Raon’s mouth which had sauce from his plate.

“When it isn’t burning you alive from the inside, this tastes great,” Hannah said, digging into her plate more. 

“Yeah! I like the sweetness,”

“It’s got an interesting texture… It’s chewy and flavorful,” On commented.

“You should try it with cheese! It tastes even better when it’s all melty!” Hong exclaimed.

“Ooh, really? I’ll try that…”

“Hey, speaking of, did you know what I found in the villa today?”

“What?”

“There was this room on the second floor— it was locked off but I managed to unlock it,”

“Correction, I opened it for you with a spell,”

“Well anyway I found a room with this hatch, and—”

“The wolf kids brought some home-made stew this afternoon, you know? They were so sweet, it came with a small note too—”

“Hey, did you hear about—”

“Seriously?”

“Hey, could someone pass the salt—?

“...yes, and so ligaments located in the arm are particularly difficult to stimulate in order to properly control and—”

“Why’s the water all the way on the other side of the table?”

“Today, I learned a new spell—!”

“Haha!”

The entirety of dinner was spent like that, sitting together while telling stories and conversing about basically whatever topic they could come up with off the top of their heads. He wasn’t really listening, something about new spells, old scrolls and hidden letters, hatches. He thought about how long he’s gone without having dinner with someone in his own house.

Choi Jungsoo and Lee Soohyuk used to live with him, deciding to be roommates in one sizable apartment to save on money and rent, so they’d cook up something or go for a group convenience store run every night. Since they died, he’d been eating meals alone at home all the time unless there was a company event. 

Listening to all the ruckus, a part of him missed the peace and quiet. But maybe he missed this more.

—

–..And that’s what happened?

Cale just hummed back, rocking chair swinging back and forth. “Mhm.”

Alberu stared at him for a little while from the other side of the communication device before bursting out laughing. 

-Pff— ha! You cooked some Korean food and everyone started dying because it was too spicy?

He shrugged, caressing Raon’s back as he slept, blanketed in Cale’s arms. “Yeah,” 

-And you’re telling me that punk Choi Han and Beacrox made a bet?

“Mhm,”

-And Choi Han won?

“It was all really chaotic but yeah,”

Alberu, the radiant prince, in his dark elf form and royal pajamas doubled over his table and slammed his fist on the table while wheezing like a dying man.

-Damn it, I should’ve been there.

“You’re gonna wake the kids up, laughing like a madman like that,” Cale sighed, readjusting the blanket on On and Hong, who were sleeping curled up in the chair next to his. “I honestly don’t know what would’ve happened if you were here,” Though in all honesty, he would’ve loved to see Alberu, the very picture of a European foreigner, pace around choking from spicy food like a reality TV show. 

-I can’t believe I missed out on all that and new Korean food.

“You sure like the food from Earth,”

-Last week’s kimbap and the bulgogi were delicious and now I want more.

“When’s your next session with Choi Han?”

Alberu hummed contemplatively before replying.

-In 2 days.

He shrugged. “Alright. I’ll bring you some rice cakes,” Maybe he won’t miss out on Alberu’s reactions after all. The crown prince smiled.

-What a kind and generous dongsaeng I have.

“You flatter me, your highness— its is you who is the kindest for allowing a humble subject such as I to serve something so lacking,”

Alberu’s expression soured and now it was Cale’s turn to laugh.

Chapter Text

Raon’s weak human was very troublesome.

Of course, he didn’t dislike him for it. Not at all! It was just that he had a very backwards-way of doing things. Whenever they asked him to rest or sleep, he’d just wave them off and say ‘No, later’ while doing his work. But when he needed to get up, he’d never budge from his bed! Raon as well as his hyung and noona thought it was very peculiar. He was so sleepy that they’d have to squirm and slide out of his arms if he was hugging him, too!

Today was one such instance, as Cale, their weak human, had been slumped in bed for hours, only moving around to toss and roll around his bed with his eyes mostly closed covered in a big blanket. It was past noon already! It was the after- noon and he wouldn’t get up! No matter how much he, On, or Hong tried to drag him out, he’d just stay snoring away.

“Humaaaaan! Wake up!” Raon said, pawing at his blankets. Cale didn’t respond.

“Come on! Let’s go out on a walk and play with the wolf children! Choi Han came in earlier and then left when he saw you were asleep, you know!” Hong urged poking at his face and nuzzling the side of his face in an attempt to push him to turn to the side. In turn, Cale buried his face in a pillow.

“Cale, you have to eat,” On said with a pout, looking rather stern as she moved his hair out of his face. “You should eat something for breakfast and get exercise done.”

“Waaaake uuuuup!”

Finally, they heard a sigh from him, and Cale finally opened his eyes, laying on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. “Mn…” he groaned, before sitting up and laying against the headboard. 

“You’re finally up!” Hong gasped.

“Come on, weak human! You have to eat something!”

“M’tired…” he reasoned in a slurred voice.

“You sleep for such a loooong time, weak human!”

“Hm…” he replied, sounding drowsy  as he lifted his hand to rub the top of Raon’s head, and the other for On’s head. Hong practically leapt into his lap, and Cale hummed as he picked out small crumbs of food in his fur. “You’ve all eaten?”

“Of course we have!”

“We were trying to get you to wake up and eat too,”

“Mn, sorry,” he simply said, before reaching for the glass of water on the side of his bed. It was cold as usual, and he drank about half of it before getting off the bed carrying Hong. 

“Beacrox is in the kitchen. You haven’t even had breakfast, but it’s time for lunch already,” On scolded.

“That’s right, human! Grandpa Ron told us we should always eat our meals on time!”

“And so did Rosalyn! And Goldie Gramps!” Hong added. “So now you have to eat a lot, okay?”

He nodded. “‘Kay,”

“And drink! Grandpa Ron said he’d make you looots of lemonade!”

Cale suddenly shivered. “He said that…?”

“He said he’d make you some herbal tea if you didn’t want lemonade,” On said. “Grandpa Ron said they were imported from the eastern continent and had a lot of health benefits— but just a little bitter.”

The weak human’s expression worsened, for some strange reason, and he shivered again. “Bitter…?” Raon of course noticed this— he must be feeling sick and cold! 

“Human! You should wear a blanket!”

“Hm…? Oh, I’m already wearing a cardigan, though,” he said. “It isn’t that cold,”

“But you’re shivering! Grandpa Ron should brew you some warm lemon tea after all!” 

“Oh! You could have it with your breakfast and lunch!”

“You should stay warm, or you could catch a cold— maybe you should try some of that herbal tea, Cale.”

Oddly enough, his expression seemed to worsen right after! Cale must have really needed some warm tea!

As they walked down the hall of the villa, chatting all the way, they happened to bump into the smart Rosalyn and Glenn, who were carrying a lot of stuff! Raon could recognize a few spellbooks and magical textbooks— there were even a few that he had read and finished himself. 

“Oh— young master Cale,” Roslayn smiled. “Good afternoon,”

“Good afternoon, young master-nim,”

“Mn,” he nodded. “Have you both eaten yet?”

Rosalyn chuckled. “That’s what we should be asking you,” she spoke. “We didn’t see you at breakfast again today— you’ve been sleeping in a lot. Though rest is important, it’s also equally important not to miss meals, young master-nim. How will you grow taller?”

“That’s right! If you want to grow big and strong, you should remember to have all your meals!” Raon nodded. “You are a very frail, weak human. I, the great and mighty Raon Miru, will grow big and strong so that you won’t get hurt!”

“And me!”

“Me too~”

“Is that so?” Cale had a very satisfied expression on his face. “That’s good, then. Keep it up.”

“Of course!” The three of them grinned brightly.

“Mister Glenn, Miss Rosalyn, what are you both carrying?” Cale asked, eyeing their massive books and trinkets, some levitating with magic. “It seems like… a lot.”

“Hm? Oh, these are some magic artifacts and records we found from the villa,” Glenn replied. “Miss Rosalyn pointed out some interesting things, and we’ve been focusing on studying some old mana flow maps, and the structure of some old artifacts, young master-nim.”

“Ah… I see.” he nodded. “So, it seems like you both have been really working together lately. I tend to see you more often with Bud.”

“Hm? Oh, that nutcase?” Glenn sighed as if he was exasperated. “Well, I suppose you wouldn’t be wrong. Though he’s also been training a lot with Miss Hannah and Mister Choi Han. I see them spar quite often— Mister Choi Han is really quite.. formidable” 

“Ah, I see,” he nodded. “Mn, well, good luck on your research.”

They both smiled. “Thank you, young master-nim,”

“We’ll see you at lunch later,” Rosalyn gave a little wave and they went back on their way.

They headed down the stairs, until they reached the first floor. Their room was all the way upstairs in the third-floor, in the master’s bedroom. Oftentimes, Raon and his hyung and noona liked to do little races in the morning to the dining room for breakfast, and run up the stairs to go get Cale after lessons. 

“Do you want to go out for a walk later?” Cale asked as they turned the corner.

“Really?”

“Of course!”

“After you eat first, though,”

“Mn, right,” he nodded. “Ah, it’s gotten a bit warmer out— do you want to eat out on the terrace too?”

On the terrace, the snow piled near the railings, but the steps leading out to the front garden seemed like it got cleared out from the snow, and Raon could spot small bits of salt. He knew from Goldie gramps that sprinkling salt could help melt snow!

Lemonade Gramps came out and brought them their lunch. The talented uncle Beacrox had made them some steak— and Raon knew it happened to be Cale’s favorite kind too! Though, his human had never really been particularly picky when it comes to food as long as it was cooked well— or cooked by Beacrox!

“Ah, and of course, this old man brewed you some tea as well, young master-nim,” Ron smiled. “Warm honey lemon tea for this afternoon— I hope you will enjoy it,”

“...” Cale stared at the cup in front of him before sighing. “Mn… thank you… Ron.”

“My pleasure, young master-nim. Please enjoy the meal,”

“At least it’s Beacrox’s sirloin…” Cale mumbled as he picked up his cutlery. “Hm, oh yeah, did anything happen lately?”

“Oh, yeah! Yesterday, we saw the clumsy Bud and the strong Hannah’s practice match!”

“Yeah, but Bud wasn’t clumsy at all when he’s fighting! He went whoosh, and his aura was so strong!”

“Ah, but I thought it was really cool when Hannah—”

They chatted like that for a while over their meal, Cale listening intently as always, while also chipping in with a few short remarks and comments. It felt like they had been there for a while, even after their plates and glasses were already empty, absorbed in conversation. At some point though, they noticed Cale got quiet. 

“Cale?”

They were met with only the sound of soft snoring. Cale was asleep, head resting on his folded hands above the table. 

“He fell asleep again?”

“But he’s been sleeping all morning!”

“He sure likes sleeping, huh,”

A gust of air swept over them in a cool breeze, and a small petal or two fell into Cale’s hair. It was from the ivy that grew around the walls— they looked nice so goldie gramps maintained them with magic during the winter.

“Oooh,” Raon went in slight awe, motioning to Cale’s head. “It looks pretty!”

“Cale’s hair really grew long,”

“Oh! We should style it!” Hong suggested. “Noona, remember when Auntie Tasha taught us how to do braids? We were with Mary, Hannah, and Rosalyn,”

“Oh! I remember that too!” Raon exclaimed before gasping. “There’s lots of flowers growing! Let’s put it in Cale’ hair!”

“Yeah!”

And so their little quest began. Cale was fortunately a mostly heavy sleeper— it was almost impossible to get him out of bed, after all! On got started on the hair, deciding on a few braids. Meanwhile, Raon and Hong went to collect some flowers. Raon helped with the higher up places, and Hong searched around outside— turns out a few white flowers grew here and there, even in the snow. 

“On?” Choi Han called with curiosity, walking up the steps of the terrace. He blinked once he saw Cale. “What are you doing? Is Cale-nim alright?”

On grinned with a small chuckle. “We’re styling his hair,” she said, treading through Cale’s hair carefully with her fingers. “I learned how to do braids, and I can do a bunch of other stuff too— Hong and Raon went to collect some flowers,”

“Flowers?”

“Wouldn’t he look prettier with flowers?”

“Oh,” he blinked. “Ah, yes— that’s right,”

“I brought back some flowers!” Raon yelled giddily, carrying a handful and some floating with him. He placed them on top of the cleared out table— they had stacked the plates and cutlery and set them aside earlier. “There’s a purple one, a blue one, a yellow one— oh! Hi, Choi Han!”

Choi Han smiled. “Hi, Raon-nim,”

“We’re collecting flowers to decorate the human’s hair with!”

“Hmm, I see,” Choi Han nodded. “Um… Could I help?”

“Of course!”

Eventually, Hong came back with a small little basket he said he had gotten from Hannah. “She also gave me this really pretty flower!” He smiled. “She said it was from a vase in her room, and that I could use it!”

“Oooh— It’s yellow like the strong Hannah’s hair!”

“And Jack’s!” Hong nodded. “There’s also some small white ones outside! They grown near the trees— they’re so small, but I picked a lot,”

“Okay~ Thank you,” On smiled, weaving in the smaller flowers into Cale’s braids. Choi Han watched intently as he helped sort through the flowers they had gathered by color and shape. Raon thought they looked like small snowflakes in his hair. 

“Let’s go get a little more!”

Walking with Choi Han, Hong and Raon went to gather some more flowers. On the way, they managed to meet with Good girl Mary, who was having some tea in the lounge with a stack of scrolls on the table. 

“Flowers for the young master-nim?” She asked.

“Yup! We’re putting it in his hair after we braid it!”

“I see,” she nodded. “May I also give you flowers for him?”

“Really? Of course!”

Mary nodded again and headed to her study down the hall. “I received lots of flowers— I keep them all in my study, but I’m not sure what to do with all of them,” she said. “I’ve run out of vases to properly keep them, but Miss Rosalyn cast some magic to help keep them alive,” 

Mary’s study was a place that Raon often came to. He’d, then they would share cookies and tea, and Raon would bring her fun books to read. It was a room with lots of bones inside, which Mary would often explain to Raon, but also lots of flowers. That was because ever since being hailed a hero, she had lots of admirers, and she tried to keep as many gifts from them that she received as possible. There were even tiny drawings and clay sculptures she tried to maintain. 

“What kinds of flowers does the young master-nim like?”

“Hm… I’m not too sure,” Choi Han admitted.

“The human has never mentioned it! I should ask him later!”

“I have this blue flower,” she said. “It resembles the color of your eyes, Raon-nim.”

Raon gasped. “That’s right, it does!” he smiled, before picking out another flower. “Then, can I also have this one, good Mary? It’s a purple flower! It looks a lot like your eyes too!”

“Oh…” she blinked. “Of course you can have it, Raon-nim.”

Meanwhile, Hong and On were busy braiding outside on the terrace. Cale was still peacefully asleep. 

“Hehe, he looks like a fairy!”

“Hm?” a new voice piped in. “What are you doing, little kids?”

“Goldie!” 

“Isn’t it pretty?” On motioned to Cale’s hair.

“Ho,” he smiled, eyes curling like crescents. “Indeed so—he’s been asleep the entire time?”

“Mhm,”

“He really likes to sleep!”

“Hm…” Eruhaben got closer and twirled his finger. Golden dust appeared and slowly fell, adding a sparkle to his hair. “Now he looks even better than a fairy— he looks like a dragon,”

He let out a soft gasp. “It’s so sparkly!”

More people began to pass by. Rosalyn and Glenn happened to meet them again on their way out, and created some flowers for them out of mana that looked quite pretty. Rosalyn placed one herself. Bud tried to sprinkle some snow in but was promptly stopped by a smiling Ron, who tucked a strand of hair behind Cale’s ear before setting down some herbal tea for him— and then leaving with Bud in tow. Beacrox gave them a small one from the kitchen, and Jack left them with a white flower and whispered a small blessing before he left. Eventually, Raon and Choi Han got back with more flowers, as well as Mary in tow.

“We’re all done! But we still have so many flowers leftover,”

“What should we do with them?”

“Oh! I have an idea!”

—

“Mgh…” Cale clicked his tongue as he opened his eyes, still feeling drowsy. He paused when he felt a weight on either side of him, resting against his arms, and another curled up on his lap. “Wha—” 

All three of the children were sleeping. On was on his left, head nestled in the space on Cale’s shoulder, while Hong napped soundly on his right, hugging his arm loosely while snoring audibly, head almost draping off his shoulder and colliding with Raon’s on his lap. Both cat siblings were in their polymorphed forms, and Raon was napping with his tail occasionally flicking here and there.

He didn’t know what exactly happened, but at some point he had been moved inside and onto a sofa, with a pillow. He yawned and stretched a bit, however he could in this position anyway— how long had he been asleep for?

I was listening to the kids talk and got sleepy, he recalled. Damn it, this stupid illness makes me feel so exhausted all the time.

Hong rustled, turning a bit in his sleep, and Cale smoothed over his tangled bed of red hair, and was mystified when he found tiny flowers scattered about and some strands braided together. He pulled one out and twirled them between his fingers, then looked down to see a messy flower crown sitting on Hong’s thigh, like it had fallen off. Looking over at On, he realized hers was put in braided pigtails, one more messy than the other, accompanied with an array of flowers. Raon had a purple flower or two tucked behind his ears (?) too.

They must’ve been out playing, huh… he thought. Afterwards, they probably got tired. Though Cale wondered who might’ve moved him from the terrace. Slowly, he managed to inch his way out, as carefully as he could laying them down so their heads rested on a blanket. On stirred once or twice, but fortunately never woke. He draped a blanket over the sleeping children, before quietly leaving.

Looking out the window, it had gotten dark already— Though he felt like it couldn’t have gotten that late. Cale walked around a bit and headed down the hall, when he heard the faint sound of familiar voices talking from the lounge. He could make out some laughter too, and frustrated yells.

He could see almost everyone gathering around the table doing… something. Cale wasn't too sure what exactly, since they were all crowding and being a bit loud.

“One… two…!” Cale heard something… multiple things scatter on the table. It sounded like small pebbles, followed by the sound of laughing and disappointed oohs “Ah, damn it!”

“Give it up Bud~ this is your fifth time losing, you know?”

“Let me try again!”

“Oh, just quit it, it’s my turn!”

“What are you all doing?”

Multiple heads turned to him at once in slight surprise, before smiling. “Oh, young master-nim!”

Though, the strangest thing he could name from this whole thing was probably… “...What’s on all of your heads?”

Everyone at the table, Hannah, Bud, Glenn, Jack, Rosalyn, Mary— heck, even Eruhaben, Ron, and Beacrox, had different kinds of flowers in their hair. Some were wearing flower crowns, or a flower tucked behind their ears— some were styled and braided with flowers woven in. There were also ones that just had flowers scattered about in their hair like they’d been caught in a shower of them, particularly Choi Han.

Bud, wearing a french braid, just laughed. “Look at yourself first before you ask about us!”

“Huh?” Cale felt around his hair and realized it was tied into some sort of elaborate braid, and he could feel some petals in his hair too. Choi Han just chuckled with his own bed of flowers for hair and handed him a hand mirror.

His hair was, as he had suspected, styled, tied into a loose fishtail braid— he also saw a ridiculous amount of flowers. A lot of them were out of season for that time of the year, and there were small white ones scattered about like tiny pinches of snow in his hair. And one— no, two of the flowers were glowing? Actually, was it just him, or was his hair… sparkling? It was like someone sprinkled a bucket’s worth of glitter in.

“What the hell happened here…?”

It was Rosalyn’s— who had her hair tied into a braided bun— turn to laugh now. “It was On, Hong, and Raon-nim,” she explained. “You fell asleep at lunch on the terrace, so they decided to play with your hair a little while you were sleeping.”

“Those three…?”

“They were running around all over the place gathering flowers and sticking it into your hair— On was the one who braided it.”

“She also braided my hair!”

“Mn, they couldn’t fit any more in yours, but had so many flowers leftover,” 

“So those little kids decided to also put them in ours,” Eruhaben sighed, but he seemed quite amused. His hair was half-braided, with flowers scattered along the strands like a waterfall. No matter what hairstyle he wore, he would always look impeccably majestic.

“Raon-nim braided my hair,” Mary said in a GPS-like voice, but there was an air of excitement in her dull tone. Though her hair was short, tiny little braids were made along one side, framing her face, and a flower tucked behind her other ear. There seemed to be a specific pattern of purple and blue flowers in Mary’s hair. 

“Hoho,” Ron simply chuckled from the side, and Cale spared a quick glance at him. He also had flowers in his old, gray hair. Unfortunately, they didn’t make him any less scary. 

“I… see.” Cale simply replied with a small nod. A lot seemed to happen whenever he wasn’t conscious. “Um, well, what are you all doing here?”

“Oh, we’re playing this game from Choi Han’s world,” Hannah said, and they made some room on the couch for him to sit next to Choi Han and Mary. Though she was wearing her usual ponytail, Cale could spot a few strands braided together, and she was wearing a flower crown that was similar to brother’s.

“Choi Han’s world…?” Cale eyed the five pebbles on the table. 

“It’s Gonggi, Cale-nim,”

“Ah,” he knew that game. “You’re playing Gonggi?”

“We found some small pebbles outside and started a game because we got a little bored,” Choi Han admitted. “So far, no one except me and Beacrox have managed to succeed in it yet.”

“You and Beacrox, huh…” it made sense. Gonggi was a Korean kids game that required a lot of speed and accuracy. Choi Han, with the added advantage of being Korean himself, was also probably the best swordmaster out there— He was fast and also probably accurate. On the other hand, Beacrox was also an assassin— of course he’d be quick and precise. He doubted Ron would ever have trouble with it either, if he were to try.

“Bud’s been playing again and again, and also losing again and again for the past 5 minutes.”

“Hey! You didn’t have to tell him that!”

“It’s so difficult, young master-nim. You should give it a try,”

Cale picked up one of the pebbles and observed it for a little while. “You used to play this game when you were a kid?”

“I had a lot of noonas, since I grew up with lots of girl cousins.” Choi Han explained. “They’d include me and my other cousins in the game too. I was honestly pretty bad at it at first, but then I got better at it after some time,” he laughed sheepishly.

