Ch.125Deep in the Mountains, a Utopia

If one were to describe the dwelling place of the Korkas Dwarves, Nidabellir, in a single word, “paradise” would be most fitting.

The secret basin surrounded by rock walls was nearly twice as large as an average western city, with paved walkways fenced between cornfields and barley fields.

A waterfall cascading from one of the rock walls formed a large pond, with channels extending from it to every corner of the cultivated land.

Suddenly wondering if flying monsters might infiltrate from above, I looked up carefully and noticed something like translucent iron bars woven like a net covering the airspace above the basin.

It was designed to allow light and water to pass through while preventing monster intrusions. From above, it was disguised to look like a rugged rocky mountain, making it unlikely that monsters would show any interest.

Looking down again and surveying the surroundings, I could identify two distinct types of residential facilities.

The rock wall with numerous doors was the dwelling place of the dwarves—a cave apartment. Despite its primitive-sounding name, it was an over-technology collective housing with elaborately decorated inner walls and pillars, equipped with water supply, sewage systems, and heating.

Across from it, single houses arranged in a 4×4 layout were the residences of the Aqua King tribe.

Befitting the large-bodied Aqua King tribe, the buildings themselves and their doors were sizably large, and a temple-like structure built with similar materials stood at a slight distance.

According to Seti, it was a place where the Aqua King tribe’s totem was installed, and its effective range seemed to cover more than half of the basin.

The structure allowed the Dwarves to purify black magic from the black magic furnace installed inside the mine, while the Aqua King tribe made the half closer to the entrance a safe zone centered around their residence.

“Wow… this is like a completely different world.”

“I was proud of the infrastructure in our mine, but compared to this, ours is just a barn.”

“Though quite different from Elven style, there’s much to learn from the thoroughly planned infrastructure design.”

“I’m glad you like it. Now, come this way.”

Director Kelly’s steps seemed to become a bit more cheerful after hearing the exclamations of admiration from me, Mina, and Phyllis.

Following behind him, we were guided to a room in the rock wall apartment and sat around a slightly low table reminiscent of a coffee table.

While Seti, Mina, Phyllis, and I were mesmerized by the interior decorations that rivaled those of a luxury hotel, Jessica was lost in thought with a complicated expression, not even glancing at the room.

“Are you okay, Jessica? You don’t look well.”

“Are you feeling sick?”

“No… I’m just confused because my mind can’t keep up with reality.”

“Seems it’s because of the Aqua King tribe.”

Jessica nodded, and after organizing her thoughts for a moment, she slowly began to share her feelings.

“Even though I’m not from the generation that directly experienced the Riverside War, I still fear the Aqua King tribe. I grew up hearing from adults that they were fearsome enemies, barbarians who would kill pioneers indiscriminately.”

“I’ve heard about the war between pioneers and the Aqua King tribe too. They say the pioneers won decisively, but I’m sure it wasn’t without casualties.”

“Yes. And if even I feel this way, what about them? They’re refugees who fled from that very Riverside War. They’re the ones who were persecuted by pioneers. So why can they remain so calm when they see me, a pioneer?”

As a drifter, it’s difficult for me to guess, but Jessica must feel like she’s in the middle of enemy territory, a place where war refugees are hiding.

Yet the Aqua King tribe themselves show no hostility toward her, not even raising an eyebrow, so it’s no wonder she feels confused beyond mere discomfort.

Director Kelly’s answer to this question was surprisingly simple.

“Because they had no such adults.”

“Huh?”

“It’s difficult to guess the age of the Aqua King tribe just by appearance, but all those living here are in their mid to late twenties. The war with the pioneers ended about 23 years ago, so they were all young children at that time.”

“Are you saying only five or six-year-old children escaped from the Fourth Western City to here!?”

“Of course that wouldn’t be possible. I heard that several adults accompanied them until they reached this mountain range. But most of them died fighting monsters, and when we found them, a woman about 50 years old was trembling in a cave with nearly 20 children.”

