Chapter 58 - Because It's Painful

Ferda asked Chancellor Bernard.

Ferda had brought him the alcohol by the bottle.

"What is this?"

"I brought it because I thought you might need it."

"A whole bottle... you say?"

"Isn't it a difficult day?"

Literally speaking, today was a difficult day.

His heart, which had never beaten wildly except for when he drank dozens of cups of coffee, was pounding against his ribs.

He couldn't calm down.

Bernard grabbed the neck of the bottle with trembling hands and chugged it straight down.

Glug, glug, glug.

It was a whiskey that exceeded 60 percent alcohol by volume.

He felt the pain of his throat burning, but the bottle only left his lips after he had emptied half of the strong liquor.

"Thank you for saving me."

"There's no need for thanks."

"May I ask you one thing? This just... just won't leave my head, so I have to ask."

"Go ahead and speak."

"How... how did you know I would be in danger?"

How did I know, you ask.

It was the technology that the now-dead Thessalos Vulture had sung the praises of so much.

But when it was suddenly announced that the technology was flawed, he was more furious than anyone else.

That proper anger had made everything clear, and it made Thessalos Vulture realize.

["Bernard was not the Bernard from that time."]

But it was already too late by then.

He couldn't prove it, the technology was gone, and Bernard ended his life as the worst chancellor.

Anyway, Ferda recalled that memory, and thought about when the Chancellor would be in the most danger.

The moment he was in the most danger was, as expected, when he was returning to the city.

'I was lucky.'

Because the surveillance, which could have perhaps dragged on longer, was resolved quickly.

Ferda answered that question.

"I have ears to listen as well."

At those familiar-sounding words, Bernard let out a hollow laugh.

"Damn it, everyone seems to have their ways of hearing things, so why am I the only one who can't hear anything..."

"It is not just that. Didn't someone of the stature of a city's chancellor come without even bringing an army? Being exposed to danger was a foregone conclusion."

"Because it's not efficient."

"To nobles, efficiency is a stupid thing."

"You can say that again. Now that today has come, I'm feeling it to my bones. Those who said who would ever be happy to attack the Chancellor of Escolaia will taste hell starting today."

Bernard's face flushed bright red.

With anger and intoxication, he was letting go of his thread of reason.

"To think... that a Demon would be targeting me. To think that those Demons, whom you get mocked as a delusional patient just for mentioning, would appear before me..."

His eyes grew moist as if he would cry at any moment.

"Do not cry."

"Hk, hk, I'm sorry."

Ferda watched Bernard wipe his tears with a displeased expression.

"Anyway, you must have realized it through this. That Demons are vigilantly seeking to lead this continent down the path of destruction."

"Yes..."

"This continent must become entirely ours. Even if it doesn't become ours, it must not fall into the hands of the Demons."

"You are absolutely right."

"So I will make one proposal."

He reached out his hand to Bernard, who was intoxicated by alcohol and emotion.

"Please lend me that technology called the Demon appearance prediction device."

In an instant, Bernard's floating mind sank heavily.

"Lend it to you...?"

"I mean it literally. The blueprints and mechanisms to manufacture the monster appearance prediction device."

It was polite, but those words were tantamount to telling him to hand over everything.

As soon as he heard that demand, he understood it reflexively.

"Is that... how it is?"

Bernard asked with a trembling voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Attaching surveillance on me, waiting until I fell into danger, and."

His finger tapped the half-empty liquor bottle.

"Giving me this strong alcohol by the bottle—it was all your ulterior motive to obtain my technology, wasn't it?"

A cheap trick to shake him up and make him emotional.

He had probably hoped that Bernard would let go of even that single thread of reason hanging precariously on his pinky finger.

Ferda would deny it.

He would feign ignorance and try to argue, just as all nobles usually hid their intentions.

Bernard was picking out words to refute him, but there was no need to do so.

"That is correct."

Ferda admitted it meekly.

With his emotions flared up to the max, Bernard kicked his seat and stood up.

He raised his voice in indignation.

"To try and get what you want by making a struggling person emotional...! Have some shame, Regent of Valdrova!"

Unlike the raging Bernard, Ferda asked calmly.

"Why should I be ashamed?"

"Why should you be ashamed, you ask? Are you asking because you don't know?! Did you think you would win my favor by using a person's life like that!?"

