Lulu Awakens to Mithril Heaven

The moment Lulu regained consciousness, roughly two hours after she had fainted, the rest of us were chatting idly while admiring the surrounding scenery.

“Hah?! I was definitely in mithril heaven… Heup!? M-mithril heaven right before my eyes…!”

“Lulu, stop panicking and calm yourself.”

“Lulu? Ah, so the lord gave this one the name Lulu… What what what what!? This mithril heaven wasn’t a dream!?”

Lulu’s eyes darted back and forth between me and the mithril vein with an expression of pure ecstasy.

“Is it really that good?”

“Aah… How pitiful you are, not even understanding the value of this mithril!”

She stared at me with the clear, innocent eyes of a madwoman who genuinely felt sorry for the final boss’s emotional deficiency. To be honest, mithril really is an incredible metal. But that’s all it is. Right now, in our territory, it’s simply a metal that sparkles under sunlight. The same goes for gold—it’s just yellow.

Still, it’s a relief that gold can be converted into currency. If not, we could craft expensive gold ornaments to target rich collectors, though flooding the market would create its own problems.

This must be what they call a double-edged sword. Even so, it’s better than doing nothing.

“Lulu, could you make crafted goods out of gold?”

“Crafted goods, you say? My lord, you truly understand art!”

Lulu broke into a deeply satisfied smile and began passionately lecturing me about artistry. When I showed her examples of modern machined artworks, her jaw dropped in astonishment.

“H-how can such minute detailing…! Ooh! What incredible…!”

What is difficult for human hands is simple for machines. The dwarf was stunned by the precision of micro-crafting, yet I could see her already wondering if she could replicate it herself.

“Build yourself a forge and try making them one by one. Oh, and if you could produce some items we can actually sell, that would be helpful. Think you can manage?”

“Ooh… This is the work I have dreamed of my entire life!”

And just like that, Lulu’s duties were decided. If other options came up, she could pursue those as well. As for her residence, she begged to have it placed right in front of the mithril vein. Even though it was at the mountain’s edge and not exactly flat ground, the snow leopard family dug out and leveled the area for her.

“Hoooo… A house straight from my dreams… My lord, I cannot thank you enough…!”

“I’m glad you like it. Still, while you’re in my territory, I’d appreciate it if you followed a few rules…”

I explained several precautions. The first was to avoid being discovered by people. Since this was an island and I was the only human, if anyone other than the snow leopards, the siren, or the black-winged appeared, she was to report it immediately. Second, she should eat meals with the group. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so she should either come to where Lei and Ruin were or let them fetch her. During those times, she was to avoid working as much as possible. Third, if she needed anything, she should ask without hesitation. I would obtain whatever I could, so she should speak up. That was all.

“Hah… I had heard that humans treat dwarves as slaves, yet this place is paradise… Very well, my lord. This self shall not hold back and will make a request.”

Lulu wanted a forge built and asked me to gather the materials. I asked what she needed and bought most of them from the market. All together it came to about seven thousand gold. Well, since Lulu would earn far more than that, I decided to treat it as an investment. The materials included both raw and processed goods, so she claimed the forge itself wouldn’t take long to construct. She thought it might be finished by tonight.

I told her to work only within reason so she wouldn’t ruin her body, then descended the mountain.

“Since we’re already here, let’s take a look around this side as well.”

I had been able to see Heugildo from the edge of the land. That meant the edge of the land should be visible from here too. With the naked eye I could make out the general terrain, but everyone else said they could see much more detail.

“Big brother, there are people on the mainland watching the sea.”

“Must be the Land’s End guild. Asne, are the sea groks all right?”

“I shall ask the sea groks, my husband. Upon checking, they say they step forward when people approach, but there have been no battles yet.”

Both the snow leopard family and the black-winged pair could see the people, but they remained invisible to me. Asne’s eyesight didn’t seem particularly sharp ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠either, yet she could apparently communicate with the sea groks. With the sea groks forming ranks like that, I suspected the Land’s End guild would withdraw before long. In the meantime, I’d have to warn Lulu to be careful.

Looking east, I could see Baekildo and Donghwado. Since they had become uninhabited islands, there was no need to pay them any mind. They didn’t appear to have undergone any Break either, so I simply observed them.

Hmm… We don’t need more land right now. Once we have more residents… and with the mana stones we have, we can turn them into territory then.

Heugildo wasn’t a very large island, and most of it was mountainous, so there wasn’t much to see. The ruined village faced Land’s End, while Lei and Ruin’s spot was on the opposite mountain slope. Still, the two of them had no complaints. On the contrary, they said they liked how many trees there were. Perhaps because they were black-winged, they enjoyed perching on branches like birds and looking around. They told me that sitting side by side, chatting quietly while watching the sea, made time pass without them even noticing.

