I'll Revive Him and Ask

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"It's… over?"

Of course it was good news. The crisis hanging over Iron Helm had vanished. There could hardly have been better news than that.

Great Hammer was thoroughly rattled, but he bowed his head to Jinwoo all the same.

"My thanks…?"

"Think nothing of it."

"Another oracle has come down. The Great Dwarf God commands that a grand reward be given to the savior and honorary dwarf!"

"If the God Himself has spoken so…"

Great Hammer pulled himself together in a hurry. The situation was bewildering, but this was still a good thing.

"Then we shall bestow the reward!"

The dwarves who had come with Great Hammer to offer aid were, if anything, delighted by the oracle.

"Ooooh…"

"As expected—those whom the Great Dwarf God sponsors all walk a path of greatness!"

Just as Jinwoo had received the God's patronage, they too were under the Great Dwarf God's blessing. In him, they saw themselves reflected. They swarmed over at once and bowed their heads.

"Our deepest thanks, Master Jinwoo."

"Had Iron Helm fallen to that corrupted dragon, the East would have been next."

"I only did what needed doing. Still… you are comrades of mine, then?"

Jinwoo said it looking straight at them.

"!"

In truth, Jinwoo and these dwarves were not quite the same. They received blessings from the Great Dwarf God more than true patronage. Jinwoo, by contrast, had been fully sponsored—he was closer to a direct successor, a true heir. Jinwoo would know that better than anyone. That he still spoke to them this way filled the supporting dwarves' eyes with moved light.

"As expected…"

"Even the words of Iron Helm's hero are of a different caliber!"

"Thank you for coming to help. Hero? That's far too much."

But then—

It could not be helped. Even Great Hammer had to concede the point.

"I will not accept this!"

A sharp, ringing voice cut through the air. It belonged to a dwarf of considerable years.

"The elders…"

Dwarf elders. Dwarves who had spent long ages living in Iron Helm. With those years had come knowledge—but their stiff, unbending natures meant wisdom had not always followed.

"Since when have we borrowed the hands of outsiders!"

"Even the Great God goes too far. Entrusting this work to a human who is not of our people!"

And atop all that, a lofty pride came as a complete set. The dwarf elders clicked their tongues.

"Great Hammer, say something yourself!"

Hairun spoke up.

"If Great Hammer, the warriors here, and the eastern dwarves who came as reinforcements had formed an expedition together, we could have hunted the corrupted dragon with our own strength!"

"We could have secured our own peace with our own hands!"

"Jinwoo. What you have done is deeply appreciated. We are truly grateful. But…"

The dwarf elders raised their voices. Jinwoo looked at them and simply nodded.

They've got pride, all right.

The idea that their problems should be solved by their own hands was so thoroughly dwarven that he rather liked it.

"Then what would you have me do?"

"W-what?"

At Jinwoo's calm question, the dwarf elders faltered instead. They had bellowed at him. From Jinwoo's position, after saving Iron Helm, he would have been fully within his rights to snap back that they had no business being angry. But when he asked so evenly, they were the ones thrown off balance.

"Hmm…"

"Well, that is…"

"Unless our greatest blacksmith acknowledges it…"

"Hodrak would have to acknowledge it! He was the finest blacksmith and the finest dwarf there ever was."

At that, the faces of Great Hammer and every dwarf present changed. This was far too forced. Of course it was—Hodrak had been dead for a long time.

But Jinwoo nodded.

"Then I will earn his recognition."

Great Hammer stepped closer.

"The truth is… Master Hodrak has already become flame."

"It's all right. It's possible."

"…?"

"P-possible, you say?"

Jinwoo smiled as he answered.

"Then I'll bring him back and ask. Would that be acceptable?"

"…W-what?"

Great Hammer was stunned. And the dwarf elders were even more so.

"B-bring him back and ask? What in the world do you mean…"

"I can bring him back."

Jinwoo said it plainly.

"If you want me to."

"Bought it."

With a solemn face, Tehunt took the Obsidian Net into his hands. This net had cost more than any hunting gear he had ever purchased.

"And it's SSR+ hunting equipment, at that."

Every piece Tehunt currently used was UR-grade. He even owned one item of UR+ grade. He was already running top-tier hunting gear.

"I wonder how it feels."

Tehunt's expectations were high.

"At this price, it had better deliver a sensation to match. Everyone praised it so highly."

He had spent a fortune, and the people who had bought Jinwoo's earlier equipment had heaped on extravagant praise. Tehunt's expectations soared without limit.

That was usually how it went. Expect too much, and disappointment was inevitable. In this case especially, disappointment seemed guaranteed—Tehunt already owned and had used gear of a higher grade than SSR+.

He headed straight for the Corrupted Demon Forest. The monsters here were uniformly swift. If you were going to test hunting gear like a net, this was the place.

"It said as much, didn't it."

A net that had caught a dragon.

The monsters here were not quite dragon-class, but they possessed speed that approached it. Without precise control, hunting them was extremely difficult.

"If it just slows them down, that would be enough."

No—truthfully, he was hoping for more than that.

"It ought to pin them completely still. At this price, that's only fair."

Then a silver wolf entered Tehunt's vision.

"So it's you first."

The most troublesome and powerful monster in the Corrupted Demon Forest—Silverfang.

Tehunt drew his crossbow with practiced ease.

"No."

There was no better monster to put the net through a proper trial.

Awooooo—

The moment Silverfang howled, it vanished in an instant.

Whish—!

It caught. Barely—just a light snag. Tehunt clicked his tongue.

But then—

"Huh?"

It had only barely caught, and yet Silverfang was already down.

The special options attached to the Obsidian Net had triggered at once.

"Insane."

Just like that, Tehunt took down Silverfang—the little demon of the forest—with almost absurd ease.

