novelraw Chapter 108 : Chapter 108
Chapter 108 : Chapter 108
Chapter 108: Kidnapping (2)
Harad and Ellen are in a relationship.
That was the first rumor.
The witness was the 3rd Knights Commander, Kalinos.
He testified that Ellen was so infatuated with Harad that she would follow him into the dangerous Boundary.
No, in fact, there were rumors even before that.
Kalinos had only added fuel to that rumor. A whole lot of it.
"Harad. When you were seriously injured, Ellen-nim personally took care of you. And she did so while staying in your annex!"
Harad looked at Tursten, who was saying that, with a pathetic expression.
Tursten was speaking like an educator standing in front of a lectern.
Instead of a stick, a sword was in his hand.
Scratch. The tip of the sword dug into the wooden board on the wall.
On the wooden board were Harad and Ellen's names, the rumors, and a record of Harad's actions so far.
Tursten called those actions atrocities.
'An Intelligence Bureau safe house.'
Judging by the dampness, it was underground.
That wooden board is only used by agents to share information.
"Harad, you fondled Ellen-nim's cheek."
"……."
"And even, Harad. You even said you liked it, calling Ellen-nim audacious!"
It was when they had encountered the Asura.
And it was even distorted.
The culprit was, of course, Kalinos.
Harad was confident he could explain everything.
'If they were willing to talk, they wouldn't have caused this commotion in the first place.'
Harad was tied tightly to a chair.
It wasn't rope, but chains, and the chair was also made of iron.
Three knights were watching such a Harad from the sides and behind. They were Derrick, Zambello, and Gullen.
Tursten was giving a passionate speech in front.
'Pizarro must have gone into the Boundary.'
Derrick's peer and the head of the 1st Knights.
Pizarro must have gone out for a search.
If he had been here, this wouldn't have happened.
Of course, he could melt this iron chair and chains at any time.
He was also confident in subduing the knights.
But Harad knew well how childish that act was.
To do so would be to become just like them.
Harad did not want to become a knight.
"I know you're excited because it's a festival, but isn't this a bit much?"
"Shut up, Harad!"
"You must be really bored."
"……."
Zambello, standing on the right, flinched.
He was the most rational knight here.
The knights were not caught up in the rumors, but in the festival.
But since it hadn't started in earnest yet, they wanted to vent their uncontrollable vitality through Harad.
"Harad, you bastard!"
But Tursten seemed to be serious.
"Tursten, had a crush on Ellen."
Zambello whispered.
Harad nodded.
No wonder.
"I see."
"It's not just me! I'm here representing them!"
It seemed there were quite a few knights like Tursten.
Ellen is popular with the knights.
Indeed, the words Cassion had once said were true.
Tursten had a lot of guts.
Even after being beaten up so badly when he had dueled with the 1st Knights once, he had planned Harad's kidnapping.
"You are a knight indeed."
Harad admired his guts.
How did he know how I would react.
If Harad had been a little more hasty, this place would have become a sea of fire.
"You're right, Harad. I, we are knights. As knights, we tried to acknowledge you. No, we did!"
"I'm grateful. Thanks to you, in Serzila..."
"But another woman!"
"……."
It seemed that the acknowledgment Tursten was talking about was quite different from the acknowledgment Harad was thinking of.
"We finally gave up!"
"……."
"Ellen likes you!"
Tursten's face crumbled.
The shadow of the single candle flickered on his face like tears.
"It's a misunderstanding."
"You were messing around with a priest!"
Tursten seemed to be fixated on the second rumor.
That Harad had fallen for the priest Seria.
That was the second rumor.
"Serzila was busy hiding the fact that you're a mage."
"That's because it's a symbiotic relationship. Of course, I'm grateful."
If Harad explodes, Serzila explodes too.
Of course, the reason the Inner Fortress had kept the fact that he was a mage a secret was not just because of that.
Harad was sufficiently grateful for that sentiment.
"But you went around playing with a priest under the pretext of patrolling the territory."
That was the basis for the rumor that Harad had fallen for Seria.
Saying, what reason could there be for a mage, who should be avoiding a priest, to be messing around with one.
"I didn't play. It was work."
The reason he had gone around with Seria was because he was afraid she might discover the tunnels.
The reason he had gone to the great plain was in a similar context.
The Liberation Tower might have revealed the Ivory Tower and Psina.
"And, do you think I'm crazy enough to date a priest."
From a mage's perspective, the basis for the rumor was absurd.
A romance between a mage and a priest.
It's a terrible thing from anyone's perspective.
"That's what makes it more romantic. You must have been expecting that, you bastard."
Tursten seemed to have a special romance for love.
"We weren't even alone in the first place. Ellen was with us too."
"……."
"You're enjoying this."
"I'm half serious!"
Harad let out a sigh.
Even if some sincerity was mixed in, Tursten was also getting into the festival spirit.
"I understand. You must be excited. To the point where it's hard to wait for the subjugation to end."
Harad was willing to play along to some extent.
Because he had to get closer to the knights than in his past life.
"But you should probably stop soon."
"……?"
The knights tilted their heads.
"You've chosen the wrong place. Why did you foolishly kidnap me to an Intelligence Bureau safe house. Which department does Ellen belong to?"
"This place was abandoned long ago."
"Just because it was abandoned doesn't mean she doesn't know. And if you really wanted to play, you should have kidnapped me secretly."
The knights had left Kubel behind.
Besides Kubel, there were many witnesses. They had walked boldly down the main street to get here.
