The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 100

They followed Kudran to the outer side of the north wall. The first thing they saw was a barricade made of wood and stone.

"This is it!"

Kudran went ahead.

'It looks shabby no matter how many times I see it.'

A village that could never be considered dwarven.

There were too many reasons to list. They lacked materials, funds, skills, and even willpower.

"Come in!"

Creak-

Kudran opened the gate of the barricade.

The wood creaked so loudly that it seemed about to break.

"Who are they?"

There were a few dwarves inside the village.

They looked at them with suspicion and hostility.

"So the high and mighty craftsman has brought someone here."

"Why bring humans here? Are you crazy?"

"That fool..."

Harsh words flew towards Kudran.

He seemed accustomed to it and simply ignored them.

"Why are they treating you like this?"

"Aren't you like the leader? They're just ignoring you openly."

The two who were watching the situation together asked in small voices.

However, it didn't feel quite right to call him a leader.

"This is quite noisy. Just follow me."

Kudran continued walking towards the center of the village.

There was a small house made of wood.

Creak-

The inside, which they entered following him, was simple.

Or rather, it was more accurate to say there was nothing there.

"...Kudran?"

An old dwarf met them inside.

A name tag floated above his head.

[Dwarf Elder Balron]

Kudran, the leader of the village, was merely a public figure.

The one who held all the power inside was this Balron.

In other words, he was the real authority.

"Who did you bring?"

His gaze fell on the gold bracelet on Hanbit's wrist.

Kudran exclaimed in a cheerful voice, "These people say they will bring back His Highness, the prince!"

"Prince?"

The elder furrowed his brow at the word. He reacted as if he had heard something unpleasant.

"I told you not to mention that guy! Why bring back a royal who abandoned his people?"

"He didn't abandon us!"

"So that's why we're living like this? No matter how much you don't believe it, the truth doesn't change. The prince definitely abandoned us."

"No! We drove His Highness out!"

-They're fighting among themselves;

-Is this WWE?

-So why did he abandon his people?

-He didn't abandon them.

-Then why did he abandon them?

-Get lost.

An argument started over the word 'prince'.

Kudran, who had maintained a bright attitude until now, looked genuinely angry this time.

Seeing that there was no end in sight, Hanbit took out the market's introduction letter.

"Please look at this first."

"Tch."

The elder snatched the introduction letter with displeasure.

Then, after glancing at Hanbit, he began to read the written words.

"...Ha."

It was more of an order than an introduction.

Although he was annoyed, he couldn't ignore the introduction letter written by the mayor.

If he messed with that guy, his life would become even more difficult.

In other words, it was best to listen to the words of the guest wearing the gold bracelet.

"Sit down for now."

Having made his decision, the elder gestured to the worn-out rug on the floor.

They all sat down on the dusty floor.

"So, what are you here for?" The elder asked with a wary expression.

Hanbit's answer was simple. "I want to ask for the help of the dwarves to protect Ifrit."

"Excuse me? Why would we need to do that?"

"Because things could get dangerous if you don't."

"......?"

The elder looked genuinely puzzled.

Then, Avantgarde, noticing the empty surroundings, casually asked a question.

"There aren't many people in the village. Are the other villagers at work?"

"Most of them are currently working on cleaning the sewers. Some are probably doing odd jobs somewhere."

The dwarves who lived here had to earn money.

The taxes they paid were much higher than those of Ifrit's citizens.

Apart from that, they spent all their money on alcohol to relieve their stress.

"How many blacksmiths are there?" Kim Jaeha asked next.

Having searched for dwarven metallurgy, he had visited this village several times but had never been allowed in.

Naturally, he was curious about the dwarves' internal affairs.

He wondered what the craftsmen were doing.

But the elder gave an unbelievable answer.

"There are no more skilled craftsmen worthy of the title. It's all because the prince left this place."

"What!"

At that moment, Kudran interrupted and stood up.

"Because of the elder's blind obedience to the mayor's words, we had to make art! His Highness always told us to hone our skills!"

"You damned fool! I made that decision for our own good! If we had focused only on metallurgy following the prince, we would have starved to death long ago!"

To summarize their conversation, it went like this:

The elder wanted to earn money by taking on expensive art jobs.

The prince wanted to hone the dwarves' skills in crafting weapons, which was their pride and everything.

As a result of this disagreement, Gorik left the village.

Hanbit interjected their conversation, "Elder, why did you make that choice? Even if the mayor made an offer, you could have hesitated."

"...In a peaceful city, there was not much demand for weapons. Then the mayor suggested art."

In the early days of their migration to Ifrit, the dwarves had also focused on crafting weapons.

It was what they had always done, and the prince's will had been firm.

