WeTried Translations

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 90: Ah, Your Meteoric Iron Sword?

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Rosena, the strongest dwarf underground.

If she had lived on the surface, that title would have become "the strongest dwarf on the surface."

Every dwarf in Red Anvil Mine agreed on that.

She was old enough that no one would find it strange to call her an elder.

Still, people simply called her Rosena-nim rather than Elder Rosena.

There was good reason for that.

Her bulging muscles were tougher than those of younger dwarves, and neither her beard nor hair had a single gray strand. Both were a vivid red.

Aside from her muscles, Rosena's trademark was her blood-red hair.

She adored her red hair and beard.

Sometimes she braided them, and normally she maintained them carefully with oil.

When someone once asked why she cherished her red hair so much, Rosena answered that blood did not show on it.

Having risen to Meister by making accessories, she had even created custom beard ornaments and hung jewels all over them.

Emeralds, rubies, and other gems dangled from them in flamboyant splendor.

She wore those accessories even when fighting with an axe in hand, but she always removed them in her workshop, whether hammering metal or crafting delicate pieces.

Whenever she had to pour every ounce of her concentration into her work, she wore no accessories.

Clang, clang.

The hammer Rosena held was not particularly large.

Even so, it was hard to believe she used a hammer like that for delicate necklace work requiring such precision.

Sparks flew wildly from the anvil.

Each time she struck the red-hot metal, it somehow began taking shape.

Normally, this was a process done after the metal cooled, using small chisels and jeweler's saws.

But that only applied to those who had yet to reach the realm of masters.

With each strike of Rosena's hammer, the pure gold ornament gradually took shape.

It was nothing short of mystical.

When she placed the heated gold ornament into water, bubbles rose with a fizz.

What emerged was a sun-shaped pendant.

Rosena held thumbnail-sized rubies and sapphires against it, trying them one by one.

Every gem looked dazzling and beautiful.

Yet Rosena's expression remained dark.

"Tch."

Even the way she clicked her tongue was bold and hearty.

Then she placed the still-warm piece of pure gold in her palm and squeezed.

Crunch, squish.

No matter how soft pure gold was, it was still metal that needed to be hammered and refined.

Yet it bent and compressed with absurd ease.

The veins in Rosena's forearm bulged.

When she opened her hand, the golden sun ornament had been crushed into a round lump.

"I don't like it."

She handled hard metal as though tearing pieces from a lump of dough.

When she dropped it into the water, steam hissed up.

Lately, Meister Rosena had felt as though something heavy was pressing on her chest.

She was making no progress on her thousandth collection, the Sun Necklace.

"Not ruby, not sapphire, not emerald. Not even diamond!"

She did not know how to set the jewel for the sun ornament.

What gem could express clear, brilliant sunlight?

Even diamonds were not enough to capture the sun's warmth.

But setting a red gem like a ruby in it felt too vulgar, too simple.

She needed a warm, transparent gem that carried a sense of life.

'Maybe it's been too long since I last saw sunlight.'

That thought always left her bitter.

It had been a long time since the Lord of the Mine sealed Red Anvil Mine's gates.

Before that, Rosena had lived beneath the sun as well.

Those memories still remained in her heart and inspired her.

Especially the adventures she had experienced with that eccentric elven mage...

And the surface wine she had drunk with Bluebeard.

"..."

Rosena finally set down her hammer.

Memories of the past had become lingering regrets that held her back.

The current Bluebeard was no longer the radiant youth they had once been.

Just as Rosena had grown old, Bluebeard had aged as well. Only dark flames flickered in their once-clear eyes.

This life would repeat until a new mining lord was born.

Bluebeard had wanted Rosena to join them in the deepest level, but she refused.

That was why she focused solely on her work in a workshop before the deepest level's gate.

Today had been another ordinary day.

At least, until Jeremiah went into the deepest level and Rosena ended up receiving the letter of introduction meant for Jeremiah.

The letter Helmut had sent contained incomprehensible words.

'A snake...?'

She would have to see it with her own eyes.

So she went out.

And there truly was a snake there.

A snake with scales that were perfect material.

Would sunlight look like this if it were shaped from crystal?

"Perfectly beautiful!"

She had grabbed its body and shouted that, so naturally the snake had recoiled in horror.

* * *

She's strong.

What the hell are her hands made of?!

My scales were sharp as blades, but those callused dwarf hands were not even scratched.

Was this even possible?

-It's basic Mana Manipulation.

So dwarves used Mana too.

Even though they weren't knights.

──────────────

【Dwarf Meister Rosena Lv. ???】

【Epithet】 Strongest Dwarf Underground

【Traits】

[Artisan], [Warrior]...

