Chapter 31
Governor Johan (1)
The scouting party’s combat capabilities far exceeded Lee Shin’s expectations. After completing their first mission brilliantly, they continued bringing back detailed information about the other workshops.
[Excluding the single-digit workshops that serve as the main factories, I believe we can carry out rescue missions against any of them!]
The dwarves’ immunity to fire proved absurdly powerful.
Starting with Workshop No. 47, they began systematically destroying the double-digit workshops located around the outskirts.
Thanks to the scouts’ efforts, the number of dwarves newly taken in by the Red City of Gepetto had now easily surpassed one thousand.
“There’s so much food here!”
“Sob... this tastes heavenly. What is this?”
“That is a blessing bestowed upon us by the glorious Lee Shin. It is called Three-Minute Curry. Behold its golden hue....”
“Ahhh, Three-Minute Curry!”
Under normal circumstances, such explosive population growth could never have been sustained with nothing more than food purchased from discount supermarkets.
But the Red City of Gepetto now possessed an excellent source of nutrition.
“You should hit the tree too. Food drops if you hit it.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
The plants brought over from the dinosaur world had now grown terrifyingly enormous.
Whenever fruit grew too high for the dwarves to reach, they simply asked the skeletons wandering around the city to pick it for them.
And the payment for their labor?
“Give me a hug!”
One hug for Jude.
Once the new residents of Gepetto realized that despite his terrifying appearance Jude was actually a sweet and lovable skeleton, he became immensely popular.
And Jude was delighted to have so many new friends.
Once Lee Shin began managing his worlds according to his father’s advice, their development began accelerating rapidly.
The growth became especially dramatic once the population started increasing.
The Red City of Gepetto alone could no longer accommodate all the dwarves. The walls had to be expanded, and additional buildings needed to be constructed.
Of course, the most valuable gain was something else entirely.
“...It’s been a really long time since I worked in a proper forge, Grandpa.”
“It certainly has, Hephaestus.”
“This is what real hammering feels like.”
Hephaestus, the terrifying Hero Candidate who had reduced Workshop No. 47 to ashes with Eternal Furnace, possessed exceptional combat ability.
But at his core, he was still a blacksmith.
The moment he arrived in the Red City of Gepetto, he planted himself inside the forge without anyone even telling him to and spent all his time hammering away at equipment.
“This one goes to God.”
“This one too.”
“And this....”
Not only was his craftsmanship exceptional, but his working speed was overwhelmingly fast as well.
With the influx of skilled craftsmen, the forge now operated without pause.
Even equipment Hephaestus tossed aside as “mediocre work” possessed astonishing performance.
For example—
「Name: Spear That Pierces the Heavens」
「Category: Weapon」
「Grade: ?」
「[Highest-Rank Penetration], [Highest-Rank Physical Enhancement]」
「Unique Engraving: “Descending Thunderbolt”」
「—Every attack carries a ‘Lightning Strike.’」
「Overall Assessment: A mythical weapon that summons lightning.」
Things like that.
Lee Shin asked Hephaestus why he discarded such equipment.
Hephaestus answered without stopping his work.
“Because dwarves can’t use those.”
『Dwarves can’t use them?』
“Swords, spears, shields... weapons like those don’t suit dwarves. Grandpa and I are only warming up before we start making proper weapons. Melee weapons require a certain level of basic physical ability and combat proficiency. A dwarf can become a master craftsman, but not a master swordsman or spearman. That’s a limitation we’re born with.”
『....』
“For dwarves, the best weapons are easy to operate and primarily use fire and steel. Grandpa says that in the old days, things like automated turrets were common. Fortunately, those of us blessed by steel and flame can create steel freely without needing to mine iron ore....”
Just as he said, every dwarf working in the forge freely formed and manipulated iron within the flames.
The Blessing of Steel and Flame, which their race had gained in exchange for various talents and physical stature, was indeed a blessing specialized almost entirely for production.
“Ever since I came beneath God’s protection, I feel like my body has changed. Inspiration comes more easily whenever I make something, and my sense for hammering steel has become much sharper. While I’m in this condition, I need to make as much as possible. That’s the only way we can oppose the governor.”
The reason Hephaestus felt that way was the Race Enhancement Ticket.
The dwarves had evolved from ordinary dwarves into Half-Dwarves, bringing them closer to the primordial Dwarves.
After the ticket was used, every dwarf in Small but Deadly World who joined Lee Shin’s religion underwent the racial change.
The other dwarves described it as “growing closer to God.”
Lee Shin decided that once the next Day of the Lord arrived, he would invest more Divine Power into constructing buildings and provide even more assistance.
Helping hardworking, diligent dwarves was enjoyable.
Still, there was one thing bothering him.
How had a race with this much potential ever lost to otherworldly invaders who, aside from their size, were little different from ordinary humans?
From Lee Shin’s perspective, the dwarves before their downfall could not possibly have been an easy race to defeat.
He even wondered whether they had once been stronger than humanity on Earth.
Santiago answered that question for him.
“It was because of the governor.”
『The governor?』
“To be precise, because of their ‘main army.’ They have destroyed hundreds of worlds, including the world of the dwarves, and turned all of them into colonies supporting their military. They live solely for war and destruction beneath an Evil God....”
The governor.
The governor.
Everyone feared that title.
Lee Shin suddenly became curious.
Just what kind of bastard was this governor?
***
“So after Workshop No. 47, every double-digit workshop is being hit by terrorist attacks....
