Free Web NovelDwarf scholar Nameita could think whatever he liked, but Ian was furious down to his bones.
First, he had destroyed the elf village and relocated the entire thing. Then he had run himself ragged all the way to the dwarf settlement until blisters formed on his feet. After that, he never even had the chance to rest—he got thrown into a prison cell, fought Keith, and ended up battling demon worshippers while mentally exhausted.
And just when he thought the whole damned quest was finally over, fireworks exploded in the sky screaming “Help me, Lord Ian,” forcing him to sprint all the way back here again.
Dealing with Moiken, who couldn’t even speak the same language, was frustrating enough, and he couldn’t even punch him because the elf technically wasn’t his subordinate.
Everything about this situation was awful.
There was no way the idiots responsible for it all were going to look good in Ian’s eyes.
CRUNCH.
Ian began stomping on the surviving members of the slave village without mercy.
“Urk—ugh! P-Please... save me...!”
“Why did you dry up the World Tree in our village?”
Genea questioned the man without paying attention to Ian’s violence.
Even she could not completely ignore the actions of the one she had chosen to serve, but wasn’t his grace as vast as the sea itself?
He had cleared her name. He had exterminated the monsters that invaded the village. He had personally secured a new homeland for the elves within the Dark Forest and even granted them the great tree that would stand at the village’s center.
There was no room for doubt.
He was a hero.
A hero like that would never trample someone out of mere anger. There had to be meaning behind his actions.
“Y-You mean the World Tree...?”
“You’re pretending not to know?”
THUD!
Ian stomped directly on the remnant’s head.
As the dwarf collapsed to the ground, the first thing he saw was Keith quietly drawing his sword.
With complete sincerity, the holy knight asked,
“Should I cut off his fingers?”
“Aaaagh! No! Wait! Stop! Please stop!”
“So you do know something?”
“I-I wasn’t directly involved, but I heard things!”
“What did you hear?”
Genea crouched in front of him.
The elf’s burning eyes terrified the dwarf far more than Ian’s violence.
“I don’t know much! But the chief—Gorea—he kept ranting that there weren’t enough sacrifices! He ordered us to secure sacrifices by any means necessary... Then, a few days later, he suddenly disappeared somewhere and came back. Thinking about it now... maybe it was some kind of secret mission.”
He desperately squeezed out every fragment of information he could remember.
Genea’s delicate brows furrowed.
“A secret mission?”
“Yes! Orders from those people—no, from the demon worshippers! They only gave commands to Gorea! And he strutted around acting like he’d gained some incredible authority...”
The remnant frantically tried to distance himself from Gorea.
I’m not one of them.
That was what he wanted to say.
But the elves had no interest in the distinction.
“Demon worshippers... So those cursed creatures were behind this after all?”
Deputy Commander Hiikan of the Elf Rangers looked horrified.
He turned urgently toward Ian.
“This is not the time for this. We need to return to the village and inform everyone immediately—”
“Urgh! Urgh!”
Even Moiken became agitated.
Ian seriously wished these elves would stop panicking and actually listen when someone spoke.
“No. I already killed them all.”
“......?!”
“Would you stop freaking out and listen for once? Genea, continue the interrogation.”
“......! Yes, Lord Ian.”
The remnants of the slave village had completely lost the will to resist.
As they groveled on the ground, they exaggeratedly retold Ian’s accomplishments. By the end of it, Ian had somehow become a divine marksman who instantly killed demon worshippers with a single shot, while Keith had transformed into a holy executioner who slew the former dwarf chief-turned-monster in one strike.
Ian stared blankly.
So this was how rumors got distorted.
The person even more stunned than him, however, was Nameita.
The old dwarf watched the female elf shed tears with an utterly expressionless face.
“Thank you, Lord Ian. You destroyed the enemies I would have hunted down even at the cost of my own life. Even after my body returns to nature and only my bones remain, I will never forget this grace.”
Receiving the deepest reverence imaginable from the elves, the human hero smiled gently.
Nameita thought to himself:
‘As expected... He must have lashed out in anger because he empathized with the elves’ pain. His true nature cannot possibly be violent...’
“If you’re grateful, why don’t you go check the demon worshippers’ corpses?”
‘......?!’
“Indeed, Hero Ian. We may find the tool used to dry up the World Tree.”
The female elf nodded solemnly.
Wiping away tears with her fingertips, she spoke in a trembling voice.
“We must destroy such a thing forever if we are to rebuild our village and live in peace. To think you care so deeply for the elves...”
“...Of course. That’s why I ordered them to start farming.”
Ian answered confidently.
Nameita nearly misunderstood the human hero again, and the realization moved him deeply.
The man was somewhat violent and frequently misunderstood, but he was undoubtedly the hero Nameita had spent his life searching for.
A being capable of bringing harmony between races.
