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133
“Black Dragon-nim!”
While moving along the city wall, a voice came from behind.
Turning around, dwarf Kudran was running over.
“What is it?”
“Ah, I came to let you know we’ve started moving to the central plaza!”
He added that they were transporting the work items.
One plan that had been set from the beginning.
When preparations neared their conclusion, the rally point would be moved to the central plaza.
“Understood. Then let’s head toward the city gate together.”
Hanbit walked along the wall with the two dwarves.
His gaze moved toward the beautiful glass wall.
“The repairs came out well.”
“Yes. They were completed quickly alongside the trap placement. The internal explosives we discussed — with His Highness personally guiding us, they should have an excellent effect.”
“It was a joyful experience to work in unison like that after so long!”
The dwarves who had seen through the wall repairs and trap placement all through the night.
An impossible pace by any common measure — but the power of the blessing was that formidable.
Having felt the return of their reclaimed abilities, the dwarves must have gone through countless emotions.
Crunch—
The three moved toward the eastern side of the wall.
And when they arrived near the monster carcass disposal site, a figure came into view.
Whoosh—!
Clatter—
A man clearing work tools and debris by himself.
The elder, seeing that face, made a puzzled expression.
“…Guild Master?”
The man’s identity was Jinuk.
The sight of him sweating alone at work was quite startling.
-?
-What’s he doing there?
-Is he cleaning up alone?
-How long has he been at this?
-He’s cleared a lot;
The viewers too showed puzzled reactions at the out-of-nowhere situation.
Kudran standing beside him was also tilting his head.
‘He’s cleared quite a lot.’
The reason Hanbit had brought the two dwarves here.
It was to show them this sight of Jinuk.
Forgiving past wrongs was their choice, and he had no intention of forcing it.
He simply wanted to show that Jinuk, like the dwarves, was regretting the past and trying to change.
Because if only hostility remained, the wave would be difficult to see through cleanly.
“…….”
The elder looked at Jinuk with an expressionless face.
Silent for a moment, he slowly moved his feet forward.
“What are you doing here?”
“…Ah.”
Jolting at the voice that reached him, Jinuk turned around.
His entire body dirty with dust and carcass residue.
He stepped back one pace, averted his eyes, and said:
“I was cleaning up. A little time was left after finishing my duties…….”
Jinuk, who had gone out there alone after completing his work.
He had probably been continuing the task since the early hours of the morning.
“You’ve cleared a great deal!”
Kudran, who had followed over, said heartily.
The elder too knew how much debris had been cleared.
Because when the wall repairs and trap placement work was being done, the monster carcass disposal site had been left to sort out later.
“Are you seeking sympathy?”
The elder threw out the question with sharp eyes.
Jinuk then waved his hands and said:
“No, nothing of the sort. It’s simply that I was less useful than all of you, so I looked for something to do.”
The enormous workload of the dwarves preparing against the wave.
Having recognized that, Jinuk had found his proper role.
“You said you were less useful?”
But the elder’s reaction was not as expected.
Brow furrowed, he looked at the cleared surroundings and said:
“What position in this city is most closely involved with monsters? Is it not the guild master? And yet spending time on something like this…….”
“Haha! It was an important bottleneck anyway — isn’t it fortunate! Honestly I think I deliberated about twenty times whether to clean it or not!”
Kudran simply laughed that things had worked out.
Watching that, the elder let out a sigh and said:
“This man with no sense. The dwarf who should be most furious at the guild master is you. Do you intend to pretend you’ve forgotten everything?”
In reality, Kudran had been on the receiving end of Jinuk’s abuses the most.
The elder, who knew this well, wore a frustrated expression.
But the man in question felt differently.
“As expected, the elder thinks about too many things! If you hold onto each and every memory, you’ll age fast!”
“Why you…….”
-Lol.
-No malice, was there.
-Positivity GOAT.
-Kudran never gets riled and it’s hilarious. Lol.
Kudran raised his voice with a hearty laugh.
A personality that leaves no lingering bitterness.
Hanbit knew well that no matter how much time passed, that about him never changed.
“The guild master’s role is still an important one, though! You’d best move to the central plaza quickly! And honestly your body smells quite strongly — you might want to wipe yourself down!”
“What? Just a——!”
Kudran pushed Jinuk’s back and headed toward the city gate.
The elder, watching that, let out another sigh.
“Nothing to be done. I’ll guide you quickly.”
