“Ugh….”
Da-eun let out a sound that was half a groan.
“The hammer sounds won’t leave my ears…. Kana, am I speaking properly?”
With my ears still buzzing, I couldn’t really tell if I was speaking accurately.
Blushing furiously, Da-eun fiddled with her ears as she spoke.
I gestured toward her.
Da-eun, looking puzzled, figured out my intention with another gesture and bent her knees.
Yes, now we’re at the right height.
I whispered into her ear, which had just come down to a perfect level.
“How about we skip training today and double it tomorrow?”
“?! But we trained earlier!”
“Yeah, I can hear you clearly.”
The diagnosis said there was no problem.
Still, I couldn’t really misunderstand Da-eun’s over-the-top reactions.
Standing in front of the blacksmith shop, listening to the thud of the hammer on metal mixing with the heat from the forge made me feel like I was the piece of iron on the anvil.
“Isn’t that a bit much, Kana? How can you say such a terrifying thing without changing your expression?”
Da-eun grumbled as she straightened her legs.
“But, haven’t you found a place you like yet?”
“Nope.”
“…Is everyone’s skill that underwhelming?”
“Uh… no, that’s not it.”
I casually denied Da-eun’s quietly whispered question as if afraid someone might overhear.
If I said the blacksmiths in Baltora had poor skills, most blacksmiths in the continent would probably have to retire.
It was just that the conditions didn’t match.
Some places only dealt in weapons, while others only handled armor.
When I finally found a place that made magical tools, the affiliated magician had gone on vacation.
There were also places where satisfactory materials were lacking or where orders were backed up, so I’d have to wait at least a month to start work.
I could wait a week, but a month was a bit too much….
It was a place I liked, but I couldn’t afford to wait a month, so I left the workshop with a heavy heart.
If I had planned to pick up something already made, I wouldn’t have gone through this much trouble, but since I needed a custom magical tool, I had to face this dilemma.
It’s not like I was buying trouble… right?
This is what you call a necessary investment.
“Shall we rest a bit?”
“Yeah. Please.”
At Da-eun’s earnest request, we sat to rest at the fountain located on one side of the workshop street.
True to the city of dwarves, constructs that hinted at their skills were installed all over the streets, just like the fountain.
As Da-eun played with the water splashing from the fountain, she finally looked like she was coming back to life.
“I really don’t think I could work in a blacksmith shop even if I died.”
I doubted they’d even let her work.
Thinking that, I quietly rolled a candy around in my mouth.
I had expected it to taste like beer since it was shaped like a beer mug, but the flavor was just like regular candy.
“It just tastes like candy.”
Da-eun had the same sentiments as she popped a candy in her mouth.
“Well, there was that confection I’ve heard of that looked like beer, you know? I thought this would taste similar, but it’s a bit disappointing. It’s not that great, but because of the nostalgia, I was a bit hopeful.”
As a side note, Da-eun had tried to dissuade me from buying this candy at first.
She mentioned something about kids not being allowed to drink alcohol.
No matter how much it’s sugar, it wouldn’t be right to feed something containing alcohol to a kid, so she firmly insisted until she heard from the vendor that it didn’t have any liquor in it before finally handing it to me.
Even if dwarves were a beer-obsessed race, it wasn’t likely they’d put alcohol in candy….
…Actually, thinking about it, dwarves might just do that.
As I pondered this seriously, Da-eun gently placed her hand on top of my head.
“Were you really that curious about the taste of beer?”
“Not really….”
“In a few years, you’ll be able to drink it too, Kana. By then, you might actually regret why you wanted to eat this tasteless thing.”
“I’m telling you, I wasn’t curious.”
I denied it again, but Da-eun showed no signs of believing me.
Better off dead.
Knowing that I’d just get a pout in response, I gave up trying to argue and chose to enjoy the sweetness of the candy.
Even after she learned my age and that I wasn’t a child, Da-eun still treated me like one.
Just like earlier.
She said it was because she was older than me, but… it was probably more due to my appearance.
So, I figured her attitude wouldn’t change in a few years either.
The probability of me growing taller than this short stature is very low.
Even if I grow, it would take much longer than others.
“Even if you make that pitiful expression, it’s still not okay! Kana can’t drink alcohol yet!”
“…?”
Da-eun mumbled something odd to herself.
“I’ll buy you more beer candy instead, so just bear with it, okay?”
“No, I don’t need it.”
Not special or that tasty, so why bother?
Even though I said I didn’t need it, Da-eun went and bought a handful of candy from the vendor.
Since she was using her own money, I had nothing to argue about.
I shook my head in disbelief.
Bam bam bam!
“?”
While we were at the fountain, casually swaying and enjoying the peace, a commotion broke out nearby.
Curious about what it might be, I craned my neck slightly and looked around for the source of the noise.
The center of the ruckus was a blacksmith shop.
Like other shops, it had soft heat seeping out, but unlike them, there were no customers and no sounds of hammers, just a constant commotion.
I wondered what they were breaking?
Just when I thought the shop had quieted down for a bit, the door swung open.
BANG!
CRASH!
“I can’t find it! It’s gone!”
