Dwarven Village (3)

“Hissss, hiss.”

The orcs hissed while surrounding us. It might seem like meaningless hissing, but it’s actually the orcish language. To me, it just sounds like ‘hiss’.

This is where Rurin comes in. There is no language a dragon can’t understand.

“Rurin, what are they saying?”

“They said, ‘No, don’t kill them. Capture them…’”

Rurin started translating the orcs’ conversation at my request.

“Hisss?”

Another orc hissed. So I looked at Rurin again.

“They said, ‘Really?’ Those guys are dumb.”

Rurin translated while mocking them.

“Hiss hiss?”

“But what about those humans?”

Now Rurin’s translation function activates automatically. Convenient.

“Hiss, hiss hiss!”

“Intruders! Let’s kill them!”

“Hiss, hiss!”

“Ugh! Annoying! Translating! We’re going to kill them anyway!”

The translator malfunctioned and exploded.

It’s a good translator but has no patience.

Honestly, she’s right. Orcs are enemies of humans.

The number of people killed by the orc army in the last war was countless. Even now, they are capturing and oppressing the dwarves.

“Alright, do as you wish.”

As I gave my approval, Rurin raised her hand high in the air.

Boom!

The orcs in front of Rurin were engulfed by powerful magic and began to explode. It was as if they self-combusted, caused by a spell that boils and detonates the energy within living beings.

Boom!

Explosions and flames.

Soon, the orcs fell, roasted.

“Hiss! Hiss!”

The orcs in the back, startled, drew their weapons and charged, but I repeatedly cast Flame and burned them too.

Rising smoke.

Dead orcs.

The dwarf looked at us with a terrified expression. His short stature was just half of mine. Sitting down, he looked a bit funny.

“Amazing! Humans, you’re strong!”

I went straight to the point with the admiring dwarf.

“Can you guide me to where the other dwarves are held? I need their help with something, and I’ll assist you.”

“An assignment? But… there are a lot of orcs. There seem to be about a hundred of them.”

“And you escaped alone?”

If that’s the case, isn’t he quite a cowardly dwarf? Dwarves have an incredibly strong sense of kinship. You can’t think of them like humans.

“I’m a dwarf. I didn’t escape alone. I escaped to find and seek help from other dwarves. We couldn’t stay captive to the orcs forever. If they hadn’t taken the young dwarves as hostages, we would have rather fought to the death!”

“Oh, I see. Then, Mr. Dwarf? What’s your name?”

“I’m Berinum.”

“I’m El.”

“Got it! Thank you for your help, humans. But it’s still impossible with just the numbers. Unless an army of humans arrives. So, I will go find my kin.”

“It’s not that difficult.”

“Defeat a hundred orcs with just two humans? I’m not a foolish dwarf.”

“It’s fine, just guide us for now.”

“But… you’ll die too.”

The dwarf still looked doubtful and stammered. Rurin, frustrated, turned her gaze to the dwarf.

She didn’t even bother speaking, just glared.

The dwarf, inadvertently looking into Rurin’s eyes, froze.

Dragon Fear emanated from Rurin’s body. Proof of a higher existence that couldn’t come from a human.

Normally, such strong fear would instantly kill weak monsters or humans.

But that’s in her dragon form.

In her polymorphed state, it doesn’t kill instantly. But Rurin was emitting enough energy to cause fainting.

Anyway, Rurin’s identity had to be revealed. After all, it’s the dwarves who will build the lair. So there’s no need to stop her.

“The, the Great One… is it?”

The dwarf was so shocked that he stammered and then fell to the ground, prostrating himself.

Elves and dwarves. These two races revere dragons as great beings. That’s why Elena also prostrated herself when she saw Rurin.

“Great One! I, I thought you looked like a human…”

“Rurin, don’t scare him too much. We need to form a working relationship, and if you scare him too much, it won’t be effective.”

“But I can’t tolerate any disrespect towards you.”

“Alright, stop it. If you make him faint, it will only complicate things.”

As I patted her head to calm her down, Rurin, who had been emitting anger, nodded and stepped back.

The dwarf, who had a pained expression, finally took a breath and spoke as the pressure from the fear dissipated.

“I don’t understand how a human can be with the Great One…”

The dwarf, expressing his doubt, froze again when Rurin glared at him and then spoke.

“El is greater than a human! On the same level as me!”

“If you don’t guide us quickly, the dragon might explode?”

“Th-that? Ah, understood! Th-this way. This way!”

At my words, the dwarf began to sweat nervously and hurriedly led the way. The presence of a being beyond comparison to orcs caused him to tremble with fear and tension.

Crossing the mine and moving deep into the mountains, a place resembling an underground bunker appeared.

“The orcs built an underground fortress here. It was made by us dwarves. We are trapped in this place.”

The dwarf’s speech became awkward as he used honorifics.

The entrance to the underground that he pointed to was empty.

