novelraw Chapter 71 : Chapter 71
Chapter 71 : Chapter 71
Chapter 71: The Tunnel-Digger (3)
'It was magic.'
Thump. When that sound came from Isotta, I had clearly felt magic.
“Her heart exploded.”
Elaine, who was examining Isotta’s corpse, was bewildered.
“Did she commit suicide?”
“Someone made it explode.”
“Who?”
Elaine looked around exaggeratedly.
There were only three people here. Harad, Elaine, and Rick.
Among them, there was no one who could perform the trick of making only a heart explode.
“It must be a Mage from the group Isotta belonged to. It must be a Mage who is not bound by distance.”
“Is there such magic?”
“It’s magic, isn’t it.”
There was no need to try to understand that vagueness.
It would only be a loss for Elaine.
Isotta was a Mage who valued her own life above all else.
‘I wondered why they had let such a person go. So they had taken this kind of measure.’
I crouched down in front of Isotta’s corpse. A thin, long flame rose from my index finger.
It cut through Isotta’s chest. Sizzle. The cross-section was cauterized at the same time it was cut. Thanks to that, no blood splattered.
Blood had pooled inside. I evaporated only the blood precisely. The remaining dregs settled at the bottom. The exploded heart was revealed in between.
‘It exploded from the inside out.’
The shape was not unfamiliar.
I had seen it in my past life.
‘A Promise.’
It was the magic of a Mage whose Origin was a Promise.
It was a magic that engraved a phrase on another’s heart, and if that phrase was broken, the heart would explode like this.
To be precise, the phrase would.
It was a tricky, but also a very restrictive magic.
The phrase is only engraved if the other party agrees.
Of course, Isotta seemed to have been engraved without even knowing it.
“Do you know what it is?”
Elaine asked when I stood up.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen this magic. But it must be the Liberation Tower.”
How many groups to which a Mage belongs could there be on the continent?
I had been expecting it even before asking Isotta. I just wanted to hear it from her own mouth.
‘No. It’s no different from having heard it directly.’
On the contrary, it was definitive proof that it was the Liberation Tower.
The Mage of the Promise was a member of the Liberation Tower.
“……They’ve got some nerve.”
Elaine chewed on her tongue.
She seemed to be thinking of Kubel and Shura.
“That’s why they founded the Liberation Tower, I suppose.”
What kind of Mage on the continent would think of creating a group?
The Liberation Tower was indeed a gutsy group.
‘They’ve been more active than I thought.’
Of course, it was unexpected for me as well.
To think that the ones who had first dug the tunnels were the Liberation Tower.
‘Wasn’t I just ignorant about the Otherworld?’
Even though I had regressed.
It seemed that there were many things I didn’t know about the Liberation Tower as well.
It was unavoidable.
I hadn’t had much contact with the Liberation Tower.
‘It would be a different story after 15 years.’
I didn't know much about what the Liberation Tower had been up to at this time, though it would be a different story when the Otherworld advanced south.
“What are you going to do with Rick?”
Rick was asleep.
He didn't seem to have much stamina due to having lived as an old woman until now.
Those I couldn't catch in my past life.
I had no intention of letting Rick live either.
By killing him, the tunnel problem would be completely solved.
One of the decisive causes of Serzila’s downfall would disappear.
“I don't want to kill him.”
But Elaine wanted to save Rick.
‘There’s no reason to oppose.’
Whims breed suspicion.
The suspicion of whether it's okay to continue trusting this person.
For the regressed me, it was a troublesome suspicion.
Until Elaine became aware of her past life, I had to guide her and give her stimulation.
It meant that I had to maintain consistency.
I had to kill only the Mages who were bad, criminals, or who had harmed Serzila.
Rick had harmed Serzila.
But he was a victim who would have died if he hadn't dug the tunnels.
“Do as the Grand Heir wishes.”
“Is that alright?”
“There is no need to try to persuade me. You are the Grand Heir.”
The regression belongs to Elaine.
I was keeping that fact in mind.
Every moment had to be for Elaine.
If Elaine wished for it, or if it was stimulating, I would gladly grant it.
Of course, I had no intention of just granting everything.
This regression was not for her to become a spoiled child.
Change had to accompany it, whether it was external or internal.
"I'll ask just one thing. Is it out of pity?"
"...Embarrassingly, yes."
"Then that's fine."
Elaine's eyes widened.
