Chapter 9: Tunnel
Returning had to be efficient.
Every word and action toward Elaine needed meaning, needed to be a provocation in itself.
A hostage couldn’t do that to the Grand Heir.
The gazes around us were the problem.
‘Twenty years old. Elaine’s still conscious of those around her.’
The expectations of others. The Grand Duke Aratus’ scrutiny. At this age, Elaine was overly tense, striving to play the ideal Grand Heir.
‘She skips training because there’s nothing left to learn.’
If I tried to teach Elaine something, she’d punish me.
To those watching, it’d be crossing a line.
This wasn’t an issue for the Harad of my previous life. I could cross lines freely.
After we got close, of course, but still.
‘This part’s annoying.’
Gaining a chance through returning was great, but the reset relationship was a hassle.
For me, Elaine’s escapades were a welcome opportunity.
I was a mage, but a hostage acknowledged by Grand Duke Aratus.
A hostage was beneath the Grand Heir but above a rookie Intelligence Bureau agent.
‘I can treat her casually.’
I nodded.
Ellen poured me a drink.
“Why’re you smiling like that?”
“The liquor tastes good. Are you a regular here too?”
“…”
“Don’t worry. This owner isn’t a mage.”
Reassured, Ellen ate some meat.
But her eyes kept darting around.
“Why so wary?”
“Because of you.”
“Me?”
“…Because of you, everything’s suspicious now.”
Ellen downed her drink and sighed.
“Everything anyone does looks shady. Even close friends seem like mages now.”
No wonder she seemed in a bad mood when she came.
“And you’re looking radiant?”
Until yesterday, I’d looked no better than a wreck.
Now, my eyes gleamed with life.
My dull hair shone golden, my amber eyes burned like dusk, and my face glowed instead of bearing dark circles.
“Thanks to my Origin.”
Probably from absorbing magic yesterday.
“Must be nice. Some of us are finding life harder now. Is this the best way to live?”
Ellen got to the point.
She’d probably wanted to ask this since barging into the annex as Elaine.
‘Too soon.’
I clicked my tongue, seeing Ellen’s expression.
Not even a day had passed, and she looked distressed.
‘Did she hide it in my previous life?’
The Grand Duke Elaine of my previous life lived suspecting everything.
Maybe that was part of her act too.
“It’s good if you can manage it. Better than being fooled again.”
“…”
“But it’s not the best way. There’s a better one.”
I pointed at myself.
“You?”
“Didn’t I say I can identify mages?”
I’ll say it again, I didn’t identify them—I remembered them.
But that should be enough.
‘My observation’s better anyway.’
Even if an unfamiliar mage was lurking, I was confident I’d spot them before Ellen.
“You don’t have to dart your eyes around when you’re with me. Why solve a problem when the answer key’s right here?”
A mage who could identify mages.
Ellen stared at me.
Then her face twisted.
“You’re saying I should stick with you every day?”
“Then you’d have nothing to suspect.”
“People might think that’s a confession.”
“Sadly, it’s not. Seems I’ve got someone already.”
Ellen brushed it off.
She was more disappointed that there was no way to resolve her suspicion.
“Are there mages in the Inner Fortress too?”
“Don’t know. The only people I’ve seen there are the maid with frozen soup and stone bread, plus His Grace and the Grand Heir.”
“Oh, right.”
Even mentioned, Ellen was indifferent.
She wasn’t curious about my thoughts.
‘Long way to go.’
Our relationship started years earlier than in my previous life, but that’s all for now.
Ellen still loathed me, the mage.
“Come to me when suspicion gets overwhelming. Think of me as liquor or a cigarette.”
“…Not bad.”
“Come often. Being a hostage is boring.”
“Got it.”
Ellen replied curtly.
I was satisfied with that. Wanting more would be greedy. For now, I had to be content with keeping this relationship going.
‘Like father, like daughter.’
Wasn’t it similar to what Grand Duke Aratus wanted?
To keep my relationship with Ellen, I had to keep proving my worth.
“Where’re you going?”
Ellen asked as I stood.
“To provoke.”
Ellen didn’t understand.
***
A sign hung on the Flower District’s underbelly door: Closed.
I’d put it up last night.
“No one came.”
I checked Ellen’s hair, still tucked in the doorframe, and opened the door.
The interior was exactly as I’d left it last night.
“I cut off their tail.”
“I know.”
“Probably not a big organization. They used people weak enough to be taken by an Intelligence Bureau agent as gatekeepers.”
