Chapter 70 - Hatred and Obsession

"Wow. I've wanted to come inside Valdrova Castle at least once, but I didn't think I'd ever get the chance."

Erdes made a big fuss, stepping forward as if she were dancing.

It was a distracting way of walking, but no one pointed it out or stopped her.

That alone spoke volumes about how serious the current atmosphere was.

"But why is it so quiet? The Regent guiding us himself is already a bit suspicious. Did you perhaps kill them all because you didn't like them? Or are you getting ready to stab us in the back?"

She sure has a lovely way with words.

"The people working inside the castle are all ordinary civilians. They aren't the type to do such things."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense. When a gigolo-looking guy and a guy dripping with tears and snot are your knights, what kind of disgrace would the others show?"

Erdes burst into giggles.

She was acting like an immature child, but he could never afford to overlook her.

This woman was the best mage on the continent.

It wouldn't be difficult for her to annihilate an entire family with a single finger, and even kings would bow their heads at her appearance.

She was a living disaster and a magic-wielding maniac.

Which was why Ferda had corralled everyone in the castle away.

The people working in the castle were far from high formalities, and they had no ability to withstand that pressure.

"Anyway, actually coming here feels really meaningful. Valdrova Castle is truly vast. I tried to trespass once before, but the defensive barrier wouldn't budge at all."

"Am I supposed to be happy about that?"

"You should be happy. It's a compliment from humanity's strongest mage, you know? Since I couldn't break through, it means it's absolutely impossible for any other human, right?"

Ferda muttered inwardly.

'Even though you were miserably crushed by me.'

The one to refute her words was Goz.

"It's a building built for a dragon. It's only natural that a human cannot touch it alone."

"Are you defending them just because you're both dragons? Man, dragons are truly beyond my understanding."

"Watch your mouth, Erdes Roton."

"Yeah, yeah."

It was annoying, but he agreed.

To think that the ones who hate Valdrova were defending her.

Is this a case of maintaining boundaries even with sworn enemies?

While Erdes grumbled, they arrived at the end of the red carpet.

It felt like standing at the very end of a fuse.

Would this bomb explode, or would it be a dud?

Harboring those thoughts, he opened the door.

The VIP room made of gold and red marble.

One attendant, fully prepared for anything, stood ready to receive them.

She lifted her wide skirt and bowed.

"Welcome. I am Luri, Grand Duchess Valdrova's attendant."

She stood modestly, as if nothing were wrong.

However, her eyes were actively avoiding making contact with Goz.

Goz, on the other hand, paid no attention to Luri.

His lukewarm reaction, unlike when he had tried to snatch her away, felt rather suspicious.

Meanwhile, Erdes burst into giggles and threw herself onto the sofa as she pleased.

"Ugh, you keep making the atmosphere so bloody. This is why men are no good, you know? In an elegant place like this, huh? You should be smiling and chatting. Hey, maid over there, will you get me a cup of tea?"

"I will prepare it right away."

As Luri tried to move, Ferda lightly raised his hand to stop her.

"It's tea for the best mage on the continent; should you really be the one to prepare it?"

"If so..."

"I will pour it for her myself."

The reason Ferda acted this way was that he was slowly feeling a sense of incongruity in Erdes's actions.

If he left her alone, he would get swept up in her pace.

Ferda intended to serve the tea.

However, he did not get up from his seat.

The shadow beneath his feet moved, shaping itself before popping out.

It was Ferda's Shadow Hand.

Erdes's face stiffened as she watched the sight.

Blatantly declaring 'I use dark magic' was akin to provoking her to kill him.

Ferda poured a cup of tea, completely unfazed by her reaction.

His etiquette was perfect.

"It is the highest-grade tea from the highlands of the western region. Please, have a cup."

Even with the steaming hot tea placed before her, her gaze was fixed solely on Ferda.

Her dull, dead fish eyes looked as if she would pull out a knife at any moment.

"Unfortunately, I'm not thirsty."

"Didn't you say you needed something to quench your thirst?"

"I did, didn't I. Women are truly beyond understanding, right?"

Killing intent could be felt from her smiling eyes.

However, Ferda faced those eyes straight on and took a sip of the tea.

'Now she'll finally shut that trap.'

"Now, let us talk."

Goz adjusted his seat and leaned forward.

"About why you secretly set foot in someone else's territory."

He was trying to grasp the background of the incident first.

Ferda answered him.

"There was a Demon research facility nearby."

"An imaginary research facility?"

"Wasn't there a landslide in that vicinity recently? As if something had exploded."

"..."

