I Married the Dragon I Killed

In the middle of a snow-covered mountain range where there was absolutely nothing.

Even creatures resistant to the cold slept through the winter under that bleak climate, so everything remained silent.

Then, in that space, a massive vertical crack opened.

The fissure, colored in chaotic shades like oil spilled across solid ground, expelled what it contained within.

What emerged were a dark-skinned, burly man and another man dressed in a gray robe.

He was the same man Perda had identified as Curved Demon.

Both arrived before the snowy mountain.

“Was it really necessary to come all the way here?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“I couldn’t think of any other suitable place.”

“Hmm.”

The burly man looked at the mountain.

This was the place where the dark elf Linne had worked as research director.

However, that already belonged to the past.

“What did you decide to do with Linne?”

“To let her continue her research.”

“What a lenient decision.”

Then the burly man let out a mocking laugh.

“Lenient? Of course not. I’ll kill her when she’s finished. From the beginning, she was never a woman worth anything more.”

“You’re going to sacrifice the dog? Well, I suppose she won’t cause you any problems either.”

The man said that and turned around.

It was then.

Curved Demon suddenly sensed killing intent directed at him.

He raised a hand and turned his body.

Something was blocked by his palm.

Boom!

The burly man’s fist collided with his hand.

Although the difference in strength was enormous, Curved Demon held his ground with both legs.

“…What is the meaning of this?”

“I’m just doing the same thing you did.”

“And what exactly did I do?”

“You’re avoiding the conversation, so I gave up talking too. Do I need to say more?”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t try to deceive me. Didn’t you bring up that dark elf precisely to avoid this conversation?”

“And what conversation am I supposedly avoiding? It seems you know.”

“Perda Valdrova.”

The burly man growled with anger.

“Why didn’t you kill that man?”

“……”

“You see? You can’t answer.”

At Curved Demon’s silence, the burly man smiled mockingly.

“I never liked you. You died pathetically after being stabbed by the Hero, then crawled around in secret to keep living before reappearing.”

“……”

“You should have died there. Not come back in such a miserable way.”

“If you like death so much…”

Curved Demon looked at him with a gaze full of emotion.

“Why didn’t you follow your father? Why are you still alive?”

“Wasn’t it because of you?”

“That’s nothing more than an excuse. When I saved you, I clearly explained my purpose. And you accepted it. If you come at me with this now, how are you any different from those humans who change their minds at the first opportunity?”

The burly man’s eyebrows twitched.

But instead of resorting to violence, he withdrew the fist he had kept raised.

Seeing that, Curved Demon opened his mouth.

“There was a reason not to kill Perda. After all, you can never truly know a human until you see them with your own eyes.”

Only one person in the past had ever made Curved Demon speak such words.

He remembered a distant time.

Curved Demon had always despised the weakness of humans.

He destroyed everything they believed in and mocked their fragility.

That was why, even at the moment of his death, he had never imagined that among those weak humans there would emerge someone capable of piercing his heart.

Much less that the same man would end up destroying even the Demon King.

The seed of rebellion that severed Godwin’s will.

‘The Hero.’

Curved Demon touched his chest.

What led him to death had not been a Holy Sword blessed by all gods and dragons.

It had been nothing more than an ordinary kitchen knife.

Although he had resurrected, that death taught him a valuable lesson.

However, he smiled.

It was a smile born from joy.

Thanks to that imperfect death, his will had continued.

And he had managed to become this strong.

Without a doubt, even his father would be smiling in the void.

For a long time, Curved Demon believed that the Hero was the only one who had ever made him change his evaluation twice.

But there is no such thing as absolute in this world.

‘Perda Valdrova.’

Toward that man, he felt the same sense of surprise he had once felt toward the Hero.

The direction was different, but the essence was similar.

And Curved Demon knew exactly what that was.

“Hmm?”

The burly man let out a sound as he looked toward a point in the snow.

“What is it?”

“…There’s someone there.”

All that could be seen was a vast expanse completely covered in snow.

No.

When Curved Demon followed the direction of that gaze, he too noticed something protruding slightly.

It looked like a helmet.

Because of its rough appearance, he thought it was an abandoned statue.

But as soon as he finished thinking that, the snow piled atop the figure shook loose.

