Ch.134Wearing Titania’s Silver Bell

The Corkas Mine, which had been occupied by monsters, was completely recaptured thanks to the efforts of our five-member party and the cooperation of the Aqua-folk youths.

After completing the reorganization and safety inspections of the mine interior, which had been neglected for the past three years, the black mana will be returned to the main equipment room on the third underground floor. Once that happens, the third and fourth underground floors will once again become restricted security zones where only dwarves are permitted to enter.

The ancient ruins connected to the fourth underground floor will remain asleep in the deepest part of the Corkas Mine, their existence unknown to anyone else.

Someone’s attempt to preserve the ancient humans of Grantis ended in failure, and the eight young men and women who participated in the species preservation disappeared without leaving even dust behind.

The golems created to protect humanity became dysfunctional due to algorithmic errors, and all of them were destroyed, so those ruins have no role left to play in present-day Grantis.

The various treasures left in those ruins fell into the hands of the five adventurers who visited the Corkas Mine.

Although this was the agreement between Director Kelly and the adventurers, some of the Aqua-folk were understandably displeased that the adventurers had obtained such massive treasures without including those who had fought alongside them.

While everyone else had returned to their homes in Nidavellir to rest, carrying both the joy of recapturing the mine and the fatigue of fierce battle, Fatum, who had his heart set on the treasures obtained by the adventurers—

“But Dora… with Emilio already… sob…”

He was drowning his sorrows of unrequited love with whiskey in one of the rock apartments that served as temporary lodging for the adventurers.

“Answer me. If I… had obtained that rare treasure, could I have used it to turn Dora’s heart…”

“No, that would be impossible. She’s already more than a month pregnant, isn’t she?”

“Waaaaahhh!”

Fatum howled with tears as he poured the remaining whiskey into his mouth.

Jessica and I could only look at each other, unable to find words of comfort as we watched him.

“Lord Fatum, I understand your feelings, but drinking such strong alcohol like that will ruin your body.”

“Thank you, elf lady… if you’re willing, perhaps next time we could have dinner—”

“Ah, no. I’ve already given my body and heart to Will, so I cannot accept another man’s affections…”

“Sob…”

Fatum, the leader of the Aqua-folk warriors, had intended to obtain the red crystal from the fourth underground floor to propose to a woman named Dora.

That request became the catalyst for connecting the path to the ancient ruins, and the dragons who recognized the dwarves as monsters had occupied the Corkas Mine for three years.

Feeling responsible for the mine’s downfall, Fatum actively participated in the recapture operation to take responsibility for his actions, planning to propose once again to the woman he loved after successfully reclaiming the mine.

The problem was that Dora already had a lover named Emilio.

Emilio, a skilled hunter and cook, would prepare special lunchboxes for Dora whenever he returned from hunting. Captivated by his cooking skills, Dora began dating him secretly and became pregnant with his child after just three months.

Right after recapturing the fourth underground floor, Fatum witnessed Dora passionately kissing Emilio as she waited for his return. When Fatum confronted them about their relationship, he faced the harsh reality that his years of unrequited love could never be fulfilled.

Unable to accept this, Fatum had secretly gone back down to the fourth underground floor while everyone else returned to the surface, intending to ask for a share of any rare treasures we might have obtained from the ancient ruins.

“Still, the idea of trying to win Dora’s heart with treasure was too naive.”

“Well… the Aqua-folk certainly helped a lot in recapturing the fourth floor, so there might have been room for negotiation regarding treasure distribution.”

“Either way, once she was pregnant with another man’s child, Lord Fatum had no chance to intervene. He should act like a man, let go of his feelings, and bless their future together.”

“…sniff.”

The sight of this beast of a man, standing over two meters tall, being comforted by women while sipping alcohol was indescribably pitiful.

That evening, a grand feast was held in Nidavellir.

Alcohol and food continuously appeared on the tables, and drinking contests, dance competitions, arm wrestling tournaments, and talent shows all blended together into a chaotic scene, yet despite the alcohol, no one behaved disgracefully.

Fatum, who had been drowning his heartbreak in alcohol, still wore a sullen expression when the feast began, but after consuming a fair amount of alcohol and meat, he pulled himself together and offered congratulations to Dora and Emilio.

Watching Fatum do this, Phyllis nodded approvingly, looking like a mother proud of her child’s growth.

As the eating and drinking atmosphere began to settle down, Mina went into the Corkas Mine with Director Kelly and returned about an hour later pulling a cart loaded with titanium ore.

The sight of dwarf craftsmen changing their expressions and rushing to the forge upon seeing this reminded me of obsessed fans or reporters spotting a celebrity.

“Dwarves abandoning their drinks to go work… I must have had too much to drink.”

“Rest assured, Jessica. I saw the same thing.”

Jessica and Phyllis spoke with expressions as if they had witnessed the end of the world.

“Are we leaving now?”

“We should. It’s about time we purify the black mana accumulating in our bodies before it becomes dangerous.”

The next afternoon, having completed all our business at the Corkas Mine, we set out on our return journey to Northern Fortress, seeing off by Director Kelly and Fatum.

“We will likely continue our secluded lifestyle without much interaction with other cities. However, if you ever return, we will always open the doors of Nidavellir and welcome you.”

“I feel the same. While our kin in other places may have tense relationships with the pioneers, the Aqua-folk here consider you benefactors and comrades, so please visit anytime.”

“Next time I’ll bring plenty of whiskey. Though I’m not sure when that will be.”

“Hang in there, Fatum. You’ll find a good wife someday.”