"If I wanted your favor, I would have sweet-talked you. I would have charmed you with nonsensical words. But I don't care at all about your favor."

Where Ferda gestured with his eyes was Bernard's head.

"The reason I wanted you to live is purely because that technology is with you."

"You're saying I survived because I was useful?"

"You almost died because you knew that technology, so is it so surprising that you were saved because of that technology?"

He couldn't refute it.

Because he almost died for being useful, and he was saved because he was useful.

But that meant he was nothing besides that.

Bernard couldn't stand being treated as such a person.

"You...! You are not even human!"

He moved, pointing his finger that wobbled from his intoxication.

He stomped the soles of his feet against the floor and walked toward the door.

"If you leave this place, you will die."

Bernard's footsteps stopped.

Those words tinged with dreariness seemed to tie his feet like a snare.

"Are you threatening me right now?"

"No. I am simply stating a fact. If you wander around this late at night, you'll be eaten by monsters, not Demons."

"I would rather be eaten than stay in a place like this!"

Ferda put down his teacup and stood up from his seat.

"If that happens, everything you've built will collapse in vain."

Bernard's body flinched.

Those seemingly callous words were not Ferda's selfishness.

They were Bernard's own innermost thoughts.

"I heard that the one who attacked you mimicked you, Chancellor. What do you think he could do with the Chancellor's appearance?"

"..."

"He would quietly destroy the things only the Chancellor knows. The blueprints and records would have become a handful of ashes and scattered in the wind. As if... there was nothing there to begin with."

"..."

"What would happen next? What do you think a person wearing the face of an incompetent chancellor would do? He would sit at your desk and lie in your bed without permission. He would scribble with your pen and stamp your seal of approval everywhere. He would squander the budget to try and ruin you and the city."

"Uuugh..."

Bernard collapsed to the floor.

To Bernard, Escolaia and his research were his wife and son.

Imagining that wife and son being destroyed without his knowledge was horrifying.

"Hk, huhuhuhuk... "

Bernard finally burst into tears.

He curled up his body and trembled profusely.

He was isolated, and he was lonely.

"I am a person who declared that I would conquer the Land of Demons. Demons are my enemies, and they are a cockroach-like race that must disappear."

Ferda reached out his hand.

"To achieve that dream, I need that technology you have."

Bernard looked down at his hand.

The Ferda Valdrova he knew was a 3rd Circle mage.

However, his hands were covered in calluses, rather than being the soft hands typical of young masters from prestigious magical families.

He was a person from a knight family.

And he was a person who had once dreamed of being a knight.

That dream was frustrated, and he became the fiancé of the Grand Duchess.

Ironically, Bernard felt honor and trust from that palm.

"I will share the blueprints and mechanisms of the item I am manufacturing. In return..."

Bernard poked his own chest with a finger swaying from intoxication.

"This knowledge is entirely mine. Please make that point clear."

What Bernard was asserting was his copyright.

His warning was to not even try to take any credit for it.

Copyright was a scholar's pride and everything.

Therefore, it was nothing to Ferda.

"Your name will definitely go down in history."

* * *

Ferda headed to the Concillus territory with Chancellor Bernard.

When Bernard returned to Escolaia, Arwen planned to treat him to the fullest before escorting him.

"How does the Chancellor seem?"

Ferda asked Count Concillus, who was sitting opposite him.

"The priests say the shock was so great that he needs to rest for another day. After all, those types who usually die from high blood pressure or heart attacks almost died at someone else's hands for the first time."

"Is that so?"

"More than that, his body is ruined because he drank too much alcohol so suddenly. As if he had been binge drinking somewhere..."

"I gave it to him. That alcohol you gifted me."

"You gave it to him by the bottle?"

"He emptied half of it right on the spot."

"Why would you do such a barbaric thing..."

"Because it's painful."

Ferda sipped his tea.

"I gave it to him because it must be painfully agonizing enough to die."

"It's a wonder he really didn't die."

"It's good that he's resting, but send him to Escolaia as quickly as possible. I have items I need to receive from him."

"I will tell Arwen."

Concillus had a bewildered expression.

He recalled the fact that he had seen something surprising just a few hours ago when Ferda's carriage entered his castle.

"By the way, I feel like I've seen thousands of monsters in my life, but I think... this is my first time seeing a Demon."

