novelraw Chapter 112 : Chapter 112
Chapter 112 : Chapter 112
Chapter 112: Fire and Water (2)
Aquins went down.
The voice delivered only those words and then vanished.
The communication sphere no longer worked.
But I stared blankly down at the communication sphere.
I felt entranced.
‘It’s just an object.’
The communication sphere wasn’t the cause; the voice was.
Aquins went down. The voice echoed in my head. It felt as if it was sucking away my consciousness.
That sweet voice was demonic. It felt wicked. Something I had never experienced even in my past life, something indescribable…….
“Are you okay?”
I felt a sense of resistance from my body.
Ellen was holding my ribs. If not for her, I would have fallen. Only then did I realize that I had been about to press my face into the communication sphere.
“Are you alright?”
Ellen tilted her head.
“You didn’t feel anything?”
“The voice was pretty.”
“And?”
“Was there something else?”
Ellen seemed to have felt nothing.
‘Only I felt it. Magic?’
No. It was something more primal.
I couldn't explain that sensation in words.
“Was it your type?”
“No. It was the complete opposite.”
It was an entranced, ecstatic feeling at the moment, but a horrifying sensation in retrospect.
I felt the need to experience it more.
But the communication sphere did not work no matter how much mana I injected into it. The other side wasn't connecting.
“It disappeared after saying what it had to say.”
The communication sphere belonged to the Moon Tower.
A means for the spy Cassion to contact his superiors.
‘I’ll have to ask Cassion later.’
The power contained in the voice, the owner of the voice.
I tried my best to erase them from my mind.
What was important now was the content.
‘Aquins went down.’
I mulled over that voice once more.
The owner of the voice had intended to deliver information to Cassion.
“Aquins, that’s that bastard from back then, right?”
“Correct. The mage who proposed to you was an Aquins.”
Tyrell Aquins.
The mage of the waves I once met in the Boundary.
That bastard died at my hands.
“Aren’t they trying to get revenge? What was it called again……”
“Aquins of the River. Said to be the noble Star of the Tower of the Deep Sea.”
Aquins was the surname of a noble.
And it was also the name of a certain mage.
Tyrell was his grandson.
“Is he strong?”
“He is.”
“Compared to the 5th Rank from the Ivory Tower you killed?”
“You mean Psina? Compared to a Star, that woman would be classified as a fake 5th Rank.”
A Star of the Tower referred to a mage who wouldn't be out of place as a Tower Master if born in a different era.
“Experience, the mana and achievements devoured through it……. There are various grounds, but the difference in Origin is the most decisive. The Ivory Tower is a collection of Origins unsuitable for combat.”
Other towers are different.
There may be Origins unsuitable for combat, but there are also suitable ones.
The latter signifies the military power of a tower.
“And among them, a Star is the paramount power.”
Star was a position that could only be obtained through strength.
“What’s the possibility it’s a lie?”
“We should assume there’s none. The voice was speaking to Cassion, not me.”
Cassion was a spy sent by the Moon Tower.
It was the Moon communication sphere that such a Cassion had handed over to me.
There was no way they would give false information to a spy.
The Moon Tower must not yet know that Cassion had betrayed them.
“But it probably isn't because of Tyrell Aquins.”
Having regressed, I remembered that great river.
He was a bastard without a shred of affection.
It was unlikely that he would come south to avenge a grandson who was nothing special.
Besides, Tyrell Aquins was probably from an insignificant bloodline.
“Lake?”
I recalled the path of the deep sea.
On that path, I met a 5th Rank mage from the Tower of the Deep Sea. He was a bastard whose Origin was the Lake.
‘That bastard was trampled to death by a giant.’
A 6th Rank Magical Beast is a calamity.
It's not a reason for a Star to move.
Since the calamity was observed, the path of the deep sea would be abandoned.
They would cut it off midway and spread new branches.
‘The higher the Rank, the more antiquated one becomes. It means they become more cowardly.’
Aquins of the River was one such mage.
A bastard who valued his own life the most.
‘And yet he came south?’
To break a new path?
That's not a job for a Star.
The same went for capturing me.