After shaking hands with each person and leaving the dwarven storehouse behind, gleaming titanium alloy weapons hung from our waists and backs.

These were masterpieces created by Mina, who had rushed to the forge as soon as the morning sun rose and completed them in just six hours.

“I never thought it would take less than a day to modify weapons for all five of us.”

“Yeah. I was thinking we might need to leave Mina and Seti behind while the rest of us returned to Northern Fortress first.”

“The crafting tablet took care of it in half a day~ Actually, extracting the parts only took about two hours, and I spent four hours doing the magical engraving and assembly by hand. Hehe.”

“Hmm, so there are things an artifact can do and things it cannot?”

“That’s part of it, but even with an artifact, I felt uncomfortable just skipping all the intermediate steps when making firearms. I’m only going to use it for shaping until I get more comfortable with it.”

So while she acknowledges the effectiveness of the crafting tablet, she still needs to work with her own hands on the most important parts to feel secure.

That’s Mina’s pride and sense of responsibility as a craftsman.

It’s also why, as a gunslinger, I can entrust my lifeline—my gun—to her with complete confidence.

As we traveled toward Northern Fortress, Mina explained in detail how everyone’s weapons had been improved.

First, my single-action revolver showed no significant external changes, but internally it had been fitted with intricate magical formulas, transforming it into a monster that could fire six high-velocity rounds with rifle-exceeding destructive power.

A dramatic improvement in the essential performance of a firearm—for me, who had been handling single-action revolvers since my days on Earth, this was the ultimate power-up.

Jessica’s auto-loading derringer pistol was now linked with the fragment of the Jeonji, allowing it to rapidly absorb surrounding mana and enter a boost state where it could fire magical bullets continuously for a certain period without reloading.

This gave her derringer pistol, which had previously only been meaningful as a self-defense tool when mana was depleted, a new application in burst firepower.

Mina’s large-caliber pistol concentrated all its potential on single-shot power, and by replacing the barrel section, it was modified into a multi-purpose weapon that could also fire in shotgun or explosive round form.

However, even this falls far short of what Mina considers “the ultimate means for dwarves to fight monsters,” so I’m both excited and somewhat afraid to see how it will develop in the future.

In Seti’s case, just having the spearhead replaced with titanium alloy was already a good match for the beast-folk’s specialty of wielding weapons infused with mana, but she also added the ability to send out sharp shock waves by applying the “sound burst” formula that Jessica had used.

For Seti, who previously had little to do besides throwing spears when enemies were at a distance, this was truly a blessing, like giving wings to a tiger.

Phyllis’s rifle underwent such a dramatic transformation that it could only be described as a complete metamorphosis.

The gleaming titanium alloy barrel, the elegant decorations engraved on the rosewood body, and the willow branch-decorated stock—

Its form alone transcended the category of weapons and entered the realm of art, but the biggest difference was the adoption of a lever-action loading mechanism, something previously unseen in Grantis.

According to Mina’s research, elves with excellent mana manipulation abilities could transfer far more mana to firearms than a single magical bullet engraving could accommodate.

They didn’t even need to make physical contact with the magical bullet engraving to transfer mana, yet they still used break-action magical bullet engraving mechanisms simply because elven gunsmithing technology was still immature.

The basic structure of Arcane Alter magic theory was to overlay powerful attack formulas on firearms modeled after human rifles, altering the magical bullet formulas.

Having discovered this, Mina created a structure that could preserve 12 shots worth of mana inside the rifle by injecting a large amount of mana, then forming white magical bullet formulas through the lever action, loading and firing one shot at a time.

Additionally, she moved the mana residue generated in the barrel from attack spell overlays to a cooling mechanism inside the stock, allowing the rifle to be fired freely as a conventional rifle even during cooldown periods.

A 12-round magazine, rapid firing through lever action, and no need to balance between attack magic and the role as a firearm—

With the completion of this gun, Phyllis, the party’s main attacker, was reborn as a complete entity, no exaggeration.

No one was happier about this fact than Phyllis herself, who showered Mina with the highest praise, filled with respect and adoration that seemed impossible between an elf and a dwarf.

“Mina… you are a genius. No, you are a great inventor beyond what the word ‘genius’ can describe!”

“Hehe~ Praise me, praise me more! Well, about half of it was Will’s idea though.”

“No, I just briefly explained some famous rifles from Earth. I never expected you to actually create one.”

When I told Mina about Earth’s guns, I was particularly passionate about the famous lever-action repeating rifle that stirs men’s souls.

But all I taught Mina was the general appearance and a shallow understanding of how it was loaded.

If Mina, who completed such a perfect form tailored exactly to Phyllis’s abilities, isn’t a genius, then who is?

“I’m eager to test its performance against suitable monsters right away… but causing a disturbance in this area would be inconsiderate to the dwarves.”

“Yes. And killing just to test your strength isn’t right, even if the target is a monster.”

“I agree with Seti. And you should be especially careful right after obtaining a powerful weapon. Many adventurers lose their lives or get seriously injured by engaging in reckless battles while elated from acquiring artifact-level or magical weapons.”

Seti and Jessica’s remarks calmed my mind, which was about to become overconfident.

Indeed, if the feel of a main weapon you’ve used for a long time changes significantly, the first priority should be to become familiar with it through sufficient practice.

I wanted to return to Northern Fortress as soon as possible to purify the black mana and prepare suitable targets for practice and test firing.

After calming my excited mind, I hurried on the return journey to Northern Fortress.

Little did I know that this moment of restraint would become a major turning point that would change many lives…