Chapter 337 – Small Payback.

“I bring some ill tidings.”

“What happened? Weren’t ye suppose to close that deal? what’s th’ hold-up?”

“Weel sir, it seems that th’ City Laird decided to not sell us th’ rights nor does he wantae rent it.”

“How come he wouldn’t, did ye offer him th’ usual cost? Does he expect moar?”

“Na, he wouldn’t even budge when ah showed him th’ premium prices, Ah think he wants to keep th’ exclusive rights to th’ mines… or does he want somethin else?”

Dunan was having a conversation with one of the other dwarves that helped them manage the union branch here. Ever since the new part of the dungeon was discovered along with that mine, they wanted to get their hands on it. While the dungeon was a neutral zone where everything could happen, they didn’t want to battle against adventurers while mining.

This neutrality could be taken away if the city lord sold them or rented out the mine. With them having the right papers they could send in the Valerian soldiers after anyone that attempted to take materials from this mine. Without them, they would have to establish a large protective force to keep their miners safe. Now on the other hand, it looked like they wouldn’t even be able to do that.

“If he wants to keep th’ rights fur his-self, does he intend to establish his ain mining company?”

“It does seem so… Ah bet that runesmith hud something to do wi’ it. It can not be a coincidence.”

“Wayland…”

Dunan recalled the recent events which involved this person. He had been announced to have been actually a Knight, the Head Knight even. This didn’t make sense to the dwarf, how could a runesmith become a nobles knight, was he really a runesmith to begin with?

They had been dealing with him for years now and their attempts of cutting him off from the market had been unsuccessful. Someone had been supplying the man with materials for his shop that was able to survive. The magical weapons that he supplied were real though, so either he had some type of runesmithing class that was unique or someone else was making all of them.

Now that he was ousted as a Knight this all made more sense. It was possible for this ploy between the City Lord and the Runesmith to have been decided years ago. Perhaps the City Lord knew that he would arrive in this city and had his Head Knight establish a foothold before he arrived.

Dunan was aware of all the sales numbers and they were a bit behind the other cities. The Valerian house also had its own auction house that sometimes sold runic items that were seemingly produced by this runesmith. They lost some market share due to his involvement and the magic store outside the city had become quite an eyesore. Now they couldn’t even stop him from directly getting their wares as he was part of the ruling faction.

“That mist be it, thay planned a’ o’ it ‘n’ wanto profit o’ th’ mines!”

The dwarven leader slammed his fist onto the nearby workbench while scowling. Without those papers, they couldn’t do anything and how things were going, they probably would be pushed out even further. It was becoming clear that the lord of this city had taken Waylands side. Their direct competitor here could not be touched. This wasn’t even the worst part of it, if the man wanted he could make things really difficult for all of them.

“Sur, we have a problem… Th’ human runesmith is ‘ere…”

“What now?”

While Dunan was trying to think about who he could bribe to get this sorted out another member from the smithy burst into the room. It was one of the dwarves that worked in the nearby store that he decided to visit today. After hearing that Wayland was there, he started getting a foreboding feeling. Was he here to pay them back for what they did to him?

“Calm down, Ah will handle this.”

Dunan was part of the upper echelon of craftsmen here. Previously he thought that this place had been a dead end but after the dungeon’s rank increased to B there was hope again. The union was already talking about sending out a master craftsman to help with the infusion of platinum adventurers.

If there were enough of them in this region, then they needed to create equipment for them to buy. It was a chance for him to learn from a real master and then later advance to a master blacksmith himself. However, it would look like he was incompetent at managing the union branch for allowing the mine to slip from their hands. He might not care if it had been a long-lasting ruse thought up by the humans. Thus, he rushed to see what this human was planning, perhaps he could turn this whole thing around and everyone had their price.

After arriving at the shop he saw the man of the hour, Wayland the current Head Knight of Arthur Valerian. Dunan wasn’t that well-versed in the ways of nobility but it was clear that this person carried a lot of prestige. Besides having the backing of the city lord he was also a tier 3 class holder that recently pummeled another strong Knight Commander almost to death. He was still just a regular blacksmith and a merchant, he knew that antagonizing this man was now out of the question.

“Whit does he want?”

At the moment he was just standing around the large store owned by the Union of Dwarves. Dunan was quick to pull one of the clerks to the side to get an answer.

“I don’t kno’ , He just cam in ‘n’ stairted snooping around th’ smithing tool section.”

His appearance was also different, he was wearing some type of armored shirt with the Valerian crest over his heart. The face that he used to cover up with armor or a robe was out in the open. Some of the clients were constantly staring at it as the man’s face was appealing to look at. Dunan didn’t want to say it but he did fit the image of a knight which was probably his true identity from the beginning.

The dwarf tried remembering all the interactions that he had with this man. His mind couldn’t recall anything pleasant as he usually just made snarky remarks whenever they interacted. There was nothing that he could recall that wasn’t an attempt of aggravation and this was even without all the sanctions they brought upon him. Nevertheless, if he had backing from the city lord from the beginning, then their resources spent on bribes were ill-spent.

He had been able to get resources through Arthur from the start, they had been getting played from the beginning. At least this was the scenario that played out in his head that made the most sense. Perhaps now that the cat was out of the bag they could remedy the situation.

“Dunan was it? Could you stop staring? It’s becoming uncomfortable, don’t worry I won’t stay here for more than I have to.”

“Aye?”

Before he could even utter the word to the man he was spotted eyeing him from behind a corner. Instantly he made himself noticeable to not seem like some type of common miscreant.

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“A don’t ken whit ye mean, this is ma shop, why wouldn’t Ah look at th’ folk that comes ‘ere?”

“Is that so, then that’s fine.”

Even though he didn’t want to sound arrogant he instantly blurred out some words that sounded off. He was used to talking down to people thanks to all the backing and even nobles couldn’t look down on the power that the Union carried with it.

“I’ll take this.”

“That?”

“Yes, this.”

“That’s not fur sale…”
Dunan’s eyes become larger as he spotted the item that this fellow wanted to take. In hopes of getting on the master blacksmith’s good side, he was already assembling the right workshop. The tier 2 tools that they had gathered would be ill-equipped for such a prestigious craftsman’s hands. Thus he was sure to call up some favors and also emptied his purse to get a few things sent here.