Chapter 258: 136. Resolution -2 (Part Two)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

“Y-yes, sir. Understood. B-but, just where did you even acquire such things…?”

This wasn’t just your average dragon bone, but a piece straight from the toughest part of the dragon: a fang that didn’t melt even after getting struck by its Breath attack.

The legends said that such a fang’s hardness even rivalled that of orichalcum.

“Well, I’ll leave it to you in your capable hands, then. Tell my sister that since it’s going to be a gift, ask the craftsmen to do their absolute best.”

The driver nodded at what I said.

It was right around then that the manor’s surroundings suddenly became noisy. I turned my head and stared at a pathway leading to the manor itself.

“You bastard! Behave yourself and be still!”

“What the hell, why is it so bloody strong?!”

“Be careful! Let your guard down and you’ll be done for in the blink of an eye!”

Dozens of convicts were shouting out. In the middle of them was a lycan busy roaring out while trying to rampage around.

Many spears were threatening it, and the creature’s limbs had been bound and shackled, while the steel chains tied around it meant it couldn’t even escape from here, yet…

Dozens of convicts were struggling mightily from the creature’s physical strength alone.

Harman was in charge of the convicts, and rode up on his horse to reach the manor.

“Your Highness.” He dismounted and walked up to me. “There are some things I must inform you of.”

Judging from the tone of his voice, I guessed that he must’ve discovered something.

I asked Harman just in case, “Hang on. Were vampires behind last night’s raid?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. And not only that…” Harman nodded and wiped away his cold sweat. “…It seems that the undead are preparing for something quite troublesome as well, Your Highness.”

“…”

“Whatever those undead are doing, it’s highly suspicious, Your Highness. Especially considering that Jötnar have shown up, and a lycan even brought up the matter of warp magic earlier. As for the details, we still need to…”

Harman turned his head and glanced at the lycan.

I asked him sharply, “How long do you think you will need to dig out the info?”

“…At minimum, two weeks to a month, Your Highness. There is also some information related to this matter compiled back in the Imperial Court, so we also need to take into account the necessary time to fetch that.”

“One week. Can you do everything in that time frame?”

Harman bowed deeply and replied, “I’ll try my best.”

I sighed deeply again and stared at the lycan being dragged into the residence. “I hope I’m not getting tangled up in something troublesome here.”

My expectations on that were pretty low, though, considering that giants from the ancient legends called Jötnar had already shown up!

Well, I did expect that something like this might happen to some degree. The warp magic coordinates Hans figured out were somewhere up in the northern region, after all.

So I thought that as soon as we found out what those vampire bastards were up to in the northern regions, we better take care of them for good right away.

**

In the fiefdom of Hilda, often referred to as the Theocratic Empire’s top armoury…

The First Imperial Princess Hilda was reading a letter delivered to her. It had been dispatched about a week ago, judging from the timing.

As for its author, the girl named Charlotte Heraiz had written it. She also happened to be the head of the Order of the White Cross.

The letter’s contents, past the opening words of respectful greeting, were rather simple. She didn’t beat around the bush and delved straight into the matter at hand.

It was like she was making demands through her words. At a glance, one could say that she was being far too impudent to an Imperial Princess.

However, there was this one sentence that touched Hilda’s heart quite deeply.

-I wish to protect His Highness the Seventh Imperial Prince.

Although short, that sentence was also long enough to convey the girl’s earnest desire. A grin floated up on Hilda’s lips as she read that line.

She put the letter down and glanced to her side, where the carriage driver from the supply corps could be found. Then her eyes drifted towards the dragon’s fang and its scale, wrapped up carefully in silk, resting on top of the desk before him.

The driver bowed deeply and delivered the Seventh Imperial Prince’s message, “His Imperial Highness wishes to present his precious confidante with a gift, ma’am. He requested that the equipment be crafted with the utmost care.”

Hilda got up from her chair. “That’s obvious. My little brother has requested this of me, so I shall make it happen.”

——

She left her castle and headed to the mining area of the fiefdom of Hilda.

This area was where all types of smithies could be found, and also the location where the race of the master blacksmiths, the dwarves capable of crafting a treasure sword befitting the Imperial Family in around ten days, were plying their craft as well.

Hilda walked with purpose in her steps. The members of the Verdant Cross followed her in silence.

“Oh, oh! Lady Hilda, a great morning to you!”

“Today’s beer, please look forward to it!”

