Chapter – 81
The ancient demon Gorgonne met such a futile end.
The true nature of the Northern Death God, Maranello, was so powerful that he could slay even an ancient demon like Gorgonne in a single strike.
“…Incredible.”
Karail felt a sense of overwhelming awe at Maranello’s strength.
On the other hand, it also gave him a sense of just how strong their enemies were.
Even Maranello, possessing such military might, had been unable to completely subjugate the barbarians beyond the border.
And it wasn’t just Maranello.
Selena, another possessor of immense power, was also active at the front lines beyond the border, and Grand Duke Guntram, said to be the strongest on the continent, was the same.
The barbarians were strong.
Among them, there were powerful individuals who could rival even Maranello, Selena, and Grand Duke Guntram.
It wasn’t for nothing that the Sigmund family and the United Kingdom had been fighting the barbarians for hundreds of years.
The barbarian warriors and wars Karail had experienced so far were nothing more than child’s play.
If he were to go to a real battlefield, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t encounter someone as strong as Maranello.
‘Just how strong do I need to become? And how much more effort must I put in to get that strong?’
Karail couldn’t even begin to grasp it.
He felt like just saving up some money and running away to some remote corner of the continent.
But since he was born a Sigmund, that was impossible.
If he selfishly pursued only his personal survival, he could live a life of luxury, but even that wouldn’t be safe.
‘Why did it have to be Sigmund?’
Just as Karail was inwardly grumbling.
*Poof, poof poof!*
The dwarf statues began to awaken one by one.
It seemed that with Gorgonne’s death, the magic was dispelled and they were returning to their original forms.
“Ugh?”
“What’s going on?”
The awakened dwarves, unable to grasp the situation, looked bewildered.
“Th-that!”
“Gasp!”
The dwarves discovered the snake corpses scattered around and Gorgonne, sliced to pieces, and were startled.
From their perspective, they had been turned to stone by Gorgonne’s magic for hundreds of years and had just woken up, so it was natural for them to be confused.
“Who are you?”
An old dwarf with a white beard reaching down to his navel spoke up.
“We are an investigation team from Decaron. This is Young Master Karail van Sigmund, his maid Evangelin, and the soldiers.”
“Decaron? Sigmund? I haven’t heard of them.”
“It’s understandable you wouldn’t know, as a long time has passed.”
Maranello briefly explained the history of Decaron to the old dwarf.
“Good heavens. So, you mean 500 years have passed?”
“From what you’ve said, it seems so.”
“I… I can’t believe it. To think we were asleep as statues for 500 years…”
“But you’ve returned, so that’s what matters, isn’t it?”
Maranello smiled.
“Then, that demon…”
“Young Master Karail van Sigmund here is the one who vanquished it.”
Maranello pointed at Karail as he spoke.
“…Me?”
Karail pointed at himself, perplexed.
*Wink!*
Maranello winked as if to tell him not to say anything, then spoke to the old dwarf.
“Let me formally introduce him. This is Young Master Karail van Sigmund. He is the second son of Grand Duke Guntram, the ruler of Decaron.”
“I, Borodin, chieftain of the Unforgetting Hammer clan, offer you my infinite gratitude.”
The old dwarf bowed his head to Karail.
“…!”
Evangelin, Kudo, and the others were greatly surprised upon seeing this.
Dwarves were a race with immense pride and rarely bowed their heads to anyone.
In fact, even if you saved their lives, they might say thank you but would make all sorts of excuses to avoid bending their waist; that was the kind of race dwarves were.
For a dwarf to bow his head and offer thanks to a human was an extremely unprecedented event.
“We are in disarray and cannot offer a proper reward, but we will never forget the grace of saving our clan and will repay it for generations to come.”
Borodin knelt on one knee towards Karail.
“We will not forget this grace.”
Then, the dwarves of the Red Hammer clan also knelt on one knee towards Karail, paying their respects to their savior.
‘Ugh.’
Karail felt miserable.
Since he wasn’t the one who had slain Gorgonne but Maranello was, receiving such grateful thanks pricked his conscience and was unbearable.
It was as if Maranello had fed him the credit…
* * *
The dwarves quickly sorted out the situation, gathering the broken statue pieces and assessing the status of the survivors.
“I am truly sorry. It is only right that we offer our benefactors drink and food, but we have nothing.”
Borodin apologized to Karail’s party, looking embarrassed.
Normally, they would have held a village feast and treated Karail’s party lavishly, but since a full 500 years had passed, they didn’t even have immediate food supplies.
“Hmm.”
Karail thought for a moment before speaking.
“Corporal Kudo.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Could you possibly send word to Decaron?”
“Word?”
“The dwarves have no immediate food or clothing. I’d like to request some support.”
“Ahh.”
Kudo nodded as if he understood.
“Then, let Marder go to deliver the message, and Wilson and I will go to buy daily necessities.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Kudo waved it off as if it were nothing, then turned and walked away.
“Hmm.”
Meanwhile, Borodin, chieftain of the Unforgetting Hammer clan, was showing great interest in Karail’s sword.
“Why are you looking at it like that?”
“The sword you are wearing, sir.”
“…?”
“If I’m not being rude… May I take a look at it?”
“Go ahead.”
Karail, without much thought, unfastened Grimungand and handed it to Borodin.
“Hmm!”
Borodin carefully examined Grimungand piece by piece before speaking.
“This sword… was it made by dwarves, perhaps?”
“No.”
Karail shook his head.
Inheritance Swords were either made through cooperation between a direct bloodline descendant of the Sigmund family and the family’s master blacksmith, or were inherited heirlooms that had been improved.
“The technique used to make this sword is clearly Dwarven, to anyone’s eyes.”
