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101
Shhk—!
Swoosh—!
The battle with the monsters proceeded quickly.
Ten lizards split apart by the wind sword.
Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde also dealt with the creatures at a rapid pace.
“Oh……!”
Kudran’s jaw dropped at what had unfolded in an instant.
It was a level of movement in a completely different dimension from his own hard-fought struggle.
Swoosh—!
Hanbit’s sword continued cutting through the monster swarm.
The large number of monsters that would normally never be seen in Ifrit’s vicinity was proving the anomaly.
Slash—!
With one final strike, the last lizard’s neck was split in two.
The dwarves who had been standing around numbly with their weapons turned their eyes at the same moment.
“Who are you people?”
“There were adventurers this strong around?”
“Kudran, are these the reinforcements you brought?”
“What? Kudran hired adventurers?”
Their anger and resentment toward the human race was beside the point.
The terror of death that had come right up to their doorstep.
The relief that came with it vanishing was simply too overwhelming.
“I didn’t hire them! These people are——”
“I am Black Dragon, an adventurer and an acquaintance of Kudran’s. I stopped by briefly for the safety of the village.”
Hanbit cut into Kudran’s words and delivered the introduction without preamble.
At the word ‘acquaintance,’ the dwarves’ eyes went wide.
“Really?”
“You knew adventurers like this?”
“Kudran has done something great!”
-Look at that change in attitude;
-???: What a fool.
-Humans are the same everywhere.
-If Kudran is feeling sour about it, have him wave his hammer.
Hanbit’s statement made the reaction even more enthusiastic.
Hanbit moved beside the elder and asked quietly.
“Well? Do you still think this has nothing to do with you?”
The phenomenon of monster proliferation occurring around Ifrit.
The elder too had thought nothing of it — but having gone through the danger himself, he had no choice but to understand.
That if they sat still, they would be the first to be in danger.
“…I see.”
His people still making a commotion all around him.
The elder looked at the surroundings and gave a nod.
“First of all, thank you for your help. Had it not been for all of you, there would truly have been great losses.”
The elder extended his thanks to Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde as well.
His gaze moved to the carcasses of the dead lizards.
“But whether the safety of Ifrit has a great bearing on this place — I am not so certain. We do not live inside those walls.”
“Ah, that’s fine. It’s a problem that can be resolved. When this is over, all of you will become true residents of Ifrit.”
“Pardon?”
The elder was startled by Hanbit’s unhesitating immediate answer.
Was it really a problem an outsider could resolve?
That was the doubt that came first.
“Is such a thing possible?”
“It is a simple matter. All it takes is removing the mayor who created this situation.”
“That, of all things, seems like something that would be impossible…….”
-Going straight for the head.
-Bares looks like he’s in my field of vision.
-How are you doing in hell, useless one?
-Destined to be executed even in hell.
The beautiful glass wall they looked up at together.
The mayor Pirnen who had it built was a figure of power difficult to touch based on her family background alone.
But she was not someone who could never be brought down.
“Well, you’ll understand when you see the results. It’ll be even more certain if all of you help me.”
“…Touching the mayor concerns me, but there is certainly no answer to be found leaving things as they are. If it means protecting our people, of course we will lend our strength.”
“Good. Then let’s start preparations right away.”
“What kind of preparations? Repairing the walls would seem to be the top priority, but evading the mayor’s eye will be difficult.”
“No, there is no need to repair the walls.”
“Pardon? In that case…….”
Kudran’s question was only natural.
To protect the city, making the shield of the walls even slightly more intact was important.
But Hanbit brought up a different topic.
“For now, let’s start by making a shelter.”
***
About an hour later.
The three people who had been helping with work stepped out of the dwarf village for a moment.
The sun had already gone down, and a faint darkness was settling outside.
Hanbit looked over the message that had appeared a while ago.
[Main Quest #3 has been completed.]
[You have received 50,000 gold.]
[2 stat points are awarded.]
[Your experience points have increased by 30,000.]
[Your level has risen by 1.]
[1 stat point is awarded.]
