Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Battlefield of the Mongrels (5)
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The hammering continued until the sun dipped below the horizon.
Hammer it into shape, sharpen the edge, and refine the details bit by bit.
In the end, a battle axe emerged—one far more refined than the crude one he'd forged before.
...It's pure white.
The doppelgangers' bones were as starkly white as if they'd been artificially crafted.
Thanks to that, the finished axe gleamed in pristine ivory.
And then.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' bestows a blessing upon your creation! "Ooh..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Pure White Battle Axe' has been enhanced by the blessing! ⸻ Durability Increase: A ⸻ Weapon Regeneration: B ⸻ Sharpness: A ⸻ Special Ability Enhancement: C Far more generous stat boosts than when he'd made the previous axe!
And even an extra ability: 'Special Ability Enhancement'.
...This special ability is exactly what I hoped for, right?
The reason he'd gone out of his way to extract the doppelgangers' bones for this axe.
He'd been banking on unlocking a certain potential in this weapon.
Confirming the bonus stats from Morduin's blessing solidified his confidence, and he broke into a grin.
"Is it finished?"
"Ah, yes."
Elattro, who'd been watching the entire forging process from the sidelines, stepped out of the tent—having noticed the hammering stop—and approached.
"Impressively fast... I didn't think you'd finish it today."
"Simple design made it quick. Even the handle's doppelganger bone."
"...Mind if I take a look?"
Elattro asked with uncharacteristic politeness.
"..."
"If it's bothersome, my apologies. I just wanted a close inspection of your work. If not..."
"No, no. It's fine."
He'd just been caught off guard by the elf's courtesy.
To him, elves were snooty, rude types who—at least toward mongrels—always looked down their noses.
With a light heart, he handed the axe to Elattro.
Elattro examined it with a gravity he'd never shown before.
From the blade to the tip of the handle.
Not missing a single inch, scrutinizing every detail.
It almost made him embarrassed for offering it so casually.
And moments later.
"No way... This can't be..."
His serious expression twisted into shock. Hurriedly, Elattro grabbed a random iron sword from his workshop clutter.
"What are you—"
"Don't worry...! Just a test..."
Brushing him aside before he could protest further, Elattro clashed his iron sword against the axe's blade.
Clang!
"..."
"..."
Blade on blade.
Of course it'd ring out like that.
In the darkening forge as night fell, golden sparks erupted and faded.
Thankfully, the axe blade held firm.
The iron sword, on the other hand, cracked clean in two.
"Unbelievable... I suspected, but this...! This is a weapon blessed by a master artisan!"
"...How'd you know?"
"Anyone who knows can tell from the menace in the edge and those golden sparks...! What is this...? No ordinary artisan's blessing... At the very least... one of those dwarves' revered heroic great artisans..."
"..."
"How did you do it?! You're just a mongrel who's barely lived twenty years by the look of you...! How'd you earn such a blessing?!"
"..."
He hadn't expected the weapon itself to give it away.
Elattro's artisan skills were sharper than anticipated.
His eye for detail is downright supernatural...
What to do now.
Couldn't exactly be honest.
Polite or not, he was still an elf.
No way he was handing over his secrets to one.
"It... just came like this from the start."
"...What?"
So he went with a vague dodge.
"Whenever I finish a weapon properly, it always ends up blessed somehow. Out of nowhere."
"..."
"That's it."
Elattro's face filled with even greater shock.
The look of someone confronting an impossible reality.
Even Karloph after the doppelganger massacre hadn't been that stunned.
"This is... yeah, no other way to put it."
"Pardon?"
"A genius..."
"..."
Not really.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' laughs heartily in delight! He was just riding the coattails of ancestors with maxed-out skills.
Calling him a genius felt like an insult to the real ones in this world.
"Your axe... here."
"Ah, thanks."
Elattro, who'd dubbed him a genius, handed back the axe with a complicated expression.
He fell silent, lost in thought for a moment.
As he watched quietly, Elattro finally spoke.
"About earlier."
"Yes?"
"When you first arrived here."
"Ah, yes."
"...I apologize for my rudeness."
Elattro bowed his head slightly.
"I looked down on you. A mongrel forging weapons in my smithy? Impossible, I thought."
"..."
"I was wrong... You're an exceptional artisan. You've changed my mind. Even mongrels... aren't without potential."
"..."
What was this.
A swell of pride in his chest.
He'd felt something similar just before.
On the way here, the elf soldiers whispering as they saw him free the prisoners.
The moment the mongrels' reputation shifted.
"As atonement, you're free to use this smithy anytime."
"Really?"
"Absolutely. Help yourself to materials—they're for the army anyway. No need to worry about costs."
"..."
And so he gained unlimited access to the encampment's forge.
My crafting skills... no, Morduin's blessing.
