I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 87
The man who had introduced himself as William explained slowly.
“We are peasants who serve under the territory of Duke Yurei. As you know, since the Grand Council, the number of people abandoning their hometowns has increased because Duke Yurei has been collecting excessive taxes.”
“I am well aware. Nearly a hundred bastards like you have already crossed over.”
“We also came to the Far East with a dream.”
“Does that dream include raiding a merchant’s carriage and killing them?”
“Of course, I understand that the Regent-nim could easily misunderstand that situation.”
One wrong word and his head would fly.
William gulped, adding a sense of appeal to his voice.
“I swear, we are in no way involved in that raid. We were only able to find that carriage because someone told us about it.”
“Someone told you?”
“Yes.”
William explained the incident.
“While we were on our way to the Archduke’s territory, someone approached us. Their appearance was similar to ours, but they were armed. We were on guard, thinking they might be bandits trying to take what little we had left, but that wasn’t the case. Rather, they showed us kindness.”
“What kind of kindness?”
“They said they could provide food for the hungry.”
Ferda tilted his head.
“You don’t look stupid enough to believe that.”
“Would you believe me if I said we were just that desperate?”
What wouldn’t a person do when desperate?
He decided to understand.
“Go on.”
“Anyway… the place we arrived at was that gruesome scene you saw, Regent-nim. People were dead, fresh food was rolling on the ground, weapons to protect oneself were lying there, and there were even precious jewels.”
Ferda saw through the intent in those words and asked directly.
“Is your specific mention of jewels an attempt to claim your innocence?”
“As I mentioned before, we are hungry refugees. We were simply starving in the moment, and one cannot eat gold. Therefore, we did not touch them.”
“For saying that, you certainly made off with things you can’t eat.”
Ferda asked, recalling the missing weapons.
“We took the weapons because we needed a means to protect ourselves for the rest of the journey. Since such a raid had occurred, there was no guarantee that we wouldn’t be attacked as well.”
“So you gathered the food because it would surely rot, and you needed a means to defend the weapons. Is that what you’re saying?”
“That is correct.”
Watching him, Ferda gave a scornful laugh.
“Fine, let’s say those reasons exist. Then what about that gold coin you took?”
“Pardon?”
“Did you take it in case we rejected you as refugees?”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Don’t play innocent. How do you think we tracked you down and came all the way here?”
William looked truly bewildered.
It was impossible to tell if he was simply being brazen or if this was the first he’d heard of it.
“Ferda-nim.”
At that moment, Isabella suddenly interjected.
“That gold coin was not taken by the man named William.”
“Then who was it?”
Isabella pointed toward one of the cowering refugees.
The tip of her finger didn’t point to a precise spot, but one man among them was trembling so violently that it was certain.
“William. Call that rat and bring him here.”
“Yes.”
William pulled up the man Ferda had indicated.
The face of the man who had been hanging his head was revealed.
The thief, caught by his own guilt, was dripping with cold sweat.
William pressed him.
“Turn out your pockets.”
“…….”
“Hurry up and show them, now!”
With trembling hands, the man turned his pockets inside out.
Clink—.
What popped out was a single gold coin.
Ferda picked up the coin. It was undoubtedly the gold coin used as currency.
“Isn’t this quite a large sum for a refugee to be carrying?”
With a look of betrayal, William grabbed the man by the collar.
“Evans! I clearly told you not to touch the valuables! Didn’t I say that meddling with the treasures of the dead brings misfortune!?”
“I-I’m sorry. But opportunities like this are rare, and I didn’t know when there would be another. So I thought one gold coin would be okay….”
“You fool! Because of that action, do you realize how—!”
“Enough.”
Ferda cut off their bickering.
“Stop the farce and kneel.”
William and the man knelt again.
The man called Evans trembled, while William pleaded, listing the things he had done.
“O Regent. Please, in your generosity, overlook this mistake born of stupidity.”
“Why should I?”
“Although we could not bury them for fear of interfering with the investigation, we recovered all the bodies and performed a funeral for them. And knowing the carriage was heading toward the territory of Count Consilus, I went there personally to report it. If you take me there, they will recognize me.”
“You reported it and held a funeral, so you want me to overlook what you’ve done?”
“Please forgive the transgressions of these foolish people and give them a chance. There is God in their hearts.”
William appealed in a voice full of conviction.
However, the eyes Ferda looked down with were nothing but cold.
“As long as you have touched the treasures of a merchant belonging to the Archduke’s territory, I have no intention of seeing you as mere refugees. You are rats trying to sneak into the Archduke’s land, and you do not deserve leniency. How can I be certain you didn’t participate in the murders?”
“…….”
“Even if you say you tidied up to honor the souls of the dead, the fact remains that you stole money from the merchant’s pockets. Saying it was because you were hungry is just an excuse. If you become desperate again, you will steal and steal again. Am I wrong?”
It was a statement that could not be flatly denied.
In the uncomfortable silence, Ferda spoke again.
“But there is one way.”
William raised his head at the single ray of hope.
“What is it?”
