[129] Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated in a Count's Family [35]

We continued walking deeper into the cave. 

At some point, the cave began to widen, and warmth started to fill the space.

Dressed heavily, we began to feel more heat than warmth, so we removed our outer layers. 

I was now in lighter clothing, and Yuria had returned to her usual maid outfit. 

As we ventured further into the cave, the surroundings began to brighten. An inexplicable, faint light illuminated the cave.

"Plants… are growing here."

Yuria spoke as if surprised. As she said, grass was growing on the cave floor. Despite being completely cut off from the outside. 

I stepped on the wild grass growing haphazardly and spoke nonchalantly.

"This is a dragon's vein. Even if there's a lack of water or light, the spiritual energy is abundant, so they can grow well." 

"This would be a place mages would love." 

"They'd go crazy for it. That's why a dragon made its nest here long ago."

But it's not all advantages. The downside is that the number of monsters increases as well. Such a massive dragon's vein is difficult to manage unless it's an Ancient Dragon. 

We went even deeper into the cave.

'It's getting hard to call this a cave now.'

Grass and trees began to appear. And at some point, the ceiling became so high that it was no longer visible. 

I looked up at the ceiling. It was at least 100 meters high. It seemed like a stone ceiling, but it didn't look like it would collapse anytime soon.

'This is clearly an enclosed space, so where is the light coming from?'

It wasn't mentioned in the original work, so I couldn't know. Since this was once a dragon's lair, I could only guess it was the dragon's doing.

"This place is completely different from the outside." 

"If the outside is an eternal winter, this place is spring. An everlasting spring."

Below, colourful flowers bloomed, and fruits hung heavily from the trees. I plucked a cylindrical fruit from a tree and chewed on it. The nameless fruit was sweet and sour.

"It's delicious. How about you, Yuria?" 

"Yes, it's delicious. I've never heard of such a fruit before. Could it be unique to this place?" 

"Since we're here, it wouldn't be a bad idea to gather some fruits and saplings."

She began diligently storing fruits and saplings into her shadow. I didn't stop her. I quite liked these fruits.

'Huh?'

Something moved within the trees, and it turned out to be a squirrel. A cute squirrel was staring at us strangers from a branch.

'Not just plants, but animals too. Well, it's natural for a place like this.'

We rested for a while, checked the time, and then moved on. Since the weather here is always the same, we need to check the time frequently.

'There's still over 7 hours until sunrise. Including buffer time, 12 hours should be fine. We have plenty of time.'

But that doesn't mean we can dawdle. There's no such thing as a perfect plan in this world, and variables can always arise. 

We walked further inside. 

And then, we discovered a village with stone walls. 

The stone walls, about 3 meters high, encircled the village, with ballistae installed here and there. The entrance to the village was tightly shut. It seemed difficult to enter without crossing the walls.

"Is this the dwarf village you mentioned, Master?" 

"Yes. The Frost Hammer Tribe."

Dwarves and elves, being few in number, don't form kingdoms but operate as tribes. They are known to have little desire for reproduction, likely due to their lifespans being over four times longer than humans.

"Should we enslave all the dwarves here?" 

"The dwarves will resist, so we'll have to kill about half of them."

One of the two purposes for coming to Hughes Snow Mountain was to enslave the Frost Hammer Tribe dwarves. 

While it's difficult to enslave dwarves or elves openly active in villages or cities, wild dwarves and elves without any status are a different story.

"I'll infiltrate now and kill any dwarves who pose a threat." 

"Sneaking in will be tough. There's magic on those walls. We can't just climb over them."

Attempting to climb the walls would likely trigger the magical traps installed on them.

'In the original work, Kyle arrives here much later.'

In the original, the Frost Hammer dwarves, while fighting a group of Yetis, receive Kyle's help and come to acknowledge him. In return, the dwarves forge a special sword for Kyle.

'The entire dwarf village was on the brink of destruction by the Yetis, so they acknowledged Kyle. Normally, these guys don't easily accept humans. The Frost Hammer Tribe dwarves would kill any human who stumbled upon this place.'

They're not friendly towards humans. In fact, they're hostile. That's why they live in such a place.

'Trying to win them over with conversation is impossible.'

Creating a situation like in the original? That's too risky. Yetis are creatures we can't easily encounter. And there's no need to befriend the dwarves. Enslaving them is more useful.

"Master, what should we do then?" 

"We need to make them open the gate."

I raised my hand.

Crackle!

Lightning gathered in my hand, taking the shape of a Swastika. After gathering as much lightning as possible, I shot it towards the gate. 

Rumble!

Bang!

The lightning struck the gate with a loud thunderous noise, as if trying to shatter it. But the gate remained unscathed. 

As expected. In the original, this wall withstood the Yetis' attacks for over two weeks. It would be strange if it broke easily.

'My goal is to lure the dwarves out. Still, it's a bit of a blow to my pride that there's not even a scratch.'

I'll admit it's a wall crafted by skilled dwarves over years of hammering. 

About a minute after attacking the gate.

"Another fearless human has come!"

A dwarf climbed onto the wall and spoke to us. His tone was incredibly confident, as if he didn't think we could possibly harm them.

'With a wall like this, it's understandable.'

I looked at the dwarf with curiosity. The dwarves in this world look exactly like those in comics or movies. Short, muscular, and heavily bearded. He wore a steel helmet and armour, holding a shield in his left hand and an axe in his right. 

