Chapter 59: A Life Like a Beggar
“First,” Ferda spoke, his voice echoing in the damp underground space, “I must thank you.”
“ā¦ā¦”
“If you hadnāt attacked that day, I would have had to watch Chancellor Bernard for days. That would have been a waste of time.”
“If youāre that gratefulā¦ can you untie me?”
“No. Iām thankful, but Iām not stupid.”
Ferda pulled a chair and placed it in front of him.
“Your transformation skill is quite impressive. Itās not like using magic to disguise or trick the mind. Itās not like those Doppelgangers who just copy things poorly.”
“If you like it so much, I can become you, too.” The man chuckled, making a joke.
“Can I also become myself?” Ferda grabbed onto the joke.
“As long as thereās blood.”
Ferda pulled out a clean dagger and cut his own arm. Bright red blood dripped down.
“Try it.”
“ā¦ā¦”
The man caught the dripping blood and swallowed it. As a large amount of blood entered his body, Headmaster Bernardās face began to change. Now, he looked exactly like Ferda: gray hair, blue eyes, a weak body that had once dreamed of being a knight but never could. His body was bruised, his teeth brokenābut it was Ferdaās face.
“So, you canāt heal wounds. You donāt have that monster-like healing ability?”
“My job is to become human. No human has such healing powers, right?”
“How thorough.”
He had deliberately removed all the demon-like enhancements and focused only on copying humans.
Ferda stared at him. The man, now wearing Ferdaās face, suddenly laughed.
“Ferda Valdrova. I always thought you were crazy, but youāre even worse than I imagined.”
“What do you mean?” Ferda tilted his head.
“Youāre looking at yourselfāa broken, ruined version of yourself. But youāre watching without a hint of fear.”
“Iām not enjoying it.”
“But your eyes havenāt wavered even once.”
The man was right. Ferda wasnāt looking away. He was calmly observing his broken self.
“Youā¦ were cast out from the Rosnova family, right?”
“ā¦ā¦”
“I can feel how hard you tried. Your body has no muscles, but I can tell. You trained until your bones broke and your hands bled, didnāt you?”
“ā¦ā¦”
“But your father didnāt recognize that.”
“Yes, and thatās how I got my engagement.”
“No. That was just an excuse to throw you out. You know that, donāt you?”
The man, wearing Ferdaās face, smirked.
“You had no talent, so they abandoned you. Just like me. We were both discarded like trash.”
His eyes were filled with something familiarārevenge. The same emotion, but for different people. A man seeking revenge against a king who betrayed him. A son seeking revenge against a father who abandoned him. Ferda understood that rage deeply.
“Yes, I was abandoned.” Ferdaās face twisted in disgust.
“But you and I are different. Completely different.”
“How?”
“Our souls.” Ferda placed his hand on his chest. “My soul was always mine.”
His sharp gaze pierced the man in front of him. The man clenched his fists and shouted,
“I never sold my soul to anyone! This is the path I chose!”
“No. You sold your soul. You made yourself be judged by those trash and didnāt hesitate to make yourself cheap. With that, your thirst for revenge became nothing more than a worthless bargain.ā
“Does that even matter?! As long as I get my revenge, itās fine! Even if I destroy myself, as long as that bastard suffers more than hell, itās worth it!”
“No. Revenge is meaningless without your soul.”
Ferda reached into a pouch. “Even if it gets dirty, even if itās broken, revenge only means something when you keep your soul completely yours.”
He pulled out a small bottle. It had no label, no sign of what was inside. Seven bottles in total.
“So stop pretending you understand me just because you look like me.” He opened one bottle and walked closer. “Enjoy life a little.”
Holy City, Upper District ā Alchemy Workshop
The alchemist was busy cleaning up.
“May I enter?”
A familiar old voice spoke. The alchemist quickly bowed.
“Count Consillus! Of course, youāre always welcome.”
“Thank you for letting Regent Valdrova use your workshop.”
“No need to thank me, Count. How could I refuse your request?”
Count Consillus pretended to glance around before asking,
“By the way, do you know what kind of potion Regent Valdrova made?”
“Here is the list of ingredients he used.”
The alchemist, quick to notice things, handed over the notes. Count Consillus read them carefully. He was a knight and soldier, but he had some knowledge of alchemy. Basic things were easy for him to understand. Which was why his face twisted in confusion.
“This looks likeā¦ healing potion ingredients?”
“Yes, thatās correct.”
“He came all the way here just to make a simple healing potion? He could have just asked you to make it.”
“Thatās what I thought too.”
“You thought so too?” Count Consillus stopped mid-sigh. The alchemist hesitated.
“Well, that isā¦.”
“Speak freely. I wonāt be angry.”
āTo be honestā¦ Regent Valdrova’s alchemy skills wereā¦ not just poor, but awful.”
The disgust was clear in the alchemistās voice.
Consillus blinked. “Heās that bad?”
“Yes. Heās a complete beginnerāno, worse than a beginner. If one of my students had done that, I would have slapped them immediately.”
“Hmmā¦”
“Oh! I-Iām sorry! That was rude of meā¦!”
Count Consillus stroked his beard in thought before speaking again.
“I donāt think he was simply bad at it.”
“But the manufacturing and usage were completely off. A beginner wouldnāt even make those mistakesā¦”
“Tell me, what happens when the method is wrong?ā
“Wellā¦.” The alchemist looked through his notes and began reading.
“For example, he stirred the mixture too fast.”
“What does that do?”
“It reduces the effectiveness of the healing potion.”
“And anything else?”
“During the cooling process, he shook the pot. Shaking during the process reduces the healing effect.”
The alchemist kept listing mistakes. In just a short process, Ferda had made over twenty errors. But as the alchemist looked through them all, he finally realized something.
