I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 26
“An absurd… story, you say?”
“I don’t care whether you believe what I’m about to tell you or not. Just listen.”
“I—I understand.”
Stefan took a listening posture as requested.
His head was spinning, but it wasn’t as if he was completely incapacitated.
Ferda began his tale.
“This is the future I imagine.”
Ferda didn’t speak as if he were trying to sell something. He simply focused on recounting the story of what he had seen, heard, and felt exactly as it was.
As Stefan listened, he picked out keywords one by one.
‘Carriages that move without horses. Tools that run on mana but don’t require mages…’
Stefan was a man who had grown up being called a genius, and his mercantile instincts were exceptional.
A merchant’s sense is simple: take the profit and discard the loss.
What was Ferda talking about?
‘An absurd dream.’
By Stefan’s common sense, it was an impossible story that deserved to be discarded.
‘And yet… somehow, it sounds plausible.’
It wasn't a sweet whisper meant to lure him into a trap. There was no puffery typical of a swindler, nor were there traps meant to hide information. It was as if a grandfather were telling a story to young children—a feeling that he was calmly reciting things he had personally witnessed and felt.
That was why, despite the absurdity of the tale, the scenery naturally painted itself in Stefan’s mind.
He didn’t even know what to call it, but Stefan felt a certain conviction.
‘This is without a doubt a moneymaker\!’
Stefan’s mind had returned to clarity, but his hands were trembling.
“That is all. This is the future I envision.”
Stefan, who had remained silent while listening, finally spoke.
“That future… surely it’s related to the research you’ve been conducting, Regent-nim?”
Stefan asked with a pounding heart. He was so shocked that he even forgot to stutter.
“Of course.”
“I-In that case\! Could you please tell me what it is?\! I beg of you\!”
Unable to contain his excitement, Stefan pleaded with Ferda.
“Magitech.”
“Magi…tech.”
It was a name he felt he had heard once before. However, the reason Stefan didn’t remember it was undoubtedly because it hadn’t seemed profitable at the time.
‘If I thought it wouldn’t work back then, I should feel the same way now…’
But this was the first time he felt like he was missing out on such an attractive product. He couldn’t let it slip away.
“If you need monster carcasses for that research, how about we help you?”
“Are you saying you’ll cooperate?”
“Yes. We will provide them for you.”
Ferda leaned back against his chair and asked, “What do you want in return?”
“I want us to be involved in the distribution and manufacturing process of those magitech products.”
Stefan revealed his desire. Ferda asked in an even more serious voice.
“Just simple distribution and manufacturing?”
“I mean that I want exclusivity, of course.”
Stefan answered clearly. An exclusive contract. No matter what it was, if you were the only one who possessed it, it became a powerful weapon.
“I am well aware that this is a great ambition. Therefore, I will adjust everything according to your wishes, Regent-nim. I simply ask that you allow us to have the monopoly on the products derived from that research.”
Stefan strongly expressed his desire for exclusivity. Ferda maintained an expression of indifference.
“What we are researching is something that will change the world. If you want to monopolize that, you’ll need to show more sincerity than just helping with the research, wouldn’t you?”
“What would you like me to do?”
Ferda seized the moment to make his proposal.
“I want priority access to materials for road development and the advancement of the Grand Duchy, as well as the procurement of food reserves.”
Stefan was taken aback by Ferda’s demands, which poured out as smoothly as flowing water.
“You truly ask for a great deal…”
“Is there a problem with a leader wanting to exert effort for the development of his country?”
“There is no problem. Ha-ha…”
Though he laughed and acted the fool on the surface, Stefan couldn't help but worry deeply.
‘Giving him the three things he requested isn't impossible.’
The money and materials Stefan had amassed were overwhelmingly greater than those of his two siblings. Road development was something he would have to do anyway as long as they were in a cooperative relationship. As for materials and food reserves, he had more than enough to set aside for him.
However, there was a separate reason for his hesitation.
‘Priority access…’
Stefan knew how terrifying that phrase was. It meant that even if someone else offered to pay a premium, he would have to grit his teeth, ignore them, and supply the goods at a fair price. Stefan’s merchant instincts were warning him to avoid this at all costs.
“Your expression doesn't look good.”
“Pardon? Yes??”
“I take it the request for priority supply isn't to your liking?”
“No. How could that be?”
Denying it even if it were true—that was the basic of basics.
“Think about it. No matter how much wealth you pile up, nothing is more unfair than dying, wouldn't you agree?”
Stefan flinched.
“A-Are you threatening me right now?”
