Chapter 65: The Dwarven City

Once the ship pulled into port, we said our thank-yous and goodbyes, then left towards the mountain.

The port was quite busy with mostly dwarves, but a few humans as well.

I saw a small number of people with mechanical appendages, as well.

So it really was dwarven technology that the Kalsan's used on Arvild...

Despite the impending catastrophe, people seemed mostly calm.

Perhaps news hadn't spread, yet...

There was a large field near the port and the mountain. High walls lined with strange machines that I had never seen before surrounded the mountain entrance as well.

The field was barren and cratered heavily.

It seemed that the machines might have been weapons of some kind.

To be honest, I knew in my heart that they were going to need them. The Black Ooze would one day arrive here.

But until then, Isabella and I were determined to spend our lives in peace.

One day, when the Ooze arrived, we would fight to the death to protect our new home.

Until then, we had time to spare.

As we made our way to the main gate, we noticed a long line of people. There were guards questioning them as they entered the city.

Yeah, I don't think so. Not again.

I put my arm around Isabella and affectionately pulled her close.

"Ah, Mizik? Maybe we should wait?" She said.

I ignored her words and whispered in her ear. Acting as though I was just being loving to my wife.

"Isabella, if these guys ask us about the Black Ooze, we don't know anything. Act natural. I don't want them to be suspicious."

"Oh, Mizik! We should wait until we get a room, silly!" She said quietly with a wink.

Smart girl.

Isabella kissed my cheek and I smiled at her.

One of the guards looked over, but figured we were just a happy young couple.

Eventually, we were next in line.

"Alright, you two, we have a few questions for ye. First of all, have ye heard of something called Black Ooze?" One of the dwarven guards asked.

"Black...Ooze?" Isabella said curiously.

Everything about her body language, her facial expression, and her voice showed genuine ignorance.

It was truly wonderful to watch her at work. She was an amazing actress.

"Aye, Black Ooze. It's the stuff that destroyed Albatross, Falkos, and Kalsa. We're tryin' to form a defense against it, so we're asking questions," the other guard said.

Isabella and I quickly glanced at one another.

The look said it all.

We had no idea how far it had spread. Falkos and Kalsa had both fallen. Soon, it would be here.

"It...destroyed what?" I asked.

I wasn't quite as good at acting as Isabella, but my genuine surprise at the situation was enough to convince them.

"Aye...we don't know how, but at least three countries have been destroyed. Maybe more by now. Are you two sure that ye don't know anything?" One of the guards asked.

He looked up at me with eyes that desperately wanted to hear an answer. Something that would help...

Something that could save them.

But...

We had already given up.

There's no point. We're already doomed. I'm sorry. The quicker you accept it, the happier you'll be...

"Sorry, sir. We don't know anything... This is the first we heard of three countries being destroyed!" Isabella said fearfully. "I-is this place safe!?"

"Aye, lass, Geldekairn is safe. For now at least. Well, both of ye should get going then. Welcome to Geldekairn," one of the guards said.

As soon as we had the okay, Isabella grabbed my hand and led me inside.

Once we were away, we began talking normally again.

"You hesitated there for a moment. Is everything okay?" Isabella asked me.

"The look in his eyes. These people are desperate for a solution..." I said.

"I know...but there's nothing we can do anymore... We gave everything we had, right?"

"We did. Let's just get to an Inn. I'd like to get something to eat and sleep in a warm bed before we look for houses," I said.

After that, the two of us made our way to the closest Inn that we could get directions to. Once we were there, we enjoyed some dwarven food and beer. Then we went to our room.

I didn't usually drink, but for some reason, having a beer just made everything feel a bit more okay... Dwarves were pretty good at brewing the stuff.

Isabella had some too, but didn't care for the taste of it. Also, since the stuff was classified as a poison, it had very little effect at all on her. She believed that she would have to drink at least three kegs to feel it and that wasn't likely to happen.

I sat down on the bed in our room and Isabella hugged me.

"The world might be ending, but I'm glad we get to spend it together," she said.

"It makes me sad that we won't grow old together. But let's try to make the most of our time," I said.

As soon as she let go of me, I gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down on the bed.

She stared up at me curiously and smiled.

"Yes, let's do just that," She said.

* * *

The next morning after we got dressed and ready, we headed out immediately.

We needed to find a place that would sell us a house quickly. After that, we wanted to work regular jobs.

The two of us decided that we had done enough adventuring for quite a while. That is to say, it would be better if the adventurers guild thought we died within that temple.

We had no plans to register our current location at the local guild.

