Chapter 164

“When do you plan to leave, young master?”

Hyde was tapping his foot on the ground, impatient.

Half a day had passed, and Fernan showed no signs of returning since he had gone down.

He had only said he would take a quick look to check the mine, so if he took too long, it was obvious they would come looking for him.

And in that case, if they asked where Fernan was, he would have a hard time answering.

“Could something have happened to him…?”

No, thinking it through, remembering what Fernan wore around his neck, that was impossible.

For Hyde, even if a demon appeared before his eyes, Fernan would return alive.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Fernan’s head suddenly popped out of the same hole he had disappeared into, accompanied by a slight tremor.

“You’re way too late! Didn’t you say you’d only check the mine for a moment?”

“There was an unexpected situation.”

“Unexpected?”

“Nice to meet you.”

Next to Fernan’s head appeared another—of a dwarf.

“…What does this mean?”

“I found a dwarf city underground. I was talking with them.”

“Sir! How can you speak of the city so lightly?”

“It’s not lightly. Hyde, you’re my most loyal companion. Do you really think I can hide something from you, when you were the first one here with me?”

“…You mustn’t do it again. Seriously.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Fernan nodded, although Hyde immediately noticed it was just a gesture, with no real intent to obey.

‘So he caught a clueless dwarf. And he made a deal with the young master without even a contract!’

“Anyway, Hyde. Let’s return to the main camp. We have to prepare a few things and then go back to the underground city.”

“Back again?”

Fernan looked at Ahgrot and then whispered in Hyde’s ear.

“With so many dwarves rolling around, how can I just leave them be?”

He had to turn them into labor for the Pellenbergs.

“What did you talk about?”

“Nothing special. I just mentioned that in the underground city I found traces of the corrupt.”

…Corrupt?

“Are you saying there were corrupt ones there?”

“Yes. I saw them.”

“Wait, wait. Are you saying there’s a corrupt person in our city?”

Even if dwarves lived in isolation, they weren’t so ignorant as to not know what the corrupt were.

“And you’re saying you saw one with your own eyes? Who is it?! Who’s the traitor who sold out their race?”

“I’m busy now, I’ll tell you later. Also, I didn’t see it directly.”

‘He must’ve seen it in the prophecy book!’

Hyde understood the hidden meaning in Fernan’s words.

The fact that even in the dwarves’ underground city a corrupt person was hiding was alarming.

“That’s… impossible…”

“I already spoke about this with the mayor. Ahgrot, stay hidden near here. I’ll be back in less than a week.”

Ahgrot reluctantly agreed.

“…Understood. I will. But will you really be back in a week?”

“Don’t talk nonsense and think carefully about what we discussed earlier.”

“…Alright. Ah, and please, never reveal anything about us to any outsider. Promise it!”

Ahgrot disappeared behind the rocky mountains, perhaps to inspect the surroundings or maybe to return to the mayor and ask about the corrupt.

“What were you talking about?”

“That he’s 21 years old.”

“With that face?”

“Don’t you dare say it to him. He gets mad.”

“But it’s obvious… did you say it to his face?”

Hyde let out a disbelieving laugh.

“That’s why I told him to enroll at the Academy.”

“Isn’t it too late already?”

“Even if it is, he must join.”

“Is it really worth it?”

“He’s one of Aint’s companions recognized by the prophecy.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Although they had left early in the morning, the sun was already setting when they started heading back.

“I understand why you want to go back there. But if the elves find out, it’ll be a problem.”

If they found out that, in their own territory, the dwarves had dug out a city and lived there, they wouldn’t stay silent.

“Then they simply mustn’t find out.”

“And what excuse will you give to go back in?”

“If I say that I haven’t been getting results lately and want to check personally, they’ll accept.”

“Especially after asking for so many escorts for safety. They’ll have to follow you.”

Last time, he had managed to slip away by saying he’d just take a quick look, but next time he would have to be gone for at least a week.

And all those escorts assigned for security had become more of a burden than help.