“No. It’s not a threat, but a story about your future. Herman Pascal is quite aged, is he not?”
“Ah…”
Stefan seemed to understand what Ferda was getting at. He recalled the thoughts he had briefly pushed aside.
‘My loathsome brother and sister…’
Murchit and Tilda. Weren't the two of them fiercely pressuring him?
“Even if you have to endure some losses, wouldn't becoming the master of the company be the most attractive offer?”
“The… the master of the company.”
The Pascal Trading Company was everything to Stefan. It didn’t just represent his fortune; it was his very life.
“Inasmuch as you cooperate with me, I shall also cooperate with you. I will ensure that what Herman Pascal built, and the trading company you helped grow, becomes entirely yours.”
Stefan brought out the scales in his mind. What Ferda had requested and shown versus what he had to give up. Of course, it was a deal where Stefan was at an overwhelming disadvantage.
‘The Grand Duke—no, the Regent—could be someone who backs me.’
Ferda Valdroba.
Initially, Stefan hadn't considered him much of a connection. If he went around bragging that his connection was Valdroba’s kept man, he’d only be laughed at, and people would think he was so desperate he was grasping at a rotten rope. Most people undervalued him, and Stefan had believed them.
‘But that’s not it.’
Seeing him in person now, it was different. He was a man with a brilliance rivaling that of an Emperor. Even as he sat here facing him in shock, the suspicion that he might still be undervaluing the man wouldn’t stop.
‘This man knows how to draw the future.’
It wasn't the childish drawings of boastful nobles; even if he drew the lines roughly, the form was clear. He had conviction and the ability to back it up.
‘The one thing I could never have.’
The absolute charisma that Stefan lacked. So, he wanted to say it. He wanted to do it, no matter what. Those words pushed up against Stefan’s throat.
“May I ask one question?”
However, he didn't say those words yet. Because answering one beat late was the shortcut to becoming a great merchant.
“Go ahead.”
“I have an older brother and sister—why did you not choose them?”
Ferda answered honestly.
“I’ll be blunt. It’s because I have nothing to gain by siding with them.”
A cold and calculated judgment.
“And you are lonely and isolated. You are perfect to use.”
“Ugh…”
Ferda was being too honest. Stefan, who had waited with the intention of testing him, was caught off guard instead.
“Therefore, I am making this proposal to you. Will you survive by being prepared to take a loss, or will you simply be pushed aside?”
Stefan realized just how shallow his thinking had been. To think he had tried to test such a person.
“I will do it.”
And he added the words he had forgotten.
“I will do it, no matter what.”
Stefan knelt and bowed to him. Ferda leaned forward and reached out his hand.
“I shall be in your debt from now on.”
“It is I who shall be in your debt, Regent-nim.”
Stefan thought to himself: no matter who came to him with what proposal, nothing would ever give him the same heart-pounding thrill as the deal made today.
* * *
The territory of Count Consilus.
Today, a soldier who was someone’s father and husband had died. He had met a gallant end while buying time to protect farmers from monsters attacking the fields.
Priests performed rituals by sprinkling holy water on the corpse, and soldiers raised their swords to honor the death. Count Consilus himself attended the funeral of the mere soldier.
The aged lord could no longer hold a sword, but he never failed to attend the funerals of his soldiers to mourn their deaths. It was his usual behavior, but today was somewhat different. Even though the funeral had ended, Ulvera Consilus did not leave the spot and remained staring at the grave.
“Arwen…”
He called the name of the knight standing behind him.
“Speak, my Lord.”
“What was the word from the Empire? What happened to the letter we requested?”
Arwen forced out an answer in a strained voice.
“They say it will take time. That supplying the soldiers within the Empire is the priority…”
“Priority… is it?”
Ulvera Consilus stroked his beard. Ulvera Consilus, whose life had been like walking a tightrope, rarely showed his emotions. In a place where expressing feelings today could lead to death tomorrow, he had always practiced smiling kindly.
If it didn't work today, try tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after.
“Those sons of bitches, worse than dogs…”
Even Count Consilus could no longer just keep smiling.
“Supplying the soldiers within the Empire is the priority? Are they saying we aren't even subjects of the Empire? We, who live on the front lines and suffer from monsters every single day? Is the Emperor so afraid of simple public order that he’s arming city guards instead\!”
“Please calm yourself, my Lord.”
“It is truly lamentable. I have never lived a perfectly honorable life, but I thought I hadn't lived a shameful one\! Yet today is the first time I have felt such shame\!”
