novelraw Chapter 123 : Chapter 123
Chapter 123 : Chapter 123
Chapter 123: Big Uncle (1)
‘Elder. Star of the Red Tower. Glacier. Woman who uses fire. Village in the Boundary….’
It was a search with an unusual amount of vague leads.
However, it was clearly a big haul.
‘There are no glaciers in the Otherworld.’
That piece of information carried a weight that couldn't be ignored.
If played right, it was an opportunity to eliminate a future 6th Rank Mage.
In fact, the mere fact that I had gained an opportunity didn't even need to be counted as a haul.
Just killing Avery Aquins was an enormous gain. The man was the Star of the Deep Sea.
His weight was less than Glacier's, but he was a special 5th Rank. The Tower of the Deep Sea had lost a key part of its forces.
‘Killed him on the cheap.’
I had only paid 30 percent of the silver orb's magic.
In return, Harad gained Avery Aquins's death and Ellen's growth.
It was a result that could be considered not a trade, but a scam.
‘But why isn't she dreaming?’
Harad quietly watched the soles of Ellen's feet pushing against the tunnel floor. There was no sign of sleepiness.
The core of this stimulus was Avery Aquins.
Harad had expected Ellen to have a dream related to him.
The dream doesn't only show the Elaine of the past life.
That bizarre magical item even knows Harad's memories.
‘Was Avery Aquins too weak?’
Perhaps.
It was Harad who had killed him. The Elaine of the past life had little to do with a Mage named Avery Aquins.
In the war against the Otherworld, Harad was in a position where he had to hide the fact that he was a Mage.
Except for very rare occasions, he fought like a knight on the battlefield.
Avery Aquins was one of those rare occasions.
-I heard you threw quite a fit.
-It wasn't that much.
-An entire mountain disappeared?
It was a good thing no one saw, or I could have been found out by the Church.
-Why did you do it? I'm not chiding you. You weren't caught. I'm asking out of curiosity.
-I just couldn't stand it.
-Why?
-…….
Avery Aquins had an incredible talent for getting under people's skin. He died for that reason. That was all.
‘Ah. She might have had a dream but can't talk about the content. It's Ellen, after all.’
Only Elaine dreams.
That was why Harad couldn't ask Ellen about her dreams. To him, Elaine and Ellen had to be kept strictly separate.
‘Either she dreamed and can't say, or she'll dream when she sleeps after we get back.’
Either way, I would only find out after we returned.
‘I don't know about the woman who uses fire.’
In my past life, the only fire Harad knew was Torch.
Fire was that rare. There might be a few more at this point in time since there's still time left, but still.
In my past life, I had never heard of a Mage who could heal people with fire.
‘I want to find Glacier, though.’
Harad replayed the information about the Mage of Glacier in his mind.
He remembered his features.
As long as I could figure out the asylum route, finding him wouldn't be too difficult.
We had Arika and the Intelligence Bureau, after all.
‘Will they not listen if I ask?’
I had to ask through Ellen or Elaine.
Or use the merits I've accumulated so far with Grand Duke Aratus.
Harad raised his gaze.
Ellen's soles were steadily pushing against the tunnel floor. Her pace was slower than usual. And she was quiet.
It was a rare occurrence.
When crawling through the tunnel, Ellen always spoke up first.
Otherwise, it was frustrating.
Time flowed slowly in this narrow, stuffy tunnel if you didn't do something else.
“Do people really live in the Boundary?”
While Harad was thinking about what he had gained from Avery Aquins, Ellen was thinking about the couple, Balbebron and Alena.
“How would I know. But, as I said before, the possibility is high.”
“Do you really think so?”
Ellen asked the same question Balbebron had.
It meant she wanted me to tell her more honestly, and in more detail, than before.
“I think it's unlikely.”
“But earlier, why did you…….”
“That's how it originally was. I'm a negative person.”
In my past life, I would have just denied it.
Saying it was impossible.
“But that would be a prejudice.”
“…….”
“I once told Kubel, that I'm covered in a lot of dust.”
Prejudice isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It sometimes speeds up the thought process. The same goes for the manifestation of magic.
But there are places and times when one must get rid of prejudice.
The Boundary was one such place.
“You said there was a Mage who told Balbebron and Alena about the sea route.”
I didn't know what kind of Mage it was, but he had taken into account that the couple would fail to gain asylum.
