Chapter 250 : Chapter 250
Chapter 250: Laash
The woman was neat from the tips of her bangs to the ends of her feet.
It may have been prejudice, but she looked intelligent.
That was an impression Harad could confirm because the woman had removed her robe.
“You should put this on first.”
The woman politely held out her robe.
It seemed Harein’s clothes struck her as rather shocking. Which was proof enough that she was not of the desert.
“Why!”
The master of the desert, blood of Norbu, shouted as if crying out.
“That won’t be necessary. It’s hot enough already.”
Harein refused the robe.
It was not because of Parus. Just looking at the robe made it seem as though heat rash would break out.
It only looked shocking from the woman’s point of view. Objectively speaking, it was merely a little thin. Even so, the reason it felt provocative was because it was Harein wearing it.
“The desert is hot!”
Parus liked that and said so from beside her.
“Is this person one of your companions?”
The woman asked, pointing at Parus.
Parus was merchandise of the auction house.
The woman was a superior brought by the old appraiser.
‘And yet she doesn’t know.’
It seemed Parus’s guess had been right.
The auction house was entangled with the Otherworld. And besides the slave auction, it did other business as well. The woman must have been in charge of that other business.
“He is my slave. I just bought him.”
“Hm?”
The old man looked down at his own empty palm.
Meaning he had received nothing.
“They will pay the price.”
Harein pointed at the woman with her chin.
“……Didn’t you come here as a slave?”
“It seemed as though that would make for better amusement. Do I truly look like a slave to you?”
Harein lifted her chin.
Grand Duke Elaine would grow arrogant in just that posture. Though she was shorter than Harad, if she lifted her chin, she considered it the same as looking down on others.
“We will pay the price. However……”
The woman let the end of her sentence trail off.
“So you want proof. How dare you.”
Harein flew into a rage at once.
“You haven’t even stated your name, nor have you noticed your own mistake, and yet you dare this? Is the Otherworld such a careless place?”
WHOOSH!
The moment Harein finished speaking, a tree sprang up beside the woman.
The old man had been its bark.
‘So she kills him at once.’
Akuldag had defected.
That was what Parus had said. It seemed the Otherworld stood above Akuldag.
“I have committed an offense. I beg forgiveness for the leak.”
The woman bowed her head.
A leak. That was why the old man had died.
The old man had heard the words King of Prophecy.
That was the Otherworld’s phrase.
“Leave that slave be. He is mine.”
It was then that the woman’s gaze shifted toward Parus.
Harein stretched out a hand and blocked her line of sight.
“But……”
“It is an order.”
“I obey.”
The woman bowed her head once again.
Even if Kandenkel Lilldorf, Tower Master of Meteoric Iron, had said the same thing, this woman would have obeyed.
Even if the Towers differed, a king was still a king.
Ordinary mages could not defy that.
Which also meant that this woman was not a particularly remarkable mage.
“I am Dihake, 3rd Rank of the Tower of Earthquakes, the one who plants the seed of the Tree That Feeds on Entrails.”
Just as expected, the woman was only 3rd Rank.
Her Origin was vicious indeed. The seed planted in the old man had devoured his entrails and become a tree.
“Are you truly the King of Prophecy?”
Dihake asked with even greater courtesy.
It was because she had already made one mistake. And not only that. Harein thought of Loisia, the Dancing Tree, who had handed over the key.
‘The Tower of Earthquakes is favorable.’
In the past, they had gotten along even better.
Their relationship had soured because of the Red Tower’s stubbornness, but Loisia had said the Tower of Earthquakes had not changed. That it still loved fire.
Of course, not enough to expect anything exceptional.
But that was when he was Harad.
The rightful king, Harein, would be exceptional to anyone.
“King of Prophecy, forgive me, but……”
Dihake let the end of her words fade.
She meant that Harein should prove that she was the King of Prophecy, prove that her Origin was the sun.
That would have been very easy for Harein.
Her Origin truly was the sun, and now even the simplest magic she used resembled the sun.
“You presume too much.”
“Pardon?”
“How dare you demand proof from a king?”
Harein had no intention of proving it.
***
What would happen if the King of Prophecy appeared?
‘There would be an uproar.’
The future was obvious.
And that uproar would not care about rank or station.
‘There is a heavyweight in Akuldag.’
Harein remembered the Moon’s warning perfectly well.
If it became certain that she was the King of Prophecy, that heavyweight would move.
Which meant restrictions might arise in finding Shura.
‘You must not become an honored guest.’
Nor could she appear easy.
Even if things became easier, restrictions would arise all the same.
“I understand, Your Majesty. However, our Tower of Earthquakes has deep ties even to the Red Tower. Please be magnanimous and take that into account.”
She spoke as though instructing her, but with courtesy.
Dihake spoke as if dealing with an immature princess.
