TBOAH!Rosalyn chuckled at TBOAH!Choi Han’s utterly ‘done’ expression of exasperation and defeat. He now realized he should have given up on TCF!Choi Han right from the start.
“Hopeless…” TBOAH!Choi Han grumbled under his breath. He gave up the idea of having a counterpart he could connect and empathize with.
“What can I do for you?”
Jopis opened and closed her mouth a few times before starting to speak.
“You’ll need a large number of people to strike the Molden palace.”
“Please don’t worry.”
They were now teleporting to the capital now.
“There are more Elves, Dark Elves, and our allies in the world than you could ever imagine.”
“Ha!” Jopis laughed. “I really seemed to have made a deal with someone who is worse than the Demonic race.”
They then teleported once again.
Everyone squirmed and wriggled in their seats, trying to get comfortable in order to focus on the record. Grigori considered giving everyone a break, but then decided they all had enough curiosity to energize them and carry them through the rest of the record.
The Palantír went on, showing where Cale and the others ended up after teleporting to the Capital and then showed the two maps that Cale received, but the maps were shown in such a way that the locations and actual details were unclear – in order to prevent the audience from seeing it in detail. Kim Rok Soo speculated that this was either done to protect Molden and Jopis in the future, or it was done by the Goddess simply because the map had no further significance to the record.
She pointed to the capital and gave the order.
“Time to go.”
“Ruff, ruff!” The five puppies responded quietly.
She then continued to speak to the puppies.
“And drag in every dog in the capital.”
It looked as if Fluffy was smiling in response. Her sharp fangs appeared for a moment before they disappeared. At the same time, the other four puppies other than Fluffy moved out in different directions. Once night ended and the sun started to rise over Renche, the Molden Kingdom’s capital…
“…Hey Puffy, what’s wrong?”
“Whimper. Whimper.”
Everybody in the capital woke up to a similar but slightly different morning.
“Hey Tree. Time to eat breakfast.”
“Ruff!”
A person who woke up to feed her dog…
“Hmm? Something is weird.”
People who woke up early to open up their shops…
“Wow!”
And the children who came out to play as soon as they woke up. All of them were greeted by a slightly different morning than usual.
“Hey Puffy, did you bring a friend over? Your friend’s fur looks very fluffy.”
“Hey Tree, why are you so excited today?”
“Wait, were there always this many dogs in the plaza?”
“Wow! Puppies! So many puppies!”
Although seeing so many innocent and adorable Fluffy fur-babies was soothing to their eyes, the people from the TBOAH!World could not help feeling iffy about it since they now knew this was something Jopis had ordered her ‘friends’ to do.
There were many dogs wagging their tails and greeting people throughout Renche, the Molden Kingdom’s capital. There was also a carriage moving past the castle gates.
“Wow. I never expected to enter the Molden Kingdom!”
“Are you happy?”
“Of course!”
The Palantír briefly mentioned the alias Billos used for his Merchant Guild here in the Eastern Continent before moving on like the information was merely mentioned to honour the length he went to, to assist Cale.
Billos quietly asked the person next to him.
“…It doesn’t look like they were noticed.”
Billos could see Ron smiling at him.
“They are people who lived in hiding for fifteen years.”
TBOAH!Ron was rigid in his seat as he watched his counterpart upon the Palantír. TBOAH!Beacrox saw himself beside his father in the carriage, both of them couldn’t take their eyes off the Palantír.
However, his eyes were cold. The carriages that were said to be carrying wheat and other grains were full of the Molan Household’s people. The assassins who had been hiding throughout the Eastern continent from Arm had gathered until the Molan Household that had opened its wings again.
TBOAH!Ron gulped thickly, his clenched fists relaxing around the hilt of his dagger. How could he hold his counterpart in any more contempt when TCF!Ron had worked hard to achieve what even he, of the TBOAH!World, had died without being able to accomplish.
Some of them were alone while others came with their families. The people who were talented enough to disguise themselves and hide from Arm were now all entering the Molden Kingdom’s capital.
“Father.”
“I know.” He responded to Beacrox’s serious expression with a smile. “We need to do well on our first mission.”
This would be the Molan Household’s first mission.
TBOAH!Beacrox gulped and took measured breaths in order to maintain his composure. In the years after losing his father, TBOAH!Beacrox’s famed control had frazzled out, and he’d lost his direction and hope. So, seeing this poked at a part of him that even his father did not know about yet.