“Eh? No, it’s not…”
“In fact, it looks like the unique technique of our Unforgetting Hammer clan.”
“That can’t be.”
Then Maranello abruptly interjected.
“It’s probably true. I’ve heard that the very first Inheritance Sword was made by a dwarf.”
“So it was, as I thought.”
Borodin nodded as if he had expected as much.
“It seems a descendant of our clan made your swords and passed on the techniques.”
Borodin turned his gaze back to Grimungand.
“And this sword… it’s truly remarkable.”
“What do you mean?”
“It contains a vast and great will. On the outside, it may look like a pile of scrap metal, but its true value…”
Just as Borodin was about to answer Maranello’s question.
“Are you done looking?”
Karail quickly snatched Grimungand back, cutting off Borodin’s words.
The fact that this rusty iron sword was Grimungand was a secret even Maranello didn’t know.
Of course, Maranello and the other members of the Sigmund family believed that Karail’s Inheritance Sword was [The Wanderer], made by an ancestor named Rompen.
“From now on, our Unforgetting Hammer clan will forge the swords for your family.”
“Huh?”
“There is the connection from our ancestors, and you are the benefactor who saved our clan. How could we not do at least that much? Our Unforgetting Hammer clan will serve you and your family, repaying the grace for generations to come.”
“You don’t need to go that far…”
The baby dragon suddenly stuck its head out.
“Yay! There are dwarves here too!”
“…!”
Borodin, upon discovering the baby dragon, froze on the spot like a mouse before a cat.
“D… Dr… Dr…”
“What, what? Never seen a dragon before?”
“Dr… Dr…”
“Aren’t you going to show some respect? How dare you, you little dwarf. Haaah!”
“Gah!”
Borodin suddenly collapsed with a thud.
*Tremble tremble…!*
His whole body was shaking like a leaf, his eyes rolled back showing the whites, and foam was coming out of his mouth…
“Chieftain! Chieftain!”
“Are you alright?!”
The dwarves who rushed over in a panic also had seizures upon discovering the baby dragon.
“G-Great One!”
“The Dragon!”
“We humble beings pay our respects to the Noble One!”
The dwarves of the Unforgetting Hammer clan prostrated themselves flat on the ground towards the baby dragon, bowing repeatedly.
It seemed the baby dragon’s words about dwarves being their natural enemy were no empty boast.
* * *
After it was revealed that the baby dragon had a master, the dwarves’ treatment of Karail became even more reverent.
Even though they were already indebted to him for their rescue, the fact that Karail was the master of a dragon increased their awe even more.
‘Why are they like this?’
Looking at the dwarves who didn’t even dare to look at him and just kept bowing, Karail realized that the fear of dragons imprinted in their genes was beyond imagination.
Just as the baby dragon had said, the dwarves couldn’t assert themselves before a dragon.
He could feel in his skin that the relationship between dragons and dwarves was that of the ultimate natural enemy, and that it was according to the laws of nature.
“Then what’s the natural enemy of dragons?”
“Does it seem like we would have a natural enemy?”
“Well.”
“Of course, it’s not entirely nonexistent.”
“There is one?”
“Dragon Slayers.”
“Dragon Slayers?”
“Beings born to kill dragons.”
“Such a race exists?”
“Dragon Slayer isn’t a race. It’s more like an innate talent.”
“…?”
“A Dragon Slayer can be a dwarf, an elf, or a human.”
“Ahh.”
“You know the stories, right? About a hero slaying an evil dragon and such.”
“There are.”
“Those are probably stories about Dragon Slayers. It’s really rare for anyone to be able to kill an adult dragon.”
“So there is a natural enemy, after all?”
“As long as they don’t cause trouble.”
“…?”
“Dragon Slayers are a result of a dragon’s karma, so to speak. A punishment from the gods for dragons who abuse their innate power and commit evil deeds, you could say.”
“What are you talking about.”
“It exists, that kind of thing.”
After saying that, the baby dragon bullied the dwarves.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to bring me shiny things? Do I really have to get angry?”
“P-Please wait a moment!”
The dwarves ran off somewhere at full speed, then brought back loads of shiny ornaments and jewels and offered them to the baby dragon.
“Hmm. They’re not great, but I’ll accept them seeing your sincerity.”
“Thank you! O Dragon!”
“But next time, offer proper tribute. Otherwise, I’ll gobble you all up in one bite.”
“Would we dare refuse?”
“Good, good.”
As the baby dragon acted magnanimous, the dwarves bowed repeatedly as if deeply grateful.
‘This is totally extortion.’
Karail inwardly shook his head, but didn’t say anything specific to the baby dragon.
If this was a natural enemy relationship according to the laws of nature, what could he possibly say about it?
It was the same principle as a tiger hunting and eating a deer.
* * *
As always, Grand Duke Guntram, who had been concentrating on his work in his office, put down his quill pen upon receiving an unexpected report.
“Hmm.”
Grand Duke Guntram doubted his own ears.
Because he couldn’t believe the report that had just come in at all, he needed to confirm it again.
“Say that again.”
“Yes, Your Grace. It’s reported that Young Master Karail…”
“So, you’re telling me that not only did he discover several mines in the Murel Mountains, but he also defeated an ancient demon and rescued an entire dwarf clan? And thus he’s requesting support troops and supplies to help the dwarf clan?”
“The report coming in is definitely a fact, for now.”
“This is just…”
Grand Duke Guntram simply couldn’t understand it.
“I will go see for myself. Make the preparations.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Grand Duke Guntram decided to take action personally.
Because the report was so unbelievable, it seemed he could only believe it after seeing it with his own two eyes…
