SWNOVELXO Chapter 515
Chapter 515. The Heretics
“I’m a craftsman, you know. This here is one of my proud pieces…!”
The clarity was so high that for a moment, I thought he had no arm beyond the elbow. A transparent arm shimmering occasionally under the lamp’s light. Delicate fingers not typical for a dwarf rattling away.
“Oh… I can use high-level healing magic, if you want I could fix that for you?”
“Excuse me!?”
Helena offered gently, but rather than being grateful, the craftsman’s eyes widened in surprise, and his brows furrowed.
“Don’t mess with me! I just replaced it, and you want to grow my old arm back?!”
“Uh…”
Helena was left speechless, facing not just reluctance but outright anger. She must have expected some gratitude, as healing missing limbs was usually met with tears of joy at the front lines.
…But somehow, I had a feeling it would come to this.
After all, he called it his “proud piece”.
“I cut it off myself! My own damn arm!”
With a determined look in his eyes, the craftsman shouted.
“W-why would you do something like that?!”
“Look at this!!”
Helena, in disbelief, was flustered. The craftsman stepped forward with a thud, showing off his feet.
“Cute sandals, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, my buddy made them for me, and they feel great—wait, no, that’s not it! The toes! The toes!”
The craftsman smiled at Leila’s simple comment but soon regained his intimidating expression, wiggling his toes animatedly.
…Those are very thick toes. Even the pinky looks like it’s twice the width of my thumb.
“I’m a craftsman, so fine work is my specialty! Got it? If I can’t see my hands, I can’t start! But my arms… my hands were ridiculously thick!”
Clattering sounds as the craftsman flaunted his crystal fingers.
“So, I got mad and cut them off, huh!?”
“Yeah. Thanks to that, I feel incredibly refreshed. My fingers are thin! They’re transparent, so they don’t get in the way! This is my craftsmanship at its finest, and my dexterity is no issue! In fact, I’m better with these than with my old arms!”
Holding his arms up to the lamp, the craftsman looked infatuated.
‘What can I say, these are typical dwarves, huh?’
No, seriously, I’ve never seen someone go this far…
“Isn’t there something inconvenient about that? Like, when you try to grip something wet, it slips out, right…?”
“Ugh… sharp observation, girl.”
The craftsman faltered under Leila’s curious question.
“Washing things can be a hassle. I made a waterproof leather-tip arm for washing, but it’s a pain to swap every time… Also, if you keep hitting them hard, they’ll break or chip, so I can’t do blacksmithing anymore.”
Not good!!!!
I was thinking of asking him to craft some arms for soldiers who lost their limbs on the front lines if healing was cheaper, but if they’re not durable, that doesn’t help!! It’d be better than being missing limbs, but still!!
“Hey, Gadingo! Aren’t we entertaining guests? Chatting indefinitely doesn’t seem right.”
Just then, a dwarf glided down from a ladder at the back. He had a bushy beard but bright eyes with a certain charm. By the way, he also had a crystal right hand.
“You’re a Vampire Hunter, right? You look tired. Wouldn’t you like some tea?”
“You know I suck at making it. You do it.”
“It’s your house, after all. I thought the host should take charge.”
“Hah! Why now?”
Their light banter suggested they were familiar with each other. Then, the charming dwarf smiled at us.
“Hello. Sorry for being late. I’m Stitchin. This crystal-armed guy is Gadingo. It’s a bit cramped and messy in this house with everyone gathered, but feel free to relax.”
“Hey, that’s not how you should describe someone’s home!”
The smiling dwarf was Stitchin, and the craftsman was Gadingo.
“Excuse us. I’m Hero Alex. This is the mage Leila, and this is forest elf Helena… Sorry, I believe two more will join us later.”
“It’s fine, three or five makes no difference. Don’t mind it.”
“Then who made you the host!?”
We might look like five people at first glance… but in reality, there are two demons and plenty of ghosts with us.
We were then led inside and treated to tea. Besides Stitchin and Gadingo, several other dwarves were present, apparently tinkering with things and drinking.
Hearing that vampires have been troubling the nearby area, they gathered to protect themselves.
