The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

The dwarf swung his large hammer diligently.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As if matching the rhythm, the echoing bursts of sound rang out as the red-hot iron thinly stretched and instantly transformed into the shape of a sword.

Despite being in an enclosed space without a single window, the dwarf worked tirelessly on his smithing without showing any signs of discomfort.

It was because this space was maintained as a pleasant environment by the power of spirits.

A spirit like a weak particle of light blew away the dwarf’s sweat, circulated the air, and intensified the flames of the furnace.

While spirit mages were ‘extremely’ rare among humans, among other races, they were only ‘quite’ rare.

Therefore, it wasn’t particularly surprising for a dwarf to handle spirits.

The dwarf put the iron back into the blast furnace and then quenched it in lukewarm oil. Then he hammered it again.

Clang clang! Clang clang! Clang clang!

With a different rhythm from stretching, the refined iron had somehow been completed into a proper sword.

“Hmm, this is a failure too.”

The dwarf, who had created a famous sword that any knight would covet, stamped it as a failure and placed it on the pile of failed works.

The swords piled up in the corner of the workshop would mostly be melted again to become materials or sold to buy money for new materials.

The dwarf’s swords sold for a very high price, even if they weren’t made of rare alloys.

“Sigh… I wish a transcendent would fall from somewhere. Then I would surely be able to create a sword that could defeat her.”

The dwarf, who had braided his luscious beard into six strands, lamented while touching his beard.

******

Arriving at the coastal cliff in the northeast of the city, I looked at the nearby islands.

“If it’s said to be where the spacing of the three islands becomes equal, is it here?”

To the south of the city, there were small uninhabited islands.

Looking south from this cliff, only three islands could be seen overlapping.

Since they perfectly overlapped, the spacing of those islands seemed to be consistent.

“Self-proclaimed second great-grand-nephew, is there really a dwarf here?”

At Adgale’s question, I smiled brightly.

“There probably is. If not, I’ll consider the self-proclaimed second great-uncle’s work done.”

I had received the right to ask him for three things in exchange for half of the Tears of Heaven.

Of course, it wasn’t an unconditional right to ask for anything like with Demiway, but just simple requests.

That picky old man, even after taking the priceless alcohol from me, he only agreed to three things.

The first thing I asked Adgale to do was to accompany me to the dwarf living in a cave under this cliff and help ‘persuade’ him to become my sla-, no, diligent worker.

Of course, it was a given that he had to protect me until meeting the dwarf, and he also had to endure the ‘labor’ involved in the persuasion.

“Looks like they’ve arrived.”

Before entering the dwarf’s den under this cliff, I called my companions.

Precia, Gilbert, and Silua came running at my call.

“Oppa! Where’s the dwarf?! This is my first time seeing a dwarf!”

Silua was holding an armful of blueprints to ask the dwarf to make.

She’s really going to suck him dry to the bone.

What a commendable kid.

“Hahaha, my business comes first.”

As I smiled and patted Silua’s head, Precia and Gilbert glanced at Adgale.

“Young Master, by the way, who is that person?”

Perhaps because they were both knights, Precia seemed to have detected the subtle force emanating from Adgale.

“Ah, this person is my self-proclaimed second great-uncle. Greet him.”

“Hello.”

At my introduction, Gilbert, who had no knowledge of the royal family tree, bowed his head innocently as if he knew nothing.

I should have one or two second great-uncles in my lineage.

Including illegitimate children and the families of foreign queens, there would be two dozen living second great-uncles.

However, Precia, who had received some education while entering the palace, looked at me in surprise.

She seemed to have noticed that the old man was the Protector of the Nation.

“We met by chance.”

“But self-proclaimed…”

“What do you think? These two are my escorts.”

I asked Adgale before Precia could ask.

Precia, who was unexpectedly quick-witted, nodded as if she wouldn’t ask any more when I interrupted her.

Adgale showed interest in Precia and Gilbert.

“Not bad. No, very good. They’re quite well-trained. This child seems to have received systematic training, judging by the straightness of her energy, while that child’s energy is fierce, as if honed in real combat.”

Adgale, who had trained numerous knights until now, saw through the difference between Precia and Gilbert at a glance.

Demiway couldn’t discern that much. Impressive.

Well, he must have slain enemy knights and soldiers in four digits throughout his life, so it made sense for him to have such an eye.

As expected, a human butcher is different from a monster butcher.

“Hmm, but I think I’ve seen them somewhere…”

“Alright, since everyone is here, let’s go down. Jade.”

I cut off Adgale’s words.

“Yes, understood.”

Jade lifted everyone into the air as if he had been waiting and slowly moved them down the cliff.

“I think it’s over there. Only there is an abnormal flow of mana.”

Jade touched the flow of mana for a moment, and the seawater parted, revealing a cave beneath it.

Entering the cave, we could tell that this place wasn’t naturally formed.

To be precise, it was a naturally formed cave, but someone had carved the walls and tidied up the path.

“We found the right place. Come on, since my self-proclaimed second great-uncle has agreed to protect us, everyone stay back so as not to interfere.”

At my words, Adgale nodded, drawing his cherished sword.

“Yeah, since I’ve received something from my self-proclaimed second great-grand-nephew, I have to do the work. I’ll take responsibility for your safety, so don’t worry.”

Adgale still hadn’t properly grasped the skills of my companions.

No, did he accurately assess me and Gilbert?

“Be careful, self-proclaimed second great-uncle. The dwarf living here is no ordinary dwarf.”

“Hahaha! Don’t worry, I’ll prove that I’m not an impersonator on this spot…!”

Clang!

