Book 1 Chapter 668

"Come in."

Dweno said blandly, looking up at the night sky visible from his office window.

The door opened and Enniha entered.

"Did those friends go to their accommodation?"

"Yes."

"What about the outsiders who arrived first?"

"They're from the same place as the ones who arrived this time. They said they were a reconnaissance party sent ahead."

"Is that so?"

Enniha put a pipe in her mouth as she watched Dweno nod.

"Do you want a puff?"

"Don't I not smoke?"

"You're a truly unique dwarf."

"Enniha. You are no less peculiar an elf."

Pipe smoking was originally a dwarven custom.

Dwarves, born artisans, often had to sit still and think deeply.

As a result, they naturally began to smoke herbs that aided mental rotation, and this was the beginning of pipe smoking.

And elves detested the peculiar scent that arose when burning herbs.

Therefore, an elf with a pipe in their mouth was a very unusual sight.

"Hoo."

Enniha exhaled a long stream of smoke, approached Dweno, looked up at the night sky, and murmured.

"It's so beautiful. It still feels like a dream. The fact that I can see the stars in the night sky."

"Shouldn't you be used to it by now?"

"Not at all. I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing it."

This night sky, which was so natural in the distant past, was now so precious and dear.

How many people shed tears on the day they saw the starlight, which they thought they could never regain?

Enniha was one of them.

"Dweno, aren't you too emotionally dry? You didn't bat an eye by yourself on the day we regained the night sky."

"No. I was deeply moved back then, believe it or not."

"Lies. You've always been like that."

Their acquaintance went way back.

Long before the Age of Calamity began.

"When we first met, you had a face like you were going to die. I thought, 'What kind of dwarf is this?'"

"I thought the same when I first saw you, 'What kind of elf is this?' You were so proud, even though you were expelled by your own people."

"As I've said countless times, I wasn't expelled? I left of my own volition."

"Ah, so that's why you came to the dwarven territory, where they're at war with elves, and boldly asked for protection, knowing you'd be dragged back if caught?"

"I told you. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Do you know that you're sometimes excessively unreasonable?"

"They insulted my art first!"

"Sigh."

"If it were fair criticism, I would understand. But how can I accept the oppression that tries to force me to abandon my brush, calling it terrible, simply because I don't praise my race!"

Enniha frowned.

At the time, Enniha's crime was treason against her race.

The reason for the treason charge was that, as an artist, she did not praise the beauty of elves and argued that the art and culture of other races were equal to those of elves.

Enniha's assertion was a full-scale rebellion against the authority of elven society.

Furthermore, Enniha, who was nothing more than a mere painter, not an elite in elven society, was put on the wanted list for treason against her race.

And she took refuge with the dwarves to escape the pursuit of the elves.

Dweno and Enniha met there for the first time.

Enniha stayed in the dwarven territory for a long time and became close with the dwarves.

And naturally, she learned dwarven culture.

It was during that time that Enniha, who had no talent except for painting, learned martial arts.

She had an amazing talent for martial arts and grew into a formidable practitioner.

"It was a great fortune. That you, who were not very good at painting, were blessed by an Aura and changed your profession to warrior."

"I'm not a warrior, I'm a painter!"

"Didn't I tell you back then too? Quit, because it'll be hard to make a living that way."

"And you! You were moved by the painting I made!"

"…Certainly, the last painting I drew in the village was beautiful."

Dweno burst into hearty laughter.

"Enniha. The sunrise painting you made was so beautiful."

"Yes. And you burned that masterpiece of my beautiful artistic life."

"Thanks to that, I made up my mind then. I decided to control my power so as not to turn the beautiful things of the world into ashes."

"You thought that?"

Enniha's eyes widened.

"Yes. Thanks to that, I've also become a little interested in art."

"Wait! Wait! You've never told me this kind of story before!"

Enniha, with a bewildered expression, thrust her face close to Dweno.

Dweno looked at Enniha's face with a bored expression.

