Chapter 248

[13th Round] Dwarf

As I recalled, Cursed King Malfart was a plague-like dragon. My mood worsened even when I was just next to him.

I wouldn't say he had high combat power, but he clearly saw the weaknesses of his enemies, which made him an annoying opponent.

"Drug Hero, Malfart of this era is known as the Queen of Wisdom, Malfaricia. As you can tell by her name, she's a woman right now..."

"Queen of Wisdom Malfari..."

Wise and beautiful Malfari?

I couldn't even imagine that!

The dragon, known to throw curses everywhere and attempted to destroy the world, was now on Island S, where the largest number of dwarves lived.

With the help of the coordinates preserved in my memory and the feather of the Snow Woman, we instantly reached her location.

"Hey, how did you get here?"

And we did so with perfect timing.

I came face to face with a beautiful girl alone in a huge bathtub that combined luxury and art.

She didn't even think of shouting or covering up herself. Instead, she simply looked at me and the dummies with an impenetrable expression.

But I couldn't be deceived by her calmness.

This girl was, from her flesh to her bones, a dragon. Her race had no definite gender from birth.

Hence, there was no reason for her to be embarrassed.

▷ Race: Brown Dragon

▷ Level: 999+

▷ Job: Seamstress (Concentration → Sewing ↑)

▷ Skills: Earth ZZ, Magic ZZ, Sewing ZZ, Charisma ZZ, Cooking Z...

▷ Status: Interested

Her skills were completely different from the Cursed King Malfart in my memories.

She seemed like she specialized not in combat but housekeeping.

Her gender was female, too. Her past and present selves had no similarities other than their brown hair, which was the hallmark of the Brown Dragon race.

▷ Warning: Your method of entering a member of the Five Great Disasters' abode is not in line with the natural course of events. Your meeting should have been by chance while traveling. Not much time is left until you meet the next Great Disaster, so take note.

This woman seemed to be the Malfart I was looking for.

▷ Confirmation: That is the Cursed King Malfart's appearance before he went mad. To impress her beloved, she honed her housekeeping skills. But after she lost him, she fell into a rage and directed all efforts into maximizing her combat skills, becoming a completely different person.

A completely different person?

I disagreed with the system.

Unlike the locals who just got top-ranked skills thanks to the system, I went through fire, water, and copper pipes to rise from F to ZZZ-rank.

I had to learn and hone a lot of production skills to upgrade my Gifted skill to ZZZ.

But I could say with confidence that my nature didn't change at all.

Skills were just skills.

"Moral Decline" and "Madness" could affect emotions, but they also didn't just occur out of nowhere. They only ever appeared and grew due to certain actions and conditions.

In other words, that dragon had an extremely evil nature...

"Spirit, harpy, demon. What an interesting combination. If you don't mind, I would like to hear the story of your journey in my home. I will provide you with a hearty dinner and a bed for the night."

The vile dragon decided to pretend to be kind.

"Okay."

Likewise, I decided to pretend that I had been tricked.

For as long as I didn't forget that she was a malevolent being, then this would be an opportunity, not a trap.

"My name is Malfaricia," she introduced herself as she emerged from the bathtub and got dressed by the female mud golems.

Malfaricia...

It felt like Malfart's name had been slightly changed to sound more feminine.

"Malfaricia! You are beautiful as always!"

"Hmm! Mistress Malfaricia!"

"Are these your guests? Glad to meet you!"

As soon as we left, dwarves started showing up.

Dwarves.

The race that gave up on looks and decided to focus on skill.

The tallest dwarf was less than a meter tall. Low and wide in proportion, they were ideal for working in mines.

Like the giants, they were a male-only species. Hence, to preserve it, they needed female humans who were capable of interracial reproduction.

But this was where problems arose.

Giants raided human villages to obtain women, but unlike them, dwarves didn't know how to fight. They couldn't forcibly take females away from powerful males.

Instead...

"Amazing..." I burst out.

It wasn't the dwarves that amazed me.

It was the buildings they built. They were all comparable to works of art.

But even more amazing than those were their weapons: their craftsmanship.

They couldn't abduct a woman by force, but they could win her heart with a beautiful ring or necklace.

It sounded like the strategies of aristocrats, but for dwarves, it was a battle for survival.

