I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Fragrance and Stench
The banquet hall of Valdrova Castle.
Ferda watched from above as the knights began to gather.
“Disgusting creatures.”
Luri, standing beside him and looking down at the hall, spat out the words.
“You seem to have a severe case of misanthropy.”
“It’s not misanthropy; it’s just that those specific things are loathsome.”
Luri covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief as if she couldn’t bear it any longer.
“When I heard they were wandering knights, I figured they’d be similar to field rats, but how… how can they be even worse?”
The knights were practically caked in perfume, having slathered it all over their bodies.
However, that was only enough to mask the scent for a human nose; it didn’t work on a dragon spawn like Luri.
Luri gagged.
“Do humans always walk around reeking like this? Is this a scent or a fragrance? What on earth is this garbage-like stench?”
Ferda nodded as if he understood.
“When granted an audience with a ruler, this level of preparation is standard.”
“You mean not washing?”
Luri asked with a look that questioned his sincerity, and Ferda nodded again.
“It is considered one of the virtues of a knight. To wash away one’s scent is a disgrace to the craft. Even if one arrives in haste, being a person who can emit a fragrance is what matters.”
“You certainly know a lot about barbaric customs.”
“That tends to happen when you’re born into a family of knights.”
Ferda had also considered it a barbaric custom for a long time.
Most knights likely felt the same way.
It was maintained simply for the sake of that damned thing called tradition.
The knights of the Empire were the type of people who would stab their own fathers if tradition demanded it.
“Will you be doing that as well, Ferda-nim?”
“I’m not a knight, so why would I have any reason to?”
Ferda liked cleanliness.
When he lived in the restroom, he had always kept it spotless, and cleanliness had become an inseparable part of his identity.
“It looks like they’ve all gathered. What would you like to do?”
“Hmm….”
Ferda carefully observed the crowd once more.
‘As expected, he’s not here.’
Ferda had lured the wandering knights with the promise of granting territory on the condition of offering thirty monsters.
It was a condition set to gather monster corpses all at once, but it was also a way to bring the wandering knights together to scout them.
‘Is Alberto, the Walking Fortress, not among them?’
A wandering knight who wore armor made of material as hard and heavy as a tortoise shell, carrying a greatsword in one hand and a greatshield in the other.
Traveling on his own two feet without a single horse or squire, he was a shabby yet noble knight.
‘I knew he was someone uninterested in land or loyalty, but I thought he might be interested in the Far East.’
He had sworn to fight against everything that threatened humanity.
Naturally, the Far East was exposed to many threats, so he had expected the Walking Fortress to desire a place there.
“Are you looking for someone?”
Luri asked quietly as she watched him scanning the crowd.
“If I’m looking, I’m looking; if I’m not, I’m not.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s like hoping to find a silver coin on the ground while walking. Enough small talk, let’s head down.”
“Yes.”
Luri’s index finger pointed at Ferda’s toes.
As she swirled her finger, a white vortex began to rotate quietly beneath Ferda’s feet.
Ferda felt his body grow light.
‘Heaven Stair.’
A 3rd-circle magic used to descend from the air to the ground slowly and safely.
Despite being a minor and somewhat useless spell, it was one frequently used by nobles to maintain their dignity.
Ferda stepped into the air, and his body descended slowly at an angle toward the dais.
“Huh?”
Someone spotted Ferda and let out a sound.
“Someone’s coming down.”
“Is that… the master of this castle?”
The clueless wandering knights stared blankly as he descended.
Ferda landed on the dais with his hands behind his back.
He turned around and looked down at the wandering knights.
He possessed the lofty dignity of a Great Mage, befitting the elegant magic.
Even the most oblivious wandering knights had no choice but to fall silent.
“Greetings.”
He delivered the greeting in a solemn voice.
Stefan, who had been watching Ferda, momentarily lost his senses at the extraordinary sight.
‘That’s Valdrova’s kept man? A foolish brat drunk on power?’
It was surprising.
He had heard the Archduke’s fiancé was a young man who had just reached adulthood, but he was truly young.
