Chapter 26
Chapter 26
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 26
Chapter 8: Why Did the Stone Become Sand?
Woosh!
The gaze of Elder Jang Moo, watching the furnace with its roaring flames, was settled. No, rather than settled, it would be more accurate to say it was calm.
It was an expression that hardly matched someone handling fire—fire with the dynamism to spew scorching heat in all directions and the destructive power to melt solid iron ingots. It was as if he were playing a game of Go.
In contrast, behind Elder Jang, six eyes were looking at that fire with a gleaming, greedy gaze. Unlike the flames reflected in Elder Jang's own eyes, the fire reflected in those six pupils was transforming into the flames of greed within their hearts.
Whack! Thwack! Crack!
"Ouch!"
"Ugh!"
"Ack!"
With the sudden assault of a club, the blazing fire inside those six pupils was extinguished in an instant. Then came the sound of Elder Jang clicking his tongue.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Oww, my head...."
"You damned fools! Did you think it's acceptable for those who handle fire to have greed in their eyes?"
"......."
At Elder Jang's sharp rebuke, those clutching their heads immediately hunched over like guilty dwarves. The six gazes that had been burning with greed belonged to Hwain Stone, Galling Stone, and Mawin Stone.
"Unless you fools first cast aside your greed for the craft, you'll never become true masters in your lifetimes."
"Why is that?"
It was a question from Hwain Stone, who spoke with slurred yet precise pronunciation. As if disliking the question, Elder Jang kept shaking his head from side to side.
"Listen, boy. Suppose you only covet the skill. Of course, you might be able to absorb that skill. But the defining trait of one who covets is that he does not know how to share what is his. And so the skill ends there. Someday, that craft will stop advancing. However, if you adopt a contemplative attitude toward the craft, it changes things. You learn the skill, but you also learn its potential for growth."
"......."
"Your skills have already surpassed mine."
"Not at all."
"Heavens, not a chance."
Seeing the three dwarves bowing their heads, Elder Jang Moo adopted a feigned solemnity and yelled.
"But that's all it is! You have no substance!"
"......."
The three dwarves shriveled up again under Elder Jang Moo's scolding. When Elder Jang clicked his tongue and walked out, they gathered with grave expressions.
"Dear me, this is the first time I've learned anything while getting beaten like this since I got scolded by my father forty years ago."
"Right. But have you figured it out yet?"
"No...."
They had been living here for quite a while now. But they still hadn't learned how to handle the fire, nor had they been able to uncover the Carbon Steel Smelting Method. On top of that, the unique new form of sword forging was enough to captivate their gaze. But that was all. There was nothing they could truly understand.
"Folding the iron... it's shocking."
"Did you see it too? The undulating blade."
"Ah...."
At the mention of the undulating blade, Hwain Stone shed tears. Galling Stone and Mawin Stone were equally unable to pull themselves out of their state of rapture. Watching this secretly from outside, Elder Jang clicked his tongue and muttered.
"Hmm, shall I start teaching them soon...."
Perhaps it was because he had grown so old, but he felt his heart softening.
At the Gauri military base located at the central lake of the Reganza Mountains, several shadows were moving in the darkness behind it, flickering in and out of sight.
Swish.
There were three shadows passing through, as if grazing the wind. The three shadows, having rushed to a secluded patch of darkness, stopped dead in their tracks.
"......."
Sseuk.
When one of them signaled with his eyes, another quietly pulled something from his bosom.
Shing.
With a clear, metallic ring, a dagger emerged from its sheath. The chillingly white blade reflected the moonlight.
Nod.
When he nodded as if ready, a low voice came from another shadow.
"Start."
Flash! Swoosh!
"Hwaaah...."
A deflating sound escaped Galling Stone's gaping mouth as he yawned. His two arms, raised to the sky, trembled slightly as if in a minor spasm, and his open mouth refused to shut.
"Haaaah...."
Thump.
Letting out the last of his breath as if deflating, Galling Stone's massive frame toppled over.
Bang!
"Gah."
A short yelp escaped Galling Stone's lips the moment he hit the ground. Then came Hwain Stone's booming voice.
"Gahahaha! You're probably the only dwarf in the world who falls over stretching and yawning!"
"Oof. I tripped on a rock...."
"Pfft."
"Quit laughing, you bastards!"
Brushing the dirt off as he got up, Galling Stone ground his teeth at the two dwarves mocking him. But then he paused for a moment. At the same time, the other two dwarves also stopped laughing.
"......."
Sssss...
All three gazes turned in one direction, and their hands carefully moved toward the axes on their backs.
"Sounds like digging."
"Right."
"Not a pickaxe, though."
Dwarves worked iron, but before anything else they were exceptional miners. Their sense of hearing had no reason to miss the sound of digging. Furthermore, sensing something furtive about the situation, they exchanged glances and silently crept closer. If Elves were the stealthy race of the forests, then Dwarves were beings who became one with the earth.
Scrape, scrape.
"Is it done?"
"A little more."
Sseuk, swish.
One man was looking around as if acting as a lookout, while another was digging at the ground with a dagger. The remaining one was skilled at piling the dirt to one side. Soon, the hand that was digging stopped.
