Chapter 188 - The Young Blast Furnace (2)

“The ship that left Nassau has reportedly reached the fog area.”

“Is that so?”

Inside a dark office. The man holding a red fruit smiled at the report he heard.

“So the northern bastards are finally going to meet the dwarves.”

The man began cutting the fruit into pieces one by one and feeding them to the parrot on his shoulder.

Perhaps it liked the tart flavor its master gave it, for the colorful parrot’s eyes narrowed.

“You bribed the sailor properly, didn’t you?”

“Yes. The crystal ball has already been placed inside the ship.”

“Good.”

As if pleased by the report, the man took his feet down from where they had been sprawled across the desk, perched the parrot on his finger, and walked to the window.

“At last, I’ll get to see it. The place they call the dwarves’ island.”

Sunlight began pouring in through the window he had flung wide open.

And beyond it was the blue sea.

Feeling the salty sea breeze blowing in through the window, the man began to laugh.

“I suppose I should start getting ready too.”

But though the sea was blue, the harbor beside it was pitch-black with rows upon rows of ships.

And above the sails of those ships, flags bearing the exact same crest were fluttering.

They were the crests of the Barbosa Family, decked entirely in gold.

※※※※

The Zemina was moving along the gentle waves.

Because they were inside the fog, everything looked the same no matter where they looked, and the surroundings were filled with the wreckage of broken ships, perhaps because of the reefs, but Haven’s movements as he held the rudder showed not the slightest hesitation.

That was because, in the empty open sea where there had been nothing at all, they had finally found something to use as a reference point.

“That thing looks just like an ocean sunfish.”

“What’s an ocean sunfish?”

“A fish that looks like that.”

“... How would I know if you say it like that?”

Vlad ignored Haven’s meaningless words and looked ahead.

The Zemina was currently following a strange-bodied ship that was hard to describe as anything in particular.

It was short in length but tall in height, so even to Vlad, a complete layman, it looked extremely unstable in balance.

“Still, a ship that swims underwater. No one would believe it if you told them, would they?”

“You’re right.”

Vlad answered Haven and lowered his gaze to look at the bow of the Zemina.

Nibelun, who went around searching for mysteries, of course, and Joseph, Jager, and even the elves of Aushrina.

The awkward mood from before was nowhere to be found as they all huddled together, saying it was their first time seeing something so bizarre.

“There are ships that move without wind, and ships that swim underwater.”

Vlad brought his hand to his brow and looked far into the distance.

Because the wind brushing past his hair felt fresh, unlike just a moment ago.

“What else could there be?”

Clear sunlight began to touch the back of Vlad’s hand, which he had placed above his eyes.

At the same time, the pure white fog began to clear away as if it were a lie.

As the thick fog that had blocked their vision began to disappear, exclamations naturally burst from the mouths of the group.

“That must be the dwarves’ island.”

“Yeah.”

Vlad nodded as he looked in the direction Haven was pointing with his fingertip.

Beneath a flock of seagulls drifting over the blue sea, an island floated alone.

Beyond the sunlight reflected as if shattering on the surface of the water, the island the group had searched for so desperately finally revealed itself.

The dwarves’ island. Lemnos.

Just as Aushrina was for the elves, the place that was the dwarves’ final bastion was welcoming the group.

※※※※

“Then we must part ways here.”

From atop the half-submerged ship, a dwarf man came up and waved to Vlad.

“Thank you truly for the kindness you showed in saving us back then.”

The captain of the strange ship that had guided the group all this time was Vulcanus, a warrior of Nidavellir.

The man who had been trapped with the young dwarves in the tavern in Nassau had also specially volunteered for this mission.

“It’s not as if I went in there to save you...”

“But you did.”

Doing what had to be done in the place where one had to be.

Vulcanus remembered the knight who had been able to feel pure anger at the sight of imprisoned children.

“Proceed toward the place you can see. Nidavellir welcomes you.”

With that final farewell, Vulcanus went into the smokestack, and the strange ship that looked like an ocean sunfish began sinking beneath the sea once more.

Watching the ship disappear, leaving behind only bubbles just as it had when they first met it, a few of the sailors must have been startled, for they could not help letting out suppressed groans.

“I really want to ride that thing someday too.”

Haven, who had been watching the sinking ship with regret, fully spread the sails that had been half-open until now.

Then, catching the wind blowing from behind, the Zemina began pushing forward with all its might.

Unlike all the time they had spent trapped inside the fog, the sight of the ship moving toward a clear destination was enough to make anyone watching feel refreshed.

※※※※

The harbor of Lemnos Island was packed with dwarves who had flocked there after hearing the news.

Just as dwarves were a curiosity to northerners, it seemed humans and elves were also utterly unfamiliar guests to the residents of Lemnos Island.

“But didn’t he clearly say earlier that they would welcome us?”

“... When one goes to a foreign land, one must follow that place’s customs.”

As if surrendering, Joseph and Vlad had both hands raised and were only exchanging glances.

Not only those two, but everyone who had gotten off the ship was now being thoroughly inspected by the dwarf warriors.

Each time a thick man’s hands touched his body, Vlad’s expression twisted, but on this island, security was life itself, so it could not be helped.

“Please bear with it a little longer. I’ll make certain to treat you properly as guests later.”

Perhaps recognizing that the mood was growing sharper and sharper, Sigurson, who was acquainted with them, was trying hard to soothe the group.

Even though he was one of the twelve tribal chiefs who made up Nidavellir, even he could not avoid such a strict procedure right now.

“May I see your sword?”

“What?”

But even with his soothing, a blue flame finally flared in Vlad’s eyes.

