The Dwarf Village

"An unfamiliar ceiling…"

This time, Sei actually said it as he sat up.

He'd always been a morning person. Besides, he went to bed early last night. Looking at the clock, it was 6 AM. The sun hadn't risen yet given the season.

He sluggishly changed clothes. These were the ones Carla had prepared for him yesterday. She'd also given him a bit of money since there would be things like underwear that might be awkward to ask for.

Leaving the small four-tatami room that held no belongings, he stepped into the hallway and entered the living room. Ria and Carla were already waiting there.

"You should wake up a bit earlier. Well, since it's your first day, I'll let it slide. Let's begin training right away."

Ria handed the kitchen knife she'd been sharpening to Carla, who then began preparing breakfast.

Master and disciple then opened the sliding door to a room Sei hadn't known about. What lay beyond was a full-length mirror.

"Follow me."

Ria stepped into the mirror. Marveling at the fantastical sight, Sei followed after her.

It was a pure white space.

The sky was white, the ground was white, and the horizon stretched endlessly white. There was nothing but the mirror.

And for some reason, his body felt heavy. It wasn't his imagination. Walking around was fine, but even a light jog would leave him winded.

"Currently, this space has gravity increased by ten percent and atmospheric density reduced by one percent. You understand why we're training here, right?"

"To put strain on the body and improve muscle strength and cardiopulmonary function."

"Correct. For now, let's do some warm-up exercises, then try a light run."

When they did stretching exercises, Ria let out a pleased sound at Sei's flexibility.

"Good, you really do have quite the aptitude."

Those words made Sei remember something.

"Um, you said I have no talent but I do have aptitude. What did you mean by that?"

He remembered it clearly. It was this black-haired goddess who had said that.

"Talent means hearing one thing and understanding ten. That's what talent is. Aptitude, on the other hand, means if you're taught one thing you learn one thing, if you study ten things you steadily learn ten things."

"Can aptitude beat talent?"

"Talent has a flaw. Because they're talented, they can become complacent or skip necessary steps to reach great heights. With aptitude, depending on your effort, you can beat talent."

At that, Ria grinned broadly.

"Fortunately, you have the aptitude to not break no matter how harsh the training."

Sweat ran down Sei's spine. He had a really bad feeling about this.

Sei started running, but his breath quickly grew ragged. His legs felt heavy. Not from muscle fatigue, but actually heavy.

Though his chin was rising with exhaustion, he must have run several kilometers. Before he knew it, he was back at the starting point.

"Alright, shall we try an actual sparring match? A katana is fine, right?"

What the beaming Ria handed him was an actual sword with a real blade.

Ria herself held a wooden sword.

"Uh, is this really okay?"

There's a saying that wooden swords and real swords have similar lethality, but this was his first time holding an actual bladed weapon.

"It's fine. I'll go easy on you at first. Come at me with everything you've got."

That wasn't really the issue, but despite his hesitation, Sei raised the katana toward Ria.

The katana he swung down struck Ria's shoulder… and stopped.

"No good. The blade isn't aligned properly. Besides, a katana isn't for striking—it's for cutting."

Saying that, Ria raised her wooden sword with one hand. The next instant, the wooden sword vanished.

Then an invisible attack struck Sei's shoulder and magnificently shattered his ribs.

Match over. But Ria's attacks didn't stop.

Invisible blows struck his entire body. With each hit, his bones were definitely being crushed.

"What's wrong? You have pain resistance, don't you? You should still be able to move."

No, if your bones are shattered, that's just not possible.

Sei crumpled on the spot, and only then did Ria crack a wry smile as if thinking she might have overdone it a bit.

And the training didn't end there.

"Restore."

His destroyed body was completely returned to normal.

And then the invisible wooden sword shattered all his bones again.

"Restore."

He held up his katana and focused purely on defense. Ria slowly swung her wooden sword at him.

By the third strike, he was in a position where his body couldn't move. Joints don't bend the wrong way, after all.

Then the wooden sword slowly swung down and destroyed his skull.

Sei was finally able to lose consciousness.

When he came to, he was in the living room.

"You're awake. Time for the meal."

Ria was acting as if nothing had happened, but in that moment, Sei was certain he had died.

Immortal. Was that really true? It didn't feel real.

"Honestly, going overboard on the very first day."

What Carla brought out was a Western-style breakfast. Sei preferred Japanese food, but of course he wasn't going to complain.

