Chapter 19

Part 1

He was born to an ordinary Dwarf family and was constantly surrounded by his brothers and sisters.

51 of them.

Something not generally known is that in the Dwarf village, all children of the same generation are all grouped together.

And so all the children live as siblings, any disparity in wealth is lost, and they can eventually transition smoothly into positions of responsibility within the village.

Dwarves outside the village have no such custom.

Anyhow, Talhand was raised among several tens of people as siblings.

He was interested in rock and iron, he liked the smell of alcohol, and he admired blacksmiths and builders.

His little brother, the 38th of 51.

Once Dwarf children are of age, they are taught blacksmithing and crafts, as well as simple Earth Magic.

He could use the hammer to create steel as hard as the adults, he could craft ornaments splendid enough to make you doubt your eyes, and if you showed him a building, he could immediately fix its weak points.

Dwarves live longer than humans.

"He's the spitting image of the late Ore God," they proclaimed.

The other children also came to recognise him as their future leader.

It was at that point that Talhand also began to show changes.

Because he knew that no matter how hard he tried, nothing he made would ever outshine Godbard.

The adults never even looked at anything anyone other than Godbard made, so there was never even any comparison.

Did Talhand want to be number one?

That wasn't it.

Then did he resent the respect shown to Godbard?

Talhand and Godbard were quite close.

Talhand's first love was Godbard.

How he would make up for his deficiencies and become his right-hand man.

The conclusion he reached was Magic.

The previous Ore God was was a God Class Earth Mage, and using the stone he created, produced a legendary sword.

To grow fire, you need wind. To cool steel, you need water.

Tradition and formality have prevented previous generations of Dwarves from excelling at Wind and Water Magic.

In actual fact, Talhand was far better at Earth Magic than Wind or Water.

But Godbard had said, "I think it's a great idea. Those adults' heads are too hard."

Those words gave Talhand determination and further flared his admiration of Magic.

According to them, any Dwarf who couldn't work a forge, couldn't be considered a man.

It was all for the sake of Godbard.

That's what he believed.

Even when they criticised him, ostracised him, and he became known as an eccentric madman, he continued to believe.

And then the day arrived.

And for each sword he creates, he selects those he can most rely on.

He'd been training himself for this day.

He selected those in the village who possessed skill and his lover… And that was fine.

"As if I could stand such foolishness, I worked this hard for you!" he said.

The stubborn old man and Talhand.

And to assure impartiality, Godbard proclaimed that only those he deemed worthy were to participate.

He had trained his Water and Wind Magic for this moment.

He could count the number of times he made a sword on his hand.

He didn't understand.

So why…

And so still confused, he duelled with no plan…

And so with eyes drilling holes in his back, he left the scene.

Part 2

After the incident with Godbard, he could no longer bring himself to trust people.

And his sexual inclination didn't help with that.

His smithery was at the base level a Dwarf should have, but the Magic that he had spent most of his time on was only at a reasonable level.

So he clad himself in armour and had no choice but to resign himself to something of a Magic Knight role.

Elinalise Dragonroad.

She felt like eating up a Dwarven youth.

And no amount of seduction could change that.

Talhand wasn't too pleased with that.

He had no idea why.

The abilities of the fast warrior Elinalise and the heavily armoured Mage Talhand meshed well together.

He still found her irritating, but for some odd reason, it wasn't an uncomfortable sensation.

Although neither of them talked about forming an official Party.

But the appearance of a single boy changed that.

The『Black Wolf's Fang』.

And although none of them matched with Talhand, they were all faithful to their desires.

Paul was especially creative in his wild thoughts.

Paul was an easy to understand kid and his every action would leave you wanting to sigh.

He possessed some amount of common sense.

Paul's way of life opened Talhand's eyes.

Paul's actions gave the『Black Wolf's Fang』quite the bad reputation, but it was fun nonetheless.

Talhand's feelings for Paul, while similar to love, were decidedly different.

For the first time in his life, he had companions he could trust.

But that trust was broken.

Paul, who had run around uninhibited until now, began to act with common sense to conform with what Zenith expected.

The upheaval caused by Paul's marriage to Zenith left a scar on each of the members hearts.

But it resolved Talhand to never join another party again.

After that, Talhand continued on alone, and before long, the Fitoa Annihilation Event occurred.

But his sentiment didn't extend to Paul.

He met back up with Paul on his return from the Magic Continent.

He was a man, a father, desperately searching for his family.

Rudeus Greyrat.

But seeing how Paul had matured it wasn't all that strange.

Paul and Rudeus.

He didn't know why.

It was too quick of an end.

But seeing the far greater impact it had on Rudeus, he was hesitant to let it show.

The son of the flagrant womaniser Paul, had actually started his own family.

Something that had been with him since he became an Adventurer.

Part 3

That he should learn to blacksmith.

He couldn't tell why he thought that.

