27. Fearless Vampires.

‘How long was I here for?’ Davey wondered. It didn’t feel like a long time, but he wasn’t sure. He often lost track of time and worked for days when he was very focused.

-It has finally come to an end.

“Thanks for waiting.”

-No, it’s fine. It was quite fascinating, so it was worth it, I guess.

Davey tilted his head in confusion as Perserque giggled. He asked, “Fascinating?”

-Well, it’s nothing!

“Ah, what is it? Tell me.” Feeling anxious, Davey scolded Perserque, but she just stuck her tongue out and scattered away. He felt goosebumps coming along as it seemed like she was never going to tell him, but he shook that thought off. Nothing would change even if he kept thinking about it.

Creak! Thud!! Davey slowly opened the workshop’s heavy doors to see a few of the young dwarves dozing off while standing in front of the workshop. They were obviously craftsmen, but it seemed that they stood guard here to keep the place quiet while he worked.

“Hm…” Davey initially thought that maybe he should leave them be, but he immediately woke them.

“Snore… Drool… Huh?” The dwarf woke up as soon as Davey shook him. He opened his eyes in a daze, but quickly widened his eyes to stare right at Davey. He shouted, “Huk!!”

“Did you see a ghost or something?” Davey asked.

“T—Teacher! I’m sorry!”

“Well, there isn’t anything to be sorry about. What are you doing here?”

“That is… Hey you! Stop sleeping and wake up!” Feeling flustered, the dwarf who was talking to Davey beat the other snoozing dwarf to wake him up.

“Hup! Teacher! Have you finished?” The other dwarf asked.

“We were guarding this place in case anyone tried to disturb you!” The first dwarf explained.

“How long was I in there?” Davey asked.

“About four days… Are you okay?”

“Four days?”

“Yes, we were worried since you wouldn’t come out to eat even if we knocked… Ah! I will go and send word to the elders.”

As the dwarves quickly ran off, Davey stood still and stared into space. He had worked through the night before, but he couldn’t believe that he had just hammered for four days straight without eating or sleeping.

-Your determination was similar to that of a madman…

Davey felt strangely nervous, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask Perserque for more details. For four days, or 96 hours, he had focused on his work with no food or sleep. He had survived on just water. If he had stayed a little longer, he probably would’ve collapsed from working too hard. Now that he realized that, he strangely felt more tired than before.

-You should get some sleep.

“I’m still good,” Davey said, but he was pretty tired from pouring all of his energy out for an extended period of time.

“Wow! Wise teacher!”

“You are back!”

The elders had been discussing matters, but dropped everything to come running to Davey. They were like little children running toward a snack.

“Did you make progress?” Davey asked the elders.

“Yes! We made some progress because of the hints you left us!” Like a child, Elder Golgouda proudly showed Davey a large object. It definitely needed some improvements, but it had the potential to become pretty good if some parts were fixed.

“S…. So, teacher. Is it finished?” One of the old dwarf elders asked with caution. No one stopped him from asking; perhaps the others were curious, too.

“Ah, this. It turned out way better than I imagined.” Davey put down the two cloth bundles that were in his arms

The dwarves gasped.

“Wow!”

“This is the final product of the last work of the ‘Thousand-Day Blacksmith’!”

“It’s finally done!”

Before, they looked worn out from studying how to create a new sacred object. But now, they looked completely rejuvenated.

“T—Teacher! Please show us!”

“Ah, man…”

As Davey unwrapped the cloth and the dwarves gasped in surprise, the two swords, which didn’t even have a sheath yet, emitted a faint light and boasted their presence.

“Woah…”

“No way! A sword shining on its own…”

“Is this the armory created by a true craftsman?”

The dwarves were on their knees while they let out astonished gasps. It was as if they were praying to a God. Among them, some had tears in their eyes, as if a devoted person had encountered God.

“To see a work as great as this… For something this great to be created with the material I offered! I have no regrets!”

“Me neither!”

“Wow… Look at that beautiful figure!”

