Chapter 129

I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 129: A Wretched World

A Wretched World
Chapter 129. A Vicious World
The noble son who had departed in the middle of the night had passed out when the carriage disintegrated.
But not long after, he got up again.
— “Mmm…”
He regained consciousness once more.
His body ached from the impact, and he let out a groan.
— “Ugh… what is this?”
Both hands were tied to the armrests, and his neck was also bound to the backrest, forcing him to stare straight ahead.
What entered his vision was a single candle.
And on the opposite side, a gray-haired man exuding a somber atmosphere was seated.
He rested his face in both hands, looking toward him.
Those deep blue eyes, like a fathomless lake, seemed to emit light.
The man knew who this individual was.
It was Ferda Valdrova.
The man understood the situation immediately.
Or, rather, he was not sure if he understood it.
He let out a chuckle and spoke to the man in front of him.
— “How about saying something? You kidnapped a person and haven’t said a single word.”
Only then did Ferda open his mouth.
— “To be honest, I was scared.”
— “Scared?”
— “I wondered if I was making a mistake. What if I kidnapped an innocent person and killed him?”
Ferda untied his hands and leaned back against the backrest.
— “But it was the right answer.”
He spat out the name of the culprit who had called Valdrova a murderer.
— “Marcus Urey.”
The eldest son and heir of the Ducal House of Urey.
He was the very auditory hallucination of Valdrova.
— “I believe you know why you were dragged here.”
— “Yes, I know.”
Marcus Urey looked at Ferda with empty eyes and sneered.
— “Her Highness the Grand Duchess seems to have heard that well? I thought she would ignore the voice of the people.”
— “Such a vile human who doesn’t even know his place…”
Ruri flared up and tried to take a step forward.
Ferda stopped Ruri in silence.
Ruri obeyed Ferda’s words.
Ferda was no less angry.
— “—Why did you do it?”
— “Why? Isn’t the reason enough?”
He let out a madman’s burst of laughter.
— “My father is a war criminal now, and people are crowding to tear down our ducal house. Aren’t you also sucking the lifeblood out of our territory with the refugees?”
— “Isn’t that because you people are stupid?”
Ferda retorted aggressively.
— “Your father clumsily requested mediation and caused that disaster, so what were we supposed to do?”
— “Shouldn’t you just return the refugees?”
— “Stay silent in winter and then speak up when spring arrives? You’re saying something completely shameless.”
— “Right. It’s shameless. Since you treated us like a free soup kitchen.”
He smiled.
As if he had caught onto something good.
— “But isn’t your side just as shameless?”
— “…”
— “It has been 150 years since the Dragon-Demon War broke out. How many people did the Grand Duchess kill in that time? Because you killed so many, you decided to reflect and keep living, isn’t that right?”
He added in a low voice.
— “If you’re a murderer, act like one and crawl back inside.”
At that, Marcus, whose whole body was tied up, fell backward.
It was not Ruri who pounced on him.
It was Ferda, who had lost his reason.
Instead of magic, he clenched his fist tightly and struck Marcus’s face.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
A merciless beating.
Ferda punched Marcus’s face with all his might.
Crack!
A terribly gut-wrenching sound.
What shattered was not Marcus’s face.
As proof, Ferda’s wrist lost strength and ended up battered.
Marcus’s face was only slightly swollen.
— “Hehehe… The Regent’s fist is truly fragile, unable to even cause a nosebleed.”
— “Shut up.”
Ferda knew this would happen.
Even knowing it, he could not contain himself.
Because he wanted to shatter that bastard’s face with his own hands, not with magic.
— “Your right hand is broken, so will you hit him with the left now? Why don’t you try it?”
Marcus mocked Ferda ceaselessly.
Ferda grabbed him by the collar and said.
— “Don’t be in such a hurry. This is only the beginning.”
Ferda knew how to make a person neither dead nor alive.
He would mobilize all that knowledge and gift this man a cruel life.
Marcus chuckled and laughed maniacally.
— “The beginning? Who said I’d let you start however you like?”
— “Why? Do you think I’ll follow the rules of those high nobles? Or do you plan to die before I can even torment you? If you’re confident, go ahead, die. But you won’t be able to. As long as you’re in my hands, whether I kill you or keep you alive depends on me.”
Ferda tried to overwhelm him with his gaze.
Even so, there was not the slightest sign of fear.
Ferda could tell.
That he had one trick left.
— “Regent Ferda, welcome to the vicious world.”
At the end of those words, an afterimage seemed to appear on his neck, and space distorted.
Crack! Crunch!
Marcus’s neck bent in a zigzag and twisted completely.
He died instantly right there.