None of the wandering knights were younger than him; there was even a five-year age gap between him and the youngest wandering knight.
‘And yet he overflows with dignity… a charisma that rivals heads of houses who have held their positions for decades.’
Despite being more than five years younger, no one dared to think they could push him around based on age.
‘Now is not the time for this!’
Stefan snapped out of his daze.
To stand with stiff legs in front of a ruler!
A few quick-witted knights were already down on one knee.
Stefan nudged Lobelus in the ribs.
“Sir Knight.”
“Oh, uh? Yes?”
“You need to kneel.”
“Huh? …Ah!”
Only then did he realize and hurriedly drop to one knee.
It was a frivolous display that didn’t fit etiquette, but what did that matter?
Soon after, the other knights came to their senses and knelt as well.
Ferda continued.
“I am Ferda Valdrova, fiancé of the Archduke of Valdrova and the current Regent of the Archduchy.”
“We greet the Regent of the Archduchy!”
Someone offered the greeting in a booming voice.
The knights who had been in a daze followed suit, chanting their greetings late.
One knight, who had been waiting at the very front, smoothed back his hair.
He attempted to start his self-introduction before anyone else.
“It is truly an honor to set foot in the territory of the ruler of great power. As for myself….”
“Ah. There is no need for that.”
Ferda cut off the greasy knight’s words.
Refusing to listen to a knight’s introduction was an act contrary to royal etiquette.
‘Why would he stop him?’
It wasn’t something that required deep thought.
From the beginning, he had no intention of following etiquette.
“The wrapping paper you’ve prepared is useless. When the contents are nothing but trash, why bother making a person expect something?”
“…Pardon?”
“W-what does that…?”
All the wandering knights let out flustered noises.
The plate armor they wore clattered and rattled.
‘Ugh! This is chilling, truly chilling!’
His head was already dizzy from the scent of perfume, and now that the atmosphere had turned grim, he was losing his mind.
Ferda, having hurled the verbal abuse, simply flowed calmly like a great river.
“Do you wish for me to speak more plainly? It means you are all empty inside. Like hollow bread, you are noisy, empty wagons.”
Thud!
Someone struck the floor with a gauntlet.
“I believe your words are excessive, Regent! Please, retract that statement!”
A grim-looking knight spoke up.
His armor was covered in scratches, giving the impression of a knight who had traversed countless battlefields.
He was the one who had bought thirty monster corpses from Stefan himself.
‘Wow, the audacity.’
While Stefan watched in disgust, Ferda gazed down at the man intently.
“Excessive, you say….”
He nodded as if acknowledging the point.
“Fine. If my words are wrong, I shall apologize to you all.”
Ferda walked along the edge of the dais with his hands behind his back.
His gaze swept over every wandering knight.
“Is there anyone here who hunted all thirty monsters by their own hand?”
“Ugh….”
“Ahem….”
Some of the knights who had been ready to flare up at the insult cleared their throats and lowered their heads.
However, those who weren’t among them watched the reactions of those around them with contemptuous smirks.
The grim-looking knight still held his head high.
This time, Ferda asked those who still had their heads up.
“Is there anyone among you who hunted all thirty monsters alone?”
“Um….”
“Alone? How could anyone possibly….”
They muttered before falling silent, overwhelmed by Ferda’s gaze.
A few more lowered their heads and made disgruntled noises.
However, it meant they were wandering knights who had caught them purely with their own strength, without sourcing them from elsewhere.
‘There’s no way such a person exists.’
If a wandering knight possessed the martial prowess to hunt thirty monsters alone, they would already be serving under someone.
The fact that they all had their heads held high meant they were all lying.
Since Ferda couldn’t possibly know what they had done, they were acting brazenly.
‘No, unless the Lord is a complete idiot, he won’t believe that at face value.’
Stefan watched Ferda’s reaction.
After making eye contact with those holding their heads high, Ferda simply nodded.
“I see.”
Ferda had accepted it.
Just like that?
“Then, I shall apologize.”
Ferda approached the young attendant standing beside him and reached out his hand.
She pulled a single scroll sealed with vermilion ink from her skirt.
“Do you know what this is?”
