"Okay, I'm back, was the meal time good?" Adalie asked the moment she appeared, regretting it when she saw TCF! Cale looking at her with tired eyes. She knew she was going to regret her next action but she still did it because of curiosity. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing much!" Rok Soo said with a smile on his face. "We just made this fucker write 'I will not make self-sacrificing as an option when I make a decision.' one hundred times."

Adalie winced before glancing at TCF! Cale in pity, knowing how tiring it must be and glad she wasn't the one forced to suffer.

"But isn't that too cruel?" Adalie asked.

"Well, we all debated during meal time on what we should do to him and that was the only possible solution we could come up with." TBOAH! Cale said with a small yawn. "We didn't want to force him to stay cope up in his house because he needed to exercise and see the sun for his health. We also couldn't force someone to guard him 24/7 because he needed privacy and no one could do it except for the children who also needed time to play with others and the ancient powers who we probably wouldn't hear again when we come back."

"True." Adalie agreed before patting TCF! Cale's head. "Cheer up and look at the bright side, you got off pretty easily. Anyway, let's go watch now! Oh, and we're skipping the conversation between TCF! Cale and the elf head because it is not that entertaining."

She played the video before anyone spoke again, fearing that she'll be the next target after what she did in the past like giving her responsibility of controlling the room to TCF! Cale and others.

Chapter 115: Great and Mighty (3)

Dragon.

It was another Dragon aside from Raon.

"Is it me?" Eruhaben asked because, as far as he knows, he is the only dragon that interacts with that elf village. Plus, dragons are hard to find so the chance of the one they were talking about being him is extremely high.

"It is, Goldie Gramps!" Raon answered with a flutter of his wings.

Cale did not want to meet another Dragon.

"I apologize in advance on what I am about to think, dragon-nims." TCF! Cale said, recalling his thought process regarding dragons.

"Aigoo, you unlucky bastard." Eruhaben sighed when he heard what TCF! Cale said. "You thought us in a negative light, huh."

TCF! Cale only nod without looking at anyone, feeling awe, pity, and dumbfound stares at him.

'It's not my fault I didn't know my thoughts were going to be read/ heard out loud!' he inwardly thought. 'If I did, I probably wouldn't have thought of them like that!'

In most fantasy novels, old Dragons were characters that served as helpers who would give the MC the key for a critical point in the novel. However, the Dragons in, 'The Birth of a Hero,' were all just egotistical and arrogant beings.

"I mean, there are some dragons like that so it is a valid point." Dodori said while the other dragons begrudgingly nod.

'Didn't the novel say that all of the Dragons here were very selfish?'

"Actually, if any of you want to blame someone, blame the god of death." Rok Soo said. "I mean, TCF! Cale only thought that the dragons in this world was like that because the novel he read said so."

"I can curse him if you want." TBOAH! Cage quickly volunteered, ignoring the betrayed look her other self gave her. Sorry, but she had a lot of pent of frustrations towards that god that she won't let anyone else, even her other self, curse the god before her. "Anyone can come second."

Raon was an exception.

"Hehe." Raon laughed with a bright smile, hearing that his father doesn't think of him as a bad, arrogant dragon. He was starting to get used to calling TCF! Cale father and actually liked it, especially when he sees TCF! Cale's reactions. They were always funny.

Cale started to frown as he started to worry.

– I know there are no Dragons as great and mighty as I am in this world, but I am curious! Everybody has other members of their race, except me.

Raon saying, 'except me,' made Cale flinch.

Everyone also flinched, remembering that Raon, with all his knowledge and strength, was but a child who was tortured and never met anyone like him before.

– Well, you are one of a kind as well. There is nobody else as weak as you. That is okay. I will be with you!

Some people laughed at Raon's words while others couldn't find it ironic. Isn't it funny how the person everyone looks up too was weaker than everyone else in terms of raw power/strength? Well, not like anyone cares because TCF! Cale will always be the strongest in their hearts.

Haaaaah.

A deep sigh came out of Cale's mouth. He brushed his face with his hands as he continued to think.

'Why did things end up like this?'

He had done things according to the plan, so why did all these other things keep getting in his way? Was it because he had both a Dragon and the MC, Choi Han, with him?

"Probably." Jung Soo said. "After all, the MCs of most novels are those who becomes friends or at least travel together with the original MC."

"So I should have not interacted with Choi Han?" TCF! Cale wondered before sighing. "And here I thought I should meet with him in order to avoid my fate. Who would have thought it was that very thought that led me to leave my slacker life?"

"Cale-nim!" TCF! Choi Han whined when he heard TCF! Cale's words. "Don't abandon me!"

"He won't." TCF! Rosalyn cheered her friend while trying to keep her laughter at bay. "He's already in too deep to get his slacker life even if he abandons you."

