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Chapter 103
Timber
In the middle of a snowy mountain where nothing existed,
Even creatures resistant to the cold were hibernating for the winter in the gloomy weather, so it was quiet.
In that space, a large vertical rift tore open.
Like oil leaking onto land, the rift in chaotic colors spat out its contents.
What was inside were a bulky man in black and a man wearing a gray robe.
W̊ĕ b̂ n̆ŏv ӗl Еńum̀a
It was the man Ferda had identified as Gokma.
They arrived at the foot of the snowy mountain.
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"Did we have to come this way?"
"No."
"Then?"
"No suitable location came to mind."
Е n umа̄ . і̂ d
"Hmm."
The bulky man looked up at the snowy mountain.
There was the place where a Dark Elf named Linne had served as research director.
But that was merely in the past tense.
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"What was decided about Linne?"
"The research will continue."
Ë n um̊ а
"A generous disposition."
At that, the bulky man snorted.
"As if I'd be generous? Once it's complete, I'll kill her. She was a woman with no value other than that from the start."
"Boiling a dog? That won't cause any aftereffects either."
The man said that and turned away.
That was when it happened.
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Gokma suddenly felt killing intent directed at himself.
He raised his hand and turned his body just like that.
Something was blocked by his hand.
Kwoong!
The bulky man's fist touched his hand.
Though he was pushed back significantly by the difference in strength, he endured on two legs.
Еṅu m̃ а
"...What is the meaning of this?"
"I merely did what you were doing."
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"What did I do?"
"You're avoiding conversation, so I gave up on conversation too. Are more words needed?
"I don't understand what you're saying at all."
"Don't think about deceiving me. You brought up that Dark Elf woman precisely to avoid conversation, didn't you?"
W е̊ b̂n̆.о̄ v̈ e̊l Ë n̊ ū m ӑ
"What conversation did I avoid? You seem to know."
"Ferda Valdrova."
The bulky man growled as if angry.
"Why didn't you kill that man?"
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"....."
"Look. You can't answer, can you?"
Ěn̆ ū m̄ а̂_. id̈
At Gokma's silence, the bulky man sneered.
"I didn't like you from the start. You died pathetically stabbed by the Hero, yet you secretly prolonged your life and showed your face again."
"....."
"You should have died right there. Not coming back like this, living shamefully."
"If dying like that is better..."
Gokma glared with eyes containing emotion.
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"Why are you still alive instead of following Father?"
"Isn't it because of you?"
"That's nothing but an excuse. When I saved you, I told you my clear purpose. And you accepted it. Now you're acting like this—what makes you any different from a human who changes their mind in an instant?"
The bulky man's eyebrow twitched.
But instead of leading to violence, he withdrew the fist they had clashed.
Gokma opened his mouth as he watched that.
Ӗn u m ä. і̊ḋ
"There was a reason I didn't kill Ferda. As expected, humans are unknown until seen directly."
The one who had made Gokma speak those words in the past was exactly one person.
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He recalled the distant past he remembered.
Gokma had looked down on human weakness as trivial.
He had destroyed and crushed what they believed in, mocking their frailty.
That was why he hadn't known until the moment of his death.
Е̂ ň u mа́
That among those frail humans, someone would emerge with the power to pierce his heart.
And that the man would ultimately eliminate even the Demon King.
The seed of rebellion that severed Godwin's intent.
'Hero.'
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Gokma touched his own chest.
What led him to death was not the holy sword blessed by all gods and dragons, but a shabby kitchen knife.
Е.nü ḿa..і d
Though he had resurrected now, the fact that he died that way gave him vigilance.
But he smiled.
It was an emotion woven purely from joy.
Because that incomplete death allowed the intent to continue, and he could become this strong.
Surely Father, too, is smiling within the void.
Gokma thought the Hero was the only one who could make him reverse his evaluation twice.
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But there is no such thing as an absolute in the world.
'Ferda Valdrova.'
He was feeling that same sense of unexpectedness he felt from the Hero from that man.
Though the directionality differs, the texture is a similar sensation.
Gokma knew what that was too.
"Hm?"
W̆ еb̌ no vӗl̊ Е̊n u m̃ a
The bulky man cast his gaze at a spot in the snowfield and made a sound.
"Why?"
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"...Someone is there."
What was visible was a snowfield completely covered in snow.
No. When Gokma turned his eyes to where the bulky man was looking, something distinctly protruding was visible.
It had a shape like a helmet.
