Chapter 23: I Want to See Her Again
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 23: I Want to See Her Again
“What in the world did you do last night?”
It was Jed who threw the question.
The brown-haired man looked down at a certain spot with an expression of utter disbelief. His gaze was fixed on Ferda, who was currently sprawled across the bed.
“Nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened? Then why is a man who had ‘nothing happen’ lying there unable to move a single muscle?”
Ferda was only moving his face, looking as if he had lost all strength below the neck.
Ferda always made his rounds in the morning. Since he had never missed a single day, his sudden failure to appear was enough to suggest that something had gone terribly wrong. And just as Jed suspected, Ferda was currently bedridden and immobile.
“If I say nothing happened, then nothing happened.”
“Right, of course.”
Since Ferda was stubbornly denying it to the end, Jed couldn't press him any further.
There’s no need to tell him the whole story, Ferda thought.
He had been struck by a protective attendant, nearly died at the hands of his fiancée, and then actually almost died because he poured every ounce of his mana into that same fiancée. In the simple-minded world of the nobility, if he told that story, it would be summarized as the tale of a pathetic fool.
So, Ferda kept it to himself, savoring the memory alone.
It was a truly intense night.
The pain in his arm hadn't subsided yet, but he had received worthy compensation.
The Dragon’s Countenance.
Usually, the term referred to the face of a king, but in this case, it was literally the face of a dragon. Just as a peasant would consider it the greatest honor to behold the King’s face even once, Ferda considered seeing that Dragon’s Countenance his greatest glory.
That’s the last thing I remember.
Ferda recalled Valdrova’s face from his final memory. His consciousness had cut out right after seeing her, and when he woke up, he was staring at the ceiling above his bed.
And Jed’s face.
The fellow was still hovering around.
“I have one favor to ask.”
“What is it? Just say the word.”
“Get your face out of my sight. You’re ruining the mood.”
“……”
He didn't want to overwrite the lingering afterglow of the dragon with the face of a pretty-boy subordinate. Jed moved his face away as requested, wearing a sour expression that clearly said, Is this guy insane?
“How is Burnell’s research going?”
“That? He said he doesn’t have to do that disgusting business of cutting tendons and slicing flesh anymore. He’s doing quite well.”
Jed had been attending to Burnell to ensure there were no inconveniences in his research. He had done so much work that he could rightfully pride himself on having played a significant part in the progress.
“Are you certain?”
“It’s probably certain.”
“Do you realize that ‘probably’ and ‘certain’ are words that shouldn't be used together?”
“I didn’t let that Burnell fellow sleep properly. Usually, if someone doesn’t sleep for about three days, they go crazy and give up, but he’s remarkably stubborn. He was crying and wailing that he wanted to sleep, but then he’d sit right back down and grab his research again, saying it was essential work and he couldn't cut corners. So, it’s certain.”
“I see.”
Ferda wasn't particularly concerned that Burnell had suffered under Jed. All great work was inherently painful. He simply focused on the joy of having taken a giant leap forward in Magitech.
“So, how long do you have to stay in bed? Can’t you work today?”
“It seems so. I should recover on my own after about a day.”
“Hmm… do I need to look after you?” Jed asked, his voice thick with annoyance.
“No, I want to be alone. I have things to think about.”
“I’ve been waiting to hear those words. Phew. I’m going to go rest, so don’t look for me for at least two days.”
“Fine.”
Jed shook his head in disbelief and withdrew from the room.
Ferda closed his eyes while lying on the bed. It wasn't to go back to sleep, but to recall his memories more vividly.
It was a great harvest.
Ferda sank into his recollections.
A truly great harvest.
A vision of small, glossy lips. Two pairs of black horns and flowing red hair. Embedded in those large eyes were golden cat-eyes, shimmering with moisture.
That was the polymorph form of the Red Dragon, Valdrova.
There were many unexpected parts.
When Ferda first saw her, she had appeared in armor and stood well over two meters tall. But in reality, she was the height of an ordinary woman, about a head shorter than him.
And… she didn't have a scary face.
As the Aspect of Power, Valdrova possessed the most terrifying form among all dragons. She was a dragon so fearsome that no one would dare to underestimate her. It was said that when a dragon polymorphs, their impression changes according to their disposition.
When still, she looked like an iron lady, an alluring rose. She gave the impression that anyone who dared to grasp her would be pricked by her thorns and regret their arrogance.
…But that wasn't it.
She had a gentle face, unlike a sovereign. A woman’s impression is often determined by the corners of her eyes, and hers turned downward, giving her a soft, puppy-like look. It was a face that seemed better suited for a bright, childlike smile than a cold, mature one.
