novelraw Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173. Embers (1)
Before entering, it was a green field.
But now, Harad was in a forest.
‘A chill has appeared.’
It meant the field was also a kind of dream.
I don't know who the dream is for, but this space looks like a green field from the outside.
Harad, having woken from the dream, was directly experiencing the presence of that space.
‘It is Manifestation.’
Harad recalled the darkness he experienced at the exit.
That Magical Beast was no different from space itself.
Here was the same. Dream. That Witch’s Origin is establishing itself as a single zone.
‘Maintaining this state, the Manifestation, all along?’
If there really is a village, that would be the case.
That’s how they wouldn’t have been caught.
‘Does that make sense?’
It was more realistic to say there is no village.
No matter how much magic power one has, maintaining Manifestation continuously was impossible.
That is like saying there is a well that never runs dry.
‘Recovery is as fast as consumption?’
That doesn’t make sense either.
“This Manifestation. How are you maintaining it? Under your own power?”
“…….”
The Witch of Dreams did not answer.
‘If she did it under her own power, there is no reason not to answer.’
If it was her own power, she should rightfully boast about it.
Because that in itself becomes a deterrent.
The Witch of Dreams has some means to replenish magic power or maintain the Manifestation.
‘Extraordinary, indeed.’
Relying on means or tools is nothing to be ashamed of. That too was the master’s capability. The Witch of Dreams was clearly a strong individual.
“Why didn’t you kill us?”
He escaped the dream by his own power.
That fact was satisfying, but at the same time unpleasant.
Because he couldn’t escape immediately.
If the Witch of Dreams had set her mind to it, he would have died long ago.
“I do not kill just anyone.”
“Even Otherworld Mages?”
The Witch of Dreams nodded.
“Why?”
“…….”
The Witch of Dreams narrowed her brow.
“I’m not being sarcastic, I’m really curious. Aren’t you in the position of protecting?”
“……You know about this place.”
The Witch of Dreams took a step back. It was clear wariness.
‘It exists.’
There is a village.
The Witch of Dreams seemed to be the Mage protecting them.
“They are those rejected by the Otherworld. The uninvited guests would be the Otherworld. But why don’t you kill just anyone?”
Today’s uninvited guests were Harad and Ellen, but until now, they would have been asylum seekers or Otherworld Mages.
Asylum seekers, granted, she accepts them.
Harad could not understand the statement that she doesn’t kill all Otherworld Mages either.
“You speak like the Otherworld.”
“I’m of the principle that I must pay back exactly what I received. It’s even better if I return more.”
“I do not want to become the same kind of person.”
“Soft.”
“…….”
Indeed.
That must be why the village was created.
It would also be the reason why the Dreamlike Place became known to the Otherworld.
‘She peeked into the intruder’s dream first.’
It means she obtains information through dreams.
“So you check the dream to decide whether to kill or not.”
“That is correct.”
Harad reviewed the nonsense dream.
‘What appeared in it?’
A world where the Boundary and Otherworld disappeared, Serzila where Mages and the Church coexist, a living Wimar, Elaine who became the female Grand Duke…….
‘My Origin didn’t appear.’
The Witch of Dreams does not know his Origin.
It was a clear advantage.
The Otherworld goes around blabbering about Origins, but Harad thought that for a Mage, it was rather beneficial to hide it.
“Did we pass?”
“…….”
“We didn’t come to cause harm. We have no reason to, either.”
They came from Serzila, not the Otherworld.
That point was bound to work in their favor. Because it is the Otherworld that targets asylum seekers.
But the Witch did not answer.
The Witch’s gaze was looking down at the sleeping Ellen.
It seemed Harad passed, but Ellen did not.
“Was there a problem? That can’t be.”
If anything, Harad should have been the one caught, not Ellen.
Ellen wanted to meet Balbebron and Alena in the Dreamlike Place.
From the Witch’s perspective, it would be a pure purpose.
“What dream is that side dreaming?”
Harad pointed at Ellen.
It wouldn’t be a past life.
“I do not know.”
Harad tilted his head.
Then who knows?
“It was broken.”
“The dream?”
The Witch nodded.
“How?”
“……That side noticed my dream.”
She shouldn’t be at that level yet.
Harad scratched his neck while looking down at Ellen.
“She was different from her current appearance. Harad, she was similar to the woman called the Grand Duke who appeared in your dream.”
“Elaine. Ah. Is that it.”
Ellen broke it.
To be precise, her past life, Elaine.
It was proof that the Stone of Regression and Ellen were connected.
“I understand. You are afraid.”
The Witch was regarding Ellen as Elaine.
The Elaine the Witch saw must have been a strong individual she couldn’t figure out or suppress.
