Chapter 252 : Chapter 252
Chapter 252 - Sapling (1)
He had to be cautious.
Grand Duke Aratus could survey the entire Inner Fortress at will. He must have directly witnessed Harad using the Key.
Had judgment been the priority, the Grand Duke would have sent Mores Palaz, Toremot, or the 4th Knights Commander.
But he hadn't.
Because he knew the temperament of the northern knights too well.
They would act for Shura's sake, yet crudely, and they would certainly make a mistake. If something had to slip between judgment and Shura, nine times out of ten, Shura would be the one lost.
That was why the Grand Duke had chosen Harad.
Because only Harad would place Shura's safety ahead of the judgment before his eyes.
Shura was the top priority.
Harad believed he was living up to the Grand Duke's expectation well.
The existence named Harein was the proof.
Harad had intended to become a slave himself in order to directly secure Shura's safety.
He had also discarded impatience.
Impatience bred mistakes. So he had acted urgent and unhurried at once. Jis's presence gave him considerable relief, but still.
But expecting the same from anyone else would be greed. Cassion was rough, Kubel had lost a daughter, and Ellen couldn't contain her anger.
Cassion would rampage in fury doubled by Harad's share, and Ellen and Kubel would prepare for the case that the auction house was a dud.
With luck, they'd find Shura; if not, they would throw themselves into judgment.
That was the role assigned to those three.
So Harad had to concentrate wholly on Shura.
The desire to observe the Otherworld's reaction to the King of Prophecy had arisen, but it was a desire he could discard at any time.
Creeeak!
The root—the Belt that had been carrying Harein—came to a halt. She had seen the Street. Next she'd expected the Market and the Branch, but Dihake had guided them to the trunk of the tree that resembled a fortress wall.
Amid the moss-strewn bark, a single door was set.
Anyone could see it led outside, and the bearing was that of a farewell escort.
"You've sent word behind my back."
Harein knit her brow.
"When...... it must have been Vine. While asking for the invitation to be delivered, she must have conveyed my existence."
"Your Majesty is, after all, a personage of the utmost distinction. Please understand. On our end, we had to place Your Majesty's safety above all else."
There were Towers that regarded the King of Prophecy unfavorably. That was the nuance Dihake spoke with. Half of it would be true. The Tower of the Deep Sea would be such.
"Your Majesty must be made known to Paradise at the earliest opportunity."
Here lay the other half of the truth.
Dihake was being greedy. If word were delivered from here, that credit became Dihake's.
It could become credit for the Tower of Earthquakes as well.
If they meant to grow close again with the Red Tower—which was recovering its King.
However courteous Dihake might be, what she ultimately served was the Tower of Earthquakes.
'So it was only to Vine. Word hasn't yet reached the Otherworld.'
That was what Dihake was saying.
Indeed. The distance between the Otherworld and the continent was vast. Means to bridge that vastness would not be common.
"There is a branch that connects the distance between the Otherworld and the continent. Our King possesses the Key."
The Tower of Earthquakes had a means.
Laash. Surely because the tree enclosing this bustling district was the King's magic.
"An astonishing Magical Item. Yet close to single-use, I should think. So astonishing."
"Remarkable intuition. Correct. All the more precious for it."
Yet even that means had its limits.
"And it can't be used at any time. Only in urgency. But Paradise can't know of urgency on this side, so the signal must be sent from here."
Dihake's eyes gleamed brightly.
Anticipation.
The anticipation that Harein might truly be the King of Prophecy.
"Correct. This bell serves that purpose."
Dihake drew a bell from her bosom.
A bell the size of a palm.
"When this is rung, its resonance carries through a virtual door."
Dihake spoke, indicating the door before them.
In an emergency, ringing that bell would transmit the resonance through that door to the Tower Master of Earthquakes.
Then the Tower Master would use the Key.
Whether to come to help, or to come to eliminate any link to the Otherworld.
'The big one.'
The Tower Master of Earthquakes was the big one the Moon had warned of.
Harein sensed it by instinct. And was certain. Laash. This meticulous and secure bustling district was the grounds.
A land only mages could enter.
A big one might drop by now and then, but not a place for a big one to reside.
"Who is in charge of Laash?"
"Of the Tower of Earthquakes's 5th Rank, Galuer Berrick of the Upside-down Tree."
As expected. Harein nodded along.
He'll die if he uses the Key. Not a mage the Moon would speak of in those terms.
"Have you received his permission? It's not urgent in the slightest."
"Yes. I received the bell from the Root."
Dihake pointed to the Belt.
The moving root appeared to be Galuer Berrick's magic.
"The result of Vine reporting to Lord Berrick, I should think. We have not yet notified Paradise, but I swear Your Majesty will be received with full honors."
Harein had to accept.
A true King of Prophecy would have no reason to refuse.
