Translator: Nox

I Married the Dragon I Killed

Chapter 58

Ferda asked Chancellor Bernard.

Ferda had brought the alcohol by the bottle.

“What is this?”

“I thought you might need it, so I brought it along.”

“The whole… bottle?”

“It’s been a hard day, hasn’t it?”

It was exactly as he said; today was a difficult day.

Except for the times he had consumed dozens of cups of coffee, Bernard’s heart, which had never raced so violently, was now hammering against his ribs.

He couldn’t calm down.

With trembling hands, Bernard grabbed the neck of the bottle and downed it.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

It was a whiskey with an alcohol content of over sixty percent.

He felt the searing pain of his throat burning, but he only pulled the bottle away from his lips after half of the potent liquor was gone.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“There is no need for thanks.”

“May I ask one thing? This… it just won’t leave my head, so I have to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“How… how did you know I would be in danger?”

How did he know?

It was a technique that the now-deceased Thessalos Walcher used to boast about constantly.

But when Thessalos suddenly announced that the technique was flawed, Ferda had been more furious than anyone.

Appropriate anger made everything clear, and Thessalos Walcher had been made to realize.

—Bernard was no longer the Bernard of that time.

But by then, it was already too late.

It couldn’t be proven, the technology had vanished, and Bernard had ended his life as the worst Chancellor in history.

At any rate, Ferda recalled that memory and thought of the moment the Chancellor was in the greatest danger.

The moment he was most vulnerable was, as expected, during his return to the city.

‘I was lucky.’

The surveillance, which might have dragged on much longer, had been resolved quickly.

Ferda answered the question.

“I have ears everywhere as well.”

At the familiar phrasing, Bernard let out a hollow laugh.

“Damn it, everyone has ears everywhere, so why am I the only one who hears nothing…?”

“It’s not just that. A man of your standing as a city’s Chancellor came to the frontier without even bringing an escort. Being exposed to danger was a foregone conclusion.”

“Because it’s inefficient.”

“To nobles, efficiency is folly.”

“So it seems. Today, I am feeling that truth to my very bones. Those who claimed they would be glad if someone attacked the Chancellor of Escoleia will taste hell starting today.”

Bernard’s face turned beet red.

Between his rage and the intoxication, the thread of his reason was fraying.

“To think… that a demon was targeting me. To think a demon, the kind people mock you as a delusional paranoid for even mentioning, appeared right before my eyes….”

His eyes grew moist, as if he were about to burst into tears.

“Do not cry.”

“Hic, hic… I apologize.”

Ferda watched with a displeased expression as Bernard wiped away his tears.

“At any rate, you must realize now. The demons are constantly seeking an opportunity to lead this continent down the path of ruin.”

“Yes….”

“This continent must belong entirely to us. Even if it does not belong to us, it must never fall into the hands of demons.”

“You are absolutely right.”

“Therefore, I have a proposal.”

Ferda extended his hand toward Bernard, who was drowning in alcohol and emotion.

“Lend me that technology—the Monster Appearance Prediction Device.”

In an instant, the fog in Bernard’s drifting mind settled.

“Lend it to you…?”

“Exactly as I said. The blueprints and mechanisms required to manufacture the Monster Appearance Prediction Device.”

Though polite, the request was essentially asking him to hand over everything.

The moment Bernard heard the demand, he understood instinctively.

“Is that… how it is?”

Bernard asked in a trembling voice.

“What do you mean?”

“Assigning surveillance to me, waiting until I was in danger, and then….”

Bernard’s finger tapped against the half-empty bottle.

“Giving me this strong liquor by the bottle… it was all a scheme to get your hands on my technology, wasn’t it?”

A cheap trick to shake him up and make him emotional.

Ferda must have been hoping he would let go of that last, precarious thread of reason hanging from his pinky finger.

Ferda would deny it.

Like any noble, he would feign ignorance, hide his intentions, and try to start an argument.

Bernard was already selecting the words to refute him, but there was no need.

“That is correct.”

Ferda admitted it readily.

Flushed with emotion, Bernard kicked back his chair and stood up.

He shouted in indignation.

“To try and get what you want by making a suffering man emotional…! Have you no shame, Regent of Valdroba?!”

Unlike the raging Bernard, Ferda asked calmly.

“Why should I be ashamed?”

“Why should you be ashamed? You’re asking because you don’t know?! Did you think you could gain my favor by using a person’s life in such a way?!”

