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Whether he should marvel at the magic of Eldrad that had rendered his steel-like physique into this state, or at the resilience of his body for being relatively unscathed after facing such powerful magic, was a puzzling matter. Normally, injuries of this magnitude would result in serious disabilities.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been injured like this.’

Repenhardt looked down at his paralyzed legs with a calm expression. By the standards of Gym Unbreakable, this was not considered a serious injury but rather ‘just right after a sparring and beat training session’. Before awakening his aura, he used to live with injuries of this extent every day, so there was no reason for him to be surprised.

‘With this condition… if I use aura to realign the shattered bones and flesh and enhance my healing abilities, I should be able to get up in about three days.’

While manipulating his aura, Repenhardt looked around.

‘But where am I?’

It was a small room. The walls made of granite were smoothly polished, and only a thin curtain was placed on the door side. What was peculiar was that the ceiling was quite low, suggesting that Repenhardt would have to bend over significantly if he were to stand up.

“This must be…”

Something dawned on Repenhardt as he inspected the bed he was lying on. The bed he was sitting on was made by stacking four small beds together. It was too wide to be a child’s bed and too short to be an adult’s. And Repenhardt knew exactly who would use a bed of this size.

“As I thought…”

It was then. He sensed someone approaching and soon after, someone parted the curtain and entered.

“Oh? You’re awake.”

Looking at the owner of the voice, Repenhardt instinctively nodded.

It was as he had expected. There was only one in the continent who would use a bed of this size.

A dwarf.

Dwarves, the sons of the earth, with an average height of around 140 centimeters and shoulder width exceeding one meter, are compact yet solidly built.

The dwarf who appeared after parting the curtain had white hair and brown eyes, his chest covered with a lush beard typical of a dwarf, he inquired about Repenhardt’s well-being.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Ah, yes. Somehow…”

Repenhardt inadvertently bowed his head and looked at the person in front of him.

Based on the beard’s length and fullness, he seemed to be at least three hundred years old, an old dwarf. To humans, all dwarves might seem to have bushy beards, bulging eyes, and round, flat bodies, but it wasn’t hard to tell their age once you knew what to look for.

Regardless, it was clear they had saved him. Repenhardt expressed his gratitude politely.

“Thank you for saving me. I apologize for any trouble I’ve caused.”

The old dwarf waved his hand with a warm smile.

“Ha ha ha, think nothing of it. My name is Hetos.”

“…Repenhardt.”

Even as they introduced themselves, Repenhardt felt inwardly flustered. Such exchanges would not be awkward among humans, but…

‘What’s going on? Why is the atmosphere so pleasant?’

Given the current situation on the continent, it was almost impossible for dwarves to harbor good feelings towards humans. It was rare for dwarves to save dying humans. Perhaps these dwarves were just naturally good-natured. Still, it seemed unlikely for them to look so favorably upon him.

Moreover, the goodwill didn’t stop at mere looks.

“It might be hard for you to get up yet… Can you eat something?”

“Yes? Yes…”

“That’s good. Miss Tilla, please bring what we’ve prepared.”

Hetos called out beyond the curtain, and shortly after, a dwarf woman with a cute demeanor entered the room carrying a large tray. She appeared to be in her early teens if judged by human standards, but a crucial difference made it clear she was a dwarf woman.

‘Seeing her chest, she’s of marriageable age.’

Dwarf women often maintained a youthful, petite figure into middle age by human standards, only their chests becoming fuller as they aged. This is why some humans with unique tastes sometimes took young dwarf women as concubines. Though, the demand was not very high.

Anyway, for dwarves, it’s beards for men and chests for women! That’s the easiest way to distinguish their ages. There’s no sinister motive behind Repenhardt stealing glances at the chest of a woman he’s just met out of the blue.

“Ah, you’ve awakened. That’s good. Please eat.”

A dwarf woman, known as Tilla, placed a tray on one corner of the bed with a gentle smile. On the tray, there was a large bowl filled with barley porridge.

“Th-thank you.”

Bowing his head once again, Repenhardt continued to be perplexed.

‘Dwarves aren’t supposed to like humans, so what’s going on here?’

It would also be absurd to ask those who were treating him well, “Why are you being so nice to me?” Feeling awkward, Repenhardt picked up a spoon. As he began to eat the porridge, Hetos, looking pleased, opened the curtain again and left the room.

“I shall go and bring the elder then.”

His question was immediately answered when an old dwarf, referred to as the elder, appeared.

“Oh! Have you awakened? The savior of our tribe!”

“…Savior?”

The white-haired old dwarf’s name was Gelpheid Delphistone. He was the elder of the dwarf tribe staying here and a priest serving the Al Fort. Listening to his explanation, Repenhardt immediately understood why they had been so friendly towards him.

About six years ago, a prophecy from Al Fort was bestowed upon the High Priest of the dwarves.

“A being with a body of steel and supreme knowledge, who will appear riding the tears of the north wind through the path of darkness, follow him. He will be the one to twist fate and bring salvation.”

In simpler terms, it meant that a big and smart fellow would float down through an underground cave in ice water, and they should rescue him and treat him as their savior.

