Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 30: Watchtower (3)

There was nothing at the tower’s summit.

It looked like an ordinary rooftop. Even scattering mana around revealed nothing special.

Of course, the tower itself was special, but… there was no visible reason for such a structure to be built.

“What are you thinking, Miss Harad?”

“A reasonable conclusion.”

“Yes, Miss Harad.”

Ellen giggled.

She went to the railing to take in the view.

It was a spectacle, if you could call it that.

Each slight shift in gaze revealed something different.

Typhoons moved, blizzards raged, rain fell.

The boundary was hell, but from this distance, it was eerily beautiful.

“You called this tower a watchtower.”

I thought it was an ancient mage tower, the tallest structure Ellen had ever seen, yet Herbis called it a watchtower.

“Mage towers must be taller.”

“Yes. Mage towers are our symbol and pride. They must be the tallest.”

The taller, the higher the tower’s status, Herbis explained.

“Which is the tallest?”

“The Red Tower.”

“I meant right now.”

“…”

Herbis didn’t answer.

He didn’t want to admit it. His pride in the Red Tower was immense.

“What’s this watchtower’s purpose?”

If it was truly a watchtower, it shouldn’t have a shell.

Transparency would suit a watchtower’s purpose better.

But the Red Tower coated this transparent building to make it stand out.

“It’s a watchtower, beacon, and lighthouse. The King who built the Red Tower erected it, foreseeing death.”

Herbis answered eagerly.

“To light a fire here to guide future generations. That’s what the King said.”

I looked around.

There was no object or magic to indicate direction.

“The direction appears when a fire is lit. No one has succeeded. So, presumptuously, we coated it with a building.”

So anyone with fire could try.

Herbis said even beasts could try.

“What’s at the end?”

“An item prepared by the King for the next King.”

Preparation. The word made my eyes light up.

The item itself was the King’s preparation.

Like Kubel’s cigarettes, but incomparable to mere cigarettes.

“Did the previous King not use it?”

“The King who built this was the previous King.”

Meaning there had been only one King since the Red Tower’s founding.

Yet it was the greatest.

I let out a hollow laugh. I shouldn’t take Herbis’s words at face value.

‘But it was the greatest in the past.’

The greatest once, but not now.

Yet, as they say, even a fallen noble lasts three generations. The Red Tower’s past greatness still held sway.

That would fade within 15 years.

The Otherworld would invade the continent.

“Will you light a fire?”

It was an invitation, but Herbis clearly wanted me to try.

“A few more questions first.”

“As many as you like.”

Herbis’s lips twitched, urging me to ask quickly.

“You said the Red Tower is searching for its King.”

I didn’t know what fire Origin surpassed the sun, but that mage was a woman.

The Red Tower was infiltrating the continent to find her.

Unlike other towers aiming for conquest.

“What changes when you find the King?”

“We’ll reclaim our past glory.”

“And then?”

“We’ll fulfill paradise’s wish with the Red Tower’s power.”

Herbis’s eyes grew dreamy.

He was envisioning the future.

“Paradise’s wish means conquering the continent?”

“Yes.”

Ellen drew her sword.

I stopped her.

I still had unresolved questions.

“But why does the Red Tower oppose it? Why not join the conquest now?”

“Because the King hasn’t returned.”

Herbis’s eyes, once dreamy, widened.

“The one to conquer the continent must be our King. Their fire will reign over the continent.”

The Red Tower didn’t oppose conquest.

It opposed anyone but their King conquering the continent.

“A grand dream.”

“It’ll soon be reality.”

“Will Serzila burn in that dream too?”

“Of course.”

Herbis smiled brightly.

“Pity.”

I did too.

Smiling back, I ignited a fire.

Herbis’s eyes grew dreamy again at the sight.

“Use me as fuel to become a greater fire. I pray you light a fire here.”

Herbis didn’t resist.

Far from resisting, he quickly left a will.

“Are other towers like this? Surrendering to a higher Origin without a fight?”

“Only the Red Tower is like this.”

Water floats ice, earth varies, winds clash, iron differs in composition. The Ivory Tower has no roots.

“Only fire unites.”

That’s why Herbis smiled.

He was happy to be part of a greater fire.

“You’re like fanatics.”

“It’s just fire.”

“What if the King you find opposes it?”

“They are fire too.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Looking back, Ellen’s expression was ferocious.

She looked ready to kill me along with Herbis if I said to spare him.

Not that I planned to.

“One last question.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know Torch?”

“It will revere you too.”

“…Bullshit.”

The fire blazed.

* * *

The flames consuming Herbis were ominous.

They defied my intent. I couldn’t extinguish them.

‘Excited?’

At first, yes.

It was excessive to kill Herbis.

I thought I’d calmed down now.

Yet the fire wouldn’t stop. No matter how I moved my mana, it didn’t listen.

“Why won’t it stop?”

“It won’t.”

The fire grew, as if losing reason.

It overtook the rooftop and swept to the lower floors.

“We should go down.”

I looked over the railing.

“Possible?”

Impossible for me, but possible for Ellen.

She hoisted me up and stepped onto the railing.

“Carry me on your back.”

“You look good like this, Miss Harad.”

Ellen jumped.

The height was so great, the crumbly wind felt like a typhoon.

Boom! The dry ground couldn’t withstand the impact and collapsed. Even in the crater, Ellen only grimaced.

