The Dragon Hatchlings Arrive
Rune, now in human form, looked up at the workshop building with its roof torn clean off.
Then he murmured with dispassionate calm, “They said it would take a week.”
Because the blast had detonated from inside, the roof still bowed upward in a grotesque arc, the shape of the explosion preserved in full. “...At this rate, it’ll take a month, not a week.”
There was no worse wreck than this. A faint smell of smoke still curled around the tip of his nose. The dwarves had set up a barrier, but with the place looking like this, who would even want to step inside and take a look?
The only thing that counted as good news was that not a trace of darkness or curse power had spread beyond the blast.
They must have put in a serious effort.
Rune walked inside and looked at the hastily hung plank door. It looked so unstable that a careless tug might break it apart.
Knock, knock.
“Wha—dammit, who is it? Huh? Lord Rune?”
The dwarf who had stood guard through the night cracked the door open in irritation, then froze and widened his eyes in shock.
“Oh my goodness, what an honored guest for such a humble place. Please, come in!”
The dwarf, already edging into middle age, bent at the waist in a hurry and ushered Rune inside.
“I heard there’d been an accident, so I came by. How is everyone doing?”
“It wasn’t too bad. They’ll be fine after two or three days of rest... but after spending all day purging the damage and cleaning up, everyone’s completely wrecked.”
It was only natural. They couldn’t have left it be if darkness had been leaking all over the place.
The Gaetong-pa dwarves had spent all their time mopping up the aftermath, and now every last one of them was flat on the floor from exhaustion.
Nodding, Rune stepped into the workshop.
“Let me take a look.”
“Yes, of course. Though the place is in no state to show anyone...”
Once inside, Rune looked around and said, sounding faintly surprised, “The equipment’s still intact.”
The interior was a disaster, but most of the tools and important machinery were still safe.
The dwarf seemed quietly proud of that.
“Ha ha! We’ve had more than our share of experimental accidents and explosions, you see. Even if it doesn’t look like much, we’re meticulous when it comes to taking care of our tools.”
As he stared off into the distance and reminisced, the dwarf’s voice grew heavy with old regret.
“Losing even one piece of equipment is bad enough, but getting a replacement is a nightmare... The other workshop dwarves were all territorial and foul-mouthed about it. They’d try to overcharge us, too, until our seniors stepped in and helped.”
Rune gave the dwarf a sidelong glance.
I'm no expert at reading faces, but that guy looks like the sort who’d get tricked without noticing.
If one were being generous, he looked innocent. If one were being less kind, he had the face of someone who trusted anything too easily.
In any case, the dwarf’s face was not the important thing, so Rune moved on to a different fire.
“That’s all the tools and manufacturing equipment, then?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Just by looking at the equipment, Rune could tell. There was a fierce, stubborn passion in the way they had kept researching despite such poor support.
He nodded lightly and went deeper inside.
“From here on out, you should pay more attention to your own safety, too. It was good that you protected the equipment, but if nobody can actually use it, then it’s no better than scrap.”
At that, the dwarf looked a little startled, then bowed his head again.
“Yes, that’s true... but our workshop’s still not earning much beyond the subsidies, so...”
Rune answered with complete ease.
“Don’t worry. Before long, you’ll all be so busy you won’t even have time to worry about money.”
“...Pardon?”
Looking utterly bewildered, as if he’d just heard something impossible, the dwarf lifted his head. Rune handed him several glass jars filled with colorful snacks.
“Good. First, give these to the ones who were injured.”
The jars were filled with bear-shaped jelly, candy, fruit syrup, and the like.
The sweet-and-tart fragrance rose so richly that it made one want to reach in and snack on the contents at once.
But what caught the dwarf’s attention even more than that was something else.
“T-These jars... what are they?!”
“The jars? Jed made them for me when I asked.”
At that, the dwarf’s jaw dropped.
These were no ordinary jars for sweets.
They were excellent containers, superb at preserving mana and reinforced so well they wouldn’t shatter easily even if struck with a hammer.
“Lord Jed, you say? The one who blew up the workshop the day before yesterday... ah, no, I mean the one who was with you? I’ve never seen jars like these before. What on earth are they made of?”
Flustered, the dwarf quickly corrected himself and asked again.
Rune answered, “I don’t know. I only told him the performance I wanted. I didn’t watch the actual process.”
I don’t know what they’re made from, but he made them when I asked.
Jed, who had once wept bitterly about how much trouble he’d gone through for the sake of a single jar, had long since vanished from Rune’s memory.
Rune went on, “What’s inside is good for injuries. It contains light-attribute healing, so it’s especially effective against damage from darkness and curses.”
Wounds were one thing, but injuries caused by curse power and darkness were a far more serious matter.
“For anyone whose strength has been drained, or who feels weak all over, or whose illness has taken a deep hold, mix in this fruit syrup and give it to them.”
Halfway through the explanation, Rune felt like a peddler selling miracle cures at a market stall.
“The candy’s good for healing wounds and recovering from fatigue, and the bear jelly helps when you need to concentrate.”
Listening to Rune, the dwarf’s eyes widened even further as he clutched the jars of jelly, World Tree fruit syrup, and candy in both hands.
“I’ll be sure to distribute them properly.”
“Good. Give them that right away, and bring all the recovered ones here.”
“Pardon?”
