novelraw Chapter 156 : Chapter 156
Chapter 156 : Chapter 156
Chapter 156: Honey Badger (2)
My business in the capital was finished.
Actually, it was Elaine's business.
She responded to the Imperial Family's invitation and met Bahav as she had in her past life.
Things had changed from the past life, but it didn't matter.
Rather, it was what Harad wanted. He felt more at ease dealing with Bahav himself rather than Elaine doing so.
Harad's business had been finished long ago.
I found out the sea route and even recruited the Ice Mage Duke.
‘The former has become meaningless.’
The reason I wanted to find out the sea route was to catch the Ice Mage who would eventually seek asylum.
But Duke was already heading to the North.
I had skipped the process and obtained the result.
‘Lucky.’
That didn't mean the sea route became meaningless.
Just blocking that asylum route would be helpful.
It was sorry for the continent's Mages, but asylum only served to increase the Otherworld's power.
The Otherworld had to be weaker than in the past life.
And Serzila had to be stronger.
‘Bringing the Mages seeking asylum would be the biggest gain, though.’
It would mean simultaneously weakening the Otherworld and strengthening Serzila.
However, that wasn't a method Harad could choose.
I had to persuade Grand Duke Aratus.
Or entice Elaine.
‘In this case, it would be Ellen.’
Harad let out a hollow laugh at the peculiar father-daughter relationship.
Grand Duke Aratus would be persuaded only if Ellen stepped up, not Elaine.
‘It’s not urgent right now.’
The Liberation Faction of Ekampote was the priority.
Once I returned to the North, I had to help them migrate.
‘I can introduce Rick to them too.’
That Tunnel-Digger must be getting lonely by now.
Even excluding the Otherworld, the value of the tunnels was immense.
Unless he harbored other intentions, Rick would soon qualify for proper treatment.
Of course, this was also up to Elaine or Ellen.
Because the North was her land.
‘I should hand it over when I can.’
Someday, the time would come when Elaine would act as she pleased, saying she didn't want to do anything.
Because Harad intended to make it so.
In fact, such signs were already showing.
Before she did that more, I had to push as much work onto her as possible.
‘That way, the balance sheet fits.’
Harad rose from the bed.
I wanted to sleep more, but sleep wouldn't come easily.
Actually, I had slept enough.
It was to try dreaming, but it was futile.
It was proof that Elaine hadn't dreamed.
‘Was Bahav that unimpressive?’
She seemed quite interested in the past life.
The point of stimulation is reality, not the past life.
No matter how stimulating events occurred in the past life, if they didn't resonate with the current Elaine, they weren't a big stimulus.
The human named Bahav Enverque was only surprising to Harad, who remembered the past life, but didn't seem that significant to the current Elaine.
‘Well. Since it’s the Empire.’
Elaine's interest was always the North.
It was so in the past life, and the current Elaine, who was younger than in the past life, would be even more so.
Whatever kind of human Bahav was, whatever the Enverque did, it would feel like someone else's business.
In fact, it was someone else's business.
Harad would be the only one in the North conscious of the future of the Enverque and the Church.
‘It’s not urgent.’
The Empire and the Church were not topics to be dealt with right now.
There were 14 years left until the war, and perhaps it would be even further away.
The future was changing ceaselessly.
If I save Bahav, the Otherworld would lose a massive asset called the 6th Rank curse.
‘Bahav for the Empire. The Saintess for the Church.’
These were variables I couldn't handle or didn't know about in the past life.
As Harad, I had to utilize them as much as possible.
‘I want to see the Saintess too.’
There was no chance to meet.
The Church kept the existence of the Saintess strictly confidential.
Even if Serzila wanted it, they wouldn't let us meet the Saintess.
The Church also coveted Serzila, but not with as much devotion as the Empire.
What the Church wanted was not Serzila's power, but the influence generated by establishing a church in the North.
‘The Saintess is a Mage.’
And her Origin is fire.
Originally, the nature of fire is close to destruction.
Yet, the Saintess's fire cured a cripple.
Despite that, her own face was scarred by burns.
Even if she wasn't a Saintess, she was a Mage I was curious about.
Harad drew Patern.
Serzila's heirloom sword won through a bet. Although I hadn't used it recently, I had to maintain it periodically.
