What a Perfect Opportunity

Human memory is finite and unstable.

Yet just as one never forgets to breathe, there are always some things one remembers without fail.

In Ferda’s case, it was the people he hated.

Not merely their names, but a list of the people he hated and wanted revenge on—in other words, a kill list.

He delved into their achievements so he could hate them.

He scrutinized their flaws so he could take revenge.

‘Now that I think about it, it was an absurd thing to do.’

And when he recalled why he had come to hate them, it was filled with paranoia.

It was petty enough to make him blush.

‘Regardless, now that I’ve returned to the past, it has become useful information.’

Ferda knew the weaknesses and strengths of those who would become important figures in the future.

Talented people who might have achieved more if they had done things differently.

People who would have achieved greatness if they had turned their attention to other talents a little sooner.

‘There are many outstanding people.’

Far too many.

It was impossible, realistically, to recruit all of them.

There were more than a hundred people he wanted, and he did not expect all of them to work together harmoniously.

‘First, I need to set priorities.’

Now that he was the Grand Duke’s fiancé and acting regent, Ferda considered what was needed.

‘The entire Grand Duchy of Valdrowa is currently being neglected.’

The Grand Duke had left self-government to the lords without intervening personally.

With no one to watch over the lords, public sentiment had deteriorated considerably.

‘I ought to look after the people’s livelihoods.’

Thus Ferda had determined what he needed to do, but making the decision was the easy part.

It was common for a king’s interference with local lords to provoke resistance or even civil war.

‘But that matter has been resolved amicably, so it isn’t a concern.’

When Ferda sent the letters, he had naturally expected the higher-ranking figures to resist.

Of course, that expectation had been spectacularly wrong, and Ferda received letters swearing allegiance from the remaining fourteen lords.

‘It seems Luri’s threat to behead them and hang their heads on the castle gate worked perfectly.’

The lords had realized they could not ignore Ferda, so he decided to leave things at that for now.

‘I’ll leave the internal affairs at that for now. So, the external threat?’

The most obvious examples were the monsters and fiends that caused chaos.

The Grand Duke’s domain lay in the far eastern region, adjacent to land polluted by the Demon King.

And the pollution was gradually spreading into this neighboring region as well.

‘One of the main causes is fiends.’

Fiends were a type of monster found everywhere, created or contaminated by demonic energy.

They could even occasionally be seen in the central continent, but in the Far East, where the Demon Lands extended, they were naturally far more common.

‘The presence of fiends pollutes the land.’

The longer fiends remained, the faster the land became desolate.

They were beings that prevented life from blooming and even polluted the creatures that already existed.

That was why requests to exterminate fiends were always treated as urgent, wherever they appeared.

‘If I can reduce the casualties and land pollution caused by those fiends…’

Food supplies would naturally increase, and the people’s livelihoods would recover.

If Valdrowa dealt with external threats, Ferda would handle the internal ones.

‘What we need for that is technology.’

The top priority was to develop means for not only well-trained soldiers but also civilians to hunt fiends effectively.

Using that as his criterion, Ferda pulled several names from his kill list.

The people he narrowed it down to numbered four in total.

“So we need to recruit these people above all else.”

Luri checked the names on the paper Ferda handed her.

-Vernel Marquis

-Jed Swallow

-Echidna Philiaz

-Hellus Povidus

Luri frowned the moment she saw them.

“These are the names of people I’ve never heard of or seen before.”

“You may not know them. They’re people who haven’t distinguished themselves yet.”

“You told me to recruit talented people, not invite your neighborhood friends to play at being government officials.”

Luri’s gaze sharpened.

The Dragon Fear laced with Luri’s emotions enveloped Ferda.

‘There has definitely been a change.’

Ever since the engagement ceremony, the effect of Dragon Fear had clearly weakened.

Even so, it remained unsettling.

It would be strange if he felt nothing while a girl who looked about fourteen glared at him.

“Do I look like the sort of person who would do that?”

“That’s precisely why.”

“That’s contradictory.”

“Anyway, could you at least tell me about these people? Aside from Hellus Povidus, the other three are complete strangers to me.”

Hellus Povidus was a mage known as the Sage of Water.

It was widely known that kings and lords cherished his advice because it was incredibly wise.

“I guarantee you, the three above him are more important than Hellus Povidus.”

“Then why don’t you tell me about them?”

“The first person we need to visit, Vernel Marquis, lives in a city called Escolia.”

At the name of the city, Luri instinctively asked,

“A scholar?”

“Yes.”

Escolia was a city in the central-eastern part of the continent, known as the city of scholars.

Since the only reason to visit a chicken farm was to look for chickens or eggs, Luri could tell at once that he meant a scholar.

“You know scholars have titles, right?”

“I heard they receive one upon graduating from the academy. What does that have to do with this?”

“It has everything to do with it. This man was given the title ‘Complete Mess.’”

“Are you trying to turn our castle into a complete mess? Revealing your true colors right after getting engaged is not a wise choice.”

Since scholars’ titles could determine the course of their lives, the key was to avoid using negative words.

Yet being openly called a complete mess meant even the people around him could not stand him.

“There’s a reason he received that title. He does things no one else dares to try.”

“If scholars don’t try something, there must be a reason they don’t try it, no?”

