Chapter 104: Welcome to Dwarf Town (4) "I was wondering why she didn't show up for an event like this. Turns out she was just late."
"We should be grateful. Her mere arrival lends authority to the completion ceremony. Oh dear, look over there. He's collapsed and can't get back up. And next to him… goodness, he's actually foaming at the mouth and passed out."
"This reminds me of a few months ago... Once you get to know her, she's really kind, you know."
Most of the people who came to watch the completion ceremony were citizens of Falstead Castle who had seen Charlotte many times before.
So even at her sudden appearance, they weren't surprised and accepted it as something that simply happened.
But those who came from far away were seized by fear from the huge shadow cast over their heads, not knowing what to do.
"...She is always with everyone. If you overcome the darkness that has befallen you now, it is a path that brings you even closer to her..."
In the end, the priests of the Hairem Order, including Fedora, had to approach the people who had collapsed, take their hands one by one, and calm them through prayer.
"There was a brief disturbance, but the most special guest of this completion ceremony has arrived! Please welcome her with thunderous applause and cheers! Awakened from a long slumber, the living history itself of the Francia Continent beyond even the Doren Kingdom—Dragon Charlotte!"
On the platform, Geshtain introduced Charlotte, extending his right hand toward the sky.
"Waaaaah!"
Unlike the awkward mood during the ribbon cutting, applause rang out everywhere in genuine welcome.
Charlotte hovered in the air for a while, watching their reaction, then smiled with her eyes and responded to the cheers pouring down on her.
"Oh, why are you making such a fuss, clapping and everything. But I see some kids in bad shape..."
"Please don't worry about such trivial matters and come on in!"
"Alright. I'll just land over there, right? See you in a bit!"
Charlotte swooped over to her own private open lot between the soccer fields.
Then, as she slowly beat her enormous pair of wings and landed on the ground, the humans riding on her back began pouring down in a rush.
"Jinseo! Good to see you!"
"It's my first time coming to Falstead Castle, but I never thought I'd arrive like this! Hahaha!"
"From above, the town the dwarves built looked amazing, you know? It would've been great if you could've seen it too!"
The village chief of Orte Harbor and the fishermen ran to Jinseo at speed, bursting with joy as they surrounded him.
Jinseo took Charlotte's arrival as a given, but he never imagined she would bring other people on her back.
So he was more than a little flustered.
And the fishermen, standing perfectly fine even after riding a dragon, just looked awkward to him.
"Um… are you alright?"
"We're always healthy! Ever since we ate your kraken fritters, we haven't even caught a cold!"
"That's not what I mean. It must've shaken a lot... Don't you get motion sick?"
"For us, who fight waves every day on a boat, that's nothing."
"Ah… okay..."
Of course, Jinseo's worry only applied to ordinary humans.
The chief patted Jinseo's left shoulder twice, and Jinseo sighed, realizing he had worried for nothing.
"You look tired yourself. Did something happen?"
"Something did happen. Haha..."
Jinseo forced a laugh and looked at Charlotte approaching from behind the chief.
The culprit who had worn him out was walking over in human form, calmly taking in the many gazes.
"Hello, you wretches!"
Charlotte's outfit this time was a crop top that exposed her shoulders and midriff, and dolphin shorts that fully showed her legs.
Those who had seen her before just accepted it, but for people from other regions, it was an embarrassing getup.
Even so, since she was a dragon—an existence far too terrifying to speak to—they couldn't even clear their throats and only looked away.
"Lady Charlotte, I'm pretty sure I told you repeatedly..."
Jinseo lowered his head, pressed a hand to his forehead, and let out a long sigh.
"I'm not human, so this much skin is fine, isn't it?"
"That's not the issue. When you come to Falstead Castle, I asked you to transform into a human beforehand."
"Sorry, sorry. I get what you're going to say, but it's been so long since I flew with humans on my back that I got excited and forgot. Still, it was good that I came, right?"
"Of course. But I didn't expect you to come with the people from Orte Harbor."
"I brought them because I wanted to congratulate you, and those kids said they had something to ask you."
For a moment, Jinseo thought the word kids didn't fit them at all, but when he remembered Charlotte's age, he understood.
Even so, to Jinseo, she looked like a childish niece who didn't act her age.
"Please put this on over it, at least."
Jinseo took off the short-sleeved button-up shirt he had been wearing over his T-shirt and handed it to Charlotte.
"Oh? I've seen people wear it like this on TV! You tie the bottom like this, right?"
Putting the short-sleeved shirt over her crop top, Charlotte did not button it like Jinseo intended. Instead, she proudly tied the two bottom corners together.
Whatever. She's a dragon anyway, and no one's going to say anything.
Scratching the back of his head, Jinseo decided to just let it be.
"But is the completion ceremony already over? Didn't it still have a long way to go?"
"That's not it."
"Then why is that guy running over there?"
Charlotte pointed at the empty platform with her right index finger, then pointed west.
Geshtain, who should have been on the platform, was rushing through the crowd at top speed, and the other dwarves were fiercely chasing after him.
The large saddle lay where she had landed.
Overwhelmed by its imposing size, large enough to cover the back of a gigantic dragon, people only stared at it from afar.
But the dwarves pushed through them and boldly approached.
"Isn't this made entirely of adatyum? The Ashred Continent is overflowing with adatyum, sure, but this is the Francia Continent. You poured that much into making a saddle this big? Is that why adatyum ran dry on the Francia Continent?"
"Wait, there are traces of magic left on the saddle… this is a magic formula I've never seen before!"
"More than that, whoever dared to even think of putting a saddle on Lady Charlotte's back is incredible. It makes me want to crack their head open and look inside."
