novelraw Chapter 128 : Chapter 128
Chapter 128 : Chapter 128
Chapter 128: Southbound (2)
Ellen didn't open her mouth again until the meal was over.
It was obvious she was conscious of Shura.
Harad waited in silence.
“The Grand Heir was summoned by the Imperial Family.”
Ellen finally spoke after Shura, full and drowsy, had fallen asleep.
“They said they were celebrating his birthday. That they wanted to see his face.”
Elaine's birthday was indeed not far off.
In my past life, Elaine was also frequently summoned to the Empire.
The pretext was to celebrate her birthday, but the real reason was to gauge the intentions of the next Grand Duke of Serzila.
Even then, they would summon her either before or after her birthday.
Because if they summoned her on the day itself, Serzila would cause a scene.
‘Summoning her then isn't an invitation, it's a provocation.’
But that was a later story.
At this time, the Imperial Family didn't pay much attention to Elaine.
It was still a long way off before Elaine would become the Grand Duke.
“Is this the first invitation?”
“No. They've been coming since the year before last.”
In my past life, Elaine began to receive invitations from the Imperial Family on the pretext of her birthday around the time the Imperial envoys were cut off.
The reason was that Grand Duke Aratus had told them to get lost.
That was four years. No, three years later.
So, from four years later, Elaine is summoned to the Imperial Castle every birthday.
Harad was dragged along by Elaine from the year after that.
That's what I knew.
‘So it wasn't.’
The Imperial Family had been inviting Elaine since she came of age.
The Imperial Family had already been interested in Elaine, the next Grand Duke.
‘It's understandable she wouldn't mention it. It's a trivial matter.’
It was a topic there was no reason to mention to Harad.
Because she hadn't gone anyway.
‘But then she started going from the age of 25. Why?’
Did she become curious about the Empire? Harad shook his head. Elaine was only interested in the North.
‘Was it me?’
25 years old.
The year Elaine began to take an interest in Harad.
From that year, to Elaine, Harad was a bad friend.
‘I'm the only reason she would have to go.’
Because of Harad, Elaine became curious about the continent.
To be precise, about the Empire's and the Church's thoughts on Mages.
‘Then why did she go this time? No, she will go. Why?’
Harad stared intently at Ellen.
What on earth is that woman thinking?
What had changed?
“So I'm going too.”
The conclusion was strange.
But Harad nodded his head.
It was the answer he had expected.
It wasn't that Elaine was going, but that Ellen wanted to go, so she sent Elaine first.
Because for Ellen to leave, Elaine had to leave too.
“Where?”
“The Empire.”
Ellen was showing interest in the Empire.
“Why?”
“You said it earlier, that you really wanted to find Glacier.”
“Did I?”
“So I'm saying let's go.”
For Harad's sake.
“That's rather touching.”
* * *
There was a Mage who told Balbebron and Alena about the sea route.
Harad and Ellen were told the Mage's location and face.
Ellen shared it with Arika as it was.
The Intelligence Bureau would try to find out the sea route starting with the search for that Mage.
However, there was no telling how long it would take.
Mages are secretive beings. A Mage who goes around telling asylum routes would be even more so.
He could just move his location, and the possibility that his face was fake couldn't be ignored.
There could be any number of Origins with effects similar to Isotta's mask.
For the same reason, finding Glacier is like finding a needle in a haystack.
That was why Harad was trying to figure out the sea route first.
“You can distinguish Mages.”
Ellen was saying that we should be the ones to set the starting point for finding the sea route.
“……That's true.”
Harad felt a pang of guilt but said it without showing it.
“Why. You don't want to go?”
Ellen had a confident look on her face.
It wasn't confidence in her own abilities, but confidence in her trust in Harad.
She believed without a doubt that Harad could distinguish Mages.
“It'll be faster for you to find out than for the Intelligence Bureau to. His Highness the Grand Duke has already given his permission.”
It was as Ellen said.
If the Mage hadn't moved his location, it would be quick.
Perhaps even if the Mage had hidden, the Intelligence Bureau might have figured it out while we were on our way to the Empire.
So, it's an easy task.
If only Harad could really distinguish Mages.
“But you have to go anyway, even if you don't want to.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm going.”
If the one being escorted moves, the escort must follow.
“Glacier is Glacier, but I'm personally curious about that Mage. The Mage who told Balbebron and Alena about the sea route.”
