Chapter 23: Chapter 23
Chapter 23 - I Want to See Her Again
"What did you do last night?"
The one who asked was Zed.
The brown-haired man looked down at one spot with an expression of disbelief.
His gaze fell upon Ferda, lying in bed.
"Nothing happened."
"Nothing happened? Then why is someone who’s supposedly fine lying in bed unable to move?"
Other than his face, it seemed as though Ferda had lost all strength below his neck.
Ferda always made his morning rounds.
He had never missed a single day, so the fact that he suddenly failed to appear naturally suggested that something had gone wrong.
And just as Zed had guessed, Ferda was lying in bed, completely unable to move.
"If I said nothing happened, then nothing happened."
"Of course it did."
Since Ferda stubbornly insisted until the very end that nothing had happened, Zed could no longer press the issue.
’There’s no need to tell anyone about it.’
He had been struck by the Attendant who blocked his way, nearly killed after being targeted by his fiancée, and then almost truly died after exhausting all his strength to pour Mana into that very fiancée.
If such a story were told in ordinary noble society, it would simply be summarized as, "Are you an idiot?"
So Ferda kept it to himself and savored the memory alone.
’What an intense night it was.’
The pain in his arm had not yet faded, but he had received something equally valuable in return.
’The Dragon’s Face.’
Ordinarily, the term referred to the face of a king.
But in this case, it had literally been the face of a dragon.
Just as a poor tenant farmer considered it the greatest honor of his life to behold the royal countenance, Ferda likewise regarded seeing that dragon’s face as his greatest honor.
’That’s my last memory.’
Ferda recalled Valdrova’s face from his final memory.
The moment he saw her face, his consciousness had faded.
When he woke again, all he saw was the ceiling above his bed.
And Zed’s face.
The fool was still lingering nearby.
"I have one request."
"What is it? Just say the word."
"Please get your face out of my sight. It’s ruining the mood."
"......"
He had no desire to replace the lingering image in his heart with the face of a handsome man.
Zed stepped aside just as he was told.
Wearing an expression that practically screamed, ’Is this bastard insane?’
"What happened to Vernel’s research?"
"You mean that? He said we don’t have to keep doing that awful business of cutting tendons and slicing flesh anymore. Looks like it went well."
Zed had attended to Vernel’s every need so that nothing would interfere with his research.
He had done so much that he could proudly claim he had made a significant contribution.
"Are you certain?"
"Probably."
"Do you realize that ’probably’ and ’certain’ can’t exist in the same sentence?"
"I barely let that guy Vernel sleep. Most people lose their minds and give up after three days without sleep, but that old fellow was unbelievably stubborn. He kept crying about how badly he wanted to sleep, but insisted the research was too important to neglect. Even while whining, he never let go of it, so I’m pretty sure."
"I see."
Although Vernel had suffered greatly under Zed’s supervision, Ferda had little interest in that.
Everything worthwhile was painful by nature.
What mattered was that Magitech Engineering had taken a major step forward.
"So how long do I have to stay in bed? Can’t I work today?"
"One day should be enough. I’ll recover on my own."
"Mm... do I have to take care of you?"
His voice was filled with unmistakable annoyance.
"No. I’d like to be alone. There are things I need to think about."
"I’ve honestly been waiting forever to hear you say that. Whew. I’m taking a break, so don’t come looking for me for about two days."
"Very well."
Clicking his tongue, Zed withdrew.
Ferda remained lying on the bed and quietly closed his eyes.
Not because he intended to sleep again.
But because he wanted to recall those memories even more vividly.
’A tremendous harvest.’
Ferda sank into his memories.
’A truly tremendous harvest.’
An image centered around small, glossy lips.
A pair of black horns.
Brilliant crimson hair.
Embedded within her large eyes were golden cat-like irises.
Moist and gleaming.
That was the Polymorph form of the Evil Red Dragon, Valdrova.
’There were many unexpected things.’
The first time Ferda had seen her, she had appeared wearing armor.
And she had easily stood over two meters tall.
Yet in reality, she was merely the height of an ordinary woman, only about a head shorter than himself.
’And... she didn’t have a frightening face.’
As the Aspect of Strength, Valdrova possessed the most terrifying appearance among all dragons.
No one dared underestimate such a fearsome dragon.
It was said that when dragons used Polymorph, their appearance reflected their personality.
When standing still, she ought to have resembled an iron lady.
An enchanting rose in full bloom.
The sort of beauty whose thorns would make anyone arrogant enough to grasp it regret their foolishness.
’...But she wasn’t like that at all.’
Her face was surprisingly gentle for a Monarch.
The shape of a woman’s eyes often determined her impression, and hers curved gently downward, giving her the appearance of an innocent puppy.
Rather than a mature smile, she looked as though a bright, childlike grin suited her much better.
