Chapter 21
“Huff…! Huff…!”
I was gasping for air, lungs burning from the sudden mountain climb. This wasn’t hiking—it felt like scaling a cliff.
“What kind of mountain… is this?!”
Even with my steady rank-ups that had finally made me feel human again, the climb up Clannig Mountain was brutal.
Normally, mountain trails form naturally from people and animals passing through.
But Clannig? It was a merciless mass of bare rock, not a single blade of grass in sight.
No people, no wildlife. Not even the faintest sign of a trail.
So where on earth was I supposed to go?
Maybe I’d missed some clue. I replayed my conversation with Bronze Beard in my head:
“Hey, you can’t just live on someone else’s land!”
“Hah! Let it slide, will you?”
“And what, you think the whole mountain is yours? You’re telling me to come to Clannig Mountain?”
“Heh heh! You’ll understand when you get there. You’ll think, Ah, that dwarf really lives here!”
“Great,” I muttered.
Not exactly helpful. I was lucky I even remembered that much through the haze of drink.
Well, no choice. The thirsty man digs the well. If I made it to the peak and looked around, maybe I’d spot something.
“…Gah!”
Finally, after stepping onto a massive boulder, I reached the summit.
“Whew! At last!”
From up top, the Count’s domain spread out like a painting: a quaint, rural fief.
In the center stood a tall manor—the home of House Impera.
It was grand, a reminder of the family’s glory back when the previous lord was alive.
But now? Just an empty shell of nobility, a destitute count’s estate.
Around it, chimney smoke curled up from tightly packed houses.
Peaceful at first glance—but up close, tragedy. The territory was teetering on ruin.
“And what we need to prevent that… is a dwarf.”
A dwarven master craftsman is priceless. Artifacts touched by their hands put human imitations to shame—
from mana-powered golems to enchanted swords that could even bridge rank gaps.
They could create practically anything.
But you can’t just walk up and say, Work for me! Any true dwarf would laugh and leave.
Compared to that, I had an advantage. At least we’d shared drinks once.
Better than being a total stranger. I had to hold onto him somehow. That was my job.
“Hm… but where is that dwarf, anyway?”
I scanned the barren peak. Not a single tuft of grass. Lonely, even.
“…Huh? Is that… a cave?”
Halfway down the slope, I spotted a small opening among the rocks—easy to miss, like just another pile of stones, but definitely a cave of sorts.
Nowhere else looked remotely suitable for shelter.
“So this is what he meant by ‘you’ll know when you see it.’”
If I’d realized sooner, I wouldn’t have climbed all the way up. What a pointless detour.
Grumbling under my breath, I headed toward the rocky gap.
The cave’s entrance was neat. No signs of a campfire, no discarded junk.
Well, it had been a year since I last met Ian. Plenty of time to erase traces of life.
“Still worth a look.”
I stepped inside. Maybe I’d find something if I searched carefully.
It was dark, but surprisingly fresh—not the usual musty cave smell.
Instead, a faint, clean scent drifted from deeper within.
“Someone definitely lived here.”
I pulled out the torch I’d brought and whispered a spell:
“Fireball.”
Fwoosh!
The oil-soaked torch flared to life, bathing the cave in light.
Torch in one hand, sword in the other, I ventured further in.
‘Pretty deep…’
After ten minutes or so, the narrow passage ended at a stone wall.
“Nothing.”
But then—
“Oh?”
The torch smoke was being sucked into a section of the wall.
Running my hand along it, I felt a thin seam.
Whoever set this up clearly wasn’t an ordinary wanderer.
“Explosion.”
I cast a rank-three spell toward the crack.
Boom!
A small blast opened a narrow passage, barely wide enough for a person.
I swallowed hard and stepped through.
“Whoa…”
The hidden chamber was surprisingly spacious—about the size of my room in the Impera manor—filled with all kinds of objects.
Among them was a hearth powered by a mana core.
“So that’s why there was no sign of fire.”
But everything was layered in dust, as if no one had been here for ages.
Not great for my plan.
Maybe I could at least sell something. A mana-core hearth could fetch ten gold.
Clatter.
My foot nudged a small stone cairn etched with tiny rune patterns.
