episode_0154

“A dwar—, a dwarf? Why is a dwarf here?”

“Well? I don’t really know either….”

To my question, Lucy also tilted her head, looking at the dwarves who had been knocked out cold with a single slash of [her sword].

The number of dwarves discovered totaled 6.

Looking at the traces revealed as the ground was torn apart, it seems these guys were using tunnels to move around and were watching us.

“Wh, what’s going on?!”

“Is it an enemy attack?!”

As expected with all the commotion, Baekryeon and Seollin, who had been sleeping in the tent, hurriedly put on their clothes and weapons and rushed outside.

And then Leviya belatedly came out of the tent.

“Hmm…. If they’re enemies, they are…, and if they’re not, they aren’t….”

I said, glancing at the dwarves lying at my feet.

How should I explain these guys?

Of course, as I’ve said before, dwarves live in the Western Continent, along with orcs and elves.

But this is orc territory. There’s no way dwarves would be living here. Despite that, why are there dwarves here? The only ones who can answer this question are the dwarves themselves…, but these guys are unconscious and unable to answer.

“I don’t know the details. It seems like we can only get an accurate story once these guys wake up?”

“Are they dead?”

“They’re not dead. I said we could hear the details when these guys wake up.”

At Baekryeon’s joke, I flicked her forehead lightly and turned my gaze to the dwarves.

A common characteristic of the dwarves is that they are equipped with leather armor and what appear to be daggers as weapons.

‘But they don’t seem like combat personnel. Maybe…, scouts? Yeah. Something like that. Did they come to scout the orc territory?’

But if that’s the case, there’s something strange.

It must have been quite a while since the orcs left this place. If what I know is correct, the time when the orcs were invading the Central Continent was when I was busy in the Eastern Continent trying to catch the Heavenly Demon.

But now, scouts….

Or did they belatedly realize that the orcs had disappeared? If so, why? Why did the dwarves only now realize that the orcs had disappeared?

“Hmm….”

No, that can’t be it.

It’s strange that the dwarves would belatedly notice that the orcs disappeared.

It was said that the orcs even bothered the villages of elves and dwarves.

If the orcs who were bothering their villages disappeared, the dwarves would have noticed to some extent and come out to investigate the situation.

Doing that now, at this point, is also somewhat awkward.

The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.

Seriously, why are these guys even here?

“Lucy, by any chance….”

“If you’re going to ask if we mistook the dwarf territory for the orc territory, I think you’ll find the answer if you look around.”

“….”

Before I could even say anything, she immediately guessed what I was going to say and answered first. If you look around as Lucy said, you can see the orcs’ primitive tents that I saw earlier.

“There’s no way the dwarves’ villages would be like this, right? They have excellent craftsmanship to the point that they are called the race of artisans. From their perspective, this place is…, in a word, hell. At least it doesn’t look like a home where dwarves would stay.”

That’s probably right~.

As Lucy said, the dwarves’ characteristics are their craftsmanship and artisan spirit.

Since they are skilled not only in making weapons but also in all kinds of crafts, building a city with sturdy walls and building houses with sturdy wood would be a very simple task for them. So this is indeed the orcs’ territory.

“No, then why are these guys here?”

“I don’t know either?”

“Young master. They’re all tied up.”

“Good job.”

Baekryeon bound all the unconscious dwarves in that short amount of time. Now, all that’s left is to wait for the unconscious dwarves to regain consciousness.

“Umm….”

“Ugh….”

“Ah, they’re starting to wake up.”

But whether it’s because I adjusted my strength, or because the dwarves are tougher than I thought, or maybe both….

One by one, the dwarves woke up.

They each groaned for a moment, then noticed that they were bound, panicked, looked around, and made eye contact with us.

“Y, you humans! Let us go!”

“Why should we let you go?”

I snorted at the dwarves’ brazen request to be released.

“Dwarves. Why are you here?”

“What does it matter where we are!”

“What business do you humans have in the Western Continent!”

“Are you trying to kidnap us dwarves again!!”

…Kidnap?

I tilted my head and looked at Lucy, and Lucy put her finger to her temple and said.

