"The agreement will be between you and me. The Demon King isn't really into micromanagement, though he does provide hints about what he expects. So neither you nor your people will have to obey him or me as long as we have it in writing. Do you have any Mana Paper and Mana Pen?" I ask.
"I always have and always will. They are must-have in the business world," Timun answers before pulling out glowing parchment rolled up with a red ribbon from his storage ring and a Mana pen resembling an old Quill with a Black Feather that must have come from a Shadow Elemental Beast. The pen releases black ink when he writes on the parchment, and I could sense he had poured Mana through his hands into the Quill to release the ink, which dries instantly.
"How expensive are these, and where did you get them?" Since I can grow mana trees, making mana paper and pens should be a priority for inking future agreements.
"These were made long ago, and I stole from the treasury of my Primarch, so I do not know their original cost. But they should cost a few Mana Crystals at their current market price," Timun explained.
Shit! Red flag!
"I'm guessing a Primarch is like the King of a Dwarf Kingdom. Were you a thief before you came to the Overworld?" I ask because I didn't want to let in someone who would betray their Lord.
"You misunderstand! Another Primarch had already slain my Primarch, and I tried to save his personal belongings before his killer could claim them. But it's my fault for not providing the whole story. I also haven't explained why I desire to live in your Dungeon other than wishing to build a Village for exiles. I wondered why you didn't ask and got ready to sign a Mana Contract." Timun pointed out.
"I was an exile for a few weeks towards the end of my past life. I was treated like shit for being a waste of space and treated like a criminal in some cases. I felt the same vibes from how a Knight in Falar and a Mage in Rodwin regard Dwarves. I don't understand the hate between Humans and Dwarves, but I will help those who need a home and are grateful for it. Though if you can fill me in on that 'Context' for your desire, it would be great, but if it's too sensitive, I won't pry because I didn't like sharing the shit I went through till I came to Artrea." I explain.
"I must say, those are kind words from one who serves the Demon King. You must have done some serious 'shit' to end up as his Dungeon Lord. But I sense you are a kindred spirit, so I will share my past if it helps ease your mind on who you are letting into your home and why I desire your hospitality.
Around 100 years ago, I was the Treasury Lord and the left hand of a Primarch named Hindgar. He commanded a small territory with 10,000 Dwarves. Our army consisted of 1,000 strong Dwarves and five Legions of Imp Golems of 1000 each. His cousin, a Primarch called Chingar, controlled a vast and technologically superior Dwarven territory to our North with a population and legions ten times that of Hindgar's. But it wasn't enough for Chingar, whose ambition spanned the entire Underworld of Artrea.
Chingar offered Hindgar the chance to surrender and assimilate with his territory without a fight. But Hindgar refused and tried to rally the Primarchs of the smaller territories to our South, East and West against his cousin. Instead, they declared war on us to prove their allegiance to Chingar, whose spies in their courts offered large quantities of wealth in exchange for submission.
Our army had to surrender to the invading forces that threatened to ruin our lands if we resisted. Chingar ordered Hindgar's execution and offered his Hindgar's subjects two choices: Swear a Deity Oath to Chingar to become part of his new Empire or be thrown into a Lava River.
I chose to give the Deity Oath to him since I wasn't that fond of dying for a Primarch who was already dead, which is also why I didn't add the death penalty for myself when I made the Oath. Chingar didn't mind because he believed I was a coward who wouldn't do anything to risk becoming an Oathbreaker.
Something changed when I saw those who refused to serve Chingar being thrown off a cliff into a lava River in batches of 10 every hour for days. Their screams of agony haunted me, and my mind snapped.
So many Dwarves were ready to be burned alive in a river of Lava for refusing to give up their loyalty to Hindgar. I felt ashamed for submitting to his killer and decided to save the remaining ones waiting for their turn.
When I learned Hindgar chose to go to war with his cousin, I ordered a secret Tunnel connecting the treasury to the Overworld to save my life and steal all the treasurers if Chingar offered no mercy. The only problem was that the tunnels were too small for thousands to use without a long queue.
I knew I couldn't save everyone, so I prioritized Hindgar's Warriors because none chose to serve Chingar. As punishment, they were left alive to watch everyone else be burned alive, hoping to break their resolve and change their minds.
I managed to help them escape from the platform where they were forced to watch and hear everything. Although they were furious at me for not choosing death, they noticed I had been reverted to Clay Rank for breaking my Oath to Chingar. I guided them to the treasury and showed them the escape tunnel to the surface, but they wanted to take everything from the room and deny Chengar what was in it. I knew it would slow their escape, so I ordered them only to steal the chests that held Building Blueprints, Weapons & Armor Schematics and Golem Summoning Recipes since they were light and smaller to carry. But Chingar's forces finally realized I had helped the Warriors escape. They followed our trail to the tunnels that led to the Overworld.
Thankfully, Chingar's Dwarven warriors wouldn't follow us because they feared the curse that would revert them to Clay Rank. Only a few artificial Imp Golems created during the last Dungeon War chased after us to the surface because the curse doesn't affect Golems. Chingar's high-ranking Dwarven Spirit Golems didn't dare because the Human armies would notice and attack them if they popped up near one of the Overworld Kingdoms.
