In an unusual turn of events, the koro dwarves visited me in the fortress. Apparently, the search for black iron ore in the cave has been going smoothly, so they decided to forge a prototype weapon. Their visit today was to show me that prototype.
“King of Goblins, I present to you…” The representative koro dwarf bowed his head as he respectfully presented to me a long sword.
It was a lustrous blade with its balance perfectly aligned at the center.
“Well made. How many can you make in a day?” I asked.
The dwarves talked among themselves, then the representative turned to me with a frown as he bowed. “Unfortunately, we can make no more than two a day.”
Two swords, that was far too few. But considering the manufacturing process and the number of koro dwarf smiths, two swords is probably the most they could make.
In fact, when you think about their circumstances, it’s actually a lot.
“In that case, forge a weapon every day and use the rest of the time to teach the centaurs and the Ganra your craft.”
If the centaur and the Ganra could learn to forge, the number of weapons we could produce would also increase.
So long as the ore – the fuel so to speak – can keep up, the number of weapons produced should rise greatly.
“If you have any requests…”
The koro dwarves bowed their head and promised to cooperate.
I was pretty much asking them to hand out their secrets, there was no way they would happily comply. Fortunately, the elven school turned out to be an attractive bait.
The koro dwarves have never been given the opportunity to enter the elven school, so they were willing to close their eyes to the small disadvantage they would incur by teaching the Ganra and the centaur.
“I look forward to your work.”
As I said that, I dismissed them and welcomed Gilmi.
“It’s been a while, Your Majesty. I’ve come to report the completion of the beacon you’ve asked to be built.”
The Ganra were the most handy among the goblins, so I ordered their hero, Gilmi Fishiga, to construct me a beacon that will let us know when the enemy is attacking.
“How is it?” I asked.
“It was difficult to see from the Fortress of the Abyss, so I built another one at the village of Ganra. My apologies for taking action on my own,” Gilmi said.
I had asked him to build it at the cave where Gi Go once lived in, but apparently, it was difficult to see from here.
To think that he was able to ascertain the purpose behind the beacon and was able to take steps to meet that goal, as expected of Gilmi, he is indeed someone you can rely on.
“You’ve done well. I will be relying on Ganra for the days to come,” I praised.
“We shall do anything if it is for the king,” Gilmi replied.
As I watched Gilmi leave, the next goblin to appear before me was the goblin I’d permitted to build a village, the ancient beast tamer, Gi Gi Orudo.
Apparently, something has gone awry, for his brows were furrowed.
Gi Gi knelt before me. “My liege, please hear the request of this one, Gi Gi Orudo.”
Apparently, the female goblins refused to approach his village out of fear of the stench coming from the beasts he’d brought.
To remedy that, Gi Gi thought if he could have female goblin children raised in his village from the start, they would get used to it and not fear it.
The beasts were certainly a new addition, so the female goblins who were unfamiliar with them must’ve been stressed. As a result, no children were being born in his village. Gi Gi’s request is reasonable.
“Very well. I must’ve inconvenienced you greatly for failing to notice. You may take 10 children with you,” I said.
Gi Gi excitedly bowed his head and withdrew.
At long last, I was able to take a breather.
◇◆◇
When Ra Gilmi Fishiga returned, he requested an audience with Princess Narsa. Though still only a rare class, Princess Narsa was the chief of Ganra Village and Gilmi’s childhood friend.
Gilmi was deeply indebted to Princess Narsa’s father, Gilan, so he always looked after her.
“I have fulfilled the king’s mission, thus, I have returned,” Gilmi said.
Though they were childhood friends, Princess Narsa felt something more than that of sibling love for the revered hero, Gilmi, but she hid those feelings within as she generously bowed to him.
“I hear you did spectacularly. Well done,” Princess Narsa said.
Gilmi passed on what the king had told him. When he lifted his head, he looked toward the influential goblins of Ganra.
The chief, Princess Narsa; the warrior, Ru Rou; and the recently rising goblin, Re Roen.
These three goblins each came from different families, each responsible for the production and manufacturing of the goblin bows.
A goblin called out from these influential people, it was the goblin skilled at manufacturing, Re Roen.
“So the koro dwarves will be teaching us the method to forge iron, but how shall we pick who will learn among us?”
That was a question pointed to Gilmi and Princess Narsa.
Princess Narsa thought for a moment before answering. “I do not wish to be partial, have every family send out two goblins.”
Princess Narsa heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Gilmi nod to her, then she looked back on these influential goblins.
When she saw Roen and Rou bowing their heads, she concluded the meeting.
After the meeting, the two childhood friends spent some time together.
They talked about various things such as the state of the surrounding territories, the trend in the king’s court, and the other things they thought worthy of concern as they decided on Ganra’s future course.
“It’s the king’s command, we have to obey,” Gilmi said.
Currently, they were talking about Ganra’s dedication to building stone arrows and leather armor.
“The king never ceases to amaze me. It seems as if he’s always thinking one step ahead of us… Because of that, all our preparation went to naught,” Narsa said with a tinge of loneliness to her voice.
