The Blacksmith of Lemumni
"Good heavens. That man actually listening without a fight…"
Only after her cheeks had swollen plump did Carol finally accept she was back in reality. She stared at the dwarf craftsman hard at work and muttered in hollow disbelief.
"I take it he doesn't usually listen so well."
"You have no idea. Begging and pleading until you're blue in the face is an everyday occurrence — he pretends he doesn't even hear you. Even the Guildmaster's requests get a click of the tongue and a flat dismissal the moment something rubs him the wrong way. And last time, would you believe—"
The grievances she'd been bottling up must have been considerable. The moment Jun gave her an opening, Carol launched into her complaints without so much as pausing for breath — completely forgetting that the very source of those grievances was standing right nearby.
She really has been holding a lot in, hasn't she.
No kidding. That dwarf's temper must be something else. Jun, are you just going to stand there and watch? If you leave her like this…
Carol's going to have a real headache on her hands.
For all that he had asked whether examining the corpse was even necessary, the dwarf craftsman was now pouring every ounce of his concentration into the remains. He hadn't heard a word of Carol's tirade.
But that was about to change. Jun hurriedly cut her off.
Realizing, a beat too late, that she had made a spectacle of herself, Carol flushed scarlet and hung her head.
"I—I'm so sorry. I got carried away without realizing."
"It's fine. It happens. Things are a bit busy right now, so next time — next time I'll listen all the way through."
"Ugh! Jun, that's a foul. Making that face in a situation like this—"
Carol kept sneaking glances at Jun's face and muttering under her breath. She seemed to think she had lowered her voice enough that no one else would hear — but unfortunately for her, Jun's radar picked up every word with perfect clarity.
Jun, what's that woman saying?
She's going on and on. Roughly summarized: he's handsome, capable, and on top of that his personality is good — what is a girl supposed to do? Ah, she just classified me as an enemy of all women and decided she has to manage me so she doesn't end up in serious trouble.
Hmph! Who does she think she is, managing anyone?
Hmm, not a great reaction. Are you going to strike Carol from the concubine candidates too, For?
Yeah. Her overall compatibility with you isn't bad, but…
Fortuna stopped licking her lollipop with relish and looked at Carol with pitying eyes.
She's got a heavy work destiny — no, way too heavy. Even if she got married, she'd spend more time being seen outside the house than in it.
Couldn't Carol just cut back on her work herself?
She absolutely couldn't. People with that much work destiny mostly have obligations they simply can't refuse. She'll probably be buried in work for the rest of her life.
That's rough.
Fortuna's certainty was so absolute that Jun, too, began regarding Carol with the same pitying look.
Finding herself on the receiving end of two pairs of sympathetic eyes, Carol stopped muttering and tilted her head in bewilderment. A vague unease settled over her a moment later.
She knew those eyes. Whenever work piled up and she pulled all-nighters for days on end, the Guildmaster and the surrounding staff always looked at her exactly like that.
Why are they looking at me like that?! Why?!
Carol was about to demand an explanation — but another voice claimed their attention first.
"I'm finished. There are some uneven stretches here and there, but all told it comes out to roughly half."
"Hmm. Roughly, is it."
"I'll call it a clean half, so stop fretting over it."
"Oooh! Shorty uncle, you're generous!"
"For, you can't talk to people like that. Master Craftsman, I'm sorry our fairy was so rude. And thank you for the consideration as well."
"Forget it. Fairies are like that. For one of them, she's on the well-behaved side."
The dwarf waved it off as if it were nothing. Beside him, Carol swayed on her feet as though the sight had given her vertigo. Was that reaction really so shocking?
"Anyway — you're the one who did this to it?"
Paying Carol's reaction no mind whatsoever, the dwarf pointed at Cerberus's corpse with complete indifference. Jun made an ambiguous face and nodded.
"It was thanks to the Lord's miracle. I only helped a little."
"I heard that miracle only happened because you were there. Well, whatever. Point is, you're the one who channeled the angel, aren't you."
So the dwarf already knew about the possession. Well — if he knew about Cerberus's corpse, knowing where it came from was only natural.
"Yes, that was me."
"Stand still. Let me check your body."
With that, the dwarf started patting Jun down without the slightest preamble. Jun flinched and nearly stepped back — but the dwarf's face held not a shred of ulterior motive, so he simply stood still and let it happen.
"…Hey, receptionist."
"Yes? What is it?"
"This kid took the Proof Ceremony, right. How'd he do?"
"Exactly as the report says — no, better than that."
The sincerity in her voice drew a dry laugh from the dwarf, Pirbyon.
