Chapter 18
No Takebacks
Ferda climbed to the summit of a lonely mountain.
There was only one reason he ever asked Luri to take him to the peak.
It was to watch Valdrova fight.
—Kroooaaaar!
A thunderous roar overturned heaven and earth.
Today, she had halted the advance of more than a hundred monsters.
In the past, Ferda would not even have been able to breathe at a moment like this. Now, however, he remained utterly calm, as though gazing at a distant mountain.
‘That liquor certainly works.’
His fear of dragons had vanished, and even the Dragon Fear they emitted could no longer greatly affect his body.
Yet as he grew accustomed to it, a question arose.
“How do the others endure this? Even inside the castle, it cannot be easy.”
“There is an artifact.”
Luri produced a ring from beneath her skirt and held it up.
It was an ordinary silver ring, but letters had been engraved inside it.
Ferda could not read them.
“It tracks the positions of the castle’s employees and alleviates their fear of dragons. Up to one hundred employees can live inside the castle without any difficulty.”
“Does it have an effect similar to what I drank?”
“It is weaker. Fear of dragons still remains in their hearts.”
“Even so, she prepared quite thoroughly.”
“She prepared far more than necessary.”
“……”
After thinking for a moment, Ferda turned his head again.
“Did you say there were a hundred of those?”
“Yes.”
“Then could I not have worn one from the beginning?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you not give me one?”
Luri’s eyes slowly rolled in a full circle before she shrugged.
“You never asked.”
Ferda could clearly sense just how much Luri had despised him before he became Valdrova’s betrothed.
‘Though she seems to despise me even now.’
What good would it do to dwell on the past?
Ferda turned his gaze toward Valdrova below.
One thing was different from before.
Rather than returning immediately after finishing her work, she turned her gaze toward him.
A pair of horns projected forward, while another pair rose toward the sky.
Her imposing appearance was so overwhelming that the title of tyrant suited her perfectly.
Ferda could even feel her golden eyes meeting his own.
‘I can feel it.’
Ever since drinking the betrothal wine, it had felt as though an invisible thread connected Ferda and Valdrova.
Whenever he sensed it, a smile rose to his lips without him realizing it.
Valdrova then avoided his gaze and returned to her lair.
‘Did I make her uncomfortable again?’
Although they had become betrothed, he had never actually spoken with her.
Whenever he tried, she showed signs of avoiding him, leaving him with no choice but to watch from afar.
‘A fear of people…’
Anyone who saw her tearing monsters apart would think she was nothing short of a barbarian, so it was difficult to believe.
Yet the first thing that naturally came to Ferda’s mind was her lips.
‘She truly has a talent for making a man ache with longing.’
An oasis rising in the middle of a barren desert.
The warmth of a faint blue flame burning within eternal frost.
She was so close, yet all he could do was watch her.
He felt like a sinner tormented by hunger and thirst, with an apple before his eyes that he could never eat and water he could never drink.
He wished that he could at least face her and speak with her.
“Did she say that speaking with her is still forbidden?”
“Yes. Her instruction was to wait until the proper time.”
“More than a month has already passed.”
“Compared to the years she has lived, that is no longer than the blink of an eye.”
The passage of time was different for immortals and mortals.
Impatience gripped Ferda’s heart.
‘Waiting until she has composed herself must also be the duty of a husband.’
He decided to be patient.
Ferda still had many years left to live.
Luri, who had been watching him, looked elsewhere and spoke.
“Lord Ferda.”
“What is it?”
“A guest has arrived.”
Far below, beyond the range Ferda could clearly see, he could barely make out something like a long line standing before the castle.
Luri, who was watching in his place, said,
“It appears Marquis Burnell has arrived.”
**
Marquis Burnell.
When Ferda met him again, the man looked even worse than before.
His debts had been repaid, and the troublesome groups no longer harassed him, but that did not mean his living conditions had improved.
“Well, I gave it some thought…”
“Just tell me your conclusion.”
Ferda answered sharply.
“I am in too much of a hurry to listen to you speak in circles.”
Part of it was to prevent Marquis Burnell from finding room to change his mind.
But the Red Circle within Ferda’s dantian was also spinning rapidly.
He did not want to lose that heightened sensation because of Burnell.
“As you said… I have come to believe that making weapons would be the right choice.”
“Have you compromised your convictions?”
“Of course, I have not abandoned them. As you said, I realized that creating weapons can also preserve peace. I was simply afraid of the condemnation that would follow.”
Marquis Burnell looked at the letter of appointment in his hand.
“I will make weapons. Weapons to drive away the monsters of the Far East. However, I hope those weapons will not be used in wars between humans. At least, not while I am still alive.”
“I cannot promise you that.”
Rather than lie, Ferda told him the truth.
“I… see.”
Burnell did not appear particularly disappointed.
He might have been a frog in a well, but the place he lived in was still a society. He understood how it functioned.
