novelraw Chapter 200 : Chapter 200
Chapter 200 : Chapter 200
Chapter 200: The Haunted House (6)
Forbest held on to Harad’s hand for quite some time.
His grip was exceedingly weak.
He handled Harad as if he were a precious treasure, with extreme care.
“Ah. My glasses.”
Only then did Forbest come to his senses.
He released Harad’s hand and bent at the waist, groping around the floor.
The monocle had fallen in the direction Forbest was facing.
Harad watched him fumble for a moment, then picked it up.
“Here.”
Forbest lifted his head and blindly reached through the air until he found Harad’s hand and the monocle.
“You cannot see?”
“Yes. Shamefully so. I must rely on my glasses.”
Forbest fitted the monocle over his right eye and smiled awkwardly.
Now that Harad looked closely, both of his eyes were clouded.
‘A Magical Item.’
Forbest was blind.
The monocle seemed to be restoring sight to his right eye.
“Then who are those two…?”
Only belatedly did Forbest notice Ellen and Kesera.
His reaction was similar to Aroshu of the Bonfire, but this felt more genuine.
Aroshu had deliberately pretended not to notice.
Forbest seemed to see only Harad.
“They are my companions from the continent.”
“The continent.”
Forbest repeated the word.
His expression turned uneasy.
“That is right. They are former knights.”
“Ah.”
Forbest openly sighed.
The Otherworld treated knights as insects.
Aroshu had tried to pry Ellen, an insect, away from Harad.
“It cannot be helped. I will endeavor to understand the hardships you endured, O Star.”
Forbest tried to understand those insects.
“I thank you both for your efforts. The Red Tower will ensure you receive proper treatment.”
Kesera looked displeased, but Ellen wore a face as shocked as Harad’s.
That was an astonishing level of awareness for a mage.
“Rather than standing, please sit. There is space inside.”
Forbest appeared gentle, uncharacteristic of the Red Tower, resembling quietly burning embers.
He guided Harad’s group inside.
The guest room was enormous.
There were six doors, yet any one of them led to the correct place.
The entire fourth floor was a single guest room.
Forbest gestured for Ellen and Kesera to sit on the sofa.
He seated Harad in the place of honor, then took the closest chair himself.
That placed Harad alongside him, facing Ellen and Kesera.
“When I felt the fire earlier, I was moved beyond words. As expected of a Star.”
Forbest was visibly excited.
He must have sensed the flames Harad unleashed on the third floor.
‘He must have felt the sun.’
After absorbing the Embers, Harad’s fire evoked the sun itself.
Yet Forbest firmly believed Harad to be a Star.
‘Perhaps that feels more realistic to him.’
The Moon’s prophecy pointed to the sun as belonging to a woman.
That prejudice must exist.
When the Otherworld speaks of a king, they think of a woman first.
Only later, upon realizing Harad’s Origin is the sun, would they understand.
That the woman would only come after Harad’s death.
‘There is more than one star.’
Jis was not the only star.
Among them must be Origins related to fire.
That was likely why Forbest, despite sensing fire, believed Harad to be a Star.
“May I ask if you read the manual?”
“I burned it the moment I saw it.”
“As expected of a Star!”
“…….”
Forbest seemed excited not by Harad’s fire, but by his fire-like temperament.
Or perhaps he simply liked anything that qualified as a Star.
‘Probably both.’
Every Red Tower mage Harad had encountered so far was abnormal.
“You must have been quite unsettled in such an unfamiliar environment. Truly admirable. I am relieved.”
Forbest both revered and admired Harad.
Because Harad was a Star born on the continent.
“I heard you were staying at the Boundary. Is that correct?”
“It is. I planned to go straight to the Otherworld, but things did not go smoothly.”
“I heard. That Ivory and Deep Sea dared to lay hands on you.”
Harad nodded.
At that, fire flared up around Forbest.
It seemed Harad was not the only one whose fire reacted to anger.
‘If this is Embers, the others must be worse.’
Harad was newly impressed by his own restraint.
“Have you, by any chance, encountered other fire besides me?”
He must have meant Aroshu, who had gone south earlier.
It seemed news of his death had not yet spread.
‘They must know a Star is being sought in the Boundary.’
The Boundary was vast.
Harad shook his head.
“I have not.”
“How unfortunate!”
Forbest looked convinced.
“That is why I thought I had been abandoned. I heard that I was a Star from someone called a Star of the Deep Sea, or something.”
“The Star who burned the watchtower!”
Harad shouted, mimicking Avery Aquins.
The flames around them surged up to waist height.
The once-gentle Forbest’s face twisted with rage.
“But now I understand. I was not abandoned. I simply had not been found. The Boundary is vast and treacherous.”
