Chapter 242 - Sweet Treats

Luri set down the teapot. Her hand rested on the table, clenched into a tight fist.

“Haven’t I always told you?” she said without turning around. “You are to become Lady Valdrova’s Consort, Master Ferda. I told you that you must be careful!”

“You did...”

“You knew that perfectly well! Why! Why did you! Go off on your own!”

Her raised voice subsided. She lifted a hand to her face.

“On your own...”

She could not hide the tears gathering in her eyes.

“I hate you so much, Master Ferda.”

“...”

“How can you possibly face Lady Valdrova and make her look at that hand?”

Reproach followed. Ferda could say nothing.

He already knew. She resented him, but that was not all. She was furious that her own abilities had not been enough to protect him. She was being unreasonable because she felt she could not vent her anger without at least saying this much.

Ferda looked down at his right hand.

“If we speak to the Order, we should be able to get help.”

“...”

“But if they take issue with the fact that I’ve learned dark magic, my position will be seriously jeopardized—”

“I don’t care.”

Luri wiped away her tears and turned around. Biting her lip, she spoke with reddened eyes.

“If they refuse to treat you because you’re a Dark Mage, Master Ferda, I will smash that Order to pieces.”

“...”

“Even if they say restoring it will be difficult, I’ll destroy everything. I’ll make them find a way.”

Luri had never been more serious. How was he supposed to soothe this angry Chihuahua? It was a genuine concern.

Just then—

“Ho ho! Don’t do that, child. Wouldn’t that be terribly cruel to those who turn to the gods?”

A nasal voice sounded behind Luri. The instant she heard it, her hair stood on end.

“It looked quite ordinary from the outside. But I see even a dragon’s fiancé’s tent is lavish.”

A girl had entered with her hands clasped behind her back. Her face was youthful, but she carried herself like a stooped old woman.

Luri quickly rubbed her eyes and resumed her impeccable maid’s bearing. Or rather, she tried. Her overwhelming emotions over Ferda mingled with her dismay at this unexpected visitor, leaving her shaken.

Only a few beings could fluster her this badly. Ferda soon understood why.

“So you’re my little one’s fiancé?”

She pushed back her robe, revealing horns amid a luxuriant mane of golden hair.

Luri spoke her name.

“I greet you, Lady Odograsado, Golden Dragon.”

At her formal greeting, Odograsado turned her head. Though the girl’s eyes were closed, she faced Luri as if she could see her.

“Oh, you’re the child who received Silverwind’s blood. Are you my little one’s attendant?”

“I am.”

“Ho ho! Silverwind marked you as having the makings of a great warrior, so I expected a hulking, mannish woman. Yet here you are, not merely small and dainty, but beautiful as well.”

“...”

“Still, you pale utterly beside me. Ho ho!”

Ferda knew of the Golden Dragon through rumors. The largest of all dragons, she was said to measure over fifty meters in length. She lived three levels beneath the city, yet was so enormous that she needed only to raise her head to appear in the cathedral.

But this girl before him?

'A narcissistic brat?'

Only her horns bore any resemblance to that description. She was even smaller than Luri.

'And she has no draconic presence, either.'

At first, he had struggled even to approach Valdrova. He had felt the exalted presence of Storeus and even Phrontesis. But this girl seemed no different from an ordinary girl. What was more, she smelled suspiciously of ham.

First, he should get up. As he tried to rise, however, Odograsado stopped him.

“Oh, stay where you are. I have no intention of making an injured boy get up.”

Ferda lay back down—not of his own accord, but because Odograsado had used magic. She strolled over to his side and gave a lilting chuckle.

“Ho ho, what a handsome young man. A few sweet words from you would have my innocent little one falling head over heels.”

“...”

“By the way, where has your hand gone? Were you hungry enough to make soup out of it?”

“...”

“You don’t know how to take a joke, do you? Ha ha ha!”

