Chapter 18 – The Dwarves’ Bottled-Up Frustration

Gaikaku Hikume, putting his talents to work, finished subjugating the bandits in two days.

As a result, he was afforded a great deal of time, during which he was able to assign his subordinates to base development.

Humans and Ogres cooperated fully, constructing dwellings for the remaining races.

Through this, each race acquired comfortable housing and private areas, increasing their motivation for labor and their loyalty (data-wise).

Well, if you were given a private room in a brand-new dwelling, of course your motivation would rise.

It felt somewhat like a “this should motivate them, right?” feeling was being mechanically forced upon them, but well, it actually had risen.

But there were those whose spirits wouldn’t rise from just that.

They were the dwarves.

While they were forced to engage in relentless slave labor, making parts for a new weapon whose overall design they couldn’t see, they also watched the ogres train, clad in new Fresh Golems.

“Awesome, the new model! The best! Not hot at all! They said they improved it more since the test model wasn’t as good as they thought, but… this is amazing!”

“Up ’til now, the outermost layer was fur, but from now on, they’re using the hide of a croc called a Resort Lizard! I don’t really get it, but they say its water retention and evaporative cooling make it cooler!”

“Babubabu Baobab on the inside for heat absorption. Resort Lizard on the outside for heat emission… something like that, they said!”

“If you could do it, you should’ve done it sooner, dammit!”

Ogres who only possessed bottom-tier abilities were gaining the power of average ogres, holding shields and weapons as they sparred.

It was impossible not to feel jealous of their valiant figures, their ogre-like figures, their warrior-like figures.

In contrast, they themselves were just making parts they didn’t understand.

To be honest, their dissatisfaction had been building.

Just getting a slightly better house wasn’t nearly enough to make them endure it. Besides, they’d built the houses themselves.

The twenty of them consulted… and chose one representative to send to Gaikaku.

※

Gaikaku was, as usual, energetically conducting experiments that day.

He had finally succeeded in mounting a power mechanism, including a cultured heart, onto a small vehicle (a toy about the size a goblin could ride) and making it self-propel.

It was, to be sure, a crude thing that could only self-propel, could barely go straight, and would immediately fall over and break. It was a low-grade item, about on par with a wind-up toy.

But that was irrelevant to Gaikaku.

What he wanted to experiment with using this toy was solely ‘mounting the power mechanism and making it self-propel.’

He had managed to mount it on the vehicle, including the nutrient fuel tank, and it had run, so it was a sufficient success.

Making it go straight could be left to an operator, and stability could be addressed with other considerations.

For the time being, the biggest problem—whether the ‘power mechanism’s output’ could overcome the ‘power mechanism’s weight’—had been resolved.

Of course, as it got larger, its weight would also increase, but according to calculations, it should be sufficient.

“Well now… as expected of the heart engine I created! I’m just thrilled it can produce more blood pressure output than I thought! The gears and shafts I had the dwarves make are also plenty strong… With this, an internal power vehicle, one that doesn’t rely on external power like horses or oxen, will be complete! If it weren’t illegal, this would be a great invention on a level that could be etched into human history!…Hm?”

Just as Gaikaku was thinking of eating dinner and then heading to bed, he was about to return to his room.

From the room that should have been empty, he sensed a presence. No, he felt an intimidating aura. But since he didn’t sense any malice or killing intent, he entered the room, even feeling a sense of curiosity.

There, sitting in a chair, almost naked, was a dwarf woman.

“Yo, Chief. Been waitin’ for ya.”

“…I see. A protest, is it?”

Probably… if it were a dwarf man, he’d likely charge in, shouting, “This’ll be fun, let’s fight!”

But a normal human man would undoubtedly shrink back, thinking, “Uh… no, just a moment.”

After all, according to human values, she couldn’t be seen as female, even before considering her beautiful or ugly.

A super hairy, muscular girl was quite a difficult prospect.

Incidentally, if you said that, a dwarf woman would get extremely angry.

Even if not as much as an Ogre, dwarves are sturdier than humans.

They might very well break their opponent’s bones or smash ‘a man’s pride.’

This was a well-known fact, with many reported cases.

“Surprisingly moderate. I’d thought if she had a complaint, it’d be instant violence.”

Such a dwarf was here, alone.

Gaikaku described this as ‘moderate.’

“It ain’t that bad.”

Indeed, the dwarf was also reasonably moderate.

She had an angry look on her face, but not enough to immediately start swinging.

“Truth be told, the conditions are better here than at my last workplace.”

“That’s true enough.”

“The work content, well… it ain’t that different from before. The kinda jobs that come our way ain’t anything grand, ya know.”

“Hahaha, well, among dwarves, differences in skill do show up, right?”

“It’s just… seein’ those ogre gals so full of confidence and life, that’s what I can’t stand.”

Gaikaku’s work environment was quite fair.

Being a mage and also well-versed in medicine, he knew that ‘in the end, letting them rest normally is more efficient,’ so he only made them work within limits that wouldn’t harm their health.

Of course, when they stood on the battlefield, they bore considerable risks, but that, in turn, led to a sense of fulfillment.

“Those gals… they look like they’re having so much fun, so damn proud…”

She seemed irritated, yet also as if she were suppressing jealousy.

Or perhaps, as if she were enduring a lament against the unreasonable.

“When we see the likes of them, we start expectin’ things too. You’re actually aimin’ for that, ain’t ya?”

“Well, yeah.”

“That’s the kinda thing I don’t like.”

In territory management simulations, if there’s good quality housing, a wide variety of food, and sufficient sleep time, residents get a bonus to morale and loyalty. They then work and fight more efficiently.

Well, in reality, most people would become motivated under such conditions. At the very least, they wouldn’t rebel against their employer and start a riot.

