SWNOVELXO Chapter 513
Chapter 513. Continuation of the Peculiar Races
【Last time on the story】
Dwarf: “Nice to meet you, I’m Mofuskin, the Village Chief and Honorary Wolf Beastman.”
Liliana: “Uh…?”
Helena: “You’re quite similar to her, Lily.”
Liliana: “Huh?”
Helena: “You’re quite similar to her.”
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Well, it seems I, Alexander, have encountered quite the remarkable Village Chief while visiting a village of Wolf Beastmen.
I thought I was looking at a short beastman—only to find that his head was that of a Dwarf.
“By the gods, how embarrassing, just the body!”
Hey, don’t call him an embarrassment; that’s rude! It seems this gentleman doesn’t quite qualify as a beastman after all.
Self-proclaimed Honorary Wolf Beastman, Mr. Mofuskin Goss Tium.
Fluffy like a beastman yet boasting a stocky, muscular body. And there, perched atop it, was a Dwarf’s head—no mistaking it.
I can’t help but call it an unusual sight…!
“Could it be… that a curse or something has transformed his body into that of a Dwarf…?”
Orderju asked, choosing his words carefully. He wasn’t taking Mofuskin’s claim of having the mind of a wolf beastman at face value and instead opted for caution.
“Huh?”
But the man himself seemed taken aback, looking quite perplexed.
“Well, there are spells that can change one’s race, after all.”
“Um… If a high-level mage is involved, it complicates matters a bit…”
Mofuskin, looking as if he wanted to say, ‘That’s not what I mean!’ clearly showed a hint of frustration.
“…To avoid misunderstandings, let me clarify: ‘I was born and raised a true Dwarf, but if I could have, I would have wanted to be born a Wolf Beastman!'”
He said this almost angrily.
A Dwarf who wished to be born a beastman, huh… what a peculiar character indeed. Coming from the perspective of someone who just so happened to be reborn as a member of the Demon Race, it’s all a bit complicated…
“Could it be that your previous life was as a beastman?”
If that were the case, I could somewhat understand why he might feel unsatisfied with this life.
Well, never mind that for now.
“Setting aside the details for the moment, Mr. Mofuskin,”
As I started the conversation, I noticed everyone at the periphery looking at me with expressions saying, “Details…?” but I continued regardless.
“First, I want to deal with the vampire situation.”
“Right you are. Allow me to explain the situation in detail.”
As Mofuskin adjusted his Wolf Beastman mask, I couldn’t help but think it was incredibly well-made; it didn’t look artificial or out of place at all—eyes, nose, mouth, everything looked genuine. I mean, what’s up with the tongue moving around like that?
“It reminds me of the night elves’ human-skin masks…”
Ah yes, back when we had just entered the alliance, a night elf operative disguised as a human hunter came to mind. Just recalling it makes me feel ill.
“What the heck is this Mofuskin’s mask made from…? ”
No way… could it actually be from a Wolf Beastman…? Ugh, I let the conversation slide but now I’m curious…!
Led by Mofuskin, we exited the village chief’s residence.
“Our village’s casualty count stands at one for now—a young man who had just become independent…”
Only one, I thought reflexively, which I felt sorry for.
Mofuskin gritted his teeth in frustration, and Winefu lowered her ears in dejection. For them, he must have been an irreplaceable part of the village…
“However, it’s astonishing that among a group of notably weak magic-users, only one person has fallen.”
Ah, it seems Mofuskin is the main reason behind this.
“Stay here; it’s dangerous. Awooo—!”
Upon reaching the forest near the village, Mofuskin let out a howl.
Suddenly, I sensed a presence in the woods surrounding the village. Ruffling among the bushes followed, and then they appeared—stocky, stout Wolf Beastmen, exactly like Mofuskin, emerging one after another. Had they been hiding with some kind of {Invisibility}?!
Ten, twenty… Wait, I thought only Mofuskin was peculiar, but there are so many more of his kind…!?
Looking at us with straight faces, they stood still in formation, not even a breath escaping them.
“Oh ho. Could they be golems?”
Orderju asked with a hint of admiration as he stroked his beard.
“Yes, indeed, that’s correct. My family specializes in golems, and I’ve instructed them to attack if outsiders approach.”
Mofuskin chuckled somewhat cynically. Despite him wanting to be born a beastman, he was completely utilizing his Dwarven skills—a contradiction—
“Golems, huh? It’s not something I see often, but they were indeed Dwarven clay dolls.”
