Chapter 217 - Bronze Dragon

Burnel continued his explanation.

"It works by loading an entire cartridge. You can insert one into each of the two barrels and fire them together, discharging a total of sixty mana rounds at once. It's designed for firepower."

Ferda tried to pick it up. Its short length had made him expect something simple, but it weighed three or four times as much as the rifle. He wasn't strong enough to lift it.

"It's very heavy."

"Testing showed that the force is considerable, so durability is important."

"How is it different from a Mana Bomb?"

"Its impact is at least three times stronger than a regular rifle's. At close range, it delivers an enormous blow."

That explanation made its purpose clear to Ferda.

"Tactical infantry would have trouble using it. Would it take heavily armored knights to handle something like this?"

"That's right."

Advancing with shields and shotguns rather than shields and swords. Not a bad picture.

If knights could be integrated into infantry tactics rather than merely serving as a defensive wall, they would truly stand out.

"What do you think of this one?" Ferda asked Alberto.

Just as Ferda had expected of someone who liked firepower, Alberto picked it up without a moment's hesitation. After inspecting it, he immediately aimed at the target and pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

An immense report and shock wave followed. Ferda was merely standing beside him, yet it felt as though the blast had struck him hard in the chest. The recoil was powerful enough that even strong knights would struggle to handle it.

Alberto did not put the gun down. He seemed to consider something for a moment, then reached inside his armor. With a click, his pauldrons, which looked as though they had melted, dropped to the ground.

THUD!

THUD!

He had suddenly removed his pauldrons to lighten his load. The pieces he shed were heavy enough to shake the ground, yet even the inner armor beneath them was intended for heavy cavalry.

Despite that, anyone watching could tell: the man was now lighter on his feet and more agile than anyone.

Moving nimbly, he snatched up the ammunition on the table. He released the barrel latch and inserted two magazines into the breech. Reloading the gun in an instant, he aimed at the target again.

BOOM! BOOM!

After expending all the rounds, he released the latch. The pressure pushed the magazines out of the barrels, and he slammed two fresh ones into their place.

Then he fired.

BOOM! BOOM!

Reload. Fire.

BOOM! BOOM!

The shots struck the mound of earth beyond the long-vanished target. Lost in the act, Alberto kept reloading and firing. Burnel could only gape at the dazzling display.

A full twenty shots were fired in ten seconds before he finally stopped. And even then, it wasn't by choice. Unable to withstand the heat and force, the steel barrels had broken.

Alberto looked at the barrels, then broke his habitual silence.

"Can you make it stronger?"

"S-stronger than this?"

Burnel gave it serious thought before shaking his head.

"I don't think that's within our capabilities...? We don't have a material that could withstand your rapid fire, sir."

"Could you do it if you had the material?"

"Of course we could make it if we had the material... But this shotgun was already made from the strongest steel. We don't have anything stronger."

At Burnel's insistence that it was impossible, Alberto kicked one of his pauldrons over to them.

"Make it out of this."

"What is this...?"

"Phrontenium."

"P-Phrontenium?"

"The material that's supposed to exist only in legends...?"

Not only Burnel but Ferda, too, could not hide his astonishment. It was the signature material of Phrontesis, the Bronze Dragon, something only he possessed and could create. Since Silverwind's death, it had become rarer still, almost impossible to find.

"I heard Phrontenium was almost the color of gold, but this looks gray no matter how I look at it..."

"Can you make it?"

Alberto wasted no words. Under that pressure, Burnel answered.

"Even if this really is Phrontenium, making it would be difficult. No one but Phrontesis, the Bronze Dragon, can work with it. Even among dwarves, it's impossible unless they're craftsmen who have been granted a name..."

"It can be done."

"Being stubborn won't change a sing—"

Burnel broke off. Alberto had picked up the club he had set down and swung it over his shoulder.

"A-aaargh!"

Burnel recoiled in terror. Alberto brought the club down hard—on his own pauldron lying on the ground.

BOOOOM!

"Ugh!"

"Aaah!"

Everyone nearby collapsed where they stood. As the shock wave spread through the ground, their legs buckled under the tremors.

