## Chapter 1179 – The Dwarf Kingdom of Magnagrad

Some hours later, we arrived at a dwarf village.

It was a fairly large village, somewhere between a town and a city. Anyway, the dwarves didn’t seem particularly displeased or hostile towards us humans.

In fact, they swarmed around us as soon as they saw us.

I guess after a fairly long period of diplomatic relations since the war, inter-racial feelings weren’t so extreme.

“Ah… you’re not merchants. I thought you were merchants because the wagon was so big.”
“You misunderstood.”

Looking at them, it seemed they thought we were traveling merchants. The bandit bastards from earlier seemed to have thought the same thing when they attacked us.

“We’re just travelers. We’re here to see the dwarf city over there.”

I introduced us as simple human travelers.

“I see. If you’re staying, use the inn in the city. There are plenty of restaurants nearby, so you won’t have any problems. Many humans pass through this village on their way to the inner parts of our kingdom.”

They wouldn’t have bad feelings since human travelers bring money. Anyway, the dwarves seemed satisfied with my explanation and were about to turn away, explaining the city’s facilities.

“Huh? But I smell blood…?”

One of the dwarves said.

“Sniff, sniff. Ah. It’s the smell of blood.”
“Where’s this blood smell coming from?”
“It’s a very strong scent of blood…”

The other dwarves also seemed to have good noses, sniffing and looking puzzled. Soon, their puzzled faces turned grim. Their gaze towards us changed, as if they wanted to ask, “Merchants? Don’t lie. Are you murder merchants?”

This needs an explanation.

“Ah, that smell is coming from the sacks up there.”

I said, pointing to the sacks on the roof of the wagon.

“Did you hunt something…?”
“No.”

If you had to call it something, it was hunting.

“We met a gang of dwarf bandits on the road today.”
“Bandits?”
“Hehehe, yes. So, to establish security in the area, we killed them all. They were quite fierce. A large bandit group of nearly thirty people.”
“Uh…”

The dwarf in front of me stiffened his face at those words.

What’s wrong?

Why is the atmosphere like this?

I thought they would cheer.

“Anyway, do you have any wanted posters or security agencies here? A group of thirty bandits must be a fairly large group, so they must be wanted. If it’s okay, I’d like to submit these heads and get the bounty.”

I brought them as a kind of gift, but if there’s a bounty, it’s good to take it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if there’s no bounty. If anyone sees murderous robbers, they should take the initiative to clean them up. You can think of it as a kind of gift. Anyway, you guys were almost in big trouble. If those guys had attacked the village, it would have been a disaster.”

I explained it roughly like that.

ㅡ…

The other dwarves behind the dwarf who had stiffened his face cheered.

“Oh! Friends, listen to this! These human guests have wiped out the bandits who were rampaging nearby! They say they brought their heads!”
“Really!”
“To do such a grateful thing!”

They were just happy.

Yeah.
This is the normal reaction.

Seeing them happy made me feel good too.

In this barbaric age, it’s not uncommon for a gang of bandits to sweep through a village, and although the village itself has a self-defense force, blood will inevitably flow if they fight. For ordinary people, a gang of murderous robbers is no different from a disaster. I stopped that, so of course they would be happy.

As a paladin and a seeker of fusion Confucianism, I have a duty to kill all the murderous robbers I see.

“…”

But what’s with this dwarf who’s displeased in front of me?

“Hahaha, to go to such trouble. Thank you so much. To be honest, I was terrified every time I heard news of bandits operating nearby.”

As he was saying that, a dwarf behind him came up and offered me his hand. I took his hand and shook it.

“I know that fear well. So I took the initiative to slaughter them all.”
“You must be quite skilled. Anyway, there’s a police station in the village. If they’re famous bandits, there must be a wanted poster… If you brought their heads, we can compare them.”

The other dwarves were also happy.

“We should thank you for this. Here’s a coupon for our restaurant. You’ll get a discount if you come to our place.”
“Hehehe, thank you.”

I even got a coupon.
I took it and put it in my pocket.

See, this is the normal reaction when you do good. That bizarre kingdom that made such a fuss over killing just one robber was the strange one.

“Ah, but I want to see the faces of those bandit bastards. Can you show them to us?”
“Of course.”
“Everyone! Everyone, come here! This person has wiped out the bandits! They say they brought a lot of heads!”
“Wow!”
“Oh!”

They really seemed to want to see the heads.

I guess they’re a cruel race that likes blood. But even if they didn’t have such a nature, there’s no one in this world who hates the severed heads of bandits except for the bandits themselves.

“Hehe, I knew it. You’re popular. I knew everyone would like it. Karin did a good job.”
“No one hates the heads of bandit bastards. Isn’t that obvious?”

Karin answered proudly to Liztina’s words.

“Things are going really well! If we gain their favor, it’ll be easier to ask them things!”
“Hehehe, you’re right.”

Soon, the dwarves swarmed around us like bees, and I felt like I had become some kind of popular merchant, holding the entrance of the bundle.

“Alright, then! Unveiling!”
“Ooh!”

As I opened the bundle.

ㅡRustle.

The blood-soaked heads of the dwarf bandits poured out like a large number of gift boxes pouring out of Santa Claus’s sack of presents for children.

ㅡThump, thump.

The heads rolled and piled up at my feet.

“Oooooh!”
“Waaaaaaaah!!”

Then the dwarves started cheering. I thought they might protect them because they were the same race, but that wasn’t the case at all. When you think about it, humans also hate it when people of the same race commit murder and robbery. And they want them all killed. It was the same for dwarves. Rather, they would be extremely happy that a benefactor from another race had taken care of such things.

