Symbol of Prosperity

Before Valdrova and Lyudmila met each other,

Ferda took a quick tour of his territory, introducing it to the people of House Purity.

“This may be a delicate thing to say, but…”

When they entered the square, Valery Purity, head of the house, spotted something conspicuous and asked,

“Are you planning to operate that fountain?”

“Of course. How could I not use something given by Ior, the Water Aspect, and his descendants?”

“Remarkable.”

It was sincere admiration, not sarcasm.

Being able to operate a fountain while this was still little more than a village meant he was prepared to usher in that much prosperity.

Though Ferda was conspicuously young, Valery had never thought him a man full of vanity.

He could see the future prosperity of the Far East.

“And I heard you intend to use adventurers in the conquest of the Far East.”

“Yes.”

“What are your thoughts on the warriors of the North?”

Northern warriors were rougher and more rugged than knights, and were often treated as barbarians.

“Isn't the greatest honor to slay the frost giants beyond the Northern Wall?”

“Hunting the frost giants of the North is a thing of the past now. In all my years, I've never crossed that Wall. In truth, even for Northerners, crossing it in a human body is next to impossible.”

“That sounds related to the Ascension Ceremony.”

“In fact, it is all connected. The pride of the northern clans is being chosen as descendants of Silverwind and ascending—to become true warriors and cross the Wall.”

They selected the most outstanding among the tribes and offered them to the dragonspawn.

It was said that when one was chosen as a warrior's prospect, the tribe received enormous sums of money and food.

In the end, being a true warrior was little different from a tribe twisting itself into knots to survive.

‘What a vicious joke.’

Becoming dragonspawn was a way of washing away the past.

Memories of being human were nothing more than an insignificant previous life, while bonds were forged as part of the dragon's clan.

In practice, it meant abandoning one's clan, yet they called it an honor.

“In any case, Silverwind's death must have been a major blow even in the North.”

“It was, but I don't dwell on it. If all we'd ever done was live by offering up warriors, we'd still be living as barbarians.”

It was merely the flow of history, and he had willingly gone along with it.

Valery cleared his throat.

“We've strayed from the topic. In any case, now that there's no need to cross the Frost Wall, I wanted to say that I hope the northern warriors can set foot on the Demon Lands and take on a new challenge.”

Ferda felt something strange in those words.

Valdemar Gault.

It was similar to the feeling he had when that old man spoke.

“Duke Purity.”

“Yes.”

“Are you saying that as a warrior, or as a noble?”

He asked directly.

Valery Purity answered, stroking his beard.

“What if I say it is a warrior's words?”

“Then I will take them at face value.”

“And if they are a noble's words?”

“Then I would like to have a proper discussion.”

Valery knew upon hearing that.

That Ferda understood what his intentions were.

And that he viewed those intentions positively.

“I hear there are demon spies in the Arken Empire.”

“That's right.”

“And one was exposed in the Golden Council, while Duke Perry Yurei was also suspected of being a demon spy and is currently being detained. You know that much, since it happened on the scene, don't you?”

“That's right.”

“The problem is that after Perry Yurei's detention, he was no longer treated as a noble. They tortured him repeatedly as though he were a commoner, and supposedly went so far as to make him bleed.”

It was a vicious act so outrageous that even kingdoms other than Heinckel would have had nothing to say in its defense and would have every right to condemn it.

“Do you understand what that means?”

Ferda nodded.

“It is a provocation of war.”

“The Heinckel Kingdom has been put in a difficult position by this incident.”

It could hardly be otherwise.

With his son, Markus Yurei, being a follower of the demonkin, what guarantee was there that Perry Yurei was not one as well?

If they blindly shielded him and he truly was a demonkin follower, suspicion would extend to the Heinckel Kingdom itself.

Yet they could not abandon Duke Yurei, either.

If Yurei was not a demonkin follower, it could be used as grounds for claiming that the king had used the incident as justification to purge the duke.

The Arken Empire was the only one that could profit from this conflict.

For the Heinckel Kingdom, which had enjoyed peace for a long time, being forced to clash with the Arken Empire was frightening.

