novelraw Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159: Alfenor (2)
Although I said naked, I was wearing underwear.
I had only taken off my clothes.
It was clear proof that I hadn't crossed the line.
Thanks to that, Harad could be confident. No, even without proof, I would have been confident in the first place.
Because that was the truth.
‘Since when has she been like this?’
So Harad could scrutinize the sleeping Elf with calm eyes.
The Elf's arm was placed on Harad's bare skin.
Not just that, the contact area wasn't small.
But I felt nothing.
The Elf was hugging me, yet Harad felt no tactile sensation.
It was a very strange moment.
If I hadn't seen it with my eyes, I wouldn't have known an Elf was beside me.
‘Fascinating.’
Harad realized anew how secretive the race called Elf was.
It was the first time experiencing it like this.
I had seen Elves in my past life, but never had physical contact.
‘What is the principle?’
Elves were inherently secretive.
They became more secretive if they learned Aura, and the same applied if they awakened Divine Power.
Secrecy was the essence of an Elf.
‘Is it the influence of bloodline? Then it must have been quite a formidable Magical Beast.’
Bloodlines can be long. But do they remain consistently thick?
No one can guarantee that.
If the progenitor of Elves was truly a 6th Rank Magical Beast, that Magical Beast must have been truly legendary.
‘Are flaws also hereditary? Or deficiency stemming from time?’
Elves were weak to cold and revered fire.
That was the reason Elves turned to the Church of the Sun.
The Church's fire makes Elves warm.
In a world where Mages were ostracized, the Church was the only existence that could give warmth to Elves.
‘Self-sustenance is difficult. That resonates. Even if baptized, they can't make themselves warm. Or perhaps I am warmer.’
I don't know about this Elf, but Enna Tegen was a priest.
But the Elf stuck closely to Harad.
Either way, it was proof that Harad was warmer than Divine Power.
Well, it was natural, if anything.
Harad's Origin was the Sun.
“Don't move!”
At that moment, the Elf spoke.
It sounded like sleep talking, but Harad stopped his body.
Opportunities to observe an Elf this closely were rare.
“Ah.”
Thinking that, I realized my mistake.
From Harad's perspective, it was honorable, but in others' eyes, it would look like we had done the deed. Ellen was watching.
“It's a misunderstanding.”
“……”
Ellen still couldn't close her mouth.
Her crimson eyes wavered like blood.
“I just realized it too. She snuck in during the night.”
“……”
“Because Elves are weak to cold. And Ellen, as you know, I am warm.”
She didn't look like she was listening.
But she heard. She just couldn't accept it. Ellen's gaze grew cold.
“I am certainly amazing, but not indiscriminate.”
Hopeless.
Harad shook the Elf awake.
The Elf looked up at Harad with a drowsy face.
“Sleep more.”
Then she hugged Harad again and fell asleep.
Harad squeezed his eyes shut.
Ellen was approaching.
* * *
‘Why am I making excuses?’
Such a thought occurred.
It was momentary.
Instinct was sounding the alarm that I must make excuses.
The Honey Badger incident was glossed over.
The trust built so far was the basis. Thanks to that, I could get away with scratching the back of her neck.
Harad knew this time would be glossed over too.
The time spent together wasn't short. It wasn't a trust relationship that would crumble over something like this.
The problem was the process of glossing over.
The aftereffects were healed long ago. So, this time I really had to get hit. Why should I get hit? Such a question didn't arise. Ellen was standing in front of the bed. Harad squeezed his eyes shut.
“Get up.”
Ellen said.
Her voice sounded like she was suppressing something.
“……?”
Harad opened his eyes slightly.
Ellen's hand was heading towards the Elf.
‘Is she going to hit the Elf first?’
It seemed plausible.
“You're not supposed to sleep here.”
It was a miscalculation.
Ellen gently patted the Elf's back to wake her up.
The Elf opened her eyes immediately and avoided Ellen's hand. The secretive Elf was even sensitive.
“Who?”
The Elf hugged Harad tighter and looked up at Ellen. It was a face clearly wary.
Ellen squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and exhaled as she asked.
“……Do you know who the man next to you is?”
“Who is he?”
The tension on Ellen's face relaxed slightly.
Because Harad's innocence was proven.
Now the problem shifted from Harad to the Elf.
“Why are you doing that if you don't know. Come out.”
Her voice became much calmer.
“No. It's warm.”
“……”
Ellen's jaw muscle twitched slightly.
Anyone could see she was clenching hard.
‘She endures this.’
That was unexpected for Harad.
It was Ellen, not Elaine. She doesn't know how to endure well.
“Come out. It's rude.”
“Can't I stay a little longer?”
“……No.”
Yet Ellen endured again.
Because the opponent was an Elf.
Must be because she is Enna Tegen's daughter. Wimar's great-granddaughter.
Wimar was making Ellen conscious of others.
Wimar died, but because of that, he became one of the few people who could make Ellen endure.
“Can't I?”
The Elf turned her gaze to Harad.
“No.”
Harad shook his head firmly.
The Elf pretended not to hear. She hugged him like that and didn't move. I could guess her personality. Wimar's great-granddaughter was immature.
‘Seventeen, was it.’
Certainly an age to be so.
“Hila Tegen.”
Suddenly, a new voice intruded.
The Elf, Hila's body floated in the air. It looked like a cat grabbed by the scruff of its neck.
“Mom!”
Hila shouted happily.
Then Enna Tegen, who was holding the back of her neck, revealed herself.
The secrecy of an Elf was usually like this.
