The Author's POV
chapter-323

"Pftt..."

Walking out of the utility center, I let out a chuckle.

Remembering what had happened in there, I shook my head.

'Who would've thought that he'd go that crazy over an ore?'

The moment I took the Okleum out, Malvil went into a crazy fit and started shouting everywhere. For a moment I was worried that he would directly steal the ore in my hand.

Fortunately, that did not happen. Well, given my height advantage, I managed to stop him from stealing it by just raising my hand.

But it was his over-the-top behavior that made me realize just how precious the ore in my hand was.

Had it not been for his behavior, I would've never been able to tell.

The scene of Malvil jumping up in the air trying to grab the ore was quite comical.

In fact, it was so funny that even now, I was still laughing.

"Hehe."

'At least, I've come closer to my dream of forging my ideal sword.'

Yes.

After calming down, Malvil finally agreed to make a sword for me. Well, sort of.

He didn't explicitly say that he would craft the sword for me, but he did say that he was now more willing to do it as long as I managed to improve my swordsmanship to the point where he would have no qualms giving it to me.

I, of course, agreed to his terms.

"Should've probably showed this before."

'Hmm, but it wouldn't have made that much of a difference.'

Either way, Malvil was not going to make me a sword if I didn't prove that I was worthy of it. Therefore, even if I didn't show him the ore, the requirements would've been the same.

"How is it that the dwarves are so technologically advanced yet can't create a damned elevator."

I inwardly grumbled to myself as I climbed up the stairs of the northern tower. Because the utility center was located all the way down towards the fourth level, the walk up the stairs was actually quite a long one.

If not for my stamina, I would've long passed out of tiredness.

"You guys rested enough?"

Upon finally reaching the middle area of the northern tower, what greeted me was the sight of Ava and the others.

Compared to when I left them, their complexion was much better. Although their clothes and hair were still a mess, it was now an acceptable mess, if that made any sense.

"Oh, Smallsnake, Ryan, good to see you guys too."

Upon spotting Ryan and Smallsnake who I had not seen in a while, I warmly smiled.

"Took you long enough..."

"Ren!"

Ryan excitedly shouted as he ran up to me.

"Ren, Ren, I think I've found a way to help you with the chip in your head."

"Oh?"

My interest instantly piqued.

"You see—"

But before Ryan could speak, Smallsnake spoke over him.

"We know a guy who can help you remove the chip."

"…Smallsnake."

Ryan, who was excited about sharing his findings, was left deflated by Smallsnake's interruption.

Unfortunately for him, Smallsnake didn't care in the slightest.

"After asking the dwarves working in the logistics center, we found out that there are two different types of professions that handle artifacts."

"Blacksmith and Engineer."

I calmly said with my arms crossed.

Just like Smallsnake said, there were two professions that handled artifacts, Blacksmith and Engineers.

The blacksmiths were responsible for creating the artifacts, whilst the engineers were in charge of developing the blueprint and designs of the artifact.

"Anyhow, since we figured that Ryan wouldn't have enough time to help you with the chip, due to how swamped we are at the moment, we decided to ask our supervisor, Bemus for information."

As he was talking, Smallsnake patted Ryan's shoulder.

Somehow, it looked like he took pleasure in teasing Ryan.

It could've just been me, though.

"According to him, these kinds of problems usually lie in the engineering sector, and according to him, a guy called Jomnuk Dramegrip can help with regards to the chip inside of your head."

Blinking a couple of times, my eyes snapped open.

"Wait, wait, what did you say his name was?"

That name sounded extremely familiar.

"Jomnuk Dramegrip?"

"…hah?"

My brow raised all the way up.

Unaware of what I was thinking, Smallsnake nodded his head.

"According to Bemus, our supervisor, he's the best dwarf engineer."

'The world is truly small…'

It was then that it finally hit me.

To think that the person that I was supposed to protect turned out to be the person that could help me solve the chip problem.

Talk about coincidences.

"Tell me more."

"Sure."

And so Smallsnake started to tell me everything he knew regarding Jomnuk. As he spoke, I made sure to not miss a single detail.

The more I knew about him, the better.

*

Over the next two hours, I listened to Smallsnake recount to me all the information he knew about Jomnuk. As he spoke, I took careful note of everything he said.

After that, I offered him and the others to join me, but I was promptly rejected by everyone who wanted to remain on the frontline. The reasoning behind this was because they felt like they could improve the most there.

Although I tried to convince them to follow me, I decided to leave them be after pondering for a bit. In fact, this may have been for the best.

Since I was pressed for time, I just bid them a short goodbye before leaving.

"Is this the place?"

Following the map that Douglas had given me beforehand, I stopped in front of a large metallic door that was deeply attached to the hard bedrock.

By now, I had long forgotten where I was as I had been going through a maze of tunnels. This was to be expected, though, since the location had to be hidden.

Furthermore, from what Waylan told me, the map I was given would only work for a day before it would no longer work.

Apparently, the tunnels rearranged themselves every day, and so a new map needed to be made each day.

"Should be the place."

Lowering my head, I double-checked with the map displayed on my watch.

'The cursor is saying that I am in the right place, so I guess I'm not wrong...'

