Chapter 12
The Perfect Opportunity
Human memory is finite and unreliable.
Yet just as no one forgets to breathe, everyone has at least one thing they will always remember.
In Ferda’s case, it was the people he hated.
Not merely their names, but a list of everyone he despised and wished to take revenge upon.
In other words, a death list.
To deepen his hatred, he had investigated their accomplishments.
To take revenge, he had carefully studied their weaknesses.
“…”
When he recalled why he had come to hate them in the first place, most of the reasons were steeped in paranoia.
They were so petty that they made him blush with embarrassment.
‘Whatever the case, now that I have returned to the past, it has become useful information.’
Ferda clearly understood the strengths and weaknesses of those who would become prominent figures in the future.
There were talented people who could have achieved far more if only they had acted differently.
There were also those who would have risen to greatness had they discovered their other talents sooner.
‘There are many exceptional people.’
Far too many.
Recruiting all of them was realistically impossible.
He could not even imagine them working harmoniously together.
‘I should establish my priorities first.’
Now that he had become both the Dread Queen’s fiancé and her acting representative, Ferda considered what he needed most.
‘The entirety of Valdrova’s royal domain is currently being neglected.’
The Dread Queen did not personally intervene, instead entrusting the lords with self-government.
Since no one had been overseeing them, public sentiment had deteriorated considerably.
‘I should begin by attending to the people’s welfare.’
Ferda had decided what needed to be done, but carrying it out would not be as simple as making the decision.
Conflicts with the lords would inevitably arise.
‘That matter was resolved amicably, so it should not be a problem.’
When Ferda had sent the letters, he had naturally expected the leaders to resist.
Of course, that expectation had been spectacularly wrong.
Ferda had received letters from all fourteen remaining lords pledging their loyalty.
‘It seems Luri’s decision to display Wolcher’s severed head at the castle gate was highly effective.’
The lords had realized that Ferda was not someone they could disregard.
For now, he decided to leave them alone.
‘That should suffice for internal affairs. Next are the external threats.’
The most prominent threats were the monsters and demonic beasts causing chaos throughout the region.
The Dread Queen’s domain was located in the far east, near the lands corrupted by the Demon King.
The contamination was gradually spreading into this neighboring region as well.
One of its primary causes was demonic beasts.
Demonic beasts formed from demonic energy or corrupted by it were monsters that could be found almost anywhere.
They occasionally appeared even in the central continent, so naturally, they were far more common in the far east, which bordered the Demonic Lands.
‘The presence of demonic beasts contaminates the earth.’
The longer they remained in one place, the faster the land became desolate.
They prevented new life from flourishing and corrupted even the creatures that already lived there.
That was why requests to exterminate demonic beasts were always treated as urgent, regardless of location.
‘If we can reduce both the casualties and the contamination they cause…’
The land would recover.
If Valdrova, the master of external affairs, protected the domain from threats outside its borders, Ferda would take responsibility for the dangers within.
‘And what we need for that is technology.’
His foremost priority was to develop methods that would allow not only trained soldiers but also ordinary civilians to hunt demonic beasts effectively.
Using that as his criterion, Ferda selected suitable names from his death list.
He ultimately narrowed the candidates down to four.
“Therefore, these people must be recruited before anyone else.”
Luri examined the paper Ferda handed her and read the names.
—Burnell Marquis
—Zed Swallow
—Mechidna Philiaz
—Helus Phobidas
The moment she saw them, Luri frowned.
“These are the names of humans I have neither seen nor heard of.”
“…”
“You were told to recruit talented people, not invite your neighborhood friends—”
Luri’s gaze sharpened.
Dragon fear infused with her emotions enveloped Ferda.
‘There has certainly been a change.’
Since completing the engagement ceremony, the dragon fear’s effect on him had noticeably weakened.
Even so, it still felt unpleasant.
“You truly believe I am the sort of person who would do that?”
“Regardless, would you care to explain who these humans are?”
Helus Phobidas was a magician known as the Sage of Water.
His advice was said to be so wise that kings and lords throughout the world held him in high regard.
“I guarantee that the three names above Helus Phobidas are more important than he is.”
“Then explain them.”
“The first person we must visit is Burnell Marquis. He lives in a city called Escholeia.”
The moment she heard the city’s name, Luri instinctively asked,
“Is he a scholar?”
“Yes.”
Escholeia was a city in the central-eastern region of the continent and was widely known as the City of Scholars.
Just as one visited a poultry farm only to find chickens or eggs, Luri immediately realized that the man must be a scholar.
“You know that scholars possess titles, do you not?”
“I have heard they receive them after graduating from an academy. What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with it. This man was given the title ‘Complete Mess.’”
“Are you trying to turn our castle into a disaster? That does not sound like a wise choice.”
A scholar’s title could determine the course of their entire life, so academies generally avoided negative expressions.
For someone to be openly called a Complete Mess meant that even the people around him could no longer tolerate his behavior.
“There is a reason he received that title. He attempts things no one else is willing to try.”
“…”
“Does that not simply make him a fool?”
“He is persistent.”
“A stubborn fool, then.”
Ferda could not deny it.
He, too, had thought the man was a fool when they first met.
He had seemed both pathetic and dignified.
‘But a stubborn fool like that eventually succeeds.’
Even if everyone cursed him and insisted it was impossible, even if they criticized him for wasting his time, the solitary path he had walked with such devotion would eventually shine.
In the future, the man would often voice the same regret.
—Had I been able to conduct more research, I could have created far more things by now.
It was only natural.
‘What fool would invest in something that could never succeed?’
Even nobles wealthy enough to scatter money into the wind would feel the same.
None of them would want to become the idiot who sponsored a fool bearing the title Complete Mess.
