Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Because, coincidentally, the visitors were a group of dwarfs.

"...What business is it of yours which shop I, as an elf, choose to visit? And what's wrong with you? Besides being sweltering, you also reek of sweat. Don't dwarves even have a culture of personal hygiene?"

"What did you say!?"

As Finn expected, Riveria immediately showed her disgust.

Part of the reason is probably that she had been holding back her anger at the bar.

The most crucial point is that the elves and dwarves subconsciously harbored a deep hatred for each other.

"You elves all look exactly like dolls! Stop acting so superior!"

"Stop waving those short arms and legs around making all that noise, it's an eyesore."

"Lady Riveria! Even when facing dwarves, you shouldn't speak so harshly...!"

Looking at the princess who was so unrestrained in her cursing, Finn couldn't help but want to sigh to the heavens.

Aina rushed forward in a panic to mediate the fight, but she couldn't stop the argument, while the goddess (Loki) watched with glee.

(Judging from their dusty clothes and the belongings they carried...were they miners who had just returned from the mine?)

Finn discerned the dwarves' professions from their clothing and equipment.

At that moment, those azure eyes focused on one of the dwarves.

(That dwarf...)

It was a dwarf carrying a giant pickaxe on his shoulder.

He sported a long beard befitting the people of the earth, and his rock-hard physique made him a size larger than his fellow tribesmen.

The person was wearing a sleeveless top, and a small lantern and a waist bag were hanging from a thick belt tied around his waist.

With his earthy brown eyes, he looked on with apparent boredom as he watched Riveria and her people continue their bickering.

Judging from his position in the center of the group, he is very likely the leader of these dwarves.

Finn himself couldn't explain why he was drawn to the dwarf.

If I had to give a reason, it would be that something just doesn't feel right.

It's similar to the strange feeling of a "warrior" mixed in with a group of miners.

"You disgusting, stinking elves! You always look down on us miners...!"

The dwarf, who was cursing loudly, seemed to be unable to contain his anger any longer, and then grabbed a backpack full of ore and threw it at him.

"ah!?"

The scattered ore left wounds on Aina's delicate skin.

This was undoubtedly the tipping point for Riveria to spiral out of control.

Upon witnessing her close friend's injury, she immediately widened her eyes and, in a fit of rage, swung her long staff at him.

“Puhuh!?”

Finn had no time to stop it; the dwarf had already been sent flying.

"You barbaric dwarves are utterly shameless!"

"You stinking, stinking woman!!"

"Beat her up!"

The battle between the elves and the dwarves began in the blink of an eye.

"Lady Rivera!?"

The two sides engaged in a full-blown fight at the entrance of the bar.

"If you want to fight, go somewhere else!" Not only the store manager's shouts, but even Aina's loud attempts to stop the fight while she was pressing her hand against her wound were to no avail.

The enraged elven royalty skillfully fought against three menacing miners at the same time.

"drink!"

"Whoa!?"

Despite receiving a "blessing," Rivera fought to a standstill with the strongest dwarf among the demi-humans. She skillfully used her staff's ranged advantage, striking her opponent in the chest or sending them flying before they could close the distance. This spoiled princess, skilled in archery and staff fighting, acted without restraint, fueled by disgust and rage, causing the situation to spiral out of control. The muscular dwarves lay groaning outside the bar.

Seeing Loki still adding fuel to the fire by shouting "Ugh! Go! Go!", Finn, feeling a headache coming on, had given up on her and decided to step forward alone to mediate the fight.

"What an annoying elf."

However──

The dwarf leader, who had been observing the battle from the sidelines, acted even faster.

— "God's grace" can inspire the potential of people in the lower realms.

Even Rivera, after her strength increased, must have become somewhat arrogant and underestimated her opponents.

But putting that aside, the dwarf's actions could be described as "fierce".

“Eh!?”

He caught the long staff that was being swung at high speed with his bare hands—and even threw Riveria, staff and all, to the ground.

Moreover, it was done with only one of the short, stubby arms that Riveria had once criticized.

"Rivia!?"

Finn, impressed by the other man's incredible strength, wondered if he was seeing things.

But the dwarf did not stop.

He threw a punch at Rivera, who was gritting her teeth and getting up from the ground.

Finn dropped his spear, flipped over and stood like a shield in front of Riveria, blocking the rapidly approaching fist.

"────"

The next instant, a shockwave struck Finn.