The figure stood up.

It was rough, heavy armor, as if a mountain of rock had taken human form.

Seeing it, he understood how it had been able to remain motionless while snow covered its entire body.

“Alberdo. So it was you.”

An appearance as steadfast as his title itself.

No one would find it strange to call him a walking fortress.

“I doubt this encounter is a coincidence. Were you waiting for us?”

He did not answer.

In the first place, words were unnecessary.

He picked up the club and shield he had left beside him.

The club was over two meters long.

The shield was of a similar size.

The armor covering his entire body was also heavy and crude.

At first glance, he seemed slow.

And in fact, his movements were slow.

Even so, he was one of the most infamous individuals among the demons.

His reputation was not undeserved.

Especially because, upon seeing him, the burly man began trembling with rage.

“You damned bastard…!”

As if he had found the enemy he had been searching for all this time, he completely lost control and charged at Alberdo.

“Today I’m finally going to kill you!”

His fist shot forward with enough force to pulverize armor.

Alberdo raised his club at the same pace.

Just as the two were about to collide.

Curved Demon drew a line in the air with a finger.

A space opened between Alberdo and the burly man.

And the rift swallowed the burly man.

Alberdo struck empty air and slammed his weapon into the ground.

Boom!

The earth shook violently.

Snow was blasted into the sky before falling back down.

Alberdo turned his gaze toward Curved Demon.

Then Curved Demon spoke.

“Understand him. He is acting this way because he still resents the fact that you were the one who shattered his limbs.”

“……”

“Besides, isn’t it me that you want, and not those insignificant nobodies?”

At first glance, it could sound like someone intoxicated by arrogance, but it was the truth.

Alberdo had been chasing only Curved Demon.

That was why he was here.

“Let it go already. No matter how much you pursue me, nothing will change, Alberdo.”

“……”

“You have no mana and nothing special about you. You are nothing more than an ordinary human. If I draw a line with my finger and leave this place, you will have to cross the continent again one step at a time. And even when faced with such unfairness, you still search for me alone.”

“……”

Alberdo did not respond.

Although Curved Demon spoke that way, he was not mocking him.

The number of demons and monsters that had been torn apart by that apparent clumsiness was impossible to calculate.

The number of settlements destroyed alone exceeded several dozen.

Without anyone acknowledging his efforts, he continued moving forward in silence with the sole purpose of killing demons.

That was why that man was known as the walking fortress, Alberdo.

“As much as you hate demons, I will tell only you this. Do you know what I saw today?”

What appeared in his mind was Perda’s face.

“Material to become a Demon King.”

“……”

“He was a human with extraordinary potential. Right now, he harbors the insolent ambition of conquering the Demon Lands, but that will not last long.”

Curved Demon displayed a sinister smile.

“In the end, after every loss, only emptiness remains.”

Curved Demon tore open space once again.

“And in emptiness, anger always ends up taking root.”

With those words, Curved Demon disappeared.

There was nothing Alberdo could do.

He raised his head and looked at the sky.

A gloomy climate.

A snowstorm would begin soon.

The strong winds would pile up the snow once more, but they would not stop his steps.

Those steps that moved toward wherever monsters existed had never had a fixed destination.

However, today was different.

For the first time in a long while, they were clearly heading somewhere.

***

The sudden appearance of the monsters.

Contrary to what everyone had expected, the morning passed peacefully instead of descending into chaos.

Although there had been deaths and severe injuries, the situation had not turned into despair.

The trust placed in William, the captain of the guard, and the support of the Dragon Spawn had made it possible to avoid the worst possible outcome.

However, there are always people who dislike this kind of atmosphere.

Hanson was exactly one of them.

He had come to this place chasing the dream of a gold rush, and this tranquility displeased him.

‘There should have been a much bigger uproar.’

Social advancement is always born from chaos.

And Hanson was more obsessed with it than most.

He was a carpenter.

Within the Empire, he could barely be considered a second-rate architect.

If he had remained there, he never would have risen beyond being a simple supervisor.

He already held a position far beyond his abilities.

But human ambition has no end.

‘I want to go higher.’

To the position of a noble.

Or at least to a position that would make the commoners of this place bow their heads before him.