That’s right; they are magical beings made from earth or stone. Supposedly, humans can also use such magic.
I hear the Holy Church researched it for a short time to compensate for their lack of military strength, but since they required a lot of magic power yet were only as strong as experienced soldiers, and with their inability to perform complex maneuvers, they were quickly dismissed as impractical.
They had an idea to create horse-shaped golems to pull carriages, which apparently sounded good, but if you’re dividing valuable magic power for a cart horse, it’s better to reinforce defensive bases, and you don’t use carriages at the front lines…
“Sounds quite inefficient.”
At least for humans.
If Dwarves, with their strong magic and high compatibility with earth magic, took charge, they should be able to handle it better. I’ve heard they use golem-driven hammers in mines for hauling carts and mass-producing various items.
Still, I’ve never seen them on the battlefield. It’s far stronger to have a blacksmith warrior, fully clad in top-tier armor, swinging a top-tier axe or hammer than to have them fight alongside clay dolls…
In that sense, this fluffy golem army before me will be my first experience of a practical combat golem.
Being able to hide their magical presence and tirelessly wait day and night makes them well-suited for ambushes—perhaps.
By the way, it’s worth mentioning that I don’t see golems in the Demon Lord Kingdom; nearly perfectly superior undead from Enma are more prevalent.
“Honestly, I set them up thinking it might be a long shot or just a way to buy time, but… at least one seems to have taken down a vampire. There was ash piled up near a battered golem before.”
“What!? They took down a vampire with a golem?!”
Bishop Lexar sent a message filled with disbelief.
“Seriously? I’ve heard golems aren’t very mobile,”
“Well, my costume has body enhancement functions as well,”
Mofuskin replied nonchalantly.
“It seems that combined with the golem’s features, they could move more nimbly. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but I also made the claws anti-vampire in design.”
As Mofuskin spread out his hands, the claws at the tips of his costume ignited! Hot flames! This must be incredibly effective against undead. Did he just say “rough around the edges”? Is that standard for other costume-golems too?
…So, it seems like while he went to have a snack of beastman blood, a golem hidden in the bushes activated and literally caught him off guard with its fiery claws… Such an idiot move on the vampire’s part.
Dwarves are really something else.
Somehow, I was reminded of Kusemon, the progenitor of Bon-Dage.
“That’s truly impressive…”
“Wooof! That’s right! Darling is amazing!”
Winefu wagged her tail excitedly, puffing out her chest for some reason.
“If it wasn’t for darling, everyone might have been left to wither…”
“Ah, horrifying! That’s absolutely unacceptable!! I will protect this village and our ideal world!! Awooo!”
With Mofuskin’s powerful howl, the costumed golem army scattered again, returning to their inactive states, no trace of magic presence to be felt.
“Wow, you can control that many golems at once!?”
“Isn’t that quite a burden on you?”
Orderju expressed his admiration while Helena looked on with mild concern.
“Fortunately, there’s a ley line nearby, so I have enough earth magic to manage.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
“However, there’s also a collapsed cave nearby…”
A cliché, it seems. Immediately after leaving the forest, we were led to this cave.
“It certainly is collapsed, but it seems like there are traces of excavation.”
“Yes. I even considered having the golems dig it out to prevent vampires from hiding there, but since we don’t know their exact location, and the cave might collapse further causing issues with the ley line, I decided against it.”
If the ley line were to run dry, that would be a huge problem. Not only would cave excavation become impossible, but village defense would as well.
“I understand the circumstances. We’ll investigate for a bit, so please return to the village for now, Mr. Mofuskin.”
I requested with a straight face.
“Thank you!!”
Both Mofuskin and Winefu sighed in relief, saying things like, “We’re really glad to have professionals here” and “Everyone will feel reassured!” as they headed back to the village――
Now then, let’s get to work. Time for an investigation.
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“We’re done. We took down two vampires hiding underground.”
“Huh?… Huh!? Already!? Isn’t that fast?!”
When we returned to the village, Mofuskin dropped a skewer of grilled meat from his mouth, his eyes wide in shock.
“Looks like you can eat while wearing that beastman mask, huh…”
I wonder how that works. Dwarves really are amazing…
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We will visit a couple more villages and provide the amusing tales of Dwarves. Then we plan to shift perspectives to the Demon Lord Army (Spinethia).
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