"So biiiiggg……"
"This is…… quite breathtaking……"
After progressing for about an hour, we"ve finally reached the foot of the "super gigantic dwarf statue."
Leid is currently standing right beside me, with his mouth open just like mine. I had thought his towering stature of 2m was huge, but this is on a whole different dimension.
If I remember correctly, the large Buddha that I had once saw at Nara was about 18 meters in height. This is much larger, probably more than 30m altogether.
(T/N: He"s referring to the statue in the Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) in Toudai-ji, a famous Buddhist temple complex in Nara. It"s the place with tons of deer roaming outside. The statue"s height is actually only 14.98m, according to Wikipedia.)
Looking up close, I see that the design is that of a curiously symbolic dwarf. The statue has a barrel-like body, round and large head, thick and long arms, and short legs. The entire thing looks to be made of polished stone.
"This is unbelievable……"
"Awesommeeee……"
"How on earth did they made something like this?"
The three newcomer soldiers are awestruck.
After coming out of their forest, they first got to see Forest Giants, then now a stone giant…… They sure are busy.
Go go go go.
Like so.
Accompanied by a deep rumbling that reverberates to our stomachs, the statue above us begins shifting its upper body.
"It"s moving again……"
"Even the torso can rotate?"
Indeed, this stone statue is not simply large in size. As if it is exercising, it also throws its hands and feet around, and also rotates its neck and body. However, it is not a golem nor a monster (Claura confirmed for us that there is no magic being used).
"I find myself amazed anew every time I see it again. I"m glad that you two also seem to have taken a liking to it."
For some reason, Irudo is looking kind of proud.
When I think about it again, he"s surely been to Senpu Village numerous times in the past for business, so he must have known about this statue ahead of time.
"Rather than having taken a liking, I think I"m more…… taken aback."
"Was it the dwarves who built this?"
"Yes, that is correct. Apparently, it took them 15 years to complete it."
"The fact that it"s moving…… Are those what"s generating the dynamic force?"
After Leid"s question, Irudo next nods in response to mine.
More like, Leid sure is talkative today. Usually he"s taciturn and just stays silent the whole time.
"That is also correct. Through some mechanism, the rotation of those water wheels transfers the force to the statue. I"m afraid I am not familiar with the exact details……"
"However, with the size of those water wheels, how can they generate enough force to move the statue?"
Behind the dwarf statue, there are four water wheels almost 4m in height. They are all lined up beside an aqueduct reaching out from the rocky mountain over yonder, spinning gracefully due to the water flowing down.
I myself was satisfied just knowing that that"s where the force was being generated, but Leid is pa.s.sionately questioning Irudo.
"It was a long time ago that I heard the explanation, but apparently they"re using gears or pulleys or something like that."
"Hou…… dwarves really are amazing."
Now the statue is beginning to raise both hands (it seems like it would take about 30 minutes for it to complete this motion). Staring upwards, I mutter to myself while feeling thoroughly impressed.
"If it"s gears and pulleys, even we War Tribe are using them."
Something must have to come his mind, as Leid takes out the crossbow that had been on his back alongside his greatsword.
It"s my first time looking intently at a War Tribe weapon. Not just the body, even the bow and string are made of metal. There is a handle that apparently needs to be wound to draw the string.
"...... I…… see?"
"......"
I agree that the weapon looks powerful indeed, but I"m puzzled as to why he"s taking it out at this timing. But then I notice Irudo standing behind Leid and making meaningful eye contact. Me, Leid, crossbow, dwarf statue —his gaze is busily rotating between those directions……
Ahhh, so that"s what he"s trying to say?
"Looks like the War Tribe"s technology prowess is just as advanced as the dwarves". Very impressive indeed."
"Fun…… The War Tribe"s technology is for fighting Shadow Demons, after all."
While muttering something incomprehensible, he returns his crossbow to his back. Is he perhaps being bashful?
"...... So why did the dwarves go to the trouble of making this distasteful statue? What meaning does it hold?"
Claura finally opens her mouth after having stayed silent up to now.
"Well, I"ve also asked that question myself, but……"
Upon asking about the meaning of this stone statue, the answer that the dwarves of the Daroun clan had given him was apparently "Meaning? There"s no meaning at all. We just wanted to make something awesome."
"I, I guess it kind of serves as the symbolic landmark of Senpu Village……?" (Irudo)
"Mm, they seem to be quite the romanticists." (Gio)
"...... Muu." (Leid)
The dwarves" high technological prowess is one thing. I find myself also very much impressed with their way of thinking of that "we will make this thing simply because we want to make this thing." They are not simply engineers, but also artists. In a way, that"s almost like a n.o.ble……
Leid also nods with a somewhat satisfied expression.
At which point —
"...... What is that even supposed to mean? These dwarves seem to be quite a strange lot, don"t they."
"It is as you say."
Claura and Leiha appear unable to comprehend, and are simply giving us and the dwarf statue cold stares.
♥♦♣♠
As the aqueduct stretched straight towards Senpu Village, there was no need for any clearer guide. We simply followed it, and our destination just naturally drew closer to us.
After seeing the landmark "super gigantic hydropower dwarf statue," we won"t be surprised by much else……is what I would say, but actually it"s more like I was excited about seeing what the next amazing thing would be.
