Published at 26th of March 2019 2:14 am

Volume 11, Chapter 5: Frost Dragon Lord Part 1

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

It was the next morning. Ainz had decided to set out early to take back the former Dwarven Capital, Feoh Berkanan, but just as he was about to leave, a familiar face appeared at the door.

It was Gondo.

Ainz tilted his head. He had no idea why he might be here.

“—Are you here to send me off?”

“No, I have come to lead the way.”

Ainz blinked. Granted, he had mentioned that he would need a Dwarf to show him the way. Judging by how the Council had immediately complied with the request, Ainz surmised that this Dwarf’s mission would be to keep an eye on him, so he thought that they might select an unrelated Dwarf.

“After parting ways with you yesterday, I heard many things from the other runesmiths. I feel that I know the route to the Royal Capital better than any other Dwarf.”

“Then, can you find an alternate route if the tunnel to the Capital collapses? You may need to adapt to changes in the situation as they come up. Is that alright?”

“I’ve studied up as much about them as I could. Please allow me to guide you.”

“Umu.”

Ainz began to think.

In truth, bringing Gondo along carried more demerits than merits. However, if the Council had approved, then if Ainz was the only one who disapproved and requested a change, the chances of him getting someone else as a guide would be very low.

“...Are you a warrior, or do you have some way to fight?”

“No, I don’t. I have no confidence in my skills pertaining to that field. However, I am prepared to face any danger, and nobody will blame you if I perish. In addition, I have my father’s cloak. That was also a reason why they chose me.”

The cloak of invisibility lent a lot of weight to his argument.

While Ainz had planned to protect his guide anyway, he felt uneasy about bringing along a Dwarf with no combat ability. And while he could still resurrect him with magic even if he died (provided he had sufficient levels), Gondo might have the mindset of “it’s all over” if he died.

“Do you need to verify if I’ve chased all the Quagoa out of the Royal Capital? If you die along the way, it’ll make things very difficult for me… and then there’s the matter of the runesmiths. I’d much rather you stayed here.”

Gondo slowly approached Ainz and quietly said:

“The Royal Capital has a vast treasury. If it hasn’t been plundered yet, then it will contain many Dwarven treasures. There should also be some of my father’s weapons and technical manuscripts from the royal family in there. Who knows, there might even be secret manuals left behind by runesmiths of the past.”

“Hoh…”

With that response, Ainz indicated that Gondo should continue.

“I wish to secretly obtain them. ...While it seems rude to ask this of Your Majesty, may I please ask you to turn a blind eye to this when you retake the Capital?”

“...Before that, do you have any way to open the Treasury?”

“No. However… I believe Your Majesty should be able to do something about that, right?”

Does he really think I can do anything?

“So you want me to become an accomplice to a petty thief?”

“I believe the correct explanation of what would happen is that Your Majesty wished to see if the Treasury had been burgled, and thus opened it to check. Then, you were briefly distracted, for just long enough. I would be that petty thief, bearing no relation to Your Majesty.”

“...The line of Dwarven royalty has been severed. Is that correct? Is there a ledger recording the treasures that should be within the vaults?”

“I am afraid there is none.”

“It is very important to make sure of that. It would be very dangerous if there was a record, you know? I cannot approve of this. ...More importantly, does that treasure not belong to your country? Does it not shame you to steal it?”

Gondo laughed scornfully.

“Well, those manuals don’t mean anything to a country that gave us and runecraft up, don’t you think?”

It’s treason, then? Though that thought passed through Ainz’s head, the truth was that it did him no harm. On the contrary, letting these books languish in the Dwarven nation would be a waste.

More to the point, Gondo’s theft would completely break his ties to the Dwarven Kingdom. The Dwarven Kingdom would not tolerate a criminal who had looted their treasury. This matter could be used as a form of blackmail, and it would become a shackle that would render Gondo completely incapable of betraying the Sorcerous Kingdom.

