The Dwarven Crafter Page 13

  That wouldn’t be a bad turn of events, but unfortunately, before he could act, the weakling spoke.

  “The Theocracy is building a position on the outskirts of the royal capital. At this rate, within a few years, they’ll mount a major attack.”

  “What about it?”

  “…We’ll be wiped out. I beg you, use your power as king to—”

  “Nonsense.” He—the king—laughed. “Why should I have to lend my strength to you weaklings?”

  He looked over his shoulder at the elf woman prostrating herself there, one of his subjects.

  How foolish she looked.

  Incredibly frail and in possession of no special powers. Worthless.

  That was exactly why she failed to comprehend how wonderful it was that the Theocracy was attacking.

  “…I’m astounded. You lot aren’t even ready to protect your own country yourselves? Or do you believe that I’ll solve all your problems for you?”

  “B-but the Theocracy is powerful. With us alone, it’s…”

  There was a clear power gap between his country and the Theocracy.

  The staggering difference encompassed everything from the magic items each side possessed to the training of their soldiers, sheer numbers, and even the strategy and tactics they used.

  The only reasons the elves had managed to hold the line this long was by relying on the one thing they were better at than the Theocracy—guerrilla warfare—and the fact that the enemy had slowed their advance due to fear of suffering attrition from encountering the monsters in the Eivasha Woodlands.

  But recently, the Theocracy had been sending in the Firestorm Scripture, a special-ops group that excelled in assassination, guerrilla warfare, and counterinsurgency that was previously assigned to guarding the Theocracy’s home front. That meant their advance was speeding up again.

  “I’m really quite stunned. It’s too much for you to handle because you’re weak? My country is full of nothing but fools. That’s why no matter how many children get made, all you produce are idiots.”

  It wasn’t living in peace but surviving war that would make them stronger. War was his people’s chance to unleash their true potential. And yet, he hadn’t heard of a single one awakening.

  But he couldn’t lay blame squarely on his subjects. His own children were the same. The number meant nothing, so he didn’t remember how many—who counts their trash, after all?—but perhaps they had inherited more from their mother? None of them commanded even half the power he did.

  “Out of my sight! You disgust me. More importantly, make sure the child of mine you bore grows up to be strong.”

  The woman bowed low and withdrew.

  He sipped his drink.

  Children sired by weaklings would only produce more weaklings. What was really needed was strong mothers.

  That was why he prioritized sending women to the front in response to the recent Theocracy aggression. He wanted to give the weaklings a chance to get stronger.

  “My expectations were completely wrong.”

  None of them had anything even approaching the power he wielded. Perhaps one who did would be born in the future.

  “…Maybe I should start considering all the humanoid races for mating?”

  Humanoids and subhumans couldn’t reproduce, but different races that were both humanoids could.

  Suddenly, he stared into the distance. He recalled a memory.

  “She even got pregnant, but then…”

  Once, he had tricked and captured a woman who was the Theocracy’s trump card. He’d chained her up and raped her, and he managed to impregnate her, but before the child was born, the Black Scripture stole the woman away.

  He clicked his tongue.

  That child belonged to him as well, so if it had been born, he wanted it returned to him.

  “…If this country falls, maybe I’ll personally travel to the Theocracy and take that child back.”

  Not out of compassion.

  If it was a girl, and if she was strong, there was a chance that if he got her pregnant, the resulting child would be even stronger.

  “That’s something to look forward to.”

  Someday a powerful army of my children will conquer the world.

  Thinking of the shining future that would surely come, he returned to his room. His figure was reflected in the full-length mirror on the other side—the figure of an elf whose eyes were each a different color.

  Chapter 3 | The Impending Crisis

  1

  The Great Chasm…

  That was the name of an enormous rift that ran along the western side of the dwarf city Fehu Jura. This underground ravine stretched nearly forty miles and, even at its narrowest, was over 130 yards across. No one had managed to measure its full depth. It was unclear what was waiting at the bottom, but not a single member of the two exploratory expeditions sent to investigate had returned.

  This natural fortification had long protected Fehu Jura from any monster attacks. As long as the dwarves held the bridge they had taken great pains to build, there was no danger of monster invasion from the west.

  But on this day, inside the Fehu Jura garrison—a base situated between the Great Chasm and Fehu Jura—was a storm of shouts and confusion.

  “What happened?! Can anyone give a precise explanation?” the supreme commander who had been leading the dwarf army for over ten years yelled.

  The information that came in was disorganized, so it was impossible to tell what was true. The only thing the commander had confirmed was that the fort at the Great Chasm was having some sort of emergency.

  “The last word we received said that the kuagoa were attacking!” One of the platoon leaders raised his voice to repeat the report from the fort.

  That in itself wasn’t rare. The kuagoa were the dwarves’ loathsome rivals and they sometimes attacked in units of a hundred. He couldn’t even remember how many times it had happened since he became supreme commander of their military forces.

  But the attacks had always been repelled by the fort, so the enemy had never even approached the garrison, much less Fehu Jura proper.