“…”
What did I know about Aura?
Ellen frowned. The ones she faced last night were stronger than expected.
Weaker than her, but not inferior to Serzila’s lowest knights.
“Then I’ve got a reliable vanguard.”
I smiled, explaining, and opened the floor, descending the underground stairs.
How long had we walked? Black scorch marks appeared on the floor. Traces of the brokers Ellen killed, burned by me last night.
The tunnel ahead was wide open.
Ellen’s face twisted when she saw it.
“You didn’t report it.”
If I’d reported to Serzila, it wouldn’t be so unguarded.
“I will. Just tasting it first.”
“What?”
“Have you been to the border? I haven’t.”
“You’re not planning to cross the tunnel, are you?”
Ellen’s hand went to her sword.
“You’re coming too.”
“…?”
“Didn’t I say I got a reliable vanguard?”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“If you’re suspicious, kill me. But at the border.”
I turned back.
My unwavering eyes met hers.
“I’m just curious about the border. The Magical Beasts there and the Otherworld mages sneaking around.”
“You’re not joining them?”
“Do I look like that?”
Suddenly, flames flared, turning my coat to ash.
Ellen drew her sword.
But the flames only hovered around me.
Like a pet rubbing against me.
“It’s throwing a tantrum. Wants food.”
Gulp. I swallowed hard.
I was salivating.
Like when I consumed the owner’s Origin last night.
“For a talentless mage, it’s a threat.”
An Origin wasn’t always tame.
How many mages were swayed by theirs?
They acted docile but waited for a chance to burst out.
That’s why my servant died.
“We call it a seizure.”
In my previous life, Elaine compared mages to liquor or cigarettes.
Wrong.
Drugs, or worse.
Once a mage consumed another, they couldn’t escape the thirst.
“I’m fated to kill mages until I die. Since last night.”
A mage who’s eaten another was addicted.
They had to keep eating mages. Or Magical Beasts if none were available.
“…”
Ellen quietly lowered her sword.
It didn’t seem like a lie. Beyond the truth of Origins, my logic was airtight.
‘Like last night.’
Like when I suspected the owner and found the tunnel entrance.
If I meant to seek asylum, I’d have ditched her.
“…Still no. You’re Serzila’s hostage.”
Ellen’s tone softened.
She didn’t sheathe her sword. She couldn’t let me go alone.
“I’ll be back before dawn.”
“Who’d believe that?”
“You’re coming too.”
“I can’t. If caught, I’m expelled. Or executed.”
“Don’t get caught. I won’t.”
“…”
She couldn’t argue.
“It’s probably linked to the 1st Stage Border. Beyond the garrison’s patrol range, so no worry of getting caught.”
Beyond the wall, before the 1st Stage Border, was Serzila’s garrison. The knights periodically patrolled the 1st Stage.
The tunnel’s exit was likely outside that range.
“Not that dangerous either. It’s deeper, but still the 1st Stage.”
Ellen nodded unconsciously.
She was right.
Encountering an Otherworld mage at the 1st Stage was like stepping on a needle at the beach.
Even Elaine, who’d joined patrols, never met one.
At best, she found 2nd Rank Magical Beasts.
Pathetic ones.
Couldn’t withstand a single swing.
“At worst, a 3rd Rank Magical Beast. That’s the limit.”
…3rd Rank Magical Beast.
Elaine had never seen one.
“You don’t have to fight. Watch me from a safe spot.”
“Why?”
“Hm?”
“…Nothing.”
Ellen shook her head, startled by her slip.
Her long hair slapped her cheeks five times.
“Just slightly riskier than Serzila’s patrols, with a slightly higher chance of meeting a mage.”
Slightly. Risky. Higher.
Ellen chewed on those words unconsciously.
“Just a taste. Just a taste.”
Smack.
…It was sweet.
“You’re not seeking asylum, right?”
“If I do, kill me without hesitation.”
If lucky, a mage.
If unlucky, a 3rd Rank Magical Beast.
“…Let’s go.”
Ellen’s heart raced.
The tunnel was narrow.
Once inside, you couldn’t turn back.
You had to crawl straight ahead. The suffocating darkness multiplied the claustrophobia.
“Is this really a passage for people?”
Asylum, my foot.
To Ellen, this tunnel was for torture.
Stick someone in here and stab from the entrance—perfect torture.
“If it was easy, would it be asylum?”
“It’s not that hard.”
“For mages, everything’s hard.”
