Gyeonghuigung

A season so hot that even the dawn dew could barely show itself for a moment.

The hot summer sun made its heat keenly felt the instant it rose in the east.

‘And yet…….’

Despite the light and heat that seemed capable of piercing through everything, the land beyond was dark, as though sunlight could not reach it.

They said it had been even darker than that when Godwin was alive, but Ferda could not imagine it.

Why had Godwin tried to create a land like that?

Why had he tried to return everything to nothingness?

‘The land of mystery…….’

It had been given that name because it wielded magic that could not be understood through the magic established in the modern age.

Most of the mysterious elixirs originated in the East, yet it was a land with suspiciously few records about them.

Ferda, too, had excluded the place while seeking to reach the Ninth Circle, so it was only natural that he had remained indifferent to it until declaring his intention to conquer it.

“Must you really go there?”

The person who asked that question was Luri, standing one step behind him.

“Because that is where the happiness she wishes for will be.”

“Do you know what Lady Valdrova wishes for?”

“I do.”

Her dream had always been an ordinary, modest life.

“And yet you’re risking your life.”

From Luri’s perspective, it was an exceedingly personal matter.

But Ferda had no choice but to do so.

Ferda knew that a terrifying monster remained within him.

That monster would surely try to devour Valdrova again someday.

That was why he needed Eastern magic.

The driving force behind elven magic was emotion, taking a form similar to the human Red Circle.

The people of the East had learned from the elves how to use the Red Circle and had studied control, amplification, and efficiency.

Amplification was something they could perform at any time.

What he needed was control.

Ferda quietly gazed eastward before asking her,

“Her Highness Valdrova…….”

“She still does not wish to meet you.”

“……I see.”

This was a matter of life and death.

Even though he was going with veteran adventurers, risking their lives was just as much a part of it for them.

The faint possibility of not seeing tomorrow weighed so heavily on the human heart.

He wanted to ease that tension, even if only a little.

‘Elinore…….’

Ferda had given her the name Elinore.

But since he had been unable to call her by that name after that day, it had gradually begun to feel awkward even in his thoughts.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

Luri said.

“If you do not return alive, you will not be able to see your master, will you?”

“……I suppose not.”

There was a reason he had to return and see her again, rather than this being their final meeting.

Put that way, Ferda could feel some of his tension changing into courage.

“Thank you.”

Ferda’s hand reached toward Luri’s head.

Luri flinched at the sight of that hand but said nothing.

“Regent Ferda!”

Just as he was about to pat her head, a lively voice called out to Ferda.

It was Lize.

There was still a look of bewilderment on his face.

“It took you quite a while to prepare.”

“I’m sorry! The spirits kept pestering me not to go, so…….”

“You mean the spirits stopped you?”

“Yes. They said the demonic energy was too dense for them to enter…….”

Those most susceptible to demonic-energy pollution were beings sensitive to mana—in other words, the spirits.

Though those three were adorable in their own way, once they banded together, they would certainly become terrifying creatures beyond imagination. If they were polluted by demonic energy on top of that, they would inevitably become a calamity.

“They kept tugging me back, making a fuss that I’d die if I went there and that I absolutely couldn’t go…….”

“Because of that?”

Lize hesitated, then silently turned his back toward him.

His clothes had been torn away, exposing his pale skin and the curves of his back in stark detail.

“I suppose I’ll have to ask the guild whether they have any clothes. I should go see.”

“Yeees…….”

Lize blushed and nodded.

Ferda was still confused by the fact that Lize was a man.

* * *

The expedition was scheduled to gather at the eastern gate of Hestia Village.

Though there were normally few people there, guild members and even passersby had formed a crowd around it.

When Ferda pushed through the crowd and entered, several men who appeared to be scholars and engineers were clustered around a large object.

Lize’s eyes sparkled as he looked at it.

“Wow……. That must be the mana-powered vehicle?”

“Yes.”

“At first glance, it looks like a carriage. There’s something sticking out where the horse would be hitched…….”

It closely resembled a prototype he had once seen in a future that no longer existed.

However, since this vehicle had to accommodate twelve people, it was considerably larger.

Even so, it was not exactly the same, and its design was a great deal more refined.

The long-held wish of Dean Escolleia was plainly evident in it.

‘He put an absurd amount of effort into it just to spite people who use carriages.’

Knowing the circumstances, Ferda found it pathetic, but he could not call the effort pointless.

After all, it was boosting the morale of the adventurers and guild members.

A flagpole had been erected on the mana-powered vehicle, bearing an emblem and these words.

-Flint Expedition.

Flint meant a stone used to make fire.

To name an expedition that had crammed in every cool-sounding idea—Golden Wings, Eagles, and the like—“Flint” was rather underwhelming.

‘Since it’s an expedition that began in Hestia, it’s a vow to light the first fire…….’

