The Rumored Blacksmith of Roke Isle
Dwarf!
The image of a dwarf immediately came to mind.
An obstinate and fiercely proud race.
They were modest to those who opened their hearts, but opening their hearts was an extremely difficult task.
They were blacksmiths who skillfully handled metals, and in battle they became sturdy warriors.
The cities of such dwarves were filled with bustling heat from the very entrance.
“Huu, it’s hot.”
Fafnir, upon entering the city, wiped sweat from his brow and thought.
‘Now it’s just time to deliver the introduction letter and work on the armor.’
The name in Kerion’s introduction letter: Winfield.
Sihyun and Siyeon, the sisters, had to visit this person too.
“Kim Chul.”
Fafnir called out to Kim Chul. But Kim Chul’s reaction was odd.
“Why did you call me?”
“Huh?”
“The request is over. Didn’t I guide you to the dwarf village?”
“Eh?”
“I clearly accepted the request with that condition in the beginning.”
Fafnir nodded.
“That’s true.”
“Then we need to calculate the payment.”
Kim Chul extended his hand.
“The compensation?”
“Here it is.”
Fafnir handed over the pre-prepared crystal shards.
Kim Chul’s eyes sharpened.
“Eleven?”
“One is for quality comparison. I chose the average, so if you suspect anything, go somewhere else and compare it to this.”
“Tch….”
Kim Chul had given an extra piece of ore in case there was any dispute.
Kim Chul, pocketing the crystal shards, let out a snort.
“I can’t even tell the difference? Fine.”
“Then that’s settled.”
Just then.
“Wait, hold on.”
Sihyun asked with an incredulous expression.
“As soon as we enter the city walls, it’s over? Don’t you need to at least guide us to the destination?”
“Ha…”
For a moment Kim Chul turned his head away.
“What kind of short-tempered bitch is this… yapping nonsense.”
“W-what did you say?”
“Why should I guide you? The request is finished, so we’re strangers now.”
Kim Chul had always lived however he pleased. With the leash of the request loosened, there was no reason for him not to swing his sword.
The problem was that Sihyun was also a hot-tempered person.
“You’re crossing a line by demanding payment. Then give me the repair fee for the weapons I made!”
“Ha… fine, I was about to leave.”
Kim Chul pressed his forehead and drew out the weapons.
“You really can’t be helped. You need to fix your mindset today.”
“Ugh…!”
Sihyun flinched. She had personally experienced just how strong Kim Chul was if they actually fought.
“That’s enough.”
A tense moment.
Fafnir stepped in front.
-Fafnir: It’s not good to earn more work now.
-Kim Chul: Who are you?
-Fafnir: There’s still a reward I owe you. But if we fight like this, how am I supposed to give it to you later?
“……!”
Kim Chul hesitated.
-Fafnir: If you want it, contact me separately. Once this job is over, I’ll personally take you there. So let’s end it here.
-Kim Chul: You’re serious?
-Fafnir: We’ve already done the request. It’s unlikely I’d lie.
Kim Chul turned his body after a moment.
-Kim Chul: I’ll contact you later. Hold onto it until then.
He sent a private message and walked away.
The moment he disappeared completely, Sihyun sighed and muttered.
“What kind of crazy guy is that? Do they always act like that after a request?”
Of course not.
It was just Kim Chul’s peculiarity.
Usually people parted happily or added each other as friends and met again later.
“That’s just Kim Chul.”
“Ha… I really want to smash his head with a hammer… thump thump….”
Unable to hold back her anger, Sihyun eventually giggled.
“But you did well. When I saw you talking nonsense in front of him earlier, my old grudges melted away.”
“Ah, that’s….”
Since she couldn’t explain the internal affair, it was awkward to say anything.
“Probably thanks to the skill that smashed the weapons. If you taunted and one of them broke, it would be bad, right?”
“Yeah… that’s true.”
“That guy must not be happy either. Humans do have compatibility, you know! You really did well.”
“Unnie….”
“What? I’m only saying Fafnir is amazing!”
If left alone, Sihyun would keep praising him for the next several minutes.
Fafnir clapped his hands and said.