“The one who committed the crime simply needs to receive the appropriate punishment.”
Ferda threw the sword lying beside him in front of the man named Evans.
“Wash away your sins with your blood.”
“W-what does that mean….”
“Did I use words that were too difficult? I’ll put it simply.”
Ferda said, making a gesture of slitting his throat with his index finger.
“It means commit suicide.”
The color drained completely from Evans’s face.
“If you die, the rest live. Isn’t that a fair enough trade?”
“I, I am….”
“Regent-nim!”
William interjected.
“He is a foolish man, but his heart is kind. He only risked himself for his comrades in this terrible winter. Please, show mercy.”
“I will not. Finish it quickly.”
Ferda acted sternly, but William was persistent.
“I am the representative of these refugees. Could you not take one of my arms and let your anger subside?”
“One arm?”
Ferda looked displeased.
“You speak such nonsense.”
“If that is not enough, then something else….”
“Didn’t I tell you? You are rats. If a young rat raids the granary, do you think it would satisfy me to take an arm from the mother rat?”
What reflected in his eyes was disgust.
“Mother, youngling, leader, or subordinate—a rat is just a rat. A life for a life. If you are to replace Evans’s life, it will have to be with your own.”
A life.
William stole a glance at Evans’s face.
He was trembling, paralyzed with fear.
He didn’t want to die.
It was only natural for a human being.
William closed his eyes and thought for a brief moment.
“I understand.”
William accepted the fact readily and pulled the sword lying in front of Evans toward himself.
At that, the refugees who had been bowing their heads protested.
“W-what!”
“You can’t do that!”
“After how you brought us all this way…!”
Crack—!
“Kyaaak!”
An explosive sound from Ferda’s hand silenced the commotion.
“There is no next time. If you want to die instead, keep talking. As I said, a rat is a rat.”
No one else could open their mouths.
They knew their own lives were more precious than another’s.
When there was no response even after several minutes had passed, Ferda spoke as if it were pathetic.
“This man stepped forward for you, yet you don’t even have the courage to step forward for him.”
Ferda pushed the sword in front of him aside.
Instead, he placed his hand on the man’s head.
“I shall personally end you without pain. Do you have any last words?”
Facing death, William spoke in a trembling voice.
“If you safely take these people to the Archduke’s territory, I will have nothing more to say.”
“I have heard you.”
Mana gathered in Ferda’s hand.
The shock of mana struck his head.
Thump!
With a loud echoing sound, William’s body collapsed limply.
William was not originally an ordinary peasant.
Nor was he someone who needed to be the leader of refugees.
He was a knight cadet, a man who had stood out among his peers.
He knew honor and never neglected the duties of those who possess power.
His martial skills were also outstanding, and he had accumulated military merits even in the war against King Hudret.
Everyone believed without a doubt that he would become a knight.
However, his path was not smooth.
It was shortly before his knighting ceremony, exactly when only one trial remained before he could become a knight.
On that day, the war fought against King Hudret reached its conclusion at the Grand Council.
The end for those who lose is always miserable.
The people of Duke Yurei’s territory were especially so.
A reparation of 60,000 Golden had been imposed on the defeated Duke Yurei.
To a noble in times of peace, it might have been a trivial amount, but to Duke Yurei, who had already spent a fortune for this war, 60,000 Golden was an immense sum.
And it was already too late to borrow money from anyone.
In the end, he began to squeeze the surrounding villages to pay off the debt.
Because of that, the number of refugees abandoning their villages increased.
There was no way Duke Yurei would just let that happen.
Population is national power.
Duke Yurei tracked down the refugees, captured them all to make them slaves, and cruelly executed some as an example.
A tyranny in the name of unity began.
William also had to participate in such missions.
He was assigned to track slaves as the final trial to transition from cadet to knight.
William led the soldiers and finally succeeded in tracking the refugees.
Up until he took the mission, he had been full of spirit.
Refugees are a plague.
When the territory is in turmoil, he could not forgive citizens who ran away instead of helping.
They were agitators, forces of evil, and villains who surely deserved punishment.
However, what he faced was a complex reality different from his ideals.
No, it wasn’t even complex.
While building up knowledge from books and amassing honor, he simply hadn’t seen what he needed to see.
Those who supposedly tried to throw the Dukedom into chaos were haggard and powerless.
Nothing but skin and bone remained, and even the babies who should have been plump could barely gasp for air, lacking the strength to cry.
All they possessed were mere pokers and shovels.
They were all forced to stand against an armed army.
The reason was simple.
Because they wanted to live.
At that moment, William thought about what it was he had to uphold.
The people serve the lord.
A king exists by serving the people.
What remains for a king who does not serve his people?
It was simple, yet William agonized within the terrible mission.
The last one.
If he just played the part of a blind craftsman one last time and pretended not to know, his life would turn out well.
In the end, he made his choice.
The sword that should have been aimed at the refugees turned toward the soldiers following him.
William inflicted sword wounds on the soldiers following him to make it look like he had been betrayed, and sent the refugees away.