Gilmi corrected her. “No, that probably won’t be the case.”
Narsa’s curious eyes prompted Gilmi to continue.
“The production of iron armor will take some time. It won’t be possible to outfit every warrior with them at the king’s appointed date. Moreover, iron armor is heavy and difficult to use,” Gilmi said.
For Ganra, who was responsible for supporting from the back, the lighter and easier to handle leather armors were much more preferable.
“You mean!?” Narsa exclaimed with a smile as she realized what Gilmi was getting at.
“Even with the koro dwarves and the Ganra working together, the demand for leather armor should remain high for a while. The princess’ decision was not a mistake,” Gilmi said.
It was the first order Princess Narsa had given out to help the king. Naturally, she was happy that it wasn’t for naught.
Seeing her happy, Gilmi smiled too. At the same time, he decided to sound out the king’s intentions after seeing the progress of the iron equipment.
◇◆◇
The famous chief of the harpies, Yushika, presented a proposition to the collective demihuman body known as the ‘Eight Flags’.
After the king requested to build inns, the idea to connect the various villages with roads suddenly came to mind.
According to her proposition, her race will seek out the shortest route from the skies, while the centaurs, the rizalat (long-tailed), and the minotaurs will clear out the forest and transported the lumber. After the path was clear, the tarpidae (mud-scales), the araneae, and the papirsag (shell tribe), will be responsible for building the road, while the fang and the goblins stood guard.
Yushika burned with passion as she tried to persuade the tribes. That serious appearance of hers was truly unlike her usually languid appearance.
“Trade between our races will explode if we can get this done! Our country will progress by leaps and bounds!”
Gurfia, whose dreams ended prematurely, and Daizos, who sacrificed himself to repay the elves. There was no better time than today if they were to ever realize the dreams of their late comrades, Yushika persuaded.
Persuaded by her zeal, the Eight Flags decided to build the roads. They would build them from the goblin’s headquarters all the way to the elven village. It was an enormous undertaking.
“You’re working hard,” a voice said.
When the meeting ended, someone said that to Yushika. When she turned around, she noted that it was the araneae, Nikea.
It was her race who allied themselves with the goblins first, and it was also her who stood at the vanguard in the elven unification war.
“Really?” Yushika said to her friend, playing dumb.
Nikea asked with emphasis, “Has the Goblin King influenced you?”
“Maybe.” Yushika wryly smiled and Nikea returned it. “But it’s true that it’s for the glory of my race and the Eight Flags…”
“You’re doing this for our late friends, aren’t you?” Nikea asked.
Yushika tried to brush her off by laughing, but then she went silent and started speaking of an old friend. “I’m sure Daizos would feel vexed if he were alive.”
Nikea agreed. “Enough to regret dying.”
The two wryly smiled, then Nikea excused herself and left.
“Regret it, Daizos. Because now that you’re gone, there’s nothing else you can do but watch,” Yushika said, criticizing her old friend. But though her words seemed sharp, there wasn’t a hint of ill will in them.
◇◆◇
The great elven village of the west, Gastair. It was a village ruled by old Falun, a brilliant elf who wouldn’t lose even to the famed and heroic Shure of Forni.
The elves were in the middle of carrying out their big project, the elven school.
In the past, the elven school had only taken in students from the various villages of the sylph, never once opening its doors for the other races, but at Falun’s suggestion, that had changed.
Demihumans, koro dwarves, elves, and even goblins were now being accepted.
Falun himself was in charge of managing the school. In it they taught all sorts of subjects such as language, geography, history, math, and magic.
Falun personally picked out the teachers from the elves and the teaching material from the elven libraries.
Except for the meals, which the students had to deal with, the school was extremely generous and accommodating, even going as far as to provide a room for every student.
Moreover, even the students themselves could decide how long they would be studying. It was truly the best environment for studying.
Anyone who saw the elven village for the first time would find their hometowns inferior, what with its showy civilization, the blooming flowers, and the gentle light of the sun that made even the splashes of water sparkle.
“This is amazing, Kuzan…”
The little koro dwarf girl, who accompanied Kuzan, opened her eyes wide the moment she saw the village. Meanwhile, the other koro dwarf was speechless as she looked up at the great elven village.
Even when compared to Forni and Symphoria, the great elven village of Gastair was a league above. After all, old Falun had poured his life into raising up Gastair, making it the most prosperous village even among the sylphs.
If even the elves themselves could be left dumbfounded, what more of the other races?
“You’ve arrived. Welcome,” old Falun said as he welcomed these exchanged students, starting with Kuzan.
“My name is Kuzan! From the Fortress of the Abyss!”
Compared to the two koro dwarves who had lost themselves in their astonishment, Kuzan was able to properly respond to Falun.
“I am Falun Gastair. I shall be responsible for everyone for the days to come. It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Falun said.
“The pleasure is ours!” The students replied.
As Falun led the students, the school life of these young students had finally begun.
—152 days until the war with the humans.
