novelraw Chapter 85 : Chapter 85
Chapter 85 : Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Delegation (2)
"Can I go play?"
"It doesn't matter, but... um. Yes, Shura. You may go."
The delegation had arrived sooner than expected... but there shouldn't be a problem.
The delegation went straight to the Inner Fortress, and even if something happened, Shura was a smart child.
There was no way Shura, unlike Kubel, would be found out to be a mage.
"Only until the sun sets."
"Yes!"
"I'll come pick you up then."
A few guards were still permanently stationed in the alley where Shura played.
It was because they didn't know when the Liberation Tower might appear.
Arika had once rooted out a few of those rebels, but they couldn't let their guard down.
They had been lucky that time.
Originally, it was strange for a mage to be rooted out. It meant that the mages Arika had caught at that time were nobodies.
There was no telling when a real mage might target Kubel or Shura.
However, Arika was able to perform other duties without getting bogged down by that possibility.
I hate to admit it... but it was thanks to Harad. That bastard could identify mages.
If she just caught suspicious people, Harad would reveal whether they were mages or not.
"...Harad Iagar."
He was a strange man.
Intelligence Bureau agent Arika did not fully understand the person named Harad.
...It must be because her own abilities are lacking.
"Is this Harad's information?"
So, in that perfect person's eyes, she would see what I couldn't.
"Yes. This is all the information on Harad Iagar."
Arika added.
"There may be inaccurate parts."
It was information obtained while avoiding the eyes of the Church.
There were bound to be holes.
The Church was still stationed in the Iagar domain where the mage had appeared.
It might even become the Church's land. The puppet Imperial Family, Enverque, gave whatever the Church wanted.
The information report Ellen held was a result that had not been cross-verified.
On top of that, there were many gaps.
It wasn't that there were no surviving Inner Fortress personnel, but it was impossible to contact them.
The few survivors were all secured by the Church.
"It's okay. It's better than nothing. I can just probe him a little."
Probing Harad.
It would not be easy. That must be why Ellen's voice was a bit low.
Ellen, who had been with him all this time, would know best what kind of man Harad was.
Harad was by no means an easy man.
This was not referring to his military prowess. Even setting aside his magical achievements, Harad was a difficult person.
If he had not been a mage, Iagar might have entered politics.
Arika couldn't understand that.
Harad Iagar was said to be an easy-to-handle young master.
That was why Arika had pointed out the errors in the information report in advance.
The young master Harad of the Iagar family and the hostage Harad of Serzila were too different. It was safe to say they were completely different people.
Ellen opened the information report.
Arika waited quietly, feeling like a student being graded.
The sound of paper turning was slow but steady.
At last, it was when Ellen reached the last page.
Thud.
Ellen slammed her head on the desk.
"Your Grace the Grand Heir?"
Startled, Arika checked on Ellen's condition.
"..."
She was asleep.
* * *
A timid person who was so afraid of his magic being discovered that he rarely left his room.
The survivor of Iagar, who was eventually discovered to be a mage after accidentally killing a servant, and whose family was annihilated by another mage.
Originally, that was all the information Serzila had gathered on Harad.
Much information was not needed.
What Grand Duke Aratus wanted was not the person Harad, but the fire he possessed.
"Are you all right?"
Arika asked as soon as Ellen woke up.
Her concern was evident.
This was not her first time experiencing these narcoleptic episodes. Hadn't it happened on the way to catch the Tunnel-Digger?
As if under a spell, Ellen would fall asleep.
Then, and now.
"...I'm fine."
My head was foggy.
The sensation of reality and dreams mixing. It was always like this after I had a dream.
"How long did I sleep?"
"A little over four hours."
Looking out the window, the sun was already setting.
It was because winter had arrived.
"I'll be heading back for today."
"Are you going to the delegation?"
"No. I'm not planning to meet them this year. I'm thinking of going to see Harad first."
The delegation's stay was for five days.
If she went in Elaine's form, it would be a troublesome five days.
As the status of the Grand Heir attracts attention, it would be difficult to go see Harad.
There might be someone in the delegation who knew Harad.
On the other hand, Ellen could move around freely.
Publicly, she was a collateral branch, but whatever. The person named Ellen had to disappear someday.
'Anyway, what the delegation wants is the Grand Duke or the Grand Heir.'
Arika bowed her head to Elaine and left for the alley where Shura was.
Elaine walked, looking at the Inner Fortress.
'Harad Iagar. The only son of Iagar.'
Harad was a child Count Iagar had in his old age.
So, his value was bound to be precious.
Iagar was not a lacking family.
A respectable leader, a diligent knight order, a comfortable financial situation... Harad grew up without want. As the only child, he also monopolized their love.
However, as was the tradition for generations, Iagar was a wise family. The Count did not misuse his love. The young Harad grew up to be a sound person.
Harad was an outstanding all-rounder. He was skilled in many areas. He showed above-average performance in everything. Unfortunately, that was as far as it went.