Afterward, William slit the throat of the horse he had ridden and fed the refugees with its meat.
He could not become a knight, but William did not regret it.
Since he did not doubt that this was the reason he had picked up a sword, he did not consider even this death today to be in vain.
“Ugh!”
William bolted upright like a man waking from a terrible dream.
Since he had surely thought he was dead, there should have been no reason to wake up again.
He fumbled over his body and muttered.
“Is, is this the afterlife?”
“It is the world of the living.”
“Ugh!”
William was startled once more.
That voice, which had insulted and despised him, was heard from beside him.
Turning his head, he saw Ferda.
“You’ve been unconscious for an hour.”
In his eyes, the things he had seen before were no longer felt.
He wondered if he really had come to another world.
“Am I not dead?”
“There’s no way you’d be dead. What hit your head was a common stun spell.”
“Why did you not kill me and…?”
“It was simply because it would be a waste to kill a well-trained knight.”
William’s eyes widened.
Ferda looked at him with a pathetic expression.
“Did you think you hid it well? It was so obvious it’s almost enough to bring tears to my eyes.”
“I see….”
In a way, it wasn’t strange.
He had been wearing half-plate armor and even carrying a sword.
“But I am no knight. At best, I am just a lowly knight cadet.”
“Even for a knight cadet, blending in with refugees is no ordinary feat.”
“That is true.”
“Then it means you betrayed your lord.”
At those words, William gave a bitter smile.
“I have done something worthy of death. For a knight to betray his master….”
It was clearly treason, and William did not deny it.
“It doesn’t matter. Didn’t you say you were just a lowly cadet?”
“That is so, but….”
“Since you were never formally knighted, there is no betrayal to speak of. You are merely a common deserter.”
As someone from a family of knights, Ferda knew this well.
“I have something I want to ask you, you who have returned from the dead.”
“Please, speak.”
“Was it worth it?”
Ferda turned his head.
There were the refugees. They were all happily sharing and eating stew.
“You sacrificed yourself for them, but none of them sacrificed themselves for you. Even so, was it worth sacrificing yourself for them?”
What Ferda was saying was something William also remembered.
When facing death, he had been told that anyone who wanted to die instead should break the silence.
Yet no one broke the silence.
It was something that could rightfully cause a sense of betrayal.
“No one wants to die.”
Even so, William wore a smile.
“That is why I lead them.”
He had betrayed his lord, but he had not betrayed his conviction.
“I see.”
Ferda watched him looking pleased and then turned his head.
Beside him sat a man kneeling. It was Evans, the man who had stolen the single gold coin.
“Was it Evans?”
“Yes? Yes, that is correct!”
The kneeling man nodded vigorously.
“This man bore the guilt for your foolish actions. What do you think that means?”
“I, I am in his debt.”
“You owe him your life, nothing less. Therefore, from now on, you shall be William’s loyal servant. If he dies, I will show you what a wretched life truly is. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes! I understand! I will engrave those words in my heart!”
Having said what he needed to say, Ferda stood up.
“Then, I shall see you later. Sir William.”
“Yes, please go safely.”
As he saw him off, a single-syllable word lingered in his ears.
“Sir…?”
Sir.
A title that only knights can possess.
Yet William was a man who failed to become a knight.
Was it just a mistake on Ferda’s part?
Or did it mean he was truly seeing him as a knight?
For the current William, it was a question that remained an enigma.
It seemed as though the carriage raid case was passing by without any significant results.
Just as Ferda was about to return to the castle with Ruri, Isabella called out to him.
“Regent-nim. There are people who might serve as witnesses during the inquiry. I think you should hear their story.”
Her tone suggested they were quite important individuals.
Standing beside her were a woman and a child.
Ferda asked the woman.
“Do you have something to say?”
“I beg your pardon, but it is not I, but my child who knows something….”
The person he had to speak with was a six-year-old snot-nosed kid.
“What is your name?”
“I’m Ian.”
“Hey, you have to say ‘it is Ian.’ Regent-nim, I am sorry. The child is still immature….”
“I don’t care about trivial titles. Ian, do you have something to tell me?”
The boy nodded.
“It was when the Reaper Ajusshi and the Knight Ajusshi were talking to each other.”
“Reaper Ajusshi?”
The woman answered instead.
“He said he saw someone like that because they were wearing a black robe.”
“I see. Continue.”
“Yes. So, when that Reaper Ajusshi was riding his horse to go somewhere, I saw him drop something. It looked like no one saw it, so I secretly tucked it away to give to my mom.”
“What did he drop?”
“T-this is it.”
The woman, who had been keeping it, took something out and showed it to Ferda.
It was a scarf.
The scarf made of green fabric seemed to have nothing unusual at first glance, but his thoughts changed when he saw the shape of the pattern embroidered in the corner.
‘This is….’
Ferda narrowed his eyes.
If he wasn’t seeing things wrong, this unique balance-shaped crest was the crest of House Pascal.
‘And among those, the one with two swords in the background is….’
There was no mistake. It belonged to the Pascal Mercenary Company.
