Crackle-

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Endless hammering. He had been focused on this for over a month. He just focused on the furnace, hammer, and this sword, that was starting to take form, without thinking about how much time was pa.s.sing by.

Clang-

'It's finished!'

Goonto picked up the large solar blade that was finally completed. He had used Chubach's Solar Blade as a model to make a new weapon that was most suitable for himself.

He naturally put a lot of his mana into the mithril before he started. Because of that, this solar blade was personalized for Goonto even before it was finished.

[Goonto's Solar Blade: Personalized for Goonto]
This is a solar blade made by the Best Blacksmith Dwarf Goonto.
Durability: 501/501
Attack Strength: 381
Attack Speed: 33
Restrictions: Strength 1,108, Agility 81, Level 353
*Attack strength increases by 9% when used by Goonto.

This was a decent weapon.

But the important thing was not the abilities of the sword itself.

'Indeed!'

Goonto lifted up the solar blade and swung it around. He then had a smile on his face.

'I did it! I can feel the heart of the sword!'

He could read the sword's movements, even with his eyes closed. Not only that, the heavy sword suddenly felt extremely light. It was as if he was not swinging a sword, but an elongated arm.

He had finally reached sword mastery.

He was just disappointed that he was inside such a tiny smithy.  He would be able to swing this weapon all he wanted if he was in a larger area.

He quickly headed out. He wanted to let his father, the Great Patriarch Bangart, know about it. He also wanted to swing this sword around in an open area.

Bangart happened to be rus.h.i.+ng toward the smithy at the same time.

"Father. I have reached sword mastery."

Bangart's face instantly lit up.

"Oh, is that true? Good job. Very good. Ahaha."

Bangart and Goonto hugged as they jumped up and down.

"But what are you doing all the way out here?"

Bangart remembered his reason for being there at Goonto's question.

"Right. Don't you need to keep your promise with the human? The promised date has already pa.s.sed."

"Ah! Kang Hwi Ram!"

Goonto finally remembered his promise. He had been hammering away to reach sword mastery for the last month, so much so that he had forgotten about everything else.

But it was a promise he could not break. He had promised to help Kang Hwi Ram in front of Lord Volca.n.u.s.

"What day is today?"

***
250km Northwest of t.i.tan Valley.

It was approximately 100km away from the construction site for the path between t.i.tan Valley and High Village.

Harrison's group had arrived in advance, and was waiting for me there. There were the 20 people for the operation, as well as the 80 reinforcements, for a total of 100 people.

They were all hiding their bodies using different methods, and, as Harrison mentioned, they were all trained well. Even a sensitive person like me found it difficult to notice them until I was right in front of them.

"Over here."

Once I got close, Harrison was the first to reveal himself. The rest of the members slowly started to appear as well.

"Did you wait a long time?"

"We arrived yesterday."

"You spent the night out here."

"It is fine. We are all used to something like this. I am just sorry we had to make Bernard-nim do it."

Ah, Bernard was taking part in this as well.

One of the strongest magicians in the continent. Someone I need to make one of my own people in the future.

Based on Harrison's gaze and expression, the middle-aged man next to him must be Bernard. He was close to 150 years old, but his appearance was that of someone in his mid-40s.

Bernard must be frequently using Immortality Potions.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Kang Hwi Ram."

"Bernard. Didn't you say there were people with you? I heard extremely strong warriors would be taking part……. The young lady behind you is that warrior?"

Bernard looked toward Eruni and had a confused expression.

Eruni definitely did not look like a warrior. She did have pretty expensive leather armor I got from the store, but her subservient demeanor gave away the fact that she was a slave.

Her shoulders were closed, even though she did nothing wrong. She seemed to be finding the gazes of the people to be burdensome.

"This child is my slave. The warriors will be coming separately."

"Slave? How can you bring a slave to a secret operation like this? And a female slave at that ……?"

Bernard seemed to be looking down on me. Harrison was the same. They seemed to be thinking that I brought Eruni to serve me. They might even be thinking I brought her to satisfy my l.u.s.t at night.

"Please do not get the wrong idea. Although she cannot take part in the battles, she will play a pivotal role in this operation."

"A pivotal role?"

"Just what ……?"

"That is difficult for me to explain right now. It is something I am not even 100 percent certain about."

Their expressions were full of doubt.

But I could not just say it. I still haven't figured out what I need to do to get Eruni to remember her forgotten memories about the Church of the Sun.

I've already tried a lot of different things. I asked her questions, tried drawing a map, and even told her stories about the Church of the Sun. However, she still has not remembered anything about the Church of the Sun.

"Just make sure she does not cause us any problems."
"Of course. She is stronger and stealthier than she looks."

However, Bernard and Harrison still seemed to be full of doubt. They were sending Eruni sharp gazes, even though she did nothing wrong.

Eruni's shoulders seem to curl up even further as they did that.

I think it is time to change this atmosphere around. I need to bring down their ego, while boosting Eruni's confidence up.

