Chapter 129

Chapter 129
## Chapter 129

### Interlude (1)

“Are you telling me the Tourail Trading Company requested a deferment on their payment for the bituminous coal?”

“Y-yes, sir…”

“And you simply agreed to it?”

“B-but I didn’t just give in blindly! I made sure to charge interest based on the extended deadline, and I even managed to secure a larger percentage of our future joint ventures…”

“Tsk, you still haven’t learned a single thing! You care about interest? Future joint ventures?”

Inside the primary office of Hubert’s Trading Company, the diminutive Dwarf in charge was currently bellowing at a nervous merchant.

A handful of other merchants who had gathered to present their operational reports could only watch in silence. Meanwhile, Howard, who had been practically radiating fury, forced himself to draw a long, deep breath to steady his voice before continuing more deliberately.

“Whew. You are well aware that bituminous coal is an absolute necessity for the refining process, correct?”

“…Of course, sir.”

“And you are fully cognizant of the current state of affairs up in the north.”

“…Yes.”

“Yet, despite knowing all of that! You willingly parted with a resource that is practically considered a vital military supply during this time of war, and for what? Interest? You’re talking to me about interest?!”

His attempt at maintaining a calm composure dissolved almost instantly, and his voice escalated into a roar once more.

Iron served as the foundational building block for manufacturing weaponry, and bituminous coal was the indispensable fuel required to forge high-grade iron. This meant that with the current explosion in weapon production due to the conflict, there was an endless line of buyers willing to pay immediately.

Yet, this merchant had accepted standard interest rates and a vague, non-binding pledge of future considerations just to hand over the product—all while risking a complete freeze on their liquid capital because of unpaid invoices. It was a blunder that made Howard’s blood boil.

“…There is simply no way a professional merchant could be ignorant of such fundamental economics.”

Howard, whose face had turned a deep crimson from his outburst, muttered softly under his breath as he leveled a piercing glare at the subordinate bowing deeply before him.

The presence exuded by Howard, who by all rights should have just carried the aura of a typical Dwarf artisan, seemed to expand and completely dominate the room, wrapping the office in a suffocating layer of tension.

“It looks to me like you took advantage of Hubert being away to try and line your own pockets. Tell me, did you think I would be an easy mark?”

“N-no, sir! You have it all wrong… That is an absolute misunderstanding…!”

“We will see exactly what it is once a proper audit is conducted.”

“W-wait! Master Howard! Please, just hear me out…”

At a sharp gesture from Howard, the waiting guards stepped into the room and dragged the protesting merchant out, plunging the office into a temporary, heavy silence.

“What are you all staring at? We are short on time, so let us proceed with the remaining reports immediately!”

The quiet did not last long.

After listening to the rest of the merchants’ updates and issuing a series of decisive operational directives, Howard finally brought the tense gathering to a close.

“I will be taking my leave now. Unless an absolute crisis occurs, handle the daily operations using your own judgment and submit your logs afterward.”

Only after Howard’s heavy footsteps faded down the hall did the remaining staff of Hubert’s Trading Company finally let out the breath they had been holding.

“Whew— Good grief, it feels exactly like dealing with the company owner himself.”

“You noticed it too? To be honest, when they first placed an unfamiliar Dwarf in the position of the owner’s legal proxy, I had my doubts…”

The merchants of Hubert’s Trading Company spoke in hushed whispers as they filed out of the room.

It was only natural that they had initially felt a wave of skepticism upon learning that Howard had been abruptly installed as the acting head following an unexpected incident that forced Hubert to depart. After all, a complete stranger of a Dwarf had suddenly dropped into their hierarchy as their direct superior.

How could a group of seasoned merchants, who had dedicated years to building this enterprise from the ground up, genuinely respect and follow an unproven outsider who was suddenly dictating the company’s daily functions?

Of course, none of them were reckless enough to voice these grievances out loud, especially given that Harley had been the one to introduce him.

“Still… he definitely seems to be in direct communication with the company owner. The directives he handed down just now sound exactly like the strategies the owner would implement.”

“Honestly, I was deeply anxious at first. I was worried that the owner’s sudden disappearance was part of some elaborate internal coup to hijack the business… But looking at how things are being handled, it seems we can put our worries to rest for the time being.”

The only reason they were obeying Howard’s commands for now was because Harley, who effectively functioned as the co-CEO, had personally endorsed and appointed him to the role. Even so, the staff kept a vigilant watch over every move the proxy made. They couldn’t help but wonder if this entire situation was a coordinated plot by an outside force to seize control of the firm.

Yet, Howard did nothing but work tirelessly to keep the company running exactly as it always had, showing absolutely no desire to skim profits or siphon off assets. The absolute most he did was request a variety of raw materials to be sent down to his private workshop. But even that was entirely above board, given that Hubert had granted him explicit permission to do so from the very beginning.

“Setting that aside, do you think Kaol actually accepted a bribe from the Tourail Trading Company?”

