Chapter 175

Chapter 175: Golden Goblin

Ferda asked, bewildered.
— Do you dislike the title of ‘Your Highness’?
— It’s not that I dislike it, it’s just uncomfortable. Ferda-san, you are going to be my man, right?
— That is correct.
— If you call me the way everyone else does, don’t you think there is too much distance?
He nodded as if agreeing with her words.
— Then would it be alright to call you Valdrova-nim?
— I don’t like ‘nim’ either. I would like you to call me with familiarity, like someone who knows me.
— Do you mean you would like me to call you ‘Valdrova’…?
— How about a nickname instead of that?
— A-a nickname?
A proposal as cute as her voice arrived.
— Penelope, you see. She calls Jed ‘Jeje’, and Penelope ‘Pepe’.
— Is that so?
He knew because they often called each other that when speaking.
— So I also want to call Ferda-san ‘Pepe’… but since the nickname would overlap, it feels a bit strange.
— …Indeed.
The Shadow Circle reacted.
Ferda’s hatred toward Penelope overflowed.
— Then how about ‘Perper’?
— If it pleases you, Your Highness, I will gladly accept it.
Perper.
It was similar to monster names passed down in the western region, but Ferda was satisfied with that.
— What would you like to do, Ferda-san?
— What do you mean?
— A nickname.
He was startled.
— …Do I have to do it too?
— Since my name is Valdrova… wouldn’t ‘Balbali’ work?
— Bal…
— I looked it up, and they say that’s what a small puppy is called.
Valdrova made a puppy gesture.
His face flushed, and he couldn’t move his hands and feet.
He bit his lip hard so as not to make a pathetic expression and lose his composure.
— Try it once. Balbali.
— Bal…
— Yes.
— Valdrova Your Majesty.
The floating expectation burst like a balloon.
— Is it not good?
Valdrova asked like a puppy that had been swatted after its expectations were betrayed.
Ferda held onto his frayed reason and replied.
— Yes, that is difficult.
— Why?
— You are a dragon, Your Highness Valdrova, and I am human. That gap is as wide a difference as between a king and a commoner, no matter what.
And although the married lives of commoners might feature informal speech, in noble lives centered on political marriages, affectionate nicknames for each other were a difficult matter.
— I understand.
An atmosphere of understanding.
Ferda was able to exhale a sigh of relief.
— Then when are we getting married?
The second round followed immediately.
He felt like the black tea he was drinking might come back up.
— For now, it will probably be after Hestia Village prospers…
He thought he would only be able to become someone the other dragons Ruri mentioned would acknowledge around that time.
— When is that?
— It will take at least 5 years.
— I cannot wait that long.
Valdrova was firm.
— You make even the arrival of tomorrow so exciting that it is painful… waiting 5 years is impossible.
— Even so, getting married right away is also difficult.
— Because of that, at least change what you call me. That way I can wait a little longer.
— …
— Balbali!
Ferda was left speechless at Valdrova’s firm appearance.
Is this the same woman who was always anxious about making a slip of the tongue?
He wondered if that damn devil hadn’t taught her some strange trick.
— …Bal…
Ferda forced his mouth open.
— It seems I cannot call Her Highness Valdrova’s name carelessly.
Ferda spoke softly.
— The name ‘Valdrova’ is a name that must be respected. Treating it lightly is unnecessary both as your fiancé and for the people who believe in the Archduchess.
— Mmm… is that so?
Valdrova showed disappointment again.
Of course, it was just an excuse.
An excuse that Ferda forced because he couldn’t do such a thing.
The worry that she might become upset over repeated rejections slipped in.
— Then…
But Valdrova does not give up.
With a voice like sunlight breaking through gloomy clouds, she said this.
— Let’s decide on a new name.
— A new name…?
— Think about it. My name is used in many other places. Ferda-san, you will also receive the name Valdrova now.
Archduchy of Valdrova, Castle of Valdrova, and Valdrova.
— If we cannot make the name ‘Valdrova’ light, then my name that only Ferda-san can call. Please, create that name for me.
— How could I create Your Highness’s name?
— A name exists because someone calls it, so someone else has to create it, right? So I want Ferda-san to create my name. And…
Excitement spread through her restless fingers.
