A sea of stunned, dirty faces stared back at Kazuto. The silence was thick, broken only by the muffled, angry thumps coming from the floating barrier cubes.
The old dwarf who had bowed straightened up slowly. His eyes, a sharp grey like the ore he'd been carrying, scanned Kazuto up and down, lingering on the unmarked package, the strange blue fabric, the lack of any weapon.
"A… delivery guy," the dwarf repeated, his tone flat with disbelief.
Kazuto's professional facade wavered. He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit. "Look, I'm as lost as you are. More, probably. I just… couldn't stand there and watch."
He gestured vaguely at the trapped overseers. One guard had given up pounding and was now sitting cross-legged inside his cube, looking profoundly bored.
"What… what are these?" another dwarf asked, creeping closer to tap a knuckle against the barrier holding the head overseer. It made no sound, but the overseer inside flinched.
"Containment units," Kazuto said, using the closest term he could think of from work. "Temporary holding. They can't get out."
« NOTICE: [DIVINE OMNI BARRIER] INTEGRITY AT 100%. DURATION: INDEFINITE. HOST CAN DISMISS AT WILL. »
At will. Right. He focused on the cube with the main overseer. In his mind, he pictured the barrier vanishing. Nothing happened. The overseer snarled silently at him.
How do I work this thing?
He tried a different approach. He thought, Barrier off.
With a soft shimmer, the golden cube dissolved into motes of light. The overseer, who had been leaning against the wall, fell forward with a yelp, landing face-first in the dirt.
The other dwarves jumped back, raising their empty hands as if to fight.
The overseer scrambled up, fury reigniting in its eyes. "You'll die for this, surface scum!" It lunged.
« NOTICE: RENEWED HOSTILE INTENT. »
« RE-APPLYING [DIVINE OMNI BARRIER]. »
Fwump.
A new cube snapped into existence around the creature, this one smaller—just big enough for it to stand in. It smacked its forehead against the new, inward-facing wall with a dull bonk.
Kazuto winced. "Yeah, I'd stay in there if I were you."
He turned his attention to the other trapped guards. He focused and dismissed their barriers one by one. As each cube vanished, the guard inside looked around, saw their boss trapped again, saw the dwarves staring, and saw Kazuto watching them. Without a word, each one dropped their weapon, turned, and simply ran into the forest.
In less than a minute, only the head overseer remained, imprisoned and fuming.
The dwarves watched the retreating guards, then looked at Kazuto with a new kind of awe. He hadn't killed anyone. He hadn't even hurt them. He'd just… made the problem leave.
The old dwarf stepped forward again. "I am Doom," he said, thumping a fist against his chest. "Of the Shattered Anvil clan. Or… what's left of it." He gestured to the heavy iron collar around his neck. All the dwarves wore one. "The lock is magical. Keyed to the overseer's will. Break it, and it… well, it breaks our necks instead."
Kazuto walked over to Doom. He examined the collar. It was a solid band of dark iron, seamless, with a single, dull gem set in the front. It looked crude but felt unnaturally cold.
A safety seal on dangerous cargo, he thought. But the cargo is people.
"The key is its will, you said?" Kazuto asked.
Doom nodded grimly. "A command from it releases us. Or its death… kills us all. A fail-safe from the Seat."
Kazuto looked at the cube. The overseer was watching them, a nasty smile creeping back onto its face. It understood the dilemma.
Kazuto walked right up to the barrier. He met the creature's gaze. "Release them."
The overseer spat, the spittle hitting the inside of the barrier and sliding down. "Never. They are property of the Black Phoenix. You have no idea what you've meddled with, worm. She will burn this forest to cinders to reclaim what is hers."
Kazuto felt a flash of anger, hot and sharp. But anger wouldn't solve this. This was a faulty lock mechanism. He needed a workaround.