Though... why his answers always sounded half a beat off remained a complete mystery.
The misunderstandings between the elves who had come to the village and the forest dwarves hiding alongside Nameita were finally resolved.
The dwarves trembled at the horrifying crimes committed by their own kin while staring at the human hero who had slain the monstrous Gorea and annihilated the demon worshippers with eyes full of awe.
Nameita became convinced.
Now was the time for him to step forward.
He needed to thank the hero.
And he needed to share the conclusions of his lifelong research.
Gorea deserved death for his crimes.
But the tragedies that had unfolded across the continent—and the tragedies still continuing even now—were not the fault of one man alone. fгeewebnovёl.com
This was not merely Gorea’s sin.
It was the result of failures shared by every race of the Middle Realm.
Rather than blaming one another, the races needed to unite against the demons.
Would humanity acknowledge that original sin?
Nameita did not know.
But if he could not persuade this hero, then he would never persuade anyone.
“Hero.”
The dwarf scholar clasped his trembling hands together and stepped forward.
The human hero paused and looked at him calmly.
To Nameita, it was the expression of a true gentleman untouched by worldly greed.
The old scholar felt deeply moved.
“I am Nameita, chief of Black Rock Village, advisor to those exiled from White Rock Village, and a scholar who has dedicated his entire life to building a world where all races may coexist.”
“Nameita. Nice to meet you.”
Without hesitation, the human hero extended his hand.
Feeling honored, Nameita hurriedly wiped his own hand on his clothes before respectfully shaking it.
The smaller, slender human hand lightly shook the dwarf’s rough and sturdy one several times.
“I have something very important I wish to tell you.”
“That’s good. I had something to say too.”
“......?”
“What are you planning to do with these guys?”
Ian nudged Gorea’s surviving followers with his foot.
Having confessed everything, they now looked up at Nameita with desperate eyes, praying only to survive.
Nameita frowned deeply.
It felt like only yesterday they had been throwing stones at him and driving him out of the village.
And yet...
They were still his kin.
Dwarves who had once lived alongside him.
The conflict tore at him from within.
“The matter of their punishment... should be discussed further with the dwarves of the village...”
“Hmm. Sure. Since they’re your people, I understand why you’d want the right to handle them. But these guys were our targets. We captured them.”
“......?”
“You want to protect your kin? Argue over jurisdiction?”
“......?!”
Nameita froze in confusion.
Why did it sound like the human hero was threatening him?
Was this what he had wanted to discuss?
“N-No, of course not! We would never be so shameless. We are not like Gorea.”
“Good.”
Ian smiled in satisfaction and turned around.
Genea, who had long since stopped crying, coldly looked down at Gorea’s surviving followers.
“Take them with you and search their hideout.”
“And once they stop being useful?”
“Handle it.”
“Thank you, Lord Ian.”
“Urk! W-Wait! Lord Ian! Hero of humanity! Please don’t ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) abandon us!”
“Nameita! Nameita! It’s me, Hobbs! You used to buy me candy when I was little—”
“Quiet. Lead us to your nest.”
Deputy Commander Hiikan bound them with vines.
Spirits were beings of nature, and elves with strong spiritual affinity could imbue natural materials with supernatural properties. What looked like ordinary vines instantly became restraints impossible to escape.
Genea also removed the restraints binding Moiken, and the three elves departed to investigate the enemy hideout.
Ignoring the desperate screams behind him, Nameita closed his eyes tightly.
After taking several deep breaths to steady himself, he returned to the matter most important to him.
“Thank you for saving the forest dwarf tribe from falling into sin. You have truly saved us.”
“Lord Ian. I have dismantled all the traps set at the rear and returned.”
At that moment, Louise finally arrived. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Nameita, interrupted mid-sentence, turned toward him—
And froze.
“A wandering tribe member?!”
Why was someone from that nearly vanished tribe—the tribe now condemned as traitors—standing here?
He had searched for traces of them for so many years.
The dwarf scholar grabbed Louise’s hand in excitement.
“......?!”
Startled, Louise immediately pulled back.
“What is it?”
“Those eyes! That skin tone! There’s no mistake—you’re from the wandering tribe!”
The old dwarf’s thick white beard trembled with emotion.
‘Wandering tribe...?’
Louise caught the term immediately.
Not “traitor tribe.”
Wandering tribe.
And the emotions in the old dwarf’s face were strange—a mixture of joy, sorrow, and relief that Louise could not fully understand.
It made hostility impossible.
Unsure how to react, Louise instinctively turned toward Ian.
Like a child looking to a parent for reassurance.
“Lord Ian.”
“It’s fine.”
Ian nodded casually.
Relief washed over Louise instantly.
And then he suddenly realized something that startled even himself.
He had relied on someone naturally.
Without hesitation.
Him—the son of a traitor.