Ferda asked, holding it up.
Even those who were slow-witted could tell what it was instantly.
“What I have here is the deed to the territory and the certificate of title previously managed by Thessalos Walcher. The moment any of your names are written here, it takes effect.”
The prize every knight desired.
“Regardless of the means, you have hunted and presented thirty monsters, so I must keep my promise, shouldn’t I?”
He placed it on the table atop the dais and said,
“If you covet it….”
It served as the signal flare announcing the start of a war.
“Come and take it.”
Light erupted from the eyes of every wandering knight.
Stefan reflexively recoiled.
This was a situation he had seen all too often.
‘It’s like middle-aged women when a 70% off clearance sale sign goes up!’
If you got caught between those crazed women, the expression “a shrimp’s back breaking in a whale fight” was an understatement for the state your body would be in.
Since his opponents were knights, the physical struggle would be even more violent.
Judging it best not to watch, he lowered his head.
But no one moved.
Not even Lobelus, who was right beside him.
Stefan peeked up and asked Lobelus.
“Sir Knight, aren’t you going?”
“Ugh… uuuugh….”
No, he couldn’t.
Lobelus was suffering.
His eyes were wide as if they were about to pop out, staring intently at one spot.
Wondering what he was looking at, Stefan inadvertently turned his head, and—
“H-gasp!”
Stefan also let out a sound like he was losing his breath.
‘A-a dragon?’
In the spot where the attendant had been.
A Silver Dragon was coiled there, its eyes glaring.
Everyone was frozen under that gaze.
‘What on earth? When did that get here? O-or did we go somewhere else?’
Stefan doubted whether he had been transported to another place.
That was how much the deep terror was interfering with his rational thought.
While everyone else was frozen, someone stood up.
“Success….”
Letting out a breath like a dying old man.
“Territory….”
“Marriage… escape…!”
Like dying old men, they trudged painfully toward the blank certificate.
As the race toward the dais progressed,
—Grrr….
The dragon’s form distorted.
The stationary figure began to growl as they approached, as if angered.
The wandering knights who had forced themselves to move froze once again.
The body of the coiled silver dragon began to move.
—Graaaaah!!
It roared as if its reverse scale had been touched.
—What happens to the knights if you use Dragon Fear?
Ferda had asked Luri before meeting the knights.
—Most of them run away. They believe a dragon is chasing them.
—What if you use it weakly?
—Hmm, their five senses believe a dragon is present, and they become unable to move.
—That sounds appropriate. Can you emit some Dragon Fear when I give the signal?
—At the knights?
—Yes. If we’re choosing a lord for the territory, shouldn’t we at least ensure they aren’t a coward?
Ferda had said so, and Luri had agreed to some extent.
‘I thought it wouldn’t matter who it was….’
Luri’s mind was gradually changing.
They say things change between imagining them and starting them, but there was a decisive factor shaking her heart.
‘That damn smell.’
It was because of the stench.
Because of the Dragon Fear, they were breaking out in cold sweat, and their body temperatures were rising.
As a result, a sweltering heat rose, and the scent of the perfume they had sprayed and their body odor spread even more intensely.
On the ceiling, a disgusting cloud—famously known as a “basement-dweller cloud"—was forming.
Even Ferda could now feel the foul smell mixing in.
For Luri, it was nothing short of hell.
The ones actually sweating probably didn’t think much of it.
They were too preoccupied with Luri’s Dragon Fear.
Some were trembling in fear, while others, soaked in greed, were forcing their feet to move.
“I-I’m finally… going to… make it…!”
“A-a d-d-dragon is n-n-nothing t-t-to be a-a-afraid of!”
Since they were even voicing their pathetic true intentions, it was now a triple threat testing Luri’s patience.
‘I want to kick them all out right now.’
However, Luri did her best in her role.
She tried to watch what they did until the end.
But then, Luri’s silver eyes finally saw it.
That man coming up onto the dais in the lead.
A pungent smell wafted up from him, the result of not washing for days.
Sweat had likely flowed and dried on his skin several layers deep.
A single drop of sweat traced a path down such a man’s cheek.