Better than that? So he's not just a simple Green-rank.
For all that his cantankerous nature kept him from getting along with people, his sharp eye meant he knew exactly what sort of person each of them was. And the receptionist standing before him was not someone who exaggerated or spoke empty words.
"A monster. A real monster."
"Is that a compliment?"
"It is. The highest compliment I can give. Just how the hell have you been training?"
Pirbyon pulled a notebook and pen from his pocket and began jotting down the unbelievable information his hands had just confirmed.
"Your muscle fibers and bones are developed on par with a muscle-pig — an orc. No, wait — you're not needlessly bulky, so you're the upgraded version."
"And the joint flexibility, the body proportions — long-legs, the elves, can take a seat. Even those prideful bastards wouldn't dare stick their noses up in front of you."
"On top of that, you handle multiple weapons, don't you? At least ten of them at a high level. That puts your hand skill right up there with us dwarves."
Pirbyon looked at Jun with an expression of pure exhaustion. Carol, who had been listening quietly, wore the same look. Both of them stared as though confronting something fundamentally beyond comprehension.
It was a familiar gaze. Jun simply shrugged.
Carol carefully opened her mouth.
"Jun, by any chance…"
"I'm not some secret weapon of a secret organization. I'm not an angel, and I don't carry their bloodline either. Sister Kate already reported that, didn't she?"
"She did, but… then how on earth—"
"If I say you just do a hundred push—"
"If you say a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run every single day without fail, I'm going to get angry. Another Stigma holder already used that line."
Jun's mood took a sharp dive. Someone else had stolen a speech he'd always wanted to deliver.
"I just ate well, slept well, and trained well, and this is what happened. You're not saying you dislike me like this, or that I don't sit right with you… are you?"
"Of course not! Absolutely not! Never!"
Carol shook her head so violently that Jun had to tell her he understood, that she could stop.
"Same here. I'm thrilled, actually. Finally there's a reason I came to this place full of nothing but tasteless beer."
"That's a relief, then. But Master Craftsman — why did you come here?"
"Pirbyon."
"Pardon?"
"Pirbyon. That's my name, so stop calling me Master Craftsman from now on. And don't go sticking honorifics on it either."
Pirbyon? That name feels oddly familiar.
Jun found it curious, but nodded for the time being. The world had as many names as it had people — how many of them wouldn't sound familiar somehow?
"So. You want to know why I came here?"
"Pirbyon, you're going to tell him? You never told me no matter how many times I asked."
"You're not an adventurer! What I want can only be fulfilled by an adventurer with a real shot at clearing the Tower!"
"For someone who says that, you never showed the slightest interest whenever I introduced you to capable adventurers."
"Those types are useless! Tiger-nosed bastards, the lot of them. Noses stuck so high in the air for no reason."
"And how do you know Jun's nose isn't stuck high? Though, well — it isn't."
At Carol's puzzled question, Pirbyon glanced Jun up and down and spoke.
"Even when I snapped at him for being late, he didn't show any annoyance — he just apologized. When the fairy got cheeky, he apologized like it was his own fault. Someone who apologizes that readily doesn't have a high nose."
"Is that really all? You weren't just smitten by our Juni's looks?"
"What? Me? Don't talk rubbish, you little shrimp."
"What?! Shrimp?! Where do you get off calling me a shrimp?! You're the shrimp, mister!"
"…So you're going to go and yank a sleeping dwarf's mustache, are you. Come here! I'll make you bawl!"
"As if I'd be scared of you!"
The two little people snarled and glared at each other, ready to come to blows at any second.
"For, your candy's going to melt. Hurry up and eat it."
"Ah— aah. Can't let it melt. Lick! Lick!"
"Pirbyon, would you mind telling me what you want already? Then I can decide whether to hear you out."
"Ahem. Fine. All right."
Fortunately, Jun intervened in time and no fists were thrown. Carol looked at him with something approaching reverence.
"There are exactly two reasons I came to this place that has nothing but tasteless beer. One, obviously, is to help with the labyrinth conquest. The other is to find a Gold-grade item my ancestor is said to have forged."
"…What's the item called?"
"Pirmus's Stubbornness. For reference, Pirmus is the name of the ancestor who made it. As for what kind of item it is…"
"Something like this?"
Jun drew Pirmus from his spatial storage and held it out for Pirbyon to see.
For a moment the dwarf simply stared, too stunned to process what he was looking at. Then he began hopping up and down on his stubby legs, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"You— you— you little walking gold mine!"
A few minutes later, barely a few hours after setting foot in Lemumni, Jun had acquired an exclusive blacksmith who would stay with him for half a lifetime.