— From now on, Ferda-san will be the one who calls it the most…
The name I will call the most.
He desperately hid his burning face by turning his head.
He believes he understands Valdrova’s feelings.
What is easy for others but difficult for one person.
— Understood. I will think about it and tell you.
— Yes.
— Is there anything else you would like to say?
— Mmm… ah!
She let out an exclamation and began to chatter about something.
— Penelope, you see…
— …
The excitement and embarrassment were shattered.
Listening to the story she shared about her first friend, Ferda thought.
Let’s find her a new friend before a name.
Ferda examined the current situation for territory management.
What all living beings need is food, clothing, and shelter.
Among them, food is by far the most important, and within that, drink is an element that cannot be left aside.
Most of the Archduchy of Valdrova’s water sources are drawn from streams, and when water is scarce, underground reservoirs are used.
Unless it is an extreme drought where rivers dry up completely, the conditions to overcome difficult crises were in place.
Ferda had also originally planned to draw water from the river.
But through this incident, he realized how complacent that plan was.
‘Rivers can be contaminated at any time.’
When the monsters besieged them, they contaminated the river water to dry out the Archduchy.
He learned that things directly connected to life can easily collapse if they have major variables.
‘But I turned it into another opportunity.’
Marquis Vernel.
He survived the siege because Vernel created a purification device.
After the monster subjugation war, Isabella moved busily to actively utilize this purification device.
And she showed Ferda the fruit of those efforts.
— This is the place.
The location of the second gift Isabella mentioned.
It was a place far from Hestia Village in the Archduchy.
Precisely, it was a place that could be called the border of the Devil’s Land.
Originally there should have been a wasteland, but a single stone building stood solitary there.
— It looks like a tomb.
It looks trivial from the outside.
Isabella infused mana and unlocked the security device, opening the door.
Upon opening the door, he knew.
What is important is underground.
Ferda followed Isabella down.
After descending about 5 meters, a spiral staircase ended and an open space appeared.
— This is the second gift from the Magic Tower of Iorga.
A space the size of the Empire’s Colosseum arena.
The outer walls were supported by hard stone and other materials, and inside, long pipes were intricately designed.
A construction that would have taken humans at least 10 years.
— When did they make a space like this?
— The Iorga side proceeded with the construction when we headed to the capital. You don’t need to worry about safety.
Which meant not even a month had passed.
As expected from the Phase of Magic, such complex and troublesome work was a piece of cake.
— Does the Iorga side do this type of work often?
— They do it if necessary, but they don’t do it for humans. Especially not for other dragons.
— The power of the alliance.
— That is correct.
The alliance was only in name.
‘As expected, it’s out of pride.’
The pride of the Dragon Spawns is famous for being unstoppable.
Those who inherited their blood are soon father, mother, and god to them.
They do not forgive those who insult them and consider actions that do not live up to that name a dishonor.
The fact that Marquis Vernel purified the Devil’s Water is a dishonor to them.
These gifts can be seen as a means to recover from that dishonor.
‘If I keep picking at their pride like this, I wonder what will come out.’
Ferda remembered the legend of the Golden Goblin.
An old joke that the more you hit it, the more money comes out; it overlapped with Iorga.
Fearing his true feelings would be discovered, Ferda diverted his gaze along the pipe.
The pipes were complex, but the overall picture was clear.
A large pipe placed where the Devil’s Land was, and round steel barrels passing through it.
After passing through about three of those barrels, the layout led to Hestia Village.
He wondered how this worked.
— Oh, greetings to the Regent.
Right on time, someone came to explain it.
Marquis Vernel was there.
— To think I would see you here.
Normally he should be locked in the laboratory of Valdrova Castle, so seeing him in this basement, far from the village, was even more surprising.
— Since it is important work, I was checking with my own eyes if anything was missing. Tens of thousands of liters of water will be supplied through these pipes, so I must examine them meticulously, mustn’t I?
A shine of a different dimension from when he manufactured the magitech rifle became evident.
No matter what happens, it seems his heart inevitably leans toward practical things like this instead of manufacturing weapons.
— Explain. How does the purification work?
— Of course! If you look here, on this side…
Listening to the explanation, Ferda honestly had no expectations.
But something surprising occurred.
‘Does he explain better than I thought?’
