The Dwarf City Of Mürnberg

The Forest Mansion.

In the drowsiness of morning, Liricia and I were lying naked together on the bedroom bed.

The morning sunlight entering diagonally through the window pleasantly illuminated her smooth white skin.

I gently stroked her silver hair as I spoke.

“Good morning, Liricia.”

“Good morning, mashter…”

Liricia’s drooping eyes looked hazy as she rubbed her cheek against my chest.

A smile naturally spilled from the corner of my mouth.

“You look tired.”

“That was the most amazing it has ever been, Master… Right now, I feel so fulfilled and happy…”

“I see. I’m glad to hear that. You seem to get stronger every time I give you Holy Wave, so I’m happy too.”

“Yes, I will become even stronger and regain my angel powers for your sake, Master.”

I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her slender body close, and kissed her.

Liricia let out a sweet sound in her throat.

Then I moved my face away and looked down at her.

“Then, today, let’s go to the dwarf territory to search for Rāna’s jewel.”

“Yes, Master.”

Together with Liricia, who had a radiant smile, I sat up in bed and began getting ready to go out.

After finishing breakfast, Liricia and I were in the front hall of the dungeon.

Rāna’s jewel was located in a mountainous region southwest of the Fortis Kingdom.

We intended to use Kou’s passage to get close to it.

As we stood in front of the wall of the plaza, Kou asked through the sub-device.

“What should I do? Should I make the passage go directly there?”

“Can you connect it all the way to where the jewel is?”

“It would be inside the mountain. Soil and sand would flow into the dungeon, so is that no problem?”

“We’d die. Rejected.”

“Dauu.”

Liricia spoke while looking at the map.

“It seems to be inside a steep mountain. Since it has been developed as a mine, tunnels may have been dug through it.”

“And if we come out in a tunnel, people will probably see us…”

She could not search unless she took on her angel form, but a fallen angel was treated as a monster. It seemed like it would become troublesome, so I wanted to search while avoiding people’s eyes if possible.

Liricia raised a slender finger and proposed an idea.

“How about having Edgar-san sneak in?”

“We won’t know the jewel’s exact location without you, Liricia… Let’s go to a town near the mountain once and see how things look. It might also be good as a preview for our honeymoon.”

“Yes, Master!”

Liricia smiled happily.

I nodded and spoke through the sub-device.

“That’s how it is, Kou. Can you connect us near a nearby town? Somewhere out of sight would be good.”

“I’ll try. Dungeon Breathing, First Form—Brute Force Attack… It’s done.”

“You’re excellent. Then we’re off.”

I turned off the sub-device and took Liricia through the passage.

The place we emerged into was inside a grove.

It was on a slope. Fallen leaves were piled up, making it easy for our feet to slip.

We carefully walked toward the road.

“Watch your footing, Liricia.”

“Yes, Master.”

We slowly walked out onto the road.

A narrow road continued along the mountainside as though crawling across it.

When I followed the road ahead with my eyes, I could see buildings clinging to a cliff facing a valley.

Buildings lined up to the top like stairs.

“What an incredible city.”

“That is the territorial capital, Mürnberg. It is also a mining town.”

“Smoke’s rising from the larger buildings. It really does feel like a mining town.”

“They are likely forges and ironworks.”

“Let’s go.”

We climbed the slope toward the city.

Liricia followed right behind me.

After going around the valley and passing through a tunnel, we connected to a wide road. It seemed carriages could pass through as well, but the slope was still steep.

One side was a sheer cliff.

The view was good, and we could see falling waterfalls and distant mountain ranges.

However, though the wind blowing up felt pleasant, my breathing grew heavier.

“I don’t think I could live here when I get old.”

“It must be difficult to return once someone leaves for another town.”

As we said such things, we arrived at the city gate.

The solid wall built from stone materials had no visible seams. It showed the high level of dwarf technology.

The people trying to enter the city were about half humans and half dwarves.

Most of the humans were merchants with carriages or well-built miners.

The dwarves were short, but they had stocky, muscular bodies. Everyone carried large axes or hammers almost as tall as themselves on their backs.

We showed our adventurer cards to the dwarf guard and entered the city.

Whether I looked down or up, houses clung to the steep cliff. Smoke came out of thick chimneys on every house.

It suddenly occurred to me that they might not be houses, but workshops.

The road was wide. Several carriages could pass each other.

Narrow roads ran between the blocks, but most of them were stairways.

“What do they do with carriages?”

“It seems carriages go up the main avenue. This main avenue has a gentle slope, so if they go to the end, they can move upward without steps.”

“I see…”

As we were talking like that, a dwarf guard spoke to us.

Because he was covered in beard, I thought he was an older man, but his voice was young.

“Is this your first time in this town?”

“It is.”

“There’s a simple map. Want to buy one? If you don’t even know the difference between the outer town and inner town, you’ll get lost.”

“Understood. I’ll take one.”

“Right. One hundred gort.”