Put that way, Ferda decided the name was not so bad after all.

“You arrived early.”

Erika welcomed Ferda.

She looked him up and down before speaking.

“You’re well armed, too. I can’t find anything to criticize.”

“Since this is important, I cannot afford to hold everyone back.”

“It would have been nice if you’d said that last time.”

“I said that last time as well, though?”

“It certainly sounded like you were telling us to worry about ourselves, didn’t it?”

“That was part of what I meant.”

“Look at the nobleman, all high and mighty. Mr. Lize…… seeing that back, you’ll need new clothes.”

“Yeees…….”

“Let’s see if there’s anything in the storage room. Shall we go together?”

Erika went with Lize to find something he could wear.

Ferda was checking his own condition, as the others were doing.

At that moment, he sensed someone’s gaze directed toward him.

When he turned his head, the Armored Knight was standing there.

He could not see inside the armor, but he knew the gaze was fixed on him.

“……”

“Did you need something from me?”

The armored knight’s head tilted slightly upward.

The knight’s head swayed gently, as though they were thinking about something.

Nod.

The Armored Knight handed Ferda a sheet of paper.

It read:

-Please take care of me.

“……”

What was there to think about so much over those six characters?

He examined them intently, wondering whether they concealed some hidden meaning.

‘The handwriting is quite elegant.’

That was all the information he had been given.

Had the knight obtained it from a scribe, or practiced it personally before bringing it here?

Had the knight gone to all that trouble just to offer that one greeting?

Surely the knight had not come here for the childish purpose of wanting praise for the handwriting.

“All right. I look forward to working with you.”

Ferda handed the paper back as he replied.

The Armored Knight seemed somewhat dissatisfied deep down, but did not press the matter.

A little later, Erika returned and spoke with the scholars and engineers.

“We’ll be departing shortly! Everyone, take your positions!”

“Positions!”

At her booming voice, the adventurers who had been sitting on the ground rose and moved to the rear seats.

Ferda also tried to follow them to the rear seats.

“Wait a moment.”

Erika was the one who stopped him.

“Regent, would you sit beside me?”

Erika tapped the seat beside her.

Ferda reflexively knitted his brows.

“May I refuse?”

“You’re a person of distinction, so shouldn’t I give you the seat of honor?”

“Isn’t that the driver’s seat rather than a seat of honor?”

“Exactly. Isn’t it strange for the head of an Adventurers’ Guild branch to be sitting in the driver’s seat? What do you think it would look like if the Blue-Eyed Tower Master were sitting here?”

Who cares.

They would probably assume the tower had gone bankrupt and he had resorted to driving carriages.

But sitting in the back and making small talk was not in his nature, so he obediently sat beside Erika as she suggested.

“Let’s see. First, pull this lever, then press and hold this button…….”

After going through the complicated startup process, a sound began to ring out from the front.

Vroooom—!

A sound reverberating inside a vacuum tube.

The engine had started.

After Erika performed a few more operations, the wheels began to move.

Very smoothly, at that.

“It’s moving!”

“It’s moving!”

The scholars and engineers cheered as they watched the wheels roll.

As the vehicle gradually moved farther away,

Ferda tilted his head when he saw them eventually shedding tears of emotion.

“You don’t understand why they’re so happy, do you?”

“No.”

“Just the day before yesterday, they were saying it was too heavy to carry all twelve of us, you know? They hadn’t taken armor or extra supplies into account.”

“And?”

“I gave them twenty-four hours.”

“So you didn’t merely give them twenty-four hours.”

“Of course not.”

It would be a lie to say that Ferda did not appreciate Erika’s clear-cut solution.

Thus, they left the village and headed toward the Demon Lands.

They crossed the boundary whose colors were so distinct that it was called the line between life and death.

“We’re entering. Everyone, prepare yourselves!”

At Erika’s signal, the expedition members checked the talismans around their necks once more.

The instant they entered beyond the boundary, they felt it.

“Hmm…….”

“Ugh!”

Those exposed to demonic energy for the first time quickly began to react.

The mages, who were especially sensitive to mana, suffered the most, while the others felt the demonic energy pressing down on their bodies.

Ferda was no exception.

‘If we hadn’t had a reason to enter, I would have wanted to leave immediately.’

He slowly circulated his Circles and steadied his breathing.

He repeatedly reminded himself that this was his own sanctuary, one into which demonic energy could not intrude.

-This takes me back.

Erika casually began speaking through telepathy.

-Back then, we somehow broke through after receiving the protection of every dragon and god.

‘Is that so?’

-Even now, we’ve somehow gathered twelve people. Just like then. Back then, I recruited the expedition members who would go after the Demon King.

‘I see.’

-I’m sorry for bringing up something you don’t care about. But please listen. Honestly, there’s no one I can speak to frankly about this sort of thing.

