Chapter 245: What is with this human...? (1)
Chapter 245: What is with this human...? (1)
Deep within the Iron Mountains lay a hidden stronghold.
There, three dwarves were gathered around a massive circular table carved from solid stone.
One of them spoke up.
"Hey, Hardy. What are you going to do?"
"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"
"Dammit, are we just going to sit here and die? Or are we going to go out with a bang? You have to decide!"
"Grrrrgh..."
The dwarf named Hardy crossed his short arms and sank into deep thought.
Hardy was the current 'Head' of the dwarf race.
In this context, 'Head' referred to the supreme leader of the dwarves.
Dwarves were a race that, even more so than elves, lacked a formal system of rank or status. Therefore, they did not call their leader a King or a Chieftain, but rather the 'Head.' It signified the one who thinks for and decides the direction of the clan.
To assist the Head, two individuals were chosen as the 'Left and Right Arms,' and those were the two currently present.
Klaus and Grot.
Respectively, they served as the Left and Right Arms of the dwarf race. These three had to decide the future while gambling with the very fate of their people.
The only problem was...
"Dammit, no matter how much I think about it, there’s no answer. Anyone got a good idea?"
"If I had one, would I be asking you?"
"I don't have one either!"
None of the three were particularly known for their intellect.
"Curse them... I never thought they’d use such a petty tactic," Klaus, the Left Arm, said with a deep scowl.
It had been a year since the war with the Harbor Kingdom began. Now, the dwarf clan faced a dire crisis.
When the war first broke out, the dwarves were confident. If the elves had spirits, the dwarves had superior technology. And above all, they were masters of defense.
Dwarves typically built their villages underground. When they established a settlement, they filled the tunnels connecting it to the outside world with defensive traps. These passages, packed with the culmination of their technical prowess, were no different from extremely dangerous dungeons.
If an uninvited guest tried to pass through, even a 7-Star knight would have to risk their life. Furthermore, the Iron Mountains were riddled with traps the dwarves had set over many years.
No matter how large an army the Harbor Kingdom mobilized, the dwarves were confident they could hold them off. And in fact, they had done exactly that.
The first, second, and third attempts...
The Harbor Kingdom had mobilized its forces three times to attack the Iron Mountains, and the results were disastrous.
The first expeditionary force of 50,000 was defeated. The second, numbering 80,000, also fell. For the third expedition, the royal family issued a general mobilization order, leading a massive army of 130,000 into the mountains, but fewer than 10,000 returned alive.
The traps—the pinnacle of dwarven engineering—and their gunpowder weapons were a nightmare for the Harbor Kingdom.
However, after tasting failure three times, the Harbor Kingdom employed a new method. They simply surrounded the Iron Mountains, blockading them so tightly that not even an ant could get through.
At first, the dwarves wondered what they were doing. But as several months passed, they realized the situation was grave.
"Hardy, we’re in trouble."
"What is it? Did the Harbor Kingdom attack again?"
"No. We have less than half our food left."
"What? Then just buy some from the merchants!"
"You blockhead! The Harbor Kingdom is controlling the entire Iron Mountain range!"
"...Ah!"
That meant they couldn't buy food.
While the weapons and artworks they crafted were precious treasures to humans, if the merchants who bought those treasures and sold them food and daily necessities couldn't reach them...
"How much food is left?"
"At the current rate, we'll be out in a month."
"Dammit. Ration it. Tell everyone to eat less."
"Will that be enough?"
"It's better than doing nothing! Oh! And send the young ones out to the outskirts of the mountains to hunt anything they can find—rabbits, boars, whatever!"
"Understood."
A Supply Line Attack.
Having tasted the bitterness of a frontal assault, the Harbor Kingdom had struck at the dwarves' weakness. While the Harbor Kingdom's economy had been supported by trade with the dwarves for years, the reverse was also true: the dwarves relied entirely on the Harbor Kingdom for their food supply.
Once that supply was cut, it was fatal for the hearty-eating dwarves.
