Dwarves

We're in Sobana, a city on the Empire's border.

There's still time before dinner, so we'll do some sightseeing for now. Primula is staying behind at the ducal estate, while the rest of us set off in the La○d Cruiser.

I drove through the crowds, but there were plenty of carriages too. Children might dart out into the street, so I couldn't go very fast.

After all, this is a world without traffic laws.

"Hey, what's that?" "It's moving without horses!" "Is it magic?"

I could hear voices coming from all directions. Well, it was the same in every city, so I was used to it.

After driving for about ten minutes, we arrived at the market, so I stored the car in my Item Box.

"Whoa!" "Is that an Item Box?" "Seems so..."

Ignoring the murmurs of the people around us, we all started walking through the market.

The market was lined with stalls as far as the eye could see. Were all the shoppers looking for ingredients for dinner?

The colorful clothes, colorful stall awnings, and people of various races filled the market with energy.

As I looked around, a man approached me. He had a hunched back and a rat-like face.

I remembered being approached by a man like him when I was in Dalia. Surely this wasn't the same guy...

"Boss! You have an Item Box, don't you? I've got a good job for you!"

"Weren't you in Dalia?"

The man peered intently into my face.

"Huh? ...Oh! You're the Item Box holder who was carrying beds around the market!"

"You're really that guy?"

Why was I running into someone like this in a place like this?

"Heh heh... Since we've met here, it must be fate."

"Unfortunately, I already have business dealings with royalty and nobility, so I'm all set."

"What?! Royalty and nobility?"

"Yeah."

The man was surprised, but apparently he wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Boss, don't joke around. Claiming to be a noble is a crime, and you're saying you're royalty?"

"It's true. I'm staying at the Rainlily ducal estate right now."

"Y-you're the real deal...?"

The man spat out a parting remark and disappeared into the crowd. Apparently, he didn't like the fact that I had risen in the world, but what did I care?

I continued walking through the market with everyone else. This time, Bell, the forest cat walking alongside us, became the center of attention.

"It's a forest cat!" "What a magnificent creature..." "It must be quite old..."

Could Bell really be that old? I had never seen another forest cat, after all.

"Myaree, have you ever seen another forest cat?"

"In the forest, yeah."

"How big is Bell compared to them?"

"This forest cat is pretty big."

I see... Then perhaps Bell really was old. I didn't even know how long forest cats lived.

A forest cat Bell's size would be like a leopard in my original world. But leopards had about the same lifespan as house cats, or perhaps slightly longer...

As I thought about that, I found myself surrounded by large beastfolk.

There were all kinds of catfolk: tiger-striped, black-and-white, and split-faced. Dogfolk were around them too, but there didn't seem to be any fighting or disputes.

"Is that Forest Cat-sama your familiar, Boss?"

"Yeah."

"Please, let us pay our respects to Forest Cat-sama! Meeting a forest cat in a place like this must be fate!"

"I don't mind, but..."

Bell sat regally before the beastfolk, striking a dignified pose.

"Heehee~!"

The beastfolk began prostrating themselves before and worshipping the forest cat. Good grief... But it wasn't as though forest cats normally appeared in places like this.

It must be like meeting a messenger of the gods in the middle of Tokyo. Thinking of it that way, I could understand how they felt.

"Myaree and Nyamena, you don't pay your respects to forest cats, do you?"

"That's not true. We always show forest cats the respect they deserve."

"That's right, Boss."

Well, they were always together. They couldn't bow and scrape every time they saw a forest cat, after all.

While I was at it, I asked the beastfolk who were worshiping Bell where to find an item shop. When you want local information, it's best to ask the locals.

A bookstore would have been nice too, but when I asked the princess, she said books were rare in this world and dedicated bookstores were almost nonexistent.

Instead, shops like the old man's in Dalia and Snowflake-san's served as bookstores of sorts.

Though they were closer to general stores than item shops.

