Chapter 97: 96

[This was almost 4000 words…]

You can’t do it with a bare mouth (3)

The dwarves have always been pretty good neighbors. They are stout and possess a silvery pride, and give all to attain victory. Even if they are attacked countless times, they have never invaded the realms of others.

However, there are times when dwarves do go crazy, looking straight ahead and only straight ahead.

It is whenever there is a problem with the Eternal Furnace.

During such times, the dwarves became so fierce that not even the intrepid orcs can escape their wrath.

They were so ruthless that even the wise giants could come up with no countermeasures, merely waiting for the dwarves to calm down eventually.

The elves were always hard on the dwarves, but they absolutely avoided any conflict with them during such times.

Suffice it to say, the Eternal Furnace was of grave importance to the dwarves.

Now, however, those whose duty it is to defend the very heart of their race had seemingly given it up and come out into the world.

To see such a thing clearly meant that there was a problem with the furnace.

And such a state of affairs was unacceptable to me.

I needed the dwarves, but what I needed were the skillful masters and not a bunch of lunatics who ran berserk into any battle.

“Tchu, I ran out of drink.”

Turka, the dwarf was considering his thirst as he stared at the empty barrels.

I looked at him quietly, but it was not easy to grasp his innermost feelings by just staring at his wrinkled face. So- I asked him straight up what had happened to the Eternal Furnace.

“Nothing’s happened yet,” he said, and it seemed that my judgment had been premature.

“It looks like it will happen soon enough.”

Turka wiped his wooden cup clean and returned it to his pack, finally looking at me and saying, “Because the furnace is nearing the end of its life.”

* * *

“This party is over! Get up, you drunks!”

Turka had started kicking the asses of the sleeping dwarves. They had slept quite happily after emptying all the kegs, so they now awoke with curses on their lips.

“A true inspiring dwarf wakes his comrades up with fine words! Why are you kicking us and screaming so?”

“Kaak, heck! You’re really like a grumpy old man, Turka!”

Seeing that these dwarves spoke so casually with the Prima Meister told me that they were no ordinary dwarves either. The only dwarves that would dare to be cocky with the master of masters were the masters themselves. While the dwarves were fussing about, I helped Arwen onto one of our own wagons, as she was still pretty much out for the count after her binge.

“No…” Gwain groaned, as if suffering from a nightmare, so I picked him up like a sack of grain and lifted him into the wagon.

“See you again,” I told Turka. I drove the wagon on, finally reaching the group that we had left some distance from the hill. They stretched their eyes wide as they took in the sorry state of Arwen and Gwain.

“What about Jordan? See him?” I asked, and a ranger pointed to the rear of the encampment.

Jordan, who I suspected had fled from the harsh drinking party, had a drooping posture. He giggled as he saw me approach and said, “I came here to find my bow for the hunt, then staggered and fell over, and just stayed here.”

I also laughed as I imagined Jordan’s sprawling form lying here, hungover.

However, my laughter did not last long, and my expression quickly hardened.

As Prima Meister Turkad had said, the party was over. It was time for us to move.

“Let’s head back.”

We returned to Galbaram Fortress. I immediately met up with the legion commander and delivered the letter from Turka.

“These are the conditions they have presented.”

The commander’s eyes widened, and he hastily opened the letter and read it.

“I have to prepare a negotiating team.”

After he had read the letter, he looked at me with a strange expression.

I had seen such an expression many times, and so used was I to it, that it bored me.

“Thank you,” the commander said. I got up from my seat and roughly shook his hand, then left. I was extremely tired and in a hurry to return to my lodgings. My mana helped keep me up, but it could not completely overcome the fatigue of my mind and body.

I took an entire day off to sleep and recover. When I felt better, we left the fortress.

Two dwarves stood at the crossroads some way away from the fortress.

“It’s nice to see you again,” I told Prima Meister Turka and another Meister. “Where are the others?”

“They should stay here, and complete their duties with the kingdom’s negotiators.”

“Right.”

“But you come here empty-handed?” Turka asked me, as he had constantly been looking at the wagons behind me.

