Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Grand Council

Grand Ducal Council
Chapter 50. Grand Council

— I think the same.
— …….

At Ferda’s response, Erdes leaned back.
The murderous atmosphere transformed into a loud burst of laughter, as if it had never existed.

— Really? I feel like one can truly talk with you. You are young, not like those old fossils. I hope we can chat like this often from now on?
— I will make sure to contact you first.
— Or I’ll do it first. Prince! I’m off somewhere else! Beauties are busy, you know?
— Yes, of course! Have a good trip!

Erdes stepped away with her glass in hand.
After watching her back recede far enough, Alexander turned his head.

— Do you have any history with the Magic Association?
— None.

There was plenty, but that was a story for a distant future.

— I have no intention of blaming you. After all, it is better to resolve pending matters or accumulated grudges quickly.

He spoke that way, but Ferda knew.
Alexander was breaking into a cold sweat.
The incompetent First Prince needed immense power to build his power base, and that power was magic.

— More than that, I heard rumors that you have been importing many monster corpses to the Far East lately.

To the topic of conversation brought up out of nowhere, Ferda responded.

— That is correct.
— I was worried about not having a place to bury them, and burning them each time was a hassle, so taking those corpses away is something I truly appreciate.

Alexander spoke with a sly smile, but his expression showed an urgency that didn’t match his words.

‘Confess to me what you are doing.’

Ferda pondered.
The decision to keep the production of mana stones a secret was made by himself and no one else.
He judged that revealing it now was premature.
He had come prepared to overlook it, but facing Alexander’s eyes, he realized he could not.

‘A bastard who pointed a sword at his own father because he coveted the throne.’

No matter how much he justified himself, he was a greedy son of a bitch.
That was an immutable truth.
He was a bastard blinded by the throne.
He wanted to reign over a hundred million subjects.
That was why he flattered Erdes.
He did everything possible not to ruffle her feathers.

‘So Erdes thinks I am continuing Thesalos’s work.’

In the end, it was a connected matter.
Ferda pondered.
Both were shitty options, and he had to choose the lesser of two evils.

— In reality, we are researching a method to manufacture mana stones using monster corpses.

He told the truth.
Alexander also seemed intrigued, perking up his ears.
Anything related to magic meant money.

— Mana stones? What are those? Are they similar to those… crystal balls that mages use?
— Similar yet different. This object purely contains mana.
— Hoh…….

Ferda told Alexander everything known so far.

— For instance, assisting a mage’s mana?
— That is one use, but they cannot replenish mana nor be used directly by mages.
— Ah, really?
— Furthermore, the efficiency is only around 7%, so for real mages to use them…….
— Ah, I see? Incredible.

Alexander didn’t stop exclaiming in admiration.
Yet one could see how the interest he felt was crumbling bit by bit.

— At any rate…… are you sure it has nothing to do with black magic?
— That is correct.
— Of course, research requires reaching into various areas. There is such a thing as intention, isn’t there? My question is, can you assure me that such intention is absent, even in the slightest?

Alexander pressed relentlessly.
Just when Ferda was about to reply like a parrot for the nth time that he could assure it.
Before Ferda could say anything, a faint fragrance brushed his nose.
Ferda knew this scent.

— You are getting too aggressive for a first meeting, Oppa.

The beautiful voice naturally made the men’s heads turn.
It was Olivia Arken.
Befitting the Flower of the Empire, she wore a dazzling dress and smiled with a smile full of charm.
When Alexander saw Olivia, he burst into laughter again.

— Here comes our little sister! Thinking about it, the Regent already met once. My sister welcomed you in my stead! I wonder if she treated you well.

Alexander shamelessly placed his hand on Olivia’s shoulder beside him.

— Mine? Why would you worry about that?

Olivia replied with a radiant smile.
Alexander’s hand, meant to rest on her shoulder, smoothly slipped down along the line of her shoulder.

— Because problems arose. A major problem for the Imperial House.
— It was an unnecessary worry. Lord Ferda is a magnanimous person.
— A problem that could not be neglected for the sake of the Empire’s precarious stability. What about the incident at the Imperial Warehouse that almost turned the country upside down? No matter how I think about it, getting involved in political circles will only bring danger.
— Is that so? But the matter was resolved amicably. Ah, that’s right, thinking about it, Oppa, you don’t even know what is going on? You fled—no, evacuated—with your tail between your legs the moment the Level 1 Alert was issued.

On her shameless face, her eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly.
They smiled while ruthlessly stabbing each other with knives.
Enough to make the listeners suffer.

‘Both are rotten to the core.’

Ferda could only marvel at the scene.
Was this a genetic trait of the Arken Family?

— Isn’t that standard procedure? If the heir to the Empire dies, the Empire collapses, so he must survive for the good of the Empire.
— Ah, sure. Of course. As expected. Heir, my ass.

Smiling with a crescent-shaped eye smile, she lightly covered her mouth with a fan.
No, pretending to cover it while subtly revealing a mocking smirk to provoke him.

— That is the survival tactic of someone who ambitiously wielded the sword of rebellion only to retreat disgracefully.
— Hahaha, this vixen only collects things above her station to seduce men, that’s why they call her a viper.
— Better than having it and not being able to use it? For example…….

Olivia glanced toward Alexander’s crotch.

— Father wants a granddaughter, so when will you give him a grandson?

Alexander’s face flushed intensely, unlike his laughter.
Then he glanced sideways at Ferda.

— Be careful. Beautiful roses have thorns. Who knows, those thorns might carry deadly poison.

He advised with a serious expression.
Ferda looked at him in silence.
Expressionless, yet unable to contain his pity.

