Chapter 12
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Dragon Fangs and Dwarven Mayhem
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Several more days passed.
“...”
Eirana stood in her lair with her arms crossed, lost in thought.
She had promised to get a Dragon Fang for him, but she had no idea how to even broach the subject.
Sitting squarely in front of her was a warp gate.
She could head to Elencan's lair anytime, as long as she set the coordinates.
The real problem was how to pry a tooth from Elencan's jaws.
'Grandpa, give me a bone for a sword.' No way could she say something like that.
“Hmm... maybe go and try acting cute?”
She glanced at the mirror in one corner of the warp gate room and imagined herself playing up the charm.
'Grandpa~'
Crack!
The moment the image crossed her mind, Eirana reflexively smashed the mirror with her fist.
Her face had twisted into a scowl just from hearing her own saccharine voice in her head.
She wanted a good sword, sure—but did she really have to stoop that low?
Scratching her head in irritation, Eirana stepped into the warp gate.
Time to just wing it.
Flash!
A burst of light, and the scenery shifted.
Eirana arrived in Elencan's lair in an instant. She hopped off the warp gate and looked around.
She crept out of the room, peeking around the corner.
“Grandpa? You here?”
She called out cautiously for Elencan.
No answer. Eirana slipped out the door and scanned the surroundings.
Recalling her past visits, she headed toward where he might be—when a puzzled voice rang out.
“Eirana?”
It was a familiar male voice, but not Elencan's.
Eirana turned toward the sound and saw her paternal grandfather, Rakan, standing there.
“Oh, hey Grandpa. Hi.”
Caught off guard by his presence, Eirana bowed awkwardly. Rakan chuckled.
“How's the lair treating you?”
“It's great. I love it.”
“Of course you do. The owner here hasn't done squat for his granddaughter, but this old man hooked you up big time. Yeah. You bet.”
Eirana could only smile awkwardly as Rakan nodded to himself, ever eager to toot his own horn.
“So, granddaughter—what brings you to this godforsaken lair?”
Eirana scratched her head and replied to the puzzled Rakan.
“I need a favor from my maternal grandpa.”
“A favor?”
Rakan narrowed his eyes.
His expression soured as he asked,
“What kind of favor? If this old man can swing it, consider it done.”
His arms were crossed firmly, exuding an air of dignity.
The gravitas of an ancient dragon who'd lived over 8,000 years, no doubt.
Of course, it was a shame that said gravitas only showed up in moments like this—but there was no one around to lament the fact.
Eirana blinked and was about to carefully speak up—
“Oh! Eirana's here. What nonsense are you blabbering with that idiot?”
Elencan's cheerful voice boomed.
True to their eternal rivalry, he immediately called Rakan an idiot. The tension spiked.
“You... what did you just call me?”
A chilling glint entered Rakan's eyes.
'Oh, I know this vibe.'
Eirana backed away slowly.
It was all too familiar.
Whenever this atmosphere settled in, a fight usually broke out.
'Gotta bail.'
This was ancient dragon versus ancient dragon.
No ordinary scrap. Eirana had zero intention of getting caught in the middle and was already prepping her escape.
But these weren't old for nothing. The two dragons, growling at each other, suddenly remembered their granddaughter was there and called off the staredown.
Ignoring Rakan, Elencan spoke to her in a kindly tone.
“Aww, my sweet Eirana. Coming to Grandpa's lair all by yourself. Such a good girl.”
He reached out and patted her head.
Eirana hated being treated like a kid by outsiders.
Once, another hatchling had babied her like this and ended up beaten black and blue before fleeing.
But family was the exception to her temper.
Elencan withdrew his hand from her awkwardly smiling head and asked,
“So, what brings you to this old man's lair?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? What kind?”
As Elencan looked puzzled, Eirana said carefully,
“Could you give me one of your molars?”
“My molar?”
Elencan blinked in surprise at the unexpected request.
“What do you need my tooth for?”
“I want to make a sword.”
Elencan grew serious as he watched his granddaughter speak while gauging his reaction.
He knew there were plenty of dwarf villages near the lair where Eirana had settled.
He also knew she was interested in martial arts.
It was only natural she'd take an interest in weapons.
Still, asking for his dragon bone was a surprise.
Elencan himself had forged weapons from his own dragon bone in his youth, multiple times.
But not once since becoming an ancient dragon.
'Hmm. No harm in it, I suppose?'
It was a rare request from his granddaughter.
Unlike other hatchlings, Eirana rarely whined or asked for things.
And when she did, it was always something trivial.
Elencan was about to nod agreeably—
When Rakan yanked out one of his own molars on the spot.
