Chapter 86 Mythaile Ingot
----------------------------------------
When I got back, there were more dwarves bringing ingots to us. We traded them, but our food supply was getting dangerous, and Lily was openly questioning them right now.
“So, what happened? I didn’t know that you guys were in dire need of food? This request was a lot bigger than we anticipated.”
“The king didn’t look too favorably toward us from clan Lefty. He was from Clan Righty, so he purposely requested fewer foods for us.” The trader said honestly. The king isn’t so cruel that he let them starve to death, but he was limiting food imports just in case the relationship between our kingdoms turned sour. If the food supply were to be stopped after they became reliant on it, there might be riots or chaos in the kingdom.
The dwarven king explained such rationale, but deep down, they had a lingering suspicion that the king was playing nepotism with his own faction, which was proven by the somewhat unfair food distribution. The two factions didn’t have such bad blood with each other, but it still left them with bitter feelings when the king favored his own bloodlines more than others.
“Ahh, faction squabbles! I have never seen them on elven lands. I am starting to miss them!” Mattheus smiled. His life on elven lands was relatively smooth that he felt uneasy. It was a good feeling for him that other races also did something that his race did.
“Lord squabbles are not uncommon, though. I have just received two of them in short succession.” Lily retorted. Elves were not racist, but they certainly had squabbles. And Mattheus, did you forget those elves literally forbid humans to even meet their faces? Does living here so peacefully with tailfolk so comforting that you forget such prejudice from elves?
“Well, as long as we receive the ingot, it’s fine, right?” Mattheus shrugged.
“Ahh, now that you guys are here, does any of you know how to make Golderite and Titan ore? We are in dire need of such materials.” Lily remembered her mission. Those ores are vital to close the leakage of the leylines.
“Erm… Golderite and Titan ores are sacred materials… we could not sell them just to be used willy nilly.” They replied. The answers were the same as other dwarves. They did not negotiate for prices, nor did they ask us for help if they lacked materials. They just dodged the issue.
“We are going to use them to seal leylines leakage. That’s why we need them. They are not to be used to make some random sword or armor for sale.” Lily declared that we would use them for the greater good of all living being on these lands. And thus, our use of these materials certainly could not be called willy-nilly. The dwarves then went silent after our proclamation.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Lord Lily, we shall tell you how to make Golderite and Titan ores. If your resolve is strong enough, you may ask for permission from our king to make them.” They said, finally giving up.
“Golderite requires bones of willing participants and also their blood in addition to pure gold ingots. Then you shall go to the mountain forge where the heat was unbearable even to dwarves. Only there you can be made golderites.” He said.
“As for titan ores, You can search for them In the deepest mines of the mountain. Where the light shall melt you, and the darkness devoured you. Few returned from such a perilous journey.”
“Willing participants?” Mattheus asked. He was undoubtedly planning to buy some slaves to use as a sacrifice, so he asked why the participants needed to be willing.
“Yes. The participants shall drink several magical concoctions that only the king knows its recipe for, which tortures them. Then they must walk to the deepest forge by themselves. Then molten gold shall be poured into them. The smith then shall mix the molten gold with the sacrifice’s blood which had been taken beforehand.” The trader replied. “Without a willing participant, they might damage the forge, kill themselves when tortured, or curse the golderite. It is believed that the soul of the participants lived in the golderite ingots. And thus, a curse will be fatal to the end product.”
“Why did your ancestor make such a terrible process just to make ingots?” Lhorne was shocked when he heard the process of making golderite.
“Legend said that long ago, two dwarven divine blacksmith brothers were working together to make the best weapons. The younger brother was obsessed to surpass his older brother. In his desperation, he called upon his brother to do the golderite ritual. After threatening his brother’s family, the younger brother sacrificed himself. Then with his body, he did make the best golderite ingots. With golderite and titan ore fused together, a new material was formed, and we called them Mythaile. It was then formed into stakes and then pierced to the ground to quell the rampaging gods. I believe the elves aimed for this end product to seal the leylines and stop the undead.”
“What determination.” Mattheus and Lhorne widened their eyes at the tale of the dwarves.
“And we do not wish to sell such valuable material just to make some random trinkets you elves love so much. I hope you understand,” The dwarves bowed their heads and were preparing to leave with several more carriage worth of food.
“I see. I thank you for such information. I am sorry if we were disrespecting such material before.” Lily bowed to them in return.
“We shall tell the high council about this.” Lily sighed.
“This is valuable information.” Lhorne got excited.
Lily’s sigh only grew more profound, ”We could get the titan ore if we just ask for permission to travel the deep mines ourselves, elves have excellent fighters, and we could use magic for light in the darkness and water to cool down our body in the heat. However, I have no idea how to get these golderite ingots.”
“Yeah, Nobody was willing to go into that torture just for the profit of others.” Mattheus shrugged.
“Don’t forget, we still can’t go to dwarven territory anyway due to the epidemic.” Lhorne declared. “At least tailfolk may not go there under any circumstances. It is too dangerous.”
“Let us write a letter to the high council. I shall leave this matter for further discussion for lords of the elven kingdom.” Lily then returned to town hall from the quarantine zone where the trade discussions had been just an hour ago.