Finn, who tried to block with his right arm, couldn't withstand the dwarf's punch and was sent flying against the bar wall along with Riveria.

The tables and chairs of the patrons were not spared either, and loud, noisy collisions were heard throughout the scene.

"Finn!?"

"Lady Riveria!?"

Loki and Aina screamed in shock.

The patrons in the bar immediately erupted into a noisy argument.

"Cough cough! Cough cough...!?"

"...I'm sorry, Rivera..."

Rivera, who was slamming Finn against the wall, coughed incessantly.

Finn, clutching his right arm, frowned in pain as he looked at the opponent who had sent them flying.

The dwarf, stroking his beard, still looked on listlessly.

"Dwarves of Lonsa, you are truly unrepentant! I warned you countless times before, and now you're causing trouble again! Get out of here, all of you!"

The first to fly into a rage was the bar manager.

The dwarf glanced at the shopkeeper, who was in a frenzy over the destruction of the shop's goods, and sighed softly.

"...This time it was indeed our fault, after all, we started it, but the elves over there should also learn what it means to know when to stop."

Whether it's the mouth or the force—

The dwarf who added this sentence glanced sideways at his underlings who had been beaten until their noses bled and tears streamed down their faces.

If we remain silent after being beaten like this, it will damage the reputation of our race (dwarves). That's why I gently touched you two—Finn couldn't help but widen his azure eyes at the man whose words carried this unspoken meaning.

"You...you all...!"

"That's enough, both sides have learned their lesson... Now, you can go."

After the dwarf finished speaking in a deep voice, Riveria, her face flushed, wanted to object, but her aching body wouldn't allow her to do so, and she could only let out a weak groan.

When Loki and Aina ran into the store and came to Finn and the others, the dwarf man first patted his underlings on the head, and then helped them all up.

"Truly, as expected of Brother Grace! That arrogant elf was no match for you!"

"Yugul, you bastard, it's all your fault that we got blacklisted by the bar. You better reflect on your actions."

"it hurts!!"

The man known as Grace flicked the head of the young dwarf who was arguing with Riveria, then turned to leave.

Finn quickly stood up and said:

"Please wait a moment!"

"What's up?"

"...We have also offended you in many ways, so we would like to apologize. May I ask which [familia] you belong to?"

The dwarf named Grace, suddenly asked this question, gave a cold snort, seemingly quite annoyed.

"Hey, you little dwarfs, we've never joined any 'familia.' As you can see, we're just a bunch of miners."

These words were largely as Finn had predicted.

However, after hearing the answer, Finn could no longer suppress the corners of his mouth as he smiled.

Looking at the dwarf boy with a slightly arrogant smile on his face, Grace first frowned in suspicion, but quickly lost interest.

He then left with his men.

"Lady Riveria, are you alright!?"

"Um... I'm sorry for making you worry."

"What an amazing dwarf! Finn, Rivera, are you alright?"

As Aina helped Riveria, who was clutching her chest, to her feet, Finn spoke:

"Let's go and win over that dwarf."

A moment of blankness.

Rivera, who was halfway up her feet, suddenly froze.

Aina, who was helping her up, was also stunned and speechless.

Loki, who had been trying to take advantage of the situation to grope Riveria's shapely buttocks, also stopped in that comical pose.

"What?!?"

Immediately afterwards, Rivera and Loki both screamed in alarm.

"Don't be ridiculous! Why would you want to win over those barbaric dwarves!"

"If I were to recruit members, I'd want cute girls! I don't want anyone but cute girls!"

Both Riveria and Loki strongly opposed the stun grenade dropped by Finn.

While Aina was at a loss as to how to appease the princess, whose face was flushed with anger, Finn calmly and rationally reasoned with her.

"Rivia, if we're talking about barbarity, your actions just now were also quite reckless."

“Hmm…!?”

"Loki, I have no problem with your quirks, but we made a deal beforehand that you wouldn't interfere with my ambitions, right?"

"Ugh...!?"

He pointed out the objective facts and the conditions offered when joining the clan.

Rivera and Loki, whose objections were immediately refuted, tacitly suffered in silence.

"You all saw that incredible strength, right? I can guarantee he's really strong, and exceptionally so."

"Aren't all dwarves like that?"

"No, I sparred with the dwarf when I was training as a monk, but my strength was nowhere near as exaggerated as his."

"Look at this," Finn said, rolling up his sleeves.