You can't see them even if they are right in front of you.
“What are you doing to a guest?”
“Mom, hug him too. He's really warm.”
“……Hila Tegen, punishment room.”
Enna Tegen saying that looked slightly tempted.
Harad found that absurd.
* * *
“Super warm, really!”
Hila Tegen was confined in the underground punishment room with those last words.
Although called a punishment room, it wasn't a particularly special place.
It's just that the sun doesn't shine in, and there are no crosses or symbols of the Sun God anywhere.
Priests of the Church suffer just from that.
Also, underground is naturally cold. For an Elf, it was an even harsher punishment room.
“I apologize. My daughter is very lacking.”
Enna Tegen placed her hand on her left chest and bowed politely.
“It's fine. I was just surprised.”
Harad answered while gauging Ellen's reaction.
She had a complicated face. To Harad, it looked colorful. She wasn't over her anger yet, but was trying hard to suppress it. Guilt was heavily stained on top of that.
“……It was trivial.”
Her answer was also vague.
Trivial. Compared to Wimar, that is.
“What was Grandfather's last wish.”
“Didn't you intend to listen together?”
“She will be listening.”
Enna said, touching her ear with her finger.
Elves have good hearing. Hila in the underground would be listening to the conversation.
“Indeed.”
Harad nodded.
However, he didn't open his mouth immediately. He turned his gaze to Ellen.
Enna wanted to hear the last wish now.
In fact, delaying it wouldn't change anything.
Elves have good hearing. There is no space to have a separate conversation.
“Ellen.”
Our eyes met. Harad realized again.
Last night, Ellen ultimately couldn't reach any answer.
“Is it guilt?”
“……”
“There is no reason for you to have guilt. That is mine.”
Priority lies with Ellen.
She couldn't choose. Then that decision-making power passes to Harad. Harad stared intently at Enna's eyes and said.
“I, Wimar Tegen, went without regret. He said so.”
“……He is someone who would.”
Enna nodded slowly.
She seemed to accept it. But her eyes narrowed.
“I will ask one thing.”
“Anything.”
“Did Grandfather truly martyr himself?”
Ellen flinched.
However, she didn't open her mouth. She was swallowing guilt forcefully. Perhaps Ellen might have reached an answer.
‘Everything has weight. Think about what is precious. Me, or that guy.’
Wimar, who said Ellen was like his granddaughter, left such a last wish.
Ellen, who said Wimar was like her grandfather, was keeping that last wish.
Harad is heavier than guilt.
That was Ellen's choice.
Harad had to follow that choice.
Anything beyond that is overstepping authority.
“No. Only the last wish is true. The rest is wrong.”
But such overstepping.
Harad crossed it many times even in his past life.
If Harad had been that obedient, his Origin wouldn't have been the Sun.
He wouldn't have held the quill pen last night.
“Wimar did not martyr himself.”
Enna's eyes widened.
Ellen's eyes grew several times wider than that.
“Wimar died by a Mage.”
“If you mean the Great Devil……”
“There was no curse of the Great Devil. Wimar died by another Mage.”
It was then.
Harad's brow furrowed.
“Crazy bastard.”
“Pardon?”
At Harad's muttering, Enna asked back.
“Mom!”
Hila's voice echoed in the church.
Hila, who was in the punishment room, was standing next to Enna.
Enna's eyes narrowed.
“Mage outside!”
Harad threw his head back.
Something pierced the window silently and brushed past Harad's chin. Then it embedded itself in the inner wall.
Glancing at it, it was an awl. Made of bone.
‘I should kill him most cruelly in the world.’
The Liberation Tower came.
Kunlutsban.
* * *
‘He could have targeted when we return.’
Kunlutsban played the hard move of raiding the church.
‘Foolish. No, is he desperate.’
Just how much did Pitel of the Ivory Tower nag him.
Thanks to that, his will was clearly conveyed.
It must mean he must kill Harad definitely and as quickly as possible, even if he has to sacrifice his life.
‘He wouldn't intend to throw away his life from the start.’
He would throw his life when he thinks he can't kill me.
He must have prepared a way to live for now.
Since 4th Rank is a high realm on the continent.
He isn't a moron, he wouldn't have raided the church without any thought.
‘Five? Seven, I should generously assume up to ten. Since it's a church.’
There must be countermeasures prepared.
The Magical Energy felt outside is five, but at most, about five would be watching the situation from not far away.
Like this, Harad noticed immediately.
Their Magical Energy was blatant. Especially the bone awl Kunlutsban shot out was strange not to notice.
But the only ones who noticed besides Harad were Hila Tegen who was in the punishment room.
Because their nerves were distracted.
Enna Tegen by Wimar's death, and Ellen by Wimar's granddaughter and great-granddaughter.
“Come out, Harad!”
A voice was heard from outside.
It was unfamiliar. But it must be Kunlutsban. It was the first time hearing his voice.
“If you don't come out, I will set fire!”
Can you set it?
Harad was curious about that. Since fire is precious.
“Just in time.”
Harad took a step.
“I will show you how Wimar died.”
Nothing is as certain as seeing it directly.
Harad intended to show through the Rebellion Faction including Kunlutsban.
“……Mage. Fire……”
At that moment, Enna muttered.
Her eyes narrowed to the point where her pupils disappeared completely.
“So those Mages killed Grandfather.”
In that voice, Harad felt the secretive killing intent of an Elf.
“Hila.”
“Yes!”
“Protect the guests.”
“Yes!”
Enna's figure disappeared.
Harad let out a hollow laugh.
This turns out like this.