Chapter 81

I Married the Dragon I Killed

Chapter 81: A Dime a Dozen

Chapter 81. As Common as Dirt

Stefan asked with the look of someone who had just received a heavy blow to the back of the neck.
“……Excuse me?”
Ferda repeated the exact same thing without the slightest sign of disturbance.
“I said you would be useless.”
“W-What do you mean? Me being useless now……?”
“I spoke with Ahmed Hashim alone. He proposed a partnership.”
At those words, Stefan understood enough.
“A partnership means…… he really pulled off something massive…….”
It was a proposal on a scale incomparable to the simple cooperative relationship between Stefan and Ferda.
In a city that had not even been built yet—the largest city in the South, where money is amassed—they offered him a deal as equals.
Unless the Southern side had lost its mind, it was an advantageous proposal for Ferda, as they would be the ones at a loss.
“That proposal…… did you accept it?”
Stefan asked, desperately maintaining firmness in his trembling voice.
“If I had accepted that proposal, there would no longer be any need to maintain a relationship with you.”
What blossomed in Stefan’s chest was a sense of betrayal.
It was natural.
He was Stefan, who had been captivated by Ferda’s words and had made aggressive investments.
He grew furious and confronted him.
“Didn’t we sign a contract? I have exclusive rights over the magitech products, and you signed it as well. If I take this to court, you will be the one harmed, Regent.”
“Of course, and even if you win, all you will get is spitting out a pittance in damages. No, it would be a stroke of luck if you could even recover that pittance.”
“On what grounds do you say that?”
“Because you are the same: you are not fulfilling the contract either.”
Stefan was startled by those words.
“When did I betray you? In the part I just explained?”
Stefan reviewed his own explanations.
No matter how much he thought about it, there was no clause he had tried to sneak in for his own benefit.
Well, there were a few, but they were not so significant.
A fair relationship that is commonly established between merchant and lord; among them, he had proposed terms favorable to the lord.
“Do you remember what I said when I brought you here?”
Ferda said.
“I said I would cooperate as much as you cooperated. And I said I would make you the owner of the trading company.”
“That’s right.”
Stefan remembered those words and nodded.
“Yes. That promise was made. But it has become unnecessary. The Pascal Company is no longer needed.”
“How much value does the Pascal Trading Company hold?”
“It is no exaggeration to say that half of all goods in Imperial territory pass through here; it has that kind of influence.”
“That’s right, that kind of company. A company that wields influence across the Empire.”
Ferda grew even colder upon hearing that.
“And you said with your own mouth that you would give up on that kind of company.”
“We can create that kind of company at any time. In magical technology we are the pioneers, and as long as we do not neglect research—”
“Stefan.”
Ferda cut off Stefan’s words.
“Yes, Regent.”
Ferda took three grapes from the fruit basket and placed them on the table.
“How many grapes are here?”
“Three.”
“Correct, three. Me, young Vernel, and you.”
Ferda pointed to the grape that represented himself.
“I agreed to be your connections. And I have been working to build those connections until now.”
“That’s right.”
This time, the grape representing Vernel.
“And Vernel serves as a storehouse of ideas so you can create innovative items through research and development. And today ended successfully, so tomorrow he will work hard as well.”
“That’s right.”
“And the last one is you.”
He placed a finger on Stefan’s grape and rolled it.
“You have the money and supply the volume. In this system, each of us has our roles, and we need to make those gears turn.”
“That’s right…….”
“And you are trying to give up on the best company on the continent. Do you know what that means?”
Ferda’s finger crushed Stefan’s grape.
“It means you are nothing more than one of those merchants found a dime a dozen.”
The soft grape could not withstand the pressure of the finger and burst.
“Giving up even on what you originally had and yielding; that is not the merchant this Grand Duchy’s territory needs.”
Stefan silently stared at that grape.
Ferda’s finger was stained red.
He wondered if he would be crushed like that grape and die like an insect.
“Then…… what should I do?”
“I am not asking for anything difficult. Fulfill the contract. Become the owner of the Pascal Trading Company. That is your job.”
Stefan’s head spun.
Again.
This pressure he had felt in his father’s mansion.
Now Ferda was passing it on to him.
“Does it have to…… be a job where I see blood?”
To become the owner of Pascal, he would have to throw himself into the power struggle.
His older brother Merkat, running the mercenary business.
His younger sister Tilda, trying to gain volume through a political marriage with another major merchant guild.
And his father, Herman Pascal.
To become the owner, he would have to persuade or bend them all.
Stefan did not want that.
Family fighting among themselves.
In a pit where they point swords at each other until one dies, do I have to draw mine as well?
“Whether you fight or not is not for me to decide.”
Ferda answered coldly.
“I only want you to prove that you are the talent the Grand Duchy of Valdrova needs.”

