Late at night.
Leo shook his head as he saw the party members in his home, all of them in a mess.
“I can guess what happened, but… I’ll ask anyway. What happened?”
Leo asked Kal, who was relatively intact.
Of course, Kal was also different from usual.
He was studying, clinging to a book like a diligent student.
“Ar listened to theory classes from Aron all day today.”
Kal pointed at Ar, who was lying down beside him, grabbing her head as if she had a headache, mumbling incoherently.
“So… the timing for breathing should be here, and… the sound… AAAH!”
With her eyes spinning and scratching her head, Kal averted his gaze from Ar and pointed at Eiran and Berkiya.
“Over there…”
“Hey, let’s spar.”
“Again? I can’t move anymore; you always win, Berkiya-sama.”
“Quiet. Come out. And fight me.”
Berkiya, with an expressionless face, was demanding a duel with Eiran.
Berkiya, trying to drag Eiran out of the house forcibly.
Leo stopped Berkiya and pulled her away from Eiran.
Eiran quickly hid behind Leo.
“Why are you trying to fight someone who clearly doesn’t want to?”
“I’m going to prove that I’m much stronger.”
“But, Berkiya-sama, you are way stronger! You’ve beaten me so many times today!”
“That doesn’t make sense!”
Berkiya shouted.
At that, Leo nodded.
“I see. Your potential as a swordsman compared to Eiran is indeed lacking.”
Berkiya flinched as she looked at Leo.
As a knight.
As a wizard.
Looking at each individual aspect, Berkiya was undoubtedly superior to Eiran.
Luna and Aron had poured all their efforts into raising her.
Even though she hadn’t mastered the Magic of the Stars and couldn’t fully replicate Aron’s aura skills due to her different race, her strength was bound to surpass that of Eiran.
‘The direct disciple of Luna and Aron, two pinnacles of magical and martial arts.’
Decisively, Berkiya had been born with the blessing of the fairies.
Eiran only possessed a fragment of the fairy’s power.
Since Berkiya could use the magic of the fairies herself, the disparity in strength was inevitable.
But as a fusion of two classes, Eiran’s strength as a sword-mage was overwhelmingly superior.
Eiran’s skills were what Berkiya would master far into the future.
In a sense, Eiran could be considered the future version of Berkiya.
“You’ve been slacking in your training as a sword-mage, it seems.”
“N-no! I’ve been working hard!”
‘Yet another lie.’
Staring at the flustered Berkiya, Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Anyway! You! You’re sixteen, right? I know everything!”
Berkiya approached Leo, placing her hands on his waist.
“To older sisters like me, don’t you dare talk back! From now on, you’ll use proper honorifics and respectfully…”
“Aaaaaaaaah?!”
Leo hit Berkiya lightly on her temples with both fists.
Berkiya, pouting, clung to Eiran for comfort.
“Really, you show zero mercy, even to historical greats.”
As Kal whispered this, Leo smirked.
And then, Leo pointed at Driana sitting on the side, as if her soul had abandoned her.
“Why does she look like that?”
“Master Dwenno said to abandon art and just make weapons.”
“…”
“That was terrifying.”
Approaching Driana revealed her muttering strange nonsense like, “I am trash. I apologize to Art…”
‘She must’ve seen something disturbing in the name of art.’
Leo sighed, as if he didn’t need to see it to know.
“What about Lunia?”
“She’s resting in her room. Actually, she suffered the most.”
“Why?”
“She consumed the essence of Dwenno’s flames.”
Leo’s eyes widened.
“She consumed the essence of flames?”
“Yes.”
The essence of flames.
Leo also possessed the essence of Dwenno’s flames.
Though it differed from Lunia’s.
What Leo possessed was the essence of Dwenno’s flame itself.
What Lunia possessed was merely a fragment of it.
‘Sharing flames implies weakening one’s own flames, as well.’
Unless a definitive successor had been chosen, sharing the essence of flames was quite a substantial blow to Dwenno, considering the current era.
“What are you looking at?”
“Me? The alchemy secrets given by Master Dwenno.”
‘Isn’t this something even Luna hasn’t seen?’
‘You, an elf who’s squandered talents by creating bizarre potions that ruin people’s lives using my secrets?’
‘Cheesy!’
