Chapter 53: Unacceptable Precedent

The meeting, in which only figures of ducal rank or higher participated, came to an end.

Perda left the hall following the other nobles.

“Regent.”

Zed and Arwen, who had been waiting for him, approached.

Zed, observing his expression, asked.

“Were you disrespected in there? You look like you want to kill someone.”

“If we’re talking about disrespect, yes, there was.”

He had to endure them calling Valdrova an evil dragon.

For someone who became a great mage through vengeance, it was not easy to ignore those emotions.

That was why it was better not to engage in pointless arguments.

Perda changed the subject.

“Ruri?”

“Ruri… now that you mention it… where did she go?”

“She said she had something to do before the meeting ended and left. I don’t know where…”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry, I should have found out beforehand…”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s not someone easy to control.”

Perda did not insist.

In any case, he already knew where she had gone.

From what Ruri had said earlier, she was probably heading to speak with Silverwind.

‘Speak…’

Perda recalled the look Goz Silverwind had given when that was mentioned.

He was restraining his anger with obvious clumsiness.

If Perda had spoken to him at that moment, a fight would likely have broken out.

If not for Blancaros’s neutral zone, it could have been much worse.

‘I doubt that conversation will go well.’

Just as he was thinking that—

“Regent Perda Valdrova?”

A completely white man, fitting the surroundings.

Impeccable posture, worthy of a subordinate of the absolute of the neutral zone.

It was the Hand of Blancaros.

“My lord calls for you. Could you accompany me?”

“In private?”

“Yes. He wishes to speak about the proposal you presented.”

It was unusual.

Blancaros did not usually summon humans privately in order to maintain neutrality.

‘But this time he had no choice.’

He had intervened directly in the proposal, so he needed to hear from the proposer.

In fact, that was the reason Perda had restrained his anger.

“Understood.”

“This way, please.”

Perda followed his guide.

***

Blancaros’s audience chamber did not seem fitting for a dragon.

One would expect something grand, imposing, worthy of emperors.

And the council hall was indeed like that.

But this place.

Was surprisingly human.

Neither too large, nor excessively majestic.

It resembled the office of a small feudal lord.

“Come in.”

Blancaros received him with his own voice, seated behind a marble desk.

Perda stopped upon entering.

He was not alone.

In the white space, there was a blue presence.

Erika Iorga.

She was already seated.

She stared at him.

Her expression became even more unpleasant upon seeing him.

Behind him, Zed and Arwen began to sweat.

“Why is she looking at you like that? Did you do something wrong?”

Perda shrugged.

“Me do something wrong? Impossible.”

“Sure you did…”

Perda did not respond and walked forward.

He ignored Erika and greeted Blancaros.

“I appreciate the invitation, Blancaros, but…”

He slightly turned his head toward Erika.

“I have nothing to discuss with this woman. May I leave?”

“Pffft…!”

“Cough!”

The direct insult, and Zed and Arwen bursting behind him.

Calling someone of the level of a Dragon Spawn “this woman” was practically suicide.

“Hmm…”

“Th-this woman…?”

Blancaros sighed, as if he expected it.

Erika, on the other hand, looked at him in disbelief.

But she restrained herself.

This meeting was to talk.

And besides, she could not use force here.

She smiled.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, regent Perda. Instead of telepathy, let us speak face to face.”

“As you wish.”

Perda covered his ears.

Erika’s smile disappeared.

“Are you going to keep behaving like a child?”

“I am within my rights. You insulted my fiancée. Did you expect me to speak nicely to you? What would happen if I called you a water lizard, Iorga?”

“Ah…”

“Cough, cough…”

Zed and Arwen almost choked.

If it were up to them, they would have run away at that very moment.

At those words, Erika restrained herself.

She bit her lower lip hard and took a deep breath to calm down.

“Let us consider that we have both insulted each other. In addition, I will apologize for my words. But I had reasons for doing so.”

Perda removed his hands from his ears.

She had endured the insult, so it was clear she intended to talk.

“First, let us have the servants withdraw and speak only among superiors.”

“Understood. Both of you, withdraw.”

“Yes!”

As soon as the order was given, they hurried out.

In the white space, only three people remained.

“To speak plainly, since emotions are high I am on Valdrova’s side.”

“Wow, such trustworthy words.”

Perda responded with sarcasm.

“Although all of Iorga maintains a stance of vigilance toward Valdrova, the high command values her contributions greatly.”

Of course, sure.

“You don’t believe me. I was on the frontlines of that war. I saw all the dragons fight with my own eyes. And I still remember her figure with complete clarity.”