“Then what about that woman?”

“She wasn’t in good health even when we first found her. After creating that totem shrine thing over there, her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she died within a month. In other words, there were no adults left to tell the surviving children that pioneers were enemies or barbarians who would kill the Aqua King tribe indiscriminately.”

Even after the director finished speaking, not just Jessica but all four of us, including myself, couldn’t say anything.

The Aqua King tribe who lost their lives one by one to save about twenty young children, entrusting them to another race before dying.

Even if they were of a different race, even if they had been at war, it was impossible not to feel sympathy.

“From our perspective, a war that happened 20 years ago, far away in the east, is like a story from another world. I don’t know if the Aqua King tribe and pioneers are still fighting somewhere else, but I’d like the young people living here to be left alone. Do you understand what I mean?”

“…Yes. I suppose that’s the right thing to do.”

Jessica muttered with an unconvinced face, then shook her head and put on a bright expression again.

“I’m sorry. We came here to solve the mine problem, and I’ve been wasting time on unnecessary matters. Could you tell us about the situation inside the mine? The structure, what kind of monsters appeared?”

“Of course. First… this is the complete map of the Korkas Mine.”

Director Kelly took out a large map from a drawer under the table and spread it out.

Like the Black Forge Mine map, to a layman like me, it just looked like a complicated dungeon, but I could at least tell that there were elevators for moving up and down at various points.

The maze-like mine connected by elevators had a total of four levels, with each lower level becoming progressively wider, and at the end of the tunnel on the fourth underground level, there was an X marked in red pencil.

“A multi-layered structure? Is that X on the fourth underground level where the monsters poured out from?”

“That’s right. Beyond that leads to a crystal cave where ruins are located, but we haven’t been able to investigate, and currently, the second to fourth underground levels are occupied by monsters.”

“They’ve occupied up to the second underground level… even though you need to take an elevator to move between levels?”

“They can climb walls. Not just rock walls, but vertical metal surfaces.”

“Whew~ It’s impressive you’ve managed to hold the first underground level.”

“What kind of monsters specifically have occupied the mine interior? Any abilities besides climbing walls?”

“Hmm, let me draw what I remember…”

In response to Phyllis’s question, Director Kelly took out a blank paper and began to draw.

He drew a spherical body with four long, horn-like legs around it, and two short auxiliary legs like spider mandibles at the lower front of the body.

On top of the body was a cone-shaped wedge attached to a wobbly neck—too simple and geometric in form to be considered a head.

Beyond being an unfamiliar monster, it didn’t even look like a living creature.

“They’re golem-type monsters that look like this. Their sizes range from about half the height of a dwarf to ones large enough to fill an entire passage. Their attack methods are presumed to be two: swinging their sharp forelegs and firing red beams from what might be their head or beak. The power of this beam isn’t extraordinary, but it has the effect of instantly destroying weapons or armor.”

“Are there any weaknesses?”

“No weaknesses have been identified so far. If I had to say, they don’t seem to be particularly intelligent, but they have excellent coordination between individuals, making them difficult opponents.”

A golem-like monster army with defense, speed, teamwork, and even a special ability to destroy our equipment.

If nothing else, we’ll need to take special care to ensure Seti’s spear doesn’t get destroyed.

“Alright, then let’s go see these golem-type monsters.”

“Hmm? Are you planning to start right now? It’s already past 4 PM, so I thought you’d begin tomorrow.”

“Ah, we’ll start the full recapture operation tomorrow. Today, I just want to fight the monsters lightly and find their weaknesses or strategies.”

“I agree. If there’s only one type of monster, the sooner we understand their characteristics, the more advantageously we can fight.”

“I see… Alright. I’ll guide you to the mine entrance, so follow me.”

As the saying goes, know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win every battle.

We headed to the entrance of the Korkas Mine to conduct a light reconnaissance mission to investigate the enemy’s capabilities.