However, it could also be used against Ainz in a similar manner.

“...Indeed. There’s no point in letting people who don’t need it have it either. Indeed, it might be that my eyes might fail me at that time. Still, like I mentioned earlier, you need to search out any catalogues of the treasures. I’d like to avoid any future disputes.”

“Understood. I shall do as Your Majesty commands.”

“Then, we’ll leave matters at that.”

While they had walked some distance away to discuss this, someone with keen hearing might be eavesdropping on them.

“Then, let’s change the topic. Tell me about the hazards we might face before reaching the Dwarven Capital. A basic outline is fine.”

“A good question. All who wish to reach the Dwarven Capital must pass three trials.”

“Trials? Interesting. Summarize them.”

“Mm, the first trial is the Great Rift. There is a slope ahead of the gate that leads to the fortress. After the fortress is the Great Rift that splits the earth. Now that the suspension bridge has been strung, it hardly qualifies as a trial. However, when crossing it, one must prepare oneself to receive concentrated attacks from the enemy.”

“Do the Quagoa use ranged weapons?”

“Umu, I haven’t heard of that before. However, it might be dangerous to assume they don’t, right?”

It made a lot of sense. The possibility also existed that they could use the magic weapons from the fortress.

“Then, the next trial is an area of flowing lava. Even the heated air alone can be fatal. One must cross it via a narrow path of trimmed rock. There have also been sightings of a huge monster there from time to time.”

“A monster, you say?”

The form of Guren, Area Guardian of the 7th Floor, came to mind.

If the monster was similar to it, things would be very troublesome indeed.

...Come to think of it, Slimes and human society are quite closely linked. Is it the case in this country as well? If they have rare slimes here, I’d like to bring them home.

Just as Ainz thought of the slimes that lived near the sewer filters, Gondo moved on to the last trial.

“The final trial is the Maze of Death. It is a cave with countless branches, filled with poisonous vapors. If one inhales those vapors, their limbs will be paralyzed and their hearts will stop beating.”

Gondo looked towards Aura and Shalltear.

That gesture seemed to be saying that Ainz might be fine, but those two would be in trouble.

They’ll be fine… Well, I guess I can tell him when we get there.

“And what is the right path through the caves?”

“Regretfully, I do not know. I looked through all my connections, but even the elders did not know. Neither did the members of the Council. Perhaps it might be recorded in an archive...:”

“But you didn’t find it either, did you? Well, I doubt you’d be able to easily locate a document that was so critical to national security. We’ll gather information when the time comes and adapt to the situation.”

Ainz committed the information about these trials to memory, and gestured to the others.

“Let’s go, then.”

Ainz, Shalltear and Aura took the lead. Gondo lined up with ten or so soldiers and their commander on their way to retake the fortress, and then the gates slowly opened. The stench of death filtered through the gap, so they had an idea what to expect, but then a gruesome scene revealed itself to all present.

The gentle tunnel which sloped down was broad and it had been levelled for easier passage. However, the walls and floor were covered in blood, guts and chunks of meat. Quagoa corpses littered the ground.

“Urk!”

The stench of gore, offal death filled the room. It was too much for Gondo, who had no experience as a warrior, and he began retching. The Dwarven soldiers’ faces had turned green, and not because of any trick of the light.

Ainz’s body had no concept of nausea, so it did not cause him any problems. However, he did not enjoy this smell.

A squelching noise came from underfoot. It would seem he had stepped on the innards which had fallen out of a bisected Quagoa.

Ainz sighed and then cast [Mass Fly], allowing everyone to take flight.

It would seem the Death Knights had revelled in their carnage here. Anyone who slipped and fell in this tunnel of blood would surely lose their strength to the filth and the stench. More importantly, the sight of someone lurching around beside them while covered in blood was a gruesome one.

The group descended the sloping passage, unblemished due to the flight spell.

