I Married the Dragon I Killed [Novel] Chapter 251

Chapter 251: The Incompetent Warrior

Luri knew exactly what she had done.

She had trespassed into their territory, ignored the warnings of the sentries, and pushed deep inside.

Now every soldier in the fortress would turn against her.

Now she would have to fight them.

In the past, she would undoubtedly have hesitated again and again.

But Luri’s steps did not stop.

All she could see in her mind was the man that the human named Hudret had hurriedly carried back on his back.

A foolish, fragile human body.

She had always known that a man who committed reckless acts with a body like that would eventually end up in danger.

Knowing it and actually seeing it happen were two completely different things.

The moment she saw that everything below his right wrist had been brutally torn away, Luri’s thoughts seemed to stop.

True to her epithet of Wind, she moved immediately and administered first aid.

She summoned healing winds and mended every minor wound she could find.

But there was one thing she could not restore.

His severed right hand.

She squeezed out every last scrap of mana in her body, prepared to give up her life if that was what it took.

She poured it in again and again, with the stubborn belief that if something was impossible, she would simply force it to become possible.

But no amount of desperation could summon a miracle.

Luri was a warrior, not a mage.

After dozens of failed attempts, she finally stopped the bleeding from the stump where his right hand had been.

Then she sat quietly beside the man once he had stabilized.

Time passed.

Her mind was as blank as a white sheet of paper, yet every passing second felt like someone hammering a stake deeper into her chest.

Only after time dulled the pain enough for thought to return did a single word rise first.

‘Failed.’

As more time passed, the thought became a longer sentence.

‘I failed again.’

It had been like this ever since Ferda arrived.

Every time she tried to do something, she was reminded that she was nothing more than an ignorant, immature child.

The mistakes she had made at Heinkel Castle kept circling in her mind.

Her situation could be summarized in one word.

‘Incompetent.’

Without magic, Luri was incompetent.

She was a warrior who had killed countless demons and monsters, yet she had failed to protect the person she was supposed to protect.

Luri hated incompetence.

The incompetent could not survive.

What did she need to do to stop being incompetent?

The current Luri could not find the answer.

That was why she had set foot in the north again.

Through the raging blizzard, a shape gradually entered her sight.

Eisenfels, the stronghold of Silverwind.

Luri looked up at the fortress with dry eyes.

‘Fight my family…’

One more step and the attacks would begin.

It was not something she wanted.

Yet she did not tremble.

She had already made her decision.

If anyone stood in her way, this axe would return stained with red blood.

Luri stepped forward and entered their range.

But no attack came.

The axe held tightly in both hands hovered uselessly in the air.

Thinking perhaps they were waiting, she took several more steps.

Still, there was no sign of anyone attacking.

It was strange.

Without lowering her guard, Luri continued forward.

No one attacked her even when she reached the fortress gate.

The figures who seemed to be gate guards did not show hostility.

If anything, they looked tense when they saw her.

“Are you Senior Luri Silverwind, former commander of the Special Mobile Brigade Silverwing, the warrior once called the Bladed Wind…?”

The guard asked politely.

He sounded so awkward saying the word ‘Senior’ that his expression showed a trace of worry that he might come across as disrespectful.

Luri did not care.

“I was, once.”

“Please forgive the thoughtlessness of a junior who failed to recognize you. Your achievements are widely known among us younger generations, but very few have actually seen your face, so…”

“Spare me the pointless chatter.”

Luri’s voice was murderous.

“Since when did the children of Silverwind solve things through conversation?”

With killing intent radiating from her, cold sweat appeared on the guards’ faces.

Despite the freezing wind, the sweat rolled down their cheeks without time to cool.

The guards said nothing more and simply followed the orders they had been given.

They opened the gate.

Rather than drive away the intruder, they welcomed her inside.

And that was not all.

Every person of Silverwind stood along the path she was to walk, weapons laid on the ground, one knee lowered.

They looked as though they were paying respect to a hero returning home.

The young maid-clad Dragon Spawn might not know her personally, but they knew the name Luri, the Bladed Wind.