Apparently, if I wanted somewhere with lots of books, the safest choices were the royal or noble libraries like the one in the castle, or a university library.

I arrived at the item shop the beastfolk had told me about. It was an old-fashioned two-story stone building, half the building covered in ivy.

"Hiya."

When I opened the door, a bell rang. I had Bell wait by the entrance.

The shop was packed with all kinds of miscellaneous items. There was even furniture—it was truly an item shop.

"Welcome! Oh, I don't recognize you."

A seductive woman wearing a black dress greeted me. She looked to be over forty.

She sat languidly behind a small counter.

For her age, she was showing quite a bit of cleavage, and her legs were visible through the slit in her skirt.

I wanted to tell her, Don't push yourself, old hag, but it actually suited her fairly well, so I decided it was fine.

Makeup hadn't developed much in this world, so there was no way to disguise one's age.

Judging by her clothes, this woman was probably a mage.

"I just arrived in this city today."

"Oh, really...?"

"I wanted to ask you—do you have anything that suppresses magical power?"

"Something that suppresses magical power... Hmm..."

"Don't you have anything?"

"Heehee... As it happens, I do."

The woman took a silver ring from one of the shallow, overlapping drawers in a cabinet.

Fine letters and patterns were engraved on its surface.

"Is this ring the item you're talking about?"

"There's no demand for these in this country, but they're common in the neighboring Empire."

"Oh, right—if people find out you have magical power in the Empire, they forcibly conscript you, don't they?"

"That's right. People use items like this to avoid conscription."

"So this was made in the Empire...?"

"Exactly."

Either the item itself had come from the Empire, or an Empire refugee had sold it after it was no longer needed...

"How much is it?"

"Two silver coins (100,000 yen)."

"At that price, I'll buy it, but can I try it first? There'd be no point in buying it if I can't use it."

"Sure."

According to the shopkeeper, she also had earrings, necklaces, and other such items.

The ring fit my left index finger just right.

I called Anemone over and tried stroking her head.

"How is it?"

"...Boring..."

"That's good. It would be a problem if you learned anything strange at your age."

"I'm an adult!"

"What do you think, then? You're the older woman here."

"Hmm? I don't know the details, but if I had to guess... Maybe you should wait a little longer? Her body is still small, after all. I'm a woman too, so I understand how you feel."

"Hmph."

Anemone turned away, but the ring seemed to be working.

So did that mean the royal family's power was a type of magic too?

"Huh!"

I hurriedly opened Shangri-La. It was fine—it worked just as it always did.

My Item Box worked too.

That suggested that Shangri-La and my Item Box had nothing to do with ordinary magic.

Come to think of it, Marrow-san couldn't use magic at all, but he had an Item Box too...

I had also heard that the Queen couldn't use magic, but possessed an Item Box.

But I now knew that the ring worked, so I decided to buy it.

"Here you go—two silver coins."

"Thank you! I love customers who pay well. Is there anything else you'd like? I can show you all sorts of things."

"In that case, do you have any spellbooks?"

"I have Holy Shield, or Protection, for twenty gold coins (4 million yen)."

"All right! I'll buy it!"

"R-really?!"

The woman swirled her black dress as she came out from behind the counter and hugged me.

"You're awfully generous. If you've got money, why not hire me too?"

"We have a little archmage at home, so we're all set."

The beastfolk bristled at the woman hugging me.

"What does this old hag think she's doing?!" "Don't mess with us!"

"Black vines stretching from the darkness, ensnare all living things and bind their movements—Binding!"

At the woman's words, the beastfolk stopped moving as though they had been paralyzed.

"Oh, so there are spells like that too."

"They don't work on opponents who move around a lot, though. And against something large, they can only stop it for a few seconds."

As she spoke, the beastfolk began moving again.

"But that's plenty of time to attack."

"Well, that's how the spell works."

"Damn it, get off me, old hag!" "That's right!"

