novelraw Chapter 99 : Chapter 99
Chapter 99 : Chapter 99
Chapter 99: Seria (1)
"So... you met by chance?"
While he was with mages from the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction, of all things?
Elaine pressed her temples firmly.
The cause was stress.
She didn't even feel worried about him being harassed and cornered in an alley by Liberation Tower mages.
That too was something Harad had brought upon himself.
"So?"
"She seemed lost, so I escorted her here. After all, she is a guest of Serzila."
So why did you have to be the one to bring her?
Elaine held her tongue. Just then, Seria, the Guillotine and next Inquisitor, added.
"I wasn't lost, I was observing."
At those words, a portion of her irritation vanished.
She felt as if her eyes had been opened wide. The Harad reflected in those eyes had a serious expression.
It didn't seem like he was with Seria with a light heart.
'She was observing the streets.'
Harad had decided he needed to stop Seria's actions.
'The tunnels. It must be the tunnels.'
Elaine surmised that it was to prevent the tunnels from being discovered.
The tunnel connected to the Boundary was a secret.
If it were discovered, the Empire and the Church would surely raise hell, claiming they had broken their promise.
"I understand."
Her heated head cooled down.
Just as he had done with the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction, Harad had turned Seria's attention to himself.
He must have felt like he had stumbled upon a hunting dog that had been let off its leash.
Harad had felt the need to prevent such a hunting dog from running rampant.
"Well done, Harad. Thanks to you, we were able to properly welcome our guest."
Only then could Elaine smile.
Seria.
That woman was indeed a priest who would become a hunting dog of the Church.
"I only did what I had to do as a vassal of Serzila."
An agent of the Intelligence Bureau. Arika's successor.
Remembering Harad's new identity, Elaine let out a hollow laugh.
It was the perfect identity for Harad.
The identities of Serzila Intelligence Bureau agents were never publicly known.
'It would have been better if we had coordinated our story beforehand.'
But for Harad, it must have been an unavoidable situation.
Since his meeting with Seria was unintentional.
"My greetings are late. I am Elaine Serzila."
Elaine extended her hand to Seria.
She didn't know if Harad could really eat with the Pope, but the Magical Item that disguised her as Elaine could fool even the real Pope's eyes.
"I am Seria, a servant of the Sun God Laan."
Seria shook her hand with a smile in her eyes.
As expected, she showed no signs of noticing. Elaine sat down next to Harad.
Just then, Arika quietly left the annex.
It was to make Harad's words true.
From now until Seria leaves, the Inner Fortress would treat Harad as an Intelligence Bureau agent.
"Your superior is..."
"A busy person. She probably just came by for a moment to check on my condition."
"Your information is truly fast."
"We're not called the Intelligence Bureau for nothing."
Harad acted like a real Intelligence Bureau agent.
He looked quite natural. He seemed more real than Ellen.
"By the way, it's quite a coincidence, you tailing the mages who were tailing me."
Harad said as if talking to himself.
Elaine knew he was speaking to her.
He was naturally sharing what had happened.
'It doesn't seem like that's all.'
A priest.
To Harad, she was an enemy.
With an enemy in front of him, Harad doesn't speak carelessly.
Even if it seemed that way on the surface, there was always a hidden meaning.
"How did you know they were mages?"
"They became nervous and flinched when they saw me."
Seria showed her attire with both hands.
A white cassock. It was the symbol of the Church, worn by both the Sun and Moon factions without distinction.
A mage who sees that clothing can't help but think of death.
"And?"
"That was the proof. Is more needed?"
Seria, who had been smiling with her eyes, tilted her head.
Her blinking eyes looked incredibly innocent.
Elaine found that purity chilling.
This was the first time she had conversed with a priest of the Church.
She felt like she understood Harad's intention.
He preferred experience over teaching with words.
Just as he had let Ellen experience mages, he was now letting Elaine experience a priest.
