novelraw Chapter 186 : Chapter 186
Chapter 186 : Chapter 186
Chapter 186: Greed (4)
I slept deeply for once.
It was my first proper sleep in three days.
‘I did not dream.’
There had been no dreams.
Which meant Ellen had not dreamed either. It must have been because Elaine had manifested.
When I fought Avery Aquins, Ellen dreamed while awake in reality. This time was likely similar. An especially powerful stimulus must have produced an effect beyond an ordinary dream.
‘That also means the effect of regression is growing stronger.’
Dreaming, dreaming while awake, Elaine manifesting.
It felt as though each stage was being unlocked one by one. If it were diving, the depth was steadily increasing.
‘What comes next?’
Perhaps tomorrow’s Ellen would only dream when she slept, as usual.
That was the most likely outcome.
It had been the same even after Avery Aquins.
Which meant that neither Harad nor Ellen knew what would come next.
Only the end was certain.
Elaine would return. And Ellen?
Harad did not want to think that far.
Anxiety came first, faith second.
It felt as though she might disappear, yet also as though she would not. That ambiguity was something Ellen had given him. A mage ought to welcome ambiguity.
It was worth trying.
No, he wanted to try.
To stimulate things while wishing for Elaine’s return, and to ensure that the dreaming Ellen would not disappear.
He did not know how it would end, nor whether a moment would come when he would have to choose.
But at least for now, he wanted this.
“Whatever happens, happens….”
Just as Ellen had said.
“Are you awake?”
A voice reached him.
When he opened his eyes, Ellen’s face was right in front of him.
She was looking down at Harad.
“…Since when?”
No wonder his neck felt comfortable.
Harad was using Ellen’s thigh as a pillow. It felt firm, yet soft.
“Not long.”
“The sun has set.”
The stars were vivid in the night sky.
Even though he had fallen asleep in broad daylight.
“For me, it was only a moment.”
That was true enough.
Ellen possessed Innate Strength. Kneeling for several hours would not tire her at all.
“Even so.”
“Who sleeps in a place like this?”
Ellen glanced around as she spoke.
It had once been a forest. Bushes grew here and there, and Harad had slept on a patch of open ground among them.
“The village is uncomfortable.”
Because he felt watched there.
Harad had demanded Embers, and Manoa was still deliberating. The villagers knew that.
He had not heard their true thoughts, but it was impossible not to be self-conscious.
“What are you being self-conscious about? You are shameless.”
“Me?”
“Yes. That is why you demand Embers.”
“That is true.”
“You are soft in strange places. Usually, you are so cold.”
“Most people are three-dimensional.”
Just as Elaine was actually a woman.
Just as Ellen seemed soft at times, yet strong.
“I am fine now.”
“I am fine too.”
As Harad tried to sit up, Ellen pressed a finger against his forehead and pinned him down.
“I have slept enough.”
“Then just lie there.”
With only a finger pressing his forehead, Harad could not move at all.
So this was Innate Strength.
No, it felt stronger than before. Because Elaine had manifested. Just like with Avery Aquins.
The more she dreamed.
The stronger the effect of regression became, the stronger Ellen became.
Harad felt that this was a struggle between the returning Elaine and the ever-stronger Ellen.
Which one would win?
“Stop overthinking.”
Now was not the time.
Ellen, looking down at him, did not want that.
“There is nothing urgent. We have plenty of time.”
Because she would not disappear.
“Is that so.”
Ellen smiled, looking satisfied.
She brushed her hand across Harad’s forehead.
“Do you want me to stop?”
It meant she would move away if he wished.
In this way, Ellen wanted Harad to live as he pleased.
“I am not sure.”
“Then stay like this until you know.”
“Let us do that.”
Harad turned onto his side.
His cheek touched her thigh.
“It is softer than I expected.”
“Softer than hers?”
“…I would not know. I have not tried.”
Her.
That way of referring to her still felt awkward to Harad.
