Chapter 51
“Wh-Wh-Wh-What! What are you saying!?”
At the dwarf’s declaration that she’d be used as a broodmare, the first to react was none other than Prea.
Since Prea often imagined things along those lines, she was a little less shocked than she might have been.
“Ehhh, is something wrong, Yubel? Get better soon!”
Riella was the second to react, but since she didn’t know the concept of giving birth, she gave an answer that revealed her lack of common sense.
Still, compared to Yubel, whose common sense had become strangely warped, she was in relatively good shape.
Better not to know how it worked at all than to think babies were made with kisses.
Anyway, in the name of Yubel’s recovery?
She started dragging Yubel away alongside the dwarf.
The dwarf grabbed both her arms.
Riella took both her legs.
In an instant, Yubel was being dragged away like a primitive being had captured her.
Yubel was horrified.
“Mff—!? Let go of me right now!”
Yubel was too busy clamping a hand over her mouth in response to the dwarf’s threat to get her pregnant.
As a result, only incomprehensible sounds came out.
And someone reacted strongly to those sounds.
“Are you messing with me?”
A low voice rang out, yet clear.
It was the sort of voice steeped in anger.
From Se-on’s perspective, this entire situation was absurd.
The dwarf had not only insulted Yubel, Se-on’s companion, by calling her a witch, but was also spouting bizarre things like telling her to give birth as many times as she’d killed.
There was no way to talk this out amicably.
Boom!
The dwarf, sensing hostility, slammed the handle of his axe against the ground.
At a glance, it might have looked imposing, but to Se-on, it looked like a tiny creature growling and pretending to be tough.
In other words, the dwarf wasn’t a warrior who’d seen many fights.
“I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you all went back. I have something to discuss with this witch.”
Halt.
Riella, who had been holding Yubel by the legs, stopped.
“Ehhh… No! Yubel’s a scaredy-cat, so I have to stay with her! Nngh!”
S-t-r-e-t-c-h!
With Riella and the dwarf pulling in opposite directions, Yubel’s body was tugged back and forth like she was caught in a tug-of-war.
‘Ooh, this feels nice.’
Fortunately, Yubel, who was immune to pain, didn’t mind.
But to anyone watching, it looked quite painful.
Enough to bring Prea, whose face had been turning red, back to her senses.
“Y-You’re right! Could you at least explain what on earth is going on—”
“No, there’s no need. I’m going to make sure you can’t move a single step from here on.”
Cutting Prea off, Se-on stepped forward.
Thud, thud.
“Hrm!? What is this…!”
With each step Se-on took, the dwarf felt a strange pressure bearing down on him.
Under its influence, he even found himself wanting to prostrate himself and apologize for his wrongdoing right that instant.
And thoughts could control the body, too.
In the end, before Se-on even reached him, the dwarf dropped to one knee.
Rumble!
Even so, the pressure didn’t ease; it only grew stronger.
Only after his other knee, both arms, and finally his head were pressed to the ground did the pressure stop increasing.
The dwarf broke into a cold sweat.
‘What in the world is this ominous aura?!’
A presence so threatening it had forced him to prostrate himself.
It couldn’t possibly belong to a human.
And that was correct.
What Se-on was emitting now wasn’t a human aura, but the power of the ‘Authority of Domination’ that Cardin had used.
It had activated because Se-on regarded the dwarf before him as someone beneath him, and because his desire to subdue the dwarf was so intense.
However, neither the dwarf who had knelt, Se-on using the authority, nor even the Hero’s party watching understood what was happening.
‘……What is he doing?’
Only Se-on, who’d been planning to deal with him lightly, was left feeling awkward.
And that awkwardness lasted for ten minutes.
Only then did the dwarf clear his throat and get back up.
And then.
“Kwahahaha! Well, well, I picked the wrong person to tease! I, Broad, the kingdom’s greatest blacksmith, formally apologize!”
The dwarf, who introduced himself as Broad, burst into boisterous laughter and scratched his head.
The Hero’s party was left dumbfounded by the sight.
***
“……So all of that just now was a joke? Even telling me to give birth as many times as I’d killed?”
“Kwahaha! That’s right! I only said it for a laugh! Who would say something so vile in real life? Kwahaha!”
Broad replied, stroking his long brown beard.
At that, Yubel’s expression twisted.
You. You, right there.
You just said it to me.
As Yubel pressed the bridge of her nose and tried to suppress her anger, Se-on and Prea, sensing the mood, relaxed their guard as well.
“Hahahaha……”
Abruptly, the laughter stopped.
Seeing that, Broad let his laughter fade and adopted a serious expression.
Then Broad looked at Yubel and spoke.
