“Master Brylvia… could you not…”

“Whit do yi'll want me to do? if ye don’t tak' it aff, then ah have to examine it this wey, now hush a'm needin' to focus! On the runes, this is so fascinating yit so impractical it boggles th' mind. How much mana wid ya need to activate such a runic component…”

“Ha ha, I see that you have formed a bond between craftsmen but perhaps we should have a small chat together about the future of this city and perhaps the new partnership with the Union!”

“As long as it gets me out of here…”

“Hey, stop movin!”

Roland tried to pull his arm away as it was being examined by a rather strange dwarven woman. She was wearing some special glasses that had something that looked like a magnifying apparatus attached to it. This little gizmo when looked through allowed the Master Runesmith to magnify the traces better to get to the heart of the components.

Brylvia the new Union Chief craftswoman and the new leader of the dwarves in the city had taken a liking to his armor. He was astonished that she had no quarrels about getting closer and trying to yank his gauntlets from his arms. An attempt to go for his helmet was also made but she was too short to lift it above his head. While he didn’t want to have anyone investigate his suit, it was also interesting to see someone from his own profession.

The woman was a Master Runesmith, something that he once aimed to become when he started out at the age of ten. She had all the textbook classes like mana scribe, mage, and blacksmith without the runic variants being there. Not many people that were given the mage class would choose this profession without belonging to the dwarven race. There was a reason why almost no runesmiths existed that weren’t part of their group. The mage class offered a lot of possibilities that didn’t involve tiresome work at a stuffy smithy.

“Please, I’m sure Master Wayland will allow you to look through his creations later. First though, perhaps we should discuss an agreement?”

“Ye wish to do business?”

“Of course, as explained before, my head knight who is also the one that created that armor has not been on good terms with your people, I wish to remedy that and let bygones be bygones.”

“Ah thought ye wur trying to pull a fast yin on me, bit this lad seems to be th' genuine article. Hm…”

After hearing Arthur’s points, the dwarven woman decided to look away from the runes on his armor. Even though she belonged to the Union it didn’t mean that her opinions and motives were the same. Instead, it looked like she was far more interested in his body of work than that he was a human runesmith.

“So thay really did that, ah will have to apologize on thair behalf. Ah have hoped that the idiots would learn something wi' age bit old habits die hard. But… oh weel, that's just how those mallet-heads ‘re, can not do much ‘bout it.”

The woman shrugged while grinning in Roland’s direction. He wasn’t sure what to make of it but at least at this moment, it didn’t feel like she saw him in a negative light. The two other dwarves that previously led the branch didn’t like him and didn’t change their tune to this day. While Roland was sometimes petty, this didn’t mean that he couldn’t see the broader picture.

‘Is she actually willing to work with me? Wouldn’t this make my work a lot easier?’

The current main issue was his position. He was acting as the head knight and had some troublesome duties. This didn’t allow him to leave the city too hastily and he was even forced to monitor Arthur’s villa. There were even incidents with trespassers that probably belonged to some information guilds. Everyone was trying to gather information on the new Valerian son that was rising in fame.

Watching over Arthur, instructing the construction workers with the runic wires, and also having to produce them himself. Assembling home appliances and working on a way to magically innovate the city. Helping Mary along with his friends to level up and finally do it himself. All of these things had to be done and if he had an actual master runesmith to push some of the load of, it was something he had to keep in mind.

‘A Dwarven Master Runesmith does never wander alone, she must have a few regular runesmiths under her wing, with multiple people like that around…’

There were a lot of advantages if he decided to work with the union. However, they had already wronged him once and he could not just trust this unknown person. While she seemed more interested in his armor than anything else, perhaps that would be all that he was to her. He could see their partnership ending the moment all of his smithing secrets had been revealed.

‘It has to be an equal trade. I at least need to get something else from this if they decide to screw me over in the end.’

Roland was a lot more experienced now and knew what to look out for. Arthur was also here so it wouldn’t be hard to draw up a few binding contracts. This was all going to be a business partnership where all the sides were profiting. There were a lot of things that the Union could take care of for them but a line needed to be drawn.

“Can’t do much about it? I don’t think I’ll be satisfied with just that?”

“Oh? Was there more to it?”

