Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 271

Chapter 271: The Ark (2)

TL/ED – Miso

Getting Brimdal’s agreement wasn’t all that difficult.

After all, he too was an honorable knight, and he was prepared to willingly sacrifice his own body if it meant saving the world.

…At least, that was how I had decided to explain it to the Empire.

“I failed to recognize the tiger cub right in front of me.”

-Inside a carriage racing across the desolate desert.

After more than twenty escape attempts, he had finally been caught on the twenty-first, and now he grumbled as he glared at me.

“Through all the chaos of these years, I’ve seen countless Fallen. Every last one of them claimed to be the true master of some other world.”

“I’m sure they did. Why bring it up?”

“Now I see they were all frauds. If those Fallen had all been like you, the Empire would have collapsed within three days.”

His gaze turned to the thin stream of water binding his legs.

It was an utterly unremarkable little stream, and yet Brimdal’s sword couldn’t sever it. After trying any number of times, he had finally accepted his fate.

As though he simply couldn’t bring himself to believe it, he heaved a sigh.

“Just what are the limits of what you can do?”

“I don’t really know yet myself. I’m still figuring it out.”

“…”

Brimdal shot me a displeased look from where I sat in the driver’s seat, as though I were spouting nonsense, but it was the truth.

“Hmm…”

Even my sitting in the driver’s seat, when I could just as easily have steered with the Current, was part of that same process.

My eyes. Ever since I had summoned the Deep Sea into reality while rescuing Elysia last time, my physical sight, which I’d hardly used now that Current Sense had taken over, had found a new purpose.

‘They overlap.’

I closed and opened my right and left eyes in turn, checking again and again.

Through my left eye, I could see the normal world. A vast, empty desert, and the horse running hard, drenched in sweat.

And through my right eye, I could see the Deep Sea.

The desert was still there, but it existed in the deepest reaches of the ocean. It was the sight I would see if I summoned the Deep Sea just as it was.

The Deep Sea I saw through my right eye was, naturally, my own, so I could move it as I pleased. It was a domain where a wave of my hand would create a Current, and where I could conjure as many Deep Sea Creatures as I wished.

“It’s not as if I’m seeing things…”

After mulling it over, I reached a conclusion.

Both of them were probably real. It was likely just the difference between seeing the world as the Outer God of the Deep Sea and seeing it as a human.

Could I make use of it? I clenched my fist and moved the Deep Sea I’d been watching.

-Gurgle…

A massive Waterspout rose up within the Deep Sea, dragging the debris on the seafloor together by force and spewing it toward the sky.

At that, Brimdal, who had been wearing a disgusted look inside the carriage, suddenly went wide-eyed and got to his feet.

“Damn, a sandstorm.”

“What?”

“It shouldn’t be appearing this time of year. Tsk. Let’s turn back for now. Once you’re inside one of those, you can’t tell direction or anything at all.”

“Ah, it’s fine. I made this one, you see.”

I unclenched my fist and dispelled the Waterspout, and the sand that had risen in the desert dropped back to the ground as if nothing had happened.

Changes that occurred within the Deep Sea occurred in reality too.

Of course, the scene just now didn’t mean much. I could pull off the very same thing with the Current.

As I nodded, thinking this could be put to use in some other way, Brimdal let out a dumbfounded, hollow laugh.

“…Didn’t you say you fell into some world called the Deep Sea?”

“That’s right.”

“Then how on earth can you make a sandstorm…?”

“It’s a long story, but do you want to hear it? You did say we still have a ways to go.”

“…Never mind.”

Looking drained, he leaned back against the carriage wall and waved his hand dismissively.

“And a ways to go, my foot. We’re here.”

-Creeeak.

The place we arrived at, following Brimdal’s directions, was a desert.

One might think, well, of course it’s a desert, but this was a desert with nothing whatsoever to set it apart from its surroundings, nothing but sand. As I looked around, Brimdal smirked and tossed out a joke.