I may be summoned at this rate.”
“How about bombarding that Red City of Gepetto with every weapon produced in the workshops and wiping the base off the map completely?”
“You want to kill all the craftsmen they took? Workshop No. 47 had plenty of specialized technicians. If we kill them all, then there was no point in colonizing this world in the first place.”
“....”
“Besides, what good would bombardment do? Dwarven weapons cannot harm dwarves. If that damned God of Small Things has returned, then that means the Blessing of Flame and Steel has returned as well....”
Puff.
A man sitting crookedly in a chair exhaled cigar smoke.
He wore a pitch-black hat and matching black uniform.
He was Governor Johan, the man feared by every dwarf in Small but Deadly World.
“We can’t leave things like this. Once they stop fearing me, there’s no telling what the dwarves will do. And now their god has returned too. They may start revolting in an attempt to return to their god’s embrace.”
“The dwarves are not a threat.”
“Not a threat? That was only true when they had no god. Now all they have to do is cry out their god’s name and they can summon him. They can become believers whenever they want. After all, that god is the owner of this world.”
“What about the demons? We agreed to divide abandoned worlds among ourselves, so they should be willing to cooperate. If this continues, it won’t benefit them either. Why hasn’t the dream demon Lilith been active lately?”
“Well... the demons have decided to withdraw from this matter.”
“They’re withdrawing?”
The adjutant answered with an uncomfortable expression.
“The God of the Blue Star... the ‘Lord of Eternity’ warned the demons. She said that if they enter this world, they will experience the nightmare of the Undying Legion....”
“....”
“What demon would willingly oppose the fifth most powerful god in the Worlds of the Stars? The god who took over this world seems far from ordinary. Perhaps we should withdraw as well. If this continues, even our god may suffer losses.”
Johan squeezed his eyes shut.
The one who had sent them into the dwarven world was the Evil God who led the Legion of Destruction.
A great being who had already succeeded in turning hundreds of worlds into colonies and building an overwhelmingly powerful military civilization.
That god never avoided conflict.
But even he would undoubtedly hesitate to oppose the Lord of Eternity.
The scale of the conflict would become far too great.
“No. The Lord of Eternity will not directly interfere in a conflict between worlds. At most, she’ll prevent our god from intervening personally or stop the demons from interfering. This isn’t even a world she owns. Interfering any further would violate the Laws of the Stars.”
“Then....”
“We’ll resolve this ourselves. Just as we did when we crushed them the first time, we’ll bring in their natural predator. In any case, if I fail to properly finish this matter, I’ll be court-martialed....
I’ll take the field personally.”
***
“God, God! There’s so much food that I’m incredibly happy! I want to meet the new brothers who gave us this blessed plant!”
Eve spoke while gnawing on a fruit almost as large as her entire torso.
It looked like some strange mixture of an apple and a tomato.
Lee Shin wondered whether eating only that could really count as a proper meal, but apparently it was extraordinarily nutritious.
Then again, dwarves could survive on nothing but mud cookies and water, so their nutritional requirements might be completely different from those of humans.
『Would you like to go visit them?』
“Yes! We’re brothers now, but I’ve never even seen their faces! Ahem! In situations like this, it is naturally the duty of Eve—the first believer, the one and only Saintess of the Lee Shin Church, and its mascot—to step forward!”
Eve lifted her chin proudly.
Lee Shin thought meeting them once might not be a bad idea.
『Then let us go.』
“Yeeeees!”
Lee Shin took Eve with him to Large but Lazy World.
「Third World.」
「Moving to Earth No. 7,777, [Large but Lazy World].」
On one side was a dwarf.
On the other were dinosaurs so enormous that even Lee Shin found them astonishing.
It was the moment when friends standing at opposite extremes of size would finally meet.
‘It should be fine.’
Eve had not shown the slightest fear when she first saw Jude and had hugged him immediately.
Lee Shin could count on one hand the number of times he had ever seen Eve truly tremble in fear.
And yet—
“H-Huh... H-Huaaaaaaagh!”
The moment Eve arrived in the center of the vast grassland, she screamed and collapsed.
She immediately curled forward, clutching her head as her face turned deathly pale.
‘Ah. Did their size scare her that badly?’
Lee Shin was about to send Eve back immediately when he realized something was strange.
Her reaction was not that of someone merely frightened because the dinosaurs were enormous.
It looked more like—
she had seen something she was never supposed to see.
Trembling uncontrollably, Eve muttered,
“G-Governor....”
『....』
“Governor... Dragon Rider... Johan.... Hic....”
Governor.
Dragon Rider Johan.
For the first time, Lee Shin had obtained real information about the mysterious “governor” who ruled over Small but Deadly World.
Ding!
「Intermediate Believer Eve has encountered her natural predator.」
「Governor Johan knows what Dwarves fear and understands better than anyone how to force them into submission. Achieving victory against this vicious and cunning human will be extremely difficult.」
「In the primordial age, the unimpressive Dwarves were imprisoned within the harshest mountains by greedy dragons and lived as slaves for countless years.」
「The skilled Dwarves remained oppressed by dragons for an extremely long time, and they did not gain their freedom until the dragons departed for distant worlds.」
「The descendants of the Dwarves, the dwarves, carry this learned fear engraved within their genes.」
「You have learned about ‘Natural Predator Relationships.’」
「A clue regarding the Governor has been obtained.」
「A puzzle piece for a ruined world has been found.」
「Collected Pieces: (2/4)」