Thanks to the dimly glowing rocks embedded along the way, there was still some light to see by. However, the space between each rock was filled with darkness. Of course, Ainz possessed darkvision, and it posed no problems to him.

After going down the slope — a distance of about 100 meters — they could see the entrance to the fortress before them. No, it would be more accurate to say that it was the fortress’ back door.

Once they passed through the opened doors into the fortress, they could go beyond the fortress and cross the suspension bridge ahead. After travelling west from there for several days, they should be able to see the former Dwarven Capital.

The Fortress’ entrance was littered with Quagoa corpses. Some of them looked like they had not been killed by the Death Knights, but gnawed. Those must have been the victims of the Death Knights’ zombies.

Ainz’s undead detection did not pick up any contacts. It was probably because the zombies had reverted to regular corpses after the Death Knights were destroyed.

Ainz looked around. There were no undead reactions now, but if he left them like this, things might become dangerous, given the characteristics of this world’s undead.

“It is commonly accepted that leaving corpses untended will result in undead spawning. What do you plan to do?” Ainz asked the soldiers who had been following them.

“Yes, sir. We will clean them up,” the commander answered. “Well, we say clean, but it’s more like dumping them into the Great Rift in a place where it won’t matter even if we attract a monster.”

“And after that, you’ll need to repair the fortress, and then find out how the Quagoa attacked? It seems you have a lot of work ahead of you.”

They would part ways here. The only people who would be taking part in the reclamation of the Dwarven Capital were Ainz, Aura, Shalltear and Gondo. Well, the Hanzos were around as well, but they did not need to know that.

The Dwarves smiled bitterly. While it was true that the investigations were risky — they ran the risk of encountering Quagoa, after all — it was nothing compared to Ainz’s task of attacking the Quagoa main camp. That was probably what they meant.

“Then, we’ll enter the fortress. We will go in first to ensure it is safe, so wait outside until then. To be on the safe side, could you protect Gondo?”

After the commander replied in the affirmative, Ainz stepped through the open door.

As he stood at the center of the tragedy, Ainz asked Aura (who was standing behind him) a question.

“Aura, can you sense anyone using a stealth ability to hide here?”

“Nope. There’s nothing alive in this fortress.”

Aura put her hand on a long ear, and made a listening gesture as she answered. If Aura the ranger said so, then there would be nothing living within this fortress.

Still, they could not lower their guard.

The person who had defeated Ainz’s Death Knights should have passed through here. If that person had taken a lot of stealth-specialized classes, they might be able to deceive Aura’s perceptive abilities.

Still, anyone like that would generally have poor attack power, and they would be easy to deal with even if they launched an ambush.

There were many corpses within the fortress, but unlike the sloping passage from earlier, there were Dwarven corpses everywhere.

Ainz passed through the fortress and towards the gate which was opposite the one through which they had entered. After opening the gate, he saw the Great Rift yawning before him, and not even Ainz’s vision could see its bottom.

Since there were no Quagoa beyond, it would seem they had retreated without setting up a base of operations here..

“This should be the Great Rift…”

Ainz turned to look from left to right.

“But there doesn’t seem to be anything like a suspension bridge here… no, is that a bridge stump? If that’s there, then that means…”

“It might be that the the enemy destroyed the bridge during their retreat,” Shalltear said from the side.

“Hm…”

If their enemy was a powerful being who could easily defeat a Death Knight, was there a need to destroy the bridge? If this was meant to block their attack, that meant that they were not confident in their strength — No.

Ainz shook his head.

Death Knights were rare in this world. Thus, the enemy must have surmised there was a powerful entity controlling the two Death Knights. That being the case, losing the bridge would not be a big loss.

“Not bad… Tell the Dwarves that the path is safe.”

“Understood!”

As he watched Shalltear head towards the Dwarves, he saw Aura squatting down. He wanted to ask what she was doing, but given her diligent expression, it would be best not to interrupt her focus.

