Chapter 63
Penelope
What they saw was unlike an ordinary prison.
A normal prison divided its cells with iron bars.
Here, coffin-shaped temperature-controlled chambers stood at an angle, each containing a single prisoner.
Humans were not the only ones trapped inside.
Orcs, elves, goblins, and even rare races seldom seen elsewhere lay quietly within, their faces completely drained of color.
One of the knights examining them realized something.
“These people are all alive. Every one of them is still breathing.”
“Then let’s rescue them immediately!”
When the knight tried to open one of the chambers, Zed stopped him.
“Rescue them? The only one we’re supposed to save is a demon.”
“Are we supposed to stand by and watch innocent people die? That goes against the code of chivalry!”
“Can you still call yourself a knight, Sir Zed?”
Zed looked at them as though they were pathetic.
“They can either freeze to death slowly in the blizzard or die instantly when this place explodes. The second option is probably better. I’m going to find that demon bastard.”
As he was about to leave the room, Zed added,
“And I only got this position through connections.”
Do not waste your sympathy on me.
They had no choice but to admit that Zed was right.
The others left carrying a measure of guilt, but Zed felt no such unnecessary emotion.
They proceeded to inspect each room containing the temperature-controlled chambers.
Yet despite their intention to conduct a thorough search, they soon identified their target with ease.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Waaaaah! Let me out! I said let me out! What did I do wrong to deserve being locked up in a place like this?!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A woman’s voice rang through the corridor as she thrashed noisily.
“Doesn’t that sound like our target?”
“I desperately hope it isn’t.”
They headed toward the source and found one chamber shaking violently.
“Open this! Open it right now! Do you have any idea who I am? I’m Penelope, daughter of the Archdemon Sitri!”
“Damn it. That’s her.”
Even after finding their target, none of them looked pleased.
The three knights opened the chamber with bitter expressions.
The demon, who had been pounding on the door, froze in surprise.
“What? You actually opened it? Wait, time out! Time out! Aaaah! Please don’t hit me! I’ll stay quiet this time! Really, really, I swear this time—huh? What? You’re not the guards?”
Penelope cautiously opened her eyes and looked at the men surrounding her.
“You are—”
“Where are the real guards? Who are you people? Did you come to kill me?”
“Are you Penelo—”
“Wait! I didn’t do anything! I have nothing to do with those bastards! Please spare—mmph!”
Zed covered Penelope’s mouth.
The noise that had filled the chamber room vanished at once.
“From now on, you are only allowed to answer yes or no. Nod if the answer is yes, and shake your head if it is no. Understood?”
“Mmph, mmph.”
“I said shut up, woman.”
“...”
Penelope became obedient the moment he held a blade in front of her.
She nodded.
“Is your name Penelope?”
Nod, nod.
“Are you certain?”
Nod, nod.
“We made a deal with your mother, the Archdemon Sitri. We infiltrated this facility on the condition that we get you out. Follow us quietly.”
“Mmph?!”
“I told you, only yes or no.”
“Mmmph! Mmph, mmph!”
“She’s resisting rather fiercely.”
“Maybe she has something she needs to say.”
“Is that so? Hey, pink hair. I’ll uncover your mouth for a moment. Answer clearly within three seconds.”
With that warning, Zed removed his hand.
“WaitpleasehearmewhatIhavetosaythetruthisIwasn’tcapturedherebecauseactuallyIwas—mmph!”
“That was useless. Gag her and take her with us.”
“Agreed.”
The woman, who had rattled off her words like a rapid-fire weapon, ultimately failed to say anything meaningful.
She was tied up and carried away.
She struggled so violently along the way that one of the knights struck her and knocked her unconscious.
As they pushed through the blizzard, Ferda sensed an unusual current above his head.
It was not merely his imagination.
Consilus, who had been leading the way, turned back and asked,
“Did you feel that just now?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What did you feel?”
Marco was struggling simply to keep walking and had no attention to spare for his surroundings.
“A wind other than the wind.”
“A wind other than the wind?”
“Silver Dragon Spawns. They are searching the mountain for intruders.”
Marco, whose complexion was already pale, turned even whiter.
“Then aren’t we in serious trouble?”
“Not necessarily. The fact that they passed over our heads means they have not found us yet.”
Still, it was concerning.
If the equivalent of two knights’ worth of combat power suddenly fell from the sky like meteors, they would have no chance.
“I’ll increase our pace.”
Ferda followed the path Consilus had cleared.
A short while later, a dark shape approached through the white haze.
They had returned to the cave from which they had emerged.
The other six, including Zed, were waiting inside.
“You’re back.”
“Where is the target?”
“We brought her.”
Zed lightly kicked the unconscious pink-haired woman beside him.
She had pink hair and pale skin.
Her complexion glowed like white jade, strangely unlike that of a demon.
Yet her ram-like horns, black eyes, bat wings, and long spade-shaped tail unmistakably proclaimed her a demon.