"I don't think that helped, noona." TCF! Lock said with a sweatdrop, seeing his hyung's shoulders droop more.

On the other side, the other versions of the three just watched their alternate self blankly, wondering what was wrong with them.

Raon's worried voice went off in Cale's head.

– Human, are you sick again?

Haaa.

Cale covered his face with both hands as he asked the Elf Chief.

"Can you tell us the location?'
– Oh yeah!

Chief Canaria started to smile at Cale's question. She seemed like a fan who was about to watch her two favorite celebrities meet each other.

"In a way, she is." Jung Soo agreed. "After all, she is probably excited to see the two dragons visit the village in the future if they liked each other."

"If, being a key word." Rok Soo said. "There was a possibility that the kid and the other dragon fight each other to the death due to dislike."

"Well, fortunately, the dragon was Eruhaben-nim who hates getting involved with fights nowadays." Mila said with a smile.

'Nowadays? Does that mean Eruhaben-nim loved fighting in the past?' TCF! Cale thought.

Cale started to feel iffy after lowering his hand to see the smile on Canaria's face.

"Does the Dragon have a good personality?"
"I do not dare to speak on the personalities of such revered beings. They are all great and mighty beings."

Cale shouldn't have asked such a question to Dragon worshippers.

"As much as it pains me, yes, asking an elf about a dragon isn't going to work." TBOAH! Tasha said. "They'll probably, like shown, not say anything or will go on and on praising the dragons. Either way, you'll only end up with a headache."

"Is it an adult Dragon?"
"He is an Ancient Dragon-nim. He is also a sociable Dragon."

Everyone slowly turned to glance at Eruhaben who only glared at them.

'What sociable dragon?!' many thought in disbelief. 'If he's a sociable dragon, I don't want to meet others!'

– An old Dragon!

Raon added on after hearing Canaria say that the Dragon was an Ancient Dragon. On the other hand, Cale's expression did not seem to be too good.

'A sociable Dragon is still a selfish Dragon.'

"True." TBOAH! Harol agreed. "Those two words are different."

But Cale was still a bit relieved. Chief Canaria's words meant that the Gold Dragon would at least show some curiosity toward Raon.

"I am going to skip a bit here because many of you looks sleepy." Adalie said, pressing some buttons on the remote while wryly smiling at those who looked guilty and/or sheepishly smiling at her. "Well, can't fault you since it was a conversation that would be boring for you all who already met the said dragon."

Cale followed Pendrick to the back of the Chief's residence. They were heading in the opposite direction of the flower garden from earlier. A large boulder soon appeared, and Cale's expression turned odd after entering the underground room underneath the boulder.

This location had never been described in the novel.

Cale had thought that the Elves had done some simple interrogations after imprisoning the swordsman from the secret organization.

"Oh no." TCF! Jack murmured while closing his eyes, already knowing what would be shown.

'This is not what I had expected.'

The underground room in front of Cale was dyed with blood. It seemed more proper to call this an underground prison.

Cale did not know that the Elves would torture the swordsman. Cale reaffirmed his belief that stereotypes were useless before he pointed with his chin as he looked at Pendrick.

"True." TBOAH! Shawn agreed, recalling how people feared dark elves because of stereotyping.

"How can we chat when he is like that?"
"That..."

Pendrick was at a loss for words as he started to smile awkwardly. The Elves guarding the underground prison smiled awkwardly as well.

"Damn, he's still calm even when seeing someone tortured." TBOAH! Hannah commented before shrugging while remembering the Venion incident. "Never mind. I seem to have forgotten he's true colors because we've been watching and hearing his thoughts all this time."

Cale could see that the middle-aged swordsman was almost unrecognizable as he sat there with his legs twisted and his body covered in blood.

Many winced at the vivid picture shown.

"Thank you for that." TBOAH! Cage said sarcastically. "Because we definitely needed the visual."

"Well, some of you did." Adalie answered while glancing at the smirking dragons and people in the room.

'Choi Han said that he paralyzed him.'

Cale peeked toward the Elf with the torturing tools and mumbled as he crouched down.

"Elves and humans, they're all the same."

Pendrick flinched at Cale's words. The words from this person who had no greed and simply moved to save everyone felt cold and sharp.

"Pfft." some people laughed with TCF! Alberu and the ancient powers being the loudest.

"N-no greed, pfft, hahahaha." TCF! Alberu laughed while clutching his stomach, feeling that the statement was laughable because the said person being described was the same person scamming people for money.

"Kakakaka." the fire of destruction also laughed as loud as TCF! Alberu, knowing that TCF! Cale was similar to him in the sense that money was one of the top priorities in life besides family and friends.