"Now, now, wait a minute. I'm listening to her explain magic."

There weren't many sources of information in this world. I had to collect even the smallest bits of information whenever I had the chance.

"Hey, what happens if I don't have the ring on? I'm kind of curious."

"Don't. I don't recommend it."

"Oh, come on."

The woman wrapped her arms around my neck, so I took off the ring and fondled her breasts.

The woman immediately pulled away from me and crouched down.

"Ohh! No! This is dangerous! My period, which had stopped, feels like it's about to start again!"

"Don't say things like that in front of a child."

I put the ring back on my finger. This was definitely useful.

"Registering the spellbook takes about a week, right? I don't know how long I'll be in this city. Can you hurry it up?"

As I said that, I took out twenty-one gold coins.

"I can't refuse a request from such a valuable customer. If you spend the night with me, I could have it ready by the day after tomorrow."

"No, thank you. I have a wife."

"What? You keep two beastfolk women, but you're awfully strict. And that forest cat is yours too, isn't she?"

"She is, but don't count the forest cat."

Well, if she were a little younger, my resolve might have wavered too.

"Hmm..."

Anemone was glaring at me, so I decided to leave it at that.

While I was there, I asked where to find a blacksmith shop run by dwarves. Apparently, it was a little way off the main street.

I had the woman draw a map on a sheet of paper I took from my Item Box.

"Dwarves are difficult people, so be careful."

Old craftsmen really did seem like that, didn't they?

The woman wanted the paper I was holding, so I sold it to her as well. With that, she would probably register the spellbook immediately.

According to her, today's earnings amounted to three months' worth of profit for her shop.

The dwarf blacksmith wasn't very far away, so we decided to walk.

Along the way, we passed an accessory shop.

Hmm... Should I give Primula a present once in a while?

But if I wanted accessories, I could buy better ones from Shangri-La.

Pearls would be a bad idea, but the quality of the other jewelry was on a completely different level. In this world, items that would take enormous amounts of money and time to make could be bought immediately.

"Anemone, do you want some kind of jewelry too?"

"I don't need any. You bought me a spellbook, and you let me read so many books already."

"I don't think I've ever seen beastfolk wearing jewelry."

"It would only get in the way when we move." "Yeah."

But one of the beastfolk who had helped me fight the goblins had been wearing a necklace made from animal fangs or something.

"We do have things like that. We make them to commemorate bringing down a large prey animal."

"How about making them out of wyvern teeth? You just drill holes and thread a cord through, right?"

"Boss, that's actually pretty difficult..."

Well, this world didn't have drills, only awls. The beastfolk probably didn't even own awls.

"If you want one, I'll make it for you."

"Really?" "Nya?"

"Yeah."

"Yay!" "Nyaa!"

I hadn't expected them to be so happy.

I continued down the street with the excited beastfolk and crossed a bridge over a canal.

Along the way, beastfolk who spotted Bell bowed repeatedly to her.

Just as the item shop's map indicated, there was a blacksmith that looked like the right one.

It was a two-story stone building with a thick roof that extended far back, where the forge was probably located.

I could hear the sound of iron being hammered. There seemed to be houses nearby too. Was it really all right for this noise to ring out all day?

But what caught my eye was the enormous sword displayed by the shop's front entrance. Its blade was probably over three meters long.

"That's a huge sword!" "It's just a dull decorative sword, right?"

"But it looks like it's been properly sharpened and has an edge..."

There wasn't even any rust, and it was well maintained. Something black had been set into the blade's edge. What was it?

We entered the shop. The floor was made of planks, and the white walls were probably plaster.

Weapons and armor were packed into every available space. The shop was filled with the smells of burning, iron, and oil.

Bell, who had come with us, sat down beside the entrance door.

"If you find something good, I'll buy it for you."

"Really, Boss?"

"No, Boss—the more weapons and armor you buy us, the fewer places we have to spend our money."

