Change Boldly

“Lady Iorga is doing well, yes? Hmm? There have been a lot of rumors swirling around the Mage Tower lately?”

“There’s no need to worry. Compared to the criticism you received, Erdes, it’s nothing—a drop in the ocean, dust on a fly’s foreleg. It’s within the realm of what can be cleaned up.”

“Oh, really? Even a gem that ought to shine brilliantly shouldn’t have tiny flaws, though, should it? At the very least, a leader shouldn’t tolerate such things, right?”

“It’s fine. They’re in a different class from people who insist they’re gems without realizing they’re shattered glass.”

The two women maintained their smiles even in a situation where the slightest brush against each other would have been a fatal blow.

Unlike with Ferda, a deep rift could be felt between them.

Watching the exchange, Ferda felt his anger over the insult slowly ebbing away.

“To defend him a little further, what Lord Ferda wields is shadow magic. It doesn’t match Sitri, who governs illusions and lust, so it makes no sense to say he made a deal with a demon.”

“Amon could have given him Marbas’s grimoire. It’s not impossible.”

Amon was a demon of fire, while Marbas was a demon of ice, and the two were sworn enemies.

“If it benefited him, perhaps. But that would be meaningless, and demons wouldn’t do something so meaningless, would they? How can someone who claims to be an authority on black magic not know even that?”

Erika was right.

He would be going to all that trouble just to make someone else look good.

There was no way the demons would tolerate that.

And Erdes knew it, too.

She knew she was throwing a tantrum.

She was only being unreasonable, trying to rattle him through sheer stubbornness.

Erika’s sudden appearance to interfere deeply irritated Erdes.

“So you’re saying it’s fine for the man who’s going to become a dragon’s consort to use black magic? Or is smearing Valdrova as a vicious evil dragon some dirty trick to drive her to take her own life? Our Eri may be dressed in pure white, but she’s pitch-black inside, isn’t she?”

“The fact that Regent Valdrova uses black magic does not mean we can say her nature is evil.”

She asserted it firmly, and Erdes let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.

“Eri. I’ve told you over and over, haven’t I? That damned black magic is filthy stuff that pollutes Serdes. I want to wipe out every last one of those bastards.”

That was Erika’s obsession with purity.

“Human Red Circles are born from emotion. The easiest emotions to use are negative ones. Negative emotions draw out darkness. Those who use black magic are threats.”

“Among a knight’s virtues is the ability to use anger. If you know how to handle negative emotions, they aren’t inherently bad.”

“It’s magic belonging to demon bastards trying to swallow the continent.”

“A demon’s intentions may be impure, but you can’t claim something is automatically evil just because it originated from a demon.”

“Ha, you’re still hung up on that damned dragon-demon war. So what? You took part in it too, and since you used black magic to help turn the tide, you think that gives you the right to speak?”

This was another astonishing fact.

Erika Iorga.

She was an elemental master and a Meister who could handle every element, unlike the other Spawns.

This was the first time he had learned that she used black magic.

“Eri, it isn’t magic. It’s a tool that gives humans a sense of omnipotence, draws out their evil nature, and makes both themselves and others miserable, isn’t it?”

“No, you’re wrong.”

Erika asserted it just as firmly.

“Magic is a tool, and what matters is the person who wields it. Even if it is magic from Hell, if it is worth researching and developing, then it must be used.”

“So you believe this little brat will use it responsibly?”

Erdes jerked her chin toward Ferda.

Erika also turned her gaze to Ferda.

There was a look in her eyes as though she had made up her mind.

“When it is time for change, one must be bold.”

Erika spoke, enunciating every syllable.

“I, Erika Iorga, hereby propose an alliance with the Valdrova Grand Duchy as the representative of all Blue Dragon Spawns.”

She used the shock of the sudden declaration of an alliance to put pressure on the opposing side.