TCF! Cale only ignored the people glancing at him while laughing/snickering, feeling a bit tired from all the misunderstandings in his life, especially when he saw how many existed from the show.

"Pendrick, can you send the other Elves out? You can stay. I want to chat in peace."

"Pretty sure the 'chat' there means something similar to 'scare' and 'threaten'." TCF! Eric said with a sigh while ruffling his head.

'Poor boy.' TBOAH! Obante thought while glancing at TCF! Eric in pity. 'If I recall correctly, he was the one who treated young master Cale as a brother so learning all of this must be a shock for him.'

"Yes sir. I understand."

Pendrick motioned to the guards, who soon exited the room. Cale was looking at the bloodied man while Pendrick did that.
He had been with the tamer and the magic spearman. This swordsman had seemed pretty talented for his age.

Many looked annoyed at the praise, begrudgingly agreeing with TCF! Cale.

"Do you know his name?"
"No, he has not said anything."

Pendrick mumbled as he answered. Cale found it odd that a healer like Pendrick could calmly stand in this prison as he turned his gaze back to the middle-aged swordsman.

Pendrick only smiled shyly to those who looked at him, not bothering to say anything as some shivered.

'At the end of a day, he is still an elf.' Paseton thought before smiling viciously. 'Just like how I'm still a whale.'

It was at that moment.

"Kehehehe."

The swordsman suddenly started to laugh. It was a fairly creepy laughter.

"He should learn to shut up, nya~" Hong complained while rubbing his ears, causing some people to gasp in shock.

"Why aren't the children sleeping?!" TBOAH! Deruth asked with a frown. "They shouldn't watch this."

"Dude, they've watched Cale destroy many enemies and tortured some people and you're complaining that they shouldn't watch this?" Adalie unconsciously asked with disbelief, causing TBOAH! Deruth to look a little embarrass for forgetting.

"Still." however, he still insisted on letting the children keep some innocence as many sighed at the count, even some innocent ones like Amiru and Jack who both knew that the children would never allow anyone to force them to sleep since they themselves wanted to watch it themselves.

"Sigh." Adalie just sighed loudly and ignored the count, deciding to be the bigger person.

'Now I know why many hates you.' she thought with a small glare. 'Talk about being a hypocrite. Caring for others when you basically abandoned your own son for another's son.'

However, Cale looked toward him and spoke with indifference.

"I'm glad that you are not pretending to be asleep."

Beacrox chimed in at that moment.

"His name is Balbud."

Balbud, the middle-aged swordsman, instantly stopped laughing.

Cale turned toward Beacrox and flinched. Beacrox had put on a new pair of white gloves at some point and was holding a sharp dagger in his hand.

"I'll applaud anyone who doesn't flinch from that action." TBOAH! Cale said with a slight shiver before adding something else. "Well, besides the dragon and, as much as I hate to admit it, the main characters who are vicious themselves."

The hands that were raised immediately fell down on the ground with none staying up.

Beacrox misunderstood Cale's shocked expression and explained himself.

"You mentioned this world is kind of a novel, right?" TBOAH! Bud asked Adalie who nod in agreement. "What's the title of it?"

"Trash of the Count's family/ Lout of the Count's Family." Adalie answered which earned a frown from both Buds. "Why?"

"I thought the title would be something like 'The Misunderstandings of a Scammer'." TCF! Bud answered for his other self which made some snicker.

"Human, he gave a great title that's more fitting!" Raon shouted in excitement which made many more laugh.

"... True." TCF! Cale hesitantly agreed. While it was true, it wounded him to admit because it shows how his life was filled with misunderstandings.

"That was what the magic spearman called him during the battle. He seems to have been responsible for protecting the tamer. However, based on how similar his name is to the tamer's name, he just seems like a dispensable tool."

"Kehehe, he!"

The swordsman started to laugh as soon as Beacrox finished speaking. However, he still did not say anything.

"His... insistence is good, I guess." TBOAH! Basen commented. "Not even flinching when he was called a tool, a dispensable one at that."

The dragon half-blood hid a wince which was seen by TCF! Cale.

'Should I give him a name?' he thought. 'No, I don't even know him. And from what we've learned, it's obvious Sheritt-nim should be the one to name him.'

Cale's voice reached the swordsman, Balbud, who was looking down at the ground.

"You're not going to say anything?"

However, Balbud started to speak, contrary to Cale's expectations.

"Just..."

Balbud slowly raised his head. He didn't care about the Elves. However, he was curious about these people. They still had those masks and annoying fake uniforms on, as if they were making fun of him.

"He still haven't figured it out?" TCF! White Star scoffed. "Of course they were making fun of me! Why else would they use the same uniform? Coincidence?"

"Just who the hell are you? Who dares to go against us?!"

