Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Half-Dwarf, Miranda
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The Labyrinth City is built around the entrance to the Labyrinth at its center.
The central area houses the Labyrinth entrance and the Labyrinth Guild that manages it. To the west lies the residential district where I live, while the north holds the exploration district with the swordsmanship guild, mage tower, and adventurers' guildhouses. The southern commercial district is packed with all sorts of equipment and potion shops, plus that brothel I checked out last time.
The eastern district... I haven't been there myself, just heard rumors. It's where all sorts of shady humans and criminals gather—the worst area for public safety in the Labyrinth City.
If I had to pin it down, the east side's basically the underworld, right?
Out of all those, the first place I headed to wasn't the central Labyrinth... it was the southern commercial district. Before diving into the Labyrinth, I needed to gear up with the basics. They say even applying for beginner adventurer training gets rejected if you show up without any equipment.
Luckily, thanks to Priest Jeffrey, I'd scored a sword, so I had a bit of financial breathing room. I couldn't afford top-tier stuff, but at least I could scrape together the essentials for a beginner adventurer.
The top priority was armor. My near-death experience three years ago had drilled its importance into my bones. If I had my way, I'd wear full plate armor for maximum protection... but it's pricey, and with my current stamina and strength, lugging it around would be impossible.
As I wandered around looking for something suitable, one shop caught my eye.
The weapons were neatly maintained, and the displayed gear looked pretty high-quality, but what really grabbed my attention was the blacksmith working inside. A rare sight—a female blacksmith.
Her small frame was packed with solid muscle on her arms and legs, and contrary to the typical blacksmith image, she had a surprisingly pretty face. Sweat poured off her like rain from the heat, but she hammered the glowing metal with tongs and hammer without a single falter. There was something oddly sensual about her sweating figure.
"What're you gawking at? You a customer or what?"
I was browsing the forge when a voice suddenly came from beside me, startling me into looking over. But when I turned, no one was there...
"Where ya lookin'? Down here."
I lowered my head toward the voice and saw a muscular, bearded man even shorter than my chest height glaring up at me gruffly. Judging by his looks, a dwarf?
"You look like a total newbie. The stuff out front's for beginners. Saw you eyeballin' the leather armor... check out the ones displayed over there."
His tone was gruff, but he naturally recommended beginner gear without me saying a word, which oddly inspired trust.
"You the shop owner?"
"Yeah? What, you don't trust me 'cause I popped up and started talkin' blunt?"
"Nah, it actually makes you more trustworthy."
"...?"
Well, doesn't it feel like an isekai cliché? A dwarf treating a newbie adventurer like a greenhorn... Even in this other world, seeing the classic dwarf archetype from stories hits different. I'd lived in the residential district for three years, and dwarves were rare sights there.
Anyway, after I said that, the dwarf's grumpy expression twitched, softening a bit compared to before.
"Hmph... Guess you're not just some punk fulla hot air in his head."
"How'd you figure that?"
"Nine times outta ten, newbies who wander into a dwarf-run shop are idiots with flowers in their skulls. They demand gear that don't suit 'em or claim their own eyes are the best judge for their weapons... ridiculous. It's my forge work—'course I know it best."
A dwarf-run shop... From the way he talked, it seemed pretty famous just for that. Makes sense—hearing dwarves usually live in the mountains and rarely come to the city. I'd only spotted one or two while wandering the commercial district; this was my first time chatting with one. Rumor has it most dwarves in Labyrinth City hole up in the workshop district.
Probably like me three years ago—thoughtless newbies barging in, desperate for dwarf-made weapons.
"Didn't know it was dwarf-run. Just wandered in while pokin' around."
Honestly, I came in because the woman hammering inside caught my eye... but that wasn't a lie either. Wait a sec?
"Then who's the woman hammering away inside?"
"My daughter."
"?"
At that, I glanced back at the woman mid-hammer. She was small, but didn't give dwarf vibes—more like a short human woman. Only similarity was the brown hair.
...Maybe the chest too? Comparing the dwarf's massive pecs to the two bags on her... Ah, get outta my head, you perv.
"Quit starin'. She's my real daughter. Half-breed, that's all. Lose interest in her and buy some gear if you're here for that."
With that, I obediently turned away and bought some equipment. I'd stumbled in by chance, but gear made by a dexterity-famous race like dwarves naturally piqued my interest.
But the prices... insane. Even the relatively cheap leather armor cost several gold coins each, and the nicer stuff ran dozens. Quality looked great, but with my one-gold-coin budget, it was out of reach. And these were beginner-grade!
Reeling from the prices, curiosity drew me to peek at the gear displayed inside the shop. The stuff in there looked different from the front—starting with the materials.
Black metal armor, leather armor with a faint red glow, even a greatsword as transparent as glass...
And among them, one piece of leather armor stood out for looking oddly plain. How much for that one?
[80 Silver Coins]
...Huh? Did I read that wrong? Not gold—80 silvers?
Wondering if the tag was mistaken, I stepped inside for a closer look. Wedged between flashy gear, it looked out of place—a plain, unremarkable leather armor. The leather quality seemed no different from the beginner stuff outside, at least to my untrained eye.
"Interested in that armor?"
Different tone from before. And a woman's voice, no less.
