Chapter 42
Reverse Scale
Valdrova Castle, within the Dread Queendom of Valdrova.
That day, Luri was delivering her weekly report before Valdrova.
“The latest news is that Lord Ferda arrived safely in the Empire and is currently holding discussions at the imperial palace.”
It was, of course, a report on Ferda’s movements.
Upon hearing it, Valdrova exhaled through her nostrils as though relieved.
—Is that so? I am glad he arrived safely.
“...How many times must I tell you? Ordinary monsters would never target that carriage.”
The Far East was treated as abandoned land, leaving many areas undeveloped.
As a result, dense forests covered much of the region, and where there were many trees, there were also many monsters.
The likelihood of encountering monsters while traveling was more than twice as high as in other regions.
Even so, there was virtually no chance that Ferda’s carriage would be attacked.
When the carriage was built, a single dragon scale had been concealed inside it.
Monsters with strong animal instincts would be reluctant even to approach the scent and presence of a dragon.
An attack by monsters was therefore all but impossible. And as an additional precaution, Arwon, one of Count Consilus’s knights, had been assigned as an escort.
Even if they were attacked, they would still be able to travel safely.
‘And yet...’
Valdrova had been unable to relax.
She disliked the very idea of Ferda leaving the Dread Queendom.
Valdrova, the Red Dragon, became anxious merely when he left her immediate sight. The thought of him traveling to lands beyond her influence had therefore struck her like a bolt from the blue.
—He is eating properly, isn’t he?
—There are no monsters prowling around him, are there?
—He hasn’t fallen ill, has he?
Those were the questions Luri had been forced to answer when only six hours had passed since his departure.
‘It’s not as though she’s caring for a sickly chick.’
Valdrova fretted over him as though he were some fragile creature liable to die at any moment.
It could not be helped.
To an immortal who had existed since near the beginning of time, an eighteen-year-old adult mortal was little different from an ant crawling across the ground.
Moreover, Ferda’s body was weaker than that of an ordinary human.
Luri had eventually attached one of her spirits to Ferda’s carriage and ordered it to report every three hours.
And Luri hated delivering those reports.
‘She is drifting farther and farther away from the dignity of a sovereign.’
Admittedly, Valdrova had never been particularly sovereign-like to begin with.
Luri knew both sides of her master.
Whenever Valdrova assumed the form of a Red Dragon, she spoke in a solemn and serious manner.
The sight of her as the lonely, solitary guardian created a taut sense of tension.
By contrast, whenever she took human form, all that tension disappeared.
Her face, expressions, gestures—everything about her became so different that she seemed like another person entirely.
She became an innocent woman utterly removed from dignity and majesty.
‘I can accept every side of her, but...’
At the very least, Luri wished the boundary between those two sides would remain intact.
Yet the more deeply Ferda entered Valdrova’s life, the more Luri could feel her dignity fading even while she remained in dragon form.
Complicated emotions crossed her mind.
Luri wanted her master to be happy.
At the same time, she wanted Valdrova to retain the dignity befitting a higher being.
‘Ferda.’
Everything had changed after that man entered her life.
There were many things for which Luri was grateful to him.
But there were just as many things she resented him for.
“I will not provide reports during his return journey.”
At those words, Valdrova’s body jerked.
—Why not?
“We now know that Lord Ferda’s journey there was safe. Is there really any need to receive reports about his journey back?”
—...But the return journey could prove dangerous in its own way, could it not?
She sounded like a grandmother fussing over her grandson again.
“Then why not go out to welcome him yourself?”
—Hmm...
Valdrova lowered her head with a troubled hum.
Despite all her concern, she still found it uncomfortable to face humans directly.
Seeing that Valdrova could not bring herself to continue, Luri drove the point home.
“You need not worry so much about Lord Ferda. Eighteen may seem like childhood to us, but in human society, he is a fully grown adult.”
—I know that.
“And he has been handling even the matters you were unable to manage yourself.”
—I know that as well...
“Then please do not worry excessively. So long as you remain well and powerful, there will never be a moment when Lord Ferda is truly threatened.”
Just as Luri was soothing Valdrova, wind stirred through the silent lair and formed a pale shape.
Tormenta, a high-ranking wind spirit, floated beside Luri with only its face manifested.
“It appears news has arrived regarding Lord Ferda. One moment...”
—Very well.
Valdrova corrected her posture and waited for Luri to speak.
Luri had been listening calmly when her eyes suddenly widened.
“What? What do you mean by...?”
She was so startled that she raised her voice without thinking.
Luri quickly lowered it again.
But Valdrova had already heard her.
—What is it?
Luri did not answer.
She merely listened to the spirit’s whisper.
—Has something happened?
“Please wait a moment, Master.”
Valdrova’s golden eyes shifted.
She could hear enough in Luri’s tone.
