He could think of nothing else while food was in front of him. He couldn’t even stop the admiration spilling from his mouth.

“Ha. It’s so delicious.”

The deputy butler Hans flinched at the words escaping Cale’s lips. Cale sat alone at the table, Hans standing beside him.

Other than breakfast, Count Henituse’s family tended to take their other meals independently. Honestly, it was mostly because each had their own responsibilities.

No one said being a noble was easy.

Especially if you were in administration or politics, you had to follow a strict schedule, abandoning everything else if an order came from above.

Count Deruth, as lord of the region, had responsibilities that made shared meals difficult, while Cale’s younger siblings timed their meals around their studies. The Countess was busy interacting with influential wives in the region, along with other tasks.

‘Now that I think about it…’

Cale put down his fork, suddenly remembering something. Hans grew nervous, thinking this was the usual Cale. He worried about when the fork might fly towards his face. Cale didn’t care about Hans’s nervousness, lost in his own thoughts.

‘There are many experts hiding as artists or craftsmen.’

The Roan Kingdom was quite advanced in construction and the arts, especially sculpting. It was due to the abundance of marble in the Roan Kingdom. Thanks to this, the Henituse region became the fifth-best marble mining region, bringing in considerable wealth.

Furthermore, a mountain range dominated most of Count Henituse’s region. Though located in the northwest, the mountains were remarkably fertile, allowing residents to cultivate grapes between the peaks for wine. Though not a large quantity, the wines from these vineyards were still considered among the finest on the continent.

However, Cale’s mind was more focused on “strong individuals,” not these facts. He’d even missed lunch, lost in thought in the study all day.

‘Why are there so many experts in this stupid land? This isn’t the Murim.’

There were so many hermit experts here, just like in the Murim. That’s why Cale came to a conclusion.

Don’t underestimate anyone.

An average-looking chef could be a poison expert, and the man in the repair shop could be someone who viciously kills with his wires. This was that kind of land.

“Sigh.”

A deep sigh escaped Cale’s mouth. He’d just completed his plan to avoid death and live peacefully.

“Young master.”

Cale, about to sigh again, turned to the source of the cautious voice. It was the deputy butler Hans.

“What?”

“Should I have them prepare something else?”

“Huh?”

Hans held back his own sigh, seeing Cale frown and open his eyes wide. He thought Cale would flip the table. Hans didn’t know why the Count had assigned him to Cale, but held back his rising despair, waiting for Cale’s response.

And Cale responded.

“Why would you remake something this delicious?”

“…Excuse me?”

Cale picked up his fork and sliced the meat. Dinner was even more extravagant than breakfast. It wasn’t delicious because he’d never had anything like it as Kim Rok Soo, but because it was an extravagant taste, even for the original Cale.

Kim Rok Soo didn’t know how Cale grew up, but the original Cale had a weakness for anything extravagant. He liked that fact quite a bit. Everyone knew this and only brought the finest.

Cale put a perfectly cooked, still-juicy piece of steak in his mouth, asking Hans. His attitude was completely devoid of etiquette.

“Hans, who prepared this meal?”

“Ah, it was Second Chef Beacrox.”

…Cale suddenly lost his appetite.

Beacrox. He was clean-cut, the son of the servant Ron. However, unlike his father, he specialized in swordsmanship, not assassination. Beacrox was also obsessed with cleanliness, sharpening his spotless blade daily, using it to sever heads.

‘…He also specializes in torture.’

That kind of guy ends up admiring Choi Han’s swordsmanship and chooses to follow him. His father, Ron, makes a deal with Choi Han to help him, and chooses to leave with the two of them for his son’s sake. Though he may not seem like it, Ron cherishes his son greatly.

Cale looked down at the medium-rare steak, still slightly pink inside, gulping a few times.

‘I can’t allow my blood to spill like this steak.’

He turned to Hans, who was still watching him, cut another piece of steak, and put it in his mouth.

“It is delicious. He is Ron’s son, right? I didn’t know he was such a talented chef.”

“…I will convey your message to Chef Beacrox. I’m sure he will be pleased that Young Master Cale complimented his cooking.”

“Is that so? Let him know I truly enjoyed this delicious meal.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Hans watched Cale with a stiff expression, but Cale had made his decision. He wouldn’t mess with Beacrox and would try to make a good impression.

Cale enjoyed the meal once more, his heart at ease. Everything would be resolved once he got Beacrox to run into Choi Han and leave the region. Cale had a pretty good plan to make that happen.

Just like breakfast, Cale finished the entire meal. A satisfied smile on his face, he stood and looked at Hans.