She wouldn’t want to accept her rashly.
“But there will be nothing for you to worry about, as the two are different people.”
“Pardon?”
“This woman and the woman you saw are different people. Personality, and skill too.”
The Witch looked like she didn’t understand.
It must mean dreams don’t lie.
‘And having it broken must have been rare too.’
The greater the Mage, the more they tend to trust their magic.
“You’ll know once you wake her up. I, who passed first, guarantee it.”
“…….”
The Witch looked suspicious for some reason.
However, she didn’t try to stop him. Harad was at Ellen’s bedside.
“How should I wake her up?”
“It is the same state as normal sleep.”
It means simply waking her up works.
Probably because it was broken.
“Ah.”
When Harad placed his hand on Ellen’s shoulder, the Witch flinched.
“Why?”
“It is nothing.”
Looking closely, the Witch’s jet-black robe was quite dirty. It looked like traces of vomit, and there was blood on it too.
Must be traces of the break.
Harad shook Ellen.
Every time she shook, the Witch flinched.
‘She must have suffered severely.’
Elaine is indeed scary.
* * *
Ellen broke the dream.
It was the influence of regression.
‘What about me?’
The influence of the stone went to Harad too.
The restriction of regression was lodged in his heart.
‘The restriction attacked Ellen.’
It could be possible for magic too.
‘But it didn’t.’
Even though it attacked Ellen.
‘Whatever the hell it wants. Ah. Cancel.’
Ellen showed signs of waking up only when shaken with full force. It was because of her Innate Strength. That strong body’s brain wouldn’t even shake easily.
“Harad?”
Ellen’s eyes widened as soon as they opened and found Harad, and her body took a stance as soon as she sensed the Witch’s presence.
“Is it an enemy?”
“No.”
At those words, Ellen, who was staring at the Witch, relaxed her body and turned her gaze to Harad.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“I am okay. I fell into a dream as soon as I entered. It wasn’t a Dreamlike Place, but a place where one dreams. That person’s Origin is Dream.”
Ellen, who was listening quietly, tilted her head.
“I didn’t dream though?”
“I did.”
“A Mage did?”
“That’s why it’s a Dreamlike Place. Because Mages cannot be sure if it is a dream.”
Ellen turned her back completely on the Witch.
It wasn’t something to criticize.
Since Harad wasn’t conscious of the Witch, Ellen was doing the same.
It was proof that she trusted Harad that much.
“Is it something to celebrate?”
“Is it?”
“You were curious about dreams. Since you said Mages cannot dream.”
It is something he once said to Grand Heir Elaine.
It was a setup to ask her to tell him the dreams she has in the future, but Ellen remembered those words.
“Ah. I did say that to the Grand Heir.”
“Yes. I heard it from the Grand Heir too.”
When Harad spoke as if remembering, Ellen added the detail.
Harad laughed softly.
Ellen had this side that was clumsy yet attentive.
“What dream did you have?”
“It is a secret.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“…….”
Ellen immediately fell into thought.
Since he said it’s a secret, she looked like she was immediately thinking about what the dream and Harad’s secret were.
Harad placed his hand on the shoulder of Ellen, who had become serious alone, and looked at the Witch.
“How is it?”
As he moved the hand holding her shoulder, Ellen’s body turned half a circle without resistance.
Ellen was still lost in thought.
“Isn’t she cute?”
“…….”
The Witch looked shocked.
It must be because the difference between Elaine who broke the dream and the harmless Ellen was extreme.
“Ah. But what about the village?”
At that moment, Ellen, relaxing her expression, lifted her head up and asked.
“Does she say it exists?”
“It seems to exist.”
Ellen’s face brightened up.
“Alena and Balbebron too?”
She treated the Witch as if she wasn’t there.
It seemed to say that Harad was a priority over the Witch.
“I haven’t asked that yet.”
“Why?”
“I intended to ask when you woke up.”
Only then did Ellen look at the Witch.
“……I permit it.”
The Witch didn’t flinch anymore.
* * *
Come to think of it, I didn’t see the Fireball.
“Did you happen to see a Magical Beast? A bird like a fireball.”
“……? I did not see it, though.”
The Witch tilted her head.
She didn’t seem to be lying.
“Is there perhaps another threat in this zone? Besides your Origin.”
“There is not.”
The Witch asserted.
Because the Witch’s Origin manifested in this zone.
The Witch was essentially the ruler of this land.
Only things permitted by her would exist in this land.
‘It must be safe.’
Fireball was a clever fellow.
I don't know where it went, but it will come find us soon.
“Alena. Balbebron. Those are names that joined recently.”
The Witch spoke in a low voice while walking ahead.
