Chapter 102: Welcome to Dwarf Town (2) Clack-clack.Scrape-scrape.
Construction, which had been briefly halted due to Jinseo's return, was able to pick up even more speed from the afternoon onward thanks to additional manpower joining in.
The work, which had already been progressing quickly thanks to the dwarves' skilled hands, became even more efficient once Jinseo's tools were added.
"At first it felt stifling, but once you get used to it, it's pretty good."
"It would be good for fieldwork too. He said there are plenty of spares, so once we're done today, let's get some from Jinseo."
The dwarves, following Jinseo's advice and wearing safety goggles and masks, were freed from all kinds of dust and could focus on their work without hesitation.
"Cut me some blue tape!"
"How much?"
"About this long!"
At his coworker's request, Geshtain cut the blue tape into palm-length strips, then lightly stuck the ends onto a wooden post so they could be torn off and used as needed.
With its strong adhesive and tough durability, blue tape was a common work tool in Korea, but to the dwarves, it was practically "Korean magic" itself.
"I had trouble using a shovel because I'm short, but this fits us perfectly! It's great!"
"When we're done today, starting tomorrow, let's mass-produce this 'field shovel' right away."
"Th-Then while you're making them, could you sell some to us?"
"Of course! No, since you helped us, I'll just make them for you!"
Unfortunately, a regular shovel was difficult for short dwarves to use properly.
So Jinseo hurriedly gave them a few field shovels he usually carried around instead, and they immediately became wildly popular.
The dwarves praised them as perfectly suited to their build, and even the knights and soldiers who had been helping with construction using Jinseo's shovels tried the field shovel once and reacted so strongly that they asked the dwarves to make them.
"Hey! Watch out!"
At the shout from a dwarf working on the second floor, everyone who had been working hard turned to look in the direction of the voice.
Thud!
"Huh? What's that?"
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, was it this rock? I barely even felt getting hit."
"Why are you making such a fuss? A rock that size wouldn't even leave a scratch."
When another dwarf working nearby snapped at him, the dwarf who had been hit frowned.
"It's annoying to get hit, that's why! Annoying! Anyway, the helmet Jinseo gave us really works!"
The dwarf who had been hit in the head by a fist-sized rock on the lower floor tapped the helmet he was wearing with his right hand, which was covered in cotton work gloves.
"They said it was made for human males, so I thought it would be big, but it fits perfectly without being loose, so it's comfortable too."
Dwarves were much shorter than humans, but their heads tended to be slightly larger than a human's, so there was no need for a small size.
For the same reason, they could also wear the same safety goggles and masks humans used.
Wheeeee.
Craid and Hayward roughly cut down trees near the construction site with Jinseo's new "logging tool" in their hands.
Commonly called an electric saw—but more accurately, a portable saw that does not use electricity: a chainsaw.
At the power of the chainsaw, which tore through trees brutally, the two men were delighted.
"Craid, I've been thinking about it..."
Hayward, after turning off the chainsaw, looked down at the tree trunk left as a stump.
"This thing called an electric saw… it feels like a waste to use it only for cutting trees."
"So you thought that too."
Wood fragments spraying everywhere—something you never saw when chopping with an axe.
And the unique roaring noise and its bold design, unlike anything they had ever seen before.
All of it made a man's blood boil.
"If you imbue aura into the spinning blade... man, it'd be insane."
"It would make a fine way to 'talk' to monsters."
Craid closed his eyes and let his imagination run.
Surrounded by countless monsters, standing alone, electric saws in both hands.
The moment he pulled the cord to start them, monsters were shredded amid the fiercely spinning blades and the roar spreading in all directions.
Just imagining it made a smile bloom on Craid's lips.
"I brought snacks!"
When Jinseo entered the construction site carrying a large cardboard box over each shoulder, the workers ran toward him as if they had been waiting.
Jinseo had filled two boxes to the brim with snacks.
One of them was a quantity meant solely to fill Craid's stomach.
"Street food after sweating hits different."
Crunch, crunch.
After hard physical labor, you naturally crave something sweet.
Craid shoved a whole box of DaXje chocolate into his mouth and chewed after stripping off the wrapping.
After quickly finishing five boxes of DaXje chocolate like that, he drank 1.5 liters of cola in one go without stopping even once.
"He really is a bold human."
"And as cool as he is tall."
"But didn't you say there's a race that doesn't live up to its 'kit value'?"
"Kit value? What was it again... Eruh? Or some race called El-something? It was in a book I read before, but I can't remember well."
The dwarves chatted while picking snacks to suit their tastes.
Even while everyone was resting, Jinseo looked down at the dwarves, who still did not take off their helmets, and realized something.
Does a helmet even mean anything for a dwarf?
He recommended helmets for safety, but considering their physical grade, it was effectively fine even if they did not wear them.
In a construction site rather than a battlefield, it was practically safe to say there were no accidents that could injure a dwarf.
