Chapter 4: Agent Ellen
Her character wasn’t rotten.
Elaine Serzila wasn’t a saint, but she was an excellent ruler.
Even as the Grand Heir, that was true.
If you overlooked her laziness, Elaine was the ideal successor.
The reason Elaine went out of her way to provoke me was curiosity.
“Back then, I couldn’t help my curiosity. It was the first time my father brought in a mage alive.”
“Then why the provocation?”
“I had to be an exemplar for the North. How could someone like me ask a mage to show their hand? I had to threaten with force.”
“…”
“Besides, I was young back then, wasn’t I? What Northerner likes mages?”
It was a mix of curiosity, disgust toward the Otherworld, and prejudice against mages.
‘She’s still young.’
Just as I was frail at twenty, Elaine at twenty was also young.
Her vessel was vast, but it still had plenty of room to fill.
‘That’s odd.’
So it was surprising.
The ignorant North hated being called ignorant.
But Elaine didn’t draw her sword.
Her face stiffened, but that was all.
Despite the insult piercing Serzila, Elaine turned and left the annex.
‘She’s not the type to let that slide.’
Since childhood, Elaine never tolerated slander against the North.
If someone insulted a Northern beggar, she’d swing her fist.
For insults against herself, she always drew her sword.
That was the Elaine I followed.
‘Man or woman.’
Gender was a trivial matter. Her personality would be the same.
What mattered was that Elaine would die in the future.
I had no intention of letting that happen.
I wouldn’t let the North fall to the Otherworld’s invasion, nor would I let the Empire and the Church collapse.
Thus, I wouldn’t leave the same regrets behind…
“Make me fall for you again this time.”
“…”
“And if possible, fall for me too.”
Recalling the Elaine of my previous life, her final words came to mind.
Would that happen? I let out a hollow laugh.
Making her fall for me was one thing, but I wasn’t sure I could feel the same.
Man or woman, Elaine was Elaine.
My superior, my lord, and my closest friend.
‘Will it be the same in this life?’
If so, would the Grand Duke’s heart remain unchanged?
I couldn’t be certain.
Whether the Grand Duke would truly dream of the lost future was unknown.
***
“What are you doing, not coming?”
I’d stopped walking absentmindedly, and Gullen turned to ask. It was early morning. A Northern morning buried in a blizzard, the sun still weak.
The Grand Duke had summoned me at this ungodly hour.
“His Grace must be very interested in me.”
“…He can hear you.”
Gullen spoke softly.
Almost a whisper.
“He can hear?”
Gullen didn’t answer, just pointed his chin forward.
A massive mansion, where the Grand Duke resided.
Its door was open.
A chill colder than the North surged from it like a tidal wave.
Even with my Origin, the sun, active, my bones felt frozen.
Though my Rank had dropped after returning, my senses remained sharp.
Just as I’d sensed the Magical Beast attacking the village, I felt the Grand Duke’s Aura spread throughout the place.
“Indeed, he’s watching and listening.”
The Grand Duke sat inside the mansion but observed everything in the Inner Fortress.
His Aura dominated the Inner Fortress.
‘The range of hearing is smaller than seeing.’
I stepped back, and the clinging Aura weakened.
The hearing range seemed limited to the mansion’s surroundings.
“He won’t hear from here.”
“…”
I’d pointed it out, but Gullen didn’t move.
Instead, his gaze was sharp. I ignored it and headed toward the mansion. Gullen didn’t follow. His role must’ve ended here.
“Don’t cause trouble.”
His voice came from behind.
It was his way of acknowledging me, in a sense.
I waved lightly and entered the mansion.
A white carpet with red curves embroidered like blood. A familiar sight, a place I could navigate blindfolded.
‘Five, including the cook.’
The Grand Duke’s mansion had only the bare minimum of staff.
Even those servants had Aura.
Strong enough to enhance their bodies with Aura and wield it.
‘In mage terms, about 3rd Rank.’
The one cleaning the window was like that.
A knight playing servant.
To guard the Grand Duke?
I let out a hollow laugh.
‘What guard could surpass the Grand Duke?’
Even if the Grand Duke restrained his Aura, an ordinary person couldn’t handle the remnants.
That’s why the mansion’s staff were knight-level, with Aura.
Only those with Aura could function in the Grand Duke’s mansion.
A monster more monstrous than a Magical Beast. That was the Grand Duke of the North.
‘6th Rank… wouldn’t be surprising.’
A 5th Rank mage was often compared to a Swordmaster.
The pressure I felt from the Grand Duke was beyond that.
‘A harsh Aura.’
Just standing there made my back bend.
Even though the Grand Duke had no such intent.
