…Three Days Since Then

“Does Gigil-Po’s territory begin around here?”

“That’s right. Though it’s not like they guard the border.”

Three days after departing Einheria, Cougar’s guidance had brought us to the mountain range where Gigil-Po was located.

“Hmm… where are we heading after this?”

“The largest town in Gigil-Po… it doesn’t have a name, but it’s the center of Gigil-Po, and this is also the town where the town chiefs gather. They gather once every two months, and right now, they’re perfectly in the middle of that gathering!”

“Perfect timing, Cougar.”

I praised Cougar, who had made the plan that brought us here today.

Naturally, Cougar must have aimed for this period when the town chiefs were gathering before arranging our arrival.

“I’m a diplomat, after all!”

The instant I praised him, Cougar became smug.

“Cougar gets carried away right away. Foolish.”

“Now that the guiding is done, perhaps it’s about time to cut him…”

“How long are you going to drag out a joke from three days ago!? And the guiding isn’t over yet! Without me, you won’t reach the town! Are you two going to search for the town’s location in these mountains!?”

““Kuh…!””

For some reason, Cougar, who had gotten carried away, was being pestered by Lynferia and the others… well, they seemed to get along, so that was good.

For now, setting those three aside…

“Are you all right, Bangagonga?”

“Yeah… I’m barely alive. It was one hell of a journey…”

Holding the full-face helmet he had worn until we arrived here in one hand, Bangagonga muttered with a somewhat enlightened look.

“I was born in a forest and lived there all my life, so I thought I knew it well… but I never knew trees and bushes could be that dangerous… no, I did recognize them as dangerous before, but this was on a completely different level…”

Bangagonga spoke with a faraway look and a strangely refreshed tone… no, I really was sorry…

Bangagonga had kept trying desperately along the way while drinking potions… Bangagonga had looked suspicious beyond belief when we entered towns and rented rooms at inns, wearing a full-face helmet and a robe that was completely wrapped around his entire body so he would not be exposed as a goblin… Bangagonga had been unable to hold back and screamed when we leapt across a valley… Bangagonga had been splattered all over with the blood of a monster that was split in half the moment its discovery was reported…

To every version of Bangagonga, I offered praise and thanks for working so hard…

“I never knew… humanfolk could run across rivers…”

“I don’t think everyone can do that.”

Rather, I thought there were very few people outside us who could do it… when I found out I could do it myself, I was a little put off too…

To think it was actually possible in reality to put out your right foot before your left foot sank…

“I’m sincerely grateful that we made it here safely…”

That gratitude probably wasn’t directed toward us…

“All that remains is to climb this mountain, but while there don’t seem to be many trees, the rocky surface is uneven, so we can’t let our guard down until the very end.”

When I said that while looking at the rugged mountain surface, Bangagonga also agreed with a solemn expression.

“If I got injured after coming this far, it wouldn’t even be funny, so I’ve got to brace myself.”

“…If the negotiations fail, we’ll have to take the same route we came by.”

“I’ve really got to brace myself and make sure the negotiations succeed!”

When I smiled wryly at Bangagonga, who had grown even more fired up, Bangagonga put on the full-face helmet he had been holding.

Now then, this should be enough rest.

“Cougar! We’re about to resume moving!”

“Got it!”

When I turned around, for some reason, I saw Cougar lying on the ground, his face pale, giving me a thumbs-up as he answered.

“What are you doing?”

“Cougar likes the ground.”

Renge said with her usual sleepy half-lidded eyes while dangling her wrist loosely.

“It looks like he’s holding his stomach with one hand?”

And his complexion was completely blue too.

“It seems he is hungry… even though he ate breakfast properly. Perhaps he has grown lax.”

Lynferia said in an extremely normal manner.

I see. I more or less understood.

“No, Fels-sama, these two—”

As if cutting off Cougar’s attempt to say something, Renge slammed the handle of her axe into the ground, and a loud sound rang out through the area.

