39. Finding a path leading underground
(4)
“Instead of doing this here, let’s go together to see Her Majesty the Queen.”
“All right. “I also have something to tell you.”
“The story is about the fall of the Terminator, right?”
Terminator The Ender was Zeke’s nickname.
“Did you know?”
“After making contact with the ground, the first thing we asked about was Lord Zeke’s whereabouts.”
Zeke scratched his head and headed to the Queen’s reception room with him.
“Welcome. Holy Jade Hero Zeke! As promised, our kingdom has not forgotten your name.”
“Your Majesty the Queen! Greetings from Zeke of the Holly Beach family. May God’s glory be endless in Your Majesty’s domain.”
She
looked around with a satisfied expression.
“Have you broken up with your rude colleague?”
“Are you talking about Deus?”
“okay.”
“It looks like you haven’t heard the news yet.”
“What kind of news are you talking about?”
“Deus was actually the king of the demon world.”
The queen’s expression hardened.
“The devil! “How can you compare that ferocious being to him?”
“It’s true. “His original identity was the Demon King.”
“It’s an interesting story. “In that case, is he the devil you said you defeated?”
“no. “The being I fought is said to be the soul of a previous demon king who died 90 years ago.”
“It seems that since the body has already been destroyed, only the spirit remains.”
“That’s right.”
“If you don’t, it will be like killing your father.”
“I don’t know if the Demon King has such a concept, but it could be said that he does.”
“It was kind of rude, but I guess he had a backlash. “A demon king cannot be said to be inferior to me, so it can be said that it was more formal for him to be ranked in rank.”
The queen hid her face in her fan for a moment and was lost in thought.
“He doesn’t have a grudge against us, does he?”
“Probably not. Deus-sama stayed with me as a human, wearing a human mask.”
“Then that’s a good thing.”
The queen said, looking at Kielce.
“Count, talk about what the kingdom can do for your old friend.”
“I will gather delicacies from caves and underground lakes.”
“Hold a banquet. “A banquet that will not end for seven nights and seven days.”
Zeke immediately opened his mouth.
“I don’t know what to do with the kingdom’s hospitality. “Your Majesty Queen Haona, I have come here firstly because I want to meet old friends, but secondly, because I have an urgent favor to ask of you.”
“Tell me.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Zeke took a moment to catch his breath and opened his mouth.
“This is something that has a deep connection with Deus-sama earlier. Because of my relationship with him, I was dismissed from the Seonghwangcheong office. That’s why I call myself Sieg van Witsch.”
“You order the dismissal of a warrior who fought and won against the devil. “Seonghwangcheong also did something quite bold.”
“It’s because of a mistake I made, so
I can’t blame Seonghwangcheong. Because of that, I am now living in the old Seonghwangcheong site with people who depend on me.”
“Did you say Neuekan?”
“That’s right.”
“This is where the Middle Root Clan’s kingdom is located.”
“I heard it’s the Kingdom of Tiphareth.”
” right.”
“Life is hard because there are mugwort monsters everywhere and people are ostracizing us. So, we are thinking of forming an alliance with the countries under the earth.”
“Hmm, originally we
do business with humans, fairies, and even demons. That means there will be no alliance with anyone. “If you take one country’s side, your relationships with other countries will become difficult.”
“I know.”
“But you must have received God’s work. “A good opportunity is before you.”
“Can you hear that opportunity?”
“It’s difficult for me to move it. Sir Kielce.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Leave for the Kingdom of Tiphareth right now with the warrior of Holy Jade.”
“It is difficult to find a match for Your Majesty’s fame in all times and times. “I will follow your orders and go to the Kingdom of Tiphareth right now.”
The queen said to Zeke.
“I believe that with your abilities, you can do it. May God’s protection always be with you.”
Zeke was confused by the sudden progress of the story, but seeing as the Queen was talking like that, it didn’t seem like a small matter.
“I will definitely live up to Your Majesty’s expectations.”
The technology that the short charcoal workers developed to survive underground was far superior to that of humans.
They also trained giant insects that roamed underground and used them as a means of transportation, and the one that Zeke and Kielce are riding now was one of them.
“If I think about it, this might also be a mugwort monster.” A large insect divided into dozens of segments
ran along the cave path,
diligently using its dozens of legs .
The dwarves had small house-like rooms on their backs.
It was like a train powered by insects.
At Kielce’s words, Zeke looked out the window.
All that could be seen was a single lantern every few hundred meters.
This dark cave is a large cavity that connects branches and was called the Great Tube.
“What on earth is mugwort? “What is it that
makes monsters so huge?”
Zeke asked, but Kielce also had no idea.
I stroked my left arm, which was now a piece of metal.
“Tifareth… is almost in ruins right now.”
” also.”
“I lost half my population in the giant slalom where I lost my left hand.”
