Chapter 170

Ch 170 — Anti-Dwarf Secret Weapon

"Bakayaro-! You want us to make WHAT? No way! Get lost!" I left the shop as the door was slammed shut behind me . I sighed to myself, that was the fifth blacksmiths I had tried and, thinking back on it, the most polite in their response to my request . The others had been much ruder .

After leaving the Adventurers Guild I had gone to the blacksmith's quarter of Doran to ask someone to make a barbeque stove for me . I had tried one store after another with no luck, getting turned down time after time in the same way . I'd open the door, I'd be welcomed then asked "What kind of weapon or armour are you looking for?" When I started to explain, "Well, it's not a weapon I'm looking for but this kind of thing . . . " the conversation would end at that point . Abruptly .

When you think about forges and blacksmiths in stories, Dwarves are what comes to mind and sure enough, all five of the blacksmith's workshops I had tried were run by Dwarves, just as pig-headed and short-tempered as you might expect . Still, they didn't have to shout at me quite like that, did they?

Ugor-san had warned me that the blacksmith's workshops in this city were mostly dedicated to making weapons and armour and that the owners were stubborn . I had to agree with him now I had visited some of them myself . Still, they were blacksmiths so they should be able to make things other than weapons and such . So what could I do? Ask the God of Blacksmiths to intervene on my behalf? I thought sourly to myself, as if that boozehound would do anything . . . then inspiration struck . Ah, booze!

The blacksmiths workshops were all run by Dwarves apparently and of course, Dwarves famously like to drink, if the stories I had read back in my own world were true . If I bribed them with alcohol I bought from the Net Super . . . he he he, a taste of something strong should do it . I quickly ducked into an alleyway out of sight so I could open Net Super and buy some booze straight away .

So, I thought to myself looking at the Net Super's drinks display, what sort of alcohol would be best? It would have to be strong with a high alcohol content . Whisky then, I decided, a little would go a long way . I didn't drink much whisky myself but I plumped for a famous Japanese whisky, 700ml in a very recognisable square bottle . I held it in my hand, thinking about the effects of items from Net Super in this world . Would it cause a dramatic change to the drinker? I decided to Appraise it just in case .

[ Whisky ]

Alcohol from another world . Expensive .

Reduces stamina by 2% for approximately 5 minutes .

Oh, whisky causes a decline in stamina, not an improvement? That was the first time I'd seen something from Net Super do that, a 2% drop for five minutes . Was it because it was booze, or was it because being drunk reduces someone's status? I didn't know but I'd discovered something new about Net Super which was good . However it wasn't a big change and it didn't last long so I decided it would be fine . I headed for the next blacksmith's workshop along the street, bottle in hand .

"Excuse me-" I said as I opened the door .

"Hmm, a customer?" An elderly Dwarf with a short but sturdy-looking body turned to me and growled . "What d'you want?" Yeah, that's exactly the sort of friendly welcome I had come to expect . Now to see if my secret weapon would work .

"I want to place an order . . . " I started to ask .

"Oh, what kind of weapon d'you want?" he immediately interrupted, same as all the other Dwarf storekeepers I had encountered today .

"Well you see, what I'm looking for isn't a weapon, but . . . could you just listen to what I've got to say please?" The elderly Dwarf had frowned as soon as I had said I wasn't looking for a weapon .

"It isn't a weapon? Armour then?"

"Well no, but I would be grateful if you could listen to what I've got to say . '' I repeated .

The Dwarf's frown deepened and he crossed his thick arms . "I'm not doing anything right now so I'll listen to you . I won't make it if it isn't a weapon or armour but I'll listen . " Hooo, this was the politest Dwarf I had run into all day!

"Yes, that's fine . " I said . I brought out a piece of parchment I had bought in advance and started to sketch my idea of a barbeque stove, explaining as I went . "You see, it's about this size and I put charcoal in a drawer here . I'd want you to make a hole, maybe a pattern of holes in the side so it will burn better . The mesh on the top will be removable, I'd grill meat on it . " The design I had drawn up was a lot larger than the simple charcoal grill on the food stall we had visited in the morning since, well, I had Fer and company to feed . As I finished pointing out the details the elderly Dwarf harrumphed .

" . . . Haa, get out, get out!" the Dwarf's face grew red as he shouted at me . "If the other Dwarves heard I'd made something like this for you I'd get laughed at, I'd never live it down . Try someone else!"

As expected, he wasn't keen on the idea . "I've already been yelled at and turned away at five other stores today . " I told him .

