Is That All You Got?
Rune stared blankly at Jed.
"Are you really okay?"
Jed's body had changed.
Only a few dwarves among them, probably Maron or his subordinates, knew that Jed had become a dwarf.
That meant Jed must have made a deliberate decision to step into this small dwarf form.
"Of course! This Jed has been waiting for this day, didn't you know?"
He was right.
A week ago, after deciding to launch the dwarf continent migration operation.
Ever since then, Jed had been acting strange because of his excitement.
'He must have been out of his mind.'
Rune shook his head in his thoughts.
Locked in the forge, making weapons madly, humming as he walked around.
Anyone watching would think he was possessed by a ghost.
No.
Thinking about it, he really was possessed.
By the money ghost.
The way he kept shouting about the female dwarf immigration plan and muttering "a jackpot after immigration!" was like a man gone mad over money.
'What was it... something about connecting men and women dwarves and taking a cut.'
The idea was crazy.
Of course, he was an imugi back then.
Rune knew that as a skilled matchmaker, one could take extra money for matching.
But making a huge fortune from it was rare.
'More importantly, it seemed like most dwarves were into love and marriage.'
Rune shook off his thoughts and watched the moving tunnel gradually become lively again.
Whoong!
Grace, the fairy who had reached out to activate the tunnel, groaned.
"Quickly! It's hard!"
"Shut up."
Perdikion, who had agreed to test it, shot a small fireball through the passage in reply.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
As they went deeper into the tunnel, the flames grew bigger.
Near the end, the fire had become so large it almost filled the entire passage.
Perdikion spoke.
"It looks solid. The fire is getting stronger. It means we're connected to a place with strong fire aura."
Grace grumbled as if protesting.
"Of course! The Red Dragon's Lair. I remember."
Perdikion smirked and confirmed the tunnel once or twice more before nodding.
Seeing this, Grace flared up.
"Hey! Why aren't we going?"
"Because I'm bound by contract. I can't guarantee you won't put Rune in danger."
A fiery red gaze from the flames fixed on the fairy, and Grace glared back before turning away.
Rune felt puzzled by Grace's behavior.
'Why get so angry with someone who wouldn't even challenge her.'
But there was work to do now.
"Alright, let's begin."
Rune used the hair of Grace he had pre-extracted.
Using the mana inside, he created a 'mana key.'
He pressed the tip of the key firmly against the entrance of the tunnel.
Thud!
Kugung!
A sound echoed as the owner of the tunnel changed.
It was like replacing the door of a massive castle.
And immediately, the color of the tunnel changed.
If the old one had been unsteady, gray, and shaking, the new tunnel was now a black one shimmering with the glow of a nebula, red and vibrant.
It looked far more stable and sturdy.
Grace's eyes widened in shock at the sight.
"Is this... possible?"
Rune lifted the key slightly and looked at Grace.
"It should be stable enough at this level. Even I'm not a fairy."
"Uggh!"
Grace clenched her fist in frustration but couldn't say more.
Perdikion, who had checked the other side of the door, muttered.
"The power of fire feels even weaker here."
"That's because a door was created by the power of darkness on the other side."
It meant he had properly blocked the aura flowing from the other side.
Perdikion clicked his tongue lightly.
"Tsk."
This was clearly an evaluation aimed at Grace.
Blaming her for not even being able to make a proper door, only managing a tunnel.
Grace was at a loss, angry.
"It's too much! Really!"
It was Heungmi who soothed her.
"Sister Fairy, Sister Fairy, we're doing training with Heungmi! Master Rune made lots of practice dolls for us."
That's right.
Rune recalled his achievements.
'While training, I raided the Tooth Fairy's warehouse.'
It had been hard to make them within the tight schedule, but since the guy had carefully stockpiled materials, he had managed to create a few good dolls.
Heungmi raised her fist and added.
"Sister Fairy, if you train hard too, you can make an even more wonderful path! Keep it up!"
"Hmph!"
Her expression was fierce, but aware of Christina's gaze, Grace eventually puffed out her cheeks.
Rune felt secretly worried.
'I can't leave her alone with Heungmi when she's so temperamental.'
At that moment, Dullahan bent his upper body forward and stared at Grace.
Grace pouted and asked.
"Why?"
Dullahan silently stared for a while, then slowly raised his hand.
He stroked Grace's silver fairy hair gently, swish swish.
"W-what...?"
She tried to act reluctant, but the fairy slowly extended her head.
"If I do this, do you think I'll like it?"
Her transparent Tinker Bell-like wings trembled.
Dullahan gently placed her on the back of his hand.
Rune watched the scene with hazy eyes.
'She looks fine like this. Anyway, Dullahan has it rough.'
Dullahan faithfully followed Rune's command.
As a result, as seen, he was able to control the fairy to some extent.
'Well, good is good. The goal was achieved.'
Actually, the dwarf village could be easily reached through the Red Dragon's Lair.
