A group of more than a hundred dwarves approached nervously. They were about the same height as me, yet their shoulder width was more than double mine.
A-ahm, cuse mehello, Im Dolan
and Im Luke, the chief of this village. A pleasure to meet you.
He had a beard and rough-looking featuresbut for some reason, he spoke very softly.
His appearance and his speech definitely didnt match.
I thought he might just be an exception, but I quickly confirmed that wasnt the case.
The other dwarves, all of them, were acting all nervous and were even fidgety. They werent at all like the hearty dwarves Ive heard of.
We used to live in the mountains over there
Isnt that place full of monsters though?
It is, but we have our own cavern
This cavern was apparently at the foot of the mountains.
It had only one entrance, and its inner structure was very suitable for their defenses.
They said they stayed in the cavern almost all of the time, so I wondered where they got their food.
Apparently, their staple food was a special kind of potato that they grew inside of the cave.
We also eat the insects and the bats inside the caveFrom time to time, beasts and monsters would also wonder inside, giving us meat.
that didnt really sound like a great way of life to me.
Much like the elves, the dwarves have also interacted with humans in past, but have stopped doing so.
Do they live in this remote place because they were persecuted as well?
No, in the dwarves case, its their divine punishment. Back then, they used the powerful weapons they made to expand their empire. But that attempt to conquer the world incurred heavens wrath, leading to the collapse of their empire. They were separated from one another, living only in small groups. of course, this happened before I was alive, so this is all based on the story handed down from generation to generation. I mean, its been more than a thousand years since it happened.
A thousand years
Having only lived a decade, I couldnt even imagine what it was like back then.
Even so, I couldnt help but wonder what exactly Philia-san meant by divine punishment.
I myself dont know the details, but that made my ancestors settle in that cavern. Weve been living there until recently
I see. Youve been living in a gloomy cave until your personalitys gotten gloomy as well. Not that Im complaining that youre quiet, of course. By all means, dwarves should continue living in dark, gloomy caves.
Maybe it was because they were dwarves, but Philia-san was being a bit harsher than usual.
There might be some truth to dwarves and elves not getting along.
But then, why have you come to this wasteland?
Actually
Dolan-san told me that a few days ago, a ferocious monster appeared in their cavern.
The entrance to the cavern was sealed off that time and there wasnt any indication of it being forced open, yet the monster still appeared and rampaged within.
i-its a monster that could be said to be both like a giant snake and hornworm
A few dwarves were eaten by that monster. After getting full, it retreated.
However, because it appeared seemingly out of nowhere again, the dwarves had little choice but to abandon the cavern they called home for generations and flee to the wasteland.
While telling us of their story, Dolan-sans face was ghastly pale.
And thats when we saw this placewe have nowhere to go, no foodif at all possible, please consider granting us with food
Dolan-san timidly requested like that.
Giving you food wont be problem. Well also provide you with a place to live in.
R-really? Were of a different race, yet youre showing us so much kindnessha? I dont suppose the compensation you expect from us is labor to the point of death, can it?
what an extremely pessimistic dwarf
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