I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 66
“Darling.”
Sitri’s lips twitched.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Even the artificial laughter she usually let slip was gone from her voice.
“Do I look like I have?”
“Did you pick up some sort of moron virus in your lungs while you were in the North for a bit? Or did you mistake my calling you ‘darling’ for me actually being in love with you? Because that’s not it.”
There were many humans who fell for such delusions.
But Ferda was not that type of person.
That was precisely why Sitri was more flustered than she had ever been by anyone before.
“I know your fatal secret.”
“The only thing about me that fits the word ‘fatal’ is my charm.”
The bigger a secret is, the less one shows it.
Whether it’s a matter of national emergency or a threat to the higher-ups, it is handled with absolute discretion.
The same applied to demons.
Even demons could not escape the laws of secrets.
“There is a story that goes like this.”
It was a tale from the distant future.
Ferda had once collected all sorts of information for his magic research.
Among those were records concerning Hell.
A chronicle reflecting on the moments when the Seven Great Demons of Hell were threatened.
A compilation recording the fatal mistakes and weaknesses they had committed.
Demons called it the Deviromicon.
While it appeared to deal with grave matters, it was actually a book that humans could access.
The reason was simple.
It was a testament of firm resolve never to repeat the same mistakes, and simultaneously, a trap for the foolish.
Those who peered into the Deviromicon thinking they could grasp a demon’s weakness were always the ones who ended up being played.
It was the result of the arrogance of those who believed they were different.
However, Ferda truly was different.
Ferda’s reading of that demonic history was something that would happen fifteen years from now.
And what he was reciting now was a story that took place in the time between.
“An absurd story about how the Great Demon Sitri, while playing around as promiscuously as ever, had her Life Vessel stolen by one of her many children.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Sitri tilted her head.
“Is this a story you’re unfamiliar with?”
“Of course. I haven’t the faintest idea what kind of nonsense you’re spouting, darling.”
“Is that so?”
As expected of a demon of seduction, her mask was excellent.
Ferda leisurely observed her face.
He waited only for the moment that mask would crack.
“Then I suppose I should just take Penelope to the Magic Society.”
“The Magic Society…?”
“You’re well aware of their hatred for demons, aren’t you? What do you think would happen if I handed her over? Especially if she isn’t just any demon, but one who holds the weakness of the Great Demon Sitri?”
Ferda spoke as if he were singing.
“Then they would conduct an extensive search of Penelope’s body. It would take time, but eventually, they would reach the truth. If that happens—”
“Stop.”
Sitri cut Ferda off.
The atmosphere shifted abruptly.
The feeling that had been like silk threads seducing Ferda just a moment ago now turned into cold thorns.
“Who was it?”
Sitri’s mask shattered.
“Which bastard handed that secret over to you?”
Sitri’s gaze was stinging.
It felt as though she were straining to peer into Ferda’s very soul.
“It doesn’t seem to be my daughter, for one. If that stupid girl had said anything or given a hint, she would have been back in my hands by now.”
“Is there no possibility that I found out on my own?”
“I don’t take you for a fool. But I don’t overrate you either. It’s impossible for a mere human to know something that even the Dukes don’t know yet.”
“You aren’t calling me ‘darling’ anymore. Are you anxious?”
“Yes, I’m getting anxious. Answer me quickly. Unless you want to spend eternity burning in Hell.”
Sitri threatened him with her long fingernails.
“Don’t threaten me. Do you want to end up as a common fly as well?”
The demons of Hell had rules, and they became stricter the higher one’s status as a Great Demon.
Rising is difficult, but a fall happens in an instant.
“You think I can’t do it?”
Her sharp nails pressed firmly into Ferda’s skin.
“You violated the terms of our deal. I asked you to hand over Penelope, but you’re trying to screw me over with her?”
Ferda replied.
“You asked me to rescue Penelope. And I rescued her.”
“No, I clearly told you to send her to me. This is a breach of contract, Regent.”
Ferda snorted.
“Didn’t you violate it as well?”
“What?”
“You said you would send ‘all’ of us back safely. But I was unable to escape from that place. What do you have to say about that?”
“Naturally, you should have killed Penelope. It would have been over if you just reverse-summoned her to Hell.”
“And if I didn't know that, what then? You set the condition of rescue. And I rescued her safely. If anything, you are the one in violation.”
“Are you going to play with words?”
“Isn’t that your favorite thing to do?”
The wordplay of demons.
How many people had been seduced and killed by that wordplay?
“If it bothers you that much…”
Ferda crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair.
“Let us go to trial.”
If a contract dispute arose, it could be resolved in the Demon Court.
And Sitri would surely win.
But would she actually take it to trial?
She couldn’t.
If the words ‘Life Vessel’ came out of that bastard’s mouth, her greatest shame would be exposed to the entire world.
Sitri fell silent.
She had been perfectly checkmated.
