novelraw Chapter 72 : Chapter 72
Chapter 72 : Chapter 72
Chapter 72: Steel (1)
I couldn't blame Elaine.
For her, it must have been a last resort, something she said thinking she had nothing to lose.
Because there was nothing more to say.
'It must mean her persuasion failed.'
The situation was different from Cassion's case.
Rick had no justification to live. Although he was threatened, it was undeniable that he had harmed Serzila.
The decision to save such a Rick was Elaine's alone.
'It probably didn't work.'
Pity.
It was an emotion that an absolute ruler should not have. It was a reason Grand Duke Aratus would not accept.
So Elaine must have had no choice. She must have had to throw something out there.
'To think she actually did it.'
If you don't listen, I won't talk to Daddy anymore—it was advice fit for a child.
Elaine had taken such advice.
It meant that she relied on me that much.
So I laughed.
My internal organs were damaged from being crushed, and my mouth tasted of blood, but the joy was greater than the pain.
"You're laughing?"
Grand Duke Aratus's eyes narrowed menacingly.
I immediately pulled down the corners of my mouth.
"I'm crying."
"...You've gone mad again."
"It wasn't my doing, and it was a joke. I really didn't think the Grand Heir would say that."
The corners of Grand Duke Aratus's eyes did not go down.
It meant that it was not the answer he wanted.
"As I said again, it was the Grand Heir who decided to save the Tunnel-Digger."
"She was not a child to make such a decision."
The problem wasn't my advice.
The problem was Elaine, who had accepted that advice.
"Eating food from some damn Mage. Forgiving a spy. Begging for a Mage's life."
These were things that the Elaine of not long ago would never have imagined.
All were changes that had begun after meeting me.
"You are ruining that child."
Grand Duke Aratus called Elaine a child.
She was all grown up, but it must mean that she was still the apple of his eye.
"Do you truly think so?"
"..."
The Grand Duke was silent.
He was a Grand Duke who knew of Elaine's escapades.
'Is that all he knows?'
It might not be that Elaine had started her escapades, but that the Grand Duke had encouraged them.
I suspected as much.
Because Elaine had been known as a man since she was born.
'It must be the Grand Duke's doing.'
Who would think of dressing up a baby?
The fact that Elaine was publicly known as a man must have been Grand Duke Aratus's intention.
'Why?'
I couldn't think of a reason.
It wasn't as if there had never been a female Grand Duke in Serzila's history.
What was important in the North was strength.
Not some damn gender.
I couldn't ask in my past life.
I didn't have the chance to ask. I only found out that Elaine was a woman right before the regression.
'It's not the time to ask now either.'
It was too early.
What was important now was that Grand Duke Aratus was turning a blind eye to Elaine's escapades.
It must mean that he was concerned about Elaine's obsession with being the perfect Grand Heir.
"I think she looks better now."
The young Elaine was too burdened.
And she felt burdened. That was the reason Ellen was born.
I thought that the distinction between Ellen and Elaine should disappear.
It probably wouldn't be a distant story.
"Getting hung up on a Mage?"
"The one who brought me here was Your Highness the Grand Duke."
The beginning of the change was Harad.
The one who had dragged that Mage to the North was Grand Duke Aratus.
"You're getting cheeky."
The crushing pressure intensified.
I somehow stood up.
It wasn't heavy enough to kill me in the first place.
It meant that the Grand Duke didn't think of Elaine's change as that bad either.
"I know you like it."
The Grand Duke liked capable and bold people.
As long as one was capable, it was okay to cross the line sometimes. Hadn't it always been like that? The North was that kind of land.
"I have found the Tunnel-Digger."
"Do you think that is a service."
The topic changed.
Even though he said that, it meant he didn't think of Elaine's change as that bad.
"It is not your service."
Grand Duke Aratus pointed out that it was Shura's service.
If Shura hadn't been a Mage, Rick and Isotta would not have been found.
"I persuaded her when Your Highness was against it."
"I did not oppose the child."
"The child must have been very cooperative."
The Grand Duke's eyes twitched.
His Aura floated inside the annex. It did not crush me.
It meant that he didn't want to say it, but he acknowledged it.
'Even so, she openly crossed the line.'
This was the status of a child in the North.
In front of a child, even that Grand Duke Aratus is cautious.
"Are you going to ask for another annex?"
The Grand Duke's eyes turned upward.
He seemed to be counting the number of remaining annexes in the Inner Fortress.
"I have no intention of going that far."
I had no intention of bringing Rick into the Inner Fortress.
"I understand that the Grand Heir has already decided on the Tunnel-Digger's treatment."
Rick would live quietly.
Normally, he would be under the management of Arika or the Intelligence Bureau, and at times, he would follow the orders of Elaine or Harad.
Elaine must have finished her report like that.
"You've used your head."
Thanks to that, my service remained.
