Chapter 98: Give the Dwarf Artisan Headpats - 1
I was on my way to hunt fatty meat for the coming winter when I found Walter arguing with someone at the village entrance.
"Did I not say that I have plenty of money?"
"It’s not about the money. You seem suspicious, so I can’t let you in."
"Tch! Does this village have no manners for receiving travelers?"
"After the recent unpleasant incident, it can’t be helped."
It looked like he was having a difficult time with a traveler who had suddenly shown up.
Normally, I would not have paid it any mind, but security had been tightened since the recent bandit attack, so I could not simply walk past.
"Walter, you’re on duty. Thank you for your hard work."
"Oh? Ian, come over here and help me out. This dwarf girl keeps trying to enter the village. Now that winter is properly here, we don’t have any rooms left for her to stay in."
"A dwarf?"
At Walter’s words, I immediately turned my gaze toward the traveler.
‘Gasp?!’
I was startled by the traveler’s appearance.
‘I thought she would come before winter ended. I never expected her to arrive already.’
Bronze skin and brilliantly shining platinum-blonde hair.
Teal eyes, the symbol of a dwarf, and striking buckteeth.
Despite the middle of winter, she wore a sleeveless work outfit.
A helper who appeared in every entry of the Circumstances series featuring the five heroines, and the heroine of the spin-off game [Hot Spring Circumstances].
It was Brina, the artisan in search of hot springs.
"Walter, I’ll handle this person."
"Will you? I feel bad asking you."
"Yes, just leave it to me."
"R-right. All right."
I sent Walter away and stood before Brina.
Perhaps because she had just been refused entry, her face was full of irritation.
"Hmm, do you also find me suspicious?"
"If I had to point out something suspicious, it would be that an artisan such as yourself would come to a rural village like this."
"Oh? You do have an eye for things."
She looked exactly like a young girl delighting in praise, but she was actually older than me.
"My name is Brina. I am traveling in search of a legendary hot spring."
Brina introduced herself as she raised her pickaxe.
‘I have to win her over.’
As befitted a spin-off heroine, Brina’s influence on the story was enormous.
She appeared as a helper to no fewer than five heroines.
‘By the setting, she is the most skilled dwarf artisan.’
She was this world’s finest craftswoman, capable of making every sort of weapon and armor, even siege engines.
Of course, unlike her extraordinary crafting skills, she harbored the grand dream of developing hot springs.
That was why she had wandered all over the place enough to encounter all five heroines, but everyone acknowledged her skill.
"I’m Ian, a hunter. Because of an unfortunate incident in the village, there are no rooms left for you to stay in."
"I heard from the previous man. A few houses burned down because of bandits, correct?"
"Yes. If you would not mind a cramped house, I would be honored to accommodate you myself."
"I do not concern myself with such things. Lead me there."
"Thank you."
And so, I led Brina to my in-laws’ house.
"Excuse me for intruding."
"Ian, who is that small woman?"
"Adelia, I’ll explain everything later. Could you bring Isabelle and Isolde here first?"
"Hm? All right, then."
Once Adelia left at my request, Brina looked around the house.
"This is quite a shabby house."
"I can only apologize for its poverty."
"It is all right. What matters is the kindness you showed in welcoming me as a guest. More importantly, I fear the winter wind will get in if you leave it like this."
Brina took a blunt hammer from her iron backpack and asked me,
"May I make a few repairs?"
"No. I cannot impose on a guest."
"Do not say that. Trust in my skill."
With that, Brina struck the wall several times with her hammer.
In an instant, the wall was repaired until it looked brand-new.
"You need not worry about heating for a while now."
‘Unlike in the game, she can use it on buildings too.’
The hammer Brina carried, Arcanon, was one of the ancient relics of the dwarves, with a special function on each of its two faces.
As I had just seen, one side possessed a repair function, while the other had an enhancement function, fitting for this game world.
And that was one of the reasons I absolutely had to win her over.
◆
Ian introduced Brina to the entire family.
"My name is Brina. I have come to this village in search of a legendary hot spring."
"H-hello."
"I’m Adelia. If there’s anything you need, please let me know."
"I will not trouble you, so there is no need to worry overly much."
Everyone was flustered by the sudden guest, but Ian carefully explained the situation.
