Dunkel was surprised to see me return so quickly after saying goodbye.
He had grown quite close to Manjin.
Thanks to that, he was staying with the Tral Clan, to which Manjin belonged.
The Tral Clan was led by a big-nosed dwarf named Tral, so it was like, well, a gang of sorts.
“What…?”
I told Dunkel and Manjin everything that had happened to me.
The Tral gang also gathered around.
They had shared drinks and friendship with me before.
I had no doubt that if they heard what I’d been through, they would all be outraged together.
“Lord Blue Beard…”
“No way, he pushed Master Jeremiah into the fire pit!”
They were incredibly shocked.
Well, it was unbelievable even to me.
Alright, now that I’ve told you everything, go and overthrow him quickly.
Raise the red wind of revolution in the Red Anvil Mine!
However, unexpectedly, the flames of revolution didn’t ignite immediately.
“I can’t believe it. This isn’t a joke…”
Most of the dwarves frowned.
Especially Tral, the boss of the clan, had the worst reaction.
“Master Jeremiah taught me how to handle a pickaxe. There’s no way he would jump into a fire pit of his own accord. It’s nonsense.”
‘No, that’s not it. I’m telling you Blue Beard pushed him when he fell!’
“Lord Blue Beard is the Mine Lord! Why would he do such a thing!”
Tral bellowed.
“The joke has gone too far. You, if you weren’t a snake but a dwarf, I wouldn’t have let you off so easily.”
Tral punched the wall with a dissatisfied look.
I was deeply hurt.
It felt like being the boy who cried wolf.
And hey, do you want to fight me?
If Tral throws a punch at me, I could just dodge it and bite his nape right away.
Or I could physically steal his heart.
Of course, I won’t do such things because we’re friends.
I have a few items that could make them believe my words.
I was about to show them the hammer I received from Rozena, but Tral had already left with his minions.
That jerk! Making a snake feel embarrassed.
“This is…”
Dunkel was also at a loss.
Fortunately, Dunkel and Manjin’s group remained here.
‘Do you guys believe me?’
Dunkel nodded gravely.
And Manjin stepped in to defend Tral.
“Don’t hate Brother Tral too much. Lord Blue Beard and Master Jeremiah raised Tral.”
‘Really?’
“Brother Tral doesn’t have parents. Instead, those two who didn’t have children raised him like a son.”
Hearing that, it seems there was such a relationship.
If so, it’s an even more tragic situation.
“There was talk that Brother Tral might become the next Mine Lord. We haven’t met Lord Blue Beard and Master Jeremiah since they went into the depths, but… That’s why Brother Tral has been very troubled lately.”
Probably since those two became entranced by the demon’s fire.
‘Tral and the others will soon find out too. Blue Beard will have come after me.’
I hope Rozena stopped him well.
“This is truly the worst situation. I didn’t know fire entrancement could be this terrifying.”
I told Dunkel about Pelerian’s conjecture as he muttered.
“A demon…”
“What?”
Dunkel’s face turned pale, while Manjin’s attitude was that it was too ridiculous a story.
Yeah, you’ll understand when you see it directly.
In my subspace, I had that flame that had entranced the dwarves.
It wasn’t a problem for me since I’m immune to mental attacks, but… well, I could just show it briefly and close the lid again.
I took out the Celestium bucket and chains I had put in my subspace.
‘Alright, everyone, squint your eyes.’
“Squint our eyes? Like this?”
‘Yeah, because I brought that strange flame. Just peek a little. Otherwise, you might get entranced by the fire too.’
Although they looked dubious, both Manjin and Dunkel squinted.
And I was about to open the lid of the bucket.
‘Huh.’
“Oh?”
Both I and Pelerian hesitated.
There was a green tendril attached to the bucket.
‘Chimera Seedling, what are you doing…?’
The Chimera Seedling I had put in a flowerpot came out together.
It innocently wiggled its leaves.
But, that tendril was going into the gap of the bucket.
This is ominous, extremely ominous.
‘Chimera Seedling, hand.’
Wiggle wiggle.
‘Give me your hand!’
The Chimera Seedling extended one tendril slightly, and I grasped that tendril with my tail.
「Seedling Chimera lv8 uses ‘Empathy lv1’.」
Wait a minute.
You were level 7, weren’t you?
Why did your level go up while you were in the subspace?
As I started to empathize with the Seedling Chimera, messages rang out continuously.
「Absorbing the fire demon’s flame.」
「Absorbing the fire demon’s flame.」
「Absorbing the fire demon’s flame.」
…
Hey, you!
I quickly opened the lid of the bucket.
Then, I saw the fire demon’s flame reduced to the size of a candle flame.
The yellowed tendril seemed to be absorbing the flame.
‘No! No! You shouldn’t eat such things!’
When the lid opened, Manjin and Dunkel’s mouths gaped open.
Their pupils were dilating, it was definitely the flame that entranced dwarves.
But there was no need to worry.
「Absorbing the fire demon’s flame.」
「Your level has increased.」
Because the Chimera Seedling had cleanly eaten up that dirty flame.
Why on earth is a plant eating fire?
No, how did it eat it?
As expected of a chimera.
Even though they say babies are cute when they eat well, this is…
「You have gained the trait ‘Fire’.」
「You have gained Heat Resistance lv20.」
This talented plant.
It instantly gained level 20 Heat Resistance, which I had barely raised to level 12.
It seems to be because it gained the ‘Fire’ trait.
But how on earth did a plant gain a ‘Fire’ attribute?
The ‘Bone’ trait was the same.
“Oh, as expected of the World Tree!”
Pelerian clapped and exclaimed in admiration.
“What is this…”
“It was really a strange fire.”
Dunkel and Manjin still looked dazed.
I slapped their cheeks, telling them to come to their senses.
That’s when it happened.
Tral and his gang, who had left huffing and puffing, returned.
‘Of all times, at this moment!’
If only they had come back a little earlier. I could have shown them that demon’s fire.
But there was no need to regret that.
Tral’s face was as white as a sheet of paper.
“The, the Lord.”
What did they see outside?
“The Lord, he burned a sick patient alive.”
Madness was already unfolding outside.
