Foreigner Volume 8, Chapter 172

Volume 8 Chapter 172, Steady Advance ~ 25

　Dwarves, Elves, Aquatic, Beasts, and Demons. Of these five non-human races, the Dwarves are the most coexistent with the humans.

　The reason for this is food.

　Dwarves are heavy drinkers. They eat a lot and drink as much as they can.

　Dwarves, on the other hand, do not farm. Most alcoholic beverages are made from grain, as is their staple food. They also drink fruit wine, but this is not the taste of the dwarves, who depend on trade with the human race for their staple food and sustenance. On the other hand, the human race had access to high-quality crafts and minerals.

　The exchange of food for minerals and other products was the basis of their lives, so when the number of humans was drastically reduced by the Seven Days Disaster, the Dwarves also faced a food crisis and their power was greatly reduced. They were not originally interested in dominating the continent, and they were quick to assist in the recovery of the human race, as they felt that they could not survive if the human race continued in its current state of decline.

　However, they do not get along well with the Elves, who helped in the recovery of the human race.

　This is because of the difference in thinking between the Elves, who consider trees as friends, and the Dwarves, who consider trees only as fuel.

　Just as there were Dark Elves who belonged to the side of the demons in the war between humans and demons, there are Dwarves who belonged to the demons among the Dwarves. They are called Dwergs(ドヴェルグ), but these are not beings that can be seen on the surface of society. They dig holes deep in the earth and live only in them.

　The roads in Arsweta are even less well maintained than before. The roads were not wide enough for carriages to pass through, and there were rocks lying on the road, so there was no room to enjoy a leisurely carriage ride. There are not that many people coming and going, just one brigade a koku walking.

　The reason for this is that the Dwarves' trade is conducted almost exclusively through the country. The country was established to protect Dwarven craftsmen who had been cheated by human merchants. Nowadays, it is possible to negotiate directly with craftsmen, but indirect negotiation is not permitted, and the basic rule is to negotiate directly with the craftsmen at their workshops. Rico also explained that a system has been created whereby if they don't like the negotiations, they can appeal to the government, and it is difficult for anyone to go directly to the negotiating table.

　Dwarves are said to be a race that values power and trust. They have no concept of deceiving people in the first place, and they say there are no two sides to the same coin. Satoru is the same way. Rico laughs when she hears this.

　On the way, they were attacked by monsters and beasts several times, but they were able to wipe them out without any problems. Finally, they saw a sign for a town. If the map was correct, it should be a town called Deligrande.

「Haaa, ......, it's a very smoky town」

　Satoru muttered to himself at the entrance to the town.

　The town of Deligrande spread out below him. The sight of the town amidst the complex and bizarre sheer cliffs is extremely unusual. It is almost noon and the weather is not bad, but the air in the town is somehow gloomy.

　He knows the cause. Black smoke was billowing out of the many chimneys standing all over the town, and that was the cause. In Satoru's eyes, the smoke is rising to a level that makes him worry about pollution, and it is belching out smoke as if the entire canyon is on fire.

「I guess it's like an old-fashioned blacksmith town.」

　The carriage is carefully descending a considerable downhill slope. There was a small watchtower at the entrance to the town and some soldiers filling it, but there seemed to be no charge to enter the town.

　The steep cliffs around the town seemed to have been reinforced. As a semi-subterranean city where a slight landslide could destroy the town, it is important to take care of the rock walls.

「So the town is cut out of bedrock. Uhaah ......」

　Rico, who was acting as the coachman, muttered to herself as she looked around in dismay. Satoru can see windows stuck here and there on the cliff. As Rico said, the Dwarves here seem to live in the rocks. Satoru guesses that this is a characteristic of Dwarves. Unlike humans, who build their buildings on top, dwarves, who are more familiar with the soil, have probably expanded their habitat below.

「The air is ba~d」

「Cough ...... Indeed, honestly, it's hard for me, too.」

　Even in the carriage, the bad air is clearly visible. Minerva and Liz seemed to be in particular pain, as both of them had lived in places where the air was cool and fresh.