« ANALYZING FOREIGN ENCHANTMENT: [COLLAR OF ASHEN BINDING]. »
« NATURE: SOUL-LINKED COMMAND TRIGGER. DESTRUCTIVE FAIL-SAFE. »
« PROPOSED SOLUTION: ISOLATE COMMAND SOURCE AND NEGATE FAIL-SAFE SIMULTANEOUSLY. »
The voice was thinking with him. It wasn't giving him a power; it was giving him a method. Isolate and negate.
He looked at the collar, then at the barrier. An idea, absurd and simple, formed.
"Doom," Kazuto said, not looking away from the overseer. "This might feel strange."
« ACTIVATING TARGETED [DIVINE OMNI BARRIER] AND [ABSOLUTE RESCUE PROTOCOL] SYNCHRONIZATION. »
He focused. He pictured a barrier inside the existing cube. A second, smaller cube, forming just around the overseer's head, sealing it off from its own body and the outside world completely.
At the exact same moment, he pictured the connection between the collar's gem and the overseer—a thin, invisible line. He imagined snipping it and instantly moving the collar's mechanism to a state of harmless, permanent 'off'.
The world seemed to hitch.
A small, clear box appeared around the overseer's head like a bizarre helmet. The creature's triumphant smile vanished, replaced by muffled, panicked confusion as it was cut off from all sight and sound.
Simultaneously, every single iron collar around the dwarves' necks gave a soft click.
The dull gem in each collar flickered and went dark, like a dead lightbulb. Then, with a sound like cracking ice, a thin, hairline fracture appeared across each band. The collars didn't explode. They simply fell apart in two neat halves, clattering to the ground.
Doom gasped, his hands flying to his throat where the cold iron had been for three long years. He felt only his own beard and skin. He looked down at the broken metal at his feet, then up at Kazuto, his eyes shining.
A wave of similar sounds and disbelieving touches swept through the group. Whispers turned into joyous shouts. A young dwarf started crying, hugging another.
Kazuto dismissed the small 'head' barrier. The overseer blinked, looking around, disoriented. It saw the broken collars on the ground. The nasty smile was gone, replaced by pure, undiluted terror. It understood its leverage was gone.
"You… what are you?" it whispered, pressing itself against the back wall of its cube.
Kazuto ignored it. He had a more pressing issue. Thirty-odd freed dwarves, no supplies, and a very angry 'Black Phoenix' who would presumably send more than just overseers next time.
He turned to Doom, who was now watching him like he was a mountain that had just spoken.
"We can't stay here," Kazuto said, his voice all business. "Is there somewhere safe you can go? A hidden village? Another clan?"
Doom's joyous expression dimmed. He shook his head. "The Seats have hunted the free clans to near extinction. There is no safe place. Not in any kingdom that fears their wrath." He looked around at his people, then back at Kazuto. A stubborn hope hardened in his eyes. "But… you made a safe place here. For a moment."
The other dwarves had gathered around, listening. They looked from Doom to Kazuto. They weren't looking at a warrior or a king. They were looking at a man who had, without raising a fist, given them back their necks.
Kazuto followed their gaze to the single, remaining barrier cube, with its terrified occupant. A temporary, impermeable holding cell.
A safe place.
He looked at the package in his hands. The word "FRAGILE" seemed to glow. He thought of his skill's full, ridiculous name: [Boundless Mercy: Kingdom of Eternal Refuge].
A wild, impossible, utterly logistical idea began to take root. It was a terrible idea. It was a headache waiting to happen. It was the exact opposite of a quiet life.
Doom took a deep breath. "Master Kazuto. You have no people here. We have no protector. We are skilled hands—miners, smiths, builders. What is your… delivery?"
Kazuto looked at the expectant, desperate faces of the dwarves. He looked down at his own two hands, one holding a box meant for a world that didn't make sense.
He let out a long, slow sigh, the sound of a man accepting a drastically revised route.
"I guess," he said, "I'm setting up a new distribution center."