Episode 258: The Standoff (3)
“Hmph! You think we’ll just roll over and obey you?”
One of the dwarves shouted defiantly. It was the same dwarf who had been captured by Damian earlier.
“We despise dark wizards like you! Even if it means our deaths, we’ll never cooperate with you!”
The other dwarves nodded in agreement, their stubbornness unyielding despite the threat of losing their lives at Damian’s command.
Some scholars praised this dwarven trait as noble.
‘These stubborn fools.’
From Damian’s perspective, it was nothing but a headache.
He was pondering how to get these obstinate dwarves to cooperate when—
-You all misunderstand.
Dominico, standing nearby, addressed the dwarves.
-We are not like the dark wizards you know. We are…
“Dominico, be quiet.”
-What? But, my lord…
Damian whispered into Dominico’s ear.
“Do you think anyone would believe us if we said we’re righteous dark wizards?”
-Well, that…
Dominico’s eyes wavered, realizing how absurd it sounded when he put himself in their shoes.
-But, my lord, how else can we persuade them?
Damian fell into thought. Then suddenly, his face lit up with an idea.
“Of course. That’s how we’ll do it.”
-You have a plan?
“Yes, I was overthinking it. There’s a much simpler way.”
Currently, Damian was playing the role of Victor the Woodcutter, a notorious dark wizard.
In this guise, he had nothing to lose. He could do anything.
In fact, he had to act this way to spread Victor’s infamous reputation even further.
“Watch closely.”
Damian approached the dwarves. They looked at him with tense expressions.
“What’s your name?”
”…I’m Kilo, the leader of these dwarves!”
“A leader? Quite a title for someone so weak.”
“What? You dare mock me after capturing me just once? Next time will be different! You won’t even know I’m there…”
“You said you wouldn’t cooperate with me?”
Damian cut Kilo off. Kilo’s eyes were resolute as he replied.
“That’s right! No matter what you do, I will…”
“You might not, but what about the others?”
“What?”
Damian glanced at the other dwarves.
“If you refuse to cooperate, I’ll have to torture your kin. And don’t think you can endure it.”
Damian conjured dark magic in his palm.
A thick, black liquid dripped to the ground, burning the soil with a foul stench.
“Eek!”
“Ahhh!”
The dwarves recoiled in shock. Damian smiled menacingly.
“I’ve devised over a hundred methods of torture just for dealing with the likes of you. By the time I’m done, you’ll forget your own names.”
The dwarves turned pale, some trembling uncontrollably.
-My lord!
Dominico called out urgently. Damian returned to him briefly.
“What is it?”
-No matter what, torture is… isn’t it too much?
Dominico looked horrified. Damian gave him an incredulous look.
“Do you think I’m crazy? I’m not actually going to torture them.”
-What?
“It’s just a threat. I have no intention of torturing anyone, so relax.”
Despite Damian’s reassurance, Dominico eyed him skeptically.
-…Really?
“You don’t trust your lord?”
-Then the part about having over a hundred torture methods…
“Obviously a lie.”
Dominico sighed in relief, though Damian felt oddly annoyed by it.
“If you understand, stay quiet.”
-Understood.
Damian returned to the dwarves.
“So, what’s it going to be? Will you cooperate?”
Kilo looked back at his kin. The dwarves were all terrified.
But gradually, their eyes hardened. They nodded with determined expressions.
”…You foolish human! Do you think we’ll surrender just like that? Never! Never, I say!”
Kilo declared to Damian. Damian clicked his tongue.
“Then I have no choice. Dominico, bring that dwarf over here.”
Damian pointed to one of the dwarves. Kilo’s face showed panic.
“W-wait! Not him! He’s just a child who recently came of age!”
“That’s exactly why I chose him.”
Damian said coldly.
“Dominico, what are you waiting for? Bring him here.”
Dominico looked at Damian with a reluctant expression, as if asking, ‘Are you serious?’
Damian widened his eyes, as if to say, ‘Of course I’m serious.’
Sighing, Dominico approached the dwarf and lifted him by the scruff of his neck.
“Ahh! Father! Father!”
“Bamda! Bamda!”
“Let him go, you fiend!”
The dwarves tried to hold Dominico back, but no matter how strong they were, they couldn’t overpower a master-class warrior.
Dominico pushed the dwarves aside and returned to Damian.
“I’ll show you right before your eyes what happens if you don’t cooperate.”
Damian placed his hand on Bamda’s head. Bamda looked as if he might faint.
Damian glanced at the dwarves, who were hesitating.
‘If they don’t give in now, this will get complicated.’
Though he was acting as Victor the Woodcutter, Damian had no intention of actually torturing the dwarf.
If it were a dark wizard or a dark knight, he wouldn’t hesitate to torture them.
But the dwarves before him were innocent.
‘Come on, give in.’
