What’s This About?
“……What…… door?”
Amelia lifted her pure water-blue eyes and tilted her head slightly, while Grace narrowed her eyes sharply, both asking in unison.
Rune nodded and opened his mouth.
“That’s right. It’s an opportunity to use your abilities.”
As Rune spoke, he turned toward the blacksmith workshop of the Gaetong-pa dwarves.
“—Not doing that!”
Grace crossed her arms and turned her head away.
When Rune faced her again, he gazed at the fairy for a moment before saying one word.
“Contract.”
Grace, with Christina’s mediation, had made a lifelong contract with Rune.
Recalling that moment made the fairy grind her feet in fury.
“Aaaah! You bad kid!”
Watching Grace simmer, Rune suddenly realized something.
‘This girl has been speaking quite well lately.’
Rune remembered his first meeting with Grace, when her eyes had rolled and only raw emotion showed.
If she had spoken like that back then, she wouldn’t have said it this way.
“Make it, what?”
“Bad! Not doing anything like that!”
Indeed, looking back now, it was an enormous development.
Rune spoke with pure admiration.
“But you’ve gotten quite good at talking.”
“What? Suddenly saying something like that…….”
Grace rolled her eyes and muttered as if to provoke him.
“Hmph! This is basic stuff. And so? If I say something like that, does that mean I’ll be happy?”
At that moment, Amelia spoke gently.
“N-not…… let’s not do that…… and go together, okay?”
“……I don’t know!”
Yet as Amelia urged him, Rune followed along with an act of resistance, earning another sigh of admiration.
‘She’s still feisty, but she says everything she wants.’
Then Amelia smiled faintly, as if there was no way out.
“Rune…… even if I say this…… there’s no bad intention…….”
Rune thought that Amelia, who was so helpful, was secretly surprising.
But he nodded outwardly.
Grace, sensing the atmosphere, grumbled next.
“Only because of the contract…… I don’t want to…… but I have no choice. Tsk.”
“Mm…… but…… Grace, you’ll do well…….”
Hearing the conversation, Rune secretly brightened his eyes.
‘These two must have gotten closer while I wasn’t around.’
The way they were acting was exactly like that.
Rune tested the waters with a casual remark.
“Amelia, you’ve become quite close to Grace.”
“Ah……? Y-yeah, it showed?”
“Not true? Well, it’s better than a dirty little hatchling.”
Rune answered as if he didn’t know.
“Yeah. It’s obvious you like Amelia. Or is it the same with Christina?”
Grace shuddered as if a chill ran down her spine, then shot toward Amelia.
“What is that? Impossible! The little black hatchling heard that? No way I’d ever do something like that with a scary gold dragon!”
Watching her immediately start ranting, Rune was certain.
‘Christina is so terrifying that Amelia, who’s always soft and obedient, ran to her.’
No need to ask further.
Rune smirked inwardly.
‘It looks like befriending Christina failed.’
Of course. The two didn’t match at all.
One was mature and strong, the other was childish and sharp like a cat.
Still, he would have to wait and see if Amelia was receiving only good influence from her.
Rune finished his thoughts.
‘Well…… I’d better stop here. She’ll suffer more from now on.’
If Grace had seen Rune’s face, she might have taken a step back, muttering, “That sinister hatchling! He’s thinking something dirty again!”
“Here we are. I’ll open the door.”
Rune, hiding his true thoughts, turned the doorknob of the workshop before him.
As Scott, who led the Gaetong-pa dwarves, greeted them, the dwarves standing in formation straightened their backs and bowed their heads.
“Lord Rune, welcome!”
“““Welcome! Lord Rune!”””
While Amelia and Grace widened their eyes in surprise, Rune raised the dwarves’ heads.
He introduced everyone to one another.
“This is Amelia, a water dragon. And this small one is Grace, the fairy you’ll be working with.”
The dwarves’ eyes immediately darted to Grace.
“A water dragon? A fairy?”
“A dragon and a fairy?”
As Amelia and Grace flinched under the many gazes, Rune continued calmly.
“Amelia is my friend. I’ll visit often, so please take care of her. And the one you’ll work with is this Grace.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Grace whipped her head around to glare at Rune.
Her eyes were those of a slave trader selling her off.
But Rune spoke without a care.
“This girl is excellent at handling darkness. She’ll be very helpful in many ways.”
Scott, still not understanding the situation, brightened his eyes and stroked his mustache.
“Ooh! So the fairy lady will be joining us?”
“Whaaat?”
Grace’s mouth fell open in shock, before she could say anything.
Rune reached into his dimensional pouch.
The item he pulled out was the blueprint he had received from Jed.
“Make this first.”
Scott, as representative, stepped forward and received the scroll.
He carefully examined it, then asked.
“What is this, Lord Rune?”
“A blueprint. See for yourself.”
Scott unfurled the scroll with a rustle.
After studying the details, his eyes widened in surprise.
“No way! This is a direct connection device with the continent!”
Whoosh!
The dwarves rushed over to Scott and panted heavily behind him.
One dwarf stared at Rune with dazed eyes.
“Is…… this true? This surpasses dwarf technology!”
At that, Rune pointed a thumb at Grace.
“That’s why we have Grace here. She’s a fairy skilled in darkness.”