“Waitā¦ every mistakeā¦ reduces healing?”
It wasnāt random. It was all intentional.
“Ughhh!” The manās entire body tensed. His veins bulged. His broken teeth clenched so hard they shattered.
“Can you feel it?”
Ferda shook the empty bottle. Everything inside had gone into the manās body.
“Your body must feel like itās burning, right? Slowly, but so very, very hot.”
“Ughhhā¦! What did you do to me?!”
He couldnāt finish his words. But Ferda answered for him.
“A beggarās life.”
“W-What does that meanā¦?”
“Thatās the name I gave it. Itās the most painful life for those ready to die, like you. And what youāre feeling now is growing pain, as your nervesāonce dead from tortureācome back to life.”
“Grrrā¦!”
“Yes. This isnāt killing you. Itās saving you.”
“B-Bullshitā¦!” There was no way this was healing.
Ferda shook the empty potion bottle.
“Isnāt it amazing? The stronger a healing potion is, the faster and smoother it heals. Thatās why high-grade potions are always popular. They are well-refined, so you can drink them in battle without side effects.”
The man had once been a knight. He had fought in battles and knew well how good healing potions worked.
“But cheap healing potions are painful. They are slow and weak. And the one I made is the cheapest of the cheap. So if I press hereā¦”
Ferda pressed his bruised skin with his finger.
“AAARGH!” A scream burst out. The man had endured executionerās torture, but this time, he screamed.
Ferda picked up an item the executioner had left behind. A long, sharp object. It was a needle.
“How about this?”
CLANK! CLANK!
“No! STOP!!” The man lost control and started struggling.
“Iāll talk! Iāll tell you everything!”
“What will you tell me?”
“The reason youāre torturing me! Iāll tell you everything! Iāll tell you where our base is! Just stop! Please! PLEASE!!”
Five minutes. Thatās how long it took for him to break, after enduring the executionerās torture. It ended very quickly. Yes, he knew how to resist death, but he had never learned how to resist life.
“No.”
Instead of asking questions, Ferda tortured him further. He set down the empty bottle and picked up another one. It sloshed inside.
To the manās sensitive ears, it sounded like waves crashing in a storm.
“Sing a little longer. Feel the beggarās life you abandoned.”
A spiral staircase led down to the basement. There, the screams of a wicked man trapped in hell never ceased.
Three hours later, Ferda met with Count Consillus again in the drawing room.
“I learned some interesting things.”
“What did you find out?”
“They call themselves Dopplers.”
“Dopplers? Sounds like it comes from āDoppelganger.ā”
“Yes. They believe they are even better than Doppelgangers, so they call themselves Dopplers.”
“Hah, such arrogance. Truly demonic.” Count Consillus chuckled.
“I never imagined weād get information about demons.”
“It helped that they are more like humans. If they werenāt, my torture methods wouldnāt have worked.”
“Incredible. You created something we never even thought ofā¦”
Even the alchemist, who had worked in the castle for 30 years, was amazed. Ferda had ruined a healing potion in a way that was more difficult and precise than making a proper one. It was like an art.
“These Dopplersā¦ Bernard wasnāt the first, was he? Do you know when they started?”
“They started 10 years ago. The man I tortured was just promoted from Servant level to Knight level, so he didnāt know all the details.”
Demons had ranks. Servants were just human followersādisposable pawns. Knights were the ones who truly gained demonic power.
“If they started 10 years ago, they must have spread a lot.”
“They must be hidden not only in Escolaya but also in the Grand Council.”
“Thatās impossible! The Grand Council is under the protection of the great order of Blancaros. Thereās no way chaos could exist there!”
“But we already know what Bernard said in the Grand Council. Whether they are humans or Dopplers, demon followers exist among them.”
Count Consillus understood, but it was hard to accept.
“The Grand Council was meant to unite the continentā¦ But now, itās losing trust.”
The Grand Council was created to bring unity to the continent of Serdes. If people found out that a servant of the evil dragon Godwin was hiding in Blancarosās sacred territory, the entire continent would shake. It was too dangerous to use politically.
“What will you do?” Count Consillus asked Ferda. Perhaps Ferda would make the wisest decision in this situation.
“The best option is a preemptive strike.”
“Attacking first is a good strategy. But we need to know their base to strike them.”
“Of course.”
Realizing what Ferda meant, Count Consillusās eyes lit up.
“Did you find their base?”
“Not their base, but a key facility. The man I tortured was a security captain for their research lab. He knows its weaknesses.”
“Then we can attack immediately.” They now had the location. Everything was ready.
“But thereās one problem.”
“What is it?”
“That research lab is in Silverwindās territory.”
“Ahā¦” Count Consillus understood the situation.
“This is tricky. If we ask Silverwind for help, it would be easyā¦”
“But they wonāt help. And asking them would take too much time.”
“Thatās true. Giving them the information might be better, but even that is unpleasant.”
“If it was just about destroying them, we could collapse the mountain and be done with it.”
The target wasnāt a demon stronghold, but a research facility. It wasnāt an armyāinformation was the key. Inside, there would be details about Dopplers and the demonsā plans. Ferda made his decision.
“We need to strike silently, destroy it, and escape.”
A dangerous special operation that could spark a war.
Just as Ferda was finalizing his plan, Count Consillus suddenly spoke up.
“With all due respect, may I have this opportunity?”
“An opportunity?”
“Yes.”
Count Consillus knelt and placed a hand over his chest.
“As a knight who serves the empire and the great power of order, I wish to aid you.”
He was an old man with gray hair. But in his prime, he had been a respected knight of the empire. A man who had lost everything and voluntarily stepped down.
Ferda gladly accepted his request.
“We leave tomorrow. Prepare yourself.”