In my previous life, I’d collapsed like a frog on the floor.
“What an idiot.”
The Grand Duke, descending from his room, had looked down at me and clicked his tongue.
This time, I wouldn’t let that happen.
My suppressed sun spewed flames.
Compared to the Grand Duke’s Aura, it was laughably weak, but it let me straighten my back. I could move.
It would’ve been impossible without returning.
Without my innate Origin and talent, and without knowing how to wield them.
Though weaker in power, the same flames as in my previous life guided me to the Grand Duke’s study.
The door opened automatically and closed behind me. The room was vast, just as I remembered.
On the floor, a Magical Beast’s hide, torn as if alive, served as a carpet. On the ceiling, its bones were embedded like constellations. The smallest bone was longer than my height.
That alone would’ve been a hunter’s hobby, but the walls were the issue.
Except for the bookshelf, windows, door, and lanterns, the walls were lined with preserved, blood-drained human heads.
A grim sight, even seeing it again. All were heads of mages.
Mages of the Otherworld, hunted by the Grand Duke himself.
The Grand Duke sat in the midst of those preserved gazes.
‘He had more children than I thought.’
Unlike Elaine, the Grand Duke was massive. His face was terrifying.
Compared to the woman I’d seen before returning, he was a demon.
“Every mage who daydreamed in front of me died.”
The wall of the North stood.
He looked like a man but felt like a wall. Not just because of his size. That was the kind of presence he had.
Despite committing all sorts of blasphemies, the Emperor could only punish him with a sabbatical. The ruler of the North.
If not for his child, Elaine Serzila, he’d be hailed as the greatest Grand Duke in history.
In the eyes of me, a mage… a Swordmaster no less than a 6th Rank mage.
Such a superhuman…
‘Why did he die?’
And before the war even began.
***
Grand Duke Aratus Serzila.
Ten years from now, he’d pass the title to Elaine.
The retired Grand Duke, freed from his duties, lived joyfully in a cabin beyond the wall, hunting mages and Magical Beasts from the Otherworld.
That’s all I knew.
I heard no more about him after that.
I assumed he died when the foreign forces marched, but that was just a guess.
‘I was foolish.’
Seeing him now, I understood.
They say you see as much as you know. Having faced a 6th Rank mage, I realized.
The Grand Duke wasn’t someone who’d die in a mere invasion.
“You’re daydreaming again.”
Suddenly, the Grand Duke’s hand rose.
Despite the distance, he was suddenly before me.
His hand grabbed my head.
No, it almost did.
A sudden flame devoured his hand.
“Indeed. Truly fire.”
The Grand Duke’s red eyes fell into the flames.
It was brief. When he clenched his fist, the flames scattered like smoke.
“But unripe.”
“I haven’t been at it long.”
“You’re entitled to say that. You devoured a Magical Beast, didn’t you? Without ever training in magic.”
I’d lived twenty years hiding it, let alone training.
The Grand Duke knew that. Despite being on the edge of the continent, Serzila’s intelligence was sharp.
“3rd Rank. No, a 2nd Rank that looks like 3rd Rank.”
He saw through my level instantly. An accurate assessment. Even against a 3rd Rank mage, I was confident I could hold my own.
Thanks to the experience and senses that returned with me.
‘He knows about Ranks.’
The Grand Duke understood how the Otherworld classified realms.
It made sense.
Serzila was the land closest to the Otherworld.
“Forget revenge.”
He spoke of the mage who exterminated Iagar.
The same conversation we’d had before. Back then, I couldn’t even think to respond.
“You’re Serzila’s trophy.”
That monstrous face, worse than a Magical Beast, had terrified me.
“I’ll handle that myself.”
The returned me couldn’t accept that.
My parents’ revenge. Something I hadn’t achieved in my previous life. I hadn’t even uncovered the culprit’s identity.
“Ho.”
In my previous life, the Grand Duke disliked me.
Because I was an incompetent coward unfit for the North.
But the Grand Duke before me showed interest.
The returned me wasn’t a coward.
I had talent and confidence in it.
“The North doesn’t like those who only talk.”
“You brought me here.”
“If not, the Sun and Moon would’ve hung you on a cross.”
Iagar was exterminated.
A mage had attacked, so the Church must’ve come to investigate.
They’d have figured out my Origin and killed me gleefully.
In my previous life, I was grateful to the Grand Duke. I’d pressed my head to the ground repeatedly, crushed by fear.
Truthfully, I was more scared of him than anything.
Back then, I just wanted that meeting to end quickly.
“Thank you.”
The returned me bowed my head too.
“Can I go now?”
The Grand Duke’s eyebrow twitched.
His fist wriggled like it was crushing a bug.
