novelraw Chapter 165 : Chapter 165
Chapter 165 : Chapter 165
Chapter 165: Return (2)
He decided to introduce Duke tomorrow.
Shura would surely like it, but he had to ask her opinion first.
A dreamlike place.
It was a vague explanation.
If one were to be a bit stubborn, it would be fine to say that all areas of the boundary were dreamlike places.
That land, altered through time and mana, was colorfully bizarre.
“Do you know?”
Ellen, who came out to the street, asked promptly.
Her eyes were shining.
“Perhaps?”
Harad answered ambiguously.
“What is that. Acting as if you know.”
Ellen sounded disappointed.
“I think I know. I have never been there, but I have heard of it.”
He had never been there in the previous life.
But there is a place he can guess.
“From whom?”
“Aroshu.”
“Ah.”
Aroshu of the Bonfire.
That 4th Rank fire shared the map in his head with Harad.
At that time, Harad pretended it was difficult, but inwardly, he memorized it all.
Like that, he overlaid it on the map in his head.
“You said that was extremely old knowledge.”
“I did.”
The Red Tower being prosperous was a story from a very long time ago.
Aroshu’s map is stopped in that era.
It is because they lost the capacity to explore the boundary as the King disappeared.
“I have also heard something personally. It matched.”
There is a dreamlike place.
He had heard that vague explanation exactly the same in the previous life.
The source was a mage from the Otherworld. So the credibility was high.
“So it is likely correct.”
“When shall we go?”
Ellen looked as if she wanted to depart right away.
It must be because of Alena.
The village of failed asylum seekers. It was the destination of Balbebron and Alena.
For Harad, any reason was fine.
Rather than that, he liked that way of thinking that naturally assumed they were going together.
“Let us go in a few days, since we just returned. Should we not see Shura too?”
Harad might be free, but Ellen had work left.
Work as the Grand Heir.
She had to see Grand Duke Aratus’s face too, and personally check if Ocellin was handling the dumped work well.
“I intend to go through the tunnel. Dreamlike…… Ugh.”
Suddenly, his heart tightened firmly.
A curse came out of Harad.
“Fuck.”
If it was a mistake, it was a mistake.
It was so absurd that he ended up spitting it out.
“It is not that dream.”
“Pardon?”
“I was talking to myself.”
Harad answered while exhaling heavily.
It was the Stone of Regression's constraint, but the pain stopped when he pointed it out.
Harad found that absurd. This crazy stone had really misunderstood.
‘As expected, it understands words.’
But it is stupid.
Thinking that, his heart was crushed again.
It was a much greater intensity than the previous constraint.
It was then.
“Don’t.”
A chilling voice was heard.
Ellen lightly tapped Harad’s left chest with her fist. It was very gentle.
But Aura was contained in that gesture.
The Aura penetrated the chest and forcibly opened the crushed heart.
At that delicate operation, Harad could not even be surprised.
The constraint of regression. Ellen noticed the existence of that stone.
Harad had to be astonished at that.
Subsequently, he closed his eyes tight.
The constraint that had been pushed back once went into a seizure.
It reacted against Ellen’s Aura.
‘Why?’
The medium of the Stone of Regression is Elaine’s blood.
It means this magical item belongs to Elaine.
If Ellen noticed, shouldn't it welcome her?
‘The owner recognized it.’
The constraint ran wild.
It felt as if a small fist was beating the heart here and there.
It felt like emotions were contained in it. It also felt like venting anger.
“Crazy.”
Sensing that power, Ellen’s Aura deepened.
It was her full strength. The constraint scoffed.
At least Harad felt so. Ellen was bounced far away.
‘You son of a bitch.’
Harad cursed inwardly.
The constraint did not stop. His heart felt like it would burst.
‘Are you going to kill me?’
What did I do.
‘It was your fault.’
It was the constraint that misunderstood.
Harad was getting beaten even though he was innocent.
Thinking up to there, the constraint’s attack slowed down.
It recognized its mistake, but it seemed like it was throwing a tantrum because it was embarrassing to admit it right away.
‘A mere tool…… let us reconcile.’
Harad took a step back.
