Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 48: Shadow (1)

“Hmm.”

Arika was dying.

The first person to feel the shadow of death was Arika herself.

The cause of death would be overwork.

“Oh.”

However, the culprit was not the Grand Heir.

The culprit was the inadequate Arika herself, who could not handle the tasks given by the Grand Heir.

“Hoh.”

A ray of light came to such an Arika.

Unpleasantly, it was Harad.

“It’s all plausible. Amazing.”

“I don’t need your compliments.”

As soon as Harad had looked through the bundle of documents, Arika snatched it away as if to take it back.

If it hadn't been for Ellen’s request, she wouldn't have shown it to him in the first place.

“How long did it take?”

Harad asked, looking at the documents Arika had taken.

Arika did not answer.

Seeing her, Ellen stepped in.

“How long did it take?”

“Since Ellen requested it.”

Arika answered immediately.

“She said it took about a month.”

“Alone?”

“……”

Arika did not answer.

Harad looked at Ellen.

“……Arika, you did it alone?”

“Yes.”

“She said so.”

Ellen was an excellent interpreter.

“Amazing.”

Harad was impressed once again.

‘A month alone.’

The quantity and quality of the data were substantial.

Alone, it should have taken half a year.

If it was a month, there should have been ten people.

But Arika had done it alone, in just one month.

Though it looked like she would die soon as a price.

“Did you give her any other tasks?”

“……Yes.”

“What?”

“The whereabouts of the Tunnel-Digger, the movements of the Liberation Tower……?”

Ellen’s voice trailed off.

It meant there were more tasks she had given.

“If Arika dies, you’ll be the culprit.”

To exaggerate a little, Arika’s face was pitch black. It was because of her dark circles.

‘She has almost no Aura.’

It was proof that she had overworked herself that much.

Arika was a swordswoman who was not inferior even when compared to the knights of Serzila.

The bundle of documents in Arika’s hand was a collection of places and people suspected of being related to the tunnel, sorted and resorted.

Even after sorting and resorting, there were over dozens of such places and people.

Arika would sort them even further. She would go and meet them in person, crossing them off one by one.

While doing so, she would also have to find the Tunnel-Digger, send out communications to the outside to ask about the Liberation Tower, and proceed with the other tasks Ellen had given her.

Just thinking about it was a suffocating amount of work.

“Does the Intelligence Bureau have no people?”

“……There are many.”

Ellen, who would soon be a murderer, flinched.

She seemed to know that the workload was excessive.

‘It means there are no returning agents.’

It means the Intelligence Bureau is still focusing on the continent rather than the North.

‘It’s probably because I’m the source.’

Ellen may have delivered it, but in the end, it was Harad who had brought up the problem of the North.

For the Intelligence Bureau to take the matter more seriously, Harad’s influence had to grow.

‘What I solved has become poison, in a sense.’

To increase that influence, Harad had diligently changed the future.

But that act, on the contrary, only served to protect the complacency of the Intelligence Bureau.

If he had stood by and watched the infiltration of the Ivory Tower's 4th Rank Ios, the Intelligence Bureau would have reacted more sensitively.

“Twenty-one places presumed to be tunnels, fifty-three persons of interest. Even if you calculate one day per person, it’s well over two months. In reality, it will probably take longer.”

In his past life.

Regarding what Elaine demanded, Arika was a perfectionist.

There were no mistakes in the reports she submitted.

Looking at the bundle of documents, it seemed to be the same at this time.

Arika would probably investigate the things listed in those documents thoroughly.

Running around on her own two feet, over and over, until the results were perfect.

While proceeding with other tasks.

‘She’ll probably be dead in about ten days.’

This hadn't happened in his past life.

Harad felt a small sense of guilt.

“I’ll help.”

Arika was an essential person for Grand Duke Elaine.

“I don’t need it.”

Arika refused.

“I don’t think it’s something you can do.”

And yet she added a postscript.

It felt like a provocation, and the method was familiar.

‘She really is consistent.’

The Arika of his past life had also made requests to Harad when she was truly overwhelmed.

“You won’t be able to do it.”

That request was in that manner.

It meant, ‘do it if you can.’

“I was the first one to discover the tunnel.”

“……”

“I also caught Ios.”

“……”

“I can also distinguish mages.”

Harad pointed to his eyes and smiled.

The last statement was a lie, but it didn't matter.

If he was truly suspicious, he could confirm it by killing them.

“I understand that an order from His Grace the Grand Duke has been given to you.”

