novelraw Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Elaine's Shield (2)
Cassion was a 5th Rank, but he was an insect.
Meaning he was nothing more than an excellent tool.
That was why he knew little about the Otherworld.
Saving him wasn't entirely without reward.
After all, no matter how insignificant something might be, it could be necessary for someone.
“Coexistence? Ah, you did say that.”
The Red Tower and the Moon Tower coexist.
It wasn't unusual.
The Magic Towers were, after all, human organizations.
There were groups on good terms and groups on bad terms.
What I was curious about was the reason the Moon Tower opposed the long-cherished wish.
“It’s for a similar reason as the Red Tower. The Moon Tower is not yet ready. I don’t know what that preparation is.”
The long-cherished wish of the Otherworld referred to the conquest of the continent.
The Red Tower wished for that long-cherished wish to be fulfilled by their king.
That was why they opposed the Otherworld's advance south, waiting for and searching for their king.
Just like the Red Tower, it seemed the Moon Tower also needed to prepare before carrying out the long-cherished wish.
“What kind of preparation?”
“I don’t know.”
“……”
I could only guess that, whatever it was, it was likely as important as the Red Tower’s thoughts on their king.
“Our king belongs to a woman. That was the prophecy I heard. I heard it from Herbis of the Red Tower.”
“Herbis? What Rank is he?”
“He’s a 3rd Rank.”
“Then what I know is likely more accurate.”
Cassion asserted.
“Aren’t you an insect?”
“……My orders included searching for prophecies.”
If they were in the same position, the one with the higher Rank knew more.
This meant the king of the Red Tower referred to the sun.
“Who made the prophecy?”
“The moon of long ago.”
“Has it ever been wrong?”
“Absolutely not.”
Cassion was certain.
To me, the Origin known as the moon felt weightier than a history of never being wrong.
Wasn't it a concept on a similar scale to the sun?
Considering my past life, the moon's prophecy was bound to be true.
“You….”
Cassion looked at me.
His eyes were complex.
“Do you happen to know what this is?”
I showed him the bead.
The bead was now transparent. All of the remaining half of the silver magic had been used in the recent healing.
Though no silver magic remained, Cassion seemed to recognize it. His eyes widened.
“……Where did you get that?”
“A certain rabbit in the Boundary gave it to me.”
“A rabbit?”
I described the rabbit to Cassion.
A Magical Beast that was slightly large, its body colder than the Boundary, and incredibly powerful.
“Good heavens. That’s the Moon’s Divine Beast. Though it doesn’t seem to be an adult yet.”
That thing wasn't an adult?
I was more surprised by that fact than by the term Divine Beast.
“I heard that a complete Divine Beast is too large to be contained in a human’s sight.”
Listening from the side, Elaine’s face stiffened.
She had been crushed by a rabbit that wasn't even fully grown.
“Does each tower have a Divine Beast?”
“They are called Divine Beasts precisely because they don’t. If you search the Boundary, you might find Great Magical Beasts with properties similar to each tower, however.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The rabbit you saw is the guardian of the Moon Tower.”
A Magical Beast?
“That is why it is a Divine Beast.”
It meant that rabbit was just that intelligent and special.
‘A divine animal.’
It was not a name to be given to a Magical Beast.
“It is a rare experience. There are almost no Mages of the Moon who have met the Divine Beast.”
“It didn’t attack me. In fact, it even gave me this bead. Why?”
The creature had seemed to welcome me, or to be precise, my Origin.
“I don’t know either. Why didn’t you ask?”
“What?”
“I heard the Moon’s Divine Beast speaks human language. Was that not the case?”
Cassion asked me in return.
He knew various things, but his knowledge was incredibly shallow.
It was because Cassion was a tool called Gu Poison.
“It didn’t.”
“It probably didn’t want to. Or couldn’t because it’s still young.”
Cassion turned his gaze to the bead.
“That bead is probably a Magical Item of the Moon Tower. A special one at that.”
The rabbit is the guardian of the Moon Tower.
A Magical Item held by such a rabbit wouldn't be ordinary.
Hadn't I experienced its special nature firsthand?
Healing is a precious power. It is why the Church's influence is so great.
“It doesn’t seem like it was given because the Red Tower and the Moon Tower are in a relationship of coexistence.”
I agreed.
Or perhaps there was something special about that coexistence that Cassion didn't know.