It does fit her, considering her social phobia and timid nature.
A beauty where everything was an exception, yet everything was exactly as expected. Ferda thought as he recalled her image.
I want to see her again.
It was the first time he had felt such an emotion since he developed the habit of remembering things in minute detail. Even though the image was clearly imprinted in his mind, he felt a physical longing to see her in person.
I want to see her again.
At that moment, Ferda could finally understand the feelings of men suffering from lovesickness. He felt like tearing his hair out or running to her right this instant.
“You seem to be having some strange fantasies.”
Suddenly, the voice of the young maid reached his ears.
“I would appreciate it if you stopped immediately.”
Opening his eyes, he saw the girl with silver eyes looking down at him. Her attitude and expression were as businesslike as ever.
“How is your body?” Ruri asked.
“I think I’m feeling better.”
“You should be. I treated you personally, after all.”
“Your skills are top-notch. It couldn't have been easy.”
“It was more difficult than when I heal my Master, but it was manageable.”
Ruri looked down at him with a frown. Strangely, her gaze was quite different from how she usually looked at Ferda.
“You could have died,” she said, her tone laced with worry. “Overloading your mana circuits while they’re active… an ordinary human would have stopped from the burning pain long before that.”
“It was nothing to me.”
“I know. I know you’re the type of person who enjoys that sort of thing.”
Ruri muttered something incomprehensible before continuing.
“Thank you.”
It was an abrupt expression of gratitude.
“For what?”
“This was the first time my Master’s screaming stopped.” Her face remained expressionless. “And it’s the first time I’ve seen my Master fall into a peaceful sleep. That night, you did a great deal for her, Lord Ferda.”
However, sadness seeped through her eyes.
“And I am sorry.”
Her gaze slid down to Ferda’s right arm.
“Because you blew my arm away?”
“……”
She bit her lip and nodded. A Dragon Spawn admitting her fault and apologizing to a human was a rare sight.
“It’s fine. I won’t hold a grudge or hate you for something like that.”
“…Are you really okay after being hit that hard?”
“My body was weak to begin with. It happens often, so don’t worry about it. I’ll be able to move soon enough.”
“Can you move now?”
“I’ll move when the time is right.”
For now, he couldn't move anything except his face.
“Haven’t I always said? I hold your loyalty in high regard. Just like—”
“Like a dog?”
“Yes.”
Ruri nodded at his words.
“That’s right. I’m a real bitch.”
“I didn’t go quite that far.”
Only then did Ferda realize that it certainly sounded like an insult in common parlance.
“Anyway, you’ve done your best in what you could do. You didn't ruin things by overreaching for what you couldn't, did you? That’s enough.”
“……”
“I am expressing my gratitude to you for looking after her until I could meet her.”
“If you say so, then thank you.”
Ruri’s expression brightened slightly. The heavy atmosphere dissipated to some extent.
“So, how is my fiancée doing?”
“I was just about to mention that…” Her face turned heavy again. “Don’t even think about meeting her for the time being.”
Ferda’s expression turned serious. “Didn't you just say it was thanks to me and all that?”
“That is that, and this is this.”
Ruri had returned to being the firm little maid. Ferda asked her for the reason.
“What is the reason?”
“The problem is what you did when you met.”
“What I did? Just because I held her hand?”
Holding hands was hardly a grand enough act to be called ‘what he did.’
“I’m talking about giving her mana.”
“Is that something that could be a problem for your Master?”
“If I had to say, it’s a problem for both of you.” Her eyes stared intently at Ferda. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Ferda asked her. “Did something happen to the Archduchess?”
“Since her contact with you, Lord Ferda, she has started making… female sounds.”
Question marks filled Ferda’s mind. “Female sounds?”
“They are sounds most unbecoming of a sovereign. They are the sounds she hates most, second only to screaming.”
Ferda couldn't quite grasp what those sounds were. But he didn't try to find out either.
“And what is my problem?”
“To save my Master, you squeezed out so much mana that you were on the verge of losing your life.”
“Well, as long as I didn't die, it’s fine.”
“That kind of results-oriented thinking won’t work. If you want to stand proudly as her fiancé, don’t even speak of it until you are at least at the 4th Circle.”
The 4th Circle. The stage called the true beginning of a Mage. Ferda wondered why she was setting such a specific standard. So, he mentally recalled and calculated the amount of mana he had poured out.
The amount of mana was exactly around the 4th Circle.
It was an amount of mana that would have been impossible without the Red Circle. And without the rapid rotation of the Red Circle, the mana recovery speed would have been truly impossible. If anything had been off by even a single beat, Ferda would have ended up either a corpse or a cripple.
