Chapter 121. Dwarf Tribal Union Brotswav (3)
He was a chieftain spewing words that a street thug might use, but the Aura wrapping his body was incredibly solid.
“O Neyanpalgar Mountain Range, which has stood since the beginning! Help me out a bit!”
As the dwarf spat out words that could have been a spell or a drunken rant, the axe he was holding grew larger and larger.
It was already an axe larger than his body, but every time the energies wandering the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range dug into the axe, it grew even bigger.
“Huuuup!”
The dwarf holding the increasingly massive axe.
Bright red veins began to be carved onto his forehead.
As the veins on his forehead became clearer, the ground he was standing on began to be gouged out by the weight.
‘Even the weight is getting heavier!’
Looking at the growing axe, Blanc could tell that it wasn't just increasing in size, but also in weight.
It was a spectacle that seemed to ignore the laws of this world.
There are only two cases where the laws of the world created by the Goddesses can be ignored.
Either being stained by Evil.
“Uwaaa! Goddesses, help me out a bit too!”
Or receiving the blessings of the Goddesses.
Watching the chieftain holding the axe with all his might, one could realize that the pressure applied to him would be substantial, but.
“Hyaaaap!”
He was a dwarf who did not yield to it and continued to gather the energy of the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range.
That momentum was enough to give the illusion that he was holding the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range itself.
Before long, the axe he was holding had become large enough to rival the body of the giant monster, the Death Worm.
SCREEEECH!
Although it had no eyes, the Death Worm, feeling the mighty energy manifesting in front of it, hurriedly dug into the ground and tried to hide its body, but.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Blanc, noticing the Death Worm’s intent, quickly crawled under its chin and struck the Death Worm’s jaw upward, just as the dwarf had done earlier.
SCREEEECH!
As its intention to escape underground was thwarted, the Death Worm thrashed its body wildly, devastating the surroundings.
“Uwaaaa!”
Due to the Death Worm’s massive struggle and the dwarves trying to flee from it, the surroundings turned into chaos in an instant.
At that moment, something flew towards the Death Worm, cutting through the thick dust.
“Eat this!”
It was a small, shining reagent bottle.
POOF-!
Franz accurately threw the explosive reagent into the Death Worm’s maw.
It wasn’t a great explosion compared to the size of the Death Worm, but perhaps its insides were not as tough as its hard exterior; the Death Worm paused for a moment and shook its head violently.
“Hyaaaaa!”
The chieftain, not missing the moment the Death Worm paused, moved his heavy steps and mercilessly brought down the giant axe he was shouldering.
BOOOOOM-!
A massive scream created by the collision of massive mass against mass filled Tunnel 47.
The nearby dwarves could not withstand the aftermath of the struck axe and were blown away in all directions.
“What kind of……!”
Blanc’s knights also plunged their swords into the ground, barely withstanding the storm created by the axe.
Only Franz, who had no sword to plant, was rolling around here and there.
It was that overwhelming of a blow.
The roar that started in Tunnel 47 echoed throughout the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range.
A massive dust cloud filled the tunnel, and when it finally all settled, the sight that was revealed was.
“Woah…….”
It was the corpse of the Death Worm, exploded so cleanly that the disheveled Franz gained inspiration.
Not only was the head blown apart, but half of the body had been blown away.
While Blanc was also dumbfounded looking at that overwhelming sight.
“What brings you all the way here? Human?”
Behind him, there was the dwarf, smiling with the axe that had returned to its original size shouldered on his shoulder.
“I am Drogan Excelheart. Though I almost lost the name Excelheart if I hadn't killed that bastard today.”
Frost was settling lightly on the hair of the dwarf who laughed jovially and took off his helmet.
“I am Blanc Cadmus, a Count of the Kingdom of Felix. Chieftain.”
Blanc introduced himself while bowing his head in a polite posture, but.
“Blanc Cadmus?”
Drogan, looking at Blanc, frowned and kept repeating his name.
“Ah! That crazy human!”
“…….”
Drogan slammed his fist into his hand and pointed at Blanc as if he just remembered.
“I heard you pierced through a mountain to make a tunnel! For a human, not even a dwarf, to do such a thing, isn't that truly madness?”
What Drogan said could be considered rude, but knowing that his sincerity was not so, Blanc just smiled and engaged in conversation.