There was a bit of a commotion, but the exhibition ended successfully without casualties.
Afterward, an auction was held in Halim, but nothing particularly caught his attention.
At best, a single sword looked decent, so I bought it to cheer Malcolm up and handed it to him.
“He looked like he was about to burst into tears the moment he received it, so I almost took it back.”
Even though he had taken the imperial knight examination and become one, he was too deficient a young man to be called a knight.
“Well, I suppose that is also why he is needed.”
His disposal can wait until his value as a specimen decreases.
Regardless, the matter in Halim was settled for now.
With the auction in last place, the scholars began to wrap up the exhibition.
Some were satisfied, others sighed after having returned empty-handed.
Vernel was not fazed by such situations.
Inside the carriage, he went over the blueprints of the magic technology rifle as if every minute and second were precious.
Whether from applying it in real combat, multiple inspirations came to him; he was putting his brain to work just as hard as during the exhibition preparations.
As they prepared to depart from Halim, Ferda felt a glare reflected by the sunlight.
The Chancellor of the Escolleia Academy, Bernard Wayne, was approaching.
“Did the exhibition go well?”
“Yes, there was an incident, but overall it was satisfactory.”
“What a relief. I am looking for young Vernel, do you happen to know where he is?”
Ferda made a subtle gesture toward the carriage.
“If you don’t mind, may I speak with young Vernel?”
Ferda looked Bernard in the eye.
He felt a slight guilt for what he had done to him.
“Is he thinking of apologizing?”
Pushing him into a state of anger, a passionate state, only to throw cold water on him on purpose?
It was not something Ferda wanted.
“But didn’t he gain a new driving engine?”
The successful presentation was a new driving engine for him.
Judging that holding a grudge against Chancellor Bernard was unnecessary, Ferda stepped aside.
Bernard entered the carriage and called him.
“Young Vernel.”
Vernel glanced at him sideways and then turned his head away again.
“There is no need to talk.”
“I have something to tell you. I—”
“I already know what it is. What intention the chancellor had when saying those words.”
Bernard’s mouth shut abruptly.
“How did you know?”
“I’m a scholar too, aren’t I? I once took classes with the chancellor. Everyone knows that the chancellor is strict with geniuses. So it was the same with me.”
“…….”
Vernel raised his head and gazed at the ceiling.
He recalled the past, but there was no pain.
“Back then…… I was truly furious. Disappointed as well, I felt betrayed. But not anymore. Because the chancellor was right.”
Vernel’s voice and eyes held the wonder he had felt long ago.
“As the chancellor said, I was a human with narrow vision. I focused on the 1% and missed the 10%. Thanks to the opportunity the chancellor gave me this time, I was able to broaden my vision.”
“…….”
“That is why…… next time, I will bring something revolutionary that even the chancellor will have no choice but to acknowledge.”
Vernel said with a smile.
“The Light of Truth.”
Chancellor Bernard was internally startled upon hearing those words.
It was a phrase well-known to the cadets of the Escolleia Academy.
Chancellor Bernard also smiled and replied.
“Shall set you free.”
Subtle feelings still remained between them, but the deep abyss of hatred no longer existed.
Bernard patted Vernel on the shoulder.
“Turn the world upside down with your ideals.”
“At the end of it all, I will invite you to tea.”
Bernard did not apologize in the end.
And Vernel did not want that apology.
They were people who pursued ideals and walked toward the truth.
Having confirmed that they were united by the sole belief in truth, they went their own ways.
“We depart!”
Malcolm at the front blew his horn, and the carriage moved.
Time to return to the castle.
It took ten days to get here.
Now on the way back, it would take another ten days.
As that tedious time stretched on, Ferda’s heart swelled for Valdrova.
“My heart, what are you doing?”
Throwing that unanswered question back, the carriage rolled on endlessly.