"I was on the side of killing him."
"Why."
Grand Duke Aratus asked briefly.
But he was clearly showing interest.
"Although it was not of his own free will, it is because he harmed Serzila."
I said, looking down on him.
One had to set aside emotions when it came to a superior.
"Your thoughts are lofty, for a hostage."
"Even though I look like this, I was the next Count."
"A mere Count of the Empire."
Although he said that, the Grand Duke smiled shallowly.
It seemed to be a satisfactory answer.
Perhaps, as much as Elaine had revealed her emotions, he had felt the need for someone to hold the reins.
"What will you do with the tunnels."
The locations of all the tunnels had been identified.
By tomorrow, even their securing would be finished.
'No. It might have already been finished.'
Looking at the Grand Duke's expression, that possibility was high.
"Will you block them."
"I will not."
"Then?"
"Have the knights stand guard. As a guillotine."
The brokers who had struck Ellen's neck when we returned this time had given me an inspiration.
There was no need to block the tunnels.
They would serve as a trap to catch the rats that were the Otherworld Mages.
"It will be a good experience for the 6th Knights."
The 6th Knights were closer to knight cadets than knights. It was a group of knights who were judged to be too early to be deployed to the Boundary.
Guarding the tunnels would be a job of simply cutting off the heads of the Mages who poked their heads out, but even that had its meaning.
When would they ever get the chance to cut off the head of an Otherworld Mage?
"It sounds like you intend to continue using the tunnels."
"Can I increase them?"
At that, the Grand Duke laughed heartily.
It meant that I had chosen the right answer.
'It was a test.'
My usefulness comes from the Boundary.
In the Boundary beyond the tunnels, rather than in the cliché Search Routes.
To use an analogy, Harad was a lamp.
A lamp that illuminates the unknown that is the Boundary.
There is no sense of dissonance with that lamp.
Harad was a Mage. A Mage for whom it was not at all strange to be in the Boundary.
'One that can be discarded at any time.'
The Grand Duke intended to find something in the Boundary with that lamp.
That something is related to the Moon Tower, and the Grand Duke's sabbatical year.
I was in a position where I had to wander the Boundary until the Grand Duke found what he wanted.
If I had answered that we should block the tunnels, the Grand Duke would have been greatly disappointed.
"It is indeed your service. Is there anything you desire."
The satisfied Grand Duke mentioned a reward.
"I understand that you have also collected spoils of war."
I said, looking around the room.
What the Grand Duke had collected was not just severed heads.
* * *
A Magical Item.
That object, imbued with magic, is treated similarly to a Mage. Because it was made by a Mage.
Of course, it is not a common object.
In the Otherworld, perhaps, but on the continent, Mages capable enough to create magic tools are rare.
That is why it is called a Magical Item.
Because most magic tools originate from the Otherworld.
Serzila was a place with a weak sense of rejection towards such Magical Items.
It was because it was a land close to the Otherworld.
Just as they were familiar with Mages, they did not consider a Mage's object to be ominous.
Even Elaine, while thinking of Mages as demons, was enjoying her escapades through a Magical Item, was she not.
'Demons.'
In fact, that too was a thought that should not have existed in Serzila.
A Mage is not a demon, but an enemy to be killed.
'It must be because of the sabbatical year.'
It is because of some accident that Grand Duke Aratus caused in the imperial palace.
That is why this generation of Serzila has had fewer opportunities to meet Otherworld Mages.
The first Mage Elaine had seen was Harad.
'Normally, she would have met them as often as she ate.'
I heard that Grand Duke Aratus was like that in his youth.
For generations, Serzila has fought countless Mages in the Boundary.
It meant that Elaine's lack of practical experience was because of Grand Duke Aratus.
Because that Grand Duke had suddenly attacked the imperial palace.
'He should clean up his own mess.'
I unconsciously glared at the back of Grand Duke Aratus, who was walking ahead.
In my past life, that Grand Duke builds a hut in the Boundary and enjoys a retired life.
Then he suddenly disappears without a word.
I had no intention of letting that happen in this life.
If Grand Duke Aratus retires in the future, I intended to keep him in the Inner Fortress. Through Elaine, of course.
"Your gaze is unpleasant."
"I blinked wrongly."
It was as if the Grand Duke had eyes on the back of his head.
I immediately lowered my gaze. If I had glared a little longer, he would have picked a fight, saying, "Good,".
The Grand Duke stopped walking on the top floor of the Grand Duke's Residence. It was a small attic, and the entrance was covered in dust. It meant that it had not been visited for a long time.
'This too must be because of the sabbatical year.'
The Grand Duke's hunting had stopped at that point.
Not just him, but all of Serzila's Sword Masters had become unable to enter the Boundary.
'A sabbatical year.'
At that time.
Twenty years ago.
Why did the Grand Duke attack the imperial palace?
'He's not a stupid person.'
