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Touring the Dwarf Workshop
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When I woke up, I found myself in the waves of the sheets. I had pushed myself too hard the previous night. It was the first time I had such an intense night. It had only been a few hours since then, so I still felt groggy. As I slowly got up, I could see Mei on the other side of the sheets.
“Good morning, master,” Mei said, also looking drowsy. She looked around with vacant eyes, seemingly puzzled by why the bed sheets were so tangled. Then, as if remembering what had happened the night before, she blushed and hid her face in embarrassment, lying face down.
“Good morning, Mei,” I greeted her.
Mei’s back, illuminated by the morning sun, looked beautiful.
“You have a beautiful back and buttocks, Mei,” I remarked.
I approached Mei, who was lying face down.
“Master… Ah, not there… I don’t like that… Haa… Aahh…”
Mei grabbed the sheets tightly, trying to stifle her moans as her body writhed.
“Is this the spot you like, Mei?” I asked.
“Aahh! Ahaha… Ricco-sama, is teleporting here now…”
“I thought you said you didn’t want breakfast?” I reminded her.
“Well, I thought… Ahh… I’d bring breakfast with me…” Mei replied.
Even if Ricco teleported here, I had no intention of stopping yet.
“Good morning, Lynos. Mei. I brought breakfast. Oh my, what are you two doing naked? Please get dressed quickly,” Ricco said, just as she teleported in and saw me massaging Mei’s back.
We promptly put on our clothes.
“As I thought, breakfast made by Rico and Peyris is the best,” I said.
I declined the breakfast offered by the palace maids and had breakfast with just the two of us. It was simple: sandwiches, salad, and soup, but there were several types of sandwiches and the soup was filled with plenty of vegetables for a healthy meal.
“Mei, what’s the plan for today?”
“Today, I have a meeting with Lord Wusen, the Royal Court Physician, in the morning to discuss future plans. If we have time after lunch, I thought we could visit the Dwarf workshop.”
“I see. I also need to make a decision about Pousehai with Prime Minister Yuri, so it should finish in the morning. Can I come with you to the Dwarf workshop in the afternoon?”
“Of course!”
After breakfast, we left the room. We had already decided to send Pousehai to the Krumfar territory for safekeeping. I teleported to Krumfar and consulted with Rico.
“Understood. In that case, it would be best to have several Pousehai assigned to each farming and fishing village. The village near Hotel Krumfar also has plenty of space available. The rest can be accommodated there.”
“Then, Lady Ricolette, I will take charge of managing the Barrier Village.”
It was Pius who volunteered.
“Hmm? Are military tasks suitable for you?”
“If you leave it to Kunogen, everything will be taken care of. He is more suited for this than I am. In fact, I am interested in learning about healing magic and medicinal herbs, so if I can get along with them, I would like to learn there.”
“Understood. I’ll leave it to you then.”
Thanks to Rico and Pius’ swift preparations, a system was in place to accommodate Pousehai from tomorrow. Even Prime Minister Yuri and the Dwarf King were amazed by the quickness of how we do things.
“Marquis Basam’s speed is unparalleled compared to others.”
“Absolutely. We must learn from him.”
“By the way, I heard that Lord Wusen informed me that Meirias-sama will be visiting the workshop. In that case, it’s best to go to Nicanca’s workshop. He is my old disciple, and his skills are on par with the best Dwarfs.”
“But, Your Majesty, what about Nicanca-sama…”
“It should be fine if you only go to see it. You have to cross the river, but it’s worth going. If you see his blacksmithing, Meirias-sama will surely want to try it herself. Take my hammer with you.”
After I returned to the room with the hammer and letter of introduction, Mei had already returned. I consulted her about the King’s story immediately.
“I have heard of Nicanca-sama before. I would love to visit the workshop!” Mei replied with sparkling eyes, and we decided to head to the workshop immediately.
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Lunihon was an elderly Dwarf who was about 250 years old. When he was young, he was a genius who was said to be the most talented Dwarf in history, creating various products with his outstanding skills. The current Dwarf King also received guidance from Lunihon. However, as he began to suffer from hearing loss, he retired from his career and now enjoys a leisurely retirement.
Lunihon’s daily routine consists of taking a walk by the river every day. Even on rainy or windy days, he walks slowly along the riverside and enjoys the changing seasons.
On this day, as he was walking by the river, he noticed two unfamiliar humans on the opposite bank.
“Master, there’s a river here.”
“Let’s see…the bridge is quite far away. It might be quicker to cross this river. But how deep is it?”
“I’m not sure…oh, there are people on the other side. Should we ask them?”
