Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 229: Neighbor (1)

It was closer to violence than a kiss.

Especially the tongue was intense.

'Is there even a taste to it?'

At best, it would just be the taste of saliva.

Or perhaps the last thing eaten.

"You taste like blood."

Ellen tasted blood.

It was the taste of aftereffects.

Harad found it difficult to explain in words.

It had been too sudden. To know for certain, he would need to do it once, no, several more times.

However, one thing was clear: it didn't taste like meat.

For some reason it was sweet, and there was no tobacco taste.

Harad desperately searched for a reason. Because kissing was an unfamiliar act. Excluding the tongue, it was only the second time.

'Elaine.'

That Grand Duke had stolen his lips once before.

At that time, Ellen had offered Harad her thigh.

This time Elaine had offered her thigh.

Then Ellen stole his lips. She even put in her tongue.

'How competitive.'

She was paying back what was done to her.

More than what was done.

Harad thought it was a vicious cycle.

Ellen had put in her tongue, so someday Elaine would put in her tongue too. Then Ellen would respond with something even more.

......In his previous life, Elaine had tasted like tobacco.

"Ah."

Only then did Harad realize why Ellen had quit smoking.

To create a difference.

To assert that Ellen and Elaine were different people.

"Why?"

Ellen suddenly looked back.

"Does it still hurt?"

The first thing he felt was concern.

Whatever about Elaine, whatever about the kiss. Personal feelings were secondary. That expression helped shut Harad's mouth.

"No. My body just changed, that's all."

She wasn't asserting she was a different person from Elaine.

She was striving to become a different person.

Because Harad worried about it.

About Ellen disappearing because of Elaine.

'It's not my place to say anything.'

Strictly speaking, Harad was the root cause.

He had realized the reason for quitting smoking, but bringing it up now would be rude.

He had decided to live as he pleased, but hadn't determined what to place at the end of that.

By his own reckoning, Harad was still a cowardly person.

Nothing was more ridiculous than such a person pointing things out.

Because he was cowardly, they were changing.

The expression "vicious cycle" was also rude.

It was Harad's karma.

"How is it? This time I only stole half."

Ellen observed Harad's condition for a long while, and after confirming he was fine, she shrugged her shoulders.

Harad found that troubling.

He had lost control of his body a second time, yet her concern came before that phenomenon.

"I heard. That you were watching."

"I was listening too. Like a dream."

The first time it was stolen, he had fallen asleep.

This time, at least his consciousness had remained awake.

Having his body stolen again was not a good sign, but there was a difference.

"So don't worry. I'm not going to disappear."

Ellen grinned.

Valid grounds, that smile. Ellen was certainly changing. She was making an effort.

"Right."

So Harad had to do the same.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I feel I should."

Harad had to look at Ellen.

He must not forget those eyes. Until someday he could face that fiery woman with dignity.

"Stop looking."

"Why?"

"......You're making me embarrassed."

When Harad looked at Ellen's eyes, Ellen was only staring at Harad's lips.

"Can I do it again?"

"When did you ever ask permission?"

"You're seducing me right now, aren't you?"

"......"

Ellen's way of thinking was also exceptional.

***

"You can tell just by looking at my face? What I'm thinking?"

Ellen suddenly asked.

It was a heavy and cute jealousy.

"Roughly, yes."

Harad said while staring at Ellen intently.

"......What am I thinking right now?"

"You have a lot to say but you're holding it in. It must be because of Seria. You're worried, and you feel helpless too."

Ellen's eyes widened and she suddenly looked tearful.

"Was I wrong?"

"No. You're right."

"But your expression says otherwise."

"That's because you're right. Only you know everything."

Both Elaine and Ellen.

Harad knew just by looking at their faces.

Elaine also knew everything just by looking at Harad's face.

"Only I don't know."

Ellen didn't know everything.

She seemed upset about that.

"It's because I'm exceptional. Not because you're lacking."

"What about that woman?"

She's not particularly exceptional.

Harad couldn't say it out loud.

Insulting Elaine's head was the same as insulting Ellen's head. Different people, but the same body.

"How long did it take her?"

"You're faster. Much faster, even."

The corners of Ellen's mouth twitched.

"Liar."

"Really."

This time the corners of her eyes curved gently.

"You're already fast, and you'll get even faster."

"Because I'm a woman?"

Harad thought it was a question that hit the mark.

It seemed Harad wasn't the only one who felt that way.

The restriction dwelling in his heart squirmed.

"Let's talk about the rest later."

Ellen grinned as if sensing it.

She looked satisfied already.

"You go back first. I'll find Seria."

The boundary was land where only knights, Mages, or priests could stay.

"For Seria, you're someone who shouldn't be in the boundary."

Seria knew Harad as an Intelligence Bureau agent.

An ordinary one without Aura, at that.

"It's probably too late."

Harad shook his head.

"It was a location chosen for me. He said he brought her as a gift. That's what he said about Seria."

This was someone who had babbled about Iagar being nourishment.

What "gift" meant was obvious without needing to see.

"Your worry is correct. She probably saw it."

Harad and Aten's Magic—Seria must have witnessed it from somewhere.

"That bastard probably hoped I would kill him, then kill Seria as well. If you're weak, you can't protect more widely. That's what those words meant."

Iagar was annihilated because Harad was weak.

Seria would be the same. Aten believed Harad grew stronger through loss.

