Chapter 172 - A Favor Breeds Disaster

The moment Penelope saw her face, she froze.

The Aspect of Fire and Aspect of Strength.

When she had seen the dragon from afar, she had seemed wild and overflowing with fierce, overbearing presence.

Even when she approached while wearing a mask, that impression had remained strong.

But the instant she saw her face, Penelope had no choice but to admit she had judged her completely wrong.

Her slightly drooping eyes radiated nothing but innocence and purity.

Her lips held the fresh charm of a maiden untouched.

Her entire demeanor was calm, soothing, and put others at ease.

Perhaps because of that, Penelope's frozen gaze naturally began to wander, taking in her graceful, feminine figure.

If she had to compare it to something, Valdrova was like the season's first snowfall blanketing the earth.

And Penelope suddenly felt the irresistible urge to leave her muddy footprints upon that pristine snow.

That was close.

I almost swallowed my spit without thinking.

"Y-You don't like it...?"

"Huh? O-Oh! Not at all!"

Penelope quickly hid the lecherous look in her eyes and resumed flattering her.

"You're simply so beautiful that this humble one was completely mesmerized! Hahaha!"

"Beautiful?"

"Oh, absolutely!"

Penelope's eyes sparkled as she spoke passionately.

"When I first realized you were a dragon, I trembled in fear. But once I looked into your Dragon Eyes, your beauty stopped my trembling entirely! I finally understood how a moth feels when it flies into a flame!"

"It's not because I look... kind of dumb... or anything?"

"Dumb? Never! Men go crazy for a woman who gives off such pure and innocent maidenly charm!"

"I-I see..."

Though Penelope's speech was rather crude, Valdrova interpreted it only as praise.

"I see. There's... someone who doesn't really like it when I make this expression..."

"W-What?! Which venomous snake of a woman dared say such a thing? If anyone insults the one and only immortal Red Dragon, Lady Valdrova, then I, Penelope, shall gladly deliver the hammer of justice upon them!"

"It was Luri..."

"Luri, huh! That damned woman... Wait... Luri is your Attendant, isn't she?"

"Mm. That's right."

"..."

Penelope's dramatic pose of swinging the hammer instantly became much more restrained.

Seeing that, Valdrova realized Penelope knew Luri.

"You know Luri?"

"Y-Yes... We have a bit of unpleasant history."

"Really?"

"I wander around the castle whenever I feel like it, and every now and then she comes to warn me."

"What kind of warning?"

"You're just a demon. Don't wander around wherever you please. This isn't your own home."

"That's basically what she says."

"I see."

"Honestly, don't you think it's ridiculous? I only wandered through a few places in this huge castle, and she starts saying she'll fold my spine in half."

"That does sound a bit harsh."

"And then later she literally folds my spine in half!"

"...Really?"

"Three times!"

"I-I see... That was... a bit much..."

"You think so too, Grand Duchess? Even I think it's ridiculous..."

Penelope chattered on endlessly.

Even though Valdrova knew Penelope had been the one at fault, she quietly listened.

At the same time, she found herself feeling something strange.

What is this...?

This moment...was incredibly comfortable.

Conversation had always been difficult for her.

The men she had met while disguised as an Armored Knight...

Luri, who had stayed by her side the longest...

Even Ferda, who made her heart race so much...

They had all been difficult people for her to talk to.

But Penelope was different.

No matter what she said, Penelope spoke without hesitation or awkwardness.

And above all...

She was so utterly insignificant that talking to her somehow became enjoyable.

Only then did Valdrova realize what she had truly wanted when she had called Penelope over.

"Um..."

"Yes!"

"Would... you like to be friends with me?"

"...Huh?"

Penelope blinked blankly.

What did she just say?

Become friends?

What kind of sweet trap is this?

Is this one of those tests where, the moment I accept, she says, 'Fooled you,' and kills me?

As Penelope stood there dumbfounded, Valdrova carefully asked,

"...You don't... want to be friends?"

No...

This isn't a test.

Just look at that expression.

She looked as shy as a maiden on her wedding night.

To think she was teasing her would be insulting.

"F-Friends... S-Sure?"

She forced out the answer despite her uncertainty.

Valdrova's eyes widened.

"R-Really?"

"Y-You're the one who asked..."

Penelope wondered if she'd just stepped on a landmine.

"Ah! Right! I did! Yes!!"

The anxiety vanished from Valdrova's face, replaced by a brilliant smile.

