The Eccentric Dwalve Inventor, Renoir (1)
I returned to Zavil’s hideout.
During my absence, they must have suffered heavy losses—none of the underlings were in sight.
“Ughhh, you fucking bitch! You thought you’d won, didn’t you?!”
Right. One of them was still here.
The Croze tribesman I’d beaten senseless earlier.
I glared at the man charging at me like a wild boar. When he threw a punch, I knocked it aside with a knife-hand strike.
[Origin Divine Art – Parry]
No learning effect on this guy.
I wrapped energy around my elbow and swung it straight into him.
An elbow strike that buried itself in his neck like a pickaxe!
“Kehk, gurk.”
Slay Points (SP) acquired: 3000
I smashed the door open and tore through the rooms like a madwoman.
Whenever I found documents or letters that looked useful, I sent them into the ring.
‘As expected, bastards with dirty secrets tend to hold the best information.’
My final destination was the safe.
A strange magic circle glowed on its front. I pressed the safe stone against it.
Giiiiing!
The moment the stone touched the circle, the safe lit up and opened without resistance.
“Whoa… what the hell is all this?”
Inside lay piles of gold, silver, and jewels—enough to show just how much they’d squeezed out of the weak.
While I was frantically stuffing everything into the ring, something in the corner caught my eye.
More precisely, it was the only thing that looked strangely transparent.
How did I know it was transparent? Because I was still wearing the mask.
‘Hmm? A small case?’
It looked like the kind of case that might hold a ring or necklace.
I carefully opened it.
Click!
Rarity: Noble
Unique Effect “Telepathy”: Allows mental communication with one target.
Unique Passive “Mental Stimulation”: Reduces the effectiveness of mental-type abilities by half.
「Earring once carried by Agent Codename 011. Still a mystery.」
An unexpected jackpot.
‘No way a guy who never steps forward would be able to use something this good.’
Smiling in satisfaction, I swept every last piece of loot into the ring.
While I was at it, I decided to level up too.
‘I’ll have to fight monsters seriously from now on. I need to hit at least level 25 so I can handle D-rank threats.’
I caught my breath and poured the points in.
It almost felt like I could hear them melting away.
I reached level 30. I invested most of the points into every stat except Intelligence (mana-related) and Luck (critical and evasion-related).
Right after that, I consumed the three remaining low-grade items.
Shiiiiiing! Shiiing!
A pure white light enveloped me and then vanished. I had become a Runner – Late Stage.
‘This should be enough for now.’
I set the office on fire and walked out.
No reason to come back here again.
Leaving the blazing office behind, I headed for the inn.
Just then, a notification appeared.
Wait, is this what I think it is?
Level 30 achieved! Congratulations!
The next option for Origin Divine Art has been unlocked!
Current stage: Basic
Basic – Origin Kill: Deals additional damage equal to the target’s remaining lifespan. Damage ratio: target’s age × 1%.
I let out a dry laugh after reading it. An ability that grows alongside me.
And on top of that, more firepower.
An already aggressive skill had become even more reliable.
‘Hell yeah!’
But the good news didn’t stop there.
Imperial Gaz was also a holy sword that grew in proportion to my level.
‘Holy shit, that’s broken.’
I arrived at the inn. Winz was waiting right in front.
She looked worried. Did something happen?
“Winz, I’m back!”
“My lady…!”
“Did you find Renoir?”
“Yes, but…”
Winz let out a sigh. She almost never sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lady Renoir said that if someone has business with her, they should come in person. She got angry and asked what kind of manners it was to send a mere servant first.”
I chuckled lightly.
Typical Dwalve. Yeah, that’s exactly how they are.
She could’ve at least sent a message saying to come meet her.
“That’s just her personality. She’s a Dwalve, after all.”
“Yeees…”
“It’s fine! You did well. Let’s go see Renoir now. I’ve got some things to say to her anyway.”
“Eh? If I offended you in any way…”
I shook my head immediately. It wasn’t Winz’s fault.
“It’s not that. Let’s go!”
Winz and I set off together.
After passing through several alleys and getting slightly lost, we finally arrived at the place where Renoir lived.
Winz pointed ahead.
“I asked around at multiple guilds and barely managed to find it.”
“Yeah, it’s not easy to find. Anyone would think it’s just a normal wall. But that’s a secret door, isn’t it?”
I could see it clearly.
More precisely, I could see it through the mask.
It looked like an ordinary wall, but it was semi-transparent in the shape of a door.
“You can see it…?”
“Yeah, I got a decent item. How did you see it, Winz?”
“I’m not sure… Maybe because I’m an elf?!”
Winz smiled brightly and stuck out her tongue a little.
‘She’s so damn cute for a fox elf.’
I approached the secret door. Winz explained,
“You just need to place your hand on it.”
“Surprisingly simple.”
“No, she said she’d keep it open and told me to bring the owner quickly.”
So that was it.