“Who was it that said that the party was over?” I retorted.

As I said this, Turka’s expression crumpled into despair.

“It’s a rude way to greet us,” he said.

“I’m in a hurry just because you seemed so nervous, Turka.”

What the hell was this? He was the one who had made such a great fuss about the ending of the Eternal Furnace’s life.

“It wouldn’t matter if we arrive a few days late,” he said.

I laughed at Turka’s brazen desire for alcohol, and he was sniffing the air all the while to make sure that we carried no booze.

“Let’s just go, before we drink,” I said.

Turka almost staggered back at the thought of such a grim journey.

“I have no words,” Turka said.

He and the other dwarf openly expressed their irritation to the humans on horseback.

On my account, I was really in a hurry, and these dwarven nobles did appear naked without their fine carriages. I could not halt my journey to cater to the whims of their alcoholic race.

I offered the dwarves two light horses from the rangers, but they shook their heads. They stared at Arwen and Adelia for a while, with regretful faces.

“Tcha, you should know how to be ashamed at your ages,” I told the dwarves.

At my words, the other Meister -who had introduced himself as Surkara, started shouting:

“I don’t know about your motives, but I’m here in the midst of humans, and I’m bloody sober!”

The young meister and the old meister both looked equally pathetic due to their lack of booze, and they swore under their breaths.

“Hey now, I was quite polite when we met,” I chided Surkara. “I am doing my best to keep everyone here happy.”

I wasn’t just saying that.

If these two had not been members of the dwarven race, I would not have honored them so or allowed them to join me. It was the dwarves who had retreated to their holds to end the unending war, while the other major races would have had fought until they were either defeated or had to retire from battle.

“Well, that would be the first regret I have for coming with you then, and that ain’t on me,” Turka said.

Before I had met him, I was thinking about how to convince the dwarves. When I met them though, their worries and my position became clear.

Just as I needed something from them, they too had a desire that I could fulfill.

And considering their desperate need and the value their desire held, they were not the ones who held the hilt in our relationship.

If they didn’t know this, they would find out soon enough. So I knew that there did not exist a reason for me to bend back more for them than necessary.

Still, Turka remained greatly honored that he so much as met with the master smith who had forged Twilight, as he had glimpsed the sublime spirit of that craftsman in his creation.

Of course, I would still have to pay the price for bringing them with me.

“It feels like I’m trapped for some reason,” Turka said with a shake of his head as he revealed his innermost thoughts.

* * *

After riding for a few days, we reached the Rhinetes river which flowed all along the border between the central and northern regions. As we rode alongside it for another day, a large lake appeared. Beyond that lake was the bridge that we had barely held when we had thought the Warlord a few months ago.

We tarried there for a day, for I had to let my tired men and horses rest. Once we crossed that bridge, we would be entering a cold land where a sudden blizzard was no strange phenomenon.

“Let’s march.”

There was a notable change in the air as we crossed the river.

“I am privileged enough to live in the northern part of heaven. When I see those distant mountains with my own eyes, I become at ease.”

Everyone nodded at Ranger Jordan’s words.

I felt the same, and I breathed in deeply, letting the cold air penetrate my lungs.

It seemed crazy- what was so enjoyable about the cold, which made one’s bones ache?

Still, it felt like I had returned to my homeland.

Not everyone shared that joyous feeling, though.

“It extremely cold,” Carls stated as his face hardened, for he was surprised by the frigidity of the northern winds. Gwain and the others had not been in the north for long, so they also shrunk as the cold slammed into them.

“You all better get used to it quickly.”

The winters were much colder here, and Carls looked concerned after I had stated this.

When I asked him whether he regretted his decision to sacrifice the warmth of the palace, he firmly shook his head. However, such resolution was an ephemeral emotion when faced by the storming blizzard that met us as we traveled on.

“Why am I coming to such a cold place?”

I chuckled as I heard Carls’s cry mixing with the howling of the wind.

I could hear them all complaining like little boys.

As I listened to the shouts of the palace knights, I kept on walking through that blizzard for quite some time until the winds finally died down.