“Good idea…Hey! Excuse me, can you tell me how deep this river is?”
“…What? Someone on the other side who is saying something…I can’t hear well. Hey! I’m hard of hearing, so I can’t hear you! Can you ask someone else?”
“…It seems like he´s trying to tell me something, but I don’t understand…Excuse me! We’re being told something, but we can’t hear you! Can you tell us if it’s up to our knees or hips deep?”
“…That guy is still saying something.”
Lunihon pointed to his ear and shouted in a loud voice.
“I’m hard of hearing!!!!”
“…If it’s that deep, we can’t cross it,” the humans said as they gave up on crossing the river.
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After much effort, we finally arrived at the workshop of Nicanca. It was a larger workshop than expected with multiple rooms. We were directed to what was referred to as the “vacant workshop”, which had a worn-out desk and various tools hanging on the walls.
“Welcome, this is the blacksmith workshop established by the principality. I am Narni, the manager here. Nicanca is currently in the middle of refining and cannot be disturbed. Would you like to take a look at my workshop first?”
“Yes, please.”
Narni was responsible for melting various ores and shaping them into rods. Although she explained the ingenuity required to melt different ores, I was unable to comprehend it. However, Mei seemed fascinated and listened attentively.
Soon, we received word that Nicanca was available.
“Shall I show you to Nicanca’s workshop? He specializes in refining and purifying ores. He is about to start, so Meirias-sama may want to make something too, if that’s alright with you?”
“Thank you!”
Nicanca’s workshop was small and quite hot, so I decided to stay behind in the other room. During this time, I passed the time by admiring the products made in this workshop.
“Spare meeeeeeeeeeee!!!”
Suddenly, a bellowing roar echoed through the room. Startled, I instinctively headed towards the source of the sound.
In the room, there was a stout, bearded man shouting in rage, while Narni desperately tried to calm him down, and Mei looked repulsed.
“Nicanca-sama, it’s fine if they ask for a hammer, isn’t it?”
“No! I refuse!”
“Nicanca-sama…”
I whispered to Mei and asked her what had happened.
“Narni-sama asked Nicanca-sama to lend me a hammer, but Nicanca-sama refused, saying that I might damage his hammer by using it.”
I couldn’t help but raise my voice in surprise.
“What, there are such stingy people in this world! How much could be damaged just by using a hammer? There’s no need to borrow from such a place. Use mine!”
Before we knew it, Nicanca had stumbled.
“I’m often called cheap, but there are people who are even cheaper than me.”
“I’m not that cheap, you know?”
“Don’t hide it. We are both people who value our tools. If you’re going to damage my own tools, use someone else’s. I deeply sympathize with your way of thinking.”
“Nicanca-sama is always like this…”
“Narni! You don’t value your tools enough! You can’t be a good blacksmith like that! Recently, I’ve even been thinking that my own eyes are too precious.”
“Your eyes are too precious? What are you planning to do?”
“That’s none of your business. It’s a known fact. It’s wasteful to use both eyes. Use only one, and if that one gets worse, use the other. Isn’t it a good idea? What do you think, young man? You should understand, shouldn’t you?”
“If you use only one eye, you might not be able to tell who people are anymore.”
“I see, if you don’t use one eye, that might happen! Let’s not do that.”
Nicanca strangely took a liking to me and generously taught me the technique of refining products from ores. Not only that, he even gave me various ores as souvenirs. Narni was surprised by this, as Nicanca was famous for being stingy and never giving anything to anyone.
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A few days after visiting the workshop, the transportation of Pousehai to Krumfar was completed. All that was left was to resolve the issue of the farmland, and I thought I could finally take a breath. However, I was summoned by the Dwarf King again.
“I heard that you received some ore from Nicanca. Is it true?”
“Yes, he gave it to me generously. It seems to be quite rare…”
“That Nicanca is known for being stingy and having a bit of a mean streak. I can hardly believe that he would give his refined ore to someone else… but I suppose it must be true.”
“Yes, that’s right. My wife, Meirias, is using the ore to make something on her day off. It’s quite high-purity ore, and my wife is impressed with it.”
“I see. Well then, Lord Basam, the reason I called you here today is none other than my daughter, Concedia.”
“I haven’t seen Concedia around lately. What’s happened to her?”
“She’s currently under house arrest.”
“House arrest?”
“She’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out. She seems to be eating, but her appetite has diminished. She’s staying in a dimly lit room all day without letting any sunlight in.”
“That’s quite… concerning. So, what do you want me to do?”
“Can you help me get Concedia out of the house?”
Here we go again with another problem in this country. Why do these issues keep arising one after another…