-Hm, his expression already shows that he thinks this is bothersome. This is unsurprising for such a proud species.

It was expected of a species so stubborn that they didn’t care about being threatened with a knife to their neck. They simply wouldn’t budge in any sort of situation. Just as Perserque said, the old dwarf seemed like he had just let Davey in because Davey was a guest and they had a promise, but the old dwarf didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the situation.

‘Normally, dwarves have many tribe leaders, but it seems that everyone else is absent. He’s the only one here.’

-It’s rare for the leaders to leave the tribe unless it’s for something important.

After Perserque spoke, Davey silently stood in front of the old dwarf and then bowed to him with a distinct hand and body gesture. It was a unique greeting to dwarves and was often used among them. ‘First impressions go a long way, right?’

Davey did have a proposal that would make the dwarves go nuts, but he decided to think it through for a bit more. He thought, ‘Nothing good can come out from creating conflict, since there will be some dwarves who’d become my territory’s residents.’

“May the blessing of the God of Iron be with you. My name is Davey O’Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.”

Perhaps Davey’s greeting was completely unexpected; the eyes of the dwarf elder, who was sitting at the table looking bored, suddenly sparkled. He spoke up. “Huh? Ahem! I’m Goulda, the Eighth Elder of the Yellowstone Tribe. I’m surprised a human knows the greeting used by dwarves.”

“Dwarves are a species of outstanding craftsmen. One would be foolish to not treat those skills with respect.”

As Davey buttered him up without batting an eye, it seemed like Goulda’s expression softened a little. He replied, “Ahem! It’s rare for me to like any human, but I like you. Well, the other grandpa elders are all busy, so I came here instead.”

“Thank you for your time.”

“Since the Rowane Kingdom has done business with our Yellowstone Tribe for a long time, this is the least that I could do.”

Currently, the kingdom was starting to crumble from the nobles’ tyranny, but the Rowane Kingdom had been a pretty good place to live in the past. There didn’t use to be much discrimination based on social status or species, and everyone had shown respect for one another. It was only recently that the nobility, who were led by Duke Bariatta, was running wilder… But they had no reason to provoke the dwarves unless they were idiots. So, thanks to the pleasant impression of the past, Davey was able to enter the dwarf village rather easily.

“Sure. So, what brings a greenhorn prince like you to the village? As you know, most deals happen outside the village,” Goulda stated.

“That’s right,” Davey replied.

“In fact, I believe that the business period between our tribe and your kingdom hasn’t arrived yet.”

Davey quietly nodded at Goulda. “That’s right. According to the contract, the business period isn’t for a few months.”

“Then, what is it?”

“Actually, I have come here to ask for your cooperation on a few different things. The beer and meat in the carts outside are just to show my appreciation.”

Goulda stroked his thick beard, which was tied up. He soon appeared to be bored. “Ahem! I don’t dislike humans that know their manners. And I also don’t dislike your human beer made of barley. However, we, the Yellowstone Tribe, cannot give you the thing that you want.”

“What does that mean?”

Goulda didn’t bother explaining any further. “I can’t discuss any more details with an outsider.” He paused slightly and sighed. Then, he went on. “All I’m trying to say is this: since you have come a long way, I won’t expel you right away. You can stay here for a few days, but I’m warning the others that you will be kicked out immediately if you cause any problems.”

As Goulda stood up like he had nothing more to say, the knights seemed a little angered. They felt that they had been disrespected alongside Davey, whom they had escorted here.

Davey silently raised his hand and stopped the knights from doing anything. He glanced at Goulda, then brought out his authority. ‘[Check Information].’

Beep!

‘Even dwarves can’t escape the authority of the Demon Lord.’

-Name: Goulda.

-Age: 180.

-Sex: Male.

-Species: Dwarf.

-Title: None.

-Status Effects: Tired; annoyed; contemplating.

-Notes: The Eighth Elder of the Yellowstone Tribe, and the youngest.

-Current Emotion: Wants to focus on refining the Primordial Inferno, the divine sword of dwarves; annoyed by the fact he was forced out here to face humans because he is the youngest; a little curious and interested as it had been a long time since humans had entered the village; feeling somewhat friendly to the castor, who knows his manners; thinking that having to host them is bothersome. 

Dwarves generally had a lifespan of 250 years, so Goulda’s age wasn’t particularly surprising.

As the bothered Goulda silently glanced over at him, Davey focused on one thing written on the translucent box in front of him: [Primordial Inferno]. He found it familiar, since he had heard it from the crazy blacksmith who had been married to his hammer.

