“There is also another matter which we must tender our sincere apologies, Your Majesty. The ingot which Your Majesty entrusted to us has been stolen by the Forgemaster, who fled the nation with it. We are currently searching for him, but we have had no luck in finding him…Your Majesty gave us that ingot and your trust, but yet an incident like this occurred on our part. We do not know where to begin apologizing.”
The Dwarves bowed as one.
Frankly speaking, Ainz had no idea what was going on. Therefore he asked:
“Why would he do something like that?”
Did running away with the ingot mean that he was going to sell it to someone? Was it financial greed that made one of the Dwarven nation’s councillors abandon his post?
For a moment, Ainz wanted to say that there was a player involved, moving their hidden pawns in the Dwarven nation. However, a player would not need an ingot like that. It was not valuable enough to make people forsake their position, even for very low-levelled players That being the case, it would have been more advantageous to keep their subordinate hidden and in a position of power.
“We don’t know. We honestly do not know. None of us have any idea why he would perform such a rash act.”
“…Then, my next question: what about the armor I requested?”
The Dwarves exchanged glances.
“…We cannot possibly apologize enough for that. While he left the shortsword, he took the ingot, and we are unable to return it to you. We have already sent out search parties and we will return it once we find it. Then, if you will permit it, please allow us to offer a substitute for the armor. While it pales in comparison to the ingot you entrusted to us, it is the greatest effort we can muster.”
“We plan to prepare three sets of adamantite chainmail, and then enchant them to the best of our ability.”
“If ─ if you desire a shield, we can fashion one for you out of orichalcum.”
“Umu…”
Now if he were a malicious customer with a complaint, now would be the best time to make a scene. However, Ainz did not want to be such a customer.
Still, the loss of the ingot─
─ Does it pain me? It’s not rare; I have many more like it…And for all I know the metal isn’t found here, but it might be obtainable in other regions. That being the case, it’ll be better to have more suits of armor, right? They did say they were going to enchant them too… Plus, even if they do find that ingot, it’s not like they’re going to ask for all the other items back, right? That would make this a pretty good deal…
“…If you don’t have it, it can’t be helped. Then, let’s leave matters at that. Discuss this with Zenberu later and prepare what he wants.”
The Dwarves sighed in relief.
Should he have given them a harder time? Still, it would be bad if people doubted his kingliness due to his pettiness. In that case, perhaps accepting their offer would allow others to view him as a generous person.
Still, they ought to be alright with a request or two.
“…Then, may I add another request to that?”
“…What is it, Your Majesty?”
Their stiff voices implied indicated that they were all on guard against him.
“There is no need to be so tense. It isn’t a big matter, after all. I simply wish your country’s support for the matter of recruiting runesmiths.”
“What, what do you mean by that?”
“Could you hold a ceremony in this country and make a public announcement about them working in my nation? That would surely make them happy.”
The Dwarves looked at each other and nodded instantly.
“Really now. Then please allow my nation to handle the matter of catering. Preparing for these will take some time, so I hope you won’t mind my staying here for a while.”
There were no objections from the Dwarves.
Ainz smiled in his heart. Now he would not need to return to E-Rantel.
At first, he thought he would have to spend more time on all this, but in the end he had taken back the Royal Capital in a flash. That was bad.
The first reason was because he wanted to inform Albedo about the Empire’s request for vassalage with [Message], so she could plan it with Demiurge. Things would be very bad if he were present. Therefore, Ainz needed a reason to not go back.
Also, he wanted to improve his friendly relationship with the Dwarves, which was also a very understandable reason.
Ainz also wanted to learn three pieces of information from the Dwarven city:
1: The presence or absence of players. If there were none now, there might still have been some around in the past.
2: Further investigation of runes and related information. He did not know enough about this topic. He had already learned quite a bit from the runesmiths; runes had been around for a long time, but it was unclear when exactly they had appeared and who had introduced them. Part of the reason was the chaos of the Demon Gods’ attack, but Hejinmal’s books did not contain any information on this, and neither did the Treasury.
3: Knowledge on smithing and ores. Now that he had enlisted the runesmiths to his cause, all he had to do was slowly tease that information out of them. However, there did not seem to be any of the prismatic ores here, as expected.
Regarding the second point, Ainz intended to have the Dwarves find out more when after they returned to the Royal Capital in the future, which was why he needed a firm friendship with them.
The long lines of tables were set with many plates, each of which was laden with a sumptuous variety of dishes.
The piping hot food exuded a bewitching aroma, which drifted over to Ainz.
As one of the undead, Ainz had no desire for food, but the remnants of Suzuki Satoru did. His wish to try some and his curiosity over how it would taste pricked at him.
This body does have its good and bad points…
He could curb his hunger, but not his curiosity. After all, his curiosity was part of his mind, which was not affected by his undead body.
Perhaps if the dishes before him were made by the chefs of E-Rantel or Nazarick, it might not piqued his curiosity so, but these were made by Dwarves.
Since the runesmiths wanted to bring their entire families to the Sorcerous Kingdom, they had their wives, mothers, daughters and other female relatives cook for the event. Of course, most of the 2’000 shares of food here today were supplied by Ainz ─ by Nazarick.
Of course, Ainz was not a person who would use items wastefully, so most of these were essentially E-Rantel’s cuisine. The meat had been collected by the Dragons from this mountain range, while the wine had been sourced from the Kingdom and the Empire by those traders who remained in E-Rantel.
The tables were groaning with plates of food, but even now the ladies were still serving up the food they had made.
There was little difference in the external appearance of Dwarven males and females. The biggest difference lay in their beards. Male beards were very long, and they were typically woven into three braids, while female beards were sparser. That said, sparse still meant that their beards resembled those of human males. However, the ladies seemed to have a habit of trimming the whiskers under their noses.
I don’t really see how it’s a habit… Well, that’s culture for you. The Sorcerous Kingdom has gathered all sorts of humanoids. Probing too deeply about this sort of thing might cause problems in the future.
Ainz turned his gaze away from the ladies who were still serving food. His eyes crossed the countless Dwarven heads before him and rested on the raised platform in front of him.