Chapter 23: I Want to See Her Again

“What exactly did you do last night?”

The one who asked that question was Zed.

The brown-haired man was looking at a certain point with an expression of disbelief.

In his line of sight was Perda, lying on the bed.

“Nothing happened.”

“What do you mean nothing happened? Would someone to whom nothing happened be lying in bed unable to move?”

Below the neck, Perda seemed to have lost all strength and could only move his face.

Perda always made a round in the morning.

Without missing a single day he had shown himself, so the fact that he suddenly did not appear made it possible to assume that something had happened.

And just as Zed had suspected, Perda was lying in bed unable to move.

“If I say nothing happened, then nothing happened.”

“Sure, as you say.”

Since he insisted until the end that nothing had happened, Zed could no longer continue questioning him.

‘There is no need to tell that story.’

He tried to force his way past the servant who blocked him and received a blow; then he almost died crushed by his fiancée, and afterward he almost truly died for having given all his mana to that same fiancée.

If he told that story in the simple world of the nobility, they would easily summarize it as an anecdote about an idiot.

That is why Perda did not tell it and simply savored it in silence.

‘It was quite an intense night.’

The pain in the arm that received the blow had still not disappeared, but he had received an equivalent reward.

‘Dragon face.’

Normally it is a word used to refer to the face of a monarch, but it also literally meant the face of a dragon.

Just as for a tenant farmer the greatest honor would be to see the king’s face once, for Perda the greatest honor had been to see that dragon’s face.

‘That is my last memory.’

Perda remembered Valdrova’s face that he saw at the end.

After seeing that face, his consciousness went out and when he came back to himself he was looking at the ceiling above the bed.

And also Zed’s face.

That guy was still hanging around nearby.

“I would like to ask you a favor.”

“What do you need? Just say it.”

“Remove your face from my field of vision. It interferes with my contemplation.”

“……”

He did not want to cover the memory that still remained with the face of a handsome man.

Zed removed his face as requested.

With an expression that seemed to say, “Is he crazy?”

“How is Vernell’s research going?”

“That? He says there is no longer any need to keep doing that unpleasant thing of cutting tendons and flesh. Apparently it is going well.”

Zed had been helping Vernell so that he would not have inconveniences during his research.

He had done so many things that he could proudly say he had contributed quite a lot.

“Are you sure?”

“Probably.”

“Do you know that ‘probably’ and ‘sure’ are words that cannot go together?”

“I did not even let that brother called Vernell sleep well. After about three days without sleeping, people usually go crazy and give up, but that guy is quite stubborn. He wanted to sleep, but he said the research was something too important to do halfway. He cried and complained, but even so he kept clinging to his research, so I suppose it is certain.”

“I see.”

Even if Vernell had suffered under Zed’s hands, Perda was not very interested.

After all, all things in this world are painful.

He only focused on what was important that they had taken a great step in magical engineering.

“So, how long do I have to keep lying down? Will I not be able to work today?”

“It seems so. If we wait a day, you will probably recover on your own.”

“Hmm… do I have to take care of you?”

His voice was full of annoyance.

“No. I prefer to be alone. I have things to think about.”

“I was waiting to hear those words. Ugh. I am going to rest, so do not look for me for a couple of days.”

“Do it.”

Zed clicked his tongue and left.

Perda remained lying in bed and closed his eyes.

Not to sleep again, but to remember more clearly.

‘A great gain.’

Perda sank into his memories.

‘A truly great gain.’

The image that formed around small and shining lips.

Two pairs of black horns and red hair.

In her large eyes there were golden pupils like those of a cat.

They shone slightly moist.

That was the Polymorph form of the Red Dragon, Valdrova.

‘There were many unexpected things.’

When Perda first saw her, she appeared wearing armor.

And she easily measured more than two meters.

But in reality her height was that of a normal woman, only slightly shorter than him.

‘And… she did not have a terrifying face either.’

Valdrova, as the incarnation of power, possessed the most fearsome form among all dragons.

That is why no one would dare underestimate her.

It was said that when a dragon uses Polymorph, its appearance changes according to its nature.

One would expect that, at rest, she would look like a woman of iron, a seductive rose.

A face that would make anyone who tried to take her carelessly prick themselves with her thorns and regret their arrogance.

‘…But it was not like that.’

She had a gentle face, nothing like that of a sovereign.

What defines the impression of a woman is the shape of her eyes, and hers were slightly drooping, like those of a puppy.

