Chapter 111 - I Don't Want to Give Up

It was when Erembalt was in the middle of heading back to the Rosnova family.

He thought to himself inside the carriage.

'Yeah, this is enough.'

He told himself that his choice to declare their severing of ties was right.

Those had been days where his hair fell out in clumps, unable to endure Erdes's scrutiny and pressure.

Since he had received confirmation that Ferda no longer had anything to do with him, they were now complete strangers.

No, rather, Erembalt would remain the victim in all this.

"I won't have to get tangled up with that damn scoundrel anymore. This is enough."

"What scoundrel?"

"Gah!"

He raised his head at the familiar voice.

This was inside the carriage.

The opposite side was supposed to be an empty seat with no one there.

But a teenage girl was sitting in that seat.

Platinum blonde hair and blue eyes brimming with mana.

Her name was Erdes Roton.

The chairman of the Serdes Continent's Magical Society, a living disaster, and a magic-wielding scoundrel.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She smiled like a mischievous brat.

"Repeat what you just said. I'm curious what you were talking about too."

"I-I have committed a grave sin. To insolently insult you, Chairman—."

"Do you think I'm here to take your confession over such petty backbiting?"

She was actually famous for holding long grudges.

But Erdes truly hadn't come for that reason.

"Tell me what you talked about with the Regent."

"It was nothing special."

"Nothing special, my foot. If it's nothing special, why are Valdrova's attendant and the Regent moving together?"

Erembalt was startled.

"W-Where to?"

"I don't know. Looking at the direction, it seemed roughly toward the Rosnova family?"

She smirked.

"Could it be that they're planning to annihilate your family themselves?"

Erembalt made a startled face.

Cold sweat poured down.

At Erembalt's reaction, Erdes, who had just been spouting nonsense, was the one who ended up flustered.

"What? Why are you reacting like that?"

"It's... nothing."

"Nothing, my foot. You reacted that way because you think it's the truth, right? It seems you two had quite the intense conversation, then?"

"It is nothing. I simply spoke with Regent Valdrova and told him he is no longer someone related to the family. He just overreacted on his own from there."

"... What?"

Upon hearing those words, Erdes neither smirked nor got angry.

She merely stared at Erembalt with an expressionless face.

That made it even more chilling.

"As I said, Regent Ferda is someone who does not share our bloodline. I informed him that aside from his gray hair, he is a child with no resembling traits at all."

"Hmm, so you're saying you disowned him?"

"That is correct."

"Hmm..."

Hearing his answer, Erdes simply tapped her chin with her index finger.

He had to say something to break this uncomfortable silence.

"And... it's certain that Ferda uses dark magic."

"... Why?"

"When I told him I was cutting ties, he used dark magic to create a hand! To strangle my neck, that is."

Erembalt pretended not to have noticed to the end.

Because if he had noticed, he surely would have died on the spot.

Her eyes shifted slowly.

"So did he strangle you?"

"He didn't strangle me... he just withdrew it, but..."

"How well-behaved."

"P-Pardon?"

Erembalt was bewildered by her answer.

She, who hated dark magic more than anyone, was showing an attitude that completely disregarded the dark magic.

"I'm saying he's well-behaved for not even strangling the father who told him they were cutting ties."

No, she wasn't just disregarding it; she was defending him.

Erembalt had no choice but to ask her directly.

"What are you going to do about Regent Ferda?"

"Do what? I'm not going to do a damn thing."

"Even though he tried to kill me with dark magic?"

"Yeah. You dying has absolutely fuck-all to do with me, right?"

The young girl's arrogant voice let out a long sigh.

"Ah, seriously, misfiring this badly makes me feel so damn pathetic. The heavens really are helping that greenhorn~."

Erdes stood up from her seat.

"I'm sick of you. Make sure you don't show up in my sight from now on. If you get caught pulling any funny business, even I won't know what I'll do then. Got it?"

"Yes, I will live... humbly."

As if he wasn't even worth talking to anymore, she left the seat.

The inside of Erembalt's carriage found its silence once again.

"Phew..."

Erembalt absentmindedly placed a hand on his neck.

Only after confirming that his neck was still attached did he let out a sigh of relief.

He felt some guilt for casting away his son, but it vanished like a passing breeze.