Of course, that was from the continent's perspective. From the Otherworld's perspective, Harad was a genius without equal.
Born with the Sun.
How did the young Harad feel about the Sun?
Did Iagar know that he was a mage?
Of course, Arika could not obtain such detailed information.
It was a past that could not be known unless one was the person involved.
But Ellen knew.
Although the source was a dream, and so she knew its credibility was ridiculously low...
-There's something in my heart.
The young Harad's voice was still clear.
-What could there be besides Mommy and Daddy?
-There's a big space. I think it's bigger than our house, no, bigger than our domain. Mommy and Daddy aren't there, but there's a small sun.
The young Harad who appeared in the dream had thus informed his parents of the Sun's existence.
-Forget that. You don't have a sun.
The wise Iagar.
Befitting him, the lady of the house was also wise.
Iagar did not show it. They just covered up the existence of the sun.
That was the problem, if there was one.
Covering it up was Harad's role.
All Count Iagar and his wife could do was pretend not to know.
To Ellen, who was watching the dream, the young Harad covered it up quite well.
However, he grew weaker as a backlash.
The older he got, the more he learned about the world, the more cowardly he became.
Because he realized that the small sun he said was in his heart was the Origin of a mage.
-Demon!
One day, when the Church of the Moon displayed the corpse of a mage impaled on a stake in the square, Count Iagar forbade Harad many things.
-Please, do not do anything.
Harad listened to those words well.
He did not stray. He just went from being a kind young master to everyone to an indifferent young master.
But the Sun did not.
Contrary to Iagar's wishes, Harad was a genius. To be precise, the Origin he was born with was.
So Ellen could not dare to compare the young Harad of the dream with the Shura of reality.
The Origins they were born with were too different.
-Why does it keep getting bigger...
The sun grew bigger with each passing year.
The enlarged flames spilled over the heart and even came out into reality.
To use Harad's expression, it was a seizure.
The Origin covets reality. The larger it is, the more overwhelming its struggles are.
The first seizure was when he was eleven.
When he woke up, Harad was lying on the floor. The floor was covered in black ashes.
The flames that had come out into reality while he was asleep had burned the bed.
Count Iagar and his wife cleaned up the messy room.
Only the two of them and Harad knew about the existence of the Sun.
The seizures became more frequent over time.
Their range and power also increased. The library that Iagar had cherished for generations was turned to ashes.
It was because the book was difficult, and Harad felt frustrated.
For that trivial reason, the Sun had given out its fire.
-It's okay. It's okay...
Count Iagar was grateful that there were no witnesses.
However, only Harad would know what his child's eyes saw in that gaze.
From then on, the twelve-year-old Harad shut himself in his room.
The reason a maid would come to see Harad, even though she had no work, must be because of Harad's past.
Because in the past, that young master was cute and bright.
And on top of that, he had a kind heart, so he had received all the love of the Iagar Inner Fortress.
-Young master?
The young maid opened Harad's door and peeked her head in.
-G... get, get out...
-Saying things you don't mean again.
The maid ignored him and came into the room.
It must be because Harad, who was telling her to get out, was crying.
-What's wrong? Everyone is worried.
-Lil, Lily...
-Yes, it's Lily. The Lily you told to get out!
Lily said with a smile.
It was a name not in the information Arika had given.
The Intelligence Bureau had not been able to find out the identity of the dead servant.
-I'm sorry...
-Oh my. I'm kidding.
Lily was a woman who was comforting just to look at.
She carefully sat on the edge of the bed and took out a handkerchief.
-I don't know what's wrong, but please don't stay for too long. They say they'll quit if you don't show your face.
Lily wiped Harad's tears.
The handkerchief gradually became wet.
-Everyone is waiting for you, young master.
It must be because his emotions were overflowing.
And in such emotions, there must have been a sense of injustice.
-Huh?
Instead of tears, fire flowed from Harad's eyes.
The handkerchief burned as if it had absorbed oil, not tears. It spread to Lily in an instant.
A scream erupted from her surprised, open mouth.
That was the last words of the melting Lily.
...This time, too.
This time, too, Count Iagar had managed to handle it.
The scream was Harad's, who had had a nightmare, and the maid Lily had returned to her hometown.
Some raised suspicions, but in the end, the suspicion was concluded as a momentary happening.
After that, the dream flowed quickly.
Harad, who had killed Lily, became a wreck and shut himself in his room even more.
To Ellen, that was even more amazing.
It meant that the young Harad of the dream was enduring the fiery temper caused by the Sun.
It must be for his family.
Eight years passed in a flash.
To Harad, it must have felt like decades, but the dream was an instant.
...The Iagar Inner Fortress after eight years was a sea of fire.
In that sea of fire, to be precise, in a hidden space under the floor.
Through a small gap in between.
The twenty-year-old Harad saw the deaths of the servants.
He saw his parents' hearts being eaten.
-Ah! O, great king!
He saw the face of his enemy.
The Torch that had turned Iagar to ashes.
* * *
The dream was more detailed than Arika's information report.