Only Ellen could call that Grand Duke that.
“Then let us compare next time. I will win anyway.”
Ellen was talking about the next time Elaine manifested.
‘Would that not be the same body?’
He did not say it out loud.
Harad was quick to read the room.
“Do you want to compare our chests too? That should be different.”
Ellen was sometimes quick as well.
“……”
Harad pressed his lips together.
This was not something he should answer.
“Do not pretend to sleep.”
“……”
“I was joking. Let us just talk, the two of us.”
“Very well.”
“But if you start missing her, tell me. To me.”
Not her.
***
“Where is Balbebron?”
“He picked up a sword saying he would train, and Alena scolded him.”
His body had been riddled with holes and his bones broken only three days ago.
“At times like this, I envy Aura.”
Manoa had only just regained the ability to eat on her own.
“What about Jis?”
“He is hiding in the shadows. He says people are overwhelming. That it is too bright.”
It was because the village’s mages were Seekers.
Mages who had not consumed hearts. Jis had said that Seekers were dazzling, that they deserved support.
“I can never quite figure him out.”
He was childish, yet had convictions.
Those convictions as a mage did not sound bad to Harad.
On the contrary, they were admirable.
“He seems to like you the most.”
Ellen was right.
Jis, who had followed him in a furtive attempt to see him, had joined the battle. That had made him Kandenkel’s target.
In other words, he had risked his life for Harad and Ellen.
“He called him a star, did he not? Kandenkel.”
Jis was a star drawn to the flower that was the sun.
That was why he wanted to see Harad, and why he risked his life.
“Then is he not an ally?”
A star was a major asset.
One only had to look at the attitude of Aroshu of the Bonfire, whom they had killed before.
Jis was a mage who could become a leading figure of the Red Tower.
“That remains to be seen.”
Harad could not fully trust Jis.
Their relationship and the time they had spent together made that inevitable.
To begin with, their first meeting had been stalking.
“But we do need to keep him close.”
A star was a compass that pointed to the King.
They could not simply leave such a compass alone.
Especially since it was already known that Harad’s Origin was the sun.
“Then we can keep him nearby until you know.”
“Hm?”
“I decided to give him an annex. To Jis.”
It was completely out of the blue.
“When?”
“Just now.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to.”
Ellen looked down at him with a sly grin.
She had been living as she pleased for quite some time now.
Harad was still a novice.
“He does not seem like a bad person. Do you dislike it?”
“No. As long as you are fine with it.”
Ellen brushed Harad’s hair.
She looked satisfied.
“Your hair is nice.”
“It is because I am the sun.”
“I will get permission from His Grace the Grand Duke.”
“I will do that.”
Harad answered hurriedly.
There was no need to provoke Grand Duke Aratus unnecessarily.
“Then let us go together.”
“I do not want to.”
“I do not want to either.”
“Then neither of us should go.”
“No. We should go together. I outrank you.”
Harad was Ellen’s escort.
“I will not do anything strange.”
“……”
Even if Ellen did nothing, it would be something Aratus wanted to kill him for.
‘Or perhaps not.’
Grand Duke Aratus wanted his daughter to associate with Harad.
It was only his emotions that rejected it.
‘It will work out somehow.’
Harad nodded.
No matter how much the Grand Duke disliked him, he would not kill him.
“What about Fireball?”
“What?”
Ellen’s eyes widened.
That was when—
-Beep!
A cry rang out.
It was right beside them. When Harad turned his head the other way, Fireball stuck out its beak, looking aggrieved, as though it were about to peck.
It did not peck. It was a good creature.
Harad stroked Fireball’s head. It made a pleased sound.
“Since when have you been here?”
-Beeeep!
Its feathers—no, its flames—swelled.
It seemed even more aggrieved this time. Ellen was looking down at Harad with surprised eyes.
“It has been here since earlier.”
“Earlier?”
“Yes. It came with me.”
