1.
The Sun Dwarf who started the war.
In other words, that war criminal... was Voldr standing before me?
For a moment, I had no idea how to react.
"I believed that if I acquired the elves’ techniques, I could lead the Sun Dwarves to greater heights."
"..."
His methods had been wrong.
Though this was something only I could say.
The theory itself didn’t seem entirely wrong.
I had personally experienced what happened when elven and dwarven techniques came together.
Frostless Spring.
They were stockings that could not have been made with dwarven techniques alone.
"Countless dwarves followed my choice. They must have believed it was right because the one at the forefront was a Head Craftsman... But there was no future in the direction I pointed them toward."
Just as Harngar had said.
All that remained after a war that lasted years was ruin.
"The workshops collapsed, and the line of techniques was severed. I recall there being more hands that needed burying than hands that could hold a hammer."
"..."
"Only then did I realize it. If the one leading the way loses his path—"
Voldr slowly closed his eyes.
"Everyone following behind him falls off the cliff with him."
The teacup settled onto the table.
"After the war ended, I knelt alone before the sun."
Before the sun—did he mean the Sun God?
One name did come to mind, but that wasn’t important right now.
"I prayed that I would never lose my way again. That I might see where my choices would lead, and what awaited at their end."
"...So that is how you gained those eyes..."
But.
A god wouldn’t grant a wish without demanding anything in return.
At least, every god I had encountered so far had been greedy.
Except Gaia.
"I offered up my death."
"You mean you offered up your life?"
"It is a little different."
Voldr pointed to his golden eyes.
"The right to close my eyes in peace even after my life has run its course."
"..."
At first, I didn’t understand what he meant.
"Even after my breath ceases, I cannot rest. Even after my body vanishes, I must remain in this place and endlessly watch the future to come, and the path my descendants walk."
Ah, so that was it.
He was saying that he couldn’t clock out even after death.
"Thus, I died, yet could not die completely."
His golden eyes glimmered faintly.
"Do you know what I first saw after gaining these eyes?"
The corner of his lips rose.
"New Head Craftsmen."
Voldr held up three fingers.
"The eighth, ninth, and tenth. I saw a future in which three Head Craftsmen appeared one after another."
"Isn’t that incredible?"
He had said the workshops had fallen and countless craftsmen had died.
How had three Head Craftsmen appeared in succession in such a place?
"Because we had to survive."
As if reading my expression, he smiled bitterly.
"Hardship drove the surviving dwarves before the fire. No one made them do it, yet all of them tried to overcome their trials with their own hands."
And amid that, three Head Craftsmen blossomed.
I understood what he meant.
They say heroes emerge in chaotic times, don’t they?
Perhaps the Sun Dwarves had been exactly like that.
To survive, they had no choice but to become Heirs of Fire.
"We rebuilt the fallen workshops. We continued the severed line of techniques and raised our people until no one would ever have to go hungry again."
In the end, the Heirs of Fire returned.
And there were four Head Craftsmen.
Naturally, they came to make many divine artifacts as well.
"As the gods flocked to us and offerings piled up, the Sun Dwarves entered their golden age once more."
Voldr had once driven his people into crisis.
But he acknowledged his failure.
And, with the lesson he learned from it, he rebuilt his people alongside the other Head Craftsmen.
Up to that point,
it should have been a magnificent history of rebuilding.
"Everything was perfect."
Voldr gave a hollow laugh.
"This time, I believed the sun of our people would never set. So, as my death approached, I looked into the future one final time."
"What did you see?"
His smile gradually faded.
"I would have been better off not seeing it."
After his death, the eleventh Head Craftsman, Harngar, appeared.
But.
After Harngar,
"the lineage of Head Craftsmen came to an end."
The prosperous Sun Dwarves no longer overcame trials.
The offerings from the gods, given in return for the divine artifacts that the four remaining Head Craftsmen had worked themselves to the bone to make and offer.
They could live in abundance from the gods’ offerings without ever picking up a hammer.
They could fill their bellies without leaping into the fire.
So,
there was no reason to risk their lives to overcome trials.
"...Ah."
People were the same.
Once their bellies were full, they started thinking about other things.
If food was coming into my mouth, who would risk their life by leaping into a fire?
No one wanted to become an Heir of Fire.
"The Head Craftsmen who blossomed amid hardship vanished once more because of the prosperity they themselves had created."
When those Head Craftsmen died and the Heirs of Fire vanished, so too did the divine artifacts.
The gods could no longer obtain the items they desired, and one by one, they lost interest.
The offerings and blessings ceased as well.
Belatedly, they tried to overcome trials again.
Perhaps some of them did...
But no Head Craftsman appeared, and the fire had already been cold for far too long.
"Then..."
They declined once more.