  The kuagoa were fairly sturdy against blows from physical weapons, but they had a racial weakness to electric attacks. Since the dwarves knew that, they kept at the fort a magic item that could unleash a power similar to Lightning.

  Lightning was an attack spell that could pierce through enemies in a straight line, making it ideal for dealing with anyone crossing the bridge. With this, the dwarves could nail all the kuagoa at once. Moreover, the guards at the fort were equipped with crossbows that dealt additional electric damage as well.

  Compared to how well prepared they were equipment-wise, it was true that they didn’t have much manpower stationed at the fort. At the same time, it wasn’t as if they were deliberately leaving the fort undermanned despite its strategic value. The dwarf army simply wasn’t that big to begin with. They stationed enough of their limited forces there that it couldn’t be called negligent.

  The fort was specially designed to combat the kuagoa, but the situation was apparently so bad that they couldn’t even spare a moment to call for reinforcements.

  What did that mean?

  “Are there so many attackers that the fort troops can’t fight them all off? There’s no update from the guards?”

  “Not yet!”

  Cold sweat dripped down the supreme commander’s back.

  The words great invasion flickered before his eyes. There had been whispers about it for years, but he had frantically convinced himself that such a thing wasn’t possible. Yet, he had the feeling that was exactly what was happening now.

  The supreme commander pulled himself together. This wasn’t the time to let his fears hold him frozen in place.

  What was the correct thing to do right now?

  A gently spiraling tunnel ran from the fort to the garrison under his command. Beyond the garrison lay Fehu Jura, making it essentially the city’s last line of defe
nse. At the boundary between the cave where the garrison base was located and the tunnel, there were doors of mythril and orichalcum. If these doors were closed, they could stop an attack.

  Should the doors be locked up?

  Closing them would also mean not being able to send reinforcements. That would be the same as abandoning their fellow countrymen who were fiercely struggling to defend the fort at that very moment.

  But he wavered for only an instant.

  Only twenty soldiers manned the fort.

  But in Fehu Jura, there were some hundred thousand dwarves. When deciding which to prioritize, there was only one answer.

  “Shut the doors!”

  “Passing it on! Shut the doors!”

  Before the shouts even finished echoing off the cave walls, a groaning noise traveled through the ground as vibrations. The giant doors slowly began sliding into place to shut off the entrance. The doors had only ever moved during training exercises; today was the first time they were used for real.

  “Commander! It’s the kuagoa!”

  “What?!”

  At the shout from the guards at the gate leading to the tunnel, the supreme commander shifted his gaze beyond them. What he saw were horrifying subhumans with bloodshot eyes, foaming at their mouths.

  Without electric weapons, even one kuagoa was a tough opponent. But more than he could count on two hands were hurtling toward them now.

  Did the fort really fall? How strong are the kuagoa forces? Are their numbers so great that even closing the doors won’t stop them?

  With a great many questions on his mind, the supreme commander shook his head to clear it. “Don’t let them in! Pikemen, to the front!”

  With a war cry, the soldiers formed a thicket of pikes.

  But even seeing that, the kuagoa’s charge didn’t slow. They were confident in their fur’s resistance to steel.

  The supreme commander clicked his tongue. The enemy was making a smart choice. A crossbow volley might have repelled them, but a thicket of pikes could only keep them in check. But he had anticipated the kuagoa reacting like that, so they were ready.

  “Wizards! Use lightning!”

  From a watchtower situated near the gate, the tier-three area-of-effect spell Lightning Ball was launched at an angle that wouldn’t hit the pikemen from behind, and two casts of Thunderbolt Lance flew to pick off individual targets.

  These attacks were conducted by the dwarf military’s three most powerful wizards.

  Due to their weakness to electricity, the kuagoa leading the charge were easily felled by the Lightning Ball. The ones behind them were forced to stop as well.

  That short time made all the difference.

  With a loud bang, the doors slammed shut. Immediately after, the sound of pounding on the other side carried all the way through the thick metal.

  The tense atmosphere relaxed slightly. But the supreme commander and all the soldiers around knew nothing was over yet.

  The doors were durable, so a normal kuagoa’s fangs wouldn’t be able to chomp through them, but some had fangs reported to be as tough as mythril. Those were in the ruling class, but it wouldn’t have been strange to find them participating in this attack. There was no guarantee that the dwarves were safe.

  “Tch! If only the doors delivered a shock at fixed intervals, then…!!”

  The commander had proposed the idea when he had assumed his current position. He said that for a final line of defense, these doors weren’t enough. But due to their nation’s dwindling strength, they didn’t have resources to spare for the doors. And the fact that the fort by the bridge had repelled all previous attacks was also a major influence on the decision. There was a sense that the other defenses made improvements to the doors unnecessary.

  When he looked around, everyone’s expressions were dark.

  This is bad. If we lose hope, we’ll be defeated when a melee breaks out.

