NOVEL NEXT Chapter 61
As I emerged from the dark cave, a basin covered in rocky mountains unfolded before my eyes. I frowned at the sunlight beating down strongly. Even with a torch, the interior of the cave was quite dark.
After the moment of clarity ended, two dwarves approached me at the cave’s exit.
“Well well! A long-awaited adventurer who has broken through the cave! Haha! It looks like you smashed things up pretty good, didn’t ya?”
“S-Sorry about that.”
“Oh, those golems? Don’t you worry about them! They’re meant to be smashed if need be! The recovery will happen on its own!”
Anyway, since it’s an instance dungeon, the golems will respawn when re-entered. Since the dungeon also serves as a corridor, I could likely return through the exit. I could always use a return scroll to the imperial capital.
I finished recording the maze. Next time I come, I can quickly enter through the recorded path. When hunting continuously for leveling up, I can just go back and forth through the exit.
“Go greet the chief! Once you enter the village, the dwarf at the entrance will guide you.”
The dwarves from this village, who communicate with humans, didn’t regard adventurers with much caution. Each one of them is a skilled miner and a robust warrior. They have faith in their own strength.
[Berveia Dwarf Village]
[Affinity: 5]
As I stepped out of the cave, a system message popped up.
It’s still just a guess, but if I get on the good side of the dwarves and raise my affinity, there might be perks like receiving good items or equipment enhancements.
The first inter-species village adventurers encounter, the Dwarf Village.
This village, where the lifestyles and culture of dwarves are integrated, lies against the backdrop of a gigantic rocky mountain. The mountain rises into the sky, and various-sized mine entrances can be seen from its foot to its peak. This is where the dwarves live as miners.
Clang, clang!
In the blacksmith shop that looked like it belonged to the dwarves, the blacksmiths were hammering away nonstop. The flames and smoke coming from the hot furnace indicated that this place was a hub of vibrant labor.
I was guided by a dwarf at the entrance of the village and headed somewhere.
What greeted me as I crossed the village was a gigantic mountain peak, with a massive stone building that looked like it was carved from it. Is that some sort of town hall?
This stone structure, designed with aesthetics in mind, could hold its own against modern buildings. It was built with durability to withstand the test of time.
Inside it, I met an elderly-looking dwarf.
With a bushy beard, it’s tough to guess a dwarf’s age at first glance. However, you could get an idea of how long they’ve lived by the wrinkles on their face and the color of their beard.
The old dwarf, sitting on a stone chair, looked at me as I entered.
Somehow, there was a unique glimmer in his eyes.
“Welcome, young adventurer! I am the chief of this dwarf village, Drugel the Ironstone. Feel free to call me Chief Drugel.”
“Hello, Chief Drugel.”
I bowed somewhat bashfully.
To receive good items made by the dwarves, I needed to be on the chief’s good side.
“Our village has been actively interacting with humans for about a century now. Although I am currently living here like an old fogey, having lived over 200 years, I’ve naturally come to know some truths. Adventurer from the stars.”
His gaze upon me deepened.
The users, referred to as “adventurers from the stars” by the continent’s residents. The chief of this village, which interacts with humans, was also aware that beings from another world were active in the continent of Astria.
“Our once-closed dwarf village began interacting with humans because we felt the stirring of the ‘Demon.’ If you’ve made it this far, you probably know, but their presence has been spotted across the continent recently.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
“Indeed, the adventurers have noticed. The current state of the Astria continent, which must rely on the help of the adventurers from the stars, is lamentable, but with this world having lost its god, there’s no other way. One can only wonder if the gods from another world have any pity for this forsaken dimension.”
This was a fact I learned in the ruins of the headquarters of the Holy Church I had visited earlier.
The Astria continent had lost its god.
Chief Drugel was aware of this world’s loss. As the eldest of the long-lived dwarves, standing on the path of a sage, his knowledge was quite near the truth of this world.
Why has a world that lost its god manifested as a game on Earth? That was still unclear. Even Chief Drugel, merely an NPC, wouldn’t know the answer to that.
Forward Base, Aspero’s Fortress.
While it wasn’t yet a dire situation like the one a millennium ago when the demon kind covered more than half the continent, the fact that their kind was re-emerging means that a threat was approaching this world.