“If the Silverwind side declares all-out war, the Iorga side will fight to protect the Valdrova Grand Duchy.”

Her compelling voice met the other side’s momentum head-on.

Erdes, who had been twirling a lock of hair around her finger, pulled a disgusted face.

“You’re making a huge mistake. You’re jumping straight into a pit of fire.”

“You’ve always been too extreme. If we leave Regent Ferda as he is, it’s obvious how you intend to torment him. How could I simply sit by?”

“You could simply sit by, couldn’t you? Who asked you to intervene? What does it have to do with you?”

“He is a man who declared that he would reclaim the Far East, something no one has mentioned in a hundred years. If he made that declaration as someone charged with protecting the continent, we have no choice but to support him.”

“Hmm. So you’re going to side with that little boy?”

Her eyes had grown even more vicious.

She looked eager to abandon the whole conversation and start fighting right then and there.

Goz, who had been sitting quietly and watching the situation unfold, opened his mouth.

“Erdes.”

“Yes, you say something too! They have two, and we have two, so this should be interesting!”

“We’re leaving.”

“I’ll handle that bitch, so what?”

Erdes opened her eyes wide and glared at Goz.

“What are you talking about? I haven’t even finished yet!”

“All I wanted was the full story. I only needed to know what Abel, that piece of shit, had done.”

“I told you!! It could have been a trap Regent Ferda could have set—!”

“He had already made a deal before he died, hadn’t he?”

“That’s true, but—!!”

“Then it’s over. That bastard made a deal, and the regent had him executed. That doesn’t change.”

“You could just ask why he executed him without permission!? Why are you ice-for-brains suddenly thinking now!?”

“A bastard who made a deal with a demon and still couldn’t defeat a single human got off lightly.”

Goz rose from his seat as if he had nothing more to say and walked toward the door.

“Then we’ll be going.”

His eyes briefly settled on Luri one last time before he left the corridor.

Erdes watched him leave with a displeased expression, then glared at Ferda.

“Looks like the conversation is over. Regent Ferda, shall we leave it at that?”

Her eyebrows fluttered three times a second.

It was both a question of whether he had anything to explain and a provocation to keep fighting.

Ferda, now calm, answered.

“I’ll see you out.”

“No. Maybe that isn’t necessary? When I’m around black mages, I feel like dying. Or maybe I feel like killing them? I don’t really know. Anyway, that’s how it is.”

By then, she was making no effort to conceal her disgust.

Then she spun around, dashed down the corridor, and shouted.

“Hey! Come with me! Seriously!! Is abandoning a lady instead of escorting her some quirk all you people share!?”

* * *

Abel Silverwind’s death.

Ferda’s deal with a demon.

Contrary to the fear that those two storms would arrive and sweep everything away, the matter had ended without incident, for now.

He wanted to catch his breath, but he could not just yet.

Ferda turned his gaze across the room.

The spot where Goz and Erdes had been sitting was now occupied by Erika.

Ferda asked her,

“Why did you help me?”

At that question, Erika raised one eyebrow.

Her voice brimmed with a Dragon Spawn’s pride.

“This is where you thank me, isn’t it? I helped you, didn’t I?”

“It was something I could have handled on my own.”

“You say that after getting swept up in Erdes’s rhythm. That woman is astonishingly good at getting under people’s skin. I’ve argued with her so often that I can let it roll off, but it’s not easy for other people.”

She was right.

Ferda had been drawn into it without meaning to, too.

“And you went ahead and proposed an alliance on your own.”

“If you were unhappy about it, why didn’t you throw water on me? Or provoke those ice-for-brains?”

He had never asked for her help, but claiming it had not helped would have been nothing but prideful lying.

“Of course, I’ll thank you for helping things proceed smoothly.”

“I accept your thanks.”

“But the alliance is something I need to think about further.”

“It seems my sincerity did not reach you during that defense.”

“I don’t believe in anything like that.”

“Yes, I know. People like you need proof, don’t they?”