‘You’ll have to win love on your own merits; I’ve never concocted any love potions.’
‘That’s not why I’m looking!’
A flushed Luna hissed loudly.
“What’s wrong with love potions?”
“It’s nothing.”
As Kyle appeared, Luna quickly left her seat.
‘What’s she up to now?’
‘How would I know? Luna is the stupidest elf I’ve ever seen.’
‘Indeed.’
‘And you’re the biggest idiot among humans I’ve encountered.’
Recalling Dwenno’s harsh words, Leo asked,
“Are there any love potions in there?”
“Apparently.”
Leo chuckled nervously, lost in thought.
‘Dwenno, what are you thinking?’
Distributing the essence of flames freely to someone they’ve only just met, handing over alchemy secrets never shown to allies.
‘Why?’
Leo felt perplexed.
Clang! Clang!
Late at night.
Dwenno’s forge blazed with fire.
Seeing Dwenno, Aron wore an expression of curiosity.
“That’s strange.”
“What is it?”
“You usually paint or sculpt at night.”
Clang! Clang!
“But you’re hammering weapons, which is surprising.”
“I may be an artist by nature but also a blacksmith by trade.”
“Wait… isn’t blacksmithing your main job?”
“Aron. Do you know why I call Kyle and Luna fools?”
“Why?”
“Because they dare to categorize me as merely a blacksmith.”
Dwenno asked kindly.
“Do you wish to join their ranks?”
“No.”
Dwenno resumed his hammering.
Clang! Clang!
Dwenno plunged the red-hot blade into water.
Sssssss!
Steam hissed and roared as the water boiled.
“Hm, it’s as good as new.”
Inspecting Erquent’s blade, Dwenno spoke.
“Aron.”
“Yes.”
“Are you still afraid of the future?”
“Yes.”
Aron’s gaze dropped.
“You’re afraid too, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
Dwenno smiled faintly.
“Nevertheless, don’t lose hope.”
Dwenno, dropping metal ingots into the forge, said,
“Your courage is our hope after all.”
Thump! Thump!
The ground trembled.
The mortals below, overcome by fear, prostrated themselves before a being towering larger than the mountains, trembling and dreadful: the Giant King.
“O great Giant King. Why have you graced such a humble place with your presence?”
Gias stared at the humans bowing before him, viewing them as he would vermin.
They were traitors who had betrayed the world to side with Tartarus.
Even now, Gias held no affection for them.
‘The Demon King only views them as expendable pawns. But once a traitor, always a traitor.’
Certainly, even if they betrayed again, it wouldn’t hurt Tartarus.
Still, Gias loathed this type.
“I shall soon attack Guardstron. You know this, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
“I need forces. I’ll make use of you lot.”
“Us? The mighty Giant King leads such a powerful army, how could mere pests like us ever be of help?”
The man spoke in a trembling voice.
Indeed, with the Giant King’s forces, invading Guardstron wouldn’t require help from such inconsequential beings.
But their reasoning was simple.
‘They fear d*ath.’
From their perspective, attacking Guardstron was akin to committing s*icide.
The last fortress of the world, Guardstron—never once had it fallen. Assaulting it was tantamount to certain d*ath.
Having betrayed the world to preserve their lives, these traitors would naturally avoid approaching the environs of Guardstron.
“Of course, you lot are utterly useless.”
Grun-grun-grun…
The Giant King raised his hand.
And with that, a portal opened, spilling forth countless weapons.
“But, if there are my personally crafted weapons! You might be of slight use.”
Dun-dun-dun-dun!
Before the traitors were scattered what were known as demon tools.
“Take them.”
The eyes of the Giant King flashed.
“And attack Guardstron.”
At the Giant King’s command, the traitors scrambled to grab the weapons, their faces lighting up with excitement.
Back then, the weapons of Gias were known as the strongest on the land.
Watching the traitors scream with delight, the Giant King grimaced.
These weapons were not his own creations.
They were poor imitations of the weapons crafted by Dwenno, the Blacksmith of God.
‘Just wait, Dwenno. With weapons just like those you created… I’ll crush you!’
A dangerous glint appeared in Gias’s eyes.
“How about taking a full day off today?”