When the dwarf asked back in confusion, Rune said, “I’m not giving you good medicine for no reason. We’ve got mountains of work to do today. Besides, the one who was supposed to come is arriving today, too.”
“Gah!”
The dwarf nearly jumped out of his skin, then scrambled to stuff the jars into his bag.
“I’ll bring everyone at once!”
“Good. There’s enough medicine, right?”
“Of course! This much will be enough to last a year.”
The glass jars Rune had handed over were enormous.
There was enough to help not only the dwarves injured in this incident, but to serve as stockpiled medicine afterward as well.
Rune nodded and pressed him again.
“Then hurry up and bring them. We don’t have time.”
“Yes, sir!”
The dwarf, short in stature but suddenly so quick his feet were nearly invisible, bolted out the door at Rune’s words.
There’s no way anyone would fail to recover after even the World Tree fruit syrup.
The World Tree, with its ripe flesh and juices bursting with sweetness, had always been potent. The syrup made from the magical extract of its fruit was not only delicious even when taken plain, but had an effect strong enough to rouse a dying dragon back to its feet.
They’ll be running into accidents all the time from here on out, so giving them this much is only right.
The precious elixir Rune had given to the dwarves was partly compensation for being injured by Jed’s mistake.
And partly hazard pay for the hardships they would have to endure once Grace arrived.
Grace is perfect for this plan in terms of ability, but she’s not exactly the easiest person to work with.
Rune knew all too well that Jed’s accident had been nothing more than a prelude.
Once Grace came to work with them, the Gaetong-pa dwarves would be living through every kind of accident imaginable—and likely losing hair from stress as well.
Still, that takes care of the preparations.
All that was left was to go welcome Grace.
Then Rune’s Mokoji Stone began to glow.
“It’s been shining for a while now.”
Rune picked up his black Mokoji Stone.
Before he even activated it, pink letters from Heungmi were already floating above the mana stone.
Rune pictured it for a moment, imagined the sticky sweetness of it, and shook his head.
The tastes children like these days are different from mine, I guess.
When he’d said it could use even more jam flavor, it seemed they hadn’t been able to make it stronger on the spot, so they’d simply piled on more of it.
Then Heungmi sent another curious line.
Immediately after that, Jed’s yellow letters popped up.
Watching that, Rune tilted his head in mild confusion.
They look like they’re eating together, so why are they talking through the Mokoji Stone?
Still, if Jed had been inspired by it, then it was probably a good thing in its own way.
Jed’s the sort who either hits the jackpot or gets nothing at all.
When he did strike gold, though, he could make some surprisingly interesting things, so Rune was somewhat looking forward to it.
Even if the number of connected users was limited, the Mokoji Stone was still an excellent invention.
If I could add one more, I’d make one for Christina separately, too.
For now, though, the limit was five users total, including the operator, so only Heungmi, Jed, Perdikion, and Amelia were registered.
In any case, Rune and Christina had already been given a dedicated communication stone, so it wasn’t a problem.
Then Amelia’s blue letters floated up over the Mokoji Stone.
Good.
As promised with Perdikion, he had decided that their appearance would be at the plaza where the passage had first opened.
Quickening his steps a little, Rune’s eyes fell on the broad square ahead.
Woong!
The moment the passage opened, he saw Amelia and Grace stepping through it.
Human-form Amelia, especially, looked rather tense.
The two of them emerged beyond the passage and reacted in very different ways.
“Ah... it really is, haah, hot...”
“Hot? This is nothing at all! But there’s a weird smell!”
The sharp scent of iron and leather. The trace of smoke, and the lingering heat of something that had been scorched before it could cool, made such a smell inevitable.
“What did you two decide about your classes?”
When Rune asked, Amelia answered on behalf of them both.
“U-Um. Meeting the dwarves... was, w-was part of our studies, so... since it’s vacation, we were told to think of it that way.”
Speaking carefully, Amelia drew in a steadying breath and wrapped a transparent barrier around her body.
The translucent shield settled over her skin, then seamlessly merged into it, leaving behind a cool, soothing sensation.
“Phew... I feel like I can live again.”
“Tch. So you’re just going to do it for yourself?”
“W-What? But you said you weren’t even h-hot at all...”
“That doesn’t mean you get to keep all the comfortable tricks to yourself, does it? I want one too!”
“Ah... right.”
Amelia quietly cast the same soft, watery shield over Grace as well.
“Hmph! What? This is actually pretty good, isn’t it? It’s really cool.”
Only then did Grace grumble, though she now flitted comfortably beside Amelia.
Watching the two of them, Rune shook his head inwardly.
I have no idea what to make of Grace.
She did seem better than before, somehow.
But it was hard to say exactly what had improved.
And it was a feeling he’d often had in his previous life, too.
The problem is... I still don’t understand her.
Still, Amelia looked surprisingly at ease.
Watching Amelia and Grace bicker, Rune thought to himself, Maybe Amelia can handle Grace better than I can.
He turned and started off ahead of them.
“This way. I’ve got some work to do, so I need to meet the Gaetong-pa dwarves first.”
At that, Amelia asked, “W-We’re... going to do what?”
“Right! Tell us first. Don’t just stand there with that black-hearted hatchling look on your face.”
Rune looked back at them and said, “We’re going to build a passage that leads to the continent.”