My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 245. Innocent Children

Ferda moved to the scene.

He had received a report that survivors had been found.

However, if the survivors had belonged to the Imperial Army or the Allied Forces, Ferda would never have moved so urgently.

Surprisingly, they were survivors of the Heinkel Kingdom.

Most of the survivors from the Heinkel Kingdom were in a state where their souls seemed almost to have left their bodies. Some muttered to themselves, while others were half-dead from dehydration.

Even if they were alive, some were so broken that killing them would have been considered an act of mercy.

But the ones before him were children. Aside from being somewhat hungry, they seemed to be maintaining their sanity.

"They say these children were imprisoned in the basement and used for the Dark Elves’ experiments. We checked the cross-section of the castle, and it is certain that they came up from the passage leading to the basement entrance."

"Why are they covered with blankets?"

"Their bodies were cold, so we covered them."

After hearing that, Ferda took one of the girl’s hands.

Even in weather where dehydration could occur easily, her body was cold as ice.

Undead?

They were not Undead. If they were Undead, there should have been no pulse.

It was simply that their blood was several times colder than that of ordinary humans.

Ferda quietly stared into the girl’s eyes.

The girl seemed frightened and pulled her head back.

Rather than backing down from her rejection, Ferda glared at her fiercely.

"Please stop."

The boy who appeared to be the oldest spoke to Ferda.

"What did you say?"

"Please stop. She says it’s scary when you look at her like that."

Ferda stared at the boy before turning his eyes toward the other children.

Strange.

The emotions felt by the children whenever Ferda’s gaze fell upon them were identical.

Not similar.

Exactly the same.

Ferda released the girl’s hand, and she quickly ran behind the large boy.

Looking down at them, Ferda spoke.

"Luri."

"Yes, my lord."

"How many Mana Restraints do we have with us?"

"Ten."

"Good. Put them all on the children’s hands. Then escort them to the cells."

William looked surprised by Ferda’s decision.

Luri obediently followed Ferda’s orders and fastened Mana Restraints around the children’s hands.

Having made his decision regarding the children’s treatment, Ferda turned away.

"My lord Regent, they are children."

William stood beside Ferda and spoke.

"That’s precisely why I am stopping at this."

Ferda spoke with a fierce expression.

"If they weren’t children, I would have cut off their heads right here."

"They are innocent children. Why are you treating them this way?"

"You cannot see it, but I did."

It had happened when Ferda had deliberately provoked fear in the girl.

Although faint, mana had begun to flow through her body.

It was that distinctive flow that could only be felt when a Circle had been opened.

If she were merely the possessor of a Blue Circle, that flow should have moved at a consistent rate.

So Ferda had tested her.

As her fear gradually increased, the flow of mana within the girl accelerated as well.

Just as her fear was approaching its peak, the boy had boldly intervened and stopped Ferda.

A similar mana flow was moving through the boy’s body, while the other children had mana flowing through them just as actively as the girl.

Every one of those children was a Red Circle Opener.

But the Red Circle was not the only problem.

Ferda clearly remembered the color of their eyes.

They were darker than the glow that appeared in Zed’s eyes when he displayed the eyes of the Red-Eyed Clan.

There was no doubt.

They were the eyes of the Demon Race.

***

Ferda immediately contacted Erika, the master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower.

Upon hearing that the children created by the Demon Race possessed strange characteristics, Erika rushed over without hesitation.

She cast multiple Observation Magic spells and carefully examined the children.

"Remarkable."

After an hour of examination, those were the words of admiration that escaped her lips.

"These children... their minds are connected as one."

"What do you mean by connected?"

"It’s exactly the same as the mental connection of the High Elves. They are in the same state as those people whose minds have become one and who possess no secrets from one another."

The mental connection of the High Elves.

It was not particularly surprising.

Ferda had already suspected that there would be some form of mental binding.

To fulfill Legion’s demanding conditions, they would have had to split their minds through trauma and focus solely on pleasure, yet even that would not have been enough.

There would inevitably have been parts that became unstable.

To compensate for that risk, they had used mental binding.

"These children... they’ve all suffered tremendous pain. It wouldn’t have been strange if their minds had collapsed while opening their Red Circles... but they didn’t."

"What do you think is the reason?"

"I suppose it’s because of that child."

The boy standing in the center.

He had served as an anchor for the children amid their pain and helped them open their Circles.

That was why the children depended on him.

