CHAPTER 253: REASON

A dwarf in Watopia. When Ethan glanced at Hydroscale, he also had a surprised expression.

“Why is there a dwarf here…”

The dwarf turned around.

“Another human has come. But did only one come? I heard they were bringing a large reinforcement, tsk.”

It was a dwarf with a long beard twisted and tied like a pretzel.

Stern-looking eyes and nose.

And a shiny scalp without a single hair stood out in contrast to the lush beard.

“Are you taking this matter lightly?”

The dwarf snorted and went straight ahead.

“It seems the situation is unfolding strangely.”

Hydroscale couldn’t answer Ethan’s words. He didn’t know anything about this situation.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know anything right now.”

“It’s alright. We’ll find out when we meet them.”

When Hydroscale, who had finally arrived at the reception room, said he had brought reinforcements, the huge door opened.

“You can go inside. I’ll be in the waiting room, so please find me if you need any help.”

Ethan entered the reception room, leaving Hydroscale behind. The decorations, furniture, and Watopia’s unique luxurious style stood out.

The rather large reception room was packed with people.

Fish-men guards lined up on both sides. At the end, the King of Watopia was sitting in front of a round table.

To his left sat an old man wearing pure white clothes and a small hat, and across from him sat a dwarf with bushy gray beard and gray hair.

‘That’s the King of Watopia. Next to him is Frederick Beecham, the Pope of the Holylight Order.’

The dwarf across was the one he had suspected.

‘Sigma Roadhammer, the Great Hammer of Tartaros, the city of dwarves.’

Sigma Roadhammer was the king of Tartaros, the city of dwarves.

He was one of the strongest dwarves, having been elected three times as the dwarf who was best at hammering among the dwarves, and continuing to hold the throne.

‘Why is Sigma here?’

Ethan had experienced obtaining equipment made directly by Sigma several times in MePan. As a result, he had quite a favorable impression of Sigma.

However, this was the first time he was actually meeting him.

Sigma was a powerful figure in Tartaros as well as a worker who personally led many of Tartaros’ affairs.

He was so busy with public and private matters that he was a person who couldn’t be met outside of Tartaros.

Yet here was Sigma in Watopia.

Ethan couldn’t understand. He had originally thought that dwarves didn’t like water very much.

“Who is it?”

The three power holders had been talking around the round table, and their gazes simultaneously fixed on Ethan as he entered.

Ethan bowed his head in greeting.

“I am Ethan Whiskers. I’ve come to help Watopia at Hydroscale’s request to solve the calamity that has occurred in Watopia.”

“So you’re the reinforcement. But… did you come alone as the reinforcement?”

Ethan nodded at the Watopia King’s words.

Pope Frederick beside him smiled at Ethan.

“Ethan Whiskers, I didn’t expect to meet you here like this. You might not know, but I know you well.”

“Your Holiness, it’s an honor to meet you like this. Who in the Holy Empire wouldn’t know Your Holiness?”

The Pope smiled kindly at Ethan’s words.

Ethan was a talent that the Holylight Order was also keeping a close eye on.

“Do you know this human?”

“I do know him, Sigma. He’s an extraordinary young man. A youth who has achieved many things at a young age.”

The Pope spoke about Ethan in response to Sigma’s question.

“Oh ho, he seems quite an interesting human. You said he’s lived just over 20 years? Then he’s practically a baby. To have done such things at that young age.”

Sigma glanced at Ethan. Then, suddenly fixing his gaze, he spoke in a puzzled voice.

“Hm?”

His eyes were fixed on the two swords attached to Ethan’s waist.

“You have good swords. I can tell just by looking at the scabbards.”

Sigma grinned.

“You recognize them right away. I’m Ethan Whiskers.”

Ethan held out his fist. It was a dwarf greeting. Sigma laughed heartily at the unexpected gesture.

“Wahahahaha! I’m Sigma Roadhammer. I’m the Great Hammer leading Tartaros. But your greeting is quite natural, where did you learn it?”

Greetings appropriate to each race are very useful for raising favorability. That’s why Ethan remembered the greeting methods of all races.

‘This is basic stuff.’

Sigma bumped his huge fist against Ethan’s fist.

“I have a dwarf acquaintance. Thank you for welcoming me so warmly.”

“The situation has become messy. From what the Pope says, you seem qualified enough to sit here too. Reinforcement who came to help our Watopia, sit across from me.”

Ethan naturally sat at the round table.

-Your reputation increases!

‘Of course it would increase.’

Ethan smiled ever so slightly as he sat down, small enough not to be seen.

This round table was a place where only those with strong power and the ability to handle that responsibility could sit.

To think he would sit in such a place.

It seemed like just yesterday when he nearly died from coughing once due to Extinction. The situation gave him a strong sense of how times had changed.

‘It’s a good feeling of achievement.’

But Ethan had no intention of being satisfied with this ambiguous state.

This sense of achievement he was feeling now was not the final destination. It was merely a passing milestone.