“Hans, why were you suddenly assigned to me?”

Hans had mentioned before dinner that his father, Deruth, had sent him to personally attend to Cale’s needs. Though Cale didn’t know about the situation in Count Henituse’s family once Choi Han left, Hans was extremely skilled and likely had the best chance of becoming the official butler.

Hans slightly bowed his head and answered.

“The Count-nim was concerned after hearing that Young Master had missed a meal while working in the study and ordered me to ensure that the Young Master eats every meal. As a result, I will be overseeing the Young Master’s meal-related duties.”

Specifically, Hans was responsible for the meals.

“Is that so? My father did something unnecessary. I would eat properly on my own. But I guess I wouldn’t have realized it was dinner time if Hans hadn’t told me.”

Cale was busy writing down all the fateful encounters in the first five volumes of the novel in Korean. After leaving the dining room, Cale smiled at Hans.

“Hans, take good care of me.”

“Ah, of course. Please take good care of me as well. I will do my best.”

Hans stumbled slightly, but Cale ignored it. Cale saw Ron standing there as soon as he opened the door, and frowned.

“Ron, didn’t I tell you to go eat?”

Cale told him to go away because he didn’t want to see the old man’s face, but he wouldn’t leave. He just hovered around Cale like a fly. Ron had been waiting outside the study, and even that was irritating Cale.

“Young master, it is my duty to take care of you.”

Cale clicked his tongue, seeing Ron smile at him. He then threw a small tantrum.

“Enough. I don’t need it. Go eat. Why don’t you go eat even when I tell you to go eat? Don’t follow me. You know my temper if you do, right?”

Cale threatened Ron with his gaze, reinforcing that he didn’t want Ron to follow him as he headed back to the study. When he peeked back, Ron stood there with a stiff expression, while Hans looked shocked.

‘Should I not have thrown a tantrum?’

Cale was scared of the assassin old man’s stiff expression and turned back to the study, hurrying inside.

The desk was completely empty.

The document he’d worked so hard on, writing in Korean, was already in the fire. Cale had done it himself. There was no one here who knew Korean, but he had to be careful. He’d also told all the servants not to enter the study without permission.

‘I remember everything anyway.’

Kim Rok Soo had always been good at remembering things he enjoyed. Comic books, novels, movies—no matter what, as long as he enjoyed it, he could remember the characters’ names and appearances. Of course, if he didn’t like something, he wouldn’t remember anything about it.

Cale leaned back in his chair, thinking about his future plans.

‘First, I need to see Choi Han tomorrow and do that.’

The corners of his lips slowly rose.

‘I need to pick up a shield.’

To live long without dying. He had no intention of fighting.

To achieve that, the first step was raising his defenses. Second, finding a recovery method. Third, being faster than anyone else. Fourth, strength that doesn’t harm him but can kill others.

Of course, the most important thing was to avoid the battlefield or any place with bloodshed.

Cale thought about these plans, slowly closing his eyes with satisfaction. He was thinking about them even as he fell asleep.

‘At least, I won’t get beaten up even when the time comes in the novel.’

The Indestructible Shield. Cale was thinking about this first, formless strength as he drifted off to sleep. The corners of his lips, once raised, seemed unlikely to fall.

Fateful encounters had no owner; first come, first served.

The important day. What did he need to do to calm his nerves and succeed? Cale thought the first step was a hearty breakfast.

He felt like the only thing he did in this world was eat, but he would enjoy the meal since he’d be busy starting tomorrow.

“Mm, ahem. I heard you fell asleep in the study last night.”

“It somehow ended up that way.”

He casually answered his father’s question, continuing to focus on the food. Not looking at his father might seem rude, but it was fine; he was known as the troublemaker.

Cale finished eating first and stood up. The chair’s screech made everyone focus on him.

“I will leave first.”

It wasn’t proper etiquette, but Cale’s father, Deruth, seemed to like his son no matter what. He looked back and forth at Cale and the empty plates before smiling.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

Cale needed to leave quickly, but Deruth held him back for a moment.

“You don’t need any allowance today?”

“…I do need some.”

This was truly a wealthy family. Cale held back his smile, hearing his father would send the allowance through Hans, and left without even saying thank you. He did briefly meet his brother, Basen, but ignored him and headed for the dining room door.

He saw Ron following him and shooed him away.

“Ron. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me.”

Don’t look for me. That was Cale’s signal for Ron to leave the estate near the city’s rear to go drinking. Whenever he did this, Ron would smile and tell him to have a safe trip.

“Will you not go to the study today?”

But for some reason, Ron asked a rare question today. Cale frowned.