“—I see, so you all live together in this village.”
“It’s not big enough to be called a village, though it’s not even on the map. Just a bunch of displaced dwarfs hanging out to keep each other company.”
Stitchin said that with a smile, while Gadingo and the other dwarves grimaced or looked like they’d swallowed something sour.
“I’m fond of embroidery, and I had this right arm custom-made by Gadingo. Of course, it wasn’t cut off; it got smashed in an accident and that’s how I got the new one.”
At first glance, Stitchin’s prosthetic looked like a normal arm, but it could transform into an embroidery mode, moving needles at incredible speed.
He showed off a few of his proud works, with intricately detailed patterns stitched with colorful threads depicting mountains, flower fields, dwarf towns? And scenes of deformed children playing, all possessing a unique flavor that no painting could capture; they were truly magnificent.
“I enjoy fishing. If you need rods or tackles, just let me know!”
“I’m a clockmaker! Everything in this house, I made!”
“I love wood carving, though I feel a bit bad mentioning it in front of forest elves. But seriously, I’m sorry, don’t make that face! It’s just something I enjoy!”
They all gathered around, showcasing their creations. Each one was remarkable and deserving of awe, but suddenly, I noticed a common trait among them.
“Oh, I see.”
Perhaps picking up on my expression, Stitchin shrugged.
“—We all just don’t like blacksmithing.”
At Stitchin’s words, the excitement suddenly waned from the dwarves’ faces.
The “Displaced Dwarfs” they referred to was exactly that. Just observing the dwarves’ behavior in the Demon Lord’s castle workshop showed me enough.
Dwarves and blacksmithing are synonymous! Blacksmithing equals weapons!
Only those who can forge amazing weapons are considered proper dwarves!!
–That is their value system. While other crafts or techniques aren’t necessarily demeaned, there’s an undeniable trend that you need to be a blacksmith before dabbling in anything else.
Kusemon, for instance, was acknowledged for her leathercraft skills, but since she was hopeless at blacksmithing, she had to stay in the background… She was the only one capable of fulfilling my request for 【Kizuna】 since Kusemon possessed master-level skills.
If she hadn’t been that top-notch, she might not have ever seen the light of day…
I figured that the dwarves here were likely those kinds of individuals.
‘Mofuskin, the fur-clad dwarf, has to be one of them too…’
Ah… so that’s it. I thought they were all just quirky dwarves, but it wasn’t a coincidence; it was inevitable.
So-called “proper dwarves” are found only in dwarf mining towns, big-city workshops, or at the front lines—dwarves hiding out in places like this backwoods or rural areas must be those who couldn’t fit into dwarf society…
“Speaking of which, a bit curious… That ‘light’ when we visited…”
Helena changed the topic, perhaps to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
“What was that? I thought it was light magic or magical tools, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone among you with light properties… And I’ve never heard of a dwarf with light attributes!”
Helena thought perhaps a priest or a human mage was among us.
Dwarves are said to have a slight reverence for both light and dark gods, but it seems no one is born with light or dark magical powers.
Probably because their main faith lies in the fire and earth themselves. Instead, all dwarves are born with fire and earth attributes. That’s why they have high suitability for blacksmithing.
—So, when you think about it, what exactly was that dazzling light we were showered with when we visited?
“Oh, that’s something I was wondering too.”
Leila chimed in, agreeing with Helena.
“It felt almost like… the light of the sun.”
“Ohhh…”
The dwarves gave a voice of admiration at Leila’s remark.
All of them turned to Gadingo, who wore a sullen expression.
“Gadingo, it seems this young lady understands.”
“I guess it’s something that we couldn’t get, but luckily someone did.”
“—Not lucky! It’s a failed product…!!!”
Gadingo, sitting, stomped his feet and cradled his head in his hands.
“…Failed product, what do you mean?”
“Oh, he… no. It’s probably not right for someone else to comment on someone else’s work.”
As Stitchin began to explain, he signaled Gadingo with a series of eyebrow raises to continue.
“…Just hold on.”
He stood up and went to fetch something from the back room.
After a while, he returned holding—was that a crystal candle? A candlestick?
“—I have a dream.”