“…”
For the first time, Ellen felt pity for mages. The tunnel was that horrific.
If she hadn’t trained her mind for Aura, she’d have screamed and lost it.
“You okay?”
“Fine.”
Not bravado.
I crawled ahead of Ellen.
My feet pushed against the narrow floor at a steady pace, like a machine.
“Thanks to the sun?”
“Thanks to my mental strength.”
“…”
“My Origin doesn’t help my mind. It’s more of a hindrance.”
“Hindrance?”
“Most mages’ personalities follow their Origins. Though some don’t.”
Ellen’s eyes sparkled in the dark.
Information she could verify in the Inner Fortress.
Plenty of knights had faced Otherworld mages.
Not particularly valuable, though.
“You don’t seem like that. You’re not fiery.”
To Ellen, I was cool-headed.
The type to think before acting.
“I’m very fiery. I just hold it in.”
“Sure.”
Ellen ignored me and crawled.
My personality wasn’t fiery, but my magic was beyond mere fire.
The underground space at the tunnel’s entrance was filled with chilling cold and blade-like winds.
They came from the border beyond.
So, the deeper we crawled, the stronger they should’ve been.
But Ellen didn’t feel them.
Thanks to me, crawling ahead.
‘Doesn’t even seem like he’s using magic.’
The border’s chill froze intruders, its winds piercing skin to bone.
That’s why only knights manned the border garrison.
Those without Aura couldn’t enter.
I was withstanding that chill and wind just by existing.
‘The sun.’
The larger the Origin’s concept, the greater the potential.
I’d been skeptical, but it might be true.
That’s why I decided to sneak to the border.
I knew my ability’s strengths.
‘How?’
Thinking about it, I acted like I knew the border well.
‘Because I’m a mage?’
That didn’t quite add up.
The continent knew little about the border.
Even Serzila didn’t know much.
Their patrol range covered only a fraction.
“You don’t think the border’s just cold and windy, do you? It’s not just Magical Beasts and mages.”
“I think so. It was once Otherworld land, wasn’t it? Must be strange and bizarre.”
The border.
The land between Serzila’s wall and the Otherworld was once the Otherworld’s domain.
Like a mage’s tent turning a desert into a lake, the border was warped by countless mages.
So Serzila had to abandon the land they’d claimed.
They gave up the second wall and retreated behind the original.
That neglect bred more changes, some merged, some evolved.
“Even Serzila doesn’t fully know the border. Not just the 2nd Stage, but the 1st Stage too.”
“I figured. Beyond the patrol range, they only guess from old records.”
Ellen, trying to warn me, was speechless.
I wasn’t fiery at all. I seemed cautious enough.
“But are you worried about me?”
“…If you die, I’m in trouble.”
Ellen frowned.
I couldn’t see her face, but I thought I was smiling.
“Worrying’s still worrying. I’ll take it.”
“Not you, me…”
“We’re here.”
Not my soles, but my heels were visible.
I stood, no longer crawling.
“No Magical Beast presence. Just some odd things. I’ll go first.”
Ellen had no time to stop me.
A burning sound and dim light filled the tunnel.
My feet were gone from the light.
I’d already climbed out, and Ellen hurried after me.
It was a sky she’d seen before.
Night, but no moon. Huge gray clouds covered the sky, red light flashing between them.
Below, something floated and flowed. Not stars—stars weren’t below clouds. They were like tiny creatures swimming in the dark.
At the sky’s edge, a white-blue rift pulsed.
Like a beating heart, it glowed, endlessly warping its surroundings.
The rift seemed close yet impossibly far.
Even Ellen’s sharp eyes couldn’t gauge the distance.
“Know what that is?”
I asked.
“The Otherworld.”
Ellen answered casually.
The Otherworld lay beneath that sky.
Her father told her the sky’s rift was the result of mages who worshipped the Outer Gods disrupting nature’s laws.
“That’s it?”
I looked at the rift.
In my previous life, it sent shivers down my spine.
Serzila was tense, vigilant.
That’s all.
They shouldn’t have stopped there.
“Can His Grace tear the sky?”
Serzila should’ve compared themselves.
“What’re you saying?”
Ellen took it as a joke.
“They did.”
I pointed at the Otherworld’s sky, my face expressionless.
Though it took countless mages and ages, they did what Serzila couldn’t.
“No harm in being cautious.”
“…”
“But carelessness always brings trouble.”
Ellen felt like those words were aimed at her.