So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

The Tral Clan had already fallen.

I established a new Sunglasses Clan instead.

Truth be told, I didn't think sunglasses could completely protect the dwarves from fire.

But at least it would be better than squinting.

"Still, don't look at fire with naked eyes. If anyone freezes up, slap each other's cheeks immediately."

They reviewed the action guidelines once more.

The dwarves divided into two groups.

Dunkel, Manjin, and Tral. These three.

And the rest of the dwarves with Helmut.

The two groups would each have different tasks.

Though their tasks differed, they had one goal.

To subdue Blue Beard who was entranced by fire, and to extinguish that evil flame causing it all.

Helmut shouted.

"Handle the explosives carefully. Think of it as instant death if you drop them!"

The young dwarves following Tral turned pale.

They each had backpacks heavily loaded with explosives.

"Will it really explode immediately if we drop it?"

"Just think that it will, you idiot!"

"Yes, sir!"

Despite missing one arm, Helmut was quite terrifying.

With such an excellent veteran soldier leading that side, there shouldn't be any problems.

Rather, this side was more worrying.

"C-can I really handle the role of leader?"

Dunkel asked thus.

After serious consideration between Helmut and me, we decided Dunkel would take the leader role.

Being a leader wasn't anything special.

Standing at the front, commanding in response to rapidly changing situations, and handling dialogue when situations arise.

No, come to think of it, it's not a light role at all.

Helmut walked up to stand before Dunkel.

He took out something like a dirty sock from his chest.

And put it on Dunkel's head.

"It's the hat Blue Beard wore when he was young."

Ah, so it wasn't a sock.

But why did that old man Helmut have it?

"It suits you much better."

"...Yes."

Dunkel made an expression like he didn't understand.

I who was listening had a similar impression.

"Don't worry."

Finally, it seemed Helmut was trying to encourage Dunkel.

"What could be worse than all of us dying if you fail?"

Right, that's true.

I patted Dunkel's shoulder.

"You can do it!"

'Let's go!'

Tap tap tap, now, enter the players.

==

Even in a mine that could never be called pleasant.

The dwarves were always full of energy.

Whether during hard labor, or drinking after finishing work.

The dwarves would always sing.

But such singing hadn't been heard for days.

Neither the kang-kang sound of pickaxes swinging, nor the tung-tung sound of hammers striking rang out.

There's a saying that only dead dwarves stop working.

In that sense, the Red Anvil Mine might already be filled with death.

Orange flames were scattered throughout the lower level.

Dwarves sat blankly gathered around them.

Three young dwarves wearing sunglasses appeared there.

Though flames that tempted dwarves were nearby, they never once gave them attention.

Step, step, they didn't stop.

They maintained their focus by pinching their thighs and sometimes chewing lemons.

Finally, the group stopped in front of the door leading to the deep level.

"Halt."

It was originally a door Rozena guarded, but now one of the dwarves known as Blue Beard's Five Fingers stood there.

It was the warrior Happy whose nose tip was cut off long ago fighting orcs.

"Dunkel, you punk, where have you been!"

He yelled at Dunkel.

"...Uncle, it's been a while."

"What do you mean it's been a while."

Dunkel carefully asked.

"Uncle... have you also been entranced by the fire?"

"What do you mean entranced?"

The warrior opened his eyes wide as if he'd heard something absurd.

"I'm completely sane."

"I heard you burned the patients."

"That, look, I didn't want to do that either. But what can you do when there's an epidemic? You have to isolate and disinfect as quickly as possible."

"You shouldn't say that. And that wasn't an epidemic. We found a cure too."

"I don't know anything about that. Why do you keep-talking-to-me-like-that you bas-tard!"

The warrior suddenly burst with anger.

Dunkel and Manjin were startled.

Dunkel stopped Tral who unconsciously reached for his axe.

The warrior before them was clearly not in his right mind.

"That's why I came to meet him directly."

"What?"

"Blue Beard, the Mine Lord."

Though his loyalty seemed to remain.

The warrior's excitement subsided.

"The Lord? No way, he hates you."

"That's right, but I still need to meet him. I have something to say."

Dunkel looked at the warrior with a serious face.

The warrior scratched his head as if pondering for a moment.

"Not happening."

He drew his axe.

"You need to see the flame too. I heard you just ran away, but you should see the flame first. It's really amazing."

Why draw an axe while saying that?

However, the situation flowing this way was within expected parameters.

Fortunately, Dunkel could speak before it was too late.

"I found it!"

He pulled out a bucket and chain from his backpack with surprising speed.

It was the Celestium bucket the snake had stolen.

"This is..."

"Isn't this what the snake stole? I found it. I'm going to give this to Blue Beard directly."

"Wow, that snake was incredibly quick, how did you catch it?"

"I ran hard."

"Still, if I just delivered it..."

"I caught the snake too!"

The warrior Happy's eyes grew round.

When he carefully touched the closed bucket.

Bang bang bang!

Something alive thrashed inside.

"Wow this is quite impressive..."

"I want to deliver it personally."

"I suppose that's fair with this."

Good, the persuasion worked.

"Alright follow me. Hey! You, guard here in my place."

The warrior assigned another dwarf to guard duty and opened the door to the deep level.

Hot air burst out.

It was the first time all three had entered the deep level.

Unexpectedly, the most cowardly Dunkel was the boldest while even Tral, the bravest, was tense.

"What are you waiting for, hurry up!"

When the warrior called out, the three quickly followed.

"Phew, was it always this hot?"

Dunkel wiped away flowing sweat.

The deep level was surprisingly hot.

Even for heat-resistant dwarves, it was hard to breathe.

"It's much hotter than before. The fire keeps growing."

"The fire?"

"Yes, the heart of the mountain."

It's not the heart of the mountain.

It's an evil demon's wicked fire.

Dunkel held back from saying what he wanted to.

Those in the deep level wore wet cloths soaked in cooling water covering their faces and bodies, making for grotesque appearances.

These must be the ones who rarely came up, having the most unbalanced nutrition.

They must have had the most cases of scurvy, sailor's disease.