The Blacksmithing Town of Corky (1)

First order of business: we sold off the thieves at an inn town along the way.

With the extra income, our pockets were warm. Though they weren't exactly cold to begin with, so this was all pocket money.

… Well, I did feel like we sold them cheap, but dragging them along on foot would have been a pain. I didn't want to slow down our travel to match the thieves' walking pace either.

"So, Gozoh. What kind of place is Corky?"

"Ah, it's called the blacksmithing town. Me and Kantra's families are from there, so we'll be staying a bit longer."

"Hoho… The blacksmithing town, so there must be a lot of dwarves?"

"It's got the nickname 'Dwarf Village' too. Though the actual original Dwarf Village is further into the mountains."

I see. So Gozoh and Kantra's families are there. In that case, maybe I could stay for about a week and sleep in?

"There's also lots of taverns. Only beans and potatoes for bar snacks though… Man, I'd kill for some fried chicken and fries."

"Are there cooks who can do deep frying?"

"If you searched the town, maybe you'd find one… nah, if there were, they'd be the talk of the town. Didn't realize it, but being able to deep fry is court chef level…"

It seemed like Gozoh and the others were planning to blow all the extra income from the thieves at the tavern.

As for deep frying, according to the teachings of Food God Ishidaka, it was a licensed skill.

You wouldn't be issued a license unless you could freely deep fry over an open campfire. Probably because he didn't want the technique spreading too much, given the fire hazard.

Since you needed an environment where you could practice freely with expensive oil, that alone naturally limited the numbers. You couldn't self-teach either, which limited it further. As a result, it had become a secret art of the food god's faith.

In our village, Kinue and Wozuma had already acquired licenses. An examiner came from Pavera to test and issue them.

"Do you have souvenirs for your family?"

"I brought a bottle of nihonshu from my end, so that's more than enough."

"Oh! You're so thoughtful, Roppu."

"Really, this isn't my style at all."

At Roppu shrugging and sighing, Rokuko jumped in.

"… Roppu, you look rough around the edges, but you're surprisingly attentive. This must be what they call 'good wife material,' right?"

"Wha!? D-Don't tease me, Rokuko!"

"I wasn't joking. I just want to learn from you."

Roppu and Rokuko had really hit it off. Huh, Rokuko actually had decent social skills?

Before I knew it, she'd become friends with Shikina too… Really, when did that happen? While I was sleeping, I guess.

 

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And so we arrived at Corky's gate.

The larger towns in the empire all seemed to have similar construction, surrounded by large stone walls. I wasn't sure if that was the Raverio Empire's architectural style or just the technology of the era.

Or maybe making them with magic resulted in uniform walls like this.

At the gate, we had our escort quest slip, so we got through smoothly. The merchant had a cargo inspection to deal with, so the quest was considered complete at the gate.

After getting the completion sign-off and receiving the reward, Wataru came back over.

"Yo, long time no see."

"It hasn't been long at all, Kehma-san! You really kept shoving me off to the merchant's wagon the whole trip. That was terrible!"

"I was helping you fully commit to the quest you accepted. Call it being considerate of my comrades."

"Hmph, fine then. I've been telling the merchant all sorts of exaggerated stories about you, so the rumor of 'Kehma, the strongest adventurer even a hero can't beat' should spread nicely."

Why are you doing unnecessary things?

"Ah, no, I'm kidding. I know Kehma-san doesn't like that stuff. I properly kept our relationship vague."

"Well, that's fine then… Alright, shall we head to the guild?"

With that, we directed the carriage toward the Adventurer Guild.

With the clang of hammers on metal echoing around us as we went, it really did feel like the Dwarf Village.

By the way, female dwarves looked like young girls from a human perspective. Legal lolis, if you will. Personally, I was glad they weren't the bearded type… Well, dwarves could apparently tell the difference among themselves.

Also, as we made our way down the street, despite it being midday, there were dwarves drinking at food stalls and adventurer parties toasting. There were mostly dwarves, but also humans, elves, beastkin, and others, all noisily drinking together.

