Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 111
Trap Card, Activate!
Kyle grabbed Gerard’s shoulder, who looked ready to cause a scene at any moment.
“Still, let’s try talking to the king at least once. If we persuade him well, he might help us since we’re in the same situation.”
In truth, Gerard had expected Kyle to say something like that. So the two of them put their heads together and began discussing a way to persuade Dierko.
Just as the group was reaching the end of their discussion, light seeped in from outside the cell once again. They heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and soon dwarves appeared.
This time, it wasn’t Ziggs but soldiers they had never seen before.
For a moment, it seemed like they might finally be releasing us, but judging from the tense atmosphere, that didn’t seem likely. As expected, one soldier stepped forward as a representative and spoke.
“His Majesty has ordered us to escort your group.”
Well, we had been planning to go meet Dierko anyway.
“Please turn around one at a time and place your hands behind your back.”
Kyle approached the bars first and turned his back. They gathered his hands behind him and fastened restraints on them.
“These cuffs were made by a master craftsman using true silver, so they can’t be broken under any circumstances. Don’t waste your strength trying.”
The soldier warned him, apparently worried that Kyle might try to break the restraints. Curious, Kyle tried putting strength into his wrists to snap them, but it was useless.
“Wow, I’d only heard about true silver before. This is fascinating.”
As he thought about what true silver was, information he had seen in the original work suddenly came to mind.
True silver was a metal found only in the Hegea Mine, where the Borbo had once lived, and it couldn’t be broken by any physical force or magic.
“In addition, your mana will be restricted, so you won’t be able to use magic either.”
Perhaps proud that Kyle found true silver interesting, the soldier volunteered the information without being asked. Once everyone in the party had been cuffed in turn, the prison door was finally opened.
Surrounded by dwarf soldiers, we climbed the stairs.
The underground kingdom was laid out like a maze, and it felt like we would get lost without the soldiers’ guidance.
The place they led us to was a very spacious dining hall. Several long tables were lined up in rows, and they were covered with a large spread of food.
The dwarves who had been sitting around the tables and murmuring among themselves fell silent the moment they saw us. Curious and wary gazes, as if they were looking at aliens, pierced sharply toward us.
“Come in. Everyone, have a seat.”
Dierko, who was sitting at the largest table in the center of the hall, raised his hand as he spoke. Still surrounded by soldiers, we sat at the table where Dierko was seated.
“I said I’d treat you to a banquet, but things were hectic, so it’s a bit late. Still, we prepared plenty, so enjoy yourselves as much as you like.”
Dierko spread his arms generously, as if he were presenting something magnificent.
“Our hands are tied. How are we supposed to eat?”
Gerard spoke up on behalf of what everyone had been thinking. As if he hadn’t even realized the obvious fact that we were restrained, Dierko looked surprised and scolded the soldiers.
“Why are you standing there? Unshackle them at once!”
“Yes, sir!”
Wasn’t he the one who ordered them to tie us up in the first place? For a moment, I almost took the soldiers’ side.
Still, thanks to that, the soldiers hurriedly removed the cuffs, and we regained the use of our hands. I rubbed my wrists where the metal had chafed and looked over the table.
I couldn’t tell what was in it, but there was white soup and bread prepared. It wasn’t much different from what we had eaten that morning.
“By the way, the surface is a snow mountain, and down here sunlight barely reaches. How do you get your ingredients?”
I finally asked the question I had been holding back all this time. At that, Dierko’s expression suddenly hardened, and he asked coldly,
“Are you worried I might’ve put something in the food?”
I hadn’t said anything like that.
Because Dierko was trying to read a hidden meaning into my words that I hadn’t intended at all, I ended up feeling confused instead. So, to avoid showing how flustered I was, I deliberately turned it back on him.
“The way you asked makes it sound suspicious.”
Then, unexpectedly, Dierko burst into laughter. His booming laugh echoed loudly throughout the wide dining hall.
And once he started laughing, the others began laughing along as well. Looking around the dining hall, which had turned chaotic in an instant, I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck.
What’s so funny? Did I say something wrong?
“You’ve got quite the nerve. I like that.”
Dierko said, wiping the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes from laughing.
“We’ve created an artificial sun and artificial fields inside this mountain to grow our food.”
I expected something like that, but I hadn’t imagined they had actually built farmland artificially in their underground kingdom. This really seemed like the kind of technology that could save humanity from food shortages.
