◈ Episode 254: Sheridan Iron Feet (1)
Rudger and Hans waited until late at night.
Even if the surveillance is strict, not everyone will be able to stand guard all night.
As expected, more than half of the observers left when the working hours ended.
The remaining watchers glared at the slaves with ferocious eyes, as if they would pull the trigger right away if they did something stupid.
There was already a precedent for this, so the slaves avoided themselves and tried to be as unnoticed as possible.
Most of the subhumans who were captured as slaves had no guns in their eyes.
They just lived one day and endured one day.
But not all slaves were like that.
Willingness to escape.
The zeal to get out of this suffocating underground coal mine and regain freedom.
A person with such a hot flame inside his eyes existed even in such an extreme environment.
Sheridan Iron Feet did just that.
“Where do you look? I’m going to blow up this damn mine.”
Late at night when everyone is asleep.
Seridan devised a plan to escape the stuffy mine, pretending to obey the humans’ orders.
Rebellion was impossible.
After all, she is a small dwarf.
Even if he held the hammer alone, there was no way he could be an opponent in front of the gun.
Besides, all the other captives except her were putting their hopes on them, so there was no one to sympathize with her will.
Above all, there was a wizard among the watchers.
If the opponent is a magician, even if he surprises them, he wonders if he will win or not, but there is absolutely no answer in a head-to-head match.
So, Sheridan chose a different path.
“If only this is completed.”
While mining rare metals, she kept a steady stream of other metal by-products.
The watchers didn’t know, but Sheridan, who specialized in knowledge in this area, knew.
They are the raw material of gunpowder, and the pieces that can maximize the explosive power if you work a little more.
Seridan had been confined here for the past month, diligently gathering materials for gunpowder, and making a bomb while avoiding the watchers’ eyes.
“It’s not long now.”
Explosives prepared for a long month.
Sheridan used his small body to secretly plant bombs in narrow crevices throughout the tunnel.
Of course, special care was required.
Since it was not made in a proper environment, there was a risk of bursting if touched incorrectly.
Moreover, if the power of the explosion could not be properly calculated, the entire shaft would collapse completely, leaving her unharmed.
It took a bit more fine-tuning to fully account for that.
However, it was not possible to guarantee how long the adjustment period would take.
It’s already been a month, but it could have taken twice as long through an adjustment period.
Then it might be too late.
They are the ones who arbitrarily kidnap people and use them as mine slaves.
At some point, you might suddenly change your mind and kill them all.
“Even now… … .”
It was the moment Seridan was so determined.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you’d better hold your own for now.”
“… … !”
Sheridan trembled at the sudden voice from behind.
She hurriedly looked back.
A man in black was standing where no one should be.
“Uh, how?”
The watchers’ patrol route and timing were already known.
Right now was not the time for them to come.
However, it wasn’t that Sheridan was careless.
He kept his senses sharp at all times, assuming a situation where someone might come unexpectedly.
Even so, I didn’t even know who was standing there until the man started talking to me.
Literally like a ghost, I couldn’t feel any presence at all.
“profit… … !”
As Sheridan tried to detonate the bomb in his hand, the man, Ludgar, shook his head.
“The momentum is good, but if it explodes right now, everyone will die. Isn’t that what you want?”
“… … Better than doing nothing.”
“Do nothing. Surely that is true. It would be much better to do something in this situation.”
“What are you? Seeing you say that all of a sudden, isn’t it a bit different from the people here?”
Only then did Sheridan realize that something was wrong.
When I regained my senses and thought about it, the man in front of me was quite different from the people watching this place.
The clothes are also the clothes, but first of all, the atmosphere was like that.
“Looks like you finally have something to say.”
Rudger smiled at Sheridan.
“First, put the bomb away and then we’ll talk.”
* * *
Seridan widened his eyes when he saw that all the people patrolling had fallen.
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It wasn’t just suppression, it was killing them all.
The number of people patrolling was not small at all.
Even so, it didn’t take that long for everyone to die.
Even more shocking than that was that no one knew about this fact.
“How did you do it?”
“It was sorted out one by one. That’s all.”
An incredibly sneaky move.
Seridan shuddered at the fact that it was the young man in front of him who looked like an old man who had committed such a nonsense.
“So what do you want from me?”
“When I came in here, I watched closely. They make some pretty interesting stuff.”
Rudger held up one of the special bombs that Sheridan had planted.
He had brought one while dealing with the patrols.
“To make homemade bombs when the environment isn’t right. It even has timers and safety features.”
“What, did you know?”
“Dwarves are very dexterous. However, what they touch are weapons related to iron. They wouldn’t deal with bombs like this, but they showed this level of perfection. Did you develop it yourself?”
At those words, Sheridan flinched.
She deliberately put on a relaxed smile, trying not to show off.
“You have quite a few eyes.”
“So let me help you. I will release those who have been held as slaves here, including you.”
“What should I do?”
“Can you help blow up this coal mine? I want to seek your help.”
Sheridan widened his eyes.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am a dwarf. But you are making these dangerous things.”
“Gunpowder and bombs? Well, from a general point of view it might seem that way.”
“A general point of view?”
“Unfortunately, I am far from a normal person. It is a caution not to have such narrow-minded thoughts.”
