“Very well, human.” The leader nodded. “This will be an equivalent exchange. Give us that blueprint and bring the ship to us. We’ll fix it for you once we have the materials.”


    ‘Does he think I’m a fool?’ Niki smiled as he saw through the dwarf’s scheme. Bringing the ship to them while it needed repairing was the same as asking Niki to go and never return.


    “Great!” Niki replied with a bright expression, holding himself back from grinning. Thest thing he wanted was for the dwarves to notice his teeth.


    The leader smiled as if he was a brilliant schemer. He looked confused when Niki walked toward a clearing beside them.


    “I’ll give you the blueprint once you finish repairing it!”


    From the shadows on the ground came out Alias, looking as if it rose from the dead. The dwarves retreated in fear as the ship surfaced.


    “How did you do that?” The leader asked with sharp eyes, looking at Niki as if he was a demon.


    “An enchanted item!” Niki lied, but they can never tell. The leader looked shocked as he nced again at Niki, wanting to see through his background.


    “Are you from an enchantment family?” The leader asked, looking apprehensive. Niki simply smiled without replying. The leader looked at the ship and nodded.


    “Carry it back! We’re returning to the vige!” The leader raised his arm toward Alias.


    “Aye, Master!”


    The dwarves walked in unison toward Alias, passing by the panicked Sergio and Yuxi. Each dwarf grabbed a part of the ship before they shouted and raised it.


    “One! Two! Three!”


    The dwarf in the lead began shouting, and with each yell, the dwarves took a step forward. Sergio stumbled toward Niki as they watched the ship leave.


    “Bossman, can we trust them?”


    “The dwarves might be doubtful of others, but they aren’t the type to scam others.”


    “For someone as cynical as you are, bossman trusts stereotypes too much,” Sergio said with a hint of unease, which Niki understood.


    “It’s not like we have a different way of fixing Alias, right?” Niki shrugged. “The dwarves don’t need the ship. Plus, seeing me take it out of thin air, I doubt they would think of anything funny.”


    Niki said with a smile as his eyes followed the dwarves. The group then followed after them, walking around the mountains until they arrived at arge monument, as big as a small house.


    The monument was of a dwarf with a long beard that fell to his knees. The craftsmanship was exotic, every detail being incredibly vivid and realistic.


    Niki saw the Master Dwarf walked toward the statue and ced his hands on it. After injecting it with mana, the statue’s eyes shone as it began to shift.


    There was a rumbling sound as the statue moved to reveal a staircase. Sergio and Yuxi looked mystified by the existence of such a ce in the middle of the forest, but Niki felt it was only natural for the dwarves to live underground.


    “Where are they taking the ship?” Sergio turned to see the dwarves carrying the ship away.


    “There is a special dock,” The Master Dwarf came to exin. “We’ll fix the ship there. Now, blueprint.”


    “Not a chance, dwarf.” Niki talked to him the same way the dwarf talked to Niki. “No upfront payments.”


    “Guh.” The dwarf scowled with a frown. “Fine, you can either stay here or enter our vige as guests.”


    “We’ll be going in.” Niki descended the staircase before the others objected. After all, the dwarves had all sorts of machinery, making them a treasure trove.


    “I guess we’ll be living with them for a while.” Sergio turned to Yuxi and shrugged.


    Yuxi sighed and looked at the underground passageway with unease. Sergio followed after Niki, and she remained with the dwarves, who looked at her with wariness.


    At the end of the stairs, there was arge hall lit up by fluorescent bulbs. Even with the limited light, Niki could see the vige. The first thing that greeted their eyes was the many storage rooms filled with machines.


    “This looks like an underground military post,” Sergio mumbled as they walked behind the dwarves.


    “Even the military doesn’t have this many machines.” Niki sighed in greed. “How many days would the repairing need?” He asked the Master Dwarf.


    “Three, at most.” He said while ncing at Niki. “During this time, don’t wander around the vige.”


    “That’s fine, but I want to see your Gunmaster,” Niki said, making the dwarf scowl at him, but Niki was unwavering.


    “Fine!” The Master huffed and waved his hand. “I’ll take you there now, and you can find the wayter.”


    ‘They are even willing to let me meet their Gunmaster?’ Niki squinted his eyes as the dwarf led the way. Their attitude could only mean that the blueprint was this important to them.


    ‘They are looking for the blueprint of a key, it seems. I wonder if the dwarves know about the dungeon.’


    The Master Dwarf took them to the Gunmaster, who had a pavilion of their own. The ceiling had an opening with sunlighting through them.


    He found many mirrors lining the opening as he looked up: a mechanism to allow sunlight in without using windows. They walked in and found the ce to be filled with nts.


    “I thought a Gunmaster’s abode wouldn’t have a lot of… greenery?” Sergio muttered as he breathed in the fresh air. Niki felt the same.


    The group walked in to find a table with empty tes on them. The Master Dwarf sat down and gestured for the others to sit as well.


    “Ding!”


    The Master rang a bell on the table, and the doors of the pavilion opened. Machines rolled out carrying tes of food, and they filled the table instantly.


    Sergio, Niki, and Yuxi had faces that screamed ‘what the hell is going on?’ while the Master Dwarf simply sighed.


    “She’s always so extra.”


    Niki heard the master mutter as the doors of the pavilion were thrown open. Walking out was a girl wearing nothing but a skirt and bondages around her chest.


    ‘A human?’ Niki was surprised.