When he yielded, the constraint accepted it immediately.
The attack disappeared as if it never happened.
“Phew.”
Only then could Harad breathe comfortably.
To think the air could be this sweet. Harad panted for a long time.
How much time had passed? Ellen staggered closer.
Judging by her condition, she seemed to have been thrown quite far and hurt quite a bit.
That body possessing Innate Strength.
“Are you alright?”
“……What is that?”
Ellen also had a shocked face.
Her eyes touching Harad’s left chest trembled slightly.
“That, is not your Origin, right?”
She did not know what it was, but it was not Harad’s.
Ellen seemed to have intuitively sensed that.
“Correct. It is not mine.”
Originally, it is Elaine’s.
That is why it is so stupid, and its temper is…….
‘Cancel.’
The constraint tapped the heart and disappeared.
It felt like a threat.
“Then what is it? What is in your heart…….”
“It is not that dangerous.”
“What bullshit is that. You almost died just now.”
Ellen shouted.
The heart is the source of a person and the core where the Origin resides.
Ellen seemed to feel it was ominous that there was such a powerful outsider in such a heart.
“It will not kill me. Probably.”
“Trusting what. What is it that you trust?”
Ellen, who was glaring at his heart as if to kill it, met Harad’s eyes.
Her bright red eyes were burning.
“It is a secret…….”
“If you say it is a secret, I will kill you.”
It worked well until now.
This time, she did not seem willing to let it pass.
‘How far will this work.’
Imja worked.
As expected, the constraint does not react.
‘It is not like I am inducing an answer.’
Harad smiled bitterly and said.
“It is a gift from my Imja.”
“What?”
“There is such a thing. Details are a secret.”
Ellen’s face crumpled suddenly.
* * *
Like an Intelligence Bureau agent, Arika found the returned Ellen immediately.
And dragged Ocellin into the Inner Fortress.
It was to dump the piled-up Grand Heir’s duties on her.
Arika was capable, and a woman who was attentive while pretending to be cold.
Crucially, she liked Shura.
Passing the now polite gatekeeper and entering the Inner Fortress, Kubel and Shura were waiting.
She must have told them on the way.
“Sister!”
Shura ran up quickly and hugged Ellen.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes!”
Ellen lifted Shura up high and held her in her arms.
Like that, she met Shura’s eyes and laughed, but that smile did not look entirely bright.
“Are you not glad to see me?”
Shura, sensitive to people’s emotions, noticed immediately.
“No? I am extremely glad. I thought I would die missing you.”
Ellen soon laughed brightly.
It was true.
What was bothering Ellen right now was not Shura, but the Imja’s gift.
“They say children grow up fast.”
Harad smiled pleasantly watching Shura rubbing her face against Ellen’s cheek.
The child’s growth was fast.
He hadn’t seen her for only about 3 months, but Shura had grown noticeably.
“It is fortunate that Harad is unchanged.”
Kubel, who was smiling pleasantly together, welcomed Harad.
“You changed a bit.”
It was only 3 months.
Harad was the same, but Kubel had changed a lot.
Starting from the atmosphere.
Kubel’s physique was like a bear, but he never felt threatening.
Because he was so docile.
“You look like a baby bear. Ah. It is a compliment.”
Now he is slightly threatening.
Harad got the feeling that Kubel seemed slightly bigger.
Not on the outside, but on the inside.
“Haha. It is thanks to the 1st Knights members.”
Kubel laughed while scratching the back of his neck.
It was a familiar gesture, but slightly different. Confidence could be seen.
“Those scars too?”
Harad pointed to the scars created all over Kubel’s body.
“They are medals.”
They must have occurred during the search with the 1st Knights.
Kubel was proud like a knight.
Harad did not point it out.
Knights are not just ignorant. He already had that certainty.
Although he had not verified it yet.
“Right, how was it?”
“It was not as difficult as I thought. Harad’s words were correct.”
You are scared in advance.
Harad had once said that to Kubel. It was before his first actual combat.
“I told you then, you would become bigger than you thought.”
“Yes. You did.”
“That must be correct too, then.”
“Since they are Harad’s words.”
Kubel trusted Harad’s words more than his own potential.
