Scales for the Forge
The rough, gravelly voice rang out.
“Welcome… I mean, welcome! Lord Perdikion, Lord Rune, and your esteemed servants. I am the head blacksmith of the Lubez Forge, ‘Mile Camberfee.’ Ah, I mean, it is an honor.”
He kept twitching his thick nostrils, as if polite speech didn’t sit comfortably on his tongue.
His name was Mile Camberfee.
At last, Rune’s group had arrived at the entrance of the traditionalist forge.
“Then, please come inside.”
At the head blacksmith’s invitation, Perdikion gave a slight nod and strode ahead into the forge.
Horns and body parts of monsters were stored as materials, and several mass-produced weapons and armor caught the eye.
The artisan competition is still some time away… If there’s suitable gear for the Abandoned Mine Dungeon, I should prepare some in advance.
Just as Rune was thinking that, he felt a gaze and turned his head.
Dwarves stood here and there, their eyes brimming with curiosity and interest they couldn’t hide.
Perdikion introduced the group to them one by one.
“This is Rune, a Black Dragon hatchling of the darkness clan. His servants are Heungmi and Baekya.”
Even here, the dwarves avoided meeting Perdikion’s eyes.
Instead, they stared at Rune and the others with almost obsessive intensity.
Rune had known the dwarves disliked Perdikion, but actually experiencing the atmosphere was still somewhat awkward.
So that’s why he told me not to be surprised.
It was a relief that Perdikion had already explained the dwarves’ past to him beforehand.
Rune nodded and exchanged greetings.
This isn’t exactly comfortable.
He could clearly feel the dwarves’ resentful glares toward Perdikion, but since this was an official setting, they were obviously trying their best to hold back.
“Ahem! Come this way. We need to take your measurements first. Ah, let us take your measurements. The master blacksmith is currently occupied with work he cannot set aside, so he will join us once he finishes.”
Shrrrip.
A dwarf skillfully unfurled a measuring tape and looked their way.
Thanks to the heads-up Verdin had given them earlier, a simple refreshment table had been prepared.
The problem was that the snacks weren’t exactly to a child’s taste.
Dried jerky and sour cheese, huh.
Setting aside the nose-tingling aroma and flavor, it was clearly a drinking snack.
Baekya didn’t need to eat anyway since he was a bird, so there was no rudeness there, and Heungmi, who loved meat, was already eyeing the jerky with interest.
The real issue was Rune himself.
Even during his days as an Imugi he hadn’t been picky about food, but this…
It just wasn’t good.
I’ve been eating only delicious, nutritious things lately. The difference feels even more extreme now.
Of course, he could guess that food wouldn’t be abundant in a volcanic region.
Still, he couldn’t help letting out a small internal sigh.
Now I understand why Perdikion asked for cooking lessons. The food is dry, rough, and sour.
Tasting it again, it really was terrible.
The dried jerky was at least edible thanks to its smoky flavor.
Rune made a firm resolution: as soon as the cooking tools he’d asked Verdin to make were ready, he would start by securing a proper meal.
That was when it happened.
“Master Kuan!”
The dwarves suddenly sprang to their feet all at once.
The master blacksmith was finally approaching them.
He wore a leather tool belt and was armed from head to toe with forging equipment.
“To think Lord Perdikion would come all the way here.”
The newly arrived dwarf gave Perdikion a clearly unwelcoming look for a moment, then, just as the atmosphere grew awkward, offered a formal nod.
He’s subtly disrespecting him.
Perdikion’s eyebrow twitched, but he accepted the greeting for now.
The master blacksmith’s gaze then shifted to Rune standing beside him.
“I am the owner of this forge, Kuan.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Rune.”
“Master Kuan! Here are the records.”
“Hmph!”
Kuan let out a heavy snort, scanned the paper from top to bottom, then furrowed his thick brows.
“A hatchling of the darkness clan… with a demonic servant and a phoenix fledgling.”
Tap.
Kuan pulled out a pipe and put it in his mouth, then habitually moved to light it—only to notice Heungmi’s round, wide eyes. His lips twitched and he put the pipe away again.
He shoved the pipe carelessly into his pocket, set the paper down on the desk with a thud, and looked at Rune.
“Is there any particular weapon or armor you desire?”
His voice rumbled deeply from his sturdy frame, which looked as if two or three thick logs had been joined together.
“What are you best at making?”
When Rune asked in return, Kuan replied bluntly.
“Anything. Special orders are fine too.”
It was sincere, without a trace of exaggeration.
“Really?”
Rune answered indifferently and immediately wrote down the items on the order form.
“The type doesn’t matter, but I want something that can freely transform or shrink, and that will allow these guys to display their abilities to the fullest.”
Kuan silently accepted the order sheet.
After reading what Rune had written, his eyebrows twitched. He folded the paper and slipped it into a leather pocket.
“Understood. If you have any preferred materials, let me know in advance.”
“Ah, in that case.”
Rune rolled up his sleeve and manifested his true form on his hand.
Then he lightly plucked out a scale.
In that instant, every eye in the room locked onto the scale in Rune’s fingertips.
“Use this. I want something optimized for me, after all.”
A brief silence fell, as if even the air had stopped.
Immediately afterward, the dwarves of the forge rushed forward with eyes burning red with greed.
“Whoaaaa!”
“Wait, please let me touch it too!”
“Me! I’m going to touch it!”
“Ow! Ow! Which bastard hit me with a hammer?!”
“Please, just once—let me see the Dragon’s scale…! Urk!”