[Progress increases.]
[Main Quest #4: Evacuation]
The dwarf village was attacked by monsters.
A meaningless barricade will not be able to do anything.
Move inside the walls and look for a solution.
Objective: Devise an evacuation plan for the dwarves.
Reward: 100,000 gold
*Current Progress: 8%
A crisis made real by the village attack.
Thinking about how the danger level would rise going forward, there was a need to prepare safety measures for the dwarves as quickly as possible.
“But the attack from earlier — is that a completely separate development? Or does it change the number of main waves too?”
“The scale was too small to call it a wave. There were also hardly any players who progressed the story at the dwarf village to begin with.”
Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde poured out their questions about the incident just now.
The attack on the dwarf village a moment ago was precisely what was supposed to happen today, at that hour.
The difference, if any, was the absence of Guild Master Jinuk’s group.
Had Hanbit not stepped in, the people he had met at the monster carcass disposal site would have moved to the village.
There they would have discovered the anomaly in the forest, and carried out the subjugation themselves.
“Attacks like this will be almost nonexistent. The three major waves, as commonly known, are the main events.”
The structure of the story unfolding in Ifrit was simple.
Three monster waves striking with time intervals between them.
Hold them off and protect the city — and if the boss was somehow defeated, the story’s conclusion would be reached.
Simply focusing on subjugation while letting the city’s losses mount would be no different from failure, of course.
“I heard the waves are quite intense. But the first one is supposed to be easy pickings, right?”
“It seemed the deployed NPCs were sufficient for the first. Still, it seems better for us to directly earn as much credit as possible.”
-The first is easy.
-For real, it holds on its own without doing anything.
-Free real estate, right?
-Came back after eating and it was already over. Lol.
Those with experience expressed all sorts of opinions.
But the reason the first wave was treated lightly was simple.
In the first wave every player had experienced, roughly half of it was a decoy.
“Where are we going now?”
While talking and walking, the main gate had drawn close without them noticing.
“We are heading into the city, but… I’ll need to have a conversation with that side first.”
Hanbit pointed a finger toward the base of the dim wall.
Gorik, having revealed himself, was slowly approaching.
“He’s been following us this whole time?”
“That much would mean he has no intention of letting us slip away.”
While the two exchanged brief words,
Gorik closed to a few paces away.
His short stature brought one’s gaze down, but he carried the distinct aura of royalty.
“We meet again.”
“You speak as though it were coincidence. Do not think I consider what happened earlier a debt.”
“I have no intention of bringing that up either.”
Gorik had mentioned the act of drawing Jinuk’s group’s attention.
It had been a move to preserve Hanbit’s plans above all — but it seemed some goodwill had accumulated alongside it.
“The fact that you came to find us like this — does it mean your thoughts have changed somewhat?”
“…I am willing to at least hear what you have to say. You called it a deal — what is it you want from me?”
Gorik went straight to the point.
It was likely that seeing the condition of his people had brought about a change of heart.
Hanbit too saw no reason to beat around the bush.
“It is simple. Please teach dwarven metallurgy to my companion.”
“What?”
At those bluntly delivered words, Gorik’s burning gaze shifted.
Eyes that seemed almost to bore through the other landed on Kim Jaeha, who was standing beside Hanbit.
After a brief silence, Gorik spoke in a sharp voice.
“You are now asking me to pass down a craft to one who is not of royal blood?”
“I believe the token is of sufficient value for that. Ah, I would also appreciate your help in protecting Ifrit. Surely you don’t want to let your people all die.”
“How dare you speak so——!”
The matter-of-fact tone drew an outburst of anger from Gorik.
Dwarven metallurgy was a precious power that precious precisely because it was not exposed to the outside.
Crunch—
Gorik bit down hard and forcibly steadied himself.
He looked at Kim Jaeha once more and put forward a different proposal.
“I cannot pass down the complete craft. But I can train him to the extent of becoming a capable blacksmith.”
“That won’t do. What is needed is precisely dwarven metallurgy.”