"What… is this?"

Silverfang tried to dig in hard and bolt, but with one foot snared and its speed already reduced, it could not escape Tehunt. He scooped the creature up lightly, then this time unfurled the Obsidian Net properly and flung it over Silverfang.

"Kyaaang—!"

Silverfang thrashed inside the Obsidian Net, but could not break free.

And beyond that—

"Its life force is… draining?"

No—it wasn't merely draining.

"My stamina is rising."

The life-drain effect attached as a special option was active.

"O-on hunting equipment…"

He had never seen such a noble option on gear meant for the hunt.

"This…"

Tehunt said it out loud.

"This is a revolution."

Jinwoo's first priority was to forge a connection.

Already there, then?

"Connection's settled, then."

From Hairun, Jinwoo heard the story of Hodrak. Hodrak had long held the seat of Iron ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Helm's greatest blacksmith, and at the same time had been the Great Hammer who led the dwarves.

Greatest blacksmith and Great Hammer both. His influence must have been enormous.

There was a reason the dwarf elders had invoked Hodrak's name.

"When Master Hodrak still lived, our Iron Helm was the most prosperous of all the dwarf cities. Truth is, I was rather young then, so my memories are hazy—but dwarves came from all over to study in Iron Helm."

Hairun said.

"To learn from Master Hodrak?"

"Aye. They came seeking the smithing of the greatest blacksmith."

Skill. And leadership.

"And Master Hodrak was our great elder. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Every dwarf in Iron Helm revered him. The elders still remember those days."

"So that's why they're being so stubborn."

"Pointless stubbornness, it is."

"It's fine."

Jinwoo was curious about Hodrak.

One of the reasons I came to Iron Helm was to learn smithing, after all.

Deep Smithing was a technique that used the soul. That put it on an entirely different track from the smithing Jinwoo had in mind. He wanted to learn something more fundamental.

Dwarf smithing has real depth, especially.

At the burial ground in the heart of Iron Helm stood a massive headstone shaped like a hammer. Great Hammer, Hairun, and five dwarf elders were gathered there.

The name was carved there in clear letters.

"There are a lot of flowers."

"Master Hodrak loved flowers, you see. Finest dwarf there was—and yet he had a side that wasn't very dwarven at all."

Great Hammer said.

"Then I'll begin."

The dwarf elders watched Jinwoo. Could he truly bring the dead back? They did not know—they had not seen it for themselves. They did not know that Jinwoo had returned to Iron Helm astride the very dragon he had slain.

"Answer of the Dead."

Shaaaaaak—!

A soul seeped up from the headstone. And a massive dwarf returned to life.

A full, abundant beard. Brown hair. And a frame of pure muscle—he looked fully twice the bulk of the current Great Hammer.

"Mmm…"

The revived Hodrak looked at Jinwoo.

"Greetings, Master Hodrak."

"You are…"

"First, my apologies for waking you from so long a rest. The matter is this…"

Jinwoo explained the situation at speed. Hodrak looked once at Jinwoo, then at the dwarf elders.

"You lot——!"

The dwarf elders' bodies shook hard. That shout just now—it was fierce enough to strike the soul itself.

"Elders? You wear the title of elder while behaving with such a complete lack of dignity!"

In an instant the elders came forward and dropped to their knees before Hodrak.

"W-we are sorry, Teacher."

"We only thought… that we ought to have saved Iron Helm with our own strength…"

"Fools. What kind of foolishness is that! Apologize first!"

"Y-yes!"

The dwarf elders offered Jinwoo a heartfelt apology.

"We are truly sorry."

"Drunk on the title of elder, we spoke out of turn. We know full well how grateful Iron Helm ought to be for what you have done…"

One thunderous scolding from Hodrak, and the matter was settled.

Exactly as Hairun said.

Iron Helm's great elder. The words fit him perfectly.

In that case.

"Master Hodrak."

"Forgive us for the trouble."

"It's fine. More importantly."

Jinwoo spoke.

"I heard that Master Hodrak was Iron Helm's greatest blacksmith. Might I learn that smithing of yours?"

"My smithing?"

Hodrak looked down at his own body.

"I am already a dead man. I cannot remain long in the world of the living."

At that, Jinwoo nodded.

"I would like to learn as much as I can."

Hodrak considered for a moment, then nodded. From what he had heard, Jinwoo had protected Iron Helm from a colossal threat.

"You said you dealt with that Shadow Wing, did you not? Even in my day we left that monster alone because of the peace treaty."

But Shadow Wing had always been a formidable beast that could turn on them at any time.

"You handled it for us. So I ought to repay you in my own way."

Hodrak drew out a hammer. In his current state as a soul, it was the hammer that remained within his spirit.

"I will likely be able to teach you only a little. Still, I will give it my all—so you give it yours as well."

Since he had asked for full effort, Jinwoo meant to learn with everything he had.

"Yes. I will do my utmost to learn."

Jinwoo said it with a smile.

Hodrak immediately began teaching him the foundations of his smithing.

"Dwarf smithing is…"

Jinwoo took up a hammer—the spare Hairun had given him. The time granted to Hodrak was now about an hour.

"You already know the basics, I expect. Looking at that body of yours, you're a blacksmith of real skill, so I'll keep the talk brief and show you the core of it."

Shaaaak—.

Mana settled into the hammer. In the next instant, Hodrak sent cold frost flowing through his hands.

"Frost and heat. Using these two forces—that is my smithing. It is not something one learns in a single day, so I will teach you only the fundamentals… and if you mix even a little of it into your own technique…"

"Like this?"

Clang—!

Jinwoo mirrored exactly what Hodrak had shown him.

"?"

Hodrak's eyes were asking the question for him.

How did you just do that?