Chapter 51
As if we had planned it beforehand, we carefully headed toward the source of the sound.
About a hundred meters away, beside a gap between some rocks...
The dwarf Olaf, who had just thrown down a smoke bomb and escaped, was lying flat on his back.
“...”
“...”
Naturally, Silver Thread Nettles were blooming all around him.
Apparently, he had slipped while running away.
His face had gone straight into a patch of nettles.
He was in exactly the same condition as before.
His entire body was stiff.
White foam covered his mouth.
“He’s frozen again.”
Malko poked Olaf with the tip of his foot in disbelief.
Even though Olaf was completely paralyzed, his bulging eyes rolled toward us.
His body trembled.
Without saying anything...
I stood up, went to a nearby Blue Clay pool, scooped up some clay, and once again smeared it all over him.
“PUHAA! Cough! Cough!”
The dwarf was freed from the paralysis again.
He gasped for breath.
Yet even while panting, he pointed at me and gritted his teeth.
“Y-You vicious hunting dogs...! You predicted which way I’d escape and planted poisonous herbs here in advance!”
Then...
“But I won’t give up!”
Before I could even wipe the mud from my hands...
Olaf scrambled to his feet.
Then he ran in the opposite direction as fast as his short legs could carry him.
Malko watched him go.
“I think that dwarf has something wrong with his head.”
He nodded seriously.
“He’s strange.”
Good lord.
A dwarf so foolish that even Malko called him stupid.
I shook my head.
“Dwarves are extremely proud of their skills.”
Then...
“That tends to make them suspicious.”
I pointed after Olaf.
“More importantly, catch him!”
Malko jumped.
“A-All right!”
“Woof!”
Arken also took off.
Olaf had been surprisingly quick...
But with legs that short, how far could he really get?
That was what I thought.
Unfortunately...
“Izak. Dwarf disappeared.”
Malko returned.
Mari also shook her head.
“Shaman, I checked all the bushes over there, but I couldn’t find him.”
What?
Impossible.
Despite those tiny legs...
Olaf had somehow escaped so quickly that even after searching the forest for quite a while, we couldn’t find a single trace of him.
I almost picked up the greatest blacksmith in the Empire from the forest!
AAAARGH! My blacksmith!
I was so frustrated I nearly cried.
But in the end...
We couldn’t find even a strand of his beard.
So we had no choice but to return to the village.
A little later.
Near the Silver Thread Nettle field.
Olaf carefully emerged from behind some bushes after confirming that the barbarians had left.
He brushed dirt from his braided beard.
“Those ignorant savages...”
Then growled,
“Pretending to save my life just so they could capture me.”
His face twisted.
“They’re far more cunning than the rumors say.”
He ground his teeth.
Then...
Tap.
Something struck the tip of his boot.
“Hm?”
A round silver object lay on the ground.
Olaf casually picked it up.
Then...
His eyes became as large as lanterns.
“T-This is...!”
Steel.
Perfect steel.
Not even one percent impurity mixed into it.
The hands of a craftsman who had spent his entire life hammering metal began trembling.
“No way...”
His eyes shone.
“So the old legend was true!”
Then...
“The legendary steel really does exist in this northern demon land!”
His breathing became rough.
“I was right!”
Olaf.
A genius blacksmith.
There was a reason he had rejected noble sponsorship and crawled all the way into this dangerous Northern Frontier.
He had come searching for this legendary steel.
His eyes shifted toward the footprints left by the barbarians.
“I-I can’t ignore this.”
Then...
“Did those savages have this?”
Olaf swallowed.
“Even if I get kidnapped...”
His eyes twitched.
“I only need to check where they hid it.”
Then...
“Just check. That’s all!”
Olaf quietly began following their tracks.
That night.
Near the cave beside the Northern Rock Tribe village.
“H-Hiiik...!”
Olaf had secretly crossed the wall and infiltrated the area.
Now he stood in front of the cave.
His eyes widened.
Inside the darkness...
Five fluffy pink monsters were sleeping peacefully around a faintly glowing red stone.
And beneath their feet...
The same steel balls Olaf had discovered earlier were scattered around like ordinary pebbles.
“I-It was true...”
His lips trembled.
“The legendary Pink Fairies really existed...!”
Olaf held his breath.
Then cautiously crawled into the cave.
His eyes burned with greed and passion.
“If I quietly take just one of them...”
Then...
“I can spend the rest of my life hammering steel without those bastards interfering with me!”
Olaf grabbed one sleeping Pink Smiler by its long leg.
Then slowly dragged it toward the cave entrance.
He imagined his beautiful future.
His own workshop.
Endless steel.
No nobles.
No Imperial craftsmen.
No interference.
Then...
The moment Olaf dragged the Pink Smiler beyond the warmth of the Dragonblood Stone...
FLASH!
The Pink Smiler’s eyes opened.
Its mouth curved into a huge smile.
Away from the Dragonblood Stone’s influence...
Its activity returned.
And now...
A tiny bearded friend had come to visit it in the middle of the night.
The Pink Smiler was overwhelmed with happiness.
It opened its long arms.
HUG!
“Ooooooooh!”
Olaf’s eyes widened.
“GRAAAAAH!”
Then...
“I-IT HURTS!”
Bones cracked.
“IT HURTS! LET GO! SAVE MEEEE!”
The Pink Smiler had zero hostility.
Pure affection.
Unfortunately...
Its affectionate hug could break bones and rupture internal organs.
The screams of Olaf, now trapped in the embrace of one of the strongest creatures in the world, echoed through the night.
The village immediately became noisy.
Large barbarians came running.
Zakan raised a torch.
“Isn’t that the dwarf who escaped earlier?”
Malko nodded.
“Yes.”
Then...
“It’s the crazy dwarf.”
Olaf’s face was turning purple inside the Pink Smiler’s embrace.
I arrived shortly afterward.
Then clicked my tongue.
Seriously...
He dragged a Pink Smiler away from the Dragonblood Stone while it was sleeping peacefully.
Of course this happened.
Olaf groaned.
“Ghh... B-Breath...”
His bones made another cracking sound.
“Get this monster off me!”
I sighed.
Then entered the cave.
I picked up the Dragonblood Stone.
Then carried it outside.
Hummm...!
Warm energy spread outward.
The Pink Smiler immediately froze.
It had been happily crushing its new friend...
But the moment the warmth reached it...
The creature dropped Olaf to the ground like a sack of trash.
Then raised both long arms.
It flattened itself before the Dragonblood Stone.
“Oooooong!”
The other Pink Smilers crawled out from the cave as well.
“Ooooooong!”
“Oooooooh!”
They gathered around the Dragonblood Stone.
Then began worshipping it reverently.
Olaf lay on the ground.
“Cough! Haa... H-Haa...!”
The pressure on his body disappeared.
He desperately inhaled air.
I crouched in front of him.
“Old dwarf.”
Then...
“We’ve saved your life twice now.”
Olaf coughed.
“Keh... Cough!”
Surely he wouldn’t ignore a request from the people who had saved him twice.
I smiled.
Then held out my hand politely.
“How about it?”
I pointed toward the village.
“Why don’t you stay here?”
Olaf stared at me.
I added the final temptation.
“You can use those precious steel balls as much as you want.”
His eyes twitched.
But...
The moment he recovered enough strength...