Recognizing the problem, the dwarves did their best to respond. They rationed food and tried to supplement it by hunting outside the village. However, the Harbor Kingdom deployed Ranger Units to thoroughly interfere with their hunting, and there was a limit to how much they could ration.
And now...
"In two days, the food will be completely gone."
"Dammit..."
Hardy’s face twisted.
The dwarves, naturally big eaters, had spent the last few months eating as little as possible to stretch their supplies, but they had finally reached their limit. In two days, every scrap of food would be gone.
"Since it’s come to this, why don't we just go out and fight to the death?" Grot, the Right Arm, suggested.
His opinion was that if they were going to die anyway, they might as well die fighting. Many of the younger dwarves agreed with this sentiment. However...
"If there was a chance of winning, we would have gone out long ago," Klaus, the Left Arm, countered.
He spoke the cold reality.
"You know exactly what happens if we leave the mountains and fight a human army on the open plains."
"We can win if we use our gunpowder weapons well."
"We might win once or twice. But where does gunpowder come from? What will you do when it runs out?"
"..."
In the end, it was defeat either way.
The only fate left for the dwarves was ruin. No, there was one other way.
"Should we... accept the Harbor Kingdom's proposal?"
"Has your brain rotted, you old fool?"
"Do you want your head cracked open? You idiot!"
At Hardy's words, the Left and Right Arms protested violently.
The proposal from the Harbor Kingdom was for the dwarves to officially become citizens of the kingdom. They were told they would be given the right to migrate freely anywhere within the country, meaning they could leave the Iron Mountains.
On the surface, it sounded like a good deal. But looking at the reality, it was anything but.
The moment they became citizens, each dwarf would be burdened with a production quota for weapons or art under the guise of taxes. Any dwarf who failed to meet that quota would be turned into a slave. Above all, the state reserved the right to unilaterally set those quotas.
It was obvious how miserable the future of the dwarf race would be the moment they accepted. However...
"At least we could avoid immediate extinction, couldn't we?"
"I'd rather go extinct than live like that!"
"I agree. I'd rather die fighting."
Looking at his two friends standing firm, Hardy let out a long sigh.
"Fine, let's say that's true for us old farts who've lived long enough. But what about the children? What about the women who don't have the strength to fight?"
"..."
"..."
Klaus and Grot fell silent.
Hardy sighed again and spoke.
"It's not like I want to accept it because I like it. I'm saying we should endure hardship for a while for the sake of the clan's future. If we hold on and keep holding on, a better opportunity will come eventually."
"Dammit..."
"To hell with this."
Curses spilled from the mouths of Klaus and Grot. However, they couldn't oppose Hardy as fiercely as before. Rationally, they too could judge which decision was the right one.
Maintain their pride and perish? Or endure humiliation and survive?
The dwarf race stood at a crossroads.
Just then...
"Elder Hardy!"
A dwarf came rushing into the meeting room, panting heavily.
"What is it?"
"Someone... someone is trying to enter through the village entrance."
"What? Is it the Harbor Kingdom's army?"
"I'm not sure. But they're smashing and destroying every trap in their path as they come. They've already cleared more than half of them."
"What did you say?"
The three dwarves sprang to their feet.
Hardy shouted as he ran out.
"Get the young ones ready for battle!"
"Head! Hey, where are you going?"
"Stop, you crazy old man!"
Ignoring his friends' shouts behind him, Hardy sprinted toward the village entrance.
* * *
"Wow... this place is intense."
Hundreds of steel arrows flew from the front.
Judging that there was no way to dodge, Patrick swung his twin swords and deflected them all.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
The moment he deflected the arrows and tried to take a step forward, the ground gave way, revealing a pit trap below.
He sensed the anomaly just in time and leaped forward, but at that moment, high-heat flames like a dragon's breath swept over him from both sides.
"Oh, come on..."
Whirrrrrrr!
Patrick’s body spun at high speed, generating a Sword Wind that pushed the flames back.
The moment he landed...
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
"A boulder's rolling. Haha... look at that boulder go."
Seeing a rock the size of a house rolling toward him, he couldn't help but laugh.
Grit.