He placed the candlestick on the table and began speaking gravely.
“I’m the best craftsman. Someday, my goal is to create the finest chandelier suitable for adorning the palace of the dwarf king.”
A chandelier, huh.
While there are metal ones, crystal-crafted chandeliers are probably the flashiest and most luxurious.
“What’s the best chandelier about—I thought about this. Also, don’t you think candles lack elegance? I don’t dislike the fire from the furnace, but I don’t much like the fire as lighting. It’s not stable enough, it emits smoke, and most importantly, the color! Even Stitchin complains he can’t see the color of the thread when there’s candlelight.”
“Well, nothing beats natural light. Mixing fire’s colors makes it hard to distinguish subtle differences….”
“So, I believe that natural sunlight is the ultimate and supreme light.”
“For a dwarf, I’ve never agreed with that much before.”
“Absolutely. No arguments here.”
Helena and Leila clapped. Forest elves and sun-element dragons who aren’t particularly fond of fire.
I clapped along.
‘What a weird scenario, a demon of darkness is saying something like this.’
“—So that’s why I’m trying to create a chandelier that emits natural light…”
Gadingo scrutinized the candlestick on the table intensely.
“…Is that the prototype?”
“A failed product.”
He looked regretful.
“My ideal was a chandelier that would soak up sunlight for a while and then glow on its own at night.”
……Isn’t that impossible?
“Is that even feasible?… You don’t possess light attributes, do you?”
“Yeah. I gave up on the magical approach. But even without light attributes…”
Gadingo demonstrated, waving his prosthetic arm.
Under the lamp, the crystal sparkled—
“Well-polished crystals reflect light. In other words, I can interfere with light.”
Both Helena and Leila were left speechless. Naturally, so was I.
“So… well, my line of thought might not have been bad, and somehow, efficiency is terrible, but I managed to create something that can store light. The problem is… I can’t extract that light!”
Glaring at the candlestick on the table, Gadingo began to furiously scratch his hair with his crystal arm.
“In the end, it can only shine when I break it! What a joke! Offering it to the king is just a fanciful dream! Where do you find a chandelier that only works when broken!? Plus it only glows for a moment! It’s a total failure!!!”
Furious, Gadingo knocked the candlestick violently down.
The candle-shaped crystal craft shattered with a crack!—
And a dazzling light burned our eyes.
The very light of the sun itself.
“Damn—how do I even deal with this!?”
“Hahaha… well, you see, Gadingo has been writhing in agony lately. Still, it’s light in a sense, so we’ve been using it as an amulet or something…”
“So… about that craftsmanship…”
I felt my mouth go completely dry.
“How much effort and cost are needed for production…?”
“Huh!? I don’t know those kinds of things… two or three a hour?”
“Is there any special technique needed to break it, I mean release the stored light…?”
“Are you making fun of me? Breaking it is something a kid could do!”
So they could produce decently in daily units,
And they weren’t using any special materials,
And the user could emit sunlight without using any magical power.
Oh, I see.
“Got it. Got it, got it, got it!”
Nodding vigorously,
“Sell me whatever you have!!!! Right now!! No, sell it to the Holy Church! I’ll buy it at any price!! Please!!!!!”
Wha—what do you mean it’s a failed product, you jerk!!!! Don’t mess with me!!
“Huh?”
But Gadingo looked baffled.
“Is there… some value in this?”
“Of course! This is an invention that will go down in history!”
There’s no way a disposable item that lets you emit sunlight at will has no value!!
Even if he doesn’t realize it, the others should! They used it to project onto us, hadn’t they?!
…but Stitchin and the other dwarves were just as clueless.
“Can’t you understand that much!? How much value this holds!”
“Yeah, but… come on? You’re a hero! You can use holy attributes. That girl there, the elf lady too…”
Gadingo looked completely puzzled.
“—Anyone could give off light, right?”
………
You… magic-power brutes!
“We can, but—”
I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Normal folk can’t do it!!!”
How lucky am I that right at this moment,
That Liliana, a.k.a. Bishop Lexar, hasn’t returned.
…I think that if she had heard all this, she would have found a way to come back as a ghost.