Chapter 144
The story continues off the page
The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
Valdrova's enormous figure drew closer, growing smaller at the same time.
She was in the middle of polymorphing.
“Lord Ferda, close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Once she gets closer, Lady Valdrova will come in human form. Then you will see her face.”
She was right.
That was why Ferda asked her cautiously,
“Can't I look for just a moment?”
“……I retract that. Turn your entire body around. If you turn your head, I will give you a full-body scrub.”
His needless greed had only heightened her wariness.
He turned his head as Luri instructed, and the rushing wind of her approach suddenly vanished.
Instead, he heard the sound of her landing lightly on the ground.
“Master, I am here.”
“Mm.”
Something clinked as she spoke in a clear voice.
She cautiously watched Ferda's reaction as she asked Luri,
“Luri, do I look a little strange?”
“You look exactly as you always do. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Hmm…… There isn't anything strange stuck to me……?”
“This Luri can see nothing unusual, so you need not worry.”
“W-What about my voice?”
“Why would that change?”
“Ahem! Right! Ahem!”
She cleared her throat, sending out the heat of her pounding heart.
He had only turned his back; it wasn't as though he had gone deaf.
Her trembling voice made Ferda's chest tremble as well.
That voice made him anxious too.
“That is enough.”
At Luri's words, Ferda turned around.
Before his eyes sat an incomparably beautiful woman wearing a mask.
The brave figure who had fought so fiercely moments ago was gone, replaced by a shy woman with fearsome horns.
It was a new sight.
After seeing only the dragoon armor at this tea table every time, the sight of a small, beautiful woman made him tremble as though this were their first meeting all over again.
‘I still can't believe it.’
He had danced beneath the moonlight with a woman like this.
“I pay my respects to Your Grace.”
“Yes, Mr. Ferda!”
She had put far too much force into it.
She opened the conversation.
“A-are your wounds all right?”
“Yes. There is nothing to worry about, either then or now.”
“Ugh…… I'm sorry. I got too excited and…… Mr. Ferda……”
“It was nothing. You merely made such a fuss that I was the one who became flustered.”
Ferda desperately tried to reassure her.
Amazingly, that reassurance was driven by Ferda's own desire.
They had finally progressed from holding hands to hugging.
He couldn't let them grow distant again.
Ferda was determined to hug her once more, even if it meant risking having his heart pierced.
Just as Ferda felt that way, so did Valdrova.
“Next time, I'll bring a definite solution! One that won't stab Mr. Ferda!”
“Um…… Could you hide your horns?”
Ferda cautiously offered a possible solution.
Didn't Luri conceal her dragon traits when she went around?
The other dragons had long concealed their appearances to enjoy themselves.
So Ferda thought Valdrova should be able to hide her horns and tail as well.
“It would be nice if I could, but I can manage my tail somehow. I can't hide my horns……”
What could he do if that was the case?
It was an agonizing development.
He soothed his aching insides with black tea.
“Um…… How was I?”
“What do you mean by how you were……?”
“The way I fought. When I was fighting the monsters…… I wanted to know what you thought.”
Her fights always felt more or less the same.
Overwhelming, brutal, and merciless.
Valdrova had lived up to her title as the Aspect of Power.
The pattern was similar, but she always looked new to Ferda.
“It was a display befitting your stature. If the people of Hestia Village had seen it, it would have stirred their love for their homeland.”
“Is that so?”
Valdrova did not know what love for one's homeland meant, but she assumed it was something good.
But that was not why she had asked the question.
Her fidgeting fingers gave her away.
“Then……”
She swallowed her words shyly before asking,
“Tu……”
“Tu?”
“Did I turn you on?”
“Pffft!”
Instead of an answer, he magnificently sprayed tea from his mouth.
Rather than say anything, Ferda covered his face and turned away.
Even the one who had dropped the bomb was flustered enough to ask,
“M-Mr. Ferda, are you all right? What's wrong?!”
Valdrova was flustered, while Ferda could not open his mouth.
Luri, who had watched the entire situation unfold, lit a fuse in her eyes.
“Master, did you know what that remark meant when you said it?”
“Huh? That…… I heard it was used when a man liked a woman……”
“And do you know how vulgar it is?”
A dark shadow fell over Luri's face.
“And that even a sovereign must never use it?”
“Uh……”
“Do you also know that it is something a woman must not say to a man?”
“I didn't know that…… Mr. Ferda, did I offend you?”
Ferda did not answer and lowered his head.
The tea still in his mouth dripped down over his lips.
“Look at him. He is speechless and cannot do anything right now, can he?”
“I-I'm sorry! Mr. Ferda…… I offended you again…… I'm stupid, so I did it again……”
“No, *cough*…… you didn't. I merely choked, so please don't take it to heart……”
Ferda could not bring himself to look at Valdrova's face.
Thinking he hated her, Valdrova swallowed a groan.
Amid that awkward atmosphere, Luri spoke like a mother.
“First, return to the cave. We will finish our ‘conversation’ there.”
“Uuuugh……”
Valdrova drooped and flapped her wings as she headed back.
With Valdrova gone, only the icy summit wind filled the silence.
“Lord Ferda, the master has left.”
“……Yes.”
“Now get up. Don't you have work to do?”
