Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Golem Carriage
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"This crown… it's clearly dwarven craftsmanship!"
"What good is that? It's completely broken."
"Sari! Who do you think I am? I am the great Oson Ironhammer, the versatile genius of the dwarves!"
"Genius? Hmph. You can't even ride a horse."
"Hmph? You...! If I just had a hot fire and a sturdy hammer, remaking a crown like this would be child's play! No! I'm confident I could make one even more beautiful and magnificent!"
Sari and Oson bickered noisily.
Do-jae pushed himself up, coming to his senses.
"Whoa! Do-jae! Do-jae! Waaaaah!"
After bickering for a while, Sari spotted Do-jae and ran to embrace him.
She wailed, tears and snot streaming down her face.
"Sniff... Master...!"
Oson also sniffled, wiping away his tears.
Do-jae gently patted Sari's back and gave Oson a faint smile.
"I'm okay."
Do-jae tilted his head, then clenched and unclenched his fists.
The pain from before was gone, replaced by a refreshing feeling.
Not only that, but his body was overflowing with mana, and he could feel he was stronger than before.
"Are you really okay?"
Sari asked, her eyes welling with tears.
Her eyes, glistening in the sunlight, were as beautiful as black pearls.
Do-jae looked at Sari with a gentle expression.
"Yeah, I'm really fine. In fact, I'm bursting with energy."
As their eyes met, Sari shot to her feet.
She turned her head and vigorously wiped her tear-streaked face.
"That's a relief."
Then she offered Do-jae her hand.
Do-jae took her hand and got up.
"I really wrecked the place."
Do-jae looked around.
Mounds of white bones and dust were piled here and there, and the walls had completely collapsed from the storm.
The fierce battle had laid waste to the palace, which had been relatively intact.
"It's an abandoned castle anyway. You don't need to worry, Do-jae."
"That's right! If anything, you swept away all the monsters, Master!"
Sari and Oson worried about Do-jae and encouraged him.
Do-jae was struck by their display of emotion.
Earning the trust of non-human races wasn't such a bad feeling.
"Where did old man Tahul go?"
Now that he thought about it, Tahul was nowhere to be seen.
He wondered if Tahul had left ahead of them, but the question was answered quickly.
"There he is!"
Sari pointed to a corner of the palace.
A collapsed section of the floor had revealed a staircase leading underground, and Tahul was just coming up it.
"Young man! You're awake."
"Yes... but what is all that?"
Tahul came up, grunting under the weight of a heavy bundle on his back.
Soon, Do-jae saw what was inside.
Thud—.
"Cough, cough! Ugh, that was heavy."
When Tahul set the bundle down, a cloud of dust rose, revealing dozens of books.
"What are all those books?"
"Ah, these? Khuhuhu, it seems there's a secret library down there."
"A secret library, you say?"
"It seems so. I suppose it's something you'd find in a kingdom that prospered through magic."
Do-jae looked at the books Tahul had brought.
Their sizes and covers were all different.
"Are you sure it's okay to just take those?"
"Eh? Finders keepers. They'd just rot down there anyway. Isn't it better for someone to take them?"
"...You have a point."
"Huhuhu! Thanks to you, I get to see some fine magic! I picked out a few to my liking, but if you go down there, you'll find not just magic books, but many other deep and profound tomes."
Tahul pointed down the stairs.
Do-jae's interest was piqued.
The idea of magic books was fascinating enough, but hearing there were other kinds of books made him even more curious.
For someone like Do-jae, who had read the 'Monster Encyclopedia' series several times over, there was no reason not to go down to the secret library.
"Let's go take a look."
***
Fwaash-!
A bright light illuminated the underground library.
It was thanks to Tahul turning on Young-jin's LED flashlight.
"Wow... I've never seen so many books..."
Sari, having entered the library, couldn't stop marveling.
As a long-lived race, elves tended to place less value on books compared to humans.
"What material is this made of... Ooh. A rather well-drawn picture!"
Oson's reaction, on the other hand, was a little different.
He showed more interest in the material of the books and the illustrations on their covers.
Dwarves valued books even less than elves, partly because they believed their craftsmanship could not be fully captured in writing.
Shhhk—.
Do-jae pulled a book from a shelf.
It was in surprisingly good condition, hard to imagine it had been in a ruined city.
It was a bit dusty, but that was just dust shaken loose when the whole palace rumbled during Do-jae's battle.
"The magic circles have been destroyed, but this library was prepared with various methods to keep the books from being damaged. The wisdom of the humans of the magic kingdom is impressive."
Just as Tahul said, it was a library equipped with devices to prevent the books from deteriorating, despite being underground.
As a secret library within a palace, its importance must have been immense, and it was built with corresponding care.
"Sari, what does this say?"
Do-jae opened a book and showed it to Sari.
But she just shook her head.
"I don't know either. It's definitely not the common tongue."
"Hoh. Shall this old man take a look?"
Tahul, who had been examining the books, came over and peered at the one Do-jae was holding.
"It says, 'A Magical Inquiry into Mental Collapse and Pleasure.'"
"What kind of title is that... More importantly, you can read it?"
"Why would I have brought them if I couldn't read them? This is the language of the western continent, used by humans. A language I learned long ago."
Do-jae slowly walked through the library, examining the books.
They were all written in unknown languages, but they seemed too valuable to leave behind.