“Mn… I see.” he nodded. “It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I didn’t play a lot of games when I was a kid.” Maybe he did when he was with his parents, but he couldn’t remember much from those times. At his uncle’s house, there wasn’t anything to play with, and no time to try and make up a game himself or look for pebbles to play gonggi with. “There just wasn’t any time for it,” he needed to do chores, he needed to walk around and beg for food, he needed to study and work. If there was one use he could get from a pebble, it was a last-resort emergency food, or to throw at aggressive street cats. Even during his peaceful high school days, he would be too focused on studying to spare any time for games. 

“Ah…”

“Young master-nim…!” They sounded oddly sad for some reason. “Here, you should really give it a try, then!”

“The rules are that you need to first collect them all, and then scatter them, then you need to toss it up while picking up—”

While Bud was explaining the rules, Cale whispered in a low voice to Choi Han who was next to him. “Jungsoo taught me how to play this, though,” he said. “There were lots of tiny chunks of debris and pebbles outside during missions, so he’d pester me for a game whenever we were on break during patrols. I used to lose to him all the time and he’d make me buy him dumplings every time I did,”

Choi Han blinked, but laughed at the story. “Really?” 

“I got better after a while though,” he said, feeling a bit smug as he recalled how he would steadily begin to win more and more matches against Choi Jungsoo. “Then I would make him buy me soup dumplings and triangle kimbap as per the bets we made all the time.”

“Did he ever win against you after that?”

“A few times— but I got better at it so he would keep buying me free snacks.” he smirked. “Mn, and the team leader also liked to play sometimes— though he was more of a ttakji and jegichagi kind of guy. They were both ridiculously outdoorsy actually,” Cale sighed, tossing the pebble up and catching it. “They taught me all kinds of games— it was a bit tiring.”

“Mn, tiring, huh?” he chuckled. “Do you have a favorite?”

“Not in particular,” he admitted. “But I’m personally the best at memory games and tongue twisters,” he picked up all five pebbles and held them within his palm. “Ah, but that doesn’t mean I’m bad at Gonggi either,”

“...and then you have to flip them all on your palm and then catch it— Cale, were you listening?” Bud frowned. “It’s kind of complicated, you know,”

“I heard you,” he didn’t really need to listen though, since he already knew the rules. “If I get this first try, you have to get me soup dumplings,”

“Eh? Wait, what? When did I agree to that—”

He smirked. “Well, here I go,”

“What even are soup dumplings…?”

He shook them up in his palm and the five pebbles were scattered on the table. Cale picked up one, and tossed it in the air. High, but not too far up, just enough to swoop down to collect the next stone. He picked them off, one by one. It had been a while since the last time he played Gonggi— years, actually. He didn’t play games all that often after becoming Team Leader for Team 1, but he did remember playing once or twice with Kim Min Ah’s daughter, who happened to be at their office waiting for her mother. It was one of the only games he knew how to play with her, since kids started to come up with their own games after a while. 

“Oooh…!”

And then you would scatter them all again, and go two by two, then three and two, and then collect all four and catch the flying one.

“Woah, he’s really doing it!”

“Wha— you’re telling me this is his first attempt!?”

“Ah, but here comes the difficult part…”

It took him a while to get good at it too. Next you would have to flip all the stones in your palm onto the top of your hand, and then toss it again and catch it in your palm. Cale remembered how he messed up a lot at the part where he needed them all to land on top of his hand, since they would easily scatter and fall off. Choi Jungsoo laughed at him a lot. “And… hup!” Cale could hear some more unified gasps. They landed atop his hand, though one was teetering off the edge a little. He must have gotten rusty.

“Ah! One more time!”

“You’ve got this, young master-nim, you just need to catch it!”

“Shhh! You’re breaking his focus!”

Why are they all taking this so seriously? This wasn’t the world championship for Gonggi, or something. Cale sighed, focused, and…

Fwip!

In one quick motion, his palms were closed. Then, he slowly revealed all the stones inside.

“Gasp!”

A chorus of ‘Woah!’s rang out in the lounge room as everyone leaned in closer to get a look at all the stones in his hand as if head just won the world cup, or something.

“One, two… He really got all five!” Glenn counted with awe.

Bud choked. “On his first try!?” 

“...No way!” Hannah sounded quite amazed as she stared at his open palm.

“How did you do that!?”

“You’re really amazing, young master-nim!” Jack cheered.

“Huh, I wonder if there’s some sort of trick to it…” Lock whispered in an amazed voice.

Mary tapped his shoulder from beside him, and gave him a thumbs up, before speaking in her usual GPS-like voice. “Good job,”

“Mn…” he nodded, a bit awkwardly. “Thanks.”

“Wow, you’re better than what I saw from Choi Jungsoo’s memories, Cale-nim…!” Choi Han commented with sparkling eyes. “You went really fast!”

“Ah, yeah,” Why was everyone so worked up over this? 

“Ah, no fair! Let me try that again!” Bud exclaimed. He proceeded to fail 5 more consecutive times. 

After Bud’s continuous failure, the stones were passed around, and everyone got a turn. Lock, who came over some time that evening after Cale had fallen asleep, tried a few times, and nearly made it but messed up when he had to flip them over his palm. Rosalyn tried but kept tossing too high and missing the catches, while Mary would toss too low and wouldn’t be quick enough to pick up the rocks before it fell— though Hannah would cheer her up afterwards. 

“It is alright,” Mary had said. “Failure just means there is more room to learn,”

Rosalyn, who was also a bit down after failing so much, simply sighed. “Yes… that’s right,”

Ron, that scary old man, managed it in one turn at a record-breaking— almost neck-breaking speed, all the while maintaining his benign smile, earning a small round of applause from the table. “Oho,” Eruhaben had chuckled. “It seems your old hands are still quite swift,”

“You think too highly of this old self,” he replied. “It is simply a children’s game, yes?”

Everyone who had failed up until that point slumped a bit into their seats. Bud in particular averted his gaze as Ron’s eyes subtly looked his way. 

Then came Eruhaben’s turn, who was… unfortunately not as swift. Maybe it might’ve been because of his long, talon-like nails, Cale wouldn’t know. Hannah, Jack, and everyone had their turns, and after some time, the first of them after Ron to succeed was Hannah, being a swordmaster and all. Lock, who was already so close, also managed to catch all of the pebbles in his palm. Rosalyn and Choi Han cheered for him, ruffling his hair a little too roughly. Mary also gave Hannah a thumbs up.

“Cale-nim,” Choi Han asked. “You said you were good at tongue twisters, right?”

“Mn?” Cale blinked. “Ah, yeah— I guess so.”

“Why don’t we try some?” Choi Han suggested with a smile. “I also a know a few— hm, like, Your giraffe painting is a poor giraffe painting, and my giraffe painting is a well-drawn giraffe painting,”

Ah, the Korean ones. “Oh, I know that one,” Cale nodded, before trying to remember and echo it. “ Your giraffe painting is a poor giraffe painting, and my giraffe painting is a well-drawn giraffe painting,” 

“Yeah, like that,” 

“Tongue twisters always came pretty easy for me,” he admitted. “It was the one thing I was good at before Choi Jungsoo and Lee Soohyuk.” It was easy to remember them growing up, and it was even easier when he could reference back his records once he awakened his abilities. 

“Tongue twisters…?” Mary questioned from beside him. “Is it difficult to twist your tongue?”

“Hm? Oh, no,” Rosalyn piped in. “Tongue twisters are phrases that are difficult to say. It feels like you’re twisting your tongue just trying to say them, and that’s why they’re called that,” she smiled. “I happen to know my fair share.”

“Hey, I do too,” Bud said, thinking. “Oh, this one— Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear,” 

“Near an ear… e-rer near?” Lock attempted with a tone of confusion.

“Hey, I know that one— it’s near an ear, a nearer ear, a…” Glenn stopped short, clicking his tongue. “Uh… ear?”

“No, no, it goes like this— Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear,” Bud repeated, slowing down a bit. 

“Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear,” Rosalyn managed. “Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear,”

“Nice! Now say it fast, three times!”

“Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear—” she said again, quick. “Near an ear, a nearer ear, an i-erly— ugh!”

Lock winced. “Ooh, you were so close, noona!”

Cale hummed. “Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear,” he said, speeding up. “Near an ear, a nearer ear, nearly eerie ear— near an ear, a nearer ear, nearly eerie ear,”

“Woah, you got it!”

Choi Han gasped as if he was astonished. “Cale-nim, you really are…!”

“I told you,” he sighed. “I’m good at tongue twisters.”

“Hm, really now?” Rosalyn chuckled. “Then try this one— Susie works in a shoeshine shop. Where she shines she sits, and where she sits she shines.”

“Why are all of them so long…?” Lock sighed, mumbling what he could remember of the phrase to himself.

“Susie works in a shoe-sai— a shoe sine— a shoeshine shop…” Jack sounded like he was struggling quite a bit. “Susie works in a shoeshine shop… Susie works in a shoeshine shop…”

“Susie works in a shoe shine shop…” Beacrox paused. “And— I mean, where she shines that— where she shines she sits, and where she sits, she shines.”

“Susie works in a shoe shine shop… Where she shines she sits and where she sits she shines— Yes!” Hannah punched the air a little and Jack gave her a high five while praising her. 

“Young master Cale?”

“Mn… Susie works in a shoe shine shop. Where she shines she sits and where she sits she shines.”

“Oh!” Rosalyn looked somewhat impressed. “Then, how about this one— Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.”

“Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely,”

“This one? Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.”

Cale nodded and repeated it as well. “Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.”

“Fed bred Ted Bed…?” Bud mumbled to himself in utter confusion.

Rosalyn hummed. “Here’s another tricky one— I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.”

“Mn… I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.”

“Oooh!”

“You really are good at tongue twisters, young master-nim,” Rosalyn nodded, sounding awed.

“Hm, how about some other tongue twisters?” he looked at Choi Han.

“Oh! Yeah, I also had a bunch of tongue twisters from my world,” he smiled. “It’ll be a bit trickier though— Here’s one, Park Beom-bok goes to the night cherry blossom viewing, and Bang Bum-bok goes to the day cherry blossom viewing.”

“...”

“Ha?”

“What?

“C.. Can you please repeat that?”

“ Park Beom-bok goes to the night cherry blossom viewing, and Bang Bum-bok goes to the day cherry blossom viewing.” Choi Han said it a bit slower that time.

“...S-Still nothing,”

“What was that!? It went so fast!”

“Park… Bom– beom-bok…?”

“ Park Beom-bok goes to the night cherry blossom viewing, and Bang Bum-bok goes to the day cherry blossom viewing.” Cale repeated. He actually already knew that one since it was one he had heard in high school when he was younger.

“Oh!” Jack gasped in astonishment.

“How!?” 

“I already said,” he replied. “I’m good at tongue twisters,” he paused. “Oh— Choi Han already told me this one though.”

“You practice this stuff with him…?”

“Uh… he just tells me a few and I learn them,” Cale answered. 

“...For fun?”

Cale shrugged vaguely. “It’s interesting, being from another language and all.”

“Which would you consider to be the hardest one you know?” Eruhaben asked. “I’m quite curious.”

“Mn…” he hummed, glancing at Choi Han, before whispering. “Do you know about the moist cookie one?”

“Ah, that one,” Choi Han nodded. “I got dared by my friend to memorize it in an hour once at school,”

“A dare, huh?” Cale said. “Did you manage to though?”

“In an hour? Not really,” he admitted sheepishly. “But I did eventually learn it after a while, since I thought I may as well have.”

“Do you still remember it?”

“I think so,” he shrugged, before mumbling a few Korean words from the tongue twister under his breath, practicing. He smiled a little to himself. “I actually used to say it a lot to help me stay awake and focused in the Forest of Darkness,”

“Do you want to try it, then?”

Choi Han nodded, replying in Korean. “Yes,”

“Okay then— one, two, three!”

They both inhaled a sizable breath before speaking together. “ A non-moist chocolate chip cookie that lived in non-moist chocolate chip cookie land—”

The room erupted in unified ‘Oooh…!’s as they began. Even Ron raised his brow and leaned in slightly to watch and listen to the whole spectacle— all for a tongue twister. Frankly Cale didn’t know what was so interesting about all this.

“...saw a moist chocolate chip cookie from moist chocolate chip cookie land and wanted to become a moist chocolate chip cookie and so went to moist chocolate chip cookie land— “

“E…Eh?”

“...It’s still going?” Beacrox whispered in a mix of somewhat awe, but also horror.

“Oho…” Eruhaben blinked.

“...but the gate-keeper of moist chocolate chip cookie land said, ‘You are not a moist chocolate chip cookie, but a non-moist chocolate chip cookie, so live in non-moist chocolate chip cookie land,’-”

“It sounds like a story,” Mary commented.

“It— It actually does, though…?” Hannah mumbled.

“I think it’s been a whole paragraph already…!”

“…so the non-moist chocolate chip cookie gave up on becoming a moist chocolate chip cookie and went back to non-moist chocolate chip cookie land.”

“Woaaaah!”

“What was that!?” Bud exclaimed, flabbergasted.

“Hey, remember to breathe, unlucky punk,” Eruhaben sighed. Ron placed a fresh cup of warm lemon tea in front of Cale, and a glass of water half-full in front of Choi Han.

“Hey, you should really tell us the meaning behind these crazy tongue twisters!”

“It’s kind of stupid, though,” Cale sighed, slumping back onto the couch while catching his breath, eyeing the cup of lemon tea with a frown. 

“Mn, it’s about… a chocolate chip cookie? One that isn't… moist,” Even Choi Han felt like it sounded ridiculous. “And it wants to be a moist cookie, so it goes to moist cookie land, but then the guard stops it and tells it it isn’t a moist cookie and to go back to non-moist cookie land.”

“....Huh?”

“It really does sound like a bedtime story for kids,” Lock commented. “A really… erm, crazy one,” 

“It sounds like something someone would make up under the effects of some kind of hypnosis spell,” Glenn sighed.

“Or while drunk,” Bud shrugged.

They spent the entire night doing silly things like that— catching pebbles, trying tongue twisters, and they even ended up telling a few stories here and there. It was very lively— also kind of noisy. Strangely enough, Cale didn’t hate it all that much.

He’s never really hung out with other people like this before when he was younger during his years as Kim Roksoo. He was always busy— It wasn’t like he hated fun and games or something. If anything, he often remembered wanting to have enough time to do extra things like that. There was just no room for it in his agenda. Over time, he just thought it felt more pointless than anything when he could be working or completing something. He already had so little time in the day, what little more could he afford to waste?

Then Jungsoo and Soohyuk were there, when the end of the world was rolling around. Even during the apocalypse, amid all the monsters, Jungsoo would teach him how to play a few games he knew, and then Lee Soohyuk would too. 

They would pick up small stones from the side of crumbling streets and toss them up and say ‘This is how you play Gonggi’, they would find a spinning top on sale at the store, hand it to him, and say ‘You need to wind it up really tight, and then release it so it spins for a longer time’. Sometimes during training Lee Soohyuk would pull out a Jegi and say ‘You’re so frail, Roksoo-yah. Have you ever played Jegichagi before, hm? This is how’, and on slow days sorting through files on monsters and reports on guilds, Jungsoo would come up to his desk and say ‘Have you ever seen game shows on TV? Let me show you this game— it’s called Cham Cham Cham— You’ve gotta know it! I promise it’s really simple!’.

Things have gotten really peaceful. Lately, he’d sit alone at night, stare off blankly out the window or at the wall, or close his eyes, and take a peek at his old records. 

The voices of people, young, old, and annoying, would echo faintly in his mind like an empty chamber. And when his eyes would grow half lidded, he would feel as if he was getting swept up, gently, in a sea of dull records. Running to a random convenience store because Lee Soohyuk couldn’t live without his coffee, the giddy chatter of his teammates as they drank together after a mission, that time his entire team showed up at the hospital to scold and pester him all day and night after he overused Instant or got hurt— sometimes Choi Jungsoo would be admitted there with him and once all three of them were even there after a tough mission, and once the entire team too. Just pointless, unremarkable and mundane records like that. But even so, there were lots of them, filling up space, between records of monsters and files and guild names, and painful ones he’d rather not touch.

Cale opened his eyes. Everyone was still talking— there was a plate of food on the table. A familiar scent wafted through the air as he recognized the dish that sat in front of him. “Soup… dumplings?”

“Oh, Cale-nim,” It was Choi Han’s voice. “You should have some,”

He was handed a small bowl with a dumpling on top, and some dipping sauce. Choi Han also gave him some chopsticks. “Haaa…” he blew on it before taking a bite. “Mn…!”

“Is something wrong?”

“...I burnt my tongue,” he mumbled, chewing through carefully. Choi Han quickly handed him a glass of water. It tasted a bit different compared to the ones he had in Korea, but it was still good.

“So?” Beacrox asked. “I used one of the recipes you wrote down.”

“Mm…” he hummed, before nodding. “It tastes good. Delicious, actually. Thanks.”

“...Of course, young master-nim,” He sounded a bit strange— he hoped he didn’t offend him somehow. Did he come off condescending or something?

“...And so that’s why you should be careful when you ask to board random wagons,” Conversation flowed through. It was Bud’s voice, he was as lively as ever.

“That trap sounded kind of obvious though?” Hannah sounded a bit judgemental.

“Remember— stranger danger,” Rosalyn added.

“I asked you if the owner seemed suspicious, but you said they were fine!” Glenn complained.

“Well, that’s because I didn’t smell anything on them! How was I supposed to know they were actually—!”

Voices. A lot of them. They were talking about this and that. Cale heard a few technical words relating to magic, or sword techniques, maybe even something about cooking. It felt like he was being blanketed by his mundane records, and it felt… a little warm.

Cale’s reddish brown eyes glinted. Mundane, huh. Even though everyone there was somewhat troublesome— being dragons, assassins, mages, swordmasters and the like, they seemed to fit perfectly in his sea of dull memories. 

Would he be nostalgic over moments like these, too? If he sat and peeked inside his records, would he hear their voices talking about how to stay safe from ambush attacks and repeating tongue twisters?

Two months— less than that, wouldn’t be enough time for something like this to feel distant yet. He hummed. I wonder, Cale thought. They said your life would flash before your eyes when you died. 

Would he hear these voices echo then? 

A part of him hoped so.

Chapter Text

“Your highness,” 

“Hm?”

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

Alberu looked up beyond the towering stacks of paper. “Ha?”

Cale was looking at him. “You look like a zombie, hyung-nim,”

“What the hell is a zombie?”

“It’s, well, it’s something,” Cale shrugged, taking a sip from his tea and biting into his cookie he spoke with food in his mouth. “Either way you look like one,”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Zombies,”

“What?”

“Like you’re undead, basically.” Cale said, setting his cup down. “Your hair’s a mess and there’s 5 cups of coffee next to all those documents— not even my Team Leader drank that much— not in 2 hours at least.”

“Mn… I need it to stay awake.”

“Are these documents really that urgent? You look like you’re about to keel over.”

“Haa… You’re driving me nuts,”

Cale blinked. “I didn’t even do anything though?”

Alberu stared at the budget report he was reviewing at the table with different items and their prices, mumbling and counting under his breath. “Cale, what’s six plus five?”

“It’s four,”

He frowned. “No it’s not.”

“So you’re sane enough to tell I’m screwing with you but not enough to know the answer?” Cale questioned, and Alberu sighed again for the millionth time.

“Ugh, it’s… uh, eleven,” he shook his head and got back to work, stamping and writing and signing. He’s stared at so many printed letters that he even tried to sign the top of his desk earlier. He really needed to get this done— just a few more, and then he’ll take a break and rest his eyes for a bit— a few more, and…

A cup clacked in front of him. He looked up to see it was Cale. “Here’s some tea,” 

He blinked a few times. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? Won’t you allow this lowly dongsaeng of yours serve you, your high—”

“Mn, stop it,” he said, swiftly cutting Cale off with a wave of his hand. He was running out of coffee anyway. He doused half of it in two or three gulps. “It’s sweet,” he said. “A little different from the kind mister Ron usually serves,”

“I don’t like those,” Cale sighed as if he was greatly displeased. “This was a brew my friend— mn, Choi Jungsoo would make me a lot when I’m working,”

“Hm, that guy?” he commented. “Okay…”

A while of mostly quiet passed, save for the occasional question or inquiry from Cale. He’s done this a lot, actually— lately he’d just barge in on some random day alone, or with Raon and the kids, or Choi Han, and sit in his office, burning through his whole supply of cookies all the while. He’d bring up random topics to talk about— sometimes a little about work, sometimes just mundane normal questions. Every time he barged in, he’d stare at Alberu and ask him if he’s eaten yet. Sometimes he carries a packed lunch with him, wrapped in cloth. He’s already finished the lunch he brought in that particular day— there were more of those seaweed rolls and some fried chicken. Korean food tasted really nice.

Choi Han was right that time though— Cale had grown a lot more talkative, or at least more active in terms of interacting with them. For a question he’d usually just give a nod or an acknowledging hum to, now he would occasionally give an answer. Sometimes when he sees something familiar, he’d look at it or hold on to it for a little while, before mentioning a small detail from his past. Once he held one of Alberu’s fountain pens, twirled it around and said ‘When I was younger, I used to lose a lot of my pens. I’m not sure if some kids stole them or something, but it would get a bit difficult sometimes since I might not have some extra money to keep buying a new one every time I lost one, and borrowing from others too often was a bother. It was worse the first time they sent me back to school after I got sent to the orphanage, since I didn’t really have my own money yet. At some point I would start tying them with string so I wouldn’t lose them even if I had dropped one’

They were sudden, a bit sad sometimes though, or a bit peculiar. Also a bit concerning. Alberu learned a lot more about Cale and his life as Kim Roksoo, and what Korea was like. He thought it was interesting. Sometimes, he would also ramble on about the plot of certain stories he’s read— which was especially interesting to Alberu because they were essentially stories that could hypothetically happen in their world right now if the circumstances were right, or stories that take places in settings reminiscent to theirs but just slightly off somehow. It felt a bit uncanny.

Cale was absentmindedly rambling about the plot of a ‘cliche fantasy novel’ again when Alberu just sighed and asked. “You know, I’m starting to wonder what stories taking place in your world would look like,”

“Hm?”

“You know, no magic, no swordmasters or kings and beastfolk or dragons— what would that even look like?” He was genuinely curious, in all honesty. “I mean, you do have other stuff— like those cell phones and computer things, and your technology is generally more advanced.”

