Episode 9
Kankun took a deep breath and gripped her sword once more.
Loki, standing beside her, watched with eyes glittering in intrigue.
‘Oh-ho, her stance is properly set.’
She gritted her teeth.
She recalled.
The target of her revenge.
Kudan Ragna.
‘Why… did he betray us…!’
He had always treated her like his own daughter, yet he killed her father, raided the village… and tried to drag her away….
She wanted to know why.
Then, something in her chest squirmed.
As the bizarre energy spread throughout her body, her eyes lost focus and grew clouded.
Her sword emitted a faint light and grew hot.
—Swinging.
She raised her sword high to the heavens.
—You just have to shout “[Slash of Light].”
“Light—”
The sword grew brighter, and a golden radiance burst forth.
“—slash.”
As if the surrounding air were contracting, golden energy expanded and exploded.
An unwavering sword trajectory was carved into the air as the surrounding air was explosively pushed outward.
The slash that flew from the sword tip split the earth and surged forward.
It pulverized the obstructing trees.
A faltering momentum.
But Kankun could instinctively feel it.
‘It cuts!’
The slash cleanly pierced through the trees, and even left a scar on the rock behind them before vanishing.
Kankun’s eyes gradually began to regain their color.
And she froze.
Though it wasn’t as powerful as the slash Loki had unleashed earlier, it still showed considerable might!
Kankun’s expression brightened, and she hopped up and down. Like an excited child, she whipped her head around.
“D-did you see!? I just did the slash…!”
Then, she felt her head spin.
As she swayed and fell, Loki snatched her by the scruff of the neck.
“Urk….”
When Kankun covered her mouth, Loki looked satisfied.
“The item’s performance is solid. But it seems you can’t withstand the recoil?”
“M-my head is spinning.”
“It’s because your body is weak. Level u—, no, train hard.”
At Loki’s words, Kankun nodded. Yet with a puzzled expression, she raised her head and looked up at him.
“Why do you ask?”
“I-is this sword… are you giving it to me?”
Even when they first met, and even now, Loki showed no signs of trying to reclaim the sword. If anything, he seemed to be keeping his distance from it.
“No, I’m lending it to you.”
Nothing more, and nothing less.
There was also a reason Loki did not retrieve the sword.
‘Repulsion.’
Heimdall’s sword, Burtgang.
When facing Loki, additional damage and increased critical hits. Greatly amplifies all of the user’s abilities.
…it had such characteristics.
In other words, it was a weapon capable of inflicting fatal damage on Loki.
Could that be why?
Loki felt a strong repulsion toward Burtgang.
‘The fact that the game setting was based on Norse mythology is probably one of the reasons too.’
In Norse mythology, Loki and Heimdall, the god of light, end up killing each other in battle.
Perhaps because the world had been set up that way, in this world that had become reality, he naturally couldn’t help but feel repulsed.
Loki pushed Burtgang away as though he were a vampire confronted with garlic.
“Um… Loki-nim.”
Just then, Loki turned his head.
From the forest, the Nod tribe’s high priest, the Shaman, approached and bowed his head.
“A guest has arrived.”
A guest? Had another tribe launched a raid again?
When Loki looked at the Shaman with a puzzled expression, the Shaman continued with a troubled look on his face.
“Dwarves.”
“……?”
“A group of dwarves is at the holy temple….”
***
The leader of the dwarf group, Reuran, gulped and looked around.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the architecture of the holy temple he was standing in.
A towering ceiling. Yet where columns should have supported the ceiling, there were none.
This could only be seen as a structure designed through elaborate mathematical calculations.
Furthermore, the building itself was engraved with patterns and ornaments representing splendor and grandeur.
‘What incredible architectural skill!’
A design that seemed to consider precise angles, proportions, and center of gravity.
Reuran looked up at the ceiling, then turned his gaze to the being seated on the throne before him.
A pitch-black helmet.
A helmet adorned with horns that curved in a spiral, as if fashioned from the skull of a mountain goat.
A being clad in pitch-black armor, with a dark brown cape made of beast fur draped over his shoulders.
To the Nod people, this was the one called a demon and the Seat of Sin.
He was looking down at him.
‘Is this the master of the castle? But before that….’
The dwarf Reuran broke into a cold sweat and turned his gaze to the side.
Undead wearing armor and helmets were visible.
As Reuran examined their equipment one by one, he felt a shudder run through his entire body.
‘Just what are these metals the undead possess! Metals I’ve never seen before! And weapons forged incredibly well!’
He was a dwarf born to be a blacksmith. Moreover, Reuran was a figure who essentially represented such dwarves.
He couldn’t help but be fascinated by the new metals and the architecture built with technical skill he was seeing for the first time.
“Name.”
Reuran raised his head and looked up at Loki.
“I asked what your name is.”
Reuran gulped and opened his mouth.
“R-Reuran. I am Reuran, son of Auson.”
For a prideful dwarf, kneeling, bowing his head, and using honorifics were extremely rare things.
He wouldn’t use honorifics for anyone other than his chieftain or parents, yet the moment he faced the one before his eyes, honorifics came out on their own.
“What brings you here?”
At Loki’s words, Reuran closed his mouth.
Reuran recalled the events of a short while ago.
It was purely by chance.
To avoid the slave hunts of the southern continent, the dwarf group had moved to the frozen northern land where people were scarce.
Though there was a raider tribe called the Nod here as well, their numbers were fewer than on the southern continent, and most importantly, dwarves weren’t hunted on a national scale.
Above all, the frozen land was famous for having abundant minerals.
