Utterly Ordinary

Stefan asked with an expression like he had just been struck hard in the back of the head.

……Pardon?

Ferda repeated himself without a hint of hesitation.

“I said you would be useless.”

“W-what do you mean? To say that I’m useless now….”

“I spoke with Ahmad Hashim alone. He proposed a partnership.”

Stefan understood the significance of that upon hearing it.

“A partnership… You really landed a huge deal….”

It was a proposal on a scale incomparable to the simple cooperative relationship between Stefan and Ferda.

They had offered Ferda an equal position in the southern city where the greatest concentration of wealth would gather—a city that had not even been built yet.

Unless they were insane, it was a proposal favorable to Ferda, since the south could only lose.

“Did you… accept the proposal?”

Stefan asked, forcing his trembling voice to steady.

“If I accepted that proposal, there would be no reason for me to maintain a relationship with you.”

What filled Stefan’s chest was a sense of betrayal.

Naturally.

Stefan had made aggressive investments after being captivated by Ferda’s words.

He burst out indignantly.

“Didn’t we sign a contract? I have the exclusive rights to the magitech products, and you even signed it. If we took this to court, it would put you at a disadvantage, Regent.”

“Yes. Even if you won, all you would have to do is pay a small amount in damages. No, wouldn’t you be lucky if you could even recover that pittance?”

“On what basis can you say that?”

“Because you are also failing to fulfill the contract.”

Stefan was startled by those words.

“When did I betray you? Are you talking about the part I just explained?”

Stefan went over his explanations again in his mind.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no clause he had intended to exploit.

No, there had been one, but it was not particularly significant.

It was a fair relationship commonly formed between merchants and lords, with the proposal merely leaning in the lord’s favor.

“Do you remember what I said when I brought you in?”

Ferda said.

“I said that I would cooperate with you as much as you cooperated with me. And I said I would make you the owner of a trading company.”

“That’s right.”

Stefan also recalled those words and nodded.

“Yes. That was what you promised. But there’s no longer any need for that. The Pascal Trading Company is no longer necessary.”

“How much is the Pascal Trading Company worth?”

“It has enough influence that it would not be an exaggeration to say that half of all goods in the Empire pass through it.”

“Yes, that kind of company. A company that wields influence in the Empire.”

Ferda grew even colder upon hearing that.

“And you said, in your own words, that you were going to give up such a company.”

“A company like that can be built as many times as necessary. We’re pioneers in magitech, and as long as we don’t neglect our research—.”

“Stefan.”

Ferda cut him off.

“Yes, Regent.”

Ferda took three grapes from the fruit basket and placed them on the table.

“How many grapes are here?”

“Three.”

“Yes, three. One for me, one for Mr. Vernel, and one for you.”

Ferda pointed to the grape representing himself.

“I promised to build connections for you. And I am still working to build those connections.”

“That’s right.”

This time, he pointed to the grape representing Vernel.

“And Vernel is serving as a storehouse of ideas, creating fresh products for you through research and development. He successfully finished today’s work, and he will continue working hard tomorrow.”

“That’s right.”

“And finally, there’s you.”

He placed a finger on Stefan’s grape and rolled it across the table.

“You are supposed to provide the money and supply the goods. In this system, each of us has a role, and we need to keep it turning.”

“That’s right….”

“And you are trying to give up the greatest company on the continent. Do you know what that means?”

Ferda pressed his finger down on Stefan’s grape.

“It means you are nothing more than one of the commonest of common merchants.”

The soft grape could not withstand the pressure of his finger and burst.

“Giving up what you already had and compromising makes you a merchant this Grand Duchy does not need.”

Stefan stared silently down at the burst grape.

Ferda’s finger was stained with red juice.

He wondered whether he, like that grape, would be crushed and die like a worm.

“Then… what am I supposed to do?”

“I’m not asking for anything difficult. Fulfill the contract. Become the owner of the Pascal Trading Company. That is what you must do.”

Stefan’s head spun.

Again.

The pressure he had felt at his father’s estate.

Now Ferda was the one applying it.

“Does it really have to come to bloodshed?”

For Stefan to become the owner of Pascal, he had to throw himself into the power struggle.

His older brother, Meurchit, who ran a mercenary business.

His younger sister, Tilda, who was trying to expand the family through a political marriage with another major trading company.

And his father, Herman Pascal.

To become the owner, he had to either persuade or defeat all of them.

Stefan did not want to do that.

A fight between family members.

Did he really have to draw his own sword in this pit where people pointed blades at one another and fought until one side died?

“Whether you fight or not isn’t for me to decide.”

Ferda answered coldly.

“I simply want you to prove that you are an indispensable talent to the Valdrova Grand Duchy.”

