To his surprise, the one standing at the door wasn’t a monster, but a dwarf.
"Huh?" he muttered, momentarily thrown off by the sight. He tried to make sense of the situation, but before he could think further, the dwarf at the gate addressed him.
"Hurry up, human. We don’t have all day," the dwarf grumbled, mistaking Renan for a human due to his current form.
Renan gave a small nod and stepped forward. The dwarf glanced at him and then down at a piece of paper. "Name?" he asked.
"Renan," he replied.
"One silver coin," the dwarf demanded.
Reaching inside his clothes, Renan discreetly used his ring to retrieve a silver coin—one of the many Belinda had given him before his journey. Handing it over, he watched as the dwarf retrieved a stamp with a beard emblem on it. The dwarf then pressed the stamp against the back of Renan’s hand.
"You can go in now," the dwarf said gruffly.
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As soon as Renan stepped through the gates, he was left completely speechless by what he saw.
’Huh? Wasn’t this supposed to be the Monster Nation? Then why are there dwarves everywhere?’ Renan thought, utterly baffled by the sight before him.
Renan, who was surprised and confused at the same time, continued to walk while lost in thoughts, completely disregarding his surroundings.
’Didn’t Grandma Belinda say that it was the empire of monsters that had come together to form a nation to stand against stronger foes? So why does this empire look like it belongs to dwarves rather than monsters?’ Renan thought as he walked, looking around at the shops and stalls scattered throughout the city.
’Were the monsters overthrown by dwarves, and the dwarves took over this place, turning it into their home?’ Renan pondered.
’But why did Grandma not tell me anything about this?’
’Or maybe it is because the information about dragons is quite old. Since after the second war, dragons have retreated to their empire, cutting off their connection to the outside world. Or did it just happen not long ago, so the dragons didn’t notice?’ Renan concluded. But since he couldn’t just guess what happened to the monsters that used to live here, he resolved to find out.
Renan looked around the city, trying to find someone who could explain what had happened—someone who wouldn’t ask too many questions about why he didn’t know about it. There were many humans in this city, proving that dwarves and humans had a harmonious relationship. So, he continued looking around.
After five or so minutes of searching, he found an old dwarf loitering at the side of the road, looking drunk. Renan decided to ask him. Since he only wanted simple knowledge about what had happened to the monsters, he chose this dwarf, thinking that he wouldn’t really care much about what he was being asked, but rather, about the benefits. And so, he walked up to him.
"Hello, sir," Renan spoke politely.
But,
"Huh, what do you want, human brat? You know what? I really don’t care what you want, so leave me alone," the dwarf said rudely to Renan.
Renan, who, from one exchange, understood that this old and ugly dwarf wouldn’t talk to him unless he showed him some money, moving his hand inside his clothes and pulled out a gold coin. He tossed it at the face of the old dwarf.
The old dwarf, who had caught something shiny out of the corner of his eye, turned to look at it. The moment he saw a gold coin flying toward him, he reflexively caught it and was left stunned, staring at the gold that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"If you answer some questions of mine, you will get two more gold coins. If you don’t, I’ll just take this gold coin back," Renan said, completely disregarding the value of a single gold coin. He even thought of giving two more. The reason? ’Money is really not an issue, as Grandma Belinda has given me quite a lot,’ Renan thought.
The dwarf, who was brought out of his reverie by Renan’s voice, spoke, "Don’t worry, sir human! I will answer as many questions as you ask," he said, his voice polite, his attitude shifting a full 360 degrees. "But what is this kind sir’s name?" he asked, trying to get on Renan’s good side while thinking inwardly,
’Oh my, what a lucky day! To think I would encounter some rich noble from the human city. And all I need to do is answer some questions, and I will get three gold coins. I can’t wait to get drunk again,’ his face smiling brightly, showing his yellow teeth, which seemed like they would fall out at any moment.
"No need for you to know. Just answer my questions, and we will be done," Renan said, completely shutting down the old dwarf’s chances of getting close to him.
But the dwarf didn’t get mad. Instead, he continued smiling brightly and spoke, "I see, sir human, no problem! But I think we should discuss somewhere while comfortably sitting," the dwarf suggested.
Renan nodded.
The dwarf started to lead Renan somewhere, and after a while of walking, they finally reached a three-story wooden building. They both stepped inside, and Renan took in the interior. It looked like some kind of drinking establishment, with tables placed at considerable distances from each other, ensuring that conversations at one table couldn’t easily be overheard by another. However, if someone spoke loudly, others could hear.
Overall, the place wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t amazing either.
Then they walked to one of the tables, where they both sat opposite each other. Soon, a waiter approached them, asking for their order.
"What would you like to have?" the waiter asked.
"Three glasses of beer," the dwarf spoke first.
"A cup of water," Renan said.
The waiter nodded and left to get their orders.
After the waiter was gone, Renan looked back at the dwarf and spoke, "Now answer my questions. I don’t have all day for you," Renan said, clearly impatient.
"Okay, okay, sir human! Go ahead and ask as many questions as you want. I’m here all day at your service," the dwarf said in a happy voice.
"First, explain to me the history of dwarves and how the dwarves came to live in this place," Renan asked the most important question first.
"Huh?" The dwarf blinked in surprise at Renan’s question.
"What happened? Can’t even answer this one simple question?" Renan mocked.
The dwarf, finally out of his thoughts, spoke, "No, of course, I can. I was just surprised that this was what you wanted to ask first. But anyway, the history of dwarves, although not very amazing, is still quite fascinating," the dwarf said, then started explaining.
"The dwarves, after the disappearance of the Dwarf Progenitor, used to live in a remote place where their living conditions were not as good as they are now. After the war with dragons, the humans, who were regaining their strength, extended a hand to us, offering to help us live a better life and have a better place to stay. At that time, the leader of the dwarves agreed with the humans and accepted their extended hand.
With the help of humans, we were able to defeat the monsters and so the dwarf took over this empire where the monster used to live. And boom! Here we are, living in this place right now, happily coexisting with humans. We dwarves, who have quite a talent for forging, now provide them with weapons in exchange for their protection and other benefits," the dwarf said.
"I see," Renan said.
After that, he continued asking many questions about various topics. Some of them were about the dungeon, which greatly surprised him. After asking all those things, the day went by, and soon, night came.
"I think this is enough," Renan said as he stood up from the chair he had been sitting on and tossed two coins at the dwarf before turning around to leave.
"Thank you, sir human, for the coin! And if ever in the future you need something—" the dwarf shouted after Renan, but his voice trailed off as Renan left the building.
Renan looked up at the dark sky and thought inwardly, ’Hmm, it’s already quite dark. I should go and rent a room for tonight,’ Renan thought.
He started asking around for a place to stay and soon came across an inn. He rented a room for the night. The room wasn’t anything amazing, but it had all the necessary things.
After stepping into the room, Renan directly fell onto the bed, feeling exhausted—not from travel, but from all the information he had learned. ’It looks like it’s not as simple as I thought,’ Renan spoke in his mind.
Lying on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling. Soon, his eyes grew heavier, and within moments, he fell into a deep sleep.