"Got it."
"Huhuhuhu."
"It's to die for."
The men, exchanging eerie smiles, all sat in a circle and pulled something out, their faces colored with greed. They carefully lifted a tightly sealed jar and set it down.
"Take that out."
"Heh heh."
With the jar placed between them, one man pulled something from within his clothes. As he unwrapped the carefully folded leather, a set of innards, still dripping with blood, emerged in the man's hands.
"Huhuhu."
"Nice."
"Huh?"
The strange reaction of the last man caused the faces of the other two to contort. The gaze of the man staring into the darkness trembled, and naturally, the remaining two turned their heads in the direction of his gaze. Instantly frozen, they slowly rose to their feet. And the moment they stood up, a frantic series of actions began.
"General Buru, spare us!"
"We just made it from leftover grain, that's all!"
"Actually, we were just checking if it was fermented to offer it to you, General! Please believe us!"
The three men, flat on the ground, spewed out their words almost simultaneously while maintaining their full prostrations.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The footsteps echoing from afar were like hell to them.
"Kyahahaha!"
"Drink!"
"The liquor brewed reaaal well!"
The three Gauri soldiers and the three dwarves, using the darkness for cover, were enjoying the liquor with fresh deer liver they had just pulled out as a snack.
"Do you know how shocked we were earlier? We thought you were actually General Buru!"
"Heh heh, we saw someone sneaking around and thought it was the enemy who'd infiltrated."
Because the brewing of all alcohol was prohibited due to the insufficient food supply, some soldiers were making desperate efforts to produce liquor like this by saving their leftovers.
"Here, have a cup."
"Ohhh!"
Since they were known as Elder Jang's students, the soldiers all showed them respect. At the same time, due to the dwarves' nature of looking down on humans, speaking down to them also came naturally.
The grain liquor the soldiers were giving them had an unfamiliar taste, but for them, who hadn't been able to drink for a while, it was practically the nectar of the gods. Even after digging up another large jar to drink, they only felt regret as the liquor disappeared.
"This is intriguing. It's thick like soup, but it goes down smooth."
"Right? But I wonder what the liquor tastes like in this world?"
"This world?"
"Yes. There must be liquor here too, right?"
Hwain Stone's voice grew louder at the soldier's question.
"Gahaha, of course! Kyah! This is good, but still...."
"Yeah, but still!"
"Indeed!"
At Hwain Stone's suggestive tone, Galling Stone and Mawin Stone picked up on his words and chimed in. And then they simultaneously spat out a single phrase.
"Beer is the best!"
"Kahahaha!"
"Poohulhulhul!"
"Beer?"
When they shouted in unison, the soldiers' eyes went wide and they asked back. Whether finding their puzzled expressions amusing or having their egos subtly inflated, the dwarves' behavior grew arrogant.
"Well, there's this thing, you know."
"Yeah. Kyah~! That fizzy taste."
"What exactly is beer?"
The more they were teased without an answer, the more restless the soldiers became and kept asking questions. Then Hwain Stone spoke in a deliberately sly tone.
"We could make it, you know."
"What!"
"Really?"
Hwain Stone's remark spread like ripples. With the alcohol already kicking in, his words ignited the soldiers' desire for liquor. It was Hwain Stone's group who was actually taken aback.
"How do you make it?"
"What do you make it with?"
"Is it possible here?"
The dwarves fell into embarrassment at the soldiers' rapid-fire questions. But with one soldier's decisive blow, the atmosphere began to reverse.
"Wow, we thought you only excelled at handling metal, but you're truly amazing. It's admirable."
"Is that all? Looking at how you handle axes, and how you've mastered our language in such a short time, you're skilled both in the literary and martial arts—in short, there's nothing you can't do!"
"Then something like beer...."
"Of course! Beer is nothing! Heheh!"
In the end, Galling Stone had gone and done it.
"......."
"......."
"Ahem. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Galling Stone, receiving the full force of Hwain Stone and Mawin Stone's glares, turned his head slightly to the side, hoping to escape the situation. But even with his head turned, the killing intent flying at the back of his skull was not something easily endured, no matter how dull one's senses were.
"We can just make it!"
"......."
"......."
He let out an explosive yell, but Hwain Stone and Mawin Stone's gazes didn't even waver. As Galling Stone shrank endlessly back, Hwain Stone's voice reached his ear.
"Make it?"
"Y-yeah."
As he stammered this reply to Hwain Stone, Mawin Stone's question flew at him.
"With what?"
"Barley."
"......."
Galling Stone answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then followed silence.
"What do you eat the most and the least of, out of your three meals a day?"
"Mostly meat and fish, and the least is...."
"Grain."
In response to Hwain Stone's question that broke the silence, Galling Stone's voice gradually trailed off as he answered. Then Mawin Stone's voice came out, as if answering for him.
"Die, you bastard!"
Whack!
"Argh, don't go around calling yourself a dwarf! Call yourself an orc!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Gahhk!"
Galling Stone's answer, which completely disregarded reality, drew the fury of Hwain Stone and Mawin Stone, and the chastisement continued until Galling Stone's consciousness faded away.