"Ellen will probably be here soon. Arika must have reported it."
Speak of the devil.
Thump!
The door on the ceiling was shattered.
The fragments fell, breaking the ladder.
"What are you doing now?"
It wasn't a question asked out of ignorance.
Ellen's eyes, as she came down, were coldly sunken.
"……."
Clank.
Gullen, standing behind, secretly undid the chains that bound Harad.
* * *
"You look tired."
Ellen's body was fine, but her mind looked exhausted.
Her backlogged work was one thing, but the future would be an even bigger problem. As the Grand Heir, she also had to preside over the subjugation and festival.
"I'm not tired. The one who's tired is the Grand Heir."
Ellen did not cause unnecessary worry.
It was just that Harad knew the truth.
"Why did you just let them do that."
Ellen scanned the chain marks left on Harad's body and rubbed her temples firmly.
"It's a festival. A little game like this is fine."
"When were you ever that kind... no. It's not your fault."
Ellen turned her gaze to the knights.
They kept their mouths shut and looked down. Hiccup. Tursten's diaphragm convulsed slightly.
"Did you all have fun? Then that's fine."
It was not a fine face.
Ellen's expression was cold.
When Grand Heir Elaine gets angry, she becomes cold.
Derrick and Gullen, who had experienced Elaine's anger in the Boundary once, thought that her relative Ellen was the same.
Coincidentally, the cause was the same.
Ellen was also angry because of Harad.
But at that time, the one who was at fault was Psina.
Now, it was the knights. I should have just gone on the search with Pizarro. Derrick regretted it inwardly.
'I should have just swung my axe.'
Gullen also regretted it.
"I've heard the rumors too. Both of them."
It was only natural that Ellen, an agent of the Intelligence Bureau, knew the rumors.
Arika was sticking by her side.
"I don't know who the original spreader was, but don't blow it up any further. We're not in that kind of relationship."
"……."
"The same goes for Seria. Harad dislikes Seria."
Oh.
Tursten, with his eyes downcast, opened his mouth slightly and secretly glanced at Harad.
The other knights were the same. Derrick winked as if to say, "Well done."
'They're completely insane.'
Harad looked at the four winking people and shook his head.
As expected of the northern knights, their guts were considerable.
It wasn't that they were ignoring Ellen.
Even if she was from a branch family, she was a Serzila. They were prepared to die if Ellen told them to.
The reason they were showing such guts was because they sincerely supported the relationship between Harad and Ellen.
Of course, it was a delusion.
"Don't even mention those rumors from now on. It's rude to me, and to Harad."
"……But Ellen."
It was then.
1st Deputy Commander Derrick showed some unnecessary courage.
Perhaps he had decided that as a senior, he should set an example.
"I heard that you accompanied him into the Boundary because you were worried that Harad would be in danger."
That was a devotion that any knight would die for.
"And that Harad even touched your cheek..."
The cheek is a sure thing.
Tursten muttered quietly.
Ellen just opened her mouth without saying anything.
She seemed to be at a loss for words because it was so absurd.
"The things you're thinking of definitely did not happen."
Harad spoke on behalf of such an Ellen.
Come to think of it, it was an opportunity.
There was a need to make it clear.
"And it won't happen in the future either."
Harad was in a position where he had to be seen by Serzila, but Ellen was the opposite.
Ellen is an identity that has to disappear someday.
If she receives unnecessary attention, it will become troublesome later.
Ellen's presence must not grow any larger.
"I already have someone."
So Harad drew a clear line.
"Gasp."
At those words, the knights gasped.
"……Huh?"
Ellen's eyes widened.
* * *
Ellen broke up the childish kidnapping game.
The knights were kicked out onto the streets, and Harad returned to the Inner Fortress.
They had a conversation in the process, but what was it?
Ellen couldn't remember. It must have been some trivial conversation.
'Someone.'
Yes, Harad had someone.
Because I think I have someone.
It was something she had heard when they first met.
Was that all?
There was also a woman who disliked it when Harad ate hearts. He had said she was a crazy woman.
'They must be the same person.'
The person Harad is with dislikes it when he eats hearts.
Once, Harad had described the person he was with as a crazy woman.
In retrospect, it must have been an insult made possible by affection.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to endure eating hearts.
Harad was clearly trying to keep his promise with the person he was with.
Harad had said it wasn't that important of a promise...
'If it wasn't, he would have forgotten.'
The fact that he remembers means that he considers it important.
Of course, Ellen also disliked it when Harad ate hearts.
But the reason Harad refrains from eating them is not because Ellen dislikes it.
It's because the person he's with dislikes it...
"Ellen."
Why am I worrying about this?
It was when Arika called her that she had that thought.
"Are you alright? You don't look well."
"I'm fine. Is there any reason for me not to be?"
Ellen was born with Innate Strength.
She could live buried in work for a few weeks.
"About the rumors..."
Arika trailed off.
But her intention was clear. Is it true? That's what she was asking.
"Arika, you heard it too just now. Harad has someone."
"……Having someone doesn't mean your heart can't waver."
Arika's question had a different intention from the knights'.
If they were cheering, Arika was dissuading.
Because she knew that Ellen was the Grand Heir.
In the future, she was the heir who had to rule Serzila as Elaine.
That weight, Ellen knew well.
Ellen was a person who had to disappear someday.
"No. It's not."
Maybe would be better.
Ellen could not accept that advice from Seria.
Even if Ellen were to act as she pleased... the situation would not allow it.
It was not a problem Ellen could decide.
"I don't like him."
……He said he has someone.