Moving forward, I raised my hand and knocked on the metal door.

Do Dong—!

"Who be it?"

Upon knocking on the door, a cold voice rang out from the other side.

"I am one of the guards assigned to the mission."

Taking out a small device from my dimensional space, I placed it against the socket of the door.

Right after I placed the object on the door, a subtle clicking sound rang out, and the doors opened.

Clank—!

Once the door opened, what was revealed behind it was a massive room. The decoration of the place was quite simple. Hanging on the high ceiling of the room was a bright golden chandelier that illuminated the whole room.

Large paintings hung by the side of the hall, and a soft red carpet rested on the ground.

Around the hall, there were many different doors that led to different places of the underground mansion. Since this place was where Jomnuk had to live for an extended period of time, it was understandable for him to have a large place to himself.

"This way."

Greeting me at the entrance of the place was a dwarven guard that led me directly towards a certain room of the underground mansion.

Clank—!

Opening the door, what greeted me was another large room. However, this time the room was not empty as a few individuals could be seen seated on a large red sofa in the middle of the room.

The moment I entered the room, all eyes fell on me.

Surprisingly, there was a lot of diversity in the room as not only were there dwarves present but there were multiple orcs and elves here too.

"Oh, Ren, you're finally here."

It was then that Waylan, who was also seated on the red sofa, greeted me.

"Come, Ren, let me introduce you to someone."

Before I could say anything, Waylan had already dragged me towards where the others were seated.

Knowing my place, I decided to remain standing.

After all, the aura that each individual seated emitted was far stronger than mine. Sitting down might displease them.

Waylan didn't seem to mind this as he sat down and clasped his hands together. Then, pointing towards the dwarf seated in the middle of the sofas he started speaking.

"As you've probably seen home from the pictures, this here is Jomnuk, the individual that you are supposed to be protecting."

Then, turning his attention back to Jomnuk, Waylan pointed at me.

"Jomnuk, this over here is Ren. A fellow human whom I decided to bring along. Don't be fooled, though. I didn't bring him here just because he is a human. He has the skills to stay here."

"I see...Nice to meet you."

Jomnuk greeted me with a simple nod.

"Nice to meet you too."

I nodded back in response.

With a long gray beard that was neatly braided and balding head, Jomnuk appeared to be an older dwarf. Supporting this was the wrinkles by the side of his face.

The exchange was brief, but that was how it was supposed to be.

I was here to guard Jomnuk, not be friends with him.

Smiling from the side, Waylan introduced me to the other people present in the room.

"Over here, there's Angus, someone that I personally selected. He is an extremely skilled dwa..."

As Waylan spoke, my mind wandered elsewhere.

More specifically, I was thinking back at what Smallsnake said. Regarding Jomnuk.

According to him, Jomnuk was a highly skilled engineer. He was extremely important because he was the only individual who knew how to access the database of the barrier around the city.

He was the only one that could destroy the system as he was its creator.

And it was precisely because of this that he was currently being targeted by the duergars, also known as the under dwarves. If they managed to kidnap him and force him to tell them how to shut down the system, they could practically end the war in one go.

"...and lastly there is, Komoluk, he's a highly skilled orc warrior who will also be responsible for protecting Jomnuk."

Distracting me out of my thoughts was Waylan's voice as he pointed at a large orc that was standing not so far from Jomnuk.

Before I knew it, Waylan had already introduced everyone in the room.

Nodding my head, I greeted Komoluk.

"I see; nice to meet you."

",,,"

Unfortunately, the orc didn't seem to reciprocate my feeling as he promptly ignored me. But I think this mostly had to do with his culture.

Once Waylan finished talking, Jomnuk finally opened his mouth.

"Is everyone here?"

"Yes, everyone is here."

Waylan replied.

"Good. Ye guys must've had a lot o' trouble coming here ta protect me." Jomnuk said. "I be nae an unreasonable person. Once tha mission be over, I will hand out additional rewards for ye,"

The eyes of the individuals in the room lit up. Although they were granted a lot of achievements points at the completion of the mission, an additional reward personally given by one of the top dwarven engineers was always enticing.

'I can probably ask him to get my chip fixed.'

My eyes lit up slightly.

If what he said was true, I could have him deactivate the tracking system of the chip inside of my head. This was exactly what I wished for.

The meeting was a short one. Apart from a few, the rest of the individuals moved back to their posts. I, too, did that.

"Good luck, Ren."

Waylan said from the side.

Looking back towards him, I calmly nodded back and scratched the side of my face.

"Thank you. I will do my best."

"Good."

Waylan replied as he also scratched the side of his cheek.

Upon seeing him scratch his cheek, I secretly sighed in relief.

'Looks like they are going through with my plans.'

This small gesture was a secrete gesture that Waylan and I used.

Prior to coming here, after analyzing the situation, I came up with a complex plan regarding the current situation. The plan was extremely risky, but the payoff was well worth the risk.

After deliberating over it for a while, I shared it with Douglas and Waylan, who were initially against the idea. However, after my endless persuasions, they ended up agreeing to it.

The scratch just now was Waylan telling me that there were no issues on his part.