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

"I never expected dwarves to have such refined interests."

The visitor was Riveria.

The elven royalty, emerging from the shade of the trees, continued to approach Grace, speaking barbed words.

"...Is this arrogant and presumptuous elven royalty trying to disturb my drinking now?"

"What did you say! Who would waste time bothering a dwarf like you—"

After Grace retorted with a stern face, Riveria, as always, began to lash out.

But soon she changed her ways; before she could finish her rant, she stopped and took a deep breath.

"...It was purely that goddess who instigated me to come."

"...?"

Grace looked at Riveria with suspicion, who frankly admitted that she had been instigated to come.

At that moment, I noticed that Rivera's delicate skin was slightly flushed. She looked around suspiciously, hesitated for a while, and then finally spoke.

"...I have come to take back the insults I made to your village."

Upon hearing this, Grace's eyes widened in surprise.

"That village is a good place, at least much more welcoming than my hometown, Wangsen."

"you……"

"The dwarves are not just a bunch of barbarians... I only realized this for the first time after I left that birdcage."

Even Grace knew that those emerald eyes, which had fled upwards because they couldn't bear to look at him, were now gazing at the moonlight, reminiscing and recounting every little detail of the past.

Riveria likely realized, after interacting with the residents of "Lonsa," that she was imposing her racial prejudices on others, was too superficial to see each person clearly, and that she should admit that she had held wrong beliefs in the past or feel ashamed of them.

"My father, who knows nothing about the outside world but always likes to summarize things in a single sentence—I really dislike him... but I almost got blinded by my preconceived notions."

"..."

"The dwarves' rashness is truly astonishing. But perhaps the elves are just overly sensitive to the point of being neurotic. Once you change your perspective, you can change everything, whether it's values ​​or the whole world... That's what this village taught me."

Riveria said she sometimes helps the dwarf women with their laundry.

From time to time, one will witness jewelry-making techniques that the elves could never imitate.

In addition, when they have nothing to do, the twin sisters Naru and Noru will pester Riveria to play with them, and eventually she will be forced to play tag with the children.

In short, Rivera was inexplicably talkative at this moment, discussing everything from topics that seemed to be related to recruitment to things that were completely incomprehensible. She was sharing her experiences over the past few days like a child throwing a tantrum.

This left Grace, who had been listening attentively at first, almost completely bewildered by the end, unable to understand what people were saying.

"I haven't forgiven you for injuring Aina... No, to be honest, it's because of this incident that I've prejudicially concluded that you dwarves are all barbaric... Well, of course, I'm not entirely without fault either..."

Rivera's words, spoken with such resentment, were likely her last stand, a desperate act of resistance.

After she finished speaking with great reluctance, she fell silent, staring down at the ground—until even her long ears began to turn red, before finally managing to squeeze out the words.

"In short... I'm sorry."

Grace was speechless after hearing this "apology" directed at him.

The elf is apologizing to the dwarf.

This act carries a meaning far greater than towering mountain peaks and far more profound than endless oceans.

The Elves and Dwarves were irreconcilable enemies.

Even Grace himself was hearing an elf apologize to him for the first time.

What's more, the object of this first experience was none other than the Elven royal family, which was an unprecedented event for Grace.

He couldn't help but stare at the elven royal family, whose behavior remained suspicious even now.

"Damn it... just because that stinky god provoked me to do this... Let me make it clear, I'm not some stubborn elf...!"

Rivera's muttering was most likely an expression of her resentment towards Loki.

Judging from the situation, she must have had a big fight with the goddess before coming to find Grace. But even so, she probably felt quite guilty and couldn't forget the incident because of her straightforward personality, which is why she came to apologize like this.

The princess in front of us is simply "naive and ignorant," and has nothing to do with the word "stubborn and unyielding."

Moreover, his physique is far more flexible than that of other elves, and he is someone who knows how to admit his own mistakes.

At least that's what Grace thinks.

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly.

(Looks like I got tricked by that jerk too.)

The reason is that Grace now not only treats the elf in front of her differently, but has even developed an "interest" in her.

That goddess got herself drunk last night and used seductive words to tempt me.

She broke down one of Grace's defenses.

If it were the day before yesterday, he most likely wouldn't have bothered to listen to what Riveria was saying; he would have simply turned away without a word and adopted an even colder attitude. But with the goddess's mischievous smirk, the wall he had built around himself had crumbled.

The elf simply came to apologize, following reason.

Unlike Finn and the others, she had absolutely no intention of persuading Grace to join the Familia.

However, it was precisely because she was an elf, who was irreconcilably opposed to dwarves, that Grace couldn't help but become interested in Riveria's words.

