Chapter 263 : Chapter 263
Chapter 263: Baby (1)
The Inner Fortress's servants looked haggard.
Since Shura's disappearance, they seemed to have eaten and slept poorly. Worry lined every face.
But the emotion was closer to anger.
How dare. The servants who worried over Shura all wore that face.
"It's Shura!"
Those faces smoothed one by one.
Because Harad's party had entered with Shura in tow.
Servants who had been walking about with knit brows spotted Shura and brightened at once. Before anyone realized, Shura had become the child who represented the Inner Fortress.
"Who is that person?"
Having spotted Shura, the servants soon spotted Eiga Akker and murmured.
"First time seeing him. Seems he picked up another one."
Nothing remarkable. The servants took it in stride. It wasn't the first time Harad had brought a mage home.
On top of that, even the knights were studying magic now.
Thus Harad's influence had grown beyond imagining.
"How glad I am!"
Eiga, ambling along, exclaimed quietly amid the gazes.
"About what?"
Ellen asked.
"That Lord Harad is so loved. I'd been worried."
"Because of Serzila?"
"Is Serzila the only concern? The continent is the same everywhere."
Eiga had a sentimental side.
He was glad that Harad was respected in Serzila.
"Thanks to the Queen, I wonder?"
"Harad won it himself."
"Won! I like that even better. A formidable wall indeed."
Eiga admired.
Harad thought he hadn't actually admired.
It felt more like disappointment.
A formidable wall. To Ellen it was praise, but to Harad's ear it verged on sarcasm.
'Doesn't like the word "won"?'
This, from someone who'd spoken of execution.
The Eiga before him was neither Otherworld-like nor fire-like. Nor like a mage who'd broken the Taboo countless times. Only for a moment. He was grinning again.
"How much should I be told?"
How far am I permitted in Serzila?
Eiga asked before Harad could even draw a line.
Harad smirked.
The itch was scratched before it could form. That was the kind of bastard Eiga Akker was.
If he didn't change, there was no reason not to keep him close.
Of course, that also made it difficult to give trust. Because his devotion was blind—to the Sun, not to Harad. A burdensome bastard.
"How much, you ask. Let's find out step by step."
"Yes!"
Eiga cried like a fresh recruit.
Seen like this, an artless mage.
In truth, a 5th Rank Volcano who had killed more than his share of Otherworld mages.
It was a return after three days.
Response to a kidnapping had to be swift. To Harad's mind, three days was fast enough. More than a day of that had been spent with Shura.
But for those who had waited without word, it must have been a brutally long time. People burst from Kubel's Annex. Arika and Duke were at the front.
"I'm sorry, Arika-unni."
"...... No, Shura. I have no face to show."
Shura and Arika embraced, whispering to each other. Duke, who had squeezed in carefully, blinked back tears.
The tears froze before they could fall.
Duke was relieved and enraged at once.
"Sorry. I'll get stronger."
"Duke, you protected me plenty."
Shura smiled, holding Duke's hand. Duke only half-smiled. The boy was raging at himself.
"Thank you, Harad."
Arika, having gathered her composure, dipped her head slightly.
"Only natural."
"Mm!"
"It was an order, too."
"Mm! But Lord Harad would have done it even without orders. Because it's only natural."
"...... And this is?"
Arika pointed at Eiga, who was humming approval beside them, and made a strange face.
"Pardon my late introduction! Lord Harad's 5th Rank, Eiga Akker of the Volcano!"
Eiga snapped his head down in a bow.
The introduction had changed.
From "Tower of the Sun, 5th Rank" to "Lord Harad's 5th Rank." It meant that if Harad wished, he'd abandon not only the Otherworld but even the Red Tower.
"My loyal retainer. Probably."
"I'll work until probably becomes certainly!"
Eiga declared his resolve like a new recruit.
"...... What on earth happened out there?"
"I'd rather not say."
Harad had no desire to explain further about this kidnapping affair.
"Why so coy, Harad. Tell it as handsomely as you did then. Like Harein......"
"Shut your mouth, Cassion."
Harein?
Arika murmured.
"I should report to the Grand Duke."
Harad fled.
