Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Mongrels' Battlefield (4)
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Murmurs rippled through the air.
The soldiers' gazes converged on me as I followed behind Karloph.
"They say those two pulled off a prisoner rescue mission on their own and succeeded..."
"Two mongrels? No way that's true. They must've had backup."
"Nah, I heard the new mongrel recruit got rebellious, so they gave him that mission as a condition for leniency."
"What kind of method did they even use...?"
I was used to drawing stares from other races just for being a mongrel.
It was the same in the Colosseum.
But right now, their looks weren't the usual contempt for a typical mongrel—they brimmed with curiosity and astonishment.
'Not bad.'
Maybe it was because of all the unfair treatment I'd endured as a mongrel up until now.
Watching their evaluation shift like that was pretty entertaining.
And as I walked along, soaking in the soldiers' buzzing whispers, Karloph turned back to me.
"So? What's the deal with the forge?"
"Ah, I was thinking it might be time to switch weapons."
"Switch weapons...?"
Karloph stared blankly at the axe in my hand.
Then, walking side by side, he leaned in and whispered so no one else could hear.
"Wasn't that mission all about not letting you lose that axe...?"
"Yes."
"...But you're switching weapons?"
"I told you. I refused because it pissed me off."
"......"
Karloph shot me an incredulous look before bursting into a chuckle.
"Heh heh heh, alright, alright. With skills like yours, I guess it makes sense."
I'd half-expected him to get mad.
Unlike before, though, he just laughed and accepted it.
He must've finally acknowledged my abilities.
"Switching weapons, though... You sure that's wise?"
"What do you mean?"
"The forge master here in camp is an elf. A pretty skilled one, too."
"......"
"We're mongrels, you and I. I doubt he'll give you anything better than that axe of yours."
Ah, so that's what he meant.
There was a slight misunderstanding, so I cleared it up right away.
"It's fine. I'm just borrowing the forge."
"Borrowing it?"
"I'll make the weapon myself."
"You're going to make a weapon?"
Karloph's bewildered questions came one after another.
Was it really that shocking that I had crafting skills?
Well, I guess for a mongrel...
Just as I was about to respond to his baffled stare—
"Looks like we're here."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. That's it. You spotted it quick."
A familiar scent wafted from behind the tent up ahead.
The smell of smelting from Parion's massive forge.
'Been a while.'
The thought of swinging a hammer again had me a little excited.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' gazes at you with anticipation. (By the way, those daily quests the ancestors had dangled as conditions for granting me their powers?)
(They vanished naturally after I racked up achievements in the battle with Ireila.)
(Probably just a temporary measure to cover my lacking stats back then.)
(Thanks to that, I'm free now—no more daily or weekly quests holding me back.)
(...Especially since Karga's not around, stopping those sexual harassment quests is a huge relief.)
"Ooh! Good work out there, Elatro!"
"...Huh? Tch, what do you mongrels want at my forge?"
We rounded the tent to the open space on the other side, where a proper workshop setup awaited.
An elf named Elatro, seated by the anvil, eyed us with irritation.
"Haha, well, this guy's a new recruit in our 2nd Reconnaissance Unit."
"And?"
"Mind if he borrows the forge for a bit?"
"Borrows it?"
"Yeah, no need for you to lift a finger, Elatro. Just let the newbie use the workspace to make his own weapon."
Elatro's face crumpled even further at Karloph's words.
"Have you lost your mind? You want me to let a mongrel's filthy hands defile my sacred forge?"
"Whoops, sorry we didn't mention it sooner. Permission's already been granted."
"Permission...?"
Elatro's scowl twisted into confusion at Karloph's follow-up.
"Yeah, General Eloy approved the newbie using the forge."
"D-Don't lie to me! Why would the general...!!"
"Heh, why would mongrel mercs like us spout such an obvious fib...? It's true, Elatro."
"......"
"......"
Elatro glared at Karloph for a moment, then shifted his glare to me.
He shot to his feet and bolted off somewhere, yelling back at us.
"I'll confirm it—don't touch my tools!! Touch anything and you're dead!!"
"......"
"......"
And with that, he was off—probably to verify the story.
The moment he vanished from sight, I took his seat by the anvil.
"H-Hey! Newbie! Elatro clearly said not to touch anything...!"
"We got permission, didn't we? What can he do if the general approved...?"
"No, but he won't just sit idle..."
