I Became the Commander in a Trash Game Who Copies Skills-Chapter 106 : Chapter 106

Chapter 106. The City of Bread and Steel (3)
Dwarves are short.
Well, putting it like that makes it sound like a discriminatory remark, but it's a matter of course.
Generally, the height of an adult dwarf male barely reaches the chest of a human male.
However, not all dwarves are stout.
Just as there are basketball players among humans who are over 2 meters tall, there are cases where dwarves are exceptionally tall.
Interestingly, the royal family is usually a head taller than their other kin.
To make a human analogy, it's similar to how the average height of Dutch people is well over 180 cm.
“Where did you find him?”
“Near the 5th eastern outpost. According to the testimony of Lera, who was on guard at the outpost, someone shouted for help in the middle of the night.”
The reason I presumed the dwarf, who was breathing shallowly with his eyes closed on the bed and looking rather emaciated, to be royalty was in that context.
A tall stature of over 150 cm.
Broad shoulders.
A muscular body as hard as steel.
Although the signs of having suffered without proper food for a long time were evident, the un concealable robust frame told that he was of a different lineage than an ordinary dwarf.
In addition, the armor and axe that were recovered with him were made of mithril, and gleaming rune gems were embedded in every accessory, such as the beard ornament and rings.
“Was the dwarf alone?”
“Yes. It seems shouting for help was his last ounce of strength, as he was found lying unconscious.”
“It could have been a banshee. Shouts heard in the darkness must be carefully investigated. There was no problem this time, but tell them to be careful from now on.”
“Yes, Viscount.”
Karen nodded.
Old man Brol, who had been watching silently, tilted his head.
“But where on earth did this fellow come from?”
“It seems he crossed the Vampire Archduchy.”
“Huh?”
“Because the eastern forest borders the vampire territory.”
The first thing I did after being appointed as the lord of Wolfskrig was to measure the boundaries of the domain.
The boundaries of the domain determined as a result are as follows.
To the north is the Barony of Burken, ruled by Olif.
To the west is the Black Forest, the territory of the Beastmen.
To the south and east, the Vampire Archduchy forms the border with Wolfskrig.
Of these, the eastern border was mostly in the forest, and I entrusted the outposts and the border to the rangers.
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying this dwarf fellow came from the vampires' den?”
“No, I think he came from beyond that.”
“Beyond that? I'm really sorry, but I'm weak with geography… What's over there?”
“There is a wasteland.”
“Uh, Viscount. Is that the wasteland I'm thinking of? The one where the orcs live?”
“Yes.”
He probably started from one of the mountain ranges in the wasteland.
Since the Holds, the dwarven concept of a nation, are in these mountain ranges.
“To pass through the orc-infested wasteland and the miasma-filled Vampire Archduchy on foot. I would have given up.”
As Olif said, it's a feat that's hard to even imagine.
Nevertheless, it's the most plausible hypothesis with the clues we have now.
A long time ago, in the days when the wasteland was not overrun with orcs, the Empire and the Dwarven Federation are said to have interacted by land as well.
Now, of course, trade is barely carried out only along the two great rivers of the Empire, and even then, only by mobilizing fully armed dwarven merchant ships.
“By the way, this is strange. I understood that dwarves do not leave their homes.”
“It is as Sir Olif said. The dwarven trade routes only move along the rivers. They do not set foot anywhere on Imperial territory except for the Imperial Capital and Maenenwood.”
“About that…”
“Artillery Commander William?”
“…It is nothing.”
William shook his head.
It seemed like he was about to say something but stopped.
He doesn't seem to want to talk about it right now.
I'll have to find out gradually.
“Potions won't work on him. Call the priests to heal his wounds. Let me know as soon as he wakes up.”
“Understood, Viscount.”
Since he didn't seem likely to wake up right away, I assigned a caregiver to him.
The dwarf woke up late in the evening.
I received the while I was discussing the general terms of the contract with Guild Master Kambad, inspecting the newly planted sugarcane fields, and then doing my personal training.
“I express my gratitude for the grace of saving my life. I am Balkan, son of Ungol.”
As expected, he was royalty.
But a bigger figure than I thought.
