novelraw Chapter 73 : Chapter 73
Chapter 73 : Chapter 73
Chapter 73: Steel (2)
When I was with Grand Duke Aratus, Ellen was at Kubel's annex.
"How was Kubel?"
"He seemed fine."
Kubel's condition seemed quite alright.
In fact, the very act of asking such a question might have meant that Shura was the more mature one.
Since I had worried about Kubel first, not Shura.
"What about Shura?"
"She seemed better than Kubel. She wants to learn magic from you."
"That's a good sign."
Ellen nodded.
"Are you really going to make the North a land where Mages can live?"
When he was calming Shura down, I had said so.
That must be the reason Shura was better than Kubel.
That young girl followed my words very well. It must be because, at their first meeting, my inner self had nodded.
"I'm already doing it, though."
Kubel, Shura, and Cassion had been granted an annex in the Inner Fortress.
"The scale is different."
Letting a few Mages into the Inner Fortress and the North allowing Mages were two different stories.
"Well. I do think it would be good if it happened."
"You just said it without thinking?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"What's that supposed to mean."
"If the North does become like that, it means it will be the Grand Heir's accomplishment, not mine."
"...Are you passing the buck?"
"What can I do. The master of the North is Serzila."
Ellen let out a hollow laugh.
“What if the Grand Heir has no intention of doing so?”
“Then, well, Shura will be disappointed.”
“……”
“Me too.”
I stared intently at Ellen.
"But I believe the Grand Heir is not that kind of person."
If the Otherworld had not advanced south.
Or if I had gotten close to Elaine sooner.
Perhaps the North of the past life would have become like that.
So this life was bound to become like that.
I was getting close to Elaine quickly.
With the stimulation from him, Elaine was dreaming of her past life.
Eventually, Elaine, who has regained her past life, will plant Serzila's flag in the Otherworld...
I had no doubt that it would be so.
I would make it so. That was what this regression was for.
"It hasn't been that long since you've been with the Grand Heir."
"I have a good eye for people."
I said with a grin.
Ellen seemed to find that face annoying.
Even though, if you think about it, it was a compliment to herself.
“Do you like the Grand Heir that much?”
“I like you more.”
“……”
“It’s a secret from the Grand Heir.”
I said, as if whispering.
It was sincere. I preferred the as-is Ellen to the created Grand Heir.
Hadn't it been the same in my past life?
I was more comfortable with the wretch Elaine when they were alone, rather than the Elaine called the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke.
"Lies. You like the Grand Heir more."
Ellen said.
For some reason, her face was dissatisfied.
"I do?"
"Yes. You're more lenient with the Grand Heir."
"I am?"
I asked again.
"You let Cassion go, and this time you let Rick go too. After what you said to me."
"Kubel?"
"Yes."
At that time, Ellen had tried to kill Kubel.
"I told you to kill him."
"What are you talking about. Anyone could tell you were being sarcastic. What was it you said. You told me to kill Kubel and then comfort the orphaned Shura?"
Hearing it now, it was a plausible misunderstanding.
She had been sarcastic to Ellen, but she had listened to everything Elaine had said.
“It’s easier to listen to a request to save someone than to kill them.”
“So that was the reason?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Ellen's eyes narrowed.
"I just didn't want you to make that choice."
"..."
"Of course, that doesn't mean the choice to kill Kubel was wrong. The right answer is different for everyone."
At first, I had also intended to kill Kubel.
“Was saving him the right answer for you?”
“Both were the right answer.”
Either could be called the right answer.
If he was killed, the Heart Addict of the past life would disappear, and if he was saved, the future powerhouse who would become a Heart Addict would become an ally.
"Then why did you save him?"
Because that's what you would have done if you had regressed.
I looked at Ellen.
It wasn't something to say to those innocent eyes just yet.
“Because I thought you would regret it if you killed him.”
“Huh?”
“Am I wrong?”
“……”
Ellen couldn't answer.
