episode_0212

LLIV.

We, who almost ended up kidnapping the gnomes’ idol, secretly requested a meeting with the mayor of Jerez.

Even though it was late at night, I was able to meet the mayor by mentioning the names of Advakiel and Canviel, who were more legendary than the Caligo Order.

When the market guy met us, he looked completely drunk and we were taken aback,

“My name is Gray, the candidate.”

As soon as I introduced myself, he showed off his magic to blow away my drunkenness.

The power displayed when casting magic was no less than Circle 8. He was a magician at the level of a quasi-superhuman.

“I heard the rumor! I really wanted to meet you.”

As I listened to the mayor’s greetings, I thought to myself that my achievements as a candidate were known all the way to the Sumerian kingdom.

“You wrote a poem called ‘Flamenco’!”

I was impressed when he mentioned something I had never expected.

“How?”

So, without realizing it, I ended up admitting that I wrote that poem.

“Wow! It was a really impressive poem! It’s contradictory, touching the heart but also giving a restrained feeling, and that makes it even more beautiful!!”

I don’t know what he meant, but I nodded my head and acted humble because it was a compliment, and we started the conversation.

After a few exchanges of such polite conversations, we talked about what had just happened and hoped to get out of Jerez without causing any trouble for either of us.

“Of course!”

The mayor readily accepted our request, for a small fee.

Money? Of course not. The gnome race is not a race that is obsessed with money.

“Fuck!”

Just by looking at me recalling this, spitting out these annoyed words in the carriage as I left Jerez for Moderato, you can see who paid the price.

“Hohoho. What’s wrong, honey~? Hohohoho.”

Yeah, that’s me.

“What a picture! Wearing that ridiculous cone-shaped hat.”

“Proof… … . I was the one dancing with that ridiculous hat on… … .”

Yes, that day.

So, the cone-shaped hats worn by Pope Judas and the three women at the same time quickly became a trend among the gnomes. Should we call it a hot item?

The mayor gnome also jumped on the bandwagon. So far, no problem. The only thing is that the mayor gnome asked me to take a picture with him in exchange for publicizing our position to the entire city.

With a blue cone-shaped hat on his head with a funny star on top.

“Hohoho.”

Even the Arcanas who were there with me are saving the video of me at that time and watching it back. Even now.

“Haa… … .”

But the way this market gnome solved the problem was far beyond my expectations.

He proudly displays his own photos on projectors installed throughout the city of Jerez.

“The great poet and candidate Grenim is the coach of Team ‘Pur’.”

It was written in large letters below.

Not only that, he committed the atrocity of hanging a large cloth on the four walls.

By some magical process, at the very bottom of the large cloth, there appeared like a moving picture of four beautiful women dancing the heights of flamenco, and above them, in flowing letters, was written a poem that I had revised.

When the gnomes heard that we were leaving town, they came running over and handed us a book of poems they had gotten somewhere and asked us to sign it.

After going through such a turbulent time, we left Heres yesterday to the farewell of the gnome’s tears.

In fact, Maina Lina and Catherine, who participated in the flamenco performance, were more lively and energetic, but I, who just watched, felt more tired than ever.

So I was lying down with my head on Santa’s thigh to recharge my mind.

A stable moving horse cart.

A pleasant breeze coming in through the open window.

Just as I was about to fall asleep to the soft and comfortable feel of Santa’s thighs and Santa’s hands gently stroking my hair,

『Monster detected ahead. Stop driving immediately and enter defense mode.』

I couldn’t help but wake up to the sound of the car’s autonomous driving system.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

We were now on our way to Moderato, a city that was like a gateway that one had to pass through to get to the World Tree of the Sumerian Kingdom.

But out of nowhere, a monster?

Moreover, there are only a few superhumans here, but the system of this magic car recognized something that none of the superhumans recognized?

It was something that would make you nod your head if you said that it was almost certainly a bug in the driving system.

but,

“Wait a minute. ”

First, to confirm, we stopped the automatic defense system of the magic carriage, opened the carriage door, and went outside. Not only me, but also Arcana and the superhumans.

“Huh?”

But there were no monsters around the carriage. Even the eyes of a quasi-superhuman would not have been able to detect monsters that were out of sight.

“Huh?”

But unlike me who was wondering, Jingbeol seemed to be the only one who noticed something strange. With admiration,

“Pull it out.”

He ordered someone to do so. They must have been spirits trained by Bona Mana Punisher.

Dddd!

The ground shook and shook at the order given by the punishment disguised as a request, as if an earthquake had occurred.

