“…Yes, you’ve really worked hard. It looks just like new, the way I received it from my adoptive father.”
“Hmph, listening to your story, your adoptive father seems to have been quite the eccentric character. A dwarf who’s missing an arm adopting an orphan, and not just anyone, but an elf as his adopted daughter. Then giving her a new arm and a monstrous bow to boot. I’ve lived a long time, but this is the first I’ve heard of such a dwarf.”
Yuna was repeatedly clenching and unclenching her hand, checking its condition. Given the faint smile on her face, it seemed she had been splendidly repaired once again. That’s fortunate; last time, she looked rather dissatisfied.
“My father was indeed quite unique. He was an authority on clockwork toys and had an immense fondness for adventurers. Every time he saw them, he would call them over to hear their stories about the world and would freely distribute equipment to them.”
Lost in reminiscing about her past, Yuna was deep in thought for quite some time, but Akashi and Alterra were creating absolute chaos nearby.
Akashi was being shaken by the cheeks or pressed against the wall with force that could almost crush him, yet his laughter showed no sign of stopping.
“Ugh… Hey, sorry. The laughter… cough… Ah, won’t stop… hahaha… Great Worm… worm-dragon… hahaha, ahaha!”
Alterra was emitting a terrifying aura, making it seem like the only reason she wasn’t harming Akashi was because they were comrades.
“…This guy, he’s hopeless.”
In the end, just before Alterra threw him to the ground, she had no choice but to forcibly stop his laughter using a slave mark. Otherwise, he really might have died.
“In the name of the master, I command it. Please stop laughing already, Akashi! For heaven’s sake, what’s so funny that you’re giggling like that?! Alterra is extremely angry!”
As the tattoo on his neck glowed brightly, Akashi’s uncontrollable laughter finally ceased.
“…Phew. Oh. Yeah… Great Worm, worm-dragon. This will be useful material for a long time. Please convey my thanks to her. Thanks to her, I laughed until I nearly died.”
His laughter slowly subsided. Confirming that he had stopped laughing, Alterra released him as if throwing him aside.
…If I conveyed that message, it’s certain I’d get hit hard, even if it wouldn’t kill me. So, I didn’t bother delivering it.
“Why does it feel so unpleasant when that guy says it?”
“That, don’t judge him too harshly. Akashi… somewhat… puts his life into terrible puns. Sorry. There’s nothing I can do about that. Can you endure it…?”
Alterra tilted her head back and let out a long sigh, proposing a condition: she would tolerate his terrible wordplay.
“If he utters ‘Great Worm’ again, inform him I’ll bury him alive.”
“…Hmm. Akashi, she said if you say ‘Great Worm,’ she’ll bury you alive.”
Then he asked, “So saying ‘worm-dragon’ is okay then?” Well… Ugh, never mind. He’ll deal with the consequences himself.
By the way, among the reasons we came here was for those ingots. Eventually, after the conversation ended, I approached Yuna and the Forge Master, holding what appeared to be an ingot but was actually a key.
“Thank you for helping our companion, O Forge Master. There is one more thing I would like to request. Do you perhaps know anything about this?”
The Forge Master, muttering something about exploitation of labor, carefully examined the ingot and asked what kind of metal it was. Since I didn’t know either, I couldn’t answer.
I pricked my fingertip with a small dagger and smeared some blood on the key. The Forge Master was startled by this odd behavior, but soon, like us, fell silent at the sight that followed.
Perhaps because less blood was applied this time compared to before, it didn’t stay open as long. However, it was enough for the Forge Master to understand what had happened.
“…All, Str… What, what is this? Why am I seeing something I’ve never seen before?”
“Huh…? Did something come to mind? Please tell us anything.”
“Not sure… But something does come to mind… It feels like it’s getting cut off midway… Hmm, yeah. It feels like looking at a torn blueprint. I can tell it’s used for something, but that’s all I know.”
He was clearly confused. I was equally perplexed. Not only did he speak in incomprehensible terms, but how could something he’d never seen before just appear?
When I asked Akashi, he didn’t provide a clear answer. He simply suggested that since it was related to dwarves, taking it to a dwarf might yield some results.
“…Didn’t you just say earlier that modern dwarves are different from ancient ones?”
“Yes, but it’s still related to dwarves. And ancient dwarves were notoriously cruel. They practiced dark magic while ensuring others bore the consequences. Which, I admit, I find quite useful. Hmm… Those wicked ones… If something partially appears to them… what they might do…”
Akashi tapped his head with his fingers, trying hard to recall something. Well, even if the dwarves can’t help, it’s not like it’ll be a problem.