W̊e b̆ n̈ о̆v̄ е̂ĺ .Е nŭ m̌ ă
Given its crude form, he thought it must be a stone statue placed somewhere.
But that thought was brief—the snow piled on that statue shook.
It stood up from its spot.
Rough and crude armor like a large rocky mountain expressed in a human body.
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Seeing that armor, one could understand how it could stay still while snow covered its body.
"Alberto, it's you."
Е̌nŭm а̃ .і̇d
An appearance as upright as his title.
Truly worthy of being called the Walking Fortress.
"It can't be coincidence that we meet like this. Were you waiting?"
He didn't answer.
It wasn't something that needed words to begin with.
He picked up the club and shield he had set down.
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A heavy club over 2 meters long and a shield of similar size.
The armor wrapped around his whole body was also crude and rough.
Judging by what he wore, he looked slow, and his movements actually belonged to the slower side.
Nevertheless, he was the most notorious figure among demonkind.
His accumulated notoriety was by no means empty.
Especially the bulky man, upon seeing that appearance, trembled violently.
Е n̄ ũ m̂ а
"You, you son of a bitch...!"
The bulky man, as if pleased to meet him, lost reason and charged at Alberto.
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"Today I'll kill you for sure!"
His fist stretched out with the momentum to smash the armor.
Alberto also raised his club in time with that beat.
Just as they were about to clash.
E ṅû m̄а̄ . і̂ d
Gokma drew a line in the air with his finger.
Space opened between the bulky man and Alberto, swallowing the bulky man.
Alberto cut through empty air and slammed the ground.
Kwoong!
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The ground resonated greatly, and snow shot up into the sky before settling back on the ground.
Alberto looked toward Gokma.
Е̌n̆üma.īd̀
He spoke.
"Understand. He's doing that because he's resentful about having his limbs broken by you."
"....."
"Besides, what you want isn't small fry like them, but him, isn't it?"
At first listen it sounds like self-absorption, but those words were the truth.
Alberto had come chasing only Gokma, and that was why he was seated here.
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"Stop. Nothing will change even if you track me. Alberto."
"....."
"You have no mana, nothing—you're just a mere human. If I draw my finger once and leave this space, you'll have to walk the continent again on foot. Even in such unreasonableness, you search for me alone."
"....."
Alberto gave no answer whatsoever.
Gokma spoke like that, but he didn't mock Alberto.
Еṅũ m̃ а . і̃d̊
The number of demons and monsters cut down by his slowness was countless, and the settlements destroyed numbered over two digits.
Without a single person acknowledging him, he moved silently solely to kill demons.
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That was why that man was called the Walking Fortress, Alberto.
"Since you hate demons enough to die, I'll tell only you. Do you know what I saw today?"
What rose in his mind was Ferda's face.
"Timber for the Demon King."
Е n̄uḿ а. і̌d̀
"....."
"A human with outstanding potential. Right now he holds the cheeky desire to conquer the Demon Land, but that's just a moment."
Gokma smiled nastily.
"What remains at the end of loss is always emptiness."
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Gokma tore space once more.
"And in emptiness, anger always takes its place."
Е ńuṁ а̀
Thus Gokma escaped from that spot.
There was nothing Alberto could do.
He raised his head and looked at the sky.
Gloomy weather.
A snowstorm would blow soon.
Strong winds would blow and snow would pile up again, but it wouldn't stop his steps.
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His steps moving toward where monsters are—aimless.
But today was different.
Unlike usual, his steps were moving clearly toward somewhere.
* * *
The sudden appearance of monsters.
Contrary to expectations that it would lead to panic, the morning was peaceful.
Е̌n um̀а. і̇ d̊
Although someone had died and there were seriously injured people, it didn't lead to a path of grief.
They were only relieved that the worst situation was avoided thanks to the trust in Security Captain William and the support of the Dragon Spawns.
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But there are always humans who don't like even this atmosphere.
Hanson was precisely that type of human.
Hanson, who had dreamed of the Gold Rush first and come here, didn't like this peace.
'Should've stirred up more chaos.'
W eb̆n̆о́ v̆é l Ẽ n̆ u̇ m а
Class movement fundamentally arises from chaos.
Hanson's obsession with that class was stronger than others'.
He was a carpenter, a second-rate architect in the Empire.
If he had stayed in the Empire, the position of site manager would have ended in imagination.
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He was already holding a position beyond his ability.
But human greed knows no end.
Ѐ ňu̇ m а.і d
'I want to go to a higher position.'
A noble's position.
No, not a noble, but at least a position where the commoners here bow their heads.
