Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 42: Attack (1)

Elaine spoke as if we would part immediately, but unfortunately, our paths down were the same.

It seemed Elaine intended to go straight to the Inner Fortress without meeting the 1st Knights Commander.

It was only natural, if you thought about it.

The tavern, Snow Leopard's Footprint, was in the fief, not the garrison.

“Ellen is His Grace the Grand Duke's niece. My cousin.”

The Grand Duke had only one sibling, and he was dead.

It meant Ellen was the daughter of the Director of the Intelligence Bureau.

The current Director of the Intelligence Bureau is Grand Duke Aratus's sister-in-law.

‘So that’s why she was an agent of the Intelligence Bureau.’

A collateral branch. It was quite a bold identity for an escapade.

‘No wonder it felt half-hearted.’

Though their genders were different, their hair and eye colors were the same.

Come to think of it, it was a Serzila genetic trait.

“Now that I look at you, you do seem to resemble each other.”

“Because we’re cousins.”

“Come to think of it, your names are similar too.”

“Aren’t all Northern names more or less the same.”

Elaine was like a machine.

The answers came out immediately, as if prepared.

“Are you close?”

“Not that close. We don’t run into each other often.”

It was a funny question, but Elaine's serious answer was even funnier.

‘She’s already practiced this.’

She probably did it with the Director of the Intelligence Bureau.

Grand Duke Aratus didn't have that kind of personality.

“It’s a fact that only those who know, know. The Director of the Intelligence Bureau prefers things to be kept secret.”

The identity of a collateral branch of Serzila was a truly fitting one.

Ellen had to be an agent of the Intelligence Bureau, but at the same time, she had to be unemployed. And she had to be free.

If she was a collateral branch, all those problems would be solved.

“Don’t be too hard on Ellen. She probably didn’t intend to hide it from you.”

“You seem to know her well, for someone who doesn’t see her often.”

“Do you think blood is thin for no reason? Even if we’re not close, we know everything we need to know about each other.”

“……”

Harad was about to ask more questions but stopped.

If he pressed too hard and Elaine or Ellen's attitude became passive, only Harad would be at a loss.

“I understand. A parachute hire.”

“……She has her own troubles. She just doesn’t show it, but in fact, Ellen is probably busy too.”

“Busy drinking?”

“……”

It was fun.

* * *

Harad washed up in the annex and headed outside the Inner Fortress.

On his way out, there were many eyes on him, and among them were knights from the 2nd Knights, who were on their rest period.

It was because the news that Harad had joined the hunting day had spread. They had even departed together and returned together.

It must have been conveyed as the heir of Serzila acknowledging the hostage mage.

‘Just that alone is surprising.’

Only Harad, who remembered his past life, would be disappointed; to others, it would be nothing short of surprising.

Ellen was not at the tavern, Snow Leopard's Footprint.

It seemed she hadn't arrived yet.

‘She’s not the type to take long baths.’

The Elaine of his past life hated troublesome things.

She would avoid them if possible, and if she couldn't, she would deal with them quickly. Bathing was the latter.

The 3rd Prince incident that Ellen had dreamed of was also the latter.

At that time, Elaine had killed three Apostles of the Church and driven out the 3rd Prince, but surprisingly, there were no repercussions.

The Church and the Empire could not carelessly touch Serzila.

To be precise, Elaine's Serzila.

That was the kind of being Elaine was back then.

A strong person who made even the continent nervous.

In fact, it was a funny thing to think about the future.

Serzila had fallen, and even that Elaine was eventually broken in the end.

‘The Stone of Regression.’

What would have happened if that stone didn't exist?

That was a ‘what if’ Harad often thought about.

It wasn't a difficult assumption.

Harad and Elaine would have died together, and the continent would have become the Otherworld's.

‘Then what after that?’

Is the Otherworld's goal simply to conquer the continent?

Is the conquest itself the goal?

Or is it what comes after the conquest?

‘The reason?’

Revenge for being driven to the end of the continent?

A yearning for warm and comfortable lands instead of harsh ones?

‘The will of God?’

In his past life, the Church called the war with the Otherworld a holy war.

Saying that mages were fanatics who believed in the Outer Gods.

Harad thought it was bullshit.

There were no gods in the Otherworld. What they believed in was not gods, but the Origin.

Thump!

It was then. Someone placed a bottle of liquor on the table.

The sound was quite loud, and Harad's body, which had been resting his chin on his hand, briefly lifted up.

“Who said I was a loafer who just eats, drinks, and smokes cigarettes?”

It was Ellen.

“Oh. You’re here, Lady Collateral Branch.”

“……Are you going to call me that?”

“You’re late, parachute hire.”

“Ah, damn……”

Ellen held back a curse and sat down opposite Harad.

“I didn’t mean to hide it. It just happened that way.”

“I don’t mind.”

Harad took it in stride.

“Really?”

“Of course. It wouldn’t have mattered if you had kept it a secret forever.”

“Why?”

