The Dwarves And Arthur

In the mining tunnel Arthur and his group entered, several Dwarves were frantically swinging their pickaxes against the walls, their faces tense with urgency.

Embedded in the wall’s surface were various luminous ores. Arthur remembered seeing accessories adorned with such radiant stones worn by noble ladies.

That was exactly what made the scene so strange. These Dwarves weren’t even glancing at the ores that could be turned into valuable gemstones—they were just working without pause.

Most people would never dare speak to such determined Dwarves. That is, most people would not…

“Hey, Dwarves! Is there anything troubling you?”

“Lord Richard!?”

Gawain, who had been watching to see how Arthur would approach these intensely focused Dwarves—who weren’t even tempted by the ores—cried out in surprise when Arthur simply shouted out to them.

Yes, Arthur had no sense of reading the room.

“……”

As expected, the Dwarves ignored him.

Clang, clang, clang!! A few glanced his way for a moment but quickly returned to their work as if they’d lost interest.

“Hey, Dwarves! Is there anything troubling you?”

Maybe they didn’t hear? Arthur called out again, louder this time. Of course, he remembered Kei scolding him back at the castle when he asked, “Is there anything troubling the servants?”

But this time, Arthur was hiding his royal identity, and thanks to the Good Deed Notebook, he already knew the Dwarves were in trouble.

That’s why he thought they’d answer if he asked directly. He’d taken Kei’s advice to heart and was thinking for himself—just a little, but still, it was growth.

That said, in normal circumstances, people wouldn’t reveal their troubles to a stranger. To understand someone’s problem, you need to earn their trust or piece together clues through investigation.

But Arthur, naïve as ever, didn’t consider that. Ironically, this direct approach worked well with the short-tempered Dwarves.

“Hey, Dwarves! Is there anything trou—”

“Shut up already!! We heard you the first time—we’re just ignoring you!! Can’t you see we’re busy!?”

Unable to endure Arthur’s persistent questions, a grizzled Dwarf with a beard streaked with white snapped in frustration.

Then, glaring at Arthur as if taking out his irritation, he explained the situation.

“We’re digging through a tunnel that collapsed during an old battle with monsters, to get some Orichalcum to save Lady Prim!! We’re working without rest, so don’t get in the way!!”

“An old battle… the one involving the Pioneer Knight Flugel!?”

“Orichalcum again…”

Gawain exclaimed, stirred by the mention of the legendary battle. Meanwhile, Arthur recognized the term “Orichalcum,” having heard it multiple times by now—and noted that it must be extremely rare. Then, a thought occurred to him.

If he gave Kei a piece of jewelry made from that precious metal, wouldn’t she be thrilled? Helping the Dwarves would earn him Good Deed Points and a souvenir. Wasn’t this the ultimate two-Gokuuma-Birds-with-one-stone situation?

Of course, receiving a national treasure-tier gift like that would make Kei faint and immediately return it in panic—but Arthur couldn’t possibly know that. It was a wonderfully bothersome gift.

Then Arthur looked at the exhausted Dwarves and grinned.

“You said you’ve been working without rest—so that means you’re tired, right?”

“Of course we are!! Isn’t that obvious!? But if we don’t push through, Lady Prim…!”

Just as the Dwarf said, they were all visibly drained, their faces marked by fatigue. Yet sheer determination kept their bodies moving.

Even Arthur, an amateur, could tell their movements lacked energy.

“If you promise to keep what I’m about to do a secret, I’ll help out. What do you say?”

“Huh? What’s a frail human like you gonna—wait… my body feels lighter!! The fatigue is gone!”

Arthur had touched the Dwarf’s hand and cast healing magic to alleviate his exhaustion. Smirking, he looked at the astonished Dwarf.

“Well? My power’s useful, isn’t it?”

The Good Deed Notebook only forbade healing noble ladies. These guys were clearly not noble ladies. And healing fatigue wasn’t a big deal—other healers did it too. His identity wouldn’t be exposed.

Of course, Arthur didn’t heal them purely out of kindness. He figured helping the Dwarves might dodge his execution flag, and maybe they’d share a bit of Orichalcum as a reward. It was a small, selfish calculation.

“Amazing!! It’s like I had a ton of booze and a perfect night’s sleep!!”

“Gazeff, are you serious? Hey, human kid—try it on me too!!”

Other Dwarves crowded around Arthur after seeing the reaction of the grizzled one named Gazeff.

“Fufu, leave it to me!”

“Whoa!! This feels better than soaking in a hot spring! I could work twenty-four hours straight now!!”

The Dwarves shouted with joy at Arthur’s healing magic. Their words sounded like something straight from a corporate slave’s dream, but it was understandable—they were truly desperate.

A short distance away, Gawain couldn’t hide his astonishment.

“Fatigue recovery magic normally puts a huge strain on the caster… and he can use it repeatedly like this? This power… he must be the one who healed Marianne.”

Indeed, as Arthur had said, healing fatigue didn’t require the highest-tier magic. So why wasn’t it more widely used? Because it placed a heavy burden on the user.

Typically, a skilled healer could barely treat two or three people at full power—making it highly inefficient.

Only Arthur and Elaine could pull off something like this. But since Arthur had no healer friends (or regular friends, for that matter), he was unaware of how rare his ability truly was.

Regardless, thanks to the revitalized Dwarves, the pace of their work dramatically improved.