Chapter 18 - No Takebacks

Ferda climbed to the top of a lonely mountain.

When he asked Luri to take him up to the summit, he had only one purpose.

It was to watch Valdrova fight.

ROOOOAR!

A thunderous roar overturned heaven and earth.

Today, she had stopped the advance of over a hundred monsters.

In the past, this would have been a moment when he could not even breathe, but now he was utterly calm, as if looking at a distant mountain.

'The effects of that liquor are certain.'

His fear of dragons had disappeared, and even the fear they emitted could no longer greatly affect Ferda's body.

As surprised as he was, there was also something he began to wonder about.

"How do the others endure this? Even inside the castle, it must be no ordinary thing."

"There is an artifact."

Luri said this as she took out a ring from inside her skirt and showed it to him.

It was an ordinary ring made of silver, and there were letters written inside it.

Ferda could not read those letters.

"It tracks the locations of the castle's employees and alleviates their fear of dragons. Up to one hundred employees can live inside the castle without any trouble."

"Does it have an effect similar to what I drank?"

"It is inferior to that. Fear of dragons still remains in their hearts."

"Still, you prepared a great deal."

"Needlessly much, yes."

"Hmm..."

After thinking it over for a while, Ferda turned his head again.

"Did you say there are a hundred of those?"

"That is correct."

"Then could I not have worn one from the beginning?"

"That is correct."

"Then why did you not give me one?"

Luri's eyes slowly rolled once, and then she shrugged.

"You never asked, did you?"

He could feel just how much Luri had hated Ferda before he became the fiancé.

'Though I feel as if she still hates me now.'

What could he do about something in the past?

Ferda turned his gaze and looked down at Valdrova.

If there was anything different from before, it was that after finishing her task, she did not return immediately, but turned her gaze.

A pair of horns jutted forward, and another pair of horns soared toward the sky.

Her majestic form, so imposing that the word tyrant suited her, was clearly visible.

He even felt that those golden eyes were meeting Ferda's.

'I can feel it.'

Ever since he had drunk the engagement wine, he felt as if an invisible thread connected Ferda and Valdrova.

Each time that happened, Ferda found himself smiling without realizing it.

And Valdrova avoided that gaze and returned to her lair.

'Did I make things difficult for her again?'

They had become engaged, but in truth, he had never actually spoken with her.

Whenever he tried, she only showed signs of avoiding him, and all he could do was watch her.

'Social anxiety... huh.'

If one only saw her tearing and flaying monsters apart, she was nothing less than a barbarian incarnate, so it would be impossible to believe.

But in Ferda's mind, her lips naturally came to mind first.

'She truly is a woman with a talent for making a man burn with longing.'

An oasis rising in the middle of a dry desert.

The warmth of a blue flame burning faintly in eternal frost.

To think she was this close, yet all he could do was watch.

It felt as if he had become a sinner suffering the hunger and thirst of having an apple before his eyes yet never being able to eat it, and water yet never being able to drink.

If only he could at least face her and talk to her.

"Did she still say I cannot speak with her?"

"Yes. Her instruction is to wait until the time comes."

"More than a month has passed."

"Compared to the years she has lived, it is a time as brief as the blink of an eye."

The time of immortals and mortals was different.

Impatience seized Ferda's heart.

'Waiting until she collects herself must also be part of the Consort's role.'

He decided to have patience.

Ferda still had much time left to live, after all.

Luri, who had been watching all of it, looked elsewhere and spoke.

"Lord Ferda."

"What is it?"

"A guest has arrived."

Below, in an area Ferda could not see.

He could barely make out something like a long line standing before the castle.

Luri, who had been watching in place of Ferda's eyes, said this.

"It seems Mr. Burnel Marquis has arrived."

* * *

Burnel Marquis.

When they met him again, he was even more of a mess.

His debt had been repaid, and the troublesome gangs no longer bothered him, but that did not mean his living situation had improved too.

"Um, I thought about it..."

"Just state your conclusion."

Ferda came out bluntly.

"I am impatient right now for a roundabout explanation."

It was also to give Burnel Marquis no room for fickleness, but the Red Circle in Ferda's dantian was spinning rapidly.

He did not want to let go of that heightened feeling because of Burnel.

"As you said... I have come to think it would be best to make weapons."

"Have you bent your convictions?"

"Of course I have not bent my convictions. As you said, I realized that making weapons can also be a way to maintain peace. I was simply afraid of that condemnation."

Burnel Marquis looked at the appointment letter in his hand and spoke.

"I will make weapons. For the sake of clearing out the monsters of the far east. But I hope those weapons will not be used in human wars. At least while I am still alive like this."

"I cannot promise that."

Instead of lying, Ferda told him the reality.

"I... see."

Burnel was not greatly disappointed either.

