Chapter 101: The Best Collaborator (1)
Chapter 101: The Best Collaborator (1)
Dwarves emerged from the shadow passage.
The moment she saw them, Miss Rubia’s eyes widened in shock.
“Y-You called all these dwarves? How in the world... No, wait, that’s not the issue right now—”
I expected her to be surprised, but she went beyond that, breaking into a cold sweat. It didn’t take long to figure out why she was acting this way.
“We need to send them back immediately! If those money-obsessed lunatics seriously try to bleed us dry, even with our current finances, we’ll be completely ruined!”
Miss Rubia passionately argued that the dwarves would drain us to the bone.
Apparently, the infamous greed of the Dwarves was even worse than I thought. How did the image of dwarves as solemn and dignified craftsmen end up like this?
It was honestly a bit disheartening.
But, well, that had nothing to do with me.“Don’t worry so much. Those guys agreed to work for free.”
At my words, Miss Rubia’s expression glitched as if her brain had short-circuited. It seemed like she simply couldn’t process the idea of “dwarves” and “volunteer work” coexisting in the same sentence.
To help her understand, I casually grabbed one of the dwarves and asked,
“How much are you expecting for the job?”
The dwarf, who had turned pale the moment I grabbed him, hesitated with a dumbfounded look before slowly raising his fingers.
Five... and then a fist next to it.
Fifty gold per person.
A dwarf actually dared to propose that amount.
I was so taken aback by the unexpected situation that I couldn’t react right away.
“You crazy bastard! Is your head just a decorative ornament?!”
Before I could say anything, another dwarf smacked him hard on the back of the head.
“Please be understanding, Boss! I’ll make sure to educate this idiot properly!”
The dwarf bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle.
Rob, ever so slick, had just casually referred to me as “Boss.”
I couldn’t help but be impressed.
On the surface, it seemed like a simple conversation.
But hidden within his words were layers of intent.
I never established a hierarchy among the dwarves, yet he naturally positioned himself as their unofficial manager.
On top of that, he was subtly trying to build a sense of camaraderie with me.
‘Yeah, this guy’s the real deal.’
I could see why he was successful.
He had every reason to resent me. After all, he was living comfortably one moment, and the next, he was practically a slave.
But instead of resisting, he made a rational decision—it was too late to escape, so he might as well climb the ladder while he could.
“Well, it’s his first time, so cut him some slack.”
Rob’s eyes darted around frantically.
He carefully analyzed every word I said, every expression I made, trying to figure out my personality.
Then, as expected, flattery spilled from his mouth.
If I hadn’t interacted with him in my previous life, I might have fallen for it.
He praised my generosity in such a subtle way that it didn’t feel forced.
It wasn’t excessive or obvious. It blended seamlessly into a casual conversation, leaving behind a pleasant impression.
A master of sycophancy.
At this point, I was starting to think he was more suited for politics than blacksmithing.
It was honestly ridiculous.
‘Well, it’s not a bad thing.’
If he were just a bootlicker without skills, that would be one thing.
But if he had both ability and the cunning to navigate social dynamics, then he was just a high-value asset.
Sharp instincts and solid talent—he could handle managing the dwarves.
“Wait a second.”
Just as I was thinking that, Miss Rubia suddenly spoke up. I turned to look at her.
“Then... could it be that you’re behind the Dwarven Mass Disappearance Case...?”
She stared at me with trembling eyes.
It hadn’t even been a week since the incident, yet it already had such a dramatic title.
“Uh... If you put it that way, then yes, I did cause it. But it wasn’t intentional—it just kind of... happened.”
As she listened to my explanation, her jaw dropped.
I could tell exactly what she was thinking, even without her saying it.
All these dwarves.
The world’s greatest craftsmen.
And I just “happened” to gather them up on a whim?
Her expression screamed that she saw me as some kind of walking calamity or an incomprehensible force of nature.
But... I had nothing to say in my defense.
It wasn’t a false accusation.
It was the undeniable truth.
So what else could I say?
I mean, saying something like, “I was trying to buy a Dwarven-made weapon but ended up accidentally shopping for dwarves instead” wasn’t going to make the situation any better.
At times like this, it was best to just change the subject quickly.
“Well, the important thing is that from now on, the dwarves will be helping us. With the world’s greatest craftsmen gathered here, fixing up the mansion will be the least of our concerns.”
“Y-Yeah! That’s a relief….”
