Most people agreed, that as a whole, the group did not fit their name.
‘They should change their name. Dwarves Exploitation Group would be a much more fitting name.’
The Dwarven Liberation Corps ruled Thor Kingdom, including 8 guilds and other small villages.
Every month the guild had to pay tribute to the Akryong (Evil Dragon) Kaybern in the form of goods. Thus the greedy dwarves could not become wealthy.
Dwarves with Beginner Blacksmithing skill did not open their eyes to avoid the high taxes. Those with Intermediate skills tried to bluff their way stating that they were moving to another village. However, the Dwarven Liberation Group still had influenced over the village, forcing them to pay the taxes.
Dwarves from the Liberation Group walk towards Weed.
“Art Hand, you have to pay taxed for that.”
“Seniors, earning a day-to-day living is the plight of the poor Dwarves.”
“All other Sculptors also pay taxes. And from what we’ve heard, you’ve been earning quite a lot.”
“I have recently pursued sculpting and it’s the truth that I have a few customers. However, others are jealous of me and are defaming me. How much could a sculptor possibly make?”
“Please accept 15 gold.”
“I can’t shave off 20 gold, if you don’t like it leave the village.”
At the Dwarven Warrior’s threat, Weed had no choice but to pay the 20 gold. However, it was a relatively small price to pay if you compared it to the weapon craftsmans’ taxes of several hundred gold pieces. Gathering all of their income from taxes, the Dwarven Liberation Corps were very profitable.
Inside the protection of the Akryong Kaybern, there was no need to maintain an army because neither monsters nor other Kingdoms dared to invade. There were occasional power struggles amongst the dwarves, which didn’t normally last very long, nor very catastrophic.
The Dwarves were a race that was naturally hard to siege.
The cities and villages were built on harsh terrain of mountains, which gave an overwhelming advantage to the defenders, and, without Magicians or Archers, they did not have the necessary resources to attack.
The Kingdom of the Dwarves was a disappointment.
Although it was their birthplace, those with a certain degree of skill scattered throughout the Versailles continent.
“Ah! What a beautiful sculpture, lately I’ve made most of them without errors.”
“What are you talking about, Pin? The brass statue you made yesterday had more dignity. How good was the “Anxious Dwarven Child” statue?”
“From a woman’s perspective, the sculpture you created today is more appealing.”
Weed created a sculpture of two people who couldn’t stop squabbling.
Herman had a profession as a Dwarven Blacksmith. At the sight of Weed making sculptures, he said.
“You look like a Blacksmith with superior skills.”
Weed could not helped but asked.
“How did you know that?”
“If you look closely it’s obvious. You are not a native Dwarf are you?”
“Yes.”
“In this place, the most Dwarves acquaint themselves and live on. Although most other people think all Dwarves look alike, if you look closely, there’s a slight difference.”
The length of the beard, hair color, the shape of the jacket, and even to the size of the head differs according to the taste of the Dwarf. Even if other people have difficulty differentiating them, if one actually became acquainted with a Dwarf, it would be easy to tell them apart.
So Herman said while gently stroking his beard.
“While I think I know, to some extent, most of the Dwarven Sculptors who live in the Kingdom of Thor, there wasn’t one among them that looked like you.”
“It appears you know how to sculpt.”
“It’s a job without anything special involved. Speaking of sculpting, aren’t you skilled with your hands?”
“…”
“Although I trained in order to master sculpting, there was no reason for me learn other skills. While it’s hard to attain greatness, it’s probably easy to become good enough at it.”
“You can see a lot of struggling Dwarves.”
“The Dwarves who worked on Sculpting have usually dreamed those dreams and achieved it. However, the actual number of Dwarves who have done so are very few. They had their hand full with training their Sculpting skill, how can they possibly raise other skills? However, I think a person of your caliber can make it possible.”
“Why is your estimation of me so prominent?”
“Do you know how long you’ve been sitting here sculpting while eating only bread crumbs?”
Weed had not been aware of the time for hours.
“It is already the 22nd hour. Seeing your composure, patience, and remarkable skill in sculpting, I would guess that it would be unthinkable for you not to be honing other skills.”
Particularly among the Dwarven race, there were many older users.
Production, and especially the ranking of the manufacturing fields, was usually thought of as boring and irritating by most energetic youths.
Herman was an elderly user who was in his mid-40s.
Both his son and daughter worked for another kingdom, as a soldier and gardener, respectively, stopping by to visit once every three to four months. Herman lived for the the joy of mending the weapons and armor he’d crafted for them whenever they stopped by.
Besides Herman, there was a female user named Pin.
The girl with the cute name was female of the Elven race!
Unlike the extremely thin fairies, it was a female elf who had similar proportions to an adult human. Even though her job was a Shaman, when she travelled to the dwarven village, she settled down. To age her specialty; spirit wine.
Offering spirit wine to the Earth in the Thor Kingdom doubled its effects.
In order to properly age spirit wine and progress it past the Intermediate level, she had to pick a good and strong soil, offer it there, and stay put.
Since Weed was in the plaza of the Iron Hand Village and sculpted for consecutive 20 hours, he became intimate with more villagers aside from the two users.
“Art Hand, did you finish the mother-of-pearl cabinet order, yet?”
“Yes. Here’s the finished product.”
Weed handed over the remaining mother-of-pearl cabinet he made beforehand.
Although it was a bit overboard to say they were pure statues, they were only simple products. He was now able to make crafts that took a lot of skill.
Since woodworking, metalworking, various cutting techniques, crafts, and other handiwork were all related to sculpting, it was an extremely exceptional display of practical skill.
The mother-of-pearl cabinet must be detailed and comfortable to use. In that way, it required an artistic side and was not easy to make.
“Great, Art Hand! It must have been a difficult request, but I like it. You completed it meticulously as if you were part of our Dwarven clan.”
The Dwarf paid his dues and left with his mother-of-pearl cabinet.
Weed was satisfied with this transaction.
As expensive as the mother-of-pearl cabinet was, he made it back cost and more.
“Art Hand, what about the scabbard work I requested?”
“Here. I completed everything.”
“Thank you. Let’s do business again.”
Dwarves kept looking him.
“Mister, is the crane statue that I dropped and broke fixed yet? If I get caught by my mom, I’ll be in big trouble.”
“I used a high quality glue to attach the neck portion as good as it new.”
“You can’t see a scratch, right?”
“Of course.”
Weed was wrapping up all of the requests that the villagers had.
While there were also cases of people requesting a special sculpture to be made, most were trivial requests. If the Dwarves had a piece that they coveted, they raced to make it themselves instead of entrusting it on others.