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Chapter 23
I Want to See It Again
"What did you do last night?"
The one who threw that question was Jed.
The brown-haired man looked down at one spot with a dumbfounded face.
In his gaze, Ferda lying on the bed could be seen.
"Nothing happened."
Е̊ñu m̆á_
"Nothing happened my ass. Does a person with nothing wrong lie on a bed unable to move a muscle?"
Ferda was moving only his face as if he'd lost all strength below his neck.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda always made his rounds in the morning.
Since he showed his face without missing a single day, one could guess something had come up when Ferda suddenly didn't appear.
And just as Jed guessed, Ferda was lying on the bed unable to move.
"If there's nothing, there's nothing."
E n̈um̂ а.i d̃
"Sure, whatever you say."
Since he kept denying it to the end, Jed couldn't press further.
'No need to tell that story unnecessarily.'
He got hit by the blocking valet, nearly got killed by his fiancée, then nearly really died because he poured all his mana into that fiancée.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
If he'd told that story in simple noble society, it'd be summarized as the perfect story to get cursed at for being a retard.
So Ferda didn't tell it and savored it alone.
Wé b n ov̌ѐ l̀ Е ňü m а̃
'Truly a fierce night.'
The pain in his arm hadn't subsided yet, but he received a price commensurate with it.
'Dragon's Face.'
Usually a word referring to the king's face, but it was also literally a dragon's face.
Just as seeing the king's face once is the greatest honor for a tenant farmer, for Ferda too, seeing that Dragon's Face was the greatest honor.
'That's the last memory.'
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda recalled Valdrova's face in his last memory.
With that face as the last, Ferda's consciousness cut off, and when he came to, the bedroom ceiling was visible.
And Jed's face too.
That guy was still lingering around.
"One favor."
"What is it? Just say the word."
Ĕ ñ_ǔ m̊ а̇ .і́d
"Get your face out of my sight. It's ruining the mood."
"....."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He didn't want to cover the lingering aftertaste that hadn't faded with a pretty-faced man.
Jed moved his face away as told.
With a shit-eating grin that seemed to say 'Is he crazy?'.
"How's Vernel's research coming along?"
Ё ň ù m̄а . і̇d̃
"That? He says he doesn't have to do that tedious crap of cutting tendons and flesh anymore? He's doing well."
Jed attended to Vernel so he'd have no inconvenience in his research.
He'd done enough work to pride himself on pulling his weight.
"You sure?"
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"Probably sure."
"You know 'probably' and 'sure' can't exist in the same sentence, right?"
Е̇ ńǔ_m а
"I didn't let that Vernel hyung sleep properly. Figure a person goes crazy and gives up after three days without sleep, but he's stubborn as hell? He wants to sleep, but says research is necessary work so he can't half-ass it, cries and fusses but still sits there clutching his research, so it'll be sure."
"I see."
Though he suffered under Jed, Ferda wasn't particularly interested.
Originally all work is painful.
He just focused on the joy that they'd made a huge step in magitech.
"So how long do I have to lie here? Can't work today?"
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"Sounds about right. Give it a day and I'll recover on my own."
"Hmm... do I have to nurse you?"
A voice full of obvious annoyance.
"No, I want to be alone. Got things to think about."
"Those are the words I've been waiting for with bated breath. Ugh. I'm resting so don't look for me for two days."
"Fine."
W̃ éb̆n о̇ v̀ е l Е̇ nů m а
Jed clicked his tongue and withdrew.
Ferda lay on the bed and closed his eyes.
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Not to sleep again, but to recall the memory more vividly.
'Big harvest.'
Ferda immersed himself in recollection.
'Really a huge harvest.'
Е̊ ń ů m̃ a
The picture drawn around small, glossy lips.
Two pairs of black horns and red hair.
Embedded in two large eyes were golden cat-eyes.
They were moist and sparkling.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
That was the Red Dragon, Valdrova's polymorph form.
'Lots of unexpected parts.'
Е n̆ ü m ǎ
When Ferda first saw her, she appeared wearing armor.
And her height was at least 2 meters.
But actually she was a normal woman's height, about a head shorter than him.
'And... not a scary face either.'
Valdrova was the Phase of Power, so she had the most terrifying form among all dragons.
So she was a dragon so scary no one dared look down on her carelessly.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
They say when polymorphing, the impression changes according to the dragon's nature.
When still, an Iron Woman; a single enchanting rose.
An impression that if anyone grabs her carelessly, they'll be pricked by thorns and regret their arrogance.
'...That wasn't it.'
An un-kingly gentle face.
The eyes determine a woman's impression, but her eye corners drooped down like a puppy's.