“We need to check whether anything strange is attached to it, so the sword...”

“You’re telling a knight to hand over his sword. Is that what you just said to me?”

What could be heard was human speech, but what resounded was the growl of a beast.

At the increasingly blue gleam in Vlad’s eyes, the dwarf warrior unconsciously took a step back.

“... Then at least hand over the dagger you’re wearing.”

“Is a dagger not a sword?”

To a knight, a sword was his very identity.

At the dwarf’s words telling him to lay down his identity, the ferocity sleeping inside Vlad began to show itself little by little.

“Try touching anything on me. I’ll rip off that stubby neck of yours first.”

“...”

He was speaking quietly, as if whispering, but it was a voice in which the roughness of the back alleys and the savagery of a dragon were mixed together.

The dwarf warrior in charge of the inspection was also an experienced man, but even he faltered for a moment before the blue threat Vlad spat out.

“You brat. Stop tormenting an innocent man and draw that dagger like he just said.”

“...”

“I said hurry up and draw it, instead of just glaring with those eyes.”

At that moment, an old dwarf who had pushed through the crowd called Vlad to a halt in a ringing voice.

He was an old man, struggling to hold up a back deeply bent by the years with a cane.

“And who are you, old man?”

“What use would you have for knowing that?”

Even at Vlad’s sharp question, the old dwarf paid it no mind and merely came closer.

To an old man who had devoted his entire life before boiling molten iron, the threat of a young dragon was nothing at all.

“More importantly, why did you come here after smashing up perfectly good armor? Contrary to that pretty face of yours, you’re a rough one.”

“...”

Though it looked fine on the outside, just as the old dwarf said, Vlad’s armor was cracked in many places.

Vlad, who had been bristling until just moments ago, was somewhat surprised as he looked at the old man who had recognized the condition of his armor with a single glance.

“Even if it’s you, old man, I won’t hand over my sword.”

“I don’t need it either. Not that shoddy sword.”

At the words shoddy sword, a vein rose on Varadis’s forehead, but the old man’s attitude was unrestrained.

More precisely, no one here was able to stop the old man.

“Sigurson! Is this the fellow?”

At the old man’s shout, Sigurson, who was over there, shook his head to say yes.

Vlad was dumbfounded by the old man’s attitude of openly ignoring him, but he merely held himself back at the urgent look in Joseph’s eyes right beside him.

“... Then let’s have a look.”

SHING!

The dizzying sensation of something that was mine being drawn by another’s hand.

At that unbearable displeasure, Vlad’s presence began boiling over once more.

“Put that down. Old man. While I’m still asking nicely.”

At the sudden change in atmosphere, the gazes of everyone in the harbor began turning toward Vlad.

“I said put it down.”

“...”

Vlad, his two eyes shining blue, was telling him to give back the dagger, but the smith merely smiled with delight.

Because he had found old traces he himself had engraved on the dagger he had drawn.

“It is. It really is.”

His hands were trembling, yet his posture was respectful.

After sheathing the dagger once more, the old dwarf raised his head and looked at Vlad.

“But where did the rest of these go? I think I made around ten of them.”

“What?”

“By the way, is Sir Jorge doing well? It must have been well over ten years since I last saw him.”

Vlad, who had been growling, lost his words as he looked at the old dwarf speaking of his former boss.

“... Jorge?”

But more than the bewilderment of hearing a familiar name in an unfamiliar place, Vlad was even more bewildered by the look in the old man’s eyes as he looked at him.

Because the old man’s eyes right now were those of someone searching through some corner of an old memory.

※※※※

Upon a calm sea, there was an empty white sand beach filled only with moonlight.

Contrary to its peaceful appearance, it was a place filled with someone’s suppressed groans and the cries of children.

“Old man. Have you gone senile? That’s a pot for boiling porridge.”

“I know that too.”

Listening to those sorrowful sounds that reached his ears even though he did not want to hear them, the old dwarf was heating the pot with careful eyes.

Because this was all he could do for the knight he would soon have to part from.

“...”

Into the pot heated over the bonfire went chunks of badly rusted iron.

After scattering powders that held his secret art over them and melting them into one mass, the old man soon poured the crimson molten iron into molds made from pieces of wood.

“Thank you. For protecting us.”

“... Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do it because I wanted to.”

After carefully pouring the molten iron, the old man raised his head and looked up at the knight standing alone beneath the moonlight.

Now that he looked closely at him, the man was covered in crimson wounds over armor that was broken here and there.

“I only did it because the brats kept crying.”

A man who had been in the place where he needed to be.

And because of that, Jorge, who had followed commandments instead of orders, looked at the ships approaching from the horizon and only then loosened his stiff expression.

“They’re here. Let’s part ways now.”

“Wait.”

Seeing Jorge about to rise and leave without any compensation, the old dwarf hurriedly grabbed the waistband of his trousers.

“Take this, at least this.”

“What is it?”

“Daggers.”

Jorge looked at the daggers the old man was struggling to offer him.

Since he had watched the process of making them right in front of him, they were not anything he expected much from, but the gleam they gave off beneath the moonlight was somehow distinct.

“I’m giving them to you like this now, but if we meet again someday...”

“Meet again? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Understanding the old man’s desire to repay him somehow, Jorge took them with his bandaged hand.

Perhaps because they had been made not with heat, but with warmth, the daggers were only pleasantly warm despite having just been made.

“It’s better for both you and me if we never see each other again, old man.”

With those indifferent final words, the knight of Gaidar simply gave a slight wave of his hand and left the white sand beach alone.

Watching his back as only the moonlight saw him off, the old dwarf merely stood on the white sand beach for a long time.