The hairs on her arms stood on end.

“The image of her single-handedly stopping the moment when Godwin tried to drag this continent into total destruction…”

Blancaros closed his eyes in silence.

He too had witnessed that battle.

Erika continued.

“Delivering the final blow to Godwin, who was trying to destroy everything without distinguishing between evil or guardian dragons, involved enormous risk. All the dragons knew it. And they hesitated. But Valdrova rushed in without thinking. It was like a black mass pierced by a red spear that collapses. Of course the result ended in another terrible tragedy. Even so, she is not someone who should bear the name of evil dragon.”

“And you expect me to believe that after seeing how they ridiculed her and tried to bring her down?”

“That is why I apologize for the insult. But I had to do it.”

“You had to humiliate her? Does that make any sense?”

“Because if I didn’t, it would have been dangerous!”

“Dangerous how?”

“Silverwind.”

Another group of dragons.

Perda recalled Silverwind, who had not said a single word.

“If I had not intervened, they would have. Those idiots with ice in their heads would have turned this meeting into a disaster. Before you even declared the conquest of the Far East, they would have already demanded a war between dragons.”

“You’re saying you attacked and ridiculed everything just to protect me?”

Erika fell silent.

She seemed to hesitate about whether to say it or not.

“It’s not just for you, regent Perda. As you said if it is not her nature, but madness caused by Godwin’s corruption…”

For a moment, in Erika’s eyes, a wounded beast was reflected.

“That a perfect being becomes imperfect is an extremely dangerous precedent. Enough to collapse the balance of the continent.”

Perda understood.

Why she had been so hostile toward Valdrova.

And why Blancaros had closed the matter unilaterally.

Perda summarized his understanding in a single sentence.

“It seems that Iorga also presents the same symptoms.”

Erika nodded with a pained expression.

“At first, it was only a slight sense of strangeness. Many dragon spawn suffered aftereffects after the battle against Godwin. But in the last 30 years she could no longer endure it. She is becoming unstable.”

“And now?”

“She has entered hibernation. She decided not to move until a solution is found.”

That meant that Iorga, the authority of magic, was absent.

Perda thought of something else.

“Then and Odograsa?”

“We do not know for certain. He has no spawn, and being himself a deity to his followers, he would not reveal his weakness to anyone.”

Those wrapped in faith naturally believe in their perfection.

Then everything fit.

This was not just Valdrova’s problem.

‘It was a problem capable of shaking the entire dragon society.’

Seeing that Perda understood, Erika lowered her tone and explained calmly.

“If it is accepted that her nature is not that of an evil dragon, but that she is affected by Godwin everyone would be in danger. Not only Valdrova, but also the position of the others. It would be an easy target for those who provoke chaos, such as the purple dragons or the war dragons. That is why we are buying time until we find a solution.”

“I see.”

Perda stood up, as if there were nothing more to hear.

“Then it only means you are a coward.”

“Coward…?”

Erika was about to explode.

But it was only for an instant.

As soon as she saw Perda’s eyes, she was completely overwhelmed.

“What do you plan to do in the end?” he asked.

“What end do you refer to?”

“If you keep hiding it like this, what will you do when the moment comes when everything comes to light, when there is no turning back?”

“That…”

“Will you hide your secret even if it means sacrificing my fiancée’s life?”

“Do you think I would do something so despicable?”

“Isn’t that so?”

Erika could not respond.

She could not affirm it, but neither could she deny it.

She remained silent, clenching her fists like someone mute.

“Let us leave the conversation here. May I go?”

Perda looked at Blancaros.

Nothing had been resolved, but neither was it something that could be resolved at that moment.

“…You may.”

With permission granted, Perda left.

Erika remained motionless in her place.

She could do nothing.

She had been surpassed by a human, being the leader of the dragon spawn.

How pathetic.

And even so, if the same situation happened again, Erika knew she would freeze again.

The eyes filled with contempt from Perda.

In them, she saw fragments of her own future.

***

Human Magic Society of Serdes.

Seated in the president’s office was not an arrogant girl, but a robust man.

“Uaaah…”

The man moved the pen making sounds like a ghoul from hell.

He was tirelessly processing the documents that President Erdes had left for four consecutive days.

“Uaaah… huh?”

Shortly after, a circular spark appeared in front of him.

He knew perfectly who caused that phenomenon.

Normally he would have stood up to receive her, but Lu did not even have the energy to think about that.

“Blue! I’m back!”

The one who greeted cheerfully was Erdes.

