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114. After the Battle

「Here it goes. —[Roll All the Binder of Fates]」

The chains twisted together, forming a spear that moved freely. At times raising its tip like a serpent ready to strike, then becoming a massive weapon in its own right, it never ceased to aim its razor-sharp point straight at the ‘King’s’ brow. Even the mighty ‘King,’ with its hardened scales, sensed danger. It swung its left claw to shatter the spearhead—only for the white porcelain spear to unravel and slip past its attack, leaving it striking empty air.

This golem is chain. Therefore, it does not break.

This golem is spear. Therefore, it cannot be cut.

Close-quarters combat was meaningless against such a foe. Realizing this, the ‘King’ immediately switched tactics to its breath attack. A searing heat capable of turning steel to ash surged forth—but it slipped harmlessly through the wide spiral gaps in the unfurling chains. Not a single deadly blow landed.

「—Pierce. Pierce, pierce, pierce!」

That was enough. All preparations are complete.

As if declaring so, the porcelain spear shone gold.

「[Carefree Chains]!!」

The spear shot straight into the ‘King’s’ open mouth. With both its arms and wings shattered by the massive hammer, it had no means of defense. The golden chain slithered in like a serpent, going inside the ‘king’s’ open maw.

Once inside, it exploded outward in all directions. From there, it wouldn’t stop until it had utterly destroyed the dragon from within. Even a ‘King’ was still just a living creature. That body might have held three or even four hearts, but it didn’t matter—once the interior was shredded, none would function. Within a few breaths, the great beast collapsed with a resounding thud and moved no more.

All around them, the dwarves were finishing off the last of the monsters. At this point, only a handful were still capable of movement.

And in this moment, the right to speak fell to the one who had waited longest for it.

「Are you watching, former heads? Are you watching, Mama? The eleven-hundred years of preparation were never—never—in vain.」

With Angelina’s voice, silence returned to the battlefield.

「That concludes the proof.」

◆◆◆

Five days later.

Word of what had transpired in Vita-Tama had spread to the surrounding regions. Lords and institutions from every corner dispatched recovery and support units. Among them, one noble house had seized the initiative—arriving far ahead of the others and taking command of the recovery effort.

It was the House of Duke Abik.

Meeting with Shizuku, who had unofficially accompanied the duke’s expedition, I received the following message atop a hill:

「Message from the Duke of Abik: ‘Seems I owe you one again.’」

「Funny, considering the official reason for dispatching troops is ‘to aid in reconstruction and secure the whereabouts of the demi-human ringleader Marge Siu.’ That message runs completely counter to that.」

「…Honestly, even thinking about it, I still don’t get it. What’s going on? Why did you inform the Duke of this place?」

「Let’s go back to the beginning. Specifically, to the time the duke’s army and Altora attacked the village.」

「That far back…?」

After that summer’s battle, Altora had been taken into custody by Duke Abik. The charge: false testimony against a lord. Even as an S-Rank adventurer, and a supposed hero, he was not sentenced to death—but a life behind bars seemed entirely plausible.

「But he was released after just three months. And then fled west. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?」

「…Now that you mention it, yeah. Also, how did they even track the movements of a homeless wanderer like Altora? Were they keeping watch the whole time?」

「That was the Duke’s doing.」

The House of Abik had supported demi-humans since its founding. The second prince of that era, after losing a political battle while advocating for better demi-human treatment, had left the royal family and settled in his current domain.

You think the royal family would just let that slide?

「There’s definitely a royal spy in the duke’s household. If Altora had remained nearby, what do you think would’ve happened? What does he know?」

「…He knows the most about Marge’s skills and personality.」

That’s why they didn’t keep him around. Instead, they let him go—watched to see if the anti-demi-human faction would approach him—and allowed him to head west.

「They didn’t pursue him across the border, though.」

「Can’t blame them. Crossing the western mountains is suicidal without preparation. We werewolves might manage it, but an untrained human without skills would almost certainly die.」

In fact, there hasn’t been a single sighting of Altora since. Whether he’s alive or dead, one thing is clear—he’s no longer in this country.

「That’s the conclusion Asagi reached after a thorough investigation. Just as the Duke planned, the intel about me remained limited and riddled with gaps. You could even say some of Kirmiji’s blunders happened because of that.」

「So ‘that’ was the Duke repaying a favor.」

「Exactly.」

「…Still, don’t you think he overpaid?」

Below us, the Duke’s soldiers rushed through the town, collecting the fallen ‘rocks’ that had damaged homes and loading them into wagons. Each cart bore the Duke’s crest and was packed to the brim.

Bathed in sunlight, the ‘fallen rocks’ sparkled with dazzling brilliance.

「Gold enough to buy a kingdom…」

「If you repay too much, it just turns into a new debt. That’s just about right.」

Those ‘fallen rocks’ had erupted from a golden dungeon. Which meant, of course, that most of them were gold. Right now, Vita-Tama itself was a gold mine.

Once that became known, aid poured in from all over, accelerating the town’s recovery. And since the House of Abik had seized initiative ahead of everyone, their influence would grow immensely.

When I explained this, Shizuku nodded while staring at the loading work.

「So it’s not just that they’re strong because they have money…」

「Exactly. Do you know why that makes them strong?」

「Gold is the foundation of the economy. When there’s more gold circulating, it takes more to buy silver or wheat—driving up prices. When there’s less, things get cheaper. With that much gold, Duke Abik can manipulate the value of silver, wheat, and everything else at will.」

That meant he could control the value of the nation—and the lives of its citizens. For someone responsible for a domain, it was a power greater than any skill.

「Correct. Who taught you about foreign exchange?」

「…Guran.」

Shizuku made a sour face as she named the fat merchant, and I chuckled before adding one more bit of intel I’d picked up in town.

「Duke Abik might not just be after gold. He might take the whole town.」

「What town?」

「Vita-Tama.」

Its ruling class had just been disgraced, not only for mishandling the incident, but also for accepting bribes and demi-human women from the knights. To make matters worse, during the eruption, they escaped through a secret tunnel beneath the knights’ station, abandoning the people.

On top of that, the Duke’s early arrival left the other nobles scrambling to snatch up gold, neglecting reconstruction—and earning the townspeople’s resentment.

Meanwhile, the Duke’s men were methodically rebuilding homes. His popularity was soaring. Rumors now say he might gain de facto control of Vita-Tama. Sure enough, looking around, his soldiers were fixing rooftops even now. Clearly a calculated move to boost his favor.

「With a scandal this big, the power structure’s bound to shift. A new regime centered on Duke Abik will likely form—and many others will lose their authority.」

「That includes Kirmiji, right?」

After the battle with the ‘King,’ we let the Knight Commander Kirmiji go. He could no longer use mind control, and with everything exposed, there was no hope of regaining power. Worse, he had suffered the knight order’s greatest disgrace: defeat by a demi-human. The higher-ups would see to his punishment.

「His key subordinates, Sodom and Gomora, were also sent away with him. That’s what it means for the powerful to lose everything.」

「I’ll have to make sure I never end up like that… So that’s the humans—what about the dwarves? What’ll they do now?」

「According to Azula, most of the dwarves plan to stay here. They’re going to rebuild their own dwarf-only town inside the mine and live at a bit of distance from humans.」

「Sounds like the werewolves’ hidden village. I think that’s for the best. Humans and demi-humans should be able to live together, but the rift between them is too big right now.」

「Exactly. And to maintain that distance, it’s better if Duke Abik stays in charge of Vita-Tama.」