Adgale deflected a sharply flying arrow as soon as he took a step.

He did well deflecting it, even though it was flying at an invisible speed from a blind spot.

“Tsk, it’s no ordinary arrow, is it?”

“Of course, it’s the dwarf’s trap.”

At my words, Adgale let go of his relaxed expression and became tense.

“Hmm, it seems my self-proclaimed second great-grand-nephew is determined to make me pay the alcohol price properly.”

“Of course. That’s why I brought my escorts to watch and learn. Both of you, watch and learn well.”

At my leisurely answer, Adgale laughed lowly.

“Alright, since the juniors are watching, should I use some strength after a long time!”

******

The dwarf was using the power of wind spirits to operate the bellows and raise the temperature of the fire.

Ting-!

Then, a bell hanging next to him rang.

It was a bell connected to the traps installed at the entrance of the residence.

“Intruders? In a place like this?”

The dwarf’s residence was not only difficult to find if one didn’t know its location, but it was also a place where he only worked as a blacksmith, so there were no treasures.

If there was anything of value, it was a few rare metals he had saved and the dwarf’s own craftsmanship.

Of course, that was only from his perspective.

The dwarf’s residence would likely be seen as a treasure trove to humans, so it wasn’t strange for there to be intruders.

“Tsk. I was being careful, but to think there would be intruders.”

It wasn’t that he never went outside, but whenever he did, he used the power of spirits for concealment.

Moreover, when trading with the city’s merchants, he disguised himself as a human, so he didn’t expect there to be intruders.

“Let’s see, who are the insolent ones that have come?”

A spirit formed as a small sphere of light moved and showed the situation at the cave entrance to the dwarf.

The scene shown by the spirit made the dwarf exclaim in admiration.

“Oh! The old human is impressive!”

Among the several humans, the skill of the old man taking the lead was enough to elicit an exclamation even from the dwarf who had seen numerous swordsmen.

******

Adgale was busy moving his feet, deflecting the arrows pouring in from all directions so that they wouldn’t head towards where we were.

Wherever his steps touched the ground, a clang! sound was heard, and traps poured out.

Adgale twisted his body to avoid the spears that diagonally shot up from the floor while simultaneously cutting the spears and stepping on them so they wouldn’t pop out again.

Then, when an iron ball hanging from the ceiling flew at him, he cleanly cut it in half with his sword wrapped in sword energy.

“It’s impossible to cut it like that with just sword energy with that thickness.”

Precia explained his movements that I couldn’t understand.

“How is it? Are there points to learn from?”

At my question, Precia and Gilbert simultaneously nodded.

Later, when I asked, Precia said she saw Adgale’s mana utilization, while Gilbert saw his body movements.

It was a good decision to bring the two of them since there were such good teaching materials.

“It seems there are traps here too?”

I noticed a trap that Adgale hadn’t managed to dismantle and stepped on it.

“Eek! You little…!”

Adgale avoided the trap flying at him while simultaneously leaping to deflect the arrow flying towards me.

Clang-!

“Hehehe~! Isn’t it dangerous if you don’t properly dismantle the traps?”

“You…!”

The veins on his wrinkled neck bulged, and his face turned red.

I grinned and leaned on the wall expectantly.

Click-!

“Oh oh! A rock is rolling over there!”

When I pointed to the trap connected to the wall, Adgale glared at me as if saying he would remember this.

Then he ran and shattered a boulder the size of a house with his fist.

Kwang-!

Rock fragments scattered in all directions, triggering various traps.

“You…! You rascal! Stay still!”

“Oh my! It was a mistake! A mistake!”

“If you’re going to lie, at least don’t grin!”

Adgale moved swiftly to dismantle the traps that were raging like a storm. He showed movements so fast that even afterimages were visible and roared.

“Argh!! I want to grind them all up with my temper!”

“Oh? Are you going to bury us all alive? Wow! Our self-proclaimed second great-uncle, I didn’t expect you to have a hobby of mass murder?”

If he, a transcendent, swung his sword with full power, he could instantly turn these traps into powder.

However, if he used such strong force, there was a high probability that the coastal cliff would collapse, and everyone would be buried alive.

That was the reason why the dwarf had made his residence in such a place.

It forced a limit on the power the enemy could exert and installed traps that couldn’t be blocked with that power to repel the enemy.

The dwarf’s head was quite clever.

“Just shut up!”

I chuckled and approached a trap that Adgale had missed while busily moving.

“Oh my! My foot slipped due to the moisture~!”

Click-!

“You…! On purpose, right?!”

Adgale ran over with full power again to protect me and cut down the maces and spears targeting my body.

“On purpose? Second great-uncle, you really know how to joke.”

Although the dwarf was clever, the traps still didn’t work on a transcendent.

“No, you’re definitely playing tricks on me because the alcohol I gave you is precious!”

“How disappointing of you to say that.”

Sharp old man.

“Didn’t I tell you before we came in here? The self-proclaimed second great-uncle should help in persuading the dwarf. This is part of the persuasion process.”

The dwarf who had settled in this cave, Belt Bifleod, desperately wanted a transcendent.

Right now, Belt would definitely know that intruders had entered.

He would be watching us from somewhere, so I was just showing him.

I have what you want.

Of course, Adgale’s skills were better than I thought, so he easily dealt with the traps.

Thanks to that, we were able to see a little more of his skills, but still.

“Unfortunately, it seems we’ve already arrived.”

At the end of the cave, there was a neat wall with windows and a door.

From beyond that wall, a dwarf with a six-stranded braided beard came out, opening the door.

In his eyes, there was more curiosity than wariness.

Now, it’s time to sell the second great-uncle at a high price.