Chapter 1 – Gambling Failure? Success? (Part 7)

Since their conversation in the carriage, Ellerdin had remained silent and withdrawn. 

He wondered if she had something to say, but seeing her with her head down, it didn’t seem like it. 

After thinking for a while, Fernan reached a conclusion and looked at her with a surprised expression. 

‘Could she be waiting for me?’ 

The thought that she was waiting for him to finish his meal touched him deeply. 

‘Is this what being a couple means?’ 

But he couldn’t just sit there admiring her. 

Waiting without enjoying a delicious meal together was only uncomfortable. 

Clearing his throat, Fernan spoke. 

“Thank you for waiting. I’ve finished my meal, so you can go up and rest now.” 

At his words, Ellerdin cautiously stood up and gave a short bow. 

She tried to appear calm, but her footsteps sounded hurried. 

After she left the dining room, Fernan quietly called out. 

“Mollek, Nisroch.” 

At his call, the chef Nisroch and a weary Mollek appeared before him. 

“Did you handle it?” 

“Looks like Girtin came by during the night.” 

At Mollek’s words, Fernan frowned. 

Of all times, it had to come when he was in hibernation. 

‘Surely they didn’t meet, right?’

Girtin was a monster that lured people. 

Anyone who encountered it would end up in its forest, one way or another. 

‘Girtin coming here? If it, which usually stayed in one habitat, came all the way here…’

‘Was it out of simple curiosity, or was my wife not an ordinary human?’

“We need to set up guards. Pick those who live well in this world. About fifteen should do.” 

Fernan said as he stood up. 

Mollek, who had wandered through the Grand Duchy all night, sighed with a tired expression. 

He seemed displeased with the additional task, having no time to rest. 

“And it seems my wife doesn’t like the food here, so prepare various types of dishes.” 

The short chef, Nisroch, nodded. 

“But, master.” 

At Nisroch’s words, Fernan raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue. 

“Doesn’t Madam need a human maid?” 

At his question, Mollek asked anxiously. 

“Wh-who? Surely you don’t mean, t-that one?” 

Nisroch glanced at him and slowly opened his mouth. 

“Why… that… the old witch-“

“Aaaah! Absolutely not!”  

Mollek screamed as he clung to Fernan’s pant leg.  

“Anyone but that human!”  

Mollek threw himself on the ground and started throwing a tantrum.  

However, Nisroch, perhaps feeling the need for a human maid from Mollek’s attitude, continued speaking with a determined expression.  

“She’s the only human we have a connection with. Couldn’t she help Madam?”  

As Fernan nodded slightly and pondered, Mollek jumped up and shouted.  

“No! No way! Master! She must not come here! She’s a woman who picks fights over everything. It would be better if the old witch came. But the problem is her granddaughter. You’ve seen how much she torments me!”  

Mollek shouted with a pale face. But Fernan, having already made up his mind, looked down at him silently.  

“If you have the energy to throw a tantrum, go find some guards. I’ll go to Leston.”  

Leston was the name of the old witch Mollek mentioned.  

Realizing that throwing a tantrum wouldn’t work, Mollek stood up dejectedly.  

If he couldn’t avoid it, it was better to rest a little more.  

He staggered out of the dining room.  

***  

Knock, knock.  

At the sound of knocking, Ellerdin, who had just finished her shower, cautiously opened the door.  

“Mollek?”  

She looked up in surprise at the large body blocking her view as soon as she opened the door.  

Suppressing her surprise at meeting his red eyes, Ellerdin asked.  

“Duke? What brings you here…?”  

‘Was he going to reprimand me for what happened in the dining room?’  

“I have to go somewhere for a while. I’ll be back soon. If you need anything, just tell Mollek.”  

“Oh… okay.”  

As Ellerdin opened the door wide to see him off, Fernan held the door.  

“You don’t need to come out. Since it’s a new place, please rest comfortably for now.”  

“…Yes… Thank you. Have a good trip.”  

Ellerdin scratched her neck, pretending to adjust her clothes.  

She felt strange.  

