I Thought You Had Given Up
“I thought you had given up.”
“You know, checking out with Blackmi?”
“Yeah.”
Rune looked at Blackmi and thought.
'Without Jed, Blackmi would have met more female dwarves than anyone else.'
Among the female dwarves she had met, Blackmi had far more experience than Perdition.
Rune told Blackmi, who was wagging her tail.
“If you’re not hungry, let’s go together.”
Blackmi’s ears perked up, and she smiled brightly.
“I’m not hungry!”
Blackmi suddenly lifted Baekya and spun around happily.
“Walking with Rune-nim is so fun!”
“Peep!”
Jed chuckled and joined in the mood.
“It’s my hometown and all, but it’s always nice to come back! Walking should be fun!”
Rune nodded once.
Just earlier, he had recalled the dwarves giving Blackmi a quick glance or treating her like a cute girl.
'The atmosphere felt pretty good.'
Blackmi had waved lightly and greeted them with cheerful faces, looking very pleased.
In other words, it meant she had met many female dwarves.
'Sure enough, following Jed meant I’ve met almost every dwarf.'
Even after nearly fifty years, there were still female dwarves who remembered Blackmi and greeted her warmly.
Rune opened his mouth as if he had just remembered.
“By the way, Jed, you said you met female dwarves with Blackmi.”
“That’s right. Is there a problem?”
He looked as if he was curious why Rune was asking now.
Rune said,
“Did you mind them specially, or was there anyone you needed to greet?”
Jed scratched his head for a moment, then shook it.
“Everyone has their own circumstances… but right now, there’s no one I absolutely must see.”
“Hmm?”
The way Jed said that seemed to carry a bitter taste.
'Maybe because we’re both kids, he’s not saying something.'
Rune recalled a story Perdition had casually mentioned before.
The tale had felt off-color, but it didn’t seem completely random.
'Perdition seemed uneasy. As someone with a good instinct, he must have sensed something strange.'
Rune wrapped up his thoughts.
“I’ll head back to the inn around dinner time. If anything happens, contact me.”
“Yes! I’ll let you know right away through the Mokoji Stone!”
“Take care, Mr. Jed!”
After seeing Blackmi off, Jed checked that she had left and turned to Rune.
“Blackmi. Do you remember the houses you and I visited before?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Can you lead me there according to what you remember?”
Blackmi nodded vigorously and took the lead with a “Sure!”
Walking together with the lively Blackmi, Rune moved forward.
***
Rune kept pressing his fingers hard against the crease in his brow.
“What a useless thing to say.”
Eventually, Rune furrowed his brow and sighed.
“They’re all taverns.”
After a few stops following Blackmi, Rune reflected.
There were many ordinary places, but taverns were particularly numerous.
The problem was that the stories about Jed he heard there weren’t very believable.
-Hahaha. That time when we were drinking and he passed out first?
-His face was all flushed and happy! He threw gold coins around like it was nothing.
Rune, who had heard tales too disgraceful to repeat, had to reconsider traveling with Blackmi.
Of course, for dwarves, drinking was a normal way to end the day.
For them, taverns were everyday spots.
In fact, there were plain places as well.
But taking a young Blackmi to some of them felt… awkward.
'I really did wander around with Blackmi in such places.'
The last tavern they had arrived at.
With a table set up for Blackmi and Rune—complete with snacks and separate milk—Rune looked around.
It was daytime, so the place was quiet and being tidied up, but the strong smell of alcohol and something unidentifiable already hung thick.
Blackmi downed her milk cup and stared at Rune with an innocent face.
“Rune-nim, are you angry?”
“……I’m not angry at you.”
Rune’s gaze shifted to the table across the room.
A female dwarf there was applying thick lip rouge and chatting lewdly with male dwarves.
Since she was sitting apart, Rune had thought she wouldn’t hear, but unfortunately, both he and Blackmi had superior hearing.
Blackmi tilted her head curiously at Rune, then spoke with a realization.
“Uung. So you’re angry at Mr. Jed? But Mr. Jed said he had done something good here.”
“What good thing?”
Rune asked in confusion, and Blackmi nodded vigorously.
“It was a talent too precious to leave here. I heard she was a dwarf auntie who wanted to take me back!”
Dwarf auntie?
As Rune listened quietly, Blackmi made an “Ah” sound and continued.
“The auntie who made my clothes. She said her hands were really skilled. I haven’t seen her, but still.”
Rune fell silent for a moment.
'Thinking back, Blackmi’s clothes were all made by female dwarves. I thought they were the work of skilled craftsmen, but is the owner here?'
Rune, who had been watching, spotted a busty dwarf heading to the bar and stood up.
“Excuse me.”
“Huh? Ah, hello. What can this young successor do for you?”
She used a teasing title, but Rune calmly brought up his business.
“I came to meet someone. Ah.”
Rune pulled a small gem from his pocket and handed it to the busty dwarf.
“This.”
The busty dwarf raised her thick eyebrows.
Her eyes narrowed, then she couldn’t tear them away from the gem.