"Don't worry about the little things."

"No, Boss! That's not a little thing at all!"

Seeing that we looked like customers who were about to buy something, a clerk approached us, rubbing his hands together.

The man wore thick trousers and a hemp apron. He was an ordinary human, not a dwarf.

"What are you looking for?"

"Kenichi, I want this!"

Myaree pointed at a lightweight suit of leather armor. Steel plates reinforced the vital areas.

It was clearly well made, with craftsmanship completely different from the armor sold around Dalia and Astrantia.

"That costs two gold coins (400,000 yen)."

"What?! Two gold coins?"

"Myaree, I understand your surprise, but this is incredible workmanship. I think the price is perfectly reasonable."

"Mmmmmm~"

"Don't agonize over it. I'm paying. All right, I'll take it. Myaree, what about the fitting?"

"I-I can do that myself... Are you sure?"

"Sure."

Meanwhile, Nyamena was growling in front of another black suit of light armor.

"That one is a superb piece incorporating magical defense. It costs three gold coins."

"Three gold coins? That's half a year's earnings for me..."

"All right, I'll take it."

Nyamena opened and closed her mouth at my immediate decision.

"W-wait a minute, Boss..."

"Hmm? You don't want it?"

"No, I do want it, but..."

"I'll do the fitting myself for this one too."

"Understood."

I paid the clerk five gold coins and stored the armor in my Item Box.

"Oh! You have an Item Box?"

"Yeah."

"Boss, I'll treasure this..." "Nyaa!"

"Tools are meant to be used. But it's so well made that, with repairs, it might last a lifetime."

"We can recommend it with complete confidence."

Having demonstrated that I was a good customer, I moved on to the main subject.

"That ridiculously huge sword displayed outside—was it properly forged?"

"Yes, of course. It's a masterpiece forged with painstaking care by our master."

"How much is it?"

"Pardon?"

The clerk looked as though I had asked him something unbelievable.

"I mean the price of that sword."

"Er, um... that one?"

"Isn't it for sale?"

"P-please wait a moment—Master!"

The clerk ran toward the back of the shop.

"Huh? Boss, are you seriously going to buy it?" "Nya?"

"Yeah. Even I couldn't make something like that. It's worth paying for."

Could I have made one in my original world? I had seen videos of people making giant swords, so perhaps it was possible.

But that was because thick steel plates and such were readily available in my original world. Forging a giant sword from scratch wouldn't be easy.

A short man then came from the back. He had a sharp gaze, a long beard, dark skin, and arms as thick as Myaree and Nyamena's waists.

His hair was black, though it looked slightly blue depending on how the light struck it.

"Are you the eccentric customer?"

"Yeah. The one outside is for sale, right?"

"Before that, what are you going to do with it?"

The man glared at me with his sharp eyes.

"I'm going to have my familiar wield it."

"What? Your familiar?"

The dwarf stroked his long beard, but his expression showed that he didn't believe me.

"Is there somewhere a little more spacious? I'll show you."

"Are you a mage?"

"More or less."

The man opened a door at the back, and I followed him through it. We emerged into a vacant lot beside the building.

It seemed to be a storage area for materials and fuel such as charcoal. Still, there should be enough room to bring out Ko○tsu-san.

"All right! Appear from the abyss at my call! Summon, Ko○tsu-san!"

Guided by my words, an enormous yellow piece of heavy machinery appeared in midair and shook the ground when it landed.

"W-what the hell is this?!"

"I told you—it's my familiar. I'll show you how it moves."

I climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. I swung the machine around, waving its long steel arm through the air.

"This is astonishing. A steel magical beast..."

I stopped the engine and explained it to the dwarf.

"I was thinking of having this familiar wield that enormous sword to fight monsters."

"T-true, this thing could probably swing that sword. And the tip of its blade is adamantite—it can even cut through dragon scales."

Adamantite! A fantasy material! So the black substance embedded in the blade's edge was adamantite.