The sudden silence turned into an atmosphere of bewilderment.
Ruri, who had witnessed everything, called his name.
— “Ferda-nim?”
— “—I didn’t do it.”
When Ferda answered, Ruri asked with concern.
— “Could it be that you lost your reason and control…?”
— “No, it’s not that.”
He was angry, but he did not feel that overwhelming rage he had experienced with Eremvalt.
Ferda calmly examined the area of Marcus’s neck.
— “Look.”
There, traces of a black magic type magic circle remained.
— “He must have set it so that upon uttering the keyword, his neck would twist automatically.”
— “Then that greeting was the keyword.”
Ruri, who had thought he had lost his reason, apologized immediately.
— “I apologize. For superficially doubting Ferda-nim…”
— “No, it’s not something to apologize for.”
She looked at Ferda with an expression asking what he meant.
— “Just as you doubted me, won’t others see it the same way?”
Ferda observed this situation with perspective.
What was certain was that his appearance was that of someone sinking into a swamp.
— “Ruri.”
— “Yes.”
— “Did you say you attacked the carriage and brought him?”
She nodded.
— “That’s right. I suppressed the urge to slaughter them all and only brought this damn thing.”
— “Are you sure they don’t know it was you?”
— “Few people have seen my face… but if they try to find out, they will discover it somehow.”
She had even unleashed Dragon Fear to prevent unnecessary slaughter, so it was certain.
“The problem is whether to go report this, or return to the castle…”
Right now it was uncertain, but either way the situation was not good.
If they opted for the former, Duke Urey would interrogate and it would become a bigger issue.
If they opted for the latter, they would have to retrieve Marcus Urey’s corpse with his neck severed.
Right now, this situation looked like nothing other than Ferda killing Duke Urey’s son in a fit of rage after he insulted Valdrova.
— “You admitted yourself that you insulted the Grand Duchess, didn’t you?”
— “Since it wasn’t public, it doesn’t count.”
He had muttered that so only Valdrova, with her sharp hearing, could hear it. It was intentional.
Ferda knew it.
That trying to prove it would also be a problem.
“Black magic will definitely be brought up.”
The reason Marcus Urey died was black magic.
If black magic comes to light, the focus will center there, and the narrative will tilt toward Ferda using black magic.
He knew this because the Ferda of the past had done it.
Black magic was a stigma, and they had been desperate to kill Ferda with it.
Young Master Marcus’s death had already plunged Ferda into a sticky swamp.
“Who benefits from this death?”
The first one that came to Ferda’s mind was Duke Urey.
Duke Urey was a human who branded refugees as rebellious scum and used them as an example before his own knights.
Using his own son as a stepping stone was a plausible enough story.
— What will you do with the corpse?
Ferda looked down at Duke Urey’s son with his twisted neck.
There were several disposal methods.
He could bury it somewhere, feed it to monsters, or burn it completely to erase it.
The old Ferda could easily have chosen those options, but not now.
He was the Regent leading the Grand Duchy,
the acting lord of Hestia Village,
and Valdrova’s fiancé.
— ……Ruthless.
Ferda muttered that.
It was then.
Someone swung open the door of the interrogation room and came in.
— Regent Ferda-nim. The Tower Master-nim has made contact…….
Isabella stopped speaking when she saw the corpse with the twisted neck.
— What exact situation is this?
— It’s complicated to explain properly, but just know that he paid for the crime of insulting the Grand Duke.
— Mmm.
As a dragon descendant, Isabella quickly accepted the death of the irreverent one.
At the same time, as an administrator, she made a complex expression at the death of a noble.
Ruri rebuked her intrusion.
— How can you enter without even knocking?
— I know I’ve been rude, but it’s that important.
Isabella showed the crystal orb she was holding to Ferda.
— The Tower Master-nim contacted us urgently. Please connect right now.
— Understood.
Ferda connected his mind to the crystal orb Isabella brought.
— Regent. I’ll skip the greetings since you’re busy.
Erika said with a nervous voice.
— Are you in the middle of enjoying the Spring Festival?
— No.
— Has the Spring Festival ended then?
— Nominally it has ended, but many still remain at the castle.
— The young lords and ladies haven’t left yet, right?
— Some departed in the middle of the night.
— If they have gone far there’s nothing we can do, but gather as many as you can for now!
Erika explained why she was so nervous.
— Right now, the Grand Duchy has been occupied by monsters! If they move now, everyone will die helplessly!
A state of emergency was declared throughout the peaceful Grand Duchy of Valdrova.
Not only Hestia Village, which bordered the Demonic Land, but all the nobles under its rule.