The tooth, pulled in human form, instantly grew to Rakan's height.
A Black Dragon molar radiating fierce demonic energy.
As Eirana stared speechless, Rakan shoved Elencan aside and offered it to her.
“Here, Eirana. Don't use that punk's tooth—take Grandpa's instead.”
Fuming, Elencan kicked Rakan away.
“Get lost! Who'd use your rotten tooth?!”
“I'm a benevolent dragon, unlike this greedy bastard. You saw him hesitate, right? All those years, and he's still such a miser.”
Rakan clucked his tongue, completely dismissing Elencan.
Elencan ripped out one of his own molars and thrust it at Eirana.
“A sword from that decayed thing would snap in no time. Use this.”
“You son of a—?”
“What? Son of a what?”
The two ancient dragons finally snapped, throwing punches at each other.
Mindful of Eirana, they held back on magic—but their fists alone made for a brutal brawl.
Any elder dragon dignity was long gone as the two grandpas rolled across the floor, pummeling one another.
Eirana looked away from her grandfathers and up at the lair ceiling, waiting for the fight to end.
“Waaah!”
Eirana stared pitifully at Dris, who clutched the massive dragon molars and sobbed uncontrollably.
“To think I'd live to touch Dragon Fangs from elders! Uwawaaah! I could die happy now. Waaah!”
“Really?”
“Yes! That's right! Waaah!”
“Then drop dead. There are tons of other dwarves outside dying to get their hands on those fangs.”
Dris's eyes flashed menacingly at Eirana's blunt words.
He hoisted his massive anvil from the forge and hurled it out the window.
Crash! Boom!
“Gyaah!”
“The elder's crushed under here! Hurry and dig him out!”
The anvil's weight caused a massive disaster.
Dris rushed to the window in a panic.
Overcome with excitement, had he regretted his rash act?
“Scram! You bastards! This Dragon Fang is mine! Don't get greedy! Shoo! Get lost! I said get lost!”
“Guk!”
Nope.
Dris climbed atop the anvil he'd thrown and grabbed a longsword from the corner, bellowing threats.
The dwarf elder pinned under it let out a death rattle, but Dris ignored him.
Gripping the sword like a legendary hero facing the demon king, he cut an imposing figure.
But in truth, it was pure, unadulterated greed.
Eirana watched the farce from the corner with her arms crossed, her gaze dripping with disdain.
Doubt flickered in her eyes.
She'd heard this dwarf was the village's top swordsmith—yet this display made her question if he could even forge a proper blade.
As Dris chased off the other dwarves with shing! shing! swings like a feral beast, Eirana turned her head.
“Greetings, Lady Eirana. I'm Olkan.”
The dwarf who bowed and introduced himself looked about Dris's age.
“Seeing that lunatic, don't you doubt if we can entrust such a precious material to him?”
Olkan voiced her exact thoughts with a serious tone. Eirana nodded.
He glanced around slyly, then pulled a small box from his bosom and handed it to her.
Curious, Eirana opened it. A gleaming golden gem sparkled inside.
A rare Golden Diamond, even rarer than most in Erannis's lair.
“A Golden Diamond, huh.”
Olkan rubbed his hands with a sly grin at her casual remark.
“Indeed, Lady Eirana. Your eye is sharp.”
In her past life as the Demonic Cult's young lord, Eirana had seen plenty of his type.
He clearly had a pitch lined up.
“That mad old coot couldn't forge a proper weapon to save his life. Entrust it to me, Olkan. I'll make you something top-notch.”
“You good at swords?”
Olkan paused at her question before answering.
“I'm not a swordsmith. I specialize in spears.”
Eirana snapped the box shut and clocked him across the face with it.
She tossed the gem box onto his crumpled form.
“I said sword.”
Irritated, she walked off without a glance.
Olkan sprang up and grabbed her pant leg, howling.
“What about a spear? Spears are great weapons too! Reconsider! Spears! Spears are so much better! Longer! And length is king!”
“Piss off!”
Eirana kicked him away in annoyance.
“Waaah! I wanna touch the Dragon Fang too! Let me! There's two—one for you, make one a spear! Spear! Make a speeeear! Waaah!”
One hand clutching her pant leg, the other pounding the floor as he rolled.
The epitome of shamelessness.
Eirana tried shaking off the clinging Olkan with kicks, but his dwarven grip held firm.
Dris, fending off the others, spotted the commotion and roared in fury.
“You wench!”
He charged at Olkan.
The forge devolved into chaos in seconds.
Eirana finally wrenched free, grimacing at the mess.
Finally fed up, she waded in with punches, forcibly breaking up the dwarves.