’Considering her social anxiety and timid personality, I suppose it fits.’
Everything about her had been an exception.
And yet, somehow, everything had turned out exactly as expected.
As he remembered her appearance, Ferda thought,
’I want to see her again.’
Ever since he had developed the habit of remembering every tiny detail, this was the first time he had ever felt such an emotion.
Even though her image was engraved vividly in his mind, he still longed to see her with his own eyes.
’I want to see her again.’
For the first time, Ferda understood how men suffering from lovesickness must have felt.
He wanted to tear at his hair.
He wanted to run to her immediately.
"It seems you’re imagining something rather strange."
At that moment, the voice of the young Attendant suddenly rang out.
"I would appreciate it if you stopped as soon as possible."
Opening his eyes, Ferda found a silver-eyed girl looking down at him.
Her expression and attitude remained as businesslike as ever.
"How is your body feeling?"
Luri asked.
"I think I’m feeling better."
"You should be. After all, I was the one who treated you."
"Your skill is impressive. It couldn’t have been easy."
"It was more difficult than healing Master’s injuries, but it was still manageable."
Luri frowned as she looked down at him.
For some reason, the feeling she gave off toward Ferda was noticeably different from before.
"You could have died."
There was genuine concern in her voice.
"To overload your body while your Mana Circuits were still operating... An ordinary human would have stopped long before that because of the unbearable pain."
"For me, it was nothing."
"I know. You’re the kind of person who enjoys things like that."
After muttering something incomprehensible, Ferda continued.
"Thank you."
It was a sudden expression of gratitude.
"For what?"
"This was the first time Master’s screams stopped."
Her face remained expressionless.
"And it was also the first time I saw Master fall asleep peacefully. That night, Lord Ferda, you did so much for Master."
Yet sorrow lingered within her eyes.
"And... I’m sorry."
Her gaze slowly lowered toward Ferda’s right arm.
"Because you blew off my arm?"
"......"
Biting her lip, she nodded.
A Dragon Spawn admitting her own sin and apologizing to a human.
"It’s fine. I won’t bear a grudge or hate you over something so trivial."
"...Even after taking such a powerful hit, you’re really fine?"
"My body has always been weak. Things like this happen often, so there’s no need to worry. I’ll be able to move well enough."
"Can you move right now?"
"I probably will when the time comes."
At present, nothing but his face could move.
"Didn’t I always tell you? I value your loyalty above all else. Just like a—"
"Like a dog?"
"Exactly."
Upon hearing that, Luri nodded.
"That’s right. I’m a bitch."
"I didn’t go that far."
Only then did Ferda realize it.
That definitely sounded like an insult.
"Anyway, you’ve always done your very best with what you were capable of. You’ve never forced yourself to do what you couldn’t and ruined everything, have you? That’s more than enough."
"....."
"I’m grateful to you for taking care of her until I was able to meet her."
"If you say so, then... thank you."
Luri’s expression became noticeably brighter.
The heavy atmosphere lightened considerably.
"So then, how is my fiancée doing?"
"I was just about to speak about that..."
Her expression grew heavy once again.
"For the time being, don’t even think about trying to see her."
Ferda’s expression also became serious.
"I thought you said it was all thanks to me?"
"That’s one matter, and this is another."
Luri had once again become the firm little maid.
Ferda asked her why.
"And what is the reason?"
"The problem lies in what you did when you met her."
"What do you mean by ’what I did’? Just holding hands?"
Simply holding hands was hardly grand enough to be called an "act".
"I meant giving her Mana."
"Is that something that would cause a problem for your Master?"
"If I had to say, both are problems."
Her eyes stared intently at Ferda.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Ferda asked,
"Did something happen to the Grand Duchess?"
"After meeting you and coming into contact with you, she started making female mating sounds."
Question marks filled his mind.
"Female mating sounds?"
"They’re the furthest thing imaginable from a king’s voice. They’re the sounds she hates second only to screams."
Ferda had no idea what kind of sounds she meant.
Nor did he particularly want to find out.
"And what’s my problem?"
"To save Master, you squeezed out Mana until you were on the verge of losing your own life."
"That’s fine. As long as I don’t die."
"That kind of result-oriented thinking won’t do. If you want to stand proudly as her fiancé, at the very least reach the Fourth Circle first."
The Fourth Circle.
The stage considered the true beginning of a Mage.
Ferda wondered why she had drawn the line so firmly there.
So he roughly estimated, based on intuition, how much Mana he had released.
’That amount was almost exactly equivalent to a Fourth Circle Mage.’
An amount of Mana impossible without the Red Circle.
And if the Red Circle had not rotated so rapidly, even the speed of Mana recovery would have been impossible.
If even one part of the process had been even slightly off, Ferda would have either become a corpse or a cripple.
