Gems Should Be Enough
There was one kind of valuable thing that was prized across the world, no matter the culture.
Precious metals.
Shimmering minerals had always lived at humanity’s side.
The rich adorned their homes and even themselves with precious metals to advertise their wealth, and in times of emergency, those metals could stand in for currency.
That was probably still true, even in a different world.
In all the years I’d lived, I’d never met anyone who hated precious metals.
If I gave them precious metals in exchange for building houses for the beast-people, wouldn’t they be happy too?
They’d agreed to build houses for me willingly, probably.
Even though we couldn’t understand each other’s words, I could still understand the beast-people’s hearts.
I meant the gratitude of people who wanted to repay the kindness they’d received by building houses for me free of charge.
But if I just accepted that without giving anything back, I’d sleep badly at night.
Maybe they were only forcing themselves because they were terrified of my huge body.
The closer you are to someone, the more carefully you’re supposed to handle money.
They’d been the first people I’d really become close to, and I wanted to keep a good relationship with them.
People were never meant to live entirely alone.
In every sense, mentally and physically, two was easier than one.
I looked like a monster, but I’d still been human once.
Anyway, where was I supposed to get precious metals?
The answer was simple.
The mine where I’d met the Cyclops was full of them.
The Cyclops with the thick belly had been, just like it looked, a greedy creature.
It had gathered all the valuables in the mine and stored them away, though at the time I’d thought they were unnecessary and hadn’t taken anything beyond the practical odds and ends. Now, though, they’d be useful.
But what if someone already looted them?
Even if I ran into the person who’d taken them, I couldn’t exactly say, “That’s my precious treasure,” since I’d already abandoned it back then. I also couldn’t march up and shout, Give it back!
“Still… I should at least go check.”
I started walking toward the gold mine.
***
“What the hell happened here…?”
“I-I don’t know. The ceiling just suddenly collapsed!”
“Where is Mayor Drower? Is everyone all right?!”
“I’m here!”
The dwarves were in the dark depths of the mine.
The dwarves who had been lazily digging for gold with the beast-people until yesterday had been caught in a sudden disaster.
The mine ceiling had collapsed in an instant.
The dwarves screamed and fled, dodging the falling rocks.
Those near the entrance had managed to escape outside, but the others had been trapped inside.
Some dwarves had been pinned beneath stones and were crying out in pain, while others were rescuing their comrades. A few had panicked and curled in on themselves.
Even amid the chaos, Drower kept his head and assessed the situation.
This had not been an accident.
The dwarves’ skill was unmatched.
They were a people who spent their entire lives working steel and fire.
From smelting and forging to quarrying and mining, everything was as natural to them as breathing.
There was no way they’d make the kind of amateur mistake a novice miner might.
Besides, Drower always put safety first.
He had gone over every unnecessary space with meticulous care in case an accident occurred, and yet the ceiling had collapsed?
And the day after the beast-people, who were skilled in combat, disappeared at that…
This had to be deliberate.
A dark premonition stirred in Drower’s mind.
“Mayor, what should we do now…?”
“Start with the injured. Help the ones under the rocks first! And supervisors, grab your hammers and shields!”
“Huh?”
When the supervisors hesitated, Drower shouted at them in a voice thick with irritation.
“Stop wasting time talking back and move!”
“R-right!”
Drower led the armed dwarves.
They searched the cavern.
“This was definitely done on purpose.”
“Wh-who did it? We dwarves haven’t exactly made any enemies.”
“Humans or monsters, probably. Those bastards love bothering dwarves who are minding their own business.”
Recently, a great many things had been happening in the Gehenna Great Forest.
The beast-people had suffered a disaster in the form of the Manticore, the elves seemed to have had some trouble with humans as well, and the goblins and orcs were in no better shape.
Only the lizardmen seemed to have escaped unharmed, which was probably because their cold-blooded race was among the strongest of all the beast-people.
Drower had thought that one day the dwarves would suffer too, but he had never imagined it would be today.
What the hell is really going on…?
He pulled himself together and tried to deal with the problem in front of him first.
“If there’s nothing wrong deeper in, then we clear the rubble with the miners and make an exit. Understood?!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Drower took up a lantern and moved forward.
The armed dwarf supervisors checked the surroundings.
“Damn it.”
“This is….”
They found signs of a monster.
“We deal with the monsters inside first! Escape comes after that!”
Drower drew his enchanted golden hammer.
It was a glorious hammer that only the head of the Deep Dark Forge could wield.