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What the hell, why can't I see her level?

Are you a Hero too?!

Monsters and "people" were definitely different.

A monster's strength could be measured intuitively.

Stronger monsters and larger monsters were powerful.

Humans, elves, and dwarves, on the other hand, could not be judged by their appearance alone.

-You're overestimating human Heroes.

Since he was not the one fighting, Pelerian spoke with irritating calm.

-That dwarf woman has accomplishments that would not fall short even compared to a Hero. She beat ten wyverns to death with a single hammer.

Wasn't that basically Thor?!

Each time I attacked, the dwarf called Rosena raised her hand to block me.

"Hahaha! How cute!"

Wasn't she scared of venomous snakes?

I wanted to bite her out of spite, but I kept biting empty air.

She was not attacking me, though.

Even when I moved around desperately enough to shed scales, she did not strike back.

If she was going to act like this, I had no choice but to draw my sword.

Then Rosena's hand moved at incredible speed.

"Oh!"

She caught one of my floating scales between her index and middle fingers.

"Beautiful. Very beautiful."

Snatch, snatch, snatch, snatch!

Her hand flashed like lightning, catching four more scales.

"Five. This should be enough."

That startled me.

I lost all will to fight.

Yeah, did we really need to fight?

Wouldn't it be nice to get along?

"Want to come with me for a moment before you head to the deepest level? I'll make a necklace with your scales."

A human named Langray had wanted my scales before too.

I guess crystal scales really were pretty if even a dwarf artisan wanted them.

'Okay.'

I nodded and followed Rosena.

It really seemed she only wanted my scales.

"I'll make a simple pendant first."

It was my first time watching a dwarf artisan work.

Her workshop stood right beside the door leading to the deepest level.

She drew gold out into incredibly thin threads and made a chain.

-Excellent workmanship, even seeing it again.

Pelerian acknowledged Rosena's skill as well.

It happened in an instant.

A bracelet was complete.

It was made from gold threads, with my scales arranged around it like flowers.

"Oh, hoho, oh...!"

She admired the quality of the bracelet she had made herself.

But she had definitely said she was making a pendant. Why had she suddenly changed it into a bracelet?

"That's a fine necklace. With material like this, I can complete my collection."

Then she put the bracelet around my neck.

It had been a necklace, not a bracelet!

"Saaak!"

I was so startled that I became emotional.

The necklace fit perfectly, as if it had been made for me from the start.

She looked scary and acted barbarically, but she was a good dwarf after all.

"You're going to meet Bluebeard, right?"

'That's right.'

I took out my notebook and pen and wrote it down.

Like the other dwarves, Rosena was startled by the sight.

"You're truly an extraordinary snake. May I ask why you want to meet Bluebeard?"

I looked at Pelerian.

He knew both Rosena and Bluebeard.

Pelerian shook his head awkwardly.

He seemed to think it would be better not to tell her.

-Their relationship was rather complicated...

'What does that mean?'

When I stayed silent, Rosena shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. Whether you catch them and kill them or whatever."

She was a cool woman.

"But you might have trouble communicating with Bluebeard."

'Why?'

"Bluebeard is... obsessed with fire."

Obsessed with fire?

What did that mean?

Pelerian muttered.

-Fire Enchantment?

'What do you mean, obsessed with fire?'

"Why do you think underground dwarves dig into the earth?"

'...Good question.'

Humans dug mines to extract ore and sell it.

In other words, to make money.

But the dwarves here did not seem particularly interested in making money.

They seemed obsessed with digging deeper into the mines themselves.

"It's instinct. Elves want to live in forests, humans pursue power, and dwarves dig into the earth to find the finest materials and flames."

Put that way, I understood right away.

Still, why dig into the earth if they were looking for flames?

"If you dig deep enough into a mountain, flames emerge."

There were flames underground?

No matter how deeply dwarves dug, surely they could not reach magma.

Then again, that might have been a modern human's prejudice.

"Not every mountain has them. But Mount Kalea might. The Heart of the Mountain..."

-The Heart of the Mountain!

It was Pelerian who exclaimed.

What was the Heart of the Mountain?

"One of the purest flames in the world. It can melt every metal and refine everything, which means it can forge the finest metals."

'Better than meteoric iron?'

"Celestium?"

Yeah, my meteoric iron that Bluebeard stole!

"They're different kinds of materials, but similar. In some ways, it's even better because you can refine much greater quantities of it."

It certainly sounded incredible.

"Still, such flames tend to enchant dwarves. That is Fire Enchantment."

Rosena's expression turned slightly bitter.

Had the dwarves here already found that Heart of the Mountain?

"I don't know. I wasn't interested."