On the contrary, he is on the wise side.
It's just that he is so strong that he has no need to use his head.
"Do not try to know."
"Yes."
Grand Duke Aratus was like a ghost.
"There is nothing to know."
It must mean that they are simple spoils of war.
It sounded like he was telling me not to waste too much time.
The Grand Duke opened the attic. A cloud of dust blew out. Pitter-patter. The dust burned around me, and small sparks flew.
"There will be nothing particularly useful."
"It seems so."
It was just as the Grand Duke had said.
There were not many Magical Items.
"..."
The Grand Duke's hunting method must have been the problem.
Most Magical Items would have been broken, unable to withstand the Grand Duke's sword.
In other words, it meant that the Magical Items moved here were all valuable.
Because they had survived the Grand Duke's sword.
Counting them, there were a total of 10 Magical Items in the attic.
One of them stood out greatly.
It was so thick and long that it could neither stand nor lie down.
It was wedged between the left floor corner and the right ceiling corner, and upon closer inspection, it was not a pillar, but a sword. A very blunt sword.
“It is a Magical Item said to have slain a Dragon.”
The Grand Duke said, like a hunter boasting of his prey.
It was an unexpected side of him.
"That's a gross exaggeration."
A Dragon.
It was a fictional Magical Beast that only appeared in the legends of the Otherworld.
"Dragons are real."
This too was unexpected.
The Grand Duke seemed to believe in the existence of Dragons.
Even in the Otherworld, not many believed in them.
"Have you perhaps seen one?"
"No."
"Yes."
It seemed that the Grand Duke still had a child-like innocence.
I looked around the Magical Items without letting it show.
Usually, a Magical Item is an object that only a Mage can use.
Because it needs to be infused with magic to operate.
Occasionally, there are special Magical Items that are not like that.
The escapade-use Magical Item that Elaine uses is such a case.
'I see. So this is why they're rotting here.'
All the things here were things that needed to be infused with magic to operate.
Except for that sword that was said to have slain a Dragon.
'That one's not practical.'
Leaving aside the absurd explanation, that sword was just too big.
It looked like a sword for a Giant, not a person.
The other Magical Items also didn't seem practical.
A dented giant armor, a bisected staff, something clumped together like scrap metal, a headless mannequin, a strange object crushed like mud...
'There's nothing intact.'
This attic seemed to have been made not to store useful Magical Items, but to boast of the Grand Duke's power.
The last Magical Item was a ring.
Excluding the sword said to have slain a Dragon, that ring was the only intact Magical Item in this attic.
The ring was small and plain.
It was gray, with no decorations or patterns, and it fit perfectly on my little finger.
I gripped the hilt of my sword with my left hand, which was wearing the ring.
'It doesn't get in the way.'
I didn't feel any particular sense of foreignness.
The ring was that thin.
When I infused magic, a strange sensation started from the ring and spread throughout my body.
It was a sensation as if my entire body was being tightly gripped by something.
My hand looked the same as usual, but the feeling was different. Just then, the Grand Duke handed me something. It was a dagger.
I lightly pricked my palm with it. It was fine. When I pricked it harder, a metallic sound came from my palm.
'It's like steel.'
It wasn't a mistake.
My entire body had turned into steel, or something with a similar strength.
"It was owned by a man of steel."
The Grand Duke added.
A Mage from the Tower of Meteoric Iron, I suppose.
Indeed, it wasn't for nothing that steel came to mind.
'Defense.'
It was a necessary ability.
Most Mages are vulnerable to defense.
It was because magic follows the Origin.
There are Origins suitable for defense. The sun is not one of them. My body was only at the level of a knight.
'And a knight who doesn't use Aura.'
It meant that in the end, I was still just a Mage.
The sun does not have the skill to strengthen the body with Aura like a knight.
'To become that sturdy, I would have to reach at least 5th Rank.'
And even that couldn't withstand the Aura of a Sword Master, but in any case.
I can nullify an attack, but I can't take it.
At least, that was the case for the Mage named Harad.
If an attack reached my body, I would be injured or die.
"I'll take this."
This ring might not be an extra life, but it would prevent a serious injury.
There was also plenty of room for improvement. Steel. I remembered that sensation clearly. It was a property that had a connection with fire.
“But why is this one intact?”
“He died while walking.”
“……”
It meant that the owner of this ring had died while being near the Grand Duke.
Suddenly, the Grand Duke walked past me.
Even though there was plenty of space.
...The reason for that, I realized as soon as I left the Grand Duke's Residence.
“What happened?”
Ellen was waiting.
“……So this is why.”
“Pardon?”
The Grand Duke's walk was a threat.
It would be different with Elaine.
A threat not to get close to Ellen.
“Shall we have a drink?”
I had no intention of listening.
“You’re not going to drink anyway.”
“You don’t want to?”
“I meant I like it even more.”