Her personality was awful, but she was still a tsundere.
Let’s go in. I’ve got things to settle with her!
The moment I touched the secret door, it opened.
The solid wall suddenly split to both sides.
Crack, rumble.
We stepped into what looked like an ordinary warehouse on the first floor.
Even a quick glance made it obvious someone lived here.
“Up here.”
A voice came from above. It was a woman’s voice—clear, yet dripping with annoyance.
Climbing the spiral staircase, we reached a floor that was essentially one giant room.
Magitech tools I’d never seen before were scattered everywhere.
Among them was something that looked like a computer. As expected of a Dwalve.
‘Whoa, that’s a slim monitor. That’s a computer tower! Huh, even an ultrasonic fan?’
Unlike regular dwarves who only had technical skill, each Dwalve was an inventor on par with Edison.
Of course, there was also this saying:
— Out of a hundred ideas a Dwalve comes up with, only one is actually useful.
But Renoir was different. In the original story, she was a genius among geniuses.
I could feel the Dwalve technological prowess anew.
Besides that, there were antenna-like devices emitting electronic sounds.
Renoir appeared in our line of sight.
“You came?”
Well-tanned, copper-colored skin.
A stubborn-looking face.
Her deep red hair was styled into an apple-like bun.
Her small stature and cute appearance were typical of Dwalves, and her bright green eyes shone like fresh grass.
Renoir crossed her arms.
“I was wondering how amazing this human could be, but what? You’re smaller than me.”
“Technically, I’m one centimeter taller than you. Don’t distort the facts.”
“You? Calling me ‘you’ from the very first meeting…?!”
“Even if you’re a Dwalve, you should at least show some manners.”
I spoke firmly.
With Dwalves, you had to assert dominance right from the start.
Otherwise, they’d keep pushing you around.
Renoir laughed as if she found it absurd.
“What manners did I break? Weren’t you the one who broke them?”
“Let me tell you. You called Winz a servant, didn’t you?”
“I heard she was a maid?”
“Wrong. Winz is my precious partner. So don’t ever call her by such vulgar titles again.”
I warned her sternly.
It had been a long time since I left the Wednesday family. The world wasn’t the Wednesday territory.
Therefore, titles and ranks meant nothing here.
Renoir tilted her head, while Winz behind me twisted her entire body in embarrassment.
“Oh my my my! My lady, you’re making my heart race. Hauuung♥”
“I’m Queen Wednesday. I came because I have business with you.”
“You could’ve found this location just by searching the guild. But you wouldn’t have known I was here, right?”
Was the first floor just a disguise? With a little thought, someone could reach here, but maybe the point was to make them turn back?
“I heard the story.”
“From whom? Where?”
“That’s for later. I want to buy your talent.”
I made the offer abruptly. Renoir tilted her head again.
“Are you joking right now? What nonsense is that?”
“I happen to be quite interested in Dwalve culture. That… thing over there, um, an antenna?”
“Yeah.”
“You use antennas to communicate remotely, exchange news, and all that. What’s it called again?”
I deliberately pretended not to know.
Dwalves had enormous pride. On the level of Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms.
So I gave her the chance to explain her own invention.
She looked surprised.
“You know about the Ether Web…?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
Perfect.
That was exactly what I was aiming for.
In this world, the internet—or anything similar—hadn’t been invented yet.
But in the near future, they planned to use magitech terminals for internet and social networking.
The name of that technology was the Ether Web.
“That sounds like an incredible technology. Of course, it must cost a fortune.”
“Hmph, you know quite a bit for someone like you.”
“But you don’t have money, do you? That must be frustrating. You have the skill and the will, yet at this rate you might have to give up, right?”
I poked at her pride a little.
I knew exactly how to handle people with strong egos.
After all, I’d dealt with all kinds of people while working as a hero.
Renoir immediately started trembling.
“D-Don’t talk nonsense! Who said I don’t have money? I have tons of inventions that could make money!”
I shook my head. She was lying.
“No, you’re the artisan type. You wouldn’t sell your precious inventions for cheap, would you? That’s why you’re hiding out in a place like this. Am I wrong?”
“Huuut…!”
Renoir looked flustered, as if I’d hit the bullseye.
She really needed to practice her acting.
Her emotions were way too honest.
Seeing Renoir flustered, Winz praised me.
“Oh my, my lady. You’re like a detective!”
Cute. Heh.
I deliberately laughed exaggeratedly and activated the ring.
I took out some of the gold and jewels I’d looted.
Clatter-clatter-clatter! Clink-clink!
The room instantly brightened with treasure, like the peak of luxury lighting.
“So here’s my proposal. I’ll financially support you so you can complete that technology.”
“Eh? Wait, really? Then what do you get out of it?”
“I get to become friends with the genius named Renoir Besier. How about it? It’s an offer you can’t refuse, right?”
I smiled and extended my hand to her.
Now, give me your answer!