WeTried Translations x Flame Comics
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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Chapter 111: 16. The Person Who Travels Abroad to a Conflict Zone During Vacation (3)
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Nabelun had not lied when they said the situation was urgent. At the dwarves' urging, Ivan and Enrika had to head straight to the State Council Chamber.
Ivan had rarely seen so many unarmed dwarves sitting in one place. Not that he had never seen such a sight. He had, but none of those dwarves could be seen anymore.
Every state councilor except the dwarves who had come to greet Ivan watched the two humans who had suddenly barged in with open wariness.
“Have you finally lost your mind, Comrade Nabelun? You dare bring humans into the State Council Chamber?”
“What nonsense. Wasn't it this chamber's decision to ask Shadowblade for Krasilov's support in the first place?”
“Then look at Krasilov's answer to that request!”
The dwarves gestured toward Ivan, who stood beside Nabelun with his arms folded.
“I don't want to repeat this same fuss for no reason, so let me make one thing clear. Ah, do I have the right to speak, Nabelun?”
“Speak freely. Shadowblade, you are now Krasilov's official envoy.”
“Good. Then listen up.”
Enrika walked to the center of the State Council Chamber, squared her shoulders, and declared,
“As Krasilov's official envoy, I will state Krasilov's official position. Dwarves. Councilors of Andgrund. We are the only support Krasilov can offer you, and...”
Furious shouts erupted among the dwarves.
“Nonsense! Don't feed us that crap, human! Are you trying to insult us?!”
Enrika continued without moving an inch amid the uproar.
“We are its strongest support. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Enrika, Enrika Seregeyevica. A member of the Hero Party, and a witness who stood there when the Demon King was slain. When it comes to naming the single strongest fighter Krasilov can put forward, I have never once yielded that position. Anyone who still doubts my ability may step forward and demand proof.”
The dwarves still looked dissatisfied. Yet none dared challenge Enrika.
She swept her gaze across the chamber and spoke again.
“The man standing here is my disciple, who has learned everything I know. He is Aviditas's executioner and the commander of the Counterintelligence Command. Colonel Ivan Petrovich Yermof. Back when you knew him, he would have been a major. Yes. The Black Widow.”
“Black Widow... Ivan! We heard he was dead!”
“Did Krasilov ever have an obligation to disclose its personnel records to you?”
The dwarves fell silent at Enrika's words. Their silence was practically forced. Every state councilor in the room failed to hide their shock and fear.
The air in the chamber was clearly changing. The swirl of emotions centered on one man was vivid enough to see. Fear, hatred, rage, and once again, fear.
The Annihilation Unit Ivan had personally led had inflicted more damage on the dwarves than any other single military force in the world. During the war, the dwarves had been routed on only one front.
That defeat went beyond a mere tactical setback.
No news of it had reached the outside. In other words, no survivor had returned to report it.
Enormous gains had been made on that defeated front. Only after the number of lost troops crossed a critical point had the dwarves realized they were losing and begun to respond.
As the intelligence network they had planted throughout the mountains gradually went dark, every unexplored region beyond the shadows of the tunnels became a danger zone.
The dwarves had come to understand fear.
The fear that said, “The Black Widow comes for whoever is left alone at the end of a tunnel.”
“Our enemies are not these people, comrades. Our enemies are Aviditas's lackeys and the fools who dared rise against the Chief Secretary. Put down your axes and let us begin talking.”
Nabelun's words calmed the crowd. They stared at Nabelun, then at the two humans, with their deep-set eyes.
“But can we truly share maps of the front with that Ivan? Even if we win with his help, will we have a future afterward? If Krasilov learns every tunnel beneath our mountain range now that a direct route to Andgrund has opened, will our people have any future left?”
“Do you have a future otherwise?”
Ivan finally spoke. The dwarf who had first raised the objection flinched and stepped back.
“The Chief Secretary's son has been kidnapped, half your people have risen in rebellion, and the armies of the Seven Dragon Generals lurk behind the leader of that rebellion. Can you truly break this deadlock with your strength alone?”
“...That is why we requested military support from you.”
“That is why I am standing here.”
Ivan walked to the center of the chamber. He looked over the still-cowering dwarves, trying to meet each of their eyes.
Not one dared meet his gaze.
“I understand why you don't want to share Andgrund's front-line information with me. I won't force you to do so. But I can make you a promise.”
“A promise?”
“Assuming I have no prior information about this region, I can complete the objective within six months.”