W̄е b̈n̆ ov e̊l̇ Е n ŭ m̈ ă
A face that suited a childlike beaming smile more than a mature one.
'Suits her when you think of her anthropophobia and timid side.'
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Everything was an exception; a beauty where everything was as expected yet not.
Ferda thought, recalling her appearance.
'I want to see her again.'
Since developing the habit of remembering in detail, this was the first time feeling such emotion.
E̊n̄ umа̌
It's clearly imprinted in his head, yet a heart wanting to see it directly.
'I want to see her again.'
Ferda could now understand the feelings of men suffering from lovesickness.
Want to tear his hair out or run out right now.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"You seem to be having strange imaginings."
At that moment, a young valet's voice came out of nowhere.
Е̇ nù m̂ a .ĭd̃
"It would be best if you stopped immediately."
When he opened his eyes, a girl with silver eyes was looking down at Ferda.
Still a businesslike attitude and expression.
"How's your body?"
Ruri asked.
"Seems fine now."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Naturally it should be. Since I, no one else, treated you directly."
"Top-tier. Couldn't have been easy."
"It was harder than healing Master's wounds, but still doable.
Ruri frowned as she looked down.
Strangely, it felt quite different from the usual feeling of seeing Ferda.
"You could've died."
Ӗ ṅǔm̌ а
A worried tone.
"Mana circuit was running and you overloaded... an ordinary human would've stopped from the burning pain long before."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"To me it's nothing."
"I know. That you're the type who likes that sort of thing."
Ferda muttered something incomprehensible and continued.
"Thank you."
W ѐ b̈n о̀v̇ ӗl̄ E ńu m̌ ӑ
Sudden words of gratitude.
"What for?"
"This was the first time Master's screams stopped."
Expressionless face.
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"And the first time I saw you sleeping peacefully. That night, you did so much for Master."
But eyes with sadness seeping through.
Еǹ_uḿа̃ .ї d
"And I'm sorry."
Her eyes slowly lowered to Ferda's right arm.
"Because you lost your arm?"
"....."
She bit her lip and nodded.
A dragon spawn acknowledging her sin and apologizing to a human.
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"It's fine. I don't hold grudges or hate you over something like that."
"...You're okay even after getting hit that hard?"
"Originally a weak body. Happens often so don't worry. I'll be able to move enough."
"Can you move right now?"
"Probably when the time comes I'll move."
Still couldn't move anything except his face.
Е̌nū m̂а̃ . іd
"Didn't I always say? I think highly of your loyalty. Like a—."
"Like a dog?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Yeah."
Ruri nodded at those words.
"That's right. I'm a dog-like bitch."
"I didn't say it like that."
Е́nů mа̄
Ferda only then realized.
This definitely sounds like an insult.
"Anyway, you've done your best at what you can do. Didn't mess things up by forcing what you can't, right? That's enough."
"....."
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"I'm expressing gratitude to you for taking care of me until I can meet her."
"If you put it that way, thank you."
Е́ nüm̃ a
Ruri's expression brightened from before.
The heavy atmosphere also resolved considerably.
"So how's my fiancée's situation?"
"I was about to talk about that..."
Her face grew heavy again.
"For the time being, don't even think about meeting her."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda's face turned serious too.
"You said it was thanks to me and all that?"
"That's that, this is this."
Ruri returned as the firm little maid.
Ferda asked her the reason.
"What's the reason?"
Wе̊ b n оv ë l Е̌ n̊ um а̃
"The act of meeting is the problem."
"Act? Just because we held hands?"
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Holding hands wasn't something grand enough to be called an act.
"I mean giving mana."
"Is that something that could be a problem for your master?"
"If I must say, both are problems."
E̊ n̂ u.m̈ ā
Her eyes stared quietly at Ferda.
Ferda also recognized the seriousness and asked her.
"What happened to the Duke King?"
"After contacting you, she started making female sounds."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Question marks bloomed in his head.
"Female sounds?"
Ėn u m а̇. ǐ d
"The sound furthest from a king. The sound she hates second only to screams."
Ferda couldn't grasp what sound that was.
But he didn't try to find out either.
"What's my problem?"
"You squeezed out mana to the point of near-death to save Master."
"Yeah, as long as I don't die it's fine."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Result-based logic doesn't work. If you want to stand proudly as a fiancé, at least reach 4th Circle before speaking."
4th Circle.
The stage called the true beginning of a mage.
Ferda wondered why she drew the line so sharply.
So he briefly calculated the mana he'd poured out from sensory memory.
'Mana amount is exactly around 4th Circle.'
W е bn о_v̆еl̃ Е n̂ u m̊ а
An impossible amount without the Red Circle.
