The Clans Clash, Turning a Blind Eye to the Chaos – Part 04

“What the hell? Gilma’s one of ours! That means the next Progenitor’s Forge belongs to the Bright Rooster clan.”

“Don’t be stupid. What do you think would’ve happened if she stayed at the camp? I protected her.”

“You probably threatened her or tricked her!”

“Ugh, you’re so ungrateful. If I were truly heartless, I wouldn’t have taken her out of the camp at all.”

“Greedy old bastard!”

“Shut up and listen, old hag.”

He threw open the mansion doors. The Golden Boar clan’s private soldiers were assembled in the clearing, and a group of women stood to one side.

“Gramps!” Waffa called. “The Blue Dragons are here. Can we smash them?!”

Leader of the adventurer party Fringe Bell Fierce Blossoms, she had her sleeves rolled up and was more than ready to fight.

Waffa and her group stood protectively around the Four Eastern Stars, Lavia, and Paula. At the center stood Gilma. Though Gilma belonged to the Bright Rooster clan and this was their estate, she now looked like a guest here.

Beyond the wall, just as Waffa said, the Blue Dragon clan’s soldiers were gathering. They outnumbered them two to one. A banner with the Blue Dragon emblem signaled their chieftain’s presence.

“They’re awfully bloodthirsty,” said the Bright Rooster chieftain. She had survived many dangerous moments in her life, but this was the first time her home had been surrounded by armed troops.

“What now, Golden Boar? You said you’d protect Gilma, didn’t you?”

She looked up at the Golden Boar chieftain. He was smiling.

“Been a while since I stretched my arms. Bring me my hammer!”

Two Dwarves brought out a massive steel hammer. It had to be at least two meters long. The chieftain took it with one hand and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

“Open the gate!”

At his command, the iron gate creaked open.

Behind him, the Bright Rooster chieftain shouted, “This is my estate, you know!” but he didn’t even acknowledge her.

As the chieftain strode forward, elite soldiers from the Golden Boar clan formed up on the left, and Waffa’s party followed on the right.

Beyond the open gate stood the chieftain of the Blue Dragon clan, clad in blue armor. The two were nearly identical in age and stature.

“Hey there, Boar Chief. You left the city, and now you’re back. Not even at your own place, but at the Bright Rooster’s. What’s going on?”

“I could ask you the same. You were bickering with the other clans. What are you doing here?”

“If a clan’s sneaking around under Lord Brigid’s nose, someone’s gotta put a stop to it.”

“Acting like some kind of proper servant, huh? Then go warm yourself by the Progenitor’s Forge’s flame.”

The Blue Dragon chief fell silent, clearly annoyed.

“What? Don’t tell me someone took the Forge.”

“I don’t know if took is the right word… but it’s gone, that’s for sure.”

“Gone?”

“The flame went out.”

“The flame went out?” The Boar Chief repeated, then burst into loud, raucous laughter. “Bwahahahaha!”

“What’s so funny?”

“Gahahaha! Ah, my sides! Hahahahaha!”

“I asked you what’s so funny! This is a national crisis. Or have you already given up on this country, seeing as you built a camp outside?”

“Well, can you blame me? Of course I knew the Progenitor’s Forge’s flame was out. And the fact that it chose a girl completely unrelated to you lot. You were so desperate to cling to that fire, and it cast you aside. Now that’s funny!”

“What?” The Blue Dragon chief froze.

“Oops, my bad. Shouldn’t have said that. Slipped out, didn’t it, you old bat?”

He glanced back toward the estate’s entrance, where the Bright Rooster chief stood.

“Go to hell,” she mouthed.

“Don’t tell me… the Golden Boar was chosen? No, you being here means it’s someone from the Bright Rooster.”

“And if it was?”

“Then you will hand her over.”

“I will not.”

“Think carefully. We, the Blue Dragon clan, are the strongest around here.”

“Pfft.” The Boar Chief snorted. “The strongest, yet neither Lord Brigid nor the Flame chose you? Hilarious.”

Tension flared from the Blue Dragon warriors. A second later, a soldier’s spear shot in from the side, aiming for the Boar Chief’s neck. But it was knocked away with a sharp clang.

The weapon that deflected it was a massive two-handed axe, swung effortlessly by a small girl.

“Sneak attacks are pathetic.” The fury in her voice was hair-raising.

Her grandfather, the Boar Chief, smiled in approval. “How about that? My granddaughter. Now that’s true strength.”