“Well,” he shrugged. “I don’t really read novels in that genre, but I think I tried a few,”

“What would the plot usually be?”

“As far as books go, authors have a wild imagination, you know? It isn’t all that different from here, I guess,” Cale said. “We’d put some kind of supernatural twist on regular scenarios, like ghosts, or monsters, or even magic but just in the modern era,” he hummed. “Ah, but there’s also this popular genre with ‘hunters’ and ‘towers’ or an apocalypse… I think it’s called a fusion fantasy?” he trailed off. “It looks something like what earth is now, just a bit more… videogame-like, with levelling and such and such,”

“Videogames?”

“Mn, it’s like…” Cale clicked his tongue as he thought about it. “Ah, I don’t know— I’ve never really played one, in all honesty. But it’s like a game, but on a screen,”

“Like on… computers?”

“Sure,”

“I see…” that does sound interesting. “Are there any stories without magical twists in them though?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” he nodded. “Plenty,”

“What’re they like?” he asked, sighing as he finished another stack. On to the next one.

Cale eyed him silently for a bit before humming. “Well,” he began. “I’ve read a few— they’re usually just about crazy situations, or romance, or really just regular life stories. That genre’s called slice of life,”

“Crazy situations?”

“That’s usually somewhere in the thriller or melodrama realm,” he shrugged. “There’s also stories that take place in high school, with delinquents and gangs and lots of fights or dramatic teen romances,” he listed. “There’s also office romance, contract marriages, CEOs,”

“Office romance…?” Alberu echoed, dumbfounded. “And what’s a CEO?”

“Hm, it’s, well, it stands for Chief Executive Officer,” Cale said. “It’s the highest ranking executive at a company, basically,”

“Company… like a guild?”

“Something like that…?”

“Huh… Sounds interesting,” he shrugged. “What’s the most interesting story you’ve read that took place in regular settings?”

“Hm…” Cale hummed. “There was this one story with a nice-written plot that I liked,”

“What was it?”

“A kid who’s been fighting in the military since he as young gets sent to a regular high school once he recovers some lost memories from an accident a long time ago and reunites with his family again,” Cale said. “He’s quite a good soldier— an elite, even, and all he really wants to do is live peacefully now that he’s with his family and living a regular life. Of course, trouble gets stirred up all over the place, with bullies, gangs, and some old enemies that have it out for him, but he’s so strong that he can just nip everything in the bud as soon as it starts,” He sighed. “Haaa, there’s a lot of jerks in that story, but it’s satisfying because he can just stop them immediately and beat them up, then go home and continue with his life.”

“...” Alberu wondered if Cale had some kind of pent-up frustration with the way he was frowning. “...Sounds interesting,” he seemed to like ‘overpowered’ main characters, and it seemed they could even be present in stories outside the fantasy genre. “What were the antagonists like, anyway?”

“Mn, they were your typical jerks— rich people who look down on others and act like they’re above regular people, greedy people who undermine issues when it doesn't concern them or is too much of a hassle for them to fix, maniacs who see some kind of sick pleasure in watching people suffer, or something,” he sighed. “I liked how straightforward the protagonist was— he doesn’t stick around too much for a sob story for people who did horrendous stuff and was calm and sensible. When someone was harassing his sister, he…”

“Mn…”

Alberu listened and nodded along again to Cale’s rant. It was a bit strange, but he liked how he’d fill the silence and helped pass time, even if he could be a bit of an annoyance. For all the ranting he’s done though, Alberu thought Cale really must like reading— a bit more than he expected. He’s never heard much of his rambling up until a while ago— they’d always be talking about smacking their enemies in the back and a strategy for the next potential battle. They still do, of course, but now it’s peaceful enough to fit in some things like tea brews and stories about their childhoods. It was nice for Alberu to rant a little about all that to someone, too.

He’s nodding along and— he’s nodding too much, actually. Alberu would sway forward, catch himself, and then his eyes would grow heavier. The ink was dripping down from the tip of his quill and on the pages as he tried to come up with a clear thought, but he was so tired and everything just felt hazy, and…

Thud.

—

Alberu slowly blinked once or twice as he slowly came to. He stared at a stack of documents sitting next to him, and got up, groaning. “Ugh…” There was a bit of dried drool that trailed down from the corner of his mouth, and he was a bit sore but otherwise a lot more rested than before. As he sat up straighter, he felt something sliding off his back and looked behind him to see it had been… a blanket. A glass filled with cold water sat on his desk, with a lid covering the top. 

“What…” he tried to remember what happened before he fell asleep. He was approving some proposals for reconstruction, and also penning a letter to a noble and— oh, yeah, something about high school? A teenager and a gang? 

Alberu looked up and almost flinched. There, on the couch across from his work desk was a certain redhead sprawled out across the cushions with an arm over his eyes, a leg hanging off the edge, and a blanket loosely draped on him. His chest rose and fell steadily as he slept. 

He sighed. “Cale…” Right, he was rambling about a novel he read once from Earth. He’d been listening when he nodded off and fell asleep. Alberu hummed. Did he decide to spend the night here? “Haaa… This punk…”

Sunlight filtered out through the window, and he could hear the sound of birds chirping, and he glanced at the clock. Around six or so. Alberu clicked his tongue— there was still so much stuff he needed to look through and he planned to get most of it done by the end of the night.

Alberu doused the glass of cool water, and moved to take a sheet of paper before stopping. He was quite drowsy the other night, but he could still tell that the ones on the table now were stacked differently compared to before— they looked a lot more neat too. 

He flipped through the first pile, and found that most of the things he was supposed to review were done, written out in neat and quick handwriting. The next pile were only some proposals and agreements he needed to look over and sign himself, which meant that the brunt of all the reviewing was out of the way and he could get to the more important matters. The quick and to the point yet detailed nature of the sentences and the handwriting were recognizable.

Alberu looked up and across his office towards the table in front of the couch Cale was sleeping in. A few cups of tea sat, emptied, as well as 3 glasses of cold water which were all empty but one that had water pooling at the bottom. His jar of cookies was also, once again, emptied. A small messy stack of paper sat laid out on one side as well as one of his quills and ink bottles, which he had been looking for a second ago. 

“Ha…”

“Mn…” As if he sensed Alberu’s baffled looks, Cale slowly stirred awake, opening his eyes and staring up at the ceiling, before turning to the side, facing Alberu. They stared at each other for a while. Then, he spoke, with a small, sun-like smile that resembled Alberu’s when he spoke to his subordinates. “What a blessing it is to open my eyes and let the first thing it gazes upon be the most brilliant star in the Roan kingdom,”

Alberu scoffed again. “You bastard.”

“That’s a bit much first thing in the morning, hyung-nim,”

“You're one to talk,”

Cale truly looked like a troublesome little bastard at that moment, “I don’t know what you mean, hyung-nim.”

“Ugh…” he sighed, before motioning to the stack of finished reviews on his desk. “You, are you seeing this? All of this is finished.”

“Indeed it is,” 

He raised a brow. “That tea from yesterday— did you drug me?”

“Drug you?” Cale scoffed, taking mock-offense and feigning hurt. “Oh, how could this lowly self ever even dare, your highness?”

“Seriously?”

Cale just shrugged. “I wasn’t lying, you know— Jungsoo did use to bring me that tea,” he stated casually. “...When I’ve been overworking myself anyway, in his words. It’s chamomile, helps induce sleep and relaxes you,” Alberu stared at Cale as he grabbed a cookie from the few that remained in the jar as he spoke with crumbs in his mouth “Then he’d start talking nonsense to me and telling long winded stories and the next thing I knew, I was asleep.”

“So you planned it?”

“Somewhat,” he shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to try it on someone else. You were about to pass out yourself anyway any second there,” Cale chuckled with a little smirk. “Don't worry, I asked Tasha which ones I could work with just to be safe.”

Alberu was speechless as he watched Cale slowly sit up with his messy bed of red hair, with a blanket messily strewn over him as he doused the last of the cold water inside the glass on the table. He groaned and just slumped over and laid his head on his desk. “How’d you even do all this?”

“This much is a piece of cake for me, you know,” Cale said nonchalantly. “I used to do paperwork and reviews all the time back when I was in charge of strategizing and when I was Team Leader,”

“Right…” Alberu stared at the man eating cookies in front of him and lazing around on the couch— his dongsaeng, who was actually a 36-year-old man with an office job. He blinked. “You’re driving me nuts.”

“Hm?” Cale tilted his head as he laid back down on the other side of the couch, looking to the side and facing Alberu who also laid his head on his desk. “I didn’t do anything this time, though?”

“Haaa…” he sighed, massaging his temples, before looking up. “Well, anyways,” he paused. “Thanks, Cale.”

Cale turned his head towards him and gave a small smile. “You should stop by the villa more often,” he remarked. “It’s close to New Year’s too, you know. Come over for a drink if you’re really thankful, at least— I’ll teach you you how to play a new year’s game,”

“Will there be food?”

“Obviously,”

“Korean food?”

Cale hummed. “A few dishes, yeah— I’m looking to make some kimchi and samgyeopsal this time around. And some Tteokguk— rice cakes.”

“I’ll clear my schedule,” 

“Ha!” Cale laughed. “There’s a seat waiting for you, your highness,”

The days were getting colder as winter progressed, white snow covering the streets. The sunlight would reflect on the pearly white surfaces and brighten it. He thought a little about the scarf Cale had given him before.

Alberu looked over all the reviews again and hummed. “Maybe I should just make you my Prime Minister after all,”

Cale threw a pillow at his face.

—

The morning was peaceful, like any other. The curtains were still drawn, the room was quiet, and the bed felt remarkably soft. How did people ever find the willpower to even get out of bed in the morning? Where do they even get all the energy? Cale wouldn’t know.

-He’s sleeping in again.

-Well, it’s better than when he was running on no sleep at all, right?

-Today’s a bit quieter than usual! Though I wish those little kids could tug him out of bed like they usually would.

-Hey Cale, you should eat.

-Drink some water at least!

“Ugh…” he groaned, turning over in his messy bed. It would be an otherwise perfect morning had it not been for the voices of the ancient powers bothering him in his head.

The glutton spoke up once again, sounding as if she was daydreaming.

-Hm, I wonder what breakfast is today?

The thief sighed, sounding a bit tired.

-All you ever think about is food.

-Why don’t we make bets, then? I bet crepes.

The crybaby replied to the cheapskate’s suggestion.

-Huh? We’re making bets? Um, maybe something with chicken in it? And maybe some vegetables. I like that chef, his meals are always balanced.

-Bread! The soft kind! Maybe some sourdough today, or ooh, even a sandwich!

-Hm, maybe some steak? The kind Cale likes.

Cale didn’t know if he had begun hallucinating but he could somehow hear the Super Rock shaking his head.

-It seems a bit early for that, don’t you think? Steak is usually for lunch.

-Well—

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened, flooding in with light from outside the hall as well as the familiar sound of cheerful laughter. Cale didn't need to open his eyes to know it was the kids, but he could also hear that their footsteps sounded heavier— like that of shoes. He peeled one of his eyes open and saw On and Hong had polymorphed, Raon still flapping his wings and flying beside them. Cale closed his eyes again.

“Cale~ wake up!”

“Come with us!”

“That’s right, human! Look,” Raon exclaimed, flying closer to the bed. “Did you know? The villa has a music room!”

“Mn…” well, of course he knew, kind of. He took note of it when he was exploring the villa for the first time. Cale just never really went in because he had no use for it.

“Listen to this,” Hong said, before inhaling. Instead of an exhale, what came out was the sound of a note— from an instrument. Cale opened his eyes but didn’t move. Hong was holding a recorder and grinning.

“Oooh! And listen to this, human!” Raon, who was flying, also had a xylophone in front of him, which was also floating thanks to magic. He tapped one of the keys with the mallet in his chubby paws and out sounded a light chime. He tapped a few more keys, and then did it in order. “Did you know, human? This is ‘do’, and this is ‘re’! There’s many more sounds, and they have an order. If you play all of them in order it goes— ‘Do re mi fa so la ti do’!”

It was a bit loud but Cale just nodded back with a grunt. “I see.”

The instrument in On’s hand was a violin. She smiled and placed the bow on the strings before playing it. This time, it was a more complex string of notes— it sounded like a part of a song. “I’m learning a quick song,” she said. “Grandpa Goldie is teaching me,”

“Eruhaben is?”

Hong nodded. “Yup!” he replied. “Apparently, he used to be really good at playing instruments,”

“He did, huh…” Eruhaben really fit the bill of a majestic ancient dragon. 

“Noona is learning the song that goes, mn, the one about the stars!” Raon exclaimed.

Hong piped in. “Like this— City of stars~ are you shining just for me~?”

“Yeah, that one!”

“We heard it play at a tavern once, remember?” On added. “It’s been stuck in my head.”

“I’m also gonna learn a song! It’s a really fun one called ‘Do-re-mi’,” 

“Oh! I love that one!” Raon exclaimed, playing the note for ‘do’ on his xylophone. “Do, a deer, a female deer!”

Hong continued by playing ‘re’ on his recorder. “Re, a drop of golden sun~”

On continued it with her violin. “Mi, a name I call myself,”

“Fa, a long, long way to run!”

“Haaa…” Cale slumped defeatedly as the kids dragged him out of bed by the arm and towards the door, still singing joyfully to themselves.

Raon flapped his wings as he pushed Cale along. “So, a needle pulling thread!”

Hong giggled. “La, a note to follow So!”

“Ti, a drink with jam and bread~” On sung.

“That will bring us back to Do!”

Right on time the kids finished their chorus, Cale found himself at the entrance of the supposed music room. The curtains were drawn back flooding his vision with sun, only to be blinded once again when he sees Eruhaben in all his majestic glory, golden sparkles of dust reflecting in the sun. Damn, it was seriously too early for this.

The kids pushed and pulled him over to sit on the chair. Coincidentally Ron also happened to be there, with a tray of snacks and tea at the ready. He placed a cup down on the table next to Cale. “How was your sleep, young master-nim?”

“...” he stared at him for a while. “...It was fine,”

“It’s wonderful that you’ve finally decide to rise earlier today,”

Cale quietly took a sip from the cup of tea he was brought, before looking down scornfully at the familiar dreaded sour taste. “..Okay.”

“Good morning, unlucky punk,” Eruhaben greeted casually. “It’s rare to see you awake at any hour that isn’t between twelve in the afternoon and eight in the evening.”

The worst part of it was probably the fact that despite all those hours he was still tired. This goddamn illness. “...Right,”

“Weak human, look!” Raon yelled, holding up his mallet and playing a series of notes. Cale recognized it as part of a nursery rhyme that was common in the Roan kingdom. “Ta-da!”

Cale nodded with a hum— wait, he should probably clap, right? It was important for kids, especially dragon kids, to get approval for stuff like this. “Good job, Raon,”

“You should try it too, human!” Raon exclaimed. “Look, there’s so many instruments you can choose! This one is called a ‘guitar’, all you have to do is just strum the string with your finger and it makes noise! Oh, and this one’s also like a guitar but way bigger! It’s called a harp, and you also just pull the string like this! ‘Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do’!”

“If you don’t like string instruments, there’s also this! It’s a flute, all you have to do is blow into it and block the holes on the top here, see? Then it makes different noises,” Hong suggested, though Cale already knew that wind instruments were way more complicated than that.

“Hm, no, no, if it’s Cale, then he doesn’t want to exert too much effort, right?” On piped in, and the two younger siblings let out little ‘ohh!’s as if to say ‘That’s right!’. “He needs something easy, really easy,”

“Hm…” Hong contemplated for a moment. Eruhaben who was sitting with his violin watched with a sigh and a slightly unimpressed look directed at Cale but shrugged a little as if it couldn’t be helped. “Oh! I know!”

He ran off to the place where the instruments were being held and picked out something small, before dashing back to Cale. “Here!”

He blinked. “This is…”

Raon let out a little gasp. “Oh! It’s that one!”

Cale held up the supposed instrument given to him. It was a steel… triangle, with a mallet.

“The triangle is the easiest instrument,” On said. “It also usually only ever has a few parts in orchestras, so it’s perfect for Cale~”

“Try playing it, Cale!”

“...” He struck the triangle lightly with the mallet.

Ting!

“Wow!”

“Good job, human! Very good job!”

“Do it again!”

Ting.

“Yes, yes, it’s the perfect instrument! It’s very easy, so you’ll surely master it in no time!” Raon exclaimed with sparkling eyes. “Weak human, we’re going to go practice now,”

“And then we’ll show you a performance, so don’t go anywhere— just sit right here, okay?” Hong added.

“Don’t fall asleep~”

He watched the children turn around and head to sit with Eruhaben, carrying their instruments while giggling and sighed. Well, it’s good that they’re trying out more things. Just the other day they pestered Cale to get out of bed and go on an outing in Rain City to go see Freesia. Though On and Hong were primarily being mentored and taught by Ron and Beacrox, Freesia would occasionally teach them a few extra skills on the side if they ever dropped by. But that day they had just come after Freesia promised to teach them how to make their own mugs from clay.

The results were… Well, they weren’t as ugly as the rabbit statue that Freesia herself had sold. The kids were more skilled than that. The results were a little wonky, but they still use that mug from time to time for hot chocolate, and Cale kept them in a cupboard with everyone else’s cups and mugs in the kitchen.

The kids even made an extra vase for him. It did look as if it was melting, but that just added… artistic value. At least that’s what Violan had said when they stopped by the estate after Cale went shopping for them. The vase was placed in the kitchen as well, on the windowsill to hold the flowers that the wolf children had brought for him some time ago. It was a very colorful display.

Listening to and watching the three, he thought that Hong seemed quite passionate about mastering his recorder. He also had a nice singing voice. He seems to like it, so maybe he’d want to be a musician when he grew up? The Rock Villa had a decent supply of instruments already, but maybe he should buy more like he did with the library.

“Goldie, goldie! You should show us another song you know on the violin,” Raon suggested.

“Mhm, I want to see how you move the bow,” On added, staring at her own violin. “You’re really good at it,”

“Ho?” Eruhaben raised a brow before chuckling. “Well, if you insist,”

In an elegant, practiced motion, the golden dragon placed the bow on the string, before moving it. Cale had never touched a violin in his life, and he’s never really understood how exactly it’s supposed to work. 

When Eruhaben began playing, an elegant and light tune flowed, following a classical melody. He’s never heard it before— but that might be because it could’ve been an old song, lost to time. He’s lived for such a long time, after all. Even the children went silent, watching with awe in their eyes.

After some time, he stopped, and was met with a round of applause from On, Hong and Raon, as well as a few claps from him and Ron who had also been listening. 

Some time later, the kids continued to spend more time practicing, looking back occasionally to show off what they learned to Cale. He just gave them nods and a small thumbs up whenever they did.

Cale closed his eyes a little, enjoying the lull of the mostly peaceful morning. This was quite nice, actually. The window was slightly open to let a cool breeze in, but it wasn’t too cold thanks to the blanket Raon gave him. And if he ignored the lemonade Ron decided to brew him again, the pastries that day tasted good, not too sweet. He’d have to mention that to Beacrox.

Thwack! 

He peeked his eyes open to gaze towards the window. It sounded like someone was sword training again. It could be Hannah and Bud, but he and Glenn went back to sort out some business for the Mercenary Guild the other day and said he’d be gone for 3 days. It was probably Choi Han with Hannah, maybe.

Thwack!

“...your highness, you mustn’t leave room for an opening,”

“Isn’t it more like you should go easier on me? I’m being as cautious as humanly possible, you know.”

“Pardon me, but I believe you could do better than that,”

“Haaa…”

Ah, so it was those two, he opened the window a bit wider to get a better view, and stared out. Choi Han and Alberu were sparring yet again. He could see the crown prince holding Taerang, in the form of a spear, and Choi Han with his usual dark blade. It really looked like some sort of play-fight between the sun and the darkness.

At some point, Alberu almost stumbled, and Cale leaned out more to shout. “Watch your footing, hyung-nim,”

Both heads immediately whipped around to turn in Cale’s direction, and Choi Han’s previous somewhat serious expression immediately turned into an innocent smile, waving his way. Alberu just sighed and replied. “Good morning, Mr. Slacker,”

Wiping their sweat with a towel, they headed over to the window Cale was peeking out of, which happened to be on the ground floor. Choi Han seemed like he barely broke a sweat and was all smiley, but Alberu looked flabbergasted at his change in demeanor.

“Training?”

“Yeah,” Alberu shrugged. “Hey, tell your friend here to be less strict with his student,”

Choi Han hummed. “You just need get stronger and train more, disciple-nim,”

“Haa…” Alberu sighed. Thinking about it now, Alberu was already pretty strong. But alas, anyone put in the same room as a munchkin protagonist couldn't help but pale in comparison. What kind of hellish training did this punk put him through?  “You’re up earlier than I expected. The kids always whine to me about how heavy of a sleeper you are. It’s a shame, I wanted to go wake you up myself,”

“And why would you want to do that?”

“Is there no greater joy than the honor of waking up my precious dongsaeng, the treasure of the kingdom, from his slumber?”

Way too early for any of this. “What is this ‘precious treasure of the kingdom’ crap you’re talking about?”

“It’s you,”

“No,”

“You can’t just reject a title— people still call you commander, savior of the continent sometimes, you know?”

He frowned. “I don’t want to hear any of it,”

Alberu smiled in a sun-like way. “Young master silver shield,”

“I will throw a teacup at you,”

Ron smiled benignly from beside him. “I would advise against that, young master-nim,”

A small gasp rang from behind Cale. “Cookie prince!”

“Oh, the crown prince is here?”

“Crown prince!”

The children all practically rushed over to the window, Raon climbing over his shoulder to wave enthusiastically at the two. “Hi cookie prince and Choi Han!”

Choi Han smiled back. “Hello,”

Hong’s eyes sparkled. “Did you bring cookies?”

“Ah, no,” Alberu admitted. “But I will next time, I promise.”

“Oh, then are you here to give Cale a golden plaque?” On asked with a smile that seemed eerily similar to Cale’s. Alberu just hummed awkwardly at that.

“What are you three up to?” Choi Han asked as he received a small cookie from Raon. 

“We’re learning how to play instruments,” On smiled, holding up her violin. 