Do you have time for that when you have to catch the mastermind behind the attacks on Elaine.

That was the question.

“Ah, that’s as good as over.”

Harad waved his hand.

This order too was an easy task for the regressed Harad.

“Don’t feel too burdened. We need work too.”

“We?”

Arika tilted her head, and Ellen furrowed her brow.

At that moment, a loud shout was heard from outside the safe house.

The 2nd Knights had arrived.

……With nothing to do.

* * *

“Alright, alright. Take one each.”

Harad handed a piece of paper to each of the 2nd Knights.

It was a paper with the things Arika had investigated written down.

“Each of you can go to the place or person written on that paper and investigate. If it’s a place, look carefully, and if it’s a person…… hmm, you can hit them a little.”

The fact that Arika had put them on the list of suspects means that there is a problem with that person.

“Don’t draw your sword, just hit them. Then they’ll talk on their own.”

If a knight of Serzila suddenly comes and uses violence, anyone would open their mouth.

“If they don’t talk, can I kill them?”

“If there’s someone like that, you can call me.”

If they don't talk even when a knight is hitting them, that person must have something to hide.

Either they are truly involved with the tunnel, or there is another crime.

“But what does this have to do with the mastermind who sent a mage after the Grand Heir?”

Horn, the second smartest in the 2nd Knights, pointed out.

“A good point. For now, we’ll just poke around. Then some will stand out. I will check those people.”

“How will you check?”

“I can distinguish mages.”

Harad did not hide that fact—though it was a lie.

The more it was known, the more the knights would depend on Harad.

As proof, the 1st Knights would often come to Harad and show him suspicious items.

Later, they would probably even bring people, saying they were suspicious.

“They say there’s no such mage in the world.”

At Horn's words, Harad’s eyes lit up.

It was a logic that was difficult to hear in the North.

“You, where did you hear that?”

“I heard it from the 2nd Knights Commander.”

“I see. The 2nd Knights Commander is very knowledgeable.”

Horn was pleased with Harad's compliment, as if it were his own.

“The 2nd Knights Commander is also right. It’s just that I’m an exception.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a mage. The 2nd Knights Commander is a knight, isn’t he. When it comes to magic, I’m bound to be more accurate.”

“I see.”

Horn accepted it without thinking further.

He too was a knight in the end. If he were smarter, he would have joined the Intelligence Bureau, not a knight order.

The knights each took a piece or two of paper and spread out into the streets.

A few of them came up to Harad and asked questions, and Harad answered them sincerely.

Before long, the area in front of the Intelligence Bureau safe house became deserted.

The closest knight was far down the street, and after punching someone in the solar plexus, he was dragging them into a dark alley.

“……What are you doing now?”

“It’s okay. Those on the list of suspects are all shady characters.”

The one who investigated was the competent Arika.

A normal person could not be on the list of suspects.

“Not that.”

Ellen took her eyes off the alley where the knight had disappeared and glared at Harad.

“What is this supposed to be?”

“Helping Arika.”

“Not that. You know what I’m talking about.”

Ellen looked as if she would draw her sword.

“The order given to you is to investigate the mastermind.”

“Why investigate? The culprit is Cassion.”

It was as good as over.

Earlier, Harad had said that to Arika and helped with the tunnel investigation.

It was because he had already concluded that Cassion was the culprit.

“Aren’t you just hoping that Lord Cassion is the culprit?”

That's how it looked to Ellen.

“If that were the case, there would be a reason, for me.”

“Because Lord Cassion dislikes you.”

“Feelings. Then I have a lot of knights to kill.”

Even excluding the 1st and 2nd Knights, there were still 4 knight orders left.

They still did not acknowledge Harad. They disliked him.

“No. The other knights all give in after a duel.”

Ellen had realized how simple the knights were through this incident with the 2nd Knights.

As soon as Harad threw down the gauntlet, they all came around.

“But aren’t you doing this because you’re not confident you can get Lord Cassion to acknowledge you?”

“Are you serious?”

No.

Even Harad, who was asking the question, could tell that Ellen's expression was blatant.

He could roughly guess her inner thoughts.

She must have been intending to find evidence to the contrary during the investigation.

But Harad hadn't even started the investigation, so she was pissed off.

“Conviction and stubbornness are different. If you want to make that kind of judgment, bring proper evidence.”

“……”

“My evidence is that I can see mages.”

In fact, he knew thanks to his regression.