Ferda created a map of the current situation with the cooperation of Isabella and Ruri.
Looking at the completed map, Ferda said this.
— ……It has become an island.
The line of monsters was precisely isolating the Far East.
— They are not ordinary monsters. They are colossal monsters. They have gathered centered around colossal monsters similar in size to the ones Valdrova-nim usually handles.
— How many in total?
— 12.
12 meant 12 legions, and a situation where 12 legions were isolating them.
Colossal monsters that could effortlessly tear down a castle if they moved.
Ferda had seen Valdrova fight and had confirmed her power.
“If those things move…….”
The territory being devastated was only a matter of time.
— The fortunate thing within the misfortune is that those colossals lack mobility.
— Which means there’s no risk of them charging all at once.
— The problem is the ability of the colossal monsters.
— What ability?
— Reproduction. They are giving birth to monsters and forming legions.
Their role is that of a monster breeding ground.
Making them continuously produce without Gokma moving separately to spill out monsters.
— Dozens of monsters already surround the center of each mother, and they are still giving birth to monsters right now. If procreation isn’t stopped, they will become legions of thousands in an instant.
— If they are thousands, that will turn into a calamity.
— Mmm…….
The way to stop the continuous production of forces was a mobile attack.
There was nothing else to do but attack quickly.
— What about Her Highness Valdrova stepping forward…….?
— Of course, that would be best, but…….
Ruri made a worried expression and pointed to where the Demonic Land was.
— Large forces are waiting here. They are all positioned on the front lines that the Master cannot enter.
The intention was transparent.
— They will swarm the moment she is absent.
— That’s right.
It was clever.
That Valdrova was tied to the Lonely Mountain to protect Hestia Village was inevitable.
That they launched such a clever and strategic move meant the intention was visible.
“Gokma, it must be that man.”
With a snap of his finger, a monster burst forth from within.
That man who freely manipulated space would have placed those colossal monsters all over the place.
Ferda made his best move.
— We have no choice but to request aid from the Empire.
Since the Grand Duchy was an internal matter of the Empire, the Empire had to intervene.
Ferda made contact immediately.
— Here is the Regent of the Grand Duchy of Valdrova, Ferda Valdrova-nim! I am Hans, the Communication Mage of the Great Arken Empire!
— Who is the person in charge of this matter occurring in Imperial territory?
— The person in charge, you say?
— Call the highest authority. Monsters are currently invading Imperial territory.
— Ah, yes! Understood! Please wait a moment!
Judging by the reaction of the mage named Hans, the Empire did not seem to know the situation.
After a moment, he heard the sound of the signal changing and the voice changed.
Even the cough to clear the throat dripped with oily smoothness.
— Crown Prince Alexander Arken speaking.
— I greet the Prince.
— Right, I heard. The Empire is also in an uproar right now.
He thought communication might work.
— We need reinforcements. Dispatch Imperial troops to strike as quickly as possible.
— Of course, of course. I will send as many reinforcements as possible. But it will take a little time.
— How much time?
— Two months.
Two months.
Ferda frowned.
“Is this pig bastard mocking me right now?”
— Do you mean to leave those behemoths alone during that time?
— Don’t make such disappointing sounds. We are also doing our best. That’s how much time it takes even with our best efforts, what can we do?
Doing their best.
Ferda, not being a fool, could tell.
There was no urgency in the words spilling from Alexander’s mouth.
He could sense the plan to use this crisis of ruin right now.
— Do you want me to bow my head and beg for something?
— Wow! You know it’s not that, right? War is something that takes a lot of time and money, and following the laws and protocols of the Empire does too! It’s no easy task, that’s what I’m saying.
In short, if he wanted troops dispatched, he was telling him to offer something that could be profitable.
“This despicable pig bastard.”
He wanted to curse him right away, but the current situation was not easy for Ferda.
That weight suppressed Ferda’s temper.
— I will think about it.
Ferda cut the crystal orb connection just like that.
Suppressing his boiling inside, he asked her.
— What do you think will happen if we leave those monsters alone for two months?
— If they keep giving birth to monsters at a steady rate, they will become an army of thousands.
Isabella added to Ruri’s words.
— It’s not just the army, the soil is the problem.
Where monsters remain, life dies.
If the land dies, they would have to dig up that entire area and throw it somewhere.
If the soil dies in a way that surrounds the Grand Duchy, even if the situation is resolved, it will remain in the shape of an island.
“That is the problem.”
They need to eliminate them quickly, but the Empire has no will for swift action.
In the end, it was a situation where Ferda had to do it himself.
— Do you think we can pull it off?
Ruri revealed her anxiety.
— We can pull it off.
We have to.