The High Priest secretly informed all the dwarves across the continent of this prophecy, and every dwarf who had a cave in their dwelling connected to a river kept an unblinking watch. This place had an underground cave connected to a river as well, so Gelpheid had been setting a watch in that cave every winter for six years, waiting for someone to appear. And finally, last night, a large human came floating down, and they joyfully rescued him.

“Haha…”

After hearing the explanation, Repenhardt rubbed his forehead and let out a hollow laugh.

He had grasped the situation immediately.

‘Wow, Al Fort, you’ve changed your tune already.’

If the prophecy was given six years ago, that was exactly when Repenhardt was reincarnated into this timeline. It meant that as soon as Repenhardt appeared in this time, Al Fort acted immediately.

‘Such a quick response. You’ve messed up once but still willing to vouch for me. A benevolent, no, a gracious god.’

Repenhardt chuckled at this situation that transcended causality. This explained why these dwarves welcomed him, a stranger, with such open arms. It had been the same in his previous life.

Despite feeling a bit hopeful, I decided to repeat the question I had asked before.

“Even so, to trust and treat a complete stranger based on that alone—do you mean to say that’s what happened?”

As expected, the same response I had heard in my past life came back.

“Would Al Fort ever speak insincerely?”

The dwarf elder, Gelpheid, replied with unwavering confidence in his eyes. Repenhardt didn’t press any further and inwardly expressed his gratitude to Al Fort. After all, even for someone like Repenhardt, had he continued to be submerged in ice-cold water with his injuries, it would have been hard to guarantee his survival.

‘Thank you for believing in me once more. I’ll do better this time.’

Gelpheid rose from his seat. As he was leaving the room, he spoke in a gentle voice, “It’s not good to have long conversations in front of the patient. For now, rest well and take care of your wounds. We’ll talk more later. I’ll leave Tilla here with you, so if you need anything, just let her know.”

Tilla smiled brightly and sat down on a chair next to the bed. Repenhardt expressed his thanks and began to eat his porridge again. He needed to improve his physical condition as soon as possible.

‘At least, I need to recover enough to move around on my own two legs. Surely, I should be able to take care of my own needs?’

Even though he intellectually knew Tilla was an adult woman, her appearance was that of a young girl (excluding certain aspects). He wasn’t brazen enough to ask her to help with such personal matters.

Repenhardt quickly finished a bowl of barley porridge and held out the empty bowl with a longing tone in his voice.

“Could I have some more porridge, please?”

“You eat well. Just wait a moment.”

With the face of a young girl but a mature woman’s smile, Tilla took the empty bowl and left the room. Repenhardt laid back down and began to manipulate his aura, healing his body while lost in thought.

‘Now that it’s come to this, I’m worried about Sillan and Siris. I hope nothing’s happened to them.’

* * *

Early in the morning, on a street filled with morning sunlight in the domain of Viscount Kelberen.

Under the sun that was no different from any other day, an entirely different scene was unfolding.

“Chase them!”

“Catch the thief!”

A group of knights was leading numerous soldiers, rushing through the streets. And above them, on the rooftops of closely packed two-story houses, two figures were running frantically. A beautiful elf girl with platinum blonde hair and pointed ears visible through her short hair, and a boy with long red hair being led by her hand, frantically following behind.

As the elf girl, Siris, reached the end of the roof, she stretched out her hand.

“Grab my hand, Sillan!”

“I already am!”

Sillan replied almost screaming. Siris immediately pulled him onto her shoulder and leaped forward.

“Ha!”

With a light shout, the slender elf girl jumped across to the opposite roof, carrying an even more slender boy. Feeling a vast sense of weightlessness, Sillan muttered helplessly.

“No, I am still a man, after all… being lifted like this…”

Naturally, from his position on Siris’s shoulder, he could see the knights fervently chasing them down the road below. Seeing them pursue with such vigor, Sillan muttered helplessly.

“Normally, you act as if you know everything about the world, but in the end, we got caught, foolish Mr. Repen. I had a bad feeling about this.”

Sillan and Siris, waiting for Repenhardt to return, had to welcome uninvited guests before dawn even broke. Soldiers from Viscount Kelberen, along with the Tenes Knights, came to the inn to arrest the thieves’ associates. In such a rural domain, outsiders were rare, and someone of Repenhardt’s size was even rarer, so it was impossible to hide their association. The soldiers immediately surrounded the inn and stormed into the room where the two were staying.

Fortunately, neither of them was asleep. Thanks to Siris’s foreboding feeling, both were prepared to leave. Although it was a sudden attack, it allowed them to escape from the inn immediately.

The two continued to run, jumping from one house’s roof to another. Precisely, Siris was the one doing the jumping, while Sillan was merely carried along, but that did not mean Sillan was entirely a burden.

“O Philanence, watch over your servant, make her leap endlessly like a mountain goat!”

Whenever Siris struggled, Sillan would relieve her fatigue and infuse her with vitality through his holy spells, while also amplifying her jumping ability, significantly aiding their escape. Instead of running on his weak legs, being carried and diligently casting holy spells was far more efficient.