novelraw Chapter 163 : Chapter 163
Chapter 163 : Chapter 163
Chapter 163: Splash (3)
Ellen had a dream.
I want to ask right away what kind of dream she had, but that was impossible.
It is only Elaine who dreams.
Elaine and Ellen are different people. Harad was in a position where he had to maintain that formula.
It was not that difficult a task.
‘Since I dream too.’
If only he could fall asleep right away, Harad would dream the dream Ellen had.
So he considered staying one more day, but the situation did not allow it.
Hila Tegen seemed to want Harad to stay longer, but the owner of the church did not.
Enna Tegen wanted Harad and Ellen to disappear quickly and quietly.
It sounded harsh, but it was not particularly bad. On the contrary, it was rather smooth.
Guilt turned into atonement.
It still had weight, but it was certainly lighter than before.
As proof, a smile lingered on Ellen’s face as she walked.
Harad thought that smile resembled a flower.
It was the season when flowers slowly began to bloom.
Although spring had arrived, it was a rare sight once one went up to the North.
For the Elaine of the previous life, it was difficult to see flowers.
As soon as she left the territory, Ellen put a cigarette in her mouth.
She usually smoked when she felt frustrated, but she also smoked when she felt relieved.
Harad was about to manifest a flame at the tip of the cigarette but stopped.
It was because Ellen, noticing the mana fluctuation, frowned.
“Why?”
“From now on, magic is forbidden on the continent.”
“Then my lifespan will shorten.”
The Liberation Tower’s Rebellion Faction.
Kunlutsban, who must have been a leader of sorts, stepped forward himself and failed.
It would not end there.
The Otherworld had to turn the Ivory Tower’s heart around.
The Rebellion Faction would continue to target Harad.
‘The Otherworld mages hiding would do the same.’
If Harad discovered them or was discovered, a fight was inevitable.
“Still, no. Use it only when absolutely necessary.”
Even though he explained, Ellen shook her head firmly.
“A surprise attack is best when dealing with mages on the continent.”
He had to aim for the moment when they could not be sure if the other was a mage.
Harad was at a disadvantage since his face was known to the Rebellion Faction.
However, he had an advantage against the Otherworld.
If it was an outstanding Otherworld mage, they would be in his memory, and if it was an unknown mage, Harad would surely notice them first.
“I am by your side. Give me a signal. I will launch a surprise attack.”
Ellen did not seem willing to yield.
Harad nodded, accepting it.
It was a promise that would become meaningless anyway if the situation became urgent.
The spring breeze was gentle, and Ellen’s hair fluttered softly.
Between the strands, flower petals floated in the wind.
It was quite lyrical, but the sight of her smoking a cigarette in the midst of it was even more impressive.
It was a heterogeneous yet surprisingly decent scenery. So he could not take his eyes off it.
“Why?”
“Just because.”
He was sincere.
There was not much else to look at anyway.
Ellen might be enjoying herself, but Harad was in the position of waiting for that cigarette to burn out completely.
Come to think of it, it was like that in the previous life too.
Harad always waited for Elaine to finish smoking her cigarette.
‘Selfish.’
The Elaine of the previous life was willful.
“Do you dislike it?”
“Hmm?”
The cigarette disappeared from between her lips.
“I asked if you dislike it.”
Before he knew it, Ellen was hiding both hands behind her back.
Smoke was rising from there.
“If you dislike it, I will quit.”
Ellen’s face was somewhat flushed.
“It smells…… and the taste might be unpleasant too…….”
“Taste?”
Harad tilted his head.
“Does smoke have a taste?”
Only smokers taste it.
“……There is such a thing. They say many people dislike it.”
It seemed to be something only smokers understood.
“Well, I do not dislike it. Neither the smell.”
For Harad, it did not matter either way.
“You do not have to quit.”
Ellen smoked the same cigarette as the Elaine of the previous life.
That filthy smell evoked nostalgia for Harad.
“Then what?”
“Hmm?”
“What do you dislike?”
“What I dislike. There are many.”
The Otherworld, the Liberation Tower’s Rebellion Faction, part of the Church, Enverque…….
“Not that.”
