Immediately after, the dwarves in the forge, their eyes bloodshot with greed, rushed forward.
"Just a moment, let me touch it too!"
"I will! I will touch it!"
"Ah! Ah! Who did that? Who hit me with a hammer!"
"Mr. Dragon, if you could just show us your scales...! *cough*"
"You crazy fool! Shut up!"
A chaotic scene unfolded.
To the craftsmen who had always polished the same materials and metals, the appearance of an unknown object was the cause.
'Sure enough. It was worth it for Ferdikion to offer the scales.'
Just as a dwarf, his eyes rolling back, was about to reach out to Ruen,
The dwarf, whose head was being yanked, stumbled and fell, exclaiming, "Ouch!" as he looked back.
Kwan stood there, his hammer on the worktable, glaring at them with fierce eyes.
Only then did the dwarves' commotion cease.
"What are you all doing! Did you throw your pride as dwarf craftsmen into the furnace!"
At Kwan's rebuke, they all bowed their heads, unable to say a word.
"Your eyes are rolling with greed."
Kwan bowed his head to Ruen.
"Please forgive our rudeness."
The dwarves, who had been looking at Ruen as if they were about to devour him, froze, exchanging glances.
This is what the 'traditionalist' dwarves are like.
At that moment, the dwarves, their faces flushed, were enveloped in tension.
'How can such an intimidating presence... come from a hatchling who hasn't even grown up yet!'
Ruen looked around at Kwan and the dwarves with a cold gaze.
"Since my brother allowed it, I'll say this."
Ruen handed his scales to Kwan and said,
"The grand prize for this <Craftsman Competition> will not only be the scales of a Red Dragon but also the scales of a Black Dragon, which I will put up."
This time, the dwarves fell silent, but in a different way.
No, in the silence, greed and desire were raging.
"I heard your skills are incredible. Thanks to that, I have high expectations."
His voice, devoid of emotion, pierced their ears.
"I hope you prove yourselves through skill, not arrogance."
Ruen turned away and left without a second thought.
"Wow! Everyone is looking at Mr. Ruen with such hungry eyes!"
'Why are they all so annoying in the same way?'
Right after leaving the traditionalist dwarves' forge, Ruen headed straight to the reformist dwarves' forge, feeling the burning gazes on his back.
The reformist dwarves' forge, led by Kwat, was composed of relatively young dwarves.
It was another place that was annoying in a different way.
'I didn't expect them to openly try to touch my skin.'
He recalled the incident at the reformist dwarves' forge he had just left.
The questions were already overwhelming, filled with suffocating interest.
"Do you have a preferred color?"
"If you have any preferences for the clothes you want your servant to wear, please let us know. Cute is good, but a bit of sophistication would be nice..."
There were too many words for him to answer each one.
When he showed his scales, it was even worse.
"Ah, no! Mr. Ruen, just show us your body... no, your scales...! *cough*"
"Ouch, my leg! You crazy fool!"
"Shut up! I'll see it first!"
The atmosphere was so intense that it wouldn't have been strange if they had breathed fire. Kwat, the reformist master blacksmith, also had to step in to calm them down.
"Quiet, or I'll make you!"
Kwat, frowning, ran over and shouted.
Only then did the dwarves freeze, their breaths catching.
"Hey, you fools, what are you doing?"
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack!
Kwat, his face twisted, hit the noisy dwarves on the head with a wooden document holder.
"What kind of disgrace is this? Can't you behave properly?"
Ruen, who had left the reformist dwarves' forge after provoking them almost the same way he did the traditionalists, nodded in satisfaction as he opened the box containing the knives he had ordered.
"Brother, what are you planning to do?"
Ruen, handing Banya and Heukmi to Ferdikion, opened the box and nodded.
"Since there's still some time before the competition, I thought I'd practice cooking."
Now it was time to practice the resurrection incantation.
"Alright. I've already prepared some ingredients in the kitchen. Please show them the way, Berdin."
"Understood. I'll take care of it."
Berdin, who answered quite diligently, led Ruen to a dedicated kitchen.
Upon arriving at the dedicated kitchen prepared by the palace, Ruen was inwardly impressed.
It was almost the same structure and materials as the kitchen in Christina's lair, only slightly smaller.
'Perfect. It's not something that could be replicated in just a day or two.'
At that moment, Berdin asked,
"Mr. Ruen, are you satisfied?"
"Yeah. When did you prepare it?"
Berdin, pleased with Ruen's reaction, shrugged.
"While Mr. Ruen was sleeping, Mr. Ferdikion and the Gold Dragon elder prepared it together."
"Then, these knives too?"
"The knives were made by me, but the cutting board, scissors, measuring cups, and other kitchen tools were provided by the Gold Dragon elder beforehand."
'So Christina helped. No wonder they didn't bring separate kitchen tools.'
Opening the refrigerator, he found it already filled with familiar ingredients.
Ruen paused in thought before calling out to Berdin.
"Berdin, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Could you get some common ingredients that dwarves usually look for?"
"And tell my brother Ferdikion that I'll prepare dinner tonight."
Berdin, surprised that Ruen would start cooking on the first day, widened his eyes.
"Yeah. But there's a condition. I'd like the dwarves who are involved with the <Abandoned Mine Dungeon> to gather tonight."
"Well, it's nothing much. I just want to hear stories about the <Abandoned Mine Dungeon>. About the treasures buried in the dungeon or the monsters, for example."
Berdin nodded, as if it were no big deal, and left.
'They'll probably just see it as a young hatchling wanting to hear dungeon stories.'
He had naturally set up a meeting with dwarves who had information about the dungeon.
Ruen obtained a lot of materials for practicing incantations.
He looked over the ingredients he had brought from the dwarf palace's warehouse.
'Meat bones with bits of meat still attached. Cheese with edible mold. Smoked and salted edible monster meat.'
The water was poor, making it difficult to raise livestock.
Fresh meat was also hard to come by.
As a result, they relied heavily on dried or smoked ingredients, or edible monster meat.
He stared at the bones of an animal, which were meant to be boiled to make broth.
'They said this is from an animal resistant to fire.'
The heat was making the bones emit a slightly pungent smell, and the quality of the meat, still attached with blood, was not good.
'...If I can make this fresh, wouldn't it be easier to get fresh meat?'
He felt a mix of anticipation and curiosity.
With half curiosity, he picked up a suitable rib and experimented with the incantation magic.
The bone in his hand glowed white, and the color of the meat between the bones turned fresh.
He was worried if the incantation magic, which he hadn't used in ten years, would work properly, but this was a fairly satisfactory result.
Ruen, nodding, reached out to the pile of bones.
'Then, there's no need to use the incantation on each one individually. I'll process them all at once.'
When he looked at them all together, it seemed like they had brought the entire animal, mostly stripped of meat, leaving only bones.
Ruen extended his hand toward the pile of bones.
The pile of bones was enveloped in light.
However, something was off.