episode_0197

The day after the dwarves were filled with faith, the dwarves, who had become healthy thanks to the power of alcohol, headed toward the mine just like yesterday.

“Eujin, aren’t you going?”

“I’m not going. I tried yesterday, but it was in vain.”

What would I do if I couldn’t even dig up coal with my own hands?

“This time, I will definitely find something useful, so please wait!”

Jukel said so and headed to the mine among the dwarves.

“What happened to your faith?”

“Surprisingly, it is still accumulating little by little.”

In fact, the dwarves’ attitude towards me did not change.

I didn’t think this was a big deal because it seemed to be the original tendency of dwarves.

What’s important is not your attitude, but your belief.

And that feeling is conveyed to me in the form of faith without lies.

“Whoaam~”

Orha woke up late and came out of the room yawning.

“Huh? You both woke up already?”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. Did I oversleep?”

“No, the dwarves wake up really early. I don’t know how it’s possible after drinking like that all night long.”

Dwarves seem to have very different internal mechanisms from humans.

“Aha… Then everyone has already gone to the mine.”

“Why? Were there any dwarves who had business?”

“That’s not it… I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it? Ask me too.”

Still, while having a drinking party with the dwarves last night, I learned some things about them.

If it’s an easy question, maybe I can answer it.

“Hmm… I’ve been curious about this ever since I came to this town…”

“Okay. What are you so curious about?”

“Where have all the female dwarves gone?”

“Huh?”

I froze as soon as a topic that I hadn’t thought of in my head popped up.

A female dwarf… Come to think of it, I’ve never seen one before.

“I was going to ask Mr. Jukel…”

Certainly, this was a topic that only a dwarf could not answer.

At the same time, it was also a sensitive topic.

What if it’s difficult to tell the gender of a dwarf to the human eye, and we’ve already met a female dwarf?

It’s not much different from being rude by talking about one’s appearance.

I had already made a mistake with my words in the past because I thought Jukel’s appearance was old, so I was even more cautious.

“Umm…….”

When you have a question about a potentially sensitive topic, the best solution is to do nothing.

If you kill your curiosity and move on quietly, at least there won’t be any problems.

However, no matter what I did, the existence of the female dwarf that Orha had already mentioned could not be erased from my mind.

Are they also dwarves with bushy beards like male dwarves?

If so, do dwarves have a different aesthetic sense than humans?

If the standards of beauty are different, how is it possible to create a work of art so enchanting that even a dragon would fall in love with it?

As the question that started once brought about other questions one after another like a wave, my mind became complicated for no reason.

“Uh… I think I asked a pointless question.”

Orha sensed what I was feeling and made an apologetic expression.

“No… I was curious too.”

I think it would be best to ask.

Out of curiosity, I looked around the village to see if there were any female dwarves until the male dwarves who had headed to the mine returned.

However, at least there were no dwarves who appeared to be women wandering outside the village.

It looks as if it was hidden on purpose, which only adds to the question.

As the day wore on and the dwarves returned, I gave Orha a sneak peek.

A gesture to ask me again what I asked earlier.

It may be considered very ugly to take a step back on a topic that you are equally curious about.

However, it would be even uglier to ask such a question when we have just begun to gain faith from the dwarves.

Orha, who sensed my intention, asked Jukel, who was carrying a bundle full of something.

“Hello! Thank you for your hard work.”

“Oh, how have you been, human maiden?”

“She’s a saint….”

“Anyway, if a woman is not married, she is a virgin.”

“Ah, Mr. Jukel. Speaking of women, I have one question…”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Can you tell me where all the female dwarves are?”

In response to Orha’s question, Jukel remained silent for a moment.

As the tension rose due to the awkward silence, his mouth opened again.

“Female dwarf? That would be in the house.”

“Is that so? But for some reason, I’ve never met him before…”

“That’s because I can’t leave the house.”

“Huh? You say you can’t come out?”

This was another unexpected answer. I listened even more intently and overheard the conversation.

“Hmm, I don’t know if you know the mythology of our dwarves.”

“I know that much. The fairies born under the ground are said to be our ancestors…”

“That’s right. Under the ground. We dwarves come from underground. Because I was born that way, I am naturally vulnerable to sunlight.”

‘is it?’

