NOVEL NEXT Ch. 21
Chapter 21: Stray
“You dream?”
“Mages don’t dream.”
“…”
She slept three days straight, Elaine said.
I nodded impassively, having heard she didn’t dream during that time.
‘Am I the only one who can provoke?’
“Whenever you provoke me.”
Elaine said that in my previous life.
‘Indirectly possible?’
I didn’t know.
Too few samples. Just two dreams.
‘Dreams aren’t linear.’
They didn’t follow time’s flow.
Nor just our meetings.
Her second dream of the tunnel proved it.
The cowardly me crawling through it, crying for fifteen days at the Border.
‘Triggered by the tunnel.’
Unexpected.
Elaine wasn’t there then.
‘Dreams follow provocation.’
Her dreams were shaped by my provocations.
They could feature just me or both of us.
“Not asking what this is?”
Elaine spoke as I pondered.
To her, I must’ve looked like I was staring at the head.
“What is it?”
“…Cassion, 2nd Knights’ commander, left it. Sharing results, he said.”
The head of an Otherworld mage caught at the Border.
Lifting the eyelid, no eyeball.
Its Origin was eyes, Elaine added.
‘Eyes. He saw Ios die.’
And reported it to the tailor.
But no crystal orb was by my bedside.
‘Cassion kept it?’
I couldn’t ask.
The mood was too tense.
“He’s got a grudge.”
Elaine knew Cassion’s mage hatred well.
“Did you mess up? He’s usually refined.”
She pointed at the head with her chin. Its state showed Cassion’s anger.
I laughed inwardly at her words.
More jealousy than anger.
“Why’re you here?”
“…Got a report. Impressive.”
Elaine’s face said otherwise.
Cassion’s supposed anger seemed to be hers.
“You half-crippled three knights.”
“Not quite half-crippled.”
Knights recovered well.
A civilian’s severe injury was a knight’s minor one, healed in days.
Not the answer she wanted.
Her eyebrows rose.
I had complaints too.
Outside, it wasn’t even noon.
Elaine skipped training again.
Couldn’t call her out.
Her laziness came from loneliness. Embarrassing but accurate.
Not close enough to criticize.
‘But a little snark’s fine. Worked last time.’
That was my relationship with Grand Heir Elaine.
***
To Elaine, I was a slippery eel.
An outsider who barged into the Inner Fortress and half-crippled three knights. A mage.
Even if she didn’t think that, she had to act it.
She was the Grand Heir.
‘The strong are usually right.’
Duels.
I knew why that Northern tradition ended with that phrase.
Because Serzila was its pinnacle.
In the North, that name was always right.
So knights could be ignorant.
They could deem the victor right, guided by Serzila.
But Serzila couldn’t.
The North’s master and idol couldn’t be soft. It had to be right.
To me, knowing the future, it was laughable, but it held true so far.
The ignorant North thrived under such a Serzila.
That weight was on Elaine’s shoulders.
And Grand Duke Aratus’.
But to me, Aratus enjoyed it.
A ruler who’d rolled through decades.
Compared to him, Elaine was a disciplined rookie officer.
Not that her spirit was lacking.
Her talent was the issue.
Innate divine strength. Serzila’s unprecedented genius.
The North’s expectations for Elaine exceeded those for Aratus.
Past Serzilas were great, but Elaine would be greater.
That belief forced her to obsess over being the ideal Serzila.
‘Must be burdensome.’
A ruler’s fate, but Elaine bore another on top.
I felt anew her need for escapades.
Without those breaks, she wouldn’t have endured.
Maybe small escapades weren’t enough.
The Elaine I saw in my previous life wasn’t that steely.
“Been a while.”
Entering the Snow Leopard’s Footprint, Ellen appeared, exhaling smoke with her greeting.
“You smoke?”
“Sometimes. When I’m annoyed.”
As I sat, Ellen crushed her cigarette on the table, staring sharply.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You know, everyone looks like a mage. Everything’s suspicious.”
Ellen answered readily, as if prepared.