One of Harrison's members created that opportunity for me.

"Then where are the strong warriors you mentioned?"

Bernard and Harrison also looked behind me.

There was n.o.body there. The dwarves were slightly interested in me, but still hated humans.

That was why I pushed the meeting back a bit.

It will have to happen sooner or later though. It will be better to have them meet and try to get along before things get started.

"They are down by the creek."

"Let us go and meet them. Trust is very important when we are trying to do something big like this."

Their ego will go down once they meet the dwarves. Although Goonto was not here, the other dwarves were all at least level 500 as well.

In addition, dwarves were naturally strong warriors. They can easily handle humans who are 100 levels higher than them.

"Then let's go together."

The moment I was about to turn around to lead them there, Harrison saw something that shocked him. He jumped up and clenched on the handle of his sword, ready to start a battle at any moment.

It was not just Harrison. Everyone else tensed up after looking at where Harrison was staring. Even Bernard.

My back was turned to the area so I could not figure out what was going on.

But I was getting anxious because of the atmosphere. I jumped up and quickly grabbed Goonto's Twin Blades.

Just as I did, I heard a familiar voice.

"Finally found you."

The voice was rough and deep even though he was trying to be quiet. His voice seemed to ring through the surrounding area.

I started to smile as soon as I heard the voice. When I turned around, the face that I saw made me extremely happy.

"Goonto!"

"Is it someone you know?"

Harrison and Bernard asked at the same time, as if they planned it in advance.

I gave a short and honest answer.

"He is my friend."

"What? A dwarf is your friend?"

"Is that even possible?"

Everybody looked at me like I was telling a lie. Although humans did not detest dwarves, it was not the same for the dwarves. They detested humans quite a bit.

But for someone to be friends with a dwarf.

It was too soon for them to be shocked. The other dwarves started to appear one by one behind Goonto as well.

"So frustrating. Just how long do we have to wait?"

"Let's just bulldoze through."

They really don't like to listen. I told them to hide until I came back.

But I didn't even have a chance to scold them. Harrison, Bernard and crew gasped as if they were about to faint.

"Huk, w,what is going on? How many dwarves are there?"

"Are they all……."

They all seemed to be feeling a significant amount of pressure.

It was rare for 20 dwarves to move around together, and it was even rarer for them to be in human territory like this.

But they will be working together with such dwarves. It must feel like they are dreaming.

On the other hand, the dwarves' reactions were a bit different. They all started to frown as soon as they saw Harrison's crew.

"Humans really do smell terrible."

"Huh? Just a 100 men. What kind of help can they bring? It'll be fine if we just take care of it ourselves."

"Well, that magician might be useful."

They were pretty much ignoring all of the humans.

However, Harrison's crew could not say anything about it. Dwarves were too strong.

I'm sure Bernard had already used, 'View level force,' or some similar magic to verify Goonto's level. You can't be egoistic in front of a dwarf who is far past level 500.

Will things be settled once I show them where I stand in all of this?
"Hekto! We are all on the same team, no matter how weak or strong someone may be. If you say anything else to ignore a teammate, I will remove you from the operation."

"Who was it?!"

Hekto pretended like he wasn't the one to say it. Being removed from the operation meant losing the chance to get his weapon fortified.

Which means, I was in the position of power, with the dwarves under me.

Harrison's crew seemed to be shocked even more at this and just stood there, staring blankly.

I guess this should be good.

"Since everybody is gathered together, let's take care of the introductions."

I tried to get the two sides to come together.

But it was not easy. The humans were feeling pressured by the dwarves, while the dwarves did not want to greet these, 'weak humans.'

We eventually somehow managed to get through brief introductions.

That should be enough.

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

Goonto asked the question. The one who arrived last had the loudest voice.

However, all of the dwarves were on Goonto's side. They seemed to be itching to fight, as they kept on clenching and unclenching the weapons in their hands.

"Right. What else are we waiting for? Goonto is here now too."

"Let's start our attack right away. No matter how many enemies there are, it will be fine as long as we kill a couple of their leaders."

Blasphemy. Based on the information in the draft plan, the Church of the Sun is stronger than people expect. It was because of the unique characteristics of religious groups.

The believers of the Church of the Sun were all influenced by demonic aura, and did not know how to give up, all the way up until their deaths. No, they would throw their own bodies like suicide bombers to achieve their goal.

That is why the Church of the Sun is extremely scary.

"You will get in trouble if you take them too lightly. Just wait a bit. We will see something happen on the other side."

"What will happen?"

"Is there another attack team other than us?"

Of course there is.

However, it was difficult to talk about it in front of Goonto and the dwarves.

Why? Because I was sacrificing their fellow dwarves.

Although the two sides may not like each other, they will still have a grudge against me if they find out the truth. In fact, all of the dwarves might even end up thinking I am their bitter enemy and not their friend.

'Just wait and see.'

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Translator : Miraclerifle

Proofreader :Borderline m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t