novelraw Chapter 144 : Chapter 144
Chapter 144 : Chapter 144
Chapter 144: Liberation Faction (3)
When I woke up, the sun was high in the sky.
It wasn't because I was tired or lazy.
It was because my prediction had been correct.
Ellen sometimes can't resist a stimulus and dreams.
It's because she is connected to the Stone of Regression.
But I dream during my sleep time.
Because what I am connected to is not that tasteless stone, but Elaine.
I am not directly influenced by the stone, but I observe Elaine who is influenced by the stone.
Of course, the observation became possible thanks to the stone's efficacy, but anyway.
‘I dreamed a lot.’
As expected, this time the stimulus was the heart addict.
Perhaps that's why, yesterday, Ellen dreamt all at once about the memories related to addiction in her past life.
It must have been quite a stimulus.
I got up from the bed right away.
It was a church. The priest of Ekampote, Benach, had left for the main temple of the Church, and Wimar was dead. Preparing breakfast was my share.
But suddenly, I felt a presence from the next room, and the door opened quickly.
“You're awake?”
Ellen, who greeted me, was holding a bag of bread.
It seemed she had been waiting for me to wake up.
“Eat up. How is it?”
Ellen asked, handing me the bread.
I tilted my head.
“Sleep? I slept well.”
“Not that. There.”
Ellen pointed at my heart.
“When do you think you'll become a 6th Rank?”
“...It's not as easy as it sounds.”
Ellen seemed to think that becoming a 6th Rank was about the same as becoming a Sword Master.
It seemed to be a side effect of experiencing the life-or-death situation with Avery Aquins.
The man who was a 5th Rank and the Star of the Deep Sea had been defeated too easily.
Of course, it was a joint attack, and carelessness was the biggest cause, but still, he should have been more persistent.
“The majority of mages don't reach the 6th Rank even if they devote their entire lives to it.”
In the past life, there were seven 6th Ranks in the Otherworld.
I had hovered around the 5th Rank before regressing.
“Don't you think you'll make it?”
“I will.”
I answered immediately.
It wasn't just baseless stubbornness. It was close to certainty.
If I had been given more time in my past life, I would have reached it.
“See? You will.”
“You trust me too much.”
I smiled faintly.
“When do you think it will be?”
“After 10 years?”
I gave an ambiguous estimate.
“Isn't that too long?”
“It's very short for mages.”
The bread Ellen had brought was savory.
“By the way, what's the occasion, you bringing breakfast and all.”
“The most important thing is not the Origin, but the vessel.”
I nodded.
For a mage, the most important thing is the Origin, but to survive, the most important thing is the vessel.
“So eat all of that.”
“...This?”
There were well over 10 pieces of bread.
And they were all the size of my forearm.
“You have to eat a lot for the vessel to become strong.”
“……”
Ellen seemed to think the material of the vessel was muscle.
“The vessel that man was talking about probably means mental strength.”
“But it doesn't hurt for the body to be strong.”
“That's true, but…”
“Then just eat for now.”
I stuffed as much bread into my mouth as I could.
After eating two more, my stomach started to complain about its limit.
“By the way, you believe that man's words easily.”
“Jis?”
Ellen called the shadow mage by his name. The hostility was minimal.
“I just wanted to believe him. Is that not okay?”
“There's nothing wrong with it.”
I didn't bother to stop her.
This must also be Innate Strength. An incomprehensible power.
‘She noticed the shadow, and caught him.’
And the shadow mage, Jis, sensed his death upon seeing Ellen's sword.
‘That didn't work in the forest.’
The small forest.
Ellen was helpless in front of his shadow.
‘But it worked this time. In just a few days.’
I don't know the principle, but it meant that Ellen had grown even more.
Whether she started to utilize her Innate Strength, or her Innate Strength had grown stronger.
I didn't know which it was.
Only the Elaine of the past life would know.
‘It must mean I shouldn't stop her.’
So, leaving it as it is is the right thing to do.
Whatever Ellen thought of Jis, it wasn't a problem for me to interfere with.
That was her share. The more she did, the closer she would get to her Innate Strength.
“He said he was cursed. What kind of curse could it be?”
“Who knows.”
I answered vaguely.
Curse. There was only one mage that came to mind.
That was the regressed Harad's share.
‘If I become a 6th Rank, the addiction will be cured. That must be true.’
As far as I knew, there was only one mage who could manifest a magic that could be called a curse.
That bitch is in the Otherworld.
The cursed Jis had a high probability of having actually known or seen a certain mage who had become a 6th Rank and gone to the Otherworld.
He must have also witnessed the overcoming of the addiction then.
“The important thing is the vessel.”
“That's right.”
I smiled faintly.
I understood why Ellen liked Jis.
‘He says things similar to Elaine.’
The Grand Duke of the past life had insisted that my essence was not the Sun, but Harad.
Saying that I was not born for the Sun, but to dominate the Sun.
-What if I can't do it?
-Then I'll kill you. You, and the Sun.
Even a threat.
“What are you doing?”
“Hmm?”
“There's still some left, the bread.”
“……”
“Eat.”