“Hmm~ There were definitely humans who kidnapped dwarves 200~300 years ago. As you know, dwarves have excellent craftsmanship. But that has decreased since then. From the start, the Western Continent itself is a dangerous place for ordinary humans to go. The Holy Kingdom has been preventing such actions.”

“Is that so? Then there’s no problem. Why are these guys bringing up such old stories?”

“Well, the average lifespan of a dwarf is longer than that of a human, even if it’s not comparable to that of an elf. From their perspective, it’s not that long ago.”

How long is a dwarf’s lifespan?

“About 600 to 800 years?”

“….”

They live quite long.

But the story of what the average lifespan of a dwarf is isn’t important here, so let’s skip that.

“So dwarves. Why did you come to the orcs’ territory?”

“O, orcs’ territory?….”

“Ahem, ahem….”

“Orcs’ territory! This is our dwarf land!”

At our question, the guys cleared their throats and avoided eye contact with each other, then one dwarf shouted confidently.

This isn’t the orcs’ territory, but the dwarves’ land?

“They say it’s the dwarves’ land?”

“That can’t be. The Hero saw the orcs’ totems when he came here, right?”

I don’t know who to believe.

First, I turned my gaze to the dwarves.

“Well, regardless of that, why were you guys watching us? It was you guys who were watching us during the day, right?”

“Well, it is our duty to monitor the humans who come to our land….”

“It’s not your land.”

“It is our land!”

I can’t get through to them at all.

Just as I was wondering what to say, Lucy approached me.

“Hero. I’ll talk to them.”

“You?”

Of course, Lucy’s ability to sweet-talk is quite good.

I took a step back as if to say I understood.

Lucy, who had been entrusted with all the authority, took a step towards the dwarves with the same subtle, playful smile she always had.

“Dwarf friends?”

“What is it?”

“We have nothing to say!”

“That this is the land of the dwarves…. Has your skill level dropped quite a bit, dwarf friends?”

Twitch.

At Lucy’s words, the dwarves flinched as a group.

Of course, regardless, Lucy continued to speak, looking down at the dwarves who were tied up and looking up at her, with a slightly mocking smile.

“That these primitive tents are the dwarves’ handiwork….”

“Th, there’s no way!!”

“Those tents aren’t our work!”

“Oh? That’s strange~? Then who else can build buildings in the dwarves’ land?”

Lucy smiled brightly and provoked the dwarves.

“It’s really pathetic~ To think that you have to think of this place as the land of the dwarves after making something like that….”

“Kyak!!”

“Let me go right now! If you just let me go, I’ll make a wonderful building that can’t even be compared to that, so release this!!!”

“Oh my, then would you like to prove it?…. I don’t think you can do it♥”

The dwarves, seeing Lucy acting coy and cute, began to get angry.

…But how did this story come about?

“Ms. Baekryeon. Would you release the dwarves?”

“Hmm?…. I, is that okay?”

“Of course.”

Baekryeon glanced at me after hearing Lucy’s words.

Anyway, I entrusted everything to Lucy…, so she must have something in mind, right?….

When I nodded, Baekryeon released the dwarves’ bonds.

And at that moment, the dwarves jumped up and headed somewhere, then took out their respective tools.

“To look down on dwarves!!”

“We’ll show you what’s what!!!”

Tap tap tap.

It was like that kind of feeling.

The dwarves used materials they brought from somewhere to lay the foundation, wielded their tools to trim the materials, and then stacked the trimmed materials.

The process seemed very familiar, and the 6 dwarves started making something while shouting in unison.

Lucy, Baekryeon, Seollin, and Leviya and I blankly stared at the scene….

After about an hour, a pretty sturdy and plausible-looking building was completed.

“Huff…, huff….”

“How is it…, huff….”

“Our…, the power of the dwarves!….”

But such rapid construction was quite a strain on them, and all of them looked at us, panting.

Lucy looked at the building, then turned her gaze to me and said.

“We’ve got a good base.”

“That’s true, but…. So why are those guys here?”

“…Ah.”

Hey. What are we going to do if you forget that?