Chapter 67
Y-You crazy bearded bastard!
Khahaha! 'Bearded' isn't an insult, you punk!
The agents' eyes turned wild at the sight of their comrade being smashed through the car door and slammed inside.
The necklace fell from the agent's hand and clattered to the ground.
"...Recon drone, pick that up."
At my gesture, the recon drone glided over, picked up the necklace, and rose into the air.
First, I secured the evidence.
And for now, I handed the sniper drone a phone with the record button turned on.
If it was filmed well, it might come in handy.
"...Forget capturing him alive; subdue him first!"
They decided that capturing the dwarf alive was no longer possible.
They all drew weapons, items, and the like from their coats and charged the dwarf in earnest.
But that was their biggest mistake.
"Oh-ho, I thought you were just a bunch of guys fiddling with dog collars a moment ago!"
The corners of the bearded dwarf's mouth twisted.
He swung the enormous hammer slung over his shoulder as lightly as a feather and took his stance.
Up until now, he'd only been using dropkicks and punches, but once his opponents got serious and drew weapons, he pulled out the hammer.
The hammer-wielding dwarf had a slightly different aura.
How should I put it?
"Now then, taste the skill of a warrior!"
Yes, he looked like a warrior.
The first agent to rush in brandished a crackling dagger and aimed for the dwarf's neck.
Without even turning his head that way, the dwarf lightly knocked the dagger aside with the end of the hammer's shaft.
Clang-!
"Huh...?"
With a metallic ring, the dagger was sent flying into the air, and as the agent panicked, the dwarf's hammer swung toward his lower body.
Crack!
The agent's leg made a horrible sound as his shin was struck dead on.
In the end, the agent collapsed onto the asphalt.
"Ah, aagh...!"
A pained expression spread across the agent's face, and he couldn't even manage a proper scream.
"Grr! Die!"
Another agent charged from behind with a sword and brought it down on the dwarf's head.
While shouting words very different from the order to subdue him.
But the dwarf naturally twisted his body and blocked the pipe with his hammer.
Clang-!
The steel pipe and the hammer collided at the same time, both rebounding, and using that recoil, the dwarf spun around and drove the hammer into the man's ribs.
Crunch-!
"Kuhk...!"
Once again, the sound of bones crushing echoed through the alleyway.
The agent's body buckled as he sank to the ground, and all the agents who were about to rush in faltered and hesitated.
They must have all felt it.
They had no chance in close combat.
The difference in experience and movement was glaring.
"Don't get close—shoot him! Gun him down!"
Along with one agent's weary voice, several agents began aiming their pistols and opening fire.
I didn't know if those were real guns or not, but either way, weren't those dangerous?
Bang! Bang!
Just as I was about to step in to help, the dwarf used his small frame to dart from cover to cover and evade the gunfire.
"At least hit him!"
"No, he's small and quick...!"
"Damn it, that armor...!"
Because the target was small and agile, it didn't seem easy to hit.
Even—
"Now! Here I go!"
The dwarf started running with the hammer shielding his head.
Bullets struck the hammer's surface and ricocheted with sparks, and rounds aimed elsewhere bounced off his armor as well.
The dwarf closed in on the agents with guns in an instant.
"Run—"
"Not so fast!"
With a shout, the dwarf slammed his hammer into the ground.
KWAAAANG-!
Once again, just like when it struck the building wall, the vibration traveled through the asphalt and surged beneath the agents' feet.
The agents staggered, and taking advantage of that opening, the dwarf's hammer swept them all away in one blow, as if delivering the final blow.
Whoosh-! WHAM!
Broken gun fragments and bloodied agents flew off and crashed in all directions down the passageway.
In just a few minutes, all the agents were sprawled on the ground.
It was a crushing victory.
When the battle ended, the dwarf wiped the blood off his hammer and turned to me.
"Ahem. You must have your reasons too. I ended up taking care of everything... Perhaps I should have left a few for you?"
"No."
At his words, I unconsciously shook my head.
Then I suddenly noticed something strange about the fact that we were actually having a conversation.
"You're talking right now...?"
I stared blankly at the dwarf.
At my reaction, the dwarf laughed heartily.
"After taking care of a few monsters, a certain constellation lent me a hand."
"A constellation..."
So constellations could contact other races too.
Even so, he spoke fluently.
He casually scanned the bloodied agents rolling around on the ground and asked me.
"By the way, who are these shameless bastards?"
Since the explanation could get long, I summarized it as briefly as possible.
They'd come all the way here to capture an elf in order to draw attention in the election, and they were threatening me for trying to stop them.