Hanbit followed behind the two with him.
The trap locations matched his memory, so a light rundown was sufficient.
***
“Sort that out over there!”
“Lay it down this way!”
“I keep saying don’t block the traffic flow!”
Arriving at the central plaza, the sight of busy dwarves came into view.
One display rack filled with weapons and armor.
On the other side, medium-scale subjugation equipment and magical devices were laid out by category.
-Wow.
-They’re going to use all of that?
-There’s something that looks like a flamethrower;
-This is what dwarves are.
-Right, you guys neglected them and let them all waste away.
-No more truth-bombing please.
The viewers showed amazed reactions at the enormous number of work items.
Those who had already cleared the Ifrit story were filled with regret and frustration.
“Black Dragon-nim!”
Avantgarde, who had come running ahead, was looking slightly animated.
“It looks like it all came together.”
“I was away for about five hours, and an incredible amount was accomplished in that time. No matter how many times I see it, it’s astonishing!”
Avantgarde had held his position through morning, but in his absence the dwarves had pressed even harder on the work.
The true reason the heirloom had been needed to stop the wave.
In every past run, there had not been a single instance of Ifrit being defended without them.
“What’s progressed this fast?”
“It’s only natural if we’re the ones at work.”
Just then, Kim Jaeha and Gorik came approaching from down the path.
The two, conversing as they walked, now genuinely looked like teacher and student.
“You’ve worked hard, hyung. Looks like you managed to succeed.”
“It’s thanks to you pulling up that memory. Have a conversation with the iron. Strike the hammer while imagining its soul. My grandfather’s words actually worked.”
Gorik’s task of listening to the sound of iron relied entirely on ‘feeling.’
How that had been implemented in the game he wasn’t sure, but the context of the advice Kim Jaeha had heard from his grandfather was astonishingly close to the correct answer.
As his expression of relief showed — he had found his own way.
“Our preparations are complete. Now we simply wait for the monsters to come?”
Gorik asked while looking over the organized situation around him.
The work that had been planned was all finished.
Nothing remained but to fight the monsters.
“I’m not sure. We weren’t the only ones moving.”
Hanbit shifted his gaze to Jinuk standing beside him.
He was looking at the prepared work items, momentarily at a loss for words.
“Jinuk, the adventurers were also preparing something, weren’t they?”
“…Ah.”
Called by name, he snapped to his senses and looked at Hanbit.
Then he gave a nod and said:
“Should be wrapping up soon. To the western clearing… no need to go there. They’re coming over.”
Jinuk pointed to the path leading west.
An enormous crowd was making their way over in a line.
“Quite a number. Are those not Ifrit’s adventurers?”
The armed humans had the appearance of adventurers.
The unusual part was that their number reached into the thousands.
“Ah, Black Dragon-nim — you’re here.”
Zenon, standing at the very front of them.
It seemed the things he had been asked to take care of had been handled properly.
“Did the training go well? It must have been difficult for everyone, being unfamiliar work.”
“The will was strong, so it was fine. These are people who want to protect someone.”
He gave a nod and looked at his companions.
Humans of various ages, looking a little like people in ill-fitting clothes.
But the resolve in their expressions came through clearly.
“What do you mean? What did you do?”
Kim Jaeha, who had been absorbed in his work, asked with puzzlement.
Hanbit, looking at the humans who were beginning to form into lines, said:
“They’re Ifrit residents. I had volunteers receive rapid training.”
-??
-That’s possible?
-You can actually use civilians?
-They were all scared and hiding at home;
-That’s because we progressed the story terribly.
The viewers showed surprised reactions at the unexpected situation.
Kim Jaeha’s questions only grew.
“Is that possible? People unfamiliar with combat to begin with — that’s too dangerous for them.”
“Naturally, I can’t send them to the front lines. Most of them will be playing support roles. The actual fighting — that can be left to the experts over there, can’t it?”
Hanbit pointed to the path leading to the city gate.
A group of actual adventurers was approaching from there.
“Thank you for coming. It was a difficult request — I didn’t expect this many to come.”
Jinuk approached their representative and expressed his gratitude.
Adventurers staying in towns, cities, and outposts near Ifrit.
From night through to the early morning, it was Jinuk who had run on his own feet and reached out to them.
“Your sincerity reached us. So even the thoughtless, arrogant Jinuk can change this much.”