“You said it yourself. Even a demon can become an excellent dog if you put a leash on them properly.”
Ferda gave a slight, mocking smile.
“It seems even a Great Demon can become a fine dog.”
“Hehe…”
Sitri let out a chuckle.
“Hehehe! Hahahaha!!”
Sitri burst into a roar of laughter.
Had she lost her mind?
“You know what, oppa?”
“…Oppa?”
“Oppa, you’re looking incredibly sexy right now.”
The aura was different from her false seduction.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Fine, I’ll do it. It’s true that I made a deal with Abel Silverwind. Is there anything else?”
She moistened her lips with her long tongue.
Panting slightly, she said,
“I’ll do anything if it’s for you, oppa.”
It was an even more chilling feeling than when she had turned cold.
“Get away from me.”
“Hehe, playing hard to get. How can even your rejection be this charming?”
Sitri stepped back obediently.
“So, the answer to my question?”
“What question?”
“The informant who told you that information, oppa.”
There was no informant.
This was a story he knew from the distant future.
Naturally, there was no way to explain that.
So, he answered thus:
“Barbatos.”
Barbatos, one of the Seven Great Demons of Hell.
The demon of shadows and schemes, and the demon who likely had the most common ground with Ferda.
“Barbatos… how strange. To think his name would come up.”
Sitri murmured to herself.
She didn’t look like someone who had found an answer.
But her reaction suggested it didn’t really matter.
“Then see you later, handsome oppa. Until then, make sure to keep a good hold on that leash.”
Mwah.
With a hand-kiss, her figure completely vanished.
Dawn arrived.
* * *
“Ugh…”
The Dark Elf.
Since she had used an emergency escape spell, only her body had been transported here.
“Damn it…”
She had barely managed to find a place to hide, but she couldn’t escape the freezing cold.
Even for an elf with high physical resistance, surviving in a snow-covered alpine region was not easy.
The cold wind seeping in from outside the cave tugged at the Dark Elf’s consciousness.
Suddenly, she snapped awake with a start.
Someone was coming this way.
“Who is it?!”
All she had was a stone clutched in her hand.
With a venomous expression, she threatened the intruder.
The figure that appeared from outside the cave was large enough to block half the entrance.
It was clearly visible to the Dark Elf’s eyes.
The creature had red eyes and pointed teeth.
“So you were here, Director Linne.”
“…”
The man glanced over Linne’s body and said,
“I received word that there was a commotion, and it seems it was all true.”
“You demons are as insidious as they come. Are you just another one lining up to get a look at an elf’s body?”
“Nonsense.”
“If you know it’s nonsense, then give me some clothes. I feel like I’m going to freeze to death at this rate.”
The demon man held out his hand.
His large, bulging muscles were intimidating.
“The journal and the samples come first.”
“You see the state I’m in and you still want to look for those? Naturally, they are no longer in my possession.”
“Then that means they are in their hands.”
“Yes, I failed.”
“You know well the fate of those who fail, don’t you?”
Linne growled.
“And? Since I failed, are you going to execute me on the spot?”
“You will be transported from Director to prisoner. And you will stand trial.”
“Go ahead and have your damn trial! All the research is in my head. I’m the only one who knows how to recreate those samples and how to continue the progress.”
“There are those among us who deal in necromancy. Taking what is in your head is no trouble at all.”
“Those morons? Ha! How much of a perfect creation could those gloomy pseudo-intellectuals make by messing with my head? I can already see them regretting it after making nothing but a few children’s toys?!”
The man simply looked down at her.
She forced her mouth to move.
In the deathly cold, she forced her jaw open to spit out words.
“While my kin were dying, you only saved me. That day, you said this, didn’t you? That I was the only one who was useful. Are you going to execute the most competent one here?”
“…”
“So give me those damn clothes right now.”
The man stared at her for a long moment before tossing her some clothes.
Linne wrapped the coat around herself.
The inside was warm with heat magic.
“Was it Ferda Valdrova who did that to your eye?”
Linne gritted her teeth and nodded.
“I never imagined I would be bested by that brat.”
“I had heard he was superior to ordinary humans. His name is even being mentioned in the Round Table now.”
“Saying he's superior to ordinary humans isn't enough. Even those words underestimate him.”
“Then what is your assessment?”
Linne pulled the coat tighter.
“In all of history, such a man is unprecedented.”
“You’re afraid.”
“I’m just being objective. I felt it the moment he caught me off guard.”
She recalled the image of Ferda that entered her vision after the Lightning Bolt had pierced her eye.
What she had seen was a young man with gray hair.
Blue eyes whose intentions were unreadable.
In those blue eyes, she had felt something familiar.
“That man is a lunatic who has fought mages stronger than himself countless times.”
The eyes of great hunters who fill their lack of power with technique and overwhelm their opponents by looking several moves ahead.
In those eyes, Linne had sensed her defeat.