Fireball had been there ever since Ellen had offered her thigh to the sleeping Harad.
“You did not notice?”
“I did not.”
Harad’s eyes widened.
Fireball’s presence was usually unmistakable. Easy to sense. It was composed of the sun’s fire.
‘And I did not notice that?’
Me?
For a moment, Harad denied reality.
Once he became aware of it, Fireball’s magic power felt vivid.
Harad was not at fault.
“It was because of you.”
Ellen was the problem.
“You are blaming me?”
She looked dumbfounded.
But Harad was serious.
“I was distracted by you.”
To the point that he could not sense Fireball right beside him.
“You are like a drug.”
Harad jumped to his feet and looked down at Ellen’s thigh.
“You are worse than Predation.”
That thigh had an addictiveness beyond Predation.
“Do you dislike it?”
“Most addicts go mad.”
Whether it was drugs or Predation.
“And you?”
“I am doing relatively well.”
Harad sat facing Ellen.
Then he patted his own thigh.
“So this time, you sleep.”
The village needed time anyway.
“What if I dream?”
“Then you will grow stronger.”
Without disappearing.
“That is correct.”
Grinning, Ellen flopped down at once.
***
Ellen did not have what one would call sleep habits.
She fell asleep quietly and woke just as quietly.
Her open eyes were clear.
It looked as though she had not slept at all, merely closed her eyes briefly.
In this way, Ellen was relatively free from sleep.
Her bright eyes moved downward without a sound.
Ellen looked at her own body and spoke.
“You did not touch me?”
“…One does not usually touch.”
Who did she think he was, a criminal?
“Why not?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“Tsk.”
Ellen clicked her tongue and turned her head.
Instead of sitting up, she placed her hand on Harad’s thigh.
“This pillow is hard. And you are not even a knight.”
“It is because I am the sun.”
“Is that your answer to everything?”
His body had been tempered once in the sun.
It was as sturdy as the bare body of an ordinary knight.
“Is it secondhand?”
She must have meant whether its owner had used this pillow before.
Harad shook his head.
“It is new.”
“Then I will give it nine points.”
“What is the full score?”
“Ten points.”
One point short.
“It is hard. One point deducted.”
“Then I will never get a perfect score.”
The pillow would only grow harder.
When he reached the 5th Rank, he would temper it once more.
“That is right. It is terrible.”
Harad felt oddly embarrassed.
“Then get up.”
“No.”
“You said it was terrible.”
“Exactly.”
Ellen rubbed her face against Harad’s thigh.
“I will be the only one to use it. I cannot let something this terrible loose on the world.”
“……”
She had said “the world,” but she likely meant her.
Ellen was threatening him.
“Answer.”
“…I will try.”
“Hee.”
In Harad’s opinion, it was a terrible answer, but Ellen seemed satisfied.
Come to think of it, the entire situation was like this.
Harad was cowardly, and Ellen was accommodating.
“I am sorry….”
“Stop.”
Ellen cut him off. Her face was firm.
“That is an insult to me.”
He had been given an opportunity.
That was how Harad saw it.
“I am the one who received an opportunity.”
But Ellen seemed to think the same.
“I was the one who intruded. You did nothing wrong.”
She was happy, and glad.
That must have been what she meant earlier.
“…It is more than I deserve.”
“If you know that, then do well.”
“How should I do well?”
“I already told you.”
Do as you please.
Harad smiled bitterly.
“That is even more than I deserve.”
It meant she would say he was doing well no matter what he did.
“Is it a burden?”
“A little.”
“Good. Then I will give you a task.”
Ellen spoke seriously.
Harad nodded. That was preferable.
“Stroke my head.”
Ellen lifted her head slightly.
As if enchanted, Harad raised his hand.
“Good. You are doing well.”
Ellen made a pleased sound.
“The back of my neck too.”
More.
“……”
The sun that had risen sank once more.
“What on….”
Until Manoa, having made her decision, arrived.