The knights huddled together, whispering.
So that Aurelia wouldn’t overhear, they spoke through telepathy.
Their eyes darted around nervously.
[Captain. Why are they showing us the mine?]
[Those grain stores alone seemed more than enough.]
[I don’t know exactly, but… nitrogen fixation? I also saw some strange alchemy machine.]
One by one, the knights expressed their unease.
It was a natural reaction.
After all, just moments ago, they had witnessed Millenia’s overwhelming food reserves.
Even for them nobles they had been momentarily stunned.
And now, they were going to be shown something more?
It was impossible not to feel uneasy.
What could possibly be left that warranted such secrecy?
The thought alone was terrifying.
[Shouldn’t we retreat and report this…?]
[No, we proceed.]
‘A mine is an incredibly strategic location. If they’re willing to show it to us directly, there’s no reason not to scout it.’
But Seras didn’t resist.
The mine was, in many ways, a crucial stronghold.
As someone whose mission was intelligence gathering, she had to see it for herself.
Her hand clenched tightly, gripping nothing but air.
‘It’s unsettling, but…’
That cryptic smile Aurelia had shown earlier.
The lingering sense of unease she had felt from the start.
All of it screamed danger.
…If it were her, she would have turned and fled without a second thought.
Someone with her instincts, a knight commander, no less had no reason to ignore her gut feelings.
‘That amount of food… His Majesty… no, Leo would be overjoyed.’
In the end, she ignored her instincts because of the food.
Arkenia was currently suffering from famine due to poor harvests.
Even King Leopoldus himself was struggling with the food shortage.
Her loyalty had twisted into an obsession she had to secure that food at all costs.
‘Enough provisions to feed 500,000 monsters for a year. That much food would be a great help to Arkenia. I have to obtain it, no matter what.’
‘If we mobilize the army, can we win? Against that monster… and its master. A dragon?’
‘Even if we succeed in subjugating them, the moment our strength is drained, Valentia will invade…’
She agonized over it.
How to seize the food.
If war broke out, whether they could emerge victorious.
That was the core of her thoughts.
And then…
A sly, narrow gaze swept over the deeply troubled Seras.
Aurelia smirked.
‘As expected of a lesser race. Blinded by greed, struggling to think with their dull little minds.’
There was no way Aurelia didn’t see through Seras’ thoughts.
Show them the food, and they would reveal their desires.
Everything was unfolding exactly as Teo had predicted.
—And taking them to the mine now was just another step in shattering that illusion.
“We’re almost at the mine. Everyone, prepare to disembark.”
“Hmm? Ah, right. Everyone, get ready.”
Lost in thought, Seras snapped back to reality.
She reflexively responded and quickly scanned her surroundings, trying to locate the mine.
Her eyes widened.
“Wait, those are….”
“Short little bastards?”
“What the hell are they doing here?”
The knights murmured in confusion, their voices tinged with disbelief.
The beings near the mine weren’t human.
A race known for their short stature and thick, bushy beards Dwarves.
“……”
‘What’s the meaning of this? Do they know we rule the Dwarven Kingdom?’
On this continent, the Dwarves had long been reduced to slaves.
After being conquered by Arkenia, they had become second-class citizens.
Of course, she viewed it simply as Arkenia rightfully governing their inferior kind.
But still.
Now, in front of her, these Dwarves walked freely?
And they were showing this to an Arkenian knight commander, of all people?
There was no way it wasn’t intentional.
Tension crept up her spine.
“Aurelia. Those are….”
“The Dwarves?” Aurelia replied casually. “They were being sold as slaves across various nations, so our merciful lord rescued them.”
“…I see.”
‘Not enough justification to argue here.’
At least, not here and now.
After all, it was Arkenia that had originally deported and sold the Dwarves as slaves.
“……Hmm.”
‘Their stares are piercing. If I make an issue out of this and those inferior creatures show hostility, it’ll be dangerous.’
They were, without a doubt, deep in monster territory.
And these Dwarves, at least for now, belonged to Millenia.
Yet, the way they looked at her and her knights—
Their expressions weren’t filled with awe or respect.
But fear.
And Seras couldn’t ignore the discomfort creeping in.
Because if that fear twisted into anger—
“They insulted us!— “
‘Fighting that thing is suicide. Even if we had the numbers advantage, there’s no guarantee of victory. And if the other monsters join in… we’ll be wiped out.’
After a brief deliberation, she addressed her knights.
“Watch your words. They are part of this faction. Don’t insult them carelessly.”
The murmuring quickly died down.
[But Captain, those short bastards are Arkenian prope….]
[Determining whether this is an issue is not our place. That is for His Majesty to decide. For now, focus on gathering intelligence and returning safely.]
[…Understood.]
“My apologies. My subordinates have rather rough tongues.”
“It’s fine,They’re grumbling about you just as much.”
“…….”