And slightly different.
The annihilation of Iagar was an event that had occurred in early summer of this year.
The rumor that Harad had burned a servant to death had attracted the mage of the Red Tower, the Torch.
So Arika estimated the time Harad had killed the servant to be early this year.
That he had hidden it well until he was twenty, and then the incident happened.
Because the rumor had spread in early summer.
But the Harad of the dream had killed the maid in the winter when he was twelve.
At that time, Lily's death had been handled safely.
Far from spreading as a rumor, it was not even known in the Iagar Inner Fortress.
Of course, there could have been a witness.
It's a possibility that cannot be ignored.
'But suddenly, eight years later?'
But why did the rumor spread eight years later, and not then?
Had the rumor existed unknowingly before then?
No way. Ellen firmly shook her head.
When it comes to mages, the Church digs into even the most trivial things.
Moreover, there was even a Church of the Sun and Moon in Iagar.
If there had been even the slightest bit of noise, the Church would have surely investigated Iagar.
The rumor started this year.
That must be why the Serzila Intelligence Bureau had estimated Harad's murder to be early this year.
'Eight years.'
The dream doesn't add up.
If that were true, the rumor should have spread eight years ago.
The information report Arika had compiled made more sense.
However, there was no information about the victim in that report.
'Arika, or the dream.'
Which one is the correct answer...
Ellen, who had been contemplating, eventually smiled bitterly.
The one she was leaning towards was, after all, the dream.
It had become so since the dream and reality had started to overlap.
Cassion, Drot, Rick, and the Harad of reality who resembled the Harad of the dream more than the information report... Ellen could no longer ignore the dream.
'In the end, Harad can't be explained.'
The information report and the dream explained the Harad of Iagar in the same way.
He is weak and cannot control the Sun.
But the Harad of reality was the exact opposite.
He was deep-minded and reached 4th Rank in just half a year.
It's only been half a year, but Harad had been extraordinary since he had met Gullen who had come to capture him.
To be precise, from the time he was coming to the north with Gullen.
'He said he suddenly came to his senses.'
Gullen had reported so.
He was clearly a cripple trapped in trauma, but he had suddenly come to his senses.
Harad had become extraordinary from then on.
'A person who was a wreck, suddenly.'
It wasn't that it didn't make sense at all.
A sudden surge of vengefulness could happen.
But Harad was not mad with revenge.
He was mostly calm. He knew a lot about magic.
But according to the dream and the information report, Harad had not learned about magic in Iagar.
He was naturally ignorant about the Boundary and the Otherworld.
'He suddenly changed, and suddenly became a person who knows.'
Harad suddenly became a different person.
...As if he had jumped out of a dream.
Ellen had no choice but to interpret it that way.
'How?'
However, she could not answer that question.
'From twelve to twenty. What happened in those eight years?'
There was a gap of eight years.
The dream did not show it in detail.
The information report was the same.
Iagar was annihilated, and the survivors of the Inner Fortress were few and far between. And even they were in the hands of the Church.
Information about Iagar had become too precious.
'Did he perhaps luckily meet a mage teacher?'
It was plausible.
Harad was a weak young master.
Cowardly, and avoided people. That was all. There were no further details in the information report.
The dream was the same.
It just showed scenes of him cooped up in his room and flowed quickly.
Ellen found that frustrating.
If it continues like this, it will just end as a well-woven novel.
Based on the past brought by Arika, and dramatized by Ellen's dream.
So, I have to verify whether it is a novel or an actual past with added details...
"Oh. You're here."
Suddenly, Harad was visible.
While thinking, Ellen's footsteps had entered Kubel's annex.
Kubel, sitting next to Harad, was for some reason fidgety.
It seemed to be because of the guest sitting opposite him.
It was someone Ellen had never seen before. But she could tell at a glance that he was a knight.
He was wearing armor rarely seen in the north, and a strange crest was engraved on his chest plate.
"Please greet him. This is a collateral branch of the Serzila family. A very high-ranking person."
Harad encouraged the guest to greet her.
Ellen's brow furrowed at the flattering words.
"He is a knight who came with the delegation this time. In the past, he was a knight of Iagar."
At those words, Ellen's eyes rounded.
"One of the swords of the golden-glowing Gazdag, I am Pelatz."
What Ellen had requested was all information about Harad.
Not all information about Iagar.
But the name Pelatz somehow didn't feel unfamiliar to Ellen.
"I once served the young master Harad."
It was definitely... a dream.
I heard it in a dream.
-Do you know a Pelatz?
-Who's that bastard?
-He is a knight of Iagar.
-Oh dear. He must have died at your hands.
-Fuck you.
The dream where the place name Drot had come up.
In that dream, Harad and Elaine had had such a conversation.
"That bastard?"
"...?"
Pelatz's face, insulted to his face, was dumbfounded.
"He's not dead?"
Ellen said without thinking, and turned her gaze without thinking.
"Haha."
Harad was smiling.
As if he were very pleased.