‘For someone like me, that was impossible.’

Normally, it was nothing more than a fantasy.

A simple daydream of ordinary people.

There is a reason why stories of beggars who find a miraculous opportunity and end up becoming princes or princesses never go out of fashion.

Everyone keeps those kinds of fantasies in their hearts.

But Hanson took them further than anyone.

After all, he had found an extraordinary opportunity.

‘The Armored Knight.’

It would not be an exaggeration to say that everything had been possible because of him.

He was easy to deal with, possessed outstanding abilities, and always ended up making Hanson look good.

Thanks to that, someone who had barely been an insignificant crew leader ended up being promoted to construction supervisor.

When he met the Armored Knight, Hanson thought.

‘That person will become a knight sooner or later.’

That was why he flattered him.

He spoke on his behalf when necessary.

He helped him in every way he could.

He was convinced he would receive a knighthood within a month.

However, the Armored Knight never became a knight.

He continued working on the construction site.

‘The Armored Knight has to become a knight so I can gain power too…’

He wanted to rise beyond the position of supervisor.

To become a construction administrator.

To have more people under his command.

And to achieve that, the Armored Knight had to climb higher.

‘When he was called to the castle, I thought the moment had finally come…’

Who could have imagined he would reject such an opportunity.

Who could have imagined she would reject such an opportunity?

Even though he pretended not to care, he ended up drowning his frustration in alcohol.

What could he do?

Only live according to his limitations.

“The atmosphere is pretty gloomy!”

The person who made that comment was a woman.

Still far too young to be thinking about marriage.

Her shameless attitude belonged to an inexperienced young girl.

But there were no young women this bold in the village.

She was undoubtedly a newly arrived mage.

‘Getting involved with her seems troublesome…’

Hanson pretended not to hear her.

Then the woman moved even closer and said.

“Hmm, I heard some wolf monsters attacked the village.”

“…So what?”

“How blunt. I also heard that because I didn’t arrive in time, there were many casualties.”

“Only four people died.”

“Do you even know what the word casualties means? It doesn’t only include the dead. It includes the wounded too.”

“Even so, considering the situation, we did pretty well. If more adventurers had participated, even those people wouldn’t have died.”

“Then doesn’t that mean the incompetents at the top are responsible for failing to handle the situation properly?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Hanson frowned as he looked at her.

The woman smiled shamelessly.

“Think about it. Why did you come to this city? To make money, right?”

“Well… yes.”

“And the people who hired you probably said something similar. That it’s close to the Demon Lands, but precisely because of that, it was safer.”

That was true.

He had never really believed it, but he had not cared either.

After all, most people had come because they had no work anywhere else.

“And yet you were attacked. People died. Are you just going to sit back and do nothing?”

“…And what exactly am I supposed to do, miss?”

“Ha! That is exactly why I’m going to offer you a solution.”

The woman moved even closer, as if they were finally understanding each other.

An intense floral scent reached him.

“So, you’re a construction supervisor?”

“That’s right.”

“How many workers are under your command?”

“Around fifty.”

“If you convince the other supervisors, it could become a hundred.”

“I suppose.”

“Think about it. This city already has nearly six hundred inhabitants. You alone represent one sixth of the entire population.”

“That… is true.”

“Do you know how much this city would lose if all of you suddenly disappeared?”

“……”

Thinking about it.

She was right.

The construction project functioned because of them.

If the daily work stopped, the blow would be enormous.

“You are irreplaceable labor. Don’t you think you should be outraged by the way they’re treating you?”

“Hmm…”

“You deserve more money and a higher position. That young regent needs to understand once and for all that human life is worth more than any amount of money.”

Hanson thought it made sense.

Especially because he heard those words at the very moment his greed was at its peak.

It was no different from the whispers of a demon.

“And how exactly am I supposed to achieve something like that?”

The woman smiled mischievously.

“There’s always a way. I’ll help you.”

***

Despite the sudden appearance of the monsters, the village managed to defend itself successfully.

The casualties rose to thirty people five soldiers, fifteen civilians, and ten adventurers who participated in the defense.

Of those, four died.

All of them were civilians.

That was why the morning in Hestia Village could not be like any other.

Isabella declared.

“A strike has begun.”