Chapter 14
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Chapter 3. Black Fang and Silver Fang
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There, a great many dwarves had gathered.
And surrounding the wagons was a group of humans armed to the teeth.
Eirana stood off at a distance, arms crossed, quietly observing the group of humans.
They must have fought monsters nonstop on their way into the territory, for every one of them carried a heavy air about them.
And the man who appeared to be their leader was speaking with Aff, the chief of the southern village.
Aff glanced back at the wagons behind him and spoke.
"From the looks of it, you seem to know what we're after."
In response to Aff's words, a young man in his mid-twenties with light brown hair nodded.
"Indeed. Do you perhaps remember the Atala Merchant Group?"
"The Atala Merchant Group? The ones who traded with us right up to the end. They stopped coming for some reason thirty years ago."
Aff spoke in a disinterested tone, and the young man smiled brightly.
"I'm glad you remember. Thirty years ago, a sudden civil war broke out in our kingdom, leaving us no means to visit the dwarf village. I apologize for cutting off contact so abruptly."
"No matter. It wasn't any skin off our backs."
The young man gave an awkward smile at Aff's nonchalant reply.
In trades between humans and dwarves, the dwarves held the upper hand, while humans were at their mercy.
Aff, who had been wearing a sour expression, glanced sidelong at the wagons.
"Well then. Shall we take a look at what you've brought?"
At Aff's words, several dwarves swarmed toward the wagons.
The wagons were plainly made of sturdy wood.
Watching from afar, Eirana blinked upon noticing the magic enchantments on the wagons.
'Reinforcement spells and weight-reduction spells.'
It was a novel application of magic to her.
As Eirana observed the wagons with interest, Aff finished a rough inspection of the goods and nodded.
"Iron ingots, mithril ingots, and liquor... Hm."
Aff uncorked a bottle of liquor, took a taste, and nodded again.
Then he pulled a small hammer the size of a palm from his pocket.
The hammerhead was no longer than a thumb, and he tapped the iron and mithril ingots with it.
Dwarves were the finest artisans on the continent.
As such, human goods were rarely of any use to them.
Naturally, they had no interest in human currency.
Thus, the method of trade was simple.
They exchanged metals the dwarves needed and liquor they enjoyed.
Humans were fully capable of producing high-quality metals that would satisfy the dwarves.
For reference, the liquor was less a trade good and more a gift for the dwarves.
Aff tapped the ingots and nodded.
"These are top-quality goods of excellent craftsmanship. Quite satisfactory."
The young man let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
Aff glanced at him and said,
"Come to the warehouse, then. Let's see what we have to trade."
"Yes."
With that, the young man led a few others after Aff.
They were heading in the same direction as where Eirana was.
The young man following Aff spotted the girl in the center of the dwarf village and widened his eyes.
Not only him, but those trailing him were also startled by the stunning beauty that caught their eyes. Yet Eirana paid them no mind, yawning lazily and scratching her belly.
Eirana sat blankly in the heart of the dwarf village.
The dwarf girls who usually pestered her were too busy with the arriving humans to approach her today.
Bored, Eirana scratched her head, then flopped right onto the chair she was sitting in.
As she gazed up at the sky, wondering if she should take a nap, a sudden shadow blocked the light from her view.
Eirana blinked and looked up at the face eclipsing the sun.
It was a young man with brown hair.
He wore a friendly smile as he greeted her.
"Hello there?"
"Uh, hi."
Eirana returned the greeting with a disinterested tone.
Her unusual reaction left the young man slightly taken aback.
Looking at him, Eirana said,
"What do you want?"
"Haha, nothing much. I was just curious about a human in the dwarf village."
Eirana pointed at him with her finger.
"You're human too."
"Eh? Ah, y-yes, that's true."
The young man gave an awkward expression at her curt words.
Eirana straightened up from her slouch and looked up at him.
She was intrigued by what this young man who had approached her might want.
"But I'm from outside. You seem like you live here, miss..."
Dwarves were generally unfriendly to outsiders entering their village.
Yet these dwarves showed no particular wariness toward this girl.
"I've lived here since I was little."
"Since you were little?"
"Yeah. Don't remember exactly."
Eirana lied without batting an eye.
The young man furrowed his brow but accepted her convincing tone and act.
"I see..."
"I'm learning blacksmithing from the dwarves."
Her lies were growing more outrageous.
She hadn't so much as held a hammer—except to smack someone—in the nearly twenty years she'd been in the village, let alone learned blacksmithing.
But the young man seemed to take her word for it.
"Oho, that's impressive. For dwarves to teach their craft."
He hesitated a moment before speaking.
"My name is Arta Norbade."
"Eirana."
Eirana readily gave her name in return.
Arta let out a small chuckle as he looked at her.
"Guildmaster."
At that moment, a burly man approached Eirana and Arta.
