Chapter 13
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Forging the Dragon Fang Swords
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After chasing away the swarm of dwarves, the commotion finally died down.
The young dwarves seemed immensely satisfied just from seeing and touching the Dragon Fangs of the dragon elders. They wrapped up their gawking and headed back obediently.
The elders, like Dris, eyed the Dragon Fangs with greedy stares, but Dris had desperately guarded them, denying their ambitions. They could only shed bloody tears and turn away.
Once the workshop was roughly tidied up, Eirana dragged over a nearby chair that had been tossed aside and sat down.
Dris, now somewhat back to his senses, cleared his throat lightly.
"We showed some unsightly behavior."
Saying that wouldn't salvage his already plummeted reputation.
Dris averted his eyes from Eirana's cold gaze.
He wasn't fool enough to miss the sky-high distrust in those eyes.
If I stay like this, I might never get to touch the Dragon Fangs!
With that thought, Dris began examining them earnestly.
Eirana, arms crossed and legs folded, watched him with indifference.
"How long do you think it'll take to work on them?"
"Seeing there are two Dragon Fangs, you must want two swords made."
"It turned out that way against my will."
She couldn't exactly refuse when they offered.
What if I'd only taken one?
Elencan's lair would have been completely razed.
Recalling that incident, Eirana shook her head lightly and asked,
"Why? If it's too much, have another dwarf handle one?"
Dris nearly shouted at that but forced a strained smile instead.
"Absolutely not. It's not hard at all. I'd die before admitting it was."
Getting worked up here and causing more scenes would really blow his chance.
Dris tried his utmost to stay composed.
Eirana observed him with a bored expression.
Dris, back to his serious face, lightly tapped Rakan's fang and Elencan's fang alternately with a hammer.
Tak tak-
He tilted his head at the sound, placed a Dragon Fang on the anvil, and struck it hard with a large hammer.
Creeeak-!
The Dragon Fang dug straight into the anvil.
"Hm."
Narrowing his brow at the sight, Dris grabbed a sheet of paper from the workshop table and began scribbling something.
"Judging by the sound and weight... Hmm..."
He started muttering to himself. To Eirana, it was utter gibberish.
For the first time, he truly looked like a craftsman.
He scribbled on the large paper for a good while before looking up with a puzzled expression.
"Didn't you say there's a specific form you want?"
At Dris's question, Eirana lightly visualized it.
She recalled the design of the Soma Sword, the symbol of the sub-sect leader from her past life, and cast an illusion spell.
"Hm. A sword style I've never seen before."
Stroking his chin, Dris donned round engraving glasses that let him sense magic formulas and examined the Dragon Fang closely.
"Oho... The more I look, the more astonishing it is."
He kept gasping in admiration.
After finishing his inspection, he removed the glasses and said,
"Roughly twenty years, I'd say."
"Twenty years?"
Eirana looked a bit surprised.
It was longer than she'd expected.
"Yes. Ten years each."
"That's a long time."
"Oriharcon or standard Dragon Fangs could be done in five years apiece, but cases of handling Dragon Fangs this size are virtually nonexistent. The time is unavoidable.
Just compressing them will take about five years."
Like dragons growing stronger with age, Dragon Fangs did too.
Dris explained the sword-making process to Eirana.
To minimize waste, he'd first compress the Dragon Fangs with magic, then hammer them into shape.
After forming the blade, he'd coat it with Oriharcon and engrave magic runes.
"Magic runes?"
"Yes. Runes to suppress the sword's power. Right now, as mere fangs, it's manageable, but once it's a sword, just carrying it would make it a tremendous weapon."
In truth, Eirana and Dris's anti-magic resistance kept them fine, but a normal human would faint just entering the room.
The two Dragon Fangs emanated overwhelming magic power.
Eirana nodded in understanding.
"An incredible creation will be born. Look forward to it."
Eirana eyed Dris's blazing gaze and replied,
"Yeah, got it."
For ordinary humans, it was ages, but for a dragon like Eirana, not so much.
She felt a strange sensation, realizing how her sense of time had shifted since becoming a dragon.
With the sword commission entrusted, Eirana left Dris's workshop feeling somewhat relieved.
Even after commissioning the swords, Eirana visited the dwarf village frequently.
Dris's village was called South Village.
There were also Central, East, West, and North Villages.
Calling them villages was misleading; their scale rivaled cities.
In the Rakan Mountains, now Eirana's domain, it was no exaggeration to say a full dwarf kingdom had taken root.
Soon after Eirana claimed the mountains, the master smith from Central Village—the highest-ranking dwarf in the territory—visited her personally with gifts.
Knowing she was female, the old dwarf brought rare gems.
"Truly beautiful. I've seen many dragons, but few as lovely as you. If you grow big, you'll be incredibly popular with the males."
"R-Really?"
Eirana's eyebrow twitched as she forced a smile.
Popular with males? She'd be lucky if they didn't get slashed on approach.
Afterward, word of her personal lair spread, drawing housewarming visits from many dragons.
Peers like Rian dropped by several times, as did Red Clan's Lenis and White Clan's Raitan.
Raitan had been brutally beaten after the runaway incident but kept smiling at Eirana thanks to his cheeky nature.
Eirana wasn't pleased to see the brat grinning. Remembering past events, she didn't forget to thrash him again.
Thus, time flowed on.
Waiting for the swords wasn't as boring as Eirana had thought.
For her, touring the dwarf villages was far more fun than the elf village.
Elves pursued harmony above all.
Their villages were utter stillness.
At first, the culture intrigued her enough for frequent visits, but she soon grew bored.
Unlike the elves, dwarf villages were nonstop spectacles.
Explosions were daily routine—once a day at least, from who-knows-what experiments.
Each day offered endless entertainment.
One day, she saw dwarves training in combat, offered to help, and pummeled the young ones with her fists.
Dwarf brawling, leveraging their strength and build, was impressive, but Eirana was a quirky dragon with centuries of martial arts training.
No wonder the young dwarves crumpled under her blows.
Observing the polar opposites—elves and dwarves—Eirana reflected on her past life.
She felt the differences between humans, elves, and dwarves viscerally.
Of course, this world's humans differed vastly from her previous one.
Language, culture, appearance—all distinct. Yet, from books, she'd learned their essence was much the same.
To humans, elves and dwarves seemed endlessly extreme.
In these musings, Eirana felt curiosity about 'humans' for the first time since hatching.
Was it instinct from dragons, or just indifference? Until now, humans held no fascination.
Having been one herself, there was nothing novel about them.
Only their cultures piqued mild interest.
But now, nearing adulthood and long detached from human life, curiosity finally stirred.
She was surprised at herself.
Today, visiting the dwarf village and pondering this, she sensed commotion.
Eirana grabbed a passing dwarf.
"What's going on in the village?"
"Yes, something's up."
Curiosity piqued at the dwarf's nod. Dwarves barely blinked at mishaps, so what had them so riled?
"What is it?"
Asking eagerly, the dwarf replied,
"A group of humans arrived at the village."
"Humans?"
Eirana's eyes widened at the surprise.
Her swords were nearly complete.
That meant twenty years had passed since she settled here.
She knew South Village, near the border, had traded with humans before, but she hadn't expected them to actually enter the village.
"What kind of humans?"
"Merchants, it seems. It's been about thirty years since trade with the old ones stopped, and these are new merchants."
"Hmm."
Eirana's face lit with excitement.
Right when human curiosity hit, here they were.
Hatchlings weren't forbidden from meeting humans.
Humans entering dragon territory? Fine to meet.
Intrigued, Eirana followed the dwarf.