“That was quick.”
“The research wing had already been emptied. There was no one there. I probably could have handled it alone. What about the residential wing?”
“We encountered no major difficulties. It seems neither side has anything unusual to report. Let us return.”
After confirming that everyone had completed their mission, they began moving toward the gate.
Ferda considered the situation.
‘It ended too easily.’
Only about three minutes remained.
It was just enough time to finish and return.
Not so little that they were in immediate danger, but not so much that they could relax.
It was as though everything had been calculated in advance.
‘Everything went too smoothly.’
The balance of the deal had worked out perfectly.
That was strange.
Demons only made deals that benefited themselves.
“We need to move quickly.”
The mage guarding the gate spoke.
“What is it?”
“The Silver Dragon Spawn that was circling overhead is approaching this location.”
“It is coming here?”
“Yes. I believe it has noticed us.”
“Erase our traces immediately! Once they are gone, we evacuate at once!”
They could not allow anyone to discover that people from the Valdrova Principality had come here.
Using the tools they had brought, they hurriedly began removing every sign of their presence.
Only two minutes remained.
Ferda thought.
He had to discover the source of his unease before that time ran out.
“Mmm... Mmm?”
Penelope woke and looked around groggily.
Then she saw Zed’s face and opened her eyes wide.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
“Stay still. I’m going to make this easier for you.”
“Mmph! Mmmph, mmmph!”
Zed raised his dagger, and Penelope desperately shook her head.
The tears and mucus streaming down her face made her terror unmistakable.
Ferda found her reaction strange.
“Wait.”
Zed’s dagger stopped.
“What is it?”
“Remove her gag. We need to hear what she is trying to say.”
“I doubt she has anything worth hearing...”
Even as he said that, Zed removed the gag.
“Mmph—pah! Thank you! No, more importantly, I need to explain what I said earlier! I—”
“Be quiet. I decide what you are allowed to say. Otherwise, I will cut your throat.”
“Eek! Please don’t! Don’t kill me! I’ll answer anything! Yes!”
“That is what I wanted.”
Ferda gestured toward Penelope with his chin.
“Why are you afraid of dying?”
“W-Who wouldn’t be afraid of death?”
“When a demon dies in Cerdes, they are merely summoned back to Hell. It may hurt briefly, but for your kind, it is little more than returning home. Is that not so?”
“Th-That’s true, but my situation is different! If I go back, I’ll really die!”
Penelope shouted as though having a fit.
“What do you mean?”
“My mother doesn’t want me rescued. She wants me dead! I must not return to Hell!”
Penelope wept and struggled desperately, begging them to save her.
“Then tell me why she is trying to kill you.”
“Because I... because...”
Penelope trailed off.
“Do not try to scheme your way out of this. Tell me the truth.”
“No, I can’t tell you the truth! I’m not allowed to tell the truth! Waaaaah! This is so frustrating I’m going crazy! Why am I so stupid?!”
It was something she could not reveal truthfully.
She knew the answer, but she was absolutely forbidden from speaking it aloud.
And the Archdemon Sitri was trying to kill her.
What could possibly point to all those facts at once?
Ferda thought.
There had to be an answer.
It was probably something he had heard before.
Something he had dismissed as idle chatter.
Yet when he thought about it, it had been an extremely important warning.
Never make a deal with a demon.
“I see.”
At that moment, inspiration flashed through Ferda’s mind.
He looked down at her and murmured,
“So it was you.”
“Regent!”
Zed shouted at the top of his lungs.
He already had one foot inside the gate.
“You need to hurry! There’s hardly any time left! How long? They say thirty seconds!”
Having watched Ferda’s conversation with Penelope, he urged him to move.
Ferda finished weighing everything and rose to his feet.
“Sir Zed.”
“Yes?”
“I leave these burdens in your care.”
“What? What do you—”
Ferda threw his bag toward Zed.
“Whoa!”
Zed caught the suddenly hurled bag with his excellent reflexes.
But another object immediately flew toward him.
It was a mass of pink fur.
“Eeeek?!”
“Gah!”
It slammed into Zed and sent him tumbling through the gate.
The object that had pushed him inside was Penelope herself.
Holding her in his arms, Zed’s eyes widened.
Only eight people could escape through this Bending Bridge.
“Regent—”
The dimensional gate closed.
Zed’s shout was cut off.
Ferda was the only one left behind in the frozen mountains.
Had he truly been alone, it would not have been a serious problem.
He could simply wait to be rescued.
But events would not unfold that way.
It was coming.
That thing.
At that moment, astonishingly, the roaring blizzard gradually began to fade into the distance.
In its place came the sound of footsteps crushing snow.
Soon, a figure emerged through the white storm.
Even on a night without a trace of moonlight, his form could be seen with unnatural clarity.
“Oh? I truly did not expect this.”
Silver hair, sharp horns, and silver eyes.
