He was trembling, and his family struck Cale as pitiful. Yet Raon seethed with fury as he told Cale, ‹There are people in the basement—lots of them. Kids as well. They all look so thin. I think they’ve been starved. They’re dirty too. I don’t think they’ve been able to wash themselves for a while.› A sorrowful note to his voice, he added, ‹These young ones were beating the people in the basement until just a moment ago. I want to slaughter them all.›
Cale examined the two sons and the daughter that the middle-aged man claimed were his children. They lowered their heads under his scrutiny, as if frightened of the noble.
“So it’s just the five of you?”
The middle-aged man flinched, then bowed in a deeply respectful manner. “Yes, my lord! I brought out my entire family as you requested!”
‹They’re not his family. They were calling each other “Boss” and “Deputy” inside. Now they’re lying too! How awful! They’re despicable!› Raon served as a lie detector without Cale even needing to ask.
Cale showed little reaction as he stared down at the middle-aged man. When the man peeked up from his bow, the noble’s face unnerved him. Cale was smiling. This madman of a noble, who was likely drunk, had a smile on his face.
Has my luck run out? The middle-aged man could see House Krish’s butler in the distance. The butler shook his head, a sign that the man was on his own.
Just then, the noble’s voice reached his ears. “Since your whole family is out here, there shouldn’t be anyone inside the house, right?”
The middle-aged man knew the slaves were inside, but he kept silent as he contemplated how to appease this noble. However, Cale defied his expectations.
“The house is old. It’s quite shabby.” With no more care than he would take in tossing a pebble into a river, Cale added, “I’m going to demolish it.”
“I beg your pardon?” The man thought he must’ve misheard, but the noble in front of him was serious.
“What’s the matter? I’ll give you a new house. Is there some reason I can’t knock it down?”
“Well, you see…”
As he groped for an excuse, the nobleman’s knight stepped forward. The man hadn’t spoken even once, but he pointedly clicked the sword in his scabbard a few times, eyes locked on the middle-aged man.
What the hell? What’s going on here?! the middle-aged man thought, shocked beyond belief. While the house was run-down, its position right across from the shopping district made it a decent property by the slums’ standards. Why would this noble destroy the place out of nowhere?
“I’m going to demolish it in five seconds.”
The human trafficker was losing his mind. He couldn’t tell this noble to stop because there were people inside, but if the house collapsed, the slaves in the basement would die.
Cale counted down. “Five… Four…”
House Krish’s butler turned his head.
“Three…”
It was his way of saying, Forget about those slaves.
“Two…”
A question occurred to the trafficker. How did this young noble intend to destroy the house? Could the knight do it all by himself?
“One…”
He was about to find out.
“Time’s up.”
As Cale announced the end of his countdown, the black dragon piped up, ‹I put a shield on the basement and its entrance.›
Cale burst out laughing, which only puzzled the traffickers further. Just as they heard a low rumbling sound, the noble stretched out his hands. Whoosh! A pair of wings appeared, accompanied by a broad shield.
“Huh?”
The winged shield enveloped the house, as if to conceal the building from prying eyes. A silver shield. Though the southwestern region was far from the capital, both the middle-aged man and the baron’s butler recognized its form.
“Could it be…?” the Krishes’ butler muttered.
A single person flashed through his mind: a nobleman celebrated in Rowoon, famed not for his strength or his abilities but for his honorable beliefs. Because Guiller territory was close to the Empire, the man’s identity came easily to the butler.
“Cale Henituse?” The instant the name left his lips, the butler gasped. A sharp blade prodded his back.
Ron, his features obscured by a mask, poked the Krishes’ butler with his dagger. “You mustn’t utter our young master’s name as you please.”
Something’s wrong. At last, the butler had realized something was amiss. His hunch proved true soon enough.
“M-my lord, are you really going to tear down our house?” the middle-aged man asked Cale, his complexion drained of color. When he met Cale’s eyes, he clamped his mouth shut. Distracted by the noble’s flushed face, he hadn’t looked Cale fully in the eye until that moment.
Those weren’t the eyes of a drunkard.
Under Cale’s cold gaze and the curious stares of the crowd from both the slums and the shopping district, the middle-aged man could find nothing else to say.
Cale finally gave him an answer. “It’s been five seconds.”
Now that the deadline had passed, the large shield plunged downward.
‹I’ll support it with my magic!›
Fortified by Raon and shrouded by the wings, the silver shield smashed into the house. First, there was a crack as a fracture crept across the roof. Then the noise grew louder and louder—until the house collapsed.
Boom!
The earth trembled, causing the middle-aged man to stumble and fall. He watched the house crumble through the translucent wings and shield, wind and dust whipping past his blank face.
Those stupid slaves!
Surely the slaves he needed to sell had been crushed beneath the house. The basement was crudely built, so he was certain they hadn’t survived. He couldn’t even hear their screams over the din of destruction.
What should I do? How could something so terrible happen? His and the other traffickers’ faces contorted in despair.
At the same time, Antonio Guiller and his knights were approaching on horseback. Still holding up the Unbreakable Shield, Cale glanced over at the Guiller heir.
“Lord Cale!” Antonio dismounted and marched to Cale’s side, glowering at him. “What is the meaning of this?”
Antonio had been out on business when he heard Cale was drunk and trying to demolish a house in the slums. He’d considered Cale a somewhat decent man, but it seemed the rumors about the lout of the count’s family were true.
Even now, after smashing a house into smithereens, Cale was composed. “You got here faster than I expected.”
“Ha!” Antonio exclaimed, flabbergasted. “Lord Cale, do you understand what you’ve done?”
“Of course. I destroyed a house.”
“You know that’s not what I—”
“A den of human trafficking, to be precise.”
Antonio’s mouth snapped shut. The spectators on the bridge, the nearby knights, and even the human traffickers themselves were struck dumb.
The silence didn’t affect Cale one bit. Whoosh. His silver shield floated up and drifted to the neighboring house. As soon as the shield moved, Cale approached the wreckage.
‹It’s right here! Human, over here!›
Cale stopped at a spot above the rubble and began to clear the area. As he wordlessly dug through the debris, Hilsmann approached him.
“Hilsmann, move this beam.”
“Will do.”
The vice-captain effortlessly lifted the hefty beam, and Cale spotted the basement entrance. The door was completely intact, unmarred by even a single dent. Cale bent down and tugged it open.
Creak.