“O Star, I am deeply sorry!”
The flames vanished instantly.
Forbest removed his monocle and rubbed at his eyes.
His sleeve grew damp.
They were real tears.
“I am relieved that I can serve you at last.”
Harad recalled Aroshu.
That one had been probing.
Forbest was not.
‘A difference in temperament?’
The guest room was blackened with scorch marks.
Though he seemed gentle, Forbest was not particularly patient.
Compared to Aroshu, he was far more like fire.
‘Yet he does not ask questions.’
Harad spoke.
“Is there no issue with the Tower of Meteoric Iron?”
“What sort of issue do you mean?”
“To be honest, I killed one of their mages. I wondered if that would trouble the Red Tower.”
“Haha. A mere Meteoric Iron mage! That is no problem at all.”
Forbest answered without hesitation.
He clearly had not even considered that the dead mage might have been Kandenkel, the Tower Master.
‘The information has not spread.’
As expected.
The Moon had not publicized the Tower Master’s death.
Nor Harad’s existence.
‘The only updated information is Avery Aquins’s death.’
A Star who burned the watchtower exists somewhere in the Boundary.
That Star killed Psina of the Ivory Tower and Avery Aquins of the Tower of the Deep Sea.
That was all the Otherworld knew.
Because that was what the Moon wanted.
“That is a relief.”
“Do not concern yourself. Meteoric Iron types cannot live without fire.”
They simply disliked fire that burned too hot.
Kandenkel had feared the sun, while the current Red Tower had welcomed it.
“Did you come here to find me?”
“Yes.”
Forbest nodded fervently.
“And this house? Is it transportation for the Red Tower? It was moving.”
“Pardon? Haha.”
Forbest widened his eyes, then laughed, tapping the floor with his foot.
“This thing is nothing so grand. It is a Magical Beast, and an Origin.”
“An Origin?”
“Yes. We extracted the Origin of a worthless mage. This one is a failure.”
“…….”
“More precisely, a collection of failures.”
“So the manual is instructions for handling failed products.”
“As expected of a Star.”
Forbest nodded in admiration.
***
“The Vessel was poorly made, so we extract the otherwise wasted Origin.”
The house was a Magical Beast.
At the same time, it was an Origin.
Its contents were the same.
The deer decoration, the food, the fireplace, the sofa and furniture—everything Harad had touched and attacked was such a thing.
“The Tower of Earthquakes calls it Originization, but we call it Bestialization. We have never succeeded.”
“So the extraction succeeded, but the result had no value.”
“Exactly! They do not obey commands. They are closer to Magical Beasts.”
“Then the manual?”
“Think of it as research guidelines. It yielded nothing, so it was abandoned here in the Boundary.”
Discarded, it drifted until it crossed into the patrol routes.
The manual was a set of precautions for mages studying Originization.
“It did not seem especially dangerous.”
“Because it is a mage’s creation. Come to think of it, the two of you must have suffered.”
Forbest looked to Ellen and Kesera.
They smiled awkwardly and nodded.
A house troublesome only to knights.
That was how Harad perceived it.
Because it had been made by a mage.
Every safety measure for mages had been built in.
“Extracting Origins. An interesting idea.”
“Yes. At one time, the entire Paradise was in turmoil.”
“And yet no results so far.”
“Yes. Breaking the Vessel is the obstacle. To extract the Origin, the Vessel must be destroyed…”
“And once the Vessel breaks, you lose the means to control the extracted Origin.”
“As expected of a Star.”
Forbest laughed happily.
He looked like a parent seeing a child grown far away and returned.
“I caused quite a disturbance on the way up.”
“Please, go on.”
“I was told that to leave safely, one must receive forgiveness from the owner on the fifth floor for causing a disturbance.”
Forbest burst into laughter.
The flames on the floor rippled with him.
“That is a joke. Meant to tease novice researchers.”
“I thought so.”
“It is an Origin and nothing more. In truth, it is worse than a Magical Beast. There is no need to seek forgiveness.”
“It seemed to have awareness.”
“As expected of a Star. You are perceptive.”
Forbest brushed it off lightly.
“I would like to say more, but regrettably, I do not know the details. It is research of the Tower of Earthquakes.”
Just like on the continent.
Even within the same affiliation, towers kept many secrets.
“Then why are you here?”
Harad asked, surveying the guest room.
This house was a research object of the Tower of Earthquakes.
“I thought a Star might be inside. I worried, presumptuously, that you might be unfamiliar with the Boundary and the Otherworld.”
He had not left after entering.
He had stayed to help, in case a Star arrived.
“Several lesser fires were scattered across the Boundary. I judged I must prepare for any eventuality.”
