The House Was Finished

"What the hell is this…."

Lizardrin stared at the madhouse scene unfolding around her in Deep Dark Forge.

"Bartender, what’s the name of this drink?"

"It’s a cocktail called Great Guardian Behemoth, made by hand to commemorate Behemoth, who saved our kin from the Golden Mine."

She looked around the tavern.

"Hey, street artist! Make Behemoth-sama look a little more majestic! Our Behemoth-sama wasn’t small like a human!"

"I drew Behemoth-sama smaller like this because I wanted to show the gentleness of his heart through his appearance, you idiot."

"Sorry to interrupt."

The street.

"Want to buy a 1/300-scale Behemoth figurine? It’s made of obsidian, so the production cost was high, but I’ll let it go for ten gold just for you."

"Those scales are incredible. If I bring this home for my mother, she’ll love it."

The marketplace.

The dwarves’ city, Deep Dark Forge, built beneath the great forest, was a city famous for its art.

The dwarves were a race with a remarkable eye for beauty, and countless masterpieces had been born from their hands.

Even humans, who were on poor terms with the demi-humans, coveted dwarven artworks, so it was no exaggeration to say that the greatest artists in this world were dwarves.

Lizardrin even displayed some of the pieces she had bought in Deep Dark Forge at home from time to time.

Part of the reason she occasionally made time to visit the Forge had been to buy art in the first place.

Lizardrin stared blankly at the works on display in the Forge.

The entire city had been plastered with creations that imitated the calamity beast, Behemoth.

The dwarves created art on all kinds of themes.

Their passion for art always burned bright, and because each of them had such a distinct style, it was rare for every artist’s work to be unified around a single subject.

And that subject was Behemoth….

And it wasn’t just the dwarves.

The beastmen were building a temple to worship Behemoth.

According to them, Behemoth had put them through trials to test their faith, though it was hard to tell what was true and what wasn’t.

Watching the beastmen labor with a zeal she had never seen before, Lizardrin’s head throbbed.

In truth, the beastmen were tame compared to the elves.

They had been spreading some strange song across the entire great forest and calling it a hymn, and even the goblins and orcs, who usually didn’t get along with the elves, had joined in, singing the thing in a three-part chorus and claiming they loved it.

[Our family, hand in hand, let’s go together, Noblema~rt. We’re so happy, Noblema~rt, happy-happy-happy, Noblemart, Noblema↗rt~☆]

It really was the whole world of Behemoth.

Lizardrin couldn’t make sense of the situation.

The calamity beast was acting for the sake of the demi-humans?

That can’t be right….

Behemoth was the calamity beast destined ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to return all things in this world to nothingness.

The prophecy tablet had always shown the lizardmen only the truth of the future.

The prophecy concerning Behemoth, too, had to be true.

The lizardmen trusted the prophecy tablet.

It was thanks to the prophecy tablet, gifted to them by their ancestors, that their race had been able to reach this place from a distant planet.

And yet Behemoth’s actions had handed Lizardrin a new feeling she had not expected: doubt.

"Hey, Lizardrin!"

Drower waved cheerfully.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Mayor Drower."

"Come to buy art?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Lizardrin shook her head.

"No, yong. I had something else to do, but it isn’t needed anymore."

"Hmm, I see, I see. Still, I had something to say to you too."

"You want to tell me Behemoth isn’t some evil monster?"

"You know me well."

Lizardrin let out a sigh.

Drower, on the other hand, laughed heartily.

"Think it over, yong."

Drower stopped Lizardrin as she was about to leave.

"The lizardmen are wise and cautious. You’ve never once suffered a major loss in any crisis, after all. I’d say you’re a smart race."

"What are you trying to say, yong?"

Lizardrin’s tail twitched.

"It just occurred to me that even without the prophecy tablet, you lot might not be all that different from how you are now."

Drower hadn’t meant it as an insult.

He simply wanted to tell her to think carefully about Behemoth once more.

Lizardrin watched him disappear with a cheerful shrug, and before long she left Deep Dark Forge with a complicated look on her face.

"Ta-da…."

"Nyaa, nyanyan…."

"■■ ■■, ■■■■."

Soho, Satania, and I stared blankly at the finished wooden building.

The beastmen had kept their promise to me.

They had finished the place in record time with impressive skill. However, either something had been lost in translation when I asked them, or they’d interpreted my request differently, because what stood before us was not an ordinary hut.

It looks kind of like a Japanese shrine….

I blinked at the huge red gate standing before the wooden building.

The building itself was enormous, too.

It was large enough that even I, a beast bigger than an elephant, could come and go comfortably.

Apparently, the beastmen had heard, “Please build the place where I’ll live!” and taken it quite literally.

Hmm. It’s way too big for Satania to live in alone. Is that okay…?

"■■!!!"

Unlike my worries, Satania’s eyes were shining as if stars were spilling out of them.

I was genuinely relieved she liked it.

I let out a breath.

I had paid the beastmen with the precious metals I had brought back from the Golden Mine, but if I’d known they could build something this big, I should have brought a little more.

I’d have to bring them something better next time.

I didn’t think they’d finish it this fast. Surely it wasn’t shoddy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠construction, right?

I had a faint sense of unease, but I shook my head.

There was one thing I’d learned while passing through the beastmen village before: the beastmen in this world had far superior physical specs to humans.

Watching them carry huge logs on their shoulders and sprint like the wind had been genuinely astonishing.

With bodies that strong, it made sense that they could finish construction so quickly.

There had also seemed to be quite a lot of people in the village.

Satania gave me a thumbs-up.

Then, as if she were truly grateful, she bowed her head.

Watching her, I could only smile in satisfaction.

"Wait."

Right, Satania could now understand a little Korean.

It was only a handful of simple words, and her pronunciation was clumsy, but considering how short our time together had been—and that without Lucy’s translation we wouldn’t have been able to communicate at all—her language talent had to be pretty impressive.

Sadly, I was too stupid to understand a single word these people said yet.

Sob.

"With you around, magic no good."

Satania stepped a fair distance away from me.

Then she waved her hand through the air, carving out a tiny crack.

Things poured out of the crack in a rush. They were rough brown objects.

They were about the size of a pumpkin and looked a lot like walnuts.

"Put in ground, grow, eat, thanks."

"Thanks."

"Yummy."

"It’s good?"

"Yeah."

I picked up Satania’s gift and held it to my chest.

If they could be planted in the ground and eaten, they were probably seeds from some kind of plant.

"Lucy?"

Satania shook her head.

It had already been half a month since Lucy had disappeared from the hut.

Satania only knew that Lucy had gone out somewhere.

She had apparently said not to worry too much about her because she might be away for a long time, but honestly, I was pretty worried.

Could Lucy, who could barely see in front of her face, really make her way through the perilous great forest alone without a companion?

She had shown all kinds of capable sides so far, but she was still a person with a disability, no matter how you looked at it.

Hmm… I know cats have sharp noses, too.

I looked over at Soho.

Soho swayed its tail and tilted its head.

Should I go look for her?