Chapter 12: Border (3)
“Magic exhaustion. My injuries are light.”
I assessed my condition and turned to Ellen.
“I’m in bad shape.”
No Aura, right collarbone broken.
Plus countless minor wounds. Blood still flowed from the thigh pierced by fangs.
“Let’s rest a bit.”
“Is that okay?”
Rest. The word felt strange to Ellen. Resting at the Border? Injured, no less?
“Wouldn’t it be better to rest in the tunnel?”
“This is the safest place right now.”
I pointed at the fallen Magical Beast beside me.
“It tried to manifest its Origin before dying. Failed, but it released magic. Like a balloon inflating and popping.”
That magic scared off other beasts, keeping them away.
I sat on the ground.
The ground was covered with grotesque mushrooms you shouldn’t touch, but I didn’t care.
Ellen, staring at me, collapsed flat. Standing was too much for her.
We were close.
Close enough to touch if she reached out. Her choice. The Border’s chill and wind couldn’t invade my space.
I had my back to Ellen.
She stared at my back and spoke.
“It was real. The beast’s rank.”
5th Rank.
In knight terms, a Swordmaster.
Only ten such superhumans on the continent.
“Really 5th Rank.”
Legendary beasts equaled or surpassed superhumans, but Ellen believed me.
“You believe me now?”
“I lost.”
It sounded arrogant, but it was a cold assessment.
Ellen had that kind of skill and talent.
“You’ve got high self-esteem.”
“It’s the truth.”
Ellen said calmly.
She looked angry too.
“Without you, I’d be dead.”
She’d achieved something, but she wasn’t foolish enough to be satisfied with that. Her first defeat.
“Same here. Without you, I’d have died first.”
Ellen didn’t speak, just stared at me.
I understood her gaze. She wanted to learn.
“Why do ranks apply to beasts?”
The Otherworld ranked beasts too.
“Because some beasts can’t be explained otherwise.”
The Otherworld had 6th Rank mages.
Somewhere, 6th Rank beasts existed.
“Higher ranks mean beasts evolve. Human-like, or monstrous beyond.”
“…”
“That’s why great beasts are legends. They don’t show easily or have overwhelming presence.”
Indistinguishable like humans or monstrous like legends.
Great beasts were like that.
In my previous life, I’d seen beasts identical to humans and ones beyond human imagination.
“…Where’d you learn that?”
“All mages know.”
A lie.
Ellen was certain but had no way to prove it.
I was the first mage she’d spoken to.
No reason to distrust.
She might not trust me, but she didn’t doubt my information.
She came with me to experience such things.
Looking anew, my back wasn’t broad. Slightly hunched, proof I’d neglected physical training.
Yet I killed a beast.
In my words, because I became a 3rd Rank mimicking 4th Rank.
Ellen, ignorant of magic, didn’t know my magic’s level.
But she knew swords better than anyone.
“Where’d you learn the sword?”
The magic against the beast was also swordsmanship. Impressive, flawless.
Lacking, but not in technique—my body was weak.
That shocked her. She could find flaws in any knight’s swordplay.
“From a great person.”
Great person.
Polite, but to Ellen, it sounded sarcastic.
“You had a master? No record of Iagar hiring a knight.”
“They missed it. Not necessary info.”
Ellen pouted but nodded.
Fair enough. Serzila wanted my magic, not other skills.
Gulp.
A swallowing sound.
“Eating something?”
“Not eating.”
Gulp.
Again. Light, like saliva. A familiar sound.
“…Drooling?”
“Swallowing blood. It’s 5th Rank alright. My insides got hit without me noticing.”
Ellen’s eyes narrowed, staring at my back.
She rolled over, coming beside me. I was drooling, eyes fixed.
Steam rose from the dead beast’s heart.
“Didn’t it burst earlier?”
“High-rank hearts are tougher than bones.”
“…”
My bloodshot eyes glared at the heart.
Yet I restrained myself, wiping drool with my hand.
“Eat it. Don’t hold back.”
Ellen said casually.
“It’s just a beast.”
The North had little aversion to beasts.
Serzila’s knights ate them when food was scarce.
“I’m fine.”
“Eat. You already did.”
I’d eaten a heart.
A mage’s, not a beast’s.
It didn’t feel that horrific.
Maybe because it saved us.
And it was an Otherworld mage.
Ellen found my restraint pitiful.
“You didn’t see earlier.”
“Turn away then?”
“Not what I meant.”
“Then what? Afraid I’ll tell? I won’t.”
“Not distrusting you.”
Then what’s the problem?
“Because someone doesn’t like it? Whoever they are, they’d never know if you don’t tell.”
I turned my gaze.
Bloodshot eyes met Ellen’s.
“…Maybe.”