However, the city, which was too peaceful, did not pay attention to them.

"We gradually became poorer as we continued to create new equipment. Ifrit was too safe to absorb all the new equipment we produced."

"That's when the mayor came? To make money by making luxury goods?"

"That's right. In fact, art made a lot of money, and most dwarves focused on it. There was no need to make weapons."

"...That's ridiculous."

Kim Jaeha sighed in disbelief.

It was a natural reaction for him, as he had been chasing dwarven metallurgy day and night.

Hanbit asked another question, "When did the prince leave?"

"Around the time when the production of art began in earnest. I thought he would eventually turn his attention to weapon making once our lives became stable..."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Prince Gorik, had persistently honed his skills despite the unfavorable circumstances. There were dwarves who followed him, but in the end, they gave up their perseverance and followed the elder's will.

The only one who remained at that time was Kudran.

The prince, angry at the sudden change, quietly left the village after a while.

"How is the situation now? It seems like you're not making art anymore."

"The power of the blessing that the prince took away also had a great impact on the artwork. The mayor was not satisfied with the craftsmen who had lost their special abilities."

"But you're still better than ordinary craftsmen, right?"

"Although our accumulated experience has not disappeared, it was far from enough. The mayor, who lost interest, abandoned us like that."

-That damned mayor;

-All mayors are problematic.

-But art is still profitable.

-Yeah, fancy decorations are really expensive.

-That's the end game in RPGs.

The dwarves had started producing beautiful works of art.

The mayor, blinded by greed, expanded her business at an excessive rate.

And immediately after the biggest contract was signed, the dwarves lost their blessing.

Naturally, it was impossible to supply products, and the mayor was humiliated and furious.

Two days later, the dwarves' treatment hit rock bottom.

"I disagree. We could have survived with our own skills! But you all agreed with her and ended up completely ruined!"

"You don't know anything! Do you think reality changes just because you're naive? Money is everything here!"

He understood both of their feelings.

It wasn't something anyone could be blamed for, and he didn't want to take sides.

After all, even Prince Gorik was so focused on his skills that he neglected the lives of his people.

“I understand the situation now. So, let’s get moving.”

Hanbit picked up the mayor’s introduction letter from the floor.

The important thing was to normalize this difficult situation as much as possible.

“As I said, I have only one goal. It’s to protect Ifrit with your help.”

“…The walls are unstable, but the city’s defenses are solid. I don’t see a future where it will easily collapse.”

Balron, who had seen his nation destroyed by monsters, couldn’t accept the danger to Ifrit.

It was partly because of the complacency of the mayor and the guild master, but realizing it too late would be pointless.

“Do you really think it’s going to be safe?”

“We’ll take care of the multiplying monsters through extermination. In the end, there won’t be much damage.”

No matter how the conversation continued, his thoughts didn’t change.

For Hanbit’s plan, he needed the dwarves’ sincere efforts.

Of course, it didn’t matter if their hearts weren’t necessarily for the safety of the city.

Thud-!

A loud noise came from outside.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Kaaak!”

Then came the screams of the dwarves.

-??

-What is it?

-Emergency, emergency.

“……!”

Kudran, his eyes widening, got up.

Without hesitation, he ran outside.

“What the…”

The elder also got up, looking bewildered.

“What is it? What happened?”

“Is it an attack?”

Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde were also surprised by the sudden situation.

“Let’s go out.”

Hanbit got up and went outside.

Quad-!

Kung-!

His gaze turned to the continuous loud noise.

The problem was at the entrance to the village.

The shabby barricade was completely destroyed.

GRRRR-!

A huge lizard stood on the ruins. Two dwarves were tied up in its long tongue.

[Tongue Lizard (Lv. 35)]

-??

-Tongue whip appeared ㄷㄷ

-Why are they here already?

-Isn't this wave too early?

Smack-!

Thwac-k!

Dozens of lizards scattered around were mercilessly knocking down the dwarves.

“Damn it…”

The elder followed and looked pained.

The experience of fighting monsters on the battlefield had become a trauma for him.

It had been a tragedy that ended in defeat and destruction.

Hmph-!

Kudran, holding a hammer, was fighting the monsters.

He showed no fear even as several of them attacked him.

Thwack-!

Hanbit drew his sword and jumped in.

Approaching the lizard that had grabbed the dwarves was instantaneous.

Slash-!

The sword, swung horizontally, cut through its tongue precisely.

Squeak-!

The lizard, unable to react, thrashed about, spraying blood.

Thud-!

The captured dwarves fell to the ground, and the attention of the other lizards turned to Hanbit.

Wind gathered on the sword in Hanbit's hand.

Turning around, he looked at the stunned people and said, "Let's take care of the monsters first."

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]