“I, I didn’t say I’d do it!”
Rune turned only his head so Grace could see him and mouthed the word “contract.”
“W-why……!”
Grace’s eyes turned into slits as she trembled.
But Rune remained unfazed and looked back at the dwarves.
‘It would be good for both the dwarves and Grace.’
Grace was the one who had wanted to drag Rune into the deep-sea dungeon because she hated being alone there.
They were down-to-earth, easygoing dwarves who easily caught the mood.
Grace hated being alone and disliked anyone who was too scary or too strong.
‘Their combination should be surprisingly good.’
Rune believed these two would exchange only beneficial influences.
‘I hope her vicious temperament improves a lot.’
Fortunately, living with Rune and Christina had already polished her somewhat.
If she ever refused to listen, all Rune had to do was come and poke her side.
‘She’ll become quite useful later.’
Rune looked at Grace.
Seeing his strange gaze, Grace rubbed her arms as if something was crawling on her.
“Eek. Why are you staring? What are you scheming?”
Amelia spoke up.
“Then…… Grace…… will work here……?”
“Yeah. It’s an employment contract.”
“Again?! You’re selling me off! You abandoned me again!”
Complaining furiously, Grace glared at Rune.
“You always think you’ll be abandoned. I get it because you don’t want to be left, but——”
“W-what…….”
The fairy, struck to the core, stuttered and turned her face red.
“Tell me the truth.”
Rune took a deep breath and chose his words carefully.
“Even if it feels like coercion from the contract, you actually wanted it, didn’t you? The feeling of relying on someone’s strength. That someone wants to rely on your power.”
“N-no…… that’s…… not it.”
Her voice was strained as she denied it.
But the tone carried a sense of emptiness.
“For people like you, the Gaetong-pa dwarves here are perfect.”
Rune checked the earnest eyes of Scott and the gathered dwarves again.
Jed’s blueprint was perfect, but to realize it, Grace’s help was essential.
Grace remained silent without denying it.
And Rune broke the silence.
“You’ll understand naturally later. That I didn’t abandon you.”
The dwarves and Amelia watched the situation without interrupting.
Grace finally spoke.
“Then…… you want me too?”
Of course.
From now on, Grace would become an excellent gate manager.
Rune nodded.
“Of course. You forgot you made a contract with me? I have no intention of breaking it. You must keep going with me.”
“Hmph! What? If you say it that powerfully, who would believe you!”
What power?
Rune couldn’t understand this fairy at all.
Yet somehow, Grace seemed pleased.
If she hadn’t been pleased, she wouldn’t have said such words.
“Hmph! Having to deal with these stupid creatures. Really. What do you think of me.”
As she spoke, Grace fluttered and stood right in front of Scott’s bearded face.
“You. Take good care of me. Got it?”
“Yes, understood.”
Scott answered with a chuckle, and the dwarves gathered behind him offered their greetings with astonished eyes.
“Please take good care of me, Grace-nim.”
“Me too…….”
Secretly extending their fingers, they were clearly offering a handshake instead.
Grace looked down at him and flicked him with her small hand.
“Hmph!”
Amelia, who had been watching, offered what seemed like congratulatory words.
“G-Grace…… it’s a very good thing for you…… so happy for you.”
“I’m super super happy! It’s not like I got lucky or anything!”
Rune looked at Grace and shook his head inwardly.
‘If you’re happy, say you’re happy.’
Meanwhile, Scott, with strength returning to his hands to keep the scroll intact, said.
“Then…… may we freely use this door, Lord Rune?”
“Of course. You will become continental trade merchants and dwarves. Your products will suit the continent even more.”
Rune told them of his plan to let them freely travel to the continent and buy and sell, after discussing it with Perdikion.
The dwarves’ eyes sparkled.
How many legendary artifacts had they been unable to sell no matter how hard they tried and had to store away!
The dream of the Gaetong-pa dwarves was right before their eyes.
One dwarf, tears welling up, said.
“Can we…… live with the recognition we deserve?”
The traditional faction with heritage.
The new reformist faction dreaming of change.
Between the two, they were the ones who made items—not weapons of war, but decorative crafts and musical instruments.
Being able to freely travel the continent filled with music and culture was like a fish finding water.
“Just because it deserves recognition, we must receive it.”
At Rune’s words, the dwarves exclaimed in delight.
“Lord Rune…… thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Rune spoke casually, but someone else would have celebrated for three days and three nights if they heard the news.
It was, of course, Jed—the one who had worked the hardest for this blueprint.
So what had Rune done?
‘It was worth hammering Jed.’
When Rune sent him to help the Gaetong-pa, Jed burst into the workshop.
What Rune did was threaten and subtly intimidate him—not with a threat, but with a reminder that the workshop would be restored to its former glory and that the Musketeer Merchant Guild already in the continent would profit greatly if the Gaetong-pa succeeded.
‘It’s just that I paid the price for breaking into the Gaetong-pa dwarves’ workshop.’
In other words, Rune’s carrot and stick had worked perfectly.
‘Here we have Gaild, the clothes-making expert, and the ghost chef Verdin. The team will be quite useful.’
All of it had been created by Rune’s power.
Feeling a warm heart, Rune looked at Grace and the dwarves.