Ch.260Chapter 260 – What the Dwarves Lost (2)

# The Hero’s Armaments

After those words were spoken, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.

“Excuse me, did you say the hero’s armaments?”

[That’s right, blacksmith.]

Rubrum nodded in response to Perry’s question.

“Why were they here… or rather, how on earth did they get lost…?”

[You explain it. Dwarf.]

[It’s a shameful matter for dwarves, and you want me to speak of it?]

[That’s precisely why I’m asking you to do it.]

Dvel looked at Rubrum with displeasure.

But soon he sighed and spoke to us.

[It happened long ago. After the hero departed from this world, quite some time had passed.]

Dvel quietly began his story.

[As I mentioned before, at that time, I was gathering knowledge to create this current body of mine in order to pass down what I knew to future generations.]

Dvel had mentioned this before.

He had borrowed the power of various people to transfer his memories to his current body because he found record-keeping tedious.

According to the story, the current replica Dvel, Dvel No. 1, was created before the original, real Dvel died of old age, which meant he almost permanently lost his records.

[In my living days, I was nearly in seclusion… but one day, an apostle of Goddess Evgenia came and told me about the seal. And not long after that day, Rubrum appeared in Ferrarius.]

It was around that time that Dvel took on the role of guiding suitable candidates to the seal here through a contract with the god.

Guarding the seal itself was Rubrum’s role, he added.

[At that time, Ferrarius was in a state of emergency. It was none other than Rubrum. The evil dragon that the hero’s party had reportedly barely defeated had appeared. The entire country was literally in panic.]

“Understandably so.”

As Sera said, it was obvious that the dwarves would have been in an uproar at that time.

[In that situation, Rubrum spoke first. He said he would coexist with the dwarves if they recognized his territory and acknowledged Ferrarius’s sovereignty.]

“And the royal family of Ferrarius accepted that?”

[There was no other choice at the time.]

Dvel nodded at Chris’s words.

[The hero’s party was… mostly in seclusion to avoid getting entangled in politics or various conflicts, and the hero himself and Metis were gone. Even the religious folks around were fighting among themselves. Everyone was too busy with their own affairs to ask other races for help. Besides, it was impossible for me alone in my living days to fight against Rubrum.]

It seemed that Rubrum was a being that might not even be possible to subjugate by sending an army.

In addition, Dvel added that various other reasons came into play, resulting in a situation where Ferrarius’s national power alone could not subjugate Rubrum.

In the end, the dwarven royal family accepted Rubrum’s proposal, and thus Rubrum’s invasion ended successfully.

[Fortunately for the dwarves, Rubrum’s proposal was genuine. Although he mentioned sovereignty, he made it clear that he had no intention of directly ruling Ferrarius. He only needed the active cooperation of the dwarves when he needed it. He said the dwarven royal family could do as they pleased otherwise.]

A condition of ruling but not ruling except when necessary.

That was the reason why Rubrum, the ruler behind the scenes, came to reign over Ferrarius.

[Surprisingly, it wasn’t all bad. Rubrum would bind monsters that troubled the dwarves with fire so they couldn’t leave a certain range, or handle tasks that were difficult for dwarven forces, and so on.]

“That’s unexpected.”

[It wasn’t out of pure goodwill. He wanted to use the dwarves to keep his ‘contract,’ and for that, he thought the dwarves’ power shouldn’t be damaged.]

Dvel looked at Rubrum as if seeking confirmation, but Rubrum showed no reaction.

[It would be courteous to at least agree at times like this.]

[I don’t see the need to agree with something that’s already correct.]

At Rubrum’s cold words, Dvel put his hand to his forehead.

[After this strange symbiotic relationship began and time passed, one day, Rubrum handed over an item to the dwarves as a token of friendship and promise.]

“Was that the hero’s armaments?”

Dvel nodded at Beatrice’s words.

[That’s right. The hero’s armaments. His sword and armor. Those legendary armaments that I had personally worked on.]

“Really?”

[Really. Because of that incident, I was summoned urgently by the royal family and went to confirm it in my living days. And I was surprised. I wondered why that guy had them.]

“Why were they in Rubrum’s hands of all people?”

I glanced at Rubrum as I asked.

Rubrum looked at me for a moment but said nothing.

