TOP 88

Chapter 88

I Got a Slave

Back at the Blacksmiths’ Guild.

I skipped all the formalities and was led straight into the Guildmaster’s office.
Well, the man had been dying to talk to me, after all.

“Welcome, welcome!”

Guildmaster Gil Doik greeted me with excessive enthusiasm.

“So, you’ve changed your mind already? Excellent decision! Hahaha!”

“……”

Changed my mind? What nonsense.

I was planning to come anyway—
I’d just needed to wrap up my conversation with Namgung Myung first.

Did he think I wouldn’t show up?

Not worth correcting that misunderstanding.

Instead, I went straight to the point.

“I heard you wanted to check out this item?”

I raised one arm and held out the ‘Draupnir, Dwarven-made’ in front of him.

“Yes, yes! Ohh… To think I’d find traces of my ancestors here…!”

Gil Doik reached out as if entranced.

But I didn’t let him touch it.

“Ah…!”

He let out a frustrated groan, clutching at empty air.
I opened my mouth slowly.

“Wouldn’t it be better to discuss the reward first?”

Always good to secure what you’re getting before anything else.

This was our first meeting, so a clear deal was essential.

“You’re right, I got ahead of myself. How about fifty million won?”

“Fifty million, huh…”

“Fifty million for lending me the item.
And another fifty million if you tell me how you obtained it!”

Fifty million for research use,
another fifty million for explaining its origin.

A big sum for the task at hand—but still.

Only that much?

Money’s value changes depending on your situation.

And for me right now, a hundred million won wasn’t a big deal.

I already had nearly a billion on hand, and a hundred million wouldn’t even buy one decent item.

So I declined.

“That’s not a very tempting offer.”

“W-What…?!”

He panicked.
But truly, it wasn’t tempting.

“T-Then name your price! How much do you want?”

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t the money that caught my interest.

No matter how I look at him… he really seems like a Dwarf.

That was my suspicion—
that Gil Doik might be an actual Dwarf.

But of course,
I can’t just ask, “Are you a Dwarf?” outright.

So, how to confirm it?

I had a plan.

“You mentioned something earlier—‘an ancestral legacy,’ was it?”

“Y-Yes, I did…”

“And you said it was a lost family technique.”

“…That’s right.”

For some reason, he looked uneasy.

Why was that?

Why was he nervous?

“I’m personally quite interested in that subject.”

“That subject?”

“‘Ancestors.’ ‘Family.’”

“……”

Was it because he was afraid of having a secret exposed?

The more I watched him, the more convinced I became.

“I-I don’t follow your meaning.”

He tried to sound calm, but his stiff tone gave him away.

I pressed further.

“It sounds like your family had the ability to create ‘items’ even before the Cataclysm.”

“……”

He froze at that.

After a moment of thought, he began to speak again, pretending to be nonchalant.

“Ha… I got a little too excited.”

“Is that so?”

“You’re right. My family has been crafting items since before the Cataclysm.”

“Oh?”

“I just misspoke out of excitement after seeing that bracelet.
But impressive, to have deduced that much from a few words!”

Just as I thought.

He’d changed tactics—
since his secret was partly exposed, he decided to throw me a smaller truth as bait.

“That’s curious. I’ve never heard of such a family before.”

“No wonder! My family was never large, and our techniques were passed down in secret.”

“I see.”

“Now then, shall we examine the bracelet—”

“Guildmaster Gil Doik.”

“Y-Yes?”

I looked him straight in the eye.
My gaze said, That’s enough pretending.

Then I asked quietly:

“Are you certain this bracelet was crafted with your family’s technique?”

“I told you—it was!”

“I see.”

But I wasn’t the one who’d taken the bait.

He was.

“Do you happen to know what this item is called?”

“What—”

“I mean, its name.”

“I don’t. I haven’t seen the item info window yet!”

“Then take a look.”

I held the bracelet out toward him.

The ‘Draupnir, Dwarven-made.’

“……No.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

“You… You’ve been playing me this whole time?”

“Not really.
But if I’d asked directly, you wouldn’t have answered honestly, would you?”

“…Ha. Ridiculous. Fooled by a human barely thirty years old.”

His expression fell into resignation.

Well, who could blame him—
the word ‘Dwarven-made’ was stamped right there in the item name.

If the system itself said it was made by Dwarves,
and he’d claimed it was his ancestor’s work…

then there was only one conclusion.

“The family you mentioned. The ancestors.
They’re Dwarves, aren’t they?”

“…No point denying it now.
Yes. I’m a descendant of the Dwarves.”

As I expected.

Gil Doik was indeed a Dwarf.

“I see. In that case…”

There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask—
why Dwarves were here,
their connection to the Cataclysm, or to the Dragons.

But first, there was something I had to deal with.

Schrring—

I drew the Permafrost Sword and aimed it at his neck.

“W-What do you think you’re doing!?”

He panicked.
But I had my own grievances.

“You made your move first, Guildmaster.
Drop what’s in your hand. Now.”

“……Khh.”

Then—

Clatter.

Something fell from his hand.
I picked it up carefully.

It looked like… a pen.

《 Miniature Laser Gun – Misc, Unique 》

• A laser gun shaped like a pen.

• Fires a single, extremely powerful laser beam.