Although he called him a crazy guy, Drogan’s attitude toward Blanc was unreserved, as if treating an acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Since I killed that guy too, I’m thinking of having a beer; will you follow?”
Blanc knew well through the knowledge of his past life.
That a dwarf inviting someone to a drinking party is a means of expressing intimacy among their race.
“It is an honor to be able to tilt a glass with the Chieftain.”
Blanc did not miss that opportunity.
Although unintended, the trade route he had pierced to escape the hands of Count Lacie was shining once again in this place.
Heaven helps those who help themselves.
***
“No, so I! While saying I could do it, I shoved the reagent in!”
Inside the massive drinking party.
Blanc was watching Franz raising his voice against the dwarves as if he had entered his own home.
It seemed his bold and cheerful nature fit well with the dwarves’ personality of pursuing manliness.
“Right. You pierced that tunnel in 3 months?”
“If you include the preparation period, I think it took half a year.”
Drogan looked at Blanc sitting next to him with eyes full of interest.
“When Perlman asked me to send craftsmen saying there was a person who wanted to pierce a mountain in a territory called Norington, I wondered what kind of crazy guy it was, but that person is sitting right next to me now!”
Drogan emptied his beer mug and burst into hearty laughter.
For dwarves living through the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range, digging up a mountain to create a tunnel couldn’t be called such a difficult decision, but the problem was that Blanc, a human, attempted such a thing.
Drogan knew well that there were few human lords who would make such a decision while paying a long time and large costs.
It was an idea and decision that could not come out of the head of an ordinary and petty human.
It was rather similar to the thinking of a dwarf, lumped together with tenacity and patience.
That was why Drogan was expressing intimacy to Blanc now.
“When I received Perlman’s recommendation, I thought he might get along well with us! So I sent some reasonably skilled guys too!”
The dwarves sent to Norington seemed to have come through Drogan’s hands.
“But for what reason did you try to open that rugged path?”
To Drogan’s question, Blanc told the facts as they were without bothering to hide or exaggerate anything.
The circumstances of Norington, the relationship with Count Lacie, and even how he wanted to develop the territory in the future.
“Mm-hm, so that was it.”
Drogan stroked his beard and looked at Blanc.
Although his face was already red, looking at Blanc who managed to keep up every time he gulped down alcohol, Drogan was feeling pure goodwill.
He didn't ignore them as earthworms like elves or some rude human nobles did, and he liked the bold idea and decisiveness to dig out a mountain.
Above all, he liked Blanc’s attitude of wielding his sword for them, who had no particular connection to him.
Having seen, heard, and judged for himself, the things Blanc had done were things only true men could perform.
Moreover, according to what he found out, he was even a renowned knight in the human world, so it would be harder for Drogan not to like Blanc.
“Good!”
Drogan, having emptied another massive beer mug, spoke to Blanc as if he had made a decision.
“From now on, the transport route dwarves use will be through Norington!”
It involved many interests to decide at a mere drinking party, but Drogan didn't care about that.
“I didn't like that place called Baywood or whatever in the first place!”
Brotswav traded evenly with the three human kingdoms.
Until now, they had transported their products through Baywood, which was geographically close and easy to access from any human kingdom, but the humans in Baywood were just bastards always anxious to rip off the dwarves.
“I reckon things like that won't happen if we use the territory of Count Blanc, who possesses a manly attitude and a brave heart?”
Even amidst his mind becoming hazy due to the beer, Blanc realized how great a profit the proposal Drogan was currently offering would bring to Norington.
It was an opportunity.
An opportunity to grow Norington and decisively cut off Count Lacie’s influence.
“……Thank you! Chieftain!”
Blanc, a veteran warrior and the only regressor in this world, accomplished what he had to do until the end even amidst his fading consciousness.
THUD-
However, that was the limit.
Blanc fell asleep with his head hitting the table.
“He needs to learn drinking a bit more.”
Drogan’s tongue-clicking sound was the last thing Blanc heard before his consciousness cut off.
***
“HmMmmm…….”
Blanc woke up within a throbbing headache.
“You’re finally up.”
“Tarania?”
He met eyes with Tarania, who just happened to open the door and enter.
“What happened?”
“What do you mean, what happened?”
Tarania quietly placed clothes for Blanc to change into and a beverage to relieve the hangover on the bed.