That was functioning in this situation as well.

If the dwarves were truly angry, they should have thrown everything aside and been rampaging.

The fact that this wasn’t happening meant Gaikaku’s treatment was succeeding.

But, that aside, she voiced her complaints.

“You’re hidin’ the important stuff from us. And then you’re laughin’, watchin’ us get all worked up over every little thing. You wanna surprise us? We’re supposed to be a team, ain’t we?!”

“Hmm, you have a point. It certainly lacks sincerity.”

Still, Gaikaku was smiling.

“But, y’know, this is just my nature. I ain’t plannin’ on changin’.”

“Oh, is that so? Well, now that I’ve come this far, I ain’t plannin’ on goin’ back quietly either!”

She grappled with Gaikaku, carried him to the bed, and threw him down.

“Well now, let’s see if the great man who boasts of doing as he pleases with beastwomen, ogres, elves, goblins… all sorts of women… can still say that after losing to a single dwarf? Can you maintain your dignity?”

“You plan to beat me in bed and use it as leverage?”

“Let’s see how far you can go without drugs… Now, show me what a man you are!!”

The dwarf, with her heavy weight, pressed down on him.

Towards her, Gaikaku…

“Can’t be helped, huh?”

He accepted the one-on-one duel.

※

The next morning.

Gaikaku woke up normally and was doing his morning exercises.

The dwarf, on the other hand, was wrapped in a blanket.

“Why did you think you could win in a one-on-one, you?”

“Well… uh… yeah.”

“Sorry, but when it comes to dwarf bodies, I know everything from the number of bones to muscle density to the number of taste buds. In a one-on-one, there’s no way I’d lose.”

Gaikaku looked exasperated, and the dwarf trembled with humiliation.

The battle to decide victor and vanquished had apparently been Gaikaku’s overwhelming victory.

“You lost, so no more complaining, got it?”

“Yeah… understood. I’ll follow you…”

It goes without saying, but…

The idea that you’d fall for someone after losing to them in a night battle is nothing more than an illusion or, perhaps, a delusion.

However overwhelmingly Gaikaku had won, the dwarf had not fallen in love with him.

She decided to follow him because, having started the fight herself, losing completely and then complaining would be far too lame.

In that respect, you could say she was very dwarfish.

“Rest assured, development is on track. By the time the next mission comes, we should be able to deploy them in actual combat, including training.”

“Understood… I’ll believe you.”

※

Now then, it was some time after that.

A pasture region within the country.

In this area where dairy farming flourished, many cows, horses, sheep, and the like were naturally kept.

This gently rolling terrain offered good visibility, had nothing to block the wind, and was likely an open and pleasant place.

Of course, for the humans living there, it was an ordinary sight, probably a boring region with nothing particularly enjoyable…

Still, it was a land far from harsh. People lived pastoral lives with their livestock.

A certain young shepherd was one of them.

A child still of school age in advanced countries on Earth, but in this world, he was a respectable adult.

He worked as a shepherd with his parents, earning his daily bread.

He was a truly good, truly wholesome, truly model youth.

Today too, he was tending to his sheep with his companion, a sheepdog.

Though he hadn’t attended school properly, he could at least count sheep. He kept his eyes peeled, determined not to lose a single one.

His father, who was also his shishou, often said:

What’s important in this job is to be meticulous.

Precisely because it’s a repetition of the same work every day, one tends to become complacent.

And that, he said, is why people make mistakes, even when doing the same thing every day.

The youth, who earnestly followed this teaching, therefore didn’t notice.

He didn’t notice anything unusual until his sheep pricked up their ears.

“…Wh-what is it?”

Only then did he finally notice the approaching sound.

A terrifying sound of footsteps.

Thump-thump-thump

It was rapidly drawing closer.

“Ah, ahhhh!”

He remembered a story his father had told him long ago.

A long, long time ago, in his grandfather’s generation…

Very strong bandits had appeared in this region.

They weren’t human bandits…

“Centaurs──────!”

He screamed and tried to flee with his sheep.

But alas, he had already been spotted by the enemy.

Wickedly laughing, fearsome half-man, half-horse monsters.

True to their appearance, they charged into the flock of sheep with their swift legs in an instant, effortlessly snatching up sheep with their powerful arms.

“Hahaha! This is great! It’s an all-you-can-grab!”

“St-stop it! Stop it~~!!”

“Hah, there are so many, so what’s the big deal?!”

With a mocking tone, the centaurs jeered.

They stuck their tongues out at the humans, who were overwhelmingly slow compared to them, and then leisurely departed, carrying the struggling sheep.

Their number was perhaps around twenty.

Even if they took one or two each, there were still many sheep left.

However, these sheep were the entire fortune of this youth and his family. To have a portion of it stolen so easily meant his future was very bleak.

“You gotta be kiddi—!!”

Inevitably, his eyes followed the enemies’ backs.

And there, he saw it.

The terrifying form of an enemy glaring back at him.

“Hmph.”

A large centaur man, an elite in every sense of the word, looking down on him.

Pinned by that gaze, the youth shrieked and fled with his remaining sheep.

“You should be grateful you still have your life.”

Sajitta, an elite among the centaurs and the leader of these bandits, spat out these words and then fled with his companions, carrying the sheep.

Of course, the youth immediately shouted to his parents and neighbors that centaur bandits had appeared.

They went to the scene, saw the hoof prints, and understood it was true.

The report reached the feudal lord, but…

“It’s impossible… If they run around, normal soldiers can’t pursue them. We can only lie in wait… but even then, if elites are mixed in, it’s all over.”

In grassland terrain, centaurs displayed unparalleled strength.

Boasting overwhelming mobility, they could be called the apex predators of the plains.

“They will probably come again… We must request the Knight Order!”