Ainz turned to look at the Great Rift, then picked up a stone and threw it in. There was no particular meaning to it; he had done so on a whim. Still, he could not hear the stone striking the bottom.

“Its depth is unknown, Your Majesty,” said the commander whom Shalltear had brought back with her. He must have seen what Ainz was doing. “We’ve sent two expeditions to investigate, but neither of them came back.”

“I see. There were probably monsters there. ...Have those things ever come out?”

“Sir, there hasn’t been anything like that to date. Therefore, we decided not to send in expeditions. Probing too deep would be unwise.”

“Well, that’s right.”

Ainz could make incorporeal undead like ghosts, and by using magic to share their senses, he would be able to mount a full investigation. However, now was not the time for that sort of thing.

Given the present circumstances, investigating the Great Rift was a low priority. Still, it had to be done. In YGGDRASIL, places like this often concealed valuable items or dungeons.

If the sh*tty devs had their way, they’d hide a tunnel at the bottom of the Great Rift, and there’d be rare ores inside that tunnel. No, they’d definitely do that. In fact, it’s happened before.

“—Then, we shall cross to the other side, pursue the fleeing Quagoa, and press them back into the Royal Capital, then.”

The flight spell was still in effect, so that was not a problem in itself. However, what worried Ainz was whether or not something would crawl out of the darkness.

It was an incident from YGGDRASIL, but Ainz could not help but recall the time when he had been crossing a lake and spotted a giant serpent-like monster swimming below. It was not a pleasant memory, but that experience had been put to use in the creation of the 5th Floor—

After bidding the commander farewell, the four of them took flight, with Shalltear and Aura looking out below them. His worries from just now were ill-founded, and they reached the other side without seeing anything else below.

That said, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief when his feet were once again firmly planted on terra firma. Granted, he had to keep it secret from the others.

Ainz surveyed his surroundings.

There were only four enemy corpses here, which meant that the Death Knights had been defeated in this place.

“Shalltear, there are a few things I need to tell you now.”

After calling Shalltear to him, Ainz glanced at Aura, and saw her inspecting the ground.

Perhaps it would be better to call Aura over as well. He thought that, but then he mused that he wanted to have Shalltear take the lead this time round. He could explain a simplified version to Aura afterwards.

“Hang on a bit, Ainz-sama!”

Shalltear took out a notebook and flipped it open.

“Please, go on.”

“Oh. Umu. A notebook, huh… Very attentive of you. Ahem! Er— we are now about to enter a very dangerous area. As for why it is dangerous, that’s because there is a being who can defeat two of my Death Knights. While comparing Death Knights to you is something of an insult—”

“—It’s nothing of the sort, Ainz-sama. I will use my full strength to do battle with any powerful being who could defeat the Death Knights you created.”

“No, you must not use your full strength.”

“Why, why is that? If the enemy is strong, shouldn’t I attack in earnest — forgive me for asking such a question of you, Ainz-sama!”

“Not at all. Your question is very sensible.”

Ainz put his hands behind his back, and then told her how to deal with an unknown enemy.

“That said, you must be aware of how the opposition expects us to act. What the enemy wants most is information — our fighting ability, in other words. They might use expendable ambush troops and the like to gauge our combat strength. In other words, they will verify our abilities and when they feel they can achieve victory, they will attack us in such a way that they cannot lose and we cannot flee.”

“To think they would actually do that…”

“Granted, we don’t know if the enemy will go that far—”

“Ah... Ainz-sama...”

Aura called to him in a nervous tone, something which was very unusual for her. Under normal circumstances, he would stop his explanation to Shalltear and listen to Aura.

However, he was in a very good mood since this was a chance to speak at length about one of his specialties.

Therefore, Ainz turned to Aura and put his index finger to his mouth.

“Ah, yes!”

Understanding dawned on Aura. Ainz was giving an earnest lecture, so he wanted her to be quiet. She understood what Ainz was trying to say.

