Chapter 70

Chapter 70

-The demonic beast ran wild for just a few moments, but...

Dozens of houses burned down, leaving dozens of severely injured people. Davey hadn’t heard about the details of the damage, but it was a miracle that there were no casualties.

“Oh, wise teacher! You’re here!” Elder Golgouda and Goulda greeted Davey. The incident with the demonic beast had caused them a lot of trouble, on top of the headache-inducing restoration of the sacred sword.

“Wise teacher, I am ashamed to have shown you this ugly sight,” Golgouda said regretfully.

“That’s alright. Are you hurt anywhere?” Davey asked.

“Thankfully, I’m fine. The beast’s attacks were less severe than I thought. Although, dozens of houses burned down and some dwarves were injured.”

“Do you usually have demonic beast attacks here?”

At Davey’s question, Golgouda bitterly smiled and shook his head. Then, he opened his cupboard and brought out a huge bottle as if he had been waiting to do this. He simply said, “I think there’s something you want to say, wise teacher. Let’s have a drink.”

* * *

“I cherished this liquor for a long time, but I can bring it out for you!”

Lightly swirling the aromatic liquor in his cup, Davey quietly closed his eyes. “Next time, I’ll show you what the liquor of other continents tastes like.”

“Other continents? Is it liquor from the eastern or southern continents?”

“It’s similar.” Davey was talking about the hard liquor from the World of Martial Arts, to be exact. He thought it would be perfect for these dwarves since it was as potent as the notorious dwarf-made liquor. Then, he said, “Actually, I came here to give you this.”

“And this is?” Golgouda asked.

“It’s a notebook with the information you need to restore the sacred item. It’ll take you a while to finish it, and I have to start heading back.”

“Oh...”

The dwarves looked disappointed, but they still held onto the notebook dearly. Golgouda spoke up, “I really don’t know how we’ll ever repay this debt...”

“I don’t expect anything. Actually, I should be the one thanking you.” Davey had obtained the bones of the ancient dragon, orichalcum, adamantium, and many other valuable materials, so it actually seemed like he should be the one repaying them. It was true that the dwarves had greatly contributed to the creation of the twin swords, which were currently half-dormant.

“That’s a different matter. We did that because we wanted to,” Golgouda said.

“So did I; I had my own reasons as well.” Davey felt a little thankful to these dwarves who had taken care of his teacher’s work and had held onto it however they could. Although, this was different from what Davey had to do.

“Anyway, the dwarf guards were quite busy.”

“That is...”

“Goulda.”

“

Ahem

!” Goulda coughed awkwardly when Golgouda stopped him from talking.

“What is it?” Davey asked.

“Brother, is the wise teacher an outsider? How are you going to gain any trust when you hide something like this?” Goulda criticized.

“

Ahem

!” Golgouda cleared his throat as if he was in thought, then he slowly opened his mouth. “It’s nothing. They say that a child has gone missing from the orphanage. We are trying to get the guards to find evidence of the child, but...”

Demonic beasts were evil. There seemed to be nothing left behind, even though some kind of evidence should have been left if a child was involved in an incident where the demonic beast had run

that

wild.

“We have a problem now, because nothing is being confirmed and there’s huge confusion... I think that it might be dangerous for you to keep staying here, wise teacher.”

“Right? It’s not like I constantly stab you in the back or something.”

“Of course not!”

“The Heins Territory was my mother’s territory; I’m from here as well.”

“Oh...” Now realizing his mistake, Monmider backed away while bowing his head apologetically.

“Let’s go inside; I’m tired.”

“I will get the bath running.”

“First, let’s do a quick briefing.”

Davey had heard most of the territory’s matters through the communication crystal. He knew that the preparation to harvest moon grass was going smoothly, but he hadn’t been in a good situation to receive reports on the little details.

“There are seventeen merchant companies in total that have currently bought land in the territory and are building.”

“The total number of people?”

“With the wizard towers, the schools of alchemy, the temple, the merchant companies, and the small number of guards, it’s about three thousand people.”

‘Wow.’

“There’s about three thousand people requesting to immigrate here, and our current number of residents is only about two hundred...”

“It is still increasing. The people who have predicted that this place will become profitable are thinking of making a commercial district here. Since this territory’s location made it quite good in terms of transportation, it seems they want to make a middle point between the Holy Empire and the Empire.”

“The estimated number of people?”

“It seems that about four thousand people will request to immigrate here after the second quarter.”

Davey was surprised by the numbers now that he was hearing them for himself.

‘Two hundred to four thousand... That’s about twenty times more.’

“Everything is going well.”

Any city needed a population to prosper. They would face many problems if the number of residents increased all of a sudden, but Davey wouldn’t be able to run this territory if he was afraid of that. Nothing really bothered him right now.

“Wise teacher, I see that the conditions of the territory are abysmal.”

“I am ashamed.”

“More than that, I am horrified by the condition of this palace you live in,” Goulda said sternly and tapped the tools on his belt. “This is a good chance for us to repay the debt. Although our skills are nothing compared to yours, we will make a new space for you to live in as the best craftsmen in the continent.”

Dwarf-made palaces and castles were famous continent-wide, because dwarves normally didn’t leave their villages a lot, and their skills, unique design, and finish were incomparable to anyone on the continent.

“Don’t say that you’re fine or something. No one follows a leader that does not take care of themselves, no matter how outstanding the leader is.”

“No, I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“

Ahem!

”

‘Was I too transparent?’

“However, I was wondering if I could ask you to add a few things I would like. It’s probably something that you will like, too.”

As Monmider quietly lowered his head, Goulda laughed heartily and said, “Great! Hey, you people! It’s time to show them what we’ve got! Is there anyone tired from walking for just a few days?!”

“Of course not! If we were tired, we wouldn’t live up to the name of ‘the best craftsmen in the continent’! Alright! Let’s get to it!”

As Davey vacantly stared at the eager dwarves who were rushing inside, Royal Attendant asked cautiously, “Pardon me, Your Highness, but...”

“Hm?”

“You...didn’t brainwash them or something, right?” Royal Attendant Bernile looked embarrassed as Davey stared at him with a flat expression.