Chapter 225

I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 225: A Situation More Serious Than Expected

A Situation More Serious Than Expected
Chapter 225. A Situation More Serious Than Expected

— Are you in your right mind, Regent!?
The moment Ureas stepped out of the tent unable to utter a single word, he shouted, his eyes fixed on Ferda.
— What do you mean?
— What do you mean by proceeding with negotiations on your own whim and settling for 40%?!
Like father, like son—or rather, brothers resemble each other.
Alexander’s face could be faintly glimpsed in his features.
Ureas genuinely wanted 45%.
But just because one desires something does not mean everything comes true.
The allied forces’ side had proposed 27%.
Even considering a compromise, it would never have exceeded 35%.
Given Ureas’s personality and diplomatic skills, obtaining 30% would have been a miracle in itself.
Then Ferda seized the opportunity and stepped forward, and that was how the 40% figure came to be.
However, Ureas could not let go of that 5% and was venting his anger on Ferda.
That was why Ferda said this.
— Do not misunderstand.
— What?!
— The only reason I raised it to 40% was so that the Far East could take 10%.
— So you are telling us to take 30% as our share? When you only brought about 500 troops?!
— You are getting 3% more than that, so what is the complaint?
— This is absurd! Count Rooster! What do you think of this situation?!
Count Rooster, who had been watching in silence, only took a look and stopped.
He gave no response.
Even if it looked like a thief’s mentality, there were sufficient reasons.
Ureas, with a mixture of shame, shouted again.
— Besides, if you fail it’s 20%, so aren’t we the ones taking that risk?!
— If we end up retreating and only getting a 20% share, you can keep everything. And we will compensate for the deficit with Far East assets.
At Ferda’s statement, Ureas’s expression hardened.
— What do you mean by Far East assets?
— The magitech weapons that Your Highness has been coveting. We will provide all the items under research until recently to the Second Prince’s army. How does that sound?
A face unable to contain its delight at the mention of a strengthened army.
But stronger than that was greed.
— Even so, do we only get 30%? I would like you to fill that gap a bit more?
Greedy bastard.
But it was to be expected.
— Alright. Whether we fail or succeed, we will support you with magitech weapons. However, we will only provide enough to arm the Royal Guard. How about that?
Since Ureas liked the exhilaration that came from conquest and flaunting power, it was not a bad offer.
— That will not do.
Count Rooster, who had been observing the situation, interruped.
— If you are going to supply weapons to the army, you must support enough to benefit the entire imperial army. Providing only enough to form a Royal Guard brings no benefit.
Does anyone not covet the Far East’s weapons because they are fools and idiots?
His face seemed to say exactly that.
Ferda did not answer.
Because Ureas stepped forward instead.
— What is it that displeases you so much?
Count Rooster bowed his head and replied.
— The small-scale support proposed by Regent Ferda offers no help in strengthening the imperial defense.
— The Empire is the Emperor, and I am the one who will become the Empire. Strengthening the Royal Guard that protects me—if that is not strengthening the national defense, then what is it?
— …….
— I knew you have been ignoring me, but if you keep insisting on this, I will treat you according to military law.
Only then did Count Rooster understand Ferda’s intention.
That was why Count Rooster said nothing more.
Anger toward Ferda remained on his face.
Ureas cleared his throat and left Ferda with one last word.
— Make absolutely sure you do not fail.
Ureas mounted his horse and returned to the forward base just like that.
Simple as he is, the carrot and the stick are clear with him.
Count Rooster also looked at Ferda with distaste before going on his way.
— It seems that every time Ferda-nim does something, his enemies increase.
Ruri, standing beside him, said that.
— Even so, they cannot touch me carelessly, right?
— That is because I am here, isn’t it?
Kings and generals bring escort knights, yet Ferda moves only with a young girl.
Moreover, a girl in maid attire.
The attire unfitting for her position created a sense of incongruity, turning her into a more threatening presence than that of knights.
In reality, it was exactly like that.
— I have a question.
— What is it?
— When Count Rooster stepped forward for the national interest, why did the Second Prince stop him?
It was a question about what had just happened.
Ferda replied.
— If others are fighting with fists and a single person holds a sword, what would happen?
— It would become an unfair fight.
— Exactly. Ureas likes strong things, but he likes having weaklings he can trample on even more.
Those words also apply to other factions within the Empire.
— From Ureas’s point of view, now he will have no choice but to wish for my success.
— Then the cooperation of the imperial army will also go smoothly.
That was why Count Rooster could not easily stop it even after seeing through his intention.
Truly a shrewd operation.
— Let us return now. I do not want to stay here any longer due to the foul stench.
— There is one more thing I need to verify.
Even while others were leaving, Ferda had a separate reason to remain here.
Ferda scanned near the tent and found a man.
He was gathering flesh remains along with the soldiers who had come as knights of the Heian Kingdom.
Ferda approached him and asked.
— Are you a knight of the Heian Kingdom?
The knight, with a blank expression, was startled and nodded.
— Y-yes, that is correct.
— I will pray for the rest of the deceased.
— Ah, yes… thank you.
The knight was bewildered.
That a man who had been negotiating calmly in that blood-splattered scene would mention the word ‘rest’.
— I heard that you will withdraw after finishing this matter.
— That is correct.
— There is information I need before you withdraw. I will ask about your king and the suicide attacker, Yuan. Can you answer?
At those words, he showed hesitation.
But soon he nodded.
— I will tell you everything within my power.
The man replied weakly, and Ferda questioned him.
Could that man named Yuan originally use magic?
The man thought for a moment and shook his head.
