Chapter 343 – Blue Ghost (2)
“A dwarf has forgotten what a dwarf is.”
It was a word that Egbold, the great warrior who protects the Dwarven Kingdom, casually said while drinking. The warriors’ faces darkened as if a power outage had occurred. They knew too. At some point, the dwarves were losing their dwarf-ness. To the extent that even the warriors themselves could not clarify what ‘dwarfness’ was, the old sentiment was buried in the soil of the magic stone mine and was invisible.
“Once upon a time, this land was full of warriors who commanded the land and hearty blacksmiths. But not now. We have the blood of merchants running through us now.”
The old days that Egbold recalled were really distant times. The magic stone mine was just a side income, and the miners who excavated the iron from the mine and the blacksmith who smelted the iron used to build their pride. As they dug from place to place in the mines, they dug holes in the mountains, and whenever the mountains gave a loud whistle, they would proudly look at their achievements.
“Sometimes, we have to go back then.”
He missed that time When all the mines in the Dwarf Mountains were exhausted and only the manastone mines remained intact, Eggbold was the first to insist on relocating the kingdom to the north. He thought it was right to hand over the Magic Stone Mine to the Mage Tower and live like a Dwarf in the North.
However, the royal family and nobles of the Dwarf Kingdom believed that it was right to reorganize the Dwarf Kingdom’s system in a ‘realistic’ way. From the point of view of Egbold, the reorganization plan was to make the dwarves more mercantile than they are now. The magic stone mines were expanded more than they are now, and all mines without minerals were closed.
In addition, by drastically reducing the number of miners, the blacksmith industry was turned into a factory so that it could receive orders from the human kingdom and Ahldern. This business idea, which had divided opinions within the Dwarf kingdom, permeated the public very slowly and over a long period of time.
Egbold sighed as he looked at the completely commercialized Dwarf kingdom. It was because it was especially noticeable today. Craftsmen were still proud of their artisans, but there were obnoxious merchants with only mustaches and swindlers who made and sold sloppy weapons that were not basic.
The faces of the soldiers guarding the hole in the mountain range were full of helplessness, and the dwarves trapped in the cave were no different from sinners. However, it was also true that the Dwarven Kingdom was enjoying the greatest boom ever. So Egbold could not openly oppose this phenomenon. Because he had no alternative.
So he just said this.
“Someday, I must go back.”
The person who most deeply sympathized with his ideas was Evory, the second greatest warrior in the Dwarven Kingdom. He was a man who had a priestly relationship with Egbold and learned how to wield an ax and hammer following Egbold from a very young age. He was the one who cried the loudest when Egbold died, and he was the first to assemble the warriors who agreed to hear that the magic stone mine had been destroyed.
And he was one of the commanders who kept his troops intact by not following the king to the magic stone mines.
****
“So, where should the manastone mine go?”
Evory was frowning as he chewed grass with his golden chariot corps. In his chariot his, the mage tower’s mage tower’s long white beard hung down and he was looking in all directions. Ebori replied to the mage lord.
“All are here.”
He was the first to be impressed by the story of the magic tower owner restoring the magic stone mine. However, it was true that there was no one else to escort the lord of the Mage Tower because there was no other commander who had fully preserved his troops. The Magic Tower Master continued to talk despite Evori’s boring reply.
“You must be heartbroken.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“They say a monster came out of the Magic Stone Mine.”
“That is also not my business.”
The owner of the Magic Tower clicked his tongue and looked around again. He somehow started clearing his corpse of his, and in the field, crows and rotting blood were clearly showing the black flesh of his, creating a horrifying scene. Seeing the crow perched on a perch, Evory averted her gaze. It was because it seemed that the spirit of Egbold, who had died on this earth, was watching over him.
At the entrance of the Magic Stone Mine, the Mage Tower owner and the others started to set up camp. Evory was unfamiliar with magic, but was no fool when it came to restoration work. The sight of the knights and wizards carrying bots one by one was not a movement to help restore the mine. They started looking around like people camping near a mine, trying to find their way.
“What are you doing?”
Evori’s soldiers stood up and blocked the mage’s path. Becoming the owner of the Magic Tower, he stroked his beard and replied.