"Seriously, how many of these are there?!"
Twin Dragons Eight Sword Styles.
Third Form.
Flash Dragon Strike.
BOOM!
Turning into a single streak of light, Patrick shattered the massive boulder into pieces. Then, he continued to trudge forward.
* * *
"Is he... not human?"
Hardy couldn't believe the sight before his eyes.
What kind of monster was this, approaching without hesitation while smashing every trap set at the village entrance? What was this creature that had already cleared almost everything and was making a mess of the area right in front of the gate?
Even for a 7-Star knight, reaching this point alone should have been impossible. Yet this monster was casually walking in, breaking every single trap along the way.
"Elder Hardy. If this continues, all the traps will be destroyed."
"Dammit, stop the traps and ready the rifles!"
"Yes, sir!"
Following the Head's command, the dwarf warriors moved quickly. Once the traps were deactivated...
"Ah, is it finally over?"
A smile played on Patrick's lips.
Having reached the village entrance, he saw dwarves glaring down at him from atop a firmly closed iron gate. Then, the gate opened, and a single dwarf appeared, wielding an axe.
"I am the Head of the dwarf race, Hardy! State your identity, intruder!"
* * *
Hardy spoke as he stepped out with his axe.
"Fire on my signal. Don't worry about me, just shoot everything you've got. Understood?"
"Elder..."
"Do as I say! Do you think we can stop a monster like that without sacrifices?"
Having lived a long time even by dwarven standards, Hardy knew.
That thing was a monster.
Among humans, outliers occasionally appeared who transcended the boundaries of their race, and this was one of those monsters.
'Of all things, for such a monster to be our enemy...'
Hardy stepped toward the village's perimeter gate.
A chance of winning? There was none.
But he would not let that monster's blade be stained with the blood of his kin until it had passed over his own corpse. That was his duty as the Head of the dwarves.
"I am the Head of the dwarf race, Hardy! State your identity, intruder!"
* * *
To Hardy, who shouted thunderously while wielding his battle axe, the human across from him spoke.
The human bowed his head politely.
"Hello. My name is Patrick Schneider."
"Patrick Schneider... Double Dragon?"
Hardy was startled.
"Oh, you know me?"
"It would be stranger not to."
Even as a dwarf buried deep in the mountains focusing only on his craft, he knew Patrick's name.
"Are you the one they call the continent's worst troublemaker?"
"Hey now, there must be plenty of good rumors too. Why focus only on that..."
The words of a lunatic who waged war against a kingdom single-handedly carried little weight.
Watching the grumbling Patrick, Hardy thought.
For now, he didn't seem to be affiliated with the Harbor Kingdom. But he couldn't let his guard down. In the end, he was just another greedy human.
"What brings you here?"
"Well, actually, it's nothing else but... I was hoping we could have a little chat."
"A chat..."
"We could be of great benefit to each other. Won't you please listen to what I have to say?"
At Patrick's words, the corner of Hardy's mouth curled up sardonically.
'So that's it, after all.'
Humans were predictable. This wasn't the first human to reach out to the dwarves after their relationship with the Harbor Kingdom soured. Even the Empire and the Holy Kingdom had sent people to contact them.
We will protect you.
So, come to us.
'And then they tried to put shackles on us with their clever words.'
Ultimately, what humans wanted were the weapons and accessories they crafted. Knowing that joining hands with humans blinded by greed would only lead to a predictable future, Hardy had consistently rejected such offers. And now was no different.
"No matter what you propose, it's useless. Go back."
"Huh? You should at least hear me out."
"It won't matter. No matter how sweet the offer, our clan no longer wishes to join hands with humans."
"You don't have to join hands. Our heights don't even match; why would we bother with something so uncomfortable?"
"..."
"I only want one thing."
"I told you, we don't need—"
"How about we give the Harbor Kingdom a big, beautiful middle finger together?"
As Patrick spoke, the most innocent smile in the world spread across his face.
'What is with... this human?'
Hardy, the Head of the dwarves. From this moment on, he was about to encounter an unknown creature unlike any he had met in his hundreds of years of life.