I Married the Dragon I Killed

The high autumn sky and the leaves dyed in many colors.

But it would not be long before all of it disappeared.

Soon they would fall as dry leaves and end up covering the ground like a blanket.

It was late autumn.

‘It’s beautiful.’

Looking up at that scenery, which for thousands of years she had only observed from above, felt refreshing.

Perhaps because of that, Valdrova could not keep walking forward.

The feeling of becoming part of that scenery felt far too precious to her.

‘Going out…’

It was not an expedition to crush monsters.

It was an outing made simply to feel good.

It was nothing special, yet she could not control the rapid beating of her heart.

What if she made a mistake?

She must not make a mistake.

Repeating that to herself while taking deep breaths, she finally began to walk.

‘What will the village Lord Perda made be like?’

After centuries of isolation, Valdrova was seeing a village for the first time.

And that village was precisely the one being built beneath Castle Valdrova.

‘This… is a village?’

In Valdrova’s memories, villages were made of stone, earth, and wood.

But what stood before her now was something else.

There were only tents.

People gathered around them while working.

‘In all this time, civilization has degraded tremendously.’

Valdrova could not help feeling saddened.

When she listened to Ruri speak, it sounded as though the world enjoyed prosperity.

Had she lied just so she would not worry?

“Hey, friend. Who are you?”

While she was staring blankly at the place, someone approached her.

Valdrova flinched and turned her head.

It was a man around thirty years old who looked like he had gone through too many hardships.

Valdrova felt intimidated when she saw him.

It was not simply because he had a fierce appearance.

‘A human spoke to me.’

It was a symptom born purely from her social phobia.

A human who was not Perda had approached her without hesitation to ask who she was.

For an instant, Valdrova felt as though time had stopped.

What should she answer?

Should she run away?

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything? Did you take a vow of silence?”

A vow of silence?

She did not know what that was, but Valdrova nodded anyway.

Then the man seemed to understand without asking further questions.

“Ah, I see. Then you’re a knight who swore before Alte. Did you come trying to earn a knighthood at Castle Valdrova?”

She shook her head.

“No? Then you must be some kind of noble family adventurer though it seems you arrived too early. Right now we’re building the village. First we need to put up houses and this place is a disaster…”

The man clicked his tongue.

Valdrova tilted her head slightly and pointed at the tents.

Weren’t the houses there?

“Huh? What are you talking about? Those aren’t houses! They’re just temporary places to stay until the village is finished!”

Ah, so those were not houses.

Valdrova awkwardly scratched her head.

“You can tell you don’t know much about the world. Well, it happens. Those are temporary barracks. What we need now are communal dormitories. Places that block the winter wind well and where people can warm themselves by the fire. We have to build them quickly so everyone can survive the winter without freezing.”

“…….”

“They say notices were sent to the Empire to bring more people, but nobody is coming. Do you know why?”

She shook her head.

“Because nobody wants to be sent to the front lines, right? I wouldn’t want to either. It’s already hard enough surviving inside the walls, so imagine what the world outside them is like. Young people these days would rather tremble in fear and die inside the Empire. They have no courage, no courage at all.”

“…….”

“By the way, friend. Do you have strength?”

Strength…

It was the only thing Valdrova possessed.

That was why she was called the dragon of strength and fire.

Valdrova nodded timidly.

“We need people like you right now. I’m the leader of this work crew. If you have strength, why not help us? Of course, if you have somewhere else to go I won’t stop you, but if you want to work in the Far East, then we need to finish this as quickly as possible.”

The man was offering her manual labor.

Even though she looked like an adventurer knight, they desperately needed manpower, so he did not hesitate to ask for help.

Valdrova listened to the offer and looked around once more.

People living inside tents.

Even though they wore padded clothing, they shrank every time the cold wind blew.

‘It seems they are very cold.’

Sleeping inside those tents had to be even worse.

‘Then the only thing I can do is…’

After thinking for a moment, Valdrova nodded.

“Wow, adventurers usually wai—, are you really accepting?”

She nodded repeatedly.

“Ha.”

The man opened his eyes wide and looked at her as though she were something strange.

In truth, the work crew leader had already made the same offer several times to other adventurers, but this was the first time anyone had accepted.

Who would want to do such exhausting work?

“Very well. I’ll tell the administrator. My name is Hanson. You can call me chief ah, right, you took a vow of silence. Later I’ll give you a badge so you can call me with that.”

