The sharp chi of the Doomheim-style alarm bell rang out.
And then, the sunlight of morning spilled in.
It wasn’t the artificial glowstone of Doomheim.
It was real sunlight, streaming through the now-exposed ceiling of Doomheim.
“Mm...”
Ashies shifted restlessly in bed.
The artificial glowstones could have their brightness adjusted, but the sun didn’t have such a function. The sun's light struck directly at Ashies’s eyes, a focused assault.
She pulled the blanket up over her head and waited.
Quietly.
Soon enough, the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears.
The blanket was suddenly yanked away.
“The sun’s already high in the sky. How much longer are you planning to laze around? Just because you defeated a dragon doesn’t an you can sleep the day away, you know.”
A familiar voice.
A voice she had been waiting for.
But Ashies didn’t move.
Like a sleeping princess from a fairy tale.
She waited patiently for the right mont.
“Get up. If you don’t, I’ll wake you by force.”
Not yet.
Not just yet.
The presence grew closer.
A shadow lood over her.
Almost there.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
Stretch.
Karami tugged at her cheek.
“Mmweh...?”
“You were awake the whole ti, weren’t you? Then get up already. Why are you rolling around when there’s so much to do?”
“......”
“Get up. Breakfast is already prepared. Everyone’s just waiting on you.”
Karami released her cheek and stepped back.
Ashies pouted, her lips jutting out in annoyance as she shot a dissatisfied look at him.
“...Why are you looking at like that again?”
Ashies sighed softly.
Then, closing her eyes, she stretched her arms out toward Karami, as if expecting sothing.
It didn’t take Karami long to figure it out.
“I’m an invalid, you know.”
He had nursed her before, but now she wanted him, a man with one arm, to pull her up?
Karami couldn’t believe it, but seeing Ashies’s pout deepen, he realized she might genuinely sulk if he didn’t. With a resigned smile, he grabbed her hand.
As he prepared to pull her up—
“Eh?”
Ashies tugged at him instead.
The unexpected motion, combined with her utter lack of strength, caught him off guard. With no resistance, Karami’s body lurched forward.
His face landed squarely against Ashies’s chest.
Ashies wrapped her arms around his neck.
When a flustered Karami raised his head, he was t with Ashies’s faintly smiling eyes.
“Good morning, Rami.”
*****
The repetition of ordinary life was a sign of peace.
Even this mont, as the four of them sat together at the table for a al, was no exception.
It had been two weeks since Skadia attacked Doomheim.
When Magmar’s Heart ca under assault, defeat had seed inevitable, but through their combined efforts, they had succeeded in subjugating her.
The damage wasn’t as severe as expected.
The citizens had taken shelter in bunkers, and while so buildings had collapsed, the craftsn of Doomheim had quickly begun repairs.
Doomheim had soon returned to normal.
But it wasn’t stagnant.
The once-timid dwarves had gained courage, Ashies had regained her warmth, and even the strained relationship between the dwarf father and daughter had started to improve.
Ferca, who had been cautiously watching Torvar, finally broke the silence.
“Father... Will you be going to Magmar’s Heart again today?”
“Why?”
“Well... I was wondering if I could observe.”
Ferca, who had always despised her role as the ember coordinator, found herself feeling differently this ti. The recent events had sparked a change in her, however slight.
“The ember isn’t sothing just anyone can approach.”
“......”
“Well, if it’s an apprentice, that’s a different story. And as it happens, there’s an opening for one.”
“Oh! Um... I’ll think about it.”
It seed like a good thing.
“But what’s with your tone? You didn’t speak like that last ti, and you were doing just fine without it.”
Ferca’s way of speaking hadn’t always been like this. When she was younger, she spoke normally, just like everyone else. It had changed at so point.
“Huh? Oh, well, you see...”
Scratching the back of her head, Ferca hesitated, as if there was a story behind it. Karami cut in.
“Could it be that she was pretending to be a man?”
“What?”
“H-How do you know?!”
Enjoying her flustered reaction, Karami continued his explanation.
“When Ferca was my slave, I dressed her in a fluttery dress, and she spoke just fine back then. I thought maybe she started pretending to be a man for so reason.”
Torvar turned his gaze toward Ferca.
“Is that true?”
“...Yes.”
“Why did you do that?”
Lowering her head, Ferca hesitated to answer. After a mont, she finally forced out her words.
“After Mom passed away, it was hard... I couldn’t cope very well... Pretending to be a man sohow made it feel easier...”
“Was that why you kept wandering around all the ti?”
“Being at ho reminded of Mom, and it felt suffocating...”
“Sigh...”
Torvar let out a heavy sigh.
Ferca flinched, her shoulders trembling.
A heavy silence descended.