’At the same time... it was only possible because it was me.’
Only someone who had once reached the Ninth Circle could withstand such violent Mana flow and force it out like that.
’But because I pushed myself that far, it’ll be difficult to properly use the Red Circle for quite some time.’
According to Ferda’s estimate, it would take about a month before he fully recovered.
"If you’re going to become Master’s husband, then from now on you need to take better care of yourself. Don’t take unnecessary risks."
Luri smoothed the wrinkles in the blanket before gently pulling it up to cover him to his neck.
It was a kindness she had never shown him before.
"And today, don’t think about anything. Just rest. If you need anything, I’ll come, so simply call for me. Understood?"
"Yes, understood."
Ferda obediently nodded.
"And congratulations."
"For what?"
"Didn’t you reach the Third Circle?"
"...?"
Ferda had no idea what she was talking about.
At least not until he focused on his Dantian.
’...What?’
Just as she had said, three circles were now rotating inside his body.
He had reached the Third Circle.
***
The following day, after confirming that he could move again, Ferda returned to his office and spoke with Vernel.
"I heard your research has made remarkable progress. Congratulations."
"N-No, not at all. This is only the beginning..."
"A month and a half, was it? That’s astonishing progress."
"I-I suppose it is."
Vernel answered with a trembling voice.
It truly was astonishing progress.
Those past month and a half had been more meaningful than the previous seven years of his research.
’The equipment is better, the environment is better, and the specimens are better, but...’
More than anything else, it was the pressure pushing him forward that had made the greatest difference.
’Am I the type who grows stronger the closer I’m pushed to my limits?’
Without sleep, he felt as though he would go insane.
Yet strangely enough, it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
He was able to identify blind spots he had never noticed before and steadily correct weaknesses in his theories.
Only by working in a state that bordered on madness had his hypotheses become solid enough to be tested.
"From now on, I won’t need any more living specimens. Instead, I’ll require a great number of Monster corpses..."
"Monster corpses?"
It was like looking for sand in a desert or trees in a forest.
The Far East was overflowing with Monsters.
"Since Grand Duchess Valdrova is fighting on the front lines, should we simply collect whatever she kills?"
"I’ve heard she’s killing creatures as large as houses. Conducting research on something that size would... present far too many problems. They’re simply too enormous..."
"Then why don’t you become enormous as well? Wouldn’t a giantification spell solve that? It seems like Echidna could cast something like that..."
"N-No, that’s not the issue. The biggest problem is that if corpses that large remain in the Eastern Region for too long, they’ll cause corruption. The land could end up becoming like the black earth of the Far East. I’d rather avoid that. Besides, creatures that large may have completely different structures."
"What do you mean by different structures?"
"Well... those things grow by feeding on Junk Mana. You know how that affects the hardness of the materials they develop? If they’re too hard, too densely structured, and become overly compressed and crystallized, they’re actually useless for research."
Sensing that the discussion was about to become highly technical, Ferda chose to summarize the essential point instead.
"I believe I understand the general idea. In other words, to proceed step by step, we should start with the smaller ones first?"
"Exactly. The ones I’m currently researching are similar in size to, or even smaller than, the specimen the Regent captured. Those are far more common and much easier to obtain..."
"So approximately how many hundreds of Monsters will you need?"
"Well..."
Vernel cautiously observed Ferda’s expression.
"At the very least... I think we’ll need over one thousand..."
Hearing that, Ferda thought,
’Now that’s a true money-eating monster.’
It was a request large enough to horrify not only ordinary nobles but even the wealthiest aristocrats.
Had Ferda not known who this man truly was, he might have kicked him straight out the city gate.
But Ferda knew Vernel would ultimately succeed.
"Very well. I’ll speak with the local lords."
"W-Wait... can we really gather that many?"
"At least dozens of Monsters are killed every day. You no longer need living ones?"
"I-It would be nice if we had some, but they’d require constant care..."
"Don’t worry about that. Zed seems quite capable when it comes to handling such matters, so I’ll assign him to assist you."
"No! That’s not necessary! The research isn’t progressing in obvious leaps like it did during the early stages! Really, I don’t need him! So please don’t tell him! Hahaha! I’m begging you! Spare me!"
Vernel desperately begged him to reconsider.
"If you insist."
"S-So... how do you plan to acquire all those corpses? Are you going hunting again?"
"Hmm..."
Capturing a single Monster alive had been manageable for Ferda.
But he couldn’t go hunting every single time.
"The safest approach would probably be to offer a bounty..."
Even now, enormous sums were being spent on facilities and equipment.
Adding even another small expense would be burdensome.
"For the initial supply, it would be better to have them offered as tribute."
"As tribute...?"
Vernel looked utterly confused.
Ferda answered him calmly.
"The world is full of fools."
And Ferda knew exactly how to lure those fools.
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