The small hammer was raised. With a straight hand, it struck the red-hot short sword.
Clang!
A satisfying metallic sound. I let out a sigh. My breath drifted in the chilly air. First thing in the morning, I was captivated by the work of the dwarf blacksmith.
The sound still lingered in my ears. Before it could fade, the small hammer struck again.
I forcefully tore my gaze away from the dwarf blacksmith, Safi, and her work.
The room of the Odis Temple in the Royal Capital had been remodeled into a “workshop” by the dwarves. A forge fueled by magic stones, a bellows to pump air, hooks with various weapons hanging from them.
I stood among the equipment, watching as my weapon was being reborn.
“Huu…”
The blacksmith, Safi, lifted her face from the anvil. She wiped the sweat from her brow, looking up from her short height.
“I said you could watch, but… don’t you ever get bored?”
“Ah, s-sorry…”
I guess it must be distracting.
I was about to leave, but Safi hastily shook her head. Her dark, round eyes trembled.
“N-no, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m grateful to you, so… feel free to watch as much as you like.”
Smiling, Safi turned back to the anvil. Placed on it is my blue crystal short sword that I had been using for ages. It had been through many fierce battles, and I’d even attempted something as reckless as hitting a flame titan. That’s why Safi suggested repairing it.
The red-hot short sword now had its crystal removed. It’s exciting, as it felt like new power was being pumped into it with each hammer strike.
“…I’m truly grateful to Rion. No matter what we dwarves make or do, it’s never enough to make up for the debt we owe you.”
As I listened to the satisfying sound of the hammer, I was reminded of something that happened not long ago.
We had returned to the royal capital. It was now the fourth day since we returned from Alvis, and around 20 days since the battle at the mining town. A lot had happened up until then.
The journey to the mining town of Alvis was to “awaken” the dwarves. But there was also the magic engineer who had sent reinforced golems to the royal capital. The dungeon in the mining town itself was a mining site for the “titan ashes,” which could break the seals that covered the world and unleash monsters.
Even now, I can hardly believe we made it back alive. In the very end, we fought Flamebone Surtr, who tried to burn the entire world to ashes.
“…Everyone in the dwarven kingdom of Alfheim thinks of you as a hero too.”
“N-no, not at all…”
I quickly waved my hands in denial.
“If it weren’t for the dwarven kingdom, we never could have defeated Surtr, and besides—”
I touched the gold coin in my pocket. Somehow, it felt lighter than usual.
“The one who really saved everyone… was Solana.”
The seal that covered the world— beneath it, even when dwarves were “awakened,” they would soon turn back into silent stone statues. It was the goddess—Solana, who saved them.
“‘The Sun’s Awakening Light,’ huh. I’ve heard it so many times I’ve memorized it by now.”
Safi gave a wry smile and paused her work. She had been at it since morning, and her green hair clung to her forehead with sweat.
“The principle goes like this, right? You draw magical power from the sun hanging in the sky and make it so that the dwarves’ unsealing never ends—almost permanently.”
According to the goddess, Safi’s body looked as though it was wrapped in a film of magical energy.
If the seal covering the world was a kind of ‘coldness’ that froze everything, then the dwarves were protected by the sun’s ‘warmth.’
“A letter came earlier, too. The dwarven kingdom of Alfheim is doing well. The dungeon has been reopened to adventurers, but the dwarves seem to be hiding themselves skillfully.”
The dwarven kingdom ended up hiding in the bottom of the dungeon. There were supposedly many passages and entrances in the dungeon, but since they were originally built by the dwarves, they could apparently be resealed.
Some adventurers also spotted a giant monsters. Naturally, they were curious about the dungeon’s secrets, but Felix-san handled things well. As a result, the Raven Warriors were not allowing anyone to enter the unexplored area.
“Haa~…”
I let out a long, long sigh. I collapsed onto the shelf in front of me.
Safi was shocked, still raising her hammer.
“W-What’s wrong?”
“…Yeah… I thought, this has become a really big deal.”
A global message that came from the sky, and the subjugation of a colossal monster that seemed to respond to it. The Raven Warrior Corps was deeply involved in both incidents. That’s why, in the mining town of Alvis, the corps was tasked with restoring order amid the confusion.