“Now, let’s get to the point. So why have you come here, witch? To apologize to us? Or simply to deceive us? Well, I don’t really care anymore.”
“No, enough with the jokes—”
“This time, I’m not joking.”
Flinch.
Yubel, meeting Broad’s unwavering gaze, trembled slightly.
When serious, the dwarf’s expression was a far cry from the jovial one he’d worn just moments ago.
Yubel took a deep breath.
“……To begin with, why are you calling me a witch? I’ve never killed anyone.”
Generally, in this world, a witch meant someone who used magic to drive people to ruin.
But perhaps because witches had never caused much trouble, the term was also used as a casual insult for wicked people.
But Yubel had never been here before, and she’d hardly ever caused anyone harm in her life, so all she felt was wronged.
“…….”
Having gauged Yubel’s mood, Broad silently beckoned her to follow.
The Hero’s party looked at one another, then followed Broad into the kingdom.
Crunch, crunch.
With no one talking, the sound of footsteps in the snow continued for several minutes.
And during that time, all the members of the Hero’s party had the same reaction as they looked around Baelogia.
‘Is this a kingdom or a ruin?’
The collapsed buildings, the absence of people, and the roads frozen solid created a scene as if a storm had swept through.
Moreover, since this was originally a small kingdom, the extent of the damage was apparent at a glance.
They went farther and farther inside, until finally Broad and the Hero’s party stopped at the very center of the kingdom, in front of a frozen fountain.
“Do you see that?”
Broad used the double-headed axe he was carrying to point beyond the fountain.
The Hero’s party followed his gaze.
Their eyes widened in shock.
“W-What on earth is that……?”
There stood an ice statue of Yubel as large as the fountain.
The horns on her head.
A slender, pointed, demon-like tail.
And her seductive appearance.
No one could deny it was Yubel’s likeness.
“Do you understand now? Why I called you a witch, and why I tried to hold you here. It was because I thought the owner of this statue was the culprit behind this calamity.”
“But I’ve never done anything like this……”
“Yes, that may be true. But you must be connected to it somehow, don’t you think? Am I wrong?”
Yubel answered with silence.
She wasn’t giving up on the whole situation.
She was waiting for an answer from the Demon King, who might know about this phenomenon.
But no matter how long she waited, no answer came.
Yubel grew increasingly anxious.
The others watching her were at a loss, too.
The mere fact that a statue of Yubel existed here implied some kind of connection between them, so they couldn’t recklessly step in.
To make matters worse, Yubel had never directly revealed her past.
In other words, her companions didn’t even have a chance to defend her.
So everyone stayed silent.
When you know nothing, silence is the answer.
Amid the silence, Broad studied Yubel’s expression.
And then.
“Kwahahaha! Why the serious face, lass? Didn’t I tell you it doesn’t matter anymore?”
“Pardon? What do you mean, it doesn’t matter……?”
“Well, we’ve already settled elsewhere to escape the natural disaster, and we were planning to emigrate anyway, so it doesn’t matter. The only reason I’m still here is plain stubbornness.”
Yubel’s face filled with bewilderment.
Seeing that, Broad continued.
“And I should mention, to us, your presence now is less that of a witch and more like…… an idol.”
“What does that even
mean?”
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble like an earthquake.
Because suddenly, a rumbling like an earthquake could be felt all around them.
When they looked for the source of the rumbling, they saw a crowd of dwarves approaching from far away.
There seemed to be at least thirty of them.
-There she is! The one we’ve been waiting for!
-Eeeek! What do we dooo! She’s even prettier in person!
-Witchieee! Please save us!!
Clatter, clamor, chaos.
At the sight of the dwarves swarming like sheep being driven along, the Hero’s party looked at Broad, demanding an explanation.
“Kwahaha! Your statue was so perfect it stirred the craftsmen’s urge to create. So the people still here in the kingdom are all fired up over a statue-making challenge. Kwahaha!”
He then continued, turning slightly serious.
“And, well, some dwarves fell for your pretty face and decided they wanted to make you their wife. With so many statues piling up, there’s now one Witchie for every person. Kwahaha!”
One Witchie per person?
What kind of bullshit is that?
“Ah, and Derek, who lived next door to me, drilled a hole in your statue and kept humping it until the statue killed him. Kwahaha! And now that the real thing’s here, if they catch you, it might really happen just like ‘that saying.’ Kwahahaha!”
“……”
Fuck. This fucking porn game.
The Hero’s party stood with their mouths hanging open, unable to hide their shock.
“H-How indecent……!”
“Must be nice being so popular, Yubel!”
“Are they insane?”
Everyone agreed with Yubel, except Riella, who couldn’t keep up with the situation.
This place is insane.