She flicked a finger as if she had been waiting for that.

At that moment, a clipboard took shape in midair and came to rest before the refreshment table.

“What is this?”

“You can see the date here, can’t you? One hundred and fifty years ago.”

“Yes.”

“It was the day the Grand Council was held under First Blancaros’s leadership, after the First Dragon-Demon War—the day before she was designated an evil dragon on the grounds that her nature was evil. This is what Lady Iorga proposed the very next day.”

The document began as follows.

-Project: Hestia

Hestia was the name of an ancient mythological goddess known for guarding the fire.

The confidentiality level was marked Highest, and the execution priority was marked Top Priority.

Ferda looked over the contents.

The outline stated that Iorga was researching how to remove Godwin’s madness from Valdrova’s body, and that the research was still underway.

He skimmed the dates that followed, then closed it.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Simply that Lady Iorga’s intention was not to use Lady Valdrova as a shield.”

“Why should we interpret it that way? We could just conclude that Lady Iorga began it because she had sensed a threat from Godwin from the very beginning.”

“I brought something else because I knew you would think that.”

Setting the document aside, she took out a heavy object.

It was a crystal orb.

“This is a recording of the proposal. It will prove that Lady Iorga intended to protect Lady Valdrova.”

If it was a voice recording, that changed things.

More importantly, since this internal material had not been made to be shown to outsiders, their true feelings would be clearer.

Ferda nodded.

He infused the crystal orb with mana, and it recreated the scene from that time.

-Lady Iorga, is this proposal what I think it is?

It was Erika’s voice.

Someone answered that voice.

-Yes.

It was very brief, but Ferda knew that this was the voice of Iorga, the Blue Dragon.

Even though it was merely a recording, it resonated with such profound mana that he could feel its depth.

-I object.

The opposing voice was Erika’s again.

Of all the voices he could hear, hers was the most vehement in opposition.

-We don’t have a single reason to help that damned lizard!

“Ahem!”

Erika paused the crystal orb’s playback with a forced cough.

She tried to explain the situation calmly, but her voice came out flustered.

“Many of our Spawns had died at the time, so I was emotional. Please take that into consideration.”

“I will.”

He did not like what she was saying, but one thing was certain.

The contents of the crystal orb were completely raw and unedited.

-No. We have to help her. She has done nothing to deserve being called an evil dragon. Her rampage was caused by Godwin’s influence.

-Then shouldn’t we kill her? If she has become unstable, shouldn’t we?

-We can’t kill her. Godwin is already dead, and Silverwind is dead too. There must be no further sacrifices.

-I don’t understand, Lady Iorga. Don’t you hate Valdrova more than anyone? You’re saying we should help our enemy?

-I do hate her. But only because she’s stupid, not because her nature is evil or anything. We can’t kill her.

Ferda could feel it.

Iorga understood Valdrova.

And she was worried about Valdrova.

-But what if a second Godwin is born? What if that is what awaits us in the future?

-That won’t happen. She’ll keep resisting and enduring her unstable state.

The research had truly been intended to help Valdrova.

-She’s so stupid she can manage even that much.

But then the insults began.

-She’s good at fighting, but she’s dull and not very bright. She knows so little that her head is practically a flower garden,

“Ahem!”

-And despite all that, she’s timid, easily hurt, and can’t even assert herself properly,

“Ahem-ahem!”

-That so-called embodiment of power doesn’t even have a single Spawn under her and insists on carrying everything alone. It’s no different from attaching wings to a single red lizard and watching it flail through the air because it can’t think—.

“Cough! Coughhh! Cough-cough!”

Erika coughed as though choking, then finally stopped the recording.

“……”

Erika’s forehead was damp with cold sweat.

Only then did Erika remember.

She remembered what conversation had followed after that.

So she politely asked Ferda,

“Um…… would it be all right if we skipped ahead about ten minutes?”