Miss Rubia let out a teary-eyed smile.
It seemed like the topic change didn’t really work.
But there was no going back now.
I had Rob gather the dwarves in front of me and continued.
“Let’s take this opportunity to completely turn the mansion into a fortress.”
Of course, part of this was just me indulging in my base-building fantasies.
But even without that, fortifying the mansion was absolutely necessary.
Our forces were expanding rapidly.
Siel, Lien, Miss Rubia, and even Lucy,, the reformed villain.
The Black Fangs Army, which was temporarily under my protection. The dwarves I’d just brought in. Not to mention the promising new talents I was training.
And this was just the current situation. If anything, our numbers would only grow, not shrink.
We needed a stronghold—one that could serve as a secure base while keeping intruders out.
“If we’re doing this, we might as well do it perfectly.”
There was no guarantee that the Imperial Knights wouldn’t come knocking again.
We needed a fortress that could withstand an all-out assault from the Empire itself.
“Since we need to stay under the radar, we can’t change the exterior of the mansion. But we should upgrade the materials.”
The strongest materials infused with the strongest defensive enchantments.
We didn’t have to stop at just the exterior.
“There’s also the option of building an underground base. That way, if we ever get discovered like this again, we’ll have a real stronghold hidden below.”
That was my decision.
And while I was at it…
“If we’re making an underground base, we might as well connect it to the main encampment.”
That would make things a lot more convenient.
This time, thanks to Siel’s shadow passage, the dwarves were able to arrive easily.
But that was only possible because of the special talisman Siel had made with her power.
Now that the talisman was gone, we couldn’t use it anymore.
Teleportation was high-tier magic.
The stronger the target and the larger the group, the exponentially harder it became.
“A magical railway would be a good solution. That way, people could move freely between the mansion and the encampment, saving time.”
Basically, a subway.
Traveling underground would also mean we wouldn’t have to worry about being spotted.
And the benefits didn’t stop there.
Warp Points.
A staple in every RPG.
I was going to set up my own fast-travel system.
If we were building an underground railway, it only made sense to construct stations as well.
Up until now, we had no choice but to rely on magic trains for long-distance travel. But, if I really thought about it, that was a huge risk.
Even if we hadn’t been caught yet, we had already committed multiple hostile acts against the Empire.
If we could build a fully functional underground transit system that let us move freely through the Empire, we wouldn’t need to take those risks anymore.
Not right away, at least.
But if we ever ended up at war with the Empire, this would be a game-changer.
“We’ll also need airtight security. Let’s cover the entire place with curse enchantments that react to intruders.”
For that, Lucy could help.
She was extremely skilled in curse magic.
If she personally imbued the base with curses, the results would be beyond devastating.
“What do you think?”
After pouring out all my ideas, I turned to Rob for his opinion.
The dwarves looked like they had just bitten into a piece of rotten meat.
Even Rob, who had mastered the art of social interaction, couldn’t fully hide his discomfort.
After a long pause, he finally spoke in a calm voice.
“So, just to summarize… You want us to rebuild the mansion using adamantium, a material even we struggle to obtain. On top of that, you want to construct an underground stronghold that connects to a military encampment so far away that it would take over a month to reach on foot. Not only that, but you also want to recreate magic trains, one of the Empire’s greatest technological achievements, and install them underground. And then, you want to build an entire underground railway system connecting various points across the Empire. Oh, and after all that, we still need to apply high-level curse enchantments to every single location?”
…Hmm.
Hearing it all laid out like that, I had to admit—it did sound a bit absurd.
I knew how to mass-produce adamantium, and I still remembered a decent portion of the magic train blueprints from the game’s artbook.
Even with that in mind, this was still pretty unrealistic.
Honestly, this was no different from asking someone to build a Bluetooth-enabled showerhead out of nowhere.
And, as expected, Rob looked troubled as he hesitantly asked,
“How exactly are we supposed to make that?”
But…
For now, let’s toss aside any moral concerns and take a page out of every alternate-history novel protagonist’s book.
Right in front of me stood hundreds of dwarves, a race of born craftsmen, with talent that could put historical geniuses to shame.
And if you throw enough talented people at a problem, most things will get solved one way or another.
I grinned wickedly and answered Rob’’s question.
“I have no idea. That’s why I have you guys.”
Work, work.
Time to wring every last drop of sweat out of these dwarves and forge myself one hell of a stronghold.
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