Lester proceeded through the shopping district. He saw many noble students shopping during their lunch break. There were famous blacksmiths, bookstores, clothing shops, and alchemy stores, but he didn't even glance at these shops and instead entered the side streets. The shops here mostly sold second-rate, affordable goods. It was a place where talented students from ordinary non-noble families could be found. As he walked down the street, he noticed many students haggling with shopkeepers, and among them, he continued to make his way. But even with the experience of playing the game thousands of times, finding his way in such a large area without any assistance was challenging. "Where the heck is this place?" Lester asked for directions from some shopkeepers to find the shop he wanted. Finally, he stood in front of a small shop. He looked at the sign above the door. [Grand Master Yurgumlir's Shop] "I've finally arrived."

He tried to push the door to enter, but the door didn't open. The door was locked. "As expected, it's closed," Lester frowned as he looked at the door. He seemed hesitant about whether to knock on the door or not. In reality, even if he came back another day, there was a high chance that the shop would still be closed. Normally, in the game, he had to visit Yurgumlir regularly and persuade him for months, but that was only valid if you were playing with a character of ordinary background or moderate nobility. Who was Lester Ortiz? He was the heir to one of the largest noble families after the Imperial family. Lester made his decision and knocked on the door forcefully.

*Knock Knock Knock*

Despite knocking on the door, there was no response from inside. "Is he outside?" "This antisocial guy couldn't possibly be outside." He knocked on the door more forcefully. This time, he stopped knocking because he heard some sounds from inside. "Hrrghhuugh." Even someone with less acute hearing than him could have heard the snoring sound. Lester frowned when he heard it. "Is this guy still sleeping at this hour?" He grabbed the door handle and broke the lock. After breaking the lock of the door, he entered. It was a small two-story shop. On the first floor, some weapons like swords, shields, and spears were displayed haphazardly on random shelves. Even Lester, who didn't have aesthetic obsessions, was uncomfortable with the chaotic view created by the cluttered shelves around him. After scanning the surroundings for a few seconds, he proceeded to the stairs leading to the second floor. He hadn't even climbed the stairs, but a sharp smell pierced his nose. When he reached the top, he saw a small body lying in the midst of dozens of empty bottles of alcohol. Ironically, the snoring sound coming from the small body was the opposite of its size.

"HRRGHHUUG."

"Hey, you, wake up!" Despite shouting, the only response he received was more prolonged and disturbing snoring. Unable to bear it any longer, Lester approached the small body and began nudging it with his foot. "Wake up, you." Realizing that this wouldn't wake him up, Lester kicked the small body with more force. After rolling on the floor a few times, a painful groan was heard. Yurgumlir tried to get up, but his body was still under the influence of alcohol, so he collapsed as he tried to stand up. He raised his head and looked at the person in front of him. Lester silently watched the bewildered performance of the confused man while raising his eyebrows. After several more attempts, Yurgumlir tried to get up, using the wall for support. Several quiet seconds passed, and Yurgumlir's eyes sparkled as he seemed to regain consciousness. Then, he touched his aching stomach. Slowly, he opened his mouth:

"Did you hit me?"

Lester just looked silently at the man in front of him.

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"YOU B*STARD!!"

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM!? I'M THE GREAT MASTER YURGUMLIR!"

"Heheheh, wrong person, kid!"

"You dared to break into my home and hit me."

Lester looked at the man who was shouting and pointing at him. He looked more like an 11-12 year-old boy than an adult.

The dwarf Yurgumlir, or rather, the half-dwarf Yurgumlir, was a human-dwarf hybrid. Normally, dwarves were a skilled race of blacksmiths living in the mountains, but this dwarf was running a shop at the Academy in the capital of the Empire. This was a truly rare occurrence. After his mother's death, the dwarves had cast him out of the mountain. As for the reasons for his banishment, the primary one was that dwarves had a rather skewed sense of beauty by human standards. According to dwarves, the hairier you were, the more handsome you looked. Strangely, the same applied to dwarf women; the hairier a woman was, the more beautiful she was considered.

He looked at the reasons for Yurgumlir's exile. He had a beard, which would appear at the end of someone's adolescence. He had some hair on his chin, and additionally, he had slightly long sideburns. He had long brown hair according to human standards, but by dwarf standards, his hair looked thin. He was a bit taller than 150 cm. He looked like a very hairy child by human standards, but by dwarf standards, he was practically hairless and ugly. Dwarf women were even uncomfortable looking at him.

Although he appeared to be a child, Yurgumlir was in his mid-thirties. The other reason for his exile from the mountain was that, by dwarf standards, he was a lousy blacksmith. Normally, even the worst dwarf blacksmiths were better than human blacksmiths in the Empire because of their superior techniques and years of accumulated experience. But this dwarf was so untalented that he was on par with the best blacksmiths in the Empire.

Dwarves' biggest failure was this man.

Yurgumlir continued to speak: "Even the Imperial family went crazy for my creations. And you dared to hit me, you ugly guy."

"Looking at your face makes me sick," he said.

Lester, in response to this, thought to himself. To be ugly by dwarf standards must be a good thing. "I guess I should take that as a compliment."

Dwarves were a race that never communicated with other races living in the mountains. That's why when Yurgumlir first came to the Empire, he caught the attention of even the Imperial family, and he was asked to create a few weapons. The weapons he made were truly top-notch, but that was it. He had no other qualities superior to human blacksmiths. The Empire had no need to value this dwarf any more; they already had plenty of skilled blacksmiths. So, he was given some gold and permission to open a shop, and then he was forgotten.

"Do you know who I am now? If you kneel and beg, I'm a merciful person. If you give me a few gold, I might forgive you."

"HEY, Tiny, shut up."

"You b*stard."

Yurgumlir, about to respond with anger, felt a pressure weighing down on him. He looked at the young man in front of him. With his black hair and sharp gaze, he seemed to draw him into a deep darkness. The dwarf couldn't meet his gaze for long.

"Hehehehe, actually, I was just joking; you don't need to give me gold, you can leave as you wish."

"..." In response, Yurgumlir wiped the sweat that was beginning to trickle down his forehead.

"Actually, you don't have to leave; I'm leaving right away, hehehe."

He quickly headed for the stairs to go down.

"Stop."

Hearing the voice, the dwarf stopped.

"Come here, let's talk."

There was a small wooden table and chairs in the room. Lester sat on one of the chairs and pointed to the one opposite him. The dwarf, realizing he had no escape, had no choice but to sit down.