She glanced around, then secretly reached out and took it.
“To think someone who bestows the dwarves’ grace would do such a thing. What is it?”
“I’m looking for the dwarf Jed is searching for.”
At those words, the busty dwarf let out a snort.
“That greedy dwarf still hasn’t given up?”
Her eyes turned strangely fierce, and she crossed her arms.
“He was making a fuss to snatch away rare talent. Are you an old acquaintance trying the same?”
She leaned in aggressively, but Rune slowly shook his head.
“No. I was just curious. I wanted to thank her for making Blackmi’s clothes.”
The young boy with a pure face responded calmly despite the stern attitude.
“You don’t need to thank me. The gem I gave you earlier is only part of it.”
The busty dwarf looked at him with fresh eyes.
'So this is the terrifying dragon heir, but he’s so different from Perdition-nim?'
She thought of the innocent, pure black hair.
He looked like the royal princes or nobles of the human world she had only heard about.
The busty dwarf pondered the gem in her pocket.
'If I hand it over to him, it will be mine.'
She wouldn’t mind giving him one more if he helped her.
It was a chance to easily gain a big profit.
'Anyway, he can’t leave here, so it doesn’t matter.'
After calculating in her head, the busty dwarf waved her arm broadly.
“You came to thank me, but it’s impossible. Well, I couldn’t do it anyway.”
She flicked her wrist arrogantly and slammed the empty wooden mug loudly on the counter.
“Beer! Bring it yourselves!”
“What? This woman, how many dwarves have come here to act like this?”
Other dwarves shouted in protest, but the busty dwarf roared back.
“If you have another house that accepts tabs, get out!”
At that, the dwarves who had been blushing fell silent.
Rune had wanted to cover Blackmi’s eyes, but fortunately no more commotion arose.
The busty dwarf lifted her chin and said,
“Don’t mind those loudmouths. Follow me this way.”
Heading up the stairs to the second floor with her husky drunkard-like gait.
'No entry sign?'
Rune checked the dwarf letters, and with Blackmi, they waited as the busty dwarf pushed aside the stall.
“Whoa!”
Veins bulged on the busty dwarf’s arm.
Screeech!
Thud!
It looked very heavy, but with a strength like lifting a barbell, she moved it aside, revealing the second floor with its musty old dust smell.
Rune quickly scanned the surroundings.
'No traces of footsteps here.'
A corridor that seemed used only once a day, or every few days.
If someone lived here, there should be more footprints from going to eat or something. It was strange.
Thinking about it, faint dust was also accumulated under the no-entry stall.
Bang bang bang!
The busty dwarf knocked on the wall and opened the door.
Rune looked into the dark room and thought.
'There’s a presence. But odd.'
If someone was inside, the light should be on.
There was no window letting in bright sunlight.
Just a small vent window for air. It was too dark.
“Who’s there?”
A skinny dwarf standing up from in front of the sewing machine, disheveled.
The busty dwarf frowned.
“Since the important guest has come, be polite.”
She glared at the skinny dwarf as if to warn.
Don’t say anything unnecessary.
At least that’s how Rune felt.
'It would be better if we were alone.'
Rune took out the gem from his pocket.
“Thank you for bringing me. I wanted to have a chat. Could you wait outside for a moment?”
“No……”
The busty dwarf, who had been pouting, spotted the larger gem and nodded.
“That one doesn’t seem like a real dwarf… It’ll be hard to talk long.”
“Hmm? Okay.”
The busty dwarf sat at the desk, casting a shadow over the dwarf.
Then she looked back and forth between Rune and Blackmi and said with a hint of sympathy.
“Then I’ll wait outside the door.”
Rune nodded obediently.
“Okay.”
The busty dwarf left the door.
Of course, the presence was still clear.
Rune quietly used magic with just his fingertips.
'It’s enough. This will do.'
Without any incantation, he cast sound-blocking and locking magic quietly around them.
While Blackmi’s eyes sparkled and she giggled softly, sensing the magic, Rune created a simple light orb and floated it.
At last, they were in a position to talk.
Rune opened his mouth.
“There isn’t much time for polite greetings, so I’ll get to the point. Do you know Jed?”
The skinny dwarf lifted her head.
“I know.”
Her voice was as rough as scraping the bottom of a dry well with a claw.
A faint breathy voice belonged to a female dwarf, yet it carried the feeling of a decrepit old woman with no strength left.
Her dry lips moved again.
“You came to make that proposal again? To go out to the continent.”
A dry sigh.
Rune answered calmly.
“Yeah. Even if it’s uncertain here, on the continent you’ll be welcomed.”
Blackmi’s clothes were obviously an extraordinary piece of work.
Even though her body was skinny, the clothes hanging around her—ribbons, leather garments using magic stones—showed rare talent in a village full of wild blacksmith dwarves.
But the skinny dwarf let out a deep sigh.
“I told you I couldn’t accept, so I thought you had given up.”
Click.
A sound like a misaligned mechanism moving.
The instant the dwarf at the desk turned around.
'Oh no.'
Rune felt a wave of despair.