There was no mistaking him for anything other than a Silver Dragon Spawn.
He was undoubtedly the one who had been circling overhead.
“I was told there would be one little rat here... but it seems I found a different rat.”
He grinned.
Like a cat looking at a rat trapped inside a jar.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Regent Valdrova.”
Twenty days had passed since the room had last been tended.
The spirits had been assigned basic cleaning duties, but without supervision, they never worked particularly hard.
That was why Luri was cleaning late into the night.
“Have you finished cleaning?”
—Kyuuung.
“You have done well. You may return now.”
—Kyuuung!
The spirits brightened at the word return.
The spirits that had helped Luri clean were reverse-summoned.
Before long, she was alone in the room.
Luri looked around the chamber she had cleaned.
It was a bedroom.
More precisely, it was the place where Valdrova and Ferda would spend their first night together after their wedding.
As they were only engaged, that future was still far away.
Even so, Luri did not neglect it.
Luri was a maid.
The moment she returned to Valdrova Castle, she had begun cleaning.
A maid’s duty was to arrange and maintain the environment surrounding her master.
To create such an environment, more than fifty servants would ordinarily need to reside in the castle.
To achieve true perfection, at least a hundred would be required.
Yet there were no servants in this castle aside from Luri.
Even so, she was enough.
Unlike frail human maids, she was a Dragon Spawn.
Even among the Silver Dragon’s Spawns, she ranked among the strongest.
Her abilities were sufficient to keep the entire castle in flawless condition.
Even after decades passed, it would remain spotless without requiring major repairs.
‘That is what I can do.’
Maintain perfection.
Perfection meant that everything remained within expectations.
What remained within expectations could be controlled.
There was nothing in this castle that she could not control.
Her life had formed a perfect circle.
‘Ferda...’
At least, it had until he appeared.
‘Ferda Rosnova.’
When Luri first met Ferda, he had been a weak human.
From his appearance alone, he was merely an immature young noble who looked only slightly older than her.
One more third-rate human from whom nothing could be expected.
‘No.’
Ferda had been different from what she expected.
Yet he had not simply been the exact opposite of her expectations, either.
She could never predict what he would do next.
He behaved arrogantly, yet always accepted responsibility for his actions.
He looked like an emotionless psychopath, but when standing before Valdrova, he resembled a boy who knew nothing of the world.
He acted unlike someone his age, yet also exactly like someone his age.
No matter how she tried to define him, he could not be defined.
An incomplete being.
“A variable...”
Yes.
That variable was what had disturbed the tranquil flow of her life.
Luri hated variables.
Things she could not control made her powerless.
She hated being powerless.
Therefore, such things had to be eliminated.
But Ferda could not be eliminated.
He was Valdrova’s fiancé.
And so everything had begun to change, eventually creating situations even Luri could no longer control.
‘It was not a bad thing.’
The changes had been positive.
The stagnant territory had begun to develop, and Ferda was gradually establishing his reputation and public standing.
He boldly pursued things Luri would never have attempted, changing everything around him.
The emotions she felt toward his astounding achievements were complicated.
Yet Luri already knew what that feeling was.
‘Impatience.’
She had lived hundreds of years longer than that eighteen-year-old child.
She had served for hundreds of years longer.
Yet she feared that a man who had not even been here for a year might change everything.
That he might take everything away from her.
That was why she had tried to meet Silverwind.
Everything else was changing, so perhaps they had changed as well.
And even if they had not, perhaps there was something she could do about it.
‘There was nothing I could do.’
She had been powerless.
The situation, the difference in strength—everything had gone beyond her expectations.
‘And then... I...’
She had lit the fuse that had already been pulled taut.
By making unnecessary contact with Silverwind.
By unnecessarily forcing Ferda to confront Goz.
Of course, the matter might have been resolved more gently.
Had Ferda spoken less harshly,
had he not shown his hostility so openly,
perhaps things could have ended peacefully.
Yes.
Ferda had escalated the situation.
She could have comforted herself by blaming him.
But Luri could not do that.
‘Had I never interfered in the first place... none of it would have happened.’
Luri had been the starting point of everything.
And yet the words she had said were—
“Who... asked you to help me?”
Clench.
Her grip tightened.
Things were awkward between them even now, and that awkwardness would likely persist for a long time.
How was she supposed to look at him from now on?
How was she supposed to face him?
Luri had no idea what she should do.
An uncontrollable variable.
Now that it had even penetrated her emotions, she was confused.
As Luri stood there in a daze, the air before her rippled.
A wind spirit manifested in a hurry and appeared beside her.
—Kyuuung! Kyuuung!
The spirit was in a panic.
Luri recognized it as the one she had sent to Count Consilus’s castle to observe the situation.
“Report.”
The wind spirit delivered its report in a flustered voice.
Luri had intended to listen calmly.
She could not.
“Is that... true?”
The variable never stopped moving.