“There’s a music room in the villa! Did you know?”

“A music room?” Choi Han peeked in, and his gaze drew to the piano that sat there. “Ah…”

“You can play the piano?”

“Mn, well…” Choi Han fidgeted with the scabbard of his sword while shrugging awkwardly. “I did use to take a few piano lessons,”

“Really?” Alberu commented.

“What songs do you know?”

“Um…” he trailed off. “I can do… Mary had a little lamb? Half of it...?” 

Alberu blinked slowly. Twice. “What?”

“You know, the nursery rhyme? The one that goes ‘Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb’...”

Raon gasped. “There’s a song about good girl Mary!?”

Hong leaned in curiously. “And she has little lambs?”

“Ah, no, well…” Choi Han was hesitant, trying to think of an explanation. Judging by Alberu’s and everyone else’s expressions, none of them seemed to have even heard the tune before. It could be that it didn’t exist in this world. That of all things?

“Choi Han, teach me that song!”

“Yeah! I bet we could learn it,”

“It sounds simple enough,” On nodded.

“Uhm…”

Afterwards, Alberu decided he’d stay over for a while longer at the villa to spend more time sharpening his sword, or Cale supposed, spear skills. He sure was diligent, huh.

Cale peeked out the window from his bedroom on the third floor, peering down at the two. “Hey!” he yelled. Alberu and Choi Han, who were sparring, yet again, looked up. “Fighting,”

“...” Choi Han stared at him for a while before suddenly laughing, then smiling a bit too widely as he waved back and replied in Korean. “Thanks!”

Alberu looked between them, confused. “Wait, what?”

Cale chuckled to himself. Alberu still didn’t know Korean, save for a few phrases he and Choi Han taught him here and there for secret codes and such, but this had a lot of potential. He could technically start talking smack about him with Choi Han right in front of his face.

“Come in for lunch in a bit,” he said. “The kimchi’s finished fermenting today,”

Choi Han basically lit up. “Kimchi!?”

“Yeah, hurry up and get in already,”

“Is that Korean food?” Alberu yelled up at Cale. He just sighed and nodded. They both set aside their weapons and headed in immediately. 

The training grounds were empty now. Cale closed his eyes.

It had been around one and a half weeks— almost two. He was about a quarter of the way through the time he had left and he would just get more fatigued each day.

The God of Death would pester him in his dreams too on some nights– he’d be asleep and then suddenly in that bastard’s office. It got worse when he started making pointless small talk and handed him coffee— the darkest most bitter brew he’s personally ever had in his life, not even Lee Soohyuk would subject himself to it— and cookies that tasted nowhere as good as Alberu’s. 

Sometimes though, he’d tell him more useful things regarding him and his whole terminal illness thing. What symptoms could start to pop out, what the other gods have said about it and whatever he could possibly find on the extremely rare condition. He’s also started explaining to Cale about what would happen after he died.

[It’s going to use up a high amount of probability and my authority as a god, but I can mend your soul enough when you die to allow you to reincarnate as any normal soul does. He explained, sipping from his coffee. But there isn’t anything else I can do.

“What does that mean?”

It means I can’t give you your memories of this life once you reincarnate. He said. Usually, for certain heroes, it’s possible because they’ve done something great for the world. But I can’t for you. 

“And that’s because…?”

Even with stuff like this, I have to play by that ancient one’s rules. He sighed. There’s a balance in everything. In order for this world to exist as it has, you have to die, in order to mend your soul and continue your cycle of reincarnation, you’ll have to give up any chance of retaining your memories of this life in the next one.]

“Ha…” he sighed. “My poor life,”

—

After dinner, the sun set and the night fell in a gentle veil of darkness that wrapped around the villa. From the window past the thinner curtains, Cale could make out stars in the sky. He doesn’t have a particular fondness or dislike of them, they’re just there. They were hard to see, at one point, because all of the light pollution is Seoul, but when the buildings came crumbling down, they’d twinkle and shine in dozens of constellations as you prowled through the night, following stars like an old voyager would. 

He’s seen them many times, enough to memorize them and name the constellations, and count every star overhead. Here, the sky looked different. It was as clear as it was in the apocalypse, but he couldn’t recognize a single star, though he did eventually, with Raon, who liked stars very much.

“Cale,” On called softly. “Can you do something before bed?”

Cale, who was lying on the bed, gently caressing their backs hummed. “Do you want me to read you another story?”

“Those are nice, but how about…” Hong trailed off. “How about you sing something?”

He tilted his head. “Sing?”

“Yeah,” On nodded in agreement. “Like… just a song before bed.”

“We never got to hear you sing, weak human,” Raon added.

“You want me to… sing you a lullaby?”

“Something like that,”

“I don’t have a nice singing voice though,”

“That’s okay,” Hong nodded. “We just wanna hear it, just once, okay?”

“We won’t tell anyone about it!”

“Alright, alright,” he relented with a sigh, contemplating. He was never much of a singer except— well, maybe he was? His teammates mentioned him humming or whistling every once in a while during shifts back then. Though, that was mostly because songs could get stuck in his head a lot easier compared to other people, with Record and all. He wasn’t sure if he sounded any good, though.

They want me to sing something? Like a lullaby? He hummed again. What am I supposed to sing to them?

Cale thought about it some more before pausing, then he inhaled a breath and held them a bit closer as he began. “...If I could begin to be, half of what you think of me, I could do about anything— I could even learn how to love…”

The children’s bright round eyes widened as they listened. They probably didn’t understand what language he was speaking in. Not even Raon would recognize it, since it was in English and not Korean. 

He closed his eyes. “When I see the way you act, wondering when I’m coming back, I could do about anything— I could even learn how to love… like you,”

“Love…. Like you,” His voice was quieter, tempo slowed— he tried to be gentle, since he was supposed to lull the kids to sleep with this. They just stared right back at him with a look of awe. Cale just smiled back. “I always thought I might be bad, now I’m sure that it’s true ‘cause…” he pulled the blanket over them up slightly. “I think you’re so good, and I’m nothing like you,”

The dim light of the lamp on their bedside cast a soft warm glow in the cool night, and he thought he could see that light in the kids’ eyes, blinking up at him. “Look at you go, I just adore you… I wish that I knew…”

His thumb lightly circled Raon’s head, in the space between his horns, and pushed back some of the fur that was getting in the way of On and Hong’s eyes. “What makes you think I’m so spea… cial.”

“Cale,” On called out after a short silence. “What song’s that?”

“I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics,” Hong added.

“What does it mean, human?”

“Hm…” he hummed. “It doesn't mean anything,” he said, and the children just looked more confused. “But it’s a song only you three know. It’s a special song that you can choose the meaning of yourself,”

Raon tilted his head. “A song that only we know?” 

“In the whole world?” Hong questioned.

“Yup,” he nodded, treading through On’s fur. “Only you know, and it can mean whatever you want it to.”

“Ah…” the children let out small gasps and Cale chuckled. 

“You should sleep now,”

“...Can you…” On paused. “Can you finish the song?”

“Your voice is really nice,” Hong said straightforwardly. “I’m not asleep, so you have to sing more,”

“That’s right. I want to listen to it all the way through, and then figure out the meaning!” Raon said, sounding a bit too determined for a 6-year-old little kid who should be asleep by now. “You must, human,”

Cale sighed, but couldn’t help smiling. “Okay,” he closed his eyes and resumed caressing their backs once more. “If I could begin to do,” he began. “Something that does right by you, I would do about anything, I would even learn how to love…” the kids were beginning to get drowsy. 

Cale slipped into his thoughts for a moment, closing his eyes. “When I see, the way you look, shaken by how long it took,” he paused. “I could do about anything. I could even learn how to love… like you,”

Raon started blinking slower and Cale smoothed out his scales for him. “Love… like you,” 

He closed his eyes and held them a bit closer. A bit more securely, as his body slowly but surely succumbed to the comfort of sleep. “Love me… like you…”

Maybe he should have sung to them like this more often.

Chapter Text

Cale and Sheritt sat together on the luxurious sofas in the castle, with him sipping tea while she flipped through a book with magic. The kids were off exploring the castle, the sound of their giddy laughter echoing in the halls every now and again as they ran around. A few minutes later, she set the book down. “So,” she said. “What manner of stories do you have today?”

Cale hummed as he held up his teacup, closing his eyes as he contemplated. “Well,” he began. “Yesterday, Raon was really excited about explaining a spell he learned,”

“Hm… I see,” she nodded. “What spell was it?”

“I think it was a shrinking and enlargement spell,” he replied, before smiling in a satisfied way. “He enlarged the size of one of his silver coins and showed it off to me,”

“Ah… I see. Enlargement of matter can be quite a difficult spell. He’s very talented,” Sheritt nodded along while smiling in a very proud way. “Did anything else happen?”

“Ah, when he was showing it to me, he tried to talk about how he was great and mighty, and was really excited, and I guess he couldn’t decide whether to say great or mighty first, so instead he said—” Cale set his teacup down. “Human, I am very very grate-y,”

Sheritt let out a little gasp. “He did?”

“Yes, and then later on while he was talking to On, he tried to say ‘tricky’ and ‘difficult at the same time, and then he ended up saying…” he tried to pretend he was Raon. “This is very trifficult, noona,”

“Ah,” she gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth. “That’s so… adorable…!”

Cale hummed, nodding in agreement. “Three days ago, he made a drawing— we just went out shopping around the Henituse territory and a craft story caught the kids’ eyes. On bought some origami paper and a handbook, Hong got some watercolors, and Raon started out with some colored pencils— they shared the supplies with each other,” he explained, before pulling out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “He drew a lot, but he also made this,”

He slid it across the table, and with magic, it levitated and unfurled itself before Sheritt. She gasped again, transparent finger brushing against the surface. “Is that… me?” 

Cale nodded. “Mhm,” he said. The drawing itself depicted Raon, as well as Sheritt in her polymorphed form standing next to him with the Black Castle in the background. It had all the standards of a children’s picture, green grass, blue sky that wasn’t quite colored in all the way with patches of white, a circular sun in the corner with some lines pointing outward, As well as some flowers here and there. Sheritt was holding a large silver shield and an expression that made it look like she was laughing, and written above her was ‘Strong Mom!!’ with an arrow pointing at her, with the same for Raon saying ‘The Great and Mighty Me!! :)’. 

She was basically gaping  with her hands over her mouth, spluttering trying to figure out what to say. Her magic spoke for her, and within a single snap of her fingers, the paper was framed, the original painting within the fancy golden picture frame that she used set aside. Cale quietly sipped his tea, knowing Raon also made a drawing for him which he had safely kept and displayed in his bedroom, as well as Hong’s watercolor portrait of him cooking, and On’s folded crane which he taught her how to make sitting on top of the night stand.

The frame promptly floated off, before being hung on the wall. Sheritt was still all-smiles as she stared at it from a distance as if it was the greatest, most priceless piece of art she’s ever owned. Well, Cale couldn’t deny that. 

Today was their second weekly visit to the Black Castle. Every week, on whatever day they’d feel like, Cale and the kids, sometimes maybe with Choi Han or anyone else, would come to visit so Raon could see his mom and generally just hang out at his castle. He’d also take the opportunity to check on Lock, who’s regularly training with Sheritt along with some of the wolf children, and the Dragon Half-Blood.

“Um, how has he been?”

“He’s been eating well. Lately he’s started liking yoghurt— he also likes apples a lot more when they’re cut to look like a bunny— it’s something Beacrox started doing recently.”

“I see…”

Sheritt and Raon have gotten a lot closer over the past few days, though they could seem somewhat awkward with each other sometimes. That was fine— they were slowly making up for lost time together, and that was what mattered. “He’s also started really liking reading this book with a collection of fairy tales. He’d carry it everywhere he goes and talks about it all the time,”

“Oh, what’s it called? Perhaps I might have more in my library,”

“Hm, ‘The Snow Queen And More Winter Tales’, I think,”

“I see, I see,” she nodded, seeming serious. Cale just continued to dip his sugar cookies in his tea— Sheritt had started getting some since he heard the kids liked them so they could have them every time they came by.

Each time they visited, Cale and Sheritt would talk to each other about how Raon is doing when he wasn’t at the castle. Things like his progression with magic, or whatever interesting thing may have happened over the course of a few days. 

Cale started glancing around to examine the castle’s interior. Tall grand pillars, a large ceiling with an equally grand, but not over-the-top chandelier, as well as pristine windows that let light filter in. There were also shelves of books and boxes of toys lying around, and lots of places to sit and lounge around. It was refined and great, befitting of a Dragon’s castle, but also cozy and comfortable. He thought about what Sheritt had said the day they stumbled across the Castle of Light.

“I wanted this to be the children’s hometown.” 

“Sheritt-nim,”

“Yes?”

“...If I may ask,” he began, staring into his reflection within the surface of the sweet tea. “What did you think when you realized that you wouldn’t be able to be there for the birth and life of your children?”

Sheritt ‘s eyes widened at the question, like she wasn’t expecting it. And to be frank, it might’ve been a sensitive topic. Even so, she didn’t seem offended or troubled when Cale asked. “Well,” she began. “That’s quite a peculiar question,”

“...You don’t need to answer,”

“It’s fine,” she smiled. “I was simply surprised by the suddenness. But I don’t mind providing an answer, because you’re Raon’s guardian as well,”

“Mn…”

“I knew since the moment I held the two in my hands that they’d be powerful,” Sheritt said. “And as a result, they’d take quite a while to hatch. Longer than the rest of my life span as a dragon, you see,” she explained, picking up a sugar cookie. “I wanted to be there for the lives of those two children. And that was why I made this castle,” she smiled, before her expression fell solemnly. “I wanted it to be somewhere where they could grow up safely until they were ready to leave, and I wanted it to be a place they could return to,” Sheritt smiled again. “And so afterwards, I thought a lot about what these children may need. I had Nelan help me as well,”

“Nelan Barrow…?” Cale echoed. That was the name that Choi Jung-Gun had assumed in this world. 

“Yes, that punk,” she nodded with a nostalgic glint in her eyes. “I’ve learned a lot of things from him too. When I was building this castle, he suggested that the children may have lots of interests. So we prepared lots of different things,” She had a fond look in her eyes as she thought of Raon. “I thought that as dragons, they may want to learn as much as possible about the world from inside the castle, so I prepared books on every subject I could think of— I believe there were encyclopedias on flora and fauna, astronomy, of course, magic, history and the like,”

Sheritt was right about that, Cale thought. Raon was the diligent and curious type, who was always asking questions about every new thing he saw. 

“And stories.” She added. “I wrote a few of them myself, you know,”

“You did?”

“With Nelan— we wrote a few tales together,” the ancient former dragon lord had quite the prideful smirk on her face. “Yes, yes, we based many of the stories off of our own adventures— we even picked aliases for ourselves! It was quite entertaining, I must say— we ended up with a trilogy,”

“Ah…” Suddenly, Cale recalled the fact that Sheritt and Choi Jung-Gun had come up with the title ‘Dragon Slayer’ simply because they thought it sounded cool, and it didn’t seem all that out of place. Though it sounded like the kind of thing teens in their chunni phases would have cooked up.

“Mn, and books weren’t all. I thought perhaps they may not be studious types, or maybe even just disinterested in reading altogether, so I also prepared other things— I bought some board games, every kind I could find, a few toys he may like, and when he would grow older, a few complex puzzles and contraptions. I prepared somewhere he could freely experiment with his magic, like a training ground of sorts.” her smile grew a bit smug. “These walls are also quite strong, you know? They could take damage from most magical attacks and still stay standing. Near-indestructible, you could say, so they can choose to mess with as many spells as they wished.”

“As many spells as they wished, huh…” Cale hummed. He supposed that would be an important thing to dragons. 

“Ah, and board games as well as toys— I remember we bought out many stores. And I also decided to have lots of plants inside, since Nelan said it helped make the place feel more cozy. And lots of pillows, and lots of space to explore as freely as they’d like, and…” she trailed off. “Well, I just tried to think of everything I could have prepared for those children,” her expression faltered slightly, as if she was remembering something unpleasant. “It didn’t… go as I had planned it to,” she said, voice dropping. 

“But, at least that child has found his way back to this castle.” Sheritt was smiling in a somewhat wistful way. “I truly hope that now, I’m able to protect and cherish him as I have promised to do, and that child would forgive his weak mother for failing him so,”

It must have been difficult, for both Sheritt and Raon.

For Raon, to be trapped somewhere lonely and cold as an egg for hundreds of years, only to hatch in a place where he’d be chained down and tortured without even feeling the touch of sunlight. For so long.

And for Sheritt, to be sealed away and separated from her children, powerless to even leave in search of him and feeling as if in the end, her attempt to protect her children only brought them harm.

“Have I ever thanked you?” 

“Pardon?”

“For saving him,” she smiled. “For cherishing him, teaching him, protecting him, healing him— for loving him,”

Cale stilled, not knowing how to respond. “You don’t…”

“I should thank you again,” she said. “Because that child is the greatest and most precious joy in my life,”

The name ‘Raon Miru’ was composed of two pure Korean words, and meant ‘Joyful Dragon’. Cale had intended that name as a wish for Raon to grow up happily.

“Ah, and have I ever told you what I thought about Raon’s name?”

“...Ah?”

“I’m not sure what it means, but it’s a great name,” she smiled at him. Cale thought that Raon must’ve gotten his bright smile from his mom. “I like it, thank you for choosing such a nice name for him,”

Raon’s name, meaning ‘Joy’, was also a reflection of his mom’s love for him and her greatest wish.

“You know,” Cale spoke. “Whenever we’re out on walks, Raon would sometimes point out things he sees that reminded him of you,” Sheritt’s eyes widened. “This one time, mn, two weeks ago, he started picking up white flowers or just white things in general and brought them back home. When I asked him about it, he said ‘They’re like mom’ while smiling.”

The former dragon lord, stilled as she listened.

“When it started snowing, the kids made snowmen outside. They made a few, one of themselves, Choi Han, Ron, some other people, mn, me— but Raon also made a little dragon figure of you and put it right next to his,” Cale explained. “Before we’d come over, Raon would sometimes ask me or Eruhaben-nim what kinds of things dragon lords might be interested in so he could know what kinds of things he could talk about with you. He also asks me to remind him of interesting things that have happened over the past few days so he could tell you stories of what he’s been up to outside— sometimes he’d ask me or his siblings if they were interesting enough,” Cale explained with a small amused smile at the memory. 

“He isn’t a timid little kid, and though he’s a little awkward around you sometimes, he loves you,” Cale paused. “He also told me once, some time after finding this castle, that he was happy he had a mom,”

There were tons of crappy parents in the world. Sheritt was flawed, like any other person was, but she wasn’t one of them.

“I…”

“Maybe it isn’t my place to say, but I don’t think he’s ever been mad at you for what he went through,” Cale said, thinking of Raon. “You’ve made mistakes before this, but you aren’t a failure. You’re only one if you decided to abandon and turn away from him— but you didn’t.” he continued. “Raon is still six. He’ll be seven soon.” Cale inhaled. “You still have a lot of time with him to make up for things, and you’re doing more than fine,”

Cale thought about his mom— Kim Roksoo’s mom. His memories of her were a bit fuzzy since it’s been so long. But she was a calm, soft-spoken person, and she was kind.

“I…” her pupils were shaking as she tried to respond once more. 

If she could magically come back to life or talk to him right now, would she smile like Sheritt did? Or would she have cried because of the way her son had lived? Would she even say a word at all?

“...Thank you,” The dragon lord of protection’s smile shone like a silver shield.

Maybe she would even come to hate the kind of selfish person Cale became.

—

The door of the black castle opened, and in walked a pair of dragons, one nagging the other about having manners and some chore he had forgotten to complete the other day, and another just sighing and nodding in defeat with a quilt of arrows.

“It’s Dodori! And Auntie Mila!” Raon exclaimed with sparkling eyes as he flew out of his mom’s arms and shot out to greet him, Hong and On in tow. Cale thought it was like having distant cousins come over to visit suddenly during the holidays.

With the kids swarming all over him, Dodori, the closest thing to a chunni dragon, more so than Sheritt, that this world had, smirked with pride and pulled out a bunch of books from his satchel— Cale shivered when he recognized the cover of a few of them. They were books about heroes— some specifically about him. 

“Dodori, you should go greet your teacher too,” Mila chided. “He’s standing right there,”

“Ah,” he realized, turning to Cale and clearing his throat. “Ahem. Hi, teacher,”

Cale tilted his head and awkwardly replied. “Hi?”

“Ah, and hello, Dragon lord-nim,” he said, somewhat awkwardly greeting Sheritt. She gave an equally awkward thumbs up, and the kids immediately pulled Dodori down the hall to explore some rooms they found in the castle.

“So, teacher-nim,” Mila set aside her giant scythe and walked over to Cale. “I heard something quite interesting from senior Eruhaben some time ago,”

Cale’s teacup was shaking slightly. “...You did?”

“Yes— I must say, it wasn’t something I expected from you,” she hummed. “I heard you wanted to be a farmer?”

Cale blinked once. Then twice. Slowly. “What.”

Mila blinked. “Oh? Was it a joke?”

“Wait, what?” Sheritt piped in with a ton of sheer confusion from behind him.

“I… um, I mean— no, no it wasn’t.” He admitted. “I… do plan on starting a small farm,” he quickly added. “A small farm. Small scale. Just an orchard, some tomatoes, something easy—”

“So it wasn’t a joke,” Mila looked baffled for some reason as she said that aloud to herself. “Huh.” she seemed to be contemplating as she stared at Cale, lifting up one of his arms and sliding up his sleeve to examine his thin bony arms. This was quite scary because Mila was extremely tall and quite muscular. She clicked her tongue. “With this build?”

It was the exact same thing that Eruhaben had said. “...Yes.”

“Could I ask why?” she questioned. “I have to admit I’m quite curious,”

“Um…” Cale hesitated, but vaguely explained the agreement he had made with Lee Soohyuk and Choi Jungsoo as he did with Eruhaben. She seemed just as perplexed, but nodded along. “Well, if it’s really something you’d like to do, then I’m not trying to stop you,”

Cale was confused. Why would she try to stop him?

