Chapter 129

Chapter 129Dwarves.

Inner Lunatic is a fantasy world, and as such, it is home to many different races.

Among them, there are a few major players with unique characteristics.

One such group is the dwarves, who are known for their nocturnal behavior, and it’s not hard to find information about them in Inner Lunatic.

‘They are nervous, have a high heat tolerance, and love ...... crafting items and money.’

While these are typical fantasy game dwarf traits, Inner Lunatic’s dwarves have one thing that sets them apart from other games.

The dwarves have an extreme aversion to being called by their race name.

‘To make matters worse, the game keeps calling them Dwarf 1, Dwarf 2, and so on, as if to tease them. They’re the easiest race to tease and the most rewarding. That’s the dwarves of the Inner Lunatic.’

So I was really looking forward to meeting them.

I wanted to see with my own eyes whether they actually reacted that way or not.

And here we are.

“I wonder if the other races hate us dwarves that much? When they see us, they call us ‘Mr. Big Moustache’ or just plain old dwarves.”

‘Absolutely!’

I heard Arsson mutter, confirming that at least my knowledge of the game wasn’t wrong.

I feel more at ease now.

Relief floods through me, realizing that my gaming knowledge is still relevant in this world.

These are the Dwarves I remember, after all.

“Arson, how many other nobles from the Academy have been in this workshop besides me?”

“No, so. Arson, not a dwarf... Eh? What did you say now?”

“You told me not to call you a dwarf, so I did. Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no, no, no, no, please don’t make me go back to square one...!”

At Arson’s plight, Zitri nodded with pride.

“Our master is a man of common sense.”

“Haha! I suppose so, noble, we’ve had a few visitors... but you’re the second one to bring any materials.”

“Second?

I felt a twinge of annoyance, but I managed to ignore it.

First, I had to make sure he was the Arson I knew. First, I pulled up Arson’s status window.

__________________

[Basic Info]

Name: Arson

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Race: Dwarf

Primary Element: Earth

Achievements: [Savvy member of the dwarven royal family]

[Traits]

Positives: [Artifactmaking genius] / [Dexterity genius (corrected by 1 level due to the Dwarven King’s blessing)] / [Positive] / [Obsessed].

Neutral: [Speedy Stance Change] / [Simple]

Negative: [Weak] / [Inferiority complex] / [Entitled] / [Overwhelmed] / [Forgetful]

[Stats]

Physique: 14

MP: 2

Luck: 9

Willpower : 14

Charm: 6

[Skills].

Passive Skills: [Blessing of the Dwarf King].

Active Skills: [Hammer Swing] / [Blunt Strike]

__________________

His skills were evident.

First of all, he had two genius traits.

While this is possible for a production worker, it doesn’t make sense in the first place. It was possible because he was a special case.

Since he is a direct descendant of the Dwarven King, he was blessed with a blessing that elevated his [Dexterity] to genius. As such, he is in many ways a unit I must capture.

‘I’ll do whatever it takes.’

I stare at him, trying to hide my greed.

Not knowing why, Arson continued, as if he was excited.

“Haha, I guess being a noble isn’t all bad after all, so... what did you say your clan was?”

“Reinhafer.”

Stagger.

(uttug.)

Auburn hair and distinctive blue eyes.

And standing there with her arms crossed, a sour expression on her face.

A girl with colorful jewelry.

An unnerving name popped out of my mouth like a spinal cord reflex.

“...Eleanor.”

“This transaction is null and void, because we at the top of Rivalin requested this ‘Dwarf 1’ first.”

“......?”

I looked at Arson with an unintelligible expression.

Then, as if suddenly remembering, his expression stiffened. This asshole...... was lying about dwarves having brains after all.

‘I shouldn’t have believed him in the first place, but...... damn it.’

He ran a hand through his hair as if he couldn’t help it and said in an annoyed tone.

“I’ll wait for the second order, then, how many days?”

“Well, that’s the thing.......”

“I’m sorry, but we at the top of Rivalin have placed a large order for equipment from this ‘Dwarf 1’, so I’d say a month or so, and then you should be able to have it made, right?”

“Ha, but I want to make this thing first....”

As Arson muttered, Eleanor moved her hands from her arms to her waist.

Then, in a slightly murderous tone, she continued.

“Haven’t you already written a contract?”

Murderous.

It’s a new feeling, but as a trader, Eleanor is scary.

In the original, she would never have moved so quickly to establish contact with the dwarves, but she’s so quick on her feet.

This is probably.......

‘It must be the butterfly effect of my intervention in the case.

It’s a big deal, by the way.

Unless you’re Arson, who has both [Artifactmaking Genius] and [Dexterity Genius], you can’t make this equipment in the first place.

What am I supposed to do with this?

“Apparently, Nox, you also want this dwarf to craft items, don’t you?”

That hit the nail on the head.

Eleanor wanted this guy in the first place. She assigned Arson to make artifacts because she had a special eye for those with genius talent.

Why didn’t I tell you before.

She is extremely generous with her golden talents.

Except for one, Nox.

I need this.......

I sigh inwardly.

I can’t lie in front of Eleanor, so there’s no way I can fake it.

I decide to go out with a bang.

“Well?”

“Let’s have a constructive discussion.”

“Discussion?”

“Is that so. On the condition that you sell us the monster materials that the ‘Nox Merchant’ has secured in large quantities, I will amend the contract so that you can make equipment first.” {1}

‘Oh là là’

I exclaimed inwardly.

‘Apparently, Eleanor doesn’t have all the materials yet, and she’s running up a blank check. Until she does, she’ll refuse to accept requests from others to craft, but we’ll pay her more money.’

It didn’t make sense from the start.

In the early to mid-game, almost all of the materials for beasts are derived from Chasers. How could she possibly have that many gear crafting requests when I was dominating that region?

She never had any to begin with.

Besides.......

I said, crossing my legs again.

“I see why you called me earlier.”

“You knew, and you didn’t answer on purpose...!”

I shrugged off Eleanor’s voice.

It had been a long time coming, and the time had finally come for my old trick of negotiating.

“Sit down, this is going to be a long story, and so are you, Arson.”

With that, Zitri stood, looking from one side to the other, quickly assessing the situation.

Eleanor looked puzzled, and could only utter.

“You... memorized all of the dwarves’ names?”

Arson’s crumpled expression was a sight to behold.

It’s details like this that make Inner Lunatic so appealing. I stifled a gasp of laughter at the thought.

{1} : Totally don’t remeber the name Nox came up with Grine for their merchant as they were leaving the Chasers for the first time.

Been binging the raws for Evolutionary Traits Make the Strongest Necromancerand love it.