Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 45: The 2nd Knights (2)

-It's all fine. Whatever you do is fine. The North will not punish you. Is it not strength that we revere?

Before regressing.

Those words, which Elaine had spoken as she forcibly fed him the Stone of Regression, penetrate the North.

The same goes for the vague word 'strength'.

Not physical strength or Aura, but strength. That strength even encompasses magic.

If the one who governs that strength is Serzila, then it is only right.

“I heard Tursten got beaten.”

“Marvin and Groobin were beaten along with him.”

As if they had never been hostile, the knights did not hide their curiosity.

No matter how much they were influenced by the 2nd Knights Commander, they were knights.

Northerners born in the North who idolized Serzila.

If you are a Northerner, you cannot escape the words of the Elaine from the past life.

Elaine was the master of the North.

“I heard you use a sword. I can lend you one if you want.”

Horn said.

Unlike the duel with the 1st Knights, Harad was empty-handed.

“I don't think I'll need one against you.”

“……I have killed two 4th Rank mages at once.”

Horn, thinking he was being mocked, replied.

To be a Deputy Commander of Serzila means you are a strong person who can receive treatment second only to a Swordmaster if you go to the capital.

“You have?”

But Harad tilted his head.

He wasn't doubting Horn. Harad remembered every single member of the 2nd Knights.

Deputy Commander Horn was indeed a strong knight.

“Did you see a projection?”

But he was not strong enough to kill two 4th Rank mages at the same time.

At this time, even more so.

“A projection?”

“A particularly powerful magic.”

“Everything was tricky.”

“You didn't see it.”

It was an answer that could not have come out if he had seen a projection.

“You were lucky.”

“What?”

“It means the two you killed were half-baked 4th Ranks.”

The 2nd Knights, who had killed the most mages from the Otherworld.

But Horn, the Deputy Commander of the 2nd Knights, seemed not to know the concept of a projection.

“……What Rank are you.”

A 3rd Rank like a 4th Rank.

Harad had always introduced himself that way.

“Today, I’ll be a 4th Rank.”

Today was an exception.

* * *

In his past life.

His closest knight friend was Gullen.

But the most impressive knights to Harad were the 2nd Knights.

Those knights, who had pushed him into the tunnel.

Harad had never forgotten their faces.

Though it was a future that had now disappeared, Harad still remembered the date accurately. It happened when he was 22.

Back then, the 2nd Knights were not on their rest period.

But they had briefly come down to the fief. It was Grand Duke Aratus’s order. He might have noticed something with his own information network.

In any case, that measure was too late.

A mage from the Otherworld had ambushed the plaza, and Cassion had backtracked the mage’s trail to find the tunnel under the Flower Hall’s underbelly.

That tunnel, Grand Duke Aratus had ordered to be left alone.

Cassion did not. He forcibly dragged Harad and pushed him into the tunnel.

The taunts of the knights he had heard back then were still vivid.

Harad remembered which knight said what, everything. Even now.

-If you don’t go in now, I’ll nail you to a cross.

Horn had said such words.

Grand Duke Aratus did not punish the knights.

Revenge was Harad's share, and he achieved it a few years later. Harad had beaten all the members of the 2nd Knights to within an inch of their lives.

Exactly 49 of them.

Even though the full complement of a knight order was 50.

It meant he had not been able to get revenge on Cassion.

It wasn't because Harad lacked the ability.

“I’ll kill you.”

Horn, whose achievement had been denied, growled.

He intended to prove his achievement by killing Harad, who had introduced himself as a 4th Rank.

“I won’t kill you.”

At those words, Horn rushed in like a man who had lost his reason.

His speed was considerable. But it was familiar.

The Horn in front of him was the same as the Horn from his past life.

Just as fast, just as strong, and just as he aimed for the right shoulder blade with his first move.

The tempered body responded sufficiently.

Harad avoided Horn’s sword simply by taking a few steps.

Horn’s eyes followed Harad’s fluid movements.

Creak. His muscles forcibly twisted the trajectory of the sword.

Horn’s right arm stretched out. The sword, which seemed to cut through the air and touch the ground, was shot towards Harad.

Horn’s Aura was concentrated in his sword.

The purpose of the Aura imbued in the body is to strengthen that body.

……Not to protect the body.

‘As expected.’

That gave Harad confidence.

‘He doesn't just not know about projections.’

Even though they were the 2nd Knights, who had killed the most mages.

Their knowledge of mages was no different from the 1st Knights.

“That’s not it.”

Click. Harad’s tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth.

The tongue was fire, and the roof of the mouth was Horn.

Suddenly, the ground turned bright red.

