Bronze Dragon

Burnell continued his explanation.

“It operates by inserting entire cartridges. Two cartridges can be inserted into the two barrels and fired simultaneously, ejecting a total of 60 mana rounds at once. It’s a weapon built around firepower.”

Ferda tried to pick up the weapon.

It was short, so he had expected it to be simple, but it was three or four times heavier than a rifle, and Ferda could not lift it with his strength.

“It’s extremely heavy.”

“When we tested it, the recoil was so great that durability became essential.”

“How is it different from the mana bomb?”

“Its recoil is three times stronger than a standard rifle’s, so at close range it can deliver an incredible impact.”

From that explanation, Ferda understood exactly what the weapon was for.

“It would be difficult for tactical infantry to use. Would it take heavily armored knights to handle something like this?”

“That’s right.”

They would be advancing with shields and shotguns instead of shields and swords.

The image was not a bad one.

If knights did more than simply serve as a bulwark and joined the infantry’s tactics, their performance would stand out.

“What do you think of this?”

Ferda asked Alberto.

Just as expected of someone who liked firepower, he picked up the weapon without a moment’s hesitation.

He examined it, then immediately aimed at the target and pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

An enormous roar and shockwave.

Even though Ferda was merely standing beside it, the impact felt as though it had struck him hard in the chest.

The recoil was so powerful that even physically strong knights would have difficulty handling it.

Alberto did not put the gun down.

He seemed to think about something for a moment, then reached a hand inside his armor.

With a series of clicks, a pauldron with a melted-looking exterior fell to the floor.

THUD!

THUD!

He had suddenly removed the pauldron to reduce his weight.

He had thrown off something heavy enough to shake the ground, but even the inner armor beneath it was heavy cavalry armor.

Even so, anyone watching him could tell.

That man was lighter and more agile than anyone else.

With his body freed up, he swiftly snatched the ammunition from the table.

He released the barrel’s latch and inserted two cartridges into the ends of the barrels.

He loaded the gun in an instant and aimed at the target again.

BOOM! BOOM!

After firing all the ammunition, he released the latch, and the cartridges in the barrels were forced backward by the pressure,

whereupon he slammed two fresh cartridges into their place.

Then he fired.

BOOM! BOOM!

Reload, fire.

BOOM! BOOM!

They struck the mound of earth beyond the target, which had disappeared long ago.

Alberto repeated the process of loading and firing as if possessed.

Burnell could do nothing but gape at the dazzling display.

A full 20 rounds were fired in ten seconds, and only then did he stop.

Even the reason he stopped was not his own decision.

The steel barrel had broken under the heat and impact.

Alberto looked at the barrel and opened his heavy mouth.

“Can you make it stronger?”

“H-here?”

Burnell seriously considered it, then shook his head.

“I don’t think we can, at least with our resources… There’s no material we have that can withstand the knight’s rapid fire.”

“If you had the material, could you do it?”

“Of course we could make it if we had the material, but… This shotgun was already made from the strongest steel. Are you saying there’s a material that can surpass this?”

When Burnell indicated that it was impossible, Alberto casually kicked his pauldron toward them and said,

“Make it with this.”

“What exactly is this…?”

“Frontenium.”

“F-Frontenium?”

“You mean the material said to exist only in legends…?”

Burnell—and Ferda as well—could not hide their astonishment.

It was the signature material of the Bronze Dragon, Frontesis, something only Frontesis possessed and could produce.

It had become even rarer and harder to come by since Silverwind’s death.

“I heard frontenium was almost golden in color, but no matter how I look at this, it seems gray….”

“Can you make it?”

Alberto did not waste words.

Under that pressure, Burnell answered.

“Even if this really is frontenium, making anything from it would be difficult. Frontenium is something no one but Frontesis, the Bronze Dragon, can handle. Even dwarves can’t work with it unless they’re named artisans….”

“I can do it.”

“Nothing will change just because you insist—”

Burnell’s words were cut off.

Alberto swung the club he had set down over his shoulder.

“E-eek!”

Burnell let out a terrified shriek.

Alberto brought the club down hard.

He aimed it at his pauldron on the floor.

BOOOOM~!

“Ugh!”

“Aaargh!?”

Everyone in the vicinity was forced to sit down where they stood.

The shockwave spread across the ground, and their legs gave out when they could not withstand the vibration.

Then something astonishing happened.

The gray armor, marked only by ominous ripples, began to change color as though it were being heated.