Count Consilus felt his heart collapse when he heard the reason for the soldier's death. It was because the sword he held to block the monster had snapped while he was trying to deliver the finishing blow. The sword he used was a piece of standard-issue equipment that he had used for a full five years. It wouldn't have been strange for it to break at any time.
Count Consilus knew how important national defense was. He had never neglected the training of his soldiers to protect his territory, and he prioritized the leadership setting an example to ensure their mental fortitude was solid. However, even the strongest mental fortitude was no match for a lack of supplies.
While the interior of the Empire was peaceful, the front lines were always in a state equivalent to war. It was a place where casualties from monsters occurred constantly.
“Forgive me…”
Count Consilus knelt and gripped the soldier's grave.
“Please forgive this incompetent old man… I was wrong.”
“To call yourself incompetent, my Lord\! This is entirely due to our own shortcomings\!”
“That’s right, it’s my fault\!”
“It’s my fault\!”
Arwen knelt, and all the soldiers under him knelt as well. Count Consilus wailed loudly for a long time.
After crying for a while, Count Consilus stood up with Arwen’s support and began to walk again. He was on his way back to his quarters when he heard a commotion outside the castle gates. It was loud enough to penetrate the high, thick walls.
Instead of heading to his quarters, Count Consilus asked the gatekeeper guarding the main entrance.
“What is happening?”
“Loyalty\! We were just looking for you, Count\!”
“Looking for me?”
“Yes. A line of carriages is cutting through the forest. They look like merchants, but they seemed suspicious, so we haven't let them in…”
“Merchants are suspicious?”
“They say they’ve come from the Pascal Trading Company.”
It was understandable why they’d be suspicious. There was no reason for a group like the Pascal Trading Company to come to this Far East. They likely judged them to be bandits or thugs in disguise.
“I see. I shall go out myself.”
A sharp glint entered Consilus’s eyes. He vowed that if they were bandits, he would draw his sword immediately and soak the ground with their blood.
Count Consilus stepped outside through a small side door. In front of the main gate, a well-dressed middle-aged man was mounted on a horse.
“I have come to see Count Consilus. The carriages are waiting aimlessly in the forest, which is dangerous. Could you please open the gates?”
“The man you are looking at now is Count Ulvera Consilus. Show some respect.”
At Arwen’s warning, the middle-aged man was startled and jumped down from his horse to kneel.
“Ah, my apologies. This humble one’s eyes have grown dim. Count, please forgive my rudeness.”
“It is fine. Who are you? One cannot help but be startled when so many carriages are brought to a place like this…”
“My apologies for the late introduction. We are from the Pascal Trading Company.”
“I heard that. Do you have a way to prove it?”
“Right here.”
The middle-aged man pulled out an identification document. It bore the Imperial seal and plaque; he was certainly a person from the Pascal Trading Company.
“Why have you come here?”
“I have come to inquire about establishing a branch in Count Consilus’s territory.”
“If the Pascal Trading Company is establishing a branch… are you saying you are interested in trade in this Far East?”
He was even more shocked. Establishing a branch meant they intended to revitalize trade in the surrounding area. However, there was no reason for a large-scale merchant company to revitalize trade in the Far East. It was more rational for their business to spread out in all directions from the safe Central Region rather than the high-risk Far East.
“Orders have come down from the top. We are to provide priority support for projects such as supply replenishment and road improvement, and to establish a Far East branch. We have selected Count Consilus’s territory as the best location for that business. If you grant us permission to establish the branch, we have come fully prepared to proceed immediately.”
Count Consilus stared blankly at the endless line of carriages that had pushed through the forest.
“So, you’ve come with the intention of building a castle?”
“Ha-ha, not at all. While we have construction materials, we heard news that you haven't been receiving supplies lately. Therefore, on behalf of the Empire, our company has selected the finest items from our inventory to provide as supplies.”
“Supplies…\!”
Count Consilus strode over to look at the goods loaded in the back of a carriage. “Heh\!” His wrinkled eyes went wide.
Stacked in that carriage were things more precious than millions in gold.
‘All my requests that were ignored… they’re all here\!’
From weapons to maintenance consumables, and even storable food. Everything from the trivial to the essential was contained within those carriages. Count Consilus picked up one of the supply swords. It was undoubtedly a top-quality product—a sturdy piece of equipment that wouldn't break in the middle of a fight with a monster.
“Why has Pascal… brought its business to the Far East?”
Count Consilus was dying to know. He felt he wouldn't be satisfied until he heard the answer, no matter what. The man replied.
“This is a project being carried out in consultation with the Regent of the Grand Duke of Valdroba.”