The old grime on his face was peeled away, dissolving into that water droplet.
The moment the sweat that had flowed like that reached the tip of his chin, it hung there like a drop of water at the end of a stalactite before falling.
Drip—
The dirty, smelly sweat soaked into the precious residence of Valdrova.
Snap.
The sound of something breaking inside Luri’s mouth.
The moment all that information became a stream of thought and registered in Luri’s consciousness, she momentarily lost her reason.
Dragon Fear was released at its maximum, covering the entire banquet hall.
It was only for a fleeting moment, but that alone was enough.
“Aaaaah! I don’t want to die!!”
The knights who had been moving by overcoming their fear were the first to turn and start running.
The terror was contagious in an instant.
“Move! I’m just going back!”
“Aaaaaah! Mommy! Mommy!!”
The knights began to run pathetically, their armor clattering.
Without regard for who went first, they scrambled for the exit, and the banquet hall was empty in an instant.
“Hmm….”
Ferda, who had been watching, spoke as he looked at the battered main doors.
“I should have watched a bit longer; that’s a shame.”
“……I am sorry.”
“Well, it’s fine. There are plenty of such riffraff, so we can just pick again, can’t we?”
Ferda’s eyes shifted slightly elsewhere.
“And it’s not as if the selection failed completely.”
In the place that looked as though a storm had swept through, one man remained standing.
He wasn’t a knight.
His legs were trembling, but a closer look at the movement revealed he was forcing himself to stay put so as not to run away.
Tears were in his eyes, and mucus was in his nose.
Bodily fluids were leaking from every possible orifice.
A situation where he felt like he was suffocating from fear.
And yet, those eyes were fixed on Ferda.
Whoever he was, he seemed well worth talking to.
Valdrova Castle, reception room.
“And your name is?”
“S-S-Stefan Pascal.”
“Is your name S-Stefan?”
“I-I am sorry. I s-stuttered my name. It’s S-te-fan.”
“It’s fine. I understand, so I just wanted to be sure. Speak slowly. There’s no need to push yourself.”
“Y-yes, sir! Hooo, hooo!”
Stefan was still in a state where he hadn’t escaped the aftereffects of the Dragon Fear.
He took deep breaths, but he couldn’t pull himself together with just a few.
‘His mental strength alone is extraordinary.’
The fact that he could hold a conversation while his mouth was trembling was proof enough.
Ferda swallowed that admiration and asked him.
“If you’re of House Pascal, are you the one related to the Pascal Trading Company I’m thinking of?”
“T-that is correct. I am the second son of H-Herman Pascal! I-I am currently the branch manager of the Imperial Headquarters. No, branch manager.”
“I see. What brings you here?”
“I-I was selling monster corpses to the k-knights, and I thought the Archduke m-might need monster corpses, so I came to t-talk….”
He was a man who had come with a clear purpose.
It was because he couldn’t give up on that purpose that he had suppressed his instinct to flee with his reason.
‘But the thing that bothers me is….’
It was the name Stefan Pascal itself.
‘It’s a name I’ve never heard before.’
Herman Pascal was the most famous merchant not only in the Empire but on the entire continent, so Ferda knew him well.
After his death, the inheritance dispute had escalated, but the two main figures in that dispute were only two people.
Murchit and Tilda.
‘Is this man named Stefan a lonely sailboat…?’
Destined to drift forever on a windless day and die forgotten.
Someone who possessed the qualifications of a successor but would die in vain due to a lack of popular support.
Elements enough to consider him insignificant.
‘But if he is destined to collapse due to a lack of support….’
What would happen if I filled that support myself?
‘Murchit and Tilda have already firmly established their own factions.’
Even if Ferda took a side, there would be no room for scraps to fall his way.
‘I shall insert a new axis called Stefan into the succession dispute.’
If successful, he would be able to utilize the trade network and information of the Pascal Trading Company, the greatest in the Empire.
It would be of great help to the development and technological revolution of the Far East, which was practically a wilderness.
“You.”
Ferda, having made his judgment, spoke.
“While you’re calming down, would you care to hear an outrageous story?”