“Aquins went down. Perhaps the Aquins mentioned here refers not to the Star, but to the family.”
“Why?”
“Serzila went down. If someone said that, one would think of the Knights or the Grand Heir. Not His Highness the Grand Duke.”
Of course, compared to Grand Duke Aratus, Aquins of the River is shabby, but still.
Ellen nodded.
She seemed to understand now that I had used Serzila as an analogy.
“Of course, that might not be the case.”
It was just the most likely possibility, not a certainty.
“However, the target is me. Whether the Aquins coming down is the Star, or the family.”
* * *
The fire that burned the Watchtower of Fire is special.
Because for a long time after the king died, the Red Tower was unable to burn that watchtower.
The Otherworld wanted to find the mage who burned the Watchtower of Fire.
The Moon Tower did, and it goes without saying for the Red Tower.
“It would be reason enough for the Tower of the Deep Sea to step in, since they’re rivals.”
The Tower of the Deep Sea would want to deal with me before I made contact with the Red Tower.
“But the Otherworld does not know that I am the mage who burned the watchtower. They haven’t even specified the location.”
That's because every mage from the Otherworld I've encountered so far has died.
All the Otherworld knows is that the mage who burned the watchtower has appeared.
They even think of it as just a special fire, not even knowing its identity is the Sun.
“In the midst of that, Psina’s death must have become a clue. A strong trace of my fire remained at the place where she died.”
The Ivory Tower wants revenge, but it must have been unsatisfactory with their own power. So they must have shared the information.
“Because a trace of fire also remained where Tyrell Aquins died.”
“That’s right. The Deep Sea might have used that as a pretext.”
A special fire that burned the Watchtower of Fire, which had been fine for ages.
It was a plausible pretext for the Tower of the Deep Sea to act.
‘I am the only one who knows the location of the smoke of the watchtower, the Outer Item of the Red Tower’s king.’
Perhaps the Tower of the Deep Sea is being greedy for even that.
“Those bastards think I’m in the Boundary, since my traces have only been in the Boundary.”
Of course, it was a hypothesis.
But I thought it was quite plausible.
Ellen seemed to think so too.
“Then can’t we just not go?”
It was a statement unbecoming of a battle maniac.
It was clear that she was conscious of the Moon’s prophecy.
“There’s no reason to go all the way to the Boundary, is there? When they’re targeting you.”
“That’s why I have to go.”
I shook my head firmly.
“I must show myself in the Boundary. Only then will the Otherworld not consider Serzila a possibility.”
The Otherworld’s perception of Serzila must remain the same as in my past life.
If they found out that the Sun was in Serzila, I didn't know what the Otherworld would do.
I could do without such variables.
“I must be not a person of Serzila, but a mage of fire waiting for the Red Tower in the Boundary.”
Or a mage who sets off alone to find the king's Outer Item.
“It would be even worse if they found out you’re the Sun.”
“That’s right.”
The Otherworld does not know that my Origin is the Sun.
They would only know it as a special fire.
And yet, it was enough to make the Star of the Deep Sea move.
How would those bastards act if they knew it was the Sun? I didn't particularly want to imagine it.
“I understand. Let’s go.”
Ellen agreed easily.
“Unexpected. I thought you’d try to stop me more.”
“You wouldn’t listen anyway. I’ll just have to do better, I guess.”
Ellen was a vanguard with a great mindset as well.
“Even if it is a Star, well.”
I fiddled with the Orb of the Moon, reminiscing about my past life.
“I won’t die. Since you’re here too.”
Aquins of the River.
He was certainly a great Star, but I didn’t think I would die even if I met him now.
* * *
The tunnel was a horrifying passage no matter how many times one crawled through it.
“Maybe I should ask Rick to widen the tunnel.”
“A good idea.”
If it was a tunnel we would use often, expansion was worth considering.
Preferably to the point where even Kubel would find it comfortable.
“It is a coincidence.”
“What is?”
“His Highness the Grand Duke said fire. Not water.”
Grand Duke Aratus had said that fire would descend on the Boundary.
But the Moon Tower told Cassion that Aquins had gone down.