She nodded several times.

“Then, before starting how about taking off that armor?”

“…?”

The armor? This?

Valdrova pointed at her helmet.

“Yes, that armor.”

Clank!

Valdrova flinched and vigorously shook her head.

“How are you going to work wearing something like that?”

Absolute refusal!

“It’s not because of some pride between men, is it? Or is it that you can’t show your face?”

She nodded quickly.

“Ha… you can’t show your face and you also took a vow of silence. You’re quite a mysterious person.”

Hanson insisted several times that she take off the armor, but eventually gave up.

What did clothes matter?

As long as she had strength, that was enough.

Hanson immediately took her to work.

They walked together toward the place where the logs were piled up.

“See those logs? You have to carry all of them to the men cutting them over there. Easy, right?”

She nodded.

“Good, then go to that end. We’ll have to lift one together and load it onto the cart. Come on, one, two, and… ugh!”

Something was wrong.

He strained himself trying to lift it, but felt no resistance.

Unless that log was made of compressed feathers, that was impossible.

Hanson slowly lowered his gaze with a bad feeling.

The log was floating in the air.

The knight on the other side had lifted it alone.

With one hand.

As if it weighed absolutely nothing.

The helmet was staring at him.

Where should I put it?

“Ah… y-you can leave it there… I guess hyung.”

The “friend” disappeared instantly and honorifics started coming out.

Valdrova began moving the logs just like that.

She grabbed the end of a log and simply walked with it.

Even someone known for having great strength would not be able to hold a log by only gripping the tip.

“Doesn’t it feel heavy?”

She nodded.

Seeing Valdrova acting as though it were nothing, Hanson asked cautiously.

“Maybe… could you carry two?”

Valdrova nodded again and lifted two logs.

Also with one hand.

“Then… how many more could you carry?”

“?”

Valdrova tilted her head.

She did not know herself.

Well, wouldn’t it be enough to find out now?

So she began lifting one after another until she was holding ten stacked logs.

She alone could carry enough to fill two carts.

“…….”

Hanson stared at that scene with his mouth hanging open.

And he was not the only one shocked by such a display of strength.

“What the hell is that?”

“Is she carrying all of that alone?”

Naturally, the attention of all the workers turned toward her.

It was impossible not to attract attention when someone dressed in knight armor carried ten logs at the same time.

‘Was this wrong?’

Valdrova became frightened when she felt all those gazes on her and ended up dropping the logs.

Seeing that, Hanson reacted and shouted at the others.

“What are you idiots staring at!? Get back to work!”

After growling threateningly at them, the workers returned to their places.

Then Hanson approached Valdrova to calm her down.

“Come on, Sir Knight. Don’t worry. If any of them look at you like some kind of attraction again, I’ll crush their heads myself!”

Hanson made a cutting gesture with his hand while making sounds with his mouth.

Valdrova was an A-rank talent more valuable than anyone else.

After convincing and calming her down for quite a while, Valdrova returned to work.

Even if he had not insisted so much, she still intended to continue.

‘Because we have to build the houses quickly.’

She wanted to help them sleep in warm houses before the northern cold arrived.

At least while they slept, she wanted them to rest without worries.

That was the best thing someone as clumsy as her could do.

“That’s it for today! Good work, Sir Knight!”

Valdrova raised her head alongside the work chief and looked at the sky.

The sun was already leaning toward the west.

There was still time left, so she tried to keep working, but Hanson stopped her.

“Ah, you can stop now. Don’t you see the sun’s already setting? Once night falls, it’s time to rest and prepare for tomorrow. Everyone’s exhausted, right?”

Ah, I see.

Valdrova nodded.

Hanson headed toward where the people were gathered.

There they had to return their badges and receive the day’s pay.

Hanson also handed over Valdrova’s and received the corresponding money.

As he returned with the pouch of coins, he grumbled under his breath.

“Bastards. You alone did the amount of work that would normally take four people a whole week, and they still only want to pay you for ten workdays instead of fifteen. Aren’t they scumbags?”

She did not really understand.

So she simply nodded.

“Anyway, the ones at the top are always the problem. I bet it was that Perda fellow, the Regent! That young brat acting like a damn cheapskate ah!”

Hanson quickly shut his mouth.

He felt a stare piercing him from the darkness beneath that helmet.