Those people about two sizes larger than the others were giants? Huh, I'd thought they were regular humans. And those with wings growing from them… winged people were a thing too? Different from bird-type beastkin, apparently. First time I'd seen them. We didn't have any in our village… Apparently both were more common further south. I wonder how human classification works.

"Hey, Ichika. What's good to eat here?"

"Hmm, the sake, basically. There's meat, potatoes, and beans too, but they're all just side dishes for the sake… Rokuko-sama, can ya drink sake?"

"I don't really like it. It's bitter."

Oh Rokuko, getting interested in food now. Had Ichika corrupted her?

Also, even if Rokuko looked older now, she still only looked about fifteen. Was it even okay for her to drink at that age? Come to think of it, did she drink at the Dungeon Battle afterparty? I couldn't remember.

"Then there are fruit cocktails. That should be easy to drink even for Rokuko-dono."

"Shikina. I've been thinking, wouldn't the fruit juice taste better just as juice on its own?"

"… Well, if you don't like it, there's no need to force yourself to drink."

Just as Rokuko brushed off Shikina, we arrived at the Adventurer Guild.

"Right, I'll go unload the cargo. Wataru, watch the wagon."

"Hm? Gozoh's the one going in? … Well, your family's here, so I guess you know people."

"Yeah, that's right."

We carried the delivery quest's cargo into the guild.

I'd expected adventurers to be drinking inside, but surprisingly, this Adventurer Guild didn't have a tavern at all.

"This is the Dwarf Village's Adventurer Guild, but it doesn't have a tavern?"

"There's plenty of places to drink around without adding one here, right? No point. Though people do bring stuff in and get rowdy sometimes."

That made sense. No need to force a tavern in and create extra work.

We brought the cargo to the counter. There was a plump young girl there… probably a female dwarf. Yeah. She was wearing makeup and had the air of a seasoned receptionist.

"Yo, Anita! I've got a delivery quest, can you confirm it?"

"Oh, long time no see, Gozoh! About a year, right?"

"Been away dealing with stuff elsewhere. I'm about to become B-Rank now."

"B!? Hey, Guild Master! Get over here, Gozoh says he's B-Rank!"

"What!? Is that really true, Gozoh!? That's great! We can't just stand here, it's time for a drinking party!"

A bearded dwarf came out from the back of the guild when summoned by the receptionist dwarf. "Guild Master" wasn't his name; he was literally the guild master. Was it really okay to jump straight to a drinking party in the middle of the day? Was there some unwritten rule that guild masters should be slackers?

"Hey Kehma. By the way, Anita is the guild master's wife, so don't go making moves on her, yeah?"

"I wouldn't. Who do you think I am?"

"A loli killer… Oh, right, dwarves look like young girls to humans. But Kehma, you can actually tell them apart? As expected of a discerning loli killer."

"No, uh, yeah. Well, I can sort of tell, but could you stop with that phrasing? It makes me sound like a pervert. By the way, how old is she actually?"

"Hm? Let's see, I think…"

While Gozoh and I were talking like that, the receptionist Anita started patting my shoulder repeatedly.

"Hey, hey! You're one of Gozoh's party members? You look pretty scrawny."

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm not exactly…"

"Anita. This is Kehma. He's Golen Village's village chief, not a party member. More like our commander. He looks scrawny, but I'm becoming B-Rank basically thanks to him."

"Oh my! So you're Kehma-kun! Then you're like Gozoh's benefactor! My, my, thank you for taking care of our Gozoh. You'll have a drink too, right, Kehma-kun?"

"No, I can't really drink sake, so just the snacks for me."

"You can't drink sake!? Is it some serious illness? You poor thing, so young you don't even have a beard…"

"Ah, yeah, that's fine…"

Ah, this was an auntie. She looked like a loli, but she was completely an auntie on the inside. I caved in to the relentlessly high-energy loli auntie.

I never did find out her actual age… Was asking a woman's age taboo here too? Best to give up for now.