She considered Kubel to be fine, and she liked Shura.
Because she had made that choice, Cassion was also saved. Rick was an extension of that.
"I don't want you to have any regrets."
"..."
Her face was hot.
It was because of my sun, Ellen thought.
* * *
“Let’s go for breakfast. They say it’s meat.”
It was Ellen who had come as soon as the sun rose.
It meant that she hadn't had a dream.
If she had had a dream, she would have come in the form of Elaine.
Because she had promised to tell me about the dream she had last night.
'The stimulation has run out.'
I had to give her more stimulation.
"Has it ever not been meat?"
"So what."
"..."
Ellen would retort like that when she had nothing to say.
It was a habit she had had in her past life as well.
A delicious smell wafted from around Kubel's annex. When we went inside, the table was already packed with food.
“You’ve worked hard since the morning.”
“Please enjoy your meal.”
The food clearly showed that a lot of effort had been put into it.
It was always delicious, but this morning, it looked even more delicious. Anyone could tell it was a sign of gratitude.
“You seem to be alright now.”
“It’s thanks to you, Harad.”
Kubel smiled sheepishly, as if recalling the previous day's disgraceful behavior.
"I shouldn't have been like that..."
"It's normal for people to fill in for each other's shortcomings, just like you found the Deep Sea's path for me."
"..."
"So there's no need to blame yourself so much."
Tears welled up in Kubel's eyes.
Ellen, who was feeding meat to Shura, made a disgusted face.
"If you cry now, I'm not eating."
Anyone could tell it was a lie.
Ellen was drooling. However, she succeeded in stopping Kubel's tears.
“You eat too, big sister.”
“I want to feed you just a little bit more?”
Ellen resisted the meat even while drooling.
It must mean that she was that sorry for having shaken her head at Shura.
“Cassion isn’t here today.”
From some point on, Cassion had also been joining them for meals.
"Sir Cassion is busy."
"Why?"
"Because of you."
I pointed at my own face.
"You decided to use the tunnels as a guillotine."
I had suggested using the 6th Knights, but Grand Duke Aratus had thought that was not enough.
"For the time being, the 2nd Knights will also manage it together. Since it's their rest period."
The 2nd Knights would help the 6th Knights until they got used to it to some extent.
Unlike the other Knights Orders, the 6th Knights had no knights who had experienced real combat, except for the commander.
"That's a good thing."
"Sir Cassion was happy too."
At dawn, when the order was given, Cassion had shed tears. To give an order to a sinner like me! He had been that moved.
"So. What's the Magical Item you received yesterday?"
At the drinking party yesterday, I had roughly conveyed the conversation I had had with Grand Duke Aratus.
"There wouldn't be anything useful there."
Ellen seemed to have been to that attic before. It was only natural, since she was the Grand Heir.
"Is it that ring?"
Ellen noticed that a new ring had appeared on my finger.
“It’s a Magical Item that makes the body like steel.”
“Then isn’t it not that great?”
Ellen's brows furrowed.
She could tear steel like paper.
Even without Aura.
"Most people are weaker than steel."
"Still."
Steel.
It wasn't as sturdy as a knight clad in Aura.
“I’m thinking of modifying it.”
“Didn’t you say you can’t make Magical Items?”
“I said I have no talent for creation.”
They had had such a conversation at the Fire Watchtower.
The sun was not a particularly creation-related Origin.
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“It’s a little different. I’m not creating it, but just touching it up a bit.”
I stabbed the meat with my fork.
“It’ll be similar to sprinkling pepper on this finished meat.”
At those words, Ellen's eyes lit up.
Her characteristic curiosity.
“Do you want to watch?”
“Can I?”
“Of course. I was going to ask you to come with me anyway.”
“Where?”
After finishing the meal, I immediately left the Inner Fortress.
Ellen quietly followed, and the path was familiar.
"I'll just use the tunnel for a bit."
The place we arrived at was a tunnel.
* * *
It was the tunnel under the Snow Leopard's Footprint.
