The Indomitable Martial King Chapter 51

Cilan waved his hand as he looked at Yussus, who had an expression on his face that said he knew that would happen.

“No, I will admit that there is some misunderstanding here. Actually, that’s… … .”

“Taaat!”

Silan was interrupted mid-sentence, and Siris charged again with his greatly enhanced physical abilities. Yusus calmly accepted the attack. Sparks flew in the air and several sword strikes occurred at once.

‘It’s definitely not a situation that can be resolved through conversation.’

Silan, who was clicking his tongue, also started chanting the spell again.

“Philanense, bring down your sacred mace on the enemy in front of you!”

A hammer of pink light flew in. Eusus frowned. He had seen high-ranking priests occasionally use holy spells like that, but this was the first time he had seen a shower of hammers of holy light like that.

‘Are you really the bishop of a certain town?’

Well, I was surprised, but that doesn’t mean he was too strong to fight. He is the Golden Knight of Grime, a magic swordsman of the Auror level.

“The trajectory of the sky flows with the wind.”

A magical air current was created behind Eussus’s back, and it swept through the air, hitting all the pink hammers flying in the air. Silan’s holy light hammer, engulfed in strong magical power, instantly disappeared and dissolved into thin air.

“Is my order that simple?”

Leaving aside Cilan’s surprised voice, Eussus focused his attention on the elf girl in front of him. His swordsmanship, which had focused only on defense, gradually changed to attack. He was on the defensive for a while trying to figure out his opponent’s capabilities, but there was no need to delay since he had a rough idea.

The golden magic sword Eldran began to pressure Siris in earnest. She moaned as he pushed her back further and further.

“Ugh!”

Siris also tried to counterattack somehow, but unfortunately, their basic body speeds were too different. In the end, Yussus’s swing caused her long sword to fly into the air. After tripping over Siris’s leg as she let go of her sword, Eussus aimed her sword straight down.

“It’s over.”

The cold blade was aimed precisely at the nape of her fallen neck. Her indifferent expression collapsed and she bit Sirisgai.

“… … damn!”

“Siris!”

Seeing the fallen Siris, Silan hurriedly prepared to pray.

“Philanense!”

Of course, Yusus did not let Silan continue his prayers. It is common sense on the battlefield that if you let a high-ranking priest run his mouth, something might happen. Yusus immediately stretched out his left hand and activated his magic.

“You, be silent!”

“To your servant…” … Whoop! Woowoowoo!”

It was a method of preventing speech by blocking the flow of air around the mouth. This is a fairly common way to prevent priests or wizards from casting spells when fighting each other. Of course, most priests and wizards have methods for destroying such methods. Silan quickly tried to take a countermeasure, but… … .

“Bloom, flower of brilliance!”

Yussus’s magic covered Silan and Siris at the same time. Magical vines bloomed from the roof and wrapped around the two people. Golden roses bloom from the vines, emitting a distant scent. The two’s minds became increasingly blurred by the thick scent.

“… … Ugh!”

“… … Poetry, Silan… … .”

Siris and Silan eventually fainted, groaning. It was only then that Yushu caught his breath as he looked at the two people with their heads down and drooping.

“Whoa… … .”

They weren’t ordinary guys. Priest boys are still boys, and this elf girl’s swordsmanship is absolutely not something to be ignored.

“You must be a slayer, right? Even so, your skills are very good… … .”

Because it was a very expensive slave, Eusus did not have a slayer. Originally, the Slayer was an item that was more about vanity than practicality, so in fact, the price/performance ratio was not right at all. Eussus’s way of thinking was that if he had the money to buy one Slayer, it would be better to use that money to buy a lot of magic tools and improve the skills of the knights.

However, I have seen quite a few slayers from other families. Among them, there were quite a few slayers with well-trained swordsmanship comparable to that of knights. But it wasn’t to this extent.

‘This elf girl… … Did you say Siris?’

This girl’s swordsmanship was at a level that could not be surpassed by famous swordsmen. Honestly, it seemed like it had an edge over Yussus.

‘If we had fought bare-chested, we wouldn’t have been able to guarantee victory or defeat.’

The difference between victory and defeat was simply because the abilities of Barded Eldrad were superior to the divine protection of that boy named Silan.

“… … Even so, a victory is a victory.”

Eusus turned his head, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling. From behind, a group of soldiers were climbing onto the roof. They were the troops of Viscount Kelbern, the Knights of Tenness, and the wizards of the family brought by Eussus who had left the ladder and climbed up.

“Arrest them! “Wizard Polon, please prepare the gold!”

“yes! Yussus!”