“…Cougar, what did you do?”

“Why… are you asking like I’m the one at fault?”

“Cougar, I shall bestow you a golden saying. Yield to those stronger than you.”

“…I can’t accept that.”

“More importantly, it’s about time we went, isn’t it? Bangagonga is fully prepared too. If you don’t guide us, we’ll end up stranded, won’t we?”

“If you think that, I’d like you to treat me a little more kindly…”

While holding his stomach, Cougar unsteadily rose to his feet.

“…It can’t be helped. Drink a potion.”

From the bag attached to my waist, I tossed Cougar a small potion bottle.

“…At least a special-grade potion would have been nice.”

“Do you have a complaint about the potion I granted you?”

“Of course not! I’ll yield to those stronger than me!”

It was good to see he had promptly learned from my words.

After drinking the low-grade potion, Cougar cracked his neck and moved as if loosening up his body, then took the rope from Bangagonga with practiced ease and began moving.

Now then, just one more push until Gigil-Po… at last, we would meet the dwarves.

No, I was looking forward to it!

View of Galgad-Ebo-Suyan, Gigil-Po Town Chiefs’ Council Member, Chairman

“The next agenda item is the import of food. It seems the humanfolk countries have grown noisy lately, and there is a possibility that food imports may stagnate in the future.”

When I brought up the new agenda item, the other town chiefs sighed.

“You lot… I understand how you feel, but straighten yourselves up a little.”

“You say that, Galgad, but what number agenda item is this today? We’ve been going nonstop since morning, and I’m exhausted.”

“Exactly. It is not as if this meeting is only being held today. Why don’t we call it here for today?”

“Indeed. I am so thirsty I feel like I might die.”

Starting with Oran’s words from across from me, the other town chiefs all began clamoring that we should end for today.

Honestly, these fellows… isn’t it terribly unbalanced that only people who basically dislike all work besides crafting and digging holes become town chiefs?

No, it was precisely because they excelled at crafting and digging holes that they were chosen as town chiefs, so one could say we dwarves were quite sinful…

“Fine, fine. But this concerns the food problem. At least listen to the outline and think of something by tomorrow’s meeting.”

That said… it was also true that even I had grown fed up with this meeting that had continued since morning. For today, I wanted to explain only this agenda item and end it there… but knowing these fellows, once the discussion began, they would probably continue debating until they reached a tentative conclusion.

“Do you know that a new country was recently formed to the southwest?”

While thinking that, I began speaking.

“Humanfolk countries change hands quickly, after all…”

“Southwest, you say? Around the Lumoria Kingdom? That place had remained a country for quite a long time, hadn’t it? Did the country split?”

“Ah, around the area with Dragon’s Roost? Wasn’t that area supposed to be left untouched because there was a risk of provoking the dragon?”

“It was indeed that Lumoria Kingdom. Apparently, it was destroyed by a country called Einheria.”

At my words, the town chiefs did not show any particular reaction.

Well, that was only natural… after all, humanfolk and we dwarves were not close enough to be called neighbors.

“Humanfolk really do love war. Why, just recently, some country came attacking this Gigil-Po too, didn’t it?”

“It was not just recently, was it? If I recall, it was about thirty years ago.”

“Has that much time passed? No wonder the brats born before the war have been getting cheeky with me lately.”

Just as the conversation looked like it was about to veer off track, I cut in.

The bad habit of dwarves was that the moment a topic they had even the slightest interest in came up, they immediately marched straight toward it.

“Ah, I’m continuing the discussion, all right? As for this Einheria that destroyed the Lumoria Kingdom, it seems they are obsessed with expanding their territory. Apparently, they have been waging war with neighboring countries one after another.”

“That sounds like a troublesome country. If its territory spreads all the way here, won’t it attack us too?”

“If that happens, we can just blow them away, right? The new magic tools are waiting eagerly for their turn, you know?”

“Well, if that time comes, so be it. More importantly, the problem is the agenda item, food imports.”

