When I woke up, I found myself between the waves of the sheets. I had worked too hard the day before. I had never had such an intense night. It had only been a few hours since then, and I was still a bit woozy. As I lazily sat up, I saw May on the other side of the waves of the sheets.
"Good morning. Good morning, Master."
Mei also looks languid. Her eyes are vacant, and she is scurrying around, checking her surroundings. She wonders why the sheets of her bed are so messed up. Then, perhaps remembering what happened yesterday, she makes a surprised expression on her face and lies down on her face, looking embarrassed.
She grabs the sheets as hard as she can, her voice muffled. Her body is shaking in waves.
"May... here? You like this, don't you?"
"Aah! Aha! Rico-sama is moving in...
"Didn't you say you didn't want breakfast?"
"Just in case... ah... with breakfast... kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.............."
If Rico makes the transition, I'm not going to stop him just yet.
"Good morning, Linos. Mae. I brought your breakfast. Oh, my... you're both naked. Get dressed quickly."
Riko, who had just transferred to the other side, saw me applying acupressure to May's back. There was nothing we could do, so we got dressed quickly.
Rico and Peris made the most delicious breakfast.
I tell the palace maid that I don't want breakfast, and Mei and I have breakfast alone. It is a simple meal of sandwiches, salad, and soup, but the sandwiches come in several varieties, and the soup is a healthy soup with plenty of vegetables.
"Mei, what are your plans for today?"
"Today I have a meeting with Master Wu Sen, the Royal Apothecary, in the morning to discuss the future. If I have time after lunch, I would like to visit the dwarves' workshop.
"I see. I have to decide with Prime Minister Yury about Posehay and the others. Since it will probably be over in the morning, can I go with you to the dwarves' workshop at noon?"
"Of course!"
After breakfast, we leave the room. As for what to do with Posehay, it was decided that he would be escorted back to Krumfal territory as soon as possible. I transfer to Krumphal and consult with Rico.
"All right. Then we can ask each village and fishing village to take a few Posehay in their care. The village near the Hotel Krumfal has a lot of vacancies. The rest can be accommodated there.
"Then, Mr. Ricolet, I will take care of the village.
It was Pius who came forward.
"Yes? Are you sure you don't want any military business?"
Knogen will take care of everything. Knogen is better suited for this than I am. I'm more interested in restorative magic and medicinal herbs, so if I can get to know them, I'd like to learn from them.
"Okay. Good to meet you."
Thanks to the quick preparations by Rico, Pius and the others, the Poseidonians were ready to receive the Poseidonians tomorrow. This was indeed a surprise to Prime Minister Yury and the Dwarf King.
"The speed of the Marquis of Berthaam is unparalleled by the others.
"Indeed, sir. We must learn from him.
"By the way, Wuessen told me that Meilius is going to see the workshop. Then you may go to Nicanga's workshop. He is an old apprentice of mine. He is one of the five best dwarves in the world.
"But, my king, Lord Nikanga..."
"It will be no problem just to watch. You'll have to cross a river, but it's worth it. I'm sure that once you've seen his smithing you'll want to try your hand at it yourself, Lord Meirias. Take my hammer."
I went back to my room with the hammer and the letter of introduction in my hand, and May had already returned. I immediately ask her about the king's offer.
"I've heard about Master Nikanga. I would love to go there!
May responded with a twinkle in her eye, and with a little bit of moe, we set off for the workshop.
Luniphon is an old dwarf who is about 250 years old. In his youth, he was a man who created various products with his outstanding technical skills and was said to be a genius since the beginning of the Dwarven race. The current king of the dwarves was trained by Runyhon. Recently, however, he has retired from the field due to his deafness, and is now living a comfortable life in seclusion.
Luniphon's daily routine is to take a walk every day. He enjoys walking slowly along the riverbank, rain or wind, and feeling the change of the seasons.
On this particular day, as I was strolling along the riverbank, I saw two unfamiliar people coming from the other side of the river.
"Master, there is the river.
"Well... the bridge is a long way ahead. It would be faster to cross this river. But how deep is this river?
"Well... Oh, there are people on the other side of the river. Should we ask him?
"Right. ...Oooooh! Excuse me, how deep is this river?
"... What is it? A human is saying something from the other side of the river. I'm too deaf to hear. Hey! I am deaf! Ask someone else!