“Ow, my soles sting.”

Falling from cloud height, and only her soles stung.

That’s divine power. Heaven’s gift.

“Thanks.”

I didn’t show it and got out of Ellen’s arms.

Praising her would only make things awkward.

“You’re not doing that, right?”

Climbing out of the crater, Ellen pointed at the watchtower.

The fire I started had engulfed the upper floors.

“No.”

The fire swept through the upper floors and into the air.

It wasn’t just burning the shell but the originally transparent watchtower.

“Seems like what he meant.”

He said lighting a fire would reveal the direction.

The watchtower was the kindling.

“You didn’t call him by name?”

“He wasn’t worth it.”

Ellen’s lips curled at my reply.

“Good. I won’t call you Miss anymore.”

The flames reached the first floor.

Yet the watchtower didn’t tilt. Instead, it thinned.

It became as thin as a line, merging with the rising smoke.

“That’s how it works.”

Watchtower, beacon, lighthouse.

Looking at the smoke, I understood Herbis’s words.

The smoke from the burning watchtower drew a line in the sky.

Even after the watchtower burned and the fire died, the line didn’t vanish. It stretched toward one direction.

‘The King’s item is at the end.’

The smoke, the line, extended southwest.

Its end wasn’t visible, but the direction was clear. Near the second wall. The boundary’s center, or its vicinity.

“You’re not going, right?”

“…”

The Red Tower’s King is a woman.

The item at the line’s end belongs to her.

Meaning I couldn’t use it even if I took it.

But… really?

An item prepared by the King for the next King.

Herbis was certain, but I didn’t fully trust him.

Distrust in a fanatic like Herbis and confidence in myself.

No matter how I thought, no Origin seemed higher than the sun.

‘I want to see it.’

I wanted to see the King’s item with my own eyes.

And confirm if I truly couldn’t use it.

“…”

But I hesitated to say it, wary of Ellen’s reaction.

Not because I scolded her for being excited earlier.

I was shameless enough to contradict myself multiple times.

But… I wasn’t confident I could withstand Ellen’s fist.

“If you hit me, I’ll die.”

“You’re not going, right? After all that talk to me.”

“It’s the opposite direction from the Otherworld.”

“You said it’s the most dangerous part of the boundary.”

Ellen’s fist was smaller than Elaine’s in my previous life.

But the power was likely the same.

I’d often seen that un-Aura-infused fist shatter human forms.

“I’m not going now. I’m not in good shape.”

“So you’ll go later?”

“You’re going too. I can’t manage alone.”

Her fist relaxed slightly.

Just enough to kill someone.

“Next time, it’s your turn. Twice, even. I went twice today.”

By order, Herbis should’ve been Ellen’s kill.

“I’m curious what’s at the smoke’s end. Not just the King’s item. Something that precious wouldn’t be alone.”

Her fist relaxed more.

“Things beyond description might be there. Maybe mages or beasts that lived for centuries.”

Ellen’s ears perked up.

Her characteristic curiosity was stirring.

“Didn’t he say the King who prepared the item was the first? A land untouched for ages.”

The unknown. Nothing stirred curiosity more. Her fist unclenched. It was worth getting hit for that.

“Hit me later. Shura will be watching.”

We were to spend tonight at Kubel’s house.

* * *

The path to the tunnel was safe.

Blood no longer fell from the sky. The massive beast must have moved to hunt prey.

Ellen was disappointed.

She had hoped to see the giant beast’s face or face another beast’s attack.

Arriving at the tunnel, Ellen entered first.

It was a sort of agreement.

I went first to the boundary, she first on the return.

So the boundary’s chill and winds wouldn’t reach her.

Though capable of crawling quickly, Ellen adjusted her pace. A repayment and consideration for me shielding her from the chill and winds.

“By the way.”

About halfway through the tunnel, Ellen muttered as if to herself.

“Why did you stop asking?”

“Hm?”

“About the Otherworld.”

“Whether it’s paradise?”

“Yes.”

Whether the Otherworld was a mage’s paradise, or if exiled mages lived well—

I didn’t ask the questions a continental mage would be curious about.

I only asked things Ellen would find interesting.

“Didn’t feel the need to know. Not then, not now.”

“Explain it clearly.”

“I didn’t want to be swayed.”

Heh. Ellen chuckled softly.

She recalled me asking Herbis if Serzila would burn in that dream.

For some reason, I cared for Serzila.

“You really plan to be Serzila’s vassal?”

“That’s the plan. Still against it?”

“I’m fine with it. I don’t know about the Grand Heir.”

“That’s enough.”

I replied, satisfied.

Ellen found it amusing.

‘He doesn’t know anything.’

What’s enough about it?

“Can I ask one more thing?”

“As many as you like.”

I answered like Herbis.

But Ellen didn’t laugh. Uncharacteristically, she hesitated.

“Who’s Torch?”

My last question.

The only one Ellen didn’t understand.

It was hard to ask.

But she couldn’t hold back.

No helping it.

It was the first time Ellen saw me curse.

“My enemy from Iagar.”

“What?”

Thud. Ellen hit her head on the ceiling.

But the tunnel was so narrow, she couldn’t turn to see my expression.

“My enemy. The one who killed my family and burned my home to ashes.”

Iagar wasn’t burned by me.