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“A human meeting His Majesty……?”
The dwarf expressed bewilderment at a situation he could not picture.
An audience at the royal palace would have been nearly impossible — but the story in Hanbit’s memory was a little different.
“The amethyst forest at the far northwest. I used to live there.”
“…Pardon?”
Hanbit continued unfolding the story he had prepared.
But it was not a lie.
It was a true account of something he had experienced when he was reborn in the body of an adventurer.
“So you truly were… a survivor of that place.”
The dwarf muttered in a mournful voice, unlike anything he had shown until now.
The amethyst forest that bordered his homeland, the Kingdom of Hedrik.
The desperate battle against the monsters that had swept over that place had claimed even the king’s life.
Being the cause of their flight to Ifrit, it was something he could never forget.
“When the king came to our village, he told us about the dwarves. It was then that I also learned about metallurgy.”
“A secret I only came to understand a mere few years ago… you heard of it all the way back then!”
A heat came through in the dwarf’s eyes.
Not disappointment or regret — but genuine admiration.
Then he nodded to himself and began to speak of the old story.
“What do you mean? What secret?”
“Wasn’t what they used dwarven metallurgy?”
Just then, the two people listening a step behind spoke up quietly.
It being a secret kept even within the dwarf race, it was only natural to find it unfamiliar.
“Dwarven metallurgy is something like a blessing. Think of it as royalty of the right standing bestowing their power. Of course, withdrawing the blessing is also within the royals’ authority.”
“…But their prince ran away?”
“That’s why they ended up this way, isn’t it.”
-Insane. Lol.
-Gorik’s snowball effect;
-So there was a reason they became useless.
-Why buffers matter.txt
-Inferior DPS players, learn from this.
-Right, support cut.
The problem that had come upon the dwarves here was simple.
Prince Gorik, who should have been distributing the blessing, had disappeared.
Having lost their craft, unable to hear the voices of materials anymore, their worth had fallen without limit.
“Wait — is the token I have a tool for granting that blessing?”
“No, that’s a tool for finding the hammer.”
“The hammer?”
“It’s a royal heirloom — without it, the blessing cannot be bestowed. Right now Gorik has lost it somewhere in the snowy mountains.”
“Ah…….”
Learning the full circumstances, Kim Jaeha was taken aback.
The dwarves, who had not been treated as allies in the story from the start.
The simple reason being that they were incompetent and greedy, and therefore useless.
And yet the cause of that had originated from Gorik’s departure.
On top of that, the token he had obtained was an item of far greater importance than he had known.
“You said we can’t use this token ourselves, right? So the only option is persuading the prince?”
“Even if you persuade him well, Gorik won’t come back here. Instead, what hyung does is serve as the bridge between. It’s the most important role in the episode.”
“That’s exactly why I’m more worried…….”
Kim Jaeha’s importance had been emphasized more than once.
A plan that had been settled from the moment it became known that he was the first to find the token.
Put simply, he needed to do the same things Hanbit had done.
Learning metallurgy, and conveying a part of the blessing’s power to the dwarves.
“So what are you planning to do now? That fellow over there just seems excited…….”
Avantgarde, having listened to the exchange, pointed straight ahead.
The dwarf was still rambling away about the old story.
“Well, everything needs to be resolved.”
There was no small number of things to do in Ifrit.
That was why this time, he had no intention of retracing the steps of the past.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Kim Jaeha, noticing the steady gaze, asked with unease.
Hanbit gave his shoulder a light pat.
“You’ll be able to do it, hyung.”
“What? What exactly is it I’m going to be doing?”
‘What else. Enduring Gorik’s hellish process of passing down his craft all the way to the end.’
That thought, which had risen right to the tip of his tongue, was swallowed back down.
Kim Jaeha would surely pull it off.
“Something like that.”
“No, but——”
-?
-Sure, let’s do well.
-Black Dragon, what are you plotting now;
As questions gathered,
Hanbit turned his eyes back to the dwarf.
“Then let me change the proposal. If you help me, I will resolve the matter of the blessing. Not all of it, but you’ll be able to recover enough craft to sustain yourselves.”
“Oh! Could it be that you know where His Highness the Prince is!”
The dwarf pushed his face closer and raised his voice.
But if these people were to meet the prince directly right now, the outcome would only be tragedy.
It was almost a relief that they had been apart from him.
“Finding that is also part of my work. You don’t want to keep living like this either, do you?”
“Hmm.”
At this question, the dwarf went quiet.
He thought for a moment, then slowly began.
“Regaining the craft would be welcome, but I still have no intention of giving more than necessary to Ifrit!”
The dwarf declared firmly that he had no desire to devote himself to the city.
It was not a thought helpful to Hanbit’s plan — but there was no need to persuade him right now either.
He would come to understand the necessity of protecting the city through his own experience before long.
“Just do what I ask of you.”
“Then I agree! My name is Kudran!”
“I am Black Dragon.”
Hanbit took Kudran’s hand and shook it lightly.
Ding—
[Main Quest #2 has been completed.]
[Progress increases.]
