Dwarves and the Workshop
The status of a dwarf stemmed from just one thing alone: their singular talent for craftsmanship.
For those who lived over a thousand years, it was the only thing that proved their worth as living beings.
The greater the creations they forged, the higher their status rose and their fame grew. A mere blacksmith would become a technician, and one who was once just a technician would soon be hailed as an expert.
Thus, for dwarves, the path of a skilled craftsman advancing to become an artisan, and then a master craftsman, was the most important journey of all.
And so, the position of clan chief, who led an entire clan, was the greatest honor for dwarves who lived in tribal units.
Even among the handful called master craftsmen, it was a seat reserved for the absolute finest, the one who was revered above all.
However, it was an honor and status that had to be relinquished the moment the next generation was born and an even more exceptional dwarf emerged.
The longer a dwarf held the seat of clan chief, the more exalted their prestige became. Even holding it for over fifty years was a rare sight.
And there was a dwarf who had held that seat for hundreds of years.
Horn Fortis Nickroom Petram.
The clan chief who had led the Black Rock Clan through long, long ages was undoubtedly the greatest dwarf of them all.
His beard had grown so long it touched the ground, and wrinkles had begun to crease his face one by one, yet no clan member had surpassed him.
Among dwarves, he was even spoken of as the master craftsman representing the century. Horn must have truly been that exceptional.
So.
"Horn Fortis Nickroom Petram."
If only the clan members he cherished so dearly hadn't been buried underground, dying off one by one.
If only his family—more precious to him than the title of master craftsman or even clan chief—had survived.
"Why are you here?"
He might have lived eternally revered like that, never leaving the dwarven mountains.
The excited grin on old man Horn's face twisted through a rapid series of changes.
"I thought you'd vanished for good, off to find a grave site or something. But you're alive."
"…."
An expression he hadn't shown since receiving the letter in Litera crept slowly across his face, hardening it.
Eyes nearly extinguished of their fire, empty. Mouth and eyes drooping down in gloom.
These were unmistakably the bitter traits of the dwarf elder he'd first met in Crepen.
"Those with you... don't tell me you're traveling with them as comrades. With humans?"
"…."
In truth, we still knew nothing.
Even after spending quite some time together, we hadn't pried into such stories or shared the contents of the letters we'd each received in Litera.
We'd only just learned his real name now; we knew nothing about him.
Whenever we'd gently try to ask about his past, we didn't want to see the old man turn into a fish-eyed sigh machine.
Whatever it was, we figured there was no need to drag out painful, difficult memories just to sadden Horn.
As we journeyed on together, we'd simply accepted it, watching his smiles bloom and his eyes clear up.
And it wasn't just Horn's story.
We hadn't heard the kids' stories either. Nor Aberly's, nor Lucia's.
Rather than delving into each other's uncomfortable pasts, we'd chosen to join hands and move forward together.
Much later. When a distant future arrived and the world we hoped for came to be, then we could share a drink and chat idly about it all.
That's what we'd thought.
"What the hell have you been doing all this time? Where have you been...?"
"…, Enough. Stop talking, Shillin…."
I stepped forward in front of the weakly responding Horn, blocking the space between him and the approaching dwarf.
The dwarf called Shillin wasn't alone either. He was with a few others who looked like a dwarven delegation, and a human who seemed to be the workshop overseer.
As I blocked their path, Shillin frowned and spoke.
"Human, step aside. I have words for him."
"Mm, sorry, but my comrade seems uncomfortable."
Of course, I said it with a bright smile and a shake of my head.
I didn't care if the dwarf in front of me was some big shot or whatever—Horn came first.
After all the effort to make the old man, who looked like he might keel over any second, smile again, I wasn't thrilled that some dwarf I'd never met was ruining his mood.
"Do you know who the one behind you is? You're probably clueless, which is why you're acting like this, but he's important…."
So I cut off the words veering toward stories I had no interest in knowing.
"Eh..., I don't need to know all that. Regardless, he's my comrade, so I just feel the need to protect him."
"…."
"Then we'll be off. Alright, let's head back to the inn."
The workshop tour was over for today. I'd already bought everything I wanted anyway. If Horn didn't want to come back, we could rest at the inn, pick up the mana analyzer, and leave.
Thinking that, I turned to go, and the others quietly followed.
"…, Where are you staying? Tell me, and I'll come find you."
From behind us came the lingering voice of the dwarf named Shillin.
"Sorry, but that's…."
Of course, I was about to refuse that too, but.
"…, Nature's Haven."
"Got it. I'll come personally, so wait for me. …, It's been ages. Good to see you, Horn."
Horn, who had sighed deeply and started following me, answered in his place.
The inn we returned to was quiet.
The three kids poked their heads out from the doorway of their room, checking on Horn's state.
Aberly, the real madman, was shaking a vial in front of Horn, claiming it was a mood-boosting reagent despite no reaction from him.
Come to think of it, a mood-boosting reagent sounded like some kind of drug.
Aberly was busy offering it to Horn, saying there was just a chance it might make him more depressed, but would he like to try?
"…."
Just a dopamine junkie addicted to gacha odds.
That's what I thought as I stroked Asha's hair.
For the record, Asha and I were sitting at the kitchen table, sipping tea and watching the scene.
Suddenly, Asha took a sip, then touched her ear.
'Ain, what do you want to do?'
A calm, beautiful voice echoed in my head.
Asha's voice burrowing directly into my mind felt quite hazy.
I savored the resonance for a moment, then hurriedly touched my earring as her eyes began glaring softly at me.
'Uh, yeah. I was thinking of teasing him naturally like always to lighten the mood.'
It was a bit ridiculous that our first use of the close-range telepathy earrings was like this.
Still, using them while gauging the old man's mood in this situation was pretty apt.
'I don't know much, but teasing a slumped old man like that seems wrong.'
'Then..., maybe go with cheesy comfort? A lively human turns gloomy after bumping into a hometown folk—beats me how to handle that….'
'Even if you comfort him, he'll probably take it as teasing, so maybe send in the kids instead….'
'Hey, that's a harsh take on me.'
With our mouths firmly shut, we gazed at each other while conversing inwardly.
'It's dinnertime anyway—how about cheering him up naturally over some tasty food?'
'Not bad.'
'So, what for dinner? That restaurant we checked out yesterday, Ain?'
'Let's do that. I'll tell him.'
After that kind of inner exchange, I stood from my chair first and approached Horn.
I shoved aside the still jittery Aberly and plopped down in front of Horn.
"Horn."
"…, What."
He glanced at me with his still-depressed face, barely tilting his head.
This was severe. Maybe even worse than when we'd first met in snowy Crepen.
So I exaggerated my grin even more, spoke to him, and gestured toward the outside.
"Forget all that for now—it's dinner time, so let's go eat. I scouted a great spot yesterday."
"…, Pass. You guys go."
No.
"Come on, don't do that. Eating good food always lifts the mood, right?"
"…, No."
Ah. Stubborn old coot, seriously.
Fine, screw it all—time for drastic measures.
I called out to Aberly, whom I'd shoved aside.
"Aberly."
"Y-yes…?"
"Hand over that reagent. We're feeding it to Horn."
"Uh..., w-well.... It's not fully clinically tested yet.... I made it for Asha's emotional control…."
"We got a test subject right here. Perfect."
Just take a hit of this drug and perk up, old timer.
With that, I snatched the vial from Aberly, popped the lid, and shoved it straight into Horn's mouth.
"Mmph…! Mmff!"
It went down smooth as he gulped it away.