Regardless, he was simply relieved by the fact that he would never have to cross paths with that scoundrel or that filthy thing ever again.

Serdes Magical Society chairman's office.

A round gate opened, and Erdes stepped out from within it.

Sitting in the chairman's seat as if it were entirely natural, her secretary, Ru, was handling her work.

"Where did you go after abandoning your work again?"

Ru asked, with eyes sunken under dark circles.

Erdes whipped her head around and glared at Ru.

It was a highly irritable expression.

"I went and solidified his foundation in the far east for him, why?"

"Weren't you the one who hated that Regent?"

"Tell me about it, for fuck's sake. What a completely fucking idiotic thing to do."

Spewing curses, Erdes threw herself onto the sofa.

Enticing the laborers to form a labor union and turn them into an opposing force was a good idea up to that point.

But the opponent was stronger than she had imagined.

"Stephan Pascal, wasn't that guy definitely a nobody?"

"He's the one who will become the chairman of the Pascal trading company, you know?"

"What?"

Erdes raised her head.

Her face clearly said this was the first she was hearing of it.

"Since when? More importantly, shouldn't he have had two fierce competitors?"

"What era are you talking about? The eldest daughter went into hiding in a western village with her husband, and the eldest son caused a massive fuss about seceding and going independent before handing over the management rights of the mercenary company to Stephan, you know?"

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"Because it's an area you never had any interest in originally?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's an area you never had any interest in originally?"

Erdes glared fiercely.

Ru, who had just parroted his previous answer, made a troubled face.

"Uh... is that my fault?"

"If you're a secretary, shouldn't you cleanly take care of things on your own like a proper secretary? Even if I'm not interested, you should have shoved it in my face and said, 'Please take a look just this once.'"

"What kind of feeding-a-baby nonsense... No, understood. I'll make sure to learn mind-reading magic starting now."

Ru replied with an absolutely dumbfounded face.

"And Erembalt!"

The second factor that had gotten on her nerves.

"To think he was such a coward. A guy from a knight family getting intimidated by just one mage?"

"You have to understand, the ones who didn't get intimidated ended up dying by your hands, Chairman."

"Even so, does it make sense to cast out his own son?"

"Didn't he say that his blood doesn't flow in him? Plus, he has two perfectly fine sons. On top of that, he offered him up to be used as a sacrifice, so it's a bit much to expect him to show fatherly affection now."

Erdes crossed her arms and grumbled in displeasure.

"Even so, if they lived together for about 18 years, shouldn't there be some sort of attachment? If it were me, I'd at least have the attachment of having lived together."

Ru's eyes widened in horror.

"You, Chairman?"

"Why? Does that leave a bitter taste in your mouth? Did you think you survived talking back to me at every turn just because your skills are that good?"

Ru backed away with a whimper.

"Anyway, so I couldn't grasp a weakness either. If there had been even a little bit of fatherly affection and bond, I could have turned it into a weakness for that greenhorn and blackmailed him at least..."

Instead, she merely found out just how harsh his life had been.

Erdes did not like that one bit.

"Blue."

"Why are you calling me?"

"Do I really have such a poor eye for people?"

"Have you finally opened your eyes?"

"Do you really want to die?"

"To speak seriously... you're not very good at it."

"The Society is running fine, isn't it? Is that because I'm good at my job?"

"That's because if things don't run properly, you chop off their heads first. It feels more like things are somehow running because they're terrified."

"Hmm, so that's how it was, that's how it was. I suppose I should make a change while I'm at it."

"Yes. How about you do some personnel restructuring and completely clean house for once? Just like when you brought me in."

When Ru slyly suggested that, Erdes stared intently at his face.

"Even if you say that, I am never going to lift your life sentence as my secretary."

"Damn it."

The Magical Society Chairman's secretary, Ru, had failed his escape once again today.

After confessing his anxiety, Ferda returned to his work.

The wound Erembalt left behind had calmed down to some extent, but its aftereffects lingered in his mind in the form of uncertainty.

'Regardless, the fact that my power is unstable is true.'

It was unprecedented for it not to be moved purely by a single emotion, but for another emotion to possibly intervene.

If it were the Ferda from before his regression, it would have been something he'd eagerly accept and desperately try to manipulate however he could.

