Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Penelope

What appeared before their eyes was different from a typical prison.
A typical prison divides areas with iron bars.
There, several coffin-shaped incubation devices lay tilted, and inside each one, a single person was confined.
It was not only humans who were locked up.
Orcs, elves, goblins, and even rare species that were seldom seen; all lay calm, without a trace of color in their skin.
Upon observing this, a knight understood a truth.
— These people are still alive. They all continue breathing.
— Let’s rescue them quickly!
Seeing that they were trying to open the incubators, Jed blocked their path.
— What rescue? The only one we need to save is a certain demon.
— Are we just supposed to watch innocent people die? That goes against chivalry!
— And you call yourself a knight, Sir Jed?
Jed looked at them with a pathetic expression before speaking:
— Slowly freezing to death in the blizzard, or exploding and dying in a snap. The second option is better. I’ll go look for that demon bastard.
As Jed tried to leave the room, he added:
— And you, knockoff knights…
Don’t waste your pity on foolishness.
They had no choice but to acknowledge that Jed was right.
They left carrying the guilt, but Jed did not experience such petty emotions.
In that manner, they inspected the incubator rooms one by one.
However, such meticulous observation proved useless; they located the target immediately.
Thump, thump, thump!
— Uwaaaah! Get me out of here! I said get me out! What did I do wrong to end up locked in a place like this?!
Thump, thump, thump!
The voice of a woman causing an uproar loudly resonated throughout the corridor.
— Doesn’t that sound like her?
— I just want to pray that it isn’t.
They headed toward the source of the noise and found an incubator shaking violently.
— Open this!! Open it right nooow! Don’t you know who I am? I am Penelope, daughter of the Great Demon Sitri!
— Ha, yeah, it’s her.
A disgusted face even after reaching the objective.
In this way, the three knights opened the incubator door with bitter expressions.
The demoness who had been kicking the door and raising hell flinched.
— What? Did you really open it? Wait, time out, time out! Hyaaaa! Don’t hit me! I’ll stay still this time! Really, really this time… huh? What? Aren’t you the guards?
Penelope, half-opening her eyes, looked at the men surrounding her.
— You…
— Where are the real guards? Who are you? Did you come to kill me?
— You are Penel—…
— Wait! I didn’t do anything! I have nothing to do with those bastards! Mercy, gujk!
Jed covered Penelope’s mouth.
The sound that had filled the incubator room was cut off abruptly.
— From now on, only a “yes” or a “no” is allowed. Nod if it’s correct, shake your head if it isn’t. Understood?
— Mm-mm.
— I said shut your mouth, bitch.
— …..
Before the knife pointed at her, Penelope became docile.
She nodded.
— Your name is Penelope, correct?
Nod, nod.
— Sure?
Nod, nod.
— Your mother, the Great Demon Sitri, made a deal with us. On the condition of getting you out of here, we infiltrated this facility. Come quietly.
— Mm-mm?!
— Ah, I said only yes or no.
— Uuuu mm! Mm, mm!
— She’s resisting quite fiercely, isn’t she?
— Does it seem like she has something to say?
— Is that so? Hey, pink-haired girl. I’ll let you go for a second. Answer concisely in three seconds.
Jed removed his hand with that warning.
— WaitlistentomystoryIgotcapturedherebutnotbecausetheycaughtmeactuallyit’sbecause… ububbuj!!
— Useless chatter. Gag her and take her away.
— Understood.
The woman who had been spouting words like a machine gun ultimately couldn’t utter a single proper sentence and was taken away bound.
In the process, she struggled so much that she received a blow from a knight and passed out.
— —
While walking through the blizzard…
Ferda sensed a strange current above his head.
It wasn’t just his imagination.
Consillus, who was walking ahead, glanced back and inquired:
— Did you feel that just now?
— Ah, I felt it.
— What exactly did you feel?
Marco, who was already struggling to walk, had no capacity to pay attention to his surroundings.
— A wind that is not wind.
— A wind that is not wind?
— Spawn of the Silver Dragon. They are looking for intruders on this mountain.
Marco, who was already pale, turned even more mortally blue.
— Then isn’t that a huge problem?
— Not necessarily. The fact that they passed over our heads means they haven’t discovered us yet.
It was a troubling matter.
If the equivalent of the combat power of two knights were to fall like meteors from the sky at this precise moment, there would be no hope.
— We will increase our speed.
Ferda moved forward along the path Consillus had cleared.
Soon, a black box approached within the pure white field of vision.
They returned to the cave they had departed from.
Six people were waiting there, including Jed.
— Did you arrive?
— The target?
— We brought her.
Jed kicked the unconscious pink-haired girl lying beside him.
Pink hair, white skin.
