4위계 (2)
4th Rank (2)
If one were to ask who the finest knight of Sergila is, the people of the North would unanimously answer: Morres Palaz.
On the battlefield, Morres Palaz was a madman whom the North could not help but love.
The wonder of that knight, who once patrolled the borders alongside Grand Duke Aratus, remains unforgettable even ten years after his retirement.
However, excellence and strength are two different things.
Mores Palaz was undoubtedly the finest knight of the North, but he was not the strongest.
‘The strongest knight is Toremot,’ the northerners reply with confidence.
Toremot was the successor whom Morres Palaz had personally taken under his wing.
Although Morres wielded a sword and Toremot a battle-axe, it was a minor distinction.
An outstanding warrior could master a familiar weapon without detailed instruction, and Toremot was born a warrior.
The axe Toremot wielded had gleamed since his childhood, capturing the heart of Morres when they met by chance.
Although he could be called a disciple, Toremot did not learn much from Morres.
He merely took him in as a knight and provided him with the opportunity to stand on the front line.
On that front line, Toremot was reborn as a superhuman.
It was not entirely without merit that he was born into that era.
For the countless battlefields of Sergila had vanished twenty years prior, when Grand Duke Aratus was in his sabbatical year.
Of course, it was Toremot’s own ability that allowed him to capitalise on that era.
Knights who survive countless battlefields are rare, and those with the talent to become superhuman are even rarer still.
When Gulen was born, Toremot was a Swordmaster who had only recently come to realise his true nature.
Around the time Gulen began to walk, he grasped a small axe just like his father, and by the age of ten, he was cleaving a wolf’s neck as though it were a log.
Toremot, who had by then risen to the rank of First Knight, was over the moon.
This was because, just as his mentor Moress had done, he too had taught Gulen nothing.
Like his father, the son had been born a warrior.
Perhaps even a finer warrior than his father.
Talent recognises talent.
Torremot recognised at a glance that Gulen was superior to his father.
Therefore, Gulen’s belief that ‘I am more special than my father’ was neither a mere delusion nor arrogance.
Mores was Torremot’s sole mentor.
He followed his mentor’s teaching methods and did not teach his son much.
Gulen’s skill was entirely the fruit of his pure talent and hard work.
However, few people recognised this fact.
This was because only talent can recognise talent. Most knights did not possess the same talent as the wealthy.
This was why Gulen, upon joining the First Order of Knights, laid down his axe.
When he took up the axe, Gulen’s talent and effort were transformed by Toremot’s teachings.
As if he were walking the path his father had laid out.
Although he had never walked it before, in the eyes of others, Gulen was learning the essence of the axe from Toremot.
That was why Gulen took up the sword.
Assuming such a path existed, he resolved to walk his own.
He wanted to fully display his own talent and hard work.
‘……To whom?’
To others?
No. That alone would not be enough.
Ever since he was a child, Gullen’s goal had been Toremot. To surpass his father.
Gullen knew it was only a matter of time.
It was an undeniable fact. He possessed the talent to one day surpass his father.
That time would be greatly shortened if he took up the axe.
If he were to take up a sword……
‘Do you intend to take up the axe only after Sir Toremot has died?’
It was utter nonsense.
Gullen had never once entertained such a thought in his life.
But…… the thought had slipped into his mind.
He had imagined Toremot dying.
That was the problem.
However remote the possibility, he had come to realise it could happen.
Is it all right just because it’s remote?
He might come to regret thinking that.
……Just like Harad, who lost his family and was taken hostage in the North.
And so Gulen opened the door.
“What?”
Toremot, who had been sitting motionless in his office, snapped curtly.
“What?”
Gulen was just as curt.
Ever since he had laid down his axe, the relationship between father and son had been like this.
“You said you couldn’t do anything, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I couldn’t.”
Toremot’s eyes widened; he’d been about to tease him.
It wasn’t the reaction he’d expected. Usually, Gulen would fly off the handle in situations like this.
“What’s this?”
“Father.”
“This is the garrison, Gulen.”
Toremot furrowed his brow.
As Commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, he had a duty to keep his professional and personal lives separate.
