Chapter 103: Welcome to Dwarf Town (3) "Was the magic furnace repaired properly?"
"Ah, you're here."
At the voice from behind, Jinseo turned around and beamed when he saw a familiar regular he had not seen in a while.
"They said Nero helped put out the urgent fire for now. Until the new magic furnace arrives, it looks like we'll have to keep sending him to the forge."
"So that's why only Owl is with you today."
Oswald arrived with Dean and Austin as usual, and he quickly understood why only Owl was perched on Jinseo's shoulder. He nodded.
"I heard you've been very busy lately."
"It was really hard. There were so many places calling for me. On top of that, I barely even had time to sleep because I had to read and respond to every single document probing cooperation with the dwarves. Still, it's almost all wrapped up now, so I can finally breathe."
Oswald stood beside Jinseo and looked up at the embassy, which was practically complete.
He had been so busy that he could not even tell whether construction was progressing properly, and only today did he finally get to see with his own eyes what had been built.
"I knew the dwarves were outstanding blacksmiths as a race, but I never expected them to be so skilled in construction too. Looking at what they built here, I think the records saying a large portion of the ruins on the Francia Continent were made by dwarves are probably true."
"I watched the whole process, and it really was impressive."
Oswald could not hide his admiration for the dwarves' rough yet precise architectural style, and Jinseo felt the same.
"Come to think of it, the embassy's completion ceremony is already tomorrow."
"When I first met Geshtain, I never imagined an embassy would be built here. You really never know what's coming. But the dwarves' way of thinking feels extremely practical. If it were me, I would have thrown the embassy up first, but they pushed it back to the very end."
When Oswald asked the dwarves why they delayed completing the embassy until last, the answer he got was absurd.
The forge and shops were useful, but the embassy itself would not be immediately useful even if they opened it, so they asked him why they needed to open it at all.
"By the way, Jinseo. Besides the land you lent the dwarves, you still have a lot of the territory His Majesty bestowed on you, don't you?"
"Yes. He gave me more land than I expected."
"You don't plan to manage the remaining area yourself?"
"I only cooked in Korea too, so I don't really know that side of things. I'm busy enough just focusing on cooking."
"Is that so? I was looking forward to seeing you run this whole area yourself, in its own way. If you need advice, come find me anytime. If you need people, I'll introduce someone I know."
"If that happens, my time to make street food will drop a lot. Are you okay with that?"
"That would be a problem!"
At Jinseo's question, Oswald switched his stance as if nothing happened.
"If I had to pick something, I do want to make a street food district."
"A street food district?"
"For example..."
Jinseo explained in detail, using places in Korea like the Sindang-dong tteokbokki alley and the Sillim-dong sundae town as examples.
"Th-There are places like that in Korea? I heard about it from Craid, but just imagining it makes my mouth water. I really want to go."
The idea of a street in Korea packed with shops selling all kinds of food stirred Oswald's imagination.
"But it won't be possible right away. We'd need a lot of people who can cook street food skillfully. More than anything, they'd have to be people I can trust and leave things to. That's the hardest part."
"If that's the issue, leave it to me. I do have something in mind."
"When the time comes, I'll shamelessly ask for your help."
"Let's talk about it in detail after the completion ceremony. And for now… I need to eat some ramen. It would be even better if you boil it yourself."
"Yes, understood."
Oswald rubbed his hungry stomach and walked with Jinseo toward the food truck.
"Lord of the Castle! It's been a while!"
At Jason's cheerful greeting, Oswald lifted his hand lightly in response.
"Th-The lord is here? At this hour?"
"Hey! That's the lord's designated seat! Move, hurry!"
"O-Okay!"
The customers eating at the counter seats jolted and got up in a panic.
"There's no need for that. There are seats here too."
Oswald gestured for the customers who were about to move while holding their street food to sit back down, then found an empty table and sat alone.
"Which ramen should I make for you?"
"Hm, well… give me a moment to think."
With Jinseo standing in front of him to take his order, Oswald pressed his clasped hands to his forehead and sank into thought.
On the day he first visited the food truck, ramen had appeared on the Francia Continent.
As time passed, the types of ramen grew more varied.
Tteok ramen, where you could enjoy the chewy texture of rice cakes along with it.
Seafood ramen, where seafood that paired well with the spicy broth was the main draw.
Cheese ramen, which delivered a clearly different flavor even though it only added a single slice of cheese to basic ramen, and so on.
Oswald, who had been forced to go without ramen for over a month, fell into anguish over what to choose.
He still had other street food delivered through Dean and Austin.
But when it came to ramen, he refused to bend his own philosophy that it had to be eaten immediately after it was served, not delivered, and only by coming to the food truck in person.
The suffering he endured for that principle made him hesitate over which ramen was best suited to relieve it.
"Alright, I've decided."
"Which ramen would you like?"
"The ramen I ate on the first day."
They said the key to ramen was the broth.