“What do you mean? Get out of the way I’m not going to investigate the magic stone mine right now. Investigate whether the magic stone itself has been blown away, and find a way to revive the ore vein so that we can all live together. The General doesn’t know much about magic, so he seems to be overreacting, but this is… It is an inevitable procedure.”
The words of the Magic Tower Master were obvious lies. In his words, the confidence felt from his arrogant posture his said so. A sense of superiority that you will not be able to refute my words. That arrogant feeling gave Avori confidence. The owner of the Magic Tower is not interested in this mine right now, he is interested in something other than the mine.
[Once upon a time, this land was full of warriors who commanded the land and hearty blacksmiths. But not now. The blood of merchants is flowing in us now.]
Evory recalled Egbold’s words. Ebori asked the owner of the tower.
“Can the magic stone mine be restored?”
“Because you can see it. You can tell by looking around once in a while. Wait How much does it cost us to come all the way here, so what are we going to do now?”
What the hell is the magic tower owner interested in? A puzzle was being put together in Evori’s head. Circumstances handed down from the survivors were matching. A king who was killed for kneeling before a monster. The ‘Magic Stone’ that was requested from the monster and the apology that was made to the monster. ‘The monster who shouted to give up his head to apologize’ and the Mage Master who dared to visit the magic stone mine himself.
“Okay. Go.”
Avori sent the Master of the Magic Tower away like that. And he went to see the king. After the death of the previous king in this mine, he was the man who suddenly sat there. Even if the owner of the Mage Tower returned in a day or two, his men were encamped at the same spot so that there would be no problem.
The fledgling king, who had been visited by Ebori, was guarding his throne with an uncomfortable and anxious face throughout. He was a nobleman who lived a dissolute life without receiving any education from his predecessor. Seeing the young king’s awkward smile, Evory was convinced that he was the worst king the dwarves could face at the crossroads of fate.
“Your majesty. Please come up with a solution. Mages are running through our land right now.”
“Isn’t it supposed to restore the Magic Stone Mine? I think the first priority is to help with the recovery work.”
The finance minister said. Evory didn’t like these un-dwarfs, who were clever with calculations. He didn’t like it even more when he spoke ahead of the king. The Minister of Finance spoke to the king, ignoring Avori’s glare his.
“Your majesty. Currently, some commodity contracts are still in effect between the Mage Tower and our kingdom. At a time like this, I don’t think we should inflict a bigger blow to the kingdom’s finances by provoking the lord of the tower. “
Ebori knew that the ‘contract’ the Minister of Finance was talking about was a contract between the Minister of Finance and the Mage Tower. Watching the author who is in charge of a country’s economy fill his stomach even at this moment, he felt like his stomach would turn inside out.
[We have to go back then.]
I heard that the ancestors of the old dwarves were not like this. The dwarf-likeness that Evory knew was not like this. Evory’s father was a simple miner. He was a man whose routine was to hold up his son’s painting in the light in the cave and show off his reliability to his colleagues.
“I think the Minister of Finance is right.”
Said the king. From Evory’s point of view, he was a human without self-subjection. All of this was because of magic stones. A purple magic stone that creates an ugly debt. I thought that the thing that could be used by demons must have stained the dwarves’ dwarf-like spirit.
“Don’t you know?”
Said Evory. The minister of finance, the king, and other servants were shocked and shuddered at his quick response. Evory looked around him and then shouted again.
“Everyone knows that the Magic Stone Mine can never be restored, right? Don’t you all know where magic stones came from and what we’ve been relying on so far? That’s the devil’s stuff! We need to go back to the old days! Your majesty! Please give me orders, so that the mage cannot dig into the ground where our warriors have fallen!”
“That is…”
The king was watching the minister of finance. The Minister of Finance shook his head with a relaxed face. The King glanced at the Minister of Finance, looked at Evory again, and said:
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
“Your majesty!”
“Go away. Commander Evory. I don’t know what the magic tower lord’s escort is doing here.”
Evory shut his mouth. The whole country was going wrong. Evory’s eyes widened. Fear crept into his mind. It was clear that if this continued, this country would no longer be a country of dwarves. It was clear that only halfway beings, neither dwarves nor humans, would remain and be devoured by another kingdom at some point.
So it didn’t work. Evory had to regain the ‘dwarf-likeness’ that Egbold had longed for. Someone definitely had to sort out a relationship with those evil bastards who were aiming for magic stones.
Like a dwarf.