Horn’s boots, made of magical beast leather, melted instantly.

The temperature was one thing, but the speed at which it reached that temperature was unbelievable. That’s why his response was slow.

Horn’s eyes widened. A stream of fire shot up from the melting training ground.

Horn’s arm, which had been stretching out, stopped.

The sword held at its end was suddenly withdrawn.

Horn’s body curled up like a pill bug.

The sword covered the front of his chest.

It was a swift reaction, as befitting a veteran Deputy Commander.

To Harad, it was slow.

It was because he was not protecting his body with Aura.

To explain it from a mage's perspective, he was not prepared.

That’s why his response was slow.

If he had been sufficiently conscious of it beforehand, he could have blocked it without much difficulty.

Guh. Smoke rose from Horn's clenched teeth.

The chest protected by the sword was safe, but the rest was a mess.

His body below the chest was bright red, and his skin and leather clothes had melted together.

Nevertheless, Horn moved. He tried to close the distance, and his speed was the same as before. It hadn't slowed down at all.

“What mage would allow such a thing.”

Hooo. Harad let out a small sigh.

That breath spread into fire. It was so large and dense that it consumed all of Horn’s vision.

Horn gritted his teeth, protected his eyes with his left arm, and broke through.

By then, Harad was already in front of the wall at the end of the training ground.

In Horn’s vision, there wasn’t just Harad. Fire was surging everywhere. It was high enough to cover the spectating knights.

In front, between Harad and Horn, there was also fire. It looked like dozens of lances were floating in the air.

They were made of fire, and their tips were aimed at Horn.

“The level of a 3rd Rank with a lot of mana.”

That sight was only that of a 3rd Rank, Harad said.

Grind. Horn’s hand squeezed the hilt of his sword as if to crush it.

The bright blue Aura flowing along the blade became denser. Even more Aura enveloped Horn like armor.

It was the right judgment.

After all, they were the knight order that had killed the most mages.

“You should have done that from the beginning.”

Horn rushed in instead of answering.

He took the dozens of fired lances of fire with his body and closed the distance.

The corner of Horn’s mouth tore slightly.

Harad was in front of him. The sword, raised to the sky, was brought down. From the crown of his head, he intended to split Harad in two.

……It was then that the sword disappeared.

“And this is a 4th Rank.”

To be precise, only the hilt remained.

A jet-black sphere was the culprit.

The thing that had appeared above Harad's head had melted the sword without a trace, without him even noticing.

Horn instinctively threw his head back.

The jet-black sphere narrowly grazed his face. That alone caused his face to melt slightly. Steam rose from his eyes.

It was so even though he was protected by Aura.

If the sphere had risen just a little slower, his eyes would have evaporated.

Because he had thrown his head back so far, Horn could see the sky clearly.

The sky was dark. Yet it was strangely bright.

It was because of the jet-black sphere.

The jet-black sphere, which had been the size of a fingernail, had grown to the size of a building.

‘……A sphere?’

Horn could no longer call that thing a sphere.

It was more fitting to say that the sun had fallen this close. No, ridiculously, that seemed to be correct.

The fire that had been surging everywhere had disappeared at some point, but an even greater heat was bearing down on the training ground.

The training ground was slushy. The melted wall flowed like lava with the training ground. Half of the common building also flowed down like a sandcastle.

“Ah!”

“Get back. Get back.”

Screams erupted from among the knights who had been watching with their mouths agape.

The knights who looked up at the sky clutched their eyes, and the knights who had been leaning against the wall had their backs melted. They lost their boots and some of the flesh on their feet melted.

The jet-black sun dropped something.

It was a particularly red fire. Horn instinctively threw himself to avoid it. The melting, lava-like training ground inflicted burns all over his body.

Horn did not feel the pain.

It was because he saw the trace of the fire that the sun had dropped.

It pierced through the melted training ground, melting the ground and flowing down.

Horn could not dare to fathom the depth of that pit.

The training ground, the wall, and the remains of the building, which had been flowing like lava, flowed into that pit.

On and on…… until all the debris was gone.

“5th Rank……”

Horn muttered without realizing it.

“It’s a 4th Rank. The kind you killed two of.

“……The mages I killed weren't like this.”

“I thought so, so I corrected you.”

Harad smiled gently.

His complexion didn't look very good, which made Horn even more creeped out.

Because of his human-like side, the magic he had just witnessed felt much more real.

The 4th Rank is not the end.

It meant that there were mages even more powerful than Harad in the Otherworld.

“Of course, not all 4th Ranks are like this. I’m special.”

Harad added.

