Translator: Nox

I Married the Dragon I Killed

Chapter 9

Following the death of Thessalos Walcher, all the lords departed in their respective carriages.

Only Ruri and Ferda remained at the association headquarters.

“That was truly magnificent.”

Ruri looked up at Ferda and offered a small round of applause.

“You certainly showed them who holds the upper hand today. Your political skill has moved beyond a mere craft into the realm of art. Truly impressive.”

She then raised both thumbs high in a gesture of double approval.

Ferda, however, was nursing a headache—a lingering side effect of mana exhaustion.

As he lightly massaged his temples, he replied, “It was merely an unintended consequence.”

“The outcome may have been unintended, but it is the reality now. What do you plan to do next?”

“About what?”

Ruri furrowed her brow as if asking how he could even pose such a question.

“You have just killed a nobleman. Even with the prestige of the Prince Regent behind you, this is bound to be a point of clear contention.”

“Is that so?”

Ferda recalled the atmosphere of his surroundings and asked, “It seemed quiet enough at the time; is there truly a problem?”

“Who would be fool enough to point out a flaw while a sword dance is being performed right before their eyes?”

“Hmm… I suppose you’re right.”

Because the transition had been so smooth, Ferda hadn’t even fully realized he had committed a capital crime.

Hearing her words, he acknowledged that perhaps he should start feeling a sense of trouble.

Seeing Ferda’s reaction, Ruri let out a small sigh and continued.

“Furthermore, the man was one of the lords who had already pledged his full loyalty to Valdrova. This won’t just be ‘quite troublesome’; it will be far worse.”

“Was he upright?”

“He was averagely upright and averagely corrupt—a mediocre man. In the Far East Front, that kind of mediocrity defines the most loyal of subjects.”

“Since I killed a top loyalist with my own hands, I suppose this will interfere with the engagement?”

“Naturally.”

So that was it.

There was a reason Ruri’s eyes were sparkling.

Contrary to her expectations, Ferda scratched his cheek and replied, “The engagement will proceed as planned. If I provide a reason why he had to die, things will change, won’t they?”

“That is true, but… why are you so confident?”

As far as Ruri knew, today was the first time Thessalos Walcher and Ferda had ever met.

Yet he spoke as if he knew the man better than Ruri or the other lords who had been here for years.

‘Why, you ask?’

Because I already know.

If Ferda’s memory served him correctly, the man was likely in the middle of committing a grave sin even now.

“Let us head toward the Walcher estate.”

“To see if you can shake out some dust?”

“Don’t worry. There will be such a pile of dust that everyone will understand.”

“Well, alright. But before that…”

Ruri flicked her finger toward the corpse of the late Thessalos.

A thread-like distortion pierced through the dead man’s neck.

It was a clean decapitation.

Ruri then wrapped the head in a cloth bundle.

“Why are you taking that?”

“It will be necessary. Regardless of the reason he was killed, he died ‘because he committed a wrong.’”

Ferda nodded in understanding.

“So, are you going to put it on a pike? Like they do with corrupt aristocrats?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“I thought you said he was a top loyalist?”

“If you want to make it so the engagement never happened, feel free to do as you wish. I’d prefer that, anyway.”

Ferda fell silent.

Despite her biting words, Ruri was ultimately helping him.

---

The Walcher Estate.

It was located at the very forefront of the Far East Front, the land most closely tied to the border armies.

At the same time, it was also the closest territory to Valdrova Castle.

“They say it’s darkest under the lamp. It was right here all along?”

Ferda muttered to himself.

In reality, the place where he had first met Thessalos Walcher was in the southern desert lands.

Until then, he had never imagined the man would be stationed here at the Far East Front.

When they arrived before the inner castle of the Walcher estate, the butler came rushing out.

True to a servant of the Walcher family, he responded calmly.

“We welcome our distinguished guests to this humble place. Regrettably, the master is currently out—”

“Ah, do not worry about that. That master is dead.”

“…Pardon?”

The elderly butler asked back with a look of utter bewilderment.

“I said that master is dead. We are going inside. Do you happen to know where Thessalos Walcher’s laboratory is?”

“That, that is… No, more importantly, what do you mean, you killed the master…?”

“Forget it. Since it wasn’t something honorable or proud, he likely hid it. I shall find it myself.”

Ending the one-sided conversation, Ferda brushed past the butler and headed inside.

The butler watched him pass with a face full of incomprehension.

Ruri, following behind, handed the bundle to the butler and pointed toward the sky.

“Hang this where it can be clearly seen from the castle gates.”

“Excuse me? What is this…?”

With that, Ruri also passed the butler and entered the castle.

A moment later, the butler’s scream echoed loudly through the corridors.

---

Thessalos Walcher.

A family of mages that had been driven to the outskirts due to political issues.