Ellen cut off Harad’s words.
“Things like cigarettes. Disliking people who smoke, disliking short hair, things like that.”
Ellen spoke while touching the tips of her hair.
“Suddenly?”
“Just answer.”
“…….”
Harad could not answer.
Because he did not know what her intention was.
When there was no answer, Ellen frowned.
She did not force him.
“Then I will figure it out myself.”
Figure out what.
“Instead, if there is something you dislike, you must tell me. Then I will fix it.”
Harad nodded for now.
* * *
There was no need to retrace exactly the path they came.
The capital, Ekampote, and even Premont. That is a roundabout way.
Roads are everywhere.
It is thanks to human curiosity about the world.
The road to the North is easier.
Just go straight up.
As you do, it gets cold, and as it gets colder, the road leading to Serzila appears.
Campsites were also everywhere.
“Are you not sleeping together?”
Harad spoke to Ellen, who was trying to enter a different tent. Ellen flinched.
“……Why should we sleep together.”
“Did you not say that if you are a guard, you must watch over the person you are guarding?”
When going down to Premont, Ellen had said that and used the same tent.
“Right now my body is hot…… too hot, so no.”
Ellen said so and went into the tent.
Spring seemed to be spring.
-If you really want to care for Serzila, do so after I become the Grand Duke.
On that spring day.
Harad had a dream.
* * *
The unknown is an object of fear, but also an object of curiosity.
Some chase it, and some fear it.
Darkness was one of those unknowns.
If there are people who fear the night, there are also people who like it.
It means it is a perfect time to attack.
Those on the receiving end fear it, and those doing it welcome it.
It was an exceptionally dark night.
The chill dulled the senses, and the sky covered with snow clouds hid the moon.
They were getting closer to the North.
So the execution should be as soon as possible. Since they had postponed it until now, they had to finish it today.
“They fell asleep deeply.”
Someone spoke in the darkness.
It was a man wearing a round glass monocle on one eye.
“Finally.”
At the subordinate’s report, the man clenched his fist tightly.
Harad often fell fast asleep, but the woman was the problem.
That black-haired bitch kept watch all night with eyes half-asleep.
That vigilance was released only today.
It must be because they would arrive in Serzila tomorrow.
They were already in the territory of the North. If they missed today, there would be no more chances.
“Do not forget. That bitch is the priority.”
She was an unusual woman.
The Bone Awl Kunlutsban and his subordinates were defeated by that woman.
To kill Harad, they had to deal with that woman first.
“You can tear her to shreds. Only Harad’s corpse needs to be intact.”
The Tower wanted him.
They would hand the corpse intact to the Ivory mage, and through him, they would prove it.
That the continent’s Magic Tower is also a Magic Tower.
“Stop here.”
The man advancing slowly raised his hand.
The subordinates following him stopped.
She is a sensitive bitch.
If they approach any closer, they will be detected.
The man looked back at his subordinates and nodded.
His left hand grabbed his right index finger tightly and pulled it straight.
That was the incantation. The solidified will was manifested in reality.
It was pitch-black poison. At the same time, it was a snake.
If that bites, the bitch will writhe in poison. Kill her then.
The man checked his subordinates’ prepared magic and nodded.
The round glass magnified his vision, the smell of blooming grass hid the poison’s scent, and the low blowing wind fixed the mana fluctuations in one place.
The Brush dyed the snake transparent. With that, the snake became colorless and odorless.
Like this, magic was art, and sometimes it becomes a collaborative work.
The snake that fell on the snowy ground stretched out.
The poison, easily over tens of meters long, slowly crawled toward the tent the bitch entered.
……Then it disappeared.
The man’s brow narrowed.
It was not because it was night or dark that it became invisible.
The darkness was moving as if it were alive.
The snake did not disappear; it was eaten.
The man hurriedly turned his gaze.
“Ugh…….”
A short groan was heard. That was all. The subordinates were gone.
Nothing was visible. Although they were among the dead trees, even those were not visible.
The darkness rippled and created a gap.
With teeth sprouting, it looked exactly like a mouth.
“Don’t.”
That mouth spoke.
The man intuitively sensed it was magic.
