Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Hero from a Thousand Years Ago
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Upon exiting the dark cave, a basin surrounded by rocky mountains revealed itself before my eyes. I squinted against the intense sunlight. Even with a torch, the inside of the cave had been quite dark.
Once my eyes had adjusted, two dwarves who were at the cave's exit approached me.
"A new adventurer who's broken through the cave after a long time. Khaha! Looks like you really smashed the place up, huh?"
"S-Sorry."
"Don't worry about the golems inside! They were made to be broken if need be. They'll fix themselves up."
It was an instance dungeon, after all. The golems would respawn if I re-entered. Since the dungeon also served as a passage, I could probably go back through the exit. Or I could just use a return scroll to the imperial capital.
I finished mapping the maze. Next time, I'd be able to quickly reach the cavern using the recorded path. When grinding for levels, I could just go back and forth through this exit.
"Go and greet the village chief. The dwarf at the entrance will guide you once you're inside the village."
The dwarves of this settlement, who regularly interacted with humans, weren't particularly wary of adventurers. Each of them was an excellent miner and a formidable warrior. They had faith in their own strength.
[Berbeia Dwarf Settlement]
[Favor: 5]
A system message popped up as I left the cave.
It was just a guess for now, but if I got on the dwarves' good side and raised my favor, there would probably be perks like receiving good items or getting equipment enhancements.
The first non-human village adventurers would encounter, the dwarven settlement.
This village, where the life and culture of the dwarves were wholly preserved, was set against a backdrop of a colossal rocky mountain. The mountain soared as if to pierce the sky, and mine entrances of various sizes dotted its slopes from base to summit. This was where the dwarves lived their lives as miners.
Clang, clang!
In the blacksmith shops, which seemed to be the dwarves' workshops, dwarven smiths hammered away without rest. The flames and smoke rising from the hot forges showed that this was a place of lively labor.
Guided by a dwarf at the settlement's entrance, I headed somewhere.
After crossing the village, I came face-to-face with a massive stone building that looked as if it had been carved from a giant mountain peak. Was it something like a town hall?
This stone building, constructed with an eye for aesthetic beauty, seemed to be on par with any modern structure. It must have been built with durability in mind, to withstand the long years.
And inside, I met a dwarf who appeared to be quite elderly.
With their bushy beards, it was hard to guess a dwarf's age at a glance. However, the wrinkles on his face and the color of his beard told me he was a dwarf who had lived a very long time.
The old dwarf, seated on a stone chair, looked at me as I was led inside.
For some reason, there seemed to be a strange light in his eyes.
"Welcome, little adventurer. I am the chief of this dwarven village, Ironstone Drugel. Feel free to call me Chief Drugel."
"Hello, Chief Drugel."
*Bow.* I greeted him politely.
To get my hands on the fine items made by the dwarves, I needed to get on the good side of the dwarven chief, who seemed to be the one in charge of this village.
"Has it already been a hundred years since our settlement began actively interacting with humans? Though I may seem like an old man relegated to the back rooms now, there are truths one learns naturally after living for over two hundred years. O adventurer from the stars."
His gaze deepened as he looked at me.
Users, called 'adventurers from the stars' by the continent's inhabitants. The chief of this settlement, which interacted with humans, also knew that beings from another world were active on the Astria Continent.
"The reason our reclusive dwarven settlement began interacting with humans is that we sensed the stirrings of demonic forces. An adventurer who has made it this far probably knows, but their presence has been seen across the continent recently."
"Yes, I know."
"So the adventurers have noticed as well. It is lamentable that the Astria Continent is in a state where it must borrow the power of adventurers from the stars, but it can't be helped, now that this world has lost its god. Did the god of another world take pity on this one, cut loose from its strings?"
A fact I had learned during my previous visit to the ruins of the Supreme God's main temple.
The Astria Continent had lost its god.
Chief Drugel also knew that this world had lost its god. The eldest of the long-lived dwarven race, an old chief who had reached the level of a sage. His knowledge was quite close to the truth of this world.
Why did this godless world reveal itself to Earth in the form of a game? That was still a mystery. Chief Drugel, merely an NPC, wouldn't know the answer to that.
The forward base, the Fortress of Aspero.
It wasn't yet the extreme situation of a thousand years ago, where more than half the continent was stained with demonic energy, but the fact that they were beginning to reappear made it clear that a threat was approaching this world.