“The dwarves gave me a one-week deadline. Isn’t there a way to confirm in that time whether there’s a corrupt person or not?”

“Exactly because it’s difficult that you planned to observe long term, no?”

“Yes, I know.”

The most logical thing was to take it slowly, but the image of the dwarf city kept circling in his mind.

“If we leave the city unattended, they’ll summon a demon. Looking at it, that’s the most urgent issue.”

“…What? Another demon will descend?”

“Probably.”

“That would be terrible…!”

Hyde suddenly went silent. Even though the camp was still far off, they felt many presences approaching.

Soon after, elves appeared.

“There they are! We found them!”

“The young master is here!”

It was a search party organized because Fernan had taken too long to return.

Fernan returned with them to the camp, where he met Adolf, who sighed in relief.

“I’m glad you’re safe. We were so worried we sent out a patrol.”

“Sorry for the worry. I got too focused on tracking the mine…”

“From now on, I’ll always go with you.”

‘Looking at him this way, maybe he’s not a corrupt.’

If Adolf really were one, upon hearing that Fernan and Aint were targets of the corrupt, he shouldn’t be relieved, but the opposite.

‘Though it could also mean he’s acting very well…’

In that case, Adolf would be a better actor than knight, because so far, he hadn’t raised Fernan’s suspicions at all.

That day ended like that.

“Fernan, you saw it! The thing about Aym being summoned!”

Back at his tent, while unpacking, Gismond came to see him.

“You saw it too, senior?”

“Of course. So now what? Do you have a plan?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. We’ve defeated demons before. We’ll do it again.”

His plan was to stop the summoning, like what happened with Seir.

“If you say so, I’m relieved. Sorry, it’s just the thought of a demon of rank 58 got me nervous.”

With those words, Gismond encouraged him and left.

Thanks to that, Fernan realized something else.

‘So these visions aren’t unique prophecies, but shared among several.’

Could the reverse also be possible?

It was something new, but not so extraordinary.

The next day, Fernan left again under the pretext of exploration, and Adolf accompanied him along with the other escorts.

“This is how I make mana resonate with the earth to detect what’s underneath.”

“It’s different from spirit magic.”

“Can you use spirits to track mineral veins?”

“It’s possible, but consumes so much mana that it’s very inefficient.”

Fernan took the opportunity to provoke conversation with Adolf.

“It’s a shame about the meeting of the prince-electors. Even if we can’t help with the post-conflict, we have no objection to Fridian participating as a prince-elector.”

“But they say you don’t actively support Fridian either.”

“Recognizing something and supporting it are different things. We don’t have to earn the enmity of the other electors in Fridian’s name.”

“…That does sound like the Pellenbergs.”

Maybe in a casual conversation, he’d slip up.

“I heard something interesting: demons don’t value minerals. Not even the Three Great Metals, nor gold. Isn’t that odd?”

“Then the Pellenbergs and the demons are irreconcilable.”

“It may seem like it, but it’s actually useful. What we want is trash to them. So we can take it all with no problem.”

People often made mistakes during casual conversation.

“In a way, I understand the corrupt. What hope could they have had, to end up selling their soul to demons?”

“But they’re still corrupt.”

“Of course. I’m not saying I justify them. It’s just sad. If they’d sold their souls to the Pellenbergs, at least we’d have paid them well for it.”

It might have sounded too blatant, but time was against him.

Three days passed like that.

“Did you find anything?”

“Nothing.”

Adolf gave no cracks. Not even when Fernan made remarks that sounded like sympathy for the corrupt.

Only four days remained of the deadline promised to the dwarves.

Could he find proof—or at least confirm that Adolf wasn’t corrupt?

Fernan was starting to get nervous.

“We’ve got no choice. We’ll use an extreme method.”

“Extreme method?”

“Jeffrey. If they find out that someone whose memory was erased still has memories, how would they react?”

“They’d try to fix the mistake and bring things back in line.”

“Exactly.”

That was the point.

“It’s a bit extreme, but it’s a good plan.”

