Has Bekelf Finally Lost His Mind?

Finding fulfillment in the work of the church! Had Bekelf finally lost his mind? Of course not. Bekelf was perfectly sane.

"Ah! I am a truly happy dwarf!" Bekelf declared, casting a quick sidelong glance. The old heroes of the church were nodding off nearby, yet they looked thoroughly pleased.

Those crazy old coots!

At first, Bekelf had been overjoyed to receive the title of Elder from Tae-hyun, but he was naturally a cunning and crafty dwarf. If he had been a normal, well-adjusted dwarf in the first place, he never would have accepted Tae-hyun's offer and come here!

"Ah. That's not how you swing a hammer."

"Tsk, tsk... Back in my day, if you hammered like that, you'd be too embarrassed to even call yourself a blacksmith..."

"...Zzzzz..."

To make matters worse, the old heroes of the church absolutely loved back-seat driving. Bekelf had pleaded with Tae-hyun, asking, "Can't you please get these people out of here?" but Tae-hyun had flatly refused. After all, they were stationed there as watchdogs to keep Bekelf from causing trouble!

Still, Bekelf had endured it for quite a while. But with the constant nagging by his side, nothing to do for fun, and no subordinates to torment, he was starting to feel the itch to slack off.

Ugh. I need to take it easy and play around a bit.

If he slowed down, the items would be completed later, but Bekelf couldn't care less. If Tae-hyun came by and asked, "Why has production slowed down so much?" he planned to make all sorts of excuses to highlight his own importance.

"Your Majesty! Since an Elder like myself is working all alone, I'm running out of strength. To increase efficiency, if you could just get rid of these old coots and bring me a few decent dwarves..."

Just like that!

But Bekelf's plan was shattered before it could even begin.

"Why have your hands slowed down?"

"Hoho. Are you slacking off now, dwarf lad? Hmm?"

"N-no, I was just catching my breath for a second..."

"Catching your breath? Right. You must be fully caught up by now. Back to work!"

Bekelf flared up. He slammed his hammer down and protested.

Thud!

"Excuse me! I am an Elder of the church, a powerful figure delegated authority by His Majesty himself! How dare you order me around like that?!"

Seething with rage, Bekelf tried to assert his authority over the heroes. I've been patient with these old humans, and now they don't know their place!

The heroes of the church stared blankly at each other.

"What is his problem?"

"Hmm. What did His Holiness the Pope say again...?"

The church heroes recalled Tae-hyun's instructions. What did he tell them to do in a situation like this?

"If that guy talks nonsense, just beat him up."

"Ah. That was it."

"It seems the dwarf lad is begging for a thrashing."

The heroes immediately picked up clubs. These were high-level NPCs capable of infiltrating the Demon Realm to assassinate a Demon Duke! Even wielding unfamiliar weapons, their raw power was no joke.

Bekelf panicked and stammered, "Y-you bastards... I-I am an Elder! An Elder of the church! His Majesty will never forgive y—urk!"

The sheer strength of these heroes was enough to bring even a dwarf—a race boasting exceptionally high Strength and Constitution stats—to his knees! The old heroes' strikes were so spicy that Bekelf couldn't bear it.

Thwack! Bam! Pow! Crack!

"Dwarf lad! Are you snapping out of it yet?!"

"Argh! Cough! Gack! I won't... forgive...!"

"Dwarf lad! Speak up when you've come to your senses!"

"Aaaargh! Grah!"

I'm really going to die at this rate! Bekelf quickly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opened his mouth.

"Yes! Yes! I've completely snapped out of it!"

"Is that so? Then get back to work."

"My body is aching all over, so if I could just rest a bit..."

"It seems you still haven't fully come to your senses, dwarf lad."

"N-no! Not at all! I'm fine!"

Bekelf picked up his hammer again. He was a high-level NPC in his own right, and as a blacksmith, his Strength stat was incredibly high. Yet he had been completely suppressed without even being able to put up a fight!

What kind of old monsters are they?!

Bekelf was terrified. They had looked so easy to deal with, but they were absolute monsters.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In the end, Bekelf had no choice but to give up and work diligently. He wanted to complain to Tae-hyun directly, but Tae-hyun never showed up...

Should he slip a note inside one of the armor pieces?

"You're doing great, aren't you, dwarf lad?"

"Yes, yes! Of course! It's incredibly fulfilling! I want to do nothing but this for the rest of my life! I don't want to do anything else!"

Tae-hyun, who happened to walk into the forge at that exact moment, was taken aback upon hearing those words.

"Oh... is that so?"

He had actually come to ask Bekelf to help him work on the Adamantium...

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"I suppose I should apologize, then. I'll just work hard on the Adamantium by myself..."

"No! Adamantium is not something so simple that you can handle it all on your own!"

"But taking you away when you're so deeply engrossed in your current work seems a bit..."

"No! Please, let me help you!"

The other heroes were deeply impressed by Bekelf's passionate display.

"That dwarf lad has incredible determination."

"Does he really want to work with Adamantium that badly?"

The Auston Kingdom! To the Guild Alliance, it was a proud land soaked in the guild's blood, sweat, and tears. How much effort and tyranny had they exerted just to secure this kingdom!

However, the sentiment was entirely different among players who didn't play in the Auston Kingdom.

The lukewarm gaze of the players! The Guild Alliance felt deeply wronged and did their best to defend themselves on the community boards.

Of course, those explanations didn't go down well.

Talk about misplaced trust! But the players' suspicions were only natural. Hadn't far too many horrific quests erupted in the Auston Kingdom?

