Mage? Magic Engineer!

To be honest, the conversation with the Elf delegation had been unpleasant for Rorschach from start to finish. If only Hill had visited, he would have been happy to show her around.

’I hope the Dwarves aren’t as difficult as those Long Ears,’ Rorschach sighed. He didn’t know if Andre had done it on purpose, but the Dwarf delegation’s reception room was right next to the Elves’.

"Uncle Rorschach, you’ve arrived! I’m Ruger Lu Schwano, a Senior Envoy for the Dwarf Federation, here to see you!"

’Good, it’s not Singrev. This isn’t some anime finale where all the old characters make a cameo one after another...’ Rorschach was so put off by the Elves that he started talking to himself.

This envoy had the middle name "Lu," meaning "Furnace"—a symbol of Nobility. The Dwarves Rorschach knew before, Singrev and Jansen, were commoners and naturally didn’t have one. Similar noble middle names included "Hammer," "Pickaxe," and "Gold."

"Since you’re a diplomat, Mr. Schwano, you shouldn’t be looking for me in Bayern," Rorschach said, trying to be evasive to avoid another awkward encounter.

"Haha! Don’t just see us as a bunch of brutes. We can be quite meticulous when we want to be."

’Meticulous where? Do tell...’

Unaware of Rorschach’s lewd thoughts, the Dwarf proudly thumped his chest. "We did our homework before coming. Around here, you’re the one who calls the shots, Uncle Rorschach."

"And that’s not all. We knew a long time ago the Elves were coming to see you."

"They did."

Ruger’s expression was one of undisguised contempt. "Did they keep going on and on about the survival of their race? Playing the victim and then asking for help from Uncle Rorschach?"

"And they couldn’t offer anything of substance beyond that."

Hmm... Now that Ruger mentioned it, Rorschach began to see his point. He was sympathetic to the tragic plight of the Elves, especially the Gray Elves, and he was saddened by the destruction of their villages in the Black Forest.

And when Hill herself had spoken of her status as a Princess, Rorschach had been swayed, feeling it was too heavy a burden for her to carry the fate of her entire race alone.

’Come to think of it, what did I actually get out of it? A Wooden Mask and a bunch of empty promises?’

’Holy shit. If I actually agreed to their terms, I’d be more benevolent than the God of Open Source, Ma Sheng. Now *those* Starship tickets to Mars are what you call a truly empty promise.’

Seeing Rorschach’s expression, Ruger broke into a triumphant "I knew it" grin. "Ha! They’ve always been like that. When they’re in power, they’re all high and mighty, pointing fingers at us and you humans, criticizing us for not being ’eco-friendly.’"

"Now that they’re finally in a pathetic state, they run around begging for sympathy. Truth is, they’re ruthless when it comes to screwing over their own kind. If those self-proclaimed ’High Elves’ hadn’t stomped all over the Gray Elves, the Istani Royal Family might not have waited until now to be overthrown."

Andre, who had come to the reception room to deliver wine, chimed in, "They say that when wandering Elves settle down, they’re still troublemakers. They’re unwilling to farm and prefer doing business. They’ve scammed plenty of people in the past."

"Once enough Elves settle in one place, they become exclusionary and try to claim the very land that sheltered them as their own. So, Teacher, I advise you to control the number of Long Ears in the Special Zone."

"Also, many wandering Gray Elves practice ancient forms of Witchcraft, and the source of their power is likely the Mother Goddess."

’You too, huh? Oh, right, you were born in Valois. Never mind, then. If so many different people are confirming it, then it can’t be a baseless rumor. It’s just... these racial characteristics sound a little familiar...’

Despite this being a "diplomatic occasion," Ruger and his colleagues unhesitatingly grabbed the wine bottles and guzzled them down. "Ah! Good wine, but a shame it’s not stronger."

He elegantly dabbed the wine from his beard with a handkerchief. "This young fellow is right. That’s exactly the kind of trash Elves are."

After the Dwarf and Andre enjoyed a satisfying turn as Racial Knights, the air in the reception room became quite lively.