—Has something happened to my fiancé?
Her patience was reaching its limit.
The embodiment of power was beginning to lose her composure.
Crack—
Her claws dug into the floor and shattered the stone beneath them.
Rrrrumble—
The cavern shook violently as Valdrova’s emotions surged.
—Tell me the truth. Tell me what has happened to my fiancé.
Valdrova, the Red Dragon.
The one known as the Mistress of Fire and Power.
The strength she had been suppressing was gradually being released.
Luri finally spoke after finishing her exchange with the spirit.
“It was nothing you need to worry about.”
—What happened?
“It was merely a political matter. The spirit came only because the message needed to be delivered quickly.”
—Then my fiancé is unharmed?
“Yes.”
The tremors within the cavern ceased.
Valdrova, who had raised herself, sighed in relief and curled her body back into place.
—Then why did you look so grave?
“I was merely concentrating. I apologize for worrying you.”
—Hmm... So that was all. No, it is fine.
Trusting Luri, Valdrova calmed her startled heart.
“Then I shall take my leave. The documents concerning the territory are still piling up...”
—Very well. You may go.
Luri left Valdrova’s lair.
She walked without saying a word.
She slowly made her way out of the cavern and into the forest before stopping when she reached a signpost.
This should be far enough.
Once she believed she had moved beyond the range of Valdrova’s senses, Luri finally opened the lips she had kept tightly sealed.
“Tormenta.”
The high-ranking wind spirit, which had shown only its face before, was summoned fully at her side.
—Yes, Master.
“Regarding the message delivered by your subordinate...”
Her subdued voice trembled faintly.
“Do you swear that not a single word of it was false?”
Tormenta flinched.
Beyond its expressionless, businesslike face, Luri could sense the intense agitation it had been concealing.
It was only natural.
The news she had received was not merely political.
—Yes. The report states that he was attacked by a magical investigator inside the sealed storage facility and sustained injuries. I received the urgent message and relayed it exactly as it was given.
The Regent of the Far East had been injured inside the imperial palace.
In ordinary human politics, it would have been a matter that could somehow be settled through negotiations and the exchange of concessions.
But the injured party was the man destined to become a dragon’s consort.
‘And not just anyone—Master’s fiancé.’
Valdrova had become deeply agitated merely at the suspicion that something had happened.
Had Luri told her that Ferda had actually been injured, the matter would not have ended as a simple issue of diplomacy or politics.
‘Master would lose her reason and take action...’
And the other dragons would move as well.
That absolutely had to be prevented.
‘Dragons must not move.’
But a Dragon Spawn was a different matter.
“Understood.”
Wings spread from Luri’s back.
Her silver-glowing wings were larger than ever before, stretching out powerfully.
Boom—!
With a single flap, Luri vanished.
The Silver Dragon, Mistress of Wind and Steel.
Once she began flying, she was said to move too quickly for the eye to follow, earning her the name Silver Comet.
As one who had inherited that power, Luri could also move with extraordinary speed.
A suffocating feeling continued to rise inside her chest.
Why had he entered the sealed storage facility?
And why had he nearly died within the imperial palace?
‘Did they look down on Master that much?’
Luri had disliked the Empire from the very beginning.
The Third Prince, who carried its blood, had initially approached Valdrova intending to use her.
As though that were not enough, the nobles had even used it as an excuse to expel Ferda from his family.
It was an insult.
An unforgivable insult.
Yet Luri had not acted.
It was not because she did not care, but because Valdrova had not wanted her to.
Valdrova believed that her own unhappiness was only natural, and she had released even the hope she had once held without clinging to it pitifully.
‘She only just managed... to grasp that hope.’
And they dared endanger the man who was to become a dragon’s consort?
Grit—
After flying at full speed for roughly five minutes, the Empire came into Luri’s view.
The place Ferda had taken an entire week to reach had been crossed by her in an instant.
Her silver eyes turned toward the imperial palace.
‘It doesn’t matter who it was.’
Someone would have to take responsibility for this.
The Silver Comet that had split the heavens plummeted into the imperial palace.
“First-class alert! Notify every knight and mage in the imperial palace! Assume full wartime readiness and assemble at the entrance to the palace garden!”
Her landing point was the palace garden.
Knights and mages who had been jolted awake rushed frantically toward it.
Ferda also walked in that direction, following their movement.
A knight who saw him strolling calmly drew his sword and demanded,
“Who are you?! I’ve never seen you in this imperial palace before!”
He was a young man who appeared full of justice and a strong sense of duty.
Unlike the other knights, however, he also looked rather inexperienced.
“I am Ferda Valdrova, Regent of the Far East.”
“Ferda Valdrova? Ah! The regent who was supposed to arrive today... My apologies for failing to recognize you, Lord Regent!”