And if things became difficult again,
"couldn’t they simply overcome trials again?"
They could just overcome the trials again.
Heroes bloom amid chaos, so wouldn’t another hero emerge?
Based on Voldr’s explanation so far, yes. To honestly express what I had heard and felt,
the Sun Dwarves were one enormous log.
Only, the Heirs of Fire and Head Craftsmen were exceptionally good at carrying that log.
Listening to their history, it didn’t even seem like the other dwarves helped carry it.
‘What is with this race?’
It was like sending the eldest son to college so he could raise the family up...
Except here, instead of college, it was a pit of fire.
Voldr nodded at my words.
"The problem was that afterward, the Tower opened."
"..."
[Gasp...]
Yuna seemed to know what that meant.
And I thought I understood, too.
"As long as something bore the Sun Dwarves’ name, equipment sold, and even people who were not skilled enchanters paid money for it."
Even if the quality was poor, even if the enchantments were slapped on carelessly, humans paid for them.
And as money kept flowing in again,
the dwarves once more had no reason to overcome trials.
There was no need to strive to craft high-end work.
Money simply came pouring in.
But the gods’ blessings, and the fertile land they brought, couldn’t be replaced by human money alone...
And then.
"The Company appeared."
"These eyes cannot see the influence of outside forces. I could only tell that something among my people had changed."
From here on, I knew the details from things I had picked up here and there.
They gave food to the dwarves, who had money but were comparatively hungry, sorted out their vague systems and unclear arrangements,
and introduced a ‘human-made system.’
They promised huge sums, made unfair contracts, and provided mines and jobs.
"All I could see was the fire going out and their will fading away... Truly..."
In exchange, they took their techniques and the rights to sell their equipment.
The enchantments as well.
In the end, they even took away the possibility of the dwarves standing on their own feet.
"It was not a pleasant sight."
This was what was publicly known.
For the details, wouldn’t we need to hear from the current leader of the Sun Dwarves?
"Then... you roughly knew the future?"
"Yes."
Tap, tap.
Voldr tapped the corners of his glowing golden eyes.
"Didn’t you try to stop it?"
"What should I have stopped?"
Voldr asked me in return.
"Should I have left those who were starving to fend for themselves for fear that my people would fall into decadence?"
"..."
"Or should I have ordered them to reject prosperity in the present because the gods would leave in the distant future?"
Knowing the future
did not mean you could leave present suffering unattended.
He had gained those eyes so that he would not lose his way.
Yet in the end, Voldr had to choose that path despite knowing it led to a precipice.
"However."
Voldr looked at me again.
"Within the extinguished fire, I saw one tiny spark arise."
"Unskilled, but hot."
"...!"
Only then did I realize.
『To the descendant who has taken their first step.』
『You are unskilled. Yet you are undoubtedly hot.』
Those words had been...
said to me after all.
"During my remaining time, I engraved arrangements into the appraisal device, so that when the work I had seen appeared in the world, the descendant could find this place."
And just before his death, he had left his consciousness in the workshop.
Unable to close his eyes even after dying.
"Then you had been waiting for me from the beginning?"
"That is right."
Voldr lifted his teacup.
"I never imagined you would be human. Nor did I expect you to become a Formal Blacksmith in such a short time."
"...Ha ha."
"But that is not what matters."
Then what did he want to say to me?
Was he going to ask me to save his people? To save the Sun Dwarves?
"Is there something you want from me?"
Perhaps he would ask me to rebuild his people.
Or to become a Head Craftsman and their leader, their chief.
Honestly, even being asked for that would put me in an awkward position.
I was an Heir of Fire,
but I was human, after all.
However.
"I have no intention of asking you to save the Sun Dwarves."
"...What?"
It was not what I had expected.
"Once before, I forced upon everyone the path I believed was right. How could a man like me force another path upon you as well?"
Tap, tap.
He drained the very last sip from his teacup.
"Whether you punish and turn away from a people who have lost their pride, or pity them and help them—that is yours to decide."
I had always thought the Sun Dwarves were cool.
They had their own pride.
Craftsman’s spirit—literally, the spirit of true craftsmen, wasn’t it?
They risked their necks over every tiny detail, even their lives just to complete a single piece of equipment.
But in truth, that had been
the will of the Heirs of Fire, and the path they had walked.
The Sun Dwarves as a people... were more fragile than I had thought.
When there was no one ahead to pull them along, they sat down, and when their bellies were full, they forgot the fire.
They were just ordinary people, like those found anywhere.
What I had admired was not the race itself.
It was the path of the few people who carried that log.
I understood why the Heirs of Fire had been so superhuman and tenacious.
‘You are the future of our people.’
I also understood why that phrase had been inscribed on every piece of equipment I made after becoming a Formal Blacksmith.