— As far as I know, no. Yuan was of hunter origin, so he was skilled in tracking and excellent at hiding his presence, but he never received magical training.
— Are you sure?
— Yes. If he were someone who could wield such magic, he would not have been used as an infiltrator in the first place.
It is true.
There is no reason to send a talent capable of magic to a dangerous place.
— Moving on to the second question. When did you execute that operation to enter the inner castle?
— If you mean the date of execution of the operation, it would be when I saw Yuan for the last time… a week ago. I heard they would be deployed to the outer castle, and he disappeared around that time.
— Thank you. I have learned a lot thanks to you.
— …I pray that justice is served upon those foul demons.
Ferda patted him on the shoulder, and the man showed a complex expression as he returned to collecting flesh.
As Ferda walked away, he murmured.
— This confirms it.
— What exactly, sir?
Ruri, unable to let it pass, asked, and Ferda answered.
— The situation is more serious than I thought.
Magic is a diverse and mysterious power manifested through various mediums, languages, and geometric shapes.
But if one traces back to the origin of that magic, there is a common element.
That is mana.
Mana is a pure substance that can create forms through distortion and mutation according to the user’s language and will.
Mages are beings who harbor and create such pure substances inside their bodies.
In the case of humans, as circles increase, mana is compressed, high-concentration mana is forged, and they become capable of wielding powerful magic.
Since mana is a pure substance that can become anything, it was much more dangerous.
What all mages must be most wary of is Circle Rampage.
Circle Rampage occurs when the circles that forge pure mana inside the body devour all the body’s nutrients, swell beyond what can be endured, and burst.
It is inevitable that the higher a mage’s circle stage, the harder it becomes to control mana, and they live with the term Circle Rampage within arm’s reach.
— That man Yuan exploded due to Circle Rampage.
Ferda said it, but Ruri did not understand.
— Circle Rampage only happens to mages, doesn’t it? And that man had no connection to magic.
— Correct.
— Then are you saying he had been hiding that he could use magic all this time?
— That wouldn’t be the case.
As the knight said, if he had an aptitude for magic, the kingdom would have noticed it first.
Then he would have been assigned as a mage, not as a special agent conducting infiltration.
— My thought is that a circle formed after he entered that castle.
— Are you saying there is a power in the castle of the Heinkel Kingdom that can create mages?
Ruri also racked her brains thinking about it.
But since she could not know how to create mages, she soon gave up.
— If it is a Red Circle, it is possible.
Unlike Blue Circles that accumulate calmly, mana generated by emotional turmoil.
Ferda, as a possessor of a Red Circle, knew this well.
— If one feels an overwhelming emotion sufficient to create a circle, and endures it, a Red Circle will form.
— Is it that easy?
— No, it is difficult. Continuously reproducing that emotion on one’s own to forge a circle is no ordinary task.
Sustained joy turns into pain, and sustained sadness leads to numbness.
However, he considered it possible because demons have a peculiar thing.
— Trauma.
As Ferda spat out that word, Ruri flinched and trembled.
That memory was also vivid for Ruri.
— If that is utilized well, it is certainly not impossible.
Ferda regretted while looking at that thing.
The depth of that regret was intense enough to push Ferda into a new stage.
— If one just creates a Red Circle, can they turn into a bomb like that?
— At the 1st Circle, that kind of power does not emerge. The strongest explosion at the 1st Circle would be cardiac arrest at best, and only at the 2nd Circle does it barely take the form of an explosion.
— Then are you saying he reached the 2nd Circle?
Ferda shook his head.
— Judging by the explosive power alone, it was the 3rd Circle.
3rd Circle.
Ruri also knew how difficult it was to reach that stage.
— Are you saying he achieved the 3rd Circle in barely a week, Ferda-nim?
— Right.
— Is that possible?
No matter how fast the formation is compared to Blue Circles, reaching the 3rd Circle in a short time is difficult.
But it was not impossible.
Only, the price was not small.
— That is why he went so crazy, isn’t it?
He became a follower of demons, and for that cause, he blew himself up along with his king.
He certainly was not a normal human.
Only then could Ruri understand what Ferda meant by the situation being serious.
— If suicide squads like those can be mass-produced through Trauma, then, as Ferda-nim said, the situation is serious.
— Correct. This matter might be insufficient with only the alliance of kingdoms.
Even with an army of 100,000 men assembled, they cannot bring down a single castle.
Thinking that 3rd Circle bombs are swarming inside the castle, it felt like an impossibly high wall.
— Then will we need additional forces?
— Yes.
— Is there a place to request them from?
— I have someone in mind.
The only person he thought would come running first when something like this happened.
At the same time, a human whom it felt strange for not showing up until now.
The reason he only thought about it was because Ferda was not someone who could speak easily.
He wondered what to do now.
It was then that.
A bleak wind, unfitting for the scorching sun, grazed Ferda’s skin.
As a mage, Ferda knew that sensation well.
It is what arises when a massive flow of mana shakes the surroundings.
As clearly as Ferda felt it, Ruri could also feel it.
— Ferda-nim?
She asks, wondering if Ferda caused it.
Ferda directed his gaze in one direction and spoke.
— It seems that side has also been curious.
In the sky he was looking at, a round portal was open.
From that portal, terrifying mana was gushing out in torrents.
At the same time, a vibration rose from the ground.
That was not mana, but the vibration of a herd of galloping horses.
Ureas and his subordinates, who had departed first, were returning.
Their faces looked as if they had burning embers at their feet.
— Regent! Turn your horse around quickly and join up!
Ureas shouted.
— Erdes, that crazy bitch is about to lose control!