I knocked on the door after a small moment of hesitation, slightly scared of what I'd find within. The reason being, the door itself was covered in soot so I could only imagine what the inside would be like. But for the sake of my new blade, I gathered my courage and knocked on the filthy door. An annoyed, gruff voice called out from inside in response.
"What? Who dares interrupt me?" The voice grew louder as it approached the door, and I finally caught sight of the face of the one talking moments later when the dirt covered door swung open. However, the first thing to catch my attention was not the person standing there, no. It was the inside of the room they were in. The room was disgusting. It was like Abigail's room if she had been living in it without cleaning for twenty years.
There was not only dirty laundry strewn about, but also various random tools that would be used in forging. Not a single inch of the room was clean. I forcibly tore my gaze away from the room, turning my attention to the dwarf in front of me. Based on the voice, I had thought the dwarf would be a young man. It had occurred to me that they might be in their rebellious phase, and that was why they left home and came all the way to the Kingdom. Of course, for dwarves who lived longer than humans, but not quite as long as elves, their rebellious phase lasted far longer than just their teens.
But when I looked down at the dwarf, I saw something that surprised me. It was very obviously a girl. The gruff tone of voice that all but sounded like a man seemed to be a lie when I saw her appearance.
Unlike the popular media back on Earth, dwarves on this planet seemed to just be short humans as the person in front of me could be mistaken for a small human girl. She was not stocky nor robust, but instead just a normal woman, albeit a bit short. The only major difference was her ears, which were smaller than an elves but just as pointy, and her voice, which made her sound like a man. I suppose that is how all dwarves sound.
After I recovered from the shock of the room and the gender of the dwarf, I finally took in the appearance of them properly. Her skin was darkly tanned, and her hair, which was a dark black, was tied up so as to not get in her way during forging. Her eyes, a sparkling golden, shone through her dark features, giving her a tint of color that contrasted against the dark room around her.
I suddenly recalled a small bit of trivia that I had read about when I was researching the Coalition. One of the few pieces of information known about the dwarves was the appearance of their first king. And the most remarkable part of his appearance were his strikingly golden eyes.
The thought that she was royalty crossed my mind before I quickly threw that thought out. There were many other possibilities, such as golden eyes being commonplace among dwarves or that dwarven kings were chosen based on merit and not bloodline, so there was no such thing as a royal family. After all, why would a royal run away from home and come to the empire? So instead of making things awkward, I decided to approach her as if she was simply an instructor.
"Hello Professor." I spoke with a courteous bow, causing her to arch an eyebrow towards me. I turned on my "Eyes of a Pervert" ability in order to grasp her skills, just to make sure she would be able to help me.
My worries were needless, as her only skills were related to blacksmithing and they were all at either 'Expert' or 'Master' level. The dwarf, who's name was Barnaba according to my skill, seemed to finally make up her mind and began to speak once again.
"You aren't one of my students. What do you need?" She asked, a suspicious look on her face. I raised my head, finally stopping my bow, and pulled my blade out of my Inventory.
"Would you take a look at this?" I said as I handed the blade to her. She grabbed the sword lightly, twisting it about as she examined each and every inch of it. It took a few minutes for her to stop before she looked up at me with an even more suspicious look on her face.
"Where'd you get this?" She asked, her expression all but stating that I better tell the truth. I had no reason to lie, so I told her exactly where I got it.
"An auction, in the night market of Kleotis. I was hoping you could restore it." She looked at me straight in the eyes, seemingly trying to discern if my statement was true or not. I let her do so, as I hadn't spoken a single lie. After a few moments she heaved a sigh before turning around and walking deeper into her room, motioning for me to follow.
I hesitated for a moment, not exactly wanting to enter such a pigsty, but eventually I gave in and walked forward, following her into the depths of her room. We passed by the copious amounts of dirt and trash before finally coming to a door. This door was different from its surroundings, it was actually clean. I was surprised, but when Barnaba opened the door I realized why. Inside of this room was her forge, and it was immaculate. She took care of this area like a professional should, which made it seem like the earlier room was a lie. I closed the door behind us and took a seat in the chair she motioned me to sit down in.
She placed the blade down on some sort of table, where a large glass cover lowered down onto it and mechanical sounds began to click around it. Barnaba turned away from it and came to a stop in front of me.
