Chapter 36
Demon Worshippers
The man who had stopped the carriage approached the side where Ferda was seated.
He pulled out something he had concealed.
Ferda prepared to fire the sphere of mana wrapped around his hand.
But he stopped.
Just as the mana sphere was about to launch, Ferda realized that what the man held was not a weapon, but a piece of cloth.
“The Emperor has betrayed the faith of his subjects!”
The man had ambushed the carriage in order to stage a protest.
“He ignores the suffering of his people, fills his own belly, and continues his incompetent rule! Those who feast upon our blood are not the sons of light!”
The man’s actions drew everyone’s attention, exactly as he had intended.
Marco, commander of the knight order, shouted with veins bulging in his neck.
“What are you all doing? Subdue him at once!”
“Yes, sir!”
The armed soldiers dragged the protester down from the carriage and began beating him with clubs.
“Argh! Argh! People of the Empire, rise up! We are not slaves!”
“You bastard! Shut your mouth!”
The man was beaten and dragged away.
Blood streamed from him as he was hauled off the main avenue.
The people standing along the streets of the capital turned away and resumed their business as though nothing had happened.
“Oh dear, hahaha! I am afraid you have witnessed something rather unpleasant.”
Commander Marco apologized.
He was attempting to smooth over the situation with a laugh.
Rather than matching his smile, Ferda kept his eyes on the man being dragged away.
“What was that man? He appeared to have suffered some injustice.”
“Injustice? You must not be deceived by appearances like that. Those people are demon worshippers.”
“Demon worshippers?”
“Yes.”
Marco’s expression turned serious.
“Now that the Empire has entered a golden age, demons are attempting to increase their influence. Their followers spread absurd propaganda and shamelessly slander His Majesty the Emperor.”
That was Marco’s explanation.
But Ferda knew the truth, and Marco himself knew it as well.
That man was not a demon worshipper.
At the very least, he looked as though he had not eaten properly for days.
He was starving, with no other action available to him, and had likely stepped forward in desperation to denounce the tyranny around him.
Ferda decided to react no differently from any other noble.
“I see.”
He did not feign surprise, nor did he show any sign of understanding.
Ferda merely gestured as though the matter did not interest him.
That was the reaction that would reassure them.
With the sudden protest brought to an end, the carriage began moving again.
As Ferda gazed upon the prosperous scenery of the capital, he thought,
Is an empire like this truly necessary?
In truth, Ferda did not care what happened to it.
Whether it collapsed, continued rotting from within, or fell to revolution, he would have been content to let events run their course.
Valdrova, however, was different.
What kind of woman was she?
Her body had endured harsher battlefields than anyone else’s and protected the continent of Cerdes, yet her heart was like a flower raised inside a greenhouse.
She was a pure woman who wished for everyone to be happy.
From her perspective, the Empire’s actions were evil and could never be tolerated.
But she will not act.
She focused solely on her duty of stopping monsters.
Forcing her to deal with affairs this complicated would be no different from tormenting her.
Matters within the realm are mine to handle.
Ferda had to make decisions for Valdrova’s sake.
That was why he had written three letters.
Every one of the recipients was scum.
Trying to rank them and choose the lesser evil would have been foolish.
It would be better to roll dice.
Ferda had replaced the dice with three letters.
He would side with whoever reached out first.
That was all.
The carriage entered the imperial palace, and Ferda stepped down.
Towering granite pillars and the magnificent palace filled his vision.
Everything was so unrealistically enormous that it would not have seemed out of place as the dwelling of a god.
The Imperial Guard stood in formation to welcome their guest.
At the end of their ranks stood someone of exalted blood who had come to greet Ferda personally.
The moment Ferda saw that person, his expression stiffened.
Surely not.
That could not be possible.
Such desperate denials tried to hold back the reality forcing its way into his mind.
Someone whose name I deliberately left out… has appeared.
The person who had come to welcome Ferda was not the Emperor.
Nor was it the First Prince.
It was not the Second Prince either.
“Greetings, Regent of Valdrova.”
It was the princess of the Arken Empire—the one person to whom he had deliberately sent no letter.
“I am Olivia Arken.”
It was Olivia Arken.
“I greet the Imperial Princess.”
Ferda reflexively offered the proper courtesies.
Even as he lowered his head, he felt as though some enormous hand had seized him and begun shaking him.
Fate.
Mana fatalism claimed that all mana was determined by fate.
Recently, Ferda had spent a great deal of time contemplating that very fate.
