My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 259. Deep Projection

The Eastern Region was known as the land of mystery.

The reason was that, unlike other lands, the ideology of Fusion was predominant there.

Unlike harmony, where individuals preserved their bloodlines while blending together, Fusion was no different from throwing everything into a melting pot.

That was why its concepts differed greatly from currently established magic, allowing the taboo Red Circle to become its dominant form.

The High Elf elder had told Ferda that he would have to go east if he wanted to obtain an answer, and that was how their first expedition had begun.

"Since the magic of the Eastern Region is centered around the Red Circle, there are apparently many cases where people are unable to properly control their emotions."

"That’s what makes it the Red Circle."

Because it was difficult to control, it was neglected and treated as a sin.

Following the incident in the Heinkel Kingdom, along with the hatred toward Black Magic, the dangers of the Red Circle were once again being emphasized.

"Having someone who can judge the situation objectively understand what is happening makes it easier to find a solution. Just like you are doing now, Regent."

"I believe I am being rational right now."

"That’s something you don’t know for sure. Isn’t the concern you’re having right now ultimately caused by your emotions?"

"...."

She was right.

As long as one lived as a human, being consumed by emotions was only natural, while maintaining one’s rationality was difficult.

That was why clergy who confined themselves within the framework of a disciplined life were respected.

"Anyway, this thing called the Deep Projection Technique involves looking into the Regent’s mind, but it is performed in a safer manner than the methods previously known."

"How is it safer?"

As she had said, even the Elf elder had suffered from it.

"The reason the Elf elder was able to access the Regent’s mind, as I mentioned before, was because he was thrown into the source with nothing to protect himself. He was vulnerable to information that he had no way of resolving or processing."

"How is this technique different?"

"There are a few things. Focusing on the Regent’s question, and having the Regent personally process the information he possesses... something along those lines."

"Even things I don’t know?"

"Basically, it’s like an adventure. You may know the path to the entrance, but you don’t know what’s inside. You have to go in to find out."

"Is that why you’re making such an excited face?"

"It’s not necessarily like that, you know?"

She said otherwise, but her sparkling eyes were far from convincing.

"And one thing is certain: there is a way to reduce the risk."

"How?"

"They say that a minimum of two people are required to enter someone’s inner world. One as the explorer and one as the observer."

"What do they do?"

"The explorer is the person who enters Ferda’s mind and investigates it. In other words, that’s my role. The observer continuously monitors the explorer and rescues them if they determine that the target’s mind is becoming corrupted."

"So, it’s a safety device."

"There are two candidates who could serve as the observer."

The two people Erika had mentioned were Isabella and Rizera.

Isabella had been Erika’s secretary, so she knew her abilities well and recommended her. As for Rizera, Erika had developed a high opinion of his calm state of mind after their recent adventures.

"Does it have to be one of those two?"

"Are you saying you don’t trust my judgment?"

Her voice sounded slightly offended.

"No. I’m saying that there is someone more qualified."

"More qualified? Who could that be?"

A rational being who was not swayed by emotions.

That being was currently living in Valdrova Castle.

***

A young girl was working on paperwork in one of Ferda’s offices.

She had blonde hair and the appearance of a well-dressed young noble lady, but her expression was as cold as a doll’s.

Her name was Mori.

She held the position of a secretary and had been entrusted with an important responsibility despite her young appearance and actual age.

In truth, she was a crystallization of knowledge with the Library of All Things said to contain every record in existence residing inside her mind.

However, as the price for obtaining that knowledge, she had lost her sense of self and received the curse of becoming a Slave Sage.

Without a sense of self, she had no emotions either.

Since she could not be swayed by emotions, she was inevitably objective.

Erika thought she was the most suitable candidate.

Ferda showed Mori the book about the Deep Projection Technique.

She quickly finished checking out the book, closed it, and scribbled something down before showing it to Ferda.

—Understood.

"Tell me what you understood."

—In short, while Tower Master Erika Iorga explores Regent Ferda’s mind, I am to perform the role of a safeguard to minimize situations in which my emotions could become corrupted. Is that correct?

"Can you do it?"

Nod.

Mori nodded.

Her eyes seemed to say that she was the right person for the job.

"Using a Slave Sage, huh... I’d completely forgotten about this existence for a moment."

When Erika heard the name Mori, she understood why Ferda had rejected the two candidates.

A Slave Sage.

Having lived longer than almost any mortal, Erika had encountered countless Slave Sages who possessed the Library of All Things.

They lost their sense of self in exchange for absolute knowledge, becoming beings who spent their entire lives being used by someone else.