“That’s just your own evidence.”

“Have I ever been wrong? Me?”

“……”

That’s why he had never been wrong.

At least, not yet.

So far, there were far more things that hadn't changed than things that had.

“Then why don’t you report it?”

How much time had passed, Ellen brought a piece of evidence.

“You’ve gotten the 2nd Knights’ acknowledgment, now all you have to do is report to His Grace the Grand Duke and it’s over, right?”

A valid point.

Harad could complete the Grand Duke's order right away.

“That’s right. His Grace the Grand Duke would understand immediately. He would probably execute the 2nd Knights Commander.”

Harad said with conviction.

Grand Duke Aratus was that kind of person.

“But you wouldn't understand.”

“……”

“I want you to understand. By seeing and experiencing everything yourself.”

The regressed Harad wanted Ellen to be with him in everything he did.

To be stimulated like that.

“……Why are you only like this to me? Because I’m a collateral branch?”

“I was like this before I knew. And if that were the reason, I would have cozied up to the Grand Heir, not you.”

“You did cozy up.”

“The Grand Heir cozied up to me. Not me.”

Harad had never gone to meet Elaine first.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just that you’re my one and only friend.”

“……Friend.”

Ellen savored that word several times.

It was a familiar word. It was because of the dream.

“Was I the only one who thought so?”

Harad smiled gently.

……Like in a dream.

“……”

Ellen quietly looked down at her palm.

If she were the Elaine from the dream, she would have smacked that annoying back of the head without hesitation.

“You can hit me if you want to.”

“Why would I hit you.”

Ellen couldn't do it.

Not yet.

* * *

Lunch was had at Kubel’s annex.

Dinner was too, and Ellen was with them.

Ellen did not stop defending Cassion, but she did not avoid Harad either.

“Lord Cassion is not a mage.”

“Bring evidence.”

“There’s no evidence, but it’s a fact. You’ll see if you watch.”

Ellen seemed somewhat resigned.

She might have agreed with Harad's argument, or she might have become conscious of the dream because of the word ‘friend’.

Either way, it was certain that Ellen was changing day by day.

After dropping off Shura, who had been playing in the alley, and having dinner together, they returned to find the knights waiting in front of the Intelligence Bureau safe house.

To cut to the chase, it was a bust, as expected.

It was a natural result, if you thought about it.

The Sanctuary of Fire. The reason Arika had found the tunnel hidden in its vicinity was because there was a suspect who had reported Harad.

Without a clear clue, the probability of finding a tunnel is extremely low.

“……”

Arika, who heard the results, looked very hurt in her pride.

It must have been even more so because this investigation was Ellen's order.

“……Thank you, though.”

But it wasn't completely meaningless.

For her, it was a way of buying time to investigate twenty-one places and fifty-three persons of interest.

And since she would have run around on her own two feet, the value of that time would have included the energy she would have consumed.

“Are you going to start again?”

“I have to.”

Unless Ellen retracts the order, Arika will continue to investigate.

And she will find it someday.

The tenacity of the Arika from his past life was beyond imagination.

“I heard you’re also looking for the Tunnel-Digger.”

“……Does he really exist?”

Arika showed a weakness unlike herself.

It must be that she hadn't found even a single clue.

“He definitely exists.”

“……”

Arika did not refute.

With this help, a glimmer of trust in Harad had formed.

“He could be fat, or he could be thin.”

At the out-of-the-blue words, Arika tilted her head.

“He could be a man, or a woman. A baby, or an old woman.”

“……?”

“But it’s clear he’s not alone. There are two of them.”

“Are you saying he has a mage who can change his appearance as a companion?”

Harad smiled brightly.

Arika was easy to talk to.

“That’s right. A mage with a mask as an Origin is the Tunnel-Digger’s companion. His characteristics will be the same.”

“……How am I supposed to find him.”

“Are you asking me for information? The Intelligence Bureau?”

When he touched her pride, Arika’s brow furrowed.

“I’ll find him myself.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

It was then.

The door of the Intelligence Bureau safe house burst open.

“Harad.”

It was Horn.

He was dragging someone.

“Who is that person?”

The person, whose hands were bound with iron chains, looked as if he had been arrested.

“The mastermind.”

“What?”

“The mage who sent a mage after the Grand Heir. I caught him.”

Harad's eyes widened.

“There’s no way.”

It was the first time Ellen had seen Harad so surprised.

“What? Who’s a mage?”

She became that much more triumphant.