The Coup in Artlein
Bang!
"Hey."
"Do-ha-nim! You've come back!"
The moment Do-ha stepped back into the office with the documents in hand, Park Seok-jun came rushing over.
"Is this real? Are you certain?"
Earth had no Orichalcum. The contents written on those papers could easily have been some other mineral entirely.
Swoosh.
"I was going to show you this together anyway, but you left so quickly…"
Clack.
Park Seok-jun pulled a mineral fragment from the drawer and held it out. He had ordered the Awakened explorers to bring back a piece of it.
"I originally told them to bring something fist-sized, but it was so hard to extract they only managed this much."
"…"
Do-ha turned the ping-pong-ball-sized chunk over in his fingers and gave a small nod.
No doubt about it.
This was Orichalcum.
High-quality A-grade material, at that.
"Why tell me about this?"
"Whatever the mineral is, a mine is always a good thing, isn't it?"
Even cheap ore, in large enough quantities, always turned into money. There were exceptions, of course, but most of the time it meant serious profit.
"So why hand it to me?"
"Because Do-ha-nim should be the one to have it."
Normally, when a Gate appeared, the Association or the guilds moved to buy it up. Guilds usually won out, but only after the mayor signed off.
"No one else knows yet. The moment word gets out that it's a mine, every last person will come running."
"The Awakened who mined this would know, wouldn't they?"
"They're all under me. I've already sealed their mouths."
"Hmm…"
Do-ha stroked his chin as he looked over the papers. Park Seok-jun was right—mines were always worth having. Ownership meant money, and even without the ore itself there were countless other ways to put the place to use. Still, no one handed something like this over without a reason.
"Be honest. Why are you giving this to me?"
"I'm Do-ha-nim's fan, after all. That loving thrashing I received from you before… it hurt at the time, but the more days that passed, the more I came to repent my mistakes…"
"Cut the crap and speak straight. What do you want?"
"I'm truly just giving it. Even if you hit me the way you did last time, you'll only get the same answer. If you're that curious, use magic and ask for the truth yourself."
"…"
Park Seok-jun thumped his own chest. Do-ha took a subtle step back.
This guy's actually lost it…?
"Ah! There is one request, though…"
"I knew it."
"It might be a little difficult, but… later, when I'm with my acquaintances, could you come visit me just once?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I've been bragging to them that I have a connection with Cheonwaecheon A. That we spent an entire day together…"
Thud!
Unable to endure the deranged Park Seok-jun any longer, Do-ha shut the office door behind him and left.
Rustle.
Do-ha stood before the mirror, his expression heavy with worry as he pulled on his coat.
"Have a safe trip."
"You'll be all right if I go alone?"
He glanced at Selenia standing beside him. Their destination today was the dwarf kingdom of Artlein—the homeland of his friend Tunrad.
"I've already been there before. More importantly, Grandfather has only just stepped into the beginner stage. I can't leave his side."
The first steps of spirit arts were critical. Without a guide to show the way, a person could lose the path in an instant and wander forever, never advancing again.
"Please give them my regards as well. Tell them I'll visit without fail later on."
"I will."
Do-ha smiled and patted Selenia's shoulder. Tunrad had been her friend too. Cantankerous, sly, and warm all at once, he had gotten along with every one of their companions. Of course, that same friend had been betrayed and killed…
"Let's go, Canteas."
"…"
"What."
Behind him stood Canteas with a distinctly sour face. Why did he always look like that whenever someone suggested going somewhere?
"I don't think I can leave either."
"?"
"Cheon Seol-gyeong has only just entered the beginner stage, so…"
"Keep talking nonsense and tonight's dinner is ox-bone soup with you in it."
"Aish…"
Canteas finally let out a sigh. Of course. There was no way an excuse that ridiculous would work.
"Don't go causing trouble."
"Who do you take me for, a child?! And Do-ha causes far more trouble than I do."
Canteas bristled at Selenia's words. Why did their friends always single him out with that warning? Back in Belhart, Do-ha had always been the real problem.
"When I cause trouble, I clean it up properly. You don't."
"Tch."
Creak.
Do-ha opened the front door and stepped out. His grandfather was waiting in front of the building. Ever since contracting with the Spirit King, the old man had quit his job and spent every day training under Selenia.
"Heading out somewhere?"
"Yes. I'm going to visit a friend's hometown for a bit."
"…Sounds like that friend of yours has already passed on."
"How did you…"
Do-ha looked at Baek Chul with faintly startled eyes. He had never mentioned anything about Tunrad. How had the old man known at once?
"You little rascal. You think this grandfather of yours can't read his own grandson's heart…?"
Pat. Pat.
Baek Chul gave Do-ha's shoulder a few firm pats. Worry and sorrow showed plain on his grandson's face. The boy tried hard to hide it, but a parent's eyes always saw through.
"Go safely. Finish what needs finishing, then come back."
"Yes…"
By "finish what needs finishing," he surely meant the feelings still lodged in Do-ha's chest—the ache that rose every time he thought of his friend.