“The failure that Mage spoke of probably didn't mean dying in the Boundary. He must have predicted they would be rejected by the Otherworld.”
There are villages in the Boundary where such people gather and live.
Those are words that couldn't have been said otherwise.
“That Mage knew that the Otherworld only accepts Mages.”
Harad sensed something unusual about that Mage.
“Well, even without the existence of that Mage, a village probably exists. At least, that's what I think.”
Harad trusted his own intuition, but he also trusted the Boundary.
The Boundary is a land where nothing would be strange if it happened.
‘Maybe it's stranger if there isn't one. After all, I've even regressed.’
Ellen's pace quickened slightly.
“The effects of Avery Aquins's robe were significant. And Balbebron is a Superhuman.”
Harad had even told the couple about the map of the Boundary in his head.
It was because Ellen had wished for their survival.
“If they just pay attention to the path, Balbebron and Alena will probably be safe for quite a long time.”
“……We'll meet again, right?”
“We will, unless they hide very, very well in their village.”
Ellen moved even faster.
It was the speed I was always used to.
-Ppiik!
The Fireball, which had been moving forward with Ellen, cried out as if in greeting.
It seemed Ellen was smiling.
* * *
While Seria the Guillotine was staying in Serzila, the Fireball was inside the tunnel.
It was Harad's command. He had told the Fireball not to come out of the tunnel.
It was because knights had been stationed at the entrance.
The knights might attack.
That's what I told the Fireball, but in truth, that wasn't the only reason.
Harad had also considered the possibility that the Fireball might attack the knights.
No matter how well it obeyed, it was still a Magical Beast.
“You can stay in the underground.”
That concern had lessened somewhat.
The Fireball was on Harad's side. It hadn't helped Aroshu or mourned his death.
That was reason enough to trust it.
-Ppiik!
The Fireball looked happy.
It seemed the time it had spent waiting in the tunnel last time had been an ordeal.
“I'll tell the knights. No one will touch it.”
Horn, who had been guarding the tunnel entrance and greeted Harad and Ellen, said.
Though it was a Magical Beast, if its owner was Harad, the 2nd Knights would not touch it.
Harad was already a member of Serzila. He was also a friend of Cassion, the 2nd Knights Commander.
“Thanks.”
Harad fed the Fireball some Crimson Flames.
Horn, who was stationed in the tunnel, watched the scene with a look of renewed disbelief. Crimson Flames. The magic that had once seared him was food for that Magical Beast.
“What are you going to do now?”
Ellen asked, stroking the Fireball as it pecked at the Crimson Flames.
“First, I need to wash up. I need to change clothes too.”
The same went for Ellen.
She nodded her head.
“And after that? I'm hungry.”
So that's why she asked.
Ellen was suggesting they go eat Kubel's food.
“I need to see Shura, too.”
Come to think of it, Ellen had given up the festival with Shura to go to the Boundary.
The festival had ended a long time ago.
Of course, it was unlikely that Shura was angry, but it was necessary to meet her first.
“You go ahead and eat.”
“What about you?”
“I think I'll be a bit late. I have to make a report.”
I could do it tomorrow.
That thought didn't occur to me.
Harad wanted to face Grand Duke Aratus as soon as possible.
A Mage's characteristic curiosity was urging him on.
“His Highness the Grand Duke is probably waiting for me as well.”
As expected, the door to the Grand Duke's residence would be wide open.
Grand Duke Aratus would also be anticipating the results of this meeting he had arranged.
“Should I go with you?”
“You?”
“Yes.”
At those words, Harad stared intently at Ellen.
Once, when he was saving Cassion, Harad hadn't been crushed by Grand Duke Aratus.
It was because Elaine was there.
In front of Grand Duke Aratus, Elaine becomes an excellent shield.
But Ellen was a different case.
It would surely be different from when it was Elaine.
Harad had never faced Grand Duke Aratus together with Ellen.
But he had a rough idea of what would happen.
‘A daughter siding with an unrelated man in front of her father.’
Isn't that a perfect situation to get killed in?
It's better to be crushed alone.
“It's fine. I'll go alone.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to live.”
“……?”
* * *
I said that, but in reality, there's no way I would die even if we went together.
If that were the case, I would have died when Ellen was helping with my recuperation.
Back then, Harad had been crushed as usual.
But the intensity was much greater than usual.
Come to think of it, it was the same when I got the steel ring.
The reason was obvious.
