Chapter 49

Chapter 49: White House

White House
Chapter 49. White House

Central Serdes.
In the middle of a uniformly stretching plain, a single castle stood imposingly.
It was fertile land and open enough to be perfect for paddy fields and farmland, yet there was nothing but grass—a blue meadow.
There were no traces of people or living creatures in the surroundings.
It looked like an island perched upon a green sea.
That place was the domain of Blancaros and the Grand Council Chamber that handled all affairs of the continent.
Commonly known as the White House.
Ferda had arrived there.

“Is this the front?”

Ferda looked up at the castle gate entrance.
The gate was already open.
To the naked eye of commoners, that was all, but those familiar with magical power, like Ferda, could see.
In front of the gate, a semitransparent white veil stretched out in the shape of a circular dome, like a barrier.
Order and Domain.
If those two were fulfilled, no one could defy him within the domain of Blancaros.
Not even a god.

— You may rest easy.

The voice of a young man came from beyond the gate.
Hearing that voice and turning his gaze, a man stood there.

— Blancaros-nim is generous to those who respect rules and order.

Ferda examined the man’s appearance.
Pure white attire, pure white skin.
His pale look was reminiscent of a vampire.
Were it not for a pair of horns and eyes, that would have been the case.
The man placed a hand over his chest and introduced himself.

— My introduction is late. I am the Hand of Blancaros, assigned to guide Ferda-nim.

As expected, he was a Dragon Spawn of Blancaros.
The Spawns of Blancaros numbered three: Hand, Mouth, and Eye.
As each body part was their name, their characteristic was that they specialized in that part.
Unlike other dragon spawns, they were polite.

— Please come in. I will guide you.

And they could not leave the domain of Blancaros.

— Understood.

Ferda extended his hand toward that domain.
In that instant, he felt a sensation as if tiny particles were forcing their way through his skin.
Soon, Ferda felt an anomaly in the movement of the circle residing in his danjeon.
It was slowing down.
However, it did not get stuck like something caught on a foreign substance; it was natural, as if Ferda himself were releasing strength of his own volition.

“Truly astonishing.”

Absolute domain.
Because that absolute entity applied to itself as well, it was delicate and solid beyond all comparison.
However, that suppression did not lead to complete neutralization.
The message it conveyed was clear.

“If you can harm me, try to do so.”

Yet Blancaros’s hammer would be unavoidable.
Without even an ounce of room for excuses.
It seemed intended to emphasize that.

“The Shadow Hand should still be able to move.”

Concentration to create a magic circle was also interfered with, but if he didn’t create one, it didn’t matter.
What he had learned for situations like this was precisely the Shadow Form.
Ferda glanced behind him.
Jed and Arwen, who had been following him, also showed uncomfortable expressions.

— How does it feel entering the domain?
— Not very good. Should I say a feeling of powerlessness? My eyes also feel a bit stiff.
— Same here. I feel a bit drained. It seems I can’t use aura…

The knight could not use aura, and Jed’s unique ability, possessed only by the Red Eye Tribe, was being interfered with.

— Ruri, you?
— No problem.
— Is that so?

The conversation ended dryly.
Yet those observing the two would find it quite strange.
Arwen slightly tilted his head toward Jed and asked.

— Hey, did something happen between that Spawn lady and the Regent?
— I don’t know, I decided not to worry about it.

When dragons fight, human backs break.
Jed, who had already felt it once, shuddered.

— There are 5 hours left until the council convenes. Shall we go to the room? Or to the banquet hall?
— What is the difference?
— Resting or socializing. Many people are gathered in the banquet hall right now.
— Naturally, we should go to the banquet hall, right?

Jed’s eyes sparkled in particular.
When Ferda looked at him with a pathetic look, Jed hurried to make excuses.

— Think about it. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Wouldn’t it be better to scout the opposition in advance?
— I was thinking the same thing.
— Then why did you look at me like that?
— Because you are not like that.

Jed stared back dumbfounded, but didn’t dare say no.

— Guide us to the banquet hall.
— Understood.