* * *

Despite a minor commotion, the exhibition ended successfully without a single fatality.

An auction was held afterward in Halim, but nothing in particular caught Ferda’s eye.

At least one sword looked decent, so he bought it and gave it to Malcolm to encourage him.

‘I almost took it back when he started sobbing as soon as he received it.’

Despite taking the knight’s examination in the Empire and earning the position of a knight, he was far too inadequate to be called one.

‘Then again, that’s why I need him.’

There was no need to decide what to do with him until his value as a sample declined.

Regardless, the matter in Halim had come to an end.

After the auction, the scholars began packing up as they brought the exhibition to a close.

Some were satisfied, while others had lost everything and let out sighs.

Vernel did not let the circumstances sway him.

Inside the carriage, he was reviewing the magitech rifle’s designs as if every second were precious.

Perhaps several ideas had occurred to him while applying it in actual combat, because he was racking his brain as intensely as he had while preparing for the exhibition.

Just as they were preparing to leave Halim, Ferda felt a dazzling glare reflected by the sunlight.

Bernard Wayne, the president of Escolleia, was approaching.

“Did you enjoy the exhibition?”

“Yes. There was an incident, but overall, I was satisfied.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m looking for Mr. Vernel. Do you happen to know where he is?”

Ferda gave a slight nod toward the carriage.

“If you don’t mind, may I speak with Mr. Vernel?”

Ferda looked into Bernard’s eyes.

He felt a faint trace of guilt over having provoked him.

‘Is he planning to apologize?’

After driving him into a state of anger and passion, would Bernard really pour cold water over it?

Ferda did not want that.

‘Still, didn’t he have a new driving force?’

The successful presentation had become a new driving force for him.

Ferda decided that Bernard’s anger was no longer necessary and stepped aside.

Bernard entered the carriage and called out to him.

“Mr. Vernel.”

Vernel glanced at him, then turned his head away again.

“There’s no need for you to say anything.”

“There’s something I want to tell you. I—.”

“I already know. I know what you intended when you said those things, President.”

Bernard’s mouth fell shut.

“How did you know?”

“I’m a scholar too, aren’t I? I once attended your classes. Everyone knows that you’re strict with geniuses. So you must have been the same with me.”

……

Vernel raised his head and looked up at the ceiling.

He thought of the past, but there was no pain.

“Back then… I was very angry. I was disappointed, and I felt betrayed. But I don’t feel that way anymore. Because you were right.”

The wonder Vernel had felt long ago lingered in his voice and eyes.

“As you said, I was a narrow-minded person. I focused on the one percent and failed to see the ten percent. Because you gave me this opportunity, I was able to broaden my perspective.”

……

“So… next time, I’ll bring something groundbreaking that will leave you no choice but to acknowledge it.”

Vernel said with a smile.

“The light of truth.”

Bernard, the president, was inwardly startled.

It was a phrase every Escolleia Academy cadet knew.

Bernard smiled as well and recited the response.

“Shall set you free.”

A subtle feeling still remained between them, but the deep gulf of hatred was gone.

Bernard patted Vernel on the shoulder.

“Use your ideals to turn heaven and earth upside down.”

“When I reach the end, I’ll treat you to a cup of tea.”

Bernard never apologized in the end.

And Vernel had not wanted an apology.

They were people who pursued ideals and advanced toward truth.

Having confirmed that they were united by a single belief in truth, they walked their own paths.

“We’re departing!”

Malcolm, at the head of the procession, blew his horn, and the carriage began to move.

It was time to return to the castle.

It had taken ten days to get here.

It would take another ten days to return.

As that tedious time stretched on, Ferda’s longing for Valdrova swelled within his heart.

‘My heart, what are you doing?’

With that unanswered question hanging in the air, the carriage rolled on endlessly.

* * *

A dragon’s daily life is closely connected to the nest it possesses—in other words, its lair.

Thus, displaying its power and authority was a given, and dragons built structures that highlighted their individual traits.

In that regard, Valdrova was different from other dragons.

Valdrova’s lair was both a refuge and something akin to an underground prison.

Originally, it had been a cave filled with damp, cold wind.

But after she settled there, it became a place where dry, warm wind blew.

Valdrova, coiled up and lying there, thought,

‘I’m bored.’

Although she was an immortal who had lived for a long time, the moment she became aware of each passing day, boredom enveloped her entire body.

The only reason she had been able to live for so long in such a dark place was Luri.

‘And I never had anything to think about.’

The anxiety that she might suffer from bloodlust at any moment had left her no room for boredom.

She only began to feel bored after realizing that she no longer had to suffer from bloodlust.