“You’re back already?”

“I finished the meeting and came straight here. Hey, I missed all the fun.”

“For someone coming from a meeting, you look a bit strange.”

More than someone returning from a meeting, she looked like someone coming from tourism.

“How picky. After finishing I went for a walk around the city. Any problem?”

“…How could there be?”

Lu sighed, finished reviewing the last document, and collapsed onto the desk.

“Did you finish everything?”

“For now, yes.”

“You see? This is how work should be distributed. I rest and Blue works. Perfect distribution, right?”

“Perfect… but strange.”

“And besides, I brought specialty sweet bread from there. Where do you find such a considerate boss?”

Erdes raised her eyebrows proudly.

Well, at least there would be something tasty.

Lu opened the box.

“…It’s empty.”

“Really? Ah, it was so good I ate it all. Sorry. Can you throw away the box?”

Lu nodded like someone who had made a big decision.

“I quit. I resign.”

“Ah, that won’t do. Blue must serve me a thousand more years. There is no option. That is our contract.”

“Damn it…”

Lu pretended to cry with a desperate expression.

“So… how was it?”

“How was what?”

“You didn’t go because of that Perda Valdrova, right?”

“That guy? Hmm…”

She rested her chin on her index finger and moved her head before answering.

“He was… peculiar.”

“Peculiar?”

Lu’s eyes widened.

“For you, the strongest Archmage of humanity, to say that?”

“No matter how much they hype it, it doesn’t change anything. He was just interesting.”

Erdes sat on the desk and looked at Lu.

“That guy had a Red Circle.”

“Red Circle?!”

“And he also learned black magic. You could smell it.”

“B-black magic?!”

Lu’s face turned pale.

It was not fear of black magic.

“Th-that guy… is still alive?”

“Of course. What do you think, that I’m some crazy killer who kills without thinking?”

“Well… if he came back without causing trouble… that man must really be peculiar.”

“I couldn’t just mess with him like that. He’s the fiancé of that crazy dragon. Why look for trouble?”

Erdes frowned, uncomfortable.

Her dangling leg began to swing.

“Blue. If your parents suddenly disappeared, how would you feel?”

“Uh… I don’t know. I guess I’d get angry.”

“Only anger? Would you say I won’t forgive them! and that’s it?”

“You probably would… but a normal person would also feel sad.”

Erdes snapped her fingers.

“Exactly. A storm of emotions. It is normal to be overwhelmed without being able to distinguish which one dominates. It is almost impossible to cling to just one.”

“I guess…”

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”

“Sorry, my head can’t handle that much…”

“Do you want to copy it 50 times?”

“Ah, wait… I think I’m starting to understand…”

“Idiot. With something like that, you can’t create a Red Circle.”

“Ah, I really had understood it.”

“You’re stupid and stubborn. It will be 100 copies.”

“Ugh! That’s too much! While you were gone I did all the work too!”

“One thing is work and another is life.”

Lu grumbled, and Erdes clicked her tongue.

“So, what you’re saying is that Perda Valdrova shouldn’t be able to have a Red Circle?”

“Exactly.”

“But emotions are something relative, right?”

“That’s right. Each person has their own standard. But even taking that into account, that guy called Perda far exceeds my standard.”

“That much for you to say that?”

“The Red Circle forms when the balance of emotions breaks. But in adolescence that balance cannot break. For it to break through anger, he would have to be so broken that he firmly believed that even the reason he gets up every morning is due to anger.”

“Uh… it’s a somewhat… strange comparison, but couldn’t it be explained by the fact that he was expelled from his family?”

He became Valdrova’s fiancé.

That was practically a death sentence, enough to make any resentment explode.

“That guy accepted it.”

“What does that mean?”

“To accept something means he still has reason. And that, in turn, means his anger is not enough.”

“So what you’re saying is that, since there was no trigger that broke the balance, a Red Circle should not be able to form.”

“Exactly.”

“But the regent does have a Red Circle.”

“That’s right.”

“Without meeting the conditions… and yet a Red Circle formed…”

“And in less than a year he reached the fourth circle.”

“And also… several incidents occurred.”

The execution of Tesalos Wolcher.

The battle in the imperial warehouse.

“In all those cases there is something in common. Black magic.”

“Black magic…”

They stared at each other for a long time, until Lu understood.

Even a dog learns something after years.

After ten years serving her, he was finally able to read Erdes’s mind.

“Are you saying that Regent Valdrova… made a contract with a demon?”

Erdes smiled when she saw him reach that conclusion.

“Don’t you smell it?”