"There's something you need to check."
"Oh? Is there? Eirana, let's talk later."
Arta smiled at her and left with the man.
Eirana, sitting cross-legged, rested her chin on her knee and muttered,
"People are the same everywhere you go."
Pretty girls attract guys no matter where they are.
With that thought, Eirana used a water spell to create a mirror, checked her face, and murmured,
"Hm."
Changing her face wouldn't be hard.
This appearance was another facet of herself, but dragons often altered their looks for amusement.
Still, she had no sudden urge to change it now.
"Maybe carve a scar on my face?"
Eirana muttered, stroking her cheek. Erannis would have been horrified to hear it.
As Eirana grumbled to herself, a dwarf came running up to her.
"Lady Eirana!"
"What?"
When Eirana asked with a puzzled look, the dwarf caught his breath and said,
"Elder Dris says the swords are complete."
"Really?"
Eirana's eyes lit up as she headed to Dris's forge.
Upon arriving at the forge, Eirana frowned slightly at the ominous aura emanating from inside.
There were two distinct presences.
One was a chilling icy energy, the other a ferocious demonic force.
Though entirely different, they shared one thing: their ferocity.
Moreover, the auras radiating from the swords were extraordinary.
With a somewhat grave expression, Eirana opened the door and entered Dris's forge.
On the two anvils in the center of the forge lay two swords each.
Their length was that of standard longswords, but their blades were thinner than usual.
The grips resembled those of Middle Kingdom swords, evoking both familiarity and nostalgia in Eirana.
But she couldn't afford to indulge in sentiment.
"Looks like you've been working hard."
When Eirana asked, Dris—who had been sprawled in a corner—groaned and struggled to sit up.
"You've arrived?"
"Yeah. But these swords have a pretty vicious vibe."
"It feels like spirits have taken residence in them."
"Spirits?"
Eirana gave a curious look as she repeated the word, and Dris nodded.
"Yes. It happens occasionally. A masterfully crafted item attracts a spirit. In simple terms, an item spirit."
It was a concept Eirana had heard of.
Unlike elemental spirits or nature spirits, this was when the item itself became a spirit.
That was called an item spirit.
"For an item spirit, these are awfully violent."
Eirana tilted her head at Dris.
Then her face twisted as she looked at him.
Dris's face was blissed out in ecstasy, utterly unbecoming.
Eirana had seen him like this twenty years ago, when she first commissioned the swords.
Back then, it was when he saw Elencan and Rakan's fangs.
But now, it was even worse.
"I could die without regrets. To create such magnificent works... I'll be sung praises through dwarf history. Uhehehehehehehe."
Even as killing intent seeped from the swords, he spouted such nonsense in perfect calm.
Eirana picked up a hammer rolling nearby and chucked it at Dris's face.
"Kyaek!"
Dris snapped to his senses with a yelp.
Looking at him, Eirana nodded toward the two swords and asked,
"Are item spirits always this brutal from the start?"
"No. Item spirits' power is usually weak at first. Lady Eirana, do you know the most important measure of an item's value?"
"Hmm, completion quality?"
"No. Time."
"..."
Eirana glanced at him at the unexpected answer.
She'd been ready to smack him again for nonsense, but his tone was serious.
Dris continued.
"Nothing can defy time. Not even mighty dragons, spirit kings, or gods. Especially spirit kings and gods maintain immortality only until their allotted time expires, after which they become mortal. In that sense, time is an absolute concept nothing can overcome."
"..."
"An item's excellence depends on how well it withstands the ravages of time. Even a sword made of the finest materials will dull and lose function before time."
"Hm."
Eirana nodded in understanding.
"Thus, an item spirit's power is proportional to the time its vessel has endured."
"So, the longer it exists, the stronger all item spirits become?"
"Yes. But most item spirits vanish before gaining great power."
Eirana nodded.
"Cases like this, born with such immense power from the moment of creation, are exceedingly rare. Divine artifacts, perhaps."
"Divine artifacts?"
Intrigued, Eirana asked, and Dris replied.
"Armaments that can only be forged by the will of the gods, hence called divine artifacts. It's said there are four in the mortal realm."
"Is that so?"
Eirana looked at the swords.
Dris was thrilled at having forged two divine artifacts himself, but Eirana didn't see him as overexcited.
In simple terms, these swords had developed their own egos.
They were ego swords.
Some ego swords, created by magic, could only manage basic thought. Others possessed exceptional intelligence.
Considering that even Erannis's lair only had basic ego swords, ones with advanced intellect were correspondingly rare and precious.
As Eirana approached the swords, Dris snapped out of it and warned,
"It's dangerous! Lady Eirana!"
Ignoring him, Eirana stepped up to the anvil and grasped the silver sword with her right hand.
In that instant, the silver blade's aura subsided.