The reason they used the Fairy’s Path now was because he had grown in rank, to check the current level.
And to show Grace's power.
'With this, Christina should have clearly felt Grace's usefulness.'
It was better to show it once properly rather than saying it a hundred times.
Satisfied with the result, Rune spoke.
"This path is one I brought with me. I'm practicing making new paths properly."
Grace puffed out her cheeks in a pout.
"Hmph. I was going to take it anyway. What are you asking."
Even so, she glanced at the path.
The path that had become Rune's was very clean and far better than before.
When Grace made it, it had been filled with gravel and weeds, but in an instant it had transformed into a prosperous boulevard.
Internally depressed, Grace's anger rose.
'How is a hatchling so good at this? How does she do everything so perfectly!'
After feeling the skill gap right in front of her, her ill-tempered thoughts naturally surfaced.
In the end, Grace ended up throwing a fit.
"Tsk. Annoying, really."
The problem was Perdikion wouldn't let that slide.
With eyebrows furrowed, the red dragon youth clenched his fists.
"Rune. As expected, that guy's mind needs fixing..."
The moment it felt like a fist might fly any second.
"Ta-da!"
Snap!
Heungmi clapped her hands and showed a cute face with an angry expression.
"Brother, the fairy sister!"
"Peep!"
Baekya stood on top of Heungmi's head, wings folded back.
The startled fairy reflexively answered.
"W-why am I the fool!"
"Why doesn't the fairy sister know what's good? Brother is a fool?"
Heungmi's face tilted curiously as she thought he was truly a fool.
Then Grace's face flushed red as she exploded.
"I'm not a fool! I am!"
"You're a fool. An extremely pitiful fool."
Heungmi's words were a double shock, and Grace's face became stiff.
Without caring, Heungmi continued.
"Sister, you were born from the power that Master Rune possesses. But now, Master Rune has named you."
Grace, momentarily speechless and rubbing her lips, received the follow-up from Heungmi.
"Before, you said you brought monsters because you were lonely. Now we have you. So why don't you like it and only get angry?"
"... ."
It was unexpected.
Grace, who shouldn't have been angry, clenched her fists and trembled.
"I don't like it. I... all of you."
Finally, Grace's words came out.
Heungmi shook her head.
"Not at all. Heungmi doesn't dislike the fairy sister."
"You hate it! Everyone knows!"
Rune sighed internally.
It seemed they needed to clear the air a bit.
"The reason you act in a way that's uncomfortable and hated isn't because you dislike your existence."
Rune continued.
"But saying it's always hated and annoying makes the other person think you hate them too."
It was a simple truth.
A calm, emotionless sentence flowed from the black-haired youth's mouth.
"If you properly tell your feelings and talk about what you want, it might actually resolve better. We are all different and have parts we don't know."
Perhaps because of the lack of passion, the fairy felt strangely deflated.
At that moment, Christina spoke.
"Rune, go first. I'll talk to Grace."
"Christina?"
Following the small nod, golden hair flowed smoothly.
"In this matter, I have some fault too. So, we need to talk."
Christina smiled at Rune and gave Grace a signal with her eyes.
Grace, startled, looked away.
Rune thought.
'From the first meeting, it wasn't great.'
She had sealed with the power of light, or seen Rune's power as a parasite.
There had been actions without mercy that would harm Rune.
Perdikion also chimed in.
"I agree. She must have wisely resolved it better than us."
After a moment's thought, Rune nodded.
"Alright. I'll go first. If anything happens, let me know."
"Sure. Take care."
Christina, Dullahan, and Amelia waved lightly.
A bit uneasy, but conversation and time seemed necessary.
Leaving them behind, Rune and the others stepped into the stable tunnel.
"See you later."
Leaving the greetings, Rune walked forward with the group behind him.
After a while,
"I've been seeing the dwarves properly for a long time. Until now, I've only heard rumors."
Perhaps to focus on the task, Perdikion spoke first.
Rune answered.
"Any special news?"
"There was. Some strange guys started worshipping Heungmi."
"... ."
Jed let out a fake cough at that.
"Oh, of course, but there's another problem that arose recently."
"Another?"
Perdikion's question made Jed nod quickly.
"Yes! Actually, it was a bit hard to tell you, Rune. There was a problem while Perdikion was in recovery."
Rune spoke.
"Explain more."
Jed, who had to walk the tunnel while staggering, had a faster walking speed than others.
Even in that state, he moved his mouth easily.
"The power balance between the dwarves who want to bring in continental artifacts and those who want to preserve traditions has broken."
He clicked his tongue and sighed regretfully.
"To cut to the chase, the traditional faction is currently in the lead. But in reality, the reform faction has more power. What I mean is..."
Jed clasped his palms together and lightly tapped his fingertips.
"The guys who came out on the continent are making money well and succeeding, but they're getting stonewalled. When they go back home."
"Oh dear."
Receiving the interjection, Jed continued.
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