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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Where is the location of the secret passage?”
“Find the rock with a black corner in a trapezoidal shape.”
The moment we were about to split up and search for the secret passage following his words…
“…I know the location.”
The dwarf spoke up.
Unlike Banis, who had a puzzled expression, I immediately asked.
“Really?”
“Where is it?”
“This way.”
“Lead the way.”
With the dwarf leading us, we found the door to the secret passage.
“Hmm. You’re right. How did you know?”
“…I’m the one who made the second passage.”
“Oh?”
By the way, the second passage is the official name of the secret passage.
Perhaps he didn’t know the details, as Banis showed a slightly surprised expression.
“Then do you know how to open it?”
“Let me open it.”
At Banis’s order, the dwarf started touching various parts of the rock.
Before long, a strange sound began to echo from the rock.
Thump. Creak.
And then, a gap barely large enough for one person to enter appeared at the bottom of the rock.
“If you go through here, you’ll be fine.”
“I will take the lead.”
I shook my head at Kayla’s words.
“I’ll go in first. You should enter last.”
Since her leg condition wasn’t good, her instantaneous responsiveness would be inferior to mine in case of an emergency.
Therefore, I was the first to enter the secret passage.
‘…There’s nothing particularly special. Just as I remember.’
Thanks to the torch, I could check the surroundings.
The passage itself wasn’t large, but it had a sense of stability as the walls were lined with rocks.
“Kayla! Send them in one by one!”
The first to enter was the servant Duff, and Duff helped Banis, who followed.
Next, the dwarf entered, and I received Kayla, allowing everyone to enter the passage.
By the way, Kayla released the horses before entering.
‘Better than killing them.’
If horses were found dead near the secret passage, anyone would find it strange.
They won’t be able to catch up within a day anyway, and in the meantime, the horses will go elsewhere.
This was better.
After confirming that everyone had entered, Banis instructed the dwarf to close the door, and only after the secret passage was completely sealed did he let out a sigh of relief.
“Now… it should be safe, right?”
“We’ll be safe from the pursuers. However, I have no idea what’s inside here…”
Well, judging from what Disan said, there shouldn’t be any particular problems since it’s regularly maintained, but I intentionally said that.
“Is that so? Still, it’s fortunate. Let’s rest a bit before moving on.”
Once we had entered, there was no reason to refuse.
“I will go and scout ahead a bit. Since the dwarf said he made this place, can I take him with me?”
“Do so.”
With Banis’s permission, I took the dwarf and started exploring the inside of the passage.
“…It’s Mutre.”
“You said you made this place?”
“Can I ask about the structure?”
“There’s nothing to hide. The place we entered is usually used as the ‘exit’, and there are two entrances. There’s one resting area in the middle, and the rest are all straight passages lined with stone slabs. There’s one air hole in the middle, but it’s not large enough for a person to pass through.”
Mutre said there won’t be any particular problems if it’s being maintained.
“Is that so? Then there shouldn’t be any significant threats. You look tired, so let’s rest a bit and head back right away.”
After a while of silence, Mutre spoke to me.
“You’re unexpectedly kind.”
“Kind? Well.”
I didn’t think I was particularly kind to him. However, I could understand Mutre’s words.
At least I didn’t openly despise him for being a dwarf or discriminate against him for being a different race.
In fact, I was the one who instructed to remove his restraints, and since then, I had never insulted him, even if I was considerate of him.
It seemed he felt I was kind because of that.
After being mistreated by humans for so long, even if I didn’t do anything bad, he seemed to perceive me as kind.
‘Well, I can’t speak to him in a high manner since his status is a slave, so my words are short.’
Banis was watching. Even if he was young, it was poison to disregard status in front of a noble.
“Most humans ignore or despise different races, but you don’t seem to particularly abhor me.”
“There’s no reason to abhor you.”
Perhaps because I wasn’t born and raised in this world, I didn’t have any particular feelings towards different races.
“Is that so?”
After that, Mutre fell silent, so I asked him.
“How did you become a slave?”
“…The place where I lived was discovered by humans. They said they were hunters of different races.”
He said he only regretted it after being caught.
“I should have joined the alliance instead.”
“I thought we wouldn’t be discovered. And… there’s also a hierarchy in the alliance. Well, dwarves can aim for a high rank, but it’s not easy.”
He said he wanted to live peacefully with his own kind.
“Do you have a family?”
“I did. But we were all scattered.”
“Haha. I want to see them again someday…”
He said it would be impossible in his lifetime.
His face was distorted with pain.
I gave him time to collect his emotions, and when he became expressionless again, I told him it was time to head back and helped him up.
