The Adventures of Rose Hood

Chapter 52: The Last Kingdom

I had no more major incidents in the next 12 nations, though it took me 2 weeks to visit them. They either offered help or declined.

I flew to the last destination, Calesen's neighbor, Drummel.

It was often called the Dwarven nation, or the blacksmithing paradise. Thalia always wanted to journey there, but she was never allowed to. They didn't care for dragons, and I heard a rumor that they ate preserved dragon meat at noble feasts. Frankly I wasn't too scared, but I visited Calesen on the way there and Elren said that he and his army were preparing, and to be careful of the kingdom.

I wandered and landed near the gate and shifted before heading to the line. They hadn't banned slavery; in fact, they were neutral on it. As long as it wasn't a dwarf enslaved, they couldn't care less.

I didn't see any slavers in line, but I did see a lot of dwarves.

One looked at me.

"That' some good armor ye got 'ere, where'd ye get it?"

"My sister made it."

"Interesting, would ye be interested in selling it te me... er... I'll give ya 30 gold."

"Sorry, but my sister's armor is worth far more than that, as I doubt anything you could make would even be able to scratch it."

A few dwarves laughed at my proclamation, not so much at me, as at the dwarf for trying to scam me.

The dwarf muttered then got an idea.

"Tell ye what. I have 10 minutes to break that shoulder pad. If I do so, ya give the armor to me. If ye win, I'll give you 1000 gold."

"Sure."

I picked off the shoulder pad and handed it to him. His eyes widened and he quickly dropped his hammer to manage to carry the shoulder pad.

"How is it so heavy?"

"What? Can't even hold grammite? And you act like you can break it?"

He examined the armor, his eyes widening as he continued to examine it.

"Tick tock, you have 9 minutes now."

I smiled as he began to panic. He pulled out a magical blade, and he struck the shoulder pad, but the blade snapped in half. He panicked and used a combination of fire magic and a magical hammer to break it.

His hammer was now shattered. Over the next 9 minutes, he tried fruitlessly to break my sister's work, but broke many of his items instead.

He handed me 1000 gold coins with a grimace at the sheer outworking of his craft.

I picked up the shoulder pad and put it back on my shoulder.

"Real question, kiddo. How can ye even hold that armor, much less carry it so easily?"

"Quite simple, I'm strong."

As it became my turn to enter the guard looked at me.

"A'ight, state your name and business."

A few dwarves looked over in curiosity to learn who I was.

"Rose Hood, S rank adventurer. I'm here to conduct diplomacy on behalf of Selethon."

"A'ight, you are on the list. A bit shorter than I expected of a dragon, but I assume you have proof of your identity?"

I handed him my card, and he gave it back to me nodding.

"Well, Mrs. Hood, welcome to the city."

At the confirmation of my identity, the dwarf that challenged me blanched. He not only insulted a dragon, but he insulted the work of the famous fire dragon. I smiled at him cheekily before entering town.