Published: January 15, 2026
“Lord Van! Leave it to us!”
“We can make a full suit of armor out of Orichalcum!”
“Woooah!”
The Dwarves were already celebrating wildly, even though I hadn’t agreed to hand it over yet.
“W-wait, no, I’m not saying we’ll start processing it immediately…”
I tried to resist amidst their enthusiasm, but Havel and the others were already in a trance-like state and didn’t even hear me.
“All right! Then let’s take it back right away and get the forge ready!”
“This isn’t the usual Mithril! We’ll need to crank up the temperature really high!”
“You bet! We won’t be leaving the forge for a whole week! Stock up on food!”
As Havel and the others caused a ruckus, passersby began gathering, curious about what was going on.
“W-wait a minute! The plan was to store this at the lord’s manor first…”
“Store it? We don’t want money! I swear on my name, we’ll make the best armor!”
“Dwarf armor and weapons made of Orichalcum? Even the great powers don’t have that!”
“P-please! Give it to us! We’ll even pay if we have to!”
When I said I wouldn’t hand it over, the dwarves turned pale and started saying things like that. It felt strange that they claimed they’d pay to make Orichalcum weapons that even the great powers didn’t have.
For now, I wanted to make the armor myself, so I tried to refuse. But then I heard the murmurs from the crowd.
“Hey, did you say Orichalcum?”
“They say they want to make something even the great powers don’t have, for Lord Van!”
“Those stubborn dwarves said that?”
Because Havel and the others were so loud, everyone around had overheard everything. The noise was growing, and the fact the dwarves themselves wanted to make Orichalcum armor would surely become a rumor spreading beyond Seato Village.
At this point, I had no choice but to use that to my advantage.
“…Sigh, fine. If you can make a sword sharper than the Mithril sword I made, I’ll acknowledge your skill and allow you to forge the Orichalcum.”
I deliberately sighed and gave them the condition for forging the Orichalcum. Havel and the others clenched their teeth and took a step back, looking determined. A recently arrived villager tilted his head in curiosity.
“I heard Lord Van’s weapons were incredible, but are they really better than what the dwarves make?”
“No way, that can’t be.”
Nearby, an older villager crossed his arms and smiled confidently, denying that.
“Don’t you know? They say Lord Van’s weapons are better than the dwarves’. Especially in terms of sharpness, they’re far superior.”
“Yeah, Lord Dee and the adventurers said the same.”
I pretended not to hear the explanations and thought it over. This was a great boost. Smiling inwardly, I shrugged helplessly and spoke.
“Alright then. If you make Mithril armor that Dee can approve of, I’ll grant permission to make the Orichalcum armor. But the finished armor will belong to Dee and will be used at the front lines.”
“Understood! We can manage that!”
“Great! Displaying finished armor is pointless!”
“If it’s not used, no one will understand how amazing dwarf armor really is!”
As soon as I eased the conditions, Havel and the others cheered with raised spirits. It seemed they were confident about armor. Or maybe they just didn’t think they could beat my sword.
Either way, I was still researching armor that could withstand slashes and impacts. Sometimes, mixing other metals to make alloys could make stronger armor than pure metals like iron or mithril. I wasn’t trying to make stainless steel or anything like that, so my research was limited. So, it was possible the dwarves could make better-balanced metal armor than me.
Taking all that into account, I decided to positively commission the dwarves to make the Orichalcum armor.
“Well then, I’m looking forward to that Mithril armor. You should be back in about three months.”
“Leave it to us!”
After setting a deadline, Havel and the others flexed their muscles and gave a strong reply. Then they immediately turned on their heels and headed back the way they came.