Dwarven Village (4)

“A large site comparable to an ordinary mine. It will be interesting.”

“Got it!”

The young dwarf, who was looking at the blueprint with me, asked me enthusiastically.

“So you’re saying we can pour everything we have into this, without worrying about the budget?”

The chieftain’s speech was natural, but young dwarves often had a somewhat awkward end to their sentences. It can’t be helped since they’re speaking in the human language, not Dwarvish.

“I’ll say it again, I’m not thinking of saving money.”

As I nodded, the dwarves once again expressed their admiration. The extravagant proposal of being able to use anything without worrying about funds seemed highly attractive to those who struggled with financial difficulties whenever they wanted to create something.

It’s a matter of construction costs.

The dwarf clan is generally poor, so frugality is a basic principle when making their own goods. Even when commissioned, it’s rare to have a client who sets such a generous construction budget.

There are no clients as generous as me.

“So you’ve decided?”

“Of course. If it’s an order from the Great One, we have to do it with our lives on the line, and yet you’re giving us such conditions…”

“We should do it with a happy heart since we’re doing it anyway. Rather than forcing it, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“And Rurin isn’t that violent. As long as you don’t upset her. If you just serve her as you are doing now, I don’t think there will be any problems.”

“That would be fortunate, but…”

“And since the village is destroyed anyway, let’s move all the surviving dwarves to the site? There’s enough space for 30 people to live comfortably. As I mentioned earlier, if the lair is built within six months, I will give you enough funds to settle in another mine.”

As I explained the amount, the dwarves started murmuring again.

“Thank you. Thank you! It’s such a great offer when survival is uncertain. But, is it really true? The Great One…”

The dwarf chieftain trailed off. His face was still dark. The fear of dragons seems greater than I thought.

Then, I have no choice but to stimulate the dwarf’s sense of improvement to overcome their fear.

“In addition to the village reconstruction cost, if the grandest dragon lair I’m pursuing is created, I will also give this as a success fee.”

“What?”

I carefully placed a luxury mechanical watch with the lid removed in the chieftain’s hand.

A beautiful collection of gears meshing together to form a world of technology.

It’s an item that would make dwarves drool and lose their mental faculties.

Mechanical watches are permanent but actually more complicated to maintain than quartz watches. If the dwarves can replicate this, they will manage it on their own.

In fact, I don’t expect the dwarves to replicate the watch; I just hope they drool over the artistic structure they can’t even imagine.

Moreover, this planet.

I don’t know if it’s another parallel world of Earth or what, but from what I’ve confirmed, the time structure matches the modern 24-hour system exactly.

“What on earth is this?”

The dwarves started to react as I expected.

Both the young dwarves and the older chieftain dwarves were mesmerized by the splendor of the clockwork parts in front of them.

“Think of it as an art that expresses time in hourly units. It’s a collection of high-level technology. It’s a summoned item made with technology that doesn’t yet exist in this world. If you’re interested, succeed in building the lair. I’ll give you this masterpiece as a reward.”

“…!”

As soon as I finished speaking, the dwarves collectively dropped their jaws.

Then they all closed their mouths. The dwarves became silent.

They seemed to be entranced by the unprecedented technology.

As I retrieved the watch, their gazes followed my hand.

“What do you think? I’ll give it to you when everything is finished.”

“Aah!”

“How could this be!”

Sighs of amazement echoed everywhere.

“Shall we move then?”

The dwarf chieftain looked around at the other dwarves. Reconstruction costs and success fees. There were no objections now. Besides, it was a dragon’s order, so there was no veto.

“Understood. All the dwarves of the Miliorrek Mountains will follow the Great One.”

“You made a good decision. Rurin?”

I called out to Rurin, who was lounging comfortably on the makeshift throne the dwarves had crafted for the deity.

“Is the talk over? It’s my lair! It must be made beautifully! Beautifully. Hehe.”

Rurin began preparing for teleportation with great anticipation for her lair.

Teleporting 30 people at once consumes a significant amount of mana.

“Alright, everyone hug each other tightly and gather around. Chieftain, you hug me.”

Then I hugged Rurin.

The dwarf chieftain hugged my back. It felt a bit strange, but I didn’t want a dwarf’s hand touching Rurin.

I just don’t like it. Rurin probably wouldn’t like it either.

Behind my back, the dwarves hugged each other in a train-like manner, and soon the world was engulfed in darkness.

Soon the world brightened. Or rather, it wasn’t exactly bright. The construction site below the hill was only lit up by magic.

“Is this the place we’ll be working?”

“That’s correct.”

As I nodded, the dwarves were overwhelmed by the scale and dropped their jaws. Soon, they began pointing here and there and discussing the blueprint I had handed them with seriousness.

“Set up temporary accommodations. I will supply food for the time being. And if you need any construction materials, just let me know and I’ll get them all for you.”

“With a lair of this scale, we must make it the best among the lairs used by the Great Ones.”

The chieftain nodded.

“Please endure for just six months.”

“There is no doubt about it.”

The dwarf chieftain once again bowed grandly to Rurin and me.

I made a suggestion to him.

“Shall we have a party today? From tomorrow, you’ll have to cook for yourselves, but today, I’ll make something for you. I’ll also explain about this area. Of course, I would prefer if you refrain from leaving the site as much as possible.”

