The next day, an unusual acquaintance came to the head office of the White Wolf Store, which had begun its normal business operations, to show his face.

''Nope. It's been a while, manager Luke.
Hey, there's Newlands. That's very unusual for you to come here.

　The appearance of dwarves, who are rarely seen on earth, makes the customers in the shop look at him as if they were witnessing something rare.

　Dwarf Newlers -- one of the dwarves living in the castle town of the former Demon King's Castle in the "Demon King's Castle Realm" (first level).

　He is a young man who started delivering his own weapons to the White Wolf Store as part of his efforts to restore the castle town devastated by the Demon King's Army's destructive activities and to restore and maintain the nearly severed blacksmithing skills.

'I heard that Manager Luke has returned from the earthly capital. I thought it would be good to at least say hello to him once in a while.
'I see. As I'm sure the branch manager (Natalia) has told you, the weapons you've made have been quite well received.

　It wasn't a busy time of day, so I leaned over the checkout counter to talk to Newlers.

　The Newlers are so short that human children are comparable to them, so they can't look at each other well unless they do this.

There's an old legend that dwarven weapons are of good quality on Earth. "The legend is that dwarven weapons have always been of high quality on earth.
"Well ...... while I'm happy, I'm also nervous every time I send you a product. Even though we haven't interacted with each other since a long time ago, I can't afford to ruin my family's reputation.
''Well, most of the demand is for adventurers of a certain rank or higher, and it's a product that's mainly sold in the branch offices, so we don't have much of it over here.

　Newlers' weapons are struck with iron on the first level of the Ark of the Elements, finished in the castle town, and then brought to the guild branch of the Sundial Forest, an open dungeon that connects the Ark of the Elements to the ground.

　It is then sold to adventurers at the branch of the white wolf shop that rents a part of the guild branch and runs it.

　The only products that are circulated to the main store are those that are further loaned from the branch, and as a percentage of the total, it is not that big.

In the beginning, we only asked them to make the main body of the sword, and we made the swords themselves, but it seems that they are more popular if we make everything here. Can you increase the ratio next time?
Of course, I don't mind. That's the handcraft of the ladies in town, but more and more people wanted to do it themselves, so there was a waiting list.

　Newlers' cheerful tone suggests that the dwarves' town, whose inhabitants have been sunk by the demon king's rule, is gradually regaining its vitality.

　It seems that the Newlers' attempt is getting closer to success.

'But why is it more popular for us to make our own? It's the same in terms of performance, isn't it?
I guess it's more a matter of atmosphere than performance. The atmosphere is so different from the ground constructions that it makes people think that if they are going to buy a dwarf-made weapon, they'll prefer it. From an adventurer's point of view, I'd probably choose all of them made by dwarves if there wasn't much difference in price.

　Newlers nodded with interest and were convinced.

　The dwarves of the "Demon King's Castle Realm" and I are very different from each other, not only in terms of race, but also in terms of our living environment.

　So to speak, it's a cross-cultural exchange that goes beyond that between humans.

　While exchanging such conversations, I asked him something that had occurred to me.

''It seems that we don't interact with the dwarves in other dungeons anymore, but did you have a certain amount of interaction with them in the past by any chance?''
It's just a lore, though. I've heard that in the distant past, you could talk to dwarves in other dungeons by magic or something, but at some point that stopped being possible.
Oh, you don't have a clear idea of what that means?
'Unfortunately. It's been so long since I lost contact with the lower levels, and I couldn't imagine another dungeon.

　The administrator of the neutral city (Athropolis) (Fraxinus) didn't say he had any such means, but he - or she - apparently had no interest in or knowledge of any kind of finesse. So maybe that's why.

　Perhaps Fraxinus' role was to maintain the nature of the Ark of the Elements dungeon.

　Assuming that Eivaldi was responsible for industrial fields such as crafting and golems, Gandalf was in charge of the political field, something like .......

'...... Hey, Newlers. This isn't a question I'm asking as the manager of the White Wolf Store, but .......

　I decided to cut to the chase as soon as the guests disappeared from the surroundings.

　I was planning to ask him about this matter when I went underground at some point, but if he came to me, I had no reason to miss this opportunity.

''The Sword of Adamant used by the Demon King Gandalf--didn't your town have any word about this?''
Adamant's ......?
I don't care if it's just lore like before. Not the sword of Gandalf, but any information about Adamant as a metal resource. If you know anything about it, let me know.
'Hmmm ...... Gandalf's sword ...... Adamant ......'

　Newlers crossed his arms, tilted his head back in thought, and eventually replied apologetically.

'I'm sorry. I've only heard of the Adamant too, only in legends ...... and I'll ask the elders when I get back to town.
'Thanks, that's a big help. I'll talk to Natalia and let her know if you find out anything.

　I don't believe from the beginning that it's going to be a thumping, convenient story.

　I'm just going to build up what I can, one thing at a time, and that's part of what I asked Newlers about.

　Newlers said a light goodbye and turned to leave in front of the counter, and in the process turned back with a look that reminded him of something.

'Yes!　I just remembered one!　I don't know if it's really relevant: ......

　Its contents forced me to pay attention to it.

''It's an old sword that was presented to the hero-sama, but the craftsman who struck that one is said to have used a special metal once created by Alfazul-sama to finish a single holy sword.
...... created by Alphasul.
'According to legend, the original has long since been lost. Since this is the best sword we know of, we thought it might be: ......

　The sword that Newlers offered to Ezell the Brave was made by none other than Ivaldi.

　This means that the special metal created by Alfazul was used by Evaldi to create a sword separate from Ezell the Brave's sword - too coincidental to be dismissed as a coincidence.

...... I see. Thank you for your help, Newlers. This is a valuable piece of information.