Overwhelming Firepower

The group stayed in Gurbundy for two more days. While they waited for Duirk, Lucen contacted Ironhold using the communication orb. He reported the situation in Gurbundy to his father, the Iron Duke.

From the arrogant son of Count Jurhen, to the behemoth under the mines of Gurbundy, the Khaldruun.

Hearing Lucen’s report, Vardon’s stoic face hardened as he looked at Sir Thalos standing behind Lucen.

”What do you think, Sir Thalos? What would it take to defeat that monster?”

Sir Thalos frowned when he heard the question. There was a moment of silence before Sir Thalos gave an answer.

”Even with all the new weapons the young lord has provided. If we use everything in the dukedom, we could probably win, but the casualties would be severe.”

”I see...”

Vardon simply said as he closed his eyes. He was now deep in thought. Everyone simply waited for what Vardon was going to say and remained quiet. Vardon then opened his eyes and spoke.

”I will send someone to speak with the people of Gurbundy. We will not disturb the beast; we will simply monitor the situation for now.”

That was the only thing he could do at the moment. The Iron Duke had already felt the shifting currents in the Kingdom.

If he fought the Khaldruun at this point in time, even if they won, the military strength of Stellhart would drop significantly, and the vultures would swoop in for the kill.

Vardon clenched his fist tightly. The Iron Duke knew all too well the fate of those who lacked power.

After that exchange, there was nothing else to report, so they ended the conversation.

***

Once they were done giving their report, the group did their own thing. Robert started following Durik around, trying to learn more about the dwarven rune engraving techniques.

Of course, Durik found that very irritating and would sometimes try to beat up Robert. Unfortunately for Durik, despite Robert not fighting back, the other party refused to stop pestering him.

Sir Thalos, as usual, simply continued training, and since there were nearby mountains, he added that to his training.

He would climb the mountain without the use of his aura, while having a literal boulder strapped to his back.

Bram went around the town to see the quality of work of the craftsmen here. Even though they weren’t a match for the quality of dwarven make, they were pretty good overall.

There were close to the level of the things made in Ironhold were most of the best craftsmen in Stellhart gathered.

While he was walking around town, he encountered the children that Bromdir talked about, the ones who steal from outsiders.

Of course, they weren’t able to steal from Bram and were caught instead. Normally, Bram would have cut the hands of thieves, but he remembered the promise Lucen made with Bromdir.

So Bram taught the children a lesson with a slight beating, and then brought them to Bromdir when he was done. Seeing the children being brought to him, Bromdir sighed.

”You fools!” Bromdir suddenly shouted. ”I told you fools that one day you’ll get yourselves killed if you continue doing stupid things like this.”

The children lowered their heads and said nothing, clearly looking frustrated. Seeing that they seem to be unwilling to listen, Bromdir spoke to Bram.

”Sir, if I didn’t ask you to spare them, what would you have done?”

Hearing Bromdir’s question, Bram answered honestly. ”I would have cut off their arms so that they won’t be able to steal from anyone anymore.”

”Better than I expected.” Bromdir mummbled to himself, and then he glared at the children. ”Did you hear that? If you had done what you did without me helping out, you would have lost your hands.”

The children stiffened. One of them flinched, shoulders drawing inward as if expecting the sentence to be carried out regardless.

The children stood rigid, eyes fixed on the dirt, the weight of Bram’s words settling in far deeper than the bruises already blooming on their arms. Bromdir let the moment linger. Long enough for fear to take root.

”You lot don’t need to steal. You have enough money to feed yourselves, and you have a home to return to. You’re not even orphans.” Bromdir sighed. ”I’ll tell your parents what you have done. I hope you lot learned your lesson else you might not be able to see tomorrow again. Now, be gone with you children.”

Bromdir shooed away the children who immediately bowed their heads and ran out of the tavern, not daring to look back.

The tavern grew quiet after the children fled, the door creaking shut behind them.

Bromdir rubbed his temples and let out a long breath, the anger draining from his posture and leaving only exhaustion behind.

”They don’t understand yet,” he said, more to himself than to Bram. ”They think the worst thing that can happen is getting caught.”

Bram crossed his arms. ”Fear keeps people alive.”