That was why she had given up the fight and used the emergency escape scroll to flee.
The man glanced outside.
The weather, which had been pouring snow heavily, was beginning to calm down.
“We should move soon.”
The man stood up, but Linne’s steps hesitated.
“My punishment… is it unavoidable?”
“You know the answer to that.”
The man replied coldly.
“You’ll just have to hope your assessment of him as a lunatic holds weight in the Council.”
Demons were all like this.
No emotion, no guilt.
They would weigh her life based solely on calculation.
‘All I can do is show how competent I am.’
Linne clutched the coat and pulled it close.
‘I… will survive.’
Survival.
It was the promise she had made to herself ever since she first laid hands on Godwin’s blood.
* * *
In the peaceful mid-eastern region of the Serdes Continent.
The Rosnova estate was also operating peacefully.
The head of the family, Erembalt, had retired due to old age, but his two sons were continuing the family legacy and thriving.
A sudden bombardment fell upon such a house.
It wasn’t that actual cannons or catapults had been fired.
No, the current situation was such that those might have been preferable.
“Hello, Head of the Family. You know who I am, right?”
Standing before Erembalt was a girl.
She asked arrogantly in a youthful voice.
Normally, Erembalt would have roared at such a wet-behind-the-ears child for using casual speech,
“Yes. I know very well.”
But Erembalt did not dare do that to her.
What he saw was not everything, and he knew that the small girl before him was easily older than his own age.
“You are the paragon of great magicians, Erdes-nim, are you not?”
“My, a paragon. You don’t need to use such flattery. I know I’m known as the beautiful young ruffian among your kind.”
It was truly awkward to respond.
She was certainly a ruffian, but she was no beautiful young girl.
“What brings you to this humble place?”
Erembalt was curious about her purpose.
Erdes was like a storm.
She appeared out of nowhere, turned everything into a mess, and then left.
In some cases, things might even disappear.
Erembalt himself could end up that way.
“Oh, it’s nothing much. I don’t intend to lay waste to this place or anything, so rest easy.”
“Yes, yes. Of course, I had no such worries.”
“But depending on the situation, I might.”
Erembalt swallowed hard.
He had gotten caught by a real lunatic.
As Erdes flicked her finger, a map from within her robes spread out on the table.
“What do you think this is?”
“Is it… a map?”
“Yes, a map etched onto mana paper. We people at the Magic Tower use this map to observe the flow of mana.”
With a brief explanation, she pointed to a spot with a small staff.
“Where do you think this is?”
“According to the markings… it is Count Consilus’s castle.”
“Correct. And the place marked here?”
“Um… isn’t that a mountain somewhere in the North?”
“Be specific.”
“That is… Silverwind’s territory.”
“Correct! What a relief. If you were as dull as our Blue-gun, I would have been a bit upset.”
She gave a bright smile and withdrew her staff.
“Why do you think I pointed out those two places?”
“Pardon? Uh, well, that is…”
Erembalt looked down at the map.
He couldn’t lift his head.
That subtle smile. He didn’t have the confidence to face what was dwelling in her eyes head-on.
“I apologize. With my dull mind, I cannot comprehend…”
“Well, that’s fine. You aren’t a mage, so how would you know? And unlike Blue-gun, at least you know you’re stupid.”
Erembalt realized that until just a moment ago, the Grim Reaper had been standing right behind him.
Each time his words, actions, or choices went astray, Erembalt would have died.
Why?
Why did he feel this way?
The reason was simple.
“A Vending Bridge spell occurred here. A Vending Bridge that connects to Hell.”
It was because of black magic.
Her hatred for black magic was legendary.
“Is that… so?”
“But I don’t think Count Consilus was the one who used it.”
“T-then?”
“Use your head a bit more. If it wasn’t Count Consilus, who would it be? His relatives or children? Or… someone higher than him?”
“Someone higher than him…”
Then he felt the connection.
Why this ruffian mage had come to find a knight family like his own.
“Ferda…”
The third son he had cast away.
It was because of him that this was happening.
“There are traces of the Valdroba Regent coming into contact with a demon.”
Erdes Roton.
He knew just how strong her hatred for black magic was.
Anyone who touched black magic faced at least the extermination of their family.
This meant the annihilation of the Rosnova family.
“P-please spare us!!”
Erembalt fell to his knees.
The crest of the brave family was crumpled.
“I swear I have no relation to that boy! From the moment he left this place, we have been strangers! We haven’t even been in contact!!”
He desperately rubbed his hands together, begging for his life.
Erdes watched him, still wearing her smile.
“I know. That a knight-scrap like you wasn’t involved.”
Her tone was understanding.
But it didn’t bring any relief.
There was no mercy in her wrath.
This fact alone was enough to destroy the Rosnova family.
However, today she would not do that.
“So, tell me.”
She wanted only one thing.
And that one thing was far too great.
“About that man named Ferda.”
