Genesis accepted her newest family members with no questions. Rino's newly adopted gnome children accompanied him to the abandoned mines, hitching a ride on Mutt's back. They were startled by just how big the sabre tooth wolf could grow but Rino assured them that Mutt was just an overgrown puppy who liked head pats and belly rubs.

Mutt and the gnomes became fast friends while travelling to the abandoned mines. In fact, it wasn't Rino who suggested returning to the abandoned mines. Bink insisted that he could still convince his other siblings to stay and locate them if they hurried back. Compared to living in the wilderness, his siblings might have a higher chance of survival under Rino's protection as his adopted children.

​​

The magician was deathly silent the whole journey as he listened to Mutt and the earth gnomes exchange stories and trivial talks. Rino had no idea what to feel now that he was about to discover the secrets that the dwarves left behind in their mine. According to Bink, it was unlikely that any of those dwarves he saw left almost a decade ago would survive.

However, there were more questions than answers, even asking the earth gnome who the dwarves were running and fighting against. Harvesters… he heard the term before, but Rino couldn't recall where. It sounded like common knowledge in this world, but it was a huge missing puzzle that Rino did not have. Something about Harvesters and their role in this world affected everyone in a way that Rino didn't like.

"Nobody can win against the harvesters. Death follows them wherever they appear. If it wasn't for the earth fortress we built in the mines, we would never survive. Unlike us, the dwarves were less fortunate."

Bink wouldn't disclose more details even when Rino asked. He only told Rino that the answers could be found when they got to the abandoned mines. The dwarves left many things behind, including their story that would answer Rino's questions. None of the earth gnomes was literate, and dwarves created a different language system of their own that gnomes could not understand.

"Does anything else reside in these mountains?" Rino asked after the conversation died.

Bink blinked. "What do you mean, father?"

Cringing dramatically at getting called father by someone technically older than him, Rino glared with glowing purple flames in his eye sockets.

"You will refer to me as 'sire' and nothing else. Never call me father again… it's disturbing even if you're technically my adopted children."

Rino never thought he would be the father of so many children and more to come. A parent's responsibility was even heavier than a king, and the magician shuddered at the thought of becoming an actual parent. He couldn't do it. He wasn't ready for children at all. If anything, there was zero doubt that he would be a horrible parent who would neglect his kids because he was too obsessed over doing what he wanted to do.

If Kragami knew what Rino was thinking, he would chuckle. There was nobody in this world who would ever be ready to be a parent. It didn't matter how much learning and planning one did. Parenting would never be a smooth path. One simply grew a pair and walked into the shoes of fatherhood, winging everything that came their way until the child was old enough to leave their parents.

From above, Ark watched how Rino entered the abandoned mines with eight little earth gnome guides. Honestly, this was out of his expectations when he included the quest. Phil never mentioned anything about the inhabitants in the abandoned mines. He frowned deeply. Ace was the first to side with Rino. Phil might be joining that camp, and he did not know how to feel about this experimental subject.

Rino was a double-edged sword for them. While the kingdom-building task was cruising smoothly, the leader of this small world's growth project was worried. After finding out the truth of the Harvesters in this world, what would Rino do? Saving an apocalyptic world was more brutal than building a kingdom.

Also, what was with that parental talk and adoption? It was weird to be adopting kids older than Rino's actual mental age. Was it all a ploy to get the earth gnomes to work for him? Ark could not sense any lies in Rino's promise to the gnomes, and it baffled him. Why adoption of all things?

Unknown to the lich crawling through small entrances, Ark and Stephanie were working on the next phase of their repopulation project. The prayers in this small world started to increase a little thanks to the influence of distributed food. However, the quality of prayers received was terrible. It wasn't enough to replenish their depleted divinity. They could barely maintain Ace's incarnate as Noir for more than a few days at a time. Creating that offering reward shop was a good idea, and Phil suggested opening up more offering options to gather more resources to trade with other gods for different materials to add to the shop.

It was amazing how Phil managed to secure honeybees in return for common potatoes. Ark still couldn't believe they now have a regular buyer of the potatoes grown by hobgoblins. Apparently, the spuds grown by Rino's farmers tasted fresher and helped to replenish mana.

Unaware of the internal conflict of the god watching him, Rino finally entered the main residence that the earth gnomes took up after the mine was abandoned. The earth gnomes were gone, but according to Bink, they did not go far.

"Sire, please wait here while I convince my siblings to return."

Rino did not make a fuss. Instead, he insisted on having a tour of the mine. Deezer offered because he felt bad that everything started with his capture. This time, Rino lit the way properly using magic and discreetly added trails of magic as an extension of his mana web array from Town Zera.

The cave's layout was complicated, and Rino would have gotten lost after the sixth turn without a guide. It was amazing how the earth gnomes knew exactly where to go despite such a complex network. Most of the tunnels were mined out and not naturally generated. Rino knew this because he spotted ventilation holes at regular intervals.

Eventually, they reached the main workshop of the once-bustling mines. Deezer looked unimpressed with all the tools lying around covered in rust, but this was exactly what Rino wanted to see. He wanted to know if dwarves of this world were good at metal foundry. He might not find dwarves, but Rino could learn a thing or two from the best if they still had tools and documents left behind.

Alternatively, the gods could give him some kind of tutorial when his daily quest required him to create something out of metal. However, Rino did not have high opinions of the gods and their tutorials for most things. He couldn't forget how inefficient some of their methods were compared to what Rino knew in the previous world. He would rather crack his brain trying to decipher the dwarves' unique writing than use the god's methods if he could.

The rusted tools retained their shape despite the signs of corrosion. Rino picked up a tong and examined it. The nuts and bolts used at the pivot point made it difficult for the tong to be pried open, but Rino was glad that he found this. If the dwarves were able to craft such small components, they must have already passed the metal casting and alloy smelting stage.

Further inspection of the anvil gave Rino deeper insights into the type of things the dwarves tried to create. There were sword casts, hammer moulds and even broken bits of temporary clay casts to create the initial metal mould.

The dwarves had decorative moulds fashioned out of molten alloy. It was an indication of a very advanced smithing skill. The chisels used were small and fine. If dwarves could use a chisel this thin and fine without breaking, they must already know how to use coal as a catalyst to strengthen the metal.

Deezer had no idea what his new father was looking at or why he seemed particularly interested in examining the rusted remains of this workshop. Honestly, Rino was odder than their leader, which spoke volumes. Bink was a responsible leader for their gang who took care of everyone. However, that earth gnome was more of a tinkerer than a conjurer. Deezer could never understand why his leader wanted to spend his time researching how to create objects to do something a simple magic spell could do. However, if that was what made Bink happy, he would not object.

Rino was the same kind of person Bink was. Deezer could see now why Bink trusted the lich. It still scared Deezer a lot that this was the lich who kidnapped him from their cave and staged a whole traumatising experience for his sworn siblings who came to rescue him. However, the earth gnome could now confirm that their new father wasn't actually evil.

He was simply scary but not evil.