I felt like that bug.
An invisible Aura pressed down on me.
“Sounds like you’re asking to die.”
“I thought you wanted my magic.”
I wasn’t taken as Serzila’s hostage because I was a noble.
Iagar, worth a ransom, was already gone.
Yet Serzila took me.
Knowing I was a mage—no, because I was a mage.
Because the North needed me.
More precisely, my Origin.
“Did the Grand Heir say that? That Serzila needs fire?”
The Grand Duke knew Elaine visited me last night.
Probably because of the Aura blanketing the Inner Fortress.
‘So that’s why.’
That’s why Elaine didn’t draw her sword last night despite her temper.
Because I hadn’t yet met the Grand Duke, she couldn’t act recklessly.
“The Grand Heir just came to pick a fight.”
“You figured it out on your own.”
The Aura pressed me again.
My body trembled. My sun, at its limit, screamed.
But I didn’t bend my back or knees.
The Grand Duke’s eyes curved into crescents.
“Correct. The North wants fire. But it’s not essential. Do you understand?”
Needed, but not desperately.
A threat that I could be killed anytime.
In my previous life, the Grand Duke was never obsessed with fire.
“You’re useful.”
A better evaluation than my previous life.
The reward of returning.
“Choose. Earn your ransom as a hostage and gain freedom, or achieve merits and become Serzila’s vassal.”
I’d heard this in my previous life too.
Back then, the idiot me stayed silent and became a parasite of the Grand Ducal House.
Well, a few years later, I was forced to pull my weight.
“How much is my ransom?”
“You measure it.”
In truth, it was my life’s worth.
Though called a hostage, I’d escaped the Church’s pursuit thanks to Serzila.
‘How much would that be?’
I calculated my value inwardly.
It was abstract, but not impossible. I knew my worth well enough.
Fire.
A sun, a rare Origin.
That talent. How the Otherworld’s mages coveted and envied it.
But… it wasn’t just that anymore.
I didn’t return here because of my abilities.
“I can’t dare put a price on it.”
How could I?
The return Elaine granted me.
I couldn’t dare put a price on that.
“I’ll live as a vassal.”
“Not needed.”
“…”
For the first time, my eyes turned insolent toward the Grand Duke.
“Those eyes are worth keeping.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Since I was caught, I became even more insolent.
The Grand Duke’s smile deepened. He liked bold ones, as long as they had the ability to back it up.
“Those with only talent aren’t needed.”
“It’s a matter of time.”
“Words can achieve anything. I could usurp the throne right now.”
Usurpation must run in the family.
“Prove your worth.”
The Grand Duke’s Aura issued an eviction notice.
My body was pushed out, sliding through the door.
I was certain I wouldn’t die.
“Why did you take me as a hostage? What’s so great about a mage?”
“Soon, the North won’t be fit for people. It’s getting colder and harsher every day. That’s why they brought you, I heard. Well, they gave up the moment they saw you were an idiot.”
“What?”
“Not me, my father said that. If you’re pissed, go complain to him.”
“…”
“Scared, huh, idiot.”
“Bastard?”
I’d had that conversation with Elaine once.
In my previous life, I was a burden.
Something they wanted to discard but couldn’t, in case I became useful later.
“It’s funny that the North fell before it got that cold.”
The North collapsed before it became uninhabitable.
That was Elaine’s regret.
The North should’ve frozen instead of falling.
It should’ve overcome the Otherworld’s invasion.
Now, there was a chance.
The power to erase regrets. Returning was that chance.
But that chance was given to me, not Elaine.
“Regrets.”
I recalled the regrets I’d confessed to the dying Elaine.
There were more than a few. But they all boiled down to one thing: getting stronger.
‘What about Elaine’s regrets?’
If she truly dreamed, she could do it too.
But she wouldn’t erase all her regrets.
She’d dream of the lost future but wouldn’t see every moment.
Magic was a symbol of vagueness, but not omnipotent. It was, after all, human power.
‘If she wanted to fix everything, Elaine would’ve returned.’
Elaine had let go of many regrets.
Was it because of love? I didn’t think the reason mattered much.
What mattered was that Elaine chose me.
‘The North falls in fifteen years.’
The North was the land closest to the Otherworld.
Where the most Otherworld mages hid, and the frontline that first faced their forces.
When that massive wall fell, Elaine faced the Otherworld’s army alone.
To buy time for the people to evacuate.
If I hadn’t knocked her out, if the Great Warrior of that era hadn’t carved a path, the Grand Duke would’ve died alone holding back that army.
“You bastard, repaying kindness with betrayal.”
The awakened Elaine had been furious.
Because she loved the North more than her life.