Ellen, who was following behind, looked delighted.
“Are the two safe?”
“At first it was not good, but now they are in good condition.”
Ellen was happy.
Harad tilted his head.
‘In this chill?’
A village in the Boundary.
Harad had considered the possibility high.
The Boundary has countless environments, and he thought there would be environments where humans could live among them.
But this place is not it.
The field turned into a forest. The Boundary’s unique chill and blade-like wind were raging. It is not an environment where humans can live.
‘But they aren’t terminally ill.’
Everyone was terminally ill in the Boundary.
If magic power or Aura runs out, they die.
But the Witch said Alena and Balbebron recovered.
‘Not just maintained.’
Even saying they maintained it would be surprising.
“Indeed. It’s not just the Dream.”
It is not just the Witch of Dreams.
There is someone or something that allows the village to exist, that allows people to live even within the Boundary.
The Witch did not answer.
How long did we walk? The forest ended.
What unfolded was truly a village.
“…….”
Ellen marveled silently.
Harad did the same.
It was the Boundary where humans could not live, yet the village was larger than most villages on the continent.
An empty lot that seemed made for someone to run and play, a space where leather was hung out to dry, buildings erected without walls that seemed to be for trading or bartering…… everything that should be there was there.
Even the houses were good.
There were dozens of them like a colonnade, built not of wood but of brick or stone.
Harad realized they were built with Magic.
“Impressive. To think such a place existed.”
Harad openly marveled.
It wasn’t admiration for the village.
The existence of the village was very surprising, but compared to its foundation, it was nothing.
“How did you do it?”
As soon as they entered the village, the chill and wind of the Boundary disappeared.
That is the reason the village occurs, and why people can live.
“……Harad. You tried to deceive yourself as the Red Tower.”
“I did.”
“Your Origin must be related to fire.”
“Correct.”
Harad readily agreed.
“There is a taboo in this village.”
“Oh my. So I hadn’t passed yet.”
Normally it would be a pass, but because it is fire, it’s a no.
It sounded like that to Harad.
“Is that why they aren’t coming out?”
“That is correct.”
It was a fairly large village.
But there were no people to be seen. Everyone was inside their houses.
To be precise, they are waiting.
If the Witch judges Harad and Ellen as enemies, they will pop out.
They were people who shouldn’t be ignored.
Everyone would be Mages or Knights.
And of a level high enough to explore the Boundary and find a hidden village.
“I don’t know what the taboo is, but you have been targeted before. Or are being targeted.”
“…….”
Harad recalled the Tower of Meteoric Iron.
In the past life, and this time too, that tower was looking for the Dreamlike Place.
The Witch crossed the village.
Harad and Ellen followed behind her.
His whole body stung. The killing intent of the people inside the houses was clearly felt.
To them, this village was their only home.
Eventually, the place the Witch arrived at was the end of the village. It was a cliff, and a small structure stood before it.
“A Shrine?”
“What is a Shrine?”
Ellen reacted to Harad’s mutter.
“A very long time ago, they used to offer tributes to Magical Beasts. That place is called a Shrine.”
It was a folk belief that disappeared long ago, which considered 6th Rank Magical Beasts as great.
“It’s my first time seeing one in person.”
The Shrine was small enough that a person would have to crumble themselves to fit in.
“It is a test.”
At that moment, the Witch spoke.
“If you face this and do not get greedy, I and the village will welcome you.”
“A feast will be held.”
Harad took it lightly.
The Witch stared at such Harad for a moment, then flung open the window of the Shrine.
……There was fire inside.
-BEEP!
No, it was the Fireball.
The Fireball popped out from inside the Shrine and nestled into Harad’s embrace.
From that shock, the Moon’s Crystal Ball the Fireball was holding fell to the ground.
“……? Why are you…….”
-BEEP!
The Fireball pecked the empty air with its beak.
It was the direction where the Shrine was. Harad, who was examining the Fireball, lifted his gaze.
“Divine Beast……?”
The Witch was staring blankly at the Fireball.
It didn’t enter Harad’s eyes.
Because of the Shrine.
To be precise, the fire inside the Shrine.
“…….”
It was a fire about the size of a bonfire.
“……Sun?”
But Harad felt that fire was the sun.
And he intuitively sensed.
That is the reason this village can exist.
The reason the Witch’s Manifestation can be maintained.
And…… it is mine.
“Ah.”
Harad’s eyes went hazy.
His Origin, the sun, was desiring that.
It was then.
-FIZZLE.
A messy sound arose from the ground.
The Moon’s Crystal Ball emitted a bright light and spat out a voice.
-Take it.
In a very fine, beautiful voice.
-It is yours.
As if seducing him.