"Yes, sir. You’re right. But I have a small request," Lynch thought for a mont, "I’m injured now, and one of my arms is gone. Can I live in this city in the days to co?"
Langda visibly relaxed; he had thought the mage might make so harsh demands. The value of this Mithril could rival the total worth of so small southern countries, so using it rely to exchange for residency was a fantastic bargain. Moreover, the old dwarf saw the young man before him and felt he was a nice guy, with a gentle temperant and polite manner towards others. Most importantly, this mage should possess extraordinary abilities. Allowing him to stay in Dwarf City could greatly increase the knowledge level here. Why not?
If a human heard such a good exchange offer, they would surely agree readily. Who wouldn’t want an enormous bargain! But the culture of dwarves has long ingrained in them the habit of fair trade and equivalent exchange. Even if the other party willingly handled these Mithril ores almost as a gift, the dwarves still felt they would be accepting it without rit.
What could they use to compensate this mage? Langda frowned and began counting the treasures of the Spider Cave in his mind, one by one. He first thought of various Magic Scrolls, but then imdiately realized that these items might be precious to dwarves or so magic-weak races, but for Lynch from the Mage Association, they probably weren’t anything special and wouldn’t be presentable. What about the dwarves’ amazing inventions? Langda thought for a mont but shook his head. Although many inventions here had very good concepts, they always ca with various minor faults, which made them incredibly unstable. The young man had already lost an arm, which was tragic enough. If any of these treasured items accidentally malfunctioned and injured the mage, it would be too impolite.
"That’s right, the arm!" Langda thought of Lynch’s severed arm and jumped up from his chair with an enlightened expression.
The other mbers of the elder council were also frowning, pondering what to give this mage as a reward. Hearing Langda’s words, they were all startled. They all stared at the old man who had jumped onto the chair.
"I thought of it, didn’t we have a tal arm from way back?" Langda said, looking at the others’ confused faces, "Don’t you know? The tal arm was unearthed during the establishnt of this city."
The others shook their heads with an expression of "don’t ask , I know nothing."
Langda coughed twice, "When our ancestors established this city, they unearthed so very strange fragnts. Among these mysterious objects was a large arm cast in Refined Gold—for us, it’s quite large, but it’s actually similar in size to a human arm—a complete left arm with so Magic Runes. We couldn’t decipher the text on it, so we left it alone. Later, that arm was tossed into so corner of the artifact warehouse, and no one has cared about it since. I ca across this record 2-3 years ago while going through so docunts. I think turning that arm into a prosthetic might still be ok for you. As you know, we really don’t have anything that can match the value of the precious tals you’ve given us. This arm made of Refined Gold is at least sowhat unique. You must accept this gift."
Lynch thought about it, and it didn’t matter anyway; it was just attaching a fake arm. Moreover, if he refused their goodwill, the dwarves would feel embarrassed accepting the Mithril.
"Thank you all. I accept your gift," the mage said.
The dwarf elders noticeably sighed in relief.
"That’s settled then," Langda said, "I’ll imdiately find soone to bring that thing out from the artifact warehouse. Also, today I’ll send for the best priest here; his Healing Magic will make the arm installation process a bit easier. And also, we can invite the old blacksmith ’Mallet’, who lives on the bottom platform, to co and properly refine that arm, so the tal hand can fit better. Oh yes, I rember old ’Woodblock’ has a few good chanical attachnts, let’s get one for him. They only decorate the wall at his place anyway. Oh yes, and also..."
Faced with the dwarves’ enthusiasm, Lynch could only smile helplessly and gratefully.
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