As the leader of the dwarves, he strode forward bravely, and the dwarves’ morale soared.
Ever since he’d become mayor, Drower had always been dependable.
Even in dangerous situations, he liked to take the lead, and with his outstanding leadership, the other dwarves had always wanted to follow behind him.
Since taking office, he had overcome many obstacles and earned the trust of countless dwarves.
If they followed his lead, the answer would surely reveal itself one day.
Everyone there believed that.
That was, until they met the monsters lurking in the darkness, waiting to devour any prey that came near.
“Maybe their legs are too short. They’re taking their sweet time.”
“Grrr… grrr…”
“Calm down. Jabberwock, there are plenty of dwarves in this cave. We can take our time and still eat our fill.”
“Hello, everyone?”
Ancient monsters, that was what they were.
The term referred to the twenty monsters that had ruled this land before the ancestors of the beast-people settled in the Gehenna Great Forest.
Like modern monsters, they loved killing people, and their natures were cruel and savage; they were beings that could never coexist with other life.
They were evil.
Even though it was foolish to divide the world neatly into black and white, no one—human, beast-person, or even beast—denied that the ancient monsters belonged entirely to the side of darkness.
They all possessed overwhelming power.
They were such unreasonable creatures that even wise and powerful ancestors had deemed sealing them away the highest priority.
Four ancient monsters blocked the dwarves’ path.
Jabberwock, the glutton.
Arachne, the insect fiend.
Dullahan, ruler of the afflicted.
Chimera Fairy, the seven-colored butterfly.
The ancient monsters, each capable of bringing ruin to the beast-people on their own, had gathered in one place.
Drower’s golden hammer slipped from his hand and fell with a dull thud.
The dwarf who had always prided himself on never knowing fear in his life lost all will to fight.
The other dwarves were no different.
The ancient monsters overwhelmed them with their mere presence.
They were beings of an entirely different order.
A calamity they could never hope to handle with their own hands.
Yes, like a natural disaster, like a typhoon.
“What’s this? You’re giving up before you even try?”
“We heard the Manticore was taken down, so I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.”
“If I’d known you were this weak, I would’ve dealt with you while the beast-people were still here.”
“Grrr……”
The ancient monsters were let down.
Since the Manticore’s disappearance, they had judged the beast-people’s strength to be quite high.
But if the dwarves were already frightened before the fight even began, that only proved they were weaker than the brave dwarves of old.
“Still, we mustn’t be careless. Just because the dwarves are weak doesn’t mean the other beast-people are weak too. That would be a hasty generalization.”
“We’re going to reclaim control of the Gehenna Great Forest. Last time, we were scattered and picked off one by one, but this time….”
Drower listened to their conversation with a blank expression.
What the hell am I hearing right now?
The ancient monsters were going to work together?
Those evil, powerful races that had been hard enough to seal one by one?
If they truly joined forces, then not only the other beast-people, but even the wise lizardmen would struggle to stop them.
“W-why.”
“Hmm?”
“W-why did you wake up after being sealed by our ancestors…?”
The monsters had no reason to answer.
But Arachne, taking pity on the frightened dwarf, kindly answered as though offering a farewell.
“It’s the end of the world.”
“What…?”
“Humans desperately want the beast-people to disappear from this land.”
Drower’s mind went blank.
The more he listened, the more questions he had.
But the ancient monsters’ kindness ended there.
They bared their teeth and opened their jaws to chew the dwarves to pieces.
Bang—!!
At the sound, the ancient monsters froze for a moment.
“Did the entrance cave in?”
“Were the dwarves really that strong? They’re a race that can’t use magic.”
“They shouldn’t have any strange techniques like the lizardmen either.”
Jabberwock was furious at having its meal interrupted.
“Rrrrrraaaagh!!”
With a roar, it flew toward the source of the noise.
A moment later.
Crunch—!
After that horrible sound, the mine fell silent.
“That one’s quick-tempered, isn’t it.”
“That’s both its strength and its weakness.”
“Then let’s resume eat—”
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
A steady rhythm echoed through the mine.
The source of the vibration was drawing nearer.
The ancient monsters were puzzled.
Jabberwock was, by nature, a flying beast.
Unless something unusual happened, that hot-headed creature had no reason to walk on the ground.
No, was Jabberwock even that heavy to begin with?
Out of the darkness, the full body of the black-armored dragon came into view.
The dwarves’ eyes went wide, and the ancient monsters began to wary of the newly arrived predator.
The one who appeared against everyone’s expectations was Behemoth.