Even though I had gained quite a bit of speed while sliding, there was no problem with landing.
The dome was like jelly, and as I passed through it, my speed decreased, allowing me to land safely.
The place where I landed… had trees.
To be precise, there was a small forest spread out.
“A forest… inside the sea?”
“It’s for the psychological well-being of the dwarves. Ideally, it would’ve been the underground tunnels they used to live in, but digging more would’ve given them a chance to escape. So instead, they made a forest.”
“So, this entire forest is artificial?”
“We’re 1 kilometer underwater. The light comes from the artificial sun in the center of the dome, and there’s not even any wind. The ground we’re standing on was brought here intentionally. Try digging a little.”
“………Ah.”
As Shisha said, when I dug a little into the soil, I soon hit damp, hard stone.
Thinking about it, it’s obvious. In a place like this, underwater, the soil would just be mud.
This soil, the trees planted in it, and the rocks scattered around were all created and maintained by the Empire.
……Honestly, the dwarves aren’t much different from this soil and trees.
They were also forcibly brought here from their original homes.
The dome I saw from the ice slide was quite large, but the forest wasn’t that big. It felt more like a token gesture.
In the distance, I could see artificial-looking buildings.
“That’s all I have to say. Let’s go.”
“Aren’t you coming, Shisha?”
“I’m only allowed up to this point. Once you’re done in the Dwarf Village, come back. I’ll make a passage for you to return.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shisha lay down on a rock shaped like a bed and gestured for us to go.
For a moment, Sally and I made eye contact, but she just snorted and lay down.
Meanwhile, I looked at Diogenes.
“Diogenes, you’re…”
“I’ll erase my presence and follow you from behind. At least there won’t be any trouble for you.”
“Would there be trouble in the Dwarf Village?”
“……You’ll see when you get there. Don’t worry. You and the maid won’t get hurt.”
And then Diogenes disappeared into thin air. As he said, he must’ve erased his presence to guard us.
In the end, only Sally and I were heading to the Dwarf Village.
Leaving Shisha lying on the rock behind, Sally and I walked slowly toward the village.
……Sally and I were always together. From the moment I woke up in the morning until I fell asleep at night, Sally was always by my side, a great conversationalist and board game partner.
But for some reason…
I felt awkward.
“…………….”
“………….”
The silence was awkward. It was unusually noticeable. I felt like I had to say something.
I’d never felt this way with Sally before.
Shisha’s words kept echoing in my mind.
“………Sally.”
“Y, yes. Young Master.”
“Can you tell me more about the oath you swore on your heart?”
“………….”
“Sally?”
“O, of course, I can tell you. Y, you are everything to me, Young Master………b, but.”
“But?”
“C, could you wait just a little? I, I don’t want to disturb your work.”
“…………….”
“W, when we finish our business in the Dwarf Village………I’ll tell you. Everything.”
She was asking me to wait until we finished our business in the Dwarf Village.
Come to think of it, Sally’s oath…
Shisha, who had also heard, softened her firm stance and gave a bit of leeway.
What on earth could Sally have sworn to?
Why is she asking me to wait?
My head is spinning, and for the first time, Sally, whom I’ve always considered family, is beyond my understanding.
“Alright, I get it.”
“Th-thank you, Young Master.”
There’s no way Sally would do anything to harm me. That’s a given.
She must have her reasons, so waiting is the right thing to do.
With that thought, I took a deep breath and raised my head.
“Alright, shall we go?”
“Y-yes!”
Overthinking won’t get us anywhere.
If we need to finish the Dwarf Village business to hear it, then we should get it done as quickly as possible.
With that mindset, I took Sally’s hand and headed toward the Dwarf Village.
The village entrance is in sight, so first, we need to talk to the dwarves───
“Human.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Young Master!”
*Whoosh! Clang!*
Just as we got close enough to see the village entrance, someone appeared from a building resembling a watchtower.
A race with a height barely reaching my waist, a bushy beard, yet a considerable build.
