I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 51
The Grand Council Chamber.
Representatives of all sentient beings scattered across the continent of Serdes had gathered.
Despite the vast space and the sheer number of people, the Grand Council Chamber had no assigned seating. Nevertheless, the various factions sat with their allies, making a silent display of their respective scales of power.
‘The tension was truly palpable back then.’
In Ferda’s eyes, it was like looking at a living map of political influence.
The largest nation on the continent was the Arken Empire. To counter its dominance, the various kingdoms had formed alliances to maintain a similar scale of power. It meant that the continental balance was, for now, still being maintained.
As a member of the Arken Empire, Ferda took his seat among the imperial factions.
The Council Chamber lacked the opulence he had felt in the banquet hall. Instead, it favored a restrained design—similar to other parliaments—to ensure the participants wouldn’t be distracted by luxury. The seating was arranged in a semicircular tier, designed to focus all attention toward the center.
And in that central seat sat the master of this Grand Council.
‘The White Dragon, Blancaros.’
Pure white hair, white eyes, and the face of a beautiful young man untouched by the flow of time. That white light was so otherworldly it created the illusion that he was emitting a radiance of his own. This was the immortal beauty possessed by dragons.
‘So, that is a dragon.’
As Ferda watched him, Blancaros’s eyes, which had been still, shifted. Ferda wondered if it was a coincidence, but that thought didn’t last long. Blancaros was staring directly at him.
His white eyes were cold and pure. The moment their gazes met, Ferda felt the circles inside his body writhe. It was an instinctive warning triggered by the presence of an absolute powerhouse. Peculiarly, there was no malice in that warning. It felt just as it had when he first stepped into the dragon’s domain.
Standing behind him were three men and women with similarly white hair. They were the three spawns Blancaros had created through the Ascension Ceremony.
The Tongue, the Scale, and the Hand.
Blancaros moved his hand. With a flick of his finger, a woman standing with disciplined posture cleared her throat and spoke. She was the Tongue of Blancaros. She represented the White Dragon’s will and acted as the proxy to conduct the council’s proceedings.
Her voice rang out loudly through the hall.
「My sincere thanks to those who have come for the peace of the continent.」
She began reading from the script she held. After a few formalities, she started reciting the agendas officially brought to the table.
「We shall begin the mediation of the dispute between King Hudret and Duke Yurei.」
The start was a simple dispute. Though called a “dispute,” in scale, it was a war. At the announcement, a man stood up with a scowl.
「I offer my sincere gratitude to the Proxy of the Great Master of Order for arranging this seat. Before we proceed, I demand a correction to set the record straight. This entire situation is a war and a catastrophe brought about by King Hudret’s invasion.」
Immediately, another man stood up. It was the accused, King Hudret.
「It was my people who died first! How was I supposed to stop the villagers from taking action to avenge their own?」
「You were the one who brought in the army, King Hudret!」
「Silence, please. This is a place for mediation. A final compensation will be decided based on the evidence submitted.」
The Tongue of Blancaros cut them off, preventing a shouting match that could have lasted indefinitely.
「Each side, please submit your prepared evidence.」
The evidence gathered by the factions of Hudret and Yurei was documented and submitted. The purpose of the mediation was to receive compensation for damages suffered during the war. Each document took flight and unfurled before Blancaros.
It took a mere minute for him to read through everything the ministers of each country and territory had spent two months writing.
Blancaros flicked his finger toward a young boy. The boy was holding a set of scales. He was the Scale of Blancaros.
The scales held by the boy tilted to one side. Blancaros’s hand began to document the result, and the Tongue delivered the verdict.
「Judgment! Duke Yurei shall pay 60,000 gold in reparations to King Hudret.」
It was a moment where joy and sorrow crossed paths. Duke Yurei, who had received the losing verdict, flew into a rage.
「This makes no sense! They were the ones who invaded, so why am I the one who has to pay reparations!?」
「It has been judged that you violated the laws of war by taking no prisoners and obstructing the duties of the priests treating the wounded. After weighing all factors, the fault was determined to be greater on the part of Duke Yurei.」
Duke Yurei protested.
「Other nations do the same! King Hudret’s knights surely did such things as well! To say that we cannot—」
「As stated previously, you only need to present evidence.」
The Tongue of Blancaros explained once more in a businesslike tone.
