Chapter 43: The Miser and the Oath

"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"

As the frantic bells rang out, the crowds packing the streets of Grimstone fell silent and looked around in confusion.

But they didn’t have to look around for long.

Because as the bells rang, more than a dozen squads of dwarven soldiers came pounding down the streets toward the town gates.

They were in such a hurry that they shouted as they ran.

"Move, move, out of the way!"

Some of them, when people couldn’t get out of the way in time, even shoved them roughly aside.

They were so rough that everywhere they passed was left in chaos, with chickens flying and eggs smashed on the stones.

"What are you idiots doing?"

Hearing the bells, Bilkin, who ran a small smithy, poked his head out of his precious shop.

"Dear Sabo, by beard and by ale, please tell me what in the world is going on here?"

Bilkin called out to Sabo, a distant cousin of his who served in the town guard, trying to find out what was happening.

It was about two in the afternoon, the busiest time of day in Grimstone, the region’s trading hub.

Bilkin had hoped to sell a few more weapons and pieces of armor during the big market. This chaos had clearly ruined that plan.

"Bilkin?!"

Drenched in sweat, Sabo recognized him.

He usually couldn’t stand his ridiculously stingy cousin, but at a time like this, blood was still thicker than water, and he chose to quietly tell him the truth.

"Get back in your shop and stay there!"

Sabo pulled off his helmet and glanced left and right. Seeing that plenty of people were staring at him in all sorts of ways, he forced his voice down.

"Didn’t you hear the bells? We’re under attack!"

"Under attack?"

Bilkin shook his head, puzzled.

"Those stupid goblins again? They actually dare to attack a town?"

"I never thought you lot would be scared of goblins now. Honestly..."

Grimstone wasn’t a big town, but it was a dwarven town.

And a dwarf’s love of stone didn’t stop at gems and gold. Walls and blades were things they were very good at too.

Since no truly strong packs of monsters had ever shown up near Grimstone, many dwarves like Bilkin, whose families had lived there for generations, had no idea what the outside world was really like.

In their peaceful little heads, any monster that attacked was either something like goblins, or wild beasts like wolves.

Neither one was any threat to Grimstone.

"You really are a fool!"

Sabo covered his face, then helplessly shoved Bilkin back into his shop and spoke very seriously.

"Didn’t you hear the bell ring five times?"

"Five rings means that at least, remember, at least five hundred monsters have formed an army to attack our home!"

"Only an enemy that big gives our lord reason to ring the great bell five times. Understand?"

"Forget it. Just watch yourself and don’t go running around."

"I have to go fall in!"

With that, Sabo jammed his helmet back on, grabbed his short sword and shield, and ran toward the walls.

Back inside, his shop door locked tight, Bilkin’s face had gone gray. He had never been through anything like this.

In all his long years, he had never once imagined his home could really be attacked.

But seeing how tense Sabo was, the shrewd smith knew Grimstone might be in serious trouble this time.

"It’s over, it’s over..."

"If even an idiot like Sabo can get into the town guard, Grimstone’s probably finished."

Realizing how serious it was, Bilkin didn’t hesitate. He decided to grab his valuables and run.

But just as he hurried behind his counter to pack up every bit of gold and silver he had saved, he realized he had a very serious problem.

Until he solved it, he couldn’t bring himself to run.

So what kind of problem could matter so much to Bilkin in the middle of a crisis?

Food and water? Something to do with survival?

No, no. Everyone’s got it a little wrong.

Bilkin wasn’t thinking about how to escape a monster horde when the town was walled in on every side, and he certainly wasn’t thinking about food or survival.

What the shrewd but foolish dwarf was actually thinking about was...

"Should I pack the beautiful diamond jewelry first, or the lovely gold, or maybe the silver coins..."

It was an incredibly stupid problem, but Bilkin was truly thinking about it.

Not that he needed to think about it for long. Less than two minutes later...

BOOM!

CRASH!

With a huge impact, an iron cage slammed into the roof of Bilkin’s house and punched a gaping hole through his rafters.

"Aaaah!"

By the time Bilkin, who had dived under the table clutching his gold and silver, looked up again, all he could see was a monster more than half his height crouched on top of his counter.

It was an Imp. Karolith’s poison mist had driven it into a frenzy that would never end.

Rank drool kept dripping from the corners of its mouth, and all four of its claws were tearing restlessly at everything around it.

And in the eyes it turned on Bilkin, there was nothing but hunger and cruelty!

"Aaaaaaah!"

Clutching his gold and diamonds, Bilkin screamed like a frightened girl.

He had only just understood how serious things were, and he still couldn’t understand it. How, in less than two minutes...

How could Grimstone’s walls, a little run-down but still solid, have become completely useless and let a monster like this into his home?

What on earth had happened outside the walls?

---

What had happened outside the walls?

Bilkin, whose shop had just been smashed, wasn’t the only one wondering.

Every dwarf in Grimstone was asking the same question as Imps came popping up all over town.

Where was the town guard? Where were the ones who had sworn before the Three Dwarf Kings to protect them?

Had those cowards abandoned their home and run away?

No. The truth was this.

The dwarven town guard hadn’t run. In fact, they had fought very bravely.

They had never broken their oath to protect their home.

But the very thing that had let the Imps break into town so quickly was that same oath!