novelraw Chapter 192 : Chapter 192
Chapter 192 : Chapter 192
Chapter 192: Studying Magic (1)
“Ah.”
Harad looked down at the shadow.
Inside it, Grand Duke Aratus was glaring at him as if he wanted to kill him. When Jis flinched in fear, the shadow trembled along with him.
“Your Highness.”
“Silence.”
“Yes.”
“Speak.”
“May I perhaps receive this as a reward as well?”
Harad whispered to the Grand Duke.
The Duke’s eyes widened.
“Is it necessary?”
He sounded skeptical.
“Yes.”
“Harad, if you can manage it.”
Still, he did not object.
The Grand Duke was smart.
“And the merit?”
He asked.
Come to think of it, Harad had already traded away all the merit he could.
“Go to the Fourth Knight Order.”
The Duke gave him an opportunity to earn more merit.
Harad had yet to be acknowledged by all knight orders.
Harad briefly turned his gaze out the window.
The snowstorm had weakened just a little. Summer was approaching.
“May I go to the Fifth Knight Order first?”
“Do so.”
The Duke nodded readily.
Harad found that oddly unfamiliar.
‘Why is he letting me go so easily?’
Thinking back, the Duke had even let the self-harm blackmail slide.
‘Is it because I did not bring Ellen?’
No.
It was because Harad, having experienced the Moon’s magic, had become irreplaceable bait.
‘He must want to kill it that badly.’
More than anything else, the Duke wanted the Moon dead.
“May I begin collecting the reward first?”
“If you can.”
***
‘You are the sun.’
In truth, it was an obvious statement.
Harad’s Origin was the sun.
But that was not what Grand Duke Aratus meant.
‘You are the king.’
That was his meaning.
The sun belongs to a woman.
That was the entirety of the prophecy Harad knew.
It was also the prophecy known to the Otherworld.
From that line, the Duke knew something more.
Perhaps the Moon did as well.
‘The Moon wants me alive and growing because it knows I am the king?’
It made sense.
Still, something did not sit right.
If that were the case, taking Harad into the Otherworld would be safer.
Some towers might object, but the Red Tower would risk their lives to protect Harad.
The Moon Tower would likely do the same.
‘Yet the Moon treated Kandenkel like a subordinate.’
At least in the present timeline, that meant the Moon Tower held considerable authority.
With the Moon’s protection, Harad should be safe even in the Otherworld.
‘So why not take me?’
There had to be a reason why he could not be taken.
‘Either the reason lies in the Otherworld. Or in Serzila.’
Or perhaps the Moon itself was not yet certain.
‘Unable to move rashly—something like that?’
Compared to the Duke, the information Harad had about the Moon was insufficient.
So the Moon was testing the waters.
That possibility existed.
In the end, Harad shook his head.
‘Without knowing the other line of the prophecy, there is no point thinking further.’
Rather than waste time on that, it was better to think about what lay ahead.
The sun belongs to a woman.
As he recalled the prophecy, Harad unconsciously touched his lips.
‘This is proof.’
In his past life, Elaine had stolen Harad’s lips.
‘Proof that you are mine.’
Those words happened to resemble the prophecy closely enough that thinking of it inevitably led him to think of Elaine.
‘I know more now.’
The Grand Duke Elaine he had met recently knew far more than before.
Which meant she was still alive.
‘The Moon exists. It existed in my past life too.’
Just as Elaine had lived in his past life, the Moon of that world might also still exist.
‘She knew about Fireball too.’
Elaine certainly knew more now.
But not everything she knew was correct.
‘She was wrong about the Embers.’
Embers.
Elaine had called them a prank, torches scattered to light the Boundary.
That was only half right.
The Embers were not torches—they were food for the stars.
‘She can be wrong.’
Which meant the knowledge she had newly gained was not infallible.
‘She was always like that.’
Thinking back, Elaine had always been like that in his past life.
She spoke with confidence, but rarely got the answer right.
‘She is still someone who often gets things wrong.’
She simply had the power to twist many wrong answers into something close enough to right.
‘Other things could be wrong too.’
Even the method of regression might differ.
If that was a wrong answer, then Harad would have to twist it into the right one.
He would need that kind of power.
‘Like Elaine.’
It did not seem impossible.
No one relied on vagueness more than mages.
Ellen would not disappear.
She would bring back the Elaine of his past life.
At least, that was what Harad wanted for now.
Everything else could be considered afterward.
And once the person was chosen, the background had to be set.
Nothing changed. As always, he would act for Serzila.
For the Serzila Elaine had wanted.
‘…Together with Ellen.’
Harad unconsciously looked down at his chest.
