Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga

Chapter 652

The road to the Temple of Baazkal, guided by Ambassador Hulgen and Captain Eldab of the Guard, was very interesting.

Well-maintained roads, neat buildings, systematic drainage facilities, traditional dwarven clothing, etc., it was a different kind of pleasure than visiting the elven territory.

It was impressive even from afar, but when I walked around the city center, I felt like a lot of the empire’s advanced infrastructure was probably obtained from the dwarves. When I asked about it, Ambassador Hulgen smiled strangely as if he was embarrassed and answered.

“I appreciate the compliment, but it’s not always true. I tend to get a lot of inspiration from my interactions with the Empire when it comes to ideas and drafts. If there had been no Empire, you could say that we wouldn’t have the technology we have today.”

“That’s… very unexpected.”

“Of course, anyone can fantasize about something that cannot be created with current technology… but the Empire does not offer such absurd things. The train you rode on was also created in that way.”

“Was the train also something designed by the Empire?”

“Well, that’s not true, but it did have a huge impact. It’s a story that often comes up among craftsmen. When you look at the drafts that the Empire brings in, you can’t help but feel like someone who has read the future but doesn’t have the knowledge has somehow implemented what they know.”

As soon as I heard his answer, the first thing that came to mind was the Ethe and the warriors of light that had been with the history of the empire.

However, it was hard to believe that warriors like Nana and Siegfried had led the development of technology by sharing memories and knowledge from their previous lives, as the Dwarf Kingdom was far more advanced than the Empire.

“Compared to that, the imperial capital could be called a small city.”

“Hahaha. Are you saying that when the knights of the empire are right next to you?”

“It’s okay, it’s true.”

Even Eldab seemed to be happy and smiled at the captain of the guard’s response, who surprisingly accepted it coolly and responded positively. Ambassador Hulgen, who burst into laughter, answered while scanning the gazes of those around us who had been pouring in toward us since a while ago.

“The drafts that the Empire brings are so good that even the most skilled craftsmen in the kingdom often stick their tongues out and nod at the same time. Some of them are definitely successful. However, receiving the finished product in its entirety and using it well is a separate matter.”

Dwarves quickly learned once they realized it, but humans did not.

Because popularization was delayed, mass production and development were also delayed. Ambassador Hullgen explained that after some time had passed, the current situation had developed.

“So there were a lot of dwarves employed as technical advisors to the Empire?”

“Yes, it wasn’t a bad deal. Thanks to it, the kingdom has developed and it has become much easier to deal with external threats.”

External threat

Even if I just roughly gather what I’ve seen so far, it seems like most countries or monsters wouldn’t even dare to attack.

It’s strangely disturbing that he says he was prepared for the threat of dragons when he was traveling on the train, but now he speaks as if there was a real threat, unlike back then when he spoke in a hypothetical tone.

But since it wasn’t something I needed to ask right now, I just nodded silently.

In this light atmosphere, we were able to see various sights and even learn that the dwarves rode fire-breathing lizards instead of horses before finally arriving at the Temple of Bazhkal.

“This is a temple···?”

“It’s a different shape than expected?”

I couldn’t bring myself to deny Ambassador Hugen’s words as he laughed heartily and walked in naturally.

I really didn’t know that a huge blacksmith shop would appear right away. I thought I was just passing a large blacksmith shop when I came here from far away, so I didn’t think much of it. But it was my destination.

“If I were to offer a prayer, I wouldn’t need to make something to offer at the Great Temple or anything like that, right?”

“Hahaha, you can’t ask outsiders like you to do that. Why should prayers praising God be so complicated? Of course, you can just say simple prayers.”

Ambassador Hulgen nodded in agreement with Captain Eldab, who had been silently listening to the words from the side, and I was truly astonished.

No, what you’re saying is that there is a way to pray the way I just threw out, and that there are dwarves who actually do it, even though it’s not like they’re performing a ritual.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go and speak with the priest. If all goes as planned, there will be an official schedule for the visit with His Majesty the King, so preparations for the prayer should already be complete.”