Maybe it was because it was the first time someone had spoken so kindly to her, or perhaps it was his considerate attitude towards even the smallest things. Her heart felt strangely ticklish.  

She didn’t know why she felt this way.  

Fernan nodded lightly and went down the stairs.  

“Hmm…”  

Fernan scratched his cheek awkwardly.  

He had debated whether to say it or not, but seeing her reaction, he thought it was good that he did.  

For some reason, he kept thinking about her and wanted to convey even the smallest things.  

***  

Fernan took a deep breath as he stepped out of the Duke’s mansion.  

Leston’s house was close by, but there was a dimensional rift between the mansion and her house.  

Leston was responsible for exterminating the monsters that came up from the dimensional rift.  

Therefore, to bring Leston or her granddaughter, he had to eliminate the monsters coming up.  

Black wings sprouted from Fernan’s back.  

He quickly flew into the sky.  

***  

“Celine.”  

“Yes, Grandma.”  

“The Duke is coming. Wrap it up and come here.”  

At Leston’s gesture, Celine pulled the knife out of the monster’s forehead.  

Green blood splattered everywhere as she roughly extracted it.  

Looking up into the distance, she saw the ancient demon flying towards them at high speed.  

Fernan also seemed to have spotted them, as he quickly slowed down and descended to the ground.  

“Looks like you’re doing well.”  

Fernan said, shaking his wings.  

“We’re always doing well.”  

Leston chuckled softly.  

“But what brings you here?”  

In fact, there wasn’t much interaction between him and them.  

They had simply decided to do their best in their respective positions.  

“…I have a wife now.”  

A natural smile spread across Fernan’s face.  

Leston blinked in disapproval at that smile.  

For the icy Duke to make such an expression, it seemed true that he had a wife.  

Well, even without the Duke’s expression, it was clear his words were true.  

“Hmm… I know.”  

On the first day Ellerdin arrived, all the monsters felt the commotion. And precisely after Ellerdin arrived, monsters started pouring out of the dimensional rift connecting hell and earth.  

Thanks to that, they hadn’t had a moment to rest lately.  

“Girtin came and went.”  

At Fernan’s words, Leston and Celine frowned.  

Girtin had never gone to the Duke’s mansion. Unless it had something it coveted, Girtin always stayed in the dimensional space.  

“Something is going to happen soon.”  

Leston sighed briefly.  

She had a rough idea of why Fernan had come here.  

“She needs someone to help her. Starting tomorrow.”  

“Not someone to protect her?”  

“…She seems to have many wounds. I’d like someone to watch over her.”  

“That’s my specialty!”  

Celine raised her hand energetically.  

It was a statement that didn’t match someone covered in monster blood.  

However, these two were the only humans living here. Though not entirely trustworthy, they could help her much more than other demons.  

“Can you come with me right now?”  

At the Duke’s words, Leston pointed to the dimensional rift.  

“Since you’re here, please take care of those monsters at once. Then I can manage alone without Celine.”  

“Understood.”  

Although it wasn’t something Leston, once called a hero, should say, Fernan decided to indulge her since it involved giving up her granddaughter.  

Fernan slowly approached the dimensional rift.  

Sensing his presence, the monsters inside trembled and didn’t come out.  

His cold red eyes scanned the monsters gathered inside the rift.  

He cast a large-scale spell on them.  

The monsters, sensing the magical waves, tangled up trying to escape, but their life force was instantly drained.  

Fernan’s specialty was draining the life of other creatures.  

This cruel destructive power that even terrified monsters was the clearest proof that he was a demon.  

“Let’s leave immediately. I’ll join you later after I take care of some things.”  

Fernan transformed into his ancient demon form.  

He usually maintained a human appearance, but the extent of the magic he used changed his body.  

Simple magic did not affect his appearance, but attack spells caused parts of his body to revert to their original form.  

Especially when using such large-scale spells, it took quite a while for him to return to his human form.  

Fernan kicked off the ground and flew into the sky.  

Leston and Celine turned to look at the dimensional rift.  

The monsters that had filled the rift were all dried up and stuck in place.