Otherwise, Elaine or Ellen would make a fuss.
Saying that's not how you store a sword.
Harad polished the sword without complaint every time.
Although he had it right now, it was a sword that would eventually return to Elaine's hand.
The blade touching the cloth was quite hot.
‘Still.’
By Harad's standards, it needed to be hotter.
* * *
Elaine came just as I finished maintaining Patern.
The timing was impeccable, which was largely Elaine's intention.
Elaine was in the next room.
She had been quietly reading Harad's presence and came when she noticed he had stopped.
“Food.”
Elaine threw open the door and spoke abruptly.
It was slightly early for lunch.
“Didn't you eat breakfast?”
“You didn't come.”
It meant she skipped because Harad didn't eat.
For Elaine, who ate a lot, it was incredible patience.
“Why go that far.”
You could have just eaten alone.
How old are you.
“Why didn't you come? Because I'm annoying?”
“Because I had a lot to think about.”
Harad needed time to organize his thoughts alone.
It was a habit continued from his past life.
Since Elaine didn't think, he had to do her share as well.
“And annoying?”
“Not annoying.”
“Right. What are you going to do now?”
Elaine asked with a smile as if it were a joke.
It was proof that her true self was Ellen.
“Aren't we going to eat?”
“Not that. Aren't we returning? Business is done.”
There was no business left in the capital.
Elaine seemed to want to leave the capital right away.
“Or, what. Do you have business left? The key?”
Elaine pointed to the blunt key on the table.
The key Loisia gave.
“No. That was a slip of the tongue. Forget it.”
“Not interested?”
“I am interested, probably very much.”
Elaine had a face of trying hard to hold back.
“But you're sick.”
If you insert the key, beyond it was the territory of the Otherworld Mages.
Fighting would be inevitable.
Elaine was holding back because of Harad, even while expecting the unknown and battles beyond.
“I can use the Orb.”
“Don't spout nonsense. That's your lifeline.”
Elaine drew a line with a serious face.
“You will use the key when you are fully healed, after returning to the North.”
She seemed ready to cripple me so I couldn't use the key if I crossed the line.
“Not the key. Ah, do you want to find the Mage called Star?”
The Red Tower’s Star.
Aroshu said that only that Star was the true Star.
That must mean she is that great.
“If there is no King, a Star isn't born either. You said the Tree Mage said so.”
Harad nodded.
“Then isn't it that she hasn't been born yet? The King is a woman.”
Harad narrowed his brow.
Even though I explained it like that.
“The King refers to the Origin, not the Mage.”
“What's important is the Vessel.”
Elaine quoted the Shadow Mage, Jis.
‘It was Ellen who met him.’
Elaine was shameless.
“I know, but it's a different story.”
The King refers to the Origin, not the Mage.
Since the Moon's prophecy belongs to the Otherworld, the text would be based on the Otherworld's premise.
‘The King belongs to the woman.’
The woman indicated by the Moon's prophecy has not been born yet, but the Sun, which is the King, was born through Harad.
“So the Star must have already been born too. Perhaps she might have been born much earlier.”
The King of the Red Tower died a very long time ago.
Between that King and Harad, the Sun might have been born several times and died without anyone knowing.
‘A Star born earlier assists the young woman who will become the Red Tower Master. Sounds plausible.’
Doesn't it fit quite well?
‘The Star was born on the continent.’
Aroshu mistook Harad for the Star.
If the Star was born in the Otherworld, that couldn't happen.
So, Harad needed to meet the Star before the Otherworld did.
If the Otherworld appeased the Star, it would only strengthen the Otherworld's power unnecessarily.
“Shall I find her for you?”
Elaine said in an insinuating tone.
Meaning she would pass it on to the Intelligence Bureau if Harad wanted. Harad shook his head.
“No need. I'm sure we'll meet naturally if we stay put.”
Like a compass. The Star points to the Sun.
Harad is like the flower. If I stayed still, the Star would flock to me.
“Then?”
Elaine asked about the future.
She seemed intending to adjust the schedule to Harad.
“I intend to leave after seeing Bahav set up his guards.”
Elaine narrowed her brow.
“You care a lot.”
“It will be worth it.”
Ideally, I wished Bahav would become the Emperor right now.