“Maybe he wrote it wrong?”
It was a ridiculous thing to say.
But I felt it was plausible.
Because Ellen was the one who brought up that question.
She and Grand Duke Aratus had many similarities.
‘No way.’
But I soon shook my head.
No matter what, it wasn't to that extent.
“Well, it could be both.”
In any case, I would find out when I got there.
There must be a reason why Grand Duke Aratus specifically ordered me to this tunnel.
“Did you feed Fireball?”
“I did. I fed him just a while ago, too.”
“Just a while ago?”
“Fireball will be waiting at the exit. I sent him ahead.”
“Wasn’t he in a different tunnel?”
“I brought him wrapped in a bundle of magical beast leather.”
As soon as I received the Grand Duke's order, I had packed Fireball first.
Fireball was a 4th Rank Magical Beast.
Its stamina is low, but it can be replenished with the heart of a magical beast or my fire.
There was no reason not to take it to the Boundary.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It’s the safest among us. Fireball has wings. It has air superiority, which allows it to avoid danger and unnecessary fights.”
It is also a clever fellow.
Fireball will be waiting for us safely near the exit.
“I told it to return to the tunnel if it senses danger.”
But Fireball did not come.
Meanwhile, Ellen and I were advancing through the tunnel. We were already at the exit.
The exit was wide due to being trampled by the giant.
After straightening my back, Ellen peeked her head out of the pit in front of me.
“……?”
And then she tilted her head.
-Ppiik!
From the direction Ellen’s face was turned, Fireball’s cry was heard.
“Wow.”
A person's voice, too.
“Our prospective Guardian truly eats fire!”
-Ppiik!
“……?”
I followed Ellen and stuck my head out. Then we tilted our heads together.
Some man was feeding fire to Fireball.
-Ppiiik!
“Oh my. I apologize. It seems my fire is not to your taste.”
When Fireball pecked half-heartedly, the man bowed his head low. It was a sight akin to bowing before a person of high rank.
“What do you usually eat, perhaps? I shall go and get it for you!”
-Ppiiiik.
“Perhaps in words…… No. I apologize.”
The man was sweating profusely.
His pupils weren’t visible. His narrow eyes were striking. His tanned skin, too.
Though it was the frigid Boundary, he had an appearance one might see in a desert.
‘Fire.’
The man created fire.
My eyes, directed at him, sparkled.
It was then that the man's head turned.
Though his eyes were as small as slits, I noticed that he was sparkling his eyes.
He must have felt the heat emanating from this side.
-Ppiik!
Fireball, noticing at the same time, flew over and settled on my shoulder. Seeing him, the narrow-eyed man's eyes shone even brighter.
“Could it be……?”
“If you mean the Sanctuary’s watchtower, I burned it.”
“Ah!”
The narrow-eyed man’s body trembled.
“It is an honor to meet a Star!”
Star?
“4th Rank of the Red Tower! I am Aroshu of the Bonfire!”
The man straightened up and then promptly folded his waist in a bow.
His demeanor seemed quick-witted yet artful.
Everyone reveres fire in their own way.
I recalled Herbis’s words and let out a dry laugh. The fire that burned the watchtower is a special thing.
“I am Harad.”
“Yes!”
Aroshu did not straighten his waist.
It must be a silent pressure to state my Rank and Origin as well.
Unlike Herbis, Aroshu seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.
“4th Rank. Harad, whose Origin is the Sun.”
“Pardon……?”
Aroshu did not straighten his waist, only lifting his head.
“I am certain the Sun is a woman’s……”
His revealed narrow eyes were extremely sharp.
It was disbelief, and a reaction I had somewhat expected.
I was always ready to respond.
“Ah!”
But Aroshu’s narrow eyes curved prettily.
“Indeed! So this is how you divert the attention that would be focused on the King!”
“……?”
“As expected of the Star who protects the King!”
King.
‘He must mean the Sun.’
It seems ‘Star’ does not refer to the Sun after all.
“You, you’re as quick-witted as you look.”
“I hear that often!”
Aroshu, having been praised, was pleased.