“Very well. Then to the level of a first-rate blacksmith…….”
“I must refuse.”
Hanbit cut off the successive negotiation attempts firmly.
In that short span of time, Gorik’s face had turned a deep red.
“Your arrogance truly knows no bounds.”
“It is not arrogance. Things are close to worst-case for your people as well as for Your Highness. So rather than needlessly adding more victims, please consider the proposal——”
“Enough! I must have been out of my mind to even think of making a deal with you!”
Gorik finally exploded at the nerve-grating words.
Unable to refute them, he glared fiercely and wheeled around.
Hanbit called out toward his retreating figure.
“You should keep watch over the village tonight. If your mind changes, please come and find me.”
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Gorik’s figure, having shouted that, had disappeared before anyone noticed.
Ding—
[Sub-Quest #1 has been completed.]
[Sub-Quest #2 has been unlocked.]
[Sub-Quest #2]
You spoke with Gorik, who came to you first — but the deal fell through again.
Gorik left looking quite furious. Will you be able to meet him again?
Objective: Wait for the next meeting with Gorik.
Reward: Sub-Quest #3 Unlocked
“Oh? I got Sub-Quest 2 as well.”
Having properly completed the Edelen episode, it seemed a quest had appeared for Kim Jaeha too.
Having met Gorik once already, the first quest had apparently been applied retroactively.
“But wasn’t that a bit too much prodding? I could practically hear his teeth grinding.”
“It felt to me as well as if you were deliberately provoking him. Is there a reason for it?”
-For real lol.
-You might as well have told him to get lost.
-To be honest, the dwarf is more cringeworthy…
-That’s fair too.
The questions from the two people listening alongside the chat’s divided reactions.
Hanbit looked toward the dim road ahead and spoke.
“The wall around Gorik’s heart is quite thick. It’s something like shock therapy.”
Gorik had strong pride, but he was not foolish through and through.
Having had the unreasonable reality pounded into him, he would face his own limitations objectively.
And there remained an event that would properly move that heart.
“Please both of you head back to the dwarf village. Finish the work I asked of you earlier as well.”
“The underground shelter? But can something like that really be built that fast?”
“They’re dwarves, aren’t they? When driven by will, they can dig something like that with ease.”
“That… is fair. Dig like your life depends on it — because it does.”
Kim Jaeha was surprised at the news that the underground space might already be dug out.
But even without dwarven metallurgy, their sheer physical labor capacity was exceptional.
With their own lives on the line, they would have thrown everything they had at it.
“But just the two of us? What about you?”
“There isn’t much time left until the first wave — where are you heading?”
The first monster wave that would come in the night.
The dwarf villagers would lose their lives then — but if an underground evacuation space was built, they could survive.
But that was only a temporary measure.
“It’s difficult to keep surviving there. Getting them inside the city is the best option.”
“What? Is that even possible?”
“Are you sure about this? The mayor’s pushback will be considerable.”
The two reacted with surprise.
But from experience, nothing awaited them outside the city but a future of death.
“If we make use of that wall, room for negotiation opens up.”
“The wall?”
“Ohh……. So there’s something there!”
Kim Jaeha looking up at the beautiful glass wall.
Avantgarde blazed with excitement at what seemed like yet another development about to change.
‘There will be no choice but to negotiate.’
One thing the mayor had not anticipated.
That if something went wrong with the wall, there was no way to restore it.
Hanbit intended to create that situation and use it as a bargaining chip.
“Either way, please both of you go to the village. You need to watch carefully whether any other problems arise, whether there are any monster attacks.”
“Understood! I will head back right away and get ready! Kim Jaeha-nim, shall we go!”
“…Why are you so excited again? Anyway, alright. We’ll be at the village.”
The two returned to the dwarf village.
Left alone, Hanbit raised his head and looked up at the wall.
‘The first wave…….’
Memories of the past unfolded naturally in his mind.
He had experienced the wave under every conceivable circumstance — it was a notably demanding event.
Hanbit moved his feet toward the city gate and said:
“Then I’ll be heading in.”
