Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 44: The 2nd Knights (1)

“……I’m not saying I believe you. I just feel bad for getting angry and leaving without a word.”

Ellen added.

“That’s enough for me.”

Harad smiled wider.

Yes, that's what makes her Elaine.

“A good mindset to have.”

“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”

“Me? Why?”

Harad tilted his head.

“In the end, I’m not believing you.”

“What’s so new about that. When have you ever readily believed me?”

Ellen's face turned red.

Looking back, she could count on one hand the number of times she had readily believed Harad.

“Ah, I’m not blaming you. Have I ever been angry at you?”

“You were in front of Kubel’s house.”

“Was I?”

Harad tilted his head.

It was when Ellen had questioned why he didn't kill Kubel.

Back then, Harad had encouraged Ellen to kill Kubel.

“Your standard for anger is low. How is that anger? You have to smash about three tables to call it anger.”

“……”

“Just kidding. I’ve never really been angry at you.”

Harad had no intention of changing Elaine to his own liking.

“Don’t lose your conviction. Don’t believe what others say at face value, and add your own judgment to their words.”

“……”

“No need to think too hard about it. Just do as you have always done. You are you, after all.”

Elaine is Elaine, after all.

One day, she would become the Elaine that Harad knew.

Harad and Ellen left the Inner Fortress for the time being.

The gatekeeper bowed his head deeply.

The bow was quite long, and it was for both of them.

For the collateral branch Ellen and the mage Harad.

“Looks like you’re doing well?”

At the sight, Ellen gave a subtle smile.

Harad was becoming a member of the Inner Fortress.

“It’s thanks to my greatness.”

“……You’re so full of yourself.”

“What can I do, it’s the truth.”

Just as Elaine was changing faster than in his past life, Harad was also blending into Serzila faster than in his past life.

“Anything happen while I was gone?”

Ellen acted as if they had met after ten days.

“You, I heard you sneakily got food from Kubel when I wasn't around.”

“……Who said that?”

“Shura did.”

Harad saved Kubel.

“……I asked her to keep it a secret.”

“What can I do, she likes me more.”

Though Ellen had gotten close to Shura, Shura still liked Harad more.

Ellen had asked several times, but Shura never told her the reason.

“What’s your secret?”

“My face?”

Ellen wrinkled her face.

Regardless of the truth, it’s always a turn-off when someone says it themselves.

“Well, isn’t it a sense of kinship? We’re in the same boat, me and Kubel.”

“……”

When a sensitive topic like this came up, Ellen did not speak carelessly.

That was their relationship for now.

The Elaine of his past life would have retorted head-on.

“I heard you hung out with the Grand Heir?”

Usually, the second thing she said was the main point.

Ellen was also like that.

“We didn’t hang out.”

It was a kind of experiment.

And it yielded meaningful results.

The mastermind had only sent a mage on the days Elaine hung out with Harad.

“I heard you drank.”

“That’s right.”

“Was it fun?”

Ellen asked like someone who was jealous.

“It wasn’t that much fun.”

“Why?”

“The Grand Heir is a boring person.”

“……I see.”

Ellen’s eyebrow twitched.

“I have more fun drinking with you.”

This time, the corner of her mouth twitched.

They’re the same person, after all. He’s probably amusing himself with thoughts like these.

Harad’s words were not just empty words either.

Ellen and Elaine.

Both were still a bit far from the Elaine of his past life, but if he had to choose, Ellen was at least closer to the past life.

‘Because that’s her true nature.’

Harad was more familiar with the ill-tempered Elaine when they were alone.

More than the iron-blooded Grand Duke at official events.

“The Grand Heir is more rigid than I thought.”

“Because she’s the Grand Heir.”

She has the thought of wanting to live however she wants, but she can't bring herself to actually do it yet.

“It can’t be helped, I guess.”

Ellen spoke just like Elaine.

It wasn't something to nitpick about.

Elaine had already made it clear that she knew everything she needed to know about Ellen even if they weren't close.

‘Anyone who didn't know would see her as having a split personality.’

Of course, she was doing this to avoid getting caught.

But from Harad’s perspective, who knew the truth, that’s how it felt.

* * *

“Let me say it again, I’m following you to prove you wrong.”

“I know.”

Harad was suspecting a knight.