“This is… a mana-core golem.”
Ordinary golems only move when you feed them mana.
But mana-core golems—dwarven specialty—move on their own, and cost a fortune.
Whoever left this here must be no ordinary traveler.
“…Hm?”
Fsst!
As I brushed dust from the golem, a strange sound echoed. A bad feeling crept over me.
Rumble…!
Sure enough, the stone pile began to stir.
[Intruder detected.]
Two glowing lights flared from the top stone—like a beast’s eyes—as the stones assembled into a form.
“W-wait!”
I stabbed my sword into the gaps, but it didn’t stop.
Krrrk!
The golem shaped itself into a massive stone scorpion and moved to carry out its mission.
[Eliminating intruder.]
“Ah, hell.”
Its stinger lunged for my chest.
I tossed the torch aside and gripped my sword tighter.
Clang!
Weathered and blunt as it was, the golem’s sheer weight made my wrist ache.
My sword was just cheap market steel.
The golem crouched low, watching my reaction after missing its first strike.
I had to take it down.
Blue mana flickered around my blade.
Not quite an aura sword, but enough to smash rock.
The scorpion darted swiftly across the floor.
I wanted to keep it intact for resale—but now wasn’t the time for that.
“Let’s start with a leg…!”
I swung at one of its legs.
Clang!
“Gah!”
Too hard—the blade bounced off.
Should I back off? I was debating when something behind the golem began to spin and glow:
a ring covered in runes, whirling and shining.
A teleportation portal.
Something—or someone—was coming through.
Wham!
“Ugh!”
Distracted, I barely noticed the golem lunge.
It wasn’t attacking—it was grappling.
No matter how I swung, its hard body deflected every strike.
“Urgh…!”
So that was it.
A capture-type golem, meant to restrain intruders.
It wrapped me tight with its many stone legs, pinning me to the ground.
Just then, something stepped through the portal.
Thud!
Short and stocky, its whole body clad in iron.
A… robot?
It held a massive hammer, radiating danger.
“W-wait…!”
“Uwooooh!”
It charged without hesitation, hammer raised high.
Crash!
“Yikes!”
I twisted just in time; the hammer smashed into the ground beside my head, the shock ringing in my ears.
“Hey! Bronze Beard!” I shouted desperately.
“Huh?”
The figure tilted its head.
“It’s me! Ian Impera!”
“Ian… Ian Impera…?”
“Come on! We drank together last year! You told me to visit if I wanted more!”
“…Ahhh!”
A familiar voice rumbled from inside the iron shell.
The figure yanked off its helmet, revealing a gleaming bronze beard.
“Ha! The young brat! Ian!”
“That’s me!”
What a beard—half his face was a cascade of shining bronze.
“Bwahaha! I almost killed a friend!”
Bronze Beard said it like it was nothing.
“Sorry about that! Had some personal matters, you see! Hahaha!”
“…”
Not exactly what you say after nearly smashing someone’s skull.
I eyed the hammer warily. If he hadn’t recognized me, I’d already be dead.
‘Pretty sure he has killed people.’
I remembered him as just a hard-drinking dwarf, but maybe he was far more dangerous.
Still, I was the one in need here.
“So, friend,” he said, tightening his grip on the hammer, smiling but radiating menace,
“what brings you here?”
One wrong word and he’d kill me—that much was clear.
“…Remember? You told me to drop by anytime for a drink.”
I pulled out a bottle of wine from my belt. Expensive stuff from my dungeon earnings.
‘There goes my precious coin.’
Especially since the mana-core golem had already cost me plenty of trouble.
Bronze Beard finally lowered his hammer.
“Ah, my mind! You should’ve come sooner! It’s been nearly a year since I promised!”
He let out a hearty laugh.
“I thought you were just a wandering dwarf. What’s with the mana-core golem and teleport portal? All this fancy stuff?”
“…Everyone has their secrets, don’t they? Anyway, sorry about almost killing you! Hahaha!”
Highly suspicious. Definitely more than just a simple dwarf.
But he clearly wasn’t about to share his secrets.
“Well then,” I said, “how about that drink?”
“Heh! Have you ever met a dwarf who turns down booze?”
