I, the Weakest Traveler, Start by Taming the gods of the Old World.

Chapter 134: Recruiting the dwarves

After a few minutes, Ha Joon and Yukio made their way to the Dwarves' village.

The dwarves had prepared an empty building for the king. A fresh, clean rug was laid on the ground, with a small center table for fruits and wine.

The Dwarf King, Erin, took the left side of the room, while Ha Joon sat on the right. Yukio knelt behind him, and Lyra lay on the ground.

"Your Highness, it's an honor to have you here. The royal family hasn't come to the dwarves in years. It makes me wonder," Erin said, his head slightly bowed while kneeling.

"I have something important I need to discuss with you. But first, I couldn't help but notice what a nice village you have here. How were you able to maintain such a place without external help?" Ha Joon asked.

"We dwarves can adapt to our environment. Something like this is nothing for us, Your Majesty," Erin responded, a sense of pride radiating from him.

"Oh, I'm amazed, truly. You've outdone yourself." Ha Joon smiled.

"Heheh, a compliment from Your Majesty, I... I appreciate it," Erin nearly blushed.

'Good, I'll butter him up as much as I can. That way, when I finally decide to recruit him, he won't feel the least bit aggressive about it,' Ha Joon thought to himself.

With his hand gesturing, he continued, "Why don't you visit the royal capital someday? I'm sure you'd enjoy the view. I can even give you a place in the royal castle."

Erin's eyes widened a bit. "You'd allow dwarves into your castle?"

Lyra couldn't help but make a disgusted face, as if she was going to puke, with Yukio patting her on the head.

"Of course. Is there an issue with that?" Ha Joon questioned.

"Not necessarily, Your Majesty... It's just, I doubt the people of Camelot would feel comfortable if we were around," Erin said.

"Not just Camelot, that's for sure..." Lyra managed to sneak in her voice but was immediately slapped on the head by Ha Joon.

'What on earth could have happened to make people hate dwarves so much? I noticed it, but I didn't think it was this big a deal.'

[During the Fourth Great War, while everyone joined together to defeat the Demon Lord and his soldiers, the dwarves were said to have betrayed the world by siding with the demons, helping them create weapons, and leaking information.

They went as far as almost wiping the elves from the face of the earth just to acquire the power of the Earth Crystal.]

'Now I understand. No one likes a traitor, even in any former world.' Ha Joon sighed. "What is your name?" he asked the dwarf.

"Erin, Your Majesty."

"Well, Erin, I have a way to fix this current problem you are facing. You said the people might not like you, correct? What if I told you there's a way for you to do something that will make them completely forget about the deep resentment they have toward you?"

Erin's attention was piqued. They also did not like most of the people from the outside world. But they needed to survive, and they had been living like prisoners. They wanted more.

"There's a way!" he leaned forward.

"Why, of course." Ha Joon smiled, twinkling his finger at Yukio, who instantly stood up to place a rolled paper in his grasp.

The moment he got the paper, Ha Joon rolled it out on the center table for the Dwarf King to see.

(Design for a high bridge.)

At first, the dwarf was not impressed. All he could see were lines and nothing more, but the more he stared, the more he realized... It was a work of art!

"This...this is incredible... The handles... The drawing, planning... What kind of project is this?!" Erin traced his finger on the blueprint, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Ha Joon grinned. 'Step one, complete.'

"This is a project to help connect part of the southern region to the Kingdom of Unakel. That way, rather than transportation taking days, it will take merely a few hours by crossing the bridge," Ha Joon said, pointing at the map. "It's designed in such a way that it's very hard to crumble. I presume a lot of fights along the borders will happen, so the bridge had to be strong.

And since there's a river underneath, this type of bridge is perfect for it."

"Your Majesty is right. This is a complicated thing to build. Give it to just anyone, and they'll definitely get the footing wrong." Erin placed his hand under his chin. "And the materials... Just looking at this makes me feel like I have butterflies."

'Bingo!' Ha Joon grinned again.

Without saying much, he leaned closer to Erin with a smile. "So what do you say? Will you come work for me? I believe we can accomplish a lot together."

'I can tell from that look on my lord's face... He's about to extort them,' Yukio sighed. 'Rest in peace, Dwarf King.'

Erin stared at the blueprint for a while. Sure, it looked like something the entire dwarf community would be excited to work on. They loved to build and craft, after all.

With a deep sigh, Erin locked eyes with Ha Joon. "We haven't worked for the royal family in years. We'd rather die than do that. That said, Your Majesty seems different from the other Pendragons."

Ha Joon was simply beaming with a smile.

"And quite frankly, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if someone unworthy ruined such a perfect plan. So just this once, the dwarf community will work with the royal family."

"Perfect!"

Ha Joon whipped out a contract from inside his clothes and instantly handed it to Erin.

"Sign here, and we can finalize this!"

'He made a contract beforehand?!' Yukio was in deep shock.

"A contract, eh..." Erin began reading through it.

"I want you to have the most important and amazing experience while you're at it. That's why I've decided you'll be paid weekly for your assistance," Ha Joon smiled.

"F--Fifty thousand eres!" Erin's eyes widened in even greater shock than Yukio's. With fifty thousand eres, they could easily get everything they wanted. It was practically generational wealth.

"My employees must have the utmost satisfaction," said Ha Joon with a smile.

The Dwarf King didn't hesitate. He grabbed the ink Ha Joon had also set on the table and signed the contract.

While Ha Joon watched, like a devil, his grin grew even wider.

As soon as Erin signed, Ha Joon snatched the papers from the table and shoved them back in his pocket.

"Great, great, awesome! Work will begin immediately. I'll leave you with this blueprint so you and your people can study it in due time. Knights will come to pick you up first thing tomorrow morning. Let's build the first largest bridge in all five continents."

"Y...yes, Your Majesty," Erin smiled. 'Why do I feel so uneasy about this?'

××××

(Count Waetel, East Region, Viscount Parako.)

Artoria, on her horse, had made her way to the Viscount's territory, along with the Roundtable Knight Glala, who had up to 30 soldiers accompanying her.

Merlin also joined, as she was Artoria's royal escort and also Ha Joon's concubine. It was one of her duties to help in situations like these.

Stopping in front of the Viscount's mansion, Artoria watched as the royal family all bowed their heads in her presence.

"Your Highness, it's an honor to have you visit our humble abode," Viscount Parako said, his head completely touching the ground.

"Viscount, I'm sure you know why I'm here. I do not have time to waste," Artoria said coldly.

"Y...you must be talking about the missing demi-humans in my vicinity recently, Your Highness," the Viscount spoke, visibly shaking even while kneeling down.

"Good, you're a smart one." Artoria leaped down from her horse.

Merlin, on the other hand, began using her magic to scan the area for anything that could be considered suspicious.

"My husband tells me he left this land in your care, to look after the demi-humans who have come to live in Camelot. Under your care, over fifty demi-humans have been reported missing. Care to explain?"

Artoria's cold voice echoed in his head, beads of sweat already forming. The Viscount's wife could barely even move a muscle.

"T...they didn't go missing, Your Highness. We... know who is behind it. It's the pirates. I heard rumors they were working for the governor," the Viscount confessed.

"The governor in charge of military aid for the borders? You're saying he is the one responsible for the demi-humans going missing?" Merlin asked.

"We are not sure. A knight mentioned one of the pirates saying something about getting back to him, something about the governor wanting to revive the Demon Lord."

Merlin's eyes widened. She knew exactly what that meant.

...

A\\N: Please show for this book, thank you for reading.