Episode 346
“Hey, Khalid. Have you taken your medicine? Or are you delirious? I’m telling you right now that the dwarves are slacking off and all that crap, and that fixing Silarion is your top priority. Why are you trying to bargain? Do I look like a merchant to you?”
“……but.”
“I don’t understand if this is due to lack of sense or incompetence. If I kill the Emperor who rules over you, what will happen to you after that?”
“… … I will gain freedom.”
“Yes, I will give you that freedom. Did I ask you to provide me with some troops? Did I ask you to hand over all your weapons? Even if I did, I wouldn’t expect it. I just want to kill those guys, so I’m killing them. But, don’t you have any brains?”
“… … .”
“If I kill the dragon, the dwarves who have been slaves for hundreds of years will be free. And not just free, but complete freedom. But.”
I tapped Khalid’s cheek with my hand, then out of annoyance I just slapped him on the cheek.
Crack-!
Khalid opens his eyes wide with a blank expression.
That look of not understanding what happened.
Okay.
“Why are you trying to tightrope walk? Why are you trying to do politics here? Why are you trying to use me?”
I’m not an idiot, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know.
This guy was clearly trying to take advantage of me.
You’re treating the part of Silarion that I want repaired as if you’ve found a weak point.
You stupid kid.
“Do you know what I did on the continent, what I’ve been doing up until now? Don’t tell me you didn’t know. Your expression says it all.”
I ended up sighing.
Sigh.
“Even this kid is a king.”
He reached out again and grabbed Khalid’s hair.
“Ugh-”
“Hey, you want me to stop working? Fix Silarion, and then you can handle the backlog of orders. Don’t you know what’s more important? Backlog of orders? What the hell is this? Are the backlog of orders from the orcs, harpies, and elves more important than your freedom? Are you old and senile? What kind of king can’t tell right from wrong? Hey, do I really have to say this with my own mouth?”
The more I think about it, the more absurd it becomes.
I put more and more strength into my hands.
Kwaaaaak-
“Khalid-Amur. The Dwarf King of twenty years ago said that you were quite capable and a decent king with good sense, but seeing you in person made me question my own suspicions. Were you one of those too? A dragon idolater?”
“… … .”
I just relaxed my grip on my hand.
“Congratulations. It’s been 3 days now. Fix Silarion in 2 days.”
As I swing my hand that was holding Khalid’s hair towards the floor, he falls to the ground with a thud.
I just raised that hand.
Then our group all put away their weapons.
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I spoke to Khalid, who was looking up at me blankly.
“Do I still seem like the person you came to ask for a favor?”
“… … .”
“Don’t forget, it’s two days. If you don’t fix it within two days, Khalid, you will be cut into twenty pieces that day and become food for the Imoogi. So gather only the best craftsmen and fix it within two days. And.”
As I lightly lift my index finger, Khalid’s fallen body comes to mind.
I walked up to him and whispered in his ear.
“The mismatched brat is wearing a pearl necklace that is too good. You do not seem to be the vessel for a king. I tolerated your son’s whining once, and I tolerated you bargaining twice. It would not have come to this. I tried to tolerate most things because I felt sorry for the dwarf who had been a slave for hundreds of years, but that ended here. So consider yourself very lucky and remember that there is no third time.”
He just raised his head.
“Menama, you stay and everyone else gets out.”
The room was quiet, as if under a silence spell.
I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve said this. Let’s just do it.
“I really hate saying something twice. What are you going to do? Say it again?”
Khalid-Amur gestured slowly.
That’s a signal to get out of here.
So all the dwarves except Menama left.
Menama, left alone, looks at me with a blank expression.
It’s the look in his eyes that says, “I don’t know you, but why do you keep talking as if you know me?”
I asked the guy.
“Have you eaten?”
“… … It’s a meal.”
He doesn’t raise his voice until the very end.
I said confidently.
“Buy me some food. And show me where we’ll be staying for the next two days.”
“… … .”
“I think I need to have a deeper conversation with you.”
Menama nodded obediently.
* * *
Waffles and French fries, traditional dwarven food.
And gratin dishes made with chicken stew and wild boar.
The food served on the table was very fancy.
But none of us who were seated picked up our spoons first.
I looked at Menama and asked.
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“What do you think about that situation just now?”
“… … What is the situation? That you threatened His Majesty in a low voice? Or that you knocked out the crown prince? Or that you told him to repair Silarion within two days? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I ended up laughing hysterically.
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Look at that nonsense.
Even when all the dwarf knights drew their weapons, he was the one who stood behind them, watching with his arms folded.
“You know what? The current king, Khalid, is extremely incompetent.”
“I know.”
Honestly, I can’t help but know.
