IMTDIK 53

Chapter 53: A Precedent That Cannot Be Allowed

The meeting, where only dukes and those of higher rank gathered, came to an end. Ferda left the assembly hall, following the other nobles.

“Regent.”

Jad and Arwen, who had been waiting for him, approached. Jad studied Ferda’s face and asked,

“Did someone insult you inside? You look like you’re about to kill someone.”

“An insult? Yes, I was insulted.”

Ferda had to endure hearing Valdrova being called an evil dragon. For a man who became an archmage out of revenge, it wasn’t easy to ignore such emotions. It was better not to get involved in such talk at all. Ferda changed the subject.

“Where is Ruri?”

“Ruri… That’s a good question. Where did she go?”

“She said she had something to do before the meeting ended and left. But I don’t know where she went.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m sorry. I should have kept track of her movements…”

“It’s fine. She’s not an easy woman to follow.”

Ferda didn’t press further. He already knew where she had gone. As she had mentioned earlier, she must have gone to talk to Silverwind.

‘Talk, huh.’ Ferda recalled the look in Koz Silverwind’s eyes when this topic was brought up. He was barely holding back his anger with poor self-control. If Ferda had spoken to Silverwind back then, they might have ended up in a fistfight. If they weren’t in the neutral zone of Blancaros, it could have been even worse.

‘I wonder how that conversation will go.’

Just as Ferda was thinking that—

“Ferda Valdrova, Regent?”

A man, white like the pure space around him, approached. His posture was disciplined, fitting for the trusted aide of the absolute ruler of the neutral zone. He was the Hand of Blancaros.

“My master wishes to see you. Would you be willing to accompany me?”

“In private?”

“Yes. He wants to discuss the proposal from earlier.”

This was unusual. For the sake of neutrality, Blancaros never invited humans for private meetings.

‘But this situation calls for it.’ Blancaros had ignored neutrality and passed the proposal, so additional discussions with the proposer were necessary. Ferda had endured that unfairness precisely for this moment.

“Understood.”

“Please follow me. This way.”

Ferda walked behind the guide.

Blancaros’ audience chamber was not what one would expect from a dragon’s lair. Dragons preferred places that were grand and enormous, so exquisite and majestic that even emperors couldn’t compare. The Grand Assembly Hall certainly matched that image.

But Blancaros’ chamber was different. It felt… human. It was neither unnecessarily large nor excessively splendid. It was small and practical, like a young lord’s office.

“Come in.”

Blancaros greeted him with his own voice, seated behind a marble desk. Ferda halted mid-step. Because Blancaros was not alone. A presence shone blue in the white space. Erika Iorga. She was sitting in one of the seats. Her fierce eyes locked onto Ferda. At the sight of him, her expression became even more displeased.

Jad and Arwen, standing behind Ferda, began sweating nervously.

“Why is she glaring at you like that? Did you do something wrong?”

Ferda shrugged.

“Me? Doing something wrong? Impossible.”

“That seems unlikely…”

Ferda ignored him and walked forward. Without acknowledging Erika, he politely greeted Blancaros.

“Lord Blancaros, thank you for inviting me. However…”

Ferda glanced sideways at Erika.

“I have nothing to say to this woman. May I leave?”

“Pfft…!”

“Ahem!”

Jad and Arwen barely held back their laughter. Even though she was a dragon spawn, Erika was of high status, almost equal to a dragon. Yet Ferda had just called her ‘this woman.’ It was something only a man tired of living would say.

“Hmmm…”

“What? ‘This woman’…?”

Blancaros sighed, as if he had expected this. Erika looked at Ferda in disbelief. But she held back. This meeting was meant for discussion. And in this space, violence was not allowed. Erika forced a smile.

“It’s been a while, Regent Ferda. Let’s talk with our actual voices instead of through messages.”

“As you wish.”

Ferda covered his ears. Erika’s smile instantly vanished.

“Are you really going to act so childish?”

“It’s fair. You insulted my fiancée and expected kind words from me? How would you feel if I called you a water lizard, Lady Iorga?”