How could he laugh when this was hardly a time for jokes? Luri had been crying just before she arrived. He could not laugh as though nothing had happened.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Your sense of humor was cut off along with your right hand. Restore one, and the other should return, shouldn’t it?”

Suddenly, she lifted her hair and made as if to take something from the back of her neck. Brilliant light filled the tent.

“Lady Odograsado, that is...!”

Luri looked astonished.

“Hmm? You know what this is?”

“The Golden Grace... Isn’t that a scale from your own body? Something so precious...”

The Golden Grace was precious enough to warrant that reaction. It was comparable to an elixir gathered drop by drop over decades from the heart of the World Tree. True to its owner’s title, the Aspect of Faith and Light, it bestowed miracles.

“Child, if I don’t use it now, when would I? Besides...”

“Besides?”

“I’d rather not see the Order of my Holy State smashed by your hands. Ha ha ha!”

Luri’s face flushed once more. Still laughing with easy good humor, Odograsado unwound the bandages around Ferda’s hand. Despite Luri’s healing magic, the wound had yet to close properly.

“This will sting a little.”

She drove the sharp edge of the scale straight into what remained of Ferda’s right hand. The pain of its insertion lasted only a moment.

“Ghh...!!”

A far greater agony gripped his arm. Sensations that had been absent until now slowly took shape in empty air.

Ferda knew this feeling. One of the torture drugs he had created was called Shitty Life. This hurt even more than drinking that. This was what it meant to be brought back from death.

Ten minutes passed like ten hours. With Ferda beside himself in pain, Luri was the first to gasp in wonder.

“My goodness...”

His missing right hand had been restored completely. Luri took it carefully, touching each finger joint in turn as she asked,

“Master Ferda, can you feel this?”

Drenched in sweat and struggling even to catch his breath, he gave only a slight nod. Luri could not bring herself to let go of his hand.

Meanwhile, Odograsado stroked his head and spoke like a grandmother.

“There, there. You bore that very well. Such a good boy. So good. A good child deserves a reward. You there, attendant.”

“Yes, my lady?”

“Have you any sweet treats?”

“Sweet treats...?”

“Isn’t there something you’re especially fond of? I imagine you carry a whole jar around with you. Am I wrong?”

Luri turned scarlet.

“I’ll fetch it.”

A moment later, she brought a jar from her luggage. When she opened it and handed it over, Odograsado spoke with a look of utter happiness.

“Oh my, my teeth are rotting just looking at it. To think such an utterly sinful embodiment of pleasure exists.”

“...”

“I ought to have a taste. Let’s see...”

Using the pick she had been given, Odograsado popped a piece into her mouth. Her face was the very picture of bliss.

“Oh, sinful, sinful! How can anything be this sinful!”

“...”

“Eat nothing but this, and your teeth will melt away and your belly will stick out most unattractively. Yet you carry such sinful things around?”

“I don’t... eat much.”

“Of course not. That’s why you’re so beautiful, isn’t it? Ho ho!”

She popped another piece into her mouth.

“Perhaps the heavens envy me for being blessed with such tremendous beauty, but I’m rather lacking in self-control, you see. That’s why they feed me nothing but tasteless bread every day. If the faithful didn’t sneak me delicious things, I’d have no joy in life at all.”

“Is that... so?”

Even as she spoke, more than five pieces of honey-preserved fruit had disappeared into her mouth.

“Oh dear, look how much I’ve eaten again. Anyone watching would call me a pig.”

Only after stuffing another three or so pieces into her mouth did she offer one to Ferda.

“Here, have one. A reward from the Golden Dragon herself.”

“No, thank you.”

“Now, now. Don’t they say sweets lift your spirits? Here, watch me eat one.”

Odograsado put the honey-preserved fruit into her mouth and once again looked blissful.

“Mmmm. That’s the taste. Yes. Such pleasure, as though devils were dancing in my mouth.”

“...”

“Of course, I’m not happy myself. I’m merely demonstrating how you would feel. Now, eat.”