“…A laser gun?”

The item I checked through the Tenauzes system was nastier than expected.

“Had I done nothing, that would’ve ended badly for me.”

No wonder he’d admitted to being a Dwarf so easily.
He’d been ready to silence me permanently if needed.

If I’d dropped my guard, I might’ve been vaporized on the spot.

But you got caught.

Now, the situation was completely in my hands.

I expected him to act meek now.
But instead, he blurted out in shock.

“H-How!? That item’s info shouldn’t even be visible!”

“I can see it. My system’s just… better.”

The Tenauzes system far outclassed the normal one used by Awakened individuals.
It could access a lot of hidden information.

Anyway.

“You tried to kill me, so you’ll have to pay the price.”

“P-Please, have mercy!”

“No.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you!”

“You tried to attack me.”

“I-I don’t want to die yet! Do you know how long I’ve survived!?”

Now was the time to capitalize on my upper hand.

“That’s exactly what I want to know—how you survived.
And why a Dwarf even exists in this world.”

“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything!
Just, could you please… lower the sword first?”

Even now, he was trying to negotiate.

But there were only the two of us in this office.
And I was stronger.

He was a craftsman, not a warrior.

Even if he tried something, I could subdue him easily.

Still—
better to eliminate all tricks at the source.

Because likely isn’t the same as certain.

And certainty comes from only one thing—

“W-What is this!?”

“Just agree willingly. Then I’ll put the sword away.”

Ding!

[You are appointing ‘Keldwick’ as your Guardian.]
[The contract terms are being relayed to ‘Keldwick’.]
[Contract will be established upon consent from the target.]

—The ‘Guardian Contract’.

“This… this is slavery! You’re making me a slave!?”

“Would you prefer a sword through the ribs?”

“Urgh!”

“Don’t worry. The slave benefits are good enough.
Especially for someone who just tried to kill me—no, Mr. Keldwick.”

I even used his real name, revealed through the contract, to drive the point home.

Keldwick wept.

“Uwaaaah! What kind of humiliation is this at my age!?”

“If you hadn’t tried to kill me first, I wouldn’t have gone this far.”

“You’re a six-star Hunter! You wouldn’t even die from that shot!”

“So what?
Sign it, or get stabbed.”

“Damn it! Fine! I’ll do it…!”

Zing—!

And thus,
Guardian No. 4 was appointed.

[‘Keldwick’ has accepted the Guardian Contract!]
[‘Keldwick’ is now your Guardian.]
[You may apply 30% of your stats to ‘Keldwick’.]
[Apply now?]

“No.”

No way was I copying my stats to the guy who tried to kill me.
Maybe later—if he proved useful.

“Urgh… Damn it. Master! Master!
Ugh… calling you that makes me sick…”

“Sounds great to me.
Just… don’t say that in front of others, alright?”

I finally lowered the Permafrost Sword.

“Now then, let’s talk.”

“……Ha.”

Keldwick let out a long sigh, then began.

“Fine, Master. Damn it all… I’ll explain everything.”

“You’re really a Dwarf, right?”

“…Yes.”

“How are Dwarves even here? Were you originally from Earth?”

That was my biggest question—
why a Dwarf was in this world.

“No, not from Earth.
We’re from the Lipos Continent.”

“Lipos?”

“You know—the world inside the Gates.”

“…Oh.”

That was new.

No one had ever uncovered the origin of the Gates before.

“Please, go on.”

“Haa… I suppose I’m what you’d call a dimensional refugee.”

“A what?”

“A refugee. When the Lipos Continent was destroyed, we lost our dimension.”

From there, Keldwick began to explain in detail.

Summarizing what I understood:

“There used to be a dimension called the Lipos Continent.
A typical fantasy world, right?”

“Exactly.”

“But one day, a war between gods and dragons broke out… and the entire dimension collapsed?”

“That’s right.”

So basically, thanks to those bastards from another dimension, our Earth got caught in the crossfire.

The Great Cataclysm—it was all because of them.

I confirmed a few more details.

“When the dimension fell, the weaker beings all died,
and only a handful of powerful ones survived as dimensional refugees, correct?”

“That’s precisely it.”

“And you, Keldwick, were one of those refugees who somehow ended up settling in our world.”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t know exactly how that happened?”

“…Unfortunately, no.
If I did, I’d have told you, Master.”

He wasn’t lying.

The Guardian Contract’s binding made that impossible.

“Alright. Just a few more important questions.”

“Ask away.”

“You said gods and dragons fought, right?”

“Yes.”

“Was that god’s name… Gaia?”

“…You figured it out.
Yes, it was Gaia. The same one that created the Gaia Order here.”

“…Hah.”

I let out a bitter sigh.

“So those Gaia bastards… their origin is even nastier than I thought.”

I’d only wanted revenge for my parents’ deaths—
even if that meant going up against the world’s largest organization, the Gaia Order.

But now…

“They’re on a dimensional scale, huh.”

“Strictly speaking, not exactly. They lost their world and crossed over here.”

Keldwick corrected me.

Whatever the case, it didn’t change the fact that my enemy was far greater than I’d imagined.

And still—

“Keldwick.”

“Yes, Master?”

My stance hadn’t changed one bit.

“So then… what do you think of the Gaia Order?”