"We absolutely have to make her one of us."
At Ian’s words, everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
They knew that Ian had to meet several women because of fate, but this was the first time he had openly asked all of them for help.
That only showed how important the dwarf woman named Brina was.
"Tch. I was planning to get pregnant this winter."
Isolde, who had planned to have sex with Ian throughout the winter, was annoyed by the sudden guest.
"Honey, I don’t know if I can do well, but I’ll work hard."
Meanwhile, Isabelle clenched her fist and burned with determination.
"Ian, do you know what kind of food dwarves like?"
Adelia was considering what meal to prepare for their guest.
"Just make what you usually do. Brina isn’t picky about food."
"Is that so? What a relief."
At Ian’s explanation, Adelia sighed in relief.
She had been very nervous at first, but Brina did not seem like a particularly difficult guest.
"But..."
Isolde, who had been listening, pouted irritably as she asked,
"Why does she talk like that?"
"Talk like what?"
"She calls herself ‘I’ in that weird way. And she ends every sentence strangely too."
"Oh, that? It’s because she’s a princess."
"A princess?"
"Yeah. Brina is the third princess of the Dwarf Kingdom."
Ian’s bombshell left everyone speechless.
Seeing them, Ian scratched his head awkwardly.
"Well, Brina has given up her status as a princess while she travels, so you do not have to worry about it."
"H-how can we not worry?! She’s the princess of an entire country!"
As Adelia shook Ian’s shoulders fiercely, he hurriedly answered in an attempt to calm her down.
"It’s all right. Brina is a kind person."
"B-but we can’t know that for sure."
"If you are that worried, just treat her well. Ah, and I have business with the village chief, so I’ll be back in a moment."
"I-Ian?!"
Adelia tried to grab Ian, but he had already fled.
"W-what are we supposed to do?"
"Mom, don’t worry so much. Even if she is a princess, we are not in her country."
"Trust in my husband. She is surely a good person."
The prideful Isolde pretended that everything was fine, while Isabelle, who trusted Ian unconditionally, was not worried at all.
"I-I suppose you’re right?"
Only then did Adelia feel reassured enough to carefully approach Brina.
"Um, is there anything you need... huh?"
"I was bored, so I made a few repairs here and there."
Holding her hammer, Brina was repairing every corner of the house.
"This should keep things in order for quite some time."
"Ah, well..."
"You need not thank me too much. It is only natural for a guest to repay her hosts."
‘But she has not even spent one night here?’
Adelia wanted to object, but perhaps because she was nervous, the words would not easily come out of her throat.
"Thank you for helping us."
"I merely did what was natural as a guest."
Isabelle thanked Brina on behalf of the flustered Adelia.
"Hmm, the ring on your hand does not fit properly."
"Yes, my health improved so suddenly that the ring became too small."
When Isabelle’s wedding ring had been made, she had been in poor health, so it had been made small to fit her finger. After recovering, however, it no longer fit properly.
"I will take a look at it for you."
"It is a very precious ring to me. Can you fix it without damaging it?"
"Who do you take me for? Something like this is child’s play."
Brina ran a few tools over the wedding ring, and in an instant, it was restored as if it were new.
"There, it is fixed."
"Wow, that’s incredible. Thanks to you, it doesn’t hurt at all anymore."
When it fit her finger perfectly, Isabelle exclaimed in admiration, and Brina puffed out her chest at the reaction.
Just as Ian had said, Brina was a kind-hearted woman.
Of course, the fact that she was an artisan incapable of overlooking such a shabby house also played a part.
"Ahem. If you have any items in poor condition, bring them to me. I shall repair every one of them."
"Really? Then please, I would be grateful."
.
.
.
.
.
"Hm?"
Ian, who had gone to the village chief’s house only briefly, was left speechless by the state of his home.
The shabby house had been transformed completely, as though it were a brand-new home.
The ceiling that had seemed ready to collapse at any moment and the bed that creaked every time someone lay on it were nowhere to be found.
Instead, Brina, who had been perfectly fine just moments ago, was half-dead.
No matter how much dwarves revered labor, they were not supposed to work themselves to the point of exhaustion.
"What on earth happened in that short time?"
Ian asked with a dumbfounded expression, but Isabelle merely looked everywhere but at her husband, avoiding his gaze.
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