Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord

The second volume of the carefree lord book version and the first volume of the comic version are now on sale!

Each has its own original side story!

Please be sure to check them out!

At Havel’s sudden declaration, the dwarves themselves were more surprised than we were, their eyes wide with shock.

“H-Havel!?”

“What are you planning to do with the Orichalcum ore!?”

Turning to the flustered dwarves, Havel dropped to his knees and bowed his head. The dwarves gasped at Havel’s posture, which was almost like a dogeza—a deep, formal apology.

“Sorry! I know it’s selfish of me! But I want to forge this weapon with my own hands! I want to try forging the supreme weapon...!”

It was truly a cry from the soul. At this blood-pouring shout, the dwarves could only remain silent, watching Havel bow his head.

“...I see.”

“If Havel intends to bury his bones here...”

The dwarves began to slowly acknowledge Havel’s resolve. However, their expressions grew even darker.

“Still, we can’t change the fact we need to find Orichalcum ore.”

“If Havel, our best craftsman, is gone, entering the mountains of other countries will be extremely dangerous.”

“What should we do...?”

The dwarves exchanged worried looks as they discussed the matter. Seeing this, I raised one hand.

“...Um, how soon do you need the Orichalcum ore? From what you said earlier, it sounds like you’re in quite a hurry?”

When I asked, one of the dwarves in the back nodded.

“Normally, the king would finish forging before he turns sixty. But this time, we’ve been searching for two years without success, and he’s about to turn sixty soon.”

“I see. After sixty, forging must get pretty difficult physically.”

They agreed with a nod, but then the dwarves all shook their heads.

“No, this time the one making weapons with Orichalcum is the greatest blacksmith of the dwarf clan, Rubol. We can’t say it out loud, but the current king as a blacksmith is...”

“Unlike the previous king, who was listed among the top five craftsmen...”

The dwarves’ voices trailed off. Havel clicked his tongue and slammed his fist on the ground.

“There’s not enough passion, that’s the problem! All previous kings always made the top five craftsmen. But the current king only makes swords, and his handling of Mithril is still subpar.”

Still sitting on the ground, Havel vented his frustration. Apparently, everyone harbored some level of dissatisfaction with the king.

This might be a chance. It may sound inappropriate, but with the dwarves’ blacksmiths coming to town, we have to do something. Supporting this thought, Rango, who had been watching the situation with hands clasped as if in prayer, nodded with sharp eyes.

“That’s a tough situation. If you could wait here in this town for a month or two, I think we can get Orichalcum ore, but it sounds like there’s no time, right?”

I tried saying this, and Havel and the others turned around with a snap, as if surprised by a loud noise.

“A month!?”

“Really!?”

They looked like their eyes would pop out with shock. I nodded and lightly tapped the twin swords still sheathed at my side.

“Our town is rich in resources, so Orichalcum arrives from time to time. Although we gave one to His Majesty the King, we have already made several Orichalcum armors and weapons.”

When I answered this, Havel and the others were stunned, then exchanged looks and spoke.

“Alone, Orichalcum?”

“You saw earlier. Maybe it doesn’t take that much time even for Orichalcum.”

“But still... it’s hard to believe we can get that much Orichalcum ore.”

Their conversation was loud enough to be more than a whisper among the dwarves.

“There are Orichalcum weapons right in front of us that don’t look like they were actually forged by dwarves.”

Growing impatient, Havel spoke up, and the other dwarves furrowed their brows and lifted their heads.

“...That’s true. And we tried exploring the dungeon, but discovering Orichalcum on our own seems difficult.”