In weapons development, whichever side advanced first could overturn the entire course of a war.
Within such an environment, magical engineering would become revolutionary technology and accelerate rapidly.
“You do not need to be consumed by guilt. Think of it this way. When someone creates a sword, what must be made to stop it?”
“If someone creates a sword… then a shield and armor must be made to block it.”
“Then suppose someone creates a sword that can pierce even that armor and shield. Should one despair, stop moving, and simply watch destruction unfold?”
Only then did Burnell understand.
“No. We would have to create even stronger armor and shields.”
“You will create weapons, but at the same time, you will also be creating shields. If you wish to prevent war, you must continue developing them. If you stop…”
“Then the other side will move one step ahead.”
It was the beginning of a race that could never be stopped.
The reality Burnell had never wanted to imagine took shape before him.
A faint fragrance still lingered in his nose.
Coffee, gunpowder tea, and ink.
He missed Escholeia terribly.
At least there, his cramped room had been his entire world.
‘But I cannot return.’
Magical engineering was a dream he desperately wished to realize.
“Of course, once we have sufficient leeway, I will permit you to research applications in other fields as well. For now, our highest priority is a tool capable of pushing back the front line in the Far East. If you develop that first, I will not interfere with anything else you choose to do.”
“U-Understood.”
“That should settle that matter…”
Ferda began discussing Burnell’s research in earnest.
“Tell me what you need to begin your research.”
“Before tools, I need the corpse of a monster.”
“A monster’s corpse?”
“I must first observe one. Tools come after that.”
Burnell scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.
“To be honest, progress would be much faster if it were alive… but capturing a monster alive would be difficult, would it not? Ha ha!”
Ferda listened quietly, then nodded.
“Understood. You need one captured alive?”
“Yes, captured alive… Uh… Wait. Are you planning to capture one?”
Burnell asked in shock.
“If it will accelerate your progress, why would we not? We still have a long road ahead of us, so should we not take a large first step?”
“It will be extremely difficult… Understood. Thank you very much, Your… Your Highness.”
“Call me Regent. That is now my official title. And there is no need to thank me.”
Ferda rose from his seat and put on his coat.
“We will depart for the mountain range, so prepare yourself.”
“Pardon? Where are we going?”
“How can you ask that after what you just said? We are going to capture one alive.”
“W-We are going together?”
Burnell’s eyes widened.
His pupils looked ready to shrink into tiny dots.
“Were you planning to sit here and wait quietly until someone brought you a live specimen?”
“Uh… Isn’t that what most people would… do?”
“What a ridiculous joke. How could I simply stand by while dozens of people die to satisfy a scholar’s curiosity? At times like this, the scholar should move personally.”
Ferda patted Burnell on the shoulder.
“Is it not the belief of scholars that the truth shall set humanity free?”
“W-Well, yes, but…”
“You cannot sit still and expect the truth to fall into your mouth. Prepare to put that body of yours to work.”
“Ugh…”
“Make sure you prepare yourself properly in the meantime. You need to be in the best possible condition.”
Burnell’s face turned deathly pale.
‘I-I never should have come!’
There were no takebacks.
***
Ferda and Burnell rode their horses toward an unknown destination.
As they followed the road, they spotted a group waiting along the path.
Thirty soldiers stood in orderly formation, while the man at their head sat on horseback wearing half-plate armor.
He was the guide who had been waiting for Ferda.
Arwon dismounted and bowed respectfully.
“It is an honor to meet Regent Ferda Valdrova, consort of Dread Queen Valdrova. My name is Arwon. I have been ordered by Count Consilus to escort you.”
“A pleasure to meet you. Were you properly informed of your orders?”
“Yes. I was told you intended to hunt a monster.”
Ferda corrected him.
“Not hunt. Capture. We are here to capture a monster alive.”
“My apologies. It appears I misread the official notice.”
In truth, he had not misread it.
The order had simply sounded so absurd that he had unconsciously rephrased it as a question.
“It is fine. Where is the monster?”
Arwon turned and pointed in a certain direction.
“We received a report that the distinctive aura of a monster was emanating from that area.”
“How many?”
“Considering the size of the area it has spread through recently, there appears to be only one.”
“I see. Then capturing it should be easy.”
“The thing is…”
Arwon continued his report in a grave voice.
“Judging from its size, we estimate it to be at least as large as a gray bear. Even killing something of that size would be difficult for us.”
In other words, capturing it alive would be nearly impossible.
Naturally, such words meant nothing to Ferda.
“The larger it is, the better. We must capture it alive.”
Ferda patted Burnell on the shoulder.
“It should prove useful for your research.”
“Ha ha… Y-Yes, indeed.”
Burnell laughed awkwardly while screaming inwardly.
‘Stop telling them that!’
His eyes darted toward the soldiers.
All manner of resentful gazes began pouring down upon him.
‘So that bastard is the reason.’