“Ah.”
It was when we arrived in front of the tunnel.
Cassion suddenly opened his mouth.
“The Red Tower also has a Divine Beast.”
Only for the Sun and the Moon.
“I don’t know the details. I have never been involved with the Red Tower.”
“You don’t know where it is either?”
“It will be in the Boundary. Probably, at the end of the direction you see.”
Where the Magical Item of the Red Tower's king sleeps.
At those words, I let out a hollow laugh.
“You should have said that first.”
I looked down at the bead.
A rather plausible hypothesis was formed.
* * *
Of course, first, I had to get hit.
“……”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“……?”
But my body didn't hurt.
I lifted my face.
Grand Duke Aratus was silently looking down at me.
“Are you not going to do it?”
“Do what.”
The Grand Duke had a face that said he knew nothing.
He was pretending not to know.
‘It’s because of Elaine.’
Because he didn't want to show his daughter a violent side?
That couldn't be it. The Grand Duke was violent by his very existence.
‘It must be because I rendered a service.’
The Grand Duke had ordered me to reveal the mastermind.
I had just returned after revealing that mastermind. Even Cassion’s identity.
The Grand Duke likely knew everything already, so it was closer to a test than an order.
But it was clear that it was also a service.
Serzila always rewards those who render a service.
Meaning the Grand Duke had to give a reward now.
Not harm me.
It was because Elaine was watching.
“It was a joke.”
I stood up as naturally as possible.
The Grand Duke nodded slightly, but his expression didn't look very pleased. It seemed the Elaine shield wasn't invincible.
‘I can’t use this often.’
It seemed I could only use it in real emergencies.
“I have completed the order.”
“You have not yet completed it.”
He was pointing out that Cassion wasn't dead yet.
In short, it meant the Grand Duke really did know everything.
“The order was to reveal, not to kill.”
“Did you think that would work.”
Crack.
A menacing sound came from the Grand Duke’s fist.
“Your Highness.”
“Denied.”
As soon as Elaine, who understood the meaning of our conversation, tried to intervene, she was silenced.
The Grand Duke was overwhelming.
‘Is he like that even when he’s alone with his daughter?’
He might be.
The Grand Duke was not an honest person.
“I understand you already knew.”
The Grand Duke didn't answer. It was an affirmation.
“Then why didn't you kill him yourself.”
The eyes of the silenced Elaine widened.
It was the first time Elaine had ever seen anyone talk back to the Grand Duke.
Even the oldest knight, Mores Palaz, couldn't talk back to the Grand Duke.
“That bastard coveted what belongs to Serzila.”
The Grand Duke said, and I nodded.
That was the reason Cassion died in my past life.
He didn't die because he was a Mage or a spy.
Cassion died because he coveted me, whom the Grand Duke had personally brought in.
If left alone, he would die for the same reason in this life too.
This time, too, Cassion tried to send me to the Otherworld.
In other words, if only he hadn't touched me, the Grand Duke would have left him alone.
Even while knowing Cassion’s identity.
“I understand Your Highness’s objective is the Moon Tower.”
“……”
The Grand Duke’s face grew more frightening.
I wasn't crushed. It was thanks to Elaine.
“Cassion knows nothing. He won't be of much use.”
“His existence alone is useful.”
From that reaction, I sensed that my hypothesis was correct.
The Grand Duke's sabbatical year and the Moon Tower were related.
If Cassion hadn’t died, he might have one day joined the Grand Duke’s escort.
The Grand Duke had been intentionally holding onto the bait named Cassion.
Until the Moon Tower bared its fangs.
“I will likely be more useful.”
“Continue.”
“The Magical Item of the Red Tower’s master. Only I know its location.”
The Grand Duke’s face was indifferent.
He wasn't interested in the Red Tower’s Magical Item.
‘What the Grand Duke desires is in the First Stage Boundary.’
I had speculated as such once before.
‘I don’t know what it is, though.’
It seemed clear that it was related to the Moon Tower and his sabbatical year.
“I met a Magical Beast called the Moon’s Divine Beast.”
“The rabbit.”
As expected, the Grand Duke knew.
I swallowed a laugh.
“Far from attacking me, it even healed me.”
I took out the bead and showed it to him.
The Grand Duke laughed fiercely. He seemed to recognize it as a special Magical Item at a glance.