"......"
"Hrm, well... Fine? Do what you gotta do."
"Thanks."
Karloph pondered as I stared blankly, then nodded.
Even if that elf smith tried to kill me, he'd realized by now he couldn't.
'Finally getting started.'
I was rushing into crafting not just because I hated waiting around.
I wanted to try out the great new material I'd just acquired.
"What's that...?"
"The half-doppelgangers we took down earlier. Their bones."
"Doppelganger bones?"
Karloph's eyes went wide as I pulled a clump of bones from my satchel and explained.
Well, he wouldn't know.
Doppelganger bones were a steel-like material.
My theory: they evolved that way to mimic appearances.
Anyway.
Heat them, and they become malleable. Hammer them, and impurities flush out, making them even tougher.
Best of all—
These bones still carried the doppelgangers' lingering essence.
'Turned into a weapon, it won't be any ordinary axe.'
In the game, getting a rare weapon made from doppelganger bones was the end of it.
But now?
I could craft one myself.
I couldn't wait to try.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' gazes at you with curious eyes. I'd figured out I could make weapons from doppelganger bones while playing as a doppelganger character.
Even Morduin must've found this unexpected material intriguing as he watched.
Whoosh—!!
"Whoa, magic too. You're one impatient guy."
"Want to start before that annoying elf gets back."
"By the way, how'd a mongrel like you learn magic?"
"Hrm... I'll tell you later."
With that, I fired up the Epic of the Fire Bird to rapidly heat the doppelganger bones.
'Alright... That should do it...'
A moment later, as I prepared to shape the glowing material—
"H-Hey—!! You there, mongrel!! What the hell do you think you're doing!!"
"He's back."
"Haa..."
Elatro came sprinting in, sweating bullets.
He'd probably confirmed it.
Even so, here he was, rushing to try and stop me.
'Predictable.'
I ignored his shouts and swung the hammer.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed from the heated bone on the anvil.
"W-Wait—!!"
Elatro's voice started drowning under the hammer strikes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Wait...!! Huff, I told you to stop, you mongrel bastard...!!"
"Come on, Elatro...! We have permission! Just let it slide!"
"How dare you...! How dare a mongrel defile my workshop...!!"
Elatro struggled to shake off Karloph, who was holding him back.
He wanted to charge at the mongrel right now and stop his sacred workspace from being tainted.
"Hey, mongrel!! Are you even listening...!!"
And as the fuming Elatro yelled at the mongrel seated by the anvil—
Clang—!!
"......"
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The hammer rang out in a lively rhythm.
That sound halted Elatro's movements and voice.
"Whoa... Calmed down now?"
"...That mongrel."
"Pardon?"
Elatro caught his breath amid the crisp hammering and asked Karloph.
His eyes were fixed on Number 17's hands.
"That mongrel... He knows crafting?"
"You can tell just from the hammering, right? I don't know much, but he said he made his own weapon."
"......"
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Elatro was a veteran artisan with years of experience.
Not quite dwarf-level, but among elves, few could match his skill.
So he could gauge someone's proficiency just from the sound of their hammer.
'How is a mongrel...'
What was truly unbelievable was that Number 17 looked like a teenager, no matter how you sliced it.
Yet his movements were polished—no wasted motion in shaping the material.
And then—
Elatro's eyes caught the material Number 17 was working.
"What is that...?"
"What do you mean?"
"That iron he's hammering. It's not from my forge..."
"Oh, that? He said it's bones from the doppelgangers they got earlier."
"Wh-What?! Bones?!"
"Why the shock? Is there a problem?"
How could he not be shocked?
Elatro had never heard or seen anyone process bones like iron in his life.
Fine, say bones could be shaped like iron somehow.
"Th-That crazy bastard...!! He's making a weapon out of another race's bones?!!"
Even for chaos spawn—
Pulling bones from dead enemies to forge into weapons? No one in history had tried something that insane.
"Ah, yeah... It does feel kinda creepy."
"Creepy? This is an ethical violation...!!"
Clang!
Clang!
"......"
But—
'A weapon from doppelganger bones...'
Even knowing it wasn't sane thinking, Elatro briefly imagined the weapon this mongrel would create.
It would be something no one had ever made before.
"......"
In the end, unlike moments ago when he'd been ready to kill—
Elatro silently began watching the mongrel's hammering.
Clang!
Clang!