Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 99
“Why are they whispering among themselves? This feels unpleasant.”
Kyle whispered quietly as he placed a hand on my shoulder. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy.
“They’ll tell us once they decide.”
I crossed my arms and watched the dwarves, who were in the middle of what looked like a strategy meeting.
After whispering among themselves for quite a while, they finally seemed to reach a decision, and one of them stepped forward. It was the dwarf who had been called Ziggs earlier.
“Y-You’re humans who got lost?”
“Yeah, we got lost. We don’t intend to cause any harm. If you just tell us the way, we’ll leave quietly without causing any trouble.”
Kyle said this with both hands raised as if surrendering. I was just standing there blankly, so Kyle nudged me and gestured for me to raise my hands too.
Watching that, Ziggs took a firm step forward.
“For now, come with us.”
“With you?”
No matter how I thought about it, following them without even knowing who they were or whether they intended to attack us didn’t seem like a wise decision.
“If you don’t follow, we’ll have no choice but to fight here.”
But Ziggs spoke firmly and raised the crude weapon in his hand in a threatening manner.
“No, we told you, we don’t want to fight. Just tell us the way and we’ll disappear quietly like smoke.”
“We don’t want to fight either. So do as you’re told.”
Kyle tried to persuade them, but it didn’t seem to work. As if to show they weren’t joking, the dwarves began to surround us aggressively.
“What do you want to do?”
Kyle glanced at me from the corner of his eye, asking for my opinion. He already looked like he wanted to follow them.
“What could happen? Let’s go.”
With a small sigh and a ‘whatever happens, happens’ attitude, I answered Kyle.
The dwarves led us deep into the cave. The farther we went, the wider the space became, and before long, a magnificent underground kingdom spread out before us.
“What is this? There’s a whole kingdom down here?”
I heard Kyle exclaim beside me.
Hundreds of pillars stood in rows, and dwarves filled the maze-like corridors. Those who spotted us began whispering.
“Humans?”
“They brought humans!”
We hadn’t been captured, we had walked here on our own, but I decided not to correct that out loud.
“Where are you taking us?”
As more and more dwarves gathered around us, I finally asked first. One of the dwarves walking ahead glanced back and answered.
“We’re taking you to His Majesty.”
Since they called him ‘His Majesty’, it seemed this really was the dwarves’ kingdom.
Kyle and I exchanged meaningful looks. My assumption that nothing serious would happen had been completely wrong.
After walking for a long time through the corridors as a spectacle for the dwarves, we finally arrived in front of a massive door.
The soldiers guarding the entrance stared at Kyle and me with wide eyes.
“W-What are they?”
“We caught them at the cave entrance. We thought His Majesty should see them.”
I still didn’t like the word caught. The soldiers looked us up and down, then pointed at the sword at Kyle’s waist.
“You’ll have to put down your weapon first.”
As if he had expected this, Kyle handed over the sword without resistance. It was heavier than it looked, because three or four dwarves had to carry it away together.
In the meantime, one soldier hurried inside through the door. He was probably going to report to the dwarven king.
Before long, the door opened again. This time, it opened wide on both sides, revealing the interior clearly.
“Wow, what is all this?”
Kyle let out a quiet exclamation as he stepped forward. For a place where dwarves lived, the high ceiling was especially noticeable.
Hundreds of magic stones embedded in the walls and ceiling were shining, almost dazzling to the eyes. Inside the vast hall, enormous golden statues lined the walls.
“Welcome, humans.”
The dwarf sitting on the large throne rose from his seat and spoke. The source of the strong miasma we had felt was probably that intimidating-looking dwarf standing before us.