***
As always, the Grand Duke's residence stood with its doors wide open.
It meant Harad's report was awaited.
The subject of that report would not be Shura but Eiga Akker.
'Shura, he's already seen.'
The moment they'd entered the Inner Fortress, Grand Duke Aratus would have perceived Shura. And Eiga Akker as well.
"Remarkable! Even heavier."
Eiga Akker exclaimed into thin air.
He was sensing Grand Duke Aratus's Aura. What had been felt from the moment they entered the Inner Fortress was now far heavier before the residence.
"More murderous than the records say. Truly the master of the Wall."
"Do records of the Grand Duke exist in the Otherworld?"
Eiga's body twitched briefly.
Because of the title "Grand Duke." He was displeased that Harad used an honorific for someone else.
But he did not show it.
Because Harad had not said it was permissible.
"Yes. The past Boundary was closer to a battlefield, after all!"
This was from before Enverque had ordered the Sabbatical Year. In those days, Serzila's patrol routes had been as dense as a spider's web.
"Generation after generation, Serzila rode the battlefield in person. Rumors about Grand Duke Aratus were bound to be rife."
And not only the patrol routes: the Grand Duke of old had roamed the Second Stage Boundary beyond the second wall as freely as his own front yard.
"It's also a famous rumor that the late Tower Master of Meteoric Iron was smitten with Grand Duke Aratus."
That Kandenkel.
Harad nodded. It might well be true. The bastard had missed Grand Duke Aratus.
Just below a 6th Rank Magical Beast.
If one summarized Grand Duke Aratus's record, that was it, Eiga explained.
It was the record of mages who had survived the Grand Duke.
"Why Magical Beast? Not even a mage."
"They said he was utterly inhuman."
The Otherworld treated knights as insects.
And yet Grand Duke Aratus was treated as a Magical Beast. In their eyes, that was the highest praise.
"True enough. Did you experience it yourself?"
"No. I only heard rumors. I was on the continent."
Even when the Boundary was in chaos, Eiga had been on the continent, searching for the Sun.
'No wonder he's obsessed.'
Harad was the being Eiga had searched for his entire life. That it was not the King of Prophecy drove the bastard even crazier. Because he was a Dreamer.
"As you know, no rash behavior. As you yourself said, the Grand Duke is close to a monster. And by now, perhaps not just below, but equal."
Just below a 6th Rank Magical Beast.
That was over twenty years ago.
"Yes!"
"And the Grand Duke is someone who treats me roughly."
"Pardon?"
Eiga's brow twitched.
An expression much like the servants before they'd spotted Shura. How dare? That kind of face.
"It's not your place to intervene. Something I'll handle later. What matters is that the Grand Duke is plainly my superior. For now."
The Grand Duke's Aura stirred.
Because Harad had appended "for now."
"Understood!"
That was also why Eiga's expression eased.
Because the addendum was a resolve to surpass.
Harad entered the residence.
As always, Grand Duke Aratus waited for him in the second-floor study.
"For now."
The Grand Duke murmured the moment their eyes met. Harad's remark at the entrance had evidently pricked him.
"Is that not allowed?"
Instead of answering, Grand Duke Aratus twisted the corner of his mouth. Then he indicated Eiga with his chin. Explain.
"He's a fire. You told me to bring fire, so I brought one."
Bring fire. There's something to check.
Harad had once received such a note via Cassion. That was before he'd learned of Shura's kidnapping.
Not, of course, the reason he'd brought Eiga.
Circumstances had simply aligned.
"All talk."
Grand Duke Aratus, too, was well aware of that.
"Lord Harad's 5th Rank, Eiga Akker of the Volcano!"
Eiga Akker bowed deeply.
The Grand Duke's eyes, looking down at the back of that head, flickered with interest.
"Of that thing?"
"Pardon?"
The bowed head tilted crookedly.
"Yes!"
A brief moment.
Eiga was keeping Harad's word.
Then it happened. CRASH! Harad crumpled to the floor. Grand Duke Aratus's Aura.
Last time.
Harad had withstood it. Crushed, perhaps, yet he hadn't lost his posture. The result of the 5th Rank and, furthermore, the Tempering.