Unlike when he explained the principles of mana stones, he was explaining simply and clearly, on a different level.
Appropriate analogies made understanding arise.
‘Well, simplifying it so Malcolm could understand was no easy task either.’
The extremes met and managed to trim the words so that Ferda, somewhere in between, could understand.
Anyway, to summarize easily, it was like installing several layers of fine filters to extract the cleanest water possible.
— I heard scaling up is difficult, but you managed it.
— That is correct. I said 3 years back then, didn’t I?
It was the research period Vernel said would make it possible to extract water from the Devil’s Land and supply it stably.
He said scaling up was needed, and above all, since it was a security-sensitive matter, they needed to verify if the supply would be stable.
— That part became easy thanks to the Iorga side taking charge!
Isabella took over Vernel’s words.
— Inside these barrels are the large-scale purification devices that our Iorga presents.
— Could 3 years be shortened so extremely?
— The Magic Tower of the Blue Eye aspires to the best magic on the continent. Tasks that require trial and error are places where the Iorga side can perform trials and errors that humans cannot, dozens of times.
— Truly amazing. If they did this in Escolleia, they would only complain about whether there was money left over.
Isabella spoke with great pride, and Vernel praised her.
Ferda muttered as he listened.
— Golden Goblin…
— Yes?
— Nothing.
For some reason, only that word kept swirling in his head.
Ferda, thinking there was nothing else to be cautious about, decided to take a leap forward using what had been crouching as propulsion.
He decided to push forward the revival of magitech engineering in Hestia Village.
— These are cooperation proposals sent from Escolleia. They all seem fine, so you only need to approve them.
It is said that those who study the magitech that Vernel presented have increased with the conviction that it will open a new era in Escolleia.
Surprisingly, those studying this magitech scholarship came from wizard families with a certain recognition.
Ferda could understand their hearts.
‘They want revenge on their families.’
Among them, how many burn purely with academic passion and live the life of a scholar?
It was a refuge chosen by those labeled clumsy by their families, or expelled from succession struggles.
Those who lived as wizards harboring poison, naturally, feel hatred for the privileged who monopolize magic.
The current Chancellor of Escolleia was such a person.
— Mana Stone Carriage Development Plan
‘Making a carriage using mana stones…’
When that time comes, the word ‘mana automobile’ will be used more than ‘carriage’.
A carriage that moves not by horses but by a wizard’s mana; an object ignored for not being proper for nobility.
But such stubbornness collapses in an instant and the roads fill with mana automobiles.
‘I wanted this part…’
Allies cannot be made if one takes everything.
He handed this to Stefan.
He paid the price for Stefan’s unconditional support for the East.
‘Anyway, it’s just part of the business.’
Ferda had some businesses in mind.
He handed the organized documents to Isabella.
— Administrator.
— Yes.
— These are things I researched personally. Can you secure investment for this here as well?
Isabella opened the documents.
Upon seeing the title on the first cover, she reflexively frowned.
— Are you trying to purchase desert sand extraction rights?
— That is correct.
In the South, sand is everywhere.
She turned to the next page wondering what he would do buying all that sand.
— Glass.
What Ferda wants is the glass business.
— There was someone who presented a plan to industrialize glass. I plan to bring that person and build a glass factory.
— A glass factory… Of course it is a good item among luxury goods, but the demand won’t be that high, will it?
— Look at the next page.
She turned the next page as Ferda said.
She was able to understand his words.
— Glass that does not break easily without magical processing…
The word glass and ‘does not break’ were too heterogeneous.
— Do you think this is possible, Ferda-nim?
Isabella did not seem convinced.
But Ferda knows.
That glass used only for noble crafts will also come to be used in civilian houses.
As magitech technology develops, the paradigm of luxury changes.
— The possibility is enough.
The possibility is enough.
What if someone else said that?
Isabella would not only disapprove of the work, but she would scold them for wasting money.
‘He must have an idea.’
What Isabella knows about Ferda is that he is not someone who does things impulsively.
Due to that trust, Isabella gathered the documents in silence.
— I will push this forward. And…
Isabella spoke as if she had just remembered.
She made a disgusted expression that she rarely showed and said.
— That unpleasant witch seems to have produced results on the project.
The reason for her disgust is clear without needing to ask.