「The inside of the building is better. Let's find a place to stay for now.」

「It's my first time in a Dwarf town too. ...... I don't know what to expect」

　The number of Dwarves passing through the town is not large. The town of Deligrande, which is said to be the second largest town in Arsweta, has a population ― or more accurately, a Dwarven mouth(? ドワーフ口) ― of 2000 to 3,000 people.

　The Dwarves were also glancing at the horse-drawn carriages, which are rare in this region. But Satoru had noticed. The dwarves were looking at Liz rather than at the carriage.

　Liz is a half-elf. The Elves hate the Dwarves for destroying the forest, and the Dwarves look down on the Elves for not using the trees for fuel. This attitude seems to be effective even when dealing with half-elves.

「Dwarves are often quarrelsome. There's a lot of needless trouble.」

「You're the one who's going to cause the most trouble.」

「...... I'll refrain」

　When Satoru lightly made a bite at Isolde, surprisingly, Isolde readily retracted. It seems that she is still subtly dragging her feet about what happened at Liese's Haivan checkpoint.

　Still, a narrow town with cliffs on both sides is inevitably oppressive. He wonders if the fact that the sky is narrow does not bother the Dwarves.

　However, it was a little surprising to Satoru that there was a sewerage system running through the town, albeit at the level of a ditch. In small towns where people live, it is commonplace to find places without water and sewage systems. In his travels so far, there were only two places other than Galhassan and Ares that had sewage systems. Infrastructure is usually expensive to maintain, and with so few people living on such a small area of land, it is no wonder that such things are not widely available.

　However, Satoru was grateful that the sanitary condition of the world as a whole was not as bad as he had expected, but he was a little bitter to know that the feces in the jars were frozen and transported by the 『Disposers』, people of the slave class who could use water-based sorcery, and were processed with slime that fed on the feces.

　───Let's not talk about it.

　Although almost lost, Satoru somehow found a place that looked like an inn and accompanied Rico to the inn.

「Welcom'」

　A small male dwarf ― of average size, I suppose ― responded to them with a smile. He had a beard and an old face, so it was difficult to tell his age.

　Satoru takes a quick look around the inn. He had feared that the ceiling was too low for a Dwarf of his height, and while it is true that the ceiling is a little low, it is not so low that Satoru would hit his head on it. However, if he reached out his hand, he could easily reach the ceiling, which was about 2 meters high.

「Is there a room where we can stay? Preferably a room for six.」

「...... you're so huge, bro. I've seen a lot of people in my life, but I've never seen one big like you.」

　Satoru smiled back at the innkeeper who looked up at him with dismay. It is true that Satoru, who is said to be big even when mixed with humans, would be seen as a big man like a cloud if he entered the Dwarves. Fortunately, a room for six was available, so Satoru told him they would be staying there for three or four days. However, he was told that the bed was too small for Satoru and his feet might stick out a little―This is unavoidable.

　Satoru told the innkeeper that he had a carriage, and with his approval, Satoru asked for three days' worth of food, including breakfast and dinner. It was surprisingly cheaper than the prices he had seen in other human towns. The owner of the inn seemed to know his stuff and did not look at the half-elf Liz with any particular disdain, which relieved Satoru.

「...... So you're the only man and the rest are all women? That's something.」

　However, the innkeeper was more dismayed to find that Satoru was accompanied by only young women.

　While instructing the girls to carry the load in the carriage, Satoru asked the innkeeper about this town. He was afraid that there might be a difference in common sense between Dwarves and Humans, but fortunately, there was no difference. He also told Satoru that the toilets flowed to the sewers, but that water for washing clothes and other purposes was charged separately―In all likelihood, Satoru's group can prepare their own water with sorcery, so there is no problem.

　When Satoru told the innkeeper about this, Satoru was asked if he would give him some water in a jar for a small discount on his room rate, to which Satoru readily agreed. The innkeeper was very pleased when Satoru promised to fill the jar with water in the morning during his stay at the inn.

　Dwarves are a race made up of earth and fire and have no connection to water. However, water is indispensable for their daily life, and water is important not only for household chores but also for blacksmithing. Satoru thought it might cause trouble for the existing water vendors, but he heard that it is not so strict.

「Who is the best blacksmith in this town?」

「That would be Black Bear. He runs a big workshop just inside the blacksmith's town at the end of the street.」

　The innkeeper's response was light as if he had been put in a good mood by the exchange about the water. Satoru stroked his chin.