It was just the wind—that was what Elaine’s voice whispered in his ear.
He felt guilty.
But Harad also had something to say.
‘Who told you to trick me.’
Elaine was the only one he had ever seen as a woman.
Harad had never seen his friend—whether Grand Heir or Grand Duke—that way, nor had he ever had the chance.
‘Meeting again comes first.’
He had to meet Elaine.
And Ellen had to remain alive.
‘My way.’
He thought of Ellen.
Just as she said, he would not hesitate.
After all, Harad’s “my way” pointed to Elaine and Ellen alike.
“Saying it out loud sounds strange.”
“What does?”
The sudden voice made Harad reflexively touch his face.
“What sounds strange?”
“That.”
Harad pointed at Jis playing with Shura.
The two were playing tag in a small maze made of shadows.
Thirteen years old.
Jis was frozen at that age, but outwardly it looked like a gloomy man playing with a young girl.
“Ah. Because he is only thirteen in name?”
Ellen laughed lightly and sat beside Harad.
“Both are true, I suppose.”
Jis’s mind had stopped at thirteen.
But Jis the mage had contemplated for decades.
It was a vague dissonance, difficult to explain in words.
“We will only know once we see how it turns out.”
Jis’s future would only be known once the curse was lifted.
“You said you cannot lift it.”
“Lifting it is not the only way.”
Removing the curse was not the only correct answer.
“When a mage dies, most spells disappear.”
Kill the mage who cast the curse.
“But the Embers did not disappear.”
“That is why they are treated as special.”
Why else would divine beasts exist?
The sun and moon possessed a particularly special kind of vagueness among Origins.
“Well, it does not seem like something to think about now.”
How the curse was placed, and by whom.
Harad had not asked yet.
It would be like dragging Jis, who had finally returned to childlike innocence, back into hell.
“So soft.”
Ellen chuckled, having seen through Harad’s thoughts.
Harad reflexively touched his face again.
He had met Grand Duke Aratus only yesterday.
He had bled quite a bit.
Yet Ellen, who had been right beside him, had not noticed.
‘As expected of a Grand Duke.’
The Duke’s attacks were exquisite.
He knew exactly how to strike without leaving marks.
“Why do you keep touching your face?”
Ellen’s eyes narrowed, and that was entirely Harad’s fault for feeling guilty.
“Because it is handsome no matter when I see it.”
“There is no mirror here.”
“It is handsome even by touch.”
“You know you sound suspicious right now?”
“It is a secret.”
Ellen snorted.
“You are lying.”
“I am not. Truly.”
Harad answered seriously.
It was a secret bound up with his life.
“I will let it slide. You look like you really want to keep it.”
Ellen remained suspicious but let it go.
Because she wanted Harad to live his way.
“What are we doing now?”
“I am going to the Fifth Knight Order.”
“To be acknowledged?”
“That is the official reason.”
In truth, he had already earned recognition when he killed Psina.
But hearing about it and experiencing it firsthand were different things.
That was why Harad was being sent to the Fifth Knight Order.
“To gain recognition and raise your influence, right?”
Grand Duke Aratus had no intention of letting Harad go.
Rather, he wanted his position strengthened.
‘Because I am useful?’
Or because I am a king?
“When do we go?”
Ellen clearly intended to go with him.
“Not immediately. There is something to do.”
“Something to do?”
She tilted her head.
“Something very important. But you will not be able to join me.”
“What?”
Ellen frowned.
Instead of answering, Harad pointed beside her.
“Ellen.”
Arika was staring at Ellen with a terrifying expression.
This village journey had lasted a full three months.
It was time for Ellen to return as the abandoned Grand Heir.
***
The perfect successor of Serzila.
The next tyrant.
The reputation of Elaine Serzila ran across the vast North—
and even farther, throughout the continent.
That was why both the Empire and the Church watched Serzila so closely.
And also because Elaine was evaluated as the greatest Serzila in history.
She was so remarkable that even in quiet Ecamfort, rumors of Elaine arrived with startling frequency.
Yet Oselin, who had settled in Serzila, could count on one hand the number of times she had seen the Grand Heir’s face.
She had seen it exactly once.
When she was assigned to the Grand Heir’s work after catching the attention of Arika from the Intelligence Bureau.
“Consider it an honor.”
Arika had said so, but Oselin knew it had been dumped on her.
The piles of documents on her new desk were all too familiar to Oselin, once a Count of the Empire.
They were territorial duties meant for the direct line.
‘Perfect, they say.’
The Grand Heir Elaine was anything but perfect.
That was Oselin’s first impression.
‘Does the North have a different standard for perfection?’
She dared not ask.
