Chapter 220 Volume IV - Chapter 65: President Houdhin Gargel
One of the dwarves, breaking the silence, quickly interjected to protest against my 'request'.
"Ye were saved, yer life preserved, and now when we ask for yer help and ye come forth with a demand? Ain't that a bit disrespectful?"
I narrowed my eyes and turned to the dwarf who had spoken so quickly.
He was a middle-aged dwarf, maybe forty at most. He had long hair gathered behind his head and black eyes. He was big, even for a dwarf. Still, he wasn't someone who would make me back down, especially after what I'd been through.
It was time to get a little tough.
"Disrespect?"
I looked directly into the dwarf's eyes, putting the same kind of pressure on him that they were trying to put on me.
"I am asking you, sir. If you had experienced what I have just described in this room, where would you be now?"
The dwarf's eyes twitched, but he still didn't seem to understand what I was trying to say. So I went further, I started to spread my mana slightly, but I did it with care, I made my mana behave like the unconscious mana of someone who is angry.
And my special condition of being a catalyst for the use of mana, that is, my direct soul, made it very easy for me to do this.
The dwarf who had lashed out at me could not feel my mana directly because of his race, but he felt its effect quite clearly. He suddenly shivered and looked around momentarily.
"I doubt you can even stand here like this, and here I am, answering your questions after all. After almost seven weeks of what I have been through, here I am, for the first time ever, making a request. And what you want to do is reject it before you've even heard it?"
I withdrew the respect I had shown them so far, making sure that the only emotion that could be felt from my statement was disgust.
Houdhin, who had been silent until this moment, narrowed his eyes when he saw the expression on my face.
"Mr. Bulargh, please do not interrupt our guest."
Dwarf named Bulargh froze in place the moment he heard Houdhin's voice.
I tore my eyes away from him, for the moment I didn't care. For me, he was someone I no longer wanted to deal with, someone I detested, and I reflected that in my behavior.
I made sure to impress on their minds what would happen if anything else happened to make me uncomfortable. I showed them that I was not someone who would accept everything they asked me to do with a smiling face just because they helped me.
After all, I am the best blessing they can find for them... no, directly for the North Holar. They 'have' to be nice to me.
"What do you want?"
Houdhin did not mince words after this little incident.
"You see, I hate the South Holar for what they did to me. Not a single dwarf I met there treated me well, and the best I got was simply being ignored."
My eyebrows furrowed involuntarily and I clenched my fist. It was not a deliberate gesture. I really hate them to the bone.
"So... I want to take part in the war as a soldier in the ranks of the North Holar."
What I said must have been unexpected by no one at the table, because I saw them all looking at each other as if they had just been fooled.
"Is that all you want?"
"Yes, sir. Not only do I hate them, but I want to turn this war into an opportunity for my future."
"You want to gain experience?"
"That's right."
Houdhin waited for a while without saying anything, thinking.
Apparently, he had expected something more extreme, just like all the other dwarves at the table.
"Is there anything else you want?"
"I want to get back the things that were taken from me when you found me."
No one made a sound at this. They didn't even seem surprised compared to my previous request.
They probably checked everything inside the dimensional ring I had stolen from the warehouse. They must not have found anything suspicious, because there is literally nothing.
"The artifacts you used were badly damaged, so even if you take most of it, you can't use it. Nevertheless, we will fulfill both of your requests."
Houdhin turned his head slightly to his right and his eyes fell on someone sitting at the table, someone I knew.
The dwarf I looked for in the war but could not find.
"Darbal, test how skilled a warrior our guest is and place him in a suitable regiment."
The dwarf named Darbal nodded his head in agreement and looked me over briefly, maintaining the slight smile he had always kept on his face.
He was a well-built dwarf with black hair and brown eyes. His black hair was long and a bit tangled, but it suited him. His eyes were full of life, as befits someone who is always smiling.
He could have been the brightest person in the room. Yet he was wearing a soldier's uniform, which made it clear how high his rank was.
He was a general.
If only I could have found him in the war... things would have been really different.
"Understood."
With the answer he got, Houdhin turned to me again.
"If you don't have anything else. We would be happy for you to tell us what you know."
I smiled and nodded my head in agreement.
Then I began to tell him most of what I knew, in a limited way of course.
Obviously, I can't tell them everything I know. Because I can't explain it.
If I tell everything I know, I will be seen as a seer, rather than someone who is simply supposed to have read a few archives.
I don't want that, and I don't want the war to end too quickly. At least for now.
So, I won't tell anything except a few cities that the South Holar plan to attack in the future, one or two of their secret bases, and a few other details.