They were like using a butcher’s knife only to slaughter chickens, while keeping their existence hidden away, and sometimes their owners would become so greedy that they ended up cutting open the belly of the goose that laid the golden eggs.

She had actually encountered them several times.

Slave Sages were literally slaves.

They were kept alive and maintained at the level of being able to answer questions and little more.

Having seen such Slave Sages, Mori’s appearance was truly something new.

Her neatly combed hair flowed with a healthy sheen. Her skin was spotless and carried a faint rosy glow.

Her clothes were so meticulously arranged that she could easily have been mistaken for the daughter of a noble family.

’More importantly...’

Unlike the Slave Sages who gave nothing but mechanical answers, Erika could somehow feel something stirring within Mori.

However, that sensation was so faint that Erika did not pay much attention to it.

"Now that we’ve secured an observer as well, let’s get ready."

"Yes."

Erika began drawing a Magic Circle on the floor of the office.

However, unlike ordinary magic that used Rune letters, strange characters were being drawn in each direction.

The characters themselves were more complicated than Runes. To an unfamiliar observer, the Magic Circle could easily have been mistaken for a Seventh-Circle Formation Magic Circle.

"Good. The Magic Circle is complete... Regent? Would you sit in the center?"

"Yes."

Ferda quietly sat down in the middle of the circular Magic Circle, curling himself up comfortably.

Meanwhile, Erika checked once again for anything that might interfere with the process.

"I’ve confirmed there are no variables involving the five senses. As for the target’s resistance variable... I suppose we can only hope there isn’t one."

Erika took a deep breath.

"I’ll begin."

Erika flowed Mana into the Magic Circle.

The pure Mana spread in an instant, causing the Magic Circle to emit a gentle glow.

Erika uttered words as though reciting an Incantation.

"Plain, blue river, bright sunlight, the sounds of insects in the grass..."

The focus gradually disappeared from Ferda’s eyes as he sat in the center of the Magic Circle, and his eyelids slowly closed.

His face became peaceful, resembling that of a venerable master deep in meditation.

"Good. The first stage has been cleared smoothly."

The first stage of Deep Projection was projection induction.

It was the process of creating a background using words that could be understood on a basic level, making it easier for the explorer to investigate the target’s mind.

If everything proceeded according to plan, Ferda’s mind should now be inside a plain with the grass, rivers, and trees one commonly encountered.

The next step was for Erika to place her hand on Ferda’s back and infiltrate his mind.

Mori, who had been selected as the observer, would continuously monitor Erika through her back to determine whether her mind was becoming corrupted.

If corruption was detected, Mori would inform her and remind her that the emotions she was experiencing were not her own, allowing the exploration to proceed smoothly.

"Are you ready?"

When Erika asked, Mori wrote something down and showed it to her.

It was far too many words for a simple answer that she was ready.

—The criteria for the extent of corruption are ambiguous.

"What do you mean by ambiguous?"

—The reason ordinary emotional corruption is considered dangerous is because the Mana circuits are placed at risk. Furthermore, most cases involve negative emotions.

"That’s right."

—However, the emotions currently contributing to Regent Ferda’s Red Circle are, unlike those of other Red Circles, conventionally considered positive emotions.

"...That’s right?"

—And those emotions are love toward the Grand Duchess.

The moment Erika heard those words, she understood exactly what Mori was getting at.

"So, if I were to be emotionally corrupted by the Regent’s Mana, the effect it could have on me would be..."

—You could inherit Regent Ferda Valdrova’s emotions and come to love Grand Duchess Valdrova, or...

"Or?"

—You could come to love Regent Ferda.

The instant Erika heard that, a chill ran down her spine.

She looked down at Ferda’s back again.

For some reason, it felt like the entrance to a demon’s lair.

—In such a case, should it also be considered negative emotional corruption and should I remind you of your true emotions?

"........"

Erika remembered the time when she had been mentally attacked through her Trauma.

That day had been the worst day of her life.

And Mori was telling her that a situation even worse than that worst day could occur.

—Kkiyaaaang!

The disgraceful cry she had let out after sensing Ferda’s Mana echoed in her ears.

Even now, she could feel an overwhelming urge to scream, kick the air, and thrash about.

Erika’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.

"If something like that happens... don’t ask questions or hesitate. Just remind me."

—Then I have one more question.

Her question was this:

—Do you have even the slightest affection for Regent Ferda Valdrova?

"Absolutely not! I don’t have even the slightest bit of love for that man!! If I feel even a hint of that kind of emotion!! Slap me!! Pull my horns!! Trample me if you have to!! Just beat me senseless until I come to my senses!!"

Erika emphasized each word to Mori almost as though she were having a fit, and Mori nodded.

For some reason, her eyes seemed to be looking at Erika as though she found the whole thing strangely ridiculous.

