**Kuro**
"What is the meaning of this?" Maddie's raging voice echoed throughout the hallways of her palace at the Holy Palatial Gardens. News about the dwarven attack inside my residence reached her even before I arrived almost a week after that incident. Well, I quite expected that reaction from her; what I was surprised was the reaction of the emperor of Chersea. He sent an ambassador to the Maverny palace a few days ago, expressing his indignation at the brazen attempt on my life. According to his delegation, it violated ancient treaties between the humans, beastfolk, elves and dwarves.
"Well, I guess it was only a small group among dwarves," I told my fiancée. If I remember right, there were dwarves who travel to Chersea and pay respects to Maddie. They knew me, having seen repeatedly by her side in some of those visits, and there was no tension involved. "In any case, I can't get anything from those we've taken prisoners," I added. "I thought we can at least interrogate them, or peek into their minds for clues about the masterminds. But yes, when we woke up after the long sleep, the dwarves are all dead…poisoned, if I'm to put into proper terms."
"Poisoned?" the Human Saint rose from her throne. "Someone among your household is a traitor then!"
"I don't think that's the case, Your Holiness," I could only force a weak smile to diffuse the mounting tension. "Those dwarves have this…" Fishing in my pockets, I showed her a small glass vial with clear liquid inside.
"What's this?" as it was a tiny item, Maddie was careful to hold it. Nevertheless, she didn't let that distract her from reading my mind. "What do you mean by 'cyanide capsule'?"
"A suicide device," I pointed out. "Basically, spies and other covert agents use that to kill themselves once captured, so they won't divulge any crucial information should the torture went past their tolerance. We found that in one of the prisoner corpses, suggesting it was an extra. So, I think they have other friends who infiltrated Chersea."
"I-I see…" Looking at the vial with utter disdain, Maddie gave it back to me. "First time I heard of such things," she quipped, never hiding her disgust. "I mean, I've read and known cases where spies and assassins killing themselves when their missions failed. But preparing to take your life even before you set out…that's fanatical. Still, it got me thinking. You know how that thing is used, yet the dwarves of Equality have it. Kuro, don't you think that…"
"Yes, Your Holiness," I nodded. "We have the same thoughts; this must've come from my world, or at least, the idea. Still, I'm more puzzled as to how the dwarves knew about this. I mean, poisons are always available, and I'm not sure if this water inside is really cyanide."
"What makes you sure of that theory?"
"Can dwarves use magic here?"
"A little, yes. I mean, not that proficient like humans, and even more so compared to humans and elves, but they can somehow use magic."
"Then, can they use magic that can harm others?"
"Basic offensive magic, yes."
"Then why don't they kill themselves using that, instead of relying on things like this? If you say they can cast basic offensive magic, they can burn themselves to ashes."
"That'd be a painful, slow death."
"Of course, that's why this capsule was invented," I countered. "Still, what I want to point out is, it's not the nature of dwarves to kill themselves with cyanides capsules. Even in the history books, we can read that they will prefer to die in battle or end up a prisoner, rather than die in captivity."
"Hmm…you got a point. Now that you mentioned that, dwarves are proud of their warlike ancestors and history. It's unusual for them to be like that," the Human Saint paused for a bit, deep in thought. "Aside from the Lady Cassandra, you're the only otherworlder in this realm. Or is it possible that the former god, Gaius, is mounting another conspiracy to return? Remember those times he's supplying the demon enemies of the Usarveds and your conspirators with weapons from your world?"
"No, I assure you, the former god has no involvement in this."
"What makes you so sure about that?"
"Trust me," I winked at her. "I've talked to Gaius more often now than before; and he gave me lots of helpful advice that led to our situation now. You know how the Lady Hinwe changed her heart before? He's the one who did that."
Maddie remained skeptical, though she kept her silence.
Not wishing for her to insist on Gaius' untrustworthiness, I changed the topic. "Any case, I have to uncover this issue. I mean, I have to find the identity of the mastermind behind the attack against me. And why."
"What a coincidence," Maddie puffed her chest. "I believe we got the same goals, Kuro. I'll send the order to prepare the paladins, and the emperor has already pledged three legions for a punitive expedition to Equality."