"Until recently, you thought art was meaningless in this era?"

"I thought so too. But now my mind has changed. I believe we need art that can be passed down to future generations."

"Dweno, are you sick?"

"I'm fine."

"Wow…"

"I intend to leave behind many works of art with my own hands."

"Art is not easy."

"No. It will never be easy. But Enniha. Looking at your paintings, I feel confident that I can do better than you."

"This!"

Enniha jabbed Dweno's forehead with her elbow.

"Are you okay?"

"Not… okay! You damn cynical dwarf!"

Enniha, writhing in pain while clutching her elbow, gritted her teeth.

Dweno, who was laughing heartily at Enniha, asked.

"What do you think of those children?"

"Those kids?"

Enniha stood up and smiled brightly.

"They're not like the kids these days, so it's great to see them. Their eyes are different! Their eyes! How should I put it? Do they have dreams? Are they hopeful? Ah! Yes! Their future seems to sparkle! They're truly like children!"

"Are the children in Ivaldi not childlike?"

"Hey! That's different! They're like children from the old days!"

There are children in Ivaldi too.

Children born in this era.

Children who don't know sunlight, don't know moonlight, don't know starlight.

Children who cannot see hope and the future.

This was the characteristic of children born in the Age of Calamity.

"That necromancer, Artian, wasn't it? Even that adult had different eyes than ours. While we were protecting Ivaldi, the world regained hope! So, isn't it because of that that such childlike children have appeared?"

"…"

"It will surely have a good influence on the children in Ivaldi!"

"I hope so."

"But that child named Leo was a little different."

"…"

"How should I put it? Are they like us? Their eyes weren't childlike either. They looked like you."

"They look like me?"

"Yes. They had that unique dead fish-like gaze."

"Who are you calling dead fish-eyed? And Enniha, you lack observational skills. That's why you'll never become a great artist."

"What?"

"While it's true that the child's gaze was unpleasant… it wasn't a dead fish's eye. That gaze was clearly the gaze of someone who would never give up."

"Is that so? I thought I was good at judging people."

Enniha tilted her head.

"At any rate, hope has appeared, that's true."

"Yes."

"So, Enniha. I will surely show you the morning sun again."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to see it? That it was your wish."

"You still remember that?"

"Of course."

When they reunited in Ivaldi, Enniha said.

'I want to see the morning sun again! We will surely regain the morning!'

Nearly twenty years have passed since then.

The world was plunging towards a place so dark that one couldn't even recall the morning sun.

It became an era where even mentioning such words as futile hope provoked annoyance from those around.

In such a situation, seeing the starlight again allowed people to draw hope once more.

"I swear with everything I have."

Dweno said, clenching his fist.

"I will definitely show you the morning sun."

"Oh? You're very motivated for a cynical dwarf!"

Enniha playfully tapped Dweno's temples with her elbow.

"Ugh…"

"Is your elbow okay?"

"Not okay! You stone-head!"

"It's less hard than yours."

"Ugh."

"What about that child, Dryana? Do you really intend to teach her painting?"

"Yes."

"I think it's best to give up…"

"I will raise her into a great artist!"

Dweno said, looking at Enniha, who was burning with ambition.

"I also intend to pass down blacksmithing skills to that child."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yes. She had potential."

Dweno smiled.

"First, how to handle fire."

"Will she run away if she learns from you?"

"If she runs away, I'll just catch her again. Where can she run from here?"

At Dweno's words, Enniha clicked her tongue.

'Too bad.'

***

"So, we concluded that destroying the Legion's records is the most efficient method."

In the deep dawn, while everyone else slept, Kal sat by the campfire outside the tent and said to Leo.

"Yes."

"By the way, what is this hidden mission?"

"It means there is an 'over-achievement' even in the Legion's world."

Over-achievement.

It is something that can be achieved in the world of heroes when a feat greater than what actually happened in history is accomplished.

As the name suggests, special rewards are given.