"...I have heard that the Elven royal family never sets foot outside their homeland."

"?"

Why did you leave your hometown?

In Grace's mind, elves were a prejudiced, vulgar, and formalistic race.

Why would a princess of such a race come here?

It wasn't until Grace came to his senses that he realized he had already asked a question.

"To see the unknown world with my own eyes."

Rivera gave a straightforward answer to this.

"I couldn't deceive myself, so I broke with tradition and left the village."

"...!"

"Perhaps my behavior is irresponsible for a member of royalty, but to be controlled by others, to constantly pretend to be someone I am, and to live a life bound by lies... is no different from being a caged bird."

The elf's emerald eyes were incredibly clear and dazzling.

It is just as beautiful as the moonlight shining from the night sky.

(……hateful!)

A sense of inferiority welled up in Grace's heart.

Compared to this dazzling elf, what am I even doing?

He was nothing like the bold and unrestrained dwarf that people imagined; he was always pretending and deceiving himself, completely sealing away the desires buried deep in his heart.

Grace realized for the first time how dazzling the elves were, and felt extremely ashamed of herself.

At the same time, he felt frustrated with himself for being unable to lose his temper and break free from his shackles.

"I have a dream. And I'm finally able to take a step towards it."

Rivera squinted her beautiful eyes and gazed at the magnificent scenery, quietly revealing an expression that dispelled the gloom in her heart, and summarized the topic.

I had intended to drink alone under the moon, but now I can no longer taste the deliciousness of the wine.

"dream……"

"...?"

This time it was Grace's turn to hesitate.

After hesitating several times, he finally murmured, looking somewhat bewildered, after a long pause:

Have you ever felt that it's too late to pursue your dreams?

Grace didn't meet her gaze; she simply threw out the question.

The fairy let her emerald hair flutter in the wind, letting her beautiful voice drift away on the breeze.

"It's never too late to pursue your dreams."

And just in terms of age, I'm older than you—

The elf princess wore a look of utter disbelief, which made Grace grit her teeth in anger.

Side Story: Sword Oratoria 14 Chapter 3 The Dwarfs' Flight ②

"Damn it, my head still hurts..."

"Ugh..."

The day after Riveria's visit.

Grace and his still-hangover underlings finished their day's work and arrived at the village's only steam room. It was a cramped little house built of lava rock by the village's craftsmen.

The dwarves were all naked, like newborn babies, their bodies covered in strong muscles and hair, and drenched in sweat.

If a certain goddess whose goal is to build a "family" full of beauties were to witness this astonishing scene, she would almost certainly vomit to death on the spot.

"We've decided to head out first, what about you, Brother Grace?"

"...I want to stay a little longer."

When asked by his underling Yugur, Grace, with a towel tied around his waist, closed his eyes and gave an answer.

Alone in the steam room, he crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.

(I actually fell right into their trap, and my mind was completely thrown into disarray... I was so blinded by greed that I asked the elf that question last night; it was absolutely outrageous.)

Grace felt embarrassed about this, but at the same time resolved not to embarrass herself again and to be more vigilant about the enemy's movements.

(I remember that goddess mentioned the "Three Beauties' Ceremony," which is "Three Beauties' Ceremony" rather than "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage"...? Could it be that three women will come to visit me...?)

Grace recalled the events of the day before.

If we include Loki and Riveria, then there are two of them.

In other words, another "assassin" will arrive uninvited.

(I remember there was a maidservant beside that elven king... I think her name was Aina--)

Grace suspected that she was the third person, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was a suspicion, and she kept tilting her head in distress.

"—Sorry to bother you."

A sweet and charming blonde girl... no, a blonde "little girl" walks into the steam room.

“Puff!?”

Even the usually composed Grace was startled by this scene and gasped in surprise.

The newcomer possessed captivating beauty and long, waist-length golden hair.

Her soft skin was already slightly sweaty.

As Grace stared in disbelief, the "little girl" wrapped in a large bath towel strolled past him and bent down to sit on the bench opposite him.

"Brother dwarf, could you please hear my request?"

"Hmm...? What...what is it...?"

This is a steam room exclusively for men, a place soaked in the sweat of dwarves, a rather... kind of place.

Do races other than dwarves have some strange culture surrounding this?

When Grace was overwhelmed with confusion and lost her senses, the little girl in front of her smiled.

"Would you please join the Loki Familia?"

Looking at the adorable little girl—no, the little girl—who was speaking in a coquettish voice, Grace felt incredibly shocked.

Could it be...?

"That's right, I am Finn Dimna."

In other words, that's the gist of it.