This complex incident had brought countless difficulties to the Heinckel Kingdom.

“The Hero of Reversal, Marquis Oldin Rooster, is showing signs of trying to station troops near the Heinckel Kingdom. At the same time, King Hudret seems inclined to join him in support.”

“If two kingdoms join forces to take on one, its destruction would only be a matter of time.”

At that, Duke Purity gave a crooked grin.

“That is not the case. In fact, the reason King Hudret has intervened is to protect the Heinckel Kingdom.”

“What do you mean, protecting it through an attack?”

Ferda did not immediately understand.

“If the Arken Empire were to fight the Heinckel Kingdom in an all-out one-on-one war, the Heinckel Kingdom would become entirely theirs. But what if King Hudret were to intervene?”

“Then the problem would be how to divide the profits according to each side's contribution.”

“Exactly. King Hudret will move to secure a promise of profits greater than his share. If conflict breaks out again, they will no longer be fighting the Kingdom of Hudret, but the entire Serdes Continent.”

At one time, the Arken Empire's expansionist ambitions had made many kingdoms and territories tremble in fear.

Refusing to allow Heinckel's lands to be taken was also about preventing a precedent from being set.

“If they were determined to isolate the Arken Empire, wouldn't it be possible?”

“Of course, if this had been in the past, I might have thought it possible.”

Duke Purity let out a subtle sigh.

“As you know, the legion was wiped out during the campaign, and the Arken Empire made three extreme moves.”

Erdes Roton, Silverwind, and Storeus.

They had shaken dragons themselves, and even the proud descendants of Silverwind had helped the Empire.

“And there is also Grand Duke Valdrova in the Far East.”

“She will not move for the Empire.”

“It would be best not to jump to conclusions. Now that Storeus and Silverwind have moved to save the Empire, a terrifying possibility remains hidden.”

From his words, Ferda learned one thing.

He did not know that Silverwind owed the Arken Empire some sort of debt.

‘What kind of debt could it have been?’

He tried to guess, but couldn't get a handle on it.

Valdrova was based in the Far East to atone for having killed countless people, but to the other dragons, it was nothing more than amusement.

He could not imagine a dragon becoming indebted to a human.

He did not reveal that fact.

Ferda was not seasoned enough to trust Duke Purity just yet.

In any case, the reason he had brought it up was that Duke Purity was preparing to respond if the Empire revealed its ambitions.

‘Politics is a troublesome business.’

At the same time, it was interesting.

Helping out alone would not make everything proceed smoothly.

It was a complicated chessboard where one had to keep in mind everything that would happen afterward.

Ferda decided to join that chessboard and make his move.

“To answer what you said, I cannot permit northern troops to be stationed here.”

“That is unfortunate.”

“However.”

Ferda was not finished.

“You might consider the Adventurers' Guild.”

Duke Purity's brow twitched.

“The Adventurers' Guild?”

“Our city was designed for adventurers. If five hundred northern warriors entered, that would be cause for concern. But if they were five hundred adventurers, we would have no reason to refuse them.”

“Oh-ho…”

“If that many adventurers from the North came here, control would naturally become necessary, and with that, active exchanges with the North would become unavoidable. If we merely put on the appearance of being troubled on the surface, who could object?”

“That has sufficient justification.”

Having heard Ferda's answer, Duke Purity gave a faint smile and held out his hand.

“This will be a great help to us both, Regent.”

“Let us do our best for the peace of the Serdes Continent.”

Ferda took his hand.

* * *

The village of Hestia in the Grand Duchy of Valdrova.

As the morning sun rose, the footsteps of people on their way to work came to a halt in front of the village square.

Those who had no idea what was going on quietly asked the onlookers who had arrived first.

“What's happening today? Why is the administrator over there?”

“I heard they're doing something called a fountain?”

“A fountain? What's that?”

“You know the statue over there?”

“What's with it?”

“Apparently, water is supposed to come out of it.”

“Water? How?”

“Isn't that what everyone's wondering?”

“Good heavens.”

Since most of the villagers had grown up entirely in small villages, this was a shocking event.

It was such a rare spectacle that even those who had seen a bit of city life did not dare mock it as a country bumpkin's curiosity.