She didn't seem to understand, but to me, it was a satisfactory answer.
'Pity.'
And for a Mage, at that.
It was a thought that Ellen, not Elaine, would have.
It was proof that Elaine was becoming more honest.
Thus, I hoped that the gap between Elaine and Ellen would shrink.
'The Elaine of the past life was closer to Ellen.'
That woman was Elaine's true nature.
But the Elaine of the past life had only shown her true nature in front of me.
To the world, Elaine was the perfect Grand Duke of the North.
I hoped it wouldn't be like that in this life.
'That, too, must have been one of Elaine's regrets.'
The regressed me had the duty to erase Elaine's regrets.
However she damn well pleased.
It was an extension of the advice that Elaine had wanted to convey to her past self.
Elaine had to live however she damn well pleased, and not regret it in the end.
'That way, I'll have something to say later.'
When Elaine someday regains her past life.
At that time, I wanted to be able to stand before Elaine with a clear conscience.
Only then would I be able to question her and hit her for having passed on the regression.
* * *
When we came out of the leather shop, the sky was filled with the sunset.
Until then, Rick had not woken up.
"I'll be counting on you."
"I'll contact you as soon as he wakes up."
Elaine entrusted Rick to Arika.
She intended to save Rick, but she had no intention of bringing him into the Inner Fortress. Nor did she intend to let him go free.
From now on, Rick would be under the surveillance and management of Serzila.
Elaine and I walked side by side.
I seemed to have no particular thoughts. Looking at his side profile, Elaine let out a hollow laugh.
'The situation is the opposite of when we met Kubel.'
Back then, I was the one who wanted to kill him.
'Is it because of Sir Cassion?'
No, it's because of Harad.
Elaine let out a hollow laugh.
She felt anew that she was changing.
She did not think it was a bad change.
Prejudice had just disappeared. It was just that a person had become able to distinguish another person.
“What are you going to do today?”
Elaine made a gesture of having a drink.
I shook my head.
“I must report to His Highness the Grand Duke first.”
Elaine had decided to save Rick, but in fact, the one to decide that was Grand Duke Aratus.
"I'll report on this matter."
Elaine was not a superior who passed on responsibility to her subordinates.
I nodded.
There was no reason to refuse when she was offering to take on a difficult task.
"But I don't know if he will listen to me. His Highness cherishes me, but he is not one to listen to everything I say."
Elaine seemed to be recalling Cassion's case.
At that time, if it hadn't been for my persuasion, Cassion would have been killed by Grand Duke Aratus.
“That’s why I’ve never properly entered the Boundary even at this age.”
The hunting day was one such example.
Elaine could only enter the Boundary on hunting days.
And even then, she had to enter with the knights who were searching that day.
On the other hand, Grand Duke Aratus had frequently entered and exited the Boundary since he was a teenager. And alone at that.
'Of course, that was a time when the imperial family did not interfere.'
In any case.
Grand Duke Aratus cherishes Elaine terribly.
Only Elaine.
"You could try threatening him. If he doesn't listen, tell him you won't talk to Daddy anymore."
"...Daddy?"
Like a child.
Elaine was so dumbfounded that she couldn't even laugh.
“Make some sense.”
“Isn’t he your daddy?”
“……You. Are you insane?”
“If it really doesn’t work, you could try it, thinking you have nothing to lose.”
“I won’t.”
Elaine ignored him and walked on.
'It would work instantly, though.'
I swallowed my words.
The advice was sincere.
The Elaine of the past life had often gotten what she wanted that way.
Of course, that was a story from a few years later.
The older Elaine had learned how to use Grand Duke Aratus's love.
"Actually, it wasn't just because of pity."
How far had we walked, Elaine suddenly said.
"The reason I said I didn't want to kill Rick."
Elaine stopped walking.
"I had a dream on the way here. On your back."
I stopped as well.
A dream. There was no subject more important to me than that.
"I met Rick. Me, that is. At the ruined Snow Leopard's Footprint."
"In the dream, did the Grand Heir know that Rick was the Tunnel-Digger?"
"No. It seemed like we had never met before."
As expected.
I nodded.
If the Elaine of the past life had known that fact, she would not have kept it a secret from him.
"But he didn't seem like a bad person. I told Rick that I could help him. But he said he had already received help."
I sensed that the one who had given that help was Ios.
The 4th Rank of the Ivory Tower. That artist had saved Rick from Isotta.