And so, at this moment, he found himself wondering:
Was fate truly predetermined?
How else could the princess he had not sent a single letter to be the one who answered him?
As expected…
His suspicion began leaning toward certainty.
It seems the Empire is fated to fall.
Olivia Arken.
Known as the Golden Rose of the Empire, she was truly beautiful.
She had golden hair and blue eyes.
Her ample breasts and slender waist, inherited from her mother, captivated men, while her innocent gaze and behavior stirred their protective instincts.
She radiated such irresistible charm that even stripped of her position, she would still have been a woman many would desperately desire.
Any man would surely dream of being personally entertained by Olivia Arken.
“I was not sure what to prepare for you, so I decided to serve my favorite black tea. I hope it suits your taste.”
Olivia offered him a teacup with an apologetic expression.
“His Majesty the Emperor and my elder brothers are occupied with official duties, so I came to receive you myself. I hope you were not offended?”
She lowered her head slightly and looked up at him through her blue eyes.
Her expression resembled that of a pitiful young maiden.
Of course, none of them were actually busy with official duties.
They had merely discarded Ferda’s letter as though it were beneath their notice, while the princess had eagerly seized the opportunity.
“Not at all. It is an honor to meet Olivia Arken, who is renowned as the greatest beauty on the continent of Cerdes.”
He did not mean a word of it.
“I am simply grateful that you would say so. I may be inadequate, but I shall do my best to keep our conversation flowing.”
Olivia smiled brightly and raised a clenched fist as though encouraging them both to do their best.
“I heard that you wish to attend the Grand Council. Do you know where it is held?”
“Yes. Is it not the White House, as it is commonly called—the absolute domain of the White Dragon, Blancaros?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
It was an absolutely neutral territory created by Blancaros, the White Dragon who ruled over Order and Creation.
It was where wars were mediated and matters affecting the entire continent were discussed.
There was a time when my name was discussed there as well.
The Grand Council ordinarily focused on matters concerning nations and organizations, so it was rare for a single individual to become a topic of discussion.
Yet Ferda’s name had been raised there.
Had the Grand Council marked him as an enemy, Ferda would undoubtedly have been declared a public threat and subjected to concentrated attacks.
Even Ferda, who grew stronger through trials, would not have survived that.
Yet he had managed to escape such a fate.
The Arken Emperor.
The Emperor had been useful in many ways.
He appeared incompetent, but whenever his own authority was involved, his mind became unnervingly sharp.
The Emperor had sided with Ferda, and in return, Ferda had reinforced the foundations of the Emperor’s reign.
“Officials of ducal rank or higher are permitted to attend the Grand Council. Your future spouse, Lady Valdrova, is a Dread Queen —and a Red Dragon at that—so you may participate as her representative!”
“I doubt anyone would look kindly upon me attending merely as a representative. Would that truly be acceptable?”
Ferda deliberately sounded uncertain as he tested her response.
Olivia nodded vigorously.
“Of course! You represent the guardian of the Far East, after all. You have more than enough right to express your opinion there.”
As expected of Olivia.
She knew exactly what to say to make someone feel pleased.
Even though a moment’s thought would reveal plenty for Ferda to take offense at, she made it difficult for him to even consider becoming angry.
Olivia possessed that kind of bewitching charm.
“Besides, dragons normally send representatives in their place.”
“Representatives… Their Spawns, I assume.”
“Some use Spawns, while others appoint ordinary humans.”
Ferda knew that much, but not the precise details, so he asked her,
“Which dragons usually send representatives?”
“Hmm… Let me see. It changes frequently. As you know, dragons can be rather unpredictable.”
She suddenly covered her mouth in surprise.
“Oh my, I just spoke ill of them. I did not mean to!”
“It is fine. Please continue.”
“Ah, um… The ones who attend regularly are Lord Silverwind, Lord Orosagrado, Lord Iorga, and Lord Storeus.”
The Silver Dragon, ruler of Steel and Wind.
The Gold Dragon, ruler of Faith and Light.
The Blue Dragon, ruler of Magic and Water.
The Thunder Dragon, ruler of Storm and Lightning.
The one who appoints an ordinary human rather than a Spawn must be the Gold Dragon, Orosagrado.
Orosagrado was a dragon who had established his own holy kingdom in the central-western region and considered himself the very embodiment of faith.
He did not create Spawns because he believed that anyone could place their faith in him.
“Thank you for answering.”
“Not at all. I should be the one thanking you.”
