Chapter 18

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Chapter 18: Professional Craftsmen

There are many meat-eating wild animals in the Angaso region.

In the sky, there are white-chested eagles that can snatch goats, on the ground there are solitary brown bears, packs of wild wolves, and the elusive Angaso lion. This vast wilderness sees few human visitors, and it’s not uncommon for solo travelers to go missing. It makes it convenient to fake a reasonable death scene without having to come up with elaborate stories of earthquakes or landslides.

The Skeleton Soldier dragged away most of the bodies, the soldiers’ bodies and the broken dry bones from battles were put together in a graveyard, and after some time new soldiers would be made from them. The remaining small portion of bodies was left in place, military supplies and equipment were almost untouched, except for the "Red Setter". Tasha was startled the first time she saw this thing, it looked out of place in this magical world, like an early clunky machine. But before she could study it further, Marion kicked it off the cliff, with the Craftsman Dwarf cheering behind her, looking very annoyed by that thing.

"The Red Setter can search for Hybrids," Marion explained, "it is very valuable for human armies, only used in very few large-scale hunting operations. In encounters, everyone will destroy it first, so doing this won’t raise suspicions."

"Is that a kind of dog?" Tasha asked, thinking that the dogs here looked really strange.

"No, it’s something else!" the Craftsman Dwarf, who overheard their conversation, came up gesturing, "It’s like us making a furnace, and they make a dog!"

Am I seeing the results of an industrial revolution from another world? Tasha wondered, if humans have climbed up the technology tree, the situation for the indigenous farming civilization on this side is not good, they might be in for trouble. While others are having an industrial revolution in the other world, she’s here trying to revive a magical civilization, is she standing in the wrong historical position, going against the flow of history? Tasha was silent for a moment, then asked Marion, "Do human cities have steam engines?"

Marion said, "Huh?"

Tasha tried a different approach, "What do humans use in their factories?"

"People." Marion said, "They don’t trust other races."

It seemed like the Industrial Revolution had not started yet, at least not widespread. Tasha thought there was still hope. With fading magic and the beginnings of industry, who knows who might outdo whom.

Bodies and weapons were carelessly left on a nearby hillside, where wolves often roamed. Marion, being a skilled hunter, set up a convincing scene of an encounter to attract a crowd of actors who could further stage the torn bodies. In just one day, those bodies marked with animal bite wounds had a different cause of death.

The efforts of the Craftsman Dwarves made the process better. They were not good at hunting, but excelled at making traps for hunting. They took out their hidden treasures, made them look like they would break when triggered, scattered them around the battlefield. Some powder with hypnotic effects could explain why this group of soldiers did not set off distress signals – in reality, Craftsman Dwarves only used this for sleep aid, its effectiveness was far from being a weapon, but humans didn’t know that.

Those who had never faced the Craftsman Dwarves didn’t know how low their combat ability was or how effective their weapons were. The remaining drugs at the scene left enough room for imagination. The battle to eliminate a small squad could be explained by traps, hypnotic weapons, and being surrounded by wolves. Or there were various conspiracy theories. Compared to that, the rumor of "a dungeon swallowing an army" seemed completely absurd.

The Oak Elder fell into a slumber, the tree firmly rooted in the ground, obviously unable to be transplanted underground without sunlight. Craftsman Dwarves collected and processed suitable leaves, decorating the bare oak tree. Their skills were superb, the leaves were firmly attached, able to stick well on the tree while naturally falling off in strong winds. The makeup effects they used on the oak tree were excellent, successfully hiding the tree in the forest.

All preparations were made, and the final effect depended on human reactions.

In the first few days, Tasha didn’t allow anyone to leave the dungeon to avoid encountering any army. Craftsman Dwarves grumbled about being confined underground, but when Tasha opened the forging room to them, most complaints disappeared.

A large group of Craftsman Dwarves rushed in, filling every corner of the forging room, reaching for every forging tool. Hammers were passed from hand to hand, with people constantly finding ways to praise these lumps of iron. "Look at its perfect weight! Its perfect shape! This graceful arc! Such a fantastic hammer!" they exclaimed excitedly, "Blah blah blah! Chatter chatter!"

In Tasha’s ears, the words of the craftsmen sounded like noise, she couldn’t understand why they were so excited.

The Craftsman Dwarves were excitedly smashing hammers everywhere, trying to find the best one by listening to the sound of it hitting the ground. Some Dwarves found the same best hammer and started arguing over it. Before Tasha could decide whether to intervene, they quickly sorted out their work and changed shifts. Some Dwarves held onto the anvil, while others gathered around the magical iron furnace.

"Fire! This stable fire!" exclaimed the Stone Grinder leader Hogan, who claimed to be the best blacksmith there. "What are they burning in there? Wood charcoal can’t produce such high temperature flames, with such a stable edge, and such a perfect smoke-removal process! I’ve only heard of fires like this in stories!" He leaned in too close, almost setting his bushy beard on fire. His singed beard turned crispy and curly, causing everyone around to burst into laughter.

"I have to say, isn’t it inconvenient for a Dwarf blacksmith to have such a long beard?" Tasha muttered to herself. Her voice was drowned out by the laughter, and Marion next to her didn’t hear it either.

"Dwarves have a natural resistance to high temperatures."