Though he was a frog in a well, the place where he lived was still very much a society, so he knew how things worked.

The course of war changes depending on who advances first in weapons development.

In that field, magical engineering would become an innovative technology and accelerate.

"There is no need to be too bound by guilt. Just think of it this way. If you make a sword, what must you block it with?"

"If I make a sword... I make a shield and armor to block it."

"You have made a sword that pierces even that armor and shield. Then is it right to despair, stop, and watch destruction happen?"

Only then did Burnel understand.

"No. I must make even better armor and shields."

"You will make weapons, but at the same time, you will be making shields. If you want to stop war, you must continue developing them. If you stop..."

"The other side will get one step ahead."

He was beginning a race that would not stop.

The reality Burnel had not wanted to imagine took shape.

A faint fragrance remained in his nose.

Coffee and black tea, and ink.

He missed Escolaia terribly.

There, at least, a single room had been his world.

'But I must not go back.'

Magical engineering was a wish he desperately wanted to realize.

"Of course, if we have room later, I will allow you to research ways it can be used in other fields as well. For now, the top priority is that we need a tool that can push back the front line in the far east. If you develop that first, I have no intention of saying this or that to you."

"I-I understand."

"It seems we have discussed this much, then..."

Ferda began speaking in earnest about Burnel's research.

"Start by telling me what you need for that research you are beginning."

"Rather than tools, I need monster corpses first."

"Monster corpses?"

"I must observe them first. Tools come after that."

Burnel scratched his head and gave an awkward smile.

"In truth, if they were alive, the progress would be faster... but capturing monsters alive is not easy, of course, haha!"

Ferda, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

"Understood. We just need to capture them alive, then?"

"Yes, capture them alive... uh... wait a moment, you intend to capture them alive?"

Burnel asked in surprise.

"If it will increase the pace of progress, should we not do that? We still have a long way to go, so should we not make the first step a large one?"

"It will be quite difficult... Understood. I am truly grateful. Um... Your Highness."

"Call me Regent. That has become my official title. And there is no need to thank me."

Ferda rose from his seat and put on his coat.

"We will depart within three days, so prepare yourself."

"Pardon? Where do you mean?"

"How can you say that after saying it yourself? We must go capture them alive."

"W-We are going??"

Burnel's eyes went wide.

His pupils looked ready to shrink to dots.

"Then did you intend to sit still here and wait until others captured them and brought them back?"

"Uh... That is what most people would... do?"

"What a ridiculous joke. How could I simply watch a situation where dozens must die for the sake of one scholar's greed? At times like this, you must move personally."

Ferda patted Burnel on the shoulder and spoke.

"Is it not the conviction of scholars that truth sets humanity free?"

"T-That is true, but..."

"You must not sit still and hope truth drops into your mouth. Put your body to work a little."

"Uuugh..."

"Prepare yourself well during that time. You must be in the best condition."

Burnel's complexion turned pale and stiff.

'I-I should never have come!'

There were no takebacks.

* * *

Ferda and Burnel rode their horses somewhere.

As they moved along the path, they saw a group of people waiting at the roadside.

Thirty subordinates stood in perfect formation, and the man standing at the front was on horseback, wearing half-plate armor.

He was the guide waiting for Ferda.

Arwen dismounted and bowed politely.

"I greet Regent Ferda Valdrova, Consort of Grand Duchess Valdrova. My name is Arwen. I have been ordered by Count Concillus to escort you."

"Good to meet you. Were the orders properly delivered?"

"Yes. I heard that you would be hunting a monster."

Ferda corrected those words.

"Not hunting, but capturing alive. We are going to capture a monster alive."

"I apologize. It seems the official notice that arrived was read to me incorrectly."

In truth, it had not been read incorrectly.

Because it was such an absurd thing to say, he had merely asked again by correcting it himself.

"That is fine. Where is the monster located?"

Arwen turned his head and pointed somewhere.

"I received a report that the distinctive aura of a monster is being emitted from that direction."

"How many?"

"Considering the area over which it has spread recently, there should only be one."

"I see. Then capturing it alive should be easy."

"The thing is..."

Arwen continued his report in a serious voice.

"The size of the individual is estimated to be larger than a gray bear. It is a size that would be difficult for us to deal with even by killing it."

In other words, capturing it alive would be difficult.

Of course, those words did not work on Ferda.

"The larger it is, the better. We must capture it alive without fail."

Ferda patted Burnel, who stood beside him, on the shoulder and spoke.

"It seems it will be helpful to your research."

"Haha... Y-Yes, it does."

Burnel laughed awkwardly and screamed inwardly.

'Do not say that!!'

Burnel's eyes slid toward the soldiers.

All sorts of resentful gazes began pouring toward Burnel.

'So that bastard was the culprit.'

