A Special Treat Just for You
Rune held banquets every day, delighting the dwarves' palates.
A heavenly feast impossible to taste in the land of fire!
Such rumors spread quietly, and the dwarves even drew lots underground for their turns to attend.
"How does meat taste like that?!"
"Beer! Fresh honey beer!"
"And the shower cream!"
"I never knew potatoes could taste that good in my whole life!"
To them, who had survived on shattered beer and withered bread, it was a novel experience.
Fresh draft beer and glistening, juicy meat!
Sauces and cheese made from fresh milk!
Through these abundant banquets, relations between Perdikion and the dwarves were improving smoothly enough.
According to their own values, at least.
On top of that, some dwarves subtly changed their minds after hearing about the profits flowing from the banquet talks.
'It was unexpected that there were dwarves besides Verdin who felt favorably toward Perdikion.'
Dwarves who had watched Perdikion's behavior dropped their true feelings in this opportunity.
They hadn't been able to speak up before due to the atmosphere, but now some even praised him as promising material for a sage king.
'Since this land is Red Dragon territory, they can't keep hating Perdikion forever if he's trying to treat them properly.'
The grudges of those who lost family or were crippled by Pasiyas's tyranny in the previous generation ran deep.
But more and more dwarves began distinguishing between the past under the previous lord and the present with Perdikion as master.
Meanwhile, he dropped by the forges of the traditionalist and reformist leaders from time to time.
The main purpose was to discuss items for the artisans' tournament.
Rune's diligent attendance to raise the quality of the equipment Perdikion would take was highly rated.
On top of that, Rune bought decent equipment with his own money when he found it.
The downside was that the smiths still eyed his scales greedily.
"Going there again? Heungmi will protect you! From those scary uncles trying to peel off even Rune-nim's skin!"
"Peep! Cheep!"
"Uh, yeah. Thanks."
'I was planning to bring her anyway.'
Fortunately, attention was diverted to Baekya, the phoenix chick, and Heungmi, the beastkin demon.
Heungmi's popularity was overwhelming in particular.
Her affectionate and cheerful personality meshed well with the dwarves.
Plus, lately, she'd gotten a taste for jerky and often followed the dwarves around.
'Her teeth must be coming in. She says it itches and chews on firm meat.'
The food that satisfied Heungmi's urges was jerky.
Addicted to the texture, she relieved the itch by chewing toughly.
The dwarves fed her jerky like doting grandparents watching a grandchild eat well.
With her huge appetite, she devoured whatever they offered, monopolizing their affection.
But ominous premonitions arose too.
Heungmi's behavior had been off lately.
Staring blankly at Baekya.
Scratching pillows as if her paws itched.
Suddenly dashing around wildly.
Yowling "Kyaaang!" for no reason.
'It's about time.'
There was a limit to suppressing her instincts by force.
Having earned enough goodwill and trust here, urgent matters were settled.
'Time to bring up .'
It was finally time to talk about the dungeon.
Rune sought out the suddenly busier Perdikion early one morning.
"Bro."
"What is it, Rune."
"I want to go to the Abandoned Mine Dungeon."
At the word "dungeon," Perdikion's brow furrowed slightly.
He'd known for a while that Rune was unusually interested in dungeons.
But a mere ten-year-old hatchling.
Too young to send into a dungeon.
"No. I hate to say it, but dungeons aren't that easy."
'It's going to be ridiculously easy.'
Though he thought that, Rune smiled and brought up something else.
"I'm not going alone. Gorban and Wood said they'd assemble the team with the highest clear rate lately. Even if the monsters there are strong, they can't pierce my scales, right?"
"......It's a dungeon that scales to the entrants' abilities. Can't guarantee that."
'Tch, picky.'
Though Perdikion said that, even he knew the 's monsters would be easy.
Veteran teams took longer mining ores.
"You said it last time, bro? 'Even immature servants have no reason not to use their abilities.'"
"! That's......!"
"Doesn't matter if it's a hatchling."
Seeing Perdikion falter without retort, Rune grinned mischievously like a rascal.
"The entrant's abilities. So, you're worried about the difficulty scaling to strength? I've got something good for that."
He pulled a leather pouch from his waist.
"Look at this, bro. I kept it just in case—it seemed special."
Rune opened the pouch and drew out a vial shimmering purple.
An uncanny aura emanated from it.
