No Takebacks

Ferda climbed to the top of a lonely mountain.

He had asked Luri to help him climb to the summit for only one purpose.

To watch Valdrowa fight.

-Kroaaah!

A resounding roar overturned heaven and earth.

Today, she had stopped the advance of over a hundred monsters.

In the past, this would have been a moment when he could barely breathe, but now he was utterly calm, as though gazing at a distant mountain.

‘That wine certainly works.’

His fear of dragons had vanished, and even the fear radiating from them could no longer interfere much with Ferda’s body.

While he was amazed by that, something else made him curious.

“How do the others endure this? It must be no easy matter even inside the castle.”

“We have artifacts.”

Luri held up a ring from beneath her skirt as she spoke.

It was an ordinary silver ring, but letters had been inscribed inside it.

Ferda could not read those letters.

“It tracks the locations of the castle’s employees and eases their fear of dragons. Up to a hundred employees can live inside the castle without any problems.”

“Does it have an effect similar to what I drank?”

“It is less effective. They still retain some fear of dragons.”

“You certainly made a lot of preparations.”

“We made far more preparations than necessary.”

“Hmm…….”

After thinking it over, Ferda turned his head again.

“Did you say there were a hundred of those?”

“That is correct.”

“Then couldn’t I have used one from the beginning?”

“That is correct.”

“Then why didn’t you give me one?”

Luri’s pupils slowly rotated once, and she shrugged.

“You never asked, did you?”

That made Ferda realize just how much Luri had hated the Ferda from before he became her fiancé.

‘Though she still seems to hate me now.’

There was no point dwelling on the past.

Ferda turned his eyes toward Valdrowa and looked down at her.

The only thing that differed from before was that, instead of returning immediately after finishing what she had to do, she now turned her gaze toward him.

The pair of horns jutting forward, and another pair rising toward the sky.

Her imposing figure, befitting the title of tyrant, was clearly visible.

He could even feel that her golden eyes were meeting his gaze.

‘She can feel it.’

Ever since he had swallowed the engagement wine, Ferda had felt as though an invisible thread connected him to Valdrowa.

Whenever that happened, Ferda found himself smiling without realizing it.

And Valdrowa avoided his gaze and returned to her lair.

‘Did I make things awkward again?’

Although they had become engaged, he had never actually spoken with her.

Whenever he tried, she only seemed to avoid him, and the most he could do was watch her.

‘Agoraphobia…….’

Anyone who saw only the way she tore monsters apart and became aroused would never believe it.

But Ferda’s mind naturally brought her lips to mind first.

‘What a woman, with such a talent for making me burn with longing.’

An oasis rising from the middle of a barren desert.

The warmth of a blue flame flickering faintly in the permafrost.

She was so close, yet all he could do was watch her.

He felt like a sinner suffering the pain of hunger and thirst, with an apple before his eyes that he could never eat and water that he could never drink.

If only he could at least face her and speak with her.

“Are we still not allowed to talk?”

“Yes. She instructed us to wait until the time is right.”

“It has been over a month.”

“Compared to the years she has lived, that is no more than a blink of an eye.”

The passage of time was different for immortals and mortals.

Ferda felt impatience seize his heart.

‘Waiting until she can compose herself is part of a husband’s duty, too.’

He decided to be patient.

Ferda still had plenty of time left to live.

Luri, who had been watching all of this, looked elsewhere and spoke.

“Lord Ferda.”

“What is it?”

“We have a guest.”

Below, in a region Ferda could not see,

he could barely make out something like a long line standing in front of the castle.

Luri, who had been watching as his eyes, said,

“It seems Marquis Vernel has arrived.”

* * *

Marquis Vernel.

When Ferda met him again, he was in an even worse state.

His debts had been paid off, and the troublesome gang no longer bothered him, but that did not mean his household had improved as well.

“You see, I was thinking…….”

“Just tell me the conclusion.”

Ferda was blunt.

“I’m in too impatient a mood for you to beat around the bush.”

It was partly to leave no room for Marquis Vernel’s capriciousness, but the Red Circle was also spinning rapidly in Ferda’s lower abdomen.

He did not want to let go of that heightened feeling because of Vernel.

“As you said…… I’ve come to think that making weapons would be best.”

“Have you abandoned your convictions?”

“Of course not. I came to think that making weapons as you suggested could indeed help maintain peace. I was simply afraid of the criticism.”

Marquis Vernel looked down at the appointment letter in his hand.

“I will make weapons. To drive the monsters out of the Far East. But I hope those weapons will not be used in wars between humans. At least not while I am still alive.”

“I cannot promise you that.”

Rather than lie, Ferda told him the truth.

“I see…….”

Vernel was not terribly disappointed.