'Not entirely wrong.'

If Iagar had been fine, there would have been no regression, no reason to resolve to become stronger in his previous life.

Loss gives birth to lingering attachment.

Harad had changed because of Elaine, but ultimately the root of it was his desire for revenge against Torch.

Ellen's expression had hardened.

She seemed to realize the moment of decision had approached.

"Well, it's not that big a deal."

However, Harad acted nonchalant.

"I was exposed long ago. Probably."

"What?"

"Seria probably knows. That I'm a Mage."

The fact that he didn't sense Jis nearby was probably proof of that.

"Demon!"

A voice was heard from somewhere.

"Demon!"

The voice was fierce beyond measure.

Had she gone mad?

"Demon's land!"

Or was she pretending to be mad?

***

The Great Barrier.

Seria was experiencing firsthand why Serzila was so praised and the Empire secretly feared them.

This was such a land.

Just by standing still, light flickered endlessly. The affected area was her entire body. On her head, and light gathered all over her body.

Without that, one couldn't endure this land.

A land that interfered with mind and body, tormented them, and led to death.

If the light was depleted, she would die.

If a knight, they would die when their Aura ran out.

Serzila was a name that erected the barrier and ventured into that enemy territory countless times.

Seria felt a sense of kinship.

The Church always stood at disadvantageous places.

They wore Habits for demons hiding who knew where.

Serzila was the same.

They ventured into enemy territory to protect the barrier. In this disadvantageous demon territory, they executed demons and their minions.

Furthermore, they hoped to exterminate the demon nests beyond. The boundary and the Otherworld.

Both for demons.

Though there were occasional conflicts, Serzila ultimately meant neighbor.

"Seria?"

Then what was that ominous shadow?

The demon that protected her from demons?

"Are you okay?"

What was that demon worried about a priest?

"Demon!"

Seria could only shout that way.

Because this was demon territory.

The boundary.

If those free in this ominous land weren't demons, what else could they be?

If creatures that shared and ate their kin's hearts weren't demons, what else could they be?

"Demon!"

Seria's eyes turned bright red.

It felt as if light was forcibly digging through her head and injecting itself.

Seria welcomed it.

She wanted to fall into agitation as quickly as possible. She didn't want to think anymore.

"Demon, yes. Though not demon land."

She didn't want to hear that voice.

"We have a pretty hard time too. Except for me."

The light that had been digging through her head slowed.

She was pulling away from agitation. Because of the voice.

"Ah, I don't really know about Otherworld entry. I've only killed them."

Seria thought reality was speaking.

Don't turn away.

"If it's Badelots's grudge, I've repaid it. Though my grudge came first."

Why that fire, I...

"Jis, do you happen to have clothes?"

Harad asked nonchalantly.

"Yes!"

The shadow that answered disgustingly like a child pulled out clothes.

Harad changed naturally.

That scene, Seria thought it was absurd.

"Harad, we must leave quickly."

Seria immediately approached and grabbed Harad's arm to pull him.

She had to share her light to take him safely outside the boundary.

"Why?"

"This place is dangerous. Demon territory, the boundary kills people. Without Divine power or Aura, one cannot endure even a single moment."

Harad was merely a slightly strong ordinary person.

"No. Mages can endure too."

"That's right. We must leave quickly. This land is dangerous for Harad. When demons might again......"

Seria pulled with all her strength.

Harad didn't budge.

Even though Divine power dwelled throughout her body.

"I don't die. In this land where without Divine power or Aura, one cannot endure even a single moment."

A land where one suffered burns all over just by standing still.

Divine power was healing Seria's burns even now. If someone had nothing, rather than burns, their entire body would have caught fire.

"How long will you deny it?"

In such a land.

Harad was only sweating.

"I'm a demon."

"......That can't be."

Seria pulled with all her strength.

If he were a demon, his arm would tear off. But Harad didn't move at all. Proof he wasn't a demon.

Yet suddenly fire surged from that forearm.

That fire, not Divine power, pushed Seria away.

"Even like this?"

Seria flinched. That was all.

The fire didn't attack Harad. Rather, it wrapped around Harad as if he were quite precious.

"......A formidable Magical Item."

Seria soon smiled brightly as if she had realized.

"As expected of Serzila's affiliate. I've heard well that the Great Barrier uses demon tools."

"Seria."

"Thanks to that, you're safe. It's an unsettling idea, but right now I'm just relieved."

The fire grew larger.

The fire wrapping Harad spread throughout the area. Its scale was tremendous. As if fallen into the middle of a forest of fire.

The heat was even more impressive.

It was land where one suffered burns just by standing still. That fire was even more. Just looking at it felt like one's eyes would melt.

"Even like this?"

Fire impossible with a mere tool.

"......That can't be. Harad. You're an Intelligence Bureau agent."

"You know it's a lie."

The fire that had been flickering mockingly disappeared in an instant.

Seria immediately noticed it had changed form. Light was descending from the sky.

That light, that form was not unfamiliar to Seria.

It was light she had basked in before. Its origin resembled the sun.

So it was a very blasphemous sight.

Fire. Moreover, Magic imitating the sun. It was shining down on Seria. She should rightfully condemn it. She should deliver purification.

If one served Laan, without fail.

......Yet.

"How long will you turn away?"

Why wasn't she falling into agitation?

"You saw it all."

Why that fire, I...

"Three times."

Three times.