”Aye,” Bromdir replied. ”But only for so long.” He straightened and looked at Bram properly, his gaze sharp despite the weariness in it.

”Thank you for sparing those young ones.”

”No need for that, I simply as the leader promised,” Bram answered in a matter-of-fact kind of tone.

Bromdir studied Bram for a moment, then gave a short chuckle. ”You’re quite the loyal one.”

Bram did not reply. He simply inclined his head slightly, as if acknowledging a fact rather than accepting praise.

Bromdir leaned back against the counter, eyes drifting toward the tavern door. Outside, the noise of the town filtered in faintly, hammer strikes, raised voices, the distant laughter of people who still believed tomorrow would be much the same as today.

***

While the others were doing their own thing, Lucen told Sir Thalos and the others he would be scouting the nearby areas on his own.

Surprisingly enough, most of them agreed without saying much. He thought that at least Sir Thalos would try to come with him.

Seeing as no one said anything more, Lucen quickly looked around the nearby areas and, surprisingly, found nothing.

In most places in the north of Norvaegard, with a human population, normally there would be a few monsters nearby, but here he found not a single thing. There were also a few animals to be found.

’It should be because of the Khaldruun. Let’s see how far the range of its presence is felt by the monsters.’

Lucen widened the area of his scouting. From the initial kilometer search, he was now looking five kilometers away.

Even after searching from so far away, he found no monsters, but he did find more animals.

Lucen slowed his pace as he watched a herd of horned deer grazing peacefully near a rocky outcrop.

They weren’t alert. Not skittish. Not constantly glancing around like prey animals usually do in the North. They were calm... Too calm.

Lucen crouched and placed a hand against the ground, letting his senses spread outward. There was no trace of monster mana.

No residual hostility, not even the faint warning signs that usually lingered in dangerous territories.

’As expected, even though it’s called a failed dragon, it’s still something that most monsters would not dare go near its territory.’

Lucen once again widened his search, this time around ten kilometers. The sun was already about to set, but unlike before, he finally sensed the presence of monsters.

The monsters seemed not want to step any further inward towards the area near the town.

’So the Khaldruun influence is up to here. Even though that monster is the greatest danger for Gurbundy, it’s also its greatest protector.’

As long as the Khaldruun slept, Gurbundy was safer than most towns in Norvaegard. No monster waves. No roaming beasts. No sudden disasters creeping out of the wilderness.

Lucen looked up at the sky, and he saw that the sun was gone and was replaced by the moon and stars.

’I have confirmed what I wanted to confirm. I’d better head back now.’

Lucen turned around and dashed back to Gurbundy. Once he reached the town, he went to the tavern, and as every other day since he had been here, there were already many people present.

The people of the town who had worked hard were now enjoying their food and drink. They made crude jokes at each other, talking about how much better the weapon they made were. Then there was the only dwarf among humans who would try to outdrink everyone present.

It was truly quite a sight to see. Every single day in this world, with his past life memories intact, he couldn’t help but tell himself this was truly a fantasy world.

***

The two days passed quite quickly as the group just did what they wanted to do while waiting for Durik to finish his preparations.

In the morning, Lucen’s group, now with Durik were about to leave Gurbundy. There at the town’s entrance, there were several people present to see them off.

The gruff yet kind bartender, Bromdir, and a few patrons of the tavern were there, then there was the group of children that tried to steal from Bram.

The group halted at the town’s entrance. Bromdir stood with his arms crossed, giving Lucen a short nod. A few early risers watched from a distance, hands tucked into coats rather than holding drinks.

The children hovered near the back, shifting nervously. After a moment of hesitation, one of them stepped forward and bowed deeply toward Bram.

”We’re… sorry,” the boy said, voice stiff and strained. Bram acknowledged it with a single nod.

”See you later, you old stump,” Bromdir spoke to Durik.

”I’ll be back, and when I return, you’d better have my drinks prepared.”

”Heh, I’ll make sure to keep your spot free for your return.” The two then looked at each other with grins on their faces.

After that short stop, the group headed out. Lucen glanced toward the mountains beyond Gurbundy. Beneath layers of stone, something ancient still slept.

He hoped that thing would remain in deep slumber.