Then something astonishing happened. Color began spreading across the armor, previously gray with nothing but ominous ripple marks, as though it were being heated.

Only for a moment, but its center unmistakably turned gold. Its lustrous gleam conveyed a hardness worlds apart from soft gold.

"Phrontenium!"

"It's real Phrontenium!"

Before their eyes lay a legendary material that even battle-hardened warriors rarely saw. The wonder of it made them forget both the terror of their legs giving out and the reason for Alberto's sudden act.

A moment later, someone came racing over with uncanny speed and shouted. It was Luri.

"What lunatic would unleash a shock wave like that on the castle grounds...!"

She saw the golden pauldron holding every human's attention, and the man standing beside it with a club. Her expression suggested she had more or less grasped what had happened.

Then she slid her gaze toward Ferda.

"Was this your idea, Master Ferda?"

"Depending on the circumstances, it may or may not have been."

Not knowing what was going on, he decided to test the waters first.

"... I'll prepare to receive our guest."

She did not press him further, as though the damage was already done.

Before long, he learned what she meant about receiving a guest. Within a few hours, something enormous rose into view by the village's outer wall.

RUMBLE!

An immense body roughly twenty meters long, with arms and wings so short they were almost decorative. It looked ponderous at first glance, yet no one would dare dismiss it.

It was Phrontesis, the Bronze Dragon.

Alberto had summoned him.

"Which damned bastard is mistreating my creation?!"

His furious roar rang out.

* * *

Phrontesis, the Aspect of Protection and Stone.

He was closer to dwarves than humans, and to the dwarves he was a god. He had smelted every ore found within rock and hammered it into something useful, earning him the name God of Smiths.

Most legendary arms and armor had passed through his hands, and his Phrontenium creations stood at their pinnacle. He treasured that reputation fiercely and never forgave anyone who mistreated his creations.

Alberto had exploited that very trait.

'I heard Phrontesis was famous for being a kindly dragon...'

Alberto had certainly found a way to provoke him. He was the kindest and most approachable of the Guardian Dragons, and many humans had tried to take advantage of his nature. Without exception, they had suffered for it.

Yet there was a reason he remained famous for his gentleness. Even as he roared in fury, he immediately shrank himself, entered through the village's outer gate, and walked slowly toward them.

Unlike dragons who started by smashing everything in their path, he was a gentleman.

True to his title as the God of Smiths, the dragon looked like a dwarf. At a glance, he was only a little shorter than Ferda, but his typically dwarven girth made him seem smaller still.

In any case, he was waddling toward them.

As the castle's second master, Ferda knelt to welcome him.

"I greet the great Phrontesis, Aspect of Protection and Stone."

Murderous intent filled the dragon's brass-colored eyes.

"Was it you?"

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"The bastard who tried to break my creation. Was it you?"

Phrontesis glared at him furiously. Ferda bowed his head.

"You have never bestowed one of your creations upon me, Lord Phrontesis. How could I possibly mistreat one?"

"Now that I think about it, you're right. That scrawny body of yours couldn't manage it."

Phrontesis's eyes shifted, and this time he picked out the culprit unerringly.

"Yes, I knew it would be you!"

Alberto stood motionless, facing him.

Phrontesis drew the hammer at his waist and tapped it against his palm.

"First you barged into my home and made a nuisance of yourself demanding armor. Now you dare try to break it?"

"..."

"If you have any last words before I kill you, I'll hear them."

Alberto answered plainly.

"Make me a weapon."

"Very well. I'll make a sword from your spine and teach you some discipline!"

Phrontesis raised his hammer and started to charge.

"Please calm yourself, Lord Phrontesis."

"Who are you? Aren't you Valdrova's attendant? You dare stand in my way? You've got some nerve—"

"Lady Valdrova is waiting for you."

"V-Valdrova? She's waiting for me?"

Phrontesis stopped. As though embarrassed by everything he had just done, he put away his hammer and cleared his throat.

"Ahem... Very well. In my boundless generosity, I'll put this aside for now."

That wasn't exactly boundless.

"Would you show me the way, young Miss Silverwind?"