A dragon’s daily life is closely tied to the nest it possesses, what is called a lair.
Therefore, displaying their power and authority was the baseline, and they built structures utilizing their characteristics.
In that regard, Valdrova was different from other dragons.
Valdrova’s lair was a shelter, similar in concept to an underground prison.
Originally, it was a damp, cold cave where freezing winds blew.
But ever since she settled there, it became a place where dry, warm winds blew.
Valdrova, curled up there, thought:
“I’m bored.”
Even though she was an immortal who had lived for eras, the moment she felt time pass day by day, boredom enveloped her entire body.
The reason she was able to live so long in such a dark place was because Ruri was there.
“And there was nothing to think about.”
The anxiety about when she might suffer from blood energy gave her no opportunity to be bored.
Feeling this boredom occurred after she realized she did not need to suffer from blood energy.
Whenever it hurt a little, Ferda intervened and helped her.
In those moments, they always had light conversations.
“I greet Grand Duchess Valdrova.”
“Ah, n-nice to meet you!”
“We shall begin.”
“Yes, yes!”
“No, this wasn’t even a conversation…….”
It was one-sided to call it a conversation.
Ferda spoke unilaterally, and Valdrova merely nodded or shook her head.
It couldn’t be helped.
Her daily routine consisted of going out to kill monsters.
What if she made that a topic of conversation?
“Today I went out and killed monsters.”
“Is that so?”
“One wouldn’t die even if I clawed it, so I lit a big fire in its entrails and burned it.”
“Ah…….”
“There were monster parasites hidden inside as well, writhing and burning nicely.”
“Yes…….”
“He would definitely feel disgusted.”
Ferda’s expression naturally took shape before Valdrova’s eyes.
She thought he would give her looks as if saying, “Is this my fiancée?”, and that thought tormented Valdrova.
“I resolved to change…….”
She reproached herself countless times for only being able to say “welcome,” “goodbye,” and exclamations.
The suffering from blood energy diminished, but another suffering took its place.
“I should ask to have Ferda sent…….”
Perhaps this time we could talk with an established topic?
Of course, she had already had that thought 8 times, but nothing changed.
The reason was simple.
“Because there is nothing to talk about.”
Just as sprouts do not grow in unsown soil, there were no topics to begin with, so having no conversation was only natural.
Furthermore, today she belatedly realized there was no need for that.
“Ferda said he went to Halim…….”
She guessed it was not a good place, whatever it was.
Because Ruri’s expression was not good when she uttered that word, Halim, and sighed.
She thought it must be something like a battlefield.
“Lately, the work has increased as well.”
She knew they had allied with Iorga.
“Iorga…….”
That name was uncomfortable for Valdrova.
The Blue Dragon, Iorga.
Iorga particularly disliked Valdrova.
Whatever she said, she would frown and criticize her, trying to break her spirit.
Valdrova knew she harbored no ill intent.
But aside from that, she was too difficult to deal with.
“Iorga…… must be doing well.”
It had been a long time since they last saw each other, so her face was hazy, but she remembered her figure.
Intelligent, pretty, a guardian dragon respected by many.
A woman who would receive admiration rather than fear in any village.
“Village…….”
The next thought followed the stream of consciousness.
“Come to think of it…… it really has been hundreds of years since I saw a human village.”
The destination she arrived at was curiosity.
How many hundreds of years have passed since I saw a human village?
What are they like these days?
Will they look like the last thing I saw? Or have they changed a lot?
That curiosity arbitrarily moved Valdrova’s body.
Her body gradually shrank until it became a single woman.
“I want to go see…….”
She fiddled with her skirt unnecessarily and murmured.
If she had to go out, she absolutely had to take human form.
Valdrova did not want to meet others in her dragon form.
“In dragon form…… people would be scared.”
Yet she couldn’t go out in human form either.
“Human form scares me…….”
A dilemma where neither side could be resolved.
Valdrova glanced sideways.
The armor placed against the wall.
“That armor, maybe…….”
Wouldn’t it be fine?
She wore that armor when she met Ferda as well, so she was already used to it.
The eye level is a bit higher, so the repulsion might not arise.
“But isn’t this a bit scary……?”
It was large and muscular, so it proved intimidating.
Above all, it was armor sculpted in the image of Valdrova herself, so the head was identical to her dragon self.
Its menacing appearance made everyone tremble.
“Can’t it be a non-threatening shape……?”
Valdrova let out a lament.
It was then.
As if hearing her murmurs, the armor wriggled.
“Eh?”
Sliding—.
It wasn’t just the menacing dragon head.
All the elements crafted for dragon dignity began to disappear.
Wondering what was going wrong while dazed, the armor transformed into a new appearance.
“Ah……!”
Valdrova let out an exclamation.
The final destination looked familiar to her eyes.
“Ordinary.”
A half-plate armor, neither flashy nor special, appropriately worn.
An armor ordinary enough for common people to think it was just an ordinary knight.
“Ordinary…….”
Valdrova’s golden eyes sparkled.
To her, ordinariness was something precious that could not be bought with gold or jewels.
She slipped her body into it as if possessed.
Time to break the shell and head out.