After some searching, we found an area with a few houses for sale. They were made of mostly stone, with wood also being used for both decoration and support.

We made a deal with a realtor and purchased one on the spot next to a workshop of some kind. Once the house was ours, we spent the next few days getting furniture and decorating it together.

It was a nice place with a very large basement and two floors. Isabella and I wanted to have children someday, but that likely wouldn't be possible.

Her mother mentioned fertility issues to me in the past, and when I brought it up to Isabella she told me that it was something that ran in her mother's family. It was likely that she may have been affected as well, but we probably didn't have time to consider children anyway.

More than likely, we would soon die horribly at the hands of those terrifying monsters before the baby could even be born. That...wasn't an exciting image...

Instead, we would just live by ourselves. Our house was somewhat small, very modest, and had one bedroom. It also had a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom.

Once we had the house fully furnished, it was time for us to get jobs.

After a few days of searching, the two of us were interviewed for a construction job that worked in and out of the city. They also specialized with lumber for their projects and would occasionally have us help them with getting trees taken care of.

I was quite surprised at how physically capable Isabella was for manual labor. But I suppose it shouldn't have been shocking. She was level 150, after all. She did hesitate to get dirty at times, however, but I just assumed it was because of her upbringing.

After a week of working, the crew began to heavily rely on us for the days we were around.

Although, we only worked three days a week. The reason was because we wanted as much time to ourselves as possible.

All of these things took place in a span of about a month.

* * *

One day as we were coming home from work, Isabella and I heard an explosion in the workshop next door. Since we were neighbors, we decided to check if the person was okay.

When we went into the shop, we found an unconscious old dwarf laying on the floor near the back.

Isabella and I ran over and she tried shaking him to see if he would wake up.

I checked his pulse and made sure he was still alive. He was, thankfully, and a moment later, he opened his eyes.

"Ah...I must be dead... Are you an angel, lass? You're beautiful..." The old dwarf said.

"Umm...I'm not an angel. And according to my husband, you're still alive," Isabella said.

"Oh...I see. Who are you people?" He said as he slowly sat up and looked at me.

"We just moved into the house next door. We've been here almost a month, now," I said.

"A month? Are you two the ones making all that noise at night?" He asked.

Isabella and I both blushed and looked away.

"Umm...l-let's change the subject..." Isabella said.

"Agreed," I said.

"Well, don't be shy! Introduce yourselves! I'm Bronan Ironheart. Forge master, inventor, and alchemist," the old dwarf said.

We helped him to his feet and both bowed.

"I'm Mizik Iratus."

"My name is Isabella Iratus."

"Nice to meet ye both. You two aren't from around here are you?" Bronan said.

"No...not really," I said.

"Well, don't be shy. From where do you hail?" He asked.

"We don't really like to say..." I said.

"Sorry, we don't want anything to get out. Let's just say we're not from around here," Isabella said.

"Well, hold on a second. If you don't trust me, how can I trust you? You did just barge in here a moment ago didn't ye? This isn't just a workshop, it's my home."

Isabella looked at me expectantly.

"If you can keep a secret, I'll tell you. But otherwise, we will be leaving," I said.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone. Most of my family is already gone, and I've no friends to speak of anymore," Bronan said.

"Then allow me to introduce myself in the correct way. My name is First Princess Isabella Victoria Albatross. Heir to the throne of Albatross."

"And I'm Prince Mizik Iratus. Head of the Iratus family as well as the husband of Albatross' First Princess."

Bronan gave a hearty laugh.

"I asked where you were from. You didn't have to lie to me," he said.

"Actually...we're here because of the situation in the world. Albatross and Kalsa were destroyed. So we're just trying to live peacefully here," I said.

Bronan frowned.

"If I had known royalty would be visiting me today, I'd have prepared drinks. Sorry about the mess, your Majesties...or whatever it is I'm supposed to say..." Bronan said.

Isabella smiled at Bronan.

"Just call us by our first names. We're not royalty anymore, just regular people," she said.

This seemed to get Bronan to relax a bit.

"What do you do here, exactly, Bronan?" I asked suddenly in an effort to change the subject.

"Well, didn't ye hear? I'm a forge master, an inventor, and an alchemist. This is my workshop. What do ye think I do here?" He said.

"Do you breed rabbits?" I said jokingly.

Bronan let out another hearty laugh.

"You two are great! I can't remember the last time I had company over! You say you're living next door, aye?" He said.

"Yes, we're just to the right of this house. Would you like to come over for dinner? Mizik is a wonderful chef!" Isabella said.

"Well...do ya have any beer?" Bronan asked.

"We can get some if you like," I said.