"What, you went to five other workshops before you came to my place?" the Dwarf harrumphed again . "Slow learner, ain'cha? There's no place around here that will take your order to make that, that THING . " Well, I knew that, the blacksmiths in Doran were only interested in making weapons and armour but I had my anti-Dwarf secret weapon in my hand . Would he be able to resist it?

"Changing the subject, do you like booze?" I inquired . The Dwarf threw his arms out, inviting inspection .

"Look at me . I'm a Dwarf, in case you hadn't noticed . " He obviously didn't have a high opinion of my intellect . "Of course I like to drink, no question about it . " he explained as if to a child . Well, I expected that answer but I wasn't totally sure, it was a good idea to check .

"Well you see I have something special here . . . " I got a cup from my Item Box and held it out along with the bottle of whisky to the store owner . "This is a very rare kind of booze, extremely strong . I was wondering if it might suit a Dwarf's taste . " The Dwarf's eyes fixed on the bottle in my hand and I saw him swallow a couple of times . I definitely had his attention now .

"Why don't you try some?" I cracked open the bottle of whisky and poured a generous helping into the cup . I saw his nostrils widen as the sweet alcoholic fragrance wafted from the cup as I swirled it around . He took the cup and peered into it then he lifted it to his lips and threw the contents back into his mouth .

"Gaaah, wow!" he exclaimed . "This booze, it's . . . " he blinked, licking his lips . "It's the best-tasting booze I've ever drunk!" Hehehe, my anti-Dwarf secret weapon seemed to be working perfectly . Time to close the deal .

"This booze is not sold around here because it is made in a remote location of a small country far from here . " The Dwarf's eyes remained fixed on the bottle in my hand . "I have some more of this booze, not much though . If you accept my order then I'd include five bottles of it as an extra along with the price in coins . " The Dwarf didn't think too long about my offer, not surprising given the way he had reacted when he tasted the whisky .

" . . . Ten . Gimme ten bottles of this booze, separate from the actual price and I'll make that thing for you . " He crossed his arms again, staring at me and the bottle in my hand . Yosh! The whisky was an outstanding success .

"I'll give you 10 bottles, then . As a thank you for accepting my order, please take this one . " I handed the bottle over to the Dwarf who quickly poured another cupful and downed it as quickly as the first one .

"Haaaaah, really tasty . I can't believe this booze is so delicious . " he muttered . I hadn't lied, it really was made in a remote location in a small country far away, in another world actually . I wasn't a connoisseur of whisky myself but it had been a popular best-seller for a long time so I had figured it had to be really tasty .

"How long will it take to complete?" I asked the Dwarf who was starting to pour himself another cup from the bottle . He stopped and looked down at my drawing before thinking for a few moments .

"Ummm, three days . Come back in three days and it'll be ready . "

"How much will it cost me?"

"It's a pretty big thing, lemme see . . . " he thought for a few moments more then said, "About 350 gold coins, including materials . " That much wasn't a problem for me and I nodded .

"Thank you, please go ahead with my order . I'll come back three days from now . "

"Oh, don't forget the booze . " the Dwarf added . It was clear what he thought was the most important part of the deal . Dwarves really did like to drink, as expected .

"Don't worry, I won't forget . " I said as I left the store . Fer and Dora-chan were asleep outside and Sui-chan was in my shoulder-bag as usual, also asleep of course .

"Hey, let's go back to the inn . " I said telepathically to Fer and Dora-chan .

"Nuuu . . . are you finished?" Fer said grumpily .

"Fuuuah, finally?" Dora-chan added, flying up from the ground .

"Sorry you had to wait . That's me finished for the day . We can go back to the inn now . "

"I'm hungry, let's get back and eat . " Fer was already up and moving as I peered up at the sky . Was it really that late? But the sun was definitely sinking towards the horizon . I had spent more time trying to find a blacksmith that would make a barbeque stove for me than I thought . Ah well, it was sorted now so as I followed Fer I started thinking about dinner . What meat was left in the Item Box, what was I running out of? There wasn't much Orc General left but I still had plenty of Bloody Horn Bull and Wyvern in stock plus a lot of Orc meat from the dungeon and elsewhere . I still had about half of the Giant Tarepo left and of course the Cockatrices and the Rock Bird Fer had caught recently . Cockatrice, now that gave me an idea, remembering something the Black Magic Cooking Stove salesman had said to me . Could I make use of the big oven of my Black Magic Cooking Stove? I was pretty sure what I was thinking of making would fit .