Chapter 7 - At the capital (3)

After buying the item he wanted, Jade immediately headed towards the capital's blacksmith.

Steven followed suit stating he would aid Jade once again, however, in Jade's eyes, Steven wanted to follow out of curiosity.

It also seemed like he wanted to get closer with Hwid.

Ggyu!

However, even with Steven's lure of sweet talk and snacks, Hwid stood firm with its principles and refused all of Steven's advances.

This showed how smart Hwid was.

"……It's very arrogant."

"I honestly don't even know if it's male or female yet."

"I think it might be a daughter."

"It's still too young to decide that by mere personality."

Steven lowered his head with a dejected look.

Even with all his effort, he was still getting rejected.

It was Steven's first time seeing a drake, let alone a Gold Drake, so there were many questions he had.

That's why he had planned to get close with Hwid to ask Jade these questions, yet Hwid didn't even allow the first part.

"I, it's still young?"

"Yes, it's only a year old."

"What?!"

Steven's eyes grew wide.

Although Hwid normally stayed small and cute in Jade's arms, it was a three-meter monster when it fought.

That was its true form.

And, just by energy alone, it appeared as if Hwid would easily be able to barbeque a troll and eat it. Yet, to think that it was only a year old. Steven was absolutely shocked.

"It's a year and one month to be exact."

"Huhuhu…."

Gyuuuuhaam!

Different from Steven, Hwid let out a big yawn.

It was becoming tired from Steven's constant glances towards it.

"If compared to a human, it's a complete baby. However, it seems to be quick in understanding what we say. Not sure if it's because it's around me all the time."

"That's really interesting. I had thought it would be intelligent, but I wasn't sure since it wasn't as clear as day. However, looking at Hwid, its intelligence level doesn't seem too far off from a human's. Compared to a one-year old human baby, it's much smarter."

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Ggyoong.

Hwid didn't show much of a reaction, even knowing they were talking about it.

Instead, it grasped Jade's chest with its forepaws and closed its eyes.

Ting ting ting.

As Jade and Steven were talking, they had arrived at the blacksmith.

The place was too small to be considered the most famous blacksmith of the capital, but Jade still appeared to have expectations.

The reason being the owner of the blacksmith was a dwarf.

They had the appearance of a child but had outstanding craftsmans.h.i.+p.

"The door is open!"

As soon as they knocked on the door again, a sharp voice resounded out.

Anyone could tell the voice sounded annoyed.

However, Jade pushed the door open without a sign of displeasure.

-All dwarves all like that!

-But, if you get close to them, they really take care of you. Only, that's the most difficult part. Getting close to them and gaining their recognition.

-I'm sure they'll like Jade. Dwarves can be considered to be part of the fairy family. Although their fairy blood is much more diluted these days, dwarves were originally born as earth fairies.

The door to the entrance was human size even though dwarves were much smaller.

One could tell the building was created by a dwarf.

'Are they a Tsundere? Ill-tempered on the outside but warm on the inside?'

Even the door hinges were well made with no sound of friction.

On the other hand, Steven was completely uninterested in such things and just stared straight past the door.

Tang! Tang!

As soon as they walked in through the door, they heard the sound of something being hit.

It sounded light and steady, but the sound was consistent.

It was obvious they weren't hitting the same spot over and over again.

"You might have to wait a while. They're a race with eccentric personalities."

"I've taken that into consideration, so you can head back first if you're busy. I've memorized how to get back already."

"It's okay. I was told to a.s.sist you the whole day today, so I will take full responsibility of it. And, to be honest, this is the first time I'm meeting a dwarf as well. It's rather rare to see their kind in our country, and even going into the Great Forest this time was a first for me."

Steven awkwardly laughed.

However, Jade just calmly stared as Steven laughed out of embarra.s.sment.

He felt that it was important for one to understand his own shortcomings.

"Huh?"

As they were busily staring at the items that were hung on the walls, a door inside the shop opened and a heat wave burst forth.

It appeared to be the workroom, and at the same time as the heat wave, a sweat ridden stumpy dwarf cheerfully walked out

However, the dwarf's eyes grew wide as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

He appeared to be surprised at Jade.

"Summoner?"

"You're able to recognize it so quickly."

"Hu. It's very rare to see a human summoner. Even more so, it seems like you're even better than an elf?"

Facial hair covered the vast majority of the dwarf's face and the only parts visible were his forehead, two eyes, nose, and mouth.

He appeared quite ridiculous. Different from his balding head, the sides of his head had plenty of hair and even covered his ears.

"I'm not sure about that. I have yet to meet an elf and it's even my first time meeting a dwarf."

"We're not able to make contracts with spirits but we're really good at smelling spirits since we're also part of the fairy family."

"I've heard."

"That's why I'm very sure about what I said. Sniff sniff!"

The dwarf spoke with conviction as he lifted his nose into the air.

He then circled around Jade and inspected him thoroughly.

"Is that so."

"Your body is also properly trained. But is the thing buried in your chest a drake?"

"That's right."

"HA!"

The dwarf was once again surprised.

It was unbelievable to see such a calm drake within someone's arms as they were known to have little to no rivals beneath dragons.

They weren't species of low-grade either.

'A Gold Drake is high-grade even among other drakes….."

Among all the drakes, Red Drakes and Gold Drakes were known to be the fiercest.

And among them, Gold Drakes were even rarer, so it was an unbelievable sight to see one within the arms of a human.

Completed - Chapter 7 (3)