I do not know. When I first came to the dwarven village, everyone was drinking in broad daylight.

“Of course, compared to their true ancestors, the land fairies, they are at the level of noblemen. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can stay safe under the sunlight.”

“But Jukel and the other dwarves were fine, right?”

“Male dwarves like me can withstand sunlight if their beards grow bushy like this. It is at a level that does not cause any difficulty in daily life.”

That beard that covers more than half of the face must have a UV-blocking effect.

“However, women and immature children do not have beards.”

“Ah, that means…”

“Yes. In addition, women are much more vulnerable to sunlight, so it is safer not to go outside at all if possible.”

With this, the secret of the dwarf village was solved. Listening to Zukel’s words, it was explained why there were no children, let alone women.

And one more thing, the appearance of the dwarf woman, which was a very ambiguous story to ask directly, was also vaguely predictable.

It may not be accurate, but since they say they don’t have beards, they probably don’t look the same as male dwarves.

The only problem is that we are now indebted to Jukel’s house, and Jukel is a single man, so he has no occasion to see women.

“Hmm… After hearing your story, I want to meet you even more… Aren’t you married, Jukel?”

“I’m still young, but what about getting married?… I tell you in advance, but it’s not that I can’t, it’s that I won’t do it!”

There was no credibility to the story behind it, but as Orha said, after hearing the story, I couldn’t help but want to meet him.

“Ah. Eugene. Please take a look at this.”

After speaking with Orha, Jukel approached me and spoke.

I felt like I was already used to being called Yujin.

The reason why the title suddenly changed is because after I procured a huge amount of alcohol, all the dwarves started using honorifics for me, including Jukel.

“These are rough diamonds scraped from the mine today. Would you like to take a look?”

“Oh, I guess there was some harvest today.”

Of course, I also spoke as a person who receives faith. I felt a bit uncomfortable trying to talk to Jukel, who looked like a middle-aged man who had aged well.

However, regardless of God and faith, there is a saying among dwarves that if you buy them a drink, you are considered a superior, so I just got used to it.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a red diamond, but if it’s this color, it’s quite expensive.”

With those words, what Jukel showed me was a rough-looking pink diamond.

It must be a rare gem, as it shines bright pink even though it hasn’t even been properly cut yet.

“As for the size… I think this is so precious that I can’t put a price on it.”

Jukel snorted at my words.

“heng. It’s true that it’s expensive, but it’s not worth the price. What is priceless is the alcohol I drank yesterday.”

“Haha….”

I didn’t feel bad that they praised the alcohol I made myself so highly.

“But what you’re looking for is a red diamond, so should I pass on this one?”

“Umm… just a moment.”

I was lost in thought for a moment. It was a color that was too disappointing to give up like this.

More than anything, the familiar color that reminded me of something caught my attention even more.

“Ah… Rosé!”

“Yes? Who are you?”

“Another woman’s name….”

These were the reactions of Jukel and Orha, respectively. Only Wayne, who knew who Rosé was, looked at the stone and nodded.

“Hmm. It’s quite similar to Rosé’s hair color.”

“……Are there diamonds of other colors besides these?”

“Yes, whatever. for now. Although the colors are different, I scraped some that were diamonds just in case. Would you like to see it?”

Jukel said and shook out his bundle. Colorful diamond stones appeared.

I confirmed that there were diamonds in all the colors I was interested in.

Blue, pink, purple.

“Is something like this even possible?”

I drew an appropriate design on paper with a pen. It was made by processing diamonds of four colors into a heart shape and attaching them to the shape of a four-leaf clover.

And if you use a silver-white mineral like Arjen’s hair to create the frame that holds the gem in that shape.

I thought that I would be able to create a ring that would make all of Arzen’s personalities happy.

“Well, it’s crafted in the shape of a heart…”

“Would it be difficult?”

I heard that, just like on Earth, here too diamonds are processed mainly with brilliant cuts, which are said to look the prettiest.

Contrary to my concerns, Jukel nodded.

“The diamond work and the ring that will become the frame are a bit complicated structures. But there is a solution.”

“Really?”

“Yes. My brother’s wife is amazingly dexterous. He would have been particularly adept at such delicate work.”

This is the wife of a brother I know.

Suddenly, an opportunity to see the true nature of a dwarf woman came.