Billos looked back and forth between Ron and Beacrox before starting to speak.
“Cale-nim should already be on his way to the palace, right?”
“That is probably the case.”
Beacrox focused on the palace at the center of Renche as soon as they made it through the gate. He recalled Cale’s order.
‘There will be a sudden ruckus at the palace. The Molan household will infiltrate the palace at that moment.’
Beacrox who recalled the order was wearing a palace chef’s uniform while Ron was wearing a Molden palace servant uniform. Even the other members of the Molan household hiding in the carts were wearing different palace employee uniforms.
‘Who will cause the ruckus?’
‘Obviously…’ Cale had smiled before he responded. ‘…Me. I will do it. You know there are also a lot of people around me who would do a good job if they set their mind to it.’
Although many of the TCF!World people nodded, those closest to Cale frowned ever so slightly.
“Young Master-nim… if that’s the case, then please actually leave the job to us.” TCF!Beacrox finally spoke up. Cale jumped slightly at the unexpected sound of his voice and turned to look at him in surprise.
“That’s right, Cale-nim!" TCF!Choi Han agreed with TCF!Beacrox immediately. The two of them were showing a united front before Cale's eyes and Cale felt like his heart was trembling from the firm stare he was getting from TCF!Ron as well.
"Ahem..." Cale lightly cleared his throat trying to think of something to say to them.
"We’ll definitely do a good job Young Master-nim…” TCF!Lock insisted, joining the others to voice their thoughts. TCF!Rosalyn nodded and hummed in agreement. Leaving Cale awkwardly speechless.
"Alright, I'll think about it..."
"Young Master, there's no need to think about it too much... You simply need to do as they say." TCF!Ron added, and Cale immediately nodded - he's very quick to respond to when he sees that TCF!Ron doesn't even bother to show off his usual benign smile.
Beacrox could not say anything about that as it was the truth. Cale who was heading to the palace at that same time said the following.
“This is damn hard.”
Several people immediately flinched. TCF!Eruhaben's expression turned dark. He clicked his tongue and muttered something about what an 'unlucky bastard' Cale was. TCF!Alberu, on the other hand, looked at Cale and then shook his head
“Little Brother…” he sighed heavily. "You're driving me nuts!"
Although Cale turned to look at him, TCF!Alberu could say nothing more because of the awkward expression on Cale's face. Cale looked like he was expecting to be chastised by TCF!Alberu loke he had been by the other. His expression stopped the words that barely began forming in TCF!Alberu's mouth, that's why he could say nothing.
It was the same for the other. Hearing Cale say something was hard caused an all-round swell of anxiety and unease among all his friends and family, none of them could say anything.
"Just leave it to us next time, Cale..." TCF!Alberu whispered, he sounded like he was genuinely beseeching Cale for this. So, Cale gulped and then nodded singularly at his request.
<Chapter 495: You stupid idiots! (1)>
Cale frowned a bit as he started to speak. “It looks like we won’t be able to infiltrate from above ground.”
“It does seem that way.”
Jopis also had a frown that would not go away.
“Cale-nim.”
Cale turned his head toward the low voice to see Choi Han heading toward where he was hiding.
“I checked it and the last entrance is blocked as well.”
“…Looks like things got much more complicated.”
TBOAH!Jopis felt unhappy that her counterpart hadn’t been able to think up her own plan during all her years of exile, to see TCF!Jopis relying on Cale for his thoughts and decisions somewhat irked her, but then she considered the facts. These were all Cale’s people helping her counterpart. Realizing this made her acknowledge that she could not fault her counterpart for leaving the decisions to Cale, as he was clearly the one with higher authority in this situation.
“Even the secret entrance I dug and the secret entrance that has been maintained for generations as an escape route for the royal family are blocked.”
“Elisneh must have blocked all entrances.”
“…That uselessly meticulous b***h.”
Cale pretended not to hear Jopis’s coarse words. He then looked around at the others. They all had serious expressions on their faces. Cale looked around a bit more before starting to speak.
“Let’s wait a bit since the underground waterways are still an option.”
The news that all the underground waterways were blocked as well came as a surprise to many, this was because the fact that Elisneh even blocked the Royal Family escape routes confirmed that Elisneh was honestly that meticulous about keeping her hostages.