Therefore, all things created by them had a "soul," like the literary heritage of some artists.

"Be careful not to get lost here. This is a dwarven city. Those who visit this place for the first time often stare around, causing them to quickly fall behind and get lost," Malfaricia laughed as she walked in front of us.

That wasn't just a warning.

The Snow Woman almost fainted because of the magnificence of this place. If the low-ranking spirits didn't take care of her, she would have already been kidnapped by the dwarves and beautifully divided into parts.

Brisket, wings, legs, ribs...

As I said, Island S was a dwarf country.

But this place wasn't their last bastion after being driven out by humans, as it happened with the elves.

Dwarven craftsmanship was like the goose that lay golden eggs, considering they still worked hard like slaves even after getting married.

Their country was more like an academy.

Because no matter how gifted one was, self-study had a limit. Dwarves came to this "Dwarf Sanctuary" to learn new techniques from their ancestors and teachers, create even more beautiful works of art, or meet their other halves.

Naturally, like any state, it had its own ruler.

"Is this the royal palace?"

"No. This is my home, but the royal palace is nearby."

Looking at the spot Malfari was pointing at, I suppressed a grin.

She boasted of living in a house that was more luxurious than a royal palace.

Throughout her home, I could see the pride of a dragon that didn't like to lose, no matter what. It made me think how many dwarves shed sweat and tears to build it...

"Oh! Miss Malfaricia! You're early today!"

"Look! I redid the windows. Now they're even better!"

"Come see the fountain I made!"

"I've been building this especially for you for a month now."

From all sides, dwarves came running as fast as their short legs allowed and began to brag about their creations, talking over each other.

There weren't just one or two dwarves here.

From the garden to the chimney of the house, there was no place left without them.

"Thank you so much, everyone, for being so caring towards me. I want to inspect everyone's gift right now, but I, unfortunately, have guests waiting for me," Malfaricia apologized, pretending to be kind.

The dwarves moved forward without protest and opened the way.

Their weapon was their craftsmanship.

And the products they made were always masterful works of art.

They thought that if she liked something, she would ask them to talk about it in more detail herself.

Such was the pride of the dwarves.

▶ Surprise: You know a lot about their kind.

'Naturally, Trainee Teacher.'

In the 1st round, the "Dwarf King" was one of my companions.

If I knew how to create a nuclear or hydrogen bomb, we would've gotten along well, but unfortunately, I only learned the basics of chemistry and physics in high school.

Cursed King Malfart back then loved dwarves and hated humans.

But ironically, the dwarves betrayed him and sided with the Hero because they couldn't keep their race alive without humans.

The fight wasn't that fierce.

Armed with the treasures of the Dwarf King, my companions were confident of their victory, and I, as befitted a squad leader, sent them into battle, empowering them with guidance, seasoned with 500% exaggeration.

Determined, they fought with special zeal.

And thanks to their noble sacrifice, I was able to defeat the Cursed King Malfart.

"My hus— no, Sir Hero, you really are scum, aren't you?" Ssosia grinned as she held onto my arm, unable to stand normally due to her dislocated lower back.

"Nobody asked you to read my mind."

'Lovely Trainee Teacher, this is for you.'

▶ Shyness: Is that also a compliment spiced with 500% exaggeration? Ssosia, my senior, is much prettier than me...

'No. my judgment on that is completely objective.'

My wife wasn't pretty. She was cowardly.

"I can hear everything, cowardly Hero."

"Keep listening."

At that moment, Malfaricia intervened.

"Oh! Human and demon. You have such different races, but you're all so close that you can even communicate with just a glance! I really envy your relationship."

Was this what she considered a close relationship?

Oh! Did our hostile relationship look cool in the eyes of the evil dragon?

(Sir Hero, can't you just accept the compliment?)

The Goddess clearly lacked the experience of living in society.

In contrast, I was an expert in this.

"Ah! Mistress Malfaricia, you're early today. I didn't know you were coming back so early. I haven't even finished cleaning yet," Said the dwarf in an apron and cleaning supplies in hand.

There were many of his kind outside, but he was the only one inside her art-filled residence.

Was he a housekeeper?

"Don't worry, prince. It's my fault that I came without warning."

Oh. So he was the prince!