‘Inferior creatures with nothing but their craftsmanship to their name, daring to insult nobles like us? This is why ingrates deserve no mercy.’
Of course, none of that hatred left her lips.
But inside, it smoldered, burning ever hotter.
Hearing that they had been insulted, their gazes naturally turned a little harsh…
But fortunately or perhaps unfortunately, that reaction didn’t last long.
“Aurelia-nim! Can we show those bastards a taste of that?!”
“Let us fire a big one!”
“I won’t be satisfied until I see those damn humans pissing themselves!”
Dwarves, now fluent in what had once been an unfamiliar language—Millenia—shouted excitedly.
Aurelia gave a small nod.
It was permission to put these arrogant humans in their place.
Grins spread across the dwarves’ faces.
Aurelia, too, smiled.
“Aurelia, was what they just said also an insult? They seemed to be talking about us.”
“Not this time. They were just asking if they could continue their work.”
“…Their stares don’t quite match those words, though.”
“Anyway, everyone, shield your ears with magic. Children without magic, come here.”
She waved a hand in a fluttering gesture.
The young boys glanced at the knights, hesitating.
“What should we do, Master?”
“Shield our ears? What’s going on?”
“They’re about to start mining. It’ll be loud, so this is just a precaution.”
“…I see. You there, stand behind that person.”
Without much thought, Seras granted permission.
To her, mining meant extracting ore from solid rock.
Noise was to be expected.
[Just in case, stay alert. But do not cover your ears as she instructed.]
‘If a battle were to break out, the squires would only be a burden. As long as the knights survived, that was enough.’
Even if this turned out to be some devious trick, it didn’t matter.
Rather than protecting their hearing, they intended to enhance it.
Prepared to respond to any situation immediately.
Of course, there was always the possibility that the squires they had brought along might end up dead at Aurelia’s hands.
But noble knights and their lowly squires did not bear the same weight in life.
This was the swift decision Seras had reached.
“Alright, then… Stay still, human brats.”
—Srrrk.
At the merciless command of their captain, vines rose from the ground at the squires’ feet.
Before long, they formed a small hut, prison that enclosed the young boys.
One of them stared at his master in fascination.
But the knights did not bother to meet his gaze, keeping their senses sharp instead.
Some had already placed their hands on their sword hilts,
Ready to engage in battle at a moment’s notice.
—But what was about to happen would far surpass their imagination.
‘Not a single knight is shielding their ears, after all. Our lord’s insight is never wrong.’
“Begin. Make it spectacular.”
Aurelia raised her hand.
The dwarves, who had been eagerly awaiting the signal, waved their own flags, sending the cue across the site.
At the same time, the dwarves within the mine moved in perfect unison, swiftly evacuating.
One of them carried a peculiar device in his hands, a contraption with long, trailing wires.
Seras and the knights widened their eyes.
“……!!!”
‘Magical tool? No, I don’t sense any traces of mana. And they don’t seem to be preparing to attack us.’
‘Damn it, what kind of trick is this? What are they trying to do!!’
He remains suspicious until the end.
They’re definitely about to unleash some wicked scheme.
We need to stay alert and prepare.
And then, as if responding to their suspicions…
“Detonating!! Three, two, one!!!”
-BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
“……!!!!!!?”
An explosion loud enough to tear through their eardrums.
A tremor so strong it shook the ground.
A powerful gust from the sudden pressure difference.
Everything engulfed the knights.
They had been ready to respond to any situation.
Yet, caught completely off guard, they were frozen in shock.
Drip. A thin stream of blood trickled from a knight’s ear.
“W-W-What the….”
‘Explosion magic? This level of power… this is sixth-tier! The kind used in wars!?’
Even Seras couldn’t hide his astonishment.
This sound was unmistakably an explosion.
The kind produced by explosive magic, only used in war by high-ranking mages from the Magic Tower.
Its power was roughly sixth-tier.
Not quite at the seventh-tier, the level of grand mages, but still strong enough to be considered great magic.
And yet, what shocked them the most was not just the sheer force of the explosion—
but the fact that it hadn’t been directed at them.
Instead, it had erupted from the mine.
“A-Aurelia, don’t tell me… you actually deployed a mage for a mere mining operation? A high-ranking sixth-tier mage?”
“A mage? No. There’s no way dwarves can use magic.”
“Then a magical tool? No, crafting such a high-tier magic device… don’t tell me, a dragon”
“No, not that either. That explosion wasn’t caused by magic.
If anything, it was alchemy.”
Yet Aurelia remained unfazed.
The explosion that had just erupted from the mine, wasn’t magic. It was technology.
A technology deeply tied to her pride and expertise in nitrogen fixation.
As the humans panicked over Millenia’s new advancements, she merely sneered at them.
“If that wasn’t magic, then what in the world—”
“It’s not exactly my area of expertise, but the dwarves have a name for it.”
—Smirk.
“———They call it ‘dynamite.'”
Millenia’s power of deterrence had finally revealed itself.