“Ron, I don’t think that’s something you need to be curious about.”

“…I understand, Young Master. I will be waiting for you.”

Cale’s forehead furrowed at Ron’s words.

“Don’t wait for me.”

Cale flicked a finger to beckon a servant to the entrance and walked out with him. Cale still seemed angry, so the servant didn’t say anything as he followed.

Once outside the residence, he could see the garden and the city gate. Only then did Cale sigh and peek back. He saw Ron’s stiff expression through the closing door.

‘I’m glad I was able to shake him off.’

He was glad Ron didn’t follow. However, Cale was still afraid of that stiff expression. He was an assassin, after all. Cale decided he would treat Ron better and not anger him in their next interaction as he exited the estate. Of course, he was in a carriage.

He arrived at his destination a little later.

“Young Master. Is this the right place?”

The driver cautiously asked, opening the door and looking at the shop. The driver’s face was clearly confused.

“Yes. This is it.”

Cale, dressed simply but stylishly, stepped out of the carriage. No one was around, as they had moved away as soon as they saw the carriage with the count’s crest.

[The Fragrance of Tea with Poetry]

It was a tea shop where you could read poetry while drinking tea. This clean three-story building seemed quite expensive. The shop owner was indeed wealthy. In fact, as the bastard son of a concubine in a large merchant guild, he was even wealthier than Cale. The only thing was that he was hiding his identity.

‘If I recall correctly, the owner goes to the capital around volume 3 to meet Choi Han. It is there that he claims to be the bastard son of a concubine in the merchant guild, but that he will become the owner of the merchant guild.’

The man who shouts and swears to Choi Han that he will become the owner of the merchant guild. Cale only read the first five volumes, and thus didn’t know if the man ever became the owner, but since he was one of the main character’s partners, he probably would.

Cale looked at the sweating driver and gave an order.

“You can leave now.”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you going to make me say the same thing twice?”

“No, that…do I not need to wait for you, Young Master?”

Cale casually replied as he opened the tea shop’s door.

“Yeah. I’ll be here for a while.”

He could hear the driver’s gulp behind him, but a clearer, more pleasant sound filled his ears. A quiet, clear bell announced Cale’s entrance.

Cale stood at the entrance, looking around the tea shop. It was still early, and not many people were there. Cale could see that they were all shocked to see him.

Well, the novel did say there was no one in this region who didn’t know Cale. He was public enemy number one for the merchants because he had a tendency to break things in their shops.

“Welcome.”

However, the shop owner warmly welcomed Cale. Cale looked at the baby-pig-like man at the counter.

‘He must be the owner.’

The wealthy bastard, Billos. His round face and full body definitely resembled a baby pig, as the novel described. His charm was his extremely bright smile.

‘He looks like a piggy bank.’

Cale took out a gold coin and placed it on the counter, ordering.

“I plan on staying on the third floor all day today.”

Billos stared at Cale with a smile. Cale pretended not to notice, pointing to the bookshelf.

“Any tea that isn’t bitter. Do you have novels here too, or just poems?”

The sound of a teacup being placed down rang through the shop. Cale just thought of it as someone putting the teacup down hard and looked at Billos. He preferred novels to poems.

“Of course. We have many novels as well, Young Master Cale.”

“Really? Then send up the most interesting book and a cup of tea.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Cale’s gold coin landed in Billos’s chubby hands. Cale turned away as Billos tried to give him change.

“I’ll drink more tea later, so just keep it.”

“…But it is still too much, Young Master.”

A gold coin was worth 1 million gallons. Having that coin, that was worth 1 million Korean won, Cale did something he’d always wanted to try.

“I have plenty of money. Consider it a tip.”

Talking about how rich you are. Who cares if Billos actually has more money than he does? He also knew about many fateful encounters that would earn him a lot of money. Cale tried to look cool as he pointed to the tables on the first floor with his chin.

“Well, if it’s too much, you can treat everyone here to a cup of tea on me.”

Golden Bell. He’d wanted to do something like this. After telling his father he needed allowance, he received three gold coins, worth 3 million gallons.

“Young Master, still…”

“Ah, enough. Just bring my tea.”

It was good to be the troublemaker. Cale didn’t care about being respectful as he headed to the third floor. He could hear whispers behind him, but he didn’t need to care; there were already enough rumors about him, the Count’s family’s troublemaker.

“Just as I thought.”

No one else was on the third floor yet. Cale sat in the innermost corner. He looked out the window.

‘This is the right spot.’

The spot with the best view of the Northern Gate of Western City. Cale planned to watch Choi Han from here today.