“I know. But let me just ask one thing.”
“What is it?”
Toremot was openly annoyed.
Gulen looked at the huge, clunky axe resting beside the desk. It was the Commander of the 1st Knight Regiment’s weapon.
“Am I really that hopeless with a sword?”
“It’ll be quicker for me to die than for you to succeed with a sword.”
Gullen furrowed his brow.
It was precisely because Toremot had mentioned death.
The Commander of the 1st Knight Regiment.
The second-strongest superhuman in Sergila.
But a knight is one who walks hand in hand with death.
Even someone like Toremot will die one day.
“……Please, just get me an axe.”
Gulen spoke in a voice quieter than an ant’s.
To a superhuman’s ear, it was perfectly clear.
“So this lad’s finally come to his senses!”
As if he’d never been annoyed in the first place, Toremot slammed his fist on the table and sprang to his feet.
“Right! You want an axe too, then!”
Toremot rejoiced as if it were his own business.
After a while, he tilted his head in puzzlement.
“But why all of a sudden?”
Gulen had always ignored Toremot, no matter what he said.
But his son’s rebellious phase had suddenly come to an end.
“……I don’t think you’ll live much longer, Father.”
“Have you gone mad?”
“So I’m going to send you off before that happens. With an axe.”
“You unfilial bastard?”
* * *
-Have you woken up?
Elaine, the Grand Duke in his dream, spoke.
Harad lay before him.
-……Where am I?
Harad stared at the ceiling for a long while before sitting up.
His complexion was deathly pale. One might even mistake him for being of the moon rather than the sun.
-It is my mansion.
Harad was in Elaine’s bed.
The room and the bed were exactly the same as in reality.
-You nearly died, you know.
-Ah.
-Do you remember anything now?
Harad nodded weakly.
‘You completely ruined the mood for me. It was such a rare trip to the Boundary.’
It seemed that the Elaine and Harad in this dream had indeed been to the Boundary.
‘What happened?’
‘I killed them all. And I carried you here, unconscious. I, the Grand Duke, carrying you—a hostage.’
Elaine laughed and boasted.
Ellen let out a hollow laugh.
Coincidentally, the situation was similar to reality.
‘A third-rank—or at best, a fourth-rank—monster.
In reality, Harad had killed a fifth-rank mage before collapsing.
The Harad in the dream was weaker and more ignorant than the real Harad.
‘You nearly died at the hands of a monster like that, didn’t you?’
In the dream, Elaine was the more formidable one.
She was always a cut above Harad.
‘The match-up wasn’t in my favour.’
‘So what?’
‘……’
‘Pathetic.’
Harad glared at Elaine as if he were about to kill her.
But no flames burst forth.
-You’ve got no magic left, have you?
It wasn’t that Harad was holding back; he simply didn’t have enough magic left to conjure even a small flame.
-You saw it for yourself. It was all drained.
-Pathetic.
-…….
-They said you were about to reach the Fourth Rank, but now I see it was all nonsense.
Elaine chuckled and teased Harad.
-I’m just joking. To be honest, I was surprised myself. I never imagined you’d be so powerless.
In an instant, the dream changed.
A horde of pitch-black magical beasts spread out before Elaine’s eyes.
They were humanoid in form, but completely black, devoid of any facial features.
Harad’s flames had no effect on them.
No, it actually looked as though they were relishing the fire.
On closer inspection, the monsters were absorbing the flames. Some even appeared to be munching away at them. It was as if she were witnessing the natural enemy of fire.
Yet these monsters posed little difficulty for Elaine.
Elaine let out a wry laugh as she slew them. Unlike Harad’s fire, her sword cut through them with remarkable ease.
‘I reckon it was a good lesson. For me, and for you too.’
As the voice spoke, the dream shifted.
Elaine shook her head.
Then she stared intently at Harad.
‘Idiot.’
‘Bloody hell…’
* * *
“Come to think of it, you nearly died in your dream too.”
Elaine, who had recounted the dream, said it as if it were no big deal.
I suppose she meant that reality is more important than some mere dream.
In reality, Harald had had a narrow escape from death.