The Hand of Blancaros began to guide, and before following him, Ferda tapped Jed on the shoulder.

— Enjoy the banquet to your heart’s content.
— Huh? Ah, yes. Thank you.

As they walked, those words stayed stuck in Jed’s mind.
He thought and thought.

“No way.”

It couldn’t be.
But it could be true.
Ferda might do precisely that.
With a sense of “just in case,” Jed asked Ferda cautiously.

— You’re not thinking of skipping the inauguration ceremony banquet with this banquet, are you?
— …..
— Not… right?

Ferda did not answer that it wasn’t so.

White House Banquet Hall.
With only 5 hours remaining until the council, many nobles had already gathered there.
Had the number of allowed companions per person not been limited, the banquet hall would have already burst at the seams.
The large, pure white doors slid smoothly open, and the laughter and music contained inside flowed outward.

— Hoh.

The Grand Council he was entering for the first time.
Its appearance made even the expressionless Ferda let out an exclamation.
He thought the Empire’s buildings were also splendid, but ultimately they were things built by humans.
A dragon’s building delivered an impact on a completely different dimension from what humans built.
Inside, people familiar with this atmosphere laughed and chatted.
They were not just humans.
Even races that did not mingle with human society, such as the Grand Chief of the Elves, dwarves, and gnomes, were attending.

— Ooh…

The one who couldn’t hold back and let out an exclamation was Arwen.
Jed, watching him, chuckled as if finding it cute.

— First time at a party, Sir Knight?
— No, I have been to many parties for official business following the Count.
— Then don’t make a bumpkin face. It shows completely.
— Ah, r-right…

At Jed’s warning, Arwen nodded obediently and kept his gaze fixed ahead.
The awkwardness did not disappear.

“Consillus’s words were correct.”

He was a human who needed experience.
Unlike Arwen the bumpkin, Jed and Ruri were not swept away by that atmosphere.
Jed was all too accustomed to this high society world.
Ruri was originally at her own pace.
And the emotion Ferda felt beneath this splendor was,

‘I feel as if I have entered a viper’s nest.’

Disgust.
It was on a different dimension from the power struggles with provincial lords.
From the moment they made eye contact, it felt like a fight.
Friendly eyes were constantly scanning to find weaknesses.
Even a simple greeting and turning of the back seemed to be assessing Ferda.

‘So that is why they are high nobility, and why they could become kings of a country.’

They have power.
The power to endure in that position.
The power to rise to the position they desire.
The power to bring down the person in that position.
What would one do when surrounded by such people?
It was a truly simple question.
Ferda, instead, straightened his back and walked proudly.
Ferda met the eyes of each one, reading the flow.
Even if it was a social world where everyone mingled, in the end they grouped by factions.
Ferda thought.
Yes.
If I had to group up, where would I need to go?
As he thought that, someone caught Ferda’s attention.

— Hahaha, you came! Regent Valdrova!—

Among the gathered human crowd, a man and a woman in singularly splendid attire.
As if they were at the center, they were surrounded and gesturing toward Ferda.
The crest of the Arken Empire was drawn on that man’s shoulder.

‘Alexander Arken.’

He was the First Prince of the Arken Empire.
Incompetent Emperor, Godfrey Arken.
The First Prince Alexander Arken and the Second Prince Ureas Arken, who fought to overthrow him from the throne.
They called themselves the historical site for a new leap forward for the Empire.
Yet the result was miserable.
Godfrey remained firm, and the two sons became laughingstocks.

‘Two incompetent sons who couldn’t even overthrow an incompetent emperor.’

Given that the image made it seem as though Godfrey was a fairy, it only solidified the Emperor’s position further.
For Ferda, who desired the ruin of the Empire, those two bastards were merely useless things.

— Allow me to introduce myself formally, I am Alexander Arken.—

The eldest son, Alexander Arken.
A middle-aged man in his 30s whose well-groomed beard seemed to flaunt the fact that he was Emperor.

— Ferda Valdrova, greetings to the First Prince.—
— I sent a letter once, but I could not reply, I apologize. That day I was so busy with my official duties that I didn’t even have time to open my eyes.—

My ass.
While Ferda thought that, the woman standing beside him chimed in.