‘Talking big for someone who was pricked by those thorns.’

He didn’t know the details, but in the end, Olivia was in Alexander’s bedchamber.
In the end, didn’t he try to rape his own sister and die stabbed?
Alexander was ultimately a bastard who fell before Olivia’s beauty.
Listening to such a bastard speak made him feel pathetic.

— I am aware.
— You know? Then that is fortunate. In that case, smile a bit. Your face is too stiff, isn’t it?

Alexander patted Ferda on the back, naturally sporting a sympathetic and friendly smile like an affable person.
When he laughed, the surrounding nobles laughed along with him.
Watching this, Ferda thought.

‘I want to go home.’

Valdrova’s face came to his mind.

— So in summary, it cannot be used yet?
— Yes.
— Understood. For the development of the Far East Territory, I will also take an interest.

Of course it was a lie.
The First Prince, busy gaining points with the central nobles, taking an interest in the Far East? As if that would happen.

— We appreciate the Prince’s interest.

That was why Ferda only replied with a lie as well.

— Meet various people before the Council begins. Someone is calling me over there.

Alexander moved away with his glass toward them.
Now I can take a breath.
No sooner had he thought that than someone tugged at his shirt collar.
It was Olivia.
She was still beside Ferda.

— No one else to see?

She asked pointedly.

— They are not as important. Something more important remains.

Olivia’s shoulder pressed against Ferda’s.

— Soon the representatives of the Great Dragon will arrive.

Representatives of the dragons, which meant Dragon Spawns were coming.

‘Dragon Spawns, huh.’

Ferda had rarely encountered Dragon Spawns.
At most, he had only briefly caught a glimpse of the Blue Dragon Spawn, the Master of Magic.
He needed to see with his own eyes what other Dragon Spawns looked like besides Ruri.

— I am curious.

Ferda replied, and Olivia grinned from ear to ear.

— Then let’s go together.

Olivia smoothly extended her hand to him.
Her red lips moved like those of a shy woman.
In this situation that would make any man’s heart flutter.

— What is it?

Ferda looked at the scene and asked.

— Mine? Are you asking me to escort you? Are you going to leave a woman alone?

Olivia blinked.
Her hunched shoulders were the gesture of a defenseless girl.
Ferda took a slight step back.

— I am an engaged man.
— Engaged or not, must you? To deepen mutual trust, isn’t this necessary?
— I will leave it to Sir Jed-.
— Have you ever seen a resentful woman?

Shadows fell over Olivia’s face.

— Isn’t it pretty?
— …….

How would Ferda know?
When he put on an apathetic expression, Olivia brought her face within a hand’s breadth and spoke.

— Don’t you feel the need to deepen trust as collaborators within the Empire? We both keep many secrets, so I think this is necessary, right?

Olivia clung persistently, subtly threatening.
Yet at this moment, the only collaborator within the Empire was Olivia, so ignoring her words was also problematic.

— Haa, understood.
— You should have done so from the beginning.

Ferda reluctantly extended his hand to her.
Contrary to his thought of merely pretending to hold it, Olivia grasped his hand tightly and smiled broadly.
Ferda glanced sideways at Ruri.
Expressionless face.
No, her lips were subtly pouting, making a ‘I don’t like this’ face.
A level that only Ferda, who saw her face often, could notice.
Of course, Ruri did not express dissatisfaction openly and acted as a proper maid.
Perhaps that was why it was even more unsettling.

‘I hate being rubbed the wrong way.’

High society left nothing but pain, mentally and physically.
In a state of semi-resignation, Ferda guided Olivia toward the window.
Outside the domain of Blancaros, there was a golden carriage.
Stepping out of it were an old man and clerics wearing religious vestments and crowns.

— Do you know who they are?

Olivia slid her hand into Ferda’s arm, holding it firmly.

— From the side of the Holy Empire of Odograsado.
— Correct.

The Golden Dragon, Odograsado.
A nation founded upon a religion that worships Odograsado as an idol.
Although it bears the name Holy Empire, it is closer to being a union of the Holy State and surrounding kingdoms.
Odograsado has no Spawns.
That was why the Pope and four High Priests came walking to attend.
Shortly after, a blue portal opened.
The landscape beyond the portal was the characteristically cool landscape of the Northwest.
From there emerged Dragon Spawns with blue hair and rounded horn tips.

— The Spawns of Iorga. They never miss a Grand Council.

The Master of the Magic Tower, the Eye that Watches the Continent: the forces of Iorga.
Better suited to be researchers than mages, they walked elegantly like nobles.

— Ah, there they come too.

Olivia looked toward the sky.
Five strange specks were flying toward them from the blue sky.
They flew recklessly like kites emitting a silver light.
Ferda had seen this through Ruri.

‘Silver Wind.’

Unlike their momentum while flying, they landed lightly and entered the domain of Blancaros.
Ferda confirmed their presence and looked away.
Ruri, standing beside him, watched them in silence.
Her eyes contained an emotion distinctly different from what he had felt before.
He could feel how tense she was.

— Looks like those are the three. Storeus’s side isn’t participating this time. Well, one less headache.
— They have a terrible reputation.
— Are they evil dragons? Troublesome from start to finish. They love picking fights.

As the Dragon Spawns gathered, the observing onlookers began to move one by one.
Toward the Grand Council Chamber.

— Let us move now.

Olivia released the arm she had been holding and said.
Her status was that of Princess.
She did not possess the voting rights that the Princes had.
Ferda walked following the crowd heading to the Council Chamber.
The Grand Council, gathering the powerhouses of the entire continent, was beginning.