“Can you wait here? I’ll go fetch the other dwarves.”

“Thank you. If you save our dwarves, we won’t forget this favor.”

The dwarf said this to me and then bowed to Rurin again. I headed into the underground fortress with Rurin.

There was no one at the entrance, but as we went further in, the orcs were swarming.

Boom!

I used wide-area magic on the horde, causing the orcs to explode. The smell of burning filled the underground passage.

After instantly killing the clustered orcs, we descended to find a vast underground space. The orcs’ homes, a prison, and a forge where the dwarves were working.

It resembled an anthill structure.

This fortress was undoubtedly made by the dwarves. Such construction skills are crucial for building the lair.

“Rurin, let’s take the orcs down.”

“Hehe, this is exciting!”

Releasing her dragon attack instincts, Rurin freed her mana with an excited expression.

“Hiss! Hiss!”

“Intruders! Kill them! They said. So arrogant.”

“Really?”

The translator reactivated without being prompted.

At the same time, Rurin’s mana storm erupted, causing the orcs to explode and be blown away. I also struck down any orcs I saw.

Ashes here, ashes there.

Using explosion magic caused the underground to shake, and dirt began to fall. This isn’t desirable.

“Hiss hiss!”

Realizing they were under attack, more orcs kept emerging. Their numbers were almost like an army. We had advanced to what seemed like the central square of an anthill.

The orcs seemed to have gathered in this square.

Around the circular square were the dwarves’ prison and the forge where they were forced to make weapons for the orcs.

The dwarves looked at us with wide eyes like startled rabbits.

If the underground collapsed, Rurin and I might survive, but the dwarves would be crushed to death. So I stopped using explosion magic and started casting ice magic.

The orcs began to freeze as a strong chill swept across the square floor.

“Hiss!”

Sensing the high-level magic, the orcs hissed even louder.

“Hiss!”

“Shut up! Stop hissing already!”

The translator malfunctioned again and exploded, annoyed by the hissing.

Emitting Dragon Fear, Rurin frightened the orcs in the back who hadn’t yet been affected by the ice magic.

Rumble!

The underground shook once more.

The overwhelming presence of Dragon Fear enveloped the underground fortress.

“Hiss! Hissss! Hiss!”

Realizing the meaning of the fear, the orcs began to flee frantically. Most of them froze from my ice magic, so only a few managed to escape.

Once they recognized Rurin as a dragon, the orcs lost their will to fight.

Creatures facing Dragon Fear usually have two choices: prostrate themselves or flee.

Sometimes, regardless of their choice, they get killed by the dragon.

And then there are those like me who choose the third option: to fight.

Anyway, the orcs chose to flee.

“They were annoying.”

The only annoying part was translating. Rurin sprinkled mana on the fleeing orcs and wiped her forehead, though she hadn’t sweated a single drop.

The freed dwarves also sensed the fear. While the orcs chose to flee, the dwarves prostrated themselves.

The dwarves all rushed to bow before Rurin.

Living creatures tend to have an ideal.

For me, it’s the peace of a place called a restaurant. For dwarves, it’s their desire to improve their excellent skills.

Their obsession with technology, starting with iron smelting, has continued for many years.

At this very moment.

At the very site where the mountain peak collapsed, covering the basin and destroying the village. As I gathered the dwarves here and explained the future work, presenting the blueprints.

The dwarves, who looked dispirited due to the destroyed village, began to sparkle with interest upon seeing the blueprints.

“I plan to lay the finest marble here. We’ll distinguish the floors and create numerous rooms. Of course, the most important is the dragon’s main space. It will combine dragon magic and dwarven technology. The best dragon lair ever. I believe it is quite possible with this design.”

“Ooh…!”

“Ooh!”

The gathered dwarves all expressed interest. The chief in the center asked me a question.

“You’ve made such a space underground?”

“Yes.”

The dwarves began to express their admiration.

Rurin was now sitting atop a hastily assembled pile of stones by the dwarves.

As soon as they emerged from the underground and returned to the destroyed village, the dwarves quickly piled up stones and urged Rurin to rest there.

Rurin, taken aback, settled there, and the dwarves all bowed beneath her like worshippers.

Rurin had become a god.

“Great One!”

The dwarves were bowing before Rurin, unable to move.

Rurin then spoke to the dwarves.

“That’s right. I am great. Hehe. Isn’t that right?”

It was good that she looked at the dwarves majestically, but her lines were a mess. Why is she giggling while looking at me?

Thanks to that, the majesty she had created vanished instantly. In about one second.

Of course, only in my mind.

The dwarves still looked at her with reverence.

The dwarves seemed curious about my relationship with Rurin, but there wasn’t much to explain. I could only say that I’m her companion. It’s a vague explanation, but there’s no clear answer to our relationship.

However, having seen my magic, the dwarves no longer questioned me and referred to me as ‘El’.