She clenched both fists tightly and bounced with excitement.

"So starting today... we're friends?!"

"Y-Yes..."

Penelope couldn't understand her reaction.

Was becoming friends really something worth celebrating that much?

Especially with a pitiful third-rate demon like herself.

A dragon... becoming friends with me...

No sane dragon would ever make such an offer...

...Wait.

Suddenly, Penelope's perspective changed.

Isn't this... actually incredible?

A dragon's friend.

What demon could claim friendship with the dragons, the ancient rulers of the Cerdes Continent?

Not even the Seven Great Demons of Hell had accomplished such a thing.

She, who had been treated as a third-rate demon back home, was now becoming friends with a dragon inside Dragon Castle.

Maybe...

Penelope's eyes sparkled.

"I might actually be able to overthrow Mother and become a Great Demon!"

They say that dreaming beyond one's station invites disaster.

Yet Penelope never realized that the gleam in her eyes was the ominous light of a calamity foretold.

"So that's what happened..."

"..."

"She said that, as a favor from a friend, she wanted to help Mr. Ferda stand a little taller in front of others. She couldn't do much herself, but since appearances mattered, she asked me to help make it look that way..."

Now Ferda understood why he had mistaken Penelope.

The clothes were Valdrova's.

The thread had been woven from scales imbued with her aura.

It was more than enough to conceal Penelope's demonic aura and make anyone mistake her for a dragon.

"..."

Countless thoughts swirled through Ferda's mind.

His thoughts had become such a tangled mess that they were effectively blank.

Unable to say anything—

"...I see."

A realization suddenly struck him.

"So..."

"...You were the one who taught Her that vulgar phrase?"

"H-Huh? W-What phrase?"

"The expression 'it turns me on.' Were you the one who taught Her that?"

"Huh? Me teaching her something like—"

"When it comes to men, hearing that you 'turn them on' is the greatest compliment."

"I see. But what does 'turn them on' mean?"

"You don't know? Of course it's the highest compliment a man can give a woman!"

"...I did, didn't I?"

Penelope scratched her head awkwardly.

The moment Ferda heard that answer, tears streamed down his face.

Since they flowed from his eyes, they could only be tears—

Yet they weren't clear.

They were crimson.

Ferda was crying tears of blood.

His mind felt as though the Seven Calamities themselves were rampaging through it.

He was genuinely happy that Valdrova had finally found a friend she could open her heart to.

But that joy was matched by an equal measure of rage and despair—

Because this was the friend she had found.

His Shadow Circle shook violently.

Ferda's lips parted.

"Y-You..."

"You?"

"I'll kill you, child of Sitri... Penelope!"

"Ghk!"

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Ferda grabbed Penelope by the throat.

She couldn't resist at all.

"Lord Ferda, stop."

Luri finally spoke.

"If someone's going to kill her, wait your turn. If anyone kills her, it'll be me first!"

Her tiny hands reached for Penelope's throat as well.

Luri, too, was crying tears of blood.

Ever since Valdrova had introduced Penelope as her friend, Luri had been biting her lip so hard that blood had been dripping down.

Penelope instinctively realized—

If I don't fight back now... I'm really going to die!

Somehow prying herself free from the two of them, she shouted,

"Time out! Stop! Regent, would you at least hear me out?!"

"If you offer me your neck now, I'll make it painless."

"N-No! Just listen! Isn't it better to keep me around as Lady Valdrova's friend?"

"That statement alone ensures you'll die even more painfully."

The situation continued to escalate.

Still, Penelope pressed on.

"Lady Valdrova already considers me her friend, you know?"

"I'll kill you."

Ferda's killing intent only grew stronger.

"You know... Lady Valdrova is always wondering how she can make a better impression on you."

Ferda's hand froze for just a moment.

Sensing the hesitation, Penelope seized the opportunity.

"In that respect, I'm one of the very few people who can help the two of you truly understand each other's feelings!"

"...For example?"

"F-For example..."

She leaned close and whispered into Ferda's ear.

"What if that beautiful lady with crimson hair wore a daring outfit that showed off her dynamite figure?"

"..."

"Or perhaps a sheer dress made from thin curtains so that her figure was faintly visible..."

"..."

"If you keep me as her friend, you'll get to see Lady Valdrova's feminine sensuality in all its glory."

Ferda fell completely silent.

Before he could fully indulge the fantasy— 1

"What exactly are you sitting there thinking so hard about?"

Luri glared at him with murderous eyes.