"What should we do with these children?"

Ferda asked Erika.

Erika thought carefully before answering.

"Do you know why the High Elves insist on isolationism?"

A unified mind was pure white.

Beautiful and clean, yet contaminated by even a single drop of water.

The High Elves were the same.

If one became contaminated, that contamination would spread throughout them in an instant.

"These children are the same. Since their minds are bound together, they’ll be able to read and share each other’s thoughts, won’t they? And if they experience pain, that pain will try to eat away at all of them."

"...."

"The best method would probably be..."

Erika deliberately left her sentence unfinished.

Ferda understood what she meant and quietly nodded.

"For now, I’ll discuss this with the others."

This was not something he could decide on his own.

Ferda decided to summon the leaders of the Allied Forces and the Imperial Army and discuss the matter.

***

All the highest-ranking leaders gathered once again at the place where they had first assembled to form the Allied Forces.

However, the attendees were very different from the first meeting.

Some had been replaced by legion commanders, while some kingdoms had no commanders remaining and had instead sent brigade commanders.

The only person on the Allied Forces’ side who had not changed was King Hudret.

The Imperial Army was the same.

Except for Ferda and the commander of the 2nd Legion, everyone had been replaced by lower-ranking officials.

Ureas’s position had naturally been taken by Olivia.

She was always calm and guided the atmosphere in a gentle manner.

"As you all know, His Highness the Second Prince passed away due to an unfortunate accident, and this young lady has taken his place here. I will do my utmost to continue these discussions in accordance with the will of the Arken Empire."

"Very well. Then let us get to the main issue."

King Hudret crossed his arms and looked at Ferda.

"I heard that survivors were found. But I also heard that these survivors belonged to the Heinkel Kingdom."

"That’s correct."

"Why did you do such a thing?"

Hudret’s expression was fierce.

Ferda answered calmly.

"All five survivors were children."

"Children..."

"Furthermore, there were no signs that they had been brainwashed by a Trauma Entity. They do suffer aftereffects from extreme fear, but there is nothing that should cause concern."

"Then you mean they are completely innocent civilians?"

"Not exactly."

Ferda did not want to irritate Hudret by telling an awkward lie.

So he simply told them the facts.

"The children share three common characteristics. First, every one of them had their Red Circle forcibly opened. Second, they possess dark-red eyes. And third, they share their minds with one another."

"They share their minds?"

"They share not only each other’s thoughts, but their emotions as well. It operates on the exact same principle as the mental binding of the High Elves."

"The Demon Race certainly does many things with things I’ve never seen or heard of before."

Hudret thought about it for a moment.

But apparently unable to find the answer himself, he looked at Ferda.

"What do you think was the purpose of creating such beings?"

"To perfect combined magic."

"Combined magic?"

"Magic Circles designed for sieges, or large-scale sieges, are enormous, and their preparation is usually carried out through combined work. A task that would take one person a month can be completed in three days precisely because multiple people work together."

"So I’ve heard."

The legion commanders nodded as though they understood.

"Dividing the work allows them to prepare much faster, but combined work has an inherent flaw."

"What is that?"

"There are parts of combined work that cannot be communicated verbally, so something is inevitably omitted. That is why the completeness of a combined Magic Circle can never exceed 98%."

Two percent of a spell can be a critical margin that determines both its safety and its power.

"But if they can share their thoughts, that problem would disappear."

"Exactly."

"Interesting. By connecting their minds and drawing a massive Magic Circle, they could achieve 100% completeness..."

The commanders looked deeply interested as well after hearing Ferda’s explanation.

Yet Ferda grew worried as he talked about it.

He immediately wondered what would happen if King Hudret claimed ownership of the children.

"That’s unfortunate."

But Hudret was more resolute than Ferda had expected.

"To think we have to kill such valuable resources."

He decisively gave up on the children and was prepared to have them killed.

Olivia reacted in shock.

"Are you going to kill the children, Your Majesty Hudret?"

"Don’t pretend to be innocent and appeal to my emotions, Princess. This is a matter of principle."

Perhaps offended by his aggressive manner, Olivia’s voice became slightly firmer.

"A matter of principle?"

"Many of the people here from the Imperial Army heard this themselves, so they should remember. Before we set foot inside the castle of the Heinkel Kingdom, when we put our heads together and discussed the matter, what did we say?"

King Hudret answered himself.

"There are no survivors. We said we would witness everyone dying."