She was one of the reasons the Mobile Brigade had been founded and a legend who had received Silverwind’s favor.

As juniors, they believed they owed her respect.

Luri found the feeling strangely unsettling.

She remembered Goz’s final words.

He had told her there would be no home for her to return to.

There was no way he would arrange an honor like this.

Perhaps that was why her heart instead became calmer.

Thinking of this place not as home, but as a battlefield where she might die, made it easier.

* * *

When Luri entered the inner keep of Eisenfels, she saw a familiar old face.

Lance Silverwind, the Dragon Spawn who had survived at Silverwind’s side longer than anyone else.

“Luri…”

“It has been a long time, Lance.”

“I heard what happened. From Goz, and from Percival as well…”

“…”

“The Chief is waiting for you.”

He stepped aside.

Luri gave him a slight bow and continued forward.

She followed the long carpet until Silverwind’s audience chamber came into view.

The doors opened.

Her father’s seat.

The place where Silverwind had once sat.

Now it belonged to Goz.

The moment Luri took in Goz’s enormous form, her cheeks felt cold and stinging.

It was as though dozens of blades had brushed across her body.

She walked along the carpet and stopped before him.

“So you’ve come.”

Goz did not even look at her.

“Did I not tell you clearly? There is no home here for you to return to.”

“You did.”

“Then why have you shamelessly set foot here again?”

“I did not come because I consider this my home.”

“…Of course you didn’t.”

Goz set down his cup.

As the silence stretched, Luri’s heartbeat grew louder.

“I heard you fought as a warrior in the Kingdom of Heinkel.”

“…Yes.”

“Your achievements are certainly worthy of pride as one who carries Silverwind’s blood. I imagine you were proud of yourself.”

Pride.

How often had Goz ever spoken such words?

In the past, she would have been overjoyed to hear that he acknowledged her.

“I am an incompetent warrior.”

Luri spoke.

“In that battle, I nearly lost the woman who will become my master’s consort.”

“…”

“And more.”

Goz’s brow furrowed, clearly displeased.

“So you ran away?”

“No. As I said, I did not return here seeking a home.”

“Then why?”

“I need power.”

Luri stared directly at Goz.

“The power you possess, Lord Goz…”

Silverwind’s Essence.

The immense power called the very essence of a dragon.

The atmosphere froze.

“How many times did you think before deciding to say those words?”

“Since the moment Lord Ferda lost his right hand.”

“So after long thought, you arrived at the worst possible move…”

Goz rose from the throne.

The light behind his massive frame vanished beneath the deep shadow that fell over Luri.

“It is not the wrong move. A hunger for power is a virtue in a warrior.”

Luri did not flinch.

“Yes. The hunger for power is certainly one of the virtues a warrior should possess.”

Goz slowly nodded and looked down into Luri’s eyes.

“But watching you use that as an excuse is pathetic, child.”

His silver eyes gleamed ominously.

Cold, yet burning at the same time.

“Father’s power is not a tool for hiding your weakness. You know that, don’t you?”

“…”

“You cannot defeat me. Which means this is nothing more than you admitting you lack the courage to end your own life, so you’ve come asking me to kill you instead.”

Goz was furious.

It was the greatest anger Luri had ever seen from him.

“Do you have no regrets about your choice?”

He sounded like an executioner asking a condemned prisoner for their final words.

Luri thought.

A fight would begin.

She would die to Goz.

Yet strangely…

Even with the man she had feared so much radiating murderous intent,

Even while he used the power of her father, Silverwind, to crush her beneath its presence,

She was not afraid.

Luri knew why.

“No.”

Luri had already died.

A corpse had nothing left to fear.

“Whether I defeat you, or whether I die, we will settle this today.”

Luri raised her axe.

* * *

The next day, in Ferda’s office.

“Let’s have a conversation between men.”

The knight Zed Swallow stood before Ferda, eyes shining with interest.

“…What conversation?”

“A man’s conversation.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“What else? You’ve finally become a true man, haven’t you?”

“…?”

He was making less and less sense.