A glorious achievement granted only to those who make the impossible possible.

Kal cautiously asked Leo, who had made the impossible possible.

"What happens to Ivaldi in actual history?"

"Dweno is the sole survivor."

"Ah…"

At Leo's words, Kal's face stiffened slightly.

"And the invading demons?"

"The Giant King, Gias."

"…As expected."

Kal bit his lip.

He recalled the past enmity with Dweno in his world.

"Just as Luna has an enmity with the Demon Queen, Dweno has an enmity with the Giant King."

Until then, Gias was the one who created the world's best weapons.

Ordinary weapons would break helplessly before the weapons created by Gias.

However, weapons made in Ivaldi were different.

It was the only place that could produce weapons capable of countering the world's most terrible and powerful weapons.

That's why Ivaldi was special.

Risinath had also desperately wanted the blacksmiths of Ivaldi to join Gardsgron.

But Ivaldi was eventually destroyed, and only Dweno remained as the sole survivor.

"Did Dweno-nim become a blacksmith who surpassed the Giant King by overcoming that pain?"

"Yes."

"But, you know, the atmosphere is different from when I saw him before?"

Kal tilted his head.

"He was a very warm person then, but now he feels a bit cold. Did his personality change a lot after joining the Great Hero party?"

"No, Dweno was a bright fellow from the moment we first met."

He was a quirky artist who preached hope, saying the future exists, and insisted that beauty should be left to posterity.

Dweno was the one who laughed and asked Risinas to be his nude model from the moment they first met.

That's why the current Dweno is a side Leo never knew.

'He never talked about his past.'

At the time, he had no intention of digging into Dweno's past.

Dweno was Dweno.

He knew that Dweno had suffered enough.

He didn't want to stir up old wounds, so he didn't do that.

He simply thought he was someone with an unyielding disposition.

'Your greyness… reminded me of my past self.'

The first time Dweno talked about his past was just before his death.

And in that conversation, Dweno said he disliked Kyle, who reminded him of his past self.

Dweno was the one among his comrades who understood him the best.

He often wondered how Dweno, who was completely opposite to him, could understand him so well.

'That question is being answered now.'

Kyle smiled bitterly.

'He resembles me dreadfully.'

"But if we're to achieve over-achievement… wouldn't eliminating Dweno be an over-achievement from their perspective?"

If Dweno dies here, history changes.

Into a history where the world can never be saved.

That alone would be an over-achievement for Tartarus.

However, this hidden mission is the capture of Dweno.

Sometimes, capture is more difficult than killing.

Especially for a great hero like Dweno.

Leo said, looking at Kal, who had a puzzled expression.

"The Legion's records are something that rewrites the Legion's history above the Hero's records. They are being written now, not in the past."

Leo's red eyes gleamed fiercely as he gazed at the campfire.

"That means they can create the best situation for themselves in the current situation."

"The best situation?"

"If the Hero's Dungeon goes berserk and engulfs the world, it's a disaster from our perspective. The Legion's world is the opposite of the Hero's world. But you know."

*Crackling* *Poof*

Embers flew from the campfire.

"Is it really a loss for the Legion if this dungeon goes berserk and encroaches on the world?"

"…"

"In a sense, it's a gateway connecting the Age of Calamity and the current era. And in the Age of Calamity, all sorts of demons and monsters roamed. The goal of the beings of that era and the beings of this era is the same."

"…World's destruction…"

Kal swallowed dryly.

"That's right. From their perspective, there's no loss even if this dungeon is maintained. Rather, it's the best situation. What bothers them the most is this fortress."

Most of the monsters that emerge from the dungeon and enter reality are annihilated in this fortress.

Literally an obstacle blocking the entrance.

"Capturing Dweno must be a condition for this berserk world to be maintained forever."

"Then… what should we do?"

"Nothing changes. We have one thing to do. Protect Ivaldi so that history from 5000 years ago is not repeated."

Leo clenched his fist.

"Changing history. That's what we have to do."