“Reasonable.”
That meant there were other fires besides Forbest searching the Boundary.
“And you were correct.”
“This too must be the King’s arrangement.”
Forbest smiled broadly.
“You seem to be of fairly high standing.”
“Yes. Quite high.”
Fire had no humility.
Harad was reminded of Wimar.
‘Fire is meant to be shown, not hidden.’
Forbest embodied that.
“What is the Moon’s objective?”
“The same as ours.”
Forbest gestured to himself and Harad.
Like fire, the Moon desired the sun.
‘A convenient answer. No wonder he does not know Kandenkel is dead.’
Forbest did not know the Moon’s true intentions.
To know that, one would need to be not merely high, but extremely high.
“What if my Origin were the sun? Not a Star.”
“Pardon?”
“A fire on the continent told me that the sun might belong to a man.”
Grand Duke Aratus had said the king was Harad.
That duke knew more about the Moon than Forbest did.
“…….”
Forbest’s brow furrowed.
Though their eyes met, Harad felt Forbest was looking at someone else.
“You met a Dreamer.”
“A Dreamer?”
“Yes. Fires that deny fate. The fire mage you met, we call them Dreamers.”
Forbest shook his head.
His expression was displeased, but no flames manifested.
“They are immature ones who believe fate is something to be carved out. Not even a proper group. Mere individuals, a minority.”
Immature.
Forbest held both affection and irritation toward the Dreamers.
Likely because they were fire as well.
“Fate?”
“Yes. Dreamers do not believe in the Moon’s prophecy. A king cannot be judged, and therefore is a king!”
Forbest spread his arms wide and shouted like a madman.
He seemed to be imitating a Dreamer he knew.
“Foolish.”
The word escaped Harad.
He thought of Grand Duke Aratus.
Foolish mages.
That was what the duke had called the Otherworld.
“They are foolish indeed. Please do not trouble yourself, O Star. Dreamers seek a king, so you are irrelevant to them.”
Forbest shook his head in disgust.
“Why individuals or minorities? From your reaction, there seem to be quite a few.”
“Because they are immature. Each pursues a different method and direction of carving fate.”
They denied prophecy, but each in their own way.
That was why Dreamers remained individuals.
“Most Dreamers have gone out into the world. To carve fate themselves. The Dreamer you met is one of them.”
Dreamers were more fiery than anyone.
They sought directly rather than waiting.
“However, they will return soon. And briefly.”
Forbest stared intently at Harad.
A Star was a compass.
To the Dreamers, Harad would be a tremendous clue.
“A fascinating idea, though. That it could belong to a man.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
Forbest’s eyes shone.
He too was a mage who delighted in possibilities.
“A man’s… then if that man is killed, our King will be born. If such a being exists, he must be killed.”
Forbest said it with a smile.
“Could it not be that no one is born? I heard that an Origin does not immediately incarnate into a new Vessel.”
No one knew the cycle.
It was similar to how a mage’s child was not necessarily a mage.
“You are correct. However, our King will be born.”
Forbest stated it without hesitation.
“Soon. That is what the current Moon saw and proclaimed.”
“You trust the Moon too much.”
“Pardon? Ah. You do not yet know. The Moon is the same as you, Harad.”
Stars are plural, and they point to the King.
“The Moon is also a Star. The most successful one.”
In the words of the former King, planets.
Among them, the Moon was the most successful, having built a tower.
“So that is how I was discovered.”
Now it made sense.
“Stars are compasses. When I first received the crystal ball, it sensed me.”
The Moon had seen and heard through Cassion’s crystal ball.
Just as Jis had, it must have felt Harad.
“A Star is born only when there is a King. Yet the Moon has existed for most of history. I see. The Moon must possess Embers.”
“Pardon?”
“I still do not understand why it merely watches me. It will need me.”
Forbest looked dumbfounded.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, things are much clearer.”
Harad smiled.
Flames erupted at his feet and swallowed the guest room in an instant.
Ellen, Kesera, Harad, and Forbest sat within the blaze.
“W-What is this…?”
Forbest’s pupils trembled as he stared into the fire.
He must have been seeing the sun through it.
“Are you angry?”
Ellen asked suddenly, watching the flames.
“No.”
“Then?”
“It is closer to relief.”
Thanks to Forbest, Harad had learned much about the Moon.
“…That is disgusting.”
Ellen frowned.
“You seem angry, though.”
“He said he would kill you.”
Ellen pointed at Forbest.
Sun.
He murmured while gazing into the flames.
Soon, his eyes would return to Harad.
“Then we should kill him first.”
“Is that allowed?”
“I have learned all I needed.”
Ellen drew her sword.
“…A man!”
Those were Forbest’s last words.