Brylvia looked to Arthur who was sitting on the other end. All of them were outside in the same location he had invited Knight Commander Emmerson before. Previously he had explained some things but even Arthur didn’t know the full extent of the bullying received from the dwarven union. Roland somewhat glossed over a few details that also involved him having to work together with black market merchants. It was no laughing matter and normally someone in his situation would have been forced out of the city, or into an unfavorable contract.

“I’m not sure what your colleagues have told you, probably some nonsense to make themselves look better but it’s not something that can be forgiven with a simple apology. Plus as you saw, they weren’t very apologetic and tried to shove the blame on me.”

“Ah see that yer lad will not just let it be, just lik' ye said, m' lord.”

Roland was a bit out of the loop here, before he arrived at the villa Arthur and his guest had ample time to chat. It was possible that he mentioned the people that wrong him. The two that were the biggest troublemakers were even here and they tried to paint him as being in the wrong. Brylvia even saw Dunan trying to make excuses when Roland arrived.

“Very well, Kin ye call them idiots ower?”

The Woman looked towards Mary and after getting a confirming nod from Arthur she headed out. After a minute, Dunan and Bamur were before them. Both didn’t look very well and were somewhat nervously sweating. Roland didn’t know what she was trying to do but it seemed that the two would be in for it.

“Dunan, Bamur.”

“Y-yes?”

“Apologize, to master Wayland ‘ere.”

“Apologize?”

“Do ah have to repeat masellf? Wha do ye think yer talking to?”

“B-but Master Brylvia…”

“Don’t ye Master Brylvia me, Lower yer head an apologize, now!”

To Roland’s surprise, the scene devolved to Brylvia shouting at the two dwarven craftsmen. It reminded him of a mother having to force their kids to say sorry. The two were adamantly refusing the order but when they did, all hell broke loose. It was quite a sight to see her fists descending on their heads. Her level was quite high and the strength increase from smithing classes was tremendous. It only took one hit per person to knock them down to the ground and out for the count.

“Ah didn’t hit ye that hard, git up!”

“Ah... Ah apologize, please stop hitting me…”

“Aye, me too… I wus wrong!”

No one stopped the woman from giving the two dwarves a few bruises. Arthur that was watching this seemed happier than Roland who wasn’t sure what to make of it. If a few punches to the face didn’t really make the years of struggles any better. He remained quiet while staring down at the two kneeling men as if waiting for something.

“Aye… Ye'll be demoted back to th' apprentice position.”

“A-apprentice?”

“Ye, dat enough?”

Dunan’s pale complexion got even worse after he heard the decision. He along with Bamur were above level hundred and just needed a few more years to reach their next ascension. Relegating them back to apprentice positions might have seemed like a slap on the wrist but in the dwarven circles, this was serious.

The people from the Union ran a business and they kept track of a person’s history. If someone wanted to rise up in the ranks of their company, they needed a clean slate. Having both of them getting demoted would stick with them for the rest of their lives. Other master craftsmen would probably shy away from taking them under their wing. They would be marked as troublemakers unfit to run their own workplaces and running a smithy was usually their goal.

“Yes, I think that’s enough…”

“Great, now git out ye two.”

“A-aye…”

There was something refreshing in seeing people that had wronged you getting smacked around. The two had some choices but their career would be severely impacted if they decided to leave this place. Getting monetary support wouldn’t be as easy and they were still not at tier 3 level which allowed some wiggle room. Roland expected them not to go against that status quo and for the time being, settle in the background until things quieted down. The potential for a future enemy was there but he was already so far above their level that he didn't consider them to be serious enemies.

‘They will be forced to work on lower level equipment which will slow down their leveling, this could set them back by years, was this what she is aiming at?’

Roland was a proponent of the eye for an eye dogma. They had tried to halt his progress but failed. This type of punishment would align with his values as he did not really wish death or harm on these two. They never sent any assassins, nor tried to force him out of his home. It was perhaps time to move on with this part of his life. He had advanced past the Union’s clutches and would just slow his progress if he didn’t take this offer.

“Ah hope this settles it?”

“It does.”

“Great, now could ye shaw me that helmet fur a moment…”

“I will not.”

“Damn. Then, how about a trade instead?”

“A trade?”