[There is one thing I made with those guys, but it was a long time ago and I made it when I wasn’t as skilled… Honestly, the quality isn’t so good. Back then, those midgets and I celebrated for days, because we were so proud.]

[Are you asking how outstanding it is? Bring me something that you made.]

[Well, I think it’s about this good. You think it’s funny? There’s no one who masters a craft right from the beginning! Whatever. Hammer already!]

“Then we’ll stay here for a few days. Thank you.” Davey instantly understood what was going on and smiled.

25. Uh, Give Me A Hammer.

The village of dwarves was usually pretty loud. Perhaps to compensate for their small height and size, their rowdy, chattering voices were as loud as a foghorn. And unlike elves, they had lively and vigorous personalities. Most of their days were boisterous.

There were two things that dwarves couldn’t live without: alcohol and gambling. There were some who would gamble everything and be ruined, but these dwarves were a strange species that stopped gambling after reaching a certain limit.

‘That’s probably why they’ve lived for so long.’

Davey, who was being treated relatively well by the dwarves, spent his time relaxing as if he had no regrets. The dwarves seemed troubled by the problem in the village, but he didn’t involve himself and simply gathered information from the outside. Not everything would go the way he had thought; there wouldn’t be anything funnier than if he failed after confidently stepping up.

-Is the Primordial Inferno an extraordinary sword?

“To be honest, it is an exceptional sword by common standards.”

-But to your standards?

“It is something I could make if I had the time.”

The Primordial Inferno wasn’t a sword made for attacking; it was simply the sword that the dwarves worshiped.

Surtr, the ancient hero, and a few dwarf craftsmen had forged this sword, giving it a few abilities, such as harmony, development, and the blessing of the God of Blacksmiths, to make it a significant symbol. There were probably many more abilities aside from these, but Surtr hadn’t gone into the details, and Davey hadn’t taken interest in it either.

To be honest, from the moment the Primordial Inferno had broken apart, it was safe to say that its significance and meaning was already gone. It might’ve been different if Surtr’s techniques had been passed down, but without that, it was simply difficult to mimic his distinct techniques even with a considerable amount of effort.

“I guess the Primordial Inferno is closer to a prototype.”

-Prototype?

“So like… How should I explain this? Ah, I should say that this is the start of Caldeiras. Although the usages are different, the crafting method used is similar.”

That was probably why the dwarves were racking their brains to fix the sword. It was a special method of crafting with mana, and most craftsmen didn’t even think to try it because of their pride and fear of failure. However, this world revolved around both the laws of physics and anti-physics: the laws of physics operated with physical power, and the laws of anti-physics operated with mana, a huge mass of energy. This world consisted of those two laws, and that probably wasn’t any different on Earth.

-It’s the basic theory for mages.

“Whether it be the divine sword or the Primordial Inferno, the challenge is to harmonize those two laws well. Most craftsmen don’t even attempt it because they want to see the limit by purely working with metals.”

‘Of course, there were some oddballs.’

“From hammering to handling ingots, everything about the traditional way had to be turned upside down. Only a sliver of the mana crafting method would be understood even after abandoning all existing knowledge. You think those narrow-minded dwarves would invent it? No way.”

The dwarves weren’t able to do that because they weren’t human, and because their pride was too great and their skills were too excellent.

-Then why is an object as great as that doing here?

“The Primordial Inferno is the first work of the humans and dwarves. It’s made to promote harmony between them. Well, I haven’t heard any details either,” Davey calmly explained, then got up.

-Where are you going?

“We’ve had quite a bit of fun, right? Now, I have to do my job.”

Taking the dwarves back to the Heins Territory was a minor problem; Davey’s main goal was to borrow the Great Furnace that had a concentration of highly advanced skills.

-If that’s what you were complaining about, you could’ve just made it yourself…

“It’d take a long time to make it with the current technology. I will borrow the furnace and the skills, and that will be a pretty good selling point for the dwarves.” Davey chuckled and left the room without hesitation.

When Davey suddenly appeared, the curious dwarf children peeked at him from afar before quickly disappearing. It seemed like humans were pretty unfamiliar to them, since only a few dwarves had actually come into contact with humans before…

-So? I don’t think those stubborn people will easily let you borrow the Great Furnace.

“First…” Davey looked around rather thoughtfully, then started moving after having found something. “Why don’t we go to the tavern first?”

-Alcohol?