“Ugh— It might be a bit early to declare it as a fact, but the entire transaction smells incredibly fishy.”

“The man has absolutely no fear.”

“You can say that again.”

The merchants shook their heads in collective disapproval, clicking their tongues at their colleague’s foolishness.

They could understand how a person might give in to greed with the primary director away, but actually executing such a scheme under the current circumstances was practically suicidal. Furthermore, Harley had issued explicit warnings regarding these exact matters.

Right now, the absolute highest priority within the commercial sector of Tarak was ensuring a steady flow of supplies to the Iron Fortress, which was effectively functioning as the front line of the war. Consequently, intelligence from the front was being delivered in real time, and the primary topic on everyone’s lips was Harley’s recent, near-mythical feats on the battlefield.

‘On top of that, the security forces of Tarak are making a visible show of patrolling our perimeters and keeping a protective eye on our operations, so making a crooked move right under their noses is pure insanity.’

To be fair, Kaol seemed to have anticipated the risks to some degree, crafting a plausible cover story to make it look like an administrative oversight rather than outright embezzlement… But just as Howard had pointed out, acting in such a manner was equivalent to treating the leadership as fools.

‘He wasn’t merely echoing the owner’s past directives today. That crushing authority he displayed… I need to go back over my own accounts immediately to ensure I haven’t overlooked a single detail.’

The merchant, completely humbled by the display, hurried back to his station to meticulously review his ongoing assignments. He was far from the only one experiencing such thoughts.

Thus, despite the prolonged absence of Hubert—.

A combination of Howard’s rigorous management and the formidable reputation of Harley kept the trading company functioning like a well-oiled machine.

—

“Ugh, Hubert needs to wrap things up and get back here as fast as possible! I am losing an immense amount of valuable time like this. Yet, I can’t exactly let his entire enterprise fall apart out of neglect!”

Howard muttered a string of complaints to himself as he stepped across the threshold of his private workspace.

He was currently tethered to the tedious duties of running the commercial house due to a chain of unavoidable developments, even though his actual objective during this period was to exploit the temporal variance to absorb as much modern technical data from Earth into his own mind as he could.

Granted, when looking at the actual ratio of time compared to Earth, the hours he dedicated to managing corporate problems were relatively minor, leaving the vast majority of his days free for workshop labor… But every single passing moment felt incredibly vital now that he was attempting to construct his technical foundations entirely from scratch.

‘And even with a ten-fold difference in the passage of time between worlds, the actual mental process required to truly internalize a concept is vastly different from merely memorizing a set of blueprints.’

Because of this logistical bottleneck, he had fallen significantly behind on his projected daily milestones. He would have to apply himself with absolute focus moving forward if he wanted to close the gap.

“Right then! Shall we get to work for the day?”

Having changed into his rugged blacksmithing attire, Howard rolled out his shoulders with a quick stretch and stepped up to the furnace, which was already radiating a steady, intense heat.

It was an advanced magical forge designed to maintain its internal temperature automatically even during his prolonged absences, equipped with built-in safety mechanisms to eliminate any risk of an accidental fire. Thanks to his willingness to spend money freely, the entire facility was outfitted with similar high-end conveniences. Every single amenity was chosen for a solitary purpose: allowing him to dedicate his undivided attention to mastering his craft.

‘Let’s see, I need to bring the heat up a bit more.’

Howard gauged the thermal output by holding a hand slightly above the opening of the forge before tossing in a precise measurement of coal with practiced ease. The sudden spike in temperature rapidly stabilized, settling exactly at the targeted level he required for his work.

‘Spot on.’

It was an impressive display of control for someone who had only taken up the hammer a short while ago, but to him, it didn’t feel like an achievement worthy of praise.

‘The sensory perception of a Dwarf is fundamentally operating on an entirely different level compared to a human. There is a very real reason the world refers to them as a race of natural masters.’

Skills that human apprentices had to spend decades refining through grueling trial and error were things a Dwarf could execute purely on raw instinct. He could read the exact thermal fluctuations down to a fraction of a degree simply by studying the coloration of the flames and feeling the ambient air against his skin.

By merely balancing a piece of coal in his palm, analyzing its density and composition through touch alone, he could instantly calculate precisely how much the core temperature of the forge would shift once it was added to the fire. The inherent understanding of a tool’s optimal center of gravity the moment his fingers wrapped around a smithing hammer, alongside the vivid structural details transmitted through his palms when touching raw ore, were biological advantages humans simply could not replicate.

Born with an innate, delicate precision in their hands and blessed with naturally robust physiques, Dwarven smiths began their journeys miles ahead of any human competitor. Attempting to judge their progress on the same scale was almost unfair.

‘Well, I can certainly be glad that I ended up in the body of a Dwarf for this rotation.’

He shuddered to think how many years it would have taken him to make any meaningful progress if he had been forced to start completely from zero without these racial gifts… A deep wave of appreciation washed over him once more toward Zaonic, who had selflessly handed over his personal pickaxe, Elinne.