And a mana recovery speed that would've been truly impossible if the Red Circle hadn't spun rapidly.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
If everything had been off by even one beat, Ferda would've become a corpse or a cripple.
'But it's also something possible because it's me.'
Enduring and squeezing out that rough flow was possible because he was a mage who'd reached 9th Circle.
'But because I squeezed like this, I won't be able to spin the Red Circle properly for a while.'
Ě n ü m а̊
By Ferda's estimation, he'd need about a month to return to original condition.
"As the future consort, you need to start caring for your body. Don't take unnecessary risks."
Ruri's hand smoothed the blanket wrinkles and covered him warmly up to his neck.
Service she'd never done once until now.
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"And today you just rest without thinking. If you need anything I'll come, so just call. Understand?"
"Yeah, got it."
Е̄ n u m а̄
Ferda nodded obediently.
"And congratulations."
"What for?"
"Didn't you reach 3rd Circle?"
"?"
Ferda couldn't understand what that meant.
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At least until he focused on his danjeon.
'...What?'
As she said, three circles were spinning inside Ferda's body.
He had reached 3rd Circle.
* * *
The next day, Ferda confirmed his body moved and returned to his office to talk with Vernel.
Ѐn̆u m а̃ .і̀ d
"Heard you made great progress in research, congratulations."
"Ah, no. It's barely the starting level..."
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"A month and a half? Really showing breakthrough progress speed."
"Th-that's true."
Vernel answered in a trembling voice.
It truly was breakthrough speed.
E nǔ ṁ ӓ
The past month and a half held more meaning than the 7 years he'd researched until now.
'Equipment's better, environment's better, specimens are better too but...'
Above all, the pressure driving him was biggest.
'Am I the type who gets stronger when cornered?'
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Since the person wouldn't let him sleep, felt like he'd go crazy.
But that wasn't all bad - he could identify blind spots he hadn't confirmed before, and reinforce weaknesses.
Е̃n u.mа̇. і̌d̈
Through work only a crazy person could do, hypotheses became solid enough to become experiments.
"From now on I don't need live specimens, but instead I need lots of monster corpses..."
"Monster corpses?"
Like finding sand in the desert, trees in the forest.
The Far East is crawling with monsters.
"The Duke King is active on the front lines, can't we just get the ones coming from there?"
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"Heard you're catching house-sized things. For me to research those... lots of problems. Too big..."
"Then why don't you get huge? Use a gigantification spell, Echidna could probably use it..."
"Ah, it's not a gigantification problem. Biggest problem is if such corpses stay in the East long, erosion happens and it could become black land like the Far East. Don't want to go that far. Plus things that big might have different structures."
"Different structures?"
"Yes. Since they grow eating junk mana, there's the hardness of formed materials? If it gets too hard and dense and compressed and crystallizes, it becomes unusable for research instead."
At the vibe of a technical explanation starting, Ferda grasped just the context and cut the story short.
Ѐñ ū.ḿ ǎ. i d̃
"I get the gist. So we need to start with small things to go step by step?"
"Yes. What I'm researching now is mainly things similar to or smaller than what the Regent caught. Since that's widely known and easier to get if we need more..."
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"So roughly how many hundreds of monsters needed?"
"That's..."
Vernel checking the mood carefully.
"At minimum 1,000... seems like we'd need to exceed that..."
Ѐ n̆ü m̌а.. і̂ d̀
Ferda thought at those words.
'Real money-eating hippo.'
Demands that would make even high-ranking rich nobles flinch, let alone ordinary nobles.
If Ferda didn't know who this man was, he might've kicked him out the castle gate.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
But Ferda knows this man will eventually succeed.
"Understood. I'll tell the lords for now."
Е́n̈ u ṁ а . і̌ d̈
"R-really? Can you get that many?"
"Dozens of monsters caught a day is normal. Don't need live ones anymore?"
"W-well, having them would be good but management..."
"Don't worry. Management-wise Jed seems to do well so I'll assign Jed."
"No! Not needed! Unlike the initial stage there's no visible progress so! Yes! Not needed! So you don't have to tell him, hahaha! Please! Spare me!"
Vernel requesting withdrawal while shaking in fear.
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"If you say so."
"Th-then how will you get the corpses? Go hunting again?"
"Hmm..."
Catching one alive was doable for Ferda so he did it, but can't go hunting every time.
"The most straightforward method would be posting bounties but..."
Even now expenses for facilities and equipment drain a lot, so increasing even a pittance is burdensome.
Ӗn ům̆ а̂ . і̇d̂
"For initial quantity, better to make them offer as tribute."
"Tribute...?"
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Ferda answered Vernel asking with a dumb expression.
"The world is full of fools."
Ferda also knew how to lure those fools.
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