Chapter 25
“Alright then. Good work out there.”
“Yes, sir! Safe travels, young master! Loyalty!”
Being the son of a noble family really had its perks.
Especially when that noble had the authority to govern an entire territory.
The gate captain even sent us off with a salute sharp enough to cut the air.
Honestly, there were more than a few suspicious details about tonight.
Not just the mysterious attackers—there was even a dwarf, a sight as rare around here as stars in the daytime.
And then the Corpse Explosion—one of the most vicious black magic spells forbidden by the entire Kingdom Alliance.
If I’d been an ordinary person, there would have been endless questioning.
Luckily, I was not.
Even if my family was a dirt-poor count’s house, it was still a count’s house.
So, with the incident conveniently wrapped up, I brought my short new friend back to the family manor.
It was late, and Father, Aemon, seemed to be asleep. Tomorrow, when he heard about the corpse explosion, he’d probably faint in shock.
“Welcome ho—… eek!”
Late at night, our maid Ilene came to greet me after hearing footsteps—then screamed when she saw me covered in blood.
“Ah, Ilene.”
“Master! What on earth happened to you this time?”
“It’s not my blood, don’t worry. I’ll explain later. Where’s Father?”
“Th-the Count went to bed early tonight….”
“Good. He needs the rest—tomorrow will be busy. Could you bring me a towel to wipe this off?”
“Y-yes….”
Ilene, clearly exhausted by my antics, quietly obeyed.
By morning, the entire county would be in an uproar—both in good ways and bad.
“Come in.”
“…Understood.”
After roughly wiping away the blood with the towel Ilene brought, Harun bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry!”
He must have thought everything—the corpse explosion and the Geoclans’ assassination attempt—had been attacks aimed at him.
That I was just an unlucky bystander who barely survived.
Half right, half wrong.
Krissini, who lost his head to me, had indeed been after Harun.
But when he got caught up in the corpse explosion, all his men turned into ghouls, which let me finish him off easily.
Without Harun there, I might have been the one to die.
If anything, he’d saved my life.
But did I need to explain that?
“Hm….”
I mulled it over and reached a simple conclusion:
Of course not.
A debt is worth more when it feels heavy—especially when the one owing it is heir to the Dwarf King.
I smiled warmly and patted Harun’s back.
“It’s fine. Thanks to you, I avoided becoming a ghoul myself. Even if the attack was meant for you.”
“Y-yeah, I guess so.”
“And it’s true I almost died.”
“…”
“But I’m still alive, right? That’s something to be grateful for, isn’t it?”
“Mm.”
Harun looked like guilt was eating him alive.
Heh.
My conscience twinged a little, but a useful lie is still a good thing.
Now Harun would feel like he owed me—and wouldn’t refuse a favor.
“Anyway, why were they after you? Does it have to do with the ‘family matter’ you mentioned before?”
Harun bit his lip, lost in thought, then finally began to speak.
“Yeah… I suppose I can tell you.”
This time he told the whole story, not the fragmented bits I’d heard before.
The late King Bailend Ron Malak of the Dwarven Kingdom of Jaigelond had named his eldest son, Harun, as heir.
Though Harun preferred adventuring, he accepted it as destiny.
But his younger brother, Eluwin, could not.
The very night of the succession announcement, Eluwin bared his hidden claws—attacking Harun and his followers.
Thanks to the sacrifice of his men, Harun barely escaped Mount Jaigelond, but the children and soldiers left behind were all slaughtered.
He fled with nothing but the clothes on his back and became a wanderer.
To this day, Eluwin still hired mercenary assassins to kill him.
Not even the remote County of Impera was truly safe.
From heir to the Dwarf King to fugitive—that was Harun’s journey.
Hearing it, my chest tightened.
Tsk tsk….
“So that’s what happened.”
“I’m sure my brother is behind this attack too! I could tear him apart and it still wouldn’t be enough!”
Harun clenched his fists and trembled, then slowly let them fall.
“Phew….”
But he had no power.
His brother now sat on the throne of Jaigelond.
A wandering dwarf could never fight a king.
“My hammer deserves better. Instead of striking steel, it’s been smashing monsters.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said.
“Sometimes… I just want to give up. To rest. I’m tired of being a hunted runaway….”
Tears welled in his eyes.
Wants to rest, huh.
I knew the perfect place.
“So, we’ll have to leave here too. If I linger, I’ll bring danger to you. I’m truly sorry, my friend.”