“Gasp.”

“Ahem…”

Jad and Arwen struggled to keep straight faces. They desperately wanted to escape from this situation. Erika clenched her lips and took a deep breath. She was holding back.

“Let’s consider this event. I’ll formally apologize for my harsh words. But I had my reasons.”

Ferda removed his hands from his ears. If she was willing to apologize, it meant she was serious about talking.

“Let’s dismiss the attendants and have a conversation between us higher-ups.”

“Agreed. Both of you, leave.”

“Yes, sir!”

Jad and Arwen immediately left at full speed. Only three people remained in the white space.

“Since emotions are running high, I’ll get straight to the point. I support King Valdrova.”

“That’s a very trustworthy statement.”

Ferda sneered at those words.

“Iorga is trying to control Lord Valdrova. But the key leaders always highly appreciate Lord Valdrova’s contributions.”

Yeah, right.

“You don’t believe me. I stood on the very frontlines of that war. I saw and felt everything with my own eyes. His image is still vivid in my mind.”

The fine hairs on her arm stood up.

“He was the only one who stopped Godwin at the moment he tried to take this continent down with him…”

Blancaros closed his eyes silently. He had also been there in that battle.

Erika continued speaking.

“Dealing the final blow to Godwin, who tried to destroy everything, whether evil dragons or guardian dragons, was incredibly risky. Every dragon knew it. And they hesitated. But Lord Valdrova threw himself into it without hesitation. It was like a black mass being pierced by a red spear. Of course… The end of that battle led to another tragedy. But even so, he did not deserve to be called an evil dragon.”

“I’ve seen how you mock and tear him down as if you can’t wait to destroy him. And now you expect me to believe this?”

“That’s why I’m apologizing for the insults. But it had to be done.”

“You had to disgrace him? Does that even make sense?”

“If I hadn’t mocked and dismissed those claims, it would have been dangerous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Silverwind.”

Another dragon faction. Ferda thought of Silverwind, a group that hadn’t spoken a single word yet.

“If I hadn’t stepped up, Silverwind would have. Those fools with nothing but ice in their heads would have ruined this meeting. Before you could even declare your conquest of the Far East, they would have demanded a war between dragons.”

“You’re telling me you mocked and challenged everything only to protect me?”

Erika hesitated, as if unsure whether to say more.

“It wasn’t just for you, Regent Ferda. If, as you said, it wasn’t his nature but Godwin’s corruption that drove him mad…”

For a moment, Ferda saw the look of a wounded beast in Erika’s eyes.

“Then the precedent of a perfect being becoming unstable is far more dangerous than you can imagine. Enough to shake the entire continent.”

Ferda understood. Why they had been so hostile toward Valdrova. And why Blancaros had unilaterally ended things. Ferda summed up his understanding in one sentence.

“So, Lord Iorga has the same symptoms?”

Erika nodded with a pained expression.

“At first, it was just a slight sense of unease. Many dragon spawns suffered aftereffects from the battle against Godwin. But over the past thirty years, Lord Iorga couldn’t withstand the pain anymore. He’s becoming unstable.”

“So what’s his condition now?”

“He’s in hibernation. He chose not to move until a solution is found.”

That meant Iorga, the pillar of magic, was absent. Ferda suddenly wondered.

“What about Lord Odograsado?”

“We don’t know for sure. He has no spawns, and he is his own faith. He wouldn’t reveal his weakness to anyone.”

Those armed with faith would naturally believe themselves to be whole. That made everything fit. This wasn’t just Valdrova’s problem.

‘It’s a crisis that could shake dragon society.’

Seeing that Ferda seemed to accept the situation somewhat, Erika lowered her voice and calmly explained.

“If people start believing that Valdrova wasn’t truly an evil dragon, but was only corrupted by Godwin, it will put everyone at risk. Valdrova’s position will be threatened, and so will others. Chaos-bringers like the Azure Dragons and the War Dragons will use it as an opportunity. That’s why we need time until we find a cure.”

“Is that so?”