「This is an absolute neutral zone where law and order are observed. Since you requested mediation here, we proceed according to the laws and order of the Serdes continent. Evidence takes precedence over custom. If the same acts were committed, you should have presented the same evidence.」
In other words, even if the opponent did it first and you were only retaliating, if there is no evidence, then only Yurei is recorded as having done it. Depending on how decisive the collected evidence is, the roles of perpetrator and victim can easily be swapped.
Yurei’s face was contorted with spite. Looking down calmly at him, the Tongue of Blancaros pointed to the confirmation of the result placed before him.
「Duke Yurei, the dispute adjustment is concluded. Please sign the confirmation.」
Gazing down at the document, Duke Yurei was seized by fury and sorrow. He had no choice. The moment he signed that paper, he would cross a point of no return. Whether it was unfair or not, from this moment on, he would be the perpetrator.
‘The effect is absolute.’
Once decided, it could not be undone.
‘And yet, he cannot refuse.’
Everyone sitting here was a witness and a judge, but they could also become predators. Defying a verdict from the Grand Council would give them a perfect excuse to tear him apart. It was a situation where yesterday’s enemy was still an enemy, but yesterday’s ally could become today’s foe.
「I… obey the command.」
Duke Yurei accepted it humbly. His handwriting shook as if an earthquake were happening.
‘The moment the perpetrator and victim were switched, huh.’
Without more information, that was the best Ferda could guess.
“If he felt it was so unfair, he should have finished it himself,” someone whispered softly.
Ferda silently agreed with that sentiment. If one truly wanted to receive proper compensation, they shouldn’t seek dispute adjustment; they should fight a war of annihilation until one side was destroyed. Ending things halfway only invited retaliation.
The Tongue of Blancaros moved on to the next agenda item. There were several more disputes after that, but they were minor. Friction between dwarves and elves. Internal strife among dwarves over dynasties and lineages, and so on… They fought over disputes that were left pending indefinitely—arguments that would never be resolved and which no one had the will to resolve.
After two hours, the endless bickering finally came to an end.
「As there are no more mediation cases, we shall move on to the main agenda. This was proposed by the Chancellor of Escoleia…」
The Tongue took a breath, pausing for a beat before speaking.
「The agenda is the proliferation of monsters and the possibility of the return of the demons.」
Since Escoleia was a massive city of scholars, its leader was a Chancellor rather than a mayor. A bald Chancellor took the podium. He looked as though his long academic passion had burned away even his own hair follicles.
「138 years have passed since the death of Godwin, the Master of Deep Darkness who led the continent into chaos. However, if you look at this graph…」
The Chancellor used magic to project his drawings into the air. He pointed to the graph and spoke.
「Contrary to his death, the current graph shows a sharp increase in monsters.」
It was a rising graph. However, the rate of increase itself wasn’t massive. Seeing the graph, people began to chime in.
“It doesn’t seem to be rising that much.”
“Isn’t the issue that it’s rising at all, rather than the amount?”
“Isn’t this just a projected figure? It could actually drop; you seem far too sensitive.”
Opinions were split nearly down the middle. One side called it a fuss over a slight increase. The other side claimed it was a grave matter worthy of such a fuss. They argued back and forth like that.
Listening closely, it was clear they weren’t concerned about the well-being of the continent; they were just looking for excuses.
‘An excuse for armament.’
The side arguing for vigilance wanted an excuse to arm themselves. The side calling it a fuss wanted to prevent their rivals’ armament and avoid unnecessary spending. Whether the continent broke or not didn’t matter to them. Only what they possessed was important.
It was then.
“Why don’t you all watch your mouths!”
Someone slammed their desk and stood up with a force that was on a different level. However, the voice was youthful, far from the intensity of the action. Turning his head, Ferda saw Erdes Roton.
“The fiancé of the Princess-Duke Valdrova herself is right here! Do you think you can handle the consequences of flapping your tongues like that?”
Everyone craned their necks to find Ferda, and those who spotted him fixed their gazes upon him.
Ferda muttered inwardly.
‘That damn woman.’
“The proxy of Valdrova?”
“That quiet Evil Dragon sent a proxy?”
People whispered, reciting rumors about Ferda and Valdrova. The Chancellor, who already looked like he was walking on eggshells, seemed distressed as if a fire had just landed on his feet.
Ferda glanced at Erdes, who had created this situation. She had a look of pure bliss on her face. Like an arsonist watching a fire from across the river.
He had come because there were times he needed to step up, but for now, he had wanted to observe the atmosphere a bit longer. Since the spotlight was already on him, Ferda decided to speak.
