Five Elders and Mashiro

"The specs were a bit too good for everyday wear, huh. The Silk Spider cloth we bought from Kari-chan was pretty high quality, wasn't it?"

"But I'm satisfied since she wore it at least once."

"Putting a different enchantment on each frill of the gothic dress and layering them might have been overkill."

"Making it hard to take off once she'd put it on was a problem. Improvements, improvements."

"Could she at least keep the headdress…? No?"

The Five Elders were having a lively reflection meeting in the living room of the base when a wolf beastkin carrying a wooden crate on her shoulder passed by.

It was Mashiro, the A-rank adventurer who regularly came to this base to use the bath.

"Hm? New faces? If you're here, that means you're Karina's acquaintances, right? Nice to meet ya."

Mashiro flashed a toothy grin. With her wolf head, depending on how you looked at it, it was the kind of smile that might make children cry. However, the Five Elders understood from their centuries of life experience that this was simply a genuine beastkin smile, so they did not cry.

"Oh? A fluffy-type beastkin. Nice to meet you."

"Heya. Friends of Kari-chan?"

"So fluffy, nice fur…"

"So soft and puffy. I wanna pet her."

"Wild charm? Seems like the type Kari-chan would like."

The first meeting between the Five Elders and Mashiro began with such casual greetings.

And then, the Five Elders immediately began casting appraising gazes at Mashiro.

You could call it an occupational hazard.

What weapons does she use? What kind of equipment would suit her? What enchantments would match?

They just couldn't help observing and assessing people.

For the Five Elders, five seconds of observation was enough to gauge an adventurer's general capabilities.

—The only one they couldn't read was Karina.

That one looked like nothing but an amateur despite having a dragon following her around.

"Hmm. Decent skill, but could use a bit more."

"Good speed. Would like to boost it a little more though."

"This fluffiness could be polished up even more."

"B… no, barely A-rank? Still has room for development."

"No doubt the wild style suits her."

Their assessment was something like 'so-so.'

The Five Elders, who knew the pinnacle of craftsmanship, had rather harsh standards.

"Huh? What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. Just an occupational habit."

"We're dwarves, y'know. All of us are craftswomen."

"As an apology, we'll make you something sometime. Won't be free though."

"Since you're Kari-chan's friend, we'll give you a special discount."

"But we'll need at least the material costs."

The five smiled warmly at Mashiro.

"Hmm. Well, if that's all it is, then fine. You all seem older than me, and I ain't so uptight that I'd complain about something like this. I'm saving up money right now so I don't have the spare cash, but I'll take you up on that offer sometime."

Mashiro waved her hand dismissively.

Yes, Mashiro was currently saving money to commission equipment from the Five Elders, who were acquaintances of Karina.

So she didn't have the means to commission something from unknown craftswomen she'd just met, even if they did seem a few years older than her.

… Seeing this reaction, Vermilion, also known as Mie-chan, the First of the Five Elders, started whispering.

"… She doesn't seem to realize who we are?"

"Seems that way, seems that way. If she knew, an adventurer would be over the moon."

"Not that she's blind… I guess news of us getting younger hasn't spread yet."

"What do we do? Should we properly introduce ourselves?"

"Since we have the chance, I kinda want to play along. It'll be good to see how people will react to us from now on."

As a result, they settled on the approach of "keeping quiet until Kari-chan introduces us."

Just as the five had decided on their approach, Mashiro called out to them.

"Hey. Since we've just met and all, wanna have a drink? I happened to bring some Crawler liquor that I was gonna leave here. I bought in bulk since it's a bit cheaper that way, but I feel like I bought too much."

Might be a little short for drinking with five dwarves though, Mashiro said as she clunked the crate of liquor down on the living room table.

"Evaluation revised upward. This girl's a good kid."

"Yeah, yeah, I could draw out even more of her talent!"

"I think I'll make her a brush."

"I'd be willing to lend a hand for this. Super special price."

"Conversely, I'm feeling the urge to dress her up in cute clothes."

The fact that this was Karina's base made her definitely 'one of their people.'

The fact that despite saying she was saving money, she offered to treat them to drinks as a welcome gesture.

Their harsh evaluation readily turned sweet.

(For dwarves, people who treat you to drinks are fundamentally good people.

Because they treat you to drinks.)