“A party…? That…”

“You haven’t had proper food while being confined, have you?”

“Ohhh. Cooking?”

“I want to drink beer.”

“That’s right.”

The dwarves reacted to the word ‘food’. They seemed to have been eating dog food-grade meals given by the orcs.

“We are the race of the earth. We are originally a race specialized in living underground, like in mines. Don’t worry about that.”

The dwarf chieftain nodded readily.

As a result, everyone became busy with their assigned tasks.

The dwarves stomped around setting up accommodations and discussing the direction of the construction, while I focused on cooking.

When I think of dwarves, sausages somehow come to mind. This is especially because dwarves really love beer.

Beer balances out the greasy taste of sausages, making an excellent combination.

Of course, there’s a calorie issue, but dwarves probably don’t care about calories.

I asked Rurin to create large protective barriers in various places. They were shaped like round balls.

The barriers Rurin made were used as cooking tools.

“I’m sleepy.”

Using too much mana made Rurin start yawning, rubbing her eyes, and grabbing my arm.

“You still need to eat before you sleep. Just wait a bit.”

“Okay. I’m hungry too.”

Rurin kept rubbing her eyes while crouching next to me, watching the cooking process. She didn’t seem interested at all in the dwarves who were going to build her lair.

That’s just like Rurin.

If she doesn’t like it later, she’ll make a fuss then.

I focused again on making sausages.

The sausages I was making were not made from uba.

The best quality uka.

That’s right.

I asked Mr. Knoll to get some high-quality uka freshly delivered from the ranch. I used magic to mash and mince various parts of the uka.

Magic mashed the uka meat faster than any ordinary machine.

It wouldn’t be fun to use only uka. I finely chopped fresh monton mushrooms. In modern times, matsutake or shiitake mushrooms, and in Europe, the expensive truffle mushrooms are considered the best, but here it’s definitely monton mushrooms.

The monton mushrooms don’t match the aroma of truffles, but their taste is fantastic. They combine the flavors of shiitake and matsutake mushrooms.

Adding monton mushrooms gives an umami flavor, and to add a spicy taste, I add some chili peppers. The chili peppers here aren’t that spicy, which makes them perfect.

I mix everything together and stuff the meat into the cow tripe that Mr. Knoll had prepared.

Since it will be grilled right away, there’s no need for fancy casing. Or maybe the cow tripe is fancy enough.

I repeat this process. After all, there are 30 people.

Watching the repetitive boring work, Rurin started dozing off, her head nodding repeatedly. Saliva was dripping from her mouth. Why this clumsy sight is cute remains a mystery.

Watching her, I continued stuffing meat into the tripe. Thus, slightly thick sausages were completed.

Now I place them on the barrier and grill them all at once. I scatter fireballs under the barrier.

I used magic immediately.

Ssssss!

Ssss!

Soon, the beef sausages started sizzling. The smell of sausages cooking can wake up even a sleeping dragon.

No, really.

“What is it, what is it! It smells delicious!”

Rurin suddenly woke up, looked around, and found the sausages cooking. Her face lit up with delight, and she opened her mouth.

“It needs to cook a little longer.”

The sausages, with their slits, opened up and twisted as they cooked. The smell attracted the dwarves as well.

And so, the party began.

The savory taste of cow tripe. Its chewiness. And the softness of the sausage. The fantastic taste of the meat. And beer.

“Please, eat. It won’t taste good if it gets cold. Ah, of course, the Great One should eat first.”

As I pointed to Rurin, the dwarves wiped their mouths and all stepped back.

“Yes. I’ll eat first. Hehe. From here to here is mine!”

Rurin stabbed the sausage with a fork and brought it to her mouth. Her mouth opened wide.

Rurin chewed the sausage in one bite.

The dwarves ended up drooling.

“Khaah!”

As I nodded to the chieftain, who was gulping down beer and exclaiming, the dwarves charged in.

“I’m first!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you young brat!”

The beer and sausage war broke out.

The dragon devoured her declared portion.

As the party reached its peak, the dwarf chieftain approached me and spoke.

“Thank you, El. Somehow, eating your food made my worries disappear. If you intended to use and kill us dwarves, you wouldn’t treat us like this.”

“Of course. You can put those worries to rest. But, do you think six months will be enough?”

“We dwarves are a race of the earth. The Dwarves of Miliorrek, no less. We will definitely complete it. Definitely.”

The chieftain nodded vigorously.

“I hope there will be a day to repay El’s grace for saving us, providing temporary shelter, and securing our future livelihood. We stake our dwarf honor on it.”

“Pour all that repayment into constructing the lair.”

At the moment I replied to the dwarf chieftain, Rurin attacked my face with her foot from behind.

“Mnyaa. Gororong. Puhah!”

She must have fallen asleep after eating her fill. She had been dozing off earlier, so it was expected.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll hug you! Hehe!”

Why is she sleep-talking while making funny sounds?

“The Great One following like this is unimaginable. El is an extraordinary human.”

The chieftain muttered this towards Rurin and me, and Rurin muttered back in her sleep.

“Stay with me in my lair. You.”

Rurin grabbed my clothes tightly.

She must be tired from the teleportation, so I don’t plan to wake her, but I don’t like her sleep-talking.

So I patted her on the head.