Ivan had been part of the Annihilation Unit. Its operatives were, by nature, infiltration teams that entered the heart of enemy territory. It had been the same whenever he moved along the front with the Hero Party. His goal had been to identify the dangers along the party's route and return alive.
That made him an agent specialized in exploring unknown territory, gathering intelligence, and surviving the process. He had never made a mistake on any front, and that was how he had survived even the Hero Party's decapitation operation.
This situation, where the positions of both friendly and enemy forces were clear, could hardly be called difficult by comparison.
Interrogate the first enemy encountered. Learn the location of that force's headquarters. Strike the headquarters and interrogate them, then infiltrate the next operational target.
The entire process was second nature to him, practiced until it had left calluses on his hands.
Therefore...
“If you share the situation at the front with me, I can complete the objective within two months.”
“Two months...! That's impossible...!”
“And if you grant me the situation at the front, actual field command authority, and adequate fire support, I can complete the objective within one week.”
“...One week!”
The dwarf who had spoken first stammered.
“W-what is the objective you have in mind?”
“One of two things. Rescue the Chief Secretary's son, as you requested. Or annihilate Aviditas's subordinates behind this war.”
“Both of them...”
“That cannot be done.”
Ivan gave a short shake of his head. Claiming the impossible was possible was the behavior of a fraud. A trained operative had to honestly report whether an operation was feasible.
“The Chief Secretary's son is a hostage. Nothing more than a deterrent against all of you. The moment Aviditas's subordinates die, the hostage will die as well. On the other hand, the moment you rescue the hostage, they lose their deterrent and will certainly begin an all-out war. At that point, assassination becomes virtually impossible.”
“Have you predicted the current state of the war?”
“If they've taken a hostage, they can't be conducting an all-out war. They're buying time and trying to force a drawn-out conflict. That means they're preparing something that can turn the war around.”
“Do you have another opinion? I would hear it.”
This was a test of sorts. They wanted to know if he was really Ivan Petrovich, and whether he was as capable a commander as the rumors claimed.
That was fine. The Annihilation Unit had always needed to be more capable than the rumors.
“Isn't it obvious why the front is deadlocked? Both sides are dwarves. Their defenses and offenses are both excessive.”
Even an ordinary dwarven infantryman wore nearly flawless plate armor. Once close combat began, the shield formation of massed dwarven warriors was no different from a wall.
Small arms naturally could not pierce it, and even melee weapons were easily stopped. Bringing in a decent superhuman would not offer much advantage either. Naturally, dwarven close-quarters battles dragged into a slow grind.
At the same time, the dwarves' firepower was excessive.
They were a people who dug tunnels and built cities beneath the ground. Contrary to common misunderstanding, they did not excavate the earth with shovels and chisels. Over their long history, they had developed extremely sophisticated blasting explosives.
Now that every Earthweb Excavator had been lost, dwarven excavation technology relied almost entirely on blasting explosives.
And just as dynamite had been on Earth, industrial explosives became the foundation of weapons of war once thrown at people.
Dwarven weapons had absurd firepower. They were an absolute threat when fired above ground, but underground, things were different. It was simply too easy for them to fire a single shot that would collapse an entire tunnel.
Unless they wanted to collapse the ground across all of Andgrund, they had to restrain the use of firearms in a dwarven civil war. Much like nuclear war on Earth was restrained to prevent mutually assured destruction.
“So Aviditas's lackeys, who already know all this, must have another aim.”
“Another aim...?”
“They may be excavating Aviditas's remains, or producing an undead army through a large-scale burnt offering ritual. There are many reasons to drag things out, but we lack the information. It may even be both.”
Aviditas's aerial fortress, [Citadel of Desire], had crashed near the Sky Mountains. Aviditas had undergone complete annihilation after their soul vessel was destroyed, but Aviditas's corpse was likely still buried somewhere underground, lying on the floor of the fortress.
Along with the countless relics Aviditas had collected in life.
Aviditas's disciples would naturally want to reclaim their master's legacy. Given a few hundred years, a second Aviditas might be born.
So they had to settle this before that happened.
Ivan felt something like fate.
Fate concerning the Seven Dragon Generals, who had taken away everything he had loved until the very end.
Now he had returned, and he would turn everything Aviditas had cherished into ash and dust.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It was time to grant complete annihilation to the deathless wraiths who had fled from death.
This was revenge against one another, and a memorial offering for the memories they had each held dear.
Revenge and a memorial offering for both the Annihilation Unit subordinates who had died at Aviditas's hands and Aviditas, destroyed by the Annihilation Unit.
