CH 1.5

Damn Elves and Damn Dwarves

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

“Excuse me!”

Two days after I arrived at my first human settlement, the town of Vistcote, I opened the door of the blacksmith’s shop, which was my goal, and raised my voice.

There was a high possibility that my request for him to teach me his manufacturing skills will be refused, so I came here today to see the dwarves rather than making the request.

So what is important is momentum.

To be honest, I was tired and listless from my long trip yesterday, so I think it was a thankful decision to be detained for a day to learn various things from the female elf, Airena.

Hence I already perfectly understood the value of money.

One hundred copper coins equals one silver coin. Ten silver coins equals one small gold coin. Ten small gold coins equals one large gold coin.

And the price Airena gave me for the Apua fruit was fifty large gold coins.

In case you are wondering, you can eat a meal for a few copper coins, and the lodging where I stayed yesterday was a luxurious one with a bathtub in the room, and the food was excellent, but the cost of the lodging was only five silver coins.

From a very rough sense, a copper coin is about 100 yen and a silver coin is about 10,000 yen, huh.

Airena has paid for my lodging the day before yesterday, yesterday, and probably today as well, but when I put the prices into Japanese yen, I feel really sorry for that.

However, even though I told her that a cheap lodging would be fine, she was the one who said that it was outrageous and forced me to choose a fine lodging, so let’s keep using it for now.

The food at the inn I’m currently staying is stew with plenty of meat, bread that is a little hard but the rich aroma of wheat spreads in your mouth when you bite into it, and steak seasoned with plenty of salt, so with that, I don’t want to go to a cheap inn anymore.

But, well, putting all that aside, it was time to meet the Dwarves anyhow.

The area around the entrance of this blacksmith shop is a store space where various products such as weapons and armor are lined up, and it seems that the blacksmith is in the back.

I look around, thinking that they must be busy at the moment, because the sound of metal hitting metal from the back of the room does not stop, even though my voice should have certainly reached them.

If they can’t let go of their arms, then it’s not my intention to get in the way of their work.

The products displayed in the cramped space ranged from rugged swords that were only for practical use, to ornately decorated armor, to strange things that one could never quite figure out what they were for, and one will never get tired of looking at them.

Among these, what caught my attention was a somewhat large kukuri knife* with its knife blade having a “く” shape. (TN: Kukuri – https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AF%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA)

Even though it is kind of large, it is something like a knife or dagger of sorts, so it is not a big one compared to a large weapon such as an axe or a large sword.

However, the kukuri knife quietly exudes a power that is unrivaled to such large weapons.

Of course, I won’t touch it without permission.

No matter how much I was attracted to it, it was still a weapon.

If I touch it without the owner’s permission and injure myself, I will cause trouble for the store.

Well, for a Dwarf shopkeeper, it might be a nuisance for me, an elf, to come to his store, but that’s the way it is and that’s the way it’s going to be.

“Oh, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. You have good eyes. That is well, it’s not only made of iron…… Oy, looking at you closely, you’re a goddamn elf! What are you doing in my store? I don’t sell to fucking elves!!!”

As I gazed at the kukuri knife without getting tired of it, the gentle voice behind me turned into a terrible cussing in just a few seconds.

I turn around to see a muscular, dwarf man glaring back at me.

His rich beard, braided in an unobtrusive way, is so Dwarf-like that I can’t help but smile with delight.

“Hello! That’s a really nice kukuri knife. Yeah, I want it, but I’m not shopping for it. Damn dwarf. I want it, but! I want it, but! I’ve already decided what material I’m going to use for the knife! Ah, excuse me. Here is a present as a token of our closeness.”

But now, this is a battle.

I replied loudly, trying not to give in to the Dwarf’s curses.

Ah, but I didn’t forget the sake I had bought as a present and handed it over, being careful not to break the bottle.

After all, greetings, gifts, and etiquette are important.

“I didn’t expect you to be polite. Wait, who’s a damn dwarf! This fucking elf! You’re a fucking elf and you choose a good drink, you said!!! …… Damn, you brought some really good booze. So, if you’re not shopping, what are you doing here? If it’s a boring business, even though you gave me alcohol, I’ll really kick you out.”

The dwarf, perhaps touched by my courteous attitude, softens his tone and asks me about what I came here for.

Ah, yeah, this guy a pretty good guy too.

After all, unless you actually meet them, you won’t know what people like and dislike.

But if he’s willing to listen to me, then there is nothing I would be more grateful for.

Well, it was completely thanks to the high-end sake that cost a large gold coin at the liquor store in town.

I take the forest wolf’s fangs out of my luggage bag and place them on the counter of the shop.

“It’s the fang of the forest wolf that I defeated when it came out of the forest, but I wanted to process it into a knife. I came here to learn the skills to make it.”

At these words, the dwarf raised a hardened eyebrow, then said, “Let me take a look at it,” and took it in his hand to seriously examine the fangs.

The way he handles the fangs is careful, and his gaze is serious.

For a few minutes, the dwarf really takes a good look at the fang, then puts it back on the desk.

“I thought you were a strange elf, but you, really are an idiot, aren’t you? Those aren’t the fangs of a forest wolf, but those of a bigger Granwolf’s fang. Even if I taught you how to process it a little, it’s not a material an amateur can handle.”

And what came out of the dwarf’s mouth was a shocking revelation.

What a surprise.

I thought all the wolf monsters that appeared in the forest were forest wolves.

But it’s different in the outside world, apparently.

“Yeah, hence I didn’t want to fail, so I came here to learn from a dwarf who is said to be the best blacksmith in this town. I couldn’t bring any fur or meat. I need to make the most of it, even if it’s just claws and fangs, so it doesn’t go to waste.”

I carefully tuck the fangs of the forest wolf, or rather the Granwolf, into my luggage bag.

Then the Dwarf was,

“If you don’t want to fail, why don’t I make a knife out of your fangs? If you’re strong enough to hunt Granwolves, you could make a lot of money as an adventurer without having to learn any skills.”

He put it like that.

As it turns out, he is a very kind dwarf.

Apparently, he’s saying that he’s willing to forge a weapon for me if I want.

But I,

“No, I’m not sure I’m up to become an adventurer. I want to craft other things with fangs and claws, not just knives, and I’m also interested in blacksmithing techniques. Dwarves are just as interesting as I thought they would be, and I’d love to see your furnaces and such. If anything, I’d rather be a blacksmith than an adventurer for ten or twenty years.”

I shook my head and smiled.

The dwarf looked at me like I was some kind of crazy creature.

Yeah, well, that would probably be the right reaction.

As an elf, I am aware that I am saying something crazy.

However, compared to human beings, the scale of time we live is too different.

In the end, I have no choice but to live as the creature I am.

When I abandoned my High Elf-likeness, that is how I decided on my life.

Even if others don’t understand me.

“Haa…… you’re not an idiot, you’re a mad elf, aren’t you. Well, that’s alright. A mad elf is far better compared to a proud elf. If you also do some menial work, I’ll teach you a bit of blacksmithing until you get over your madness. Since if those fangs go to waste, the Granwolf would be pitiful!”

And no matter what path I take, it will always intersect with someone else’s path, even if they don’t understand it.

When I was so happy that I held out my right hand, the dwarf looked at it seriously for a far longer time than he did when he was observing the material, and …… eventually, perhaps sensing that I had no intention of giving up, he shook my outstretched hand.