Bronan gave us a great big smile.

"I'd love to! Let's go!" He said.

We went to our house after that and I got dinner started. Since Isabella's favorite food was stew, I made efforts to perfect the recipes that I already learned. I got started on dinner and Isabella went to get beer for our new friend.

As I made the stew, I tried allowing myself to relax.

"So...Mizik, was it? How long have you been married?" Broken asked.

"A few months so far. It hasn't been very long, in all honesty. But I feel like I've known her all my life at this point," I said.

"Well, if you don't mind me saying, she's very beautiful. You're a lucky man," Bronan said kindly.

I was used to hearing people hit on Isabella or perv on her, but genuine compliments were actually kind of rare. I could feel myself growing quite close to this dwarf.

It was just difficult to shake the growing anxiety in my chest...

Each passing day, the Ooze would spread. We hadn't heard anything of it recently, but we were curious.

"Thank you, Bronan. It means a lot. You ever been married?" I asked.

"I was married for fifty-two years. She...passed away five years ago..." He said sadly.

"Sorry..." I said.

"Don't be. She lived a good life. And we shared a lot of wonderful moments together. She gave me a son and daughter, too."

"A son and daughter? What are their names? Do they ever visit?" I asked.

"Aye...me son's name is Banir. We don't talk anymore... I miss him dearly, but I can't bring myself to be near him anymore. My daughter Numalia died shortly before my wife did..." Bronan said.

I decided not to ask about his daughter... I already felt bad hearing that his wife had died...

"Well...why doesn't your son visit?"

"I...prefer not to say. Let's just say I work too much and leave it there."

"Understood. Do you enjoy your work, at least?"

"Aye, it's fine work. But I've no one to share it with. I sort of just...tinker away by myself all alone. Sometimes, I forget to eat. This will be my first meal today..." Broken said.

"That's no way for a man to live. It's too depressing, if you don't mind me saying," I said.

"Aye, but it's my life. What's left of it, that is. I'm glad to finally have company, at least," Bronan said with a weary smile.

"From now on, how about you come over here for dinner? I doubt Isabella will mind and you seem pretty nice," I said.

Bronan seemed quite happy at my offer.

I knew I shouldn't get attached, but... What is life without people to share it with? Maybe it would bring us a bit more joy in the time we had left...

"Well...how about I give you something in return, then? You ever thought about crafting?" He asked.

"Yes, but not a lot. What sort of crafting?"

"Well, forging, inventing, and alchemy. Working with machines is pretty worthwhile and you seem young and capable. Are you good with your hands?" Bronan asked.

"I can use my hands pretty well," I said.

"Hm! Would you like to be my apprentice? If you want, I could ask Isabella too. Sounds fun, right?" Bronan said hopefully.

I was getting the feeling that Bronan was just a lonely dwarf who wanted friends. He was nice, but I wasn't sure I had much use to learn those things.

Still...

I would feel terrible if I didn't at least consider it. Besides, it could be fun.

"I'll think it over. Actually, it sounds interesting. Maybe those skills could be useful someday," I said.

I was being hopeful again.

Hopeful that we could survive this crisis.

A moment after I responded, Isabella returned with a big smile on her face.

"I'm home! I bought two kegs for now. I was thinking it would be nice if we could have Bronan over more often!" She said happily.

"Well, I already invited him to come over every night. So that works out just fine," I said.

"Great! It's nice to have a new friend!" She said.

A short while later, dinner was finished and we began eating. After a few minutes, Bronan stopped to wipe tears from his eyes.

"Are you okay, Bronan?" Isabella asked.

"I'm...fine. I just forgot how nice it was to spend time with people..." He said.

"Isabella, how would you feel about working under Bronan to learn the crafts he has on our days off? He asked me earlier and I wanted to know how you felt." I said.

"Well, if he doesn't mind teaching us, it could be a lot of fun. I would enjoy that a lot!" She replied.

"Then that settles it. Bronan, would you teach us your craft?" I asked.

He gave the both of us a teary-eyed smile and nodded.

"It'd be an honor!" He said happily.

For the rest of the evening, we all talked and told stories to one another.

Bronan especially liked the one about the sewers in Lorelei that I told. At first, he didn't believe me on it, but eventually I managed to convince him.

I showed him some of my old goblin traps.

Later on after Bronan went home, we cleaned up the kitchen and dining area. Soon after that, we laid down to sleep.

Isabella cuddled close and used me as a body pillow again. I didn't mind, of course.

And as we drifted off, I kept thinking about the different things we would build.

I couldn't help but feel excited to learn from Bronan.