　Since the owner of the inn in town, who was well-informed, immediately answered with a name, the Black Bear must be skilled. Satoru could have looked up other blacksmiths, but he probably couldn't have hoped for a better blacksmith.

　At any rate, Satoru thanked the innkeeper and went up the stairs. The room is a corner room on the third floor, and it seems to get more sun than the ground floor. The stale air outside is not felt as much inside the room. This was a relief.

　As Satoru looked at his magical slaves unloading and arranging their belongings, he thought about what he had to do in this town.

　For now, he is negotiating with a blacksmith called Black Bear to build an airship. Rico had heard that many craftsmen in the royal city of Arsweta were engaged in fine workmanship and jewelry processing and that Deligrande was better than Arsweta when it came to iron smithing. If the Black Bear were not good enough, he would have to look for other craftsmen, but he did not feel like spending too much time there.

　If the airship does not work, Satoru is thinking of modifying the carriage. If the amethyst can provide buoyancy, it would be possible to keep the carriage floating by balancing the amethyst on the ground. This would reduce the resistance for the horse, making it easier to pull.

　For now, it is a prerequisite to avoid unnecessary trouble.

「Liz.」

「Yes」

　Liz, who had been spreading out the leather she had used as bedding during the trip, turned around.

「Can I ask you to stay with Minerva?」

「Eh......」

「Apparently, the Dwarves don't look at half-elves in a good way. I'm afraid there's a danger of getting into trouble down there.」

　Liz sighed loudly at Satoru's point of view. Liz, herself is not conscious of discriminating against Dwarves. Although she was raised among the Elves, she was discriminated against because of her half-elf background, so she has never been able to discriminate against any race.

　However, even so, Liz noticed the strange looks that the Dwarves were giving her. If there is no sense of discrimination on Liz's part, but there is on theirs, that's a recipe for trouble.

「It can't be helped.」

　Satoru gave one instruction to Liz, who was so disappointed that she could not help him. Liz is now taking care of the bedding leather. It was quite a job for all of them. Liz nodded happily. She was happy to be able to do something useful, even if it was a small thing.

「Rico, you go shopping. Isolde, go with her.」

「Ha!」

　Rico shrugs her shoulders a bit, and Isolde nods in return in the most serious manner. Rico, who is accustomed to being in the world, is unlikely to get into trouble, but this is a society of Dwarves, not the usual human society. It is also in the hope that Rico will deter Isolde, who seems to cause trouble every now and then, by attaching her to Rico.

　There are two magical slaves remaining.

(Hmmm, what about Leia?)

『I am in the shadows.』

「What about Solor?」

「If it is allowed, I would like to join Master.」

　Satoru nodded. Satoru himself is planning to negotiate whether or not he will be allowed to build the airship. Normally, he would have asked Rico or Liz to do it, but in a society of craftsmen, men are usually in the upper echelon. A young woman is likely to be underestimated.

　In any case, Satoru was planning to take Solor out with him. She was the only one who knew about the airship in detail.

「Danna-sama...What should Minerva do?」

　The only beautiful woman who had not been directly approached raised her voice in dissatisfaction. Satoru doesn't want to take her into town, she complained when they entered the town and said the air was bad.

「Help Liz. After that, you just relax. The air in this town is gonna be a problem for your baby」

「Okay~」

『You're overprotective.』

(Shut it.)

　Satoru lightly brushed off the exasperated voice coming from within the shadows. He indeed feels overprotective, but the pollution caused by soot and dust is something that is well recognized in his original world. In this world, awareness of pollution is too low.

　The same is true for the disease that was said to be prevalent in Liese's country. If you think about it, Liese's country is downstream from Arsweta. Satoru now realizes that if the wastewater from metal smelting and other processes had been discharged directly into the river, the downstream countries would have used the river water without knowing it, and as a result, they might have contracted the disease.

　But he can't go back to Liese now. Satoru sat up from his somewhat small bed, hoping that Dahl's wife would be cured by the water with the magic power blessing that Satoru had given Dahl, with whom he had somewhat formed a friendship at the Haivan checkpoint.

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