Eventually, the spot where the water flowing out of the Palace connected to the river was where they decided to infiltrate the palace after dealing with the guards who were stationed there.
Everyone watched in admiration as the Dark Elves effficiently dealt with the guards, and then as TCF!Jopis took the lead with Fluffy while Cale followed behind her. Everyone watched as Cale and his group crouched their way through the tunnel and snuck under the Molden palace. They listened when Jopis, on the Palantír, spoke about the large flower garden that used to be at the center of the Palace when the Molden Kingdom was first created.
The Molden Palace’s Central Flower Garden that had been beautiful in different ways all year round was gone.
“Instead, he put some expensive marble down in the area and created a large statue at the center. It is a statue of the first king.”
“I guess that is meaningful in its own way.”
Jopis stopped walking and looked back after hearing Tasha’s comment.
She had an elegant smile on her face.
“Of course. It is very meaningful. That statue is one of the two entrances into the maze.”
The reminder that there was a maze ahead filled some members of the audience with apprehension, but none of them voiced their feelings or anxieties about it. They simply held their silence and continued to watch like their TCF!World counterparts were doing.
“There used to be a large maze underneath the central flower garden. That maze is as wide as the entire Molden palace.”
“The maze is as wide as the palace?”
“It is.” Jopis answered Tasha’s question as Fluffy walked over to Cale.
“Ruff!”
Cale, who was looking at Fluffy who had her tongue out and was shaking her tail at him, looked up at Jopis and started to speak.
“I think we’re here.”
“…You realized it right away as I expected.”
The way Cale gestures simply to the map as if that was the reason he knew rather than the fact that he understood Fluffy was strangely amusing to Kim Rok Soo, who snickered under his breath, this was because he knew the importance of animals and their value in detecting monsters back on Earth 1. Animals, especially dogs, were most sensitive and useful. They were also easier to train, having learnt all this during his time there, Kim Rok Soo knew that Cale would know it too.
The mention of a plaza surprised the royals from the Western Continent because it hinted at how wide the Molden Palace really was. The large plaza in the shape of a square inside the palace with the statues at the center being the location where the entrance to the maze was hidden in plain sight soon came into view.
<Chapter 496: You stupid idiots! (2)>
The square plate disappeared with a loud noise and an opening big enough for two or three adults to fit through appeared.
“Raon, Choi Han. Go!” Cale shouted as he exited the path.
The sun shined in his eyes as he quickly located the central plaza and the four palaces. Only the palace he expected was the administrative executives’ palace was busy and full of people.
‘It’s going as planned.’
Cale’s eyes sparkled.
Cale’s reaction immediately brought strangely pleased smiles to the faces of the TCF!Dragons seated behind the front row. Since they claimed Cale as theirs, they all immensely enjoyed seeing Cale this happy, and so, seeing him all sparkly-eyed and excited made them feel delighted as well.
“I, intruders!”
“Sound the alarm!”
“Hurry over to the Knights Brigade!”
Cale could see the guards and knights who were protecting the plaza entrance and the four palaces become shocked after noticing them.
TCF!Zed couldn't help feeling bad for those knights and soldiers who were on the receiving end, but as the youngest Dragon, Raon Miru, had said earlier- why should only they be on the receiving end of the enemies tricks, bombs and schemes.
One of the knights quickly blew into a flute to sound the alarm. Cale felt people continuing to come out of the path behind him and pointed to a location.
“Target.”
He started with the first task.
- Aim completed!
Cale started to speak after hearing Raon’s voice. The guards were chaotic after seeing them suddenly appear… The knights who were quickly running toward them…
TCF!Zed resolved it in his mind once again to handle what he wanted to handle so that Cale would not need to get involved once they returned to their world. TCF!Zed was sure that if Cale had to get involved with his revenge-business, he as well as their mutual enemy would not escape the wrath of Cale's followers - TCF!Zed shuddered discreetly at the mere thought of it.
“What’s going on?”
“Why is there so much chaos during a meeting?”
The secretaries of the high-ranking administrators frowning while looking out the window… The annoyed high-ranking administrators peeking out the window…
Cale’s loud voice echoed in all of their ears.
“Explode!”
Everybody stiffened up in shock.
The Dragons from both timelines liked this side of Cale a lot. They all grinned widely with exhilarated glee, each of them showing off a full set of perfect, glistening white teeth. As beings of immense power and superiority, they liked seeing Cale behaving like one of them, too.