But Ferda knew this man.
“So, what exactly does he research?”
“In the future, he will—”
He was the man who would become the pioneer who ushered in the age of magical engineering.
At the center of the city stood a towering World Tree known as the Tree of Knowledge, surrounded by five great libraries.
One might assume that hardly any sunlight reached the ground beneath such a tree, but the Tree of Knowledge bore no leaves. In truth, it was little more than an enormous pillar.
In the city beneath that pillar, instead of the usual smell of water or mustiness, the powerful aromas of coffee and gunpowder filled the air to an almost overwhelming degree.
Countless people accustomed to those smells moved busily through the streets.
Every possible stretch of space wide enough for a person to pass had been converted into some kind of circulating pathway.
Most of them had pieces of toasted bread clenched between their teeth.
“There are a great many people.”
“…”
“I cannot understand why anyone would wish to live in such a cramped place.”
“They say they seek something of greater value than merely remaining satisfied with the present.”
“Humans are all the same.”
Ferda and Luri slowly surveyed the street.
Hundreds of people were visible within their immediate field of view, constantly bumping shoulders as they moved.
Every one of them wore a black robe, and nine out of ten wore glasses.
“And now we are supposed to find one person among all of them?”
“That is correct.”
“It will take more than a month.”
If this were a hidden-object puzzle, its difficulty would be close to the highest possible level.
It would have been a lie to say they did not feel overwhelmed.
Since so many people passed through the area, street vendors were also bustling along the walls.
They mainly sold finger foods that could be eaten quickly.
People moved past like a flowing river, each purchasing an item without even slowing down.
‘The street vendors may know something.’
With that thought, Ferda looked toward Luri.
Her gaze was quite different from the one he usually saw.
Her face remained businesslike and expressionless.
Aside from anger, she had rarely shown him any emotion at all, yet this was another expression entirely.
She was staring intently at a stall selling preserved fruit.
Her round eyes had widened, and silver light glittered in her pupils.
After gazing at it for a long while, her slender throat bobbed up and down.
Gulp.
That series of actions could mean only one thing.
“Do you want some?”
“…What do you take me for?”
Luri narrowed her eyes and replied sulkily.
Her reaction was far more shaken than usual.
“I was merely thinking that the vendor over there might know something.”
“I had the same thought. We should ask.”
Ferda headed toward the stall with Luri.
Her eyes remained fixed on the preserved fruit.
“Excuse me.”
“Well, if it isn’t a young nobleman and an adorable little maid. What can I get you?”
“We are looking for someone. I hoped you might know him.”
“Someone? This city is overflowing with people! You will have to be more specific.”
The vendor wore a strange, expectant smile.
Ferda lowered his gaze toward the preserved fruit behind the glass.
“Would purchasing a few of those skewers help refresh your memory?”
“Ha! I would certainly appreciate it. But let us hear the details first. Who are you searching for?”
“A scholar known as Complete Mess.”
The vendor’s eyes widened.
“Ah, Complete Mess? You should have said so sooner.”
“You know him?”
The vendor grinned, revealing yellowed teeth.
“More than several hundred thousand people live in this city. But among all of them, there is only one man called Complete Mess—”
“Then there is no need to purchase the preserved fruit after all.”
“…!”
Luri, who had merely been listening to their conversation, suddenly flinched.
“Still, would it not be proper to show a little sincerity and buy some?”
“That is correct.”
Luri quietly interjected in support of the merchant.
If someone showed goodwill, it was only proper to repay them accordingly.
Ferda agreed with that principle, so he purchased three skewers of fruit preserved in honey.
“Eat.”
He handed the sticky, honey-coated fruit to Luri.
“Are you not having any, Lord Ferda?”
“I am not a child.”
“What? I am not a child either.”
“I know.”
“Then you are treating me like one.”
“Does that mean you do not want it?”
Despite looking deeply offended, Luri accepted the skewer from Ferda’s hand.
As though she had been waiting for this moment, she immediately pulled one of the honey-drenched fruits into her mouth.
Her silver eyes sparkled even more brightly.
‘So she is capable of making an expression like that.’
Ferda had wondered whether Luri’s emotions had dried up just as his had.
Seeing her act like a child in a way that suited her appearance gave him a strange sense of relief.
As Luri continued stuffing the honey-preserved fruit into her mouth without pause, her cheeks puffed up like those of a squirrel in autumn.
Noticing Ferda’s gaze, she rolled her eyes toward him.
Her silver eyes narrowed before she pulled the cup closer to her chest.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I am not giving you any.”
“I do not want any.”
Every society had its classes.
Where there were wealthy people, there were also the poor.
Escholeia, though founded on the principle that all were equal before knowledge, was no exception.
The city had wealthy districts, and it also had slums.
And even among those slums, there was a separate district where the poorest of the poor lived.
It was a place where sunlight scarcely entered and where the stench of sewage and rat droppings filled the air.
The odor never faded, making people afraid even to open their doors carelessly.
This was where Burnell Marquis lived.
Luri gazed in astonishment at a window positioned lower than her own height.
“It is remarkable that humans can live in a place like this.”
“I once learned that it is possible to sleep in a lavatory.”
“It was hell.”
That had been during the days when Ferda had possessed no money and his money-grubbing master had taken every coin he earned.
“Do you think he is inside?”
Luri nodded in response to Ferda’s question.
“I can sense someone’s presence.”
Crash!
A chaotic noise came from beyond the window.
After hearing it, Luri added,
“And it appears something rather violent is currently taking place.”
“Visitors, then…”
Going inside now would mean becoming entangled in whatever trouble was occurring.
“The timing could not be better.”
Ferda clasped his hands behind his back and descended the stairs.