I looked behind Ambassador Hulgen, who was disappearing inside without paying attention to the eyes of those around him, and looked at the inside of the temple, which seemed to be a mixture of a temple and a blacksmith shop, unlike the outside of the temple, which looked like a blacksmith shop from any angle.

The captain of the guard or the captain of the guard never spoke to me forcibly. Thanks to that, I leisurely looked around the inside of the temple and stopped in front of a statue that looked very similar to the one I had seen in a book a long time ago.

The dynamic pose of the statue, holding a hammer and trying to strike a flame rather than an anvil, was clearly a depiction of a bazaar, but there was a big difference from what I had seen in pictures or small statues.

Bazcal’s head was shaped like a dragon, neither human nor dwarf.

◈

King Dena Otrima, who has the important task of preserving and continuing the long history of the Dwarven Kingdom, has evaluated himself as a man of common sense with a sincere and duty-oriented spirit.

This evaluation is not just his own subjective opinion. Most of the people of the kingdom, including his vassals, fully sympathized with it and praised it. He is proud of his ability as he sits in a high position and is fairly evaluated.

That’s why he diligently wore the stupid helmet that caused all sorts of inconveniences, often smelled, and prevented him from even scratching his nose, and the stupid full-body armor that raised his blood pressure every time he went to the bathroom, even though there was a stupid tradition that he couldn’t take it off while he was on duty.

Sometimes, whenever I saw the vassals betting on the topic of ‘When will His Majesty the King give up on keeping up that tradition?’, there were times when I wanted to throw everything away and bet my money on taking it off right away, but Dana was the type of person who found satisfaction in seeing herself being faithful to her duties and responsibilities as a member of the royal family, so I was able to endure it somehow.

Of course, that wasn’t always the case. Since Dana was also human, there were times when it was difficult to resist this impulse. It was mostly when an absurd agenda was brought up or when she received a strange report that made her question its authenticity.

For example, when a warrior of the Demon God, who had been negotiating with the Empire to make equipment from the byproducts of the dragon, arrived in the kingdom after overcoming an attack by vampires that suddenly appeared, he was immediately reported to have headed to the temple of Bazcal.

···Did I just receive the report correctly?

After staring at the report through the narrow gap beyond the visor for a long time, all Dena could think of was the same question that kept repeating itself. He stroked the beard sticking out of his helmet’s lower hood out of habit and only after realizing the gazes being directed at him did he belatedly open his mouth.

“Why is the warrior of the machine god in the temple of Bazcal···?”

It was a question posed to everyone, including the messenger who rushed to deliver the message to the vassals sitting around the round table, but there was no immediate answer.

Can’t I go?

Of course not·

Rather, it includes going to the temple of Bazhkal and worshipping in an external diplomatic event. It is definitely a good thing that he did it of his own accord, even though he was not forced to do so.

But no matter how much you like it, you can’t help but feel a little awkward.

The messenger, who had been calmly observing the situation in an awkward silence, finally accepted the reality that he was the only one who could answer the king’s question and spoke cautiously.

“I prayed to the World Tree when I visited the elf territory, so I wanted to do the same here.”

But as always, words are not something that can be said without understanding the situation. In the end, the messenger also knows that his answer, which is not an answer, only raises the question, ‘Why is the warrior of the demon god in the world tree again…?’

“···Ugh·”

But that wasn’t something he, the messenger, knew about.

The concern was, and is, the job of the officials who gathered here to welcome the warriors of the demons.

In the midst of a series of unprecedented events, the dwarves were unable to hide their bewilderment as the accidents stopped, and the one who came up with the answer was the old dragon master who had been sitting quietly listening to the story.

“We’ll have to wait and see what their intentions are, but at least it seems certain that we should hurry and head to the temple.”

He slowly got up from his seat with the help of the young warrior standing next to him because he couldn’t sit down. He spoke to Dena, who was still worried, with a smile on his face.

“Even the warriors of the Demon God went to pray to God, so we couldn’t not go, Your Majesty.”

It was absolutely true. Dena, who realized that she had been worrying about nothing, got up without hesitation.

“Prepare the lizards. Head to the temple.”