I held back a grin and said seriously,
“So you’re saying if you could stay somewhere safe and live peacefully, you’d like that?”
“Hmm? Well… yes, if I could.”
“Then stay with me.”
Harun’s eyes went wide.
“With you? No, I couldn’t impose like that—”
“Impose? Taking in one person isn’t a burden. My estate may be poor, but not that poor.”
“No, no! I just mean… if assassins target me again, you could be harmed!”
“Bah! We’ll just say they were after me. Problem solved.”
Harun’s mouth said no, but his eyes betrayed him.
“That’s too much to ask…”
“If you feel guilty, you can repay me another way. Work for me, perhaps.”
“Work?”
“Sure. For a friend, I can offer a little job. How about master smith of a small forge?”
“M-Master smith!”
The words hit him like a thunderclap—his eyes widened, nostrils flared.
For dwarves, smithing is their lifeblood.
To build a forge, feed the fire, and shape metal… that’s a dream no fugitive can dare.
Yet I was offering just that—along with my protection.
“I’ve dreamed of it ever since I fled Mount Jaigelond! To strike iron with a hammer again, not monster skulls!”
He lifted his hammer and shouted.
“I’ll make sure the facilities are as good as I can manage,” I added. “But the work will be heavy and the pay light.”
“I don’t care! Feed me and give me a place to sleep, and you can work me as hard as you like!”
“Food and a bed? I’ll even throw in drinks whenever you want.”
“R-really?!”
“What are friends for?”
I shrugged lightly.
Tears brimming, Harun lunged forward and hugged me.
“Ugh… thank you so much!”
He was so grateful I almost felt bad.
Almost.
But really, this was a win-win: Harun got a safe haven, and I got a dwarf blacksmith at a bargain.
“WHAT?! A corpse explosion occurred?!”
Early the next morning, a messenger from a neighboring territory delivered the news, and Father, Aemon, nearly popped his eyes.
The Kingdom Alliance ruled the world, and even they had outlawed corpse explosion as an abominable black magic.
It didn’t distinguish soldier from civilian—it simply annihilated everything.
And it had erupted right next to Impera County.
“Then—how bad is the damage?!”
“Pardon?”
The neighboring butler blinked at Aemon’s urgent reaction, confused.
“I said, how far has it spread? We need to prepare!”
“Er… didn’t the young master tell you? He was there helping to contain it…”
“…What? My son?”
Aemon tilted his head as if he’d misheard.
That son? The reckless Ian? Helping with a corpse explosion?
“Ah, there you are.”
I stepped in before things grew too complicated.
I’d planned to tell him at daybreak, but now it hardly mattered.
“Young master!”
The visiting butler brightened at the sight of me.
“…Ian?”
“What he says is true. I happened to get involved.”
“What do you mean ‘happened’?!”
“I went out for a drink, an incident broke out, and I handled it.”
“You… handled a corpse explosion? Alone?”
Even after hearing it, Aemon could barely believe it.
“…Pardon me. May we speak privately?”
“Uh, of course… You may go,” he told the butler.
“Ah, yes. I’ll take my leave.”
The butler bowed and departed.
“Now, son. What in the world happened? You’ve changed lately, but stopping a corpse explosion?”
His eyes were full of fatherly worry.
Maybe he suspected I’d learned black magic—
after all, the fastest way to raise one’s rank is through dark arts: selling one’s soul, making live sacrifices…
If I had turned to black magic, it would explain my rapid growth.
The Alliance would see that as a heinous crime.
But to Aemon, I was his only son.
He’d accept me regardless.
“…First, please don’t be shocked.”
“No matter what, you’re my only son. So just tell me…”
His face grew grim, imagination running wild.
Before he could worry further, I called out,
“Bronze Beard! Come down!”
“Huh? Bronze Beard?”
Aemon blinked at the strange name.
“Me?”
A gruff voice rumbled from the second floor—
Harun had been sleeping in the small room attached to mine.
“Yeah! Since you’re staying as a guest, you should greet the master of the house!”
“Gahaha! You’re right! I completely forgot. Coming down now!”
Clattering footsteps followed, and soon the door opened.
Harun waddled in, barely reaching my waist.
“So you’re his father!”
Aemon’s eyes went wide.
Though the Jaigelond Mountains were far from Impera, he was a count.
He’d heard the stories.
A dwarf—one of the legendary smithing race.
Seeing one in person left him speechless.