For a very brief moment, there was no mistaking the gold color at its center.

It shone with a hardness and brilliance on an entirely different level from soft gold.

“Frontenium!”

“It really is frontenium!”

A legendary material so rare that even warriors who roamed battlefields seldom saw it lay before their eyes.

It was so awe-inspiring that they forgot both the fear of their legs giving out and why Alberto had acted so suddenly.

A moment later, someone came sprinting up and shouted.

It was Luri.

“What lunatic set off a shockwave like that inside the castle grounds…!”

Luri saw the golden pauldron that had captured the attention of everyone present.

And the man standing beside it with a club in hand.

Her face showed that she had more or less figured out what had happened.

Then she glanced at Ferda and asked,

“Did you orchestrate this, Ferda-nim?”

“Depending on the circumstances, perhaps I did, perhaps I didn’t.”

Not knowing what was happening, he decided to feel things out first.

“……I’ll prepare to receive our guest.”

Her refusal to press the matter further made it seem as though further questioning would be pointless, like trying to recover spilled water.

A little later, it became clear what she had meant by preparing to receive a guest.

Within a few hours, something enormous shot up from the village’s outer wall.

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

A massive body roughly 20 meters long.

Its arms and wings were so short that they were almost purely decorative.

At a glance, it looked clumsy, yet no one could dare disregard it.

It was the Bronze Dragon, Frontesis.

Alberto had summoned Frontesis.

-What damned bastard is handling my property so carelessly?!

he roared in an enraged voice.

* * *

Frontesis, the Aspect of Protection and Stone.

He was closer to the dwarves than to humans, and to them he was almost like a god.

He had melted every ore embedded in stone, hammered it into objects, and had even come to be called the god of blacksmiths because of it.

Most of the weapons known from legend had passed through his hands, and objects made from frontenium stood at the pinnacle among them.

Because he fiercely guarded that reputation, Frontesis never forgave anyone who treated his creations carelessly.

Alberto had taken advantage of that very fact.

‘I heard Frontesis was famous for being a benevolent dragon….’

Alberto had yanked out the dragon’s nose hairs by the roots.

Many humans had tried to exploit that nature, since he was the gentlest and most approachable dragon even among the guardian dragons, and every one of them had suffered for it.

Even so, there was a reason he was famous for his mild temperament.

Even while releasing an enraged roar, hadn’t he immediately shrunk his body and entered through the village’s outer gate, walking slowly inside?

Unlike dragons that went around flattening everything in their path, he was quite gentlemanly.

True to his reputation as the dragon called the god of blacksmiths, he had a dwarf-like appearance.

At a glance, he was only a little smaller than Ferda, but his stocky dwarven build made him look even smaller.

In any case, he was waddling toward them.

As the castle’s second master, Ferda knelt and welcomed him.

“I pay my respects to the great Frontesis-nim, the Aspect of Protection and Stone.”

His brass-colored eyes were full of killing intent as he asked,

“Was it you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The one who tried to break my property without permission. Was it you?”

Frontesis glared at him with an enraged expression.

Ferda bowed his head and answered,

“I’ve never been given any of Frontesis-nim’s property as a gift, so how could I have treated it carelessly?”

“Now that I think about it, you’re right. Your feeble body couldn’t do it.”

Frontesis rolled his eyes, then pointed directly at the culprit this time.

“Yes, I knew it had to be you!”

Alberto.

He stood still, facing Frontesis.

Frontesis took the hammer hanging at his waist and tapped it against his palm as he said,

“You forced your way into my lair and made a scene demanding that I make you armor, and now you’ve come back to break my armor without permission?”

…….

“If you have any last words, I’ll hear them before I kill you with my own hands.”

Alberto answered matter-of-factly.

“Make me a weapon.”

“Fine. I’ll make a sword from your spine and teach everyone a lesson!!”

Frontesis raised his hammer and prepared to charge him.

“Please calm yourself, Frontesis-nim.”

“Who are you? Aren’t you Valdrova’s servant? How dare you stand in my way? You’ve got some nerve—”

“Lady Valdrova is waiting for you, Frontesis-nim.”

“V-Valdrova is? She’s waiting for me?”

Frontesis came to a halt.

As though embarrassed by everything he had done moments earlier, he withdrew his hammer and cleared his throat.

“Ahem……. Very well, I’ll put this aside for now, out of my magnanimity.”

That was not magnanimity at all.

“Would you show me the way, Miss Silverwind?”

