In an alley off the main street of the dwarven city ‘Ironforge,’ beneath an old sign engraved with a rusty hammer, there was a forge where time seemed to have stopped.
“St-Stay back!”
The dwarven girl, Garuda, pressed herself against the wall and pointed a hammer at me.
“Everyone goes to magic-tech forges these days… There’s no way this is a real commission! Y-You’re tricking me, aren’t you?”
She muttered in a trembling voice. Her amber eyes, illuminated by the furnace’s glow, wavered with anxiety.
“Hey, Garuda?”
“Eek!”
As I took a step closer, Garuda flinched like a small animal. The hand holding the hammer trembled slightly.
“A-And how do you know my name…? Are you here to collect a debt…?”
“Debt?”
“No, no! I’m saying strange things again…!”
Garuda hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand.
“P-Please, just go. Just place your order at one of the popular forges…!”
With every step I took, she retreated one step. Like a rabbit facing a predator.
Hmm… a rabbit, huh? Then maybe I need bait.
I opened my bag and took out a feather from the Celestial Horse, Kaiser. Garuda’s eyes sparkled immediately.
“This is…”
“All the materials I’m entrusting are S-Class. You really don’t want them?”
I began pulling out the S-Class materials one by one.
The fang of the Wolf King.
The shell of a Glacier Turtle.
The horn of a Doom Giraffe.
The bone of a Mammoth.
And finally, the feather and heart of the Celestial Horse, Kaiser.
Garuda’s eyes grew wider and wider. Her blood as a craftsman must have been boiling. Despite her pretty face, she was still a dwarf.
“T-These are materials I could only dream of! Are you really entrusting them to me…? N-No… I don’t deserve to handle such precious materials…”
Her voice was weak, but her eyes never left the materials.
“I’ve seen your skills.”
I pointed to an unfinished sword on the workbench.
“That’s a failure! A ruined piece!”
“Really? The flow of rune patterns and the balance of mana circulation are perfect, though?”
Garuda’s face flushed red. She clenched the hem of her apron tightly and muttered.
“L-Lies… No one looks for traditional blacksmiths these days. Everyone wants magic-tech…”
“Magic-tech can’t create a sword like this.”
At my words, her eyes wavered again.
“Because it has no soul.”
“…!”
Garuda’s shoulders flinched. Her lips trembled.
“H-How do you…?”
“Magic-tech has no hammer’s sound, nor the warmth of the flames.”
Garuda blushed and shouted.
“T-That’s… But… Ugh…”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller. Through her long hair, I could see tears welling up in her eyes.
“This… This can’t happen… If you entrust such precious materials to me…”
“If not you, then who should I trust?”
“But…”
“How would magic-tech handle such materials?”
“I-I’m grateful for the opportunity, but…”
She hesitated briefly, then shook her head.
“I’m really not someone that great. I’m just… just outdated…”
Garuda shook her head violently. Her brown hair swayed like a waterfall.
“I’m sorry. I… I can’t! I-It’s time to close the forge! Please leave!”
Her gaze shifted back and forth between the materials and me.
This isn’t going anywhere. I’m starting to get tired.
‘Ha… Seems like nice words won’t work, huh?’
With a small smile on my lips, I spoke.
“Then how about just touching them? You can check their condition too.”
Garuda’s eyes wavered. In her gaze toward the Celestial Feather, there was a craftsman’s longing.
“R-Really? Can I… touch them?”
Her voice trembled, like a musician reuniting with a beloved instrument after a long time.
“Of course.”
As I handed her the materials, Garuda cautiously reached out. When her fingertips touched the feather, she gasped softly.
“This level of purity… The flow of mana is flawless.”
Garuda examined the materials with a craftsman’s eye. Her usual timid demeanor was gone, replaced by the focused gaze of an expert.
“If I forge it this way… and mix lava stones here… and this part with mithril alloy…”
She carefully examined each material on the workbench. Her hands moved with the precision of a master.
“With materials like these… maybe…”
It was at that moment.
“Ah!”
The feather slipped from Garuda’s hand. Her face turned pale in an instant.
Thud—
The feather hit the floor and shattered into countless pieces. Tiny fragments scattered across the forge’s wooden floor.
Just as I had intended. I had infused it with unstable mana beforehand.
“W-What should I do…”
Garuda’s face lost all color. Her lips trembled and turned white.
“Such a precious material… I… Oh…?”
She crouched down and tried to gather the broken pieces. But her hands were shaking so badly that the pieces scattered even more.
Her voice trembled with sobs. Her long hair covered her tear-streaked face.
“Hmm… This material is quite expensive, you know.”
At my words, Garuda’s shoulders flinched.
“S-Class beast materials… At market price…”
I paused, pretending to calculate. I already knew the price.