To a dwarf, there was no more suitable home than this.
Then, while passing through a forest, what the dwarf group heard was the sound of hammering.
At the crude sound, their gazes naturally turned, and they saw a village constructing buildings on a large scale.
‘Tsk, tsk, what pitiful construction skills.’
Crude beyond compare.
From material selection to construction technique.
Not only were they no match for the dwarves themselves, but they couldn’t even hope to compare to the dirt beneath the southern continent’s toenails.
‘They’ll collapse easily under a monster attack.’
With that thought, Reuran had been about to pass by, scoffing at the humans.
But then something happened that made even him unable to contain his astonishment beyond admiration.
Right before him.
They had discovered Loki’s Balhal Palace.
The palace, made of unknown ores and metals that did not exist in this world, radiated such dignity and majesty that one could tell the Nod people’s praises were not in vain.
Looking at that grandeur, he couldn’t help but move his feet.
The dwarf group entered Balhal Palace like that, met the Shaman there, and came to have an audience with the palace’s master.
“O master of this great holy temple!”
Recalling the events of moments ago, Reuran opened his trembling mouth.
To a dwarf, it was a matter of pride, and if other dwarves learned of it, it would be words that tarnished his honor.
But Reuran wanted to plead so desperately that he could set aside his pride.
It was…
“We wish to learn the construction techniques used to build this palace and the methods to acquire its materials!”
It was a request to learn from someone who was not even a dwarf.
“Very well.”
Reuran jumped in surprise and raised his head to look up at Loki.
“I permit it.”
To think he would grant permission so easily!
New construction techniques! New ores and metal materials!
Normally, Reuran would have snorted at those words.
Because there was no race on this continent that dared to speak of technical skill to a dwarf.
But now, it was different.
Creations born from new and mysterious technical skill were right before his eyes.
It wouldn’t be easy to obtain such technical skill. No, it would be impossible to find such unique techniques anywhere on the continent!
If he could possess this technical skill, his name would be etched into dwarf history for generations to come!
Just as Reuran was rejoicing greatly.
“But I want compensation.”
Reuran and the dwarves froze in surprise.
“W-what….”
Loki slightly leaned his upper body forward and looked down at Reuran.
“Labor.”
“…….”
“I will teach you the manufacturing methods for the ores and metals that can build this palace.”
Loki tapped the armrest of the throne with his finger.
“In return, you will work for us.”
Balhal Palace had an ore refinery and a metal smeltery prepared for creating dungeons.
Using those facilities, though they couldn’t match Balhal Palace, buildings of comparable quality could be made.
But Loki had absolutely no intention of making such things one by one himself.
The game known for its high degree of freedom, [Ragnarok].
Originally, it was designed so that players would gather materials through grinding, manufacture ores and metals, and build buildings or construct castles, but…
‘…I’m sick of tedious grinding.’
The developer himself had no interest in grinding.
Since dwarves who would automate that tedious work had crawled in on their own, he couldn’t let this opportunity slip.
“A-are you telling us to become slaves?”
“Not slaves, but workers.”
“…….”
“I will provide you with land to live on here. A warm home, food and water, and I shall protect you. In return, produce what we desire.”
Reuran didn’t need to think twice.
What he wanted was to escape the unbearable slave hunts of the humans. And to find a home where his people could live safely.
Yet the demon before his eyes was offering such a livelihood, and even offering to teach them techniques!
“…O-of course! We must do it. No! Please let us do it!”
He bowed his head and cried out earnestly.
“However, you must not teach this technique to others.”
“Of course! No, even if we tried, humans, elves, or any other races could never learn this great technique!”
“…….”
Well, since it was a technique created by the in-game system, there was no way they could replicate it.
“Also, make weapons.”
Many Nod people were settled here.
Therefore, they needed weapons to protect themselves as well.
At those words, Reuran grew excited.
Weapons to be made from new metals and ores?!
This, too, was a statement that ignited a dwarf’s artisan spirit.
***
Time passed quickly after the dwarves began staying there.
And numerous buildings began to be erected in front of Balhal Palace.
Moreover, Balhal Palace began expanding its influence by taking in Nod people who had fled to escape raids.
As the population increased, more workers and more buildings were constructed.
The forest, once thick with trees, disappeared, and a city called ‘Balhal’ came into existence.
The Nod people, who had to seek out the Shaman, the high priest, whenever there was a coming-of-age ceremony, inevitably encountered Balhal.
And they couldn’t help but be captivated by the ‘safe home’ that the others were living in.
Furthermore, by meeting the Seat of Sin, they couldn’t help but feel reverence even as they felt fear.
It was only natural, as the Seat of Sin worshipped by the Nod people had awakened from sleep.
Above all, the fact that the Shaman, the spiritual pillar of the Nod people, worshipped and followed him also played a part.
Having witnessed with their own eyes the mythical being they had considered superstition, the embers of their forgotten faith were inevitably reignited.
As Nod people gathered, the city gradually began to prosper, and market streets formed through exchanges between tribes.
Watching Balhal gradually prosper and grow…
“…Amazing! Are these bastards outright planning to build a nation?”
“T-that’s right, Brother. This is… the place where Kudan said a demon had descended…! But how could a forest with nothing have developed this much in just six months…!”
…outsiders had arrived.
Two unidentified outsiders.
A lean handsome man in his thirties and one bulky-looking man who seemed to escort him.
The two collaborators of Kudan, who had instigated the rebellion, had come to Balhal Palace.
“Now then, shall we find the girl named Kankun that Kudan mentioned?”