“It is true that monsters are constantly swarming in the far Eastern Region. However, it seems the nature of that is different from the discussion being held here, so I will not provide a separate statement.”
「I thank the Regent for saying so. What I am discussing now is the frequency of occurrence in the continent, excluding the Eastern Region.」
The Chancellor looked like a man who had grabbed a lifeline. It was clear his speaking power was very weak.
「So, our current hypothesis is… that someone is intentionally summoning and creating monsters. In other words, there is a suspicion that the number of Demon Followers is increasing.」
“Demon Followers…”
“Aren’t they madmen who can’t even be compared to devil worshippers?”
While both Demon Followers and devil worshippers were despised by society, the two were distinctly different. While devils wanted to rule this world, demons wanted this world destroyed. Devil worshippers had something to gain, but Demon Followers gained nothing. It meant they were blocks of pure malice itself.
“What could they possibly gain?”
「If it is the wish of the demons, would it not be the resurrection of the Black Dragon Godwin?」
The resurrection of Black Dragon Godwin!
This was a problem on a completely different level from a simple increase in monsters. Even those who had criticized the Chancellor for being dramatic held their tongues. Everyone’s attention shifted to the dragon spawns occupying the front seats.
「Resurrection, is it…」
The Chairman, Blancaros, spoke for the first time. The moment the Master of Order opened his mouth, the atmosphere was seized in his grasp.
「What say you?」
Blancaros asked, looking toward the dragon spawns. The first to take the question was the spawn of Silverwind. The silver-haired group, regardless of age or gender, each bore a scar somewhere on their body. Those were honorable medals of the Silverwinds who guarded the North.
「Contrary to the rising trend of monsters, we are still steadily wiping out the remnants. I swear, no one possesses a hatred for the Black Dragon Godwin as we do.」
「Your loyalty to Silverwind is always held in high regard. And Iorga?」
The representative of Iorga was a young, sophisticated, and elegant woman. Her face overflowed with the vitality of a woman in her early twenties, but she possessed an elegance tempered by time.
「We have detected no special fluctuations of mana in the Serdes continent. We are also steadily receiving reports from adventurers regarding spaces that could be shielded. Had there been an event large enough to flip the continent, we would have been the first to know.」
Naturally, a priest of Odograsado took over.
「We of the Golden Scale Order are also steadily monitoring the movements of the demons, and we believe there is nothing particularly problematic.」
The proxies of the three dragons attending the Grand Council all replied that there was no need to make it an issue. They were all proxies of the Guardian Dragons who prioritized the safety of the continent above all else. They were far removed from the politics of mere humans, and the weight of their words was different.
Hearing them, Blancaros closed his mouth again. The Tongue of Blancaros answered in his stead.
「The conclusion for this agenda is that while there is no need to make it a problem immediately, we must remain vigilant according to the continuous upward trend. Do you have any objections, Chancellor of Escoleia?」
「None.」
The Chancellor, who had been sweating profusely, shook his head and stepped down from the podium. Since it was an ambiguous matter to conclude as a mere fuss, he was satisfied with just having reported it.
「The next proposer is Ferda Valdrova…」
The Tongue of Blancaros stopped speaking. It was a different kind of hesitation than when she had read the Chancellor’s proposal. A hesitation over whether she should even announce this.
That hesitation caused her to shift her gaze toward Blancaros. Blancaros noticed the Tongue’s look and answered with his eyes. The Tongue of Blancaros received her instruction.
「The agenda is… the recognition of the status of the Red Dragon Valdrova as a Guardian Dragon.」
Sound vanished from the Grand Council Chamber. Those present were figures of at least Duke-level rank. They were people who ruled territories the size of a nation and possessed military might. Even such people held their breath at such a sensitive matter.
Since he had already drawn attention once, there was no need for anyone to look around. It was a matter so sensitive that ordinary humans wouldn’t dare propose it, let alone participate in it.
It was a suicidal act. Unless one was desperate to die, it was something that should never be done.
Yet, Ferda, the one who had made the proposal, stood up as if to show off. The way he walked was like watching an acrobat. It was terrifying for those watching, but the person walking was perfectly composed—it was exactly like that.
Standing on the podium, Ferda looked up at the council seats. What he had to do was obvious.
“I am Regent Ferda Valdrova, who has arrogantly brought forth a proposal despite this being my first council attendance.”
He scanned them one by one before opening his mouth.
“As you can see from this proposal, I have come here prepared to make enemies of someone.”
And since he had thrown down the proposal, he intended to stick to his convictions.