Either way, this alone flipped his reputation.
More than that, Elattro vowed never to judge mongrels lightly again.
Just one person's promise, but it elevated the mongrels' standing.
The realization left him with a strange, uplifting feeling.
Instinct from this body I possessed?
Back in the slums, here on the battlefield encampment.
Fellow mongrels stirred an odd sense of kinship and pity in him.
"Hm..."
Freshly aware of it, he returned to the Second Scout Unit's camp, deep in thought.
Soon, he reached a conclusion.
To escape this place... the war ends, or I die in it. Mercenary rules...
He didn't want to die.
Which meant the war had to end first.
And if that was his only way out.
"I'll end this war as fast as possible with my own power..."
That's the resolve he came to.
His strength could make a real difference.
It was considerable already, with room to grow.
And if he ended this elf-doppelganger war through his merits, the mongrels' status would rise even higher.
Grin.
With that thought settled, he glanced around with a smile.
Seizing a moment alone, he addressed the ancestors.
Specifically, Morduin.
"Great artisan of the spectral kin."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' regards you. "Will you revoke this axe's blessing?"
He held up his old crude battle axe.
Now obsolete with the new one.
Morduin granted the request immediately.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ancestor 'The Creating Mortal' revokes the blessing from your creation. Shhh.
Thus, his first blessed creation reverted to a plain battle axe.
"Since we're at it... time to rack up points and troll a bit?"
He turned from the path to the Second Scout Unit, heading instead to the encampment's heart.
Where the largest tent stood.
General Eloi's.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hoo..."
Eloi sat in a chair inside his command tent, leaning back with eyes closed, lost in thought.
Because of what happened earlier that day.
That mongrel... wiped out a whole doppelganger nest alone and rescued the prisoners... without a scratch...
Even if he sent an elf unit under his command, pulling it off unscathed would be tough.
Of course, if he led it himself, maybe.
Honestly, even he couldn't guarantee the prisoners' safety.
He could burn the nest with firepower, sure.
But that'd endanger the captives in the crossfire.
Which made Number 17's mission results unbelievable, even to Eloi.
The two mongrels on the rescue and the prisoners—all unharmed, enemies alone slaughtered.
He was easily worth hundreds of mongrels as a mercenary.
No wonder Lady Elena paid a fortune to hire him...
An excellent mercenary.
"Haa..."
But that's what was troubling Eloi now.
That mongrel's axe... how to get it...
Elena's secret order: retrieve the mongrel's axe.
Why a noble pureblood elf lady wanted such a crude thing, he didn't know.
But it was a direct, secret mission from her.
No refusing something that tricky.
Snatch it by force? If that mongrel fights to the death, unit casualties...
His excellence made retrieval all the harder.
Thus, Eloi agonized over it.
And then.
"General Eloi, the mongrel mercenary wishes an audience."
"What...?"
"The new one from this afternoon."
"..."
The headache mongrel had come to him personally.
"Send him in."
What could it be.
No business left between them, he thought.
Some request, maybe?
That'd be welcome.
A chance to trade the axe for it.
"What is it?"
"..."
Eloi faced Number 17, expectant.
But.
"General, I'm here to apologize for my rudeness this afternoon."
"...What?"
Number 17 bowed deeply right away.
Then pulled one axe from his back and placed it on the table.
"As you commanded, I return this axe to you."
"...Why the sudden change of heart?"
"At first, I thought you were mocking a mere mongrel like me."
"..."
"But seeing the prisoners' reactions today, I realized you're not the type to jest like that."
"..."
Number 17 buttered him up smoothly, eyes full of respect.
"So I forged a new axe and came to return the old one."
"..."
Catching Eloi completely off guard, he stared blankly at the axe.
Then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! I see, I see. Makes sense—a mongrel suddenly ordered to hand it over might feel mocked!"
"Thank you for understanding."
"No, no. My fault for not considering you as a mongrel."
"As expected of the general—such magnanimity."
Eloi's mood soared at the flattery.
What luck!
No idea why, but his headache vanished in seconds.
Now he could fulfill Elena's order—impossible not to be thrilled.
"Thanks for understanding. Guess I misjudged you a bit too."
"Not at all. With that, my business is done. I'll take my leave."
"Good work on today's mission. Looking forward to more, mongrel mercenary."
"Yes, sir."
Number 17 saluted crisply—fist to chest—and departed.
"Heh, hahaha!"
After he left.
Eloi chuckled happily, caressing the axe.
"Even mongrels with skill have good hearts. Lady Elena gifted me a fine mercenary."
To him, Number 17 was no longer a troublesome mongrel, but a valuable subordinate.
Of course, Eloi had no clue.
That the axe Elena ordered retrieved was an empty husk.
Elena herself wouldn't know until she handed it to the dwarf lady who'd requested it.