“No, I’m the only one who knows.”
To Ellen, I was a cold, rational mage.
If I hadn’t taken the mage’s heart, we’d be dead.
“You already ate once.”
Once or twice, same thing.
Ellen didn’t understand why rational me turned emotional.
“Come to think of it…”
“Shut up and eat. Keep talking, and I’ll kill you.”
Ellen gagged.
Memories of the Flower District’s snacks resurfaced.
“…You agreed.”
My hand reached for the beast’s heart.
I brought it to my mouth.
Ellen watched quietly.
…It didn’t look like a demon.
Hot.
Despite the freezing Border, the beast’s heart didn’t cool. The heat was vivid.
Maybe it started from my hand. Hard to tell.
That’s how mages were before devouring.
Impossible to stay calm.
Crunch.
The taste was awful. No one could like it. But my mouth chewed greedily.
Taste didn’t matter. My mouth filled with heat. Swallowing the heart, the heat slid down my throat.
It swept through my body, rushing to my heart. The vast space inside. The sun’s domain.
The heat, drawn to the sun, reached its core.
As heat drew heat, the sun’s flames surged like waves, swallowing it.
The flames swelled, crashing like waves against a cliff, sinking into the sun, growing larger.
When I returned, the sun was at eye level, its center aligned with my gaze.
After eating the mage, its center rose to my crown.
Now, its height surpassed my vision.
Once hut-sized upon returning, it was now as big as the annex I stayed in.
That magic.
In ecstasy, I sucked my lips. Not a drop of the heart’s remnants or blood was wasted.
“Beastly.”
A voice echoed.
“I overlooked it as Grand Heir, but no more.”
A familiar voice.
“You stopped me back then too.”
“Don’t eat, even if you’re dying.”
In my previous life, I didn’t eat hearts unless I had to.
“What if I die?”
“I’ll keep you alive.”
She hated me eating hearts. Almost revulsion.
“I want you to stay human, forever.”
Because we were that close.
“That’s your lord’s command.”
My devouring mouth stopped.
My eyes opened. Ellen watched with curious eyes.
“Tastes good?”
Same person.
But different voice. Unlike the Elaine in my memory, Ellen’s voice was pure curiosity.
“Like a nightmare.”
My mood was complex.
***
The return trip was smoother than expected.
There were beasts, but after the 5th Rank, they felt lackluster.
“You don’t seem like an Intelligence Bureau agent.”
“The Bureau can fight too.”
Ellen didn’t show she was hit on the mark.
She’d expected suspicion when she chose to fight.
Minor suspicion.
No one would link her to the Grand Heir.
“Not just fighting.”
“I’m a special agent.”
“I see.”
“Really.”
“I believe you.”
The suspicion was milder than expected.
Suspicious, but no interest in digging deeper. Ellen found that irritating.
“You okay?”
“Fine, except for low Aura.”
Her broken collarbone healed, the thigh hole closed.
Her divine strength gave her not just power but exceptional recovery.
“Your body’s tough too.”
“I’m special.”
Ellen answered shamelessly.
‘She thinks she won’t get caught.’
A welcome shamelessness.
It made things easier for me.
She didn’t need to hide her skill, making her reliable at the Border.
“So, 4th Rank now?”
Ellen asked at the tunnel’s entrance.
“Still 3rd Rank.”
“Why? It was a 5th Rank heart.”
I stared blankly at Ellen’s innocent question.
Was Elaine this ignorant back then?
“You think magic’s too easy.”
“Easier than Aura.”
“The opposite. It’s harder, so devouring exists.”
“What?”
Ellen didn’t get it.
I started to explain but stopped. Explaining magic would take days, and she wouldn’t understand anyway.
But stopping here would bruise her ego.
“Devouring only recovers and boosts magic. Eating a heart is efficient, but it doesn’t absorb all the target’s magic.”
Even if the rag-beast was intact, I wouldn’t have reached 4th Rank.
“Devouring has limits. More magic doesn’t make you great.”
Ranks weren’t climbed easily.
“What about knights?”
“No way.”
Ellen frowned.
More Aura didn’t make you great. Experience and talent were needed.
“Same for mages. Eating high-rank hearts doesn’t instantly elevate you, or great masters’ disciples would rise fast.”
Only seven 6th Rank mages in the Otherworld.
Ranks weren’t just about eating hearts.
“Still a 3rd Rank mimicking 4th Rank?”
“Maybe 5th Rank sometimes. Need to calculate magic to know.”
As a returnee, I was somewhat beyond this logic.
Experience or enlightenment didn’t matter—I’d had those in my previous life.
With enough magic, I could wield 5th Rank magic now.
“Magic’s easy, right?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m special.”
“…”
Ellen was annoyed.
More at herself for not retorting instantly.