Olivia’s eyebrows curved seductively.
“Your attendance as the Dread Queen ’s future husband would be a great source of strength for our Empire.”
“For now, I am merely her regent. I do not possess such status.”
“Would you not gain that status once you marry Her Highness the Dread Queen ?”
“Even after our marriage, I will remain her regent.”
“Oh my, why?”
Olivia covered her mouth, her eyes sparkling.
“I did not assume this position in pursuit of power. I stand where I do purely to care for our principality.”
“Ah, I see. Hmm, hmm…”
For a fleeting instant, Olivia’s gaze sharpened.
Yet the moment passed so quickly that it might have been an illusion, and her soft, airy demeanor immediately returned.
“You are an extraordinarily devoted husband. I wish I could meet a spouse like you, Lord Ferda.”
Olivia released a deep sigh.
“His Majesty the Emperor—my father—does not seem to want me to marry. Everyone else is reaching the age when their marriages are arranged, yet I am still alone… It makes me terribly sad.”
Olivia pouted and pretended to cry while gazing at him with deep, alluring eyes.
Her gestures carried the implication that she might even be willing to marry a man like him.
Of course, such tricks had no effect whatsoever on Ferda.
“I am certain you will meet someone. A good relationship often arrives at the most unexpected moment.”
“Hehe. Even if they are only words, I appreciate them.”
Now that he had heard what he needed regarding the Grand Council, Ferda moved on to his true objective.
“On my way here today, I was attacked by people the Empire calls demon worshippers.”
“Oh my, were you? How frightening.”
Olivia trembled theatrically.
“I have heard that things have become terribly dangerous lately. I used to sneak outside with my maids to buy snacks, but the guards have become much stricter because they say the demons are gaining influence.”
“The situation has certainly deteriorated.”
“But we live beneath the protection of Alte, the great light! As long as that light watches over the Emperor, nothing can threaten the Empire.”
She sounded like a woman with flowers growing inside her head.
“However, subversive elements are much like monsters. Unless they are dealt with promptly, they contaminate the land and frequently render it unusable.”
“Hmm… I must agree with that. For the sake of protecting our subjects, the demon worshippers must be eradicated.”
Olivia nodded with a tense expression.
Ferda made his proposal.
It was time to lay the foundation of his plan.
“Then why not use this opportunity to deal with those demon worshippers?”
“…We searched throughout the Empire for their hideout, but found nothing.”
It was not so much that the Empire’s soldiers were incompetent.
The Empire was simply far too vast.
Unless the worshippers gathered in one place and were attacked all at once, suppressing their organization would be extremely difficult.
Ferda had therefore prepared something to solve that problem.
“A demon worshipper was recently discovered in our territory as well. We found this among his possessions.”
Ferda produced a piece of paper wrapped in cloth and placed it on the table.
Unknown characters were written across it.
Without hesitation, Olivia picked it up and examined it.
“What… is this?”
“It is written in the language of demons.”
“Eek!”
Olivia recoiled and dropped the paper.
She wiped her hand with a perfumed handkerchief as though she had touched something filthy.
“Why would there be demonic writing…? Only genuine demon worshippers can use something like this, can they not?”
“Yes. When I showed it to a scribe at our castle, he identified it as demonic writing. A detailed translation would need to be entrusted to a magical investigator.”
Olivia stared down at the paper bearing the demonic writing, her expression contemplative.
The naive innocence she had displayed moments earlier had vanished completely.
She understood that this was no time to play the fool or put on an affected performance.
After a moment’s thought, Olivia lightly raised her hand.
The butler standing behind her like part of the scenery bowed his head.
“Your Highness?”
“Summon a magical investigator immediately. This is urgent.”
Demons were forbidden beings throughout the continent of Cerdes, without exception.
Few people could hold their heads high when confronted with demonic writing.
Within the Empire, only magical investigators who examined heresy and demonic arts, and senior scholars who recorded, preserved, and studied all such information, possessed that privilege.
The man who introduced himself as Yuren, a magical investigator, examined the paper Ferda had provided and spoke with a grave expression.
“This is… undoubtedly demonic writing.”
“Oh my…”
Olivia let out a groan.
Although her body trembled, her eyes did not waver in the slightest.
“Do you know what it means?”
“Yes. It indicates a location. And that location is…”
Yuren took a map from his dimensional storage and spread it open before pointing to a specific place.
“It refers precisely to the interior of the underground waterways beneath the imperial capital.”