“The crisis is over, so it’s time to get to work.”
“Um… yeah, that’s right. Should we go?”
Sihyun headed toward the bustling district.
But at that moment Fafnir shook his head.
“No, that can wait for later.”
Fafnir pointed toward the direction Kim Chul had gone.
“First, let’s tail that guy.”
“Tail?”
“If he can make Kim Chul’s weapons, his skill level is probably not ordinary. Winfield is someone you can meet anytime.”
“What if we get caught?”
“That’s something to think about later.”
“It feels a bit suspicious… but okay.”
“I agree.”
The three of them began following Kim Chul in earnest.
‘Hm….’
As time passed, the scenery around them grew darker, and dust piled up everywhere on the blacksmith shops and houses beside the road.
‘Where are we going?’
The area had transformed into a poor district.
Just as they were about to turn back, Kim Chul stopped in front of a sign.
[Grakson Blacksmith]
A rundown blacksmith shop with its iron door firmly shut.
Kim Chul shouted loudly right in front.
“Master! Hobble-faced Master!”
When one time wasn’t enough, he tried twice, three times!
Each time his voice grew louder.
“Eek… it’s noisy. What?”
Just as the fifth shout ended.
Creak.
The door of the blacksmith shop opened, and an elderly dwarf appeared.
With a wart as large as a person’s face on his cheek, he stood out clearly from the other dwarves.
“Oh my, what a dreary face. How long has it been since you’ve come?”
“That’s not important right now.”
Kim Chul held out his hands full of shards.
“Master! Fix this!”
“Oh, you kid. This isn’t normal silver, you know.”
“It’s not the time for that. If this keeps up, Elizabeth will really die. We should fix the weapons first—silver isn’t the problem, is it?”
“I’m really at a loss… you’re completely unreasonable.”
The wart-faced dwarf accepted the hammer shards while grumbling.
“Fine, let’s fix the weapons first. But it’s not free.”
“Then?”
“One Unique-grade Salamander’s Essence Stone, one Unique-grade Purified Clear Cyan Water, and five Forged Awakening Silver Ingots. These are materials to save your woman, so you’ll have to provide them.”
These materials were difficult to obtain one by one.
Even Fafnir had hesitated once.
But…
“Got it. If I can get those, it’s fine?”
“Yes! Fill that in later. For now, use what you have.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“Because of you, it’s been nothing but trouble…”
The wart-faced dwarf grumbled, but to Fafnir he seemed rather in a good mood.
After all, dwarves were naturally blacksmiths.
Kim Chul, who cherished his equipment like a person, was bound to be liked.
“Come back in two days. I’m going to warm up and start working now.”
“Okay!”
Hearing the answer, Kim Chul grinned and left for somewhere else.
“We’d better remember this place.”
Fafnir memorized the surrounding streets and terrain on a map and said.
“Now let’s find Winfield. Have you heard anything?”
“Um… my master said to ask around. I think we should inquire in the area.”
“Then it’s decided.”
The center of the dwarf city was deep inside the rocky heart.
In a normal city it would be the city hall, lord’s castle, and church, but here the center was filled only with huge forges and blacksmith shops.
“Everyone split up and gather information. Meet back here in two hours.”
“I’ll head to the lower district.”
“I’ll go toward the wall.”
Each chose a direction and separated.
The dwarves in the center merely glanced at Fafnir and did not approach.
Fafnir tried greeting each one.
“Hello.”
“Business is bad these days. I should be going now.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“None of the things here are for sale.”
The dwarves either didn’t answer or hurriedly left.
Some openly showed hostility.
“How did an outsider even enter this city? The barrier should be working…”
In this situation, it seemed there would be no gain.
‘When Flush was building friendship, he could just talk and they came to him.
In the original novel, Flush would speak and the dwarves would automatically bring usings in gratitude.
After all, he had fought while rescuing dwarves from elsewhere, so his favorability was already maxed out.
‘It can’t be helped. He’s the protagonist.’
But giving up here wasn’t an option for Fafnir.
‘In the original novel dwarves couldn’t resist beer, meat, and rare metals.’
Luxury beer and beef imported from Aluinsi.