It was another reason Harein had needed to be cautious all this time.
"I understand. The big one who conforms to the prophecy. That one is in the Otherworld."
The bell transmitted a resonance to that big one.
Then the big one, by way of the Key, would walk the long passage connecting the Otherworld to Laash and arrive here.
If the one at the end were Harad, he'd have been killed.
If Harein, she'd have been escorted away in person.
Because the Tower Master of Earthquakes conformed to the prophecy.
"I can afford to be less cautious now, then."
Without the bell, no big one.
"Pardon?"
"Die."
Dihake's eyes rounded.
From those eyes, fire bloomed. Resembling the Sun—searingly intense.
"Scorching!"
Parus's eyes glittered as he watched Dihake, now become flames.
***
The existence called Harein was a brilliant move.
That she had set foot in Laash and now wore the most uncomfortable garment was the proof. Had she been Harad, he would never have made it this far.
But each person carried their own burden.
If Harad's burden was his sex and the Liberation Tower, then Harein's burden was the prophecy.
Thanks to the prophecy, she had reached this place; but because of the prophecy, she could be taken still further.
The big one who conforms to the prophecy.
Had the Tower Master of Earthquakes resided in Laash, Harein would have been dragged off to the Otherworld. Resistance impossible. A big one meant the 6th Rank.
That was why she hadn't demonstrated her Origin was the Sun.
Because she'd assumed the big one resided in Laash.
Wrong.
He did not reside in Laash.
He possessed the ability to reach Laash within a short span of time.
Just as the Moon had warned, the Tower Master of Earthquakes was indeed a big one—on the level of killing Harad or dragging Harein away.
But residing and arriving quickly were different. The latter required word to be delivered. She had been in the process of eliminating that means.
The flames clung tenaciously to the bell and melted it.
Now word of Laash would never reach the ears of the big one who conforms to the prophecy.
She had eliminated the demerit of the persona Harein. The reason to watch her back had vanished. Now she could concentrate wholly on Shura.
"Repulsive bitch. I thought I'd die holding it in."
Parus stomped on the ashes that had once been Dihake.
"Are you all right? You've been cautious all along."
"Dong need to, anymoah."
"Hm?"
"Smack. There was a reason to be cautious. It's just vanished."
Harein, having swallowed her saliva a second time, pointed at the melted, ruined bell as she spoke.
With that, the Moon's warning was dealt with.
"Roughly gathered. The King of the Tree was the threat, then."
Parus nodded.
For someone who wasn't a mage, he was a remarkably communicable partner.
"Harein, did you just predate?"
Parus knew why a mage's enunciation slurred before the corpse of another mage.
"Correct. Was it revolting?"
"My secretary is a mage too. This was a bitch who deserved to die."
Parus stretched his body as if he'd been itching for it all this while.
"What was that cherished aim mentioned earlier?"
"Continental conquest. The Otherworld's dream."
"Properly insane bastards. Harein, you're one of the kings of such insane bastards."
"If I go to the Otherworld, I will be. Why, will you kill me?"
"If you go, yes. But it seems I'll never be able to kill you in my lifetime."
Parus appeared convinced Harein would not go to the Otherworld.
Because she had killed Dihake, surely.
"Besides, a possession cannot kill its master."
"You got scared, bastard."
"Correct. At the moment I lack some confidence. Fighting now, I'd lose my secretary and my Norbu people."
From the fire that had killed Dihake, he must have sensed the Sun.
Parus knew how to read a situation, and was even objective. Truly deserving of the title Wise Norbu.
'A valuable Origin.'
The kidnapper had said so.
The kidnapper's companion, slain by Duke, had realized magic akin to trees and grass.
'The Tower of Earthquakes's mage had judged it a valuable Origin.'
Not at the level of discard, and not precious enough to be shipped to Paradise either.
Put coldly, Shura's Origin was at that level.
'The Sapling.'
Shura must have been moved to the Branch.
"The Sapling. I'll go to the Branch. The child I'm looking for is likely there."
"My secretary must be there as well."
It meant the secretary's Origin also held value.
Well—with ability, she would have become a Norbu's secretary.
"And the Norbu people?"
"Some in the Branch, some in the Market, no doubt. Some discarded, as well. But the secretary must come first. My secretary fights rather well."
Adequately wise, adequately rough.
The Norbu had made a rational judgment. This was enemy territory. In which case, he needed to grow his fighting strength.
"My secretary's name is Hemyu. Her height matches yours, Harein. Her eyes are poor, so she goes about knitting her brow. But she's a beauty."
Parus described his secretary.
Words had to be spoken while one could. At critical moments, much had to be faster than words.
"Shura. A child soon to turn twelve. Brown hair, green eyes. You'll know her at once. An exceedingly cute child."
"Now we only need them to be alive. Both of them."
"Alive, she is. A mage whose Origin is Shadow will be with her."