I glanced sideways to see the woman who'd been hammering now standing beside me, hammer set down. Pretty close, too!
Thanks to her recent sweat, I caught a mix of body scent, metal, and sweat. Not unpleasant— the metal smell dominated, really....Up close, I could see sweat beading in her cleavage. Ahem.
"That's one I made. From my early, unskilled days, so I hid it in the back out of embarrassment... and you found it."
That explained why it looked so isolated. Despite her embarrassed tone, the armor's quality seemed solid. Plain material, but the tanning made it tough as metal, with clean finishing. I liked the thin iron plates reinforcing the vital spots too.
Best of all, cheap. Fits my budget perfectly—anywhere else, this quality would cost gold, but 80 silvers was a steal.
"Wanna buy it? Buy now, and I'll throw in some decent leather boots."
"Sold."
Boots on top? Already set on snagging a bargain, this sealed it. Labyrinths have rough terrain everywhere, so sturdy boots are a must. Freebies from a top forge like this? No-brainer.
I handed over my one gold coin; she gave 20 silvers change, passed me the armor, and showed how to wear it. Tie the side leather straps... I hadn't even thought about that; without her help, I'd have fumbled badly—it was trickier than expected. For the boots, I laced them like army boots from habit, and they held firm, so I kept it that way.
"Thanks for buying. Those boots were from leftover leather after making that armor. Dad rarely lets beginners browse, so it wasn't selling well."
...Really? But he'd let me poke around right away, even before chatting. Did he notice her talking about him? The dwarf from earlier entered the shop.
"You bought that? Finally sold... Was gettin' embarrassing leavin' it out."
"Dad! You praised it when I first made it!"
"Yeah, it was good for your skill back then. But objectively? Meh."
"That's 'cause your standards are sky-high!"
Watching them bicker, they definitely seemed like father and daughter. The height difference and racial mix made it look a bit off, but...
A woman who looks youngish due to her shortness calling a burly guy 'Dad'... wholesome thoughts. Wholesome thoughts.
Finishing with his daughter, the dwarf turned to me.
"Name's Gram. This here's my daughter, Miranda."
"Ah, yeah. Ian."
"What's up with you, Dad? Introducing yourself first? Don't you hate newbie adventurers?"
I was curious about that too. He acts like he dislikes beginners, but he approached me first.
"Hmph... You got the Dexterity skill, or somethin' similar, right?"
"Dexterity? Nah, don't have that..."
"Or a skill description with 'hand-use action correction' or whatever."
"What? Kid's got a skill like that?"
...How'd he know? My new [Heavenly Touch] skill does have 'correction for all hand-use actions'... but why bring it up?
"...You don't know what that skill's worth?"
"Just got it recently. But how'd you spot it?"
"Craftsmen like me can tell just from watchin' your hands move. Got it recently? Swallowed some Labyrinth mystery or what?"
I got it from one massage. Thought it looked useful, sure.
"Curious how ya got it, but won't pry. Anyway, if you wanna learn hammer work instead of Labyrinth divin', come back."
"That good, huh?"
Gram eyed me like I was serious, grumbled "Doesn't even know this...", then explained.
"You know how skills work, right? [Dexterity]'s one of the hardest to get."
"Why? Don't you pick it up by doin' dextrous stuff?"
"You an otherworlder or somethin'? How don't you know... What counts as 'dextrous stuff'?"
...I am an otherworlder, but that's beside the point.
"Like... blacksmithing, sewing, cooking? Combat too, in a broad sense."
"Right. But doin' those gives [Metallurgy], [Sewing], etc.—not [Dexterity]. Example: Mess with metal hopin' for [Dexterity], you get [Metallurgy]. Keep goin'? No [Dexterity]. Once you have [Metallurgy], almost all metalwork XP funnels straight there."
"So for a skill like [Dexterity] that boosts 'all hand-use actions', you either do metallurgy, sewing, cooking, carving... all that without picking up their skills first—or grind those skills, let 'em hog most XP, and accumulate the scraps over years."
"That's why anyone with [Dexterity] gets snapped up as an apprentice anywhere. Or similar skills."
Gram's long explanation boiled down to this: Chasing [Dexterity] via metalwork sends 99% XP to [Metallurgy], making broad 'all-hand' correction skills rare and precious. Mine wasn't [Dexterity], but it mimicked it...
"Sorry, but I wanna hit the Labyrinth."
"Figured. That's why I offered if you're interested—no pressure. Still, drop by sometimes. Plannin' to hand the shop to my daughter soon, so she'll be around more than me."
"Will do."
No reason to turn down a dwarf connection. Not plannin' metallurgy yet, though.
"Hey, if you visit the shop sometimes, mind hangin' out with me?"
As talk wrapped up, Miranda, who'd been listening, chimed in. Hang out?
"I don't have [Dexterity] yet. Learned some from Dad, but not that. Watchin' your similar skill in action might help me get it. Not askin' for free shows—I'll tune your gear and teach basic maintenance each time. Useful stuff."
Sounds harmless. Just show off handwork a bit.
"Sure, happy to."
"Straight shooter. Lookin' forward to it."
Well... no. Swear to the heavens, not because of her looks.
Wasn't thinkin' [Lust Absorption] might find an opening either.
Absolutely not. No, really. Get outta my head, perv.