"Well, it's my first time having a disciple I can train at full power. I got a little too enthusiastic."

Ria said it so casually, but it seemed he really had died.

"Sorry for killing you right off the bat. Well, since it's the first day, let me show you around the settlement this morning."

"In the afternoon, I'll teach you about magic. Unfortunately, I can't enter that space, so I'll teach you in this room."

"We're doing it here?"

"That space has negative effects on pregnant women. Don't worry. When it comes to teaching magic, Carla is better than me. You could even say she's the best in the world."

Sei finished his meal while chewing properly to aid digestion.

"Thanks for the meal."

When he brought the dishes to the sink, he was told to just leave them soaking in water. He gratefully did so.

Ria folded the newspaper-like thing she'd been reading and stood up.

He'd thought this before, but this woman had a beautiful standing posture. Her mannerisms were quite like an old man's, though.

"Well then, I'm off. I'm counting on you for the shop."

They kissed again, and Ria headed downstairs.

Following her, Sei realized he hadn't seen the first floor of this house yet.

The first floor sold weapons and armor. Dim light filtered in through the glass entrance, creating a rugged yet mysterious atmosphere.

"The first floor is a weapon and armor shop. Most of it is made by me, though there are also works by my disciples and acquaintances."

It piqued Sei's interest considerably, but Ria headed outside through the back door. Sei hurriedly followed.

When they stepped outside, it was a fantasy world.

More than half of the people walking around were humans who only came up to Sei's chest—dwarves. However, their arms were as thick as logs.

And there were races other than dwarves. Upright walking dogs and cats. And ones who were about the same height as dwarves but looked like children… were they actually children?

"The small, slender ones are mostly halflings. The small, stocky ones are dwarves. Then there are cat beastkin, kobolds, and occasionally other types of beastkin."

"Elves! Are there no elves!?"

The god of Earth had said they existed. Elves should be standard equipment for an isekai fantasy.

"Elves live in the forests, so you don't normally see them. Occasionally traveling elves come by to shop."

Sei was a little disappointed, but Ria kept walking confidently down the main road. She entered the largest building at the back of the village.

"Grand Master, are you here!"

The sound of metal being hammered was already echoing from early morning. Ria's voice rang out over it.

"What is it, making such a racket in the morning."

What emerged from the back was a white-haired dwarf with deep wrinkles carved into his face.

"This is my new disciple. We'll be staying in the village for a while, so I'm counting on you."

"I'm Sei. Please take care of me."

"Hmm, he's thin."

The Grand Master glared at Sei, then deliberately said loud enough to be heard, "I wonder how many days this one will last…"

"Well, I've learned to hold back recently. Besides, this one's tough."

She said hold back, but she'd just killed him once earlier.

"I see. Well, there's no doubt that being trained by Ria will make him strong. Do your best."

"Yes."

After leaving the Grand Master's house-cum-workshop, the two entered a workshop right nearby.

"Good morning, Anego!"

A dwarf who was forging greeted them without stopping his work. So this must be Ria's workshop.

"I'll introduce him to everyone. This is Sei, my new disciple. I won't be teaching him smithing, but keep an eye on him for me."

"If it's not smithing, then it's the fighting side?"

"That's right."

When Ria said that, everyone made uniformly pitying expressions.

Sei had a bad feeling about this, but after Ria gave a brief explanation, she quickly left the workshop.

After that, they visited the inn-slash-bar-slash-restaurant, the general store, the magic item shop, and others. It was about noon by then.

"The mountain to the north is the mine. It mostly produces iron, but there's a bit of mithril too."

"Mithril? You have that? What about orichalcum?"

"Orichalcum is quite rare. Well, I do have a fair amount of it."

"Does it cut really well?"

"I prefer iron. Orichalcum isn't bad, but I use it more often for armor. For katanas, iron is best."

When they returned home, Carla had already prepared lunch and was waiting.

It was a well-balanced meal of meat, vegetables, and grains. Come to think of it, since coming to this world, he hadn't experienced a bad meal.

"What's the food quality like in this world? Is Carla-sensei just exceptionally good at cooking?"

"There's no doubt Carla is skilled at cooking, but the quality of food depends on the region. Poor countries have poor food."

Those circumstances were probably the same as on Earth.

"Now then, shall we study magic after a short rest?"

When Carla said that, Sei's excitement rose higher than ever before.