“It is fine. Are you assembling before the palace garden?”
“Yes. This is a first-class emergency, so would you please take shelter in your room?”
“That is not a bad idea, but it would be better for me to accompany you.”
“Pardon?”
“Guide me to the palace garden. I am unfamiliar with the layout.”
“I cannot allow that. This is a first-class emergency. You may be placed in danger, Lord Regent.”
From those words, Ferda realized something.
This man had absolutely no idea what was happening.
“You are already being placed in danger because of me.”
“Because of you, Lord Regent...?”
His face showed that he had no idea what Ferda meant.
Ferda sighed at the foolish expression.
“What is your name?”
“Ah, my name is Malcolm. I am from Peach Hill, so I do not have a family name.”
“Very well, Malcolm of Peach Hill. Do not attempt to understand this with that meager comprehension of yours. All you need to do is guide me to where I must go.”
“B-But I have a duty to protect the imperial subjects...”
“You are remarkably difficult to communicate with. Would you rather lose your life, or would you prefer to bring this matter to a better conclusion?”
“I came here prepared to sacrifice my life.”
“...”
He was even more unreasonable than Ferda had imagined.
One should never associate with those incapable of understanding simple words.
“I will find my own way.”
“Wait! You must not go that way. Truly...!”
Leaving the man named Malcolm behind, Ferda moved on.
Malcolm continued insisting that he could not go, but he did not dare lay a hand on Ferda and merely hovered around him.
A large number of knights and mages had gathered before the palace garden—more precisely, at the entrance leading into the imperial palace.
“Third Knight Order! Close formation!”
“Fifth Knight Order! Close formation! Form the Wing Formation!”
They moved according to the Knight Commander’s orders and blocked the entrance.
“Second Mage Corps! Prepare defensive spells!”
“Third Mage Corps! Prepare bombardment magic!”
The mages completed their preparations and readied themselves to face the intruder.
“The intruder is moving! She is heading toward the entrance!”
A mage maintaining detection magic shouted.
“All fooorces! Stand ready!”
Tension stretched taut through the air.
Before them stood a wall made of intertwined rose vines.
A moment later, a rectangular silver flash gleamed across it.
With the flash, the vine wall collapsed in the shape of a square doorway.
The intruder revealed herself.
The one who stepped through was a silver-haired girl dressed in a maid uniform.
‘Luri.’
It was exactly as Ferda had expected.
If someone were to invade the imperial palace under these circumstances, he had assumed she would be the first to arrive.
However, she looked different from usual.
Silver wings.
A thick tail protruding from beneath her skirt.
A pair of horns sweeping backward like bolts of lightning.
And a dense aura that instinctively triggered the sense of mortal danger.
“A-A dragon?!”
Someone’s shout caused morale to collapse instantly.
Those who had never seen either a dragon or even a Dragon Spawn were swept up in the fear.
“Do not be afraid! Our opponent is merely a Dragon Spawn!”
Dragon Spawns.
They were servants of dragons, born from those who inherited dragon blood and underwent the Ascension Rite.
Each one possessed strength comparable to a highly trained knight and could ordinarily defeat three or four human knights with ease.
The commander shouted that she was merely a Spawn.
However, those words had only been spoken to preserve the morale of the imperial knights.
Even the commander himself could not take them at face value.
‘A Dragon Spawn shattered the court mages’ barrier in a single blow and entered the palace?’
The imperial palace was the safest place ever constructed by humankind.
The magical formations protecting it from objects descending from the sky consisted of three separate layers.
Unless all three were pierced at once, the formations would immediately regenerate, making aerial infiltration impossible.
Even meteors had failed to break through those defenses and had been annihilated upon impact.
Yet that girl had penetrated them alone.
‘And can a Dragon Spawn produce Dragon Fear this powerful?’
That was what confused even the knights who had encountered Dragon Spawns before.
Dragon Spawns could not generate Dragon Fear.
And yet the girl before them was radiating it.
Like a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.
Their hands and feet trembled violently, and cold sweat streamed down their bodies.
The formation was on the verge of collapsing, and some of the mages had even lost concentration, causing their spells to fail.
“U-Ugh...”
Malcolm, who had continued circling nearby, could not withstand the Dragon Fear and collapsed where he stood.
At the same time, he witnessed something unbelievable.
‘How can the Regent remain so calm?’
Ferda was not sweating.
He was the only person still standing steadily on both feet.
Even while staring directly at the source of the terror, he remained completely unmoved.
It was astonishing.
“Your name was Malcolm, correct?”
Ferda casually addressed him.
“What? Ah, yes... Y-Yes, it was.”
“You were right.”
“Pardon?”
Luri stood at the end of Ferda’s gaze.
Her eyes were fixed on him as well.
“Perhaps I really am in danger.”
She was extremely angry with Ferda.