Chapter 32 : Dwarven-Style Repayment of Favours
Chapter 32: Dwarven-Style Repayment of Favours
『The Wind Lotus, you say?』
“Yeah. The Wind Lotus is located on Magic Street in Amur. And its owner, Zetoson. Remember him well.”
『Why bring this up all of a sudden?』
“He was an arrogant bastard who tried to swindle me.”
『…Does he have multiple lives or something?』
“Well, he ended up swindling the Dwarven Princess instead of me.”
『…Is he still alive?』
“I confirmed his talent at least. He was born to cheat others. So I plan to bring him into the Golden Moon Merchant Company. I already paid him an advance.”
『And he said he'd come after receiving the money?』
“If he had, I wouldn’t have contacted you or told the princess. If he won’t come, we just have to make it so he has no choice.”
『…Good grief. The princess.』
“Look into him. Where he’s from, how old he is, what circumstances he has. Why he opened the shop, how he got it, how much his assets are. Everything from one to ten.”
『…I’m starting to feel sorry for him. No, maybe I should pray he’s still alive first.』
Cutting off contact with Granada, Berje bought Seniel Powder at Deer’s Leaf.
“We have low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade. Which would you like?”
“What’s the difference?”
“The quality of the mana stones and the materials. All of that combines to determine the difference in quality and efficiency.”
“All the top-grade you have.”
“Ten top-grade Seniel Powders, ten gold.”
The mana in the top-grade powder was incomparably purer than what he had seen in Zetoson’s shop.
Almost night and day. He realized that bastard had sold him low-grade—mid-grade at best.
“How much are the others?”
“High-grade is fifty silver, mid-grade is thirty silver, low-grade is ten silver.”
‘Maybe I should’ve broken his limbs instead of telling the princess.’
He liked that talent enough to want to use him, but thinking he had almost been the victim himself irritated him.
Then—
“So you were still here.”
It was Louise.
“Thanks to you, I avoided getting scammed. I want to reward you.”
“What did you do with him?”
“Unfortunately, since it’s Amur, I couldn’t break his limbs. The amount of things I have to endure…”
Louise clicked her tongue and darted a glance at the knight. He must have desperately restrained her.
‘Even if he begged, she didn’t break his limbs. The princess really held back because it was another country’s territory.’
“Instead, I bought everything worth buying. I thought I’d give you a share.”
“No need. It’s all low-grade anyway.”
“That much was obvious. That con artist’s shop didn’t have a single decent thing.”
So she really should’ve broken his limbs. Louise grumbled.
The knight exclaimed, “Absolutely not!”
“Well then, how about we have a meal together? I’ll treat you to something extravagant.”
“No need.”
He didn’t want to get entangled with Louise.
He had kidnapped Roger out of necessity, but to him, a Dwarven prince or princess was filth one should avoid.
“No. I was taught to always repay a favor.”
“…Repaying it by force isn’t repaying a favor.”
“I was taught that I must repay it no matter what.”
Louise grabbed his hand firmly. She wasn’t going to let go easily.
“…Fine.”
Not wanting trouble, Berje had no choice but to take part in the dwarven-style repayment of favors.
* * *
“How is it! They said this restaurant is the most expensive and famous in all of Amur. Correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The knight nodded enthusiastically.
Just as Louise had said, the restaurant was luxurious. The interior was antique, and the view from the top floor twenty stories up wasn’t bad at all.
And the food was undeniably delicious.
‘Compared to this, Granada’s food is garbage.’
If he said that, Granada would probably protest that he wasn’t a chef.
“But you looked like you had plenty of money. Why were you hanging around such a cheap shop?”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Without hiring anyone?”
“He’s someone I want to find myself.”
Louise gave a cold smile. Berje silently swore he would never allow Roger and the princess to meet.
“Whoever it is, I pity him.”
“He doesn’t even deserve pity.”