It was a family possessed by a hatred and inferiority complex as intense as Ferda’s own.

Birds of a feather flock together, and Thessalos was the very first companion Ferda had ever taken in.

‘Thessalos Walcher hated the Empire.’

He was a wielder of the Red Circle, and because of that, he had been treated as a heretic in the magical community and pushed out to the borderlands.

Thessalos developed magic with the single-minded goal of killing every single noble who had exiled him to the Far East Front.

And what actually happened?

‘He did succeed, in a way.’

Of course, he only succeeded in the development.

‘I never actually saw that magic in action.’

This was because Thessalos had died at Ferda’s hands before he could ever use it—before he could even properly give the magic a name.

Just like today, he had died without even knowing why.

‘Come to think of it, why did I kill him back then?’

Ferda couldn’t remember that either.

It wasn’t strange.

In those days, Ferda needed something to force himself to hate, and so he did.

To reach the 6th circle faster than anyone else, he had to do whatever it took, even becoming a monster who killed his own benefactor.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

There wasn’t a shred of hesitation in Ferda’s heart.

It wasn’t some delusion that he was the paragon of justice.

What mattered was only the fact that the current Thessalos was undoubtedly someone who would make his spouse-to-be grieve.

‘Anyway, it should definitely be around here somewhere…’

Ferda thoroughly scanned Thessalos’s room.

The man had said he was dedicating his life to his research.

Even now, while acting the part of a loyal subject, his sinister intentions would be hidden away.

As he looked around, Ferda finally discovered something.

“It’s here.”

It was right under the bed.

He felt that the tiles beneath the bed were not tightly fitted, and an alien current of air was leaking through the gaps.

“He built a secret space under the bed.”

“Are you going to open it?”

“I must. I’ll look for the switch. Just a moment…”

Crash!

Before Ferda could finish his sentence, he heard the sound of something shattering.

Turning his head, he saw the bed had been split in two, and the concealed secret door beneath it had been smashed along with it.

Ruri dusted off her dainty fists and spoke.

“What’s the point in bothering to search?”

“…”

It was a method one might call truly ignorant, but there was no particular reason not to use it.

Ferda and Ruri stepped onto the stairs leading to the basement.

As it grew darker, a faint, fishy scent of iron wafted toward them.

“The smell of monster blood.”

“You can distinguish that? You’ve got a nose like a dog.”

“Do not compare me to such an inferior creature.”

“My apologies. But I think your loyalty is quite dog-like.”

“…Are you picking a fight?”

Ruri glared at him, but Ferda didn’t even react.

The stairs came to an end, and Ferda and Ruri stepped into a new space.

“This is…”

He reflexively knitted his brows.

A mage’s laboratory is always a mess, and it’s natural for it to be a strange sight filled with piles of unknown things.

Sometimes, one enters prepared for a blood-soaked scene.

However, even taking that into account, Thessalos Walcher’s laboratory was excessively cruel and grotesque.

Anyone with a weak stomach would have vomited instantly, but Ruri and Ferda remained largely unfazed.

‘Though I can’t say I’m used to the smell.’

Covering his nose with his index finger, he waited for his sense of smell to adjust.

Ruri looked up at one of the corpses and frowned.

“So this is what they mean by it being darkest under the lamp.”

The corpse of a dead soldier and the body of a monster lay side by side on a stone slab.

Their abdomens had been sliced open, and purple entrails were stitched together with red ones.

“To think the lord believed to be the most loyal was actually a Demon Follower.”

Demon Followers.

Demons created during the Dragon-Demon War 150 years ago, sparked by the corruption of the Black Dragon Godwin.

Those who still track the movements of those demons and seek to utilize their power are the Demon Followers.

“Did you not expect this?”

“I know mages are gloomy to some extent. Gloominess often comes with skill, so we tolerate it up to a point. But…”

Deep loathing and a sense of betrayal filled her silver eyes.

“I never imagined he would have such a foul hobby as stitching human and monster guts together.”

But it is said that betrayal only hurts as much as the trust that was given.

“Humans are all like that, anyway.”

As a dragon spawn, Ruri did not place much trust in humans.

Thus, it ended cleanly, enough to be erased with a single blink of an eye.

What mattered now was what he had hoped to gain through such a foul hobby.

Ruri discovered manuscripts scattered across the writing area.

Her eyes scanned them rapidly, and what came out at the end was a snort.

“He really was a total psychopath.”

“Why?”

“He was continuing research on the idea of using monster factors found in monsters to achieve mana reinforcement.”

“Was he now?”

“Would you like to take a look?”

Ferda looked at the first page of the manuscript she showed him.

He read through the summary.

Only then did Ferda recall the memory.

‘Right. He was trying to create undead similar to monsters.’