Ferda stood up as if he had heard enough.

“Then that means you’re just a coward.”

“A coward…?”

Erika was about to explode in anger. But only for a moment. As soon as she saw Ferda’s eyes, she was overwhelmed.

“What will you do when the end comes?” He asked.

“What do you mean by ‘the end’?”

“When you keep hiding and hiding, but eventually, it all gets exposed. When you reach the point of no return, what will you do then?”

“That is…”

“You’d probably sell even my fiancée’s life just to keep your secrets safe.”

“Do you really think I would do something so shameless!?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Erika couldn’t answer. She couldn’t say yes, but she couldn’t deny it either. She just clenched her fists tightly, unable to speak.

“This conversation is over. Can I leave now?” Ferda asked Blancaros.

Nothing had been resolved, but there was nothing that could be solved immediately either.

“…Go ahead.”

With Blancaros’s permission, Ferda walked away. Erika stood there, frozen. She could do nothing. To think she, the leader of the dragon spawns, had been completely overwhelmed by a human. It was pathetic. But if the same situation happened again, she was sure she would freeze just like this.

Ferda’s eyes, filled with disgust. In them, she saw a glimpse of her distant future.

Serdes Human Magic Academy. The office of the academy head.

But instead of an arrogant young woman, a strong-built man sat in the chair.

“Ughhhh…”

The man groaned like a ghoul crawling out of hell as he moved his pen. For four days, he had worked non-stop on the documents left by the academy head, Erdes.

“Ughhh… huh?”

Suddenly, a round spark began to flicker before him. He knew exactly whose magic it was. Normally, he would have stood up to greet her, but Lu had no energy left.

“Blue! I’m back!”

The cheerful voice belonged to Erdes.

“You’re back already?”

“As soon as the meeting ended, I left right away. But it wasn’t fun without me, you know?”

“You don’t look like someone who just attended a serious meeting…”

Instead of a scholar returning from an important discussion, she looked like a tourist.

“You’re so uptight. I just did a little sightseeing after the meeting, okay?”

“…I see.”

Lu signed and stamped the last document before collapsing onto the desk.

“Did you finish all the work?”

“The backlog is cleared.”

“See? Isn’t it great when work is well-distributed? I relax, and you do all the work. Perfect balance.”

“…Something feels wrong about this balance.”

“Besides, I bought some special honey bread on my way back! Isn’t that amazing?” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

Fine, at least he could have a good snack. Lu opened the box she handed him.

“…It’s empty.”

“Oh? Ah, I must have eaten them all because they were too good. Sorry! But you can throw the box away nicely, okay?”

Lu made a firm decision.

“I quit. I’m resigning.”

“Oh no, you can’t. You still have to serve me for another thousand years. No objections.”

“…Damn it.”

Lu pretended to sob in despair.

“So… what do you think?”

“About what?”

“You went to see that man, Ferda Valdrova, didn’t you?”

“That man? Hmm…” She tapped her chin, tilting her head.

“He was… interesting.”

“Interesting?” Lu’s eyes widened. “The greatest human mage of our time found him interesting?”

“Well, he had a Red Circle.”

“A Red Circle!”

“And… he also learned black magic. I could smell it all over him.”

“B-Black magic!?” Lu’s face turned pale. Not because of the black magic itself.

“Is he… still alive?”

“Of course. Do I look like some mindless killer?”

“If you didn’t even touch him… that means he really is special.”

“I couldn’t afford to. He’s the mad dragon’s husband. Do you know what would happen if I messed with him?”

Erdes frowned slightly. Then she suddenly asked.

“Blue, how would you feel if your parents suddenly disappeared?”

“…I guess I’d be angry?”

“Just angry? Wouldn’t you feel sorrow too?”

“Well… yeah.”

Erdes snapped her fingers.

“Exactly. Humans are overwhelmed by emotions, unable to separate them. You can’t create a Red Circle unless your scale of emotions is completely shattered.”

“…So how did Ferda get one?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” She grinned.

“Don’t you smell something fishy?”