“It might exceed ten thousand gold.”
“T-Ten thousand gold?!”
Garuda’s young voice burst out in shock. Her pale face peeked out from behind her disheveled hair.
“Th-That big…”
Her hand started trembling. Even the hand holding the hammer lost strength, and it fell to the floor.
“I-I don’t have that kind of money…”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, like an unstoppable waterfall.
“I already have thousands of gold in debt… Now… now…”
Garuda fell to her knees on the floor. Her long hair scattered around her, wrapping her body.
“What should I do… What should I do…”
She kept mumbling. Her shoulders shook with sobs.
“E-Even if I sell our entire shop… at this rate, even the forge my father left behind… hnghh…”
Her face buried in her hands as she sobbed. It was pitiful, but there was no other way. We were almost there.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll compensate you!”
She pressed her forehead against the wooden floor in a deep bow. Her long hair swept the dusty ground.
“Compensate? How are you going to do that?”
“U-Uhm… Maybe… in installments…”
Garuda continued in a trembling voice.
‘The time has come.’
Taking advantage of Garuda’s panic, I snatched her hammer. Its heavy weight settled into my hand.
“Oh? This is a good hammer.”
Looking at the hammer’s handle, I noticed faintly glowing runes engraved on it. The words “Pride of the Blacksmith” shimmered softly.
“R-Return it.”
“This is nice. This hammer might just do the trick.”
“No!”
Garuda reached out desperately. Her eyes shimmered with moisture.
“That’s an heirloom of our family… passed down for generations…”
I swung the hammer through the air. Its hefty weight felt satisfying.
A piece like this would fetch a fine price.
I turned and took a few steps toward the exit. Garuda’s face went pale.
“W-Where are you going…”
Panicked, she stumbled after me. Her long hair scattered on the floor, catching her feet as if she would trip at any moment.
“Why? To smash some monsters with this. You’ll need to recover the materials you ruined, right?”
“No!”
Garuda grabbed my arm. Her frail hands were trembling.
“Then let’s do this.”
Raising the hammer, I said,
“If you become my exclusive blacksmith, I’ll return the hammer. And I’ll forget about the broken materials.”
“E-Eh!? Th-That’s…”
Garuda’s face grew even paler. Her lips quivered.
I lifted the hammer higher.
“Don’t want to? Or should we test it in a magitech furnace? A hammer engraved with runes… I wonder what kind of reaction it’ll have. Oh, by the way, I’m an honorary member of the Ether Magic Tower.”
Of course, that tower was… well, Aris destroyed it.
“No!”
Garuda screamed.
“O-Okay…”
Her shoulders drooped. Tears fell from between strands of her long hair.
“I’ll… do it…”
Perfect. Now, for the final step…
“Alright, let’s write up a contract first.”
I pulled a parchment from my bag. Runes engraved on it gleamed under the forge’s light.
“A c-contract…?”
Garuda’s voice trembled. Her uncertain eyes peeked out from behind her long hair.
“You just need to sign here.”
The terms were simple: a lifelong exclusive contract. She would make whatever equipment I required. In return, I promised her the best treatment.
‘It’s practically a slave contract…’
I swallowed a bitter smile. But it had to be this way. There couldn’t be any loopholes for escape.
As I handed her the parchment, Garuda flinched as if she saw a snake. But after glancing at the hammer in my hand, she lowered her head.
With trembling fingers, she took the pen. The ink shimmered faintly on the parchment.
‘Garuda Ironheart’
The handwriting was shaky, but it was enough.
“You’re mine now. You know you can’t run away, right?”
I rolled up the parchment as I spoke. Garuda shrank back even more.
“Y-Yes… But I don’t know if I can do well…”
“Don’t worry. From what I’ve seen, you have the talent to become the best.”
Garuda’s eyes wavered.
‘This is the only way this timid girl won’t refuse me.’
It was a calculated move. In the original story, she became the greatest blacksmith. Though right now, she was still unfinished. She needed growth.
But there was no choice. Only this timid dwarf girl could handle the Chaos Core and complete the cursed sword.
“Alright, let’s do our best from now on.”
“Y-Yes. I-I’ll do my best.”
I handed her the hammer back with a smile.
“My exclusive blacksmith.”
“Eek!”
Garuda clutched the hammer tightly against her chest, as if she had reclaimed a long-lost treasure.
“T-Then, I’ll just get back to work…”
“Where are you going?”
“Eek! Ah… N-No! I’m not… not running away! It’s just… just… I talked too much today…”
A smile crept onto my lips. This clumsy side of her wasn’t so bad either.
In an era ruled by magitech, she was a girl who clung to tradition.
A girl who dreamed of becoming the greatest blacksmith but couldn’t believe in herself.
Now, it’s time to help this girl grow into the greatest artisan.