Dwarves greeted her enthusiastically while carrying the ore extracted from various mines. Hilda lightly nodded her acknowledgement and walked past them.

Her destination was a large smithy utilising a blast furnace powered by the volcano’s energy.

—

The moment she opened the smithy’s doors, a powerful gush of hot air rushed up against Hilda’s skin.

Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!

The loud metallic clangs continued to reverberate, seemingly expanding the air with every blow.

Although each hit sounded pristine and perfectly rhythmic, it was also powerful and loud enough to be mistaken for explosions.

The blacksmith responsible for creating such rhythmic noises was short in height and possessed a bushy beard covering the lower part of his face. This leader of the dwarves, Belrog, was working away while kitted out in a pair of goggles and leather gloves.

Hilda stood within the scorching heat and crossed her arms in front of her chest before calling out loudly, “Belrog!”

Belrog the dwarf jumped up in surprise and quickly looked behind himself. He cried out in alarm after finally noticing Hilda inside the smithy and hurriedly dropped what he was doing. “What’s this?! Lady Hilda! I told you so many times not to enter this place! Your smooth skin might get burned by this place’s heat, you know!”

He ran up to Hilda, then began pushing her back to get her out of the smithy.

“Oiii, Verdant Cross! What are you all doing?! How could you escort Lady Hilda to such a dangerous place like this?!” Belrog roared out as if he was a parent worried about his daughter’s welfare. His behaviour and manner of speech prioritised his concern for her rather than minding the correct etiquette meant to address royalty.

Hilda spoke up, “I came to speak to you as I have a request!”

“Yes, yes. Whatever your request is, my lady, I’ll listen to it. But for now, please get out of this place first. You haven’t even gotten married yet, so to have your skin damaged in this place is…”

The muscles around Hilda’s eyes twitched for a moment. She fake-coughed to clear her throat and glanced at Belrog, who was still pushing her back. “I’ve procured the fang of a dragon.”

Belrog flinched in surprise and looked up at her. “…Are you joking with me, miss?”

Hilda snapped her fingers lightly, prompting the Verdant Cross members to bring out the huge dragon bone.

“Oh my gods! Really?!”

Belrog’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He completely forgot about pushing Hilda out of the smithy and fixed his stunned gaze on the dragon fang.

The light burning in his eyes took on an unmistakable hue of entrancement.

What kind of an armament would be born if he refined this fang? Just imagining it sent shivers down his spine.

Hilda observed all the changes in Belrog’s expression and curled up the corners of her lips. “So? How about it? Are you going to humour my request now?”

“O-of course this one will do whatever it is, if it’s Lady Hilda’s command. But, uh, what should I create?”

Hilda fixed her posture. She stood tall with her legs open about shoulder-width and crossed her arms again, then while holding her head up, spoke in a confident tone of voice that even the most grizzled old male generals would be proud of.

“Use this dragon bone to craft a piece of equipment.”

Belrog’s brows rose up higher.

Hilda unfurled her finger and slowly poked the dwarf on his forehead. With a mischievous grin on her face, she finished the rest of her command, “Since it’s going to be my little brother’s special gift to someone he holds dear, do make sure to put your backs to it.”

Belrog heard her command and nodded while making a somewhat dazed face. He didn’t need to be told that, since he was planning to do so, anyway.

He certainly couldn’t afford to waste a precious material like this one, after all!

She asked, “How long will you need for this task?”

The Verdant Cross members handed the dragon’s fang over to Belrog. The latter couldn’t immediately regain his balance due to just how large the bone was, and wobbled around for a second.

“W-well, that depends on what I’m supposed to craft, my lady. However, it should be completed within ten days.”

“That’s quicker than I thought.”

“Taking longer to make something doesn’t mean we’ll get a better product in the end, after all.”

A human’s standard and that of a dwarf’s differed noticeably.

It seemed that for dwarves, using up the least amount of time to craft and refine an item resulted in the best quality possible.

Once one got to the refining process of the ores, one needed to heat it up and smelt it to shape. So, by taking the shortest time necessary during that process, one could minimise the damage and craft an even stronger and more exacting end product.

Belrog was getting intrigued. What kind of an item was he supposed to craft with this dragon fang entrusted to him?

“My lady, what type of equipment should I create?”

His question was answered by Hilda’s deep smile.

“A shield.” She looked down at Belrog and ordered confidently, “Craft the world’s strongest shield, please!”

< 136. Resolution -2 (Part One and Two) > Fin.