And that the owner of that magic was of a much higher Rank.
“Are you a Seeker?”
Seeker. A mage who does not predate on hearts.
Right, the man tried to answer. But his mouth would not open.
His mouth was blocked by something. The man realized it was not darkness but a shadow.
“……Seekers are good. I don’t eat them.”
The darkness shrank back. It was for a moment.
“But I will eat you guys. Harad is better.”
Poof. The shadow covered the man.
It looked like covering a person with a blanket, but soon it sank deep into the ground.
“Hee.”
The mouth drooled. Not long after, it spat out a person.
It was a tall and skinny man. He stared intently at the campsite.
“Will I die if I go?”
Jis spat out with a gloomy look.
Harad had attacked him. Ellen had done so too.
“He said he would kill me if he saw me again…….”
Jis looked at the hearts that had just entered the shadow.
“……Would it be okay if I say I will share?”
Harad would need hearts too.
Jis thought for a moment and shook his head.
He had to save them.
Hearts might become scarce in the future.
Beyond this point was a place Jis had not experienced.
“It is cold there…….”
He hates the cold.
Because light does not enter the shadow.
But Jis had to go.
Because Harad was going. Jis wanted to follow him.
Why?
He does not know the reason.
But Jis’s one and only friend said this.
“Follow where the Origin points…….”
* * *
‘There is no logic.’
Dreams can be induced.
If a stimulus is given, Ellen dreams of past life memories related to that stimulus.
However, the inducibility is not very high.
If there is no past related to the stimulus, Ellen dreams of a random past life.
This time was like that.
Elves were a race not involved in the previous life.
-Who do you follow? Me, or Serzila?
Harad recalled the dream and smiled bitterly.
Certainly. There was a time when he thought the two were one.
-And before that, care for me.
Still, he thought he cared for her in his own way.
Perhaps Harad was also one of the people who pushed Elaine.
He did not feel terribly sorry.
Because this time, he is clearly distinguishing and caring for her.
-Being born ignorant and choosing to be ignorant are different.
So what resonated was a different phrase.
Guinea Oslane.
That mercenary who hoped to immigrate.
Elaine referred to that woman as being born ignorant.
‘Anyone can see she is of the North.’
So Guinea Oslane is suitable for the North.
But Elaine lowered Guinea and elevated the North.
‘That the North chooses to be ignorant.’
Anyone could see it was bullshit.
The North is ignorant, that is correct. Yet they were strong.
Borrowing Elaine’s words, that is why they were strong.
In Harad’s opinion, that was even more bullshit.
‘Were they ignorant from the beginning?’
That cannot be.
There are people born ignorant, but there is no land where only ignorant people are born.
Serzila’s Intelligence Bureau does not fall behind the Empire.
Intelligence Bureau agents are smart.
They are mostly from the North.
Even those precious mages are born on the continent, not just in the Otherworld.
The land does not discriminate against people.
People discriminate against the land.
‘Unusually smart people drain into the Intelligence Bureau.’
But the world is not divided into black and white.
They are just not exceptionally smart, not ignorant.
‘There are smart knights.’
Just like mages, knights had to be smart too.
Talent is a given, and on top of that, the higher the intellect, the more advantageous.
Because a Sword Master is ultimately a realm where one must explore one’s own essence.
Kalinos, the 3rd Knights Commander, was proof of that.
Of course, he realized it because he advanced ignorantly, but he already knew his essence to some extent.
If he were stupid, he could not do that.
Kalinos was insidious enough to deviate from the search route without Serzila knowing.
Although his body was ignorant, his head was smart.
‘There really are smart knights. And more of them than I thought.’
So, Harad was already certain.
They are just hiding.
Because in the North, being ignorant is a virtue.
That can be understood.
The North is a polar region.
They had to warm their bodies with the energy used to roll their brains.
Such an environment became a custom and a trend.
Since ancient times, those who only rolled their brains either died or moved south.
Only those who simply rolled their bodies survived.
So the North goes into a seizure at the words that they are smart.
That is an insult pointing to a foolish guy who stays still and dies.
‘Knights are not something you fix and use.’
Grand Duke Elaine had said that once.