Old Gain brought the conversation back to the problem on the agenda.

As expected of the eldest among the town chiefs… that was the wisdom of age.

“We rely on the Kingdom of Kugarlan for food imports. And the Kingdom of Kugarlan already shares a border with Einheria… so it would not be strange if war broke out at any time. Because of those concerns, food prices have begun soaring… and most importantly, they have started becoming reluctant to sell.”

“How about changing our import source to the Kingdom of Sorakil? That place buys weapons from us, so wouldn’t it be easier to negotiate?”

“Would that not be difficult? Their land is not very fertile for the size of their territory, is it?”

“No, no, they should be able to cover the amount we dwarves import, shouldn’t they?”

“But that place can hardly be called a peaceful country, can it? Just like this time, there is a possibility that imports could become difficult on some occasions.”

“Would it not be better to stop relying on just one place? Unlike the weapons we make, food is the same no matter where we import it from, isn’t it?”

“That’s true only for you, with your terrible sense of taste.”

“What did you say!”

Well, arguments turning into fistfights like this was the usual pattern.

Still, increasing our import sources might be a good idea… but it would increase the work of negotiations and the like, and we would probably argue again over who would take charge of that…

As I was thinking about that, the meeting room door was suddenly flung open.

“Sorry! Master! Pardon me during the meeting!”

“You idiot! Even if it’s urgent, there’s such a thing as manners!”

Oran shouted angrily, his face bright red.

Apparently, the one who had burst into the meeting room was his apprentice.

“Sorry! But it’s that, you know!”

“I always tell you that saying ‘that’ doesn’t convey anything! Calm down!”

“Got it! Sorry! Umm, it’s that! A humanfolk king came to this town!”

“Huh? What are you talking about? A king isn’t someone who just casually drops by like some traveler.”

Oran replied to his apprentice’s words with a dumbfounded expression.

Well, that was only natural.

Humanfolk kings liked all sorts of formalities, and none had ever directly visited us in Gigil-Po before.

We had been summoned many times, though.

“No, Master. He really came! At least, that’s what those people are saying! Umm… they said he was the king of Ein… heria?”

““Einheria!?””

We had just been discussing how we were facing a troublesome problem because of that very country, and now the king of the country in question had appeared?

“What about soldiers!?”

“Umm… well…”

“You idiot! This is a matter where every moment counts! Spit it out clearly!”

“Sorry! It’s that! The king came to town with only about five attendants! There are no other soldiers!”

“As if that could be true, you idiot! They must be camping down at the foot of the mountain! Did you check down there too!?”

“At the very least, we didn’t see a single soldier within the range we could confirm!”

“…No matter how you think about it, a king wouldn’t distance himself that much from an army protecting him, would he?”

Oran asked the town chiefs as if seeking confirmation, but no one could answer.

It was hard to believe he had not brought soldiers with him, but first, we needed to hear about the king.

“…And then? After that king entered the town, what did he do?”

“For the time being, we guided him to the best inn… and we’re also having the guest house prepared just in case.”

“I see. You’re an idiot, but you’re surprisingly considerate!”

“Got it!”

Despite Oran’s words not sounding very much like praise, his apprentice nodded happily.

“What do we do? Are we going to meet him?”

“No, surely even they will not say it must be today? Besides, we lack information. Gather as much as you can in one day.”

“Damn it…! That means we’re definitely buried in work until tomorrow!”

“No, I do not know what the other party came here for, but it will probably continue after tomorrow too… for now, shall we drink some alcohol?”

“That’s right. We can’t deal with this without drinking!”

Saying that, the town chiefs began preparing alcohol.

For us dwarves, going a day or two without sleep was not a problem, but we had already gone half a day without alcohol, so that was a very serious problem.

While watching everyone happily proceed with the alcohol preparations, I tried to guess what this suddenly appearing king of Einheria would bring to Gigil-Po, but because there was far too little information, I held my head in my hands.