On the ninth day since arriving in the Hero’s World, Leo casually approached Dwenno and said this.
At this, Dwenno, who had been puffing on his pipe, replied,
“You’ve never shown your face until now, but suddenly suggest taking a break? Hmm, your friends must be worrying about you.”
“Not just my friends. The entire city.”
“…?”
“I mean, let the entire city take a day off.”
Hearing this, Dwenno, who had been staring blankly at Leo, asked,
“Let me cut to the chase. What are you lot?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“No surprise there.”
Dwenno took another puff from his pipe.
“Feels like you know I’ve figured something out.”
Dwenno closed his eyes.
After exhaling a puff of smoke, he spoke.
“What’s coming?”
“The Giant King, Gias.”
“Hmm.”
The expression on Dwenno’s face darkened.
“Should I let Depeser know? I’ll tell the city’s defenders to take a full day off.”
“…Thank you.”
“Just one more thing.”
Dwenno smiled faintly.
“Is the future filled with beauty?”
“…Not as much as you might imagine, but it’s sufficient.”
“What a gratifying answer.”
Smiling brightly, Dwenno turned away from Leo, who clenched his teeth.
‘Maybe you had already suspected we came from the future.’
Dwenno was wise and sharp.
He must have noticed his companions doing things that gradually defied common sense.
That’s why Leo had revealed that they were from the future.
But the truth that he was Kyle, Dwenno could never be told.
‘How could I say it?’
To a comrade who dreams and moves forward towards the future.
That you will fall to Erebus and d*e.
That you’ll never witness the salvation of the world.
How could one possibly say such words?
Leo believed that merely conveying that their efforts weren’t in vain was enough.
*
That evening.
The party was taking a rest at Kyle’s house.
Unusually, Dwenno and Aron had come to visit.
Kal and Driana were learning alchemy and blacksmithing techniques from Dwenno.
Berkiya was listening to Eiran discussing the ways of fairy magic.
“S-so that’s how it is.”
Eiran, who was taking notes while marveling, made Berkiya wear an expression of pride.
“All is well, except, Eiran.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you keep treating me like a grandma?”
“No, I haven’t done such a thing!”
“You’re looking at me like I’m a grandma.”
Berkiya frowned.
Meanwhile, Ar wanted to hear tales of Aron’s exploits.
“All of it was cleared by Aron!”
“No, Kal did it…”
“No, Aron gave courage to Kal!”
“No… Kal gave courage to me.”
Clearly, Ar was exaggerating Aron’s greatness to an unreasonable degree.
Watching this interaction, Leo muttered,
“What a strange scene.”
The present and the past, who would never normally meet, were joyfully chatting.
Of course, to the present individuals, those from the past were mere fleeting illusions.
But to Leo, both sides were real.
‘If this experience can be a stepping stone towards the future, it wouldn’t get any better than this.’
Thinking thus, Leo looked aside.
“Why are you so down?”
Unlike her usual self, Lunia had her ears and shoulders drooped.
To Leo’s question, Lunia replied,
“Kal and Driana, Eiran… Even Ar. Everyone has definitely advanced in the past few days.”
Lunia clenched her teeth.
“Only I haven’t gained anything.”
“The essence of Dwenno’s flames.”
“…Master Katariu said I should give up. That I lack talent.”
“Ignore that rude bird’s words. If you keep listening, you’ll feel unnecessarily constricted.”
Despite Leo’s words, Lunia kept her slouched posture.
“I… was probably too arrogant. Thinking I was doing well as a representative of Seirun… Feeling proud about the fact that I could learn Luna’s magic from you…”
Lunia wore a melancholic expression.
“Am I really worthy to inherit Luna’s magic?”
“So ignore that bird’s words—”
While Leo sighed and tried to console Lunia, his expression stiffened as he noticed the sudden change in atmosphere from Dwenno and Aron.
‘Surely not?’
[Objective: Halt the Giant King’s invasion.
Survive [God’s Blacksmith] and [The Hero].]
Seeing the abruptly updated objective, the party members sprang from their seats.
“W-why are you like that?”
Berkiya wore a bewildered expression.
Leo’s face twisted.
“He’s come.”
Gwooooooaaaarrrrrrr!
A horrifying roar, piercing through the entire city, echoed in the air.
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