Though she had offloaded work, Elaine radiated the presence befitting a future tyrant.
So cold she seemed as though ice water might flow instead of blood if pierced.
Oselin endured the work with tears in her heart.
Nights without sleep became frequent.
Unlike Ecamfort, the duties of managing Serzila, which governed the vast North, were overwhelming in number.
The “perfect” Grand Heir never showed her face—not even a hair.
“She is busy.”
That was Arika’s explanation, but Oselin knew it was false.
The rumors were wrong.
The Grand Heir was a loafer.
‘At least she pays well.’
Oselin was no longer an imperial noble.
She had to earn money somehow.
She was the largest source of income for the Liberation faction.
‘If I work poorly, I will be killed.’
That fear played its part as well.
Elaine Serzila was the next tyrant.
The fact that she was a loafer rather than perfect only made that more convincing.
After all, tyrants were never perfect.
‘Still far better than the continent.’
Compared to the continent, the North without the Church was halfway to paradise.
Oselin endured.
And after three months, she met the Grand Heir again.
“Oh! Oselin!”
Elaine Serzila smiled, grabbed Oselin’s hand, and shook it vigorously.
“It has been a while. I hear you have worked hard.”
“…?”
Not something a future tyrant should say.
“Then please continue to work hard. I will pay whatever you want.”
Elaine was glib and generous.
For some reason, Oselin felt a strange sense of familiarity.
“Your Highness.”
“You are here, Arika. I just checked—Oselin truly lives up to being a former Imperial Count.”
“That is not the issue.”
“Hm. Then I must have misread.”
Elaine crumpled the paper she was holding.
It was a blank sheet.
“You should at least review and seal them.”
“I do not want to.”
“…”
“Did anyone complain? If so, bring them to me.”
So this was why she was the next tyrant.
Oselin understood.
“I told you, I live my way.”
“…”
“But it seems I will have to live even more my way from now on.”
Elaine spoke as if delivering the final blow with an axe.
Oselin thought the tree called Arika had just fallen.
In fact, there were two trees.
Oselin would continue to be buried in work.
“Then I will be off now.”
“….”
Elaine spoke like a busy person.
Not busy with work—but busy playing, Oselin realized from Arika’s expression.
“Your Highness.”
Arika spoke, her face resolute.
“I am listening.”
“If you continue like this, people will be disappointed.”
Oselin’s eyes lit up.
It was true. She was a future tyrant, not a tyrant yet.
Even Elaine had to mind the Grand Duke’s expectations.
“Who will?”
“All of Serzila.”
“That would be unfortunate.”
Elaine replied casually.
It seemed even the Grand Duke could not rein in this scoundrel.
“Harad is also a member of Serzila.”
That was when Elaine froze with her hand on the door.
“Harad will be disappointed too.”
“That fellow will not.”
Elaine laughed softly.
“He was the one who advised me to live my way.”
“Then I will tell Harad that you did nothing.”
“Do not do that.”
Elaine looked proud—and reluctant.
“But that fellow really will not be disappointed.”
Elaine repeated herself.
“Understood. I will tell him. You may go.”
“….”
Elaine did not go.
Oselin tilted her head.
For some reason, Elaine seemed to be watching Harad’s reaction.
Like someone who wanted to be seen favorably.
“…Two days.”
Elaine sighed as if in defeat, locked in a staring contest with Arika.
“I will do it for two days.”
“Make it five.”
“Three.”
“Agreed.”
Even three days was short.
But Arika nodded, satisfied.
“Were you always like this?”
“You look much better this way, Your Highness.”
“You said that before.”
“Yes.”
“….”
Elaine smiled bitterly and sat down.
Her movements looked light—relieved.
All the rumors were wrong.
She was not a future tyrant after all.
If she were, a subordinate like Arika would never dare push her like this.
Elaine was closer to a rascal than perfect, and too kind to be a tyrant.
“You really are thorough.”
Elaine admired Oselin’s documents as she stamped each one.
Then she paused at a single sheet pushed to the edge of the desk.
“Barrier magic examination? What is this?”
“A matter currently on hold.”
Studying magic and taking an exam.
“If they fail, they are barred from reconnaissance.”
Elaine clicked her tongue softly.
“Worth putting on hold.”
Not something to force upon knights.
They might see it as an insult.
Oselin nodded quietly.
Telling knights to study the enemy’s craft was trampling on their honor.
“Who submitted such a proposal? Not a Northerner, was it?”
Even in the North, knightly principles were not so different.
“It was Harad.”
“Then do it.”
“Pardon?”
Elaine stamped it immediately.
‘Wow.’
That was the moment Oselin came to respect Harad.