“Of course. But he’s someone who keeps trying anyway.”

“Then isn’t he an idiot?”

“He’s a man with conviction.”

“A stubborn idiot, then.”

Ferda could not deny it.

When Ferda had first met him, he had thought he was an idiot too.

Despite the disapproving looks around him, the way he walked his own path was pathetic yet noble.

‘That kind of stubborn idiot always manages to see things through.’

Even if everyone cursed him, saying it was impossible, and condemned him for wasting his time, the single-minded path he had painstakingly walked would eventually shine.

Back then, he had always voiced the same regret.

-If only I could have done more research, I would have made so many more things by now.

It was only natural.

‘What idiot would invest in something that cannot succeed?’

Even a noble rich enough to scatter money into the air would feel the same.

No one would want to become the fool who supported an idiot with the title “Complete Mess.”

But Ferda knew this man.

“So what is this man researching?”

In the future, he would become—

“A method for refining magic stones and processing power sources using monster corpses.”

The man who would become the pioneer opening the age of magitech engineering.

* * *

At the center stood a World Tree that pierced the heavens, called the Tree of Knowledge, surrounded by five great archives.

It was easy to think that the area beneath the tree would receive hardly any sunlight, but the Tree of Knowledge grew no leaves and was essentially nothing more than a colossal pillar.

In the city beneath that pillar, instead of the typical smell of water and mustiness, the intense scents of coffee and black tea filled the air.

Countless people accustomed to those smells bustled about.

They had somehow turned every path a person might take into a circuit, and moved along it.

Their destinations differed, but every one of them had three books tucked under an arm and a piece of freshly toasted bread in their mouth.

“There are a lot of people.”

“It can’t be helped. This is where all the scholars and their employees gather.”

“I’m not sure I’d want to live in such a cramped place.”

“They say they seek something of greater value than settling for the present.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I.”

Ferda and Luri swept their gazes over the street.

Hundreds of people, at least as many as they could see, were moving about, bumping into one another.

All of them wore black robes, and nine out of ten wore glasses.

“Are we looking for one person here?”

“That’s right.”

“It’ll take more than a month.”

On a hidden-picture puzzle’s difficulty scale, it would be close to the highest level.

It would be a lie to say he did not feel utterly at a loss.

With so many people coming and going, street vendors were also bustling along the walls.

They mainly sold finger food that could be eaten easily.

He noticed people flowing past like a river, each buying something almost in passing.

‘The street vendors might know.’

Thinking that, Ferda looked at Luri.

“……”

Her eyes were markedly different from what he usually saw.

A businesslike, expressionless face.

It was another expression from her—one she had never shown except when angry.

She was staring fixedly at a street vendor selling candied fruit.

Her eyes were wide, silver glinting in her pupils.

After staring for a long while, her slender throat bobbed up and down.

Gulp.

The sequence of actions she had just performed meant one thing.

“Do you want some?”

“……What do you take me for?”

Luri narrowed her eyes and complained.

It was a more flustered reaction than usual.

“I merely thought that street vendor over there might know something.”

“I thought so too. We should ask.”

Ferda headed toward the vendor with Luri.

Luri’s eyes remained fixed on the candied fruit.

“Excuse me.”

“Well, look at that—a young nobleman and a cute little maid. What can I get you?”

“We’re looking for someone. It would be helpful if you happened to know him.”

“Someone? This place is crawling with people, people! There are tens of thousands of bespectacled folks here, and thousands more who buy my fruit-and-honey candy skewers. How am I supposed to remember every last one?”

The vendor wore a strange smile full of expectation.

Ferda lowered his gaze toward the candied fruit behind the glass.

“Do you think you’d remember if I bought one of those skewers?”

“Haha, I’d appreciate that! But let’s hear who you’re looking for first. Who is it?”

“A scholar called ‘Complete Mess.’”

The vendor’s eyes went round.

“Ah, you mean Complete Mess? Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“You know him?”

The vendor grinned, displaying yellow teeth.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people living in this city. But if you don’t know where the man called ‘Complete Mess’ lives, you must be a spy. Stop anyone on the street and ask them. I bet they’ll all know.”

“Then I suppose there’s no need to buy that candied fruit after all?”

“……”

Luri, who had merely been listening to the conversation, suddenly flinched and trembled.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to buy some to show a little sincerity? Judging by your clothes, you look like a rich lord… Sometimes a little snack like this is a pleasure, you know? Three skewers for five copper coins.”

“That’s right. If someone shows you kindness, it’s important to reward them appropriately.”

Luri slipped in and took the vendor’s side.

If someone showed you kindness, it was only proper to return it in kind.

Ferda agreed with that, so he bought three skewers of fruit dipped in honey.

“Eat.”

He handed her the skewers covered in sticky honey.

“Aren’t you going to have one, Lord Ferda?”

“I’m not a child.”

“Huh? Neither am I.”

“I know.”

“Then isn’t it ridiculous to give them all to me? You’re treating me like a child, aren’t you? Are you really going to lie so shamelessly?”

“So, you don’t want to eat them?”

“……”

Although Luri looked extremely indignant, she accepted the skewer Ferda was holding out.

As if she had been waiting for it, Luri plucked off a fruit completely drenched in honey and popped it into her mouth.

Her silver eyes gleamed even more brightly.