Just before rejoining the group, he quietly muttered his thanks to me.
‘This is as far as it goes.’
No more than that.
It would be meaningless to recruit him here.
He was still a slave, and even if I recruited him, I couldn’t take him out.
It was enough to leave a not-so-bad impression.
‘Later, during the monster wave a few months from now…’
In the secret passage, after wiping out Kuman and the lord’s family, I planned to acquire him.
Well, if the Siglen merchant union fails before that and the dwarf returns to Siglen, I’ll have to give up.
‘This is just a bonus anyway.’
There’s no big loss if it fails, and it’s a jackpot if it succeeds.
It would be regrettable, but that’s it.
I told Banis that I hadn’t found any particular abnormalities, and Banis said I had worked hard.
“Since there’s a space to rest in the middle, let’s go there for now.”
Unfortunately, now that we didn’t have horses, everyone had to walk directly.
The speed slowed down because of Kayla and Mutre, but Banis didn’t complain much.
It made sense.
He was also slow and lacked stamina, to the point where Duff had to carry him on his back from time to time, so he might have thought it was fortunate that we were slow.
After arriving at the midway resting area, as always, Kayla and I had to take night watch.
“Isn’t night watch unnecessary here?”
“Just in case there’s a problem.”
“…I will remember your dedication. I will definitely convey it to my father.”
Banis seemed touched by my attitude.
‘It’s not because I want that.’
It was because I was afraid he might make advances on Kayla again if given time to think, but it was interpreted positively.
‘Such a misunderstanding won’t be bad for me.’
It was advantageous for me.
The last day passed without any particular incident, and finally, we arrived at a fork in the road.
“This is…”
“This way leads to the lord’s residence, and that way leads to another residence. But… the condition here isn’t good. It looks like it could collapse at any moment.”
The direction Mutre pointed to was the path leading to the lord’s residence.
“Then, to be safe, it would be better to head this way.”
I advised Banis, and he nodded at my suggestion.
“Do as you see fit. As long as we’re inside the territory, the residence isn’t that far.”
So we headed towards the safe path and finally arrived at Kuman’s residence.
Upon hearing the news that we had emerged from the secret passage, Albert and Kuman rushed out, and seeing me, Banis, and the dwarf, they couldn’t hide their surprised expressions.
“Greetings, Young Master.”
“It’s been a while, Kuman.”
Although Banis wasn’t in the best condition due to the hardships of the past few days, he addressed Kuman with a dignified attitude.
“How did this happen… The whereabouts of the Young Master and Sir Rankbink were unknown, and the territory is in chaos.”
“Hmm… So there’s no news of Sir Rankbink.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Sigh… For now, I’d like to see my father. I’ll report there.”
Kuman glanced at me, and Banis, who noticed it, said to Kuman,
“He will accompany me to see my father.”
“Understood. I will send someone to the lord for now. In the meantime…”
“Ah, it would be embarrassing to see my father in this state.”
‘It would have been better to just go straight.’
“I will have the maids assist you.”
After their conversation ended, I made a request to Banis that I wanted to send Kayla back home first, and he accepted it.
“I have companions at home.”
“Ah. You mentioned you had recently recruited some… The schedule has been extended, so they must be worried. Do so.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
After sending Kayla back home, I tidied myself up and rode in the carriage Kuman had prepared, heading to the lord’s residence with Banis.
Perhaps thanks to sending someone ahead, the mansion’s butler, Summer, guided us right away, and there we met the lord who had been waiting for us.
“Banis…!”
“Father.”
Seeing Banis’s unharmed appearance in person, the lord let out a sigh of relief and said to Banis,
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. Thanks for your concern, I’m safe. But Sir Rankbink…”
“…Did he die in battle?”
“No. From what I heard, he escaped after losing one attendant.”
“How do you know that?”
“Jimnis found out.”
“Jimnis did?”
“Yes. And thanks to Jimnis, I was able to survive. If it weren’t for him, I would have died.”
Banis glanced at Kuman and said,
“It was you, Kuman, who recommended him. Thank you. Thanks to that, I was able to return alive like this.”
“You flatter me. I did recommend him, but it was the Young Master who personally sought him out and persuaded him.”
“What exactly happened?”
“I will tell you everything, everything.”
Banis slowly began to recount what had happened.
‘…He has a talent for storytelling.’
As I listened to Banis’s story, I felt a strange feeling.
Banis recounted the events of the past few days very vividly, and in the process, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was subtly exaggerated.
The problem was that he himself didn’t seem to be well aware of that fact.
It seemed that my actions really appeared like that in his eyes.
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