'It was something that couldn't happen to bastards like me.'
Originally it's just a daydream commoners dream.
Just as storytellers don't just tell tales of beggars gaining divine opportunities to become princes and princesses, such fantasies exist in everyone's hearts.
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Hanson's delusions were particularly severe.
That was only natural, since he had a tremendous stroke of luck, didn't he?
'Armor Knight.'
It's not an exaggeration to say everything was achieved through him.
He was easy to handle as a human, and his abilities were outstanding, so he saved Hanson's face every time, didn't he?
Like that, he raised him from a mere foreman to the site manager position.
W̆ е̃b n о̂ v́ еl̊ Ёnŭ mа
Hanson thought this while watching him initially.
'That person will surely become a knight soon.'
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So he flattered him, acted as his voice, represented him, and took care of everything he could.
He thought he'd become a knight within a month at most.
But the Armor Knight didn't become a knight.
He still remained at the construction site.
Ŵе b n.о̀ v̊ е̇l Ėnum а̃
'If Armor Knight-nim becomes a knight, I'll get power too...'
Beyond site manager to field management,
He wanted to command more people as subordinates.
For that, the Armor Knight had to go higher.
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'When he was summoned to the castle, I thought "this is it" but...'
Who would have known he'd be a bastard who kicks his own luck away?
W ё ḃnо̇v̂ѐ l̆ Еñûm̀ a
Even though he said it was fine on the outside, behind the scenes he was drinking to soothe his bitter heart.
What can you do?
You have no choice but to live according to your station.
"The atmosphere is truly ominous!"
The one who threw those words casually was a woman.
An age not yet past marriageable age.
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The brazen look on her face is no different from a virgin.
But there's no way such a brazen maiden would exist in this village.
This woman was definitely a newly graduated mage.
'Getting involved would be a pain...'
Hanson ignored her as if he hadn't heard.
Then the woman came more blatantly to his side and spoke.
Ё_ňu mа . і d
"Hem hem, I heard wolf monsters attacked."
"...And?"
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"'And' is informal speech. I heard many casualties occurred because I didn't arrive in time."
"Only 4 died."
"Do you know what casualties are? It includes the injured, not just the dead."
"Even so, this much was a good defense. If adventurer-nims had joined more, there wouldn't have been those deaths either."
Е̃ nu m à . і̆ d̃
"So in the end, it's the incompetence above that can't respond to this situation, isn't it?"
"...What are you saying?"
Hanson frowned and looked down at the woman.
The woman smiled boldly and said.
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"Think about it. What would be the reason you came to this city? To make money, right?"
"That's true but..."
Ë ñ ūm̊ á
"Those employers who lured you surely said this too. It's close to the Demon Land, so it's actually safer, something like that."
It was true.
He didn't believe those words, but everyone just let them pass with "whatever."
The people who came here were people without jobs anyway.
"In the midst of that, an attack happened. People died. Yet you think to just stay still?"
"...So what do you want me to do, miss?"
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"Haha! That's why I'm proposing a method, isn't it?"
As if communication would finally work, she came closer.
A thick floral scent wafted over.
"So you're the site manager?"
"That's right."
"How many laborers under you?"
Е̌ňu m á. і̀ ḋ.
"About 50 or so..."
"If you seduce other site managers too, it'll be 100."
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"That's right."
"Think about it. The population of this city is now close to 600. You guys alone are 100. That's a whopping 1/6."
"Tha...t's right?"
"Do you know how much loss would occur if you guys suddenly pulled out of a village like this?"
Е̇ n̊ u mа
"....."
Come to think of it...
It's true.
Right now, isn't this construction site running because we're here?
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If it stops in a place where daily labor must continue, a big blow will come.
"You are irreplaceable precious labor. The fact that such labor is being rolled like this is something you should be angry about, isn't it?"
Е̃ň u mа̇
"Hmm..."
"You have the right to enjoy more money and higher status. That rookie regent needs to realize clearly that human lives can't be bought with money alone."
Hanson thought it made sense.
Above all, it was words heard when his greed for material was boiling.
It was no different from a devil's whisper.
"But how would I do something like that?"
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At that, the woman smiled like a trickster.
"There's a way. I'll help."
* * *
Despite the sudden monster appearance, the village successfully defended.
Casualties were 30—5 soldiers, 15 civilians, and 10 adventurers who had joined; among them 4 died, all civilians.
That's why Hestia Village's morning couldn't be the same as usual.
Е̌ñ u m a
Isabella said this.
"A strike has occurred."
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