It was my first time seeing a dwarf… but there was no time to marvel.
Because that dwarf shot an arrow at me with the crossbow he was holding.
Sally, horrified, deflected the arrow with her dagger, but the dwarf still had his crossbow aimed.
“W-wait! I’m not an intruder! I have an entry permit!”
Frantically, I pulled out the entry permit I had hidden in my pocket—a necklace woven with a craft the dwarf had made—but the dwarf didn’t lower his crossbow.
“I have nothing more to say. Get lost, Imperial scum.”
“I came here to ask for a favor!”
“Your kind’s requests have been the same for hundreds of years. And I have no intention of listening to Imperial scum!!”
*Whoosh!*
Whether it was specially modified or not, dozens of arrows were fired from the crossbow. Even the dwarf couldn’t withstand the recoil, his body shaking violently.
Not just the crossbow, but the arrows seemed to have some mechanism—arrows that flew in completely wrong directions turned mid-air and came straight at me.
The number of arrows was too much for Sally’s dagger to handle, so I instinctively pulled her close.
And in that moment.
“…Huh?”
“Wh-what…?”
All the arrows were “cleaned” away.
As if they were never there, as if arrows never existed in the first place.
Not just the dozens of arrows, but even the crossbow the dwarf was holding had been “cleaned” away.
“Imperial scum! What the hell did you do!?”
“No, this is…”
“Damn you, Imperial scum…!! Did you come to kill us all? Did you think we’d live as your slaves for a hundred, a thousand years!?”
The dwarf, gritting his teeth so hard it looked like blood might spill, slammed his fist on the watchtower’s railing.
As if venting centuries of pent-up frustration.
The dwarf, shouting at the top of his lungs, gestured, and the once peaceful village scenery began to change.
“Prepare!!”
*Clank! Clatter!*
The seemingly ordinary wooden fences started turning gears and releasing steam, and soon crossbows were installed.
The village entrance was instantly remodeled into another watchtower.
Not stopping there, the dwarf on the watchtower…
Something popped up next to me, and besides the freshly cleaned crossbow, all sorts of weapons were dangling around.
Even a shape that looked very familiar to my eyes.
A ‘gun.’
“We will no longer live as slaves! We will escape this damned sea!!”
At that moment, the weapons of the dwarves, who had turned their village into a fortress, came out and aimed at Sally.
From the forest in a different direction than the village, someone walked out.
Similar to the dwarves in the watchtower, but much more dignified and older.
“Charlie, stop. They are guests with a pass.”
“My name is not Charlie! Don’t call me by that imperial name! I am a proud dwarf, Brown Beard! Don’t you dare order me around, you traitor who sided with those despicable imperial scum!!”
“It’s thanks to that betrayal that we didn’t go extinct. Don’t speak recklessly about things you weren’t even alive to see during the war.”
“You disgrace to our race……!!”
“Listen here, leave that fool be and come this way. Are you from the imperial family? Or the Magic Tower?”
“…I’m from the imperial family.”
“Anyway, come over here. Didn’t you hear beforehand? The place you’re supposed to go isn’t over there, but my workshop.”
“Where! Neither a traitor nor an imperial scum can───”
“You little brat.”
Thud!!!
Just as Charlie, the dwarf, was about to fire his gun in what seemed like a fit, before Diogenes could even move, the elderly dwarf pulled out a hammer and slammed it into the ground.
The dirt floor shook, and beneath it, a rock was revealed. And even that rock cracked halfway with a huge split.
An unreal scene created by a race that’s less than 1 meter tall.
The elderly dwarf, who overwhelmed the crowd with pure strength, glared at Charlie with sharp eyes.
“Remember this, Charlie. I don’t care what you do with the fences or whatever, but you must never touch the humans from the empire. Your head will be smashed by me before the humans even get their revenge.”
“………Pathetic old man.”
“Not something a guy who just got scared by that old man should say. Guests, come along now.”
Charlie the dwarf didn’t let go of his weapon until the elderly dwarf turned and walked away, but it wasn’t going to be fired either.