Tasha was surprised to hear Victor’s answer. After staying awkwardly silent before, Victor finally spoke up for the first time in a while, signaling the end of his quiet days.

"You’re not pretending anymore?" Tasha asked.

"I wasn’t pretending!" Victor replied.

"What happened before? Were you banished to the abyss?" Tasha inquired.

"I don’t know!" said Victor.

His answer was short and irritated, maybe due to a mental connection, Tasha could sense a subtle unease. He didn’t seem like he wanted to talk much, but because of a contract he had to answer – it seemed like he only spoke before because Tasha "asked a question".

Tasha rarely felt a bit of sympathy for him, so she didn’t ask any further.

The dwarf chieftain on the other side was dismayed about his beard for a few minutes, then he mumbled to himself, "Thank goodness I hadn’t eaten dinner, or my beard would have caught fire if it got oily, right?" Saying this, he immediately cheered up, humming a lively tune. Marion, watching the chaotic forging room for a few minutes, apologized to Tasha awkwardly. She said, "They are usually very serious about forging, it’s just that we haven’t been able to get enough tools, the iron has been restricted…"

During the conversation, someone skillfully tossed a pair of tongs high in the air and caught it narrowly. Marion’s sudden stop in her voice and her blushing face indicated that it wasn’t just a show-off, but rather the blacksmiths getting carried away for a moment.

"They are indeed very reliable blacksmiths," Marion said dryly.

Tasha smiled and said, "I believe you."

Without Marion having to assure her, the new information that had just appeared in Tasha’s mind already confirmed this point.

"Forging room, suitable craftsmen have appeared in your forging room, forging can now proceed."

"Workshop, among your group of contract workers, there are more than ten suitable craftsmen who have shown interest in working in the forging room. The advanced building, forging room, has been unlocked in the Workshop."

Let’s call the archive of information for each building a building card. The forging room card, which was previously shown as disabled, has now become available and the advanced building "Workshop" has appeared. The Workshop comes with more tools and will be set up on its own once Tasha completes construction. It can accommodate a Craftsman Dwarf who may lack strength but has skilled hands.

Under both buildings, there are many tools that can be crafted, such as "Wooden Table, your craftsmen are capable of making this item, required materials: wood, can simulate this material," "Basic Sheathed Iron Sword, your craftsmen can make this item, required materials: iron ore, already available; wood, can simulate this material; leather, needs to be obtained," and so on. From furniture to weapons, a wide range of product options are available here, with helpful reminders on what materials are needed.

Although she can’t create things out of thin air, with the Craftsman Dwarf and these clear instructions, Tasha only needs to prepare the materials and give orders.

The human army did not appear on the second day, only being discovered by scouts on the third day. They reported back after finding the set-up scene. Tasha remained cautious, as the human investigation seemed rushed, collecting the Red Setter fragments at the base of the mountain and leaving. To avoid any detection, Tasha followed from a distance, circling far outside the city.

The army was indeed busy, but not for the battered squad in the sand. "More problems than successes!" Tasha overheard a man dressed as an officer curse, "Damn it, I can’t face reporting the loss of Red Setter right now. Once this is over…"

They seemed to be planning something, and it would likely be some time before the specifics were known. Tasha had the ghost follow from afar, keeping a close eye on the situation.

With the Craftsman Dwarf, life in the dungeon changed rapidly.

They initially ran around the different corners of the dungeon themselves, but some got lazy and tried to use gnomes as carriers, placing finished furniture on them or sitting on them. The little ones riding on gnomes, like regular people riding horses, unexpectedly matched well and looked cute. So, Tasha kindly gave the gnomes a new task to cooperate with the dwarves. Ahuang volunteered to help, although he often played around himself. Despite this, the Craftsman Dwarves liked him – when it wasn’t urgent, they would sometimes play around themselves halfway through work. Surprisingly, their efficiency was high, probably because they enjoyed doing it.

The little folks put all their passion into their new home, the forging room and workshop were always busy with someone working, constantly producing new furniture. They made doors for each room, added locks and keys. They created all kinds of tables and chairs, bedside tables, wardrobes, storage boxes, working fast and well.

They would list the needed materials in a small book, pass it to Marion, who would then give it to Tasha. A Craftsman Dwarf named Ella discovered that slime’s goo could glow, so she made a lamp that used slime as a light source, requesting a large amount of slime, believing enough slime lamps could replace torches in the corridors. A Craftsman Dwarf named Tuck had to ask three times a day for "please bring some ducks, or sheep, or anything soft" as he was unhappy with the hard bed boards in the residence, claiming he could make a bed so soft, a thousand times better than that if given the materials. Such requests continued, and new manufacturing options appeared on cards in the workshop or forging room.

Later that week, Tasha noticed a change in the atmosphere. The mine shafts transformed into various corridors, caves of different sizes became different functional rooms, rooms had nameplates, crossroads had signposts, and the dining hall where they gathered had their drawn dungeon map hanging. The once rigid dungeon now had a lively feel, turning what felt like a barracks with built-in living quarters into a new home.

Reliable coincidences, eh? Tasha looked at the orderly passage, then at the craftsmen who bounced in the hallway and then fell flat on the ground. She couldn’t help but admire these magical little dwarves.