More than an elegant adult smile, it seemed like a face that would fit with a big childish smile.

‘Thinking about it, it matches her shyness and her aversion to dealing with other people.’

Everything was an exception and, at the same time, everything was exactly as he had expected.

A beauty like that.

Perda thought while remembering her figure.

‘I want to see her again.’

Since he developed the habit of remembering details clearly, it was the first time he had felt something like this.

Even though the image was perfectly engraved in his mind, he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

‘I want to see her again.’

At that moment Perda understood the feelings of men who suffer from lovesickness.

The urge to pull out his hair or run out immediately.

“It seems you are having strange thoughts.”

Then, suddenly, the voice of a young maid was heard.

“I would appreciate it if you stopped.”

When he opened his eyes, a girl with silver eyes was looking down at him.

She still had the same professional attitude and expression.

“How does your body feel?”

Ruri asked.

“It seems that I am better.”

“Of course you must be better. I treated you myself.”

“You are quite skilled. It must not have been easy.”

“It was more difficult than healing my lady’s wounds, but it was still possible.”

Ruri frowned while looking at him.

Somehow, the way she looked at Perda now was different from usual.

“You could have died.”

Her tone was full of concern.

“An overload while circulating the mana circuits a normal person would have stopped earlier because of the burning pain.”

“For me it is not a big deal.”

“I know. You are the type of person who likes that kind of thing.”

Perda muttered something incomprehensible and then continued.

“Thank you.”

A sudden expression of gratitude.

“Why?”

“It is the first time that my lady’s scream stops.”

Her face remained expressionless.

“And it is also the first time I see her sleep peacefully. That night, Perda-nim did many things for my lady.”

But there was sadness in her eyes.

“And I am sorry.”

Her gaze slowly descended toward Perda’s right arm.

“For having destroyed my arm?”

“……”

She bit her lip and nodded.

A dragonspawn admitting her fault and apologizing to a human.

“It does not matter. I will not hold a grudge or hate you for something so insignificant.”

“Are you really fine after receiving such a strong blow?”

“My body has always been weak. It happens to me often, so do not worry. Soon I will be able to move.”

“Can you move now?”

“Perhaps when the time comes.”

For now, except for his face, he could not move anything.

“Have I not always told you? I value your loyalty very much. It is like—.”

“Like a dog?”

“Yes.”

Ruri nodded when she heard that.

“That is right. I am a bitch.”

“I did not go that far.”

Only then did Perda realize.

That definitely sounded like an insult.

“Anyway, you did everything possible within what was within your reach. You did not try to force what you could not do and ruin things, right? That is enough.”

“……”

“I am grateful to you for taking care of her until I could see her.”

“If you say it that way, then I thank you.”

Ruri’s expression became brighter than before.

The heavy atmosphere also eased a little.

“So, what is the situation of my fiancée?”

“I was precisely going to talk about that…”

Her face darkened again.

“For the moment, do not even try to see her.”

Perda’s expression also became serious.

“Did you not say that it was thanks to me and all that?”

“One thing is one thing and another is another.”

Ruri returned to her firm attitude as a small maid.

Perda asked her the reason.

“What is the reason?”

“What happened when you met is the problem.”

“What happened? Just because we held hands?”

Holding hands was not something so great as to call it an action.

“I mean that you gave her mana.”

“Does that cause any problem for your lady?”

“If I have to say it precisely, it is a problem for both of you.”

Her eyes looked fixedly at Perda.

Perda also perceived the seriousness and asked.

“Has something happened to the Grand Duchess?”

“After meeting you and coming into contact with you, she began to make female sounds.”

Perda’s mind filled with question marks.

“Female sounds?”

“It is the sound farthest from what corresponds to a king. It is the sound she hates most after screams.”

Perda could not imagine what kind of sound it was.

But he did not try to find out either.

“And what is my problem?”

“Perda-nim squeezed his mana to the point of almost losing his life to save my lady.”

“As long as I do not die, there is no problem.”

“That kind of reasoning does not work. If you wish to maintain dignity as her fiancé, at least reach the fourth circle before saying something.”

The fourth circle.

The stage considered the true beginning of a magician.

Perda wondered why she spoke with such an exact criterion.

So he remembered the amount of mana he had released and calculated it instinctively.

‘The amount of mana was approximately that of a fourth circle.’

An amount impossible if it had not been for the Red Circle.