Blanc, finding those clothes strangely familiar, naturally looked down at his body.
“Mm…….”
He wasn’t naked, but he was in a state where everything except his underwear had been taken off.
“I’ve seen worse than that when performing missions, so don’t be too embarrassed.”
“……Did you do it yourself?”
Blanc became a little flustered realizing the person who took off his clothes was Tarania.
“There must be servants…….”
“They said dwarves don't keep servants no matter how high-ranking they are.”
“The other knights…….”
“Everyone got drunk and passed out.”
“Sir Barzio shouldn't be able to drink…….”
“Have you forgotten that the hand he possesses is a gauntlet? Delicate movements enough to take off clothes are impossible.”
At this point, Blanc had no choice but to admit it.
“Hmm…….”
“They said to ask for him when the Count wakes up.”
Tarania looked down at Blanc with her usual calm eyes and said.
“They say they will include us in the investigation team going to the Black Forest.”
Hearing Tarania’s words, Blanc threw off the blanket without any hesitation.
“Let’s go.”
Although he was embarrassed just a moment ago, there was no hesitation at all when the situation to move arose.
A small smile hung on Tarania’s lips as she watched Blanc.
***
“Is the hangover okay?”
Drogan, sitting on a chair made of gems where only a chieftain could sit, said with a playful expression.
“The beverage you provided was effective.”
“HmMmmm…….”
Although Drogan’s eyes were still full of playfulness, he was a person who knew how to distinguish between public and private matters as a chieftain.
“I heard you came here because you wanted to know about the Black Forest.”
It seemed Tarania had stated their purpose for coming here while Blanc and the knights were passed out.
“That is correct.”
At Blanc’s answer, Drogan stroked his beard and said.
“Actually, strange things have been happening continuously from that side lately. I was thinking of forming an investigation team.”
Although dwarves didn't like explaining at length, Drogan told Blanc the circumstances so far for his sake.
“Mm…….”
Hearing Drogan’s words, Blanc could grasp the situation.
That the time when accidents happened in the Black Forest recently coincided with the time he removed the Evil in Baltimere.
‘Something is connected.’
Blanc’s sharp senses, honed from his past life, were speaking.
“Seeker of the Blue Star and Knight holding the torch, Sir Blanc Cadmus.”
Blanc’s head lifted at the voice calling him.
There, Drogan was looking down at him with a serious expression different from before.
“We don’t trust humans, but we trust the Goddesses and Sir Aselheit.”
Drogan stood up from the gem chair and said.
“Talking with the female knight with blue jewel eyes, I am also convinced that the accident that happened in this Black Forest is related to Evil. Therefore.”
The ruler of the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range said.
“Please, I hope you erase the Evil running wild in the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range together with my warriors.”
As Drogan nodded, a dwarf standing next to him approached Blanc holding a tray.
On that tray lay a single sheet of paper.
And on that paper, the phrase ‘Brotswav Craftsman Guild’ was written.
“Lord Drogan…….”
“If you gain trust from us dwarves through this matter.”
A smile was drawn on Drogan’s lips.
“We will also respond to that trust and establish a Craftsman Guild symbolizing our friendship in Norington.”
Looking at the paper on the tray, Blanc seemed to recall what Bonas had said.
‘You cannot run the territory with plunder and money of unknown origin forever.’
If this matter proceeded well, a specialized business that only Norington could accomplish might be created.
‘If that happens, I can throw away the damned mint.’
To eliminate the Evil to stop those hostile to humanity, solidify the relationship with the dwarves, and bring business to Norington, Blanc answered in a firm and confident tone.
“Through this investigation, I will eliminate the Evil and prove our friendship at the same time.”
Seeing Blanc answering with a confident posture, Drogan smiled as if he liked it.
“Good. Then exchange greetings with the captain who will lead this investigation team.”
Following Drogan’s hand gesture, a dwarf entered Blanc’s view as he turned his head.
‘Oh no…….’
“I knew we would see each other again!”
The young dwarf offering a handshake with a good-natured smile.
He was the dwarf who had led them driving the mine cart from the Iron Bank.
“Let me introduce myself formally. I am Sten Excelheart.”
Hearing his surname, Blanc quietly turned his head to look at Drogan.
“He is my son.”
Blanc turned his head back to look at Sten.
Within his smile, the movement of the shaking mine cart seemed to be felt.