The dwarves clung to the large saddle with serious faces, inspecting it piece by piece in meticulous detail.
"And the joining method used here..."
"Geshtain, you thought so too?"
"This looks like our technique."
Geshtain studied the handles attached all over the saddle, looking puzzled.
"Honestly, you always were like this, but you really do have sharp eyes. That's right."
Charlotte suddenly appeared behind the dwarves and tapped the large saddle with her hand.
"This was made by your ancestors. Back then I was too young to use teleportation magic, so I asked for it to carry you wretches when I traveled."
"Th-Then when exactly was that?"
"Please tell us!"
The dwarves who had been examining the saddle scurried to her, pressing her for an answer, and she stared off into the distance, searching her memory.
"Let's see… about three thousand years ago, I think? But flying isn't easy, so the wretches on my back would usually throw up the moment they got down. So an elf mage put a spell on it to prevent motion sickness. There were all kinds of other spells too, but after thousands of years, most of them faded away."
Charlotte brushed a layer of dust off the large saddle with her fingertips.
Names she no longer remembered… names carved with blade tips by comrades who could not overcome the passage of time and left before her, now reduced to faint traces.
As her fingertips traced them, her expression turned subtle.
"Ah… an inheritance from our ancestors! If possible, could you lend it to us for research? Please, we beg you!"
"This is an object with precious memories for me too, but you won't break it, right?"
"Of course! We'll return it carefully without touching even a single hair!"
"Then how are you going to research it? Just look at it in a way that won't leave scratches, and return it. You know what I mean, right?"
"Yes!"
The moment Charlotte gave permission, Geshtain and the other dwarves began cheering and bouncing in place.
Like archaeologists who had just unearthed ancient ruins at a dig site.
"Guardian dragon big sister!"
"Big sister! We missed you!"
The orphanage children pushed through the crowd, ran to Charlotte, and clung to her legs.
They had come hoping Charlotte might show up at the completion ceremony of Dwarf Town, but with the huge crowd, they couldn't do anything and had only been watching from far away.
The ones who spotted them and brought them over were Jinseo and Fedora.
"I told you I'm not a guardian dragon. And I'm definitely not big sister. Call me Grandma."
"No way~ Where is there a grandma in the world who looks like big sister?"
"That kind of grandma is me."
Charlotte lowered herself by kneeling on one knee, then gently stroked each child's face with her hand.
"Oh dear… why are you nothing but skin and bones? Did you kids eat properly?"
When she first saw them, they really had been nothing but skin and bones, just as Charlotte said.
After that, at her request, Jinseo fed the children until they were full, focusing on healthy food, and while he was on vacation, he asked Aston and Jason to take over.
Thanks to that, they had gained weight and become healthier, but it still wasn't enough to satisfy her.
"We always eat the street food Uncle Jinseo makes for us! It's delicious!"
"And the ones Uncle Jason and Uncle Aston make too!"
"How much do you eat?"
"Three meals a day, and they always give us snacks too! And lots of toys!"
"Only three meals? Human children are supposed to eat six meals a day, aren't they?"
At Grandma's unique standard that children should always be stuffed until their bellies burst—completely ignoring normal daily portions—Jinseo could only smile.
"But I'm much older than Jinseo, and I'm big sister, so why is Jinseo 'uncle'?"
While stroking the children's heads, Charlotte looked up at Jinseo with a pitiful gaze.
Jinseo, on the other hand, had grown so used to being called "uncle" by young children since his discharge that he accepted it without much reaction.
In Korea or on the Francia Continent, it was the same.
"Kids, since we're here, do you want to go look around Dwarf Town?"
"Yes!"
When the children answered in unison, Charlotte straightened her back and stood up.
"Then, Geshtain, guide us."
"Yes! Understood!"
Geshtain, who had been diligently examining the large saddle, answered immediately at Charlotte's call and led everyone into Dwarf Town.
"Alright, everyone! From now on, I'll introduce Dwarf Town! Please follow me!"
At Geshtain's shout, the people who had attended the completion ceremony followed behind Charlotte and the orphanage children.
With the embassy at the center, Dwarf Town was divided into two main zones, and Geshtain began by introducing the left zone.
"This is the forge district. To handle all the orders pouring in from everywhere, we greatly expanded the forge that used to be only one. Weapon crafting and repairs are a given, and there is also a shop where you can purchase farming tools and other practical goods useful for everyday life."
From the magic furnace that the mages of the Doren Mage Tower had finally managed to repair after working through the night yesterday, blazing heat poured out without rest.
"Hm, I see. Next area?"
"Yes! Please follow this way."
Leading Charlotte, who looked like she had little interest as she glanced over the forge district, Geshtain introduced a beer street built around a brewery.
"This is a tavern selling dwarf-made beer. The side dishes are mainly things we learned from Jinseo. We will officially open starting this evening, so you can look forward to it."
The children, who had not encountered alcohol yet, looked like they didn't understand, but the adults could hardly hold back their drool just from Geshtain's explanation.
"A tavern..."
Entering the tavern through the entrance, Charlotte stroked the tables and chairs made with the dwarves' distinctive sensibilities.
The weapons born under dwarven hammering all shared delicate, beautiful appearances even before their excellent performance.
But alcohol-related items, in particular, were made with the exact opposite rough look, and Charlotte newly confirmed that this had not changed even after so much time had passed.
"It was like this back then too. It feels familiar."
From the days when she hid her identity, transformed into a human, and wandered the world, taverns she often stopped by while mingling with adventurers of many races came to Charlotte's mind.
The voices of companions, loudly chattering in a lively drunken haze, seemed to still linger in her ears, and she slowly closed her eyes.
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