“Excellent! To begin, let us focus our efforts on smelting this raw iron ore!”

Howard threw himself back into his regimen, systematically organizing the bituminous coal, limestone flux, and various supplemental materials stacked neatly along the perimeter of the workshop.

The industrial and scientific data he had pulled from Earth was being absorbed by his consciousness like water rushing into a parched sponge. Blueprints, video footage, and technical manuals that he had reviewed across various formats were now being systematically reconstructed by his own hands, transforming abstract data into physical muscle memory.

Clang! Clang—!

Deep within a secluded forge that the rest of the world had yet to notice, a master artisan was quietly and steadily carving out his path to greatness.

—

A gentle, luminous radiance washed over Hubert, who lay bound to his sickbed, letting out an occasional low groan of discomfort.

The specialized application of Auterica Holy Magic, saturated with dense restorative properties, washed through his system to mend torn muscle fibers and re-energize his exhausted frame.

‘This recovery process is moving along far quicker than I anticipated. I should be back on my feet in about twenty-four hours rather than being bedridden for days on end. It seems I underestimated my own resilience.’

The healing of his wounds—which had been successfully downgraded from a fatal blow to a survivable critical injury thanks to the intervention of Instant Death Immunity—was progressing at an astonishing rate. The overlapping effects of Heinrich’s high-tier restorative spells working in tandem with Super Recovery produced results that bordered on the miraculous.

In truth, the only reason he had initially braced himself for a protracted period of convalescence was due to the historical data he possessed regarding Heinrich’s past injuries.

Heinrich possessed a phenomenal physique forged through unparalleled physical conditioning, the absolute favor of divine blessings, and the exact same passive trait of Super Recovery. Yet, even with every single one of those optimal variables working in his favor, Heinrich had still required nearly a full month of absolute rest inside the sacred halls of the Roselia Cathedral following his apocalyptic duel against the Immortal King Hans.

Taking that into consideration, it was only logical to assume Hubert would require even longer to heal, given that his current physical baseline was notably lower, and the magical healing being applied to him was of a lesser grade, save for the shared presence of Super Recovery.

‘But I failed to take into account the sheer disparity between a standard injury and the wounds inflicted by the Immortal King.’

While both situations could technically be categorized as life-threatening trauma, the underlying nature of the damage was entirely different. Unlike Heinrich, whose recovery had been severely bottlenecked by a malicious, lingering death curse that actively corroded his life force, Hubert’s physical body had merely suffered localized structural damage—his heart and surrounding organs had been severely ruptured.

‘Granted, that sounds incredibly lethal on paper… But because Instant Death Immunity triggered, the damage was contained to severe internal organ trauma.’

And that specific type of physical trauma could be rapidly repaired when subjected to the intense combination of Super Recovery and divine restoration. At this rate, he would be fully prepared to send Hubert back to the lands of Auterica the exact second the dimensional teleportation array completed its recovery cycle.

“Hmm, the moment Hubert departs, I’m going to be stuck dealing with that incredibly tedious assignment all over again…”

I glanced down at Hubert, who was resting horizontally while systematically scrolling through the glowing interface of his tablet using nothing but a single index finger, a flash of annoyance bubbling up inside me.

The assignment in question was, of course, the ongoing process of transferring comprehensive metallurgy and crafting theories directly into Howard’s mind.

While Howard’s consciousness was capable of instantaneously ‘comprehending’ the data the moment it was processed, the physical act of managing that data transfer remained an absolute chore. There was simply nothing enjoyable about sitting perfectly still for hours on end, forcefully packing an astronomical volume of academic data into an avatar’s brain.

‘When I’m operating standard avatars, I can easily filter out those feelings of monotony by routing them through Mind Hub, meaning repetitive labors don’t drain me. But in this specific setup, I have to endure the sheer boredom using nothing but my raw, unshielded focus.’

To be fair, my overall mental capacity had already been elevated far beyond the limitations of an ordinary human through multiple successive upgrades, but the practical benefits felt entirely negated at the moment. The reason for that was simple…

‘I currently have eight distinct bodies operating simultaneously across different locations.’

And with the sole exception of Hubert, every single one of those entities required an immense amount of active mental concentration to navigate their respective environments. On top of that, they were constantly forcing themselves to adjust to the temporal shifts between entirely different dimensions. Even though Mind Hub functioned as the central pillar of his setup, maintaining the cognitive barriers required to prevent mental degradation and contamination was a constant drain on his reserves.

Mental energy was a commodity that always seemed to be running critically low, regardless of how much he expanded his capacity.

‘There is only a single definitive path forward to resolve this bottleneck.’

Fortunately, just as it always had, a clear path toward a breakthrough lay right before his eyes. It required him to push the growth of his foundational ability to the next level and manifest an entirely new proxy.

The cultivation of an Avatar remained his absolute best option.