That provided some comfort to the serious Horn.

He liked the word ‘special’ if you could call it that.

It was because Harad was a mage who had entered Serzila.

The jet-black sun had already disappeared.

As if it had never been hot, the chill of the North settled over the world.

“Mage.”

Horn glared at Harad with a stiff face.

“……What do you think of Serzila?”

“I’m fond of it.”

“The Otherworld?”

“I loathe it.”

The surroundings were a mess. The ground was not just black but rotten, and more than half of the building was destroyed.

The wall was also gone, so the tragic scene was exposed to the outside.

“What should we do?”

Horn did not think of it as a disgrace.

The knights who had evacuated and then gathered at some point also felt the same.

The knights of Serzila are not ashamed of defeat by a strong person.

“We will find the mastermind who tried to assassinate the Grand Heir. Under my lead.”

“Understood, Harad.”

Horn got up.

Though he was in a state where it wouldn't be strange if he collapsed right away, he struck his chest with his fist.

“But there’s something we have to do before that.”

“Just say the word.”

“Rest.”

Horn tilted his head.

“You guys are in bad shape.”

“……”

“Are you crazy?”

Ellen, who had been watching while suppressing her anger, finally rushed in.

* * *

There was a taste of blood in his mouth.

The metallic taste wasn't that strong.

It was because he hadn't used his full power.

You might say what's that supposed to mean when he's suffering from aftereffects, but it was the truth.

The projection just now was different from the projection he had manifested against the rabbit. If it had been his full power, Horn would have died long ago.

The uninjured knights would have been injured, and the injured knights would have died.

Of course, not all projections are like that.

It is a result possible because it is the projection of the sun. The sun is an Origin that has a strong effect on many.

And, as befits its grand concept, it is particularly powerful.

‘It’s not enough to use it.’

Harad took his fingers, which had been rolling the marble in his pocket, out.

The marble given by the rabbit. The healing power contained within it was a consumable. It was a waste to use it on aftereffects that would heal in just two or three days.

Half of the silver was left in the marble.

It sloshed around like water, and that silver was mana.

‘How do I fill it?’

But it wouldn't fill.

At least, not with Harad and Kubel's mana.

No matter how much mana he pushed in, it wouldn't enter the marble.

‘Either the method is wrong, or the marble is picky about mana.’

It's not for nothing that the Otherworld built several towers according to the Origin.

Origins belonging to the same category even have similar mana.

Among the magical items made by the Tower of Storms, there were some that could only be used by mages of the wind lineage. The same goes for the other towers.

This marble seemed to be like that.

‘And the rabbit had something like that.’

He had guessed, but the marble didn't seem to be a simple magical item.

‘Does it only accept the mana of magical beasts? Or the rabbit’s?’

Either way, it was not certain.

The marble had to be used sparingly.

Suddenly, the door opened, and the maids poured out. They were the maids Ellen had called.

Harad waited for all the maids to leave before going inside.

It was a dormitory prepared next to the common building, and it was outside the range of the projection, so it was not damaged.

Inside, the knights were lying as if dead.

Among them was Horn, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages. The maids had taken care of it.

“As expected of the knights of Serzila.”

Harad was impressed by the sight of the knights who did not let out a single groan.

Of course, most of them had minor injuries.

No, in fact, not most, but all of them.

Horn was the most severely injured, but in Harad's view, he too had minor injuries.

“Five days. Horn, it’ll take you about ten days.”

“Five days for me too.”

Horn, who had raised his upper body, replied.

The other knights affirmed with silence.

Knights have excellent recovery abilities.

The higher the quality or quantity of their Aura, the better it was, and for someone like Horn, that level of injury would be enough in ten days.

That’s why what the knights fear most is dismemberment.

As long as their limbs or neck are not cut off, they mostly recover.

Suddenly, the back of his head prickled.

He turned around to see Ellen, who had sent the maids away, leaning crookedly against the door.

“You hate the 2nd Knights, don’t you?”

“If I hated them, I would have killed them.”

“……”

“I have no personal feelings.”

Ellen glared at Harad as if she would kill him.

“Then why did you do that?”

“It seemed necessary.”

Harad, who had been answering, tilted his head.

Come to think of it, it was like this last time too.

Elaine had expressed her anger at Harad for crippling the three knights from the 1st Knights.

At the time, he thought it was because Harad was a mage who had rolled in, but seeing Ellen’s reaction in front of him, it didn't seem to be just because of that.

“Isn’t it normal to rough them up that much?”

“Who does.”

“I think I’ve been roughed up even more severely.”

“So, who did.”

“……”

Harad stared at Ellen.