Chapter 279
The Magnetic Hammer Dwarf’s Beer
Lily subconsciously looked at Haina, taking her in with her eyes.
“She… isn’t short either?”
Did mixed-blood dwarves not experience stunted growth?
Noticing the surprised gazes of Eivass and his party, Haina’s father was amused and let out a hearty laugh.
The dwarf took a large gulp of alcohol, moistening his throat.
Without any pleasantries or beating around the bush, the dwarf uncle directly addressed what Eivass and the others cared about most: “Don’t look at her like that – neither of these children are my biological children. But I’ve taken care of them since they were young, so I’m like their half-father.
“Their irresponsible brat of a biological father ran off – he left Eagle Cape Village before Jack was even born.”
The dwarf uncle said unceremoniously, “I think that kid is probably cursed, or maybe he’s just gotten too wild with his master. That’s why I don’t want this girl to study abroad at Glass Island. After all, her idiotic biological father is at Glass Island.”
Upon hearing this, Eivass silently looked at Sherlock.
Sherlock paused, then understood what Eivass wanted him to do.
— This was clearly to let him speak his mind as a child.
After all, he looked like a child now, so he had plenty of leeway in that regard. Even if he said something he shouldn’t have, or asked questions impolitely, Eivass could just add a remark like, “Children don’t know any better and just ask,” to avoid making the atmosphere too stiff.
So, Sherlock opened his mouth and spoke with a childish voice, “That person is so mean… But what does he do? Why does he even have a master to take him out?”
“That kid’s master was the original blacksmith in this village, but his skills were far inferior to mine,”
the dwarf said with disdain. “That old man also said… he studied in the capital before? What a load of crap. The established blacksmiths in the capital are all those long-eared folk who talk nonsense. If he had truly learned from them, how could he have been an Ordinary Person?
“That old man was just good at bragging – Haina used to like listening to him brag when she was little. You know now, right? I told you back then, and you argued with me, you didn’t believe me! You believe me now, don’t you!”
After saying this, the dwarf laughed heartily.
He had finished the alcohol in his hand and refilled his cup.
“…Indeed.”
Haina nodded somewhat awkwardly, “I understood once I got to Glass Island.”
“Right, right! Hahahaha!”
The dwarf laughed heartily, his voice loud enough to carry from the inner room to outside the blacksmith shop.
Sherlock then asked, “Then, Uncle… How did you and Haina’s mother meet?”
“Ah, this…”
Haina immediately felt embarrassed.
She subconsciously wanted to stop Sherlock from speaking, but knowing Sherlock’s identity, she dared not. At the same time, she was actually curious herself––
“Stop calling me Uncle. Call me Grandpa Magnetic Hammer!”
The dwarf, Magnetic Hammer, laughed heartily. “We’re not like those long-lived elves. We just don’t look old easily––but I’m actually almost sixty, hahaha!”
No, it wasn’t that dwarves didn’t look old, but rather that they looked excessively old. Eivass thought.
After all, dwarves between twenty and fifty looked pretty much the same. If you aged prematurely, you couldn’t judge whether I had aged or not.
“Actually, you want to know too, right?”
Magnetic Hammer took another drink and looked at Haina.
“I want to know too, Dad,”
Haina’s younger brother, Jack, also chimed in.
He was eight years younger than Haina and had been cared for by Magnetic Hammer since he opened his eyes.
Unlike Haina, who viewed Magnetic Hammer as a stepfather, to him, Magnetic Hammer was his biological father – not born, but raised, making him even more of a father in a sense.
“I found your father. I picked him up.”
Haina’s mother walked over, carrying tea. “After that lunatic ran off, he appeared in the swamp, unconscious, just two days later. I found him…”
“Did Grandpa William also appear from the swamp?”
Haina suddenly asked.
Eivass’s ears twitched slightly, recognizing the name of the old supervisor.
“Yes, they’re all outsiders, aren’t they? They all come from the swamp. That’s why I told you to go pick up the person… It’s not easy to enter our village through the main gate,”
she said helplessly. “By the way, aren’t you going to let the guests sit down and chat?”