Perdikion stared at the small potion vial Rune offered, opening his mouth in disbelief.
"Looks like a potion. What makes you go on like that?"
"It is a potion. A Black Dragon curse potion, even."
"What!?"
Perdikion's feet strode toward Rune.
Predicting the grab, Rune swiftly pocketed the vial.
"Relax. It's called a curse potion, but it's super useful."
"That make sense?"
Black Dragon curse.
One of the dark clan's strongest powers.
The extinct clan still held legendary fame.
"Calm down, bro. You'll get it when you hear what it is."
"What makes you so sure?"
To the still displeased dragon, Rune said cheerfully.
"Temporary Weakness Curse Potion."
"......!"
"Effect lasts up to ten minutes on an adult. I can adjust the dilution to control the debuff strength. For a hatchling like me, two or three hours."
Originally optimized for assassination, capture, or torture.
"I'll weaken our strength on entry to lower the difficulty."
Even Perdikion thought it a good idea.
The aimed for ores and magic stones midway, not monster loot.
After long silence in thought, Perdikion nodded.
"How much do you have?"
"Enough to share generously with the team."
"Got it. Then I'll go too."
"You too?"
To wide-eyed Rune, Perdikion drove the point home firmly.
"Yeah! What, is it a potion you hesitate to give me?"
"Not that, but."
'I confirmed it with Christina's info anyway.'
Perdikion joining was one of his predictions.
He hadn't expected him to take the potion too.
"Thanks, big bro."
"Not going 'cause I like it. I don't like it one bit, but I'll go along."
"Yeah. Sure."
The little Red Dragon trying to look after his "little brother" was endearing, but Rune just laughed heartily.
A crowd of dwarves gathered in the castle's training grounds.
Shoving and brawling, tearing wait numbers, getting beaten for cutting in line.
Some even started instant fights for spectatorship over petty quarrels.
Rune, witnessing the absurd scene from daylight onward through the window, turned away.
"Those are all my volunteers?"
"Yeah."
Perdikion's expression was nonchalant.
"Why so many?"
"? Isn't it obvious?"
Perdikion looked puzzled at Rune's question.
"You offered dinner banquet invites as reward for this conquest team."
"Yeah, we're taking the potion to lower dungeon difficulty. No loot expected, so dinner at least."
"Not just dinner. Though the info leaked, apparently."
To still-confused Rune, Perdikion sighed in explanation.
"Conquest team snacks."
"That......"
There was the 'honey-butter baked potato dish' listed as snacks for the team.
'What's that got to do?'
Rune hadn't thought it leak-worthy.
He never imagined it'd draw this crowd.
"Honey and butter aren't available here. And since my little bro's making snacks himself, I figured I should contribute too......"
"Contribute?"
"......I threw in some decent weapons from other dungeon rewards."
There it was.
Rune knew instantly.
Too many for just special food.
"That's why."
"No! Weapons are for loan during conquest, returned after."
"......Bro. They're dwarves."
Meeting Rune's gaze, Perdikion averted his eyes slyly.
'Yeah, you knew that.'
Not just greedy for metal.
They lusted after gear too.
Dwarves rarely saw quality outsider equipment due to their insular nature.
They claimed their own best, but weren't uninterested in others.
'Couldn't get from Pasiyas, so he got them himself.'
Perdikion, genius among Red Dragons, was strong.
Equipment he'd fetched from outer dungeons naturally tempted them to touch.
'Chance to examine high-quality gear unavailable here—who'd pass? For mere snacks, ridiculous.'
Thinking it childish, Rune snorted inwardly.
"Send word to Wood and Gorban. Can't keep them standing; start screening soon."
"Right. What'll you do?"
"They came all this way; might as well make potato chips."
'Potatoes are good for practicing resurrection magic.'
Mana-infused cooking that invigorated the body, and Baekya especially loved the crispy baked version.
Perdikion pulled out a small bird-shaped carving to send the message.
A reformist dwarf invention: the 'messenger pigeon.'
Its red eyes were elegantly cut magic stones—a reformist pride blending design and flair.
"Wood. Gorban. Line up the combat dwarves in the training grounds and start trials immediately."
The bird's eyes flashed, wings spread, cooing 'Coo coo!'
Whoosh.
Watching the bird zip away, Rune thought.
'Heungmi'd want to hunt it. ...Wait, hunting.'
In that moment, Rune had a great idea.