Chapter 16 : Because They Were All Dead
Chapter 16: Because They Were All Dead
He had planned to leave sooner or later.
Once Roger brought back the blueprint, they would have to purchase the corresponding materials.
At that moment, the only one who could leave the Tower without trouble was Berje.
He had simply ended up with one more piece of baggage.
He decided to think of it that way.
“If you’re thinking of running away, you may. Carrying your roasted corpse wouldn’t be too bad either.”
“Of course not! I mean, I could remake it if I really tried, but it would take a long time!”
Roger desperately denied it.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of it, but doing so now was impossible. Especially because of the necklace around his neck.
“The exact function of this necklace…”
“It has only one.”
“What kind…?”
“A function that separates your head from your body. Roger Friedrich would then be split into Roger and Friedrich.”
“…In what situation?”
“Well, that depends on what you do.”
“Ah…”
“If you’re curious, you can try taking it off.”
“As if I ever would! I am the Demon King’s loyal servant!”
“Consider it an honor. It’s probably the first time that thing has hung around the neck of someone who’s neither a prince nor a princess.”
The necklace was a blade meant to prevent kidnapped princesses or princes from escaping. It could be purchased using Magic Points.
“…It’s an honor.”
Roger swallowed his tears.
The two soon arrived at Hortonwork, the human city closest to the Ergest Mountains.
“You’ve prepared the list of what you need, haven’t you?”
“Of course. Buying from the Dwarven Kingdom is the cheapest and highest quality. But… I suppose that won’t do. It’ll take time.”
“I don’t care.”
To avoid possible pursuit and having their identities exposed, they traveled across several kingdoms.
A month passed while waiting for the materials to be gathered. Most of what they needed had been purchased.
“Only one thing remains now.”
“That equipment you said you made?”
“I call it the Ghost of Mana. It erases mana traces like a ghost would…”
“Terrible naming sense.”
“……”
“Let’s go in.”
‘Finally.’
Roger couldn’t hide his excitement as they returned to the Dwarven Kingdom for the first time in nearly two months.
However, the gatekeeper, whom they had run into several times, didn’t recognize his face. The wretched masks covering his and the Demon King’s faces were indistinguishable from real skin.
Roger barely resisted the urge to rip the mask off.
He didn’t want to become Ro/ger just yet.
“Faces I haven’t seen before.”
“Mercenaries.”
“A dwarf-and-human duo, not common. What brings you to the city?”
“We finished a job nearby and came to rest.”
“Since you even brought a fellow dwarf, I don’t want to make it too strict, but the city’s situation is what it is. I need to do a body search.”
“What happened?”
“Just consider it as us having a bit of trouble.”
Berje and Roger obediently offered their bodies for inspection. All suspicious items had been stored in the subspace, so nothing stood out.
“Don’t cause trouble. Everyone’s on edge right now, so it won’t end peacefully.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Well, if a fellow dwarf trusts you enough to work together as mercenaries, I suppose you’ll manage.”
Drrrrr—
The ground began to descend vertically.
“What do you think this is about?”
“…I think it’s because I disappeared.”
“Because you’re a hero?”
“I was kidnapped in the middle of forging the princess’s weapon.”
“The one melting in the furnace?”
“It’s probably nothing more than a lump of molten scrap now.”
“When you say princess, which one?”
The princes and princesses of the Dwarven Kingdom were all fierce. They were warriors by nature, beasts who sought battle.
“I hope it’s not the 2nd Princess.”
“It is Her Highness the 2nd Princess. Do you know her?”
“…What a nuisance.”
Berje instinctively checked his physical condition. Being far from the Tower made interference stronger, and his power weaker.
He didn’t know how strong the princess was at this point in time, but it was certain he wasn’t in a state where he could guarantee victory.
“Let’s head to your workshop first.”
“Yes.”
The workshop no longer carried its former heat.
No hammering sounds.
No scent of blacksmiths’ sweat.
Instead, something else was there.
A solid iron fence and the soldiers guarding it.
“It’s been, what, a month or two since you were kidnapped?”
“A little less than that.”
“Brutal.”
Just like in his previous life, and again in this one.
“…How.”
“Let’s just sneak in quietly and bring it out.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Before you open your mouth once, and before you wag your tongue twice, think. Don’t mistake your ability for mine.”
“I–I’m sorry. I overstepped.”
“Is there a secret passage into the workshop?”
“There is.”
The passage was located about 3km from the workshop, at the outskirts.
“So once again you’re telling me I have to watch your ass the whole way.”
“…I’m sorry. I made the passage to fit my body.”
“Just lead the way.”
“Yes!”
* * *
“A month and a half has passed! And you still haven’t found him?”
The princess of the Berfht Kingdom furiously ripped a table from its place and hurled it.
Blood trickled down the foreheads of the knights who were struck.
“How utterly incompetent are you bastards? How much longer do you expect a princess to tolerate your uselessness?!”
“We apologize.”
“Is apologizing all you can do?!”
“There are too many secret tunnels the dwarves dug. We are investigating them one by one, but it’s highly likely he already escaped.”
“Of course he escaped! It’s been over a month. If he hasn’t left by now, he’s the idiot— not the kidnapper!”
She had given up long ago on the idea of having the culprit dragged before her within a week.
“Who told you to bring that bastard here immediately? I want traces. Is it that hard to bring back even a single trace that could lead us to that damned bastard?!”
“Our apologies.”
“Two weeks. I’ll wait exactly two more weeks to make it a full two months. Within that time, find traces of the bastard who kidnapped the craftsman making my weapon. Where he went, who he is— hell, even a strand of hair!”