‘There were monsters like that, weren’t there?’
Harald nodded at the memory that had suddenly resurfaced.
Monsters that seemed to have been painted pitch black. They were certainly unusual creatures. They had absorbed fire.
‘Come to think of it, they’re rather like rabbits.’
The Moon’s Divine Beast. That rabbit, too, had revelled in Harad’s fire.
Perhaps there was a connection. Harad couldn’t delve any deeper into it, however, because he was so pleased by the dream Elaine had had.
‘My injury served as a catalyst.’
It meant they had grown that much closer.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I was smiling because I was pleased.”
“About the dream?”
Harad nodded.
“Do you want to swear at me like you did in the dream?”
“I don’t think I was the only one doing it.”
“That’s true. We seemed quite friendly in the dream.”
Elaine’s tone was peculiar.
“But you were always the one to start the arguments.”
“That can’t be right.”
“What?”
“I’m not the sort of person to do that.”
Elaine hadn’t dreamt nearly enough.
It was usually Elaine who started the arguments.
“That’s why it’s a dream, isn’t it? If you behaved like that in reality, you’d be a madman.”
That wasn’t an incorrect observation.
Elaine was the Grand Duke’s heir, and Harad was a hostage.
Harad’s status had been rising steadily, but so had Elaine’s. Wasn’t she set to become Grand Duchess? She was certainly not in a position to be on the receiving end of abuse.
That was just how special the relationship between Harad and Elaine had been in their previous lives.
When they were alone together, at least, they weren’t bound by their social standing.
“But then again, I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad every now and then.”
At that moment, Elaine spoke.
Harad’s eyes widened slightly. It sounded as though she were leaving the door open.
“Though I suppose you’re not the sort to do such a thing.”
Having said that, Elaine rose from her chair.
“You should get some rest now.”
Her voice faded into the distance.
He thought she was leaving, but the sound of her presence did not disappear.
Lying there, he rolled his eyes and saw that bedding had been spread out on the floor.
Elaine was lying on top of it.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to sleep.”
“I don’t sleep in the same room as a man.”
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have objected, but today was an exception. She needed rest. And Harad preferred peace and quiet.
In her previous life, Elaine had been quite talkative.
Judging by her experiences since her return, the Elaine who was just about to lie down wasn’t much different.
“Haven’t you already slept?”
It seemed she must have been dreaming here after all.
“Didn’t I tell you? You’ve just woken up after five days.”
“…….”
Harad looked at Elaine in silence.
“What’s with that look…… I see. Go on then. I’m off.”
As if feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Elaine left the room.
“I’m fine, aren’t I?”
Then Ellen came in.
“…….”
Harad didn’t even have the strength to smile.
* * *
“Sleep well. Don’t worry about me.”
Having said that, Ellen vanished from Harad’s sight.
She must have lain down on the floor.
Harad could only move his eyes; he was unable to move his body.
“By the way, may I ask you something?”
As she told him to sleep well.
“About the tunnel. What if a high-ranking mage comes through?”
Harad had ended up in this state after killing a Fifth-Rank mage.
It seemed Ellen had imagined a scenario where such a Fifth-Rank mage might come through the tunnel.
If that were to happen, the fiefdom would be thrown into chaos.
It was a situation the knights waiting in the tunnel would be unable to handle.
“I doubt that will happen.”
“Why not?”
“There’s no one as set in their ways as mages. High-rank mages are even worse. They all think they’re wide awake, mind you.”
Being set in one’s ways means being old.
“And being old usually means being cowardly.”
Unlike a Swordmaster, a 5th-rank mage does not possess superhuman abilities at every moment.
One never knows when one might be exposed to death.
“They wouldn’t rashly venture through an untried passage. They know where the tunnel leads.”
“…….”
“They’ll send their underlings in first to check it’s safe. They’ll keep doing that until they realise it’s not working, and then they’ll give up.”
Hmm. A sound of agreement came from under the bed—it was Ellen.
“May I ask another question?”
“……Go ahead.”
It was just as he’d feared.
Elaine was talkative.
He wasn’t entirely blameless either.