Because to a mage possessing the Red Circle, other emotions were nothing more than a braking mechanism.

Ferda knew well about that balance.

'Losing control leads to tragedy.'

He would end up going against Valdrova's will, and Luri, as her attendant, would demand Ferda pay for his sins.

Being killed by Luri's hands would undeniably be a tragedy.

'But what's even more tragic than that...'

Was that he might end up killing the Luri who came to kill him instead.

'If I end up killing the only child Valdrova believes in...'

The feelings of isolation Valdrova had felt surged up vividly.

Ever since the Dragon-Demon War, she had lived for 150 years feeling guilt and loneliness.

But there had been a sliver of hope.

Because Valdrova knew that Luri was still standing by her side.

In his past life, she had disappeared.

That meant there had been no one in Valdrova's life, and that there was nothing but despair.

'I would have gone crazy long ago.'

But she hadn't gone crazy.

In the end, she even gave her heart to Ferda, who hated her.

Not desperation born from despair, but a new hope through a final sacrifice.

'Such a woman...'

How could he just abandon her?

How could he hurt her?

It was as if she didn't even know that the rope thrown into her pit of despair was actually rotting.

Far from saving her from that pit, he would only leave her with an even greater scar.

Just like.

That image of him strangling her neck in his dream.

Don't be anxious.

Whenever that happened, a sweet voice would pierce his ears.

There's no reason to worry about such things.

Because you are strong.

You are just doing what you do best.

Ferda did not answer that voice.

He ignored it over and over until it subsided.

'I have to get a grip.'

He had to steel his mind so as not to lose to the great temptation.

Ferda Valdrova.

Because he was a man who had found the answer to everything, he decided to have faith that he could find the answer this time as well.

'In the worst-case scenario...'

He could just give up his life as a mage.

Because rather than embracing a bomb that could explode at any moment, that would be far better.

'If that happens, what is left for me?'

Luri had demanded one thing from Ferda.

To become a fiancé suited for Valdrova's standing.

Contrary to his thought that things would get better as time passed, he only realized just how insignificant a being he was.

All he had was a measly bit of future information and magical knowledge.

Under the conditions Luri desired, he was out.

It was a dreadful situation.

The moment he discarded either side, the balance would collapse, and everything would crumble.

He didn't want to give up.

Just as she hadn't given up on him no matter what situation came.

Ferda, too, did not want to give up on her.

BOOM!

It was then.

A tremor large enough to shake the castle rang out.

'Valdrova's blood energy?'

No.

The amplitude of the vibration flowing through his feet was different.

This was a vibration occurring from inside the castle.

It seemed someone had caused a massive accident.

'Was there an experiment large enough to cause a tremor like this?'

Ferda rose from his seat and headed toward the research ward.

The inside of the castle was already filled with confused people in the hallways.

"What is this commotion?"

"That's exactly what we were wondering, so we just came out."

"Wasn't it an explosion from your laboratory?"

"An explosion of this scale couldn't possibly happen in our laboratory."

The people who could have been the main culprits of the explosion all had faces saying they had no idea what was going on.

Even Ferda had come assuming it had obviously happened in Burnel's laboratory.

'If it's not here...'

There was only one other factor capable of causing an explosion.

"Lord Ferda."

Luri came looking for him and reported.

"There was a massive movement of magic power. The location is—."

"The study?"

"How did you know?"

Luri asked, narrowing her eyes.

It contained the unspoken question: Ferda, was this your doing?

"If it wasn't here, the only person who could cause an explosion of that scale would be Echidna."

This week was the period she was in charge of Mori.

That Echidna would be in the middle of savoring Mori in the study.

And so, he made his way to the study with Luri.

Upon opening the study doors, he saw the completely wrecked interior.

Mori was sitting there.

She was silently just doing her work, sweeping aside the papers that had rained down like late autumn leaves.

She paid absolutely no mind to the massive explosion.

"Mori."

Hearing her name, she stopped her pen and raised her head.

Her eyes shone purely even in this moment.

No, she seemed to show a strangely refreshed expression.

"What happened?"

Mori wrote her answer on a piece of paper.

[-Echidna has been annihilated.]

It was summarized neatly and plainly, but its contents were incredibly grave.