And a mana recovery speed that also would have been impossible if the Red Circle had not spun so quickly.

If any of those factors had failed, Perda would have ended up dead or turned into an invalid.

‘But at the same time, it is something only I could do.’

Only someone who had reached the ninth circle could endure that brutal flow and extract such an amount of mana.

‘But having squeezed it like that means that for a while it will be difficult for me to properly make the Red Circle spin.’

According to Perda’s calculations, it would take about a month to return to his original condition.

“If you are going to become her husband, you must start taking care of your body. Do not assume unnecessary risks.”

Ruri’s hand adjusted the wrinkles of the blanket and raised it carefully until it covered his neck.

It was a service she had never done for him before.

“And today do not think about anything and rest. If you need anything, I will come, so just call me. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

Perda nodded obediently.

“And congratulations.”

“Why?”

“Have you not reached the third circle?”

“…?”

Perda did not understand what she was talking about.

At least not until he concentrated his attention on his own dantian.

‘…What?’

Just as she had said, inside Perda’s body three circles were spinning.

He had reached the third circle.

***

The next day, after confirming that his body could move, Perda returned to his office and spoke with Vernell.

“I heard that you have achieved great progress in the research. Congratulations.”

“I-it is nothing… we are barely beginning…”

“A month and a half? The progress has truly been extraordinary.”

“I-it is true…”

Vernell answered with a trembling voice.

It truly was extraordinary speed.

That month and a half had been more significant than the previous seven years of research.

‘The equipment is better, the environment too, and the samples are better, but…’

Above all, the pressure pushing him had been the greatest.

‘Am I the type who becomes stronger when cornered?’

Not sleeping was driving him crazy.

But, strangely, it had not been entirely bad.

Thanks to that he had been able to identify blind spots he had not seen before and correct errors.

Through work that only someone out of their mind could perform, his hypotheses had strengthened enough to become experiments.

“From now on we will no longer need live samples, but instead we will need many monster corpses…”

“Monster corpses?”

Searching for monsters in the Far East was like searching for sand in the desert or trees in the forest.

They were everywhere.

“The Grand Duchess Valdrova is fighting on the front. Would it be enough to bring the ones that come from there?”

“I heard that she is hunting things the size of houses. To investigate them… there are many problems. They are too large.”

“Then make yourself large. You could use a gigantification spell. It seems like something Echidna could use.”

“No, it is not a problem of size. The biggest problem is that if those corpses remain too long in the east, they can cause corrosion and turn the land into something like the black soil of the Far East. I do not want it to reach that point. Besides, things that large may have different structures.”

“Different structures?”

“Yes. As they feed on junk mana to grow, the hardness of what forms changes. If it becomes too hard and its structure becomes too compressed and crystallized, then it is no longer useful for research.”

Seeing that the conversation was becoming too technical, Perda summarized.

“I think I more or less understand. You mean we must start with the small ones to advance step by step?”

“Yes. What I am researching now are things similar or smaller than the ones you captured, regent. Besides, those are more known and easier to obtain.”

“Then, approximately how many monsters do you need?”

“Well…”

Vernell glanced sideways.

“At minimum… I think more than a thousand…”

Perda heard that and thought.

‘This guy is a real money devourer.’

It was a demand that would make even rich nobles or great magnates tremble.

If Perda did not know who this man was, he probably would have kicked him out of the city.

But Perda knew that this man would eventually succeed.

“Alright. I will speak with the territorial lords.”

“C-can you really obtain that many?”

“Monsters are hunted by the dozens every day. Do you no longer need live samples?”

“I-it would be good to have them, but they would have to be managed…”

“Do not worry. It seems that Zed handles that well, so I can assign him to you.”

“No! It is not necessary! Now there are no visible advances like in the initial phase! Really, I do not need it! So please do not tell him! I beg you, let me live!”

Vernell desperately asked him to withdraw the idea.

“If that is what you say.”

“T-then, how do you plan to obtain the corpses?”

“Hmm…”

Capturing one himself was something Perda could do, but he could not go out hunting every time.

“The simplest method would be to offer rewards…”

But he was already spending a lot on facilities and equipment.

Adding more expenses, even small ones, would be a burden.

“First I will have them delivered as an offering.”

“As an offering?”

Perda responded to the confused Vernell.

“In the world there is no shortage of idiots.”

And Perda knew exactly how to attract those idiots.