"Wait, I know you guys are mad," I quickly gave her a head pat to calm her. "But, rest easy, milady. We don't need to go to war just because of this."
"Those dwarves need to be reminded of their limits," she countered. "Last time we had contact with their leaders was during the previous human saint's funeral. Then, they suddenly decided to show up with guns blazing and attempts to kill you, my loved one? This is preposterous!"
"Ah, let me talk to them first. Let's go through the 'diplomatic course', before punishing them."
"Kuro…" Maddie shook her head while heaving a sigh. "I really admire how you can remain so calm, despite people running after your neck."
"I've been through worst, and is used to it. And I don't want to undo everything we've achieved so far in the fight against the Seductress."
"You're right," I could tell that the Human Saint had finally relented in her rage. "But you have banished her to that dead world already, yes?"
"Thing is, she's still there in Cherflammen, waiting for her chance to return. I won't wait for that to happen, so I'm going proactive to end her threat once and for all."
"This is why Seirna's so adamant in sending you to find the dwarf saint, right? To get her god-powers and become god, like Gaius before you."
I could only answer her with a smile, before explaining, "I don't plan on keeping that power forever. You know me; I never shied away from responsibilities, but I'd avoid it if I can help it. As I told Seirna before, Godhood is one big pain in the ass."
Maddie's eyes widened in shock when she heard that, but like the Overseer Saint before her, she burst out laughing. "O-Oi, His Heavenly Majesty the High King might hear you!"
"Ah, I'm sure He understands my sentiments," I chuckled. "That's why I'm born a human. If I was meant for godhood, then I'll be immortal even then. But no. I may have ambitions, but godhood isn't one of those."
The Human Saint playfully pinched my cheeks. "Alright, mister! You win," she declared. "I shall stand down, but remain on alert. Still, I want to ensure your safety, so I'll have a talk to the Lady Seirna concerning your journey to Equality."
"She already promised to join me," I admitted. "Her Holiness the Overseer Saint had already forgotten what the Lady Helgath looked like, so as an 'insurance', I asked her help before."
"I see you got it all covered, huh?"
"So my wives won't worry."
Maddie heaved another sigh, then pulled me close to her before planting a kiss on my forehead. "Can Lily come with you as my insurance, then?"
"She's your servant, though."
"I can take care of myself. And you know this place; I have thousands of servants. However, Lily is my most trusted aside from you, and her skills in combat would be useful should you run into trouble."
"Well, alright," I grinned. "If Lily's okay with joining me."
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Of course, with the hurdle of getting Maddie's permission for me to cross into Equality finally cleared, the next task was to gather more information of what I was involved with. So, for that, I turned to the only dwarf—of half of it—I knew in all of Chersea.
"Kuro!" the stadtholder of the League of the Valley Cities, the Prince Giuseppe Uhrian, greeted me the moment I appeared at the doorways that led to his court. "I heard what happened at your palace! Is it really dwarves who attacked you?"
"Yes…" Honestly, it was kind of awkward to tell that story to the prince, given that he was a dwarf and a close friend of mine as well. But, as I needed something from him, I had no choice but to let him know what transpired in that incident.
The dwarf prince listened as I recalled to him the events that nearly got me killed. Aside from occasional nods and head shakes, the halfling stadtholder said nothing. Then, when I ended my story…
"Kuro, my lad…"
"Your Highness…?"
"By any chance," I could see the uncomfortable expression written across his face. "Are those dwarves that attacked you got the…err…those little glass vials? Have you checked the corpses?"
"Ah!" I shivered a bit as I showed the prince the item he asked about. The moment the dwarf prince had it in his hands…
"Laddie, if I may advise you on something," he uttered while examining the 'glass pill', "I would say that you should move away from your estate. Go hide for now, if you can!"
I was surprised by his reaction. "Eh?" I blurted out. "Why? They'll return to finish the job?"
The dwarf prince nodded. "You see," the stadtholder raised it before my eyes. "This is a poison pill. We dwarves use it to avoid divulging information if our enemies capture us."
"Huh? Sounds like your people is always at war."
