We wound up having a long conversation before Gobta and I set off. Soon, I was out in the fresh air of freedom again…but not before lunch. The captain insisted. I couldn’t taste anything, but the appreciation was sweet, I guess.
For the first time in a while, I enjoyed a meal.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ugh… Why do I have to be so busy…? Kaijin the dwarf grumbled to himself. What do they mean, the Eastern Empire might be on the move? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!
He had reason to doubt it. Peace had reigned over the kingdom for three hundred years. The Empire had all the riches it could ever want—what motivation could it possibly have to stage an invasion? That was what he didn’t understand.
Of course, Kaijin added to himself, I doubt the weaponsmiths of this city would mind a good war to fill their coffers. But…arrgh, why is my work so busy all of a sudden?!
And that wasn’t his only problem.
He scowled. Curse that damned minister! He rubbed his forehead as he imagined himself taking a hammer to the man and sighed. A lot of sighing lately.
There wasn’t much time left. A refusal would damage his reputation. “I can’t do it” wouldn’t be an excuse. He was waiting for some of his friends to get back to him, and depending on their reports, all could be lost.
He had built a decent name for himself as a weaponsmith, but he wasn’t omnipotent. What kind of smith could craft weapons without any raw materials to work with?
✦ ✦ ✦
Finally, he heard the news he had been waiting for.
“Sorry,” one said as he came through the door. “We wanted to contact you yesterday, but we ran into one heck of a distraction…”
They were three men—dwarves, all brothers, the trio Kaijin had assigned mining duties to. The eldest was Garm, an armor crafter with long, muscular arms. The middle child was Dold, who was known around the kingdom for his intricate handiwork. The youngest, Mildo, rarely spoke but was skillful at almost anything he did—architecture, art, you name it. A sort of savant.
Any one of them could’ve been talented enough to run a successful business by himself—but they all had a critical disadvantage. Outside of their individual God-given talents, they were utterly hopeless, barely capable of dressing themselves without an instruction manual. None of them had a head for business or laying the groundwork for a successful career. They seemed to prefer letting other people use them instead.
That was how they wound up entrusting their shop to someone who stole it from them, falling into the trap of an apprentice jealous of their natural talent, getting bullied by the government after they botched a ministerial request… In the end, with nowhere else to go, they turned to Kaijin, an old friend and practically a fourth brother to them in their youth. He wished they had called on him sooner, but that was neither here nor there—they needed someplace to lie low, and he could use some help around the shop.
The only problem was that Kaijin had no work for them. He was a merchant dealing in battle gear, and he already had steady connections for all his merchandise except the weapons. Those he made himself, and he figured he could keep the trio busy making the rest of his lineup…but he couldn’t have them start immediately. Telling his armor and accessory contacts out of the blue that their services were no longer needed would lead to easily avoidable trouble. Until things settled down a little, he would have to continue with business as usual.
Instead, with few other options available, Kaijin was having them direct a team of laborers as they mined for ore and other materials.
✦ ✦ ✦
The brothers had arrived in Kaijin’s shop with a wild story about a monster. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. He rubbed his forehead.
“Well, at least you’re all fine,” he told them. “Glad you got away before you were hurt at all!”
And he was. If they weren’t injured, they could go right back to ore collecting. His friends’ safety was naturally important, but…still.
The three bothers gave each other awkward looks.
“Well…we didn’t get away, exactly.”
“No. In fact, we can still hardly believe what happened to us yesterday!”
“………”
They moved on with the story—a tale of a mysterious slime who provided them life-saving medicine. It seemed like a bunch of ridiculous ravings, but these people weren’t ones to make up stories. They didn’t have the talent for it.
So did the whole affair really happen? Perhaps it didn’t matter. It was true enough, he knew, that people had been attacked in the mines. And that meant no mining for a while. The workmen he had hired all quit yesterday and headed for the hills the moment the monster news broke. And why wouldn’t they? Their brethren were injured, no doubt.
Now would be the perfect time to call on the services of the Free Guild, but that was probably equally impossible. He had filed a mining request long ago, to deafening silence. He knew he wasn’t the only one, either. A shortage was starting to rear its ugly head.
Hiring guild members as mine guards wouldn’t accomplish much, either. They weren’t cheap, and even then, they didn’t lift a finger beyond what the guild paid them for. Guild guards did just that—guard—and nothing else. And if this was the kind of monster that could take out a B-minus-graded adventurer…
It was hopeless! There was no way to turn a profit. In fact, this would bankrupt him. Bah! Why did such a powerful monster have to show up in such a damned shallow part of the mine?!
Kaijin let out a deep sigh. Now what? There wasn’t much time left. Maybe he’d have to just go down there and grab the ore himself. No better ideas were springing to mind. All that filled it right now was the passing ticktock of his destiny.
The four of them exchanged glances, all at a complete loss. That was right about when a set of rather odd-looking customers showed up.