Rosena was much kinder than her first impression suggested.

I plucked off several scales and gave them to her.

She stroked my head, then led me to the door leading into the deepest level.

"It'll be very hot below."

"Saaak!"

Don't worry.

My Heat Resistance was a full level 12.

"Be careful."

Then she opened the iron door leading to the deepest level.

Whoooooosh.

The scorching blast that poured out made me a little afraid.

Would all my scales get peeled off?

"Have a safe trip. Hahaha!"

I did not want to show weakness in front of Rosena as she laughed heartily.

To hell with it!

I jumped into the deepest level.

* * *

Was this global warming?

If it was not global warming, I could not understand this situation.

Ah, there was one possibility.

The dwarves' mining ability was so incredible that they had finally punched through the crust and reached the mantle.

Otherwise, this heat made no sense.

No, it was not heat.

It was scorching.

It had to be at least fifty degrees Celsius. Naturally, this was not a place where living things could survive.

*「The proficiency of Heat Resistance increases.」

Just standing still raised my Heat Resistance.

If I stayed longer, it might even level up.

The deepest level was the mine's bottommost floor.

And it was larger than I had expected.

There was no proper residential area, though, if that was what one could call infrastructure.

A spiral slope ran down along the walls, and wells stood here and there, perhaps supplied by diverted groundwater.

Strangely, the well water was cool, which was probably the only reason dwarves could live here.

"What is that, a snake?"

"Whoa, isn't that Rosena-nim's necklace?"

The dwarves found me fascinating, but they did not stop me.

Surprisingly, they recognized the necklace I wore as Rosena's immediately.

Just wearing her necklace kept dwarves from approaching me easily.

How notorious was she?

Still, the dwarves here looked a little frightening to me too.

Every one of them had their face wrapped in white cloth, like mummies.

They were probably protecting themselves from the searing heat.

But since it was my first time here, I had no choice but to ask for directions.

'Excuse me, where is Bluebeard?'

"A snake is writing...!"

I had already seen that reaction dozens of times.

I was nonchalant at first, then I jumped in horror.

The dwarf unwound the bandages covering their face, revealing a mouth stained bright red.

When they grinned, the inside of their open mouth was drenched in blood too.

"Cough, cough!"

I backed far away from the coughing dwarf.

What if it was some kind of plague?

"Go to the very bottom. Bluebeard will come out soon."

'Thank you, then I'll be going.'

I hurried past them and headed down.

I had heard that illness had been spreading among the dwarves of Red Anvil Mine lately.

Apparently, the dwarves who stayed deeper down were more often sick.

This was my first time seeing it myself.

I quickly learned where "the very bottom" was.

The lowest point of the deepest level.

Another enormous iron door stood there.

Dwarves nearby periodically poured water over it.

Hissssss!

The water evaporated, releasing enormous clouds of steam.

How hot was it below that door?

As I waited in front of it, the dwarves kept glancing at me.

Still, no one tried to stop me or drag me away.

Since waiting was boring, I asked Pelerian something.

'Is Bluebeard strong?'

-Bluebeard was weaker than Rosena, but of course they're strong. They're the dwarf mining lord, after all.

Maybe that was why.

The dwarves believed in their leader.

Come to think of it, I did not think a single snake could take on the dwarf mining lord and all the attendants.

Then why was I standing here so confidently?

'If I do what you said, old man, it'll work, right?'

-Don't worry.

Pelerian had spoken with complete confidence.

-Bluebeard broke the contract with a mage. The moment you state the clause of the promise, Bluebeard will become your slave.

The contract Pelerian had made with Bluebeard was that terrifying.

Whoever broke the promise became the other party's slave.

Well, I did not need a dwarf slave, so I planned to reclaim my meteoric iron and have Bluebeard make me a sword.

'I can show it to Bluebeard in writing, right? Really?'

-I said you can!

Since I could not speak, I checked just in case.

Bang!

Then there was a knock from the iron door leading to the very bottom.

Someone had knocked from the other side.

Someone shouted.

"Open the door!"

The iron door to the very bottom was built into the floor, so it could be opened with chains and pulleys.

Strong dwarves pulled on the chains, and the iron door slowly opened.

Creeeak.

Stairs were revealed.

And so were the dwarves inside.

Which one of them was Bluebeard?

They all had their faces and bodies wrapped in white cloth, so I could not tell at once.

-Bluebeard's probably the one carrying something made of Celestium!

Meteoric iron.

Meteoric iron was black.

My gaze stopped on one dwarf.

They were carrying an object made from pitch-black metal.

-T-that bastard!

That was Bluebeard.

And every scale on my body stood on end.

Because of an unbearable rage.

Footnotes:

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