Ferda considered cutting her off, but he wondered whether doing so might create an opening for the demonic energy to squeeze through, so he left her alone.

Lost in memories, Erika continued.

-Back then, no one believed it. I was no different, even though I was the one recruiting them. We had to destroy the entire East, the land of mystery, break through something called demonic energy, and go kill the Demon King. Honestly, doesn’t that sound absurd?

‘That is true.’

-So everyone believed we had to coexist with Godwin and comply with his demands. But there was exactly one person who did not.

‘Was it Lady Valdrova?’

-Yes. She believed in humanity’s potential. To be honest, back then she really seemed……

‘Like an idiot?’

-I was going to call it irrational and emotional, but you put it that way yourself. Didn’t I say anything?

‘Please continue.’

-In any case, I didn’t have much hope for humanity. I believed the human race, which was too busy fighting among itself, could do nothing but walk the path to destruction.

‘But the result was different.’

-Yes, in the end, we saved the Serdes Continent. And humanity’s power is growing stronger and stronger. In the end, she was right.

‘Was that something you knew all along?’

-I knew, but I couldn’t do anything about it. The final incident turned everything upside down.

Godwin died, and Silverwind died.

Countless people who had entered the battlefield died as well, including the Spawns.

Dragon Spawns shared the deaths of their own.

Because of that trait, we could not help but hate the image of Valdrova we saw.

Silverwind still wished only to wage war against Valdrova.

-Since you never once tried to defend yourself or say anything, I wondered whether you were simply a shameless dragon.

‘I simply couldn’t talk.’

-No one even considered that possibility. What dragon in the world would do something like that? We’re a race that immediately punishes anyone who talks back……

Since she had said it herself, Ferda had no response.

-So I made a decision.

‘What did you decide?’

-If the day comes when Lady Iorga rises proudly, then we will formally apologize for the rudeness we committed.

An apology.

It felt strange that a dragon other than Valdrova would apologize to someone.

Ferda concealed that true feeling as he replied.

‘As the Tower Master, I’m grateful that you see it that way.’

After ending their telepathic conversation, Erika casually struck up a conversation with him.

“By the way, this is more comfortable than I expected. You just keep your foot down and it moves forward on its own.”

“Is that so?”

“Sky carriages and ordinary mana-powered carriages are quite finicky. If you don’t account for your condition on the way back, it’s common to suddenly plummet while returning.”

“That is true.”

“It’s nice to travel comfortably for an hour, but if only there were a way to supply additional mana stones while completely blocking demonic energy…….”

“If we applied magitech to create transport equipment with a demonic-energy shielding function, we could maximize efficiency…….”

They chatted animatedly, trading one trivial idea about magitech after another.

Valdrova, seated at the very back, stared intently at them.

She was eavesdropping on the conversation they were having.

‘I don’t understand a word they’re saying.’

The two of them were exchanging intellectual ideas that her own mind could not comprehend.

To Valdrova, Ferda seemed to shine as she watched him.

* * *

The engine of the mana-powered vehicle, which had been running for two hours, gradually grew quieter.

At the same time, the wheels began to lose their strength before eventually coming to a complete stop.

All the energy in the mana stones had been depleted.

At the same time, it demonstrated how precise Erika’s calculations had been.

Before them stood the foundation stones where a great gate had once been, welcoming them.

They had arrived at Gyeonghuigung.

Erika climbed down from the driver’s seat and shouted,

“This is where it begins. Stay sharp, everyone!”

“Phew, is it starting?”

Everyone had more than five years of experience as adventurers, making them veterans.

But there was no guarantee that veterans in this line of work would survive for long.

These were people who always kept that in mind.

Erika, the captain of the Flint Expedition, began commanding in earnest.

“Position A. We’re entering.”

As they entered through the entrance to Gyeonghuigung, a broad front courtyard welcomed them.

Though it had been neglected for a long time, its form was strangely intact.

The archer’s keen eyes flashed.

“I see enemies!”

The enemies had not been hiding.

They slowly revealed themselves to the fresh prey that had rolled right into their mouths.

Monstrous forms that seemed to imitate the shape of humans.

Strictly speaking, they resembled ghouls.

Unlike the familiar forms of animals, they had lean, agile bodies and moved on all fours.

-Kieeeek!

-Kieeeek!

They cried out, sending signals to their kin.

They moved as if awakening from a long sleep.

“The number is fifty!”

They thought it would be an easy fight.

“No, one hundred……!”

It was still a fight they could manage.

“No, two hundred!”

It might be a somewhat difficult fight.

“Three hundred!”

No one bothered thinking anymore.

The ghoul-like monsters filled the entire space before the palace.

With purple skin and green eyes glowing with an eerie light, they were clearly no ordinary creatures.

“Looks like easy money isn’t happening after all.”

“What in this world is easy!”

Even in a situation where they might die, they smiled.

That was the best they could do as adventurers.