“Like I was saying, Shalltear. I would do the same thing if I were fighting a strong foe. No, my friends would do the same as well.”

“The Supreme Beings would do that too? But, comparing this enemy to the Supreme Beings is a little…”

“Really? You should assume that the enemy can do everything I can do. Only a fool thinks that they are special and gets full of themselves. Remain ever-cautious. In any case, I do not wish to let the enemy see our full fighting strength.”

Keeping the Hanzos in hiding was also to disrupt the schemes of the enemy.

“Therefore, Shalltear, I will lay several restrictions on you when you are travelling with me to the Dwarven Capital — before we reach the enemy’s headquarters.”

“Yes! What sort of restrictions are these?”

“Umu. Concerning magic… while I permit you to use spells of up to the 10th tier, you are not to use too many different spells. At the very most, limit yourself to one or two of them.”

“...I see, this is to deceive the enemy and make them overconfident, and then defeat him with a counterattack. That being the case… why not limit me to 5th-tier magic or lower?”

“No, the enemy will not be lulled into a false sense of confidence that way. In the moment that the enemy thinks they have the measure of our true strength and seeks to utterly destroy us, we have a chance to strike a fatal blow to the enemy. In my case, if I saw the enemy attack me with just a few techniques and no spells beyond the 5th tier, I would immediately conclude that the enemy was trying to keep their abilities a secret.”

“In that kind of situation, what would you do against that sort of enemy?”

“I’d think of how to learn more about them. For instance, I’d briefly abandon an expendable base. Then, I’d slowly gather intelligence. Once the enemy gains a base, they’ll feel the desire to hang on to it. That sort of attitude will limit the enemy’s actions, and they’ll invariably reveal their true colors.”

“Is there a need to be that cautious?”

In a game, one could still recover from a loss. However, in this world, there was the chance that they would not be able to bounce back. This was especially true when it came to Ainz, who had not yet finished his experiments on player deaths.

“All these are things you do in response to the circumstances. Shalltear, you need to think, no?”

In any event, he should leave things at that. Ainz turned towards Aura.

“Then, Aura, what is it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Aura’s eyes were sparkling.

He had no idea what had brought that on, but perhaps she had felt impressed by the tactics he had explained to Shalltear.

Hm~ it might be the absolute basics, but I guess I should give Aura some guidance too, no? Should I lend out that book of PK tactics? But that’s the only thing I have which gives me a leg up on the NPCs… What should I do. Also, letting information spread too widely isn’t good, someone told me that before...

Just as Ainz fell into thought, Gondo spoke up.

“Ah, I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re discussing strategy, but shouldn’t we move forward? If the path collapses, we’ll have to find another route.”

“That’s true… Shall we travel by magical beast?”

“It might be better not to. We might encounter small passages along the way, and if we’re mounted, we’ll have to leave the beasts there.”

He had thought of using a ridable undead creature like a Soul Eater. He could simply re-create one if there were any problems. However, it would be wiser to listen to the words of his guide.

“I understand. Let’s go, then.”

***

“His Majesty has set out!”

As they heard this, six of the Dwarven Councillors — the High Priest of Earth, the Director of Food Production, the Cabinet Secretary, the Brewmaster, the Master of Caves and Mines, and the Merchant’s Guildmaster — shivered in delight.

It was true that the Sorcerer King had not done anything so far. Still, they could not rest at ease when an undead being — one who hated the living — of such power walked the streets.

The people here were gathered to ensure the safety of the city and its people. Thus, they had to consider the worst possible scenarios that might result before committing to a course of action. For instance, the Sorcerer King might have suddenly turned violent and begun massacring children. These worries plagued them all day, and they considered various countermeasures and useful proposals.

Now that the object of their whispered discussion was no longer here, what was wrong in savoring the sweet release from their burdens?

“Bring the wine! Bring the wine!”

Just as the parched earth craved the rain, alcohol was essential for exhausted hearts to heal.

Nobody could possibly object to that.

