Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 101 Seria (3)

The regressed Harad's purpose is always the same.

He had to stop the Otherworld, and he had to eliminate Elaine's regrets.

And he had to provide stimulus.

The Church is a good stimulus.

Meeting Seria was a coincidence.

But guiding her to Kubel's annex and arranging her meeting with Elaine was Harad's intention.

Elaine of this period has never met a priest.

She has probably never even seen the Church's behavior firsthand, let alone properly understand it.

To such an Elaine, a priest like Seria would be a good first opponent.

That was why when Elaine was rejected, Harad had pushed Ellen in.

It is a natural principle that experiencing something directly is much more stimulating than seeing or hearing about it.

The first time, when he met Seria.

When she killed the five mages of the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction, Seria had said she had been tailing them.

'Without killing them right away.'

That was the basis.

Seria was a sensible priest.

In other words, she was close to a model of the Church.

Of course, it was evidence that wasn't needed.

If she was sensible, it would be a stimulus in its own way, and if not, it would be a stimulus in its own way.

So, for Harad, it didn't matter what kind of priest Seria was.

Whether Seria was swallowed by the uniqueness of the North, where priests are rare, or whether she was stressed from not being able to execute demons.

Whether she lived or died.

As long as it stimulated Ellen in some way.

'……She's dead.'

When he heard the tremendous sound of Ellen's fist hitting Seria's face, Harad was certain of Seria's death.

It was only natural, as it was a full-force punch, and Aura had even been used.

"Huh?"

Ellen's eyes widened.

Harad could see her surprised face clearly.

It was because Seria's head, which had been blocking his view, had exploded.

"Ha."

Soon, Harad's eyes also widened in tandem.

A light burst out from where the exploded head had been.

It caught the fragments of the head that were about to scatter in all directions and pulled them in.

The fragments gathered into the shape of a head. It was a gruesome sight, but the gruesomeness was brief. The haphazardly clumped flesh, bone, and hair squirmed and moved.

The sight was closer to sculpting than healing. Perhaps it was even a resurrection.

"Oh my." Thɪs chapter is updated by ɴovelfire.net

Seria, with her head back, covered her mouth with her hand and laughed awkwardly.

……That vagueness.

Harad couldn't understand it, then or now.

* * *

Divine power is instilled through baptism.

But the divine power given and the subsequent growth rate are different for each person.

It's the same with Aura and magic.

Talent is originally a very diverse thing, so it wouldn't be strange if, among them, there was a talent for believing in God well.

"……Are all priests like that?"

Ellen still had a surprised expression.

"Not all of them. You have to have the talent."

It's not a divine skill that any priest can perform.

If you want to see that kind of recovery, you have to raise your head and look up.

It is a resilience that can only be seen in priests or paladins who have become successful due to their greatness.

'She was a genius.'

Seria was a genius.

Harad and Ellen had just witnessed the reason why she was designated as the next Inquisitor.

"I didn't mean to kill her. My strength just got away from me."

"Why are you telling me that?"

Ellen was making excuses not to Seria, but to Harad.

"I can't say it to that bitch. I have no intention of apologizing."

"You don't have to."

Harad didn't want to see Ellen bow her head to someone from the Church.

"And you can kill her."

"……?"

"What's the big deal about one priest dying? You are a Serzila."

There was no need to worry about the aftermath.

A single priest cannot have any effect on Serzila.

Doesn't the past life prove it?

At that time, Elaine had killed not just one Inquisitor.

There were more, and among them was even an Apostle.

Nevertheless, the North remained strong.

If it weren't for the Otherworld, it probably would have been for a long time.

"But I'm from a branch family."

"Still a Serzila."

Harad looked ahead.

Seria's back was visible. After regenerating her head, she was entering an alley.

"And, well. Now you might have to kill her even if you don't want to."

She was looking for a deserted place.

It must be to fight.

Just a moment ago, Ellen had clearly harbored killing intent.

She had used her full strength and even imbued it with Aura.

It must have been an difficult act for Seria to endure.

The Church hated having their demon hunting interfered with.

"Do you regret it?"

"No. Absolutely not."

Her strength had gotten away from her more than she had intended, but Ellen did not regret the punch.

The North is a land she loves.

In such a land, Seria had persecuted the northerners whom Elaine loves.

The Elaine of the past life would have killed her several more times.

If her head regenerated, she would blow it up, and if it regenerated again, she would blow it up again. Perhaps she would even dismember her entire body until the regeneration stopped.

How long had they walked? Seria came to a halt.

It was a familiar alley. The alley where the five mages of the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction had died.

"Why did you come all the way here?"

Harad asked Seria.

"Because I caused a commotion. I thought that if I caused any more, it would be an overreach of my authority."

Seria's face as she said that looked incredibly serene.

Her senses seemed to have returned as well.

She was aware that if she caused trouble, Grand Duke Aratus's restraint would come into play.

"Isn't it a bit narrow to fight?"

"What? We're fighting?"

"Didn't you move to a different location to fight with Ellen?"

Seria tilted her head.

Her face said she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Does your memory explode when your head does?"

"Ah. You're talking about me being attacked."

Seria clapped her hands lightly as if she finally understood.

"I believe that it is the victim who defines an attack."

She was right.

The giant they had encountered on the path of the deep sea long ago would have considered Ellen's attack to be a gnat.

"I felt that it was guidance from Laan?"

"……?"