True, likely. She believed only I could identify mages.
The past three days without me must’ve been suspicion-filled.
“Fought the Grand Heir?”
I chuckled hollowly at her next words.
Straight to the point.
“A fight? More like I got thrashed. Fights are for equals.”
How’d she know?
I didn’t ask that cliché.
With Ellen, I had to stay ahead, provide answers.
“Heard you provoked first.”
“Just stated facts.”
“Saying to take it up with His Grace?”
A bit softened.
“His Grace approved this incident.”
The duel was fair, and I revealed the graffiti as magic.
Killing a 4th Rank mage infiltrating the North was clear merit.
“His Grace said nothing.”
“Doesn’t need words to understand. Why’d the Grand Heir draw but not swing?”
“…”
Ellen bit her lip.
She put out a new cigarette, offering it to me.
“I’m good. My sun doesn’t like it.”
Her eyes widened at my personification of my Origin. Curious, but she spoke otherwise.
“Heard the Grand Heir threatened to watch you.”
Curiosity took second place.
“Understandable. Arms bend inward. He doesn’t like me hurting knights.”
“Because you’re a mage?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
At my vague reply, Ellen lit the cigarette.
I ignited the tip.
Her eyes widened, then she smiled bitterly, recalling our first meeting.
“How can the Grand Heir trust you?”
My eyes widened slightly.
Ellen was Elaine’s truest self.
Her sincerity came out as Ellen.
She was asking for advice.
To trust. Or to maintain this relationship.
‘Either’s fine.’
She wouldn’t follow blindly, but asking was meaningful.
“Hard?”
Ellen urged, no response.
Her cigarette burned fast.
“Hard. Not something the Grand Heir can do.”
“You have to?”
“Not much I can do either. Time will solve it.”
“…”
“Did he trust knights from birth? Seeing and experiencing built it.”
Unsatisfying answer.
But Ellen couldn’t speak. It felt right.
No matter what I did, Elaine couldn’t easily trust me.
“He’s the Grand Heir. Puts the North and its people first. Defending me would be odd.”
“He’s right?”
“Not entirely. Stubborn guy.”
“…”
Ellen froze.
“Heard he’s lazy in training. Relies on divine strength.”
True enough.
Divine strength wasn’t just raw power.
Elaine’s body was tougher than anyone’s.
Infused with Aura, tougher still.
Her Aura’s quality was unmatched.
Like a divine blessing.
Hence, divine strength. Heaven’s gift.
“You’d get it. Like solving problems with the answer key.”
Ellen flinched.
“Maybe he feels lonely. Only I was born this great.”
Snap.
Her cigarette broke.
Her lips parted slowly over the fallen cigarette.
“Ever feel that?”
“…?”
“Lonely?”
Her eyes sparkled, as if never troubled.
I realized anew.
‘She’s truly crazy.’
Ellen was Elaine.
***
Ellen’s starry eyes dimmed.
After talking about 4th Rank mage Ios.
Not a long talk.
Unlike Gullen, Ellen knew ranks well.
She roughly knew about mage towers.
Serzila’s history mentioned them. Knights might not know, but Ellen had to.
Not detailed.
In my previous life, I learned that history. A history book noted killing a mage from some tower.
Why Ellen met me nightly.
I knew more about the Otherworld than Serzila. And gave her chances to experience it.
“Should’ve followed.”
Ellen regretted not going with me.
Yet she admired how I extracted info from Ios, posing as Otherworld.
“Where’d you learn that… Don’t answer. You’ll say all mages know, or you’re special.”
Like me, Ellen avoided clichés.
To me, she seemed to suppress suspicion. After the rag-beast, she might feel closer inwardly.
The reason didn’t matter.
What mattered was Ellen wanting to maintain this relationship.
Not because she liked me, but for her curiosity.
“This place is nice, but the snacks suck.”
Ellen drank, using the cigarette as a snack.
“Your taste’s been trained by mages.”
“Oh.”