"There's no need to be surprised. Since I haven't seen one before either."

"Above all, this is the first time there is a Demon that mimics humans."

Demons have three prominent characteristics.

Pointy teeth, red eyes, and black skin.

"I think he might have confused it with a doppelganger."

"A doppelganger."

"If it has no form and mimics that appearance and voice, it can only be a doppelganger. Chancellor Bernard must have been confused and distracted."

"You're saying he could have been mistaken."

"Yes."

It was a valid point.

Ferda thought carefully after hearing those words.

"Do you know the difference between a doppelganger and the original human?"

"Because they mimic the outward appearance, they cannot mimic what is under the clothes. So you strip off their clothes to check."

"That's right. However, they say this guy identically replicated everything even on the inside. Even the genitals."

"Checked even the genitals...?"

"If you do it sloppily, you'll suffer big time."

"You're right. In any case, if even the genitals are exactly the same, it's no different from a clone rather than a mimicry."

"It wasn't just that. I felt the exact same mana from him as Chancellor Bernard's. He didn't mimic Bernard, but effectively became Bernard himself."

"If he became Bernard himself... it must have been hard to distinguish. Sir Zed seems to have an excellent eye."

"He was lucky."

He was thankful that Bernard was bald, and once more thankful that he went around keeping that head so smoothly groomed.

"So, are you holding that doppelganger Demon bastard well?"

"Yes. We securely fastened his restraints, and I ordered the executioner to torture him."

"Is he still doing it?"

"Yes."

"How many hours has it been?"

"Since he started as soon as we arrived, it should have been about four hours."

Ferda placed his index finger on his chin.

"How long do you think it will take to extract information?"

"He's a skilled technician. If you give him two days..."

"For my temper, even one day is too long."

"I will tell him to do his best."

"No."

Ferda stood up from his seat.

"Although I am quick-tempered, causing a scene when there is a solution is not efficient."

"Does that mean you will torture him yourself?"

"I have quite a bit of expertise in that area as well."

A noble said he had expertise in torture.

However, it wasn't surprising.

Because Ferda was someone who had killed Thessalos Vulture without batting an eye.

"May I use the alchemy workshop for a bit?"

"Yes. However, the ingredients for poison aren't sufficient, will that be alright?"

"It's fine. What I'm making isn't poison anyway."

"Ah, if that's the case, it's fine to use it..."

Ferda walked toward the workshop, and Concillus watched him from behind.

'If it's not poison, just what kind of drug is he making... Hmm?'

His thoughts were swallowed by his doubts.

What he saw in his eyes was Ferda's retreating back.

He saw something wriggling and moving on his back clothed in black.

"I must be getting old to be seeing all sorts of illusions."

Concillus rubbed his eyes and stood up from his seat as if it were nothing.

* * *

The deep underground prison of Count Concillus's castle.

The executioner was fulfilling his duties while wearing a black hood.

The man with Chancellor Bernard's appearance was hanging there in a miserable state.

With his tendons severed on a torture rack made of steel, he wouldn't be able to escape easily even if he had the physical strength of a knight.

An unexpected honored guest walked inside this place where no one came except for the executioner and the prisoner.

"I greet the Regent of Valdrova."

"May I see your handiwork for a moment?"

"Yes, you may."

The executioner stepped back, and Ferda walked over.

His appearance was nothing short of miserable.

His face was swollen, and his body was covered in blood bruises.

"Impressive."

Ferda muttered.

"Your skill in inflicting pain just short of killing him is incredible."

"... You flatter me."

The executioner was flustered by a compliment he was hearing for the first time in his life.

This zone was truly an unpleasant area that was close to hell.

To casually walk into such a place and spit out the word 'impressive' of all things.

"You can finish your role here."

"I haven't obtained the information yet, but..."

"I will do it with my own hands. Here is your payment for the trouble."

Ferda handed the executioner three gold coins.

He was dumbfounded by the sudden large sum of money, but what he needed to do was clear.

The executioner left, and Ferda dragged a chair over to look up at the tied-up man.

He had his head dropped with his eyes gently closed.

"I know you are still conscious. Since you've become a Demon, shouldn't you stop living pretending to be a frail human?"

At that, the man with his head drooping lifted his head.

Unlike his heavily swollen face, the light in his eyes had not died out.

A gleam of interest began to swirl in Ferda's eyes.