Seeing a dwarf in person, after only seeing them in comics or movies, was quite refreshing.

"Since you've come to our paradise, your fate is sealed!" 

"We came here by chance. Let's talk calmly."

I decided to try conversing. Maybe there's a 1% chance we can end this peacefully.

"Talk? I have no intention of talking with you!" 

"Why are you so hostile? If you really don't want to, we'll leave." 

"Do you think I don't know the treachery of you humans?! You'll go back and bring a bunch of soldiers to return! Our paradise will be your grave!"

On second thought, the chance seems less than 1%.

"Are you the leader of this village?" 

"No! I am the warrior chief of the Frost Hammer Tribe! Purex Gladida!"

I shook my head and sighed. He came out so confidently that I thought he was the village leader.

"What? You're just a lackey. Go call your chief." 

"You insolent human!"

The dwarf's axe gleamed with a blue aura. He threw the aura-infused axe at me. 

Yuria, who had been watching the situation closely, moved swiftly. She caught the flying axe mid-air and threw it back at Purex. 

But the axe couldn't harm Purex. A transparent wall appeared, blocking the axe. It was the defensive magic on the wall.

Gasp!

Purex, startled, stumbled. His face turned red, seemingly embarrassed by his own surprise.

"You, you humans!"

Purex descended from the wall. 

Clank. Clatter.

Sounds of something being manipulated were heard, and a white magic circle appeared on the wall. I knew what it was.

"Dodge, Yuria. It's an Air Blast spell."

A mass of wind shot out from the center of the magic circle. Yuria and I ran in opposite directions to avoid the attack. 

The wind mass exploded upon hitting the ground.

'It's easy to dodge since it shoots straight and the magic circle is visible.'

This attack was more suited for killing monsters than humans.

"Tch! They dodged it all! They're fast!"

Purex climbed back onto the wall. This time, he wasn't alone. Over ten armed dwarves were now on the wall, glaring at us.

"How about this! Everyone, fire the ballistae!"

The dwarves picked up their ballistae and began firing at us.

We quickly took cover behind trees.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ballista arrows embedded themselves into the trees.

'The Frost Hammer Tribe has over 100 dwarves. Those warriors up there are all of them.'

Elves and dwarves, living long lives, have little desire for reproduction, so their numbers don't increase much. They don't feel the need to grow their population.

'If we kill all of them, there won't be many dwarves left to resist.'

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ballista arrows couldn't penetrate the trees. No matter how skilled dwarves are at crafting, there are limits. 

When the arrow barrage stopped, I peeked out. There wasn't much the dwarves could do from atop the wall.

"What now? Your attacks can't reach us. If you want to kill us, come down here. Oh, are you Frost Hammer dwarves too cowardly to come down? Well, you are a cowardly dwarf tribe, so it makes sense you're holed up here."

I plucked a fruit from a tree and crunched on it while speaking. My relaxed demeanour made Purex's face turn red.

"You, you bastard! I'll come down and kill you right now!" 

"Warrior Chief! Calm down! It's just a human's simple provocation! Humans are a vile race; there might be a trap!" 

"If you're not coming down, fine."

In truth, provoking the dwarves was meaningless. 

Because...

"We're leaving. Live well here, you little runts."

The dwarves couldn't let us go. 

As Yuria and I turned to leave, the dwarves grew anxious.

"Catch them! Catch them now! They'll go back and bring soldiers! We have to catch and kill them! Open the gate!" 

"Yes! Open the gate! We'll chase and kill the humans!"

Kuuuukunk!

The sound of the gate opening echoed. I smiled triumphantly.

'Dwarf warriors have strength similar to knights… but these guys are different.'

Among them, only the warrior chief can properly use aura. This is a peaceful place, so there are no dwarf warriors who regularly train or hunt monsters.

'Above all, they trust their walls and weapons more than their warriors.'

I stopped running and ordered Yuria.

"Yuria. Focus on getting into the village rather than killing them." 

"Understood. Then it's better to go around the side."

Yuria and I moved quickly.

"Humans! Accept your fate obediently!"

The dwarves chased us, firing their ballistae.

"This will sting."

I shot lightning at the dwarves. They were startled and tried to raise their shields, but their reaction was too slow.

"...!"

Three dwarfs were struck by the lightning, electrocuted, and fell to the ground, trembling before dying.

"L-Lightning? Is it magic?!" 

"Warrior Chief! The humans' goal is our village! They're trying to get inside!" 

"What?! No, no! Stop them! No, close the gate! Are there no dwarves inside?!" 

"Uh… well. They all ran out!" 

"Damn it!"

The dwarves frantically chased us.

"These little runts have short legs, so they run slow."

We entered through the gate. I dodged the incoming ballista arrows and pulled something from my inventory, aiming it at them.

"What is that?!"

"It's Mr. Thompson! Die, you savages!"

Ratatatatatat! 

Thompson began firing bullets. The primitive dwarves, unaware of guns, didn't even raise their shields as the gun was aimed at them.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Warrior Chief Purex and the other dwarves screamed and fell to the ground. 

Even generously estimating, Purex is only at the intermediate level of an aura expert. Facing a barrage of bullets head-on, his small shield, covering only half his body, was useless.

"Phew. Good work, Mr. Thompson."

***

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