‘Killing a monster is difficult enough, but what? We have to capture it alive?’
‘You had better pray none of us dies trying. Otherwise, I will haunt your dreams until the day you die!’
Those curses seemed to echo chaotically through Burnell’s head.
“Ha ha ha…”
Burnell laughed.
He had to laugh while he still could.
***
Arwon took the lead as they proceeded onward.
Naturally, they had to leave the horses behind.
The animals might provoke the monster.
“How far have you progressed in magic?”
Ferda asked Burnell as they followed behind Arwon.
Burnell answered.
“The Third Circle is my limit.”
“Are you a Blue Circle?”
“Yes. Naturally, any proper mage would choose the Blue Circle… Are you perhaps a Red Circle?”
“Yes.”
Burnell clapped a hand over his mouth.
Why could he never keep this troublesome mouth of his shut?
“M-My apologies! I spoke without thinking…”
“It does not matter. You said you are a Third Circle?”
The title for a Third-Circle mage was Magic Walker.
Since many mages failed to break through the barrier of the Fourth Circle, they despised being called Magic Walkers.
In particular, when a Fourth-Circle Mage or anyone above that rank called someone a Magic Walker, it was practically an invitation to fight to the death.
“Can you use Magic Shot?”
“Yes. I can form and launch the spheres, but my effective range is—”
“You only need to know how to form them. How many can you create?”
“Uh… twelve.”
“What if you make them larger?”
“If I enlarge them, I can create four.”
The average Third-Circle mage could produce fifteen Mana Shots.
“That is considerably below average for a Third Circle.”
“Ha ha… Yes, it is.”
It was painful, yet almost laughable.
Burnell’s first dream had been to become a mage.
‘In the end, the only thing I was ever good at was studying, not magic.’
He had even ruined his studies by chasing a ridiculous, impossible dream.
“That will be sufficient. You only need to support me properly.”
“S-Support you?”
“I will take care of everything. You only need to perform a few simple tasks according to my instructions. Do you understand?”
“Y-You said support… How exactly?”
“It will be simple. So simple that even a three-year-old child could understand it, so do not worry.”
Burnell still could not grasp what Ferda intended to do.
Unable to suppress his concern, he asked,
“Forgive me, Regent, but may I ask what Circle you have reached?”
“Me? I am a Second Circle.”
“A-A Second Circle?”
“Why? Are you surprised that I am below you?”
“I suppose that is surprising, but that is not exactly what I meant…”
Burnell could not understand.
‘So the amount of mana I saw really was all he had?’
Burnell had assumed Ferda had simply concealed his true power until now.
Yet he was only a mere Second Circle.
‘What could a Second Circle possibly accomplish?’
Burnell could not begin to fathom Ferda’s plan.
At that moment, Arwon raised his hand.
“I can sense its presence.”
“Is that so? Well done. I will call you immediately before the capture. Remain here and wait.”
“Pardon?”
Arwon asked again, wondering whether he had misheard.
Ferda frowned.
“Find whoever read that official notice and reprimand him. I said I needed soldiers to guide us and assist with the capture. Do you wish to capture it yourselves?”
“Should that not be our duty? Naturally…”
“What a spirited attitude for a knight.”
Ferda patted Arwon on the shoulder as he walked past him.
“Do not treat your life so lightly. You are a knight of Count Consilus and, by extension, a precious knight of the Dread Queen’s domain.”
Ferda put on the leather gloves he had kept in his pocket.
“Let us go. When I give the signal, simply be prepared to restrain it immediately. Burnell.”
“Y-Yes!”
Ferda clasped his hands behind his back and walked forward at a leisurely pace.
His bearing was so dignified and composed that no one would have believed he was walking directly into the jaws of death.
‘Aaaagh! I am going to die! I am going to die!’
To Burnell, however, Ferda was nothing more and nothing less than a grim reaper leading him to his demise.
***
After walking through the dense forest for roughly ten minutes, Ferda and Burnell finally found the monster they had been told about.
‘A corrupted creature.’
It was not some bizarre organism born naturally, but a monster formed by corruption being layered over an existing animal.
It had originally been a bear.
Now, however, it was so horribly distorted that it could only be described as something that had once been a bear.
It looked like a creature whose very existence defied all reason.
“Ugh…”
“Do not vomit. It will be troublesome if it notices us.”
“Urk… Ugh…”
Burnell repeatedly nodded while suppressing his nausea, and Ferda fixed his eyes on the target.
“Now create Mana Shots above your fingers.”
“Yes.”
After swallowing back the urge to vomit, Burnell formed spheres of pure mana as instructed.
“Then, following my directions, lightly throw them at me one at a time.”
“Pardon?”
At the regent rather than the bear?
“You want me to throw them toward you, Regent?”
“Yes. Throw one.”
Burnell squeezed his eyes shut and tossed one at him as instructed.
At that moment, something astonishing happened.