Erika decided that it was just her imagination.

There was no way a Slave Sage could possess a sense of self.

***

Ferda, whose consciousness had completely faded away, felt himself waking up.

It was not his isolated office.

Instead, he found himself in a world filled with bright primary colors.

It was a peaceful space created from all the words Erika had spoken.

The temperature was pleasantly warm, while the gentle breeze was refreshingly cool.

Ferda was sitting leisurely beneath the shade of a tree.

’Was my inner world really this peaceful?’

Ferda found himself surprised.

Looking back on his life, he had considered himself a thoroughly worn-out human being.

He was surprised that someone like him could create such a tranquil mental world.

"Wasn’t she saying that what I’m seeing is similar to what the Tower Master is seeing?"

Of course, Ferda could not find Erika.

She was the observer and explorer, and she would move through places Ferda could not notice.

’What could I possibly discover in a place like this?’

Could he find something connected to that terrifying power within this peaceful grassland?

Ferda’s naturally curious personality made him want to get up and explore.

But in the end, he sat back down.

The best way to help the explorer was to avoid creating any variables himself.

So Ferda simply enjoyed the tranquility and lay down.

***

After entering Ferda’s mind, Erika was rendered speechless by the sight spread before her.

"What... the hell is this?"

Erika Iorga.

The Tower Master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower had been troubled by one thing until only a few minutes ago.

What would she do if she became corrupted by Ferda’s emotions and fell in love with him?

As an authority on magic and knowledge, she had a responsibility to fulfill.

She had lived even while humans were being born, living, and dying across countless generations.

To be swayed by some trivial emotion like love was, in her mind, the worst possible outcome.

But she belatedly realized just how much of a flower garden her worries had been.

The place where she had set foot was nothing like the grassland with a river that she had envisioned.

It was a wasteland where it seemed as though only two colors existed: yellow and gray.

Everything was devastated, and storms carrying sand as sharp as blades constantly swept through the land.

’There weren’t any words among those I used that could have created something this hopeless...’

The first things that came to mind were the plain and flowers.

For Erika, who had expected scenery ranging from spring to early summer, this was extremely bewildering.

She recalled the contents of the book on Deep Projection.

’If projection induction succeeds, but there are elements that deviate from what was induced...’

That meant Ferda’s inner world was in an extremely damaged state.

’Or perhaps it means there really is something inside him, just as he said.’

It was still too early to interpret.

Erika needed to move.

But where was she supposed to go in a situation where she could not see even an inch ahead?

"Damn it. I don’t know."

Erika decided to simply start walking.

She raised both hands and pushed through the blade-like wind, taking one step after another.

Just as she was wondering whether she was actually heading in the right direction, a silhouette appeared for the first time through the storm.

A tree stump, cut cleanly apart.

And sitting before it was the figure of a man.

It was undoubtedly Ferda.

’Why is that man...’

He was completely different from the confident and challenging young man she always knew.

He looked listless and depressed, as though something heavy were pressing down upon his back.

It was the kind of despair belonging to someone who had failed at everything in the world.

’If I talk to that man, I might be able to find some kind of clue.’

Erika pushed through the storm and stood behind him.

At that moment, the wind carrying the blade-like sand gradually weakened.

At the same time, the silhouette that had become clearer also collapsed.

Instead, a gigantic figure came sharply into view before Erika.

It was a gigantic Valdrova in human form.

No, it was a yellow statue that looked exactly like Valdrova.

She was smiling while tenderly embracing a sphere as though it were precious to her.

It was something created through the projection of Ferda’s mind.

To Ferda, Valdrova was this enormous, heavy, and singular existence.

Erika looked up at the statue and began interpreting it, extracting information from it.

Then she sensed a contradiction.

’He has only known Grand Duchess Valdrova for a mere year.’

Could he really love someone this much in such a short period?

Impossible.

If it were love born from obsessive madness, it would have taken on a crude form.

If it were explosive passion forged from hormones, it would have looked like an enormous, lightweight balloon.

But this was a statue.

At first, Erika wondered whether Valdrova’s appearance had simply been petrified as it was.

But that was clearly not the case.

Someone had carved it.

The countless fragments of metal and broken wooden handles scattered around it proved that someone had repeatedly chipped away at the hard stone.

’If she is something precious enough to protect even while everything inside him is falling apart...’

The meaning was clear.

Ferda’s very reason for existence was Valdrova herself.

Even the nineteen years of human life that Ferda had lived could not explain it.

Just as Erika was about to be overwhelmed by the incomprehensible unknown, a voice suddenly pierced her ears.

The voice said:

"Isn’t it magnificent, child?"

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