I handed over one silver coin and received a simple map.

After giving it a quick look, I understood the difference between the outer town and inner town.

The place we were in now was the middle section of the outer town.

“Ah, so there’s a city inside the mountain too.”

“It spreads not only east, west, north, and south, but also up and down… It is a three-dimensional city. It is large.”

Liricia peered at the map while snuggling up to me.

The face she made while placing a finger on her chin and looking with great interest was cute.

Suddenly, Liricia raised that face. My eyes met her violet eyes.

“What is it, Master?”

“No, I just thought you were cute.”

“My, Master, honestly.”

She blushed faintly and looked down in embarrassment. Her silver hair hid her shy face.

I smiled and spoke.

“All right, let’s go inside.”

“Yes…”

I took the embarrassed Liricia with me and entered the wide tunnel leading to the city inside the mountain.

We walked through the city. Its interior looked like a wide space at first glance.

On both sides of the main avenue, three-story buildings supported the ceiling of the layer. Or rather, they seemed to be carved-out buildings, and there was not a single seam on the walls.

The elaborately designed buildings were illuminated by magical lights and looked gorgeous.

The middle layer had many shops. In addition to food and general goods, shops selling weapons, armor, and ornaments lined the street.

Every item was well-made, and swords that would be treated as fine goods in other towns were thrown into wooden boxes as bargain items.

Human merchants were gazing at them with sharp eyes.

It was so large and lively that it was hard to believe it was a city carved out inside a mountain.

Most of the people walking through the city were dwarves. Other races were here and there too.

However, there was something that bothered me a little.

“What is this? There are a lot of injured people.”

About ten percent of the people had bandages wrapped around them or were limping with canes.

Liricia, walking beside me, also lowered her eyebrows sadly and tilted her head.

“What could have happened? It is almost like a war…”

“The dwarf territory should have been peaceful for a long time, though. Is it because of monsters?”

Then a middle-aged woman from a general store spoke to us with a smile. She was a horizontally large dwarf woman, but her makeup was thick, and she was wearing strangely revealing clothes.

Her outfit made me want to call her a madam.

“Oh my, are you two adventurers?”

“Yes, we are. We just arrived. …From what I can see, there seem to be many injured people.”

“That’s from cave-in accidents in the mines. There have been a lot of them lately.”

“I see.”

I thought that Puchi Elixirs might sell here. Though I could not think of a way to market them.

—Then, to raise the value of Puchi Elixirs, I have to reduce the effect as much as possible.

I lightly clenched my fist and compressed my Holy Wave tightly. Probably to a radius under ten meters. If people bathed in my Holy Wave for a long time, their injuries would recover.

It pained my heart a little because it was too selfish, but I told myself that I was no longer a hero.

Beside me, Liricia, who was sensitive to Holy Wave, gave a start and trembled.

However, she seemed to realize it quickly and brought up something else.

“Madam, have there been any stories lately about something rare being dug up?”

“Well, I haven’t heard of anything. If it’s rare things you want, there are plenty in my shop. Won’t you have a look?”

“Y-Yes.”

Pushed by the madam’s forceful invitation as she posed with her stout body, the two of us ended up entering the shop.

But as expected of a dwarf shop, it had many elaborately crafted goods.

Liricia’s violet eyes shone as she looked at tableware, pots, and pendants. She seemed to be enjoying herself, but she was properly checking them with her monocle.

I asked the madam.

“While we’re at it, I’d like you to tell me if there is a cheap and good inn.”

“Hmm, an inn, huh. In the end, that depends on your wallet. The higher up the city you go, the more upper-class it gets, and the lower down you go, the more poor people there are. Public order follows that too.”

“I see. Since this is our first time and we don’t know anything, could you tell us about five places: high, middle, and low?”

“Sure. If you buy something.”

The madam winked with a grin. She was shrewd.

I gave a wry smile and agreed.

“Fine. —Liricia, is there anything you want?”

“Huh? Is that all right?”

“There’s nothing in particular I want. —Or rather, I haven’t bought much for you, Liricia.”

“I am happy… But in that case, an ornament that would not get in the way of combat or healing would be best… Hmm, they are all beautiful-looking things.”

“Haaah, even though you’re such a beauty, this is why adventurers are…”

The madam gave an exasperated sigh, but even so, she recommended necklaces and bracelets with few decorations.

In the end, I bought a necklace with a blue stone attached to a thin silver chain.

After that, we asked about the locations of the inns and left the shop.

Liricia smiled happily as she fiddled with the necklace hanging from her neck with her fingers.

“This is a good item. Please keep it secret, but it has [Recovery Power Increase] on it. It seems to increase the effect of healing magic?”

“Oho. That was a good purchase.”

“Yes. It is thanks to you, Master.”

Saying that, she clung to my arm. Her large breasts pressed softly against me.

After that, we continued looking into each shop and gathering information while enjoying our walk through the city as if we were on a date.