“So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what you were talking about.”

As Ethan naturally brought up the topic, the three leaders looked at him.

“You must have just arrived in Watopia. But you must have seen various things on your way here. So I’ll explain just the essentials briefly.”

The King of Watopia spoke.

“There is a god in this sea that has long protected Watopia. Though we call it a guardian deity, it’s not a real god, you could say it’s more of a guardian spirit. It has lived longer than us.”

But that guardian deity of Watopia started to fall ill.

“Its sacred aura turned black and the smell of rot began to spread everywhere. We quickly investigated the cause. But during the investigation, another anomaly occurred.”

Cracks appeared and monsters began to pour out through them.

“Monsters from the deep sea invaded Watopia. At the same time, our guardian deity, who was investigating the anomaly, began to rampage, losing its reason.”

The King of Watopia was convinced that all of these events were happening according to someone’s plan.

“Our guardian deity helped us until just before completely losing its reason. The guardian deity’s last words were that someone with pitch-black aura and blue eyes was behind all this.”

The King of Watopia tried to both find the culprit and somehow resolve this situation.

But as you can see, the result was a failure. They couldn’t find the culprit, and the situation was getting even worse.

“Many citizens have been harmed by the ever-increasing cracks. It has become a situation that I can no longer resolve on my own.”

‘Watopia is an isolated place. It’s not that the King of Watopia and the merfolk are incompetent. The Apostle has laid out the plan well.’

“So that’s why Your Holiness came as reinforcement.”

“That’s right. The King helped our order 30 years ago. So I came to repay that debt. But it’s not easy. We keep looking for the culprit but it’s difficult to find, and we’re barely managing to block the cracks right now…”

“We are grateful for that alone, Lord Frederick.”

Before the Pope came, Watopia wasn’t able to properly deal with the cracks at all.

Those who could use magic and divine power tried to block the cracks, but they were often overwhelmed by monsters and poison.

Blocking the cracks was entirely thanks to the Pope’s divine power.

But this was only a temporary measure.

To block the constantly appearing cracks, they needed to find and eliminate the root cause.

‘So that’s why they called for separate reinforcements.’

One question was resolved. But another question remained.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask one thing. Why is Lord Sigma Roadhammer here?”

Why is Sigma, a dwarf, in Watopia?

Did they perhaps ask Sigma for help as well?

“Why, you ask? I don’t know why I’m here either.”

Sigma sighed.

“These cracks didn’t just appear in Watopia. Cracks appeared in our Tartaros too. I came to Watopia through that crack.”

“Are you saying that the cracks are connected to each other? So Tartaros and Watopia are connected, and monsters are coming out from another connected place?”

“You understand that in one go, you have good comprehension. I thought it was nonsense at first.”

Sigma gripped the round table strongly.

“It’s not just Watopia’s problem anymore. That’s why I had to come. It’s a problem we need to solve together. Even if I hate water, what can I do? Water might come in through those cracks.”

‘It can’t be a coincidence.’

Tartaros, the city of dwarves, and Watopia, the city of merfolk, connected by chance? That’s impossible.

‘What are those followers of the Moon aiming for?’

There must be a reason for connecting the cities of two races.

“First, we need to eliminate the continuously occurring cracks. I’ll try to do something about it, so don’t worry.”

“…If we don’t eliminate the root cause, won’t the cracks keep happening? I’ll try to find it somehow too.”

The meeting ended without much progress.

‘First, I need to find and eliminate the cause of the cracks. At the same time, I need to catch the Apostle of the Dawn Council who is behind all this.’

“Mr. Ethan, we are infinitely grateful that you came to help our Watopia.”

After the meeting, Ethan was officially recognized as Watopia’s reinforcement and was assigned lodging.

It was a magnificent lodging.

‘The Pope’s and Sigma’s rooms are on either side. This is definitely VIP treatment.’

After being assigned a room, Ethan decided to meet the Pope first.

After all, the original reason Ethan came here was to meet the Pope.

As he was heading to the Pope’s room…

Ethan felt a powerful divine force at the end of the corridor.

As if entranced, Ethan approached and discovered a space sealed by countless artifacts and magic.

No, it was ambiguous to even confidently call it a space.

Because there was no entrance at all.

‘This… is the energy of a holy relic.’

Ethan had already experienced obtaining a holy relic in the underground warehouse of the Felix family. Because of that, he remembered the unique aura emitted by holy relics.

“Could it be…”

Are they trying to take advantage of the chaos in Watopia and Tartaros to steal the holy relics possessed by both races?

‘Many have died in this incident. They’re also harvesting souls to use as sacrifices while they’re at it.’

If that’s the case…

At that moment, Ethan sensed a presence behind him.

“Ethan.”

“…!”

Pope Frederick.

He looked at Ethan with a slight frown.

“Are you really Ethan Whiskers?”

The Pope asked a question with an incomprehensible meaning.

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