“Ungol? Do you mean Ungol, the King of Kings?”
“To hear the title King of Kings from a human. They usually call him the Federation King.”
“One must follow the local terminology.”
“You are very considerate. Then again, that was also a human trait! Hahaha… Cough, cough! Cough!”
The dwarf, Balkan, laughed.
He started coughing while laughing, so the conversation was delayed for a moment.
By the way, a son.
This is the first time I've heard that Ungol, the King of Kings, has a son.
This is a piece of lore that didn't exist before the update.
I secretly asked Kkumteuli in my mind.
‘He’s an illegitimate son, master.’
‘Really?’
‘In some worlds, he has already revealed his identity and established his position as the heir by now. In other worlds, he operated while hiding his identity.’
‘Which of the two does he seem to be?’
‘Well, I wouldn't know. Wouldn't it be better to ask him directly? Anyway, I'll take the information fee. Nom nom nom…….’
Look at this guy.
I want to snatch the snack from his tentacle right now and issue a ban until he gives me a proper answer, but there are too many eyes watching, so I can't do that.
Just then, the dwarf, who had stopped coughing, asked.
“I heard you are the lord of this city?”
“That's right. I am Ash Wolfskrig. It's late, but welcome to Wolfskrig.”
“To give such a reception to an illegal immigrant. I am humbled.”
The dwarf laughed again, while still coughing.
“This city, it's night, yet the city is so bright.”
The dwarf, who had been looking out the window for a moment, got down from the bed.
His posture was unstable, perhaps because his body was weakened, so I tried to support him, but he bowed his head before I could even approach.
“I, Balkan, son of Ungol, on behalf of the Everlasting Mountains Hold, formally request support from your domain and the Empire to which you belong.”
I took a step back from my attempt to support him and crossed my arms.
“…….”
It might seem a bit cold.
But there must be a reason.
“Our Everlasting Mountains Hold, the center of the Dwarven Federation, is in crisis.”
The dwarf race, famous for not bowing their waists.
For a prince of the Dwarven Federation to bow so deeply.
“The orcs have surrounded the Hold.”
“A horde?”
“…That's right.”
“Their numbers?”
“Thirty to for… cough! Forty thousand. Maybe more.”
The dwarf, who had briefly raised his head, dropped it again.
Let's summarize the one-sided questions I asked and the dwarf prince's answers, which were accompanied by intermittent coughing.
More than forty thousand orcs launched a surprise attack on the Everlasting Mountains Hold, and the defenders lost the surface area of the fortress and were pushed back underground.
They are holding on in the limited space of the underground with overwhelming firepower advantage, but the situation is still precarious as the entire surface has been occupied.
To be honest, as someone who knows the dwarves' situation in quite detail, I did find a few suspicious points in Balkan's testimony.
However, there was a word that caught my attention more than those suspicions.
“How many chieftains led them, you ask? No. You've got it completely wrong. There was only one leading them.”
Tens of thousands of orcs were being led by a single orc.
“It was an orc with blue tattoos all over his body.”
It's the Orc Great Chieftain.
He is one of the most difficult crises of the mid-game.
***
In middle school, I watched a movie called ‘The Halfling.’
It was based on a novel and was said to be a sequel to a movie called The Fellowship of the Bracelet, but I didn't have much interest in novels, and I hadn't seen the previous movie because I was too young when it was released.
However, the movie was enjoyable even without the original work or the prequel.
Especially the last part of the trilogy.
The scene where the sturdy army of dwarves, the splendid army of elves, the barbaric army of orcs, and the shabby army of humans clashed was vividly engraved in my childhood memory.
Perhaps one of the reasons I moved from poker to Warlord Conquest was because of that scene imprinted in my subconscious.
I wasn't the only one impressed by that movie.
The creators of Warlord Conquest also seem to have drawn a lot of inspiration from that movie, as a significant part of the game reminded me of it.
Well, I have no way of knowing whether the creators referred to the movie or the original novel.
“A request for support against over forty thousand orcs? That's absurd.”
The day after the dwarf woke up.
I called the officers for a separate discussion.