A few hundred Warriors who wanted to meet Hindgar again chose to block the small tunnels with their burly bodies and delay the Imp Golems long enough for the rest of us to reach the Human Kingdoms, where our pursuers wouldn't dare enter or attack.
Around 700 of us arrived at the outer walls of Falar in loincloths because the Warriors had been stripped of their armor and weapons while waiting their turn in the Underworld. Every warrior had reverted to Clay Rank after the racial curse came into effect.
The Falar Guards thought that we were savage bandits and opened fire with arrows and spells, killing over a hundred before their commander ordered them to stop. He noticed we were unarmed and carried a luxurious chest with us. So he called for the King and his Kingsmen to decide what to do with us.
The King of Falar saw us as free labor, but he had to break the rebellious spirit in the warriors first. Once he saw the contents in the chest, he had them confiscated and locked us up in his cells for a week without food to weaken the bodies of the warriors before kicking us all into the slums to clean up the refuse left by Humans, Horses, and Cattle, which we used to grow Underworld Mushrooms to feed ourselves.
Then the Falar King forced us into Mines infested with dangerous creatures and wouldn't let us leave until we mined all the Mana Crystals and precious ores. After that, he assigned us all to work like slaves for his Blacksmiths, who used the resources we mined to upgrade the equipment of the Falar army.
Once it was done, the King made us serve as mercenaries for the Adventures to hire. Still, they complained about how weak we were and how none of us could Rank up to stone no matter how many creatures we killed.
The King had his best Mages investigate us, and they discovered the curse not only reverted Dwarves to Clay Rank but also limited our experience gain to 25% a normal Human would gain from a kill and 10% from non-Comat work. That meant we would need months to reach Stone or Iron.
The King decided he no longer needed us to serve him and released us to the Underworld, but none of us were willing. Most of the Warriors had accepted the new lot in life. They were willing to serve as mercenaries for adventurers, hoping they could Rank up back to Gold within a decade or three. The rest chose to continue serving in the mines, smiths, construction sites, carpentry, and cleaning up shit to make Mushrooms. The Humans in Falar didn't like seeing several hundred Dwarves in their Kingdom. So, we split into five groups to settle in each of the Five Kingdoms.
I decided my talents lay in Trading and taming Monsters to protect me. So, I became a traveling Monster Trader, visiting each Kingdom to check up on each group and relay news to each other. With each visit over the years, my heart sank as racial discrimination had led to the murder of many Dwarves by Human hands and no punishment was delivered to them. Only when Dwarves retaliated for an injustice were they executed on the spot by Knights.
Eventually, most of the Dwarves muted themselves to avoid talking back to the Humans. The mercenary Dwarves were used as bait or cannon fodder against monsters too high-ranked to survive. Too many humans refused to pay the Dwarf Mercenaries what they were owed, which resulted in them being too broke to afford the proper gear to get hired by other adventurers or protect them from the creatures they had to fight against.
After a century of this kind of life, only 12 Gold-Rank Dwarf Warriors were left alive out of the hundreds who became mercenaries for adventurers. Half the Dwarves who went into Non-Combat Classes survived depression and reached Bronze or Silver. But during this time, Chingar's unstoppable expansion across the Underworld has caused a surge in the exiled Dwarf population in the Overworld. In the continent of Arya alone, there are at least 10,000 Dwarves spread out in the Slums of the five Human Kingdoms. It may sound tiny compared to the human population, but that is 10 Legions of Angry Homeless Dwarves. The Humans know this is unsustainable and are calling for the culling of our population, even though it's all from a rise in refugees and not births.
That is why I desire to save what remains of Hindgar's Warriors by building them a refuge in your Dungeon, which is technically part of the Underworld. It would lift the restrictions from the curse that slowed our growth." Timun recounted the misfortunes.
Well, that was a complicated way to say. I want to build a retirement home in the Dungeon. But is that all Timun desires the most?
"So you never desired to be a Primarch?" I ask because his reasons felt too selfless for a Trader.
"Find me a dwarf who doesn't want to be a Primarch, and I will give you 1000 Mana Crystals. It's how much I have saved to build the Town over the years. But I will give it to you if the Golem Recipes aren't enough to name me as a Primarch through a Mana Contract." Nimun pointed out.
"Say no more! I will accept those Mana Crystals and name you the only Primarch I know! But tell your friends to head to the No-Go Zone ruins near the Dungeon. My Builder Golem will make a tunnel to connect it since the front entrance will be blocked in a few days." I reply instantly. Getting over 1000 Mana Crystals to allow high-ranked Dwarves to settle down in my Dungeon must be the benefit the Demon hinted at. Then I remembered something important that could derail everything.
"What is the current relationship status between Dwarves and Imps?" I ask.
"I pity and Sympathize with the Human Imps. Some hatred still lingers for their race, but I assume they will also be in the Dungeon since you ask. So, I will temper myself and order the other Dwarves to do the same when I send the messages via air monsters," Timun informs.
"That's great to hear. I will acquire 100 Clay Rank Imps when my business partners return to Rodwin." I reply.
"Oh, a 100? Are you going to turn them into Imp Golems? You didn't know about them before I informed you, so is it just a coincidence? Or are you planning to follow your predecessor and make an Imp army?" Timun asks.
"Would you believe me if I say 'all of the above'?"