“Still, he’ll be back, right?”

The air turned stagnant all of a sudden, and a gloom settled across all of them.

Their pumped fists sank powerlessly down.

“Should we run?”

“Where can we go? If we flee after signing that pact with him… Also, we asked him to reclaim the Royal Capital for us, right? If we were in his place, wouldn’t we be angry at this?”

“Well, he might get angry… but I wouldn’t have the confidence to take a hardline stance against a being like that.”

“Ah. Yes, I understand how you feel.”

“...Is that really alright? What happened to your pride, Merchant’s Guildmaster?”

“Ah, it’s not as though we could make a fair deal with such a thing, right? Generally speaking, deals can only be made between two equal parties in equal circumstances, right? Therefore, it’s de facto impossible to make a proper deal with someone who’s far more powerful than you.”

The Dwarves sighed as one.

Nobody here felt that the Sorcerer King would fail to reclaim the Royal Capital. That much was obvious just by glancing at the magical beasts he left behind. And then, he was a person who had the luxury of leaving behind monsters like that when he knew there was a Dragon waiting for him.

“Then, let’s change the subject. Can anyone estimate when he’ll return?”

“How would we know? It’s not as though we can ask the man himself. If he chuckled and said ‘Right now’, I’m pretty sure I’d piss myself.”

Those were shameful words, but none of the Dwarves laughed at them.

“...It can’t be helped. If he did that to me, I’d piss myself too.”

“Same here. I might even sh*t my pants.”

They looked at each other as they uttered those crudities.

“Have we learned anything new? Do we know anything about that Gondo?”

“Nothing at all, only that he gathered the runesmiths.”

“The runesmiths? Was it about going to the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“Who knows? Why don’t we summon one of them and ask him about it?”

“That’s a good idea, but it’ll tip our hand to His Majesty, no? It’s too dangerous to act rashly. Only an idiot would touch a heated crucible, after all.”

“If that’s the case, then we’ll have to tell the runesmiths that we want them to go to the Sorcerous Kingdom. Then we can casually ask them about it. How about that?”

“...I’m not confident in my ability to do so.”

The Dwarves murmured, “Me too” in response.

“Alright, then let’s forget about asking them. It would be foolish to dig needless holes and end up falling to our deaths.”

Everyone here agreed with that. If they angered Ainz by prying too deeply, many lives might be lost.

“Then, let’s inform the two of us who aren’t here about tomorrow’s business and not to interfere with the smiths. I heard the commander-in-chief will be coming here afterwards, but what about the forgemaster?”

“I’ll go, then,” said the Cabinet Secretary. “I’m interested in the sort of masterpiece he’ll produce. Also, I’m wondering what sort of metal the Sorcerer King gave him.”

“He only said it was a rare metal, but you can’t get any rarer than adamantite, can you?”

“So it would be more like orichalcum, then?”

The Dwarves were an underground race. Even if their jobs had nothing to do with metallurgy, they would be very interested in a metal they had never seen before.

“If only we could grab him and make him show us. He’s been very busy of late, right?”

After receiving the metal from the Sorcerer King, the Forgemaster hurriedly returned to his workshop. Everyone knew the reason for his haste, and so they did not stop him.

“Well, the smithing should be well under way, considering it’s him. Making a chain shirt ought to result in a few extra loops, so maybe we could borrow a few of those.”

After a chorus of approvals, the Council session dissolved.

After that, their tired bodies craved rest, but the Dwarves were a race which hosted drinking parties even as they spoke of taking a break.

“Wine tastes especially good at the workplace,” they said as they downed special, Dwarf-only beverages with high alcohol content. Amidst all this, the Cabinet Secretary suddenly thought of something snuck out of the meeting room that was now a beerhall.

Needless to say, he was going to meet the Forgemaster.