“Ah sorry. Even so, it wasn’t right to speak badly about a noble in front of a knight, right? Try to understand me. They’re just the complaints of a middle-aged man who hasn’t accomplished anything in life.”

“…….”

“If it were up to me, I’d even pay out of my own pocket, but for now let’s settle with this. In exchange, later I’ll get you some good connections that’ll be very useful for you as an adventurer. What do you think?”

Anyone who knew even a little about the world of adventurers would understand how useless that promise was.

But Valdrova had no idea what that man was talking about.

So she simply nodded again.

“Haha! As expected, you’ve got a different kind of greatness! Here, take it.”

Hanson extended a heavy pouch toward her.

The clinking sound from inside felt familiar.

‘It sounds similar to the gold coins piled up in my treasure hoard.’

It was similar to the sound they made when she lightly touched them with her claws.

Valdrova took the pouch.

“Now that I think about it, Sir Knight, this is your first time here, right? Do you already have somewhere to stay? If not, I could get you a cot…”

Experiencing human life was fun, but she could not stay there.

Valdrova nodded and reflexively pointed toward the Lonely Mountain.

Then she realized and quickly pointed toward the opposite side.

“You’re planning to leave forever?”

Hanson made an awkward expression.

When Valdrova shook her head, his face relaxed.

“Ah, so you’re just planning to stay somewhere else. I understand. If you want to help with the construction, come whenever you want. With someone like you here, this place would feel a whole lot more reassuring!”

Since she could not answer with words, Valdrova simply kept nodding.

She had to leave quickly.

With that thought, she turned around.

“Sir Knight?”

“?”

“Didn’t you say you were going back home? Then where are you going?”

Valdrova’s feet were heading toward the Lonely Mountain.

Ah.

Right, it was not that way.

Awkwardly, Valdrova corrected her direction and started walking toward the path she had pointed at earlier.

Seeing that, Hanson burst out laughing.

“Come back safely! And don’t run into monsters!”

After saying goodbye, Valdrova left the village.

Once she was far enough that nobody could see her with the naked eye, she made a huge detour and returned to her lair.

It took exactly three seconds to get back.

She pushed open the enormous iron door and returned home.

Then she lay down without removing her armor and stared at the dark ceiling.

‘What was all of this?’

It had been a strange day.

Time had flown by.

She was not tired, yet she also did not really understand what had happened.

She had simply kept moving nonstop, and people had been amazed.

‘Was I… helpful?’

And yet, feeling that this alone was enough left her confused.

Valdrova opened the small pouch resting on her chest.

Ten copper coins per worker.

One hundred in total for the equivalent of ten people.

She carefully stacked them and quietly stared at them.

Money humans had given her.

‘Money they gave me because they were grateful to me.’

They had thanked her.

‘And they said they wanted to see me again tomorrow.’

The images of those people appeared clearly in her mind.

Not their fearful faces.

But their bright smiles.

‘Humans need me.’

She did not know how to express the emotion filling her chest.

She felt a happiness so intense it seemed her heart might burst.

“Ruri…”

The first person who came to mind was the girl who knew her best.

The kind child who had served her for so long.

“……but I can’t tell her.”

Valdrova covered her mouth reflexively.

Ruri was loyal, but when she got angry she was more frightening than anyone else.

She would surely start talking about the dignity of a dragon and end up scolding her.

They would only end up hurting each other, so she decided to keep it secret.

She needed to share this with someone else.

“Then… Lord Perda?”

A kind man.

She had always wanted to find conversation topics with him.

And this was an excellent topic.

Her heart tingled.

Without realizing it, she smiled foolishly, and her body began moving restlessly on its own.

She wanted Perda to caress this emotion.

‘No… better not.’

Valdrova tightly hugged the pouch of coins.

She wanted to tell Perda, but not yet.

That village was being built thanks to Perda’s will.

She wanted to save little by little and then give him a surprise that would truly leave him speechless.

When someday that village prospered, she wanted to tell him that she had helped raise its pillars.

That she too had built something with her own hands.

That she was not someone capable only of destruction.

She wanted to see the expression he would make.

She wanted to hear what kind of praise he would give her.

That was why she decided to keep everything secret.

Even so, keeping all those feelings locked inside her chest was too difficult, so they ended up escaping involuntarily from her lips.

“Lord Perda…”

Valdrova spoke that name tenderly.

“I… was helpful to Lord Perda.”

That was the step Valdrova took forward.

The beginning of a small change.