Oswald, who was serious about ramen, chose the first day's ramen, the one that left an unforgettable memory on his tongue.
On the morning of the completion ceremony, the dwarves hung banners all over the buildings they had designed and finished themselves.
"Welcome to Dwarf Town!"
Geshtain and the other dwarves asked Jinseo to name their new settlement, and after much thought, Jinseo made the safe choice of "Dwarf Town."
Today, with the embassy completed as the final building of Dwarf Town, many people attended the completion ceremony.
The first special guest invited was Jinseo, who provided the land that made it possible to build Dwarf Town.
"I didn't think this many humans would gather..."
"I want this completion ceremony or whatever to end quickly so we can go eat."
"But do completion ceremonies in the human world have to go through a process like that? It's truly unusual."
"Not exactly. They say it's the way things are done in Jinseo's country."
"Is that so? No wonder it felt like it had some kind of flair..."
"If Jinseo's country does it that way, then of course we should follow it."
The dwarves, now a total of twenty with ten more added the day before via teleportation magic from the Ashred Continent, wore proud smiles.
Then they looked at the special guests standing in front of a long ribbon.
At Fedora's insistence, the completion ceremony began by recreating a ribbon-cutting scene she had seen in dramas.
"Alright, we'll begin!"
Nero and Owl held the ribbon's two ends in their mouths while floating in midair, and the participants in the cutting lined up in front of it.
There were five people holding scissors.
Geshtain, Fedora, Hayward, who made a major contribution in diplomacy with the dwarves through his drinking capacity, Oswald, and Jinseo.
"Now! Everyone, applause! Please applaud!"
When Jinseo, standing in the center, cut the ribbon, the others followed with their scissors.
But perhaps because it was such an unfamiliar sight, the ordinary attendees at the ceremony clapped while only staring blankly at the cut ribbon.
It really does feel flat without camera flashes popping everywhere.
Jinseo gave a bitter smile as he looked at the people clapping with dazed faces.
Next, Fedora, who came as the representative of the Hairem Order, knelt on both knees in front of the embassy's main gate and offered a prayer, bestowing a blessing on Dwarf Town.
Finally, Geshtain, the person in charge of Dwarf Town and the one who came to the Francia Continent as an ambassador, began his congratulatory speech.
Construction ended long ago, but it was striking that he was still wearing a construction helmet and safety goggles.
"Ahem. Can you hear me? It seems you can. That's a relief."
After confirming his magically amplified voice echoed far, Geshtain shoved the cotton work gloves he was wearing into his pants pocket.
"First, I would like to thank everyone who came to see this completion ceremony. Next, I would also like to extend my thanks to everyone who helped. According to the records, the last time we dwarves interacted with humans was exactly 352 years and 50 days ago. After that long time, today is the first day that new exchange between dwarves and humans begins."
Geshtain mentioned the historically important fact, but kept it short so it would not be boring.
"We dwarves welcome your visits at any time. We also welcome exchanges that benefit both sides. However, since Dwarf Town was built on the territory of Lee Jinseo, the owner of the sacred relic, the highest priority for us dwarves is Lee Jinseo's opinion. After that, please understand that we will prioritize the Doren Kingdom's proposals."
The special guests and dwarves nodded at the same time, accepting Geshtain's words.
You really don't have to go that far...
With everyone's eyes on him, Jinseo scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Ah! I forgot the most important thing. The name of this place, our new settlement, is Dwarf Town. Dwarf Town! Please call it that from now on! And there is one more most important announcement."
Geshtain paused his speech and cleared his throat.
"As part of exchange between dwarves and humans, we will be holding a soccer tournament!"
Huh? A soccer tournament?
Jinseo was left stunned by Geshtain suddenly announcing a tournament with no context.
"Soccer? That sport where you play with a ball?"
"I heard it's extremely popular in the capital!"
The people who had been uneasy with the completion ceremony itself began murmuring at the word soccer.
"After the tournament, we plan to establish a soccer league as well, based on the response. The number of teams participating in the league is currently set at six."
As the reaction around him heated up unlike before, Geshtain took it further and started excitedly going on about the soccer league.
"A team made up of dwarves, a knight order team centered on the Falstead knights, and up to three teams made up of Falstead Castle residents will be formed, and the remaining one team will be joining soon. Separately, we are also planning a youth soccer league for children, so you can look forward to that."
This feels less like an embassy completion ceremony and more like a local soccer league launch announcement...
As he listened to Geshtain's speech drifting farther from its original purpose, Jinseo felt his head start to throb.
He pressed his fingertips to his aching temple and looked up at the sky, then froze as if turned to stone.
Something even more headache-inducing entered his view.
"Oh ho, you came up with something interesting!"
At a voice echoing from the sky, Nero and Owl flinched and fled into the additional trailer.
Seeing that, every special guest except Jinseo wore an expression that said, "It's finally here."
"It's been a long time, you wretches!"
It was the bold entrance of the most special guest at the completion ceremony, Charlotte.
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