“It seems that not only the Red Tower but also the Moon Tower considers me special.”
The bead is a Magical Item of the Moon Tower.
I am a Mage that the Moon’s Divine Beast holds in special regard.
Either way, it meant the Moon Tower would be bound to me.
Either to retrieve their Magical Item, or to covet me.
“If what Your Highness desires is the Moon Tower, I will become a better bait than Cassion.”
“That is a service indeed.”
The Grand Duke rose to his feet.
His intention was obvious. He was probably going to kill Cassion.
Now that a better bait had appeared, Cassion was no longer needed.
I blinked once, and the Grand Duke had already opened the window.
I hurriedly spoke before the Grand Duke could pass through the window.
“How many people is this service worth.”
“One.”
The same as for bringing in Kubel.
This time too, I could bring one Mage into the Inner Fortress.
“I choose Cassion.”
“……”
The Grand Duke’s fist trembled.
The vibration was transmitted through his Aura. That alone made my whole body shake.
I wasn't crushed. It was thanks to Elaine.
‘Elaine is the best in times like these, too.’
Before the regression, and now.
That fact, at least, seemed unchanged.
* * *
“You were right. He really did know.”
Elaine said with a stiff face.
To my eyes, she was feeling betrayed.
Unlike Elaine, Grand Duke Aratus had seen right through Cassion’s identity.
“He wouldn’t be the Grand Duke for no reason.”
He was quite smart.
It's just that his power was so immense he didn't feel the need to use his head.
Elaine, who was the Grand Duke in my past life, was the same.
In my eyes, Elaine was the spitting image of Grand Duke Aratus.
“It’s a position one can reach with power alone, but one that shouldn’t be.”
“Indeed. I suppose I must work harder too.”
A few days ago, that would have been crossing the line, but Elaine brushed it off nonchalantly.
I felt as if I were dealing with Ellen.
Elaine was treating me as she did when she was Ellen.
‘When she’s Ellen, she’ll trust me even more.’
My credibility had risen even more from this incident.
Elaine had changed that much more as well.
The choice to save Cassion was, even thinking about it now, a special one.
“By the way, have you always reported in that manner?”
I tilted my head.
“I thought you had gone mad.”
Elaine thought that my head had gone funny from the aftereffects of Projection.
“I’ve never seen anyone say everything on their mind in front of the Grand Duke.”
“His Highness the Grand Duke likes boldness.”
“That was beyond bold.”
It was insolent.
That was why Elaine was even more surprised.
“You’ve done well to survive, you.”
“It is thanks to the Grand Heir.”
“Me?”
“He is usually a bit more extreme. He held back because the Grand Heir was there.”
“He doesn’t seem like the type to do that.”
It seemed Elaine didn’t quite understand the Grand Duke’s love for her.
It was probably because he was stingy with his expressions.
I couldn't possibly imagine that Aratus being affectionate.
“Anyway, thank you. I owe you one.”
Elaine admitted it readily.
“If it weren’t for you, Cassion would have died.”
Cassion remained as the 2nd Knights Commander.
The fact that he was a Mage would not be officially announced until he revealed it himself.
That was the reward for the service I had rendered this time.
It was a service and a reward that came to be because I had regressed.
Therefore, in my opinion, it wasn't quite a debt.
If Elaine wished for it, I had to grant it.
“How can I repay you?”
Elaine, who still knew nothing, seemed to feel indebted.
“Mages cannot dream.”
Mages could only guess that it was because of the Origin.
“That’s why many Mages are curious. About what dreams are. What they are like.”
For whatever reason, I was actually not the least bit curious.
What good would knowing do.
“I am one of them.”
“So you want me to tell you when I dream from now on?”
I nodded.
The Regression Stone, its restriction had not budged.
It likely meant that the only way to share the regression was through dreams.
“Is that all it takes?”
Elaine's expression was peculiar.
She seemed to be feeling a sense of disharmony, which, for me, was a very welcome sign.
“It is very important to me.”
I said it very seriously.
Hoping that the sense of disharmony Elaine felt would grow even larger.
“Well, I suppose so. It’s not difficult.”
……It would be nice if she used her head a little.
“First, let’s go get something to eat. I hear that Mage named Kubel is quite the cook?”
Elaine licked her lips.
‘Not Ellen.’
I decided to be satisfied.
The change was happening fast enough.