PROLOGUE: THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER

**Kuro**

I could only stare at Lady Hughes, even after she revealed her secret…

“I am the Dwarf Saint…or to put it simply, I am the person you’ve been looking for back in Chersea. Her Holiness, the Lady Helgath’s spirit ‘rests’ within me.”

Lily and I just looked at our dwarf guide, still unable to accept the fact that our journey was pointless. Our goal had been at our side all along…and only the halfling prince, Giuseppe Uhrian, had the answers to our questions. Nevertheless, the surprises didn’t end there. While the fact that Lady Hughes was the Lady Helgath herself remained in our minds, she picked up a dagger nearby. Then, we followed her hand with an increasing sense of horror as she plunged the blade into the old man’s chest. A stream of blood immediately flowed from his mouth, and his body went limp.

“…”

Honestly, we never knew what we witnessed.

But, for some reason, there was a smile on the Golden Hammer’s lips. And yes, now that I saw it, his face was lighter than it was before, back when he was surrounded by his advisers, and guards.

“Before I left this land,” Lady Hughes began, tears flowing from her eyes, “Louis…we made a promise to each other that I would put an end to his misery the next time we meet again.

That’s why I avoided coming back here.”

There were tons of questions in my mind right now, though I didn’t want to ask for fear of uncovering more ‘scary’ truths. However, Lady Hughes, proving her claim to be the saint, saw through me and answered some of my concerns. “When I passed my god-powers to him, it’s because I genuinely loved Louis. And he did love me…though his passion for ‘justice’ and ‘equality’ for everyone superseded that ‘love.’ And I thought this person deserves to be a god…”

I said nothing. I just let the dwarf speak.

“But I was mistaken. No, my Louis deserved to become a god, though not to this people…” she quipped, with a hint of bitterness in her voice. “The dwarves, once you give them a few freedoms, and they will keep pushing for more. Then, even more, until there is nothing left for you but a thin layer of your personal boundaries. Louis understood that, and he sacrificed himself to bear the burden of governing this race…a burden I should’ve carried.”

With how Lady Hughes phrased it, the Golden Hammer’s predicament was eerily similar to my world. Before I disappeared, the leaders of our countries would force the majority to accept the minority…all for the sake of ‘diversity.’ Now, it should not be an issue to accept others and harmonize with everyone. But, Earth’s matter with this so-called ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ should encourage a culture of ‘acceptance’ and ‘assimilation’ with the larger community.

However, what actually happened was different. Only the complaints and issues of the minorities were highlighted and responded to. Sometimes, those very minorities would cause trouble, and they would get away scot-free. What’s even worse was that these people had no plans to ‘harmonize’ and ‘assimilate,’ only to supplant the community that was there before them. The result? Instead of cooperation and coexistence, there were riots, upheavals, and civil wars…all because some people let their boundaries be crossed.

Freedom goes with responsibilities. Rights with duties. Permission with boundaries. As long as mortals have a personal need, no one can be sure that each person will remain fair…

“I guess that’s it,” Lady Hughes commented. “It’s exactly as how you see it, Kuro. And that’s why I put Louis to rest. He had been abused more than enough, in his fight for everyone’s rights and liberties. And I should carry my load again.”

“Your Holiness,” Lily spoke up. “Pardon my words, but if you’re really the dwarf saint, then you know that the Lord Kuro’s goal of coming here is for you to pass the god-power to him.”

“Yes, I know!” the dwarf replied. “But I am conflicted, Princess! I just killed the man I love because of the very same power you wanted! Aren’t you afraid, too? Your love one is walking the same steps as my Louis, and you’re supporting him like I did when I was in your place!”

“Kuro’s a differen—” I stopped Lily from saying her mind. Not only did I understand Lady Hughes’ sentiments, but I also believed that this was not the time for arguments.

“Thank you, Kuro,” the dwarf lady told me. “I…I can give you my god-power, and I will do it. Just…just let me grieve.”

“Take as many times as you needed, Your Holiness,” I reassured her. “We can wait. In the meantime, we have to get out of this place and bury the Golden Hammer somewhere safe.”

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Now that she had her god-powers back, Lady Hughes—the Dwarf Saint—could shift her form according to her wishes. And since we were at the heart of the enemy’s lair—with a dead body coming with us, she transformed into her most powerful form…

“Lady Helgath!” Lily and I chorused as the dwarf’s body grew a thousand times her original size. The giantess (I don’t think the word ‘dwarf’ fits her description anymore) kneeled, yet her head still reached the ceiling of the Golden Hammer’s throne room, which was unusually high even for grand temple standards.

A testament that the Golden Hammer once conversed with the Dwarf (Giantess) Saint…

Of course, our enemies never watched idly. While we were talking, they positioned and reinforced themselves outside the throne room. In an effort to restrain our movements, fresh battalions of the Golden Hammer’s warrior guards rushed to block the only exit and help their beleaguered comrades.

However…

“!!!”

Her Holiness the Lady Helgath didn’t let the first guard peek into the room. With her hands giving a soft, mint green light, she summoned an enormous wall of basalt rock protruding from the floor. A few of the warrior-guards flew when they got hit; the rest were kept out by the entrance.

“Let’s go!” Grabbing the lifeless body of the Golden Hammer, the Lady Helgath prodded us to hurry.

Of course, between the option of fighting hordes of die-hard worshippers of the dead old man with us and following instructions from a giant dwarf, we’d always choose the latter. But there was a problem…

From where we are, we can tell that it is several floors down.

The throne room, while technically a vast hallway with a grand chair and lots of curtains and carpets, was the ultimate dead-end. Sure, there may be some corridors behind that regal throne and obscure hallways, but our dwarf guide told us that those only led to the Golden Hammer’s private chamber. There were hidden passages as well, though Lady Hughes’ faulty memory made us stay on the safe side of things, and avoid risking our chances of escape through it.

Nevertheless, with her god-powers, the Lady Helgath peered into my mind. She didn’t wait for us to request it; with a single flick of her finger, the Dwarf Sint destroyed the walls of the Grand Temple—made of stone and concrete, effectively carving a way out for us.

“…” Lily and I looked down the grass as we felt the gale-force winds against our faces. I did surmise it was several floors down, but I never expected it would be this high…

“Hey guys!” Her Holiness called out to us once she hopped down. “Have you ever ridden a giant?”

“Ha? Ah, eh?” Of course, we were shocked at the suggestion; not only did we have no prior experience of climbing on a giant’s shoulders, but the person before was a Saint. But as there was no other way out than jumping down, riding on a giantess was our best hope of getting out alive. From a distance, I could see a few warrior-guards of the Golden Hammer gathering a formidable force to oppose us.

“Well then, come on!” The Lady Helgath gently wrapped her hands around me and Lily. She placed us on both her shoulders, saying, “You better not fall! Hold tight; we’re ramming through!”

“H-Huh?” I blurted out. “Wh-What do you mean rammi—whoooooaaaaa!!!” But yes, before I could even hold unto a strand of her hair, Her Holiness bolted and crashed through a blockade set at the temple garden by the warrior-guards of the Golden Hammer.