From her unwavering tone, Berje knew she would chase Roger to the very ends of the continent. Considering how she had acted before his regression, it was inevitable.
‘What a headache.’
She hadn’t found any trace of him yet, but if—really, if—she found out he was the one who kidnapped Roger, there was no telling what she might do.
In that case—
“Is it Roger Friedrich?”
Boom—
The princess shot to her feet. The table overturned. A knight’s sword was suddenly at Berje’s throat.
“How did you know?”
“I have good ears. What’s the point of hiding your face if you don’t watch your mouth, Louise Berfht?”
“…I said that?”
“Your voice was a bit loud, Your Highness. But for him to know you were the princess from that alone is suspicious.”
The knight’s chill aura pressed down on Berje.
“Who are you? Did you approach us deliberately?”
“How amusing. You’re the one who dragged me here against my will, Your Highness.”
“…That’s true, but.”
“I’m trying to help. I’ve met Roger Friedrich.”
“What? When, where!”
“Two months ago, in Ormus.”
“Roger went to Ormus? That backwater?”
“I travel the continent looking for magical ingredients. I happened to see him in Ormus’s rainforest city, Tarta.”
“And how can we believe that?”
The knight’s eyes sharpened with suspicion, certain Berje had approached them with a plan.
“If you don’t want to believe me, that’s your choice.”
Berje took something from his coat—
A necklace. The one Roger originally always wore, which Berje had removed when he put shackles on him for the trip to recover the Ghost of Mana, but had never taken it back.
“This is…!”
“It’s definitely Roger’s! It was the first thing he ever crafted, so it has no effects, but he always carried it like a charm.”
Both dwarves immediately recognized it.
‘So that’s what it was?’
No wonder Roger had cried and made such a fuss when he had to hand it over.
Well, a few punches had quieted him down.
“Where did you find this?”
“I told you. In Tarta.”
“Roger would never take this off… Don’t tell me…”
“He’s not dead. He lost it when a monster attacked and snapped the chain. I simply picked it up.”
“There are marks where it broke.”
Those marks came from Berje forcefully breaking it when Roger refused to let go.
“Thank you!”
The princess grabbed Berje’s hand tightly.
“Now I have a lead. I’ve been indebted to you yet again. How can I possibly repay—”
“How amusing.”
Berje grabbed the sword at his throat with his bare hand.
Screeeech—
The blade bent with a grotesque sound.
“You hold a blade to someone’s neck and talk about gratitude?”
How dare they point a weapon at him. These dwarf brats.
“Uh…?”
“…Good heavens.”
Louise and the knight gaped at him.
“Now I see just how discourteous dwarves can be.”
Berje rose. Louise hurriedly grabbed him.
“Wait. I’ll apologise for this.”
“No need. I never want to get involved with dwarves again.”
“My status is the issue. The knight is simply cautious. Too many people approach me with ulterior motives.”
“And why should I consider your problems?”
“Of course you shouldn’t.”
She shoved a small token into his hand.
“A proof that you’re my benefactor. If you bring that to the kingdom, the greatest artisans will craft the finest equipment for you.”
“…This seems useful, so I’ll take it.”
Berje vanished.
“…The sword?”
“It’s bent beyond use. He crushed an alloy blade that easily…”
Dwarven alloy had the greatest elasticity and durability on the continent.
“He crushed a master-crafted weapon without using mana?”
“What will you do, Your Highness? It could be a trap.”
“But the necklace was real, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Then I have to go. Trap or not, it means there’s a high chance he’s actually there. I won’t be satisfied until I wring his neck.”
Louise’s eyes glinted fiercely.
“Contact Father and request reinforcements.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
They did not know.
Ormus, half of whose territory was covered in jungle, belonged to the domain of the Beast Demon King, Draxon. That was why Berje chose that place.
It was literally passing the bomb.
* * *
“…A failure?”
“And they didn’t even get close to the Demon King’s Tower?”
