Chapter 222

I hated humans.

I hated them so much I could not bear it.

The dwarf Soserin thought so.

‘This was all because of humans……!’

Why did he hate humans?

Wasn’t the reason obvious?

His kin had been killed by human hands.

It had already been more than fifty years, but Soserin could not forget the sight of the wilderness stained red with his kin’s blood.

It had not been a war.

Combat was supposed to be honorable.

It was the process of clashing with one’s own weapon, a trained body, and sharpened tactics to be reborn with the soul of a true warrior.

If his kin had died honorably in a ‘war’ with humans, then he might not have blamed the humans so much.

But that had been a hunt.

The humans treated them like prey.

They deceived the gullible kin, tricked them, fought them, killed them, hung their severed heads up, cut and burned their beards, drained out their marrow, stole their spirits, kicked their corpses and humiliated them.

The humans showed no courtesy toward their enemies. Because of that, their honor had been sullied, and on the battlefield they had been reduced to nothing more than small, shaggy wild animals.

That fact could not be forgiven.

Those other kin without backbone acted as if it had only been fifty years and had already forgotten. Some even became traitors who argued they should learn from human technology because it was good.

“Hanies……!”

How fond of humans did one have to be to give oneself a human name like Hans, to trail into human territory and live there?

That a traitor like that had once been the village’s finest blacksmith, called a ‘genius,’ angered him so much his chest felt like it would shatter.

Still.

Still, Soserin had endured.

The war had long been over.

No matter how much he shouted for ‘vengeance,’ it would do no good if his fellow kin all cried for ‘peace.’ And above all, rationally, Soserin also understood humans to some extent.

Until two hundred years ago, his race had ruled this planet. Wasn’t it natural that they would be displaced by a suddenly arriving other species, and that they would resent those other species in a way that seemed extreme?

……He forced himself to accept that and hid his thirst for revenge deep in his heart.

He bound it tight, hid it in a dark place, looked away, and simply waited for the flames to die down little by little.

But today.

When humans suddenly came to the village, and Soserin discovered that the reason the ‘river’ was drying up was the humans—

The anger he had barely suppressed burst out. The ember in his heart flared uncontrollably and clouded his reason.

‘They had to be killed.’

He had to kill those bastards.

But from his experience in the past war, Soserin knew one thing. Those humans who could come directly into the realm of the [Mystics] were not ordinary people.

‘What method would be best…….’

He knew the humans were staying at Hanies’s house. It looked like one of them might be a technician; they seemed to be making equipment for civil engineering work……

‘Poison them? No, there might be cases where poison wouldn’t work. And that’s too sneaky. Lure them out one by one and smash their heads with an axe? No…… what excuse would I use to call them out? That’s a dead end too.’

No clever plan came to mind.

And the biggest obstacle above all was that lanky man.

‘That tall, dark-skinned bastard. I must avoid him at all costs. If I challenged him head-on, it would surely end badly for us.’

It was instinct.

The instinct honed from surviving the war told him so. The others might be manageable, but at least that man would be dangerous unless he could be taken down in a single blow.

Soserin racked his brain, trying to figure out how to take out those human bastards easily, and soon reached a conclusion.

‘I can’t do it alone.’

He needed comrades.

Even during the war, brave and honorable dwarves had stood shoulder to shoulder against the humans.

‘There must be those who would agree with my thoughts.’

Having reached that conclusion, Soserin decided to go around the village and find other dwarves who would share his intent. Surely there would be those who hated humans enough to kill them because of this incident, or because of the past war.

So it was.

Having used the Mystic Index Encyclopedia in advance to grasp the plans of someone called ‘Soserin,’ I returned to the village immediately. Evangeline had been entrusted to Iri Elisbell, and I was secretly tailing him.

I kept a [Dictionary] popped up in one corner of my vision, so the thoughts of the dwarf ‘Soserin’ updated in real time.

【Right, I can’t do it alone. There will be someone who will help me. Let me think…… Neighbor Gorwin always complained about those human bastards. I should go visit him.】

Then Soserin began waddling off somewhere, moving his short legs.

I watched him with my ocular scanner from a position where Soserin would not notice.

Hmm. What should I do.

If I felt like it, I wanted to sock him for daring to think that about us, but if I did that the ones still friendly to humans might turn hostile toward us.

If that happened, my plan to upgrade my body with Source Power would be ruined.

And, if I’m honest…… I did not dislike Soserin that much.

He had survived the war and had lived trying to control his anger after losing loved ones before his eyes. The ‘Anti-Rain River’ incident had simply relit that fuse.

I could not completely understand his feelings 100%, but I could not hate him outright either. I hoped this could be resolved peacefully if possible.

While I was thinking that, Soserin arrived at someone’s house.

I watched from afar as he pounded on his neighbor’s door. I removed as much extraneous noise as possible and raised the output of my auditory sensors so I could hear his voice.

At that moment, Soserin’s thought reached me via the [Dictionary].

【This is going to be dangerous. At first, I’ll talk naturally and then gradually bring up the main point.】

And Soserin said,

“I want to kill the humans!”

