Chapter 314
- This Too Shall Pass (7)
#4 Their Situation: The Situation of the Dwarves
Thump!Thump!Thump!Thump!
The sound echoing from the forge is always the same.
The sound of metal being struck.
The race called dwarves were born to make something, and so they always struck metal.
Striking it to shape it, and temper it to be stronger.
Starting with swords, they made things like spears, axes, and sometimes consumables like arrowheads, or defensive gear like shields and armor.
This work was enjoyable.It was a joy engraved into the race called dwarves.
They always struck various metals with iron as the base, and the moment it became striking metal, they forgot themselves and concentrated completely on striking it.
But now was different. Because they had heard news more important than striking metal.
Thump!Thump!Thump!Thump!
A dull noise was heard among the clear sounds of striking iron.
A mistake that couldn’t happen for a dwarf.
But the information they just heard now was shocking enough to cause such a mistake.
“What, what is it?”
It must be a lie.
It has to be a lie.
They stared at the partner with such eyes but the originator who spoke just kept silently striking iron.
“It’s true. The elders themselves heard it directly.”
“No, it’s a lie. How could something like that happen….”
They couldn’t even strike iron because the news was so shockingly terrifying.
“I understand. When I first heard it I was very surprised too.”
It was the words of a partner who just kept indifferently blacksmithing.
“But it’s true. The Demon King…. Even the metal bat has no effect, they say.”
“Just what kind of monster are we making an enemy of?”
The race called dwarves know very little about the Demon King.
That’s because they can only hear stories passed down in books and verbally.
It couldn’t be helped. Because the evil Demon King, the apostle of the evil god, has the power to corrupt all nearby living things.
The only ones protected from that are the elves, who receive the blessings of the Goddess of Benevolent and Devotion who sealed the Evil God.
And for some reason, only the human race.
And so the gods chose the hero, the apostle of the gods, from the human race, and prepared to fight the Demon King.
The only thing we dwarves can do in the fight against the Demon King is one thing.
To make stronger weapons and armor to raise the survival rate of the heroes.
The idea of fighting the Demon King directly isn’t even something we can think about.
And so we could only hear rumors about the Demon King.
But those rumors…. It Was so terrifying.
“Hectare might be lying right?”
The information came from the elders but the first informant was none other than the evil-handed Hectare.
In that case, he was a figure who could make evil plans and spread such horrifying rumors.
“Right. Of course someone like Hectare could do something like that.”
Even though my words were agreed with, the unconcerned iron striking didn’t stop, doubling my unease.
“What, what do you know?”
Seeing my partner accomplish a state of detachment surpassing that of enlightenment, I spoke in a trembling voice.
“Just what do you know?! Speak!”
Thump!Thump…Thump.
The sounds of striking iron start disappearing one by one.
It meant that even though they pretended indifference, everyone was focusing on our words.
“It’s obvious if you think about it.”
“Obvious…? Was it?”
“That he has no reason to tell us such a lie.”
“We can’t be certain of that! It might be a lie to make us more afraid of the Demon King and work harder…!”
Yes, an evil plot by Hectare to make us more afraid of the Demon King and work harder!
Look at the other dwarves! They’re all nodding at my opinion!
“Why would he?”
But at the sound of that indifferent voice, cold sweat started rolling down my back.
Cold sweat in this heat!
“I, I already said! To make us more afraid and work harder…!”
“So why?”
“Wha…What?”
The moment I saw those completely detached eyes I felt my mouth jam up, unable to speak.
“Why would he need to tell a lie like that when he has the metal bat?”
“Oh….”
The moment I heard his words I could understand everything.
That’s right.
Why is it that we listen to the evil-handed Hectare’s orders without any complaint?!
Is it because he’s done great favors for our tribe and dwarves as a whole?
No.
Is it because as an honored dwarven elder he has the authority to order us around?
That’s not it either.
The only reason we listen to his orders is one thing.
It’s because he conquered the Black Anvil tribe with just one metal bat.
Does Hectare, who has already showcased unforgettable terror to our tribe with just the metal bat, need to introduce this new variable called the Demon King?!
He doesn’t.
The reason Hectare has us make walls and weapons is to oppose the Demon King.
Unlike an enemy, he has no reason to intimidate allies and lower morale.
“Damn……!”
I had no choice but to admit all of Hectare’s words were true.
He was evil but a very wise figure.
Didn’t Hectare also say ‘There are no fools among conmen. Fools cannot commit fraud.’?
Only those smarter than their opponents can deceive others.
And so Hectare, who was both a master of deceit and a symbol of wickedness itself, could be nothing but a smart figure.
“Is there really… No hope…?”
As I realized everything, tears flowed down.
With just Hectare alone already being an opponent I don’t have confidence against, and now there’s a Demon King who doesn’t even care about the metal bat…!
The Demon King in front and Hectare with the metal bat behind!
Not even hell would be more dreadful than this.
“Give up. It’ll be easier if you give up.”
Thump!Thump!Thump!Thump!
In a situation where everyone was silent, striking a hammer alone looked truly like the figure of an enlightened priest.
But a reproaching voice was heard towards that person.
“Giving up? Giving up is not a phrase dwarves can use! Did I teach you that, Fabrius?!”
“Elder Heirus!”
It was one of the tribal elders, Elder Heirus.
“It’s the evil-handed Hectare with the metal bat and the Demon King that the metal bat don’t work on. How do we oppose them? We have no choice but to give up.”