"Nervous and flinched. Isn't that a bit weak for evidence? I don't think you can ignore the possibility that they weren't."
"But they were demons?"
Seria the Guillotine answered before Harad could even finish his sentence.
She seemed like a person who didn't even consider the possibility of being wrong.
"It is said that the eyes of the Sun God Laan see every corner of the world, and the ears of the Moon God Luan hear all."
Seria's smile was deep, and her voice was gentle.
"This time too, Laan simply looked down upon the demons."
"I see. As always, He showed you that they were demons."
"You know the doctrines of the Sun?"
Seria's eyes sparkled as her face brightened.
"It would be strange not to. Have you ever killed a fire demon?"
"Fire. The most unforgivable demon. Fortunately, not yet."
The most unforgivable demon was sitting right in front of Seria.
"I see. Ah, by any chance, do I not look suspicious?"
Harad asked, pointing to his own face.
Elaine almost coughed.
"Aren't you an Intelligence Bureau agent?"
"I've heard that it wouldn't be strange for a demon to be hiding anywhere."
At those words, Seria's eyes narrowed.
Elaine broke out in a cold sweat for no reason.
But contrary to her worries, Seria soon smiled.
"I felt it from the beginning, but you're quite mischievous. Harad, you are not a demon."
"Do you have proof?"
"The five demons tried to kill you. If Harad were a demon, they wouldn't have done that."
Seria said with conviction.
Elaine almost laughed.
Elaine recalled her past self.
Seria resembled the Elaine of that time. The continent is ignorant about mages.
Even the Church.
"Laan did not shine upon Harad. That is proof that you are not a mage."
"Truly omniscient."
Harad nodded in admiration.
To Elaine's eyes, he looked like he was being sarcastic.
"And omnipotent. It's amazing. I know that there are many in the North who do not know."
"It's probably because fire is rare. That's why it doesn't resonate as much."
Sun and Moon.
The world groups those churches together, but strictly speaking, the two are distinct.
There were more followers of the Moon in the North.
Because it was a land where the sun's power was weak.
"It's a pity. If more of the North were to convert, Laan would surely look down upon them."
Elaine snorted.
Seria was blaming the northerners for why the North was cold.
"Are you also a follower of the Moon, Harad?"
Seria asked in a suggestive tone.
She seemed to be hoping he was a follower of the Sun.
"Unfortunately, I am an atheist. I am busy enough serving Serzila."
"Laan would also look down upon that loyalty with value."
Seria stopped talking, raised her head, and lifted both hands. It was the shape of supporting something large and round. It was a prayer to the sun.
A white light flickered above her hands.
Divine power. That formless energy gently swept through Kubel's annex as if cleaning it. The interior, which had been warm because of Harad, became even warmer.
"Truly amazing. A mage. No, a demon, they say, has only one talent each."
Harad was related to fire, and Kubel could only use smoke.
A mage's magic is bound by their Origin.
"That inadequacy is the very definition of a demon."
The expression "vague" suits divine power more than magic.
She understood the words Harad had once said.
That warm light of Seria's would act as a guillotine when meeting mages.
Sometimes it would become a shield, and at other times, it would heal someone.
Therefore, it is more vague than magic.
That was the reason why the Church's influence surpassed the Empire's.
The potential of divine power makes the Church a warrior, a mage, and a healer.
"As soon as dawn breaks, I intend to pursue the demon who insulted an Imperial Knight."
"You mean Sir Pelatz."
Seria nodded.
"Are there any clues?"
"Laan will show me."
It sounded like she was going to poke around as she pleased.
"Weren't you looking down upon the North less?"
"He looks down upon me and my surroundings who have come to the North. Just as He shone upon the five demons earlier."
Elaine found it hard to understand that conviction.
However, it seemed clear that Harad bringing Seria here was an excellent choice.
"But there is much I do not know about the North. Could you perhaps accompany me?"
Seria said with a shy expression.