Recalling the Flower District’s snacks, Ellen inhaled deeply, grimacing at the smoke.
I spoke, watching it.
“What about the 3rd Squad Leader?”
The one who arrested me at the tunnel.
Finding the informant through him would lead to other tunnels.
A necessary step.
I realized the Otherworld’s tunnel connection after losing the North.
Until then, Elaine dismissed tunnel suspicions.
Her arrogance and pity for good mages.
Thus, I didn’t know many tunnels.
“Still interrogating.”
“Who?”
“My senior. Info should come soon.”
Ellen treated her senior like a junior.
The interrogation was at a Bureau safehouse.
Ellen’s chosen agent was likely skilled. As she said, info would come soon.
“Not drinking?”
Ellen pointed at my glass.
My first, untouched. I’d only eaten snacks.
“Feels awkward now.”
“Why?”
“Drunk, I can’t hold back. I said I’m fiery, just restrained.”
Most mages’ personalities followed their Origins.
Ellen snorted, hearing an excuse. To her, I was the opposite of fire.
“You can burn it off with magic.”
“That’s the problem. Magic sparks.”
Aftereffects of forcing 4th Rank projection.
Three days’ sleep healed my body, but magic was hard to control. A match could become a blaze.
“Curious to see your fiery side.”
“You’d get burned.”
Ellen laughed lightly and stood.
Time to go.
As she paid, the door opened quietly.
So subtle, others didn’t hear. Only Ellen and I turned.
“El, Ellen.”
A bearded soldier, fearing Ellen, approached slowly.
“You scared him plenty.”
“Lucky it ended at scaring.”
The North had no guilt by association.
Unlike the 3rd Squad Leader, he proved innocence.
“What is it?”
Ellen spoke down to him, voice cold. Likely from the 3rd Squad.
“You said report everything…”
He stammered.
“Stutter once more, and you’ll meet the 3rd Squad Leader.”
“We found a stray at dusk and still can’t send her home!”
Ellen’s face hardened.
***
In a world where people sold their children for money, the North was an exception. Some called it romantic.
The North cherished children.
Why commoners, not knights or nobles, lived near the Inner Fortress.
They were weak.
Northerners knew the land’s hardships best, so they were kind to children.
They didn’t abandon or sell them, nor favored strong over weak.
A stray was a serious matter.
“No one knows the child. Rarely went outside.”
“…”
“Suspected abuse. No one’s looked for her on the streets.”
Ellen’s face hardened further at the report.
“Which bastard.”
Her words expressed her fury.
In the North, child abuse was worse than murder.
Profiting from children could mean execution.
The soldiers’ faces weren’t good either.
They looked ready to punch any parent who showed up.
“Where’s the child?”
“Second-floor lounge, Uluric’s watching.”
Ellen strode upstairs. I followed.
Bang!
Entering the lounge roughly, Uluric saluted, startled. Ellen ignored him.
Uluric was the least scary-looking in the 3rd Squad, yet even he couldn’t get the child to talk.
“Seems she can’t speak.”
“Out.”
“Yes.”
As Uluric left, Ellen softened, smiling gently at the child.
About ten, chubby-cheeked, not starved.
Ellen examined her but found no abuse marks.
“What’s your name?”
Ellen asked softly, but the child didn’t answer.
She seemed to hear, staring at Ellen, then quickly at me.
I found her eyes striking.
Green, moss-like, deep. Her lush brown hair complemented yet contrasted them.
No, déjà vu.
The colors and features felt familiar.
Tap.
Ellen nudged me.
“Talk to her. She’s looking at you.”
Indeed, the girl’s eyes were fixed on me.
‘Where’s she looking?’
Tap.
Ellen urged.
“What’s your name?”
I asked like Ellen.
“Shura.”
The girl answered, voice calm.
Hardly a stray.
“You a mage?”
I asked without thinking.
“I’m a mage.”
“…Are you crazy?”
Ellen’s glare was sharp, but I didn’t care.
“You can trust me. Ios, 4th Rank of the Ivory Tower, is my friend.”