He might have been a frog in a well, but the place where he lived was still a society, so he knew how things worked.

The course of a war could be overturned depending on which side took the lead in developing weapons.

In such an environment, magitech would become an innovative technology and accelerate rapidly.

“You don’t need to be so consumed by guilt. Think of it this way. If someone makes a sword, what should be used to stop it?”

“If someone makes a sword…… we make the shield and armor to stop it.”

“I made a sword that could pierce even that armor and shield. Should we then become discouraged, stop, and watch our destruction unfold?”

Only then did Vernel understand.

“No. We need to make even better armor and shields.”

“You are making weapons, but you are also making shields at the same time. If you want to prevent war, you have to keep developing. If you stop…….”

“The other side will get ahead by one step.”

They were beginning an endless race.

A reality that Vernel had never wanted to imagine took shape before him.

A faint fragrance lingered in his nostrils.

Coffee, black tea, and ink.

He missed Escolleia terribly.

At least there, that tiny room had been his entire world.

‘But I must not go back.’

Magitech was a dream he desperately wanted to achieve.

“Of course, if you have the leeway later, I will permit you to research ways to use it in other fields as well. For now, we need a tool capable of pushing back the front line in the Far East. If you develop that first, I will not criticize you over every little thing.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“I think that settles the matter…….”

Ferda began discussing Vernel’s research in earnest.

“Tell me what you need first for the research you are beginning.”

“Before tools, I need the carcass of a monster.”

“A monster carcass?”

“I need to observe it first. The tools come after that.”

Vernel scratched his head and gave an awkward smile.

“Actually, if it were alive, my progress would improve considerably…… But capturing a monster is not easy, is it? Haha!”

Ferda, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

“I understand. We just need to capture one?”

“Yes, capture…… Wait, are you planning to capture one?”

Vernel asked in surprise.

“If we want to make progress, we have to do it, don’t we? We still have a long way to go, so shouldn’t we take a big first step?”

“It will be quite difficult…… I understand. Thank you very much. Um…… Your Highness.”

“Call me Regent. That is my official title now. And there is no need to thank me.”

Ferda rose from his seat and put on his coat.

“We will depart within three days, so prepare yourself.”

“Pardon? Where are we going?”

“You’re the one who said it. Do I really have to spell it out? We’re going to capture a monster.”

“W-We are?”

Vernel’s eyes opened wide.

His pupils looked ready to shrink to pinpoints.

“Were you planning to sit here and wait for someone else to capture one?”

“Uh…… Isn’t that what most people do?”

“What an amusing joke. How could I stand by and watch dozens of people die just to satisfy one scholar’s desire? This is when we need to move ourselves.”

Ferda patted Vernel on the shoulder as he spoke.

“Isn’t it a scholar’s conviction that truth sets humanity free?”

“Th-That is true, but…….”

“You cannot sit still and hope truth will fall into your mouth. Put your body to work.”

“Uuugh…….”

“Use that time to prepare well. You need to be in optimal condition.”

Vernel’s complexion turned deathly pale.

‘I shouldn’t have come!’

There were no takebacks.

* * *

Ferda and Vernel rode their horses toward their destination.

As they traveled along the road, they saw a group of people waiting at the pass.

Thirty subordinates stood in perfect formation, while the man at the front sat on a horse and wore half-plate armor.

He was the guide waiting for Ferda.

Arwen dismounted and bowed politely.

“I am honored to meet His Highness Ferda Valdrowa, consort of the Grand Duke of Valdrowa. My name is Arwen. I was ordered by Count Consilius to escort you.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you. Did you receive your orders properly?”

“Yes. I heard that you would be hunting monsters.”

Ferda corrected him.

“Not hunting. Capturing. We are going to capture a monster.”

“I apologize. It seems I must have misread the official order.”

In fact, he had not misread it.

The order was simply so absurd that he had corrected it himself to confirm what he had heard.

“It’s fine. Where is the monster?”

Arwen turned his head and pointed somewhere.

“I was informed that the monster’s distinctive energy is emanating from over there.”

“How many are there?”

“Considering the area it had spread through until recently, there should be only one.”

“I see. Then capturing it should be easy.”

“Well, about that…….”

Arwen continued his report in a grave voice.

“Its size is estimated to be at least that of a grizzly bear. It is large enough that even killing it would be difficult for us.”

In other words, capturing it would be difficult.

Of course, that argument did not work on Ferda.

“The larger it is, the better. We absolutely must capture it.”

Ferda patted Vernel on the shoulder and said,

“It should be quite helpful to your research.”

“Haha…… Th-That’s right.”

Vernel laughed awkwardly, screaming inwardly.

‘Don’t say that!!’

Vernel’s eyes slid toward the soldiers.