Harein also shared information about Jis.
It would be a waste for Parus and Jis to attack each other.
***
I received the bell from the Root.
Dihake had said so. It was likely true. She had died still reading Harein as highly likely to be the King of Prophecy.
'A Magical Item that conveys resonance to the Otherworld.'
The bell was a Magical Item that leaped across a vast distance.
Such a Magical Item could hardly be common. The bell's original owner would be the owner of the Root.
'Galuer Berrick of the Upside-down Tree.'
The one in charge of Laash.
Harein stepped atop the root—his magic—once more. Creak! The stopped root began to move again.
Even though Harein, who should have rung the bell and gone to the Otherworld, had instead stepped aboard.
'He saw.'
It meant Galuer Berrick had witnessed Dihake's death, the Sun's fire.
It also meant that currying favor with the King of Prophecy mattered more than the death of a mere 3rd Rank mage.
Hospitality from here on fell to Galuer Berrick.
By killing Dihake, Harein had proven herself the Sun.
"Welcome, O King of Prophecy."
Like this.
When she had glimpsed it earlier from the Root, the Branch's door had been firmly shut. Now it stood wide open.
Before the wide-open door, a man with what looked like tree branches growing in place of hair bowed his head deeply. To either side, ten-odd mages stood like a colonnade.
"I am Galuer Berrick of the Upside-down Tree, of the Tower of Earthquakes's 5th Rank."
"Finally, a station that befits me."
Harein gestured to Galuer Berrick, whose scalp had sprouted tree branches. He lifted his head. Within his pupils, white seed-like kernels rolled about.
"A peculiar appearance."
"Part of the research. If it displeases you, I shall cover my face."
"No need. It's a passable diversion."
Harein smiled as though looking down on him.
Galuer Berrick showed not the slightest displeasure. Because Harein had produced flames on her palm.
"Oh, oh, oh......"
Galuer Berrick's eyes, fixed on the flames, melted into a dreamy haze. The white kernels within them softened.
The mages standing to either side wore similar expressions. Like trees or flowers meeting sunlight, their bodies leaned toward the flames.
This was why the Tower of Earthquakes, in ages past, could not help but love the Red Tower. A destiny, if one had to call it that. For life required warmth.
"Ah. As for Dihake, I killed her because I wanted to set her on fire. She said she was a tree."
Harein spoke as if the thought had just occurred to her.
The death of a compatriot as mere diversion and caprice. Ample grounds for complaint.
"Splendid. Curiosity is a mage's driving force."
Yet Galuer Berrick instead praised Harein.
Not flattery. To any observer it was sincere.
"The 3rd Rank Dihake will have died gratefully."
Died gratefully.
It was an expression Harein had never heard before.
Parus made a horrified face.
Harein felt much the same. She merely didn't make the mistake of letting it show as he had.
"I'd like to tour the Branch."
"I shall guide you. O Sun."
***
Splat.
Something stepped into a dark puddle.
What had pooled was not water but blood, and the something was a foot.
The man realized this only collapsed and dying. In other words, he noticed the culprit's existence only when his time to die had come. And that he was not the only one dying.
Splat. The foot stepped into the puddle once more. Blood splashed onto the eyes of the man whose face was pressed to the ground. His eyes naturally closed.
Then something seized the man's hair and lifted him up. The culprit's hand. The other hand forcibly rubbed the man's eyelids. The blood blurred, and his eyes opened.
The culprit was before him. The man thought their gazes had met, yet he could not discern how those eyes were shaped.
Plainly magic. Magic that interfered with cognition.
"I-I come from Paradise."
"So do I."
The culprit answered indifferently.
It meant he had attacked knowing the man was from Paradise.
"To break Paradise's rules......"
"Do you know how many don't keep them?"
"Our Tower of Storms will not forgive you......"
"Too talkative."
The jaw wrenched. Broke. The man could not scream. No—he did scream, but it never emerged into reality.
The scream vanished as if it had never existed.
That was the culprit's magic.
"Answer with your head—neck, rather. Then I'll let you live."
How crude.
The man thought so, yet reflexively nodded.
"This invitation is a Key, I hear. Correct?"
The culprit flapped a piece of parchment before the man's eyes.
The man nodded.
An invitation to Laash.
"If a mage tears it, he arrives at the Mages' Street. Correct?"
Nod.
"In that Street, there are only mages. Correct?"
Nod—he was about to, when his head came to a halt.
Someone from Paradise who doesn't know of Laash's existence?
"Traitor. You, then, are a sinner of Paradise."
The man said.
It failed to become voice. Like the earlier scream, the words lost their presence and vanished.
"Thought so."
Crunch. The culprit snapped the man's neck and stood up.
"The Mages' Street."
Cassion grinned and sheathed his sword.
"A stage for me."
It was Mage Cassion's time.