When Ferda stared at him blankly, Zed put on his usual greasy expression and elaborated.

“Yesterday, Regent, you met Her Highness Baldrova in the game room, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“And you stayed together all night?”

“Yes.”

“You looked at the moon together, whispered sweet words of love, and stayed together until sunrise, right?”

Ferda finally understood roughly where this was going.

“That is correct.”

“Then you’ve finally taken that first step into adulthood. That’s what I came to discuss.”

Now Ferda understood exactly what he meant.

“I have a good idea what you’re imagining, but nothing like that happened.”

“Come now, there’s no need to be embarrassed. We’re both men. Surely you can tell me about something like that.”

“Do I look embarrassed?”

Ferda raised his face with an annoyed expression.

Zed studied it carefully, and his own excitement gradually withered.

Only then did he realize Ferda was telling the truth.

“Uh…”

Zed tilted his head as if unable to understand, then asked,

“You’re… nineteen this year, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“Huh… A nineteen-year-old man, alone with a woman…”

Zed remembered himself at nineteen.

Even now, sparks seemed to fly whenever he locked eyes with a woman. At nineteen, it had been more like he fired beams from his eyes.

Having lived through that stage himself, he simply could not understand Ferda.

‘Considering the atmosphere he gives off all the time, I suppose it isn’t completely impossible…’

Ferda carried a gravity that did not match his age.

Despite being much younger than Zed, he sometimes felt like facing a middle-aged man.

‘But the way he looks at Her Highness is exactly his age.’

He had long since passed the childish stage where liking someone meant teasing them, and he was squarely in the fresh adolescent stage of discovering attraction to the opposite sex.

Several times, Zed had caught glimpses of the hot-blooded impulse of a young man struggling to stop himself from simply acting on desire.

Ferda was an unusual man who somehow contained both a teenager and a middle-aged adult at once.

“…Huh.”

Zed let out another meaningless laugh.

“Anything else to say?”

“Uh… probably not.”

“Then leave.”

In truth, Zed had a great many questions.

He simply kept quiet because most of them would have crossed into outright rudeness.

He possessed at least that much tact.

“Kiyoooooot!”

At that moment, a completely tactless demon burst into the office.

“I greet the magnificent Regent Ferda, partner of the great Aspect of Fire!”

She rolled her tongue so excessively that the greeting became vulgar rather than grand.

Penelope’s eyes gleamed with lecherous hunger.

Ferda felt he had seen that exact look somewhere before.

It resembled the one Zed had worn when he entered.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing much. I received a report that you spent no less than fourteen hours together with Her Highness Baldrova last night and even skipped the banquet prepared in your honor. I have therefore come to inquire about what transpired. Before questioning Her Highness directly, I am collecting material for cross-verification, so I ask for your enthusiastic cooperation. Hehehehehe…!”

Drool practically hung from her mouth.

Ferda looked at her with utter contempt.

“Nothing you are imagining happened.”

“…My, how can you say that when you don’t even know what I’m imagining?”

“…”

“…Seriously, nothing happened?”

Penelope glanced at Zed.

Zed silently shook his head.

“N-No way…!!”

Penelope looked genuinely devastated.

“Wh… Wh…”

Her trembling voice returned.

“Why didn’t you pounce on her!?”

Has she lost her mind?

Zed’s jaw dropped.

Ferda froze.

Penelope did not close the gates of catastrophe.

“How does that make any sense?! A fully grown adult man! Alone with the woman he loves, and nothing happens?! That’s like sitting down before a feast, eating one leaf of lettuce, then saying you’re full and telling everyone to clear the table! It’s ridiculous!”

Strangely, Ferda should have become furious at such shameless rudeness.

Instead, his mind grew calm.

He found himself wondering just how far this lunatic intended to go.

“Her Highness and I are engaged. We have promised one another marriage. It is important that we slowly build our time together.”

“Why are you talking like some hopelessly old-fashioned scholar? That’s not the trend among young people these days! You do it first and think later! Physical affection before emotional affection!”

Ferda answered calmly, though irritation showed on his face.