"Everyone, come out."
Do-jae moved Sari, Oson, and Tahul toward the stairs.
Then he opened his Subspace and swallowed all the bookshelves in the library at once.
"Khuhuhu! Incredible!"
Tahul clapped his hands in delight, looking at the secret library that had become an empty warehouse in an instant.
Even if Do-jae couldn't read them himself right now, he had a good translator right here.
He could have Tahul read them to him or ask him to teach him the language of the western continent.
"Alright, let's go. It's too dusty."
***
Inside the carriage, Do-jae took out books one by one and showed them to Tahul.
"'Constructing an Air Purification System Using Wind Magic.'"
"Hmm... what about this one?"
"'The Religious Significance and Historical Representation of Gods and Demon Gods.'"
"...That sounds difficult. Let's look at this last one and then take a break."
Do-jae took out the thirtieth book and showed it to Tahul.
Checking them one by one was more time-consuming and tedious than he'd expected, but it was the best method for now.
"'A Treatise on the Dynamic Mana Circulation of Inanimate Summons,' it says."
"Oho..."
At Tahul's words, Do-jae's eyes lit up.
Finally, a promising book had appeared.
A book that could be immediately useful.
Inanimate summons—didn't that refer to things like golems?
Do-jae opened the book and asked Tahul.
"Could you read it to me?"
"Eh? This whole thing?"
"Yes, you could do that, or you could just summarize it for me."
"Either way, it sounds like you're asking this old man to read the whole thing."
"Haha, you were bored in the carriage anyway, weren't you?"
"Eeeh..."
Tahul stared at the book for a long moment.
Judging by its thickness, it would take several days to read aloud, even if he read all day.
He looked up at Do-jae.
From the look in his eyes, it was clear he was going to make him read it one way or another.
"Hold on a moment."
Tahul threw open the back window of the carriage.
He had stored the first batch of books from the secret library in the carriage's trunk, and he was trying to retrieve one.
He then stuck his head out and started rummaging through the trunk.
A moment later, he came back with a book.
"What's that book?"
"I need to concentrate now, so don't bother me."
Tahul quietly began to read the book.
Do-jae was about to say something, but seeing Tahul completely engrossed in the book, and having been told to wait, he decided to just watch for now.
***
"Whoa, whoa!"
Oson stopped the carriage.
The sun hadn't set, and no monsters had appeared, so Do-jae got out to see why the carriage had stopped.
"Oson, what's wrong—"
Do-jae saw the road ahead and understood why Oson had halted.
"Master, what should we do?"
There was no longer a road in front of the carriage.
Until now, they had followed a well-paved road without issue, but what lay ahead could hardly be called a path.
The ground was bumpy and overgrown with weeds.
The terrain was too uneven for a carriage to travel on.
"It's a shame, but let's walk or ride the horses."
Do-jae ordered Oson to unhitch the horses and spoke to Tahul inside the carriage.
Knock, knock—.
"Old man, we'll be walking from now on."
"Eh? Walking?"
"The road is impassable for the carriage, so we'll have to ride the horses or walk."
Tahul also got out of the carriage to check the road ahead.
Meanwhile, Do-jae put the carriage into his Subspace.
"Master, why don't we set the horses free here?"
Oson said, gathering the harnesses.
"As you can see over there, if we continue northeast, we'll reach a massive mountain range. There are many rugged mountains that are difficult to cross on horseback. It looks like wild horses often come here to graze, so how about we let them go here?"
Oson pointed to a circular patch of grazed grass ahead.
"Alright, let's do that."
Do-jae nodded.
Although they had only used the carriage for three days, he couldn't put the horses in his Subspace, so he figured letting them go would be better for them.
"Once we cross the mountain range, there's another kingdom. We can get new horses there and use the carriage again."
"Understood. Go set them free."
Oson led the horses away and disappeared.
Do-jae thought deeply.
'If we just walk like this, I won't be able to get the last leaf in time.'
He would be fine alone, but Sari, Oson, and Tahul were significantly slower than him.
Of course, they were incomparably faster than ordinary humans, but their speed was still frustrating for Do-jae.
'If only there was a way to move without rest, even if not at full speed... Right, why didn't I think of that?'
Do-jae took the carriage out of his Subspace again.
And he also summoned four golems.
"Everyone, get in the carriage."
After Sari and Tahul were inside, Do-jae issued a command to the golems.
"Lift the carriage."
The golems approached the carriage and lifted it with ease.
'This will work.'
Do-jae nodded and began to remove the carriage's wheels.
Its structure was simple, so he could remove one wheel without much difficulty.
"Oson, take off the wheels on that side."
He had Oson, who had returned after freeing the horses, remove the wheels on the other side.
After all four wheels were removed, only the body of the carriage remained.
"Alright, each of you grab a corner!"
Do-jae positioned the golems where the wheels had been and had them lift it again.
"Do a quick lap, and try to keep the carriage as steady as possible."
At Do-jae's command, the golems began to move.
The four of them moved their arms in organic synchronization to prevent the carriage from jolting, completing a wide circle.
"How is it, Sari? What do you think, old man?"
"It's comfortable! There's almost no shaking!"
"Better than horses."
Do-jae grinned.
With that, his travel concerns were solved.
With the carriage—no, the golem-carriage—they could now move even faster than before.