The aftermath of the earthquake was revealed as Catherine leaned into me, screaming, “Whoa?” and I held her in my arms.

-Keeeek!

-Kkieeeek!

“Wild Mole?”

It is a low-level monster, also known as a ‘mean mole’.

It was a monster that usually lived underground and never appeared above ground. Like monsters that lived in groups, it was a low-ranking monster that was located low on the food chain.

Their characteristic, as their nickname suggests, is that they live underground and when people come up to the ground to find food, they suddenly rush up and drag them underground.

“What are these? Why are there so many?”

But the moles we saw before our eyes were not a number that could be simply explained by their group life. Unlike wild owls that originally lived in groups of several dozen, there appeared to be thousands of them.

At this level, a slightly larger village that wasn’t a city would have been eaten up. Even if Wild Moles were the lowest level monsters in the food chain, they were still monsters. Furthermore, these guys like to move underground and make surprise attacks.

This is the part where I was concerned about the reason why these guys appeared in front of us.

‘Are you a demon?’

But soon she shook her head. Even if all of these were surprise attacks, the moment they raised their heads above the ground, the Punisher would have noticed and responded in a way befitting her identity as a spirit knight of lightning.

I’d bet my entire fortune that in an instant, she would have reduced me to a handful of charred meat under her power.

“What’s around here?”

I asked that to Canviel, who was a mercenary who traveled all over the continent and was basically a human navigator.

“Huh? Around here? Let’s see. Around here, around here… There’s nothing?”

“Then, should I just go straight down this road?”

“This road? It’s the road to Moderato.”

“Of course. I’m just wondering if anything unusual comes out before going to Moderato.”

“Something special? Something special… . Ah! There’s Kraft fat! ”

Kraft fat.

The moment I heard those words from Canviel, I could guess what was going on.

“I see.”

Not only I, but also the Arcanas who had taught me the nature of monsters, noticed the cause of the sudden appearance of a thousand Wild Moles.

“What is it?”

“Why is Kraft fat famous?”

“Huh? That’s it… . That’s it! Craftsman! Craftsmen and dwarves in all sorts of fields are at your feet… … Ah! ”

“That’s right.”

“Looks like these dwarves have started digging tunnels again.”

That’s it.

Dwarves. These voluntary workaholics again!

The most important thing for the dwarves to form a village was the reserves of minerals. Of these, the mineral that the dwarves considered most important was mithril.

It was an essential mineral not only when making weapons, but also when making accessories and artifacts.

The area now called the Craft Region is the perfect environment for dwarves, with research showing that there is no end to the mithril available underground.

However, the location where the mithril was buried was so deep into the ground that it was impossible to guess its end. It was so deep that only a dwarf would be able to take it out.

Perhaps the reason these ‘surprise moles’ are moving in such large numbers is because the sound of the dwarven war cry can be heard all the way to their habitat.

These guys weren’t trying to attack us, they were just passing through.

The simple movement of a monster without life, and especially its movement hundreds of meters underground, may have escaped the senses of superhumans, but the simply programmed detection system of the magic car detected it, resulting in an incident.

“Anyway, let’s handle it.”

Although there were said to be 500 monsters, they were so weak that not a single Wild Mole could move due to the momentum of the party alone.

“Lightning Punishment!”

A weak spell that can be annihilated by a single hit from Canviel’s Circle 8, leaving behind a smell of burning meat.

“So you decided to stop by the Craft area?”

I had to think about the Shadow Inspiration’s words for a moment. The original plan was to head straight to Moderato.

It’s been a long time since I left Evergreen, and I’ve been resting for so long that I feel like practicing.

But strangely enough, the moment I met the mole swarm and heard the explanation about the craft region, I had a strange desire to see the craft. Strongly.

This wasn’t just a matter of curiosity, it was a strong desire, almost like hunger. A strong desire to the point where he asked for a blessing from Santa just in case.

But even after receiving Santa’s blessing, his desire did not diminish at all.

He conveyed his concerns about sudden changes of heart and obsession through the Fortune Telegraph, a communication channel linked to Arcana.

[Let’s go! If you really want it, there must be a reason.]

[That’s right, Master. There must be a reason for that. If Santa’s younger brother’s blessing doesn’t have any effect, then it can’t be a curse.]

[I think so too, Oppa! That desire may be something you feel simply because you are a quasi-superhuman, but it may also be because of your power.]

“Yes. I’d like you to stop by for a moment.”

On the advice of the clown and the witch, I decided to follow this desire.

So our next destination changed from Moderato to Kraft.