If he’d simply said he was in pain, Ellen would have stopped talking.
For some reason, Harad didn’t want to do that.
He found himself thinking that hearing Ellen’s voice might actually be better than silence.
In his previous life, he would have begged her to just shut up.
‘Is it because I’ve been reincarnated?’
Definitely.
Reincarnation has to be efficient.
Every moment spent with Ellen was an opportunity for stimulation.
‘Why is there a hole in the ceiling?’
Harad was lying in a small room on the ground floor of his annexe. This was because the floor of the room on the first floor had been completely torn open.
‘His Highness the Grand Duke made it.’
“……Why?”
Ellen looked flustered.
“I hear the Archduke said he wouldn’t speak to your father.”
“Ah.”
“His Highness the Archduke must have assumed I ordered it.”
“……I’m sorry.”
“Why are you the one apologising? It’s the Archduke’s fault for being so thoughtless.”
There was no reply.
Harad chuckled softly.
“I was only joking. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just a matter of repairing the ceiling.”
“……I’ll call someone once you’ve fully recovered.”
“Thank you.”
A groan came from beneath the bed.
It seemed the Grand Duke’s behaviour had not gone down well.
It was a good sign—she was taking his side.
“You said you might die, didn’t you?”
“Hm? Ah. You’re referring to the Prophecy of the Moon.”
He might die.
And that was putting it mildly.
The Prophecy of the Moon foretold Harad’s death.
“I shan’t die just yet. Though I can’t say about twenty years from now.”
That had been the case in his previous life.
He didn’t know if it would be the same this time, but Harad had no intention of dying so easily.
“You nearly died, didn’t you?”
“But I survived.”
“…….”
A sigh came from under the bed.
It was quite a heavy sigh.
“Oewol, you had the ring, didn’t you? Why were you injured so badly?”
“If I’d used the ring, Psina wouldn’t have given me any breathing space.”
Harad explained his struggle with Psina.
“If I’d carried on like that, I would certainly have died.”
Psina had opted for a war of attrition.
There was nothing Harad could do in that war of attrition.
“I had to close the gap somehow. To do that, I needed a variable. Ah. It was essential to instil a sense of complacency and impatience.”
Harad concealed the existence of the white flame until the very end to lull Psina into a false sense of security, and made her impatient by suggesting that the knights would intervene shortly.
“Of course, Delik and Pizarro’s intervention came later, but even without them, my choice would not have changed. The existence of that external object had to be concealed until the very very end.”
Psina was certain she could kill Harad.
That certainty became all the more clear because she had concealed the ring’s existence.
Harad was in a position where he could not afford to let the conviction he had painstakingly built up become clouded.
“You knew that the space in that sector would be shattered, didn’t you?”
Harad nodded.
It was thanks to the precedent set by Cassion.
“That’s right. That’s why I waited at first.”
Then he provoked Psina.
He hoped the materialised brush would strike the space.
“The provocation worked a treat. Thanks to that, a crack appeared in the space. Provocation was the only variable I could create.”
Psina sustained internal injuries, whilst Delik and Pizarro found a rift in space.
It was all thanks to the magic that had slashed Harad to pieces.
“So you could have used the ring to block that magic and buy some time.”
“That was an option, too.”
It was a valid point.
Had he done so, his entire body wouldn’t have been slashed to pieces like this.
I could probably have just about withstood a stroke weakened by the solar wind.
“Then Lord Delik and Lord Pizarro would have joined in. And Kubel, too.”
“I suppose so.”
Two vanguards, plus the smoke to fan the flames.
If that had happened, our chances of victory would have soared.
There would have been no need to risk their lives as bait.
“But someone would have died. Most likely Delik or Pizarro.”
They were called vanguards, but they were little more than shields.
Harad had no intention of letting the knights die.
It had to be different from his previous life. They had to survive. Elaine would surely have wanted that.
“If things had gone wrong, you would have died.”
“I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
“…….”
He heard a sound as he stirred.
When he opened his eyes, Ellen was looking down at him.
Her expression was complex and hard to read.
Only her eyes looked slightly moist.
“You bastard…….”
As she said this, Ellen was trembling violently.