"Me." TCF! Cale bluntly answered. "Besides, you aren't even that scary."

"That's true." Rok Soo agreed before glancing at TCF! Cale's group. "We've met scarier people."

"That's a fact." TBOAH! Cale said.

Balbud started to grind his teeth.

He had never seen such experts before. That was why it felt so unfair. He wanted to know who they were before he died.
However, Balbud could see Cale smiling behind the mask.
This was the person who had fainted after launching the red thunderbolt. He believed this man was the leader.

"I'm not though." TCF! Cale said with a raised brow. "It's Choi Han."

No one answered him, feeling deja vu.

"Until when will he stop being dense!" TBOAH! Rex groaned as many shrugged.

"Maybe when the world ends or something." TCF! Rei Stecker answered.

That man said a single word.

"Arm."

Balbud's eyes opened wide. He tried to move his head back down to avoid Cale's gaze, however, there was a hand that pulled on his hair.

It was not Cale but Beacrox, whose white gloves were quickly being stained red by the blood on Balbud's hair. With his head being held in place, Balbud had no choice but to look at Cale.
Cale slowly asked before Balbud managed to close his eyes.

"I guess the Eastern continent was not enough?"

Cale could see the anxiety in Balbud's face.

"W, what the hell are you ......!"
"Sun God."

However, Cale just continued to say what he wanted to say. He decided to ask all of the questions he had while he had the chance.

"Roan, Wolf Tribe, mermaids, and the Empire. The mermaids were probably for the sea routes, but why did you aim for the Roan Kingdom and the Empire?"

"I really shouldn't get on your bad side." TCF! Valentino said with a slight goosebumps. "My country would end if I did."

"True." TBOAH! Shickler agreed as TCF! Cale only shrugged. It wasn't his fault he takes threats against him seriously.

Cale made eye contact with Balbud, who had seemed anxious ever since he brought up the Eastern continent.

Balbud started to frown. He had no idea who this person was nor how he knew about Arm, the Eastern continent, as well as their actions on the Western continent.

He lightly bit down on his lips as his eyes became cloudy and he started to smile.

"Hehe, you think I would tell you anything?"

Balbud moved his tongue to find a bitter taste deep in his mouth. His heart would stop moving the moment he burst this capsule. Balbud started to laugh while thinking about how he would kill himself without revealing anything.

"Why is he so stupid?" TCF! Lily asked in annoyance at Balbud's stupidity. "Why is he moving so slow?"

"Villains are naturally stupid, Lily." TBOAH! Cale replied. "And too careless."

The villains, although wanting to defend themselves, couldn't because of the stupidity shown by their so-called allies.

He provoked Cale with his fiery gaze as he tried to bite down on the small capsule in his mouth.

"I will never tell you, ugh!"

The middle-aged swordsman Balbud suddenly grunted. He could see the eyes behind the mask turning into crescents.

"You're looking down on me too much if you think that such a method would work."

Meeeeow.

The red kitten removed his stealth and slowly appeared in front of everyone.

On and Hong were, naturally, with Cale. Balbud, who couldn't look down because Beacrox was holding his head up, could not see the fog surrounding his legs.

"Even that was part of the plan?!" TBOAH! Adin couldn't hide his shock. "I thought it was only because the chef was annoyed!"

Many had shivers crawl down their spines, seeing how much planning ahead TCF! Cale did while his allies smiled in happiness, knowing that they would be safe for the most part with a caring boss/leader.

They were using a paralyzing poison.

"Ugh, cough!"

Balbud's body was shaking as a white glove went into his mouth and pulled out the small capsule.

– That is a magic device! I will analyze it!

Cale turned his gaze back toward Balbud after seeing Beacrox cleaning his white glove and putting the small capsule away. He smiled while looking at Balbud, who was slowly losing consciousness from the paralyzing poison.

"You can't expect me to fall for such a common pattern."

Cale had read many novels about how the MC could not gain any information from the enemies they captured because the enemy would use poison or a hidden device to kill themselves. As he was not the MC of a story, Cale did not want to suffer such a disappointing loss of information.

"Not the MC he says." Taylor laughed at the ironic statement. "When he has an entire show dedicated to him."

"Let young master Cale dream, Taylor." TCF! Cage said while trying to stop laughing. "Let him dream and have hope."

He got up after seeing that Balbud finally lost his consciousness and gently started to speak to Pendrick, who was looking at him.

"All lives are precious. Isn't it great we saved him before he died?"

Pendrick suddenly forgot what he was going to say.

"In all honesty, I'm surprised you only forgot what to say." TBOAH! Duke Fredo commented. "Many would have lost their minds."

"Well, get some rest and enjoy your break~" Adalie said with a smile before leaving, snickering slightly when she saw some shiver.