Following the elderly dwarf through the forest and crossing an artificially made river, a small house came into view.
“This is the place. Come on in.”
“Thank you.”
The inside of the house looked very ordinary. Except for the chairs, tables, and sink being adjusted to the dwarves’ height, it was just like any other house.
Though the fact that he called me and Sally ‘guests’ and had chairs prepared for humans, not dwarves, suggested he was used to inviting someone.
Sitting on the human-sized chair, the elderly dwarf brought out warm tea and sat across from us.
“Now, show me your pass. I saw it earlier, but I need to see it up close.”
“……Here it is.”
“Oh……indeed. I remember this piece being passed to the third one. So, you’re the Third Prince?”
What should I say?
The dilemma didn’t last long.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You’re different from the first or second. In many ways.”
Since he gave me his pass, the Third Prince couldn’t come to the dwarf village. And this elderly dwarf didn’t seem to know what the Third Prince looked like.
So, it’s better to just pretend to be the Third Prince here. If I said otherwise, I’d be interrogated about where I got the pass and how I came here, so there was no choice.
Even if things go wrong, I can just ask Diogenes to clean up a bit of memory, and it’ll work out somehow.
Honestly, having Diogenes around makes me feel incredibly secure.
“Anyway, did you not hear beforehand? You took the wrong path.”
“……I didn’t hear the details. Who are you, elder, and what was that village just now?”
“Hmm, I see. I heard from the first and second that the third wouldn’t be able to come here anyway. It seems you’re being neglected to the point where they didn’t even tell you this much.”
“That’s……right.”
It wasn’t exactly a wrong statement, based on a few months ago.
In fact, I was slightly creeped out by the elderly dwarf’s insight to deduce that much from just fragments of information.
“Although it’s called a Dwarf Village, I’m the only dwarf who meets with princes like you and the Masters of the Magic Tower. I’ve lived quite a long life, you see.”
“I recall you mentioning the era of war earlier.”
“It was not long after the Empire was founded. Back then, all sorts of races and nations were rampant, and the continent was in a state of constant war. Even now, thinking about it, those were terrifying days.”
Wait, the Empire was established hundreds of years ago.
Then just how old is this dwarf……?
“Do dwarves usually live as long as you, elder?”
“I’m a special case. During the war, I was lucky enough to learn and train in Aura, and I was called the strongest among dwarfs.”
“……Good heavens.”
“Well, it’s all just old stories now. Even the memories are fading……those days.”
If he was the strongest of his race, does that mean this elderly dwarf is a Grandmaster like Knight Roland?
No, considering the entire continent was at war back then, unlike the peaceful times now, this dwarf might even be stronger than the current Grandmasters.
So why is such a dwarf being called a disgrace to his race, a traitor? If Charlie the dwarf is planning to escape from here, this elderly dwarf would be the most valuable asset.
Hiding my doubts, I looked at the elderly dwarf with a slightly more respectful posture.
“Anyway, if you meet any other dwarfs, the same thing will happen as before. So, just tell me what you want. Well then, Third Prince of the Empire.”
The elderly dwarf, holding a hammer, looked at me.
……With eyes similar to Diogenes’, worn out and weary.
He stood up from his seat like a machine.
“What do you want? A weapon? Armor? Or an artifact? The first wanted an artifact, the second wanted a weapon. What do you want?”
“Cards.”
“………Huh?”
“Miniatures, board game boards, banking machines. Ah, paper that won’t tear even if a Grandmaster presses on it would be fine too!”
“……….”
“Is only one of these possible?”
“Well……….”
“……Can you not make them?”
“Aren’t you asking for weapons, armor, or artifacts? The first took an artifact that lets you see far distances, the second took a magic sword that can destroy mountains, or I could even make armor that reflects Aura or magic.”
“I don’t need any of those, but can’t you make what I just asked for?”
“That’s……right.”
“Oh.”
Dwarfs.
So useless, huh?