He didn't answer.

Which meant it was true.

"I found out the location where they were conducting their project and intended to destroy everything. So I had to move quickly."

"So you're saying you used a Bending Bridge to cross over and strike first?"

The word Bending Bridge came out of Goz's mouth.

That must be information Erdes had provided.

"Why didn't you inform us?"

Goz asked.

"Because it had to be done covertly."

"And what was the reason for that?"

"Didn't I say 'covertly'?"

Goz's face contorted fiercely.

He looked ready to bare his claws at any moment.

"Ferda Valdrova, not only did you step into our territory as you pleased, but you killed his son with your own hands. If you truly do not wish for war, you had better speak clearly."

He wouldn't avoid a war if it came to him.

But he had no intention of going out of his way to start one.

"As I said before, it's true that I killed that guy named Abel Silverwind. And it's true that I caused trouble. But all of that was not a result I desired."

Ferda added.

"He was a Demon Follower. He was trying to seize power through treason by using a demon."

"How did you figure that out?"

"There was no need to make things complicated. He babbled it all on his own. I don't know if he saw me as a fish caught in his net or mistook me for a priest in a confessional, but he confessed it himself."

Goz didn't fly into a rage at the term 'Demon Follower.'

It meant that Sitri had definitively branded him with the mark of a contract.

The momentum shifted slightly.

Ferda decided to say something a bit unnecessary.

"Do you know what he said? He said Goz Silverwind is nothing more than a usurper. That you aren't worthy of that power."

"Looks like there's a lot of dissatisfaction on the Silverwind side, huh? To think that a minnow like him would get greedy and harbor ulterior motives—"

"Shut up."

"You know I'm an ally, right?"

He shut Erdes's mouth as she scratched at a painful wound.

"Doubting my power is something that can happen all the time. Challenging it is also something a descendant of Silverwind should naturally do. But if it's obtained by making a contract with a demon, that's a different story."

What they desired was pure power.

It meant power achieved through the blood passed down by the Master of Wind and Steel.

"But what does that have to do with you killing him? Are you saying you did me a favor?"

"Why would I do that? I told him that if he wanted to overthrow you, I would help him."

The wind picked up.

How could he not be pissed when Ferda blatantly said he had proposed a plot to kill him?

"But he didn't accept. Not because he was noble, but because I was necessary for his overthrow plan itself."

The wind died down.

"You, who are nothing more than a mere human?"

"He said he would use me to lure someone out, and then absorb their power."

"Who? Valdrova?"

"Luri."

Hearing that, Goz's body flinched.

Erdes, who had been watching Goz's reaction, interjected.

"Luri? Who's that?"

"There is someone. A kid like that."

Goz tried to gloss over it, but Erdes was persistent.

She slowly looked at the little silver-haired maid and clapped her hands together.

"Don't tell me, it's that little miss over there? Looking at her, it seems to fit. There were traces of a small build left behind, and that was this little miss? This little kid is that—"

"Erdes Roton. I didn't bring you here to chatter."

His vertically slit pupils glared menacingly.

It was a gaze that seemed even more annoyed than before.

Erdes smiled awkwardly and made a gesture of zipping her lips.

Annoyed, Goz's gaze unconsciously drifted toward Luri.

Luri could only show her back and couldn't turn around.

Ferda continued explaining the situation.

"Luri came to save me, and in the process, I ultimately had to kill Abel."

"Hmm, then should we call over our Luri, who miraculously returned alive from there, and have her testify?"

'Do whatever you want. I have nothing to hide.'

Just as Ferda was about to agree to Erdes's question.

"That's enough. We've talked enough with that."

The one who refused that testimony was Goz.

At Goz's attitude of putting on the brakes, Erdes glared at him in displeasure before turning her eyes to Ferda.

She smiled radiantly again.

"Well then, since the two gentlemen have talked enough, I suppose it's my turn to speak."

'Was there even such a thing as turns in this conversation? You kept interrupting so much I thought it was just a free-for-all where everyone said whatever they wanted.'

He held back the urge to make that sarcastic remark.

Erdes stretched broadly and flashed a languid smile.

"Yeah, well, it was a touching story, Regent Ferda. But I can't just accept that story at face value, you see?"

It was the expected reaction.

"There should be traces on him showing that he made a deal with a demon, no?"

"Yeah, I found them. He hid it in quite an obscure place, didn't he? To think it was on his heel. I suppose no one checks every nook and cranny down to there. It makes sense that the Silverwind side didn't know about it either."

He admitted it was in a place that could easily be overlooked.