Faced with her absurd antics, he had no choice but to put a piece in his mouth, unwilling though he was.

“Greg told me about you.”

She meant Gregorio, pope of the Odograsado Holy State.

“What did he tell you...?”

“He said a young upstart had appeared at the Grand Council declaring his ambition to conquer the Land of Demons. And that it was none other than my little one’s fiancé.”

Chuckling, she put another piece of honey-preserved fruit into her mouth.

“I thought you sounded quite interesting. A greenhorn, too. But I know what the Land of Demons is like. I thought you’d soon have a bitter taste of reality and give up.”

“...”

“But you didn’t. Even I never imagined you could make use of those Demons. Greg had good reason to plead so earnestly.”

Odograsado laughed, patting Ferda’s right hand.

“And you’re so self-sacrificing you even made soup out of your right hand. Ha ha ha!”

Faith and light. Those words had led him to expect a solemn, dignified dragon. Who would have imagined she was this frivolous? So frivolous, in fact, that when her ceaselessly moving pick scraped the bottom of the jar, she clicked her tongue.

“Oh dear, I was so carried away eating that I’ve finished all your honey preserves.”

“It’s all right.”

“What do you mean, it’s all right? Bring another jar.”

“Pardon?”

“Quickly. I know you have one more.”

Odograsado crooked a finger, and a dumbfounded Luri brought her another jar. When the lid opened, the scent of sugar and fruit tickled their noses again.

“Sinful things like these must be eaten out of existence. What is that if not a true exorcism? Ho ho!”

Ferda could see the gratitude for saving him gradually fading from Luri’s expression. Odograsado continued.

“So, when I return home, I intend to have a word with Gregorio.”

“If you have such good news to share, why not visit the castle and tell us there?”

“Your castle?”

“You call Valdrova your little one, so you seem close. Wouldn’t it be nice to see her?”

“Hmm... I’m afraid I cannot.”

Her characteristically blithe manner began to falter.

“I call her my little one, but I have committed far too many sins. After turning a blind eye all this time, it would be cruel to show my face now, when things are finally looking up.”

As the cheerful mood began to subside, Odograsado casually asked Ferda another question.

“Come to think of it, I heard Phrontesis visited the castle. Did he meet Valdrova as well?”

“Yes.”

“What did he give her? He’s not the sort to pass through empty-handed.”

“He gave her a wedding ring.”

“A wedding ring... The scoundrel. So that’s how he means to win my little one’s favor?”

Odograsado exhaled, mulling it over. It felt as though a competition was about to begin.

“Then I shall officiate at your wedding! What do you think of having the Golden Dragon herself conduct the ceremony?”

“I can only thank you for being so considerate.”

“Naturally. Whose idea do you think it is? But I’ll need to mend things with her first... Very well! I’ll tell them to give you plenty of support toward conquering the Land of Demons!”

Gregorio’s promise to spare no support if Ferda showed his resolve had proved, at last, not to have been empty words.

“Thank you for saying so.”

“As you should.”

Odograsado stretched before speaking again.

“In any case, this old woman will take her leave now. Ho ho. Avoid strenuous exercise for a while.”

She pulled her hood up. With her horns hidden, she looked every inch an ordinary child. Then she glanced at the jar of honey preserves in her hand and apologized to Luri.

“I’m sorry, child. I’ve already eaten half.”

“It’s all right.”

“Having eaten half, I’ve gotten quite a bit of saliva in here. Surely you’d find it unpleasant to eat the rest?”

“I don’t mi—”

“I’ll take this with me and finish it.”

“...”

“Farewell, then. Ho ho!”

Hiding the jar beneath her robe, the Golden Dragon left. The two of them stared at the flapping tent entrance as though a storm had just swept through.

“... Luri.”

“Yes?”

“For some reason, I’m craving ham.”

“I’ll prepare your meal.”

Odograsado was said to leave holiness wherever she stayed. The place she had just left was filled with the smell of ham.