That’s a very common-sense reaction.

After I opened all the sacks and took out the heads.

“There are so many!”
“At this rate, we won’t have to worry about bandits for a while!”
“Thank you so much!!!”

The dwarves laughed and happily checked the heads.

“I feel good that everyone is satisfied. Well, if I encounter such bandits while traveling, I’ll slaughter them all.”
“What’s your profession?”
“Profession? It’s a little embarrassing to say this… but I’m a paladin who serves the god Verde.”
“A paladin! A clergyman! So that’s why you did this!”
“Hehehe, slaughtering robbers is my duty.”
“That’s a really wonderful way of thinking!”

The dwarves looked at each head and smiled contentedly, and I also enjoyed the atmosphere. As expected, when visiting an uncivilized tribe, a gift is the best thing.

“Uh, uh!!!”

It was at that moment.

“Uh!!! Uh, uh, uh, uh!!!”

One of the dwarves started shouting.
It was that guy who had stiffened his face in front of me earlier.

“Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Kalzard? Why are you suddenly shouting…?”

The other dwarves approached him, puzzled.
Is his name Kalzard?

“What.”

I wondered what the hell was going on and examined him properly. Looking at him, Kalzard was holding one of the heads in both hands and shouting while looking at its face.

“Ah! Aaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!”

It was like.

A scream.

A scream uttered by someone who has tasted great despair.

“Kalzard? Why are you suddenly…”
“Get away!!!”
“Huh?”
“My son!!!!”

Oh.

“It’s my son!!!!”
“…”
“The owner of this head is my son!!!!!!”

Total disaster.

This has an aura of total disaster.

ㅡSilence.

Kalzard’s scream brought a moment of silence. I exchanged glances with the women behind me. They were very embarrassed… Is this real? His son? That robber bastard?

“F-father…? I think we’re in trouble?”
“Blackie? Isn’t this screwed up?”

It was at that moment.

The dwarves who had been cheering and expressing their joy until just now.

ㅡIcy.

Turned around to look at us with very cold eyes.
All of them.

ㅡSwish.

And started taking out daggers from their pockets.

“My son!!! You killed my son!!! Those bastards killed my son! Aaaaaaaaaack!!! Aaaaaaaaaack!! Kalbard!!! My son Kalbard!!! He said he was going to the big city to pursue his dreams, but he only came back as a head!!! Aaaaaaaaaack!!! Aaaaaaaaaack!!!”
“…”

The dwarf hugged the head and knelt down and started shouting… No. Damn it. What is this? The murderous robber I killed was a dwarf from this village?

“Father…? I think we’re in trouble?”
“Blackie? Isn’t this screwed up?”

At that moment.

The dwarves who had been cheering and expressing their joy until just now.

ㅡIcy.

Turned around to look at us with very cold eyes.
All of them.

ㅡSwish.

And started taking out daggers from their pockets.

“…Kalbard’s face is certain.”
“Why did this happen…”
“He said he was going to the city… He ended up joining a bandit group.”
“He wasn’t a very good person from the beginning, but I didn’t think he would get involved in such a thing…”
“Who put such thoughts in his head?”
“This… this guy also has a familiar face. He’s the executioner of the Rumillerzaud warlord who came to the village to forcibly collect taxes last time.”
“Rumillerzaud! Those bastards must have tempted him!”

The other dwarves muttered with serious faces, glaring at us.

The atmosphere is ominous.
It seemed like he was a guy that everyone in the village knew.

“Wait. Wait a minute. I think it would be better to put down your weapons first. To explain the situation in detail, that bandit group blocked our way…”
“Shut up!!! You murderer bastards!!!!”

Kalzard cut me off and shouted.

“I’m going to kill you all!!! I’m going to kill you all!! How dare you! How dare you kill my son!!! I’ll never forgive you!!!”

ㅡThud.

The dwarf called for revenge, and in an instant, the other dwarves exuded fighting spirit. They didn’t say anything anymore. They just took out their tools and tried to surround us.

Damn it!

These bastards are going to attack us!

“Hey! You guys welcomed us when we said we killed the bandits! You can’t suddenly do this!!!”

These damn bastards were happy at first except for a few, but now they’re going crazy because they’re their family! Logically, if you made a murderous robber son good, you should welcome him with open arms, damn it!!!

“…”
“…”
“…”

The dwarves ignored my words and started preparing for battle with cold eyes. Damn it, things have gone wrong. These bastards were completely crazy! Doing something good has created such a difficult situation! No, the atmosphere was good until the middle.

“Hey! Those were bandits! Do you think bandits have parents!!”
“Shut up, you murderer bastards!!”

These bastards don’t understand!

“You… it’s good that you killed the bandits, but you touched our family.”
“Then there’s no other reason needed.”
“You will pay the price.”

ㅡGoooo.

A sharp energy.
Dialogue and compromise were already useless.

Even if they understood that their family had become murderous robbers, would they treat them as enemies if they were killed by outsiders? This was a way of thinking that I didn’t understand properly, but it was a surprisingly common ideology in this other world.

“Eek! Kat! We can’t stay here! Let’s get out of here!”

Hilde said that while everyone was preparing for battle.

Of course.

“I can’t do that!!!”

I can’t avoid it.

“You heinous dwarf bastards!!!”

A situation where we have become enemies!

If we can’t avoid the fight, we’ll just fix that damn nature!