“Though, farming is back-breaking work,” she said. “You have to tend to them every single day. I often have to wake up early, as well. You need to toil and plow the fields, dig up the ground, sow the seeds, water them every single day, keep track of their growth, and then harvest it all and start again.”

Just listening to her list everything was making Cale’s head spin. “It will be a small scale farm,”

“You’ll still have to do all of those things, you know,” she sighed. “Well, winter’s no time to be planting anything, so you’ll need to wait until it warms up— spring, I’d reckon,”

“Mn…” he won’t even live long enough to see the next spring, but alright.

“For now though, I’d start on building up more muscle— you’re all skin and bones, teacher-nim,” she commented. “Do you eat enough? Little Raon there and the two cat children seem well-fed enough,”

“I—”

“If being a farmer is really what you want to do, you’ll need to do it properly or you’ll only be working hard without any actual fruit from your labor,” Mila said, sitting Cale down on the sofa again before sitting next to Sheritt. “Listen closely. What did you say you wanted to plant? An orchard, some tomatoes? For an orchard, you’ll need to—”

Cale ended up sitting there for an hour listening to detailed farming advice from Mila. Even Sheritt had to sit through it, though she seemed somewhat invested in the whole ordeal. Cale just nodded along and drank more tea.

It turned out there were a bunch of things he needed to consider going into farming. Like the distance between seeds when planting, how deep they should be planted, types of soil, types of fertilizer, equipment that sounded quite heavy for him, some things to watch out for— things like that. 

All of it was quite useful information, though it sounded extremely daunting. It felt like it was a shame he wouldn’t be able to make use of it. 

I did mention it to On, Hog, and Raon already, though. Before the God of Death went and contacted him, though Cale was busy dealing with some (Alberu dealt with most of it) part of the aftermath of the whole battle at Puzzle City, he had also started planning out his slacker life. He even mentioned the farm to the kids, and they already seemed somewhat excited about it.

Maybe he should keep note of this for them, just in case.

—

Lock held his shield in his hands, palms covered in sweat as he polished it with cloth, enough that he could even see his reflection on the surface. 

Today was another day of training with Sheritt. Though she was nice, she could also be quite ruthless. How many laps had he and the rest of his siblings been running since this morning?

Even so, he was determined. He heard young master Cale was here today with Raon as well as On and Hong. He didn’t want to seem uncool in front of the two younger kids and the person he looked up to, so he’s powered through all day.

He felt something hard and cool lightly tap on top of his head and immediately looked up, only to be met with Cale holding a glass of water for him. His eyes widened. “Ah— young master Cale!”

“Sheritt-nim told me you’ve been practicing all day,” he said, motioning for him to take the glass of water and drink. “Make sure to take a break,”

“Ah, yes,” he nodded. “Please don’t worry about me,”

“Hm…” he hummed with a sigh before shrugging, sitting next to him on the wide bench. “You’ve been training often?”

“Yes,” he nodded again. “I said I’d get stronger, after all,”

“You’re already plenty strong,” he replied simply. 

Lock simply smiled back. “But I’d still like to get stronger,” he said. “There’s no way to know what kind of threats there are in the world— I want to be ready no matter what. I should at least make sure my abilities remain sharp.”

There were many times when Lock thought he was strong enough, and many times he’d been disproven of that fact. He’d thought their village was strong, and that they’d certainly be safe, but then they were attacked by Arm one day and lost everything. That was all it took.

“I see,” Cale nodded, as if agreeing, before eyeing the shield he held. It was nowhere near as great or strong as Cale’s own shield. Even so, Lock kept it well polished— it didn’t shine like silver but instead reflected clearly. Cale was looking at that well-cared shield. “Do you like using the shield?”

His answer was immediate. “I do,”

“Why is that?” 

“Because it can protect the people around me,” and because it’s a power that you use better than anyone. “I want to be… someone who stands at the vanguard and keeps people safe.”

That time at the Gorge of Death, during the battle with Arm and the northern kingdoms, and when he couldn’t go berserk, with a sick Raon burning up in his arms, Lock felt like the most powerless existence in the universe. 

“Stay behind me,”

The back that stood in front of him at that time, bearing the burden of attacks alone with a single silver shield, wasn't large enough to cover his tall frame, but even so Lock felt that Cale’s back was broad like a fortress— like a shield, unwavering. 

He decided, that’s the kind of strength I want to be. 

Cale hummed contemplatively, leaning back. “It’s good that you want your people to be safe— that is very important,” he said. “However, you should also remember what the shield was created for.”

He blinked. “What the shield was created for…?”

“While it’s true it’s made to protect other people as well,” he spoke. “It’s also a tool meant to protect the holder.” Cale looked at him. “It’s a tool to keep you safe before anyone else.”

“...” Lock wasn’t sure how to reply.

“And there isn’t anything wrong with that,” he added. “Remember that you can’t save or protect anyone if you’re hurt or dead, but even apart from that, your life is precious as well, so it’s only natural that you should protect it,”

“My life is… precious,”

“Of course,” Cale nodded. “And if you feel like you can’t protect yourself, just fall back— there are lots of people around you who will,”

“Ah…”

“Lock,”

He straightened. “Yes?”

“Will you continue to wield the shield in the future?”

Lock didn’t hesitate this time either, nodding. “Yes,” he replied. “I will.”

Cale hummed at that, closing his eyes momentarily like he was thinking. “If you do,” he spoke. “Hold on to those ideals, but don’t forget what I told you. Will you promise to do that?”

“Yes, sir!”

“You don’t have to shout,” he sighed, leaning back. “Mn, this is from Raon and the kids— they’re inside so you should talk to them.”

A slice of crisp, warm apple pie wrapped up in cloth. Lock’s eyes sparkled. “Ah..” he unraveled it slowly. “Thank you, young master-nim,”

“Thank the kids— they were the ones who asked me to bring it to you,” Cale said. “They’re waiting inside so you should head in already. Have you eaten yet?”

“Oh, I did have something earlier—”

After some time, Lock headed inside the castle once more, carrying his silver shield that started to feel lighter.

—

Cale walked around the castle perimeter, turning the corner. There in a patch of grass outside near the side of the castle was the Dragon Half-blood, who was conversing with Mary. They had become good friends over the course of the time he’s been on their side. 

“Human!” a familiar voice called from behind him, and Cale turned around to see a certain little dragon flying his way. “There you are! What are you doing? Are you on a walk, weak human? You should have said so!”

“Mn… really? Sorry,” he smiled as he fixed the crooked white knitted hat placed on top of Raon’s head haphazardly. It had a small stain that Cale recognized from the chocolate chip cookies Sheritt kept in a jar on the table. 

“Oh, it’s Mary and the Dragon half-blood,” Raon pointed out with a curious tone. “Are you going to say hi to them too, human?”

“I am, just for a bit,” 

“Can I come with you too?”

“Of course you can,”

“Okay!”

The tall dark bone dragon turned once he sensed his presence, wings generating a gust of wind as he did and rustling the surrounding grass like a breeze. Though he was a bone dragon, the shadow in the hollow space in his eyes seemed as if it was lit up and brimming with more life than Cale’s ever seen from him.

“Oh,” he said in his dark monotonous voice that seemed similar to Mary’s, though it had more emotion. “Hello, young master-nim.” he looked over at Raon who was staring back at him with a small tilt of his head from behind Cale’s shoulder. “Ah, and Raon,”

He seemed a bit fidgety or nervous— he’s always been whenever he sees Cale. Actually, it was more like awkwardness. Were all dragons really like this whenever they talked to someone? 

Maary greeted them in a similar manner, and though she was as mechanic-like as usual, there was a small tug at the corner of her lips as she looked at both Cale and Raon. “Good afternoon, young master-nim, Raon-nim,”

Raon grinned brightly in response. “Hi Mary and Dragon half-blood!”

“Have you been well?” Cale asked, looking at them both. Mary gave a nod, and the Dragon half-blood hesitated a little.

“I’m fine,”

Cale stared at him for a little bit. His body was quite large— he could fly around and have his wings cover a chunk of the forest. He didn’t seem like he was in pain or all that uncomfortable as he awkwardly looked at Cale and Raon. 

Things have come to a peaceful lull since the war ended, and the Dragon half-blood had been stationed on standby at the castle since then, though Cale doubted they’d really be expecting much fighting any time soon, much less battles that may require his assistance.

In the time after the defeat of the White Thing and during visit to the castle, Raon, Sheritt, as well as the Dragon half-blood had slowly gotten more used to each other and gradually became friendlier. The Dragon half-blood was still nervous though he was trying his best to figure out what exactly he could do to repent, in his words, and Sheritt was still a bit tense around him, and Raon was still kind of awkward. But they were talking more often, and Raon in particular often striked up random conversations along with On and Hong. Sheritt and the dragon Half-blood also had plenty of time to get to know each other and figure out their feelings since they stayed in the same space.

It would take a while, but eventually they’d figure something out.

Raon flew past Cale and rummaged through his pocket dimension before pulling out two slices of apple pies. Though they weren’t necessarily warm, they were no longer soggy anymore. He flew over to Mary and the Dragon half-blood and held out both of the slices in his chubby paws. “Have you eaten yet? You should eat!” he said. “Take it!”

Mary nodded. “Thank you, Raon-nim,” 

The Dragon half-blood’s dark void-like eyes sparkled as his head bent down to peer at Raon’s apple pie. This was the first time he’d been offered an apple pie from Raon, though he’s brought various random trinkets to show off and occasionally let him keep before. He held out one of his bony paws and Raon placed it there.

Cale hummed. Could bone dragons technically even eat? He’s heard from Mary that he’d need dead mana sometimes, but that was all he remembered. The Dragon half-blood looked at the miniscule little pie in his paws for a while, like observing a precious, delicate art piece, before speaking. “...Thank you, Raon,”

“Dragon half-blood! What were you talking about with good girl Mary? Is it something interesting?” Raon questioned, flying up to his face. “Is it about magic? I’m curious!”

“Well…”

Cale sighed, crossing his arms. Well, they were getting along— he thought it was kind of like a stubborn baby brother and the guilty and awkward older brother trying to chat about something. Mary was also there though, so he wasn’t really worried.

This kid… he stared at the bone dragon in front of him who had the soul of a person. It must be at least a little uncomfortable in that body. Does he ever get cold? Or hot? Is it possible to even feel through those bones? Maybe at some point they could work on some way to get him at least into a more convenient body, if that’s even possible. At least one that could fit into buildings.

Haa… I guess I need to make sure he at least hears his name before I die.

Just calling him the ‘Dragon half-blood’ all the time was a mouthful, and also it was important that people had something to call themselves. Cale was planning on coming up with something for him a little later with more room to think, but it couldn’t be helped that he was going to die soon.

Staring at Raon, Mary, and the Dragon half-blood talk, Cale learned a strange fact— even bone dragons could smile. 

“Human, we should head back inside now,” Raon said. “Mom mentioned that she found a book that she and her friend wrote earlier! Dodori said it was really cool and good and they even started talking a lot! I’m curious,”

“Haa…” they were walking around the castle now while Raon rambled on about things he found interesting, like new discoveries he made about the castle and the cool board game he found in a secret chest on the second floor. Cale however was wondering about that book he was talking about. It’s a bit too early for Raon’s chunni phase now and he seriously needed to check what kind of influence Dodori was to his kids. Especially after hearing about all the exaggerated tales he talked about regarding Cale from one of his books.

“It was stories about mom’s adventures— they’re like ours, human! But less looting and more fighting,” Raon said. “Apparently there was this rea~lly big snake! And then mom used her shield and rammed right into its face! And broke all its teeth and fangs!”

“Is that really how that works?”

“Anything is possible if you’re a great and mighty dragon!”

“Of course, of course,” he nodded.

Raon smiled brightly, one again, the sun reflecting in a dazzling gleam within his dark blue eyes as he spoke in an animated tone during their walk. 

“Raon,”

“Yes?”

“Do you like your name?”

The name ‘Raon Miru’ meant Joyful Dragon. It was a name that Cale chose because he wished that Raon would grow up with enough joy to make up for the four years of loneliness and pain he endured tortured in the cave. 

“What a silly question!” he exclaimed. “Of course I do! It’s my name!”

But in the end, he ended up not only being such a cheerful little kid, but a source of joy for everyone around him. Including Cale.

Raon was certainly his own person, but he was also Cale’s Raon. Cale’s joy.

“Human, why are you smiling like that?” the little five year old questioned. Cale’s reddish-brown eyes glinted. “Ooh, did something good happen?”

“You could say that,” he shrugged, patting his head gently and caressing his oddly fluffy scales. “Though it’s a good thing that’s happened to me a long time ago,”

“Hm? A long time ago?” he seemed perplexed by the answer. “But how come you’re still happy about it?”

He smiled. “How could I not be?” he replied. “I think I’ll be happy about it all the time,”

Raon seemed even more confused. “Huh? What is it?”

“That’s a secret.”

“Whaaat?” he pouted. “Tell me!”

“Nope,”

Raon frowned and turned away in a huff as they reached the castle gates. “You’re so weird, weak human,” he sighed. “Really weird.”

Chapter Text

Cale wasn’t sure how exactly he got here— it felt almost ridiculous, actually. But the northeastern nobles— Eric, Amiru, Gilbert— and now also Taylor and Cage, decided to hold a gathering, specifically at the Ubarr territory. Normally Cale would have been a bit more reluctant about it or even maybe put it off for some other time, but at this point he may as well.

Really, it can’t get any more cliche than this—

The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks near the shore and the cold winter breeze that blew in through the window was a unique experience— and the repeated noise was almost soothing. He could fall asleep to it like white noise if the rest of the people at the gathering weren’t so busy chatting.

What am I, some sickly Victorian child on the brink of death? Cale winced. That may have been too oddly accurate for his liking. But really, it was incredibly cliche. It almost felt ominous. He wasn’t going to die just yet— he still had a whole month left to go. Cale tried not to think of that too much right now.

“And I can do… this!” Raon yelled, before a bottle of wine began to float, pouring its contents inside of Gilbert’s, Amiru’s, Taylor’s, Eric’s, and everyone’s glass one by one. Multiple gasps of amazement rang out as well as some claps.

“Wow…!” 

“That’s truly remarkable, Raon-nim!”

Eric clapped with an awed expression. “Thank you so much!”

“Heh. This much was nothing for the great and mighty Raon Miru!” the little dragon puffed up his chest and smiled somewhat smugly as they continued to applaud for him. Cale just sighed and patted his head to show his thanks, wiping crumbs from the corner of his mouth.

At the moment, Raon was busy showing off his magic to the rest of them. Cale had decided to reveal the little dragon’s presence to the three nobles, excluding Taylor and Cage who he’d already told, as he’d decided he could trust them with such a fact. Of course, one day when Raon was older he could choose to hide or flaunt his identity as a dragon as he wished, but since he was still a little kid learning about the world right now, Cale had been very careful about making sure the people who knew about Raon were trustable. He also told the three of them about On and Hong as well. 

He recalled the way that went, approximately half an hour ago.

[In the blink of an eye, On and Hong leapt out of Cale’s arms and turned from a pair of cute cats into two kids. They were both wearing the new clothes Cale had bought them about a few days prior during their trip shopping around the territory, and Cale made a satisfied note to himself that the style suited them both. Not a second after, Raon followed suit, switching off his invisibility and flying near Cale’s shoulder.

Eric’s teacup fell to the ground, and the three were gaping so widely you could fit an entire slice of apple pie inside. Taylor and Cage, who were sitting beside them, just sipped their glasses of Henituse wine while looking away.

“In order from oldest to youngest, this is On, Hong, and Raon. On and Hong are 12 and 9-year-old fog cat tribe members, and Raon is a 6-year-old dragon,” Cale explained in the most straightforward and simple way he could manage. “Ah, and I’m their guardian. They travel with me and are quite remarkable children.”

“...”

“Hello, weak humans! I am the great and mighty Raon Miru, and I am 6-years old!”

“Hi! I’m Hong, nice to meet you— though we’ve already met before~”

“I’m On, it’s nice to finally talk to you~”

The three of them stared in total frozen shock for exactly 8 solid seconds. Meanwhile, Taylor and Cage were watching with strange expressions while they swirled their glasses, almost as if attempting to hold back laughter. Finally, Eric put his teacup down, of which its contents had been spilled everywhere, and stood up abruptly.

“You had kids?!”

It took a second for Cale to process. “Hu—”

“All this time, you’ve been taking care of these kids for— for how long, exactly…? And while commanding a war…!? Multiple wars!?” This was the most stunned Cale had personally ever seen the usually composed Gilbert. 

“Wait—”

“You had these adorable kids with you all this time…” Amiru trailed off in a tone of, strangely, disappointment in Cale, before all the three of them suddenly stood together and slammed the table.

“And you didn’t tell us!?”]

The end of the record was marked by the sound of laughter from Taylor and Cage behind them who were having a bit too much fun with the whole ordeal.

What followed those events was a wave of dozens of questions, both for Cale and the kids. Eric nearly shook him about just from how concerned and surprised he was about the revelation. Afterwards, they started basically pampering the kids while asking a bunch of questions like a group of doting aunts and uncles. Tea, cookies, a dozen deserts, some steak— anything and everything really. Taylor and Cage also joined with the pampering, as Taylor had brought books from his library that he thought the kids may like, as well as cakes from yet another bakery in their territory.

On was sitting comfortably on Amiru’s lap while reading a book she had been recommended by her, and seemed quite invested as she swiped from a pile of dried fruits on the table without looking up to snack on. She called Amiru ‘unnie’ now. Hong meanwhile seemed to be chatting up a storm about something with Raon, telling stories to the rest of the people at the table. 

“Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat? What other pastries do you like?” Eric asked.

“Oh, thank you— is it okay if I get more of these little cakes, hyung?” Hong asked politely.

“The petit fours? Of course,” Amiru smiled, calling over a maid and motioning for more.

“Is there anything else you want? This hyung can also bring you more sweets— you should try this one, it’s from a renowned bakery in the Chetter territory that Gilbert brought. One more can’t hurt, right?” Eric offered. They really were like a group of aunties fawning over their cute new niece and nephews. Choi Han, who was standing behind Cale, had a very rbight smile on his face as he watched the entire thing unfold.

Hong received the plate before smiling widely. “Wow, thank you so much hyung and noona! You’re the best!”

Eric and Amiru both looked as if they had physically melted on the spot. Eric, who even sounded like he was sniffling, reached out and caressed the top of Hong’s bed of bright red hair. “Yes, yes, this hyung and noona will do anything for you— just ask, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Ah…” Eric was smiling as he mumbled something to Hong that Cale didn’t really catch. Hong’s eyes widened as he heard what he said, before inching closer and whispering something with a curious look. On, who was reading, looked up with an expression of equal intrigue, and Amiru and Eric smiled as they began to talk about something.

Meanwhile, Raon was showing off more of his magic and rambling on about the various things he experienced and found interesting to Gilbert, Taylor, and Cage. 

“...And in the morning, we all had flowers stuck everywhere! The weak human is very lazy and wouldn’t get out of bed, so we had to pick the flowers in his hair off one by one since they got tangled in. There were petals all over the bed, and the weak human even almost fell back to the mattress while he was sitting up! Drooling, even!” Raon explained with enthusiasm, spinning around his glass of grape juice. He wanted to hold fancy glasses like the adults as well. 

“Oh? Is that so?” Taylor had a very intrigued expression as he listened. In fact, Cage and Gilbert both leaned in to listen while eating a few cookies to Raon’s ramblings, while Cale shrinked back a little in embarrassment as he heard Cage chuckle. Looking beside him, Choi Han was even trying to hold in his own laughter. You can count on a little 6-year-old to reveal basically everything about you in a single interaction with someone else.

“Uh-huh! And then he was so~ sleepy, that when he washed his face in the bathroom, he even fell asleep there!” Raon exclaimed. “This weak human can fall asleep anywhere! He falls asleep while reading books at the library, he falls asleep at the dining table, and at the terrace, and on the sofa, sometimes even outside near a tree!” 

“Hm, really?” Cage had a somewhat amused look on her face, but glanced at Cale with a strange expression for a moment. 

“Is there anything else he does?” Gilbert questioned, curious.

“Hm… Oh, the weak human loves to read! All the time!” He exclaimed, while feeding Choi Han a cookie. “He reads a lot of stories— there’s this big pile of books on the desk and next to the bed and they’re all really thick, but this weak human can finish it very quickly!”

Taylor hummed, before smiling. “I see that you’re quite an avid reader, young master-nim,”

“I guess?” he shrugged. “Mn… speaking of, I have a collection of ancient texts in my villa. There's a lot of them. Drop by with Miss Cage if you want to have a look,”

He blinked, eyes subtly lighting up with interest. “I see… would that be alright?”

Cale just sipped his wine. “Feel free,”

“Oh, and this weak human also likes to read stories out loud to me, hyung, and noona as well!” Raon added. “We’d read fairytales right before bed— hm, there was one about fairies, and a big bean stalk, and a dancer, and knights, and a ton more!”

“He reads stories for you?”

“That’s right!”

The four of them seemed surprised but also… endeared? Cale just looked away towards the window to avoid the conversation, hearing the sound of wine pouring over small chuckles.

—

“Young master Cale,” Cale turned around to see Cage greeting him as he walked down the hall. The kids were off exploring the estate under Choi Han's watch and the company of the Amiru, so he was on his own at the moment. There was a strangely serious expression on Cage’s face. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Hm? Alright,”

“It has something to do with… that guy,” she sighed as she gestured vaguely to the earrings she wore, which had the Church of the God of Death's emblem. Cale stilled. “I’ve been having strange and vague dreams and a bad feeling lately— it may not be anything but that damn God can be anything but direct sometimes,”

He replied calmly. “So… you suspect something is up?”

“Yes, something like that,” she shrugged, sounding exasperated at the thought. “The thing is, I keep hearing your name and vague visions of you in my dreams. It’s quite strange, so I decided I’d come and ask you at some point,” Cage spoke. “Has anything strange happened recently? Anything mysterious or out of place? A bad omen?”