Since they break if you fix them, Harad should just bolster their ignorance.
‘No matter how much I think about it, they won't break.’
Harad found it difficult to understand those words.
Kalinos did not break. Gullen, who was a Great Warrior in the previous life, was the same.
You die if you roll your brain. That is an old saying.
The North is still a polar region, but the people living in that land have already adapted.
Now, no matter how much you roll your brain in the corner of your house, you do not die.
There are cities, and you can just layer your clothes.
‘But the North chooses to be ignorant.’
The Elaine of the previous life disliked Guinea Oslane who was born ignorant.
‘But we shouldn’t fix ignorance…….’
It does not add up.
But just because it was the Elaine of the previous life, she did not always speak the correct answer.
That Grand Duke was a willful human.
“What are you thinking?”
At that moment, Ellen asked.
A huge fortress wall was visible in front of them. It was Serzila.
“We arrived too easily.”
Harad turned his thoughts while looking back at the path they came.
“Why? Are you disappointed? Shall we wander around more and come back?”
The one who looked disappointed was Ellen.
She seemed to want to look around the world more.
“That would be good too, but we should head back now. We have been away too long.”
It did not matter to Harad, but Ellen was the problem.
She would have to go back and resolve the Grand Heir’s duties that had piled up in the meantime.
“Tch.”
Ellen smacked her lips.
She must hate working.
“Then why did you do that. Making a person expect for nothing.”
“It was strange that there were no attacks.”
He killed Kunlutsban.
4th Rank. He was a big shot in his own way.
Naturally, he expected movement from the Rebellion Faction side.
But the journey had been peaceful. They had never been attacked even once.
“Did they give up?”
“I do not think so.”
“Maybe they need preparation? You said it yourself, preparation is life for a mage.”
“That sounds plausible.”
Harad nodded.
Certainly. If a 4th Rank died, a 5th Rank had to come.
If the precious 5th Rank did not want to move, the subordinates had to prepare other measures.
“Still, it is strange. It will be more difficult in Serzila.”
No matter how much they prepare, Serzila was Harad’s main base.
Precisely, it was Ellen’s main base.
Ellen, who dislikes Harad bleeding.
“Well, they will figure it out.”
“That is true.”
Harad nodded.
That was their problem.
They would assume and prepare more thoroughly.
Perhaps a 5th Rank might step forward. Harad looked forward to that.
“I will kill them for you. And give you the heart.”
Ellen spoke chillingly.
“It will be difficult. Let us do it together.”
“This is Serzila. There is nothing difficult.”
It was true.
Cassion was closest, and there were many other knights.
Even a Sword Master would come if Ellen wanted.
“About Bahav. You and the Grand Heir met, right.”
It was out of the blue.
“You said that person promised to grant you any 3 wishes.”
“He did.”
Harad nodded.
Bahav spoke like a fairy granting wishes in a legend.
“What will you ask him to grant?”
“I have not thought that far yet.”
“Roughly. There is something like scale, you know.”
“If possible, I should wish for very big things.”
“What if Bahav does not develop that much ability?”
“Then it is unfortunate.”
Harad had quite significant expectations for Bahav.
It was the expectation that Bahav might bring down Enverque.
Not the expectation for the 3 wishes he would get from him.
“Hmm.”
Ellen let out a nasal sound with a strange expression.
“Then I will grant them.”
“Knowing what I will wish for.”
“Whatever it is. I will grant it.”
Because this is Serzila.
“What if it is something beyond your ability?”
“I will ask the Grand Heir, well. It is someone who will become the Grand Duke.”
Ellen spoke like a fox standing on a tiger’s back.
In fact, she was the tiger.
“So tell me, not Bahav. I will grant them.”
“I need to narrow it down to 3.”
“You do not have to narrow it down. I will grant them all. No matter how many, all of them.”
Ellen spoke while staring intently into Harad’s eyes.
Harad did not avoid that gaze.
Bright red eyes. They resembled blood, but he never felt they were eerie.
They were enchanting, and sometimes alluring.
“Serzila will be ruined.”
“As for that, well, the Grand Heir will figure it out.”
Those eyes curved thinly.
Perhaps she might be a fox.