Ellen wanted to prove that suspicion wrong.

Their steps led them to an unfamiliar street.

It was an unfamiliar street in this life. The 2nd Knights’ building was in the opposite district from where Harad and Ellen always met.

“You’ve never run into the 2nd Knights, have you?”

“I’ve seen the 2nd Knights Commander. We’re even on gift-giving terms. Though I haven’t given him anything yet.”

“Uh…… hmm.”

Ellen made a sour face.

It seemed she was recalling the mage’s severed head that had been placed on Harad’s bed.

She thought it was excessive back then, and it seemed she thought it was even more excessive now that she had begun to change.

“Don’t worry. I have no hard feelings.”

“I heard from the Grand Heir.”

Ambiguous.

Back then, Harad had answered Elaine like that.

“What’s ambiguous?”

“Well, everything feels ambiguous to me. Serzila is still an unfamiliar land to me.”

Harad smiled brightly.

“That’s why I find you so reassuring.”

“Whatever you say.”

Ellen answered bluntly.

“What kind of place is the 2nd Knights?”

“Serzila doesn’t assign knights separately. Except for the 6th Knights.”

It meant that the disposition and military strength of any knight order were more or less similar.

In the end, they were warriors of the North and loyal subjects of Serzila.

“The 2nd Knights Commander is the problem, then.”

“For you, yes.”

The 1st Knights Commander, Toremot, has no particularly special points other than his military strength.

Of course, that military strength is the most important element for a knight, but in any case.

Toremot’s disposition is no different from any other knight.

“The 2nd Knights Commander is a foreigner who immigrated to Serzila 14 years ago.”

But the 2nd Knights Commander, Cassion, is not.

He loathed mages.

It was because he had lost his entire family to a mage.

“Revenge is the reason. Because Serzila is the land closest to the Otherworld.”

Serzila was the land where one could kill the most mages after the Church.

That’s why Cassion became a knight of Serzila.

“If he just wants to kill mages, it would be easier to wander the continent. Or follow the Church’s tail.”

“Proper mages are rare on the continent.”

Cassion wanted to kill strong mages.

“That’s like a Northerner.”

“That’s probably why he adapted easily.”

The foreigner Cassion had a learned air about him, but he still had a side that resembled a Northerner.

That’s why he quickly blended into Serzila.

His skills were also outstanding, and he rose to the position of knight commander in just two years.

An already complete strongman.

That’s how Ellen described Cassion.

Cassion was a Swordmaster even before he immigrated to Serzila.

“The 2nd Knights Commander is the only Swordmaster who can enter the boundary. It’s thanks to the unique nature of his Aura.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Under the current knight commander system, the 2nd Knights is the knight order that has killed the most mages from the Otherworld.”

To be precise, the 2nd Knights Commander, Cassion, was the knight who had killed the most mages from the Otherworld.

Unlike the other knight orders, Cassion always participated in the 2nd Knights’ scouting missions.

The number of mages from the Otherworld he had killed would be in the dozens, Ellen added.

‘Dozens.’

As Gullen had once said, it is rare for mages from the Otherworld to loiter around the Wall.

The probability of encountering one even on the scouting routes is low.

At least, that was the case at this time.

‘It must be because of the Red Tower.’

Because that masterless tower opposes the Otherworld's southward advance.

But Cassion had already killed dozens of mages from the Otherworld.

The 2nd Knights were witnesses, and there was evidence.

Cassion would send the severed heads of the mages he killed to the Inner Fortress as if sending a gift.

“Amazing.”

“He is.”

Ellen shrugged as if she had been praised herself.

“You said he was a foreigner. Where is he from?”

“I don’t know.”

“……”

“It’s not because I’m a parachute hire that I don’t know; nobody knows. What does it matter.”

When appointing a knight, Serzila does not consider their origin.

It doesn't matter if they are a death row inmate or a wanted man.

What they desire is only strength and loyalty.

“Even more amazing.”

Though he knew, Harad was once again impressed.

It was amazing that they hadn't collapsed until now.

“Have there been no problems so far?”

“Because it’s Serzila.”

Usually there aren't, and even if there are, it's the same as there not being any.

Serzila is the idol of the North and a grand ducal family that makes even the Empire and the Church nervous.

