âââââââ
so, to summarize.
a dwarf engineer, unable to contain their curiosity, pressed that incredibly suspicious button, and as a result, they were now facing a horde of these things?
it was truly laughable.
dhahaha!!!
hans stopped his mental escape. he had nearly been brained by the fist of an approaching iron golem.
he had managed to dodge it thanks to his experience and training.
the problem, however, was the sheer number of golems. there were far more than he had imagined, and each one was difficult to subdue. but then, hans saw it.
the jewelâs star subduing the golems...
they were striking a yellow jewel embedded in the golemsâ chests with hammers. as the jewels shattered, the golems instantly crumbled to the ground.
hans nodded.
âiâll take care of this.â
now that he knew how to defeat them, there was nothing to fear.
with a peculiar gesture of touching his thumb and middle finger together, the surrounding scenery turned grayscale.
he entered time stop, a space only he could traverse.
hans carefully took a large hammer from a nearby member of the jewelâs star.
he then swung the hammer, meticulously shattering each of the golemsâ jewels one by one.
breaking the jewels themselves wasnât difficult.
the reason the jewelâs star had retreated was because of the golemsâ movements. dealing with them without stopping time was not easy.
but thanks to time stop, hans could easily destroy the jewels.
he returned the hammer to its original place and walked past the golem fragments.
âthis should be enough.â
the position of commander of the royal knights was all about showmanship, at least for hans.
while he had become considerably stronger through continuous training, he was still far from the mythical strength of yuren or cluna.
therefore, every bit of showmanship was crucial. it might seem like mere posturing,
but rumors tended to be exaggerated. and what was witnessed firsthand became an achievement, not a rumor.
especially the weight of an achievement attributed to oneâs position, which could not be ignored.
frankly, who would dare to think the commander of the royal knights was weak?
hans had carefully maintained his image through this delicate balancing act and had barely managed to achieve results.
and now, time resumed.
the jewelâs star, and even bell, were stunned by the sight before them.
the jewelâs star was the undisputed best knight order of the dwarf kingdom.
even these veteran knights had struggled to subdue the iron golems of the purgatory workshop. but hans had muttered something to himself and then instantly taken care of all of them?
âiâd heard about it, but your skill is truly remarkable.â
âheâs the commander of the royal knights for a reason.â
âyouâre surprisingly calm, ambassador.â
âiâve witnessed his abilities several times.â
besides the royal knights, viral was the only one who wasnât surprised.
he replied nonchalantly to bellâs comment.
the button had already been pressed. it seemed these were all the golems guarding the entrance.
âsir hans, what do you plan to do with these golem fragments?â
this was a surprisingly important issue.
as their name suggested, the iron golems were weapons made of steel. and not just any steel, but high-quality steel.
in other words, for the dwarves, it was like stumbling upon a mountain of treasure just by entering the entrance. but thatâs why they had to be cautious.
after all, it was hans who had defeated the golems.
moreover, it was the dwarf kingdom that had requested the royal knightsâ assistance.
in this situation, if hans claimed the golems as his spoils, the kingdom wouldnât be able to object.
â...still, if we negotiate, we should be able to get some of it.â
âthese golems? take them if you want.â
â...excuse me?â
âis something wrong?â
ân-no, nothing.â
bell shook her head.
she was afraid the commander might change his mind. the iron from the golems was incredibly valuable to the dwarves. but she couldnât help but wonder.
why was he giving it away so easily? did he not know its value?
no, that couldnât be.
he couldnât possibly be ignorant.
???? important notice ????
); }
perhaps if he were just a knight fighting on the front lines...
but the commander, the one in charge of the entire knight order, couldnât possibly be unaware of the value of this steel.
perhaps the commander of some nameless knight order... but not the commander of the royal knights.
âheâs the one who willingly gave the national treasure to the human kingdom, isnât he?â
âambassador, i havenât said anything.â
âi can see right through you.â
âi canât hide anything from you, ambassador.â
viral immediately understood what bell was thinking.
unlike most dwarves, she was suspicious and complex.
thatâs why she was fit to be the kingdomâs princess.
but perhaps because of that, bell, who had been caught up in various incidents since childhood, was skeptical of pure goodwill.
thatâs why viral considered this meeting with sir hans an opportunity.
a ruler had to be ruthless. but without any compassion, a ruler was nothing but a tyrant.
viral hoped that this encounter with the noble sir hans would help their princess become a true ruler, not a tyrant.
âwhat good is scrap metal if itâs so troublesome to acquire?â
the truth, however, was that hans had simply given it away because he didnât know its value.
âââââââ
[translator notes]