[Main Quest #3: The Dwarf Village]
You have met Kudran, the administrator of the dwarf village.
The reason their treatment has fallen to rock bottom is the absence of the blessing.
The only way to resolve it is for Gorik’s heart to change.
How can this situation be resolved?
Objective: Move to the dwarf village and speak with its people.
Reward: 50,000 gold, 30,000 experience points, 2 stat points
Current Progress: 5%
‘Not bad.’
The quest’s contents laid out the direction forward with clarity.
What mattered right now was one thing.
Dwarven metallurgy, and nothing else.
Ding—
Just then, another alert chimed.
Looking at the system window, a message had arrived.
He turned the screen and read the contents quietly.
「Luna」
「The competition to obtain dwarven metallurgy is about to start up again. The corporations have caught the scent, so vanguards and other players will come flooding in.」
‘Faster than I expected.’
The movements of others were quicker than anticipated.
If up until now they had been watching and waiting, it seemed they were now ready to move first.
「Black Dragon」
「Thank you for the information. In return, let me mention one thing — I’d recommend heading to the north side of Peria Island at midnight tonight. The number of people there has dropped quite a bit by now, hasn’t it?」
「Luna」
「It has, hasn’t it? Between the episode resets, the restricted area, and dwarven metallurgy, there’s been too much going on. More than half have pulled out… but you’re saying there’s something interesting there?」
「Black Dragon」
「There’s something that only shows itself when people aren’t around. It’ll take a few days of investment, but you might come across weapon materials that would be of use to you.」
The information Luna had sent had been of considerable help.
He had been intending to have Yeonwoo look into it later anyway.
She had extended goodwill first, so he wanted to return the gesture.
He had heard she used ice-type abilities, so this might turn out to be quite a significant gift for her.
「Luna」
「I’ll definitely go. I’m watching your stream too, so keep it interesting.」
The conversation ended with that final message.
Honestly, he hadn’t expected to build a friendly relationship with a major corporation’s vanguard this quickly.
Perhaps it was because he had sensed that Luna was no ordinary person.
Exchanging information like this turned out to be more interesting than he had expected.
Shhk—
Hanbit pulled up a separate screen and browsed the community.
The mood there was heated in all sorts of ways.
⟨How do you clear this awful restricted area?⟩
⟨Anyone stuck at the aqueduct in the episode?⟩
⟨I said something wrong to Atzvel, what do I do?⟩
⟨Can’t we go after the metallurgy too?⟩
⟨Breaking news) Vanguard team clearing Episode 8 declares suspension.⟩
⟨Balder sparring is absolute garbage.⟩
⟨Anyone willing to share how to drop elemental aggro?⟩
Posts on every conceivable topic were updating without pause.
Since all of it was a path Hanbit had already walked, it was a peculiar sight no matter how many times he saw it.
Hanbit tapped on a title he had caught in the middle.
⟨Is dwarven metallurgy making a comeback?⟩
Black Dragon went to Ifrit, isn’t he likely to get the hidden skill?
I heard Kim Jaeha who travels with him is the first discoverer of the achievement.
-Will it even work?
-How many people searched back then. Lol.
-Corporations are still quiet.
-Yeah, vanguards haven’t come up with anything in particular either.
-Don’t get excited for nothing.
-But what if I’m the one who finds it?
└If you find it I’ll give you 100 million gold.
└I’ll take that and give you 200 million.
└And that was all from people who don’t even have ten thousand gold.
-Worth a shot though?
-Yeah, nothing to lose.
-When the vanguards move, I’ll go too.
From the comment atmosphere, it seemed people hadn’t grasped the situation yet.
That in itself showed just how quickly Luna had passed the information along.
Was this why Yeonwoo had said to build connections among the vanguards?
‘I need to move quickly.’
Either way, now that he was aware of the movements outside, there was no time to waste.
Not because of wariness toward them — but because they needed to be used in the right place at the right time.
As had been the case in the aquarium dungeon, passionate rivals could also make for good tools.
Hanbit approached Kudran, who had been tidying up the area at some point.
“Let’s head to the village shortly.”
“Ah, just one moment please!”
The monster remains and work tools scattered all around.
Kudran was earnestly returning them to their proper places.
“I’ll help.”
“Oh! Really! Then I’m truly grateful!”
At Kudran’s words that held not a trace of refusal, the three moved busily to clean up the area.
When all the work was finished,
Kudran spoke with a somewhat moved expression.
“Thank you for the help! I didn’t expect it to be done so quickly!”
“It was nothing.”
Hanbit answered with a pleasantry and shifted his gaze toward the mouth of the wall.
Gorik, who had returned at some point, was concealing himself and watching from here.
‘Right, he must have a lot to think about.’
If he came out right now and straightened out the tangled relationships, the story would become considerably simpler.
But the heart of a prince rejected by his own people carried wounds too deep to easily mend.
For all that Gorik appeared to be a stubbornly rigid craftsman, he was, in his own way, a tender-hearted person.
“Then I’ll take you straight to the village now!”
While Hanbit was briefly lost in thought, Kudran spoke up.
Hanbit turned and gave a nod.
“Let’s go.”
