TERNLF Vol. 2 Chapter 5 Part 1

◆ Chapter 5 ◆

“So this was it. This was what Luchimada had been trying to create, even if it meant ruling this country.”

I lifted the magic tool the dwarves had uncovered after interrogating the demons and studied it.

It was a simple, rod-shaped object about a meter long, with nothing particularly notable about it except for the magic stone set into its middle.

“Yes. It seems they had already produced around seven of the same kind, though they were unfinished. This is one of them.”

“This one doesn’t have the magic stone installed yet?”

The shape was identical, but the magic stone fitted into the unfinished piece had no magic circuit carved into it.

“In the hidden room of Luchimada’s estate, a huge number of magic stones were left behind as failed attempts.”

“So it was that hard to make, huh.”

After handing the unfinished piece back to the dwarf, I leaned in to examine the magic circuit etched into the finished stone.

“This is an absurdly complex magic circuit.”

“Yes. It was a mechanism unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and we were told it would take a great deal of time to analyze.”

“‘Illusion Canceler’… was it? If it really worked the way I heard, then I guess it would have to be that complicated.”

Illusion Canceler. That, apparently, was the magic tool’s official name.

“If it’s true that ten of these can erase the Elves’ Forest’s illusions, then this thing is downright monstrous.”

Luchimada’s ultimate goal had been the extermination of every last dwarf and elf.

But unlike the dwarves’ nation, the heart of the elven nation lay within a forest protected by powerful illusions. Even Luchimada probably couldn’t have forced his way through it.

So he had decided to create a magic tool that could break those illusions.

But a magic tool strong enough to shatter such formidable deception couldn’t be produced by demonic power alone.

That was why he had apparently decided to exploit dwarven expertise. When it came to magic circuits, dwarves possessed skill and knowledge that surpassed even the demons.

And unlike the cautious elves, slipping into the Dwarf Kingdom would have been easy for him if he made use of the connections he had cultivated during the collapse of the Eldwa Autonomous District.

After climbing into a position where he could develop new magic tools, he gathered dwarven craftsmen, specifically those who still held resentment toward the elves from the previous war, and began his research.

—

“—So this was what you managed to finish. But no matter how difficult it was to make, only completing a single one feels like there had to be another reason, didn’t there?”

“Yes. As it turns out, the one who forged the core of that sole completed Illusion Canceler… betrayed Luchimada immediately after it was finished and burned every last scrap of documentation on the magic circuit.”

“Why would he do that?”

“In the previous war with the elves, he lost his son and suffered grievous injuries himself. Because of that, he harbored deep hatred for the elves. But…”

The day after it was completed, he overheard a conversation between Luchimada and a backer who had come to celebrate the breakthrough.

He had gone to see Luchimada to request help procuring the materials needed for mass production, but when he learned there was a visitor, he hesitated to enter the office.

That was when he heard Luchimada and the backer talking from inside.

“So it was about the incitement operation in the Eldwa Autonomous District that sparked the war.”

Normally, Luchimada would have been cautious enough to set up a soundproof barrier, but that day he had been so elated over the Illusion Canceler’s completion that he neglected even such basic precautions.

After learning the truth, the man left without being noticed, returned to the laboratory, burned every document related to the Illusion Canceler, and then took his own life, erasing all of that knowledge along with him.

Fortunately… though I wasn’t sure “fortunate” was the right word, the one completed Illusion Canceler had been in Luchimada’s possession, and the unfinished pieces had been stored in another room, so they escaped destruction.

But with the records all gone, the most crucial portion of the magic circuit refused to function no matter how faithfully the remaining finished piece was imitated.

Luchimada had probably believed that Grassa’s 【Duplicate】 could replicate the completed magic stone that contained that circuit.

“And that was why Luchimada went after her…”

I almost said the name of Grassa’s 【Duplicate】 out loud and hurriedly swallowed the rest.

No one would have been able to catch what he’d blurted out in the chaos in court, and as for Lakkra, I had personally interrogated him, so there was no chance of it leaking from him either.

Besides, from what I’d confirmed before leaving the interrogation to the dwarves, Luchimada hadn’t even told his subordinates about Grassa’s ability.

“By the way, you managed to get answers about that other matter too, right?”

“Yes. About how that Bracelet of Oath ended up on the market… it seems it was mixed in with the disposal of unwanted items.”

Since Vezzo and the beastkin weren’t the culprits, we hadn’t been able to figure out how the bracelet had made its way to market, so I’d asked them to check just in case.

I hadn’t heard it directly from Luchimada, so I didn’t know what he’d been thinking when he discarded it, but one way or another, it had eventually wound up in Cheki’s hands. Maybe the dwarf blood running through her veins had drawn it in.

Afterward, when Luchimada learned from The Three Idiots that Cheki had the bracelet, he used it as fuel to stir up the incident.

“And they also testified that those three were kidnapping beastkin. It seems they were only instructed to abduct them and confine them at a designated location, but in truth…”

The dwarf’s expression hardened.

“Apparently, Luchimada had been plotting to set the beastkin and the dwarves against each other.”

The dwarves and the beastkin were close enough that they were the only people the dwarves permitted to enter their country.

But if kidnappings occurred, it wouldn’t have been strange for the two races to end up at war.

If Luchimada intended to wipe out the dwarves eventually, he must have wanted to tear that bond apart beforehand.

“That clears up what was bothering me. Thanks.”

After I’d finished asking everything I wanted, I dismissed the dwarf and glanced at the clock in the corner of the room.

“I’d better get going, or I’ll be late.”

Muttering that to myself, I left through a different door from the one the dwarf had used.

Today, punishments were scheduled to be carried out for the dwarves who had cooperated with Luchimada, as well as the interrogator who had questioned Cheki and even cut her hair.

The heaviest crimes were to be met with the ultimate penalty, followed by exile, and then beard-cutting.

However, everything except the beard-cutting was to be postponed until we saw how the Volga Empire responded.

So today, only the beard-cutting ceremony would take place.

“I need to make sure he pays for what he did to Cheki.”

When I arrived at the execution grounds for the beard-cutting ceremony, I took the seat that had been prepared for me.

The place was shaped like a small colosseum, and at the very bottom sat what looked like a platform for the condemned to sit on. A burly dwarf stood nearby, and beside him was a cart loaded with several different kinds of scissors.

“Fewer people than I expected.”

Aside from me, there were only about five dwarves present.

Two judges, the two guards protecting them, and the executioner.

Meanwhile, Nikka and Grassa were each preparing to head for the Volga Empire, and Cheki, with Vezzo as her escort, was probably in the middle of final discussions with King Grenga III and the others.

Gong… gong… gong…

As the heavy toll of a bell echoed through the grounds, the door directly in front of me opened, and the condemned dwarf—the chief overseer in question—was led in.

His crime was only one thing.

He had ordered his subordinates to cut down the hair of an unresisting Cheki. Put into words, that was all.

Her hair had already been restored thanks to Nikka, but I had no intention of dismissing it with a “that’s all.”

Because I’d heard that for dwarves, having their beards cut off was the greatest humiliation of all. This man, who had commanded such an indignity for someone else, didn’t deserve forgiveness.

I never took my eyes off him as he sobbed and screamed while his beard was shorn away, and only after I watched him get dragged out of the grounds did I finally rise from my seat.

Apparently, he would live in solitary until his beard grew back… but I didn’t pity him.

After witnessing the ceremony, I headed straight for the room where Nikka and Grassa were waiting.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back.”

“How was it? Did he regret his action?”

“Yes, he did. And then he cried when they cut his beard short.”

I deliberately kept my tone light as I described what I’d seen.