"I would like to express my gratitude, Ellen."

But he couldn't understand those words.

* * *

Ellen looked down at her fist.

Her eyes showed that her pride was hurt. Am I weak? She seemed to be thinking along those lines.

"Priests like me usually move with a partner."

Seria said.

"Like you?"

"Yes. I am referring to a young novice who is showing promise, a young priest who has received baptism."

In short, it means that geniuses receive special treatment.

Seria seemed to be well aware of her own value.

"Because what I have received is more than I deserve compared to what I offer to Laan."

"You have a lot of divine power?"

"Yes. Embarrassingly, my faith does not reach that level."

Seria offered a prayer with an ashamed expression.

She was saying that she had a lot of divine power compared to that prayer.

"Is that a problem?"

Magic, Aura, and divine power.

Of the three, Harad was most ignorant about divine power.

He was a mage who could never get close to the Church.

"Ah, you really don't know. I should have explained beforehand. I completely forgot when you said you knew the doctrines of the Sun."

Seria said quietly, as if she was ashamed.

Faith and divine power.

There is a clear correlation between the two.

"Faith is the vessel that holds divine power."

"Ah."

At those words, Harad's mouth fell open.

"You sometimes overflow with divine power. The main reason being emotional agitation."

Seria's eyes widened.

"Oh my. Yes, that's right. We call it Agitation. Did you know?"

"This is the first I'm hearing of it."

However, it was a familiar vagueness.

A mage is a vessel of their Origin.

The Watchtower of Fire. The vessel of the Ivory Tower's Jesult, whom he had met there, had broken, unable to overcome his emotions.

'A similar phenomenon exists with divine power.'

Harad let out a hollow laugh.

"Is there ever a case where the vessel breaks? Ah. Not the vessel, but you."

Harad pointed at Seria.

The statement that faith is a vessel was vague.

As a mage, Harad would never be able to understand those words.

"A person breaking, that's a novel expression. But there are no such cases. Because Laan looks down upon us."

The power given by God would not harm those who believe in that God.

That's what Seria was saying.

'The risk is low.'

Divine power was indeed a strange power.

It wasn't something he couldn't understand.

Compared to magic or Aura, the ceiling of divine power was somewhat lower. So it's not strange that the risk is low.

'Agitation.'

It was a word that nicely packaged the concept of being crazy.

"There are a whole bunch of suspected demons, but you couldn't touch them, so you entered a state of Agitation."

"It is because I am lacking."

Seria's head drooped.

She wasn't wrong.

The Church is inherently suspicious of everything.

The Church's method of identifying mages is through threats and reasoning.

And on-site apprehension through stakeouts.

If a suspected demon arises, the Church secretly watches them. They do not easily reveal their inner thoughts.

That way, they calmly reason out the suspicion, stake out, or quietly drag them to the basement.

Seria was like that at first too.

She had suspected and tailed the five mages of the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction.

She must have intended to apprehend them on-site by continuing to watch them.

Until yesterday, Seria had been following the Church's standard procedure. Meaning she was fine.

But today, Seria had fallen into Agitation.

The reason being that she is a genius. She cannot control the divine power that is far superior to that of other priests.

"The partner's role must be to control the Agitation."

"That's right. They are grateful people who assist a lacking lamb like me."

A partner is, in a sense, a guardian to prevent a young genius's self-destruction.

"How do you control it? Hmm. It must be diverse. Let me rephrase the question. How do you deal with it when you fall into Agitation?"

"They completely empty the worldly thoughts in my head."

"In what way?"

Harad felt a sense of interest.

Agitation. It was a phenomenon similar to what mages sometimes experience.

'It's similar to Jesult's case. It might even be similar to addiction.'

Mages addicted to hearts become madmen.

Seria, who had fallen into Agitation, was no different from a madman.

Perhaps he could hear something helpful.

"What? Didn't Ellen show you?"

"……?"

Harad was at a loss for words for a moment.

He felt as if his mind had come to a complete stop.

"By smashing their heads?"

This time, Ellen's understanding was faster.

"That's right, Ellen!"

"……."

"Could I ask you to do it in the future as well? Just while I am staying here."

Seria smiled brightly.

She no longer looked benevolent.

"……How long are you going to be here?"

Ellen's voice was uncharacteristically weak.

She didn't even seem angry anymore. Harad sympathized.

"Until I have punished the demon who insulted Sir Pelatz."

Seria, with her mind cleared, was admitting that her actions earlier had crossed a line, and was ashamed.

"After Harad's investigation is over, I would also like to have time to apologize to the innocent people who survived."

An apology from a priest.

The Seria with a new head was a more sensible priest than he had thought.

"Embarrassingly, I was much more lacking than usual."

Seria fiddled with her pure white cassock, then raised her hands to the sky and called out to Laan.

She seemed to have finally noticed the uniqueness of the North.

Harad stared at Seria.

Then, when her prayer was over, he asked.

"Where did your original partner go?"

"He retired due to a family misfortune."

"Did you hear what kind of misfortune it was?"

"No?"

He ran away.

* * *

Until she kills the mage who killed Pelatz.

That means she's going to live here for the rest of her life.

Because Harad has no intention of dying.

"I'll confess, shall I?"

That was the conclusion Ellen had reached after spending the last three days with Seria.

"Are you insane?"

"The crazy one is that bitch."

Three days.

Ellen had smashed Seria's head 15 times.