Torvar let out another sigh, his gaze fixed on Ferca with a mixture of emotions.
“I’m sorry for not paying more attention to you.”
“......”
“What’s done is done, but if anything troubles you in the future, don’t hide it. Tell . I might not be as good as your mother was, but... I’ll try my best.”
“Yes...”
It wasn’t just Torvar’s ho that had returned to peace.
The city itself remained largely unchanged from before Skadia’s attack.
Even in broad daylight, the dwarves drank their ale, hamred at tal, and mined ore as they always had. Yet a lingering thrill still clung to them.
“When I gave it my all, that big lizard fell with a thud, I tell you!”
“Dragon Slayer Miguel! From now on, call that!”
Not a single one missed the chance to boast about their deeds from that day. The stories were likely embellished, but no one seed to mind.
At the center of the city, a massive skeleton stood as a testant that the battle with the dragon was no re dream.
It was Skadia’s remains.
Though it’s said no part of a dragon’s body goes to waste, the dwarves hadn’t picked it clean like piranhas. They hadn’t stripped the scales or carved the at.
Skadia had shattered like ice fragnts and been absorbed by Ashies, down to the dragon heart itself. Only the bones had been left behind, untouched.
“It’s there... inside .”
The power of Skadia had been absorbed into her.
‘That obsessive lunatic.’
Even in death, she hadn’t let go, choosing instead to beco one with Ashies.
Well, at least she hadn’t resurrected, Karami thought. Ashies wasn’t experiencing any issues, and gaining strength wasn’t exactly a bad thing.
Karami didn’t worry too much about it.
As more ti passed, a sequel to Snow White was published in Doomheim.
Naturally, those who had read the first volu rushed to buy it, but even those who hadn’t read the first part couldn’t resist its appeal.
The second volu told the story of what happened after Snow White fell asleep.
The seven dwarves, longing for mories with the princess, blad their forr cowardice.
Mustering their courage, they joined forces to confront the witch, eventually defeating her and breaking the curse on the princess.
Snow White thanked the dwarves with a kiss on the cheek, and they all lived happily ever after, just as they had before.
“Ah, this is it! This is the stuff!”
“Happy endings really are the best.”
“Haha! Those useless elves. Big jobs like this are ant for dwarves!”
Though the fairy companions of Snow White were described only as forest-dwelling beings with long ears, people naturally assud they were elves, just as they equated the dwarves with the seven companions.
In the latter half of the story, the fairies barely played any role, and that was entirely Karami’s intention. If the dwarves were to shine, they should shine brightly.
Elves beneath dwarves.
The term caught on.
Even Ashies read the new Snow White.
The version she held was distinct from the mass-market copies. It had a luxurious leather cover adorned with gold leaf, and its pages were made of the finest paper instead of cheap wood pulp.
It was, by all appearances, a premium edition.
But it wasn’t just the appearance; the content was different too.
It wasn’t divided into two volus but was a complete compilation.
While it matched the public version in detailing how the dwarves defeated the witch, the princess’s awakening ca not from the dwarves but from the kiss of a prince from a neighboring kingdom.
The prince placed a ring on her finger, and they married, blending Ashies’s imagined ending with the original. It was a unique, one-of-a-kind book.
“Do you really like it that much?”
Ashies nodded.
She held the book tightly to her chest, refusing to set it down.
*****
“Hey, slave trader.”
While Ashies was lost in her fairy tale, Torvar called out to Karami. With a simple nod, he motioned for Karami to follow. Karami caught on quickly.
At the forge, Torvar handed him a ring crafted with a vivid crimson gemstone.
“Thank you. I’ll pay you for it.”
“Hmph. I’m not so desperate as to take money from a brat like you.”
Karami grinned.
“That’s why ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ dwarves are so endearing. You could’ve just said ‘thank you.’”
“You snot-nosed punk. Always running your mouth.”
Torvar had a hunch.
He was certain that the nded relationship with Ferca was largely thanks to Karami’s intervention.
He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t deny the results.
The ring was his way of acknowledging that.
“So, who’s this ring for?”
“You’re sharp, aren’t you?”
“If I wasn’t, there’d be sothing wrong with my eyes.”
Most would assu the ring was a gift for Ashies, but Karami’s choice of design said otherwise.
The ring, with its black base and bold crimson gemstone, was the exact opposite of Ashies’s colors of blue and white.
It couldn’t possibly be for her.
“As a blacksmith, you of all people should know. Every item has its destined owner.”
“You...”
“There are plenty of poor slaves in this world.”
Torvar’s sharp gaze bore into Karami, but Karami only responded with a sly smile, pocketing the ring case.
They had defeated Skadia.
The ring was crafted.
“Now, it’s ti...”
Ti to conclude yet another journey.
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