It had not been an exaggeration.
Because the Heirs of Fire truly were their only hope.
"You are an Heir of Fire. All Sun Dwarves must follow you. You can even regulate the amount of magic crystals; anything is possible."
So I could punish them and turn away.
Or pity them and help them.
Voldr had told me to choose one of those two options.
But I thought...
"Shouldn’t we separate them from the Company first?"
Their history was about blooming amid crisis, after all.
I had no intention of starving them and forcing them into trials.
But neither did I intend to light the fire for them myself.
Why should I?
I didn’t hate them enough to punish them, nor was I worried enough to pity them.
But.
The outside hand that had taken even their option to pick up a hammer again with their own hands.
I would remove only that.
"Only the outside factor."
If I removed only the cause that had destroyed even the structure that would let them rise on their own,
"well, if we return things to their original state, we’ll find out whether there really is no hope for them... or whether the Company truly was the problem."
The Tower was open, and climbers never stopped coming.
Demand for equipment had never died, not even once.
Only, that structure was currently being devoured by the Company.
"And besides... there’s still a place that has its head on straight, isn’t there?"
The 89th floor.
That place had not yet yielded to the Company.
"..."
After quietly listening to me, Voldr finally nodded.
"Neither punishing nor saving them."
He chuckled.
"You intend to heat them up and judge them, like iron?"
"Maybe so."
"Indeed, you truly are a blacksmith."
It sounded like praise to me.
"I said to come here when you lost your way, but..."
"..."
"It seems you did not come here because you had lost your way."
"I realized it on my way here."
I did not need to be perfect.
What mattered in making a hammer was my own mindset.
Hey, you said I was the future, didn’t you?
"I’m an Heir of Fire."
The last Heir, at that.
"I’ll separate you from the Company."
I would separate them from that force which had compelled them to lose their pride.
The bare minimum duty of an Heir of Fire.
I should at least pay the price for the techniques I had received.
After that, whether they rose again or remained where they were was up to the dwarves.
But first,
I had to stand on my own two feet.
"I’ll just... keep doing what I’ve been doing."
"..."
"I’ll make hammers."
I had no intention of leading the dwarves.
I just...
planned to live while making equipment.
At Dolores’s side.
And then.
"Ah."
Swoosh...
I created a pair of earrings above my palm.
This was a dream. I could create anything I wanted.
The Cradle of Earth.
Voldr’s gaze fixed on the tree pattern engraved into the Green Jade.
"The elves... that was a good idea."
"...Huh."
"After mixing them myself,"
the Sun Dwarves’ techniques.
And the elves’ techniques.
"They go together quite well."
Voldr laughed.
Quietly at first, then until his shoulders shook.
After a long while, the old man stopped laughing and wiped the corners of his eyes.
"You were worth waiting for."
The fire in the stove gradually dwindled.
The steam from the teapot seemed to slowly lessen as well.
It seemed our time was up.
"I’ll be going now."
"...Thank you."
"...Sure."
It wasn’t like I had done anything deserving thanks.
So all I could do for him was say,
"I’ll see you again next time."
If I got the chance.
Voldr looked at me for a moment.
"All right."
He slowly nodded.
The last spark in the stove went out.
My vision... turned white.
I opened my eyes.
And what came into view before me was—
[★★★☆☆] [A name is restored to the severed lineage.]
[Title Acquired ─ 『Voldr’s Descendant』]
"...Huh?"
Maybe it was conditioning through repetition.
Now, whenever a title appeared, my body reacted like Pavlov’s dog.
[Reward]
The instant that thought occurred to me,
the room lit up a brilliant white.
"Aagh?!"
The light was bright enough to sting my eyes, and I reflexively raised an arm.
The dark room became bright in an instant.
Whoosh...
Then the light gradually faded.
Something floated before my eyes.
A fist-sized piece of ore.
It was pure white.
The color one saw when looking into a furnace heated to its limit.
It glowed softly, holding white flames deep inside the ore.
─────────────────
[White Fire Crystal][★★★★☆]
─────────────────
『An ore formed from the crystallized final ember left behind by the 7th Head Craftsman Voldr during his lifetime.』
『Within the ashes of an extinguished furnace, it never cooled even once for hundreds of years, waiting for a new Heir of Fire.』
『Only when struck by an Heir of Fire does the sleeping White Fire awaken.』
─────────────────
"..."
I slowly reached out.
I expected it to be hot, but the ore before me was not hot at all.
"Ha ha."
A laugh escaped me without my realizing it.
"You’ll become my hammer."
It was fitting for a reward.
The thing I needed most right now.
I had obtained ore that would become the material for my hammer.
As if answering those words,
Fwoosh.
The flame within the White Fire Crystal flared once more.
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