At the start of the game, it was the Kingdom Civil War quest. When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the guilds fought over territories, it was the Plague Lands quest. After that, it was the Great Orc Invasion, the Undead Army Invasion, the Worldwide Bandit Player Invasion, the Elven Fleet Invasion, the Demonic Legion Invasion, and so on and so forth...

Listing them all out like this made it clear: this land was truly cursed. It was honestly impressive that the Guild Alliance had survived all of this!

For some reason, it feels like most of this was because of Kim Tae-hyun, but surely that's just my imagination.

Of course, those quests were highly exaggerated. When a quest triggered, only the specific city or region suffered damage; the entire vast kingdom wasn't devastated.

...Well, actually, there were a few times when the entire kingdom did take a hit...

Therefore, the arrival of a demonic envoy to the Guild Alliance was an incredibly shocking event.

A wave of murmurs rippled through the room.

The executives of the Guild Alliance were thrown into confusion.

"A demonic envoy has arrived?"

"And they're not attacking?"

"Isn't this a trap? Sent by Kim Tae-hyun?"

"Kim Tae-hyun runs a holy church, how could he send a demonic envoy?"

"Then how do you explain all the crazy things he's pulled off so far?"

An incredibly logical counterargument!

"I'm telling you, if anything is even slightly suspicious, we have to assume Kim Tae-hyun is behind it."

Within the guild, a certain rule had become popular: the "Kim Tae-hyun Law."

If you are experiencing exceptionally bad luck, suspect Kim Tae-hyun first!

Astonishingly, the probability of this law being correct was over fifty percent!

"Let's just hear him out first. We have so many paladins here, what could a single demon possibly do?"

"That's exactly what we said about Kim Tae-hyun..."

What could he possibly do alone? → Ah, so he can do quite a lot alone!

"Hey, shut up, you tactless idiot."

The other executives scolded the rookie executive. Seriously, this guy is bringing us bad luck!

"O great rulers of the Auston Kingdom! This humble servant of the Duke greets you!"

The demonic envoy prostrated himself flat on the ground, showering the Guild Alliance executives with praise. Despite this, the executives did not stop glaring at him with deep suspicion.

He's too polite. Is he one of Kim Tae-hyun's spies?

He's too well-dressed. Is he one of Kim Tae-hyun's spies?

He's a demon. Is he one of Kim Tae-hyun's spies?

Could he just be Kim Tae-hyun's spy?

The demonic envoy was deeply impressed by their wariness.

These humans are no pushovers!

But it didn't matter. The proposal he brought was one they simply couldn't refuse.

"Very well. For what reason have you come here? You had better watch your tongue, as paladins and priests are standing by all around us!"

"I have come to propose an alliance."

"An alliance? How can we trust you?"

"You do not need to trust us. Our target is the Atali Kingdom. Just open the path for us, and we will handle the rest."

"...?!?!"

The Guild Alliance executives murmured among themselves.

"Can we trust this?"

"Come to think of it, didn't Kim Tae-hyun attack the Demon Dukes in the Demon Realm? I heard he even took over a Demon Duke's castle..."

"If that's true, can't we deal him a blow? Without lifting a single finger!"

The opportunity for revenge they had only dreamed of! Instead of Tae-hyun always getting a free ride, it was their turn to get one!

"Su Ning! Please make a decision!"

"It sounds like a great proposal! We don't even have to do anything! If we just leave the demons alone and don't hunt them, they'll head down on their own!"

"Mmm..."

Su Ning felt strangely reluctant. Though he would never admit it, Su Ning had grown and matured through his repeated clashes with Tae-hyun. An ominous intuition forged by countless failures! A proposal this sweet was bound to have a catch!

However, every single executive was in favor. It was difficult for Su Ning to oppose it alone. He had to consider the feelings and potential discontent of his executives, after all.

Sensing the atmosphere, the demonic envoy drove the final nail in the coffin.

"If you grant us passage, we will offer you a share of the spoils!"

"Su Ning, isn't this a fantastic deal?"

"Mmm."

Even the representatives sent by their corporate investors were fully in favor after hearing the proposal. No matter how they looked at it, it was a highly profitable deal!

"Very well. We accept your proposal!"

A contract promising not to interfere with the demons appearing in the Auston Kingdom as they marched down to the Atali Kingdom! There were several penalties, but it was a contract well worth making. If the demons appearing in their kingdom would only target the Atali Kingdom, that was a massive win!

One of the executives tilted his head in confusion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and asked, "...Wait a minute. But where did those guys even come from?"

"What do you mean, where did they come from? Demons get summoned in all sorts of ways."

The Auston Kingdom had the World Tree, and even without that, there were cases where Necromancer NPCs summoned demons.

"Judging by the way he talks, it doesn't sound like just one or two..."

"They probably just gathered together after being summoned."

"If they gathered, where did they gather?"

"How should I know? Do you know how vast this kingdom is? They're probably hiding in some mountain, forest, underground, or somewhere like that."

"Shouldn't we look for them?"

"How are we supposed to search all of that?"

He slumped at the other executive's scolding.

But isn't it dangerous if demons are lingering near the cities...?

It is always darkest under the lamp! The Guild Alliance had absolutely no idea that demons had been secretly summoned beneath the kingdom's cities for a very long time.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"One, two! One, two!"

Following Bekelf's rhythmic shouts, Tae-hyun swung his hammer like a madman and stoked the flames.

It was exhausting! For the first time in a long while, Tae-hyun was feeling a true sense of intense struggle.