Cale decided he might want to strangle that damn god the next time he tried to show up in his dreams. “No, nothing of the sort,”

“Are you sure?” She seemed reluctant. “You’ve been looking a bit pale, and also exhausted. I suppose that can be attributed to the war, but… I’m worried you might have been cursed, or something,”

Cursed was an understatement. “I’m fine. Just tired sometimes is all,”

“...If that’s really true, then I guess that’s the case,” she sighed. “Please take care of yourself then, young master-nim,”

Though Cage was quite reluctant about his response, she still left nonetheless, but with an expression of doubt and worry subtly casting over her features. At this point, that God of Death might try to pull some stunt to get people to question him more. Did Cale have to threaten him into keeping quiet? He grumbled a bit to himself as his steps carried him down the hall.

Cale still wasn’t sure yet whether he wanted to tell them or not.

Telling them may be the right thing to do, rather than letting his people suddenly be confronted by his death randomly, but… it felt pointless, in some way. If they knew, they’d certainly try to look for some curse or solution, even if Cale or the God of Death told them it was impossible.

They would keep working and working tirelessly, searching, before having to face the fact that it was inevitable and watch him die. 

Cale didn’t want their last memories of him to be a sense of failure.

He wanted no regrets for himself or them. That was why he was trying to make the most of his time to do all the things he and the kids and everyone wanted to do.

He didn’t want them to waste their time. That was why he didn’t want to tell them about anything until the end. At least, that’s what he planned to do, unless the God of Death started intervening in some way.

“Cale?”

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Eric’s voice. “Hyung-nim,”

“Are you headed somewhere?”

“Nowhere in particular,” he replied. “Just walking, looking around. I might head back to the guest room later,”

“Right,” he smiled, steps matching Cale’s relatively slow pace. “Those children with you, they’re very nice,”

“Aren’t they?” Eric’s eyes widened slightly when he looked at Cale’s fond expression. “They’re really brilliant, and they’re very quick on the uptake on things. Aside from being smart, I think they’re also quite artistic and creative sometimes. They like to draw pictures in their free time and look at artbooks sent from my mother,”

Eric blinked once or twice, before chuckling beside Cale while he tilted his head. “You’re showing off, I see,” he smiled while looking at Cale for a while in a complicated way. “You’ve changed a lot over the course of these years, but this hyung is really relieved, you know,” Cale’s breath hitched slightly. “You look so happy now, and there’s a lot of people who care about you,”

Eric really did seem relieved, but there was a tinge of sadness in his voice. Cale wondered if he felt like he was insufficient, or something. He shouldn’t feel that way— Eric, Gilbert, and Amiru were one of Cale’s first pillars of support, and the original Cale’s support too. 

If that Kim Roksoo was here, he would have wanted to tell him something. He didn’t know what he would have wanted to say, so Cale just spoke honestly.

“I was happy with you too, hyung-nim,” Eric was pleasant to be around, and he was sure the present Kim Roksoo felt the same way. “And you cared about me too, didn’t you?” he paused. “Thank you,”

When he heard those words, Eric’s pupils shook as he stopped. He stared at Cale for a while, as if in disbelief. “...Is that so?” he spoke, before smiling at Cale like he was about to cry. “I’m really glad to hear that, Cale,”

He stared at that expression for a while and wondered how the original Cale would have reacted to seeing it. That punk knew that there were people who really cared about him, right?

“I know you’re a remarkable hero now, but you can always come to me if there’s anything you need,” Eric said. “Just live well like you’re doing now and don’t worry about anything. If anyone’s giving you trouble, please rely on me as well,”

“...Okay,” 

Eric was very reliable. And so were the rest of the northeastern nobles at the gathering that day. That was why Cale reached out to them and introduced them to the kids— he wanted to make sure they had someone dependable they could rely on when they were outside the territory and roaming around the kingdom once he was gone, too.

—

“Woah…!” Raon gaspd.

“It’s the sea!” Hong ran ahead as they walked at a leisure pace near the shore, just enough to feel the soft wet sand under his shoes. It definitely wasn’t the first time the kids went out to sea, but they always marveled at the sight of it in front of them. Well, Cale could sort of understand— the sea was very vast, after all. He’s been near beaches on patrols and missions so it wasn’t all that remarkable to him anymore, but Cale didn’t dislike it. Which was exactly why they went on this walk in the first place.

“Look,” On picked up something small, covered in sand, and dipped in some seawater to clean it. She held it out for Cale, Hong, Raon, as well as Choi Han to see. “It’s a seashell,”

“Aren’t shells supposed to look like, mn, like this?” Hong asked, drawing something in the wet sand. It was a doodle of the usual shape of seashells you’d see in books, or maybe in stores. 

“Most shells you’ll find on shore are going to look like this,” Cale said, observing the one On had found. “Though, I guess maybe if you look a bit harder…”

“I found something!” Raon yelled, rushing over, presenting them with yet another seashell or two in his pudgy paws. “I picked out the prettiest ones, here!” 

“Ooh!”

“Mn, those are very nice finds, Raon,” Choi Han smiled. 

Raon had brought one with more prominent ridges, as well as nice pink-ish coloring with white, and another that had the shape of a conch.

“Hans told me once that if you put a shell like this up against your ear, you’ll hear the sound of the ocean in it,” Hong explained with sparkling eyes as he held the conch in his hands. 

“Uh… well…” Choi Han sounded unsure as he gave the idea some thought. 

“Really? Is that true, human!?” Raon yelled in astonishment. “I wanna try!”

“Okay, maybe hold off on that for a second,” Cale took the conch out of Hong’s hands and observed it, peeking inside.

“But why, weak human?!”

“Did Hans lie again?” On sounded disappointed as she pouted down at the conch, and Cale just chuckled. 

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “I’ve never really tried it myself,”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I’m checking for crabs,”

On blinked, tilting her head in confusion. “Crabs?”

“There are crabs in these seashells!?”

“Of course,” he nodded. 

“Oh, are you talking about hermit crabs, Cale-nim?” Choi Han asked. When the children looked up at Choi Han in more confusion, urging him to explain, he simply smiled and knelt down with them. “There’s a type of crab called hermit crabs that hide in seashells like these. When they outgrow a shell or need a new one, they’ll look for another shell to replace their old one.”

“If you put one against your ear without realizing what’s in it, you’ll get pinched,” 

Raon gasped. “Pinched!?”

“Does it hurt?” Hong asked.

Cale hummed before shrugging. “I’d say so,”

“Like a lot?”

“Maybe,” 

“Is there a crab in there, weak human!?” Raon asked, sounding panicked by the idea of suddenly being attacked by one. “If you get pinched and get hurt, this great and mighty Raon Miru will hurl that shell back into the sea!”

What an unfortunate little hermit crab. Cale thought. How unlucky do you have to be in your life to be born as such a tiny crab and still somehow manage to get smited by a six-year-old dragon on a seaside trip? 

“Don’t worry, there aren't any crabs in here,”

“Are you sure?”

“Sure. Ask Choi Han to check,” the children all looked at Choi Han, and he leaned closer to Cale to get a closer look.

“Mn, I don’t see any hermit crabs here,”

“None at all?”

“Nope. Empty.”

“Hm… Okay then,” On nodded, taking the seashell back. Raon and Hong watched with a sense of worry and anticipation as she pressed it against her ear. They were totally silent for a few seconds, before her eyes widened. “Oh…”

“Did you hear something, noona?”

“Is it really the sound of the ocean!? Can you hear it!?”

“Um…” she tilted her head slightly, listening in closer, before nodding slowly. “Mn, I think I do,” she paused. “! Yeah, I think I hear it!”

“Ooh, I wanna hear it too!”

“I wanna have a go!”

The children passed it around, listening in one by one. Judging by their reactions, they probably heard something. Eventually, the conch made its way to Cale. Raon pressed it near his ear for him, and Cale closed his eyes, listening.

“Do you hear it?”

The sound of something echoing, kind of like white noise. It was smooth— a lot like ocean waves. Huh. So maybe it was true. That was one more thing he learned.

Cale nodded. “I think I do,”

“See! It really is true!”

“I wonder how the sound of an ocean could fit inside of a small little shell like this?”

“Now it’s Choi Han’s turn!”

Choi Han simply obliged, leaning down to let the kids put in near his ear for him. A few seconds passed, before his eyes widened in a sense of wonder. “I… hear it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s— yeah, I hear it!” He was smiling in a sort of amazed way. “It’s kind of echoing,”

“Right!?”

“Hey look, I found another shell!”

Eventually, the kids just got to collecting pretty shells they found down the path as they continued along the shore, plucking them out half-buried within the wet sand. They came in all sorts of shapes, and they stored them in the pouches they carried with them. They’d show off a few they found particularly cool to Choi Han and Cale, and make up little stories of what they thought the crab that lived inside the shells looked like. 

“This shell looks fancy,” On had remarked. “It’s got this gold-ish coloring, and some red streaks and a nice pattern— I wonder why the crab who lived in here decided to leave it?”

“Wow, this shell looks kinda broken!” Hong had pointed out, showing off the little cracks along the shell. “Do you think maybe the crab that lived in here got in a fight? Or attacked? That’s kinda sad.”

“Ooh, this one’s all swirly, weak human!” Raon explained, flying up in front of Cale to put it right in front of his face, and letting Choi Han touch it. “I know what this looks like— it’s like a snail! A snail’s shell— I’ve seen one outside with good girl Mary once!”

“Mn, very observant,”

“Are there also snails in the sea?”

“There are,”

“Really?” Raon gasped. “I’ll go look for one, then, human!”

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Cale replied. “Sea snails are usually poisonous, you know.”

“Poisonous!?”

“Mhm.” he nodded. “Deadly, even,”

“You could die…?” On sounded somewhat mortified by the idea.

On the other hand, Hong’s eyes were sparkling. “Can I eat one?”

Cale had to stop walking and Choi Han paused. “Wait, what—”

“I read in a book once that some people eat snails— I’m sure adding a bit of seasoning, and cooking it could…”

“No,” Cale’s reply was absolute.

“But I’ll be fine! You know I like eating poison!”

“But I’m not gonna let you eat sea snails.”

“It’ll be fine if we cook it!”

“Denied,”

Hong proceeded to sulk and pout for a while afterwards while Choi Han, On, and Raon tried to console him somehow, as confused as they were. Cale watched from behind them, as his own steps were a few paces slower.

The warm hues of sunlight painted their figures in an overlay of orange as they walked. He could make out a few words from their conversation. Hong was still complaining about wanting to eat sea snails, Raon picked up more sea shells to cheer him up with, On gave him a little lecture, and Choi Han tried to cheer him up with the promise of more pastries later on. He smiled to himself.

Drawing his attention slightly towards the sun slowly dipping below the horizon, he wondered if a view like this had always been so pretty, or if he just noticed now.

Cale stopped, watching as the sun slowly set, bit by bit, as if it was sinking into the sea, feeling the wind blow past his hair, treading between the strands like a gentle comb and blowing his bangs to the side of his face. 

“Cale-nim?” He’d slipped his shoes off and rolled up his pants a little bit, and he left his jacket on in the sand.

Slowly, step by step, he walked down the shore. The sensation of sand on his feet was a bit annoying, but the sea water washed it away with every wave. It was strange— the water was actually a little warmer than the cold air. He stared down at his feet, watching the waves wash up against his leg before being pulled back. He was standing still, but Cale could feel as if the sand was pulling him into the ocean with each wave— he’d always wondered about that. 

He started taking a few steps, walking around, and giving little kicks with his feet, letting the water splash around as he tried to wash away the sticky sand and miniscule pebbles with the help of the waves.

“...Cale-nim?”

Choi Han felt stunned. No, something more akin to awe. The kids also stared, the light of the slowly approaching dusk lighting up their eyes as they watched Cale kick the water every now and then.

It was a remarkably strange sight.

Cale was smiling, a little. He looked like he was having fun. There was a glint to his reddish-brown eyes. 

“Human, what are you doing?”

“I felt like taking a small dip in the water,” he replied. 

Hong’s eyes sparkled up at him. “Is that fun?”

Cale just shrugged. “Maybe,” 

With little hesitation, Hong followed suit, slipping his shoes and socks off, leaving them discarded in the sand as he ran towards the shore where Cale was. He stumbled a little bit, due to the softness of the sand. Then he got to kicking his feet like Cale too.

“Youngest, Noona, come on! It’s fun!”

“Isn’t it cold?” On asked, but she was already giggling to herself while taking off her shoes.

“It’s kind of warm, actually— mn, lukewarm!” Hong grinned, before nearly stumbling due to a wave. “Ack—! The water’s so salty, though!”

Raon lit up with curiosity, running towards the water at lightning speed. “Really!?” hovering above the water, slowly but surely he reached in to dip his paws in and take a handful of water, before taking a curious sip. “Blegh—!” he frowned. “It’s so salty!”

“Don’t drink seawater, it isn't good for you— it’ll only make you thirsty,” Cale chided, before getting splashed by a mischievous On and Hong. The two giggled at him, and he kicked his legs a bit in retaliation, lightly splashing them back.

It was a very warm view. Though Choi Han felt himself frozen in place just watching.

Cale looked over at him, with an expression of ease. “The water’s nice, Choi Han,”

His eyes sparkled. “...Alright.”

The water really was kind of lukewarm.

—

“Weak human,”

“Hm?”

“Is there a sea version of everything?”

Cale was now carrying Raon back with him, walking back along the shore towards the Ubarr estate. “What do you mean?”

“Well, there are sea-snails, and sea-shells, and sea-everything, right?” he asked.

“Try naming a few,”

“Hm… are there sea lions?”

“Mhm,”

“What about sea dogs?”

“I think so,”

Hong, back in his cat form, tiredly piped in from Cale’s shoulder where he was perched on. “Sea cats?”

“Well, there’s catfish,”

“What about other stuff? Like a bed, maybe?” On asked as she strolled leisurely, before yawning. They were all perfectly dry thanks to Raon’s magic.

“Seabeds are a thing,” Choi Han replied.

“Oh, then what about stars?”

“Sea stars, or starfish, also exist,”

“Mn… swords?”

“Swordfish,”

“Grass?”

“There’s seaweed,”

“Uhhh, horses?”

“Seahorses,”

Raon gasped mid-yawn. “And a dragon!?”

“Mn, well…” 

“I think there was a species of seahorse called a leaf-dragon or something of the sort?” Choi Han suggested.

“Huh? But why would a sea-horse be called a dragon?”

“I saw it in a textbook once— they’re really strange-looking, but also interesting,” Choi Han smiled. “I think they really did look like small dragon. It was really cool,”

On’s eyes sparkled. “Really? Why was it called a leaf-dragon though?”

“Because it looked like leaves were sprouting out of it all over,” Choi Han explained. “I think it was… I can’t remember if it was green? Yellow? Might’ve even been a bit reddish…”

“Woah…”

“Huh… What about, hm, pudding?”

“Well, there’s jellyfish,”

“Can you eat them?”

“Nope. Poisonous,” Hong perked up a bit when he heard that. “and they also have stingers, which hurt.”

“What about… clowns?”

“Clownfish,” Choi Han smiled.

“Huh? Really?”

“There’s fish that look like clowns at carnivals!?”

“Mn…” Cale shrugged. “They’re orange, with some white stripes and some black,”

“Are they pretty?”

“I think so?”

The kids giggled at the thought, and Cale thought they would’ve loved ‘Finding Nemo’. Eventually, they drifted back into silence, save for the sound of the waves guided by the wind, crashing into the ocean and washing up shells and seaweed on shore.

“You know, Cale-nya,” Hong yawned. “Eric-hyung said that I reminded him a lot of you when you were younger,”

Cale’s eyes widened slightly. “...Really?”

“Uh-huh,” he nodded, before smiling. “He said I even looked like you,”

“Hm…” Cale thought for a second about how Hong’s middle-part had been brushed to part at the side like how his own bangs looked. He resembled the 18-year-old Cale Henituse quite a bit as a result. 

“He told a lot of stories about you when you were younger,” On had a mischievous expression. “He told us about how you used to hold his hand wherever you went and pick flowers for him,”

“Really?’

“Yup,” Hong nodded. “And he even talked about how you used to look su~per cute when you were grinning and smiling up at him about stuff like sweets and pastries, and how you used to get frosting on the side of your face when you ate that he’d have to wipe off,”

“He also said you liked to ask him to read stories to you,” On mentioned. “He said he still had that book you liked in his personal library,”

“Wow, you really like reading, human!” Raon pointed out.

“Amiru-unnie also mentioned how Eric-hyung would tell all kinds of stories about you when you were younger to Amiru–unnie and Gilbert-hyung.” On added. 

“Huh…” he remarked, feeling strange. When entering this world, he never received any of the original Cale’s memories— all he knew about him were the small passages written in the pages of Birth Of A Hero and his personal impression of the trash noble. Even so, his life was definitely far more than what the pages said, and so was the life of every other person in this world.

“But you know,” Hong spoke. “He also said you’d worry him a lot.”

“Gilbert-hyung and Amiru-unnie feel the same way too,” On added.

“Eric-hyung said that you were always constantly changing so suddenly ever since you were little,” Hong explained. “And that he wondered if something was troubling you even if you never said a thing,”

“...” The original Cale Henituse was trash. Or at least, he acted like trash for his family’s sake. Since he was eight. Hong was nine today, and he’d be ten next year, which was just a few days away. Thinking about the child that resembled the young Cale Henituse a lot, he couldn’t imagine him feeling the need to act in a way that would distance himself from the people he loved, suffering a burden he shouldn’t for their sake. 

It must’ve been hard for the original Cale and present Kim Roksoo, and it must’ve been hard for the people that cared about him.

“I think,” On spoke. “That he would’ve wanted you to know that no matter what happens, he’ll always support you— because he’s always seemed so happy when he talks about being your hyung.”

“...”

Eric had known Cale Henituse since he was young, before he became trash, maybe even when Jour Thames was still alive. Throughout the years, Cale had found many letters from Eric. Some opened, some unopened, some dating years back. They were left in a corner somewhere in his room at the estate, but even so they were never thrown away or burnt. Just sitting somewhere, as if waiting to be read someday. Even in the present, he, as well as Amiru and Gilbert, and Taylor, still pen him letters— of concern, of well-wishes, news— for him. 

Cale knew that the letters written to him by Eric were for the stubborn, but endearing little young master he was fond of.

He felt as if he needed to apologize for replacing that child who used to hold his hand wherever he went. And to tell him that the child, who grew up, was living well somewhere else holding another child’s hand.

“Cale?”

“...On,” he said, a bit hesitant. “Hong,”

The two perked up at the sudden call. Raon had already fallen asleep sometime during their walk carried by Cale. Choi Han, who had stopped and turned back to face him, seemed confused.

“What is it?” Hong asked from his spot on Cale’s shoulder.

“...I’m a transmigrator.”

Surely, one day he’d let everyone know. 

Their eyes widened. “I’m not the original Cale Henituse. I swapped bodies with him, so while I’m here, the original Cale Henituse is in my body in another world,”

But at least, before anyone else knew— he wanted all three of his kids to know first.

“My name before coming here was Kim Roksoo. My original world is the same as Choi Han’s hometown. Choi Han also found out about it just a few months ago.”

He felt a bit tense but tried not to let it show on his face. They might hate him. Or not see him the same way again. Maybe as a thief or someone they couldn’t trust.

“It was a result of a deal that was made with the God of Death.”

But they deserved to know too, since they’ve been with him for such a long time.

“...”

On and Hong stopped and stared at him for a long time, mouth slightly parted in a near gape. It was all very sudden. Choi han who was beside them seemed equally stunned by the seemingly spontaneous revelation.

On stared at him intently, assessing and processing what she had heard. They didn’t seem hostile, but rather just shocked and unsure of him. He’d expected this much. “You…” she paused, before shaking her head. “No, of course, you can’t be joking about something so outlandish…” she pressed her lips together and sighed, hesitating. “I.. um…”

“...Does youngest know?” Hong asked.

“Raon, Choi Han, and crown prince Alberu are the only ones who do other than you two,” he paused, thinking. “...I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”

“...”

“If you’re… no, you’re definitely serious, so…” On mumbled “If all this is true, then…” the young girl peered into Cale intently with her gold eyes. “When did it happen? The… um, soul swap thing.”

Cale thought about it for a moment. “Two years ago,” he spoke. “March 29th,”

On and Hong fell silent, as if contemplating intently. Hong stared at his paws like he had just been counting on them before speaking up. 

“So then that means the person who fed us that day was you, right?”

Cale took a second to process. “...Huh?”

“That person who went up that man-eating tree and bribed us with bread every day to keep quiet,” On spoke. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

“I… yes, that was me,”

“And the person who fed us under that bridge, that was also you, right?” Hong added.

“And so was the person who decided to let us stay at the estate?”

“The same person who fed us so much we couldn't even eat anymore? The one who fed us cakes, and different types of meat, cookies, bread, and greens—”

“Also the person who told us to learn to read? And also taught us a bit?” On spoke, voice firm and unwavering. “And you were the one who would keep buying us clothes and stuff even when we told you we didn’t need anymore?”

“And the one who tucks us in at night and reads stories? The one who has a nice singing voice?”

“The one who keeps being reckless even when we tell you to care more about yourself?”

“The one who buys us sherbert?”

“The one who got mad at our tribe on our behalf?”

“The one who’s always reassuring us?”

“And the one that we have to drag out of bed? The one who sleeps in every morning like a rock? The one who taught us how to scam people?” On’s firm expression softened into a smile. 

“The person who saved us and cared about us, that was you, right?”

“...” Cale stood, still as if he was frozen in place with each added sentence the kids spoke. They weren’t as tense now, in fact, it seemed like he had just mentioned something normal to them. Both On and Hong were smiling up at him.

“You’re the only Cale we know,” 

“We did hear rumours about you throwing battles and being trash a long time ago, but it wasn’t like you, or I guess the ‘original’ Cale, ever hurt us either,” Hong shrugged.

“I guess it makes more sense why you didn’t match the rumours that were spreading around back then…” 

“So you’re from Choi Han’s world? That makes so much more sense now! I hear you talking to him in this language I’ve never heard of sometimes, and you know how to cook dishes from his world really well, too,”

“What was your life like before coming here? Have you ever talked to the person you had a soul swap with?”

“Tell us all about the deal— did that stupid God force you into it?” Hong frowned, and Cale only continued to stand, stunned and flabbergasted, unable to answer. He looked at Choi Han, who was laughing slightly with a relieved expression on his face. He smiled at Cale like he was glad for him.