But then, Grand Duke Aratus had naturally not been at full strength.
The same now. Impossible that it was full strength. But under that pressure Harad was squashed to the floor like a frog. Driven deep into the ground in a ludicrous pose.
'Madman.'
Even as he was driven into the floor, Harad let out a dry laugh. Grand Duke Aratus hadn't even stood. He'd merely flicked a finger. And this was the result.
The Grand Duke was handling the 5th Rank Harad like a greenhorn.
"Of that thing?"
Grand Duke Aratus asked again.
Eiga was not being crushed as Harad was. He was most likely looking down at Harad being crushed.
"...... Yes."
The answer came markedly late.
The voice shook. Eiga seemed to be holding back. A volcano on the brink of eruption came to mind.
"For now."
But the volcano did not erupt.
Because Harad had so ordered.
The pressure vanished then.
Harad naturally rose, moved aside, and stood on intact floor. He looked up at Grand Duke Aratus with irreverent eyes.
"What agreeable eyes."
"They're properly open."
Harad was openly insolent.
Because the justification lay with him.
"I will speak."
Crushing was forbidden.
"......"
Ellen's effect was formidable.
That Grand Duke fell silent.
"In lieu of keeping it secret, I'll ask just one question."
"Permitted."
Harad had earned the right to a question instead of reporting.
"He doesn't value his own life."
Grand Duke Aratus indicated Eiga with his chin.
A single-glance summation of the first-met Eiga.
It seemed the Grand Duke knew the Dreamers well.
"A tool, in essence."
A justification of sorts.
"So you tested me with him."
To evaluate a tool, one must determine whether it harms the master and those around him.
The reason the Grand Duke had crushed Harad.
"He has use."
Eiga had passed the Grand Duke's test.
Harad's orders were absolute, Eiga had just proven.
The Grand Duke had judged the reach of those orders on his behalf.
"Was that what you wanted to check?"
"Is that your question?"
"No."
"The check will come later. When you're not here."
Something to check.
That, it seemed, was a secret.
'Shall I ask?'
Harad shook his head.
He already had a question in mind.
"Do you have anything to say?"
Just then.
Grand Duke Aratus spoke. Eiga was smiling broadly.
"Yes!"
"Speak."
"I believe the Grand Duke is similar to the Otherworld!"
Eiga smiled and insulted the Grand Duke.
He obeyed orders well, yet spoke his mind all the same.
'He'll be crushed.'
Harad was certain.
Once, when Harad had linked the Grand Duke to the Otherworld, the Grand Duke had been furious.
The Grand Duke loathed the Otherworld—to which the Moon belonged—in the extreme.
"Leave."
But the reaction was unexpected.
The Grand Duke merely ordered them out.
"A child will be born."
The Grand Duke added.
To Harad, it was a non sequitur.
"Yes!"
Yet Eiga seemed to understand.
He bowed to the Grand Duke and Harad, then left the residence.
"What does 'a child will be born' mean?"
"Is that your question?"
"No."
Follow and find out, then.
"Judgment has been roughly served."
"Roughly."
"The Tower Master of Earthquakes is dead. By the Moon."
The Moon had killed him.
But it was the Moon set in motion by Harad.
"Speak."
The Grand Duke acknowledged it as Harad's achievement.
"Eiga Akker."
"Granted."
Harad's eyes widened slightly.
It was rare for the Grand Duke to grant outright.
Even the Village of Embers had been hard-won.
"Just like that? An Otherworld native."
"Denied."
"I refuse."
Grand Duke Aratus bared his teeth in a savage grin.
Don't say what you don't mean.
"The question."
The Grand Duke said.
Use the question right now, he meant.
"The Moon that you want dead, Grand Duke—is it the Crescent Moon, or the Full Moon?"
Then it happened.
His body suddenly floated.
As though he'd mounted something, as though the Inner Fortress itself had risen—such a sensation.
The world warped.
The Grand Duke's Aura, coiled throughout the Inner Fortress, convulsed.
...... Grand Duke Aratus's face contorted even more greatly.
"It was the Crescent Moon."
The Grand Duke answered. For a moment, his ears went numb.
The Aura that wrenched the world as though tearing it apart looked like tears.