It was probably because I was getting closer to Elaine or Ellen.
Grand Duke Aratus tries to get his daughter and Harad to interact, but when they actually do, he hates it.
‘Died while walking.’
When I got the steel ring, that's what Grand Duke Aratus had said.
It was because Ellen was waiting for Harad in front of the Grand Duke's residence.
Harad remembered that warning clearly.
If it was that bad just for waiting, what if we went together?
‘Of course, he won't kill me.’
Something painful enough to make me feel like I was dying might happen.
Harad didn't particularly want to be in pain.
He was used to pain, not enjoyed it.
As expected, the door to the Grand Duke's residence was wide open.
The angle was remarkable, but the aura flowing out was not that much.
‘As I thought.’
The angle of the door represents Grand Duke Aratus's emotions.
This time, it was curiosity, not anger.
The air inside the Grand Duke's residence wasn't too heavy either. It was as if he was telling me to come quickly. Harad ascended the stairs without delay and entered the open room. Grand Duke Aratus was sitting there.
“I believe I told you not to make contact.”
“Because I'm a contrarian.”
The aura surged.
But I wasn't crushed.
Thus, Grand Duke Aratus wants Harad to get along with his daughter. Why? I still didn't know.
“Actually, she was the one who came this time as well.”
I still wasn't crushed.
He still didn't like it, but it seemed he could tolerate this much now.
“I told her to get lost, but she wouldn't leave.”
Kwa-jik!
Harad was slammed into the floor.
‘So cursing is not okay.’
The moment of being crushed was brief.
Harad immediately picked himself up. It hurt, but he wasn't injured.
It was probably because he knew it was a lie.
“As ordered, I have met with the fire.”
“And yet you returned.”
“Did you wish for me to seek asylum?”
Grand Duke Aratus didn't answer.
“The fire.”
“I killed him.”
“Why.”
Grand Duke Aratus was the one who arranged the meeting with Aroshu.
But the Grand Duke was indifferent even when told he had killed Aroshu. He pushed forward curiosity instead of anger.
“Because he tried to kill me.”
“Is that so.”
At that, Grand Duke Aratus let out a short laugh.
To Harad's eyes, it looked like a sneer. At whom?
“Who is the Elder?”
“A bad friend.”
Grand Duke Aratus answered readily.
Harad found that surprising.
‘I thought he wouldn't tell me.’
The Grand Duke seemed to be in a good mood.
‘A friend.’
And with a 6th Rank Mage from the Otherworld called a Sage, no less.
“I didn't know you had a Mage friend.”
“…….”
“You, who asked me if I was crazy when I said we should save Kubel, that mere Mage.”
Grand Duke Aratus's eyebrow twitched.
However, he didn't crush me. Perhaps he felt a bit guilty himself.
“You're crazy.”
The Grand Duke's contemplation was short.
It seemed like he was about to crush me. Harad changed the subject.
“I met the river. They called him the Star of the Deep Sea. Did you know?”
“I did not.”
But the Moon Tower knew.
Not only that, they even gave a hint to Cassion, who was nothing more than an insect spy.
But the Sage wouldn't know?
The possibility that Grand Duke Aratus was pretending not to know? A friend. The person called the Elder must also belong to a Tower.
The Red Tower wants Harad dead.
The Tower of the Deep Sea wants to keep Harad alive for a long time to delay the fulfillment of the prophecy.
“By any chance, is your friend from the Tower of the Deep Sea?”
Grand Duke Aratus didn't answer.
“Why did you order me to meet the fire?”
“Confirmation was needed.”
Grand Duke Aratus was always a man of few words.
That Grand Duke had many secrets. Perhaps as many as the regressed Harad.
Harad wanted to probe those secrets.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke, by any chance.”
“……?”
“Are you on the Otherworld's side?”
Those words seemed utterly disgusting to Grand Duke Aratus.
I heard the Grand Duke say something.
I couldn't make it out. There was a ringing in my ears. His face seemed to have contorted, but it passed so quickly that I couldn't be sure.
When I came to my senses, Harad was embedded very deeply in the ground.
A very thick stream of blood was flowing back up my esophagus.
It was then that the door opened.
“Uncle?”
Strangely, even amidst the ringing, that voice was clear. It was Ellen.
“Big Uncle?”
Grand Duke Aratus was.
He was Ellen's big uncle.
“……What is this?”
For a voice addressing her big uncle, it was exceedingly cold.