“You should tell us how to speak that language from your world— it sounds interesting—”

“Wait,” Cale finally spoke. “This is… Are you both really okay with this?” There was a sense of nervousness in his voice. “You should think about it more. I’m not— I’m not really Cale Henituse, you know? I’m…”

He wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he was expecting. Cale was only planning on telling them the truth and maybe expecting and preparing for whatever reaction would come as a result, but he wasn’t— aren’t they angrier? Shouldn't they be a bit scared? Maybe upset? A bit of hatred?

“Well, we can call you your old name if you want to— what was it? Kim… Rock? Rock sew?”

“Kim Roksoo,” Choi Han answered.

“No, no, I mean, no— I’ve accepted the way I am now. I’m Cale… now,” But just because I’ve come to terms with it doesn’t mean everyone else will. “It’s just… shouldn't you be…”

“Mad?” On tilted her head. “Well, we did wish you told us a bit sooner, but I think it’s okay.”

Hong smiled. “We told you already— you’re the only Cale we know. Do we need to tell you a hundred more stuff you did?”

“I…” he hesitated. He thought for a long while before finally sighing. “...You don’t have to tell me anything else,”

“Alright,” On nodded. “But when we get back, you have to tell us everything, okay?”

“You too Choi Han,” Hong pointed at him. “You also knew, and you’re both from the same world, so you have to tell us all about it, alright?”

“Um…”

“This is to make up for keeping it secret for so long,”

“...Alright.”

Cale didn’t realize it, but he had been smiling to himself as he walked back to Amiru’s estate.

Chapter Text

The small outing which Cale had initially planned to just be him, the kids, and maybe Choi Han, had escalated somehow and now almost everyone was going. The new year was approaching in a week’s time, and so festivals, held in honor of greeting both the new year and the era of peace after the war, began to start everywhere in the continent. The children had been wanting to go ever since they heard of it, and wouldn’t stop talking his ear off about it. 

There was one happening both in the Henituse territory, as well as in Huiss. They’d make a few stops around the territory and look around, and then head for the capital with teleportation magic. A remarkable feat of transporting so many people was only possible with the power of great and mighty mages.

Of course, one doesn’t go out willy-nilly just like that for outings when they were famous war heroes, so Eruhaben, Rosalyn, Glenn and Raon helped them disguise themselves. They managed to have a bit of fun with it.

“Choi Han, did you ever dye your hair in high school?”

“Hm? Ah, no— I think I had a friend who did, but I never got around to try it myself. It was technically against the rules at school anyway.” he replied sheepishly.

So he was the good kid type who followed the rules, huh? “Mn, well, I’ve never tried it either since I thought it was bothersome and messy to have to get the dye in there, and the color would dull anyways so why bother?” Cale said, before smirking. “Magic sure is the best, hm?”

“Human, human, what color do you want your hair to be?” Raon asked with stars practically gleaming in his eyes. Cale gave it some thought while listening to the others.

“Haha! Me and Glenn swapped colors!”

“Seeing you with purple hair is… weird.” Glenn remarked while staring at Bud, before looking at himself in the mirror and his newfound blue hair. “This feels even more wrong though. Can stupidity spread through hair color?”

“Hey!”

“I’ve always wanted to try black,” Hannah said, looking at herself through the hand mirror, purple eyes gleaming with her new jet-black hair in a ponytail. “Hm, you actually look really cool too, oppa,” she remarked. “You could look more intimidating if you wanted to but you still look so nice. Try glaring at me.”

“Huh—? Uh, like this?”

“Hm, that’s more like a pout. Try scarier. Uh, like, I don’t know, someone just talked badly about me?”

“What? Who would do that!?”

“Mn, okay, we’re getting there.”

Rosalyn turned to look to her side. “What will your alias be, Eruhaben-nim?”

“Hm. Well, I suppose I’ll go with Haben.” It didn’t matter what color his hair was, even if it was mud brown, the ancient dragon still looked as if he was straight out of a painter's magnum opus. He brushed it back and tied it with one of Cale’s black ribbons. “It’s simple enough, and I’ve gone with it before.”

“Hm. I see…” Rosalyn nodded, snapping her fingers and going through different hair and eye colors, trying to see if she could find anything that looked particularly interesting. “Then I suppose I’ll be… Rose,” This was actually quite fun. 

“Hm… Oh! How about purple?” Hong suggested.

“But Bud already has purple hair,” On said.

“Yes, the silly Bud already has purple hair, but how about purple eyes instead?”

“Ooh, good idea, youngest!”

“And for his hair, what will suit purple…?” On contemplated.

Lock scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Uh, guys, it’s alright, you don’t have to think about it too hard—”

“Oh! How about red?”

“Ooh, okay! He can have red hair, and purple eyes?”

“Sounds good!”

“What do you think, brave Lock?”

“Ah… well…” he sighed but laughed. “Sure.”

“Okay and… Ta-da!”

In a small burst of sparkles, Lock’s hair was quickly recolored to a bright red, and his eyes a shade of light purple. The boy stared into the mirror handed to him by Raon with a contemplative look, but ultimately just smiled. “It’s great, thanks,”

Observing the kids, On and Hong decided to join the undercover fun and were polymorphed. On was wearing that dress she liked and tied her hair into a ponytail, bright golden eyes exchanged for a shade of turquoise, and her silver hair changed to black.

Hong had adapted a matching shade of black, as well as sky-blue bright brimming eyes. Next to Raon, they looked like they were matching with him, black hair, cool-toned eye colors and all. It was cute.

Looking in a different direction, Mary had a bed of bright blonde hair and gold eyes. Her expression was still neutral and mechanic-like, but she held up her hand and pointed at herself before speaking to Cale. “Young master-nim, I am in disguise. Am I unrecognizable?”

“Mn…” It’s still easy to tell that you’re probably a necromancer thanks to the dead mana scars. He sighed. Of course, he wasn’t going to ask Mary, and certainly not Hannah, to really cover them up. It wasn’t something either of them disliked about themselves. “...Sure.” Maybe a different color cloak?

She nodded and clutched her fist in front of her as if she had won something. Then she turned around and called out to Hannah. “Miss Hannah, it worked,”

Hannah turned before smiling at her. “See? Told you it would,” thinking about it now, they must’ve swapped hair and eye colors. 

Ron and Beacrox opted for a more basic and subtle hair color, Ron with brown and Beacrox a slightly more beige shade. Cale figured he should probably go for a similar choice.

“So? What color did you want, human?” Raon asked again, flying up to him with a cookie in his mouth. Seems like no matter the occasion, he’s always stocked up on snacks in his pocket dimension.

“Hm, I haven’t really decided yet,” he shrugged. “Brown, I guess?”

“But that’s so boring!” Hong frowned.

“How about you do something more fun~?” On suggested. “Everyone else is choosing cooler colors,”

On’s testament reminded Cale of the fact that they were supposed to stay under the radar and that their flashy hair colors could definitely stand out. Well, it was too late for that now. “Ron and Beacrox aren’t,”

“But that’s ‘cause they’re assassins,”

“Yeah! You should choose a good color, human!” Raon smiled up at him. 

“A better color, huh?” he sighed before shrugging again. “How about you choose for me?”

“Really?”

“Okay then! We’ll choose for you,” Hong grinned.

“Oh, close your eyes human! And Choi Han, have you chosen a color?”

He laughed sheepishly. “I haven’t…”

“Then you should close your eyes too!”

“Close your eyes~”

Choi Han and Cale looked at each other helplessly before doing so, standing as they waited for the kids to do something. He could hear the sound of them muttering and mumbling to themselves in a sort of excited manner, and a few giggles. Then he felt the cool blow of magic sweep up his hair before settling.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now!”

“...” Cale stared at the mirror, perplexed.

“Ta-da! It’s cookie prince and the human!”

Indeed, Cale was now blonde, with blue eyes, and Choi Han had a bed of red hair that was a similar shade to his before it was changed and slightly brighter eyes. He seemed quite amazed by his new look.

“Cale-nim…” he whispered under his breath. 

“It matched your scarf, too!” Hong added.

Oh Alberu would not be expecting this. It would be incredibly funny.

—

“Hm, so if we’re going in disguise…” On contemplated aloud. “That means we need a fake name, right?”

“Oh! An alias!” Hong added while climbing up Cale’s shoulder.

“Human, human, what’s your alias?” Raon asked excitedly. Cale only hummed for a moment as he thought about it.

“Bob,”

Half the room turned to him. Bud seemed perplexed. “Wait, what?”

Cale tilted his head. “Is something wrong?”

He only replied with a confused expression as he adjusted his cloak. “My fake name was going to be Bob though?”

Choi Han, who was beside Cale, also scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I… was also going to be Bob…”

Glenn blinked. “Wait, you too?”

“Oh… I was also going to be Bob…” Jack admitted.

“Huh!? But I was going to be Bob!” Hong added.

Mary chimed in at that moment in her mechanical voice. “I too was going to be Bob,” 

Hannah stared at both her brother and her friend in a perplexed manner, before sighing and muttering while looking away. “I was… also…”

Eruhaben seemed infinitely baffled by the whole ordeal. “So, you mean to tell me that… almost everyone in this room decided to all coincidentally choose the same alias? Bob?”

Half the room went silent at that.

“Oho,” Ron seemed fascinated more than anything. 

Raon gasped. “Lemonade Gramps, did you choose to be Bob too!?” 

“Oh, no, no,” Ron smiled benignly. “I’ve chosen a different alias— it is Robert,”

Isn’t that also still a variation of Bob anyway? Cale thought to himself.

“And what about uncle Beacrox?” Hong questioned curiously.

“...Ben.” he replied. Choi Han snickered from behind him and immediately got the death glare from him. Cale clicked his tongue as he began to see a pattern.

“Oh! What about the smart Rosalyn?”

“And Grandpa Eru?” On asked.

Eruhaben swept his hair back. “I am Haben, little kid,”

“And I’m Rose,” Roslayn smiled.

“Oh!” Raon’s eyes sparkled as he came to a sort of conclusion. “So to come up with an alias, you can also just shorten your name?”

“...Yes?”

“I see! Then, this great and mighty Raon Miru will choose the perfect alias!” he beamed, before puffing his chest up and flapping his wings about as he flew higher. “For today, I shall be the great and mighty dragon, Ra Mir!”

The room was silent for a bit. Bud almost laughed a little but got smacked by Glenn before he could spit out a word. Ron just nodded while smiling benignly while Eruhaben looked amused, but also unsure of what to tell Raon. Rosalyn brought both of her hands to cover her mouth as if she had just witnessed the cutest thing in the universe, and she was probably right.

Meanwhile, Cale was baffled. Ra? Like the Egyptian sun god? Raon’s eyes sparkled up at him, somewhat expectant as if he was waiting for Cale to say something or praise him. He’d rather he not be associated with any god at all because that damn Sun God was a bastard, but just sighed and patted his head. “Sure, Ra it is,”

He also knew that the little 5-year old dragon wouldn’t need an alias since he’ll be going invisible anyway, but just decided to go along with it anyway since he seemed so excited.

“Oh, so then if we shorten it… I’ll be Ho?” Hong questioned.

“And I’ll be…” On grimaced. “O?”

Cale clicked his tongue before wincing awkwardly. “Uh…” he hesitated. “… okay, maybe something else?” 

“Hm… oh! I think I know which fake name I’ll go with, then,” On nodded with certainty. “I’ll be Kira,” 

“Hm? Like that main character from the novel you liked?” Cale asked.

On’s eyes sparkled as she nodded with enthusiasm after Cale caught the reference. “Yup.”

Hm… On really does like that book, Cale thought to himself. Was there such a thing as merch here? Like, hm… teacups? Maybe a meet and greet with the author? Cale wasn’t exactly sure. 

“Oh, oh! Then I’m… hm…” Hong hesitated.

“Need more time to think?”

“Actually, I think we all do,” Glenn sighed.

And so, after that, they spent about 5 minutes rethinking their aliases on their own, before gathering back together to reconfirm with everyone. Cale decided they could just take turns going around the room. They also agreed to let Cale have the name Bob because he brought it up first.

“Mn, my alias will be Rob,” Choi Han decided.

“Oh, mine is… Robby,”

“What!?” Bud looked at Glenn in bafflement. “I was going to be Robby! Fine, I’ll be Robby with a y,”

“It’s already with a Y, idiot!”

“Fine with an ‘ie’ then,”

“That’s not—”

“Okay, let’s just circle back there later— mn, how about Saint Jack-nim?” Rosalyn suggested.

“Ah, well, I’ve decided on Bob…y,”

“Bobby?”

“And I’m Roberta,” Hannah continued. Cale was starting to see a pattern here.

Mary raised her hand. “And I… am Boberta,”

Rosalyn tilted her head slightly. “That’s…”

Hannah shrugged. “You know what, sure,”

“How about Lock?”

“Ah, well…” he trailed off, as if still contemplating. “I guess, uh, Bill…y?”

“Billy?”

“Wow, points for creativity,”

“Are all these names seriously just variations of Bob?”

“How about you, Eruhaben-nim?”

The ancient dragon rubbed his temples, sighing in exasperation, yet again. “Haben.”

“Rose,” Rosalyn smiled.

“And Ra!” Raon beamed.

“Kira,” On reiterated with a satisfied nod.

“I’ve decided I’ll be Bryan!” Hong exclaimed. Cale recognized that name from a character in a fairytale book he liked most.

Ron smiled benignly. “Robert,” Cale almost felt bad— he chose the name first but now he sounds unoriginal.

“...Ben,” Beacrox sighed.

“And that’s everyone,” Hannah said.

“I feel like we’re good to go now, right?”

“Guess so— I’m actually a bit excited about this,”

“Hm— I have to say so am I,”

They all sounded like school kids before a field trip as they chatted amongst themselves with an air of joy. As he readjusted his bright blonde hair in the mirror, he was reminded of Alberu. He said he was going to be a bit late, didn’t he? Cale wasn’t sure when they were even supposed to meet.

Everyone was dressed quite plainly, with a basic and simple cloak over them for a bit of extra stealth. They’d decided to go under the guise of travelers who decided to visit the kingdom to join the celebration on holiday, though their group was quite sizable. Cale couldn’t even count everyone on his fingers.

Eventually they all gathered up at the center of the room, and Eruhaben and Raon took care of the teleportation spell together. Mana surged throughout the area, a dense but not suffocating presence enveloping Cale. He couldn’t help but remember what Rosalyn had said about it in the library.

And in a blink, the cool breeze of the territory swept over them. They’d set the coordinates for a secluded spot near the estate so as not to draw attention. Rosalyn did a quick headcount before they headed off.

“Woah~!” The decorations were hung up all over Rain City, lighting it up with a  burst of color. Cale could see signs in front of bakeries and establishments with various discounts listed as well as special festive menu items. Judging by the sparkling gaze of the kids, food might be their first stop.

“Are you all hungry?”

“Well, I did skip breakfast earlier…” Rosalyn admitted.

“Human, look! Look at the size of that dessert!” Raon’s eyes were widening in an amazed sparkle as he flew circles around Cale and pointed at another young girl who was enjoying something reminiscent of a sundae in front of a dessert shop with a bright smile. 

Hong gasped, tugging at the hem of his jacket. “Look over there! They have a bunch of games!” Looking where he pointed, Cale could see various game stands. Cups stacked in tall structures, beanbag and horseshoes toss, raffles— heck of a lot of your typical fantasy carnival games.

“I think there’s a stage there,” On remarked, drawing his attention to a wooden platform set up at the center of the plaza. It didn’t seem like whatever performance it was had started yet.

“There’re tons of stores everywhere,” Bud pointed out, squinting ahead, and suddenly Cale realized he didn’t have his glasses on.

“What happened to your glasses?”

“Hm? Oh, haha! They broke!” he jovially admitted. “I was practicing with Miss Hannah here and got pummeled to the ground and my glasses shattered just like that!”

“That was after you got me in the face, jerk,” she huffed, and Cale hummed. So that was why she had a bandaid on her face yesterday.

“Ah, I know an optometrist near here,” Choi Han mentioned, looking around as if trying to recognize the path. He seemed to know his way around, probably because he went out often to spar at the knight training grounds or accompany the kids, as well as generally get to know the townsfolk. Cale noted he was well-liked by the people here, particularly by older ladies. He really did seem like that good grandson type.

“I think we could make a stop there,” 

“Then we should try out some of these street snacks,” Jack suggested with a smile. He seemed to have seen how his sister had her eyes on the meat skewers sold nearby.

“And then we could try out the carnival games!” Hong reiterated. “Lock-hyung said he could win a lot of them!”

“Ah…”

“Okay~ and then let’s look at some street performers,”

“I think I’m also out of ink— I need a new book to write in my spells too,” Glenn sighed.

“There’s a lot to get out of the way, huh…” Cale thought, before turning to Choi Han. “Well, lead the way,”

At the optometrist, there was an array of different glasses frames laid out, much like the ones Cale knew of from earth. He spotted a pair that resembled Eric’s too.

“Do you need to get a new prescription?” Cale asked.

“Prescription? Oh, I usually use magic lenses,”

“Huh?”

“You know, lenses with special material and enhanced with some magic?” Bud added as if it was a normal thing. “You don’t really need to get checked out again since they’ll just adjust to your eyesight. Really durable too,”

“...” Magic really was the best because what?

“What frame are you getting?” Glenn asked. 

“Oh, just the same as before,” he shrugged. “Round, should be somewhere around here,”

Cale could see Ron inspecting the various frames displayed around the store, scrutinizing them closely. He wondered if wearing glasses would make him look more like a regular old man and less scary, but Ron probably wouldn’t need them. He could spot things from a mile away. At that moment, he looked behind and at Cale, smiling benignly, and he shivered.

“Human, try this on!” Raon flew up and put a pair of glasses against his face. After readjusting the clumsy attempt, On brought him a mirror and made him look into his reflection. It was a black pair, with gold accents on the handle. Not too flashy, but quite classy. The kids had good taste.

“Oh, are you trying on glasses, young master-nim?” Rosalyn asked. 

“The kids picked it out,”

“Very classy,” she nodded, satisfied.

Looking to the side, he also saw Hannah trying on a pair with a vibrant blue color and noticeable embellishments, while pointing at her face, completely neural in contrast with the unique frame. Hannah and Jack who were with her laughed a little while picking out their own silly pairs from the collection.

“Right, I’ve got my pair,” Bud said with a smile, pointing to his face, glasses present.

Cale tilted his head. “Already?”

“Is it supposed to take long?”

“Well…” fantasy worlds really make things convenient, huh. “Did you pay yet?”

“I’m about to,”

Wordlessly, he hummed and tossed the owner a golden coin. The flustered woman caught it and stared at Cale in utter shock. Bud did too. Magical glasses that are that useful should cost a pretty penny, right? So the gold coin probably wasn’t too much. “Keep the change,”

“Huh? Cale, what are you doing!? I could’ve paid just fine,”

“I had an extra gold coin on me,” it was true— he took a bit too much money with him. “You can just pay it off later,” the war was over and times were a lot more peaceful but mercenaries were certainly still needed. He or someone else in his group could ask for a small commission in exchange or maybe at a discounted rate if that was how that worked.

“Alright…” Bud seemed quite unsure about it, but just sighed and thanked him. Honestly, Cale might’ve done it because he felt just slightly bad about the fact that he looted the Mercenary Guild that one time in the Eastern Continent. 

“Are those the magical lenses you talked about?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,”

“Magic lenses, huh… those sound quite interesting— I’ve heard mentions of them from the librarian at my palace,” Rosalyn said, observing the pair. “I’m quite curious, admittedly. Can I try those on? I think my eyesight is quite alright, but it wouldn’t hurt to get a feel for them,”

“Honestly, I’ve kind of been curious too,” Glenn shrugged.

“Y’know I always thought you’d be the one with the glasses between the two of us. Can’t believe I got them first,”

“Why? ‘Cause I’m a mage?”

“No Gle— I mean, Robby, because you read grimoires with the most miniscule indecipherable chicken scratch I’ve ever seen at night, in the dark, under dim candle light, hunched over your desk like a goblin or twisting in weird positions on top of a cushion.” He said. “I’m surprised you don’t flinch in sunlight like a vampire,”

Rosalyn, who was also a mage, coughed and looked away. Cale recalled the occasional horrible eye bags she’d emerge from her room with in the morning, as well as the sound of loud pen scribbling coming from her room at night when Cale was wandering around the halls to get fresh air. 

He glanced at Raon who was off to the side looking at fancy pairs of kids-sized glasses, as well as Eruhaben who was silently judging the over-the-top dragon patterned frames displayed nearby. Raon fortunately slept at reasonable hours and Eruhaben always looked flawless, though dragons could practically do anything at that point so the image of a mad mage Eruhaben brewing potions in his study didn’t leave his mind.

“Perhaps you should try it as well, young master-nim,” Cale heard Ron’s voice suddenly from behind him and turned around. “You are quite the diligent reader. This old butler is simply looking for possibilities to improve your life,”

“Mn…” he did have reading glasses for some time as Kim Roksoo, courtesy of Lee Soohyuk and Choi Jungsoo. It’s been a while since then and he’s kept them with him though he doesn’t use them all that often. “Okay?”

Perhaps hearing their conversation, the optometrist rushed to the back of his shop to pull out two more pairs to test out with lenses attached. Glenn and Rosalyn picked them up, observing it a bit too carefully for normal standards. Maybe it was because they were magic?

Bud hesitantly gave Cale his new pair, as if fearful he’d break it or something. Cale just took them and placed them on his face, and Rosalyn and Glenn seemed to do the same thing.

A beat. Two beats. Cale blinked a few times, eyes squinting as he looked ahead. “...”

“...Oh.” Rosalyn let out, eyes widened as she stared at a wall as if it was the most fascinating thing she’s ever seen.

“Wha…”

“Human, what’s wrong?” Raon asked, curious, flying up towards him. Cale reached out to touch his chubby scaly cheek, which looked a lot more… Detailed than before. This was very confusing for the unfortunate owner of the store who couldn’t see Raon.

“Wait, no way,” Bud sounded genuinely surprised.

“Young master-nim?” Beacrox seemed equally confused but also worried by Cale’s reaction.