Because of Gisu's gambling, he had lost most of his fortune.

Fire, Earth, Water and Wind.

He made swords, he made gauntlets, he made shields, he made swords, he made armour, he made helmets, and he made swords.

Some things just can't be conveyed through words. The tempo, the timing, the force, he began to get a feel for all these things.

His skill rapidly increased.

And his knowledge from his time as an adventurer about what kinds of equipment outperformed others played a big part.

The Rudo Mercenaries.

And because of that, eventually he was able to set up his own shop.

But, as always, his actions didn't have any purpose to himself.

Paul's son, could stand on the same level as the Latria house.

He finally understood.

That he had to return to his village.

That's why he was smithing.

Part 4

He had always thought that if he had the ability, that was the kind of stone he would make.

Then mix in iron sand and heat it.

The ratio would be different, but the basic process the same.

There wouldn't be any point.

He began to slowly forge the sword, and after an entire night without rest, he began the tempering process.

The result: a single blade.

It had no special decorations and no special effects.

After putting the remaining black rocks in his bag, he set off from Millishion.

His destination: the Dwarf village.

Part 5

The sound of hammering iron could be heard even through its thick stone walls.

He was no longer part of the village, but he was still a Dwarf.

Half naked men drenched in sweat carried coal and ore out from the mine and the women brought massive sacks of steamed potatoes on both shoulders to the rest stop near the outside.

As if time had been frozen from the moment he left the village.

The only thing that had changed was the number of people he didn't recognise.

Most of them didn't know him or didn't think anything of him.

he only had one aim.

"…It's been some time『Clifftop』What did you come here for?"

But of course, there were those that knew him.

The man who had laughed at Talhand all those years ago and was chosen as the confidant of the Ore God.

"I've come to see the Ore God."

"…"

Talhand said nothing and removed the sword from his back.

Because underneath was a jet black sword blade.

It was a thing of beauty.

"Just what is this…?"

"Impossible…"

In Dwarven smithing, swords showed everything.

Therefore, he couldn't believe that it was something Talhand created.

"I am here to present."

The Ore God is renowned throughout the world as the greatest blacksmith and is the pride of the Dwarven race.

Of course, anything not up to standard would immediately be turned away by any inspecting Dwarves.

But swords didn't lie.

But, it was hard. Extremely hard.

That made it an excellent blade.

"I give my thanks, Dotol Flamesteel."

Talhand recalled his old brother's name, bowed his head and resealed his sword.

On his path to the Ore God, Talhand encountered the same thing many times.

Part 6

It was only natural.

"Speak for yourself."

"I had intended to."

The two exchanged only a short greeting.

With the return of the village's biggest madman, their vigilance was plain to see.

Talhand had decided to face Godbard with a calm heart.

"…"

There was so many things that could be said.

But words were unnecessary.

Talhand wordlessly took out the sword.

He brought the sword up to his face to study.

"This blade holds great faith… There is neither wavering nor naivety, but the inexeprience can be spotted. Given the same materials and construction, I could craft a better blade."

Talhand smiled.

No matter how hard Talhand had worked at smithing in these last few years, he couldn't catch up to the Ore God who had been diligently studying for over a hundred years.

"What's so funny?"

But that's not why.

"Of course. It's a curious sword."

Explaining the materials and construction behind presented swords was not a rare occurrence.

What materials were used, how it was made and the thought behind it.

It was ground up and mixed with iron sand.

After that, I forged and tempered it like any other sword and cooled it with Water Magic."

He had heard that method before.

"No. I simply thought to settle our score."

"No. You've already told me what I wanted to hear. That's more than enough."

That Godbard could create a better sword.

He could feel a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Of course, with the same materials, and the same method, he could create a better sword.

And so, without someone able to use such Magic to a sufficient level…

Although, the genius in front of him, even without Talhand's method, could probably come up with some way to skilfully refine the stone.

"So, this『Stone』, did you craft it yourself?"

Godbard picked up one of the rocks and felt its weight.

He was baffled at the hardness of the rod.

A smile floated to his face.

Talhand nodded, satisfied with the reaction.

"…"

He had now achieved his goal.

But he's a man with guts. You won't lose anything meeting him.

His wife and confidant by his side seemed to have their own thoughts but decided against voicing them.

Talhand was far beyond their expectations.

Their curiosity was peaked.

"Fine then. His name?"

"Understood."

Godbard etched that name into his mind.

Once Talhand was sure of it, he stood up.

Godbard wasn't one to break his promises.

Only Talhand's inexperience.

"You're leaving?"

"After your display, nobody would have any complaints with you staying."

While he had been inside, it had already been surrounded by his once siblings.

And among those eyes filled with bewilderment and scorn, Talhand headed for the exit.

Nobody chased after him.

The fact that the Ore God traded his loyalty to the Dragon God for a large amount of rocks was a story for another time.