The users’ mission undoubtedly was to fend off the ‘Demon’ that has awakened on the continent. The largest nations in the current Astria continent, the Alparion Empire and the Betarion Empire. I don’t know if the heads of these two empires, busy using the users as pawns in their power struggles, are paying any attention to this matter.
Other races also can’t escape the demon’s claws. The dwarves too, in their own way, are contributing their strength.
Well, that’s the setup.
It doesn’t have much to do with me right now.
As long as this game doesn’t collapse, this world won’t meet its end. Expecting me, who lost everything in this past life, to shoulder a monumental mission is utterly absurd.
What I want to gain here is a thrilling adventure to fill my heart, a vivid sense of reality. And of course, the money that brings joy and nourishes the dew of Earth.
Anyway, since there are plenty of users who will fulfill the role of the hero, in this continuously serviced online game, I don’t need to take proactive action to fend off the threats to the world.
“Now, adventurers from other stars shall gradually arrive here as well. Although I can’t provide anything significant to mediocre folks, if they earn our trust, it will be a different story.”
This is what they call a “Trust Project.” To get to know and gain the strength of other races I will be meeting in the future, this process must be followed.
If I gain the trust of the dwarves from this village, I could obtain items to help fight the demon race. There might be various ways to build that trust. Taking quests from them to clear dungeons or consistently mining ores.
I didn’t have much to say, so I just glanced at Chief Drugel.
The edges of his snowy white beard curled up slightly, and it seemed like he smiled gently.
Then he unexpectedly spoke to me.
“Isn’t it so? The one with the silver and obsidian hair.”
“……!”
My eyes must have widened greatly.
Did the chief notice my agitation?
The silver and obsidian-haired warrior. I’ve heard that term before.
There’s no hair color like that on the Astria continent, and my shimmering white hair. While there might be similar character models among users, that silver hue cannot be easily mimicked. I personally like it too.
The shimmering white hair resembles silver, and my deep black eyes are like obsidian.
Some dwarf who loves minerals compared me to those when he saw me.
But the dwarf who said that… must be someone from a thousand years ago on the Astria continent?
Ding!
[Berveia Dwarf Village]
[Affinity: 100]
Thud thud.
Pat pat.
Following the chief’s guidance, I entered the cave carved halfway up the gigantic rocky mountain.
This was a hidden cave accessible only within the rocky mountain basin where the dwarves’ village was located. Before the wall full of rocks, the chief manipulated something, and soon the entrance of this cave yawned open.
The walls of the cave were well-maintained. Smooth and straight, like they were cut with a knife. Rather than a cave, it felt like a sort of temple shaped like one.
But I had no mental space to enjoy the scenery of this cave. My mind was filled with questions.
How does Chief Drugel, who lives in this era, know about the warrior’s title from a thousand years ago?
“Time over eons changes nature significantly. Memories that are passed down become worn down, and paper rots away. When the will of worlds, beyond the understanding of creations, intervenes, even to question the lost traditions may not be permitted.”
Click, rumble.
As we reached the end of the cave, a wall opened again with the chief’s hand movement.
“But, some things remain unchanged even after a millennium. And we dwarves can create that which does not change over a thousand years.”
A vast chamber.
In front of me appeared a massive wall carved into the cave, adorned with petroglyphs.
There, the image of a dwarf was inscribed.
“…”
A strong face with a determined gaze. A massive battleaxe gripped in hand.
A long scar visibly etched across the left side of the face. An all too familiar scar to me.
As I stood there dazed, the chief’s voice echoed in my ears.
“In the past, when the demon’s hand covered this continent, there was a hero among the dwarves. It is said that before he embarked on his final battle, he rallied the surviving dwarves across the continent. While it seems his existence has been forgotten in other villages.”
The dwarf who was part of the hero party left them momentarily before the battle with the demon lord. To gather the surviving kin.
“Our village’s ancestors engraved this warrior’s image into the walls to ensure they wouldn’t forget him. For some reason, his name has been lost. However, the image remains here, and the words he left for the ancestors of this village have been passed down through generations.”
– If you meet the warrior of silver and obsidian hair, treat him as a friend to the dwarves.
“…Of course, that warrior is also someone from a thousand years ago. You may not be the person he was, but it’s an honor to uphold the words left by our hero beyond a millennium.”
The ever-cheerful and drink-loving sturdy dwarf of the hero party.
I reached out and caressed the wall where his image was engraved.
And I called out his name.
“Ain, Uncle.”