“Hero Hillan Cargill failed?”
Humans were social creatures who formed groups.
As heroes overflowed across the entire dimension, naturally they gathered and formed communities as well. For their own interests, to share information, and to face Demon Kings more efficiently, they created a guild.
Thus, the Hero Guild was born.
A place considered the natural nemesis of Demon Kings.
And now, centuries later, a place that even toyed with them.
That place was in turmoil.
This was not like when Watton Colo and a few members of the hero squad had descended the mountain.
Because it was the Ergest Mountains, they had simply thought it would take a bit more time. No one had expected that trust to return as a complete failure.
“They say the tower was nowhere to be found.”
“That’s impossible…”
“Centuries have passed since Demon Kings began appearing. Dozens of Demon Kings have descended. And in all those centuries, there was not one Demon King who hid their tower.”
“That’s why we’ve gathered again.”
A Council being convened again only weeks after the previous one was no small matter.
“This Demon King cannot be underestimated.”
“Hillan Cargill is a persistent hero. He must have searched the mountain down to the last pebble for weeks. If he still couldn’t find it, then the Demon King deliberately hid it.”
“Even so, a Demon King wouldn’t—”
“But the results are already in!”
“Silence, all of you.”
At the words of the man seated at the head table, the Elders fell quiet.
“There’s no doubt the new Demon King is a figure worthy of caution. Before we begin discussing him, the news we’ve been waiting for has arrived.”
“A response came?”
From the mana stone at the center of the chamber, a hologram was projected.
“Name, Berje Deias.”
“He primarily uses flame, and his physical abilities are among the highest of the demon race.”
“A notable point: he insulted The Demon King’s Standard and is known even in the Demon Realm as a delinquent.”
One Elder frowned.
“Is that all? There’s nothing about his species, what exactly he is, what demons he brought, how many monsters he commands, or the structure of his tower?”
“That’s all.”
“Are these bastards trying to break our cooperation with reports like this?”
“They’ve gotten too used to us tolerating them and now think we’re fools. We need to put them in their place!”
“We should gather heroes immediately and begin the hero’s march!”
The Elders seethed with anger. But the man at the head table folded his arms and shook his head.
“No. Even Demon Kings cannot easily enter each other's towers. And the new Demon King hasn’t been around long. It’s only natural that they wouldn’t know unless told directly.”
“Ah… certainly. I overlooked that due to how wildly he acted in such a short time.”
Unless it was through Harmony of the Towers, it was extremely rare for Demon Kings to see one another’s towers. No matter how friendly, it was accepted as fact that they did not invite one another to their towers privately.
“So for now, we cannot know anything about the tower.”
“That seems to be the case.”
The Elders clicked their tongues in frustration. An entirely unexpected individual had appeared, and yet they knew absolutely nothing.
“What if we simply mobilize all heroes now and end it at the start?”
“There is another message that came with the short report. ‘He shows contempt for The Demon King’s Standard. He is neither like a Demon King nor like a demon. Keep that in mind.’ That’s what they said.”
An amusing one has descended.
The man’s smile turned sharp.
“That means…”
“A Demon King who does not follow the Standard?”
It was the worst scenario they had never imagined. The emergence of an irregular who could turn all the standards established by the Hero Guild into worthless trash.
The tower built on the blood and experience of countless heroes had a high likelihood of collapsing.
“Isn’t he already doing exactly that?”
“But he kidnapped a princess. And this time, even an imperial princess.”
“They won’t break everything. In the end, The Demon King’s Standard exists for their efficiency. But we must keep in mind that they might twist anything that seems disadvantageous to them without hesitation.”
“Good grief.”
Why had heroes begun to look down on Demon Kings?
Partly because there were so many heroes, but also because they had learned what the demons revered as a sacred “Standard” actually was. And they had been using that knowledge against them.
“What in the world is that damned bastard that he can ignore the Standard? No, are the Demon Realm lunatics insane enough to make such a creature their Demon King?”