She must have been embarrassed to say she didn't know the North in front of the Grand Heir... but it didn't seem to be just because of that.
"I will accompany you as well."
Elaine said without realizing it.
Seria's eyes widened slightly.
"I am grateful, but I will only accept your sentiment. If the Grand Heir of Serzila accompanies me, I will become confused."
"Confused?"
"Yes. It will become difficult to distinguish whether they are reacting to me or to the Grand Heir."
Seria said, showing her cassock.
'She said God shows her.'
Elaine frowned.
Now that she saw it, the Church was living as they pleased.
Just then, Harad spoke.
"Let's do that. If I can be of help, by all means."
"Thank you, Harad."
Seria, who had been smiling awkwardly at Elaine, smiled brightly at Harad.
Harad smiled back.
“……."
Elaine found that irksome.
"It would be better to have more people to help."
"As I just said, the Grand Heir..."
"Not the Grand Heir, but there's a competent person I know. Her name is Ellen, and it would be convenient to have her. Her status is good, but she's not that well-known."
Only Seria was irksome.
* * *
Elaine was holding a sword.
The sword was soaked in blood. The blade was so sharp that the blood flowed down in streams.
A pool of blood had formed on the ground.
No, it was quite large for a pool.
The surroundings were a sea of blood. In the middle of it lay a headless corpse dressed in black.
-Truly tough.
Elaine said with a weary face as she shook off the blood still on her sword.
That emotion was vividly transmitted.
Ellen immediately recognized her as Grand Heir Elaine.
She also understood why she had said it was tough.
There was one corpse. It meant that the sea of blood, which would seem to require squeezing out a dozen people, was all from that one corpse.
The sea of blood was on a snowy field.
It was a snowy field familiar to Ellen.
The great plain to the east of the territory.
The warm sea of blood cooled in an instant and froze. By the time it was covered in snow, Harad arrived.
-What is this?
Harad had a hardened expression.
He seemed to have recognized the identity of the corpse. Ellen couldn't tell.
-An enemy. A sinner who dared to try to kill a child in the North.
Elaine said in a calm tone.
-On my birthday last year, the child we brought to the North then. Pinel. That child had a tail attached to him.
Only then did Ellen remember.
The dream she had last time. At that time, Harad, who was waiting for Elaine who had gone to the Imperial Palace, saved a mage child from the Church.
-If Arika hadn't told me, I would have been late. Their obsession with mages is terrifying.
At that time, Harad had only knocked out the people from the Church without killing them.
That was why a tail had been attached.
-I told you then, didn't I? You should have killed them.
-…….
Harad had a complicated expression.
-I'm not trying to scold you. Who would know if not me that you have a soft heart? But sometimes, you need to know how to be ruthless. Just as I am only kind in front of you.
If it had been a normal dream, Harad would have retorted.
But he didn't in this dream.
Harad was blaming himself.
-……It's the Church.
-I know. I killed him. He was quite strong. He must have had a considerable rank.
-They will raise an issue with Serzila.
That was the reason Harad was blaming himself.
Come to think of it, Harad always worried about Serzila even in reality.
It must have been because he was a mage.
-No. That one died an untimely death in the harsh North.
-……Do you think that makes sense?
The Harad in the dream was logical.
He looked somehow fragile.
That is, the complete opposite of reality.
If this were reality, Harad would have been in that Elaine's role.
-If it doesn't make sense, well.
-…….
-What can the Church dare to do? This is Serzila.
Grand Heir Elaine said rather arrogantly.
To Ellen's eyes, she looked somehow immense.
-As I've said time and again, Harad. Don't worry about the aftermath. I am behind you.
What can the Church dare.
Ellen found those words quite pleasant to hear.
* * *
Before dawn broke.
"Nice to meet you, Seria."
Ellen met Harad and Seria in front of Harad's annex.
Seria's hair was wet.
"I've heard the stories. They call you the Guillotine of Premont."
The greeting was intense.