Ivan closed his eyes tightly.
The memory of that day still echoed in his ears. All their final words had been the same.
-Do not die here.
Even as they were swallowed by death, they had smiled and said that to their comrades.
The words breathed out when the first comrade died had carried on until the last comrade's final breath, finally reaching Ivan.
He alone remained.
The wishes of everyone in the strike team had become the will that kept him going all this time.
I must not die here. I must not die like this.
For all those who had lived with purpose and died worthy deaths, at least I will remember them until my final moment.
When Ivan finally opened his eyes, everyone in the chamber was watching him in silence.
“I believe it now. You are certainly the Black Widow from those days. Will you accept our apology?”
“It is meaningless.”
Ivan shook his head. They should spend every possible moment carrying out the operation instead of indulging in empty formalities. The enemy's forces were surely increasing by measurable numbers every hour.
Seeing his ruthlessly efficient manner, the dwarves understood why they had feared this man during the war.
He was rational enough to make them grit their teeth. He turned that rationality into competence, and that competence always produced malicious results.
“The Chief Secretary wishes to meet you in person. After that, we will share Andgrund's theater map during the tactical conference.”
“Is Durantlain Elovandi still serving as Chief Secretary?”
“...Could I at least ask you to use an honorific?”
“I'll keep it in mind.”
Ivan nodded and followed Nabelun.
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The Chief Secretary's palace lay deep below, beyond stairs so vast that even five dwarven armored railcars lined up side by side could not fill their width.
Colossal statues of dwarves holding axes and hammers stood along both sides of the stairs, looking down at those who approached.
An inscription in Old Dwarven runic language was set in gold above the palace's arched entrance.
[At the end of this path lies the center of the world.]
Typical dwarven arrogance.
Unlike Nabelun, who trembled with awe, Ivan remained unmoved. He knew the planet's center could not possibly be this shallow.
-Kooong.
-Koogugugugu...
The palace gates opened amid clouds of dust. As the thick stone doors parted, a faint clang, clang of metal could be heard from within.
Clang, clang, clang.
Then came the hiss of steel being quenched. Sounds fit for a forge echoed through the vast hall.
After walking for some time, Ivan found himself before a huge furnace that blasted him with heat.
“You've arrived?”
A short dwarf in shabby clothes, covered in soot and hammering away, turned to face him.
“It is quite something to meet the human with the highest bounty in our world.”
“Other than the Demon King and the Seven Dragon Generals, your bounty was also among the highest in our world.”
“Not anymore?”
“It won't be from now on.”
The old dwarf gave a hollow smile at the sight of enemies bound by war discussing peace.
“Durantlain Elovandi.”
“Ivan Petrovich Yermof.”
“Thank you for making time despite your busy schedule. It is not my place to say so when I am the one asking for help, but I very much wanted to see you in person.”
“It appears you heard everything said in the council chamber.”
“Is that not Averagism?”
Ah.
Ivan nodded. A true dictator did not reveal himself easily. He knew the shadow cast from behind a curtain held the greatest power.
“Is it not troublesome for a Chief Secretary to work in a forge?”
“Forge work? What matters is not who does it. What matters is whose hands it reaches. Whether it is a weapon or equipment, the result is determined by who wields it and what they seek to accomplish.”
The Chief Secretary wiped soot from his cheek with the back of his hand. His entire hand was already black with charcoal, so his face only became darker.
He smiled simply at Ivan.
“What weapon do you use?”
“I'm not particular.”
“What weapon do you prefer?”
“An axe.”
“Wait here. Comrade Nabelun?”
Nabelun, who had been blankly listening to their conversation, stepped forward in alarm.
“Yes, Comrade Chief Secretary!”
“Open the treasury and give him the finest weapon we have. Grant him anything he wants, and if there is anything he needs, supply it even if you must strip all of Andgrund bare.”
The Chief Secretary looked at Ivan with clear eyes, then turned back to stand beside the anvil. He placed the piece of steel he had been quenching on it and raised his hammer.
“In exchange, return the remaining half of these mountains to us.”
“I will.”
“Then we have an agreement. Tell your master that I hope the next envoy will be a civilian official. You may go.”
Without waiting for an answer, the Chief Secretary began hammering.
Ivan gave a brief bow and followed Nabelun away. The clang, clang of hammering echoed behind him.
A man of steel.
If Ivan ever had to return to this underground city under Krasilov's orders to move against it, it would not be easy.
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Footnotes:
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