"Unlike in the dream, the Rick of reality didn't seem to have received help. So I wanted to help him."
"I see."
"Do I seem crazy?"
"I think you might be."
There was the restriction of regression.
I had no suitable answer to give.
"The night before, I had a dream of going to the capital. You were waiting nearby."
And saved a young Mage.
I nodded. It was something in his memory.
From five years later, Elaine is summoned to the imperial palace every birthday. It is because the Empire wants to win Serzila over.
I was dragged along from six years later.
By Elaine.
"The night you met Sir Cassion. I had a dream then too. His Highness the Grand Duke was holding Sir Cassion's severed head, saying it was the head of a Mage."
My eyes lit up.
It was the first time I had heard of it.
"When Kubel and Shura entered the Inner Fortress. I had a dream then too. You and I were talking about Kubel and Shura."
Elaine continued to speak.
"In that dream, Kubel was a member of the Liberation Tower. They said he was a demon wanted by the Church and the Empire. That gentle man."
"It's a nonsensical dream."
"A nonsensical dream. Yes, I thought it was a nonsensical dream. They said Shura had died. Framed as a Mage."
In the past life, Shura had been framed as a Mage and burned at the stake.
It was when she was thirteen. It was the reason Kubel had become a Heart Addict.
"They said she died in a village called Drot. Do you know where that is?"
"It's the first time I've heard of it."
"It's the first time I've heard of it too. But it actually exists. In the western part of the Empire, in the same location as in the dream."
Elaine stared intently at me.
That gaze was extremely serious.
"Cassion was truly a Mage."
"..."
"Rick. I already knew his name."
Before Rick had said his name, Elaine had called Rick's name first.
It meant that she was unconsciously aware of the dream.
"The price for Sir Cassion's life. As payment for that, you asked me to tell you about the dreams I have. Saying it was very important to you."
"I did."
"What was your intention?"
Cassion. Drot. Rick.
Those names were giving Elaine a sense of dissonance. She was beginning to have questions about the dream.
"You appear in my dreams every time. I started having such dreams after I met you."
I couldn't show any reaction even if I wanted to.
I sensed that if I did, my heart would stop. The restriction of regression was warning me not to affirm.
“Is this your doing?”
“It is not.”
I answered immediately.
It was not his doing, but Elaine’s.
The Elaine of the past life.
"Are what I'm seeing truly dreams?"
Elaine had a confused face.
There wasn't much I could say to that face.
"I do not know what dreams are, as I am a Mage."
"..."
"However, if I were the Grand Heir, I would pay attention to the dreams. I do not know why, but there are parts that coincide with reality."
If it were just Drot, it would be one thing, but even Rick's name.
The dreams were clearly potent. A moment might come when they would be helpful someday.
Elaine slowly nodded.
But it was not a face of conviction.
“What I want is not help, but the identity of the dreams.”
“About that, I can only say this. Have more of them. If you are confused, then until you know.”
My face, as I said so, was more serious than ever before.
"Until I know..."
So much so that it was deeply imprinted in Elaine's mind.
* * *
We couldn't have a drink.
I waited at Kubel's annex, but neither Elaine nor Ellen came.
She must be busy persuading Grand Duke Aratus.
'Or she fell asleep again.'
I headed to my own annex.
The footsteps leading to the bed were quite light. It had been that kind of a day.
'She's finally starting to be conscious of the dreams.'
No, the expression "finally" was not appropriate.
Shura who had died in Drot. From the time she had had that dream, Elaine must have had her doubts.
It was a much faster pace than I had anticipated.
It meant that every word and action of mine since the regression had had a meaning.
'The faster, the better.'
The faster, and the more dreams she has, the more Elaine will change.
She will regain her past life's form someday.
The more that happens, the smoother the future will become.
Serzila will not be destroyed, and the conquest of the Otherworld will not end as just a long-cherished wish.
And...
Squeeze!
It was then. Suddenly, my body was pushed into the bed. Crack. The bed shattered.
My body, which had broken through the bottom of the bed, fell to the floor. And the floor also shattered.
Thud!
My body broke through the ceiling of the first floor and fell to the floor.
"This is your doing."
Grand Duke Aratus looked down at me, who was crushed on the floor.
"...If it's about the Tunnel-Digger, I'm not the one who saved him."
"If you don't save him."
His voice was heavier than lead.
"I won't talk to you anymore."
...She actually did it.