But at the same time, it was only possible because it was me.
Being able to withstand and squeeze out such a violent flow was only possible because he was a Mage who had once reached the 9th Circle.
But because I squeezed it out like this, it will be difficult to properly operate the Red Circle for a while.
According to Ferda’s estimation, it would take about a month to return to his original condition.
“If you are to be her husband, you need to start taking care of your body. Do not take unnecessary risks.”
Ruri’s hands smoothed the wrinkles in the blanket and tucked it snugly up to his neck. It was a service she had never provided before.
“And for today, you are to rest without thinking about anything. If you need anything, I will come, so just call for me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Ferda nodded obediently.
“And, congratulations.”
“For what?”
“Haven’t you reached the 3rd Circle?”
“?”
Ferda didn't know what she was talking about. At least, not until he focused on his Dantian.
…What?
Just as she said, three circles were rotating inside Ferda’s body. He had reached the 3rd Circle.
* * *
The next day, after confirming he could move his body, Ferda returned to his office and spoke with Burnell.
“I heard you’ve made great progress in your research. Congratulations.”
“A-Ah, no. It’s only just the beginning…”
“A month and a half? You’re making progress at a truly revolutionary speed.”
“I-I suppose so,” Burnell answered in a trembling voice.
It was indeed a revolutionary speed. The past month and a half had been more meaningful than the seven years he had spent researching until now.
The equipment is better, the environment is better, and the specimens are better, but…
Above all, the pressure pushing him was the greatest factor.
Am I the type who gets stronger when pushed to the limit?
He felt like he was going crazy from the lack of sleep. But it wasn't all bad; he was able to identify blind spots he hadn't noticed before and shore up his weaknesses. Through work that could only be done when one wasn't in their right mind, his hypotheses had become solid enough to move into experimentation.
“From now on, I don’t need living specimens. Instead, I’ll need a lot of monster corpses…”
“Monster corpses?”
It was like looking for sand in a desert or trees in a forest. The Far East was crawling with monsters.
“Archduchess Valdrova is active on the front lines. Can we just take the ones she kills there?”
“I heard she’s killing things the size of houses. For me to research those… there are many problems. They’re too big…”
“Then can’t you just become big yourself? You could use a Giantification spell. I think Echidna can use it…?”
“Ah, it’s not a matter of size. The biggest problem is that if such large corpses stay in the East for too long, erosion occurs, and it could turn into black land like the Far East. I don’t want to go that far. Besides, the structure of something that large might be different.”
“What do you mean the structure might be different?”
“Yes. Since they grow large by eating junk mana, there’s a certain hardness to the things they form, right? If they become too hard and the structure becomes too dense and compressed, they crystallize, and I can’t use them for research.”
As the conversation threatened to turn into a technical lecture, Ferda grasped the context and cut it short.
“I think I get the gist of it. So, to move forward step by step, you need to start with smaller ones first?”
“Yes. The research I’m doing now is centered around things similar to or smaller than the one you caught, Regent. Since those are more widely known, they’re easier to obtain if we look for them…”
“So, roughly how many hundreds of monsters do you need?”
“That is…” Burnell glanced at him tentatively. “I think I’ll need… at least 1,000…?”
Ferda thought to himself after hearing that.
He’s a real money-pit.
He was making a demand that would shock not only ordinary nobles but even wealthy high-ranking officials. If Ferda hadn't known who this man was, he might have kicked him right out of the castle gates. But Ferda knew that this man would eventually succeed.
“I understand. I’ll speak to the Lords first.”
“O-Oh, do you think we can get that many?”
“Monsters are caught by the dozens every day. You don’t need living ones anymore?”
“I-It would be good to have them, but since I’d have to manage them…”
“Don’t worry. Jed seems to be good at managing things, so I’ll assign him to you.”
“No! That’s not necessary! It’s not like I’m showing noticeable progress like in the early stages! Yes! It’s not necessary! So you don’t have to tell him, hahahaha! Please! Spare me!”
Burnell begged him to withdraw the offer, looking absolutely horrified.
“If you say so.”
“S-So, how do you plan to get the corpses? Are you going out to hunt again?”
“Hmm…”
Ferda had captured one alive because it was manageable, but he couldn't go out hunting every time.
“The most common way would be to put out a bounty, but…”
Even now, expenses were high due to facilities and equipment, so he was reluctant to increase the burden, even by a small amount.
“For now, it would be best to have the initial supply offered as tribute.”
“Tribute…?”
Ferda answered the bewildered Burnell.
“The world is full of fools.”
And Ferda knew exactly how to lure those fools in.