[…Anyway, that was the condition. The hero’s armaments were important evidence of a contract for him too, so the dwarves were to guard them and hand them over to those he permitted. That was the evidence of our promise… he said.]

That’s how the dwarves came to guard the hero’s armaments.

And then, they lost them.

[After they were lost is when I was in this current state. Of course, Rubrum was furious. The royal family of Ferrarius did their best to calm Rubrum’s anger, but it was beyond their ability.]

“That’s why the relationship between our master and Ferrarius deteriorated significantly.”

It seemed that Rubrum didn’t unilaterally cut ties with or attack Ferrarius, perhaps because he still saw value in the dwarves, but conversely, it appeared he no longer did anything for Ferrarius either.

“Let me ask a potentially disrespectful question. This is hypothetical since I don’t think dwarves who value loyalty would do this, but after relations soured, did the dwarves consider subjugation or anything like that?”

[There’s nothing disrespectful about that. Even I can see that opinions to quietly subjugate him would have definitely emerged.]

Dvel answered Eve’s question lightly.

[But to be frank, even if they tried to backstab him, it would be impossible with just the dwarves’ power. And even if they tried to get help from foreign countries, they would have to reveal Rubrum’s existence to neighboring countries, but he had already become almost a mythical figure, so who would believe and come to help? And even if they knew, who would be willing to take the risk of potentially facing Rubrum’s wrath themselves?]

“I see.”

[The opponent is the evil dragon that could only be faced by the legendary hero’s party. …There is no hero in the world now.]

So it seemed the royal family of Ferrarius ended up being unable to defy Rubrum and had to be cautious around him.

It didn’t seem like they were severely interfered with by Rubrum, but they were still being extremely careful after having greatly offended him.

“So the royal family chose to rely on Rubrum in this crisis.”

[They had no other choice in this hopeless situation.]

Dvel said lightly.

[And Rubrum hasn’t forgiven them, has he? If the dwarves hadn’t lost the hero’s armaments, Rubrum would have moved directly, after all.]

“If the master had moved directly, the situation would have been resolved more easily.”

Lorona said somewhat proudly.

Anyway, although Rubrum had decided to help because he considered this situation serious, the reason he didn’t come out himself and only sent hatchlings and us seemed to be due to his anger toward the royal family of Ferrarius.

“How petty.”

[You might have intended to tease, but mind your words. Those were important items to me as well.]

Rubrum responded to my words.

“How important were they?”

[As I said earlier, they were symbols and evidence of another contract of mine. They were items that needed to be handed over to the rightful person before the promised day.]

Rubrum spoke quietly.

“The rightful owner?”

[…I speak of the next hero, young dragonkin.]

Rubrum looked down at me and said.

[It was none other than her prophecy. The next generation’s hero would appear, so I had to protect that sword and hand it over by the promised day, she said.]

“The promised day? And ‘her’?”

[An old comrade of that dwarf.]

At Rubrum’s words, Dvel’s eyes trembled slightly.

[No way.]

[The star-gazing priestess, Metis.]

Rubrum looked down at me and said.

[It was a prophecy she left when she came to me with the hero and made a contract with me before she contracted with Evgenia.]

The surroundings fell silent for a moment.

As everyone quietly stared at Rubrum, Dvel finally opened his mouth.

[Those two? More importantly, when?]

[As for the timing, it was close to right before the two returned to the world from which the hero had come.]

Rubrum spoke quietly.

[When the two appeared before me as I was hiding, nursing my wounds and dwelling on the pain and humiliation of my eye injury… I thought they had come to kill me.]

[Well, it was Metis and the hero who injured that eye, after all.]

Dvel chuckled, saying that if those two came together, even Rubrum would have been scared.

[The star-gazing priestess also had the title of Sword Saint.]

And surprisingly, Rubrum nodded quietly.

[Against the Sword Saint who had gouged out my eyes twice, and the hero who had cut out one of my eyes even before he had fully matured, I too would have to risk my life.]

“I think we’re getting off track. Why did those two appear before you?”

At my question, Rubrum nodded.

[Because Metis designated me.]

[That woman did?]

[She said she would leave me for the future. …I cannot tell you the details. It’s because none other than she forbade it.]

Rubrum’s resolute words were heard.

[But there is something I can tell you for certain. It was those two who made a contract with me, and those two did something to the hero’s sword. They ordered me to hand it over to the next hero.]