Ferda snapped back to reality.

"I wasn't thinking." 2

"Really? Because judging by your face, you were imagining Lady Valdrova in something extremely indecent."

"...I wasn't."

Had she asked even a moment later, he might have admitted it.

Even Ferda found himself slightly shocked.

Not even the Great Demon, Sitri, had managed to tempt him.

Yet this hopeless third-rate demon had nearly succeeded.

It must be because of Sitri's Life Vessel.

Its power is truly terrifying.

"The moment I see Lady Valdrova wearing anything that demon suggested, not only will I kill that demon..."

"...I'll gouge out your eyes too, Lord Ferda."

"If She chooses to wear it herself, you have no right to—" 1

"...What did you just say?"

Ferda immediately shut his mouth.

Luri's two index fingers were waiting ominously for his eyes.

For the rest of the carriage ride, Luri's murderous glare never left Ferda.

And thanks to that...

Penelope managed to survive.

***

After Ferda departed, the Imperial Capital remained in turmoil.

There were two followers of the Demon Race within the Empire.

Worse yet, those two people occupied the highest positions in the Empire itself.

For agitators seeking a place within the Empire, it was the perfect opportunity.

The nobles could no longer lounge comfortably on their sofas.

The Empire's security forces were working day and night without rest.

"I heard you visited the Dvelung estate."

"I did."

"How was it?"

Despite his rank, the Dvelung estate had always been famous for its immense size.

It symbolized the family's long history and prestige and had long been an object of admiration.

But that had only been true until yesterday.

The symbol of wealth and power had become a cursed mansion stained with hideous desires.

"It smelled rotten from the moment I stepped inside. Just what you'd expect from a place where one of those bastards from the Demon Race lived. Even the paintings had terrible taste."

"So they really burned the whole estate down?"

"What choice was there? Grand Duke Valdemar Golt made the decision to save the nation. They're burning it down and building new structures on the site."

"They say you can't trust anyone..."

"The Grand Duke must be devastated."

Valdemar Golt, the Hero of the Masses.

His reputation was so great that insulting his name in a tavern, even as a joke, would likely earn someone a beating.

Everyone sympathized with Valdemar while cursing Dvelung, the servant of the Demon Race.

"I heard they rescued a girl from that demon bastard."

"She's recovering in the infirmary. She was so drugged that it took five priests working together just to cure her full-body paralysis."

"Really?"

"According to the records, she'd been imprisoned for three whole years."

"Is that so surprising?"

"It is. Among the captives was even a former Imperial Knight, but he died in less than three months. Yet that woman survived for three years."

When selecting members of the Imperial Knights, every quality was carefully examined.

But there was one thing on which they never compromised—

Mental fortitude.

Even a first-rate swordsman would be rejected if his will was weak.

"So Dvelung went easy on her because she was a woman?"

"Not at all. She survived everything that had killed everyone else within a month."

"So she endured all that for three years..."

"It almost sounds like they were creating an assassin for some secret organization. You know, the kind where only people who survive horrific torture get selected."

"What nonsense are you talking..."

The captain's voice trailed off.

For some reason, those words stirred a forgotten memory.

"...Do you happen to have a portrait of that woman?"

"We actually had a sketch artist draw one while trying to identify her."

A guard handed the captain the freshly drawn portrait.

The captain's already grim expression gradually lost all color.

"...Wait."

He hurriedly searched through a drawer.

Not the one containing missing-person posters—

The drawer containing wanted criminals.

His fingers quickly found a sheet buried deep within.

"...Damn it."

His face turned deathly pale.

"Captain?"

"That damned pig actually kept someone this dangerous alive all this time!"

The guards looked at one another in confusion.

"Bring a Grade-One Mana Restriction shackle and head to the infirmary immediately! We have to restrain that woman!"

"W-What exactly is she—"

"Stop talking and move!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Startled by their captain's unusual behavior, the guards grabbed the restraints and followed him.

They ran without stopping to catch their breath.

But by the time they reached the recovery room...

Only traces of the woman remained.

"Sound a Level-One Alert immediately!"

"A Level-One Alert?"

"Mobilize every guard and every soldier! Lock down the entire Empire!"

"Captain, before we can issue that alert, we need to know the reason."

Only then did the frantic captain regain a measure of composure.

"...Sierra."

"Sierra?"

Sierra.

The moment those three syllables left his lips, everyone understood how serious the situation was.

"Announce that..."

"...The Wolf of Sierra has escaped."