Chapter 10. Stubbornness and Arrogance (5)

The dream Chae-eun had was from her very early childhood.

It was a dream from a time when even those memories had faded significantly, leaving only the ‘feeling’ behind.

A dream about a time she didn’t want to lose any more of, but which was inevitably fading from her memory, making it all the more precious.

She didn’t know if it was bright around her. She had her eyes closed. No, even if she opened them, it seemed nothing would enter Chae-eun’s vision.

Chae-eun was hugging her mother.

Because she had grown so much-because Chae-eun had become an adult, she couldn’t fit completely into her embrace as she had in her childhood, but her mother was holding her tightly and stroking her head.

“…Mom.”

That’s why she knew it was a dream. It was a dream from a time that could never be again.

Because she knew her mother was no longer in this world.

But even knowing that, Chae-eun couldn’t bring herself to break free from that embrace.

A hero’s duty is to protect someone. It doesn’t matter if it’s due to established rules or because they want to.

Perhaps in the future, Chae-eun would never be able to feel that sensation again. A being who could hold her completely with their entire body, as if they could protect her from all the threats in the world.

As she tightened her arms and burrowed deeper into the embrace-

Chae-eun felt something was strange.

It wasn’t strange to feel sensations in a dream. But usually, when you wake up, those sensations don’t remain at all. The warmth or softness felt in the dream was just a hallucination created by the brain.

But now, she felt it so vividly.

The warmth and softness felt on her face. And the slender body felt in her arms. Her fingertips could slightly feel her hard ribs through the clothes.

“…!?”

Chae-eun recoiled from the sensation in shock and pulled her face back. What she saw as she quickly released her arms and retreated was-

“Did you sleep well?”

The being Chae-eun had been hugging all night spoke with a smile.

Skin so white it seemed it would never tan. Gently glowing golden hair. And red dye as a point in the middle of that hair.

Blue eyes, like looking into clear water, were looking down at Chae-eun.

Those eyes were narrowed, as if she had discovered something amusing.

“…”

Chae-eun felt her back become damp with cold sweat for the first time in a while.

Chae-eun, without saying a word, slowly pulled her arms away from that body.

Anna’s body heat had not yet completely dissipated from her clothes, so the parts where their bodies had touched were warm.

Along with the faint smell of alcohol, there was a faint smell of sweat. The side that smelled was mainly Ria’s.

Ria slowly got up from the bed and went to sit at the edge of the bed.

Then she buried her face in her hands.

“…What did I say?”

“Well. I don’t really remember.”

It was a voice that sounded like she clearly remembered.

Ria flopped onto the bed, lying on her side.

And she thrashed around wildly.

“Well, don’t worry. I’m a very understanding person, so I have the generosity to understand someone who passed out after drinking alcohol for the ‘first time’ in their life.”

I wanted to deny it, but Ria couldn’t say anything.

“By the way, Ria, it’s time for us to get going. The smell hasn’t left our bodies yet, so it’ll be difficult if we don’t wash soon… Ah.”

And, as if there was something to worry about- in a slightly exaggerated tone, Anna added.

“By the way, are you sure you’re sober? What if you hug me again while I’m taking off my clothes-“

Ria jumped up from her spot.

Anna looked surprised at Ria’s reaction, but Ria didn’t rush towards Anna; instead, she ran into the shower room.

And she scrubbed her body as hard as she could. She also brushed her teeth diligently.

So that the smell of alcohol could be removed as much as possible.

*

Ah, she has a cute side too.

…

No, if someone is pretty in the first place, they tend to look cute no matter what they do. Besides, Ria wasn’t the type to do something that would be a waste of her looks.

After waiting leisurely until Ria finished washing, we went into the shower room like a baton pass and washed ourselves clean.

Last night, I couldn’t even wash because of Ria, so showering today felt especially refreshing.

Hmm, would that expression be a little misleading? All Ria did last night was hug me and sleep soundly.

After finishing washing, putting on underwear and clothes, and squeezing my hair with a towel as I stepped out of the shower room, Ria stood there with a stiff expression.

But her face was flushed bright red.

I considered teasing her a bit more, but I decided against it, thinking it would be too pitiful for Ria.

*

We went to meet the princess at the appointed time.

The princess’s name was Emelie Gruund.

Actually, her name only appeared once in the novel, so I hadn’t remembered it properly. It couldn’t be helped, as the dwarf princess was already dead when she first appeared.

“Princess.”

“Sister.”

As I lightly held my skirt and bowed my head, the princess did the same.

And then she guided us to a table.

On the table was a luxurious glass that looked like it was carved from crystal. It was a bit larger than the glasses we drank from yesterday. Perhaps it was designed to be used not only for drinking liquor but also with ice. It already contained ice.

Next to it was liquor of a similar color to what we drank yesterday.

Seeing three glasses on the table, Ria let out a small groan. The princess seemed to hear the sound, glanced at us, and gestured to a servant standing in the corner, whispering something. The servant bowed slightly, went out of the room for a moment, and then returned with a bottle filled with a transparent liquid as we settled at the table.

“It seems the dwarves really love alcohol.”

“It’s quite amazing. With magic, we can cultivate enough grain in this barren land to feed everyone here and still have enough left to make alcohol.”

The princess replied to my words.

There was pride in her voice. Pride in the fact that they handled mana so well.

But at the same time, it was a voice that felt wary of me.

“For dwarves, mana is indispensable. Gnomes might be content with just mining stone, but for us, society itself wouldn’t be sustained otherwise.”

“I did not come to harm the Dwarf Kingdom.”

“…It seems our priests think you came to cause harm.”

The princess let out a small sigh.

“I don’t know much about your world, Sister. I only know that it is not connected to our country. And that we believe in different beings.”

“Dwarves… worship mana itself?”

The princess nodded heavily.

“Then, the reason you welcome me like this is…”

“It’s because you are trading with the gnomes.”

The princess said.

“You know that our relationship with the gnomes is not very good.”

The princess’s gaze turned to the ring finger of my right hand. The ring the gnomes made for us was steadily accumulating my power. Perhaps, if I released that power at a necessary moment, it would be possible to disrupt some functions of the Dwarf Kingdom.

From a dwarf’s perspective, we are beings carrying bombs.

But the reason they accepted our request and let us in is likely because that power is so attractive.

And-

“I heard you said there was a problem with my personal safety.”

“Yes.”

“That I… would be kidnapped by someone.”

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

“And that it was a prophecy from the god you believe in.”

I remained silent at that remark.

Because I don’t consider that being a god.

But speaking that way at this moment wouldn’t help in persuading them. If I said I was acting like this based on the words of a being I don’t even believe is a god, would any dwarf trust that story?

“We have already prevented a dangerous situation with that prophecy before.”

“Unfortunately, that is information we cannot verify.”

The princess said so and poured liquor into her glass. It was a strong liquor that seemed to make one feel drunk just by smelling it.

Perhaps, from their perspective, this is not much different from drinking tea.

“Then, would you understand if I told you information that Princess would find convincing?”

The princess’s gaze turned to me.

“Of course. If that ‘foresight’ can truly be called a supernatural phenomenon.”

The princess took a sip of whiskey and gestured to the servants waiting in the room. She had them leave beforehand, before I could speak, to make it easier for me to talk.

Well, they might be eavesdropping, but- I wasn’t here to quibble about that.

“Isn’t the Dwarf Kingdom researching gates?”

The princess’s hand stopped.

With the glass halfway to her mouth, the princess’s eyes widened, and she stared intently at me.