Was he supposed to be cleaning someone else's abode?

"How can you say that, Mistress Malfaricia! That just can't be. I'll quickly finish cleaning and cook dinner..."

"I'll cook dinner tonight."

"If that is what you truly desire."

'Hey dwarf, princes of a state shouldn't allow themselves to be humiliated like that. How can you still live with yourself?'

I wanted to ask if he was even really a prince.

He probably was on paper, but it had to be a mistake, considering he worked as a servant.

'System, what do you think?'

▷ Denial: This is not a script error but a historical fact.

This was what really happened in the past? I didn't know what to say.

▷ Explanation: That prince's death will become the fuel to Wisdom Queen Malfaricia's rage. She will regret inviting him to visit after their fateful meeting until her death.

'Are you talking about the First Hero?'

They didn't have to worry about him now, though. He had already drowned in the sea, after all. He couldn't even ask for help.

The sea mermaids probably sucked all the strength out of him, preventing him from even swimming away.

"Please wait in the living room until the food is ready, my dear guests. It probably will take quite a bit of time since I need to prepare for quite a lot of people. Oh, I know! Please feel free to examine the paintings to avoid boredom. The esteemed prince painted them for me."

Was she not afraid we would steal something, or did she just have so many pieces of art that she wouldn't even notice if one of them went missing?

Malfari left me and the dummies in the living room.

I sat down comfortably, leaning against the back of the sofa.

"Sir Hero, won't you go look at them?"

"No, but you're allowed to check them out yourself if you want."

"Thank you~"

Snow Woman, accompanied by the spirits, began to examine the paintings with enthusiasm.

I wanted to tell her not to run around to avoid littering the place with her feathers, but I wasn't her nanny, so I just kept silent.

"Although her gender is different, she's definitely the same dragon."

I saw all these pictures in the 1st round.

I thought Malfart made the dwarves paint these pictures because he missed his beloved, but who would've thought that this girl was him!

So the Cursed King was a narcissist?

"Aren't you distorting the facts? She keeps these pictures not to admire herself but because her beloved man painted them. On second thought, I shouldn't have expected someone who doesn't even know what love is to understand such a concept."

"Actually, I do know what love is. It's a conquest."

"That's why you don't— hey, that hurts!"

"Your nonsense needs to stop, demoness. We should focus on finding a way to defeat her instead."

"You already know the easiest way to do that."

"..."

I did know. Even a child would.

"You know nothing, sir Hero. You're worse than my father, yet you still pretend to be kind. However, I understand your side. No race is as capricious as humans.

"I'm not just pretending to be kind. It's the truth."

When my companions, drunk with victory, looked only forward, I always looked back.

Widows who had lost their husbands, parents who had lost their children, girls who had lost their loved ones, sons who had lost their fathers, teachers who had lost their students, and basically anyone who had ever lost someone...

They blamed me for everything.

Many residents fell victim to my companions, who rushed into the fight while shouting, "Whoever kills the least pays for dinner!"

It wasn't me who killed them, but I had to listen to their families' threats and complaints anyway.

All of that was due to a rabble of savages called the Hero's Party.

It was impossible to control them, but they operated under my name.

"Stop bringing that up, Cowardly Hero. You're making me feel uncomfortable. I already understand why you went insane."

"I'm not crazy."

"Crazy people don't know they're crazy..."

"You're a crazy bitch."

"How dare you! I'm telling my father everything!"

While we were thinking about defeating the dragon that exploited the dwarves using her false kindness, an alluring and magnetizing scent entered my nostrils.

"Unbelievable."

Its smell alone was enough to satiate hunger.

Judging by that alone, something magnificent awaited us.

However...

"What a smell!"

"Wow! I can't wait for tonight's dinner!"

"Everybody, run to the kitchen!"

A gang of hooligans shouted as they ignored the stairs, jumping down from the upper floors instead.

When they saw us in the living room, they immediately got angry.

"Oh! You..."

"You're that tyrant from the Northern Continent!"

"Why are you here?!"

With Lanuvel were several other people who, as it turned out, didn't die.

Including the First Hero, glaring at me.

History was indeed repeating itself.

The old Hero's Party arrived in the Dwarven Kingdom and became guests of the Wisdom Queen Malfari before we did.