Actually, anyone ascending to the throne would be better than the current Emperor.
‘Ah. Excluding the children too.’
The son of a son of a bitch is just a son of a bitch.
There is no worthy figure in the Enverque right now.
Currently, Bahav was the best option.
“Among the Enverque, Bahav is the best.”
“You speak as if you know the Imperial Family well. I'm the one who went to the Imperial Family.”
“Actually, when I ate with the Pope, the Emperor was there too.”
“……What on earth did you eat?”
“It's a secret.”
“……”
* * *
“You sons of bitches!”
It was two days later when vulgar curses hit the window.
When I stuck my head out the window, Bahav was swinging a thick branch in the air, glaring at us as if to kill.
“I came for revenge for last time!”
At the tavern where Bahav defecated, Harad broke a bottle on the back of his head.
Bahav ground his teeth and prepared for revenge.
That was the setup.
“Follow me under the underpass, you fuckers!”
Bahav then left as if running away.
Anyone could see he was a madman.
Harad headed under the underpass with Elaine.
“Aaaah!”
Bahav was screaming and gathering strength while holding the branch.
“Coming with two! Cowardly bastards!”
“……”
Just when Elaine was looking at Bahav with pathetic eyes.
“I brought a friend too!”
Bahav pointed to the rags spread messily on the ground.
It was Bahav's bedding, and another set of bedding had appeared next to it.
A beggar was sitting on it.
The beggar covered his face with long hair and a beard. Judging by how greasy and matted it was, he seemed not to have washed for at least a month.
“Is that the guard?”
An old sword lay next to the rags.
“That's right.”
Bahav answered like a Crown Prince.
“A guard worthy of me, the Crown Prince.”
Elaine sneered.
Harad’s eyes gleamed.
Black hair rare in the Empire. Pitch-black eyes settled heavily within. A sharp scar circling the neck.
“Indeed. Worthy of confidence.”
I wondered what he trusted to claim revenge.
“Decaum was behind you.”
Bahav's eyes widened as if tearing apart.
“How did you know.”
“I know everything.”
“Decaum? That Decaum?”
Elaine intervened with shining eyes at the familiar word.
Decaum.
That ducal house was a name that couldn't help but arouse curiosity even for the North, which ignored the Empire.
“It is that Decaum.”
Decaum.
One of the Empire's greatest powers, who rose to the dukedom solely with a single sword.
Decaum was a clear ally.
That colossal sword silently roamed the battlefields even under the Enverque.
If the wielder hadn't been an idiot, that sword would have been even fiercer.
I don't know what the connection was, but Decaum seemed to have chosen Bahav as its master.
“Indeed, an outstanding guard.”
The knight before my eyes was the proof.
A genius of the ages cultivated by Decaum, deceiving the eyes of the Empire and the Church.
The Sword Master who died together with the 6th Rank Mage of the Otherworld alongside Duke Decaum was right before my eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Sir Hector. I am Harad. A Mage.”
Harad smiled and extended his hand.
Hector stared at that hand, then turned his gaze to Bahav.
“He is an ally. Yet.”
Bahav shook his head.
Then Hector closed his eyes and lowered his head instead of answering.
“Did you see?”
“What?”
“Decaum is not behind me, but beneath me.”
Bahav gloated.
Meaning Hector's obedient behavior was the proof.
“How did you entice them? Decaum isn't a place interested in the right of succession.”
That colossal sword is silent.
It just wields the sword without a word.
“They are interested. There was just no one who met their standards.”
“You must have satisfied them.”
“Because I am the Crown Prince.”
Decaum seemed to implicitly support Bahav.
Even now after being dethroned.
“Is he that good?”
At that moment, Elaine looked Bahav up and down.
Harad had a similar thought.
Bahav was an extraordinary figure, but was he that good?
“Disrespectful eyes.”
Bahav growled.
“You weren't a discard card.”
Harad folded his doubts.
Decaum must have seen what he couldn't see.
‘Even so, to think he would send his son.’
Knight Hector was Decaum’s hidden son.
An illegitimate child, but not abandoned. Rather, Duke Decaum of the past life cherished Hector.
‘So this was why he hid him.’
I wondered why he hid him.