"When you say dragon, you mean a real dragon, not a lesser dragon or something?"

"Yeah. I'm confident it is."

The other dwarves working in the forge came over when they heard the commotion.

"Since there are so many spectators, I'll show you the prey I killed too."

I took the lesser dragon and wyvern out of my Item Box.

"Ooooooh!"

"Is that a lesser dragon?" "And this one is a wyvern?!" "Amazing..."

"I did bleed them and eat some, though. Haha."

"You did this?"

"Yeah, together with those beastfolk and that little archmage-sama."

The dwarves' gazes focused on Anemone.

"That tiny child is an archmage?"

"Yeah. She can use Explosion and Flames of Wrath, or Fireball, and she can even operate a giant golem."

"..."

"So, would you sell me the sword?"

The dwarves exchanged glances.

"...Let's talk inside."

From their expressions, they didn't seem very happy. There appeared to be some sort of problem.

We went back inside the shop and talked with the dwarf master across the counter.

"The price is three hundred gold coins (60 million yen)."

"That's fine. I have enough on hand and can pay you right now."

"Ooh!"

But the dwarves' expressions remained gloomy.

"Is there some problem?"

"Yeah. If we're going to hand that thing over, I'd like to finish the sword properly."

"I can wait a little, then..."

"No, we've received a batch of orders all at once, and we're short on material—steel, that is. We were just discussing whether to dismantle that thing for material rather than beg our fellow craftsmen for help."

So that was why the dwarves looked so unhappy.

"What a waste."

"I made it to test my skills, so I'm attached to it, but you can't let sentiment get in the way of survival."

"So you just need some iron material?"

"More or less."

Iron, huh? Shangri-La sold knife steel, but that was a little too advanced—and expensive.

Though I had given some to the baron.

H-beams or railroad rails would be good, but I couldn't find anything when I searched Shangri-La.

What other giant lumps of iron or steel plates could there be...?

"Is that forest cat yours too?"

"Yeah..."

That's it! What about a dozer blade from heavy machinery? That was made of steel, wasn't it?

There was no need to buy a new one. If it was only going to be used as steel material, a rusty, battered used one would do.

I immediately searched Shangri-La. There it was—a used dozer blade about two meters by 0.8 meters.

It was covered in rust, with peeling paint and a battered surface, but that didn't matter since it would be thrown into the fire and reforged. The price was 100,000 yen.

"Master, I have something in my Item Box that might work as material. Want to take a look?"

"What?!"

I led the master and the other dwarves back to the vacant lot, where I brought out the dozer blade I had bought from Shangri-La.

"Ooooooh!"

"Could you use this? I think it's made of steel..."

The dwarves struck the dozer blade repeatedly with their hammers.

"This really is steel."

"Will it work?"

"Of course it will, but how on earth was this made? If you have a craftsman capable of making something like this, why not have him forge the giant sword?"

"Unfortunately, human blacksmiths don't live as long as dwarves."

"...Y-yeah, I suppose that's true..."

"Besides, they couldn't process adamantite."

"I'm confident about that. I'm the only one around here who can process it."

Shangri-La didn't sell anything like adamantite, after all.

I also wondered what would happen if I tried selling a fantasy material to Shangri-La's buyback service. My curiosity knew no bounds.

But the dwarf master's subordinates seemed to have an objection.

"But Master, we don't have a furnace large enough to fit this enormous thing into."

"How did you make that sword?"

The master answered my question.

"I built a special furnace for it. It was youthful foolishness—I was so conceited that I thought I could make something that incredible."

"I think it's incredible enough."

"Still, I'm grateful just to know that someone out there can make something this amazing."

I wondered what these dwarves thought when they saw the heavy machinery. In a world where stone golems moved, perhaps they felt that an iron creature wasn't so strange.

In any case, the dozer blade couldn't be used as-is...

Now, what should I do?