“If I wanted your favor, I would have used honeyed words. I would have beguiled you with nonsense. But I have no interest in your favor.”

Ferda gestured toward Bernard’s head.

“The only reason I want you alive is solely because that technology resides within you.”

“So you’re saying I’ve survived only because I am useful?”

“Is it so surprising that you were nearly killed because of that technology, yet saved because of it as well?”

Bernard couldn’t argue.

He had nearly died because he was useful, and he had been saved because he was useful.

But that also meant he was nothing beyond that.

Bernard could not stand being treated as such a tool.

“You…! You aren’t even human!”

Drunkenly, he pointed a swaying finger at Ferda and moved toward the door.

His feet stomped against the floor as he walked.

“If you leave this place, you will die.”

Bernard’s footsteps halted.

The words, laced with a grim chill, seemed to bind his feet like a snare.

“Are you threatening me now?”

“No. I am merely stating a fact. If you wander around this late at night, you won’t be killed by demons, but eaten by monsters.”

“I would rather be eaten than stay in a place like this!”

Ferda set down his teacup and rose from his seat.

“If that happens, everything you have built will crumble in vain.”

Bernard’s body flinched.

The seemingly indifferent words weren’t born of Ferda’s selfishness.

They were Bernard’s own inner thoughts.

“I heard the one who attacked the Chancellor mimicked him perfectly. What could someone do in the guise of the Chancellor?”

“……..”

“They would quietly destroy everything only the Chancellor knows. Blueprints and records would turn to a handful of ash and scatter in the wind. As if… they never existed in the first place.”

“…….”

“And what comes after that? What do you think a person with the face of an incompetent Chancellor would do? He would sit at your desk and lie in your bed without permission. He would scribble with your pen and press your seal of approval. He would squander the budget and tear you and your city down.”

“Ugh… argh….”

Bernard slumped to the floor.

To Bernard, Escoleia and his research were his wife and son.

Imagining his wife and son being destroyed without his knowledge was horrific.

“Sob… uugh… waaaaah….”

Bernard finally burst into tears.

He curled into a ball, trembling violently.

He was isolated and lonely.

“I am a man who has declared that I will conquer the Demonic Land. The demons are my enemies, a race like cockroaches that must be eradicated.”

Ferda reached out his hand.

“To achieve that dream, I need the technology you possess.”

Bernard looked down at the hand.

The Ferda Valdroba he knew was a 3-circle mage.

However, his hand was not the delicate hand typical of young lords from prestigious magic families; it was calloused.

He was a man of a knightly house.

And he was a man who had once dreamed of being a knight.

That dream had been frustrated, and he had become the Archduke’s fiancé.

Ironically, Bernard felt honor and trust within that palm.

“I will share the blueprints and mechanisms of the items I am manufacturing. In exchange….”

Bernard poked his own chest with a finger swaying from the alcohol.

“This knowledge is entirely mine. Make that point clear.”

What Bernard was asserting was his copyright.

His warning was that Ferda shouldn’t even try to take credit.

To a scholar, copyright was their pride and their everything.

Thus, it meant nothing to Ferda.

“Your name will certainly be remembered in history.”

---

Ferda headed to the Consilus estate along with Chancellor Bernard.

The plan was for Arwen to provide Bernard with a lavish reception once he returned to Escoleia and then escort him.

“How is the Chancellor?”

Ferda asked Count Consilus, who sat opposite him.

“The priests say the shock was so great that he needs another day of rest. A man who might have died of high blood pressure or a heart attack was nearly killed by someone else’s hand for the first time, after all.”

“Is that so?”

“More than that, his body is a mess because he suddenly drank too much. It was as if he went on a binge somewhere….”

“I gave it to him. It was the liquor you gifted me.”

“You gave him the whole bottle?”

“He emptied half of it on the spot.”

“Why would you do something so barbaric…?”

“Because he was in pain.”

Ferda sipped his tea.

“I gave it to him because he must have been suffering enough to want to die.”

“It’s a miracle he really didn’t die.”

“Resting is well and good, but see to it that he is sent back to Escoleia as quickly as possible. There is something I must receive from him.”

“I will inform Arwen.”

Consilus had a dazed look on his face.

He recalled the startling sight he had witnessed just a few hours ago when Ferda’s carriage entered his castle.

“By the way, I feel like I’ve seen thousands of monsters in my life, but a demon… I think this is the first time.”