“What an idiot. You’ve been had.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve come all the way out to the middle of a desert like this and still haven’t realized? Where’s the mine, where’s the liquor? Dwarves don’t live in a place like this. You’ve been fooled.”

“Ah, yes. You’re a real comedian.”

Whatever he was on about, I took out the binding rope, tied Brimdal up, and headed for a nearby dune.

At that, Brimdal’s expression rapidly soured.

“You…”

Not for a single moment had I switched off my Current Sense.

Naturally, I had already located the dwarves’ secret base an hour earlier.

“You asked even though you already knew?”

“I wanted to see if you’d actually tell me willingly. If you had, I was going to let you go. Shame, isn’t it.”

“Hah, you really haven’t changed one bit. It’s rare for a human to grow so little, mentally…”

-BOOM! The instant Brimdal cried out, a dune the size of a small hill exploded and scattered in a flash.

Beneath the dune lay a small copper shaft, barely wide enough for a single person to fit through.

After easily opening its door, I first lifted Brimdal with the Current.

“Let me tell you this in advance.”

Brimdal, seeming to have given up to some degree, sighed and offered me sincere advice.

“This is a truly stupid idea. They aren’t fools enough to take on a project that grand over a single enemy. And honestly, they won’t even be all that pleased.”

“Yep. I’ll handle that part just fine, thank you very much!”

After tossing Brimdal in, I leapt in lightly after him.

The copper shaft had neither ladder nor rope. It was, quite literally, a free fall, and one that lasted nearly five whole minutes at that.

I was frowning, wondering whether this reached almost down to the planet’s core, when I saw light.

-THUD!

“…?”

“What the, hic.”

Beneath the desert…

there was a new world.

Quite literally, it was a new world. A sun hung brazenly in a sky that, by all rights, should have been underground, and beneath it stood a low-slung town that seemed built entirely of steel and brass.

That town was home not to fake dwarves like Brimdal, but only to the real thing.

Short, bushy-bearded, muscular dwarves. Reeking of hammers and swords, anvils and chisels, and the scorched scent of molten metal, they were staring at us where we had dropped from the copper shaft in the middle of the town.

My eyes met those of dozens of dwarves, each loaded down with all manner of work tools, as though they had been about to start the day’s labor.

“Hold on, a human…”

Before hostility could creep into their gazes.

I hurriedly produced Brimdal, bound in rope, and held him up for them to see.

“Hello, it’s a pleasure. Greetings, dwarves.”

“Wh-what?”

“The Empire has apprehended a vicious abuser of dwarf children. During interrogation, the man confessed that he had committed such crimes in his own homeland as well, so I have come, at the risk of giving offense, to hand the criminal over.”

“…Th-that’s Brimdal. This guy.”

“He caught him?”

Amid the gradually rising murmurs, the dwarves held off on passing immediate judgment.

Now was my chance. I quickly grabbed a workshop key and threw open the buildings around us.

“And, since our Emperor instructed me to ensure not the slightest discourtesy in this meeting with you dwarves, I’ve brought along a modest gift.”

The inside of the workshop was packed full with a single kind of ore.

Not gold, not silver, but steel.

And it was all still in raw, unrefined form.

“Heh.”

Brimdal looked at the sight and let out a scoffing snicker.

“You fool, gifting steel to dwarves? Have you lost your mind entirely? Don’t you know how many hours a day these people spend mining?”

“I do hope you’ll like the gift.”

Brushing off Brimdal’s words with ease, I drew out a piece of steel with the Current and tossed it to the murmuring dwarves.

The dwarf who caught the raw steel examined it this way and that with a deflated look, then, little by little, his eyes widened.

“…Hold on, this is, huh.”

“What is it? It’s just ordinary steel.”

“No, it is, but… it’s a little different?”

“What?”

One by one the dwarves picked up the raw steel, and bit by bit their faces brightened.

“Hah, in all my years I’ve never seen raw steel as remarkable as this.”

“I can’t wait to melt it down.”

I’d known all along that jewels or ordinary ore wouldn’t win the dwarves over anyway.