“There’s no way for us to know that.”
“Perhaps…”
An Elder swallowed a groan.
“Perhaps?”
“The Demon Realm might be trying to end this phase.”
“Explain.”
“It has been centuries since a Demon King first descended into our dimension. We didn’t know before, but now it’s clear that Demon Kings are the vanguard of the Demon Realm, is it not?”
The man nodded.
“With such vanguards failing dozens of times, if the demons have any brains at all, wouldn’t they try to change things? This one called Berje Deias is their first attempt.”
“…That does seem plausible.”
“If we look at it that way, then although they used Harmony of the Towers as an excuse, they may actually be hiding things on purpose.”
“But they didn’t seem favorable toward Berje Deias.”
“It’s a new experiment even for the Demon Realm. They might not like it. But since it’s a decision from above, they’re probably just following orders for now.”
“That’s a possibility.”
“If we’re talking about demons, it’s more than possible…”
One by one, the Elders began to nod.
“Wouldn’t it be best to crush him in the opening stage so they can never try something like this again?”
“No.”
The man habitually licked his lips.
“We’ll leave him alone.”
“…You mean you’ll stand by and do nothing?”
“Isn’t this a good opportunity?”
The corners of his mouth turned up.
“The continent has grown far too used to Demon Kings. As the damage they inflict has decreased, national power has risen by the day. Perhaps because of that, arrogant fools have begun insisting the Hero Guild is useless.”
It was hardly a secret. Peace had lasted so long that those who disliked the Hero Guild—an organization belonging to no nation yet wielding tremendous power—were increasing.
“They’ve forgotten whose efforts let them rest so comfortably, who kept the continent from destruction, who prevented them from becoming the Demon King’s slaves.”
“They’ve forgotten all of it and now claim they’ll ‘manage’ the heroes themselves.”
They didn’t even know their place.
A faint killing intent flowed out, making the Elders shudder.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if this new absolute evil, Berje Deias, could shake the entire continent awake? Show them that the current peace is not true peace.”
“You speak the truth.”
“In particular, Zespine’s arrogance has gone too far.”
It was no secret that right after the 9th imperial princess was kidnapped, Zespine’s envoy had turned the Hero Guild upside down.
“To think they acted like that just because they paid a bit of money…”
“They need to be reminded of whose efforts allow them to enjoy peace.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll put on a show of effort and then sit back and observe the situation.”
The decision was made.
* * *
Roger was troubled.
Should he dismantle it? Or not?
He had already finished repairing all the mana cannons. By further refining and adding mana stones, he had increased their firepower at the cost of a bit of durability.
The next heroes would probably not pass through as easily as Hillan Cargill.
He had completed every order the Demon King had given him. So now, surely he could do a few things for himself?
‘Technically, this is mine. So doesn’t that mean the ownership belongs to me?’
Roger drooled as he examined the Ghost of Mana, which had become completely integrated with the tower.
Only the faintest traces of his past handiwork remained. Its power source had changed to demonic energy, and its structure had undergone a drastic transformation.
Roger was curious about that principle. He wanted to disassemble it entirely and see how it had become an accessory of the tower, how it allowed the tower to be hidden.
“Right, exactly. This isn’t the tower itself. It’s an artifact I made. Of course, it’s hard to call it entirely mine at this point, but doesn’t that mean I can take it apart just a little?”
He exhaled roughly and slowly reached for his tools.
Should he strike it with a hammer first to check its durability?
No—if he did that, it might break.
So he should start by loosening the screws and fully dismantling it…
“Are you going to take that apart?”
“…Hiiik!”
Roger collapsed on the spot. The tools he had been holding slipped from his hands and flew through the air. A wind spirit gently caught them.
“Why are you so startled?”
“Please, stop appearing behind me out of nowhere!”
“You were going to dismantle that?”
“…I won’t dismantle it.”