It’s not like I just dealt with Khalid or anything, just the overall situation of the dwarves. Let’s take a look at that.
Dwarves are a neutral faction.
Orcs and harpies are in a semi-alliance, while elves are allied with trolls to oppose both races.
In fact, if an ‘external enemy’ were to arise, the four races could unite as one.
If you look at the situation in the forest of demons, it is divided into exactly three factions.
In such a situation, dwarves are neutral with vampires.
Their way of life is simpler than you might think.
They build, sleep, kill the humans who occasionally invade, and if there are any forces that cannot be dealt with by the dwarven ships, they receive reinforcements from other races to deal with them.
That’s the current dwarf system.
The reason they can live so simply is because the five dragons called the Five Emperors favor the dwarves.
In other words, in a situation where the dragon is watching over the dwarves, the current system will be maintained without any problems regardless of who sits on the throne.
Without going too far, even a fool like the dwarven crown prince, who is so stupid and arrogant, becomes king and rules the dwarves.
“Now, if you were the king, what choice would you have made in that situation?”
“Do I really have to answer?”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t do it, but wouldn’t it be better to do it? If you want to kill all the dwarves before I even get to know them, things will get really weird. Don’t you think so?”
This could be seen as a direct threat, but it’s up to you how you take it.
“My judgment? Simple. If I were king, I would stop everything I was doing and devote all my craftsmen to repairing Silarion.”
“But why couldn’t Khalid do that?”
When asked if he thought he could kill the Emperor, Khalid-Amour clearly answered like this:
I feel like I’m going to die.
But was that really said with such ‘confidence’?
no.
He bargained.
And he tried to use me.
In other words, it is not that I am certain, but rather that I have ‘suspicion’ it as a premise.
That’s just how it was expressed.
He brought three intermediate masters with him, and he treated me like a servant.
And even though Khalid must have heard all the rumors about me that spread across the continent, he continued to be suspicious.
If this were the beginning, when I first came out into the world and started doing things, I would have thought so, but the results have already been achieved.
There are countless results out there and they have already been verified, but you still have doubts?
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I suspect that the elves, who have keen ears, and especially the dwarves, who have a lot of contact with humans, would have continued to obtain that information?
This isn’t being careful, it’s being insensitive.
No, it’s not enough to say that you have no sense. It’s just incompetence. It’s stupid.
That is, Khalid created an escape hole in advance.
I just repaired Silarion, but what if I fail to kill the dragon?
The wrath of the Emperor will fall upon the dwarves. He will also lose his head.
That’s why I ‘suggested’ a time limit of 12 days.
To finish making other items that had been pre-ordered and to make an excuse that our dwarves had no choice but to repair Silarion.
Even if that weren’t the case, he would have used me to do some things around him, using Silarion as bait.
It’s just that the word incompetent is so appropriate in this situation.
Menama said.
“Why couldn’t Your Majesty do it? It’s simple. Because he was tamed by the dragon. Because he swore allegiance to the dragon.”
I just snapped my fingers.
so.
“You should be king.”
“……what?”
“What did Khalid-Amur do on the throne? Did he do politics or anything? You said it yourself, he was incompetent. What about your brother, the crown prince?”
“Compared to that guy, Your Majesty is actually a saint.”
“Yes, that’s it. In the current position that the dwarves occupy in the Forest of Demons, whoever becomes king will be able to do what Khalid is doing now. But will that be the case in the future as well?”
“……next?”
“If all the Five Emperors are dead, do you think the current way of ruling will work after that?”
“… … .”
“That’s why you have to have a sense. A sense that idiots like Khalid-Amur and Rogers-Amur don’t have, an intuition as a person in charge and a king. You have that. Not only that, you’re also the general manager of the fortress. You’re also the best craftsman among the dwarves at the moment.”
Maybe it’s because it was 20 years ago, but the future Menama I know and the current Menama were a little different.
If it were Menama back then, he would be wielding a sword right now, mobilizing his knights, and saying, ‘I am succeeding to the throne, father.’
now.
“A new wind is blowing.”
“… … .”
“Then what should we do? We need to spread the sails. We need to catch the wind. But if we don’t spread the sails and instead hang them upside down, what will be left after that?”
Menama quietly closed his eyes.
Leaving that as it was, I picked up my spoon and picked up the boar meat.
Following me, everyone except Menama began to eat, and Menama remained motionless with his eyes closed until we finished eating.
Menama didn’t open his eyes until he had finished wiping his mouth with a napkin and sucking his blood from Charlotte with a metal straw for the first time in a long while.
After a long time, Menama opens his eyes.
He didn’t say anything, but I could tell.
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Menama had come up with an answer in his mind.
“I’ll tell you two things that will happen from now on.”