However, the gaze directed at him was unsettling.

"But I am Erdes Roton."

The best mage on the continent.

A paragon for mages, a witness to history, and a war hero.

A maniacal tyrant whose words became law and who recognized no borders.

At the same time, an authority on dark magic.

Someone once said that love and hatred are two sides of the same coin.

Just as much as Erdes hated dark magic, she knew it well.

"I can quickly see through the schemes of a piece-of-shit demon bastard. For example, like the time that mark was branded."

A smile hooked on Erdes's lips.

It was like a spider looking at prey caught in its web.

"The contract mark engraved on Abel Silverwind didn't even have its ink dry yet, you see?"

Ferda hadn't known that it was possible to check the time a mark was branded.

Because he had no interest in contracts with demons.

No, to be exact, their properties and such were outside of Ferda's interests.

Only the methods by which demons entangled humans and how to avoid them were important.

That was what most people focused on.

On the other hand, Erdes's obsession was far broader.

She obsessed over everything related to dark magic.

It was an obsessive fastidiousness.

The type that would obsess over everything just to wash away the disease known as dark magic from the continent.

Her obsession was ultimately driving Ferda into a corner.

"Shall I tell you what I think?"

She began to lay out her deduction.

"Regent Ferda, you made 'some kind of deal' with Sitri, a Great Demon of Hell. You said you went to destroy the Demon facility? That might have been the deal. What if it was going to collapse in a few hours, rather than a few days? Sitri would have a very good pretext. You would have ignored the saying not to make deals with demons and quietly ridden the Bending Bridge over."

Her words were surprisingly accurate.

It was enough to make Ferda feel the pressure.

"But an unexpected event occurred. The Bending Bridge you rode over closed for some reason. Regent Ferda ended up completely isolated and alone, and Abel appeared. Was that unexpected event Sitri's trap?"

Along with tossing out that question, Erdes smiled with her eyes and stared intently at Ferda.

She tried to check what was beyond the mask Ferda wore, and Ferda struggled to hide it.

"No. No. That wasn't Sitri's plan."

Did she read his expression?

She moved on to another point.

"If it had been such a shallow trick, you would have noticed. Regent Ferda, because you're no fool. You probably checked over and over that there was no trap in the Bending Bridge. But... despite that, you couldn't throw yourself into the returning Bending Bridge. That means you took something out of that Demon residence. An item so important you would even risk your own life for it."

His throat burned.

She continued speaking, twirling her finger as if trying to hypnotize him.

"Having you run into Abel Silverwind must have been one of the traps that whore Sitri set up. Someone to execute punishment if you harbored ulterior motives, while preventing you from doing so. It's such a good card that even if he died, it could cause future trouble. But for some reason, she didn't use that trap. Instead, she helped you by stamping the contract mark on Abel Silverwind."

Admiration almost naturally slipped out.

It was to that extent, even while he was being cornered.

If one could hate a single field this much, did it mean they could foresee things this far?

It was a depth completely on another level from what Ferda felt.

"Why would a demon help you? If she had just left it without stamping the mark, Silverwind would have come to interrogate you, and you would be sweating bullets trying to persuade them, right? War would have become a near certainty, right? Why would she voluntarily give up the chaotic situation that demons love the most?"

His mouth went completely dry.

He consciously maintained his tension, afraid his Adam's apple would bob.

"The three clues that led me to my conclusion are as follows."

Erdes said as she held up her index finger.

"First, the fact that you use dark magic."

Her middle finger.

"Second, the fact that a Great Demon of Hell saved you instead of throwing you into a trap."

Her ring finger.

"Third, the fact that the faint scent of a demon keeps lingering in this house."

She stabbed right into his blind spot.

Whatever happened, there was only one conclusion Erdes could absolutely not reach.

'Penelope.'

He was already walking a tightrope over whether he had contracted with a demon or not.

If she found out he was hiding a demon, Erdes's hostility would tilt entirely against him.

That hostility wasn't merely a matter of being annoying.

Erdes was the person whom the 1st Prince, the most influential figure after the Imperial Emperor, was trying to leech off of.

It would definitely put the brakes on the development of the far east.

Everything was tangled up in a headache-inducing way.

'That's a problem too, but.'

If, in the process of explaining, it was revealed that she was a means to hold a Great Demon's lifeline, that would be an even bigger problem.

She would definitely obsess over Penelope with everything she had.

He couldn't let that happen.

The things in this castle were solely for Valdrova.

The moment Ferda tried to open his mouth, Erdes smiled with her eyes and asked.

"You're a child of a demon, aren't you?"