"...It's like he's trying to tell me something. I don't understand. I'm sorry! I've been trying to get a hold of you, but I'm having a little trouble hearing you! Can you tell me if it's the knees, the hips, or how deep!
Runiphon responds loudly, pointing his fingers in his ears.
"I am deaf. !!!!
"... If it's that deep, we can't cross."
Finally, we arrived at Nikanga's workshop. It was a larger workshop than we had expected, with several rooms. We were taken to a so-called "empty workshop" with an old desk and various tools hanging on the wall.
"Welcome to our office. This is a blacksmithing workshop established by the Duchy. My name is Naruni, and I am in charge of this place. Lord Nikanga is in the middle of a refining project. Would you like to see my workshop first?
"By all means, please."
We were shown to Naruni's workshop, where he was in charge of the process of melting various ores and shaping them into rods. He explained to me the ingenuity of the process of melting various ores, but I had no idea what he was talking about. May's eyes were shining as she listened, which was probably a good thing.
Eventually, we were informed that Nikanga's hand was free.
"Now I will show you to Lord Nikanga's workshop. He specializes in everything from ore refining to refining. It seems that he is going to start the production process, so if you would like, you may make something yourself.
"Thank you!"
The workshop at Nikanga was small and I was told that it was very hot, so I decided to wait in this room. In the meantime, I decided to pass the time by looking at the products made in the workshop.
"No, no, no, no! !!!!!"
Suddenly, an angry shout rang out. Startled, I head for the room where the voice is coming from.
In the room, there was a small but stout man with a beard from the eyes down and a strong physique who was snapping at me, Naruni was trying his best to quiet him down, and May was looking on in shock.
"Nikanga-dono, it's nothing to worry about!"
"No! I refuse!"
"Lord Nikanga..."
I whispered quietly in May's ear and asked her what had happened.
"Master Naluni asked Master Nikanga to lend me his hammer. But when Nikanga refused..."
"You ask me to lend you a hammer. So you will strike something with a hammer? I could sharpen my hammer!"
I shouted out.
"What a world of cheapskates! How much stuff can you sharpen with a hammer! You don't need to borrow from that place. Use mine!"
The next thing I knew, Nikanga was on the floor.
"I'm a stingy man, they say, but there's a stingier man than I am.
I'm not that stingy, am I?
Don't hide it. I'm a man of tools and you're a man of tools. If you harm your own tools, use someone else's. I agree with you deeply.
"Lord Nikanga is always like this..."
"O Naruni! You take too little care of your things! That doesn't make a good blacksmith! Lately I've been thinking that my eyes are a waste.
"What's a waste of an eye? What are you going to do?"
"I know. It's a waste to use both eyes. Use only one of them. And when that eye goes bad, use the other. Good idea, isn't it? You know what I'm talking about, young man, don't you?"
"If I use my other eye, I'm afraid the world won't know who I am anymore."
"I see, that's what happens when you don't use one eye! Let's not do that."
Nikanga took an odd liking to me, and generously taught me the art of refining products from ore. Not only that, he gave me various ores as souvenirs. Naruni was surprised at this. It was a surprise to him that Nikanga, who is famous for his stinginess, would give something to someone.
A few days after the visit to the workshop, the convoy of Posehai and the others to Krumfal was completed. All I had to do now was to solve the farmland problem, and I thought I could finally take a break, when I received a call from the Dwarf King again.
"Is it true that Nikanga has given you some ore?"
Yes, they were very generous. It seems to be quite rare..."
"He's famous for being stingy. He's known to be a bit of a cheapskate. I still can't believe that Nikanga would give away his ore... but I guess it's true.
"Yes, that's right. My wife, Meilias, uses the ore to make something on her days off. It is a very pure ore and she is very impressed with it.
"Hm, that's good to know. Well, Mr. Baasam, I called you here today because... It's about my daughter Considine.
"I haven't seen you recently, Mr. Considine. How is she?
He's in his estate at the moment.
"My estate?"
"He's locked himself in his room and won't go outside. He seems to be eating, but his appetite is getting smaller. He spends most of the day in a dimly lit room with no sunlight.
"Well, that's also very interesting... So, what do you want me to do?
"Could you please let Considine out?"
Now you're asking for advice on how to deal with a social withdrawal. Why does this country have so many problems one after another...?