Rorschach, who had been silently using Magic to reinforce the soundproofing, decided to get the conversation back on track. "Since you despise the Elves’ behavior, Your Excellency, what price are you, and the Federation you represent, willing to pay to purchase tickets for the ship?"

"Tickets? We don’t want tickets!" After finishing his wine, Mr. Ruger grew even more boisterous, though he was already quite unrestrained. His voice made the entire room tremble.

"We want to buy your technology! Well, I’ll be... I never thought we’d one day be importing technology from humans... Speaking of which, the longer we fought our civil war, the more miserable everyone became. But when you humans go to war, whatever else happens, your level of technology just gets more and more impressive."

The Dwarves wanted the technology to build Starships.

They, too, were plagued by disasters caused by the revival of the Mother Goddess. Many of their deep mining areas were now suffering accidents like cave-ins due to abnormally active geology. There were also many mutated monsters and unidentified creatures brought to life by Activation that threatened their mining operations.

Having just finished a civil war, the Dwarf Federation found these threats to be a massive headache.

When the Dwarves collaborating with humans brought back intelligence on the Starship project, their spirits were instantly lifted.

"We need to find a new place to mine! Ores on the Main Plane are getting harder and harder to find, and on top of that, we’ve got this ’Mother Goddess’ hag to deal with. It’s unbearable!"

"If we could build a great ship to travel the stars, that’d be incredible! We could go to the Fire Plane, the depths of the Water Plane, or other Sub-planes... Hahaha..."

With Teleportation Magic, both resource consumption and transport capacity were problems, especially since Dwarves weren’t proficient in that kind of Magic.

Back in the glory days of the Dwarves, they could dig anywhere; the ore was practically endless. They could even sail around in their little ships, raid a few human and Elf coastal villages they came across, and life was good.

After the Empire’s rise, their sphere of influence shrank to its current state at the continent’s northern tip. Besides having plenty of hot springs and a view of the aurora, the place was worthless. The ground was frozen solid, and they even had to fight Istani for control of the seas and fishing grounds. It was utterly stifling.

And now, right after a civil war, this fierce crone, the "Mother Goddess," shows up? This life is impossible!

So, when they heard that a human tech master had built a ship that could travel through space, was resistant to both Fire and Divine Power, and had an unbelievably powerful engine, the Dwarves were so excited their forges nearly burst. They took action at once, coming to politely inquire about the price.

"Rest assured, we’re not shameless, down-on-their-luck beggars like the Long Ears. We can supply Uncle Rorschach’s industries with better materials—we can get you any alloy you want! And no matter how difficult the components, we can figure out a way to help you mass-produce them..."

He even spoke bluntly, without a filter. "Everyone knows the Empire is done for. The northern blokes can’t beat the southern ones. Especially with a kid as Emperor—he’s a complete fool, and so are the ones hovering around him."

Ruger suddenly remembered that Rorschach wasn’t very old himself—still a child by Dwarf standards. He quickly tried to backtrack. "Uncle Rorschach is the exception, of course! You’re the real deal, you are!" He stuck up his short, stubby thumb.

’Dealing with these guys is so refreshing,’ Rorschach thought. ’It’s just that the offer is too good to refuse.’ Although Rorschach still stated that he needed to discuss it with the other members of the Elder Council, he privately assured Ruger that he would push his hardest for the collaboration to succeed.

Furthermore, Rorschach pointed out that a large number of Dwarf engineers had participated in the engine’s original design. This wave of cooperation shouldn’t be called a technology transfer, he argued, but a "joint independent development"!

The hearty laughter of Ruger Lu Schwano and the other Dwarves managed to pierce through Rorschach’s soundproofing just enough to be heard by the Elf Elders, who were eavesdropping at the wall.

"Sigh... ugh... those Dwarves are so arrogant. It seems we’ll have to sweeten the deal," the old geezer muttered, pushing himself up from the wall.

They tottered over to Hill. "Princess, for the greater good of our race, you must make a small, personal sacrifice!"