The necklace fit perfectly, as if it had been made for me from the start.
She may look scary and act barbaric, but she’s a good dwarf.
“You’re going to meet Blue Beard, right?”
‘That’s right.’
I took out a notebook and pen and wrote down my answer.
Like other dwarves, Rozena was surprised by this.
“You’re truly a marvelous snake. May I ask why you want to meet him?”
I turned to look at Pelerian.
He knows both Rozena and Blue Beard.
Pelerian shook his head glumly.
It seems it’s better not to tell.
“The relationship between those two was… complicated.”
‘What does that mean?’
As I kept my mouth shut, Rozena shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Kill him or whatever.”
She’s a cool woman.
“But, you might have trouble communicating.”
‘Why?’
“Blue Beard is… possessed by fire.”
Possessed by fire, what does that mean?
Pelerian muttered, ‘Fire possession?’
‘What’s fire possession?’
“Why do you think underground dwarves dig?”
‘…Good question.’
Humans mine to extract and sell ore.
In other words, to make money.
But the dwarves here don’t seem particularly interested in making money.
It feels more like they’re obsessed with the act of digging itself.
“It’s instinct. Just like elves want to live in forests. And humans seek power. Dwarves dig to find the best materials and flames.”
I understand much better now that she puts it that way.
But if they’re looking for flames, why do they dig?
“If you dig deep enough into a mountain. Flames come out.”
There are flames underground?
Surely dwarves can’t dig all the way to where magma is, no matter how deep they go.
No, that might be a modern person’s prejudice.
“It’s not in every mountain. But it might be in Mount Calea. The heart of the mountain…”
“The heart of the mountain!”
The one who exclaimed in amazement was none other than Pelerian.
What’s the heart of the mountain?
“It’s one of the purest flames in the world. It can melt all metals, refine everything, and thus create the best metals.”
‘Is it better than Celestium?’
“Celestium?”
Yes, my Celestium that Blue Beard stole!
“It’s a different type, but similar. Even more so in that you can refine much larger quantities.”
It certainly sounds impressive.
“But, such flames tend to bewitch dwarves. That’s what fire possession is.”
Rozena’s expression was a bit bitter.
Have the dwarves here already found this heart of the mountain?
“Who knows. I’m not interested.”
Rozena was a much kinder dwarf than my first impression suggested.
I plucked a few of my scales and gave them to her.
She patted my head, then led me to the door to the depths.
“It’s going to be very hot down there.”
“Saak!”
Don’t worry.
My heat resistance is level 12, after all.
“Be careful.”
And when she opened the iron door leading to the depths.
Whoosh-
I became a little afraid of the hot wind that blew out from there.
I hope this doesn’t make all my scales fall off.
“Have a safe trip. Uhahaha!”
I didn’t want to show weakness in front of Rozena, who was laughing boisterously.
Here goes!
I leaped into the depths.
==
Is this global warming?
If it’s not global warming, I can’t understand this situation.
Ah, there is one possibility.
The dwarves’ mining ability is so incredible that they’ve finally broken through the crust and reached the mantle.
Otherwise, this heat doesn’t make sense.
No, it’s not even heat anymore.
It should be called scorching.
It feels like at least 50 degrees Celsius, definitely not a space where living things can survive.
「Your Heat Resistance skill proficiency has increased.」
Just by standing still, my heat resistance increased.
If I stay a bit longer, I might even level up.
The depths were the bottom floor of the mine.
And it was larger than I had imagined.
However, there wasn’t much in terms of proper living spaces, or infrastructure, so to speak.
There was a spiral downward slope along the walls, and wells here and there, probably drawing from underground water sources.
Surprisingly, the well water was cool, which seemed to be how the dwarves could survive here.
“What’s this, a snake?”
“Whoa, isn’t that Lady Rozena’s necklace?”
The dwarves looked at me curiously but didn’t block my way.
Surprisingly, they immediately recognized the necklace I was wearing as Rozena’s.
Just wearing her necklace seemed to keep the dwarves from approaching me easily.
I wonder how infamous she is.
But to be honest, the dwarves here looked a bit scary to me too.
That’s because they all had their faces tightly wrapped in white cloth, like mummies.
They’re probably trying to protect themselves from the intense heat.
Still, since this was my first time here, I had to ask for directions.
‘Excuse me, where can I find Blue Beard?’
“A snake writing…!”
I’ve already experienced this reaction dozens of times.
I was about to respond nonchalantly when I jumped in shock.
When the dwarf unwrapped the bandages covering his face, the area around his mouth was bright red.
Even the inside of his mouth was covered in blood as he grinned.
“Cough, cough!”
I backed away from him as he coughed.
What if it’s some kind of epidemic?
“Go to the innermost part. He’ll be out soon.”
‘Thank you, I’ll be going then.’
I quickly passed by him and went down.
I’d heard that a disease was spreading among the dwarves of the Red Anvil Mine these days.
Apparently, the dwarves staying in the depths were more likely to be sick.
This was my first time seeing it in person.
I could quickly figure out where the ‘innermost part’ was.
The very bottom of the depths.
There was another massive iron door there.
Nearby dwarves were periodically throwing water on the iron door.
Hisssss!
The water would evaporate, releasing an enormous amount of steam.
Just how hot is it down there?
As I stood waiting right in front of it, the dwarves glanced at me.
But no one tried to stop me or drag me away.
Feeling bored while waiting, I asked Pelerian.
‘Is Blue Beard very strong?’
“He was weaker than Rozena, but of course he’s strong. He’s the Dwarf Mine Lord, after all.”
That’s probably why.
The dwarves trust their leader.
Come to think of it, even I don’t think a single snake could take on the dwarf king and all his close aides.
So why am I standing here with such confidence?
‘I just need to do exactly as you said, right, old man?’
“Don’t worry.”
It’s because Pelerian made such a bold claim.
“He broke his contract with the mage. The moment you speak the words of the promise, he will become your slave.”
The contract between Pelerian and the dwarf king was that fearsome.
One who breaks the promise becomes the slave of the other.
Well, I don’t need a dwarf slave, so I was planning to reclaim the Celestium and have him make a sword for me.
‘Can I really just show it to him in writing?’
“I told you, it will work!”
Since I can’t speak, I double-checked just in case.
Bang!
At that moment, there was a knock from the iron door leading to the innermost part.
Someone was knocking from the other side.
Someone shouted.
“Open the door-!”
The iron door to the innermost part was attached to the floor, so it could be opened with chains and pulleys.
As strong dwarves pulled on the chains, the iron door slowly opened.
Grrrung.
Stairs were revealed.
And the dwarves inside.
I wonder which one of them is Blue Beard.
They all had their faces and bodies wrapped in white cloth, so I couldn’t tell right away.
“He’s probably the one holding an object made of Celestium!”
Cloud iron.
Cloud iron is said to be black.
My gaze stopped on one dwarf.
It was the one holding an object made of pitch-black metal.
“That, that one!”
That was Blue Beard.
And all the scales on my body stood on end.
It was because of uncontrollable anger.