"Of course. This way, please..."

In any event, all the murderous threats evaporated in an instant, and Phrontesis entered the castle.

* * *

"Oh! Valdrova!"

Phrontesis approached her with obvious delight. Valdrova greeted him a little shyly in return.

"It's been a long time, Phrontesis."

"How long has it been since I last saw your face... is what I was going to say. Why are you wearing that mask?"

"Well, something happened..."

"No, never mind! You needn't tell me! Being able to speak with you like this is enough!"

Phrontesis took both her hands and kissed their backs.

"Luri told me you were coming. But I'm not quite sure what brought you here..."

"Oh, that? It's nothing much... Some scoundrel was mistreating my creation. It annoyed me a little, so I came to teach him a lesson."

"W-who was it?"

"Some insignificant human, of course. Why are you so flustered? You've never mistreated one of my creations. Ha ha!"

Valdrova was watching his reactions with oddly stiff movements, but Phrontesis failed to notice. Ferda decided to draw his attention away from her and onto himself.

"As the one who will be investing Sir Alberto as a knight, allow me to apologize on his behalf."

The instant his gaze shifted, Phrontesis began to growl.

"I don't need an apology. Bring me that bastard's head! That's the only thing that will soothe my anger!"

Despite the threat, Ferda strangely felt no intimidation. Was he so accustomed to Valdrova's presence that this felt weak by comparison?

Yet it was less imposing not only than Storeus's, but even that of Goz, the leader of Silverwind's followers. Perhaps Phrontesis wasn't actually all that angry. Ferda suspected he was merely watching a middle-aged old man's tantrum, meant to make others show him the proper respect.

"Please, hear me out instead."

After several such entreaties, Phrontesis relented. Ferda explained everything Alberto had done in detail. Phrontesis's expression grew steadily more sour.

"So he really did all that to get me to make him a weapon?"

"That is what the circumstances suggest."

"Ill-mannered little shit."

This seemed better than making clumsy excuses for Alberto.

Phrontesis looked thoroughly irritated, yet he seemed at a loss for what to do.

Why?

To resolve the question nagging at him, Ferda ventured a careful request.

"Though you have been brought here under unfortunate circumstances, Lord Phrontesis, might you consider this a service to the continent and grant me one small request?"

"What is it?"

"We will provide the mold. I would like your help melting down the Phrontenium to make a weapon."

Ferda had taken a bold approach. Phrontesis glared at him, his face red as fire.

"I came here to thrash that bastard, and now it turns out you're in league with him!"

"Not at all. If Alberto provoked you over a private matter, I would take responsibility and behead him myself. But this is for a great cause."

"Great cause, my ass!"

"This is part of our effort to create weapons to defeat the Demons. The metal you created will serve the Serdes Continent."

Phrontesis snorted.

"Hmph! Countless kings have tried to lure me in with such honeyed words! They babbled about fighting Demons, then always used my work to satisfy their own greed! What makes you—or that bastard—any different?"

"Recently, Demons occupied a kingdom, placing countless subjects in the grasp of its corrupted king. This will undoubtedly embolden the Demons to run rampant again."

"Nonsense! Demons aren't that strong! It's just a ploy to exploit that coward Godwin! You're doing the same!"

"Phrontesis."

At Valdrova's gentle call, Phrontesis gave a start in the midst of his shouting. His fiery temper vanished, and he looked at her in silence.

"I will vouch for Ferda's words. He is kinder and wiser than anyone. It will never be used for selfish purposes. Could you please make a weapon to defeat the Demons?"

"Ahem... If you vouch for him... Still, what good would making it do? Who would appreciate a weapon I made? For whose benefit should I make another one?"

"I would appreciate it. I know how passionate you are, and how much you do for the continent."

"Valdrova..."

Phrontesis's face brightened at her words. He looked like a grandfather gazing at his granddaughter-in-law. Looking at Valdrova's face, he softened and let out a sigh.

"Damn it, how could I hide anything from you? The truth is... there's a reason I've been so stubborn..."

He hesitated briefly before speaking again.

"I can no longer work with Phrontenium."