Given that I had never once seen Brimdal drink, it seemed unlikely they’d care much for the Empire’s liquor either, so the selling point I had settled on was uniqueness.

Calling on the memory of when I’d given Elysia a Pearl from the Deep Sea, I had gone and mined every ore-like thing I could from the mountain-like masses that occasionally drift through the Deep Sea, and luckily, their composition did seem to differ a little from what was dug out of the ground.

Then again, that place wasn’t an ordinary Deep Sea, so the ores that came out of it were bound to be out of the ordinary as well.

The dwarves’ nemesis, and ore the likes of which they’d never seen in their lives.

The two gifts seemed to have gone over quite well. Before long, one dwarf approached with arms spread wide and a broad smile plastered across his face.

“Human boy, we’ll gratefully accept your Emperor’s gift! Welcome!”

“I’m glad it’s to your liking, thank you.”

First impression: handled.

“…Damn it all.”

It seemed the only one left unsatisfied was Brimdal.

***

“Bwahaha, this is wonderful!”

“You said it. To think we can finally keep that monster locked up!”

“Come now, friend, have yourself a drink!”

Between the steel and Brimdal, the one that had gone over better was probably Brimdal.

Brimdal, locked in a cell that looked absurdly sturdy even at a glance, sat sullen-faced as he was jeered at, while I, seated in the place of honor, was treated to all manner of beer and bread.

“We thought humans had no interest in us at all, but it seems they’re after our weapons now!”

“Haha! Wasn’t there talk lately of some war or other? That’ll be why!”

“Wasn’t that a good hundred years ago?”

The dwarves were far more genial than I’d expected.

Rather than cranky artisans, their temperaments were closer to those of simple old country folk. It made me all the more curious about just what Brimdal had done to anger people like this, but for the moment, something else was more important.

“Um, by the way…”

Once a fair amount of drink had gone around, I asked while surveying our surroundings with my Current Sense.

“Might I ask which of you is the dwarves’ king? Our Emperor insisted that I be sure to meet him and pay my respects.”

“King?”

“Ah, a king? Why not stick Kronax with that?”

“That’s right, I’m the king! Pour me a drink, bwahaha!”

The dwarves teased one another half in jest, then shook their heads at me as I stood there bewildered.

“We don’t have anything like that.”

“We pay our respects to the supreme craftsman who forges the finest arms and armor, but even he can’t order us around.”

“All we do is gather together, forge weapons, judge each other’s work, and spar! What would we need a king for?”

“Ah, I see…”

A system more primitive than even a tribe’s.

My plan had veered off course a little. If there were a ruler, I’d only need to persuade that one person, but if there was no such thing, then it meant I’d have to persuade every last one of these dwarves.

‘What method should I use?’

After mulling it over for a moment, I turned my Current Sense to comb through every corner of the city, until I caught sight of the enormous mine located at its center.

Countless rails and carts were laid out, and the area was littered with pickaxes and stones. So vividly that it felt as if it had been in use right up until moments before.

“Well, shall we be getting back to work soon, then?”

“Right, do tell your Emperor we were greatly pleased with the gift. Ah, if you like, shall we forge you a weapon while we’re at it?”

It took only an instant to come up with a plan.

“…Would that be possible?”

“Huh?”

“With respect, our Emperor might suspect that I never actually managed to meet you dwarves and simply made off with the ore instead.”

“Hah, is that so?”

“Yes. So…”

Wearing the friendliest smile I could manage, I bowed my head and made my request in front of all the dwarves.

“If you would forge me just one small shortsword, the sort that only dwarves can make, I’ll carry it back and present it to our Emperor. Would that be all right?”

“Bwahaha! ‘Would it be all right,’ he asks?”

The dwarves laughed heartily and nodded, and then,

“Of course. It would be a disgrace to accept steel this fine and then turn you away with nothing. Alright. We’ll forge you the finest sword we’re capable of making! One that’ll leave no room to doubt you met the dwarves!”

-They’d taken the bait.