The users' mission was undoubtedly to stop the demonic forces stirring on the continent. The Alpharion and Betarion Empires were the largest nations on the current Astria Continent. I didn't know if the leaders of those two empires, busy using players for their own power struggles, were even interested in that.
The non-human races weren't free from the clutches of the demon race either. The dwarves were contributing in their own way.
Well, that was the gist of the setting.
It didn't have much to do with me right now.
As long as the game didn't fail, this world wouldn't be destroyed. It was ridiculous to demand a great sense of duty from me, someone who had lost everything in this world's past.
What I sought here was a heart-pounding adventure and vivid realism to fill the void in my heart. And the money that would entertain me and fatten the real-world Iseulbi's wallet.
As long as there were plenty of users to play the hero's role, as long as this was a continuously serviced online game that wouldn't just slap a bad ending at the finale, it would be fine even if I didn't actively step up to stop the world's threats.
"More adventurers from another star will soon be arriving here. Well, we can't just hand out amazing items to any old adventurer, but it's a different story if they earn our trust."
This was the so-called 'favor grinding.' To befriend the other races I would meet in the future and gain their power, I would have to go through this process.
If I earned the trust of the dwarves in this settlement, I would be able to obtain items helpful in fighting the demon race. There were probably various ways to build favor. Taking quests from them to clear dungeons, or steadily grinding by mining ore.
Having nothing particular to say in return, I just watched Chief Drugel's expression.
The edges of his pure white beard lifted slightly, as if the chief had cracked a smile.
Then, he said something unexpected to me.
"Isn't that right? O Swordsman of Silver and Obsidian."
"......!"
My eyes must have widened.
Did the chief notice my shock?
Swordsman of Silver and Obsidian. I remembered hearing that in the past.
My silvery-white hair, a color not found on the Astria Continent. There might be similar custom colors among the users, but this particular shade of silver was not easily replicated. I personally liked it.
My silvery-white hair was like silver, and my deep, dark eyes were like obsidian.
It was something a certain dwarf who loved minerals said, comparing me to the minerals that came to his mind when he saw me.
But the dwarf who said that...
Shouldn't he be someone from a thousand years ago in the current Astria Continent?
*Ting.*
[Berbeia Dwarf Settlement]
[Favor: 100]
*Thud, thud.*
*Step, step.*
Guided by the chief, I was entering a cave bored into the side of the massive rocky mountain.
It was a hidden cave, only accessible from within the rocky basin where the dwarven settlement was located. The chief manipulated something in front of a cliff face that was nothing but rock, and soon the cave's entrance opened its maw wide.
The walls on either side of the cave were well-polished. They were smooth and straight, as if cut with a knife. It was less a cave and more a kind of temple in the shape of a cave.
But I was in no state to appreciate the cave's scenery. My mind was filled with questions.
How did Chief Drugel, who lived in the present age, know the title of the hero from a thousand years ago?
"The passage of distant ages greatly changes even nature. Transmitted memories erode, and paper rots away. When the will of the world, something incomprehensible to mere creations, also intervenes, one is not even permitted to question the lost legends."
*Click, grumble.*
At the end of the cave, a dead end, the wall opened once more at Chief Drugel's touch.
"However, some things do not change even after a thousand years. And we dwarves can create things that do not change for a thousand years."
A huge cavern.
Carved into the front of it was a rock carving, made by chiseling the massive cave wall.
There, the figure of a dwarf was etched.
"......."
A resolute, strong face. A giant battle-axe in his hand.
A long scar carved into the clearly visible left side of his face. A scar familiar to me.
As I stood there, stunned, the chief's voice reached me.
"In the past, when the hand of evil covered this continent, there was a hero of the dwarves. It is said that before he left for his final battle, he traveled the continent and rallied the surviving dwarves. Though it seems his very existence has been forgotten by the other settlements."
The dwarf from the Hero's party had temporarily left before the battle with the Demon King. It was to rally his surviving kinsmen.
"The ancestors of our settlement, so as not to forget that hero, carved his likeness into the walls here. For some reason, the hero's name was lost. But the hero's image, left here in physical form, and the words he left to the ancestors of this settlement have been passed down from chief to chief."
- If you meet the Swordsman of Silver and Obsidian, treat them as a friend of the dwarves.
"...Of course, that swordsman is also a figure from a thousand years ago, so you cannot be them, but it is an honor to be able to uphold the words our hero left behind, even after a thousand years."
The dependable dwarf from the Hero's party, always cheerful and fond of drink.
I raised my hand and caressed the wall where his image was carved.
And then, I called his name.
"Ain, old man."