"They are," he replied. "Well, not that war you experienced here, but a different kind of war. If I may say, it can get bloody, but most of the time, the only thing that gets 'killed' are our pockets." The dwarf prince then followed that morbid statement with a laugh.
"Wait…when you say the dwarves are 'killing' the pockets of their enemies, then are you talking about 'economic warfare' here?"
"Is that how you phrase it? Basically, dwarves are organized into guilds—just like how you humans are divided into several kingdoms, and each one specializes in something. Like one guild would be in-charge of making paper, another, glass bottles. Of course, during our long history, it's already a given that these guilds would grow larger than when they first started. And with that, come the disparity. One guild would be richer than the other, so it's possible for them to swallow the smaller guilds, and gain those guilds' expertise and people. Now, imagine several 'big' guilds devouring every bit of the weaker ones, what do you think will happen?"
"They'll compete against the other."
"Spot on, laddie."
"So, you're telling me that these poison pills are for the guild agents?"
"Agents, spies…whatever you call them. We dwarves can get exceedingly greedy, after all."
"Wow…"
"But what sets apart this specific glass poison is that the color of the liquid is clear."
"Meaning?"
"You've been marked for death…" the Prince Uhrian took a pause and a deep breath before he revealed, "…by no other than the Church of the Golden Hammer."
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"The…what?" Well, aside from that weird for a church, what the prince just said didn't sound nice. And I couldn't believe I made another enemy simply by breathing!
"Calm down, laddie," the Prince Uhrian then produced a smoking pipe and had it lit. "I'll explain to you what's the church all about. But first, for it to be clearer, let me show you something first."
Together with one of his servants, the dwarf prince then led me to his study. I thought we would stop there, for I also would like to ask about some of the books I saw on his shelves that interest me. If I remember the last time I dropped a visit here, I never saw those books…until now. However, His Highness' servant approached one of the miniature statutes on the dwarf prince's oak table, and turned its head.
"!!!" Much to my surprise, the tabletop began to move away from its lower parts, revealing a set of stairs that led somewhere below the stadtholder's castle.
But the surprises didn't end there, and I'm not prepared. The hidden passageway is just the tip of the iceberg.
"What…the hell is this?" were the first words I said the moment I saw the contents of the hidden room at the end of the passageway. As I was never familiar to the deepest parts of the stadtholder's residence, I also had no idea on what part of the castle I was in.
"I'm sure you are familiar with these, lad," the prince took one of the old items from the dust covered pile, and gave it to me.
"Is this still okay?" I still couldn't believe what I had in my hands; if I could describe it, I would immediately say it's a 'computer tablet'. The screen was still in good condition, though I don't think I could open this, since if it's this amount of dust, this device could be lying here for quite a long time and the battery must've been drained up to the 'last juice'.
"As far as I know, it's still working. Though, judging from its condition, it's completely out of energy," he explained.
"It is…do you still have its charger?" I looked around to search for something similar, at least to my sight. But my attention was further distracted by the bigger item at the middle of the room. "Your…Highness…is this what I it is?" I took hold of the handle bars, and tried to move it, just to expose the two wheels below. "This is a motorcycle, right? I can recognize the engine and the exhaust!"
"Is that how you call the iron goat in your world?" the Prince Uhrian chuckled.
"Iron goat, huh?"
"Well, dwarves ride to battle or transport goods with mountain goats," he pointed out. "And that thing is made of iron, or at least, part of it, because we have that alloy called 'steel'. But dwarves find it lame to call it 'steel goat', so it has become the 'iron goat'."
"Wow…" while definitely an otherworldly technology, I could tell that this is an indigenous design. I mean, I owned a motorcycle before, since my country's roads were way too narrow, and my workplace was considerably far from where I live. So, I used that to commute. However, the designs for this motorcycle—especially the golden trims and other little details—were certainly of dwarven construction. (I've seen samples of their exquisite goods before…so, I know one when I see one.)
When my feelings settled down, I asked the prince, "What's going on, Your Highness? Why do you have these things?"
"Kuro my lad," the dwarf prince lowered his voice. "Swear to me that what you witnessed here will never come out of this dungeon."
"You know me, milord. You already brought me to this place after all."