Whenever she thought it might hurt a little, Ferda stepped in to help her.

Whenever that happened, they always had a brief conversation.

-I pay my respects to Grand Duchess Valdrova.

-Ah, hello!

-Let’s begin.

-Yes, yes!

‘No, this wasn’t even a conversation….’

It was too one-sided to be called a conversation.

Ferda did all the talking, while Valdrova merely nodded or shook her head.

It couldn’t be helped.

Her daily routine consisted of going outside and killing monsters.

What would happen if she used that as a conversation topic?

-I went out and killed monsters today.

-Is that so?

-One of them wouldn’t die even when I tore it apart with my claws, so I set a big fire inside its guts.

-Ah….

-There were monster parasites hiding inside too, and they burned up nicely, wriggling as they did.

-Yes….

‘He’ll definitely be put off.’

Ferda’s expression appeared in Valdrova’s mind unbidden.

She imagined him looking at her as if to say, Is this really my fiancée? The thought tormented Valdrova.

‘Though I had resolved to change….’

She reproached herself again and again for having nothing to say beyond hello, goodbye, and exclamations of surprise.

Her suffering from bloodlust had eased, but another kind of suffering took its place.

‘Should I ask them to send Mr. Ferda to me….’

Could she talk with him this time if she decided on a topic beforehand?

Of course, she had already thought that eight times, but nothing had changed.

The reason was simple.

‘Because there’s nothing to talk about.’

Just as a sprout could not grow from ground that had never been sown, it was only natural that there was no conversation when there was no topic to discuss in the first place.

Besides, she realized too late that there was no need for that today.

‘Mr. Ferda said he went to a place called Halim….’

She guessed that it was an unpleasant place, whatever it was.

Luri’s expression had soured and she had sighed whenever she uttered the word Halim.

Valdrova roughly imagined that it must be somewhere like a battlefield.

‘And he’s had more work lately.’

She also knew that he had formed an alliance with Iorga.

‘Iorga….’

Valdrova found that name uncomfortable.

The Blue Dragon, Iorga.

Iorga especially disliked Valdrova.

Whenever Valdrova said anything, Iorga would frown, point out her faults, and try to crush her spirit.

Valdrova knew that Iorga harbored no malice toward her.

But that was separate from the fact that she found her difficult to deal with.

‘Iorga… must be doing well.’

It had been a long time since she had last seen her, so her face had grown hazy in Valdrova’s memory, but she remembered her form.

She was intelligent, beautiful, and a guardian dragon respected by many.

She was a woman who would be met with envy rather than fear in any village.

-A village….

The next thought followed the stream of consciousness.

‘Come to think of it… it has been a long time since I saw a human village too.’

The stream of thought ended in curiosity.

How many hundreds of years had it been since she had last visited a human village?

What did they look like these days?

Would they look like what she had last seen, or had they changed a great deal?

That curiosity touched Valdrova’s body of its own accord.

Her body gradually shrank, eventually becoming that of a woman.

“I want to go see it….”

She muttered while absently fiddling with her skirt.

If she had to go outside, she would have to take human form.

Valdrova did not want to meet anyone in her dragon form.

‘People would be afraid of me in my dragon form….’

But she could not go out in human form, either.

‘I’m frightening to myself in human form….’

It was a dilemma in which neither side could be resolved.

Valdrova quietly turned her head.

There was armor resting against the wall.

‘If I wore that armor, perhaps….’

Wouldn’t that be all right?

She had worn that armor when meeting Ferda, so she had grown accustomed to it.

Her eye level would also be slightly higher, so she did not think she would feel uncomfortable.

“But isn’t this a little frightening….”

It was large and muscular, making it imposing.

Above all, it was armor sculpted in her own image, so its head resembled her dragon form.

Her threatening appearance that made everyone tremble.

“Couldn’t it… take a less threatening form….”

Valdrova muttered as if lamenting.

That was when it happened.

The armor twitched as though it had heard her mutter.

“Huh?”

Sssrrrk—.

The intimidating dragon-head shape began to blur.

It was not only the dragon head.

Every element created to convey the majesty of a dragon began to disappear.

While she flailed about, wondering what had gone wrong, the armor transformed into a new form.

“Ah…!”

Valdrova exclaimed in admiration.

The final result was something familiar to her eyes.

“Ordinary.”

It was a plain, somewhat dirtied half-plate armor, neither flashy nor ornate.

It was ordinary enough that even ordinary people would take it for a common knight’s armor.

“Ordinary….”

Valdrova’s golden eyes sparkled.

To her, ordinary was a precious thing that could not be bought even with gold and silver treasures.

As if entranced, she slipped her body into it.

It was time to break out of the egg.