A dwarf tumbled out, rolling out with all sorts of junk.
He was so busy searching for something, he seemed completely oblivious to the bits of junk scattered around him.
After spinning around the shop a few times, he finally collapsed in front of the door, panting heavily.
He looked just like a gambler who had lost all his fortune.
‘…Did he lose a wedding ring or something?’
He looked just like a subordinate I’d seen once who lost his wedding ring.
He searched late into the night but never found it, dragging his reluctant feet as he left.
The next day, he showed up at the knight order looking even more haggard than when he fought monsters for days.
What was even more pitiful was that he found the ring that very evening.
That vacant expression left such an impression that I made a silent vow to never lose my wedding ring.
Then again, if I were to get married, I realized I’d be the bride, and I quickly wiped it from my mind.
Anyway, the dwarf I was currently watching also looked like he’d lost something important, even if it wasn’t a wedding ring.
Other dwarves began to gather around him, one by one.
“Is something going on?”
“Who knows? Maybe a thief got in.”
While Da-eun’s voice carried curiosity, my voice was more indifferent.
If it was truly that, then what?
“That’s unfortunate.”
“…Huh? Is that it?”
“What else do you want?”
“Like helping find the lost item or catching the thief…?”
“I’m not a guard.”
I’m not a detective, and I’m certainly not a mercenary working for hire.
And besides, would that dwarf even cheerfully accept help from a complete stranger, especially a kid?
If they kicked me out, I would consider myself lucky; it wouldn’t be strange if they suspected me of foul play.
“Is that so? I think if a kid like Kana stepped up to help, I’d feel pretty good about it.”
Da-eun seemed to think differently, but I had no intention of stepping in.
“Get up now.”
We might get dragged into something if we keep hanging around.
I figured Da-eun had regained her stamina after resting a bit, so I told her to get up.
“Eeh, can’t I rest just a little longer? I’m still struggling.”
“No.”
She just wanted to look around rather than being tired.
I firmly denied Da-eun’s complaints and extended my hand.
Despite her whining, she obediently took my hand.
Looking at this, it seemed like it was Da-eun who was treating me like a child.
Holding hands, we moved toward the next workshop.
“My dragon orb…!”
“…!”
If it hadn’t been for those words that suddenly reached us from behind.
Even if I didn’t know Arkish, I could understand the words in that sentence.
‘Dragon Orb’ was the same in Granic and Arkish.
‘Dragon Orb…?’
Considering how desperately he was searching for it, it must be something extremely important. Could it have been a dragon orb he lost?
While I began to understand the despair of the dwarf, I couldn’t help but wonder how one could possibly lose such a valuable item.
I mean, most people would be so anxious they’d sleep holding it close.
Unless, of course, someone had so much money they didn’t care about it. But seeing this dwarf who looked dazed, he didn’t seem to be one of them.
“…Hmm.”
Curiosity was starting to creep in, just a bit.
“W-what? Kana, where are you going?”
“Over there.”
“You said you weren’t interested.”
“Now I am.”
How could I not be curious when someone was saying they lost a dragon orb?
I led Da-eun through the crowd.
Most of the people there were dwarves, so it wasn’t hard to squeeze through, but….
…My height being similar to the short dwarves didn’t particularly feel great.
Wahhhhh!
Crouched in the heart of the crowd was a dwarf who looked hopeless and was now beyond despondent, wailing loudly.
I stepped closer to him, close enough that his prideful beard would get wet from his tears.
“Wahhh…! I’m finished!”
“Ugh…! Huh? What are you?”
The dwarf stopped crying and looked at me with his reddened eyes.
His gaze, as if trying to pierce through my hood, landed on Da-eun’s hand clasping mine and then swept over to my hands that were exposed outside my cape.
At that moment, his face twisted in an ugly grimace.
“From your build, you seem like kin, but having those hands as a dwarf, ugh, aren’t you ashamed?”
“…Pffft!”
“….”
Da-eun hurriedly covered her mouth upon hearing the dwarf’s words.
But at this point, she had already heard what she needed to hear.
From the way Da-eun reacted, I could guess what he’d said.
…Just hold it in.
Struggling to suppress the anger boiling inside, I pulled Da-eun’s hand tightly.
“I’ll help you.”
The dwarf raised his eyebrows at Da-eun, who translated my words for him.
“What? You’ll help?”
“Yep.”
“You want me to trust a stranger I’ve never seen before with this?”
I was mentally prepared to be suspected right from the start, but his reply was surprisingly mild.
He was probably in a desperate mindset.
Regardless, I took that as a good sign for me.
“Here. Look at this.”
“…A ring? Why are you showing that to me all of a sudden-”
I made sure no one else was watching as I presented my ringed hand before him.
Initially, the dwarf reacted nonchalantly, but as soon as he noticed the ring, his jaw dropped.
His eyes looked like they could pop out at any moment, and with trembling hands, he reached for my hand, or rather the ring. But…
Since I withdrew my hand, his reached out only to slice through the empty air.
“This is as much as I’ll show you.”
“P-please just a bit more!”
“No.”
If he wants to see more, he knows what to do, right?
The dwarf nodded vigorously like crazy.
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