The Prince Uhrian and his human servant exchanged amused looks, then chuckled. Then, the stadtholder followed with another explanation, "Kuro, you and the Lady Cassandra David are not the only otherworldly visitors in this world, and in the others. There's another one…and he was called 'The Golden Hammer'."
----------
The idea of having not two, but three, people from other worlds in this place came as a surprise to me, though not as severe as the dwarf prince hoped, I suppose. He did pause for a few moments, staring at me, perhaps expecting some extreme reactions. However, as I'd been dealing with otherworldly horrors, and weird events, I was already used to it. I could even retort that it's not three people, but four, actually. If we're going to include Gaius, we all were 'guests' from another world.
Nevertheless, the dwarf prince isn't done with his story…
"Eons ago," he puffed a smoke, before continuing, "though not past the time of the great Lady Cassandra David, the heavens above the realm of the dwarves cracked open, and bestowed to them a human with great intellect and ideas."
"Oh?"
"Well, I won't mince my words; to put it short, that human was from another world, as witnessed by my great uncle, the Mar Charles Hughes. He was there when they helped him, and that human gave them headaches at first because they don't know how to communicate with him."
That's a given, considering that otherworlder was transported there. I only got by the language barrier when I was first summoned because Natasha's magic circle was coded with a 'language-translating spell', and when that magic was broken, I ended up studying the Chersean tongue to talk.
"The human's wisdom enabled the dwarves to make enormous leaps in technology. See, if I may be honest, these things you've 'inventing' and 'introducing' to Chersea, Cherwind, Cherwoods, and the Demon Republic are all known to me. The new concepts you did show to us are your government ideas, and the military tactics and strategies."
"If so, then the dwarves' society is technologically-advanced, even way back the previous human saint's time!"
"Yes," the dwarf prince puffed another smoke, this time forming 'Os' while he exhaled what he breathed. "It's just that," he paused for a bit, looked around, and told me to come even closer as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "We dwarves—even halflings like me—are bound by oath not to reveal the truth about our advanced technology."
"Err…let me guess, Your Highness," I had difficulty in letting those words out. "This oath you've been telling me, this is connected to the Church of the Golden Hammer?"
The stadtholder nodded.
"And…" I slowly began to connect the dots; those things I learned, experienced and knew before. "…I introduced these things that dwarf church has been trying to hide! No wonder they'd send assassins after my ass!"
"I'm glad you're always quick to catch on, laddie," the Prince Uhrian laughed.
"However, I still have questions."
"Speak."
"If that church wants every dwarf—pure or halfling—to hide these technologies, why do you have these with you? Isn't hiding these, here in this land full of humans, an enormous risk?"
"I smuggled them out of Equality," was the dwarf prince's curt reply.
"What for? Aren't you attracting assassins from that church as well?"
"They won't dare."
"How can you be so sure?"
The Prince Uhrian, seeing the confusion on my face, grinned. Then, he extinguished his smoke pipe, and sat on the motorcycle. "I suppose they can't suspect the very son of the Golden Hammer undermining the church he founded?" the dwarf prince chuckled, amused at himself for catching me off-guard. "Let me introduce myself to you once again, Lord Kuro of Maverny. I am the Prince Giuseppe Uhrian, stadtholder of the League of the Valley Cities of Chersea, and the only son of my father, the Grreat Golden Hammer, the human who brought forth the land we now call Equality!"
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***Equality, the realm of the dwarves…***
Nestled at the gentle slopes of a mountain called 'Montserrant', the dwarves' guild of Cole commanded the nearby mountain peaks that it considered its territory since the time it expanded, which was several eras ago. Connected by several hanging bridges that led to the underground caverns of the mountains, its members were mostly miners, tasked with exploiting the rich mineral veins of the area. However, there were also a considerable population of cooks, clerks and transport officials in-charge of keeping the guild connected to the rest of Equality.
While the dwarven guilds usually keep to themselves, they still had to trade goods with the others, so their economies would be up and running.
And, just like the other 'guild-centered' settlements across the land, Montserrant was topped with an 'airship' tower, serving as the sole artery of the dwarf guild of Cole to sell and import goods. Airships were the primary mode of transportation in Equality, though they had machines that could run planes. The only problem was the lack of space for proper airstrips from where such vehicles could land and take-off, thus, zeppelins were made to adopt to the geographical challenges.