Among the dark magics, the necromancer school is divided into extremes.

Either creating one powerful monster, or summoning countless weak ones.

Because of these extreme patterns—relying on either numbers or quality—necromancers are the mages most easily countered and suppressed.

‘He tried to win by combining the durability of monsters with the quantity of the undead.’

If that were ever completed, it would become the ultimate magic capable of mass-producing elite soldiers for the Empire.

‘Though that wasn’t what I was interested in.’

The reason Ferda had shown interest in that magic was entirely because of the mana cultivation method created to use it.

Monsters constantly produce mana.

‘Instead, it’s a defective mana that can’t be used for anything else.’

It was monsters who grew strong by using an overwhelmingly large amount of mana as fodder.

‘However, if one could replicate that productivity and extract pure mana…’

Even those said to have no talent could reach the rank of a 4-circle Mage the moment they learned it.

Through the results of that research, Ferda had reached the 6th circle, and eventually surpassed the rank of Archmage to reach the 8th circle.

Ferda looked down at the summary page again.

‘If I research this…’

It would be a means to gather the materials to reach the 8th circle faster than usual, and breaking through the circles would become easy.

‘There is no doubt.’

It is possible.

Perhaps several times faster.

As he stared intently at the summary, Ruri also stared intently at Ferda.

‘He’s human, so naturally he’d be greedy.’

Ruri brooded over her fundamental loathing of humans.

Claiming it was because it would make someone sad was just a pretext.

Ferda had likely killed Thessalos only so he could steal this research.

‘All humans lie.’

Foolish creatures who are captivated by lies, finding happiness and sorrow in them.

Since she knew they lied, there was no need to feel betrayed.

‘But…’

Why was this man different?

Unlike with Thessalos, her chest felt even more stifled.

‘Am I believing because I want to believe in this man?’

Ruri bit her lip hard.

Her pride as a dragon spawn wounded, Ruri asked him directly to shake off her thoughts.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“That research. You could continue it. Isn’t that what all mages say? That it would be a waste otherwise.”

Continuing because it’s a waste.

It was a truly simple excuse that required no long explanation.

Because for a mage pursuing knowledge, it was only natural.

However, Ferda’s answer was different from other mages.

“No.”

Ferda handed the page back to Ruri.

“Destroy everything.”

“Everything… you mean?”

For a split second, Ruri’s expressionless face crumbled.

It was a completely unexpected moment.

She thought he would at least hesitate a little, but Ferda’s answer was as sharp as a blade.

“Didn’t I tell you? I dislike things that make the Prince Regent sad.”

“Are you really going to destroy this magical research just for that? This could be what the world calls a massive breakthrough.”

“A breakthrough, yes, that sounds lovely.”

Ferda nodded.

“But if it ultimately leads to my fiancée’s sorrow, what meaning would it have?”

However, Ferda’s eyes said otherwise.

Eyes that a mage could never possess.

Those blue eyes reflected a tranquil scenery of selflessness, like a deep, still lake.

“…”

“Why are you staring blankly?”

“I was just wondering if you’re truly okay with this.”

“I am.”

Blue flames flickered from Ruri’s fingertips.

Pure flames created by transmuting mana into the form of fire.

If she threw them, the paper would burn in an instant.

Ruri’s eyes, watching the flames, shifted slightly as she looked up at Ferda.

“…Don’t go saying something else later, okay?”

“It’s fine.”

As Ferda wished, Ruri burned all the research.

The laboratory and the grotesque corpses used in the research were all engulfed in blue flames and turned to ash.

‘It burns well.’

Ferda watched it quietly.

If it were Ferda, it was magic he surely could have completed if he invested a few months.

He had helped Thessalos create it once, and above all, it was magic he had already learned before.

Yet, the reason Ferda gave it up was simple.

‘The personality and emotions of the creator are embedded in all magic.’

And as the saying goes, “He who touches pitch shall be defiled,” those personalities and emotions eventually become the essence of the caster, leading them to corruption.

That is why one must not learn dark magic, and why forbidden magics exist.

‘And that magic is rooted in anger and hatred.’

Thessalos hated the Empire.

If he learned that magic, Ferda would undoubtedly be consumed by an anger and hatred that were not his own.

‘Therefore, it must be discarded.’

I will not be possessed by trivial things.

I cherish my current self.

The twisted desire turns to ash and scatters into nothingness.

A mind as clear as still water brought a smile to Ferda’s face.

“It really… burns quite well.”

Ruri watched as Ferda muttered those words.

Ruri’s evaluation of Ferda was as follows:

‘An unpredictable psycho.’

And she didn’t forget to add one more thing.

‘And a masochist on top of that.’

Ruri wondered what kind of bizarre combination this man was made of.

As her eerie feelings deepened, her expression also began to contort.