It seemed that the woman wanted to offer him something in return for analyzing his suit of armor. While he was not planning to disclose the schematics to this armor there were a few things he was fine with parting. In return perhaps he would be allowed to peek at the work of this Master Runesmith and her apprentices to see if he was deficient at something. At this point in his life, he was skilled enough to notice such things rather quickly. Even a glance at a true master's work could help him improve his craft exponentially.

“Ah, may I cut in for a moment? If we are going to discuss any dealings with my Head Knight, I will have to involve myself.”

Before the conversation could continue Arthur decided to cut in. Roland nodded as he also wished to discuss the issues in the city and how they could tackle them together with the newly run dwarven Union.

“Ah ye, the talk from before?”

“Precisely. As you may have heard there is a mine in the dungeon. I was planning to hire a non-Union-run company but if we are going to work together, then perhaps I won’t need to.”

The woman nodded as Arthur bright forth the issue of the mine. Roland had previously advised him to not sell the rights and not rent it. They needed the mana crystals that formed there to run their new mana power plant. Yet getting experienced miners wasn’t that easy. The team from the Union was already there so it would be a quick remedy to their issue if they could work out a good enough deal.

“If yi'll want mah men to help out down thare, ye'll have to gimme a good enough deal…”

She replied while sneaking some glances at Roland’s runes. In response, he looked at Arthur and started shaking his head.

“Now now, I’m sure we can come to an agreement. Maybe my Head Knight won’t part with his intricate armor but perhaps you could trade some secrets between each other at a more private location? I’m sure there will be enough room at your great workshop for another skilled Runesmith like him?”

“Aye, that sounds reasonable…”

“I’m glad that you think so… How about we change locations and discuss things more thoroughly?”

“That might be better... But a'm needin' mah assistant. Making contracts is not mah strength.”

“An assistant of a Master Runesmith is always welcome.”

Soon Mary with a few other maids appeared with the said assistant. It was a rather plain-looking dwarf that was somewhat on the shorter side. His clothes were also different compared to the other craftsmen. He was more similar to a butler and even without giving him a scan Roland knew that he was probably closer to an accountant. Soon all of them went away to discuss the future of the city which would hopefully ease the workload that was crushing down on his shoulders.

……

“No please, I did everything that you wanted me… why are you doing this…”

“Why are we doing this? Because it’s fun!”

“ARGHHHHhhhhh”

A high-pitched scream echoed through the dark room as a black dagger went through a bond man’s chest. As the weapon pressed in a strange puss-like substance started oozing out instead of blood. The sounds of sizzling flesh were drawn out by the screams of the man that was being tortured. Yet before he could continue screaming his whole head rolled to the side in an instant.

“Hey, why did you have to spoil the fun, you dumb Warlock!”

“Stop wasting time.”

“Having fun is never wasting time, you should try it too!”

In one of the corners of this dungeon room, a man covered by a dark robe was standing. Something akin to a tendril with a sharp ending started slithering back into his sleeve along with some of the blood of the prisoner that was just killed. Compared to the other person here his frame was larger and his voice deeper.

“Such a shame, he was also a looker, no wonder he was able to scam all those noble ladies.”

The woman picked up the head that rolled to the side only to examine the dead man’s features. Then out of nowhere, she tossed it upwards while pulling out two matching black-edged daggers. The blades moved like lightning bolts toward the head and turned it into multiple slices.

“Are you two done? Good. We have gotten a request from a temple, you two have been chosen.”

“Another mission already? They are really working us down to the bone, at least this is the last one!”

The person with the daggers cackled while looking at a third robed figure that had entered through a prison-like door. This individual was somewhat hunched over and their digits were extremely long and thin. The two people inside the room waited for the man to enter before leaving themselves.

On the outside, they ended up in a wider area with torches producing green light. Every so often a scream entered this area and pushed the flames around. Many similar opened or closed dungeon chambers continued to appear with various other robed people inside. Marks that involved occult magics written in blood were everywhere and the smell of death and decay filled the air.

“I wonder where they will send us this time? Oh, I hope it’s somewhere nice, I haven’t had my hair done in a while!”

“...”

The woman continued to babble on while the strange man followed after her without uttering a word. Both of their figures slowly faded into the darkness while the grunts and screams continued to spread through this cold and damp place. Even after one died down another soon took their place in a seemingly never-ending serenade of pain and anguish.