“Is that so!”

……Huh?

……Carefully?

I couldn’t tell whether that was a plot to assassinate or a neighborhood announcement. Even singers at the opera house would be quieter.

“Soserin, why are you beating around the bush!”

“Sorry. Today I want to blow the heads off the humans who came!”

……Huh?

……What’s different from before?

In the language of macho dwarves, was ‘kill’ the cautious expression and ‘blow their heads off’ the more coarse one? To me they sounded the same.

“Alright. I will join you!”

“Thank you!”

……No.

Wait, why did they agree so easily?

In roughly ten seconds, Soserin had gained a comrade. I had a lot to say about that, but I decided to hold it in for now—because Soserin’s “scheme” didn’t end there.

“I’ll go find more comrades!”

“Alright! I’ll join you!”

And so, the two-man anti-human Dwarven Death Squad began moving around the village, gathering others. Some refused, but quite a few joined, and before long their number reached twenty.

Amazingly, it hadn’t even taken them ten minutes to gather such a group. Seven of those minutes were spent waddling around on their short legs.

Most of the conversations went something like this:

—“Let’s kill the humans!”

—“Good idea!”

‘What a fiery race…….’

Should I call them bold?

Or just utterly reckless?

They seemed even more deranged than I remembered from the original story.

Was this, too, the will of the world manifesting itself?

At this point, I couldn’t even tell whether I was in a dwarf village or a barbarian one.

Anyway, the quickly swelling death squad gathered together and began an “assassination conference.”

But…… calling it an assassination plan was generous, since there was barely any actual “content.”

“That man in black is dangerous!”

“Then we’ll take care of the others first!”

“But aside from the dark one, aren’t the rest women? I’m against smashing a woman’s skull!”

“What does that matter! They’re humans!”

“That’s true!”

The meeting ended in less than five minutes.

Their entire “plan” amounted to grabbing their axes and hammers, and storming Hanies…… or Hans’s house.

To me, it looked like a plan full of holes, but to them, it was apparently perfect—they even praised each other for it.

And instead of marching straight to Hans’s house where my team was, they spent another two hours drinking.

Their reasoning? It might be a hard fight, maybe even their last, so they needed to drink plenty of beer before going.

‘No, you just want to drink, don’t you…….’

After drinking until their noses went crooked, the dwarves emptied ten entire oak barrels of beer.

Only then did they grab their weapons and head out from their hideout.

For reference, their weapons were all either axes or hammers. Why beings capable of creating Warp Gates still used primitive melee weapons—I had no idea.

Their faces were flushed red from alcohol, their legs wobbled, some even looked nauseated,

but their expressions were those of a true “death squad,” resolved to die.

‘Uh…… do I really need to get involved here?’

I began to seriously wonder if taking them seriously would just make me the fool.

Still, just in case, I contacted Iri Elisbell and briefly explained the situation, instructing her to be ready.

‘At their level, Iri could handle them alone…….’

Still, I kept watching their movements carefully.

Soon, the dwarves reached Hans’s house and shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Come out, humans! Come out and offer your necks! We shall take your heads to make you pay for your sins!”

“Uoooooohhhhhhh!”

At least their spirit made it seem like they were starting a real war.

After a moment, in response to their demand, Iri cautiously opened the door and stepped outside.

She quietly contacted me.

[They really came. What should I do?]

“Can you subdue them without killing them?”

Killing them would only make things more troublesome.

[Got it. I’ll try.]

The transmission cut off.

Then Iri moved.

With movements like one possessed, she dodged and deflected the dwarves’ attacks, subduing them one by one with precision.

No matter how strong dwarves were, their short limbs couldn’t keep up with Iri’s reflexes,

which were fast enough to dodge bullets.

In the end, within five minutes, all the dwarves were down—defeated by Iri alone.

[It’s done, Mr. Chairman.]

“Good work.”

The result was so anticlimactic I was at a loss for words, and just as I was thinking that, the ringleader Soserin suddenly stood up and asked Iri,

“Human. Why didn’t you kill us?”

“Eh……?”

Iri stammered in confusion.

“W-was there any need to kill you?”

“Gasp……!”

For some reason, those words seemed to move the dwarves deeply.

Was there some special meaning behind that line in the language of this macho race?

I was sure Iri hadn’t put any real thought into it.

Eventually, the dwarves dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. A few even looked on the verge of tears before crying out in unison,

“We have lost!”

“Uh…… y-yes, I suppose so…….”

“Forgive us! We misunderstood humans!”

“W-wait a second…… that’s not—”

Iri floundered, confused.

Then, for some reason, the dwarves ran up and hugged her tightly.

Watching the scene from afar, I felt not just dumbfounded—but a headache coming on.

‘……What even is this.’

And then—

A new notification window appeared.

[Achievement Unlocked]

Sub-story completed.

You have won the hearts of the dwarves.

Reward will be issued.

“…….”

No, Author.

You really don’t have to give me a reward for this one…….

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