Rubrum looked at me and said.

[And they told me what to do until the promised day approached.]

“And you accepted that?”

[Unfortunately, I had no choice. …Even I couldn’t do anything against those two.]

Rubrum said so.

‘…Did they threaten him with swords or something?’

Come to think of it, they had scarred Rubrum’s eyes, and they were strong enough that he was reluctant to face them, so it doesn’t seem impossible.

Still, Rubrum didn’t seem particularly displeased.

[I accepted, and the contract has been passed down until now.]

“I see.”

So the hero’s armaments were a symbol of the contract for Rubrum.

Moreover, they were items that had to be handed over to the next hero.

“…Why give such things to the dwarves?”

[I thought the dwarves would be more likely to come into contact with the next hero than I, hiding in Lair.]

But the dwarves lost that important item.

There was a good reason for Rubrum, who values contracts highly, to be angry.

[And the hero’s armaments have still not been found.]

If they had been found, the relationship between Rubrum and the dwarven royal family wouldn’t be as it is now.

He might not provide active help like before, but he would have seriously considered intervening directly in this crisis.

Since we had heard before entering Ferrarius that the lost item had not been returned, it was certain that the hero’s armaments were still missing.

[Honestly, finding them seems unlikely. It’s clearly a theft, after all.]

Dvel quietly said that it was definitely a deliberate theft.

In fact, since Ferrarius wouldn’t have handled something so important to Rubrum carelessly, they couldn’t have simply lost it.

They’re probably just saying they lost it to save face.

After listening to Dvel’s explanation, Chris put her hand to her lips and said.

“Who would steal the hero’s armaments, and why?”

[That’s unknown…]

Dvel said so, then continued in a slightly subdued voice.

[According to Rubrum, it’s something that needs to be delivered to the next hero… but it’s unlikely someone took it knowing who the next hero is.]

“And the risk is too great to have taken it simply as a decoration.”

Rubrum’s existence might have been concealed, but the hero’s armaments were being managed in Ferrarius.

It doesn’t seem likely that many people would take the risk of potentially making an entire country their enemy just for decoration.

‘If there is such a person, they’d be insane.’

And seeing it as someone who knew the next hero and took it in advance seems obviously wrong…

“…Wait a minute.”

Beatrice, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, suddenly spoke.

Then, after muttering something to herself for a moment.

She looked directly at Asam and said.

“Hey, Asam.”

“Yes?”

“It’s embarrassing to bring up, but… do you remember when I brought the helmet and Miss Eina to the lab?”

“I remember. It’s unforgettable…”

Asam also suddenly stopped speaking.

And soon he looked at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“…I was just thinking about when we analyzed the helmet and Miss Eina’s body before.”

Beatrice spoke with a serious expression.

“According to our analysis back then, the purpose of both seemed to be… artificially recreating a hero.”

“They can be considered biological weapons, but at least if we trace back the evidence, it looked like they tried to replace just the heart but ended up replacing other organs as well.”

“So we concluded that they were trying to create a hero but changed the plan and made them into biological weapons instead.”

After exchanging words with Asam, Beatrice soon spoke quietly.

“At that time, Asam and I concluded that the cult’s priority was creating a hero.”

According to Beatrice’s reasoning, the reason the Emiris Cult created the test subjects was to create a hero.

“And they’ve been continuously tracking the Philosopher’s Stone as well.”

Sera spoke, trembling slightly.

Since Sera was the one being constantly tracked by the cult because of the Philosopher’s Stone, it was understandable that she was a bit scared.

Test subjects created from those summoned from another world.

And the Philosopher’s Stone.

“There’s a high probability that the hero’s armaments are in the hands of the Emiris Cult.”

There’s no definitive evidence.

However, it seemed likely that those abnormally obsessed with the hero would have secured the armaments in some way long ago.

‘…If that’s the case, the culprit is…’

If the cult is the culprit.

The most suspicious individual as the perpetrator would be…

After a moment, Beatrice took out a cigarette, lit it, and said.

“…I know someone who would definitely get involved in something like this.”

Beatrice spoke, emitting a slight killing intent.

And I felt the same way.

‘It must be him.’

There was always someone in the Emiris Cult who plotted such things from behind the scenes.

“The madman Somnus.”

He had been secretly operating behind almost all incidents.