It gleamed with a jade-like whiteness, unbefitting a demon.
However, the antler-like horns, black pupils, bat wings, and long spade-tipped tail unmistakably proclaimed her to be a demoness.
— You finished quickly.
— The research building was empty. There was no one there. I alone would have sufficed. What about the residential quarters?
— No major crises. No special matters on either side. Let us withdraw.
After confirming that each mission was complete, they began boarding the portal.
Ferda reflected on this situation.
“It ended easily.”
The remaining time was about three minutes now.
If they wrapped up and returned, it would be just in time.
Neither tight nor loose; an appropriate time.
As if everything had been calculated.
“It went too well.”
The balance of the deal fit perfectly.
Something strange.
Demons only make deals that benefit themselves.
— We have to move quickly.
The mage guarding the portal spoke:
— What is happening?
— The Silver Dragon Spawn circling the area above is approaching this way.
— It’s coming here?
— Yes. It seems to have noticed.
— Erase the tracks quickly! Erase them and escape this place immediately!
It must not be known that people from the Grand Duchy of Valdrova were here.
They began busily erasing the tracks with the tools they had brought.
Only two minutes remained.
Ferda thought.
He had to resolve the lingering feeling within this remaining time.
— Uum… uuuu?
Penelope woke up, looking around.
Then she saw Jed’s face and her eyes widened completely.
— Buj! Bubbuj!
— Stay still. I’ll make it comfortable.
— Mm! Bubububu!
When Jed raised his dagger, Penelope shook her head in desperation.
Tears and snot pouring out in torrents; that appearance unmistakably meant terror.
Ferda felt doubts before that scene.
— Wait.
Jed’s dagger stopped.
— Why, my lord?
— Remove her gag. I need to hear what she has to say.
— There’s nothing to hear…
Jed said that, but he removed the gag.
— Uup, fuaah! Thank you. No, more than that, I need to add to what I said before! I—…
— Shut up. I decide what you say. Or I will cut your throat.
— Jiiiek! No! Don’t kill me! I will answer anything! Yes!
— That’s how I like it.
Ferda made a gesture with his chin toward Penelope.
— Why are you afraid of death?
— I-is there any being that doesn’t fear death?
— A demon who dies in Serdes is only summoned back to Hell, isn’t that right? It will hurt a bit, but for you it’s just going back home. Right?
— T-that is true, but my situation is different! If I go back, I really die!
Penelope shouted as if having a fit.
— What does that mean?
— What I’m saying is that my mother wants me dead more than rescued! I cannot return to Hell!
The appearance of Penelope, crying and fighting to live.
— So tell me why she is trying to kill you.
— Because I… I mean…
Penelope chose her words.
— Don’t beat around the bush. Tell the truth.
— No, I can’t tell the truth! I must not tell the truth! Hyaaaang! It’s so frustrating that I’m going crazy! Why am I so foolish!?
A story that cannot be told with the truth.
She knows it, but it is something that must never be spoken of.
And the Great Demon Sitri is trying to kill her.
What could all that point to?
Ferda thought.
It was definitely a problem with an answer.
A story he had probably heard once before.
A story he had dismissed as trivial talk.
But thinking back, it was a truly important story.
Do not make deals with demons.
“Right.”
At that moment, a spark illuminated Ferda’s mind.
Ferda looked down at her and murmured:
— It was you.
— Lord Regent!
Jed yelled at the top of his lungs.
He barely kept one foot in the portal.
— Quickly! There’s almost no time left! How many minutes? Thirty seconds!
He urged Ferda after watching his conversation with Penelope.
Ferda, having concluded all judgment, stood up from his spot.
— Sir Jed.
— Yes?
— I entrust this luggage to you.
— Huh? What are you…?
Ferda threw his own bag to Jed.
— Woah?
Jed caught the suddenly thrown bag.
He managed to catch it with excellent reflexes.
However, soon another object flew toward Jed.
It was a pink bundle.
— Ukyajahk?!
— Keuk!
Colliding with Jed’s body, it went straight into the portal.
What pushed Jed inside was none other than Penelope’s body.
Jed, holding her, opened his eyes wide.
This Folding Bridge only allows eight people to escape.
— Regent—…
The dimensional door closed.
Jed’s cry was cut off.
Ferda was left alone in the cold mountain region.
If really being left alone were the true problem, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
He would only have to wait for rescue.
But it will not go as Ferda expects.
He is coming.
That bastard.
At that moment, surprisingly, the sound of the raging blizzard began to drift away.
Instead, the sound of footsteps on the snow is heard.
Soon, a figure breaks through the pure white blizzard.
Even though not a single ray of moonlight enters tonight, his figure is clearly perceived.