“What the hell.” He sounded flabbergasted as he pinched Raon’s cheek and stared at his cute big round blue eyes. “You’re telling me it’s supposed to look this detailed?” 

The world seemed so much sharper? It felt like someone just upped the resolution. He stared at a label that was a considerable distance from him and couldn’t stop feeling baffled. He could read it. So people were just supposed to be able to see that far? That seemed crazy. He opened a small book he carried around from his breast pocket and the letters seemed much more clear even though his face was far from the pages. What the hell. Just what the hell.

He poked and pinched at Raon’s cute face again while frowning as he listened to Raon complain and resist with his chubby little paws. “I’ve been scammed.”

He saw Glenn put the glasses on and then back off in equal bafflement while glaring at Bud as if it was his fault. Rosalyn was just somewhat excitedly flipping through her notes.

In the end they bought three more pairs, which were picked out after ample discussion between everyone in the store and the unfortunate store owner’s help. They also got reading glasses for Eruhaben, who would not admit that it really helped him that much but his fascination could not be hidden.

“Cale, let’s go buy food,” On suggested, pointing out a few stands. “That one there sells skewers, there’s some pancakes, oh, and there’s also the wraps you said you liked, and some frozen stuff like ice cream and popsicles.”

“Mn… alright,”

“Ooh, let’s see… looks like there’s a lot— some stands on that street and some over there….”

“Woah, what’s that?”

“Hm, I kind of want to pick up some herbs…”

The walk around the food stands was simple enough. They decided to split off, divide and conquer, if you will. They’d group up with each other and head off in different directions, then meet back up to share the stuff they found. Cale was with the kids, Choi Han, and Ron. Bud, Glenn, Rosalyn, and Eruhaben were in a group, as well as Mary, Jack, Hannah, Beacrox, and Lock, as peculiar as they were together. 

Hong and On were side by side with him, holding his hand and swinging it back and forth in merry rhythm as they began to list all the foods they wanted to try, excited to spend their allowance. Of course, Cale would just buy it for them anyway. They could save their money whenever he was around. As he walked, he saw Choi Han’s eyes silently sparkling and full of life as he took in the lively atmosphere of the festival. This certainly wasn’t his first time at one, as he’d gone with Cale for a little once before, but he supposed it was difficult for things like this to grow dull for the weary swordsman.

The novel, Birth of a Hero, rarely ever granted the munchkin protagonist a moment of proper rest or joy that wasn’t disrupted or quickly lost. Even so, Cale recalled a particular scene in the novel where Choi Han had gotten an opportunity to celebrate a small merry festival similar to what was happening in the territory at another village with his party, consisting of Witira, Rosalyn, Lock, and Pendrick at the time. It was short-lived, but the punk at least managed to buy a few snacks and try out a game and get a glimpse of a performance before an enemy went and attacked in the middle of the festivities.

“Cale-nim,” He blinked out of his sudden recollection and back to the present, the warm scent of seasoned meat skewers tickling his nose. Choi Han was in front of him, smiling while holding one out for him. It seemed like… beef? “Would you like one?”

“Ah, sure,” he nodded, accepting. Choi Han’s smile brightened at his reply, and Cale huffed out a sigh. Well, at least now he could just peacefully enjoy festivals like this throughout the year. 

“Human! Is it good?” Raon asked.

“Ooh, it looks a bit different and smells really nice!”

“It’s caramelized,” Cale replied, picking out a piece from the stick and letting the kids each have one to try. Upon their pleased, delighted reactions, he sighed and tossed the vendor a gold coin. “10 more please,”

That process would then repeat a few more times. They bought various things, like pies in different flavors like apple, blueberry, and cherry. Then they got ice cream, and afterwards meatballs, sandwiches, a dozen different things. Ron, who was smiling benignly as he followed them around the entire way, also got fed by the kids a few slices of pie.

“Cale-nim, aren’t these ones a lot like corndogs?” Choi Han pointed out.

He looked closer at the menu. “Seems like they’re sausages wrapped in potato and then breadcrumbs on sticks.”

“Hm… and that over there is kind of like hotteok,”

“I guess so, huh?” Cale nodded while drinking some sweet apple cider they had from a little while ago to warm up. 

“It’s making me miss Korean street food a little,” Choi Han whispered beside Cale. This punk had forgotten a lot about his hometown from all the years he spent in the forest, so if he started missing things like that again, that meant he was remembering. 

“Which kind?”

“I used to like odeng— hm, I think I went and bought it with my friends after school often,” he reminisced. “And this cold season is making me miss ddeokbokki,” 

“Hm…” 

“It seems you enjoy that drink, young master-nim?” Cale flinched when he heard Ron's voice suddenly. He sighed— why couldn’t he have just gone with Beacrox or Eruhaben, or something?

“...Yes,”

“Hm, then this Ron may find a way to replicate the recipe later,” Huh, that actually would be nice. “Though I may take liberties— how about a lemon variant? Since you are so fond of them, young master-nim,”

Cale’s expression soured immediately, which earned a laugh from On and nagging from Raon who was telling him not to make such strange expressions suddenly.

“Hey! Look over there!” Hong shouted. “Isn’t that Lock?”

“And uncle Beacrox!”

Lo and behold, they seemed to have crossed paths. Lock was carrying a handful of snacks while Beacrox was jotting notes down in his small notebook while Mary observed curiously, munching on some cookies. 

“Brave Lock, did you try the delicious pies in the stand over there?”

“Oh, and don’t forget about the skewers! They’re seasoned in this unique way,”

“Ah, well, I haven’t,” he admitted, before picking out a few things from his collection. “I might try them later. Have you tried these?”

The kids’ eyes sparkled at the sight. It was three colorful candies shaped like flowers. Honestly, if it was possible to take pictures he would. 

While the kids were fawning about the pretty snack, Beacrox began asking a few questions for Cale. “Young master-nim, what snacks did you try? And which one did you like?”

“Uh…” he thought again. “The meat skewers, I guess?”

“Are they seasoned a particular way?”

“They were caramelized, I think?”

He jotted a few things down and asked again. “Anything else?”

“I guess we also tried out some rolled eggs?”

“Hm…”

“There was also candy apples,”

“Candy apples?” Mary chimed in curiously.

Beacrox just kept asking while jotting down notes to himself, with Mary observing quietly beside him and asking Cale about a few of the snacks. She seemed to already have had her fair share too. 

“Cale, look over there,” On tugged at his sleeve a bit and pointed towards a stand on the side of the street. There was an old man sitting there with a canvas in front of him and a sign. “It says ‘live portraits’.”

“Hm..” he hummed contemplatively. “Do you want to try it?”

“Try what?” Hong piped in, before looking in the same direction they were looking. “Oooh!”

“Human, what is a live portrait? Will the portrait come to life?” Raon asked.

“Oh, no, a live portrait is when someone draws a portrait of you on the spot,” Jack helpfully supplied. “It’s much like paintings, just usually quicker and in pencil while paintings take much longer,”

Jack seemed tired when he emphasized how long it took to paint portraits, and Cale wondered if he and Hannah, as the saint and holy maiden, had to do them often. 

On the other hand, Cale liked the ‘quick’ prospect enough to be willing to give it a shot if the kids wanted to.

“Cale-nya, we should try it!”

“Yes! We should get a portrait!”

Cale stared at Raon and thought about it. He was currently invisible and Cale felt doubtful about revealing him just yet. He didn’t want to exclude him, though— certainly not.

Ron seemed to have read his thoughts and put out a suggestion. “I happen to know a trustworthy artist nearby,” he smiled. “I’m sure he could add to the drawing if we asked,”

When Ron referred to a ‘trustworthy’ individual, he must have been an old friend, and by extension, probably an assassin. Well, to be fair, all kinds of people in the duchy had anything but normal histories, and if that meant Raon could be added to the picture that would be enough. He told Raon about the idea, and the dragon, though a bit dissatisfied about not getting their portraits drawn at the same time, agreed.

Cale approached the artist and spoke. “We’d like a portrait, please,” he spoke. “Three people,”

“Hm…” the artist hummed as he looked at him, Hong, and On in a sense of somewhat amazement. Was it because they looked sort of flashy? “Of course,” he motioned to the price list. It seemed that it was priced per person. They decided on a half-body, and the artist said they’d pay after the portrait was finished.

“Can you leave room in the drawing for one more person?” Cale asked as Raon hovered over his shoulder. “He isn’t here today but would have really liked to be in it,”

“Yes, human! Tell him it’s from your close friend, the great and mighty Ra!”

He sighed. “For a close friend of mine named Ra,”

“I see…” 

In the end, they got positioned. Cale sat in the middle on top of a small stool, with On and Hong on either side. Raon decided where he wanted to be put in the picture, so they left space between him and On to hover above. 

“You should choose an easy pose you can stay still in for a long time,” Cale suggested as he brushed back On’s hair and combed it out a bit with his fingers and fixed Hong’s scarf.

“Okay, but what about you?”

“I’m very good at staying still,” Cale replied, sounding certain. The rest of the group nearby who heard this turned to look at him in sheer disbelief and On and Hong just stared in a deadpan like they didn’t believe him.

“You’re lying, human,” Raon chastised.

“I’m not, though?” he whispered.

“Alright, please stay still.”

The artist got to sketching, and Cale maintained a neutral expression. He didn’t know how the kids could manage smiling for so long without it hurting their face. 

A few minutes later, give or take twenty, he handed the paper back and smiled.

“Woah…” 

“Hey look! It’s us!”

“Hehe, I like the way my eyes look,”

Cale himself was quite satisfied, humming as he rummaged through a small pouch of a few coins, before sliding two towards the old artist. “Thanks,”

He tried to object, saying it was too much for the rates they charged, but Cale didn’t hear any of it and left with the rest of his group to keep exploring. He’d asked Raon about it and he said they could just add in his drawing later and that he wants to look around even more.

“You should eat more, Cale-nya,”

“Here, you like the skewers right? Have some more~”

“Young master-nim, these are some delicious meat buns that I have bought from Miss Fern,”

“Who’s miss Fern?”

“The person who sold it to Mary— she asked for her name,” Hannah helpfully supplied. “Those are spicy too, so I think you’d like them,”

“Eat, human, eat!”

“You need to grow up big and strong~”

“Are you thirsty? I bought drinks too— try this sweet tea,”

“Mn…” Why were they so strangely fixated on feeding him? He could’ve sworn they weren’t always like this… Well, he couldn’t complain if they understood the importance of food, though he was really getting full now.

“Hey, let’s try a game this time,”

“Look over there! That looks fun, right?”

Cornhole toss, hm? Cale noted to himself as they headed over. He’s never really played before but he’s seen them in movies once or twice. 

“Step right up~!”

“Cornhole toss! Throw three bags into the hole and win a prize~ You get 5 tries!”

“A prize! Let’s go!” Hong pulled Cale along while Raon pushed him from behind, laughing. Judging from what he knew about games like these, the prizes would probably be some sort of toy— usually a plush.

“Why hello there, young miss,”

“What’s the prize?” On asked, curious but straight to the point. The heart vendor laughed and pointed to a small shelf of prizes. As he had guessed, there sat a few plushies and toys. There were dolls shaped like animals such as bunnies, bears, dogs, and cats. Also some toys like spinning tops. Suddenly, Cale went pale.

“Ah, the one at the top…!”

“What a good eye,” the vendor smiled at Hong. “It’s none other than young master silver shield! In order to get him, you need to get all three bags in the hole~ how tough!”

“Human, look! It’s you! You’re so small!” Raon exclaimed excitedly as he zipped around, pointing to the tiny doll. Indeed, they had turned him into a marketable plushie. 

“I want to try…!” Hong yelled, excited.

“Me too,” On nodded along, not falling behind.

“Of course, of course. Just three copper coins and you can give it a shot!”

From the looks of it, it didn’t seem like a scam. The distance seemed far but was probably quite fair. You just need good aim and good control, he supposed. Cale handed the vendor six, for On and Hong each to get turns. 

In the end, neither managed to get all three in for the doll they wanted. Then they tried again. And again. And then one more time and then two more times. Normally, parents would stop at three and convince their kids to just try something else. They could try these many times because Cale was quite rich and spending so much on a carnival game wouldn’t put a dent in his wealth, as long as the kids were happy. Hong did get quite close, but fell short. Now they were sulking to themselves while eating an apple pie that Raon had given to them as consolation. 

Cale was about to try and cheer them up too, but then Lock stepped up.

“I’d like to try, please,” he said, polite but determined. He rummaged into his pouch but Cale had already tossed the three copper coins to the vendor. He seemed surprised by the action, but Cale just motioned for him to go ahead. Choi Han and Mary gave him an encouraging thumbs up from the side, and he got to it.

“!”

One, two, three, four— he got almost all of them in the cornholes, have for the fifth that fell just short but landed on the platform. On and Hong, who were quietly sulking to the side before this immediately got excited again as they cheered. The vendor, on the other hand, was quite speechless.

“Brave Lock! You are amazing!”

“That was so cool!”

“How did you do that? It was difficult because the bag was so floppy…”

“Haha,” he laughed happily at the compliments from his juniors and headed for the prize shelf. “Which one do you want?”

There were multiple Cales on the shelves, probably because they’d be in high demand, as much as Cale wished he didn’t need to admit that. They also varied in size, and held small differences. He wondered if multiple people had made them or the same person who did it different each time.

“Hm…” On hummed. “That one with the big smile doesn’t suit Cale at all,”

“Yup~ usually his smile would be less big and a bit pure because he’s trying to scam someone!”

“Ah, that one! The one with the tired expression, right?” Raon piped in, and On and Hong nodded in agreement. “It looks a lot like the human,”

“Mn, but I also like this one because it has a little silver shield in its hand…”

“Which one should we choose~?”

Seeing the children perplexed, Lock stepped up once again. “Just choose one— we can get the others too,” he smiled. “All you have to do is win again, right?”

The kids, who heard this, sparkled up at him. “Whoa, really?”

“You’re going to try and win again?”

“I guess so,”

“You’re so cool!”

Cale sighed as he tossed the vendor a silver. That should constitute about three, maybe four tries. It was more than he needed but really, it was more of a bother to rummage for 6 copper coins than it was for a single silver. What a reliable hyung, He thought as he watched him take the cornhole bags again and begin tossing. Choi Han also looked quite proud of him as he cheered, and even Beacrox was watching him with what seemed like an expression of approval.

Though, as he watched the children giggle to themselves with expressions that looked a bit vicious underneath their cute smiles, perhaps he may have gotten scammed.

The kids walked away with each their own Cale plushies, and even an extra two— one of which they had let Choi Han have. It was a smaller one with a loop tied to the top which he could attach onto his satchel like a keychain. He seemed quite satisfied, and the others seemed to be looking at it a bit too much for some reason with vicious expressions. Did they think the doll was stupid, or?

“I wanted one…” He didn’t believe his ears when he heard Hannah whisper behind him.

As they walked, they suddenly came across some familiar faces up ahead. “Ah, young master-nim and everyone!”

It was Rosalyn, waving their direction. She seemed to be in front of a stand and observing something, though it was hard to tell what it was from the distance. Glenn and Eruhaben seemed to be chatting about something, and from the way that Bud awkwardly stood off to the side while eating a meatbun as the only non-magic user in their group, it seemed that the subject was obvious.

The kids rushed over ahead of him to enthusiastically show off the snacks they had collected from every stand, as well as show off their— wait. Cale turned progressively paler as he got closer.

“Don’t tell me…”

Lock and Choi Han’s eyes sparkled at the same time as they headed over, and Ron let out an amused hum of interest. 

This section of the festival was full of hero merch. Cale gulped. His merch. 

“Wow, look!” Raon pushed Cale over in front of the stand, and Hong raised a small Cale plush up to his face. “It’s you, human! Again! This time, you have a lightning bolt!”

“Hey, look at this— it’s a Silver Shield replica,” Rosalyn pointed out while smiling. “Isn’t it lovely, young master-nim? It’s made of wood but very finely carved,”

At that moment, the glutton chimed in.

-Wow~ How nice! For a shield they’ve never seen up close, they got the engraved pattern quite accurate. I’m flattered— you should buy it, Cale!

Like hell I will. He thought to himself with a frown. Rosalyn laughed at him a second later.

The cheapskate then spoke as well, sounding somewhat whiny.

-Aw, I want to have merchandise, too! Hey, look at that plush the cute kid Hong is holding! It’s got a thunderbolt! You have to get it, Cale! You’re rich, right? Buy the whole stock!

How, annoying, really. Cale sighed. When he opened his eyes, Lock had pulled out a piece of paper from his bag and a pouch of money.

“Let’s see… 3 dolls, 4 charms, 5 silver shields… Lana also wanted this, and Maes…” As he pointed, the vendor picked out his choices accordingly. It was like a responsible older brother at a grocery store buying groceries except it was just— hero merchandise. Cale was completely baffled as he watched but still quietly paid for it before Lock could even rummage through his pockets.

“Choi Han! Look! There’s also you!” Upon the mention, Choi Han held the small doll version of him delicately. His eyes were widened in a sense of surprise, but also fascination. 

“Woah…”

“Are you a fan of the hero, young man? I also have a replica of his sword, here,” the woman who was running the stand smiled. “Have a look! You can wield a dark blade and one day be a swordmaster, just like him! How about it?”

“Ah. y.es. ju.st like… him.”

Cale immediately patted his shoulder and got beside Choi Han, smiling. “Yes, thank you so much for the offer madam. My friend here is an admirer of the hero Choi Han, you see,” Someone make him take acting classes, please. “It’s a wonderfully crafted sword.”

“My, don’t you have a great eye for craftsmanship. What's your name?”

He smiled. “Bob.”

“And your friend?”

“Rob,” Cale answered before Choi Han could even open his mouth.

“Huh, you both have similar names. It’s no wonder you’re friends, then. Well then sir Rob, I’ll let you have this sword at a discounted price~ just 5 silvers!”

“Human, you are smiling like a scammer again!”

“We’d be delighted to,” Cale replied, polite. Some kid in the wolf village might want it anyway— he saw Lock eyeing it earlier. 

In the end, they walked away with a truckload of stuff from the stand, stored away in a spatial magic storage pouch. Also…

“What is that?”

“Silver shield charms,”

“But why?” 

Everyone bought one and tied them in different places. Strapped to their bags, Choi Han tied his to the hilt of his sword, and Hannah even managed to tie it into his hair.

“Why not~?” On laughed.

In the end, it wasn’t like Cale could stop them, but that didn’t mean he had to say he liked that they bought them. He could physically feel his goal of laying low and not being recorded in history shrivel up and die with every piece of merch he finds of himself. 

“So, are we headed for Huiss now?” Cale asked. The rest of them were checking their bags when they nodded.

“Alright then,”

Raon and Eruhaben worked together as not to strain themselves too much with the large group, because the trip form the territory to Huiss was farther than from Harris Village to the Henituse territory. And in a blink, they opened their eyes standing in an alleyway somewhere in the capital.

“Cale— I mean, Bob-nya, where will we meet the crown prince?” Hong asked.

“I’m not sure, actually,” he admitted, before telling Hong to lower his voice. He hoped Alberu had come up with an alias of his own.

When everyone inevitably decided to tag along their outing, Cale decided he may as well ask Alberu if he also wanted to go out. So Raon helped him contact him through a communication device, and apparently he said yes. He looked quite exhausted, so Cale also told him he should just go take a nap instead if he was tired. 

Still, if it was Alberu, he’d probably contact them if he changed his mind, so he supposed all they could do now was wait for him to just appear?

“Wow~” On marveled as they stepped out onto the plaza.

“There’s a festival here too, human!” Raon exclaimed, pointing out various things. Similarly to the one that was being held at the territory, there was a lively atmosphere and bright colorful decorations. Even the ground paven beneath them had been decorated with patterns in chalk— he could see a few kids up ahead playing games and drawing on the floor. There was also a ton of music. At the center of the plaza was a stage where a live band was playing. 

“The ground is surprisingly clear— I thought it’d be completely covered in snow,” Cale commented.

“Hm… ah, see there?” Rosalyn pointed. In a few corners were some tiny, somewhat glowing stones in a warm hue. “Those are some relatively cheap low quality heat-emitting stones. They are technically somewhere in the vein of mana stones, though it’s difficult to really harness any of its mana for a single spell. You’ll often just see them be spread around during the winter when there’s a need for important events, like this one.”

“So it works like salt?”

“More long-lasting and with a greater effect, but roughly yes. They’ll last a few days and melt the snow. They also prevent the risk of ice growing on the pavement which also reduces risk of accidents,” She explained. “It’s also convenient that the sky is clear today— it isn’t snowing,”

“Huh. That’s handy.”

“Indeed so,”

“Hey, look!” Bud pointed to a sign plastered on the door of a tavern. “They’re giving out free drinks!”

“Ah, but we already ate and drank so much. Maybe later,”

“Where should we go first? Human, I want to try that thing! It smells good. Ooh, but also what’s that, human? Is it a game? And what’s that!?” Raon exclaimed, wings fluttering excitedly as he practically brimmed with energy.

“That person is swallowing a sword…!” On tugged at his arm and pointed to a street performer who was doing just as she said. A whirl of applause rang out at the seemingly daring act. Cale himself had seen a video that explained how these street performances work, and they were honestly more terrifying when he found out they actually inserted the blade down their esophagus. 

“What?! How’s he doing that?”

“Mn…” Eruhaben sounded both fascinated, perplexed, but also… mortified as he watched. For good reason, in all honesty.

“That sword’s kinda long, too…”

“Maybe it’s a trick with magic?”

“That’s some pretty complex magic for a street performance,” Glenn commented. “Though, I guess I’ve heard of travelling mage performers too.”

“Woah, and he’s pulling it back out just like that!”

“They’re giving him coins,” Hong pointed out. “Hey, can we do that too?”

“Mn…” Cale rummaged through his bag and pulled out three silver coins and passed it to the kids one by one. “Go ahead,”

Meanwhile, a portion of the group had found a few miraculously empty benches in the crowded plaza, getting a chance to sit and take a breather from all the walking and standing they did before. Choi Han peeked over Cale’s shoulder to look at the drawing that they had gotten from the street artist at the territory with a sense of marvel.

“Since it’s in charcoal, it still counts as a portrait of you even if you’re in disguise, right?” Choi Han pointed out.

“I guess so?” he shrugged.