As soon as I finished speaking, a harsh curse burst from the dwarf's mouth.
"Waeami! If they were on their way to catch that unlucky elf bitch, I should've just let them go in peace!"
I thought he was angry at their violence, but it was a little different.
The dwarf grumbled, kicking one fallen agent hard with his foot.
"They should've just gone quietly to catch the elf. Why pick a fight with some innocent young girl and make this mess?"
Judging by his coarse curses and blatant hostility toward elves, the relationship between the two races didn't seem very cordial.
It was the same in the web novels I'd read before, and in games too.
"It seems like you don't get along with elves very well."
"Of course!"
The dwarf scowled.
"They're useless at every turn. If you so much as say you want to cut down a single tree, they swarm you like bees..."
He narrowed his eyes as if recalling something from the past.
According to him, because of elves' obsession with trees, there had even been cases where a few dwarves froze to death while getting through winter.
He said that books were hard to make, so just copying hard-won knowledge into one could take weeks.
And if they complained about it, the response they got was even more infuriating.
"If it's cold, use fire magic, they say, and pass on knowledge with words instead of books? These crazy elf bitches. How are dwarves supposed to use magic, and live as long as they do..."
It seemed there were many other stories like that as well.
For now, I nodded.
You've been through a lot, huh.
"You keep that. Things like that shouldn't be left in the hands of scum like these."
He nodded as he watched me put away the necklace.
Then he looked at the fallen agents.
"In my opinion, it wouldn't hurt to torture these bastards for a confession right now, or even put those necklaces back on their necks. The slight hypnotic effect would help."
"Ah..."
"Don't you need proof that these guys are the bad ones?"
He was quick on the uptake.
Right, if I wasn't going to finish all these guys off, I needed to take some measure like that.
I had recorded video, but I hadn't managed to capture everything.
However, one last remark caught my attention.
"But if you put on that necklace, you won't be able to take it off again. It's a crude thing—"
"Then the necklace..."
"Hmm..."
The dwarf stomped over and searched the fallen agents' pockets.
Rather than searching their pockets, he practically lifted the agents up and thoroughly shook them down.
Then he held out the belongings that spilled out to me.
"Is this enough?"
"...Business cards, a phone... Yes."
When I checked the phone, their conversations were all there.
There was no need to dig through the phone much.
Because in this world, the only way to contact people properly was through the Gallery.
I called over the sniper drone and had it film the conversation as well.
With this, I had gathered enough evidence.
"Thank you for your help."
At my question, the dwarf's gaze shifted very blatantly behind me.
What his eyes were fixed on was not me, but the drones escorting me and the siege golem standing beside me.
"Ho ho, don't mention it. We all help each other out, that's how it is. Which reminds me—"
His eyes gleamed as he licked his lips.
"Those flying things and that golem... I can't stand it, I'm dying to know what kind of intricate technology made them."
His gaze was burning hot.
Then the golem and drones, perhaps feeling threatened by the dwarf's strange stare, began to slowly hide behind my back.
He looked ready to pounce and disassemble the drones at any moment.
I had to hurriedly throw out a different bait.
Just then, I remembered the things piled up like a mountain in the second car.
"...How about I treat you to some amazing liquor instead of these guys?"
"...Amazing liquor?"
At my suggestion, the dwarf's eyes widened for a moment before his expression turned indifferent again and he snorted.
"It's true I can't resist liquor, but with humans' watered-down stuff..."
He clicked his tongue, but I gave an awkward smile and said.
"You definitely won't regret it. Because there's liquor in the train that even a constellation was extremely satisfied with."
"A constellation..."
At the mention of a constellation, the dwarf's braided beard twitched.
The fact that it had even satisfied a constellation finally seemed to pique his interest.
It wasn't a lie.
There really was liquor that a constellation had enjoyed.
In fact, it was liquor that had pleased a constellation called the "Hammer Warrior," who looked very much like him.
"Hah, nice. Let's see whether that confidence is bluster or not—I'll take one glass, for now, assuming I'm being fooled."
"Haha, then let's save the elf first and head back to the train."
When I said that and pointed toward the rooftop, his face instantly crumpled.
"No, why are we bothering with that elf bitch and ruining the taste of the booze! We should just leave her alone and let her handle herself..."
"If we leave her like this, more people might come too, and it'd be a little wrong to leave her there alone."
At my words, the dwarf let out a groan and scratched the back of his head hard.
"Aigoo... You're just no help at all..."
Though he poured out all sorts of complaints and grumbles with his mouth, he ultimately followed my lead, slung the hammer back over his shoulder, and obediently set off.