A wizard called Fallen cast a sleeping spell on Siris and Cilan. Viscount Kelbern’s soldiers bound the two, put gags on their mouths, and prepared to escort them away.

“I will take them to the castle and find out who is behind it!”

“Yes, Eusus!”

After giving the command, Yusus easily jumped up and went down to the roof. And he shouted sternly:

“Go back to the castle!”

☆ ☆ ☆

Leffenhardt was standing with both feet on the floor. Tila, a dwarf girl watching from the side, burst out in admiration.

“That’s incredible resilience.”

When she first saw him, Tila was actually a little disappointed. She had seen many dwarves get injured while working in the mines. The injuries she saw on Reppenhardt were severe enough to render her paralyzed. Even if the wound healed, it seemed clear that he would no longer be able to use his legs.

No matter how much Alport prophesied, can someone who can’t even walk really save the clan? To be honest, it is true that I had doubts.

But indeed, the person whom God knew was different no matter what. Just by lying in bed for half a day and eating barley porridge like crazy, he recovered to the point where he could get up and walk on his own. It was a recovery that was beyond extraordinary.

‘No, at that point it might be closer to the trolls’ regenerative power rather than recovery?’

That was when Tila was thinking about something else. Reppenhardt, who had been walking carefully while leaning on the wall, smiled and lowered his head.

“Thanks to your care, I have improved a lot.”

“… … “What I gave you was not an elixir like the legendary elixir, but just barley porridge.”

Honestly, I doubt if I would have healed that quickly even if I had really taken the elixir. Tila scratched her cheek and made a humble expression.

“I wish I had given you better food… … All I have now is barley porridge… … .”

Reppenhardt shook his head with a serious expression.

“No, it was really helpful.”

In fact, if they had not rescued him and provided him with proper food, he would not have recovered so quickly. No matter how much Jim Unbreakable’s aura shows an excellent effect on healing the body, its effectiveness is greatly reduced if something is not put into the stomach.

‘If I had eaten some meat, I would have recovered faster, but it would be unreasonable to expect that.’

The food situation of those living as slaves cannot be good. Considering that, the barley porridge that Repenhardt was eating must have been quite a big expense. I didn’t just eat a little, I ate about 15 large bowls. Perhaps this will force some dwarves to go on an unintentional diet.

‘I’m so sorry about that. Tsk… … .’

In any case, recovering his physical condition was the top priority right now. Reppenhardt took a deep breath and continued to use his entire body’s aura. Tila suddenly asked.

“Ah, if you feel much better, can I call the priest? “I heard you had something to say.”

Well, there is no problem at all as long as we talk. Just as he was about to nod, Reppenhardt changed his mind. I don’t think it’s polite to sit down and tell the host to come and go while the guest is there.

“No, I will go find it. “There is no problem with walking anymore anyway.”

“Ah, then I will guide you.”

Tila stood up and supported Reppenhardt.

The dwarves who rescued Reppenhardt were a tribe of mountain dwarves who lived as slaves of the Steelhammer clan, Viscount Kelbern.

Unlike elf or orc slaves, dwarves, even though they are slaves, usually maintain their own traditions and culture to some extent by forming their own villages. This is entirely because the dwarves’ use is significantly different from those of those two races.

The work that orc or elf slaves do in human society does not require much specialized knowledge. Orcs are usually used as simple labor, and elves are used as servants or wraths, but this does not require any specialized knowledge. Of course, there are slaves who are professionally trained, such as slayers or gladiators, but humans are fully capable of this education.

But dwarves are different. The fields in which humans employ dwarven slaves are coal mining, construction, blacksmithing, and crafts. And knowledge in this specialized field cannot be taught by humans.

The dwarves came under the control of humans, and most of the clan’s wisdom that they had hidden became public to humans. But humans could not understand that wisdom.

For example, let’s say you learn the wisdom of finding mineral veins to dig a coal mine.

Humans demand it.

Reveal how to find the mineral vein!

The dwarf answers.

All you have to do is listen to the sound of the earth. It’s so easy, right?

You may be wondering what kind of nonsense this is, but even the dwarves can’t explain it any further than that. I’m just digging because I heard a sound, so what kind of explanation do I need to add here?

The human who has given up on finding the mineral vein asks for something different this time.

Reveal the method of alloying mithril and adamantium.

Once again, the dwarf answers willingly.

You can melt mithril and adamantium, harden them well, and then combine them when you feel like your guts are building up.

It’s not that the dwarves are lying, that’s really what they see in their eyes. Since it was just lifted and looked like it was digging, there was no way it could be explained in the case of quenching. It’s the same way that no matter how much a blind man tries to tell him how to distinguish between red and blue, a sighted person can’t explain it.