Because of their wing color I thought of crows and asked if shiny gold or mithril caught their eye, but they said it didn’t affect them at all. So they weren’t crow-winged. Their wing shape was completely different to begin with.

They’re closer to angel wings than typical bird wings.

I wondered if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that made them fallen angels since they were black, but they claimed to have no connection to angels whatsoever. Angel wings were far larger than theirs and pure white, they said. Whatever angels looked like, I had no particular interest. They weren’t my residents, after all. My only concern was for my own people.

“…That said, none of them seem to need my strength much.”

All I had done for my residents was summon them to the territory, provide houses, and prepare meals. Even the food was bought with money earned by selling monster byproducts they had hunted themselves. Any awakened person could do the same. They were all clearly satisfied, yet something felt lacking to me. I wanted to do more, but whenever I asked they simply said it was fine. They all claimed their lives were far better now than before.

The snow leopards made sense—they had been on the verge of death. But the others…

Asne simply seems interested in me… Lei ran away because she didn’t want to be queen… Ruin had reached the end of her lifespan and only her body regressed…

Lily was cheerful as long as someone was around. Even now she was flying around the snow leopards working the fields, laughing brightly. The snow leopards found her adorable and drew strength from her presence. Lulu, meanwhile, was building her forge alone. I had offered to help, but my strength only made those around me anxious. When Asne stepped in after seeing that, Lulu was so terrified she frantically stopped her. In the end, the snow leopards who had free hands decided to assist.

“Wow… She really finished the forge in half a day…”

The result was that by eight o’clock, after the moon had risen, the forge was complete.

“I will make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sure no smoke leaks out to worry you, my husband.”

Asne gestured toward the large chimney, and seawater spiraled up to seal it. The water would mix with any rising smoke so it wouldn’t escape outside. She explained that she could purify it to a certain level, so once it became too dirty they could simply replace it.

“Lulu, could you repair equipment as well?”

“Equipment? Of course this self can.”

“Then I’ll take some commissions… Though I doubt they’ll come in very often.”

“Hmm… That is somewhat disappointing. This self wanted to examine the equipment of this land.”

“Most of what we call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠equipment here comes from dungeons and gates, so I suspect they’re from your world rather than ours.”

“Is that so? The kitchen tools were of astonishing quality… Perhaps the craftsman does not make armaments.”

“Those are mass-produced in factories. Hunters who awaken as blacksmiths make things by hand, so the quality is much lower.”

“How regrettable.”

Lulu loved working with her hands. As I thought about what my residents wanted, an idea came that would benefit both her and me: repairing hunters’ equipment. I would register a repair service on the market and accept commissions. Normally people would advertise their real name like a brand—“So-and-so’s Forge”—but since I currently needed to hide my strength, I couldn’t do that. All I could do was run a brazen anonymous shop that basically said, “If you don’t trust it, don’t use it.”

To at least draw some attention, I gave it the ridiculous name Equipment Repair Hotspot — Even Worn Equipment Becomes Like New.

Still, hunters short on money would probably try it on the off chance it worked. Once they saw the results, word would spread naturally and more commissions would come in.

“Anyway, I’ll bring you commissions when they appear. Until then, just make whatever you can with the mithril and gold.”

“Krr… With the incredible hammer and anvil my lord purchased, this self can make anything!!!”

Mineral smelting technology here was far superior to that of Lulu’s original world. The furnace heat was on another level, and the technical differences were vast. Korean steelmaking in particular was world-renowned, so that said everything.

With that settled, we ate a somewhat late dinner and each went to rest.

Not long after the Equipment Repair Hotspot — Even Worn Equipment Becomes Like New listing appeared on the market, a beautiful woman was sunk deep into a sofa inside a spacious home.

Dressed in light clothing, she had been browsing the market when something made her burst into a helpless laugh.

“Pfft… Running a shop without even giving a name with this ridiculous title… What, repair any equipment to look brand new? Generous deposit? Full 100% refund if repair fails? Is this a home shopping channel?”

She had been checking the market because her weapon—top-grade dungeon-made gear—had been damaged and needed repair. She had contacted the number one blacksmith in Korea whom she usually used, but he had refused, saying it was too difficult. While searching for somewhere new, she had come across this absurd listing and couldn’t help but smile.

“I wonder how large a deposit they’d demand for my weapon?”

The claims were clearly ridiculous. They looked like nothing but a scam. Yet she was desperate enough to clutch at straws. If even Korea’s top blacksmith couldn’t repair it, she would have to ask overseas. That would mean not only enormous costs but obvious restrictions and conditions. Besides, there was no guarantee foreigners could fix it either. So she had decided to at least send an inquiry to this place with its unbelievable claims.

And so she—the hunter who held the number one individual ranking in South Korea—became the first client to place a commission inquiry.