“I'll go crazy if I overeat.”
“Are you crazy?”
Ellen forcibly shoved the bread into my mouth.
* * *
Two days ago.
I had completely placated Anton.
It was a trivial misunderstanding, and since Ellen, the person involved, was there, it was not difficult to resolve.
And melting Anton was even easier than that.
For a mage, there is no land as attractive as Serzila.
In fact, the biggest credit went to Shura.
The story of that young mage had moved Anton's heart.
‘And Serzila has certified that.’
Though a collateral branch, a Serzila was a Serzila.
Ellen's right to speak was much greater than she thought.
“Getting angry is forbidden from now on.”
Ellen said with a serious face.
We were on our way to Anton.
“I am.”
“You get angry sometimes, you.”
“It was something to be angry about.”
The times I couldn't hold back after regressing could be counted on one hand.
There was a reason to be angry for all of them.
“Still, no.”
“I'll try.”
“It's not about trying, you have to do it.”
Ellen was stubborn.
She didn't seem to have shaken off her worries about the heart addiction yet.
“You worry a lot.”
“It's all because of you.”
Come to think of it, Ellen is also obsessed with the Moon's prophecy. It was the reason she stuck to Harad.
She was anxious that she didn't know when the prophecy would come true.
‘She worries more than I thought. Was she like this in her past life?’
Perhaps she was.
The Elaine of the past life also had sentimental moments.
Of course, it was only when she was alone with Harad.
“Tell me when you think you can't hold it in.”
“If I tell you?”
“I'll get angry for you. So much that you'll feel embarrassed.”
Ellen said with a feigned scary face.
“That's very reassuring.”
“Is that a promise?”
“It is.”
Ellen held out her pinky finger.
I hooked my pinky finger with hers. Only then did Ellen smile comfortably.
“What happens if I break it?”
“In the North, a promise is a sword. If you break it, your limbs and neck are cut.”
Even promises were made brutally in the North.
“For you, I'll just cut off your limbs.”
“I'll die rolling around on the street. Very coldly.”
“You don't get cold, you.”
Ellen scoffed.
“I won't leave you on the street.”
“Then?”
“I'll keep you alive. I'll even feed you hearts periodically. Until you die quietly in bed.”
“……”
Isn't that more cruel?
* * *
Today was the day the distinguished guest was coming.
But Anton's attire was the same as usual.
He gave the impression of a shabby orphanage director. It was the same for Ocellin Ekampote next to him. The Countess was dressed like a commoner.
“It shouldn't look like a special meeting. The people from the Otherworld also understand.”
The Otherworld knew the situation on the continent well.
‘Only we don't know.’
There is nothing dirty in war, but.
The continent was at a disadvantage from the start.
‘They understand, huh.’
The Otherworld considered the continental mages as ignorant country bumpkins.
It wasn't just my thought.
“Didn't you say you heard they treat us like country bumpkins?”
Ocellin had also said that about the Otherworld.
“Because it's an undeniable fact.”
Anton answered instead.
For mages, the Otherworld is the big city, and the continent is the countryside.
“In the eyes of the Otherworld, we may not even look like mages.”
Was he lowering himself, or was he praising the Otherworld?
“You think very highly of the Otherworld.”
Ellen seemed to have had a similar thought.
“Because they are coming with good intentions.”
Anton said with an awkward smile.
He was speaking while glancing at Ellen.
The Otherworld was Serzila's enemy, and Ellen was a collateral branch of Serzila.
“As I said again, the Scouter coming this time is from the Tower of the Deep Sea. As befitting an Origin related to water, he is said to be a calm and benevolent person.”
And yet, he said everything he had to say.
‘Calm and benevolent, huh.’
I held back a laugh.
That water is inherently sinister.
“That's why he must be coming to bestow his benevolence.”
Ellen scoffed.
“I respect that. He might be a good person to you.”
I said, tickling the back of Ellen's neck.
She shivered once.
“Yes. Because he is someone from heaven.”
The Otherworld is a heaven for mages.
The Scouter came from such an Otherworld.
And his purpose was recruitment.
If he saw a mage with an excellent Origin, the Scouter would guide that person to heaven.
“But just know one thing. Heaven is heaven because not everyone can enter.”
“……”
“It's not good to blindly believe in a land you haven't been to.”
“Have you been to the Otherworld?”
“I haven't. That's why I only believe what I've seen and experienced.”
I said gently.
It was a form of respect for the Liberation Faction's Anton.
“I've killed no small number of Otherworld mages in the Boundary. Among them were some from the Deep Sea. They all deserved to die.”
Ellen nodded.
Anton and Ocellin had reluctant faces. Their disbelief was palpable.
“It's your freedom to believe. I'm just telling you what I've seen and experienced. And hearing is also part of the process of seeing and experiencing.”
Anton and Ocellin nodded slightly, but their expressions did not change.
It was only natural.
The Otherworld is heaven.
If they deny even that hope, reality becomes even more bleak.
“The Balbebron and Alena couple failed in their asylum.”
“Yes?”
“To be precise, they were rejected. And they almost died. The enemy was the Otherworld. Because Balbebron is not a mage.”