The golem engineer, a man named Ganis, and the lord who had allowed him free rein were to be held accountable for their crimes. The raven warriors likely used that as leverage in their negotiations as well.
The revival of the dwarven kingdom of Alfheim and the restoration of the Raven Warrior Corps standing. If I were to summarize the results in the mining town by force, that’s what it would amount to.
“Isn’t that great? The mysterious adventurer who defeated a colossal monster. Appearing with the awakening horn…. Who is he really? Doesn’t it sound just like a storybook?”
I gazed up at the ceiling. The glimmers of light here and there came from magic stones embedded in the pulleys and cranes.
What we had gained as allies was the dwarves’ craftsmanship and engineering. Besides Safi, about ten other dwarves had come from their kingdom. They weren’t here at the moment, but they were the ones who had remodeled this entire room. Incidentally, there was even a fabric sign hanging at the entrance. Apparently, it’s called a noren. Written on it were the words “Safi Group”. One of Safi’s apprentices had worked hard to prepare it.
Just like I said earlier, between the goddess and the dwarves, it really feels like I’ve wandered into a story.
And then there’s that word—hero.
“Yah!”
Safi brought her hammer down on the red-hot short sword with a sharp strike. The final sparks danced around for a moment before returning to the blade. She gripped the short sword with a pair of smithing tongs and plunged it into cold water. Then, as she pressed the blade against the rotating whetstone, it regained its luster—almost like magic.
“—Alright, that’s enough for today!”
I received the blue crystal short sword. This weapon had truly become my partner now. It felt perfectly natural in my hand.
“Go swing it somewhere and see how it feels. If anything’s off, I’ll fix it up again.”
“Thanks.”
“Fufu, just wait. With dwarven skill, I’ll make sure you get the best armor possible, too!”
Safi squinted one eye shut and turned back to her work.
“…So, Rion, do you just like watching this sort of thing?”
“Yeah. I think it’s amazing… and kind of calming.”
Safi froze.
“C-calming…?”
“Yeah. More than anywhere else, really.”
A resounding clang! rang through the workshop—loud enough to make me flinch. It seemed Safi had struck the anvil by mistake, hard enough to make sparks jump.
“I-I see! So that’s how it is!”
“…Well, it’s just that, anywhere else…”
Before I could finish, voices called out from the workshop entrance.
—Rion, where are you?
—Come spar with me!
—Or maybe talk magic with me instead?
—I’ve got a new herbal bath ready for you…
I’m pretty sure my shoulders jumped a good inch hearing them.
“Oniichan, where are you?”
The next voice made me answer before I could stop myself.
“Lu!”
I clamped my hands over my mouth.
—Uh, too late.
I heard the sound of a large group of people—Gods, I mean, rushing in from the entrance.
“There you are, Rion!”
A massive palm slammed into my back.
It was Thor, the thunder god.
Then came Loki, Uru and Sigris. Each of them took turn to jostle me around.
Thanks to Solana’s new power, the Sun’s Awakening Light, the gods could now stay outside the gold coins for far longer.
Not forever because the seal still held them but enough to change everything. And as a result—well, this is what happened…
“Rion!”
The chorus of voices echoed at once.
Well, I was being fought over by gods. To be honest, part of the reason I’d been hiding in Safi’s workshop was to escape from exactly this.
“Oniichan, here you are!”
This time it was Lu who appeared at the workshop entrance. She wore the familiar white vestments of the temple, her chestnut braids swaying beneath her soft, flat cap.
“Oh.”
My sister turned her gaze to Thor and the others, smiling sweetly.
Wait… are the gods backing down from her?
“I’m borrowing Oniichan. You’ve all been hogging him nonstop… I waited four whole days after we came back, you know?”
“B-but, today we were supposed to spar—habits are best corrected early—”
“Ex-cuse-me?”
Thor instantly choked on his words. Lu took my hand and tugged hard.
“Come on Oniichan! There’s something I want to show you!”
Her sky-blue eyes sparkled with energy.
Seen off by Safi, I let my sister pull me out of the workshop.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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