'It is hard enough to kill a monster, and what? Capture it alive?'

'Just try dying while we catch it. I will haunt your dreams until the day you die!'

Those curses seemed to echo dizzily inside Burnel's head.

"Hahaha..."

Burnel laughed.

He had to laugh while he still could.

* * *

Arwen began moving at the front.

Naturally, they had to leave the horses behind.

That was because they could become a factor that provoked the monster.

"How far have you advanced in magic?"

Ferda, who was following behind Arwen, asked Burnel.

Burnel answered.

"My limit is the 3rd Circle."

"A Blue Circle?"

"Yes. Naturally, if one is a magic user, one would choose a Blue Circle... Are you perhaps a Red Circle user?"

"Yes."

Burnel covered his own mouth.

Damn this mouth of his, always running off.

"Ah, I-I apologize! I said something unnecessary..."

"It does not matter. You said the 3rd Circle, correct?"

The title referring to the 3rd Circle was Magic Walker.

Because there were many magic users who could not break through the wall of the 4th Circle, they did not like the term Magic Walker.

In particular, if a magic user of the 4th Circle, a Mage or above, called someone a Magic Walker, it was the same as asking for a fight to the death.

"Can you use Magic Shot?"

"Yes. I can create and launch the spheres, but the effective range is—"

"As long as you can create them, that is enough. How many can you make?"

"Uh... twelve."

"If you make them large?"

"If I make them large, I can make four."

The 3rd Circle average was to be able to use fifteen Mana Shots.

"You fall far short compared to an ordinary 3rd Circle."

"Haha... I do."

It was a painful yet funny story.

That was because Burnel's first dream had been to become a magic user.

'In the end, what I could do was not magic, but only studying.'

And even that studying had been ruined by chasing an absurd, unrealistic dream.

"That alone is enough. You only need to support me well."

"S-Support you?"

"I will handle everything. You only need to carry out simple tasks according to my instructions. Do you understand?"

"Y-You mean support. How..."

"We will keep it simple. It will be simple enough that even a three-year-old child could understand, so do not worry too much."

He could not get a sense of what Ferda intended to do.

Burnel asked him, just in case.

"I apologize, Regent, but what Circle are you?"

"Me? I am 2nd Circle."

"2-2nd Circle?"

"What is wrong? Are you surprised that I am below you?"

"If you ask whether I am surprised, then I am, but that is not what I mean..."

Burnel could not understand.

'So the mana I saw was just exactly what it looked like?'

Burnel had simply thought that Ferda had been hiding it well all this time.

But he was only a lousy 2nd Circle.

'What on earth can a 2nd Circle do...?'

He could not grasp Ferda's plan at all.

Just then, Arwen raised his hand.

"I have detected its presence."

"Is that so? Good work. I will call you right before we capture it. Stand by."

"Pardon?"

Arwen asked again, wondering if he had heard wrong.

Ferda frowned.

"Be sure to seize and reprimand the man who reads those official notices. I said I only needed a guide and troops to help with the capture. Do you want to capture it yourselves?"

"Should we not be the ones to do it? Naturally..."

"What a spirited attitude for a knight, indeed."

Ferda patted Arwen on the shoulder and passed him by.

"Do not take your life lightly. You are Count Concillus's knight, and furthermore, a precious knight of the Grand Duchess's domain."

Ferda put on the leather gloves he had kept in his pocket.

"Let us go. When I give the signal, simply be ready to capture it immediately. Burnel."

"Y-Yes!"

Ferda clasped his hands behind his back and walked forward at ease.

His bearing was so lofty that one could hardly think he was a man walking into the jaws of death.

'Aaaah, I am going to die, I am going to die!'

To Burnel, on the other hand, he was nothing more and nothing less than a grim reaper leading him to death.

* * *

After walking through the deep forest for about ten minutes, Ferda and Burnel finally discovered the monster they had been told about.

'It is a corrupted specimen.'

It was not simply a bizarre creature that had occurred naturally, but a monster in the form of something overlaid upon an animal.

It had originally been a bear, but now it was so ruined that it could only be called something that had been a bear.

A living organism whose very existence made no sense.

That was what its appearance seemed to say.

"Uuugh..."

"Do not throw up. It will be troublesome if it notices us."

"Urk, urk..."

Burnel nodded repeatedly, and Ferda fixed his eyes on the target.

"Now, make a Mana Shot float above your finger."

"Yes."

Burnel swallowed his nausea and created pure mana spheres as instructed.

"And according to my instructions, toss them lightly to me one by one."

"Pardon?"

Toward the Regent, not the bear?

"You mean toward you, Regent?"

"Yes. Throw them."

Burnel did as he said, squeezed his eyes shut, and tried throwing one.

"Huh?"

At that moment, something astonishing happened.