The Great Artisans
The moment he heard those words, inspiration struck him.
He picked up the milky-white, translucent pieces one by one.
A crescent moon. A half-moon. A full moon.
And a star-shaped lantern.
“They were the moon and stars of the night sky that illuminate those who walk in darkness.”
Just then, the evening sun that had been scattering sunset hues finally slipped behind the mountains.
As darkness settled and someone asked, “Why aren’t we lighting the torches?”
Instead of torches, the reformist dwarves holding the star and moon lanterns began to shine their lights from every corner.
Amid the murmuring crowd, the faint glow gradually grew softer, gentler, and brighter.
Unlike flickering torches, the lanterns maintained a steady brightness even when the wind blew.
“From now on, we will no longer feel fear or terror toward the night!”
Rune slowly nodded his head.
Everyone present could sense it.
The time for a decision had come.
“I’ve decided.”
In front of Rune lay the works from both factions, placed side by side.
A spear and shield that drew out the user’s power to its maximum.
And moon- and star-shaped lanterns that held a semi-permanent light.
History and progress.
The past and the future.
War and civilization.
Not a single one was easy to choose.
The instant every gaze locked onto Rune,
he raised both hands.
“Both were so outstanding that it’s hard to declare a clear winner. Therefore, I will select both works as great pieces.”
“Pardon?”
“What?”
As the dwarves stood there with completely stunned expressions, Rune pointed at both works with a perfectly calm face.
“If I were to pick only one winner here, it would be a great disservice to your greatness.”
“B-but… isn’t this a competition!”
Kuan Rubes, the solemn traditionalist blacksmith, shouted with a rare look of panic on his face.
Quatan Quatorse of the reformists wore a nearly identical expression, stuttering in confusion.
Hearing their protests, Rune blinked with an innocent face.
“What competition?”
“Huh?”
Rune’s sly gaze swept over the dwarves.
“Did I ever say from the beginning that I would pick only one?”
“T-that’s…!”
“If I eliminated one of the two, I could satisfy the pride of the remaining side. But you see…”
Rune wore the pure, innocent expression of a child who knew nothing.
“Is it truly the spirit of dwarven artisans to speak of pride by trampling over either the future or history to claim superiority?”
The two master blacksmiths looked as if they had been struck in the head with a hammer.
Rune glanced once at the gaping, speechless Quatan and once at Kuan.
“I was genuinely impressed by both artisans’ ideas and craftsmanship. Therefore, I will designate both of you as great artisans. Congratulations, Kuan Rubes and Quatan Quatorse.”
Before anyone could intervene, Rune had already declared two winners, gathered the prize works as if his task was complete, and casually stepped down from the stage.
Even after he disappeared, the competition hall remained wrapped in silence for a long time.
Then, at some point,
“Puhaha, uhahaha. Ahahahaha!”
“!?”
Perdikion, seated at the specially prepared high table, suddenly burst into refreshing laughter.
All the dwarves’ eyes turned toward him.
“Lord Perdikion…?”
“He’s clutching his stomach and laughing…?”
Seeing the dwarves with utterly dazed expressions, Perdikion laughed even more heartily.
Seizing the moment, he drove the final nail into Rune’s decision.
“Did you all hear that? My younger brother has chosen the winners, so I shall make it official!”
His shoulders shaking with laughter, Perdikion shouted,
“The winners of this second Artisan Competition are Kuan Rubes of the traditionalists and Quatan Quatorse of the reformists!”
“……!”
In an instant, screams and shouts mixed together, causing a huge commotion.
Leaving the confused dwarves behind, Rune quietly slipped away from his seat and clicked his tongue inwardly.
If only they had respected each other from the start, this could have been so simple.
He then shoved all the winning works he had been cradling into his subspace pouch.
Whether they screamed in shock or not was none of his concern.
What mattered was that all these Artisan Competition winning works—in other words, the ‘great’ pieces—now belonged to him.
Why force myself to pick only one correct answer from the beginning? If both are good, of course I should take them both.
Rune inwardly looked down on them with pity.
But in his head, he understood.
Beyond the simple clash between the reformists and traditionalists, the situation was more complicated than it appeared.
Until now, the core of dwarven culture had been the ‘traditionalists.’
That was why Perdikion, during the first Artisan Competition, had sided with the traditionalists after considering the event’s purpose and public opinion.
In exchange, he had introduced the reformists’ invention, the ‘messenger pigeon,’ into the castle—purchasing them, providing funds, and gradually letting their methods seep into daily life.
He must have been waiting for the moment when every dwarf, accustomed to the convenience and usefulness of the messenger pigeons, would accept them as a natural part of life.
Having understood both the dwarves’ foolishness and Perdikion’s cleverness, Rune nodded.
That guy Perdikion. If I hadn’t been here, he probably would have supported the traditionalists once or twice more. At the same time, he would have provided practical support to the reformists. Then, once the reformists produced a truly significant work, he would have let them step into the spotlight.
He must have been balancing the scales over a long period of time, watching the flow and timing carefully.
Since Rune had resolved everything in one go, it was no wonder Perdikion felt so refreshed.
Rune let out a small chuckle.
By the way, that was the first time I’ve seen it. I never knew that guy Perdikion could laugh like that.
