妻子的秘密

“Even so, they had no rights to block anyone from entering any part of the city.” Thurul snorted.

I chuckled and patted him on the shoulder as I asked: “What are you so worried about? It’s not like they can do anything.” My eyes glowed as I looked at the knights. “Right? You will let us pass, right?”

“Of course!” All the knights replied at the same time. The formation they were in suddenly split apart, making room for us to pass.

I smiled and gave my thanks as our group walked past them without incident. I wonder how angry the well dressed dwarf will be when he finds out we walked right into the street he seemed to want to keep us out of. I can already picture him swelling up like a red balloon after he finds out.

This street much much different from the other streets we were on. There were still people coming and going, but all of them looked like craftsmen. “This is Forge Street. There is nothing but blacksmiths on this street, and each one is a master of the trade. The place I want to take you first is right over there.”

Thurul pointed to a small building with a large smokestack that stretched high above us. We walked over, and Thurul pushed the door open to reveal a small weapon shop. “Master Toremdeat!”

“Hmmm? Thurul, is that you!?” A voice yelled back from the back room. Seconds later, a short, stout old man with a long white beard came walking out. He was covered in soot and wore a pair of goggles on his head and a pair of dirty overhauls on his body. When he saw Thurul, his old eyes immediately lit up: “Haha! Thurul, my boy! Did you come back to save this kingdom?”

“Huh? I will not become king of any nation. More importantly, Master Toremdeat, I want you to look at something.” Thurul quickly blew off the whole save the kingdom thing, which told me that there probably was an issue in this kingdom that was bigger than we could see.

“Oh?” I saw Master Toremdeat frown slightly, but he only sighed as he said: “Let’s have a look. You always bring me interesting things.”  After saying this, he looked at others and me and said: “Come on in. any friend of Thurul’s is a friend of mine.”

“Thank you, Master Toremdeat.” I gave a respectful bow. Those who show me kindness get kindness in return.

We were led to an office like room that was similar to Thurul’s meeting room at his shop. I guess this was something all blacksmiths had. When we all sat down, Master Toremdeat did not beat around the bush. “Show me what you got, I have many orders to finish.”

“It’s this here,” I said as I took out a crystal orb and placed it on the table. I then sent some magic into it, making many pictures appear in the air. Master Toremdeat looked at them with wide eyes showing great interest in what he was seeing.

“What is this!? What are these crazy things? And this big one!? Thurul, Lass, what are these? Can I see the real thing!?” Master Toremdeat was like a little kid in a candy store as he stared at the pictures in front of him.

“They are back in my kingdom, the Kingdom of Gravos,” I replied. “My name is Faith Cyrilia, also known as Princess Cyrilia. The things you see here are all things I acquired and are very sensitive in nature. If you wish to see them in person, you must agree to help reverse engineer them so they can be recreated with this world’s technology.”

“Wait, Lass, you want to reverse engineer these things!?” Master Toremdeat asked before turning to Thurul, who nodded.

“Faith is the head of the Cyrilia family and a princess as well. I have joined under her name and am now known as Thurul Cyrilia. Her ambitions are much more profound than you can ever expect. You can say she is someone who is trustworthy and will treat all who work for her fairly. This I know since I have made a pretty penny working for her.” Thurul explained.

“I see….” Master Toremdeat sat back in compilation for a moment, then looked at me. “If you plan to reverse engineer these things, you will need every dwarf craftsman in the kingdom. But….” Master Toremdeat’s lips curled up in a scheming smile. “I think I can get them if you are willing to take us all in.”

I was utterly stunned by this statement. I came here for craftsmen, and it seems I would be able to get them, but the problem was…. “I am not sure if I got enough money….”

“Lass… you need to understand we dwarfs are not all about money. If you can give us a place to live and food and ale, we will work for you. So can you do this?” Master Toremdeat asked with a smile.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alright, I will take every one I can get. Just the ship alone will need hundreds of people to work on.”

“Good! But Lass, I hate to say it, but you should also talk to those long ears. We will need their help with certain intricate systems.” Master Toremdeat was a man of action, I guess. He was already thinking ahead.

“Alright, I will talk with Runa. She is the Princess, after all.” Although I have not talked with Runa for years, so I am not sure if she will be willing to talk with me. I mean, I will still try, but there is no telling if she will be willing to help me or not. I do hope so since she is my own connection to the elven race. But I guess only calling upon her when I need something doesn’t seem right either. So I will need to offer something in return.