Zwaaang.
Thud.
"Whoa. It's been a long time since I was here."
Canteas arrived in Artlein by teleport and whistled as he looked around. True to a kingdom of dwarves, everything from the entrance buildings to the sculptures was refined and complete enough to look beautiful.
"You never came to Artlein much?"
Do-ha, face hidden behind a mask, glanced at him. Do-ha himself had returned to his original world, but Canteas had remained behind, hadn't he?
"Tunrad founded academies on other continents, and I don't use weapons anyway, so there was no reason to come all the way out here."
Long ago he had visited once to have a weapon made for a Death Knight, but even that had been crafted by Tunrad, so Artlein had only grown more distant.
Swoosh.
"But why does the atmosphere feel so dead?"
Canteas scanned the surroundings. They were still only at the entrance, yet Artlein had always been a loud, lively place. From the gate itself you used to feel the heat of the forges, the smell of sweat, and the booming shouts of work. Now there were no shouts at all, and barely anyone walking the streets. An occasional hammer strike could be heard, but even that lacked any real force.
"Did a plague break out or something…? What's going on?"
"Did you hear anything from Dimerof or Je-u?"
Canteas looked at Do-ha. He had met both of them several times—surely something had come up.
"No. Neither of them mentioned anything like this."
"Meaning… even those two don't know about the current situation."
"Let's go in and see."
Do-ha and Canteas headed toward the sound of hammering. By this point the ringing of hammers should have been deafening from every direction; now it came from only a single smithy.
Knock. Knock.
"Is anyone there?"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Is anyone there?!"
Do-ha called louder for the owner.
Clang…
Thud.
"Who is it?"
Rustle.
A short dwarf with a beard hanging all the way to his belly pushed the curtain aside. A diagonal scar cut across the blacksmith's face.
"Customers? I'm not taking orders right now, so try somewhere else… no. Have it made in another region entirely."
"Ah, we've been away from Artlein a long time, and the atmosphere feels completely different from before."
"Well… it's natural you'd feel that way. It's been a few years since things turned like this."
A few years ago…
That would have been when Dimerof was dying and Namgung Je-u was in the thick of fighting the cults. Even so, if something had happened to the kingdom, the Empire or the Martial Alliance would have come running.
"What happened?"
"…Just go."
At Do-ha's question the dwarf let out a single sigh and waved them off. It was not that he did not want to speak—it looked as if he simply could not.
"I won't go telling anyone else, so…"
"I said get out of here!"
In the end the blacksmith raised his voice in anger.
Rustle!
Furious, he yanked the curtain shut and disappeared back into the workshop.
"Canteas."
"I already checked earlier. It's not that."
Canteas shook his head. He had examined the dwarf the way they once had with Old Man Song, looking for a snare curse. There was none. No curse of any kind, and no magic preventing him from speaking either.
"Hmm… no choice, then."
"You're just going to leave?"
"Of course not."
Do-ha sighed and started walking. He hated acting this way in his friend's kingdom, but he could not afford to wander off somewhere else hunting for information either.
Rustle.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!"
The moment Do-ha pushed the curtain aside and stepped into the workshop, the dwarf exploded in rage. Workshops were not places just anyone could enter. Even among dwarves, no one set foot in another's forge without permission. That was tradition and basic courtesy. Yet here was an outsider barging in with zero manners.
"It won't hurt, so relax."
Thud.
"Huh?"
Do-ha set a hand on the dwarf's head. The blacksmith flinched.
Honest Answer
6-Circle Magic — Compels the target to speak only the truth
A luminous glow sank into the dwarf.
"What, you hit 6-Circle?"
"No. Still 5-Circle."
He was simply forcing the shortfall through with internal energy. In plain terms, when the mana was gasping for power, his internal energy kicked it from behind. Not a helpful shove from a comrade—more like a boot to the backside.
"Because of the clash, I can't use it often."
"…Normally you shouldn't be able to use it at all."
Canteas shook his head at the way Do-ha spoke of it so casually.
Shuuuuu.
When the magic finished, the dwarf's eyes grew slightly unfocused.
"You should've just taken off the mask and shown your face."
Do-ha was the former emperor. Even without forcing magic, his reputation alone could open most doors. There was even a statue of Baek Do-ha on the Western Continent that reached the sky.
"If they happened not to recognize my face, it would only get awkward."
Being emperor did not mean every single person in Belhart knew what he looked like.
Clack.
Do-ha dragged a chair over and sat.
"What happened in Artlein?"
"A… new… king has taken the throne…"
"A new king? Did King Kael die?"
Tunrad's father, Kael, had been the king of Artlein. Had he somehow perished?
"N… no…"
"Then who became king?"
"King Kael's… cousin Horsem became… king…"
"…Don't tell me… a coup?"
"That's… right…"
Even under the magic, tears welled in the blacksmith's dazed eyes. The fact that Horsem sat on the throne still filled him with injustice and rage. That was how deeply King Kael had been the light, the hope, and the brother of every dwarf. The one all of them trusted and followed.
That had been Kael.