Chapter 49
‘He doesn’t want to kill me!’
If killing was the goal, any dragon could have done it easily.
The reason a Black Dragon was sent was because this was a job so dirty and cruel that other dragons would refuse to do it.
“Daring to harm and abuse a child of the Dragon Race… you must pay the price. Just killing you would be too light. Death would only be a release.”
From the sky, a crushing aura poured down on the earth.
Bagis Fedwick fell into despair so deep it dried his blood.
“Kaliserd, that stiff-necked one, agreed as well.”
The dragon’s dark voice carried cruel joy.
“A warning must be left behind. So that no one ever dares touch a hatchling again. The world must know that this crime will not end with just losing one worthless life.”
The dreadful feeling in Bagis Fedwick’s chest became reality.
His body shook like a tree in the wind.
“D-Dragon! Please, show mercy…!”
The dragon only curved its lips in a twisted smile.
Bagis nearly went insane.
He had to escape this somehow.
Panicking, he blurted out words without thinking, a last desperate gamble from a half-paralysed mind.
“……You dragons are overlooking something! In truth, I was the one who saved that hatchling’s life!”
“What?”
“Yes! Think about it. If another demon had found that egg instead of my company? They would have smashed it at once and erased all traces of it!”
He pressed a hand to his chest and shouted in a cracked voice.
“But I, Bagis Fedwick, chose differently! I hatched the egg! That is my merit! You dragons should consider this before judging me—”
“Why ignore the option of handing the egg over to us immediately?”
The dragon didn’t get angry at his twisted logic.
In fact, the Black Dragon seemed to enjoy this game.
It poked holes in his words with mocking ease.
“You didn’t hatch the egg to save the hatchling. You did it to tame it, to sell it as a slave. Otherwise, you would have told us right away. The Dragon Race would have hatched it properly and protected it.”
“B-but! The fact remains I didn’t smash the egg when I found it! If not for my company, the egg might never have been discovered—”
“This is growing boring. I’ve indulged your nonsense long enough.”
His desperate excuses were worthless.
“That is only a possibility. A choice that never happened.”
Despair spread thicker across Bagis’s face.
“You chose the worst path. The responsibility is yours alone. Fool. Or has fear frozen your brain?”
The dragon’s mouth stretched wide, revealing rows of sharp fangs.
“Bagis Fedwick. On behalf of the Dragon Race, I sentence you.”
“No!”
His pale scream echoed.
In that instant, a beam of light shot out from the Black Dragon’s foot.
It wrapped entirely around the trembling demon’s body.
“Huuhk!”
When the light vanished, Bagis gasped for breath.
But now, chains bound his body—iron around his neck, chest, and limbs, all linked together.
‘My mana!’
He felt crushed by a terrible weakness.
The mana that had always flowed within him was gone—completely.
And worse—
‘I can’t see!’
He howled like a beast.
“What have you done to my body?!”
“You know it well enough.”
The dragon answered calmly.
“I returned to you exactly what you did to the hatchling. From now until you die, you will never see again, and you will never use magic.”
The dragon chuckled.
“I plan to throw you into my mithril mine. Even with chains, you can still swing a pickaxe.”
It snickered, then added as if remembering something.
“Ah, yes. Since I copied your restraints, I added one more special spell.”
Bagis’s mind turned blank as he listened.
“The mine is too dangerous for a blind man. You might smash your skull on a rock or get your neck broken by a stray pickaxe. If you died, all dragons would blame me. That can’t be allowed.”
From the beginning, it was clear—the Black Dragon was enjoying this.
“So, the chains on your body carry healing magic.”
Unless killed instantly, any wound would heal in moments.
“Don’t think about ending your own life. Remember, you have no mana now.”
Even if he tried suicide, his powerless body couldn’t do it.
The demon’s strong body only made it worse—he couldn’t escape even through death.
“Now then, let us go to the mine, blind slave. The goblins are waiting eagerly. They need a toy to vent their anger on after hard labour. You’ll serve them well.”
Thud!
Bagis collapsed to the ground.
“Do not worry too much. Even if your nails are torn off, they will grow back. Even if your bones shatter, they will mend quickly.”
Even if goblins whipped him until his flesh split, even if his skin tore and his muscles burst—
he would only suffer pain, never die.
“You’ll live wishing for death, but death will never come. So rest easy, and enjoy the danger and the pain.”
He felt the dragon’s magic wrap around him.
But his blinded eyes saw no light—only endless darkness.
And in that abyss, the demon screamed at the horror of his future.
“Hey, did you hear? A Red Dragon visited!”
Back from his little ‘errand’, Ludwig came straight to find Ariella.
“Yes, it’s true.”
The visit of the Red Dragon, Kaliserd, had shaken the land.
Everyone was talking about it.
And the centre of every rumour was, of course, Ariella.
Kaliserd was one of the mightiest dragons—even Demon Lords feared him.
That such a being had come to the Demon Lord’s land and spoken directly to Ariella was beyond belief.
Some details were hidden by the barrier he used, but the event itself shocked all.
Ariella’s name now spread beyond the southern lands of the Demon Realm, even into the north.
“…So, he promised that no matter what, the dragons will grant you one request?”
Ariella explained Kaliserd’s vow.
Later, she learnt that such promises were never given lightly to other races.
“Most likely, Ariella, you are the first—human or demon alike—to ever receive such a vow!”
Philly, after combing through the histories, said this with certainty.
“Then, what will you ask of them?”
“There’s no need to decide yet. I’ll wait for the right chance and use it at the most critical moment.”
At first, she thought of asking for the protection of Ludwig’s Demon Lord land.
But she quickly discarded that—others might think her land had become a vassal of the dragons.
Ludwig’s face showed both admiration and disbelief.
“They say you spoke freely, without fear, even before Kaliserd?”
Even other demons had trembled in that presence.
Though he hadn’t been there, Ludwig could picture it clearly.
And if it was Ariella—yes, she could do that.
“Then, does this mean Bagis Fedwick and his company are no longer a problem?”
“Exactly. You’ve heard the rumours, haven’t you?”
The effect of Kaliserd’s declaration was immediate.
Even faster and more absolute than any change the Demon Lord land itself could bring.
Ariella declared with certainty:
“The Fedwick Company is finished. No—not just finished. It’s already destroyed.”