The Forgemaster’s workshop was huge, as befitted a man who was responsible for the Dwarven nation’s blacksmithing. In all likelihood, it was one of the biggest buildings in Feoh Gēr. It employed many Dwarven artisans and its heat — which could melt adamantite — and the pounding of its hammers on anvils had never stopped before.

However, it was silent today — an occurrence which made the Cabinet Secretary’s hairs stand on end.

He was sure that the crucibles were lit.

That was because the temperature went up as he neared them.

In that case, what was the reason for this silence?

The Cabinet Secretary quickened his pace, as though impelled by the unease flowing out of him.

He had come here before, so there was no hesitation as he plunged in towards the crucible where the smiths should have been working.

He saw the blacksmiths, all of whom were familiar faces.

Unable to help himself, he sighed in relief. However, when he noticed the worried looks on the blacksmith’s faces and the direction where they were all looking, the unease which seized his heart seemed to come back to life.

“What’s wrong?”

As he called out, the eyes of the blacksmiths lit up, as though their savior had arrived.

“He’s locked himself in there and refuses to come out.”

Apart from its gigantic crucibles, this foundry also contained a workshop for the personal use of the Forgemaster, although it was closer to a miniature foundry in its own right. The Forgemaster was a dedicated worker, and when handling important projects, he would often lock himself inside and not emerge for several days.

That was a fairly common occurrence. The Forgemaster’s disciples and the other blacksmiths should not have had that distressed look on their faces.

“...It’s not strange, is it?”

“It’s true that he locks himself up fairly often… but there’s no sound of hammering. And it’s been half a day — no, almost an entire day.”

“...So maybe he’s just drawing up the plans for the design?”

“That’s never happened before.”

The Cabinet Secretary stroked his beard.

He did not feel this was particularly surprising. However, if the forgemen all felt the same way, then it should probably be an emergency.

“Then why don’t you open the door? Is it locked?”

“No, it’s not locked. However, whenever the Forgemaster retreats to that room, he hates people opening that door.”

“I see. ...So you want me to open it, am I right?”

It would be difficult for the Forgemaster’s disciples. But someone of an equivalent rank might have a better chance of not incurring the Forgemaster’s wrath.

I drew the short straw. Well, it can’t be helped.

“I understand. Then, let me do it. You lot should go first. Just take it as though I insisted on going in myself and you won’t get involved.”

After the smiths thanked him, the Cabinet Secretary stepped up and knocked on the door.

However, there was no response, no matter how many times he knocked.

Fearing the worst, he flung the door open with all his might.

It was the same familiar room. Surprisingly, there was no heat, even though he was only a door removed from the huge crucible. That was due to magical air conditioning. When he shifted his gaze, he saw a crimson flame blazing within the depths of the crucible.

And then, he saw someone facing the fire.

What, he’s there, isn’t he? Just as the Cabinet Secretary was about to sigh in relief, he once again held his breath.

That was because he could sense something strange and inexplicable in the air. Why was the Forgemaster silent? According to the smiths outside, he ought to have reacted immediately to the intrusion.

“Oi.”

Those words were little more than an exhaled breath, but the man should have heard it. Yet there was no response from the Forgemaster.

“Oi!”

The Cabinet was nervous now and he shouted, but as expected, the Forgemaster did not react.

Panting heavily, he advanced to the Forgemaster’s side.

“—Hey!”

“What?”

An answer at last. The Cabinet Secretary almost collapsed on account of the strength fleeing his limbs.

“What? What? Don’t make me—”

The Cabinet Secretary’s words trailed off.

Why had the Forgemaster not turned around to look at him?

Worried for his friend, the Cabinet Minister circled around to look at his face.

He looked different from usual — as though he were a hunted animal. More important than that, he had a ghastly expression on his face, as though he was ready to massacre his own people.

“...What happened?”

The Forgemaster’s face finally moved in response to the words which had slipped out by themselves. No, only his eyeballs moved, turning to look at the Cabinet Secretary’s face.

“What happened? What... happened? Hmph!”