*******
For a little less than ten minutes I told a lot of things to the top officials of the North Holar, pretending that what I knew from the game I had seen in the 'archives'.
In this way, when it seemed that I had finished, I fell silent and silence fell on the table.
"Make copies of everything that has been recorded and classify the files with the highest level of authority, then we will create a plan and a program for all of this."
"Ahem..."
Everyone at the table turned to me at once, I had interrupted them just as they were about to nod in response to Houdhin's words.
"I have one last thing to say, and it's really, very important, sir."
Houdhin frowned, not liking the atmosphere I had created. So did everyone else at the table.
"So much so that I would prefer no one else to hear what I have to say except the two of us."
A dwarf pounded his fist on the table.
Another immediately interjected, disagreeing with what I had said.
Someone else tried to quiet the suddenly heated table, but in vain.
The whole table was suddenly at odds, the noise filled the room, but it didn't matter to Houdhin.
"Be quiet."
With those two words, which cut through all the noise and echoed in the ears of everyone at the table, the dwarves fell silent as if time had stopped for them. Those who were standing took their seats, those who seemed angry forced themselves to calm down.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. It must be one of those things that come with being legendary and frightening.
Houdhin tapped something on the table, and I saw the eyes of the dwarves in charge in the room twitch.
"No one will hear what you say, say it."
I nodded obediently, then took a deep breath and made direct eye contact with Houdhin.
I hope he doesn't order my death or something...
"South... They know about the 'weapon' you are preparing, or rather trying to prepare, for Caleuche."
For the first time in all my time in this room, I saw Houdhin's eyes widen. The legendary dwarf suddenly lost all his legendariness and for a moment he looked like a truly bewildered old man.
The other dwarves at the table were stunned. Even though they hadn't heard what I said, it was the first time they had seen the legendary president make such an expression, so they understood the seriousness of the situation.
"And do 'you' know about this?"
Houdhin was only just coming to, he looked like he had been hit by a car. But he pulled himself together as fast as he could.
If he was going to order my death, it would be after I said this...
"Yes, sir, I know about Project Durandal and what you're trying to do."
Houdhin sighed deeply, for the first time breaking his unchanging posture and looking more serious than ever.
Hah, he won't kill me. Hooray...
"How much do they know?"
"They know you haven't been able to complete the project, so they are more aggressive than they have been lately. They're scared."
He took his eyes off me and narrowed them, like he realized something and was thinking. Yet he was still unaware that I still had more to say.
"Not only that, they know what you lack to complete the project. That's why they are trying to prevent it. Likewise, I also know."
How many times can a man be surprised in his lifetime? That aside, a man like Houdhin Gargel, who is always serious and has been through so much...
I got the answer to that with the question I asked.
Houdhin froze where he was, he looked at me with widened eyes again, and he was literally struck by lightning.
The man was changing from shape to shape, probably for the first time in his life.
"Tell me, then..."
I nodded, then continued.
"You need virgonium. As much virgonium as possible. The materials you are using are not sufficient enough."
Virgonium is one of the rarest materials available on Lunerra. It is also the metal that interacts most efficiently with mana. Its durability is also very good... That's why it's even more valuable than diamonds in this world.
And even though it is hard to find, it is not a material that a country like the North Holar cannot obtain after a long struggle.
"Of course, there are also the runes you use. You need something more complex. Instead of trying to improve your runes, try to develop a new one that fits the system. Finally, you need to try to change the nature of the sword directly, instead of adding to it like you try to do with runes. This is the most important part. Just because you're using a legendary sword, you shouldn't be afraid to work on it."
Houdhin nodded at everything I said, then finally sighed and leaned back slightly.
"You didn't lie... I'm going to trust you and pass on what you said to the people working on the project."
I smiled, if what I said made even the slightest change in the minds of those genius dwarves, they could solve the problem with the project.
"I understand, sir, and I will keep my mouth shut about the project. I think you already understand how much I hate the South Holar."
Houdhin nodded at me, then touched something on the table, as he did when he was deafening everyone, and quickly interjected himself before anyone else could speak.
"This concludes our meeting with our guest Aiden Tenebra. He will continue to recover under our care and will join the army when he is well enough. Any objections?"
No one spoke up, what Houdhin was doing was a so-called vote. No one dared to challenge him anyway.
So, the decision was made. The doctor, who had been waiting behind me, deafened by now, took charge of my wheelchair again. He turned me around and led me out through the door we had entered in the first place.
On the way back to my patient room, I smiled, happy that I had gotten everything I wanted for now, and left myself alone. When I was put back in bed with the help of the nurses, I closed my eyes, not caring about anything.
Everything went well today... I want to get some rest.
And I need to recover as fast as possible if I want to fight.
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