All kinds of resentful gazes began pouring toward him.

‘So that bastard was the culprit.’

‘Killing a monster is hard enough, and now what? Capture it?’

‘Just try dying while we’re catching it. I’ll make sure you have nightmares until the day you die!’

Those curses seemed to echo chaotically inside Vernel’s head.

“Hahahaha…….”

Vernel laughed.

He had to laugh while he still could.

* * *

Arwen took the lead and began moving.

Naturally, they had to leave the horses behind.

They could provoke the monster and become a hindrance.

“What level have you reached in magic?”

Ferda asked Vernel as he followed behind Arwen.

Vernel answered.

“The third Circle is my limit.”

“The Blue Circle?”

“Yes. Any mage would naturally be in the Blue Circle…… Are you in the Red Circle?”

“I am.”

Vernel covered his mouth.

His loose tongue had gotten him in trouble again.

“Ah, I-I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said that…….”

“It’s fine. You said you’re in the third Circle?”

The title used for a third-Circle mage was Magic Walker.

Since many mages failed to break through the wall of the fourth Circle, they disliked the term Magic Walker.

In particular, when a fourth-Circle mage or anyone above a Mage called someone a Magic Walker, it was tantamount to challenging them to a duel to the death.

“Can you use Magic Shot?”

“Yes. I can create and launch the spheres, but the effective range is—.”

“You only need to know how to create them. How many can you make?”

“Uh…… Twelve.”

“What if you make them larger?”

“Then I can make four.”

The average third-Circle mage could wield fifteen Mana Shots.

“That is considerably below average for a third-Circle mage.”

“Haha…… Yes, it is.”

It was a painful yet laughable truth.

Vernel’s first dream had been to become a mage.

‘In the end, all I could do was study, not magic.’

Even his studies had been ruined because he chased an absurd, impossible dream.

“That will be enough. You only need to provide support.”

“S-Support?”

“I will take care of everything. You only need to perform simple tasks according to my instructions. Understand?”

“S-Support, then. How……?”

“It will be simple. The task will be so easy that even a three-year-old child could understand it, so don’t worry too much.”

Vernel had no idea what Ferda was planning.

Just in case, he asked him,

“I’m sorry, Regent, but what Circle are you in?”

“Me? The second Circle.”

“Y-You’re in the second Circle?”

“Why? Are you surprised that I’m below you?”

“That is surprising, but that isn’t what I meant…….”

Vernel could not understand.

‘So the mana I saw was really all there was to it?’

Vernel had assumed that Ferda had simply hidden his abilities well until now.

But he was only a second-Circle mage.

‘What could a second-Circle mage possibly do……?’

He could not begin to grasp Ferda’s plan.

At that moment, Arwen raised his hand.

“I have detected its presence.”

“Is that so? Good work. I’ll call you just before the capture. Wait here.”

“Pardon?”

Arwen wondered if he had heard incorrectly and asked again.

Ferda frowned.

“Track down and reprimand whoever read that official order. I said I only needed soldiers to help with guidance and capture. Do you want to capture it yourselves?”

“Shouldn’t we do it? Of course…….”

“What a gallant knightly attitude.”

Ferda patted Arwen on the shoulder and walked past him.

“Do not take your life lightly. You are a knight of Count Consilius, and more than that, a precious knight of the Grand Duchy.”

Ferda put on the leather gloves he had kept in his pocket.

“Let’s go. Just prepare to capture it immediately when I give the signal. Vernel.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Ferda walked leisurely with his hands clasped behind his back.

His bearing was so noble that no one would have thought he was a man walking into the jaws of death.

‘Aaaah, I’m going to die!’

To Vernel, however, he was nothing more and nothing less than a grim reaper leading him to his death.

* * *

After walking through the deep forest for about ten minutes, Ferda and Vernel finally found the monster they had been told about.

‘A Corrupted One.’

It was not simply a bizarre creature born naturally, but a monster that had been overlaid onto an animal.

It had originally been a bear, but it was now so ruined that it could only be called something that used to be a bear.

A living organism whose existence defied reason.

That was what its appearance seemed to say.

“Ugh…….”

“Don’t vomit. It will be troublesome if it notices us.”

“Ulp, ulp…….”

Vernel nodded repeatedly, and Ferda fixed his gaze on the target.

“Now, conjure a Mana Shot on your finger.”

“Yes.”

After swallowing back his nausea, Vernel created a sphere of pure mana as instructed.

“Then lightly throw them at me one at a time according to my instructions.”

“What?”

At the Regent, not the bear?

“Toward you, Regent?”

“Yes. Throw it.”

Vernel shut his eyes tight and threw one as Ferda had instructed.

“Huh?”

At that moment, something astonishing happened.