The Forgemaster’s hand moved. He picked up his tongs, plucked out the searing-hot metal ingot from the fires of the crucible, and then chucked it at the Cabinet Master.

“Uwaaaaah!”

The Cabinet Minister scrambled away desperately, and the ingot landed on the ground with a thud.

“You bastard! Are you trying to kill me?!”

He could not tolerate this, not even from a friend.

However, the Forgemaster smiled coldly.

“Kill you? Well, you’d think that.”

Then, he reached out and grabbed the ingot. Blacksmiths typically wore heat-resistant gloves, but the shocking thing was that the Forgemaster did not. Neither was he wearing any magic items that bestowed such an effect.

He had grabbed the heated metal ingot with his bare hand.

So reckless and ridiculous was that move that the Secretary imagined he could smell and hear the Forgemaster’s flesh sizzling. The Forgemaster practically spat his words out at the wide-eyed Cabinet Secretary.

“It didn’t heat up!”

“What, what did you say?”

“This damn thing won’t heat up at all!”

Before he knew it, the Cabinet Secretary had caught the ingot tossed his way. For a moment, he imagined that it was emitting a searing heat, but t was not hot at all. In fact, it was surprisingly cold.

“What, what is this?”

That was a pointless question. In all the Cabinet Secretary’s knowledge, there was only one thing which corresponded to the description of a metal that did not get hot even when heated. Thus, the question was merely a formality.

Indeed, the Forgemaster’s next words confirmed his suspicions.

“It’s the ingot that damned undead gave me! I’ve heated it for an entire day and it won’t get hot! I’ve hammered it and it won’t change shape! I can’t even leave a mark on it! How the hell am I supposed to make armor with this?!”

“You, you don’t think he gave you a metal even he couldn’t work with?”

“I’d like to think so too. But look, there’s a shortsword made of the same metal! I can mark the ingot with it! The hell does ‘most experienced craftsman’ mean?! I’m nothing more than an idiot who can only stare dumbly at a hunk of unknown metal!”

The Cabinet Secretary struggled to think of how to comfort the high-strung Forgemaster.

“Then, then what if you asked that undead being how to work it—”

“Those who ask when they don’t know are wiser than those who don’t ask when they don’t know? Something like that, right? That’s true. The dwarves of days past do have a point. But — what does my experience count for? Look at these hands.”

He forcefully thrust them out. They were a pair of craftsman’s hands; thick, heavy and scarred from old burns. Any artisan could take pride in such hands.

“I’ve touched metal ever since I was a stupid disciple. I’ve done it longer than anyone else, until now. Because of that, it was only natural to be praised as the most outstanding artisan of my peers. And the reason for that is because I worked harder than anyone else!”

The Forgemaster’s face was twisted into knots.

“I’ve given my life to blacksmithing. I don’t think anything is impossible, and I’ve always believed that any metal can be shaped to any desired shape. —What a joke I am! Haha! What was I using to deceive myself? I was nothing more than a tiny frog in a well! And to think I dared call myself a genius. I was such a fool.”

“No, all you need to do now is start learning again, right?”

“That’s right. Yes, you’re right. Though it pains me to hear it…”

The Forgemaster tightly clutched the ingot in his hand.

The fact that the Forgemaster’s face had gone completely blank worried the Cabinet Secretary.

“It’s fine. You’re right. All I need to do is start learning again. Then, what are you doing here?”

“What am I… you… Ah, forget it. That undead king has left this city. We’ll be holding a Council meeting tomorrow, and I came to get you. Also, don’t interfere with the runesmiths.”

“Is that so… I understand. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The Cabinet Secretary still felt uneasy, but he could not bring himself to show it.

Fatigue of the body translated to fatigue of the spirit. The Forgemaster would probably recover after a good night’s rest. After forcing himself to accept that explanation, the Cabinet Secretary returned home.

However, the next day, he learned that the Forgemaster had disappeared with the ingot.

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