“I suppose I should……”
He said that, but Ferda could not easily rise from his seat.
Luri tilted her head at his strange behavior, then asked Ferda, half expecting the answer,
“……Did you really get turned on?”
“……”
Ferda could not answer.
* * *
A message came from the Blue Tower.
-We cleansed the contaminated land near the aqueduct. We will reopen it toward the Far East.
Calling it purification was a little misleading; in truth, they had removed the land wholesale and covered it with new soil.
In any case, clean water would soon begin to flow, and the citizens would cheer at being able to drink it instead of water drawn from the accursed demon land.
-And I have one proposal to make.
“Please, go ahead.”
-We would like to make a full-scale investment in Marquis Vernel's purification pendulum. What do you think?
“We would certainly be grateful for your investment, but what is it that you want?”
-Nothing major. Since we were allies, we would appreciate it if you could say that we also cooperated in this development. You could call it the favor we are asking for.
They were asking him to save face for them.
The fact that the polluted water had been purified—something the Aspects of Water had been unable to do—was a blow to the Dragon Spawn's pride.
Marquis Vernel's value just kept rising.
“We are allies, and I would not refuse an offer of support. However, I think I should consult Vernel first.”
-Yes, naturally. It is a matter of the scholars' pride, after all. There is no need to resolve it quickly.
Erika was not being forceful either.
Acting relaxed, as though it were not an urgent matter, was the most basic courtesy.
-In any case, I also contacted the High Elves.
It concerned the decoding of the records left by Linne, the Dark Elf research director.
He secretly hoped she would tell him to come immediately as he waited for her reply.
-They said to contact them again this summer unless it is an urgent matter.
“Is something happening on their end?”
-We do not know either. When it comes to the Elves, if things do not go their way, they can easily skip ten years at a time.
Skip ten years……
Putting it that way, being asked to wait until summer sounded remarkably short.
“That is fortunate. Things are still underway here, so I will not be able to leave for the time being anyway.”
-Even though this is a situation that could prevent turmoil across the continent, acting that way is so very High Elven. They are like a long-lived race that binds minds together and behaves insidiously.
“Aren't you also a long-lived race?”
-Do I look like those hopelessly lazy creatures to you?
Venom entered her voice.
Then again, just as it would be unpleasant to lump orcs and humans together as short-lived races, the same was probably true for the Dragon Spawn.
“In any case, I understand. I will inform the administrator.”
-I will bring you more good news soon, so please take good care of things on your end as well.
And so Ferda ended his communication with Erika.
Soon, he heard that the massive procession of nobles traveling with the Imperial army had safely entered the Empire.
William was the one who delivered the news.
“How was the banquet?”
-It was incredibly lavish. Everyone was saying it was incomparable to the one held at Valdrova Castle.
As the regent, Ferda found that unpleasant to hear, but he could not help accepting it.
‘That was the point from the beginning.’
Alexander had probably gone a little overboard to clear his own disgrace and show that the Empire was greater.
The exhilaration of entering the Imperial Palace, which was supposedly difficult even to enter once.
The scale of the banquet, designed to meet that exhilaration and those expectations.
They must have deliberately made the banquet at Valdrova Castle look like a village feast.
“So is the atmosphere good?”
-The atmosphere looks good on the surface, but……
William spoke in an uneasy tone.
-I think there is going to be a problem.
“What do you mean?”
-The Crown Prince's movements are unusual.
This was what William had observed as a third party.
Alexander Arken, the Crown Prince, had greeted the nobles and knights one by one as they entered through the gates.
He praised them as true heroes and patriots of the nation.
Even after the banquet officially began, he had been busy flattering the nobles.
For those who had dreamed of the Empire Dream, it was enough to make their pride soar.
-It looks as though he has another motive beyond simply praising the heroes.
“It does seem that way.”
What Alexander gained by elevating them was allies.
In other words, Alexander was trying to win over 250 young noble ladies and gentlemen.
There was nothing Ferda could do in the current situation anyway.
“Watch how things develop and report to me by tomorrow.”
-Yes, understood.
The magic in the communication orb dispersed, and Ferda stared at the crystal ball for a long while.
‘Why is Alexander trying to win allies……?’
There could be many reasons.
He had been cursed as a lackey of the demons, and an entire legion under his command had been annihilated.
Those were obvious reasons, but Alexander would not be doing this for such obvious reasons alone.
He was putting those obvious reasons out front to conceal another true motive behind them.
What could it be?
‘Olivia……?’
No matter how he considered it, this seemed most likely to be groundwork for stopping her.
Given her extraordinary mind, it would be a lie to say she had not anticipated a situation like this.
How would Olivia use her ingenuity to respond?
Whatever happened, she would be able to resolve it skillfully.
That was the Olivia Ferda had seen.
* * *
The next day,
William reported in a very grave tone.
-As expected, a problem has arisen.
“What sort of problem?”
-In the assessment of this war's contributions, the princess's achievement was announced as having been rated far too low.
Yesterday's concern had become reality.
“Tell me the details.”
William explained the situation.
After the banquet ended, there was a medal ceremony based on contributions. When Olivia saw the list and the standards used to assess merit, she protested.
Ferda wondered just how low they had rated her, but
-The princess's contribution to this operation was assessed at three percent.
That was a little extreme.