“You’re right, no need to be so polite, we’re all family, sit down, sit down!”
Magnetic Hammer said without room for argument, jumping down from the old sofa, finding another oak mug, and pouring another cup of wine.
He carried two mugs and scanned the crowd.
Hmm, Haina. Hmm, this girl… and the child. And the bird.
So, he naturally found Eivass. “Young man, have a drink?”
“Sure.”
Eivass smiled and took the mug.
He lowered his head and saw that the liquid in the mug was a kind of dark beer with a burnt smell and a malty aroma.
“Beer?”
Eivass was somewhat surprised, “I thought you’d be drinking spirits.”
“I just woke up, so a bit of beer to rinse my mouth! Besides, spirits are too expensive. Beer is better! A good bottle of brandy would cost at least three or four white crowns, or twelve red coins for a mediocre one. But beer – haha, this is only half a copper for a full mug!”
Magnetic Hammer laughed heartily. “This is dwarven style, you definitely won’t taste it at Glass Island. Try it?”
Haina watched anxiously, “Dad, if you’re going to drink, don’t get the bad stuff…”
This was a minister of Avalon––
But before she could say anything, Eivass reached out and patted her arm, signaling it was okay. Then he tilted his head back and took a large gulp.
The taste was indeed different from the beer Eivass usually drank at Glass Island.
Compared to ordinary beer, it was a bit stronger, a bit more intense. There were small, cloudy particles of something unclear, and it wasn’t very uniform. What impressed Eivass the most was a strong burnt flavor… like the taste of burnt milk tea.
“Charcoal?”
Eivass blurted out.
— What on earth, can beer be charcoal-roasted?
The dwarf Magnetic Hammer’s eyes widened slightly.
He paused for a moment, then forcefully patted Eivass’s shoulder. “Not bad, kid! You tasted it in one go!
“But if you go to Eternal Frost, you can drink more authentic stuff. Our real dwarven beer there is brewed with roasted malt. But sometimes when we’re out, we can’t get our hometown drink… so there’s a simple method.”
“You dip the beer in red-hot charcoal, right.”
Eivass guessed immediately.
What kind of bizarre recipe was this…
“It’s not that simple. You can’t do it even if you know,”
Magnetic Hammer emphasized. “If you soak it too much, it’ll dissolve; if you soak it too little, it’ll just taste burnt. How to soak it, and for how long, that’s where the knowledge lies. You only learn when you’ve made a lot. Only old blacksmiths understand this.”
The more he talked, the happier he became.
He directly pulled Eivass to sit on the sofa and poured him another cup of wine.
At this point, Eivass also knew what the cloudy substance in the wine was – it should be tiny charcoal particles.
Haina’s mother saw this and helplessly shook her head.
She took Haina and her brother, along with Sherlock, upstairs to the bedroom.
The biggest advantage of a village like this was probably the low cost of building houses. Land was practically free, and as long as you had a reliable laborer at home and could buy the materials, you could build large duplex houses.
Sherlock also had a general understanding of Haina’s family situation.
— She was a little better off than she appeared.
After all, her father was the best blacksmith in the village… although there was more than one blacksmith in the village, and he had only been here for a little over a decade. But that was the craftsmanship of an Extraordinary, the level required to forge equipment.
However, he did not support Haina studying in a place filled with elves, so he likely hadn’t given her much money.
And he was still an undocumented resident; even with his skills, he couldn’t sell at normal prices.
…However, if Haina’s father’s skill was high enough… could I order some equipment from here?
Sherlock was tempted.
Although he probably couldn’t forge equipment for Law Masters and Mages.
But Sherlock had learned a staff technique from Edward in the past––
Why not ask Uncle Magnetic Hammer to make him a staff?
He could also bring Eivass a gift––as compensation for stealing his equipment.
Chapter two, completed!
As soon as I woke up, I saw the sad news. Another respectable predecessor has left us…
Please get regular check-ups, exercise more, and rest well! Remember to get regular check-ups!
I’ll start working out again when I get back… I haven’t had a check-up in two years either. I’ll go for a check-up after a month of rehabilitation to improve my indicators!