Instead, it protected the safety of the humans wearing helmets alongside the dwarves, and when it came to safety rules, it was better to have everyone follow them rather than making exceptions.
When it comes to safety, it is far better to be excessive than lacking.
Fine. Let's say it's like carrying a parasol to block the sun.
Smiling, Jinseo started making instant coffee.
Before long, the snacks ran out in an instant, and after each person enjoyed a cup of instant coffee Jinseo made for them, they returned to the construction site.
After working until evening, the laborers came to Jinseo's food truck for dinner.
The budae-jjigae Geshtain had requested in advance was bubbling on a portable gas burner, and the dwarves and humans kept exclaiming in admiration as they drank the spicy broth.
"Ahh... now I'm craving a drink. That's it. Night work is canceled today. Everyone, let's have a drink!"
Geshtain opened a subspace, took out the beer barrel and beer mugs he had stored, and held out a mug to Hayward sitting beside him.
"Hayward, you should have a drink too, right?"
"No, I can't."
But even at the suggestion of drinking, Hayward's expression was dark.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Are you feeling unwell?"
"That's not it. Damn it, if only I hadn't drunk LeXbi by mistake when I was eating snacks..."
"Huh? You're not supposed to drink it?"
"If I have that, I can't sleep all day! And if I get drunk in that state, it's absolute hell!"
"That's strange. I'm fine even if I drink ten cans a day."
Unlike Hayward, who experienced coffee side effects more strongly than anyone due to job preference, dwarves could drink coffee like water with no problem.
"If I were tired at least, I could just lie down blankly, but I'm wide awake, so I can't even feel like resting..."
"Isn't that a good thing? You can just catch up on sleep later."
"It wrecks your mind, your mind... ughhh!"
Hayward wailed, resenting the version of himself from a few hours ago who had accidentally drunk coffee.
Geshtain looked at Hayward like he could not understand him and opened another can of LeXbi.
After the delegation left, the number of dwarves who remained at Falstead Castle on the Francia Continent totaled ten.
In truth, they wanted more to stay, but there were not enough necklaces imbued with translation magic to go around for all volunteers.
So for now, only ten remained.
They decided that once more necklaces were produced, they would select that many more people.
And for over a month and a half, they continued construction to prepare space where more dwarves could stay.
As the buildings under construction were completed one by one and the embassy's completion drew near, the dwarves opened their settlement to humans.
The three grass soccer fields that had been completed first were already open to everyone from before, and what opened this time was the dwarves' forge that many humans had wanted.
It had been a long time since rumors spread that the dwarves, a fantastic non-human race, possessed outstanding forging skill, so orders poured in from all over.
The dwarves handled the orders without much trouble, but then the magic-powered furnace broke down and disrupted their work.
They asked the Doren Mage Tower for repairs, but were told it was difficult until the analysis was finished because it contained unexpectedly intricate magic formulas.
Even so, orders kept coming, and the dwarves grew frantic, until Jinseo made an unexpected suggestion.
"Nero! Blow some fire, nice and hot!"
"I'm counting on you, Nero!"
-meow!-
Whoosh.
The intense flames blasted from Nero's mouth filled the furnace.
While traveling with Charlotte, and the entire time Jinseo stayed in Korea, Nero had been forced to stay hidden inside the additional trailer, but now he could release stress, freed from that period of suppression.
Belching flames to his heart's content, without anyone restraining him.
"It's running! It's running!"
"Kids! Let's get to work!"
Clang-clang-clang.
Leaving behind the sight of dwarves excitedly swinging their hammers, Jinseo looked around.
The building, created with the full force of dwarven technology, felt mysterious just to look at.
The dwarven city he had seen on the Ashred Continent had been impressive too, but since it was an enclosed space, it felt stifling.
However, the dwarven street built on the land Jinseo had lent them felt charming, and even refreshingly open.
As he walked through the street, Jinseo checked the notice board set up beside the embassy that was not yet finished.
"...There is no join fee at all. We will give soccer clothes to young boys and girls."
The flyer recruiting a morning soccer club was unusually written in three scripts.
The common script used on the Francia Continent, the script used by dwarves, and finally a section written in Korean for Jinseo.
The flyer was not written by Jinseo, but by Fedora, who had learned Korean and wrote the wording herself.
Because she enjoyed dramas, she often complained that her immersion broke whenever signs or menus written in Korean appeared.
In the end, she decided to learn Korean herself and obtained an elementary-level Korean textbook from Jinseo.
She really did put effort into it.
Since she was not Korean, there was no helping the many awkward sentences, but Jinseo was still moved in his own way when he looked at the lines she must have labored over.
But seeing this makes me think of the Rosetta Stone.
Jinseo smiled faintly, recalling an ancient Egyptian artifact.
If this really remains even after thousands of years, the descendants here might praise it as a groundbreaking relic. Though Lady Charlotte will probably still be perfectly healthy even then.
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