One member of the 2nd Knights and two members of the 6th Knights were guarding the front of the tunnel, and they immediately moved out of the way.
"When will you be back?"
"Probably around evening."
"Then I won't have my sword drawn at that time."
"Thank you."
The member of the 2nd Knights was quite friendly to me.
Just like the 1st Knights, the 2nd Knights had also acknowledged me.
The 2nd Knights knew that I had caught the Cursed Beast that had been targeting the Grand Heir.
And that in the process, the 2nd Knights Commander, Cassion, had also acknowledged me.
'Actually, Sir Cassion was the culprit.'
Ellen smiled bitterly.
They were deceiving the 2nd Knights.
No, all the knights of Serzila.
Of course, my service was real.
It was the reason why even the gazes of the 6th Knights members were submissive.
It wasn't because Ellen, a collateral member of the Serzila family, was with them.
Those two truly held me in high regard.
As soon as they entered the tunnel, Ellen whispered.
“It’s going smoothly.”
“I heard the 6th Knights are on the easy side.”
The 6th Knights were close to apprentices.
Of course, compared to the continent, they were outstanding knights, but they had not yet experienced real combat.
That actually worked in our favor.
The 6th Knights considered the fact that I had rendered a service more important than the fact that I was a Mage.
"Still. A good thing is a good thing, right?"
"That's true, but we still have a long way to go."
I said, as if I had no particular feelings about it.
“Well. The other Knights Orders will have to experience you directly to acknowledge you.”
The 6th Knights are just an exception.
Just like the 1st and 2nd Knights had in the past, the remaining 3 Knights Orders would also ignore or despise me.
Of course, they wouldn't do it openly due to the service I had rendered so far, but in the end, I was in a position where I had to prove myself again.
“You’re certain that I’ll be acknowledged in the end.”
“Aren’t you?”
In Ellen's eyes, it was a matter of time.
Even she had acknowledged him, which knight would deny him?
"I am."
I knew no humility.
Ellen liked that about him. Doesn't she do the same? There are people who do not need humility.
The tunnel was surprisingly long.
My body felt stuffy, but my heart did not.
Swish. My feet, as I moved through the tunnel, moved at a constant speed.
The usual Harad resembled that sound.
He was calm, and that made the Ellen who was with him feel comfortable.
She felt like she could understand why the Elaine in her dreams was so insistent that Harad kill his temper.
"Good work."
The tunnel had ended at some point.
I, who had climbed up first, held out his hand to the Ellen who was looking up.
Ellen took that hand and stepped onto the ground. Even though it was the Boundary, all that was felt was warmth. It was because she was by my side.
“So what are you going to do now?”
On the way here, Ellen had not bothered to ask the reason for going to the Boundary.
He must have his thoughts. Because he's Harad. That was her feeling. She also thought it would be more fun to come without knowing.
“Hmm.”
Instead of answering, I raised my magic.
Ellen felt it gather in the small ring and then spread throughout his body.
The feeling changed.
At first, it was my magic, but the magic that spread throughout his body did not have the characteristic heat.
"Is your body like steel now?"
"That's right."
"It doesn't look any different from the outside."
I was the same.
At least visually.
"A person can't become real steel."
It wasn't becoming steel, but becoming as sturdy as steel.
No matter how vague magic was, there was a limit in the end.
“Do you want to try hitting it?”
I held out my right palm.
It meant to try hitting it with her fist.
“……”
Ellen's fist hit my palm.
Tap.
"...What are you doing?"
I looked at her with an incredulous expression.
It was at the level of just touching, not hitting.
"...What if it breaks."
It wasn't a sword, but a fist.
It was proof that I didn't trust the defense of the Magical Item that much either.
But Ellen was scared of even hitting with her fist.
“If it breaks, it’s a shame. It’s not that important of a Magical Item.”
“No. Not the Magical Item. You.”
“……”
To the Ellen who had inherited Innate Strength.
Steel was truly nothing.