For now, that was enough.
Whatever the reason, it was important that he gained confidence.
“I will make sure you are not wrong.”
“Then you must become 5th Rank too.”
You will become 5th Rank someday.
Harad had once said that to Kubel.
“I will definitely live up to it.”
Kubel spoke exactly the same as when they parted 3 months ago.
But his voice was definitely different.
If it was a vague determination then, now a certainty as if he had experienced the potential personally resided in it.
“Heart. Did you eat it?”
“I did not eat it.”
Kubel spoke and opened his mouth wide.
So Harad understood. It was a reaction that could not come out if he had eaten one.
“Let us go inside for now. Shura must be cold.”
Kubel and Shura’s attire was light.
It must mean they were that glad to see them.
Harad laughed and headed for Kubel’s annex.
A smell stimulating the stomach wafted out.
“Since it has been a while. I put in some effort not to lose to the continent.”
“It was more delicious anyway.”
Even the famous restaurants of Premont were not superior to Kubel’s skills.
As soon as they entered the annex, Kubel ran straight to the kitchen.
Then Cassion walked out from the kitchen.
“You came.”
Cassion gestured roughly to Harad.
“You have arrived. It is fortunate that you are safe!”
Then he bowed deeply to Ellen.
“……What are you doing?”
“If you do not stir the beef stew continuously, the surface hardens. That is fatal.”
Cassion retorted as if asking why he was asking such an obvious thing.
“Are you not going up? There must have been a garrison rotation.”
There are five garrisons in front of the wall.
The knights operating them were also five.
One of them enters a rest period, so one garrison is emptied every year.
Because unlike the past, the 6th Knights became close to apprentices.
The four resident knights move garrisons every year.
It was a way of moving seats one space to the side.
Since the search routes became fixed, it was to let them experience as various actual combats as possible.
Like that, four knights rotate garrisons, and one place rests.
Last year was the 2nd Knights, and this year it was the 1st Knights’ turn to enter the rest period.
But the 2nd Knights Commander Cassion was stirring beef stew.
“Our 2nd Knights decided to have a rest period this year too.”
“That is sweet.”
“It is a disgrace!”
Cassion shouted.
He seemed ashamed of being excluded from the search.
Cassion was the only Sword Master who could enter the boundary.
No, a mage.
“Is it not because of you?”
“……That is why I have no face to see my subordinates.”
Cassion was a mage.
And a mage of the Moon Tower, whom Grand Duke Aratus was waiting for with glaring eyes.
If such a Cassion enters the boundary, the Moon Tower might show a reaction.
It was an opportunity for Grand Duke Aratus.
But he does not do so.
It must not be because he is worried something might go wrong with Cassion or the 2nd Knights he commands.
‘It must be because of me and Elaine.’
Harad, who achieved merit, received Cassion’s survival as a reward.
Elaine also wished for it.
So the Grand Duke did not send the 2nd Knights up to the wall.
‘It must be a problem depending on me.’
The Moon Tower considers Harad special.
So he will become a bait superior to Cassion.
Harad had once said that to the Grand Duke.
The rabbit that healed him was the proof.
Harad had to perform that bait role.
If he cannot, Cassion will become bait and be kicked out of the wall.
It was something he had to prevent, even considering Ellen.
‘Bait, and a tail.’
Harad was the bait calling the Moon Tower.
At the same time, he was a tail that would be cut off if he got in the way while wandering around the boundary.
It was not entirely unpleasant treatment.
He gained a lot within that treatment. After all, he only needs Elaine.
‘He does not seem likely to throw me away so easily either.’
Grand Duke Aratus wants something from Harad.
That something is related to Elaine.
So he will not be able to throw him away easily.
“It is delicious.”
Kubel’s cooking was indeed amazing.
To the point where one would not get tired of eating it for a lifetime.
“Are you not eating more?”
“I am fine.”
However, Ellen was picking at her food.
“There is still plenty. If it is insufficient, please eat mine.”
“I said forget it.”
Cassion’s face hardened stiffly.
“Are you perhaps sick somewhere?”
For Cassion, who sees Ellen as a pig, it was a grave matter.