“…Is it really, miss? If we do that, the subcommander won’t leave me alone.”

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

“But…”

“Trust me. Or do you want Fridian to fall into the hands of the corrupt?”

“…Understood.”

At first, Jeffrey refused, but under Aria’s pressure, he finally agreed.

***

‘Why the hell me…?’

Since he recovered his memory, Jeffrey had been having nightmares every night.

That day. Gravely wounded, hearing Adolf Fridian suggest overthrowing the Empire, pressing him with words, with that hand that covered his entire vision.

A memory he didn’t want to recall, but that lingered like a curse.

These days, just seeing the face of the deputy commander made his skin crawl. And now he had to go and tell him to his face that he had regained his memories, to ask him why he had done it.

He didn’t want to do it at all, but it was the lady’s order. It was the path for Fridian.

‘I am a knight.’

A knight of Fridian.

He had sworn to be its sword and shield. He was willing to give his life for Fridian.

Late at night, Jeffrey, having renewed his resolve, entered the deputy commander’s tent.

“Deputy Commander.”

“What is it, Jeffrey?”

Just seeing his face weakened his resolve.

‘I am a knight of Fridian.’

He forced himself to remember it and got straight to the point, before he lost his nerve by hesitating any longer.

“I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“That day, why did you do it?”

“That day?”

“The day the magical beasts appeared in the south and I was gravely wounded.”

I still don’t really understand what you meant by those words.

“Did you really want to overthrow Fridian?”

“……”

At that moment.

Jeffrey’s entire body trembled.

A massive pressure crushed him, leaving him breathless.

“What do you mean by that, Knight Jeffrey?”

In the midst of that pressure, he heard Adolf’s low voice.

“Me, trying to overthrow Fridian?”

“All I did was heal your wounds, didn’t I?”

Jeffrey’s face turned pale.

***

In a dimly lit tunnel.

“P-Please, spare me…!”

A mortally wounded dwarf dragged himself along the ground.

Adguif stepped forward and crushed his leg.

Crunch.

“Aaaaghhh!”

The dwarf screamed in pain.

“Two days ago, a human entered this city. Do you know how happy that news made me? Probably not.”

I was so happy I jumped like a child.

“I thought a new wind was finally blowing in this rotten, stagnant city, that change had finally arrived.”

But in the end, the human was expelled immediately.

Even if the mayor said he’d return in a week—so what?

“Dwarves…”

Crunch!

“Again…!”

Crunch!

“Chose the path of isolation of their own will!”

“Aaaaaghhh!”

With each stomp from Adguif, the dwarf’s leg bones were pulverized.

“Do you know? Humans dominate the continent. Even the elves raised their kingdom and are now part of the Empire. And us? What about the dwarves?”

Not a single country of our own, scattered like parasites across foreign lands.

“While we live like parasites, they live in luxury. Do you think that’s fair?”

“No, no…! Please, no…!”

The dwarf clung to Adguif’s leg, nodding desperately with a blank stare.

“I knew you’d think like me.”

Adguif leaned down, grabbed his chin, and forced him to look into his eyes.

“That’s why I want to redirect this rotten swamp. You’ll come with me, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course. I will, I will…”

The dwarf nodded frantically.

“Thank you. Your noble sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

“Yes, yes… what?”

“The spirit of your decision will be an example for all dwarves. Your blood and your life, along with the others’, will bring new flow to this rusted race.”

Adguif raised his axe.

“No, wait! I want to live…!”

Crunch!

The axe severed the dwarf’s neck.

The body fell first, and a moment later the head rolled across the ground.

“A dwarf who takes back his words with the same mouth doesn’t deserve to live.”

“Gather every last corpse. Leave nothing.”

“Yes. But… wasn’t what you did this time a bit too risky?”

The dwarves who followed him began collecting the remains.

“And what?”

“It’s just…”

“This city wasted its last chance. I won’t hesitate anymore.”

There would be no more doubts.

No matter what, he would make the dwarves see the light of the surface.

Adguif swung his axe, wiping off the blood in wide strokes.