“No need to be surprised. I hadn’t seen one before either.”

“Above all, this is the first time I’ve heard of a demon that mimics humans.”

Demons have three prominent characteristics.

Sharp teeth, red eyes, and black skin.

“In my opinion, I wonder if he was confused with a doppelganger.”

“A doppelganger.”

“If it had no true form and merely imitated a face and voice, it could only be a doppelganger. Chancellor Bernard was confused and likely in no state of mind to judge.”

“You’re saying he might have been mistaken.”

“Yes.”

It was a logical point.

Ferda pondered those words carefully.

“Do you know the difference between a doppelganger and the original human?”

“Since they mimic outward appearances, they cannot mimic what is under the clothes. That is why we strip them to check.”

“Correct. But I heard this fellow replicated everything inside perfectly. Even the genitals.”

“He even checked the…?”

“If you do things half-heartedly, you’re bound to get burned.”

“That is true. Regardless, if even the genitals were identical, it’s not just imitation; it’s practically a clone.”

“It’s not just that. I felt the exact same mana from him as Chancellor Bernard. He didn’t just mimic Bernard; he became him.”

“If he became the man himself… it must have been difficult to distinguish. Sir Zed’s keen eye is truly extraordinary.”

“We were lucky.”

He was grateful the man was bald, and even more grateful that he kept that head polished to a shine.

“So, are you keeping that doppelganger demon well-secured?”

“Yes. We’ve bound him tightly in restraints and ordered the executioner to torture him.”

“Is it still ongoing?”

“Yes.”

“How many hours has it been?”

“It’s been about four hours since we started immediately upon arrival.”

Ferda placed his index finger on his chin.

“How long do you think it will take to extract information?”

“The man is a skilled professional. If you give him two days….”

“Even one day is too long for my temperament.”

“I will tell him to do his absolute best.”

“No.”

Ferda stood up.

“I may be impatient, but throwing a tantrum when there is a solution is inefficient.”

“Does that mean you intend to perform the torture yourself?”

“I happen to have a bit of a knack for that field as well.”

A noble claiming to have a knack for torture.

Yet, it wasn’t surprising.

Ferda was the man who had killed Thessalos Walcher without batting an eye.

“May I use the Alchemy Workshop?”

“Yes. However, we don’t have enough ingredients for poisons. Will that be alright?”

“It’s fine. I’m not planning to make poison anyway.”

“Ah, then feel free to use it….”

Ferda walked toward the workshop, and Consilus watched his departing back.

‘If it’s not poison, then what kind of medicine is he making…? Huh?’

His thoughts were swallowed by a question.

What he saw was Ferda’s receding back.

On the back of his black clothes, he saw something wriggling and moving.

‘I must be seeing things in my old age.’

Consilus rubbed his eyes and stood up as if it were nothing.

---

Deep in the dungeon of Count Consilus’s castle.

The executioner, wearing a black hood, was fulfilling his duty.

The man with the appearance of Chancellor Bernard was hanging in a wretched state.

Since he was strapped to a steel rack and even his tendons had been severed, he wouldn’t be able to escape easily even if he possessed the strength of a knight.

An unexpected guest entered this place where no one but the executioner and the prisoner ever came.

“I greet the Regent of Valdroba.”

“May I see your handiwork?”

“Yes, please do.”

The executioner stepped aside, and Ferda walked forward.

The man’s appearance was beyond miserable.

His face was swollen, and his body was covered in bruises.

“Impressive.”

Ferda muttered.

“The skill to cause such pain without killing him is remarkable.”

“…You flatter me.”

The executioner was flustered by the praise, the first he had ever received.

This area was a truly unpleasant place, bordering on hell itself.

To think the words he spoke upon entering such a place without hesitation were “impressive.”

“You may end your role here.”

“But I haven’t obtained any information yet….”

“I shall handle it myself. Here is your fee.”

Ferda handed three gold coins to the executioner.

Dazed by the sudden fortune, the man was stunned, but he knew exactly what to do.

Once the executioner left, Ferda pulled up a chair and looked up at the bound man.

His head was slumped, eyes tightly shut.

“I know you’re still conscious. Now that you’ve become a demon, shouldn’t you stop pretending to be a frail human?”

At that, the man with the drooping head looked up.

Unlike his battered face, the light in his eyes had not died.

A spark of interest began to glow in Ferda’s eyes.