“……”
As expected, Anton did not believe me.
Perhaps he didn't want to believe.
“Let's go. He should be arriving soon.”
I checked the clock on the wall and smiled.
It was about time for the Scouter to arrive.
“I'll keep my promise. I won't touch the Scouter.”
Anton had made that condition in exchange for the introduction. I had readily accepted.
“But if he attacks first, I can't help it.”
“Yes, I fully understand.”
I smiled at Anton.
* * *
The Scouter came to recruit.
The place was the basement warehouse of the building, and the targets were the Liberation Faction mages of Ekampote.
If there was an Origin he liked among them, the Scouter would take that Origin to the Otherworld.
The Otherworld is a heaven for mages.
That was the reason for the excited expressions of the mages waiting for the Scouter.
They hoped their Origin would catch the eye of the Otherworld.
‘13 people. More than I thought.’
Since there were 13 mages working in the warehouse building, it seemed all of them had gathered.
The 13 people stood in a line.
Among them was Rosen. He was right next to me.
“Harad-nim?”
Rosen was puzzled that I was standing in line.
“Why are you standing here?”
“I'm a mage too, am I not?”
At those words, Rosen was immediately convinced.
There is no mage who does not want to go to the Otherworld.
At least, that's how the continent sees it. Perhaps the Otherworld too.
“Why is Ellen…?”
However, Rosen couldn't understand Ellen standing next to me.
Rosen knows that Ellen is not a mage.
Ocellin and Anton had revealed it.
“Because Harad wants to go.”
Of course, the fact that she was a Serzila was a secret.
Because if it was revealed, this recruitment process would not go smoothly.
Someone among the 13 would have shown it.
They are on the side of the Otherworld, not Serzila.
‘I see. So I'm in the middle of enemy territory, in a sense.’
It would have been so if Anton was not from the Liberation Faction.
Thus, the Liberation Faction was too naive.
“Ah. Were you in that kind of relationship?”
“That's right.”
Ellen skillfully linked arms with me.
That gesture was quite familiar. It was something she had done before. Aroshu of the Bonfire had been completely fooled.
“You two look very good together!”
Even the clumsy Rosen, whose identity had been revealed to Wimar, was immediately fooled.
“But will the Otherworld accept her? I heard there are only mages there.”
“I'll have to beg somehow.”
“Well, if it's you, Harad-nim, you'll be chosen right away. Because you're amazing.”
Rosen looked at me with a burdensome gaze.
It must have been because he had seen Wimar's death. Rosen seemed to admire strong mages.
The gazes of the other 12 were sharp.
It was a check against a new competitor. I smiled faintly. What's so good about it.
‘No. It is good.’
If you go to the Otherworld, at least you won't be chased by the Church.
From the perspective of a continental mage, that alone would be happiness.
‘I don't know what life in the Otherworld is like, though.’
It's only bad from my perspective.
Because the number of enemies increases.
‘I wish they would all be rejected.’
The Liberation Faction is generally good or weak.
I have no hobby of killing good people and the weak.
Ellen, who had unlinked her arm, poked me.
Someone was coming down the stairs.
‘Two. One is Anton.’
The one who came down, guided by Anton, was an old man.
His long white beard was impressive.
“You've come a long way, thank you for your hard work.”
Anton bowed his head to the old man.
Respect was evident in every gesture.
That is what an Otherworld mage is to a continental mage.
“No. It is a deserved task.”
The old man smiled gently at Anton.
“You could have taken your time to rest and recover from the journey.”
“It's fine. It is a task that cannot be postponed. Also, I will be leaving immediately, so do not go through the trouble of preparing for me.”
Even consideration.
The old man seemed as kind as Anton had said.
“Are these all of them?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The old man slowly looked over the 13 people standing in line, and Harad and Ellen.
I openly switched places with Ellen.
When taking a test, it usually starts from one end.
And what determines the starting point is usually the entrance.
I was standing closest to the stairs.
From the old man's perspective, I am number 1.
“Good motivation. And curiosity. It is something that is absolutely necessary for a mage.”
The old man, who had read my motivation, smiled benevolently.
“I am Pedro of the Tower of the Deep Sea.”
Pedro's introduction was short.
‘He doesn't follow etiquette.’
Rank or Origin.
If you're from the Otherworld, you usually introduce at least one of the two.
It was proof that he was looking down on the Liberation Faction, on the continental mages.
‘He's being petty about his contempt.’
It was a contempt that only those in the know would understand.
As expected, Pedro was as sinister as water.
“Let's start with you.”
The old man, Pedro, decided the order.
“What is your name?”
“It is Harad.”
It was as I had expected.
“What is your Origin? Be honest, and explain it as you have felt it since you were born.”
The vessel knew the Origin best.
“Give up the thought of lying. I will confirm it through the manifestation of magic. You cannot deceive the eyes of me, a member of the Tower of the Deep Sea.”
Pedro said menacingly.
“It is fire.”
“What?”
I answered by raising a fire instead of words.
It was right in front of Pedro.
The flames, the size of his body, burned a part of his carefully grown beard.
“What.”
Pedro was openly flustered.