“Yes, please come this way….”

In any case, the talk of killing and sparing someone vanished in an instant, and Frontesis entered the castle.

* * *

“Oh! Valdrova!”

Frontesis approached her, absolutely delighted.

Valdrova welcomed him a little shyly as well.

“It’s been a long time, Frontesis.”

“I was going to say, ‘How long has it been since I last saw you?’ but why are you wearing a mask like that?”

“There was a bit of a situation….”

“No, never mind! You don’t have to tell me! Being able to talk with you like this is more than enough!”

Frontesis took both of Valdrova’s hands and kissed the backs of them.

“Luri told me you were coming. But I didn’t know what brought you here….”

“Ah, that? It’s nothing major… Some insolent bastard was handling my property carelessly, so I got a little angry and came to teach him a lesson, you see?”

“Who, who was it?”

“Obviously some insignificant human. Why are you flustered? You never handled my property carelessly, haha!”

Valdrova watched him with oddly stiff movements, but Frontesis failed to notice.

Ferda decided to redirect the attention focused on her toward himself.

“I’ll apologize in Sir Alberto’s place, since I’ll be conducting his investiture.”

Frontesis immediately began to growl.

“No apology is necessary—just bring me that bastard’s head! That’s the only way to calm my anger!”

Though Frontesis was threatening him, Ferda could not sense much pressure from him.

Was it because he had grown so accustomed to Valdrova’s aura that Frontesis felt relatively weak?

Even so, Frontesis seemed weaker than both Storeus and Goz, the leader of the Silverwinds.

Perhaps he really was not that angry.

Ferda suspected it was merely the tantrum of a middle-aged man trying to shore up his dignity.

“Please, don’t do that. Hear me out.”

After Ferda pleaded several times, Frontesis finally gave permission.

Ferda explained in detail everything that had happened because of Alberto.

Frontesis’s face grew even more sour.

“So you’re saying he did all that because he really wanted me to make him a weapon?”

“That appears to be the case.”

“What an ill-mannered bastard.”

It seemed better than trying to make excuses for him.

Though Frontesis looked extremely irritated, he seemed to have no solution either.

Why was that?

To resolve what was troubling him, Ferda cautiously asked,

“I did summon you over an unpleasant matter, but if you would consider this something for the sake of the continent, could you grant this humble servant one small request?”

“What is it?”

“I’ll provide the mold. I’d like you to help melt the frontenium and make a weapon.”

Ferda made the audacious request outright.

Frontesis glared at Ferda, his face flushed bright red.

“I came here to thrash that bastard, and you’re telling me you’re in league with him after all!”

“That isn’t so. If I provoked Frontesis-nim over a personal matter, I would take responsibility and cut off Alberto’s head myself. This is for a great cause.”

“What great cause? Don’t give me that bullshit!!”

“It’s part of an effort to create a weapon to defeat the demons. The metal you make, Frontesis-nim, would be used for the sake of the Serdes Continent.”

Frontesis snorted.

“Hmph! Countless kings have tried to tempt me with such honeyed words! They always talked about doing it for the demons, then used it only for their own greed! What makes you—or that bastard—any different?!”

“The demons recently seized a kingdom, and countless subjects there have fallen into the hands of a corrupted king. After this, there’s no doubt the demons will rampage once more.”

“Nonsense! The demons aren’t that strong! It’s merely a scheme to exploit that coward Godwin! You’re no different!”

“Frontesis.”

When Valdrova softly called his name, Frontesis, who had been shouting angrily, jumped in surprise.

His fiery temper was still there, but he quietly gazed at Valdrova.

“I’ll vouch for Mr. Ferda’s words. Mr. Ferda is kinder and wiser than anyone. He would never use it for personal purposes. Could you make a weapon to defeat the demons?”

“Ahem…… If you vouch for him…… But what good would it do for me to make a weapon? Who would give me credit if I made one? Why should I make another weapon, and who would it benefit?”

“But I know, don’t I? I know that you’re more passionate than anyone, Frontesis, and that you’re working for the sake of the continent.”

“Valdrova…….”

Frontesis’s face brightened at Valdrova’s words.

He looked like a grandfather gazing at his granddaughter-in-law.

Frontesis looked at her, then sighed with a softened expression.

“Damn it, how could I hide anything from you? The truth is…… there’s a reason I’m being so stubborn like this…….”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then opened his mouth again.

“Frontenium is no longer something I can handle.”