A big man was sitting facing an open window.
His blonde hair, untrimmed and untied, fell in disarray over his broad shoulders. He was dressed in an aristocratic style. However, his listless, half-open eyelids, combined with his hairstyle, made him look like a hermit.
The territory he is looking at is the territory of Varis. It is a frontier ruled by an old nobility of the Kingdom of Asgard.
The Lord’s Mansion is built on a small hill and overlooks the city. Washed by the mid-afternoon sun, the walls formed a gentle ellipse. The glittering outside the castle walls is due to the sunlight reflected on the adventurer’s weapons. The adventurers ride in carriages that goes back and forth between the city gate and the dungeon, bringing in magic stones and materials.
“So you are here, My Lord.”
Even when he was called out, the man’s dry eyes did not move in the slightest.
“I’m glad to see that you’re well.”
A woman with a hood pulled over her eyes entered the room. Her black hair curls like a snake, and her bright red tongue licks her plump lips. The woman brushed the dust from her journey off her black robes.
“I’ve come back from the Royal Capital in a hurry. I want to tell you about it directly than by letter. There is a potential slave for you.”
The man finally moved. He nodded faintly.
“……By the way, where is Lord Varis?”
The big man’s eyes turned to the next room. Through the half-open door, a man’s feet were visible. It doesn’t even twitch.
The woman sighed. Putting her hand to her cheek.
“My lord…. Since you killed him, then we must find another place to hide.”
It was clear that the woman was not distressed by the death of the man lying on the ground.
“Let me report first, Gideon has resurrected Skoll from the dungeon. But there is a boy who can awaken the gods…… Wolf bone Skoll can’t come.”
“I know.”
The man finally spoke.
“I heard the horn blowing.”
The woman pulled her chin.
“……Yorh. I’m sure you’re ready for the next step.”
“Yes. I sent a letter to Gideon in the Royal Capital through the Varis family, so if we continue like this, they’ll find us. Either way, it’s time to move on from this territory.”
The woman called Yorh chuckled.
“It’s true that ‘seal’ is a troublesome thing. Since we’re affected by it as well, we need human collaborators to dive into the dungeon to intervene with it…… Even if we have the means to release the monsters, we can’t do anything if we can’t get close to them after all.”
So, in order to come into contact with humans and negotiate with them, they needed to assume the ostensible position of “slave traders” —that was the explanation Yorh and the others had always given the public.
“But—”
Yorh laughed.
“Even easier to deal with are the nobles of this country. As we had the ashes that could break the seal on the dungeons, it’s very easy to curry favor with the Varis family.….”
The big man recalls a very simple situation in which Lord Varis welcomed the slave traders. With the “titan’s ashes” that can break the seal on the dungeon in his hands, the fallen lord soared into power.
However, the Lord’s restraint in using the ashes was only at the beginning. In the past few months, monsters have grown stronger, and more adventurers have been killed. At times, monsters even roam outside the dungeon.
“Maybe it’s at least a blessing that the Lord died before the dungeon spewed out an infinite number of monsters……”
The man neither denied nor affirmed. He stared out the window with unchanging eyes.
“……The Lord challenged me.”
“Oh dear~. I guess he wanted you to put out more ‘ashes’……?”
“It was a boring Spearmaster skill.”
The man holds his hand in the air, and light appeared in his palm.
“Look. This is the mediocre skill I stole from that creature.”
He held it to his mouth and then he took a bite on it. In the blink of an eye, the light disappeared into the man’s mouth, it was as if he is devouring a fist-sized fruit.
“……Not enough.”
The man puts his hand on his left chest. His fingers grasped at his clothes as if searching for the position of the heart.
“My heart…… Where is the ‘Power of Creation’?”
“I have my eye on it. The boy with the horn must have something to do with it… That’s what I think, which is why I rode back here in a hurry.”
“How do we take it away?”
“We’ve scattered puppets made by the dwarves in the Royal Capital’s dungeon to disrupt them.”
The man nodded.
“…..Skills that humans can use to a certain degree aren’t that great.”
“I know that too. But the kind of satisfactory skills My Lord is looking for can’t be measured by human values –they’re found among what they call ‘useless’.”
Humans only value things with obvious strengths, like 『Master Swordsman』 or 『Sage』. However, some of the skills that God has scattered are difficult for humans to comprehend. Humans call it “useless.” Because they can’t use them, therefore, they can’t understand them.
However, it is often these skills that are truly powerful when mastered. They leave a lot of “divinity” behind, and could fill the man’s stomach.
“Don’t worry My Lord, we will continue to collect such slaves….…”
Yorh bows and turns her back on her master.
“All the best, Ymir-sama.”
The primordial titan -Ymir, stared intently at the cityscape and the hazy greenery behind it. His right arm groped for where his heart should be.
Ymir was one of the first people born in the world. He doesn’t have a family, he doesn’t have companions. As a part of him is lost, he had no choice but to get it back.
“I’m hungry.”
Looking for his heart that should be beating, Ymir gazed into the distance, in the direction of the Royal Capital.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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