“Yes!”
“And aside from the city-funded secret tunnels, fill up every other passage.”
“It will be done.”
“Get out. I don’t want to see your faces.”
The knights hurried out of the room. The princess huffed, trying to steady her breathing.
But the anger refused to cool.
“Graaagh!”
She smashed the chair and crushed the table. She clumped all the metal cups into a single lump and stomped her foot.
“Clean it.”
Only after quite some time did she calm down. The waiting maids outside rushed in.
The princess left the office and headed toward the workshop of the craftsman who should have been forging her weapon.
A massive workshop taking up half the third floor. The furnace, which should have been spewing heat nonstop, was cold, and the craftsman’s hammering could not be heard.
And the lump of scrap metal sitting alone threatened to reignite the embers in her barely cooled heart.
‘That should have become my weapon!’
The furnace should have spewed flames.
Roger’s arm should have swung the hammer down.
Even if the bastard was kidnapped, he should have completed her weapon before being taken.
Instead, he left behind a single unfinished, fragile lump of scrap.
“Roger, just be alive.”
No— he must be alive.
“You cannot die until you finish my weapon.”
At that moment—
“Uh…”
A section of the wall quietly opened. The princess, who had been cursing as if to chew someone alive, and the dwarf emerging from the passage locked eyes.
“…You?”
“…Princess?”
The princess’s brow twitched. She turned her head to look at the furnace. Then she turned back to the dwarf.
“…You’re Roger, aren’t you?”
The face was different, but this was Roger’s workshop.
He had designed it himself, and no one but him could enter it freely— this was his space.
And the princess, being a dwarf herself, knew exactly what a workshop meant to dwarves.
So she was certain.
A dwarf who naturally emerged from the workshop’s secret passage could only be its owner.
And she realized the full truth.
This wasn’t a kidnapping— it was the escape of a bastard who didn’t want to forge her weapon.
“So then…”
The human who had entered with Roger was no longer within her sight.
“So you went into hiding because you didn’t want to make my weapon, is that it?”
Her tiny fist clenched.
“You should’ve said so earlier.”
She smiled.
The dwarf took a step back.
“I would’ve sliced you up and made jerky out of you right away.”
“M–Misunderstanding! This is a misunderstanding!”
“A misunderstanding? No, I don’t think there’s even a sliver of misunderstanding here.”
She stomped on the ground.
“I’ll rip out the tongue that dared insult a princess and turn you into my slave! You’ll spend the rest of your life forging my weapons!”
“Hii—! P-Please spare me!”
Kwaaaang—
A fierce shockwave shook the workshop.
“And who are you?”
Her icy gaze locked on the human.
The Demon King, disguised as a human, felt a sharp tingling race through his hand.
“Roger, grab the equipment you mentioned.”
“So you left something behind and came back for it? After turning my insides upside down, you’re acting so relaxed?”
“I think you should calm down first. You are a princess, after all.”
“Why don’t you go find some calm in the afterlife?”
She swung her fist again. Berje clicked his tongue at the violence—unbelievable coming from such a small body.
The sturdy muscles visible between the gaps of her clothing were not to be underestimated.
“Where’s the equipment?”
“Over there…”
Berje’s gaze followed Roger’s fingertip.
“…Are you looking to die?”
“That’s why I said sneaking it out was impossible…”
There, filling one entire side of the workshop, was a massive machine.
Nearly five meters tall.
It was the pinnacle of magi-engineering.
Hundreds of cables stretched out in all directions, wrapping around the entire workshop.
It was a wonder Berje hadn’t noticed this thing when he first kidnapped Roger.
“You can detach it, right?”
“It’s installed in the workshop, so I have to deactivate it and organize all the cables. It’ll take some time.”
“Who said you could do that at your own pace?!”
Pak—
The princess’s fist stopped right in front of Roger’s nose. The following blast of wind whipped his hair back. Blood dripped from his nose.
“Make it so it can be taken immediately.”
“Yes, y-yes!”
Berje grabbed the princess’s wrist and flung her aside. She used a breakfall to land lightly.
“And who are you?”
“Let’s say I’m the master of the pitiful dwarf you’re tormenting.”
“Master? According to who?”
The princess’s brow twitched.
“That bastard is mine. He’ll be my slave and spend his entire life forging my weapons and armor.”
“That won’t happen. Unfortunately for you.”
“No.”
She growled.
“I take everything I want. I always have, and I always will.”
“This time will be an exception.”
“You know what? There’s no one who talks to me that arrogantly.”
“Because you’re a princess?”
“Because they’re all dead.”
She drew up her aura. It surged through her aura rods, spreading through her entire body—reinforcing muscles, veins, bones, and skin.
She stomped down. With a boom, part of the floor cracked. In the blink of an eye, she closed in on Berje.
Kwaang—
Her punches held no tricks, no flair. Just brute-force strikes in straight lines.
But they were fast and heavy enough to make up for every flaw.
Berje took a step back. Punches and kicks poured down like a storm, and he barely managed to guard against them.
‘She’s not as strong as back then.’
The her he met before regression had been one of the strongest he’d encountered. Incomparable to now.
But Berje, too, was no longer the same. The difference between the him who toppled kingdoms and shed most dimensional interference, and the him now, was as great as that between a dragon and a snake.
‘I could kill her if I want.’
He’d be utterly drained afterward.
And then the dwarves rushing up after hearing the commotion would capture or kill him.
That would be the worst of the worst.
‘So hurry up.’
If it came to it, he might have to kill her and run.