“Because the volcano penetrated, the damage would have been considerable.”
“As great disasters struck one after another, the underground
was in shambles. Most of the road collapsed and restoration has not yet been completed. “More than one person died of starvation because the mushroom production facility was destroyed.”
Kielce calmly spoke about the pain of the past 10 years.
Zeke bowed his head solemnly.
“Cursed demons.”
Kielce laughs slyly.
“There have always been casualties in wars between demons and humans. “This time it was a bit bigger.”
The underground dwarves
had the aspect of asceticism.
It seemed like it was because he was so close to death. Even if it wasn’t for this incident, the life of a dwarf was a miserable monster and worth less than a piece of jewellery.
“It was a single snake that brought Tipareth to destruction.”
“A snake?”
“Should we call it a snake? It has deer-like horns, a long beard, and short feet. “Scale is as powerful as a dragon and is a monster that is infinitely close to a god, bringing thunder and wind and rain.”
“Even if it’s a dragon, just one dragon wouldn’t be able to bring destruction to a country.”
“Tifareth’s knights and even soldiers from neighboring countries fought bravely, but the damage only increased. But looking back now… I think it would have been better not to touch it.”
“It looks like the monster didn’t attack first.”
“Monsters I had never seen before showed up in large numbers, and I thought they were some kind and attacked them. I don’t know what the mugwort monster is, but…
“I heard it’s an ancient creature.”
“When you say ancient times, what century is it?”
“A monster from the Silver Age, before the beginning of our current century.”
“It was a time full of magic.”
“But they say the cause of its creation is related to the Age of Gold.”
“It’s hard to imagine because it happened so long ago.”
The giant bug ran at high speed through an underground tunnel with complex terrain.
The dwarves
trained this bug using mushrooms mixed with hallucinogenic ingredients.
The drug-addicted bug obeyed the dwarf’s words. So much so that they can ride tens of kilometers in one go.
“I think about that often.”
Zeke opened his mouth.
“What do you mean?”
“This is also someone else’s idea. Maybe I was influenced by him. He spoke out of habit. This world is twisted. That means… there must be someone who twisted it.”
“Isn’t the devil the one who twisted the world?”
“Actually, the one who said that was the devil.”
” ah!”
“He also felt something strange, so he came down from the Demon King’s throne and came out to the human world.”
“What’s strange?”
“Why does the Demon King attack the human world once every 100 years? Why do humans just wait for them to come out? What is the point of that war? What are the dwarves, fairies and dragons
doing? “Why do dwarves live underground?”
“Because we like the basement. “That’s nature.”
“But our staple food is wheat, and we make alcohol from barley. “Neither of them grow underground.”
“Yeah…
“I feel a huge hand. Coordinating it all behind the scenes. “It’s as if there is some power that purifies the world through a war that happens once every 100 years and prevents it from escaping from its original state.” “
If there’s someone who would do that, it would be God.”
“God…
Zeke trailed off.
If God really does something like that, I have no choice but to quietly follow him.
“It’s strange to hear it. “We dwarves are skilled in working with metal and familiar with fire, but we never break one taboo.”
“What kind of taboo is it?”
“It’s gunpowder.”
“By gunpowder, do you mean the stuff used in fireworks?”
“yes. It’s not just fireworks. If you concentrate gunpowder and explode it, you can produce power comparable to magic. However, dwarves must never make tools using gunpowder. However, it is extremely unclear who is banning it and for what reason. “I’m just following it because it’s an old law.”
“Isn’t this law created out of fear that the cave would collapse due to an explosion?”
“Then even magic should have been banned.”
Kielce looked down at his hands.
“It is said that a long time ago… humans had technology so advanced that they were able to launch ships into the sea of stars. But no one can do that now. Why don’t we have that ability again? “Maybe it’s because God wants it.”
Kielce said this and made the sign of the cross by pressing his hands on his forehead and solar plexus in turn.
The bug ran non-stop and arrived at the capital of Netark around evening. We
spent the night there and
rode another bug again the next day.
Since the only place that could be reached using bugs was half the way to the destination, Zeke and Kielce headed to Tiparet’s domain on foot from there.
“Was this… the capital?”
Zeke felt distant at the sight before his eyes.
What was there was a huge lake.
There is only one pillar in the center of a cavity with a radius of several kilometers.
That was the pillar of Tipareth, the middle root
.
Except for the pillar, a huge cave formed around it and was filled with water.
Four waterfalls were pouring down from each side of the underground lake.
The northern one was not water, but lava. It seemed to be in the direction of the volcano.
“Like us, Tiphareth was a kingdom built on the pillars of Tiphareth.”
“It seems like it was that monster that created this cavity.”
“yes.”
Kielce was hiding in a rock.
It seemed like he still couldn’t shake off that fear.
Zeke put his hand on his shoulder.