The representative of the tribe and the best craftsman was none other than the elder.
Speaking in such a rude manner to an elder was against tribal law.
“I see how you might think that.”
But the elder did not point out such rude behavior. On the contrary, he nodded his head and agreed with his words.
“There is an enemy behind us that we cannot defeat, and there is an enemy in front of us that we can defeat but cannot defeat. We can neither move forward nor retreat.”
“That’s right. It’s a hopeless situation. So give up, Elder.”
At Fabrius’ empty words, the elder shook his head.
“As I said before, it’s not time to give up yet. Even though the front and back are blocked, there are still opportunities!”
“Where do you escape when the front and back are blocked?”
At Fabrius’ words, the elder raised his finger.
“The sky? Are you escaping to the sky using magic?”
It was quite possible.
Many people often think of elves as the race that uses magic the best among the various races.
However, the dwarves were a race with magic skills as good as, if not better than, the elves when it came to utilization.
Not only imbuing magic into swords, but also engraving magic into each brick to the size of a command from Hectare when they started building the fortress walls!
It required excellent magic power, magic skills to match it, and the dexterity of handiwork.
However,
“Just escaping to the sky is not enough to escape. It seems the elder does not know, but there have already been those who tried to escape to the sky.”
As Fabrius said.
“Not only those working on the fortress walls, but also many of those working on various tasks tried to escape.”
It was a natural thing.
As long as the evil-handed Hectare existed with his metal bat, our future is only dark darkness.
There were those who gave up and surrendered, but there were also those who found hope and moved forward.
And they all….
“Flying shoes to deal with flying monsters, various levitation magics engraved armor, and magic swords to create footholds in the sky in anticipation of aerial combat. They tried to get out of Hectare’s evil hands using all the tools.”
Everything will be explained by the word ‘tried’.
“But not a single one succeeded! They just became the metal bat’s horrible sacrifice!”
The anger that Fabrius had been indifferent to exploded.
Fabrius was not enlightened. He just couldn’t accept the helpless reality.
That’s why he was angry when the Elder touched it.
“The front and back, as well as the sky, are blocked. Then where do you tell me to escape!”
Watching Fabrius’ anger silently, the elder raised his hand even more strongly.
“The sky? Is there no way other than the sky? The sky is already Hectare’s territory. At any time, he can rule the sky with his Heavenly Net technique!”
Heavenly Net.
It means a net in the sky. As the name suggests, it is a method to trap those trying to go up into the sky by installing a net in the sky.
Divide the metal bat’s whole body into very thin threads and cover the sky.
That was all.
But its power was not simple.
Flying towards the sky.
The simple act becomes running towards the metal bat the moment the Heavenly Net exists.
The scene of crashing into the metal bat themselves, screaming and falling.
Many people could witness it.
“Elder, we have no hope left now. Other than fulfilling Hectare’s desires as much as possible, there is no way to escape the pain.”
Hearing those words, the elder remained silent.
However,
“Huh?”
The finger that had been raised to the sky began to fall very quickly.
Thud!
The finger filled with magic pierced the solid ground and made a hole in the floor.
Perfect manipulation of magic power.
It was an excellent technique that demonstrated the power and skills of both a grand master magician and a warrior who met the standards called the Sword Master by humans at the same time.
“That, that can’t happen!”
Seeing that, all the dwarves were surprised and said.
“From ancient times, the dwarven race has been the target of various races.”
As we stood there with our mouths agape and looked at it, the Elder spoke in a firm voice about the history of dwarves.
“Greedy humans and dragons coveted our skills. The orcs who always enjoyed fighting coveted our weapons. The elves who call themselves guardians of the forest interfered with us cutting down trees for work.”
In the very distant past, when the balance of power and territory between races was not perfect.
In order to secure a more advantageous position, the dwarves were constantly targeted.
“Even today, when each race has pledged to maintain balance, there are still humans trying to enslave other races. It must have been everyday life in times when there was no pledge.”
As the elder said.
One of the merits of Hectare, the honorary elder, was rescuing dozens of dwarves who had been taken as slaves.
He was able to become an honorary elder of the dwarves because of his contribution to saving so many people of our race, which was small in number.
“In those days, our ancestors prioritized digging the earth over hammering iron.”
The dwarven race was loved by the gods of fire and creation, but also loved by the gods of earth.
“There was a time when we held shovels and pickaxes instead of hammers.”
Thump!Thump!Thump! Thump!
The sound echoes.
A bright and cheerful reverberation.
But it wasn’t the reverberation of iron.
“We are all excellent craftsmen. But at the same time, we are also very excellent miners.”
That’s right.
What we get from humans is mostly food.
There are rare cases where we purchase very rare metals, but we do not purchase the most basic iron.
Because the ore we mine is much better quality than the ore mined by humans.
Why do we live on this barren land?
It’s because it’s full of high quality ores!
“Ah…”
Listening to that sound echoing brightly, Fabrius shed tears.
“I… I was foolish.”
They were tears of repentance.
The repentance of one who has determined his limits and given up hope.
The elder patted the back of such a Fabrius.
“Dwarves do not give up. Look, there is still hope for us!”
Faint light was leaking from the deep hole pierced by the elder’s finger.
“If the front, back and sky are blocked, escape through the ground!”
It was the moment when a light of hope was born for the black Anvil clan.
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