CH 62

Chapter 62 – We Acquired Good Ore!

“Is this fine?”

After I finished making the pickaxes, I decided to make clothes for the dwarves.

For the men I made black shirts and trousers. And for the women I made one-piece dresses.

As for materials…the thread of the fabric was made from their hair.

At first, the dwarves did not want to wear the clothes.

However, I managed to make them try it on, as it would get quite cold during the night. And once they saw how easy it was to move, they took to them immediately.

I also made some shoes out of the same materials, and they seemed sturdy enough.

As the dwarves watched me gather their wool and turn them into clothing, their expressions were that of astonishment.

Though, they had already been quite wide-eyed when seeing the scissors and pickaxes.

“It’s so light! And I feel refreshed!”

Ymir said happily as she ran around in her new clothes.

Well, he had been carrying so much hair up until now…ever since he was born.

Mette and the others also distributed the food, which was enough to feed the hundred dwarves.

Musupe, who had eaten with some reserve, then walked up to me.

“I cannot thank you enough, Sir Joshua and Lady Iria.”

Iria answered.

“There is no need to be so ceremoniously polite. From now on, we will always do what we can when you need help.”

“Aye. Also, I would like to do something about your living space…”

My eyes turned to the dwarves who had finished eating.

The dwarves…especially Ymir, had brought the pickaxes into the cave and were going to start digging.

Well…perhaps there would be no need to give instructions.

So I should leave it at just building a tower, and some tools and armor.

They might even build a town all on their own.

However, Musupe raised his voice at the dwarves.

“Hey, you! You haven’t even thanked Sir Joshua yet!”

“No, that’s fine, Mr. Musupe. However, there is a way to dig in mines…”

I grabbed a pickaxe and entered the cave to speak with Ymir and the others.

“If you make a crack while digging, you might cause the cave to collapse. And so I want you to do as I say.”

First, I decided which parts of the caves should not be dug. These were called ore pillars, and would support the cave and tunnels so that they wouldn’t collapse.

Also, ceilings should be made into arches as much as possible. But as this would be difficult, the Golem would handle it for now.

Aside from that, I told them of using logs for pillars and how they should run if there is a foul stench. This was all the basic knowledge that was required.

While Ymir looked like she wasn’t good at learning things, she listened to my explanation and nodded.

“I understand! And I promise to follow them!”

The other dwarves nodded with serious expressions and then got to work.

Musupe turned to me.

“Y-you have done so much for us. Sir Joshua… But… How can we repay…”

Musupe had looked anxious for a while now.

Perhaps he was worried that after having so much done for them, we would then make unreasonable demands in return.

Indeed, up until this point, it was one-sided and we were just protecting them.

And so it was time to ask them for a little something.

“Yes… I would like some of what you can mine in this cave. As for other resources and food, we can help each other in that regard later. Also, we will expect your help in any upcoming battles. And of course, we will fight for you dwarves when the need arises.”

“You are speaking of this demihuman alliance, yes? Of how you come together and offer aid… Very well. When the time comes, just give us your instructions. After all, you have saved our lives.”

“Aye, thank you… By the way, the walls of these caves have an odd color.”

There were several parts that had a purple shine.

Apparently, these spots alone could not be dug out by the dwarves, and so they carved out the rocks surrounding them.

“It must be a very durable ore…”

And so I absorbed some boulders that contained the purple rocks into Magic Workshop.

First, I carved away the boulder and left only the purple parts.

“It won’t melt…it must be very strong against heat.”

Not only that, but when I tried to change its shape with wind magic, I found that it would not bend in the way I expected.

With iron, it would not take me ten seconds to turn them into ingots, but it took me over thirty seconds with this metal.

And then I cooled them off with water magic and then took them out and placed them on the ground.

It looked just like iron in color, but there was a subtle purple glimmer as well.

Though, when heating it, there had been no poisonous emissions.

This was a metal that I did not know…

And so I crafted an iron sword and took it out.

“Iria. Sorry, but could you use this sword to cut this ingot?”

Iria nodded and accepted the sword.

“Are you testing the durability?”

“Yes. Because I know that your sword will definitely be able to cut through it.”

“Very well. Without further ado!”

Without hesitation, Iria slammed the iron sword into the ingot.

And then, the iron sword shattered in her hands.

Next, Iria quickly took out her own Kijin horn sword and severed the ingot.

So, it could be cut with Iria’s blade after all… Hmm?

Iria tilted her head as if puzzled, and then she cut one of the ingot fragments yet again before turning to me.

“Sir Joshua… This ingot is very hard. Harder than anything I’ve seen before.”

“I-I see. If that’s what you say, Iria, then it must be true.”

As soon as the iron sword was broken, I knew that it was a metal that was equal or even stronger than black demon iron.

Besides, Iria’s strength was also behind it.

“It’s also lighter than iron… I should be able to make very good armor with this.”

I said, and then Musupe turned to me with a happy expression.

“Is that so!? Oh, so we can be of service to you after all! All right, all of you! Let’s mine a lot of these rocks!”

The dwarves answered to this enthusiastically, and continued to dig.

After that, I created a small tower and defensive walls around the cave.

I also made tools and armor, while Iria and the others taught the dwarves how to use them.

There was something very impressive with how fast the dwarves learned.

With weapons, they were comparable to the Kijins, but with tools, they were able to use them as if they had known about them already.

And so it was after making this new ally of the alliance, that we returned to the village.