“As for the prophecy, as for Your Majesty, everyone in the Otherworld is desperate.”
To all appearances, that might truly be the case.
Harein was the King of Prophecy, but one born on the continent. Naturally, she could not help being ignorant about the Otherworld.
“Nonsense. I know enough of the Otherworld. How do you think I came here?”
“…….”
“I know that the Tower of Earthquakes has put down roots in Akuldag. I know the political climate among the Towers as well.”
Dihake swallowed hard.
“I heard that Aquins of the Deep Sea attacked one of my Stars.”
“We are not the same as the Deep Sea—”
“In my eyes, you are all much the same. I will prove myself before the Red Tower. No one but fire can be trusted.”
The death of Avery Aquins.
Harein had even released information from the Boundary. In her own judgment, that was decisive. Dihake merely worked her open mouth soundlessly, as though struck speechless.
“Still, if you want it so badly, it is not as though I cannot show you.”
Dihake’s eyes lit up.
“Will you turn to ash? If so, I will personally show you my sun.”
Harein looked down at Dihake.
Her amber eyes flickered like flames.
“……I have committed an offense. For now, please come out.”
Dihake remained courteous.
Whether Harein was the King of Prophecy or not, Harein knew of the prophecy.
It was the Moon’s prophecy, which circulated only within the Otherworld.
Knowing that meant she somehow knew of the Otherworld at all.
And beyond that, Harein even knew a great deal about the Otherworld and the Boundary.
If there was a King of Prophecy, Harein was the one closest to it.
Dihake surely thought so.
“There may be less that we can do for you.”
Just as expected.
By refusing to provide proof, Harein had been lowered from King of Prophecy to a mage who might be the King of Prophecy.
“I do not mind.”
Harein nodded.
It was the position she had wanted.
Clang.
The prison opened. Harein walked out with dignity.
Parus followed after her naturally.
“Harein, you really are a precious mage.”
“Watch your tongue, slave.”
“You mean I am to become yours?”
“…….”
Harein keenly understood why seduction was a strategy.
Would Harad have had this effect too?
Naturally, Harein shook her head. He might have clasped hands, but Parus could never have been this openly favorable.
‘I want to show him.’
Looking at Parus grinning broadly, that thought came strongly to her.
Once all of this was over, Harein resolved to show Harad to Parus no matter what.
“Is that slave Your Majesty’s slave as well?”
Dihake pointed at the handsome man still left alone in the cell.
Your Majesty.
It was an unfamiliar form of address. Harein accepted it naturally.
“Will you pay for him?”
“If he is yours, then of course we should.”
If not, they would kill him.
That was the meaning.
“He is not.”
Parus spoke suddenly.
Harein frowned inwardly. For the sake of his objective, would he cast aside his subordinate’s life that lightly?
“My master said that one was useless. He became deaf during the disturbance earlier.”
Blood was flowing from both ears of the handsome man.
Those wounds had not been there earlier.
Harein realized that Parus had secretly ruptured his subordinate’s eardrums. Blood still marked the fingers he subtly showed her.
“There is no need to deal with him, then.”
“I understand. I will guide you.”
At Harein’s words, Dihake began walking down the corridor.
Behind Dihake’s back, Parus winked one eye.
‘Just the eardrums? Cheap enough.’
He only looked handsome on the outside. In truth, he must be a warrior.
Eardrums like that would recover soon enough.
That was how Norbu led from the front. That was why it was a lion.
A lion did not cast aside its subordinates.
‘He’s not bad.’
Harein thought of Bahav Enverque.
The man called Parus al Norbu had value.
‘Serzila in the North. Enverque in the center. Norbu in the South.’
In the past, Norbu had been a heavyweight equal to Enverque.
Now it had declined, but Parus would still possess far greater influence than Bahav Enverque, who had become a beggar.
“Master? Mistress? What should I call you?”
“……Be silent.”
She did not want to grow close to him.
***
Dihake was a meticulous woman.
“This way is the staircase.”
Every place they passed, she explained briefly to Harein one by one.
It was because she had already committed one mistake, and because she was determined not to commit even the smallest one going forward.
“These are the rooms for noble guests.”
That was how cautious Dihake had become.
Even though Harein had shown no proof at all. It meant the weight borne by the sun and the King of Prophecy was enormous.
If it was like this even now, what would happen if she showed them the sun?
‘It would be useful, at least.’
The fictional figure called Harein had value. The Moon came to mind. That old bitch wanted Harad, who possessed the sun, and yet concealed his existence from the Otherworld.
‘If the existence of Harein became known?’
How would the Otherworld react?
‘And the Moon?’
Regrettably, she could not confirm that for now.
The distance between the continent and the Otherworld was enormous. It took a considerable amount of time for information to travel.
She had felt that gap several times already.
Loisia of the Dancing Tree had not known of Avery Aquins’s death.