Well, the swords were extraordinary. They were rare and unique, so knights would most likely gladly die for them. The dwarves instinctively noticed the strange power within the swords and wanted to ask Davey about it, but he didn’t give them a chance to.

“I think I need to get some rest. I am human, after all.”

“Ahem!”

“I… I apologize.”

Still, the dwarves couldn’t easily let go of their desires to examine the swords in detail.

* * *

Davey was completely knocked out after his four days of endless work. He only woke up after one entire day had passed, even though he was strong enough to not feel tired very easily. Perhaps because he had put all his strength and energy into making the swords, he had fallen into an incredibly deep sleep.

But after a proper rest, Davey felt super refreshed. He woke up and spent his time relaxing and sharing his wisdom with the dwarves who were racking their brains trying to make a new sacred item.

“W—Wise teacher! Wouldn’t the sturdiness be significantly decreased?”

“Ah, you have to alter the temperature of the flame. You need to adjust the temperature as you work with the tougher metals that also have more mana-affinity than mithril. That way, you won’t risk breaking it.”

“Woah…”

“And Elder Romdhi, don’t try to force layers just by hammering. You have to do it naturally.”

“L—Like this?”

“A little lighter.”

“Ah! Okay! Thank you, Wise teacher! Wahaha!”

They were dwarves skilled enough to be the leaders of a dwarf village. Even though there were some that could not be elders, everyone here was craftsman with highly acknowledged skills. They were all proud of that fact.

Only the most extraordinary craftsmen could become elders, but if someone other than dwarves saw them right now, they looked more like newbies who were beginning to learn blacksmithing. They were just much more passionate.

These dwarves had let go of their pride and were now purely filled with passion. They yearned to learn more; it was as if they had gone back to the time they first held their hammer. And so, teaching them was also quite an interesting and rewarding job.

Dwarves were as stubborn as bulls, but they always repaid their debts. For better or for worse. To them, they owed Davey a huge debt of gratitude. And the more they were indebted to him, the more he could gain from them; it wasn’t a bad trade.

-That’s not how you really feel.

‘I have an excuse to relax and enjoy my life. How nice is that?’

-You are quite easygoing.

‘You have to rest when you have the chance. After all, we’re all doing this to live comfortably, right?’

-I wish I had a body.

Strangely, Davey felt that Perserque would lay around all day and sip juice if she was given a physical body.

As for the situation in the Heins territory, Davey had nothing to worry about since he was getting daily reports from Royal Attendant Bernile through the communication crystal. Since the territory needed another month to really get up and going, all he could do was idly stare at the sky even if he was at the territory right now.

Thanks to the techniques Davey was teaching them, the dwarves were successfully crafting their second sacred item. Everything was going according to plan, so the enormous sword that was the main component of the sacred item began showing its greatness.

The dwarves made everything other than the nucleus and the skeletal structure with their own skills and techniques, so they were extremely proud and delighted. The sacred item might just be a trivial tool to Davey, but it was a new spiritual anchor to the dwarves. They were probably overjoyed at the fact that they were able to recreate the sacred item with their own hands.

There was a high rock cliff that overlooked the entire area from just outside the village. This was where the elders of the Yellowstone Tribe, which was surrounded by rocky terrain, came to grab firewood. It was also a nice place to enjoy the view, perfect for relaxing with a hammock or something.

“Thank you, wise teacher. We dwarves are known to be hot-tempered, but we always repay our debt. We are forever indebted to you.”

As Davey was enjoying the view while munching on a coconut-like fruit, someone approached him and handed him a unique-looking ceramic. It was Golgouda, the highest elder in the Yellowstone Tribe. He greeted the dwarf, “Oh, Elder Golgouda.”

“This is, um… This is a liquor that my brother really cherishes. I heard that you like to drink.”

Quite a long time had passed with Davey sharing his wisdom with the dwarves after he had finished the Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon. In the meantime, he taught them new skills during the day and had drinks with them at night. The dwarves were very friendly to Davey, a human who knew the etiquette of dwarves and the person who gave them a glimmer of hope. Of course, they probably liked him more because he won the Eighth Elder Goulda, the best drinker in the tribe, in a drinking competition.