"Ugoooohhh……"
"...... This is……"
Looking up at Senpu Village, Leid and I have once again been struck speechless.
From far away, it looked like a rocky mountain. But "rocky mountain" it is not. Rather, "mountain made of rock" is much more correct.
As for the design…… I think the painting The Tower of Babel by the artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder is close. Overall, it is like a short and wide trapezoid, separated into about 20 stories.
The issue is its size.
Having come this close, the top is no longer visible even when we look upwards.
The structure doesn"t actually reach the clouds, but it is no exaggeration to say that its height is on par with a high rise building. At the very least, it is more than 100m tall.
"So freaking biiiiggg!"
"...... Awawa……"
"This is too amazing……"
Ted and the new soldiers are quivering, but I"m sure we are no better off.
We-, well it"s like how Pharaoh Khufu"s pyramid is about 140m tall, I guess?
(T/N: He"s referring to the Great Pyramid of Giza, which is 146.5m in height, according to Wikipedia.)
As the representatives of technology in fantasy worlds, it shouldn"t be surprising for dwarves to be capable of making something like this, but ……
"Man it"s huge! Seriously, this is just…… huge!"
"...... Umuu……"
Anyhow, all men are weak against gigantic things.
Me, Leid, Ted, and the others are completely acting like kids from the countryside who has come to Tokyo on a school excursion.
"How long are you guys going to keep staring? The sun is going to set soon."
"My lord, it appears that the entrance is over that way."
For Claura and Leiha, it"s just business as usual.
♥♦♣♠
"So you must be Margils-sama. We"ve heard everything from the Daroun clan."
Senpu Village"s front gates also turned out to be quite large, reaching almost 10m in height. It is currently thrown all the way open.
Wagons packed with logs and stone are pa.s.sing to and fro through the gates, alongside large numbers of merchants and soldiers. The air is br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy.
After finding the guard station located in front of the gates, we called out to it, at which a dwarven guard who managed to seem quite sociable despite wearing heavy armor came out to receive us.
"Glad that makes things quick. May we go in then?"
"Of course, of course. But please wait a second, we"ll hand out your recognition plaques now."
Together with the guard, several officials had also come out of the guard station. All of them have a curious box the size of a mikan box fixed to their body with belts.
(T/N: Mikan means "mandarin orange." The term "mikan box" is basically a cardboard box for storing mikan. Many places use the term as if it"s a standard box size, but officially, it"s actually a standard box type (nowadays more commonly called "A Type"), and there is a certain degree of allowable variance in size. I"ve seen anything from 380W x 320D x 280H to 440W x 320D x 320H, but well, it"s somewhere around there.)
Recognition plaque?
I have a feeling that the next bit of dwarven technology is coming right up.
"Um, so, you are Margils-san. You are Irudo-san. How about you? Alright, Leid-san, then Claura-san, then Leiha.n.a.luka-san……"
The officials are going to each and every one of us, asking for our names and then fiddling with the tool fixed to their bodies. When I take a peek, I see that there is a part with keys exactly like a typewriter that they are punching with their fingers.
Gotsu gotsu, gotsu. Every time the officials. .h.i.t a key, the sound of something hard being hit resounds from the inside of those tools.
"......"
"What do you think they"re doing?"
As I am politely but quite excitedly waiting for what is going to happen next, Leid comes up next to me and asks me with unsuppressable curiosity in his voice.
He sure has gotten talkative after coming here.
"Please wait just a little bit longer…… Yep, done."
"Margils-san, here you go."
The official in front of Leid draws out a metal plate from his tool and hands it over. The others and I are also handed a plate each.
I take a close look at mine. It is a roughly A5-sized silver-colored metallic plate, with its surface tightly packed with b.u.mps about 5mm in size.
Threaded on a rope, it is apparently supposed to be kept on our person at all times, hanging from our necks.
"Could it be that these b.u.mps were made with that tool what you are carrying?"
"Yes, that is exactly right!"
The official nods happily.
According to his explanation, these b.u.mps are kind of like a secret code that only dwarves from Senpu Village know. On these "recognition plaques" pa.s.sed out to every visitor is the person"s name and physical characteristics. In other words, they are effectively ID cards.
Furthermore, there is also a characteristic unique to each person that only dwarves can spot recorded on these plaques, so any imposter trying to use someone else"s plaque would be seen through immediately.
On top of that, these plaques are so incredible that they can even be used as a form of credit card, and there are also machines that read them to control access to various high-profile areas.
Most likely, these b.u.mps are something similar to Braille or Morse code, where a key is needed to be able to read the information. That much I can deduce, but the exact details I have no idea about.
"Man…… dwarves are seriously amazing……"
"They sure are……"
Before we knew it, Leid and I had totally hit it off, exchanging our recognition plaques with each other and staring closely at the plaques and the officials" tools.
"...... Goodness, so this is what it means when they say that men will always be children."
"Haah, I suppose……"
"Leiha, just in case they all become lost children, make sure to keep a firm eye on them, alright?"
"That"s…… yes……"
It seems that our enthusiasm did not get through to any of the ladies.
To get started with Disqus head to the Settings panel.
Chapter 69: The Miraculous
Senpu Village
Volume 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~