If we follow the direction indicated by the artifact, we’ll eventually find ruins. If we don’t… well, it would be unfortunate, but the events leading up to this journey won’t have been for nothing. It’s not exactly treasure, though.
I didn’t expect it to be easy, but I didn’t anticipate it being this difficult from the start.
Glancing at Alterra to clear my mind, she was busy remaking her cloak, which had been torn during the previous battle.
Apparently experienced in doing this, she quickly jabbed something onto a long piece of cloth and attached it to the fur around her neck, creating another cloak in no time.
It would be nice if she wore some clothes. Whenever I look at her, I don’t know where to place my eyes. Her body, of course, but even her face… it’s somewhat overwhelming.
Alterra doesn’t seem to care at all, but she is beautiful. Her appearance was indeed one of the factors in inviting her to join our party.
“…What are you staring at?”
“Not… uh… it’s a bit sensitive, but I think we need to talk about the money you’re carrying… Not suggesting we pool everything together, but… how about… 5 gold?”
“Is that all? Money issues again? Humans these days. Here, take 5 gold coins.”
She casually handed over the substantial amount of 5 gold coins. Though it might be pocket change to her… still, it’s not an amount one can throw around easily.
…Unless, she lacks a sense of monetary value. We’ll figure that out as we travel together.
“Wait… hey, Yuna. Gather all the dwarves here. Something has come to mind.”
“What? Are you going to bother them again? We’ve already caused them enough trouble. We can’t inconvenience them further!”
“It’s not that. They’ll likely welcome it. Come on, quickly. The dwarf ruin awaits.”
Though Yuna moved slowly, seemingly skeptical of his words, she gathered all the dwarves and brought them to the front of the forge.
“Oh, and. Have Alterra smear her blood on the key. I’ll explain why later.”
There weren’t many times Akashi displayed such a serious expression, so I trusted him and asked Alterra if she could drip a few drops of blood on the key.
—
We knew what happened when blood was applied, but whether it had to be mine was questionable.
I suggested letting the mage do it as he had done before, but Myungho just smiled awkwardly and insisted on asking for my help.
“…Alright. A few drops won’t kill me.”
I sharpened my nails and pricked my palm, then held my hand over the ingot.
Drip, drip. As a few drops fell, the key greedily absorbed my blood and opened wider than ever before, revealing a cosmic landscape before our eyes.
When the mage did it, only the upper part opened, but why does it float and fully open when I do it…?
Also, the state of the dwarves was strange. They looked like they were under a group hypnosis, babbling incoherently. Their eyes lacked any trace of rationality.
Yeah. It was as if they weren’t speaking from their own will but reciting something written by someone else long ago. It was an unpleasant and chilling sight.
“Hey, hero! Can you understand what they’re saying now?!”
“Ol, Strago. Kaiem… I still don’t understand… Wait. I hear it, I hear it! The location of the vault… east by 52… north by 23…? The reference point is… the tower…? What does that mean?”
“Tower, northeast, vault… great! We’ve figured out everything we need to know, I roughly know where it is!”
What’s going on? Just like Yuna who stared blankly, I also gazed dumbfounded at the scene before me.
Beautiful. While Akashi took notes and Myungho spoke nonstop without looking, the key that had remained open for a long time suddenly returned to its original form without warning.
The key fell to the ground with a thud and was picked up by Myungho. He tried shaking the dwarves to wake them up.
His efforts were in vain as they didn’t stir at all.
“Master Forge… Everyone! Wake up! Everyone?! Akashi, what’s happening?!”
“I didn’t expect it, but it’s soul-engraving magic. A curse-like magic that directly inscribes something onto the soul. Looks like these dwarves wanted to leave their legacy so much that they cursed their own souls. Don’t worry, they’ll wake up soon.”
“So these people will be fine… right?”
“Yeah, if by ‘fine’ you mean the same state they were in when we met them. But it’ll take more than five hours for them to wake up. Let’s go. Nothing left to see here and our destination is set.”
While saying something, Akashi walked steadily towards the entrance. Although neither Myungho nor Yuna looked entirely satisfied, they followed him when he moved.
…Are these dwarves still alive? Checking the breathing holes in their masks, they were indeed breathing. They’ll manage somehow.
Leaving the dwarves behind, we joined the procession heading back to the surface.
Myungho was enthusiastically questioning Akashi.
“…So, you’re going back to Golsamet?”
“No. Why go there? We should go the opposite way. To Enshulos.”
—