Roger quietly set the hammer down.
“What brings you here?”
“Do I need a reason to visit? With our relationship?”
“We don’t have any kind of relationship.”
“We were kidnapped together. Among countless people, only a tiny few get kidnapped by a Demon King. And how many of those get to meet like this and talk freely?”
“…What exactly are you trying to say?”
Roger found this overly confident princess difficult. Her mischievous expression made her look like a troublemaker who could do anything at any moment.
“Want a cookie?”
“Yes.”
Cookies mixed with Spirit Blossoms were always welcome. Crunch—
The princess bit into one as well.
“How is the new princess?”
“She isn’t quiet. But she’s not reckless either.”
“So she’s vague?”
“It means she spends all day swinging her sword.”
“…What does that even mean?”
“For the first three days she just slept quietly. I think it was an adjustment period. You know how even dogs won’t leave their cage when they enter a new environment?”
“Her Highness the imperial princess is not an animal.”
“As long as you understand the meaning, that’s what matters.”
“…That’s true.”
Roger wasn’t a dwarf who particularly valued formality either. Especially since he’d suffered at Princess Louise’s hands, he hardly had fond feelings toward princesses or imperial princesses at all.
“For the next two days, she cleaned weapons and armour nonstop.”
“Come to think of it, she was wearing a knight’s armor when she came in.”
“And now she’s swinging her sword.”
“…Right now?”
“She smells strongly of sweat. I want to get closer to her, but she does nothing but eat and train, so I don’t get a chance to talk to her.”
“So that’s why you came down here?”
“I thought things would get easier with an extra princess around, but it’s hard.”
Ernan grumbled softly. In this empty tower, a new person was like a spark of life in the monotony.
“It’s still nice having more people around.”
Even if that spark had no interest in her at all and only focused on her own tasks, she liked simply sensing another person’s vitality.
“She probably doesn’t think the same.”
From what he heard, she was an imperial princess and also a hero who had joined Hillan Cargill to hunt the Demon King…
‘It only looks like she’s training to escape the tower.’
She might not be able to escape even if she tried. But still, she was a hero, so the possibility wasn’t zero.
“Want another one?”
“Yes, thank you.”
‘If possible, I wish she’d break the tower while training. Then the Demon King would ask me to repair it, and I could dismantle it legally…’
Chewing hard, Roger indulged in pointless fantasies. The cookie’s sweet yet faintly bitter flavor was exquisite.
* * *
“…What did you say?”
『The Wind Lotus in the royal capital of Amur. Its shop owner, Zetoson. Figure out how to ruin him without causing any trouble.』
“The Demon King ordered this?”
『Yeah. As you know, I’m a bit busier than someone else. Unlike you, that is.』
“Shut up.”
Snickering laughter echoed through the crystal orb. Gordon barely resisted the urge to rip his mouth open.
『Anyway, I’ve already filed a request with the Information Guild. I’ll update you whenever I hear anything.』
Thud—
The connection cut.
“What? Am I lounging around?”
What made Gordon even angrier was that none of it was wrong.
A Demon King’s adjutant was originally both the tower’s administrator and its advisor.
They managed the tower on the Demon King’s behalf and guided him so he wouldn’t stray down the wrong paths.
But there was nothing in the tower that required managing, and the Demon King knew Arein far better than he did. Besides, the direction the Demon King followed was completely different from the standards Gordon had studied, making it hard to offer any advice at all.
Even when a hero arrived, he had performed worse than the princess who had been kidnapped. That, in itself, was its own humiliation.
And so Gordon was left floating without purpose. Gordon Dyrik, the genius who had graduated at the top of the Demon Race Training School, had become unnecessary within the tower.
“Fine.”
Gordon gnashed his teeth.
“No matter what it takes, I’ll destroy that bastard. I’ll prove that I’m an indispensable talent!”
Zetoson of the Wind Lotus.
Gordon etched the name deep into his mind.