“Her Highness is a pure and chaste woman. Do not bring your ridiculous trends into this.”

“Then are you saying it was pure coincidence that Lady Baldrova expressed interest in sexy lingerie?!”

Ferda’s body twitched.

Before he could speak, Zed cut in.

“She said she’s interested?”

“Of course not. She was curious because she didn’t know what lingerie was. I told her it was something you use when eating, and she said that if it was delicious she’d like to try eating it someday. She looked exactly like some innocent village maiden, pfft! I surrender! I surrender! I’ll never mouth off again!!”

Ferda wrapped a shadow around Penelope’s throat and strangled her on the spot.

He felt like blood tears might stream from his eyes.

Why, of all people, did this creature have to be Baldrova’s friend?

Why, of all people, did she have to possess the Life Vessel of the Archdemon Sitri?

If not for that, they would never have needed to meet, and Ferda would have had no reason to keep her alive.

He lamented his miserable fate.

After inflicting a suitable amount of suffering, he released her.

“If all you have are pointless remarks, leave. Whatever you two imagine, I have no reason to engage in filthy acts with my fiancée right now.”

“Actually, I can argue with that.”

Once Penelope’s mouth was finally shut, Zed opened his instead.

“Like Pepe, I mean Penelope, said, what if Her Highness Baldrova wants it?”

“She does not.”

“How can you be so certain? A woman’s heart isn’t that simple. Even I still don’t understand it, and I’ve seduced dozens.”

“Is that supposed to be a boast?”

“No. I’m saying you shouldn’t confidently assume you know exactly what Her Highness wants.”

“…”

Zed began giving advice in a smug tone.

“People who’ve lived under repression often don’t know how to express their desires properly. Even saying they dislike something can actually mean they’re embarrassed and hesitant.”

“Hmm…”

“If both of you practice revealing your true feelings a little at a time, you’ll become more honest about what you want. And when that happens… well.”

Zed raised his thumb with a deeply suggestive expression.

A skirt-chaser and a lust-crazed demon were both telling him to make a more aggressive physical approach.

Normally, ignoring them would have been the obvious response.

Yet Ferda began seriously considering their words.

‘I am not Baldrova.’

Even if he understood her feelings to some extent, he could not claim to understand everything.

‘She says simply being together is enough…’

But that was not true for Ferda.

He enjoyed talking with Baldrova.

Yet a single second of their hands touching meant more to him than a hundred exchanged words over several minutes.

Yesterday, Ferda had honestly confessed his desires to her.

He had told her things he had kept inside because he feared she might be hurt or that things might become awkward.

And what had happened?

He had finally been able to look directly at Baldrova’s face.

He had touched with his own palm the face he had only ever imagined touching.

‘And she touched my face too.’

He remembered the places her hand had touched.

Baldrova had followed the path Ferda’s hand had taken across her own face.

Even the way she stopped just before his lips had been the same.

Perhaps…

Maybe she wanted the same thing.

If they both wanted the same thing, then perhaps it really was all right.

Just as Zed’s persuasion was nearly working…

#@%#@$!@$!!!

“Good heavens!”

A tremendous shout suddenly erupted in the distance.

Penelope, now tucked into Zed’s arms, trembled dramatically.

“W-What is that?! A monster? A new species?! Whatever it is, I’m hiding in my lair first!”

It was not a monster.

The cry lacked the uniquely unpleasant quality of a monster’s roar.

This was unmistakably the shout of a human coming from the west.

Ferda turned toward the source of the roar that nearly shattered the windows.

After using detection and magnification magic, he identified the source precisely.

Once Ferda saw who it was, he said,

“…Your argument just collapsed.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Ferda gestured toward the area below Hestia Village.

Zed followed his gaze and saw it too.

At the village gate stood a woman mounted on a white horse.

She was a loyal knight of King Hudret.

A Sword Master, a female general known as the Bankruptcy Knight.

She was shouting,

“ZED SWALLOWWWW!! TAKE RESPONSIBILITYYYYY!!”

The roar sent a chill down the spine.