What if a dwarf makes a bomb?
Rudger was saying that now.
At those words, Sheridan felt as if a huge wave crashed through his whole body.
“… … that’s interesting. Even our village elders didn’t say that.”
Seridan was an unusual dwarf.
While the other dwarves were interested in hammers and anvils, she was interested in complex mechanisms.
Create, invent, explode.
He was also obviously closer to ‘manufacturing’, but the other dwarves didn’t think so.
He regarded Sheridan as an eccentric and shunned her.
Sheridan also grumbled, saying that he did not understand himself when he saw his own people.
However, even if he said that, deep down in his heart, regret remained.
Someone hoped that they would understand what they had created.
That’s really great.
This is the invention of the century.
I wanted you to compliment me.
“Those who have no eyes to see do not know, but I do. How great are your creations, and how wonderfully talented you are.”
However, the man in front of her acknowledged her.
Even her own people, who pointed fingers at her as crazy, told her that she had talent.
Sheridan found it difficult to contain his joy.
She smiled brightly like a child receiving a gift.
“You have eyes to see.”
“lily?”
Rudgar twitched his eyebrows at this title he had never heard of before.
“Yes, Nari. It just seems fitting to call it that.”
“I don’t know why, but it’s not a bad feeling to think I’ve been recognized.”
“So Nari. What do you want? Blow it up here?”
“Can you?”
At Ludger’s question, Sheridan grinned as he expected.
“That is what I most wanted.”
Sheridan realized at this moment.
I’ve endured that long period of humiliation and persecution for this moment.
When everyone is pointing fingers because they are abnormal, it is to meet someone who can acknowledge them.
“older brother. I am here.”
“okay. Hans. How is the situation?”
“Once the patrol team has been removed by my brother, we have about two hours to spare before the next patrol.”
“What about the rest?”
“I am resting at the inn right now. Judging by the atmosphere, it looks like he’s drinking heavily and trying to get drunk… … What is that little boy?”
Hans looked at Sheridan and widened his eyes.
Sheridan also glared disapprovingly at Hans, who called himself a kid.
“lily. What is that? Why does it smell like dogs?”
“Someone is a dog!”
Hans, who had been stabbed for no reason, resented it.
Rudger shook his head.
“This is Hans. A colleague who works with me Hans. This one… … Come to think of it, I didn’t ask for your name.”
“Sheridan. It’s Sheridan Iron Feet.”
“Yes, Sheridan Iron Feet. I am the man now called James Moriarty.”
“Seeing that you say now, that means it’s a pseudonym, right?”
“okay. I can’t tell you the real name because of complicated circumstances.”
“What happened? You can call me me anyway.”
The two shook hands with each other.
“More than that, Sheridan. I have a question for you. What were you planning to do after detonating the bomb in the shaft?”
“Uh, a bomb? I didn’t take that very seriously. When it explodes, we all die together. You only live once, shouldn’t you go big?”
“… … .”
Rudgar thought he was good at coming here quickly.
* * *
Two hours left before the next patrol arrives.
Sheridan and Hans eagerly went around the cells where the slaves were kept and freed them.
The enslaved slaves glared at the appearance of the savior.
They were all full of hope when they handed over even the weapons they had brought from the rangers.
Looking at them, Ludger said to Hans.
“Hans. Don’t let the people here lead you. Even if they were given weapons, they were the ones who couldn’t rest or eat properly for a long time. It will be difficult to fight properly.”
“What about your brother?”
“Their numbers have shrunk a little, but they still have dangerous powers.”
Wizard.
If the wizard was watching over the slaves in the depths of this coal mine, there was a high possibility that he belonged to the Delica Kingdom.
When it comes to wizards belonging to the country, there was only one that came to mind.
Warlord Wizard.
Called war mages, even though they are wizards, they are concerned about how to effectively defeat enemies with magic in real battles rather than exploring magic.
There were as many as three such wizards in this mine.
“If you’re a guy who has flowed into a place like this, you won’t be able to see them easily.”
Considering that rare metal mining is being carried out on a national level, the wizards here are probably not ordinary warlord wizards.
“Why are they here… … .”
“I did it because I couldn’t show myself externally. It is very likely that it caused problems in many ways within the military. Even so, if you are here, you must be skilled enough to take such a problem into account.”
And at this point, there was only one person who could face the War Mage.
“… … Got it. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Don’t worry. Besides that, I also got some interesting stuff.”
Rudger showed the firearms strapped to his waist.
It looked like a gun, but what was inside the barrel was not a bullet but a sharp hook.
A prototype of the ‘Wire Launcher’ that Sheridan made to escape here in case he didn’t know.
Sheridan handed it to Rudger, saying that he didn’t need it anymore, so he could use it.
The moment Rudger saw this ‘wire launcher’, he noticed at once that there were many corners to use.
If it is improved a little later, it will be reduced in volume so that it can be hidden in a place like the wrist and used.
“Then move first. Give me a signal and follow me.”
“Okay.”
Ather Nocturnus.
Rudger immediately cast a shadow over his body.
The slaves who had been watching Ludgar from afar widened their eyes at the sight.
Before long, Rudger spread his black wings like a crow and quickly disappeared across the aisle.