‘For Loisia, Psina’s death had been the most recent information. Even though I killed him ages ago. That means the key and passage of the Tower of Earthquakes have limits too.’
The road of wood she had taken to come here did not extend all the way to the Otherworld. The Otherworld had failed to solve its lack of information.
That was thanks to the tunnels being blocked.
That gap in information would work to this side’s advantage.
The place Dihake guided them to was the very top floor of the auction house.
“This is the master’s office.”
By nature, the top of any great building belonged to its master.
Dihake did not knock.
She flung the door wide and entered. A huge desk and chair came into view at once.
The chair faced the window with its back to the desk, and because its backrest was so large, the figure seated there could not be seen.
Its presence, however, was unmistakable.
“A mage?”
“No, but that is of no importance.”
Saying so, Dihake strode forward. She spun the chair around in one abrupt motion.
The one seated in it was a woman.
At Harein’s side, Parus carefully took hold of her hand.
Harein frowned.
She had been about to shake him off, but his fingertip tickled her palm. It was writing.
‘Lady of Akuldag.’
Countess.
“Krrrk…….”
But something was wrong with her state.
What came from the Countess’s mouth was not speech, but a strange noise.
“Kiik…….”
It sounded like a small living creature writhing grotesquely.
The Countess’s eyes were twisted even more horribly than a squint.
Dihake struck the top of the Countess’s head and said,
“It is vine magic. We can move her however we wish. Like this.”
“Clack-clack! Like this, however we wish. It is the magic of parasitic vines.”
The Countess clicked her teeth and then repeated Dihake’s words backward. The longer she spoke, the more veins bulged up beneath her skin. Looking closer, they were not veins at all, but vines.
“It is impressive, but obvious. Anyone can see it is magic.”
“That is only because the effect is almost worn out. Once the vines cast fresh magic over her again, she will be indistinguishable from an ordinary person.”
The Countess was still alive.
Harein could feel her heart beating.
That must have been why the Margrave of Akuldag had defected.
The defection was what was keeping the Countess alive.
“So you swallowed an Enverque noble and his territory. You are more capable than I heard. I had heard the Otherworld could do no more than crawl secretly into the continent.”
She knew it was more than that.
The Otherworld was operating within the continent far more deeply than expected. But Harein deliberately belittled it. Dihake frowned slightly.
“It seems what was conveyed to Your Majesty was diminished. Or perhaps it was outdated. In the present, rather more has become possible.”
Dihake was courteous, but her words were not especially long.
‘Even if she says king, in the end I am still from another Tower to her.’
As expected, there was no reason to expect anything special.
Land and life both required water as well. Dihake must be conscious of the Tower of the Deep Sea too.
The Tower of the Deep Sea and the Red Tower were at odds.
From the standpoint of the Tower of Earthquakes, they had to keep their distance clear.
To dig any deeper here, she would have had to show the sun, or torture Dihake.
Either way would have taken her farther from Shura.
“Bring the invitation.”
Dihake whispered into the Countess’s ear.
Not to her, but to the vines. Or perhaps it was some other magic linked to the vines.
The Countess tipped her head up toward the ceiling, and from her mouth a rolled-up parchment slowly rose.
With a disgusted expression, Dihake carefully pulled out the spit-soaked parchment between two fingers.
There were three in all.
Using the Countess’s own handkerchief, Dihake carefully and meticulously wiped two of the parchments clean.
“This is both an invitation and a key.”
Dihake respectfully presented one of the cleaned parchments to Harein with both hands. To Parus, she gave the spit-soaked one almost as if tossing it.
“If you tear it, you will be guided there. Follow what I do.”
Dihake tore the parchment.
Immediately, the sound of a door opening rang out. It was a sound and a phenomenon Harein had already experienced. Dihake vanished through that door.
“Let’s tear them.”
“You’re not curious? There was much you didn’t know.”
From the King of Prophecy to the Towers to the Otherworld.
It was a world Parus did not know. And yet he looked ready to tear the parchment first and ask questions later.
“That can be dealt with after we find my secretary and the abducted Norbu.”
That was why Parus had willingly become a slave himself.
So he would not abandon his subordinate, his secretary.
“Do not act rashly once we arrive.”
“I will match myself to my master as best I can.”
Parus nodded fervently.
His gaze was burdensome indeed. It must have been because a development had occurred. And not just any development, but an enormous one.
‘Either a noble. Or someone with an invitation.’
The Intelligence Bureau agent dispatched to Akuldag had failed to uncover the existence of that invitation.
The invitation was a key.
Tear it, and one arrived within a space made of wood.
Harein tore the parchment at once.
Parus tore his at the same time.
Dihake stood before them, arms spread.
They had arrived the instant the parchment was torn.
“This is Laash, the space prepared by our Tower of Earthquakes on the hidden side of Akuldag.”
A small flourishing district the Otherworld had built within the continent.