For some reason, Ellen's eyes narrowed.

“What does status matter? What’s important is that we meet often like this.”

“Hmph.”

As if she liked the answer, Ellen snorted lightly.

“Don’t you feel burdened?”

“I tend to look at the person.”

When he met Kubel, Harad had told Ellen to see the person, not the mage.

It was the same. Harad sees the person, not the status.

“And I don’t tend to care what others think.”

“That’s not very mage-like.”

“That’s why I got caught.”

“……”

Ellen was at a loss for words for a moment.

“I can’t make any jokes with you.”

“You can.”

Harad answered sincerely.

The Elaine of his past life did so freely.

And when Harad cursed, she would stop.

“Forget it. How can I do that, I’m not a damn beast.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. I don’t know about others, but I won’t do that.”

I don't know about others.

Harad found those words ticklish.

It seemed Ellen was thinking of the Elaine in her dream.

There was no need to guess what kind of dream it was.

The Elaine of his past life was always mischievous when she was alone with Harad.

‘I’m not one to talk.’

It was just that Ellen hadn't dreamed enough yet, but in fact, Harad was the same.

Elaine was the most comfortable person for him to be around.

Not at first, but as they spent time together, it just happened that way.

“By the way, do you know?”

“If you put it like that, I don’t.”

Harad shook his head.

“For an agent of the Intelligence Bureau, you’re not very good with words. Is it because you’re a parachute hire?”

“I’m not a parachute hire. No, that’s not what’s important right now.”

“Then what is important?”

“The Grand Heir was attacked.”

Harad tilted his head.

Elaine was right in front of him.

“When?”

“Just now.”

Looking closely, there was a small bloodstain on Ellen's sleeve.

‘So that’s why she was late.’

Ellen was essentially reporting that she had been attacked.

“A crazy woman.”

“How did you know? That the culprit was a woman?”

“I took a guess.”

“Oh.”

“……”

Pretending to be deceived was more of an ordeal than he thought.

* * *

The attack happened around the time Harad finished his bath.

At that time, Elaine had already finished her bath and left the Inner Fortress.

“Isn’t your bath time too short?”

“……I guess she bathes quickly.”

“But is there any business to attend to outside the Inner Fortress in the middle of the night?”

“……She’s probably busy. She’s the Grand Heir.”

Ellen continued to speak.

The location was an alley.

Ellen didn't explain in detail, but Harad knew that the path was a shortcut connected to this place, the Snow Leopard's Footprint.

Since Elaine had a grasp of the entire fief's geography.

“Someone suddenly stabbed her in the back with a dagger.”

“Is that possible?”

Harad asked without realizing it.

That Elaine had allowed a surprise attack?

“Yes. She said she only noticed after being stabbed.”

Then the possibilities are narrowed down to two.

Either a stealthy mage, or a knight stronger than Elaine.

“It was a mage.”

Elaine had felt mana from the dagger.

It wasn't threatening. The dagger could not pierce her back, her innate heavenly power.

Elaine immediately subdued the culprit, but the culprit immediately bit her own tongue and died.

“A mage?”

Harad's eyes narrowed.

Why would a mage attack Elaine?

“Could it be because of us?”

Us.

Referring to Harad and Ellen.

Ellen was suspecting that it might be because they had killed the mages from the Ivory Tower and the Red Tower in the boundary.

“If that were the case, they would have targeted me or you.”

Harad stated firmly.

But he could guess why Ellen had thought that way. It must be because she is Elaine.

“Actually, you can be excluded too. If it was revenge, they should have targeted me. I killed Ios too.”

Jesult and Herbis had died at Harad's hands.

The same went for Ios. If this attack was the Ivory Tower's doing, they should have targeted Harad.

“It’s not revenge. It’s not the Otherworld either.”

“Why isn’t it the Otherworld?”

“Has it ever been like that before?”

Ellen shook her head.

In all her life, Elaine had never been attacked by a mage.

“The Otherworld has no reason to touch the heir of Serzila. It would just be stirring up a hornet's nest.”

Why else would the Otherworld have chosen to act in the shadows in his past life?

The Otherworld avoids an all-out war with Serzila.

There was no way such an Otherworld would touch Elaine.

‘This didn’t happen in my past life.’

In fact, that was the most decisive point.

Thanks to that, Harad could be certain.

“It’s not the Otherworld's doing.”

“But the culprit was a mage.”

“I’m a mage too. So is Kubel.”

Not all mages are from the Otherworld.

“I know. If it were an individual, the culprit wouldn’t have committed suicide. The culprit belongs to a group. A very tight-knit one at that.”

The culprit committed suicide as soon as the surprise attack failed.

It must have been to avoid giving up information.

“What Rank was the culprit?”

“Around 3rd Rank?”

No matter how stealthy the Origin, it's meaningless if the weapon isn't sharp.

In fact, Elaine was fine even though she had allowed the surprise attack.