"What do you know about that blade?" She asked, her eyes shaking slightly. I was confused by the obvious trepidation she was showing.
"Nothing, I just felt something from that blade in the auction so I bought it." Her eyebrows shot up when I spoke, making me think that I had explained something I shouldn't have. But what about what I said was so surprising?
She looked at me for a while, that shock and surprise still on her face, before speaking once more. "So you're one of them then? I should have known." She spoke cryptically, confusing me more.
"What do you mean by one of them?" I asked, hoping to get an answer from her. However she didn't respond to me but instead kept mumbling to herself.
"But he hasn't realized it yet, no, perhaps he didn't have anyone to teach him it. Wait…" Suddenly she stopped mumbling and once more looked into my eyes. "Are you… a 'hero'?"
"Yes?" I responded questioningly, confused by the sudden inquiry. Barnaba began to laugh loudly, surprising me even further.
"Of course he is, the only humans that are of them are the dukedoms and the royals. No wait, one of them is a marquis now." Her mumblings continued but I had enough. I yelled out, just enough to grab her attention.
"Hey!" She flinched, blinking slightly before finally seeming to realize that I was actually here. Then her face turned red with embarrassment.
"I-I'm so sorry!" She said, lowering her head. "I get so into somethings that I forget people are actually people and not just sources of information and…" Her ramblings trailed on for a while, so much so that I had to interrupt her again.
"I get it! I accept your apology, so what did you mean by 'one of them'." Her face froze when I said that, and she began trembling in fear.
"I-I said that out loud? Oh no." She said quietly under her breath. Unfortunately for her, my hearing was far better than the average persons, so I heard it perfectly. "U-um it was just some of my ramblings, pay them no mind."
I opened my mouth to refute her when I was interrupted by a loud ding. The table that she had placed my blade in was the one that made the sound, and the mechanical whirring and clicking had ceased.
"Oh it's done!" Barnaba jumped on the chance to change the topic, rushing to the table in an instant. I bit my lips softly but decided against questioning her for now. If I wanted her to restore my blade I couldn't antagonize her yet. I would be able to ask all the questions I needed after she was done fixing it. She pulled the blade from the glass lid. Not much had changed, the only difference was the glisten of a liquid that was now coating the blade.
Barnaba was engrossed by the sword, once again taking in every inch of it. It took her longer this time, but she finally stopped and turned towards me. "This will take at least a week to fix, so come back then." She said with a dismissing wave. I clicked my tongue but followed her instructions. I had hoped she would be done by today so I could question her soon, but it seemed that luck was not on my side today. I left the room quickly, not wanting to spend another moment in that pigsty, and began to walk towards the girls dorm once more.
Suddenly, I realized I had forgotten something. I slapped my forehead, facepalming. I was going to have Oephilia introduce me to that dwarf! If I had, maybe she would have answered me then and there! After all, Oephilia and that dwarf were colleagues and friends, she would obviously be more willing to listen if Oephilia was present. I sighed in disappointment. How could I have forgotten something like this.
I arrived at the girls dorm while I was still sighing in regret, and used my skills to walk in unbarred. I walked to Jez's room, intending to blow off some steam. I entered to see her maid in the process of cleaning the common room, with Jez nowhere in sight. I smirked, assuming she was in her bedroom, and instead walked up towards the still unknowing maid. I grabbed Lisa, the maid, from behind, firming grasping her tits while covering her mouth. I didn't want her to scream and attract Jez just yet. I let her turn and see my face before I finally uncovered her mouth.
Lisa had calmed down a bit, but her face was still showing annoyance at my fondling. Not that I cared what she felt, I had no feelings towards her, so unlike Mimi or Hera, it didn't matter what her emotions were. Instead, I began to grope her even more viciously, shoving my hands under her clothes and touching her directly for a bit.
"Caesar, I need to clean." She said with an annoyed, yet slightly pleased voice. I smirked before grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to her knees. She followed my hands easily, dropping down and looking up at me with expectation. Expectations that I would meet easily. I flopped out my semi-erect cock for her to pleasure, letting it slap onto her face. She flinched slightly before taking it in her mouth in one swift move.
She seemed to have practiced for this, as her skills had improved greatly since the first time. I smiled as I imagined her sucking a cucumber in an attempt to get better at oral. Just the thought of that got me so horny that I couldn't hold back anymore. So I grabbed her head and thrusted.