That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Fairy

Armed Nation, Dwargon

"Ugh... Why do I have to be so busy...?" Kaijin the dwarf grumbled to himself. "What do they mean, the Eastern Empire might be on the move?
That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

He had reason to doubt it. Peace had reigned over the kingdom for three hundred years. The Empire had all the riches it could ever want-what motivation could it possibly have to stage an invasion? That was what he didn't understand.

"Of course" Kaijin added to himself. "I doubt the weaponsmiths of this city would mind a good war to fill their coffers. But...arrgh, why is my work so busy all of a sudden?!"

And that wasn't his only problem.

He scowled. "Curse that damned minister!" He rubbed his forehead as he imagined himself taking a hammer to the man and sighed. A lot of sighing lately.

There wasn't much time left. A refusal would damage his reputation. "I can't do it" wouldn't be an excuse. He was waiting for some of his friends to get back to him, and depending on their reports, all could be lost.

He had built a decent name for himself as a weaponsmith, but he wasn't omnipotent. What kind of smith could craft weapons without any raw materials to work with?

Finally, he heard the news he had been waiting for.

"Sorry" one said as he came through the door. "We wanted to contact you yesterday, but we ran into one heck of a distraction..."

They were three men-dwarves, all brothers, the trio Kaijin had assigned mining duties to.

The eldest was Garm, an armor crafter with long, muscular arms.

The middle child was Dold, who was known around the kingdom for his intricate handiwork.

The youngest, Myrd, rarely spoke but was skillful at almost anything he did-architecture, art, you name it. A sort of savant.

Any one of them could've been talented enough to run a successful business by himself-but they all had a critical disadvantage. Outside of their individual God-given talents, they were utterly hopeless, barely capable of dressing themselves without an instruction manual. None of them had a head for business or laying the groundwork for a successful career. They seemed to prefer letting other people use them instead.

That was how they wound up entrusting their shop to someone who stole it from them, falling into the trap of an apprentice jealous of their natural talent, getting bullied by the government after they botched a ministerial request... In the end, with nowhere else to go, they turned to Kaijin, an old friend and practically a fourth brother to them in their youth. He wished they had called on him sooner, but that was neither here nor there-they needed someplace to lie low, and he could use some help around the shop.

The only problem was that Kaijin had no work for them. He was a merchant dealing in battle gear, and he already had steady connections for all his merchandise except the weapons. Those he made himself, and he figured he could keep the trio busy making the rest of his lineup...but he couldn't have them start immediately. Telling his armor and accessory contacts out of the blue that their services were no longer needed would lead to easily avoidable trouble. Until things settled down a little, he would have to continue with business as usual.

Instead, with few other options available, Kaijin was having them direct a team of laborers as they mined for ore and other materials.
The brothers had arrived in Kaijin's shop with a wild story about a monster. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. He rubbed his forehead.

"Well, at least you're all fine." he told them. "Glad you got away before you were hurt at all!"

And he was. If they weren't injured, they could go right back to ore collecting. His friends' safety was naturally important, but...still.