A great white snowfield was revealed around us, and beyond it was a sheer cliff, with a fortress connected to it, wall to stone.

“Oh, oh!”

The palace knights who had been cursing the cold north a day ago had all now shut their mouths in wonder.

They seemed to be overwhelmed by the majesty of a white fortress, a sight that one would not see anywhere else in the kingdom.

‘Dagdak, dagdak,’ came the distant sound as the fortress gates ground open. A group of black-armored knights rode out. They were the Black Lancers, having returned here along with the northern lords.

‘Your Highness!”

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Next to the one-eyed knight commander was a face that was happy to see me. It was the new Count of Winter Castle, my cousin Vincent.

“Woah, woah!”

Vincent brought his horse to a halt before me and dismounted. I did so as well.

We met each other and he embraced me.

“Thank you for being okay, Your Highness.”

“Seeing you like this, it looks like you have been on the battlefield!” I said as I returned his hug by embracing his shoulders.

Across Vincent’s shoulder, I could see the walls of Winter Castle. Rangers and knights were lined up on the wall, and they waved as they looked at me.

“You are back,” Vincent reiterated.

After taking in the familiar scenery and the sincere greetings, I realized that I had returned home. Still, even if I was home, I had no time to rest.

“Here is the report of what had been done so far,” Vincent said.

I didn’t want a welcoming dinner or anything, but it was a bit much to be handed the documents so promptly upon my return.

“You welcomed me just to give me this,” I stated, but Vincent did not even listen to my complaint.

“These are all the things Your Highness said must be done,” he said, and then complained that his head pained after he had to include the sons of the nobles into the organization of everything.

I could give little excuse, for all the developments and the training of the military that was taking place in the north was started upon my initiative.

I couldn’t give my eyes time to rest, so I immediately went to check the report.

“It’s all done!” I exclaimed, giving a cry of hurray, but Vincent appeared by my side like a ghost and dragged me visited the training center of those knights with their new mana hearts.

“After visiting the capital, your face has improved,” someone said as he walked out among the sweaty men.

It was Bernardo Eli, and he started to complain. He seems to have suffered quite a bit while filling the role of instructor for the grumpy Mana Heart Knights.

I casually ignored his complaints and looked at the 500 knight candidates that were lined up behind him.

“About 300 of them have attained the level of sword users. The other half is expected to follow soon enough, in three to six months,” Bernardo said as he puffed out his chest. Normally. I would not have been impressed, but this time I was.

400 years ago, most sword users were mere apprentices, so the results achieved here in such a short time were amazing.

Of course, most of those who had reached that level were men who had been the secret knights of the royal family, but that did not mean that Bernardo’s contribution was insignificant.

“I am impressed.”

More than anything else, I liked the fact that the men’s eyes, which had once held the gaze of rotten fish, had become very sharp.

Of course, the emotions in those eyes were in no way favorable to me.

“Hmmm,” I mused as I looked at Bernardo, who had an upturned nose.

“Huh?”

Yes, Bernardo’s achievements had exceeded my expectations. When he had first come to Winter Castle, he had been a beginner Sword Expert. He had now reached the level of Advanced Sword Expert.

“It’s true, that you learn more through teaching.”

Hearing him so proudly proclaim his achievements sickened me to the core. Now, not only Arwen and Adelia but also Bernardo was overtaking me.

Why did I have to get such a weak body?

Once more, I realized how cursed this body was.

“Starting today, they have to team up with the patrols and head into the mountain range,” I ordered, then added, “It is time that they experience true battle.”

Bernardo nodded.

“And unconditionally, you should go with them.”

“Isn’t that the same as saying that I have to kill and grow my skills in the mountains all the time?”

“Because I do not want harm to come to them, you, their instructor, should be with them.”

“There are many other knights in the castle that-“

“Who’s their instructor?”

“That would be me.”

“Good, remember it.”

Bernardo glanced at me, but I ignored his stupid face. I felt a bit calmer.

“I’m not saying that I am intentionally trying to make you suffer, Bernardo. This is for the future.”