“Orcs are nothing more than a natural disaster, Viscount. If they cause damage, we must deal with it, but they are not a race we should go out of our way to provoke.”
Olif said in an uncharacteristically firm tone.
As always, he only makes valid points.
Orcs are a group that brings no good when provoked.
In the first place, unlike in the movies, the orcs in this world are not the axis of evil or minions of a demon lord, so there's no need to risk our lives to exterminate them.
The orcs of this world are a kind of nomadic people who wander the wastelands.
However, hunting and pillaging are their main activities rather than nomadism, and the fact that they have their own territories and devour everything that trespasses is what makes them different from ordinary nomadic peoples.
The fact that the targets of their hunting and pillaging include other orcs is also noteworthy.
A race that has no qualms about cannibalizing their own kind suggests that the possibility of them forming an organized union and building a civilization is slim.
“Supporting the dwarves is not a violation of Imperial law in itself. As long as we are not confronting the current Emperor or the church, each lord is granted limited diplomatic rights. And the dwarves have a long-standing friendship with the Empire.”
Bart, who would be hard to beat for second place in terms of intelligence, had a similar opinion.
“However, as Sir Olif said, I'm not sure if we should be the ones to step up. Objectively, we are just a single domain that has just begun to develop.”
Apart from the two of them, the overall atmosphere is skeptical.
Everyone, except for William who remained silent throughout the meeting, was lukewarm or expressed opposition.
It's understandable.
Orcs are, as Olif said, a natural disaster, or something similar to a pack of beasts.
However, there is one thing that bothers me.
‘Great Chieftain?’
“Yes. Do you know anything about it?”
‘Well… if I get something sweet, I might remember…….’
After the meeting was dismissed, I asked Kkumteuli.
Ever since the bakery was built, a subtle, unspoken agreement has formed between me and the creature.
In exchange for rent, it organizes the subspace.
In exchange for information, I provide additional snacks.
“Star-shaped cookies.”
‘Hoo…! Master, you're serious this time?’
“Just give me the information already.”
When I opened the subspace, the creature was already stealthily extending its tentacle towards the cookie pouch.
The writhing tentacle began to wrap around the cookies.
It didn't forget to break off a piece and pass it to the spear-wielding statue, Tick-Tocky.
For reference, that guy's status was recently elevated.
This is because the hierarchy within the subspace changed slightly when I obtained a new Sacred Relic from the ruins of the Lumer Legion.
‘Nameless Tentacle’ remained the most senior.
The Sacred Relic of ‘The Maiden Who Heralds the Time’ moved up from the youngest to the middle.
The youngest spot was taken by the newly arrived Sacred Relic of the Outer God, ‘The False Star that Shines in the Shadows.’
That is to say, the ‘Starfish’ sat there.
‘Starfish! You are not yet experienced enough to receive the grace of sugar!’
‘Whine…?’
‘I'll think about it when a new recruit comes in. So until then, assist the master well!’
‘Wheeeine….’
The right to eat snacks is determined by rank.
Seeing the Outer Gods who have destroyed the world thousands of times playing like a pack of puppies, sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy.
Still, isn't this better than actually destroying the world?
As I watched silently, one of the tentacles straightened up as if raising an index finger.
‘Umm, give me a moment to savor this.’
“…….”
For reference, that cookie is Karen's creation.
Since I was showing enthusiasm for developing rice bread, she said she would try making cookies and whipped them up in a day.
According to the self-proclaimed gourmet Kkumteuli, it is more delicious than any cookie sold in the Imperial Capital.
‘Hmmmm… this is it. This is the reason to live. Speak, my worthy master. What are you curious about?’
“Tens of thousands of orcs cannot bring down a dwarf hold. You know that as well as I do. A variable must have occurred.”
‘Well, wouldn't that be the case.’
“You have a guess, don't you? Shall I name the candidates? A hold rebellion, the Ratmen Technopriest Council, renegade dwarves, mutations from the Mana Lake, or something I don't know.”
‘…….’
The tentacle that was munching on the cookie paused for a moment.
I brought up a question I had been thinking about for a long time, a question I had forbidden myself from asking.
“I want to hear your opinion.”
‘…….’
“Tell me about the worlds you have destroyed.”