“I see you haven’t changed, you doting old fool,” the Blue Dragon chief said. “All forces, attack! Don’t touch the Bright Rooster girl!”

His soldiers roared in response, raising their weapons.

“Get them! Show them the might of the Golden Boars!”

The Boar Chief’s own troops answered with a rousing battle cry.

And so, the two factions clashed.

---

Hikaru and the Dodorono brothers returned to the mansion’s entrance hall.

Dodorono, eyes and nose red, said that Donovan had fallen asleep, likely from exhaustion.

“Dad doesn’t have much time left,” Dodorono said.

“Yeah. So I’m staying to see him off,” Dodonno replied. “You should leave this country while you still can.”

“But I can’t just leave you here alone.”

“If you stay, who knows what could happen? I don’t want us both ending up dead.”

“But…”

“Hikaru, sorry to ask you, but could you take Dodorono out of the country? I’ll send a letter once things settle down.”

“Of course. That was my plan from the start.”

Hikaru had been thinking about Donovan’s illness. It was likely some internal organ disease, possibly just old age too. If it was his time, then healing magic wouldn’t help. Even with Paula’s help, all she could do was slightly ease his symptoms.

Hikaru thought back to what had happened in Pond in the Kingdom of Ponsonia. There, he met the head of the Ballast family, Doma Ballast, who was suffering from a lung disease. Doma refused treatment at first, but since it wasn’t age-related, he eventually accepted Paula’s healing. Donovan’s case was different.

Donovan had accepted death. As one of the twelve clan leaders representing Ironforge, he intended to fulfill his duty by witnessing the country’s fate.

Dodonno didn’t need to go along with that, but they were still father and son.

“Hm?”

Hikaru’s Mana Detection picked up an unfamiliar presence. Someone was approaching the mansion, and soon, that person burst through the door.

“Is Donovan here?!”

Hikaru had seen plenty of Dwarves with potbellies, but this one was on another level. He wore flashy clothing: colorful, loose-fitting fabric embroidered with golden thread, and shiny gold rings on his fingers. His hands looked far too soft to have ever done any smithing.

He hadn’t walked far, but was already out of breath, sweating like it wasn’t the middle of winter.

Behind him stood five burly Dwarves clad in armor bearing a Red Rat emblem.

“What, Dodonno, Dodorono? You two are still here?”

“Uncle?”

This was Donovan’s younger brother, the very man who had stolen the Progenitor’s Shield.

“What happened to the army? You two are still suspects in the theft of a national treasure, you know. Imagine how I feel, having criminals in the family. I’m so ashamed, I can’t even show my face in public.”

“I’ve told you a dozen times. Hikaru found the shield and went out of his way to bring it to us. What about you? I haven’t heard a word about you returning it to the treasury.”

“What? You calling me a thief?! It’s shameful enough that members of the Red Rat clan left Ironforge, and I covered for you two plenty. Now this is how you repay me? Fine then, you’re no nephews of mine. Men! Tie them up! Hand them over to the national army and toss them in a cell.”

The Dwarves behind him started to move, but Hikaru stepped in front of them.

“Hm? Who are you? Black hair, black eyes? Oh, you must be that adventurer. The criminal who stole the Progenitor’s Shield.”

Ignoring the uncle, Hikaru asked, “Dodorono, Dodonno, just to confirm… this guy’s really your blood relative?”

“H-He should be.”

“It doesn’t look like he can do anything, let alone blacksmithing. Are we sure he’s even a Dwarf?”

“He claims to be a gourmet.”

“That’s right!” The uncle puffed out his chest. “I’m the finest gourmet in this entire nation. I represent Ironforge at banquets abroad so no one mocks us for lacking table manners.”

“But Ironforge barely has any contact with other nations,” Hikaru pointed out.

The Dodorono brothers nodded.

“I see.”

“What do you mean, I see?! You! Arrest that rude human first—”

The uncle never finished his order. Hikaru had already activated Stealth, slipped behind the Dwarves, canceled Stealth, and kicked their broad backs. They all tumbled forward across the mansion’s entrance hall and slammed into the wall.

“U-Uh…”

“What did you want to do to the rude human again?” Hikaru pressed the tip of his knife against the Dwarf’s throat.

Dodorono’s uncle let out a shriek.

“Get out. And don’t ever come back.”

The uncle stumbled back, spun on his heel, and bolted from the mansion. The stout Dwarves he had brought with him staggered to their feet and quickly followed.