“Woof.”
“…”
“If you’re awake, draw your sword. Gullen, who died for you, would be ashamed.”
I was different.
I didn’t dislike the North, but I had no attachment to it.
In my previous life, I fought for the North because Elaine did.
Isn’t it the same now?
I didn’t come here because I liked the North. I came for Elaine.
Because she wanted it.
“I should live up to that.”
I walked the land Elaine loved.
A land she cherished deeply but neglected.
Like a gardener who loves a garden but leaves its care to others, Elaine loved this vast North but didn’t touch it.
Looking back, that was the problem.
‘Grand Duke Aratus hates desks.’
Gardener Aratus preferred fighting with branches over tending the garden.
Of course, the North was a land where that was fine. No, it had to be that way.
‘A land where strength is everything.’
Even a beggar could challenge the Grand Duke with a sword. Serzila welcomed such courage.
Not just Grand Duke Aratus, but all Serzilas had ruled the North with strength. The North worshipped that strength.
Thus, the North was at peace, and Serzila was a steadfast wall.
‘Without knowing its insides were rotting.’
The Otherworld’s invasion came in fifteen years, but the North was already being eaten away.
Because the Serzila who loved this land was ignorant and complacent.
The blizzard grew sharper. The sun had set.
Only then did I turn my steps. Under the faint moon, a wind sharper than a blade slashed through Serzila, spreading cold.
It didn’t reach me.
As it approached, the wind softened, and the cold turned to warmth.
A drunk passing by tilted his head, looking back at me.
Magic disrupted the natural order like that.
Prolonged exposure to magic caused changes. Environments, objects.
It was a famous story that a mage’s tent in the desert turned its surroundings into a lake.
If objects were affected, how much more alien must a mage with magic be?
Thus, identifying mages was easy.
In theory.
But no one had proven it in practice.
‘Magical Beasts are smarter.’
Magical Beasts could sense magic.
Mages couldn’t distinguish each other until they saw their magic directly.
Even I, who’d reached 5th Rank, was no exception.
But I knew some things.
Not everything, but I remembered the names and Origins of notable mages.
‘I should’ve memorized their faces too.’
Thanks to my return.
Unless I intervened, the world would repeat the same timeline.
Before my return, that merchant would’ve sold the same apple at this time.
That woman shopping would buy the same items, and that guy would get beaten by the same person.
…And there’d be a mage in there.
The underbelly of the Flower District.
I didn’t hesitate and opened the door of a shabby building with a sign.
A small tavern.
Five tables, four chairs each.
‘A high, narrow bar and an owner with incredible skill and beauty…’
The tavern was exactly as Elaine once described.
“Alone?”
The owner spoke to me.
In the words of the Elaine from my previous life, a beautiful owner.
‘Was her taste low? Makes sense. People are usually lenient with their own kind.’
The owner pointed to the bar in front of her.
I sat at the bar and ordered a simple dish.
“Drink?”
“I’ll have one later. I’ve got work to do soon.”
“Work?”
The owner gave a sly smile.
“Where’re you from?”
“Northeast of the Empire. Does it show?”
“Were you hiding it? If you want to blend in, put some scars on that face. Pretty faces are rare in the North. A noble, maybe?”
“No way.”
I shrugged.
Serzila, that great Grand Ducal House, taking in Iagar’s survivor was top-secret.
Soon, the owner brought a steaming bowl.
“Thanks.”
I smiled, staring at the owner serving vegetable soup. Indeed, her smile was beautiful.
The aroma from the soup was tantalizing. One spoonful, and it was incredible. Not salty or spicy, but bold. I couldn’t help but order a drink.
After three glasses of liquor so strong it could catch fire, I snapped out of it.
“Impressive.”
No wonder it had regulars.
I marveled, understanding why this rundown tavern was so popular. Then it happened.
“Got money?”
Not the owner. She was pouring a fourth drink. The voice came from beside me.
It was very close. The woman speaking was sitting right next to me.
“Got money to pay, Harad?”
My eyes widened as I looked at her.
Not because I didn’t sense her presence until she spoke, despite sitting so close.
Not because she knew my name or that I had no money.
‘That’s possible.’
My existence was secret, but plenty in the Inner Fortress knew.
Those serving there knew I, the hostage, was a mage.
I was shocked for another reason.
The woman glaring at me with displeasure overlapped with another face.
The two faces merged completely.
I’d seen that face just days ago.
‘A Swordmaster’s body stays in its prime.’
…So that face would look the same twenty years from now.
“I’m Ellen, from Serzila’s Intelligence Bureau. A regular here.”
Ellen.
No, Elaine Serzila, disguised as Ellen, extended her hand.