With metals too, it would be a complete feast for the dwarves.
“Rare beer and meat have arrived! To the hardworking dwarves today, I give these foods for free. There are rare metals too! Try hitting them once or twice!”
But the dwarves’ reactions were ice-cold.
“What kind of situation is it right now? Drinking alcohol and meat? Tch…”
“Humans know nothing about metals. What nonsense is this.”
They ignored them completely and either whispered from afar or left.
Fafnir displayed the meat and beer with disinterest among the dwarves.
‘This isn’t good.’
He had endured the penalty of bad taste just to show off a delicious eating show, and it had no effect.
‘Maybe the others are fine.’
Two hours later Sihyun and Siyeon also returned to the center.
“How was it?”
“Worst.”
Sihyun gritted her teeth and said.
“Those NPCs won’t even respond no matter how I talk to them. It’s not normal….”
“Same here. Even if I offer a good tattoo for fatigue relief, no one reacts. This is the first time….”
The sisters with hidden classes and special classes had always received attention wherever they went.
For the two of them to be completely ignored like this?
‘There really is something.’
The barrier of Crossfire.
And the sharpened attitude of the dwarves toward travelers.
Somehow it seemed related.
“Even if I try to find Winfield, he doesn’t answer. What should I do?”
“Still, there should be at least one dwarf who will answer.”
“The problem is where to look.”
Sihyun’s muttering made Fafnir shrug.
“You already know, don’t you?”
“Eh? When did I say that? Who?”
“…”
Instead of the silent Fafnir, Siyeon answered.
“That wart-faced dwarf master.”
“Ah! That person.”
Sihyun smiled slyly.
“You should have said it earlier. I was sleepy and didn’t hear.”
“Anyway, if you tell that master that you’re Kim Chul’s companion, he won’t turn you away at the door.”
Fafnir’s prediction was spot on.
After claiming to be Kim Chul’s companion and handing over meat and beer, Grakson didn’t drive them away like the others.
Not only that, Fafnir could easily hear why the dwarves avoided them.
“The mad zombies summoned by the black magician are attacking here?”
“Until recently they broke the villages outside the barrier, and now they’re trying to invade from inside the barrier.”
The dwarves had been targeted by human lords and monsters for a long time.
Thanks to their unmatched metalworking skills, powerful strength, and earth spirit magic.
Battling them was familiar, but this time it was an entirely different scale of invasion.
Thousands of zombies, and the elite humans mixed among them.
“Wait a second.”
Sihyun asked.
“If you’re being attacked by zombies, shouldn’t you welcome the humans?”
“Originally that would be the case.”
Grakson sighed.
“The problem is that humans are helping the black magician.”
“Ah!”
The Crossfire Guild.
Probably so that blocking other users wouldn’t hinder their attack on the dwarves.
“They’re sneaking into the gaps between zombies and gradually reducing our army. With the battle like that, it’s only natural to be wary of outsiders.”
Originally dwarves didn’t easily open their hearts to others.
On top of that, with this situation, it was no wonder the earlier situation occurred.
“At first it was common for humans to kidnap blacksmiths who would make weapons for our village. But this time it’s different. It feels ominous, and since I can’t solve it, it’s frustrating.”
“I see.”
“Even after saying all that, you’re not giving up. The rock golems in the underground tunnels are powerful monsters that our warriors can’t casually fight one-on-one. If they block the tunnels, we can destroy or seal the entire area. How many rock golems can you take down? If you succeed, the dwarves in the center will look at you differently.”
-Grakson wishes to issue the Normal-grade quest “Suspicion Toward Outsiders”.
Do you accept the quest? (Y/N)
Quest generation!
Grakson smacked his lips.
“If you don’t have confidence, don’t do it. Even if you refuse, I won’t stop you. I can deliver the message for you, so you can go.”
Fafnir considered for a moment and nodded.
“What the hell, let’s do it.”
-Quest accepted.
Grakson shrugged.
“There are paths down to the tunnels everywhere in this village. If you go inside, you’ll find them, so it shouldn’t be hard. Bring them back and I’ll listen to your story in detail.”
-The series is “I Became a Necromancer Villain in a Game Novel”