That Mage didn't just tell them about the sea route.
He said there was a village in the Boundary. Ellen seemed to want to find out the truth of that for herself.
“I'll say it again, I'm going. And you have to follow, even if you don't want to.”
“Because I'm your escort?”
“No. Because it seems like I won't have any regrets that way.”
Ellen grinned.
“You'll listen if I say it like this, won't you.”
Shrewdly.
* * *
The Mage who told them about the sea route and the village in the Boundary.
If Ellen had asked Harad to capture that Mage alone, he would have readily agreed.
At least, the regressed Harad had a duty to do so.
If Elaine wants it, he must do it.
As long as it doesn't pose a very great threat to the future, he must.
And going down to the continent is not that big of a deal.
It was a time when there were no threats to the North or things that needed to be taken care of.
Using his spare time for Elaine was something Harad had been doing since his past life.
However, he couldn't depart right away.
It might have been different half a year ago, but Harad was no longer alone.
He had to take care of Kubel and Shura, and even the Fireball.
It was two days later that the garrison wall of the 1st Knights was opened.
Hearing that news, Harad took a bundle of magical beast leather and headed straight for the garrison.
“Good work!”
A voice suddenly boomed.
He hadn't even arrived at the garrison yet, but the voice was way too loud. It was a remarkable volume and aura. The snow piled up on both sides of the road vibrated and collapsed.
It was the voice of 1st Knights Commander Toremot.
He seemed to be encouraging the search party that had returned safely.
It was also a warning about any magical beasts or Mages that might have followed.
‘It must be a magical beast.’
He must have sensed that a magical beast was approaching the wall, following the search party.
Toremot was a knight who couldn't be called smart even as an empty compliment, but his instincts were sharper than anyone's.
‘He is incredible.’
Toremot was a very passionate knight.
That didn't just refer to his personality. His aura was as threatening as fire.
The strongest knight in the North.
If Toremot had been alive, the wall of my past life might not have collapsed so futilely.
This life, it would be so.
Perhaps he might even advance beyond the wall.
“Mage Kubel! Excellent!”
Toremot shouted again.
It seemed Kubel had shown significant performance in this search.
Thus, Kubel would soon become a comrade-in-arms to the knights.
Harad was certain of this as he watched Toremot pat Kubel on the shoulder in admiration.
Toremot had instincts keener than a beast's.
The fact that he had made physical contact meant he already trusted Kubel.
“Harad?”
Toremot suddenly turned his head.
Even though there was a considerable distance between the wall gate and the garrison entrance, Toremot had immediately read Harad's presence.
“It's been a while. Have you been well?”
Toremot approached, his bald head shining.
“I've been well. And you?”
“I'm always the same. Utterly bored.”
Toremot turned his gaze towards the wall as they shook hands. He always wanted to cross the wall.
“So, what is it? Did you come to meet Mage Kubel… a magical beast? It is a magical beast.”
Toremot's smiling face hardened in an instant. His gaze was fixed on the bundle of magical beast leather Harad was carrying.
“Is that a living magical beast too.”
“You saw correctly.”
Harad smiled and untied the bundle.
-Ppiyak!
The Fireball quickly popped out and immediately hid behind Harad's back. It had felt fear from Toremot. A magical beast-like sense.
“Fire?”
Toremot's eyes widened when he confirmed the Fireball's appearance.
“That's right. A very precious fire in the Boundary. It will be helpful in searches. With Kubel, its utility will increase even more.”
“……Are you telling me to get help from a magical beast?”
“I've already received permission from His Highness the Grand Duke.”
It wasn't Harad who received it, but Ellen.
She was a niece who could receive permission for many things even without merits.
“It's not just a simple magical beast. This one was born from my fire.”
Harad showed off the Fireball as if introducing a product.
Crimson flames flowed gently instead of feathers.
“I'm its mother, so to speak.”
-Ppiik!
The Fireball affirmed loudly.
Toremot's eyes shone with a strange light when he saw it.
“Will it die if you tell it to?”
“Maybe?”
Though it understood his words, surprisingly, the Fireball was calm.
It seemed like it would really die if Harad told it to.
“Then it's trustworthy. Do I just need to take it on searches?”
“If you catch a magical beast, just feed it the heart. This one's food is hearts and my fire.”
“You're asking me to take care of it. Understood. I'll use it well.”
Toremot spoke as if handling an object.