  The supreme commander raised his voice to change the mood. “Okay! Now the city will be safe! But it’s not a sure thing just yet. Let’s erect a barrier in front of the doors in case they break through! Hurry!”

  Some life returned to a few dwarf faces. Having been reminded that there was still something they could do, the soldiers responded to his call with renewed vigor. A flimsy hope was better than none.

  The supreme commander’s chief adviser sidled up to him and leaned toward his ear. “Commander, shall we bury the doors?”

  He considered the proposal.

  It seemed likely they would receive objections from some dwarves complaining that they shouldn’t shut down the entrance so completely.

  “These people have no idea the situation we’re in.”

  Noticing his adviser’s surprise, the commander realized his comment to himself had been overheard and taken as a reply.

  “Sorry, I don’t mean you. I was thinking of the regency council’s reaction.”

  “But you’re one of them, aren’t you? Is that why you know how they would respond if we completely sealed off the tunnel? Personally, I think we should not only seal the tunnel but consider abandoning Fehu Jura as well.”

  The supreme commander squinted and grabbed his adviser’s arm to pull him somewhere their conversation wouldn’t reach the soldiers’ ears. He didn’t want anyone to hear the rest.

  “So you think so, too?”

  It was unclear how many kuagoa were on the other side of the doors.

  Because they were forced to quickly go on the defensive against the enemy’s rapid advance, the garrison had lost the opportunity to collect all sorts of information. It was like being locked up with a blindfold on.

  The only thing they could base decisions on was that the enemy force seemed to have been large enough to take down their hitherto impregnable fort.

  If that was the case, it would be practically impossible for the dwarf forces to open the gate, fight off the kuagoa, and take back the fort. Perhaps abandoning the city was the best course of action.

  “How much time can we buy if the tunnel is totally sealed off?”

  “If we collapse this cave, quite a bit. Unfortunately, simply piling up dirt would only earn us a few days.”

  “What are the risks of collapsing the cave?”

  “As you know, Commander, this place isn’t very far from Fehu Jura. We’d have to call the tunnel doctors to investigate to know for sure, but it’s possible that the city would be affected. In the worst case, a pathway could open up behind the gate, allowing the kuagoa to surge into Fehu Jura.”

  “In other words, we need to get the area checked out in a hurry. Then, I have a different question. Do you think the fort fell to a kuagoa wave attack? Why couldn’t the soldiers stationed at the fort contact us sooner?”

  “I can think of several scenarios. The one I personally find most likely is that the kuagoa got assistance from another race.”

  “Like the frost dragons?”

  The kuagoa had occupied the onetime dwarf capital, Fehu Berkana, and were living there. The royal palace towering in its center was ruled by frost dragons.

  The two races didn’t seem to be fully cooperating, but if they were coexisting, it was certainly possible they would help each other out.

  The supreme commander made a grim face. An elder frost dragon was a living catastrophe.

  Once there were four dwarf cities.

  The royal capital that had been abandoned two hundred years ago during the evil spirit attack, Fehu Berkana.

  The eastern city and current capital, Fehu Jura.

  The southern city, which was recently abandoned, Fehu Raido.

  And finally there was the western city, Fehu Teiwaz.

  The western city had gotten caught up in a fight between two frost dragons, Olasird’arc Haylilyal and Munwinia Ilisusulim, and was left in ruins.

  “It could be, although I don’t know what kind of contract would get those proud creatures to make a move. Another possibility is that the kuagoa came up with their own way to c
ross the Great Chasm…like magic or something. Or they could have taken a long detour.”

  “Not even we dwarves could find a route around!”

  “But that was years ago, Commander. It’s possible that during that time, monsters moved, the kuagoa built tunnels, or the earth’s crust itself changed, revealing a new path. They could have even gone aboveground.”

  “Kuagoa on the surface?”

  “Maybe some of them gained that ability.”

  The kuagoa race went totally blind in the sun. For that reason, the commander had been confident the kuagoa would never attack via the surface, but was that simply his personal assumption?

  Well, it was too late for regrets. All he could do now was keep that assortment of things in mind as he formulated a plan.

  “I see. Then, we need to strengthen our defenses against potential attacks from the surface, too. Choose some personnel without leaving us too undermanned here and send them out. Then report to the regency council and propose that we evacuate south.”

  Besides the garrison base, the fort by the Great Chasm, and the regency council hall, there was one other military site in Fehu Jura.

  At the entrance that connected to the surface, there was a fort large enough for the taller races—it was built with humans in mind—to be accommodated. The commander’s orders were to strengthen that fort and keep watch for a potential attack from the surface.

  “Yes, sir!”

  “And tell them to get ready to bury the doors. We have to wait for the regency council’s approval, but we’ll convince them somehow.”

  “What if it takes longer than expected?”

  “Do your best. I’ll do mine, too.”

  That was all he could say. Of course, as one of the association’s eight members, he intended to do everything in his power, but if the other members vetoed the plan, then he would simply have to do as much as he was allowed under his position’s jurisdiction.