Chapter 322: Side: Wolf Girl’s Worries
Around the time Axel, Eve, and Ria were visiting Roamer’s dimension, after the girls left and Fenrir placed the ship back inside the inventory, she was left with nothing else to do.
Deciding to waste time in some way, Fenrir walked back to the dwarves, watching them work away hammering metals into weapons and armors.
And with the Hearthfire of Nidavellir’s help, their crafting skills were rapidly catching up to the golden generations hundreds of years ago. But the closer they got, the farther it felt for them to close the gap.
As if there was something they were missing aside from the knowledge and skills contained in the Hearthfire. Some intangible thing that couldn’t be inherited. Something that had to be lived.
"Miss Fenrir, here to observe again?"
One of the dwarves asked, seeing her familiar figure.
Upon getting spoken to, she almost scowled at him. However, through repeated visitation and practice, she could now hold her temper.
They were dwarves, but a different one from the dwarves who made Gleipnir which was still binding her even now. Thus, her getting angry at them was literally just a dog barking up the wrong tree.
With a sigh, she spoke. "I’m here to see Kalan."
"Sir Kalan?" The dwarf tilted his head. "Then, you should visit the first workshop. I think he’s working on something there with Boss Helion."
"I see. Thanks." Fenrir sighed, turning around and leaving a few words. "Then you should stop wasting time and get back to what you’re doing."
"A-Ahaha... I was just resting, resting..."
Fenrir was aware that dwarves usually slack off when the projects on their hands were "too simple." But due to Axel’s division of labor laws, only the best of the best among the dwarves could actually participate in big projects.
Thus, the normal dwarves were usually lazing around.
Though not because they refused to work. Rather, it was because they’d finished their work so fast they had literally nothing else to do but randomly practice their crafts, or work on their personal projects.
And since they were literally doing their jobs properly either way, Fenrir couldn’t even reprimand them.
Working efficiently only to get scolded or given more work without a raise in pay is a good way of losing your employee’s hearts.
Swift and quality work should be rewarded, not penalized... As per Axel’s orders. Emphasized to the point it felt as if he himself had been subjected to such treatment before, and was nursing a very personal vendetta towards the idea. Nobody asked. Nobody needed to.
Anyway, leaving behind the lazing dwarf, Fenrir headed to the first workshop.
It was the workshop built closest to the castle, and the one with the best facilities overall.
By the door, two dwarves armed with spears stood on guard. But even when Fenrir entered through the door, the guards remained perfectly still, almost as if they couldn’t see her. Eyes forward, expressions blank.
But no.
It was simply the case of self-preservation.
There was once a dwarf who failed to recognize her and tried to block her path... he was still stuck in recovery, even now. The other guards had not forgotten.
"I heard Kalan’s here." Fenrir crossed her arms, looking around.
Inside the workshop, five of the master blacksmiths huddled together, working on something. Among them was a pretty skinny dwarf, with a spectacle over his eyes—shaped like goggles and secured with a belt around his head.
Hearing her voice, the four continued hammering, with only Kalan lifting his head and addressing the elephant in the room.
"Madam Fenrir, you’ve come again?" He asked, a hint of exasperation audible in his voice. "I’ve told you already, I’m trying my best to analyze Gleipnir, but it’s not something that could be finished just because I want it to be. I need time."
"..."
Fenrir glanced at him, then at the other four, then at the strange sword they were all working on together.
"Then wouldn’t the analysis end faster if you focus on it 24/7?" She harrumphed.
"And I’ve told you many times before, analyzing such a wondrous, miraculous artifact isn’t like reading a book. One would need inspiration and intuition to even glimpse at a hint—whether it’s useless or not depends on luck!"
The poor dwarf sounded tired. Genuinely, deeply tired.
It was true that Kalan was the smartest among all the dwarves, making him the natural fit for analyzing things beyond normal comprehension. Thus, Axel had designated him for analyzing the final layer of Gleipnir’s curse.
He had been working on it for over a week already, but even then, he had yet to grasp anything solid. Without a proper foothold, it was impossible to even decipher the seal, much less break it.
Furthermore, as a dwarf, Kalan couldn’t stay still the entire day without working the hammer. The itch was too deep in his blood.
Even if he looked thin, he was still a master craftsman through and through.
"Tsk!"
Fenrir clicked her tongue, disappointed and annoyed.
She even thought of threatening or locking Kalan down, but such heavy-handed measures would surely earn her a reprimand or two from Axel. Thus, she could only back down.
"At this rate, just how long would it take to break this annoying seal..." She muttered it more to herself than to anyone in the room.
In the past, she had almost given up on breaking it entirely.
However, thanks to Axel’s efforts, all but the last seal remained. Meaning, Fenrir was just about to regain her freedom and grasp her full power once more.
She should be happy with the progress...
But the closer she was to freedom, the more anxious she got.
She felt that in the near future, she would regret not having unlocked her full strength in time. As to the reason behind that feeling, or the intuition driving it, she was completely clueless. It was just there, sitting heavy in her chest.
She wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.
That whatever happened, she wouldn’t regret anything later.
But right now, all she could do was trust Axel, who had entrusted Kalan to handle it.
With a sigh, she turned around and left.
Nobody knew where she went...
Until a loud explosion echoed in the distance. Then another. Then a third, further away.
Poor monsters roaming the land became stress relievers for the anxious wolf girl!
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