"Airship coming in!"
The alarm informing everyone that an incoming zeppelin was arriving echoed throughout the mountain peaks under Montserrant. As it was a common occurrence to every dwarf living in Equality, it caused no excitement to the workers in the mines…save for the highest officials running the Cole Miner's Guild. Once they received the message, they hurried towards the airship tower, with some of them still trying to wear their 'official' uniforms properly.
A golden zeppelin appeared through the cloud cover on the approaches of the mountain. The symbols emblazoned on the sides of the ship told everyone that it was the personal airship of the Bishop of Montserrant—the church official in-charge of the faithful in the area, as well as in collecting the guild taxes. As it docked the tower, the guild officials quickly positioned themselves at the foot of the stairs where the bishop would descend.
"His Eminence the Bishop of Montserrant has arrived!" shouted the herald. As if on cue, the doors of the airship cabin opened, and two acolytes alighted first, where they unfurled the church official's banner. Then, once they were ready, the bishop himself finally stepped outside the dirigible. The guild officials knelt in reverence to their esteemed visitor.
The Bishop of Montserrant was a stocky dwarf, with a full brown beard that reached down his belly, which was protected by a cuirass of gold and steel construction. His symbol of authority—a war hammer made of oak and encrusted with precious stones—were carried by his acolytes following him behind.
"We've been waiting for your arrival, Holy One," greeted one of the guild officials. "Please let us entertain you with our finest ale and food."
"There's no need for that," the bishop replied, looking around as if searching for something…or someone. "I won't be long; where's your Chief Executive Officer?"
The guild officials exchanged nervous stares before another one of them stepped forward. "Your Eminence," he began, "if you are looking for our CEO, then she's not here."
"Is your boss someplace else?"
The guild officials shook their heads, and added, "We mean, she's down in the mines at the moment, Holy One!"
"This is utmost disrespect!" the bishop blurted out, stomping his foot in rage. "How dare your CEO spit on the name of the Great Golden Hammer!"
"Correction, Holy One, I never meant offense to the Great Golden Hammer!"
"!!!" Everyone's eyes then fell on another dwarf, approaching the crowd from the mines' elevator. The ragged, muddy clothes she wore hid the prestigious office she held, and it was further obscured by the dirty face of a typical miner. Nevertheless, as they were all familiar with one another, she didn't have to introduce herself; her voice was enough to identify her as the Chief Executive Officer of the Cole Miner's Guild…
"So, you finally decide to show your contempt to this Holy Office by meeting me in that condition, Paula Cole!" the bishop quipped.
"Once again, I mean no disrespect, Your Eminence," was Paula's nonchalant reply, dusting her hands and fixing her hair for a bit before reaching out to the shocked church official. She eventually withdrew her handshake when she noticed that the bishop won't even touch her. "It's just that, I show my devotion to the Great Golden Hammer by going overboard with our taxes."
The church official attempted to make a comeback from the obvious contempt for him, so he asked, "Well, if you claim that you broke protocol to show your devotion to our Golden Father, you must've the means to back it up!" He turned to a nearby acolyte and the latter brought out a tablet computer. The bishop then opened a file and showed it to the Cole Miner's Guild CEO. "Your taxes are due, Cole," he grinned. "If what you say is true, and your intentions are pure, then you wouldn't have difficulty if our holy office would ask for double of what you should give. Of course, tithes and offerings are excluded; you still have to provide those."
The other guild officials peeked on the screen of the tablet computer that was given to their CEO. Of course, with the exorbitant figures that was required of them, they were not pleased at all. But then, Paula ordered one of them, "Make sure our most holy bishop will receive these amounts he showed us. And of course, we of the Cole Miner's Guild will never let our visitor go empty-handed. His Eminence will also have his own offerings from us, aside from the tithes and offerings we'll give to the Great Father."
The guild official went pale the moment he was handed his task. However, Paula was resolute. After all, she knew that the days of this church official and his cohorts were numbered; the Prince Giuseppe Uhrian in Chersea promised them a 'savior', after all.