— Haha! With a hundred million subjects before the Prince, even two bodies wouldn’t be enough!?—

Unlike the Emperor who shone in gold, her light was a blue attire.
With a youthful appearance and a candid laugh that was truly shameless, yet Alexander did not dare do anything to her either.
Unlike her visible appearance, her age surpassed three digits.

— Who is this handsome man? Won’t you introduce him to me, Prince?—
— Ah, right! How discourteous of me! Allow me to introduce her! She is Erdes Roton-nim, President of the Serdes Human Magic Academy.—

Erdes Roton.
Roton.
Once the greatest family of alchemists and the worst family of swindlers.
The last bloodline of that family was Erdes.
She had no territory, no title.
All she had was the Seventh Circle.
Under that name, all mages in human society were managed and controlled by her hand.
No,
They had to be controlled.
She was a woman who could only feel satisfied that way.

— I am Ferda Valdrova. It is a true honor to meet the Great Archmage.—
— Ha! I wanted to see the dragon face of the Archduke once, but I got to see the fiancé first.—
— I heard that it is difficult for you to attend this gathering.—
— Of course I know. This is a place where mortals should be, not immortals.—

She smiled.
It was closer to a reflex smile than one of joy.
Her eyes rested quietly on Ferda.

— Regent Valdrova, no, I will call you Regent Ferda. The name Valdrova itself is unfamiliar to speak. Is that fine?—
— Do as you wish.—
— How old are you?—
— 18 years old.—
— A family of mages?—
— No. I was the third son of a knight named Rosnova.—

Her eyes rounded like the moon.

— Mmm, surprising! I heard that knights also cultivate mana, but I thought it was merely a side branch. Do you feel like a mage from your body?—
— I trained as a mage.—
— Oh, really? Great achievement at a young age? Haha!—

With a hearty laugh, her tongue moved restlessly.

— I heard from the Prince. Did you achieve a great feat catching those rat bastards in the Empire this time?—
— Rat bastards?—
— Black mages.—

He remembered.
She was referring to the groups of black mages hidden in the underground waterways.
In reality, they were obviously going to become obstacles to destroying the Empire, so he had eliminated them.
Ferda did not lie.

— I only contributed a little toward the bigger picture.—
— Don’t get too conceited. Your achievements don’t end there, right? Did you also accomplish the matter regarding Thesalos Walcher?—

This was from when all the lords gathered before the engagement ceremony.
A man he had no intention of killing, but whom he had to kill.

— Was that damned bastard researching black magic?—
— That is correct.—
— Impressive. In the records he was just a talentless mage, but they say he mutated into a Red Circle trapped by rage. It seems he achieved something after that.—

Erdes leaned her body forward.

— Since he fell into black magic.—

The wine in the glass she held swirled slightly.

— Do you know? I really hate black mages.—

It was a well-known fact that she hated black mages.
Zero tolerance for those who learned black magic.
Revocation of qualification and destruction of the circle so they could never again live as mages.

— How much do I hate them? Enough that if I merely smell the air in the same room, I want to strangle my own throat.—
— Is that so?—
— Talentless bastards sell their souls to demons and call it effort? In the end they become puppets worse than dogs, wandering through the afterlife like ghosts worse than specters, without even knowing it.—

Her half-closed eyes shone blue.

— And you, Lord Ferda? What do you think of those who learn black magic, hmm?—

What could be felt in her eyes was clear abhorrence.
Eyes directed at black mages.

— Especially if someone inherits and continues necromancy using monsters, what do you think would happen?—

That abhorrence was directed at Ferda.
The meaning was clear.

‘I know who you are.’

That Ferda was a person who possessed a Red Circle.
That he learned black magic.
So she was abhorring Ferda in this manner now.
As the strongest human mage, her abhorrence was an object of fear.

‘Yet do you also know that?’

That your abhorrence strangled your own throat.
That you fell into a grave dug by hatred.
And the one who dropped you there,
Was none other than me.