As such, Serzila is arrogant, and has the power to be arrogant.

“What kind of person is the 2nd Knights Commander?”

“……What have you heard so far?”

“I’m asking for your thoughts. Not what everyone knows.”

Ellen smoothed the wrinkles on her brow and immediately opened her mouth.

It meant there was no need to think about it.

“Strong, and amazing. There are few knights as dedicated to Serzila as the 2nd Knights Commander.”

His military strength is great, and his loyalty is amazing.

Ellen summed up the person named Cassion in a short phrase.

“And he’s steadfast. He makes no exceptions when it comes to Serzila. He also gives a lot of remonstrances.”

Ellen’s face distorted slightly.

Even for Grand Heir Elaine, Cassion was a difficult person.

But a loyal subject she could not hate.

“It probably won’t be easy. You two will be like polar opposites.”

“I think so too.”

The 2nd Knights’ building came into view.

* * *

The Inner Fortress was located in the northern part of the fief.

It was because the Otherworld and the boundary were to the north.

For the same reason, the knights’ quarters were also skewed to the north, and the rest period building that the knight orders used in rotation every year was crude.

It was built of white stone without any patterns, which was very Northern if you thought about it.

It was the place where the 2nd Knights, who were on their rest period, came to work.

Even if it was a rest period, it wasn't just about playing and eating.

The 2nd Knights were busy if they were busy.

The reason they were busy was mostly training.

In fact, there was nothing to do besides training. The security of the fief was the responsibility of the guard.

There was no one guarding the front of the building.

There was no need to place guards in a space where knights stayed.

The entrance was closed, but not locked.

“Should I open it?”

“Don’t. His Grace the Grand Duke wouldn’t want that.”

Harad had found out that Ellen was a collateral branch of Serzila.

If Ellen took the lead, it would not be Harad’s ability, but the ability of the collateral branch.

Harad opened the door without hesitation.

The inside resembled a tavern; everyone in the North liked to drink.

“No one’s here.”

But they don't drink from noon.

Especially since they are knights. Harad felt a cluster of presences in the back of the building. It was the training ground.

As he opened the back door leading to the training ground, a wave of heat rushed out.

It was the sweat and heat rising from the knights’ bodies.

The training ground was wide.

Swinging swords, sparring, training muscles, running…… there were dozens of such knights.

“Greetings, I am Harad.”

Harad said to those knights.

His voice was not loud, but it seemed to have reached everyone’s ears.

The training ground, which had been filled with shouts and groans, became quiet.

The knights’ bodies stopped at the same time.

Their gazes also moved in unison. Dozens of pairs of eyes looked at Harad.

“A mage.”

Their faces contorted.

The degree was worse than the 1st Knights.

“Come back next time. The Commander is out.”

A knight approached and said.

He was shirtless, and his muscles were bulging. He had countless scars.

As Harad stared at him, the knight spoke again.

“I am Deputy Commander Horn. If you understand, you may leave now.”

The hazing was intense.

Even the 1-st Knights hadn't told him to piss off at the beginning.

‘It must be the influence of the 2nd Knights Commander.’

The 2-nd Knights seemed to dislike mages even more.

It didn't really matter.

In the end, a knight is a knight.

In his past life, Harad was on good terms with all the knight orders.

“I understand, Horn. I’ll relay that to His Grace the Grand Duke.”

“What?”

“That the 2-nd Knights Commander is out, so I will carry out the order next time.”

Horn's face contorted.

“His Grace the Grand Duke will understand. It’s a matter that will end once the Grand Heir endures a few more of those damn assassination attempts.”

“……!”

Horn's fist trembled.

He looked like he was about to swing it at any moment.

“Well, if you weren’t knights, I would have said this.”

Harad said as he took off his coat and handed it to Ellen.

As he did, he took something out from inside his coat.

It was a pair of gloves he had packed before leaving the Inner Fortress.

“But you are knights.”

Harad threw down the glove.

Slap! The glove hit Horn's cheek and fell to the floor.

“If I win, you and your subordinates will follow my orders, until we catch the culprit who tried to assassinate the Grand Heir.”

“……”

Horn stared at the glove on the floor before finally raising his head.

He glared at Harad, but his expression was quite different from before. His face was flushed.

“Fine!”

Like this, knights are easy.

Knights are.