A large, middle-aged adventurer smiled as he spoke.
“A-rank adventurer Kevin. Someone who doesn’t move easily — you’ve managed to bring him along.”
Zenon quietly added an explanation from beside him.
Hanbit, who knew this man’s ability, gave a nod at the flow he had planned.
“You’re Black Dragon?”
Kevin, coming close, stood in front of Hanbit.
Then he extended a hand and said:
“Kevin. You’re the one who put this unbelievable plan together?”
“I only drew up the outline. This was accomplished entirely by Ifrit’s citizens.”
“Not very befitting your age. I like it.”
Hanbit, taking the hand, exchanged a light handshake.
Kevin gave a quiet smile and turned his gaze around.
“I’ve heard the scale of the offensive will be considerable. How are you planning the deployment?”
“Ah, for that — please speak with us.”
Zenon, coming close, was with a middle-aged male human.
His identity was the defense commander.
A position rendered nominal by the mayor, but at least a reasonable person who could be communicated with.
“Zenon, I’ll give you a brief rundown.”
Hanbit added a little more input on the deployment configuration.
The contents of the dwarves’ weapons and the internal wall bombs had all been shared, so a lengthy explanation wasn’t needed.
Zenon, listening seriously, gave a nod.
“I understand. Then I’ll factor this side in and distribute accordingly.”
He took Kevin and the defense commander and quickly began the force deployment.
Turning his head, Hanbit looked at Avantgarde.
“Sorry to ask, but could you bring Isis? I think I need to keep watching the deployment here.”
“Understood!”
Giving a nod, he quickly headed toward the northern shack.
Hanbit approached where Gorik was and asked:
“Have you all made your decision? My thought is that it would be best for you to support the fighters inside the city.”
“We fight directly. To suffer the same thing that befell our homeland Hedrik twice — we’d be worthy of death.”
“Exactly!”
“We must absolutely fight back!”
At the prince’s declaration, the dwarves raised their hands and raised their voices.
Those who had felt in their bones the fall of the Kingdom of Hedrik.
Stopping them would have been like carving away their souls.
“Understood. But please prepare thoroughly. I have no intention of sending you into certain death.”
“Do you think those monsters can penetrate our armor? No — they’ll be dead before their claws and teeth so much as graze us.”
Gorik, burning with fighting spirit, returned to the crowd of his people.
Hanbit knew well that those words were not bravado.
“Oh! Here you are!”
As the deployment neared completion with everyone’s help.
A woman’s voice reached him from the path leading north.
It was Isis, being escorted by Avantgarde.
-She’s finally here.
-Incredibly late;
-Lady hi.
-The audio is filling right up.
-Almost at veteran streamer level.
-Reflect on yourselves, you slackers.
The viewers even offered greetings at the already-familiar face.
“I’m so sorry! She had her arms around the ice and wouldn’t let go…….”
Avantgarde expressed his difficult situation in an apology.
Naturally it was not his fault.
“It’s fine. That’s just the kind of person she is.”
“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”
Isis, coming over suddenly, stood right in front of him.
Then she immediately began pouring out words.
“There’s so much I want to talk about — where do we start? The composition contained in Glacier’s ice? What spirit power actually is? The difference from magic? What should we start with…….”
“Don’t get excited. If we can’t stop the wave, you’ll never have another chance to see spirit power. Watch closely as the one who drove the monsters mad and see what it is you’ve done.”
“Never……?”
At the warning with spirit power as bait, Isis’s eyes went wide.
Urgently shifting her gaze toward the wall, she slightly lifted her glasses frame.
“Hm?”
She took a step forward as though she had seen something.
Narrowing her brow in concentration, Isis then pointed a finger straight ahead.
“They’re coming.”
Bang—!
Boom boom boom—!
An explosive sound accompanying those words.
Turning to look, black dots could be seen flying in from beyond the city wall.
“It’s Crash Birds!”
“Get the separated turrets out as far as possible!”
At the assault mercilessly battering the glass wall, soldiers urgently raised their voices.
And an alert appeared with a message.
Ding—
[Main Quest #11 has been completed.]
[Progress increases.]
[Main Quest #12: The Third Wave]
The third wave has finally come to Ifrit.
Together with everyone, the lethal assault must be overcome.
Objective: Defend the city from the third wave.
Reward: 600,000 gold, 200,000 experience points, 20 stat points
*Current Progress: 86%