— Huh? Now this is a truly unexpected situation.
Silver hair, pointed horns, and silver eyes.
Undoubtedly, a Spawn of the Silver Dragon.
The one circling above his head; it was definitely him.
— I heard there would be a rat… but is there a different rat?
He smiled with malice.
Like a cat watching a mouse in a jar.
— A pleasure to meet you, Regent of Valdrova.
— —
Upon returning to Valdrova Castle, Ruri immediately began cleaning.
Twenty whole days left forgotten.
She had entrusted basic cleaning to the spirits, but without supervision, they do not work hard.
That is why she cleaned late at night.
— Is the cleaning finished?
— Kyuryung.
— Good work. You may leave.
— Kyuryung!
The spirits became excited at the words “shift over.”
The spirits helping Ruri clean were unsummoned.
Soon, only she was left in the room.
Ruri looked around the room she had cleaned.
It was a bedroom.
Precisely, the place where Valdrova and Ferda would hold their wedding and consummate their marriage.
As fiancés now, it is a distant story.
Nevertheless, Ruri did not relax.
Ruri is a maid.
The duty of a maid is to adjust and match the environment surrounding the master.
To create that environment, more than fifty servants must be permanently stationed.
For perfection, one hundred would be needed.
However, aside from Ruri, there are no servants in this castle.
And yet it was enough.
She was different from weak human maids; she was a Dragon Spawn.
Among the Spawn of the Silver Dragon, she was a top-tier powerhouse.
Her skills made it possible to perfect this castle.
Even decades later, she maintained cleanliness without the need for major repairs.
“That is what I can do.”
Maintaining perfection.
Perfection means being within expectations.
Being within expectations means being controllable.
In this castle, there is no element she cannot control.
Her life formed a perfect circle.
“Ferda…”
At least until he appeared.
“Ferda Rosnova.”
When Ruri met Ferda for the first time, he was a weak human.
By his appearance, just a novice noble slightly older than her.
One of those third-rate humans from whom there is nothing to expect.
“He wasn’t.”
Ferda was different from expectations.
Nor was he exactly the opposite of expectations.
It was impossible to know even one step ahead.
He acts arrogantly but always takes responsibility.
He looks like an emotionless psychopath, but before Valdrova he seems like a clueless boy.
Unfitting for his age, yet fitting for his age.
Indefinable even if you try to define him.
An incomplete being.
“A variable…”
Right.
Even this serene flow breaking now was due to that variable.
Ruri hated variables.
Uncontrollable things made her powerless.
Powerlessness was detestable.
Therefore, she had to eliminate them.
However, Ferda could not be eliminated.
He was Valdrova’s fiancé.
In that way everything began to change, creating uncontrollable situations.
“It wasn’t bad.”
That meant a good change.
The stagnant territory began to develop, and Ferda gradually solidified his recognition and reputation.
He was changing everything by boldly proceeding with things that Ruri would never do.
The emotions she felt toward those astonishing achievements were subtle.
Ruri already knew that emotion.
“Impatience.”
More than that brat who has only lived 18 years,
I have lived hundreds of years longer,
and I have served hundreds of years longer.
Afraid that a single man would change everything in less than a year.
Afraid that he would take everything away.
That is why she tried to meet with Silverwind.
In the midst of everything changing, perhaps they changed too.
And even if they didn’t change, couldn’t I do something?
“There was nothing I could do.”
She was powerless.
In the situation, in power, everything escaped her expectations.
“And… I…”
The fire ignited on that tense fuse.
Meaninglessly contacting Silverwind,
meaninglessly making Ferda face Goz.
Of course, it could have been resolved more smoothly.
If Ferda hadn’t spoken so harshly,
if he hadn’t shown hostility openly, it could have gone peacefully.
Right.
Ferda was the one who escalated things.
Blaming others would have been comfortable, but Ruri couldn’t do that.
“If I hadn’t stepped forward in the first place… that wouldn’t have happened either.”
The starting point of everything is Ruri.
However, the words she had spat out were:
— Who… asked you for help?
Clench.
Strength entered her grip.
Even now it is uncomfortable, but that discomfort will last even longer.
How to look at him, how to face him from now on.
Ruri truly did not know what to do.
An uncontrollable variable.
That variable digging even deeper into Ruri’s emotions; it is confusing.
The wind stirred in front of Ruri, who remained blank.
A wind spirit manifested urgently and positioned itself beside Ruri.
— Kyuryung! Kyuryung!
A bewildered spirit.
Ruri realized that it was a spirit sent to monitor the situation in Count Consillus’s castle.
— Speak.
The wind spirit reported with a flustered voice.
She tried to listen calmly, but she did not dare.
— I-is that… true?
The variable moves ceaselessly.