Duke Decaum of the past life seemed to intend to place Hector beside Bahav, who became the Emperor.
‘Decaum isn't sane either.’
Or Bahav is a bigger shot than I thought.
Either way, expectations for Bahav grew larger.
Because of the name value of Decaum and Hector.
As long as he didn't die, the seed called Bahav seemed likely to germinate larger than expected.
“I told you. I will win big.”
Bahav chuckled.
Then he threw a branch at Harad. Elaine blocked it.
“But how did you know.”
“I told you, I know everything.”
“I am asking seriously.”
Bahav asked like a Crown Prince.
Hector, who had his head bowed, had his hand on his sword and eyes gleaming before I knew it.
The relationship between Bahav and Decaum was naturally top secret.
“Serzila Intelligence Bureau does good work.”
Bahav’s gaze returned to Elaine.
Elaine nodded with a sour face.
“Right. We know most things.”
“Don't lie, you Honey Badger head. You didn't know.”
“……”
Elaine turned her gaze to Harad.
“Why does the higher-up need to know. It's not that great information. I ended it at my level.”
“What?”
“Decaum sponsors a crazy beggar. It's trivial information to report to our Grand Heir. Who is busy enough as it is.”
Bahav contorted his expression severely.
He seemed hurt in his pride at being called not great.
“And Hector?”
Knight Hector was the son Duke Decaum hid while gritting his teeth.
“Meaningless information in the North.”
“……”
“Don't worry. I have no intention of telling anyone.”
The Intelligence Bureau doesn't know anyway.
Harad was the only one who knew.
“Aren't we somewhat in the same boat.”
Harad burned the curse cast by the Church and knows the identity of the Saintess.
Bahav knows Harad is a Mage.
We were fatal to each other.
If one gets caught by the Empire or the Church, both would be in danger.
“Fine. I will understand.”
Bahav understood well enough.
“Brains Harad, as you said, I have set up outstanding guards.”
“Well done.”
“……The question is whether there is anything more I need to do.”
Bahav openly asked for advice.
Meaning he acknowledged Harad that much.
“The Saintess. Is there no way to meet her?”
“No.”
Bahav answered firmly.
“Weren't you friends?”
“Bullshit. Cut ties.”
“I want to meet her once.”
“Someday I will let you meet her. As one of the three wishes.”
I will grant you three wishes, whatever they may be.
Bahav promised Harad so. It was the price for lifting the curse.
“You must let me meet her alive.”
“……I will try.”
“Not try, but must. Was the price of your life that light?”
“I will definitely bring her alive before you.”
Bahav hated the degradation of his value terribly.
Yet he acts as a madman.
Maybe Decaum fell for that aspect.
“It's your turn to answer my question.”
“If push comes to shove, run away. To Decaum.”
I expect Bahav of the past life didn't run away.
He must have died without a rumor like that.
“This land is my land.”
Bahav’s face contorted again.
Unlike the Enverque, he doesn't compromise what is his.
That crazy beggar was already an excellent ruler.
“Then embrace it and die.”
“……”
“Land doesn't move. It won't disappear just because you leave your seat for a while. People are the same.”
If they liked him, they would miss Bahav.
If not, they would follow the Enverque again.
“No confidence?”
“Bullshit!”
Bahav had a fit.
“If push comes to shove, I will run!”
Harad grinned.
‘Easy.’
It was then.
“Bahav.”
Elaine called Bahav abruptly.
“Why call me, you ignorant Honey Badger head.”
“About that.”
“What. Ignorant Honey Badger head?”
“Yes, that.”
Elaine pointed to Bahav's mouth.
“Why do you mix curses and compliments?”
Bahav tilted his head.
“Compliment?”
“Isn't the Honey Badger a very scary and strong animal? Like the North.”
“……?”
Bahav’s tilted head snapped to a right angle.
It was then.
“Pfft.”
Hector, who had his head bowed low, laughed.
Soon Bahav laughed even louder.
“You retard! That is a curse, not a compliment!”
“What?”
“You ignorant person! Honey Badgers are! They are so fucking stupid……”
Bahav explained the Honey Badger.
No, he seemed to be doing so.
Harad didn't hear it.
Harad wasn't there.
Before Hector laughed, he was already running.
‘If caught, I die.’
That was the only thought.