As if hearing his silent plea, Kilo squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
“We’ll cooperate! Just stop!”
Damian signaled to Dominico, who released Bamda.
Bamda quickly ran back to the dwarves.
“Bamda! Are you alright?”
“I was so scared!”
“You’re safe now. Safe.”
The dwarves gathered around to comfort Bamda.
“Phew… Trying to do something that doesn’t suit me is exhausting.”
Damian wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Playing the part of a dark wizard is hard enough, but having to threaten them too… this is a first.”
Dominico looked at Damian with an incredulous expression.
-…
“What? You have a problem?”
-No, none at all.
Damian approached the dwarves again. They stopped comforting Bamda and looked at him.
“Now, answer my questions honestly.”
The first thing Damian asked about was the current state of the city.
“The city was taken by a Weapon Master?”
Damian asked, incredulous.
Dwarven cities were known for being impregnable, thanks to their advanced technology.
He’d heard of them being destroyed by dragons or natural disasters, but never captured.
”…It’s true.”
“What did the Weapon Master do?”
“There was a traitor among us. He revealed all the secret passages of the city.”
“A traitor? I thought your kind was above such things.”
Dwarves were known for their stubbornness and integrity.
They had just resisted Damian to the end, after all.
“Hmph, you think I’d tell you all our secrets?”
“Dominico, bring him back.”
“The traitor was the child of the former city leader! He held a grudge against us!”
“The former leader?”
“There was a plague in the city once. The former leader failed to handle it properly, and it spread. He was exiled for it!”
Damian recalled a story he’d heard from Malta. He hadn’t expected it to connect like this.
“The Weapon Master used the traitor’s information to attack the city. We had no choice but to flee.”
Kilo’s voice was filled with anger at the memory.
“Many of our kin are still trapped inside. We formed a resistance to reclaim the city.”
“Really? How many are in this resistance?”
Kilo gestured to the dwarves behind him. Damian couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
“Surely this isn’t all of you?”
“It is.”
Damian felt a headache coming on.
These dwarves, nearly wiped out by a Weapon Master’s apprentice, were the resistance?
“Why didn’t you ask for outside help? The City Alliance would have supported you.”
The City Alliance was a coalition of dwarven cities. They intervened when a single city couldn’t handle a problem on its own.
“Hmph, what nonsense are you spouting? The Weapon Master defiled our fortress and slaughtered our families! And you suggest we let others deal with him?”
Kilo erupted in anger, and the other dwarves nodded in agreement.
Damian sighed inwardly.
Take down a monster like the Weapon Master with their own hands? He’d never encountered such fools in his life.
‘This is turning into a real headache.’
The Weapon Master had already entrenched himself in the dwarven fortress.
Even he hadn’t taken it by force but through betrayal.
In such a situation, Damian knew it would be difficult to reclaim the fortress with his own strength.
‘Maybe if I throw everything I’ve got at it…’
The real problem was the Weapon Master lurking inside.
Facing him after exhausting his resources would be a dangerous gamble.
“So, how do you plan to reclaim the city?”
Damian asked Kilo, hoping the locals might have a solution.
“Are you thinking of using the secret passages?”
“We tried that already, but it failed. They’ve all been sealed. No doubt they forced our kin left in the fortress to do it,” Kilo replied, trembling with rage.
“So, you don’t have a solid plan either.”
“Don’t underestimate us! We’ve already devised a new strategy!”
“And what might that be?”
“We’re building a siege engine to break through the gates! With it, we can retake the fortress!” Kilo declared confidently.
Damian was impressed. If the dwarves, known for their engineering prowess, were this confident, it must be something extraordinary.
“Then let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“You said you’re building a siege engine. I want to see it for myself.”
Kilo broke into a cold sweat. “Ah, no! I can’t show you!”
“Dominico, bring him.”
“It’s not that simple! We haven’t even finished the framework yet!”
“What do you mean by that?”
Kilo began to explain, and by the end, Damian looked incredulous.
“So, you’re saying the emergency warehouses and facilities outside the city have also been taken over by the Weapon Master, and you can’t build the siege engine?”
Kilo nodded, looking humiliated.
“How did that happen? Weren’t they well hidden?”
”…The traitor revealed everything.”
Damian slapped his forehead with his palm.
“What have you been doing all this time?”
“It’s not like we were just sitting around! It’s just… the facilities are guarded by the Weapon Master’s disciples, and we’ve failed every attempt…”
Kilo’s voice was filled with gloom.
“But we haven’t given up! We gathered here today to plan the recapture of the warehouses!”
“If you get the warehouses and facilities back, can you really build the siege engine?”
“Yes! With the materials and facilities, we can build it in no time!”
“Lead the way.”
Damian stood up. Kilo looked up at him, puzzled.
“We’re going to reclaim what you’ve lost.”