"That’s correct."

"Regent Ferda, as you said, the civilians of the Heinkel Kingdom were remarkably formidable forces in this war. Because of them, we lost dozens of our elite soldiers, and above all, we suffered the tragic loss of our king."

Hudret clenched his fist as he spoke.

"What we wanted was the eradication of the Demon Race. Everything created by the Demon Race must be burned and destroyed. Are you saying we should let our personal emotions get in the way and render all those deaths meaningless? This is the will of the Allied Forces, and it is likewise a duty that the Imperial Army must carry out."

Olivia thought carefully after hearing his words.

"...You’re right."

"Princess."

Olivia looked at Ferda with a sorrowful expression.

"The Imperial Army has also suffered many casualties. The Second Prince is dead, and Count Rooster also lost his life. In a situation like this, if we take in those who survived the Demon Race’s experiments..."

Olivia fell silent.

She meant that doing so could become a political issue.

As an apprentice Saintess, Ferda had expected her to plead for mercy.

She also represented the will of the Alte Religion.

There was no forgiveness before darkness, and their will was to purify it with light.

Deep down, Ferda himself believed this was the obvious choice.

Leaving behind a potential future threat would be foolish.

Rather than taking in children whose bodies and minds could have been altered by the Demon Race in unknown ways, hanging them and burning them was the rational choice.

"It seems the Regent isn’t a particularly compassionate man either."

King Hudret’s words caught Ferda off guard.

Ferda raised his eyes slightly.

Hudret gave a faint grin and stood from his seat.

"Keep them detained. Execute them tomorrow morning and hang their bodies up. At least then, wouldn’t we be able to offer them a final farewell on our way home?"

The meeting ended there.

The five children rescued by William would be executed tomorrow morning.

***

"My lord Regent, are you really planning to execute the children just like this?"

On the way back to the camp, William, who had accompanied him as an escort, asked.

"Hudret’s judgment is correct. There is no reason for me to keep those children alive."

His judgment was so clear that it was easy to understand why he was so convinced of his own capacity to become a Monarch.

The Imperial Army had lost many people, and so had the Allied Forces.

They could not overlook the possibility that keeping people of unknown origins alive might create the source of a new disaster.

"But they are still children, aren’t they? They really were... completely ignorant. They were just children who knew nothing."

"Accept it. We cannot save everything in this world."

"...."

"We’ve lost far too much trying to do so."

The armies from the Far East consisted mostly of knights, while most of the infantry had been stationed in the rear, so their casualties were relatively small.

But the main force of the Imperial Army was different.

It would not have been appropriate for Ferda to act like some benevolent ruler and show mercy now.

"I..."

"William."

"...."

"Don’t say anything more."

There was no reason to argue anymore.

It was obvious that this would turn into an emotional dispute, and if that happened, it was equally obvious who would lose.

William said nothing more.

They did not exchange another word until they returned to the camp.

***

Late that night, Ferda continued reading.

His chest felt heavy, making it impossible for him to sleep.

Once tomorrow came, everything would be over.

He would be able to return to Valdrova’s arms.

Yet it did not seem to be the excitement of returning to her that was keeping him awake.

For some reason, he felt as though something was going to happen.

Ferda simply wanted to confirm what that something was, so he forced away his drowsiness.

Ding, ding, ding!

The alarm bells rang incessantly.

Ferda did not panic.

As though what he had been waiting for had finally arrived, he calmly closed his book and placed it beside him.

"Lord Ferda."

Luri entered the room and reported to Ferda.

"We have received a report that all of the children scheduled for execution have escaped."

"When did they escape?"

"Judging by what has happened, approximately one hour ago. One horse is missing, so they must have left on horseback."

"I see."

There was no way the children could have planned and carried out such an escape on their own.

Someone had helped them escape, and they were undoubtedly still working together.

And there was no need to think very hard about who that someone was.

"Shall I track them down and bring them back?"

Luri had lived as a warrior for many years.

She was highly skilled at tracking and was fast as well, so she would undoubtedly find them within ten minutes at the latest.

Ferda thought carefully before calling her name again.

"Luri."

"Yes."

"You are busy attending to me."

"....What do you mean?"

"It would be difficult for you to be sent out on such a trivial search mission, wouldn’t it?"

"....Understood. Shall I prepare some coffee for you?"

"Yes."

There was no way he could simply let this night pass.

Ferda decided to wait until the next report arrived.

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