Even Verdin’s eyes had gone wide, so he must have been truly shocked.
I suppose it’s a good thing.
Rune had a feeling that the relationship between Perdikion and the dwarves would begin to change from now on.
The noisy night passed by surprisingly quickly.
Some dwarves threw their tools while cursing, others refused to accept the joint victory and stubbornly argued over whose work was better.
And then there were a few dwarves who simply wore thoughtful expressions.
They would probably continue fighting in secret, claiming their own work was superior, but once the uproar died down and daily life resumed, someone would surely choose a new path forward.
“For the final act, we will conclude the competition with Lady Heungmi’s performance of ‘Dancing with the Spirits!’”
“Waaaaah!”
Before anyone realized it, the reformist dwarves’ moon- and star-shaped lanterns had replaced the torches, waving in clusters.
Heungmi danced with a group of salamanders in an incredibly lively and splendid performance.
On top of that, a grand feast had been prepared in advance.
As they washed away the fatigue of the hard work with alcohol and food, the night of the Artisan Competition grew deeper.
As always, Rune was forbidden from drinking. To avoid any unnecessary temptation, he placed Baekya on top of his head and headed off to meet the mermaid.
After passing through the mana passage and arriving before the water-formed boundary line, the mermaid poked her head out from behind a rock as if she had been waiting.
“Ppyak!”
When Baekya flapped its wings in greeting first, Amelia smiled shyly and waved her hand.
[H-hello… …Baekya, Rune.]
“Hello.”
Her voice trembled a little, but perhaps because she wanted to be brave, she kept her shoulders hunched while refusing to look away.
You have to reward a child who’s making an effort.
Rune opened the leather pouch and pushed several ‘lanterns’ inside.
“I obtained something interesting today, so I brought it.”
Even without injecting mana, the objects that emitted a semi-permanent glow were fascinating to Amelia as well.
Bloop.
Amelia’s eyes blinked several times as she let out a silent gasp of admiration.
[Th-thank… you… for always… bringing things like this… for me.]
“You’re welcome.”
It had been groundwork for retrieving the power of the darkness clan, but he couldn’t tell her the truth.
While he was at it, Rune took out all the winning works and showed them to her.
“Is there anything here that catches your eye more?”
After hesitating for a moment, Amelia approached with a swish of her tail and began examining the items.
The water-colored girl, who had been cautiously observing, carefully raised her pale white finger.
[……This one.]
“……This one?”
Rune looked surprised.
What Amelia was pointing at was none other than the traditionalist dwarf’s ambitious creation, the Spear That Pierces Anything.
“Do you know how to use a spear?”
Amelia shook her head slightly.
Even to Rune, this girl looked like she had never even held a kitchen knife, let alone a weapon.
Yet she still chose the spear. As expected of a dragon, I suppose.
Still, it was a good thing.
When one had too many thoughts, simply moving the body tended to help.
“Shall I teach you how to use a spear?”
“!”
A blush rose on Amelia’s cheeks, and her eyes began to sparkle.
However, her shoulders soon drooped, and she shook her head hesitantly.
“What’s the reason?”
The mermaid lowered her gaze and spoke in a weak voice.
[If I did that… you, you too… would get… swallowed by the darkness I carry…]
Swallowed by darkness?
Unlike Rune, who could naturally make any power his own, Amelia was a Blue Dragon hatchling possessing pure water mana.
To a hatchling who could not properly fuse with dark mana, it was clearly acting as poison.
She’s only been carrying darkness since she was young without ever properly controlling it. She hasn’t fully absorbed the darkness as her own power.
This was good news for Rune.
Even if he took the power of darkness from her, it would actually be beneficial for Amelia.
Rune grinned and spoke confidently.
“You don’t have to worry about that. It won’t happen to me.”
[Wh…at?]
“Now that I think about it, you’ve never seen my true form, have you?”
Showing once was more effective than a hundred explanations.
Rune removed the golden bracelet that served as his polymorph artifact from his wrist.
Flash!
“Kyu!”
Look! This is the real me.
A black hatchling with red eyes.
Rune spun in place so that Amelia could properly see his body.
He then sent a telepathic message to the wide-eyed mermaid.
[As you can see, I am a Black Dragon clan hatchling. Darkness is practically a part of me.]
[……!]
Amelia was extremely shocked to see Rune’s true form as a Black Dragon.
So that was what he meant by not being affected!
While visibly brightening up, Amelia asked again out of lingering worry.
[R-really…? You’re… so small… is it really okay?]
[Of course. I may still be a bit young, but that doesn’t mean I’m not part of the darkness clan, does it?]
As he spoke, Rune’s tail wagged happily.
Seeing that, Amelia unconsciously covered her mouth with one hand.
Ah, so cute!
On the other hand, Rune thought she had covered her mouth because she was too startled.
Hmm, I can’t let her get scared and run away again. What should I do?
To keep Amelia from being frightened, Rune assumed the most well-behaved posture he could manage.
He folded all four legs and lay down flat.
On top of that, he called Baekya over and had it settle on his head.
“Ppyak!”
“Kyuuu.”
How about this? This shouldn’t be scary, right?
Leaving his gently swaying tail as it was, Rune looked at Amelia with an innocent face.