“And what is that future?”

“Once they become knights, you will have to lead them. “

Bernardo had been looking at me with resentment, but once I said this, his eyes widened and his mouth began to move.

“Please leave it to me, then! I will not let harm come to a single knight.”

“Okay. You start tomorrow.”

I patted his shoulder and turned around. He beat his chest to show his courage for the mission.

Vincent was staring at me, and I shook my head.

Vincent also shook his head, and so led me to the next place.

Although their numbers were still far below capacity, I still made sure to encourage the Black Lancers and their newly recruited candidates. They were there to steadily build up the pre-war strength of the knightly order.

Among them was Gallahan, a descendant of the ‘Assaulting Knight’, one of the seven Blood Lions.

After confirming his achievements on his screen, I widened my eyes.

“Is this one also so advanced already?” I muttered to myself.

Boris, a descendant of the Blood Lion Jingu, was on the same level.

“Haa…” a sigh escaped from me. Both of them had become Advanced Sword Experts.

I was used to people having to reach such top levels only after they suffered near-death events on the most brutal of battlefields, even if they got their mana boosted. I sighed with regret that we did not have this type of progress in my time.

“You look serious, why aren’t you speaking?” Vincent’s voice said as he noted my grievance. His face looked ridiculous.

“The age of Your Highness is seventeen, and you have only learned the sword for a year and a half, and yet you seem to look deprived to see knights of such skill.”

“No, I’m a little different.”

He didn’t know how many lives I had taken, through my ages as a sword.

But of course, I couldn’t tell him that I was a centuries-old sword.

“I will do what I have to, and bear through it.”

So what? My ego would just be bruised for a while.

“Don’t go around everywhere saying that,” came Vincent’s cold words, and I left him as I headed for my room.

As I opened the door, I heard a terrible, rattling sound.

‘Rikitiktik, rikitikclik.’

And there was the High Lich, in the midst of drawing her plans, her bones ever-rattling.

“Ophe-“

“Shhhh!” She raised her finger and pointed to the door, which was her way of greeting me. She hadn’t even looked at me.

She had merely told me to get out.

* * *

As I wandered along the wall with nowhere else to go, a gruff voice called to me.

“This is an amazing place!”

I turned, and there was Turka: Sitting on a keg. Now, where had he gotten that?

I sat down next to him.

“What is so amazing about it?”

“There is not a place in the kingdom that we dwarves heard of which did not decline through the centuries. This castle breaks that pattern, it has withstood the ages well.”

Turka’s wrinkled gaze ran across the entirety of Winter Castle. When he took in the stationed rangers and the training apprentices, he nodded more eagerly.

“This fortress is like a great dragon’s nest.”

He looked some more

“I don’t know if that’s an appropriate description, in a kingdom that has been built by the killing of dragons,” he added and then laughed.

I shrugged. The knights that had been so carefully selected and trained by the royal family had been reforged here, and the strong-spirited men of the north had been made into soldiers.

Moreover, I heard that hot-blooded and talented folk were all flocking to the north as the rumors of the orcish war reached their ears.

Nevertheless, I still felt as if that would not be enough – I didn’t have a chin yet, and I had to deal with that great and vast empire.

“Again, I must say, it’s a cold place.”

Turka said this, adding that he did not mind the cold, even if it did linger year-round.

“There’s no place more suited to building the new Eternal Furnace than here.”

The conviction in his voice shook me to my core.

“And you thought I would be forgetting everything just because we had been drinking?”

Turka laughed, asking himself if such a thing was even possible.

His stubby, thick finger pointed to the southwest.

“According to the records, there is a breath of fire, a vein of lava that runs underground somewhere over there. I’m thinking about building the new furnace there. A real Eternal Furnace, that would burn with greater intensity and last longer than the one that came before it.”

I had wagered that he would ask me this.

“I haven’t given permission to you yet.”

“I’m not asking this with just my bare mouth,” Turka said, and then took loud gulps from his wooden cup.

“Sure, it ain’t a seven-story tower, but if you want, I can build an entire dungeon for you beneath the earth.”

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