“I’m first! I’m first!”
“You crazy bastard! Shut your mouth!”
Chaos erupted.
For artisans who had only ever worked with the same familiar materials and metals, an unknown substance had appeared.
As expected. No wonder Perdikion used his scales as bait.
Just as one frenzied dwarf reached out toward Rune—
BANG!
“Silence!”
A thunderous roar exploded.
The dwarf who had been flailing while clutching his head lost his balance, stumbled with a belated “Oof!” and fell, then looked back.
Kuan stood there, hammer still raised after slamming it into the work table, glaring at them with fierce eyes.
Only then did the dwarves’ commotion stop.
“What kind of behavior is this?! Have you thrown your pride as dwarf artisans into the furnace?!”
At Kuan’s bellow, they all lowered their heads and couldn’t say a word.
“Eyes blinded by greed.”
Kuan turned to Rune and bowed his head.
“Please forgive our rudeness.”
“Sure.”
The dwarves, who had been staring at Rune as if they wanted to devour him, froze and began sneaking glances at one another.
Rune slowly looked them over, then crossed his arms and gave a deliberate nod.
“So these are the ‘traditionalist’ dwarves.”
“!”
In that moment, the dwarves’ faces flushed with heat as tension gripped them.
How can such pressure come from a hatchling who hasn’t even fully grown yet?!
Rune swept his cool gaze over Kuan and the dwarves, who wore stiff expressions.
“Since my older brother has given his permission, I’ll say this.”
Rune handed his scale to Kuan and continued.
“For this upcoming Artisan Competition, the prize won’t just be a Red Dragon’s scale. I plan to offer a Black Dragon’s scale as well.”
“!”
This time, the dwarves fell silent for an entirely different reason.
No—beneath the silence, greed and longing were screaming.
“I’ve heard your blacksmithing skills are incredible. That raises my expectations quite a bit.”
His flat, emotionless voice pierced their ears.
“I hope you prove yourselves with true skill, not arrogance.”
Rune turned away without lingering and left the area.
“Wow! Everyone was staring at Lord Rune with such hungry eyes!”
“Ignore them.”
Why is it that they’re all equally annoying in the exact same way?
Right after leaving the traditionalist forge, Rune had visited the reformist dwarf forge in succession. He walked while feeling burning stares on his back.
The reformist forge of Kwatan was composed of relatively young dwarves.
It had been annoying in a completely different sense.
I didn’t expect them to openly swarm me saying they wanted to touch my skin.
He recalled what had happened at the reformist forge he had just left.
Even their questions had been filled with such excessive interest that it was suffocating.
“What are your hobbies?”
“Do you have a preferred color?”
“If you have any clothing preferences you’d like us to dress your servants in, please tell us actively. Cute is nice, but we could add a touch of refinement…”
There were so many questions that he couldn’t possibly answer them all.
And when he showed them his scale?
“Ah, no! Lord Rune’s true form… I mean, if you could just show us the scale once…! Urgh!”
“Agh, my leg! You crazy bastard!”
“Shut up! I’m looking first!”
“Me too! I want to touch it too!”
The one who had calmed the atmosphere that seemed ready to burst into flames was, similarly, the reformist master blacksmith Kwatan.
“Will you be quiet?!”
Kwatan shouted and came running, huffing angrily.
Only then did the dwarves freeze with a collective hiccup-like gasp.
“You… foolish… things.”
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap!
With his face twisted in a deep scowl, Kwatan smacked each noisy dwarf on the head with what looked like a wooden clipboard.
“What kind of disgraceful behavior is this? Can’t you act properly?”
It was a familiar sight.
Rune had left the reformist dwarves in a stunned daze after delivering nearly the same provocative message he had given the traditionalists.
Perdikion asked with an awkward expression.
“Rune, are you okay?”
“Yeah. The factions and atmosphere are different, but at their core they’re the same bunch.”
Thanks to that, the subtle provocation worked perfectly.
It was always easier to compare things that were similar rather than completely different.
Comparing a sparrow to an eagle made it far easier to feel the differences and preferences than comparing a lake to a bird.
So the dwarves were constantly being compared to each other’s factions as well.
At this point, the only way to defeat the opponent was to win through skill at the artisan competition.
If I scratch them like this a few more times, it should be enough.
Perdikion glanced at Rune, who was lost in satisfied thoughts, and warned him as he prepared a teleportation spell.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, little brother, but don’t overdo it.”
“What’s there to overdo?”
I only added a little firewood.
Once the spell finished, the scenery changed.
They were standing on the teleportation magic circle inside the castle.
Verdin, who had been waiting for them, lit up with joy.
“Hehe! You’ve returned safely.”
With his kind smile, Verdin approached holding a small box in his hands.
“What’s that?”
“It is the item Lord Rune requested. The unusual order made the work quite enjoyable.”
That was fast.
As expected of a skilled royal blacksmith, he had already finished the set of kitchen knives Rune had ordered.
“Brother, prepare a room where these two can rest. I have something else to do.”
“What are you planning?”
After entrusting Baekya and Heungmi to Perdikion, Rune opened the box containing the kitchen knives and nodded in satisfaction.
“There’s still some time until the competition anyway. I’m going to use this to practice cooking.”
It was finally time to practice the Word of Power for revival.
“I see. I already had some ingredients brought to the kitchen. Please guide him, Verdin.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
Together with Verdin, who answered rather cheerfully, Rune headed toward the private kitchen prepared just for him.