The Iron Emperor was too stingy. He refused to issue a bonus if Ves managed to make a masterwork crown.
Oh well. Ves tried at least. Though he was incredibly greedy for precious materials like Galenta Bone and Pieraester, Rion must have paid a fortune to amass all these expensive first-class materials.
As far as the dwarf was concerned, letting Ves go after all he had done was enough of a reward!
This outcome reflected the ambivalent relationship between Ves and Rion.
The two weren't friends, but they weren't enemies either.
Rion had lots of good reasons to take revenge on Ves. Though the dwarf currently maintained the upper hand in this situation, the awkward truth was that he still had to depend on his 'god' to realize his ambitions.