Isabella, having checked the rehearsal and stage over and over, soon announced in a booming voice,

“From this moment, we will begin the fountain's inauguration ceremony and the celebration commemorating the activation of the waterworks.”

The person giving that ceremonial address was Ferda, Valdrova's representative.

He walked along the carpet and stepped up onto the platform.

“Our Hestia is a village made up of people who have gathered here from every corner. It is a rootless land where all of us met less than a year ago.”

In reality, these were disparaging remarks that outsiders who came simply to make money would occasionally spit out.

They said the residents were nothing more than losers who had fled oppression, turned their backs on their homelands, and run away.

Most of Hestia's residents could not help taking those words to heart.

“But those who say such things have no right to curse us.”

Ferda's vigorous voice drove away the worries they carried.

“Even without mages, we have the ability to repel monsters, and we rose again after overcoming the worst moment, when monsters had cut us off. What does that mean?”

The difficult days when they were isolated by monsters.

Amid despair, believing they could do nothing but die,

they had seen a ray of light.

They had seen the dignified form of a dragon protecting the Far East.

Ferda clenched his fist and said,

“It means that we have become the new roots of the Far East, putting down roots so deeply that no one can dare ignore us.”

A spark of hope was kindled in the villagers' hearts.

The rising sun behind the young regent standing on the platform looked like a halo.

“This fountain will become our roots and a promise of the prosperity we will build in the future.”

At his declaration, a vigorous stream of water burst from the fountain.

The water sprayed coolly into the fountain, reflecting the sunlight and casting a rainbow.

Watching the wondrous sight, the crowd said this:

The foot of a god had touched Hestia.

* * *

-I hope you've been well.

Erika contacted him via telepathy before he had even had time to return from the inauguration ceremony.

“Yes. How are the Blue Eyes?”

-They're as they always are. I heard you held the fountain's inauguration ceremony today. May I ask how people reacted?

Ferda shot back at the question as though it were absurd.

“Didn't you see it with your own eyes?”

Ferda had confirmed with his own two eyes that Erika had been watching during his speech.

She had worn the uniquely arrogant, self-satisfied expression of a dragonspawn.

-I think you've gotten the wrong idea. I wasn't there, so you must have mistaken me for someone else. Perhaps you confused me with someone named Eri. I'm Erika, remember?

Erika was dropping a subtle hint.

Ferda brushed it off with an exasperated air and replied,

“The response was good. As they watched it create a rainbow, they prayed to Alte.”

-I wonder if this is what they mean by cooking porridge and feeding it to a dog. Rather than praising Ior, who made something magnificent, Alte is the only one benefiting while they stand there gaping.

Erika grumbled like a child.

Ferda looked down at Hestia village through the window.

The wide-open central square and the fountain erected there.

Two hours had passed, but there was no sign of the people thinning out.

Children with innocent hearts and women worn down by life were enjoying the fountain with the same look in their eyes.

“Did you contact me because you were curious about that?”

-Not exactly. I happened to receive a message.

“What message?”

-It's about the High Elves.

“The High Elves…”

It was the matter he had forgotten because he had been so busy.

The characters in Director Linne's records were written in the High Elven language, and they needed the High Elves' assistance to decipher them.

Ferda sprang to his feet and asked,

“What did they say?”

-For now, they said they understood and wanted to meet.

He had reached the starting line.

It was such good news that it would not be an exaggeration to say he had already made it halfway.

“Understood. When should I leave?”

-We're not free enough to add the word “when.” They're hilarious creatures: what they do is always disgustingly slow, but their moods change by the second.

“Understood. Then I'll have a carriage prepared immediately, and leave now—”

-No. There's no need for that.

At the same time, he felt a strange tremor from the direction of the window in Ferda's office.

A shape slowly descended from above the window like a curtain.

It was a carriage painted blue.

It was not a vehicle powered by simple magic.

It was a sky carriage, a means of transportation handled only by high-ranking mages.

Erika Iorga, head of the Blue Eyes Mage Tower, poked her face out from inside it and said, “Get in. I'll show you the way.”