It was the right way. Harad might be different, but the knights had to be like that. In the end, the Fireball was a magical beast.
What one should feel from a magical beast is not familiarity.
“Gullen said, if his axe touches my body, he'll stop shaving his head.”
It was an out-of-the-blue statement.
“Harad, what do you think? Do you think it's possible?”
“Long hair wouldn't suit him.”
Harad was being sincere, but it was also a statement that belittled a Sword Master.
But Toremot laughed loudly.
In the end, what he had wanted to do was brag about his son.
“Gullen will be in charge of this one.”
Toremot said, grabbing the back of the Fireball's neck.
His hands were so big that two fingers were enough.
-Ppiiiik…….
The captured Fireball cried mournfully.
Harad looked at it and then at the 1st Knights.
“If you are helpful to them, I will give you a white fire.”
-Ppiik?
“It's the biggest fire I can make right now. And it will be the most delicious.”
-Ppiik!
The Fireball rubbed its face against Toremot's hand.
“It really is its mother.”
Toremot was impressed by the sudden change.
A magical beast that understood words was rare.
Let alone fire. It was bound to be helpful in searches.
* * *
“Good work.”
Kubel looked very tired.
His eyes were hollow, as if he hadn't been able to rest during the search.
“Not at all. It's what the knights always do.”
Kubel was kind and humble.
“You've become able to do what the knights always do. And the things the knights of the North do, no less. That's a sufficiently great feat.”
Kubel rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly.
The humble Kubel was weak to compliments.
“So. How was it?”
“Knight Pizarro is very dependable.”
“He is an excellent knight.”
The housekeeper of the 1st Knights.
Harad had a considerable liking for Pizarro.
Pizarro was strong like a Northerner, and smart unlike a Northerner.
“And?”
“I felt the greatness of Harad.”
Kubel said the embarrassing words without any hesitation.
The gaze he looked at Harad with was shining to the point of being burdensome.
“I realized it wasn't for nothing that the knights liked Harad.”
It was a gaze similar to the knights'.
What meaning Harad had in the Boundary, Kubel had keenly felt in the search without Harad.
“The one who came to pick you up is me. You'll become quite great yourself.”
“I'm still far from it.”
Kubel was embarrassed, but he didn't strongly deny it.
It was proof that he was re-establishing his own value through repeated real battles.
“Kubel, you will one day become a 5th Rank.”
“Yes?”
Me? That was the look on Kubel's face.
He had begun to know his own value, but it seemed he didn't think he was that great.
“I guarantee it. You definitely will.”
The Kubel of my past life was the proof.
Of course, since predation was forbidden, his progress would be slow, but he would surely reach it someday.
“Ellen and I will be away for a while. We have to go down to the continent. It will probably take about two months at the shortest, and three to four months at the longest.”
Kubel had a bewildered look on his face.
It was a sudden farewell.
“Two months, three to four months. It's short if you think it's short, and long if you think it's long. I'll be looking forward to it. How much you'll have grown in that time.”
“……I will definitely live up to your expectations.”
Kubel was disappointed that Harad and Ellen were leaving, but he also steeled his resolve.
At that sight, Harad smiled brightly.
Repeated real battles were making Kubel strong.
“But don't eat hearts. Unless you're on the verge of death, absolutely not.”
“……Yes.”
His answer was slow.
It seemed he was thinking of resorting to predation if things got tough.
“I said it last time, if you eat them in secret, I'll kick you out of the Inner Fortress. Just you.”
“…….”
“I'll make it so you can't see Shura either.”
Last time, Kubel had been startled only at the latter part.
But this time, he was startled from the beginning.
It meant he had assimilated into Serzila that much.
Harad felt a sense of pride.
It was a reward of the regression.
‘So there was this possibility too.’
He was growing fond of them.
Harad found it difficult to deny his own feelings.
‘If he eats a heart in secret, I'll kick him out.’
Normally, I should have said I'd kill him.
Perhaps I had felt this affection much earlier.
“Don't go, Harad!”
…From afar, the 1st Knights were calling him desperately.
The departure was set for tomorrow.
In the evening, Shura cried loudly, very loudly.
She shed more tears than when she revealed she was a Mage. Her face showed she hated even a short farewell.
Facing those tears, Harad felt he could understand a little of Grand Duke Elaine's heart from his past life.
He. No, to her, the North was home.
And they were family.
‘This is troublesome.’
Harad smiled bitterly.