“There isn’t a single person in the North who doesn’t know of the Grand Heir's martial prowess. You could grab anyone off the street and ask, and they would know.”

But they sent a 3rd Rank as an assassin.

When even a 4th Rank would be insufficient.

“They had no intention of killing her from the beginning.”

It means the goal was not the Grand Heir's death.

“A warning? To whom? The Grand Heir? Serzila? A warning about what?”

Harad spat out quickly.

It seemed like he was asking, but also like he was thinking to himself. Ellen thought it was both. Harad was looking at her.

“I have no idea.”

“I think I know.”

“What?”

Harad pointed to himself.

“The Grand Heir, who has never experienced an assassin before, has encountered one. It means there has been a change.”

Ellen nodded.

“That change must be unwelcome. The assassination must have been intended to instill distrust in the change.”

“……”

“That change would be me.”

Having reached a conclusion, Harad nodded his head.

Ellen was looking at him with a face that demanded an explanation.

“It was the first assassination attempt on the Grand Heir. It wasn't even an assassination. It was only a 3rd Rank.”

What was important was the timing.

“It was after I went on the hunting day with you. Coincidentally, I might add.”

The rumor that Elaine had acknowledged Harad had been widespread.

The first assassination attempt in her life took place right after that, today.

“Are you saying they sent an assassin because they thought the Grand Heir got close to you?”

“To be precise, they sent one to tell us not to get any closer. Not to trust mages.”

That's why the assassin was a mage.

As the enemy of the North was the Otherworld, there could be no more suitable assassin to instill a sense of caution.

“Isn’t that too much of a leap?”

“It could be, but I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the conclusion I’ve reached.”

Harad was certain.

It was a certainty that only a regressor could have.

Ellen did not understand Harad.

He seemed overly confident.

“……Fine. Let’s say that’s it.”

“Do so. I’ll assume you understand as well.”

“Who’s behind it, then?”

According to Harad.

The mastermind does not welcome Elaine getting close to the mage Harad.

So they sent a mage as an assassin.

The goal is not assassination.

It is to instill distrust in mages in Elaine.

“As you said, let’s exclude the Otherworld for now.”

“Exclude the Church too. The assassin was a mage. Exclude the Liberation Tower as well.

They’re not that crazy.”

“We should exclude the Empire too. They don’t even know of your existence.”

Harad was a state secret.

“Then there’s no one left.”

“Why not. There’s one left.”

“What?”

Harad pointed to the floor.

“Isn’t Serzila left.”

Not the floor of the tavern, but this land.

* * *

There is no need to find proof that they are the culprit.

That is true no matter how many suspects there are.

If you find evidence that they are not the culprit one by one and narrow it down, in the end, only one suspect will remain.

“Only Serzila is left.”

“That Serzila is the one who allowed you to be here.”

“It was His Grace the Grand Duke's will, not Serzila's.”

“……That’s a very dangerous statement.”

The North was one.

The Grand Duke's will was the will of the North.

“I know. But there are no absolutes in the world. If the world is like that, why would Serzila be any different?”

“……Are you saying there’s a vassal who is dissatisfied with His Grace the Grand Duke's will?”

“There are more than enough of those.”

Hadn't the 1st Knights been like that at first?

“No matter how much I prove my worth, there will always be people who dislike me. It’s because I’m a mage.”

In this world, there are many humans who are physiologically unable to accept mages.

Although the North was not like that, it couldn't be that everyone was not.

“I think it’s the doing of such a person. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“No.”

Ellen answered immediately.

“You trust your vassals a lot.”

“They are people I have no choice but to trust.”

Ellen shook her head with a determined face.

“There’s a point to it. But it doesn’t make sense. The culprit was a mage.”

What Harad said was quite plausible.

If only the assassin hadn't been a mage.

“Are you saying someone from Serzila hired a mage? To tell me not to get close to a mage like you?”

What kind of bullshit was that.

“You said it yourself, there are no mages in the Inner Fortress.”

Harad could distinguish mages.

That Harad had said there were no mages in the Inner Fortress.

“That’s right. There were none in the Inner Fortress.”

“But……”

“Knights don’t stay in the Inner Fortress.”

Bang! Ellen slammed the table and stood up.

The table collapsed.

“It seems you’re not ready to listen to me.”

“……Are you suspecting the knights right now?”

“Didn’t I tell you? To suspect everything.”

Sometime.

Harad had told Ellen to suspect everything.

“Back then, you answered that it was easy.”

“……”

“Now I see it was a lie.”

“They’re knights. You have to exclude the knights.”

Knights have Aura.

Mages cannot have Aura.

Harad had said there were no absolutes in the world, but that was a clear truth of the continent.

“I told you to suspect everything. Not everything except the knights.”

Harad had never denied that truth.

He had only deceived her.

“Aura can be mimicked.”

“What?”

“It’s just that there aren’t many mages bold enough to disguise themselves as knights.”

In his past life, Harad was Elaine's escort knight.

Not an escort mage.