Therefore, the transfer of technology from the dwarves was taking place within a range that humans could not understand.

For example, if you are looking for a mineral vein, even if you can hear the sound of the earth, a dwarf who has not inherited the knowledge of their ancestors will not be able to find the mineral vein right away. Even if you can hear the sound of the earth, you cannot know which is the sound of steel and which is the sound of mithril unless you learn how to distinguish it. The same goes for blacksmithing and construction.

If dwarves do not have unique technical skills, they have no value as slaves. And the transmission of that technology is only possible among dwarves. Unlike Orc or Elf tribes, Dwarf tribes are a group of experts. Like an orc farm, you cannot build a mine and build a building by simply gathering unrelated dwarves.

In other words, dwarves become useful to humans only when they form a society. So, unlike other races, dwarves were enslaved on a tribal basis. And to that extent, they were able to preserve their unique culture and wisdom to a large extent. This was the reason why they were the only slave race to maintain their faith and to have priests.

‘Thanks to you, I received a lot of help when establishing the Antares Empire. Because he was the only one among this race that understood the social system.’

Recalling old memories for a moment, Reppenhardt laughed quietly. Now he was walking through an open space in the village, supported by Tila.

Tila’s village was located in a large underground cave, about a kilometer away from Kelbern Castle. Although it is said to be a village, it actually feels like an anthill. There is a large cavity about 40 meters high, and the dwarves’ cave houses are lined up along the walls of the cavity. The communal ceiling is studded with large red rocks, providing light and heat. Leppenhardt smoothed his chin while looking at the rock.

‘That’s a geothermal stone. It produces magical light and heat.’

In the past, dwarves also learned excellent enchantment magic and produced their own magic tools, but now all their magic knowledge has been cut off. This was because humans had stolen all dangerous magical knowledge from the dwarves. So now the dwarves are in a position where they can make all kinds of tools to make it easy to give magic, but they can’t put magic directly on them. Perhaps that rock was created by a human wizard using a separate spell.

‘And at the same time, it is also used to monitor their lives and control their lives.’

Tila was holding Reppenhardt around his waist and supporting him. Because of the significant difference in height, I would say it is closer to a living cane rather than a support beam. Because Reppenhardt was walking with his hand on her shoulder.

“Are you really okay?”

When Reppenhardt asked apologetically, Tila gave an expression that said everything.

“Don’t look at dwarven women like human women.”

Of course, Repenhardt also knew well that dwarf women had as much strength as most human adults.

‘I know it in my head, but I don’t like it because it only looks like a young girl on the outside…’ … .’

But looking at his expression, it doesn’t really seem like he’s having a hard time. She had a strangely calm expression on her face, which honestly, considering Reppenhardt’s weight, would have been quite difficult even for a dwarf woman.

‘She’s a lot stronger than she looks, isn’t she?’

Well, if it had been difficult due to the honest nature of the dwarves, I would have already told you.

Leffenhardt continued walking along the communal outskirts. The inside of the village was quite quiet. Old men were sitting on chairs in front of their cave, smoking cigarettes, and some young dwarves were running around and hiding in fear when they saw Reppenhardt.

All of them were thin and had poor complexions. Dwarves are famous for their small but sturdy physique. However, the children and the elderly here were all skinny and small, probably because they had not been eating properly. There was no lively atmosphere that a village would have, just dead-eyed children and old people hanging out here and there like corpses.

‘It’s like a tomb.’

Compared to the dwarves of the Antares Empire, they were a world away. This is the difference between those who are slaves and those who are not. Reppenhardt suddenly turned to Tila and asked.

“How many people live here?”

“About sixty people, including children.”

“okay. All from Viscount Kelvern?”

“Yes, Viscount Kelbern’s slave.”

Tila’s expression becomes slightly pensive. After a moment of silence, she smiled softly and continued her words.

“Is it because you can’t see the men? “The men are usually at the mines in the Settelad Mountains.”

The pensive expression of an older person covers a childlike face. Reppenhardt looked embarrassed and turned his head. He hadn’t thought about it, but it was because he remembered the original method of humans enslaving dwarves.

To prevent a possible rebellion, humans usually use dwarf families as hostages. Men are sent to work in coal mines or construction for months at a time, and only those who show loyalty to humans are occasionally sent back to their families. Since the family is held hostage, no matter how many dwarves gather, they cannot recklessly start a rebellion.

And children, women, and the elderly who are not productive are gathered in one place and managed. This village is their prison.

‘You asked a pointless question.’

Shaking his head, Reppenhardt continued walking. Teela opened her mouth, pointing in front of a cave in the cavity.