Fun Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord (Novel) - Chapter 124 - The Dwarven Soul
Chapter 124 – The Dwarven Soul
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Translated by Sylph
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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At Habel’s sudden statement, more than us, it was the other dwarves themselves who widened their eyes in shock.
“H-Habel!?”
“What are you going to do about the orichalcum ore!?”
Turning to the flustered dwarves, Habel dropped both knees to the ground and bowed his head. At Habel taking a posture like full prostration, the dwarves swallowed their breath.
“Forgive me! I know this is selfish! But I want to create this weapon with my own hands! I want to forge it, the supreme weapon…!”
It truly was a cry from the soul. At that cry like he was coughing up blood, the dwarves too could say nothing and only looked at Habel with his head still lowered.
“…I see.”
“If Habel means to bury his bones here…”
Little by little, the dwarves started saying things as if acknowledging Habel’s resolve. However, their expressions only darkened further.
“That said, the need to find orichalcum ore hasn’t changed.”
“If Habel, who’s the most skilled among us, is gone, entering mountains in other lands will be pretty dangerous.”
“What are we supposed to do…?”
The dwarves looked at one another and had that exchange. Seeing that, I raised one hand.
“…Um, by when do you need the orichalcum ore? From what you were saying earlier, it sounds pretty urgent?”
When I asked that, one of the dwarves in the back nodded.
“Normally it is finished before the king passes sixty years of age. But this time, even after searching for two years, we still haven’t found any, and he is about to turn sixty.”
“I see. Once you go past sixty, smithing really does get difficult after all, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s too harsh physically.”
I nodded in agreement, but the dwarves all shook their heads.
“No, the one who will make the weapon from the orichalcum this time is Rubol, the greatest smith among the dwarves. Though we can’t say it too loudly, the current king as a smith is…”
“And the previous king was numbered among the Five Crafts…”
The dwarves’ voices grew small. Clicking his tongue at that, Habel slammed his fist into the ground.
“He doesn’t have enough passion, damn it, passion! Every king until now always made it into the Five Crafts. But the current king only makes swords, and even his handling of mithril is still lacking.”
Still seated on the ground, Habel spilled out his complaints. Apparently all of them had more or less some dissatisfaction with the king.
This might be a chance. It might be improper, but a dwarven smith coming to the town would be huge. I had to do something. As though to support that thought, Rango, who had been watching how things would turn out with his hands clasped as if in prayer, narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“That sounds serious. If you could wait in this town for one or two months, I think we could get orichalcum ore too, but you don’t have the time, right?”
When I tried saying that, Habel and the others whirled around with such force it felt like there should have been a sound.
“One month!?”
“You mean that!?”
Nodding to Habel and the others, who looked as though their eyes might pop out, I lightly tapped the still-sheathed twin blades.
“We have abundant resources here, so orichalcum comes in from time to time. I already handed one piece to His Majesty the King, but I’ve made several pieces of orichalcum equipment already.”
At that answer, Habel and the others stared blankly for a moment, then looked at one another and opened their mouths.
“You handled orichalcum by yourself?”
“You saw that earlier. Maybe even orichalcum doesn’t take him that much time.”
“No, but… I still can’t believe a place like this could obtain that much orichalcum ore.”
The dwarves held a discussion in voices far too loud to be called whispering.
“And yet there’s an orichalcum weapon right in front of us that doesn’t look like a dwarf forged it.”
As if he had run out of patience, Habel spoke up, and the other dwarves too lifted their faces, their brows forming inverted V-shapes.
“…You’re right. And after going into the dungeon, it looks like finding orichalcum on our own would be difficult.”
“Yeah. Even if we search somewhere else, there’s no guarantee we’ll find it. In that case, maybe waiting one or two months isn’t so bad.”
After exchanging words like that, Habel and the others turned toward us. Then a dwarf standing behind Habel looked at me and spoke.
“…Understood. Then we would like to stay here for a while as well. As for the orichalcum ore, would ten platinum coins per stone, according to Commercial Guild rates, be acceptable?”
Hearing that, I did some quick calculations in my head. One stone was the weight of a single stone about five centimeters in diameter. If you went to a guild or merchant company, they would have scales there, and you could check the weight with that.
That said, if it was enough to make a weapon, it would probably take ten stones’ worth. That would come to a hundred platinum coins. Income equivalent to when we subjugated a large dragon.
I wanted to say yes right away, but for the moment I held up one palm toward the dwarves.
“I’m not very familiar with the value of orichalcum, so I’ll confirm it with my steward. Now then, as for where you’ll stay first, I’ll introduce you to a good inn. It’s a newly built, clean place.”
When I said that with a smile, Habel and the others blinked, but nodded.